Reactions: Democrats Who Voted Not To Impeach Trump
This month could've marked the beginning of impeachment number three for Trump with the introduction of a House resolution that asserted that the president had carried out "abuse of presidential powers by disregarding the separation of powers — devolving American democracy into authoritarianism by unconstitutionally usurping Congress's power to declare war." However, the resolution, which was introduced by Texas Democratic Representative Al Green, failed the day it was introduced by a vote of 344–79.
Green introduced the measure in response to President Trump's decision to strike Iran without congressional approval. Several Democrats were in agreement, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said the move was "absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment."
The 344 impeachment dissenters included 128 Democrats, and people had a LOT of thoughts about it on a thread on r/politics discussing a New Republic article about the vote. Here is what just a few of the more than 4,000 commenters had to say:
"How many times did Republicans vote to repeal Obamacare during Obama's second term? They knew it would be vetoed, but they kept the issue in the news cycle. What don't Dems get about this?"
"Only reason I vote for this loser party is because I hate the other one more."
—Ok_Use7
"If we can't impeach a president because 'it's not a realistic option' and 'he was already impeached twice,' then the system has failed and we have a dictator."
"I understand the frustration, but this is not the issue that Trump should be impeached for. I mean, he should, but it would be a very hard sell to the American public. The problem is that every president for decades has taken similar actions without declaring war or going through Congress. This is a problem, but too easy for Republicans just to point to Obama and say, 'Well, he did it.'"
"Yup. We need to vote them out. Politicians need to start learning that they don't get to keep their jobs if we don't get what we want. Too many career people in place, and we cannot trust them to fix that problem either.
"Trump is the best proof we have that the only people who have power to change things are us. We removed him from office. Not McConnell, not Republicans, Democrats, Congress, the Senate, the Judiciary. We did.We need to really remember that when people say voting doesn't matter."—BotherResponsible378
"Democrats are not beating the controlled opposition allegations anytime soon."
"I'm tired of hearing people say, 'What can the Dems do, they have no power.' They can do this. They can rally people with symbolic votes. They can rally people with speeches. They can rally people with town halls. They can rally people with protests. How the fuck else are they supposed to win the next election if they aren't rallying the voters?"
"Like what the hell is the point of this party, other than beating back progressives in primaries?"
"Democrats trip over themselves trying to look principled while Republicans fall in line behind a convicted felon like it's a team sport. One side argues over morals, the other just wins. I'm exhausted."
"It's quickly becoming necessary for a third party, I think. Something that captures the best three or four items from each of the main parties, and adds three to four of its own. There are too many old people running the Democrats, and too many intolerant people running the Republicans. The majority of voters aren't represented by any of them. And everyone gets hurt by their indecision or narrow-mindedness or both. It's time for one or both of them to just go the way of the Whig Party."
—WhattaYaDoinDare
"It would be nice if people actually participated in primaries. Currently, it's around 25–30% on average. People need to pay attention to their reps' and senators' actions and act accordingly."
"I don't care if a Democrat doesn't think impeachment is a viable option to stop the Orange Turd!! You still vote for it. You don't join the asshole Republicans!!"
"There are two dozen things to impeach Trump over. This isn't one of them. People really need to stop calling every single military action they don't like 'illegal.' It isn't. It's blatantly within Article II powers, just like Libya, Syria, Bosnia, etc."
—BillRuddickJrPhd
"Between this and the NYC mayoral race, it's pretty clear to anyone paying attention that the purpose of the Democrats is to suppress the left, not fight the right."
"It's always been a class war, and they've been spending butt loads of money convincing everyone it isn't for a very, very long time. If you want a government run by the people, and for the people instead of by the oligarchs and for the oligarchs, the US model ain't it."
"This is a prime example of why Americans are fed up with stupid ass Democrats. How many Republicans do you think would vote against a resolution to impeach a Democratic president? ZERO! God, these guys are idiots."
"One hundred and twenty-eight, eh? David Hogg was right. We do not have a Democratic party. We have Republicans and Republican-lite. The two-party system is a terrible joke."
—Sleepylimebounty
"I studied political theory a few decades ago, and most of our discussion revolved around the concept of fighting the fights you can win vs fighting the fights that are worth fighting: opportunity vs obligation."
