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You are here: Home / Politics / Impeachment / Impeach the Motherfucker! / Seems a Little Foot Stompy

Seems a Little Foot Stompy

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Mitch has always struck me as a show, not tell, guy, so I’m guessing the pressure is getting to him just a wee bit.

In other news, here’s yet another argument for mandatory retirement in the Senate (via Jim, Foolish Literalist in the last comment thread):

Reader Interactions

70Comments

  1. 1.

    SFAW

    DiFi should stick to schmoozing donors. She’s not on anyone’s list of Top 200 Strategic Thinkers in the US Senate.

  2. 2.

    clay

    If Mitch really thinks he could start the trial without the articles, then he would have done it already. I don’t know what he could offer to Nancy that she wants, so I still think she has all of the cards here.

    If I were her, I’d tell him, “Sorry Mitch, since you tabled the hundreds of bills that the House passed and sent over, I just assumed that you’d do the same for this.”

  3. 3.

    zhena gogolia

    Slightly OT, great speech by Tammy Duckworth.

    Sen. Tammy Duckworth: "All these dictators have realized the same thing: the President of the United States is as easy to control as a toddler … I wish this weren't true, but my diaper-wearing 20-month-old has better impulse control than this president."https://t.co/Ha0auyo9DI— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 8, 2020

  4. 4.

    MJS

    I think Nancy should explain to Senator Feinstein “what good delay does,” since she admits she doesn’t understand.

  7. 7.

    HRH mistermix, Lord Bombay Sapphire, Duke of Schweppes

    @germy:

    Given his behavior this year on that issue, I think what he meant to say was:

    “Let’s legalize cannabis unless there’s the tiniest bit of pushback from anyone, and if it will sail through the Senate without any work on my part.”

  9. 9.

    feebog

    So Mitch, how are you going to proceed if Nancy hasn’t named the House Floor Managers yet?  Asking for a few million amused Democrats.

  15. 15.

    Mnemosyne

    Gosh, a potentially out of context pull quote pushed by Bloomberg News to enrage the left, who already hates Feinstein? Good thing we’ve never seen that happen before.

    Excuse me while I hold back my outrage until there’s more confirmation. ?‍♀️

  16. 16.

    HRH mistermix, Lord Bombay Sapphire, Duke of Schweppes

    @Mnemosyne: Seems legit, Manchin said the same thing, which is understandable in his position.

  20. 20.

    VFX Lurker

    @Mnemosyne: Hear, hear. I voted for DiFi last time around because her left-wing opponent had — at best — a real blind spot when it came to women and women’s rights. I want to move forwards, not backwards.

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    Not a fan of DiFi, but Chris Murphy — who seems like a thoroughly solid Dem — said something similar yesterday (I think), though I don’t think he name-checked Pelosi. Could be that senators are just territorial.

  23. 23.

    kindness

    I’ve always held my nose and voted for DiFi because I’m not stupid enough to allow a Republican to get the seat.  Republican Lite is what I end up with.

    Retire from the job Diane.  It seems you aren’t very good at it.

  24. 24.

    Bnad

    Chris Murphy, and other blue Senators, probably just want the chance to speechify in front of a big TV audience.  Perfectly understandable natural political inclination, but one that needs to be squashed like a bug in this case.

  25. 25.

    randy khan

    As I understand it – and as she has said at least a couple of times – Pelosi’s position is that she won’t send over the articles until she knows what the rules are so that she can decide who should named as managers.  I think the appropriate response to McConnell is that she wants to see if he really has the votes to defy the will of the American people before she will send them.

    I say this, in part, because McConnell’s position is to use the rules that were adopted for Clinton (which, ahem, were negotiated between the Senate and Clinton’s team when the Senate was under Republican control), which he probably thinks he can do without a vote.  And, of course, he doesn’t really want to have that vote, which could be used against Collins & co. in the fall.  Pelosi should be making them have that vote.

  26. 26.

