The Rude Pundit: This Horrible Belief About the Election and What to Do With It

[babylonsister]

http://rudepundit.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/this-horrible-belief-about-election-and.html

This Horrible Belief About the Election and What to Do With It
The Rude Pundit


If a Republican were president right now and an incoming Democrat had won in an election where there was even a whiff of Russian interference, the nation would be shut down right now. Lawyers would be filing every lawsuit imaginable in every court everywhere. Marches would be ready to blockade the path of the electors from even getting to their meeting place. Impeachment documents would have been drawn up and, if they were in the minority in Congress, Republicans would be nonstop shaming Democrats, asking if they're loyal to the United States or Russia, until they agreed not to certify the election. It would be a 50-alarm fire and no one would be able to stop the momentum until the president-elect agreed to postpone inauguration until either a definite determination was made about the Russian influence or until a new election could be held. And that's what they'd do if the Democratic president-elect was an entirely competent, qualified person. If it was an egomaniacal hedonist who craps all over the traditions and decorum of the government? We'd be at Def-Con Monica.

And who could blame them, really? If Democratic elected officials truly believe that Russia hacked the Republican and Democratic National Committees' email servers in an effort to push the needle even slightly towards Donald Trump, then that's exactly how they should be acting.


snip//

At the very least, President Obama should ask that Congress delay the Electoral College vote until, as Trump might say, we can figure out what the hell is going on. Barring that, he should ask Congress to delay the January 6 count of electoral votes. Barring that, Democrats should file objections to the vote that will force Congress to have to go on record in support of Trump.

And rank and file Democrats better be calling their members of Congress and the White House to voice their concern. And they better be ready to take to the streets to shut this down before the Trump cancer metastasizes so that its diseased tendrils grow deep into the American body. Act like our goddamned lives depend on it. Obama should be leading the charge on this, asking all concerned Americans to get involved. Just don't expect decency from a good many of them.

Barring all of that and Trump becoming president (as is most likely), well, then we need a new plan. And I've got an idea or two.

One last thing for President Obama: Fire the fuck out of James Comey. Shit, arrest that motherfucker.

[Chasstev365]

1. Spot On! Except:

The Democrat would already be on jail awaiting the Electric Chair before January 20, 2017!

[Cosmocat]

2. Yep

But, what do we have from team D?

A few broadside from the likes of sanders and Warren and everyone else rolling over.

[Dustlawyer]

5. Because the Big Donors for the Democrats are happy with the Plutocratic President!

I am sure they were instructed to stand down if they want future donations. Trump is giving the wealthy and big corporations everything they ever wanted,

[McKim]

36. Yep, Stock Market Sky High

Yep, we ahve a stock market that is sky high and soon tax cuts and maybe capital gains cuts too.
What's not to love? I am taking mine out of the stock market and giving the profit gained from the Trump Bounce to Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, Local Homeless orgs and Latino Network her in Portland, Oregon.

[Dustlawyer]

44. +1!!!

[tomp]

12. those "broadsides".....

.....are fairly wimpy relative to the seriousness of the situation. They both have spoken about "working with" trump on any proposal that appears reasonable, and opposing everything else. That assumes his ascendancy and does not outright oppose it. That's not enough in this situation.

edit: just saw a piece on Warren's attempt to use the emoluments clause against rump. Excellent.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. A few on our side wondering if they need to appeal to racists.

[Cosmocat]

38. That isn't even remotely what this is about

Having a fricken end spine at a bare minimum ...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. The sad part is they've spent so much time in DC they judge each other on the money they raise.....

Remember, Bernie was treated like a joke until they saw the bucks he was getting.

There are STILL people claiming the ONLY reason he was popular was because his supporters hate women.

[Fast Walker 52]

3. First, do not fire Comey because Trump will put someone far worse in there

Second, this shit never happens the other way around. It's always Republicans who pull this shit and then get away with it.

