Here’s a live feed for Pelosi’s 5 PM announcement:
Also, the Senate (!) unanimously (!) passed a resolution asking Trump to cough up the whistleblower complaint, not some lame-ass made-up transcript.
Update:
PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
JPL
The local CBS Station is carrying her live.
Baud
She’s by herself. Interesting.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
released to Intel committee, I believe. Should set The Beast to raging
I’m thinking back to how things dragged out, as I remember it, in ’98. Made a google: Monica Lewinsky’s name became public in January, ’98; impeachment vote in mid-December.
Baud
Done. Six committees.
Spanky
I wish she wouldn’t attempt to smile during this.
Patricia Kayden
And here we go!! Winter is coming for Trump.
Redshift
NANCY SMASH? ?
kindness
You Go Girl! Now that Nancy has announced this what are our Nancy dislikers going to complain about now? I purposefully did not use the term ‘haters’ because we are all on the same team, right? Right????
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Love that she brought out the Franklin quote, and is talking checks and balances.
(Listening on Sirius, a couple of minutes delay)
JPL
The local news is saying that it was pretty stunning because for months she said lets look at the facts first.
Kay
I really could not have been more wrong on impeachment. They’re scared.
NotMax
A little strange she referred to each of the male chairs of committees as Chairman and to the female chairs as Congresswoman.
Baud
@JPL:
Hard to do when they stonewall the fact gathering.
donnah
Good for her, good for us. I found myself getting emotional as she described the path forward. I hope she and the majority of Democrats pull everything together and move ahead with confidence and courage.
Baud
@Kay:
They’re scared because this issue has teeth. It’s not obstruction of justice.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The facts have changed dramatically in the last week. Gardner wasn’t scared of the Mueller report. At least not scared enough.
I’m trying not to buy into the latest twitter panic– are they really talking about not doing further public hearings?
NotMax
Seems (finally) to be a story with legs. How long and lithe they are remains to be seen.
MazeDancer
Go get him, Dems!
Love you, Madame Speaker, but you couldn’t have announced at 4:00, so we could have Nicolle Wallace instead of ugh Chuck Todd. Yes, I’m getting selfish.
prostratedragon
eric
@Baud: but why are they scared? what is it about this story? Is it what we know or what we dont know (that they do)?
West of the Rockies
I would think all Trumplings, from the pus-pocket president to all of his enablers, must be feeling grave gastrointestinal distress.
Delightful.
prostratedragon
@prostratedragon: Wow. I put spaces in my primal scream “markup.” Think of it as so loud you couldn’t hear it, I guess.
Spanky
Mother* is going to have some long nights with members of the Cabinet
plottingdiscussing a 25th Amendment solution.* I can’t help but picture Angela Lansbury in Manchurian Candidate.
Kay
@Baud:
Maybe true. I’m not slamming Pelosi. I think she’s good at her job.
They already broadcast that they were planning on going after Biden next with China, so someone should look into that :)
I’m just relieved. I don’t think the country would have survived another “but her emails” bullshit year. They came close! Almost pulled it off.
eric
@Spanky: Biden and/or Warren and/or Harris and/or an eggplant will kill Pence in 2020.
[Individual 1] mistermix
@Kay: The Ukraine evidence also makes all of the ’16 evidence more credible. If you didn’t believe he would do it then, well, he’s done it now.
JPL
@Baud: They are going to have a special report on one of their other channels at nine with the political reporter who is a known democrat. That should be interesting. They mentioned the national security implications.
Bostonian
Good thing she kept all that powder dry so long.
Nancy is having trouble talking. Do you think it’s denture fit?
John Revolta
OMG OMG YOU GUYSS THE WORST POWER GRAB SINCE HILTER!1!!!11
-Every Repub in 4, 3, 2,………………
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Yesssss! The facts will come out and we will have justice!
jl
@Baud: I dunno. Who among us has not seen one of our 250 million dollar extortion attempts go wrong?
Might be more sympathy for Trump that we think.
Think of how many times that went wrong in the Baud 2020! campaign.
Baud
@eric:
It’s understandable and it’s pretty serious. Not a “process crime.”
Aleta
5 min ago
Mayken
@kindness: They are complaining that she did not set dates for hearings or a vote. So… there ya go!
sdhays
Pelosi was widely mocked for saying Trump would “self-impeach”. I, myself, cringed at that. But it may be that he pretty much has done just that.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@eric: @[Individual 1] mistermix: Talk of a whistleblower– those long-awaited (by our side) leaks from the intel community, and Rudi going on Fox after his third highball to say “Fuck yeah, we did it!” and this doesn’t involve his sex life, which makes a lot of people shrug.
jl
@eric: ” Biden and/or Warren and/or Harris and/or an eggplant will kill Pence in 2020. ”
I saw a couple or recent polls that have Pence against different Democratic candidates for the general. I don’t know why, maybe a hunch that would be the choice (unless Pence can be brought to justice in time).
Anyway, Biden, Warren, Sanders, all beat Pence by more than 20 points. IIRC, Harris not far behind.
Kay
Biden, IMO, was not that popular in the Democratic Party until he was Obama’s VP, but I don’t think he was ever considered particularly corrupt. I don’t think this is part of his reputation. Too much compromising, maybe not that bright, perhaps beholden to Delaware lender and corporate interests but not hugely corrupt. But I guess they just made the same play they made with Clinton, down to the Right wing operative planting it in the NYTimes.
Amazing.
Ohio Mom
Just got here (dinner is simmering away), trying to believe my eyes that there was a unanimous vote in the Senate. Even for as small a thing as demanding a committee see the whistleblower report.
I admit I had moments of doubt but I mostly believed Pelosi would come through. But the Senate, with McConnell leading, doing anything to move this all forward?! That was beyond my imagination.
Going to have to call Senator Portman’s office to compliment him. In the mean time, stuff needs stirring.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
(edited out of respect for this guy tweeting in character)
TaMara (HFG)
@MazeDancer: OMG, my exact thoughts!
Motivated Seller
If Nancy was SMASHing, she would have done this months ago. Better late than never, I guess. But she needs to do a lot more before she deserves congratulating.
Baud
@jl:
I always make it a cool billion. Need to show them I’m serious.
Kay
@[Individual 1] mistermix:
It does. A pattern and practice.
I bet there are other countries, too.
jl
@Baud: Baudsters tend for forget numbers with more complicated names.
[Individual 1] mistermix
@Ohio Mom: Just to be clear, it was unanimous consent, not a roll call. McConnell didn’t block it, so it happened. A roll call would probably not have been unanimous. I’m sure McConnell’s thinking is that it’s just a resolution with no teeth.
trollhattan
The happiest man in the Western Hemisphere right now is Boris Johnson.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
this is history, and I’m locked in, but MSNBC has just about the worst imaginable line up to discuss this– the gormless Chuck Todd and the not-much-brighter Kristen Welker
@Motivated Seller: Why is “The votes weren’t there, now they are” so hard for you halfwits to internalize?