    VFX Lurker

    @kindness:

    I’ve always held my nose and voted for DiFi because I’m not stupid enough to allow a Republican to get the seat.  Republican Lite is what I end up with.

    Retire from the job Diane.  It seems you aren’t very good at it.

    Her general election opponent in 2018 was a Democrat backed by the far-left and by Trump supporters. You could have voted for him.

  27. 27.

    HRH mistermix, Lord Bombay Sapphire, Duke of Schweppes

    It’s not just DiFi–we’ve got a good half dozen or dozen Dems in the Senate whose veneration for the rules and traditions of the Senate is a misguided throwback to a political era of at least a dozen years ago.  We’re heading into a couple decades of 51 Dems in the Senate if we are super duper lucky, with an energized hateful opposition of mini-McConnells.  Veteran Senators like DiFi, Biden, Pat Leahy and a few others don’t seem to get that, and I think it’s a huge issue for the party.

  28. 28.

    Annie

    DiFi is a reliable Democratic vote, but not much more than that and certainly not inspirational in any way.  If we did not have term limits for the Mayor of San Francisco, DiFi would have remained in that job and would never have run for the Senate.  She liked the job, and she was good at running the city government.  That’s all we need in San Francisco, somebody to keep the government running;  the citizenry provides more than enough inspiration and excitement.

  30. 30.

    MattF

    McConnell should understand that the Speaker is merely doing her job. What’s so complicated about that?

  32. 32.

    germy

    @MattF:

    McConnell should understand that the Speaker is merely doing her job.

    I think  he understands.  He just doesn’t want her doing it.

  33. 33.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty Cracker:

    I don’t have great google-fu, but I tried to find the Chris Murphy quote and could only find it on Breitbart and National Review links, which I refused to click. It’s not on his own twitter, and I don’t see it cited by anyone but Breitbart and National Review.

  34. 34.

    germy

    All I can think of right now is that they just made my son register for the draft. And I am NOT giving up my son for Trump’s fucking re-election campaign disguised as the apocalypse.

    — rosanne cash (@rosannecash) January 8, 2020

  35. 35.

    zhena gogolia

    @zhena gogolia:

    Okay, he said something about getting the articles “sooner rather than later” — on DECEMBER 20. The way it was being quoted here, I thought he had just said it.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Bnad: @zhena gogolia: I believe Senators are required to be silent during the trial. I don’t remember from the Clinton impeachment if they can/do give speeches (on the floor) before they vote, but nothing would stop them from having press gaggles in or outside of their offices.

    I’m wondering if, per a theory floated a couple of weeks ago, if NP’s plan is to keep this dangling until after the SOTU, to stop Moscow from giving him an acquittal to crow about from the House podium

  38. 38.

    JGabriel

    Moscow Mitch via mistermix @ Top:

    There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure. We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. The House Democrats’ turn is over. The Senate has made its decision. This is for the Senate, and the Senate only, to decide.

    No, Mitch, the United States House of Represetatives turn is not over. Their turn is not over until they send over the Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump, Popular Vote Loser. And even then, it’s not over since they can always keep investigating and send over more articles of impeachment. The U.S. government is not a turn-based strategy video game. It’s not a game at all, and it takes place in real-time.

    And just to make clear: Donald Trump was not impeached by House Democrats; Donald J. Trump was impeached by The United States House of Representatives.

    Fuck you.

  41. 41.

    West of the Rockies

    DiFi turns 87 this June.  I don’t think she is bringing her A game anymore.

  43. 43.

    JGabriel

    Dianne Feinstein says it’s time for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to send the impeachment articles to the Senate.

    “If we’re going to do it, she should send them over,” the California Democrat said. “I don’t see what good delay does.”

    And I don’t see what good it does to re-inforce and give credibility to Republican talking points, Diane, but you just keep doing it anyway …

  44. 44.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Betty Cracker: At this point, I really do think Nancy’s best option is to say that they’ve had court cases in their favor re: subpoenas, and new evidence has come to light (leaked emails), so they’re going to withhold these articles until after they’ve had a chance to investigate further.

