Qutzupalotl
Qutzupalotl's JournalNothing *else* happened
meaning he was not convicted by the Senate and removed. But impeachment itself is important for history and posterity's sake; it's a protest by Congress to say this is unconstitutional conduct. That lays down a marker for future presidents, and it is important in and of itself.
This was the first president impeached twice. The second one peeled off members of his own party. That's why Johnson won't bring it up again, unless he is forced: there is a real danger of the tipping point being reached as the conduct becomes more lawless and conditions more dire.
The questions of should he or will he be impeached are two different ones. No doubt he deserves it. Things would need to get even worse before a Republican majority brings it up. The question of Senate removal by two-thirds is another, much higher bar. And whether it is politically advantageous for us is yet another question, which I believe is much less important for the country, but worth considering.
Ironically, it might take something not explicitly unconstitutional but politically untenable to prod the Republicans to dump him: explicit evidence of child rape. That's because Republicans love power more than the country or Constitution, sadly.
Consider donating through oath.vote
https://app.oath.vote/set?p=top-issuesThey don't spam unnecessarily and don't sell your info to related groups.
The site is set up to highlight close races in need of a little push, but you can search for individual races if you prefer.
Hat tip to former DUer brooklynite for this valuable tip.
Coping strategy.
They can't deal with the fact that they are unpopular, so they manufacture and repeat these excuses. Their followers who hear it can't deal either, so they latch on to any theory that preserves their image of a persecuted majority, regardless of how implausible.
Here is something you can do.
Make all your future donations at oath.vote.
https://app.oath.vote/set?p=top-issues
They don't spam unnecessarily and don't sell your info to related groups.
The site is set up to highlight close races in need of a little push, but you can search for individual races if you prefer.
Hat tip to former DUer brooklynite for this valuable tip.
Boy, am I glad I read that.
I'm going to study it again more carefully. It makes sense that our allies, especially Raskin, would not abandon the fight for our democracy but would work away from the cameras to build consensus.
I think the fact that the only reasonable ones were retiring old members and new ones, which coincidentally means they either weren't around during the email hacks of 2016, or are retiring and don't care, is significant, It makes me believe even more in the kompromat theory, that Russia hacked both parties' emails, but only released the one so they could threaten the other — carrot and stick — into doing Putin's bidding. That's their MO.
Multiple election offices report receiving mailed ballots misdirected from other states
….
In Louisiana, state election officials said some 40 to 50 ballots destined for 10 other states ended up being delivered to local election offices, mostly in Orleans Parish. Deputy Secretary of State Joel Watson Jr. said the Secretary of State’s Office had “extraordinary frustration” for the Postal Service’s continued “inconsistencies” and “lack of accountability.”
Dozens of mail ballots from inside the state also were delivered to the wrong local election office, Watson said.
“There were many instances where our staff had to physically take these ballots and drive them to another parish to get them there on time to make sure those votes count,” Watson said. “We had to use time and resources in the hours and days immediately preceding the biggest election we hold to make sure these ballots were delivered to the right places.”
https://apnews.com/article/7c942c832398d55843fbc20898d85385
A free press is in the Bill of Rights,
but he calls the free press “the enemy of the people” and “lugenpresse.” Check.
He has no authority over the Legislative branch, yet is demanding that the next Senate majority leader relinquish their advise-and-consent power to allow recess appointments, which he will abuse. That's a hell of an overreach. Check.
He wants to deport illegal AND legal immigrants of a certain skin pigment. Check.
He wants to increase immigration from countries like Norway that are majority white. Check.
The Constitution limits the power of the president. At every opportunity, he seeks to remove restraints on his power. He has called for suspending the Constitution, despite swearing to defend it. Check.
He says he wants to be a dictator on day one. Did you miss that?
Yes. Fascists want the population afraid, confused, fearful.
We don't have to give them any of that.
A Stoic philosopher put it this way: “The one who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary.” In other words, pre-crisis anxiety is useless and even counterproductive.
We should reach out to friends and neighbors, form or join like-minded groups, and resist when and where we can. But until such crises are upon us, worry and anxiety do not help. Calm and clear thinking about what is happening will show us what we need to do in the moment. Rational planning for eventualities is helpful, but keep in mind that not all their plans will begin, and even fewer will succeed.
After this, there will be more than 7 swing states.
Way, way more.
Women live everywhere. Most people either are women, came from a woman, or know a woman they care about. Decent men can see the assault on women's rights for what it is. They will show up too. It won't be close.
Smith's evidence includes proof of criminal intent
https://x.com/adamscochran/status/1847325712543523312So the first 3 volumes of Smith's evidence against Trump are released. About 70% still sealed, but, pretty damning stuff, which is all either their own messages, or testimony from Republican staff under oath:
A) A member of Trump's team directly attempted get a Pence aide to hand Mike Pence documents their team knew was fake, uncertified, and lacked chain of custody.
B) They have iMessages confirming they were trying to deliver the unsealed fake documents to Pence.
C) They have emails confirming this was planned *in advance* and that they wanted Grassley to stand in if Pence recused.
D) In their own "war game" scenarios, they concede that if the election is processed fairly, then Biden wins.
E) They had a memorandum prepared on this matter as far back as November 18th which is 1 month *BEFORE* any of the "alternative electors had made their claims proving that it was pre-meditated.
F) They knew, well in advance, and admitted in testimony and email, that the VP did not have this power, and that the Supreme Court would not hold up this case, proving they knew it was illegal.
(Although they thought maybe Clarence Thomas would side with them..)
G) Trump called the Michigan speaker, on an unofficial line marked "Spam Risk Egypt" to discuss fraud allegations. Proving he tried to cover his tracks, and these were not protected "official acts"
H) At the time Trump did not even feel they had grounds to file a lawsuit in Michigan.
J) 5 of the "Fake Electorate" packages that Trump's team had tried to hand over to Pence, used the exact same template for vacancy filling pages.
These pages do not normally have a standard across states, showing coordination. But the source proof is still under seal.
So Trump and his team *in their own words*:
-Knew they lost
-Knew it was not legal for Pence to over turn
-Knew the states did not have fraud issues
-Researched "alternative electors" a month in advanced of those claims
-Knew the documents were unofficial
-Took part in the transfer process
-And attempted to pass off forged documents directly to the VP
-Because of a pre-meditated plan to steal the election.
The first volumes represent 1889 pages of evidence, 70% still under seal.
This is just from the 30% unsealed, and there are more volumes to go.
The case could not be more clear.
And as a reminder, Trump's team refused to dispute the authenticity of any of this evidence, they only ask for it to be delayed as it would "hurt their client" during the election.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1847325712543523312.html
(images at links)
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