Thank you, Elizabeth Warren:
Mueller put the next step in the hands of Congress: “Congress has authority to prohibit a President’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice.” The correct process for exercising that authority is impeachment.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 19, 2019
The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in both parties set aside political considerations and do their constitutional duty. That means the House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 19, 2019
I’m in for $50.
I was just informed that Easter is THIS Sunday rather than next. Fucksake! Guess I’ll be shopping and carving three butter lambs tomorrow. You?
Open thread.
Baud
JPL
@Baud: fuckem
White & Gold Purgatorian
Just committed to give Elizabeth Warren 10 bucks a month, based on her being the first to call for impeachment. I might also give to the second candidate to do so, but definitely no love from me for later comers.
Gin & Tonic
You can still switch to Eastern Orthodox – rite is almost exactly the same, but you get another week before Easter.
Baud
@JPL:
I honor your spirit curmudgeon..
Gin & Tonic
@Baud:
Sab
It’s not too late to become Eastern orthodox. Another week of Lent.
trollhattan
@BettyC Looks like your Excellent Friday just demoted to merely Good.
Our Deutscher student arrives tomorrow and I’m relieved she isn’t religious (per her bio) so we don’t have to crash Easter services somewhere Sunday morning. Although our local Lutherans aren’t of the crazy variety.
Her test will be visiting the country in-laws with acreage and the doublewide. Let das Kultureshock begin!
FlyingToaster
Senator Professor Warren can walk and chew gum at the same time, so calling for impeachment of the Orange Shitgibbon while voting in the Senate, issuing detailed policy papers and actively campaigning is not a stretch.
Please, Wilmer, name one piece of legislation you’ve gotten passed.
[I’m a consituent of SPW, and already in the monthly contribution stream]
kindness
I’m contemplating how I will be holding my tongue at my Trumpie supporting relatives on Easter. I’ll probably end up leaving early so as to keep peace. Which would be fine by me.
eemom
@Gin & Tonic:
That sucked when I was a kid.
Lymie
Done ! She has been my favorite for a long time!
JaySinWA
What’s the score on the most accurate and easiest to use searchable version of the report? Has the one Cheryl posted been verified (it came out fairly quickly so I wonder if the OCR was verified and I am not eager to download one if it isn’t reasonably clean)? The NYT version is a little clunky in performance. It looks like there is a CNN version as well.
FlipYrWhig
@Baud:
The thing is, HE PARTICULARLY SUCKS AT EXACTLY THIS. He doesn’t lay out a vision, and especially not for “working families.” He says that things should be good instead of bad and that they would be if rich people didn’t get in the way. That’s not a vision. That’s just rage. I don’t get that he thinks he runs as the working-class champion with a portfolio full of amazing ideas. Neither one is true. He runs on having a big angry mouth. That’s what excited people beyond the highly-educated white left. And yet the highly-educated white left has concocted this whole theory about Sanders as the vessel for a politics predicated on the central importance of a social class THEY’RE NOT FROM and THEY DON’T KNOW FUCK-ALL ABOUT. This drives me nucking futs.
Baud
@FlipYrWhig:
Neoliberal.
Betty Cracker
@FlipYrWhig: You know who actually lays out a vision that makes sense for working families? Elizabeth Warren. Just saying!
rikyrah
???
Mr. Reynolds (@melreynoldsU) Tweeted:
Police body cam shows black man squatting in Charlotte, N. C. sideways to Cops pointing guns and ordering him to drop the gun in his waistband. N.C. is an open carry no permit needed state. As he reaches for the gun to comply he is killed. His last words are “you told me!” @AP https://t.co/j9WmrFU633 https://twitter.com/melreynoldsU/status/1118254562572414976?s=17
piratedan
@Baud: maybe Bernie, if you were listening to your fellow Senators the last couple of months, you might have gleaned that they are offering ideas and possible solutions but maybe you were busy heavily redacting your tax returns, so perhaps you didn’t notice.
Jay
“Federal authorities today announced that John Kless, a 49-year-old resident of Tamarac in Broward County, called three Democrats at their Washington, D.C. offices April 16 and left voicemail messages threatening murder. The lawmakers included California Congressman Eric Swalwell, Detroit Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.”
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/south-florida-man-joseph-kless-threatened-to-kill-ilhan-omar-rashida-tlaib-corey-booker-eric-swalwell-11151519
Wag
In 1974 I remember a deep sense of teenaged angst that lifted for a while after Nixon’s resignation. I’m hoping for similar feeling of relief amplified 100 fold when Trump gets what’s coming for him. I’m getting tired of waiting.
Gelfling 545
@Baud: Who could all be millionaires if they wrote books.
Baud
I’m so old I remember when Russia was a distraction.
@Betty Cracker:
That she isn’t stomping Bernie in the polls is a horrible indictment of people who consider themselves progressives.*
* Subject to the caveat that it’s still early.
Aleta
@Baud: Except he doesn’t do either one. You “lay out” a plan, a map. Concrete pieces. You make sense with details and logic and numbers. To fortify ‘vision’ with those phrases is like a fake facade imo.
Baud
@Jay:
Interesting selection of targets. But it’s not AOC or Omar so no one will care.
Keith P.
I’ll probably celebrate Easter by saying “Jesus Fucking Christ” more than usual
dexwood
The Slicing of the Lambs. This woodcarver loves what you do with butter. Pictures, please.
Thanks, Ms. Warren. I’m in for 50.
SWMBO
@JPL: I love it when someone channels efg.
ruemara
Anyone remember when the press surrounded Pelosi and asked if she’d rubberstamp what President Elect Obama put in front of her? I do. Warren could have aimed at her own governing body. I think I’m happy that whatever Pelosi and House Dems do, it’s already started but for me, the fact that she calls on the House to do jackshit is an unforced error.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Amen to that, and also to the caveat.
FlipYrWhig
@Betty Cracker: Exactly. That’s what “a vision” is. Sanders runs on attitude, not vision. AFAICT he’s basically saying “We can’t just talk about Trump being bad, we ALSO have to talk about how other rich people are ALSO bad.” That’s pretty fucking hollow too. If he starts laying out the “vision” I’ll listen.
Gelfling 545
OT but I’d appreciate any input. Does anyone in our merry band of jackals have any experience with a reverse mortgage? I’m at a point where decisions must be made and this could be one option though the whole concept seems weird to me.
FlipYrWhig
@Aleta: Aleta knows the score.
germy
@Gelfling 545: I’ve read bad things about them. But I have no direct experience with them.
Aleta
@Betty Cracker: Flashback: ‘It’s not because Hilary’s a woman, it’s because she’s in cahoots with Wall Street.’ Fast forward: None of the female candidates are good enough.
germy
germy
germy
JPL
@FlipYrWhig: At first I thought you were talking about Sarah.
The Dangerman
@Baud:
With all due respect, Bernie (and the “due” part can refer to quite the spectrum), FOADIAF. You are personally responsible there is a President Trump, asshole.
PaulWartenberg
@Jay:
don’t these idiots realize that LEAVING VOICE MESSAGES AS DEATH THREATS against Congresspersons are kind of hard to beat in federal court? Unless these MAGA morans genuinely think trump will issue them immediate pardons…
Sebastian
@germy:
Still gave $50 to make a statement. Let’s moneybomb her so the other Dems pay attention.
Sebastian
@The Dangerman:
Fuck Beluga Bernie.
Baud
@Aleta:
“I don’t want that woman” is an infinitely recursive function.
Kirtaf
@germy: Now that’s the way to do it. Stand on principle not just a ploy to get money. And the side benefit is it will probably generate a lot more donations than an ask would.
Gwangung
Well, Wilmer, you can one day whacking Trump and the next six days laying out policy. By definition, the Democratic nominee is out to “get” Trump
Jay
@Gelfling 545:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_mortgage
YMMV
VeniceRiley
As I said in a below post, I put in 50. HEY HEY HEY did you see Steny wet-toast tweet that, they have to get the full unredacted report, but nothing is off the table!? Yeah, Warren did that. Warren and all of US.