[Alekzander]

7. That is true & you have to ask how they have gotten away with it all these years & still get away

with it. It is because Dems have never been fighters, don't retaliate like Repubs do. That also is why the media jumps when Repubs complain they are partisan but look how the so called main street media treats Dems. They do that because they know they won't get any blow-back from Dems like they will from Repubs.

We are in this mess now because of Dems & their weakness of not fighting back.

[Fast Walker 52]

9. so true-- I want some freaking fighting Dems now

because our democracy is in serious jeopardy

[Alekzander]

20. Same here, hoping they have finally came awake. I don't mind the fight but you want your leaders to

fight back too if they expect you to.

[TonyPDX]

18. Jeff Merkley is fighting back. Too bad other Senate Democrats aren't joining him.

[KPN]

22. Jeff Merkley is one of the Ds best hopes in the future imo.

[Jim Lane]

41. The future, as in 2020

If he's the nominee I'll enthusiastically support him.

He has no national name recognition and his Senate seat is up for re-election that year, so I'd have to say it's a long shot.

[Crash2Parties]

53. Kamala Harris (CA) looks promising, once she is in place.

[KPN]

23. Yeah.

That damned "liberal media".

The D Party needs to get a backbone.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

34. the "D" party bought into the whole "this is a center-right county" lie....

After Reagan there were people in the party who became convinced someone even SEEN as being on the left would be a total loser.

Dems ran away from the Liberal label to the point where some of them have to be taught what a liberal actually is.

They've been getting all of their advice over what the people want from conservatives. This leads to seeing dems talking about "big government" and cutting taxes.

[KingCharlemagne]

47. FDR, Truman and JFK and RFK were "fighters." Sam Rayburn was a "fighter". So

I'm not sure what your "never" comprises.

[jimlup]

4. Only partially true

they honestly don't have the people. They can't have massive protests like we can. In desperate situations often that can be the deciding factor. Their protests are either crazed red-necks or astro-turfed staffers. They don't have the people behind them with the except of those who've been completely fooled.

[randr]

6. The parallels to Watergate are uncanny

A break in occurred, files were stolen. Original crime.
In the case of Watergate the Nixon Administration attempted to cover up their involvement and that is the crime Dicky was impeached for.
In the case of our current Trump/Kremlingate affair, a break in occurred, files were stolen, responsible parties were notified of the crime, stolen files were used in an attempt to embarrass a Candidate; one party to which was the FBI, an alleged responsible party sworn to protect our laws.
Anyone who would deny this and who had fore knowledge of it is complicit in a crime against our country.

[longship]

10. Note: Nixon was never impeached.

He would have been, but it was never voted on in the House before he resigned. He resigned because the Senate GOP leadership informed him that upon the inevitable impeachment they did not have the votes to prevent his removal.

Just a trivial correction.

My best to you.

[KingCharlemagne]

48. It was Senator Barry Goldwater who delivered the news to

Tricky Dick.

[longship]

52. Yes. And Rep. John Rhodes.

Rhodes carried the impeachment news; Goldwater carried the news that Nixon would likely not survive a Senate trial. The votes just were not there.

Nixon resigned before his inevitable impeachment and almost inevitable removal from office in a Senate trial.

[Fast Walker 52]

11. Yes. I just hope the Dems show some guts and keep this alive and not bury it

[47of74]

13. Not confident though in that

The milquetoast leadership will bend over backwards for Agent Fuck and the Branch Trumpvidians.

[Fast Walker 52]

14. good phrase... is Trump "Agent Fuck"?

[47of74]

24. Yep!

[DiverDave]

8. ABSOLUTELY

Rude, man, you speak for me
k+r

[Pinkflamingo]

15. Obama should have stepped into the situation earlier and more effectively.

After all the sanctions on Russia are lifted, Putin will continue to advance his agenda, because he'll have no worries from the US. Obama will be judged harshly by history based on this, I think.

[Pachamama]

16. This is the first Rude Pundit essay that made me want to cry...

...because it is the truth about our current situation in our Nation and time is running out and the Democrats are running out of time.Can someone please send this to the Democratic members of Congress and President Obama?

