'If you are going to impeach me, do it now'

President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump

Trump called Kim Jong Un "Rocket Man." North Korea called Trump a "dotard." Nancy Pelosi called for articles of impeachment. And I'm wondering if I should quit my day job to sell bananas duct-taped to walls for $120,000.

It's Ashley, and this news is bananas.

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'No choice': Pelosi proceeds with articles of impeachment

House Speaker Pelosi has asked House lawmakers to pursue articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump because of his failure to faithfully execute the law. “The president abused his power for his own personal political benefit," Pelosi said Thursday. "Today I am asking our chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment." Meanwhile, Trump invited House Democrats to impeach him quickly so that he could get past the Senate trial and get back to business. "If you are going to impeach me, do it now," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., finishes a statement at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019.  Pelosi announced that the House is moving forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., finishes a statement at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. Pelosi announced that the House is moving forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Hey Google, play 'Why can't we be friends?'

Americans are united on this: They are sick and tired of being so divided. A new poll shows Americans overwhelmingly see our angry political debate as “a big problem.” By overwhelming margins, those surveyed in the inaugural Public Agenda/USA TODAY/Ipsos poll said national leaders, social media and the news media have exacerbated and exaggerated political divisions, sometimes for their own benefit and to the detriment of ordinary people.

What everyone’s talking about

'Rocket Man' and Trump are at it again

North Korean leader Kim was not happy with Trump's remark at the NATO meeting in London that the U.S. would use force against his regime if necessary.y. North Korea’s Pak Jong Chon said Kim was "displeased" with the remarks and warned that North Korea and the U.S. "are still technically at war and the state of truce can turn into an all-out armed conflict any moment." When asked about North Korea's continued missile tests on Tuesday, Trump reminded us about his pet name for Kim: “Rocket Man." A North Korean official snapped back by calling Trump a “dotard” … again.

Ford workers break their silence on faulty transmissions

They knew the truth and kept quiet. But their secret wasn’t a secret at all in engineering, product development, research, design or manufacturing within Ford Motor Co., say seven current and former employees who worked to develop and launch the Fiesta and Focus cars that would become known for defective automatic transmissions. “My hands are dirty. I feel horrible,” said an engineer who played a role in developing the popular cars. A Detroit Free Press investigation published in July found that Ford knew the DPS6 dual-clutch "PowerShift" transmission – used in 2 million Focus and Fiesta cars sold this decade – was defective before putting it on the market and later rejected a plan to stop using it. About 1.5 million of the cars remain registered in the United States.

Real quick

Are the scales weighted against black people in the war on drugs?

Different times. Different races. Starkly different outcomes. Take a hard look at the crack cocaine era of the ‘80s and the heroin epidemic today and you’ll find a racial double standard that’s been rooted in the nation’s drug laws and criminal justice system since the heyday of the crack epidemic. What will it take to end the inequity? A USA TODAY Network investigation highlights the decades-long racial inequities in American drug policy.

A sea of purple flags along the front lawn of Our Lady Star of the Sea represents the lives lost to opioid overdose in the state of New Jersey.
Manasquan, NJ
Friday, August 31, 2018
A sea of purple flags along the front lawn of Our Lady Star of the Sea represents the lives lost to opioid overdose in the state of New Jersey. Manasquan, NJ Friday, August 31, 2018

A break from the news

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, impeachment inquiry, Nancy Pelosi, Kim Jong Un: Thursday's news