Tag: Impeachment

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Overplaying the Weak Hand

Henry Racette
By Henry Racette
Henry Racette Contributor
I'm a fifty-something father of six who divides his time between writing industrial automation software and opining cantankerously about the precariousness of western civilization and the enemies, many unwitting, arrayed against it. I'm fascinated by words, evolution, emergent behavior, the challenge of Islam, the absurdity of the trans movement, and saving the most successful nation and culture in history. I'm a climate empiricist: I'll believe in global warming when I see evidence of global… [more]
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9 COMMENTS
 

If people keep getting away with outrageous behavior, if their provocations and incursions against decency and order are tolerated, for whatever reason, they begin to think that they’re in control. If their followers and those around them reinforce that impression, they risk growing deluded about their own authority and power.

Appeasement makes people foolish. Yes, it makes the appeaser seem weak, but it also misleads the appeased into imagining that they hold all the cards, and encourages them to raise too fast and bet too much. They begin to believe their own bluffs.

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Three Martini Lunch

Cliffhanger in Kansas? Mike Lee Rips Lame Iran Briefing, Pelosi’s Power on Display

5 COMMENTS
Hosted by Greg Corombos, Jim Geraghty

No good martinis but plenty to talk about today! Join Jim and Greg as they dissect Republican fears that the open U.S. Senate seat in Kansas could be at risk this year if primary voters nominated Kris Kobach, who lost the 2018 governor’s race there. They serve up a double-barreled crazy martini as Utah Sen. Mike Lee fumes that Wednesday’s Iran briefing offered few specifics and that national security officials told lawmakers not to debate the issue in public. But they’re also surprised to see Lee planning to channel that frustration into support for the War Powers Act revisions restricting the ability of a president to order time-sensitive military action. And they have a lot of fun as House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith tells CNN that its time for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate only to go on Twitter a short time later to say he “misspoke” and whatever Pelosi wants to do is fine with him.

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Three Martini Lunch

Iran Stands Alone, Iraq Withdrawal Confusion, Impeachment Over Iran?

11 COMMENTS
Hosted by Greg Corombos, Jim Geraghty

Join us for three Iran-related martinis for you today. First, Jim and Greg are glad to see the likes of Russia and China offering nothing but word salad as no nation commits arms or manpower to Iran in the wake of the Soleimani strike. They also cringe as the Pentagon has to walk back a letter stating the U.S. Army would leave Iraq, only to have Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley explain the letter was just a poorly worded draft that doesn’t accurately express our policy and was never intended to go public. And they unload on California Rep. Ro Khanna for suggesting that Pres. Trump retaliating against Iran could warrant another article of impeachment, with Jim wondering if the Democrats are starting an impeachment of the month club.

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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Republicans: Let’s Get This Show on the Road!

Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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51 COMMENTS
 

We have entered a new year. I, for one, want to start with a fresh outlook, regardless of my tendency to assume the worst when it comes to politics. I think that breaking through the stand-off regarding the impeachment of Donald Trump could start a tidal shift in the power of the Republicans. I’m calling out Mitch McConnell to disregard any demands by the Democrats, rally the Republicans, and get this show on the road!

In a previous post, I explained some of the requirements, or lack of them, for impeachment. The articles of impeachment have essentially been delivered (by public announcement); the trial can proceed whether Pelosi appoints Managers or not; and there do not have to be witnesses. These points make up the crux of the stalemate:

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Member Post

Joshua Bissey
By Joshua Bissey
Joshua Bissey Coolidge
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23 COMMENTS
 

Given the Democratic Party’s concern about election-meddling by presidential candidates, why aren’t we hearing about presidential-candidate Senators recusing themselves from voting on impeachment charges? More
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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Mitch McConnell: Just Do it!

Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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38 COMMENTS
 

If you ever want to drive me insane, you don’t need to use the Chinese water torture on me. You just need to force me to watch the ineptness of the House and Senate and the histrionics and hand-wringing regarding impeachment. But I’m begging Mitch McConnell to put us all out of our misery. The Editorial Staff of the Wall Street Journal (sorry—it’s probably behind a paywall) describes the process to set us all free. Mr. McConnell is ignoring the hysterics of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. He seems to be doing that with a twinkle in his eye. In fact, he may already be contemplating these steps recommended by the WSJ. So what is he up against? I’m describing the basic process here.

  • Nancy Pelosi insists that the articles of impeachment must be formally transmitted to the Senate. Not true:

There’s nothing in the Constitution that says impeachment requires a formal transmittal of the articles to the Senate, whether by sedan chair or overnight Fed Ex, or that the House must appoint impeachment managers. The parchment merely says the House has sole power over impeachment and the Senate the sole power to try an impeachment. The act of impeachment is the vote.

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JimGoneWild
By JimGoneWild
JimGoneWild Coolidge
JimGoneWild is a member of Ricochet.
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0 COMMENTS
 

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the House of Representatives Not a creature was legislating, not even a socialist mouse; The impeachment was voted on by the democrats as a dare, in hopes that the sainted Media soon wouldn’t despair; The radicals were nestled all smug with their cloakroom goons, While visions of […]
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Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. My Working Theory on the Impeachment Covfefe

Saint Augustine
By Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine Member
I read and talk and write about philosophy for a living. I am also a Southern Baptist. I don't see any conflict between the two. I like things like my wife, good fiction books, good sci-fi television, the theory of hylomorphism, and a nice cup of tea. The closest thing I have to a personal website is my Academia.edu profile. I also run TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube, which probably has the best (and perhaps the only) collection of cartoons based on the dialogues and speeches of Plato and other g… [more]
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82 COMMENTS
 

Since the House has “sole power” to impeach, they have the power to decide whether impeachment is just an accusation or is rather a process of accuse-and-send-to-trial. So Trump has been impeached because the House bill disambiguated impeachment by proclaiming that Trump “is impeached.”

As a corollary, since the Senate has “sole power” to do the trial, the House has no power to stop them once the President has been impeached. So the Senate does not have to wait for the House to deliver the accusation. They can start the trial of Trump whenever they feel like it.

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Three Martini Lunch

Dems’ Impeachment Ultimatum, Biden’s Bad Energy Gamble, Wine Caves & Selfies

1 COMMENTS
Hosted by Greg Corombos, Jim Geraghty

It’s finally Friday of a very busy week! Jim and Greg have plenty to say about a member of the House Democratic leadership admitting to CNN that the Democrats may never send the articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate unless Mitch McConnell agrees to the demands of Democrats for how the trial of President Trump ought to be structured. They also hammer Joe Biden, who admitted that he’s willing to kill thousands – possibly hundreds of thousands of jobs in the energy sector – because he’s supremely confident the green economy will offer just as many opportunities for great jobs. And they are the glad the holidays are right around the corner as Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate descends into discussions of wine caves and selfies.

Starting Monday, Jim and Greg will begin their six-episode Three Martini Lunch Awards for 2019. They each hand out 18 awards in categories ranging from overrated and underrated political figures to rising and fading political figures to the best and worst political ideas of the year, eventually working up to their choices for person of the year. Enjoy these special episodes and let us know what you think of our choices and share who you would choose!

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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Member Post

Henry Racette
By Henry Racette
Henry Racette Contributor
I'm a fifty-something father of six who divides his time between writing industrial automation software and opining cantankerously about the precariousness of western civilization and the enemies, many unwitting, arrayed against it. I'm fascinated by words, evolution, emergent behavior, the challenge of Islam, the absurdity of the trans movement, and saving the most successful nation and culture in history. I'm a climate empiricist: I'll believe in global warming when I see evidence of global… [more]
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14 COMMENTS
 

Heh. More
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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Impeachment as Congressional Contempt of the Constitution

