Why Trump Is Facing Impeachment

Granted Trump may arguably be more corrupt than Biden. But that’s splitting hairs over which crook is more crooked. Bullying vassal states and “doing well by doing good” are indicators of finesse in Washington. Inside the beltway, corruption is not a liability for holding high political office, but a requirement. The key to membership in the power elite club is carrying water for the imperial state, and most club members must go through an elaborate vetting process to prove that they are reliable. Some such as Trump slip through.

The sine qua non for membership in this exclusive club is to prove you’ll take a hit for the empire. When the results of the 2000 US presidential election were inconclusive, Al Gore took a fall rather than risk instability at the top: “(for) the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.”

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Beyond Impeachment: Remove This Regime From Below

The impeachment of Donald J. Trump is coming. What to make of it? It’s hard not to enjoy watching the Malignant One (Trump) squirm and lash out like a wounded animal. There is no public humiliation too great for this sorry excuse for a human being, this racist, sexist, eco-cidal and fascist bastard who endangers the world with his presence in its most powerful office. Trump’s noxiously racist, sexist, Nativist, plutocratic, corrupt, and environmentally disastrous regime has done great damage to basic democratic and human norms, civilizational decency, social justice, and prospects for a decent future.

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The Ukraine Impeachment Fiasco: Both Republicans And Democrats Being Manipulated By The Deep State

The problem with the current imbroglio over Ukraine is that the discussion does not begin where it should. Here is the timeline: the United States decided to make a serious effort to bring about regime change in Ukraine under the Obama Administration after that country’s election on June 2010 returned Viktor Yanukovych, who sought closer ties with Russia rather than Europe, as president. The White House claimed that the election results were fraudulent, even though international observers disagreed, and decided to intervene.

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Red ‘Whistleblowing’ Herrings

On CNLive yesterday evening (link below), Ray discussed the new “Ukraine-gate” whistleblower, who is reported to be a CIA officer who spent some time on detail to the White House. Ray begins with a brief discussion of the intelligence officer-policy maker nexus — particularly the need for the intelligence officer to keep abreast of the interests and needs of the policy maker without becoming seduced into active advocacy of this or that policy.

Ray outlines how Robert Gates placed on steroids the practice of inserting intelligence officers into policy departments, and offers short case studies, demonstrating the need to keep a respectful space between intelligence and policy — not to mention the invaluable credibility and trust that accrues to an intelligence officer who avoids the slightest appearance of policy advocacy. 

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Ukraine-Trump-Biden Scandals Show Why Whistleblowers Are Vital To Democracy

Donald Trump is now closer than ever to being impeached by the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has finally opened the door to bringing charges after Trump was caught pressuring a foreign country to help him win the 2020 election and trying to stifle a whistleblower complaint.

And if impeachment indeed happens, we’ll have not only that whistleblower to thank, but also leaks to the press.

As everyone now knows — and has been confirmed by a rough transcript released by the White House itself — Trump tried to push Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Trump even offered up the Justice Department’s services to Zelenskiy in any potential criminal investigation he wished to conduct into the younger Biden.

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The Problem With Impeachment

Impeaching Donald Trump would do nothing to halt the deep decay that has beset the American republic. It would not magically restore democratic institutions. It would not return us to the rule of law. It would not curb the predatory appetites of the big banks, the war industry and corporations. It would not get corporate money out of politics or end our system of legalized bribery. It would not halt the wholesale surveillance and monitoring of the public by the security services.

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It’s Time to Ask Again: Can A Sitting President Be Indicted?

By Bill Blum for Truth Dig – The Trump presidency has been a boon for at least three groups of people: late-night comics who see him as a boundless source of hilarity; conspiracy theorists panicked over the “deep state’s” machinations to subvert his electoral victory; and constitutional lawyers, scholars and commentators who feel compelled to survey the legal wreckage caused by the president’s policies and behavior. Count me among the last. In my circles, the issue du jour is whether a sitting president can be indicted. President Trump is on the hot seat for possible criminal prosecution for obstruction of justice arising from his firing on May 9 of FBI Director James Comey and his more recent threats to discharge Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller. Who else but Trump—the real estate mogul and former TV game show host turned most powerful person in the world—could have resurrected the indictment question last raised during the presidency of Bill Clinton? Trump may have failed to deliver on his campaign pledge to “Make America Great Again,” but he certainly has prompted the country to debate again.

