Isladogs said:
Are you seriously suggesting Trump has done nothing meriting impeachment?
Whether anyone says that, I say that it is
possible that he really hasn't. Not certain - but possible.
Isladogs said:
I'm saying both Presidents were flawed and acted as though they were above the law.
You left out BHO, who used executive orders as a substitute for legislation even though he flagrantly crossed the line on "separation of powers." You are right about both men being badly flawed, though. Above the law? See my earlier explanation. Constitutionally, the Pres, whoever holds the office, really IS above most laws. But not above Congress.
My current issue is this one. It will take a moment to get through it, so bear with me.
DJT, as the Pres, is also the chief law enforcement officer of the USA since Homeland Security is a cabinet office that answers to him. He has the right to suggest to his people in DHS to check into various specific crimes. He took an oath to uphold the laws of the USA. For better or worse, he took the oath. What he did with it is sort of the subject of this thread, isn't it?
There are substantial rumors that Joe Biden offered a 7-figure bribe to the president of the Ukraine to remove a prosecutor from office because that prosecutor was at the time investigating Hunter Biden, Joe's son, for criminal wrongdoing. There are those who will say, "Oh, that has been dismissed" or "that is unsubstantiated." Don't CARE because at the time of that phone call, the suspicion was still active and hadn't yet been addressed. Nor am I satisfied that it has been fully addressed in any case.
DJT cannot investigate a crime of public bribery committed by an American citizen in another country. Our laws allow certain extra-territorial prosecution (e.g. a U.S. citizen in another country can be prosecuted in the USA for human trafficking) but bribery? No. On the other hand, the president of the Ukraine SURELY has the authority to investigate wrongdoing within his own country - such as the actions for which Hunter Biden was under suspicion.
Therefore, DJT - as an international courtesy - can ask the Pres of the Ukraine to look into this nasty rumor about a US citizen's actions that fall under Ukrainian jurisdiction. BUT... if the bribery rumor is actually true, then the Ukraine guy already has "skin in the game" that he would lose if he follows up on that rumor. So to counteract the bribery, DJT can say (in effect) "if you take his money, you lose this other money." I.e. level the paying field (oops, Freudian slip, I sort of meant "playing field." Maybe.)
So unless the Dems are willing to investigate that rumor IN FULL, they have no basis for claiming an abuse of power other than that he's got it and they don't and he reminds them of that every day. That's as abusive as it gets, I guess, by their standards. And of course they don't DARE investigate wrong-doing by their own front-runner candidate, right?... Right. Pure politics.
OK, DJT can be a consummate ass at times. In this thread, I made it clear that he was a case of "lesser of two evils" when I voted for him. But the Democrats went berserk on this one and have materially interfered with the normal business of the government. They have passed some bills, true, but they have been so consumed by this fiasco that they have passed only a small fraction of the normal amount of legislation.
The only benefit of that is that because of being distracted, they have not gotten around to their usual antics - the kind that once caused Mark Twain to comment "Nobody's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."
P.S.- It is hard to find the proper attribution of that quote, but it is commonly associated with him, and it is CERTAINLY within his style. You'll find the quote easily enough by looking up "Mark Twain Quote on Legislature." But it won't give a proper formal reference to book, chapter, and verse.