Bonus props to Warren for emailing her reasoning to her list WITHOUT a donate button or ask.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Baud: Yeah Wilmer, because, like, attacking your opponent never works in politics.
Jay
@PaulWartenberg:
It’s pretty clear that MAGAts arn’t the sharpest crayon in the box. Pretty sure they are the flesh coloured one, scribbled flat, and broken into 3 pieces because they were pushing down hard in rage.
oatler.
@Gelfling 545: All I know about them is Tom Selleck planting his sturdy Republican legs on a majestic stage-set and using his gravelly growl to promote the business.
Mike in DC
I expect more than a few other candidates to follow suit. I think Harris is going to take a deliberative approach–let’s get all the facts out and let Congress do its job. Bernie will waver. Biden is going to pull a Hoyer, I suspect. Frontrunners are risk averse or at least their advisers are.
Ruckus
@Gelfling 545:
@germy:
Probably like any mortgage there are decent ones and horrible ones. It is a way for extra income using your home as a revenue source but like most everything else in life timing would seem to be important. And it would also depend on if you have anyone you want to leave money to or not. Mom sold her house and moved into a mobile home, it was far cheaper and she could sell that when she could no longer live alone. If you have/know a good accountant I’d ask them.
Seems like a reasonable concept, but there is always an issue of some sort when someone is loaning you money. Usually that is what do you actually get for how much it costs?
germy
@Ruckus: I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall commenter RAVEN here saying he got a reverse mortgage.
Maybe if someone mentions LBJ, we can summon him….
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
I’m barbecuing a turkey for Easter.
Baud
@germy:
LBJ. Great president or the greatest president?
germy
@Baud: If that doesn’t provoke him into making an appearance, nothing will.
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: You don’t need “infinitely” if you say “recursive”.
/former math geek
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Aleta: My favorite was when someone finally asked him how would he break up the banks and he said he didn’t know.
And then he made a big deal about growing up in brooklyn and riding the subway, so they asked how do you use the subway and he didn’t know.
if he ever faced any scrutiny it would be a total humiliating disaster.
Emerald
@Gelfling 545: I’m considering doing one sometime in the future to get a down payment on income property so that I can have a retirement income. That way if the reverse mortgage company cheats me out of my house, I’d still have a place to live and a small income.
However: they normally are bad, bad things. Super easy to scam. My tax guy isn’t even allowed to discuss them, although he admits that several of his clients have told him that without a reverse mortgage they’d be living on the street. In my case it may be the only way to get adequate equity out of my paid-off house.
Be very, very careful and get super good advice, and be sure to pick a halfway decent company if you do it. And LOOK UP THE PITFALLS!! None of the pitfalls apply to me so it might still be a possibility, but it’s really a last resort because of their reputation.
Chyron HR
@Baud:
To be fair, he spent all his time attacking Clinton and lost that election.
schrodingers_cat
@Gin & Tonic: Once a math geek always a math geek. You were one of the few people who knew what stochastic meant.
mad citizen
Phuck YES! DO IT CONGRESS. Rule of law and all that stuff.
schrodingers_cat
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: His immigration voting record is more in line with Sessions and Grassley. He is terrible on reproductive rights and guns too. He is not one of the most liberal senators. That’s a carefully constructed myth.
Myth from Sanskrit mythya which means lies. He is a liar. Just like Orange.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Chyron HR: I looked this up, if the 2016 Democratic primary was a general election with an electoral college, Wilmer would have lost 403* electoral votes (no joke). Clinton’s blowout was that big. Of course the “liberal media” falsely portrayed as a virtual tie.
* it would have been 419 if the party recognized the primary results of Washington state and Nebraska, instead it recognized the much, much smaller caucus results.
James E Powell
@FlipYrWhig:
FTFY.
Silvery
Agreed, she’s showing leadership and initiative on this. I started a recurring donation to Senator Warren’s campaign today too.
Dan B
@Baud: Will someone please inform Senator Wilmer that nothing much can pass with a whiff of progressive taint in tge Senate and, outside of trying to stop judicial appointments, there should be plenty of time to outline positive visions to the “public”. And there is little legislation that passes in the House that will make it through the Senate and White House of Orange Fury.
There is an opportunity to lead on a vital civic matter at the moment.
Besides people who voted for Obama twice and Trump once were likely voting to break the corruption in DC. And Sanjay Gupta was shocked to discover that lifespans of every cohort in the world have increased in the past decade, except for working class whites. They need to understand that tye GOP with T and Turtle at the helm are criminals. Criminals can’t fix DC. Criminals won’t help you with your bank balance. Get that message out in non stop hearings. A story that has villains and a path to a good future is strong. A story that we have the best ideas, trust us, is weak.
Spanky
@Gin & Tonic:
Is such a thing possible? Did you give it up for Lent one year and it stuck?
And speaking of Lent, how can Orthodox Easter fall on a different Sunday? Easter is determined by when Passover occurs, which is determined by a lunar calendar. Should be the same damn date.
B.B.A.
Bah. I’ve bashed Steny for being too white, too male, and too old to be in our party’s leadership, but in this case his political instincts are top-notch. Impeachment won’t accomplish jack shit, not with this Senate.
Dan B
@FlipYrWhig: So true! Wilmer’s story is 1. Ideas, mine best. 2. Trust me. 3. Angry at rich people.
I like all the things his Facebook crew sends through but there’s no map of the first steps to take, or the second, third, fourth, and more steps to get their. The only instructions that make sense are borrowed from other folks and orgs who are doing the everyday lifting.
eemom
@Spanky:
AHA. Only the Orthodox Easter consistently follows Passover. Western Easter sometimes does, but it’s always celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox regardless of Passover, which sometimes lands it in late March.
My church is better than their church. Or would be if I cared about church.
B.B.A.
I should add: Nancy Pelosi is infallible. Whatever she decides will be the right course of action, by definition.
Spanky
@B.B.A.: It’s not his job to decide whether the Senate will or will not convict. His (i.e. the House’s) job is to gather compelling evidence and present it in a trial.
If he’s not going to do his job, he needs to step aside for someone who will. And I’m ready to help with that.
– MD 5 Resident.
eemom
It all works out to a 3 year cycle wherein the Orthodox Easter is like 5 weeks after the other Easter one year, one week later the next, and on the same day in the third year.
Spanky
@eemom: Thanks for the clarification. And I have the same attitude about church.
Gin & Tonic
@Spanky: I’m not an expert, but Roman Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Orthodox Easter has to come after Passover, which this year runs through April 27, hence Easter Sunday is April 28.
Gin & Tonic
@Spanky:
I didn’t give it up, but I’ve gotten rusty.
Jay
@B.B.A.:
Like passing Legislation in the House, that will never pass “this” Senate, or resolutions in the House and Senate that Treason Tribble will never sign or veto,
The process of Impeachment moves the Overton window, and it also allows the censure, investigation, possible prosecution and possible conviction of Treason Tribbles minions in the House, Senate, NRA, and the Maladministration on “lesser crimes”.
frosty
@schrodingers_cat: Jeez, any hydrologist should know what stochastic means. All of stormwater engineering and design is based on 10-yr, 100-yr, etc, return periods, and they design flood limits to 0.1 foot, but it’s all based on rainfall records, which are stochastic. You just don’t know!!
Doug R
@JaySinWA:
I find this version reliable: Searchable report on bulwark
Dan B
@rikyrah: Awful, not surprising. Fox and Sinclair show the faces of every black suspect. It imprints. They know it does. I’m shocked when they show a white face.
It’s the new Klan. Lynch in the media then execute by cop.
We checked out the brand new Nissan dealership in our Leaf this afternoon. A young woman with an umbrella in a hijab approached me, said she worked there. She was radiant. I was struck by her lack of fear at approaching a grey haired guy on the street. There’s so much real danger and yet people still carry on with enthusiasm for everyday life. My partner kidded me that I was excited to have a woman in a hijab talk to me. He was right. We both were.
