The wager has been made. The Trump regime has pushed all of its chips into

[Atticus]

the center of the table and they are betting that the Democrats really are the spineless snowflakes they've been painting us as for the last three years. They seem certain that "the adults in the room" won't start arresting their subpoena-defiers and throwing them in jail until they comply.

If you think you have a dog in this fight, it is time to call/text/email/fax your favorite Democrats and let them know what you expect of them.

It's time to "call and raise".

[Chin music]

1. Time to howl.

You're absolutely right. Fish or cut bait time. Let's go! Pres Clinton may have some direction tonight.
If not....it's SPRINGTIME IN/FOR AMERICA. Strap the boots on, and let's start marching. Nationwide.

[bdamomma]

2. Congress does take

their cues from us, we need to be in the streets and not be silent.

[Chin music]

3. I honestly believe that too.

It's time to get 'French' about this. imho.

[Grasswire2]

13. YES

The French would have hit the street long, long ago.

Allez, enfante!

[bdamomma]

29. of course

they know when the they are being taken advantaged of.

[certainot]

25. take away their talk radio. protest the 88 universities that support 260 limbaugh stations by

broadcasting sports on them.

record the local republican talk radio stations, get it transcribed at sonix.ai for $5/hr and list their advertisers without hardly listening to it thanks to AI. when the ad industry finds out how easy it would be for a stoprush x 100 with AI, any protests at stations or the universities or pro teams that help them attract advertisers will cause the industry to have to start asking all their advertisers if they really support trump, global warming denial, privatization of public schools and social security, etc.

the 1500 station 20-1 monopoly will finally start to reflect market demand for hate and lies, and will drop to 200 stations in the swamps and forests. trump will have nothing, and the russianss won't have material to piggyback.

[BigmanPigman]

4. Call Congress [phone]

Dial and enter your zip code and you will be connected.

Call Pelosi and Nadler too!
Pelosi [phone]
Nadler(202)225-5635

[ancianita]

5. It is a "regime." A dictator's regime. Constitutional Democracy is on the ropes.

[Evolve Dammit]

6. Right. So let's get busy. Call them all. Write letters to the editor. Talk to people. Donate.

They will not relent and neither can we.

[SergeStorms]

12. The most lawless administration EVER!

And the most lawless political party backing him up every step of the way. Trump must go, and every republican in the Senate and House must be voted out as well. If they're only going to uphold the law when Democrats do something wrong (or are even rumored to have done something wrong) then they're not fit to have ANY participation in our government whatsoever. It's time to disband the republican party and bury it.

[ancianita]

15. I'm calling Speaker Pelosi and Representative Nadler. House: [phone]

I suggest that people type out their key ideas so that they don't sound emotional, but really grounded in the general rights of The People to see justice done with this AG, over the politics of gaming Justice that this AG is making of this entire process.

Speak confidently.

Identify yourself, what state you're from, and that you're a longtime voter.

Say that you want, in the absence of Barr's resignation, The House to relentlessly pursue its constitutional duty to send a message to all those from The Executive who will follow dictates to refuse to honor justice under the law.

This House's power under democracy must prevail over this dictatorship.

This Congress must be obeyed in representing the will of The People.

[pangaia]

16. I want him in jail.. Resignation is minor, although necessary.

[ancianita]

17. I don't think they'd take that seriously. If you can support their process, they will.

Follow it logically with them, and you'll get what you want.

[nini]

7. My reps are Kamala Harris and Maxine Waters

I'll call others LOL

[gldstwmn]

8. Per the rules who arrests them?

Marshalls?

[Gregory Peccary]

11. A subpoena is only as powerful as the issuing institution wishes it to be.

Congress has essentially ceded all of its subpoena enforcement powers to the Executive branch. Congress does not have a police force it can send out into the country to arrest someone who violates a subpoena nor does it have a jail to throw them in. Yes, it has the sergeant at arms, but from my understanding, the sergeant typically picks up the phone and calls either the FBI or the U.S. Marshals. Which is tough to do if you're asking the FBI or Marshal to go up and arrest his boss.

Congress could go to the courts and get a court order. That puts two branches of the government against one. But again, enforcement would still fall to the executive branch; other than bailiffs (whose jurisdiction ends at the courthouse curb), courts don't have a police force either.

