The Commentariat -- December 6, 2019
Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Monday morning to receive presentations of evidence from investigators as it moves forward with crafting articles of impeachment against President Trump."
"Don't Mess with Me...." ~~~
~~~ Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had just concluded her weekly news conference Thursday and was about to exit the room when a reporter shouted out a question. 'Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?' James Rosen, a [winger] reporter for [righty-right] Sinclair Broadcast Group, called out from a seat in the front row. Most times, Pelosi ignores questions shouted at her in the hallways and briefing rooms of the Capitol. But Rosen's query appeared to strike a nerve with Pelosi, who stopped in her tracks, turned to face the reporter and delivered an extraordinary rebuttal." Watch it. "The exchange appeared to do little to change Republicans' messaging on the matter. Minutes after Pelosi's news conference concluded, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent out a tweet in which he declared, 'Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats are clearly ... blinded by their hate for the President.'" ~~~
~~~ So Trump Responded with a False, Sexist Accusation. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out in anger on Thursday at a reporter who asked whether she hated President Trump, prompting Mr. Trump to accuse her of having 'a nervous fit.'... Less than an hour [after Pelosi's exchange with the 'conservative' reporter], Mr. Trump posted his response on Twitter.... 'Nancy Pelosi just had a nervous fit. She hates that we will soon have 182 great new judges and sooo much more. Stock Market and employment records. She says she 'prays for the President.' I don't believe her, not even close. Help the homeless in your district Nancy....'" Mrs. McC: Worth noting: Trump had a "nervous fit" just the day before when he found out world leaders were laughing at him, causing him to abruptly end his NATO trip & cancel a previously-scheduled press conference. (More on this from the WashPo linked below.)
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'm reposting Pelosi's speech asking committee chairmen to draw up articles of impeachment. Pelosi delivered the speech yesterday morning. In case you missed it, I recommend listening; it's pretty powerful: ~~~
~~~ If you can't watch, NBC News has the text of Pelosi's speech here.
Don't Mess with Joe: ~~~
~~~ Marc Caputo of Politico: "Joe Biden lashed out at an Iowa town hall Thursday after a man suggested the former vice president helped his son get a sweetheart deal in Ukraine and was 'selling access' like ... Donald Trump does.... The 83-year-old man said he had two problems with the 77-year-old Biden: that he's 'too old' and the Ukrainian issue.... [When the man brought up Biden's Ukraine dealings, Biden walked up to him menacingly & said,] 'You're a damn liar, man. That's not true. And no one has ever said that.'... As the two talked over each other, a staffer tried to take the man's microphone. But Biden waved him away and let the man keep the mic. 'Let him go. Let him go,' Biden said.... Returning to the issue of his age and fitness, Biden then laid down the challenge: 'Let's do push-ups together here, man. Let's run. Let's do whatever you want to do. Let's take an IQ test.' The man was speechless." ~~~
~~~ Mariam Khan & Molly Nagle of ABC News: Donald "Trump reiterated his demands for [Joe & Hunter] Biden to testify in a Thursday morning tweet: 'We will have Schiff, the Bidens, Pelosi and many more testify, and will reveal, for the first time, how corrupt our system really is.' [Joe] Biden said, however, that he does not plan to attend a Senate trial voluntarily.... '"The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes, and I'm not going to let him divert from that. I'm not going to let anyone divert from that. The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes, and I'm not going to let him divert from that. I'm not going to let anyone divert from that.' Eric Ueland, White House legislative affairs director..., suggested the White House wants live witnesses as part of the trial, instead of relying on videotaped depositions like the ones entered into evidence during former President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999.... The Republican-controlled Senate also released its 2020 calendar without anything scheduled for the month of January due to the uncertainty surrounding what happens next in the impeachment trial."
