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The daily dose of distressing news from this administration is taking a toll on my health and I am sure many other Americans. Why aren’t our leaders speaking o

The daily dose of distressing news from this administration is taking a toll on my health and I am sure many other Americans. Why aren’t our leaders speaking out more forcefully against these outrages? McConnell did give a speech pushing back, but it barely registered and wasn’t reported nearly enough. Yes, we made a grave mistake in electing the wrong person as president—but that doesn’t mean the country is obligated to sit silently for the next three years while he lurches from one dangerous blunder to the next. If impeachment and conviction aren’t on the table, then the least our leaders—Republicans and Democrats alike—must do is stand together and speak with one clear, unmistakable voice in opposition. Failing to do so isn’t just political cowardice; it carries real consequences. Our credibility with Europe, already strained, will continue to erode if the world sees that American leadership is unwilling or unable to check reckless behavior.

masfuerte 9mo ago
It's not three more years. The midterms are this year. If the public don't like the status quo the Democrats will gain majorities and things should change. It really is up to the voters to start fixing this. If they want to.
- lateforwork 9mo ago
  Even if Democrats were to take the House there still wouldn't be anything Democrats can do to stop Trump from attacking Denmark, would there?
  - masfuerte 9mo ago
    The problem is that Trump is ignoring the law and nobody is doing anything about it. If the Democrats take the House they can impeach him.
    - lateforwork 9mo ago
      Impeachment does not do anything. He has been twice impeached in his first term.
      - masfuerte 9mo ago
        Yes, the Democrats need to take the Senate too. And they will if the voters want it.
        lateforwork 9mo ago
        Two-thirds of the senate required to convict, which is unlikely.
        selectodude 9mo ago
        Impossible. There aren't enough open seats to get to 67 in the Senate.
    - krapp 9mo ago
      > If the Democrats take the House they can impeach him. Are we thinking third time's the charm? Maybe we should stop pretending that impeachment matters. It clearly doesn't.
    - dragonwriter 9mo ago
      They have already done that as many times to Trump as have been done to all other Presidents in US history combined; without conviction and removal, which requires a 2/3 supermajority in the Senate, impeachment has proven to be an ineffective constraint on Trump.
    - palmotea 9mo ago
      > If the Democrats take the House they can impeach him. So? They've literally done that twice before, and what did it accomplish? They fired that bullet and missed, trying to jam it back in the gun to take another shot isn't going to work.
- Tadpole9181 9mo ago
  To impeach and convict, Democrats would need 2/3 of the senate. If they won every single seat, they would still not have enough.
  - deeg 9mo ago
    If the Dems won every seat (I can dream, can't I?) that would be such a massive rejection of trump that a few GOP might vote to convict.
- dragonwriter 9mo ago
  > The midterms are this year. If the public don't like the status quo the Democrats will gain majorities and things should change. Only the House is fully elected every two years, only 1/3 of the Senate is, and the swing states in Class II (the set up in 2026) are already held by Dems. Further, switching control of one or both Houses of Congress doesn't give the power to pass laws without also controlling the White House; it does give the power to block laws, but that may not do much to constrain an executive that is already flagrantly violating the law even with a partisan trifecta. And, while impeachment requires a simple a majority in the House, conviction and removal on impeachment charges takes 2/3 of the Senate, so even winning a majority wouldn't put that in reach.
- UncleMeat 9mo ago
  Unfortunately, dem leadership seems prepared to repeat the failures of the Biden administration. Dems returning to power and then just continuing largely on the status quo is not an acceptable outcome of the 2026 and 2028 elections. And with a willing supreme court insisting that numerous congressional restrictions on the president's power are actually unconstitutional, I'm not so certain that winning congress in 2026 will actually do much to limit Trump's criminal actions.
selectodude 9mo ago
The republicans want this. McConnell did everything in his power to make damn sure Donald Trump never saw justice. This is the leadership. Congress abdicated their jobs and de facto doesn’t exist, the Supreme Court now solely exists to make sure that Trump is not constrained by law, and the executive branch is doing exactly what they said they were going to do during election season. We’re not getting out of this unscathed. It’s too late. November 6, 2024 we were too late.
- watwut 9mo ago
  > Congress abdicated their jobs and de facto doesn’t exist, It does exist and did not abdicated. Republicans in congress actively support Trump and war
- jameskilton 9mo ago
  This is the only statement that matters. We knew exactly who Trump is and exactly what he would do if voted in again. The "opposition" did nothing during Trump's first term, and now they are completely powerless do do anything. America voted for this, we failed miserably to prevent this from happening for the past 30 years, and we will pay the price for this for generations.
- hairofadog 9mo ago
  I think it's going to have to get very very much worse before it gets better. Too many people have no idea what's happening, and too many of the people who do know what's happening (including quite a few in Democratic leadership) seem to think it'll all just snap back into place in 2026 and 2028. I'm afraid they won't wake up to it until we see a 1930's style depression in which Americans are literally going hungry. Really does feel like we're doing the 20th century all over again.
- UncleMeat 9mo ago
  Yep. We had one brief moment in January 2020 when we could have taken decisive action against Trump's crimes. Once that was lost that was that.
jdlyga 9mo ago
It's because Trump has proven he can do whatever he wants without consequences. Democrats have largely given up resisting him and are waiting him out.
- lateforwork 9mo ago
  > Trump has proven he can do whatever he wants without consequences Why is that? Can another person copy Trump's traits that give him this ability? If yes we are doomed.
NedF 9mo ago
[dead]
palmotea 9mo ago
> Yes, we made a grave mistake in electing the wrong person as president—but that doesn’t mean the country is obligated to sit silently for the next three years while he lurches from one dangerous blunder to the next. Correction: the only viable opponent party ran the wrong person and chose the wrong strategy to oppose him. Their candidate(s) weren't the "right person" to be president. And despite a year of Trump, that opponent party is still unpopular. It's a testament to how broken the system is. They'll all acting stupidly, and no one is the good guys. > If impeachment and conviction aren’t on the table, then the least our leaders—Republicans and Democrats alike—must do is stand together and speak with one clear, unmistakable voice in opposition. Wake up, you're dreaming. What needs to happen is the Democrats need to listen to their own rhetoric and actually take the threat seriously, instead of seeing an opportunity to win a narrow partisan victory for their extremists. They need to reconfigure into a truly majoritarian party, which will make the progressives unhappy, so it won't happen. > Our credibility with Europe, already strained, will continue to erode if the world sees that American leadership is unwilling or unable to check reckless behavior. Honestly, few care about our "credibility with Europe." And they've got too many of their own problems to be considered in such a superior position.
- bestouff 9mo ago
  > Democrats need to listen to their own rhetoric and actually take the threat seriously, instead of seeing an opportunity to win a narrow partisan victory for their extremists. I'm wondering what you call "their extremists". Seen from Europe all Republican candidates are extremists, and Democrats are centrists at best.
  - palmotea 9mo ago
    > I'm wondering what you call "their extremists". The deep blue ones who demand everyone check all their boxes. > Seen from Europe all Republican candidates are extremists, and Democrats are centrists at best. That seems like a warmed-over 90s perspective that's long past its sell-by. Aren't there "far right" parties in power or nearly in power in much of Europe, and at least one European country that's totally dominated by one?
flowerthoughts 9mo ago
> Our credibility with Europe, already strained, will continue to erode if the world sees that American leadership is unwilling or unable to check reckless behavior. As a European without political ties, I already consider the US a failed democratic state. It has a bully running the country, and no one seems to have the guts, ability, or interests, to fix that. The US constitution gives the president _way_ too much power for a position that can, essentially, be bought.
- throwawayqqq11 9mo ago
  I wonder how many JDs the donor class can throw at the US democracy once trump is removed. You might have stopped the most raging idiot but not the idiocy behind it.
treetalker 9mo ago
> McConnell Ah yes, McConnell, that staunch critic of despotism in general and of Trump in particular, who had nothing to do with the chain of events that led us here, and who definitely never sells out his country, morality, and the greater good whenever expedient to his own benefit and that of his party.

