Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

So many bastards, so little time.

Let me file that under fuck it.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

You are here: Home / Politics / Impeachment / Impeachment Trial Live – January 22, 2020

Reader Interactions

169Comments

  3. 3.

    MattF

    I’d really like to see the trial go funky, and then McConnell try to pull the plug. Unlikely, I know, but popcorn futures are too volatile for my retirement portfolio.

  11. 11.

    germy

    @jakebackpack 17h
    I don’t know how to tell people that America’s Third Republic and modern attempt at democracy ended with Bush v. Gore and if you haven’t realized that by now, well.

  12. 12.

    jimmiraybob

    Let’s see if the President’s defense can come up with anything beyond lies and talking points.

    I watched a good portion of this yesterday.  It was very difficult.  It was immediately apparent that the defense team’s mission wasn’t to provide a sane, fact-based argument but to continue the demolition of constitutional order and the rule of law.  That is the project.  So, no. It’s just more demo.  It will always be more demo.

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    Today in “Things that are Seemingly Unrelated, But Are They?”, the “From the Web” ads:
    “Bizarre Things Only Americans Find Attractive”
    “Trump’s Bizarre Comment About Son Barron is Turning Heads”
    “The Truth About SpaghettiOs Finally Revealed”

  15. 15.

    Sloane Ranger

    I thought today was all Shiff and friends. Don’t they have 3 days to make their opening argument?

  16. 16.

    Joy in FL

    I’m listening to Adam Schiff. He’s said this many times: if the president isn’t held accountable and removed, then any president can also behave lawlessly without any restriction.

    I think that Republicans intend, and think they can accomplish this, that there will not ever be another president who is not a Republican. I remember back in the 90s or early 2000s hearing Karl Rove talk about a permanent Republican majority. The idea did not make any sense to me, and I assumed it was impossible. But I think that today’s Republican leadership believes that is within their reach. To me, it’s another motivation for the Republicans who want this to be willing to stay up until 1:30 in the morning to make sure there is only ever GOP in power forever.

    So to my original point: to the Republicans in the Senate, it wouldn’t matter that another president would behave lawlessly, because the president would always be a Republican. Does that not strike Mr. Schiff as a possibility? and thus his point is pointless to this Senate.

    Later today, I’m heading to a local Panera to phone bank for the Warren campaign. I’m not a phone bank kind of person, but what is being covered up and lied about is powerful motivation for me to do that.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    @Joy in FL:

    I think that Republicans intend, and think they can accomplish this, that there will not ever be another president who is not a Republican.

    I had that very thought last night, but I couldn’t bear to say it out loud, or even type it.

  19. 19.

    Joy in FL

    @WaterGirl:  Once I had the thought in my head, it seemed so obvious. But I have not seen any mention of the idea in the context of the cover-up and the GOP complicity. Surely it has occurred to the House Managers and others? It certainly raises the stakes for me about November 2020 and whatever goes on between now and then.

  22. 22.

    Z. Mulls

    The next three days are all the House, reviewing all the evidence — I don’t know how the President’s lawyers are going to fill up 24 hours.

     

    If I were in the GOP, I would be thinking about splitting the baby.     Declare him guilty but vote against removal, then tell the voters (of Maine, for instance) that the President was clearly wrong and it was important to send a signal that this refusal to send Congress documents and witnesses cannot stand, but removal from office was too great a penalty.   This allows them to imply that if it gets caught doing it again it might go a different way.

  25. 25.

    hitchhiker

    I’m sitting here telling myself that there are a whole bunch of senators who (a) don’t know what was in Bob Mueller’s report, (b) have ignored information about trump’s behavior with respect to Ukraine, and therefore (c) are learning some things for the very first time.

    No phones, no aides, no laptops, nothing but their own ears and eyes and brains.

    A lot of them will shrug, sure … but there have to be a few who raise their eyebrows and say, “Wait, wut?”

