I took this photo on a hot summer day, hiking on a Maine island with my daughter, my nephews and their friends, and one of my besties, as we explored an old cemetery, complete with the nineteenth-century grave of a man who, according to his headstone, dropped dead shortly after preaching a sermon.
If you mean England, yes. Capital punishment for poaching was part of the Black Act passed by Parliament in 1723, prescribing the death penalty for numerous minor offenses. Transportation, i.e. exile to a penal colony, was another draconian punishment. They were an official response to unrest spurred by economic change, and not repealed until the 1820s. I'm less sure about America, but colonial laws generally followed English precedents.
Thank you! You are as always one of the bright lights in these dark times, but hopefully the days will continue brighter going forward under a new administration. While the acquittal of 45 was not unexpected, it was still very disappointing and more painful than I expected. I retreated for a day from all social media and news. I thank you for your Letters that help our perspective. And I thank you for the photo and a bit longer reprieve from the news of this week. 💜 Stay safe!
I too was disappointed once again! The house managers were stellar and presented a clear case for impeachment. The other side did not yet they they won. I guess what I rest in is that if people watched the videos they may have a better picture of the siege Democracy was under. Our Democracy is more fragile than I imagined. We will not survive another despot. Thank God for people like Stacy Abrams who worked tirelessly to ensure people vote. So important to make voting accessible to all. We need to focus on voting rights not restrictions if we are a Democracy
This may be a quiet evening and President’s Day, due to Dr Richardson’s respite. So, I have a quote I’d like to share, and I wonder if anyone is familiar with it:
Yes! re Chalmers Johnson. Re Trump. Yes, a master. One hears a lot about his incompetence and stupidity. I think he’s a malevolent narcissistic sociopath but brilliant. Shakespearean. He’s created a whole alternative parallel universe and has 74M of the voting country believing it. That’s the equivalent of believing polar tilt causes global warming. He’s outmaneuvered mighty Mitch and taken over control of the QOP. He’s accomplished what he set out to do which is pack the courts and SCOTUS, enrich himself and loyalists, and launch Trumpism, an illiberal, undemocratic, autocratic political movement working toward redefining governance in America. What he didn’t care about he ignored such as the pandemic. I would hope he would be hauled before the International Court of Justice—the World Court— and be charged with crimes against humanity as was done against Chilean dictator Pinochet. No? If not, why not? This might qualify as a rant.🌀
You’re in for a treat. He’s a no-nonsense outspoken truth-sayer and erudite academic and writer steeped in knowledge with the courage to speak up and speak out. One of my heroes along with Noam Chomsky.
Chalmers Johnson is/was a national treasure. An expert on Japan and US foreign policy and its military overreach. A former cold warrior, he did a U-turn and became an eloquent and outspoken critic of US military power abroad; of the CIA as the president’s private army in effect deposing the democratically elected president of Iran and installing the Shah. Generally vs American hubris of empire by military might abroad and domestically secrecy within the government. He warned of the consequences of US empirical overreach.
He’s all over YouTube with one hour+ talks, all worth paying attention to despite their being a decade old. His talks are riveting. He’s written several books among them the prescient Blow Back trilogy which comprises “ Blow Back: the costs and consequences of American empire,” “NEMESIS: The last days of the American republic,” and “The sorrows of empire: Militarism, secrecy and the end of the republic.” Among many others.
A very good introduction is this one hour talk, “Speaking Freely”
My husband and I just watched this. It's a bit overwhelming how much I don't know. We'll watch others of his videos. I'm glad you mentioned Noam Chomsky. I discovered him recently and have enjoyed listening to his talks and learned a lot.
Ahhh, hiking on a Maine island on a summer day! That’s a memory I can disappear into. I can smell the evergreens and the salt air, hear the waves on the rocks, taste the wild blue berries, hear the laughter and chatter of family. Thanks for the happy trip down memory lane... and for all that you do. And yes, there is love. Even in a rock.
You should look up the book, Summer Island, by photographer Eliot Porter. I got my copy shortly after it was published in 1977, and the text and photos are marvelously evocative of the beautiful coast of Maine.
And while we're on the subject of escape reading, has anyone here ever read Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright? I see it is available free online through Open Library. It was published in 1942, is about 500 pages long, and a wonderful, wonderful utopian escape novel. I've read it many times.
