THERE ARE OPTIONS — The Weekly Opine

The election will be too late, as the CDC forecasts another 100,000 coronavirus deaths by November. Congress must deal with Trump right now. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Six more months seems untenable.

Not sure if the chickens are home yet, but it does not matter. They’ve gathered like those birds at the schoolyard in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller, “The Birds,” and are doing a number on Trump’s backside (and the backsides of anyone still suckered into taking up residence in the Trump Tower of ignorance, lies and racism).

Now the question is, are sane Americans comfortable letting the most dangerous human on the planet, propped up by sick-minded misfits (e.g. Bill Barr, Lindsey Graham, Peter Navarro), finish his treason-laden term in office? Allowing Trump to play out the string means, even if he loses the election, we must endure six more months of insanity, from today until Inauguration Day. Respected Dr. Peter Hotez said on MSNBC that “even with regime change on January 20th, we won’t have a country by January 20th.”

Is everybody OK with that?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once said impeaching Trump “is not worth it.” She patiently ignored overwhelming evidence - a veritable impeachment roadmap - detailed in the Mueller Report, hoping to wait until the November election to deal with Trump.

While the president’s quid pro quo call with Ukraine’s president was tantalizing, it should not have been the transgression that stirred Pelosi into action. Ukrainegate should have been an accoutrement to the Mueller Report, rather than the sole focus of the House Judiciary Committee’s admirable effort to dethrone Trump. House Dems’ compounded their mistake with a flawed impeachment communication plan that failed to galvanize public support.

If anyone disagrees that Trump must go, they are a Trump lackey, they work for Fox Lies, or they have a MAGA hat within arms-reach.

There are three options to remove Trump. The obvious one is defeat him in the November election. But that allows the madman ample time after the election to unleash more destruction. And it gives a false sense of security, as if he will leave the White House on November 3. Defeating Trump at the polls is vital but should be our last resort option.

Two more options exist to immediately remove Trump and ought to be put in motion.

Trump should be coerced into resigning right now. Attach no conditions favorable to Trump, i.e. the Southern District of New York can still pursue legal action against Trump. If Trump refuses to resign, the House of Representatives must exercise their constitutional duty and impeach him again.

Democrats must consistently execute a strategy with winning tactics in order to remove Trump. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Strategic advantage of impeachment 2.0

Given the unparalleled corruption the Trump administration engages in, a second impeachment would require less time. Articles of impeachment could include Trump’s refusal to protect American troops, after receiving intelligence reports related to Russian bounties paid to the Taliban to kill American troops; Trump’s failure to fulfill his oath to protect Americans from COVID-19; and filing a false financial disclosure in 2017 related to his payments to pornography star Stormy Daniels.

Subpoena just a few key witnesses, enter evidence into the record, and then promptly vote to impeach Trump again.

Send articles of impeachment to Mitch McConnell and the Republican-led Senate and double-dog dare GOPers to acquit Trump again, just months before the American people vote to determine which party is best-suited to lead America.

Impeachment 2.0 would force Senate Republicans into a no-win corner. Convict Trump and give up the White House in November but keep a fighting chance to retain the Senate. Or acquit Trump and lose the White House, Senate and House in November.

Not Vladimir Putin. Not Xi Yinping. Not Kim Jong Un. Not even Bashar al-Assad. For likely the first time in the 244-year history of the United States, the American president is the most despised and dangerous person on Earth. Worse, Trump is a criminal. Remove him from office right now.

Republican Voters Against Trump is an organization gaining momentum with GOPers and MAGAs who have come to their senses. “I’ll vote for a tuna fish sandwich before I vote for Trump again,” said RVAT member Jack Spielman, an Army veteran from Michigan. Impeaching Trump a second time would garner more public support than the first time, including from a growing number of Republicans.

End the debate over tax returns

The New York Times’ columnist Tom Friedman came up with an outstanding idea: The Biden campaign should refuse to debate Trump until he hands over his tax returns and agrees to fact-checkers present at the debates.

