If nothing else, this presidency is teaching the public about some of the less prominent parts of the Constitution. I never thought I'd see a day with features in major newspapers about the 25th Amendment.
With Bob Corker's semi-public semi-meltdown still causing a few faint ripples in the Beltway pond, it is clearer than ever that even the people who go along with and enable this disastrous farce see it for exactly what it is. It seems like there are more than just a handful of prominent Republicans who really would like to be rid of this guy. Unfortunately they'd like to be rid of Trump in the same sense that most of us would like to lose weight or save more money; that is, we want it consistently but apparently not enough to do anything about it. Bob Corker is me talking about how I need to eat healthier and take better care of myself as I wait for the bartender to bring me another order of hot wings.
Everyone on the right who hasn't chugged the Kool-Aid seems to want to be rid of Trump, sincerely, and they all have some kind of fantasy about how it will happen without Republicans in Washington having to do anything. Maybe Comey will take care of it somehow! And then there's Mueller, Mueller can probably find some way to indict him or something!
Or maybe the 25th Amendment! The Cabinet is unelected, so they can do that 25th Amendment thing and absorb the political fallout!
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Oh hey look here's General Kelly – he's tough or something, look at his uniform! He'll straighten this all out, probably! Hey what about resigning? Is that plausible? He looks and sounds miserable, so maybe he'll just quit? Yeah that could happen! And if all else fails, the guy's 71 and fat and always exploding with rage. Maybe an aneurysm will do our constitutional duty for us!
It appears never to occur to these people, or at least it fails to do so in any way that sticks, that as sitting members of the United States Congress there is in fact something they could do about this. They seem to speak from some alternate reality in which they are expecting us to sympathize with them, each of them on the verge of turning to the camera like Jim Halpert and making the "Do you see this shit I have to deal with?
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" face.
Yes, we see it. We are living it. We are all too aware of it, probably even moreso than members of Congress since their power and money insulate them from much of the real life the rest of us can't avoid. Stop expecting the public to see you as some sort of helpless victim and wailing about how you wish upon a star that someone would come along and fix this.
Either shut up and admit that you're happy to enable it with silence or shut up. Nothing is more frustrating than listening to someone talk (for the nth time) about how much they're suffering when experience demonstrates that they refuse to take any action to improve the situation.
Thanks for airing your true feelings, Senator Corker, but there's no way to get out of this without breaking a sweat. Put on the big boy pants and do your job.
Mo says:
You, too, have been thinking about this quote on a daily basis?
Alas, for me it comes to mind when I think about the 60 million Americans who voted for a depraved con man.
Who will rid us these troublesome folk?
Or maybe the question should start with, "What…"
Mo says:
OK, I guess weaponized molasses storage out of consideration, appealing though it may be.
https://xkcd.com/1904/
Richard E. Schallert says:
Beware of this option to replace Trump. As president, Pence would be a "puppy dog" for the Koch brothers. And they really want (and need?) to do some serious harm to these United States!!
Let's see if we can endure Trump for only 3.5 years and replace him with a REAL American patriot, such as John McCain.
Remember: ONE John McCain is worth a dozen (or more!) Trumps!!
Berkeley '74 says:
Forget the talk of the 25th amendment solution, or the impeachment solution. Let's get directly to the military coup and get this show on the road.
wetcasements says:
John McCain has an aggressive brain tumor.
And the earth literally won't last another three years under President Pussygrabber.
ITMFA.
Net Denizen says:
They have to see if they can steal 2018 before they will be willing to do anything about it. With about 65% of the country completely opposed to trump's agenda, but only about 40% of the vote necessary to guarantee a republican landslide, they are literally on the fence about whether they should do anything about him.
Also, 8+ years of talking shit without producing one iota of semblance of being able to govern has limited their ability to actually do anything. The party of "personal responsibility" has an unfortunately long history of externalizing blame and shirking their duties.
Talisker says:
If they move against Trump, GOP members of Congress are afraid of being primaried into oblivion by deranged Trump voters. This is cowardly, but not irrational.
