I said this earlier on the twitter thing, and I want to say it here:
Even if he is not convicted in the Senate and even if Dems pay a political price, impeaching Trump is the right thing to do because he’s a criminal who broke the laws. When everything is as broken as it is now, all you can do is do the right thing and hope for the best.
— John Cole (@Johngcole) December 13, 2019
And I believe that. I liken the US right now to a town razed by a hurricane. If you look around at the incalculable damage, it is easy to get paralyzed into inaction because everything is so fucked. You can’t sit around and worry about what is going to happen, or if things are going to get better, or if things will be back to the way they were. You just can’t. So you just pick a spot and start cleaning up and rebuilding. You do it because that is just what you do and all you can do.
Normally, in America, this is when we rely on our institutions. Unfortunately, all of our institutions are shaky, incompetent, and suspect, but they are still all we have. So when a lawless President crimes his way through the constitution, you just do what you can. You lay out the evidence, you impeach, and you hope for the best. You don’t concern yourself with what might happen or stuff like that. You just do the right thing.
I’m very proud of the way the Democrats on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees handled themselves the past few weeks. I haven’t been embarrassed by any of them, and I am happy to call myself a Democrat. The only thing we can do is to keep moving forward. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep donating and working to get better candidates in office, and just hope for the best
Heidi Mom
Very well said, John, and very true.
Gobsmacked
Well said
PhoenixRising
Proud to be a Democrat. Proud to be going back home to OH-04 to join the fight against that odious little weasel Jim Jordan. A hurricane hit my country while my mom was ill & my kid needed launching, so all I could do was knock on a whole lot of doors. Now it’s time to pick a little corner & start sweeping debris.
Mary G
Yep.
trollhattan
Yes. Yes and thirdly, yes.
Thank you.
Lapassionara
Thanks. Well said.
Chris Johnson
All of my THIS. And it might not be as bad as you think: a bunch of Russians have to work very very hard to make it seem like Dems will pay a political price for, you know, justice.
And it ain’t like even the Russians want Trump! If they have a replacement handy they would be quite happy to throw Trump under the bus and go with their other guy (any of ’em). We may yet see Trump meet a horrible fate. I’d enjoy that, even while remaining wary of what else is in store.
feebog
You are correct sir. We now return to our regular programming in progress.
Karen
I know what’s right but if we’re losing the House and Senate what’s the point?
MobiusKlein
We didn’t come to the Battle of Bullshit Mountain to play in the lagoon at the base.
We’ll be covered in shit in the end one way or the other, may as well go out fighting.
Jacel
Can this statement be pinned to the top of your website for a while? This expresses so much of what is important to so many of us.
Mary G
Funny story from Carolyn Hax’s annual Christmas Hootenanny chat at WaPo:
I have worked at places like this.
spudgun
@Karen: I mean…?
Keep fighting. Or die.
I know which one I would choose.
Martin
We sent Schiff and Auntie Maxine and Pelosi there to do a job along with 45 others, and they’ve done it. Trump will hear from both our our senators on Judiciary. California is having none of this shit.
Bruuuuce
Yes, exactly. I keep hearing (at the Book’o’Faces) that impeachment is futile, that why oh why did the House Dems do it when it’s politically a loser, and all that crap, and I keep telling people that they did it because it’s their JOB. Usually rocks them back on their heels, saying “oh, yeah. I forgot”.
Fortunately, Nancy and her folks didn’t.
HRA
Thank you for the post. John.
karensky
100% agree. And, organize for 2020.
Cal D
Thanks, John.
spudgun
Thanks for this, John.
Somebody down-post mentioned something that was also a highlight for me during these hearings – getting to know other reps from different states. I mean, I already know how awesome, say, Ted Lieu (even though he wasn’t there because of his health) and Hakeem Jeffries are, but – Eric Swalwell, Pramila Jayapal, Jamie Raskin…what a revelation!
We have so many good people on our side!
debbie
Question for those who worried about Nadler not being able to match Schiff: Looking back, do you still think he disappointed? I don’t, and I think his postponement of the vote until this morning was a genius move.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
Thank you for that John, it was like a drink of clear water. Fight fear, look for what is real, and remember that fighting the good fight is the right thing to do.
zhena gogolia
I agree with every word of this post. I noticed that when the Republicans are ranting, the Democrats and the civil-servant witnesses and the Dem counsel look straight at them and don’t flinch. (Daniel Goldman looking stone-faced as Collins squealed at him “drive-by! drive-by!” was a thing of beauty.) When the Dems on Judiciary (esp. Swalwell) directly addressed the Repubs, they would either smirk or look down or turn away. That Roby gal had her little kid there looking at her smartphone with her. Disgusting. I was deeply proud of Swalwell, Schiff, Himes, Demings, Lofgren, Neguse, and many others.
