The September 2019 US Politics Thread is great Great GREAT GR8

just reading the wikipedia page on Hunter makes me think this could hurt Biden's chances

i continue to dumbly believe (or in a more positive way, i continue to believe what i am very clearly seeing with my own eyes) that this whole thing is so over the line and egregiously long that pelosi will be FORCED to do something about it, which is apparently what she wants

I'm hoping the same. you have to figure Pelosi & the succdems are essentially complicit in Trump's crimes and I think that point is right now

One of the things I don’t understand about the impeachment discussion is the timing of it. Can’t the House drag hearings out in 2020 to highlight his crimes right through the election? Most of the discussion of it in the media makes it sound as if the Democrats won’t have control over the process

I think democratic reps in swing districts are telling Pelosi they don’t want to be seen as “divisive.”

he certainly can. and i think there's a decent chance that all of this will BOOST his candidacy (if he responds reasonably, which he probably will not). he is going to have a ton of attention focused on him because of this, and there are a lot of people, particularly democratic voters, who will naturally rally around a person that trump is attacking.

― Sally Jessy (Karl Malone), Monday, September 23, 2019 12:24 PM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

That’s a good question. It’s the kind of case—like the “emails”—that is hard for the public to quickly grasp so it will likely linger over him like a cloud. “People are saying...”

― treeship., Monday, September 23, 2019 12:24 PM

I've kept a close eye on the media since the story broke last Thursday, and I'm surprised it hasn't turned into "B-but her emails!" I suspect the explanations are (a) Biden has an inflated reputation for goodness, so Beltway media will give him the benefit of the doubt, unlike Clinton, whom they disliked (b) Biden is a guy.

Yeah, I mean, let’s hope the America is sexist enough to keep holding it together then.

One of the things I don’t understand about the impeachment discussion is the timing of it. Can’t the House drag hearings out in 2020 to highlight his crimes right through the election? Most of the discussion of it in the media makes it sound as if the Democrats won’t have control over the process

― Dan S, Monday, September 23, 2019 12:31 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

People are probably remembering the Clinton impeachment process, which took about a week in the House, rather than the Nixon one which went on for ten months there.

democrats wouldn't have control over a major hurdle: the senate vote, which people correctly argue will be blocked by mitch mcconnell. they would have control over the house proceedings which lead up to the senate vote

kudos on the Nixon-Stennis precedent, voodoo

i think they should very loudly and publicly conduct the house investigations, aiming to dredge up even 10% of the shit that has gone on over the last few years (more awful things have happened than we can even readily recall, due to the volume). make it clear that he has been committing crimes and he is still committing crimes due to the lack of accountability by republicans. then send it over to the senate so that every single republican can vote against impeachment. then hold the 2020 election

maybe that's pelosi's plan and she just wants to get the ball moving as late as possible. this holds open the door to the possibility that he does something even worse than what he's already known to have done.

I have suspected that is the plan all along; to tie up 2020's election season with non stop investigations and possibly impeachment, in order to spoil his chances for re-election.

she's acting like this motherfucker isn't an actual huge danger to well-being of our citizens, residents, and the world _right now_. and she has one real tool to mitigate that danger. of course, it has its own hazards. but acting like "la la la elections next year la la" is bad.

yeah, i agree 100%

If they wait until next year, Moscow Mitch will probably squawk about "no hearings during an election year", the dems will loudly "oh drat" and shuffle back to their offices to pound out impotent tweets.

she's playing a defensive game, i think. she's afraid of what will happen if the democrats misplay their hand.

but it's not really the time for that

think we're gonna really get to the bottom of this one today

thanks brad. with me here we at least have a shot--but it's a tricky one i have to admit

https://oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki/apis.ign.com/final-fantasy-x/6/6e/Part_04-02.JPG

good morning!

And the sound of silence from most every Senate R in last few days underscores their unease w what Ds see as a brazen abuse of power. Would they want to be on hook for clearing Trump ? It’s a no-win vote for a number of those up in ‘20.

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 23, 2019

this seems so self-evidently true. the idea that whatever pelosi and schumer think they are doing is good electoral politics is nuts to me.

