Surely not EVERY Republican wants to completely dismantle the government. Am I being naive?

They want money. They want people who have money to make more money, and give them money.

Question: if 45 is impeached, does that mean his cabinet must be replaced by his successor's appointees?

Even if he's impeached, though, Pence would be his successor.

Smaller government has been a stated and striven for Republican goal for a long time. Crash and burn and total destruction of government is Bannon's stated goal. I think his nihilism is way beyond money at this point.

I know a lot of people don't want him impeached because then we end up with President Pence, but to me - I disagree with literally everything Pence thinks, I find his views largely abhorrent - but I'm still gonna need him to take over ASAP. We're going to get Pence's scary policies anyway, and at least Pence is an adult who knows how to read, won't hang up on world leaders, or start WWIII.

He doesn't have to, but the incoming POTUS is free to accept previous cabinet members' resignations if he wants.

Kissinger stayed on as Secretary of State when Ford became president, and I think most of Kennedy's cabinet stayed on, but most definitely not Bobby.

I know a lot of people don't want him impeached because then we end up with President Pence, but to me - I disagree with literally everything Pence thinks, I find his views largely abhorrent - but I'm still gonna need him to take over ASAP. We're going to get Pence's scary policies anyway, and at least Pence is an adult who knows how to read, won't hang up on world leaders, or start WWIII.

I totally agree with all of this. Pence is a horror show, and in any other circumstance he shouldn't be allowed near the Oval Office. But these are not normal circumstances. I also believe that Pence knows how to read.

Yes, but the fact would remain--the people got upset and organized sufficiently to impeach a president for policies we could not live with. It's a line Pence would be aware of, as he would be aware of the public will to do the same to him were he to cross that line.

I know I said a few weeks ago I'd rather have random 45 and take chances *somebody* would keep his finger off the button, than have Pence's dedicated and effective onslaught of human rights. But with Bannon driving 45 (don't say the name--it adds to his power, in some secret bunker where machines are scanning the internet and counting the number of times the name appears), the "rip them all down" attack on civilization is scarier than the cranky four-year-old who's both irregular and overdue for a nap. Put 45 and his puppet master aside, and Pence will be at least somewhat restrained, not only by knowledge of what happened to his predecessor, but by the reps still dedicated to public good having their heart and determination bolstered by the public's action.

Or that's my Pollyanna dream, anyway.

I also never thought there'd be a day where I'd sit here and think "Gee, I wish Mitt Romney were President right now", but we have indeed reached that day.

Right? I never, EVER thought I would miss that sadistic moron George W. Bush, but here we are.