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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
February 8, 2020
America's fatal flaw: The founders assumed our leaders would have some basic decency
Our democracy was founded on optimism about human nature. Amid the Trumpian wreckage, that looks like a bad bet
David Masciotra
February 8, 2020 5:15PM (UTC)
No historian or political scientist has better explained the fragility of American democracy than a poet. When I interviewed the poet Rita Dove three years ago, she offered the following assessment of exactly how a sociopathic president like Donald Trump could inflict irreparable damage on institutions of governance, and the norms — written and unwritten — that have directed them for centuries:
Decency, in other words, was a bulwark against the corrupt impulses and wicked instincts of men in power. Even Richard Nixon, who had no compunction when persecuting citizen activists or illegally bombing Cambodia, recognized that he was a participant within an important system of laws. Eventually, he was forced to surrender to those laws. Fealty to American order has also motivated unwise and harmful behavior, such as Al Gore agreeing to accept the results of an election under suspicion of fraud for the "good of the country." The erosion of faith in American institutions and their democratic objectives, Gore and Nixon appeared to believe, would create chaos — a fracturing of the public, and a collapse of the government's ability to preserve societal stability.
Faith, like decency, is intangible. It will disappear the second that people no longer honor it or act on it. As Dove explained, decency was essential to the maintenance of the rule of law and governmental functionality in the United States. The election of the most indecent man to ever hold the office of presidency in the modern era was a warning shot across the country. After mocking a disabled reporter, routinely denigrating women and providing encouragement to his "Second Amendment people" if Hillary Clinton became president, he put decency on a gun-range target. What's even more frightening is how quickly his fellow Republicans in Congress and his supporters in the media got in line, rifles in hand, to shoot holes in it.
The recent events of Trump's acquittal in the Senate, his State of the Union address and his spiteful, rambling monologue at the White House on Thursday have collectively acted as the flatline on the heart monitor of decency. As decency dies, American life becomes ever more precarious.
more...
https://www.salon.com/2020/02/08/americas-fatal-flaw-the-founders-assumed-our-leaders-would-have-some-basic-decency/?fbclid=IwAR3-xIX9Ac4MBCvCBa3xR4xzFQg4CbHlGOS-ljhyEFTl-_4J4uiWi5wz7LQ
America's fatal flaw: The founders assumed our leaders would have some basic decency
America's fatal flaw: The founders assumed our leaders would have some basic decency
Our democracy was founded on optimism about human nature. Amid the Trumpian wreckage, that looks like a bad bet
David Masciotra
February 8, 2020 5:15PM (UTC)
No historian or political scientist has better explained the fragility of American democracy than a poet. When I interviewed the poet Rita Dove three years ago, she offered the following assessment of exactly how a sociopathic president like Donald Trump could inflict irreparable damage on institutions of governance, and the norms — written and unwritten — that have directed them for centuries:
Much of our government seems based on trust, the assumption that people will behave like decent human beings. Yes, the founders implemented checks and balances and limits on power, but there are these loopholes that betray a belief that people will be decent. That optimism on human ethics is something I love about this country. Now, it threatens to harm us.
Decency, in other words, was a bulwark against the corrupt impulses and wicked instincts of men in power. Even Richard Nixon, who had no compunction when persecuting citizen activists or illegally bombing Cambodia, recognized that he was a participant within an important system of laws. Eventually, he was forced to surrender to those laws. Fealty to American order has also motivated unwise and harmful behavior, such as Al Gore agreeing to accept the results of an election under suspicion of fraud for the "good of the country." The erosion of faith in American institutions and their democratic objectives, Gore and Nixon appeared to believe, would create chaos — a fracturing of the public, and a collapse of the government's ability to preserve societal stability.
Faith, like decency, is intangible. It will disappear the second that people no longer honor it or act on it. As Dove explained, decency was essential to the maintenance of the rule of law and governmental functionality in the United States. The election of the most indecent man to ever hold the office of presidency in the modern era was a warning shot across the country. After mocking a disabled reporter, routinely denigrating women and providing encouragement to his "Second Amendment people" if Hillary Clinton became president, he put decency on a gun-range target. What's even more frightening is how quickly his fellow Republicans in Congress and his supporters in the media got in line, rifles in hand, to shoot holes in it.
