Saturday Stuff (updates)

Charles Schumer is absolutely, without a doubt, the most useless “Democratic” politician I have ever seen in my life!

Who on the Dem side made the decision not to call witnesses in Trump’s second impeachment trial? Who handed Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao a gift-wrapped, ribbon-tied Valentine to prematurely end the proceedings and hasten Generalissimo Trump’s acquittal?

How could it have been anyone BUT Schumer??!!

I’m just one person and my personal situation doesn’t matter in the scheme of things I know, but do you want to know WHY I steadfastly refuse to donate to the DCCC, DNC, DSCC or similar organizations (despite the plague of phone calls, Emails and texts)? It’s because of Repug-accommodating bullshit just like this, that’s why!

Yes, we knew Trump would be acquitted because not enough Republican U.S. Senate cowards would do the right honorable thing and ensure that 45 NEVER blighted our presence again and would be forever denied any post-presidential perks (and again, I grudgingly have to do something I thought I would never do and that is to give Pat Toomey credit for showing some political courage for a change, since he was one of seven Republicans with an actual conscience on this).

BUT THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO COULD HAVE TESTIFIED! DOES ANYBODY SERIOUSLY THINK REPUBLICANS WOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES? WHAT PLANET DOES SCHUMER LIVE ON????!!!!

I don’t normally put a lot of faith in Politico, but this is all I’ve been able to track down so far on this. And what I take from this account (again, unless some other information comes up that is verified by at least one source I would consider reliable) is that conserva-Dems Chris Coons and Joe Manchin (big surprises I know) put pressure on the House impeachment managers not to call witnesses (the alternative version is that House managers weren’t prepared to call witnesses, which, given their expert presentations to date, is a “take” that I find very difficult to believe).

And who is to blame for allowing Manchin and Coons to pull this garbage? As far as I’m concerned, it’s Schumer, for not keeping his caucus together on this (and don't think I'm giving this cretin a pass either).

Which makes this clip (in the matter of Trump’s first impeachment) laughably absurd and ridiculous...



(OK, to be fair, I think this is noteworthy. But given the prior clip, I think that makes the argument against witnesses even more of a joke. And I realize that could have opened the door to the Trump team calling everybody and their brother to drag this out and make it look like the Senate Dems can't get anything done, but as far as I'm concerned, you use every weapon at your disposal.)

Update 1: I have a bit of respect for Norman Ornstein, but sorry - no sale (here).

Update 2: Uh, yep...



...and probably what makes me angriest the most about the decision not to call witnesses is the fact that the call from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to the Gropenfuhrer should have been entered into the record, but now it never will be (McCarthy should have been forced to testify, even if he had been a hostile witness – Cenk’s outrage is commendable and COMPLETELY called for IMHOUpdate 1 2/14/21: OK, I was wrong - the statement from Jamie Herrera Beutler described the McCarthy call to Trump (here), and that was read into the record - Cenk discussed the McCarthy call in this clip...



Update 2 2/14/21: I may have been wrong about McCarthy/Herrera, but it looks like I wasn't wrong about Coons (here).

Update 3 2/14/21: Here is another take on the Dems’s failure to call witnesses, and I’d like to respond as follows:

Think of how compelling it would have been for Officer Eugene Goodman or anyone else in the Capitol police to testify as to the strain the 1/6 attacks had inflicted on them personally and professionally. Or for anyone in the House or Senate (who likely would have been Dems of course) who were forced to literally run for their lives. Or fear for greater exposure to COVID from mask-less protestors. Or from anyone who had to clean up the mess and destruction from the thugs bent on murder and mayhem. THAT would have attached human faces to all of this carnage. And yes, I realize President Tiny-Handed Orange Pestilence would have likely been acquitted anyway, but it would have formed an indelible impression.

To compare this to another episode from the history books, what does everyone remember about the Watergate congressional investigation for example? It was the testimony from the real or accused co-conspirators, John Dean in particular.

As far as I’m concerned, the same standard applies here (and here is more ammunition in support of that argument).

Update 4 2/14/21: AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T FREAKING STAND IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!! (and I don't mean Eschaton)

Update 1 2/15/21: Yep, I think this says it.

Update 2 2/15/21: If this is true, then it should have been announced by Schumer or a House impeachment manager on Saturday, not an MSNBC TV host two days later.

...and returning to the just-concluded trial (ugh), this Now This clip tells us that Trump’s lawyers basically took their talking points from Fix Noise – big surprise, I know (and as far as the claim about John Sullivan is concerned, I give you this)...



...and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, don’t you love the way the “Fox-bots” like this John Roberts guy and that blonde hairdo get uncomfortable with Chris Wallace telling the truth and start mumbling over him near the end of the clip, as if to say, “yeah – you’re going off script, Chris, so we’re cutting you off”? Assholes (Brian Tyler Cohen tells us more)...



...and I realize this isn’t the end of investigations related to last November’s election; as David Doel tells us, it looks like Huckleberry Graham is still “in the barrel,” you might say, over potential election interference in Georgia...



...and oh yeah, it turns out that Our Treasonous Former Russian Operative of a *president was a lot sicker with COVID than we knew previously - lies upon lies upon lies of course...



...and happy 71st birthday to Peter Gabriel.

Friday Stuff

As far as impeaching Our Treasonous Russian Operative of a former *president, the Dems need to go through this exercise of course; however, it truly would be a miracle if they were able to pull in enough Senate Republican cowards to convict...



