Wondering on Wednesday 4/17/24

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

So far, seven jurors have been seated in former president Donald Trump's election interference trial. 

Trump loves that the media keeps referring to it as a 'hush money' trial instead of an election interference trial, because we all know he's against election interference. And if people thought that's what he was on trial for, they might not want to buy his Bible or something. 

I wonder, though - and not for the first time - why the media constantly plays right into his hands by dumbing everything down and going for clicks. There must be some unwritten rule they follow - and it's all of them, all the time. It does a massive disservice to us, and to their profession. 

Trump loves to attack everyone who opposes him, on everything, and his MAGA Campers fall in line with him on that. Everyone's fair game on the interwebs, especially Stormy Daniels, who was paid to keep quiet about her relationship with Trump. 

I don't think they expected her to fight back, but she does. One of his supporters posted, "Stormy Daniels is a parasite that would sell anything for a dollar," to which she replied, "Not true. I wouldn't sell Bibles."  I'm not really wondering much about this; rather, I'm enjoying picturing a 400-pound guy, wearing golden Trump sneakers and full MAGA regalia, sitting on his bed sulking because a stripper got the best of him.

*****     *****     ***** 

Speaking of trials, the House GOP finally figured out how to get to the Senate chambers, and the eleven managers strolled across the hall with the Articles of Impeachment against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, kicking off the impeachment process in the Senate. 

So far, they've voted on having a floor debate on why a trial is needed (defeated); a motion to debate the articles in closed session (defeated); amendments to move to closed session (defeated), and to adjourn (defeated); a motion to block a motion to kill the first article (defeated); a vote to kill the first Article (passed); another motion to go to closed session (defeated); and a motion to adjourn (defeated). 

One of the motions to adjourn, made by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), requested adjournment until "May 1, 2004," which brought a bit of levity to the floor. Kennedy corrected the year to 2024 while allowing that the earlier date was "probably preferable."

After that motion was defeated, another one was put up that would have the Senate adjourn until November 6th - the day after election day. I wonder if anyone will be able to top the stupidity of that.

I think it's safe to say the GOP's effort to 'get Biden' by impeaching one of his Cabinet secretaries is not going to succeed, not that I wondered for a moment that it would. 

*****     *****     *****

Remember when Republicans were all up in arms about states potentially keeping Trump off the ballot? Here's a reminder, featuring New Hampshire Republican Party chairman Chris Ager:

Whatever happened to letting the people decide? Let’s let the people decide, and let’s have a free, fair, open donnybrook of an election, and whoever wins, let’s rally behind them and move the country forward. 

Well, the Ohio GOP seems pretty comfortable with ballot-blocking now. Candidates need to be certified by August 7th. Because the Democratic National Convention isn't until August 19th, the Democrats offered to provisionally certify the Biden/Harris ticket, noting that it had already secured the votes to win the nomination. They used the same argument as the GOP did.

If President Biden and Vice President Harris are not listed on the ballot as the Democratic Party candidates, their supporters in Ohio will be stripped of the opportunity to associate with their preferred candidate.

There's no option for provisional certification, according to the state's Attorney General; the best hope is for legislative action by May 9th, allowing an exemption to the deadline. There's precedent for this - it just happened in 2020, when both parties had late conventions, and the legislature did the right thing. But this is 2024, and the times are very different.

I think it's a Democratic problem, Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told reporters last week. There should have to be a Democratic solution. That hasn't been proposed to me.

Is it any wonder so many people think our elected officials are hypocritical jerks? 

*****     *****     *****

Speaking of hypocrites, let's look at Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who seems to have issues with protestors, or at least, with protestors who block traffic while calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. If they were on a bridge in his state, he suggested that civilians should take matters into their own hands and toss them over the side.

He doesn't seem to have the same feelings about the January 6th protestors, though. Cotton was part of a group of GOP Congressmen that filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to throw out the obstruction charge brought against many of those protestors, suggesting that it was too harsh. The charge can result in a 20-year sentence, rather than a kinder, gentler one that would result in a sentence of a year or so, "that is frequently used against most protesters who disrupt Congress."

I can't help wondering how many of those "most protestors" did the same thing as the J6 gang did? How many others have assaulted police officers on their way to 'disrupt Congress,' other than the J6 gang? And I wonder how many other protestors wore body armor and brought bear spray, zip ties, and other assorted goodies in their protest kits? 

*****     *****     *****

Come with me to Arizona, where Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the so-called "Ten Commandments" bill, which would have allowed teachers and administrators to display and read the Ten Commandments in school buildings. Hobbs said she had concerns about the constitutionality of, and the need for, the bill.

Enter Sen. Anthony Kern (R-MAGA Hypocrite), who said

I'm appalled the state's top elected official is abandoning God and the very foundation our country was built upon by not allowing teachers to expose their students to the morals and ethics outlined in the Ten Commandments... When children are exposed to good, noble, honest, and righteous ideas, they are more prone to being better human beings with sound character, able to navigate life's problems with grace, and have a greater chance of treating each other with respect and dignity throughout life.

Kern was present at the January 6th riot, and "his own social media posts strongly suggest" he "actively encouraged the mob, both before and after the attack..."  He was a fake Trump elector, and he tried to get the state's official slate of electors overturned.

I have to wonder whether he wasn't exposed to "good, noble, honest, and righteous ideas," or if he just failed to learn from them.

What's on your wondering mind tonight? 

TGIF 2/16/24

What a busy few days we've had! Here are my good week and bad week lists. 

Jon Stewart returned to the host's chair on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and I thought he did fine. Of course, I'm not afraid of pointing out shortcomings on the Dem side of the aisle, just as I'm not afraid of pointing them out on the aisle's other side.

House Speaker Mike Johnson may think he had a good week, but I beg to differ. First, there was the declaration that the Senate's tripartisan border bill would be DOA in the House; then, the House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a purely partisan effort (even though he pretended that wasn't the case). And then? Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, won the special election for the NY-3 seat previously held by serial liar George Santos.

