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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Trump Crime Cartel / The Complete Fuckery of the Impeachment Trial

The Complete Fuckery of the Impeachment Trial

by John Cole|  January 27, 20208:47 pm| 130 Comments

This post is in: Trump Crime Cartel

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I haven’t had much to say about the complete shitshow that is the Senate impeachment trial because I really have nothing to add and I am aware that my abject cynicism regarding what I consider the inevitable outcome of this farce is offputting to others, but the whole thing is just fucking ridiculous. The House Impeachment Managers presented a clear a case for the removal of Trump as was possible given the “rules” of the trial set by that fucking traitor Mitch McConnell, and everything else is a sad fucking joke on the rest of us, from the Senators being unable to stay in their god damned seats to the oh fuck it why bother, you’re watching the same god damned thing.

When I was a young man, growing up in a college town, I spent a great deal of time at the college radio station. I got my FCC license when I was 14 back when that was a thing, and I had my own shows with my own time slots but I also spent a great deal of time serving as the engineer for the Monday Night Oldies show and for the Ashborne Hour (which was actually three hours) on Tuesday nights playing classical music. This was back when everything wasn’t automated and you actually had turntables and otari reel-to-reels, and my purpose was to control the show while the two older gentleman who hosted the shows chose the music and did the talking.

The fellow who did the Monday Night Oldies show was a fellow named John Graham, and he was kind of a big deal in the Pittsburgh Music scene (I’m friends with his son and still am, and his wife just died two weeks ago), and he loved to take me to the old reunion tours of 50’s music stars. So I got to go to a lot of those old reunion tour shows you see being played at sad venues that usually accompany a complimentary dinner of swiss steak and lots of mashed potatoes. At any rate, I saw a lot of the old last hurrah tours of people like Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners, etc. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was precisely the kind of music that a 16 year old stoned deadhead would have as his first choice for entertainment, but, you know, it is experiences like that that made me who I am today.

Why am I telling you this? Because that is what the Trump defense reminds me of- the last hurrah tour of old white douchebags from the 80’s and 90’s gathered together for one last rendition of Blue Moon or Pennies from Heaven or Frankie Valli’s greatest hits (he is STILL alive, fwiw). You’ve got panty-sniffing serial leaker Ken Starr, who graduated from the Clinton trial to covering up sex crimes at Baylor, you’ve got serial predator and Martha’s Vineyard outcast Alan Dershowitz, perennial lunatic Jay Sekulow, and a cadre of other shitstains and ne’er do wells stinking up the joint and collectively making the American people dumber.

Imagine a murder trial where the prosecution is not allowed to introduce forensic evidence, talk to the witnesses, interview the police, examine the murder weapon or the autopsy report, followed by three days of the defense screaming “the prosecution provided no evidence.” Meanwhile the accused is sitting in his chair screaming that he is going to do the same thing to the prosecutor that he did to the victim and threatening the jury pool, and no one seems to notice or care. There’s the Trump impeachment in a nutshell.

The Bolton book apparently has some of the Senators slightly freaked out about just how fucking bad history is going to judge them, so now they are baking up some half-cooked idea that will get lots of media time but never come to fruition:

Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), an influential conservative in the Senate, has spoken with several colleagues in recent days about possibly summoning just two witnesses to President Trump’s impeachment trial, with one called by Republicans and one by Democrats, according to three Republican officials.

Toomey has confided to GOP senators that proposing a “one-for-one” deal with Senate Democrats may be necessary at some point, particularly with pressure mounting for witnesses to be called, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. He has argued that such an arrangement could force Democrats to accept a Republican witness against their wishes or else risk having Republicans move ahead to acquit Trump, the officials said.

Toomey has spoken about his idea with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and others, the officials added.

Why does there need to be a one for one? Are we this obeisant to the God of both sides that we need to “balance out” the witnesses? Why not just bring the witnesses who have something relevant to say, and if they don’t, well, don’t bring them. If that means the prosecution has 10, and the defense has only two, or vice versa, so be it.

But you know the answer, don’t you? BECAUSE HE’S FUCKING GUILTY, that’s why.

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Reader Interactions

130Comments

  1. 1.

    Gin & Tonic, Duke of Tanqueray

    January 27, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    For someone who doesn’t have much to say you have much to say, but it’s brilliant.

  2. 2.

    Urza

    January 27, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    God of both siderism would probably be Janus.  Sad, he had a much better job in the ancient days.

  3. 3.

    Aleta

    January 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    I  now ask that my shoe test be named after me, a person who is of sterling character and excellent in every way.

  4. 4.

    Ksmiami

    January 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    the GOP is traitor trash that needs to be utterly obliterated. Carry on

  5. 5.

    zhena gogolia

    January 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    This is some very fine writing right here.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    January 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @Gin & Tonic, Duke of Tanqueray:

    I’ll say this: der Blogvater doesn’t speak to us often, but he knows how to pick his moment to have the most effect.

  7. 7.

