The Kabuki now starts in earnest.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 8:54pm

At this time (19:50 MST 12/18/2019) BBC World News is reporting that the US House of (Non) Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump on two counts, "Abuse of Power" and "Impeding Congress".

(Never mind that the US Congress itself is the source of almost all the impeding Congress faces!)

Please feel free to add any and all new details in the Essay's Comments.

Tags:

Trump

impeachment

Congress

pendejos

Vote

Comments

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 8:56pm

BOHICA

BOHICA.

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by earthling1 on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 9:25pm

Ehh,

this isn't my first ~~rodeo~~ impeachment. Seen one, seen em' all.
Now the House can go to work for the people gettin' stuff done.
Har har har har.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by WoodsDweller on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 9:30pm

I know I'm in the minority here on this one ...

... but I'll take my victories where I can get them.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/12/trump-has-joined-the-losers-of-presiden...

... Never-Trump conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin released a scorching assessment ... “Even Trump knows he will be lumped in with the ‘losers’ in the presidential history rankings such as Richard Nixon and Andrew Johnson,” wrote Rubin. “Impeachment will define his presidency, dwarfing any other foreign or domestic action. No wonder he rages against a speaker he is powerless to stop. His worst nightmare is to be humiliated, and if not now, history certainly will regard him as a pitiful, damaged man utterly unfit for the role he won through a series of improbable events ... Just as Watergate figures ... were lionized as defenders of the Constitution, so too will Pelosi and House Democrats ... be among those admired for their lucidity, intellect and character. ... For every clownish, contemptible, screeching and dishonest House Republican, there is a sober, admirable, restrained and honest Democrat.
“No letter, no tweet, no Fox News spin can repair the reputations of Trump enablers,” Rubin wrote. The right-wing media that cheered them on will, like outlets that rooted for Jim Crow and demonized Freedom Riders, be shunned by decent, freedom-loving people who reaffirm objective reality. The Republican Party will be known not as the Party of Lincoln but the Party of Trump, a quisling party that lost its bearings and its soul to defend an unhinged narcissist.

—

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by on the cusp on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 10:10pm

I don't give a f...

@WoodsDweller about his place in history any more than he does.
He has little or no concept of history.
This impeachment just might make him the most overwhelming voted for presidential candidate in history next year.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by WoodsDweller on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 10:22pm

He's not some unstoppable force.

@on the cusp
Without impeachment he gets 100% of Republican voters. With impeachment he gets 100% of Republican voters. Last time he won three states by the voters that would fit into Michigan Stadium with room left over. More than that have passed away since then. 100% of Republican voters will get him a bus ticket home.

—

Submitted by MinuteMan on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:50pm

In Yambo they trust?

@WoodsDweller I don't think it's going to affect the presidential election unless the Senate were to actually remove him (as if). However, the whole bicameral process will concretely bind all the GOPhers in Congress firmly to Trump and given their after-the-fact complicity expose them as the careerists that they are. So the legislative GOP has signed a suicide pact with Yambo that for a good many of them will likely end up ending their phoney-baloney careers.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 9:51pm

Yambo?

@MinuteMan Is that a contraction of Yellow-haired Rambo?

Submitted by FuturePassed on Fri, 12/20/2019 - 3:31pm

I don't think impeachment . . .

@MinuteMan
is impressing independents a hell of a lot. People elected Democrats in the House to bring down drug prices (Pelosi's negotiating the price of 25 drugs next year doesn't count except as an insult.) and health costs and improve their economic security. From the night of the election it's been a continuation of Hillary's campaign. Russiagate, Ukraingate, Impeachment, Trump bad! Do something for us damn it even if it only passes the house it will give Democrats something to run on. The billionaires strike back isn't going to do it.

The first poll out after it was clear Trump would be impeached, and it's only one, had Trump beating every Democrat running for the nomination.

Submitted by FuturePassed on Fri, 12/20/2019 - 4:16pm

I don't think impeachment . . .

The first poll out after it was clear Trump would be impeached, and it's only one, had Trump beating every Democrat running for the nomination.

Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 8:08am

interesting the piece didn't mention Clinton

@WoodsDweller

...as one who was impeached. Sounds like bias doesn't it?

I personally think impeachment is lose-lose for the dims. Already Trump is up in the polls and has had massive fund raising. It isn't a convincing charge to anyone is doesn't have TDS. And those with the derangement syndrome, as Jimmy says, has lost their critical thinking ability and is only using the lizard part of their brain.

Even when playing one dimensional chess you have to think a move or two ahead. Let's see what happens in the senate.

