Slouching Towards Oblivion

Friday, April 26, 2019

Lies Facts & Revelations


Seth Abramson:

4 Impeachment Facts
  1. If it passes the House, it's kinda the equivalent of an indictment - it then goes to the Senate for trial.
  2. It doesn't lead to what we normally think of as a "conviction" (Impeachment is a political thing, not a legality thing). If "convicted", then the office-holder is removed from office.
  3. The impeaching party pays no real penalty in either the medium-term or long-term.
  4. The purpose is to set markers to delineate future ethical behavior for office-holders.
4 Impeachment Lies
  1. You can't impeach until both parties see proof beyond reasonable doubt.
  2. There's no point in it if you know you can't pass the articles in the House or get a conviction in the Senate.
  3. The impeaching party pays a political price (See #3 above. See also 1974 Midterms. See also 2000 Election)
  4. The purpose is removal
4 Impeachment Revelations
  1. You can impeach a president for being a national security risk.
  2. Impeachment can be justified when the articles don't include statutory crimes
  3. Senators may apply any standard of proof they deem appropriate.
  4. A public airing of the facts would hurt 45* (and most Repubs) badly.

Today's Tweet



Seems like they oughta have insurance for that kinda thing.



Thursday, April 25, 2019

Hillary's OpEd Piece

I'm pasting the whole thing because I think it's important to hear from her on this, and I don't think the pay wall should get in anybody's way.

Sorry, Mr Bezos - but I do expect you to understand and gimme a pass on this one.

Anyway, remember - she ran against Bernie (even in the general election, he was always there), she ran against Trump, and the Koch brothers, and the Mercers, and Facebook and Twitter, and the NRA, and DumFux News, and the other Corporate Media outlets that constantly flak the Both-Sides bullshit, and Wall Street (yes, they paid her well for some speaking engagements, but their donations favored the GOP, as always), and she ran against the full force of Putin's Russia - 
and she beat them by 3 million votes.



WaPo:
By Hillary Clinton
April 24 at 4:44 PM

Our election was corrupted, our democracy assaulted, our sovereignty and security violated. This is the definitive conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report. It documents a serious crime against the American people.


The debate about how to respond to Russia’s “sweeping and systematic” attack — and how to hold President Trump accountable for obstructing the investigation and possibly breaking the law — has been reduced to a false choice: immediate impeachment or nothing. History suggests there’s a better way to think about the choices ahead.

Obviously, this is personal for me, and some may say I’m not the right messenger. But my perspective is not just that of a former candidate and target of the Russian plot. I am also a former senator and secretary of state who served during much of Vladi­mir Putin’s ascent, sat across the table from him and knows firsthand that he seeks to weaken our country.
I am also someone who, by a strange twist of fate, was a young staff attorney on the House Judiciary Committee’s Watergate impeachment inquiry in 1974, as well as first lady during the impeachment process that began in 1998. And I was a senator for New York after 9/11, when Congress had to respond to an attack on our country. Each of these experiences offers important lessons for how we should proceed today.

First, like in any time our nation is threatened, we have to remember that this is bigger than politics. What our country needs now is clear-eyed patriotism, not reflexive partisanship. Whether they like it or not, Republicans in Congress share the constitutional responsibility to protect the country. Mueller’s report leaves many unanswered questions — in part because of Attorney General William P. Barr’s redactions and obfuscations. But it is a road map. It’s up to members of both parties to see where that road map leads — to the eventual filing of articles of impeachment, or not. Either way, the nation’s interests will be best served by putting party and political considerations aside and being deliberate, fair and fearless.
Second, Congress should hold substantive hearings that build on the Mueller report and fill in its gaps, not jump straight to an up-or-down vote on impeachment. In 1998, the Republican-led House rushed to judgment. That was a mistake then and would be a mistake now.

