As expected, in the 8:00 hour tonight Donald John Trump, President of the United States, was impeached pursuant to articles pertaining to abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on almost strictly party-line votes. Justin Amash voted for impeachment on both while we lost two Dems on the first article and three on second. Tulsi Gabbard voted present on both. Speaker Pelosi has indicated she will not immediately deliver the articles to the Senate because she wants assurances that there will be a real trial.
(As an aside, I see this as evidence of much less activity on BMG in recent months and years. Time was news of this magnitude would never go almost three hours without being diaried at least once.)
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The Republican party is dead. Might as well change their name – they are the Donald Trump party, willing to go for any falsehood, neglect or untruth to protect his person. What a disgrace for all Republicans in the House, one and all.
Justin Amash was the only one who dissociated himself from Trump. He had to leave the party to do it.
The Grand Old Party, the party of Lincoln, is no more.
This happened around 1980.
Trump has not changed the party, he has exposed it for what it is. I say this as a former Republican who left the party after the emergence of the Tea Party. It is not the Donald Trump Party, it is the White Supremacy & Pledge Loyalty to the Wealthy Party.
Amash gave a great speech. As the last conservative house member with any integrity or respect for the rule of law, I hope he is made a manager. As he eloquently stated, this is not about either party but about preserving and defending the Constitution and the rule of law. Like Speaker Pelosi, I will not clap or show any elation at this outcome. This presidency began as a farce and will end as tragedy. I only hope that voters do what the spineless GOP Senators will not do and remove this president from office. I hope all the swing state Dems who voted for impeachment are re-elected and the swing state Republicans who voted against it are defeated. Same for the Senate. Lastly, with the exception of Jake Tapper, I really wish members of the media would stop calling this a party line or partisan vote. It technically was not, and also, unlike the Clinton impeachment, it is grounded in serious constitutional questions.
Our party and its bench have been sharpened tremendously by this terrible time. Pelosi’s skillful handling of not the lead up to impeachment but also the past 24 hours in refusing to sleep walk the Articles over to the Senate in unacceptable circumstances is more evidence of this vitality.
But most of all the obvious fact that the Democratic candidates are in touch with reality on the ground in this country is evidence of this vitality. It is up to all of us to make sure this strength is translated into control of the Senate and the presidency, and implementation of policy that finally responds to the challenges in this world with regard to health, transportation, economics, national security, and equality that are so aptly described here on a regular basis.