The recent events of Trump's acquittal in the Senate, his State of the Union address and his spiteful, rambling monologue at the White House on Thursday have collectively acted as the flatline on the heart monitor of decency. As decency dies, American life becomes ever more precarious.
more...
https://www.salon.com/2020/02/08/americas-fatal-flaw-the-founders-assumed-our-leaders-would-have-some-basic-decency/?fbclid=IwAR3-xIX9Ac4MBCvCBa3xR4xzFQg4CbHlGOS-ljhyEFTl-_4J4uiWi5wz7LQ
February 8, 2020
Posted on Sat, Feb 8th, 2020 by Sean Colarossi
Lt. Col. Vindman Fights Back And Calls Trump A Petty Liar
Donald Trump has spent the past 24 hours attacking decorated war veteran Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was physically removed from the White House on Friday as part of the president’s post-impeachment purge.
But the Purple Heart recipient fought back on Saturday in a statement from his lawyer, basically calling Trump a petty liar who is trying to intimidate anybody who stands up to him.
For Vindman, it appears Trump’s bullying isn’t working, and he’s punching back.
The full statement:
Trump is picking another fight with the military
Donald Trump and his supporters like to push the absurd idea that this president is a tough commander-in-chief with strong ties to the military, but time and again he has attacked decorated veterans.
It started early in Trump’s political career when he claimed late Sen. John McCain wasn’t a war hero because he was captured. It continued throughout the 2016 campaign when he waged an all-out assault on the Gold Star Khan family.
Now, Trump didn’t just drag a Purple Heart recipient out of the White House for speaking the truth about his Ukraine crimes, but he took to Twitter to smear him with lies and question his military service altogether.
At the end of the day, Trump seems to enjoy picking fights with men and women he knows are respected and revered in a way he’ll never be.
That’s clear in his latest back-and-forth with Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a man who has done something this president never has: honorably serve his country.
Lt. Col. Vindman Fights Back And Calls Trump A Petty Liar
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/02/08/vindman-fights-back-calls-trump-petty-liar.htmlPosted on Sat, Feb 8th, 2020 by Sean Colarossi
Lt. Col. Vindman Fights Back And Calls Trump A Petty Liar
Donald Trump has spent the past 24 hours attacking decorated war veteran Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was physically removed from the White House on Friday as part of the president’s post-impeachment purge.
But the Purple Heart recipient fought back on Saturday in a statement from his lawyer, basically calling Trump a petty liar who is trying to intimidate anybody who stands up to him.
For Vindman, it appears Trump’s bullying isn’t working, and he’s punching back.
“The President this morning made a series of obviously false statements concerning Lieutenant Colonel Vindman,” the statement read. “While the most powerful man in the world continues his campaign of intimidation … Lieutenant Colonel Vindman continues his service to our country as a decorated, active duty member of our military.”
The full statement:
The President this morning made a series of obviously false statements concerning Lieutenant Colonel Vindman; they conflict with the clear personnel record and the entirety of the impeachment record of which the President is well aware. While the most powerful man in the world continues his campaign of intimidation, while too many entrusted with political office continue to remain silent, Lieutenant Colonel Vindman continues his service to our country as a decorated, active duty member of our military.
Trump is picking another fight with the military
Donald Trump and his supporters like to push the absurd idea that this president is a tough commander-in-chief with strong ties to the military, but time and again he has attacked decorated veterans.
It started early in Trump’s political career when he claimed late Sen. John McCain wasn’t a war hero because he was captured. It continued throughout the 2016 campaign when he waged an all-out assault on the Gold Star Khan family.
Now, Trump didn’t just drag a Purple Heart recipient out of the White House for speaking the truth about his Ukraine crimes, but he took to Twitter to smear him with lies and question his military service altogether.