Gelfling 545
@Emerald: I’m at the point at which I need to take an equity credit line, take a reverse mortgage or sell the house as it stands & get an apartment. It needs some pricey repairs. Right now I’d prefer to stay put but I’m aware that things can change quickly at my age. My kids would like me to go into an apartment largely for safety reasons. I’m feeling pretty perplexed right now.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Gelfling 545: Ask raven.
Jay
“But the ball comes back with a surprising new spin: The Mueller report indicates that Burr fed information to the White House about whom the FBI was focusing on in its investigation into Russian interference. If so, the N.C. Republican abused his access to information provided by the FBI to the so-called “Gang of Eight,” a group limited to top congressional leaders and the chairs and ranking minority members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.”
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.newsobserver.com/opinion/article229433024.html
ellie
I just donated $25 to Sen. Warren and set up a monthly contribution.
Speaking of mortgages, what do you guys think of the housing market now? We want to buy but can wait if a correction is on the horizon. Also we live in red-hot Denver.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Gelfling 545: I’m far from the biggest financial expert here, but the HELOC seems to have a much better reputation than the reverse mortgage. I’ve heard horror stories. (Note that I work in a discipline where I hear quite a lot of those, but they are filtered through the judgement of financial advisers, who have their own biases and perverse incentives.)
jl
Thanks for info. Time for me to throw another contribution to Warren’s campaign.
Jay
@Gelfling 545:
You might be starting in the middle.
The first thing I would do is get a market value on the house, as is, a market value of the house repaired, and an estimate of the costs of repairs.
Dan B
@ruemara: Impeachment may backfire but Warren, Corey Gardner?, AOC, and Tlaib may be laying out is the moral and legal case for impeachment. I believe their audience is us policy hounds and trembling Dems who fear failure more than injustice and looming authoritarianism.
By the time Monday’s meeting rolls around the cowering will have to take a stand or be seen as wimps. Hard to get reelected if you’re a wimp. Rock vs. Hard place.
Steeplejack
* TV Note *
“Street photographer” Garry Winogrand (1928-1984) is the subject of American Masters on PBS tonight (9:30 here). Worth taking a lo0k if you’re into photography.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@ellie: I’m sceptical of the economy’s long-term health. A massive amount depends upon Brexit. If they fail to reach a deal, that could send the entire world economy to a crashing halt. Even if that turns out OK, we still have an idiot president* who thinks Stephen Moore and Herman Cain are appropriate Federal Reserve Board nominees. Our economy depends upon the faith of the world in the stability of our currency, and if those two manage to get confirmed, that gets thrown in the shredder.
But the old joke is that economics has predicted nine of the last five recessions, and if I’d short-sold every time I thought a recession was coming, I’d be in serious trouble. I do think the market is due for another correction, and we’re almost certainly going to see continued volatility for as long as Individual-1 remains in power. Caveat emptor.
Still, if you can afford to buy, it might make more sense than continuing to rent. Housing prices (apart from mobile homes) usually appreciate in the long run. An exception is if the property sinks under the ocean, but that’s not a concern in Denver. For me in Florida, on the other hand…
Cckids
@Emerald: All good advice. If only there was some sort of government agency to help consumers make important financial decisions. A Consumer Financial Pro kinda thing. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Fuck Trump. And Mulvaney.
Ramalama
Professor Zero F*cks, strikes again. I mean that in the best way possible.
Gemina13
Warren now has my vote, and those members of the House working towards the goal of impeachment have my support.
Steny Hoyer can go choke on a barrelful of Proud Boys’ dicks.
Jay
@Cckids:
“Sears Holdings Corp. is suing its former chairman and largest shareholder Eddie Lampert, alleging the billionaire stripped the once iconic company of more than $2 billion US in assets.
The lawsuit, which was filed late Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, also names former Sears directors, including U.S. Treasury Steven Mnuchin as well as executives at Lampert’s hedge fund ESL.”
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5104151
hueyplong
When thinking about impeachment strategy, it’s good for Democrats to remember that four of the least reliable advisers are trolls, Republicans, Wilmer, and Steny Hoyer.
Kind of redundant, I know.
Fuckem.
Dan B
@Aleta: I’m afraid that Sen. Wall Street will be foisted on Kamala. Not Biden. Warren can’t be tarred with that brush so is it “school marm” or other things? Pocohantos is old news but they’ll try. We gotta be ready to push back against half truths and two percent truths. Kamala wants justice and opportunity for minorities and the middle class. Dog whistle “white” but a lot of the public thinks that way..sigh – work to do, so many battles, and a war to win. Kamala can give the banksters a few crumbs to get them to support a big pie for those who will benefit most.
Now to edit to snappy talking points.
mad citizen
@Steeplejack: Second this one. I’ve had this book out from my library a couple of extended times recently.
ellie
@(((CassandraLeo))): Thank you!
(((CassandraLeo)))
@ellie: No problem. If you have a trustworthy friend or family member in real estate, though, it might make sense to talk to them. When it comes to the FIRE sector, I suspect I know just enough to be dangerous.
@Cckids: this exactly, with an extra “Fuckem” in efg’s honour.
Steeplejack
Easter: I’ll be accompanying the Sighthound Hall mob to the brother-in-law’s Brazilian aunt’s house on the Maryland side of the DMV. The food’s usually pretty good, although there is always a sketchy cod dish or two. The Brazilians seem to have a few odd areas where they really bang on the Portuguese “heritage.” Mmm, salted cod balls. ’Nuff said.
On the plus side, no Trumpers at all!
dnfree
@Gin & Tonic: Oh, heck, it’s not almost exactly the same! You have to go to church at midnight Saturday night to welcome in the return of light to the world, carry lighted candles home with you, dye eggs red for the blood of Christ and have battles smashing them together to see who’s egg wins…..nope. Not the same.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Steeplejack: it’s also streaming on-line for those who like to watch on their phones/devices (link)
White & Gold Purgatorian
@B.B.A.: Amen.
Jay
@Steeplejack:
“The Portuguese would bring the cod to their colonies, this is how it came to Brazil. Since meat was expensive and bacalhau cheap it became a very important food. So cheap that slaves and poor were more likely to eat it rather than the meat rich feijoada considered by many as the typical slave-dish (read my article Brazilian Feijoada for more on this topic). The Brazilian saying “Para quem é, bacalhau basta” (En: “For who it is, bacalhau is good enough”) can serve as an indicator for how this was originally a cheap food.”
“Since the Second World diminishing catches have made prices go up drastically, for Brazilians it is an exclusive food these days and only eaten on special occasions. For many the Christmas dinner would not be complete with out some dried cod.”
https://www.gringo-rio.com/bacalhau/
Gelfling 545
@Jay: oh, I’ve got the estimate. ?
Percysowner
I’m already giving Warren $10 a month, but I threw in a extra $50 just because of her stance on impeachment. She probably doesn’t have a chance of winning the nomination, let alone the Presidency, but I support the candidate that is doing what I want.
zhena gogolia
I don’t like the idea that this is some sort of race/competition. I’m still with Harris.
MP
@(((CassandraLeo))): The problem with a HELOC is you have to repay it, and those repayments start immediately. Repaying a reverse mortgage is optional. Interest would accrue on the reverse mortgage, but in some instances, cash flow is what borrowers need and reverse mortgages are typically better than HELOCs for that.
lamh36
lamh36
dnfree
@Spanky: The Orthodox churches didn’t recognize the change to the Gregorian calendar that adjusted the date by….what, 10 or 11 days?
Dan B
@schrodingers_cat: It’s interesting to hear that Wilmer is bad on immigration and reproductive rights. I’ve read about the guns stance which was brushed off as Sen Hunting State. That always seemed off because how many states don’t have lits of hunters?
If you have some readily available info on the reproductive rights or immigration rights it would be great. Although I seem to recall one bill included a Muslim Ban poison bill. Biden voted against that one also so that vote is being spread by right wing ops. If there are more that would be great to know. My partner is a Wilmer fan so info might help at the appropriate moment.
dww44
So, what is it with pols and former pols from the state of Pennsylvania? Did anyone catch Tom Steyer and Ed Rendell on Erin Burnett’s 7 p.m. show a big ago? Steyer is in the impeachment camp of course. Ed Rendell is not because it will only make it more likely for Democrats to lose in 2020? I missed some of the back and forth as had to take a personal phone call but I cannot believe these Democratic polticians who are only about the politics of an issue and are unwilling to take a principled stand on anything. Particularly not on the overriding constitutional issue of our lifetime.
