Donald Trump has been impeached for a second time. How do you feel about this?

[nightdrot]

The impeachment of Mr. Trump - and I say this as no fan of the President and as a Republican who did not vote for him - is not really a matter of great moment. Transparently political, it is but one more step in the process of making impeachment just another toy in the toybox and otherwise its' impact is likely to be transitory at most.

This was an impeachment that went through no investigative committee and subcommittee hearings, that had no mark-ups, the articles were drafted in less than a day and then brought to the House floor and passed in two hours. Such was the gravity of the moment that it passed in record time will minimal investigation or deliberations.

The Speaker argued that such haste was required because the President posed an immediate threat to the republic. Yet the trial may be delayed for up to 100 days - well past President Trump's departure from office - lest it interrupt the proceedings of the Senate to confirm the new President's Cabinet and sub-Cabinet officers. (It should be noted that Senate rules during an impeachment require that all Senators be present at their desks on the Senate floor. Thus all other work - also including work on COVID pandemic relief - must stop.)

Thus when Mr. Biden was asked about whether there should be an impeachment of the incumbent President - threat to the republic that he represents - the President-elect basically looked down at his feet and mumbled that he hoped (!) that the Senate could do both an impeachment and move his 100 day agenda forward. Thus also giving the nation a glimpse into the supine nature of the Presidency to come.

Add to this the somewhat dubious nature of the charge. The Article of impeachment makes vague reference to incitement to insurrection. Make no mistake, Mr. Trump was and remains the buffoonish oaf that he has been for four years. He frittered away his chance to build an enduring political coalition in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, because unlike those political icons, he was content to pour salt in the social wounds.

The speech that Mr. Trump gave on January 6 was in that tradition. Hardly new and hardly surprising. Yet were the President an average citizen in a regular court of law, the First Amendment would likely protect him. Moreover, again as there was no investigation before the article of impeachment was drafted, the evidence that is now coming to light that the attack was pre-planned (and thus logically the President's speech did NOT provoke it) is being discounted.

This also to add that Washington never panics - except in a crisis. The Capitol has seen violence before - including in 1954 when gunmen entered the House chamber and sprayed it with bullets, wounding 6 Members - and all this would have been avoided, or at least not become the drama that it has, had Capitol police been deployed as they normally are when the city experiences large mass events.

So now the impeachment trial will make its lethargic way - the protestations of crisis that inspired it notwithstanding - to the Senate floor. In political terms it will perpetuate the divisions that afflict the nation. In practical terms it will be rendered moot, and arguably (and ironically) unconstitutional by virtue of the fact that the impeached will no longer be in office. (The Constitution, it should be noted, stipulates impeachment of Presidents only, not former Presidents or other citizens.)

Thus, as history repeats itself first as tragedy the second time as farce, so now will impeachment. Mr. Trump's second impeachment likely to end as little more than a footnote and an historical oddity. All this to satisfy the passions of the hour.

The Italian political philosopher coined the word onogracracy. The term meaning "government by wild asses." It is a term that aptly describes America in the first quarter of the 21st century.

[Not_Average]

On a human level, I feel bad for him. The way they covered this man was absolutely misleading and horrible. I don’t agree with everything he’s done, but there’s a strong distaste I have for people who demonstrate so much hatred. They chewed him up and spit him out, and they managed to brainwashed the world to hate him. I feel bad for his wife as well. She started a cyber bullying campaign just because she saw how her husband was treated.

The charge is bogus. He said to peacefully protest, yet his opponents can actively incite violence and then bail out the rioters.

