Politics Jeff Flake speaks out..."country over party"

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by yankeesince59, Jan 20, 2020.

  1. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    This is something many of us have said for quite awhile now...kudos to Jeff;

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    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jeff-flake-senate-republicans-trial-trump-impeachment
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    Former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is warning his former colleagues in the Senate that they, along with President Trump, will be on trial when the articles of impeachment eventually move from the House to the upper chamber.

    “President Trump is on trial. But in a very real sense, so are you. And so is the political party to which we belong,” Flake writes in an op-ed for The Washington Post Friday.

    JEFF FLAKE SAYS 'AT LEAST 35' REPUBLICAN SENATORS WOULD PRIVATELY VOTE TO IMPEACH TRUMP

    Flake, who left the Senate this year after having staked out a vocally anti-Trump stance, wrote after the House voted for two articles of impeachment -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

    The articles are expected to soon go to the Senate for a trial, although there are indications House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., may delay the articles being transmitted. In the Senate, Trump is almost certain of acquittal unless there is a sudden and dramatic shift of Republicans in favor of impeachment.

    Flake urges Republicans to consider the evidence, but at the same time not to repeat House Republican assertions the president hasn’t done anything wrong: “He has.”

    “The willingness of House Republicans to bend to the president’s will by attempting to shift blame with the promotion of bizarre and debunked conspiracy theories has been an appalling spectacle,” Flake argues. “It will have long-term ramifications for the country and the party, to say nothing of individual reputations.”

    TOP DEMS IN CONTENTION TO PROSECUTE TRUMP IMPEACHMENT CASE -- IF IT GOES TO TRIAL

    He asks what Republicans would have done if President Barack Obama had engaged in the same behavior, in regards to Ukraine.


    “I know the answer to that question with certainty, and so do you. You would have understood with striking clarity the threat it posed, and you would have known exactly what to do,” he says.

    While Flake says he does not envy Republican senators’ task, he urges them to avoid “an alternate reality that would have us believe in things that obviously are not true, in the service of executive behavior that we never would have encouraged and a theory of executive power that we have always found abhorrent.”

    “If there ever was a time to put country over party, it is now,” he writes. “And by putting country over party, you might just save the Grand Old Party before it’s too late.”

    There have been no public signs so far of any mass defection against Trump by GOP senators. Despite rumors that a number of Republicans in the House may break off, no GOP members in the lower chamber voted for impeachment -- while a few Democrats voted against.

    It isn’t the first time Flake has indicated he believes that a Senate conviction of Trump is in the realm of possibility. He claimed in September that close to three dozen Republican senators would back ousting the president if the vote was held in private.

    "I heard someone say if there were a private vote there would be 30 Republican votes. That's not true," Flake said on Slate's "What Next" podcast. "There would be at least 35."
     
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  2. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    It's very hard to have any respect for Flake, even though of course I agree with him on this topic.

    barfo
     
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  3. UncleCliffy'sDaddy

    UncleCliffy'sDaddy We're all Bozos on this bus.

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    I respect Flake for standing up to Trump, but that’s pretty empty courage when you choose not to run for reelection rather than risk losing your seat. Kinda undermined his convictions......IMHO. Now he can watch from the sidelines and criticize instead of being in a position to be genuinely courageous. He’s as gutless as his Republican colleagues he’s calling out.
     
  4. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    Although he already knew he wasn't going to return for another term, he also crossed his fellow party members during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation.

    Respect/like him or not, he's at least speaking his conscience. As the article pointed out, if the vote would be private, there may well be 80 out of 100 Senators that would vote to remove Trump from office.
     
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  5. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    He voted to confirm Kavanaugh. Hand-wringing beforehand and being 'troubled' doesn't count.

    True. And if he were still in office, there's absolutely no doubt he'd vote against removal.

    barfo
     
  6. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    Better late than never rings true here. I respect him for speaking out on this and telling the truth, even if he should have done this long ago. It’s better than the others who are sitting there pledging allegiance to their leader without even considering the facts.
     
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  7. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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  8. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    Exactly.
     
  9. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    That might not be his point, or your point, but it was my point.

    barfo
     
  10. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    lol...Fine, but it wasn't MY point. :bgrin:
     
  11. donkiez

    donkiez Well-Known Member

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    Flake is too spineless to do anything when it counts, now he is trying to play the good guy. Screw him.
     
  12. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    Being spineless would involve Flake now fellating Trump instead of calling him out.

    Like him or not, what he did at the Kavanaugh hearing took some backbone. Now, if he had voted "NO" on Kavanaugh, would it have been even more impressive?...of course, but it still would not have changed the outcome.
     
  13. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    Flake has always been a corrupt loser, and he's so unpopular around the people who know him, and the people he swore to serve honestly, that he was run out of politics.

    Not one single Real American listens to his pathetic pleas for attention.
     
  14. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    ^^^The reverse barometer speaks again. Now I know for sure that Flake did the right thing.
     
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  15. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

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    LOL, this is straight from fantasy land.
     

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