The Firing Squad

 Posted by at 9:32 am  Politics
Nov 192019
 

Republicans keep flailing wildly looking for ways to defend High Criminal Resident Donald Trump, but every time they offer a new excuse to justify bribery and extortion, truthful witnesses come forward and Democrats use their testimony to pull the Republicans’ rug out.

1119Trump

The first week of impeachment hearings produced powerful testimony about President Donald Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate his political opponents, but also a number of defensive arguments by Republicans. Unfortunately for Trump, none of them is consistent with the facts. Here’s a review of the various excuses and their flaws.

No harm, no foul.

Republicans say that, since Ukraine eventually received the military aid that Trump withheld, and never launched the investigations he demanded of former vice president Joe Biden and Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election, there was no offense. That’s like arguing that, if an armed robber flees the bank he is holding up before getting any money, he should be excused. Trump released the hold on aid to Ukraine only after Congress announced an investigation.

Moreover, there was harm. The episode damaged U.S.-Ukrainian relations. Instead of supporting Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as he sought to fend off Russian aggression, Trump signaled to both the Ukrainians and Vladimir Putin that the United States was an unreliable ally…. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <newstimes.com>

I shared only the first of six examples in the article.  Click through for the other five.

Rachel Maddow covered this story in two segments.

Impeachment Witnesses Explode Trump Defense, Expose Perry, Mike Pence

 

Impeachment Spawns New Scandals Despite Democrats’ Narrow Focus

 

You might ask jus what all this has to do with a firing squad.  The Republican Reich are forming a circular firing squad.  Circular firing squads used to be an exclusively Democratic demesnes . No more.

RESIST!!

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  16 Responses to “The Firing Squad”

  1. P Bowen says:
    November 19, 2019 at 9:58 am

    WOW! Excellent videos and post, TC…

    Gawd, the plot thickens and gets closer to the facts/cover-up and the truth into how this all evolved. 
    Still listening…S–T is gonna hit the fan here shortly…
    dam…I’m gonna have to go buy more popcorn! 

  2. Joanne Dixon says:
    November 19, 2019 at 10:31 am

    Any one of those “defenses” might work with Republicans.  Some combinations of two or more might work with Republicans.  Not one of them would work with anyone who possess rudimentary ethics.  But them, Republicans don’t.

  3. Mitch d. says:
    November 19, 2019 at 2:11 pm

    I just saw a cartoon of Richard Reed, the shoe bomber, out of prison, saying “According to the Republicans, “ATTEMPTED” crimes no longer count!”  And, let’s not forget the Ukrainians who died while dumpy held the money hostage.
    MSNBC #1: Rick Perry, and the rest are pure snotbags, and nothing is too scummy for them to try.  So, Trump, who only hires “the Best,” hires this dirtbag, who is running away.
    #2: “More scandal, and potentially more criminal behavior?” This is who Rick Perry has been for ages, I’ll bet.  Lawyer up, you bastards!  

  4. Lona Goudswaard says:
    November 19, 2019 at 6:38 pm

    You know English is not my first language, so I have to ask; is what Republicans are doing called “painting yourself into a corner”?

  5. Colleen L says:
    November 19, 2019 at 8:37 pm

    pErry and pEnse are just as evil as their leader. Hopefully they will be caught with plenty of dirt on/about them too, that they will be long gone too.
    Was watching the impeachment hearings throughout the day and was disturbed each and every time it was handed over to one of the flipping repugs.
    Just listening to the way they talk down to these people is disgusting. 
    What got me was that tRump was badgering the witnesses by tweeting to them despicable remarks. To me, he should be punished royally for his criminal actions. 
    Thanks TomCat

  6. Lynn Squance says:
    November 20, 2019 at 3:47 am

    Ethics are anathema to Republicans. 

    There are cracks in the Republican dam and they are growing bigger by the day.  Perry and others such as Kurt Volker have resigned from the administration.  Word has it that Pompeo is also looking to get out in order to run for the US senate next year.

    “Pompeo’s plan had been to remain at the State Department until early spring next year, the three Republicans tell TIME, but recent developments, including the House impeachment inquiry, are hurting him politically and straining his relationship with Trump.”

    Ah, like rats from a sinking ship.

    If Trump cares so much about corruption, he should start cleaning it up at home first.  But then that would mean starting with himself and THAT he would never do.

  7. SoINeedAName says:
    November 20, 2019 at 5:34 am

    Almost two months ago George Conway (Kellyanne’s husband) co-authored an Op-Ed in WaPo w/ Neal Kytal (law professor at Georgetown) laying out the reasons why impeachment was mandatory.  I enjoyed their legal craft in explaining it clearly and concisely.

    Among the most delicate choices the framers made in drafting the Constitution was how to deal with a president who puts himself above the law. To address that problem, they chose the mechanism of impeachment and removal from office. And they provided that this remedy could be used when a president commits “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

    That last phrase — “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” — was a historical term of art, derived from impeachments in the British Parliament. When the framers put it into the Constitution, they didn’t discuss it much, because no doubt they knew what it meant. It meant, as Alexander Hamilton later phrased it, “the abuse or violation of some public trust.” 
     
    Simply put, the framers viewed the president as a fiduciary, the government of the United States as a sacred trust and the people of the United States as the beneficiaries of that trust. Through the Constitution, the framers imposed upon the president the duty and obligation to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” and made him swear an oath that he would fulfill that duty of faithful execution.

    [Emphasis added]

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-has-done-plenty-to-warrant-impeachment-but-the-ukraine-allegations-are-over-the-top/2019/09/20/51eff90c-dbf1-11e9-bfb1-849887369476_story.html#comments-wrapper

  8. TomCat says:
    November 20, 2019 at 9:56 am

    Thanks and Hump Day Hugs to all. 16

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