Jay
@Gelfling 545:
So if the cost of repairs exceed the repaired value of the house, sell as is.
If the cost of repairs come close to 20% of the as is value of the house, you will have a hard time getting a LOC.
If you get a reverse mortgage, you will get an income, not a useable lump sum.
Gin & Tonic
@dnfree: The difference is up to 13 now.
lamh36
Ugh…. reason #9,9999999 why I hope Bernie doesn’t get the nomination…cause even though loyal Democrats will likely still vote for BS if he is the ultimately the nominee…we CANNOT count on the same pragmatic voting from Bernie-bro supporters.
I read some reporting that Biden is planning on annoucing his run next week. I’m sorta agnostic on Biden running, especially with all the Bernie-bro ratfucking that went on with the “creepy Uncle Joe” bullshit…but if I had a choice of voting for Biden or Bernie…it’s be Biden all the fuq’n way. I’d rather vote for Biden if he somehow becomes the nominee…than EVER voting for Bernie.
Jeffro
@hueyplong:
This is so on-point it actually sizzles there on my computer screen. Need some aloe for that burn there Steny? LOL
Fuckem.
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
We can easily make up for that.
schrodingers_cat
@Steeplejack: Fresh cod is wonderful, salted cod doesn’t sound nutritious or delicious.
Gin & Tonic
@Dan B:
That’s bullshit and always has been. In 1990 Bernie ran for the House as an Independent against the incumbent Republican, Peter Smith. Smith supported an assault weapons ban, so the NRA put all its chips on Bernie, and Wayne Lapierre heartily endorsed him, probably putting him over the top. That’s how Bernie got his start in national politics. He owes the NRA, they know it, he knows it, but I don’t think he wants others to know it.
lamh36
Mike Huckabee is a lying POS…and we know where his lying ass daughter gets it from.
Good for April Ryan for telling his azz to GTFOH
I won’t post the link to what Huckabee said, you’ll have to go to April’s tweet link
Steeplejack
@Jay:
Yeah, I get it.
Jeffro
Wait…why all this rush to impeachment? According to McMegan, both Republicans and Democrats could use some serious post-Mueller introspection.
It’s like the Holy Grail of “both sides”!
“Don’t do your duty, serve justice, save the country, Dems – it’s a lost cause. You’re just doubling down on that Russia stuff that, well, everybody knows (but oddly, almost no Republican will come out and admit). And rather than say you’re right and get on the rule-of-law train, I’m here to urge you to defeat trumpov and trumpovism at the ballot box instead, so that my party can regain its sanity and I can pretend this was just a one-off, an abberration, and go back to hating on stupid libs.”
lamh36
@lamh36:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
She didn’t watch The Americans?
Steeplejack
@mad citizen:
I have found the documentaries on American Masters to be surprisingly good. Can’t say I’ve seen all of them, or even most, but some have been revelatory, e.g., Johnny Carson, David Geffen, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Ealbert
Regarding reverse mortgages, I am not a financial advisor but my daughter works in the mortgage department of a bank and they won’t offer them. As I understand, you don’t have to repay a reverse mortgage as long as you live in the house. The problem comes when people get sick or injured. If you spend too long in a hospital or rehab center you are considered to no longer live in the home. At that point the company takes possession of it. It may be put up for auction with you getting any difference between what is owed and what it is sold for. Be VERY careful before you do this and get LOTS of advice first. A lot at people have ended up with no lace to live.,
schrodingers_cat
@Dan B: http://time.com/4170591/bernie-sanders-immigration-conservatives/
http://time.com/4170591/bernie-sanders-immigration-conservatives/
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-02-19/in-nevada-bernie-sanders-immigration-record-is-a-nightmare
Another Scott
@Doug R: Thanks. Nothing about Paul Ryan shutting down the conversation about Russia paying Trump and Rohrabacher. I am disappoint.
Cheers,
Scott.
lamh36
lamh36
ola azul
My vote: Impeach the motherfucker. Been on Team Impeach the Motherfucker since way back (wrote a letter to editor immediately after the Comey firing in spring of ’17 — you know, when Twitler openly and *obviously* admitted to obstruction of justice to Lester Holt and millions of peeps; paper refused to print letter unless excised call for impeachment, so I declined).
Just heard on MSNBC somone restating Schiff’s and Pelosi’s (among many Dems) reservations about impeachment, largely cuz Republicans are unlikely to convict in the Senate — the present hidebound chimaera of conventional wisdom — but is it true? And more importantly, does it matter?
On the latter point, think it makes little difference whether the Republican-led Senate convicts or not. That, to be blunt, is their fucking problem. Important thing is to pursue the evidence, make the case, then make them decide. Clear, bright fucking lines that cannot be evaded.
Corollary point: If Dems cannot or will not take their responsibility as elected reps seriously enough to discharge their duly sworn duty when presented with a report that emphatically and explicitly sez: “it’s a political problem, kidz; yes, he’s dirty as fuck and so is everyone around him, but it’s your call, Congress, on impeachment and conviction,” if Dems are unwilling to pursue impeachment hearings under *those* circumstances, then this country as we perhaps naively like to think of it ain’t much worth saving. Fuck it, everyone just start lying and stealing and fucking over their enemies, friends, neighbors — libertarian might-makes-right and right-makes-fright hell-hole here we come!
On the former point, yes it’s *presently* true that Senate Republicans are unlikely to convict — precisely *b/c* Senate Republicans ain’t yet faced the searing heat of accountability nor appreciated how Trump’s feeble support could melt under the heat-lamp onslaught of relentless, mounting, overwhelming evidence. (Fuck the Trump dead-enders, cuz lost cause, but the folks who decide prez-year elex are base turnout folks and a thin wedge of non-partisan ignorant-as-fuck political vampires.)
Trump’s support among Senate Republicans, think it vital to note, rests *solely and entirely* upon his ability to maintain support from his base. This takes on exaggerated importance in off-year elections, yes, but in prez-year elections in state-wide Senate contests (unlike gerrymandered tribal House districts), Senate Repubs need more’n just the base — they *also* need the support of the lazy, ignorant, torpid mushy-middle, whose support Trump cannot deliver but *could* smear his criminal loser stink on Senate Repubs. Adversity reveals character, political pressure creates adversity.
Senate Republicans’ fates are inextricably intertwined with Trump’s. The limited, conditional, transactional allegiance Senate Republicans grant to Trump either will or won’t won’t change *in direct relation* to how the evidence from impeachment hearings is received by the country generally. White soccer moms in the suburbs start to wake the fuck up — or, more likely, are *forced to acknowledge* Trump’s unfitness in a way that is socially unavoidable — then Senate Republicans might very well start thinking it’d be a good idea to get shed of the Trump bloat. The patriotism is pegged to their chances of being reelected, but they *do* respond rationally to pressure. Use it.
This is a highly volatile, fluid, dynamic shit-storm. Old saying: peeps never change their minds. But they will make new decisions based upon new information. Most of the country is pig-ignorant about what actually happent. Will laying it all out there in impeachment hearings move the needle? It might! Everything’s all church-of-the-douchebag-saavy “never-gonna-happen, brah”! Till it fucking happens.
Make it fucking happen. Go on offense Dems, put pressure on the glass-jaw guilty-as-fuck Oz-behind-the-curtain Trump admin, and think it’s *possible* the Senate *might* convict if Trump becomes so toxic that he no longer helps but rather hurts them — Trump starts hurting Senate Republicans nationally, that’s nut-cutting time right there. The MSM will all stand agape, amazed at how quickly Senate Republicans turn Trump into a liberal Democrat.//
But point being: *Even if* impeachment hearings (followed by impeachment in House) *does not* lead to a Senate conviction, it’s still the right thing to do. Morally *and* politically — think it imperative on both counts, short-term *and* long-term.
