Democrats are right to try and steady the boat.

Using terms like impeachment before an investigation even gets off the ground lends credence to the whole hysteria and "witch hunt" narrative. A likely outcome of this investigation is that Trump somehow kept himself squeaky clean. I doubt he did, but the government would have to prove that he was a willing and witting participant in a plan to undermine the election.

He's got a pretty fucking fabulous alibi for that. His near constant fumbling and failure gives him a pretty good patsy defense.

(May 19, 2017 at 5:29 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: To be fair, "treason" is defined as "lending aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war." That last clause is important to the definition.

When are you not in a time of war?

Quote:He's got a pretty fucking fabulous alibi for that. His near constant fumbling and failure gives him a pretty good patsy defense.

Does anyone think Trump had any master plan to work with the Russians? He's nowhere near that intelligent. Trump is just some guy with very little knowledge who happened to be wealthy enough and famous enough to step into the spotlight at just the right time to take advantage of the fear and hatred of liberals and government that the right wing media had been fomenting for years.
His problems with the Russian hacks stem from his stupidity. Thankfully, stupidity is no excuse for breaking the law.

(May 19, 2017 at 5:53 pm)Crunchy Wrote:

(May 19, 2017 at 5:29 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: To be fair, "treason" is defined as "lending aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war." That last clause is important to the definition.

When are you not in a time of war?

We are not at war with Russia, ergo it is not possible to give aid and comfort to them as an enemy.

Treason is a word that gets thrown around with far too much regularity.

In any case, considering we're talking about the president, the only legal remedy is via impeachment by Congress or via the 25th amendment. Neither is a criminal proceeding, and neither can result in a conviction for treason or it's proscribed punishment.

I can't stand the man, but this sort of overreach makes the opposition look foolish.

(May 19, 2017 at 5:53 pm)Crunchy Wrote:

(May 19, 2017 at 5:29 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: To be fair, "treason" is defined as "lending aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war." That last clause is important to the definition.

When are you not in a time of war?

Legally speaking, that is any time Congress has not declared war on another nation.

That'll be $15.

White House lawyers seem to be researching impeachment.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/politics/d...index.html

Quote:Treason is a word that gets thrown around with far too much regularity.

As Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography, he might not be able to define it but he knew it when he saw it.

And this:

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/trump-bo...ls-report/

Quote:Trump boasted about firing ‘nut job’ Comey to Russian officials: report

Quote:A new bombshell report claims that during his meeting with Russian government officials last week, President Donald Trump boasted to them that he had just fired former FBI Director James Comey, whom he had described to them as a “nut job.”
The New York Times reports that an official White House document that summarized Trump’s May 10 meeting with Russian officials showed that Trump told them that he felt a sense of relief after firing Comey due to his role in investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election.
“I just fired the head of the F.B.I,” Trump said, according to the document. “He was crazy, a real nut job… I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

gets pretty fucking close.

(May 19, 2017 at 6:48 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(May 19, 2017 at 5:53 pm)Crunchy Wrote: When are you not in a time of war?

Legally speaking, that is any time Congress has not declared war on another nation.

That'll be $15.

So the Iraq war wasn't a war?

No.  We haven't bothered to declare war since 1941.  Now we like to call it something else.

We have lots of euphemisms for not minding our own fucking business.

It's regime change and intervention now.

I dunno, just because a de jour declaration of war hasn't occurred, certainly doesn't mean a de facto state of war does not exist.

Congress has the power to declare war. Continuing to fund a de facto war makes that declaration evident whether it was made officially or not.