Tag Archives: impeachment

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Resignation possible?

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Let us explore briefly something that virtually no one is saying out loud, but which lurks as a possibility as we ponder the future of the Donald Trump administration.

First, I’ll set the table.

The midterm election in November is shaping up as a possible blowout victory for Democrats. They might flip 30 House seats or more. If they capture the Senate majority, well, that’s just more gravy. Donald Trump then would stand a good chance of being impeached for a third time. He survived the first two impeachments because Republican senators by and large stood with him in the trials that emerged from the House impeachment actions.

Although, 57 senators voted to convict Trump in the second impeachment. It didn’t meet the two-third threshold required for conviction as stipulated by the Constitution.

Just suppose the House impeaches him again. Just suppose it goes to trial. Just suppose there might emerge a core of GOP senators who could tell Trump what many of us want to hear from them. That he cannot win a third trial. He will get the boot.

What does the president do? Does he follow the course that President Nixon did in 1974 when confronted by a group of Republican wise men … and resign?

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says an impeachment article could be brought against the entire executive branch. Indeed, many of them have lied through their teeth to protect the president just in the first year of his second term in office. Article II refers to “other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The article says impeachment proceedings could be launched against “all Civil officers of the United States.” That would mean the president and vice president. Who takes over were such a stunning event to occur? The speaker of the House would become president. Presuming it would be a Democrat, I’ll go out on a limb and suggest it would be Hakeem Jeffries.

I have no clue on this good Earth as to whether that would happen. I am just tossing it out there for discussion purposes.

Who in the name of sanity knows what Trump will seek to do to continue his usurping of congressional power? I cannot answer that one. Except that if I were a member of Congress I would be outraged at what I see happening to the framework our nation’s founders laid out when they created the United States of America.

crime news, military news, national news

Impeachment: good for nation

If the midterm election produces the result many millions of us want, I am quite sure we are going to get a needed boost to our constitutional democracy … which has taken a battering for the past year under the heavy hand of Donald J. Trump.

The boost well could come in the form of an impeachment of Trump. Yes, it is going to produce plenty of vicious anger. But I am OK with it. Why? Because we are going to have what I hope is an open debate on the usurping of power we have witnessed in real time since Trump took office in January 2025.

That power grab is in itself grounds for impeaching a president who, in my view, has violated the oath he took when he returned to the Oval Office for a second time.

He wants to censure a sitting U.S. senator for speaking the truth about following — or not following — unlawful orders. Trump wants the Justice Department to investigate the Fed chairman on the pretext that he oversaw cost overruns on remodeling the Federal Reserve Board. Trump has sent military personnel into harm’s way against Venezuela without seeking congressional approval. Trump appointed a U.S. attorney unlawfully to launch investigations into a former FBI director and the attorney general for the state of New York.

And this just happened in 2025, the year that has just passed into history’s dust bin.

Democrats appear poised to regain control of the House. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Senate control could flip, too, when they count the votes for the midterm election.

The debate over the charges that could come forth will be spirited. Probably angry. Maybe even vicious and personal. The Constitution will see us through the pending rough ride.

Our founders built a government that is resilient enough to bend a great deal … without breaking. It is strong enough to endure a presidential impeachment while allowing Congress to do the rest of the work to which the Constitution empowers it.

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Impeachment coming? Sure, bring it!

Let’s assume for a moment that the political smart money is telling us the truth, that the next Congress is going to flip to Democratic control and that the House of Reps is going to launch an impeachment against Donald Trump.

We all have heard that Democrats might gain 30 seats on the Republicans who now control Congress. I can’t say whether the pundits think the 30-seat gain is at the top of their projection, at the bottom … or somewhere in the middle. If Trump continues on his slap-dash course it well could exceed the 30-seat turnover by a significant margin.

Is an impeachment necessary? I will allow my bias to peek through the haze and declare: Damn right it’s necessary! I will offer this caveat: I want Democrats to assure us that they can more than one thing at a time, that they can proceed with impeaching Trump and resume their constitutional role of making laws.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is likely to be elected speaker and he ought to take a page from the book followed in Texas by then-Speaker Pete Laney. The West Texas cotton farmer said he always simply allowed “the will of the House” to have its way. And so it went during the years that Laney served as the Man of the House.

The will of the U.S. House should be allowed to play the hand it is dealt. If most members believe — as I do — that Trump has committed an impeachable offense or three, then it should act. It also should not allow the legislative process to get caught in a political vise that will clamp down around the White House.