Question for the full-wits in the room: Are you seeing any names of remaining hold-outs? I saw that Jim Cooper, who the tweeter called arguably the most conservative Dem in the caucus, say he was in. I’d forgotten he was there. Lipinski? Lynch? Cuellar?
TaMara (HFG)
@Motivated Seller: Did those pearls you’re clutching come with a fainting couch? ;-)
WereBear
I am pleased. Timing is good too, for Hump Day office gossip and the like.
Rommie
@John Revolta: Yup – I’m expecting a transition to Pelosi Presidental Power Grab shortly. Twitler’s been holding that in reserve from Day 1 of the “Witch Hunt” and now it’s time to put it on the front line.
I’m hoping that whatever spooked the Senate, even Moscow Mitch, to not resist the Whistleblower complaint summons, shows that POTUS did something REALLY bad and obvious that even they don’t wish to defend. That’ll counter the PPG above if true.
NotMax
To coin a phrase, the quid it done been quoed.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@[Individual 1] mistermix:
Would a roll call have gotten a majority?
trollhattan
@sdhays:
Maybe Trump turns out to be both scorpion and frog.
cain
I’m now wondering what is McConnell’s game here? I think he knows that Trump really put his foot in it and it’s going to be very hard to convince a court or anyone that this wasn’t high crimes. Working a foreign ally to get dirt on your opponent is treason. It makes the original accusation about Russia quite plausible. But they should all be scared because I suspect that we are going to root out a lot of things especially after we see Trump’s tax returns – that is going to happen as well.
Follow the goddam money.
trollhattan
@NotMax:
Pro job there.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: Not particularly corrupt? That’s damning with faint praise. He was famously one of the least wealthy members of the Senate. As far as being pro-bank, it’s what you do if you represent DE. In WI, it’s dairy and, in CT, it’s insurance.
If nothing else, the fact that Obama chose him should tell us that he is clean.
cain
@Rommie:
It’s not much of a power grab since by this time it is over, she’ll only be president for a few months. But even better she can work to make our elections fair and get a DOJ that actually works.
Hopefully when Trump is impeached and convicted.. every asshole who decided to be part of his whitehouse will be unhireable and will have to flip burgers for a living. Even the interns.
germy
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Well, it’s got Bill in it, so it’s all good.
Omnes Omnibus
@Motivated Seller: Fuck off.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
oh my god did anyone just hear Chuck Todd talk about the missing Federalist Paper? Would the Founders have favored impeachment if they’d known about the two term limit? would they have just wanted elections to solve it?
THEY WROTE THE FOUR YEAR TERM AND INCLUDED IMPEACHMENT YOU FUCKING MORON
(edited cause that dumb fucker makes me mad)
germy
sdhays
@Kay: As I recall, he had the distinction of being one of the “poorest” members of Congress when he was promoted to VP. He’s doing fine, but he’s not a millionaire, unlike the vast majority of his colleagues. And this was after decades in the Senate.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Omnes Omnibus:
I wonder what industry Ohio senators represent? Opioids? (I live in Ohio so I can say that)
[Individual 1] mistermix
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Maybe, but by allowing unanimous consent, McConnell, who knows how to play the game better than most, avoided an accountability moment for his caucus.
TS (the original)
Of course I posted on a dead thread So to quote myself
The Senate GOP are starting their rehabilitation. By Christmas they will have been against trump from day 1.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@germy:
Yup, he’s scared shitless. Is that literally the whole tweet? LOL
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I love myself too much to ever do that.
Kathleen
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Truth was told!
cain
@Motivated Seller:
Oh no.. her hand is way stronger with this particular event than earlier with just the Mueller report. This is easy to sell to the public, and clearly understandable where Russia had a lot of nuance. Easy to sell “You don’t shake down a foreign country against your own countryman”
PPCLI
@Motivated Seller: Nancy believed that Trump would do something so far beyond the pale, and so openly admit to it, that even the hardest core Republicans would be running scared. I didn’t believe it. But she was right.
The case for impeachment is incalculably stronger at this moment than it has been at any point in the past. Whether by luck or shrewd judgement or a bit of both, Nancy was right to temporize.
sdhays
@germy: Such….low……..energy…….
zhena gogolia
My rep:
“I am in full support of the Intelligence Committee’s handling of this matter, which is in their jurisdiction. They must have unfettered access to the entire whistleblower’s complaint, and the whistleblower must be able to come forward and be heard without retribution. An impeachment inquiry may be the only recourse Congress has if the President is enlisting foreign assistance in the 2020 election. Congress must meet this pivotal moment in our nation’s history with decisive action.”
joel hanes
@Motivated Seller:
If Nancy was SMASHing, she would have done this months ago.
If she’d done this months ago, only a third of the Dem caucus would have supported it, and impeachment would have died in infancy.
In short, GFY.
Omnes Omnibus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: OSU football.
JPL
@cain: Trump admitted the Biden part and Sen. Johnson told the Ukraine that the military money was held back because trump want investigations into corruption. That was in the Washington Post.
zhena gogolia
@joel hanes:
Probably a Tulsi supporter.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
What you said.
Could Kentucky’s shitty governor take Turtle down with him?
jl
@cain: @[Individual 1] mistermix: If the scandal is even worse than it looks now, which it probably is, and McConnell knows a lot more than we do, he is probably starting to plan for how to keep the Senate after in 2020 general.
[Individual 1] mistermix
On Biden: In my opinion, he’s not corrupt, even by pre-Trump standards. He’s just a bad candidate who doesn’t listen to his staff and is too stubborn to change. He also loves the Senate a little too much.
For example, compare his statement today with Pelosi’s. The headline for Biden’s was that unless Trump turned over the whistleblower report, impeachment proceedings should start. Pelosi’s was that we know what Trump did in the Ukraine, and it’s an impeachable offense, so here we go. Pelosi (unsurprisingly) did not put herself in a position where Trump could turn over the report and everything could possibly be good. It’s not just a procedural issue, it’s the underlying actions.
JWR
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thanks for pointing this out, and thank our damn lucky stars we had Obama to begin with.
Kathleen
deleted
cain
@JPL:
The stink is all over the Republicans. I think we’re going to be impeaching a lot of Senators and House members in the Republican party. Time to clean up Congress of these derelict, money hungry Russian stooges.
PPCLI
@cain: One thing that gangster Trump and his underlings understand instinctively: Once people start being put under oath, the Omertà crumbles fast.
A lot of stuff will be coming out.
WereBear
Comrade, one must always be careful with Ukraine.
Mikeindublin
Rubio should have handed her his water. She seemed parched!
Otherwise good news.
HalfAssedHomesteader
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/pelosi-top-democrats-privately-discuss-creation-of-select-committee-for-impeachment/2019/09/24/af6f735a-dedf-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html
“Impeachment is a rare and extraordinary step that would overturn the decision of U.S. voters in 2016 to elect Trump.”
