McConnell pulled another Merrick Garland gambit. By delaying the trial himself, he provided the false framework to 'rely' on a patently false procedural cover. Knowing the right wing zealots have no idea (nor do they care) about proper or improper procedure, he skates to whatever outcome he wants.
This is what happens with cabals: ends justify means. His mission with that disgustingly hypocritical rant was to open the money spigots of the corporate givers who claim they don't like Trump anymore. Likely they don't like him because they're afraid their customers dislike him so much they'll spend elsewhere. There's no honor here; there's just crass political and economic calculus.
The one good thing that watching the 'trial' delivered for me was an introduction to Jamie Raskin. What an extraordinary mensch. Brilliant, articulate, so many more positive adjectives...he was the highlight of what was a dreadful week. When things seem and feel really bad in the world (both my personal/family world and the larger one out there), I look for someone who persists in the face of it all, and try to convince myself that it's not all bad, because, "See? There's a Jamie Raskin in the world after all." His eloquence and genuine caring got me through a really bad week.
I knew the republican senators would not be moved to anything resembling a conscience vote; cabals don't deviate. But I was yet again trounced by the reality that there's no there there. McConnell's cynical soliloquy was just too much foam on the brew.
Good lord, but we need people who care. I think Biden does care, and his agenda and the fact that he has a great team with him will move us into the right path again, but I fear that we are truly in a prolonged siege for control. And it has always felt to me that bad people are better at getting control than good people.
Take heart, though. There are good people in control. And there are so many criminal indictments coming Trump's way. But none of those senators who signed on to the overthrow of our election should have been allowed to vote on anything connect to that. No Seditionist should be allowed in the halls of our government.
And yes. Jamie Raskin is a mensch and he speaks from the heart so beautifully. He is a quality person of character which appears non-existent in the trumplican party now, minus a very, very few.
I think that Joe Neguse also has a bright future ahead! He was articulate, clear and persuasive in his presentations. I hope he gets recognition and advances.
Can I just point out that the US Virgin Islands (Plaskett's home) does not have voting rights in Congress. Nor does Puerto Rico, nor the District of Columbia. This needs to be remedied. Citizens deserve the vote.
I think I would rephrase that: we need to support their efforts to achieve the kind of status they desire in relationship to the US. It would be a good idea if we stopped assuming that we are responsible for making other people's decisions for them.
All of the above - when you stand back & look at the Democratic congress people who prosecuted these 2 TWO impeachments - there are so many who absolutely stand out as good & decent human beings - as well as being intelligent and VERY articulate. Its actually been a very good experience getting to see them in action! Cant say that about many Repubs, can we?
In a thousand years, students of the dead language called English will study the speeches of Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin, and all of the House managers as they explore the oddities of the language and the beauty of persuasive rhetoric in an historically important moment.
Yes! I've watch American English language deteriorate and believe that it is a reason too many can no longer reason and have fallen prey to talk show dogma.
Perhaps we will see less of loser45’s name now. If the press stops covering every inane comment he will slowly drift into total irrelevance. Stop mentioning his name. That is all he craves. The front page.
We’ve already been hearing a whole lot less of him. Oh my God he was just the top 10 articles sometimes on CNN app or WaPo app. I exaggerate of course but it was always in your face. Now he has receded into the background where he belongs THANK GOD THANK GODDESS THANK GOODNESS SAINTS BE PRAISED
My fear is that the much anticipated indictments of Trump and his progeny will not, in fact, be forthcoming. The simple reason is that republicans have spent the better part of eight years doing everything they can to cut support and staff in the very agencies needed to bring forth such charges, and that those in control will opt not to pursue what will be complicated and extremely expensive prosecutions because they just can't afford the money and attorneys necessary. Trump will skate away again, and continue with his mob boss rhetoric to stir up the goons and gun nuts. I can only hope that the DOJ will bring the hammers of the gods against those they have charged and make it clear that there is a heavy price to be paid for any attempts to overthrow the government. It's also important that the truth of the election's legitimacy be established over and over, and that the false analogy between Trump's mob and BLM be broken down.
I think a fact that will make the difference in this case is that 45 & his mob attacked The Capitol. They attacked our government, not just a criminal action, but an act of sedition and he is a traitor. I hope this will spark fury and a multi-pronged approach to bringing this to a halt. Because we all know how close to the brink we were on 1/6 and how close we could come Again, if this progression is not stopped & incarcerated. Biden will build the CIA and FBI et al back (can't he re-hire the people who fled or were fired?) to the force for good they are meant to be. IMHO
Trump spent four years hollowing out our government structure, like termites eating away at the foundation of a house. Most of the dedicated career personnel have found other jobs outside the government. Some may be interested in going back to their government positions, easier if they and their families remained in DC, but I suspect many had to move elsewhere for their new jobs. It will take a long time to replace them and rebuild their institutional knowledge.
the loss of institutional knowledge is a critical point. Much like the tribes losing elders to Covid, the evisceration of our institutions was savage destruction of both function and history.
I am sure Heather (and we all should) will be paying attention to Fani T. Willis, DA of Fulton County Georgia who last week announced a criminal investigation against Trump because she is THE ONLY one in Georgia who can prosecute him who was not involved in his trying to pressure the Georgia officials to overturn the election (because she was just rlected and started in January) She is fierce and she will have a Fulton County jury not the US Senate to judge him!
Jamie Raskin and all who did the right thing restored my faith in humanity. Democracy will survive as long as we have people like him representing us. It’s up to us to make sure the good people get and keep control.
Lynn, Ihope you're right. Republicans have been adept at destruction for a very long time. In all things, they favor tactics designed to boost the powerful, which is to say they are far better at dirty tricks and deceit than Democrats are. They know how to doctor a poison pill to make it palatable. They know how to wheedle people into dull acceptance. A case in point is the Great Trickle Down Myth. It's a demonstrated failure but rather than admit that it's a failure it's retooled and revamped and thrown in our faces at every available opportunity. The mantra: Oh, THIS TIME, it's gonna work because we've sprinkled Republican pixie dust on it and it's gonna be the real deal!!!
What we saw this week was more of the same manipulation The storming of the Capitol, the resultant deaths, the threats of violence, both stated and implied, against Pence, Pelosi and anyone else they might have gotten their hands on was the horrific climax of The Big Lie scam. The scam wasn't hatched in 2021, it was the extension of his 2016 rigged election hoax, it was reborn and refueled the day Trump took the oath in 2017. And sadly, during the ensuing four years we can count on one hand how many Republicans pushed back against Trump and his gang of thugs. We know Trump was emboldened by his first impeachment acquittal. We knew he would seize that as a signal of affirmation and look where it got us. Do the majority of House and Senate Republicans feel remorse or concern for the firestorm they've created? Hell no. They love it. They are tapping into a rabid base who is willing to do anything, anything their handlers out forth. They're willing to die for Trump. How insane is that? And we see it amplified on Fox, OANN, Newsmax and every crappy, right wing YouTube and Facebook page still up and running.
We are fortunate that 7 million people were horrified by Trump and his tactics to vote him out. Unfortunately, people weren't horrified enough by his henchmen to vote them out. They are the scaffold, the structure upon which all his lies hang. That scaffold is strong, strong enough that it hasn't ever really been compromised regardless of who sits in the White House. Democrats have tried to dismantle it but have only been successful in removing a few bolts here and there.
I hope Trump's acquittal is enough to make more people angry and keep all of us angry and engaged through the upcoming election cycles to elect strong, dedicated leaders capable of wrecking the chokehold Republicans have on our democracy.
As someone stated earlier, term limits are a key element. Their proposed length, 12 years. Additionally, we must take back the campaign process back from PACs, big business and lobbyists. Develop a process to determine a candidate's fitness for office, bake it in so if information is withheld candidates cannot advance. Federally mandate that all US citizens have not only the right and but the ability to vote, in every precinct, whether in person, by mail or absentee, unencumbered by the whims of a party machine. There's more, of course, that needs to be addressed. We are facing huge issues. The Election of Biden/Harris was a step forward. Now we the people have to build and support a scaffold of integrity, from the ground up, by doing more than paying lip service to the constitution.
I do not believe the corporate donor spigots will re-open soon. There is little to be gained by corporate giving to Republicans at present when they lack governing power in the White House or either House of Congress. We will see what 2022 delivers in the way of Republican candidates. Until then why spend money unlikely to produce any benefit for corporate givers to Republicans. It is clear they can produce some benefits to themselves in some state campaigns, but giving to the national Republican party is unlikely to be helpful to large corporate givers any time soon. Smart money will find better uses until it is more clear what the future of the Republican Party looks like.
Read 'Dark Money' by Jane Mayer to see they will be doubling down, if not on the Republican party, on all the arms of the right-wing machine, like Americans for Prosperity.
Corporate donor bans against specific candidates is only a good first start. Cutting off donations to PACs (and the RNC) is just as important. PACS give a tremendous boost to preferred candidates through negative and single-issue advertising. Donations to the RNC enable it to function as a virtual money-laundering operation by disbursing to its endorsees.
Please search online for corporations and their often rushed, incomplete new post-Jan 6 donation guidelines, and hold their feet to the fire, up to and including boycotts. Hit 'em in the bank account, it's the only place they feel anything.
I wish I were more confident that corporate contributions would be restricted until there's some evidence that the GOP is returning to a real party with real ideas rather than a party solely dedicated to ensuring minoritarian rule. That it took so long to turn the flow off suggests that corporations are willing to put up with a lot of things that aren't beneficial to the country as a whole.
Why were they giving money to those who supported repressive immigration policies? What about when Trump and enablers were denying the severity of the pandemic?
One " benefit" of the pandemic has been reduced pollution, wildlife returning to areas they'd be pushed out of, and reduced damage to sensitive environments. When everyone's gotten a vaccine will we return to every activity that contributed to those problems? Likewise, now that Trump's out of office, will corporate interests begin to outweigh their newly found standards for appropriate political behavior?
9/11 was 20 years ago. Have we changed what we do in fundamental ways? How long will it take before we forget what Trump and the GOP tried to do to the nation?
No doubt this is a well-read group. Are you aware that Jamie Raskin’s son committed suicide on 12/31/20? He was deeply overcome with depression. I heard an interview with Scott Simon of NPR on 1/8/2021 - such a moving interview between these two grown men. And Ruskin and his wife wrote a eulogy talking about their son, his short life, and his struggles. Such a tragedy.
Thanks for this link. Such a loss! “He quoted something that he loved which Father Daniel Berrigan said about Dorothy Day: ‘she lived as though the truth were true.’ Tommy said: ‘I wanted them to see that the truth is true.’” 🌀
Rukmini Maria Callimachi...now in education. She saved Nadia Murad. Nadia came, did her book here. And Oslo flipped. Took one call. Did Rukmini err? Did Donald? Who is Joe Kahn? Protected Rukmini. And... Himself. Who bombed Donald, Carolyn? Who dredged up that bit? Why? No one is better than Donald. No one.
Carol and Jim....It would appear that The writer is under the impression that I am Carolyn Ryan of the NYTimes (I relish the accolade), and infers that that Carolyn knows her references. I need to look up the references myself....
I'm not that Carolyn Ryan, though I'm glad my note made you think that. I'm an old retired professor who found a voice that wants to be heard if only by the choir.
Once again the U.S. Capitol Building has been occupied by a traitorous mob of Un-American seditionists determined to overthrow the Constitution which forms the basis of our Democracy. For the second time in two months a mob of traitors has assembled within the walls of the Capitol Building itself, to desecrate the foundations of democratic government. The felonious mob that assembled in the Capitol on January 6, 2021 wreaked havoc through property destruction and loss of life. Their sedition was brief and promptly faded away as the cowards that they were quickly slithered back under the rocks from which they had emerged.
But today, the Capitol is once again occupied by traitors. Traitors who have determined to abandon their oaths of office, to abandon the Constitution, to abandon their Country and its Democratic principles. These traitors pose a much greater threat to the United States than did the slime which covered the Capitol floors on January 6th. Slime can be quickly washed away, and forgotten. But this collection of vermin is different. These rodents are supposed to wash away the slime. Instead, the group of Trumpublicans currently occupying the Senate Chambers will continue the stain on the United States by their boot licking fealty to a failed dictator, Donald Trump. The stain left by these traitors will continue. On January 6th, the Capitol was stained by riotous outside extremists, who will soon be incarcerated and duly forgotten. But the stain of the traitorous Trumpublicans is from the inside of the Senate itself. It will last beyond their terms in office and remain a stain on their institution, and themselves, into history. They have chosen fealty to The Big Lie over their nation and its institutions. Their shame will last forever.
It would have been less obvious that they are seditionists and members of an organized crime system had they defecated all over the Senate floor like their insurrectionist friends. I hope that the threat to investigate RICO violations happens and it scoops up a bunch of these--I try hard not to use expletives in these posts but the word rhymes with "othersmuckers".
They’ve earned the privilege of being vilified. Some of them many times over, like Brit-for-Shains-in-Chief. Off-line I am not kind to that fat balding . . .
They are people without a country, in my humble opinion. And Seditionists should also be stripped of their voting rights, their weaponry and their ability to run for any kind of public service.
As a resident of the North Carolina coastal plain, a swampy low lying land, the term “drain the swamp” is unfair and uneducated. Swamps are natural, fragile ecosystems that do have purposes that are not apparent to the untrained eye. Swamps absorb excess water during heavy rains and give birth to much life, just to name a few. “Draining the swamp” is a developer term implying that the swamp and its inhabitants are of no value. These Retrumplicans are an insult to the creatures of the swamp.
Jennifer, I couldn't agree more. I mean no disrespect to the magical swamp, and apologize profusely if it came across that way. I didn't coin the term, of course, but perhaps shouldn't have used it in this case. I too live in what I lovingly refer to as "the holler", the lowest lying area around, on a smallish river that is pure wetland as it passes through "our backyard". We see heron, otters, beavers, muskrat, deer, occasional moose, bobcat, all of which depend on this specialized ecosystem draining the surrounding forest. And that's what we CAN see. Thousands more species support and are supported by this ecosystem.
Much love and praise to genuine wetlands. "Drain the swamp" is common parlance as a metaphor and symbol. Everyone knows the Creature From The Black Lagoon isn't real, but it still makes us shudder.
Marshes and wetlands, the natural ones, are gifts of great beauty. The "swamp" of pollution and corruption in politics is a metaphor, as you know, of an evil and nasty smelling sewer. Sewage tank, not swamp.
The Everglades, River of Grass, by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. She lived to 100 and was the greatest Floridian ever, until tragedy brought the Parkland students to the fore. It is an honor to be inspired by them.
When I asked my brother if I could share, he said, "it's not copy righted". So, yes, feel free. I thought it was pretty much spot on. TC probably has more outrageous adjectives but my brother did well i think!
Thank you for this. It is the Republicans who caved by voting to acquit; some issued statements afterward explaining their acquittal on technical grounds that won't age well, especially as more information comes out in the trials of the mob.
Listening to the trial reminded me that we have spent four years subjected to a loud and whiny authoritarian who tells lie after lie; those extended clips of Donald Trump were like the return of a nightmare. It's time to shove Trump off the national stage and into the criminal courts, where he belongs.
This trial was really one last chance for the Republican Party to redeem itself. They failed.
It's time to get back to President Biden's agenda.
I certainly hope there will be suits brought. Americans need to hear over and over (uver and uver?) that Trump created the mob, invited the mob to Washington, whipped the mob into a fervor, and aimed it at the Capitol.
Yes on both counts. Also the hundreds of staff and officers who suffered psychological damage, loss of income, etc. The civil suits from the insurrection may be enough by themselves to ruin the Unnamed Former's life.
Let's not forget the pending Congressional 9/11 like investigation looming on the horizon. It will make Benghazi look like an 8th grade student council debate. Witnesses will be compelled to testify and anyone claiming the 5th will be branded as a coward, traitor or worse.
I agree, first keep steamrolling Biden's agenda. Any resistance from the GOP acquitters should be met by taking away their ability to filibuster. There will never be a better reason to take off the gloves than this.
It ain't over. The rotund lady in the Viking helmet hasn't even begun to warmup.
I think of it more as "Götterdämmerung", "Twilight of the Gods"...the end of the world. Or listen to "Siegfried's Tod" as a metaphor in that it goes from the deepest tragedy (in darkest C minor...T***P period) into glorious C Major with hope for the world (Biden?).
