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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHe's Getting Worse
Hes Getting Worse
Trump is turning the American presidency into a platform for the wholesale demonization of minorities.
The current, and (to date) most debased, phase of the Trump presidencythe phase that includes the unceasing demonization of minority legislators and the endorsement of North Korean communismbegan, in retrospect, on May 8, in the Florida Panhandle, at a rally in Panama City. It was there that Donald Trump gave tacit approval to the use of violence against immigrants.
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But in this latest phase, his rhetoric has become particularly sweeping. Brown people in general have become his targets. And there is no reason to hope that he will reform. His followers reward his radicalism, and his handlers are among the most cynical figures in American political history. His aide Kellyanne Conway tweeted on Sunday, Working as one to understand depraved evil & to eradicate hate is everyones duty. Unity. Lets do this. And his daughter Ivanka wrote, in a way that hints at a permanent separation from reality, White supremacy, like all other forms of terrorism, is an evil that must be destroyed. And, of course, there is no one of any influence in his party who is willing to confront him.
I watched the video recording of the rally in Panama City shortly after reading the El Paso killers so-called manifesto. It is a document littered with phrases and rhetorical devices injected into mainstream discourse by the president and his supporterstalk of a Hispanic invasion, accusations that Democrats support open borders, and the like. As Trump faces the possibility that he will lose the presidency next year, he may become more enraged, and more willing to deploy the rhetoric of violence as a way to keep his followers properly motivated. The Panama City speech was an important moment in Trumps ongoing effort to make the American presidency a vehicle in the cause of marginalizing and frightening racial minorities; the killings are a possible (and predictable) consequence of such rhetoric.
Three years ago, The Atlantic, in its endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president (an editorial motivated not by love for Clinton but by fear of Trump), stated, In one of the more sordid episodes in modern American politics, Trump made himself the face of the so-called birther movement, which had as its immediate goal the demonization of the countrys first African American president. Trumps larger goal, it seemed, was to stoke fear among white Americans of dark-skinned foreigners.
It is depressing to realize that we were correct (though, if anything, understated in our analysis), and it is depressing to think that there is no immediate way out of this crisis.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/trump-getting-worse/595453/
marble falls
(57,009 posts)Grasswire2
(13,565 posts)Wray, Mueller, Coates, and myriad other Republicans in position to know have told us that Russians are already working to hinder secure elections.
Can't take that chance.
Must work to stop him now.
Golden Raisin
(4,605 posts)any election protection bills.
triron
(21,984 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)By 'we' I assume you mean Democrats.
Any constitutional method of removing him involves the cooperation of Pence or McConnell, which is not going to happen.
If you mean "stopping" his policies, we are often dependent on the courts, whose rulings are not under the control of legislators.
The DOJ is certainly not going to pursue any action against him.
What other ideas do you have?
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)our intent to impeach on April 4th. We did not. So it is TOTALLY in the "non-impeachment lobby's" court now. They need to lead the way out of this quagmire!
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)How does it "stop him" from doing anything?
As I have said time and time again, including the post that you just responded to and clearly didn't bother to read very closely, the only non-impeachment way to remove him before January 2021 is via the 25th amendment, and that requires Pence to invoke it, and the majority of his cabinet to vote yes. Not going to happen. Do you have inside information that Mitch McConnell is suddenly agreeable to blocking him, and passing House bills? Do tell.
The Courts are the other way that his policies stopped, and their rulings are not something Democrats have power over.
Otherwise, frantic, repeated cries of "Someone HAS to do something to stop him! why isn't Congress STOPPING HIM?" don't change that reality.
From the OP:
How do you think impeachment hearings will cause him to react?
Now - ball's in your court to explain how impeachment 'stops him' or removes him. Before you write paragraphs that don't address this question, I didn't ask about what it will 'say about justice' to the rest of the world, or how it will make us look in the history books, or how it will make you feel to see impeachment, or how it makes Pelosi look 'afraid' yada yada. I'm asking you to explain how it 'stops him.'
Grasswire says we have to work to stop him now, before 2021. I asked how we do that.
Please answer the question, since you jumped in respond, without resorting to the "shifting burden of proof" fallacy again to avoid answering the actual question, thanks
H2O Man
(73,506 posts)He definitely is. And that is the essence of his being.
BigmanPigman
(51,565 posts)We must stop him before 2020. Impeachment Inquiry Summer!
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/progressive-groups-impeachment-democrats-donald-
trump
https://indivisible.org/resource/impeachment-inquiry-event-toolkit
"We need to start an impeachment investigation not just because Trump obstructed justice in the Mueller investigation, but also because he is obstructing Congresss efforts to conduct oversight of his administration. In over 20 separate investigations, Trump has sought to block requests for testimony, documents, and other materials that could help shed light onto his corruption and cruelty. This goes well beyond executive privilege, and into the realm of outright disregard for the checks and balances that define our government."
August recess, begins Monday, July 29 and runs until Monday, September 9 and represents a huge opportunity to get your member on the record about impeachment.
"Check out our event map to locate your MoCs town hall events, or start planning your own August recess event or district office visit and register it on the map using the Impeachment Inquiry under Event Issue Focus."
"Public pressure of your MoCs during recess works. Over the last two years, Indivisibles have been showing up and speaking out, asking direct questions of their MoCs on the issues that matter most."
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)oldsoftie
(12,489 posts)But voting IN '20 can!
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)doing what he's doing.
And if you point out that it will not, you are the big bad meanie who just wants to help Russia and WHY CAN'T YOU JUST THINK POSITIVELY! WHY DO YOU WANT TO BRING EVERYONE DOWN???
And you just know that the same people who are frantically saying DO SOMETHING NOW will be the first people on the day after the Senate votes not to remove him, when he and his fans are celebrating 'victory' that the Dems FAILED again.
Any response that Speaker Pelosi or Chuck Schumer will release will be called a "strongly worded letter," and they will be damned for their failure to install a conscience in Mitch McConnell.
And when Senate Democrats in red states vote in a way that keeps their seat - even if it doesn't affect the outcome of the vote whatsoever, they will be crucified, along with congressional Dems in swing districts, so that taking the Senate and keeping the house in 2020 will be further complicated by more division among Democrats.
It's a win/win for the GOP.
And if Trump decides to stage a Reichstag Fire type of incident to focus fear and attention towards immigrants, Iran or Turkey, and away from impeachment hearings, we will see more shooters, and possibly huge numbers of casualties in a military strike.
There has to be a benefit from impeachment that outweighs all that. Even if we WERE able to remove him from office, we then have Pence who will immediately pardon him for any federal charges - in the past and during his administration, because he knows that his political career is over if he doesn't.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)Skittles
(153,111 posts)ginnyinWI
(17,276 posts)it's all he's got. Truly all he's got.
His presidency has been nothing but a downhill destructive slide on all fronts.
Chicago1980
(1,968 posts)Trump is a combination of chaos theory fucking narcissistic neurosis.
ancianita
(35,932 posts)White supremacy and white nationalism is spreading around the Internet to rev up extremists on continents, and the Kremlin's GRU and FSB hybrid cyber warriors are more than happy to drive it.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)I think that if impeachment hearings are started, he might actually attempt a Reichstag Fire type of strategy.
Some incident that he can say was instigated by Turkey, Iran or immigrants at the Southern border.
It is depressing to realize that we were correct (though, if anything, understated in our analysis), and it is depressing to think that there is no immediate way out of this crisis.