WASHINGTON, D.C. Jan. 15 (DPI) – With the latest revelation that the FBI back in 2017 opened an inquiry into Trump’s loyalties and possible links to Russia, commentary on US news sites this week zeroed in on a single conclusion: That Trump must resign or be impeached, and short of those developments he won’t or can’t seek a second term, much less run in any 202o primaries.

Comments at all the major news sites offered virtually no defense of Trump, who of course vigorously denied that he has been a Russian “asset” during or before his two years in office.

Some Capitol Hill Republicans voiced concern about the probe, which remains inconclusive in determining Trump’s loyalties. And while The New York Times and The Washington Post posted the news of the investigation on its index pages, The Wall Street Journal posted a small report two days later, and defended him in an editorial today.

But what’s clear at this point is that Trump’s base of rural red-staters and evangelicals has shrunk, according to most polls, and there is no obvious course for winning a general election. Furthermore, with Mitt Romney raising his profile as a newly elected senator from Utah, some Republicans are already quietly lining up to challenge Trump in the primaries.

Among the most popular comments on NYTimes.com recently:

Think about the fact that a man under investigation for treason continues to receive daily intelligence briefings focused on our national security. We all know he doesn’t pay attention, but it’s scary nonetheless. There is clearly a flaw in our system of government. Republicans in the House and Senate have known that Trump was possibly a traitor since this FBI investigation began, they know that Russians intervened in the election on Trump’s behalf, they’ve witnessed all the indictments and convictions… and yet they continue to protect Trump from scrutiny and the law every step of the way. Why? Money. Greed. Giant tax breaks. An unregulated business environment. If Donald Trump is not removed from office in the next two years, it will be because of one man. And that man, Mitch McConnell, controls the Senate because of money, not merit. He is no statesman, no leader. He doesn’t inspire anyone toward a brighter future. He is a keyholder, a man who sells access to power. The underlying motivation behind every action he takes is more money, and more power. It’s the GOP’s only true policy. The Citizens United decision and our weak campaign finance laws allow unscrupulous men like McConnell and Trump to take power, consolidate it, and wield it to make their benefactors richer and more powerful. That’s where we need to start.

I have followed the Mueller investigation closely from the beginning and feel that I’m well informed about what the issues and legal concerns are. And yet reading that the FBI had to grapple with whether or not — and how — to open a counter-intelligence investigation into the president for working with Russia to undermine the interests of the United States made my heart sink. I cannot imagine that an organization as institutionally conservative as the FBI would entertain these kinds of questions about potential threats to the nation’s security without serious evidence of wrongdoing. I have always believed that any campaign working with a foreign government to undermine a national election borders on treason, but this takes those kinds of concerns to a new level. Even the photo accompanying the story has an ominous aspect. Mr. Mueller can’t wrap up his investigation soon enough.

I disagree with the statement that there is no public evidence that Trump takes direction from Moscow. The bones of his decisions favoring Russia at the expense of American interests are sticking up out of the sand for all to see. We see the actions just not the whispered directions from the puppet master, Putin, to his puppet. We do not need to find Trump in flagrante delicto in bed with Putin to see what is happening before our very eyes. Because a Trump brazenly operates in plain view, we seem paralyzed like deer in the headlights to call his behavior for what it is: corrupt and treasonous. When the Republican Party changed only one plank of its platform at the 2016 convention to favor Russian interests, that was evidence that Trump was taking direction from Moscow. When Trump said ” Russia if you are listening, commit a crime and hack my opponents emails” the Republicans should have dumped him. When Trump met privately with Russians in the Oval Office and told them ” the pressure is off” because he fired Comey, this was direct evidence of his corrupt ties to Moscow. Trump waking up one day and precipitously deciding to get out of Syria against all the advice of American national security advisors (and allies) favored Russia, not American interests. Now we have sanctions being lifted on a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska. Trump uses the language of Russian propaganda when he speaks, which is no accident. Wake up America and smell the vodka: Time to Impeach.