Well, no. By my reckoning 66M > 63M. Even in 2019.
HumboldtBlue
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
What a wonderful word.
[Individual 1] mistermix
@jl:
Yes, and good luck with that.
Kay
@sdhays:
I have the same memory, but I don’t think it’s true anymore. I think he made money on the speaking circuit. But, as I said, “corrupt” wasn’t his reputation.
Baud
@HalfAssedHomesteader:
Also, too, Trump is a rare and extraordinary criminal.
cain
@trollhattan:
Didn’t we try to warn the people of Kentucky that he’s a shit head? Sigh.
Kay
@Omnes Omnibus:
I know. That’s why I said “Delaware”.
PPCLI
@HalfAssedHomesteader: “Impeachment is a rare and extraordinary step that would ratify the decision of U.S. voters in 2016 not to elect Trump.”
different-church-lady
Well Donnie, now you know what it feels like.
cain
@HalfAssedHomesteader:
Yeah, they can’t use that excuse as the popular vote had Hillary winning.
sdhays
@Kay: I’m sure you’re right. I should have said “wasn’t a millionaire”.
zhena gogolia
I pray to God we can do this right. If we prevail, the world will be amazed.
Bozhe, spasi nashu bednuiu Rodinu.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@HalfAssedHomesteader:
Huckabee did the same thing back when we had daily WH press briefings. “This is what the American people voted for….”
Um, no they didn’t. Don’t conflate the undemocratic EC with what the American people voted for and actually wanted, Sarah
Also, remember when Trump supporters would whine, “Just give him a chance!”? Whatever happened to that?
@Omnes Omnibus:
That sounds about right
different-church-lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You go into history with the hacks you have, not the hacks you wish you had.
Baud
@cain:
“Won’t someone think of the electors?”
rikyrah
@Redshift:
Yes ?? ?
karen marie
@Kay: It ain’t over yet.
piratedan
still have to be wary of how the media plays this out…because these old chestnuts are likely to be roasting on the open fire. Instead of the focus being on Trump and the crimes of his administration on:
Treason, money laundering, RICO, ignoring federal Law, circumventing federal law, breaking international agreements , violation of campaign laws, etc etc etc
The focus not just on the President, but on each member of his administration in performing obstruction and crimes committed, i.e. Barr, Pence, McConnel, DeVos, Ross, Mnuchin, et al
I’m waiting to see the media sell these alternative narratives in an attempt to muddy the waters:
1) trying to tie the impeachment proceedings to the 2020 Dem primaries and where candidates stand
2) The political ambitions of Nancy Pelosi
3) Attempting to both sides each and every scandal, no matter how tenuous
4) account it all to various flavors of Executive Privilege
Jim, Foolish Literalist
hmmm….. maybe I turned off Chuck Todd too soon, I didn’t want to listen to Jubilation T Cornpone
jl
@cain: ” impeaching a lot of Senators and House members in the Republican party. ”
I don’t think members of Congress can be impeached, tried and removed from office. IIRC, Constitution says their own chambers have to vote to expel them.
I don’t think that the voters in their states or districts can recall them either.
I don’t remember how a member of Congress can be removed from office and voters choose another before their term is up, unless they resign.
Anyone know if I misremember? Maybe explusion automatically removes them from office?
Kay
“Republican officials” :)
Justin Amash is what Rand Paul pretends to be.
karen marie
I need a referee ruling. Am I allowed to call this person an asshole?
@Bostonian
JPL
@germy: trump is gonna stomp his feet and refuse to release the transcript now.
rikyrah
@Kay:
He was always one of the poorest Senators. Remember, 44 had to talk him out of selling his house in Delaware to pay Beau’s medical bills. He only got money post VP.
mad citizen
The beauty of the Twitter machine is that it gives us some kind of historical record. My standard reply used to be about the Mueller report and what would happen, Since new crimes have been commited, for now my last two tweets to our leader (so cathartic):
“Your whole life has been a series of thousands upon thousands of lies and crimes. Most of your hapless children are following that path. Sad. You failed to do the job of president in any meaningful way. It was all just one big ego trip for you.”
and
“The fact that your whole presidency was run through twitter is going to make for some unbelievable reading and viewing in the history books and documentaries. Think about that. Your whole way of doing your job was typing letters into a phone. WTF? (Obama still has 2X followers)”
I may have to buy some more air horns to add to the one I have waiting for the gloriest of days coming…
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Talk about a historic day.
sdhays
@rikyrah: I had forgotten that detail.
Ohio Mom
@[Individual 1] mistermix: Okay, not what I first thought but still pretty good. It’s the right direction, baby steps.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@jl: I believe recalls are not provided for in current national law. As I recall the last time this came up (Lieberman? one of the party-switchers?) it was theorized that states could pass laws allowing recall of Senators, but none have and they’ve never been tested with the Judiciary. IIRC.
rikyrah
@Patricia Kayden:
Winter is Coming ???
?BillinGlendaleCA
@[Individual 1] mistermix: I agree, Impeachment shouldn’t be used just as a stick to gain compliance, it should be undertaken for acts that constitute ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’.
karen marie
@cain: McConnell is trying to keep any investigation from reaching his activities.
prostratedragon
@Aleta: Christ, what an asshole!
Yutsano
@Motivated Seller: Thank you nym I have never seen before and most likely never will again. How is the weather in ol’ Leningrad these days?
david
“Nancy Smash”… LOL!
More like “Nancy Coerced”. She either did this, or the Dem Party explodes and she loses everything.
Understand, neither she nor Biden nor many of the old guard wanted it to come to this. They were
perfectly fine with just letting everything continue until November 2020.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
Yeah, this may be the most surprising thing yet!
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
If I were supporting Biden, I’d be disappointed. But I think his statement probably assuaged some of the mushy middle.
zhena gogolia
@david:
Poshel ty na khui.
cain
Apparently Chuck Todd grew some balls and is shitting all over John N. Kennedy the senator from Louisiana. Good.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@cain: While you technically can impeach legislators, the House had only impeached one Senator. It didn’t go well. Expulsion or the ballot box is the appropriate remedy.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Trolls doing damage control.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
My question is why is Chuck Todd suddenly doing his job? Does he personally find the refusal of the WH to release the ICIG whistleblower report and the Ukraine scandal bridges too far?
Martin
Considering that Pence has admitted to participating in this, Dems are going to have to explain why he’s not also being impeached.
@cain: At some point you have to accept that a limb cannot be saved and turn your attention to saving the rest of the body. Even McConnell will reach this point.
zhena gogolia
@mad citizen:
Good tweets.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Right. Some of them will surprise you. The poorest. Gillibrand had the lowest income of the whole senator field for the presidency, which surprised me. I think her husband must stay home with their kids.
cain
@karen marie:
Yeah good luck.. Khaleesi (and her gang) are coming to Westeros.