Don’t agree — at all — with the risk-averse, cringing, crouching, responsibility-evading premise that pursuing impeachment hearings — if they fail — is a mistake for Dems. If the evidence/testimony revealed in impeachment hearings leads to the House impeaching Trump (no surprise, it will!), and if the party-over-country Republican-led Senate *chooses* to ignore alla manifold Trumpian criminality and treachery, then that self-same Republican-led Senate will be forced to campaign in 2020 upon why they feel that washing Trump’s balls like eunuchs inna harem is somehow more important than preserving and protecting and defending the integrity of our country and its governance (you know, their fucking jobs). Make them explain and defend *fucking why* they feel that keeping an unfit disgrace in office is more important than removing him. Establish the facts, make them vote, then make them own that shit!
Dems can, and should imo, campaign on the premise that a Senate majority is vital (along with shit-canning the filibuster) *precisely be-fucking-cause* Republicans have *proven* their weakness and complicity and treachery.
So, pursuing impeachment hearings — whether successful or not — is the right thing to do, imo. Trump is the classic textbook case for fucking *why* impeachment was put into the Constitution. If Trump cannot be impeached, then no fucking one can. Which means that *all* future Republican presidents (IOKIYAR, baby!) are endowed with tyrannical powers by dint of the feckless consent of complicit Dems in “perp”etude, and the quaint notion of the rule of law is reduced to “Cuz I said so, bitches!” This seems, among a great many things, unwise. And Dems should not be allowed to cowardly try’n sell the idea that “we can’t impeach Trump cuz Repubs are meanies and won’t let us!”
(Also think peeps derive competely the wrong lesson from the Clinton years/impeachment, which clouds their judgment and makes them risk-averse. Starr spent $44million to “reveal” that Clinton lied about some consensual blowjobs. And the public, broadly, allus *knew* it was all bullshit. But that’s the Republican benchmark for impeachment — and the willing, nay eager, accomplices in the MSM, who were all fucking “what’ll we tell the motherfucking children?” ninnies, went along gleefully for the ride. And now alla these Very Serious Peeples furrows they brows and strokes they chin and wonders meaningfully if this is fucking prudent.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jeffro: I’ll see that BothSides and raise you… (Vanderpool called Willard a coward, NeverTrumper Stevens was a high muckety-muck in the Romney campaign)
ETA: I think Stevens is also the guy who Kinsley-gaffed the title of “Governor Etch-a-Sketch” on to Romney in that campaign
lamh36
I legit think this is Pelosi and the Dem leadership plan.
Catherine D.
@Gin & Tonic: I’m too end-of-week crapped out to get the exact dates, but there was a split in the date of Easter when Rome decided it didn’t want to be associated with Passover and moved Easter to a Sunday. Then the mackerel smackers changed to the Gregorian calendar, while Orthodox stayed with Julian.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Steeplejack: Sister Rosetta arguably invented rock ‘n’ roll, or at least bore a massive influence on it, but somehow usually gets written out of the history books. I’m not going to suggest that racism and misogyny played a role here, but racism and misogyny played a role here.
@MP: Like I said, I know just enough to be dangerous, LOL. My inclination, though, is that the HELOC is probably a better choice if you’re sure the payments are affordable. If not, maybe a reverse mortgage will work, but be really, really careful.
debbie
@lamh36:
Because her work here is done?
lamh36
Ugh… Betty C or Adam S…please tell me someone is gonna primary lil Marco…
lamh36
@debbie: but like wasn’t she at first wanting to not be returned?
lamh36
Senator Warren is on Maddow now.
lamh36
Dan B
@Gin & Tonic: Ah, I remember that story now. Funny how the missing context sheds light on the truth, ugly or nice.
My partner would probably not want to hear this info. Our best friends were (are still) big Hillary fans so my squeeze hears from them. I don’t think they remember that he is a Bernie fan so he gets the full rundown. It’s usually snark that Bernie doesn’t know how to accomplish much. They’ve written Bernie off as a has been. I hope.
TS (the original)
And she is on air with Rachel – Trump welcomed help from Russia & he then took multiple steps to obstruct justice.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Whatever the plan, these are necessary first/next steps, and they make take some time. I get so irritated with twitter lefties whose grasp of the impeachment process is like Michael Scott’s notion of declaring bankruptcy.
TS (the original)
@lamh36: Good luck with the current Justice Department.
Dan B
@Gin & Tonic: And Thanks so much for reminding me of the Bernie, Sen NRA story.
Did he ever appear on Tool Time?
MP
@(((CassandraLeo))): Agreed. This is a pretty comprehensive overview of reverse mortgages. I would ignore the reviews that say it’s too long — Mayor Pete could finish it during his constitutional.
debbie
@lamh36:
I think she was masquerading her innocence. Mueller’s ruined that for her. Scotty, beam me up!
lamh36
Sorry folks…I hate to look at this so you have to also.
my reaction
debbie
@Catherine D.:
How can this be when the Last Supper was a Seder?
James E Powell
@lamh36:
What’s the Russian equivalent of snitches get stitches?
ola azul
@James E Powell:
Polonium to geraniums or the tragedy of gravity.
lamh36
pinacacci
Hell yes I donated to Ms. Warren. Dithered on amount because of budgeting, then remembered I’d just spent 25 bucks on a pizza. “Easily worth 4 pizzas,” sez I to myself, and suddenly it seemed a trivial amount. =D Love me some policy-talkin’ women who ain’t afraid to pull out the minigun.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
eemom
@debbie:
When has Rome ever given a shit about anything Jesus said, did, or ate for supper?
Zelma
Just gave $50 to Elizabeth. Also a monthly donation. Somebody had to get out front of this and she did. I just wish the MSM wasn’t so scared of female professors. (I say this as a retired female professor. I didn’t realize how threatening we are.)
Dan B
@lamh36: Whoa! Happy dance here. Go April!!
Take em down for Huckabee turning April’s call for SHSanders to “be fired” into “lopping off Sander’s head”. They don’t believe in God, or Heaven and Hell. They lie like they’ll never meet St. Peter. And they know they’re only in it to fleece the marks.
lamh36
Let me see if I understand this…checks notes…the play here is to blame Obama for Chump being willing to collude with Russia…
And I see team Trump is LITERALLY out with an attack video about it
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@lamh36: written by Scott Jennings, former top aide to Mitch McCOnnell, who when told of Russia’s interference said, “yeah? so? It works for us. Tell anybody and I’ll sick Chuck Todd on your partisanship”
Dan B
@schrodingers_cat: Thanks! You’re fast!
And, there goes my evening, or part of it.
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
Nobody ever disputed that Bernie has a great bod.
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
Excellent comment.
lamh36
Loved this video…
Kamala Harris is a member of the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.
lamh36
@zhena gogolia: lordt..lol
Tenar Arha
@Betty Cracker: Not quite as explicit as Warren (bc I’m pretty sure that’s her primary mode of communication), but here’s Julián Castro pointing out:
(((CassandraLeo)))
@lamh36: It’s what LGM refers to as Murc’s Law, after its coiner: “Only Democrats have agency.” Someone who tweets might want to post that in reply to Ezra.
@lamh36: Has anyone said this is good news for John McCain yet? If not, allow me to be the first. The Mueller Report is good news for John McCain! The classics never go out of fashion.
@Tenar Arha: I really want to hear more from Julián Castro. At this point I could see him moving to #3 on my list after Warren and Harris (who are at #1 and #2, respectively, far above anyone else, though the difference between them in my ranking is almost imperceptible and subject to change at a moment’s notice).
jl
@lamh36: McConnell threatened to lie his face off about the Russian meddling in the election, and claim Obama was publicizing the threat for partisan gain. So, surely the idea is that Obama refused to use his space alien super evil powers of time travel and mind bending to stop McConnell from doing such a vile and dishonest thing.
That must be it.
Ruckus
@lamh36:
So just over 50% of some number of idiots would burn down their house if someone they didn’t like stopped by. That’s informative, that we have have a number of people not smart enough to come in out of a shit storm.
J R in WV
.
.
.
