“It’s a little too quiet” - US Politics February 2021

ugh, i'm sad as fuck and i'm mentally slotting this thread into the running theme of the adam curtis doc where people just don't give a fuck anymore because they tried all the other ways and got their ass kicked

Despite the frustrating acquittal, there was no real attempt to flip the narrative to “TOTAL EXONERATION” or anything. This whole trial was a big loss for Republicans and they took their lumps. It really does feel like Trump’s power over them has diminished somewhat. Thank god for the Twitter ban, why didn’t it happen sooner.

After brewing a cup of strong tea, I flipped through the Big Three Sunday morning talk shows and, yeah, was surprised: while more than a few commentators wondered why the Dems had turned the witness question into a vote, they all said Trump, the first president impeached by a majority, was "damaged goods" or whatever, ripe picking for Georgia and New York courts.

I’m trying to look beyond the result of the trial and at the bigger picture. Somehow it really feels different this time, more like the Rs are admitting defeat despite the votes they cast. But I guess it’s a feeling more than anything right now, maybe I’m wrong.

Kicking him off Twitter did it.

But KM your frustration and anger is justified and I am not trying to handwave away your feelings.

Sorry epistantophus, I didn’t mean to pull you (or anyone else) into that. I don’t think you’re wrong. I’m just so frustrated.

I’m not sure there will ever be a time to more directly confront (and punish) republicans who strongly supported the maga crowd - trump, but also Cruz, Hawley, the others.

They will eventually be up for re-election, and Democrats could attempt to win those elections, which isn’t punishment exactly, but I’m not the punishing sort

wasn't that what they were doing at the trial? staring down the face of fascism and trying to send a clear signal that it wouldn't be tolerated in this country?

but they were never going to get any results that way. like, if we want to argue that America has already fallen to fascism, consider that in both impeachment trials Trump was A) clearly guilty and B) stood no chance of being convicted. the end result was just as assured as Putin winning an 8th term or whatever. we know what the GOP is capable of and how low they will go. we also know that they are a minority in this country. Dems should focus on what they can control - get rid of the filibuster, pass covid relief, get working on DC statehood, expand voting rights, unfuck the post office, start getting public sentiment against the electoral college cuz I really don't see how the GOP wins the popular vote before 2040

if the goal is to keep this shit in the news and tar the GOP for as long as possible, open up a 9/11-style commission into the events. I mean if there's one good thing coming out of all this, it's that Dems are increasingly pissed and the fact that Trump has faced basically no consequences whatsoever (outside of a social media ban, which to be fair isn't exactly nothing) is a huge albatross over this country right now. if the Biden administration starts talking about a need for unity and how we need to "move on" it'll be a political disaster for them. if they don't want to get crushed in 2022 they HAVE to try to prosecute.

Getting crushed in 22 seems baked in to me, like 2degC warming

if the Biden administration starts talking about a need for unity and how we need to "move on" it'll be a political disaster for them.

to me, that's what the rush to hold the vote yesterday was all about

they haven't really made any statements suggesting that, though. Pelosi straight up called McConnell a coward and a hypocrite. Biden's official statement seems to imply he thinks there needs to be justice. I think they realized that at best this will do nothing and at worst delay Biden's agenda by a month or more.

Getting crushed in 22 seems baked in to me

under normal circumstances yeah but people are leaving the Republican party in droves and it seems likely that the extent of Trump's corruption, and possibly criminal charges, are going to be coming down the pike shortly, which is bad for the GOP since they essentially voted yesterday to tie the party to him permanently. plus we may have a lot of the country vaccinated by the end of summer with the possibility of life getting back to normal somewhat by 2022, and I think it's abundantly clear that the Dems are handling the pandemic better than the GOP did (which isn't saying much, but still). I'm not really sure how to predict what'll happen in 21 months' time.

It's ok I'm sure we'll find another disaster by that point.

great stuff, excellent preparation:

The debate among the House impeachment managers raged through the night

Frustrations rose among Senate Democrats. One Democrat familiar with the internal discussions said “it was clear the managers had no plan” and “didn’t know what their next step was.”

How exactly do you prepare for a trial where the jurors openly collude with the defense

Chasing windmills here but I wish everyone would stop referring to it as a 'trial'.

we should refer to it as "Fyre Fest"

It was a trial

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I'm glad McConnell made his big speech after the vote. Hypocrisy, off the chart. Self-servingness, off the chart. Dishonesty--I'll delay the trial (sorry, don't know what else to call it) and then vote to acquit because the trial was delayed--off the chart.

But down the road, that clip will still exist, and (I think) the rest will become a footnote. (*"Senator McConnell, because he was an amoral con-man, simultaneously voted to acquit.") What he said was as harsh as could be; everything the prosecution said, then going above and beyond by suggesting criminal proceedings should go forward. If the choice was between him voting to acquit and making that speech or voting to acquit and not making that speech--and those were, pretty clearly, the only two options--I'd go for the first choice every time.

That is delusional. To the extent it will be remembered (not at all) it will be as a footnote to his vote.

No one remembered the first impeachment by the time the actual election rolled around, this one isn't going to have longer legs.

