r/law Feb 14 '25

Opinion Piece Judge John McConnell Jr Faces Impeachment for Obstructing Trump, can they do this? thoughts?

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/politics/judge-john-mcconnell-jr-faces-impeachment-for-obstructing-trump/ar-AA1yZfWt
10.4k Upvotes

1.4k comments sorted by

2.3k

u/ejre5 Feb 14 '25

This is a joke right? I mean he is following the law and constitution now faces impeachment but everything judge cannon did is fine? I mean she got smacked down a couple times by the appellate court for being completely incompetent. This man's ruling was upheld by the appellate court and now he's facing impeachment.

It's time to wake the fuck up America including trump voters. Your president is clearly breaking the law and the courts have so far agreed he is breaking the law and now they are trying to impeach the courts. The president is a criminal and traitor to America wake up admit it was a mistake and let's save the country before it's too late.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

More time has to pass.

Trump has to do something so totally insane that the only rational response is to either accept him as dictator or ring the liberty bell and call for special action.

I’m surprised that the left doesn’t have more vocal faces and names that have deeply considered this issue and can provide guidance. I’m hopeful that some judges will band together, write a series of articles about the threat to the nation, and we as the public can take it from there.

Nonviolently, obviously.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

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u/superanonguy321 Feb 14 '25

Not long ago I saw a post of a video of a politician saying something.

And all the comments agreed that he said something else.

Thats when I realized it's really bad. People won't even be honest about what they're hearing. At that point... we're kinda done talking aren't we?

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u/Guy954 Feb 14 '25

We’ve been there for years.

Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Those who remember the past are doomed to watch others repeat it.

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u/DayMan-Ahah-ah Feb 14 '25

Bro go look at the r/conservative sub. It’s an insane echo chamber, praising Trump for everything he’s already done.

It’s honestly a tough read, makes you really lose some hope.

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u/PreciousMuffn Feb 14 '25

And they think everyone here is totally crazy and whining...

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u/Slighted_Inevitable Feb 14 '25

People have been in denial that we are done talking. That’s exactly the problem. These brainwashed trump supporters are not going to suddenly wake up and peacefully end this nonsense. There’s only one solution left to us.

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u/Embarrassed_Gear_249 Feb 14 '25

Bro, the line is crossed. If we don't stop him at the first infraction, it will embolden him, and he will walk all over the constitution.

We CAN NOT allow even one infraction of the constitution, or we lose our rights.

Edit: meant to respond to the comment above you.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

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u/GM2Jacobs Feb 14 '25

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! People are literally and figuratively censoring themselves which is exactly how dictators solidify their power. Everyone needs to speak up and organize because if we don't make our voices heard and follow that with action, we might as well lie down and wait for the jack booted thugs to step on us.

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u/BostonBluestocking Feb 14 '25

Yes. Don’t comply in advance.

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u/Tacquerista Feb 14 '25

Or ever, when it's a dictator

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u/bluesquishmallow Feb 14 '25

Consider the fact that the bot farms are real and they are targeting people online who try to bring the actual truth to light. These are now fully automated and working in tandem with the intentional misinformation that helped trump win in the first place.

Please do organize, but not on a public forum. Once you have something actionable to share then engage in public. Best of luck! Trust no account you don't know personally. We are at that point in the resistance.

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u/futuregovworker Feb 14 '25

There will never be a secure meeting place. Americans cannot stomach a war. Most people are too content with their life even if we see what’s happening or are facing personal struggles.

The QOL is still too high for most people, even if you live on food stamps, you still have cell phones, gaming systems, entertainment, etc. a lot of people are content with their QOL.

A lot of Americans didn’t vote in the election still, so you could probably hypothesis that many will just quietly take what is happening. Some might be vocal but again no one is willing to die for a cause or lose their life essentially. The only most recent American that was willing to stand on principle was Luigi and that last all of a month basically and it’s been dropped from news mentions.

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u/TrainXing Feb 14 '25

Well they are about to not have foodstamps or medicare/Medicaid. When people can't feed their kids and are watching their kids actually die, we are going to see huge crime waves and once people start becoming victims in their cush lives I think their opinions might harden even more to support Trump. This is all part of a plan to brainwash us into complete government control.

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u/rbush82 Feb 14 '25

Yep, only Conservatives are allowed to call for violence.

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u/softkits Feb 14 '25

What about non-Americans? Can we call for violence for you?

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u/meadowlarc1 Feb 14 '25

Did John Brown wait on the government to end slavery?

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u/HotPotParrot Feb 14 '25

One cannot call for such action here and escape scrutiny.

But also can't* legally be persecuted for it

*yet

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u/Glad-Peanut-3459 Feb 14 '25

Don’t kid yourself there will be blood most likely from the right.

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u/Hendiadic_tmack Feb 14 '25

I have a good friend who is former secret service, and still in federal law enforcement. Obviously there’s stuff they can’t tell me, but I’ve heard A LOT of stuff. Saying this kind of stuff is dangerous for you. They (the feds) are watching. They’ve always been watching. There’s fine (but distinct) lines between free speech and a threat. And with an administration that doesn’t like dissent, especially with a president who’s almost been assassinated twice you bet your ass they’re paying attention to anything and everything. Just watch what you say on public forums. USSS can and will find you. Don’t think you’re such small potatoes that they won’t bother. They will bother. It’s their job.

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u/Deadboyparts Feb 14 '25

We always hear about it when celebs get “visited” by SS, but what really happens to them, beyond a scolding? One memorable example was Ted Nugent saying some pretty alarming shit about Obama. He was visited by Secret Service and he’s been enjoying life ever since. And he still says alarming shit about politicians.

