QUESTION: What happens if the democrats miscalculate their chances to win back the White House in 2020, and President Trump wins reelection?ANSWER: The Democratic Party would be toast!
QUESTIONS:What happens now that the gown-ups have been fired, reassigned and or resigned, to where the toddler minded adults are left to run the White House?What happens if the rogue Attorney General Barr starts killing off all the pertinent investigations that Mr. Mueller transferred to other US attorneys’ offices around the country?
If the US House Democrats do not hold accountable this president for all his attempts to trample on the rule of law, what precedent does this inaction allow for future presidents to act in similar ways?***
In addition, the question for the US House Democrats is, what concrete timely steps are they taking to protect US voting infrastructure systems from future attacks by Russian and other foreign or local entities with nefarious intentions?***What are the democrats doing to push forward this (S.2261) ‘Secure Elections Act’ to promote voting machines with a paper trail and verification audits, despite obstacles set up by the US president and his cronies in the US Senate?***Can the US House Democrats start the impeachment process while supporting their candidates as they focus on kitchen table issues to meet the needs of their constituents?
In November 2018, “We the People” moved heaven and earth to elect Democrats to insure that they would become the majority party in US House of Representatives, to be a check on the republican President Donald Trump’s flagrant disregard for the ‘rule of law.’ Most of us have been supportive of the the Democratic Party House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s reticence to start down the road of impeachment proceedings, against the president based on his actions associated with Russia’s 2016 attack on the US elections infrastructure, especially while there was an ongoing FBI investigation regarding these events.
***
One reason for Speaker Pelosi’s hesitancy to act, is the reality that the US Senate is operating under the majority control of republicans, where its members can’t be counted on, to support this endeavor. Second, it would be a matter of political expediency to let the voters censure the president’s actions at the ballot box on the November 2020 elections’ cycle, about 1 1/2 years away. The impeachment process would take up almost all that time where the outcome would be dubious without the Senate’s support. In addition, there was a credible ongoing FBI Trump Russia probe being led by the Special Counsel Robert Mueller III where there would be more evidence available.
But in the end, there’s the House’s duty to invoke and act according to their constitutional mandate to uphold the rule of law, without giving in to what is politically expedient, and even where a successful outcome is unlikely. Based on the 4/18/2019 receipt of the FBI’s final report on its 22 months long Trump -Russia inquiry led by the FBI’s special Counsel Robert Mueller III, detailing revelations of how President Trump while in the White House, constantly attempted to subvert the ‘rule of law,’ the US House has no choice but to act.
***
The report tells the story of how the president had to be stopped time after time from crossing the line into outright criminal activity by staffers around him, who refused to act on his orders to where some even resigned /left the White House premises rather than be required to break the law. We’ve even observed how the president has fired heads of departments in April 2019, because they refused to break the law.
The Democratic Party lawmakers in the US Congress have to fight back hard to prevent for future serious mishaps. The quickest ways to garner the facts (like president’s taxes, un-redacted Mueller report), especially when the White House is refusing to cooperate, would be for the Democrats to begin the impeachment process no later than mid-June 2018. Otherwise, the Democratic Party will be perceived to be no different from its counterpart, where political expediency rules the day. Are the Democrats in the US Congress going to step into the breach, to stand up for the ‘rule of law or NOT?’
As per the 4/18/2019 NY Times report, “Determining the scope of the Russian interference campaign was a centerpiece of the Mueller investigation, and will most likely be one of its enduring legacies. His report leaves no doubt that it was the Russian government that orchestrated the effort, and that many of Mr. Trump’s aides welcomed it — even if they did not actively coordinate with Moscow.”
***
The FBI report states unequivocally that the Russian government did indeed interfere in the 2016 US presidential elections in a sweeping and systematic fashion to effect the outcome in President Trump’s favor. Moscow made a concerted effort to sabotage the 2016 US elections.
The Mueller report details the following:
“The Special Counsel’s investigation established that Russia interfere~ in the 2016 presidential election principally through two operations. First, a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J.Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Second,a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations against entities, employees, and volunteers working on the Clinton Campaign and then released stolen documents. The investigation also identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign. Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome,and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Yet for 2 plus years, the president has consistently denied the reality that Russia did indeed interfere with the 2016 US elections to where he finally admitted that he believed Russia’s denials, at the world-wide televised 2018 Helsinki Summit where President Trump and the Russian Leader, Vladimir Putin held a joint press conference.
