Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

No one could have predicted…

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

After roe, women are no longer free.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

T R E 4 5 O N

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

The revolution will be supervised.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You are here: Home / Politics / Impeachment / Impeach the Motherfucker! / Justin Amash Backs Impeachment

Justin Amash Backs Impeachment

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In a long tweet thread, Republican congressman Justin Amash (Michigan) says that he feels that President Trump must be impeached.

 

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  1. 1.

    Ohio Mom

    I don’t know anything about Representative Amash, never heard of him in fact until this post, but I am impressed.

    May many other Republicans follow his fine example until impeachment is inevitable.

  3. 3.

    cynthia ackerman

    Anne, you understate Amash by saying he “feels …”

    It’s important to note that he says Mueller makes a clear case for impeachment, and that Congress has a duty to proceed.

    That’s more than a feeling, and it needs emphasis.

    BTW, my autocorrect wants his name to be Smash.

  6. 6.

    Mary G

    One down, 193 to go. I wish I thought it was a crack in the wall, but Amash is one of a kind.

  7. 7.

    Bill Arnold

    I’m particularly impressed that he’s scolding other Congresspeople (House and Senate) for not having actually read the redacted Mueller report.[1] It’s a tough slog (there are still a few sections that my eyes glazed over TBH) but it is their duty to read it.

    [1] I’m pretty sure some of them haven’t even read the 4 page Barr misrepresentation of the Mueller report.

  8. 8.

    Sebastian

    @wvng:

    Same here. Very impressive. Not because he is a Republican willing to speak up but the clarity of his thinking and how he lays out his argument.

  10. 10.

    Barbara

    I could do without the implication that he is the only honest man, or that Clinton and Trump present equivalent threats to our constitutional system, or that character alone is a reason for impeachment. I can only hope for equivalent courage from others, but don’t really expect it.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mary G: Good point. Amash has always been the kind of Republican who actually merits the “maverick” label guys like McCain got. It’s not a signal of movement within the party.

  13. 13.

    zhena gogolia

    @Barbara:

    The part I didn’t like was the implication that no Democrats condemned Bill Clinton. As I recall, one of the first rats was a certain CT senator who shall remain blissfully nameless. But nevertheless, I’m impressed to see a Republican capable of rational thought.

  15. 15.

    Wakeshift

    Let this be the first crack in the dam, the first drip, which becomes a trickle, a stream, a torrent; a raging, implacable cleansing deluge; let sanity rise over fevered pestilential ignorance

  16. 16.

    pat

    Hey,, a repub that can think and write logically and clearly. He is much too smart to be a republican. Where is he from?
    Nancy, are you listening???

  17. 17.

    Miss Bianca

    @Barbara: Yeah, me too. The fact that this phenomenon:

    We’ve witnessed members of Congress from both parties shift their views 180 degrees—on the importance of character, on the principles of obstruction of justice—depending on whether they’re discussing Bill Clinton or Donald Trump.

    just *might* have something to do with the fact that the offenses – and the reasons for advocating impeachment – are so different in scope, that to equate them is either laughable or insulting. But hey, baby steps.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    Interesting in terms of his politics. Hopefully, it’ll help inch public sentiment forward.

  20. 20.

    CatFacts

    Well, I didn’t expect that, but I’ll take it. Good for him for actually speaking out publicly.

  25. 25.

    chris

    Amash is a libertarian loon, cofounder of the Freedumb Caucus and dear friend of Ron and Rand Paul but I guess even a stopped clock can be right occasionally.

  26. 26.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud: And it’s possible that I’m misreading him and he’s actually throwing shade on his fellow Republicans. Just woke up from a nap and am not necessarily firing on all mental cylinders.

  27. 27.

    TRD

    Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi disagrees.

    This is great and all but we don’t need Rep. Amash or any Republican at all. Trump isn’t **their** problem. He’s the country’s problem and the Democrats problem. But Democratic leadership doesn’t want to deal with it so I guess he’s actually just our problem.

  29. 29.

    pat

    @chris:
    Amash is a libertarian loon, cofounder of the Freedumb Caucus and dear friend of Ron and Rand Paul but I guess even a stopped clock can be right occasionally.

    Darn, I was hoping he was in the wrong party. Still, where is he from?

    eta, guess I screwed up the block quote…

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Meh. Okay, so he appears to be a Republican with a something that resembles a backbone and as smidgen of a conscience. He bothsides the fuck out of it. Clinton lied about a consensual affair; what he did didn’t amount to perjury let alone “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Dragging him in is complete BS. As I said, meh.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    Well, since this is a thread about Republicans, I will share my unfortunate news: our kitty Annie has not responded to her feline lymphoma treatment and we have made the difficult decision to switch to comfort care until she’s ready to go.