Morning all, and over here in the UK Valentine's Day , poached salmon to boot, is a fading memory.
If I may make a few more serious points.
Firstly, from my perspective as retired lawyer ( England) I did feel that Jamie Raskin gave a near flawless performance. Graceful, agile and completely sincere. Somehow reminded me of your other great Court player, Pete Sampras!
Secondly, and again from a UK perspective, I am surprised that commentators generally do not see more significance in the fact that the mob were clearly following the former President's lead and will now pay a very heavy criminal price for so doing. Whilst the instigator gets away scot free. This surely is a very bad, disastrous even, look? It would certainlty be political suicide this side of the Pond, and I'm not sure it won't have serious political implications over your side too?
Thirdly, it seems the optimistic hopes of HCR seeing a possible way out for Republicans by not voting/being 'present', has not come to pass. I still cannot see why MM did not, on the back of the jurisdiction point, simply suggest absence. That would have been at least logical. That he did not does indicate he preferred and wanted an acquittal, in any circumstances. Notwithstanding his fine/hypocritical words afterwards.
He may have gotten off scot free in the Senate (not in the Congress, he is still impeached) however, the Criminal and Civil Courts still have yet to be employed. Granted, it will take a long time but I am all for any lever or pressure to be borne on that horrible man who has caused so much death and suffering.
He was impeached by the House and found guilty by a vote of 57 to 43 in the Senate. He was acquitted because there was not a 2/3 majority vote to convict which is required by our Constitution.
Mitch McConnell is calculating above all else. He decided to acquit (on a self created technicality) then verbally condemn Trump to appeal to both Trump’s base and the business wing of the GOP. We all know Trump incited the mob, Republicans know it too. That’s why Mitch fabricated his rule that a President can’t be impeached after leaving office. It gave his Senators cover, however flimsy, to acquit. Once again, all strategy, no decency.
The majority of Americans agree with you on every point and are sickened by the criminal negligence of the Republicans and MM's typically sneaky post-not-guilty-vote exhortation on Trump's criminal behavior. The cult has no conscience, no morals, no courage, no patriotism. We are caught in the grip of a Machiavellian minority.
Thanks for the view for the UK (a friend just moved there this week to join her husband). I read an article about the rioters. Most were not affiliated with any militia, were business owners, professionals ...that is, there on their own so to speak. They were not necessarily from red states. They have much to lose with criminal charges. Most said they were there bc their president needed and asked them to be.
Thanks Marcy. Very good point. In your view would those supporters , affiliated or otherwise, still be MAGA types after they have received serious sentences? And their friends/families still be MAGA loyal?
Perhaps I am being naive, and obv there are many wider considerations, but in general throwing your supportedrs under the bus is not a great vote winner...? Or are they all to embrace MAGA martyrdom? In a word, the GOP is, I believe, stuffed. If not immediately but certainly by 2022.
And going back to your man Raskin, as well as all the superlatives there was I think an occasional glint of cold steel, saturnine, black panther, something of the night...? Superb, I was gripped.
Among the many problems I see with the MAGA crowd: 1) they are demonstrably divorced from reality, and happily so, 2) there is already a feeling of persecution among them, from the forces of liberalism, so martyrdom is just another step on the spectrum. Which leads me to: 3) if their leader becomes unavailable, for whatever reason, they will look to attach their allegiance to whoever takes up the mantle with the most extreme and fiery rhetoric, so baking in an incentive to be as intransigent and hostile as possible. Definitely not a good look, any of this. But that assumes one is looking from a perspective of thoughtful reason.
Trump supporters must be somewhat delusional to have supported such a creature. They may blame the system, rather than the man who “threw them under the bus.”
I suspect that the filthy insurrectionist scum has little taste for their own personal martyrdom. "Hooray for the martyrs! But not me, I want to stay comfy."
The mills of justice grind slow but fine. Prepare to see the rank-& file remorselessly crushed into little pieces, hopefully with the big fish suffering the same fate.
This is the danger. The Trump movement is both a mass movement made up of ordinary Americans and a terrorist core. If the Trump movement was only a terrorist core, law enforcement could curb its influence. And if the Trump movement was just a mass movement without a terrorist core, traditional political strategies would do just fine. But it’s both.
