To impeach or not to impeach?

They have had difficulty getting their hands on most of the papers. Witnesses stopped from appearing..

He DESERVES to be impeached. However, I vote "not" because of the process and time involved.
By the time it could all be done, he is out of office.
Also, the Senate will never vote for it, so it is a huge waste of time/energy. Get on with running our nation, please.

Sometimes, it is best to move forward and "let it go" for the impeachment process.
Much the same way prosecutors do not bring a case to trial when the DA knows he/she won't get a conviction.

Time to be pragmatic......

I would much rather see this country get behind getting out the vote. That should be the number one priority from now until the election.  There are more than enough votes to overwhelmingly oust trump if those voters will just go to the polls and vote.

Ugh. I can't frickin' decide. My heart says yes and my head says no.

I vote yes, but with the caveat, "Not yet."

If impeachment proceedings were to happen right now, and it went through the house, the Senate would vote Trump innocent within 24 hours.

Then Trump could make his 2020 campaign all about being cleared of all charges by the Senate.

No, we need the threat of impeachment hanging over his 2020 campaign. We need to time it so that the house can bring him to impeachment proceedings, but the Senate cannot clear him before the election.

Impeachment is only a political maneuver. If he is impeached, can be removed from office, then can be criminally charged.

It is better to keep him from a second term.

This is where I am.  He absolutely, without any question deserves it.  But, without a Democratic Senate, I don't see it going anywhere, and I worry that the gesture takes valuable time and energy from the regular work of running the country, and also poisons the well, making any sort of cooperative governing completely impossible.  Possibly even worse, it hands the Rs a very tangible "get out the vote" issue, which is the opposite of what we need.  Worst of all, though, I worry that it will drive the snowflake-in-chief to start a war in order to distract the people and argue that it's unpatriotic to not support a wartime president.  We need a change in public opinion even more than we need a change in the executive office.  While I agree that it should help some for people to hear about the investigation from the horse's mouth as it were, I think we need to focus our energies on what the people need and consistent messaging around that to counter the incessant din of lies.  We need to get out there, tell the truth LOUDLY, and let people see by our actions, not just our words, who are the better representatives of our people and country.

I think the ideal course of action from my point of view would be to go just a bit further with this inquiry, then set it aside and govern the shit out of this country.  Be the best examples of working for the people we can be, and take seats - at EVERY level - in the upcoming elections.  Toss Don the Con out on his ass in a punishing vote, then charge him seven ways to Sunday the second he's out of office.  And as soon as a Democrat gets back in the White House?  Fix that bullshit DOJ opinion about not being able to charge a sitting president.

Remember that trump us the only wall between the public and pence.

I used to think that Pence was actually more dangerous than Trump when they were first elected - and I still think he would do more damage legislatively- but I firmly believe that Trump has done more damage to the very social fabric of our country - encouraging racism and White Supremacy - in addition to giving precedence to a whole slew of previously unseen unpresidential behavior from the Oval Office, than Pence could ever do. 

It will take a generation or more to recover from the damage that Trump has done to American culture and society. 

I don’t disagree at all about the damage Trump has done. But I would caution that you are giving Pence more credit than he deserves. If you are not a straight, white, Christian of at least the middle class or higher you are not his people either. And if you are female, go ahead and take a seat behind the men folk. He does it in a much more bless your heart and look down his nose at you sort of way, but don’t be fooled that he is a kinder and gentler soul deep down inside.  I almost think his ability to hide his agenda behind his version of Christianity is more dangerous and insidious than the idiot who freely runs his mouth about his bias and hatred.  It makes me sick to this day to think that our country rests in the hands of those two and their minions. 

I don’t dispute that Pence has an awful agenda, and that he believes much of the same as what Trump spouts, but I still believe that were he President it would never have led to this ever-growing group of MAGA wearing white people who feel GREAT about shouting “Send her back” regarding women of color in public rallies.  

He never would casually mention considering wiping 10,000,000 people off the face of the earth. Or tell Congresswomen of color to go back where they came from. Or publicly call White Supremacists “fine people.”  And on and on. 

I think that the divide between groups of people, even within families, over Trump’s rhetoric is rapidly approaching the division we saw during the Civil War.  Just like you, I would also caution anyone not to underestimate the amount of DEEP damage Trump has done to our society. 

I totally agree... and that he believes much of the same things as Trump. His MO will never be the same as Trump... the rallies, the ridiculous off the cuff statements like a loose cannon, inciting people, and the pride in shouting all of his beliefs far and wide.  It just isn’t his style. I agree that Trump’s rhetoric could be the end of civility for the foreseeable future. So while he won’t make things worse in that regard, I don’t believe he truly will work to undo the damage that has already been done. 

I unfortunately think that a large number of people who represent the “old GOP” believe that he tempers Trump and that he is at the core a good Christian still looking out for them. Perhaps his quiet approach even perpetuates that belief and has lulled many into believing that he is a better person than he has shown himself to be, especially for those of us who lived under him as governor. I just worry that people will continue to tolerate Trump based on a false sense of security (and dare I say hope 🤦🏻‍♀️) in Pence.  

(laugh)  I know it was common in the Midwest to call your wife Mother, but that was in my parents' generation.  Reagan, an Illinoisan, called Nancy Mommy.  Isn't Pence a boomer?

That's how we learn!