I'd maybe throw some Beethoven in there for good measure...specifically the 9th for absolute unbridled hope and joy for the human race (thank you, Schiller) coming out of chaos (gloomy d minor giving way to joyous D Major). There's music for everything. It's an unbeatable accompaniment to life...
I agree 100%. The Senate Republicans voting to acquit was appalling, but I was lifted up by the inspiring words of the House Impeachment Managers and their love for our country. Onward with Biden's agenda!
The "technical grounds" seemed to be so much more about their refusal to accept the vote that what they were doing was constitutional. I wonder why the Republicans who refused to accept that vote didn't choose to abstain from the final vote. Their physical presence while abstaining would have created the same result of acquittal, right? So much Republican rebelling... 34 GOP senators representing 14.5% of the American people. Broken, indeed.
They voted that it WAS constitutional but refused to function/decide based on that vote. And they all wanted to catch the flights they booked rather than hear witnesses.
Which is the worst reason of all! How are they not negligent in their duty? They honestly didn't see this trial as important. So Trump hired Barr so that while President he could not be indicted, McConnell refused witnesses for the first Impeachment, for the second refused to call Senate back in session. Then said it wasn't right to Impeach someone not in office. So, what happens when the next criminal is elected President, follows suit with a cooperative DOJ but commits heinous crimes at the begining of his term. Seems like McConnell has set the stage for inviting corruption and criminals.
I agree Wholeheartedly Jill. When trump was in the WH, EVERYONE was afraid of him. Afraid of being chastised or fired. And I understood that!!
But now that he is out, I really thought the republicans would do The Next Right Thing!!!! Oh, am I Totally Disgusted by them. Cowards!!!! I will NEVER forget THIS!!!😡😠👹
1. How is it that the defense lawyers could lie but face no repercussions? Do they not take an oath? Why is this allowed?
2. How is it that senators could take an oath agreeing to be impartial but then blatantly meet with the defense lawyers to strategize? Since they were obviously not impartial, why were they allowed to have a vote?
3. And under that same oath they agreed to listen to the evidence, but some were absent for hours at a time, missing presentations and still allowed to vote?
4. How is it that once the Senate agreed by a majority that the impeachment trial was indeed constitutional, some senators voted not guilty saying their decision was because they felt the trial was unconstitutional? How could they be allowed to totally disregard the earlier Senate majority vote just because they were on the losing side of that vote? Shouldn’t their votes be nullified? Does this set a precedent?
It just seems that even though rules are made, there are no consequences for not following them, thus making them meaningless. I just keep shaking my head...
And 1. They then turned around and accused the House Managers of lying!!! That's what made my blood boil. But of course, the explanation is that they are cut from the same cloth as 45.
The vast majority of the senators who voted to acquit knew the evidence, and knew Trump is guilty as charged. The defense attorneys were third-rate clowns. The only job the defense had to do was provide semi-plausible cover for the craven, cowardly acquitters. After all, Republican voters aren’t intelligent enough, or well-enough informed to know that the 1st amendment doesn’t absolve a president from inciting a riot, nor that it is constitutional to impeach a president as he is leaving office. Kabuki theater, nothing more. Oh, except our democracy is weakened considerably as a result.
McConnell has totally corrupted the Impeachment process. I cannot imagine being a member of Congress and having to work/trust him after what he has done. There should be consequences for his manipulation and deceit.
In an actual jury trial, the jurors are bound to follow the instructions of the judge. That the lawyers were able to claim, and the "jurors" able to reason, that they could acquit because they had no jurisdiction flies in the face of centuries of tradition and makes one wonder again!) why we even bother to have a Senate.
Like the Electoral College, the Senate was designed to limit democracy by founding fathers who feared popular rule. Senators weren't even directly elected til 1924, instead being chosen by state legislatures. As yesterday showed, we are bothered more by the Senate.
We had the same observations. I think we now know that impeachment as provided in the Constitution does not have teeth really and is not an effective accountability mechanism. It seems the framers did not anticipate senators would choose party loyalty over country. It also appears the framers could not imagine that senators would not follow the rules (i.e. the jurisdiction question was decided, but many senators voted to acquit simply chose not to be bound by that vote).
Frederick, I would love to- I appreciate your posts and always learn something. But posts are not time stamped after a certain point. And my mind is now tied in knots, trying to figure out how to translate 10:30am MT to 7:53 pm ET and then find it when all the posts are helter-skelter depending on who is answering whom and when. Can you repost so I can read it? Or look me up on FB and send privately so I don't have to figure the timething out on the second post too? My eyes are crossed trying to follow conversations on here! I love the weaving together of thoughts, but finding a particular post is maddening.
Thanks Annie ~ I appreciate your note, and thanks for the sentiment!
somehow, my long proposal was not posted. I will post tomorrow it has to do with organizing toward April 15 (our) Democracy Day. It’s quite well thought-out, if I may say so
Trump will fade away as Palin did. Trump, in retrospect, will seen as a national embarrassment. There will be a commission or special counsel. Participants will be required to testify under oath. A clear picture of Trump's role will once again be outlined to the public - just prior to the mid-terms. Those who challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election on 6 January 2021 and those who opposed the impeachment will be vilified for their craven positions.
Meanwhile, those who are disgusted with the big lie, the insurrection and the impeachment must take a lesson from Stacey Abrams . Work on 'getting out the vote'. Get involved in the primaries. Put up solid candidates. Georgia's two new senators, in a red state, should galvanize those who think turning a red states blue is impossible. Ensure that the midterm election will be a barn burner. Teach the Republicans a lesson.
Congress must also get to work on HR 1, the For the People Act of 2021, to put in place comprehensive protections of voting rights, improve voter registration, provide election security and reform campaign finance. I agree with the urgency of individual involvement. I also believe the GOP will do everything in its power to suppress voting rights and that it is critical that Congress level the playing field, now before it is too late. The GOP have abandoned any pretense that they are participants in a Democratic dialogue between opposing ideas. The fight for the soul of this country has to be won politically but we must defend the structures that enable the fight to be carried on.
Plus, if you do a search for League of Women Voters, there most likely is a chapter in your county. Just joined mine. Very organized and informative with a legislative newsletter among much more. And leg sessions are going on as we speak. :)
HR 1 is promising, but how does it pass the Senate? It’s a death knell for Republicans, because the only way the GOP wins the White House and Congressional majorities is through voter suppression and gerrymandering. It won’t get any Republican support in the Senate (they will brand it a “partisan threat to election integrity and states’ rights”). HR 1 provides solutions to several of the structural problems our democracy faces today, but it may never see the light of day.
Manchin and also Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are the visible blocks to dumping the filibuster entirely. Sinema did say in an interview that she favors "restoring" the filibuster. That could mean keeping it, but making. it much more difficult to use. If so, it still does not address the problem of a white supremacist minority using it to interfere with voting rights. You are right that what we need most is to have it moved out of the way to pass HR 1... I wonder if they would agree to a scheme where filibusters have to be done in person, continuously, and the majority can close it down after 30 hours or whatever and force a vote on the bill. Or we could go back to the original Senate rules, before 1829, where there was no such thing...
I worry about the same thing. It not only tries to address these issues, it has provisions that I don’t think can pass. For example, in Florida books close 30 days prior to elections. One of the provisions in this bill is mandatory voter registration up to and including on Election Day. I’m sure the state legislature will never go for this and implementation would be impossible.
Republicans control 30 of 50 states’ legislatures. My state, New Hampshire, just flipped back to GOP control. According to the Brennan center, 28 states are pushing voter suppression legislation, with NH being one of the leaders. These include several states that “swung” in 2020 - Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Minnesota. While we’re pinning our hopes on Stacey Abrams and HR1, Republicans in state houses are making voting harder. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-2021
I agree with you about getting involved and lessons we can all learn from Stacey Abrams but as far as Fake45 fading away...nope. The fact that he was impeached only by the House and not the Senate now gives him free reign to the Secret Service. Not only that, he is supposedly forming his own party. There seems to be plenty wealthy evildoers in his corner and that is what is frightening.
SDNY’s Cyrus Vance and NY State’s AG Letitia James are our only hope to squash any of Fake45’s plans.
Acquittal by the Senate does not make Trumpsky immune to federal prosecution. For all the talk about possible abuse of pardon power, his last-minute ones were not much worse than other dicey presidential pardons. Trumpsky never pardoned himself, and Pence never got the chance.. The planning and execution of the insurrectionary coup should yield a rich harvest of potential federal charges. All the more reason for multiple investigations.
I believe that there is still plenty of room for Trump and his cohorts to experience justice, and it is frustrating that so many of us are assuming that this idiot possesses super powers that will turn us into an autocracy. Biden won by 7 million votes, and if anyone thinks that Trump won additional voters by the sedition of his goons and his part in the sedition, they must be drinking Trump's KoolAid. Granted, he and his supporters/enablers caused massive damage to this country and its credibility. We have a a significant problem with militias, which existed before the moron came on the scene and gave them permission to run wild. That doesn't translate to them actually overturning our government. We're all disappointed that there was an acquittal yesterday, but most people knew that a conviction was very unlikely. My take is this: organize (a la Stacey Abrams), do the work to educate and enable voters, make a hell of a ruckus at a state level to eradicate voter suppression, and generally get busy. This inept idiot should not be allowed to frighten those of us who outnumber him. We're better than Trump and his minions, and we outnumber his accomplices. The only thing that makes him truly dangerous is people like us to be intimidated and give up.
Exactly! I'm more frustrated by so much gloom and doom in many of these responses than by any threat that the GOP can offer. Their party was already a minority, and in addition to current members fleeing, there are many new voters who do not ascribe to the cesspool philosophy. The victory of this ordeal will not be decided by an acquittal that everyone should have foreseen.
All I can say is that the numbers are up to the people who control them. More than 100 attacks on voting rights have been introduced in state legislatures around the country. In Wisconsin, there's a move by Republicans, the majority because of hyperpartisan gerrymandering, to allot presidential electors by congressional district rather than statewide vote. Read the opinion piece on Iowa in today's Washington Post. The disparity in representation is real and getting worse. We'll see how much people leaving the party really matters. For now, to me, the numbers don't look good because a few people willing to blow up the rules trumps a lot of sober statesmen relying on them.
I agree that there are continuing threats, but if Stacey Abrams can turn Georgia blue, it can be done elsewhere. I'm also aware that many states have serious disparities in representation (Georgia certainly did) and the Republicans are desperate to take advantage. Still, people are angry at what has transpired over the last four years, and a grass roots effort can help to enable them to gain a foothold. Certainly, something needs to be done to either eliminate the Electoral College or make it representative of the population. On both a national and state level changes must take place, and everyone needs to apply pressure.
Some think he may have secretly pardoned self and family. If he pulls that one out, given the weakness shown by Dems on witnesses, who will block it? The Dems won't even dump the filibuster.
Not so fast to condemn Jamie Raskin's decision; There are merits to both sides concerning whether or not to have witnesses in Trump's 2nd Impeachment trial. The house managers presented a damning case against Trump. There is much within it to inform the public, for use by democratic candidates and in the courts of law. January 6th looms over Trump and the Republican party as their Gates of Hell.
TPJ yesterday's demise was step one in how the GOP is going to dominate this Country. I feel you will see them go after any Democrat that gets in their way, including Biden. They clearly have the power to it. There is no denying what you saw yesterday.
Good points, Linda. Repugs who menace their own for the slightest devation from adoring Trumpsky are quite capable of targeting Dems. Remedies to the threats we face are available, but it'll take major efforts to protect democracy. Still, we beat their side before, notably in the Civil War. We'll do it again, as often as necessary.
Trump forming his own party, and splitting Republicans into two smaller parties, would benefit us all. I doubt he will do it, he knows running a unified GOP gives him more power. He uses the third party threat to keep McConnell and other GOP leaders in line.
I've already made a personal commitment to get the names of all who voted to acquit, and then for the 2022 elections, begin the task of making sure voters in their states know it's time for change and why.
After the Ossof and Warnock races wrapped up, I wrote postcards for four other campaigns, state and local. Republicans won three of them. A Democrat won the race for mayor of Modesto, California, a city that's split 50/50 in terms of party registration. So yes, we need to get out the vote for all the races at all levels of government between now and the 2022 Congressional races. And we need to work on making sure all eligible voters CAN vote.
The Republican Party chose their direction today to be the party of hate, conspiracy theories, lies and violence. My response was to write to Senator Cornyn, U.S. Representative Chip Roy and Texas Representative Andrew Murr, all Republicans, that I will never vote for a person with an R (or a Q or T for that matter) next to their name ever again at all levels - local, state and federal. I did put in a caveat that if the Republican Party were to split and a Party of Lincoln created I would consider voting for people of that party. As Heather pointed this direction for the Republican Party goes back to 1986 and Donald John Trump is a symptom not a cause of their plans success so far although he may have accelerated it. My real fear now is that the Trumpian Republicans now have majorities in the legislatures of many states. Trump will fade from the picture as his legal and financial trials overwhelm him, but the White Nationalist and all their ilk are united and emboldened after their victory on January 6th and feel it is the start of the war for White Supremacy they've been planning for decades. We need to use the Power of the People to get them to replace the Autocratic Republican Party which is destroying democratic institutions with a party that is supporting democracy and its institutions. There is also other steps in the grass roots effort -- 1. term limits in Congress (for example, twelve years - 2 terms in the Senate and 6 in the House) and probably the Supreme Court as well 2. voting rights for every citizen which solves every one getting to vote in much the same way we're learning how to get the COVID vaccine to literally everyone. 3. campaign reform - if corporations are people than they only get one monetary vote (the same limit placed on individuals) 4. A candidate's oath to honesty and to the support of the people above all else. In other words, a movement where it will be We the People -- All of us, this time!
Well said, Cathy. And I would add the "For The People Act" to the list of legislation that would make a significant difference in securing voting rights and pushing back against radical gerrymandering.
Cathy I love your article. I was thinking about constructing a piece around the disintegration of the Republican Party but you went much further into detail than I would have. Bravo‼️
Please continue to write your article and use the synergy of our ideas to create a movement. I'd like to hear more about your thoughts on this. Thank you for your kind words. We should be the antithesis of Trumpian "I alone can do it." to "We together will do it for the well-being of all the People"
I scattered my thoughts on the Republican Party disintegration around these posts, now I’m going to bed. The volume is light enough you should be able to find them easily. Enjoy! Nighty night!
Defeat is just a bump in the road to victory. Dems bent the moral arc toward justice, even if Repugs bent it back somewhat.
On this weekend of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, let us consider some words of his.
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”
"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in."
Here's another Lincoln quote: "A statesman is he who thinks in future generations; a politician is one who thinks in upcoming elections." We desperately need more statesmen and stateswomen.
Native Americans believe that they have to think of 7 future generations when taking decisions that will impact them. One more thing we can learn from them.
Exactly. The Hopi believe we are entering 'the fifth world' and we are destroying the fourth world ourselves. We have lost the sacred connection between humanity and Mother Earth. Not to mention a spiritual wasteland centered on 'me' not 'we'. Rant off.
Thank you for this. Statesman Raskin “ None of us can escape the demands of history and destiny right now. Our reputations and our legacy will be inextricably intertwined with what we do here, and with how you exercise your oath to do impartial justice. Impartial justice. I know and trust you will do impartial justice, driven by meticulous attention to the overwhelming facts of the case and your love for our Constitution, which I know dwells in your heart. ‘The times have found us,’ said Tom Paine, the namesake of my son. The times have found us. Is this America? What kind of America will this be? It’s now literally in your hands. Godspeed to the Senate of the United States.”
We witnessed who were making decisions with their hearts for future generations and who have lost their souls to the capitalism and its power that has swung way too far on the pendulum. History repeats itself. Do not give them or their leader airtime. Shun them, squeeze them, indict them.
I wish we could move to a non-gendered vocabulary. I know, such a small thing, but what about congressperson, statesperson? And what about ovular in place of seminal?
With the busy-ness of the week and the obvious headlines, it was not until this evening that I looked into Rep. Jamie Raskin’s reference to the son he just buried. Tommy Raskin was a truly remarkable 25 year old young man who did much to make this world a better place in the too few years he graced us, as clearly taught well by his parents.
I’ve thought that if one of my children died, I’d be curled up in bed for a solid month. Jamie Raskin brought all of his professional and life experience to bear in an exemplary job of leading the Impeachment trial—while still grieving his loss. He’s really one of the good guys.
