28 votes

US President Donald Trump acquitted of two impeachment charges in near party-line vote

20 comments

  1. [9]
    Algernon_Asimov
    Link
    Good on Mr Romney. People of conscience and principle are few and far between, especially in politics.

    But in a stinging symbolic rebuke of the country’s leader aimed at history, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, broke with the party and voted to convict Mr. Trump of abuse of power

    Good on Mr Romney. People of conscience and principle are few and far between, especially in politics.

    28 votes
    1. Deimos
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Axios got a photo of the note that Mitt Romney wrote to all other Republican senators to explain his vote:...

      Axios got a photo of the note that Mitt Romney wrote to all other Republican senators to explain his vote: https://www.axios.com/mitt-romney-trump-impeachment-vote-note-c09e8704-0196-41e9-8d7a-5d640f06c7f7.html

      He also did an interview with The Atlantic yesterday: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/romney-impeach-trump/606127/

      12 votes
    2. patience_limited
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      When taking principled moral stands, it helps if you're independently wealthy, and also have the backing of the Church of Mormon. Mittens isn't dependent on the Republican Party for campaign...

      When taking principled moral stands, it helps if you're independently wealthy, and also have the backing of the Church of Mormon. Mittens isn't dependent on the Republican Party for campaign funding and organizing resources.

      8 votes
    3. Kuromantis
      Link Parent
      (Wildly uninformed speculation ahead.) To me I think this shows that the Republican party (or at least their officials) are afraid of stepping against the party line because if they do then all...

      (Wildly uninformed speculation ahead.)

      To me I think this shows that the Republican party (or at least their officials) are afraid of stepping against the party line because if they do then all their political legitimacy will go away in the eyes of conservative pundits. Since Romney has his own political base (however small it may be) and his own legacy to fall back on he isn't bound to Trump or fox news and so he can and has spoke his mind. To me this shows how intertwined fox (and other lobbyists presumably) and the Republican party has become and how much cronyism and 'partisan hack'-ing has arisen from this.

      5 votes
    4. [6]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [4]
        Algernon_Asimov
        Link Parent
        No. I won't accept that "fix". There are sell-outs in all political parties. There are people in all political parties who will vote along party lines, even if they disagree with their party's...

        No. I won't accept that "fix". There are sell-outs in all political parties. There are people in all political parties who will vote along party lines, even if they disagree with their party's policy. There are people in all political parties who have their eye on power, rather than principle.

        To say that this phenomenon is restricted to only the other political party is part of what's wrong with modern political discourse. It's the demonisation of one's political opponents. It's not conducive to constructive political discussion.

        18 votes
        1. [2]
          moonbathers
          Link Parent
          There are sellouts in all parties but Republicans are so, so much worse and have been for the last fifty years. There's not much constructive discussion to be had with them and both sides-ing it...

          There are sellouts in all parties but Republicans are so, so much worse and have been for the last fifty years. There's not much constructive discussion to be had with them and both sides-ing it only enables them.

          3 votes
          1. [2]
            Comment deleted by author
            Link Parent
            1. moonbathers
              Link Parent
              I just don't know how you can see everything the Republicans have done since Nixon and go "but the Democrats aren't that great either". It's night and day.

              I just don't know how you can see everything the Republicans have done since Nixon and go "but the Democrats aren't that great either". It's night and day.

              3 votes
      2. Kuromantis
        Link Parent
        I'd Recommend you see what Iowa is going through now with their results and the political mess it has become.

        I'd Recommend you see what Iowa is going through now with their results and the political mess it has become.

  2. [3]
    Ellimist
    Link
    Once again, disappointed but not surprised. We knew there was almost zero chance the GOP would conduct a fair trial. McConnell and Graham and the others have been vocal from the beginning that the...

    Once again, disappointed but not surprised.

    We knew there was almost zero chance the GOP would conduct a fair trial. McConnell and Graham and the others have been vocal from the beginning that the impeachment would lead to nothing but an acquittal.

    All Americans can do now is hope the Democrats put forth a worthy candidate and vote in November. Sanders is my pick but I don’t know if the Dems have the courage to actually back him for once.

    17 votes
    1. [3]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [2]
        multubunu
        Link Parent
        ... as long as they have a majority in the Senate. But that's always been the case. What's new is that, in these times, populists like Trump or Johnson get elected in the first place, which would...

        ... as long as they have a majority in the Senate. But that's always been the case.

        What's new is that, in these times, populists like Trump or Johnson get elected in the first place, which would have been unthinkable in previous years, at least in countries with a well established democratic system. And a majority of the political class is intimidated into allowing abuse of the democratic institutions.