At the end of the day, Trump seems to enjoy picking fights with men and women he knows are respected and revered in a way he’ll never be.
That’s clear in his latest back-and-forth with Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a man who has done something this president never has: honorably serve his country.
February 8, 2020
AM JOY DEAR SUSAN COLLINS A LETTER BY JOY 02 08 2020
&fbclid=IwAR3RhQnnm5zmexWB9ZPW_4IXRXRiY-OFyLdR5C2370BWhCTy-R7RbfZhCUg&app=desktop
February 8, 2020
Rachel read this last night; brought me to tears, especially the last two paragraphs.
https://www.npr.org/2020/02/07/803904417/lt-col-alexander-vindman-escorted-out-of-the-white-house-his-lawyer-says
snip//
Here's the full statement from Alexander Vindman's lawyer David Pressman:
Statement from David Pressman, LTC Vindman's lawyer:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQM4aCSX0AAp46P?format=jpgRachel read this last night; brought me to tears, especially the last two paragraphs.
https://www.npr.org/2020/02/07/803904417/lt-col-alexander-vindman-escorted-out-of-the-white-house-his-lawyer-says
snip//
Here's the full statement from Alexander Vindman's lawyer David Pressman:
Today, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman was escorted out of the White House where he has dutifully served his country and his President. He does so having spoken publicly once, and only pursuant to a subpoena from the United States Congress.
There is no question in the mind of any American why this man's job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House. LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honor, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful.
During his decades of service to this country, LTC Alexander Vindman has served quietly but dutifully, and he has served with honor. He came into the public eye only when subpoenaed to testify before Congress, and he did what the law demanded.In recent months, many entrusted with power in our political system have cowered out of fear. And, yet, a handful of men and women, not endowed with prestige or power, but equipped only with a sense of right borne out of years of quiet service to their country made different choices.
They courageously chose to honor their duty with integrity, to trust the truth, and to put their faith in country ahead of fear. And they have paid a price.The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy.
He did what any member of our military is charged with doing every day: he followed orders, he obeyed his oath, and he served his country, even when doing so was fraught with danger and personal peril. And for that, the most powerful man in the world - buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and the complicit - has decided to exact revenge.
LTC Alexander Vindman leaves the White House today. But we must not accept the departure of truth, duty, and loyalty that he represents. In this country right matters, and so does truth. Truth is not partisan. If we allow truthful voices to be silenced, if we ignore their warnings, eventually there will be no one left to warn us.
There is no question in the mind of any American why this man's job is over, why this country now has one less soldier serving it at the White House. LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth. His honor, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful.
During his decades of service to this country, LTC Alexander Vindman has served quietly but dutifully, and he has served with honor. He came into the public eye only when subpoenaed to testify before Congress, and he did what the law demanded.In recent months, many entrusted with power in our political system have cowered out of fear. And, yet, a handful of men and women, not endowed with prestige or power, but equipped only with a sense of right borne out of years of quiet service to their country made different choices.
They courageously chose to honor their duty with integrity, to trust the truth, and to put their faith in country ahead of fear. And they have paid a price.The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy.
He did what any member of our military is charged with doing every day: he followed orders, he obeyed his oath, and he served his country, even when doing so was fraught with danger and personal peril. And for that, the most powerful man in the world - buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and the complicit - has decided to exact revenge.
LTC Alexander Vindman leaves the White House today. But we must not accept the departure of truth, duty, and loyalty that he represents. In this country right matters, and so does truth. Truth is not partisan. If we allow truthful voices to be silenced, if we ignore their warnings, eventually there will be no one left to warn us.
February 8, 2020
TheHill.com
Russian politician offers to fly political party to Florida to celebrate Trump's acquittal
By J. Edward Moreno - 02/08/20 12:05 PM EST
The leader of Russia’s pro-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky congratulated President Trump on his acquittal by the Senate and suggested that he and members of his party, including President Vladimir Putin, visit Trump’s Florida estate to “raise glass to your success.”
Zhirinovsky went on to denounce House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as well as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the sole Republican who voted to convict Trump on either articles of impeachment.
more...