Yarrow
From the title of the post I thought it was going to be about Danny Aiello who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “Do the Right Thing.” He died yesterday. RIP.
Agree with the post, John. Republicans are the party of traitors and cowards. It’s up to Democrats to stand up for what’s right, for democracy, for the rule of law and for our values as a nation. They have done and are doing the right thing.
zhena gogolia
I just have to go on a little bit more. Every Dem had the calmness and conviction of people who know they’re doing their duty. Every single mf-ing Republican looked like a shifty weasel. Every single one of them. If this difference isn’t clear to the nation as a whole, well, so be it.
Eljai
@Bruuuuce: I take solace in the fact that half the country wants Trump impeached and removed from office. That’s a pretty significant number that the press just dismisses. The number of people who wanted Clinton removed from office never exceeded 25%. And Clinton was popular. Trump is not and he’s only going to get worse. He can’t stop lying and he can’t stop breaking the law. He’s got no place to go but down.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I think that also surprised the Republicans — greatly. Tough to yell and bully when your victim remains unmoved.
I hate Collins.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@zhena gogolia: I always kind of looked askance at Swalwell, even before he ran for president. There was an Uncanny Valley Eagle Scout aspect to him that was off-putting. Maybe he’s been able to relax a bit after giving up on his premature ambition, but he’s been really good in these hearings.
I didn’t see Roby brought her kid in. Those are the people who really piss me off, the ones who are for whatever reason running away from the mess they made (Roby, Hurd, Alexander and Flake and Corker before him in the Senate) but still carry water for The Beast.
The Francis Rooney story is instructive: rich as Croesus, old and old school Bush II conservative. He was impeachment curious, retiring (whether because of the backlash or if he had already decided to, I forget) and he basically caved cause he didn’t want crazy old white ladies in bedazzled MAGA caps screaming at him in the Marco Island Piggly Wiggly.
Mnemosyne
Weirdly, this is a song in the new Disney movie. Not joking:
”The Next Right Thing”
https://youtu.be/w6g1yQV0dIY
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/12/13/martha-roby-son-sits-lap-votes-against-trump-impeachment/2638637001/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories
She had him there the night before and was fooling with her smart phone as Swalwell was addressing her.
Bruuuuce
@Eljai: Thanks. I know that, and keep reminding people that despite the media being in the bag for the GOP (which should never have surprised anyone who understands who owns the media), popular opinion is still on our side.
But I hear more breast-beating and shirt-rending after the UK elections, especially saying that it means we need to run back to the “center” (i.e., the right) and that Senator Warren can’t win. Time to prove them wrong; that the UK just underwent our 2016 shocker, and that we’ve had our 2018 return to form, with more blue wave in 2020.
Tim C.
This is the way!
Belafon
Now it’s up to us. Call your reps, and if they are Democrats, thank them. Call your friends and acquaintances, make sure they are registered to vote, and then badger them to vote.
zhena gogolia
@Belafon:
I didn’t have a rep on these committees, but mine has come out in favor of impeachment, so I called and thanked her for that. I also called Swalwell’s, Himes’s, and Schiff’s offices to thank them, even though they’re not my reps.
Kraux Pas
The Ds have been basically on poibt going over a decade strong. They earned these electoral victories they’ve had over this shitshow of an administration.
zhena gogolia
Schiff was really good on Colbert too.
FelonyGovt
Agree 100%. We are doing the right thing. I’m very proud of us Democrats and our fine representatives.
painedumonde
Dad, what did you do during the Time of the Orange Derp?
Let your answer teach the next generation.
Mary G
Suzanne
Agree. This is the right thing to do, and I am enjoying how stained he will be forever. I really hope it rolls downhill, and Javanka won’t even be able to show their faces in New York.
So I got an offer from the firm in Pittsburgh. It’s a very good offer. Leaning toward taking it.
CaseyL
Thanks, John. Well said.
Tdjr
David ??Booooooo?? Koch
@Suzanne: Don’t you currently live in NYC?
Kay
True, too. She broke the law, was ordered to fix what she did, didn’t bother, and then was held in contempt of court. There were so many other Trump Administration scandals that day that no one noticed- except for the Democrats on the House education committee (and that one magistrate who held her in contempt, of course).
They could spend all day, every day pointing out Trump Administration law breaking. It has to reach “impeachment level” to even be widely known.
crosspalms
Amen. And thanks for putting it so well.
debbie
@Suzanne:
Congratulations!
khead
Yeah, this. All day. Every day.
