Sunday School 2/21/21

Welcome to Sunday School, where getting kids back in school is just one of the topics we'll be covering.

First up? Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; she spoke with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. Weingarten said it's a "myth" that her union doesn't want to be back in school. "Teachers know that in-person education is really important, "she said. The new CDC guidelines, and the money for schools in the Biden COVID package, provide the roadmap,

... the layered mitigation strategies; the testing, so that you can actually see asymptomatic spread; and vaccine prioritization -- not that every single teacher has to be vaccinated before you open any schools, but you should align the vaccine prioritization with the reopening of schools.

She said 85% of her membership "have said that they would be comfortable being in school," with the right protocols in place. It's happening in different places around the country, and

... I think the issue is, if the NFL could figure out how to do this, in terms of testing and the protocols, if schools are that important, let's do it. And my members want it, they just want to be safe.

Weingarten said that unions aren't monoliths, and the locals asking for more than the national is just "...that people are scared." She said they've learned that when teachers are in school with proper protocols in place, they've got greater trust. At the same time, 71% of AFT members are scared they'll bring COVID home to their families. The AFT's been hosting town halls and trying to build trust with their member.

Todd's final question was whether we'd have full reopening without full vaccination. Weingarten said the answer really is in how "full school opening" is defined. In the end, she said, 

What I think we need to do is we need to actually try to get as much in-person as possible right now. Have the mitigation strategies... have a real great summer semester to get kids' mojo back in a voluntary way, and then really be planning for next year.

I think the "really be planning for next year" needs to start now, doesn't it? 

Now, let's check in with the #2 GOP leader, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who joined Jon Karl in the This Week classroom. Regarding kids in schools, Scalise said that President Biden can "give strong guidance and follow the science." Kids should be the priority, he said, but "that's not the case because right now you can see, as the unions have stepped up and said that they don't want in-classroom learning." 

Our kids can't wait. They need to be in the classroom today. The science says they can be in the classroom today. The question is, is the will there for some politicians in Washington who are bowing to the teachers' unions right now? 

Scalise's main issue is not requiring that schools taking money reopen. That, and there's "over a trillion dollars of money unspent" from previous bipartisan relief bills, Scalise added, and spending more money to "bail out failed states, to raise the minimum wage" doesn't have anything to do with COVID. Besides, it takes money away from our kids.

And his visit with Trump? Scalise said he was "in Florida doing some fund-raising throughout a number of parts of Florida, ended up at Mar-a-Lago, and the president reached out, and we visited." Which sounds like what GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said about his visit with Trump last month...

Three times, Karl asked about Trump taking responsibility; Scalise never mentioned Trump, instead blaming the people who stormed the Capitol, Senators using 'fighting words,' and Dems who didn't denounce "during the summer, when they were burning down cities, shooting cops, beating people in the streets..." Who "they" are, he didn't say. In the end he landed nowhere near Trump.

... we -- you can rehash the election from 2020 all day long, but there are people concerned about what the next election is going to look like. Are we going to finally get back to the way the rule of law works? And I think that's the biggest frustration many people have, is those states that didn't follow the law, are they going to keep doing that in the future, or are we going to finally get back to what the Constitution calls out for electing our leaders?

I'd like to hear his definition of 'leaders' because if he and McCarthy meet the definition, whatever the processes are, they've failed.

Finally, we're in the State of the Union classroom with Dana Bash and Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the House progressive caucus. The first topic was the $15 minimum wage, and whether Biden was "fighting hard enough" to get it done as part of the COVID relief package.

Jayapal said Biden's been fairly consistent in supporting it, while acknowledging it might run into trouble in the Senate. But, she said, it

would mean 30 million Americans would get a raise. A million Americans would come out of poverty, and 30 percent of those minimum wage workers are black; 25 percent are Latinx. It is absolutely essential that we do it. And I believe the Senate will do it.

Jayapal said  that if "Republicans could give a $2 trillion tax break to the wealthiest people and stop Arctic drilling, then -- or continue drilling in the Arctic, then I think that Democrats can make sure that 30 million Americans get a raise."

