In Case You Missed It (v14)

There was a lot going on this week, not just out there in TV land, but here at veritable pastiche, too, starting with our Sunday School classroom visits.

California's Rep. Zoe Lofgren talked with George Stephanopoulos about the Clinton impeachment and compared it to the (at that point still potential impeachment of Donald Trump.

Lofgren suggested that "Lying about sex is not an abuse of presidential power, maybe husband power. " And, we had Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) telling Chuck Todd that most assuredly that Ukraine interfered in our election. Take  a look.

Ukraine blatantly interfered in our election. The sitting ambassador from Ukraine wrote an op-ed blasting Donald Trump --  during the election season. --  That is unusual...  and they wanted Hillary Clinton to get elected. 

Circumstances gave us a Sunday School Extra Credit again this week, as Cory Booker was in George's classroom, too. He talked about his friend and colleague Kamala Harris ending her campaign, and also about the quirkiness of Iowa caucus-goers.

Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter -- Barack Obama around this time was about 20 points behind Hillary Clinton. But Iowa voters where you have to come out here and actually meet folks, you see people who are polling at low numbers end up finishing first.

I followed the lead of the president and the GOP and deflected away from impeachment and partisan bickering, instead enjoying some presidential poetry in this OrangeVerse entry, in which the president's words lit up the room like a lightbulb, and the verse flowed much more freely than, well, than water.

We have a situation where we're looking
very strongly at sinks and showers and
other elements of bathrooms when you turn the
faucet on - in areas where there's tremendous amounts
of water where the water rushes out to sea because you could never
handle it - and you don't get any water. 
You turn on the faucet; you don't get any water. 
They take a shower and water comes dripping out.
It's dripping out - very quietly - dripping out. 

I got back on track with the Wondering on Wednesday theme, having missed a couple - and I'm blaming Thanksgiving, politics, or both. Hot topics this week included thoughts about folks at the FBI. 

I wonder, has Christopher Wray been fired yet? I haven't checked Twitter all that much today, but I can't imagine he's going to be the current Director of the FBI for a whole lot longer. 

Then came Thursday, and a new feature, Email of the Week. This replaces my social media experiment with the Democratic presidential candidates. Instead of regaling you with how many requests for money they sent, I'll share one current or former candidate's email each week. Beto O'Rourke had the winner this week, talking about George Washington, Donald Trump, and the place where we find ourselves right now.

Despite his flagrant abuse of the public trust (none of the key facts are in dispute, in part because he has so openly flouted the law and the constitution), Donald Trump has faced no consequences from his own political party. Like a cult of personality, Republican members of Congress have prioritized their leader over their country and their oath to defend the Constitution. 

And happily, I made it to Friday - TGIF and all - where most of good week/bad week stuff was, not surprisingly, related to the impeachment process, with words of wisdom from the Constitution and from Alexander Hamilton.  And, there was of course Greta Thunberg who was named Time's Person of the Year, and there was the child who wasn't.

Greta Thunberg was Time's Person of the Year for 2019, beating out the president and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. Here's why the teenaged climate activist was chosen. Donald Trump, who (a) covets recognition in all forms (say my name, say my name);  and (b) faked and displayed a Time cover of himself at his properties, won in 2016, attacked Thunberg after her victory.

Next week is going to be even more crazy - there'll be governing, and there'll be impeaching, and there'll be Wondering, and a debate, and who knows what else will catch my eye.

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