If there is a senate trial, what do you want to bet the Obama/Clinton/Biden Ukrainian coup which purposely installed fascists and provided them all profit are aired? The $hill to the tune of 10 M. Kerry's kid got a Burisma gig too you know. How do you distinguish between Biden with holding funds from Trump's?

Joe Biden was so proud of his role in the prosecutor’s removal from investigating the company paying his son $50,000 per month merely to serve on its board that he actually bragged about it in a 2018 speech at an event for the publication Foreign Affairs. In this speech, Biden boasts his threat to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loans from Ukraine if they did not agree to fire the prosecutor who happened to be investigating the company giving his son a cushy sinecure.

I remember going over and convincing our team, others, to convince that we should be providing for loan guarantees. And I went over, I guess, the 12th, 13th time to Kiev. And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from Poroshenko and from Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn’t.

So they said they had—they were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, I’m not going to—or, we’re not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You’re not the president. The president said—I said, call him. (Laughter.) I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars. I said, you’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money. Well, son of a b-tch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.

Do you think Joe Q. Public will draw a distinction? I don't. I've said repeatedly and continue to think that the impeachment was a huge tactical error, perhaps designed by the corporate dims to ensure another Trump term.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 9:53pm

We shall see

@Lookout Will any billionaires face punishment? Maybe Open Society Soros will get a semi-open cell at Gitmo (one can only hope).

#3 ...as one who was impeached. Sounds like bias doesn't it? I personally think impeachment is lose-lose for the dims. Already Trump is up in the polls and has had massive fund raising. It isn't a convincing charge to anyone is doesn't have TDS. And those with the derangement syndrome, as Jimmy says, has lost their critical thinking ability and is only using the lizard part of their brain. Even when playing one dimensional chess you have to think a move or two ahead. Let's see what happens in the senate. If there is a senate trial, what do you want to bet the Obama/Clinton/Biden Ukrainian coup which purposely installed fascists and provided them all profit are aired? The $hill to the tune of 10 M. Kerry's kid got a Burisma gig too you know. How do you distinguish between Biden with holding funds from Trump's? Joe Biden was so proud of his role in the prosecutor’s removal from investigating the company paying his son $50,000 per month merely to serve on its board that he actually bragged about it in a 2018 speech at an event for the publication Foreign Affairs. In this speech, Biden boasts his threat to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loans from Ukraine if they did not agree to fire the prosecutor who happened to be investigating the company giving his son a cushy sinecure. I remember going over and convincing our team, others, to convince that we should be providing for loan guarantees. And I went over, I guess, the 12th, 13th time to Kiev. And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from Poroshenko and from Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn’t. So they said they had—they were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, I’m not going to—or, we’re not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You’re not the president. The president said—I said, call him. (Laughter.) I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars. I said, you’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money. Well, son of a b-tch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time. Do you think Joe Q. Public will draw a distinction? I don't. I've said repeatedly and continue to think that the impeachment was a huge tactical error, perhaps designed by the corporate dims to ensure another Trump term.

Submitted by edg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:10pm

Never-Trump Jennifer Rubin. 'Nuff said.

@WoodsDweller

Submitted by Snode on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 4:52pm

This rings true

@WoodsDweller however, Trump is a master at attacks and revenge. He may be remembered more for the counter attack, and the weakness of the democrats than the impeachment. Only time and history (written by the victor) will tell.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 9:40pm

I am all for impeaching Trump

and I'd be happy that democrats got it done, but only if it would change things. Trump is doing many things that are hurting lots of people and I don't think it's all legal for him to do it. But democrats aren't going after him for those things of course because they want him to succeed. Besides, even if Trump was found guilty by the senate it won't change any damn thing. So it's just going to get him reelected and he will continue doing what he's doing now. With the full blessing of the democrats.

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 10:12pm

Moon of Alabama is spot on

@snoopydawg

From the comments:

I'm starting to think the whole trump presidency is a con by making him look like a target for the deep state and anti establishment, he continues the empire while people who want real change get sunk.

I have had this thought more than once since Trump was selected to play president. He makes too many unforced errors that are timely for democrats to jump on. He could have nipped Russia Gate in its tracks by having the NSA show how Russia did not hack into the DNC computers. I'm sure that there were other things he could have done, but never did. But if the Huber investigation has legs and someone actually gets held accountable for taking the country on this 3 year insanity I'll rethink my opinion.

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by Dr. John Carpenter on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 7:34am

I've been thinking the same thing.