Why did President Trump make phone calls to contact select congressional lawmakers to bar the ‘the passage of the bipartisan crafted law, ‘S.2261 Secure Elections Act?” As per govtrack.us, “This bill would eliminate paperless voting machines, which experts say are the most vulnerable to hacking and tampering. It would also expand the use of post-election audits, which are currently rare and usually only used in event of a recount.”
Recent history…
Based on the reality show directed by the republican President Donald Trump that was held on the 18th of April 2019, where the US Department of Justice’s top US law enforcement officer, the Attorney General William Barr with his Deputy Rod Rosentein in tow, demonstrated that he wasn’t the one who could be counted on to protect the rule of law. He betrayed the American peoples by insuring that his boss would be above the law.
***
Contrary to Mr. Barr’s own words for weeks leading up to this moment on the 18th of April, that he wouldn’t comment on the FBI’s 3/22/2019 final report on its 22 months long Trump-Russia probe led by the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, before he had released to the US Congress and the American public, he did just that.
The Attorney General William Barr proceeded to portray the FBI’s Mueller final report in a way that does not accurately reflect its actual content. It became obvious that he was catering to the US president and the 35% of the US population who remain loyal to him. The FBI’s Special Counsel Mueller was conspicuously absent from the press conference. When Mr. Barr was questioned on this point, he answered that Mr. Mueller, the FBI’s Special Counsel reports to him, end of story.
The FBI Special Counsel Mueller who as its former Director for 12 years, a purple heart recipient with an impeccable reputation for competence, integrity and fairness, did earn the public’s trust as he and his team worked countless hours to deliver to us a reliable report on what occurred during the 2016 Russian multi-prong, full throttle attack on US elections infrastructure with its associated political systems.
***
For 2 years, there had been the GOP US Senators strongly backing the former Attorney General Jeff Sessions as their former senate colleague, even though the president had been personally and brutally attacking him for having dared to appropriately recuse himself from exercising his oversight duties over the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe. For almost the entire time Mr. Mueller had been on the job, he had been operating under the constant threat of being fired at a moment’s notice based on the president’s pique.
But out of nowhere, the president was given the green light to fire Mr. Sessions (November 2018) by no less than the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Chairman Senator Lindsey Graham and the Senates Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell. The fix was in. And so, by mid February 2019, the new Attorney General William Barr was ensconced in his role as the head of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) with full oversight responsibilities over the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe, A month later, it was announced that the FBI’s Special Counsel Robert Mueller III was ending his 22 months long Trump-Russia probe.
So now, “we the people” know with absolute conviction that we can’t trust the president, the US attorney general as the head of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Republican Party majority in the US Senate.
***
We are counting on the Democrats who hold the majority position in the US congress to hold this president accountable for his misdeeds, whether criminal or not. Otherwise the following image will be the last word.
VS.
See Washington Post analysis: George Conway: Trump is a cancer on the presidency. Congress …
Gronda Morin 
Gronda, I added a variation of this comment to a my recent post and Jill’s.
It should be noted Fox News’ Shepard Smith and Chris Wallacd have both admonished Barr and reported on the concerns of the obstruction of justice.
Two other red flags gave me pause. In the addenda, it is noted Mueller passed along 14 cases to prosecutors. That should scare many. The other is Senator Richard Burr, the Chair of the Foreign Relations committee telling the White House who the FBI was investigating. Between Burr and Nunes, who had to resign as Chair of the corresponding House committee for similar reasons, that does not come across as constitutional behavior. If you fly to close to Trump, you will damage your reputation.
If this were Obama, the GOP would be clamoring for his head, as evidenced by the neverending Benghazi hearings.
By the way, what Mueller wrote validates the 750 hours of interviews that Pulitizer Prize winner Bob Woodward did on his book “Fear,” on the Trump White House. Staff, in essence, hid the car keys from Trump. It should scare everyone that these folks are gone and replaced with hard liners. Keith
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Keith,
It’s been night and day reporting at FOX TV’s real news division with Chris Wallace and Shep Smith versus the pundit class shows like Hannity. It was some comfort to see this Mueller /Barr dichotomy being accurately portrayed.
Few escape the stench that surrounds the president. Gen. MacMaster, Gen Mattis, Mr. McGahn and Gary Cohn are 4 who survived this trauma with their reputations intact.
What worries me most, is that the grow-ups who prevented the president from crossing the criminal line are gone. What happens now?
