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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomething wrong here...
Very defective country / government / constitution that we can't get rid of an obviously deranged destructive executive.
There has to be some sort of structural reform / overhaul. We will never get agreement on even fundamentals of good governance with current GOPers. We wait them out till they die, hopefully soon - all the old withered white men - and then proceed.under a quite different mandate and basis.
I have believed for a long time that this country needs a Truth and Reconciliation Comission a la Tutu / Mandela / S. Africa in the 1990s. Start with that.
RainCaster
(10,952 posts)brush
(53,971 posts)work as they will just be replaced by the next generation of racists.
You are definitely right about we need a codified solution to get rid of and incompetent, deranged president.
Any commission must have some teeth though, otherwise it'll just be a tug-of-war of opposing arguments.
Maraya1969
(22,509 posts)and they are not being fined or jail just pisses me off to no end.
This is not how it works in the country; why should it be OK in the top echelons of government?
Congress has showed just how little power they have over the office of the president. What will happen if someone worse than #45 gets in there?
LudwigPastorius
(9,257 posts)we face a very dangerous scenario of Trump remaining in power beyond January 20, 2021, thanks to the Patriot Act and over 100 other emergency powers granted to the president over the years.
It's all laid out in this terrifying article in The Atlantic...if you have the stomach to read it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/
The House's main priority right now should be in rolling back the Executive's emergency powers. This is doable.
Trump reacts. Unfazed by his own brazen hypocrisy, he tweets that Iran is planning a cyber operation to interfere with the 2020 election. His national-security adviser, John Bolton, claims to have seen ironclad (but highly classified) evidence of this planned assault on U.S. democracy. Trumps inflammatory tweets provoke predictable saber rattling by Iranian leaders; he responds by threatening preemptive military strikes. Some Defense Department officials have misgivings, but others have been waiting for such an opportunity. As Irans statements grow more warlike, Iranophobia takes hold among the American public.
Proclaiming a threat of war, Trump invokes Section 706 of the Communications Act to assume government control over internet traffic inside the United States, in order to prevent the spread of Iranian disinformation and propaganda. He also declares a national emergency under ieepa, authorizing the Treasury Department to freeze the assets of any person or organization suspected of supporting Irans activities against the United States. Wielding the authority conferred by these laws, the government shuts down several left-leaning websites and domestic civil-society organizations, based on government determinations (classified, of course) that they are subject to Iranian influence. These include websites and organizations that are focused on getting out the vote.
The next paragraph in this scenario posits that lawsuits brought by the ACLU, and others, to reverse Trump's seizure of electronic communications in the U.S. eventually make their way to the Supreme Court. They are upheld 5-4 with Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh writing the opinion for the majority.
world wide wally
(21,760 posts)We are a "nation of laws" but go by the premise that "majority rules". Obviously these two concepts cannot coexist. We have a President and his cabinet breaking laws daily but a majority of the Senate has decided that it's alright because he is in their party.
Now what?
cilla4progress
(24,798 posts)Hadn't thought of this.
I agree. This mob rule will be the death of us. This is somewhat recognized in the creation of our Judiciary - supposed to be a neutral, objective role that can overRULE the mob. But everything is politicized. I place it clearly at the feet of McConnell and the current GOP leadership. Have Congressional Dems historically abused power? Yes. But not as traitors to a foreign power. They always had America's interests at heart, predominantly. Even if twisted, at times (southern segregationists, last century).
bucolic_frolic
(43,476 posts)that uneducated (as well as non-male, non white, non-propertied) should not have the right to vote.
There was a time Senators were elected by state legislatures, now we have direct election.
We now have elections determined by dumb, uninformed, emotional masses.
But the bottom line is Republicans have rigged the system to help themselves.
It's a toxic mess. People with no idea about issues or politics who vote on the basis of crowd noise are not helping us.
leanforward
(1,077 posts)That would explain Moscow Mitchs action.
Talk about corruption and then add in his wife for a real cabal.
Thunderbeast
(3,429 posts)the 25th Ammendment is the logical framework to remove him as dementia gets worse. The Constitution calls for the cabinet to make the decision. There is no functioning cabinet, as many positions are technically unfilled.
cilla4progress
(24,798 posts)We are paralyzed. And that is manifestly and obviously wrong and fucking bullshit!