@snoopydawg Also, they did the impeachment and he won't be removed. OK, now what? The Dems are working overtime to make sure it's anybody but Bernie on their side, which will probably result in a lose in 2020. So we get Trump again, an emboldened Trump because the Dems shot their shot already. I'd be shocked if they have a second chance on this. Meanwhile, bipartisan bills which continue to expand the military and domestic spying and screw the 99% keep rolling on. The Dems have a big bad Trump they can continue to scream about, all the while being every bit as complicit. Trump doesn't mind being the villain, probably prefers it, in fact.

And so it goes. Seems like a real "heads they win/tails we lose" deal to me. But what do I know?

—

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Submitted by ggersh on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 8:21am

He's the PERFECT FOIL for tptb

@snoopydawg Make it all about him while he destroys
what is left of the government, after all he is
the greatest and the government isn't

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 10:03pm

If Commander Cheeto is not controlled opposition

@snoopydawg then expect to see a few things:

Legislators going to prison (and it would be an absolute joy to see Klammer the Camel in that group).

Human trafficking, with all its Epsteinian trappings, including SRA (satanic ritual abuse) exposed.

The money grubbing scions of Pelosi, Kerry, Biden, and Mittens serving time for their foreign piggy banks.

If the sexual perversion and trafficking (perverse through and through) are brought to the surface, you will have confirmation of Q: no mercy. Which is what the plotters deserve.

No mercy. Burn them all.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIuayJJ9IEk]

Submitted by snoopydawg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 10:52pm

A few people might end up going to prison over the corrupt

@Alligator Ed

information used to get the FISA warrants. The attorney that changed the wording of Page's involvement with the CIA for sure will get slapped,but this?

Human trafficking, with all its Epsteinian trappings, including SRA (satanic ritual abuse) exposed.

I don't think that will ever happen. From Whitney Webb's brilliant essays on Epstein and everyone involved in sex trafficking going on decades ago all through some president's WH no one has ever been held accountable for it. And they killed Epstein to make sure he couldn't talk. Look at how Israel got away with blackmailing Clinton over the Monica scandal. This is common knowledge as is the many players involved with Epstein. Child trafficking is way too lucrative for that genii to ever get out of the bottle. I'd love to be wrong though.

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 10:00pm

It still amazes me...

that people actually think impeachment accomplishes anything other than diverting attention from the Dems giving Trump everything he wants.

Kayfabe.

—

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Submitted by PriceRip on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:02am

@Not Henry Kissinger

@Not Henry Kissinger

As is usual, you have exposed the core of the problem in a very few words.

As long as "they" get what "they" want nothing will change. I now live in "loud obnoxious republican" rather than "passive-aggressive republican" country and too many encounters are much more contentious than I have experienced over the past five decades.

RIP

Submitted by irishking on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 11:35am

been a while

@PriceRip

nice to see you

Submitted by WoodsDweller on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 10:05pm

Bernie

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_IRXxFog0o]

—

Submitted by ovals49 on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 10:11pm

Impeachment without conviction means next to nothing.

The Senate will not convict. Trumps chances of being re-elected are continuing to improve as Democratic Party insiders work overtime to see to it that Bernie Sanders has to fight the Republican Party, a MSM that either dismisses or ignores his candidacy, AND the Democratic Party which has, once again, stacked the deck against him.

By the way, Ms Rubin of the estimable Washington Post forgot to include William Jefferson Clinton in her list of miscreant Presidents.

Better to tune in to Greta Thunberg than to follow this impeachment farce.

—

“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024

Submitted by pro left on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 10:53pm

I thought the same

@ovals49 Why wasn't Clintons name on that list, I guess since the Senate voted to acquit WJC that made him a good guy. Anyway he's been raking in the money the last 20yrs, So it doesn't appear impeachment hurt him any.

Submitted by edg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:17pm

The Senate acquitted Johnson, too. n/t

@pro left

Submitted by Roy Blakeley on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:10pm

Ms Rubin is biased

@ovals49 to the point of being delusional. Saying that Pelosi and the house dems would be remembered for their lucidity, intellect and character pretty much indicates that she is out of touch with reality.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Wed, 12/18/2019 - 11:36pm

Thoughts?

WATCH → Dems expose their true colors.

Nancy Pelosi had to shut down Democrat applause when the first article of impeachment passed.

So much for Dems claiming impeachment is "solemn" for them.

What a ridiculous lie! pic.twitter.com/NJjzE8y3t7

— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) December 19, 2019

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by ovals49 on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 3:39am

All pretense of our country being a representative democracy

@snoopydawg
is gone. Our ~~two party~~ uniparty government has completely turned its back on serving the needs of the vast majority of the people of this country, and of the wider world. Profit sits at the head of our government. The monikers “Fascist” and “Totalitarian” are apt descriptors of the direction of our current trajectory. A dystopian future surely awaits us on this beautiful, fragile and life sustaining planet that we are trashing with such abandon.

