Comments by "" (@DavidJ222) on "Swing state voter: I dislike Trump, but this is drastic" video.

  1. How do you know when America's democracy is under siege? It's when our president believes he is above the law, and brags about falling in love with the most despotic dictator in modern history. Semper Fi... June 15 2018 Trump praises Kim Jung Un ' control over his people. "He's the head of the country," Trump said of Kim during a Fox interview. "And I mean he's the strong head. Don't let anyone think anything different." "He speaks and his people sit up at attention,"  Trump added. "I want my people to do the same." Sept 30 2018 Trump confesses the love he has for his muse, Kim Jung Un, during a rally. "I like him, he likes me. I guess that’s okay. Am I allowed to say that?” Trump said.  “And then we fell in love, okay” he said. “No really. He wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.” “If there is one fact we really can prove, from the history that we really do know, it is that despotism can be a development, often a late development and very often indeed the end of societies that have been highly democratic.. A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.”  ― G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man “There’s no English equivalent for silovik. It doesn’t translate succinctly because to create something as Machiavellian as a silovik requires both the KGB and the GRU, and then a shift from communism to capitalism, followed by a gear-grinding reverse into despotism.”  ― Tanya Thompson, Red Russia “The actions of government, we are told, bear down only on imprudent souls who provoke them. The man who resigns himself and keeps silent is always safe. Reassured by this worthless and specious argument, we do not protest against the oppressors. Instead we find fault with the victims. Nobody knows how to be brave even prudentially. Everyone stays silent, keeping his head low in the self-deceiving hope of disarming the powers that be by his silence. People give despotism free access, flattering themselves they will be treated with consideration. Eyes to the ground, each person walks in silence the narrow path leading him safely to the tomb.”  ― Benjamin Constant, Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.”  ― Franklin D. Roosevelt.
    38
  2. The Founders understanding of bribery was derived from English law, under which bribery was understood as an officeholder’s abuse of the power of an office to obtain a private benefit rather than for the public interest. This definition not only encompasses Trump’s conduct—it practically defines it. The Ukraine scandal began in the spring of 2019, with a series of contacts between Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy, and Ukrainian officials. In mid-July, Trump decided to withhold nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine that had already been appropriated by Congress. The White House offered no explanation, except to blame “interagency delay.” A week later, Trump spoke by phone to the recently elected Ukrainian president, Zelensky. The memorandum released by the White House describing that call—which is consistent with the accounts of the whistleblower complaint that first brought this scandal to light—reads like a classic shakedown. According to the memo, after exchanges of flattery, Trump states that “we do a lot for Ukraine” and that “we spend a lot of effort and a lot of time,” before he complains that the relationship is not always “reciprocal.” Zelensky then raises the question of military aid to Ukraine, to which Trump immediately responds, “I would like you to do us a favor though,” and proceeds to ask Zelensky to investigate two unfounded conspiracy theories: one involving the server containing emails stolen from the DNC during the 2016 election, and the other involving the thoroughly debunked claim about then-VP Biden, his potential reelection opponent. Trump asks Zelensky to work with Giuliani and AG Barr to investigate his potential opponent and so aid his own reelection campaign. There can be no misunderstanding that Traitor Trump was abusing his official power in the conduct of foreign policy to get a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The Founders placed articles of impeachment in the Constitution for the purpose of protecting our democracy. A democracy that Trump clearly has no respect for, and is trying to tear apart. Article II, Section 4, says the president “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
    35
  3. 11
  4. 5