Hey so let me just go ahead and say that to whatever extent Pelosi is holding back impeachment such that it has maximum impact wrt 2020 elections, it's a massive act of hubris that pretends that the world still works the way it did before Trump. You can't predict and control these things or their ultimate impact, as comforting as the notion may be. Just pull the fucking trigger already.

every day that passes, at this very moment, makes it harder to ask the inevitable question democrats will get in 2020: if what trump was doing was so obviously criminal, why didn't you impeach him? the mueller report was more than damning; the ukraine shit is more than more than more than damning. it's going to be hard to rebut that inevitable question if they wait several months (or never) to actually impeach. it is clear that ongoing criminal activity is going on: impeach him NOW.

it is such accepted wisdom in Democratic circles that the Kav hearings slowed the pre-election Dem momentum, and prevented bigger congressional gains. I'm sure pelosi and co. think impeachment would fire up the GOP similiarly.

in part because Claire McCaskill can't stop yapping on NBC/MSNC
about why she lost.

you have to take risks in life

Kavanaugh was a political prize that the entire religious right valued at the price of their immortal souls by backing Trump and protecting him so he could deliver the federal court system into their hands. Trump they may not value so highly, once they understand Pence is his replacement. Pence was always the evangelicals' insurance policy.

if you can't "outfire up" the GOP by laying out the Grifter's actions, get another job

domestic would-be terrorist to break up the day

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-arrests-army-soldier-allegedly-discussed-plans-bomb/story?id=65802902

anyone interested in Hunter should read this New Yorker profile from July; the campaign clearly knew this was going to be trouble and released basically every bit of opposition they could dig up as a firewall. he comes off like an asshole but likely not criminal.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/08/will-hunter-biden-jeopardize-his-fathers-campaign

he just seems kind of erratic. like apparently earlier this year he married someone within days of meeting her. and this was only a short time after he broke it off with his brother's widow.

all just kind of gossipy stuff--i don't want to pretend i know what goes on in people's lives--but it's the sort of thing i'm afraid to see circulate in the press throughout the election should biden be the candidate.

Every time I hear Biden's name between Trump and Ukraine I just think, come on, shut the fuck up, even if Biden was up to no good Trump still deserves to be impeached.

One of the many additional reasons congress needs to act is that Trump will be at least as huge a pain in the ass when he is out of office, causing tons of trouble and headaches and, well, crimes, without the benefit of congressional oversight (and with secret service protection!).

i mean, ok, but if investigating the conduct of the candidates' children is just standard practice now, are don jr and eric gonna get grilled while fuckface senior gets grilled about it?

xp

pic.twitter.com/2FMxrVOzPn

— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) September 23, 2019

What a lumbering turd.

i mean, ok, but if investigating the conduct of the candidates' children is just standard practice now, are don jr and eric gonna get grilled while fuckface senior gets grilled about it?

oh for sure. it's not fair no matter how you slice it.

every day that passes, at this very moment, makes it harder to ask the inevitable question democrats will get in 2020: if what trump was doing was so obviously criminal, why didn't you impeach him? the mueller report was more than damning; the ukraine shit is more than more than more than damning. it's going to be hard to rebut that inevitable question if they wait several months (or never) to actually impeach. it is clear that ongoing criminal activity is going on: impeach him NOW.

otm - its infuriating that the Dems are so worried about the perception that they're just "playing politics" yet are okay attempting this for maximum electoral effect, which everyone can see right through. the fact that the Dems care so much about what the right thinks of them is their single biggest political failing, especially when this contributes to what (imo) is their actual biggest issue, the perception that they're just nicer Republicans who wouldn't dare rock the boat

And of course the stupid gamble of waiting until 2020 is that if the Dems lose again, everyone and everything is even worse off than it is now. So get started, fuckers.

honestly I don't see a failed impeachment inquiry hurting them at all, Trump has such an insane amount of baggage and committing crimes in office is only like, 5% of it. plus I think everyone sorta gets that politics is just straight partisanship at this point

karl had the best point -- if dems don't move to impeach, then it seems like they don't really think what trump is doing is that serious. which takes the teeth out of their critiques of him.

if he's engaged in criminal behavior, he needs to be removed from office and charged. the dems need to demonstrate that they at least tried to do that.

Asked Josh Hawley if it’s okay for the president to ask a foreign government to help him win an election.

“Is that what he did?”

“He asked them for help with an election? Can you send me that?”

— Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) September 23, 2019

They are just parsing like assholes, because anything we know is based on anonymous news reports at the moment.

that's not true - giuliani openly admitted it on live television

i should send that to josh hawley

Rudy is parsing shit, too.

"BARTIROMO: Did the president threaten to cut off aid to Ukraine?
GIULIANI: No, no. That was a false story.
BARTIROMO: 100 percent?
GIULIANI: Well I can't tell you if it's 100% percent."

He's just throwing shit around the cage.

Trump screams that the media is "crooked as hell" and says a Republican would "get the electric chair" for what Biden has done, doesn't actually say what Biden has done but tries to cast aspersions. This is all occurring at the annual UN meeting. pic.twitter.com/TR0RSNkzMa

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) September 23, 2019

this is a fun update of "lock her up"

pedantic but Trump did not scream