Can we disagree on that without "delusional"? Unless you have some special clairvoyance I'm not privy to.

I don't think you can predict stuff like that with any certainty. As an example, the only thing people remember about Howard Baker during Watergate is "What did the president know, and when did he know it?" The perception now is that he was one of the heroes of the Watergate hearings. It was only a year or two ago that I read he was in close contact with Nixon the whole time, working for the most favorable outcome possible.

I don’t know who Howard baker is.

Enzo the Baker's brother...Here's the clip. The "What did X know and when did he know it?" formulation still gets trotted out constantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnaEUCSFk38

Watergate mattered way more than either of Trump’s actual impeachment’s and in the end every living President who wasn’t incapacitated by dementia attended Nixon’s funeral. McConnell isn’t up for re-election until 2026, assuming his zombie hand doesn’t win before then.

None of it matters.

The one who was incapacitated by dementia was there too.

trumps’s name will continue to pop up in various lawsuits for some time. democrats will keep getting proved right, trumpies will keep getting proved wrong. the latter will dwindle but remain a problem for republicans seeking nominations. this is gravy. it’s good news. but the window will be limited. the gains have got to be maximized and locked in with extreme prejudice. while the gettin’s good!

/aimless

If nothing else--if I'm completely wrong about McConnell's speech down the road--surely it will come in handy if there's a commission or whatever they're talking about right now. It would seem to carry much more weight that "I voted to acquit on this bogus technicality I created myself."

Godspeed You Black Emperor's new album Not So Much a Trial as a Troll will be out on March 4

already covered in Album Covers featuring Yawnsomely Literal Cover Art, i believe

https://i.imgur.com/vYvMYA4.jpg

before anyone else mentions it, yes, your ogre, my trial

I'm glad you agree.

i think that covers all of the trial + troll related music puns

Imagine this: Trump speaking out in support of the new republican candidate in 2024.

(me neither)

No one remembered the first impeachment by the time the actual election rolled around, this one isn't going to have longer legs.

I doubt that, for two reasons. For one, a violent, murderous mob leaves more of an impression than an improper phone call to Ukraine (especially after a year of Russiagate, which everyone not named Krassenstein was utterly sick of). For two, with Trump no longer in office and silenced on social media we no longer have to hear "WITCH HUNT!!" and "PERFECT PHONE CALL!!" every 5 minutes, and the media doesn't have to both sides it or lead with "Trump says no collusion, others disagree". Has any non-FOX outlet framed this as anything other than "he's clearly guilty and Republicans are cowards"?

Imagine this: Trump speaking out in support of the new republican candidate in 2024.

(me neither)

i may be wrong but i could def see him coming out and rallying for candidates who show the proper fealty and cough up the right amount of $$$, until he dies.

Godspeed You Black Emperor's new album Not So Much a Trial as a Troll will be out on March 4

Biden admin is expanding a pilot program to end receipt of physical mail, newspapers, books etc in federal prisons, with all correspondence having to go to a private company to be digitised, surveilled & databased, with prisoners then only able to read a scan on a tablet if their prison admin allows, and someone is prepared to pay for it.

thanks for that zs

that link is horrifying sic

It's been a year since anyone in jail has been able to have visitors, let's remove or compromise all their remaining contact with the outside world, in order to enrich one insane monster CEO.

I doubt that, for two reasons. For one, a violent, murderous mob leaves more of an impression than an improper phone call to Ukraine (especially after a year of Russiagate, which everyone not named Krassenstein was utterly sick of). For two, with Trump no longer in office and silenced on social media we no longer have to hear "WITCH HUNT!!" and "PERFECT PHONE CALL!!" every 5 minutes, and the media doesn't have to both sides it or lead with "Trump says no collusion, others disagree". Has any non-FOX outlet framed this as anything other than "he's clearly guilty and Republicans are cowards"?

What networks are framing it now doesn't mean people will know/remember/care in 18-24 months.

Trump being off social media is all the more reason none of this matters or will stick - if the masses are still thinking about Donald Trump in 12 months, the Biden administration will have failed somewhere along the way.

that program, and PA Gov. Tom Wolf's endorsement of it in state prisons, is the reason why neither me nor my father will vote for that stupid sonofabitch. I see cars with Wolf stickers on them and spit.

Here's more about that program, btw:

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2015/jul/7/companies-pitch-tablets-prisoners-maintain-family-ties-aid-reentry-and-generate-profit/

It's worth noting that prisoners often have to pay to use these "convenient" tablets, too, and the profits there go to another company.

That's fucking disgusting. If anything, prisoners should be given more books. Keep 'em reading, have 'em write book reports, turn 'em into nerdy introverts.

Ugh that whole parasitic system of extracting money from inmates and their families is awful. In our local jail, they stopped allowing in-person visits seven years ago and prisoners can only talk via phone or video tablet, at a price. (You can get a free video visit if you physically go to the jail, but that makes it even worse in a way — you're literally in the same building but can only see each other via a shitty video image.) And of course the county gets to keep most of the money as a commission. It's reprehensible and the Biden admin absolutely should not be doing that bullshit. If there are security concerns with mail, deal with those, but don't turn it into a profit center.