Kelly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
My Rep Kurt Schrader(D-OR) has been talking wait and see. Haven’t noticed any change in his efforts to be unnoticed.
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Many surprises today, but this one beats them all by a mile.
What must Barr have done to get Trump to release that transcript? I feel like I don’t want to picture that.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I still couldn’t stand to listen to Kennedy, even with Todd surprising us all and going after him hard.
Raoul
Rump is the boy who cried Witch Hunt!
His rubes may eat it up, but it’s really rather boring. Lacks creativity. So little verve. Dull, and listless, really. Like a UN speech (which the crybaby is mad that it got bigfooted. He’s lucky — it was a trash fire, delivered by a drugged moron.)
Motivated Seller
@PPCLI:
Look, I’m glad she’s doing the right thing.
My issue is that all of this info was known months ago. What has happened in the past few days that finally turned the tide? It wasn’t votes, it wasn’t her leadership, it was an Intelligence leak that blossomed into a spike of media interest.
She could have been bearing down on him–and his lick spittle apologists–for months, and squeezing out plenty of media friendly nuggets, but instead she was being played by Republican-friendly concern trolling.
I’m glad she is starting to get it.
prostratedragon
@sdhays: A while back we had on the blog a movie title contest on this subject. One of my entries was Enough Rope. Since he continued (and still continues) to blast through what we thought was the bottom of the barrel at warp speed to a new bottom, I figured it only a matter of time before a required number would say “enough.” We don’t have this long a time, nor do we need it, but I remain convinced that he is capable of eventually getting Moscow Mitch to run for the impeachment hammer.
stinger
@jl:
I hate it when that happens.
debbie
@Kay:
Having the upper hand is kind of tingly-feeling!
JPL
@Martin: I thought of the Pence angle. If the whistle blower information is solid, I imagine there will be pressure on trump to resign. Pence will appoint a VP quickly and offer his resignation shortly there after, if there is information he was involved.
I’d prefer Nancy though, if only for a few months.
Fair Economist
@germy: Wow, when his crimes are getting exposed he resorts to “look at the scary black woman!” Shameless.
TBF, *Trump* should be scared of Maxine Waters because she’s head of the Finance committee and she’s probably going to be tracking down his financial crimes. Us loyal Americans are going to appreciate her, I think.
Yutsano
@david: Bridge. Get back under it.
@Motivated Seller: Et toi aussi marpon.
Millard Filmore
@jl: Without the Attorney General positioned to back him up, I do not see how that helps for more that a few months at best.
JPL
What happens to those states that are not holding primaries if trump does resign?
Hoodie
@[Individual 1] mistermix: You may be misreading that. Biden can’t look like he’s going after Trump, as that risks turning it into a “both sides” dirty politics narrative. You and others may be misjudging Biden. That cat has been around a long time and didn’t survive by having nine lives. He’ll leave the prosecuting to Pelosi.
One interesting thing about this whole episode is that it reveals that Trump is really afraid of Biden. In sports terms, while he may lack certain talents, Biden is a matchup problem for Trump. He’s not been able to come up with an effective counter (“Sleepy Joe” wasn’t working), so he started grasping at straws.The Ukraine gambit was a bonehead play borne out of that frustration. It was stupid because, as you point out, phony corruption claims are exactly the kind of thing that would not work very well against Biden. Don’t assume that Biden is the perplexed grandpa he plays on TV. You may be underestimating how Trump’s unstable behavior and theatrics may drive a large number of low-info voters to Biden. They don’t really care that Biden is dated and out of touch. He’s safe and nonthreatening, he wants everyone to get along and, god knows, maybe after the GOP loses the Senate, they will (those guys are all chameleons) when it’s in their perceived interest. Trump, with his certain level of low animal cunning and instinct for TV memes, may be aware of the appeal of that.
JWR
I actually listened to Trump’s speech at the UN today, and he sounded waaay off his game. Suppose he knew this was coming? Today, I mean. But damn, that UN appearance was the lowest-energy load of xenophobic nationalism I’d ever heard. He almost sounded sad. (Not that that’s a bad thing.)
jl
Important to remember that the claimed Biden-Ukraine scandal has been debunked several times. Ukraine investigated. It was US and international allies’ policy that the crooked prosecutor should be removed. One of the grounds was that he did NOT properly investigate the company Hunter Biden worked with. So, people like Sen John Kennedy trying to spin this yarn are just lying.
Problem is that some major news outlets are trying to ‘bothsides’ it, and omitting fact that Biden smear has been investigated and debunked several times. I forget where I saw it, but there as a tweet of a WaPo story trying to ‘bothsides’ it, next to a previous WaPo fact checker story giving it three Pinocchios, and I see just now the WaPo just updated the debunk. I don’t like the way the WaPo fact checker does things in general, but some situations are so black and white, hard to mess them up.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: There’s blood in the water.
oatler.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Don’t worry, “Scoop” is on the case!
@MeetThePress
Follow @MeetThePress
More
WATCH: Chuck Todd asks Sen. Kennedy about previous investigations into the Bidens.
Yutsano
@jl: Bothsides is The Narrative. One knows one can never go against The Narrative.
JPL
My son sent me a screen shot of the TV in a bar that was on Fox. The caption said Impeachment Plan, and above it in smaller letters it said Trey Gowdy on the phone.
scav
@Yutsano: Motivated Seller has a country to sell, with BS uogrades, so he’s been a little too busy to check outside the curtains, Gotta move the product down those series of tubes.
Aleta
Taking a moment to celebrate democracy. ?
I’d like to hope that some leads in the Mueller report have yielded useful evidence for impeachment too.
debbie
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Not a peep yet from that execrable Rob Portman. I hope his panties are drenched.
piratedan
@Motivated Seller: e,i,e,i,e,i don’t think so… Nancy was waiting for her caucus to reach a tipping point because prior to this she didn’t have the votes. With the latest revelations and a crime that even the common low information voter could understand, the caucus reached said tipping point and she’s riding that into formal hearings. Never mind that she had already allowed the chairs of the committees to start compiling their lists, well, now that the scut work has been done, the President (and members of his administration) have kindly stepped into the noose provided.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: The House impeached one Senator in one of the early Congresses, the Senator ended up resigning, after the Senate sat on the Bill of Impeachment for a bit. I think they eventually took it up and decided it was a moot point being he was no longer a Senator.
zhena gogolia
@Hoodie:
Good comment.
debbie
@JWR:
“Oh, my God. This is the end of my presidency.”
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@cain: Turtle’s polling is so low that going bitter end to Trump is all he has.
Gelfling 545
@cain: Flip burgers? Like they’d know how!
delk
What funeral home did John Kennedy ‘s hair and makeup?
karen marie
@JPL: I laughed and laughed when I remembered that.
debbie
WereBear
@piratedan: He told Benedict Arnold to hold his beer.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Remember anybody Pence would nominate has to be approved by BOTH houses.