    This is what I’m telling myself right up to the moment when they all vote against witnesses & documents.

  26. 26.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Joy in FL: I remember Teresa Nielsen Hayden pointing out the same thing during the GWB years: that the Republicans were behaving like people who believed they would never, and could never, be voted out of power. And she wondered if they had some inside information she didn’t that made them so confident.

    It turned out they probably didn’t: a lot of them were eventually voted out. But they managed to retain a lot of control, especially after 2010.

  27. 27.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @germy:

    We should restrict ourselves here to milk and water, in solidarity with House Democrats.

    These weird rules make no sense to me–no talking, no bathroom breaks, no food or beverages besides water and milk. I get wanting to impose the seriousness of this thing, but this is more like punishment than enticement to pay attention.

    Seriously, if I had to wait for a bathroom break for two hours at this stage of my life they’d have a bigger mess to clean up than Trump’s crimes. I was once trapped between exits in barely crawling traffic on I-25 trying desperately to make it home to the toilet. After 40 minutes and no relief in sight I literally grabbed a blanket in the back seat, stuffed it into my crotch and blissfully peed.

    What I wouldn’t give for one of our folks to do the same.

  28. 28.

    satby

    I can’t watch. So I was watching clips from Stephen Colbert’s show last night when he had Tom Steyer on, and even he would be better than Sanders, Gabbard, Yang, and the rest of the bottom bunch of candidates. So now my top picks are (in order) Warren, Biden, Buttigieg, Klobucher (I don’t like her but she’d be competent)  / Steyer. I prefer happy warriors, all but Amy fit that profile. I was surprised by Steyer.

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    Let’s see if the President’s defense can come up with anything beyond lies and talking points.

    Gibberish and nonsense.  I’m sure they can come up with some of those.

  32. 32.

    West of the Rockies

    I keep being naive.  I hear Schiff, his compelling, fact-driven voice, and think, “Surely, people will accept the truth, admit Trump’s guilt.”

    No.  Trump supporters are like fans of the Astros.  They know the team cheated.  They don’t care.  They just want to win.  Honor, integrity, truth do not matter.  Just win, baby.

    40% of Americans are vile.

  33. 33.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Z. Mulls: No. The GOP’s strength is in refusing to acknowledge any reality or apologize for anything. They’re ALWAYS right, until they decide that the person in question wasn’t really a Republican. And they do this en masse.

    You can see this in 2016, too – when Trump perfunctorily apologized for the Access Hollywood tape, his own people got demoralized. When he came back with “Everybody does this, it’s fine, just locker room talk and you’re jerks for pretending you care that I brag about sexually assaulting women” they ate it all up.

  34. 34.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Matt McIrvin:

    the Republicans were behaving like people who believed they would never, and could never, be voted out of power.

    No.  They’re acting like people who believe they will lose all power, permanently, in the near future.  People who are winning can afford to be good sportsmen and compromise.  People who are completely in power can throw bones to the losers.  It is people who are pretty sure they’re going to lose who go scorched earth.  It is people who don’t think they will ever win fairly who cheat so boldly and shamelessly.  It is people who think they’re on the edge of permanent loss who go batshit insane.

    What they are losing, specifically, is the dominance of white Christian men.  We look around and see their power is a mile wide.  They look around and see it’s an inch deep.  The demographic clock keeps ticking, and they feel it in a way we can’t.  The culture keeps shifting, keeps embracing diversity.  More and more minorities demand to be respected and most of the population agrees.

    Republicans believe their right to be abusive assholes and hurt anyone they want is a hairsbreadth from being taken away forever, and they are terrified and furious.

    Whether they’re right is another matter, but they believe they are losing and have entered a mode of insane desperation.

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    The Lincoln Project (Never Trumper PAC) is out with an ad targeting Susan Collins:

    I hate sleazy-ass ads like this, but as the people who made them to target Democrats know, this kind of thing works. At least they don’t have to flat-out lie about Collins: she really is a dithering nonentity.