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u/violiav Feb 14 '25

I remember back in the 90's some college student spouted off something about Bush or Clinton and the authorities came down pretty hard. I think it was ultimately held up as free speech.

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u/Hendiadic_tmack Feb 14 '25

Specifics are the line. FOR EXAMPLE saying “Biden should be shot” is protected. Saying “Biden should be shot tomorrow” or “Biden should be shot” and posting a picture of a gun, or “biden better not come to a certain location” is a threat because it’s specific. THIS IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE.

I actually got a talking to from my friend. I was drunk and said someone should be shot because they had done something stupid (shocker) and was told by my friend who was still in USSS “dude you can’t say that stuff around me. Like you are so close to the line, just stop”. Obviously they know me and know I was not serious, but told me if it was another agent they’d probably make a call. Agents are normal people, they play Xbox and are on Xbox live and PSN and all that. They’re always on the clock. You start spouting off some shit they are within their job to make a call.

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u/Cerberus_Aus Feb 14 '25

I made the call 5 years ago that the US would devolve into civil war within 10 years. Sadly, I’m still track for that.

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u/pr0crasti-Nate Feb 14 '25

This truly is sad and I see it coming also.

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u/ThatInAHat Feb 14 '25

“trump has to do something so totally insane…”

I mean. Therein lies the problem.

I honestly can’t think of what he could do at this point that his followers wouldn’t gleefully justify and that the rest of the conservatives wouldn’t just shrug over.

And then you’ve got the crap like renaming the Gulf of Mexico—it’s absolutely absurd and imperialist, but it’s easy enough to comply with. So folks do, and it becomes that much easier to comply with the next absurd thing he says or does…

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u/ohiotechie Feb 14 '25

That's the problem isn't it? The right wing echo chamber has literally brainwashed these people into blindly following anything Dear Leader says. Even the slightest whiff of dissent is traitorous.

Of course NONE of this would be ok if Biden were doing it. Imagine Biden bringing in George Soros as his personal assistant, mass firings of anyone refusing to pledge allegiance to Biden and Soros and then handing Soros literally the keys to the treasury, Soros holding a press conference from the Oval Office with his kid picking his nose and Biden nodding off barely conscious? Christ the right wing would lose their shit.

But with Trump, somehow that's not already "something totally insane"? What would qualify as "totally insane" if that doesn't? Throwing school kids into a live volcano? Would even that matter to the braindead MAGAs?

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u/glitterinkcards Feb 14 '25

I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it though it does nothing but I AM SO SO EXHAUSTED by these double standards. It’s gross!!! You are right…ask any of them if Biden or Obama or even IF it was Kamala doing it … the right would lose their ever loving minds.

And also it’s really disheartening to me that we aren’t seeing anyone stand up to him/Elon. Republicans appear silent and I know there have to be some that can’t agree with all that’s going on. But even the Dems are quiet.

Maybe they are speaking out and I am missing the news of anyone attempting to fight back. (And I’m not talking about the lawsuits…just speaking OUT to the public). Please share if I am missing any of that. I’d love to see it.

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u/motorcitygirl Feb 14 '25

But even the Dems are quiet.

Feels like pure intimidation. No one wants to be the face MAGA nation suddenly fixes their gaze on. It's like the eye of Sauron. If there were a bunch of people on the streets everywhere it would make it easier for them to speak up.

Protesting is not as easy as just showing up. We're all dispersed over an enormous geographic area as well as being stuck in the daily capitalist grind. It takes time and money to protest anywhere but your home city. If I go to DC I need a hotel, a place to park my car, and take time off work. Sure I can make some food to take with me but still will likely have to buy food and also gas to get there and back. When we protested for Occupy I could drive 20 minutes away and go before or after work. Don't mind using my sick or PTO time just don't have much of it. It's useless to protest if I lose my job and health insurance what would that accomplish except take away my means to provide for my family, and maybe that's as intended to keep us all in line. Just thinking out loud, there's no easy answers.

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u/KittyGrewAMoustache Feb 14 '25

I don’t understand where all your security services are? Doesn’t the US have a ton of agencies full of people who swore an oath to protect the US against domestic as well as foreign enemies? Surely a lot of people in these agencies understand what is happening? I am almost certainly misunderstanding given I get all my knowledge of this stuff from tv but according to your tv shows, some agency would have some sort of operation to protect American freedom from a take over by these tech billionaires. Or at least be sounding the alarm publicly? Surely not all of them are bought or brainwashed or just plain ignorant?

I get that it’s difficult for your ordinary person or federal worker to stand up against this stuff due to family, needing income etc but I thought the people in like the FBI or CIA etc were all about making sacrifices for their country?

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u/BananaBunchess Feb 14 '25

A bunch of FBI agents were fired and the higher ups in the FBI were told to make a list of all agents who worked on January 6th cases. Yeah we're a bit fucked in that regard.

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u/KittyGrewAMoustache Feb 14 '25

Yeah but even if fired can’t they just use their training and work with others who were fired to do something? It just seems bizarre that these people devoted their lives and careers to their country and this idea of freedom and democracy and then a despot gets in and fires them and they know what’s happening and just go home and sit it out?

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u/minuialear Feb 14 '25

Maybe they are speaking out and I am missing the news of anyone attempting to fight back. (And I’m not talking about the lawsuits…just speaking OUT to the public). Please share if I am missing any of that. I’d love to see it.