"This is why the Democrats are doomed. They just don't get it."
"To play the devil's advocate for a moment: Is it possible that to not table this resolution would waste legislative time on something with zero chance of passing, thereby reducing the likelihood of passing other more impactful pieces of legislation?"
"Last time there was taxation without adequate representation, we threw a party."
—the_sylince
And finally, "Because they know yet another failed impeachment attempt will only solidify the loss of power in the Democratic Party. Impeachment without Republican support is a political no-win for the Democrats and a political windfall for the Republicans. An impeachment attempt now, which would absolutely fail, would pay massive dividends to Republican propagandists, especially with midterms coming up."
What do you think? Sound off in the comments.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump and Hegseth Are Melting Down Over Leaked Iran Strike Intel
Donald Trump is not happy over the leaked Pentagon intelligence that found the strikes against Iran over the weekend were not as damaging as the president and his administration have been claiming. CNN and The New York Times both reported on the government's preliminary information about the efficacy of the attacks on Tuesday, and Trump has spent the past few days incessantly attacking the outlets while repeatedly insisting that strikes 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear capabilities. The details of the intelligence report — which found that the strikes only partially damaged their targets and likely only set back Iran's nuclear program a few months — went public as Trump was attending a NATO summit in the Netherlands, and his comments at the meeting of the allied nations largely revolved around the Iran strikes and how 'disgusting' and 'horrible' the media is for reporting on the government's early findings about what happened. Trump's Truth Social account has meanwhile been rife with all-caps attacks against CNN and the Times, as well as calls for everyone involved to be fired. 'FAKE NEWS REPORTERS FROM CNN & THE NEW YORK TIMES SHOULD BE FIRED, IMMEDIATELY!!! BAD PEOPLE WITH EVIL INTENTIONS!!!' he wrote this morning. Trump also used Truth Social to tease an early-morning press conference from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who berated the media today alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine. 'How many stories have been written about how hard it is to fly a plane for 36 hours?' a visibly enraged Hegseth asked the congregated press, referring to the mission to bomb the Iranian nuclear sites, which he described as 'the most complex and secretive military operation in history.' 'How about we celebrate that?' Hegseth continued in his screed about the media's coverage of the strikes. 'How about we talk about how successful America is, that only we have these capabilities? I think it's too much to ask, unfortunately, for the fake news.' Hegseth even went after one of his former colleagues, Jennifer Griffin of Fox News, who asked about the administration's confidence that Iran did not preemptively move uranium from the sites of the strikes, which the Pentagon's preliminary report indicated was likely. 'Jennifer, you've been about the worst, the one who misrepresents the most, intentionally, what the president said,' he said. The chaotic scene today at the Pentagon, and on Trump's Truth Social feed, is part of an administration-wide effort to defend the strikes, discredit the leaked intelligence report, and inflate the president's ego while chastising or threatening those casting the strikes as anything short of a historic success. The president has been especially sensitive about the prospect of Iran having moved uranium ahead of the strikes. In recent days, a person with direct knowledge of the situation tells Rolling Stone that the president has been sensitive about any reporting suggesting stockpiles had been moved, in part because Trump essentially tipped off the Iranians by teasing that the U.S. could take action. 'It really pisses him off when people say that,' this source says, noting that would undermine Trump's assertion of how 'perfectly' this operation was conducted. Trump claimed on Truth Social as Hegseth berated the media today that 'nothing was taken out of the facility' and that the trucks appearing on satellite imaging ahead of the strikes 'were those of concrete workers.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and other top officials have leapt to Trump's defense in response to the leaked report — but Hegseth may be the tip of the spear. One Trump adviser tells Rolling Stone that they chuckled at the former Fox News host's seemingly prepared line about how Trump's bombing operation was 'the most complex and secretive military operation' ever — or, in this source's paraphrase, even 'better than D-Day.' This adviser says it immediately reminded them of former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's much-ridiculed declaration that Trump's first 2017 inauguration had 'the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.' Trump has joined Hegseth in pushing absurd exaggerations about the efficacy of the strikes, and, not surprisingly given that the intelligence report did not parrot the president's talking points, the current propaganda blitz is accompanied by yet another one