Tom Toles for October 28, 2019

Could Republicans turn on Trump?

Prior to the House impeachment inquiry, the idea that Nixon could be impeached in the House, much less convicted in the Senate (with Republican votes) was preposterous. But because the hearings flushed out evidence of overwhelming guilt, Republicans could not face voters having “exonerated” an obviously guilty felon, and the rest is history.

Nixon was smart and popular and had won his reelection with a landslide 61% of the popular vote and carried 49 states in the Electoral College.

The irony is that, while Trump is unpopular and not smart, and did not even get the most votes in his “election” (more like selection),

The Nixon story demonstrates the importance of holding the hearings and bringing the evidence out into the light of day. That is what changes public opinion: EVIDENCE.

Once there is sufficient public outcry, force the Republicans to either find their moral consciences (along with their spines) and vote to convict, or run for reelection in 2020 (a high-turnout presidential election year, which favors Democrats) having voted to clear an obviously guilty felon who threatens U.S. national security, threatens U.S. election integrity, profits from his office, elevates dictators (Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Mohammed bin Salman) above the intelligence agency chiefs he appointed, and stains the office of the presidency with an indelible blot.

Yes, there are differences.

In 1974 there was no Faux “News” and the country was not nearly so divided (though, in the era of Watergate, Civil Rights, Vietnam and the rise of a counterculture, there were plenty of divisions).

But this is the choice faced by Republicans:

Stand on principle, vote to impeach and then get primaried (unless the impeachment vote is after the filing date for primary challenges?) or vote to exonerate an obviously guilty felon and ride his sinking ship as it slips below the horizon.

Uh, tusks aren’’t the real problem.

Mr. POT Elephant sir…….you need to have a spine before you can turn…..period.

The crowd at the world Series turned on Trump and booed him and chanted, “Lock him up!” Good to see the jerk get some of his own medicine thrown back in his face.

Abandoned in his Corner – {a rhyme}

The elephant was helping The Donald to paint

himself into a corner; – a trap.

But now the elephant feels under constraint

to refrain from such helping; . – Too much mishap.

…

For The Donald all this is perhaps a wrap: -

- Since his handicap is “no thinking cap”,

Trump will persist in wielding his brush, …

… and Congress will rush his {censored} to flush

{{ Republicans helping

while Trump is yelping

that “My brilliant presidency is being unwrapped,

and it feels like I’m being spinal-tapped” }}.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The people are turning on Trump.

-Rasmussen (a survey that tends to show Republicans doing better than in others now shows him at 43% approval) after a long period in the 47-49% range (disapproval at @56%).

-Quinnipiac shows his approval @ 38%,Gallup @39%, Economist/You Gov @42%,

With some surveys showing half of respondents believing he should not only be impeached, but also be removed it’s not surprising to see his approval ratings sinking.

And yet the stay bull jeenius STILL thinks that he’s popular…

One can hope.

The crowd at the World series booed Trump despite just learning of el-Baghdadi which one sycophant (brown noser) described as the greatest American military victory ever.

If the man had any sense, he’d… Nah, never mind. He doesn’t.

{Off-topic:}

In Trump We Trust. [Not] – {a limerick and a PS}

In Trump we simply cain’t trust:

☛ His sense of justice ain’t just.

☛ His mind is unwound,

his psyche unsound.

☛ His policies are always a bust.

… PS:

☛ His pronouncements leave us yuugely nonplussed.

☛ He pleases dictators and the upper crust.

☛ He’s run our Ship of State aground.

☛ He oughta be impeached and thereby uncrowned.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

{Off-topic:} {Maybe I sent this’n previously.}

The Rs’ Parade has Slowed – {rhyme}

The Rs’ parade has slowed; -

- Trump has dumped on the road,

and the elephants are ooching around

the piles of [censored] on the ground, …

… their stride interrupted

when Trumpists erupted

and much got corrupted, disrupted.

… Coda:

The Donald had starred as the star

in Republicans’ ill-fated circus,

with capers brazenly bizarre

around with which to jerk us.

. . . . . . . . . . .

The GOP should grow a big pair of you-know-what. Little Donnie will never be able to.

Tell me again the advantage of our basically dysfunctional binary opposing party system that seems to attract the self-serving corrupt and rejects the altruists.

{Off-topic:}

Buh-Bye to The Donald – {rhyme}

Trump’s tenure is in a reversal:

His base has begun their dispersal,

and his critics are more universal, …

… and it’s currently growing worse

in that ballpark-crowds rehearse

their Lock-Him-Up chant

as an anti-Trump rant.

. . . . . . . . . .

How can you be cornered when, as you say, you have “nothing to hide,” you are “the most transparent ever” president and administration in history, when you always tell the truth “when [you] can”?

The most dangerous man, is one who will not listen. -gnome

…. mash up Captain Queeg, and lord of the flies…

…discuss…

The voters in several key “swing” states are still not convinced that his actions warrant impeachment. This needs to be made clear before Articles are voted in the House.

Never happen. Unfortunately.

As last night as they remember and echo their “boos” with votes against him and those who enable him

Balls anybody?

Tusks? They need something a little lower.

You know, it takes a VERY special kind of stupid to paint one’s self into a corner in an oval office.

As I’ve said before: While the details are certainly important, at this point the overarching reality is that Tяцmp’s is effectively a zombie presidency. Functionally, it’s over. Tяцmp hasn’t the moxie or resources to resurrect his failed presidency in any practical sense whatsoever. More and more, the U. S. is being left worse than leaderless. The desperate and degenerate “President” is fully under siege and he and his remaining few henchpeople are reduced to holding the Oval Office hostage. This can not continue. There may still be a few remaining options as to how this fiasco ends, but in any case it can not end well, at all, for Tяцmp & Co. On the other hand, it necessarily MUST end, and soon!, for the U. S., the world, and our posterity.

What do balls, spines and tusks have in common?

…if “great white hunter” Don Jr doesn’t shoot you first.

I liked the dumb, vacant smile on his face. It took quite awhile for him to realize the crowd was yelling,“LOCK HIM UP!” Melania seemed confused for the entire time they were on TV.

Sometimes people who are cornered get tricky and we MIGHT have encountered an example of that yesterday.

Sadly, the Russians COULD be right in their official statements, and Trump might have once again prematurely and falsely announced this particular terrorist’s death with Baghdadi. Given that DNA of three of his children were in the mess the explosives left behind the dead adult might be someone else, especially a relative. Much more extensive work would be needed to know, but it sounds like the remains were destroyed rather than removed. A quick and dirty field test like this often will test only for the presence of matches and only for only a few DNA points, so having three of his children killed could easily cover that. He might well still be alive. What is needed is elimination of what is not a match, and digging into the adult remains in an intact location on the remains to get uncontaminated test material.

Re: the cartoon, yes, the Republican Party might yet turn on the Trumpians and their absolutist monarch, i.e. it might rediscover its roots and the Rule of Law.

I will NEVER understand why Trump, who famously never shows any degree of loyalty to ANYBODY (neither wives nor children), can inspire loyalty of any kind, let alone to the degree that people are trashing their reputations (and their lives) defending this indefensible piece of elephant dung. Maybe member of Congress (Traitor Branch) defend him, not because of their fears of being primaried, but because of their fears of being assassinated by Trump Deranged Shooters?

In Alabama, the Tuskaloosa.