    “We don’t want to waste Mitch McConnell’s time by having him run a sham trial to pretend to exonerate the president TWICE”

  45. 45.

    FlipYrWhig

    @zhena gogolia:

    @Betty Cracker:

    YMMV but from what I’ve seen Chris Murphy seems to be one of the very best in the chamber.  I don’t know what his meaning was but I find it hard to believe that he’d be chickening out or giving Trump and McConnell cover or whatever we’re afraid he’s doing.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    @VFX Lurker:

    Her general election opponent in 2018 was a Democrat backed by the far-left and by Trump supporters.

    I think you’re missing the context here.  Since California has a top two primary, the only candidates in the general election were Feinstein and de Leon.  Republicans who had been fed hate for Feinstein for 30 years naturally voted for de Leon, even though he was considerably to Feinstein’s left.

  49. 49.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I also wonder if Pelosi and Schiff aren’t just trying to game out a move wrt Bolton

  50. 50.

    JGabriel

    @MisterForkbeard:

    At this point, I really do think Nancy’s best option is to say that they’ve had court cases in their favor re: subpoenas, and new evidence has come to light (leaked emails), so they’re going to withhold these articles until after they’ve had a chance to investigate further.

    “We don’t want to waste Mitch McConnell’s time by having him run a sham trial to pretend to exonerate the president TWICE”

    Better yet: “We don’t want to waste the Senate’s time with an incomplete record of the administration’s actions. We’ll continue investigating and send over the articles when we can ensure that they’ll have all the evidence they need to conduct a full and fair trial in the Senate.”

    Use Moscow Mitch’s and Rostov-on-Donald‘s rhetoric against them. They say they want a fair trial? Make sure they have ALL the evidence they need to conduct one.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @Roger Moore:

    There was a lot of Bro support for de Leon, too.

    Of course, many of the most annoying and abusive Bros started as Ron Paul acolytes, so six of one, half a dozen of the other.

  53. 53.

    Bill Arnold

    @John Revolta:

    The House Democrats’ turn is over.
    Christ, what an asshole.

    It’s also incorrect (the “turn is over” bit). If the Senate refuses to say that they’ll call witnesses, well, the House can always subpoena interesting witnesses to give testimony. Then after the witnesses give testimony, or are given obstruction permission slips by a Republican majority in the SCOTUS, or it’s October 2020, the House can either make new articles of impeachment, or revise the existing two.

    ETA said by others as well, e.g. JGabriel @ 38

  56. 56.

    Kent

    When was the last time Feinstein did something useful?

    The last time I remember her in the news was when she was attacking and insulting 6th grade climate activists.

  57. 57.

    boba

    @Betty Cracker: Yes, yes they are.

    “The House Republicans are not the enemy. They are the opposition. The enemy is the Senate.”

    That and Dianne Feinstein is a cranky old coot (as well as a war criminal on par with Pol Pot).

    California where all our representatives and senators would be better replaced with inanimate carbon rods.  (and yes, the Queen a-holes of the US Congress,  NP, DF, KH are my _neighbors_ and are the kind of people you really dislike having as neighbors.)

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    @boba:

    Yes, it really seems to burn you guys up that Adam Schiff actually got shit done. How dare he ruin the narrative about useless Democrats!!? ?

    I’ll keep him as my neighbor, thanks.

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    @FlipYrWhig: Chris Murphy was very impressive during his interview on Pod Save America last night.  At least the early part, because then I finally fell asleep.  I wonder if I felt reassured enough by what he was saying that I was able to sleep.

    I’ll find out tonight, when I pick up in the middle of the podcast!

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @JGabriel: Maybe you can take over as writer of this storyline we are in?  Because your version is so much more satisfying than the current one.

  61. 61.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    is there a parliamentary excuse McConnell has for not just calling Pelosi’s bluff and voting on the rules?