The 25th Amendment won't let Congress off the hook. The Cabinet can remove the President temporarily, but it needs Congressional approval to make it permanent. No matter what wrongdoing Mueller uncovers, it's unlikely to penetrate the bubble of unreality inhabited by Trump's hardcore supporters, so that won't save Congress either. Basically, their only strategy for removing Trump before 2020 is to either (a) discover some cojones, or (b) hope that Trump dies or suffers some debilitating illness and takes the problem off their hands.
Also, it's entirely possible that some GOP big beasts (Cruz? Graham?) are keeping their powder dry, in the hopes of making a successful primary challenge to Trump in 2020. A scandal-ridden Trump might well be easier to take down than President Pence.
Of course, there's the far from trivial risk that Trump will blow up the world in the meantime and render all these calculations irrelevant.
geoff says:
(My) Senator Corker, you may recall, was was mentioned as a Trump VP possibility at one point. There were plenty of opportunities from June of 2015 to decry Trump's obvious lack of fitness for the job, not to mention his overt racism. But NOPE. So fuck you, Bob. It's way too little, way too late.
Corker's not running for reelection (he'd be a shoe-in imo), and his likely replacement is Marsha Blackburn, the southern Michele Bachman, i.e. a fucking nut. So thanks AGAIN, Bob.
(@Berkley '74, look at Trump's cabinet and tell me we aren't there already.)
geoff says:
NEED AN EDIT FUNCTION PLS.
geoff says:
O/T-ish, there's this: "Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) proposed on Friday that hospital emergency rooms should be able to turn patients away to help keep health care costs down."
She's running for governor next year, in a process I refer to as "Mississippi-fication".
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/diane-black-emergency-rooms_us_59e674cce4b0d0e4fe6bd0ee
wetcasements says:
If Trump makes it to 2020, he's the GOP nom for 2020. Period.
No way Cruz or Rubio risks being _emasculated_ again like they were in 1016.
geoff says:
@wc, yep, two terms or bust!! Don't worry, General Kelly's got everything under control ; )
disgusted says:
I also struggle with this piece of S*** we are supposed to be calling the leader of the free world. I share the concern over Pence and his ties to the Koch brothers. And the next is Paul Ryan…. good God. We are doomed unless the Dems take over in 2018 and can stop some of this madness. I envision that if pushed Trump will develop some mysterious illness to avoid the shame of being impeached. Quite frankly they all need to go to jail from Trump down to the Reps who support him. I have not had a day of peace since he took office. He is a moron but the Reps who support him are worse. My biggest fear is that Pandora's box has been opened and future candidates/presidents/congressmen will feel free to lie, cheat, and screw Americans without being censured by voters or the government. the Liar-in-chief has broken every rule we have become accustomed to believing. The trolls who voted for trump are taking over and those of us who care are helpless to do anything about it. Every day brings a new needless atrocity.
Dave Dell says:
Why would the Rethugs want to remove Trump? They're getting (or they think they're going to get) what they want. A judiciary packed with RWNutjobs and their corporate overlords a big tax break. Many of their desires flow from those two things. An end to environmental protections, the ability to limit the franchise, "pro-life" judicial rulings, insane drug policies, power back to the States for things that should be done nationally, a balanced budget amendment… The list goes on. We're so fucked.
Tim H. says:
"SCROTUS" is largely doing the bidding of an influential segment of enormous money that also has leverage on most politicians in the United States, I wouldn't count on holding your breath for change. No substantial change until the money loses it's hold, even then, it takes a while before freed thralls find their feet. Another issue, our dystopic state has become the norm, and such justice as was, an impossible dream to return to.
Perhaps they next time Wall $treet blows up the world economy they'll do a thorough job of it and the survivors will have a small chance of rebuilding better.
seniorscrub says:
@Berkeley '74:
I don't think we can hold out to May. How does "Seven Days In November" sound?
Safety Man! says:
Too soon Ed, too soon.
I forget, did the knight that murdered he priest ever face trial? Was his family name O’Reilley?