Even in the face of two Senate Dems, Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AC) opposed to it, Jayapal pointed to what happened in her own state, in Seattle.

It is good for communities. It's good for businesses. I know because we were the first major city in Seattle to raise the minimum wage to $15 over a period of years. And, in 2018 and 2019, "Forbes" ranked us the best place in the country for businesses and for careers. We had one of the lowest unemployment numbers in the country.

She thinks the increase will be in the relief package. On direct stimulus payments, she said it "doesn't make any political sense to her" for Biden to give them to fewer people than Trump did, so there's no reason to change who gets them.

On student loan forgiveness, while Biden says it should only be $10K, she said progressives say it should be at least $50K.

...if you cancel that debt, you give a lifeline to millions of people across this country. So, let's work on it together. Obviously, if Congress could do it, that's great. But we believe that the president has the authority to do it. And we have been in conversation with the White House about it...

And, whether Biden is "living up to his promise to be the most progressive president," Jayapal said he came out of the gates strong, and

I think what we need to do is finish strong all the promises that have been made during the campaign to deliver relief to people, to make sure people understand what happens when Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the White House, is, we deliver relief. 

As I said the other day, it's going to take a lot of fortitude on Biden's part to not be dragged away from what he believes in, and what lots of us who voted for him believe in, too.

See you around campus. You better be wearing a mask.

In Case You Missed It (v74)

Here's your recap of last week's posts, in case you missed anything.

We started a new feature last week: EmpireVerse, which brings you the poetry of my Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo (D-NY). I sort of kicked myself for missing out on years of opportunity to capture his rhetoric as verse. Cuomo's always struggled a bit with this stuff, trying to reach the soaring heights of his father Mario, and at the same time trying to suppress his inner street fighter from Queens. 

...I'm starting fresh with this one section of his 2021 State of the State address. Taken from his closing argument, if you will, it speaks to the pressures New York faced in 2020 and how we'll handle whatever 2021 has in store.

A Chain of Diamonds

But pressure also forges 

strength and that's

how diamonds are formed.

Intrigued? Check the post and see how this one ends.

I dove right in with a few of the House impeachment managers for your Sunday School, including Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD); I think he was much better than Adam Schiff in the first impeachment (and I think Schiff would probably agree with me). Raskin was on MTP with Chuck Todd, and was asked if dereliction of duty would have been a better charge than incitement of insurrection.

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. 

You have to read how Raskin closed the interview - it's priceless.

New CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky was racing up and down the Sunday School hallways, appearing in several classrooms to talk about the new school reopening guidelines. I caught up with three of her interviews, including the one with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union. Truth be told (and we always tell the truth here at veritable pastiche), I don't think she did well in any of her appearances. 

Tapper talked of the negative impact on kids when they're not in school, and how the experts tell us we have to get the schools open, and Walensky basically said we're not doing what we need to do in order to get the schools open.

In the studies that have shown masking, distancing, and de-densification work, 92% of students wore masks - and we're at around 60% who do so reliably. 

And, she said,"... until we can ensure that we have all those measures happening, that there was -- schools wouldn't be safe."

I would have asked how kids are supposed to learn to reliably mask when they never leave their homes. Tapper, though, was more professional.

...I'm just really confused. It seems to me like you're saying, the schools are safe to open as long as everybody takes these steps, but not everybody is taking these steps; therefore, we're not going to open the schools? Do I have that right?

It took 181 words to not say the one word that would have answered the question: yes.  

The 45th president issued a statement after Republicans in the Senate proved once again they're more interested in staying in office than in the Constitution, even after seeing and hearing overwhelming evidence that they 45th president is a danger to us - and to them. That statement became the 5ith entry in the book of OrangeVerse.

My guess is that only a couple of sentences - three, I think - were written by him. The rest of them? Maybe he went to Jared, or Ivanka. They're not crazy enough to have been written by either of the Millers, or Scavino.

...See if you can figure out which words are Trump's and which came from the professionals. 

Only the Best Lawyers

I want to first thank my team of
dedicated lawyers and others for their
 tireless work upholding justice and defending truth.