I found out, after we got home from errands in town this afternoon, that wife’s birthday was today, not tomorrow ~!!!!!~
Fortunately, I was prepared for this, as tomorrow is really close to today, as opposed to next week. A Present was in house, a mechanical keyboard that looks quite antique, but which is actually hi-tech. Lobster bisque from the local seafood shop, fresh shrimp, actual champagne from France, etc.
So I was able to put together a great private celebration with wife and me. She seems happy with it all. Chocolate covered eclairs for dessert! Yum~!!~
Brachiator
I like how Warren laid out the offense. Very clear.
schrodingers_cat
@J R in WV: I share a birthday with your wife!
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Brachiator: She’s a very, very skilled communicator. I tend to think most politicians shouldn’t even be on Twitter*, but she’s superb at using it as a form of communication. (AOC is another, obviously.) On the whole, Warren and Harris seem to me to be the most skilled of the current field of Democratic candidates at articulating ideas, which I think is why they’re my top two choices right now. (Warren also has the most thorough policy platform by far, whereas Harris seems to have the strongest political instincts. And they also both seem to be on the correct side of most issues; in particular, I like that Warren was the first to bring up calls for impeachment and that Harris called for raising teacher salaries. Not that either of them have never had missteps, but Johnny Unbeatable doesn’t exist.)
*I also think Twitter is toxic and should be burned to the ground alongside F******k, FWIW, so take this part with a grain of salt.
TS (the original)
@lamh36:
Warren want to ITMFA and that may reveal things about Bernie and Russia and 2016 that his supporters don’t want revealed.
zhena gogolia
Excellent piece by Asha Rangappa (NYT, sorry):
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/opinion/mueller-report-barr-trump-russian-disinformation.html
Dan B
@lamh36: We appreciate your hate for us. Not that we like it. //
A cartoon that is weird, hard to figure out, and sorta mind warping. Who would imagine Wilmer as a hunk? The badge could be a large BS or SS for Super Scold. The suit needs more rumple. The arm must be extended forward with index finger pointing. The details are obvious.
And lose the grin, not genuine.
Dan B
@schrodingers_cat: Happy Birthday! Are you celebrating or did you enjoy a quiet evening?
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@schrodingers_cat: Happy Birthday!
(I share one with BillinGlendaleCA)
Dan B
@TS (the original): Would be instructive to have a breakdown as to who these 26% anti-Warren are. Is it incel rich or misogynist plus? Prolly just that she has mire actionable policies than Wilmer – jealous witches (with a b, as in boy bea*%hes).
p.a.
It would be useful for one of the lower level Dem Pres hopefuls to loudly tie Wilmer to tRump with the Russian-tool evidence anchor and chain to 1) attempt to differentiate themselves from the (ever expanding) field, and 2) of course, do the party the favor of at least trying to stick a pin in that ego balloon campaign.
Kay
I don’t know what to do about impeachment but I do trust Elizabeth Warren, so I would be more likely to support it if she supports it.
Chetan Murthy
@lamh36: One thing: I remember last week
journalistsstenographers were writing about Dr. Maddow would have to eat humble pie, how she was no better than Alex Jones, etc.Humpf. Seems they were wrong. Gosh, I so surprised.
Like Kevin Drum, I’d be *happy* with either Harris or Warren. I think Harris is cannier, and Warren has better policies and policy chops. But I’d be happy with either.
SPW (h/t Charlie Pierce) FTW!
J R in WV
@ola azul:
Well said, for a change, Ol’ Blue!!
Good work — keep it up!
Juju
I look forward to the annual picture of the butter lambs. They get more detailed every year. I was thinking about making cupcakes or a chocolate chip coffee cake or a crumb cake. I have some buttermilk I need to use.
I agree with Senator Warren. My fear is that impeachment would lead to another Trump term, and I don’t believe the norms and standards, and guardrails could withstand another Trump term. I can’t bring myself to think what would happen to this country under another Trump/McConnell term. I’ll wait and see how it all shakes out and hope the rest of the country catches up with me. Trump deserves to be impeached and then charged with federal obstruction charges and felony charges in New York State on whatever will stick, in case a president Pence pardons Cheetolini.
PJ
@rikyrah: He was black. They were going to shoot him whether he complied with their order or not – if he complied, he was reaching for his gun and they were afraid he was going to shoot them; if he didn’t comply, he refused to obey their order and they were afraid he was going to shoot them.
But the police may have also just been incompetent. There was a shooting of a white guy in a hotel hallway a few years ago, maybe in AZ, and the video shows the man, who was unarmed and on his hands and knees in his boxer shorts, trying to comply with contradictory orders to crawl towards the officers and to stop. As he does this, his boxers start to fall, so he reaches to pull them back up and they shoot him (because he might have had a gun in his ass crack.)
PJ
@VeniceRiley: Don’t worry, you’ll get two emails from her campaign looking for donations tomorrow.
debbie
@lamh36:
Just once, I wish Obama would slap him the hell back down with a sharp, well-crafted tweet.
J R in WV
@schrodingers_cat:
Aww!! Happy Birthday, Schrodinger’s Cat!!! And many happy returns!!
Chris Johnson
@lamh36:
I call absolute bullshit. Russians don’t count. Neither do Twitter polls or whatever the hell this is. Utter, complete bullshit, this.
And yeah, thanks to Diebold etc. we can say Russians vote, but they DO NOT LIVE HERE and fuck ’em
Dan B
@zhena gogolia: You are right. This is an excellent piece about how the Russians laid the trap by getting social media and the Trump campaign (and the GOP?) to use the term collusion until conspiracy and security threats were no longer being discussed. The “water” us fish didn’t notice, even though it was all around us, was the word collusion – no legal meaning. It’s creepy that Rangappa points out the next word is “spying”. The correct word is a phrase: detecting security threats and neutralizing them. That should be the theme for the hearings.
Detecting security threats to the US.
Blocking security threats.
Barr is evil when he conflates these with spying.
Immanentize
I don’t know how much longer I will stay awake, but I am not gung ho impeachment yet. I am a big Warren fan, gave her scratch for years, I’m a constituent, and I have a very nice picture of us arm in arm in regalia. But calling for impeachment is utterly risk free for her. She doesn’t have to try to get witnesses, make a record, move the nation anywhere. She just gets to boo from the cheap seats waiting for the House to act. It’s an obvious play for a “progressive” presidential candidate in the Senate.
The reality is, even if the House started an impeachment inquiry tomorrow, it would take months to get their ducks in a row to actually file articles of impeachment. And doing so would lock everything down, raise the stakes for potentially helpful witnesses, and make the process an armed conflict before our side is ready to engage. So, why not get the ducks in a row first — find and probe the barriers and soft spots — then when there is already a large body of public information that is gathered as a result of Mueller report follow ups, and other investigation strings, open the impeachment debate.
Actually, I think the house should consider checking out Barr first for possible impeachment. If reports from inside DOJ are to be believed, there may now be many willing helpmates after his disgraceful — to the department — political behavior.
I understand people want shit right fucking now! If that is your inner voice, my advice is subscribe to Amazon Prime.
zhena gogolia
@Dan B:
It’s pretty terrifying to hear this coming from the mouth of the AG.
zhena gogolia
@Immanentize:
That’s my reaction, much as I’d love to see DJT brought to justice of one sort or another. As someone said above, I’m trusting Pelosi. I really don’t want to see the Dem candidates elbowing each other out of the way on this, correct as her words may be in an absolute sense.
karen marie
@Baud: From what I’ve seen, 95% of self-described progressives are fucking morons, so I am certainly not surprised.
PS Betty, thanks for the post and the donation link. Been meaning to donate to Warren. She was my first pick even before this.
Wapiti
@Chetan Murthy: I myself would be happiest with both. Warren for two terms, setting up Harris for running after being VP. Although if I were a betting man, I think Harris will do better in 2020 than Warren. She’s a good VP pick for almost any other candidate if she doesn’t win the top slot.
tobie
@ola azul: If Schiff and Pelosi have reservations about impeachment, I would like to know why. The two know more about politics and the Constitution than I ever will.