    JMG

    January 27, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    Wonderful post! A dear friend of mine, now dead some nine years I’m always sad to remember, saw the Four Seasons in Vegas in the early 2000s. He shuddered as he recalled to me, “imagine one of their songs with Frankie Valli unable to hit the high notes. Now imagine 14 of them in a row.”

  8. 8.

    Booger

    January 27, 2020 at 9:02 pm

    A-fuckin men.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    January 27, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    So Toomey thinks there is pressure to call witnesses and that the leverage they have over Dems is to acquit without calling witnesses.

     

    Imteresting.

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    January 27, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    When does Dershowitz sing Blue Moon?

  11. 11.

    Damned at Random

    January 27, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    Toomey and Santorum are proof of the decline of the Pennsylvania GOP which (within my memory) produced Senators Hugh Scott and John Heinz.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    January 27, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I imagine Dershowitz doing it in this style.

  13. 13.

    jimmiraybob

    January 27, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    A Golden Rule of Impeachment?! Did I hear that?

  14. 14.

    John Revolta

    January 27, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    One-for-one? Sure, why not? We’ve got an embarrassment of choices. These idiots will probably call Hillary Clinton up there.

  15. 15.

    Bard the Grim

    January 27, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    john, when you’re on, you’re really ON.  That “Imagine…” analogy is effin’ poetry.

  16. 16.

    Damned at Random

    January 27, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @John Revolta: Bennnghazzziiii

  17. 17.

    Another Scott

    January 27, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @Baud: Yeah.

    One of the travesties of the last 40+ years of DC politics is that the majority has all the power but gets the press to pretend that they have none.

    As Shalimar pointed out downstairs (and I agreed), the GOP Senators can call as many witnesses as they want.  They have the majority.  They make the rules.  This nonsense that the Democrats have to somehow let them call witnesses is infuriating…

    Grrr…

    Good post, JC.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    Kent

    January 27, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    I don’t even understand this witness exchange thing.  That’s not how proceedings EVER work.

    They already have an established procedure for voting on witnesses that the GOP rammed through.  If they want to fucking call Joe Biden or Hunter Biden they can just do it without a single Dem vote.

    What they want is COVER to call the Bidens.  Dems should simply not play that game.  They should simply say. “We are going to call the appropriate witnesses that can shed light and provide information on this case.  Trump’s defense can call any witnesses the choose to but they need to be RELEVANT rebuttal witnesses to rebut information or testimony that has been provided.  Or, if they are going to offer a different theory of the crime, then witnesses to make that case.

    Dems, don’t get suckered into this witness exchange.  Nothing is stopping them from calling the Bidens or anyone else.  Just don’t give them the cover to do it under Democratic bipartisan approval.  And YES…please call Adam Schiff!!!  PLEASE.  I really want to see the two geriatric old pervs try to cross examine Schiff.

  19. 19.

    piratedan

    January 27, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    I will say that its incredibly disappointing when the American public is more concerned about the jurors staying in the seats than the chief justice is.  Just when you tell yourself that not all Republicans are corrupt and then you see the highest judicial officer of the land presiding in this manner.

  20. 20.

    Dan B

    January 27, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    So Toomey wants a quid pro quo at a trial about quid pro quo.  He knows how to maintain a theme!

     

    Or is it embellishing a theme?  Burnishing?

  21. 21.

    evap

    January 27, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    Thanks for the righteous rant, John.   This cheered me up a lot, although I’m not sure why…

  22. 22.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    January 27, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    Call Biden as a witness.

    I dare them. All he has to say is, “I have no information other than Dump is guilty and should be removed from office”.

    Schumer should up the ante: 20 witnesses apiece.

    The problem with limiting it to only one witness is who do you call to the stand, Bolton or Dump. Just imagine Dump unraveling under Schiff’s questioning.

  23. 23.

    Kent

    January 27, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    @Damned at Random:Toomey and Santorum are proof of the decline of the Pennsylvania GOP which (within my memory) produced Senators Hugh Scott and John Heinz.

    Don’t forget Governor Tom Corbett!  The one who sued twitter because people on twitter were making fun of him!

  24. 24.

    karensky

    January 27, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    @zhena gogolia:   If he does, I am gonna take the train to DC with many bad tomatoes on my person and let the ‘maters rip!

  25. 25.

    sdhays

    January 27, 2020 at 9:17 pm

    @Baud: It’s like they can’t do math. They have a majority. That’s why Moscow Mitch is the Majority Leader – they chose him! If they desperately want to call the Bidens, it’s within their power to do so, and the Democrats can’t stop them. They just want to introduce bipartisanship to the sham trial, just like they want Democrats to give them bipartisan cover to gut Social Security and Medicare.

    At least it doesn’t sound like Democrats are interested in that “trade”.

  26. 26.

    Damned at Random

    January 27, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    Dershowitz’ argument is that the Framers rejected such vague criteria as “maladministration” and “abuse of power” in favor of the highly specific “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

  27. 27.

    HalfAssedHomesteader

    January 27, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    Shorter Dershowitz: The Constitution provides for impeachment but nothing is impeachable.