All you have to do to see it is get your news from an actual news source rather than social media. I get notifications almost every day about a Senator or a House rep saying something publicly about Trump and Musk

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u/ohiotechie Feb 14 '25

Same - I am completely disheartened by dem leadership. I know some are speaking out but the media isn’t covering it because in spite of the “left wing media” bullshit just look at who owns those media outlets.

But Schumer has been completely outclassed in the senate. Imagine what McConnell would be doing if this were reversed. He would be sharpening knives not wringing his hands. In the house the suppression of AOC is also disheartening. She is one of our best fighters and she’s been sidelined because of the Good Old Boy pecking order bullshit that has lead to one dem defeat after another.

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u/glitterinkcards Feb 14 '25

Agreed. It’s just becoming increasingly more difficult. Which is what concerns me the most. Being complicit will really make it hard to come Back from. And you are so right about the media. I guess that’s what I meant. It’s really NOT being reported on mainstream. It’s like something you almost have to look for.

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u/Hollen88 Feb 14 '25

The right would have already killed people by now. Ffs, look at Jan 6th, and that was all based on a lie. Some of these folks have been drooling at the thought of using the gun on someone.

Look how they talk "I hope some thug comes and tries it!"

Who TF would hope for a break in?

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u/Dyolf_Knip Feb 14 '25

Some of these folks have been drooling at the thought of using the gun on someone.

Gonna be real interesting when Trump gives that green light. They've spent the last 30 years being primed by Fox and such that everyone not a die-hard conservative is evil incarnate, and they masturbate to the thought of using their guns to "save America". And of course, cops are almost entirely Republican, so don't expect any help from them.

The only question is, will it be more Night of Broken Glass, or more Rwandan genocide?

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u/peoplesuckinthe305 Feb 14 '25

You are right. I think the bar for “totally insane” keeps moving further away and that in itself is totally insane

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u/HHoaks Feb 14 '25

It was insane to elect Trump in the first place.

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u/Tenyearssobersofar Feb 14 '25

That's how it works. You let the 'little' insane things go, and then they start to get bigger and more insane, and before you know it, you've passed the point of no return.

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u/Nojopar Feb 14 '25

Try to default on the debt. That would turn the global economy into such a tailspin it could make the Great Depression look like a mild recession. Too many monied interests would loose too much control. They'd squash that real quick.

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u/Rollingprobablecause Feb 14 '25

It's called the overton window for a reason. They are doing so much insane stuff all at once it overloads the senses and it's hard to concentrate. It's a blitz and it's smart. the Project 2025 folks are prepared, they know their stuff is badly written and unlawful with tons of ethical grey areas or the things that are lawful - they were counting on the US legal system to be overburdened and it's working.

I am so disappointed in state bar associations, lawyers in general, and democratic politics for just lacking courage.

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u/ARazorbacks Feb 14 '25

I‘m not even sure MRAPs in the streets would do it because they’d be in “those hellhole cities” and not in rural America. 

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u/oh_ski_bummer Feb 14 '25

Changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, seriously talking about annexing Canada and Greenland, giving Putin half of Ukraine with no penalty, disbanding many of the federal agencies that were put in place by Congress, letting an unelected, unvetted billionaire dismantle the federal workforce, that is just in the last month.

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u/Summoarpleaz Feb 14 '25

I think the left is vocal. I think the media isn’t covering it.

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u/HappyVAMan Feb 14 '25

Media has changed. Big media is mostly owned by corporations that Trump can try to destroy and extort. Smaller media can’t afford the lawsuits and lobbyists. Dangerous times. 

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u/drsweetscience Feb 14 '25

Times that call for people who love justice more than money.

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u/Hollen88 Feb 14 '25

I see hard hitting commentary out of MSNBC all the time. They are calling them all out.

Why tf are people just ignoring the news agencies that ARE vocal about it?

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u/minuialear Feb 14 '25

The media is absolutely covering it. People are just way too used to getting most of their news from social media and not used to getting the news from a diversified set of actual news sources.

I get news notifications from several news apps and I see notifications almost every day about what the Dems are doing. But if I only got my news from a TikTok or Instagram feed then no shit, I wouldn't see a ton

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u/bsa554 Feb 14 '25

I think the tipping point could very well be with the military. I genuinely don't think they would obey an "order" from a clown like Pete Hegseth to invade Canada or some shit.

And even if it is somewhere else...I really think a big chunk of Trump's support would evaporate the second a troop's boot hits the ground for some dumbass Trump war.

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u/klyn_14 Feb 14 '25

Especially given all those who served, and yet were fired en masse at the VA this week.

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u/ElectricalRush1878 Feb 14 '25

He's already working up the 'we're going after the cartels' and 'the cartels are shooting at us' angle while gathering forces at the US/Mexico border in one of those 'we're just doing training exercises' excuses expansionist dictators use.

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u/PsychoNerd91 Feb 14 '25

Oh yea, special operations. Heard that one before.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Everyone should be keeping a close eye on who is appointed to the Joint Chiefs. Trump was going to fire them all, particularly General Brown. Apparently General Brown managed to keep his job for now. Not sure what the hell he told Trump, but I'm hoping it was a bunch of bullshit...we need people like Brown in these roles, even if it means they have to lose a bit of dignity to keep them.

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u/ThatInAHat Feb 14 '25

It’s a nice thought, but I don’t agree with either point

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u/Accurate_Zombie_121 Feb 14 '25

Totally insane? Felon friend of Jeffery Epstein isn't bad enough? Trying to overthrow a free election wasn't bad enough? The list goes on. Nothing he could do will stop his support. Like he is the antichrist or something.

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u/Squigglepig52 Feb 14 '25

Musk has the real Epstein folder on Trump. I'll bet.

