sofa king
sofa king's JournalPaul Ryan is going to steal the election.
I've been telling you guys all year that this was the plan: Republicans are going to toss the election into Congress and then not vote to choose a successor or certify the results. Paul Ryan becomes Acting President by default.
* That's why the GOP stuck with the Clinton email scandal, because the statute they accused her of violating says an offender is disqualified from holding public office;
* That's why the GOP rolled over for Trump, even though they were privately warned long ago that he was a shill for the Russians;
* That's why Mitch McConnell demanded that the evidence against Trump be withheld before the election.
They were planning to steal the election from BOTH candidates. And I fuckin' told all of you so all year:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7696342
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1441888
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1625602
Here's the problem: this is an orchestrated coup and if Republicans pull it off, there will never be another fair election. They know that their time is at an end, and the demographics spell the end for them, and they're not going quietly into the night.
I don't know what to do about it, but I figure that knowing that they're gonna try it is better than not knowing at all. Good luck to all of us.
I want all of you to think carefully about this:
Consider the following:
* The Greens are a cutout for the Republican Party. There is no doubt about this; DUers have reported on it dozens of times over the past decade and a half. Those three states tally the EVs Donald Trump needs to win. If they are vacated or even called into question, it becomes a problem.
* The reason why the Republican-backed media never let off of Mrs. Clinton's supposed violation of 18 USC 2701 is because there is a line in it which says that a violator is disqualified from holding public office.
* If no Presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, it is the House of Representatives that decides. They are supposed to pick from the top three candidates in the election.
* The deadlocked Supreme Court will be unable to settle any electoral-vote issues this term, particularly not in the tiny window between the Electoral College Meeting on December 19th and the reporting deadline on December 28th.
* There is a silent fourth candidate in every contested US election, because Congress always has a silent option in every Presidential election: they can simply not vote to certify the election results.
* If there is no vote to certify the election, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan inherits the White House as Acting President, without a single vote.
I've been writing about this option all year, because almost a year ago I spotted something--can't recall what it was, now--that showed me they were considering it. This was the Republican backup plan the whole time: they were going to steal it from Hillary Clinton by retaining control of the House and not certifying the election results. Their justification was going to be that while they are not officially permitted to consider qualifications for a President which are beyond the age and "natural born" issues, they ARE permitted to do what they do best: Nothing.
Doing nothing makes Paul Ryan the Acting President. Doing nothing is what Congress does best.
Honestly, I am torn between the incompetent fool who will never understand his job, and the incompetent fool who has been plotting and planning specific ways to destroy America for eight long years. We lose, either way. But we might get to see the Republican Party kill off all the rednecks (along with all of us), which would be some sort of disgusting consolation prize.
You may be right.
But I'm telling all of you, you are dead wrong if you think they cannot do it. They can, and they will, if it suits their self-serving purposes.
And, I will remind all of you before Monday, it only takes one guy, Mike Pence, to make it happen. All he has to do is decline the nomination as Vice President. That forces the RNC to meet to name a replacement, and I guarantee you that when they do, somebody will notice what else they can do while they're meeting.
Pence has a game of his own.
I've gone back to the Republican Party Rules and this is what I think I see:
* Despite the fact that voting has already begun, and ballots are already printed, the Republican Party has a provision for replacing a nominee who has died, declined, "or otherwise", a suitably open-ended provision which allows Republicans to replace a candidate as unqualified and unhinged as Trump clearly is. To replace a nominee, they can call a meeting of the RNC members in as little as five days, and forego another nominating convention (this is what they've wanted all year).
* Previous case-law has already shown that Congressional candidates can be changed out after the ballot deadlines of states, though many here have argued against me on this, and they may be correct in the cases of some states.
* However, Donald Trump says he ain't quitting, and I believe him. Furthermore, Pence is already the Vice-Presidential nominee and he does not automatically assume the top-slot nomination if Trump quits....