If you can't enforce a subpoena, it's a worthless piece of paper.

[ancianita]

19. There is also the D.C Police Department, which I heard, honors their calls.

Congress CAN and SHOULD enforce this subpoena.

[uponit7771]

36. +1

[rzemanfl]

28. Gotta wash socks. BBL. n/t

[Gregory Peccary]

9. Well, technically you can't both "call and raise", it's one or the other

And if Trump has already pushed all his chips into the center of the table you can only call or fold. But I agree with your point, no folding now, call his orange-ass bully bluff down to the river.

[Atticus]

10. Have no idea what I was thinking. Thanks for the correction. nt

[mr_lebowski]

51. Could be argued that when you raise, you are also by definition ... calling :)

Calling being a subset of raising, if you will.

Now, if you said 'call and raise', at the table without chips in the amount of a raise being pushed past the line at the time you said it ... dealer ain't allowing that raise.

But as you say, assuming you're heads-up, if your opponent has pushed all-in, raising indeed becomes meaningless

ANYways ... time to slap down our Royal, and drag this damn pot!

[JohnnyRingo]

14. I don't think it was a choice.

The administration is not dealing the cards, and Trump is not laying down the agenda. It's a matter of reacting daily to what gets thrown at him, and he's getting more and more desperate.

[Harker]

18. We all know what appeasement

and disregarding them leads to. They've been expanding the envelope relentlessly for a very long time.

I don't ever want to see the next stage.

[shanti]

20. Regime change begins at home

Remember when we used that with *ush?

[gopiscrap]

21. we should be rioting and causing all sorts of grief and hell

til this gets resolved

[ancianita]

24. Just what this lizard prez wants. Just so we can be called "mob," "demons," etc. Pretty

sure that this is so constitutional that we have to act with more gravity about it.

Just my two cents.

[gopiscrap]

26. we need to work both sides

Last edited Wed May 1, 2019, 10:59 PM - Edit history (1)

have our reps attack it with somber gravity, while we the people make life miserable for all in the streets til barr and trump are out

[bdamomma]

30. this regime

has us just where they want us, unless we give them serious pushback. Bastards they are, why are we making it so easy for them to highjack our rights.

[burrowowl]

22. Barr is caving, is a no show for tomorrow

https://apple.news/Ax2Ia8QwoTZyyQNnajYGLXA

[DavidDvorkin]

27. That's stonewalling, not caving.

[KG]

23. i dunno, maybe need to keep that powder dry, y'know, wrong hill to die on and all that

[uponit7771]

37. We'll see, Mueller and McGhan are already being blocked by the White House from speaking

[The Wizard]

31. Keeping powder dry

is a losing strategy. Shit or get off the pot. Impeach Pence first. Make up shit. There are no rules.

[True Blue American]

32. One Congressman has a huge Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket in front of him.:)

[uponit7771]

38. AMEN!! Cause we know ... damn well ... team Trump / Russia would be making up all kinds of crap

[Buckeyeblue]

33. If they don't call the bluff the system of checks and balances is dead

[BigOleDummy]

34. Well said

And true unfortunately. I'm getting, for the first time since our draft-dodger in chief stole the WH, very disappointed with our Democratic Party leaders. The Law is the law and if they let these ass clowns get away with this kind of crap much longer WE WILL lose in 2020. I DO NOT agree that we should "wait and let the voters decide" criminal activity MUST be punished pure and simple. Our leaders need to wake up to the fact that letting crap like what we've been seeing is just WRONG. I'm afraid too many are worried about their re-elections to take a stand for Law and Order. We're letting the racists and fascists win if we do nothing. If I ignored a subpoena I would go to jail as would anyone else EXCEPT the repuglicans. We'll have a 1 party system soon enough I'm afraid. And we just sit and watch it happen.

[uponit7771]

35. K&R,

[Catch2.2]

39. Yes!!

The time for playing games are over! The Dems need to take action!

[calimary]

40. And don't forget - YOU are THEIR employer. Shouldn't they heed what YOU, THEIR EMPLOYER direct

them to do? When I was still working, I certainly had to heed what MY employer said.

[LiberalLovinLug]

41. This time they must go all out

A SUPER DUPER STRONG ALL CAPS 32 POINT TEXTED LETTER AND LEAVE NO DIGIT UNBOLDED!

