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[Kagus]

I'm pretty sure that the real moral of the story is clear: Make sure your running mate is as horrid and abysmal an individual you can find in order to ensure that no one will impeach you in favor of the alternative!

It's like blackmailing a whole damn country!

[Trekkin]

In a slightly more depressing thought. The more and more I think about it the more I worry that the more trump does the more he's going to get away with, because nobody with any sense wants pence in office any more than trump, so impeachment is effectively off the table unless pence can be dragged along too.  And all most people in the future will see out of context is that the president did all these immoral things and did not get punished for them and they will assume it's because he's the president he can do what he wants without consequence.  Paving the way for future presidents to be just as bad and there be almost no outrage whatsoever.

This would be more worrisome if Trump weren't such a lame duck in part because he's such an outrageous buffoon; what he's actually gotten done is significantly less than might be expected for a President whose party controls both houses of Congress. He's also not had a favorable effect down-ballot, and the midterms, structurally in favor of Republicans though they may be, will demonstrate how troublesome that can be.

Already, Trump can't get anyone who knows what they're doing to work for him and he's a big orange millstone around the neck of his party, particularly since trying to emulate Trump is not at all reliable. Future politicians are unlikely to see the Trump administration as something to aspire to.

[Max™]

Where do people get the idea you can't choose your family from? I've got no father and 5 sisters now since realizing I am not obligated to be related to psychopaths, and fuck anyone who claims differently.

[sluissa]

That's been the tactic for a while now. At least as long as I've been politically observant. Nobody who would have impeached Clinton REALLY wanted Al Gore as president. But it was nearing the end of the term anyway and it was a good distraction to keep attention away from anything the democrats wanted passed anyway. Cheney would have been an unpopular choice to fill in for Bush. Biden felt like a more abrasive, slightly more left leaning threat to anyone that seriously challenged Obama. Pence is much the same.

And it's not just impeachments. It also helps stem any sort of violent attempts to remove a president from office. All but the craziest will still have to look and say "Okay, I don't like the president, but is the alternative any better?"

[Trekkin]

Where do people get the idea you can't choose your family from? I've got no father and 5 sisters now since realizing I am not obligated to be related to psychopaths, and fuck anyone who claims differently.

They typically mean it in the sense that you have no agency in deciding whose genes you inherit or to whom you are biologically related. Impotent hostility cannot alter the past, no matter how constant, and genes have to come from somewhere. However, as the requisite events happened before your birth and thus before you had any say in the matter, it's valid to disclaim any presumption of familial feeling or other association based solely thereon, which is what is usually encapsulated in the phrase "you cannot choose your family."

So no, Max. You do have a father, and you are, regardless of how angry it makes you, entirely as related to psychopaths as their psychopathy and your common ancestors define you to be. It's just that none of that reflects on you in any way.

[EnigmaticHat]

Met a customer at work today that claimed to be Mike Pence's cousin.  Said you can't choose your family.  Didn't offer any proof, but still a funny thought that maybe even Pence's family does not like him.

In a slightly more depressing thought. The more and more I think about it the more I worry that the more trump does the more he's going to get away with, because nobody with any sense wants pence in office any more than trump, so impeachment is effectively off the table unless pence can be dragged along too.  And most people in the future will see out of context is that the president did all these immoral things and did not get punished for them and they will assume it's because he's the president he can do what he wants without consequence.  Paving the way for future presidents to be just as bad and there be almost no outrage whatsoever.

If democrats control the house after the elections, impeachment is nearly guaranteed.  It doesn't really matter if Pence is worse; the base hates Trump and there's limits to what Pence could do with a democratic house.

Course, I don't personally believe the democrats will control the house after 2018.  And its the house that controls impeachment.  To my mind it comes down to what Mueller turns up.  He's either going to turn up something so horrible Republicans start protesting, or he won't.  Much as everyone likes talking about the senate, the house is the crazy branch in regards to Republicans.  Full of the next generation of Republicans that drank the previous generations' Kool Aid meant for the base.  Trump would have to shoot at least a dozen people on 5th avenue before the house even considers impeachment.

[Starver]

Trump tweeted "Going to Dallas (the GREAT State of Texas) today. Leaving soon!", I see.

He's been trying to be Nixon, so far, but maybe he now also wants a shot at being like Kennedy?

[Max™]

If he's gonna get shot in Texas, Dallas is a good spot for it, weird liberal enclave that it is.

So no, Max. You do have a father, and you are, regardless of how angry it makes you, entirely as related to psychopaths as their psychopathy and your common ancestors define you to be. It's just that none of that reflects on you in any way.

Why would you being wrong make me angry?

I fell fully formed from my mother's forehead like Athena or some shit.