masfuerte 9mo ago

It's not three more years. The midterms are this year. If the public don't like the status quo the Democrats will gain majorities and things should change. It really is up to the voters to start fixing this. If they want to.

lateforwork 9mo ago
Even if Democrats were to take the House there still wouldn't be anything Democrats can do to stop Trump from attacking Denmark, would there?
- masfuerte 9mo ago
  The problem is that Trump is ignoring the law and nobody is doing anything about it. If the Democrats take the House they can impeach him.
  - lateforwork 9mo ago
    Impeachment does not do anything. He has been twice impeached in his first term.
    - masfuerte 9mo ago
      Yes, the Democrats need to take the Senate too. And they will if the voters want it.
      - lateforwork 9mo ago
        Two-thirds of the senate required to convict, which is unlikely.
        selectodude 9mo ago
        Impossible. There aren't enough open seats to get to 67 in the Senate.
  - krapp 9mo ago
    > If the Democrats take the House they can impeach him. Are we thinking third time's the charm? Maybe we should stop pretending that impeachment matters. It clearly doesn't.
  - dragonwriter 9mo ago
    They have already done that as many times to Trump as have been done to all other Presidents in US history combined; without conviction and removal, which requires a 2/3 supermajority in the Senate, impeachment has proven to be an ineffective constraint on Trump.
  - palmotea 9mo ago
    > If the Democrats take the House they can impeach him. So? They've literally done that twice before, and what did it accomplish? They fired that bullet and missed, trying to jam it back in the gun to take another shot isn't going to work.
Tadpole9181 9mo ago
To impeach and convict, Democrats would need 2/3 of the senate. If they won every single seat, they would still not have enough.
- deeg 9mo ago
  If the Dems won every seat (I can dream, can't I?) that would be such a massive rejection of trump that a few GOP might vote to convict.
dragonwriter 9mo ago
> The midterms are this year. If the public don't like the status quo the Democrats will gain majorities and things should change. Only the House is fully elected every two years, only 1/3 of the Senate is, and the swing states in Class II (the set up in 2026) are already held by Dems. Further, switching control of one or both Houses of Congress doesn't give the power to pass laws without also controlling the White House; it does give the power to block laws, but that may not do much to constrain an executive that is already flagrantly violating the law even with a partisan trifecta. And, while impeachment requires a simple a majority in the House, conviction and removal on impeachment charges takes 2/3 of the Senate, so even winning a majority wouldn't put that in reach.
UncleMeat 9mo ago
Unfortunately, dem leadership seems prepared to repeat the failures of the Biden administration. Dems returning to power and then just continuing largely on the status quo is not an acceptable outcome of the 2026 and 2028 elections. And with a willing supreme court insisting that numerous congressional restrictions on the president's power are actually unconstitutional, I'm not so certain that winning congress in 2026 will actually do much to limit Trump's criminal actions.