Gonna miss the deadline for pet calendar pics tonight. Maybe folks will cut me a break. It’s my birthday weekend.
Suzanne
@David ??Booooooo?? Koch: Currently live in Phoenix.
No one mention this on Book of Faces, plz.
BC in Illinois
@Mary G:
This is a great protest, especially to hear the chants.
In Scottish.
David ??Booooooo?? Koch
Mallard Filmore
@Yarrow:
Over at democraticunderground.com there is a page with the title:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017561803
The next October surprise will be Barr rounding up some Democratic candidates for bogus crimes.
khead
Also, 50+ posts and no one mentions the Danny Aiello reference in the title?
Y’all need to put some extra mozzarella on that mother#$%^ and shit. Or maybe go get 8 D batteries.
Yarrow
@khead:
Ahem.
Redshift
Hear, hear!
I am committed to spending the rest of my life fighting the neverending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. I had hoped after working my ass off to get Obama elected that I could take a break from saving the world (what can I say, I’m an optimist.) And I really would like to get things to the point where I can, but I no longer expect it.
I’m in it for the long haul, and that’s okay.
khead
@Yarrow:
Oops. Heh. I still need 8 D batteries. For the Balloon Juice boom box.
randy khan
@debbie:
Bullies really don’t know what to do when you refuse to be bullied.
True story:
Once I was doing a project where I was supposed to collaborate with someone else from another company. He proposed that we take a position that was actually, provably wrong. Just to be sure, I checked with someone else working on the project, who confirmed I was right.
So I told the guy no. He then proceeded to yell at me, tell me I was stupid, threaten me, the whole nine yards. I just repeated that my side wasn’t going to agree to do what he wanted, and if he wanted us to participate (which he 100% needed us to do), he’d have to change it. He kept yelling for a while, then it dawned on him that I meant it, he made the change and he never did that to me again.
I later talked to one of my colleagues who’d been at this guy’s company before joining ours, who told me he did it to everyone, and in fact that was one reason she’d left. So I guess it really was a shock to him when I didn’t give in.
Barbara
@randy khan: I really don’understand people like this. I hate being wrong more than most people I know, but if you can prove it to me I am definitely not going to yell at you.
Bruuuuce
Also, speaking of doing the right thing, it appears that unless Loyola-Marymount University gets its labor dispute fixed fast, the next Democratic debate will have nobody on stage. All seven of the qualifiers have announced that they won’t cross a picket line to be there, starting (no surprise) with Senator Warren. I certainly couldn’t vote for a Democrat who DID cross a picket line for a political event.
NotMax
@Khead
I believe that in electronics biz jargon 8 Ds is referred to as a Chesty Morgan.
:)
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
Good news. Congratulations!
anarchoRex
Hear, Hear, John.
Steeplejack
@Kay:
And get a load of this:
dmsilev
@Bruuuuce: There are probably alternate venues that might even be available on short notice (universities tend to shut down for the holidays, so some other LA-area school would be the obvious Plan C).
(plan A was UCLA for those keeping score at home. Also had a labor dispute.)
Jacel
@Martin: I’m biased, but our Team California is the best. (And I wish our junior Senator was still on a track to become President.)
Yutsano
@Suzanne: I was about to go looking through your timeline for the announcement. I will keep silent there. But here? MAZEL TOV!!! i hope it works out!
Jacel
@debbie: I think Schiff and his committee making the first move was a factor of the subject matter — including the untouchable and unquestionable access that the Intelligence committee has for dealing with that sensitive subject matter in private or openly. That probably saved a lot days/months of fuss and bother over classification disputes.
PIGL
Thank you Mr. Cole, for showing me what it means to be a soldier.
Kay
@Steeplejack:
Thanks! I love DeVos news. I met someone at Lake Michigan two summers ago who pointed out one of her yachts and I asked so many questions I made him uncomfortable. Then I had to act casual. Like i was interested in…boating. Just a normal yacht enthusiast!
Odie Hugh Manatee
Contact your reps and let them know that you want this motherfucker impeached and that you back them up in doing so. Don’t take anything for granted, Donnie’s Rasputin Republicans and their media outlets are hard at work doing everything they can to blow this thing up. I was worried a bit about Nadler but this time he handled it perfectly and his shutting down the attempt to run the vote into last night was a thing of beauty.
Watching Collins and the rest rant and fume because Nadler shut down their planned ‘made for Fox middle of the night vote’ moment was great entertainment.