Hugs, Gronda
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gronda, I spoke with one of Senator Burr’s staff and shared my disappointment over his actions appearing in the Mueller report. As for Barr, like Guiliani, Cohen and others, his reputation has been tainted.
Clearly, the President obstructed and ordered even more obstruction. Clearly, his White House is one of chaos. And, to be frank, I do not see how you can converse with Russians, invite Russians to cheat, meet with Russians, employ a campaign manager who worked with Russians, discussed investments in Russia and then several lied about, did not remember or pled the 5th anc there not be collusion.
I read a comment by a legal expert – if this were a bomb attack and not a cyberattack, would this be viewed differently.
Then, there are the 14 cases referred to prosecutors…What should happen and what will happen are two different things. To be frank, the GOP should be as or more concerned about Trump than anyone else. Keith
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have to admit I’m torn about impeachment. There’s definitely multiple reasons such as using a government asset (Air Force One) to commit public fraud. However, there’s no way the Republican controlled Senate will vote against Trump. And the process will undoubtedly tear this country apart, and quite possibly hand the election to Trump and the House back into the hands of the Republicans.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Kim,
This is an issue where lots of peoples with sound reasoning will differ on their opinions.
There are good arguments on both sides.
But what happens if the democrats miscalculate their chances to win back the White House in 2020, and President Trump wins reelection and they hadn’t done all they could to prevent this?
I’m concerned that nothing is being done to protect US elections systems? The president has nixed any attempts to address this issue. The department DHS has been gutted which is the gov. agency which oversees the protection of US voting machines, etc.
The US House Oversight committees are finding that the White House is fighting tooth and nail any steps by the members to collect financial records.
All of this becomes easier if the impeachment process gets started.
Hugs, Gronda
LikeLiked by 3 people
I understand what you’re saying Gronda and I’d be on board 100% if the Senate wasn’t in Republican hands. There’s no way they’ll ever go against Trump though, which means he’ll still be in office no matter what in 2020.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think in foreign affairs this puts the USA in a very vulnerable position. Countries with integrity will hesitate to make deals with the US preferring to wait until after the next elections while those with agendas which lack integrity will see making a “deal with the trump’ will be much easier for them even when such deals are at the expense of the USA.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Steve Naegele,
You make a good point. There are probably many good actors in countries around the world who are waiting for President Trump to be ousted and replaced by someone of sound mind and body so that we can all go back to business as usual.
In the meantime, President Trump will be looking to make as much monies as possible from nefarious actors from recalcitrant countries before he’s forced to exit the White House.
Hugs, Gronda
LikeLiked by 1 person
If the right-wing machine manages to manoeuvre its figurehead back in for another term there are two possible roads coming closer:
1. A sudden groundswell against the result making the administration of the nation very difficult as a majority of people become very angry with another four years.
2.The first step on a road which will see the slow disintegration of the USA as the nation it was in the 20th Century.
The latter is a likelihood in the light of experiences of other large nations over the centuries. The problem being there is little dialogue. Where this started it is difficult to pin-point but has been gathering at a pace over the decades.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hope for the first, but think it’s more likely to be the latter.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Of course there will be lurking in the militias groups who would welcome this, along with those who feel the ‘wrong side’ won the Civil War.
However I doubt if the majority have even thought this a possibility, and yet there it is for history to see.
Trump would be just one miserable little step, bit like Buchanan (although the latter was better qualified to be a president – just not a good one)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Will the Civil War never be over??? Sigh. I just finished writing a bit about one such group … they are so dumb it would be laughable, if only they weren’t all carrying assault rifles! And today I read that Trump is talking about serving more than two terms … shoot me now.
LikeLiked by 2 people
If Trump is so stupid as to raise that in this current climate he definitely is the very dumbest guy to ever park his backside in the Oval Office
LikeLiked by 2 people
Was there ever any doubt??? 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nnnoooo 🤦♂️
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Jill and Roger,
Like Jill, I fear the second because of all the damage the president has already been inflicting on the US democracy. He’s literally like the bull in the China shop where he doesn’t know where to inflict damage first.
He’s delusional. He was saying today that his Supreme Court will save him from impeachment. Little does he know that the Supreme Court has literally nothing to do with the impeachment process which is another reason I’m pushing for it. It is the one chance right now to hold the president accountable for his misdeeds.
Hugs, Gronda
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve said this before and it bears repeating.
Inadvertently Trump could be the best ally you could have in a move to get rid of him.
LikeLiked by 1 person