    She still wants to be around us and is interested in food to the point of trying to steal it off our plates, but we’re probably talking about a week at most. She’s only about 12, so this really sucks. ?

  37. 37.

    debbie

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    What they have been saying is that not one Dem legislator has read the redacted report. I call bullshit. I wish someone with a microphone would too.

  39. 39.

    debbie

    2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.

    Trump admitted to this at his recent rally in Ohio when he said Mueller had found there was “essentially no obstruction.” Slap on the handcuffs already!

  40. 40.

    scav

    @pat: Well, if he is a loon that might even be better: loons have lots of company in that party and tend to move in packs flocks. Whereas rational republicans eat all by themselves in the cafeteria.

  44. 44.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Ohio Mom:

    May many other Republicans follow his fine example until impeachment is inevitable.

    Hell, I’d be satisfied if a decent number of Democrats did.

    My hope – practically my last hope, at this point – is that on Thursday, the Dems are going to read the Mueller Report on the floor of the House. Of course, not all of them will be present for the whole thing, and many of them won’t be present for very much of it, I’m sure. But hopefully this exercise will expose enough of them to enough of the contents of the report so that they realize it is in fact quite serious, and that they start pushing the leadership to open an impeachment inquiry.

    If that doesn’t start some movement within the Dem caucus, I have no more ideas, and little hope.

  45. 45.

    OldDave

    @debbie: Such as Senator Professor Elizabeth Warren, who read the report on a flight home back in April and called for impeachment hearings shortly afterwards.

  47. 47.

    Barbara

    @Mnemosyne: I am so sorry. When my kitty succumbed there were no treatments at all, and I had hoped for a better outcome for Annie.

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: I long ago used up any benefit of a doubt that I was inclined to give any Republican. If this is a first step in the right direction by Amash, that’s great. I, nevertheless, will wait to see what comes next from him. If he continues to vote with the GOP and doesn’t work to change people’s minds on his side of the aisle, then this is a bunch of mavericky noise.

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    Thanks, all. We were hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but it was so hard to get a diagnosis that we suspected that the chemo wasn’t going to work. We needed to give it a shot, though.

    @schrodingers_cat:

    This is the third vet that we’ve seen, unfortunately. She’s 12 years old and she’s had a pretty good life with us, so we think this is the right thing to do at this point. It’s going to be really hard to watch her fade away, though.

  59. 59.

    satby

    @Mnemosyne: so sorry Mnemosyne! Comfort care has worked pretty well for Hershey and has let us get some extra special happy times and spoiling in, so I hope you have the same chance.
    Ironically, I upped his pain meds as of yesterday, and though he’s still doing ok it’s a sign that time is winding down for us to only a week or so more as well. I’ll be thinking of you and Annie.

  60. 60.

    Haroldo

    @Mnemosyne:

    I am very sorry to read this. We are going through something similar with our 15 yr old tuxedo, Fred. We decided against treatment and the guy has held on so far, about 6 months. Fingers crossed for you and Annie.

  64. 64.

    O. Felix Culpa

    So sorry about Annie. I had hoped for a better outcome.

    This evil administration is evil: Trump Shows Signs He Will Pardon Servicemen Accused or Convicted of War Crimes

    The requests for paperwork include the case of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of the Navy SEALs, who is scheduled to stand trial in the coming weeks on charges of shooting unarmed civilians and killing an enemy captive with a knife while deployed in Iraq.

    They are also believed to include the case of a former Blackwater security contractor recently found guilty in the deadly 2007 shooting of dozens of unarmed Iraqis; the case of Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, the Army Green Beret accused of killing an unarmed Afghan in 2010; and the case of a group of Marine Corps snipers charged with urinating on the corpse of a dead Taliban fighter.

  65. 65.

    TomatoQueen

    @Mnemosyne: Like the others I’d hoped for better news, and am so sorry that it’s not to be. That there is comfort care for her shows how far we’ve come, comfort and love in the end are the most important things.

  66. 66.

    suffragettecity

    Shocked am I.
    He’s a founding member of the Free.dumb Caucus. His argument for impeachment of Trump also relates to Barr and I’m grateful an R has spoken the truth for a change.
    But I also wonder if he’s getting a lot of flack from farmers. Anyone know if there are any in his district?

  68. 68.

    Zelma

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh I am so sorry. I have a kitty who is failing and I understand how bad you feel. But as long as Simmons eats and drinks and wants loving, I’ll hold on to him. So keep giving Annie her love.

  70. 70.

