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Martha Woods's avatar

I agree. However, I think Republicans actually knew he would be charged by DOJ for insurrection and they were stupid about what the Trump/Putin cabal REALLY wanted, which was Trump not stopping Putin. I don't think they thought he would run again. They didn't think Putin would invade without Trump's support. But Now they know they were self deluded, short sighted, and wooed by McConnel's siren song. They didn't see COVID coming in-between impeachments (you might talk about divine intervention here if you believe in divine intervention). There truly is a bubble in DC that makes people here seem to be the last to know when things are going off the rails. In the meantime impeachment is purely political not judicial and it is therefore a charade. It has never ended with a vote in favor of removing a president. Nixon was told to go before they had one. Those Republicans and Democrats knew it would outrage their constituents one way or the other if they impeached Nixon. So it was self preservation to persuade him he would be disgraced (don't forget, he could not have run for President again anyway) and that resignation was the gentleman's way out (sweetened by a pardon promise). Impeachment should be a call for a snap trial in front of a court of law followed by a decision by the people, for the people. We need a way to handle criminally minded presidents. In addition, remember Clinton won a second term after being impeached but not convicted ....it did bring out the party loyals and Perot gave an out to those that were disgusted but didn't think the impeachment was right.

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Lauren Lundgren's avatar

They may know what's what in their heart of hearts, but I doubt that many can acknowledge even to themselves that they were duped by Putin and his puppet. Nobody likes to admit they were wrong, and in this instance the implications of betrayal of country, constitution, and basic values are more than they can face.

Our best hopes are the legal system and the election. If we can hold them criminally responsible and purge public offices of their ilk we can restore and perhaps improve the norms of our form of government. We'll have to go cautiously and guard against our own extremist over-reach. But I live in hope.

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Martha Woods's avatar

Agreed. I think they knew they were being strategic. They made the wrong choice, party over country.

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PaulRozycki's avatar

They sold themselves on backing Trump for the good of the team and the conservation movement. What really happened is they didn't want to take a stand and get their heads out of the sand.

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Karen Jacob's avatar

Keep the goose (trump) who has the golden egg (his followers) so they can stay in power and make money.

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