Fighting the Tide
It feels like the tide has turned, and the cleansing waters of impeachment are rising in a storm-surge over seawalls and dikes and right into the center ring of P.R. Burn-em’s Two-Party Circus. Nancy Pelosi has re-doubled her efforts to hold back the tide. But why does she fight it?
Fox News sees it coming, in this interview with an unnamed Democratic member of Congress. The fact that their source remained anonymous shows that they are afraid of retribution. A sad statement on the state of the Democratic party, that it is held together not by a unified vision but by fear. Such is Pelosi’s leadership.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nancy-pelosi-impeachment-trump-democrats
Rolling Stone wonders if Pelosi has gathered too much moss to ever rock and roll with impeachment.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/will-nancy-pelosi-come-around-to-impeaching-president-trump-838311/
Pelosi feels the opposite is true, arguing Monday night that beginning impeachment proceedings would be an action rooted in political maneuvering, a charge Trump has repeatedly leveled against Democrats. “This is not about politics, it’s about what’s best for the American people,” Pelosi said in defending her decision to hold off, according to a member present who spoke with Politico.
Pelosi has stressed that the party needs to focus on promoting its 2020 platform in order to boost the chances its nominee will defeat Trump by a resounding margin, thus making it difficult for the president to challenge the results of the election. “We have to inoculate against that, we have to be prepared for that,” she told the New York Times earlier this month of the potential that Trump will challenge the results of the election should he lose. The speaker and her colleagues opposing impeachment expressed similar concerns about 2020 on Monday, arguing that, according to Politico, the party’s “message is being drowned out by the fight over possibly impeaching Trump.”
The convoluted logic there … just defies logic. If any part of Pelosi’s fear-based thinking makes sense to you, please drop me a line in the comments explaining what I am missing. “Hold the middle course,” she cries, clutching the helm of the Democratic leader-ship in a death-grip as it rams into an iceberg caused by climate change. (I mean “the climate crisis.”) Her sinking ship is what’s drowning (her word!) the party’s message, not impeachment, which would only support that message– like a life raft.
Common Dreams seems to see it from my side.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/21/revolting-against-speakers-refusal-act-pelosis-own-leadership-team-demands-trump
Another Judiciary Committee member stands up for impeachment.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/444824-pa-democrat-announces-support-for-impeachment-inquiry
An inquiry, distinct from actual impeachment, would involve a formal House investigation into potential impeachment charges, with the House potentially voting to impeach if a majority believes it is warranted.
That, of course, is how impeachment works.
So who is on board the impeachment train? The Hill’s been counting ‘em up. Kudos to Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer who has signed onto the impeachment complaint filed months ago by Reps Tlaib and Green. I’m a bit less embarrassed for my home state. Still hoping that my local Rep Peter DeFazio will see the light.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/444874-whip-list-dems-who-support-an-impeachment-inquiry-against-president-trump
Fox news says Rep. Cohen says “89-90%” on board. Does that make it hearsay?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-ready-push-impeachment-trump
Cohen also drops this bombshell bit of the truth.
He also admitted that the majority of his colleagues in the House of Representatives have not read the Mueller Report.
Sometimes proper English has no appropriate language. Egad! OMG! Facepalm. WTF! In a complete dereliction of their duty and their fookin’ jobs for which they are well-paid by the American people (and for which they receive excellent healthcare) the majority of Congress has not read the fookin’ Mueller report! Doesn’t it matter to them? Will they even take a quick glance, before voting on the future of our country? Shame on any member of Congress who has not at least spent significant time with the Mueller report by now. If you are in Congress and you haven’t read the Mueller report, you should be fired.
These two Reps from Pennsylvania are riding the train.
https://www.philly.com/news/mary-gay-scanlon-impeach-trump-mcgahn-judiciary-20190521.html
Every day the reasons for impeachment grow.
