News of the Day III

[RSchmitz]

In Impeachment news, Graham keeps threatening Democrats that there will be hell to pay if they call any witnesses during the trial. Now he's saying he'll call in the FBI if even one witness is called in during the trial.

Not sure what his game plan is here but I would love to see him called in as a witness over his call to Georgia which I believe would mean he would be unable to vote in the end. And while we're at it, let's call in the FBI so they can share anything they picked up or if they were pressured to make there appear to be some kind of scandal.

Interesting. I wonder if that would be viewed as unconstitutional or not

[ChaseSpace]

Interesting. I wonder if that would be viewed as unconstitutional or not

To my knowledge it has never happened, but legal scholars were speculating about it since it would turn him from a juror into a potential accomplice which would taint his vote.

[Bolthed]

Why not call Hawley and Cruz too?

[pete]

IMO, the Democrats are rushing this unnecessarily. They should refer this to committee and do a thorough investigation. There's multiple items that beg to be fully fleshed out:

1.) The coordination between the Trump campaign, various GOP organizations, and the riot organizers.
2.) The genesis of the ridiculously lax threat posture that the Capitol Police and National Guard were told to assume prior to the riot.
3.) The hour plus delay in activating additional resources to protect the Capitol once the riot was in full swing.

All of the above need to be probed for national security purposes anyway, so why not parallel a more thorough investigation. IMO it's the right thing to do both politically and from a policy standpoint because it will lead to a more intellectually formed response to what happened in the riot.

[Bolthed]

I’m sure they think it’s better to rush to judgement while the outrage is still fresh. Either they don’t think Americans have the attention span for what you suggest (which I agree with, BTW ... and I would add that there has to be a procedure by which to expel Graham, Hawley and Cruz, too ... which would conveniently pave the way for nuking the filibuster as well)

OR, they can’t multitask. It’s not a good look for Democrats. They’ve got near total control of the government and yet they can’t expedite shit. They can’t even get Biden’s appointments through. That should be reason enough to do a messaging blitz and put the screws to McConnell — and Manchin and Sinema if need be. Where’s the fucking leadership?! Worried about optics, rules and norms and bipartisan Lucy footballs as usual. Can we get some young progressives to run shit for once? LFG!

[RSchmitz]

The last time we had control of the legislative branch, Ted Kennedy died and we almost lost the ACA. It's not that impeaching Trump isn't important, but we are only guaranteed this small window. I'd like to see the more meaningful legislation quickly come to vote before something similar happens.

[pete]

I’m sure they think it’s better to rush to judgement while the outrage is still fresh. Either they don’t think Americans have the attention span for what you suggest (which I agree with, BTW ... and I would add that there has to be a procedure by which to expel Graham, Hawley and Cruz, too ... which would conveniently pave the way for nuking the filibuster as well)

OR, they can’t multitask. It’s not a good look for Democrats. They’ve got near total control of the government and yet they can’t expedite shit. They can’t even get Biden’s appointments through. That should be reason enough to do a messaging blitz and put the screws to McConnell — and Manchin and Sinema if need be. Where’s the fucking leadership?! Worried about optics, rules and norms and bipartisan Lucy footballs as usual. Can we get some young progressives to run shit for once? LFG!

They will have a $1.9T COVID relief package done in under a month with very little (or no) appreciable support from the GOP and the Biden administration is already on track to surpass its 100/100 goal for vaccinations. Things are hardly as bad as you've painted it.

[Bolthed]

I’m really not painting a bleak picture, just one that has a long list of things to do. Getting COVID under any semblance of control will be a monumental accomplishment and provide a stark contrast to not only the apathetic incompetence of Trumpism, but also the little yapping dogs biting at Biden’s ankles from the vast right-wing media machine. Don’t forget, he’s Satan and Kamala is the angel of death.

I see nothing wrong with harping on the lack of messaging (as usual) concerning this list of priorities. I see nothing wrong with applying pressure to hopefully avoid the same blunders of attempted bipartisanship that Obama’s admin made. I see absolutely nothing wrong with holding this admin to account when they promised $2,000 checks, not two installments when there’s no fucking reason to be stingy right now, not after the 1% has made slightly more during the pandemic than the entire 99% has loss (they’re lucky there aren’t guillotines being built on Wall Street).

