Of Impeachment and Accountability

 

Never Trump Republicans and their Democratic co-conspirators have another trick up their sleeves. Knowing that they probably do not have the votes to convict and remove the President in the Senate, they are desperately searching for a way to pull it off and they think they’ve found it: A secret vote and/or a generous reading of the two-thirds rule.

Pushed by people like lobbyist Juleanna Glover (formerly of the Bush 43 Administration and Bill Kristol acolyte), Laurence Tribe and former Sen. Jeff Flake, the operating theory is that if Senators were freed from accountability to their voters there would be 30 to 35 Republicans in the Senate ready to vote “yes” on conviction.

The other pipe dream is that the Constitution only demands a two-thirds majority of the Senators present. For every Senator that refuses to attend it brings that two-thirds number lower. But staying away is the same as a yes vote.

Jim Geraghty points out at National Review, “If Trump really is an unconstitutional menace who is abusing the power of the presidency for his personal interests, stopping him ought to be worth losing a Senate seat. And if this action isn’t worth losing a Senate seat over, then it’s hard to see how it is worth removing a president.”

A secret ballot after secret proceedings in the House sounds like a recipe for disaster. How do you think the public would react?

 

 

 

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There are 214 comments.

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  1. DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Type Monkey
    @DrewInWisconsin

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    Hillary was a particularly flawed person. However, encouraging chants of “Lock Her Up” is uniquely Un-American.

    It’s unAmerican to lock up criminals?

    If they’re Democrats, yes.

    • #211
  2. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    JamesSalerno (View Comment):

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Ask Troy Senik. He’s writing a biography of Cleveland.

    Really? Now I’m glad this thread went off the rails! I love Gilded Age history and I will definitely pick up Troy’s book.

    Me too!  Cleveland was one of the best Democratic Presidents.

    • #212
  3. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    That would have been a miscarriage of justice. And let’s not forget those who wanted Reagan locked up.

    Until Trump, Presidents and Senators were magnanimous to former Presidents.

    Fact check: False.

    So what Presidents called for the prosecution of their rivals?

    Obama? Nope.

    W? Nope.

    Clinton? Nope.

    H.W. or Reagan? Nope.

    Carter? Nope.

    Ford or Nixon? Nope.

    LBJ or JFK? Nope.

    Ike? Nope.

    Truman or FDR? Nope.

    Hoover, Coolidge, or Harding? Nope.

    Wilson? Nope.

    Taft, TR or McKinley? Nope?

    Anybody in the 1800’s? Nope.

    Anybody in the 1700’s? Nope.

    But I recall Trump urging chants of “Lock Her Up!” And during a debate I remember Trump threatening Hillary with jail.

    Yes, people said nasty stuff about their rivals. But only Trump talked about prosecuting his rival.

    Fact check. True.

    JFK definitely stated he wanted to scatter the CIA folks to the four winds. So there’s that.

    And he was not prosecuted, but he did lose his life. Also some people think LBJ was involved in that. LBJ had a “fixer” named Malcolm Wallace, and he was up to some funny stuff quite frequently.

    If Nixon could have turned the tables and seen to it that others were prosecuted, he probably would have. Unfortunately for him, his tapes got him impeached.

    • #213
  4. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    There is another alternative that has come up. Impeachment in the House is a two step procedure. First the voting of Articles of Impeachment, and second the referral to the Senate. The second step is 99.9% automatic. But Lindsey Graham has said that his mind is made up despite his oath, and McConnell has said that he will defer wholly to the White House. Pelosi could withhold the vote to refer the Articles to the Senate until a majority of the Senate agrees in writing that a fair trial will take place.

    I wrote this on December 16th and I think that I am he only person who predicted it could happen.

    • #214
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