Other than that, things are going quite nicely. Nancy is wearing her power pants and fools are applauding.

—

“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024

Submitted by Centaurea on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 12:28am

Tulsi voted "present"

In other words, she abstained. As with the Dem debates, she is openly and directly refusing to participate in the kabuki theater production.

Here's the email she sent her supporters tonight:

Tonight I voted alongside my colleagues in the House of Representatives on whether or not to impeach President Trump.

I want to explain why I decided to stand in the center and vote “present” instead of choosing a partisan position.

Throughout my life, whether through serving in the military or in Congress, I’ve always worked to do what is in the best interests of our country. Not what’s best for me politically or what’s best for my political party. I have always put our country first. One may not always agree with my decision, but everyone should know that I will always do what I believe to be right for the country that I love.

After doing my due diligence in reviewing the 658-page impeachment report, I came to the conclusion that I could not in good conscience vote either yes or no.

Click here to read my full statement:

https://www.tulsi2020.com/press/2019-12-19-tulsi-gabbard-releases-statem...

A house divided cannot stand. And today we are divided. Fragmentation and polarity are ripping our country apart. This breaks my heart, and breaks the hearts of all patriotic Americans, whether we are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents.

So today, I come before you to make a stand for the center, to appeal to all of you to bridge our differences and stand up for the American people.

My vote today is a vote for much needed reconciliation and hope that together we can heal our country. Let’s work side-by-side, seeking common ground, to usher in a bright future for the American people and our nation.

United we stand,
Tulsi

Warrior Tulsi. Go, girl.

—

"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by Johnny Q on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:23am

And of course

@Centaurea they're having a real hissy fit about that over at TOP.
Apparently she's worse than the people who actually voted against it.

—

They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway
They say that life's a game and then they take the board away
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
And leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret-- A. Moore

Submitted by tle on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 9:27am

I expect that all the neolib media will do the same.

@Johnny Q Is there a headline yet saying "A VOTE THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY!"?

I am disappointed to see that, so far as I know, Tulsi didn't get up in the House and list all the impeachable offenses that Trump did which weren't included in the articles of impeachment. Then pointed out examples of Democrats doing the same thing.

Submitted by wokkamile on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 11:45am

I understand she

@tle didn't get up in the House to say anything about the reason for her curious non-vote vote. Each member was given a small amount of time to say something and she declined the opportunity. I wonder if she felt entirely confident in her Present vote, and didn't want the video of a House speech on her record.

I don't find her written statement very persuasive, and even less so the lofty but empty calls for national unity and harmony. Please. This is DJT and the Trump Republican Party, who have no interest whatsoever in national unity. Their sole interest is in covering for and propping up Trump and they will push the country over the abyss if that's needed.

Disappointing from Tulsi, as I've been a strong backer. Now reconsidering.

Submitted by MinuteMan on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:55pm

A loose cannon

@wokkamile Sounds like Gabbard's auditioning for a position on the "both-sider" bench of a "mainstream" media-outlet or maybe as Bloomberg's running mate? Although I contributed once to help get her on the debate stage, I had always been a bit uncertain about where she stood—not any more.

Submitted by Snode on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 5:00pm

Yes

@wokkamile If any situation presented itself as an opportunity to give your point of view, it's this one. Not making your case leaves a void to be filled in by your adversaries.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 11:39pm

Tulsi's vote

@wokkamile

I don't find her written statement very persuasive, and even less so the lofty but empty calls for national unity and harmony. Please. This is DJT and the Trump Republican Party, who have no interest whatsoever in national unity. Their sole interest is in covering for and propping up Trump and they will push the country over the abyss if that's needed.

Disappointing from Tulsi, as I've been a strong backer. Now reconsidering.

I don't think reconsideration is necessary at all. There's no way to describe, rationally, the Through The Looking Glass like experience that Tulsi Gabbard faced in the halls of Regress during the Impeachment Clusterfuck. (Especially if one is trying to keep hir language suitable for family consumption, as Tulsi obviously is.)

Me, I'd simply state something like:

"Dear fellow American:

I voted "Present" on the Impeachment of President Trump because of all the BULLSHIT this steaming, festering piece of Kabuki Klusterfuck has imposed on our politics, our government, and especially our people. As I had no desire to spread this BULLSHIT around any further, or besmirch myself and you with the BULLSHIT, I voted as I did.

Respectfully, "

etc.

But then, that's just me!

Tulsi wanted her vote, and the experience of the same, couched in respectable terms. Her failure at this impossible task should not be held against her!