[masmdu]

54. Why can't YOU?

[Pachamama]

60. Oh - I have been crying plenty - I said that this was was the first Rude Pundit essay that made me

...me want to cry. Normally in the past, I laugh and roar in laughter at the Rudeness and the sarcasm. This one I couldn't laugh. Because none of this is funny. It's horrific and dead serious. And it's aerosol this bad.

[MissKat]

17. Stunned

I feel like a bird that's flown into a glass window.
Reality has turned upside down.

I keep thinking maybe Lincoln was wrong. He should've let the South go. Then all the stupid people could live there and be happy with their ignorance.

I have no doubt that we are heading for war. Within months of his inaugeration something bad will happen so that Chump can make the Patriot act look like a kiss on the cheek. He has told us what he is going to do-- he is going to shut down the press, he is going to lock up his opponents, he is going to bully anyone in his way.

A mob boss and his family have been elected as President. He has made up his cabinet of people who don't know what they're doing, but I'll bet they think they do.

If President Obama doesn't do something about the Russian hacking before Chump gets in-- this country is finished. Absolutely and totally. The spiral has already started. Obama's legacy will be ground into dust before his very eyes. And Chump will be tweeting about it, gleefully. Remember the Mitt dinner? The look in Chump's eyes...that glow was the fire inside and that fire burns to destroy Obama.
And I don't think Obama gets it, do you?

[McKim]

37. I agree

We should have helped all the slaves get out and left the South on its own. We are two cultures, Yankee and Southern/Cowboy. And we are NOT coming back together.

[KingCharlemagne]

50. They (his cabinet) know which houses on which streets

will be set on fire and they are already preparing the incendiaries.

What this country needs... what this great land of ours needs is something to happen to it. Something ferocious and tragic, like what happened to Jericho or the cities of the plain - something terrible I mean, son, so that when the people have been through hellfire and the crucible, and have suffered agony enough and grief, they’ll be people again, human beings, not a bunch of smug contented cows rooting at the trough." - William Styron, from Set This House on Fire

[uponit7771]

55. +1

[bettyellen]

19. Arrest Comey? Come on now. People are in the streets. Doesn't seem to move the needle much.

[ananda]

21. The problem is that Dems are a part of the problem.

I think the power-bully-greed mentality is a part of America's
entire collective unconscious.

[sheshe2]

25. There sure is a lot of Dem bashing in this thread.

[MFM008]

27. You got that right

Never Hillary sorts..probably Stein or Johnson disaffecteds.
Now as responsible for the maggot as any of his voters.

[sheshe2]

29. I just read two other OP's

It is all over the board!

[KPN]

39. Some of it is deserved.

[sheshe2]

40. Alrighty then...bash away!

[gulliver]

26. Dems are unable to deal with anger.

We don't have an architecture that supports it.

[ffr]

28. Ultimately, if there was coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia

, then do we call that "treason"? And if we do, then we have to follow through with all that that requires.

And when Mitch McConnell and the republicans violate the constitution for high crimes and misdemeanors for not acting on obvious treason, will that be enough for the 65 million or so who voted for the 2016 winner, HRC, to step up with torches and pitchforks?

[niyad]

30. spot on, as always, RP.

[colsohlibgal]

31. Tell It Rude!

This is not normal, this is just not right. Nixon was dark and twisted but underneath that competent.....he had been in government for over twenty years. This crass clown is a flake and failed reality show guy. He has zero experience.

These are not normal times, it Is so messed up. This is a full on Red Alert.

Maybe this is some kind of cosmic justice for believing things like "Manifest Destiny" as we forcibly shoved west.

[malthaussen]

32. U.S. Code is quite specific on treason.

18 US Code, Section 2381:

"Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States."

18 US Code, Section 2382:

"Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both."