  37. 37.

    Woodrow/asim

    @Matt McIrvin: And she wondered if they [ED: Republicans] had some inside information she didn’t that made them so confident.

    Actually, we know they didn’t have accurate information, at least, because of Mitt and Rove.

    The 1st few minutes of the Mitt documentary is Mitt (and his family/team’s) POV when the 2012 election results were announced . The vast majority of them couldn’t believe they lost to Barack.

    Recall, too, the weirdness that was Karl Rove on Fox news, that night, insisting — to the point of being taken off the air — that Ohio would come thru for Mittens?

    And now that I think about it, there are reports that Trump went into Election Night thinking he was going to lose.

    I think these are folx who plot and scheme a LOT. Yet — so far — I don’t feel they have that lock on that level of insider information — or, at least, know to keep it away from the people we see.

    Indeed, I think Trump’s horror (among many) is that he wants exactly that level of corruption, directly in his hands.

  38. 38.

    West of the Rockies

    @West of the Rockies:

    Some Republicans (like Astros fans) will say, “Everybody does it” (cheats) because they experience a twinge of shame, but arguing everybody does it allows them to feel better about themselves.

  41. 41.

    yellowdog

    @WaterGirl: I thought that was obvious from the very beginning. They know the fix is in for the election. We already know that Georgia voting machines have been (and will be) hacked. The GOP can’t ever let Democrats be in power again to investigate the treason.

  42. 42.

    West of the Rockies

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think the music is overwrought and the narrator a bit breathless at points, but the ad doesn’t strike me as sleazy.  It’s pretty accurate.

  43. 43.

    Ohio Mom

    I tried calling my Republican Senator’s offices. Left messages at three of them, the mailbox was full at a fourth, the local Cincinnati number is busy, busy, busy ( probably off the hook), finally succeeded in reaching an intern at the Cleveland pffice.

    i always hear Kay’s “Bad hires!” In my mind’s ear. Portman’s minions can’t be arsed to answer the phone.

  45. 45.

    Wag

    Question for the lawyers in our bunch:  If the Senate acquits Trump, can the House keep investigating, and Impeach him a second time?

     

    I’m serious.  Keep this stuff in the headlines until the elections.

  46. 46.

    BellyCat

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    We look around and see their power is a mile wide.  They look around and see it’s an inch deep.

    Very poignant summary. Let’s hope it’s much less thick than an inch.

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: I was amused that they name-checked Snowe. The gossip was they really disliked each other, and Collins had an inferiority complex wrt Olly.

    Also Cohen, her political mentor, I believe. A few months ago he was making the cable rounds urging his former colleagues in the Senate and the party to stand up to trump. He got very emo. If he doesn’t endorse Collins’ opponent, that will all prove to have been just so much… balloon juice.

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    No. They’re acting like people who believe they will lose all power, permanently, in the near future.

    I’m not sure I would put it that way.  They’re behaving like people who are concerned only with the short term.  They care far more about staying in power today and for the next election than they do about what happens further in the future.  That could be because they’re afraid they’re about to lose power forever, but it could be because they believe they can stay in power indefinitely, but only as long as they use every dirty trick in the book to cling to it.  They certainly aren’t behaving like people who believe losing an election is just a setback they can recover from two years later.

  50. 50.

    yellowdog

    @Frankensteinbeck: White Christian men are only threatened if they lose power. The GOP and Putin will make sure that never happens. The GOP is acting like they will never have to answer for their crimes because they know the Russians and the Kochs/Adelsons will save them. Trump will be reelected because we  have no election security.