Maggie Haberman & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Trump administration officials, seeking to weaken Democrats' case for impeachment, disputed on Thursday some of the details in the House Intelligence Committee's report about calls between ... Rudolph W. Giuliani and White House aides. As part of its portrait of Mr. Trump's campaign of pressure on Ukraine, the committee's report released this week listed several calls between Mr. Giuliani and White House phone numbers, including one' associated with' the White House's Office of Management and Budgetcited in the report simply as 'O.M.B. number.'... But the phone number is a generic White House switchboard number, '(202) 395-0000,' people familiar with the phone records said, making it difficult to tell whose desk it came from.... A review of budget office call logs showed that no one spoke with Mr. Giuliani around the times of the calls in April and August, an O.M.B. official said."o; ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This morning a CNN reporter faulted Democrats for not being "more careful" in disseminating the calls report. Really? Really? The White House stonewalls all Congressional requests & subpoenas, and it's the Democrats' fault for not knowing who was using which phone? Bull. Also too, I see they're not disputing who "'1" is in Giuliani's call records.
But the E-mails! Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has routinely communicated with his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and other individuals speaking on cellphones vulnerable to monitoring by Russian and other foreign intelligence services, current and former U.S. officials said. Phone records released this week by the House Intelligence Committee revealed extensive communications between Giuliani, unidentified people at the White House and others involved in the campaign to pressure Ukraine, with no indication that those calls were encrypted or otherwise shielded from foreign surveillance. The revelations raise the possibility that Moscow was able to learn about aspects of Trump's attempt to get Ukraine to investigate a political rival months before that effort was exposed by a whistleblower report and the impeachment inquiry, officials said. Trump is not identified by name in the House phone records, but investigators said they suspect he may be a person with a blocked number listed as '-1' in the files. And administration officials said separately that Trump has communicated regularly with Giuliani on unsecured lines.... Trump and Giuliani have effectively 'given the Russians ammunition they can use in an overt fashion, a covert fashion or in the twisting of information,' said John Sipher, former deputy chief of Russia operations at the CIA." The Raw Story has a summary report here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: First, there's the irony of Trump's centering his 2016 campaign on "Lock Her Up" on account of her having communicated a handful of low-classified matters over a private server even as he regularly yaps over phones known to be monitored by Chinese & other hackers. Second, there is the irony of his chatting over unsecured phones with a guy who is chatting back over an unsecured phone and who happens to be Trump's "cybersecurity advisor." (As reported in the linked article, "Mozilla Observatory, an online site-scanning service operated by the nonprofit company behind the Firefox web browser, rates Giuliani Security & Safety's website an 'F' for basic connection security, with a score of 0 out of 100. In a suite of 11 tests, the Giuliani Security & Safety site passes just 3, according to Mozilla." Cybersecurity "expert" Giuliani also has been called out for his laughable claim that Twitter "allowed someone to invade my text" and going to an Apple store to get some random employees to help him when he locked himself out of his iPhone. It is impossible to decide who is the more incompetent old coot, Giuliani or Trump.
Where's Rudy? Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Rudy Giuliani's decision to travel to multiple European countries this week, during the height of an impeachment probe involving his client President Trump, was so startling to senior administration officials and national security brass that they began tracking his movements in an effort to get a read on his objectives abroad. Other officials in the West Wing and numerous Trump associates learned about his latest foreign adventure, which included a stop in Ukraine, by reading the news.... Senior U.S. officials in the State Department and in the national security apparatus were concerned that Giuliani was speaking with politicians in both Budapest and Kiev who have interests in domestic American politics. According to five sources with knowledge of the situation, there is renewed fear that the president's lawyer is still shopping for dirt about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as well as speaking with foreign officials who, against all evidence, have promoted the idea that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 presidential election."
Corrupt Intent. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "One of the strongest arguments made by experts testifying against President Trump is that he poses a present and continuing threat to our democracy.... The latest nefarious doings of none other than William P. Barr and Rudolph W. Giuliani have now forcefully underscored this very point. In so doing, Trump's attorney general and his personal lawyer -- whose roles Trump views as one and the same -- have helpfully strengthened the case against Trump. Two new investigative reports demonstrate that Barr and Giuliani are, in effect, continuing to carry out elements of the very same corrupt scheme for which Trump is currently getting impeached.... Barr, who is gearing up to cast doubt on [DOJ inspector general Michael] Horowitz's conclusions, is continuing to use the levers of government to carry out Trump's overall corrupt project -- which Trump is actively cheering on.... Giuliani has traveled to Budapest and Kyiv, where he's meeting with shadowy Ukrainian figures to keep building the case that Joe Biden and his son Hunter acted corruptly in Ukraine.... Even as Trump is getting impeached for using the power of his office to falsify the story of his corruption of our last election and to corrupt the next one, he's still trying to accomplish both goals. And in Barr's case, he's cheerfully continuing to rely on the manipulation of the levers of government to do so."