We’ve all heard them say that lawmakers can “do more than one thing at a time.” Impeaching a president is serious business. So is legislating.

national news

Ready, set … judge his place in history!

Some of you might think I am getting ahead of myself by posing this question … but I don’t think so.

The question: Is it too early to begin wondering how history is going to judge Donald Trump’s two terms in office as president of the United States?

Pay attention. Dude is a lame duck. He won’t seek another term in office because the Constitution won’t allow it. Congressional Republicans got alarmed in the 1940s after President Roosevelt was elected for his fourth term in 1944. They wanted to prevent what they feared would be an imperial presidency. So, Congress ratified the 22nd Amendment setting a two-term limit on presidential elections.

I wil concede that historians will have difficulty wrapping their arms around Trump’s two terms. How does history judge someone who wins a second term vowing to be his supporters’ “retribution” and then proceeds to follow through on that chilling pledge? It is clear to anyone with half a functioning brain that Trump wants to rewrite the rules of governance, seeking to scarf up more power for the chief executive than the Constitution currently allows.

Leading economists and constitutional scholars say he is breaking the law by invoking inflationary tariffs on imported goods.

There well might be a special category emerging for this guy. He won’t be judged by history purely by policies he supposedly favors. I say “supposedly” because he doesn’t seem to have a philosophical core that goes beyond what’s good for him.

His obituary will contain the word “impeached” in the leading paragraph. So, for that matter, will Bill Clinton’s obit. Trump went through two of them. You know what? There well might be more of them coming up if Democrats regain control of the House in the 2026 midterm election. The question, though, for Senate Republicans is whether they will find the courage to convict him and toss his sorry backside out of office.

You can bet your final buck that historians are preparing the first draft assessing what this guy has meant to the presidency and to the nation he was elected twice to lead. Therefore , it is not too early to begin that task.

military news, national news

One and done? Hah … !

Donald J. Trump no doubt is hoping for a “one and done” bombing mission against Iran’s nuclear weapons project.

He likely won’t get it. Instead, Iran is vowing to strike back at U.S. interests and most certainly against Israel. The question for Trump then becomes: What shall this country’s follow-up entail? More air strikes? Boots on the ground?

I am suspicious of Trump’s decision to send the B-2 bombers over Iran. I join him in praising the skill and precision exhibited by the aviators who carried out the mission. They dropped about a dozen bunker buster bombs weighing about 30,000 pounds apiece. Submarines launched Tomahawk missiles at the nuclear targets once the aircraft had completed their mission.

I do not want the United States to go to war against Iran. Under no circumstances should we commit our forces to fighting an enemy dedicated to our destruction, not to mention the destruction of Israel … which began this conflict some days ago with missile and drone attacks against the Iranian nuclear sites.

The political consequences of this event are staggering. Democrats in Congress say Trump has committed an impeachable offense by acting without prior consultation with Congress, which they say is spelled out in the Constitution. They are joined by the MAGA mob that says Trump campaigned for election on the promise to end “endless wars.” Spoiler alert: Don’t wait for the MAGA morons to join an impeachment movement against Trump.

These are dangerous times, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve been through them before. I could blow this off as a one-and-done deal, except that with the current POTUS, one never — not ever! — can predict what he’ll do.

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Trump’s ‘ratings’ are tanking

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Donald J. Trump, when campaigning for the presidency, often has referred to “ratings” in assessing the success he is having with the public.

You’ve heard him boast about the “ratings” he allegedly scored at campaign rallies, or TV appearances, or whatever he did while campaigning.

Well, it appears — if reports are accurate — that the ratings game is petering out for Trump. Some recent polling suggests his approval/disapproval rating is the worst of any POTUS at this stage of his term. It’s good to keep that in a bit of perspective. He wasn’t exactly a newbie when he took office in January. He did an earlier term in which he got impeached twice and got indicted on multiple felonies.

Americans knew what they were getting when they elected this dumbass a second time in November.

Since taking office a little over a month ago, Trump has managed to:

  • Seek to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
  • Discussed openly purchasing Greenland from Denmark.
  • Talked about Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.
  • Pledged to seize back the Panama Canal.
  • Discussed taking possession of the Gaza Strip and turning it into a Middle East Riviera.
  • Appointed a cast of clowns and crackpots to his Cabinet.

