Posted on 12/13/2019 2:46:03 AM PST by karpov
WASHINGTON — It was a powerful congressional weapon deployed in only the most extreme cases, so explosive that lawmakers feared the wider damage it could do if used for the wrong reasons. Today, the filibuster is an everyday part of Senate business, standard operating procedure in a polarized world where the once rare has become commonplace.
With the House poised to impeach President Trump on a mainly party-line vote and Republicans already threatening retribution, fears are mounting that presidential impeachment might, like the filibuster, become a regular feature of America’s weaponized politics, with members of the party out of the White House but in control of the House routinely trying to oust a president they find objectionable.
The escalating use of the filibuster and the rising toxicity of Supreme Court confirmation hearings are examples of how scorched-earth politics can be hard to extinguish once one party feels aggrieved and gets the opportunity to exact revenge.
Those grievances were on full display Thursday during the 14 hours of debate in the House Judiciary Committee over articles of impeachment. It was a discussion full of vitriol and invective that ended with the panel’s chairman, Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, gaveling the session to a close without a vote.
Earlier in the week, Representative Louie Gohmert, Republican of Texas, suggested that Republicans could easily go after a Democratic president if control of the White House and the House were flipped. “We’ve already got the forms, all we have to do is eliminate Donald Trump’s name and put Joe Biden’s name in there,” he declared on Monday.
Presidential impeachment was once almost unthinkable because of the gravity of overturning the results of an election. For more than two centuries, only one president — Andrew Johnson in 1868 — was [impeached].
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Obama's refusing to enforce immigration laws with two illegal amnesties, thus encouraging an invasion, was done for the good of the Democratic party, not the country. That was worthy of impeachment.
As a practical matter, impeachment does not accomplish much, since the 2/3 supermajority in the Senate is a high bar, since an impeached president is replaced by a VP who will pursue the same policies, and since impeachment energizes the party of the impeached president.
Bite me. Let the swamp do its worst. New normal, indeed.
Sure...anytime a split party between the House and the President, it will be used and abuse as it is today. DUH.
Wait, NYT is worried about karma smacking their collective arses? How ironic.........how frakin’ hilarious after watching Levin last night call for the next DEM to be elected POTUS be impeached under the same BS tactics as the current DEMs are using against Trump.....................................
If the RINOs were replaced by pubs with backbones, the socialists would probably subside to a less aggressive pose. Right now, they are on high horses with free reins.
Bring back dueling...
Sorry. The ‘Rats own it.
NYT crying crocodile tears?
Really?
The USA isn’t going to last long enough for this to be an issue.
political assasination
The irony is that impeachment and removal from office is almost an obsolete measure in a government like ours that has evolved into a two-party system. It’s almost impossible to envision a scenario where we have a President from one party while the Senate has two-thirds of its members from the other party.
More than likely, yes. Neither side will accept election results from now on. If my side loses, I know I won’t after all of this because I’ll KNOW they cheated due to a total lack of character on their side.
A FRIVOLOUS impeachment vote is a SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY
The real danger is if Democrats ever reach 67 seats in the Senate. You could say the country is lost at that point anyway, but mathematically speaking, at such a number, the Rats could void any Presidential election they want with a rubber stamp impeachment.
I'm pretty sure 1868 was less then two centuries ago. But this is NYT, not known for its accuracy.
If the DemocRATs get their way on this, this chance there will be another valid election is slim. First, impeach and remove Trump. Next, immediately impeach and remove Pence--do not allow him to name a VP. Last, install President Pelosi. She will make sure that no election ever again will result in a President that the rabid left disapproves of. Oh, they might rotate various Socialists through to convince their useful idiot base that we still have an elected government. But in reality, our choice would be as illusory as the choice that Soviet Russians had in their elections.
If there is ever a Democrat President again (and I certainly hope there is not, that party needs to die a swift political death), and a GOP controlled House... I hope the House starts impeachment proceedings about 10 min after the President is sworn in. The Democrats have set the precedent, using and abusing their power for political purposes. Turnabout is fair play. They need a massive dose of there own medicine.
Will impeachment become the new normal? No. The RAT party will always try to impeach a Republican president, but our Repugnant Congressional Pimps will never try to impeach a RAT POTUS.
At this point in our history if a Marxocrat was ever again elected president we may as well just start the shooting.
Pence would not pursue the same policies as Trump.
The impeachment is an attempt to overthrow an elected government
The impeachment overthrow conspirators have forfeited have forfeited their lives and liberty.
Once their lives have actually ended, the process will not be lightly undertaken again. Death of conspirators will insure impeachment will not become common
The most abhorrent thought is that impeachment will not only become normal but nonstop.
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