of Trump's sprawling leak crackdowns. As Rolling Stone first reported, the leak of classified material to outlets such as CNN and The New York Times quickly triggered a particularly aggressive investigation, with Trump and other senior administration officials fuming that this could have happened. The leak hunt was launched concurrently with the Trump team's broader clampdown on intelligence and sensitive information. Staff at the Pentagon and elsewhere in the federal government were personally warned by superiors that if they had anything to do with this disclosure to the media, they could be facing serious prison time, two sources with knowledge of the matter say. Additionally, Trump lieutenants moved to put an even tighter stranglehold on the amount of classified information it shares with Congress. 'We are declaring a war on leakers,' one senior White House official told Axios. Leavitt said Wednesday that 'the FBI is investigating who was the source of that leak because it's an illegal leak to CNN.' It's still too soon to know the reality of the operation's effectiveness. Caine was asked about this uncertainty during the press conference with Hegseth today. 'General, on Sunday you said final battle damage will take some time … and it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there,' a reporter began before asking Caine, 'What has changed? Would you use the term 'obliterated,' as well?' Caine began to answer before Hegseth cut in and started attacking the media's 'irresponsible' coverage of the operation. More from Rolling Stone Republicans Keep Making Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' Worse Trump Demands Republicans Crack Down on Nonprofits That Protest ICE Trump Admin Says ICE Agents are the Real Victims Amid Violent Immigration Raids Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Florida GOP Hawks Merch for Brutal ‘Alligator Alcatraz' Migrant Detention Camp
The Florida Republican Party is selling merchandise promoting its new migrant detention camp in the Florida Everglades. Dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' by its proponents, Republicans are salivating at the prospect of subjecting undocumented migrants to brutal conditions in giant plastic tents situated in the oppressive heat and humidity of backwater Florida. 'The feds have greenlit Alligator Alcatraz — Florida's gator-guarded, python-patrolled prison for illegal aliens who thought they could game the system,' reads a fundraising email from the Florida GOP. 'Surrounded by miles of swamp and bloodthirsty wildlife, this ain't no vacation spot. It's a one-way ticket to regret for criminals who'll wish they'd self-deported' 'Every shirt, hat, or koozie you grab funds our push to keep Florida tough on crime, and tougher on borders,' the email reads. Shirts for sale feature what looks to be an AIgenerated image of a prison in a swamp, with a python and an alligator in the foreground. Koozies and hats are also for sale. Alcatraz is, of course, the notorious former maximum security prison in the middle of San Francisco Bay. The prison was long believed to be inescapable given the surrounding frigid waters and deadly currents. Earlier this year, Trump said he was directing the government to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz as a high-security prison for the nation's 'most ruthless and violent offenders.' The plan has seemingly stalled, probably because the facility underwent a transformation into a museum that has been open to the public for more than half a century. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis is looking to replace oceans and sharks of the actual Alcatraz with gator-infested swampland. On Friday, DeSantis gave Fox News an exclusive tour of the facility, which the state is scrambling to ready for its first wave of migrants by next week. The facility is built on top of a remote 'airport' with a few scant buildings. As DeSantis put it, the federal government could 'fly these people back to their own country, they can do it [here,] one stop shop.' 'This is as secure as it gets,' the governor told Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy. 'If a criminal alien were to escape from here somehow — and I don't think they will — you have nowhere to go. What are you going to do? Trudge through the swamp and dodge alligators on the way back — 50 or 60 miles — just to get to civilization? Not going to happen.' The governor bragged that everything is being done 'by the book' and that inmates would even be given access to showers and medical care. 'It presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don't need to invest that much in the perimeter,' Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said earlier this week in a promotional video for the camp. 