Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
February 11, 2021
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2021/02/younger-democrats-are-all-out-of-fucks.html
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
2/09/2021
Younger Democrats Are All Out of Fucks to Give for Republicans' Feelings
Let us say, and why not, that you're a Democrat who came of age in this century and then got elected to Congress. Your adult experience of the Republican party really starts with George W. Bush and the Iraq "war" and the economic meltdown and the fucktastrophe that was the response to Hurricane Katrina. You don't fondly remember Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan getting their Irish on to cut deals. You don't give a goddamn about how chummy Bob Dole and George McGovern were. You don't give a fuck about how there used to be liberal Rockefeller Republicans or there were glory days of cooperation or any of that bullshit that people exaggerate like their dick size on a Grinder profile. You only know Republicans as the savage motherfuckers who have twice wrecked the country and who treated Barack Obama like shit, who blocked progress in every area, who filled the judiciary with brutal idiots with culture warrior and evangelical nutzoid street cred, and who whine like wounded bitches whenever anyone dares to call them on their fuckery.
Imagine how freeing it must be, how liberating to not be burdened by that history. Younger Democrats get it. They know that the Republican Party is just a bunch of cruel capitalism fanatics, Christian nationalists, white supremacists, and conspiracy maniacs. They deal with the GOP as it is, not the fantasy of how it was, not the fantasy of how it could be.
That's why to those of us who have been waiting for this Democratic Party to finally emerge, who hoped that it would move beyond the torpor of tepid tradition and cancerous comity, these last few weeks have been like getting a breath of fresh air after being locked in a closet and having to inhale Joe Lieberman's farts for years.
Look at where things are going: Democrats are embracing the agenda (heavily influenced by the Bernie Sanders left, which, despite what you may think of Sanders himself or some of his more dickish followers, has brought more energy and youth to the Democratic Party since Obama's first campaign, and that's a net good by any fucking stretch of your political imagination) that is supported by the majority of the American people. And most of it is supported by big majorities, like the approval of Biden's COVID relief bill is at roughly 60-66%, including at least a third of Republicans. Who the fuck cares what Marco Rubio or Marsha Blackburn whine about when you've got that much of the public behind you? If you can't run on "We did what the country wanted us to do," then you suck.
The Democrats who have run out of fucks to give about what Republicans think, believe, want, need, or feel are pushing the party leftward (if by "leftward," you mean, "Where nearly every other country in the fucking civilized world has been for decades and calls 'the middle'"
. You see it in how vitally important raising the minimum wage is at last, as well as canceling student debt. You see it in how a push for a rational, compassionate immigration policy might actually get off the ground beyond reversing the xenophobic fucknuttery of the Trump administration. President Joe Biden's policies so far have been, on the whole, more progressive than I think anyone anticipated, and his "yeah, suck my balls, we'll go it alone" response to Republicans wanting to negotiate COVID relief to death was encouraging as hell.
snip//
This is not temporary. Democrats have developed a deep, deep bench since 2016, one that includes not only the Squad and Katie Porter, but newcomers like Cori Bush, Ritchie Torres, Jon Ossoff, and Raphael Warnock, all of whom understand that Republicans represent an existential threat to democracy and not just Democrats. They have been given no reason to give a single half-hearted fuck about the GOP. They're right, as are all of us who have been wanting this attitude for years. Maybe Trump finally scared the shit out of Democrats, as if they finally understood that you can't win a game when your opponent has wiped his ass with the rules.
Really, the Republican Party is only alive as long as Donald Trump wants it to be. That's how pathetic it is. That's how useless it is. Fuck them until they're buried in the cold, cold ground and govern as if we can actually fix the shit that needs fixing.