Americans simply cannot believe the nonsense that flows from this individual’s overfed pie hole.

But it does. And polling suggests Americans have had their fill … already. Oh, the fun is just beginning.

crime news

He stands as a convicted felon!

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Donald J. Trump’s list of “firsts” to be included in his obituary already comprises an unbelievable litany of disgraceful episodes in this man’s truly bizarre life.

First president to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives.

First president to boast about his martial unfaithfulness.

First president to be accused of seeking to overthrow the government.

And now this: First president to enter his second non-consecutive term in office as a convicted felon.

New York District Judge Juan Merchan today issued a sentence that finalizes Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of paying a porn actress $130,000 to keep quiet about a tryst the two of them had … but that Trump denies ever occurring. Merchan could have sent Trump to prison. He didn’t. He chose instead to issue what they call “unconditional discharge,” meaning that Donald Trump is free to take the oath of office in 10 days.

He will, though, be indelibly stained by the felony conviction on his record. Not that it matters a bit to this narcissistic sociopath who doesn’t exhibit a scintilla of contrition for the verdict delivered by a jury of his peers.

He plans to appeal the conviction.

I am going to accept the judge’s decision to take the action he took. I won’t do so gleefully. I am saddened by the reality that Trump was elected this past November after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Voters “fired” Trump from his first job as president, only to send him back … even after he promised to pardon many of the Jan. 6 mobsters who stormed the Capitol that day to stop the certification of the election that Trump lost.

We have just witnessed a dark day in our nation’s rich and varied history.

national news

GOP rewrites rules of conduct

Here, apparently, is where we stand with what passes for a once-great American political party.

Republicans who once impeached a president of the U.S.A. for lying to a grand jury about an affair he had with a White House intern is now giving a pass to one of their own who has been convicted of sexual assault on a female author.

The GOP used to stand behind what they called “family values,” and their definition of “character.” No more. One of their guys has actually boasted about grabbing women by their genitals, acknowledged cheating on his wives, said he has never sought forgiveness for his sins.

None of that matters to contemporary Republicans. It damn sure mattered in the late 1990s when a special prosecutor — hired to examine a real estate deal called Whitewater — stumbled upon a relationship between a Democratic president and a young White House intern.

He summoned the POTUS to testify to a grand jury and when he was asked about the affair, he lied. That did it! We cannot have a president who breaks the law, perjures himself. So, they impeached him. The POTUS was acquitted in a Senate trial.

This time? A president has admitted to being a scumbag. He has admitted to philandering. He has admitted to violating his supposedly sacred oath of marriage.

No sweat, man. It doesn’t matter, because the most recently former POTUS is a conservative, or so he says. He appoints judges who will do the right wing’s bidding.

A politician’s character no longer matters. It no longer factors into whether a pol is fit for office.

Our sense of value has been upended completely. It’s all been turned upside-down.

It’s all so very sad … and disgraceful beyond description.

national news

Now it’s OK for ‘partisan impeachment’?

US House Speaker Mike Johnson is on record saying that “partisan impeachment” by Congress sets a dangerous precedent.

Oh, but wait. That was then. The here and now suggests that Johnson has changed his partisan mind. You see, the House yesterday voted along party lines to launch an impeachment inquiry to find something on which to charge President Biden.

Every Republican voted for the inquiry; every Democrat voted against it. The GOP caucus is looking for something. To date, they don’t even have a suspected “high crime and misdemeanor” to allege against Biden.

But, hey, who cares what the speaker once said? He must’ve been kidding when he called for a bipartisan impeachment. The inquiry, for sure, doesn’t necessarily guarantee an impeachment against President Biden.

My hunch tells me that if one comes, it’ll be along partisan lines.

Disgraceful.

national news, political news

Impeach POTUS? For … what?

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said it is imperative that the House launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden’s conduct.

Sigh …

I am trying to understand this idiocy being promoted, fomented and put forth by the MAGA wing of the House Republican caucus. They are looking for anything to hang around Joe Biden’s neck. They are angry that the House impeached their guy, Donald Trump, twice during his single term in office.

So they’re out for revenge. Credible charges? Evidence of corruption? Anything of substance they can present as a “high crime and misdemeanor”? Pffttt!

This is the theater of the absurd run amok.

Now we have the speaker of the House saying its so damn important that the House launch an inquiry into impeaching the president.

The man is nuttier than a Payday bar!