Here’s a bit of Trump crime family drama. Reality Crime Family TV(tm) could be an exciting new genre of entertainment.
https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2019/05/no-one-should-be-surprised-by-the-latest-trump-corruption-mess-washington-post-opinion.html
And more crimes. Payoffs? What payoffs? Fuggedaboutit!
https://www.newsandguts.com/link/the-week-don-mcgahns-law-firm-is-getting-a-lot-of-cash-from-the-gop-these-days/
Worse, Trump is still holding his war sword out over the table, as if waving it around might distract from impeachment. It just might, if Nancy Pelosi has her way. It’s worth remembering a little history. Here, Colin Powell’s chief of staff admits lying us into the Iraq war. Which we already know.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/opinion/trump-iran-war.html
This opinion piece from the Hill argues as I have that impeachment may prevent a war with Iran. Waiting may provoke it. But I’m just a clown with an opinion. These are some real high-powered jokers. With the same opinion. Love the bullet points, dudes! PowerPoint ready.
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/444545-why-congress-must-begin-impeachment-proceedings-now
As attorneys sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States, we are deeply concerned by Trump’s blanket assertion of executive privilege and refusal to submit to Congressional oversight, and his Administration’s evident preparations for war with Iran. Political strategists have paid a lot of attention to the consequences of impeaching him in the House. But what about the consequences of not impeaching him? They include:
1. Sending a public message that illegal conduct at the highest levels of our government bears no consequences, and that America’s greatest gift to the world, governance under the rule of law, has been corroded;
2. Emboldening dictators the world over to crush dissent and ignore fundamental rights and freedoms that America has spent blood and treasure to defend and advance;
3. Engendering disrespect at home for the system of checks and balances that our Founding Fathers carefully constructed to insure that our free society would never be subject to a tyrannical, authoritarian ruler;
4. Enabling this administration to continue to ignore longstanding domestic norms and law, repudiate treaties and flout international legal restraints on the exercise of power;
5. Countenancing this president’s continued gross disregard for veracity and his penchant for obfuscation, deception and outright lies; and
6. Aiding and abetting those in the Administration who have long been open about wanting war with Iran.
But, with Nancy P holding his reins, instead of launching an impeachment inquiry Nadler has launched new subpoenas from his confetti cannon. Does he think there will be a different outcome than the last few times? Remember what Einstein said about doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Nadler must be beginning to realize just how clownish Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to impeach is making him look. After all, she doesn’t have to sit up there all day waiting for the next no-show to not show. She doesn’t have to hold that scowl through Clown Collins’ endless, repetitive, and snotty speeches. Soon, Nadler’ll have to stand up for himself, if not the Constitution. I swear.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/house-judiciary-committee-subpoenas-hope-hicks-and-annie-donaldson/
Funny, now a Fox News editorial is making the same argument Nancy Pelosi makes. You’d think they were on the same side. This shift in direction from Fox— who were until recently in “taunting” mode— suggests that conservatives are suddenly running scared. The tide is rising.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/doug-schoen-instead-of-impeachment-dems-should-focus-on-issues-to-defeat-trump-in-2020
From the side, I dig the whacky intellectualism of this piece in Slate. The shading and colors in the extended Seurat pointillism metaphor are striking, drawn all the way out through the lovely dig of “Democrats’… myopia”. Well played, I’d say. And by the way, I agree!
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/05/nancy-pelosi-impeachment.html
But it’s not just impeachment that’s climbing over the sea walls. There is a real world beyond the circus, and we all have to live in it. Let’s end for today with a couple of new climate studies. Sea levels, it seems, are rising much faster than expected—twice as fast as was predicted in 2013— maybe as much as 7 feet by 2100. Unless they rise even faster than now expected. Which they will.
https://www.foxnews.com/science/climate-change-sea-levels-rise
A bit more detail here.
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-metre-sea-plausible.html
And more climate superlatives from AlterNet. They are “stunned” by this new study of the Antarctic. In a bad way.
https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/stunning-a-quarter-of-the-west-antarctic-ice-sheet-is-now-in-a-state-of-rapid-dynamical-imbalance/
Robert Scribbler’s vlog reports that April was the second hottest April in … well… ever. He begins this video with a discussion of the Guardian’s new language guidelines to talk about climate, which I discussed in “call it a crisis”, From now on, he says, he’ll say “climate crisis” and “global heating” so he doesn’t have to keep saying— like me and Bill Nye do—the “fookin’ tent is burning down!”. “Global heating” sounds kinda dumb, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK8CAyL1mFE
No need to bother mentioning that Trump is Climate Denier in Chief.
That’s all from the side for now. Fire extinguisher ready! Safety glasses on!
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