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solarbirdnnnNNGNGH I shouldn't be doing this so late but I keep not doing it so
OKAY. You know what's happening with Pence and the 25th Amendment, right?
Let's go over it real quick.
He keeps (reportedly) going back and forth on yanking Trump via the 25th Amendment.
Really, he _really_ doesn't want to. He's already facing the base's wrath. This would push them even further over the top and so honestly I kinda get it. Shit's gonna be even scarier for him.
But he knows he should. And the Democrats know he should. And this whole impeachment timetable, sure, some of it is legit rules issues.
But some of it is also trying to force him to go ahead and do it. Pull him out via the 25th Amendment - or we'll impeach. Again.
Difference is: this time, the Senate will convict. I'm pretty sure. I think they're pretty sure too. Not sure about removal, definite on the "no more runs for president" part.
The fact that _this_ is happening is the _only_ reason Pence is still thinking about the 25th. As things fall apart, remember how we got here.
If the possibility of imminent impeachment goes away, so will ANY talk of the 25th Amendment solution. The Senate GOP do _not_ want to have to take that vote. Not again, not with what's happened.
It's either political suicide (defend the seditionist fascist) or political suicide _and_ personal danger (convict/disallow future runs for office).
That's the beast they've created.
That's not what it should be about, but it is.
They have to make this choice, and of them, _for them_, the 25th Amendment is the _least_ personally damaging. They need to talk Pence and the remaining cabinet into removing Trump that way, to avoid the fallout from the trial.
And that's the _politics_ reason why the Democrats need to be charging full-steam ahead on impeachment, and why _we_ need to be hammering the Democrats constantly not to let up.
I mean _constantly_. Hi, @RepDelBene - impeachment. NOW.
Because I've seen too much of this crowd working for too long. If they can scuttle their way out of definite action? Most of them will.
This is one of those rare moments when nonstop bombardment - tweets, phone calls, email, whatever - can matter.
Do. Not. Let. Up.
Because Tr*mp cannot be allowed to finish his term. He's got to go. 25th amendment or impeachment - or at least impairment against running again - these HAVE. TO. HAPPEN.
Because either way, we've got a fascist insurgency now. The question is whether their orangefarbener Anführer is involved in 2024, and whether we get to do all this - all _this_ - again.
On top of everything else.
We can't have that.
Impeach. Remove. Now.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 10:08 am (UTC)except... nothing he does is going to make them happy.. and Trump + movement are basically a wounded animal at this point.
He will be better off if he can take their toys away from them.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 06:44 pm (UTC)But that doesn't mean he'll do it. We have to force his hand. This is how.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 02:22 pm (UTC)And yet, if you're that close to everything it isn't obvious. At this point, I'm sure his thinking is that if he just appeases harder he can get keep them from coming after him at the grocery store. As domestic abuse survivors can tell you, appease harder sometimes works. In the short term. It won't stop the beating, but will reduce it a bit in the near term. Better to get away completely, but seeing that in in the moment is nigh impossible.
He is better off making a hard break and repudiating, no question. That option gets him allies who are less likely to get banned from public life for being Nazis.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-10 06:47 pm (UTC)This isn't like a domestic violence situation. The difference is he fucking well knew what he was getting in bed with, and did it anyway. Hell, he's from the religious culture that took over GOP political culture, and made it what it is today.
He knows what it is because he lives in and benefits from it, and - like all of them - has been working to inculcate it everywhere his entire life.
So don't have sympathy. He damn well knew what he was doing, and now we have to force him to make this choice, one way or the other.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-11 04:21 am (UTC)My thought is that if Trump is impeached/convicted after leaving office, he'll sue, but the courts will say, "We have no jurisdiction on political matters," and impeachment is surely a political trial, not a criminal one.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-11 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-12 12:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-12 02:11 am (UTC)But between "gone" and "not gone," I want "gone."