Gelfling 545
@cain: It also doesn’t depend on his intent as some of the obstruction charges do. Much easier.
joel hanes
@karen marie:
I would say it’s not just allowed, it’s nearly obligatory.
debbie
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Dude’s had the same kind of support the GOP gave his predecessor. You’ll recall they voted unanimously to obstruct PBO 100% while he was taking the FUCKING oath of office.
RedDirtGirl
@Rommie: Time to make some more PELOSI 2019 buttons!
Ohio Mom
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Lol.
I think it might have been manufacturing at one point.
Spanky
@karen marie: I watched it live, and was cringing at what looked like inappropriate smiling. I’ll be relieved if it was simply a denture problem.
jl
@debbie: Judging from my conversations with remaining die hard Trump supporters “Give him a chance” was soon replaced with mutterings about Deep State coup plotting .
Gelfling 545
@[Individual 1] mistermix: I do think that Biden is in a tough position to come out guns blazing for impeachment. You know that it would be said that he was doing it to cover up the mythical corruption.
Immanentize
@cain: Chuck Todd: You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Fair Economist
@Gelfling 545:
Which is fine, because Biden doesn’t have any actual authority on impeachment. Mildly supportive (so as not to foster division) is all we need from him.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You can watch here https://twitter.com/atrupar
JoeyJoeJoe
@[Individual 1] mistermix: Lesson is not to mess with Ukraine maybe: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fzLtF_PxbYw
Immanentize
@debbie:
He wrote a new one.
Mnemosyne
@Motivated Seller:
The food is terrible here, and such small portions. ?
debbie
@Immanentize:
I prefer to think he was on his knees begging Trump to come clean. But I am beyond giddy right now.
Mnemosyne
Man, I love all of the crybaby trolls coming out of the woodwork to try and pretend this isn’t a big fucking deal.
Cry harder, trolls. Cry harder. ?
JPL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m not sure she would go there during an election year, but remember downstairs I said they would not get unanimous support in the Senate. just sayin
JWR
@debbie: LoL! Hell-a-lujah!
Emma
@Motivated Seller: Bullfeathers. She said he would self-impeach, and he has.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@debbie:
Rob Portman is such a nonentity I never hear much about him. The most recent things I remember him being involved in are the Kavanaugh hearings last year and back when his son or something came out as gay. I’m sure he likes flying under the radar. He better be terrified
Pappy G
We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning! – Nancy Pelowski to Peche DuBois
debbie
@jl:
I’m not even sure there was much of a “Give him a chance” phase. “What do you mean his Inauguration speech was a downer? I found it very inspiring. And those crowds!”
JPL
@Immanentize: Barr’s gonna read the transcript on live tv isn’t he.
Immanentize
@debbie:
Phrasing?!
Martin
@JPL: Great, now we’re going to be stuck with Mulvaney as both President and Vice President and COS and head of 6 agencies.
This is going to be a wild election if the GOP continue down the path of cancelling primaries.
JoeyJoeJoe
@cain: Kennedy used to be a liberal, by Louisiana standards anyway. He ran for senate in 2004 as the most liberal of the major candidates. All party candidates run in the same primary, and top two make a runoff unless someone gets over 50%. A moderate Democratic representative and a Republican, who won (first time a Republican won a Louisiana senate race since reconstruction) were the others
Immanentize
@JPL: Yes, with a “comical Ukrainian accent.” It will slay the critics!
Mnemosyne
@germy:
Translation: “Two Jews, a dago and a colored woman! Of course they hate me!”
HalfAssedHomesteader
@PPCLI: There you go!
JPL
link
Are we sure he wasn’t the leaker
Emma
So let’s see: she was forced to do it. She smiled wrong. Her dentures didn’t fit.
Give it up boys and girls. It played out exactly as Nancy said it would. She’s a better politician than the rest of us put together.
trnc
@JPL:
Would that be a Sinclair station by any chance? At any rate, she has all the facts she needs.
jl
Have any of the celebrity news talking heads reminded their GOP guests that, supposing there were any merit to the Biden smear, that there is a formal and legit method of asking Ukraine to do an investigation? And then ask them why Trump didn’t use the established, lawful, and legit process?
Seems like an important issue to evaluate the merit of the scandal. Maybe the news celebrities don’t want to put out anything so black and white and hard to ‘partisan balance’? Or they don’t know?
Some commenter typed yesterday, maybe in jest, that Barr was going to formally open the US investigation needed to make the request to Ukraine. If so, looks like events overtook that last gasp.
Yutsano
@JPL: “For all of this has happened before, and all this will happen again.”
gwangung
@Motivated Seller:
Lin Manuel has the appropriate answer.
sdhays
@JPL: The IG has said he’s concerned about reprisal, so that points to someone still working there.
Sab
@Omnes Omnibus: Wasn’t Biden put in charge of the Stimulus infrastructure, which was spotlessly clean?
I think, aside from their usual projection, they tried a Rovian attack his strength move, and it backfired badly. Also Senate comity.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@jl:
Which is why farmers being fucked over by Trump’s trade war are blaming the USDA of all things of conspiring to undermine God-Emperor Trump’s glorious agenda. It’s “if only the Czar knew” levels of self-delusion.
I mean, I’d seriously love to ask these people, “Do you honestly believe Trump is infallible? That he never makes any mistakes at all? Can you imagine saying that about yourself or anyone else? Don’t give me word salad bullshit about the ‘deep state’ or something. Just listen to him when he speaks. Does that sound like a competent man to you? Come on, rank and file employees of the fucking USDA are not going to undermine the policies of the POTUS! They’re just not. Why can’t you just admit that Trump is fucking you over with his trade war? Whatever happened to the ‘the buck stops here’? I mean what are you, his boot-lickers?”
Uncle Cosmo
@david: Go fuck yourself.
Ruckus
@[Individual 1] mistermix:
Even moscow mitch can see the writing on this wall. He may stay as quite as possible but he knows if he carried this to far his chances are very close to zero. He may lose anyway but he at least wants a chance.
Mary G
We’ve already got a couple here working the night shift. Bet Vlad doesn’t pay overtime. Sad!
Uncle Cosmo
@zhena gogolia: Now that even I understood. Da!!
Frankensteinbeck
I’m less excited than everyone else, because I’ve never had high expectations of the results of an impeachment. I did and do think it should be done, because the moral statement should be made, but I understood that it’s not a simple, obvious political calculus. I supported the House Democrats picking their moment. Now they have, and we’ll see what happens. I do agree the Ukraine thing was a gift, a great excuse for waverers in difficult seats and easy to explain and sell to the masses.
jl
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Some of the farmers have peeled off from Trump, and others are waiting see how much more money will come in before they give up on Trump (maybe the least admirable bunch?). But sad to see how many die hard supporters seem willing to stick with Trump to the end, even after he seriously damaged them, and damage that will last for decades, for a foolish and pointless trade war that flailed and failed right out of the gate.