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/482168-russian-politician-offers-for-political-party-to-fly-to-miami-to
Russian politician offers to fly political party to Florida to celebrate Trump's acquittal
TheHill.com
Russian politician offers to fly political party to Florida to celebrate Trump's acquittal
By J. Edward Moreno - 02/08/20 12:05 PM EST
The leader of Russia’s pro-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky congratulated President Trump on his acquittal by the Senate and suggested that he and members of his party, including President Vladimir Putin, visit Trump’s Florida estate to “raise glass to your success.”
“I congratulate you on your victory in the Senate and the failure of vile and false accusations against you,” Zhirinovsky tweeted. “Today you are the model leader of a huge modern state and the strongest president the US [has] ever had.”
Zhirinovsky went on to denounce House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as well as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the sole Republican who voted to convict Trump on either articles of impeachment.
“You are a brave man and you can make America great again. We are outraged by the actions of Mrs. Pelosi. Her behavior was inappropriate. It was clever of you to refuse shaking her hand," Zhirinovsky continued, referring to a moment from Tuesday's State of the Union address in which Trump appeared to ignore Pelosi's outstretched hand.
"We were shocked by the treacherous act of the republican Romney, who voted against you," Zhirinovsky added.
"We were shocked by the treacherous act of the republican Romney, who voted against you," Zhirinovsky added.
more...
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/482168-russian-politician-offers-for-political-party-to-fly-to-miami-to
February 8, 2020
23 hours ago
New Hampshire Voters to Pundits: We Don’t Need Your Stinkin’ Lanes
Why the political conventional wisdom gets crushed in the Granite State.
David Corn
For over a year, many pundits and political observers who puzzle over the 2020 Democratic contest have been obsessed with the Lane Theory. It’s a simple notion: There are different lanes in the race—one for moderates, one for progressives, maybe one for a new face, and so on. This has dominated much of the analysis. Think of the Road Warrior movies: Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are in a death race in the lefty lane; Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Michael Bloomberg are in their own demolition derby in the centrist lane, with Amy Klobuchar trying to jump the median and get into that mix. That all seems to make sense. Except for this: voters don’t live in lanes.
Meet Michele Vilamarim, a 56-year-old homemaker who lives in Nashua, New Hampshire. On Thursday afternoon, she was at a packed American Legion hall in Merrimack, where Buttigieg was holding a town hall focused on veterans issues. The place was full of Buttigieg supporters. But many attendees, like Vilamarim, were voters who did not know how they are going to vote on Tuesday. And what was most interesting to an outsider (that is, me) was that the undecideds were undecided in a way that did not fit into lanes. One local physician said she was torn between Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Warren, and Tom Steyer. Seriously. She could go in any direction. How was she going to make a choice? She shrugged: “I have no idea.” A school teacher said she could vote for Biden, Warren, Klobuchar, or Andrew Yang. Really?
snip//
Vilamarim was in no lane. And as Holly Shulman, a longtime Democratic Party official in New Hampshire told me, this is not unusual. “Voters here don’t respond that much to debates and big speeches. If people canvass and make it through the snow to their door, that counts. Small interactions—which may seem imperceptible to those looking at the big picture—can do the trick. It’s all about these interactions.” And it is hard to calculate the accumulation of all these interactions.
That may be particularly so this time around. The Iowa results and the subsequent polls show that the Democratic Party is highly fractured, with many of its voters caring more about dethroning Donald Trump than they do about a specific candidate. Sanders may be leading an overthrow-the-system revolution, and Buttigieg may be leading a let’s-come-together crusade—each claiming he can bring new voters to the polls for the Democrats—yet turnout was down in Iowa. And neither of them assembled a dominant plurality. Will New Hampshire voters turn the party in a decisive direction? And if so, will it have an ideological or thematic component? That is, will they flood a lane?
No one voter can symbolize what’s happening in the Granite State. And there is certainly a set of voters who are torn between Sanders and Warren and another group struggling over Biden and Buttigieg. But this first-in-the-nation primary more resembles the parking lot in a stadium at the end of the big game then a super highway with bright white lines.