The Rude Pundit: Younger Democrats Are All Out of Fucks to Give for Republicans' Feelings
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2021/02/younger-democrats-are-all-out-of-fucks.html
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
2/09/2021
Younger Democrats Are All Out of Fucks to Give for Republicans' Feelings
Let us say, and why not, that you're a Democrat who came of age in this century and then got elected to Congress. Your adult experience of the Republican party really starts with George W. Bush and the Iraq "war" and the economic meltdown and the fucktastrophe that was the response to Hurricane Katrina. You don't fondly remember Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan getting their Irish on to cut deals. You don't give a goddamn about how chummy Bob Dole and George McGovern were. You don't give a fuck about how there used to be liberal Rockefeller Republicans or there were glory days of cooperation or any of that bullshit that people exaggerate like their dick size on a Grinder profile. You only know Republicans as the savage motherfuckers who have twice wrecked the country and who treated Barack Obama like shit, who blocked progress in every area, who filled the judiciary with brutal idiots with culture warrior and evangelical nutzoid street cred, and who whine like wounded bitches whenever anyone dares to call them on their fuckery.
Imagine how freeing it must be, how liberating to not be burdened by that history. Younger Democrats get it. They know that the Republican Party is just a bunch of cruel capitalism fanatics, Christian nationalists, white supremacists, and conspiracy maniacs. They deal with the GOP as it is, not the fantasy of how it was, not the fantasy of how it could be.
That's why to those of us who have been waiting for this Democratic Party to finally emerge, who hoped that it would move beyond the torpor of tepid tradition and cancerous comity, these last few weeks have been like getting a breath of fresh air after being locked in a closet and having to inhale Joe Lieberman's farts for years.
Look at where things are going: Democrats are embracing the agenda (heavily influenced by the Bernie Sanders left, which, despite what you may think of Sanders himself or some of his more dickish followers, has brought more energy and youth to the Democratic Party since Obama's first campaign, and that's a net good by any fucking stretch of your political imagination) that is supported by the majority of the American people. And most of it is supported by big majorities, like the approval of Biden's COVID relief bill is at roughly 60-66%, including at least a third of Republicans. Who the fuck cares what Marco Rubio or Marsha Blackburn whine about when you've got that much of the public behind you? If you can't run on "We did what the country wanted us to do," then you suck.
The Democrats who have run out of fucks to give about what Republicans think, believe, want, need, or feel are pushing the party leftward (if by "leftward," you mean, "Where nearly every other country in the fucking civilized world has been for decades and calls 'the middle'"
. You see it in how vitally important raising the minimum wage is at last, as well as canceling student debt. You see it in how a push for a rational, compassionate immigration policy might actually get off the ground beyond reversing the xenophobic fucknuttery of the Trump administration. President Joe Biden's policies so far have been, on the whole, more progressive than I think anyone anticipated, and his "yeah, suck my balls, we'll go it alone" response to Republicans wanting to negotiate COVID relief to death was encouraging as hell.
snip//
This is not temporary. Democrats have developed a deep, deep bench since 2016, one that includes not only the Squad and Katie Porter, but newcomers like Cori Bush, Ritchie Torres, Jon Ossoff, and Raphael Warnock, all of whom understand that Republicans represent an existential threat to democracy and not just Democrats. They have been given no reason to give a single half-hearted fuck about the GOP. They're right, as are all of us who have been wanting this attitude for years. Maybe Trump finally scared the shit out of Democrats, as if they finally understood that you can't win a game when your opponent has wiped his ass with the rules.
Really, the Republican Party is only alive as long as Donald Trump wants it to be. That's how pathetic it is. That's how useless it is. Fuck them until they're buried in the cold, cold ground and govern as if we can actually fix the shit that needs fixing.
February 11, 2021
2/10/21 8:26am
GOP 'Image' Ratings Collapse According To Gallup Poll
"Since November, the GOP's image has suffered the most among Republican Party identifiers, from 90% favorable to 78%. Independents' and Democrats' opinions are essentially unchanged."
By Frances Langum
The latest Gallup Poll spells bad news for the Republican Party. Or does it?
Sure, the "approval rating" of the party is way down. And the "approval rating" of the Democrats is up, slightly.
But read all the way down the Gallup analysis and there's this:
Republicans are running away from their party. Just like they always do after a loss.
And they don't become Democrats. This time they'll scrape off their MAGA bumper sticker and become "independent constitutional conservatives who never liked the tweeting." It's always a face-saving exercise after a Republican so-called president poops the bed.
Remember when die-hard Republicans pretended they never heard of George W. Bush and joined the well-funded astroturf movement the "Tea Party"?