    TomatoQueen

    @suffragettecity: I’m shocked also. Haven’t seen a Republican who doesn’t reveal him/herself as a spittle-flecked loonbucket in writing since, erm, Lowell Weicker, non-Republican Republican. It’s almost sort of like there’s a functioning thought process going on. That can’t be right…

  71. 71.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mnemosyne:
    I’m sorry. It cannot have been an easy decision. I wish for her a comfortable and easeful passing, and for you peace and the knowledge that you did right by her.

  72. 72.

    John Revolta

    I don’t know this Amash but there is a school of thought that an impeachment will be good for Trump in the long run because he’ll inevitably be “acquitted” by the Senate and most Americans will think that’s good enough for them.
    I don’t trust any Repub’s motives, period.

  73. 73.

    Barbara

    @moops: He has always been an outlier in one way or another. I would like to think that others might follow, but I don’t think he has much of a following.

  74. 74.

    something fabulous

    @Mnemosyne: Oh no! So sorry for Sweet Annie, and for your whole fur family. Comfort care can sometimes surprise in giving a respite from the pokings and drug complications, a nice long more comfortable sunset of time. I will wish that for you all!

  76. 76.

    david

    Interesting, considering Nancy Smash! is still not putting it on the table. But, she did do a funny clap at the SOTU.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I still hope there’s an impeachment vote at some point, but I agree with the leadership that if they started the process now, it would end in disaster.

  78. 78.

    Mary G

    @Mnemosyne: Oh, I hoped you would get better news. Enjoy the time you have left with Annie. Let her steal the food off your plate; she’ll be thrilled. Still, watching and waiting is awful and I’ll be sending good vibes to you and G and the other two.

  80. 80.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Mnemosyne: I’m very sorry to hear this… best wishes to your furry girl, yourself and your family and hope for a long sunset.

  81. 81.

    Leto

    @Mnemosyne: I’m so sorry Mnemosyne. It sounds like she was loved and she loved everyone back. It’s all we can ask, really. Keeping Annie, you, and your family in my thoughts.

  86. 86.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Mnemosyne: I’m very sorry to hear the news. You’ve taken very good care of her, and you’re looking out for her best interests now, as hard as it is emotionally. We all hoped for a better outcome, and we’re sorry Annie couldn’t get it.

    But I believe she knows both that you love her and that she has had a good life with you.

  87. 87.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: Thanks for posting this. Our friends with kids are terrified even in our very blue state. The legislature was GOP until recently and is one terror incident away from reverting or one horrid LGBT instigated crime. Never mind that attacks on LGBT peoole are up 40% since T and Pence. These LGB (no trans we know yet) parents overflow with love for their kids. They have to plan and spend lots of money to have kids, except for the few who come out late after trying to make a “straight marriage” work.

    The interracial / nationality couoles are especially afraid because the kids don’t look like one partner. They have nightmares about being in public with the kids in meltdown and being arrested on the assumption of kidnapping or trafficking. Forgetting parental documents when leaving the house is panic inducing.

    Will their be any adoption agencies in OK that will assist same sex couples? What will happen to a single parent who marries a same sex partner? What happens to the kids if the birth parent passes away?

    It seems like the smaller minority groups are being picked off one by one. Refugee kids, LGBT kids and families, young black and brown people, immigrants, etc. Who’s next in the terror cauldron? Oh, “abortionists”.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Be ahead, but not too far ahead. Do you think Amash would have come out with this statement of impeachment had already started? Next step is to get Mueller to testify. Let’s see how the public reacts to that.

    It would be one thing if the Senate were gung ho on conviction and the House was holding things up. But given there is a 99.999% likelihood that the Senate won’t convict, there’s no benefit to racing ahead of the public.

  90. 90.

    schrodingers_cat

    The more details we know about Kushner’s half baked immigration plan, we are finding that it is full of poison pills and not a meaningful plan in anyway.

  91. 91.

    Ladyraxterinok

    Haven’t read comments so don’t know if this has already been noted–June 4, 1919, Congress passed the 19th amendment, women’s suffrage. (My mom was 6.)

    It was ratified August 18, 1920.

    Maybe some local and national celebrations June 4? Massive voter registration drive?

  95. 95.

    Immanentize

    @Mnemosyne: I am very sorry but how lucky she is to have you.

    I for one am just over this cancer thing. But even one good day of life is one good thing.

  96. 96.

    Mike in NC

    @schrodingers_cat: Jared Kushner has gone through his entire life doing everything half-baked. Just another rich cretin and scam artist. You can’t throw a rock in NYC without hitting one.