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/why-new-hampshire-voters-defy-political-lanes-theory/
David Corn: New Hampshire Voters to Pundits: We Don't Need Your Stinkin' Lanes
23 hours ago
New Hampshire Voters to Pundits: We Don’t Need Your Stinkin’ Lanes
Why the political conventional wisdom gets crushed in the Granite State.
David Corn
For over a year, many pundits and political observers who puzzle over the 2020 Democratic contest have been obsessed with the Lane Theory. It’s a simple notion: There are different lanes in the race—one for moderates, one for progressives, maybe one for a new face, and so on. This has dominated much of the analysis. Think of the Road Warrior movies: Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are in a death race in the lefty lane; Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Michael Bloomberg are in their own demolition derby in the centrist lane, with Amy Klobuchar trying to jump the median and get into that mix. That all seems to make sense. Except for this: voters don’t live in lanes.
Meet Michele Vilamarim, a 56-year-old homemaker who lives in Nashua, New Hampshire. On Thursday afternoon, she was at a packed American Legion hall in Merrimack, where Buttigieg was holding a town hall focused on veterans issues. The place was full of Buttigieg supporters. But many attendees, like Vilamarim, were voters who did not know how they are going to vote on Tuesday. And what was most interesting to an outsider (that is, me) was that the undecideds were undecided in a way that did not fit into lanes. One local physician said she was torn between Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Warren, and Tom Steyer. Seriously. She could go in any direction. How was she going to make a choice? She shrugged: “I have no idea.” A school teacher said she could vote for Biden, Warren, Klobuchar, or Andrew Yang. Really?
snip//
Vilamarim was in no lane. And as Holly Shulman, a longtime Democratic Party official in New Hampshire told me, this is not unusual. “Voters here don’t respond that much to debates and big speeches. If people canvass and make it through the snow to their door, that counts. Small interactions—which may seem imperceptible to those looking at the big picture—can do the trick. It’s all about these interactions.” And it is hard to calculate the accumulation of all these interactions.
That may be particularly so this time around. The Iowa results and the subsequent polls show that the Democratic Party is highly fractured, with many of its voters caring more about dethroning Donald Trump than they do about a specific candidate. Sanders may be leading an overthrow-the-system revolution, and Buttigieg may be leading a let’s-come-together crusade—each claiming he can bring new voters to the polls for the Democrats—yet turnout was down in Iowa. And neither of them assembled a dominant plurality. Will New Hampshire voters turn the party in a decisive direction? And if so, will it have an ideological or thematic component? That is, will they flood a lane?
No one voter can symbolize what’s happening in the Granite State. And there is certainly a set of voters who are torn between Sanders and Warren and another group struggling over Biden and Buttigieg. But this first-in-the-nation primary more resembles the parking lot in a stadium at the end of the big game then a super highway with bright white lines.
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/why-new-hampshire-voters-defy-political-lanes-theory/
February 8, 2020
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/02/national-laughingstock-susan-collins?utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_content=26850
2/08/20 5:00am
National Laughingstock Susan Collins 'Wishes' Witnesses Were Called
The rest of us "wish" she wouldn't have violated her oath of office.
By Joan McCarter
Congratulations, Sen. Susan Collins! You've become a national figure! Unfortunately for you, it’s as a laughingstock. First she appeared in a Saturday Night Live skit and then in a Stephen Colbert monologue, in which he described her as "the senator who has most successfully talked herself into believing that she believes in something."
Proving Colbert’s point, Collins went on WMTW, Portland's ABC affiliate, to say she "did what I felt was right" in her votes in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, and that this was an even more consequential vote than the one on putting Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court because "removing a president from office" is "overturning an election and preventing the president from appearing in the ballot this fall." About this fall, and if she'll vote for Trump this time around? "You know, I'm not going to discuss presidential politics at a time like this." A time like this being before the filing deadline for Maine's primary. She already made her decision clear, however, in the only vote that really counts—on Trump’s impeachment.