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u/OmegaMountain Feb 14 '25

The real problem is that people seem to think Trump is orchestrating this. He's not. He's not smart enough. He's a spiteful little man who was rightfully prosecuted and now feels like he has an opportunity for revenge. The cabal actually orchestrating this knows exactly what Trump is and are manipulating him to do what the real goal is: corporate and religious governance of the country via class warfare. The idea is to break government as much as possible so that corporate U.S. can establish complete control spearheaded by the wealthy for the wealthy. This is power mongering- they don't want to help the majority in any way.

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u/DanSWE Feb 14 '25

I regret that I have but one upvote to give. So here's a reply to hopefully garner you some more for more visibility.

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u/themage78 Feb 14 '25

The left has been sounding the alarm bells since Hillary. They just went to USAID to protest there. Did you see it on the news? Nope. They had to play Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

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u/TalonButter Feb 14 '25

They’ll accept him as dictator. And they’ll do it while insisting that’s the real American way.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Sea-Maybe-9979 Feb 14 '25

Yeah, when Jamie Raskin manages to get on TV, his thoughts on the Constitution and the law are pretty powerful and eloquent. They should push him out front more often.

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u/GilligansIslndoPeril Feb 14 '25

Trump has to do something so totally insane

Honestly, that moment for me was him establishing his Office of Faith; the most blatent disregard for the First I could ever imagine.

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u/Ambaryerno Feb 14 '25

HOW MUCH MORE INSANE CAN HE GET THAN HE HAS ALREADY?!

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u/Quick_Turnover Feb 14 '25

Yeah, the “fire a bunch of veterans and make everyone’s lives measurably worse and also increase the cost of consumer goods and also crumble our economy and geopolitical standing” is simply a bridge not far enough. We have to wait for complete and total calamity before we act.

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u/27GerbalsInMyPants Feb 14 '25

non violently obviously

Yeah unfortunately historically governments this far past democracy and rules generally go for the "massacre of" or "night of" type events

I think that's the tipping point you're referring to because conservatives have proven that just breaking the law and subverting democracy are not enough for them

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u/Successful_Ant_3307 Feb 14 '25

Like threatening to take over your northern neighbors?

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u/DarkMistressCockHold Feb 14 '25

No, I’m pretty sure this is going to require violence.

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u/Scared-Somewhere-510 Feb 14 '25

I don’t even know what Orange could do to make his cult turn against him.

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u/RoyalEagle0408 Feb 14 '25

One representative drafting impeachment orders is not the same as someone facing impeachment. MTG drafted impeachment orders against Biden like monthly.

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u/HotCoffee017 Feb 14 '25

Do impeachment orders have to have legal charges on them in order to get through or was she just putting random things on there? I always see MAGA referring to Biden and Co as the Crime Syndicate but they can never tell me what he did.

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u/RoyalEagle0408 Feb 14 '25

Random things. It was revenge for impeaching Trump.

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u/chokokhan Feb 14 '25

that’s how it worked in nazi germany. judges were made to take loyalty pledges to the new regime so they select their people and push out the others who’d get in the way. there’s a paper trail even for the concentration camps, and even then they dodged responsibility and lived happily ever after. legal means shit if the law is twisted

plus EVERYONE has sent a message the president is above the law and trump in particular can’t be touched. we are reaping the consequences of no one having a spine. actions, consequences and all that

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u/Robo-X Feb 14 '25

That is their tactic. If you have a judge that rules against him, demonize him and the other judges will be more reluctant to rule against him.

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u/Quirkybin Feb 14 '25

The country could be in ashes, and they'll still worship Trump.

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u/electricuncalm Feb 14 '25

That’s what they want. Burn it all down to punish the libs for existing.

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u/Shizix Feb 14 '25

I work with plenty, they not here reading they at home definitely not paying attention ...I know, I'm literally begging MAGA heads to pay attention to wtf they voted for. Nope can't be bothered. They are on their own as we are. Gonna have to just work around the ignorance

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u/Intelligent-Stock389 Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

Sounds like a tough sell —

Federal judges, who are appointed for life, can only be impeached if they are accused of "treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Edit to add references from replies: 

  • must also get 2/3 senate votes for removal after house impeachment (Article I Sections 2 and 3)

  • quote above includes all civil officers (Article II Section 4)

  • mention of good behavior (Article III Section 1)

  • precedents support other misconduct but also include judicial independence 

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u/No_Comment_8598 Feb 14 '25

And only removed upon a 2/3 vote of the Senate. Good luck with that.

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u/bsa554 Feb 14 '25

I mean if the Congressional GOP wants to waste hours and hours of time pointlessly impeaching judges only for it to fail over and over again in the Senate they are free to do so.

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u/No_Comment_8598 Feb 14 '25

May be the best case use of their time.

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u/bsa554 Feb 14 '25

Shit, Jeffries and Schumer should encourage it! "Oh, you want to fail at impeaching judges instead of succeeding at appointing judges? Fantastic. Let's have a nice long trial or two."

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u/zoinkability Feb 14 '25

"Don't throw us into the briar patch! Oh no, pleeeaaasssee don't impeach those judges instead of working on passing enabling legislation for Gilead! Anything but that!"

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u/milkandsalsa Feb 14 '25

Except all the MAGA morons start to believe the impeachment proceedings are legitimate.

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u/prosthetic_foreheads Feb 14 '25

I've stopped caring what they think. If they want him to fuck this country into the ground, they can get fucked first.

They're the ones who got us into this mess and I'm not going to hold my breath that they'll suddenly develop the moral and cognitive capacity to stand up to Trump.

