Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

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

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Bark louder, little dog.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Today’s GOP Star Disgrace: Rand Paul

Today’s GOP Star Disgrace: Rand Paul

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The name of the guy Rand Paul would like to believe is the whistleblower is now all over the web, so he’s achieved his goal — and it’s not as though Rand Paul needed to worry about his reputation; this is the kind of petty self-aggrandizing bullshit that’s his trademark. I don’t even think that Rand is explicitly paid by Putin, or blackmailed by the GRU. He just likes being the center of attention, and the only way he’s capable of achieving that is by being a dick.

I’d like to believe that Chief Justice Roberts would care enough about his own not inconsiderable self-esteem to bring the full force of his powers down on Paul, but I’d also like to believe that my favorite potato chips are health food, and that ain’t happening either.

Reader Interactions

179Comments

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    How much can we offer the hair weasel on his head to choke Paul out in his sleep? Asking for a friend.

  5. 5.

    The Dangerman

    I wonder how big a shit this little shit would have if the FBI came knocking on his door?

    Want to play games? Let’s play.

    Asshole.

  6. 6.

    Mary G

    That McCain clip is a doozy. I’ve never seen that one of remember reading about it. What a dick.

  7. 7.

    SFAW

    Someone in an earlier thread asked about Self-Aggrandizing Asshole Junior violating the whistleblower protection law, and one response was on the order of “the Revise and Extend part of Senate procedures allows him to do that with impunity.” My question is: if he steps out of the chamber, and gives a press conference in order to violate Federal law, wouldn’t he lose that protection? Not that Shill Barr would ever have him investigated, and not that Traitor Turtle wouldn’t come up with some mealy-mouthed bullshit to pretend Self-Aggrandizing Asshole Junior was covered, but still …

  9. 9.

    laura

    I hate this week with the heat of 10,000 white hot suns. Add Aqua Buddha to all of the things making me feel stabby.

    Also, a driver blew through a stop light in front of Sac State and barely missed my spouse riding his bike just a few moments ago.

  11. 11.

    norepli

     

    Dipshit Rand is a public official — isn’t broadcasting the whistleblower’s name

    illegal?

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Wow, that Ricky Davila tweet with the McCain video clip is powerful. Never saw that. Good stuff.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @laura: Yikes! I’m sure your spouse is shaken. You too. Glad your he emerged unhurt, but wow.

    Oddly, I had entirely managed to forget (or repress) Aqua Buddha — the event, the name, everything. Thank you for resurrecting it.

  15. 15.

    Mallard Filmore

    @NotMax: 

    “It’s not pouting, it’s an interval of going Galt.”

    Why does everyone here trash talk Ayn Rand? The villains in her book Atlas Shrugged have the Republican Party absolutely spot on pegged. She was ahead of her time.

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Just to be clear about my opinion of John McCain: You’d search far and wide for a more overrated US political figure (I’d be interested in your nominations), but:
    1) we’d be seeing a very different trial if he were still with us
    2) he wasn’t last in his class just because he was sneaking out to cavort with strippers and hootch, but whatever he didn’t know, the old man knew how to hate (to borrow Nixon’s phrase about Barbara Bush)

  17. 17.

    SFAW

    @laura:

    Also, a driver blew through a stop light in front of Sac State and barely missed my spouse riding his bike just a few moments ago.

    Glad that the key word is “missed.” I hope your husband is OK, I expect he was probably shaken up.

  18. 18.

    zhena gogolia

    Adam Schiff has once again been doing valiant battle all day long, but is anyone paying any attention?

    The Moscow Project twitter gives the highlights very well. Aaron Rupar used to do that, but he’s slacking off.

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Six years ago, Rand Paul received an award from a whistleblower advocacy organization. Today, he publicly revealed the name of the alleged whistleblower.

    It would be lovely if the whistleblower advocacy organisation were to withdraw the award, publicly, explicitly, and irrevocably.

    “Give it back! Give it back!”

  22. 22.

    debbie

    @zhena gogolia:

    I listened to a lot of it while working. Schiff et al. have been miles ahead of the Clown Squad. I was sad to hear Rob Portman’s question and fear he’ll be falling in line very soon.

    So much for his caring about Ukraine. //

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @zhena gogolia:

    om Nichols @ RadioFreeTom
    The Constitution wasn’t designed to deal with people who don’t give a shit.

    Peter Nicholas @ PeterAtlantic
    Representative Adam Schiff played every card he had in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, but none seemed to work,

  24. 24.

    Kent

    Rand Paul was a Baylor undergrad in the early 80s where he was a conservative dickhead.  Ken Starr later oversaw the rape factory that Baylor had become by the early 2000s.  They are all part of the same circle.

  26. 26.

    Jeffro

    @Yutsano: Amen to that!

    Run on a platform of doing nothing in the first term but righting wrongs, full investigations & prosecutions, and JAIL. TIME. for trumpublicans who abused the country for four years, Dems.

  28. 28.

    SFAW

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    he wasn’t last in his class just because

    In an interesting irony, Misha Pompeonov was (allegedly) first in his class at West Point. Maybe he can get Kevin Costner to play him in the remake of “No Way Out.” Although the Traitor-in-Chief is closer to Pompeonov, vis-a-vis body type, than Costner will ever be.

  30. 30.

    Kent

    Is it time to bring up my favorite Ayn Rand-related quote?

    “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”  – John Rogers

  33. 33.

    SFAW

    @Jeffro:

    and JAIL. TIME. for trumpublicans who abused the country for four years

    As I’ve said myriad times in the past, a Truth and Retribution Commission. The Party of Traitors won’t learn a damn thing, if all that’s done is a figurative (OR literal, either way) finger being wagged at them. And if they start with the Georgia Adulterer, the mofo who started GOPAC, so much the better. Maybe Callista would step out on him, see how he likes the turnabout.

  36. 36.

    Jeffro

    If trumpov were innocent…why not allow witnesses to his innocence to testify?

    If trumpov were innocent…why not allow documents, emails, texts, etc that discuss his innocence?

    If trumpov were innocent…why not just tell Congress at the time the aid was withheld?

    If trumpov were innocent…why not lay out examples of countries where trumpov personally intervened, held up aid, made a case for that country (or even individuals other than the Bidens)?

    Does any of this look like the work of a remotely innocent man?

    Also, Dems, you need to keep pointing out that this is not a ‘partisan’ impeachment, it’s a partisan, trumpublican cover-up.

  37. 37.

    Jeffro

    @SFAW: You’ve said it, I’ve said it, we’re all for it.

     

    (although I think it’s supposed to be ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’, at least in name  =)

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mallard Filmore:

    I hate Ayn Rand because she was a terrible novelist and a worse philosopher, but you are correct that the Koch brothers and their buddies would all be the villains of a Rand novel. She was not fond of rich boys using their daddy’s money to keep other people down.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    I’m enjoying the latest Twitter kerfuffle right now, but I won’t drag it into this thread because I promised not to start any more fights with the Bernistas. Check out ABL’s Twitter feed for more info. ?

  43. 43.

    Jeffro

    I think the Dems might be making the most of a bad hand…and if the trumpublicans open the door at all to witnesses, trumpov is screwed.

    Seriously.

    I think that at the last, they (the Dems) might just take it.  “Sure, call who you want and we’ll call who we want”.  Neither Biden has anything to offer here; an hour of Bolton testifying and trumpov’s OUT.

  45. 45.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kent:

    I have avoided diving into her oeuvre, but as far as I can tell, her rapey manly-man heroes are all self-made men, and her villains are all soft sons of privilege.

    Believe it or not, in a Rand novel, Bloomberg would be the hero and Trump would be the villain.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @SFAW:

    As I’ve said myriad times in the past, a Truth and Retribution Commission.

    In the spirit of compromise, I would settle for a Retribution Commission.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kent:

    I don’t think he wants it. He’s not on that track at all. Ted Lieu, however, is.

    I think “Senator Adam Schiff” has a nice ring to it, myself.

  49. 49.

    laura

    @SiubhanDuinne: thank you! He’s been hit by a car on his daily commute several years ago and had minor injuries but  totaled a really fine bike. He’s my whole world and hearing other jackals’ losses and sorrows just had me already in tune with the fragility of life.

    And for those of you who weighed in as well – I truly thank you for your good wishes. You’s good people.

  50. 50.

    SFAW

    @Jeffro:

    although I think it’s supposed to be ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’, at least in name

    That’s what the RWMFs and Party of Traitors are hoping. I stand by what I wrote.

  51. 51.

    Martin

    Moar winning.

    The Trump administration is expected to loosen restrictions on the US military’s ability to use landmines in the coming days, weapons that have been banned by more than 160 countries due to their history of killing and wounding civilians, multiple Defense Department officials tell CNN.

    The move represents a major reversal from the approach of the Obama administration which in 2014 committed the US to largely adhering to the 1997 Ottawa Convention, the international agreement which banned the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. The Obama policy committed to replacing landmines in the US stockpile after they expire and directed the destruction of stockpiles not required for the defense of South Korea.

  54. 54.

    SFAW

    @Martin:

    I still say if President Obama had made a concerted effort to prevent people from drinking antifreeze, a lot of our problems would be solved by now. Thanks, Obama!

  55. 55.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @MattF: Daddy Ron’s been in the Russkies’ pocket for decades. The road apple doesn’t fall far from the horse’s ass.

     

    (ETA: I see joel haynes scooped me on that last bon mot at #25. Funny, I’d never seen that phrase before I concocted it on my own a few years back. Independent discovery, I spoze.)

  56. 56.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jeffro:
    An AnCap asshole summed up the counter argument to that to me (back in June 2019): “Trump has no obligation to aide his accusers in his conviction.”

    So, yeah. This person also called Mueller a “company man” and really believes Trump the fascist is a poor victim of the evil Deep State

    This particular AnCap was really weird. Anti-corporate, anti-military interventions (especially despised all of the anti-war protesters from the Bush era who, in their view, didn’t have a problem with Obama.), yet pro-Trump and hates “Marxists”.

  57. 57.

    Martin

    I would like someone to ask, if the Trump is committed to rooting out corruption, please document the aid Trump withheld from Saudi Arabia for their involvement in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the hacking of Jeff Bezos. In fact, please point to any other actions taken apart from Biden/Ukraine.

  59. 59.

    FlipYrWhig

    I saw that there was some hoopla about Warren submitting a snarky question to Roberts.  I haven’t seen anything about Sanders submitting questions.  But I’m not much for Sanders and might not have come across it.  Has he been making use of the opportunity?

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    @SFAW: Hey, I said ‘in name’…I’m all for retribution against these scumbags.

    The RWMFs/RWNJs don’t want such a commission under any name.

  64. 64.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin:

    Oh that’s easy! Khasoggi was an enemy of the state who criticized Trump’s best friend and so deserved to be hacked to death with a bone saw. Also he was brown. Bezos is a liberal meanie who funds leftist propaganda. QED libturd! When Trump wins in November and the GOP sweeps the House, Bezos and all of you will be arrested and sent to Guantanamo Bay!

    /Trump’s impeachment defense and GOP Senators, probably

  68. 68.

    MomSense

    I noticed that Barr named Timothy Shea to replace Jessie Liu.  Liu was in charge of some important cases and now a Barr/Trump lackey will take over.

    It feels like our democracy is dying by a thousand cuts.

  69. 69.

    satby

    @Steeplejack: anti-capitalist, I’m guessing

    Edit: ok, way off. But what a stupid … Jeez, you can’t even classify it as a belief system. Just little reddit boys playing in their pcs.

  70. 70.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Martin: Or, what other actions taken or interest shown in the affairs of Ukraine (and possible corruption there) prior to Joe Biden’s entering the Presidential contest?

  71. 71.

    Patricia Kayden

    @debbie: The neighbor did enough and paid a price for his good deed. Hopefully, the Senate will flip and idiots like Rand will be neutralized.

  72. 72.

    Duane

    @Jeffro: John Bolton should appear in the Senate tomorrow and demand to be heard. Let the Republican cover-up be clear, and on record, for all to see.

  73. 73.

    zhena gogolia

    @Gin & Tonic:

    That question has been asked multiple times (the first time I heard it, it came from Collins and Murkowski). The pres’s lawyers answer with incredible bad faith. “We don’t have that information because it’s not in the record provided by the House.”

  75. 75.

    Patricia Kayden

    If the founders had intended to prohibit impeachment in an election year, they would have said so in the Constitution. They did not. And for good reason. If impeachment were prohibited in an election year, a president would have a free hand to cheat in the election. As Trump did.— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 30, 2020

  78. 78.

    zhena gogolia

    Totally OT, but I hope everyone is watching Howards End on PBS. It is one of the best adaptations I have ever seen (written by Kenneth Lonergan). The dialogue and acting are OVER THE TOP great. It’s the best acting I’ve seen from Matthew MacFadyen and Julia Ormond, and there’s someone I’ve never seen before named Joseph Quinn who is fantastic.

  79. 79.

    mad citizen

    @Jeffro: I had the same thought last night.  If witnesses are allowed, I think the game will be too plain (as if it isn’t already, etc.–we all know that) for the R Senators to acquit.  So they have one more night to sleep on it.  The vote for witnesses is IT tomorrow, we’ll know one way or the other.

     

    Pelosi and the Dems have rightfully put them into a lose-lose situation.  Remove trumpov or lose your reelection, you pick Senators.    Kind of what our nation has been in since 2016.

  81. 81.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @MomSense:

    From Wiki:

    She served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia from 2002 to 2006. Liu worked at the United States Department of Justice during the administration of President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. Her roles included deputy chief of staff in the National Security Division, counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division.

    Liu worked for the transition team of President-elect Donald Trump, and in 2017 became deputy general counsel at the United States Department of the Treasury. In June 2017, President Trump nominated Liu to become the next United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, which is the country’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office, with more than 300 prosecutors. Liu was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote in September 2017.

    I don’t know, does this Liu person have integrity? She worked for the Bush Admin from 2006 until 2009 and left when Obama was President and then came back to be on Trump’s transition team. From there she was appointed to various other positions:

    Liu has received numerous awards. She was named a White Collar Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2015, was named among the Best Lawyers Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association in 2011, received a Rising Star Award from the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Washington D.C. in 2011, and received a Service Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers in 2005.

    This all seems legitimate as far as I can tell. One must wonder why someone supposedly professional and well-regarded would want to associate themselves with someone like Cheeto Benito

  83. 83.

    Rand Careaga

    Speaking as a fellow “Rand,” although I had the handle some years in advance of this clown, and was not named for an “objectivist” loon, I think he’s an arsewipe.

  84. 84.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @MomSense:

    I know that. What I’m trying to get at is whether it will be any different with her gone; that she’s a political hack for joining this admin (and remaining) as well as leaving the federal government as soon as a Dem was going to be her ultimate boss

  88. 88.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    Really don’t understand what Roberts is there for if he’s not going to enforce the rules, or keep people from telling known falsehoods. What a fucking empty robe. Seriously you could put a SCOTUS robe on a butternut squash and it would be more animated, attractive, and not as useless.

  89. 89.

    Ruviana

    @SFAW: Qanonsters are recommending drinking bleach to ward off coronavirus so a new opportunity may yet present itself.

  94. 94.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ruviana: If they survive that treatment, can we wean them onto a multimolar solution of potassium dichromate? Used (and used and re-used) that stuff in HS Advanced Science in the penultimate step of cleaning lab glassware. Some of the nastiest shit ever dreamt up by the gods of inorganic chemistry. We were told that a tiny drop on the finger would burn you to the bone before you felt the pain…

  96. 96.

    Searcher

    Color me surprised Rand Paul is suddenly terrified about the other hundred whistleblowers waiting in the wings and doing his damnedest to intimidate them into keeping their mouths shut.

  97. 97.

    debbie

    @zhena gogolia:

    I’ve heard a couple of people say that the House should continue to hold hearings and invite Bolton to testify. If nothing else, it would get the information out in the open.

  98. 98.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie:

    He refused to testify in the House before, I don’t know why he would do it now. I don’t have much hope in him, TBH.

  100. 100.

    zhena gogolia

    @NotMax:

    Didn’t you see that clip where he said, “I need to check my iphone to see if they’re discussing me on Balloon Juice”? It brought a halt to the whole proceeding for a while.

  101. 101.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie:

    Well, I said the first night that it was good! It took me until the second episode to really realize how great it was.

  103. 103.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @NotMax:

    Wasn’t aware that B-J was controlling him.

    I thought it was the other way ’round?

    My god, I’m so confused.

  104. 104.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @NotMax: Sometimes when I think of the Jackaltariat joining battle with the evil sorcerers of the GOP, I flash on an image in the old National Lampoon, in which Gandalf has summoned to the final showdown the membership of the J. R. R. Tolkien Fan Club. Including one Pillsbury-doughboychik in celibate glasses & a FRODO LIVES sweatshirt, who looked, if memory serves, on the verge of requesting a respite thread.

    Rub some dirt on it & get back out there, you sumbidges! Do you wanna look at pix of pooties & woozles forever??

    //

  106. 106.

    FelonyGovt

    @Mnemosyne: My friend met Schiff last year. He is not interested in being President, told her it wasn’t for him. I don’t know how he’d feel about Speaker. I think my Rep Ted Lieu is on a leadership track but I don’t know if he has Nancy’s cat herding or vote counting skills.

  107. 107.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    “How would the verdict in this trial late rhetorical balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in the future?”– from a “bipartisan pair”. Did they say, does anyone know who it is? are they allowed to ask anonymous questions now?

  108. 108.

    West of the Rockies

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    I understand arsenic works wonders on the virus, too.  Maybe someone could pop over to 4Chan to put out the word.*

     

    *Need I actually say I am joking darkly?

  109. 109.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Manu Raju @ mkraju

    · 1h
    Key swing vote Sen. Lamar Alexander told me he’s going to announce his decision on witnesses TONIGHT, a decision that will make clear whether the Senate trial will come to a swift conclusion or if it will lead to a new phase over witnesses and documents.

    Is there time to place a bet? Cause I’d be very happy to lose a hundred bucks on this

  111. 111.

    Leto

    @laura:

     

    Also, a driver blew through a stop light in front of Sac State and barely missed my spouse riding his bike just a few moments ago.

    JFC; I’m so happy your spouse is okay. Don’t need another Leto case around here. One’s plenty :) Seriously though, glad they’re okay.

  112. 112.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    In other news…

    Thomas Edsall@Edsall

    Nunes used political donations to buy $15k Celtics tickets, lavish dinners – ABC News – via

    @ABC

    I’m sure the Celtics part of it will go over big in CA

  114. 114.

    Gelfling 545

    @Mnemosyne:Or Attorney General Schiff.

     

    @Mnemosyne: A friend of my father’s insisted I read her work when I was 18, feeling it was essential for “young intellectuals”.  The man’s been dead about 35 years & I still haven’t forgiven him. He was one of the maybe 8 members of the conservative party in our town in the 60s.

  115. 115.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’d bet on it with you but I think we both believe Republicans/Lamar will put party above country and continue to be spineless weasels.

    I’m getting shades of Collins’ Kavanaugh behavior here. Run up your media profile immensely by hinting you’ll do the minimally correct thing, and then go tell liberals it’s all their fault and they need to be nicer to traitors and rapists.

  117. 117.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    not that I think it will make a damn bit of difference, but… good on the old man. I always thought he was better than the rest of them. So of course did Liz Taylor

    Sheryl Gay Stolberg@SherylNYT
    NEW: Former Senator John Warner, a Republican and elder statesman of Virginia politics, has issued a statement calling on fellow Republicans to follow “judicial norms” by “welcoming relevant witnesses and documents” in President Trump’s impeachment trial.

  118. 118.

    Gelfling 545

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: So here I was

    trying to drink my little tot of Irish & I read “a robe on a butternut squash.” I am now wiping Jameson’s off my iPad & will probably always picture a black robed squash when I think of Roberts, thus leading to unseemly guffaws & hiccups.

  121. 121.

    J R in WV

    @laura:

    I was hit by a sports car while bike riding back in 1972. I was in the USN at the time, riding a shipmate’s bike to pick up our car because it was raining so hard. T-Boned in the left side, warped the bike seat around my thigh!

    I thought I was going to get over it, as I walked out of the ER, and was young and in good shape, but not so much.  Concussion, too. Third one, have had several since then.

    Now I’m hobbling around… but it was 45 odd years ago. At least I’m still mobile, and somewhat intelligent, still. Glad your spouse escaped this time !!

    Now I drive big SUVs and PU trucks, for the protection factor!

  124. 124.

    James E Powell

    I was in one of those situations tonight where I’m waiting to pay a bill and leave and FOX is on in the lobby and it’s Tucker Carlson going on and on about how the Democrats are stupid and evil and wrong and ridiculous. I can see how someone who only watches FOX would have a warped view of reality but I think a person has to have a warped personality in order to be able to watch FOX, especially Tucker Carlson.

  125. 125.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: I remained hopeful during Kavanuagh’s confirmation that Collins would act like a minimally decent person. Never again.

    Seriously, it wouldnt have cost the Republciand anything to withdraw or suspend Kavanuagh and do either a real investigation or submit someone else. They didn’t, because it was more important to yell at liberals.

     

    I’m seeing the same thing here. :(

  126. 126.

    Darkrose

    @laura: I’m still recovering from being on the road over there today. People act like the stop lights on Fair Oaks and Howe are optional. Glad your husband is okay.

  128. 128.

    Baud

    @James E Powell:

    I think a person has to have a warped personality in order to be able to watch FOX, especially Tucker Carlson.

    Everyone who watches Fox has CNN on their cable too.   Fox viewers want to hate.

  129. 129.

    Rand Careaga

    Ya know, I owned the handle (not short for “Randall” or “Randolph”) for a decade and change before this asshole was whelped, and I was not named for an “objectivist” loonie.

  130. 130.

    Kay

    Rachel Scott
    @rachelvscott
    ·1h
    Sarah Sanders invited on stage at the Trump rally– apologizing to the president’s supporters — who she says have had to deal with “crazy liberal” Democrats running around the state.

    The Trump and Huckabee families are angry people other than them are still permitted political speech.

    10 years from now all GOP candidates will be either a Trump or a Huckabee.

  131. 131.

    Kent

    @debbie:

    @zhena gogolia:

    I’ve heard a couple of people say that the House should continue to hold hearings and invite Bolton to testify. If nothing else, it would get the information out in the open.

    They just need to time it properly with his book release and he will show.

  133. 133.

    Kay

    I think Rand Paul probably outed the whistleblower because Rand Paul complaining about people benefiting from their father’s political career hits a little too close to home.

    Whistleblower had to be sacrificed. Too much talk about the mediocre sons of famous fathers going on in the fake trial.

  134. 134.

    laura

    @Duane: he rides everywhere. Short and long distances, follows every law, wears safety equipment and identification, plans travel around high volume traffic and still shares a road with vehicles.

  135. 135.

    Mai naem mobile

    How do these Trumpov lawyers look themselves in the mirror. The Philbin guy is a Yale/Harvard/Cambridge graduate. Seriously WTF. He was apparently praised by Comey for his actions during the Ashcroft in ICU after surgery incident and Alberto Gonzales trying to bully the sick Ashcroft into signing off on natsec civil rights stuff. I can’t even. I think the Dems need to be repeating the big picture stuff instead of getting caught in the weeds. Nobody who’s innocent acts like Trumpov. Nobody.

  136. 136.

    laura

    Let’s hope for the least worst outcome of the Senate trial and focus on turning out the vote in every precinct, support voting rights and access to the polls and never give up.

  137. 137.

    Kent

    @Mai naem mobile: Same way they do when they represent Jeffrey Dahmer or Bernie Madoff.  Everyone deserves a defense, doncha know?

    The problem isn’t the defense.  They are gonna lawyer.  That’s what they do. What’s really on trial is the Senate.  And they aren’t doing so well  World’s Greatest Deliberative Body my ass.

  138. 138.

    Mai naem mobile

    Rand Paul is obviously kompromised by kompromat. I remember reading somewhere that the Ron Paul Revolution crap was a massive grifting operation and I believe Rand Paul’s BIL got into some trouble over that.  My guess is that that is what the kompromat is based on. I also think Ted Cruz is becoming increasing like a Trimpov cultist which makes me think he’s kompromised as well. BTW, anybody notice how comfortable John Robert’s seems to be calling out names of the Southern Republican senators. It’s not like  he’s  from the South. He’s completely from the northeast.  It’s got to be because those are the people he hangs out with outside of work.

  139. 139.

    Kent

    @Kay: The Trump and Huckabee families are angry people other than them are still permitted political speech.

    10 years from now all GOP candidates will be either a Trump or a Huckabee.

    Don’t forget the Louie Gohmerts of the party.  We gotta make room for sheer breathtakingly stupid.  There will always be plenty of them as GOP voters are attracted to the stupid like flies on shit.  Rick Perry and Sara Palin fall into that category. Or maybe multiple categories.

  140. 140.

    Kay

    @Kent:

    Right. Incredible as it is, the quality will go down still further, because these are actually the SECOND generation – so even less merit than the first, and the first were pretty fucking bad and also the parents of these people.

    These are just the ones we know about too. God knows how many there are, what with marrying and name changes and such. I keep wanting someone to list them. I think the public would be shocked at the extent of the nepotism.  My own House representative inherited the seat from his father.

  141. 141.

    Duane

    @laura: I hope my comment  didn’t seem critical of your husband. Certainly he’s not responsible for bad driving. Glad he’s safe and sound, and is a responsible rider.

  142. 142.

    debbie

    I can’t link on my iPad, but there’s more than a few people on Twitter suggesting that Adam Schiff be nominated for a Profile in Courage Award. You can nominate him at the JFK Library’s website and it only takes a second or two. Aside from the fact he truly deserves it, it would be one more thing that Trump would not win! Share widely!

  145. 145.

    Kay

    @Mai naem mobile:

    They just want to remain in power. That’s all they care about. They’re probably lying to themselves that after Trump they’ll “go back” to being decent people, but of course they won’t.

    One of the GOP congresspeople said tonight “this will be GOOD for the separation of powers”- this is what they tell themselves- that this is just one thing they had to do to remain in power and now that they have they can tell him “no” next time. But of course they can’t. If they would do this for him he owns them, and he knows it. They can’t refuse him anything.

  146. 146.

    Kay

    @Mai naem mobile:

    They just want to remain in power. That’s all they care about. They’re probably lying to themselves that after Trump they’ll “go back” to being decent people, but of course they won’t.

    One of the GOP congresspeople said tonight “this will be GOOD for the separation of powers”- this is what they tell themselves- that this is just one thing they had to do to remain in power and now that they have they can tell him “no” next time. But of course they can’t. If they would do this for him he owns them, and he knows it. They can’t refuse him anything.

  147. 147.

    zhena gogolia

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    What I worry is that Mitch has given her and Lisa and Mitt permission to seem courageous because it still won’t be enough.

    And of course it doesn’t mean she won’t vote to acquit.

    But I have to go to bed! I’ll find out all the bad news in the morning.

  148. 148.

    Searcher

    @FelonyGovt: I think the secret sauce is that the Speaker (or the Senate majority leader, for that matter), besides herding cats, needs to be able to take shit while providing cover for their majority until they reach a consensus behind the scenes.

    Pelosi lets the press — and blogosphere — tear her down constantly, just DGAF, until it’s time for her to move.

  150. 150.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Cheryl Rofer: Murkowski is doing the “Let’s see who else says they’re voting before I open my trap” dance.

    If she doesn’t know by now that the witnesses (at the VERY least, Bolton, for whom new information has come out during the trial) then she’s just screwing around.

    @Cheryl Rofer: Yep, this.

  153. 153.

    Kay

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    It pisses me off a little that they can protect her and allow her to deviate from the cult leader.

    I would prefer it if she follows the rest and protects Dear Leader. Makes it easier to beat her. She shouldn’t be insulated from accountability anymore. She’s a Trump Republican. She oughta wear that.

  155. 155.

    Jeffro

    @Cheryl Rofer: yeah but now the shoe will be on the other foot – this is a “bipartisan” vote for witnesses, shot down by a partisan vote for no witnesses to acquit

  156. 156.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Her “conscience”. Sigh.

    It’s not even that. She doesn’t care. If she did, she would have made noise about it before now. This is just McConnell telling her she’s allowed to pretend to have a conscience.

  157. 157.

    MobiusKlein

    What the fuck is the Biden Rule?  Did somebody amend the Constitution while I wasn’t looking, again?

  159. 159.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Cheryl Rofer: This is the other thing I was worried about. They’ll say he did it so they don’t need any more evidence, and that lets the rest of the republicans off the hook in terms of letting people know what happened.

    Another way to have their cake and eat it too.

     

    ETA: Nevermind! It’s even worse than that. “Trump totally did the thing, but I’m going to vote to acquit anyway”

  163. 163.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Of course it’s a hall pass. In a way it’s worse- more humiliating for her. She can’t even make her own decision to that extent. She’s not a genuine Trump supporter OR a genuine dissenter. She’s whatever they tell her she’s allowed to be.

  165. 165.

    MisterForkbeard

    @debbie: He says he won’t vote to acquit. Says “Obstruction of Congress” is fake and not a thing, and that while Trump totally did the Ukraine thing he thinks it’s just ‘inappropriate’ and not something Trump can be punished for short of the people voting him out.