Mike in NC
@Jacel: Oh, it will happen pretty soon.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
We need to go ahead and burn down the Supreme Court so that the institutional privilege it grants becomes a thing of the past. Add about 15 justices, and you wouldn’t see shit like this June slow play on Trump records.
JaySinWA
@Kay: You weren’t asking about how one would scuttle a yacht like that were you?
HarryBee
Thank you, Cole. You’ve lit a candle in this darkness.
Jay
Duane
@khead: You say it’s your birthday? Well Happy Birthday to ya!
Jay
@JaySinWA:
the Rich are insured, often over insured. She already had one of her many yachts slipped from it’s mooring.
If you are going to do something, you need to make it look like it was done for the insurance money or know of a loophole in their insurance covering recklessness or an act of god.
Jay
For Schrödinger’s cat:
rikyrah
On point, Cole ??
H.E.Wolf
Adding my voice to the chorus. Thank you; and Yes we will.
AndoChronic
Fuckin’ A Cole. Preach it.
Bruuuuce
@dmsilev: I expect they can find a site. It’s a bit embarrassing that the organizers had due diligence errors twice already (I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt, assuming they actually care about labor issues). But, as you note, there are lots of schools with auditoriums in the area.
Jay
Doug R
@Karen:
Ain’t losing the House, might get back the Senate.
Moscow Mitch was leading by ONE point a week ago, before the new Governor gave back the franchise to a few hundred thousand ex-felons.
Mary G
@Suzanne: Hurray!
trnc
I have come around to the idea that the House should not forward the impeachment to the senate because the majority leader has already guaranteed a trial rigged in DT’s favor. Withhold, gather more evidence and possibly add articles.
Also, I think the smearing of Yovonovich and other dedicated public servants merit another article. A prez has the right to withdraw an ambassador at will, but not to smear them. Slander and libel are illegal and as easily understood as bribery.
Jay
hervevillechaizelounge
@Mallard Filmore:
I know I’m deranged but I’m virtually certain Bilbo Barr is planning to arrest the dem nominee. And that’s why Uncle Joe would be a great choice; he’s a goofball but he’s avuncular. Uncle Joe in an orange jumpsuit is going to unsettle the lumpenmittel waaaaay more than strapping Hillary to the lethal injection gurney.
Desperate times, desperate measures, etc.
HumboldtBlue
I love a good harmony.
hervevillechaizelounge
@Steeplejack:
Betsy Devos isn’t the only person in Trumpworld paying for google-scrubbing. Tiffany Trump is having images depicting her weight-gain buried as well. In order to see what she looks like now you have to check individual tabloid sites—even “Tiffany Trump fat” will only bring up old skinny photos.
I became interested in Tiffany’s weight when Trump’s fired aide-de-tramp mentioned Trump’s horror at her new zaftig figure. In the photos accompanying these articles Tiffany looked the same as ever, so I felt compelled to do some further investigation.
This presidency is weird AF.
prostratedragon
Start the second line!
MomSense
@khead:
love hate
?. ?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Jay:
Except he actually is, indisputably.
This sounds about as tone deaf as going all-in with Corbyn despite his Brexit flirtation. This election was Labour’s to lose, and they fucked it up. In 10 years, there’s an uneasy assortment of four separate nuclear armed nations rocking around Ireland and the British Isles and one confused and impoverished electorate in the rump Kingdom of England (ruled by the desiccated corpse of Elizabeth II, who has undoubtedly drafted some law that has her fucking up the country while her family mooches the public weal for all eternity).
tomtofa
Happy that Swallwell is my rep.
JPL
@khead: Enjoy your birthday weekend.
WereBear
Preach it.
Baud
Excellent, JC. Couldn’t agree more.
J R in WV
@Suzanne:
Congratulations, Suzanne! I have always enjoyed Pittsburgh when we visit there. We should spend more time up there, really. It’s a beautiful place, I love the mountains and rivers and tree covered hillsides.
If you do accept the job, best of luck with it. I know P’burgh will be more pleasant than Phoenix, which always struck me as being like a giant frying pan full of RWNJs. And keep in touch!
Jim
When you are brought up in a rich household , Screamin` Baby Trump thinks that Laws do NOT apply to him .
Barbara
@Suzanne: That’s great. I haven’t lived in Pittsburgh as an adult so others probably have more relevant information about schools and such, but I grew up there and my family lived there for generations so I know a lot about the place. I know there are others here as well.
Sab
@Suzanne: Congratulations.