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 11:13pm

hissy fit

@Johnny Q

And of course they're having a real hissy fit about that over at TOP.

And in other news, liquid dihydrogen monoxide is wet, the Sun appears in the east, and Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!

[video:https://youtu.be/axByUFSa7N8]

Does anything else go on over at TOP besides hissy fits these days?

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by lotlizard on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 11:32pm

Sending Nancy Pelosi tens of thousands of roses?

@thanatokephaloides
https://lite.qwant.com/?q=roses+pelosi+birthday

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 11:52pm

I don't know, it must have been the roses.....

@lotlizard

Sending Nancy Pelosi tens of thousands of roses?
https://lite.qwant.com/?q=roses+pelosi+birthday

I don't know, maybe it was the roses!

[video:https://youtu.be/NgKM7kt2We8]

(H/t and apologies to ye Grateful Dead)

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by travelerxxx on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 12:48am

Vacuum

Watch Mitch McConnell suck the air right out of the Democrats lungs in about one minute once this mess goes to the Senate. That's what I think will happen once the House sends this impeachment bill to the Senate.

"Those in favor of considering the impeachment bill say aye." Democrats screaming "aye!"
"Those opposed?" Republicans all mutter "No."
"The No's have it. The bill is dismissed."

D-U-N, done.

No drama, no 24/7 newz coverage, no witnesses, no circus. Just crickets. Democrats are seen wandering around the capitol like lost puppies looking for the television cameras, but the cameras have all gone home for the holidays.

Trump's approval numbers go up by 10 points.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 11:59pm

suction

@travelerxxx

Watch Mitch McConnell suck the air

Yes, we know that's what the Turtle does. He sucks air.

Would FSM he'd find a useful application for this skill, like maybe rejuvenating old receiving tubes (vacuum tubes) and leave the wielding of power to those who have some business attempting that.....

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by PriceRip on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 12:50am

This is what needs to happen.

Given that the senate majority plans to not even provide a sham hearing wherein actual statements of fact are presented, and that the leadership has no intention of pretending to not follow Trump's direction, the house leadership should refrain from sending the issue to the senate until such time that the senate agrees to reverse its stonewalling.

With each new day new opportunities become available for Trump to generate new high crimes and misdemeanors, so ...

This refusal to accommodate the intransigent senate should be accompanied with the continued production of additional articles of impeachment, as not all of the high crimes and misdemeanors have been addressed. If this were to continue, Trump could become the first president to have been impeached several times during his term in office.

Now that would be awesome for the record books as Trump wants to be famous for all time! No president would ever be able to beat a record like that.

All hail Caesar!! Fire, I don't know of any fire!! Begone plebeian, I must attend to some fiddling, so begone!

RIP

Submitted by travelerxxx on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:05am

Up the sleeve

@PriceRip

... the house leadership should refrain from sending the issue to the senate until such time that the senate agrees to reverse its stonewalling.

Hmmm..... And here I figured they were out of ammo. Maybe not.

Submitted by ovals49 on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 7:32am

Keeping their powder dry, eh?

@travelerxxx

Hmmm..... And here I figured they were out of ammo. Maybe not.

This was the same strategy the Dems pursued with “W”.

Democrats and Republicans are functionally interchangeable. They seem very different when on the campaign trail but both end up pursuing identical foreign policy and economic agendas once ensconced in office. We’re never going to get substantial change (for the better) out of either.

—

“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024

Submitted by PriceRip on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:30pm

@ovals49

@ovals49

Democrats and Republicans are functionally interchangeable.

We need to use this against them. We need to go to the most prevalent bedrock "talking point" upon which lies the most fundamental lie. To a person they argue that taxes fund spending. "Follow the money" is not just an investigative technique it is a modern day mantra, incantation, and/or religious icon. We need to transform the narrative and force it down their throats.

It all starts with acknowledging that spending creates money and taxing annihilates money in an economic system. It continues with the understanding that economic systems are constructs in which we the people agree upon practices and procedures that reflect our values and priorities. And it ends with the understanding that the Rs and Ds do not get to control the process to favor the few at the expense of the many.

RIP

Submitted by travelerxxx on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:08pm

Naive

@ovals49

This was the same strategy the Dems pursued with “W”.

Hmm. Didn't know that.

Yeah, they're interchangeable all right. In fact, they're pretty much the same; one a little worse than the other, and which one that is can be debated. I guess I'm proud that I don't think like them and never considered that Pelosi would simply sit on the impeachment and not send it to the Senate at all ... or much later than now.

