I keep reading “the trial will be witlessness.”
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Yes, you’re right. But, it’s one thing to understand intellectually that something really bad is going to happen, and it’s quite another when it actually happens. An impeachment trial without witnesses is an utter travesty. That our system has become so degraded that it’s even possible is a clear sign just how deep in the shit we are. People are bound to react emotionally.
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GOP bloodbath in November
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They do know that a Democratic President would never do the shit the goppers do, i.e. they would follow the Constitution and the intent of the framers.
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I don’t claim to be a person of perfect mental discipline and more than once I’ve fallen apart like the world’s most fragile neurotic freak over stuff most people would have taken in stride. But JFC it’s been three years and we have travesties du jour. This is a Pyrrhic defeat, you might say. The shock of it is precisely what’s good about it. People who’ve basically paid no attention except to think Trump’s weird are going wtf was that all about? No witnesses? Seems not quite the thing! This is not the end of the goddamn world. The thing is to keep working. Outlast them. Prevail. And yes, there’s a component in that of not getting emotional to the point it’s irrational.
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I’ll feel better when we’re in a position to nuke them from orbit. And that means I have to help get us there.
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That’s the ticket. Nuke 'em from orbit. By which I assume we both mean throw Trump out and then put a revitalized DOJ on his ass, see what interesting information comes out and then look over at Moscow Mitch and ask him what the fuck. Maybe find out stuff he actually did that was chargeable. See how smug the Grim Reaper looks then. A legitimate investigation by an impartial DOJ will still feel like an orbit-nuking to a target who’s got it coming more than anyone in our history.
And whoa, it got late, didn’t it? I’m ranting to an empty bar and the barkeep is trying to ease me out.
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It’s two mints in one, the trial.
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This insomniac much appreciated reading your optimism. Thank you.
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Must be some insomnia going around. : )
Like I said, I’m subject to anxieties and fears myself, always have been. You learn over and over that it’s usually not that bad, and even if it is that bad, there are always steps to take. But I’m sympathetic. There’s a really good book about Vietnam called “Dispatches” by the late Michael Herr, and in it he describes a brief incident where he’s with some grunts and they’re climbing around in a bunker or some such and one guy accidentally puts a boot in his face. Herr feels a shock, tastes blood, the guy’s apologizing profusely and Herr suddenly panics, thinking the guy seriously injured him somehow and he’s going to die. He gets over it in a moment, realizing it was nothing much, just a bloody nose, and he sees all the guys now smirking at him. So yeah. Stuff can get to you for a moment. I get that. It’s just that we knew for weeks we were going to get this boot in our faces. For me it makes a difference.
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As he has consistently done for the last 3+ decades, Lamar Alexander once again wooses out. This seems to be the exemplar of the cowardice of the Republican party.
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Mitch had 3 hall passes to give out. Lamar didn’t get one. He could have demanded a fourth, but that would have meant no cushy lobbying gig after he leaves the Senate. He figured he would keep his options open by voting no on witnesses and yes on witlessness.
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All the more pity to anyone who hires him, as he clearly has little in the way of a moral compass or conviction.
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GOP: Long live king drump!
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I never thought for a minute he wouldn’t be acquitted. What bothers me is that there will be no additional witnesses or documents. As a citizen I feel like I have a right to hear all the facts. I actually did think there was a decent chance to hear from witnesses. Boy, was I ever wrong. It’s a little shocking to say the least.
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Impeachment didn’t have to wait for the cases to be resolved – although it would probably have been smarter to make the second article more about Trump’s efforts to obstruct through witness intimidation, etc. But having the cases in court would have been a perfect excuse not to send the articles to the Senate, unless the Senate were to agree to join the lawsuits, and make it clear that the Senate considered it within their rights to demand documents and testimony as part of their own impeachment trial process.
Moreover, because impeachment was involved the courts would almost certainly have acted with extreme speed – if the House had requested it. But the fact is that the House itself is partly to blame for the delays – they could have requested that the appeals court be leapfrogged, and had the McGahn case go right to the Supreme Court, for instance, but instead they’re allowing it to wallow in the circuit appeals court, where they haven’t even decided whether to take the case.
The point, however, is that Trump’s people were able to muddy the waters thanks to the way that impeachment was handled by the Democratic leadership – and by doing so, they gave “moderates” the cover they need to simply vote to end it (while finding Trump’s actions ‘inappropriate’)
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I guess to me it’s all shocking and it’s all predictable and thus not shocking. And I tend to feel shocked randomly, when I let my guard down. Like the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff invariably say in the science fiction films, we’re through the looking glass here. But the doom and gloom, we can’t afford that. That won’t do.
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If the Senate acts as a jury, how is this any different from the acquittal of Emmet Till’s killers?
Their acquittal was good and proper and followed due process.
It was how it was perceived that brought about the sea change.
Keep that in mind.
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Poor Lamar. What a sad sorry end to your career. Put on your flannels and wander off into the sunset knowing that you did your part as a coward should.
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Time for a patriot with access to some of the docs to leak them.
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