  28. 28.

    Another Scott

    January 27, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    @HalfAssedHomesteader: There was no federal criminal code when the Constitution was written, therefore no crime is impeachable.

    It’s just Science.

    HTH!!!1

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  29. 29.

    Mike J

    January 27, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    Huggy Bear says word on the street is they’ve got the votes for witnesses. Now they need to get a chance to cast those votes.

  30. 30.

    sdhays

    January 27, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: If the Democrats operated like Republicans, even a little bit, every single breath talking about hearing from Bolton would be followed by talking about needing testimony from the President. Hillary could testify for hours in public, but Dump would melt down in minutes.

    If he actually had to be subjected to intense questioning that he couldn’t just stand up and walk away from, it just might literally kill him from the stress. Which is why it will never happen.

  31. 31.

    zhena gogolia

    January 27, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    That’s exactly what i was hearing in my head!

  32. 32.

    Jeffro

    January 27, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: I agree with this wholeheartedly…1 for 1 is silly, let’s go 20 for 20.  C’mon, GOP, surely you have 18 people besides Joe and Hunter you want to talk to to exonerate “Mr. Innocent”, right?

    Dude didn’t try to extort Ukraine, collude with Putin, launder money for decades, assault all those women, fake a reason to attack Iran, none of it.  Line up 500 people who want to tell America just how innocent Mr. Innocent is…

  33. 33.

    Another Scott

    January 27, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @sdhays:

    It’s not a problem. He’s been here before.

    “That’s right, nothing too hard Mika Moscow Mitch,” Trump interjected.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    Catherine Rampell on Joni Ernst’s almost giddy speculation about what Hunter’s testimony will do to Joe’s chances in the Iowa caucus, video at the link for those not on twitter

    Catherine Rampell @ crampell
    Reminds me of Kevin McCarthy’s 2015 gaffe admitting that the real objective of endless Benghazi investigations was to hurt Hillary’s poll numbers.
    It would be a shame if in 2020 the GOP + an unwitting press managed to do the job that the Ukrainian president knew was bogus

    as a certified VSP and Villager, I think from the libertarian side of town, I’m glad she made the point, but I don’t think “unwitting” is quite the right word there

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    Narrator: Little did John know, the fuckery was nowhere near complete.  There’s be much more fuckery to come.

  36. 36.

    Wag

    January 27, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    no that’s way cooler than Dershowitz would ever be capable of

  37. 37.

    sdhays

    January 27, 2020 at 9:26 pm

    @Mike J: I expect Moscow Mitch to put off the vote as long as possible to try to change some minds or hope that something else will happen to get enough Republicans to change their minds.

  38. 38.

    zhena gogolia

    January 27, 2020 at 9:26 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    What’s funny is that that version is the very first one I ever heard of that song. I thought it was canonical.

  39. 39.

    hitchhiker

    January 27, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    The only thing good about this is knowing that they’re scared. They don’t know what trump is going to do next, or what this or that former trump staff is going to say in public.

    They only know that they’re going to rip us off for as much as they can get away with in the next year, and for the rest of time if they manage to cheat their way thru 2020.

    Another old defunct white guy is Chris Matthews, who is for some reason present on MSNBC panels all day long and who looks absolutely befuddled and worried, like he might be about to say something stupid but can’t be sure if he’s in the right studio.

    He keeps barking about how Joe Biden ought to offer to make a “checkers” speech and thus win the sympathy and support of the nation … and then I saw Joni Ernst laughing about how voters in her state are probably having 2nd thoughts about voting for Biden, with all these questions about him.

    UGH.

  40. 40.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    That’s exactly what i was hearing in my head!

    Me too. Is there another version?

  41. 41.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I unironically love that version.

  42. 42.

    Damned at Random

    January 27, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @hitchhiker: Chump is having a rally tomorrow. My guess is he needs a morale boost. I may watch just to see what he confesses to in the presence of his acolytes

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    January 27, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    John, as you well know, none of low rent asswipes that trump can hire or who make up the republican side of either house of congress are anything but remora politicians, those who attach themselves to the ass of whomever demands followers. They are not thinkers, or humans of any morals whatsoever, or they would have left the party a long time ago, like you or quite a few others. They are in it all the way, like suicide bombers. And I’m talking the suicide bombers who taped the bomb to themselves. No one held them down or talked them into it, they’ve gone along willingly. The disaster that is this maladministration is apparent from space, without any magnification whatsoever. That’s how bad it is. Their goal here is not good government, the goal is no government. Or at least government so ineffective and controlled by them that they can get away with anything. They are being stopped or at least slowed down by states and courts and we have only months to go to do our part. Maybe this will signal a return to citizens actually wanting to have a decent country, when they realize how bad it can get.

