no one should ever expect the Republicans to have any integrity, that the evidence won't matter to them.

as it gives up on getting even one republican to vote for removal, which could be huge.

that said, it's probably the right thing to do, as, yes, that result seems like a foregone conclusion.


but would it matter? as soon as donald fraud starts parading himself around cheering his "win", the media will forget everything we said beforehand and just cover it in a pro-republican way.

best way to put pressure on them to do something else, regardless- i.e., the "prove me wrong" strategy (which Trump uses against the Dems all the time).

morally bankrupt thing they usually do.

i'd agree with that approach.

Iraq resolution's content and only use military force ONLY after pressuring the UN to intervene failed was 'naive and stupid.'

But you trust a bunch of Senators who have stayed with him this far to sacrifice their Senate seat to "do the right thing" now?

The ones that wanted out already got out.

you can bet that it will embolden Republicans beyond Amash

if they haven't done so by now?

listing out all the crimes from Donny and his minions. That has not happened yet. Donny dropped 5 points after Cohen testified in public back in February. Now, imagine if that had been followed up with several other high profile people testifying over the next several weeks? Does he drop a few more points after each person testifies?

Remember, the image from the Cohen hearings was not one single Republican defended Trump. All save Justin Amash attacked Cohen only.

The daily scandals and outrages get lost in the shuffle by the next day's scandal and/or outrage and then are soon forgotten. That's been the method to his madness - how many people remember back in 2017 all those people posing for pics with the "nuclear football" back at Mar-A-Lago? That alone should have been impeachable for the egregious breaches of national security, but it was lost to time two days later when Michael Flynn was fired.

They double down when he's accused of something. They were cheering Kavanaugh.

GOP Senators had nothing to lose by not defending Cohen - Trump had his followers, their base, convinced that Cohen was a liar and crook, because he had turned on Trump.

not holding impeachment hearings validates Trump's narrative;

The Mueller report is over, No Collusion, No Obstruction. The Democrats and FBI carried on a witch hunt, now they need to be investigated. Barr appointed a special prosecutor instead of using the IG for a reason, the special prosecutor reports directly to Barr, he can spin a tale however he chooses right up to election time. I fully expect that Barr/Trump will put Hillary on the 2020 ballot.

Dems need to bring a gun to a gun fight.

that's what i mean, that the alternative might be worse than impeachment followed by acquittal.


btw, barr didn't appoint mueller, and special counsel was the most appropriate thing available. if you mean why wasn't an independent counsel appointed, it's because that law was done away with after its powers were abused by ken starr during the clinton years.

see what republicans do, they corrupt a pretty good but not perfect law so that law is done away with, enabling them to get away with vastly more corruption....

Trump will continue a new version of the Gowdy Doody Show through Barr.

You really have that little respect for her? And so much confidence in your experience that you think 'it's not complicated?'

The only thing we KNOW is that if we impeach, Trump does not get convicted or removed from office. There just aren't the votes in the Senate. Period. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

If Trump were come onto the Senate floor, shoot 30 Republican members and they all survive their wounds, every single one of them wold vote to acquit Trump of any and all crimes. Yes, we HAVE arrived at that point. George Orwell had nothing on 2019 America.

The one thing an impeachment trial CAN do for us is showcase, in televised hearings, in detail and at length, the charges against Trump. With Jerry Nadler leading the charge, you can believe that everything thrown at Trump in accusation will be backed up by hard evidence. The acquittal votes by the Senate Republicans will either be made in triumphant righteousness or with bowed heads in shame to jeers from the visitors' gallery. The difference would be in how well our case was prepared.

We either hit our mark or blow it with the presentation, because, as with Clinton, the outcome (acquittal) was never in doubt.

the hearings are more important than the actual impeachment.

that's one reason to maybe even delay any impeachment vote until after the election.

Dems can risk political fallout to protect the rule of law by drawing relentless, laser focused attention to this administration’s lawlessness, whether it results in Trump’s removal or not.

sadly it's drilled into them from day one. they have to spend most of their time, every week, fundraising for the next election.

it's really a horrible way to run a so-called democracy.

is knowing where the Obama-->Trump voters stand on things. That's an important cluster of swing voters. I don't know if polls can pinpoint their attitudes and locations or not.

Donny Dump w/o impeachment inquiry:
"No collusion! No obstruction! Total exoneration!"

Donny Dump w/impeachment inquiry but w/o Senate conviction:
"No collusion! No obstruction! No conviction! Total exoneration!"

Repeat one of the above endlessly for 18 months. Does it matter which? (Oversimplified?)

Another consideration is that Dumpublicans are trying to bury all this and move on. "Case closed," declares Turtle. Impeachment inquiry would at least keep the case open and the media wouldn't be able to move on.

crimes and evidence exist. ???

Trump is already focusing his Roy Cohn stand-in Barr at his political opponents for 2020 like the Ukraine bullshit Giuliani was trying to peddle. It will get much, much worse if Trump gets to act out his full idea of what being President means.