New poll reveals Republicans are authoritarian curious, while Americans are starkly divided on Trump’s 2020 guilt
The Joe Biden presidential campaign is positioning the 2024 election as a referendum on democracy. But a new poll suggests that defending America’s constitutional system of checks and balances is no longer an electoral slam dunk.
A startling 39 percent of Americans, including 74 percent of Republicans, think it’s a decent idea for Donald Trump to act as a dictator for a day to begin his prospective second term, according to a University of Massachusetts Amherst survey released Wednesday.
For those not in the mood to read, saved you a click but thank you for the link @jordanlund!
The history of impeachment in the United States is important to understanding the Bill Clinton saga. The Founding Fathers wrote impeachment—originally a Roman political institution—into the constitution for the purpose of removing an official who had “rendered himself obnoxious,” in the words of Benjamin Franklin. Without impeachment, Franklin argued, citizens’ only recourse was assassination, which would leave the political official “not only deprived of his life but of the opportunity of vindicating his character.”
It would be best, Franklin argued, “to provide the Constitution for the regular punishment of the Executive when his misconduct should deserve it, and for his honorable acquittal when he should be justly accused.”
The bottom line here is that if anyone manages to eliminate prosecution for acts performed while they are president, expect the Punisher. In fact, while I don’t normally support violence, I’d have to say it’s a patriot’s duty.