Clifford A. Brown
By Clifford A. Brown
Clifford A. Brown Contributor
Retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Colonel after 30 years of active and reserve assignments. M.A. Political Science, M.S. Strategic Studies, Army War College, JD. Served in 1st Armored Division in West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down, in 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea during the regime of Kim Il Sung, and commanded a logistics battalion in Iraq 2003-2004. Wide-ranging public policy interests. Occasional home brewer and infuser of alcohol spirits.
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32 COMMENTS
 

The Framers did not intend the impeachment power to give Congress supremacy, in the form of being able to harass and paralyze the Courts or the president over policy differences, let alone raw political will. Nevertheless, Congress has acted, almost from the beginning, with selective contempt for the Constitution, both legislatively and in its employment of the impeachment power. There is really nothing new under the sun, including what the current majority party in the House of Representatives is doing…and it is still contemptuous of the Constitution.

Take a step back from the current tempest in the Congressional teapot and consider the facts laid out in 1992 by Chief Justice William Rehnquist in Grand Inquests: the Historic Impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson. The Chief Justice published this very approachable book the year that William Jefferson Clinton beat President Bush the First. Taking his book as a guide to the subject and the actors, some focused searching on the internet yields plenty of historical data and documents. Consider just the first major impeachment, along with a prelude, at the dawn of the 19th Century.

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Three Martini Lunch

Impeachment Trial Standoff, Tulsi Votes Present, Another Obamacare Showdown

2 COMMENTS
Hosted by Greg Corombos, Jim Geraghty

Join Jim and Greg as they comment on the moments from Wednesday’s impeachment votes that stand out to them, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi having to enforce her no gloating policy. Then they dive into three crazy martinis, starting with Pelosi saying she won’t pass the impeachment articles along to the Senate unless she’s convinced it will be a fair process. They scratch their heads as Tulsi Gabbard votes present on both articles of impeachment and wonder what her political future holds. And they dissect the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals declaring the individual mandate unconstitutional and Jim wonders whether Republicans would have any legislation ready to go if the Supreme Court were to strike down all of Obamacare.

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Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Member Post

Bryce Carmony
By Bryce Carmony
Bryce Carmony Inactive
young moderate conservative looking to get more involved in Civic life. I grew up a really abstract deontological libertarian who was ambushed by the complexities of reality. 
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26 COMMENTS
 

I’m not a colossal Trump fan and I’m not inordinately wealthy so I haven’t given a lot of money to political campaigns but I did decide to donate $5 today to Trump’s campaign because I want Democrats to see that when they go off the rails they are punished politically for it. If 63 million […]
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Member Post

Manny
By Manny
Manny Member
If you really wanted to learn a bit about me, you can check my personal blog. It's mostly on my literary interests and politics free. http://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot.com/ That's my son blowing his first bubble in my profile picture.
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36 COMMENTS
 

So the Dems in the House of Representatives have impeached the President on the flimsiest of charges based on hearsay and speculation, uncorroborated by anything. It’s total garbage. This House f Representatives will be remembered as the most partisan group of legislators—it’s ridiculous to even call them that—in the history of our country. The commies […]
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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. House Impeaches President Trump on 2 Articles

Jon Gabriel, Ed.
By Jon Gabriel, Ed.
Jon Gabriel, Ed. Chief
Jon Gabriel (a.k.a., @ExJon on Twitter) is the Editor-in-Chief of Ricochet. He is a political writer and marketing consultant, contributing articles to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and USA Today among others. Until 2012, he served as Director of Marketing for the free-market Goldwater Institute, where he converted policy initiatives into compelling stories. In the private sector, Jon led marketing efforts for Cold Stone Creamery, Honeywell, and several technology companies. In his… [more]
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219 COMMENTS
 

Wednesday evening, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.” Both were related to his dealings with Ukraine. He is the third American president to be impeached.