    You and I served in the military during times of war. For myself I didn’t want to go to a war that was obviously not about what we were being told it was about. But choice is not always something that has any good answers. The war of my time certainly wasn’t. But we served. If you are anything like me, you did your best when you were there. Not everyone did but that’s what I agreed to and it’s what I did. And our country is I think trying to do that now, even if 40% of the country thinks it should be destroyed. I’ve been watching politics for nearly 60 yrs now and have seen some shit. I can think of things that some democrats did/didn’t do that I think they should have done different, but I can only recall one republican president during my lifetime that was honorable and that was Ike. (Fuck LBJ) And each succeeding republican president has gotten worse. From shit to rancid, diseased shit, that’s been the progression of republican presidents/governments.

    Rant done for now.

  44. 44.

    Aleta

    January 27, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    . Why does there need to be a one for one?

    Because the only way they can make this appear fair—-when  the ref is fixed, big money’s riding on the outcome, and they’re openly committing fouls—is to make it look like a competition instead of a trial.  Most of the US now seems to accept that winners do whatever they have to to win.

  45. 45.

    Martin

    January 27, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    Why does there need to be a one for one?

    Because the GOP doesn’t have the votes to call their witnesses without Dems. Not calling Bolton only hurts the GOP. The true believers want Biden, the not true believers think that would be a disaster. The non true believers want Bolton because they think they’ll be punished for not calling him, the true believers think he has it out for Trump.

    That doesn’t seem like a problem for Dems to solve. Let them twist. Bolton is self-motivated to get the information out before the election anyway.

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @SFAW: Blue Moon by old Blue Eyes– ETA: first non-Marcels version I heard was on a Very Special episode of Moonlighitng when they did a throwback noir episode and Cybil Sheperd played a nightclub singer to Bruce Willis’ private dick

  47. 47.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    There’s always more fuckery? Fuckery all the way down?

  48. 48.

    hilts

    January 27, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I’ve seen Catherine Rampell numerous times on tv and I think the term “liberal” is a far more accurate of her politics than the term “libertarian”

  49. 49.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    Time for more Scooby Doo.  Maybe when the gang catches the villian they just go “Meh.” and walk away.

  50. 50.

    Bill Arnold

    January 27, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    @Kent:

    Dems, don’t get suckered into this witness exchange. Nothing is stopping them from calling the Bidens or anyone else. Just don’t give them the cover to do it under Democratic bipartisan approval.

    QFT.
    Seriously, Democrats were downtalking Cruz’s “witness reciprocity” talk recently. Republicans should have no reason to believe Democrats would agree to such bullshit. If Republicans want a totally obviously sham trial with no relevant witnesses, it should be on them.

  51. 51.

    Martin

    January 27, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    1700 new coronavirus case in China today. Still accelerating. 107 deaths, but only 7 outside of Wuhan. So, it could be that it hasn’t been outside of Wuhan long enough for people to succumb to it, or it could be that when health resources aren’t overwhelmed and people are quicker to seek treatment, it’s reasonably treatable.

  52. 52.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    @Ruckus:

    And each succeeding republican president has gotten worse.

    I had/have no particular love for HW, and voted for Dukakis, but I think he was better than the average of the other four since Ike. Of course, being “better than the average” is not exactly a high bar.

  53. 53.

    MomSense

    January 27, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    It’s just shocking what a farce this is.  The House managers were brilliant, but McConnell has rigged this process and the president is witness tampering.

    Suzie Q is desperate to find an excuse not to hear witnesses or evidence.  Romney may do something but only if enough people are watching and he gets to be the center of attention.  The defense is mind blowingly bad. Roberts is pathetic.

  54. 54.

    Martin

    January 27, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    @Bill Arnold: I don’t think Dems are so delusional to think that the GOP are offering this deal trying to be helpful. The GOP needs this deal, the Dems don’t.

  55. 55.

    mapaghimagsik

    January 27, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    So very fucking guilty.

  56. 56.

    hilts

    January 27, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    Last hurrah tour of old white douchebags from the 80’s and 90’s gathered together for one last rendition of Blue Moon or Pennies from Heaven or Frankie Valli’s greatest hits

    John, you’ve planted an indelible image in my mind.  I can’t wait to see Ken Starr, Jay Seculow, Pat Cipilone, and the Dershmeister in matching gold lame suits belting out Blue Moon, At the Hop, Bristol Stomp, Speedo, etc.

  57. 57.

    Sab

    January 27, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    I am on a Samsung android. When I try to comment in excited state, I often end up in  a field of emojis instead of caps or punctuation.

    How do I back out of that without deleting my whole  (or half, depending on my typing)  post being deleted when I try unsuccessfully to get back to letters?

    Speaking for a luddite friend.

  58. 58.

    Immanentize

    January 27, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Here, I bet, is a do-wop version of Unchained Melody I suspect most have NOT heard.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    January 27, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    @SFAW: 
    At least he didn’t appear as bad as the others but I remember there were things that he was reported to have said at times not in the public eye that put him squarely in the republican camp of not good. He wasn’t a goof and a shit like his son or an outright crook like Nixon but he was no saint. He did serve honorably in WWII.