...especially when so many of them are blowing off the proceedings, as John I. and Brett Erlich tell us; good points by Erlich about “jury tampering,” which the stuff with Graham, Lee and Cruz truly is – oh, and by the way, in case you think I intend to gang up only on the “party of Lincoln,” I give you this on wholly other matters...Kyrsten Sinema, weird hair and paisley dresses or whatever, has turned out to be as awful as I feared...



...and just so nobody can accuse me of stacking the metaphorical deck against former Generalissimo Trump, I’ll give you this ripe nugget from Michael van der Veen, one of 45's lawyers, allegedly in defense of the Gropenfuhrer (1:20 of this idiocy is about as much as I can tolerate, to be honest)...



...and why am I not surprised that Trump’s lawyers had access to the same security videos the impeachment managers showed, even though they claimed that they didn’t (a total lie of course, which would have probably been disqualifying all by itself and leading to an automatic acquittal if they hadn’t shared it)...



...and Chris Hayes gives us more on the threat to former VP Mike Pence, with Olivia Troye – and why am I also not in the least surprised that “dumb as a rock” Tommy Tuberville told Combover Caligula that Pence was in the Senate? And yeah, watch Cornyn try to “disappear” former VP Pence of his party – “oh him? Yeah, I heard he went back to Indiana”...truly, no honor among thieves; we know what Pence is, but just because he’s an intolerant, “pro life” bigot, that doesn’t mean that he deserves to be hung from a scaffold either...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that Former President Fergus Laing is so confident that he'll win his 2nd impeachment trial that he decided to go golfing; what's really depressing is that he's probably right (and speaking of the "karma" Cousins refers to, I give you this)...



...and David Pakman gives us a little more on the splintering of the “GOP,” though, to be sure, it’s waaay too early to forecast how much of that may actually help Democrats...



...and RIP Chick Corea.

Thursday Stuff

Gee, it looks like the red, white and blue longhorn lunatic, this Jacob Chansley life form (who apparently only wants to eat organic food in the “slam,” or something) felt “duped,” as 2nd impeachment manager and U.S. House Rep Diane DeGette tells us...aww, poor baby – have fun rotting in prison, you treasonous POS...



...and yeah, once more, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but this is yet another good ad...



...and David Doel presents new footage introduced at the trial showing how close politicians were to the rioters (Romney, Pence, Schumer – yeah, I agree with Doel’s Pence sentiment, but I’m willing to overlook that for now)...



...and in case you were wondering how The Roger Ailes BS Factory was treating the impeachment...well, John I. and Jason Carter tell us that they were covering the “kitten lawyer” instead (lather, rinse, repeat – sigh...to do more about this, click here)...



...and Sam and Emma tells us about Brian Kilmeade on Fix and Fiends advocating for ICE, who apparently are complaining about having to go after, y’know, actual criminals instead of comparatively innocent migrant moms and kids (important comment by Emma V. at the very end, which is completely bipartisan)...



...and speaking of driving under the influence in the prior clip, I hope The Boss gets the help he needs (here); easy trap to fall into...and no, I didn’t see the damn Jeep commercial in the Super Bowl, and I don’t care.



Update: What an utter bullshit bust by a cop apparently trying to make a name for himself by rousting somebody famous - if I were Springsteen, I'd sue.

Wednesday Stuff

This was part of yesterday’s opening presentation in former Generalissimo Trump’s second impeachment trial in the Senate from Dem U.S. House Rep Jamie Raskin – can’t imagine the courage of that man to carry on with this after the death of his son; we all owe him such a debt for this (here – very NSFW/H for a good reason...and I know I’m setting the bar pretty low here and he really has nothing to lose politically, but kudos to – ahem – Pat Toomey for actually doing the right thing for once as noted here)...



...and as for the trial, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Alan Dershowitz (who I hope was wearing underwear) and his remarks in support of Raskin, who apparently was a former student; Dershy said this on a Trump-friendly TV channel (and I’m not sure where the hell Bruce Castor was going, and I don’t think anyone else was either)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about how Combover Caligula responded to his legal representation (heh), harking back to the prior clip a bit...



...and apparently, our corporate media is continuing to stack the deck in favor of the “party of Lincoln” by noting that a “slim majority” of 56 percent of those polled want the Gropenfuhrer to be impeached and convicted this time (as somebody said, yeah, lemme know the next time 56 percent is referred to as a “slim majority” about anything, as John and Francesca tell us)...



...and yeah, as noted here, Repugs suddenly care about the debt/deficit when Democrats are in charge again – how damn predictable...



...and I know my music choices have been stuck in the past a bit, but I didn’t want to ignore the passing of Jim Weatherly, who wrote this great ‘70s tune (forgot about how awesome the bass line is in this song).

Tuesday Stuff

I normally wouldn’t pay much attention to Brian (Iraqi Helicopter Ride – and yes, I know he apologized for concocting that story) Williams, but I thought this was a good discussion with author Jon Meacham about the Republican Party’s history of extremism and how Bill Buckley and Bush 41 dealt with the Birchers – I know there are fringe elements on both sides, but let me know if and when the Dems every try a violent overthrow of our government and I’ll condemn that too (and speaking of seditionists, please do not shed too many tears for this guy, who made the infamous list here – sorry he’s dead, but let’s not forget about context, OK?)...



...and oh yeah, a certain former 45th *president is getting impeached for the second time at this moment, as noted here...



...and speaking of insanity from the “party of Lincoln,” John I. talks with Thom Hartmann about the evolution of American oligarchy (we just observed Reagan’s birthday, and as far as I’m concerned, he’s more to blame than anyone else...Thom H. mentions something called the Tillman Act that passed under TR as well as the Buckley and Belotti SCOTUS decisions that pretty much legalized corporate bribery, as he notes)...



...and RIP Mary Wilson of The Supremes.