Gregory
Hear, hear!
dnfree
We moved to an active adult place and Sean Casten is our new representative (IL 06). Went to a town hall meeting with him yesterday at the complex. He said this district had been represented by Republicans for fifty years. We assume most of our fellow residents are Republicans, but there was a great turnout of enthusiastic seniors to meet him. His answers on everything were excellent. I’m going to have to send him some money. Apparently the former representative never held meetings.
Hang in there everyone, and thanks, John Cole.
geg6
@Suzanne:
Oh, come live here! The city is the best and we could have a meetup! Depending on where you choose to live, the schools are great (best suburbs are Mt. Lebanon, North Hills, Peters Township, Fox Chapel and Sewickley and Shadyside, Mount Washington and Squirrel Hill are the best city neighborhoods, IMHO). Great food scene, lots of good sports teams, and the cultural district is first class. Good healthcare options and the many colleges and universities make the place vibrant. Pitt, CMU, Point Park, Duquesne, Chatham—all excellent. And the parks and the three rivers are stunning. You’ll love it here.
West of the Cascades
@Martin:
This. Oregon is also having none of this shit.
West of the Cascades
@Doug R:
Elections [may] have consequences. I am thoroughly sick of the hand-wringing articles on this week’s UK election as a “portent” of how the 2020 US election will turn out. The fact that after the 2019 elections here there are Democratic governors in Kentucky and Louisiana and a fully-Democratic legislature in Virginia are much better indicators of what might happen in 2020 than the results from a system in which getting 43% of the vote lets you get a landslide in the legislature (of course, our system lets someone with 48% of the vote get a bare majority for the Presidency, but the UK outcome is a feature of their multiparty system, not a bug like our 2016 presidential result was).
Roger Cohen had a particularly odious take in the NYT that “Corbyn’s defeat proves that Trump cannot be beaten from the far left.” Warren and Sanders are probably somewhere between the Lib Dems and the (pre-2019-purge) liberal/moderate Conservatives in terms of UK politics – not in any sense a “far left” except to our right-wing and its enablers.
laura
A most excellent post. History will reflect who stood for our Constitution and who stood with the one who violates it on the regular.
Chop wood and carry water till we win, then chop wood and carry water.
Congratulations to Suzanne!
Barbara
@geg6: Cost of housing is probably similar to Phoenix, but with more variables based on age of housing. Still, my sister’s house has a view that would make it worth a million dollars or more in SF, whereas, in Pittsburgh, you could buy every house on the block for less than half of that. Of course, most places you would want to live if you have kids are not nearly that cheap.
Barbara
@West of the Cascades: Of course he knows better. At this point, there are more differences than similarities between us and the UK in our political systems. I would view the recent elections to the north of us in Canada to be an equally if not more plausible harbinger of what might happen next year, and those didn’t go too well for the conservative party.
Nyrobbin
Thanks so much for this post John! Also, I always say that this is the best comment section on the Internet.
JoeyJoeJoe
@dnfree: it is the old Henry Hyde district. For those who don’t remember, Hyde chaired the Judiciary committee during Clinton’s impeachment. It came out that Hyde also had an affair, one that he called a youthful indiscretion; he was 40 at the time
Ksmiami
@Kay: dude- I know a chef that works on one- I think the Scamway family has like 7 mega yachts
geg6
@Barbara:
Where does she live? Pittsburgh is super affordable. With a few exceptions, you can buy in almost all towns/neighborhoods for much less than in most cities. And if you can buy near the West End overlook or Mt. Washington, the views are million dollar views. Or along any of the rivers. Spectacular views. I love Sewickley, myself, for the river, the charm and the proximity to the city. And it’s a mix of pricing, so it’s more diverse than many of the other places I cited.
James E Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I had to google Uncanny Valley and I’m now wondering why it isn’t the title of a Netflix series.
Matt
The GOP isn’t a hurricane, it’s a gang of arsonists. The hurricane is gone after it’s done, but these fuckers are still standing in front of the fire they set yelling “R U TRIGGERED?!” We can’t even start TALKING about “rebuilding” until they’re gone.
Barbara
@geg6: Indeed, she lives in the West End, in the last block before the hill gets so steep there aren’t any more houses. Pittsburgh is affordable, but in selling my mother’s house and trying find a condo for her previously, nice places in nice neighborhoods are not “dirt cheap.” My sister bought her house out of foreclosure for $12,000, and then put additional money into it, but it’s hard to find things like that anymore. It’s also a market where it’s hard to flip houses (a good thing IMO) because if you are wrong and have to incur a lot more money fixing something you didn’t anticipate, oops, you just lost your shirt, really. I found that out trying to sell my mother’s house as well. The market was a lot more nuanced than I thought.
ETA: Oakmont would be similar to Sewickley, if the other side of town is more convenient.