Quote (bogie160 @ Jan 27 2020 05:34am)
If this were a fact finding mission instead of a partisan spectacle, maybe. Schiff was a poor choice for manager if that was the goal, he has been hiding information, promoting conspiracies, and lying since day one. It's hard for anyone to take this process seriously.
We don't want the executive branch any less powerful than it is. Congress is permanently dysfunctional, and Schumer, McConnell, and Pelosi all have worse favourables than Trump. The President has a more active role than ever in setting policy and executing change.
Um, I absolutely do. I saw how Obama abused it and it's only going to get worse if you get someone like Harris in there (who said she would abuse it). Congress needs to grow some balls and learn how to take hard votes. They need to listen to their constituents less and not be swayed so easily by popular opinion.
Quote (Black XistenZ @ Jan 26 2020 09:34pm)
The true issue underlying all of this is that the consitution doesnt give Congress appropriate tools to deal with norm-breaking by presidents in nuanced fashion. The gap between a meaningless censure and the frenzied impeachment process, which by its nature always comes with hyperpartisanship, is just too big.
The present case is very clear if you ask me: Trump did engage in misconduct, and there is plenty of evidence for it. But at the same time, the misconduct quite clearly does not nearly rise to the level of being worthy of removing a democratically elected president from office over it. One could argue that Trump being impeached but remaining in office amounts to this kind of more severe punishment, but the price is just too high in terms of the collateral damage this circus inflicts on the country's democratic culture and institutions
Indeed. My hope is that if Biden wins, he'll at least start the conversation of reigning in executive power. Anyway, you're of the opinion that it doesn't meet a particular threshold. I'm of the opinion that we hit that threshold when well over 50% of the population wanted to at least start the process. Unfortunately, one side decided to embarrass themselves by blindly supporting the President regardless of the facts. The other side, while they ran a flawed process, were at least interested in finding the facts. Were there ulterior motives? Absolutely. If the shoe were on the other foot, would a plurality of them support the President. Most likely. But that shouldn't matter IMO.