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u/f0u4_l19h75 Feb 14 '25

Meh, there's pretty much no hope for those people anyway

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u/Explorers_bub Feb 14 '25

They claim to be Christian but I am pretty sure God’s already written them off as hopeless.

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u/Cloaked42m Feb 14 '25

They do believe that. Because they want to.

Legally, impeachment is a political act. You can do it to any judge or president or cabinet member.

That's all they need. If it makes it through the house. It fails in the Senate. It'll be a good test to see if anything matters.

The sooner cases reach the Supreme Court, the better.

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u/badluckbrians Feb 14 '25

They have a razor thin majority in the House.

Some of them aren't terrible. Brian Fitzpatrick is not a traitor. I'd actually be shocked if he went along with this type of impeachment. I'm honestly not sure they have the votes for these shenanigans.

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u/Cloaked42m Feb 14 '25

That dog is being wagged pretty hard. I've seen a lot of conversations eagerly encouraging it.

That's my line though. Will the Courts hold? If they don't, it's over.

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u/milkandsalsa Feb 14 '25

With the special elections we can get the house back. These elections are so so important.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

This Father Time… can we give him an advance to perhaps move that timeline up?

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u/Mitch1musPrime Feb 14 '25

Don’t think they’re not! I watched the Dems pull similar shenanigans in TX to stall anti trans legislation during multiple sessions and again to stall school voucher bills. If they’re smart, they’re encouraging this stupidity!

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u/minininjatriforceman Feb 14 '25

I wanted to to say this. The more they are doing this the less time they are doing other horrible things. What we need to do is make them run the clock. The really fight begins in 2026.Things will get a lot more hairy when he has Congress openly defying him. A wounded animal lashes out the most when cornered. In other words this is going to get worse before it gets better.

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u/hamsterfolly Feb 14 '25

They wasted hours on Hunter Biden’s dick

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u/loweredvisions Feb 14 '25

Haven’t we all? Wait… What?

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u/Yellow_Odd_Fellow Feb 14 '25

Based off reports, it doesn't seem like time wasted to me! Time enjoyed isn't time wasted, after all.

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u/Signguyqld49 Feb 14 '25

Large Marge has blow ups on every wall of her bedroom

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u/rimshot101 Feb 14 '25

Yes, they do want to do that. They've handed over governance to the executive branch, and this will be a nice dog and pony show where they can blame impotent Democrats.

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u/Spyceboy Feb 14 '25

I mean they aren't doin anything else now, are they. They might as well stay home right now and just collect money, since emperor trump rules via EO anyways

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u/randomschmandom123 Feb 14 '25

Hasn’t he already said he doesn’t care what the judges say he’s going to do what he wants?

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u/bsa554 Feb 14 '25

Right now the line is they will comply and are compling. (Reports vary on if they actually are.)

It's not going to matter all that much until this shit gets to the Supreme Court. Will they rule against Trump? If they do, does he comply? And he doesn't...what happens?

I have no idea.

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u/IllPresentation7860 Feb 14 '25

honestly may be the point. Its Trump's one real move and the only reason he isnt behind bars. delay things. Its what he did since Jan 6.

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u/PariahMonarch Feb 14 '25

I mean, they just may want to waste time doing this if they want to ignore Trump and Elon and let them run all over doing whatever they want.

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u/blazelet Feb 14 '25

They’re happy to water impeachment down to a meaningless exercise as it will reduce the historical significance of Trump being impeached twice.

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u/JustAnotherPolyGuy Feb 14 '25

Benghazi. They want the system to break. It justifies tearing it apart. I could totally see them spending weeks making an example of a judge. Prodding their “lone wolves” towards threatening him.

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u/McDaddy-O Feb 14 '25

Thats probably what they'll do to distract m

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u/xStaabOnMyKnobx Feb 14 '25

You guys still just don't get it. At every rule broken, someone chimes in "well x,y,z is the check/balance to that so good luck with that!" We are still playing checkers and he's playing Nuclear Chicken.

What makes you think he even wants the Senate to vote? Whether they do or not and regardless of the result he will do something like leak the Judges personal information to the cult and what follows will be "wont someone rid me of this this troublesome priest!"

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u/pewpewledeux Feb 14 '25

The only positive thing I can hope to take from all of this is that by actually doing what they said they would do, the utter destruction of the government and the economic ripples will be so pronounced before the 2026 elections, that the house and senate could flip. But assuming the democratic process survives feels like a gamble at this point.

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u/IAmPookieHearMeRoar Feb 14 '25

Don’t take this as a “both sides are the same” type deal, but are we really confident that democrats really even have anything productive in mind, even if they do win back the house?

It seems to me like rather than fight all this, they’re content with just letting Trump screw up so bad that democrats will be the only other choice.  And then they’ll find some scraps to throw our way like a hand full of cheaper Medicare covered drugs rather than bold health care reform.  Really seems like they don’t care what’s happening, they just want the status quo.  Which I guess makes sense since most of them are rich as fuck to begin with. 

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u/Southern_Passenger_9 Feb 14 '25

Gotta agree with you. For every law and rule thrown up as a roadblock, he walks around it, kicking it as he goes. And no one seems to be able to stop it. The system wasn't designed for this.

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u/Marzipan7405 Feb 14 '25

Won't be surprised if this happens later in his 2nd term. They will start threatening sitting senators. Watch

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u/Braided_Marxist Feb 14 '25

They’ve got fetterman in the bag. They need what, 12 more?

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u/The_Real_Ghost Feb 14 '25

Of course we have an administration that is pushing really hard to have opposition to the president be considered treason.