Submitted by wokkamile on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 3:47pm

Did the Dems

@ovals49 also impeach W? As I recall, Pelosi quickly took impeachment off the table. She probably sent W a Sternly Worded Letter instead.

This one however could turn out to be a very smart move by Pelosi if she does it and even if it eventually, weeks or months from now, ends up with a Trump senate acquittal.

Submitted by Tall Bald and Ugly on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 8:02am

This seems to be

the strategy, Not sending the articles of impeachment over to the senate. @PriceRip
He Stays in limbo, not being convicted, yet Never being exonerated. No chance of sketchy witnesses throwing light on the cockroaches inhabiting the dems side of this farce, they keep dRumph as a foil while aiding and abetting him, they smash the threat from their ‘left’, and continue imperialist hegemony.
Everybody wins-except the people.

—

Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Submitted by PriceRip on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:08pm

@Tall Bald and Ugly

@Tall Bald and Ugly

Everybody wins-except the people

Nail-head -- Hammer!

So, the question is how can we use this to finally begin the process of dismantling the hegemony. Just a random aside: Crushing cockroaches works best if one does not throw light upon them.

Let's be clear about one thing: Trump is not a player, he is a dupe, thug, a mafia don - big boss wannabe. There is no way of getting the dems to do the right stuff, they are not capable of dealing honestly so we shouldn't even pretend to believe them. The DNC and attendant minions will once again sandbag Sanders and do their best to undermine Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. We need to see that these efforts don't succeed (full stop)

RIP

Submitted by entrepreneur on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:09pm

Most importantly, they control the timing until they need to

@Tall Bald and Ugly
distract public attention from their shenanigans, like when they cheat their asses off in the primary to screw Bernie. They're not going to open Al Capone's vault right now. They are saving it for when they need it most ... during the primary.

Submitted by Roy Blakeley on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:34pm

To me this makes Pelosi look like even more of an idiot

@Tall Bald and Ugly Withholding the articles, just makes the entire procedure look like a partisan game (which, of course, it is). The Dems have gone through an entire mock investigation with lots of political theater. The floor of the house was ass deep in mock solemnity. And now they are just going to sit on the articles of impeachment!?! I guess it avoids the even greater embarrassment of having Joe and Hunter Biden's dirty laundry aired out in public, but it is certainly not a winning strategy.

Submitted by edg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:22pm

Not sending the article of impeachment.

@PriceRip

Yeah, that's a brilliant strategy. Oh, and I'm sure it'll result in multiple impeachments of Trump. And then unicorns will rain down from the sky and we'll all live happily ever after.

Submitted by wokkamile on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 3:38pm

Might as well --

@edg looks like McConnell has set up a sham trial in the senate, only a week or two, not allowing additional witnesses (Giuliani, Mulvaney, Bolton). This seems to be the GOP strategy for delivering Donald a small victory in the process.

Pelosi would do well not to give them that satisfaction. Withholding the articles might give her some leverage to negotiate for hearing from new witnesses a/o developing further info on Donald. And why rush to conduct what everyone knows will be a sham of a trial.

Submitted by edg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 6:13pm

Leverage?

@wokkamile

Withholding the articles gives Trump and McConnell the leverage. It makes it look like the House held sham hearings and created phony articles of impeachment they're too ashamed to send to the Senate.

Submitted by wokkamile on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 8:45pm

The only sham issue

@edg in the House was Trump blocking D efforts to call major direct witnesses from w/n the inner Trump circle. If DT had nothing to hide, requested documents would have been produced and these witnesses would have been allowed to speak under oath and their testimony would have defeated articles of impeachment and this matter would be now finished and Trump vindicated.

But of course that didn't happen and a reasonable inference is that it's b/c Trump has something to hide.

Submitted by edg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 9:09pm

Of course he's hiding.

@wokkamile

He's hiding that he authorized a missile attack on Syria based on phony chemical weapons claims. He's hiding that he's approved drone strikes in Yemen that killed 50 civilians. He gave $391 million worth of missiles to Ukraine, further provoking Russia and increasing the chance of nuclear war.

But he wasn't impeached for any of those things. So why the hell should he cooperate with the Democrats impeachment kabuki?

Submitted by Centaurea on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 9:50pm

Yep

@edg

The Dems are making themselves look stupid, once again. The same old self-sabotage they've done for the past 40 years, disguised as "The Repubs won't let us do anything."

In fact, I wonder if that's part of what Pelosi's trying to do with this. Once again presenting the Dems as downtrodden victims. "Those mean old Repubs won't hold a fair trial. We tried, but they won't let us do it."