  62. 62.

    joel hanes

    @SFAW:

    DiFi [is] … not on anyone’s list of Top 200 Strategic Thinkers in the US Senate.

    But she is a past master of the arcana of Senate procedure, and has often and again used that knowledge to lead some liberal initiative into a dark alley in which it was quietly strangled.

    It’s been decades since she’s actually been a liberal on most issues.

  63. 63.

    joel hanes

    @VFX Lurker:

    Difi’s primary opponents were not, IMHO, replacement level.

    That’s not really a ringing endorsement of Senator Feinstein, for whom I have voted (counts on fingers) four times.

  64. 64.

    Mnemosyne

    @joel hanes:

    I have not yet had to avail myself of them, but IIRC DiFi has that thing that her leftie opponents always pooh-pooh at their peril: good constituent services. Plenty of assholes have stayed in power because they’re responsive to their constituents and help them regardless of whether or not they voted for them. Jesse Helms rode that for DECADES.

    Hell, my current House representative is a boring, milquetoast centrist Democrat who follows the crowd, but I’ll probably keep voting for the guy until he decides to retire because he brings his constituent services staff to EVERY public appearance to make it as easy as possible for people to approach him with problems they need him to solve. That goes much, much further towards incumbents getting re-elected than people realize.

  65. 65.

    glory b

    @Mnemosyne: yes, I believe that this is AOC’s Achilles heel.  A few grumbles that she’s not hired enough constituent services staffers (from a cousin whose a former staffer doing this kind of work).

    Not glamorous,  but certainly necessary.

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mnemosyne:  @glory b: Mainers say that’s how Collins has held on. I can’t remember if it was here or all the way back at Eschaton, but I remember a Mainer who absolutely hated the Queens referred to them unironically, as far as I could tell, as “Olympia” and “Susan”.

  67. 67.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    @glory_b

    One of the reasons Schiff won his seat was that his predecessor (Jim Rogan) had abysmal constituent services because he was swanning around as a Clinton impeachment manager. Schiff has been smart enough not to make the same mistake.

    And, yes, I do wonder if poor constituent services will take down AOC. Lefties really, really underestimate how vital they are to keeping voters happy.

  68. 68.

    Jinchi

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Hopefully DiFi will retire after her current term is completed

    Feinstein will be 91 after her current term is completed. I don’t understand why so many senators cling to power well into their 80’s when they don’t actually want to take on the hard problems.

  69. 69.

    Another Scott

    @zhena gogolia:

    E.g. Bloomberg:

    While most House Democrats on Wednesday continued to support Pelosi holding back the articles of impeachment they adopted last month until McConnell sets out his rules for the trial, several Democratic senators suggested the battle was over.

    “If we’re going to do it, she should send them over. I don’t see what good delay does,” said Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, Pelosi’s fellow Californian.

    Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said he hopes Pelosi will transmit the articles of impeachment soon.

    “My expectation is that we’ll be able to start this trial next week,” Murphy said. “The leverage over Republicans exists in the votes we take inside the trial.”

    In a closed-door meeting with fellow House Democrats Wednesday, Pelosi gave no hint that she was ready to set a timeline for sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, according to lawmakers.

    “We are waiting to see what the terms are,” Pelosi said afterward. She said she wants McConnell to release a resolution setting out the Senate rules for the trial before she takes the next step. “Then we’ll be able to name our managers. But we can’t do it until we see the arena they’re going into.”

    There was no indication McConnell was willing to do that, and he dismissed Pelosi’s attempt to negotiate the terms of trial.

    So, that seems to be two senators, so I guess 2 = Several now, neither one of which seems to be screaming that Nancy send the Articles over NOW NOW NOW.

    But the rumblings seem to be that the trial is going to start next week. I guess we’ll find out. How long it lasts is apparently up to Moscow Mitch and the rest of the GOP. We know that they want it ended in January (before Donnies’s SOTU on February 4.).

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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