selectodude 9mo ago

The republicans want this. McConnell did everything in his power to make damn sure Donald Trump never saw justice. This is the leadership. Congress abdicated their jobs and de facto doesn’t exist, the Supreme Court now solely exists to make sure that Trump is not constrained by law, and the executive branch is doing exactly what they said they were going to do during election season. We’re not getting out of this unscathed. It’s too late. November 6, 2024 we were too late.

watwut 9mo ago
> Congress abdicated their jobs and de facto doesn’t exist, It does exist and did not abdicated. Republicans in congress actively support Trump and war
jameskilton 9mo ago
This is the only statement that matters. We knew exactly who Trump is and exactly what he would do if voted in again. The "opposition" did nothing during Trump's first term, and now they are completely powerless do do anything. America voted for this, we failed miserably to prevent this from happening for the past 30 years, and we will pay the price for this for generations.
hairofadog 9mo ago
I think it's going to have to get very very much worse before it gets better. Too many people have no idea what's happening, and too many of the people who do know what's happening (including quite a few in Democratic leadership) seem to think it'll all just snap back into place in 2026 and 2028. I'm afraid they won't wake up to it until we see a 1930's style depression in which Americans are literally going hungry. Really does feel like we're doing the 20th century all over again.
UncleMeat 9mo ago
Yep. We had one brief moment in January 2020 when we could have taken decisive action against Trump's crimes. Once that was lost that was that.

jdlyga 9mo ago

It's because Trump has proven he can do whatever he wants without consequences. Democrats have largely given up resisting him and are waiting him out.

lateforwork 9mo ago
> Trump has proven he can do whatever he wants without consequences Why is that? Can another person copy Trump's traits that give him this ability? If yes we are doomed.

NedF 9mo ago

[dead]

palmotea 9mo ago

> Yes, we made a grave mistake in electing the wrong person as president—but that doesn’t mean the country is obligated to sit silently for the next three years while he lurches from one dangerous blunder to the next. Correction: the only viable opponent party ran the wrong person and chose the wrong strategy to oppose him. Their candidate(s) weren't the "right person" to be president. And despite a year of Trump, that opponent party is still unpopular. It's a testament to how broken the system is. They'll all acting stupidly, and no one is the good guys. > If impeachment and conviction aren’t on the table, then the least our leaders—Republicans and Democrats alike—must do is stand together and speak with one clear, unmistakable voice in opposition. Wake up, you're dreaming. What needs to happen is the Democrats need to listen to their own rhetoric and actually take the threat seriously, instead of seeing an opportunity to win a narrow partisan victory for their extremists. They need to reconfigure into a truly majoritarian party, which will make the progressives unhappy, so it won't happen. > Our credibility with Europe, already strained, will continue to erode if the world sees that American leadership is unwilling or unable to check reckless behavior. Honestly, few care about our "credibility with Europe." And they've got too many of their own problems to be considered in such a superior position.

bestouff 9mo ago
> Democrats need to listen to their own rhetoric and actually take the threat seriously, instead of seeing an opportunity to win a narrow partisan victory for their extremists. I'm wondering what you call "their extremists". Seen from Europe all Republican candidates are extremists, and Democrats are centrists at best.
- palmotea 9mo ago
  > I'm wondering what you call "their extremists". The deep blue ones who demand everyone check all their boxes. > Seen from Europe all Republican candidates are extremists, and Democrats are centrists at best. That seems like a warmed-over 90s perspective that's long past its sell-by. Aren't there "far right" parties in power or nearly in power in much of Europe, and at least one European country that's totally dominated by one?

flowerthoughts 9mo ago

> Our credibility with Europe, already strained, will continue to erode if the world sees that American leadership is unwilling or unable to check reckless behavior. As a European without political ties, I already consider the US a failed democratic state. It has a bully running the country, and no one seems to have the guts, ability, or interests, to fix that. The US constitution gives the president _way_ too much power for a position that can, essentially, be bought.

throwawayqqq11 9mo ago
I wonder how many JDs the donor class can throw at the US democracy once trump is removed. You might have stopped the most raging idiot but not the idiocy behind it.

treetalker 9mo ago

> McConnell Ah yes, McConnell, that staunch critic of despotism in general and of Trump in particular, who had nothing to do with the chain of events that led us here, and who definitely never sells out his country, morality, and the greater good whenever expedient to his own benefit and that of his party.