Allan Lichtman correctly predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1984. He even predicted Trump would win in 2016. This year he said Trump would win again-- unless Pelosi jumps out of a window on the 48th floor of the Transamerica Pyramid... or in some other way let's go off her insane and unpatriotic and defeatist notion of not impeaching Trump. Lichtman, who's been correct about elections far more often than Pelosi, says unless Trump is impeached, he'll win again-- and that will be on Pelosi's headstone."Trump wins again in 2020," he told Chris Cillizza the day before Mueller's televised statement, "unless six of 13 key factors turn against him. I have no final verdict yet because much could change during the next year. Currently, the President is down only three keys: Republican losses in the midterm elections, the lack of a foreign policy success, and the president's limited appeal to voters... Democrats are fundamentally wrong about the politics of impeachment and their prospects for victory in 2020. An impeachment and subsequent trial would cost the president a crucial fourth key-- the scandal key-- just as it cost Democrats that key in 2000. The indictment and trial would also expose him to dropping another key by encouraging a serious challenge to his re-nomination. Other potential negative keys include the emergence of a charismatic Democratic challenger, a significant third-party challenge, a foreign policy disaster, or an election-year recession. Without impeachment, however, Democratic prospects are grim."Watch that Morning Joe clip on MSNBC from yesterday. Pelosi and Hoyer are screwing this up badly. They want to protect the seats of a bunch of (mostly conservative) freshmen in red districts and instead they're going to bring the whole house down with their geriatric loser ideas. Lichtman told the Morning Joe audience the Democrats have a chance to win but "only if they show boldness and not timidity and move towards an impeachment inquiry. The Democratic leadership"-- that would primarily be Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, Hakeem Jeffries, Cheri Bustos-- is wrong... morally and constitutionally, by avoiding impeachment. If you have a constitutional crisis, the constitutional remedy is impeachment. They are also wrong politically. The Democrats seem to be going down the same rathole as 2016 when they believe the polls and think they're going to cruise to victory... The Democrats need to get on the right page politically as well as morally and constitutionally."The Morning Joe Democratic Party hack-in-residence, Steve Ratner, made a fool of himself by echoing Pelosi's and Hoyer's talking points. Lichtner took off his head and handed it to him. Qasim Rashid is a Virginia attorney in the midst of a hot campaign for the House of Delegates. He seems to take the idea of anyone being treated as though they are above the law as a personal affront. Last night he told me that "The Congress must fulfill its obligations to protect our nation and the separation of powers. A democratic republic that exempts accountability for anyone, including the President, ceases to live up to its responsibilities and delves into dictatorship."Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) issued a statement after Mueller's address yesterday: "When the redacted Mueller Report was released, Republicans were quick to try to bury the scandal. Trump and his allies have repeatedly cried the president's innocence and worked hard to laugh off and discredit the investigation into his conduct."
Today, Special Counsel Robert Mueller spoke to the world. His words were very revealing. The key quote:If we had had confidence that [Donald Trump] clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.This is far from over. It's time for Congress to do its job. It's time to pick up where the Mueller investigation left off. It's time to begin an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. I'm fully behind Rep. Rashida Tlaib's call to action, and will do what I can to support her work as we move forward. I just checked, and I'm still only one of 10 members to sign onto Rep. Tlaib's impeachment inquiry resolution. Hopefully, after today's press conference, that will change."
Since Earl brought is up these are the 9 cosponsors to Rashida's H.Res.257:
Al Green (D-TX)Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)Ilhan Omar (D-MN)AOC (D-NY)Jared Huffman (D-CA)Filemon Vela (Blue Dog-TX)Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)Diana DeGette (D-CO)Barbara Lee (D-CA)
I know Rashida reached out to Justin Amash. I wonder what he's waiting for. Meanwhile, Tomas Ramos is a community activist in the Bronx, not an attorney. He's running for the open seat next to AOC's that Jose Serrano is leaving. This morning he told that "Mueller made it clear that the president obstructed justice. At this point, anyone that stands by the president when he is obstructing our democracy needs to be put on notice. We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis. We need congress to enact the articles of impeachment now! Marqus Cole, the progressive Democrat running for the open 7th district seat in the suburbs north of Atlanta, told us today that as a former prosecutor he "swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. Right now, we have the Special Counsel telling us directly that if they had the evidence to clear the President of criminal activity they would have. They did not. The Special Counsel is telling us that there is another constitutional mechanism in place to handle this matter. There is. It is time that we let the President know that no person is above the law. It is time that Congress do its duty and open up an impeachment inquiry." Pelosi says there aren't enough members of the Democratic caucus to pass an impeachment resolution-- too many crass cowardly Josh Gottheimers and Abigail Spanbergers. Pelosi's instinct to always put narrow partisan (self)interests over country and constitution has served her well, but it helps explain a lot of what's wrong with America. Many progressives say she has to be removed-- and fast; she's the other side of the Trump coin. Dazed, confused and inexorably dug-in inside her fetid bunker with Hoyer, Lujan Clyburn Bustos and a other revolting loyalists, she doesn't-- they don't-- get it and she never will. But... these Republican former federal prosecutors do: