Here’s the live stream on YouTube from CSPAN2:
House impeachment managers will wrap up their case today. The Post says they’ll focus on the consequences of the riot in today’s presentation.
As I mentioned in the morning thread, I’ll be interested to see if they put more emphasis on how Trump’s attempted coup disgraced the U.S. on the international stage. That’s a long-term consequence that might resonate with the types of elected officials and voters who love to smugly cite America as the shining beacon of democracy to the world.
From what I’ve been able to see via clips and live testimony when time permits, the House managers have done a terrific job so far. The trial is rigged because Trump’s co-conspirators are on the jury, but it still matters, IMO.
Open thread.
germy
pacem appellant
My current theory is that McConnell screwed up by not holding the trial sooner. He gave the House managers lots of time to not just create an excellent case, but tailor it so that it would resonate with the public, not just the wonks. We all know that there aren’t 17 Republicans of conscious in the US, much less the Senate, so a conviction isn’t possible. But wrecking the GOP is. I am bullish that if Dems keep playing their cards right (and so far, they are, for a nice and welcome change) that they’ll buck historic trends in 2022 and retain the House and expand their majority in the Senate.
trnc
Now that Tommy Tubby has helped clarify the timeline of DT’s threats of Pence, I think it’s safe to say that shoehorning him into the senate is paying more dividends than we thought.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy: huh, I thought Lee’s hissyfit at the end of yesterday’s proceedings was just an excuse to go on FoxNews and rant about phony evidence.
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
piratedan
@trnc: still beyond galling to see Doug Jones replaced by Tuberville. I will say that Tuberville has exceeded the anticipated level of stupid that was expected.
take notes on a criminal conspiracy… check
provide intel to the President regarding the success of the insurrection you helped him plan… check
make statements about it to the Press…. check
wvng
They are showing the mob’s point of view, and their clear belief that Trump sent them. This is stunning.
Leto
@wvng: They’re showing that dumb TX lawyer woman who continues to proudly proclaim that Trumpov sent them, she has no remorse, and she’d do it again. “Please proceed, councilor.”
dmsilev
@wvng: Unfortunately for the insurrectionists, there’s a certain amount of precedence for the lack of value of “Just following orders”.
Gravenstone
@germy: Tommy Tuberville, come on down!
Gravenstone
@germy: One wonders how close sequentially their numbers are? I’m guessing the answer is – not remotely.
germy
@Gravenstone:
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
M31
it’s grotesque to see fucking Proud Boys referring to Trump as “our commander in chief”
germy
SoupCatcher
@germy: Have we underestimated Tuberville’s craftiness, and he intentionally gave out Mike Lee’s number to the co-conspirators at the January 5th hotel meeting, passing it off as his own?
//
trnc
@piratedan:
Yes, I definitely did not mean the imply that Tubby’s win over Jones was good.
dmsilev
“We were invited here by the President of the United States.”
(drops mic.)
Leto
Justice Department says an Oath Keepers leader waited for Trump’s direction before Capitol attack
trnc
@dmsilev:
Especially when they aren’t really subordinates.
germy
piratedan
@trnc: understood, knew that wasn’t what you implied… just breathtaking the amount of stupidity it must have taken to pull a lever for a mediocre football coach to represent your interests as a citizen. He wasn’t even that great of a coach. The ability of these empty vessels to fail upwards is nothing short of astounding.
It makes me think that we should all run for office because on the surface, there’s no way that any of us couldn’t clear the bar that someone like Tuberville or Gosar have established.
M31
Raskin is showing clips of Trump inciting violence from 5 years ago, and it’s amazing how much Trump has deteriorated — he speaks way more slowly now. I mean, he was hideous orange monster spouting evil, but now he mumbles and slurs his speech and you can tell his brain is just melting
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SoupCatcher: No.
Another Scott
Totally unrelated, obviously, because Drum tells us that Donnie had only a small impact on the total number, but the US looks to cross 500,000 dead from COVID-19 on the Worldometers.info tally sometime around the middle of next week.
In the Wikipedia entry for “dangerously incompetent and malicious leadership”, the first entry for the next 100 years should be DJT.
:-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Immanentize
@germy: shall we see Trump mocking the disabled again?
Leto
Raskin outlining how Trumpov helped enable the groups going after Gov Whitmer, as well as directly attacking Whitmer via Twitter.
Major Major Major Major
Man, I read the WaPo summary of the house managers’ video last night, it was… not shocking, but it sounds like a pretty moving presentation. I hadn’t realized 140(!) police officers were injured. Portland would have been a smoking crater if those dipshits had injured 140 cops in one night last summer.
IOW my decision to not watch the proceedings and just see if any news filtered down to me worked out! Gonna do it again today!
Immanentize
just a thought — when the Capital Police get reorganized, and new Sergeants at Arms are in place for the House and Senate … I wonder if any Republican Congress critters will be wary.
dmsilev
@Leto: The phrase “pattern of behavior” comes to mind for some reason.
Immanentize
@Leto: Good. This is a really important dry run issue.
Leto
@Immanentize: Not in the House; they’re actively belittling them for having the audacity of asking those R’s to follow the rules (no guns on the floor, go through the metal detectors).
Raskin now making the point of, “Why do you think these attacks are over? What makes you think he won’t do it again?”
NotMax
Heh, the quirks of AI.
Woke up a few minutes ago and geared up to watch today’s broadcast. Fired up Sling on the TV in order to click on MSNBC there, where right now the live stream is identified as (I kid you not):
The Second Impeachment Trial of Donald J. Trump
Season 1, Episode 8 (2h)
.
Immanentize
Sadly can’t watch, but I am trying to follow y’all and Jennifer Taub on Twitter who is giving awesome live tweets.
Cathie from Canada
Evidence that came out yesterday:
1. The Jan 6 march to Capitol was engineered by Trump
2. at 2:15pm: Trump was told that Pence was rushed out of Senate
3. at 2:24pm: Trump attacked Pence by tweet; protestors were hunting him
If Pence had been killed and the vote count had been stopped, then Trump would have had an excuse to declare Martial Law
Peale
@SoupCatcher: You mean, like someone might do to a handsy drunk one meets at a bar?
dmsilev
@NotMax:
Shouldn’t it really be “The Impeachment Trial”, Season 2, Episode 8?
Leto
@dmsilev: Raskin- “The insurrection was the most violent and dangerous episode- so far- in Donald Trump’s continuing pattern of inciting violence… but I emphasize ‘so far.’”
germy
@Immanentize:
I don’t see that name on twitter. Raine?
Brachiator
@Cathie from Canada:
A good, but very chilling, point.
Leto
Ted Lieu up now to talk about Trumpov’s lack of remorse and non-accountability.
germy
Miki
@dmsilev: And mens rea ….
Immanentize
@germy: it was autocorrected — Taub:
Immanentize
Back to zoom!!
NotMax
@Immanentize
Able to listen? C-SPAN radio.
LuciaMia
Dont forget repeating almost every phrase.
Brachiator
@pacem appellant:
The Democrats are doing this for the public, and perhaps for history. They need for people in the future to be able to look back and clearly see what happened in 2021, when a group of insurrectionists attacked the Capitol.
Gravenstone
So their defense will be that they consider themselves a duly constituted militia, and were simply responding to the PoTUS in his role as Commander in Chief “activating” them. I’m sure that will go over like gangbusters.
Mike in NC
I’m going to be excited to see what piece of “art” the wingnut painter Jon McNaughton comes up with to commemorate the bloody Save America March on January 6.
Benw
@dmsilev: 2mpeachment
Jeffro
@wvng: he DID send them..,”we’re going to March down Pennsylvania…you’ve gotta fight and fight hard…”. Etc etc
(I know you know this, I’m just saying)
house managers should direct their fire at Cruz, Hawley, Tuberville too
unique uid
I’m trying to take the day off from this, as I did Tuesday. I heard there was a 13 minute video Tuesday that I should watch – I spent about 5 minutes searching, but couldn’t find it. Any ideas where?
(ended up watching 4 hours yesterday)
Also, I thought I heard that Senators have the option of not being present. (“sick”, “quarantine”, “time with family emergency”). And that would reduce the 2/3s vote needed, say for instance 16 were absent, 56 votes to convict would be needed. Is that true?
Chief Oshkosh
@Another Scott: Bullshit (disagreeing with Clem of Cali, not you Another Scott). None of these analyses (there’s another in USA Today) take into account what would’ve happened if we were at the very least in the same leadership position wrt global pandemic detection and reaction as we were on the day Obama left office. The entire world would’ve done way, way better. It’s completely missing the point to compare how we’re doing NOW in comparison to other countries. We should ALL be doing better.
Leto
@Gravenstone: Right? They think their best defense is, Trumpov ordered us to do it. I’m sure that’s going to be super effective.
Immanentize
@Jeffro: Their strategy, frustrating to us but very sound, is not to provoke the Rep. Senators. Even withdrawing the Mike Lee information, which they have multi-sourced, was part of that strategy.
germy
Lieu mentions the mass resignations from Trump’s cabinet after the insurrection. He’s (they’re all) doing a great job.
germy
@Immanentize:
Meanwhile, Trump’s counsel waves Mao’s little red book.
MisterForkbeard
@Chief Oshkosh: Not to mention that the Drum analysis pretends that the “three big problems” were the entirety of the issue.
Trump broke our relationship with China and broke the CDC. He fought against masks for months, even continuing performative gestures against masks after he caught covid. He encouraged social interaction, held rallies, and pushed people to go to church. He exacerbated every single one of the causes of the death toll, in addition to fucking up the national response to it.
It’s disingenuous in the extreme to say “closing down is a state decision and Trump has no bearing on it” when Trump was out there literally inciting violence against Michigan government officials because they were locking down aggressively.
The argument is just contrarian bullshit.
germy
NotMax
@Mike in NC
Will take this as a starting point.
Maybe replace the saucer with Dolt 45 astride a giant white winged horse, wielding a flaming sword.
//
mrmoshpotato
@Leto:
Holy hell, are these insurrectionists dumb.
Old School
@unique uid:
The opening statement video can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57KllJnzYx8
Leto
Ted Lieutenant- “I’m not afraid of Donald Trump running again. I’m afraid of him losing. Because he’ll do this again.”
Gin & Tonic
@M31: It’s grotesque to see TV talking heads referring to any POTUS as “our commander-in-chief.” Whether it’s T**** or Biden, the President is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces; he has no such authority over me, and if he orders me to do anything I can say fuck off.
germy
“Our incredible journey is only just beginning.”
Jesus, I hope not.
Gravenstone
@germy: Again? Or is this just flashing back to day one?
TaMara (HFG)
@unique uid: Here: https://youtu.be/UvTIDw7rpSE
and here
https://youtu.be/ivVOPWrFfW4
Leto
@unique uid: here: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/02/09/us-capitol-riot-video-exhibit-impeachment-trial-two-vpx.cnn
The Moar You Know
@Mike in NC: was thinking that as well, then realized there won’t be any for a few reasons:
Low Key Swagger
Regardless how this ultimately plays out…I really want to see the DOJ do everything possible to shut these militias down. Sue them into oblivion if that’s what it takes. RICO laws. Conspiracy laws. Whatever. They are a bigger problem than T****, because some craven Repub will speak their language and people will get hurt.
Just Chuck
@germy: Oh his journey is going to be incredible all right, as in spending the rest of his days in deep legal shit.
Mike in NC
@NotMax: An oldie but a goodie. Saw that movie as a kid and another saucer slices the Washington Monument in half.
germy
@Gravenstone:
No, I was talking about the first day.
Bill Arnold
@SoupCatcher:
Hah. :-)
At the time it looked like a typical amusing Giuliani misfire, with Giuliani providing the wrong number to Trump, and it still does.
Would be difficult to prove, though seizing (or restoring from backup or whatever) and then properly analyzing Giuliani’s phone(s) would be super interesting for many reasons.
Gin & Tonic
@Bill Arnold: Could just ask Ukrainian intelligence, I bet they own Rudy’s phone(s).
raven
I feel moderately shitty after vaccine 2, I can’t watch.
Bill Arnold
@Cathie from Canada:
Also, if my reading of the 25th amendment is correct, it requires a VP – no VP, no 25th.
Ken
The sort of competency we’ve come to expect from both Trump and his personal lawyer.
Peale
@Bill Arnold: I think Congress can legislate away the VPs responsibilities here. Unless the formula is VP + (cabinet members) or VP + (Other such body) and not (VP + cabinet members) or (Other such body). I volunteer to be the new body if Congress would be interested in my services.
Major Major Major Major
@MisterForkbeard: I don’t think it’s contrarian bullshit exactly. I’d estimate Trump’s culpability around 10-20% myself. The big problem with Drum’s analysis is that “It wasn’t me, it was my subordinate who I paid absolutely no attention to even as his department was publicly melting down!” is not an excuse for Redfield *or* Trump.
Bill Arnold
@LuciaMia:
Yup. Here’s some fairly recent research on Alzheimer’s disease. (I worked for a bit with one of the authors a while ago.)
Basically, the test is to ask the subject for a description of a busy and dramatic cartoon sceen[1], then do linguistic analysis on the response.
Linguistic markers predict onset of Alzheimer’s disease (October 22, 2020, Elif Eyigoz, Sachin Mathur, Mar Santamaria, Guillermo Cecchi, Melissa Naylor)
The aim of this study is to use classification methods to predict future onset of Alzheimer’s disease in cognitively normal subjects through automated linguistic analysis.
…
Univariate tests of individual variables between cases and controls showed that future onset of AD was associated with telegraphic speech, repetitiveness, and misspellings. Telegraphic speech, as exemplified in Fig. 3, is a common symptom of non-fluent aphasia. In telegraphic speech, grammatical structure is reduced or absent, such that language contains simplified phrases consisting mainly of content words, with morphology and function words largely missing.
[1] Involving an apparently obvivious Stepford Wife type (perhaps drugged), a sink that is overflowing with something that looks like it is etching a channel in the side of the sink and countertop, a young boy about to fall, and hurt himself with about a 70 percent (my estimate) probability unless he is luck-prone, and a young girl (who might (or not) be a sibling of the boy) who with small probability is a psychopath who likes to deniably cause harm to other children, but more likely is just obliviously distracting the boy.
Peale
@Ken: I’m going to guess they just shouted out to some poor receptionist to “Get Tommy Lee on the phone”, and rather than bother the drummer from Motley Crue, he just dialed whichever Senator Lee was in the book.
Ken
I’d gotten the impression that today was the defense’s turn, so all the comments above about showing the insurrectionists saying they were following Trump’s orders confused me a bit. Now I see it’s the House managers continuing their case.
Which doesn’t rule out the defense showing the same footage, if Trump decides tomorrow morning to fall back on “if the President does it, it’s not illegal”.
germy
burnspbesq
@piratedan:
Unfortunately for the fine upstanding citizens of Alabama (both of them), no group of rich alumni will put up millions to get rid of Tuberville after three bad
seasonssessions.Leto
@Ken: The House managers still had a bit over 3 hours of their allotted 8 hours. The clown show starts tomorrow and goes through Saturday. I’ll hit the clown show highlights at the end of the day.
leeleeFL
Can I just state for the record that I adore Diana DeGette! I recognized her Voice and came running into the watch TV! Let today be the day we reclaim the definition of patriotism! Not to punish, to prevent! No platform to do it again?
Was it Ted Lieu who said he feared Trump running again, and losing! Jeebus, I had chills!
Genius!
dmsilev
@Ken: The House Managers had about 4 hours left on their allocated time at the end of the day yesterday. So, they’ve got another couple of hours to go if they want it. The defense clown-show said that they might not use all of their 16 hours, probably because there are only so many ways you can say “he did it, but the GOP will acquit anyways”.
burnspbesq
@Gravenstone:
Doesn’t have to. It only takes one to hang a Federal jury.
TriassicSands
Well, he won’t be subject to impeachment the next time around.
Honestly, I find the behavior of Republican senators to be more upsetting than that of the insurrectionists, who acted in the heat of ignorance, lies, and provocation by someone they foolishly and grotesquely followed.
The senators are simply once again ignoring facts, evidence, the truth, and reality to serve as enablers of a fascistic demagogue.
germy
Didn’t they do their own insurrection, when Matt Gaetz led a gang of them into a hearing?
mrmoshpotato
@Peale:
Tommy Lee Jones gets no respect. :)
burnspbesq
@mrmoshpotato:
‘Course not. He went to Harvard, and Real Americans don’t cotton to elites.
leeleeFL
@burnspbesq: AND he was Al Gore’s dorm mate!
trollhattan
Bwa-ha-ha!
Here’s hoping they take the whole lot, bloomers included.
burnspbesq
@leeleeFL:
AND his first credited film role was playing a Harvard student in Love Story.
NotMax
Recess for potty break.
burnspbesq
@trollhattan:
‘She’ll lose that house in Biltmore Forest for sure. With a couple of exceptions that don’t apply, the N.C. homestead exemption is limited to $35k.
NotMax
Some of the paintings shown in the hallway shots during the break sure look as if they could benefit from a good cleaning.
;)
SiubhanDuinne
I was in the other room, but at the start of the break I think I heard BriWi say that Rubio, Cruz, and somebody else skipped out during Ted Lieu’s presentation. Chickenshit prickwaffles.
WaterGirl
@Gravenstone: Perhaps someone put together a list for Trump and Giuliani, and they included Mike Lee’s phone number by mistake
Hopefully the file with the names and numbers was titled “senators to help with Jan 6 insurrection”, and someone forgot to cover their tracks.
VeniceRiley
@raven: I felt shittier after 2 too, also. Got some chills at the 30 hour mark, about. DayQuil did the trick, combined with a night of sleep
Ontopic? Private place lady is sorry sorry she believed the lie. Feels abandoned by everyone. Her boyfriend owned the plane and he found a new girlfriend at the insurrection! Hahahaha. I think she was expectig a pardon. *snort
Ken
And the pieces of the jigsaw begin to fall into place…
NotMax
@WaterGirl
“Just dial 1-800-ASS-HOLE.”
//
NeenerNeener
@TriassicSands: they’re ignoring reality in the hopes that they themselves get to be the fascist demagogue the next time around.
Ken
Maybe they were taken into custody by Federal marshals?
sdhays
@piratedan: Don’t forget how he repeatedly denied attending a meeting at Dump Hotel the night before, despite photographic evidence of his attendance.
Ken
@NeenerNeener: Statistically, most of the people that have tried that plan have ended up shot, garroted with piano wire, ice-axed in the head, et cetera. Of course the one winner makes out very well, for a time.
Rather like being a male elephant seal, really.
trollhattan
@Ken:
If only Al Gore had chosen Will Smith instead of Joe fuckin’ Lieberman, history would have taken a very different path.
mali muso
Re: second dose of the vaccine, I was volunteering yesterday at the local mass vacc clinic and it was a 2nd dose day. Checked in a lot of very relieved people for that last shot. Probably the one that stuck out to me the most was one woman who, in response to the scripted questions I had to run through about any other vaccines they might have had in between the 1st dose and the 2nd, mentioned casually that she had just had a cancer treatment the day prior.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
Wouldn’t it be pretty to think so?
WaterGirl
@Leto: Can they reserve that 3 hours for after the defense presents their (hahahahahah) “case”?
leeleeFL
@Ken: Don’t threaten me with a good time!
trollhattan
@burnspbesq:
Fingers crossed. I’m imagining a buddy caper flick “Process Servers!” in which Owen Wilson and Chris Tucker spend weeks tracking down crafty Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, including the obligatory sidetracking to Australia, which really jacks up their bill rate.
The Thin Black Duke
@Ken: Don’t tease me like that, man.
leeleeFL
@trollhattan: OR, dare I say it? HILLARY!?
Just kidding! But, I think she would have mixed the tan suit!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So at what point do the House Impeachment Managers point out that Trump is so incompetent that his attempt to murder a room full of defenseless geratics failed and this is the useless idiot they are sacrificing their reputation for? January the 6th really is the equivalent of shooting a shotgun into a barrel full of fish and missing.
Jeffro
@Immanentize: hmm
not sure that’s the case, nor whether it’s smart strategy. If that’s what’s keeping them from calling witnesses, I think it’s a net loss
WaterGirl
@Jeffro: They still have an option to ask for witnesses, which I hope they do.
Brachiator
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
January the 6th really is the equivalent of shooting a shotgun into a barrel full of fish and missing.
NotMax
@Jeffro
Direct attacks on members of the jury not a recommended practice.
trollhattan
@leeleeFL:
Heh, a “third Clinton term” would have had wingnut skulls popping like cases of Perrier dropped from 30,000 feet.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mike in NC:
As do I. I’m reminded of Ben Garrison, the right-wing political comics artist, who shat out this comic supporting the Insurrection, which is probably what got him banned from social media and I assume fired/unemployable as a freelancer with major publications
Benw
@TriassicSands: the Republicans in congress have taken a good hard look at Donald freaking Trump and said yes, THIS man is the one for which I want to trash my reputation and destroy my country. I just don’t get it
pat
@Benw:
I wonder if they are just terrified at the thought of those militias coming for them…
Ivan X
So, how is right wing media reporting on the trial? The case made seems pretty damning. Are they just ignoring it? I can’t bring myself to go look.
bystander
“The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…”
So, if you are not a servicemember HE IS NOT YOUR COMMANDER IN CHIEF.
Hate to go all Originalist but my only quibble with the great job the Managers are doing is this constant repetition about the powers vested in the CIC title.
Starboard Tack
@Gin & Tonic:
It’s a result of endless war and the lip service rise of militarism.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: He was Al Gore’s roommate at Harvard, he knows what he did.
Ken
@NotMax: @Benw: Stockholm syndrome. They’ve been trapped in a party with him for four years now, and bonded with their abuser.
Or more likely, what @pat said.
burnspbesq
@trollhattan:
Who plays Sidney?
Ken
@burnspbesq: Andy Serkis. Have you seen his Theresa May?
JaySinWA
CBS and the other networks are covering this live. In the breaks PBS is doing BS “balance” CBS on the other hand has Major Garrett and Nora O’Donnell actually doing analysis and stating conclusions that actually reflect that they are siding with the House managers case so far.
James E Powell
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
And Bob Somerby, also too.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Indeed, and these GOPer twits doing get they will be top of the purge lists when it happens.
I seriously I don’t understand how that mob didn’t manage to kill a congress critter – Tammy Duckworth has no legs, yet somehow they missed a woman confined to a wheelchair. But my sense if the mob had crossed the line and drew blood they would massacred everyone, Dem and GOP out of shere lizard hindbrain bloodlust.
SoupCatcher
Victoria Jackson
Fair Economist
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The insurrection got Garrison to get himself banned? That’s a nice bright silver lining to the cloud.
West of the Rockies
@trollhattan:
How about Get Sydney to the Greek, where Jonah Hill must safely escort Powell across country to perform her big hit “African Child Became President and Now We Just Want Our Country Back”?
Starboard Tack
@raven:
Tomorrow should be better. Taking fluids should help.
Martin
@dmsilev: Just following orders doesn’t help them, but it also doesn’t exonerate the guy who gave the orders.
Ken
I thought for a moment you meant tomorrow’s hearings, there’s no way the defense will be better. I agree that taking fluids might help people get through it. Whiskey is good, I’ve heard.
Oklahomo
@raven: My folks had about 2 days of feeling shitty.
Starboard Tack
@Ken:
I recommend rye. The large size.
zhena gogolia
@Ivan X:
Mark Cuban hates the Star-Spangled Banner.
Oklahomo
@mrmoshpotato: Part of it may be dumb, the rest is hubris. “The law applies to me? Perish the thought.”
debbie
I liked the inclusion of the foreign governments laughing at us and now knowing how vulnerable we really are.
dmsilev
@Martin: Definitely true.
Starboard Tack
@Oklahomo:
The nurse on call said to watch for a fever over 101 that lasted for a day.
Cacti
About 90% of the Senate GOP is in the tank for Trump, regardless of what the evidence shows.
At this point though, this is more than the trial of Donald Trump.
It’s the trial of the 21st century Republican Party. Their acquittal of Trump will be a memorial for all time of just how much corruption and harm to the country they’re willing to tolerate from their own members.
And they should be bludgeoned with it for every election cycle, as long as any of his Senate co-conspirators still draw breath.
Starboard Tack
@zhena gogolia:
I hate that racist crap song, too. Much better ones to choose from, if we need one. I favor “Too Drunk to Fuck”, Dead Kennedys.
Mallard Filmore
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
You cannot even hide among the mob. The mob knows its own. Everyone else is a target.
Oklahomo
@Starboard Tack: No fever — just a sort of malaise and some joint pain.
JPL
@Starboard Tack: After the first shot, I had some soreness in my arm, and after the second shot nothing. I’ve read that side effects show that the shot is working as intended, and just hope that no side effects means the same thing.
SiubhanDuinne
However this ends, I am wildly happy with the entire House team of impeachment managers. To a person, they’ve done an outstanding job. Their styles are all rather different, but they complement one another perfectly.
JPL
@Cacti: The hearing is so powerful, I do think it will haunt the republicans for a long time.
Gravenstone
@zhena gogolia: Well, it is hard to dance to. Doesn’t have a good beat.
Ken
@Mallard Filmore: Terry Pratchett summed that up in Small Gods., where a character is describing a stoning:
‘Oh, I’m not talking about the poor bugger in the pit,’ said the philosopher. ‘I’m talking about the people throwing the stones. They were sure all right. They were sure it wasn’t them in the pit. You could see it in their faces. So glad it wasn’t them that they were throwing just as hard as they could.’
Van Buren
@burnspbesq: Tom Cotton would beg to differ.
Starboard Tack
@JPL:
Our immune systems sure are mysterious wonders. I have autoimmune issues so maybe my immune system is more reactive.
dmsilev
@SiubhanDuinne: Definitely agreed. They’re doing a wonderful job. That the GOP made up their (supposed) minds ahead of time doesn’t detract from that.
Spanky
@bystander:
Hmmmm, so an Originalist would have to conclude that the President is NOT CiC of SPACE FORCE!!
germy
Starboard Tack
@germy:
Thank Dog. Hope it’s permanent including all the chuckleheads involved.
Another Scott
@Mallard Filmore: Don’t Tread on Me Woman would beg to differ that the mob knows its own.
:-(
The mob doesn’t care.
Neither do elected GOP people, apparently. They know they’re protected by people who take their oaths seriously…
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@germy: Tots and pears.
Starboard Tack
@Another Scott:
That’s the wellspring of all their hypocrisy and bad faith.
burnspbesq
@Starboard Tack:
“Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw,” very early Jimmy Buffett.
germy
@Starboard Tack:
They’ll probably find some way to fundraise off it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
I didn’t know this until right now, but Bret “Bed Bug” Stephens’ twitter account is also suspended.
Thots and Priars
Starboard Tack
@burnspbesq:
That’s even better. I can see a stadium full of people singing. Might have both played at my funeral. But it would have to be “To Dead to Fuck” by Drunk Kennedys.
pat
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Bret Stephens from the NYT?
I’m watching Neguse summarize expertly.
Hard to see anyone actually watching this and not voting to convict. Well except for the repubs of course. Sigh.
Starboard Tack
@pat:
Didn’t some of the biggest Ratpublicans leave when Lieu was talking about lack of shame?
germy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I thought he quit Twitter two years ago in protest of something or another.
Steve in the ATL
@burnspbesq: “Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Sue” was the law school version of that
Starboard Tack
@Steve in the ATL:
RUDY!!!!!
germy
Always be closing:
WaterGirl
@Steve in the ATL: I love that!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@pat:
The same. And I know. The bits and pieces I’ve seen of the Managers’ case is pretty irrefutable. Trump likely deliberately was hoping something like the Insurrection would happen by winding people like he did. He wanted Pence and much of Congress killed so he could declare martial law. At the very least, he knew in real time what was happening and did nothing to stop it
dmsilev
@germy: “Stupidest member of that family” is a tough standard to meet, at the level of “stupidest House Republican”, but Eric is a strong contender.
germy
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
That’s what I thought too, but if you navigate to here it says “Account suspended: Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules”
Jeffro
@NotMax: direct attacks on the 3-4 top co-conspirators might help the rest understand that those 3-4 would have shrugged and stood by while the rest were executed by trumpov’s mob on trumpov’s orders
germy
Chick Corea has died at the age of 79.
hueyplong
@burnspbesq: I take some small comfort in the fact that only one of Tuberville’s 4 head coaching jobs lasted over 6 years.
And he was better at that than at this.
But in today’s GOP, mouth-breathing incompetence is highly valued, so there’s that.
Gin & Tonic
@germy: Damn. Saw him perform a bunch of times at the Jazz Workshop in Boston.
Jeffro
Maybe the House managers will get to it – they’ve certainly come close several times, especially with “left for dead” – but they really should hammer home the image of a Capitol with dozens, hundreds of bloody bodies lying around in the halls, the House chamber, the Senate…and a raging mob chanting for trumpov to come on down and assume absolute power.
I mean, THAT is literally where we could have ended up on January 6th. And where would our country be then?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Fair Economist:
One of the few for sure
Chief Oshkosh
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Of course, that “which” should be a “that.”
We’re among the heathen…
Ruckus
@Cathie from Canada:
Someone had to build that concept of process for shitforbrains, he’s not capable of that on his own. I’m saying he’s more than evil enough to think it’s a great idea, but to get from point A to Z on his own? I’m a NFW on that .
geg6
@Peale:
Funny enough, but apparently Tommy Lee despises the Mango Mussolini.
NotMax
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Um, declaring martial law (which you bring up a lot*) would not affect his term ending at 11:59:59 a.m. on January 20.
*and which I do not believe was ever anything more than a veiled and toothless attempt at a scare tactic whispered in dank corners and for which there was no implementation planning. Plus, why would martial law be declared if his loathsome supporters were victorious? it would be applying punishment for their actions in support of him.
Mike in NC
@germy: Dared to follow the link. The Trump Store says they collect state sales tax on the garbage they sell. 100% of that money likely goes up Uday and Qusay’s noses.
NotMax
@Jeffro
Beg to disagree. it would serve as impetus for the caucus to circle the wagons. Not to mention that those you name are not on trial here.
Ruckus
@Gin & Tonic:
I’d bet that conservatives don’t see it that way. They might want to do insurrection but need permission, and shitforbrains gave them that, and in a way they think makes it ok.
NotMax
@Mike in NC
“Hey, we’ve got to find a way to move this crap. The warehouse fees are killing us.”
//
hueyplong
@Mike in NC: “100% of that money likely goes up Uday and Qusay’s noses.”
Finally, a chance to contemplate an upside.
karen marie
@pat: They don’t seem concerned about Trump’s mob going after Democrats, so I can’t imagine how they can be concerned that they’ll be targets.
Republicans are willing to countenance threats and attempts to murder Democrats if it means they won’t be primaried.
NotMax
@karen marie
See: Leopard Eating Faces party.
;)
hueyplong
@karen marie: Clearly, the GOPer representatives and senators didn’t think the mob leopards would eat their faces.
Only Pence was thinking otherwise, and it’s not a coincidence that he acted like an adult that day and that night.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jeffro:
Smaller and poorer.
Ruckus
@TriassicSands:
What makes you think that conservative senators are any better than their constituents?
karen marie
@hueyplong: But, meanwhile, where’s Pence now? He’s not at the trial. I haven’t heard about any statement he’s made. He certainly hasn’t done any interview to indicate he has any opinion on anything that happened. So as far as Pence
being any kind of heroacting like an adult, yeah, nah.NotMax
@karen marie
At the nearest zoo, shooing the ostriches out of the way to make enough space for himself.
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
Well, damn.
Steve in the ATL
@NotMax: FYI, second fastest land animal, behind the cheetah. Also very ill-tempered, like a more attractive Lou Dobbs.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne:
language, please–Goku has been on the site today!
NotMax
@germy
Eternally grateful his nickname was Chick and not North.
;)
hueyplong
@karen marie: I said that afternoon and that night.
I gave him no credit for any day other than Jan 6
Brachiator
@NotMax:
People have no idea of the chaos that would ensue if the sedition had gone further.
Idiots talk as though the Constitution provides for coups.
different-church-lady
@germy:
Shit.
NotMax
Did I miss it or did we not hear from Ms Plaskett today? She was dang impressive yesterday.
trollhattan
Remember how California lost a House seat after our new congresswoman resigned following a sexting from her ex? To my recollection, she had no gun scandals, no death threats, nothing unprofessional in her past. This Trixie still has her seat.
Obvious band name: polyamorous tantric sex guru
different-church-lady
So, now we enter the “fuck you, fuck facts, fuck democracy” phase of the trial.
Catherine D.
@NotMax: Google the Great Emu War!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
So Lindsey and something called John Boozman (sp? R- Arkansas) have already announced their votes to acquit? Anyone else?
JPL
@trollhattan: Consensual sex between adults should be off limits, but it is only if you’re a republican who preaches family values
Also, who among us haven’t been with a polyamorous tantric sex guru.
Alison Rose
@different-church-lady: Well it is the GOP’s motto, after all…
Ken
@Alison Rose: Love the juxtaposition with JPL’s unrelated message. “Polyamorous tantric sex guru” kind of works as a motto for some Republicans.
Martin
The problem with making your mind up before the trial is that sometimes the trial moves your position from understandable to unreasonable. If you don’t recognize that’s happening, don’t be shocked at the public reaction.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL: @trollhattan:
as they proved with trump, and long before him Gingrich, Tom Delay, Helen Chenoweth (for my fellow long-term political junkies, she’s no longer with us, I believe)… they don’t actually care about anybody’s sex life, it’s just a club to beat on someone they already don’t like. But I won’t be sorry if she has to run away from reporters for a week or so. Or if some wayward soul wants to speculate if the very wealth Ms Greene, who set up a CrossFit gym as a kind of hobby, was harassing an employee, or paying him to pleasure her. I am far too responsible to speculate.
zhena gogolia
Watching Raskin’s closing now. Wow. Very powerful and inspiring.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s all fun and games until the pool boy posts the videos.
Ken
@Martin: If you mean Graham, hasn’t he already been yelled at in an airport by MAGAs who felt he wasn’t supportive enough of Trump? He knows what he can expect, which in a way makes his position reasonable. Cowardly, but reasonable.
Plus, I’m still leaning toward the theory that Trump has something on him. His reversal in 2016 was fast, even for someone whose entire political career has been modeled on a remora finding a bigger fish to adhere to.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
have some good news
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Well, that’s nice to hear. I am having zero success scheduling an appointment, unlike it seems everyone else I know.
Baud
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@zhena gogolia: Same here. PA (county by county apparently) has Covid Vaccination FUBARed.
Bill Arnold
@pat:
Those who vote to acquit will be voting to condone incitement of a cop-killing, cop-beating insurrectionist mob.
(At least one man in blue was beaten with a blue line flagpole, it was reported.)
Ken
But are you too responsible to set up a bogus news event, where you hire a male stripper to pose as the alleged love interest, perhaps dressed in a costume inspired by one of the Village People?
Pro tip: If you do this, try to hire someone who can play the role without laughing and breaking kayfabe.
dmsilev
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That brings the total for Pfizer and Moderna to 600 million doses, or about 90% of the total population of the US including children. Add in Johnson and Johnson starting at the end of this month, and hopefully Novavax and AstraZeneca (assuming that everything is fine with their second trial) and the timeline moves up. Hopefully late spring for a reasonable fraction of complete-vaccination in the US. We also need to start putting serious effort into supporting the global vaccination effort; that’s currently running something like 10x slower than the domestic one. That’ll probably be hard just from a political standpoint until we get to the “mopping up the bits and pieces” phase of the domestic effort, but it needs to be done.
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
Oh yeah. Wasn’t this that Liberty University guy and his wife?
Hard to keep the GOP hypocrites straight without a score card.
topclimber
@germy: I’m there for Lincoln! Who’s got my back?
Baud
Starboard Tack
@Brachiator:
They’re like the vast network of mycelium below ground in forests.
SiubhanDuinne
@Starboard Tack:
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and at least one other. Rand Paul, maybe?
Geminid
@JPL: Consensual sex between adults should be off-limits. Katie Hill’s problem was that the revenge porn her husband furnished to the Daily Mail featured pictures of her and a campaign aide. The Mail could claim in court that these pictures arguably involved a public interest. That exception to the general prohibition against publishing revenge porn put Hill in an intolerable bind. I think she got competent legal advice, and that was that as long as she was a Congresswoman she would face more of these pictures being published by the Daily Mail. If Hill had more self confidence and a better support system of friends she might have toughed it out. But one thing emotionally abusive partners like Hill’s husband typically do is to block out friendships. Hill had let him know she was leaving him, and that is why he betrayed her.
debbie
JPL
@Geminid: Katie Hill demonstrated so much courage writing her memoir, and I hope she continues to heal. Greene is different though, because apparently she used her position to garner sexual favors.
Baud
Starboard Tack
@SiubhanDuinne:
There’s a phrase I remember from when I was a kid that I don’t see much anymore but it fits. “Gutless wonder”.
Bill Arnold
(I am in awe of @donk_enby. Quiet competence, ego under good control, with a world-class eye for high-leverage ops.)
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@germy:
Not sure why Eric is toasting Obama, but OK I’ll drink to that.
Matt McIrvin
@dmsilev: It’s kind of amazing that for all the fucked-up-ness of the vaccine rollout in the US, we’re actually doing better than nearly all of the rest of the world, including rich countries with generally better health policy. I think the only countries running ahead of us in fraction of the population vaccinated are Israel, the UAE, the Seychelles, and… the UK.
debbie
@Baud:
The fool thinks he was exercising his right to free speech, just like the insurrectionists.
J R in WV
@TriassicSands:
Of course he will be… he’s former 45th president forever now, and can be barred from running again forever more. If we take the senate next election, we could impeach Trump again, more successfully! YAY~!!!!~
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Although there’s a lot of bad things going on in the US right now, we do ourselves a disservice by almost always focusing in the negative and ignoring the other half of the equation.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: What all of those countries have in common, mind you, is that they’re all suffering terrible COVID waves as well, which I suppose jacks up the urgency.
The only country that’s given more shots than the US, raw numbers, is China, and they’ve got a billion-plus people to vaccinate.
Sure Lurkalot
@Martin: I wish there could be a motion to recuse every senator who stands on the constitutionality argument. The body voted that it was. Much like a jury instruction, it should have no bearing on their vote. At the very least, make it plain that cannot be the shield covering their cravenness, cowardice and/or sycophancy.
Geminid
@JPL: I was just speaking to the particular legal bind Hill was in. She is a much better person than Greene, and was an infinitely better politician. Hill’s ex-husband, though, is a terrible person. I haven’t read that he has been charged under California’s revenge porn laws yet. It could be he covered his tracks well enough. The ex was an “easy rider” who listed his occupation as house husband. Ironically, if he had been willing to let her go without retaliating he would be set financially.
There is a picture of Katie Hill on her first day of Congress that speaks volumes. She is standing at the Speakers podium with Nancy Pelosi. They both look somewhat uncomfortable though, because standing between them is the husband, a large man with a big smirk on his face.
Eunicecycle
@Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): Same here in Ohio. At least all of the teachers in my county will have at least one shot (most will have both) by the end of the month. I am happy about that.
Ruckus
@Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!):
CA seems to work the same way, the county public health department is in charge in their county. A good one will do better than one that requires a lot of hand holding or is not all that big so just doesn’t have enough bodies. LA county, having a bigger population than 41 states, has a rather large county health department and hasn’t been doing all that bad.
japa21
@Sure Lurkalot: Raskin did that during his closing statement. Yes it was directed at the “esteemed” defense team (I don’t know how he said that without laughing) when he was talking about the constitutionality being a settled issue, but he was also talking to the senators.
tokyokie
@Mike in NC:
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, with special effects by the great Ray Harryhausen.
M31
THREEPEACH!!!!
NotMax
@Starboard Tack
Used as well in a different context to refer to Muntz TV sets. Built with the absolute minimum of electronic innards needed to work as a television.
And work they did. Quite well, in fact. Had one I bought second-hand when was in college which after years of use eventually ended up giving to the parents when one of theirs went belly up. It continued working for them for nearly 20 years more after that.
Haroldo
@trollhattan:
Sting??
dmsilev
@Matt McIrvin: True enough. I ran the numbers earlier today; at the current rate (a bit over 1.6 million doses/day), we’re well on track to make Joe Biden’s “stretch” goal of 150 million doses given out in his first 100 days.
prostratedragon
@germy: Oh dear!
Starboard Tack
@dmsilev:
Chuck Todd will have a sad. I hope a hope a hope a hope.
Bobby Thomson
@MisterForkbeard: has anyone ever seen Drum and Yglesias in the same room?
Baud
@Starboard Tack:
Apparently, they’re moving on to school opening as the next best way to berate Biden.
Ken
@J R in WV: One of our esteemed commenters asked sometime last week if young children are growing up thinking that Trump impeachment is something that happens every year, like Groundhog Day. I could certainly imagine him being on trial every year for the indefinite future.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
I don’t think he would’ve succeeded, personally. Didn’t mean to imply that he would’ve
I have no idea what this means. If you mean before the election, then maybe I did simply because I was afraid of what would happen if Trump won a second term
trollhattan
About time, and by “about time” I mean a decade overdue.
He’s actively trying to get people killed, maimed, damaged for life. I have no adequate words for him.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Brachiator:
Who is this referring to?
Alison Rose
@Bobby Thomson: Whoever did would have fallen asleep immediately.
Patricia Kayden
Thanks President Biden!!
BC in Illinois
From Jon Lovett on Twitter:
Baud
@Bobby Thomson:
I hope a polyamorous tantric sex guru wasn’t involved.
Jeffro
@NotMax: Ok! I’m good with disagreeing. =)
Jeffro
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I meant, hundreds of dead Reps and Senators, police and Capitol staff, but even if it was hundreds of dead Q-people, or both, we’d be in a far worse place.
I hope the GQP Senators think about that.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
Fuckety-shit, I forgot!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m gonna tell the teacher on you! : p
sab
@Eunicecycle: In my husband’s Zoom coffee klatch pretty much everyone out of Ohio has gotten their first shot and a third of the Ohioans. They are all over 65. We have one guy who just plugs away on websites all day, and signs up other klatchers when he finds an opening.
Best luck has been with local grocery chain, and Discount Drug Mart.
They all have on site waiting lists for no-shows and cancellations on the days they give shots, so you can sign up for the waiting list if you wander by the area where they are giving shots.
They also free up shots of people are no-shows. Acme (Akron grocery chain) was cancellimg people who were half hour late. If they turned up later and their slot hadn’t been filled they could still het their shot. My husband snagged two of the cancellation slots by relentlessly plugimg away at the website.
I know two people who got on the waitimg list and got shots at Discount Drug Mart by wanderimg by the table and gettimg appointments from cancellations.
It’s nuts, but at least we are startimg to learn there is a system.
The delay in my county was waiting for enough vaccine to do the teachers before the 65ers. I am okay with that. If we can’t open the schools safely then nothing else can open.
My husband
Jeffro
Um good question I guess. I’m just going to say…as far as I’m aware of…only one public figure has rubbed a presidential* cardboard cutout’s genitals on video and faced no consequences of any kind for it.
(blech)
Brachiator
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Idiots talk as though the Constitution provides for coups.
The fucking idiots who tried to take down the fucking government and the Orange mutha-fucking Idiot-in-Chief.
Mary Ellen Sandahl
@pat:
@pat:
That’s what I think. It explains a lot.
I’ve also thought that Trump may have sometimes threatened them, in subtle mob-bossish insinuations, with his pal Vlad’s special errandboys if they weren’t loyal.
J R in WV
@JPL:
I AM a polyamorous tantric sex guru. Take that theocratic nut jobs — Liberal Democrats for the WIN~!!!~
On the other hand, we’ll be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary next May… so maybe I’m pulling legs all across the nation!
. ;~)
Brian
@burnspbesq: no, he played a Cal Berkeley student.
Brian
@Brian: oops, I was confusing that film with The Graduate