Sab
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Insurance, gas/fracking.
Uncle Cosmo
@Motivated Seller: Bullshit. Go fuck yourself with a rusty chainsaw.
debbie
I’m about to take my evening walk. I hope I don’t frighten the neighbors with this big smile I can’t wipe off my face.
Quinerly
@Emma: ?
Frankensteinbeck
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
No. They believe they, as a group, are infallible. They believe they have lost too much of their privilege to do whatever they please to minorities already. They believe further compromise is unacceptable, at any level. So if Trump’s trade war is failing, they know it must be some Democrat’s fault.
Sister Golden Bear
@Yutsano: So say we all.
Chyron HR
@Motivated Seller:
Hey, remember when Lawrence O’Donnell announced that Trump’s loans were co-signed by the Russian mafia, and you guys were demanding impeachment THAT VERY MINUTE? And then the story turned out to not, technically, be true? Good times.
Uncle Cosmo
@JPL: There is no Constitutional impediment to indicting, convicting & imprisoning a sitting VPOTUS. That’s how they got Agnew to resign the office – it was that, or face the music for corruption. So if there is credible evidence against Mikey Dense, they might be able to get him down the evacuation slide as part of a deal.
Barbara
@Motivated Seller: Uh, no. I wouldn’t normally respond to you because you are so obviously a troll, but it gives me the chance to say something I have been thinking for a while now, and that is this: there was always a good chance, in fact, a very good chance, that after enough time and a high enough comfort level that Pelosi would be cautious that Trump would do something so beyond the pale that it would be impossible for anyone to ignore, including people who want very much to never have to stand up to Trump. He is the Platonic ideal of the kind of person who will hang themselves if given enough rope. So you can go suck eggs.
Barbara
@Emma: She was “forced” to do it is exactly the position she wants to be seen to be in.
Mary G
@Barbara: Yep. Nancy knows her child psychology.
Sister Golden Bear
@Mary G:
https://aknextphase.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Robot-Army.jpg
joe hanes
it’s gonna be bright [bright] sunshiney day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FscIgtDJFXg
SFAW
@debbie:
Wait — did I stumble into the “opioid abuse” thread?
The day Shill Barr, consigliere to preznits*, does anything but try for a cover-up, is so far in the future that … well, it’ll probably be contemporaneous with the heat death of the sun.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
anyone in the district? Is this the influence of the fabled George Norcross?
joel hanes
@jl:
sad to see how many die hard supporters seem willing to stick with Trump to the end
It was never for the trade war.
Some of them were in it for the tax cuts, but the truly hard core support him because they want him to hurt the people they hate.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@jl: That’s what Todd was trying to tell Kennedy, but Kennedy just kept babbling along about how the Bidens had to be investigated.
chopper
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (cont’d)
chopper
(cont’d) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Dorothy A. Winsor: –
being a couple of centuries older than Jamelle Bouie, I do not get this reference. but I’m guessing it’s the Millennial version of Foghorn Leghorn
smintheus
@joel hanes: Sad to see so many die hard supporters seem willing to stick with Pelosi to the end. She has blown the impeachment question scandalously. The fact she finally gave way does not mean we have to pretend that she’s some kind of hero in this.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@jl:
Yeah. I’m glad some are critical of him now, but it’s sad that it took having their livelihoods destroyed to do it, given the other horrible shit Trump has done
@Frankensteinbeck:
I guess I’d just like them to look me in the eye and tell that’s what they believe deep down and at least be honest with themselves. I’d want them to actually listen to themselves say this shit out loud (Trump never makes any mistakes! It’s always someone else’s fault!). To admit that they’ve essentially turned themselves into Trump’s slaves by continuing to support him, despite his corruption and human rights violations; that they believe in nothing and are nothing. That they would be the “Good Germans” of Nazi Germany who ratted on their neighbors for being Jews just to steal their apartment and belongings
joel hanes
@smintheus:
God you’re tedious.
You’re now the only person in my pie filter. Rhubarb is my favorite.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@smintheus:
Just couldn’t help yourself, could you? This was the moment Pelosi was waiting for and she’s taken it. Isn’t that good enough for you? She hasn’t blown anything
Mnemosyne
@gwangung:
Sometimes it makes me wonder why I even bring the thunder.
Mary G
I bet that was fun.
patrick II
The difference between two weeks ago and today is one person – – whoever that whistleblower is. Democracy has been sitting on a thin blade.
Immanentize
@Emma: I hate to take a lap, but Baud and I predicted this would start almost to the week — Baud said just after Labor Day, I said beginning of October. Neither of us could have predicted the specific cause, but the political will and the election campaigns demanded that timing.
Baud
I wish Pelosi hasn’t worn a blue dress. Suggests a pro-Democratic partisan bent.
Butter Emails!!!
Sorry I missed this. Are the goal posts shifted yet?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That made me think of this.
JPL
@trnc: I should have expanded my comment, because they indicated she now has the facts. They did give a both sides view saying trump disagreed
Sister Golden Bear
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Remember Kay’s post about how gun nuts admitting they were wrong would mean they’d need to own all the consequences of their actions. Ain’t gonna happen. Denial ain’t a river in Egypt, it’s core to them seeing themselves as Good And Righteous People.
Baud
@Immanentize:
Horns aren’t going to toot themselves.
chopper
@trollhattan:
worst. pokemon. ever.
Brachiator
@Barbara:
I enjoyed this very, very much. Thank you.
Shana
@JPL: I was a teenager when Agnew resigned but I have the recollection that a new Veep has to be approved by some element of Congress. Am I wrong?
jl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thanks. I didn’t see that in the clip I saw.
chopper
@Omnes Omnibus:
i guess “not particularly corrupt” would be more “praising with faint damns” in this day and age.
JPL
@Shana: It does. I just don’t think Nancy will use it unless the person is overly partisan.
dmsilev
Alexandra Petri at the Post:
Omnes Omnibus
@david: And you can join in the fucking off.
Frankensteinbeck
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
It’s easier, much easier, to go with their gut and just say something stupid and deflecting, get angry, shut down the conversation, or any combination of the above. Honesty with yourself takes effort, and honesty with other people takes a lot more effort.
smintheus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: No she wasn’t waiting for this moment. She was waiting for the next election, as she has often said. Those of us who insisted all along that Trump had to be impeached were right. Pelosi was wrong, and she was wrong to put down fellow Democrats who were rightly pushing for impeachment.
Whether being right all along is “tedious” as joel asserts is a matter of opinion.
Immanentize
@jl:
FTFY
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: There’s an app for that.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Shana: No, you are not wrong. A nominated VP must be approved by the House AND Senate.
JPL
@Baud: It’s purple.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I’m not getting you an iPhone.
Leto
@Immanentize: I approve of this message. Can I send a self address/stamped envelope for your newsletter?
Baud
@JPL:
Are we doing that What Color Is the Dress thing?
