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Thom's blog
Democracy Itself Is on Trial
 While Donald Trump is on trial in the Senate impeachment hearings, many commentators are pointing out that the Senate is also at trial. Few, however, are pointing out that the fare and future of our country may will also be decided by this trial. Donald Trump is currently following the same trajectory blazed by autocratic leaders across the world including Victor Orbán in Hungary, Duterte in the Philippines, Putin in Russia, Modi in India, and Bolsonaro in Brazil. Each of those countries have flipped from being democratic republics to authoritarian oligarchies. If Trump is not convicted in the Senate and his Republican firewall there holds, he will be greatly empowered and will see his "exoneration" (what he will call it, for sure) as a license to practice even more gross corruption and to even more aggressively prosecute and persecute people he sees as political enemies. If the Senate fails to convict him, it's also possible that will boost his popularity enough that he gets reelected in 2020, and then the real Trump will come out, unrestrained, unrepentant, and committed to increasing his own wealth and power along with that of the toadies who surround him. Nothing less than the future of our republic is at stake in this Senate trial. -Thom |
Tuesday's Daily Stack 
Hour One: Democracy Itself Is On Trial... Alexander Hamilton's Thoughts on Abuse of Power as Cause For Impeachment...
Article: " Federalist No 65" by Alexander Hamilton. " A well-constituted court for the trial of impeachments is an object not more to be desired than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective. The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. The prosecution of them, for this reason, will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused. In many cases it will connect itself with the pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side or on the other; and in such cases there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt."
Thom's Take & Your Calls Along w/Live Coverage of the Senate Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump
Quote: " President Trump abused the powers of his office to invite foreign interference in an election for his own personal political gain and to the detriment of American national security interests. He abandoned his oath to faithfully execute the laws and betrayed his public trust. President Trump's misconduct presents a danger to our democratic processes, our national security, and our commitment to the rule of law. He must be removed from office" - House prosecutors. Quote: " The American people entrusted President Trump with the extraordinary powers vested in his Office by the Constitution, powers which he swore a sacred Oath to use for the Nation's benefit. President Trump broke that promise. He used Presidential powers to pressure a vulnerable foreign partner to interfere in our elections for his own benefit. In doing so, he jeopardized our national security and our democratic self-governance. He then used his Presidential powers to orchestrate a cover-up unprecedented in the history of our Republic: a complete and relentless blockade of the House's constitutional power to investigate high Crimes and Misdemeanors." - House prosecutors. Quote: " President Trump maintains that the Senate cannot remove him even if the House proves every claim in the Articles of impeachment. That is a chilling assertion. It is also dead wrong. The Framers deliberately drafted a Constitution that allows the Senate to remove Presidents who, like President Trump, abuse their power to cheat in elections, betray our national security, and ignore checks and balances. That President Trump believes otherwise, and insists he is free to engage in such conduct again, only highlights the continuing threat he poses to the Nation if allowed to remain in office." - House prosecutors. Quote: " In his view, the American people are powerless to remove a President for corruptly using his Office to cheat in the next election by soliciting and coercing a foreign power to sabotage a rival and spread conspiracy theories helpful to the President. This is the argument of a monarch, with no basis in the Constitution." - House prosecutors.
Article: " Alan Dershowitz Flings Theory That Abuse Of Power Is Not Impeachable" by Red Painter. " But abuse of power, even if proved, is not an impeachable offense. That's exactly what the framers rejected. They didn't want to give Congress the authority to remove a President because he abused his power. They have to prove treason, bribery, or they have to prove other crimes and misdemeanors. "Other" refers to crimes of the kind such as treason and bribery." Quote: " The Articles of Impeachment submitted by House Democrats are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their President. This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election-now just months away. The highly partisan and reckless obsession with impeaching the President began the day he was inaugurated and continues to this day." - President Trump Official Response to Senate Trial Notification. Quote: " The articles of impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face. They fail to allege any crime or violation of law whatsoever, let alone ;high crimes and misdemeanors,' as required by the Constitution. They are the result of a lawless process that violated basic due process and fundamental fairness. Nothing in these articles could permit even beginning to consider removing a duly elected President or warrant nullifying an election and subverting the will of the American people." - President Trump Official Response to Senate Trial Notification. Quote: " The articles themselves-and the rigged process that brought them here-are a transparently political act by House Democrats. They debase the grave power of impeachment and the solemn responsibility that power entails. They must be rejected. The House process violated every precedent and every principle of fairness governing impeachment inquiries for more than 150 years. Even so, all that House Democrats have succeeded in proving is that the President did absolutely nothing wrong." - President Trump Official Response to Senate Trial Notification. Quote: " Leader McConnell's plan for a dark of night impeachment trial confirms what the American people have seen since Day One: the Senate GOP Leader has chosen a cover-up for the President, rather than honor his oath to the Constitution. Shamefully, this sham proposal does not even allow for admitting the House record into evidence at the trial." - Nancy Pelosi. Quote: " The public now knows why Leader McConnell has been hiding his resolution: the Clinton comparison was a lie. Clearly and sadly, Leader McConnell has misled the American people. For weeks, he has insisted that he will adhere to the rules used during the Clinton impeachment trial and that 'fair is fair' - but his proposal rejects the need for witnesses and documents during the trial itself. In contrast, for the Clinton trial, witnesses were deposed and the President provided more than 90,000 documents." - Nancy Pelosi. Quote: " President Trump undermined our national security, jeopardized the integrity of our elections and violated the Constitution all for his own personal, political gain. He has repeatedly said that he would do so again. Duty, honor and country are at stake. Every Senator who supports this sham process must be held accountable to the American people." - Nancy Pelosi. Case: " Bush v. Gore", 2000. " The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States"
Hour Two: Democracy on Trial... Thom's Take & Your Calls Along w/LIVE coverage of the Senate Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump...
Quote: " If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." - Harry S Truman.
Hour Three: Democracy on Trial: Thom's Take on the Two Possible Outcomes of Trump's Impeachment Trial in the Senate plus LIVE coverage and YOUR Calls...
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Wednesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET
The impeachment trial continues. I'll be giving my views and taking your calls...
And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"
And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Can Progressives AND Moderates Unite To Save America?
Science Revolution: Factory Farming Is Making Americans Sick (w/ Tia Schwab)
Martin Luther King Jr Sacrifice and Struggle (w/ Joe Madison)
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On the Road Again
"The War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote--and How To Get it Back" - Book Tour Is Coming...
Fri, Feb 28, 7:30pm PT: Powell's, 1005 W Burnside St., Portland.
Sun, Mar 1, noon: Frugal Muse Books -Chicago- tickets will go on sale Feb 3rd.
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