Despite that, I don’t think I’ll ever trust the Democratic Party ever again. This doesn’t have to do with Trump individually. I can’t support a party that acts this hypocritical and vile towards other human beings. These people have turned Americans against each other by race. They’ve tarnished the reputation of all law enforcement officers across the country. They’ve destroyed American relationships. They are some of the most talented manipulators I’ve ever seen. This isn’t to say Democrats in general are bad, but their politicians are just down-right evil

[Tiffany_Taylor_Made]

I feel that the impeachment is justified, but my only issue with it is the timing. In my opinion, Donald Trump should have been impeached long ago solely based on how he handled the Charlottesville, Virginia incident in 2017. Donald Trump is well aware of the fact that his supporters are a bunch of mindless sheep that would obey his every order. When Trump made his speech telling his supporters to go to the Capitol, he didn't tell his supporters to protest at the Capitol peacefully as clearly and often as he should have. Instead, he more often used dog whistling rhetoric and violent speech that told his supporters to "fight like hell," "be strong," and "you won't have a country anymore." His lawyer Rudy Ghouliani even mentioned "trial by combat," which isn't peaceful by any means. He also didn't make any tweet or public announcement telling his supports not to take Rudy's "combat" words literally. This resulted in Donald Trump's supporters taking Trump's words literally, which led to them breaking in and rioting in the Capitol, killing law enforcement officers. Because of this, Donald Trump should definitely be held accountable for his actions not just on a political scale, but also a criminal scale for inciting violence.

[thegirlwonder]

1000% support it, but his loonies have threatened more attacks and I don't think that's going to end immediately.

He is not above the laws or the constitution, and the impact of his actions needs to be recognized and accounted for.

It's beyond concerning that so many of his followers still defend him. This, among other things, should show us all that this isn't over. We are still deeply divided, we have seemingly huge differences of understanding constitutionality, democracy, and law, and white supremacist militia groups and religious nuts are more organized than ever on the right and I doubt their intensity and willingness to attack the government (or people in general) are going to wane over night. We are at an interesting time in our society.

[Apope16]

As a Democrat I think it is kind of dumb. Maxine Waters and other Democrats incited the rioting of Black Lives Matter. Congresswoman Waters said, "Get in their faces!" and talked about going to their homes and other public places and harrassing people. Next thing you know people are burning down cities.

Democrats also haven't done a lot to condemn violence. You have protestors shooting a guy with a MAGA hat in the street and leaders are in denial about it.

There is an important constitutional question here that is basic for impeachment. Did Trump incite insurrection? Did he incite a riot?

The answer is no he did not. His speech prior to the Capitol situation was talking about "peaceful" demonstration and going to capitol hill to "cheer on our legislators".

Are Trump supporters radicalized? Yes. Are they violent? Yes.

But if we blamed President Obama for cities burning under his Presidency by impeaching him it wouldn't be fair. And it is not fair to blame Trump for his supporters for the same thing. And even if you agree with blaming Trump. There is simply not enough evidence to impeach him. Impeachment should not be political.

[guesswhoseback]

This is just a giant charade to remove any chance of him running again in 2024 and to make Pelosi and the democrats look good. Also you need to prove criminal intent for this.

The vast majority of you jumping for joy over this did NOT listen to his ENTIRE rally speech before the Capitol Hill incident. You just listened to chopped up media bites or didn’t listen to it all.

Yes he did tell his followers to march with him to the Capitol and yes he did say “the election was stolen from him” which was extremely stupid. But he also explicitly told his followers to protest PEACEFULLY. At no point did he tell them to engage in violence or riot.

He’s responsible for raising the temperature but say he is directly criminally responsible for violence is hearsay. Both Bernie Sanders and Obama said rhetoric that lead to violence (congressional baseball game shooting and the Dallas police killer). But no one held them criminally liable for that bullshit nor should they. They didn’t tell their fans to go out and kill people and Trump didn’t tell people to riot.

Of course that’s what you don’t want to hear. But feelings won’t get Trump impeached a second time. It’s just a waste of time and taxpayer money and time to go through all this bs again.

Trump is done. He’s leaving Jan 21st and no serious republican is going to back him for a 2024 presidential run.

[MarkRet]

It's sad that it's come to this, but Trump is like a bull in a china shop, and things are gonna break. Trump stirs people up, lies, pays off people, bullys, but takes no responsibility for any of it, and he's never been held accountable for anything in his life, until now. He stirred up that crowd, told them to be strong, take the Capitol building, told them he'd march with them (when he really just sat in the White House and watched it on TV), and they trashed the Capitol Building. He took an oath to protect America from foreign and domestic enemies, and he made NO attempt to notify any security to stop this. It's just pure sedition, an impeachable offense.

