". . . The adults were too sophisticated to see Trump’s special political talents—his instinct for every adversary’s weakness, his fanatical devotion to himself, his knack for imposing his will, his sheer staying power. They also failed to appreciate the advanced decay of the Republican Party, which by 2016 was far gone in a nihilistic pursuit of power at all costs. They didn’t grasp the readiness of large numbers of Americans to accept, even relish, Trump’s contempt for democratic norms and basic decency. It took the arrival of such a leader to reveal how many things that had always seemed engraved in monumental stone turned out to depend on those flimsy norms, and how much the norms depended on public opinion. Their vanishing exposed the real power of the presidency. Legal precedent could be deleted with a keystroke; law enforcement’s independence from the White House was optional; the separation of powers turned out to be a gentleman’s agreement; transparent lies were more potent than solid facts. None of this was clear to the political class until Trump became president. . . "
(from https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/peter-wehner-trump-presidency-over/607969/)
"When, in January 2016, I wrote that despite being a lifelong Republican who worked in the previous three GOP administrations, I would never vote for Donald Trump, even though his administration would align much more with my policy views than a Hillary Clinton presidency would, a lot of my Republican friends were befuddled. How could I not vote for a person who checked far more of my policy boxes than his opponent? . . . What I explained then, and what I have said many times since, is that Trump is fundamentally unfit—intellectually, morally, temperamentally, and psychologically—for office. For me, that is the paramount consideration in electing a president, in part because at some point it’s reasonable to expect that a president will face an unexpected crisis—and at that point, the president’s judgment and discernment, his character and leadership ability, will really matter. . . this is a massive failure in leadership that stems from a massive defect in character. Trump is such a habitual liar that he is incapable of being honest, even when being honest would serve his interests. He is so impulsive, shortsighted, and undisciplined that he is unable to plan or even think beyond the moment. He is such a divisive and polarizing figure that he long ago lost the ability to unite the nation under any circumstances and for any cause. And he is so narcissistic and unreflective that he is completely incapable of learning from his mistakes. The president’s disordered personality makes him as ill-equipped to deal with a crisis as any president has ever been. With few exceptions, what Trump has said is not just useless; it is downright injurious. . ."
. . . of proportion; a frequent condition of things in the political arena . . .
(from Al Franken: Giant of the Senate by Al Franken)
". . . New Ulm, (MN) was founded by German immigrants. . . (and) boasts an enormous monument to Arminius, the Germanic warrier who led the slaughter of twelve to fifteen thousand Romand soldiers in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 A.D. . . . locals call the . . . statue "Hermann the German". . . while addressing a small crowd one fall afternoon in 2007, I'm standing in the shadow of a massive monument to Hermann the German. And I had been in comedy for thirty-five years. So what immediately occurred to me was: "Now, I grew up in St. Louis Park, and we had a much smaller statue than Hermann the German here. Ours was called 'Stu the Jew.'" But I didn't! I didn't say it!. . . it would get written up not as "Coleman Takes Hilarious Franken Joke Way, Way, Ridiculously out of Context," but as "Republicans Slam Franken for Blaming Holocaust on New Ulm.". . . "
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". . . Nearly four years after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would eliminate the federal debt in eight years, the deficit has since risen by more than 16 percent under his presidency. . ."
". . . "In light of today's announcement from the defense department that 34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran's retaliatory strike and President Trump's remarks which minimized these troops’ injuries, the Veterans of Foreign Wars cannot stand idle on this matter. . . TBI is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly. TBI is known to cause depression, memory loss, severe headaches, dizziness and fatigue — all injuries that come with both short- and long-term effects. . ."
'. . . Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly berated a reporter for NPR with abusive language after an interview in which he was questioned about Ukraine and issues that are at the center of the impeachment trial against President Trump. . . NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly revealed during a segment on “All Things Considered” on Friday that Pompeo questioned whether Americans even care about Ukraine and if the veteran journalist — who had recently returned from reporting in Iran — could find the country on a map. . .'