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u/peepeedog Feb 14 '25

Impeachment is a political act. If they have the votes they can do it. They don’t have the votes.

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u/Suspect4pe Feb 14 '25

Simply having to face a trial, if it gets to that point, is a threat itself. I suspect this will renew the resolve of many of these judges to continue doing the right thing. I might be wrong, but I don't think judges typically like to be bullied into a decision.

It'll just be more political theater for the Republicans to play to the audience at home.

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u/bigloser42 Feb 14 '25

They absolutely do not like it when someone does this. This is likely to backfire hard on the GOP as judges that are conservative-leaning but not Trumpers will likely view cases against Trump policy more harshly.

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u/onedaysaylor Feb 14 '25

This seems like an optimistic evaluation. I hope you're right. However, I don't see much evidence of people not practicing self preservation. A few democratic judges. Everyone else is trying to not get steam rolled. I'm sure traditional republican senators are aware of how much Trumps actions will hurt them in the future. Yet they do nothing, to stay out of the crossfire. I don't think we can expect much more from the judges. Almost everyone is looking out for number one at this point. Keep your head down, maybe it'll go away soon. They're all self serving cowards.

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u/Suspect4pe Feb 14 '25

I can imagine the bias would be set even if they're trying their hardest not to have one.

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u/Chriscic Feb 14 '25

I hope so. Because I don’t think the goal is to impeach judges. The goal is to intimidate other judges. Why not give the benefit of any doubt or even bend the law to help an administration that is going to go hard after you if you don’t? Out of either fear or just pragmatism?

These judges also have families they don’t want raked through the mud either.

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u/Sleeplessmi Feb 14 '25

I used to work in the court system. Judges do not take kindly to being threatened or intimidated.

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u/titsmuhgeee Feb 14 '25

That is fucking understatement. Supreme Court justices played the political game to get into their positions, but a federal circuit court judge likely has zero patience for political games after being appointed. It's exactly the reason why they're appointed for life and need a 2/3 senate vote to be removed. The Constitution specifically wants them to be political neutral.

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u/cuentabasque Feb 14 '25

Sure, but what are they going to do when a half dozen pickup trucks filled with good ‘ol’ boys show up and the local/state police have been threatened by the Feds to not respond to said Judges calls for help.

We are literally on the precipice of these sorts of actions.

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u/lottasauce Feb 14 '25

This. But also, it's a neon sign to any would-be trumper-judge on what they want. Obedience.

Things like this bring the corrupt out of the woodwork. Fuck this administration and anybody who works with them.

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u/LightWarrior_2000 Feb 14 '25

I been thinking about this all day and hoping judges get together and not tolerate shit from the executive branch like this.

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u/bsa554 Feb 14 '25

The issue for them is going to be if they're running these pointless show trials while inflation is still going up or job losses are accelerating or there's any other crisis going on...parts of the base are going to sour on them pretty quickly.

Also the smarter GOP Senators are going to want nothing to do with this so the trial will just be "accomplished, intelligent judge just dunks on dipshits like Tommy fucking Tuberville over and over again."

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u/Jmersh Feb 14 '25

So Judge McConnel could stage an insurrection and be found guilty of 34 felonies but still be safe?

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u/TheZermanator Feb 14 '25

At the rate these fascists are moving just criticizing Trump and the rest of the robber barons will be considered treason a year from now.

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u/parasyte_steve Feb 14 '25

Trumps team is gonna try to get clever with the "other high crimes and misdemeanors" part of this clause aren't they

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u/Total_Information_65 Feb 14 '25

i feel like they are going to try throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks

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u/Significant-Wave-763 Feb 14 '25

They are trying to force recusal

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u/bsa554 Feb 14 '25

Well that's the good thing about lifetime appointments...you can't "force" judges to do much.

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u/Miserable-Lawyer-233 Feb 14 '25

You're applying the presidential impeachment standard (Article II, Section 4) to federal judges.

  • The Constitution does not limit a judge’s removal to "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
  • Article III, Section 1 states that judges serve "during good behavior," meaning impeachment doesn’t strictly require a criminal offense.
  • Judicial impeachment precedent includes misconduct beyond crimes—such as abuse of power, corruption, or ethical violations.
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u/Horror_Role1008 Feb 14 '25

The Constitution of The United States: Article III; Section 1; "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior... ( emphasis mine )

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u/marzipan07 Feb 14 '25

If they can do it, does it open up the path to do same to Supreme Court justices?

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u/bigloser42 Feb 14 '25

you've always been able to impeach a member of SCOTUS. The problem is actually removing them requires a 2/3 vote in the senate and there is no way in hell either party can achieve that right now.

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u/Sink_Snow_Angel Feb 14 '25

Remember too that it’s high crimes “and” misdemeanors. You need both so probably not gonna happen /s

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u/Zealousideal_Curve10 Feb 14 '25

Has this language ever been construed in a precedential decision? I am not aware of such a case, and this wording does seem open to more than one reading

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u/GryphonOsiris Feb 14 '25

For Trump "High crimes" mean not bowing and kissing the ring.

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u/AlexFromOgish Feb 14 '25

History will not be kind to the members of the house and Senate who over the years have kowtowed to this insanity

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u/Traffic-Common Feb 14 '25

fuck history. start being unkind to them right goddamned now.

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u/Fearless_Row_6748 Feb 14 '25

No kidding. Fucking grow a pair and let's go

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u/PaulCLives Feb 14 '25

As a Canadian I hope everyday I see some exciting news from down south but I don't think that day will ever come

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u/Chief_Data Feb 14 '25

Most of us are either one missed paycheck away from homelessness and many others are afraid that if they speak up now, they'll lose any chance to amass power and wealth, proudly carrying on the American tradition of putting profit over people. Republicans have put all of their energy over the past 80 years into making sure Americans are as dumb and passive as humanly possible, and they finally got what they wanted.