GOP 'Image' Ratings Collapse According To Gallup Poll
https://crooksandliars.com/2021/02/gop-image-ratings-collapse-according2/10/21 8:26am
GOP 'Image' Ratings Collapse According To Gallup Poll
"Since November, the GOP's image has suffered the most among Republican Party identifiers, from 90% favorable to 78%. Independents' and Democrats' opinions are essentially unchanged."
By Frances Langum
The latest Gallup Poll spells bad news for the Republican Party. Or does it?
Sure, the "approval rating" of the party is way down. And the "approval rating" of the Democrats is up, slightly.
But read all the way down the Gallup analysis and there's this:
Since November, the GOP's image has suffered the most among Republican Party identifiers, from 90% favorable to 78%. Independents' and Democrats' opinions are essentially unchanged.
Republicans are running away from their party. Just like they always do after a loss.
And they don't become Democrats. This time they'll scrape off their MAGA bumper sticker and become "independent constitutional conservatives who never liked the tweeting." It's always a face-saving exercise after a Republican so-called president poops the bed.
Remember when die-hard Republicans pretended they never heard of George W. Bush and joined the well-funded astroturf movement the "Tea Party"?
February 10, 2021
Journalism 3 mins ago
Right-Wingers Supporting Impeaching Former Presidents Until They Didn’t
By News & Guts
Fox News hosts are twisting themselves into a pretzel to downplay and discredit the Senate impeachment trial. On Tuesday night’s show, Tucker Carlson questioned it saying:
56 Senators, including six Republicans, agreed it is Constitutional to try a former president. What’s interesting is many of the channel’s stars have also previously floated impeaching people who are not in office anymore. This brilliantly edited video from Media Matters captures how that view has changed now that the former officeholder in question is Donald Trump.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1359310648098881537
Right-Wingers Supporting Impeaching Former Presidents Until They Didn't
https://www.newsandguts.com/right-wingers-supporting-impeaching-former-presidents-until-they-didnt/Journalism 3 mins ago
Right-Wingers Supporting Impeaching Former Presidents Until They Didn’t
By News & Guts
Fox News hosts are twisting themselves into a pretzel to downplay and discredit the Senate impeachment trial. On Tuesday night’s show, Tucker Carlson questioned it saying:
“At this point, honestly, who cares? Impeachment? The whole thing is ridiculous. They are literally impeaching a president who isn’t even the president anymore. They’re yelling at someone who’s already left the room.”
56 Senators, including six Republicans, agreed it is Constitutional to try a former president. What’s interesting is many of the channel’s stars have also previously floated impeaching people who are not in office anymore. This brilliantly edited video from Media Matters captures how that view has changed now that the former officeholder in question is Donald Trump.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1359310648098881537
February 10, 2021
Why Thousands of Republicans Are Leaving the Party
February 10, 2021 at 6:07 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Why Thousands of Republicans Are Leaving the Party
https://politicalwire.com/2021/02/10/why-thousands-of-republicans-are-leaving-the-party/Why Thousands of Republicans Are Leaving the Party
February 10, 2021 at 6:07 am EST By Taegan Goddard
“In the days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the phone lines and websites of local election officials across the country were jumping: Tens of thousands of Republicans were calling or logging on to switch their party affiliations,” the New York Times reports.
“An analysis of January voting records by The New York Times found that nearly 140,000 Republicans had quit the party in 25 states that had readily available data (19 states do not have registration by party). Voting experts said the data indicated a stronger-than-usual flight from a political party after a presidential election, as well as the potential start of a damaging period for G.O.P. registrations as voters recoil from the Capitol violence and its fallout.”
“An analysis of January voting records by The New York Times found that nearly 140,000 Republicans had quit the party in 25 states that had readily available data (19 states do not have registration by party). Voting experts said the data indicated a stronger-than-usual flight from a political party after a presidential election, as well as the potential start of a damaging period for G.O.P. registrations as voters recoil from the Capitol violence and its fallout.”