'. . . people who hated Obama, who previously hated politics and politicians generally, or who just didn’t pay much attention, suddenly were in the electoral mix. They heard Trump say things — crude, nasty, politically incorrect things — that they had previously heard only on conservative talk radio or on FOX programming. They liked it. Trump spoke to them. His simple us-versus-them view of the country, his America First worldview — it all appealed to them. They took his lack of impulse control for candor, his attacks on Democrats (their fellow Americans) as patriotic. Perhaps that’s all emotional. I think it’s more primal than that. . . Republican senators, led by the tortoise-like Mitch McConnell, have never seen anything like this before, and I believe Trump has stirred up fear in all of them — fear of the people he’s pulled into politics, the MAGA crowd, the cheering, jeering men and women who have responded to Trump, stand by him and ignore his constant lies. So spineless senators, fearing backlash from zealous Trumpistas, eschew their responsibility to deliberate and consider the evidence. They’re all-in with the worst president in U.S. history. It’s not complicated. It’s self-preservation. It requires no thinking. It’s all lizard brain stuff. . ."
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Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)". . . is one of Trump’s biggest defenders, even though he ran for Lousiana attorney general, state Treasurer, and U.S. Senate as a Democrat, before switching parties. Kennedy acknowledged that Republican senators were not familiar with the case. “I’ve learned a lot. Everybody has. Senators didn’t know the case,” Kennedy admitted. “They really didn’t.”. . ."
". . . Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.): "Qassem Soleimani masterminded Iran’s reign of terror for decades, including the deaths of hundreds of Americans. Tonight, he got what he richly deserved, and all those American soldiers who died by his hand also got what they deserved: justice.". . . Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) "Wow - the price of killing and injuring Americans has just gone up drastically. Major blow to Iranian regime that has American blood on its hands. Soleimani was one of the most ruthless and vicious members of the Ayatollah's regime. He had American blood on his hands. I appreciate President Trump's bold action against Iranian aggression. To the Iranian government: if you want more, you will get more.". . . Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.): "This is very simple: General Soleimani is dead because he was an evil bastard who murdered Americans. The President made the brave and right call, and Americans should be proud of our servicemembers who got the job done. Tehran is on edge - the mullahs have already slaughtered at least a thousand innocent Iranians - and before they lash out further they should know that the U.S. military can bring any and all of these IRGC butchers to their knees.". . . Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.): "The end of Qasem Soleimani is welcome and long-overdue justice for the thousands of Americans killed or wounded by his Iranian-controlled forces across the Middle East, and for the hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Iraqi Sunnis ethnically cleansed by his militias.". . . Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.): "Qassem Soleimani was an evil and deadly terrorist with the blood of thousands, including hundreds of Americans, on his hands. President Trump was right to order decisive action to kill Soleimani to prevent further attacks and defend American lives and interests.". . ."
". . . "With his departure and with God's power, his work and path will not cease, and severe revenge awaits those criminals who have tainted their filthy hands with his blood and the blood of the other martyrs of last night's incident," Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a statement. . .The country's defense minister, Amir Hatami, said the nighttime strike ordered by President Trump would be met with a "crushing" response. . ."
". . . A top diplomat appointed by President Trump revised his testimony to lawmakers in the House's impeachment inquiry, saying in the latest version that the president’s dealings with Ukraine amounted to a clear quid pro quo. . . U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland said Trump withheld U.S. military aid to Ukraine in an effort to secure investigations into the 2016 election and the president’s political adversaries, according to a transcript released Tuesday by Democrats conducting the impeachment investigation. . . His testimony and that of former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker was released Tuesday. . ."
". . . No court has ever ruled that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime, but that has been the consistent position of the Justice Department under both Republican and Democratic administrations. . . . In 1974, the court ruled that President Richard Nixon was required to comply with a subpoena directing him to turn over tape recordings of conversations in the White House. . ."
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" . . . In addition to their investigations, they’ve been passing legislation at a rapid clip. In all, the House has taken up 51 bills, resolutions, and suspensions since January — 49 of which they’ve passed. This includes a slate of bills to attempt to end the longest government shutdown in history, the result of a protracted fight between Trump and Congress over border wall funding. . . recently passed a bill to lower prescription drug prices, and another one to protect preexisting conditions. The House also passed nine bills on veterans issues this week alone, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted at her weekly press conference. On Thursday, Democrats tried to present Trump their infrastructure plan before he walked out of their meeting. . ."