* But Pence can trigger an emergency meeting of the RNC, by declining the nomination as Vice President. Doing so triggers the very meeting which can remove Trump against his will....
* ... And put Pence in Trump's place.
Now, two things: I consider such an event to be highly unlikely in any case, and I'm sure that Mike Pence is too damned dumb to come up with this idea on his own. He's not a "read the rules" kind of a guy.
But I'm posting it here because I'm pretty sure that the Republicans come to us for their best ideas. Heh heh heh. Look it up, Republican scum, it's right here in your rule book. It's your only chance. DO IT!
https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod-static-ngop-pbl/docs/Rules_of_the_Republican+Party_FINAL_S14090314.pdf
No integrity needed.
In fact, Pence can initiate a Himmler-esque power grab by declining the nomination as VP, forcing the RNC to convene to replace him, and then having his co-conspirators suspend the rules or yank Trump under the "or otherwise" clause of Rule 9.
He'd probably have to fight Paul Ryan for it, with Ryan of course denying that he wants the nomination the whole way.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod-static-ngop-pbl/docs/Rules_of_the_Republican+Party_FINAL_S14090314.pdf
I think they can....
We can check the rules here:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod-static-ngop-pbl/docs/Rules_of_the_Republican+Party_FINAL_S14090314.pdf
But I've already spent a lot of time with them. The upshot is this: the Chairman of the RNC, Penis Rebus or whoever, can call a meeting at any time. In that meeting, they can change their procedures and rules in pretty much any way. We're talking Republicans here: rules exist to facilitate whatever the hell they want to do, not prevent them from doing it.
Rule No. 9 explains how replacing a candidate would work: call a meeting, not sooner than five days ahead, pretend to decide whether to hold another convention or not (they won't), then have the 150+ Members of the Committee pick Karl Rove's backdoor choice. States that buck up and resist have their delegate proxy votes split evenly among everyone else.
Note in particular what I mean about facilitating, not preventing. Here is the loophole they left for themselves:
The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise of the Republican candidate for President of the United States...
"Or otherwise" can probably be as simple as having the Committee declare the candidate to be unqualified, "by reason of being an asshole," for example.
It's a court full of wolves in kangaroo clothing, and this is exactly what the Committee has wanted all year. They can get it done, and they can get it done by next Friday, easily.
I still think they will. I still think Trump is going to be "persuaded" to resign this Friday. But I'll tell you the truth: as long as he stays fifteen points behind, I'll be disappointed to see him go, because this is shaping up to be the biggest landslide I've ever seen.
Trump is going down
I am telling all of you right now, this masterful President, who knows his job so damned well that nothing under his direct control has gone astray of the law in seven glorious years, would not have stepped into this race in this manner unless it was a matter of pressing national security.
Now the entire focus of the media and the federal government is being turned against Donald Trump, because he is a patsy for the Russians, because he did violate the terms of the legally binding agreements he signed in order to get a Presidential Daily Briefing, and because he is now known to be a national security risk.
Not a bullshit batted-around-in-the-press-for-a-year teapot tempest of a security risk, but a clear and present danger that must be stopped.
Trump is being walked out now so that we don't have to frog-march him out, before he can destroy this nation. That is why the President is directly appealing to the leadership of Trump's own party to get him out. And worse still, the first fuckin' thing Trump did in response is send his accomplices out and tell them to clean their guns.
The pressure is going to continue to mount against him until he decides that the better "deal," for which Trump always fishes, is to leave now rather than go up the river entirely. But if he doesn't, he's going down one way or the other, with or without the help of the Republican Party, and they have to decide right now whether or not they are going to land on the correct side of the law--for once--or move into direct opposition to the federal government as their spiritual forebears the Confederates did.
Or maybe Rove plots to get Jeb! on the ballot this September.