February 9, 2021
Why the Second Impeachment of Donald Trump Is More Important Than the First
His betrayal of the nation was profound and existential. There must be a full reckoning.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow
snip//
Yet despite the the deja-vu-ness of this been-there/done-that impeachment and the absence of a possible political death sentence, the second Trump impeachment is far more important than the first, for it ultimately is about securing and protecting the defining ideal of the United States: that this nation is a democracy that honors principle not power.
snip//
The case is not merely about what Trump said at a rally immediately before the protesters he had called to Washington for a “wild” day—a rage-fueled mob that included neo-Nazis, Christian insurrectionists, and white supremacists—marched on Capitol Hill and raided a citadel of American democracy. Nor is it just about what Trump in the White House did as the brownshirts he had riled up overran the Capitol, called for the deaths of Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, and killed a police officer, while seriously injuring scores of others, who were literally placing their bodies on the line for democracy. (Trump reportedly watched the rampage with excitement, perhaps hoping it would achieve the strategic aim he and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani were then chasing: delaying Congress’ certification of the electoral votes.) Nor is it only about Trump’s effort that day to pressure Pence to take the unconstitutional step of blocking that certification. Trump’s disgraceful actions on January 6 were the endgame of a conspiracy against the United States he had been pursuing for months.
Trump had betrayed the nation—as he had before. (See the COVID pandemic.) He had sought to delegitimize an election. He had encouraged a violent insurrection. He did nothing at first when domestic terrorists assaulted Congress. Trump’s Ukraine phone call was a minor instance of sleaze compared to this crusade of full-scale treachery—like Al Capone’s tax evasion compared to his entire criminal villainy. And even if Trump is now out of office, his impeachment and trial remain vitally necessary. His attempt to undermine democracy demands investigation and judgment. Future chief executives need to know that they will not have a free pass to take a last-minute stab at clinging to power through skulduggery and terrorism. And members of Congress—now and in the years to come—ought to be taught that they are accountable for holding a power-grabbing, sedition-pushing president responsible for such sins against the republic. This impeachment does not only place Trump in the dock; it puts Republicans in a harsh spotlight. This is a test for them. Will they allow Trump’s democracy-endangering actions to go unpunished? And as the House impeachment managers chronicle Trump’s wrongdoing, as well as the awful details and tragic casualties of January 6, they will serve a much-needed purpose: providing the public with its first extensive look at the Tump-incited horrific event that merits further investigation by Congress and other bodies.
Then there is the matter of Trump’s legacy. He warrants an appropriate send-off. Presidents come to be defined in shorthand. Lincoln won the Civil War and ended slavery. Washington relinquished power. Nixon resigned. Trump will forever be twice-impeached—a distinction that will be especially meaningful if it is noted that the second one was in response to his attack on the nation’s democratic foundation. It is improbable that 17 Republican senators will join the Democrats to convict Trump at this latest trial. But a majority of the Senate will likely vote against Trump, and that will tarnish Trump as a president who, in the eyes of most members of Congress, ended his term as an enemy of the state. Whatever Trump’s political future, this will become an impossible-to-undo part of his brand—a disgraceful foe of constitutional government.
Trump is the first president to threaten American democracy in such a direct, profound, and violent manner. And this impeachment is no retread. It may lack suspense. It may seem to some as a going-through-the-motions exercise with an easy-to-predict conclusion. It may cut against the sentiment of those who want to move past Trump. But Trump committed one of the greatest political crimes in American history, and that deserves a full reckoning—for now and for the future.
David Corn: Why the Second Impeachment of Donald Trump Is More Important Than the First
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/02/why-the-second-impeachment-of-donald-trump-is-more-important-than-the-first/Why the Second Impeachment of Donald Trump Is More Important Than the First
His betrayal of the nation was profound and existential. There must be a full reckoning.