Immanentize
@lamh36:
I heard a republican flack pushing this on NPR yesterday. Clearly the talking points for now. The woman from Move On also on the segment did get to say over the mansplaining shouting Republican hack that it was Mitch McConnell who stopped it.
Jay
@zhena gogolia:
Nancy Smash made her Impeachment comments, before the Barr Not Really a Report, or the Redacted Meuller Report, which basically provides a step by step path to Impeachment,
And she stomped on Hornyer (sp) pretty hard.
I think she’s going to let the calls build, Nadler get the unredacted report, and then Nancy’s going to Smash.
Martin
Dems really need to grow a pair here. Nadler should give Barr until Wed to provide the unredacted report and if he doesn’t get it, open impeachment hearing against Barr on Thursday. They need to push hard and push fast. The WH has made it clear they’re going to dissemble and try to run out the clock. The House needs to step up to that. Give one more week for things to open up, and then impeach Trump.
This is absurd. Political considerations are the least of our problems right now.
Immanentize
@tobie: I agree.
Impeachment is an adult game. It requires careful planning and lots of evidence. Look at the impeachment of Clinton. The Republicans had four fucking years of partisan independent prosecutors crawling all over the Clintons. Chief Justice Rehnquist had a new robe made for the show. And yet, it was a fail parade. It’s not like naming a post office.
Matt McIrvin
@Dan B: My (worrying) impression is that people outside of the political-junkie bubble regard Warren as already done long ago, destroyed by the Native American/DNA thing, and aren’t paying attention to her continued existence at all.
ola azul
@Immanentize:
Disagree.
This advice, imo, is predicated upon the phantom need to establish impeachable offenses. If one grants (and you may not, and that’s OK) that those offenses have *already* been abundantly established by the Mueller Report (which was the *entire point* of waiting for the report), then the course you recommend seems rather tepid.
If your point is that the case must be made, am agreed. Wholeheartedly. W/o reservation. The pig-ignorant populace must be enlightened as to what happent. This is precisely the point behind impeachment hearings.
Pursuing impeachment hearings also has the saving grace of being direct, forceful and honest about the gravity of the situation and the sober maturity of the response.
imo, ymmnv
Immanentize
@Jay: That sounds smart. But I think the financial stuff — the banking and tax crimes — will end up playing as big a part as the Mueller stuff. Maybe, if it can be proven, promising pardons to border patrol agents to break the law….
tobie
@Immanentize:
Being dispassionate and rational on a Friday night is not allowed!
More seriously, though: thanks for the summary of what impeachment would entail. I read elsewhere that Senators are not supposed to weigh in on impeachment since they are actually the jury in impeachment cases, whereas the House functions as the investigator. All this respect for procedure, though, seems out of date given what McConnell has done to the Senate.
Immanentize
@ola azul:
This is what you wish were true. It is not what is true. What you say is what the Republican plan for impeachment of Clinton was predicated on. Start now! Move fast! We will bring the country to our view.
Did that work for you? Very many people in the country think Trump has been exonerated. I’m not sure that a majority of Democrats would currently vote to impeach. Isn’t that, at least a prerequisite? Has anyone here whip counted our own damn caucus yet? No. Decidedly not.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Immanentize: Jonathan Alter had a good line on TV earlier: The Mueller report is the book, hearings will be the movie. I have not read the report, I don’t know if I will. But as you say, the lumpenmittel heard last night on the news while they were cooking or dozing or doing the crosswords or packing their kids backpacks or… they heard that Mueller didn’t find criminal charges. But then they saw on facebook from their college friend that there were crimes, then they had lunch with that guy from the office who said…
They’re not gonna read the book, they need to see the movie.
Kay
That seems improper- a former governor intervening to get a private citizen fired, when said citizen criticizes his daughter, who is a public employee. On a personal note, I would die of shame if I was as dependent on nepotism as these people are. They’re not grownups in my book- sorry. They have to stop relying on their (awful) parents. It should have happened a LONG time ago. But it’s never too late. They could hit adulthood sometime around retirement if they start now.
Immanentize
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m in favor of the movie!! I support the movie. I just don’t think that we should go all Robbe-Grillet and try to tell the story backwards and sideways while writing it at the same time.
Immanentize
@Kay:
And they are so fragile. I swear that we all might get to witness Sarah HS blow away in a breeze if someone criticizes her makeup again.
Kay
Sanders could just go to FOX. Her dad can get her a job. They pay REALLY well, and she meets the requirement- she’s a very practiced liar. She doesn’t want to go to prison, though, so she told Mueller the truth. As a graduate of vacation Bible school I can tell you that doesn’t count. You don’t get points for telling the truth after lying to avoid punishment. That’s even worse.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
also, if I’m half following the news correctly while clicking around the internet, word is that Deutsche Bank is cooperating with Maxine Waters’ financial services committee, one wonders if their cooperation is not being encourage by the Merkel government
Immanentize
@Kay: I love that particular lie — that lots of FBI agents told her and the President that they had lost faith in Comey. That lie went right to the heart of the obstruction. If it were true, then any President might have an obligation to remove the FBI director. So Mueller had to ask her, under oath, about it. And it was a lie.
Kay
@Immanentize:
Oh, by any objective grown up measure she should be fired. She lied to reporters. Told an elaborate lie for no other reason that to curry favor with her sleazy boss and smear one of their hundreds of enemies. She involved other people in her lie! The FBI agents she “quoted” never said what she said they did.
Grow up and accept responsibility, Sarah. You can’t have that job, because you’re a liar. People get fired every day and they don’t die. She’ll be fine.
Kay
@Immanentize:
Huckabee’s a pro. His daughter got caught in a humiliating, nasty lie – in the public record forever- so he has to crank up the outrage machine to bury it.
ola azul
@Immanentize:
What, then, was the point of cautiously, judiciously, patiently waiting for the results of the Mueller Report? So that we could ignore and/or reinvestigate its findings? So we could start over from scratch? To play out the clock?
Public education is critical, will freely concede the point. Just don’t see what purpose it serves to not use the Mueller Report, whose whole raison d’etre if damning info was unearthed (and boy-howdy, was it!), as a springboard for action, specially since we’ve all been prudently holding our fire until it was released, and now we … what? Take a poll? Ask permission? Cynically wait for 2020 because impeachment is deemed to divisive?
Pols will do what you recommend. That’s their job. It’s our job, imo, to demand impeachment, cuz w/o pressure, pols too oft revert to the safest course.
Like Roosevelt once said (paraphrase): Am agreed. Now make me do it.
Sebastian
@Kay:
The more I think about it the more I am convinced that part was in the report to take her out. I am in awe of this surgical strike and really excited about the things to come.
Ad Warren: I feel energized and motivated by having her take a clear and leading position. Many opinions wether to impeach or not and how politically viable it is, miss one crucial point: it is the morally right thing to do and energizes and motivates us, it raises spirits and morale, offers moral clarity and direction without hedging and calculation.
This is a watershed moment like Obama’s Iraq War position. She has my support.
Peale
@lamh36: ok. Looking at the poll it makes sense. A lot of Bernie’s 2016 primary voters are now backing other candidates. 58%, actually. What’s he has now are registered Democrats, sure, but according to the poll, half of his current backers didn’t vote for Clinton. 20% stayed home, 23% voted 3rd party, 7% voted Trump.
The issue with Warren in particular with those voters is probably that she was Hillary’s attack twitterer goading Donald Trump. Plus those with memories think of the betrayal. Maybe, but then the numbers are the same for Buttigieg. 100% of his supporters would vote for Bernie. 22% of Berger’s wouldn’t vote for Buttigieg.
The issue though is the poll doesn’t give the option of voting third party or stay home. Which is what A lot of Bernie’s supporters claim they did last time. And they probably will again. It’s possible that Gary Johnson and Dr. Stein won’t be on the ballot. Lol.