Martin
@Shana: New VP needs to be approved by a simple majority of both the House and Senate. I find it nearly impossible to believe that Pence could find it in himself to forward a name that the House would approve.
Fair Economist
It blows my mind that when Pelosi has dropped the hammer at the *perfect* time, when even the Republican Senate is forced to support her on the key element, the trolls are trying to attack her timing. Whoever is developing the propaganda in St. Petersburg is evidently an idiot.
Mandalay
Trump’s approval rating on 538 today is 43.1%. Take it with a pinch of salt, but the last time it was higher than that was two and a half years ago.
And Rasmsussen (hardly the greatest for polls, but not the worst either) has Trump’s approval today at 53%, up 8% in the past three weeks.
So while the brouhaha has our punditocracy jerking off furiously, the public does not seem to be turning on Trump at all.
(Yet.)
Brachiator
@smintheus:
Are you a real human being?
This statement makes no sense and just seems to string together and reverse some other comments here.
Immanentize
@Frankensteinbeck: This is a great insight. They have collective infallibility. Thank you.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@smintheus: Many of us here said that the Speaker would pull the trigger when she had the 218 votes, she got the 218 votes, she pulled the trigger. What’s so difficult to understand about this?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: How about a Note 10+?
Baud
@Mandalay:
Rally around the Nazi flag effect, I think. He’s in trouble, so his people are being defensive.
Shana
@JPL: I’ve seen speculation that Coats is the leaker but have no expertise to evaluate that.
chopper
@david:
or summer of 2020, when impeachment and the whole circus it brings would have a much bigger positive effect on the election, but yeah you do you
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Who am I? Andrew Yang?
Chyron HR
@smintheus:
Can we just skip ahead to the part where you glorious true progressives are vowing to vote for Trump to teach the “shitlibs” a lesson?
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Mandalay:
I know you added that “yet”, at the end, but I think it’ll take some time for that approval rating to drop,with effective public impeachment hearings. I don’t think the current story of Trump extorting a foreign government to smear a political opponent and refuses to release a whistle-blower report that may be related to said extortion has set in yet. It’s easy to understand and is clearly a threat to national security.
Immanentize
@Leto: Newsletter is published quarterly….
JPL
@Baud: nope .. it’s purple
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Heh, maybe.
ETA: From Yang, I’d ask for a Note 10+ and a Sony a7R IV and a good, fast wide angle lens. Make for some great Astro shots.
chopper
@Mnemosyne:
who are you now, james watt?
JPL
trump’s calling it a witch hunt, makes me think of this song , ding dong the witch is dead
Mary G
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL:
There be witches.
Quinerly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m reading from the bottom up. Has someone posted this? Trump called Pelosi.
“The President actually said to Nancy Pelosi, ‘Hey, can we do something about this whistleblower complaint, can we work something out.’ And she said ‘Yes, you can tell your people to obey the law.’ So she quickly swatted that down.” – NBC News correspondent Heidi Przybyla
chopper
@smintheus:
well to be fair, if people like you were in charge of the house we would have held an impeachment vote a year ago and it would have failed utterly and we’d all look like idiots. well, maybe just you, i dunno.
Brachiator
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Many people don’t know what they believe deep inside, and would be unwilling to be introspective, and would never make confession to a stranger.
It is easier to find some tribe to belong to. And while I don’t blame social media, I think that the Internet makes it easier for some people to avoid thinking for themselves, and to latch onto tribal group think.
And as a number of people have noted, Trump is a man full of resentments, and his supporters are happy to be just as mindlessly resentful as he is.
karen marie
@joel hanes: Thank you.
@Emma: I am so relieved. I kept holding onto the thought that Pelosi hasn’t failed yet but it was getting more and more difficult as summer turned to fall.
Mnemosyne
@smintheus:
Please tell me this was supposed to be sarcasm that went horribly awry.
Anotherlurker
@karen marie: I hereby rule that , yes, you can and should call Bostonian an asshole.
Immanentize
@Quinerly: Is this real? It’s like LBJ being assured if only he could get in a room with Ho Chi Mihn, he could end The Vietnam conflict…. That latter thing actually was true, is the call to Pelosi true? wow.
Cue Raven if he hasn’t fallen off the boat.
PS. I heart Quinerly.
Mnemosyne
@Butter Emails!!!:
Yep, the trolls have been towing them to their new “lefties than thou” positions all afternoon.
karen marie
@Barbara: It’s the old “more in sorrow” gambit.
Mnemosyne
@Fair Economist:
To be fair, it’s all they’ve got to work with. Trump has basically left them a couple of dried-out twigs and a pile of sand to build a new house of cards from, but they’re doing their damnedest, poor stupid bastards.
JPL
@Immanentize: At the Atlantic festival or forum whatever it was she mentioned gun control. Enquiring minds want to know if he was willing to sell out the NRA.
Mnemosyne
On the color of Pelosi’s dress, I would call that color indigo. A purplish blue, but still blue.
zhena gogolia
@Uncle Cosmo:
Eto ia uzhe skazala!
smintheus
@Mnemosyne: Sarcasm? You mean like ‘Nancy can never fail, she can only be failed.’?
The omniscient, infallible one has chosen the absolute bestest moment ever mankind could have conceived to
drop her intransigient opposition to impeachmentlure Trump into her long planned trap.WaterGirl
@Baud: If Trump and the Rs have lost Chuck Todd, then it’s not because Chuck Todd saw the light or grew a spine. Chuck Todd must see which way the wind is blowing.
karen marie
@Mandalay: That’s the number RELEASED today, not a poll taken today. Let’s talk about Trump’s approval rating when the numbers which include this week’s events come out.
zhena gogolia
@SFAW:
“Everyone dies.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICd5DiZmuig&t=182s
smintheus
@chopper: It’s always projection with idiots like you, isn’t it? I have said many, many times that what I supported was opening impeachment investigations as soon as Trump demonstrably committed impeachable offenses. But I guess that is too difficult a thought to hold in your head; you’re either 100% with the infallible, the divine Pelosi, or you’re some variety of knave/fool.
CarolDuhart2
@Mary G: He doesn’t get it. Nobody trusts him. He’s screwed pver far too many people in too many places to get a favor. Also he’s clearly not seeing his situation clearly. Yes, Pelosi would love to see him gone, but she knows that the minute a deal is struck, he’d turn around and bullshit her or even goad his followers into doing something rash.
It must be very bad to even come to this.
zhena gogolia
@Butter Emails!!!:
You bet.
joel hanes
@karen marie:
Had impeachment never come, it still wouldn’t be Pelosi who failed, although she’d continue to accept the blame because she’s an actual leader, not a reality TV “leader”. Obligatory reference:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/57144/eisenhower-wrote-letter-accepting-blame-d-days-failure-just-case
Had impeachment never come, it would have been the failure of the timid, conservative half of the Democratic caucus, whose votes she’s been counting and quietly encouraging and coaxing for lo these many months, but who could not bring themselves to do the right thing for the nation when it needed them.
