Call me crazy but I'm a tiny bit optimistic. Unlike the previous impeachment trial there will be evidence and witnesses. There's no way Republicans come out of this unified or looking good. I wouldn't go so far as to say I expect him to be convicted, but it still matters whether 1, 5, or 10 Republicans vote with the Democrats.
There has been very little discussion of having a committee do the main investigation and then bringing ti to the floor for the actual trial. I believe this is allowed and has been done for minor officials.
3: Eh, maybe I spoke too soon, it seems to still be up in the air.
Debate on witnesses. After the Q&A, the two legal teams will debate the need to subpoena witnesses and documents. The Senate will vote and a majority will be required in order to carry forward with these subpoenas. It's not yet clear if House impeachment managers will try to call witnesses. It's also not clear if a Republican would side with Democrats in favor of calling them... All that would seem to suggest witnesses will not be called. But we shall see.
Was driving and caught a bit of Trump's lawyer. If you have to listen to NPR when you drive, I'd recommend not driving.
I'm not watching any of it, but I see that "My Cousin Vinny" is trending, and that's not just because it's Joe Pesci's birthday.
Looks like 6 Republicans voted to proceed, with one, Cassidy, changing his mind in favor of constitutionality.
Trump was apparently quite unhappy with the first guy. He was a rambling mess; but what I noted was that at one point he did say that Trump had lost the election. (In the brief they were apparently at pains to never call him the "ex-President.")
I did just listen to Rep Raskin. Last 8 minutes, anyway. "Senators, this cannot be the future."
I cannot bring myself to listen to it. The predetermined outcome has me so disheartened.
There's a great deal of ruin in a nation. How much? Well, I think we'll find a bit more.
Raskin closing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81_b59p-1YA&feature=emb_logo
I meant to avoid it, but my wife had it on and Raskin pulled me in. And then the Republican dude drove me away.
Best line: "President Trump may not know a lot about the framers. But they knew a lot about him."
CNN's headline for the past couple of hours (it is 9:39 PM EST as I write this): "Trump unhappy with his lawyer's performance."
Which clearly invites the interpretation that there is a problem with Trump's lawyer, not with Trump himself.
Also, leding with a headline which centres, which makes most prominent, the fee-fees of a goddamn traitor and insurrectionist.
Who gives a flying f*ck about the thoughts and feelings of some two-bit gangster-politico with an orange squirrel on his head? Oh, I guess CNN does; and they encourage you to do so, too.
It is to despair. It is to utterly despair.
To be fair, Trump's lawyer is independently not doing well regardless of his client.
Yeah, now that we don't need to try to think like Trump to be prepared for his shit day-to-day, we shouldn't ever again. Cribbing from Josh Marshall, but it's like a family that got used to the abusive father by knowing what would set him off.
The House Dems video was quite good. I hadn't been aware of the Trump tweet at 6:01 p.m. on Insurrection Day:
"These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"
Isn't that tweet that finally got him permanently banned?
Apparently Trump's own lawyer is saying that now he's out of office they should just have him arrested and locked up after a normal criminal trial.
The game with that is obvious:
Jan 6-20: No need to impeach, the voters have spoken and he's leaving office
Jan 20-end of trial: Can't impeach since he's out of office. Criminal justice system is the way forward
End of trial-2024: it's an abuse of power for Biden's DOJ to prosecute a political opponent
Post 2024 Trump coup: Can't impeach him, the voters have spoken
The revelation that Romney nearly ran into the mob and surely would have been killed if not for Eugene Goodman running into him and turning him around is really something else.
Also Tuberville in his somewhat confused comments about the phone call form Trump on Mike "it's about order not democracy" Lee's phone says he directly told Trump about Pence being taken to a safe place and it was either just before or just after Trump's tweet attacking Pence . (Would like to see that timeline nailed down and clarified.) Lee protested but the basic facts seem to be pretty well confirmed, what I suspect what he is saying that they got wrong is that he overheard the content of the call (this is all hours before the voicemail). Tuberville and Lee seem to disagree on the length of the call.
Trial is basically just a marker for future historians. Attitude towards will be grim amusement at the naivete of those who went through the motions of procedural liberalism in the case of inexorable authoritarianism.
Except for the few*, the Reps are all backed into the stance of even more willful lying, whataboutism (wait until you hear about Seattle and Portland! Coming soon to crime scene legislative chamber near you) and tacit support for political violence. This is is an en masse dignity wraithing of the already wraithed. There is no Dana, there is only Zuul.
*Enough for Dems to hold slim electoral majorities? Finding out is half the fun. In practice I think Roberts and the Rape Court seal the deal with enshrining the supremacy of State Legislatures in presidential elections. So the trilogy of Shelby County, Rucho v Common Cause (gerrymandering not be challenged*), and whichever State-Legislatures-rule-their-elector-appointments-absolutely case that comes up will usher in the long semi-democratic twilight of America. Maybe this should be in the Preservation of Democracy thread.
**I have not seen a thorough analysis but Dave Wasserman (who generally knows his shit) says that to him it is pretty clear without the gerrymander overturns in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina that the Rs would have won the House this past election.
Someone said it was just after. Too lazy to find it now, I think the call ended at 2:15 when Tuberville said gotta go they're evacuating Pence, and the tweet about Pence being a coward was 2:24.
Watching these fucks work for Trump is a really good illustration of the whole "a coward dies a thousand times" thing.
Rucho v Common Cause (gerrymandering not be challenged*),
It is absolutely imperative that Democrats ram through far-reaching voter reform right now. Abolish the filibuster, give Manchin the moon, etc etc. Spend all the political capital.
There's really not much to be gained from being a piece of shit unless you are willing to be a total piece of shit.
Adjacent barbarian? I forget the term.
I watched a bit of the Q&A and it's insane that Trump's lawyers can just lie and no one can point it out during the proceedings. Romney asked both teams if Trump knew Pence had been evacuated when he called him a coward. The House managers said Of course, we all saw it on TV, reporters tweeted it, and Tuberville said that he directly told Trump on the phone. Then Trumps's lawyer says no, he didn't know, that is a lie, and this entire proceeding is unconstitutional. No evidence or facts, just the old Onion headline, Here are four well documented reasons with direct evidence vs. no, nuh uh, nope.
The one guy yesterday was the perfect Trump lawyer. Played the role Lindsay Graham did during the Kavanaugh hearings, angry outraged white guy taking umbrage.
Apparently the Senate goes on recess next week. Bad look if they call not witnesses.