'If people get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons.' Creating torturous conditions for undocumented immigrants rounded up en mass seems to be a central component of the administration's immigration crackdown. The stunt in Florida evokes the specter of former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tent-city jail, which for decades boasted some of the cruelest and most inhumane conditions in the American prison system. Trump has also praised the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador, a maximum security prison that doubles as a propaganda staging ground for the autocratic Salvadoran government. Earlier this year, the Trump administration disappeared hundreds of undocumented men — many of whom had no known criminal record — to CECOT, and made a public show of frog-marching them to the facility known for human rights abuses. Given that DeSantis is already inviting in camera crews to tour the unfinished Alligator Alcatraz facility, there's a good chance the remote, uncomfortable setting of this new prison will be featured prominently in the administration's zero-tolerance immigration narrative. As DeSantis hinted to Doocy during the tour: 'If the president is watching, I'm sure that runway could probably land Air Force One.' More from Rolling Stone Kristi Noem Secretly Pocketed Cash From Dark Money Group: Report Rick Scott Demands More Cuts to Medicaid, Which His Company Allegedly Scammed Leaked Iran Call Further Shreds Trump's Narrative: Report Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rick Scott Demands More Cuts to Medicaid, Which His Company Allegedly Scammed
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who's famous for his former hospital company's record-setting Medicare fraud settlements, is currently leading an effort to make Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' even more painful for America's poor. The legislation already cuts $930 billion from Medicaid, the nation's government health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans, and would eliminate coverage for millions. Scott's amendment, expected to get a vote Monday, would take away another $313 billion in state Medicaid funds and force hundreds of thousands of additional people, at least, off the program. Scott has framed his proposed Medicaid cuts as necessary to preserve the program 'for those who truly need it' — and not 'able-bodied' adults. 'If you don't want to work, you're the one who decided you don't want health care,' he recently said on Fox News. He's suggested Democrats are using tax dollars to 'give illegal aliens Medicaid benefits,' even though undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid, claiming that blue states want to 'exploit this safety net.' Ironically enough, some of the claims against Scott's old hospital company revolved around exploiting Medicaid, and billing for services that patients didn't need. Scott's office did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment Monday. The senator resigned as CEO of the hospital chain known as HCA Healthcare in 1997 amid an ongoing federal probe and a series of whistleblower complaints. He has long faced attacks from Democrats over the $1.7 billion that HCA paid to resolve fraud allegations in the early 2000s. Some of the allegations involved Medicaid. In late 2000, as part of the 'largest government fraud settlement ever' with the Justice Department, HCA pleaded guilty to criminal conduct and agreed to pay over $840 million in fines, penalties, and damages to resolve claims of unlawful billing practices. Among the claims HCA settled over: The company was accused of billing 'Medicare, Medicaid, the Defense Department's TRICARE health care program, and the Federal Employees' Health Benefits Program, for lab tests that were not medically necessary' and 'not ordered by physicians.' HCA was accused of 'upcoding,' or pretending patients were sicker than they were in order to increase reimbursements to its hospitals. 'The guilty plea includes one count relating to this upcoding practice,' the Justice Department wrote in a press release. The company was also accused of billing Medicaid 'for home health visits for patients who did not qualify to receive them or were not performed,' the department said. The civil and administrative settlement agreement between HCA and the U.S. Justice Department said the company, from 1995 to 1998, submitted claims to Medicaid, Medicare, and TRICARE, '(a) for visits to patients who did not qualify for home health services because (i) the patients were not homebound, (ii) there was no medical need for such services, or (iii) there was no medical need for skilled services; (b) for visits that were not provided; (c) for visits to deliver services that were in fact or should have been provided by an assisted living facility.' HCA and the Justice Department entered into an additional settlement agreement in 2003, in which the company agreed to pay another $631 million to resolve false claims it submitted to federal health programs. In a civil settlement agreement, the Justice Department wrote that health regulators 'contend that they have certain administrative claims against HCA under the provisions for permissive exclusion from the Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs.' Under both agreements, the Justice Department announced that HCA would pay millions of dollars to state Medicaid agencies: $13.6 million in 2000, and then $17.5 million in 2003. The department said the latter figure represented 'direct state losses.' A few decades later, Scott is now trying to extract a huge amount of money from state Medicaid funds to help finance Trump's latest round of tax cuts for the rich. Some things never really change. More from Rolling Stone Senate Republicans Pass Trump's Bill to Strip Health Care From Millions J.D. Vance Dismisses Kicking Millions Off Medicaid: 'Minutiae' Trump Teases Deporting Elon: 'We'll Have to Take a Look' Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