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow
snip//
Yet despite the the deja-vu-ness of this been-there/done-that impeachment and the absence of a possible political death sentence, the second Trump impeachment is far more important than the first, for it ultimately is about securing and protecting the defining ideal of the United States: that this nation is a democracy that honors principle not power.
snip//
The case is not merely about what Trump said at a rally immediately before the protesters he had called to Washington for a “wild” day—a rage-fueled mob that included neo-Nazis, Christian insurrectionists, and white supremacists—marched on Capitol Hill and raided a citadel of American democracy. Nor is it just about what Trump in the White House did as the brownshirts he had riled up overran the Capitol, called for the deaths of Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, and killed a police officer, while seriously injuring scores of others, who were literally placing their bodies on the line for democracy. (Trump reportedly watched the rampage with excitement, perhaps hoping it would achieve the strategic aim he and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani were then chasing: delaying Congress’ certification of the electoral votes.) Nor is it only about Trump’s effort that day to pressure Pence to take the unconstitutional step of blocking that certification. Trump’s disgraceful actions on January 6 were the endgame of a conspiracy against the United States he had been pursuing for months.
Trump had betrayed the nation—as he had before. (See the COVID pandemic.) He had sought to delegitimize an election. He had encouraged a violent insurrection. He did nothing at first when domestic terrorists assaulted Congress. Trump’s Ukraine phone call was a minor instance of sleaze compared to this crusade of full-scale treachery—like Al Capone’s tax evasion compared to his entire criminal villainy. And even if Trump is now out of office, his impeachment and trial remain vitally necessary. His attempt to undermine democracy demands investigation and judgment. Future chief executives need to know that they will not have a free pass to take a last-minute stab at clinging to power through skulduggery and terrorism. And members of Congress—now and in the years to come—ought to be taught that they are accountable for holding a power-grabbing, sedition-pushing president responsible for such sins against the republic. This impeachment does not only place Trump in the dock; it puts Republicans in a harsh spotlight. This is a test for them. Will they allow Trump’s democracy-endangering actions to go unpunished? And as the House impeachment managers chronicle Trump’s wrongdoing, as well as the awful details and tragic casualties of January 6, they will serve a much-needed purpose: providing the public with its first extensive look at the Tump-incited horrific event that merits further investigation by Congress and other bodies.
Then there is the matter of Trump’s legacy. He warrants an appropriate send-off. Presidents come to be defined in shorthand. Lincoln won the Civil War and ended slavery. Washington relinquished power. Nixon resigned. Trump will forever be twice-impeached—a distinction that will be especially meaningful if it is noted that the second one was in response to his attack on the nation’s democratic foundation. It is improbable that 17 Republican senators will join the Democrats to convict Trump at this latest trial. But a majority of the Senate will likely vote against Trump, and that will tarnish Trump as a president who, in the eyes of most members of Congress, ended his term as an enemy of the state. Whatever Trump’s political future, this will become an impossible-to-undo part of his brand—a disgraceful foe of constitutional government.
Trump is the first president to threaten American democracy in such a direct, profound, and violent manner. And this impeachment is no retread. It may lack suspense. It may seem to some as a going-through-the-motions exercise with an easy-to-predict conclusion. It may cut against the sentiment of those who want to move past Trump. But Trump committed one of the greatest political crimes in American history, and that deserves a full reckoning—for now and for the future.
February 9, 2021
Ex-White House Official Tells CNN: Trump Was 'Loving Watching the Capitol Mob'
I want this person to testify. 
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-was-loving-watching-the-capitol-mob-says-former-white-house-official
Ex-White House Official Tells CNN: Trump Was ‘Loving Watching the Capitol Mob’
HIS CROWD
Jamie Ross
Reporter
Updated Feb. 09, 2021 7:00AM ET /
Published Feb. 09, 2021 6:37AM ET
With former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial set to begin Tuesday, senators will spend the next few days weighing up exactly what role he played in the Capitol insurrection last month. Well, according to one insider, he was absolutely delighted with it. One person, identified only as a former senior White House official, told CNN that Trump was “loving watching the Capitol mob” on Jan. 6. CNN reports that Trump has been contacting former aides and advisers to discuss the trial, and they told the network that Trump appears to be extremely confident that there won’t be enough GOP senators who are willing to convict him. Other Trump insiders told Politico they can scarcely believe how well things have gone for him since the riot—one unnamed former Trump campaign official told the site: “He’s Teflon, right. It’s been a month since the Capitol riot and I would say, for the most part, the GOP has coalesced back behind him.” The officials say that, once the trial is over, Trump will reemerge in public and seek revenge against GOPers who backed his impeachment.