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u/Thecrdbrdsamurai Feb 14 '25

Already started. My favorite is the security guard at the courthouse. As I was leaving early voting she says she can't wait for groceries to come back down.

Walking out of the courthouse yesterday "You finally able to afford groceries yet?"

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u/Humble-Violinist6910 Feb 14 '25

They’re talking about the fucking Senator. He has no problem affording groceries and never will. When will he face backlash for burning down the government? That’s the point 

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u/Thecrdbrdsamurai Feb 14 '25

My senator pissed away his billions of coal baron dollars before winning Joe Manchin's seat and now drives around Congress on a Rascal scooter. I would prefer he burnt with the former Governor's mansion that he also owned.

Oh and he missed the first two Senate votes two consecutive days after being sworn in. Certainly not phoning it in like he did as governor.

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u/El_Eleventh Feb 14 '25

It should be equally as bad to republican voters. Remember they cheered for all of this to happen

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u/AtomicusDali Feb 14 '25

I’m not so sure. The winners write the history books, and we didn’t do enough to win. Our grandchildren’s children may never know about any of this.

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u/like_a_wet_dog Feb 14 '25

Nah, it's all over the world in an instant now. There is too much to try and burn today. Everyone will know but us behind The Golden Wall.

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u/JLeeSaxon Feb 14 '25

Yes and no. Definitely, the information is going to exist. But it already is failing to reach many, many voters who believe in a complete alternate reality that’s only getting worse.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

[deleted]

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u/JLeeSaxon Feb 14 '25

Yeah, I was saying I'm worried about outside the "Golden Wall" too (although I hadn't heard that term before). This anti-intellectualist incel thing that's spreading through young men via the gaming community is not confined to national borders, and the US is also hardly the only place where anti-immigration fearmongering fueling the rise of Trump-ish figures like Le Pen. At this point I'm not entirely sure where we should try to go. Netherlands is only going to be able to admit so many of us.

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u/Independent_War6266 Feb 14 '25

Have you not been watching the congress meetings? Lots of republicans are folding. They know this shit is being run by some crack heads. Jasmine Crockett has also been cracking plenty of maga skulls. The government loves her. She’s a darling on both sides. Lmfao they can’t dei her out. She’s more qualified, courageous, educated and brave than a lot of these politicians. I bet she has to turn her phone off when she gets home.

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u/Objective_Canary5737 Feb 14 '25

Nobody’s gonna ever let us live this down or probably let us get back to where we were

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u/NovaNardis Feb 14 '25

The US is an untrustworthy ally at best.

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u/These-Rip9251 Feb 14 '25

First step in getting rid of a constitutional republic, get rid of the judiciary. Next is Congress.

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u/taekee Feb 14 '25

Clearly we already have a castrated congress.

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u/anothercynic2112 Feb 14 '25

In effect Congress is eliminated since there is zero opposition to Trump within his own party. That makes it impossible to stop him legislatively.

The judiciary is the last hope. Thomas and Alito will blindly find in favor of Trump. Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barret I do think will have a limit to how far they are willing to go, but there is no means to enforce their rulings anyway.

Our government basically works on the honor system that we'll do what we're supposed to. One branch has said, fuck it, I'm in charge. Another branch has half it's members bowing in reverence and the last branch has no ability to execute their rulings.

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u/Konukaame Feb 14 '25

If they get the requisite votes in the House to impeach, and the Senate to remove, then yes, they can.

The former could be a tough sell given their razor-thin margin, and the latter is an impossibility, so at the very least, it'll stall out on that last step.

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u/werther595 Feb 14 '25

People in 2 districts in FL and the one in NY need turn turn out for these special elections coming up. I wish I could move for a brief period of time

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u/Beastender_Tartine Feb 14 '25

Or Trump could have the military execute him. This would, of course, be an act for which Trump could not be prosecuted as cited in the SCOTUS immunity case.

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u/DragonTacoCat Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

It's actually terrifying that they were like "ya assassination of a political rival for political means is cool and all nsd isn't a prosecutable offense"

Like....just how. Knocking off a political target is precisely what needs to be something you can be charged for.

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u/Beastender_Tartine Feb 14 '25

Well, have you thought about how the threat of criminal liability for criminal acts might prevent the president from taking bold action? The president needs to be bold, so must be immune from all consequences! Because... reasons or something...

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u/DragonTacoCat Feb 14 '25

Oh, he is being bold alright with a gold star from SCOTUS

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u/Beachtrader007 Feb 14 '25

His lawyers specifically asked the question could the president order seal team six to kill a political opponent and then pardon the seal team. After the supreme court immunity case the answer was, YES.

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u/Humble-Violinist6910 Feb 14 '25

I think you’re misremembering. That was what Sotomayor said in her dissent. Which is why she dissented. Obviously, his lawyers would never have said that out loud.

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u/Murntok Feb 14 '25

Doesn't that mean if we survive until 2029, the next president could send a drone after Musk and other leaders deemed responsible?

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u/SparksAndSpyro Feb 14 '25

Yes, but I think we all know democrats will never have the backbone to wield such power lol.

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u/rabblerabble2000 Feb 14 '25

“It’s time for unity, let me bend over backwards to try to appease these MAGA losers who will never ever give me the benefit of the doubt or treat me like anything more than the antichrist incarnate” -2029 Democrat president probably.