  51. 51.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @Frankensteinbeck:

     They’re acting like people who believe they will lose all power, permanently, in the near future.  People who are winning can afford to be good sportsmen and compromise.  People who are completely in power can throw bones to the losers.  It is people who are pretty sure they’re going to lose who go scorched earth.  It is people who don’t think they will ever win fairly who cheat so boldly and shamelessly.  It is people who think they’re on the edge of permanent loss who go batshit insane

    THIS. I’ve been saying for a while that whether it happens sooner or later than we all wish, this Republican Party’s giant leap towards authoritarianism is just their last, gasping desperate attempt to rally and stay alive before their unavoidable death.  The first of the three Death Knell bells have already rung for them, and there’s no going back.

    @Roger Moore:

    They’re behaving like people who are concerned only with the short term.

    I’d say our side is playing the long game right now, and we’re winning, 40% of “polled voters” be damned. 

    Can’t wait to ring that third bell when we bury these scumbags.

  52. 52.

    Roger Moore

    @Wag:

    If the Senate acquits Trump, can the House keep investigating, and Impeach him a second time?

    IANAL, but there’s no reason why they can’t.  They probably shouldn’t impeach him a second time for the same offense- the Senate would just throw it back- but there’s no reason they couldn’t impeach him a second time for a different set of bad acts.

  53. 53.

    dnfree

    @hitchhiker: my thought exactly. Good thing they weren’t allowed to have phones etc. Maybe they’ll learn something inadvertently.

    Schiff is doing an amazing job.

  55. 55.

    Wag

    @Roger Moore:

     

    I agree about the double jeopardy that you allude to, but it is such a target rich field that there would be plenty of opportunities for new charges…

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @yellowdog: You know what, if you really think the fix is in and the election result is a foregone conclusion, then either head to the woods with your weapon or curl up in a ball and whimper.

    I think we can win despite any roadblocks if people work at it and show up.

  57. 57.

    sdhays

    @yellowdog: They sure failed to prevent large, nationwide Democratic gains in 2018 and 2019. They couldn’t even save the Republican governor of Kentucky or defeat the Democratic governor of Louisiana.

    ETA: Just two days ago, there’s was a big event in Richmond, VA which amounted to a bunch of white “Christian” men being shocked that their concerns no longer hold the day in the Virginia government.

  58. 58.

    joel hanes

    @Joy in FL:

    I think that Republicans intend, and think they can accomplish this, that there will not ever be another president who is not a Republican.

    This has been the case since Katherine Harris rigged the Florida voter rolls in 2000, the RNC organized a riot to prevent the lawfully-mandated recount, and a partisan Supreme Court stepped in to assure that the Presidency went to the Republican regardless of the vote count.

    Shenanigans in 2004 in Ohio, too.

    And Rove melted down on national TV  when his 2012 arrangements to rig Ohio failed.

    And we all know that the RNC and Russia and Cambridge Analytica  colluded to steal the 2016 Presidential election.

    They’re habitual cheaters.   They long ago forfeited the benefit of the doubt

  62. 62.

    joel hanes

    @satby:

    I was surprised by Steyer

    He means well.  See the “Philanthropy” section of his Wiki page to find that he has committed to give away half his fortune to liberal causes.

  63. 63.

    Fleeting Expletive

    As MSNBC was recounting the trial last night, someone said Pat Cipiloni”‘s name and I swear I heard “Patsy Boloney”.  Got a chuckle out of that.

  66. 66.

    H.E.Wolf

    @zhena gogolia:

    Apologies for my tardiness – I left you a note at the bottom of the “please cheer me up” thread.

    May you soon be in better spirits. Your comments are often among the ones that cheer me up. Thank you!

  67. 67.

    MazeDancer

    Team Trump is going to conduct the Biden investigation on live TV.

    Prove Trump was justified.

    They will lie, smear, present evidence

  68. 68.

    Emerald

    @Joy in FL: to the Republicans in the Senate, it wouldn’t matter that another president would behave lawlessly, because the president would always be a Republican.

    Well, yeah, but there’s an even simpler rule: IOKIYAR. If a Democratic president did even a hint of any of these things, they would be held accountable.

    See! It only applies to one party! It’s that easy!