Well, it has always puzzled me that the evangelical Christians would be willing to tolerate Trump's behavior under the cover of such a clearly faked religiosity. Apparently there are strongly tolerant groups in American society! (joke)
I grabbed a novel to relax and escape such news - but Minnesotan John Sandford delivered a Washington DC terrorist cell going after senator's children (Masked Prey). Argh!
"Whilst the instigator gets away scot free. This surely is a very bad, disastrous even, look? It would certainlty be political suicide this side of the Pond, and I'm not sure it won't have serious political implications over your side too?"
No, it just formalizes his immunity. We are accustomed to seeing this is Mexico, and other countries in the Americas. We are now another one of the Banana Republics.
Thanks for a cross-puddle perspective, Jonathan. Trumpsky has been acquitted by the Senate, but is still legally on the hook for numerous criminal and civil violations. We shall see whether he gets his richly-deserved comeuppance.
English history is highly relevant concerning whether the Jan 6 insurrection was an attempted coup. Some experts (but not HCR) believe that coups must involve the military and target the head of state. Yet two English heads of state, Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, staged successful coups against Parliament, their own legislature. These examples loomed large for American revolutionaries and at the later Constitutional Convention. Jan 6 showed that the danger of an unrestrained executive branch or president was/is very real.
Sorry, no specialized references, but D. Higginbotham, The War for American Independence, is outstanding because it has less military narrative and more on Anglo-American political and legal history, even going back to the 17C.
Thank you for making this sad, crazy, inconceivable time through the Trump and Covid period clear, calm, less frightening, and always enlightening. I post your letters everyday, and they have helped many others as well. I appreciate the little anecdote you've shared, especially the photo of the heart...Stay safe, so grateful for what you do. I always looking forward to your level-headed, brilliant interpretations and summaries.
I LOVE exploring cemeteries and reading the headstones! And the heart stone is just perfect. And yes, yes, yes, there is so much love and goodness in the world. I read the comments that come through from subscribers and can’t stomach the public Facebook stuff. Maybe it’s changed there, but I love the people whose comments come through on my emailed version. Thank you, new friends.
About time...thank you for the past year. You have given me solace and logic and facts as a way to deal with the constant barrage of false information and inflammatory speech. It truly has been a gift.
And that, HCR, is why you have the following you do. We respect and yearn for your knowledge, your historical perspective, and your awareness as to what is relevant and how to present it effectively. Would love to take one of your classes. See you in August...if we make it to Maine ever again!
The headline yesterday morning read, "Trump Acquitted." That just shouldn't be right. A majority voted him guilty. A majority did NOT exonerate him. "Acquit: free (someone) from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty." There's got to be an inbetween ruling like "Guilty as hell but 43 corrupt chickenshit senators, all bought and paid for, let the lying, murdering scum off." Something like that.
Becky, in the US most criminal cases have traditionally been divided into verdict and sentencing. In most cases a jury, the "finders of fact," votes to decide whether or not the defendant committed the crime of which s/he is accused. If the verdict is guilty, traditionally the judge then, usually at a later date, imposes a sentence of punishment.
But in some trials the jury is tasked with both responsibilities. This principally happens in cases where the law allows a sentence of death to be imposed. In the second or penalty phase, the jury votes to decide whether or not the defendant is to be put to death by the state. As a side note, our courts and newspapers use the word "executed" as a euphemism for "killed" or "put to death." This usage derives from the more elaborate wording that a sentence of death was executed (carried out) on the prisoner.
Thank you, Ralph. But in conviction for impeachment, the penalty (penalties) are given, aren't they? Removal from office and disqualification to hold office in the future?
My understanding is that the Senate was voting on the guilt phase. If they had found him guilty by a 2/3's majority, they would then vote on the penalty phase, i.e. not being allowed to run for political office in the future.
Thanks for sharing a personal memory. The holidays this year has been hard to remember, to celebrate. Your heart photo brought February 14i. Into focus. It was a beautiful reminder.
Thanks Dr. Richardson. A close friend who is a pastor sent me this; “This is part of the story. This is not the whole story. The world belongs to God.” Trying to keep my chin up.