I also read those loving words tonight and cried for this family. That was the second time I cried today, the first was on his speech about what his daughter had said. Jamie Raskin did a superb job am I am so grateful. This won’t be forgotten. This is who we are. Love will concur in the end. It is what makes us invincible.
I also read those loving words last night. Jamie Raskin is such a remarkable person as was his son. What a loss for that family - and for the rest of us who had yet to experience what this young man had to offer. Raskin led his team with love and grace - as exemplified by Dejeus’ comment that he preferred to defend his case with love rather than hate. All on that team were exemplary in their presentations. Their case was clear, well organized, thorough. I am so disappointed in the Republicans who are racing to Palm Beach to make Donald whole and powerful. Let’s hope a few more Republicans come to their senses.
I have a friend who worked at Amherst College when Tommy was a student there. She knew Tommy personally, and the Raskin family. She said Tommy had a very bright future ahead of himself and was devastated to learn of his suicide. Jamie Raskin stepped way beyond patriotism in representing this country while still grieving the death of his son. I have every intention of calling his office tomorrow and telling him that he's my hero.
Thank you very much for posting this link. Just read the article about Tommy, then read it aloud to my husband. We're both very moved. Such an accomplished, good young man. And such a devastating illness and loss. And it is just incredible to us that Jamie Raskin was able to do such a good job leading the trial after suffering such a loss so recently. He is an amazing person. I feel very grateful to him.
The late Tom Raskin continues to inspire Rep Raskin. He wants a better world, a stronger democracy so that other people's children will prosper and flourish.
You argue almost as beautifully as Representative Raskin, giving context and explanation for the Democrat cave-in today. I’ll think about all your points. I want you to be correct! I want to feel the optimism of many others who have commented here. But despite such coherent reasoning, it seems like you are putting lipstick on a pig.
Something very dangerous happened today that you leave out. Donald Trump was exonerated by the Senate for insurrection and attempted assassination of its members. And he didn’t even have to appear to answer for it. He just turned down an ‘invitation’ His lackeys appeared and lied for him. Had he at least been forced to appear, for the first time we would have optics that he is not above having to answer to Congress, even if acquitted. Instead, he proved without doubt that he does not have to answer to Congress and that he is powerful enough to not only to stage an attack on Congress and our Constitution, but to coerce 43 members of the Senate and 197 members to support him for doing so. That is terrifying. Terrifying for his continuing power, but also terrifying to imagine Democrats in Congress seem to think they can still govern at all with this reality. (how can the Republicans threaten to filibuster indefinitely when Democrats can just remove that option? Why do Democrats always back down from Republican threats when time and again, they see what happens?)
I don’t expect to hear demands from Congress or Biden for an independent commission with none of the brakes and containment put on Robert Mueller. The idea that the courts will rein in Trump is kind of laughable. Not that he won’t lose lawsuits, but clearly no one has the guts to sentence him to any prison time. Hell, we still can’t even get his taxes, let alone thorough inquiries into his full corruption of the White House and the Executive Branch. I suspect he’s well into planning his next coup and that he has learned a lot more about our weaknesses. I mean, if you can get away with trying to murder your own Vice President and House Speakers, what can possibly be in your way?
I think there will be commissions of inquiry for Jan 6 and the conspiracies behind it. A conviction would be fabulous, but it was easy to see that it wasn't likely. The great success of the impeachment managers was to lay out the evidence in such a way that it can't be ignored. Their target audience lies beyond just the Senate -- public opinion and the judicial system of course, but also history.
This is how I see it as well. Too much power is being given to the impeachment trial vote. All it means is that the majority of Trumps former colleagues found him not guilty of an insurrection. The trial was more for the American people, to show them the true colors of GOPs once and for all. The managers have set the state for more legal battles for Trump and their ilk.
Thank you too, Nancy. We are precisely as strong as we think. Today's Confederates, traitors who admire slavers and traitors, have reawakened the spirit that saved the Union and destroyed slavery. Too much attention goes toward southern identity, but it's a weak reed against the gale of northern nationalism. When Lincoln called for volunteers after Ft Sumter fell, the northern response was extraordinary.
In spring 1861, as Massachusetts regiments arrived in DC, the first to defend the capital, a resident asked "how many more men of your state are coming?" The answer: "All of us!" A New York woman wrote "it seems that we never were alive till now, never had a country till now." I feel the same way right now.
It means so much to read the intelligence and grace of everyone on these threads! Thanks for relating the 1861 Massachusetts regiments anecdote. I've been part of Indivisible these past years and it was heartening to know so many of us were volunteering to get out the vote. And yes we made a difference—barely, but we did it! I maintain what I said at the beginning though: while I hope you are all correct that the impeachment managers' brilliant work spells a turning point in the power of the Trump cult, I see the opposite. Trump and his cult claim a powerful victor. Democrats backed off bringing Trump in to answer by subpoena and they backed off calling witnesses. In terms of public optics, they showed weakness at important cusps. How they imagine governing forward when their Republican counterparts have zero incentive to compromise escapes me.
Yes. These kinds of events, and especially the last 4 years, should be powerful lessons to all those who fall asleep and enjoy democracy without participating in the hard work it takes to keep it alive.
I've begun to think that Trump and his deplorables have shot themselves in the foot. Democrats often look to compromise and try to find common ground with the opposition. However, the disgusting behavior they've exhibited for years, and especially now, has awakened our fury, and they will have an unexpected fight on their hands. Jamie Raskin and other Managers were even-keeled, but clear-eyed. Rep. Raskin did not demonstrate his personal grief, but I'll make a wager that he decided to fight his best fight as a warning that the Republicans will get what is coming to them. He, and the rest of us, aren't afraid or discouraged, and we can give better than we get. Thanks for the history lesson.
You’re welcome. The trial exposed more of our underbelly in this nation. As shocking as it is to many people. And especially for those who take out Republic and democracy for granted.
I think you're right that the managers provided channels for more legal battles. Also that we Democrats needed the powerful context that the managers provided. But read Fox News today if you think that Trump supporters don't see this as total victory and vindication.
Yes they did. It was very strategic what they did. Everyone knew Trump would not be impeached. But let’s put into the history books the entire ordeal. Every sickening detail. So that we can use it to empower the DOJ and the states to bring him down and his ilk. It might take awhile. We are very used to quick fixes in the USA. But the Republic stands another day. Barely. And it’s still being attacked. We must fight on if we want to live and prosper in a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people.
My guess is that only Trump's base is deluded enough to think he's been vindicated. Anyone who listened to Raskin, Neguse, Castro, Plaskett, et al., clearly understand what transpired and who is guilty, whether they will admit it or not. Fox will not give oxygen to any voices that haven't been drinking the KoolAid.
I agree. And one important very thing the Impeachment Managers achieved was to unearth a "mountain of evidence" that they then placed into the public arena. All of it is readily available for REAL trials in REAL courts with REAL jurors and REAL consequences.
I look at this as the beginning of the end of the "old" GOP. As noted by commentators, the senators who voted to convict represent over 60% of the American electorate while those who voted to acquit represent a significant minority. Those watching this trial are not as uninformed as Mitch might think. His hubris and that of his fellows may ultimately be the undoing of all of them.
Let us not be terrified. Let us, instead, use our rage to to become politically involved at the local level. By my nature I want to avoid these lying thieves, but because I have grandchildren I cannot. Every state needs a Stacey Abrams.
The Justice Dept? Fani Willis and the Fulton County Georgia D.A.’s office? The D.C. district attorney? District attorneys in the counties in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona where DT called election officials and tried to strong-arm them?
I've had several conversations with a friend about how seemingly impossible it is to "win a fight" when the opponents make it impossible to do so fairly. We both agree that nasty people hell bent on getting and keeping control take advantage of politeness, even just plain humanity, and that fighting to the level 'they' are willing to go to would make us as bad as they are. The lawyers for Trump (especially that Philly-delphia guy) were (like their client) clearly of the mob ilk who go to the bottom of the pit. "No thanks, we've got a job to get done for the country" is an appropriate response, no matter how bad a taste it leaves. BUT....there does reach a point where they must be crushed at their own game. I don't know what that point is, but I think it is not now, when we do hold the major reins of government. We need to keep those reins, for sure.
I don’t understand what you think Democrats could have done differently. You are blaming them for inherent flaws and weaknesses in our Constitution and legal system. You’re right, something very dangerous happened to our country over the past 4 years, and especially in the past three months. A corrupt, amoral, sociopath became president and set about exploiting every loophole in our rule of law. Our democracy barely survived it (so far). If you want to blame someone, blame the founders. The Democrats did what they could, given the hand they were dealt.
Completely agree. The system is vulnerable, Trump and his followers exploited the vulnerabilities and were able to not play by the rules because there is no penalty - within the structure of the system - for not following the rules. They could lie (I really appreciated Heather's characterization of this as a "rhetorical" methodology), and they could not abide by their vote on the constitutionality of impeachment, because there are no consequences within the structure of the system. Now we know.
Yes, you make the important point. Perhaps it's not a vulnerability of our system as much as an assumption, one that Americans desire freedom as much as air and distrust autocrats above all else. Then again, students of the 1787 Constitutional Convention know that the debate over Presidential powers was among the most intense, with such a wide spectrum of views that the compromise was acknowledged as imperfect.
I think you make a good point. The Impeachment managers from both impeachments (!) were stellar. Democrats have been the ones honoring their oath to protect the Constitution—its letter and its spirit to balance powers. Here's where I see it differently. Republicans are playing a totally different game, a zero sum game, where the object is to exploit a system with the overriding objective to maintain power. To me, it seems insane that Democrats continue hoping Republicans will play by rules they have no interest in following. So I don't understand how Democrats expect to govern going ahead in Congress. Or President Biden. Putting Trump "past us" when Trump has essentially been exonerated seems a little bit ostrich-y. What should Democrats do differently? How about insisting on truth and transparency with a fully empowered Independent Commission? As the 9-11 Commission folks have recommended.
A federal truth and transparency commission is important to identify the cracks exploited to our serious detriment by Trump/Republicans, particularly over the past 4 years, and to identify remedies.
Ground level change to grow the Democratic Party and political power state by state is the other necessary component. Stacey Abrams and her former campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo, chief executive of Fair Fight Action, describe how their 10 year plan worked in Georgia and can work in other states:
Agree. That we continue to be surprised that they are lying and not following the rules - that as you say, "they are playing a different game" hobbles our effectiveness.
I saw a meme yesterday something like, “The system is not broken, it was built this way.” I suppose that refers to our system of governance that was built by mostly aristocratic white men in the 18th Century, with an assumption of men with honor participating. If you assaulted a man’s honor you might be facing a deadly duel with pistols or swords. They never anticipated mass communication consumed by the ignorant & dishonorable, foisting an idiot into the presidency & dishonorable ppl into Congress. Nor that their failsafe to prevent this, the Electoral College would fall to the same partisan idiocy. It lasted 2 centuries & 45 years until the malevolent 45th president and a complicit Congress proved it was inadequate.
In my lifetime, which started in WWII, (4 years before George Orwell wrote his tale of a dystopian future in “1984”) and went thru the time of racial segregation, communist witch hunts, homosexual oppression, continuous useless wars of the military industrial complex, a deadly pandemic of HIV (which showed a glimpse of the ignorance of the masses before our present viral pandemic) I thot things were getting better. We had made strides in civil rights for minorities and elected a biracial president. Then to get blindsided on November 8, 2016, my 72nd birthday and my great-grandson’s first by the ignorant, bigoted masses electing a totally unqualified mentally ill man to the presidency. And for 4 dreadful years suffering the assaults of a complicit, enabling Repugnant Party to this madness and watching old prejudices which had been suppressed, resurface as the norm, I finally thot in 2020 that America was back. But, the madman and his violent minions have escaped without consequence and are a continuing threat. My great-grandson, if he survives may someday as an old man write “In my lifetime, which started in the downfall of America ...”
I've been reading a lot of early Republic history. Our founders were just as nasty and petty as today's politicians. Apparently John Adams was unhinged. They used newspapers to spread lies about their opponents. There were unscrupulous publishers then too. The only difference is technology. (Ron Chernow's biography of Hamilton was most illuminating.) Oh, and small d, democratic was a slur back then.
They could not imagine anything else. Only a very few whites could see slavery as evil, mostly Quakers. And they did debate it but it seems economics had a thumb on the scale.
As a Quaker myself, thank you for mentioning the Religious Society of Friends. Like other abolitionists, Quakers were a despised minority (still are to some extent). Yet in David Brion Davis's words, the antislavery struggle ultimately was "the greatest example of willed moral progress in human history."
Interested parties can learn more from these works:
A Hochschild, Bury the Chains [GB antislavery]
R Larson, Daughters of Light [female Quakers in 18C]
M Sinha, The Slave's Cause [fine general study of abolitionism]
J Woolman, Journal [a most accessible spiritual classic]
The Puritans persecuted everyone. It is their heritage that still drives our culture. I mentioned Jill Lepore's "In the Name of War" in another thread some months ago. I suggest it again, to gain a sense of the real values that drove the "founding of America". It's a good, illuminating read of the history of the era in which the original colonies developed. Point of view is everything.
I am a Quaker also. Alas, I'm afraid some of the early Quakers were less than honorable and it caused several schisms. We need to be careful how hard we pat ourselves on the back, however humbly we do so.
BTW, this may be apocryphal, but I have heard it said that John Quincy Adams was asked by his son if any truly democratic societies existed. JQ answered that from his observations, if there were, they surely would be found among the indigenous people of this continent.
My students get a modified version of Boston's Black Heritage Trail tour, complete with some role-playing. We stop to discuss the statue of Mary Dyer outside the State House, inscribed "Quaker, Witness for religious freedom, Hanged on Boston Common 1660." The somber mood is relieved only by moving a few feet to the General Hooker Entrance. His name is always good for a laugh.
Yes, my 2 sentence description did not cover all the facts that most owned black slaves, their world view was limited to their experience in the “enlightenment” and they tried to counter the Medieval atrocities of religion. The newspapers hounded Jefferson on his affair with his slave Hemings. But, someone like #45 might have been dispatched in a dual, shot in NYC and the shooter not arrested. Ppl are ppl.
Actually, there were some Northern colonists who owned some slaves. Since the climate and rocky soil in the Northeast are not conducive to large-scale farming, slavery was largely utilized in the South, but not limited to it.
Slavery on a large scale took place in CT as well: tobacco country. We fool ourselves to think that the north had no slavery. It did, albeit on a small scale. There is another peculiar aspect to slavery that not many people are aware of: Free black people often held title to relatives, buying them rather than having them manumitted. The reason for this was that it was often the only way they could keep their families together. Some of the most moving stories I have ever come across are in the Freedman's Bureau records, and in the court records, especially probate papers, that the Library of Virginia have digitized and are transcribing, as well as the Smithsonian. (Volunteer transcribers welcome- it is challenging but very fulfilling work.)
50 Democratic Senators and 7 Republican Senators vote to Convict Donald John Trump.
The final vote in the Senate impeachment trial fails to achieve the required 2/3 majority required for the conviction of former President Donald John Trump. However, it must be noted that this not only exceeds a majority vote in favor of conviction (57 to 43 for conviction) but is also the largest number of votes for conviction by percentage and an absolute number of votes for a Presidential impeachment conviction. It is also the largest number of votes by the President's own party for impeachment conviction in U.S. history.
Now it is time to move on to the Biden agenda for the American people. There is little to be gained from a continued focus on Donald John Trump. The District Attorney of Fulton County Georgia, the District Attorney in the city of New York, and the Attorney General of the State of New York, and perhaps others may continue their criminal pursuit of Donald Trump, or not as they choose. There are over 200 insurrectionists already arrested and charged by the FBI and DOJ for various offenses related to the January 6 Capitol riot. Many of those are already naming Trump as an "unindicted co-conspirator" and the individual ordering their participation and motivating their criminality that day. Each of those trials is sure to be a further condemnation of Trump's behavior in the days leading up to and on January 6, 2021.
However, it is time to let the courts and historians do their fault finding and condemnations and for us to move on and do our tasks. That is my opinion.
I hope others will remember this day and the events leading up to it, but be able to move on successfully to the tasks in front of us.
I agree. The managers were right to move on and not push for witness testimony after resting their case. They proved their case, it is in the record and they will have the added benefit of the other cases out there in the civil courts to remind people of the hypocrisy and criminality of Trump, his supporters and Republicans. There are much more important issues to tackle. The culture wars are not going to be settled anytime soon anyway.