About that loss, many House Republicans are venting their frustrations about the decision to expel Santos back in December. Ethically challenged Matt Gaetz is one of course; and so is Texas Rep. Troy Nehls, who declared "...the only way you can win elections, is that you have to get into the slop with the pigs," or at least don't kick them out of the House.

Speaking of pigs, Colorado's Rep. Ken Buck referenced the same hoofed mammal as Nehls did when he explained his 'no' vote on the Mayorkas impeachment.

You can try to put lipstick on this pig, but it's still a pig. And this is a terrible impeachment. It sets a terrible precedent. The first impeachment of Donald Trump was a bad impeachment. And we've got to stop this in this body, or we are going to - further lose our credibility with the American public. 

And, sticking with the bad impeachment theme, Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, saw another of his key Biden investigation witnesses get in trouble. This time, it was Alexander Smirnov, who was charged with lying to the FBI about Joe and Hunter Biden each being paid $5M by Burisma executives in 2015 or 2016.  

Last time, it was Gal Luft, head of a think tank, who alleged that the Bidens received payments from the Chinese, and that Hunter had a mole in the FBI. Luft is a wanted fugitive, indicted for arms trafficking, being an unregistered foreign agent, and other charges.

Sir Paul McCartney's week ended on a high note: his missing bass has been found. It was stolen in 1972 from a roadie's van. According to the folks responsible for tracking it down, it'll need some work before it can be played again. You can read more about the instrument, the search, and how it was found at The Lost Bass Project. 

And finally, Donald Trump was handed another nine-figure penalty by a judge, and NY AG Letitia James attempted to be funny with a Valentine's Day poem that was neither particularly funny, nor particularly poetic. And yes, I know most folks will say James had a good week, but we'll see what happens on appeal.

Who made your lists this week?

Wondering on Wednesday 2/7/24

Ready... set... wonder!

When the media reports that Joe Biden "easily won" a Democratic primary, I wonder why we don't know who he defeats. I know other candidates are in the race, but you'd think the media was totally unaware, given how infrequently they're mentioned.  And I wonder why they always mentioned other folks on the Republican caucus and primary ballots (at least until yesterday's meaningless primary in Nevada). 

The primary was meaningless, you see, because Nevada has both a Republican primary, which doesn't result in delegates being awarded, and a Republican caucus two days later, which does. Obviously, I can't help wondering why the state GOP thought it was a good idea to have both; the Dems don't. 

Haley lost to 'none of these candidates' - the first time any candidate has lost to 'none' since the option became available in 1975.  My last bit of wondering on this is simply this: why don't we all have that ballot option?

This morning, former president Trump woke up for the first time having been told he's not special - he's just a citizen, like the rest of us. And I wondered, briefly, if there's any ketchup left at Mar-a-Lago. Nah, I'm kidding - I know there's not. Seriously though, I do wonder what the Supreme Court will do if Trump files an appeal of the Yes, You Have No Immunity decision by Monday's deadline. I sincerely hope that they don't take up the appeal on this one, but we can't be sure of that.

In my Ranting and Raving post yesterday, I included a link to an article in which Tennessee's Rep. Mark Green was named as the guy who called Trump 'Orange Jesus'. I don't wonder if someone said it, and it doesn't matter to me whether it was Mark Green, or Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, or someone else. What's more concerning, and what causes my wondering, is the number of people who seem to believe the name fits.

Yesterday, the House failed to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS Secretary. Rep. Al Green of Texas left his hospital bed and, with some medical people tagging along, cast the tying vote, which was enough to kill the measure. The final tally was 214 -216, allowing another vote later. Speaker Mike Johnson said that the vote was a "setback" and that "democracy is messy," and "sometimes when you're counting votes, and people show up when they're not expected to be in the building, it changes the equation." I'm wondering how big Rep. Al Green's smile was after hearing that!

Not to be outdone by the mess in the lower chamber, the Senate failed to advance the bipartisan immigration bill, which fell 49-50, with both Rs and Ds voting 'no.' And, it postponed a vote on a bill that would provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. I'm wondering if the actions we've seen over the last few days are what people are talking about when they say America looks foolish and inept in the eyes of the world.

There's always more, but that feels like a good place to stop. What's on your wondering minds these days?

Wondering on Wednesday 6/8/22

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Today was the day that the House Oversight Committee welcomed testimony on guns and mass shootings and murdered children, and kinda sorta welcomed alternative voices, too. 

It was also the day that a California man was apprehended near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house. Allegedly the man wanted to kill Kavanaugh, was upset about the leak of the Alito draft overturning Roe, and concerned that the Court would loosen gun laws.

In response, the Senate's Grim Reaper, Mitch McConnell (R-Someplace Dark and Cold in Kentucky) declared that the House must pass the Supreme Court Security Bill, because the justices need protection now!

House Democrats have spent weeks blocking the measure that passed here unanimously related to security for Supreme Court justices. That needs to change, and it needs to change right now… No more fiddling around with this… They need to stop their multi-week blockade against the Supreme court security bill and pass it before the sun sets today.

The guy was arrested, his weapons confiscated, and no one was hurt. And so, I find myself wondering why we need more laws, when we can just enforce the laws we have? 

If that's the answer whenever we talk about trying to make changes to gun laws to protect innocent children, concert-goers, grocery shoppers, prayer groups, church attendees, movie watchers, doctors and nurses and other health care professionals, and more, why isn't that the answer for SCOTUS justices?  

And then, there are all those bills that have gone to die in the Senate under McConnell's "leadership." I wonder, how many Americans could have been helped by those, and why they collectively matter so much less than Kavanaugh?

Wondering on Wednesday 7/7/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

What in the wondering world is going on tonight? Let's take a look.

The embattled president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in his home early this morning, and his widow has been flown to Miami in critical condition. Meanwhile, on the interwebs, fingers immediately pointed to Bill and Hillary Clinton as the culprits. The wondering here? How on earth did Hunter Biden escape blame?