February 9, 2021
ICE Ignores Biden Order and Deports 22 Children and Babies to Haiti, Says Report
What the hell is going on? And why Haiti?
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-ignores-biden-order-and-deports-22-children-and-babies-to-haiti-says-report?ref=home
ICE Ignores Biden Order and Deports 22 Children and Babies to Haiti, Says Report
GONE ROGUE
Jamie Ross
Reporter
Published Feb. 09, 2021 6:53AM ET
Last week, the Biden administration reportedly ordered the suspension of deportation flights to Haiti in an attempt to assert its control over Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, that effort appears to have failed. According to The Guardian, at least 72 people were deported to Haiti from the United States on Monday, including a two-month-old baby and 21 other children. Two flights were reportedly chartered by ICE to take people from Laredo, Texas, to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. The flights have angered immigration-rights activists, who had hoped for a kinder approach after Donald Trump left the White House last month. “It is unconscionable for us as a country to continue with the same draconian, cruel policies that were pursued by the Trump administration,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “I don’t know what’s going on between ICE and the Biden administration, but we know what needs to be done: The deportations must stop.” Haiti is in a state of political chaos after an alleged coup attempt has again roiled the hemisphere’s poorest country.
February 9, 2021
This Is Not Representative Democracy
The American people overwhelmingly favor conviction, and there is no chance the Senate will convict.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Feb 08, 20217:18 PM
snip//
In short, in addition to using this impeachment trial to create an historical record of four years of GOP support for a president who tried to violently overturn an election, this impeachment can also stand as a record of how staggeringly broken electoral politics is when the preferences of the clear majority of Americans are being subordinated by the very systems of government itself. The GOP isn’t just committed to ignoring the insurrection at the Capitol this week. It’s also increasingly committed to ignoring the majority of Americans who found the insurrection abhorrent. This, then, is what minority rule looks like in political theater form: A Senate trial in which the clear will of the people can be sidelined because the clear will of the people does not determine who governs, or what those who govern must do.
Yes, Democrats can use the week’s proceedings to explain what happened in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6th, when the president sought to subvert the outcome of an election through lawless pressure on elected officials and then encouraged violent revolt when those efforts failed. But we all saw that with our own eyes. So perhaps they might also use this trial to show that in a hundred ways—none of them overtly lawless or self-evidently violent—government as currently constituted works to subvert representative democracy every single day. Those efforts go far beyond malapportionment in the Senate and gerrymandered districts. There are also the mounting efforts by Republican state officials to continue to suppress the vote. One recent analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice found three times as many pieces of state level vote-suppressive legislation as there were only one year ago. Legislators in the Republican-controlled Georgia Senate are falling over themselves to strangle representative democracy, just as the impeachment trial opens. That isn’t a coincidence. And until and unless the scourge of unlimited dark money in politics is constrained, “democracy” will look more and more like these same Republican Senators who don’t care about a lethal riot at the Capitol—even one that may have threatened their own lives and that of their colleagues—because these Senators are beholden not to their constituents, or even to their own self-interest, but to the secret donors who fund them.
It is not helpful or useful for Democrats to approach this impeachment trial wrapped in Hamlet’s thick black cloak of gloom and destructive self-talk. Going on the record to vehemently oppose violent armed rebellion that led to five deaths and abject terror in the seat of government is hardly a whimsical principle upon which to stand firm. But the coming days should not just be a teachable moment about Republicans and their unwillingness to cut loose the twisted and violent conspiracy theories that were the heart of Trumpism. This trial should also remind everyone that democracy itself has been systematically warped in ways that shut out the voices of most reasonable Americans, and that these same forces are working to further suppress their reasonable voices in the years to come. The American people think Donald Trump should be held accountable for what he did, and Americans paying attention are also completely correct to assume that he will not be. That is an obvious problem that has become so obvious that we’ve nearly forgotten that there are things we can and should do about it.