I think many of us fail to appreciate the seriousness of Trump's screw-ups this week, which appear to include at least two violations of 18 USC ss 793:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793
The interesting part about it is that if he leaves the race, the national security threat he presents is largely eased, so if it's a choice between getting his ass kicked and facing prison, or leaving now and being able to continue being a rich asshole, I think he'll take the deal.
If that happens, according to my research so far, the RNC can apply Rule 9 of their Party Rules:
RULE NO. 9
Filling Vacancies in Nominations
(a) The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise of the Republican candidate for President of the United States or the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.
(b) In voting under this rule, the Republican National Committee members representing any state shall be entitled to
cast the same number of votes as said state was entitled to cast at the national convention.
(c) In the event that the members of the Republican National Committee from any state shall not be in agreement in the casting of votes hereunder, the votes of such state shall be divided equally, including fractional votes, among the members of the Republican National Committee present or voting by proxy.
(d) No candidate shall be chosen to fill any such vacancy except upon receiving a majority of the votes entitled to be
cast in the election.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod-static-ngop-pbl/docs/Rules_of_the_Republican+Party_FINAL_S14090314.pdf
______________
The obvious first choice would be Paul Ryan, the only guy smart enough to sit this one out. But he might just be smart enough to continue sitting it out. They all hate Ted Cruz, so he won't be seriously considered. Rubio is now committed to a critical Senate race that Republicans have to win. Christie might be able to make a good case for it, as well as Kasich.
But so too could Jeb!, who is still sitting on a mountain of campaign cash, assuming he hasn't blown it all yet. Even better, it would be right up Rove's alley, the ultimate back-room deal for all the marbles, the way he's always tried to game it.
There is still nearly 100 days left in this campaign and the RNC would like nothing better than a do-over, without the input of the mere people they so despise. So the pressure on Trump to drop out will soon be coming from all angles, if my guess about his transgressions are correct.
By the way, if I call this one correct, DU gods, I will wish to change my screen name....
I'm not so sure about that, this time.
Trump isn't the son of a CIA director, surrounded by Defense industry magnates. He hasn't been nearly as able to conceal his financial relationship with the foreign entity performing the illegal acts, as Bush was able to conceal his prior financial relationship with Saudi Arabia and the bin Ladens.
Instead, he's surrounded by a bunch of knuckle-dragging racists and minor-league political managers--and servants of a foreign nuclear power--who appear to be at least as unaware of the definition of espionage as Donald Trump himself is unaware.
I am beginning to suspect that Trump is about to have a sit-down with the FBI, and they're going to offer him a deal: dropping out of the race would serve national security interests without having to imprison him for life.
I'm pretty sure he'll take that deal.
If it happens, it's going to happen fast, fast, fast, because if he wins he can exonerate himself, grant himself security clearances, and be protected from impeachment by the Republican Congress. The GOP could be brought on board with the prospect of being able to put together a second convention (in 2008 the conventions were in September).
If one Russian hacker worked directly with the Trump campaign...
... That's espionage:
(b) Whoever, for the purpose aforesaid, and with like intent or reason to believe, copies, takes, makes, or obtains, or attempts to copy, take, make, or obtain, any sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, document, writing, or note of anything connected with the national defense; or
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793
Recall that Trump and Clinton are running for the office of Commander in Chief, so the email server break-in is inextricably connected to the national defense.
Also note that at the Republican Convention, Trump staffers intervened and removed language calling for material aid to the Ukraine:
"Trump staffers in the room, who are not delegates but are there to oversee the process, intervened," Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin wrote of the meeting at which the wording was changed. "By working with pro-Trump delegates, they were able to get the issue tabled while they devised a method to roll back the language."
http://www.voanews.com/content/proposed-gop-stance-on-ukraine-sparks-controversy/3429297.html
So there is already circumstantial evidence for collusion between Trump and the Russians.
And there is no statute of limitations, either. This will hang over Trump's head for the rest of his life.
Profile Information
Member since: Wed Apr 14, 2004, 04:27 PMNumber of posts: 10,857