Thanks for the perspective, Heather. My wife collects heart shaped rocks from everywhere we've been, which often makes the trip through customs a little more entertaining.
Dear community, if you must have some trenchant commentary on the day, have a look at this article from the Guardian:
My tired eyes first read the closing to say that the preacher dropped dead shortly after poaching a salmon.
That’ll teach him to go after other people’s fish.
Or cooking.
My eyes read it that way too!! And poaching is supposed to be so healthy!!
LOL ;-)
Maybe the sermon was "fire and brimstone." Too much for the peacher.
HAAAAAAAAAAA!!
Practice what you poach.
But i thought they used to execute poachers in times gone by.
If you mean England, yes. Capital punishment for poaching was part of the Black Act passed by Parliament in 1723, prescribing the death penalty for numerous minor offenses. Transportation, i.e. exile to a penal colony, was another draconian punishment. They were an official response to unrest spurred by economic change, and not repealed until the 1820s. I'm less sure about America, but colonial laws generally followed English precedents.
D Hay et al, Albion's Fatal Tree
R Hughes, The Fatal Shore
P Linebaugh, The London Hanged
G Rude, Protest and Punishment
E Thompson, Whigs and Hunters
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
mind you it might have been an early product of the "fish farms" that dominate the fish stalls these days!
This is so funny! Thank you for the great laugh.
Delightful!!
Even on your night off, you manage to shed light on the darkness. Thank you for your wisdom and ever so unique perspective.
Thank you! You are as always one of the bright lights in these dark times, but hopefully the days will continue brighter going forward under a new administration. While the acquittal of 45 was not unexpected, it was still very disappointing and more painful than I expected. I retreated for a day from all social media and news. I thank you for your Letters that help our perspective. And I thank you for the photo and a bit longer reprieve from the news of this week. 💜 Stay safe!
I too was disappointed once again! The house managers were stellar and presented a clear case for impeachment. The other side did not yet they they won. I guess what I rest in is that if people watched the videos they may have a better picture of the siege Democracy was under. Our Democracy is more fragile than I imagined. We will not survive another despot. Thank God for people like Stacy Abrams who worked tirelessly to ensure people vote. So important to make voting accessible to all. We need to focus on voting rights not restrictions if we are a Democracy
This may be a quiet evening and President’s Day, due to Dr Richardson’s respite. So, I have a quote I’d like to share, and I wonder if anyone is familiar with it:
Vision without action is merely a dream
Action without vision just passes the time
Vision with Action can change the world
~ Joel A. Barker
That’s great. It reminds me of a similar maxim (which I need often): “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
How about action without insight is impotent?
I wish the DNC elite were honest enough to read Chalmers Johnson. No more hiding behind “national security “.
Trump is a master of exploiting the truth within a lie.
Yes! re Chalmers Johnson. Re Trump. Yes, a master. One hears a lot about his incompetence and stupidity. I think he’s a malevolent narcissistic sociopath but brilliant. Shakespearean. He’s created a whole alternative parallel universe and has 74M of the voting country believing it. That’s the equivalent of believing polar tilt causes global warming. He’s outmaneuvered mighty Mitch and taken over control of the QOP. He’s accomplished what he set out to do which is pack the courts and SCOTUS, enrich himself and loyalists, and launch Trumpism, an illiberal, undemocratic, autocratic political movement working toward redefining governance in America. What he didn’t care about he ignored such as the pandemic. I would hope he would be hauled before the International Court of Justice—the World Court— and be charged with crimes against humanity as was done against Chilean dictator Pinochet. No? If not, why not? This might qualify as a rant.🌀
Thank you for mentioning Chalmers Johnson. I just looked him up and find him very interesting.
You’re in for a treat. He’s a no-nonsense outspoken truth-sayer and erudite academic and writer steeped in knowledge with the courage to speak up and speak out. One of my heroes along with Noam Chomsky.
Chalmers Johnson is/was a national treasure. An expert on Japan and US foreign policy and its military overreach. A former cold warrior, he did a U-turn and became an eloquent and outspoken critic of US military power abroad; of the CIA as the president’s private army in effect deposing the democratically elected president of Iran and installing the Shah. Generally vs American hubris of empire by military might abroad and domestically secrecy within the government. He warned of the consequences of US empirical overreach.
