&feature=youtu.be

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/21/trump-must-remain-in-power-to-stay-out-of-prison-watch-what-he-does-after-senate-acquits-him/

The danger of impeaching Trump without removing him from office has always been that we will have blown the last “check” we have on him. When the Senate lets him off without even a slap on the wrist, Trump will be even more unrestrained than ever. Steel yourself. We’re about to get Donald Trump squared.

The last time he felt he’d gotten away with his crimes was when special counsel Robert Mueller failed to find evidence of a conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and the Russians during the 2016 election. Less than 24 hours after Mueller lamely testified as much to Congress, an apparently giddy Trump picked up the phone and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and tried to get yet another foreign leader to help him steal an election. He offered Zelensky a bribe to get him to investigate his likely opponent in 2020, Joe Biden, and tried to strong-arm Zelensky into making Ukraine the scapegoat for the 2016 Russian hacking of Democratic emails.


He won’t be able to stop himself from doing it again. He’s not going to stop at doubling down. He’ll triple down on everything he’s pulled over the last four years.

He’s going to call Putin and promise to lift the sanctions if he chips in to get him re-elected. He’ll call Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey. He’ll talk to President Andrej Duda of Poland. He’ll reach out for help from every wannabe Mussolini from South America to Singapore. And he’ll get it. They’ll find ways to slip him money under the table. They’ll turn loose hit squads of trolls to infect American social media with campaign propaganda.

Yes, Trump already publicly asked the Chinese for help with the 2020 election.

Any possible way he would be stupid/scheming enough to try to covertly contact the Chinese and strike a deal? Dirt on Biden/another Democratic challenger in exchange for trade concessions or something else ?

In the same vein, we could substitute Iran or North Korea.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/world/europe/putin-trump-impeachment.html

MOSCOW — Besieged in Washington, President Trump found an eager friend in Moscow on Thursday.

At his annual end-of-year news conference, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia parroted Mr. Trump’s talking points, mocking Wednesday’s impeachment vote as a partisan effort by Democrats to reverse their defeat in the 2016 presidential election.

He also took up Mr. Trump’s argument that there was no solid evidence to justify his removal from office. Offering an analysis of American political dynamics, Mr. Putin said that Mr. Trump was unlikely to be removed for “highly speculative reasons” by the Republican-controlled Senate.

“This is nothing but a continuation of an internal political struggle, with the party that lost the election, the Democratic Party, trying to reach its goal by different means,” Mr. Putin said during the 15th edition of a news conference that has often tended to be more a carnival of flattery.

My thinking, in bullet points:

1- Barring resignation or death, Trump will stand for election during 2020.
2- No one is seriously proposing that he will be convicted in the Senate. He should be, but, this won't happen.
3- There is a possibility he could win again. Why ?
3a- Russian interference, again.
3b- MAGA voters turn out in huge numbers in battleground states
3c- Our candidate is not as strong as he or she should be.
3d- The electoral college math goes his way
3e- Our voters do not turn out in huge numbers, for various reasons.
4- If Trump wins again, I have no doubt he will do everything possible to destroy DOJ, CIA, FBI and the rest of the intelligence community. Yes, the agencies will still be standing but, internally, they will be beholden to him.
5- If he wins again, he will defy any attempt by Congress to exercise oversight.
6- The 2024 election ? I can't see Trump trying for a 3rd term (illegal), but I can see his MAGA followers to nominate a fascist who is much more sophisticated at undermining democracy.

I hope I'm wrong. I really do. If Trump wins in November 2020, I seriously despair for my country in a way I never have before.

Steve

Dear liberal Twitter.

I am a white male in a red rural area of a red southern state.

*DU might find this interesting. Or not. It seems legit from my quick scan*

https://twitter.com/DFire45/status/1206645442836140032


for the entire thread, here:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1206645442836140032.html