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: I am glad I am not the only one around here who thinks that way. A lot of people seem to see impeachment (whether successful at removing Trump or not) as essential to showing that we are still a country of laws. I odn’t see the point of Pyrrhic victories or quixotic gestures. I want Trump and the rest of the GOP removed from power by Constitutional means. Right now, to me, that means winning in 2020 and then starting the long process of rebuilding.

  98. 98.

    khead

    His internal polling for 2020 must look pretty bad.

    Edit – just read the comments. Very sorry Mnemosyne.

  100. 100.

    Lapassionara

    @Baud: But there needs to be some kind of hearings, or public opinion will not move. And there needs to be some penalty for not responding to subpoenas.

  101. 101.

    Baud

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Well, I’m still hopeful that public sentiment will turn enough that there will be an impeachment vote in the House. Trump won’t be removed but I want the GOP brand to suffer for protecting him.

  103. 103.

    Frank Wilhoit

    Unexpectably for a Republican, and incomprehensibly for a libertarian, what Rep. Amash says makes sense…
    …all but the bit about the 1787 Constitution being “awesome” (a tellingly infantile word), whereas it is a dishonest botch that has now totally failed and the sooner everyone admits those things the better.

  105. 105.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @schrodingers_cat: Why do you continue to watch it? You criticize people for continuing to subscribe to the NYT, but you keep watching a television show that does the same things. How is it different?

  107. 107.

    schrodingers_cat

    Jared K’s plan touted by the WH
    1. Throws out the already approved GC applications that are waiting for the respective quotas to be available, approximately 4 million applications
    2. Penalizes applicants for age.
    3. Wants an English test and much more difficult civics test than the current one just to qualify to become a permanent resident.
    4. This is meant to drive a wedge between the loose coalition of immigration activists. It does not in any way favor skilled immigrants currently here who have cleared the various steps in the process already.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: I would be okay with that result, but I am not for impeachment on principle and come what may.

  111. 111.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Omnes Omnibus: I watch it once a week at most to find out what is happening, to check out the prevailing conventional wisdom. To find out what the people around me are thinking. I live in a blue town with lots of NPR and PBS subscribers and watchers.
    I don’t get cable. Unlike a NYT subscription, I am not paying for it.

  113. 113.

    Dog Mom

    @Mnemosyne: So sorry about your Annie. May you have a few moments with her where time stops and all pain and worries are forgotten.

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    @Dan B:
    As always, I am angry. So often , gay adoptive parents take from the ‘ nobody else wants them ‘ category of kids. and, yes, the majority of those children are non-White. So, they have a chance of getting into a loving, ‘non-traditional’ home….or, they can stay in ‘the system’. ???

  118. 118.

    Sab

    @Mnemosyne: I am so sorry about your cat. We lost a dog to lymphoma. We didn’t go the chemo route and I have deeply regretted that, especially after Cole’s success with Lily. We didn’t want to torture him.

  120. 120.

    Duane

    @schrodingers_cat: Trumpov’s immigration plan announced this week was so full of lies, complete and utter BS, blatantly rascist, another betrayal of this country. It wasn’t policy it was propaganda.

  121. 121.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: Wonderful story about the power of the scientific research of sociology and the power of media. I’m reminded of Mr. Rogers’ Officer Clemons (name?) who’s black feet shared a kiddie pool with Mr. Rogers on a hot day. I didnthink a thing of it but when the significance of it was pointed out to me I flashed back to a terrible moment in Arkansas in 1960 when a group of Civil Rights activists tried to integrate the public pool we were at. The kids said, “Yes it would come off on you, in patches.” I didn’t see the activists but my father went and in white hot rage pulled us out of the pool, quit his job, and got us kids out of that racist 100% segregated town. It took 9 months to get a job because no one wanted to hire a quitter.
    At the same time Mr. Rogers’ good officer was gay and it made Fred uncomfortable. There were many gay people on thise shows and in the Civil Rights movement who were gay and knew it wasn’t time for their stories. And there is racism in the LGBT community, mostly the clueless white variety but there is worse. Finally 50 years after Stonewall the key role Marsha P. Johnson, a black transgender queer played in the Gay Liberation movement will get some recognition.

    I feel wistful and hopeful that the assault on all our communities will bring us together.

  123. 123.

    Philbert

    High Crimes etc… How about BRIBERY, the first item mentioned? A target-rich environment looks to me. Impeachment hearings would have more muscle and speed for the courts to compel evidence. Will the Trump team ever give up anything, subpoena or not? Would they deny a Supreme Court decision? They might I think.

    Regarding the Clinton impeachment ‘failing’, WRONG: it got Bush II and Trump elected. Or more correctly, into office, anyway.