He’s all over YouTube with one hour+ talks, all worth paying attention to despite their being a decade old. His talks are riveting. He’s written several books among them the prescient Blow Back trilogy which comprises “ Blow Back: the costs and consequences of American empire,” “NEMESIS: The last days of the American republic,” and “The sorrows of empire: Militarism, secrecy and the end of the republic.” Among many others.
A very good introduction is this one hour talk, “Speaking Freely”
https://youtu.be/sZwFm64_uXA
Good link, thanks!
Thank you!
My husband and I just watched this. It's a bit overwhelming how much I don't know. We'll watch others of his videos. I'm glad you mentioned Noam Chomsky. I discovered him recently and have enjoyed listening to his talks and learned a lot.
High recommendation for the work of the late Chalmers Johnson.
Reminds me of an Ursula K. Le Guin quote:
"Becoming without being is meaningless.
Being without becoming is a big bore."
(Le Guin, Ursula Kroeber. THE DISPOSSESSED. 1974. Harper Collins, 2003.)
Please see my recent long comments, 10:30AM ET
Ahhh, hiking on a Maine island on a summer day! That’s a memory I can disappear into. I can smell the evergreens and the salt air, hear the waves on the rocks, taste the wild blue berries, hear the laughter and chatter of family. Thanks for the happy trip down memory lane... and for all that you do. And yes, there is love. Even in a rock.
You should look up the book, Summer Island, by photographer Eliot Porter. I got my copy shortly after it was published in 1977, and the text and photos are marvelously evocative of the beautiful coast of Maine.
And while we're on the subject of escape reading, has anyone here ever read Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright? I see it is available free online through Open Library. It was published in 1942, is about 500 pages long, and a wonderful, wonderful utopian escape novel. I've read it many times.
Recs always appreciated. Thanx, Becky.
Anchoring off of Butter Island, ahhhh yes, love. We enjoyed all this plus the delight of sheep spotting. So many wonderful memories for every sense!
The blueberries on Butter Island during a summer hike are one of my fondest memories.
Just the name Butter island sends me.....ahhhhh
Its neighbor is I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Island.
Hahahaha!
Morning all, and over here in the UK Valentine's Day , poached salmon to boot, is a fading memory.
If I may make a few more serious points.
Firstly, from my perspective as retired lawyer ( England) I did feel that Jamie Raskin gave a near flawless performance. Graceful, agile and completely sincere. Somehow reminded me of your other great Court player, Pete Sampras!
Secondly, and again from a UK perspective, I am surprised that commentators generally do not see more significance in the fact that the mob were clearly following the former President's lead and will now pay a very heavy criminal price for so doing. Whilst the instigator gets away scot free. This surely is a very bad, disastrous even, look? It would certainlty be political suicide this side of the Pond, and I'm not sure it won't have serious political implications over your side too?
Thirdly, it seems the optimistic hopes of HCR seeing a possible way out for Republicans by not voting/being 'present', has not come to pass. I still cannot see why MM did not, on the back of the jurisdiction point, simply suggest absence. That would have been at least logical. That he did not does indicate he preferred and wanted an acquittal, in any circumstances. Notwithstanding his fine/hypocritical words afterwards.
Be interested in views on these points.
Best wishes,
Jonathan.
He may have gotten off scot free in the Senate (not in the Congress, he is still impeached) however, the Criminal and Civil Courts still have yet to be employed. Granted, it will take a long time but I am all for any lever or pressure to be borne on that horrible man who has caused so much death and suffering.
He was impeached by the House and found guilty by a vote of 57 to 43 in the Senate. He was acquitted because there was not a 2/3 majority vote to convict which is required by our Constitution.
Mitch McConnell is calculating above all else. He decided to acquit (on a self created technicality) then verbally condemn Trump to appeal to both Trump’s base and the business wing of the GOP. We all know Trump incited the mob, Republicans know it too. That’s why Mitch fabricated his rule that a President can’t be impeached after leaving office. It gave his Senators cover, however flimsy, to acquit. Once again, all strategy, no decency.