Watergate offers a better precedent. Then, as now, there was an investigation that found evidence of corruption and a coverup. It was complemented by public hearings conducted by a Senate select committee, which insisted that executive privilege could not be used to shield criminal conduct and compelled White House aides to testify. The televised hearings added to the factual record and, crucially, helped the public understand the facts in a way that no dense legal report could. Similar hearings with Mueller, former White House counsel Donald McGahn and other key witnesses could do the same today.
During Watergate, the House Judiciary Committee also began a formal impeachment inquiry that was led by John Doar, a widely respected former Justice Department official and hero of the civil rights struggle. He was determined to run a process that the public and history would judge as fair and thorough, no matter the outcome. If today’s House proceeds to an impeachment inquiry, I hope it will find someone as distinguished and principled as Doar to lead it.

Third, Congress can’t forget that the issue today is not just the president’s possible obstruction of justice — it’s also our national security. After 9/11, Congress established an independent, bipartisan commission to recommend steps that would help guard against future attacks. We need a similar commission today to help protect our elections. This is necessary because the president of the United States has proved himself unwilling to defend our nation from a clear and present danger. It was just reported that Trump’s recently departed secretary of homeland security tried to prioritize election security because of concerns about continued interference in 2020 and was told by the acting White House chief of staff not to bring it up in front of the president. This is the latest example of an administration that refuses to take even the most minimal, common-sense steps to prevent future attacks and counter ongoing threats to our nation.

Fourth, while House Democrats pursue these efforts, they also should stay focused on the sensible agenda that voters demanded in the midterms, from protecting health care to investing in infrastructure. During Watergate, Congress passed major legislation such as the War Powers Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973. For today’s Democrats, it’s not only possible to move forward on multiple fronts at the same time, it’s essential. The House has already passed sweeping reforms that would strengthen voting rights and crack down on corruption, and now is the time for Democrats to keep their foot on the gas and put pressure on the do-nothing Senate. It’s critical to remind the American people that Democrats are in the solutions business and can walk and chew gum at the same time.

We have to get this right. The Mueller report isn’t just a reckoning about our recent history; it’s also a warning about the future. Unless checked, the Russians will interfere again in 2020, and possibly other adversaries, such as China or North Korea, will as well. This is an urgent threat. Nobody but Americans should be able to decide America’s future. And, unless he’s held accountable, the president may show even more disregard for the laws of the land and the obligations of his office. He will likely redouble his efforts to advance Putin’s agenda, including rolling back sanctions, weakening NATO and undermining the European Union.

Of all the lessons from our history, the one that’s most important may be that each of us has a vital role to play as citizens. A crime was committed against all Americans, and all Americans should demand action and accountability. Our founders envisioned the danger we face today and designed a system to meet it. Now it’s up to us to prove the wisdom of our Constitution, the resilience of our democracy and the strength of our nation.

And one more thing:

45*'s "presidency"
is not legitimate

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Today's Pix

click to embiggen


















Carlin Knew It All Along

George Carlin was a prophet.

This is a clip from his gig at the Press Club Luncheon many moons ago. The part that always comes back around, sounding ridiculously prescient, starts at about 5:40.

Hillary

...on what's next, given what we know about Cult45*'s fuckery, and what we know about the constraints of the Mueller investigation.




...on the undercurrents of bias - in general, but specifically against women in politics.




...on "the end of the beginning."




...on the process of (and the need to follow) the rule of law when you're trying to fulfill your duties to maintain the rule of law.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

A Podcast

Cracked - Alex Schmidt, with historian & scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat and by comedian & podcaster Adam Tod Brown







Today's Quote

I may have done this one before, but no matter - it bears repeating.


The worst illiterate is the political illiterate. He doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participate in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life - the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine - all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.
-- Bertold Brecht

Today's Tweet



A reminder.

Now This Opinion

From Now This News - Alan Piper

  1. Trump says he's fucked - anything that totally exonerates you doesn't educe that particular reaction
  2. The report is heavily redacted - that's not, in itself, a red flag, but could imply there's a lot more very real trouble being kept from our view
  3. Sarah Huckleberry admitted she just made shit up - most notably to cover the reason for firing Jim Comey
  4. The pee tape might not be a thing - but then, why was Cohen taking action as if it was?
  5. Trump tried hard to derail Mueller's investigation
  6. The word "collusion" has no real meaning in the context of what's being investigated - they might as well be crowing, "no succotash".
  7. The Mueller Report does not exonerate Donald J Trump - if anything, it shows clearly:
45*'s presidency
is NOT legitimate