Andrew Rice has a long piece in New York on Bill Barr's representation of Donald Trump: "... over the past year, with bureaucratic dexterity and bluff self-assurance, Barr has effectively turned the Justice Department to face down Trump's adversaries. In the spring, he brought a muffled conclusion to special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, managing the release of his report in a way that limited its impact and declaring the evidence did not show Trump committed obstruction of justice. Barr then initiated a secretive internal probe of the origins of the Russia investigation, headed by veteran prosecutor John Durham, who is scrutinizing the FBI and CIA. Barr, who claims there was 'spying' on Trump's campaign, has played a hands-on role in Durham's work, traveling the world to convince foreign intelligence services to cooperate in his investigation of the investigation." Mrs McC: The bits I've had time to read were quite interesting.
Fresno Bee Editors: "As has been true for nearly all of Trump's first term, [Devin] Nunes has relinquished his proper role as an independent representative of Congress and has instead acted like a member of the Trump 2020 re-election team. On Tuesday, House Democrats released phone records that show Nunes made multiple calls to ... Rudy Giuliani and one of his associates, the now-indicted Lev Parnas. The calls came last April during a period when Giuliani was leading a pressure campaign to remove the American ambassador to Ukraine.... The attorney for Parnas has also said Nunes had meetings with a Ukrainian prosecutor to get political dirt on Democrat Joe Biden's son Hunter.... As the ranking Republican on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, Nunes holds one of the top posts in Congress. Nunes should have disclosed to his committee colleagues that he had those phone calls last spring. One expert on government ethics took it a step further and said Nunes should have recused himself from the impeachment hearings...."
Kelly McLaughlin of Business Insider: "Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested impeaching former President Barack Obama on Wednesday during a hearing in the impeachment inquiry into ... Donald Trump.... After questioning the Democratic-invited witness Pamela Karlan ... on her donations to Democratic campaigns, Gaetz ... [said,] 'If wiretapping political opponents is a political offense, I look forward to reading that inspector general's report because maybe it's a different president we should be impeaching.'... Gaetz was likely referencing an incident in 2013, when it was revealed that the National Security Agency was monitoring the calls of 35 world leaders during the Obama administration. The White House said at the time that Obama had no knowledge of the wiretapping. A former president can actually be impeached.... Legal scholars told Slate that impeached former presidents could be barred from serving in any future federal-government positions, elective or appointive."
Elie Mystal in the Nation: "Jonathan Turley's testimony [at Wednesday's Judiciary Committee hearing] was so inconsistent, it contradicted his own previous statements on impeachment."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to hear a second case concerning a subpoena to his accounting firm for his financial records. The new petition, objecting to a subpoena from a House committee, follows a petition filed last month about a similar subpoena from Manhattan prosecutors. Both cases are moving fast, and the court could announce as soon as Dec. 13 whether the justices will hear them. If the court agrees to weigh in, it will probably issue a decision by June.... In both cases, Mr. Trump sued to stop his accounting firm, Mazars USA, from complying with subpoenas for records. Federal appeals courts ruled against Mr. Trump in both cases.... In cases involving Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, United States v. Nixon in 1974 and Clinton v. Jones in 1997, the court granted review but in the end handed both presidents unanimous losses." The Hill's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is a good time to remind ourselves that every recent major-party presidential nominee has voluntarily turned over multiple years of tax returns during the campaign period. Trump is not only hiding his returns, he has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep them secret even though he intends to run for re-election. There's definitely some there there. And Americans have a right to know what that is. I don't think it's, "... overstated a deduction in 2015, making him subject to a $736 penalty."
Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Donald Trump before he was elected President, filed a lawsuit Thursday against Fox News alleging the news organization defamed her. In the lawsuit, which was filed in a New York state court, McDougal accused host Tucker Carlson of acting with a 'reckless disregard for the truth' when he suggested on a December 2018 episode of his show that she extorted Trump.... Carlson ... said on his show that it was an "undisputed" fact that two women 'approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family' if he didn't provide them money. Carlson said it sounded 'like a classic case of extortion,' and later referred to them as 'extortion payments.' Carlson did not name McDougal, but an image of her was later shown on the screen."
Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "That Trump slunk out of the NATO summit [in Watford, England,] Wednesday after hastily canceling his planned news conference underscored just how unsettling he found his two-day visit.... But in many respects, Trump's abrupt departure was typical for a president who has routinely upended foreign visits during his first three years in office -- blustering, bullying and attempting at all times to keep the world's attention squarely on himself. He has criticized his hosts and issued global threats. He's hobnobbed with dictators and feuded with allies. And, as he did this week in Watford, he has sometimes sulked when things aren't going his way -- part of the taxonomy of behaviors that make up Trump's overseas adventures as president." The reporters reprise other instances of Trump's bad behavior on the world stage.
Robert Moore, et al., in ProPublica: "Video obtained by ProPublica shows the Border Patrol held a sick teen in a concrete cell without proper medical attention and did not discover his body until his cellmate alerted guards. The video doesn't match the Border Patrol's account of his death.... In a press release that day, Customs and Border Protection's acting commissioner at the time, John Sanders, called Carlos [Hernandez Vasquez]' death a 'tragic loss.' The agency said that an agent had found Carlos 'unresponsive' after checking in on him. Sanders said the Border Patrol was 'committed to the health, safety and humane treatment of those in our custody.' But the record shows that the Border Patrol fell far short of that standard with Carlos. ProPublica has obtained video that documents the 16-year-old's last hours, and it shows that Border Patrol agents and health care workers at the Weslaco holding facility missed increasingly obvious signs that his condition was perilous. The cellblock video shows Carlos writhing for at least 25 minutes on the floor and a concrete bench. It shows him staggering to the toilet and collapsing on the floor, where he remained in the same position for the next four and a half hours."
Criminal Duncan Hunter Still Has His Job. Haley Byrd, et al., of CNN: "The House Ethics Committee urged Rep. Duncan Hunter in a letter on Thursday to stop voting on legislation and other matters on the House floor after he pleaded guilty earlier this week to campaign finance violations. The committee notified the California Republican that his plea brings into effect a House rule stating that members convicted of certain crimes should refrain from voting. The letter noted that the rule exists 'to preserve public confidence in the legislative process when a sitting Member of Congress has been convicted of a serious crime.' Although the rule is not mandatory, the committee said, 'we emphasize in the strongest possible terms that if you violate the clear principles of this provision -- that is, for example, by voting in the House -- you risk subjecting yourself to action by this Committee, and by the House, in addition to any other disciplinary action that may be initiated in connection with your criminal conviction.' Duncan most recently voted on the House floor Wednesday, according to the House clerk, the day after he had pleaded guilty. He did not vote Thursday."
Presidential Race 2020
Ben Kamisar, et al., of NBC News: "John Kerry, the former senator from Massachusetts, secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, threw his support behind former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential bid on Thursday.... The endorsement comes as Biden has amplified his qualifications to be commander-in-chief, given his foreign policy experience.... Kerry will campaign with Biden on Friday in Iowa and in New Hampshire on Sunday."
From everyone who has been given better poll numbers, much will be demanded. -- Jesus' internal pollster ~~~
~~~ Michael Forsythe of the New York Times on Pete Buttigieg's work for the secretive consulting firm McKinsey & Company: "... as he gains ground in polls, [Buttigieg's] reticence about McKinsey is being tested, including by his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. Senator Warren, responding last month to needling by Mr. Buttigieg that she release more than eight years of her tax returns to account for her private-sector work, retorted,' There are some candidates who want to distract from the fact that they have not released the names of their clients and have not released the names of their bundlers.' The firm has long advocated business strategies like raising executive compensation, moving labor offshore and laying off workers to cut costs.... And over the last couple of years, reporting in The New York Times and other publications has revealed episodes tarnishing McKinsey's once-sterling reputation: its work advising Purdue Pharma on how to 'turbocharge' opioid sales, its consulting for authoritarian governments in places like China and Saudi Arabia, and its role in a wide-ranging corruption scandal in South Africa. (All of these came after Mr. Buttigieg left the firm.)... The Buttigieg campaign says he has asked to be let out of his nondisclosure agreement...." Interviews with some of Buttigieg's coworkers at McKinsey fill in some of the blanks. ~~~
~~~ New York Times Editors: "Pete Buttigieg worked nearly three years for the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, and he has presented that experience as a kind of capitalist credential -- distinguishing him from some rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, and inoculating him against Republican attacks.... Mr. Buttigieg has said precious little about his time at McKinsey. He has not named the clients for whom he worked, nor said much about what he did.... Mr. Buttigieg owes voters a more complete account of his time at the company.... The Times reported this week that the consulting firm has advised the Trump administration on the logistics of its cruel crackdown on immigration."