  60. 60.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    @Martin: Schumer said very forcefully– I was pleasantly surprised–the other day that a deal is not on the table. Chris Murphy is saying all the right things about how even talking about the Bidens is just doing for trump what he’ getting impeached for. Maybe they can bring back Barbara Mikulski– legend has it the scariest Senator in the Dem caucus back in her day– to keep a baleful eye on Chris Coons so he doesn’t get any ideas

  61. 61.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Sinatra. Good Christ.

    I know you meant well, but jesus mary and joseph, hearing the “song stylings of noted lounge lizard” Francis Albert Sinatra is something that song does not deserve.

  62. 62.

    janesays

    January 27, 2020 at 9:45 pm

    Worth noting that this whole “one-for-one” nonsense is just pure meaningless bullshit.

    Here’s a simple fact – if the Republicans really want Joe Biden to testify, they don’t need to get a single Democrat on board to make it happen. And they don’t have to allow Bolton to testify to make it happen, either. They’ve got the votes already. Fifty-three of them. This has jack shit to do with getting Biden to testify, and it’s a not-too-clever ruse to obfuscate the whole thing into both-sides horseshit.

    Schumer should tell McConnell that if the Republicans really want Biden to testify, they are completely free to vote for him to testify. And the Democrats won’t be participating in the charade.

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    @SFAW: aw, I sometimes like Sinatra– Strangers in the night is great, until he tries to scat (I think that’s what he thinks he’s doing with the doobie dobbie doo).

    How do you feel about Ella Fitzgerald?

    ETA: watching MSNBC and I’m really liking this version of Schumer I’m seeing

  64. 64.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Here, I bet, is a do-wop version ofUnchained Melody I suspect most have NOT heard.

    Praise be to Jeebus

  65. 65.

    Immanentize

    January 27, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Summer Wind

  66. 66.

    Bill Arnold

    January 27, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @Martin:

    I don’t think Dems are so delusional to think that the GOP are offering this deal trying to be helpful. The GOP needs this deal, the Dems don’t.

    That’s what I’m wondering about. Are the Republicans really so stupid that they don’t know this? Or are they making some other play? I’m leaning towards “stupid” but it’s hard to believe.

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    January 27, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I adore her.

  68. 68.

    Immanentize

    January 27, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @SFAW: It cracks me up, the full tempo do-wop treatment.

  69. 69.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    How do you feel about Ella Fitzgerald?

    Love her. Late Sinatra isn’t in the same league or solar system as Ella. [I haven’t heard enough young Sinatra, although I seem to recall people thought he was aces during that period.]

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    @Immanentize:

    My eardrums tried to puncture themselves.

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    January 27, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    Rampell dropped one for the ages in the WaPo…awesome!

  72. 72.

    Kay

    January 27, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    Jason Campbell
    @JasonSCampbell
    · 2h
    Just insane stuff happening on Lou Dobbs tonight

    The have a huge picture of Bolton captioned “A Tool for the Left”
    Then they have a graphic with lines connecting Bolton to Comey.

    A LITTLE rattled in nutjob land. I would say :)

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 10:02 pm

    @SFAW: without late Sinatra we wouldn’t have had Phil Hartman’s imitation or half of Don Rickles’ best talk show anecdotes.

    “Frank Sinatra saved my life once. He said, all right boys, that’s enough.”

  74. 74.

    J R in WV

    January 27, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    I think the Blue Moon offered is a peak example of DooWop style, with no doubt at all!

    Frank Sinatra was not a nice person,  but he could sing the big band style really well.

  75. 75.

    Beeb

    January 27, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    I don’t think Democrats should treat human beings like commodities.  And that’s what trading either Joe or Hunter Biden for Bolton would do.   I don’t care whether it would be good or bad strategy.  Human beings should be treated as ends in themselves, not as means to an end.

    Why yes, that is a Kantian imperative.  But you don’t have to be a Kantian to understand that commodifying human beings is wrong.

  76. 76.

    Martin

    January 27, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Not stupid, desperate.

  77. 77.

    debbie

    January 27, 2020 at 10:08 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    My mom was one of those bobbysoxers who swooned over young Sinatra. She said even when she listened to the old, tired Sinatra, she only heard the young guy singing.

  78. 78.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 27, 2020 at 10:08 pm

    @hilts: But are they Neat Guys? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMjtvSABQ3Q

  79. 79.

    John S.

    January 27, 2020 at 10:08 pm

    @SFAW: Sinatra at the Sands is a phenomenal album.

  80. 80.

    different-church-lady

    January 27, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    MX 5050 FOREVER!!! (I still have one in my basement.)

  81. 81.

    janesays

    January 27, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    @Martin: That’s not actually true. It only takes 51 votes to call witnesses, and the Republicans have 53 votes on their side. They don’t need a single Democratic vote to subpoena Biden, if that’s what they actually want. I don’t think they actually care about Biden testifying, their just trying to wiggle their way out of having Bolton testify by obfuscating everything.