If and when the House forwards the articles to the GOP-controlled Senate, the president faces a near-certain acquittal. Neither result comes as a surprise since Democrats began promising impeachment before Trump was even inaugurated.

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Three Martini Lunch

Pelosi Says No Gloating, Dems’ Amazing Plan B, Obama Wants Women Leaders

1 COMMENTS
Hosted by Greg Corombos, Jim Geraghty

It’s impeachment day and Jim and Greg aren’t exactly riveted to the debate when the outcome was predetermined long ago. But join them as they take aim at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi telling House Democrats not to gloat once the final impeachment votes are taken. They also get a good laugh at Democrats suggesting the House not send impeachment articles to the Senate until Republicans agree to their demands for witnesses, wondering where the downside could possibly be for Republicans in this strategy. And they have some choice thoughts as Barack Obama openly wishes that women could lead everywhere in the world for two years because everything would supposedly be better.

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Member Post

The Reticulator
By The Reticulator
The Reticulator Member
The real name of the Reticulator is John Gorentz. He lives near Battle Creek, Michigan USA. His life story, in reverse chronological order, begins as follows: “His days ended in one of Hillary’s internment camps.” The Reticulator is also known as The Spokesrider
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4 COMMENTS
 

Congress seems to have trouble coming up with some basis for impeaching President Trump. Well, I just found evidence of collusion that requires impeachment. I’ve recently watched some of the recent posts to YouTube’s Орел и Решка channel. Орел и Решка is a Ukrainian TV travel show. The spoken language is mostly Russian, and many […]
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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. A Sorry Tale of Two Investigations

Richard Epstein
By Richard Epstein
Richard Epstein Contributor
Known to students at the University of Chicago and NYU law schools as “the libertarian,” Richard Epstein has established himself as an expert in constitutional law, contracts, corporate law, real estate law, torts, labor law—and even Roman law. He is reputed to be more knowledgeable about Justinian’s Code than anyone since the Emperor Justinian himself. The Peter and Kirsten Bedford senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Richard Epstein is the author of several books including, The Cas… [more]
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9 COMMENTS
 

As we approach the year’s end, there is a titanic struggle taking place for the moral high ground of the country leading up to the 2020 presidential election. On the one side, the Democrats have succeeded on a wholly partisan vote in the House Judiciary Committee to forward two Articles of Impeachment to the full House of Representatives, where they will again be approved along strictly partisan lines.

At the same time, Inspector General Michael Horowitz published an exhaustive and mind-numbing Report that examined the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation of Russian influence on the 2016 election. Among other things, that investigation wrongly initiated surveillance of Carter Page who wrongly deemed to be a Russian agent. The IG’s Report relentlessly documented serious defects in the FBI’s investigation, including in its procedures for seeking warrants from the FISA Court.

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Three Martini Lunch

Comey Gets Cornered, What to Do About Van Drew, Weinstein Plays the Victim

5 COMMENTS
Hosted by Greg Corombos, Jim Geraghty

It’s only nine days ’til Christmas but the news keeps coming and the Three Martini Lunch is ready! Join Jim and Greg today as they thoroughly enjoy watching Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace call out former FBI Director James Comey for a long string of statements that have been contradicted by the inspector general’s report on the Justice Department and FBI abusing the FISA process. They also roll their eyes as Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew looks for a political lifeline by switching to the Republican Party after announcing he will not vote to impeach President Trump, and the GOP appears ready to accept the man they recently branded a socialist. And Jim is actually rendered speechless for a moment as disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein insists he isn’t getting enough credit for all he’s done for women.

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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Of Impeachment and Accountability

EJHill Joined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member
By EJHill
EJHill Podcaster
Thirty years in television production. Living in a midwestern city in the productive custody of his wife and four children (Baby Girl, Marine, Future Tony Winner & Xerox). Unrelenting, unrepentant conservative. Needs a better temperament that equals his photoshop skills. Will probably die broke but believes more in freedom than the welfare state.  
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214 COMMENTS
 

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.

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