Unfortunately, most people don’t interpret the impeachment the way you do. They view the fact that he didn’t get thrown out of office as more of an acquittal, really. Although impeachment is a political process and not a judicial one, the impeachment itself in the House is more akin to an indictment while the trial in the Senate is meant to mirror a jury trial.

chuunibyou

I learned something new today!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chūnibyō

There was a little kernel of sanity behind that ruling, though. Absent a clear conviction for a crime that smells like insurrection, who gets to decide what insurrection means? I remember that there was a lot of talk of the “insurrection at the border” at the same time the ruling was being considered, as well as describing migrants as “military-age men”. I am positive that if the SC let Colorado take Trump off the ballot, Texas would have taken Biden off based on some bullshit theory that he was instigating a foreign invasion of migrants.

The language behind a third Presidential term is much, much clearer. The plain text of the amendment bars it, and if Trump decides to run again, several states will declare him ineligible on the spot. That will go to the SC, too. We’ll see what happens then.

I call that “God’s Ultimate Recall Vote”

I’m not so sure about that one. If election results are anything to go by, “we the people” are perfectly fine with this, because in the process of tearing the whole country down we also stick it to people we hate. Take that, Libtards!

No, you are misreading it. The President does have broad powers, but they are supposed to be held in check by the other branches. Trump is not only using those broad powers to their fullest extent, he is going beyond what he is allowed to do and straight into shit that is blatantly illegal and should be easy for other branches to check.

However, Congress shows no interest in lifting a finger to say “no” to this President. He is doing all the dirty work that Conservatives have fantasized about for decades. They are letting him get away with it all, even if it means it diminishes their power. That is not what the Founders intended. They very purposely split up the functions of government so ambitious politicians would keep each other in check.

One could argue that the Judicial branch is similarly pliant, but not every case has gone Trump’s way, and many cases are still in motion. We will have to see what happens if/when key, definitive rulings don’t go his way, but he ignores them.

And if both those checks fail, the only remaining check is the sovereignty that individual States still hold. We’ll see if that’s enough.

That may not be the case. I have read that the President’s pardon abilities only cover criminal offenses, and contempt of court that stems from ignoring a ruling is considered a civil offense.

Well yeah, they have a plan, it relies on a pliant Supreme Court who will do what they’re told when Trump oversteps his authority. That is not guaranteed. Those justices have that job for as long as they want it, no matter how they rule. And unlike Congress, they won’t cede their own power to the President just because he asks.

Here’s a Constitutional Crisis for you: Trump attempts to postpone the midterms because of a made up emergency, several States sue, the SC rules against Trump. Then Trump’s J6 buddies start attacking the Liberal justices directly, maybe even offing one, and Trump pardons them immediately. Will that be enough to get Republicans in Congress to snap to their senses, or will they continue to let him grab them by the pussy and promptly appoint Matt Gaetz (or Sergey Lavrov) as the next SC Justice?

I’ve posted on this recently, but a key difference between the US and other countries is that elections here are run by the individual States, with some Federal oversight. In most states, there is a Secretary of State who is in charge of local elections, and is separately elected from other statewide posts. Furthermore, the actual administration of elections is done at the county or city level, by a local election board.

So, the new Fascists are limited in what they can do unless they pull off a widespread election takeover in enough localities to matter. Could they do that? Of course they could. But at least it’s a lot harder than it is in other, smaller countries, where the central national government plays a more direct role in elections.

“Newsmax and Fox News are hereby banned, as well, for being too woke. We will give credentials to Truth Social and Joe Rogan in their place.”

This is only the beginning, though. This budget resolution is really just a planning tool, and doesn’t mean anything without further action by both houses of Congress. Democrats did what they could in this round, offering specific amendments they knew Republicans would vote down, just to point out where Republicans priorities really lie. It is performative, and only really exists to give Democrats in the next election the ability to run commercials that say “My opponent voted against this thing”. But in a close election, that may matter.

And please understand that Republicans have the majority in both houses, and can get anything passed that they can all agree on. (Yes, there is a Filibuster in the Senate, but there are ways around it for budget bills). Democrats may decide to be a permanent “no” vote on all this, and force Republicans to stick together. But be prepared for the fact it may not matter.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it: Donald Trump did not become President (Twice!) by listening to experts…

You may be right, but one key difference between the US and prior states that have fully descended into Fascism is that the election apparatus here is extremely distributed and ultimately controlled by individual states. So in order for the country to go full Fascist, they also have to convert enough Statehouses so the outcome of the election won’t matter.

And while there are several states that are full MAGA, there are enough on the bubble who would give their election officials cover if they get in trouble with the King for trying to keep their elections fair.

The next Federal election in 2026 will be key. If Republicans are not punished at the polls for their leader being a tyrant, that’s the point of no return. If some opposition takes root that turns into results, though, then there is some hope that we can pull out of this.

Maybe, just maybe, if will dawn on some of them that if their own party is acting like the Gestapo, they are on the wrong side of history…

Nah, who am I kidding.

But this President has decided that it matters more who wears the pants in his relationships. Purses are for pussies.

Well, they cant impeach Musk, because he holds no office.

They could impeach Trump, but they won’t. They choose to be powerless, because they want a smaller Federal bureaucracy, no matter the legalities. They want Trump to break the law to do this, while they abdicate their responsibility to check his actions.

When it all goes South and the US is irrevocably harmed, the party can blame Trump and pretend it will all be better once he’s gone. In the meantime, the damage is done. And if the blowback is so severe that we elect a Democratic President next time, then Republicans in Congress will all of a sudden rediscover the power the Constitution affords them to constrain the Presidency.

He’s done caring about profits. His purchase of Twitter will never be profitable, but it enabled him to buy a President. He cares about influence and power. He won’t mind paying the tariffs if those same tariffs hurts people he hates.

Too late, the US Catholic Bishops already sold their soul to the Republican Party to outlaw abortion. They’ll find out (like so many other Trump supporters) that there is a price to pay for that.

He legitimately is thinner than he was during his last presidency

Seems excessive. Why doesn’t he just fire them?