    (Although yeah, the Republicans have been committed for decades to getting rid of our democracy. Neutering the Constitution through this “trial” is a nice forward step in that direction.

  70. 70.

    patroclus

    Schiff’s presentation is just excellent.  Eloquent, to the point, filled with overwhelming evidentiary analysis and pithy and relevant historical allusions.  I am impressed.

    But yesterday was just outrageous as every single Republican voted down every single reasonable request (except for Collins on the respond in writing to a multi-page motion in two hours b.s. rule).  Very depressing that they won’t hold a real trial

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    In happier political news, we elected an awesome governor and she delivered her State of the State last night.  So good.

  72. 72.

    James E Powell

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I remember Teresa Nielsen Hayden pointing out the same thing during the GWB years: that the Republicans were behaving like people who believed they would never, and could never, be voted out of power.

    Both Republicans and their supporters, the 41%, certainly believe that they can never legitimately be voted out of power. That is why any and all opposition to Democrats is appropriate, constitution be damned.

    Sadly for us, the great majority of the press/media seem to believe this too, that Republicans in power is the “normal” setting for American government.

  73. 73.

    Leto

    @Betty Cracker: @SiubhanDuinne: Just like everyone else here, I heard all the pieces that Schiff has spoken about via the various hearings that were conducted. But he’s brought them all together in a very tight, vivid picture/framework that is just damning. I absolutely love all the work he has done, and is continuing to do. Also glad that he’s such a compelling speaker. Makes it easier for people to be drawn in and stay with the subject.

  80. 80.

    Leto

    @zhena gogolia: I hope so too. I’ve caught various bits of it on the radio as I was driving around today, but I’m now sitting back home for the final ten minutes of it. When he finishes it’ll be time for dog walkies. Better use of that time than listening to the Liar-in-Chief’s “legal” team.

  81. 81.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Woodrow/asim: I’ve heard speculation that Rove knew of some conspiracy to rig the voting machines in Ohio, but something had happened to thwart it. But that’s all it is, speculation.

  82. 82.

    Ohio Mom

    Whenever I hear Schiff speak, I think it’s like watching an Olympic-level gymnast or listening to an opera singer. It is the acme of human achievement, it is someone performing at the peak of what is possible. It’s breath-taking.

    I’m glad he’s relatively young and has many more years of service to the republic ahead of him.

  85. 85.

    hitchhiker

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m trying to imagine having the sheer intellectual power to deliver this long, brilliant speech under these circumstances. Little sleep. International attention. Half the audience hostile.

    It’s astonishing.

  87. 87.

    Duane

    @dnfree: Rep. Schiff is clearly explaining what has happened. I’d like him to tie these events directly to the charges. “That is why he has abused his power,” or,”Because of this he has obstructed justice. ” And now, of course, he’s doing just that. Never mind. ?

  89. 89.

    James E Powell

    Has anyone put together a list of all the documents and all the witnesses that Trump has refused to produce?

  95. 95.

    clay

    Does anyone know if Schiff has brought up Trump’s statement today about “we have the documents”?

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    @Wag:

    If the Senate acquits Trump, can the House keep investigating, and Impeach him a second time?

    Preet Bharara says yes.

  100. 100.

    MazeDancer

    Adam Schiff is simply dazzling.

    There is a report on Twitter that 20 GOP Senators are not in their seats. Guess Truth hurts too much.

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: I’m recording the hearing, but when I watch it tonight, I would love to know what part you were watching when you said this.

    I loved rikyrah’s line about Adam Schiff from last night or today.  Something about hoping/praying to even ONE TIME IN HER LIFE be as prepared for something as Adam Schiff is for this moment.  What she wrote was very powerful.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    @Leto: If you have a DVR, these are on every day starting at 1pm on C-SPAN 2.  I recorded yesterday, and set it to add an extra 3 hours, just in case.

    I set it again today.  Tomorrow and Friday should be the same time frame.

