Russiagate

This is what it'll be referred to in the history books.

That is, if there ARE any history books left once Trump's anti-education Sec. of Education is appointed!

We're just shy of six weeks until the inauguration of a man who will definitely turn out to be the most ill-equipped and dangerous President our nation has ever seen.

For the last several days there has been a significant increase in media stories about Russia's interference with our election, and even more so that Trump and the GOP are complicit in their actions.

Trump has been angrily Tweeting about the election for weeks, and now when the CIA reveals the likelihood of Russia's crimes, Trump attacked the CIA!!!

So, our President-elect is defending a dictator (Putin) while calling the CIA liars.

Yeah, this is gonna be good.

As someone just mentioned on Twitter, "It only took one FBI guy (Mark Felt) to take down Nixon and one FBI guy (James Comey) to take down Hillary. Let's see what happens when the entire CIA has it in for Trump."

I seriously doubt anything will prevent Donald Trump from being sworn in as our 45th president next month (or "Dolt 45" as I suggested). But what WILL happen is that as more and more evidence of foreign intervention becomes known, and the GOP's knowledge and complicity in these actions are revealed, we'll see more and more Republicans deserting Trump to try and keep their political futures safe.

In 1974, the House Judicial Committee voted, with Republican help, to pass the articles of impeachment. After it became certain that Nixon wouldn't get the necessary 34 votes in the Senate to avoid removal from office, he resigned.

That was back when the Democrats enjoyed significant majorities in both Houses of Congress. We're in a different situation today. The GOP has a huge majority in the House, and they have 52 Senators. Again, they'll only need 34 to avoid Trump being removed, so the only way that can happen, regardless of whatever evidence is presented, is if all the Democrats and 19 of the Republicans vote for it.

That's a tall order. No Republican senator wants to vote for conviction, only to have the vote fall short and leave Trump in office. That would be political death. A more palpable action would be to vote for acquittal, and if the president is convicted anyway, they can just say they didn't find the evidence satisfactory enough.

So, I think the ONLY way this can happen is if SO much evidence comes to light that it makes it impossible NOT to vote for it.

Or, if this drags on past the mid-terms, the Dems have a shot at getting better numbers in both Houses, along with sending a message to the GOP that they've lost much of their base and they better get in line with impeachment.

But judging how the average Republican voter processes information, I'd be surprised if the GOP lost more than a handful of seats in 2018.

Which basically means, we're likely stuck with Donald Trump for at least four years. I shudder to imagine what our nation will be like then.