Octopus Overlords

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, read the following on the House floor Tuesday night.

Madam speaker, pursuant to clause 2-a-1 of rule 9, I rise to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the privileges of the House, the form of the resolution is as follows. Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States of high misdemeanor, resolved that Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is unfit to be president, unfit to represent the American values of decency and morality, respectability and civility, honesty and propriety, reputability and integrity.
...
Therefore, Donald John Trump, by causing such harm to the society of the United States, is unfit to be president and warrants impeachment, trial and removal from office.

Editor's note: No vote was held on this measure Tuesday night.

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 10:01 am Jumping to impeachment without an impeachment investigation is terrible.

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 10:01 am Jumping to impeachment without an impeachment investigation is terrible.

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 10:01 am Jumping to impeachment without an impeachment investigation is terrible.

The House on Wednesday voted to kill an impeachment resolution against President Trump, a move likely to rankle the Democratic Party’s liberal base clamoring for the ouster of the president.

The vote was 332-to-95 as House Democratic leaders joined with Republicans to stop the measure. It was a surprising turn and created the unusual optic of Democrats working with the GOP a day after a divided House voted to condemn Trump’s racist remarks.

Rep. Al Green (D-Tex.) had put Democratic leaders in a bind Tuesday night by filing articles of impeachment accusing Trump of committing high crimes and misdemeanors. His resolution, which cited Trump’s racist comments singling out four minority congresswomen, was privileged, requiring that the House act within two days.

“It’s time for us to deal with his bigotry. This president has demonstrated that he’s willing to yell fire in a crowded theater, and we have seen what can happen to people when bigotry is allowed to have a free rein,” Green told reporters Wednesday. “We all ought to go on record. We all ought to let the world know where we stand when we have a bigot in the White House.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has been reluctant to launch an impeachment inquiry, favored a procedural vote to table, or effectively kill, the resolution, avoiding a direct vote on the impeachment articles. Republicans supported Pelosi’s effort, receiving the sign-off from the White House, according a Republican congressional aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.

“With all the respect in the world for Mr. Green … we have six committees who are working on following the facts in terms of any abuse of power, obstruction of justice and the rest that the president may have engaged in,” Pelosi told reporters when asked about Green’s efforts. “That is the serious path that we are on — not that Mr. Green is not serious, but we will deal with that on the floor.”

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:08 am The Democrats weren't going to go for impeachment unless they were guaranteed a win. Ugh.

Grifman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:58 am Impeachment is dead. Just two more Democrats signed up for impeachment after the hearings, momentum is totally dead. I don't know what Democrats were expecting from the Mueller testimony but the overall vibe I'm getting from the press if that it was a disaster. Time to focus on the 2020 election and stop wasting time/effort on something that was never going to remove Trump from office in the end anyway.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:17 am And with that, any semblance of Congressional oversight of the executive branch is forever dead. Long live the King.

msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:22 amWell, at least the el Presidente hasn't openly talked about staying past his term limits and claiming that the Constitution allows him to do whatever he wants. That would be really terrifying.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:17 am And with that, any semblance of Congressional oversight of the executive branch is forever dead. Long live the King.

msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:16 am Impeachment proceedings have never been about removing Trump from office. It's been about exploring and informing the public about the... misdeeds... of the president and his allies.

Blackhawk wrote:

msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:16 am Impeachment proceedings have never been about removing Trump from office. It's been about exploring and informing the public about the... misdeeds... of the president and his allies.

About that and about a loud, public, on-the-record repudiation of the President and his actions by the government of the United States.

We have chosen to let the President of the United States be openly, proudly criminal and corrupt, and did so without saying a single word as a nation.

msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:12 am But the Mitch McConnell's of the world have prevented any actual actions from being taken.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:55 am Mitch might be preventing it from being successful, but he's not stopping them from trying.

Despite assertions to the contrary by the president and his allies, the special counsel’s report and testimony are not the end of our investigations. We have now filed a petition in court to obtain the grand-jury documents referenced in the special counsel’s report. In that filing, we have made clear that we will utilize our Article I powers to obtain the additional underlying evidence, as well as enforce subpoenas for key witness testimony, and broaden our investigations to include conflicts of interest and financial misconduct.

While many people believe that beginning an impeachment investigation can begin only with a vote of the full House of Representatives, this is not true. Article I authorizes the House Judiciary Committee to begin this process.

As members of the House Judiciary Committee, we understand the gravity of this moment that we find ourselves in. We wake up every morning with the understanding of the oath that binds us as members of Congress, and the trust that our constituents placed in us to uphold that oath. We will move forward with the impeachment process. Our investigation will seriously examine all the evidence as we consider whether to bring articles of impeachment or other remedies under our Article I powers.

Our Constitution requires it. Our democracy depends on it.

Grifman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:58 am Impeachment is dead. Just two more Democrats signed up for impeachment after the hearings, momentum is totally dead. I don't know what Democrats were expecting from the Mueller testimony but the overall vibe I'm getting from the press if that it was a disaster.

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:30 pmI'm hearing that Pelosi is actually giving the nod to this move as well.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:24 pm Forget Trump enriching himself on the taxpayer dime, campaign finance violations, or any other of the countless things Trump's done to warrant impeachment.

I think the single biggest thing he and the GOP need to be accountable for is their utter unwillingness to do anything about proven election tampering from the Russian government. It literally cuts to the heart of our democracy, and at best they're not lifting a finger and at worst denying it's even happening.

malchior wrote: ↑Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:39 am

Grifman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:58 am Impeachment is dead. Just two more Democrats signed up for impeachment after the hearings, momentum is totally dead. I don't know what Democrats were expecting from the Mueller testimony but the overall vibe I'm getting from the press if that it was a disaster.

It was only a disaster in the sense that the media declared it so because they didn't get their "movie" moments. They all said the optics were Mueller looked tired and we learned nothing new. The media is the true disaster. They have learned absolutely nothing from their failure in 2016. It isn't surprising but they are just another piece of the puzzle that explains why our nation is a basket case.

hepcat wrote:That sounds dangerously close to a Trump narrative when he hears/reads something he doesn't like. Just because you don't agree with something the press says, doesn't mean it's wrong. The majority of reporters covering the Mueller testimony reported similar sentiments.

It just wasn't very good...for either side. The Dems got nothing out of it beyond a few sound bites that won't matter much; and the republicans didn't find a smoking gun on the source of the report, or a definitive statement that Trump wasn't guilty of obstruction.

Mueller played it close to the vest, stuck to his script as outlined in his report, and didn't perform for either side in the way they wanted.

malchior wrote: ↑Sat Jul 27, 2019 9:43 am Oh please. This is a terrible take. This is very far from #fakenews. This is a critique on how they constantly play the horse race narrative.

gameoverman wrote: ↑Sat Jul 27, 2019 4:13 pm Either they had something on him, in which case this should have been dealt with long ago, or the truth is they don't really have anything and they are just doing this to annoy him.

Kraken wrote:

gameoverman wrote: ↑Sat Jul 27, 2019 4:13 pm Either they had something on him, in which case this should have been dealt with long ago, or the truth is they don't really have anything and they are just doing this to annoy him.

They weren't in a position to do anything until the D House majority was seated in January. I'm still on the fence about impeachment; both sides have strong arguments. Just wanted to point out that the Dems couldn't deal with it long ago.