His team of dedicated lawyers who were found in the city of brotherly love, Phileeedelphia, and who presented a horrible defense, they really did. I wouldn't pay them if I were him...

Mid-week, I was Wondering on Wednesday not about the aptitude of the 46th president, but about his fortitude. He's going to be in for a fight, I'm thinking, with the real and fake progressive Dems. Like me, President Biden doesn't believe in cancelling $50,000 in student loan debt across the board.

...doing that would wipe out the debt of around 80% of all borrowers, and nearly 70% of all federally-held debt. "I will not make that happen," he said, adding he thinks there's better ways to spend a trillion bucks on education. 

AOC, of course, chimed in. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren also entered the fray, saying in a joint statement that Biden had the power to do it, and adding

Cancelling $50,000 in federal student loan debt will help close the racial wealth gap, benefit the 40% of borrowers who don't have a college degree, and help stimulate the economy. It's time to act...

Again, one-size-fits-all, don't-do-the-hard-work and don't-fix-the-problem take precedence over doing the thoughtful, considered right thing. I really want Biden to stand firm on this, I do. It's going to be tough, for sure. 

I nosed around a bit on Thursday, looking for a #tbt I could share, and found a year-old OrangeVerse, number XLIX, from happier times for 45. You know, when he attacked everyone and their brother, especially their twin brother, after his first impeachment. Here's a bit of that.

Transcribe This...

Fortunately for all of us

here today and for our country

we had transcripts.

We had transcribers

professional transcribers. 

Then they said Oh, well, maybe

the transcription is not correct.

But Lt Colonel Vindman and his twin

brother - right? - we had some people 

that - really amazing.

"Really amazing," indeed. 

For your TGIF, I talked about the bad week that #FlyinTedCruz had, which was epic and "really amazing," I think, don't you agree? There were also good weeks to be had including by 46.

On the good week side of the ledger? Well, President Biden told the G7 that 

I am sending a clear message to the world, America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back and we are not looking backward we are looking forward together.

His message was well-received, at least by British PM Boris Johnson, who said "As you've seen and heard earlier, America is unreservedly back as the leader of the free world, and that is a fantastic thing." I'd agree with that.  

Also a fantastic thing? Putting last week in the books. 

See you later for Sunday School. 

TGIF 2/19/21

Time to get this week into the books, starting with the bad week list.

Can we agree that Sen. Rafael Edward 'Ted' Cruz (R-TX), he of 'the vacation that spawned a hashtag industry,' belongs at the top of the list?  

You can find any number of links to articles referencing his really bad idea to run off to Cancun for a $300/night quickie vacation with his wife and kids, in the middle of a pandemic and a major weather event impacting his constituents across the Lone Star State.  Just know that having the police help make sure you get to the airport, lying that you were just dropping off your daughters in another country while they were on a school break, lying that you immediately knew it was wrong, lying about having a return flight booked, the next day, and having your wife's 'hey, come and join us in Cancun" text messages be made public is probably the new dictionary definition of a bad week. 

And those hashtags? Here are a few: #FledTed #FlyinCruz #CancunCruz and #CancunCruz -feel free to use them on social media. 

Sticking with Cruz, but taking a different tack, we have Donny Jr. He blasted the calls for Cruz to resign, saying that senators work in Washington passing laws and stuff, they're not really needed in their states and, you know, who doesn't need a vacation?  He also slammed those who attacked Cruz but gave "their Democratic governors" a pass as they violated their own executive orders and shut their states down. A bunch of people from 'left' Twitter pounced on Donny for not knowing that Texas hasn't had a Democratic governor in years - but that's not what he said or what he meant. He was talking about 

• Gavin Newsom (D-CA) who went maskless to a restaurant to celebrate a lobbyist's birthday, violating his own pandemic rules. Newsom is facing a likely recall vote in the coming weeks, in part because of that dinner. 
• He was talking about the husband of Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) trying to get his boat in the water before Memorial Day, while the Gov was asking people to stay away from the lakes to reduce COVID spread. Whitmer eventually said her husband was joking, but no one was laughing. 
• He was talking about my Sonofa Gov heading down to Georgia to be celebrated, maskless and in violation of his own 'unnecessary travel' restrictions. 