There's a lot of speculation on what GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Afraid of Trump) will do about the House Select Committee on the insurrection. Will he appoint RWNJs like Marjorie Greene (R-Jewish Space Lasers), Lauren Boebert (R-OK Corral) and Matt Gaetz (R-Where's Nestor?)? Or maybe #FormerGuy favorite Jim Jordan (R-Coatless in Ohio), one wonders? Or, will he try and appoint people who might actually acquit themselves as serious members of Congress? 

One thing I am wondering about is why Nancy Pelosi (D-I Swear I Won't Run for Speaker Again) decided that three of the eight Dems on the Committee needed to be former impeachment managers. Is there no one other than Adam Schiff (D-I Don't Know When to Stop Talking) who could participate? You remember him, the guy who told the fun stories before anything even got started in the first impeachment? Couldn't she have done better, I wonder, in making this look less partisan? Or doesn't she even care anymore?

Former Guy sued social media companies Facebook, Google, and Twitter today, claiming in part that they are 'state actors' and therefore subject to the First Amendment. Red meat for his base, a comedic goldmine for his critics, and a continuation of his propensity for lawsuits. Says Santa Clara University law school professor Eric Goldman, Trump

is playing a standard media game. It fits into a broader pattern of the former president bringing lawsuits and then not vigorously pursuing them.

As always, we're left wondering what his 'news' is supposed to distract us from - maybe the tax-evasion case against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, his CFO? Or the fact that even Fox News doesn't broadcast his rallies?

We collectively fell short of President Biden's goal of 70% of American adults having at least one dose of a COVID vaccine by July 4th., landing at around 67%. So, instead of having big vaccination sites that are being underused, the new plan is to meet people where they are - going door-to-door to learn about - and counter - vaccine hesitancy; making sure primary care physicians  and pediatricians have vaccines available; and using mobile vaccination clinics, among other things. 

Response to these ideas is mixed, with the usual suspects on both sides acting as we expected they would. So, what's the wondering? Is there anything that will convince more people to get vaccinated? What if we told them the virus really did originate in a Wuhan lab, not a wet market (whether that's true, or not) - would that work? Or, maybe instead of offering a college scholarship, or a million bucks, we gave everyone a gun and a year's supply of ammo - would that work?

What are you wondering about?

Sunday School 2/14/21

For your Sunday School today, I sat in as four of the House Impeachment managers made classroom visits.

Let's start with Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), who talked with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union.

Plaskett called the 57-43 vote "heartbreaking" for everyone involved, including the American people; at the same time, she was thankful that it was the most bipartisan vote to convict we've ever had.

About the decision not to call Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (D-WA) or to subpoena her notes, Plaskett said

I know that people are feeling a lot of angst and believe that maybe, if we had this, the senators would have done what we wanted. But, listen, we didn't need more witnesses. We needed more senators with spines.

Tapper wondered if Senate Dems pressured them about calling witnesses. She didn't agree with that.

I think the idea was, we had sufficient evidence to prove that the president did what we said he did, which was incite an insurrection to overthrow our government, to retain power for himself. And there was overwhelming evidence of that... And the nonsense that the defense put out did not dispute that. 

Plaskett didn't offer an opinion on whether the Biden administration should pursue criminal charges, but did say "...God bless the attorney general of Georgia, New York, district attorney's office here in D.C. as well."

Next up? Lead Manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD); he visited Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. 

Todd had three questions. First, should they have investigated more, since they couldn't start the trial before Trump left office? Raskin said they used their extra two weeks (the trial started later than it was supposed to) and noted no one said they didn't make their case.

Next, witnesses. Raskin said they brought that topic up when the rules allowed, and that Herrera Beutler's official statement was just issued the night before. As to other people, they didn't know what anyone (Kevin McCarthy, for example) was going to say if they were deposed.

Last, would dereliction of duty have been a better charge? He said no matter which way they had done it, the Rs would have looked for and found a reason to fault the decision, as they did with the insurrection charge.

I mean, you know, you can always come up with a lawyer's argument to get to where you want to go. And they did not honestly confront the reality of what happened to America, which was Donald Trump incited a violent mob to attack the Congress of the United States...we have no regrets at all. 

And, before he asked people to "hang tough for democracy," he said 

... you know, there's no reasoning with people who basically are acting like members of a religious cult and when they leave office should be selling flowers at Dulles Airport.

Hear, hear.

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) was in the This Week classroom with George Stephanopoulos, who noticed that each of the managers got emotional at one point or another. Dean said it was a "solemn honor" tobe in the Senate, and

It felt like the gravity of the Constitution was resting on our shoulders. Many have said that the Constitution is a precious thing, that democracy a precious thing and it's fragile. So, what we did, and I think we did very well, was we put forward the strongest case based on the evidence and the law, and the responsibility of this president, that the president just absolutely abandoned his oath.

She also noted that, after watching each senator stand and vote, she thinks "history will remember" Mitch McConnell speaking out of both sides of his mouth. She said she'd rather stay in her lane and leave the conversation about criminal charges to the experts.

Dean said the president's lawyers "really struggled," adding

I think the world witnessed that. They struggled with their own credibility. They absolutely struggled with legal arguments. They struggled to understand or even recognize the gravity of the evidence. I thought their performance reflected really their client.

George asked if a 9/11-style commission should be pursued, and she was clear: 

Of course there must be a full commission, an impartial commission, not guided by politics but filled with people who would stand up to the courage of their conviction like Dr. Cassidy [one of the seven Rs who voted to convict.}

Finally, Colorado's Rep. Joe Neguse joined Margaret Brennan in the Face the Nation classroom. Brennan referenced part of his closing argument, when he said " extremist groups may be emboldened and the violence on the 6th may just be the beginning."  He said he was pointing to

a real fear that I think many Americans have after witnessing the terrible violence that happened on January 6th and the insurrection that took place on our nation's -- our nation's Capitol that without accountability, that many of these groups could very well become more emboldened and perhaps engage in-- in more violence.