It is much more important to get shots in arms. Starting Monday this is one of maybe three news items I want to hear about. Constantly. One of the ways to do that is to have an orchestrated outreach to get people to get the shot. Too many people are planning on not getting the shot at this point. People also need checks in hand. I like the idea of targeting payments and I hope that this is what will happen. This too should be on peoples Twitter feeds all day, every day until it happens.
Yes! We must move away from the cacophony of anything Trump. And begin to fully embrace the Biden vision. Trump is never going away. His ilk will always be thorns in our sides. And his life will now be full of lawsuit after lawsuit and endless investigations. What a pathetic way to live on this beautiful planet. Vitriol, anger, lies, pain, hurting others. Horrid.
I'm 66 years of age, and have never missed voting in any election (from school board on up), and have never once voted for a Republican or any of their offshoots.
It's high time the rest of this nation caught up to me.
Yes, we need everyone -- Independents, Moderate Republicans, all Democrats -- to never vote for any candidate with an R next to their name. NEVER at all levels of government. We need to use the power of the People to show the Republican Party it is going in the wrong direction. Time for a movement of the People.
Couldn't find good compilation of the Dems opposing the Republican senators running in 2022 who voted to acquit. Was poised to donate yesterday to send a message. Dems need to do a better job of making that info available. Missed opportunity yesterday.
Lindsay Graham is already backing Lara Trump’s candidacy for Burr’s seat in NC. It seems as if that should be a joke, but stranger things have happened in elections, as we all know.
I couldn’t agree more. They key terms of your thoughts for me is “From school board...”. That to me is the most important thing. I would actually start at dog catcher and go up from there. I belong to a number of small philanthropic groups that are working at the state level to flip seats across the country in state houses. It is surprisingly inexpensive to support candidates running in state races. I would typically add links here but I have been asked not to advertise on media posts. We did not perform as well as we wanted to in the last cycle but we did move the ball forward for more progressive candidates in typically red states and cities. The excitement we were able to generate shifted more resources from the Democratic Party to these races due to our contributions. Take the cities and states and the national picture will change.
MA denizen here. Our state is thoroughly gerrymandered for state electoral districts. Longtime Dem dominance promotes corruption on Beacon Hill, but Repugs whining about one-party rule have only their own detestable alternative. Apart from governors, MA voters consistently say No Thanks.
Yesterday I wept for my country, for the perfidy of senate women and men who voted for their own election futures as they saw it and not for our country, and the blatant machinations of mcconnell. That this whole farce will be forever writ large in our history my hope is that it will be read as the warning that is it as to how fragile democracy is and not as the playbook that it might be. I had listened with rapt attention to the proceedings for most of the week , but had to turn away as mcconnell went on and on trying to balance on the fence of what he saw as political expediency.
Today I have put away my tissues, pulled up my big girl panties and rededicated myself to work to support the election of men and women across my state who will work for our country and not just themselves as well as helping men and women across the country with the same goals. Urge your congress people to support HR1 . https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/congress-we-demand-a-democracy-that-works-for-us That will be a good place to start for all of us and we all have our work cut out for us.
Rep. Jamie Raskin was the shining light that we all turned to as we all turn toward a fire to warm ourselves we hoped by his reflected light to feel a little less alone in the dark. If the democratic party does not take advantage of his abilities to move their agenda forward and put him in positions of power to do good for all of us they have lost their way indeed.
Thanks for sharing the information re HR1. My daughter ia a lawyer (the good kind—works with transgendered and others incarcerated), she advises contacting your US Rep urging them to vote for this bill or thanking them if already in support of it.
I signed the petition, but when I clicked to submit, I got a message that there was a problem. So I signed again. And again. And again. Then I get 10 email messages thanking me for signing the petition.
The lack of a conviction is a travesty, both infuriating and heartbreaking. It galls me that Trump will continue to receive a pension, full medical care, a $1M annual travel budget and secret service protection at taxpayers’ expense. Whether he will run again remains to be seen, of course, but his statement today said that his MAGA campaign is just beginning. He and his acolytes are going to cast a dark shadow over this country for some time to come. I hope that he and many of his sycophants will face a raft of penalties and charges in criminal courts.
We need to turn the tide on voter suppression. Every American of voting age should have the opportunity to vote.
In Colorado, where 100% of registered voters automatically receive a ballot in the mail, voter participation in the November, 2020 election was 86.7% and 99.3% of all votes were cast with a ballot that was either mailed or dropped off at one of hundreds of drop boxes across the State. Smooth, straightforward and zero controversy. (Well, except the serious matter of the very controversial Representative Boebert, who will need to be voted out in 2022, if she lasts that long, but even she was fairly elected in her district.)
If you would like to take action in your State to increase vote-by-mail options, the National Vote at Home Institute can help: https://voteathome.org/about-us/
This is so remarkable and beautiful. As little as two years ago, voter suppression was an invisible issue in this country, it just never showed up in media reports. Now look. We’ve come along way baby.
Ms. HCR, thank you, this is a very clear analysis of what happened in the Senate yesterday and what it means in the overall political context. Calling witnesses and extending the impeachment trial would have added little to the historical record so ably established by Congressman Rankin and the other House managers, and would have only created more GOP opportunities to lie bigly and disseminate their own alternatively factual version of the events on Jan. 6th.
I thought Mitch McConnell's cynical speech on the Senate floor minutes after the acquittal vote was astonishing, both as an accurate description of Trump's crimes against the Constitution and our nation, and as a desperate attempt to somehow jettison Trump while saving the GOP from itself, given that Trump is now inseparable from the mass of kool-Aid-drinking GOP voters.
McConnell's gambit can only work (that is, save his GOP to "fight" another day), if Trump is dragged before the courts, convicted of felonies and sent to prison for years, but even if we do get the satisfaction of seeing the inciter-in-chief perp-walked into court in an orange suit, it seems unlikely that the furies he has unleashed among the white, rural, god-fearing, gun-loving right will dissipate or return to their box anytime soon.
While Trump has likely already had his 15 minutes of notoriety, McConnell is a real piece of work and a clever, diabolical politician. Democrats have their work cut out for them and must not hesitate to overpower and embarrass McConnell at every opportunity, get rid of the filibuster, add states to the Union, do whatever it takes to address the real needs of citizens and begin winning elections.
National unity - if this is even possible - will require many years of good government.
Yes, clever and shrewd and a bastard. I suspect he understood how this would go from the moment he knew the Capitol was under siege, and that the key was to delay the trial until after Biden's inauguration, thereby providing a minimally coherent Constitutional argument as an excuse not to convict, thus as cover for GOP Senators.
Yup, cynical Mitch, always a few shrewd, immoral steps ahead of the Democrats. It's frustrating, but at least we can hope that the criminal justice system at all levels will now go to work on Trump, and that private individuals will file damage suits against him too.
At worst, this second impeachment and trial was worthwhile as an educational experience.
I'm he does...as he defines it...which is to say the least somewhat limited. Those not included are not "people" . His definition is simply "people who share his interests and support him. Not much different from Trump in that regard.
Living here in France one gets to understand the utility of complexity in all things. It allows those that make the rules to stop you bothering them...and taking their place without taking to the streets. McConnell is a master of that anti-democratic " complexity".
A very sad day in America indeed. Only 100 Americans get to be a Senator at the same time. And 43 of them abandoned their responsibility and showed that the qualifications for this role have been minimized. For them, this was not about doing the right thing for our democracy, but it was about doing the right thing for themselves and what's left of the Republican party. America has been built on lies and perhaps myths and it's time we reckon with that. We've been in the Catskills for the last two days -- just hours away from NYC -- and we continue to see Trump flags flying. They somehow believe the lie that Trump won (and won in a landslide) without any substantiation. The 43 who voted believe that a former President cannot be impeached, when there isn't truth to that. These are the same people who have believed that some Americans are inferior, that science doesn't matter and yes, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, that 9/11 didn't really happen. The only way we get better is to admit the truth and stop singing about America the Beautiful. There is great beauty in this country, yet clinging to this as absolute doesn't allow any room to explore what ails us, what has always ailed us and what will plague us further. So I want and have confidence in Joe Biden to help move us forward while a justice system investigates, indicts and exposes the truth about Donald Trump and his enablers. And it is up to us to speak in sentences and not soundbites, to open our eyes to what it feels like to be marginalized (and worse), and to stop protecting our own hides at the expense of others.
Yes, there is great beauty in this country, even now after 40 years of abuse of our environment. I’m 68 and I read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson when I was 10 yrs old...we had the warnings at least that long ago. I love this country, having crossed much of it by car at least 4 times in my life, and lived in the West, the Midwest and the East. But in spite of being environmentally aware I have only become politically aware in detail over the past 12 months in reading Heather’s Letters; too much going on in my life in the ‘80’s, ‘90’s and 2000’s to give due to politics (lazy excuse, I know). She brings to the front an eye-opening perspective of the Republican Party since 1980. Even before then, but especially since Reagan (electing an actor as President is the best this nation can do?)
I am so very hopeful that Biden can and will bring us (as a whole) back to goodness, integrity and dare I say it—a sense of selflessness— that we have strived for for so long and achieved too rarely.
I do have great hope for Biden/Harris Nancy. But can he bring us back as a whole, perhaps not. But he will, i think, show us again what goodness, integrity and a sense of selflessness (your words) means and can bring about. Let's hope together.
I love Rachel Carson’s work. Silent Spring is one of my favorite books of all time. I first read it as an undergraduate college student in 1983. It shaped my life. Protecting public lands is one of my issues.
Yes..a sense of selflessness. Of being a good steward to this fragile planet. Of being a good human and no matter your political views. Sigh.
McConnell pulled another Merrick Garland gambit. By delaying the trial himself, he provided the false framework to 'rely' on a patently false procedural cover. Knowing the right wing zealots have no idea (nor do they care) about proper or improper procedure, he skates to whatever outcome he wants.
This is what happens with cabals: ends justify means. His mission with that disgustingly hypocritical rant was to open the money spigots of the corporate givers who claim they don't like Trump anymore. Likely they don't like him because they're afraid their customers dislike him so much they'll spend elsewhere. There's no honor here; there's just crass political and economic calculus.
The one good thing that watching the 'trial' delivered for me was an introduction to Jamie Raskin. What an extraordinary mensch. Brilliant, articulate, so many more positive adjectives...he was the highlight of what was a dreadful week. When things seem and feel really bad in the world (both my personal/family world and the larger one out there), I look for someone who persists in the face of it all, and try to convince myself that it's not all bad, because, "See? There's a Jamie Raskin in the world after all." His eloquence and genuine caring got me through a really bad week.
I knew the republican senators would not be moved to anything resembling a conscience vote; cabals don't deviate. But I was yet again trounced by the reality that there's no there there. McConnell's cynical soliloquy was just too much foam on the brew.
Good lord, but we need people who care. I think Biden does care, and his agenda and the fact that he has a great team with him will move us into the right path again, but I fear that we are truly in a prolonged siege for control. And it has always felt to me that bad people are better at getting control than good people.
Take heart, though. There are good people in control. And there are so many criminal indictments coming Trump's way. But none of those senators who signed on to the overthrow of our election should have been allowed to vote on anything connect to that. No Seditionist should be allowed in the halls of our government.
And yes. Jamie Raskin is a mensch and he speaks from the heart so beautifully. He is a quality person of character which appears non-existent in the trumplican party now, minus a very, very few.
I think that Joe Neguse also has a bright future ahead! He was articulate, clear and persuasive in his presentations. I hope he gets recognition and advances.
and Stacey Plaskett!
Can I just point out that the US Virgin Islands (Plaskett's home) does not have voting rights in Congress. Nor does Puerto Rico, nor the District of Columbia. This needs to be remedied. Citizens deserve the vote.
And Plaskett threw that in when she was talking. She is a bright light. We must demand statehood for DC, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
I think I would rephrase that: we need to support their efforts to achieve the kind of status they desire in relationship to the US. It would be a good idea if we stopped assuming that we are responsible for making other people's decisions for them.
Long Island too!
Yes they do - why shouldnt they have a say in their government?
All of the above - when you stand back & look at the Democratic congress people who prosecuted these 2 TWO impeachments - there are so many who absolutely stand out as good & decent human beings - as well as being intelligent and VERY articulate. Its actually been a very good experience getting to see them in action! Cant say that about many Repubs, can we?
In a thousand years, students of the dead language called English will study the speeches of Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin, and all of the House managers as they explore the oddities of the language and the beauty of persuasive rhetoric in an historically important moment.
I think it will still be English, and it is already odd. ;)
Yes! I've watch American English language deteriorate and believe that it is a reason too many can no longer reason and have fallen prey to talk show dogma.
Perhaps we will see less of loser45’s name now. If the press stops covering every inane comment he will slowly drift into total irrelevance. Stop mentioning his name. That is all he craves. The front page.
We’ve already been hearing a whole lot less of him. Oh my God he was just the top 10 articles sometimes on CNN app or WaPo app. I exaggerate of course but it was always in your face. Now he has receded into the background where he belongs THANK GOD THANK GODDESS THANK GOODNESS SAINTS BE PRAISED
I completely agree. I dont get why they just cant go on to something else & let him stew - or whatever!
Statehood for VI, please!
My fear is that the much anticipated indictments of Trump and his progeny will not, in fact, be forthcoming. The simple reason is that republicans have spent the better part of eight years doing everything they can to cut support and staff in the very agencies needed to bring forth such charges, and that those in control will opt not to pursue what will be complicated and extremely expensive prosecutions because they just can't afford the money and attorneys necessary. Trump will skate away again, and continue with his mob boss rhetoric to stir up the goons and gun nuts. I can only hope that the DOJ will bring the hammers of the gods against those they have charged and make it clear that there is a heavy price to be paid for any attempts to overthrow the government. It's also important that the truth of the election's legitimacy be established over and over, and that the false analogy between Trump's mob and BLM be broken down.
I think a fact that will make the difference in this case is that 45 & his mob attacked The Capitol. They attacked our government, not just a criminal action, but an act of sedition and he is a traitor. I hope this will spark fury and a multi-pronged approach to bringing this to a halt. Because we all know how close to the brink we were on 1/6 and how close we could come Again, if this progression is not stopped & incarcerated. Biden will build the CIA and FBI et al back (can't he re-hire the people who fled or were fired?) to the force for good they are meant to be. IMHO
Trump spent four years hollowing out our government structure, like termites eating away at the foundation of a house. Most of the dedicated career personnel have found other jobs outside the government. Some may be interested in going back to their government positions, easier if they and their families remained in DC, but I suspect many had to move elsewhere for their new jobs. It will take a long time to replace them and rebuild their institutional knowledge.
the loss of institutional knowledge is a critical point. Much like the tribes losing elders to Covid, the evisceration of our institutions was savage destruction of both function and history.
I am sure Heather (and we all should) will be paying attention to Fani T. Willis, DA of Fulton County Georgia who last week announced a criminal investigation against Trump because she is THE ONLY one in Georgia who can prosecute him who was not involved in his trying to pressure the Georgia officials to overturn the election (because she was just rlected and started in January) She is fierce and she will have a Fulton County jury not the US Senate to judge him!
I expect we will hear much more from Ms Willis, and not just on this case. Something profoundly wonderful for the country is coming out of Georgia.
Yes! Georgia is lifting us all up! 🍑
And, he has a sense of humor as well. A necessary and commendable trait.
"Take heart." The two most important words today.
Jamie Raskin and all who did the right thing restored my faith in humanity. Democracy will survive as long as we have people like him representing us. It’s up to us to make sure the good people get and keep control.
Lynn, Ihope you're right. Republicans have been adept at destruction for a very long time. In all things, they favor tactics designed to boost the powerful, which is to say they are far better at dirty tricks and deceit than Democrats are. They know how to doctor a poison pill to make it palatable. They know how to wheedle people into dull acceptance. A case in point is the Great Trickle Down Myth. It's a demonstrated failure but rather than admit that it's a failure it's retooled and revamped and thrown in our faces at every available opportunity. The mantra: Oh, THIS TIME, it's gonna work because we've sprinkled Republican pixie dust on it and it's gonna be the real deal!!!