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Impeach The U.S. Constitution

By Paul Street for Truth Dig – I am always darkly amused when I hear one of my fellow Americans call for a return from our current “deep state” plutocracy and empire to the supposedly benevolent and democratic rules and values of the nation’s sacred founders and Constitution. Democracy was the last thing the nation’s founders wanted to see break out in the new republic. Drawn from the elite propertied segments in the new republic, most of the delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention shared their compatriot John Jay’s view that “Those who own the country ought to govern it.” As the celebrated U.S. historian Richard Hofstader noted in his classic 1948 text, “The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It”: “In their minds, liberty was linked not to democracy but to property.” Democracy was a dangerous concept to them, conferring “unchecked rule by the masses,” which was “sure to bring arbitrary redistribution of property, destroying the very essence of liberty.” Hofstader’s take on the founders was borne out in historian Jennifer Nedelsky’s comprehensively researched volume, “Private Property and the Limits of American Constitutionalism,” in 1990.

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Protesters Hang ‘Impeach Trump’ Banner At Nats Game

By Hayley Miller for The Huffington Post – Some Twitter users called opening day at Nationals Park a win for the home team — and America. Protesters Hang Giant ‘Impeach Trump’ Banner At Washington Nationals Game. Protesters unfurled a massive banner, styled like a Russian flag and reading “IMPEACH TRUMP #RESIST,” on Monday during the Washington Nationals’ first game of the season. The giant message hung from the observation deck on the first base side as more than 40,000 people filed out of Nationals Park ― just a few miles away from the White House ― on opening day, The Washington Post reported. The Nationals clinched a 4-2 victory against the Miami Marlins. Jason Charter, a member of populist network Americans Take Action, tweeted that his group was responsible for the act.

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In Brazil, Major New Corruption Scandals Engulf Faction That Impeached Dilma

By Glenn Greenwald for The Intercept – A PRIMARY ARGUMENT MADE by opponents of impeaching Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was that removing her would immediately empower the truly corrupt politicians in Brasília – the ones who were the driving force behind her impeachment – and they would then use that power to kill ongoing corruption investigations and shield themselves from consequences for their own law-breaking. In that regard, Dilma’s impeachment was not designed to punish corruption but to protect it.

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Chavistas Storm National Assembly In Protest At Impeachment Attempt

By Rachael Boothroyd Rojas for Venezuela Analysis – Caracas, October 23rd 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Violence erupted at Venezuela’s legislature on Sunday, after crowds of government supporters stormed past security in protest at what they are calling an impeachment attempt against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Earlier that day, opposition lawmakers signed a document declaring a “rupture” of Venezuela’s constitutional order and accusing Maduro of “abandoning the constitutional functions” of his presidency.

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Brazil’s Impeachment Mastermind Summoned For Corruption Charges

By Staff of Tele Sur – Eduardo Cunha, long regarded as one of Brazil’s most powerful, corrupt and unpopular politicians, faces multimillion-dollar fraud charges.
Federal authorities have summoned Eduardo Cunha, the controversial former head of Congress and chief mastermind behind the impeachment bid against ousted President Dilma Rousseff, to face charges over accusations he hid laundered money in secret Swiss bank accounts while he was in office.

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Brazil Coup Plotter Eduardo Cunha Impeached In Lower House

By Staff of Tele Sur – Former president of the chamber of deputies and mastermind of President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, Eduardo Cunha, lost his seat in the lower house Monday night that had so far given him immunity against judicial proceedings over corruption charges. Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of his removal with 450 votes for impeachment, nine abstentions and 10 votes against, when the approval required only 257 deputies, with a minimum of 420 attending the vote.

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Brazil: Repression Of Pro-Democracy Demonstrators

By Deirdre Fulton for Commondreams. Protests took place in multiple Brazilian cities on Sunday, in support of ousted president Dilma Rousseff and against the now-officially installed government of her successor, Michel Temer.

Agence France-Presse reported from São Paulo:

Demonstration organizers—who have rejected Temer’s ascendancy as a “coup”—said some 100,000 protestors filled the major artery Paulista Avenue, many holding banners that read “Out with Temer!” and “Direct elections now!”

“We’re here to show that the people still have power and that despite the coup, we are here in the street to bring down the government and call for a new election,” protester Gustavo Amigo told BBC.

Though he is prohibited from running in the next election because he was found guilty of violating campaign finance rules, former vice president Temer is set to serve the rest of what would have been Rousseff’s second term, ending in 2019.

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