And to her question about witnesses, he offered

...whether it was five more witnesses or five thousand witnesses, it is very clear that the senators who voted to acquit on a technicality, which was the jurisdictional argument... It would not have made a difference to those senators. 

He disagreed that Kevin McCarthy told the full story of his conversation with Trump, and it wasn't until Rep. Herrera Beutler's statement that they learned what really happened. Neguse also said that "witnesses that were not friendly to the prosecution were not going to comply voluntarily, which meant-- that we would be litigating subpoenas for months or potentially years."
 
The final question? Brennan noted that Neguse looked "right at Leader McConnell" during his closing remarks and asked if ever thought he'd be able to persuade McConnell to convict. He said he was hopeful.

You know, I-- look, I care a great deal about this country. As the son of immigrants and someone who's, you know, been given so many freedoms and opportunities here in the United States, I was hopeful that every senator would ultimately vote to do the right thing. And I'm glad-- I'm grateful that seven of them on the Republican side did that. Obviously, history will be the judge of the rest.

One can only hope that history will judge them, and harshly. 

See you around campus. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. You know the drill. 

In Case You Missed It (v73)

Here's your recap of last week's posts.

Sunday School brought us an MTP interview with California's Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead manager on Trump's first impeachment, talking about the managers for Trump's second impeachment, which ended yesterday, pretty much in the way we all knew it would. 

Schiff said that the managers for Trump II need to present all the facts, and not presume that everyone - including all senators - are familiar with the full breadth of what the former president did over the course of many months leading up to January 6th. He's confident they'll be able to tell the story.

Tell the story they did. - better than Schiff told his story when it was his turn, IMO.

For your Extra Credit, I highlighted Wyoming's Rep. Liz Cheney, she who won a vote of support from her caucus after issuing perhaps the most scathing Republican condemnation of the twice-impeached insurrection inciter. But, that's water over the damn, under the bridge and down the toilet.

Cheney talked with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, and said she's not resigning, as her state party requested when they censured her for "betraying the trust of Wyoming voters." 

The censure language indicated people still believe that BLM and Antifa were behind the Capitol insurrection. She said they've got a lot of work to do, and she blamed Trump and his lies for that.

We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth, that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024.

Apparently, lots of people in her party don't believe that being the party of truth matters. Not only that, but far too many of them, including the ghastly GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, are willing to continue relying on Trump to help with their future goals. 

I wrapped up my Sonofa Gov's State of the State this week, not an easy task. In the first of three Meanwhile Back in Albany (MBIA) posts, I focused on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan for moving forward in a pandemic and post-pandemic world.

Now it's time to start looking ahead with the same toughness, the same smarts, the same unity, the same discipline, and the same love that brought us through last year. 

2021 will be a year of continued challenges, transformation, and change. We will need to adjust to the new social and economic realities of the post-COVID world.

Expanding on his Day 1 message, he spoke of having to reopening New York "smartly and safely." It's not an either/or thing, it's a "a new model of balance" using science and technology to do things intelligently. 

As Tuesday rolled around, bringing us the opening of the impeachment trial, I dropped a Poll Watch.

The Senate will have a split vote on whether it's even constitutional to impeach him, with the Rs likely ignoring, for the second time in two weeks, that it was their own rules that made it impossible to impeach him before his term ended. 

We will go through the motions: the Rs will claim the impeachment is dividing the country, and Ds will say that Trump continues to pose a clear and present danger to everything that's good and wholesome, so he must be prevented from ever holding office again. Pundits will wear their best outfits, the networks will have their impeachment background music, and when it's over, everything is supposed to be OK. 

But will everything be OK? Here's some info from a recent Quinnipiac poll illustrating where we stand right now, on impeachment and some other measures of 'OK-ness.'

The results? We're afraid for our democracy, we're afraid of violence, and we're afraid we're stuck in a partisan nightmare. 

Moving on to the third day of Cuomo's SOTS, I dropped another MBIA; this one focused on the greening of New York. In his words, 

As is true in so many major issues of our time, the challenge is to close the societal and governmental gap between aspirations and accomplishment, between rhetoric and reality, between saying and doing. Offering hope of a tomorrow that never comes is one of the main causes of our social unrest and distrust in government. We are just not making enough actual progress. Why? Because change is hard.

Have no fear, though: "As the world economy resets, and as change is a necessity, there is an opportunity to raise our efforts to the next level - and New York should seize this moment." And, we can seize the rhetorical moment, too: Cuomo noted that "candles cannot power the future." 

We're going to stick a fork in fossil fuels, or something, via a four-pronged approach. 

And, finally, the fourth and last MBIA, in which the Sonofa Gov spoke of when we used to lead, and how he wants us to be leaders again.

It's a long-taught lesson, he said, but without focus on the "ancillary" benefits - a collective lifted spirit, a belief in the future, and how those inspire economic confidence and stimulus. FDR, Cuomo said, understood that, and the Sonofa Gov wants us to understand that, too. And, don't forget, FDR was a New Yorker, and New Yorkers understand big ideas, and build big things.

Our country has lost its ambition, he said. Other countries "developed around us," and built the cool stuff - the largest high-speed rail network (China), the longest tunnel (Europe) and even the Middle East is "turning barren desert into economic engines."

He's got monster plans for building, across all three parts of the state: NYC, Long Island, and the vast thing called 'upstate.' 

Turning back to impeachment, I was inspired by lead House Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who did a better-than-admirable job with the task he had. I was inspired by his recollection of the Voltaire 'absurdities...atrocities' quote, and how Trump turned so many into believers, with the inevitable end promised by Voltaire. 

All the absurdities, every single one of them, was believed. He was convincing in the telling, in the repetition, in the challenge, in the call to action. He is nothing if not relentless, nothing if not convincing, and they were ready and willing to be convinced, to be led, to obey the call. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He made them believe the absurdities, and when he asked, the atrocities followed. To the end, they were hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

Who are 'they,' you ask? Who are the believers? They're not just his MAGA people - they're in the House and the Senate, too. The Republicans own them, now - don't be a believer when they tell you otherwise. 

