Impeachment testimony talking points

“You Democrats only called witnesses who attacked Trump! Not one defense witness testified!”

“We subpoenaed them…we asked them to testify.”

“They’re not going to participate in your sham inquiry! Besides, all our witnesses have said it never happened!”

“All the witnesses under oath said it did. Why not have your defense witnesses testify under oath?”

“They’re not going to particip–”

“Yes, right, we know.”


No, Bill Clinton did not commit perjury

“You damned liberals complaining that Trump needs to be impeached! Why didn’t you want Bill Clinton impeached when he committed perjury — a felony!”

Look, I’m aware that conservatives have a reputation for ignoring facts when they get in the way of their world view — evolution and climate change aren’t real, trickle-down economics works, sexual orientation is a choice — but not only was Bill Clinton not convicted of perjury, he couldn’t be.4571618_orig

Yes, the House impeached him, because he lied about a consensual sexual affair he had with another adult. “Lying under oath is perjury!” they all scream. But no, it isn’t.

Perjury requires lying under oath about something relevant and material to a criminal investigation. If under oath you say your favorite color is blue when it’s really yellow, you’ve lied — but if your favorite color has nothing to do with a crime, then you haven’t committed perjury.

Adultery is not illegal. There was no “criminal investigation.” Republicans investigated both Clintons, over and over again, trying to find something — anything — they could get them on, and this was the only thing they could come up with. And impeachment doesn’t require anything more than enough politicians willing to impeach you.

Bill Clinton was never charged with perjury. No DA would file such frivolous charges, since clearly he hadn’t committed a crime. Is he a liar? Oh, absolutely. But he lied about something that really isn’t our business.

Meanwhile, Trump pretty much admits to Obstruction of Justice — an actual, real crime that has huge impact on our legal system — and Republicans yawn.  Since the GOP controlled the House under Clinton and Trump, and since they happily went after Clinton for his alleged non-crime, then surely they should be bringing impeachment charges against Trump for something much more severe right?

What? They’re not? Why, that would mean that they’re a bunch of lying hypocrites who are placing party above country!

(NOTE:  I know Bill Clinton is old news, but people keep bringing it up to distract from Trump. So feel free to bookmark this and send it to your Republican friends when they bring it up.

Not that it will matter. As we know, facts never convince them.)

The Presidential Line of Succession

I’ve seen this meme or ones like it recently, and it’s quite misleading.18557060_10156192841743327_8267740641808002296_n

Someone has taken the line of succession (Vice President, Speaker of the House, Senate President, Secretary of State, etc.) and somehow has forgotten that holes can be filled in the meantime.

If Trump is impeached (Sorry — when Trump is impeached), then Pence becomes President.  He then names a new Vice President (approved by the Senate). If he names John McCain, then McCain becomes Vice President. And then if Pence is impeached, McCain becomes President, not Paul Ryan.

That’s what happened with Nixon. His Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned because he was a bigger crook than Nixon, and Nixon named Gerald Ford. Then Nixon resigned and Ford became President, and he named Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President. We didn’t even need the line of succession law.

The only way this line of succession is important is if everyone was impeached at the same time. The reason we even have such a law about the line of succession is for the unlikely situation where there may be a terrorist attack or something and suddenly a bunch of these people die at once. We then go down that line to see who is next.


Hoping for Impeachment

Yeah, we’ve been through worse. We had a civil war and survived. But just seeing what Trump has done to our great country already has depressed me to the point where I just don’t even feel like thinking about it, much less writing about it on my blog.

So there hasn’t been an update in a while. loser

The good news is that the Republican establishment doesn’t like Trump either. All we need are a few Republicans to vote for impeachment — there are plenty of grounds, especially if they use their power to subpoena his income tax returns — and he can be removed.

We end up with Pence, but at least he is competent. I think.

I can imagine Ryan encouraging an impeachment, thus placing Pence in power. Oh, look, now there’s an opening for Vice President. Speaker Ryan, are you available?

Will this happen?  Not sure. But I can pretty much bet that it has at least been discussed in Republican circles.