Anyone other than the president

Walter Einenkel of Daily Kos tells us about a group of former Republican prosecutors are calling themselves Republicans for the Rule of Law. They released a video of three of them making their case. The three are Donald Ayer, deputy Attorney General under GHW Bush; Paul Rosenzweig, assistat secretary of Homeland Security under GW Bush; and Jeffrey Harris, deputy associate Attorney General under Reagan. Einenkel pulled some quotes from the video that show their reasoning:

Obstruction of justice and perjury are far more important than most normal crimes. They go to the absolute core of how the rule of law functions in this society.

As a former prosecutor, I did not think it was even a close prosecutorial call as to whether the president obstructed justice.

Were the president anyone other than the president, he would have been subject to indictment.

In the Mueller report there is a damning case of obstruction of justice by the president.

Kerry Eleveld of Daily Kos looks at the downside of not impeaching. Part of the calculus so far has been impeachment could turn off independent voters, and, if he isn’t removed, boost the nasty guy’s approval rating and his chances of winning in 2020. This could be a big problem for Democrats in swing states or who eked out a win in a red state.

But black voters, and their black representatives, are explaining why they are baffled and upset. That can be summed up in something that was told to Rep. Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania

We sent you for one reason only: to get rid of the president, right? Why haven’t you gotten rid of him yet?

Black voters are a core part of the Democratic Party. So the calculus should weigh whether it is better to turn off some white voters or a lot of black voters.



Mark Sumner of Daily Kos looks at yet another reason why impeachment is necessary.

US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the nasty guy administration to turn over transcripts of conversations between Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

The Justice Department made up a fake reason why they won’t.

Which means the nasty guy has been ignoring or using the courts to tie up requests from Congress he doesn’t like. Now that the courts are ruling against him he is ignoring them too. The president, Congress, and the courts are supposed to be three equal parts of government, each with checks and balances over the others. The nasty guy is asserting he can do what he wants no matter what the other two branches say or do.

The nasty guy has a portrait of President Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office. Chief Justice John Marshall of the Supreme Court ruled against Jackson. Jackson supposedly said, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!”

So what are the courts and Congress going to do now that the nasty guy has said the same thing?