And finally, it was time for a slightly unconventional TGIF, in which I focused on the last evidentiary day of the impeachment, and Trump's lawyers and their defense, if you could call it that, of the former president.  

That the lawyers managed to complain about the fancy media company the House Managers used to create their slick video, and then turn around and do exactly the same thing, but even slicker and, if I heard it right, with music, and Madonna, and Johnny Depp, was indicative of how little defense they had, and how little defense they presented in their time today. 

Oh, there was lots of emphasis on Trump's one statement of asking for people to be peaceful, as if the continuum of his incitement began and ended on that phrase on January 6th. I thought Rudy Giuliani was a bad lawyer, but these guys are giving him a run for their money. 

I closed with post, and the week, with this: 

Soon, we'll know officially that the Republicans are still afraid of Trump, and what he can do to their careers, and there will be an acquittal. The only thing we don' t know is, how many Rs will vote to convict. I hope some of them find the courage to do so; maybe the ones who've already declared they're not running next time?

Good week? Bad week? You pick.

We now know the answer to my question: seven. Senators Richard Burr (NC), Bill Cassidy (LA), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AL), Mitt Romney (UT), Ben Sasse (NE), and Pat Toomey (PA) voted to convict Trump of "the gravest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of this country," to quote Rep. Cheney. Burr and Toomey have already announced they're not seeking re-election.

You're all caught up. See you later for Sunday School.

TGIF 2/12/21

Jiminy Cricket, it's Friday already?

I don't know about you, but I laughed when former president Trump's new favorite lawyer blurted out the name of a decades-old Disney character this afternoon. 

And it wasn't the only time that I laughed during the 'defense' of 45, which was primarily arguing about old court cases, showing a slick video of Democrats speaking people who were not armed insurrectionists, saying the word 'fight' over and over and over and over. I'd keep saying 'and over' as many times as were in the video but that'd be more than 200, I heard (yes, someone counted them).

That the lawyers managed to complain about the fancy media company the House Managers used to create their slick video, and then turn around and do exactly the same thing, but even slicker and, if I heard it right, with music, and Madonna, and Johnny Depp, was indicative of how little defense they had, and how little defense they presented in their time today. 

Oh, there was lots of emphasis on Trump's one statement of asking for people to be peaceful, as if the continuum of his incitement began and ended on that phrase on January 6th. I thought Rudy Giuliani was a bad lawyer, but these guys are giving him a run for their money. 

That said, Trump has to LOVE how they did today, after being taken out behind the woodshed by Ted "your wife is ugly and your father killed JFK" Cruz and Lindsey "I'm Trump's Chump" Graham and Mike "Yeah, that was my phone, but I wasn't holding it and didn't listen" Lee and a couple others, too. The collusion between those who swore to do impartial justice and the lawyers who, I'm convinced, have never spoken to their client in person, is both comical and embarrassing. 

They were indignant and blustery, turning to Michael van der Veen, he of the Jiminy Cricket comment to kick things off. David Schoen spent his time accusing the House Managers of withholding evidence and selectively editing tweets and videos, and he did the same thing he accused them of doing. If that's not straight out of the Trump playbook, I don't know what is. 

The comment about withholding evidence appears to be false, according to multiple reports, but that didn't seem to matter to them. And Bruce Castor just sort of repeated everything the other two said, adding more showings of the fight club video, and dropped some of the Right's favorite catch phrases, talking about 'cancel culture' and 'law and order' and the Dems are afraid of Trump, and so on.

Question time was a mixed bag; other than Rep. Raskin, the House Managers talked too much and missed their opportunities to answer questions directly. It was unfortunate that they blew it on those. On the Trump side, there was more indignation and bluster and a couple of bonehead moves, including van der Veen talking about "his worst experience in Washington," a foolish statement which Raskin easily deflected, apologizing for the lawyer's bad day and suggesting that van der Veen should have been there on the 6th of January.

Soon, we'll know officially that the Republicans are still afraid of Trump, and what he can do to their careers, and there will be an acquittal. The only thing we don' t know is, how many Rs will vote to convict. I hope some of them find the courage to do so; maybe the ones who've already declared they're not running next time?

Good week? Bad week? You pick.

TGIF, everyone.

He Made Them Believe His Absurdities

All his absurdities, no matter how absurd, were believed by people who felt only he understood them, only he understood what was wrong, and only he could fix it. 

Those were among the first of the absurdities to surface, to be believed, and nowhere near the last, that had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

The violence, the hate, the racism, the sexism, the five-mile-wide mean streak. The attacks - the relentless attacks, years of attacks - had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him. 

He's like us, they said. He talks like we do. He's not politically correct, and he doesn't take any crap from anyone. He is just like us, the 'everyman' billionaire, and he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He hated losing, he refused to lose, it was not possible for him to lose. He promised winning, so much winning we'd be tired of it, and yet, they never tired, even when the winning was clearly losing, even when the winning was a lie. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

Look at me, he said, look at the crowds at my rallies, look at my social media accounts - everybody loves Trump, he said, and I love you, he told them. He basked in their love, they basked in his. Very good people, he called them, the people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him. 

The media is evil, they are enemies of the people, they are fake news, even when there was proof of him saying what he said, doing what he did, telling the lies, the tens of thousands of lies, saying the people who proved he lied were the liars, and he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He assailed people of faith, attacked peoples' families, mocked peoples' looks, sneered at their beliefs, made fun of their heritage. He made a mockery of every tradition, every practice, he didn't even bother going through the motions half the time. He said everything he ever did was perfect, everyone said so, it's all been looked at, he has no need to apologize, it was all perfect, so perfect, and he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him. 