The Downside of Macroeconomic Ignorance. Charles Pierce: "According to Liz Goodwin of the Boston Globe, Pete Buttigieg said, 'I believe every Presidency of my lifetime has been an example of deficits growing under Republican government and shrinking under Democratic government, but ... my party's got to get more comfortable talking about this issue... And we shouldn't be afraid to demonstrate that we have the revenue to cover every cost that we incur in the investments that we're proposing.'... Leave aside the fact that Buttigieg's basic political assessment is dead wrong; Presidents Obama and Clinton pulled us out of Republican deficits and, arguably, their choice to commit their economic plans to do that crippled their ability to move on more progressive policies.... It makes the McKinseyite criticism of him grow some real teeth, and it makes him very hard to trust with what could be a progressive populist moment.... Right now, based solely on observation on the road, I slot him in somewhere between Bill Clinton and John Kasich." Mrs. McC: Kasich, FYI, is a macroeconomics idiot. His main claim to fame is unwavering support for a balanced budget amendment, which is as good an idea as storing cash in the mattress. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Buttigieg's original statement, before a New Hampshire audience was worse than the one Pierce cites. In fact, the remark cited above seems to have been an attempt at a cleanup of Buttigieg's first remarks. Lawrence O'Donnell got very exercised about Buttigieg's claims:
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I got a phone call today from a voter opinion survey group, and the questioner asked about how convincing I found a number of Buttigieg's policy positions, positions which appear to have come from his Website. Every one was kumbaya crap, except one that demonstrated his ignorance of the history of public education. The bottom line is that someone Buttigieg's age, who has not spent his adult life immersed in national political issues, is bound to be ignorant of significant policy matters. I don't fault him for that; I fault him for having the hubris of running for president without knowing enough. He's a very smart guy, and he can learn. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what he doesn't know, so it isn't clear he will learn.
Bobby Allyn of NPR: "Federal law enforcement officials have announced criminal charges against two Russian nationals who operate a hacking organization known as Evil Corp., a group officials say is responsible for one of the most sweeping banking fraud schemes in the past decade. The criminal indictments were unsealed in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Lincoln, Nebraska, against Maksim Yakubets, 32, and Igor Turashev, 38, both of whom live in Russia. The duo are accused of bank and wire fraud and computer hacking, among other counts.... Operating from the basements of Moscow cafes, investigators say Yakubets' group targeted victims in some 21 municipalities in one of the most widespread malware campaigns U.S. authorities have ever encountered."
Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: "Uber has disclosed that 3,000 sexual assaults were reported on its U.S. rides last year, the first time it has revealed the scale of the safety problem that exists at ride-hailing companies.... In the lengthy report, which divides sexual misconduct into 21 categories but focuses on the five most serious, Uber said it recorded 235 rapes last year and thousands more reports of assault that could involve unwanted touching, kissing or attempted rape. The reports involved drivers and passengers. The company tallied roughly 6,000 reports of those types of assault in 2017 and 2018. The report also examined other safety categories, including motor-vehicle deaths and violent crimes such as physical assaults. Uber said there were 107 motor-vehicle fatalities in 2017 and 2018, with a total of 97 fatal crashes involving users on the app. The company also said there were 19 fatal physical assaults over the same time period, during which it said an average of more than 3.1 million trips took place each day."