What we saw this week was more of the same manipulation The storming of the Capitol, the resultant deaths, the threats of violence, both stated and implied, against Pence, Pelosi and anyone else they might have gotten their hands on was the horrific climax of The Big Lie scam. The scam wasn't hatched in 2021, it was the extension of his 2016 rigged election hoax, it was reborn and refueled the day Trump took the oath in 2017. And sadly, during the ensuing four years we can count on one hand how many Republicans pushed back against Trump and his gang of thugs. We know Trump was emboldened by his first impeachment acquittal. We knew he would seize that as a signal of affirmation and look where it got us. Do the majority of House and Senate Republicans feel remorse or concern for the firestorm they've created? Hell no. They love it. They are tapping into a rabid base who is willing to do anything, anything their handlers out forth. They're willing to die for Trump. How insane is that? And we see it amplified on Fox, OANN, Newsmax and every crappy, right wing YouTube and Facebook page still up and running.
We are fortunate that 7 million people were horrified by Trump and his tactics to vote him out. Unfortunately, people weren't horrified enough by his henchmen to vote them out. They are the scaffold, the structure upon which all his lies hang. That scaffold is strong, strong enough that it hasn't ever really been compromised regardless of who sits in the White House. Democrats have tried to dismantle it but have only been successful in removing a few bolts here and there.
I hope Trump's acquittal is enough to make more people angry and keep all of us angry and engaged through the upcoming election cycles to elect strong, dedicated leaders capable of wrecking the chokehold Republicans have on our democracy.
As someone stated earlier, term limits are a key element. Their proposed length, 12 years. Additionally, we must take back the campaign process back from PACs, big business and lobbyists. Develop a process to determine a candidate's fitness for office, bake it in so if information is withheld candidates cannot advance. Federally mandate that all US citizens have not only the right and but the ability to vote, in every precinct, whether in person, by mail or absentee, unencumbered by the whims of a party machine. There's more, of course, that needs to be addressed. We are facing huge issues. The Election of Biden/Harris was a step forward. Now we the people have to build and support a scaffold of integrity, from the ground up, by doing more than paying lip service to the constitution.
Sorry about the rant. I need coffee. Bad.
Thanks, Daria. I needed that.
An exquisite rant, Daria, esp. the final paragraph with pragmatic solutions.
Thanks, TPJ.
Well said... with or without coffee 😊
Thanks, Lynn.
☕️
Thanks! I had 3 cups today, not 2!
I do not believe the corporate donor spigots will re-open soon. There is little to be gained by corporate giving to Republicans at present when they lack governing power in the White House or either House of Congress. We will see what 2022 delivers in the way of Republican candidates. Until then why spend money unlikely to produce any benefit for corporate givers to Republicans. It is clear they can produce some benefits to themselves in some state campaigns, but giving to the national Republican party is unlikely to be helpful to large corporate givers any time soon. Smart money will find better uses until it is more clear what the future of the Republican Party looks like.
Read 'Dark Money' by Jane Mayer to see they will be doubling down, if not on the Republican party, on all the arms of the right-wing machine, like Americans for Prosperity.
Can’t get through that book. Keep throwing it against the wall knowing how the Mercers and the Kochs plus others, fund these horrid people.
Until reminded, I forget how horrid (and, in case of Mercers how crazy) these people are.
Corporate donor bans against specific candidates is only a good first start. Cutting off donations to PACs (and the RNC) is just as important. PACS give a tremendous boost to preferred candidates through negative and single-issue advertising. Donations to the RNC enable it to function as a virtual money-laundering operation by disbursing to its endorsees.
Please search online for corporations and their often rushed, incomplete new post-Jan 6 donation guidelines, and hold their feet to the fire, up to and including boycotts. Hit 'em in the bank account, it's the only place they feel anything.
I hope you are right
I wish I were more confident that corporate contributions would be restricted until there's some evidence that the GOP is returning to a real party with real ideas rather than a party solely dedicated to ensuring minoritarian rule. That it took so long to turn the flow off suggests that corporations are willing to put up with a lot of things that aren't beneficial to the country as a whole.
Why were they giving money to those who supported repressive immigration policies? What about when Trump and enablers were denying the severity of the pandemic?
One " benefit" of the pandemic has been reduced pollution, wildlife returning to areas they'd be pushed out of, and reduced damage to sensitive environments. When everyone's gotten a vaccine will we return to every activity that contributed to those problems? Likewise, now that Trump's out of office, will corporate interests begin to outweigh their newly found standards for appropriate political behavior?
9/11 was 20 years ago. Have we changed what we do in fundamental ways? How long will it take before we forget what Trump and the GOP tried to do to the nation?
I thought all the House managers were excellent and refreshing rhetoric compared to the Greenes of politics.
Brilliant and insightful
No doubt this is a well-read group. Are you aware that Jamie Raskin’s son committed suicide on 12/31/20? He was deeply overcome with depression. I heard an interview with Scott Simon of NPR on 1/8/2021 - such a moving interview between these two grown men. And Ruskin and his wife wrote a eulogy talking about their son, his short life, and his struggles. Such a tragedy.
https://repraskin.medium.com/statement-of-congressman-jamie-raskin-and-sarah-bloom-raskin-on-the-remarkable-life-of-tommy-raskin-f93b0bb5d184
Thanks for this link. Such a loss! “He quoted something that he loved which Father Daniel Berrigan said about Dorothy Day: ‘she lived as though the truth were true.’ Tommy said: ‘I wanted them to see that the truth is true.’” 🌀
Wow, that was beautifully said! I agree wholeheartedly.
Well said. I agree.
Rukmini Maria Callimachi...now in education. She saved Nadia Murad. Nadia came, did her book here. And Oslo flipped. Took one call. Did Rukmini err? Did Donald? Who is Joe Kahn? Protected Rukmini. And... Himself. Who bombed Donald, Carolyn? Who dredged up that bit? Why? No one is better than Donald. No one.
Can you explain your position and questions in MUCH greater detail? You are throwing out names that are familiar to very few people.
Carol and Jim....It would appear that The writer is under the impression that I am Carolyn Ryan of the NYTimes (I relish the accolade), and infers that that Carolyn knows her references. I need to look up the references myself....
Why let facts interfere with a good rant? Here is the philosopher-prince in his satrapy of one.
I thought he believed you were THAT Carolyn Ryan as well. Maybe it was a current events pop quiz?
Of course. 973.379.4446 iPhone SIGNAL. Happy Valentine’s.
Donald Gerard McNeil Jr., will be missed.
How right you are.
Democracy Capitalism
see my note on above thread
Carolyn, where are you? Working from home? Sandy
I'm not that Carolyn Ryan, though I'm glad my note made you think that. I'm an old retired professor who found a voice that wants to be heard if only by the choir.
I will listen to you for days!
CR reads.
Not my prose, but my brother said I could share.
Subject: The Second Insurrection
Once again the U.S. Capitol Building has been occupied by a traitorous mob of Un-American seditionists determined to overthrow the Constitution which forms the basis of our Democracy. For the second time in two months a mob of traitors has assembled within the walls of the Capitol Building itself, to desecrate the foundations of democratic government. The felonious mob that assembled in the Capitol on January 6, 2021 wreaked havoc through property destruction and loss of life. Their sedition was brief and promptly faded away as the cowards that they were quickly slithered back under the rocks from which they had emerged.
But today, the Capitol is once again occupied by traitors. Traitors who have determined to abandon their oaths of office, to abandon the Constitution, to abandon their Country and its Democratic principles. These traitors pose a much greater threat to the United States than did the slime which covered the Capitol floors on January 6th. Slime can be quickly washed away, and forgotten. But this collection of vermin is different. These rodents are supposed to wash away the slime. Instead, the group of Trumpublicans currently occupying the Senate Chambers will continue the stain on the United States by their boot licking fealty to a failed dictator, Donald Trump. The stain left by these traitors will continue. On January 6th, the Capitol was stained by riotous outside extremists, who will soon be incarcerated and duly forgotten. But the stain of the traitorous Trumpublicans is from the inside of the Senate itself. It will last beyond their terms in office and remain a stain on their institution, and themselves, into history. They have chosen fealty to The Big Lie over their nation and its institutions. Their shame will last forever.
It would have been less obvious that they are seditionists and members of an organized crime system had they defecated all over the Senate floor like their insurrectionist friends. I hope that the threat to investigate RICO violations happens and it scoops up a bunch of these--I try hard not to use expletives in these posts but the word rhymes with "othersmuckers".
Fothermuckers. They're shull of fit.
There's life in the old Rev. Spooner yet, I see!
😂 yes to RICO!
Bumscag nasty shieces of pit
Linda, TPJ, and Roland, you're my kind of folks! Mitzi, I love your solution.
Big smile 😊
They’ve earned the privilege of being vilified. Some of them many times over, like Brit-for-Shains-in-Chief. Off-line I am not kind to that fat balding . . .
Off to wash my mouth out with soap.
With all of your clever wordsmithing, there's absolutely no need!
Nothing wrong with accusing them of being shull of fit. You’re good. I can come up with much filthier.
The Big Lie by the Party of Sedition. We need to use the correct language all the time.
Love..." the Big lie Party of sedition" republicans have a new name
To me it is the Repugnant Party. They have nothing to do with a republic.
They are people without a country, in my humble opinion. And Seditionists should also be stripped of their voting rights, their weaponry and their ability to run for any kind of public service.
The Grand lie.
GOP no more. It’s GOS. Grand old Seditionist.
GQP or QOP too. POS works too, Party of ....
They will forever be known as The Sedition Party.
Instead of "draining the swamp", he brought the swamp right into the seat of the peoples' government, and all its branches.
As a resident of the North Carolina coastal plain, a swampy low lying land, the term “drain the swamp” is unfair and uneducated. Swamps are natural, fragile ecosystems that do have purposes that are not apparent to the untrained eye. Swamps absorb excess water during heavy rains and give birth to much life, just to name a few. “Draining the swamp” is a developer term implying that the swamp and its inhabitants are of no value. These Retrumplicans are an insult to the creatures of the swamp.
Jennifer, I couldn't agree more. I mean no disrespect to the magical swamp, and apologize profusely if it came across that way. I didn't coin the term, of course, but perhaps shouldn't have used it in this case. I too live in what I lovingly refer to as "the holler", the lowest lying area around, on a smallish river that is pure wetland as it passes through "our backyard". We see heron, otters, beavers, muskrat, deer, occasional moose, bobcat, all of which depend on this specialized ecosystem draining the surrounding forest. And that's what we CAN see. Thousands more species support and are supported by this ecosystem.
Much love and praise to genuine wetlands. "Drain the swamp" is common parlance as a metaphor and symbol. Everyone knows the Creature From The Black Lagoon isn't real, but it still makes us shudder.
And wetlands used to be vigorously protected by EPA. I doubt that is the case since the Orange Menace gutted it, though.
True, Nancy. Everything got worse under 45. Nothing got better.
Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
a dramatic homage to the coastal plain of North Carolina
What a wonderful book! Loved it.
But it would be beneficial to the swamp's ecosystem if all Rethglicans were evicted, wouldn't it?
Yes, it would!
Marshes and wetlands, the natural ones, are gifts of great beauty. The "swamp" of pollution and corruption in politics is a metaphor, as you know, of an evil and nasty smelling sewer. Sewage tank, not swamp.
The Everglades, River of Grass, by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. She lived to 100 and was the greatest Floridian ever, until tragedy brought the Parkland students to the fore. It is an honor to be inspired by them.
Trump and the rethuglicans turned the swamp into a toxic waste dump.
Yeh! Okefenokee for ever. May he drown in it or be gobbled up by "gaters".
Thank you for this. Would it be ok if I shared it?
When I asked my brother if I could share, he said, "it's not copy righted". So, yes, feel free. I thought it was pretty much spot on. TC probably has more outrageous adjectives but my brother did well i think!
He sure did! Spot on!!!
I thought so, too, and was going to ask also. He is spot on!
Thanks, Lynn. Looking forward to more from your brother AND you.
Forever!
BLF. Boot licking fealty. 43 Republican Senators.
see my Democracy Capitalism posted minutes earlier (10:30AM MT)
Thank you for this. It is the Republicans who caved by voting to acquit; some issued statements afterward explaining their acquittal on technical grounds that won't age well, especially as more information comes out in the trials of the mob.
Listening to the trial reminded me that we have spent four years subjected to a loud and whiny authoritarian who tells lie after lie; those extended clips of Donald Trump were like the return of a nightmare. It's time to shove Trump off the national stage and into the criminal courts, where he belongs.
This trial was really one last chance for the Republican Party to redeem itself. They failed.
It's time to get back to President Biden's agenda.
Criminal courts -- exactly!
And he's still unindicted co-conspirator #1 in the Mueller report -- can those charges be filed now that he's out of office?
And civil suits, too -- the family of Officer Sicknick, as well as the officers permanently injured.
I certainly hope there will be suits brought. Americans need to hear over and over (uver and uver?) that Trump created the mob, invited the mob to Washington, whipped the mob into a fervor, and aimed it at the Capitol.
And now we can say "And Mitch McConjob even agrees with us!!" HE can't be lying, can he????
You mean Mitch McMurderer, don’t you?
Star Wars Emperor Mitch. Mitch the Sewer Rat.
Yes on both counts. Also the hundreds of staff and officers who suffered psychological damage, loss of income, etc. The civil suits from the insurrection may be enough by themselves to ruin the Unnamed Former's life.
May the floodgates open
Let's not forget the pending Congressional 9/11 like investigation looming on the horizon. It will make Benghazi look like an 8th grade student council debate. Witnesses will be compelled to testify and anyone claiming the 5th will be branded as a coward, traitor or worse.
I agree, first keep steamrolling Biden's agenda. Any resistance from the GOP acquitters should be met by taking away their ability to filibuster. There will never be a better reason to take off the gloves than this.
It ain't over. The rotund lady in the Viking helmet hasn't even begun to warmup.
The forthcoming legalities will far exceed the length of the entire Ring Cycle!
Sadly, I don't think the musical accompaniment will surpass Wagner. (Yes, my photo reflects my musical background)
Bring your instrument when you visit Tuba City AZ. You'll be a hit!
Nothing surpasses Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner, Brahms.
The musical accompaniment to Trump's post-presidency? I'm thinking something like a bad production of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron.
I think of it more as "Götterdämmerung", "Twilight of the Gods"...the end of the world. Or listen to "Siegfried's Tod" as a metaphor in that it goes from the deepest tragedy (in darkest C minor...T***P period) into glorious C Major with hope for the world (Biden?).
I'd maybe throw some Beethoven in there for good measure...specifically the 9th for absolute unbridled hope and joy for the human race (thank you, Schiller) coming out of chaos (gloomy d minor giving way to joyous D Major). There's music for everything. It's an unbeatable accompaniment to life...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW9-FOLG-iA
I agree 100%. The Senate Republicans voting to acquit was appalling, but I was lifted up by the inspiring words of the House Impeachment Managers and their love for our country. Onward with Biden's agenda!
The "technical grounds" seemed to be so much more about their refusal to accept the vote that what they were doing was constitutional. I wonder why the Republicans who refused to accept that vote didn't choose to abstain from the final vote. Their physical presence while abstaining would have created the same result of acquittal, right? So much Republican rebelling... 34 GOP senators representing 14.5% of the American people. Broken, indeed.
The question of constitutionality was a shield of swiss cheese. There is precedent for impeaching an official after they leave office (Belknap).
McConnell sent the Senate on vacation for two weeks instead of holding the impeachment hearings while Trump was still in office.
Yes McMurderer knew exactly what he was doing. Obstructing is his way of life.
😡
They voted that it WAS constitutional but refused to function/decide based on that vote. And they all wanted to catch the flights they booked rather than hear witnesses.
Which is the worst reason of all! How are they not negligent in their duty? They honestly didn't see this trial as important. So Trump hired Barr so that while President he could not be indicted, McConnell refused witnesses for the first Impeachment, for the second refused to call Senate back in session. Then said it wasn't right to Impeach someone not in office. So, what happens when the next criminal is elected President, follows suit with a cooperative DOJ but commits heinous crimes at the begining of his term. Seems like McConnell has set the stage for inviting corruption and criminals.
Yes and now we’ll have no distraction from it and I’m glad for Biden and the country.
I agree Wholeheartedly Jill. When trump was in the WH, EVERYONE was afraid of him. Afraid of being chastised or fired. And I understood that!!
But now that he is out, I really thought the republicans would do The Next Right Thing!!!! Oh, am I Totally Disgusted by them. Cowards!!!! I will NEVER forget THIS!!!😡😠👹
Repugs want votes and $$$ from Deplorables, but fear their capacity for violence.
Exactly! No more oxygen for Trump.
