crickets
crickets's JournalI've gone back and forth on the witness question.
I like this Twitter thread on the topic, starting here:
https://twitter.com/DirkSchwenk/status/1360370179306323976
I agree, and I'll explain, since there are so many doubters: 1) The Dem managers are brilliant, and made this choice based on their superior fund of information- this is not incompetence. It is therefore either strategy, or determined by things outside the impeachment
Greg Olear @gregolear
If I were a Republican Senator, the fact that the House managers are not calling witnesses would scare the shit out of me.
6:28 PM · Feb 12, 2021
and a little further down:
https://twitter.com/DirkSchwenk/status/1360370184066912256
5) At least some of the Senator/jurors are targets of this investigation, and giving them too much information before the FBI is ready would be a mistake.
6:28 PM · Feb 12, 2021
I still wouldn't mind seeing some witnesses, but given the massive ongoing investigations by the FBI, some which may involve a few Senators, it seems unlikely they'll be called.
This sounds kinda important. Found a vid.
https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1359721955704897536Bingo.
This is another aspect of the fallout we will endure if there's a vote to acquit. The proceedings are being watched worldwide. Our good standing took a beating from trump's poor governance. It's going to be even worse if we can't be shown to hold him accountable. Our whole country will be held as hypocrites, what US is supposed to stand for will be considered nothing more than lip service. Senators voting to acquit are not just cowards trying to hang on to personal power, they are thieves robbing the country of what little good name we have left.
Goodman saved so many people that day.
He was the linchpin on the inside, the one out of all the wonderful Capitol police, who just happened to be covering the hallway that turned out to be so incredibly important. The other officers who shepherded people to safety and provided cover for the Congressmen running out are also to be highly commended, not to mention those outside.
Watching and listening to the video evidence today was just brutal. I teared up many times today. I didn't cry, but I just feel so sore and wounded inside. Anyone, anyone who was watching and listening today and remains unmoved is not normal.
For trump and Repubs, today was "a feast of shame" indeed.
Dean mentions Mike Shirkey from MI as receiving call from trump
Shirkey confirms to AP Trump talked about Mich. election results with GOP delegation.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214614623 NOV2020
MI Sen. Shirkey falsely claims Jan. 6 insurrection was staged, not carried out by Trump supporters
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215079450 FEB 2021
‘Its Own Domestic Army’: How the G.O.P. Allied Itself With Militants
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/08/us/militias-republicans-michigan.html FEB 08 2021
Initially, Republican leaders had some misgivings about their new allies. “The optics weren’t good. Next time tell them not to bring guns,” complained Mike Shirkey, the State Senate majority leader, according to one of the protest organizers. But Michigan’s highest-ranking Republican came around after the planners threatened to return with weapons and “militia guys signing autographs and passing out blow-up AR-15s to the kiddies on the Capitol lawn.”
“To his credit,” Jason Howland, the organizer, wrote in a social media post, Mr. Shirkey agreed to help the cause and “spoke at our next event.” [snip]
Two weeks after the Statehouse protest, Mr. Shirkey, the Republican leader, appeared at a rally by the same organizers, onstage with a militia member who would later be accused of conspiring to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“Stand up and test that assertion of authority by the government,” Mr. Shirkey told the militiamen. “We need you now more than ever.”
Yes indeedy.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/15/media/rebekah-mercer-parler/index.htmlhttps://twitter.com/WendySiegelman/status/1351301957261152257
Replying to @davetroy
Per Pacer filing 1/10/21 Parler v Amazon Web Services
Parler's members are John Matze and NDM Ascendant LLC, a Delaware corporation
NDM Ascendant LLC's members are: Rebekah Mercer and the Rebekah Mercer 2020 Irrevocable Trust
image
5:54 PM · Jan 18, 2021
"The most compelling case cannot be presented entirely by pre-recorded video."
Agreed. Quoting from freespeechforpeople.org:
The witnesses proposed in the letter include Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; Members of Congress, their aides, and Capitol staff targeted during the January 6th riot; Capitol police officers attacked by the rioters; and President Trump himself by way of subpoena.
To support their argument, the coalition quotes Senators who voiced their concerns about a lack of witnesses in Trump’s first impeachment trial in February 2020, including Sens. Schumer, Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders, Susan Collins, Chris Murphy, and Joe Manchin, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris.
“President Trump has been impeached on the most serious charge ever levied against a president: that he incited an insurrection against the United States,” the letter concludes. “For the sake of presenting the full case to the Senate and to the American people, the trial must include witnesses to Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors.”
I don't care if trump declines to testify. He would lie anyway, and I could go through life just fine if I never heard his voice again. But this trial needs witnesses. Put the people in charge of security for that day on the stand. How about relevant parties from the Pentagon? I'd love to hear from the Capitol and Congressional staff who were there that day. There are White House staff witnesses to trump's behavior while the riot was ongoing. Let's hear from them. There is no good reason in the world to rush through this without witness testimony when the stakes are this high.
Excellent article, but it skips two of the underpinnings of Repub cowardice.
Two big reasons why some Repub senators won't vote to convict:
1. the kompromat
2. the money
Many of them have big, big secrets to hide, secrets that might be revealed in retaliation for any vote to convict. They also receive oodles of money from some sources they would rather not have come under great scrutiny, sources that would dry up in a heartbeat if they rock the boat.
Those are two reasons that loom much larger than the 'base' of trump voters or even their own sordid bigotries.
All of the Senators present at the Jan 5th 'War Council' should be named.
There's no way they should be voting on the guilt or innocence of trump's actions if they are involved themselves.
Lovely post, Sympthsical.
Biden was not at the top of my list at the beginning of the primaries either, though I never picked a single favorite. I had a feeling he would end up being the top runner though, and eventually was so relieved when he did. It seemed obvious toward the end that he's the one we needed. When he picked Kamala as his running mate, that was when my confidence in Joe locked into place.
It's early days, but so far he's exceeding my wildest dreams. There are going to be bumps along the way, but if he can continue pushing things along with a steady hand, we are all going to be in good shape and the country is going to recover from the trump nightmare.
I definitely had my doubts about Schumer also. Again, so far he is doing very well. Yay!
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: Georgia
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 25,979
