Acquittal

As expected, President Trump was acquitted on both articles of impeachment.  Mitt Romney cast the only crossover vote:  to convict on abuse of power, but not on obstruction of Congress.  That made the votes 48-52 and 47-53.

12 comments:

E Hines said...

Yeah, I saw Romney's 10 minutes in the spotlight on the Senate floor.

He's plainly still suffering from his hurt feelings over Trump's being mean to him in the '15-'16 primaries.

And now McConnell, in his polite, courtly manner, is excoriating Pelosi for her behavior from her impeachment move to her shameful behavior last night, and excoriating the impeachment itself.

Eric Hines

Ymar Sakar said...

Romney better not be part of a secret combination. He knowsbetter. Although reid also should know but acts still.

The alt right or conservative comments about romney seems to be riposted by romney s own oppo to trum.

Gringo said...

E Hines
He's plainly still suffering from his hurt feelings over Trump's being mean to him in the '15-'16 primaries.

Actually, Romney was rather mean to Trump. From Romney's March 2016 speech.Full transcript: Mitt Romney's remarks on Donald Trump and the 2016 race (March 3,2016).

I am not here to announce my candidacy for office. I am not going to endorse a candidate today. Instead, I would like to offer my perspective on the nominating process of my party.......

Mr. Trump is directing our anger for less than noble purposes. He creates scapegoats of Muslims and Mexican immigrants, he calls for the use of torture and for killing the innocent children and family members of terrorists. He cheers assaults on protesters. He applauds the prospect of twisting the Constitution to limit first amendment freedom of the press. This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.

Here's what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.

His domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.



There is more. Small wonder that Trump didn't offer Romney any position in his Administration.

Best thing Trump could do would be to ignore Romney.

E Hines said...

Gringo,

Yes, he was; I remember those remarks. I also remember how hurt he was that Trump fired (not pushed) back. That wasn't supposed to happen.

I agree, at this stage, that Trump--and the rest of the Republican Senators--would be well advised simply to ignore Romney, to not respond to anything more that he might say in any venue.

Eric Hines

Gringo said...

E Hines
Yes, he was; I remember those remarks.

You are better informed than I am, because I didn't remember those remarks.

I also remember how hurt he was that Trump fired (not pushed) back. That wasn't supposed to happen,

Which made Trump different from most other Republican politicians. Trump didn't just sit there and take it. He fired back. Trump was not my first choice, though I would have voted for Trump or the proverbial yellow dog in the November election. Trump's firing back at Democrat media/politician attacks endeared Trump to me. I saw that Trump had the same enemies I had. Which meant that come November, I gladly cast my vote for Trump.

E Hines said...

You are better informed than I am, because I didn't remember those remarks.

God help me, I'm a political junky. Or at least a political dilettante.

Trump wasn't my first choice, either; he was 'way down the list. I liked Rubio, Christy, and Fiorina. Wrong all the way around (so much for accurate junkiness). What sold me on Trump come Hell or high water--or a Progressive-Democrat--was the need for a Republican in the White House to protect and preserve the Supreme Court.

I've been pleasantly surprised by Trump, although I disagree with some of his foreign policy, and I think some of his communication techniques are counterproductive. I do wonder, though, how much he was influenced by Newt Gingrich in the prior cycle hammering back at the NLMSM for asking about his marriage history at one of the primary debates.

Eric Hines

Assistant Village Idiot said...

McConnell just also politely got more judges confirmed.

Grim said...

I don't know if it's better that they impeached him or not; but there will be consequences, not all of which will be happy ones. At some point he's going to get control of this machine enough to turn it against his enemies, especially if he wins a second term. And if he doesn't, socialism.

E Hines said...

At some point he's going to get control of this machine enough to turn it against his enemies

The ones who assaulted our Constitution to manufacture these years of rank dishonesty (to say nothing of insult to our intelligence) do, indeed, need to suffer severe consequences. Not from Trump, but via other pathways. Jail for the criminal misbehaviors after actual trials, and humiliatingly crushing defeat at the polls courtesy of We the People.

Eric Hines

douglas said...

If I'm making the charitable reading, Romney is sincere but badly misguided. I see him as akin to that Dad who coaches his kids team, and in an effort to not unfairly favor his kid (the Republicans) he instead overcompensates and treats him unfairly harshly instead, and favors the other kids (the Democrats). Add that the Democrats have given little reason to get more playing time or be believed more easily, which he seems keen to do. What makes me suspicious of the charitable reading is that he presumably thinks some of the other GOP Senators are decent men- Lee, Rubio, Tim Scott- but he disagrees with them. They see the reality clearly- how is he so sure he's correct when he's the outlier? Sometimes 'courage' is just hubris.

" At some point he's going to get control of this machine enough to turn it against his enemies"

If there's one thing Trump has convinced me of by now, it's that he knows how to play strictly by the rules- how else to explain how he has come out of the Mueller probe and the Impeachment circus with nothing more than 'maybe he had bad intent' as the worst they could come up with? I'm not sure he's not perfectly happy to simply continue to play by the rules. He can get his revenge through strictly legit processes at this point, I suspect.

Cassandra said...

If there's one thing Trump has convinced me of by now, it's that he knows how to play strictly by the rules- how else to explain how he has come out of the Mueller probe and the Impeachment circus with nothing more than 'maybe he had bad intent' as the worst they could come up with? I'm not sure he's not perfectly happy to simply continue to play by the rules. He can get his revenge through strictly legit processes at this point, I suspect.

This is spot on.

To Grim's point, I have zero doubt that it's good Trump wasn't impeached. To impeach any president - of either party - on such ridiculous grounds is a precedent I'm not sure the nation would survive.

It's good that this attempt failed (and was seen to fail - miserably). One of the hallmarks of banana republics is constant investigations and the subversion of political institutions for partisan gains. Bottom line: the Democrats didn't have the goods. Period.

Despite changing the rules in a blatantly one-sided manner to rig the process in their favor, they still failed.

Would I prefer that presidents didn't use their positions as some kind of home field advantage to ensure their re-election (or maintain their party's control)? Sure. I wouldn't have impeached the Obama administration merely for seeking dirt on Republicans from Russian sources. Nor would I likely support impeaching Obama (or Hills, had she been elected) for campaign finance violations.

What I do view as an impeachable offence (were that possible, which it ain't) would be proof - through a fair process - that an administration used the intel community and FBI to hamstring a political opponent and overturn an election.

I still believe some of those actors belong in jail for what they did, but only after due process (which was NOT what we just saw with this impeachment).

Ymar Sakar said...

Romney does not like yo brimg his active lds membership in on it but his position is because of his religion. The lds leadrrship cadre is not pro or anti trum.

Most peoplr havr no idea about the government s past relationship with lds of 1840s and 1830s. Romney essentially is acting out of fear that america is repeating what led up to the mormon extermination order. Because he likes to hide it, it cannot be drbated
And he himself will not be aware of what he suppresses.