The majority of Americans agree with you on every point and are sickened by the criminal negligence of the Republicans and MM's typically sneaky post-not-guilty-vote exhortation on Trump's criminal behavior. The cult has no conscience, no morals, no courage, no patriotism. We are caught in the grip of a Machiavellian minority.
Thanks for the view for the UK (a friend just moved there this week to join her husband). I read an article about the rioters. Most were not affiliated with any militia, were business owners, professionals ...that is, there on their own so to speak. They were not necessarily from red states. They have much to lose with criminal charges. Most said they were there bc their president needed and asked them to be.
Thanks Marcy. Very good point. In your view would those supporters , affiliated or otherwise, still be MAGA types after they have received serious sentences? And their friends/families still be MAGA loyal?
Perhaps I am being naive, and obv there are many wider considerations, but in general throwing your supportedrs under the bus is not a great vote winner...? Or are they all to embrace MAGA martyrdom? In a word, the GOP is, I believe, stuffed. If not immediately but certainly by 2022.
And going back to your man Raskin, as well as all the superlatives there was I think an occasional glint of cold steel, saturnine, black panther, something of the night...? Superb, I was gripped.
Among the many problems I see with the MAGA crowd: 1) they are demonstrably divorced from reality, and happily so, 2) there is already a feeling of persecution among them, from the forces of liberalism, so martyrdom is just another step on the spectrum. Which leads me to: 3) if their leader becomes unavailable, for whatever reason, they will look to attach their allegiance to whoever takes up the mantle with the most extreme and fiery rhetoric, so baking in an incentive to be as intransigent and hostile as possible. Definitely not a good look, any of this. But that assumes one is looking from a perspective of thoughtful reason.
Trump supporters must be somewhat delusional to have supported such a creature. They may blame the system, rather than the man who “threw them under the bus.”
I suspect that the filthy insurrectionist scum has little taste for their own personal martyrdom. "Hooray for the martyrs! But not me, I want to stay comfy."
The mills of justice grind slow but fine. Prepare to see the rank-& file remorselessly crushed into little pieces, hopefully with the big fish suffering the same fate.
Also, I still think trump may well face criminal charges from this. May be why Lindsey seemed to be slow rolling Garland’s confirmation hearing.
This is the danger. The Trump movement is both a mass movement made up of ordinary Americans and a terrorist core. If the Trump movement was only a terrorist core, law enforcement could curb its influence. And if the Trump movement was just a mass movement without a terrorist core, traditional political strategies would do just fine. But it’s both.
Thanks Brad. Neatly put. Worse still, both elements are happy to tolerate the other.
Well, it has always puzzled me that the evangelical Christians would be willing to tolerate Trump's behavior under the cover of such a clearly faked religiosity. Apparently there are strongly tolerant groups in American society! (joke)
I grabbed a novel to relax and escape such news - but Minnesotan John Sandford delivered a Washington DC terrorist cell going after senator's children (Masked Prey). Argh!
"Whilst the instigator gets away scot free. This surely is a very bad, disastrous even, look? It would certainlty be political suicide this side of the Pond, and I'm not sure it won't have serious political implications over your side too?"
No, it just formalizes his immunity. We are accustomed to seeing this is Mexico, and other countries in the Americas. We are now another one of the Banana Republics.
His supporters revel in his untouchablity.
Since the US effectively created the Banana Republics, we might look to William Blake: "You become what you behold."
Thanks for a cross-puddle perspective, Jonathan. Trumpsky has been acquitted by the Senate, but is still legally on the hook for numerous criminal and civil violations. We shall see whether he gets his richly-deserved comeuppance.
English history is highly relevant concerning whether the Jan 6 insurrection was an attempted coup. Some experts (but not HCR) believe that coups must involve the military and target the head of state. Yet two English heads of state, Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, staged successful coups against Parliament, their own legislature. These examples loomed large for American revolutionaries and at the later Constitutional Convention. Jan 6 showed that the danger of an unrestrained executive branch or president was/is very real.
Sorry, no specialized references, but D. Higginbotham, The War for American Independence, is outstanding because it has less military narrative and more on Anglo-American political and legal history, even going back to the 17C.
Shout out to Pete Sampras. Loved him!
God yes. Panther, prowling that base line....