She's still trying to convince Mainers that she'll vote to "curb the president's powers." She left out the part about needing to have Mitch McConnell's permission to cast those votes. She also said that she would disapprove of retribution by Trump against anyone who testified. She will tell every reporter she can talk to that she is very concerned when Trump fires Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council after he testified in House impeachment hearings, or when Attorney General Bill Barr starts investigating House Democratic leadership.
She told Maine reporters after a Friday meeting of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association that she wished there had been witnesses in the Senate trial, proving that her wishes are about as effective as her hopes.
Published with permission of Daily Kos
National Laughingstock Susan Collins 'Wishes' Witnesses Were Called
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/02/national-laughingstock-susan-collins?utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_content=26850
2/08/20 5:00am
National Laughingstock Susan Collins 'Wishes' Witnesses Were Called
The rest of us "wish" she wouldn't have violated her oath of office.
By Joan McCarter
Congratulations, Sen. Susan Collins! You've become a national figure! Unfortunately for you, it’s as a laughingstock. First she appeared in a Saturday Night Live skit and then in a Stephen Colbert monologue, in which he described her as "the senator who has most successfully talked herself into believing that she believes in something."
Proving Colbert’s point, Collins went on WMTW, Portland's ABC affiliate, to say she "did what I felt was right" in her votes in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, and that this was an even more consequential vote than the one on putting Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court because "removing a president from office" is "overturning an election and preventing the president from appearing in the ballot this fall." About this fall, and if she'll vote for Trump this time around? "You know, I'm not going to discuss presidential politics at a time like this." A time like this being before the filing deadline for Maine's primary. She already made her decision clear, however, in the only vote that really counts—on Trump’s impeachment.
She's still trying to convince Mainers that she'll vote to "curb the president's powers." She left out the part about needing to have Mitch McConnell's permission to cast those votes. She also said that she would disapprove of retribution by Trump against anyone who testified. She will tell every reporter she can talk to that she is very concerned when Trump fires Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council after he testified in House impeachment hearings, or when Attorney General Bill Barr starts investigating House Democratic leadership.
She told Maine reporters after a Friday meeting of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association that she wished there had been witnesses in the Senate trial, proving that her wishes are about as effective as her hopes.
Published with permission of Daily Kos
February 8, 2020
February 7, 2020 3:50PM ET
Large Majority of New Hampshire Democrats Prefer Death by Meteor Than to See Trump Win Again
Sixty-four percent of those polled chose ‘a giant meteor strikes the earth, extinguishing all human life’ over the president’s re-election
By Peter Wade
Poll: New Hampshire Democrats Prefer Death by Meteor Over Trump Win
Sixty-four percent of New Hampshire Democratic voters would rather see “a giant meteor strike the Earth, extinguishing all human life” than see President Trump re-elected, according to a new poll from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
Somewhat surprisingly, 28 percent of conservatives joined the majority of Democrats on wiping out all of mankind rather than dealing with another four years of Trump. And to no one’s surprise, 68 percent of women polled, more than any other group, would welcome a fireball of death over the president remaining in the White House.
more...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/poll-new-hampshire-democrats-meteor-trump-949636/
Large Majority of New Hampshire Democrats Prefer Death by Meteor Than to See Trump Win Again
February 7, 2020 3:50PM ET
Large Majority of New Hampshire Democrats Prefer Death by Meteor Than to See Trump Win Again
Sixty-four percent of those polled chose ‘a giant meteor strikes the earth, extinguishing all human life’ over the president’s re-election
By Peter Wade
Poll: New Hampshire Democrats Prefer Death by Meteor Over Trump Win
Sixty-four percent of New Hampshire Democratic voters would rather see “a giant meteor strike the Earth, extinguishing all human life” than see President Trump re-elected, according to a new poll from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
Somewhat surprisingly, 28 percent of conservatives joined the majority of Democrats on wiping out all of mankind rather than dealing with another four years of Trump. And to no one’s surprise, 68 percent of women polled, more than any other group, would welcome a fireball of death over the president remaining in the White House.