What's even more disturbing is 197 Republicans in the House voted 'no' on the impeachment. I know there are a few ding-dongs in the House like Gaetz and Gohmert who will follow Trump into Hell, but the rest of them? They're cowards, and they're afraid of Trump's vengeance and his base for next election time. Mitch McConnell will stall the impeachment in the Senate until after Jan 20th to provide cover for himself and his fellow Republicans in the Senate, thinking that when the Democrats take the Senate, they can do the dirty work. Class act, Mitch. He moved like lightning when it came to getting Amy Coney Barrett confirmed in the Senate.

Trump always brags about having the biggest crowds, more accomplishments than any president in history, biggest what ever. Now, he can claim the record for more impeachments than any president in history. Sad little man.

[MCheetah]

This is all so that he never runs again, and more so, to send a message to anyone hoping to go against the corrupt status quo. It's more symbolic than anything else. Which now gives more credence that ANTIFA moles really stormed the building on January 6th.

This isn't surprising though; the Democrats are MASSIVELY corrupt pieces of shit and all of them deserve to be hanged, and this isn't even taking their dealings with China into account.

What's surprising is how UTTERLY FUCKING RETARDED so many Americans are towards this massive show of corrupt, and the massive massive hypocrisy RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR FUCKING FACES. This shit has surpassed Clownworld or anything fictional you could make up. Again; the pieces of shit in Congress are only so corrupt and slimy because so many Americans are beyond fucking retarded about the massive corruption and double standards.

I just want fucking Civil War II to hurry up, already. Better to fight for freedom than live under the rule of tyranny. Just ask the citizens of China, and now, Hong Kong.https://www.youtube.com/embed/7yYplnEkbqUI mean, look at this fucking shit in the video and tell me how a human being isn't literally retarded if they still side with Biden, Pelosi, and the DNC after this shit. These politicians all should be hanged.

[front2back]

At this point, it is being done both out of spite and to try and make sure he can never have influence in politics again.
(1.) They impeached him this time around not only when he was about to leave office but for baseless reasons. They say he "incited violence and sedition" which led to the Capitol raid. Really? What tangible evidence says so? I can't find any tweets or recordings where he asked his followers to be violent and storm the Capitol.
(2.) Senate trial for what? As soon as January 20th takes place and Biden is sworn in, Trump becomes a civilian again. They can have their trial but no legal consequences may arise from it since he will no longer be president.
(3.) Congress seems to have forgotten how much most of the country disdains them, which in my opinion contributed to the riots. At least 75 million people witnessed what was basically an unpersoning on social media and scapegoat impeachment of the president. They will not forget that and also will not forget how this took precedent over the tens of millions of Americans about to be homeless and millions more out of work.
(4.) They're afraid. The politicians in Congress just had their illusion of safety and invincibility shattered and that is why they are so mad. They want Trump impeached and taken off media because they strongly believe his influence out of office will continue and he could even run, at least for VP, in 2024.

This country is about to have a major economic and housing market collapse and we are worried over a bunch of fat boomers who walked around the Capitol for a couple of hours.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Donald Trump, held a rally the day before the riots last Wednesday and he told his supporters to go after them and what happened was horrible, now President-Elect Biden will have to make a decision to go on with the Impeachment hearing or refuse it but Trump ignited the fire of this whole situation, there was a lot of Republican's was behind this Impeachment so now it goes to a hearing?

[NamerOfStars]

Well, first off, it's only been 232 years. You don't impeach generals, after all. But that's not really important. The important thing here is the Democrats have decided to treat the self-inflicted gunshot wound in their feet by shooting themselves in the foot with an RPG. The typical American citizen actually realizes that Donald Trump, while a narcissistic assholic blowhard, is not the Antichrist. He's going to be out of office in seven days, but they can't resist taking one last shot at him, which will accomplish essentially nothing, save showing the world just how insanely petty they are.

Either they genuinely don't realize just how bad this makes them look, or they do, and simply don't care. Unless they're actively trying to destroy the faith of the people in the American government, this doesn't make any sense.