  104. 104.

    zhena gogolia

    @Ohio Mom:

    I agree completely. He is (dare I say it) even better than Obama (different sort of speeches, granted). His control of his voice and his emotion is masterly.

  105. 105.

    Marcopolo

    @Betty Cracker: The thing is all “advertising” works.  Negative, positive, I remember how disheartened I was when I realized that paid ads on TV (and I guess across other platforms) really do shift an average person’s thinking.  Hell, I now believe that truly repetitive ads will even cause subtle shifts in thinking in folks who think they have superior critical thinking skills.  It’s depressing.

    On the other hand, Bloomberg, who will not be the nominee has said he plans on spending up to $2 billion on ads (primarily against Trump) through the election whether he’s the nominee or not.  So there’s that.  And I have come to believe that Bloomberg announced his campaign as much to get campaign ad pricing (it’s something like a third to a half less than regular ads) as to keep Warren or Wilmer from winning.

    Also ditto on Schiff…he’s amazing.

  106. 106.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Michael McAuliff‏Verified account @mmcauliff
    Just counted 21 empty seats on the GOP side of the Senate, 2 on the Dem side, a couple hours into Schiff’s presentation. Some are just stretching their legs, but most are not in the chamber. Some of them have been out of there for a while.

  108. 108.

    Yutsano

    @WaterGirl: There’s no Constitutional limit on impeachment. But I would only try this once more if that. Instead, honestly, investigations and subpoenas. Most importantly: get Dolt45’s financial and tax records.

  109. 109.

    dmsilev

    @MazeDancer: Am confused. I thought the Rules ™ said that all Senators must be present at all times.

     

    Are you saying that GOP Senators would (gasp) not follow their own rules?

  110. 110.

    smintheus

    @Matt McIrvin: The Republicans did have a secret plan during the Bush years. They called it the K Street Project, and they believed it would allow them to turn the Democrats into a permanent minority party by monopolizing all the jobs and bribes associated with DC lobbying. It got exposed because of the extreme corruption of Republicans like Tom DeLay and the grand strategy petered out.

  111. 111.

    trollhattan

    @WaterGirl:

    I’d have to erase 2/3 of the stuff on my DVR to even think about recording this. And the very act would require me lying to myself about ever watching it.

  113. 113.

    smintheus

    @clay: NBC had Jay Sekulow bullshitting to the media in which he was asked about Trump’s bragging over obstructing the investigation, and Sekulow changed the subject immediately.

  114. 114.

    PJ

    @Marcopolo: I remember a clip from a WWII documentary where a Nazi propagandist said (in English), “simplify and repetition, that’s all it takes”.  If you repeat a simple message enough, it will stick in people’s brains whether they consciously believe it or not.   The more outrageous a statement is, the more likely it is also to stick.  Thus, the “big lie” advocated by the Nazis, and Trump, in practice.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    @trollhattan: I only watched the democrats, fast forwarding through the breaks and through the votes, until the results – surprise!  53/47.

    I ended up fast forwarding through the zoe ? person, i couldn’t  listen to her, but all the other democrats were strong in their own way.  But Adam Schiff is mind-blowingly good.

  117. 117.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    ndrea Bernstein‏Verified account@AndreaWNYC 38m38 minutes ago
    Schiff: If we allow this “we write the history of our decline with our own hand.”

  118. 118.

    TriassicSands

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    He is, but I worry a little ( actually a lot) about the anemic attention span of the American people. Since there is no point in trying to convince even a single Republican senator, Schiff’s audience is “the people.” Schiff should avoid too much repetition.

    As I listen to Schiff’s description and evidence of Trump’s “high crimes and misdemeanors,” it’s hard to imagine an honest, objective ” juror” voting to acquit. It’s too bad there aren’t any Republicans who qualify as honest and objective.

    The country is fortunate to have someone as eloquent as Schiff to lay out the case against the criminal Trump.