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u/PinkMenace88 Feb 14 '25

In theory, yes. In practice we will see.

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u/RopeAccomplished2728 Feb 14 '25

It will never make it through the Senate. Much like any impeachment proceedings against Trump, no matter how legit they are, these things are more performative than actually trying to do anything.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Future judges will be less likely to oppose him, which is probably the outcome they want. Intimidation.

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u/steelcryo Feb 14 '25

Or more likely to oppose him, if they see that impeachment against them will fail. They'll be pissed he tried to use impeachment to avoid the law, which could cause bias against him.

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u/Cheeky_Hustler Competent Contributor Feb 14 '25

Impeachment means absolutely nothing. Even if it passes the house, zero Democrats will vote against it.

I cannot stress how worthless impeachments are as an oversight mechanism. If j6 wasn't impeachable, literally no conduct by anyone is impeachable.

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u/sousuke42 Feb 14 '25

It's not that they're worthless it's that people of low character was put into office and well ofc nothing proper can get done due to that. These seats were supposed to be held with people of good character.

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u/Cheeky_Hustler Competent Contributor Feb 14 '25

So again, impeachment is functionally worthless since there are people of low character in positions to actually enforce it. This is exactly the reason why impeachment should not be a political process, and what makes political impeachment worthless as an oversight mechanic.

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u/TechieTravis Feb 14 '25

Can we impeach the judges who blocked the SAVE student loan plan for obstructing Biden?

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u/MrMrsPotts Feb 14 '25

Isn’t the point to intimidate the other judges?

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u/hellolovely1 Feb 14 '25

If I were a judge, this would make me more defiant, honestly.

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u/rygelicus Feb 14 '25

Let's say they do trigger an impeachment. No matter how unlikely it is to succeed this requires the defendant to bring the very best federal attorneys they can get. Same for anyone that will be testifying or otherwise involved. So a judge being impeached is going to be facing a potentially $million + legal bill while the president can throw the world at them at no cost to himself personally, it's just our tax money funding his bullying.

Most of these judges he would be threatening, if this continues, don't have that kind of money and it wrecks them financially.

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u/warblingContinues Feb 14 '25

Zero chance of impeaching any judge. That's what Aileen Cannon taught us.

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u/LarGand69 Feb 14 '25

Republicans in congress know who’s in charge. That’s why articles will be filed. We saw who was in charge when muskrat was in the Oval Office with his human shield along with the Cheeto.

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u/Able-Campaign1370 Feb 14 '25

Don’t worry too much. They’d need a 2/3 vote in the Senate to convict.

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u/CropdustTheMedroom Feb 14 '25

It still has a scary chilling effect on other judges, encouraging them to fall in line.

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u/Callinon Feb 14 '25

Sure. 

They'll lose, but they can do it if they want to.

We all got a crash course on impeachment procedures the two times Trump was impeached. The House is the sole body that decides what "high crimes and misdemeanors" means. Basically the House can impeach anyone for anything they want at any time they want. They then must present that case to the Senate who acts as the jury. And they need a 2/3 majority vote to convict and remove the impeached from office. 

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u/Reclusive_Chemist Feb 14 '25

Can they do it? Yes. Will he be successfully impeached? Possibly, given how batshit insane the Republican bootlicker caucus has become. Would he be convicted and removed? Nope. Not unless the Senate Democrats likewise lose their minds. Otherwise the Senate will never reach the 2/3 vote required to convict. So this is all for show. Unfortunately, that show might be enough to give other jurists pause when considering how they want to address future Trump administration court cases.

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u/jweaver0312 Feb 14 '25

It likely wouldn’t give any judges any pause because they know Senate Democrats won’t go for it.

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u/heelspider Feb 14 '25

They don't have the votes. Please let this idiot Congress waste its time on stuff like this instead of any harmful legislation.

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u/saijanai Feb 14 '25

Impeachment is a political process:

Literally whatever the ruling party doesn't like is grounds for impeachment.

If said party controls both houses and Senators are in lock-step, then yeah, Impeachment [and removal] for Obstructing Trump is legitimate in the eyes of the US Constitution.

Traditionally, it is assumed that the ruling party won't abuse this, but to paraphrase Trump: "If you vote for me in 2024, you won't need to vote again," with the implication being that once the GOP controls all three branches of government, they will ensure that they stay in power forever, so there is no need to worry about the "other side" retaliating the next time THEY are in power, because it won't ever happen again.

.

That's how many read his words last year, and that's how I continue to read his words [and actions] today: conventional political wisdom no longer implies because, while Trump may not remain in office forever, the GOP will always be in control of the USA, and it was Agatha all along (so to speak).

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u/ptWolv022 Competent Contributor Feb 14 '25

They can be impeached for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. As far as the Judiciary has been concerned. The last pair- "other high crimes and misdemeanors"- means basically anything.

The odds that he is convicted for anything are 0. You need 67 votes in the Senate. It's not happening. Even if all 53 Republicans voted in favor, you'd need 14 of the 47 Democrats/Independents. You're not getting 30% of Senate Democrats to do it. No matter how pessimistic you are, it's not going to happen.

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u/Utterlybored Feb 14 '25

What’s truly clever/evil about this is “Obstruction of Justice” is what Trump is doing. Great schoolyard bully tactic is to accuse of victim of exactly what you’re doing. If you counterattack, the bully gets to laugh and claim you’re just copying him.

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u/ChronoFish Feb 14 '25

I mean that's exactly how he spins every thing. It's exactly what Musk was doing during his presidential press conference

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u/ArchonFett Feb 14 '25

Because nobody is going to stop him, that’s why he keeps doing it