The problem here for Bernie is that jill stein will steal his voters in the GEneral.
dww44
@Martin: Thank you.
dww44
@Kay: According to Larry O’Donnell on his show this evening. she did lie to Mueller. It had to do with her saying to Mueller’s team that her comments about FBI agents being okay with the Comey firing was a “heat of the moment” thing. O’Donnell then played back video of the press conference in May 2017 where she said it and she was very obviously reading from a prepared text. Further, O’Donnell says that the Mueller team knew she lied and then he pointed out another comment or footnote in the report where Mueller acknowledges that many of their interviewees lied to them, many of which they did not pursue further.
Another Scott
@Martin: I don’t see it mentioned here. ICIATOOWMI.
Twitter:
Good, good.
‘night all.
Cheers,
Scott
(In case I am the only one who missed it.)
Tenar Arha
@(((CassandraLeo))):
~*spinning what if castles in the air*~
I think I’ve said this in other threads, but if Warren doesn’t win in the primaries I’d prefer her to stay in the Senate for at least one more term. Bc she’s killing it with the legislation. And Castro has a big immigration proposal. And Harris has her teachers legislation. So, if Harris wins, and if she picks Castro, & Warren is pushing her legislation in the Senate…I can’t help thinking it’s a dream team. (Don’t have anyone I’d even classify as a favorite in the house candidates running, yet).
chopper
@FlipYrWhig:
he’s barton fink. he thinks he speaks for working class people buts it’s all terrible.
Jay
@Immanentize:
“LOS ANGELES (KABC) — With a redacted version of the special counsel’s report on Russian interference released to the public Thursday, an exclusive Eyewitness News poll finds a minority of Californians believe the report completely exonerates President Donald Trump. “
Only 19 percent of people asked in California agree that the report completely exonerated the president. “
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/abc7.com/amp/politics/surveyusa-poll-minority-in-ca-agree-trump-completely-exonerated/5259048/
19% believe the report exonerates Drumph,
That’s 8% lower than the crazyfacation factor.
And that just after a 1 day news dump and no digging.
chopper
@Baud:
wtf does his independent ass know about democrats? fuck him.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott:
Jay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“United States House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler issued a subpoena on Friday for the full, unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
“I have issued a subpoena to the Department of Justice for the full version of the Mueller report and the underlying evidence. The Department is required to comply with that subpoena by May 1,” Nadler said in a statement. ”
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2019/04/democrat-nadler-subpoenas-full-unredacted-mueller-report-190419133003572.html
Mnemosyne
@tobie:
FWIW, I don’t think that either Schiff or Pelosi have reservations about impeachment. I think they both know that pulling slapdash articles of impeachment out of their asses over Easter/Passover weekend would be counterproductive (not that you’re saying that, but I’ve seen other people who have). Once the Articles are issued, it goes straight to the Senate, where McConnell will quash them, so what’s the rush? Let’s get all our ducks in a row first.
It took Republicans about 4 months after the Starr report came out to prepare the articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton. Let’s give Denocrats a little time to do it right.
patrick II
Numerous and serious laws have been clearly broken. Those Democratic members of congress who will not move towards impeachment will be as guilty of enabling Trump for pragmatic short term advantage rather than the core principles of our country as the Republicans already are.
Gretchen
If the Democrats were going to impeach, how would that play out? Subpoenas and hearings. What are they doing now? Subpoenas and hearings. They’re getting the evidence out now, exactly as they would if they called it impeachment, but without using the scary word impeachment. Once the evidence is out in the open, calling for impeachment will be less controversial, or even not controversial at all.
James E Powell
@Jay:
Why do they get more than a month to respond?
(((CassandraLeo)))
@schrodingers_cat: A bit late, but happy birthday!
Chetan Murthy
@Dan B:
Re: immigration, check out his FOX town hall. He proposed facilities *at the border* to hold asylum-seekers until their cases are adjudicated. Concentration camps, and the suspension of the 14th amendment.
And he wants my vote . Insane. And yet, if he’s the Dem nominee, he’ll get my vote Ugh.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
The poll didn’t even ask if the respondent had read the Mueller report.
Steeplejack
@ola azul:
Good comment. You outline a plausible case.
LaNonna
@Gelfling 545: Mother-in-law went that route after a near-terminal diagnosis of Parkinson’s and a host of other problems…the $$ made her last 2 years more comfortable. She wasn’t worried about outliving the mortgage terms, nor about leaving an estate to her children.
Jay
@James E Powell:
May 1st, it’s April 20th, that’s 11 days, much less than a month.
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
Nobody who’s read the Meuller Report is talking.
We’ve had the Redacted Meuller Report for a day,
I was more surprised that the number of crazies, was well below the crazyfication factor.
Wanderer
Senator Warren has repeatedly been ahead of the curve regarding issues affecting families and the functioning of government. She is a much needed breath of fresh air and common sense. I support her.
zhena gogolia
@Jay:
That’s fine. I just think a bunch of presidential candidates yelling about it is not going to look good to the mushy middle out there.
Matt McIrvin
@Immanentize:
And it succeeded! Not immediately, not completely, but just enough that it was one of the things that sunk Gore in 2000.
Uncle Cosmo
@J R in WV: Meh. He (mostly) dropped the Bogus Ignorant Hillbilly shtick but he still can’t be bothered to use the first person singular subject pronoun. Maybe he wants deniability. (“‘I’ didn’t say that! You can’t say ‘I’ said that because ‘I’ never appears!) Whadda maroon.
Uncle Cosmo
@Jay, Knucklehead of the Frozen North: After all these months, you still can’t spell Mueller’s name properly. Why should anyone take anything you post seriously, Knuck?
Mnemosyne
@James E Powell:
Not to freak you out, but today is April 20th. It’s 10 days until May 1st.
James E Powell
@Jay: @Mnemosyne:
Never go on the internet without your glasses.
Melusine
@ola azul:
THIS.
And to the whole post.
Kathleen
@FlipYrWhig: I totally agree with you. He is tapping into the same rage on “The Left” that Trump taps. He’s also selling “victimization nothing is my fault”.
Kathleen
@Betty Cracker: What you and Baud just said. OT – I must admit I was surprised yesterday when you were so nonchalant about the 3 lamb butters, which I realize require a lot of work. But I have faith that you will deliver beautiful buttery lambs again!
Kathleen
@PaulWartenberg: Pardons smardons. He’ll give the guy a cabinet position.
StringOnAStick
@Jay:
Exactly! Politicians in safer positions (like Warren) should be and are calling for impeachment now, helping to start the wave. Tip of the spear as it were. My theory is they take this slow to start approach (remember, Congress is not in session right now, which is why Barr chose the day before Good Friday as his best possible news drop point), get lots of hearings going, have bits and pieces with the occasional bombshell coming out of them; you know, something to keep the Villagers gossiping about it because they won’t be able to stop themselves from doing so (it’s their nature). Keep a constant drumbeat of more and more information coming out, but make sure this phase lasts right up to the election. I don’t care if it never gets to the Senate before the 2020 election, at least until so much awful stuff comes out that we take the Senate back in 2020 because of all that awful stuff! We all know there is tons of incriminating evidence still out there, including the 12 criminal referrals that we don’t know who’s involved in (out of the 14 Mueller made). Keeping softening up the target with the constant investigations (how do ya’all like the Bengazi treatement, Yerttle?). This is what Nancy is doing and what drives our “progressive betters” nuts as “slow walking”; she’s preparing the field, setting her look as elder stateswoman behaving wisely, prudently and carefully. She knows where this is going to end up, and she also knows that taking a bit of the scenic route at first is good optics and excellent strategy. Yes, it will keep Congress distracted but nothing is getting through anyway, and it will keep the poseur POTUS and his henchmen distracted too. All we need is a sex scandal to turn up in the investigations and the MSM will never let it drop.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Jay: @Mnemosyne: To be Scrupulously Fair, today is an appropriate day to have memory issues regarding what day it is. (420 blaze it)
@StringOnAStick:
Have we forgotten Stormy (and Karen McDougal) already? I mean, there are a lot of shiny objects, but in the words of the sage philosopher George Oscar “Gob” Bluth,
I’ve made a huge mistakecome on.Original Lee
@(((CassandraLeo))): Agreed. We have a HELOC. The best kind caps the total amount you can borrow well below the value of the house and also limits how many years you can pull money out.