Trump's Georgia shakedown call is the same scheme that led to his impeachment -- only worse

[marmar]

Trump's Georgia shakedown call is the same scheme that led to his impeachment — only worse
Sorry, Susan Collins, Trump learned nothing from impeachment: He's doing it again, except it's even more dangerous

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
JANUARY 4, 2021 6:00PM


(Salon) One of the most soul-taxing aspects of the Donald Trump era is how much it's like living in a political version of "Groundhog Day." We endure variations of the same handful of scandals over and over again until we're numb and unable to tell what happened one day from the next. The result is a weird time dilation, where the past year feels like a dozen as if everything is happening both quickly and slowly all at once.

So it's probably no surprise that few pundits seem to have noticed how Trump's call to Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger demanding that he steal Georgia's election by falsifying votes is a direct sequel to the scheme that got Trump impeached. And like most sequels, this one attempted to be bigger and bolder — but only ended up being sloppier and more confusing.

Impeachment was a year ago, which is many eons in Trump Standard Time, so a quick recap of what Trump did to get impeached: He called the newly elected president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and demanded that Zelensky abuse his powers to help Trump cheat in the American election. Trump wanted Zelensky to announce an "investigation" into Joe Biden, hoping to bolster a disproved conspiracy theory about Biden, and threatened to withdraw military aid to Ukraine if Zelensky didn't give in to his demands.

....(snip)....

That Trump is resorting to the same trick — using threats to pressure government officials to abuse their power and/or commit crimes for him — should be no surprise. Trump portrays himself as a master negotiator, but in reality, extortion is the only strategy he has. Just last month, Trump was using the same extortion tactic against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, threatening to tank the coronavirus relief bill if McConnell didn't find some way to steal the election for Trump. In October, Trump was pulling the same trick on his FBI director, Christopher Wray, threatening to fire Wray unless Wray manufactured evidence for an anti-Biden conspiracy theory. This pattern goes all the way back to Trump's first days in office, when he extorted then-FBI director James Comey, demanding Comey disappear an investigation into the Trump campaign's collusion with a Russian conspiracy. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/01/04/trumps-georgia-shakedown-call-is-the-same-scheme-that-led-to-impeachment--except-worse/

[Blue Owl]

1. Fuck Trump and the escalator he rode in on

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. He's been going down the escalator since his original photo op.

Seems to be going down a lot quicker now....

[soothsayer]

2. Pretty much sums it up

[BigmanPigman]

4. This leopard isn't changing his spots after 74 years.

It is his MO...do whatever he can do to get his way or he will hurt you any way he can. His niece made this clear in her book. She knows the monster too well.

[TomVilmer]

5. The Devil Went Down to Georgia ...

The Devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin' for a soul to steal
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind
He was willing to make a deal