  82. 82.

    different-church-lady

    January 27, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @debbie: One night on the local NPR station’s “American Songbook” show, the guy put on some very late Sinatra unannounced. I hadn’t heard it before, but right off the bat I could tell who it was. My first thought was, “Oh no, this is heartbreaking, his instrument is just gone.”

    Three minutes later, I was thinking, “That is one of the most magnificent vocal performances I’ve ever heard.” Even when his voice was ruined he still knew how to deliver a song with maximum impact.

  83. 83.

    JoyceH

    January 27, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @SFAW: I like those old Guys In Sailor Suits movies that feature Sinatra as the wide-eyed naive kid being mentored by slick and worldly Gene Kelly.

  84. 84.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    January 27, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Ernst is such a dummy.  Polls are mixed; some show Biden winning, some show Wilmer winning.  This was always going to be Wilmer’s best state, outside of New England.   Moreover, it’s an open question whether they’d have witnesses ready to go this week.

  85. 85.

    different-church-lady

    January 27, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    @JoyceH: Seeing Brando sing, “A Woman In Love” is something that made me wonder if I had dropped acid without knowing it.

  86. 86.

    Raven Onthill

    January 27, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    They also need to worry about the judgement of the voters. One more revelation, I think, and the Republicans may start calling witnesses. They’re clearly shaken.

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/prime/bolton-news-scrambles-senate-impeachment-routine

  87. 87.

    jl

    January 27, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @Martin: From the news stats I’ve followed, seems like case fatality rate is around 3 percent in China. High enough to get a rational person’s attention. Let’s hope for the best for subsequent cases. Might be a lower case fatality rate elsewhere if the disease can be contained by screening travelers, since they might get adequate supportive care sooner after infection than in China so far. Or in China if they can get a good idea of what to look for in specific symptoms that appear early. I heard a news report where on doctor mentioned flu with early diarrhea (sorry, but respite thread is above).

    The case fatality of the 1918 influenza epidemic was between 10 and 20 percent.

  88. 88.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    @JoyceH:

    Movies? Was there another one besides “On the Town”?

  89. 89.

    Ella in New Mexico

    January 27, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    So as a nurse, we have this thing we say at shift change when the receiving RN has alternated with us and has cared for the patient for the last few days, and  the patient has shown now improvements or downgrades that might indicate their prognosis.

    We say: “No changes”. 

    it’s essentially the Republican’s entire argument and we really don’t need to go beyond that in terms of detail.

  90. 90.

    TS (the original)

    January 27, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    The GOP Senate is doing for Trump what he couldn’t get the President of Ukraine to do – turn Biden into another Benghazi issue. Regardless as to anything else attacking Biden will be Trump’s election policy speech.

  91. 91.

    jl

    January 27, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    @Martin: I agree. And clear from media clips I’ve seen that die-hard Trumpster dead-enders in Senate think that pushing BS Russia propaganda lines will work with the public. They really want Hunter Biden to testify so they can yell lies at him, in hopes the media will show them and bothesides it.

  92. 92.

    Amir Khalid

    January 27, 2020 at 10:33 pm

    @Immanentize:

    I know of Unchained Melody in this style, but only from Manhattan Transfer’s note-for-note cover.

  93. 93.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 10:33 pm

    @Raven Onthill:

    They also need to worry about the judgement of the voters. One more revelation, I think, and the Republicans may start calling witnesses. They’re clearly shaken.

    Someone on NPR commented that “no one wants to be the fourth [traitor to the Republican Partei],” so the quislings will probably wait until they reach a critical mass of eight or ten before there’s a real chance of witnesses. Not sure if I subscribe to that idea, but it seems to be a reasonable assessment.

  94. 94.

    jl

    January 27, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    And BTW, the correct answer is Dersh would sing In a World of my Own.

  95. 95.

    different-church-lady

    January 27, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    @SFAW: “On The Town II: Electric Boogaloo”

  96. 96.

    MomSense

    January 27, 2020 at 10:36 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Best phrasing in the business.

  97. 97.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 10:36 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Gaaaaah!!!!!!!!

  98. 98.

    Kay

    January 27, 2020 at 10:36 pm

    We had a Trumpster in the office today ranting about Pelosi. First time I have heard that live. I didn’t think people-who-are-not- Fox-hosts did that out in public.

    This makes me happy- that they’re upset :)

  99. 99.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @Kay:

    We had a Trumpster in the office today ranting about Pelosi.

    Had that happened to me, it would have taken all my willpower not to respond “Yeah, she’s coming for your Dear Leader’s nuts. Or she would, if he had any.”

    But you, being a gentlewoman of breeding and class, would not say such a thing, I know.

  100. 100.

    zhena gogolia

    January 27, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Never heard it!

  101. 101.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @Kay: Has impeaching their Soviet shitpile mobster conman god emperor given them a sad?  Awwww….fuck ’em.

  102. 102.

    Kay

    January 27, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    @Raven Onthill:

    I think they’re rattled too. They could just cut the big douchebag loose and end this- aren’t they tired of defending these horrible people? God, it must be exhausting. Every day it’s something worse than the last. This is just one of the scandals they know about- there’s probably worse ones that haven’t come out yet. The Bolton book hints at Trump + the corrupt cronies self-dealing re: China. Of course they did. Why would it be limited to Ukraine?

