The Senate Trial of Donald J Trump for High Crimes

[uebermann]

Republican council has looked like fools up there. They can't defend anything Trump is doing so instead they are making silly excuses of his actions. Basically they are confirming the actions were wrong, but its OK because he's the President. The comment from Dershowitz from Galt above and just shows how utterly dishonest the defense is being.

We've gone from "he didn't do it" to "its totally fine for him to do it."

[John Galt]

[Kane]

Well wouldn't that further the public interest? As long as it does that the US is a bastion of federalism and democracy.

[John Galt]

RIP the Republic

6/21/1788 - 1/31/2020

[Spider]

Never even got a trial lol. Not dead yet.
There's still the election. If he gets in twice in a row despite losing the vote, against the wishes of the American people....then call it.

This was closed off partisan political action. The vote will be a democratic one.

[John Galt]

The damage done today will take generations to fix

Exploited is right to call out problems with presidental systems of government. It's worth noting when we created in our image the Japanese and German governments post WWII and basically wrote the things for them that we did not make presidental systems. America and chile are the only presidental system that had lasted over 100 years, and America over 200 years without becoming broken. The polarization of parties in recent decades has led us to this moment. The risk was always there, and now we pay the price. This isn't to say it can't be done with presidental system, but I believe we need massive reforms

[exploited]

A semi-presidential system would be a large improvement, wherein a President is directly elected to handle foreign affairs, while a Prime Minister forms a government, along parliamentary lines, to handle domestic affairs. AKA the French model.

Other than providing people this choice, there is no merit to presidential systems. Separation of powers is a historical failure that has never worked. Every defining feature of the system acts to increase polarization - when the legislature is ruled by one party and the executive the next, you see gridlock and a hardening of partisan positions. When the President wins, he is accountable to nobody other than the people in the next election, and will spend their time rolling back the work of the last party, no matter how bipartisan.

The list goes on.

Still, I think Galt is right that the system could be saved. Mostly by turning it into a parliamentary system while keeping the one or two aspects of presidential systems that make sense.

[Spider]

[Kane]

So long as he isn't checked and continues to support fringe candidates and/or opportunist politicians willing mobilize constituents under the guise of fear we are heading in a very bad direction.

https://time.com/5776337/montana-rodney ... ot-jailed/

If Trump wins 2020 it's literally game over. GOP will praise love of Federalism and then deify the position of President. Elections will lose legitimacy as outside actors work in Trump's favor.

[Kane]