It's certainly time to shove him off the front page. And the second page. And the third. . . .
His photo in the paper is useful for housebreaking puppies.
Laughing . . . . Been there, done that.
ThanxxxxxxRuth!
I am disillusioned and disheartened...
1. How is it that the defense lawyers could lie but face no repercussions? Do they not take an oath? Why is this allowed?
2. How is it that senators could take an oath agreeing to be impartial but then blatantly meet with the defense lawyers to strategize? Since they were obviously not impartial, why were they allowed to have a vote?
3. And under that same oath they agreed to listen to the evidence, but some were absent for hours at a time, missing presentations and still allowed to vote?
4. How is it that once the Senate agreed by a majority that the impeachment trial was indeed constitutional, some senators voted not guilty saying their decision was because they felt the trial was unconstitutional? How could they be allowed to totally disregard the earlier Senate majority vote just because they were on the losing side of that vote? Shouldn’t their votes be nullified? Does this set a precedent?
It just seems that even though rules are made, there are no consequences for not following them, thus making them meaningless. I just keep shaking my head...
Our collective head shake must be registering on the Richter scale
And 1. They then turned around and accused the House Managers of lying!!! That's what made my blood boil. But of course, the explanation is that they are cut from the same cloth as 45.
I was screaming at the TV while the defense was talking. What lies and raging hypocrisy!
You have way more capacity than us. My wife and I had to mute. Can't tolerate it.
The vast majority of the senators who voted to acquit knew the evidence, and knew Trump is guilty as charged. The defense attorneys were third-rate clowns. The only job the defense had to do was provide semi-plausible cover for the craven, cowardly acquitters. After all, Republican voters aren’t intelligent enough, or well-enough informed to know that the 1st amendment doesn’t absolve a president from inciting a riot, nor that it is constitutional to impeach a president as he is leaving office. Kabuki theater, nothing more. Oh, except our democracy is weakened considerably as a result.
McConnell has totally corrupted the Impeachment process. I cannot imagine being a member of Congress and having to work/trust him after what he has done. There should be consequences for his manipulation and deceit.
For those who believe in Hell . . . .
In an actual jury trial, the jurors are bound to follow the instructions of the judge. That the lawyers were able to claim, and the "jurors" able to reason, that they could acquit because they had no jurisdiction flies in the face of centuries of tradition and makes one wonder again!) why we even bother to have a Senate.
Like the Electoral College, the Senate was designed to limit democracy by founding fathers who feared popular rule. Senators weren't even directly elected til 1924, instead being chosen by state legislatures. As yesterday showed, we are bothered more by the Senate.
We had the same observations. I think we now know that impeachment as provided in the Constitution does not have teeth really and is not an effective accountability mechanism. It seems the framers did not anticipate senators would choose party loyalty over country. It also appears the framers could not imagine that senators would not follow the rules (i.e. the jurisdiction question was decided, but many senators voted to acquit simply chose not to be bound by that vote).
You are not alone Catherine. Do the republicans think we (the dems)are all Ignorant???? That we are deaf and blind???
It angers me so, what they got away with!!!!
😥😣
see my Democracy Capitalism posted earlier (at 10:30AM MT)
Frederick, I would love to- I appreciate your posts and always learn something. But posts are not time stamped after a certain point. And my mind is now tied in knots, trying to figure out how to translate 10:30am MT to 7:53 pm ET and then find it when all the posts are helter-skelter depending on who is answering whom and when. Can you repost so I can read it? Or look me up on FB and send privately so I don't have to figure the timething out on the second post too? My eyes are crossed trying to follow conversations on here! I love the weaving together of thoughts, but finding a particular post is maddening.
Thanks Annie ~ I appreciate your note, and thanks for the sentiment!
somehow, my long proposal was not posted. I will post tomorrow it has to do with organizing toward April 15 (our) Democracy Day. It’s quite well thought-out, if I may say so
Trump will fade away as Palin did. Trump, in retrospect, will seen as a national embarrassment. There will be a commission or special counsel. Participants will be required to testify under oath. A clear picture of Trump's role will once again be outlined to the public - just prior to the mid-terms. Those who challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election on 6 January 2021 and those who opposed the impeachment will be vilified for their craven positions.
Meanwhile, those who are disgusted with the big lie, the insurrection and the impeachment must take a lesson from Stacey Abrams . Work on 'getting out the vote'. Get involved in the primaries. Put up solid candidates. Georgia's two new senators, in a red state, should galvanize those who think turning a red states blue is impossible. Ensure that the midterm election will be a barn burner. Teach the Republicans a lesson.
Congress must also get to work on HR 1, the For the People Act of 2021, to put in place comprehensive protections of voting rights, improve voter registration, provide election security and reform campaign finance. I agree with the urgency of individual involvement. I also believe the GOP will do everything in its power to suppress voting rights and that it is critical that Congress level the playing field, now before it is too late. The GOP have abandoned any pretense that they are participants in a Democratic dialogue between opposing ideas. The fight for the soul of this country has to be won politically but we must defend the structures that enable the fight to be carried on.
show your support; sign the petition:
https://www.lwvme.org/HR1
Done. Thanks for sharing, Citizen Jeff.
Done. And forwarded to family and friends.
Done.
Done.
Is this just for Maine residents? It asks for your town or city of residence.
Pretty sure they will be pleased to see support that crosses boundaries. :)
Plus, if you do a search for League of Women Voters, there most likely is a chapter in your county. Just joined mine. Very organized and informative with a legislative newsletter among much more. And leg sessions are going on as we speak. :)
and League of Women Voters is not for women only.
✅🙏🏼
Done, and thank you!
HR 1 is promising, but how does it pass the Senate? It’s a death knell for Republicans, because the only way the GOP wins the White House and Congressional majorities is through voter suppression and gerrymandering. It won’t get any Republican support in the Senate (they will brand it a “partisan threat to election integrity and states’ rights”). HR 1 provides solutions to several of the structural problems our democracy faces today, but it may never see the light of day.
I guess ask Joe Manchin what it takes to lift the filibuster long enough to pass it and do that.
Manchin and also Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are the visible blocks to dumping the filibuster entirely. Sinema did say in an interview that she favors "restoring" the filibuster. That could mean keeping it, but making. it much more difficult to use. If so, it still does not address the problem of a white supremacist minority using it to interfere with voting rights. You are right that what we need most is to have it moved out of the way to pass HR 1... I wonder if they would agree to a scheme where filibusters have to be done in person, continuously, and the majority can close it down after 30 hours or whatever and force a vote on the bill. Or we could go back to the original Senate rules, before 1829, where there was no such thing...
I worry about the same thing. It not only tries to address these issues, it has provisions that I don’t think can pass. For example, in Florida books close 30 days prior to elections. One of the provisions in this bill is mandatory voter registration up to and including on Election Day. I’m sure the state legislature will never go for this and implementation would be impossible.
Republicans control 30 of 50 states’ legislatures. My state, New Hampshire, just flipped back to GOP control. According to the Brennan center, 28 states are pushing voter suppression legislation, with NH being one of the leaders. These include several states that “swung” in 2020 - Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Minnesota. While we’re pinning our hopes on Stacey Abrams and HR1, Republicans in state houses are making voting harder. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-2021
You are certainly correct about Georgia.
I agree with you about getting involved and lessons we can all learn from Stacey Abrams but as far as Fake45 fading away...nope. The fact that he was impeached only by the House and not the Senate now gives him free reign to the Secret Service. Not only that, he is supposedly forming his own party. There seems to be plenty wealthy evildoers in his corner and that is what is frightening.
SDNY’s Cyrus Vance and NY State’s AG Letitia James are our only hope to squash any of Fake45’s plans.
Acquittal by the Senate does not make Trumpsky immune to federal prosecution. For all the talk about possible abuse of pardon power, his last-minute ones were not much worse than other dicey presidential pardons. Trumpsky never pardoned himself, and Pence never got the chance.. The planning and execution of the insurrectionary coup should yield a rich harvest of potential federal charges. All the more reason for multiple investigations.
I believe that there is still plenty of room for Trump and his cohorts to experience justice, and it is frustrating that so many of us are assuming that this idiot possesses super powers that will turn us into an autocracy. Biden won by 7 million votes, and if anyone thinks that Trump won additional voters by the sedition of his goons and his part in the sedition, they must be drinking Trump's KoolAid. Granted, he and his supporters/enablers caused massive damage to this country and its credibility. We have a a significant problem with militias, which existed before the moron came on the scene and gave them permission to run wild. That doesn't translate to them actually overturning our government. We're all disappointed that there was an acquittal yesterday, but most people knew that a conviction was very unlikely. My take is this: organize (a la Stacey Abrams), do the work to educate and enable voters, make a hell of a ruckus at a state level to eradicate voter suppression, and generally get busy. This inept idiot should not be allowed to frighten those of us who outnumber him. We're better than Trump and his minions, and we outnumber his accomplices. The only thing that makes him truly dangerous is people like us to be intimidated and give up.
Also something like 140,000 Republicans have changed party.
Exactly! I'm more frustrated by so much gloom and doom in many of these responses than by any threat that the GOP can offer. Their party was already a minority, and in addition to current members fleeing, there are many new voters who do not ascribe to the cesspool philosophy. The victory of this ordeal will not be decided by an acquittal that everyone should have foreseen.
All I can say is that the numbers are up to the people who control them. More than 100 attacks on voting rights have been introduced in state legislatures around the country. In Wisconsin, there's a move by Republicans, the majority because of hyperpartisan gerrymandering, to allot presidential electors by congressional district rather than statewide vote. Read the opinion piece on Iowa in today's Washington Post. The disparity in representation is real and getting worse. We'll see how much people leaving the party really matters. For now, to me, the numbers don't look good because a few people willing to blow up the rules trumps a lot of sober statesmen relying on them.
I agree that there are continuing threats, but if Stacey Abrams can turn Georgia blue, it can be done elsewhere. I'm also aware that many states have serious disparities in representation (Georgia certainly did) and the Republicans are desperate to take advantage. Still, people are angry at what has transpired over the last four years, and a grass roots effort can help to enable them to gain a foothold. Certainly, something needs to be done to either eliminate the Electoral College or make it representative of the population. On both a national and state level changes must take place, and everyone needs to apply pressure.
Some think he may have secretly pardoned self and family. If he pulls that one out, given the weakness shown by Dems on witnesses, who will block it? The Dems won't even dump the filibuster.
If so, would the secret come forward during a a federal or state trial? Can it hold up?
Not so fast to condemn Jamie Raskin's decision; There are merits to both sides concerning whether or not to have witnesses in Trump's 2nd Impeachment trial. The house managers presented a damning case against Trump. There is much within it to inform the public, for use by democratic candidates and in the courts of law. January 6th looms over Trump and the Republican party as their Gates of Hell.
Cate I completely agree.
TPJ yesterday's demise was step one in how the GOP is going to dominate this Country. I feel you will see them go after any Democrat that gets in their way, including Biden. They clearly have the power to it. There is no denying what you saw yesterday.
Good points, Linda. Repugs who menace their own for the slightest devation from adoring Trumpsky are quite capable of targeting Dems. Remedies to the threats we face are available, but it'll take major efforts to protect democracy. Still, we beat their side before, notably in the Civil War. We'll do it again, as often as necessary.
Over 600,000 dead in the effort. Not far to go.
Trump forming his own party, and splitting Republicans into two smaller parties, would benefit us all. I doubt he will do it, he knows running a unified GOP gives him more power. He uses the third party threat to keep McConnell and other GOP leaders in line.
Marlene-Please don't forget GA's investigating as well..
Vance is the NY County DA, not the US Attorney for SDNY.
I've already made a personal commitment to get the names of all who voted to acquit, and then for the 2022 elections, begin the task of making sure voters in their states know it's time for change and why.
Someone did that. Be happy to send it to you since I can’t seem to paste it here. dianemleclaire@gmail.com
I got the list, thanks. Diane.
WOW
Palin has better ankles. Donald’s hair costs more. Both are disgusting in a bikini.
After the Ossof and Warnock races wrapped up, I wrote postcards for four other campaigns, state and local. Republicans won three of them. A Democrat won the race for mayor of Modesto, California, a city that's split 50/50 in terms of party registration. So yes, we need to get out the vote for all the races at all levels of government between now and the 2022 Congressional races. And we need to work on making sure all eligible voters CAN vote.
Go Patricia‼️
The Republican Party chose their direction today to be the party of hate, conspiracy theories, lies and violence. My response was to write to Senator Cornyn, U.S. Representative Chip Roy and Texas Representative Andrew Murr, all Republicans, that I will never vote for a person with an R (or a Q or T for that matter) next to their name ever again at all levels - local, state and federal. I did put in a caveat that if the Republican Party were to split and a Party of Lincoln created I would consider voting for people of that party. As Heather pointed this direction for the Republican Party goes back to 1986 and Donald John Trump is a symptom not a cause of their plans success so far although he may have accelerated it. My real fear now is that the Trumpian Republicans now have majorities in the legislatures of many states. Trump will fade from the picture as his legal and financial trials overwhelm him, but the White Nationalist and all their ilk are united and emboldened after their victory on January 6th and feel it is the start of the war for White Supremacy they've been planning for decades. We need to use the Power of the People to get them to replace the Autocratic Republican Party which is destroying democratic institutions with a party that is supporting democracy and its institutions. There is also other steps in the grass roots effort -- 1. term limits in Congress (for example, twelve years - 2 terms in the Senate and 6 in the House) and probably the Supreme Court as well 2. voting rights for every citizen which solves every one getting to vote in much the same way we're learning how to get the COVID vaccine to literally everyone. 3. campaign reform - if corporations are people than they only get one monetary vote (the same limit placed on individuals) 4. A candidate's oath to honesty and to the support of the people above all else. In other words, a movement where it will be We the People -- All of us, this time!
"it will be We the People -- All of us, this time!"
I want to live in a country like this.
http://www.jcarpenterstudio.com/portfolio-portfolio/public-art-projects/we-the-people-2
Well said, Cathy. And I would add the "For The People Act" to the list of legislation that would make a significant difference in securing voting rights and pushing back against radical gerrymandering.
https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/voting-reform/people-act-democracy-reform
Cathy I love your article. I was thinking about constructing a piece around the disintegration of the Republican Party but you went much further into detail than I would have. Bravo‼️
Please continue to write your article and use the synergy of our ideas to create a movement. I'd like to hear more about your thoughts on this. Thank you for your kind words. We should be the antithesis of Trumpian "I alone can do it." to "We together will do it for the well-being of all the People"
I scattered my thoughts on the Republican Party disintegration around these posts, now I’m going to bed. The volume is light enough you should be able to find them easily. Enjoy! Nighty night!
Valuable resource: To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party
By you know who
Term Limits!
Hear! Hear!
Defeat is just a bump in the road to victory. Dems bent the moral arc toward justice, even if Repugs bent it back somewhat.
On this weekend of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, let us consider some words of his.
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”
"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in."
Here's another Lincoln quote: "A statesman is he who thinks in future generations; a politician is one who thinks in upcoming elections." We desperately need more statesmen and stateswomen.
Native Americans believe that they have to think of 7 future generations when taking decisions that will impact them. One more thing we can learn from them.
First Americans and Last Americans. They will outlast the latecomers.
They already have prophecies to that effect...buried under our own garbage was one
Exactly. The Hopi believe we are entering 'the fifth world' and we are destroying the fourth world ourselves. We have lost the sacred connection between humanity and Mother Earth. Not to mention a spiritual wasteland centered on 'me' not 'we'. Rant off.
Welcome to my science fiction story in development. Rant appreciated.
Anthropocene is the proposed name of the current, 6th extinction, caused by man.
Beautiful Stuart
Thank you for this. Statesman Raskin “ None of us can escape the demands of history and destiny right now. Our reputations and our legacy will be inextricably intertwined with what we do here, and with how you exercise your oath to do impartial justice. Impartial justice. I know and trust you will do impartial justice, driven by meticulous attention to the overwhelming facts of the case and your love for our Constitution, which I know dwells in your heart. ‘The times have found us,’ said Tom Paine, the namesake of my son. The times have found us. Is this America? What kind of America will this be? It’s now literally in your hands. Godspeed to the Senate of the United States.”
So beautiful and powerful. His words, as well as Adam Schiff’s words in the first impeachment trial, are ones for the history books.
And to think that he was able to craft such a meticulous case while grieving his son, Tom.