I love a little righteous indignation as much as the next person, but be sure you understand what's being said before attacking - even before attacking someone named Trump. 

On the good week side of the ledger? Well, President Biden told the G7 that 

I am sending a clear message to the world, America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back and we are not looking backward we are looking forward together.

His message was well-received, at least by British PM Boris Johnson, who said "As you've seen and heard earlier, America is unreservedly back as the leader of the free world, and that is a fantastic thing." I'd agree with that. 

How about the 'tip war' going on in Cincinnati? Xavier and University of Cincinnati alums have raised over $34,000 for restaurant workers by ridiculously over-tipping on their bills. It started with a $1000 tip from a Xavier alum, which was topped by the $1001 offered by a UC alum, and it just keeps going. 

You've surely heard by now that NASA's Perseverance rover made it safely to Mars, after a months-long, nearly 300,000,000-mile journey. If you're interested you can follow the giant SUV-sized rover on Twitter. 

And there was good news out of Texas, even amidst all the trouble. An Austin man helped rescue over 100 stranded drivers; World Central Kitchen, founded by chef Jose Andres, has partnered with Houston restaurants  to provide over 2000 meals for folks impacted by the power outages. And, AOC, the Queens progressive, set up a website to raise money for 12 Texas organizations; her supporters chipped in $2M within 24 hours.

A restaurant owner in Chicago has been buying up all the tamales he can get from food trucks, which are struggling during the pandemic and the brutal cold weather. He uses his dozens and dozens of tamales to stock 'Love Fridges' - community refrigerators that folks in need can tap for meals as needed. Others are donated to homeless shelters. 

There's all kinds of good news out there; we just have to condition ourselves to look for it. 

TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday 2/17/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Colorado City, TX Mayor Tim Boyd doesn't seem to like his constituents very much. Or, I should say, his former constituents. The mayor has resigned after directing quite the rant at residents of his city, some of whom have no power, water, or heat while the region is stuck in a major winter storm.

"No one owes you or your family anything," he said - "nor is it the local governments responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim, it's your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING!" Not only that, but

If you have no water you deal with out and think outside of the box to survive and supply water to your family. If you were sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising!

Am I sorry that you have been dealing without electricity and water; yes! But I'll be damned if I'm going to provide for anyone that is capable of doing it themselves! Bottom line, quit crying and looking for a handout! Get off your ass and take care of your own family! 

He clarified in his, um, 'apology,' that he meant "those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves"- they're the ones who shouldn't "be dealt a handout." I wonder, why did he ever get into public service in the first place? How many more Tim Boyds are out there? And how long before they're discovered?

President Biden said last night in a CNN Town Hall that he did not support cancelling $50,000 in student loan debt for everyone, doing that would wipe out the debt of around 80% of all borrowers, and nearly 70% of all federally-held debt. "I will not make that happen," he said, adding he thinks there's better ways to spend a trillion bucks on education. 

AOC, of course, chimed in. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren also entered the fray, saying in a joint statement that Biden had the power to do it, and adding

Cancelling $50,000 in federal student loan debt will help close the racial wealth gap, benefit the 40% of borrowers who don't have a college degree, and help stimulate the economy. It's time to act...

I wonder, will Papa Joe be able to stick to his guns?

A lot of attention was paid when President Biden spoke via video conference on Inauguration Day and advised his new team that they were to treat each other, and everyone they deal with, with respect - or else they'd be fired. It was a high - and welcomed - bar, after the low standards of the last four years. 

It didn't take long for that core principle to be challenged. Deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo was suspended for a week without pay for using "derogatory and abusive language" with a Politico reporter, while trying to get a story killed. Suspension was not enough, obviously, if the rule is that you're going to be fired. There were lots of complaints, both within the administration and from outside, and in the end, Ducklo resigned, preventing Press Secretary Jen Psaki or Chief of Staff Ron Klain from having to fire him. 