Nothing was too absurd to be believed. No one could ever get more votes than he got, it was not possible. He got more votes than any other president. He could not lose unless the election was rigged. And it will be rigged, he said, because he knew he would lose when Joe Biden became the nominee. Had it been anyone else, he would have won, but it was Joe Biden, and he knew he couldn't beat him. He needed a story, he made one up, and he told it, over and over and over. And he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

The Big Lie - the election was rigged - was the absurdity to beat all absurdities. How is it possible that only his line on the ballot was rigged? How is it possible that all those Republican election officials rigged the election against the man they wanted to win? It is, truly, impossible to believe. And still, he had people hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

They were the patriots, they were the real Americans, they were the ones he was fighting for, he deserved to have them fighting for him. He deserved them and they deserved him. They were eager to fight for him, because he was fighting for them. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

All the absurdities, every single one of them, was believed. He was convincing in the telling, in the repetition, in the challenge, in the call to action. He is nothing if not relentless, nothing if not convincing, and they were ready and willing to be convinced, to be led, to obey the call. He had them hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

He made them believe the absurdities, and when he asked, the atrocities followed. To the end, they were hanging on his every word, hanging on to him.

Poll Watch: Democracy, Extremism and More

And so, it begins (again). 

The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins today, with an almost certain outcome already known, as it was the first time he was impeached a year ago. 

The Senate will have a split vote on whether it's even constitutional to impeach him, with the Rs likely ignoring, for the second time in two weeks, that it was their own rules that made it impossible to impeach him before his term ended. 

We will go through the motions: the Rs will claim the impeachment is dividing the country, and Ds will say that Trump continues to pose a clear and present danger to everything that's good and wholesome, so he must be prevented from ever holding office again. Pundits will wear their best outfits, the networks will have their impeachment background music, and when it's over, everything is supposed to be OK. 

But will everything be OK? Here's some info from a recent Quinnipiac poll illustrating where we stand right now, on impeachment and some other measures of 'OK-ness.'

First, the small print: the survey was conducted by live interviewers calling both land lines and cell phones from 1/28 - 2/1/21. There were 1,057 participants, 35% of whom identified as independents, 31% Democrat and 23% Republican. The margin of error is +/- 3%.

Now, to the survey.

Only 22% of respondents believe that democracy is alive and well in the US, while 71% say it's under threat and 7% don't know.

• Republicans (85%) are more pessimistic than Dems (67%), Independents (70%), men (72%), women (71%), and people with (80%) and without (75%) four-year college degrees. 
• Younger adults - the 18-34 demographic - are the least pessimistic, with only 58% thinking democracy is under threat; the 65+ cohort is the most pessimistic (80%).

Fully 75% of respondents are concerned about continued violence in the US by extremist groups emboldened by the insurrection at the US Capitol, with 48% saying they are very concerned, and 27% somewhat concerned. Another 22% of respondents expressed less concern (9% not so concerned, 13% not concerned at all).

• Democrats (70%), women (54%), and four-year college grads (51%) lead the very concerned bucket; Republicans (21%), men (18%) and Independents and non-degree holders (16% each) lead the 'not concerned at all' groups. 
• Women are more concerned than men. 82% of white women are concerned, with 55% very concerned; 80% of non-white women are concerned, with 52% saying they're very concerned. The least concerned? White men, at 34% (21% not at all concerned).
• Just 50% of the 18-34 expressed any concern, while 84% of seniors did.

We're not optimistic on the partisan divide, either. 72% of respondents expect partisan divisions in the country to stay the same (33%) or get worse (39%), with only 20% thinking the divisions are going to decrease. Democrats are the most optimistic; nearly three quarters think it will stay the same (40%) or get better (34%). Not surprisingly, the least optimistic are the Rs; nearly 2/3 (63%) think it's going to get worse. 

• Women are twice as optimistic as men in thinking it'll get better (26% to 13%) and white women are more than twice as optimistic as white men (28% to 12%).
• Meanwhile, 50% of white men think it's going to get worse; they're the only demographic, other than Republicans, that reaches that mark.

And, finally, on the day's hot topic? Half of all respondents believe the Senate should convict former president Trump, while 45% disagree. Not surprisingly, there's a wide swath of disagreement between Ds and Rs - 86% of the latter say no, and 86% of the former say yes.

• At least half of each age bucket say yes: the 35-49 and 50-64 are right at 50%, with the 18-34 gang 1% higher and the 65+ cohort 2% higher. 
• The most conflicted groups? Independents (49% say convict, 45% say no, and 6% don't know or didn't answer) and the 50-64 age bucket (50%, 47%, and 3%).
• Trump's steadfast supporters - men, whites, and non-college educated folks - are supporting him on this. 53% of all men, 64% of white men, 53% of non-white men, and 60% of those without four-year degrees say he should not be convicted.

My overarching take on this? It seems the people who are most involved in the current spate of extremism, and in fomenting the divide, are the ones who are the least optimistic that things are going to get better. They're the same people - Republicans and white men in particular - who could start acting differently, and help push the needle in a positive direction.

Does that excuse the Dems? Good lord, no - of course not! I would never let them off the hook, believe me. But they are not the party of the cannibalistic deep state pedophiles. They are not the conspiracy theorists. They are not the group that sought to 'liberate' Michigan and other states. They are not the people who tried to cajole election officials to "find 11,780 votes" so that their candidate could win. They are not the people of the fearless leader who abandoned his most loyal supporter, leaving him to an unruly mob looking to hang him. 

The Dems have their own problems, and they are many. But the Rs have a bigly ownership stake in the state of things in the country right now, and to date most of them don't seem to understand that, or care enough to do anything about it. Oh sure, the few who have thrown in the towel and announced they're not running for office again are taking a stand, of sorts. But the rest of them are too busy censuring each other, trying to force each other to resign, and threatening to primary anyone who doesn't still and always support Donald Trump. 

We deserve better from all of them, for sure, but we mostly deserve much better from the Rs right now, and I'm not optimistic they're going to rise to the occasion. 

I'd be thrilled if they proved me wrong.  

Sunday School 2/7/21: Extra Credit

As I promised in my Sunday School post, I've got Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for you today, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Trump), but well start with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY). 