Ten Bears says:
Given that my world went to shit in the Cheney Administration, my career destroyed by a religiously racist, misogynous, homophobic, old testament authoritarian, dominionist no doubt Trump voting bigot with half my education and half my experience but none-the-less in a position to get away with harassing and ultimately forcing me to quit the career I had worked fifteen years and invested tens of thousands of dollars in educational expenses to have, a walking talking caricature of Our Tea Pot Dictator, and having at one point found myself living in a van down by the river, I'm actually finding it all really rather humorous.
lugnut says:
Congressional GOP is getting everything they want, whether through legislation, Executive Orders, or SCotUS ruling. They're just not used to getting what they want in such a gauche manner.
Mo says:
I'm probably a sick puppy because I found this an interesting read…
"Then they lay sacrilegious hands on him, pulling and dragging him that they may kill him outside the church, or carry him away a prisoner, as they afterwards confessed. But when he could not be forced away from the pillar, one of them pressed on him and clung to him more closely. Him he pushed off calling him 'pander', and saying, 'Touch me not, Reginald; you owe me fealty and subjection; you and your accomplices act like madmen.'
"The knight, fired with a terrible rage at this severe repulse, waved his sword over the sacred head. 'No faith', he cried, 'nor subjection do I owe you against my fealty to my lord the King.'
"Then the unconquered martyr seeing the hour at hand which should put an end to this miserable life and give him straightway the crown of immortality promised by the Lord, inclined his neck as one who prays and joining his hands he lifted them up, and commended his cause and that of the Church to God, to St. Mary, and to the blessed martry Denys. Scarce had he said the words than the wicked knight, fearing lest he should be rescued by the people and escape alive, leapt upon him suddenly and wounded this lamb who was sacrificed to God on the head, cutting off the top of the crown which the sacred unction of the chrism had dedicated to God; and by the same blow he wounded the arm of him who tells this. For he, when the others, both monks and clerks, fled, stuck close to the sainted Archbishop and held him in his arms till the one he interposed was almost severed.
"Then he received a second blow on the head but still stood firm. At the third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living victim, and saying in a low voice, 'For the Name of Jesus and the protection of the Church I am ready to embrace death.'
"Then the third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he lay, by which the sword was broken against the pavement, and the crown which was large was separated from the head. The fourth knight prevented any from interfering so that the others might freely perpetrate the murder.
"As to the fifth, no knight but that clerk who had entered with the knights, that a fifth blow might not be wanting to the martyr who was in other things like to Christ, he put his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to say, scattered his brain and blood over the pavement, calling out to the others, 'Let us away, knights; he will rise no more.'
Kaleberg says:
I just smell operational hypocrisy.
The Republicans have been and are still perfectly happy with Donald Trump. He and they are about trashing everything good and that is working in our society to the advantage of an extremely wealthy handful of sponsors. They have a core of Americans backing them who would like nothing more than a fascist, racist American state, much poorer than the current one, with themselves as loyal servitors to some hierarchy of medieval lords. As politicians, though, they need the support of the slightly less fanatic Republicans who have no problem with below the belt fighting, as long as it gets called against the other side. So, they go on about how awful Trump is and how awful it is to have to deal with him, as if they were actually bothered in the least. Then, they do nothing except figure out how to take advantage of the holes Trump offers in our societal fabric. They are feeding on America's dying carcass. Trump is just a rambunctious maggot. They'll just eat around the edges and let him do his work. In eight years Trump will be gone, and then they'll have to find someone just as bad or worse.
The simplest explanation is sometimes the best.
Kaleberg says:
P.S. Re: weaponized molasses
Munro at XKCD got it wrong in that chart which is odd given that he lives in the Boston area. The 1919 molasses flood in downtown Boston killed 21. The reason we don't have molasses based weapons is the high probability of flow back.
Gerald McGrew says:
As a few have noted, the GOP will "do something about Trump" when the political cost of not doing anything is too high.
As of now, there is no cost for leaving Trump in place. Plus, Bannon and his minions have made it clear that there WILL be a political cost if they do anything against Trump.
So strap in my friends. This isn't going to change anytime soon (and it still hasn't even been one year since he was sworn in).
mojrim says:
It's clear that many GOP congressmen detest the man for his utter failure to get anything done and in some cases actively undermining their agenda. They would much prefer to have Pence in office; a reasonably competent politician they can work with. Still, they know which way the wind is blowing: it's not Trump's Agenda (as if he had one) that's so unpopular, it's theirs. Having him in office keeps the base riled up and deflects attention from themselves.
democommie says:
@ mojrim:
Yeah, too bad they don't detest him for being an abolute p.o.s. who has made the U.S. the equivalent of the Squeegee Man on the international stage–well, the Squeegee Man with nukes.