There is vitally important, demonstrably do-able legislative work Democrats must prioritize in the coming weeks, in order to protect the franchise, to battle vote suppression, to curb gerrymandering, and to turn off the spigot for dark money in politics. But even as debate begins on those questions, we should look at the Senate trial as a natural experiment in government that has bent and twisted the instruments of democracy until it need not even bother to respond to voters, to existential violence, or to this small matter of irrefutable evidence they saw with their own eyes. Instead of fighting over whether the impeachment trial is somehow diminishing or distracting from the other important legislative work of repairing democracy, Democrats should be messaging that but-for this broken democracy, we wouldn’t have arrived at a place in which an impeachment trial is not only required, but also very likely to end in a shocking and un-democratic acquittal. This is what minority rule looks like. But only if we continue to tolerate it.
Dahlia Lithwick: This Is Not Representative Democracy
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/impeachment-stakes-not-conviction-senate.htmlThis Is Not Representative Democracy
The American people overwhelmingly favor conviction, and there is no chance the Senate will convict.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Feb 08, 20217:18 PM
snip//
In short, in addition to using this impeachment trial to create an historical record of four years of GOP support for a president who tried to violently overturn an election, this impeachment can also stand as a record of how staggeringly broken electoral politics is when the preferences of the clear majority of Americans are being subordinated by the very systems of government itself. The GOP isn’t just committed to ignoring the insurrection at the Capitol this week. It’s also increasingly committed to ignoring the majority of Americans who found the insurrection abhorrent. This, then, is what minority rule looks like in political theater form: A Senate trial in which the clear will of the people can be sidelined because the clear will of the people does not determine who governs, or what those who govern must do.
Yes, Democrats can use the week’s proceedings to explain what happened in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6th, when the president sought to subvert the outcome of an election through lawless pressure on elected officials and then encouraged violent revolt when those efforts failed. But we all saw that with our own eyes. So perhaps they might also use this trial to show that in a hundred ways—none of them overtly lawless or self-evidently violent—government as currently constituted works to subvert representative democracy every single day. Those efforts go far beyond malapportionment in the Senate and gerrymandered districts. There are also the mounting efforts by Republican state officials to continue to suppress the vote. One recent analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice found three times as many pieces of state level vote-suppressive legislation as there were only one year ago. Legislators in the Republican-controlled Georgia Senate are falling over themselves to strangle representative democracy, just as the impeachment trial opens. That isn’t a coincidence. And until and unless the scourge of unlimited dark money in politics is constrained, “democracy” will look more and more like these same Republican Senators who don’t care about a lethal riot at the Capitol—even one that may have threatened their own lives and that of their colleagues—because these Senators are beholden not to their constituents, or even to their own self-interest, but to the secret donors who fund them.
It is not helpful or useful for Democrats to approach this impeachment trial wrapped in Hamlet’s thick black cloak of gloom and destructive self-talk. Going on the record to vehemently oppose violent armed rebellion that led to five deaths and abject terror in the seat of government is hardly a whimsical principle upon which to stand firm. But the coming days should not just be a teachable moment about Republicans and their unwillingness to cut loose the twisted and violent conspiracy theories that were the heart of Trumpism. This trial should also remind everyone that democracy itself has been systematically warped in ways that shut out the voices of most reasonable Americans, and that these same forces are working to further suppress their reasonable voices in the years to come. The American people think Donald Trump should be held accountable for what he did, and Americans paying attention are also completely correct to assume that he will not be. That is an obvious problem that has become so obvious that we’ve nearly forgotten that there are things we can and should do about it.
There is vitally important, demonstrably do-able legislative work Democrats must prioritize in the coming weeks, in order to protect the franchise, to battle vote suppression, to curb gerrymandering, and to turn off the spigot for dark money in politics. But even as debate begins on those questions, we should look at the Senate trial as a natural experiment in government that has bent and twisted the instruments of democracy until it need not even bother to respond to voters, to existential violence, or to this small matter of irrefutable evidence they saw with their own eyes. Instead of fighting over whether the impeachment trial is somehow diminishing or distracting from the other important legislative work of repairing democracy, Democrats should be messaging that but-for this broken democracy, we wouldn’t have arrived at a place in which an impeachment trial is not only required, but also very likely to end in a shocking and un-democratic acquittal. This is what minority rule looks like. But only if we continue to tolerate it.