[Dargil]

There was nothing in Trump's speech that incited violence or insurrection. This second impeachment clown show is based on this sentence. "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." But for reasons not Trumps fault, it got out of hand. Instead of watching MSNBCNNPR, read the transcript for yourself.
https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-01-13/transcript-of-trumps-speech-at-rally-before-us-capitol-riot

[Miristheiss]

Pretty dumb.
To be honest, I forgot why they did it the first time... was it Russia. That turned out to be a 100% hoax.
Now he has a few weeks as president. They want to blame him for a riot?
Well, unless you have him calling for a riot then you cannot blame him for the actions of a few. That is the why society works now. You can always blame someone else for people's free will actions. They have been blaming him for the Covid Virus too.

It is obvious it is 100% politics.
I will tell you the truth. If a meteor hit the capital building and all 600 plus of them got wiped out and we had to start from scratch and replace every single politician... it would probably be a good thing. They are all liars and hacks and corrupt and bought and paid for by their interest groups.

[TeeBar]

You can NOT impeach a person who is not holding an elected office. Mr. Trump will be long gone before the wheels of impeachment begin to turn. It is a strictly political stunt with no meaning or validity, being orchestrated by the most venal politician drawing breath, Nazi Pelosi. The Nation will be much better off when this old vicious hag finally croaks as she is the catalyst for every laughable, hysterical, and mendacious POS legislation spawned on Capitol Hill. Once she is gone, politics will ease back to being a reasonable civil activity. She is so filled with hate, jealousy, and envy that she can not think coherently.

[burlen]

I think he invited the impeachment to himself. According to this Fox News poll, more than half of the surveyed participants think Trump is responsible for the Capitol Hill riot. Sadly, he is leaving office with the lowest approval rating (29%). https://www.foxnews.com/us/trump-approval-rating-drops-low-capitol-riot

[justaspacerockthing]

as he should be. he needs to be removed. he should've never been president in the first place

[MannMitAntworten]

Why are we wasting millions on this at all? Is political division this important? Larger question... is pissing off his devotees that important to these politicians that they are willing to risk someone being hurt or killed because they choose to continue their rhetoric upon his leaving of office? Impeach him all they want. This will not silence him. If anything, it will serve to further fan the flames.


Anymore it is a toss up which party is more ridiculous and stupid. I suppose if a contest of blood is what either or both sides want, they’ll likely get what they desire and the dumb asses from both sides will excitedly line up to be the fodder.

[supercutebutt]

It's great. Fuck Trump. Rot in Hell after you rot in prison, Benedict Donald.

[allaboutyou2]

Donald Trump being impeached twice says more about the wrong doing of Congress than the wrong doing of President Trump. Also you are misleading in saying if President Trump is found guilty he will not be able to run for office, he can be found guilty and still be able to run, the Senate would have to separately vote on whether he an be disqualified from running.
But constitutionally a private citizen can not be tried by the Senate, senate loses it authority when Donald Trump is no longer President.

[snowboarder720]

I’m happy this was done. I hope he is thrown out of office and in jail along with them rest of his corrupt supporters.

[Agape93]

I think it’s hilarious but I’ll wait and see if they actually succeed this time

[Ozanne]

I'll be glad once we see him stripped of the opportunity to run for president again. I'll be happy once the US has a president inaugurated that has some ability to get along with all of the other countries in the world. Politics are about people. Trump was a president for the Trump family and his own brand, at the expense of US tax-payers.

[bolverk]

As yet Trump has not been Impeached only the papers for the impeachment have been signed no trial has yet taken place, the defendant does not risk forfeiture of life, liberty, or property. According to the Constitution, the only penalties allowed to be imposed by the Senate are removal from office and disqualification from holding any federal office in the future. It is that last one 'disqualification from holding any federal office in the future' that the Democrats are going for as it would prevent Trump running for the next Election. but I think they'll have a problem getting of two-thirds of the Senate to vote For the motion.

[Avicenna]

It'd be nice if these corrupt Congresscritters actually did something to benefit ordinary people for once, not just stuff their they and their paymasters care about, like, for example doing something about the cost of health care or the high unemployment rate.