    So basically, “I agree that Trump did the thing, but I’ve decided to not punish him in any way for this thing and let him skate because I’m so principled”

  166. 166.

    Cheryl Rofer

  168. 168.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Rachel Maddow points out Rob Portman has not made an announcement, “Not that I’d bet the farm on Rob Portman…”

    Portman’s former Senate colleague Claire McCaskill: “Oh my god! No”

  169. 169.

    Kay

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    She’s always been a fraud though. The best thing about Trump is a lot of phony, unearned “reputations” are collapsing. About time.

    Maybe you have to have one of these every 100 years or so. It’s a test. The vast majority of them are failing, which means they shouldn’t have had such prestigious powerful jobs anyway.

  171. 171.

    Scott Alloway

    @James E Powell: I have no problem changing the channel, Don’t need a remote. I just walk up and do it. The set buttons worked. Have done this in an auto dealership, a hospital, a doctor’s office.

  172. 172.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay:

    She’s always been a fraud though. The best thing about Trump is a lot of phony, unearned “reputations” are collapsing. About time.

    I keep thinking back to Michelle Obama’s speech at the ’16 convention– a beautiful speech which should have ended the night but a certain arrogant old fuck demanded to close the first night of the convention with his shouting– “the Presidency does not change who you are, it reveals who you are.” That’s been true of a lot more people than trump.

  173. 173.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I was never a “burn it all down” person- it’s not my temperament and I don’t like surprises, but now that it’s happening I hope some good can come from it. We had weak institutions and people. We didn’t know how weak they were but now we do and we have to face it and try to fix it. Not everyone and everything is failing. The test won’t just show us who and what failed, it’ll show us who and what passed. That’s what you build on.

  174. 174.

    Mai naem mobile

    I get why the Dems wanted witnesses but I am not exactly sure what the Repubs gain by not having witnesses. The lawsuits continue to the SC and may end up being timed even worse for them.  The Bolton stuff will come out.  There’s a tweet out saying Jennifer Williams has resigned from her position with Pence and handed over info to the House Intel Committee on a phone call  between Pence and Zelensky. I don’t think you resign from a job if you handed over something positive to an oversight committee. I know Trumpov is going to shout it everywhere about being exonerated but this shit is going  to keep on drip dripping.  The Senate GOP is going to look moronic. I guess more of everything Trump touches turns to shit.

  176. 176.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mai naem mobile:

    There’s a tweet out saying Jennifer Williams has resigned from her position with Pence and handed over info to the House Intel Committee on a phone call  between Pence and Zelensky.

    Wow.

  177. 177.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay: They just want to remain in power. That’s all they care about. They’re probably lying to themselves that after Trump they’ll “go back” to being decent people, but of course they won’t.

    Considering the ages of the people involved a lot of them will be dead by that point.

  178. 178.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Mai naem mobile: I know Trumpov is going to shout it everywhere about being exonerated but this shit is going to keep on drip dripping. The Senate GOP is going to look moronic. I guess more of everything Trump touches turns to shit.

    My theory is the real reason the Democrats did the Impeachment was to rub into the GOP voters collective faces how corrupt the Republicans are.  And of course that party is just stating as you just pointed out. A small percentage will bail like John Cole but a lot more of them will be disillusioned and withdraw from politics.

    My Wingnut uncle was just in town and he refused to talk about the Impeachment, whined about how Californians are bullies and babbled about climate denial. He has the gout because doctors don’t know anything.

    Politics by attrition.

  179. 179.

    dww44

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: 
    What worries me is that so many Trump supporters are so
    willfully blind, so partisan, that they have convinced themselves, as one relative recently wrote in an email back and forth exchange, that they’re going to re-elect Trump and put all conservatives on the courts. In another he told another relative that he thinks ALL democrats are evil and hate the country.”

    These are not unknowing and unthinking people. They have been listening to conservative media for 3 decades (they are not young;but they aren’t old old). Everywhere around me I’ve heard friends take up for Trump and say/imply that the country isn’t giving him a chance. The people who believe this are normal nice folks, even generous, in every other aspect of their lives.
    This is what makes me fearful. I don’t know how/when/what changes the trajectory of our country. And, I’m not a defeatist but this trial shouts out loud that the fix is in.

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