Cheney talked with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, and said she's not resigning, as her state party requested when they censured her for "betraying the trust of Wyoming voters." 

The censure language indicated people still believe that BLM and Antifa were behind the Capitol insurrection. She said they've got a lot of work to do, and she blamed Trump and his lies for that.

We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth, that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024.

She also said the Dems had no business getting involved in which Rs sit on committees; the Rs should have dealt with that.

Wallace asked if she'd vote to convict Trump in the impeachment. She said she'd listen to the evidence, but added there's a "massive criminal investigation underway. There will be a massive criminal investigation of everything that happened on January 6th and in the days before."

People will want to know exactly what the president was doing. They want to know, for example, whether the tweet he sent out calling Vice President Pence a coward while the attack was underway, whether that tweet, for example, was a premeditated effort to provoke violence... there will be many, many criminal investigations looking at every aspect of this and everyone who was involved, as there should be.

She said "I obviously believe... that what we already know is enough" to impeach him, and that there's no looking past what happened, no pretending that it didn't happen, no trying to move on. "We've got to make sure this never happens again."  

So far, she's not a fan of the new administration. She described the first few days as being "heartbreaking in many ways," and called the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline "heartless." The Rs must "stand up and fight back against the kind of far-left governing" they've seen so far, she said.

Let's go down the hall to the This Week classroom for George Stephanopoulos' chat with Mr. Secretary, aka Mayor Pete. The conversation started with the COVID relief plan, which Buttigieg said was both important and something that Americans - including Republicans - strongly support. He downplayed the comments on the recovery plan made by Larry Summer, noting that other economists feel the plan is what we need to grow jobs. And, he wants to avoid what happened after the Great Recession.

And part of what was a real struggle the last time we faced a major economic challenge in 2009, was a sense that there needed to -- if there had been more political will in Washington to do more, the economy might have recovered more quickly. 

Paying for his infrastructure agenda could run into partisan arguments, but he said these investments can pay for themselves, with enormous payback for the American people. He said it's clear people are impatient with "the idea of 'infrastructure week' turning into a punch line" and that lots of ideas on how to pay for the programs surfaced during his confirmation hearings. Not only that, but

...we also have a historic moment on our hands where we’ve realized just how critical these needs are. We can't keep kicking the can down the road and while it's not going to be easy to come to terms on exactly how to sustainably fund it, we know once again, with the economic urgency, the interest rate environment and the gathering political will that we can actually make this happen. And I think it's a great example of bipartisan priority. And if we get it right, it might pull other things along too.

Let's close with Margaret Brennan and Graham on Face the Nation. Their conversation started with foreign policy, and Graham said he'd caution President Biden not to get rid of stuff just because it's a Trump policy. They need to review things to determine if they're working, and if yes, leave them alone.

He hasn't spoken with Biden, but he has spoken to Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and is happy with the approach on Afghanistan, including leaving troops there beyond Trump's May deadline. Graham says he hopes that the administration will look at a bill he and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have proposed that will the Iranians as much nuclear power as they want, but they wouldn't be allowed to enrich it. 

On the hottest of hot topics, Graham said that what Trump did around the insurrection "is not a crime," and further, that "many people had already planned the - to attack the Capitol" before Trump ever spoke back in January, so impeaching him for incitement is wrong.

He said if people think Trump committed a crime, "he can be prosecuted like any other citizen." Impeachment is a political process, and "we've never impeached a president once they're out of office."

I think this is a very bad idea... It's not a question of how the trial ends. It's a question of when it ends... And the only question is... how long does the trial take? But the outcome is really not in doubt. That doesn't mean what happened on January the 6th was okay. It means his impeachment, in the eyes of most Republicans, is an unconstitutional exercise.

He seemed to suggest that Trump was impeached for the wrong thing. Brennan reminded Graham that he said that "the things (Mike Pence) was asked to do in the name of loyalty were over the top, unconstitutional, illegal, and would have been wrong for the country," which sounded like high crimes and misdemeanors to her. Graham's response?

Yeah, well, he wasn't charged with that.

Ultimately, he thinks history will be the judge, and he's in obvious disagreement with Rep. Cheney on the 'moving on' thing.

I'm ready to get on with trying to solve the nation's problems. And as to Donald Trump, he is the most popular figure in the Republican Party. He had a consequential presidency. January the 6th was a very bad day for America, and he'll get his share of blame in history. But I do believe that in 2022, the Republican Party is going to come roaring back...

He thinks Trump's policies have served the country well, and that he "has to rehabilitate himself as a politician." No word on whether he sees himself in need of rehabilitation, after spending the last four years doing the bidding of a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot." 

See you around campus - bonus points for anyone wearing a Super Bowl Champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers mask. 

Sunday School 1/31/21: Extra Credit

 For your Extra Credit this week, I dropped in on two Republicans. In the Meet the Press classroom, Chuck Todd talked with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and in the Fox News Sunday classroom, Chris Wallace talked with Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. I'll take them in that order.

Chuck said a couple of other House 'yes' votes on impeaching Trump backed out of the interview. Kinzinger's poison, it seems, especially now that he's launched Country1st.com, a PAC calling itself "a home for principled Americans who are tired of the poisonous extremism that has overtaking our beloved nation's politics." 

He said "it's really difficult" being the face of the anti-Trump GOP; lots of people, including family members, have turned on him. And even though he's been accused - twice - of being possessed by the devil, he's undeterred. 

...let's take a look at the last four years, how far we have come in a bad way. How backwards looking we are, how much we peddle darkness and division. And that's not the party I ever signed up for. And I think most Republicans didn't sign up for that. 

Even given that, he said it's invigorating to stand up for what he believes in. And, the question of whether the GOP can survive without Trump is the right question to ask. He thinks the focus on getting reelected is the wrong approach, and that there's a leadership problem in the party. That includes House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy trotting off to Mar-a-Lago, further tying Trump and the party together, and feeding his desperation to stay relevant. They "they shouldn't be a Trump-first party, they should be a country-first party." 