We witnessed who were making decisions with their hearts for future generations and who have lost their souls to the capitalism and its power that has swung way too far on the pendulum. History repeats itself. Do not give them or their leader airtime. Shun them, squeeze them, indict them.
100%, Cathy. Happy (Lincoln) Birthday.
I am just in awe of the many brilliant and insightful things said/written by Lincoln.
I wish we could move to a non-gendered vocabulary. I know, such a small thing, but what about congressperson, statesperson? And what about ovular in place of seminal?
A small thing that is everything. Ovular is an improvement just by adding an option. Kind of like an "old husband's tale," yes?
yes, thanks, and I'm in favor of those little shifts that give a little jolt to our thinking. btw, your writing is wonderful.
Yes! And “ovular”— that’s food for thought.
The Brits should jettison MEMBER of Parliament.
I do have malice for some. May I still participate in re-bending the arc?
Of course! Take up the bow of Ulysses. (Greek, not Grant.)
With the busy-ness of the week and the obvious headlines, it was not until this evening that I looked into Rep. Jamie Raskin’s reference to the son he just buried. Tommy Raskin was a truly remarkable 25 year old young man who did much to make this world a better place in the too few years he graced us, as clearly taught well by his parents.
I’ve thought that if one of my children died, I’d be curled up in bed for a solid month. Jamie Raskin brought all of his professional and life experience to bear in an exemplary job of leading the Impeachment trial—while still grieving his loss. He’s really one of the good guys.
https://repraskin.medium.com/statement-of-congressman-jamie-raskin-and-sarah-bloom-raskin-on-the-remarkable-life-of-tommy-raskin-f93b0bb5d184
I also read those loving words tonight and cried for this family. That was the second time I cried today, the first was on his speech about what his daughter had said. Jamie Raskin did a superb job am I am so grateful. This won’t be forgotten. This is who we are. Love will concur in the end. It is what makes us invincible.
I also read those loving words last night. Jamie Raskin is such a remarkable person as was his son. What a loss for that family - and for the rest of us who had yet to experience what this young man had to offer. Raskin led his team with love and grace - as exemplified by Dejeus’ comment that he preferred to defend his case with love rather than hate. All on that team were exemplary in their presentations. Their case was clear, well organized, thorough. I am so disappointed in the Republicans who are racing to Palm Beach to make Donald whole and powerful. Let’s hope a few more Republicans come to their senses.
I have a friend who worked at Amherst College when Tommy was a student there. She knew Tommy personally, and the Raskin family. She said Tommy had a very bright future ahead of himself and was devastated to learn of his suicide. Jamie Raskin stepped way beyond patriotism in representing this country while still grieving the death of his son. I have every intention of calling his office tomorrow and telling him that he's my hero.
I pray he gets to grieve and rest now with his family. After trying to save the republic. God bless him and keep him in the palm of his hand.
Thank you very much for posting this link. Just read the article about Tommy, then read it aloud to my husband. We're both very moved. Such an accomplished, good young man. And such a devastating illness and loss. And it is just incredible to us that Jamie Raskin was able to do such a good job leading the trial after suffering such a loss so recently. He is an amazing person. I feel very grateful to him.
The late Tom Raskin continues to inspire Rep Raskin. He wants a better world, a stronger democracy so that other people's children will prosper and flourish.
Ms. Richardson,
You argue almost as beautifully as Representative Raskin, giving context and explanation for the Democrat cave-in today. I’ll think about all your points. I want you to be correct! I want to feel the optimism of many others who have commented here. But despite such coherent reasoning, it seems like you are putting lipstick on a pig.
Something very dangerous happened today that you leave out. Donald Trump was exonerated by the Senate for insurrection and attempted assassination of its members. And he didn’t even have to appear to answer for it. He just turned down an ‘invitation’ His lackeys appeared and lied for him. Had he at least been forced to appear, for the first time we would have optics that he is not above having to answer to Congress, even if acquitted. Instead, he proved without doubt that he does not have to answer to Congress and that he is powerful enough to not only to stage an attack on Congress and our Constitution, but to coerce 43 members of the Senate and 197 members to support him for doing so. That is terrifying. Terrifying for his continuing power, but also terrifying to imagine Democrats in Congress seem to think they can still govern at all with this reality. (how can the Republicans threaten to filibuster indefinitely when Democrats can just remove that option? Why do Democrats always back down from Republican threats when time and again, they see what happens?)
I don’t expect to hear demands from Congress or Biden for an independent commission with none of the brakes and containment put on Robert Mueller. The idea that the courts will rein in Trump is kind of laughable. Not that he won’t lose lawsuits, but clearly no one has the guts to sentence him to any prison time. Hell, we still can’t even get his taxes, let alone thorough inquiries into his full corruption of the White House and the Executive Branch. I suspect he’s well into planning his next coup and that he has learned a lot more about our weaknesses. I mean, if you can get away with trying to murder your own Vice President and House Speakers, what can possibly be in your way?
I think there will be commissions of inquiry for Jan 6 and the conspiracies behind it. A conviction would be fabulous, but it was easy to see that it wasn't likely. The great success of the impeachment managers was to lay out the evidence in such a way that it can't be ignored. Their target audience lies beyond just the Senate -- public opinion and the judicial system of course, but also history.
This is how I see it as well. Too much power is being given to the impeachment trial vote. All it means is that the majority of Trumps former colleagues found him not guilty of an insurrection. The trial was more for the American people, to show them the true colors of GOPs once and for all. The managers have set the state for more legal battles for Trump and their ilk.
Thank you TPJ, Ellen and Tricia. We're stronger than we think!
Thank you too, Nancy. We are precisely as strong as we think. Today's Confederates, traitors who admire slavers and traitors, have reawakened the spirit that saved the Union and destroyed slavery. Too much attention goes toward southern identity, but it's a weak reed against the gale of northern nationalism. When Lincoln called for volunteers after Ft Sumter fell, the northern response was extraordinary.
In spring 1861, as Massachusetts regiments arrived in DC, the first to defend the capital, a resident asked "how many more men of your state are coming?" The answer: "All of us!" A New York woman wrote "it seems that we never were alive till now, never had a country till now." I feel the same way right now.
H Commager ed, The Blue & the Gray, pp 43-44
It means so much to read the intelligence and grace of everyone on these threads! Thanks for relating the 1861 Massachusetts regiments anecdote. I've been part of Indivisible these past years and it was heartening to know so many of us were volunteering to get out the vote. And yes we made a difference—barely, but we did it! I maintain what I said at the beginning though: while I hope you are all correct that the impeachment managers' brilliant work spells a turning point in the power of the Trump cult, I see the opposite. Trump and his cult claim a powerful victor. Democrats backed off bringing Trump in to answer by subpoena and they backed off calling witnesses. In terms of public optics, they showed weakness at important cusps. How they imagine governing forward when their Republican counterparts have zero incentive to compromise escapes me.
Yes. These kinds of events, and especially the last 4 years, should be powerful lessons to all those who fall asleep and enjoy democracy without participating in the hard work it takes to keep it alive.
As they say, freedom isn't free. We've had a close call.
I've begun to think that Trump and his deplorables have shot themselves in the foot. Democrats often look to compromise and try to find common ground with the opposition. However, the disgusting behavior they've exhibited for years, and especially now, has awakened our fury, and they will have an unexpected fight on their hands. Jamie Raskin and other Managers were even-keeled, but clear-eyed. Rep. Raskin did not demonstrate his personal grief, but I'll make a wager that he decided to fight his best fight as a warning that the Republicans will get what is coming to them. He, and the rest of us, aren't afraid or discouraged, and we can give better than we get. Thanks for the history lesson.
You’re welcome. The trial exposed more of our underbelly in this nation. As shocking as it is to many people. And especially for those who take out Republic and democracy for granted.
I think you're right that the managers provided channels for more legal battles. Also that we Democrats needed the powerful context that the managers provided. But read Fox News today if you think that Trump supporters don't see this as total victory and vindication.
Yes they did. It was very strategic what they did. Everyone knew Trump would not be impeached. But let’s put into the history books the entire ordeal. Every sickening detail. So that we can use it to empower the DOJ and the states to bring him down and his ilk. It might take awhile. We are very used to quick fixes in the USA. But the Republic stands another day. Barely. And it’s still being attacked. We must fight on if we want to live and prosper in a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people.
My guess is that only Trump's base is deluded enough to think he's been vindicated. Anyone who listened to Raskin, Neguse, Castro, Plaskett, et al., clearly understand what transpired and who is guilty, whether they will admit it or not. Fox will not give oxygen to any voices that haven't been drinking the KoolAid.
I agree. And one important very thing the Impeachment Managers achieved was to unearth a "mountain of evidence" that they then placed into the public arena. All of it is readily available for REAL trials in REAL courts with REAL jurors and REAL consequences.
I look at this as the beginning of the end of the "old" GOP. As noted by commentators, the senators who voted to convict represent over 60% of the American electorate while those who voted to acquit represent a significant minority. Those watching this trial are not as uninformed as Mitch might think. His hubris and that of his fellows may ultimately be the undoing of all of them.
Let us not be terrified. Let us, instead, use our rage to to become politically involved at the local level. By my nature I want to avoid these lying thieves, but because I have grandchildren I cannot. Every state needs a Stacey Abrams.
Every state needs a Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo and our financial and hands-on support.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/opinion/stacey-abrams-georgia-election.html?smid=url-share
Amen.
https://www.standupamerica.com/our-first-100-days-priorities/
The Justice Dept? Fani Willis and the Fulton County Georgia D.A.’s office? The D.C. district attorney? District attorneys in the counties in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona where DT called election officials and tried to strong-arm them?
I've had several conversations with a friend about how seemingly impossible it is to "win a fight" when the opponents make it impossible to do so fairly. We both agree that nasty people hell bent on getting and keeping control take advantage of politeness, even just plain humanity, and that fighting to the level 'they' are willing to go to would make us as bad as they are. The lawyers for Trump (especially that Philly-delphia guy) were (like their client) clearly of the mob ilk who go to the bottom of the pit. "No thanks, we've got a job to get done for the country" is an appropriate response, no matter how bad a taste it leaves. BUT....there does reach a point where they must be crushed at their own game. I don't know what that point is, but I think it is not now, when we do hold the major reins of government. We need to keep those reins, for sure.
I don’t understand what you think Democrats could have done differently. You are blaming them for inherent flaws and weaknesses in our Constitution and legal system. You’re right, something very dangerous happened to our country over the past 4 years, and especially in the past three months. A corrupt, amoral, sociopath became president and set about exploiting every loophole in our rule of law. Our democracy barely survived it (so far). If you want to blame someone, blame the founders. The Democrats did what they could, given the hand they were dealt.
Completely agree. The system is vulnerable, Trump and his followers exploited the vulnerabilities and were able to not play by the rules because there is no penalty - within the structure of the system - for not following the rules. They could lie (I really appreciated Heather's characterization of this as a "rhetorical" methodology), and they could not abide by their vote on the constitutionality of impeachment, because there are no consequences within the structure of the system. Now we know.
Yes, you make the important point. Perhaps it's not a vulnerability of our system as much as an assumption, one that Americans desire freedom as much as air and distrust autocrats above all else. Then again, students of the 1787 Constitutional Convention know that the debate over Presidential powers was among the most intense, with such a wide spectrum of views that the compromise was acknowledged as imperfect.
I think you make a good point. The Impeachment managers from both impeachments (!) were stellar. Democrats have been the ones honoring their oath to protect the Constitution—its letter and its spirit to balance powers. Here's where I see it differently. Republicans are playing a totally different game, a zero sum game, where the object is to exploit a system with the overriding objective to maintain power. To me, it seems insane that Democrats continue hoping Republicans will play by rules they have no interest in following. So I don't understand how Democrats expect to govern going ahead in Congress. Or President Biden. Putting Trump "past us" when Trump has essentially been exonerated seems a little bit ostrich-y. What should Democrats do differently? How about insisting on truth and transparency with a fully empowered Independent Commission? As the 9-11 Commission folks have recommended.
Both/and:
A federal truth and transparency commission is important to identify the cracks exploited to our serious detriment by Trump/Republicans, particularly over the past 4 years, and to identify remedies.
Ground level change to grow the Democratic Party and political power state by state is the other necessary component. Stacey Abrams and her former campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo, chief executive of Fair Fight Action, describe how their 10 year plan worked in Georgia and can work in other states:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/opinion/stacey-abrams-georgia-election.html
Agree. That we continue to be surprised that they are lying and not following the rules - that as you say, "they are playing a different game" hobbles our effectiveness.
I saw a meme yesterday something like, “The system is not broken, it was built this way.” I suppose that refers to our system of governance that was built by mostly aristocratic white men in the 18th Century, with an assumption of men with honor participating. If you assaulted a man’s honor you might be facing a deadly duel with pistols or swords. They never anticipated mass communication consumed by the ignorant & dishonorable, foisting an idiot into the presidency & dishonorable ppl into Congress. Nor that their failsafe to prevent this, the Electoral College would fall to the same partisan idiocy. It lasted 2 centuries & 45 years until the malevolent 45th president and a complicit Congress proved it was inadequate.
In my lifetime, which started in WWII, (4 years before George Orwell wrote his tale of a dystopian future in “1984”) and went thru the time of racial segregation, communist witch hunts, homosexual oppression, continuous useless wars of the military industrial complex, a deadly pandemic of HIV (which showed a glimpse of the ignorance of the masses before our present viral pandemic) I thot things were getting better. We had made strides in civil rights for minorities and elected a biracial president. Then to get blindsided on November 8, 2016, my 72nd birthday and my great-grandson’s first by the ignorant, bigoted masses electing a totally unqualified mentally ill man to the presidency. And for 4 dreadful years suffering the assaults of a complicit, enabling Repugnant Party to this madness and watching old prejudices which had been suppressed, resurface as the norm, I finally thot in 2020 that America was back. But, the madman and his violent minions have escaped without consequence and are a continuing threat. My great-grandson, if he survives may someday as an old man write “In my lifetime, which started in the downfall of America ...”
I've been reading a lot of early Republic history. Our founders were just as nasty and petty as today's politicians. Apparently John Adams was unhinged. They used newspapers to spread lies about their opponents. There were unscrupulous publishers then too. The only difference is technology. (Ron Chernow's biography of Hamilton was most illuminating.) Oh, and small d, democratic was a slur back then.
Yes! And they were white supremists as well!
They could not imagine anything else. Only a very few whites could see slavery as evil, mostly Quakers. And they did debate it but it seems economics had a thumb on the scale.
As a Quaker myself, thank you for mentioning the Religious Society of Friends. Like other abolitionists, Quakers were a despised minority (still are to some extent). Yet in David Brion Davis's words, the antislavery struggle ultimately was "the greatest example of willed moral progress in human history."
Interested parties can learn more from these works:
A Hochschild, Bury the Chains [GB antislavery]
R Larson, Daughters of Light [female Quakers in 18C]
M Sinha, The Slave's Cause [fine general study of abolitionism]
J Woolman, Journal [a most accessible spiritual classic]
Rep. Raskin’s son Tommy worked for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Such a loss.
https://www.fcnl.org/people/thomas-raskin
The Puritans persecuted the Quakers, too.
The Puritans persecuted everyone. It is their heritage that still drives our culture. I mentioned Jill Lepore's "In the Name of War" in another thread some months ago. I suggest it again, to gain a sense of the real values that drove the "founding of America". It's a good, illuminating read of the history of the era in which the original colonies developed. Point of view is everything.
I am a Quaker also. Alas, I'm afraid some of the early Quakers were less than honorable and it caused several schisms. We need to be careful how hard we pat ourselves on the back, however humbly we do so.
BTW, this may be apocryphal, but I have heard it said that John Quincy Adams was asked by his son if any truly democratic societies existed. JQ answered that from his observations, if there were, they surely would be found among the indigenous people of this continent.
My students get a modified version of Boston's Black Heritage Trail tour, complete with some role-playing. We stop to discuss the statue of Mary Dyer outside the State House, inscribed "Quaker, Witness for religious freedom, Hanged on Boston Common 1660." The somber mood is relieved only by moving a few feet to the General Hooker Entrance. His name is always good for a laugh.
Many still are.
Yes, it's there in 'Burr', which I'm reading now. Gore Vidal saw them as not only "just as nasty and petty", but more childish than they are now.