  122. 122.

    germy

    C-Span callers are deranged.

    The last one just repeated the uranium one myth.  And said “Trump’s a businessman, not a politician!  And he’s kept every promise!”

  123. 123.

    H.E.Wolf

    @zhena gogolia:

    You’re welcome!

    If you do sign up low-tech-fashion with PostcardsToVoters, their FAQ has info on cheap postcard and stamp options.

    And if you wished to, you’d be able to write 1 or 2 in solidarity on the day of the Seattle postcard meetup in mid-February. :)

  127. 127.

    Yutsano

    @WaterGirl: The fact that 20 GOP Senators are just allowed to walk out of the chamber against the “rules” of the trial is just Yertle proving how much of the fix is in. It still needs to be done. We’ll lose this battle because of the make-up of the Senate. But that means the fight will have to be stronger going forward.

  129. 129.

    sdhays

    @Barbara: I guess that started a nice list of things he subsequently failed at:

    • K Street Project ends with Democrats taking over Congress and then the White House
    • Failing to get reelected as a Senator
    • Failed Presidential run
    • Anything else returning him to relevance

    I’m sure I’m missing some things, but who can be bothered with that shit out of power?

  130. 130.

    catclub

    @joel hanes: find that he has committed to give away half his fortune to liberal causes.

     

    I am only partially impressed. I suspect that while he is alive he is doing everything he can to avoid paying taxes.

    Why can’t he give that much when he is alive? He will still be able to eat.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    I think that when votes are taken on whether to allow witnesses and documents, the oath they took should be read aloud to each senator before they have to state their vote out loud before the entire nation.

    Let’s see how many of them can vote with Trump immediately after being reminded of the solemn oath they have sworn to.  Surely at least 4 would not be able to do it, if this could be part of the vote.

  132. 132.

    mrmoshpotato

    @MazeDancer:

    There is a report on Twitter that 20 GOP Senators are not in their seats. Guess Truth hurts too much. 

    So the removal vote only has to be 2/3 of 80 Senators now, right?

  134. 134.

    patrick II

    @Roger Moore:

    like  lawless regimes everywhere,  they become desperate  to  win the next election ( or get rid of elections entirely)  to avoid consequences  of their lawlessness.

  135. 135.

    catclub

    @Yutsano: Most importantly: get Dolt45’s financial and tax records.

     

    Good luck with that. So far there has always been a GOP judge to slow-walk or just outright refuse to follow the law on this. Do you expect the Supreme Court GOP judges to do any better? Do you expect them to hurry and do better before november?

  139. 139.

    jonas

    @jimmiraybob: It was immediately apparent that the defense team’s mission wasn’t to provide a sane, fact-based argument but to continue the demolition of constitutional order and the rule of law.

    To Trump’s base, aka “owning the libs”. They know they don’t actually have to *defend* Trump. They just have to sit there and give Adam Schiff the bird for three days and keep the rubes happy.

  144. 144.

    piratedan

    @catclub: not a fan’s of Steyers either… he cites the root cause of the problems in Government on Term Limits… yeah, term limits… Government law making is a convulted sausage making process, made complex by making sure that rights are honored and that it doesn’t conflict with other legislation and getting people into those positions without a firm understanding on how to manage and craft the process just strikes me as hopelessly naive.  I’m sure he does good work thru various charitable endeavors, but I really would like to have a politician who understands that this work isn’t as easy as writing shit down on a cocktail napkin and having someone submit it to the floor for a vote in a day.

  146. 146.

    Citizen Alan

    @West of the Rockies: Perhaps the thing I hate most about Republicans is that they can excuse ANY unethical conduct just by reciting the magic words “Democrats do it too!” And if there’s absolutely no evidence that Democrats do it to, it only goes to prove how cunning and diabolical Democrats are to do it and get away with it, and so even more GOP cheating is justified. It is an argument that can be used to justify the rejection of ethics even as a theoretical concept.