more...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/poll-new-hampshire-democrats-meteor-trump-949636/
February 8, 2020
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
2/07/2020
Mitt Romney Is Fucked and So Are the Rest of Us
Look, there are a whole truckload of reasons to despise current Utah Senator, former Republican presidential nominee, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Just pick. Maybe you think his refusal in 2012 to embrace the health care plan that he himself signed off on in Massachusetts was the sign of a weak, weak candidate. Maybe you're still pissed at him for winking at birtherism, joking about Barack Obama not being born in the United States. Maybe you just don't like his dickish face or his dog torture or his endless lies in 2012. I get it. And we weren't wrong to despise him in the past and we won't be wrong when he gives us reasons to despise him in the future.
But for a just a few minutes, for just a shining moment, we can praise Mitt Romney for doing what no one thought a Republican was going to do. Because, see, Romney didn't just vote in favor of convicting Donald Trump for abuse of power and removing him from office and banning him from every running again. Romney decided to use his speech to the Senate to burn Trump's defense to the ground. And he showed all those self-professed Christians what belief in God means, and it sure as hell isn't being a hypocrite when you take an oath to that God. It was like he looked around at his fellow Republican senators and thought, "Wait, did you all go blind and deaf? Because how can you hear all of this and see anything other than that Trump's guilty?"
snip//
Between Trump tweets and the screeching ghouls of the right-wing mediaverse, Romney was being savaged for daring to actually believe his lying eyes. And you know that he is on the receiving end of a stream of death threats and violence threats, that his kids and their kids are going to be targeted. Romney's life is fucked for the foreseeable future, and that's not even counting the QAnon freaks who have long thought he was part of the Clinton/Obama cabal.
As the last couple of days post-impeachment trial have shaken out, it's become clearer and clearer that we are all so very fucked. Trump is getting revenge on those who spoke against him (like having Col. Alexander Vindman shitcanned from his National Security Council job, a clear violation of whistleblower protection laws). He's said, "We'll see" about retaliating against Democrats, calling them "evil" and other insidious insults. He's saying that Nancy Pelosi needs to be punished for tearing his State of the Union speech in half, like they're sacred texts. Senate Republicans are getting financial documents on Hunter Biden so they can investigate him for some goddamn reason. And William Barr has shut down any investigations of Trump (and any other politician) without his approval.
Trump unchained combines the malevolent idiocy of Joseph McCarthy with the sycophantic following of Mao Zedong. It's not that difficult to imagine a coming witch hunt or purge or even a new Cultural Revolution, each of us called to account for how much or how little we love our dear leader. That I can entertain that thought and it's not automatically thought of as hilarious parody shows just how far we're already down that road, with its mass graves waiting at the end.
Hyperbole? Sure. But I'd rather be accused of that than of not warning everyone that we're fucked unless we do something to unfuck ourselves.
The Rude Pundit: Mitt Romney Is Fucked and So Are the Rest of Us
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mitt-romney-is-fucked-and-so-are-rest.htmlThe Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
2/07/2020
Mitt Romney Is Fucked and So Are the Rest of Us
Look, there are a whole truckload of reasons to despise current Utah Senator, former Republican presidential nominee, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Just pick. Maybe you think his refusal in 2012 to embrace the health care plan that he himself signed off on in Massachusetts was the sign of a weak, weak candidate. Maybe you're still pissed at him for winking at birtherism, joking about Barack Obama not being born in the United States. Maybe you just don't like his dickish face or his dog torture or his endless lies in 2012. I get it. And we weren't wrong to despise him in the past and we won't be wrong when he gives us reasons to despise him in the future.