  125. 125.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: Several friends have special needs kids and the bigger neighborhood we live in has lots of interracial couples with adopted back kids. It’s a good place for very white and mixed race families to have their kids maintain ties to their cultures. Unfortunately it’s such a welcoming neighborhood that clueless Amazon-bots are moving in. They like it but do not understand the value of the culture or how to support instead of undermining it.

  127. 127.

    Dan B

    @chris: Yep, know of her. Controlling people’s behavior and proper roles go together. Several smart people have speculated that success on endong legal abortion would lead to full on assault on LGBT people. I believe that success in attacking immigrants and legal abortion will lead to religious rights laws that will include defacto anti-miscegenation policies, with a big fight and limitations for a time.

  128. 128.

    Chyron HR

    @TRD:
    @david:

    NO! NO! IGNORE THE FASCIST WAR CRIMINAL! THE DUMMYCRAPS ARE THE PROBLEM! THE DUMMYCRAPS!!!!!

    You guys become much less convincing when you show up in pairs.

  129. 129.

    debbie

    Sigh. The only thing more depressing than the thought of Biden as the Democratic candidate is Trump using impeachment as his springboard to a second term.

  131. 131.

    chris

    @Dan B: The “big fight” part scares me. There has been bloodshed already and I’m losing hope that it won’t get worse.

  132. 132.

    Chris Johnson

    I mostly want to know if this Amash has ties to Russia or is more of a loose cannon. Many of these people must know what’s going on. They don’t want to talk about it, it’s ‘too big to fail’.

    If Amash is doing this prompted by Russia, it means it’s time to throw Trump under the bus and switch to Pence who’ll be painted as pure as the driven snow (and twice as white) and I don’t buy that for a moment. There’s more than just Trump. It’s possible Amash is breaking ranks, but it’s also possible he’s following orders.

    What you have to remember is that it’s not advantageous to Russia for Trump to be super powerful. In many ways it’s more useful to wreck all our institutions and leave only apparatchiks, and lopping off one figurehead to leave another figurehead is not really a win. So, I’m going to be wondering whether Amash is legit or some kind of trick.

  133. 133.

    An Outhouse

    ‘It took me a month to read a 450 page report. The dems are just as bad. Both sides’.
    Go to hell, Amash.

  134. 134.

    Bill Arnold

    @An Outhouse:
    Did you read it? (You’re in a very small minority if so.)

    @Chyron HR:

    You guys become much less convincing when you show up in pairs.

    I laughed too when the second such post showed up.

    My attitude: impeachment’s main utility is removal of DJ Trump from office Jan 20, 2021, if played right, timed well, and super-convincing. Earlier would be better if the Senate obliges because the case is super-strong. So would early removal due to a a heart attack or stroke or whatever, always possibilities; he never looks particularly healthy.

  135. 135.

    debbie

    @Bill Arnold:

    Earlier would be better if the Senate obliges because the case is super-strong.

    it will never be strong enough for McConnell.

  136. 136.

    Carol

    Amash may be feeling the squeeze. I don’t trust any politician who calls himself a republican to act as an anything but a republican and that means he may be feeling the heat. So go jump in a lake Amash.

  138. 138.

    J R in WV

    I have skipped over most of the comments to make my own remarks.

    I hope that having the first Republican congressman call for his impeachment gives Trump the worst night of his life, evah !!! If it is a crack in the dike, a breach in the dam, then he is well and truly screwed, as he deserved to be.

    And I think he is such a coward that facing that possibility, on CNN and Faux News, of having “his congressional base” turn on him, well, it will be a bad couple of days for Trump and his minions. Ivanka, Jarod, Stephen Miller, AG Barr, all of those felons will be having bad nights sweats.

    The very least they deserve!!!

  139. 139.

    Christopher Wing

    So this guy was fine with trying to destroy Obamacare, fine with overt racism, fine with trying to destroy women’s reproductive choices, fine with the current tax system, and fine with the dismantling of the public school system, but he’s upset by Barr and Trump’s behavior? These people are not your friends, they’re not impressive, they’re not anything. Republicans are all horrible. Never give them any credit for anything, because they do it simply to advance their own cause. He has an end game in mind, even if we can’t see it yet.

  140. 140.

    J R in WV

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m sorry to hear bad news about your kitty. Best wishes for her closing weeks.

    At least she has all your love, can steal food from your plates.

  141. 141.

    J R in WV

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    @Baud: I think leadership is right, don’t get ahead of where the public is.

    I agree with this thought. I think the House leadership intends to investigate things with great detail, hoping that public opinion begins to sway against Trump as more illegality shows up, with the timing intended to break in fall of 2020. That makes sense to me, anyhoo…

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