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babylonsister

(171,079 posts) Fri Aug 31, 2018, 10:35 AM Aug 2018

Charles P. Pierce: John McCain May Have Given Everyone the Last Laugh

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22885399/donald-trump-impeachment-disapproval-ratings/

John McCain May Have Given Everyone the Last Laugh
The president's disapproval ratings are reaching lunar orbit.
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By Charles P. Pierce
Aug 31, 2018

WASHINGTON — Say what you will about the extended obsequies being tendered to the late John McCain this weekend, but all the talk about bipartisanship and our present toxic political partisanship is landing at a time when, according to those people who talk to ABC News, anyway, the most toxic creature produced by the current climate has pretty much worn out his welcome.

The numbers are terrifying and the slide seems to be accelerating. If McCain's last act as a public figure was to troll the president* with McCain's own funeral rites, he couldn't have contrived a better circumstance in which to do so.

Sixty percent in the national survey disapprove of Trump’s performance in office, numerically the highest of his presidency, albeit by a single point; that includes 53 percent who disapprove strongly, more than half for the first time. Thirty-six percent approve, matching his low.

OK, given the president*'s performance, it's just logical that his disapproval rating is approaching lunar orbit, but the really giddy numbers involve Robert Mueller's investigation and the possibility of impeaching the president*.

The national survey, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, finds that half the public supports Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against Trump, 49-46 percent; support rises to 57 percent among women. And support for the investigation running its course is broader: Americans overall back Mueller’s probe by 63-29 percent. Fifty-two percent support it strongly, a high level of strong sentiment.

Suspicions of the president relating to the Mueller investigation are substantial. Sixty-one percent say that if assertions by Cohen are true, Trump broke the law. Fifty-three percent also think Trump obstructed special counsel Robert Mueller’s work...In Trump’s dispute with Attorney General Jeff Sessions for allowing the investigation to proceed, the public sides with Sessions, 62-23 percent. Sixty-four percent also oppose the idea of Trump firing Sessions; just 19 percent support it. Further, while Trump has railed against the Manafort prosecution, Americans call it justified by an overwhelming 67-17 percent, including nearly half of Republicans. The public opposes Trump pardoning Manafort by essentially the same margin, 66-18 percent, with 53 percent strongly opposed. Even among Republicans, 45 percent oppose a Manafort pardon; 36 percent support it.

Bear in mind that this is at a time in which the Democratic Party would rather talk about exotic livestock diseases than about impeachment. (The Republicans, on the other hand, are using it as a scarecrow to rile up the goobers, but every time a prominent Republican mentions impeachment, more people stroke their chins and think, "Hmm. Sounds interesting. Maybe we should give it a try." ) What also is clear— from these numbers, at least—is that the president*'s recent ravings aren't landing with the power they once had. It's hard to avoid the notion that the country is just getting sick of this bag of clowns and mountebanks and would like a little normality to return before the kids have to go back to school.

And, on Saturday, there will be a huge memorial service for John McCain at the National Cathedral. Two presidents will speak. Pundits will continue to gush. Comparisons will fly thick and fast and none of them will be complimentary to the current occupant of the White House. Damn, John McCain. You may have given everyone the last laugh.

10 replies

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Charles P. Pierce: John McCain May Have Given Everyone the Last Laugh (Original Post) babylonsister Aug 2018 OP

He had a wicked sense of humor. redstatebluegirl Aug 2018 #1

It didn't take people long to cotton onto the idea that you could safely throw shade on Trump... Girard442 Aug 2018 #2

And that documenatry opens today too... 2naSalit Aug 2018 #3

McCain DID spill the beans on the Steele dossier. GoCubsGo Aug 2018 #6

That's what I expect is the content 2naSalit Aug 2018 #7

Pierce is correct: his Act is wearing thin. maxsolomon Aug 2018 #4

He who laughs last, laughs best. DUers, I give you John McCain, an ally... Hekate Aug 2018 #5

His parting shot 2naSalit Aug 2018 #8

McCain has pushed IQ45 into being jealous of a dead guy. Ilsa Aug 2018 #9

Dotard wants all the attention mcar Aug 2018 #10

redstatebluegirl

(12,265 posts)

1. He had a wicked sense of humor.

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Fri Aug 31, 2018, 10:39 AM

Aug 2018

You have to think he is upstairs watching Trump's reaction and having a good laugh with the big guy.

Girard442

(6,082 posts)

2. It didn't take people long to cotton onto the idea that you could safely throw shade on Trump...

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Fri Aug 31, 2018, 10:47 AM

Aug 2018

...by lavishing praise on the late McCain.

2naSalit

(86,748 posts)

3. And that documenatry opens today too...

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Fri Aug 31, 2018, 12:32 PM

Aug 2018

that one where it looks like McCain spills the beans about the Steele dossier and much more... that's going to send him through the roof. I can't wait to see it myself.

GoCubsGo

(32,086 posts)

6. McCain DID spill the beans on the Steele dossier.

Reply to 2naSalit (Reply #3)

Fri Aug 31, 2018, 03:12 PM

Aug 2018

In fact, he was the first American to see it. He was at an annual security conference in Halifax right after the election, when a British diplomat gave the dossier to him. McCain read it and felt it needed to be investigated, so he turned it over to James Comey. The link sums up what McCain wrote in his book "The Restless Wave", where he described the whole timeline revolving around the dossier. It's pretty interesting. I'm sure the documentary will cover it, as well.

2naSalit

(86,748 posts)

7. That's what I expect is the content

Reply to GoCubsGo (Reply #6)

Fri Aug 31, 2018, 05:22 PM

Aug 2018

and his argument for a fight from the people, and he may give us some tips on how to go about that, he knows how the laws work and the Constitution. I will have to go for a drive to see it but I'm willing, I really want to see it and soon.

maxsolomon

(33,360 posts)

4. Pierce is correct: his Act is wearing thin.

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Fri Aug 31, 2018, 01:03 PM

Aug 2018

but the reality of Autocracies is: it doesn't matter. Without power in any branch of the Government, Dems cannot stop the bullying.

Trump's still going to end the Special Counsel as soon as he finds an opening. He doesn't care about public opinion. He cares about Trump.

Hekate

(90,769 posts)

5. He who laughs last, laughs best. DUers, I give you John McCain, an ally...

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Fri Aug 31, 2018, 01:50 PM

Aug 2018

...you didn't think could ever be our ally. Except -- there is that notion that love of our country and its foundational institutions can and should transcend the politics of the day. He had it, in spades.

Professor Glaube, who appears on MSNBC as a commentator, was somewhat uncomfortable the other day as he listened to his fellow panelists speak kindly of our conservative foe while they tried to analyze why so many on the Democratic side were going all out in praise of the man. But when the question was put to him, you could see him shift gears -- and he said he believed it was because in this moment McCain's death reminds us all of what we as a country have lost, so it isn't all about McCain, but about us. (I paraphrase.)

If you don't believe me, perhaps Joe Biden will get through. Find a link to his full eulogy, and grab a box of kleenex for the first half. Joe's empathy for all who have lost a family member runs deep. Your tears will dry in the second half, though, as he goes into a full-throated cry against the division wrought by the GOP. He doesn't need to name names, but he names the year they made the cleavage official: 1996.

Thanks as always, Babylonsister, for bringing us Charles Pierce.