[jimlup]

42. I fear that they will prevail ... the have rigged the system in their favor despite the voices of

the people.

We are entering a different period of American history. A period where Authoritarian oligarchy is in control and nothing else matters at all. Trump demonstrates that and he is only a symptom of it.

To solve this we need to turn the fucking Republicans out of office in 2020. We need to win the Presidency, the House and the Senate convincingly. Otherwise, well I hate to say it but ....

[FiveGoodMen]

43. To solve the problem, we must criminalize lying (when it has material effects)

As long as liars have the ears of all America, they'll win most of the time.

We've started wars based on lies and killed many, many thousands.

And people on this site are proud and belligerent about letting the liars lie.

Well, that will be the end of us all.

[jimlup]

48. yep

[EleanorR]

44. Actually the wager is it's republicans who will do nothing

The cabal dared the republicans to speak up by going after McCain, Barbara Bush, and others, and of course the cowards stayed silent, not even able to defend one their own much less their country.

[TrollBuster9090]

45. " I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die!"

From Richard III: " I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die."

And we know how that one ends.

[AdamGG]

46. Can Congress actually arrest people?

I know they have the power of the subpoena, but are they actually capable of ordering law enforcement to arrest and detain people? I remember after 2006, when Congress subpoenaed Dick Cheney's emails and he said, too bad, I've deleted them. Nothing happened.

Are Congress' subpoenas backed up by the same legal enforcement mechanisms as regular courts, or can people blow them off without real consequences?

[Sparkly]

47. They imagine it reaching the Senate where they can proclaim "CheckMATE!!"

They're baiting Democrats into this fight and I agree, the Democrats have to do something in response to this abject lawlessness. I think they need to get all their ducks and dominos in a row throw several potential paths, though.

Trumpists are loud liars, and they can recast saving democracy as attacking it. There is only one party that's American and it's walking through landmines of propaganda and stupidity.

[Collimator]

49. I called Hoyer, Cardin and Van Hollen.

I spoke to two live aides and one recording. I explained that I would rather have written a letter but that the word-processing program on my computer is giving me problems.

I basically said, "It's time to move forward with impeachment." I said something about people holding back because they think that it might not be politically wise, but the situation now is beyond politics. It's about our government and the Constitution. And I said that not going forward with impeachment would be politically unwise.

Of course, I wasn't that articulate at the time. [sigh] But at least I made my slightly clumsy voice heard.

If enough people voice their opinion on the subject than all the "thoughtful" and "considered" arguments against impeachment will be set aside. It is possible that we may not get what we want. However, we need to ask for what we want to increase the possibility that it will happen.

[Atticus]

50. Thank you. nt

[Collimator]

52. My housemate disagrees with me.

He feels that impeachment is useless as long as the Turtle is in power and feels that something else should be done.

Well, that's democracy. We have different approaches and ideas for solutions even if we have the same essential values.

I don't accept that there is a one-definitive move situation, here. We can try multiple solutions. The Turtle (and the Turd) are in power because people support their positions.

If enough people speak up they will have to hear us. Getting discouraged is natural, but that does not excuse inaction. Forgive me if I am starting to sound pedantic, but our history has something to say on this subject.

Independence from Great Britain wasn't a popular idea at first. The first to speak out were dismissed or vilified as rabble-rousers. Little by little, more people came over to one side of the argument, and those whose loyalty remained for the British were the ones vilified.

The Suffrage movement was considered extreme and dangerous. There were many, many women who rallied against it, believing it would destroy the fabric of society. The women leading the movement were outside the envelop of acceptability, but they didn't stop.

And now there are obnoxious Republican women holding office and trying to set back reproduction rights for women in this country whose entire careers benefited from women that they would have decried a century ago. (Okay, that may not be the best example to put forth here, but it certainly shows how times can change.)

There was once a friggin' Wall separating East and West Berlin and it was literally pulled down. That did not happen by people keeping quiet and playing it safe.

Things do change. Change doesn't come easily or quickly on most occasions and the path to change isn't clear and simple. But doing nothing is simply not an option.

[Atticus]

53. Please post more often. We need more opinions from people who think AND are comfortable

with words like "pedantic".

[Collimator]

54. Your post made me smile.

I once felt an overwhelming urge to hug a supervisor who nodded understandingly when I used the word, "Luddite."