And we need to quit being the party that even one iota defends an insurrection, a dead police officer and other dead Americans on the Capitol. There is no equivalency to that. And we have to run from that as fast as we can.

Chuck talked about Dems having a hard time engaging with the Rs; he quoted Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan, who said 

I have a hard time interacting with those members right now. Especially with those I had a closer relationship with. I'm not going to deny the reality that I look at them differently now. They're smaller people to me now.

And, he asked, how can the Rs - "the party that's defending the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world" - "lecture" the Dems on bipartisanship? Kinzinger agreed, saying the GOP "has lost its moral authority..." They can fight back, defend their principles, of course, but

when I ask people now what is a conservative principle, how many people think that conservative principles are things like just build the wall and, you know, charge the Capitol and have an insurrection?  

Kinzinger said he'd "certainly vote her off committee" but he's unsure about kicking Marjorie Taylor Greene out of the House; voters have a right to choose who they want to represent them, he said.

On impeachment, he gets that some Senators are looking for an easy way out by using a process argument, that you can't impeach someone who's out of office, but it's not the time for that.

...this is a red line in American history.... ten of us in the House took the tough vote... What we can't say, Chuck, is in the last two months of a president, you can do whatever you want, including incite a mob to insurrection, because it's just too late in the process to convict you.

They need to send a message, "that people like Donald Trump can never hold that office again."

Sunday School 1/31/21

Who's making the rounds in the classrooms today?  

Let's start with a couple of Senators - Rob Portman (R-OH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), both of whom were in the CNN State of the Union classroom with Dana Bash. 

Sen. Portman was first up.  He's one of ten senators who sent a two-thirds smaller COVID package to the White House today. He says it's "more targeted and more appropriate for the times we're in," and hopes they can meet with President Biden and hammer out a deal.

He wants more targeted direct payments; I agree. And he's concerned about "unprecedented deficits and debts," and about enhanced unemployment benefits. He says the Biden plan extends protections through September, but that

Most economists believe next year will be significant growth, over 4% growth. So, let's target that a little bit more and make sure that it ties somewhat to the economic conditions.

He also said the Dems using reconciliation to get the COVID bill taken care of is different than the Rs using reconciliation on tax cuts and repealing the Affordable Care Act. The Dems are trying to use it wrong, and without even trying to reach across the aisle to get a deal. Or something. 

Bash asked if he considered Trump's actions before and on January 6th amount to "impeachable conduct, yes or no." Portman's response took more words, but in a nutshell, Trump's behavior can be both inexcusable and not subject to conviction.

I have said with regard to the president's comments that day that they were partly responsible for what happened, for the horrible violence that occurred on Capitol Hill. I have also said that what he did was wrong and inexcusable.

He has concerns about the constitutionality of "convicting a private citizen," though, and how that might impact all former presidents, alive or dead. 

Sen. Warren was up next, talking about Wall Street, GameStop, Reddit, and hedge funds. Bash asked what she meant by saying it was time for regulators to "wake up and do their jobs."  Among the concerns is that "we actually don't know who all the players are in this." And, she hit on her favorite theme - the rigged system, where the stock market is more like a casino now. 

They have been doing all kinds of market manipulation, pump and dump, companies that buy back shares of their own stock, so that they can inflate stock prices. We need a market that is transparent, that's level, and that is open to individual investors. It is time for the SEC to get off their duffs and do their jobs.

Warren says we need more regulation around manipulation. The SEC's got some rules pending, but needs to take a "broader look" at how companies and hedge funds manipulate the market, "grow a backbone," and enforce the rules they put into place. We need more market transparency, a more level playing field that "helps individual investors come into that market and, frankly, helps make that market more efficient," and that big corporations and hedge fund love an inefficient market - they get better returns, she said, and individual investors lose out. 

The decision by Robinhood and others to prevent small investors from trading, while allowing the hedge funds to continue, is a prime example and "that's why we're going to have an investigation. That's why there's going to be a hearing in the Banking Committee. And I'm looking forward to it."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (That Guy from Vermont) was in the This Week classroom, with  Martha Raddatz hosting. She was interested in bipartisanship and COVID, and wondered if there was an over-estimation on the part of the new administration on that.

TGFV's confident we'll see it down the road, but "we have got to act and we have got to act now" to get relief to folks who can't feed their families, who are facing eviction. 

Raddatz asked about the new bill from the ten GOP senators, and whether the Dems made a mistake thinking about "abandoning bipartisan negotiations so soon?" Again, TGFV said the issue is about addressing the crises we face, ticking off the list of issues: producing the vaccines we need, and getting them into arms; children going hungry; evictions; schools not open. Asking about bipartisanship is the wrong question, the right question is how will we go about

addressing the unprecedented crisis that we face right now. If Republicans want to work with us, they have better ideas on how to address those crises, that's great. But, to be honest with you, I have not yet heard that.

He said he's confident the Dems have the votes to pass the package via reconciliation, and that the polling shows overwhelming support by Rs, Ds, and Is. And he doesn't seem concerned about Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who's the most conservative Dem in the Senate and, according to some, the most powerful. Manchin complained that no one reached out to him about the bill, saying "that's not a way of working together."

Democrats have majority because of the fact that we won two seats with great candidates in Georgia. And, obviously, those candidates won the support of the people of Georgia, but that campaign, in many ways, was a national campaign. And what those candidates said is, yes, we are going to provide checks of $2,000, $1,400 on top of the $600. Yes, we're going to extend unemployment benefits. Yes, we are going to address the needs of working families. The entire Democratic Party came together behind the candidates in Georgia. We made promises to the American people. And if politics means anything, if you're going to have any degree of creditability, you know what? You can't campaign on a series of issues, and then, after the election, when you get power, say, oh well, you know what, changing our mind. That's not the way it works. We made promises to the American people. We're going to keep those promises.

See you around campus. Wear a mask or two, please - and thank you.