At the conclusion of each debate fact-checkers would explain to viewers if the candidates misspoke or flat-out lied. Friedman suggests doing this after candidate closing statements. I would do it during the flow of the debate, to stop Trump’s myriad lies in their tracks before they become ingrained in the minds of viewers.

If Trump does not release his tax returns, Biden should not back down. No tax returns, no debate.

Food supply

It remains to be seen if the nation’s food supply can withstand the Trump administration’s incompetence. Breaks during spring have been mostly shored up but you never know with Trump at the helm. Meat-packing plants intermittently closed as coronavirus spread through the Heartland. What happens if large numbers of food plant workers continue to test positive? What if seasonal migrant workers decide it is too risky to work the fields in California’s Central Valley?

As states like New York and Illinois tell recent virus outbreak states their citizens are not welcome, is there a point where states turn against one another? States have already been forced to bid against each other for personal protective equipment and ventilators.

Take water, for example. For years there has been speculation the parched Southwest will try to tap the freshwater Great Lakes. A few years ago, some southern states talked of developing pipeline access to the Great Lakes. In 2008, Congress and George W. Bush sided with the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces to protect a Great Lakes Compact that prohibits new or increased diversion of water from the Great Lakes.

If/when fresh water becomes scarce, there will likely be renewed attempts to pry control of Great Lakes water away from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Quebec and Ontario.

It is not a stretch to say that American democracy cannot survive a second Trump term or four more years of a Republican-controlled Senate. Just as Trump is the most dangerous man on Earth, no one equals the evil that is Mitch McConnell. Some of Trump’s dangerousness emits from his plain ignorance. McConnell is a smart man filled to the brim with vile.

Combined, Trump and McConnell - with air cover from Bill Barr’s Department of Justice - are destroying the United States.

Better late than never (I suppose)

A host of previously silent wimps (John Bolton, H.R. McMaster and Mick Mulvaney, among others) are presenting themselves as truthsayers, speaking out against Trump. The honorable Robert Mueller, author of the Mueller Report, also stepped up. When he testified last fall, Mueller was surprisingly timid and awkward. His answers to questions about basic facts in his report yielded barely audible “yes” responses and beauties like “if you say so.” Mueller was disappointing.

Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s 40-month prison sentence allows Stone to plead the Fifth and remain silent if he is called to testify against Trump. Had Trump pardoned Stone, the Fifth Amendment option would not be available, thus forcing Stone to answer questions if called upon to testify.

An outraged Mueller found his voice, writing a New York Times op-ed clarifying that Stone is still a convicted felon. Unfortunately, Mueller wobbled last fall when steadiness was needed.

Many people began tossing and turning when Trump was elected. His horrific response to the coronavirus pandemic is causing more insomnia. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Sleepless nights

Trump finally put on a mask. Polls regarding his handling of the pandemic might show improvement in his approval rating, which would make no sense. More than 3.5 million Americans have coronavirus with over 138,000 deaths.

Slipping on a mask does not alter Trump’s self-made debacle. Do not fall for the Administration’s skullduggery. Trump ignoring the virus, saying COVID-19 is “dying out” and will “magically disappear,” has placed America in peril. His response to the crisis earns Trump an “F” for failure and an “I” for incompetence.

When people say COVID-19 has changed everything it also must be said that Trump’s disastrous management of the pandemic has indefinitely prolonged its severity. Healthcare, the workplace, education, sports, arts & entertainment and the economy are at least temporarily ruined. Trump alone is responsible for the gross deterioration of the American lifestyle.

Trump purposefully tries to eliminate low income, mainly black and brown voters, even if it means killing them to do so. How? By doing nothing to stop a virus that disproportionally kills black and brown people. By trying to gut the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid. By insisting schools open this fall, knowing that inner city schools do not have adequate resources to protect students, teachers, and their families. And by using voter suppression tactics, e.g. few polls open, forcing hours-long lines to vote in minority communities.

Waiting until January 20 to remove sinister Trump is way too risky. He got to go now, either by forced resignation or impeachment and conviction.

Any other ideas?

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