Let’s see what kind of lies and smears the Republicans can come up with today. And whether they take note of John Bolton’s book. The commentary from lawyers yesterday on my Twitter feed was that a good lawyer incorporates new material into their argument. Once again, I probably won’t be watching most of it.
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Anya
I am surprised their whole argument was not “Obama did it!!!” Garbage president and his garbage hires. I just can’t…
RedDirtGirl
Well, it’s slow at work right now, so I guess I’ll give it a try. Already have a headache brewing, though, so prolly won’t last long.
donnah
I watched much of the House Team and thought they were brilliant. I managed to listen to some of the Republican response last night, but if ears could gag, mine would have. Dershowitz is a clown and I am not going to be able to listen to any of it today.
Bolton’s info is key and having General Kelly state his support for Bolton adds to the weight of that.
I don’t know how this goes forward, but I’m glad that the Democrats are standing firm and keeping their eyes on the prize.
RedDirtGirl
Snore!
RedDirtGirl
@donnah: Petty, but, hey, it’s balloon juice. Did you notice how ill-fitting Dershowitz’ suit was?
HalfAssedHomesteader
“Let me tell you what Joe Biden did!…. [8 hours later] … and that’s why this is all Joe Biden’s fault.”
Anya
When the time comes for senators to interrogate the lawyers, I hope one of the Dem senators has a list off all the brothers, spouses and children of senior adminatration officials and senators sitting on boards or financially benefiting from their relative’s position and to ask Trump’s lawyers, we didn’t Trump investigate any of them.
guachi
Why is Philbin talking about things that aren’t part of this impeachment (bills of attainder and maladministration)?
Trump is being impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of justice, two things well-established as reasons you can impeach a President.
HalfAssedHomesteader
@donnah: Much of Dershowitz’s arguments were straw men and arguments from authority. The rest were just plain mischaracterizations of the facts.
Jeffro
Somebody wake me just before the part where Colonel Jessup angrily admits he ordered the Code Red.
Anyway, Republican Senators, sorry but we’re just not gonna let you have it both ways anymore. We’ve finally figured out how to hold YOU accountable for Mr. Innocent’s behavior, since you won’t do it.
Yutsano
@Jeffro: “Kill them all. God will know His own”
Ruckus
@Jeffro:
Holding republican senators responsible might just be better. Two birds, one stone wise.
guachi
Wow, Philbin continues to not be good.
Claims the President has vast power in foreign policy and, therefore, can’t abuse power if he contradicts established US policy. Because US policy is whatever the President says.
Completely misses the point (probably intentionally) that establishing that Trump was going against policy is a way to establish that Trump was working on his own and a political hit job against his opponent wasn’t US policy.
He’s actually making the case against Trump – that it was TRUMP’S abuse of power and not that of the US Government as a whole.
sdhays
@guachi: Having lots of power means not being able to abuse it.
RedDirtGirl
I didn’t realize that Sekulow follows the Gym Jordan style of oratory.
hitchhiker
Thanks for the commentary, jackals. I can’t bring myself to look today after a bad decision late last night to read Jonathan Turley’s turgid prose about the Dershowitz performance.
I can accept that bad people win. I can’t accept that intelligent people debase themselves in public.
Marcopolo
OT but not as OT as if I posted it in the pet calendar thread:
I’ve mentioned before that D fundraising in 2019 was robust. This is confirmation. I also want to note that having a bunch of well-resourced down ballot candidates/races is another great way to get folks to the polls on election day. If for some reason we wind up with a meh D Prez nominee (or at least they are someone who leaves you wanting), find a US Senate or House race, or a state senate or house race, or a local mayor or councilperson election where you really like the candidate and give them 110%.
Marcopolo
Edited to delete a double post. Weird.
But I will also note that apparently the RNC is paying all the expenses for Trump’s impeachment defense team. Glad to see the money going there instead of towards elections.
glory b
@RedDirtGirl: See fellow Jackals? A fashion comment! The Mean Girls table wants to talk about these things!
zhena gogolia
That Joni Ernst clip where she gloats about how this is hurting Biden makes me want to vomit.
