The Pardon stuff I'm genuinely concerned about. Kavanaugh clearly has an angle here. Though, SCOTUS precedent does state that Presidential powers are not exempt from Judicial review.
The subpoena stuff I'm not worried about, candidly. There's enough Precedent between the Nixon and Clinton trials for us to reasonably expect the Courts to enforce a Presidential subpeona.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. ~ Marcus Aurelius“It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.”
― George Orwell, 1984
“The urge to shout filthy words at the top of his voice was as strong as ever.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Kristol is making a great point here. Mueller isn't in place to investigate trump. That idea has been lost on all of us from time to time; mostly because trump has reacted to it as a personal attack on him from the start.The main obstacle to understanding what the Russian government is up to isn't the "Trump-centric framing of the Mueller investigation." The main obstacle is Trump. The president minimizes or barely acknowledges the Russia threat, let alone showing leadership in dealing with it. https://t.co/lNZwt1zpl2
I have discerned Trump's plan. Would you like to hear it? Or would it spoil the surprise?
!! SPOILER ALTERT !!
Stop reading now if you do not want to know the ending.
.
..
...
....
.....
......
.......
........
.........
..........
Select to read.
Still here? Then hold onto your hats! You're not going to believe it. The plan is for Trump to end the Russia investigation and spike his approval rating in one masterful political move. I will lay it out in five simple steps.
Step 1. Trump believes Democrats will take the House in November. The plan will only work if that happens. Step 1 is Democrats win the House. An added bonus of having Democrats in the majority in the House is that Trump will finally have an enemy, hopefully Nancy Pelosi. He's flailing without an enemy.
Step 2. After Democrats win the House, Trump will fire Sessions and Mueller and anybody else in the Justice Department who refuses to end the investigation.
Step 3. Unwittingly playing their role in Trump's plan, Democrats in the House will impeach Trump. It just takes a majority vote.
Step 4. In the Senate, where it takes a two thirds vote to remove an impeached President, there will not be enough votes to remove Trump from office. There might not even be a majority vote to remove him from office. Trump's Senate trial will get the highest ratings ever.
Step 5. Just like happened to President Clinton in 1999, Trump plans for the public to rally to his side in the Senate trial, greatly increasing his approval rating and setting the stage for 2020. Clinton's approval rating shot up to a remarkable 73%.
It will only work if Democrats win the House in November and if Trump can convince the public that the Russia investigation is unfair. Trump is pouring all of his power into making both things happen. If Republicans keep the House in 2018, then Trump might as well not even run for reelection in 2020.
There has never been a more cunning political scheme in history, unless you count the Russia thing, which will never be proven.
So says Clyde.
Its a good theory. Just like Manaforts trial there's a risk to forcing a showdown.