But for a just a few minutes, for just a shining moment, we can praise Mitt Romney for doing what no one thought a Republican was going to do. Because, see, Romney didn't just vote in favor of convicting Donald Trump for abuse of power and removing him from office and banning him from every running again. Romney decided to use his speech to the Senate to burn Trump's defense to the ground. And he showed all those self-professed Christians what belief in God means, and it sure as hell isn't being a hypocrite when you take an oath to that God. It was like he looked around at his fellow Republican senators and thought, "Wait, did you all go blind and deaf? Because how can you hear all of this and see anything other than that Trump's guilty?"
snip//
Between Trump tweets and the screeching ghouls of the right-wing mediaverse, Romney was being savaged for daring to actually believe his lying eyes. And you know that he is on the receiving end of a stream of death threats and violence threats, that his kids and their kids are going to be targeted. Romney's life is fucked for the foreseeable future, and that's not even counting the QAnon freaks who have long thought he was part of the Clinton/Obama cabal.
As the last couple of days post-impeachment trial have shaken out, it's become clearer and clearer that we are all so very fucked. Trump is getting revenge on those who spoke against him (like having Col. Alexander Vindman shitcanned from his National Security Council job, a clear violation of whistleblower protection laws). He's said, "We'll see" about retaliating against Democrats, calling them "evil" and other insidious insults. He's saying that Nancy Pelosi needs to be punished for tearing his State of the Union speech in half, like they're sacred texts. Senate Republicans are getting financial documents on Hunter Biden so they can investigate him for some goddamn reason. And William Barr has shut down any investigations of Trump (and any other politician) without his approval.
Trump unchained combines the malevolent idiocy of Joseph McCarthy with the sycophantic following of Mao Zedong. It's not that difficult to imagine a coming witch hunt or purge or even a new Cultural Revolution, each of us called to account for how much or how little we love our dear leader. That I can entertain that thought and it's not automatically thought of as hilarious parody shows just how far we're already down that road, with its mass graves waiting at the end.
Hyperbole? Sure. But I'd rather be accused of that than of not warning everyone that we're fucked unless we do something to unfuck ourselves.
February 8, 2020
Posted on Fri, Feb 7th, 2020 by Jason Easley
Pelosi Blasts Trump For Firing Vindman And Reminds Him He’s Still Impeached Forever
Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the firing of Lt. Col. Vindman sad and shameful but reminded Trump that he would be impeached forever.
Speaker Pelosi said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:
Speaker Pelosi was right. Trump’s actions were shameful. Col. Vindman is a hero, and Donald Trump is still impeached.
Pelosi Blasts Trump For Firing Vindman And Reminds Him He's Still Impeached Forever
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/02/07/pelosi-vindman-trump.htmlPosted on Fri, Feb 7th, 2020 by Jason Easley
Pelosi Blasts Trump For Firing Vindman And Reminds Him He’s Still Impeached Forever
Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the firing of Lt. Col. Vindman sad and shameful but reminded Trump that he would be impeached forever.
Speaker Pelosi said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:
Lieutenant Colonel Vindman has proven to be an American patriot: on the battlefield when he earned a Purple Heart, and in the House trial when he spoke truth to power. His brave testimony showed America that right still matters.
President Trump is impeached forever. The shameful firing of Colonel Vindman was a clear and brazen act of retaliation that showcases the President’s fear of the truth. The President’s vindictiveness is precisely what led Republican Senators to be accomplices to his cover-up. The firing of this patriotic soldier is a sad and shameless loss for America’s security.
History will remember Lieutenant Colonel Vindman as an American hero.
Trump’s Friday night massacre is all about trying to get revenge against those who testified against him at the impeachment hearings. Trump also thinks that he can get his impeachment expunged.
President Trump is impeached forever. The shameful firing of Colonel Vindman was a clear and brazen act of retaliation that showcases the President’s fear of the truth. The President’s vindictiveness is precisely what led Republican Senators to be accomplices to his cover-up. The firing of this patriotic soldier is a sad and shameless loss for America’s security.
History will remember Lieutenant Colonel Vindman as an American hero.
Trump’s Friday night massacre is all about trying to get revenge against those who testified against him at the impeachment hearings. Trump also thinks that he can get his impeachment expunged.
Speaker Pelosi was right. Trump’s actions were shameful. Col. Vindman is a hero, and Donald Trump is still impeached.
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