  148. 148.

    Ruckus

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I agree with you here. They are desperate but with a temporary bit of power. They will never admit it but some of them are not that stupid.
    They are going with the power defense, it’s all they have. It will give them talking points after January, how dangerous the Democrats are now that they are in power. They just hope the electorate is just that stupid.

  154. 154.

    bemused

    @Joy in FL:

    I hadn’t thought of Rove’s statement to Ron Susskind in 2004 for a long time but it has popped into my head often recently.

    “We’re an empire now and when we act, we create our own reality..while you are studying that reality…we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study, too and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and all of you will be left to just study what we do.”

  157. 157.

    bemused

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    2012 Lindsay Graham said “We’re (Republican party) not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business.”

    Today Graham is an angry white guy, trump toadie, with his finger in the dike.

  160. 160.

    Kent

    @Roger Moore:IANAL, but there’s no reason why they can’t.  They probably shouldn’t impeach him a second time for the same offense- the Senate would just throw it back- but there’s no reason they couldn’t impeach him a second time for a different set of bad acts.

    They should investigate the fuck out of every single aspect of the coverup and pursue all of the subpoenas.  Don’t call it an impeachment investigation.  Call it an investigation of the Ukraine COVERUP or whatever.

    Also investigate everything else.  Trump’s taxes.  Trump corruption everywhere.  No need to call it impeachment.  And a whole lot of other guilty people are going to shake out.  Plus, Trump can always be prosecuted after he leaves office.

    Republicans didn’t call it the Benghazi IMPEACHMENT investigation.  They just investigated, and it won them the election.  With no Benghazi investigation there is no emails and no Comey.

  162. 162.

    Mallard Filmore

    @germy: And said “Trump’s a businessman, not a politician!  And he’s kept every promise!”

    Yep. Good business man. He will make good coin for himself as he sells the rest of us out.

  163. 163.

    hitchhiker

    @bemused:

    I don’t think Rove ever paused to consider that once he decided to make it okay to invent your own reality, others with motives he wouldn’t approve of would follow his lead.

    Yes, you smug fucker. You invented a reality in which Republicans are manly patriots and Democrats are weak fools. You invented WMD and occupied a foreign country for years on the strength of your fantasy. You invented full human rights for newly conceived embryos, and you invented a specious religious argument to justify yourselves. You invented the right to own all the guns you want, without limit, and without the need to secure them or register them — even for men known to be bent on killing their wives. You invented a planet where the climate is not changing.

    And now you’ve invented an America where there’s no need to respect norms, no imperative to follow the constitution, and nothing to stop corruption.

    Nicely done.

  164. 164.

    catclub

    @Mnemosyne: And the Berniebros are all in on supporting that. Trump has already picked up on their Social Security/Medicare slam against Biden.

     

    Except for Trump saying today at Davos that he would look at cutting SS and Medicare, just like every other Republican who has already finished cutting taxes for the rich and decides the budget needs to be improved.

  165. 165.

    Mnemosyne

    @catclub:

    That’s the message Trump is picking up from the Berniebros: See, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between Trump and Biden, so you may as well vote for Trump! At least he doesn’t pretend not to be corrupt!

  166. 166.

    James E Powell

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I think the list is longer and the subject matter broader than whatever Schiff listed. I’m (allegedy) at work so I haven’t checked in to see what’s happening.

    The list should be compiled and made into a TV ad for the general election campaign.

  168. 168.

    brantl

    @Wag: Sure, just keep digging. Nancy should have held on to the articles, and just kept stacking all the shit he has done on, including his tax evasion. If they had started with the tax evasion, he would have blown a blood vessel, and died.

  169. 169.

    Debbie(Aussie)

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Thank you so much for saying that. If it were possible I would give you 1000+ likes? I need to keep reminding myself of this(even here in Australia) because in the current circumstances it feels like two steps forward and 10 steps back.

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