Franklin Delano Quid Pro Quo

The American Spectator ^ | January 31, 2020 | Paul Kengor

[nickcarraway]

As a presidential historian carefully watching the pursuit by Democrats of President Donald Trump’s scalp, I can’t help but express exasperation at the Democrats’ hypocrisy and their selectivity.

Their goal, of course, is to tag Donald Trump with some sort of quid pro quo deal with Ukraine — specifically, withholding money to Ukraine if it didn’t act in a way that served Trump’s election interests. That’s the Democrats’ central case; impeachment and removal hinges on that. But here’s the critical question: Should such a thing, if proven, be considered impeachable? That’s the issue. And it desperately needs some historical context.

The question of whether such a quid pro quo would be impeachable is debatable, but what isn’t debatable is that the history of the presidency is filled with quid pro quo examples, particularly among the Democratic Party’s icons. And especially with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Needless to say, there is no president more hallowed in liberal lore than FDR. In nearly every survey that has been done of liberal academics, FDR always ranks among the top three presidents of all time, behind only George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and always top among modern presidents. He is their gold standard. FDR is the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party.

[Sacajaweau]

Every Treaty, every agreement, every order in government carries with it..."Quid pro quo". That's how the world works.

We play this game with our kids....Do your homework or no wifi for you.

[Rashputin]

But, Trump is being impeached for having won the 2016 election, not for anything he's done since he was sworn in as President.

[Responsibility2nd]

 

Archie Bunker : Well, let me tell you one thing about Richard E. Nixon. He knows how to keep his wife, Pat, home. Roosevelt could never do that with Eleanor. She was always out on the loose. Running around with the coloreds. Tellin' 'em they was gettin' the short end of the stick. She was the one who discovered the coloreds in this country; we never knew they was there!

Archie Bunker : [Maude refuses to get out of Archie's chair]  Well, I got the secret weapon that can lay this little lady right away. Here we go. This country was ruined by Franklin Delano Roosevelt!

Cousin Maude : You're fat.

Archie Bunker : Sticks and stones may break my bones, but Franklin Delano Roosevelt...

 Edith Bunker : Archie, you promised never to say that name again in front of Maude.

Archie Bunker : Franklin Delano Roosevelt!

Edith Bunker : [to Maude]  He don't mean nothing. His whole family was for Roosevelt.

Archie Bunker : That was for two terms. But that was it. We didn't know the guy was going to hold on to the job like a pope!

 

[Berlin_Freeper]

Quid Pro Quote

[faithhopecharity]

Good. Thanks. Had pdjt demanded that the Biden corruption be investigated from its Ukrainian side as a condition of further weapons delivery, it would have been consistent with American aid practices of many many years, consistent with our Ukrainian treaty ( re cooperation in international crime investigations ) and consistent with his duty to fairly execute the (Criminal) laws of the United States. And the D’s could well have impeached pdjt for failure to do it. Therefore, I refuse to adopt the MSM’s constant mantra implying that —- had there been — a quid pro quo in this matter it would have somehow been wrong.

[SFConservative]

Exactly. For all of history, foreign relations have been implemented via either threat of war or quid pro quo inducements. There is no other leverage to get a foreign country to do something you want. Mick Mulvaney had a brief moment where he told the media that this is how it is always done and told them to get a life. He got stomped on pretty hard though everyone knows he is right.

[the_Watchman]

And the D’s could well have impeached pdjt for failure to do it.

I was expecting a parody site, like Babylon Bee, to postulate a mid-summer meeting between the Dems and the media to settle on articles of impeachment. There were three points of view:

(1) Impeach based on Quid Pro Quo!

(2) Impeach based on dereliction of duty since he SHOULDN'T have released the funds to Ukraine!

(3) Impeach based on incompetence; i.e., he didn't understand that he couldn't run a Quid Pro Quo when the target didn't know about the Quo!

During the ensuing discussion, Adam said that since facts didn't really matter he could make a proper showing based on any of them.

Nancy didn't care which one they chose as long as they could get the vote done before Christmas.

The media were really uneasy about (2) since it involved throwing Biden under the bus. So their concern held the day and the group went with (1).

[AndyJackson]

Roosevelt’s quid pro was with the Russians I remind you.

[faithhopecharity]

You May have Nailed it! Ha!

[faithhopecharity]

Yes indeed

[Parmy]

Ping.

[daniel1212]

And Folsom’s book is full of them. Every Republican (and every Democrat) involved in the Trump impeachment trail should grab a copy of Folsom’s book and read through the examples. Again, I’ll make it easy for them. Here’s a summary:

Pages 85–88 are loaded with quid pro quo specifics on the WPA
Page 92, last paragraph, is solid quid pro quo on the WPA
Page 117, middle paragraph, on Social Security
Page 135, the indented quote from Raymond Moley regarding FDR’s attitude
Page 157, next to last paragraph, is quid pro quo with FDR and Kansas City boss “Big Tom” Pendergast
Page 167 is quid pro quo on IRS investigations
Pages 170–77 are loaded with patronage quid pro quo by FDR
Page 184, middle of the page, quote from Sen. Hiram Johnson on subsidies for votes
Page 185 shows quid pro quo with FDR and the black vote
Pages 187–91 show tables regarding votes and where federal funds went
Pages 196–200 show federal funds used to court senators in FDR’s court-packing scheme
https://spectator.org/franklin-delano-quid-pro-quo/

[gattaca]

bmp