I think a lot of people wondered whether the Biden team would really stick to the 'respect or else' rule, and I don't think folks though it would be tested this quickly. I was a little disappointed to see that they sidestepped at the beginning, but I was happy that, in the end, they did what they said they would. 

What are you wondering about?

OrangeVerse LVIII: He's Ba-a-a-ck!

After the US Senate failed to convict former president Donald Trump of the crime of incitement of insurrection, the twice-impeached president issued a statement. 

My guess is that only a couple of sentences - three, I think - were written by him. The rest of them? Maybe he went to Jared, or Ivanka. They're not crazy enough to have been written by either of the Millers, or Scavino.

Here it is, in full, for your reading pleasure. See if you can figure out which words are Trump's and which came from the professionals. 

Only the Best Lawyers

I want to first thank my team of
dedicated lawyers and others for their
 tireless work upholding justice and defending truth.

Anyone Seen My Pocket Constitution?

My deepest thanks
 as well to all of the United States
Senators and Members of Congress
 who stood proudly for the
Constitution we all revere
 and for the sacred legal principles
 at the heart of our country.
 
Impartial, Like Impartial Justice

Our cherished 

Constitutional Republic
was founded on the
 impartial rule of law,
the indispensable safeguard
for our liberties our rights,
and our freedoms.

SAD! BAD! BIGLY!
It is a sad commentary
on our times that one
political party in American
is given a free pass to
denigrate the rule of law,
 defame law enforcement,
cheer mobs, excuse rioters,
and transform justice
 into a tool of political vengeance,
and persecute, blacklist,
cancel and suppress all people
and viewpoints with whom or which
 they disagree. 

Honestly?

I always have,
and always will, be
a champion for the
unwavering rule of law,
the heroes of law enforcement,
and the right of Americans
to peacefully and honestly
debate the issues of the day
 without malice and hate.

 Which Witch is This?

This has been yet another
phase of the greatest witch hunt
in the history of our Country.
No president has ever
 gone through anything
like it, and it continues
because our opponents cannot
forget the almost 75 million people,
the highest ever for a sitting president,
who voted for us just a few short months ago.

I Want to Thank You
I also want to convey
my gratitude to the millions of
decent, hardworking, law-abiding
God-and-Country loving
citizens who have bravely
supported these important principles
 in these very difficult and challenging times.

Moving On and On and On

Our historic, patriotic and
 beautiful movement
to Make America Great Again
has only just begun.
In the months ahead I
 have much to share with you,
 and I look forward to
continuing our incredible journey
together to achieve American
 greatness for all of our people. 
There has never been anything like it!

I'm a Working Man

We have so much work ahead of us,
and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright,
radiant and limitless American future.
Together there is nothing
we cannot accomplish.

One is the Happiest Number

We remain one People,
one family, and
one glorious nation 

under God, and it's
our responsibility to
preserve this magnificent 

inheritance for our children 

and for generations
of Americans to come.

May God bless all of you,
and may God forever bless
the United States of America.

Did you miss him? Have no fear - there was another statement, and who knows how long it'll take before the next, and the next, and the next...

Sunday School 2/14/21: Extra Credit

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new CDC Director, was in several classrooms Sunday, including the one down the hall on the right, Fox News Sunday, where she chatted with Chris Wallace, and on the left, CNN's SOTU, where Jake Tapper was asking the questions.  I'll look at those interviews and our chances of reopening schools, starting with her conversation with Tapper.

In red zones, CDC advocates for a hybrid model for elementary school, because K-5 kids transmit the virus less, and it's "really essential" to have them in the classroom. For older kids, virtual learning - or if social distancing is possible, a hybrid model - is preferred.

When specifically asked for the science on why kids can't return to in-person learning "tomorrow," if schools are following the guidelines, she offered none. Instead, she talked about how we "really need to do the hard work," including universal masking, strict distancing, restricting disease transmission (e.g., "cohorting or podding"), etc.

Tapper reminded her of the impacts on kids when they're not in school, and that all the experts have been saying we have to get schools open, and yet, "we're taking the safety steps, and we're not opening schools." Her response? In the studies that have shown masking, distancing, and de-densification work, 92% of students wore masks - and we're at around 60% who do so reliably. 