  103. 103.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    @SFAW: Hahahahahah, you know Kay was thinking worse words. :)

  104. 104.

    Kay

    January 27, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I didn’t see him but I heard him. I know him – an acquaintance. He’s awful just on a daily basis but he was very upset today. Why do they all talk so loud? And SO MUCH. It’s like 100 words where ten would do.

  105. 105.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Hahahahahah, you know Kay was thinking worse words

    Not Kay. Cole — maybe; Betty Cracker — maybe; me — definitely; but not Kay.

  106. 106.

    JoyceH

    January 27, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    @SFAW: On The Town was about sailors on the loose in NYC. It was actually preceded by Anchors Aweigh, about sailors on the loose in LA. Anchors Aweigh is the one where Kelly dances with Jerry the mouse.

  107. 107.

    zhena gogolia

    January 27, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    @Jeffro:

    That is beautiful.

  108. 108.

    Vhh

    January 27, 2020 at 10:47 pm

    Trumpworld is  just loaded with  crazy old farts spouting senile nonsense. Dershowitz, Starr, Giuliani, Moscow Mitch, Lou Dobbs. Amazingly, younger party members like Cruz and Cotton are going along, oblivious to the demographic lightning storm that is coming….

  109. 109.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2020 at 10:48 pm

    @Kay:

    I didn’t see him but I heard him.

    LOL! A loudmouth.  Even better!

    Why do they all talk so loud? And SO MUCH.

    Trying to melt all us snowflakes with volume and volume?

  110. 110.

    zhena gogolia

    January 27, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @MomSense:

    Yeah, it’s his phrasing and the way he puts across the lyrics. I’m not a fan, but I can recognize that.

    I did hear some early stuff and thought he was really good back then.

  111. 111.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @SFAW: Ok fine. :(

  112. 112.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @JoyceH:

    Another thing “Anchors Aweigh” had going for it was the inimitable Grady Sutton.

  113. 113.

    Kay

    January 27, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @SFAW:

    I hardly ever get mad at them. I’m immune. I had one write me crazy letters during the election. The kind of letter where he sealed it then thought of new things to be mad about so wrote on the outside of the envelope. 

    I feel that goes to credibility.

    Nancy’s a queen. She doesn’t give a shit what they say. The one good part of Trump is he got her as his nemesis. I have enjoyed that. She’s so clearly the real opponent. When the sad history of this period is written she’s the other main character. All the rest of these bootlicking losers will be footnotes.

  114. 114.

    Mary G

    January 27, 2020 at 10:55 pm

    @Kay: Just wanted to say I read the morning thread late and it was a great one, especially your comments.

    And I agree, they are rattled. Fox News’ own poll had 50% of registered voters in favor of impeaching Twitler and removing him from office now. Every week as the House’s subpoenas get closer to the Supreme Court in June, he’ll get more rabid and manic and be out of control even worse than he is now. Moscow Mitch  might very well decide that  his best bet is to get Pence in now, because the media will fluff him up and a lot of voters will have forgotten Twitler in 10 months.

  115. 115.

    jonas

    January 27, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    One witness each? Are they nuts? The Dems would call Bolton, who would spill a load of shit for them to clean up and they would call… who? Hunter Biden? A guy who would just sit there and go: “Um, no, that never happened.” “Um, no, I didn’t do that.” “No, that’s incorrect.” I would think they would be wanting to open the floodgates so that by the time next June rolls around and they’re still questioning some producer’s assistant on Infowars about how the DNC server itself may now have become self-aware like Skynet and is preparing to destroy us all, Ukraine, the phone call, the whistleblower will have all been safely gaslighted away. They’re thinking they’re going to do a Kavanaugh again — the Dems call their star witness, she gets railroaded, they get to stomp their feet at the indignity of having to justify themselves, and we all go home. I don’t think that’s how this is going to play out this time.

  116. 116.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    @Kay:

    The kind of letter where he sealed it then thought of new things to be mad about so wrote on the outside of the envelope.  

    Is Stupid Snowflake Libtard a street, avenue or road?  Must’ve confused the postal service real good.  (Take that, libtard USPS!)

  117. 117.

    Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog

    January 27, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    @Sab: Typesave saves everything you type.  If your comment gets eaten, you can find what you wrote in Typesave and just copy and paste it.

    No affiliation with the developer – just found the app useful.

  118. 118.

    jonas

    January 27, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @Vhh:Amazingly, younger party members like Cruz and Cotton are going along, oblivious to the demographic lightning storm that is coming….

    For the time being, at least, they have to rely on those angry old senile voters to stay in office, so that’s why they’re happily going along with the Dignity Wraith game.

  119. 119.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    @Kay:

    I hardly ever get mad at them.

