Trading on non-public information.

Best way to avoid that is do what they should have done and warn the public, what with them being public officials and all. Then sell. But they would have made less money.

Shows you their priorities.

It’s more of an urban/rural divide than anything else.

In cities, you can see your tax dollars at work; there’s public transport, street repair, libraries, etc. In rural areas, you don’t; so they see government as taking their taxes and not giving them anything in return. We could argue that national defense helps them, and law enforcement helps them, but these are not as visible as public works projects. In most rural areas, law enforcement will not arrive fast enough in an emergency, so they rely on gun ownership for self-defense.

In this light, the D and R labels seem more like a symptom than the cause. I post this mostly to get us thinking of other ways to talk to any remaining rural voters who are not yet subsumed by the cult of Trump.

where do her supporters go? Ideologically, probably closer to Biden or Buttigieg. For those wanting a female candidate, or someone who has never lost, there's Warren. In either case, I don't see Bernie picking up much of Amy's base.

Sanders and Warren share much of the same fan base, so Iowa will be zero-sum for them. If you can give everyone healthcare in a well-regulated capitalist system, that seems more viable to me than a socialist candidate. So I would favor Warren, but Bernie may beat her here.

All our major candidates are good, but I am leaning Biden at this point. We have to win it all, and he's the one who can win the midwest and thereby the EC. The fact that Trump is terrified of him, as we see in the trial, says a lot. If Biden's the nominee, Trump winds up in a New York jail and he knows it.

And worried about a Clinton/Sanders unity ticket.

Different field this time around. A lot of key events in the Ukraine saga coincide with the release of polls showing Biden trouncing Trump, which tells me he's terrified of Biden. I don't see Trump hunting for dirt on Sanders. Maybe he thinks he already has enough.

from an adversary who considers itself at war with the United States and acts accordingly. Influencing our elections and our discourse to our detriment is their goal.

Putin’s FSB is creating instability worldwide wherever it can, with weaponized psychographic techniques such as those pioneered by Cambridge Analytica. Brexit is one such victory. Trump’s election was another. We have a willing subject of the Kremlin in the White House, unconcerned about the damage he causes to our national security, public wellbeing, and treasury. Anyone who is not suspicious of Trump is either misled by propaganda or being deliberately disingenuous.

Since the day he took office, Trump has violated the Constitution by refusing to divest from his business interests. He is unfit for office, and his subsequent behavior bears this out. Those who opposed him since day one are correct. If saying so annoys those who worship him, that is to be expected.

I won’t sugar-coat this; these are dark times. Our republic hangs in the balance. We have a malignant tumor but the surgeon lacks the will to operate.

In 2015, Russia hacked RNC email servers but is still holding the contents. Republicans’ actions suggest they are under threat of blackmail and not simply fearful of a Trump nickname or a primary opponent.

Many Senators must secretly grumble about having to kowtow to Trump, but cannot oppose him publicly for whatever reason. But there is one thing they can do: boycott the Senate trial. Participating in a sham process only lends it legitimacy, right?

The Constitution specifies that “no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present." Not the whole Senate, just those present.

If a handful Republicans view the trial as such a travesty that they protest with their absence, fewer votes will be needed to make two-thirds. They could do so while still publicly praising Trump and criticizing the proceedings, immunizing themselves from the tweetstorm.

Thoughts like this give me hope. We may see some combination of defectors and protestors that lower the magic number to less than 67.

The fate of our country is at stake, and I will not despair.

We have to get the traitor OUT by any means, then we can restore democracy.

There will be plenty of time for finger-pointing later. ALL of that is of secondary importance. Besides, the traitors are already easy to spot with their public statements.

If your house is on fire, you don't care if the firefighters have muddy boots. You just don't.

in our elections. He is a clear and present danger.

If we wanted to, we could make this the biggest, longest impeachment case in history, and people would be talking about it, saying it’s the biggest in history. And it would also be the largest and one of the greatest, if not THE greatest in history, many, many people are saying.

God knows Trump commits so many abuses of power in plain sight, we could never finish counting.

But it only takes one article.

I said we likely won’t get 20 Republican Senators, but that shouldn’t matter to the House.

Take off your D hat for a moment and just look at the situation as an American. It is intolerable that a traitor was installed by a foreign mobster. Every day Trump attacks the Constitution and dares us to do something about it.

I’m in a very red corner of a blue state, so I understand not wanting to make the gun owners mad. But dammit, we are right. They are wrong. Republicans don’t get to flout the law and still call all the shots. We are on the strongest possible legal grounds, the Constitution itself. We have a clear duty before us. And we must not fear to do the right thing.

If we stand up and fight for what we believe in we might win a few converts. But if we even appear to be afraid or unsure, we signal to the red hats that we don’t really believe what we are saying and are not to be trusted.

The impeachment process will lay out the facts of each count of misconduct for the American people clearly. It will be news every night for weeks, and that will help the people understand the extent of Trump’s disdain for the law. Senators will have to explain their vote for or against each count, and then have to go home and explain it to their constituents. That is how the system should work.

This is not 1998 and Trump is not Clinton. Gingrich imploded because he led an actual witch hunt. Trump repeats “witch hunt” but then goes out and commits high crimes!

We have solid evidence, corroboration and even two public confessions, for Christ’s sake.

So have no fear. The corruption show is just getting started, and it will open the public’s eyes.

if this president is left unchecked.

We don’t know what will happen. We might as well do the right thing and defend the country from a dire existential threat — a traitor elected President.

To dither about political calculations at this point is to ignore the oath of office each member takes.

Let your neighbors watch witness after witness recount Trump’s abuse of office. That “spectacle” will convince ordinary citizens their country is on the line. It is.

Without the integrity of our elections we cease to be a republic.