And word to the wise, don’t be so quick to assume the stimulus is going to end up at the proposed $1.9T. I hope it does. I hope it goes back to $2.9T. But there’s already talk of reconciliation finishing closer to $1T. Thank goodness morons like Larry Summers can’t help themselves from speaking out in favor of a smaller stimulus when he is the exact asshole who convinced people not to go bigger in 2008.

Listen, you need people pulling this government to the left. It’s the only way out of this multifaceted clusterfuck we call a country atm. This ain’t no time for incrementalism, Pete. Let assertive progressives drive for awhile. Let’s see government work by being bold and vocal. If the right thinks the media is liberal then fuck the appearance of objectivity. Use the newsworthiness of Biden and Harris social media platforms and use a blitz of reps, senators and officials going on TV to hammer the message home. Government works. Now fucking prove it.

At least 65% of the country wants results. Make DC a state if that’s how you push Manchin and Sinema and McConnell and the obstructionists and the insurrectionists to the sidelines. Get. Shit. Done. None of this is revolutionary. You know how I know that? I lived through the last 4 years watching the Republicans govern with zero fucks to give.

I know you agree with most of this, so let’s not get bogged down on whether or not people like me appreciate exactly how bad shit was on Jan. 19 and how much needs to be and is already getting done. We have to aim higher AND, more importantly, come through for once! The failures of the Obama years are what led to Trump. And you yourself have noted repeatedly that if we fuck around we’ll find out what’s worse than Trump in four short years. I will take nothing for granted and not be satisfied thank you very much. The majority in this country has to keep working HARD to unfuck what these nihilistic traitors have done for the last few decades. A soft, weak Democratic Party won’t cut it. Bold and vocal and driven to get shit done. Period. The end.

[Bolthed]

ps - the scientists say we need to double that 100/100 pace in order to stay ahead of the viral mutations. They also say the government should be sending EVERY CITIZEN high quality masks and at-home tests (enough to take daily) and do a helluva lot more genomic testing — all of which probably requires the Defense Production Act — and pressure the pharmaceutical vax makers to license their formulas and technologies so this entire planet can get jabbed stat. I have yet to see mind-blowing, game-changing federal action, so please pardon me if I’m holding my applause.

pps - I am also happier and less stressed on a daily basis, thanks to our new sane government.

[pete]

They’ll be exceeding a 100/100 pace by the end of the 100 days and Biden just authorized the DPA to accelerate vaccine production. He’s also looking into mobilizing the military for vaccine administration and they’ve paid to have at home rapid tests that’ve been developed out to the public en masse by the second half of this year. They’re starting to get a handle on this, understanding that normal people know you have to be able to walk before you run.

Meanwhile the $1.9T rescue package has the market already confessing they have to drastically revise upwards their economic forecasts because between an adult approach to COVID and vaccinations coming online that will unlock the ridiculous amount of pent up demand among consumers and the amount of public sector investment that’s coming, we’re about to have an economy as good as the 90’s.

But, by all means, instead of applauding the fact the Biden Administration for focusing quickly on the two things that are most important for the quality of lives of Americans as well as being politically popular, let’s all bitch and moan that Biden hasn’t fixed everything in under three weeks and stoke faux outrage as if we can’t fathom basic math that $600+$1,400=$2,000.

Let’s hear all the moderates bitch everything is too much (as Donnie cries about too much debt) and the Bernie lefties cry about old “incrementalism” tropes.

Glad to see things are back to normal. Democrats bitching everything’s bad because nothing meets their definition of perfect. Some things never change.

[Flycoon]

pps - I am also happier and less stressed on a daily basis, thanks to our new sane government.

Amen.

[nutznboltz]

Dems need to make this impeachment not a trial of Trump specifically, but an impeachment meant to rein in a President of ANY party who got away with what Trump and his enablers let him get away with.

[Bolthed]

Is it better for Democrats’ chances of keeping power in the near future if Trump is allowed to run or not? That is a question I’ve seen bandied about today, and I’m wondering what y’all think.

I suppose it’s possible that Trump will divide the GOP either way, but would it be better to encourage that division and nudge it into a full-fledged fracture? I can’t quite picture Trump and Trumpism getting rebuked by this iteration of the GOP ... and I certainly don’t see it diminishing anytime soon.

[Hoek]

Already played with fire once by tacitly approving his nomination (because he'd be easy for Hillary to beat!) and got burned. No way do you toy with that again.

[RSchmitz]

I've said it before but I'm okay with inflicting as much damage to the Trump brand as possible as long as it doesn't come at the expense of important legislative issues.