It has also made me go all in for Uncle Joe. He’s my candidate now. About to set up a monthly donation.
zhena gogolia
@Anya:
That would be nice. They seem to want to “go high” yet again, though.
rikyrah
@Marcopolo:
they still have $50 million unaccounted for from the Inauguration.
but, yes, every dollar he can grift from them, they don’t spend on elections.
rikyrah
@zhena gogolia:
Biden needs to make Ernst his closing ad in Iowa.
the Conster
@zhena gogolia:
Same. There’s no way that they’re doing everything they can to dirty up Biden while coddling and promoting Bernie by playing this 11 dimensional chess. Trump is a feral animal when it comes to sensing danger, and the threat to him is Biden/Obama coalition Dems. GOPers have all the oppo they need to bury the socialist old fraud – he didn’t need to get another country to dig it up.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah:
Biden has really good ad people, hopefully they can figure out how to get this into thirty seconds
Frankensteinbeck
@Marcopolo:
That will be one Hell of a lot of election money thrown in the trash. These people are insatiable grifters or they would not be here.
zhena gogolia
@the Conster:
Yep.
Z. Mulls
It was weird hearing a Republican lawyer say “Democratic Leader Schumer” rather than “Democrat Leader”….they are slipping….
Steeplejack (phone)
@sdhays:
“Absolute power empowers me absolutely.” Pretty sure that’s how that goes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@the Conster: I can’t find it now but somebody linked to a tweet this morning from the Daily Caller (Tucker Carlson) about how the “Democrat” Party is out to screw Bernie again
the Conster
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s not very subtle, but the Bros will nod their heads right along and agree with Tucker Carlson, Trump, Hugh Hewitt and Kevin McCarthy like it’s just another day in up is down Bernieworld.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Trump said the same thing in a tweet a few days ago. Bernie won’t dispute just like he didn’t dispute it in 2016, so it’s a free attack on Dems for the GOP.
Kraux Pas
@the Conster: It appears to me that they’re doing all this to ensure Biden is the nominee. They’re trying to provoke a defensive reaction from Democrats. The Iran assassination had the same goal. They wanted national security issues foremost in our brains.
YMMV here tho
the Conster
@Kraux Pas:
My mileage does vary. Trump self-impeached over fear of Biden, not Sanders.
Captain C
@Frankensteinbeck: I would bet that a lot of them have a high burn rate for cash, and that a good chunk of that is for various bad decisions that they can’t get out from under (gambling, divorce due to some kind of bad behavior, a history of stupid large purchases, and so forth). Specifics vary for each individual.
It’s really not much different from the crew in Goodfellas, who had to keep stealing and committing other crimes in order to support their various bad habits and profligate lifestyles.
Captain C
@Baud: I’m starting to think Wilmer might be a bit of a credulous narcissist.
Baud
@Kraux Pas:
@the Conster:
Right. Trump didn’t secretly try to push Ukraine to announce an investigation into Biden in order to help Bernie become the nominee.
Unless…..maybe Trump is the whistleblower!
MisterForkbeard
@the Conster: I’ve already seen this. They’re literally saying that “even republicans know Bernie is getting screwed by the DNC and the Establishment” with literally no reflection about the situation at all.
Honestly, all those really bad TV shows where the heroes act to fuck themselves over because an obvious villain is lying to them suddenly look a whole lot more plausible.
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: This.
They’ve taken concrete steps to damage Biden. None to damage Bernie.
They have pushed divisions in the Democratic Party, usually to Bernie’s benefit. That they’re sometimes obvious about it doesn’t change that fact. Likewise, the Iran Assassination is reportedly much more about Trump wanting to be ‘tough’.
The evidence is pretty clear that they would rather run against Bernie but will weaken Biden as much as they can.
PenAndKey
@MisterForkbeard:The evidence is pretty clear that they would rather run against Bernie but will weaken Biden as much as they can.
This. The lack of attacks against Bernie shows that they’re holding their ammo, not that there isn’t any. Taking the strongest person out at the start of a fight is a solid move, and while I might consider Trump and company to be morons of the highest calibre, there are plenty of them who are also thugs who understand how to brawl. Politics, if just the way the GOP conducts it, is basically brawling.
Zelma
I just gave my first contribution to Biden. And I may give more later tonight.
The thought that Bernie might win in Iowa and gain momentum is appalling to me. He is the Republicans preferred candidate because they’ve got so much stuff on him and they’ll use every bit. This country cannot survive another four years of Trump.
If he does win (and even if he doesn’t), this should be the end of Iowa as the first contest. Let them hold their undemocratic caucus every year. Just make sure that no Democratic candidates participate. A state that does not resemble the country at all should not have an outsized role in selecting a candidate. And that goes for New Hampshire too.
Gonna go find out what Kelly said.
brantl
Sucks-it-low looks like a lizard. with a chin.
brantl
@hitchhiker:
What intelligent people? They’re republicans, have you lost your mind?
Yutsano
@brantl: What did lizards ever do to you???
brantl
@Yutsano: well if you put a suit on them, they look like Jay Sekulow……..