The defense argues that the Senate should leave the impeachment decision to the voters. While that logic is appealing to our democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the Constitution’s requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the president.
Note that: When a senator says “let the voter’s decide,” the senator is shirking his duty.
Every single UK venue has now dropped hate preacher Franklin Graham
Graham is not a hate-preacher; he is a well-intended idiot who hasn’t thought about his religion carefully enough to grasp how degrading it is.
It’s good to see widespread rejection of him in the U.K. It means that Bronze Age superstitions are losing their sway, and that’s a very good thing.
As everyone in the universe must know by now, Nancy Pelosi tore in half her copy of the State of the Union address last night when the speech was over.
The kindest thing I’ve read about the gesture is that it was “rude,” and I suppose that it was. But, then, it was a speech so relentlessly dishonest, so rife with lies, exaggerations, and misappropriations of credit, that it deserved exactly the contempt it got from Pelosi. The speech was an insult to informed Americans, and I can’t help but admire Pelosi for publicly expressing her offense.
President Trump has long made it a practice to tear up his papers and throw them away. It is a clear violation of the Presidential Records Act, which is supposed to prevent another Watergate-style cover-up. When the National Archives sent staff members to tape these records together, the White House fired them.
The country is in the hands of a criminal gang, which appears to enjoy the approval of the Senate.
Many suppose Republican senators privately despise Trump but kowtow out of fear for their careers. Bad enough if they’re willing to sell out their country and integrity so cravenly. But their behavior shows most have actually drunk the Kool-Aid, succumbed to the cult, and embraced the dark side. Losing all moral sense and actually convincing themselves this vile creep show is somehow good for America.
Columnist Michael Gerson (a Republican) notes that despite the Mueller report’s compelling evidence of wrongdoing and obstruction of justice, Trump escaped accountability (even as many of his flunkies went to jail). Now he’s done it again. How? “By employing the methods of his mentor Roy Cohn. Admit nothing. Stonewall investigators. Defy subpoenas. Viciously attack opponents. Flood the zone with exculpatory lies.” And it’s working, with Republican senators and state propaganda network Fox News covering for him with “layer upon layer of obfuscation, misdirection and deception.” Shredding “norms of truthfulness, public service and ethical behavior.” And the principles and institutions that once made America great.
The Senate’s failure — No, refusal — to defend the country against a lawless president who openly, frankly, scorns the Congress is effectively the end of republican government; it is surrender to authoritarianism.
A supine, cowardly Senate quaking before the American Gothic crowd has betrayed the Founders’ ideals and — Oh, boy — the excuses are so feeble they’re just embarrassing. Susan Collins humiliated herself with the specious claim that Trump has learned his lesson, neglecting that the lesson is that he can get away with anything. Bad conduct, but not impeachable? Read The Federalist; the Founders specifically warned against foreign intrigues against American self-government.
Bah.