That goes a thousand times for the fucking Republicans, too, but there’s no hope that the Republicans will ever again do the right thing. (Justin Amash, I disagree with all your ideas, but you’re a mensch.)
smintheus
@Chyron HR: It’s always projection with you folks.
smintheus
@joel hanes: Right, because Pelosi blocking impeachment hearings and investigations helped so much to prod and persuade reluctant Democrats that impeachment was necessary. JFC, the things Pelosi fluffers will try to convince themselves of.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: My thought exactly, but of course you phrased it so much better than I did!
JPL
@Mnemosyne: hahaha So glad you weighed in.
joel hanes
@Mnemosyne:
So, o goddess of memory, mother of Muses, how does it feel to actually be rested?
(I assume you have had a couple nights to use your CPAP)
Omnes Omnibus
@smintheus: What a bitter, resentful, little person you are.
smintheus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, we’ve been listening to you fantasize for more than a year about how tough Pelosi was going to be. Just because you believed your fantasies doesn’t mean others have to; that’s not hard to understand. Pelosi was forced to relent by circumstances she did nothing to create.
smintheus
@Brachiator: The person I was responding to has been deriding me at another site for opining that Pelosi f*cked up the impeachment process and was backed into a corner against her will. He has declared over and over again that Pelosi engineered this with 12 dimensional chess, and that I’m too perverse to acknowledge her (and his) superiority.
WaterGirl
@Baud: That wasn’t for real, was it?
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Was it?
smintheus
@david: You’re right. Your most vituperative critics here are desperate to prove that they haven’t been wrong all year in deriding those who favor impeachment and who complain about Pelosi’s obstructionism.
smintheus
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s always projection with you, no doubt.
cain
@JPL:
Not to be pendantic, but I think the color is indigo and she looks splendid in it. It was a good look, and a good day to announce impeachment.
WaterGirl
@Quinerly: Pelosi to Trump: You get nothing! Nothing!
Mnemosyne
@smintheus:
Or perhaps she remembers Napoleon’s words, which you seem to have forgotten.
Mnemosyne
@smintheus:
Also, I love how the Speaker of the House getting up on national TV and announcing that the impeachment inquiry begins immediately is now a “failure” because, like, reasons. Reasons, I say!
WaterGirl
@cain: It wasn’t the classic Democratic blue. I agree that it’s Indigo, which is a nice, strong color, perfect for the occasion.
cain
@WaterGirl:
A bold color for a bold day.
Mnemosyne
@joel hanes:
It’s pretty nice, actually! It took me a couple of days to figure out that I needed to turn on the heater part of the humidifier. As soon as I did that, I went from an AHI of 5 to an AHI of 1.
And my spouse is sleeping better, too, since he doesn’t have to lay there wondering how long he’s supposed to wait before calling 911 when I stop breathing.
The cats finally forgave the hose yesterday and were willing to snuggle up, though they still eye the hose warily in case it attacks them.
Quinerly
@Immanentize: https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari/watch/sources-pelosi-says-trump-called-her-today-wanting-to-work-something-out-about-whistleblower-complaint-69786693879?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR2PwfgPc1_pakvNINTIc12RDNWDA-_dy6Ihwz3oQwNHV0MmOAgCj0NnIlc
Mnemosyne
@smintheus:
Yessss, that’s why all of the relevant committees have already been formed and are ready to start working tomorrow. Because this was all forced on Pelosi. ?
Eolirin
@smintheus: She blocked nothing. Investigations and hearings have been on going since the dems took the house.
Mandalay
@karen marie:
The Ramussen number is from its daily poll from yesterday, and 538 continually amasses the most recent results from multiple polls every day.
So the polling information I posted couldn’t be more up to date. Both 538 and Rasmussen show an unmistakable upward trend in support for Trump this month.
JR
@Mandalay: The time to evaluate polling will be next week when the events of this week have been taken into account.
chopper
@smintheus:
right, when you said ‘all along’ you meant ‘some time next year’. eat a bag of dicks, fuckbag.
Amir Khalid
I said before that Mitch McConnell would never abandon Trump unless faced with a stark choice between Trump’s downfall and his own. I take it that is what has come to pass.
Mnemosyne
@Amir Khalid:
I suspect that Mitch is still desperately trying to save Trump because that will save his own ass, but when push comes to shove, McConnell is going to be looking out for number one.
Dan B
@Eolirin: And Mitch of Moscow has stated that the Far Left has held a two and a half year “impeachment parade”.
Poor Smintheus can’t even get his number one Muscovite to agree with him.
Jay
Keep in mind, that Biden/Ukraine2020 Ratfucking/Blackmail is what has moved the Overton Window,
That may not have anything to do with the Whistleblower.
An Orangmandious tactic, is to bury a big complex scandal, with a lesser, simpler one.
Kathleen
@Butter Emails!!!: It’s early.
Kattails
@karen marie: coming in quite late, but yes. Go for it.
Ken
It’s so wonderful to see so many old nyms who haven’t been around much since, oh, November of 2016.
I have to think it’s also a good sign for Trump – if Putin had decided to cut his losses and increase chaos in the US by releasing the kompromat, would we have seen such an outpouring of scattershot reasons to dislike Pelosi?
Zinsky
ITMFA!!
It is ironic that everyone was focused on what was transpiring in the Democratic caucus today when the most drama might have been in the Republican caucus! I wonder if Moscow Mitch, Gravedigger Barrosso, Lurch Thune and the rest of the white supremacist Senate decided to ditch Deviant Donald today? Maybe they see the writing on Trump’s border wall??
mrmoshpotato
Anyone know if articles of impeachment can have appendices containing more impeachable offenses?
You know this Soviet shitpile mobster conman bastard administration isn’t going to stop.
Doug R
@david: Shh, David
Ruckus
@mrmoshpotato:
I believe that that whatever the hearings unearth can be charged. How long did Clinton get investigated and charged with something not illegal and that happened after the hearings started?
catclub
@Jay: I was thinking he can one-up Obama by being impeached. Only third one in history
mrmoshpotato
@Ruckus: You mean how long did it take to get Clinton for lying about a blowjob?
I don’t remember.
Motivated Seller
@patrick II: Well said. Over the past 3 years, there have been so many people that could have stood up and done the right thing. Let’s hope that this breaks the spell, and it lights the path for others.
smintheus
@Eolirin: Impeachment hearings have not been happening. A few random hearings have been held, with Pelosi stating explicitly that impeachment was not on the table. Nice try moving the goal posts.
smintheus
@Mnemosyne: Napoleon’s words, I remember them well: “Shit, this is doomed…all is lost!” Yeah, Pelosi took those words to heart; really helps to explain her months long strategy of turning and fleeing.
terry chay
We need something better than a pie filter for this turd. Being a petty troll is one thing, but polluting a thread with 10% of all the comments is quite another.