Karl Kolchak says:
Impeach and remove Trump you get Pence (Trump was very smart to make that scary a-hole his VP). Since that might actually be worse, I prefer watching our craven and corrupt political class (both parties) tear itself apart.
democommie says:
@ Karl Koloche:
You seem to be big on equating all parties with the batshitKKKrazzeemofos in the GOP. Whatever. You wanna live in a place where you don't have to put up with this shit. Try Mogadish, anywhere in Yemen or Russia.
Noskilz says:
I suspect that since they really, really don't want to do anything if they can help it, Mueller's investigation makes a convenient excuse to put off doing anything until he gets back to them.
I doubt the House or Senate GOP is really going to want to hear anything Mueller has to say, but waiting for the results of an investigation does sound like a good way to avoid dealing with the situation for however long that takes, and if he either fails to turn much of anything up or turns up all sorts of things, that does reduce their exposure to risk. Either they can claim they looked and there wasn't that much to it, or they can act surprised and blame what happens next on their vast respect for the law.
Yeah, if they really cared about the things they claimed to(honesty, integrity, rule of law, the Constitution,etc..), this could have been over months ago, but if they cared about the things they claimed to, it would never have happened to begin with. It's just going to have to be a case of Trump causing enough problems for them to want to do something about him, and he seems to be doing his best to make that happen.
mothra says:
They are waiting for the tax cuts. Their vote yesterday set the stage. Bend over, kids, we are about to REALLY get fucked now. Republicans *might* oust Trump once the the tax reform bill gets signed. They get to keep Pence, who is just as bad if not worse than Trump.
I am actually hoping fervently for a nuclear attack by North Korea. Bring on the end as quickly as possible. Please.
Scepticus says:
Seems like Putin's plan is out working perfectly.
democommie says:
@ Scepticus:
Unless Donnie Danger gets that nuclear war he seems to be itching for. If that happens, everybody's shit is in the street.
Ed says:
Hillary lost. Get over it.
Mo says:
Was this how the Praetorian Guard took out Caligula? Asking for a friend.
"As to the fifth, no knight but that clerk who had entered with the knights, that a fifth blow might not be wanting to the martyr who was in other things like to Christ, he put his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to say, scattered his brain and blood over the pavement, calling out to the others, 'Let us away, knights; he will rise no more.'
John Danley says:
Chaos gives us job creators!
sandiegostate says:
Hey Ed
The United States of America lost. Only traitors and/or idiots don't admit that.
Ten Bears says:
Valid point: regardless the circumstance Clinton is not in charge.
Jerry Shepherd says:
The stress that Drumpf is probably greater now than any other time of his life. He has to deny everything that is on tape of his actions and what he said. He most likely did not deal with this much scrutiny when he was a private citizen. He had lawyers to be a buffer for him before he became POTUS. The normal stress of being President and his compounding it with his deceitfulness will most likely give him a stroke or coronary very soon.
Mo says:
These rotten people have to be reined in, one way or another, if our country is going to retain any semblance of decency.
James Wolcott at Vanity Fair and Dartagnan at Daily Kos, Because It Would Be Irresponsible Not To Speculate.
For starters, where are the rogue scientists working in secret labs on a method for sending out a pulse that turns ammo into useless carbon?
Mo says:
That first sentence was a quote, btw, not from me.
Fuck HTML.
democommie says:
"That first sentence was a quote, btw, not from me.
Fuck HTML."
IF I was going to have a headstone, it might just have that last bit on it. Then, when a couple of teenaged Velociroaches*–relaxing after their meal of an 800 # Rhinoceros Beetle–see it and one says, "What the hell is HTML?", the other will say, "It was an ancient language, long dead, that was invented by a species that had no idea how to use pheremonal signaling–they never quite got it "dehumaned".
* The cockroaches having survived the hell of nuclear war/winter and feeding on the bloated corpses of the bloated corporatists who died, last but not happily will have filled niches previously occupied by dinos and the like.