But the real point is to make sure that the science is consistent with our guidance, which is consistent to say, until we can ensure that we have all those measures happening, that there was -- schools wouldn't be safe.

I would have asked how kids are supposed to learn to reliably mask when they never leave their homes. Tapper, though, was more professional.

...I'm just really confused. It seems to me like you're saying, the schools are safe to open as long as everybody takes these steps, but not everybody is taking these steps; therefore, we're not going to open the schools? Do I have that right?

It took 181 words to not say the one word that would have answered the question: yes. 

Regarding vaccinating teachers, she noted they're in priority group 1B, and said for the 1.5 million who are high-risk, as well as for high-risk students, CDC recommends virtual activities. She's a "strong advocate" for them being vaccinated but it's not a reopening prerequisite.

I had to agree with Tapper when he said he felt "a little dispirited" by the conversation.

... I had high hopes that schools would be able to resume in person learning, because so many scientists and health officials, including you and Dr. Fauci and others, had been talking about the science supports opening the schools as much as possible.

He mentioned teachers being concerned, and their unions "pushing back on this," but asking for 100% compliance seems unachievable.

And that makes me feel like, boy, I don't know if the schools are ever going to open until everybody's vaccinated.

Walensky repeated that when over 90% of people mask, you can open schools safely, adding that "this is directly related to how much disease is in the community," and that it was up to all of us to get the rates down so schools can reopen.

I'll treat her conversation with Chris Wallace as a 'speed round,' hitting on three questions answered and three not answered. 

• The new CDC guidance allow even schools in areas of high community spread to open, under certain circumstances.
• Some mitigation measures "are hard to do," such as diagnostic testing and contact tracing being done within 48 hours of a contact, leading to schools not opening.
• Maybe not having the science, data, and guidance to open schools safely contributed to schools being closed to in-person instruction for extended periods of time.

Walensky didn't answer a few key questions, in my opinion.

• Whether she's ever speaking in "her personal capacity" when she's speaking as CDC director, something that press secretary Jen Psaki suggested after Walensky said that schools could reopen without vaccinating all teachers; 
• the implication that the administration's trying to lessen their burden on getting schools opened for in-person instruction within the first 100 days, by saying "at least one day a week" was considered 'open.' Wallace said nearly 65% of kids are in schools meeting that very low threshold now; and
• whether we really need another $130B for schools, given that only $4B of the previously allocated $68B has been spent.

I looked at her chats on MTP and Face the Nation, and I didn't end up feeling any better. I go back to how Tapper set the stage for his interview, quoting Walensky's statement that "schools should be the last thing to close and the first thing to open." I can't imagine being a parent watching any of her interviews and coming away with a sense of confidence that things will be back to normal any time soon.

See you around campus.

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. 

EmpireVerse (v1): Chain of Diamonds

I've probably missed countless opportunities to offer up some EmpireVerse over the years. 

My Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, has long been willing to babble and pontificate and expound upon any and all topics, without a whole lot of restraint. 

There was the time he said there was no room in NY for extreme conservatives, and the time he told us he sleeps just fine because he knows he's going to do the right thing. 

And the time he famously said America was never that great... that was a good one, too.

Those opportunities are behind us, though, so I'm starting fresh with this one section of his 2021 State of the State address. Taken from his closing argument, if you will, it speaks to the pressures New York faced in 2020 and how we'll handle whatever 2021 has in store.

A Chain of Diamonds

But pressure also forges 

strength and that's

how diamonds are formed.

In 2020 when things 

were at their worst

we saw New Yorkers 

at their best.

The pressure was on and 

we all saw New Yorkers
under pressure
become diamonds.
And they worked 

together

they linked arms.
New Yorkers were

a magnificent chain 

of diamonds, 

different sizes,
different colors, 

different shapes,
different orientations, 

but the chain

connected all.

And the chain
is strong, my friends.
It will 

unite.
It will 

forge community. 

It will 

combine our strength.

We 

have 

done it
before 

and 
we will 

do it 

again.

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.