He was so fun to watch.
Thank you for making this sad, crazy, inconceivable time through the Trump and Covid period clear, calm, less frightening, and always enlightening. I post your letters everyday, and they have helped many others as well. I appreciate the little anecdote you've shared, especially the photo of the heart...Stay safe, so grateful for what you do. I always looking forward to your level-headed, brilliant interpretations and summaries.
That's really gneiss ;)
Thanks and happy Valentine's.
Gneiss one, William!
Geologists take everything for granite.
A beautiful valentine. Rest well, Heather and friends, near and far.
I LOVE exploring cemeteries and reading the headstones! And the heart stone is just perfect. And yes, yes, yes, there is so much love and goodness in the world. I read the comments that come through from subscribers and can’t stomach the public Facebook stuff. Maybe it’s changed there, but I love the people whose comments come through on my emailed version. Thank you, new friends.
About time...thank you for the past year. You have given me solace and logic and facts as a way to deal with the constant barrage of false information and inflammatory speech. It truly has been a gift.
And that, HCR, is why you have the following you do. We respect and yearn for your knowledge, your historical perspective, and your awareness as to what is relevant and how to present it effectively. Would love to take one of your classes. See you in August...if we make it to Maine ever again!
Wasn’t he found guilty by a vote of 57-43? Just not enough votes for impeachment by 10. Or am I reading that wrong?
The headline yesterday morning read, "Trump Acquitted." That just shouldn't be right. A majority voted him guilty. A majority did NOT exonerate him. "Acquit: free (someone) from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty." There's got to be an inbetween ruling like "Guilty as hell but 43 corrupt chickenshit senators, all bought and paid for, let the lying, murdering scum off." Something like that.
I said the same thing! Couldn’t agree more! Or just a headline that states: voted guilty but not enough votes to impeach.
Go on with your bad self, MaryPat!
Your good bad self, that is.
I like that!
We like the way you think, Jane.
Yes, 57 voted to convict (7 Republicans, 50 Democrats), but it required 2/3 of the entire Senate, or 11 more than the total conviction votes.
That’s what I thought. I wish that were the lead story....
Trial in the Senate is guilt phase and penalty phase combined.
To make the impeachment process viable again it would help to separate those.
Ralph, can you explain this for me?
Becky, in the US most criminal cases have traditionally been divided into verdict and sentencing. In most cases a jury, the "finders of fact," votes to decide whether or not the defendant committed the crime of which s/he is accused. If the verdict is guilty, traditionally the judge then, usually at a later date, imposes a sentence of punishment.
But in some trials the jury is tasked with both responsibilities. This principally happens in cases where the law allows a sentence of death to be imposed. In the second or penalty phase, the jury votes to decide whether or not the defendant is to be put to death by the state. As a side note, our courts and newspapers use the word "executed" as a euphemism for "killed" or "put to death." This usage derives from the more elaborate wording that a sentence of death was executed (carried out) on the prisoner.
Thank you, Ralph. But in conviction for impeachment, the penalty (penalties) are given, aren't they? Removal from office and disqualification to hold office in the future?
That was my understanding, but Stephen Golovnin (next comment) thinks otherwise. I guess the right answer to your question is
I thought so, but now I'm not sure.
My understanding is that the Senate was voting on the guilt phase. If they had found him guilty by a 2/3's majority, they would then vote on the penalty phase, i.e. not being allowed to run for political office in the future.
Do you have any references for that?
Whatever the situation is now, my thought was to amend or change it to separate it into two phases.
Oh!
Thanks for sharing a personal memory. The holidays this year has been hard to remember, to celebrate. Your heart photo brought February 14i. Into focus. It was a beautiful reminder.
Love it! Happy Valentine’s Day! There is still goodness and love in the world.
Thanks Dr. Richardson. A close friend who is a pastor sent me this; “This is part of the story. This is not the whole story. The world belongs to God.” Trying to keep my chin up.
Thanks for the perspective, Heather. My wife collects heart shaped rocks from everywhere we've been, which often makes the trip through customs a little more entertaining.
Dear community, if you must have some trenchant commentary on the day, have a look at this article from the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/14/mitch-mcconnell-trump-impeachment-speech-hostage-video
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!