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(from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/opinion/trump-america-russia.html)
". . . if Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, act to remove this president, a new powerful message would be sent to governments and people around the globe, just like the one that went out in 1974: Moral principles still matter in American politics and policy. And the future still belongs to moral truth and to those who embrace it. . ."
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". . . With Trump apologizing for nothing, Republicans are left either to endorse his behavior or to criticize it and then face uncomfortable follow-up questions, such as: Since the president doesn't see anything wrong with what he did, why wouldn't he do it again? And since you see what he did as a problem, don't you have some responsibility to stop him? And if you do see it as troubling, then what have you done to show that? . . . Trump's posture essentially forces any Republican looking to stand with him against impeachment to agree that his actions have been "perfect." Republicans may end up doing just that, especially if Trump's approval with GOP voters remains stratospheric. But he's not making it easy for them. . ."
Statement:
(from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/impeachment-war-turns-hot-trump-sounds-partisan-rallying-cry-n1061686)
". . . "I think a really important component of prosecuting a case against House Democrats is the notion that impeachment was inevitable they were going to find a way to get to that no matter what," said Josh Holmes, a Republican strategist and former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "The argument he (Trump, in his public diatribes on Wednesday) is making today about the inevitability of what Democrats are trying to do here is a good one with Republican lawmakers.". . . "
Translation:
Republican "Lawmakers" need not worry about breaking laws, only 'making' them.
(from https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/09/26/the-definition-of-collusion-as-impeachment-proceeds-the-risk-trump-poses-to-all-americans/)
". . . There is an impact that Trump’s “collusion” and corruption have on everyday Americans, whether they wear pussy hats or MAGA caps, an impact that Democrats have permitted Republicans to obscure. Trump’s actions effectively rob Americans of the powerful executive on foreign policy issues that our Constitution very imperfectly sought to ensure, without stripping the weakened Trump of the tools he can wield to punish those who call him on his weakness. . .Because he always self-deals, Trump has made himself an intolerably weak President, one who makes the US less secure at every step. Republicans defending him need to be held accountable for weakening the US. . ."
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(from How The Hell Did This Happen? The Election of 2016 by P.J. O'Rourke)
". . . The reason that American political parties have no constitutional standing is that the framers of the Constitution hoped America would have no political parties. . . In Federalist Paper No. 9 Alexander Hamilton declares "domestic faction" to be "the cause of incurable disorder and imbecility in the government." . . . In Federalist Paper No. 10 James Madison inveighs against "the violence of faction," calls it a "dangerous vice," and warns that "the public good is disregarded in the conflictd of rival parties.". . . Madison . . . describes, with eerie prescience, our Democratic and Republican presidential primaries and caucuses 228 years in the future: "So strong is the propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities that where no substantial occasion presents itself the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts". . . "
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". . . Partisanship and obstruction is sadly not uncommon in America’s political system. But by continuing to push the boundaries, Trump has exposed a flaw within the framework of our political composition. Congress is effectively powerless to make the executive branch do anything. They can issue subpoenas. Those subpoenas can be ignored. They can hold people in contempt. But of course, any U.S. attorney capable of prosecuting contempt can be fired by the attorney general. If they go to court, it’ll take years to get resolved. . . Moreover, when it comes to Trump and Congressional Republicans, there is little good faith left — if any. There certainly isn’t much trust. With the backing of the White House, Republicans believe they can effectively bully Democrats. And Democrats, led by the conventionally cautious wisdom of lawmakers like Rep. Nancy Pelosi, are increasingly trapped by the process. If they remain unwilling to deviate from conventional tactics, they will not be able to gain much progress in these very unconventional times. . ."
(from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/us/politics/andy-mckean-iowa-trump.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3nnDuxyeZNNm6ywlFnrzjlK8BAhuhvzF2JNeGJ5ssTT3dgaSfAPyPtJX0)
". . . The longest-serving Republican in the Iowa legislature announced that he would become a Democrat, warning that his party of many decades would soon pay “a heavy price” for its support of President Trump. . .The lawmaker, Representative Andy McKean, served a combined 24 years in the Iowa House and Senate between 1979 and 2003 and then returned to the legislature in 2017. At a news conference on Tuesday, he said he could not support Mr. Trump moving forward, in part because he found the president’s spending to be “reckless,” his foreign policy “erratic” and “destabilizing” and his disregard for the environment concerning. . ."