Yes, my 2 sentence description did not cover all the facts that most owned black slaves, their world view was limited to their experience in the “enlightenment” and they tried to counter the Medieval atrocities of religion. The newspapers hounded Jefferson on his affair with his slave Hemings. But, someone like #45 might have been dispatched in a dual, shot in NYC and the shooter not arrested. Ppl are ppl.
Rob Boyte Just for clarity, it was the majority of the aristocratic Southern plantation owners who owned slaves, not the populace as a whole.
Actually, there were some Northern colonists who owned some slaves. Since the climate and rocky soil in the Northeast are not conducive to large-scale farming, slavery was largely utilized in the South, but not limited to it.
And the north participated in the slave trade, the triangle trade route. Many northern families fortunes were made from the slave trade.
Slavery on a large scale took place in CT as well: tobacco country. We fool ourselves to think that the north had no slavery. It did, albeit on a small scale. There is another peculiar aspect to slavery that not many people are aware of: Free black people often held title to relatives, buying them rather than having them manumitted. The reason for this was that it was often the only way they could keep their families together. Some of the most moving stories I have ever come across are in the Freedman's Bureau records, and in the court records, especially probate papers, that the Library of Virginia have digitized and are transcribing, as well as the Smithsonian. (Volunteer transcribers welcome- it is challenging but very fulfilling work.)
This happened on our watch. The country is broke. We fix it.
"The great task remaining before us."
-- A Lincoln, Gettysburg, Nov 19, 1863
50 Democratic Senators and 7 Republican Senators vote to Convict Donald John Trump.
The final vote in the Senate impeachment trial fails to achieve the required 2/3 majority required for the conviction of former President Donald John Trump. However, it must be noted that this not only exceeds a majority vote in favor of conviction (57 to 43 for conviction) but is also the largest number of votes for conviction by percentage and an absolute number of votes for a Presidential impeachment conviction. It is also the largest number of votes by the President's own party for impeachment conviction in U.S. history.
Now it is time to move on to the Biden agenda for the American people. There is little to be gained from a continued focus on Donald John Trump. The District Attorney of Fulton County Georgia, the District Attorney in the city of New York, and the Attorney General of the State of New York, and perhaps others may continue their criminal pursuit of Donald Trump, or not as they choose. There are over 200 insurrectionists already arrested and charged by the FBI and DOJ for various offenses related to the January 6 Capitol riot. Many of those are already naming Trump as an "unindicted co-conspirator" and the individual ordering their participation and motivating their criminality that day. Each of those trials is sure to be a further condemnation of Trump's behavior in the days leading up to and on January 6, 2021.
However, it is time to let the courts and historians do their fault finding and condemnations and for us to move on and do our tasks. That is my opinion.
I hope others will remember this day and the events leading up to it, but be able to move on successfully to the tasks in front of us.
I agree. The managers were right to move on and not push for witness testimony after resting their case. They proved their case, it is in the record and they will have the added benefit of the other cases out there in the civil courts to remind people of the hypocrisy and criminality of Trump, his supporters and Republicans. There are much more important issues to tackle. The culture wars are not going to be settled anytime soon anyway.
It is much more important to get shots in arms. Starting Monday this is one of maybe three news items I want to hear about. Constantly. One of the ways to do that is to have an orchestrated outreach to get people to get the shot. Too many people are planning on not getting the shot at this point. People also need checks in hand. I like the idea of targeting payments and I hope that this is what will happen. This too should be on peoples Twitter feeds all day, every day until it happens.
My husband is helping his golf buddies and their wives to get appointments for the vaccines, as well as his 84 yr. old aunt. Every little bit helps.
As Lincoln said at Gettysburg: "Long remember."
Yes! We must move away from the cacophony of anything Trump. And begin to fully embrace the Biden vision. Trump is never going away. His ilk will always be thorns in our sides. And his life will now be full of lawsuit after lawsuit and endless investigations. What a pathetic way to live on this beautiful planet. Vitriol, anger, lies, pain, hurting others. Horrid.
Even Trumpsky is mortal. Death will come for him in the end, hopefully sooner than later.
Obese and god knows what else will help him on his way
see my Democracy Capitalism posted 10:30AM MT
I'm 66 years of age, and have never missed voting in any election (from school board on up), and have never once voted for a Republican or any of their offshoots.
It's high time the rest of this nation caught up to me.
Yes, we need everyone -- Independents, Moderate Republicans, all Democrats -- to never vote for any candidate with an R next to their name. NEVER at all levels of government. We need to use the power of the People to show the Republican Party it is going in the wrong direction. Time for a movement of the People.
The list of craven, spineless traitors up for election in '22:
Blunt, Roy (R-MO)
Boozman, John (R-AR)
Crapo, Mike (R-ID)
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) - At 87, he still hasn’t made a decision about 2022!
Hoeven, John (R-ND)
Johnson, Ron (R-WI)
Kennedy, John (R-LA)
Lankford, James (R-OK)
Lee, Mike (R-UT)
Moran, Jerry (R-KS)
Paul, Rand (R-KY)
Rubio, Marco (R-FL)
Scott, Tim (R-SC)
Shelby, Richard C. (R-AL) – Has announced he will not run again.
Thune, John (R-SD)
Young, Todd (R-IN)
Most of these states are very red, but Biden won WI in 2020, so at least get rid of that sniveling idiot Ron Johnson.
Ye gods, just look at some of the names, especially in the first half. They inspire revulsion even before considering their words and deeds.
We will remember.
Members of Congress and attorneys general who helped Trump spread the lie that the election had been "stolen" from him:
https://twitter.com/svdate/status/1352804552333012992?s=21
Excellent list, thank you. We also need to make sure all the Democratic senators win again. Here are all of the 2022 seats: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_elections,_2022
Couldn't find good compilation of the Dems opposing the Republican senators running in 2022 who voted to acquit. Was poised to donate yesterday to send a message. Dems need to do a better job of making that info available. Missed opportunity yesterday.
Darn good question! I asked on twitter, but I don't know how many people will even see the question. If I get an answer, I'll be back.
Cast of Losers.
We will remember.
The full list of 43 insurgent Senators who acquitted Trump on 2/13/2021:
https://twitter.com/amoneyresists/status/1360722058410344455?s=21
Also open seats in NC (Burr), OH (Portman), and PA (Toomey). Burr and Toomey won by pretty slim margins, so there is a shot.....
Lindsay Graham is already backing Lara Trump’s candidacy for Burr’s seat in NC. It seems as if that should be a joke, but stranger things have happened in elections, as we all know.
I'm copying and pasting this list to social media so all my previous-Trump-supporting-friends can eat this!
Thank you for this list. Let's go get 'em!
I couldn’t agree more. They key terms of your thoughts for me is “From school board...”. That to me is the most important thing. I would actually start at dog catcher and go up from there. I belong to a number of small philanthropic groups that are working at the state level to flip seats across the country in state houses. It is surprisingly inexpensive to support candidates running in state races. I would typically add links here but I have been asked not to advertise on media posts. We did not perform as well as we wanted to in the last cycle but we did move the ball forward for more progressive candidates in typically red states and cities. The excitement we were able to generate shifted more resources from the Democratic Party to these races due to our contributions. Take the cities and states and the national picture will change.
My local state reps (MA) are Republican and I like them, plus no one runs against them. However I no longer vote for them, not much of a statement.
MA denizen here. Our state is thoroughly gerrymandered for state electoral districts. Longtime Dem dominance promotes corruption on Beacon Hill, but Repugs whining about one-party rule have only their own detestable alternative. Apart from governors, MA voters consistently say No Thanks.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
I voted for one--Clifford Case, Senator from NJ, because he said he would vote to convict Nixon
Yesterday I wept for my country, for the perfidy of senate women and men who voted for their own election futures as they saw it and not for our country, and the blatant machinations of mcconnell. That this whole farce will be forever writ large in our history my hope is that it will be read as the warning that is it as to how fragile democracy is and not as the playbook that it might be. I had listened with rapt attention to the proceedings for most of the week , but had to turn away as mcconnell went on and on trying to balance on the fence of what he saw as political expediency.
Today I have put away my tissues, pulled up my big girl panties and rededicated myself to work to support the election of men and women across my state who will work for our country and not just themselves as well as helping men and women across the country with the same goals. Urge your congress people to support HR1 . https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/congress-we-demand-a-democracy-that-works-for-us That will be a good place to start for all of us and we all have our work cut out for us.
Rep. Jamie Raskin was the shining light that we all turned to as we all turn toward a fire to warm ourselves we hoped by his reflected light to feel a little less alone in the dark. If the democratic party does not take advantage of his abilities to move their agenda forward and put him in positions of power to do good for all of us they have lost their way indeed.
Our work is not done people, it has just begun.
Yes, Rep. Raskin should become Senator Raskin. We need his light in the days ahead.
And eventually President Raskin?
Thanks for sharing the information re HR1. My daughter ia a lawyer (the good kind—works with transgendered and others incarcerated), she advises contacting your US Rep urging them to vote for this bill or thanking them if already in support of it.
I signed the petition, but when I clicked to submit, I got a message that there was a problem. So I signed again. And again. And again. Then I get 10 email messages thanking me for signing the petition.
Me too!
I had the same issue, but at least we know we signed
Great comment! Yes. We keep working. We find ways to be actively involved. It is our civic responsibility. Boots on the ground.
Beautiful, well said!
The lack of a conviction is a travesty, both infuriating and heartbreaking. It galls me that Trump will continue to receive a pension, full medical care, a $1M annual travel budget and secret service protection at taxpayers’ expense. Whether he will run again remains to be seen, of course, but his statement today said that his MAGA campaign is just beginning. He and his acolytes are going to cast a dark shadow over this country for some time to come. I hope that he and many of his sycophants will face a raft of penalties and charges in criminal courts.
And now, there is work to do. There are approximately 165 proposals in 33 States aimed at making it more difficult to vote. www.axios.com/state-voter-suppression-proposals-5ee31df3-8e98-4bf5-8910-7bc6db704f15.html
We need to turn the tide on voter suppression. Every American of voting age should have the opportunity to vote.
In Colorado, where 100% of registered voters automatically receive a ballot in the mail, voter participation in the November, 2020 election was 86.7% and 99.3% of all votes were cast with a ballot that was either mailed or dropped off at one of hundreds of drop boxes across the State. Smooth, straightforward and zero controversy. (Well, except the serious matter of the very controversial Representative Boebert, who will need to be voted out in 2022, if she lasts that long, but even she was fairly elected in her district.)
If you would like to take action in your State to increase vote-by-mail options, the National Vote at Home Institute can help: https://voteathome.org/about-us/
This is so remarkable and beautiful. As little as two years ago, voter suppression was an invisible issue in this country, it just never showed up in media reports. Now look. We’ve come along way baby.
Like Virginia, Colorado is increasingly a bright spot in the last few years.
Thanks, Mary Anne. This link and your story is exactly what we need as we go forward.
Ms. HCR, thank you, this is a very clear analysis of what happened in the Senate yesterday and what it means in the overall political context. Calling witnesses and extending the impeachment trial would have added little to the historical record so ably established by Congressman Rankin and the other House managers, and would have only created more GOP opportunities to lie bigly and disseminate their own alternatively factual version of the events on Jan. 6th.
I thought Mitch McConnell's cynical speech on the Senate floor minutes after the acquittal vote was astonishing, both as an accurate description of Trump's crimes against the Constitution and our nation, and as a desperate attempt to somehow jettison Trump while saving the GOP from itself, given that Trump is now inseparable from the mass of kool-Aid-drinking GOP voters.
McConnell's gambit can only work (that is, save his GOP to "fight" another day), if Trump is dragged before the courts, convicted of felonies and sent to prison for years, but even if we do get the satisfaction of seeing the inciter-in-chief perp-walked into court in an orange suit, it seems unlikely that the furies he has unleashed among the white, rural, god-fearing, gun-loving right will dissipate or return to their box anytime soon.
While Trump has likely already had his 15 minutes of notoriety, McConnell is a real piece of work and a clever, diabolical politician. Democrats have their work cut out for them and must not hesitate to overpower and embarrass McConnell at every opportunity, get rid of the filibuster, add states to the Union, do whatever it takes to address the real needs of citizens and begin winning elections.
National unity - if this is even possible - will require many years of good government.
McConnell is a masterful parliamentarian, the best since LBJ. But his skill does not serve the American people.
His words only served himself. He put the blame on Fake 45 and then does not vote to impeach him. He is a clever and shrewd bastard.
Yes, clever and shrewd and a bastard. I suspect he understood how this would go from the moment he knew the Capitol was under siege, and that the key was to delay the trial until after Biden's inauguration, thereby providing a minimally coherent Constitutional argument as an excuse not to convict, thus as cover for GOP Senators.
Yup, cynical Mitch, always a few shrewd, immoral steps ahead of the Democrats. It's frustrating, but at least we can hope that the criminal justice system at all levels will now go to work on Trump, and that private individuals will file damage suits against him too.
At worst, this second impeachment and trial was worthwhile as an educational experience.
David Frum's article in today's online Atlantic ("It'll Do") suggests room for optimism.
Yup.
You've hit the nail on the head in 2 compact sentences.
Dems may want to use their remaining reconciliation to nix the filibuster. Otherwise they’ll have Republican intransigence from here on out.
Agree. Dems may want to play hardball when dealing with Republicans from here on out. Period.
There’s an excellent WaPo opinion piece by Greg Sargent on just that. I will try to copy it as a post.
What would Mitch do? should be their motto. Only half kidding.
You shouldn't be. He has a heart, mind and soul of pure pitch.
I'm he does...as he defines it...which is to say the least somewhat limited. Those not included are not "people" . His definition is simply "people who share his interests and support him. Not much different from Trump in that regard.
Living here in France one gets to understand the utility of complexity in all things. It allows those that make the rules to stop you bothering them...and taking their place without taking to the streets. McConnell is a master of that anti-democratic " complexity".
A very sad day in America indeed. Only 100 Americans get to be a Senator at the same time. And 43 of them abandoned their responsibility and showed that the qualifications for this role have been minimized. For them, this was not about doing the right thing for our democracy, but it was about doing the right thing for themselves and what's left of the Republican party. America has been built on lies and perhaps myths and it's time we reckon with that. We've been in the Catskills for the last two days -- just hours away from NYC -- and we continue to see Trump flags flying. They somehow believe the lie that Trump won (and won in a landslide) without any substantiation. The 43 who voted believe that a former President cannot be impeached, when there isn't truth to that. These are the same people who have believed that some Americans are inferior, that science doesn't matter and yes, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, that 9/11 didn't really happen. The only way we get better is to admit the truth and stop singing about America the Beautiful. There is great beauty in this country, yet clinging to this as absolute doesn't allow any room to explore what ails us, what has always ailed us and what will plague us further. So I want and have confidence in Joe Biden to help move us forward while a justice system investigates, indicts and exposes the truth about Donald Trump and his enablers. And it is up to us to speak in sentences and not soundbites, to open our eyes to what it feels like to be marginalized (and worse), and to stop protecting our own hides at the expense of others.
Yes, there is great beauty in this country, even now after 40 years of abuse of our environment. I’m 68 and I read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson when I was 10 yrs old...we had the warnings at least that long ago. I love this country, having crossed much of it by car at least 4 times in my life, and lived in the West, the Midwest and the East. But in spite of being environmentally aware I have only become politically aware in detail over the past 12 months in reading Heather’s Letters; too much going on in my life in the ‘80’s, ‘90’s and 2000’s to give due to politics (lazy excuse, I know). She brings to the front an eye-opening perspective of the Republican Party since 1980. Even before then, but especially since Reagan (electing an actor as President is the best this nation can do?)
I am so very hopeful that Biden can and will bring us (as a whole) back to goodness, integrity and dare I say it—a sense of selflessness— that we have strived for for so long and achieved too rarely.
I do have great hope for Biden/Harris Nancy. But can he bring us back as a whole, perhaps not. But he will, i think, show us again what goodness, integrity and a sense of selflessness (your words) means and can bring about. Let's hope together.
I love Rachel Carson’s work. Silent Spring is one of my favorite books of all time. I first read it as an undergraduate college student in 1983. It shaped my life. Protecting public lands is one of my issues.
Yes..a sense of selflessness. Of being a good steward to this fragile planet. Of being a good human and no matter your political views. Sigh.
The "sense of wonder" identified by Rachel Carson is a guiding light in my life.
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/19/1645188/-Silent-Spring
Hope you enjoy this diary over at Daily Kos. It’s a comprehensive look at Carson’s work and influence. Quite remarkable.