        And these are ultimately symptoms of the social unrest, at the moment only psychological. Society still tries to fix itself within the democratic framework, as clumsyly as it may seem.

        8 votes
        1. [2]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. multubunu
            Link Parent
            I don't understand. Does that constitute legal precedent? (honest question, we don't have common law where I'm from).

            I don't understand. Does that constitute legal precedent? (honest question, we don't have common law where I'm from).

            1 vote
  3. [9]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [8]
      moonbathers
      Link Parent
      I hope they do. Now they can fight in court to get Pompeo, Mulvaney, et al., to testify.

      I hope they do. Now they can fight in court to get Pompeo, Mulvaney, et al., to testify.

      4 votes
      1. [5]
        multubunu
        Link Parent
        I'm not from the US, so I'm not that invested in this matter, but I'd risk two cents on the idea that insistence at this moment would be helping Trump. Right now he was "exonerated" in a dubious...

        I hope they do.

        I'm not from the US, so I'm not that invested in this matter, but I'd risk two cents on the idea that insistence at this moment would be helping Trump. Right now he was "exonerated" in a dubious process controlled by his political allies. Another go from the opposition would be just as insuccessfull (as long as the Senate keeps its current composition), but would paint him as a victim.

        4 votes
        1. [4]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. [3]
            multubunu
            Link Parent
            You might be right, and I don't have a lot of insight into American politics, but general observation on politics and elections show that there is always a group of undecided, which don't care...

            Anyone who would want to see Trump as a victim already sees him as one.

            You might be right, and I don't have a lot of insight into American politics, but general observation on politics and elections show that there is always a group of undecided, which don't care that much about politics and don't have a lasting choice. These are not the people that you see at rallies. And at least some of them do vote.

            In fact, the whole purpose of a campaign is to catch these votes, not your loyal supporters' (they vote with you no matter what), neither the other side's (which vote with them no matter what). In Romania we have a situation where the new party, young, untainted politicians, have campaigned largely for their crowd - and got their votes, which they already had...

            3 votes
            1. [3]
              Comment deleted by author
              Link Parent
              1. Gaywallet
                Link Parent
                This seems like a very shallow analysis of what's going on. Do you really think that the most important issues to someone who's struggling in middle to lower class america is 'does my candidate...

                They want to see fights and they see that Trump is a fighter. They see him fighting on Twitter and they see him and his associates ridiculing political opponents in a very public, juvenile way.

                This seems like a very shallow analysis of what's going on. Do you really think that the most important issues to someone who's struggling in middle to lower class america is 'does my candidate want to start some DRAMA??' There are people out there struggling to survive who legitimately think Trump is going to help make their daily lives better.

                4 votes
              2. multubunu
                Link Parent
                Isn't it more than that, though? A decrease in personal wealth for a multitude of people, a degree of uncertainty after the 2008 crisis. Traditional politicians don't seem to handle those...

                Isn't it more than that, though? A decrease in personal wealth for a multitude of people, a degree of uncertainty after the 2008 crisis. Traditional politicians don't seem to handle those grievances, or to even care (Obama is an exception). And trust in the "establishment" has been slowly eroding since the sixties (not only in the US).

                Some of that distrust is justified, and honest politicians, old or new, need to fix that somehow. Hunting the trolls to the bitter end might be counterproductive; what those need is attention. Not sure if you followed UK politics lately, BJ had what seemed to be a disastruos start as PM, and finished with a convincing win in the elections...

                3 votes
        2. moonbathers
          Link Parent
          I think they wouldn't necessarily have to send articles to the Senate or even vote on them. Just open another inquiry and get those guys to come testify. You get to put all the shit they did on...

          I think they wouldn't necessarily have to send articles to the Senate or even vote on them. Just open another inquiry and get those guys to come testify. You get to put all the shit they did on record and then don't move forward and have to deal with the witch hunt accusations.

          As an aside it's amusing that witch hunt is the analogy of choice when innocent people were executed in that and the worst people are getting in American politics the last few years is prison.

          2 votes
      2. [2]
        Gaywallet
        Link Parent
        Court? Senate trials are not court.

        Court? Senate trials are not court.

        1. moonbathers
          Link Parent
          I mean addressing the fact that they tried subpoenaing some of those guys and the administration was like "nah". One of Republicans' big arguments against removing Trump was that Democrats didn't...

          I mean addressing the fact that they tried subpoenaing some of those guys and the administration was like "nah". One of Republicans' big arguments against removing Trump was that Democrats didn't get more people to testify, but it would have spent months tied up in court and Trump would have continued trying to cheat the election in the meantime. He's going to do that anyway, but I'm glad they impeached him nonetheless.

          5 votes