[Pancakes]

Trump tweeted "Going to Dallas (the GREAT State of Texas) today. Leaving soon!", I see.

He's been trying to be Nixon, so far, but maybe he now also wants a shot at being like Kennedy?

This made me laugh quite a bit more than it should have lol

[Dunamisdeos]

If he's gonna get shot in Texas, Dallas is a good spot for it, weird liberal enclave that it is.

So no, Max. You do have a father, and you are, regardless of how angry it makes you, entirely as related to psychopaths as their psychopathy and your common ancestors define you to be. It's just that none of that reflects on you in any way.

Why would you being wrong make me angry?

I fell fully formed from my mother's forehead like Athena or some shit.

So did this

[Bumber]

If democrats control the house after the elections, impeachment is nearly guaranteed.  It doesn't really matter if Pence is worse; the base hates Trump and there's limits to what Pence could do with a democratic house.

Course, I don't personally believe the democrats will control the house after 2018.  And its the house that controls impeachment.  To my mind it comes down to what Mueller turns up.  He's either going to turn up something so horrible Republicans start protesting, or he won't.  Much as everyone likes talking about the senate, the house is the crazy branch in regards to Republicans.  Full of the next generation of Republicans that drank the previous generations' Kool Aid meant for the base.  Trump would have to shoot at least a dozen people on 5th avenue before the house even considers impeachment.

The House can only initiate impeachment. You need a 2/3rds majority of the Senate to actually go through with it. That means you need to convince 10+ Republican Senators, even with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate.

Now, maybe if you're lucky you can convince the Republican Senators to impeach Trump in favor of Pence. However, you're then absolutely stuck with Pence because they won't impeach him in favor of a Democrat Speaker of the House.

[Shazbot]

So from the other side of the looking glass...

Trump is at 51% and his approval among black male voters doubled since Kanye's tweet.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/donald-trump-thanks-kanye-west-for-boost-in-approval-rating-w519854

The "no strong feelings either way" category grew substantially as well among black male voters, leaving local ballot plantation owners worried about their crops.

The "Are we winning the war on terror?" question hasn't been this high since OBL was double-tapped.

I think an increasing number of people consider the Russian Fishing Expedition to be the elaborate witch-hunt it is. Courts ordinarily investigate wrongdoing and determine the people responsible. They do not normally investigate people for possible wrongdoing and create "lying to the FBI" crimes to charge them with. If the Russians wanted to sow discord in the American political system, good job, half the country now distrusts the FBI.

And with the entire Democratic opposition hanging their hats on impeach impeach impeach... I don't see that as an achievable campaign promise.

Anyway, Max, Athena grew out of Zeus's head after he ate her "mother".

[Trekkin]

Courts ordinarily investigate wrongdoing and determine the people responsible. They do not normally investigate people for possible wrongdoing and create "lying to the FBI" crimes to charge them with.

There's a certain amount of cognitive dissonance in suggesting that wrongdoing can be investigated without investigating people for possible wrongdoing; the whole point of an investigation (eliding pedantry about courts not doing it) is to determine whether an illegal act took place and who was responsible. As for making false statements to the FBI, it's not normally charged with this frequency, sure, but people don't lie to the FBI this often either. And anyway, how else are we to compel truthful testimony from witnesses except by punishing people for making false statements? An ice lolly at the end of the interrogation if they've been a good boy, perhaps?

Actually, something like that might work on Trump. Someone tell him he gets a scoop of ice cream for every question he answers correctly EDIT:(and Mueller gets one for every lie) and he'll do as long an interview as is requested.

[Teneb]

Courts ordinarily investigate wrongdoing and determine the people responsible. They do not normally investigate people for possible wrongdoing and create "lying to the FBI" crimes to charge them with.

There's a certain amount of cognitive dissonance in suggesting that wrongdoing can be investigated without investigating people for possible wrongdoing; the whole point of an investigation (eliding pedantry about courts not doing it) is to determine whether an illegal act took place and who was responsible. As for making false statements to the FBI, it's not normally charged with this frequency, sure, but people don't lie to the FBI this often either. And anyway, how else are we to compel truthful testimony from witnesses except by punishing people for making false statements? An ice lolly at the end of the interrogation if they've been a good boy, perhaps?

Actually, something like that might work on Trump. Someone tell him he gets a scoop of ice cream for every question he answers correctly EDIT:(and Mueller gets one for every lie) and he'll do as long an interview as is requested.

Pff, you don't even need the ice cream. Just tell him it'll embarass those filthy liberal democrats and is key to Making America Great Again.

[wierd]

For some, threatening to make them watch someone eat an ice lolly might be enough to compel them, but the US has laws against unusual punishment.

(See also, "succulent", an indie game.)