—

"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Sun, 12/22/2019 - 7:37pm

sham impeachments

@edg

Withholding the articles gives Trump and McConnell the leverage. It makes it look like the House held sham hearings and created phony articles of impeachment they're too ashamed to send to the Senate.

Which is exactly what happened.

(for what happened, not your commentary thereon, edg)

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by mimi on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:47am

How the heck is someone supposed to understand all this?

So it is 8:34 am in Germany right now. I read this:
Pelosi says House may withhold impeachment articles, delaying Senate trial

So, have the impeachment articles sent over by now to the Senate or not?
If not
1. what would it cause to happen that would help to throw out the President out of the White House and convict him
If yes
2. Why would it not help to throw out the President from the White House and convict him.

What is actually conviction dependent on?

It makes me somewhat angry that I can't understand what the reasons for delaying the transfer of impeachment articles to the Senate are and why it is what Germans would say 'ist Jacke wie Hose', wether they send them over to the Senate right now or delay to send them over.

Am I really that stupid?

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Battle of Blair... on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:55am

Nancy is probably trying to hold the articles until after the

@mimi election. A "vote blue no matter who" motivator so people can swing the Senate to the Dems TPTB don't want the progressive left taking over the Dem Party.

Submitted by mimi on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:30am

France 24 helped me a little bit ...

@Battle of Blair Mountain @Battle of Blair Mountain
[video:https://youtu.be/is6Mv1U2hvw]
(this is a live stream and the points that helped me understand a little bit have already passed the current broadcast)

Even if Pelosi hopes to influence the Senate vote by withholding and not transferring the impeachment articles, don't your laws allow the President to simply not testify and not appear at the upcoming Senate trial? According to your laws that would not be illegal behavior by the President, right? Just a no show by the President. Nobody can't force him to show up, right?

So, if the President wanted to, he could be impeached by the house over and over again without that helping the Senate to find any illegal, and therefore convictable behavior for the President?

May be if the house impeach him three times and never send the impeachment articles to the Senate, the dear President would faint. May be then the doctors would finally decide that he is incapable of fulling his duties in the White House and declare him officially so sicko that he gets forced to stay in bed. /sad snark attempt.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by snoopydawg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 9:49am

lol...the press rains on Nancy's parade

Nancy went to the podium to say:

The president is impeached.

And the first question was when are you going to send it to the senate? As was the next one. And the next one..... Poor Nancy, she finally went ahead with impeaching a president and when she did the press took the wind out of her sails.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOedxfjAL0U]

seriously...watch it

I asked Pelosi point blank if she could wait "weeks" to send the articles to the Senate until Dems get what they consider a "fair" trial. I also asked if she would "never" send over the articles.

She wouldn't rule out either possibility.

The latest twist: pic.twitter.com/ZZZuhb5gnP

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 19, 2019

So how did the press write up this historic act? TRUMP has been impeached! ? Nope

Pelosi throws impeachment into confusion

Pelosi Signals Possible Delay To Senate Impeachment Trial

Expressing concerns about the potential bias of a Senate impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she would not immediately be transmitting the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate.

“We’re not sending it tonight,” Pelosi told reporters shortly after the House voted to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

"We have legislation approved...that will enable to decide how we send over the articles of impeachment."

"We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side...so far we haven't seen anything that looks fair to us."

This guy wants to rewrite history:
Hopefully....

pic.twitter.com/LzHpG7CdSZ

— Proud American (@_Proud_American) December 19, 2019

Tulsi voted present and here is why she did that.

“I could not in good conscience vote against impeachment because I believe President Trump is guilty of wrongdoing,” she said. “I also could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.”

A censure would “send a strong message to this president and future presidents that their abuses of power will not go unchecked, while leaving the question of removing Trump from office to the voters to decide,” Gabbard said.

Of course the inmates wrote about her 'betrayal' and this is the first comment that is now sitting unhidden with 92 recs.

She is scum. Unfit to represent anyone as a Democrat.

Imagine anyone saying this about Hillary. Or Warren. Or Harris. Or Amy. Ok or Bernie....

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by WaterLily on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:20pm

"You're starting to act like another country."

@snoopydawg "Who's not going to shout questions?"

Nancy, you're a joke.

Nancy went to the podium to say:

The president is impeached.

And the first question was when are you going to send it to the senate? As was the next one. And the next one..... Poor Nancy, she finally went ahead with impeaching a president and when she did the press took the wind out of her sails.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOedxfjAL0U]

seriously...watch it

I asked Pelosi point blank if she could wait "weeks" to send the articles to the Senate until Dems get what they consider a "fair" trial. I also asked if she would "never" send over the articles.

She wouldn't rule out either possibility.