    I didn’t really see my proposed comment as being an expression of anger, but more along the lines of “the dozens.” [If you’re not familiar with the term, a couple of possible examples: “Deadbeat Donnie is SO fat that all his relationships are long distance,” “Putin’s Puppet is so dumb, he couldn’t spell ‘cat’ if you spotted him the ‘C’ and the ‘A.’ “]

  120. 120.

    jl

    January 27, 2020 at 11:07 pm

    @jonas: The wouldn’t ask Hunter Biden one damn thing that had anything to do with the trial. They would just yell anything bad they could think of about him, repeat Joe Biden’s name for a while for a rest, then spout Russian agitprop conspiracy theories, repeat Joe Biden’s name for a while to catch their breath, ask Hunter Biden why he is so bad, and then interrupt him before he can get out four words.

  121. 121.

    janesays

    January 27, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    Toomey has confided to GOP senators that proposing a “one-for-one” deal with Senate Democrats may be necessary at some point, particularly with pressure mounting for witnesses to be called, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. He has argued that such an arrangement could force Democrats to accept a Republican witness against their wishes or else risk having Republicans move ahead to acquit Trump, the officials said.

    This whole narrative is bogus nonsense, and I don’t know why it isn’t being called out more vigorously.

    It’s not rocket surgery – the Republicans control 53 seats in the Senate. It only takes 51 votes to call a witness. Ergo, if the Republicans genuinely want to call either of the Bidens (or anybody else that has nothing to do with Trump’s crimes), they can do so right now, and they don’t need a single Democrat to be on board to make it happen. They’ve already got the votes. Today. Because there are 53 of them, and it only takes 51 to make it happen.

    This whole thing about negotiating a deal is absurd, because what’s really happening is they’re trying to tell Democrats they need to vote for a pointless Biden subpoena if they want four Republicans to vote for a Bolton subpoena. It’s all obfuscatory bullshit.

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    CBS Evening News @ CBSEveningNews

    TONIGHT: White House impeachment defense surrogate Mark Meadows (R-NC), alongside three GOP members of Congress, tells @NorahODonnell that he believes Republican senators will face political repercussions if they break with Pres. Trump; watch more at 6:30 p.m. ET.

    stuart stevens @stuartpstevens
    For the life of me I will never understand why having a creep like @MarkMeadows threaten you wouldn’t absolutely guarantee you will go ahead and do it. If only to watch his marshmallow face when you do. Who do these punks think they are?

  123. 123.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 27, 2020 at 11:24 pm

    Dear God. MSNBC now dragging Bill Nelson out of cold storage to punditize. From the way he speaks, his jaw is still half frozen

  124. 124.

    PJ

    January 27, 2020 at 11:24 pm

    @different-church-lady: She Shot Me Down, released in ’81 I think, is Sinatra’s last really good collection, and at 65 his voice was not what it once was, but he is still a great singer – he lives the emotion of the song for its duration.

    I don’t understand all the shitting on Sinatra in this thread.  I’m younger than probably most of the people who comment here, so maybe it’s a hippie vs. crooner thing, but very few people put emotion in a song like Sinatra.  His Capitol albums almost all range from very good to excellent, and, while his song selection in the ’60’s was more uneven as he tried to remain “hip”, his best recordings from that period are still fantastic.

  125. 125.

    Jinchi

    January 27, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    @Kay: aren’t they tired of defending these horrible people?

    Not really. They are these horrible people

  126. 126.

    cope

    January 27, 2020 at 11:46 pm

    @Sab: When I am in texting mode on my Samsung and find myself in the one of the many emoji or symbol zones, there is a series of icons at the bottom denoting the different emoji families and one that has “ABC” on it.  That one takes me back to letters.

    Sorry if that doesn’t help but it’s all I got as I am just above the luddite status of your “friend”.

  127. 127.

    James E Powell

    January 27, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    @janesays:

    Ergo, if the Republicans genuinely want to call either of the Bidens (or anybody else that has nothing to do with Trump’s crimes), they can do so right now, and they don’t need a single Democrat to be on board to make it happen.

    Murc’s Law – Only Democrats have agency.

  128. 128.

    dww44

    January 28, 2020 at 12:40 am

    @SFAW: The original song dates to 1934-1935 and was never a rock n roll song; It was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

    https://youtu.be/j3t0cBC6g5U

  129. 129.

    dww44

    January 28, 2020 at 12:48 am

    @jonas: Having spent the better part of 2 days mistakenly trying to combat the Trump cultism within my own family, I honestly think the coming demographic shifts are woefully insufficient to kill off the current iteration of Trumpism , aka GOP’ism.  It explains why those as educated as Cruz and Cotton can make total asses of themselves in service of a totally deranged President.

    How their voters can’t see through all that is our real problem. We are all witnessing the end result of what unfettered conservative monies over the last 40 years or so have unleashed through their think tanks and their media outlets.

    It will take an equal effort from the other direction to correct.  We need more than a George Soros to do that.

  130. 130.

    WaterGirl

    January 28, 2020 at 7:53 am

    @Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog:

    Your comment at #117 was in Spam.  Released and approved just now.

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