Does the Russian hacking constitute an act of war? Did Mr Trump have knowledge of it, and assist it in any way, or keep silent on it? If yes, and he abetted, then he is guilty of conspiring to levy war on the U.S., which is treason. If he only kept silent, then arguably he is guilty only of misprision of treason, although that's one for the lawyers to argue about.

If the Russian hacking does not constitute an act of war, then Mr Trump cannot be indicted under 18.2381 or 18.2382.

-- Mal

[rzemanfl]

45. While I believe the hacking is an act of war I don't think war is required

to make Russia an "enemy." The Boston newspaper seems to agree and I will post a link to that post when I find it.

[malthaussen]

57. I don't see how Russia is an "enemy," barring an act of war.

We have diplomatic relations, we're not shooting each other. I'd also argue that the context of the Treason section makes "enemy" apply only to a country with which we are at war. Of course, like all legal things, it's really about what you can convince a judge to sign off on.

Espionage, now, if Mr Trump had knowledge of Russian activities, he might well be vulnerable to espionage charges.

-- Mal

[rzemanfl]

59. The dictionary definition of "enemy" ends with these words-

"especially in time of war." If the situation were reversed, the Repukes would be planning on executing people left and right. They'd find, appoint or intimidate the judges. Democrats would write briefs.

[rzemanfl]

46. Link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512659855

[Perseus]

35. This following quote is key in his article

"Just don't expect decency from a good many of them."

Never, ever expect decency from most of the Republican leadership, these people cannot be trusted and it has bother me throughout Obama's tenure as President his constant trying to get the republicans to be civil, to sit at the table and discuss issues relevant to the benefit of the country...you cannot trust them and they need to be treated as what they are, untrustworthy.

[nikto]

43. Yes!! The seriousness of the allegations DEMAND that the EVIDENCE be released

The entire world would support us, if convincing evidence was released, as it was with the Cuban Missile Crisis
and the North Korean hacking of a few years ago.



Accusations as serious as this WITHOUT CREDIBLE EVIDENCE
sounds like BS to me.

Integrity demands evidence.

What is not clear about that?

[Initech]

49. Hillary Clinton should be president.

And James Comey, Donald Trump, and Mitch McConnell should be on trial for conspiring to commit treason.

[The_Voice_of_Reason]

51. Something amiss in all this.

Fact is, the Dems have been all but missing in action since election today...Donna Brazile for instance has been invisible since election day until she magically appeared again today on Twitter as if risen from the dead...she immediately blocked me when I pointed out she should have spent more time supporting the party, and less time collecting a paycheck from CNN who eventually fully and completely terminated their contract/involvement with her. Funny thing...she was tell us WE HAD TO FIGHT.

Where are our leaders? Almost to a one, MIA...why? I think they place far more importance in the concept of "Peaceful Transition" that we grassroots folks do. However, are we any less culpable in our silence? Where have the large protests been, why aren't we out in the streets protesting? Millions of us in the streets protesting will at least get us listened to.

The only march of any importance is scheduled to be the day after the Inauguration when a One Million Woman march is to occur in DC...those things rarely live up to their hype. I have had some interest shown in my proposal that we turn Inauguration day into a "Nation in Mourning Protest" across all 50 states with everyone in black carrying our protest signs in a silent vigil, but not enough that I expect it to catch on.

I give almost zero chance of the Hamilton Voters overturning Trumps win on Monday...so, we have been tossed to the wolves, and our leaders are showing no interest in saving our lives.

[uponit7771]

56. THANK YOU ! I was about to post an OP on what we're .... NOT ..... hearing and a good bunch of it

... is the DNC leadership or the fucking lack of it.

If the GOP was in the minority and lost under these conditions where a DNC Agency head put out a letter 11 days before an election that ..... EMPIRICALLY .... affected the election the GOP law makers would have bombs strapped to their bodies.


this is some bullllllshit

[Paladin]

58. +1000. Where is Democratic leadership? Where is Democratic anger? (nt)

[AmericanActivist]

61. GOP HYPOCRISY there is a double standard in USA Repubs get away with

murder.