The latest twist: pic.twitter.com/ZZZuhb5gnP

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 19, 2019

So how did the press write up this historic act? TRUMP has been impeached! ? Nope

Pelosi throws impeachment into confusion

Pelosi Signals Possible Delay To Senate Impeachment Trial

Expressing concerns about the potential bias of a Senate impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she would not immediately be transmitting the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate.

“We’re not sending it tonight,” Pelosi told reporters shortly after the House voted to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

"We have legislation approved...that will enable to decide how we send over the articles of impeachment."

"We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side...so far we haven't seen anything that looks fair to us."

This guy wants to rewrite history:
Hopefully....

pic.twitter.com/LzHpG7CdSZ

— Proud American (@_Proud_American) December 19, 2019

Tulsi voted present and here is why she did that.

“I could not in good conscience vote against impeachment because I believe President Trump is guilty of wrongdoing,” she said. “I also could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.”

A censure would “send a strong message to this president and future presidents that their abuses of power will not go unchecked, while leaving the question of removing Trump from office to the voters to decide,” Gabbard said.

Of course the inmates wrote about her 'betrayal' and this is the first comment that is now sitting unhidden with 92 recs.

She is scum. Unfit to represent anyone as a Democrat.

Imagine anyone saying this about Hillary. Or Warren. Or Harris. Or Amy. Ok or Bernie....

Submitted by snoopydawg on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 10:07am

Lots of articles on Tulsi's vote. None on the 2 who voted no

Tulsi Gabbard, who was mysteriously missing all day, is in the chamber and has voted 'present,'" said Williams, in a video that has been viewed more than 770,000 times online. He turned to former Missouri senator Claire McCaskill, a political analyst for the network, to ask: "What does that mean?"

"That's just stupid," McCaskill replied. "What is the point? I don't know what this woman thinks she is accomplishing by that." She added: "We're talking about her and really we shouldn't spend any time talking about her."

Gabbard's "present" also got the attention of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who told reporters afterward that she was stunned. Ocasio-Cortez, who is supporting Gabbard's rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the Democratic primaries, added that Gabbard owed her constituents an explanation.

"Today was very consequential," Ocasio-Cortez said, according to BuzzFeed News. "And to not take a stand one way or another in a day of such grave consequence to this country is quite difficult. We're sent here to lead."

Guess none of the whiners bothered to look for Tulsi's statement on why she did. But since this is kabuki BS anyway, who gives a crap? It is not going to matter in the end.

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by PriceRip on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 1:39pm

Nancy Pelosi is not the problem

It is all a bit more complicated than portrayed by the Dems, Repubs, and other commentators. We need to focus on how to blow this apart with the best possible trajectory for the bits of fallout.

RIP

Submitted by aliasalias on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:03pm

Without Pelosi it couldn't even get brought to the Floor.

@PriceRip

Submitted by aliasalias on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:00pm

tRump has an easy way out of this mess

just gin up another invasion with another WMD ,'imminent mushroom cloud' flurry with stories in the New York Tool and CIA.po, who are dependable on that front, then get with the 'enhanced interrogations'(better known as torture) and then drone bomb brown people at a record setting pace (with a couple of Americans thrown in for good measure).

But all he will get is praise,although not like that article in the NY Tool where the discussion of Obama's 'Star Chamber' was all about how the deep decisions were made along with mostly unnamed,non-elected people, regarding who goes on the 'kill list', on "Terror Tuesday". All people that list need not be charged with any crime, along with everyone near them who are killed or wounded, and nowhere in the article will it mention these are 'war crimes'."High Crimes" by definition, instead it will all be about the poor President's heavy decision making duties.

It will all be "Acting Presidential" like according to CNN's Freed Zakaria when tRump bombed Syria and who will be once again salivating, grinning, and wiggling around so much in his chair you think an orgasm is possibly happening.

Nancy "Impeachment is off the table" Pelosi will rise in support of tRump, and people like Adam 'Raytheon' Shiff will be in his corner.

All will be well with corporate America...'Let the killing begin!'.

Submitted by Dr. John Carpenter on Thu, 12/19/2019 - 2:24pm

Next stop...Russia

@aliasalias imagine what you’re saying but Russia is deemed to be the target. The Dems who have been trying to gin up a hot war with Russia would have no choice but to get on board. That seems to be if Trump really wanted out of this the way to go.

—

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Submitted by mimi on Fri, 12/20/2019 - 3:47am

How many roses do we have to send to Pelosi

for her to play with her grandkids and tell herself: 'Enough is enough'. I think the grandkids just don't want to play with her anymore. What a tragedy.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Sun, 12/22/2019 - 7:41pm