Beyond the Beltway
West Virginia. Jake Zuckerman of the Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette-Mail: "Several West Virginia state employees have been suspended after a photo emerged depicting a training class of roughly 30 correctional officers performing a Nazi salute. Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Director Jeff Sandy sent a letter to all employees Wednesday describing the photo as 'distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive, and completely inappropriate.' The photo, on state letterhead, shows almost all of Basic Training Class No. 18 displaying the Nazi salute. Text above the photo reads: 'HAIL BYRD!' Sandy's letter states that the employees have been suspended and are under investigation, although it does not describe the photo itself. Brian Abraham, an attorney for Gov. Jim Justice, said Thursday the 'Hail Byrd' line refers to the trainees' instructor."
Way Beyond
Ken Dilanian & Michele Neubert of NBC News: "A group of elite Russian military intelligence officers, including some of those who planned the poisoning of a defector in Britain, have been operating out of picturesque villages in the French Alps, Western intelligence officials tell NBC News. Confirming a report in France's Le Monde daily that could have been ripped from the pages of a John le Carré spy novel, the officials said European and American intelligence agencies had been tracking up to 15 members of the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU who had lived for a time in France.... Le Monde reported that among the Russians who stayed in France's Haute-Savoie department in the Alps were Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov -- the alleged cover names of the two GRU agents accused of carrying out the [poisoning] attack on [Sergei & Yulia] Skripal. French officials told the newspaper they considered the area to have been the unit's rear base for covert operations in Europe."
News Ledes
CNN: "A gunman opened fire inside Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring several others, according to authorities. The shooting is over, the Escambia County, Florida, Sheriff's Office said, and the shooter has been confirmed dead." ~~~
~~~ CNN has updates here. Four are dead, including the shooter. "A member of the Saudi military training at US Naval Air Station in Pensacola is the suspected shooter in today's incident, according to five US defense officials and another person familiar with the investigation. The investigators are looking into whether it was terror-related, but it is early in the probe."
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Reader Comments (11)
I'm not sure the head of the trump crime family could come us with
his latest demand on his own, so who thought of it? Barr comes to
mind.
He wants the impeachment process to hurry up and let's get it over
with.
Is that in case his financial records are disclosed and sheds even
more light on his criminal activities?
And if the Senate votes for no impeachment, could there be another
investigation and impeachment after more crimes are found?
If I had a law degree I could answer my own questions maybe.
@Forrest Morris: I think Adam Schiff has answered it for you. His committee -- and others, I presume -- are continuing to investigate Trump. And knowing Trump as we do, they certainly could uncover more impeachable offenses. So yeah, there could be one impeachment after another. I doubt that will happen, but it's possible. Now, thanks to Matt Gaetz (story linked above), we know that, at least theoretically, Trump could be impeached even after he's left office.
I do not see anyone impeaching the Idiot-in-Chief after he leaves office. It will be enough if he is indicted by the SDNY and from there sent to prison. Although yes, Nancy, I DO hate him, I hate his party members and administration flunkies more. This could all be over for all of us if the eyes of these robots were opened to what they are doing to the country. But, alas, that isn't going to happen. Meanwhile, nothing is going to happen re gun control, climate change, etc etc in our lifetimes. Today there is another shooting. Ho hum. I guess the networks are happy to pre-empt all programming yet again, but not for important work done by the House. Thoughts and prayers, people--
Yes, Lawrence was super angry last night about our delightful Mayor Pete. He needs to drop out. And Biden? He called his tormenter in IA "fat..." Tongue twister or glad to hit back at someone mouthing the usual Hunter claptrap? I am extremely worried about the Dem field with the departure of Kamala. She was tough and able. That is what we need, and I don't see it in the remaining Dems. Bill deB this morning smoked Bloomberg-- of course, no bias there, haha-- I am very worried and look for no help from the always-weak DNC.
That said, huzzahs for Warrior Nancy.
Might have to revise the statistics about the least safe places to be, you know, the ones that certified one's bed as the least safe because more people die in bed, than.....
Looks like naval bases are creeping up on that list.
One reason the Fat Traitor wants to speed things up is to move the proceedings out of the House and over to the Senate, where he’ll be treated “fairly”, ie, found to be more perfect than perfection itself. Then he can declare victory and get on with stealing the next election.