February 8, 2021
David Frum: Impeachment Is Working--Just Not as the Framers Expected
Impeachment Is Working—Just Not as the Framers Expected
The case against despair
February 7, 2021
David Frum
Staff writer at The Atlantic
Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET on February 8, 2021.
snip//
Here’s the case against despair.
snip//
Donald Trump was not removed in 2020, but he lost the presidency, and his party lost control of the Senate.
Impeachments were designed as ways to remove corrupt federal officials. That function has mostly gone dormant, replaced by the operations of federal public-integrity law, enforced by the Department of Justice. Each month, DOJ announces actions in some two dozen cases. Recent announcements include the conviction of a former mayor in the federal territory of Guam on extortion changes and a former border officer on bribery charges.
But what impeachment can do in the modern era is send a powerful signal to the public about the gravity of certain cases. When the House impeaches, it declares: We believe we have exited normal politics; we believe we are dealing with a true emergency.
It elevates the president’s alleged abuse over all other congressional business. Impeachment empowers the House to force an issue onto the agenda of the slower-moving Senate. Impeachment changes the calendar of politics. Impeachment concentrates and clarifies issues. Impeachment compels senators to take a public stand one way or the other: convict or acquit.
more...
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/impeachment-is-working-just-not-as-the-framers-expected/617954/
February 8, 2021
Good.
https://www.politicususa.com/2021/02/08/trump-muzzled-covid-scientists.html
Posted on Mon, Feb 8th, 2021 by Jason Easley
Trump Under Investigation For Killing Americans By Muzzling COVID Scientists
The House COVID Oversight Committee is investigating Trump and his administration for a campaign of muzzling scientists on COVID.
In a letter to White House Chief Of Staff Ron Klain, Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) wrote:
The investigation is vital because it is the first step toward holding those in the Trump administration accountable for the unnecessary deaths caused by their suppression of science during the pandemic.
It is also important that the facts are known so that Congress can take legislative steps to make sure that science is protected and no administration can ever abuse its power like this in the future.
Trump muzzled scientists and Americans died, and the families of those people deserve to know why they lost their loved ones.
Trump Under Investigation For Killing Americans By Muzzling COVID Scientists
Good.
https://www.politicususa.com/2021/02/08/trump-muzzled-covid-scientists.html
Posted on Mon, Feb 8th, 2021 by Jason Easley
Trump Under Investigation For Killing Americans By Muzzling COVID Scientists
The House COVID Oversight Committee is investigating Trump and his administration for a campaign of muzzling scientists on COVID.
In a letter to White House Chief Of Staff Ron Klain, Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) wrote:
On September 2020, the Select Subcommittee launched an investigation into efforts by political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to interfere in the scientific reports and guidance issued by CDC during the pandemic. The Select Subcommittee found that HHS officials sought to suppress accurate scientific information they felt could be “use[d] against the president” and found evidence that Trump Administration appointees attempted to alter or block at least 13 CDC reports related to the virus.4Recently obtained documents indicate that White House officials also played a role in these efforts to suppress science during the pandemic. For example, HHS Senior Advisor Paul Alexander—who repeatedly pressed career CDC officials to change or eliminate scientific documents about the virus—communicated directly with White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx and Special Advisor to the President Scott Atlas about his proposed revisions to CDC reports and Task Force guidance.
….
The Select Subcommittee’s investigations and public reporting have identified numerous other instances of political interference by the Trump White House, including blocking CDC guidance on safe reopening.9However, the full extent of the White House’s role in these efforts remains unknown because the Trump Administration refused to cooperate with the Select Subcommittee’s inquiries.
….
The Select Subcommittee’s investigations and public reporting have identified numerous other instances of political interference by the Trump White House, including blocking CDC guidance on safe reopening.9However, the full extent of the White House’s role in these efforts remains unknown because the Trump Administration refused to cooperate with the Select Subcommittee’s inquiries.
The investigation is vital because it is the first step toward holding those in the Trump administration accountable for the unnecessary deaths caused by their suppression of science during the pandemic.
It is also important that the facts are known so that Congress can take legislative steps to make sure that science is protected and no administration can ever abuse its power like this in the future.
Trump muzzled scientists and Americans died, and the families of those people deserve to know why they lost their loved ones.
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: NY
Home country: US
Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
Number of posts: 171,054