I did read one rather funny idea about how the Democrats should proceed, and that’s not to proceed at all. Nancy Pelosi could declare that it wasn’t proper to take a final vote on impeaching the Traitor in Chief because “Election Year” (lookin’ at you McTurtle). This would keep impeachment out of the treasonous hands of Senate confederates, keep Fatty from declaring himself the winner, and hang the whole thing over his head like the Sword of Damocles right up to election night. And then, If Democrats take back the Senate, call the vote in the House and hand it over to legislators who aren’t traitors to dispense with his fat ass.
That won’t happen, and probably shouldn’t, but it’s fun to think about. Just imagine the tsunami of hissy fits and rattle throwing between now and November 2020.
By their friends, ye shall know them:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/oleksandr-onyshchenko-ukrainian-fugitive-who-claimed-to-have-dirt-on-burisma-is-arrested
At least the roving Rudy now knows where to find him.
I wonder what the Germans had in mind as they snapped the cuffs on this con (think they're messing with the Pretender?) and furthermore, what delicacies this might bring to the impeachment table.
Last week I mentioned this country's problem with Guantanamo –-how we paid for many (innocent) who ended up there, were there for years without a trial. Rachel took this up last night and mentioned this piece from the NYT:
Abu Zubaydah's drawings of torture at the hands of American agents are a sickening reminder of what this country is capable of. How anyone can survive after being exposed to many of these methods is incredible.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/opinion/cia-torture-drawings.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Editorials
So Nancy done stand her ground good and proper. I'm with Jeanne, however, on the "hate" business: I hate with ferocity–-and since prayers are not part of my works and days I can freely express this hatred. There is no moral high ground here although Nancy certainly suggested it by evoking her Catholicism. She can do this––our country is awash in religious fervor.
As for Mayor Pete: I always thought "he talks pretty" and he certainly does but I couldn't quite come around to an embrace. It will be interesting to see how he handles this latest problem.
As for Biden's dealing with that town hall "man in the crowd": Biden needs to brush up on his people skills ( something he actually prides himself on) when dealing with jerks like these instead of joining in a school yard blow by blow. Come up with a clever response that puts the other guy down without joining in this kind of rhetoric. Has Biden been so embraced that he hasn't had this kind of experience? Surely he knows this kind of thing is front and center and he will be confronted.
Maybe––just look fierce and say "DON'T MESS WITH ME"––
@Akhilleus: You seem to be presupposing Trump will win in November. If not, the only time Trump would be president* & a new, Democratic Senate would from January 3 to January 20, 2021. In theory, it could be done, and it could be done under "new rules" the new Senate could make up on the fly. That would be fun.
Alternatively, I suppose the House could pass Articles of Impeachment but NOT send them to Mitch McConnell on some lame excuse like, "Hey, we're not done here. There's still more wrongdoing to investigate, just as the GOP's 'expert scholar' Jonathan Turley suggested. Thanks, GOP! We're taking Turley's advice. We'll let you know, Mitch." Since impeachments are so rare, & since the Constitution doesn't say anything about the House sending the Articles to the Senate timely, I think the House could get away with it. That would leave impeachment hanging over Trump's head, while House committees continued their investigations. Maybe they could release a damning report right before the election. Trump would scream bloody murder, but he's going to do that no matter what, so there's not all that much of a downside to this ploy.
@PD Pepe: You're right about Joe. He could have made a strong, impassioned defense of his son (who is kinda indefensible, but dads will be dads), and calmly explained to the voter how he got his facts wrong. Challenging a voter to an IQ test & an arm-wrestling contest is pretty stupid. And it's not as if Biden couldn't have anticipated the guy's remark. Biden had a chance to make a powerful rebuttal, especially since the voter was wrong about essential facts, and Joe blew it. His response did get attention, tho.
Stopped by the local Dem office yesterday and was asked who was my favorite Dem presidential candidate. Didn't have a good or ready answer. While only a couple of them make my gorge rise, I have trouble summoning enthusiasm for any and I'd guess that my own faint "favorites" won't be there at the end.
Biden's performance bothered me, too. We don't need another man with "issues" occupying the White House, and sadly, old Joe clearly has them.
That moment in history was very disappointing.
I don't know why the press is still so quick to believe everything that comes out of the White House. When it comes to this White House they should use the Lewandowski rule, unless it's under oath assume it's probably a lie or spin.