US Politics, December 2019: Profound procedural deficiencies

that was a secret, but now that my cover is blown i can finally reveal that yes INDEED i am working on the fountainhead, which is all about an architect who is trying to defend his artistic integrity

Finally we get the Snyder cut

The times have found us. Thank you for strong leadership and an empathetic hand @SpeakerPelosi. pic.twitter.com/1sBHXdr46d

— Rep. Debbie Dingell (@RepDebDingell) December 18, 2019

counterpoint from @steph93065, the 93,065th Steph on Twitter:

You betrayed your country today. May God bring you what you deserve.

— Steph (@steph93065) December 18, 2019

haha classic steph

You're thinking of steph93964. This is steph93065.

I know Steph #93,065 is probably a bot and it's perhaps unfair to put this on her electronic shoulders, but I never thought I'd live to see so many people, living under pretty goddamn comfortable conditions and without much else to explain away their behavior, so eager to be publicly identified as irredeemable monsters. What a country!

Oaky I don't love Pelosi or anything and I know what "optics" are but that photo gives me a surge of feelings, and a big part of it is the look on Pelosi's face and the sense of striding forward motion. It's powerful.

yeah. it's sad. i think it's reflecting back some of the dark feelings a lot of us are having lately too. maybe i'm just seeing what i want to see.

in other news, apparently giuliani has entered into a joint defense agreement Igor Fruman (of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman fame).

Stick to basketball, Steph!

okay lol

Steph what can I do?

The more I think about it, the more I like the Dems move not to send the articles to the Senate yet. I mean, it's utterly meaningless in the grand scheme, but it shows some willingness to throw off tradition and play (rough) by a new set of rules. If nothing else, it seems to have riled Lindsay.

Consider the source, but I like to imagine Trump having thrombosis worrying about whether the GOP will have a chance to exonerate him in the Senate.

POTUS lawyers are looking at various options for proceeding if House doesn't send articles of impeachment to the Senate. POTUS doesn't want it to be left hanging that he was impeached and nothing was done by Republicans to defend him in the Senate.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 19, 2019

damn

@SpeakerPelosi responds to @senatemajldr's complaining that the impeachment has been unfair, noting that while the Founders set up a system for a rogue president, "I don't thnk they suspected that we could have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the Senate at the same time." pic.twitter.com/U5FXg9c7NJ

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) December 19, 2019

Okay, I'll gladly eat any of the grumbling I've done in the lead-up to impeachment if it turns out Nance has been giving the GOP the ol' rope-a-dope all along.

*gloves come off, horseshoe inserted, gloves go back on*

At this point, I wonder why anyone thinks Pelosi wouldn't cheerfully and brutally shiv any political rival in her way

Her public posture the last week has impressed the hell out of me.

so is the shiv move to expedite or drag it out?

"rogue" sounds cool, can we do "asshole" instead

Email from the Trump campaign lacks some subtlety. pic.twitter.com/VuyA35JHD0

— Philip Bump (@pbump) December 19, 2019

um

so is the shiv move to expedite or drag it out?

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius),

It looks like the latter, which has upended DC from what I've read on twitter. The Senate's Majority Turtle had prepared for a speedy trial and wasn't prepared for a tactic that is...very Republican.

xxpost Given that they proudly wore 'deplorable' as a badge of honor (possibly because they didn't understand the word but still), I don't know that the choice of pejorative really makes that much difference.

some NPR monster (she's apparently the host of their 'politics podcast') sniffed this morningf that delaying would "look political," and the preferred fast-tracking would ensure that impeachment will be forgotten by summer.

lol every single Republican in the house voted to protect a president who is clearly a criminal, who gives a shit if it "looks political"

bcz the media/GOP always take the Dems' lunch money

this is an interesting move but it puts zero pressure on McConnell, he will just condemn it as another sham partisan move etc. and then move on

what would put pressure on him tho?

a boot to the trachea would be nice

Sham partisan denounces opponents' actions as sham partisanship, fake news at 11

maybe it's supposed to put pressure on trump (who will want his 'day'), and thereby mcconnell.

what would put pressure on him tho?

the prospect of losing his seat or his Senate majority

maybe it's supposed to put pressure on trump (who will want his 'day'), and thereby mcconnell.

yeah and this will happen, and then Trump will get distracted by how many times he had to flush a toilet

eh I see this as short term trolling and it feels good

so is the shiv move to expedite or drag it out?

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius),

It looks like the latter, which has upended DC from what I've read on twitter. The Senate's Majority Turtle had prepared for a speedy trial and wasn't prepared for a tactic that is...very Republican.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 December 2019 19:37 (eight minutes ago) link

I think it is less speedy v. drag it out and more an attempt to change the perception of the not very meaningful Senate trial McConnell has planned. Plus, if Trump wants to get to the trial in the Senate as soon as possible, denying him that may make him angry at Republicans, which is generally a good thing.

yeah and this will happen, and then Trump will get distracted by how many times he had to flush a toilet

wounds to his fragile ego stick. he wants to throw around that quick acquittal Mitch has promised him.

eh I see this as short term trolling and it feels good

sure. it's gratifying to see anyone get under Trump's skin and this accomplishes that. not much else though.

Given that Trump tends to go off half-cocked and torture everyone around him when something gets under his skin, I'd say it's premature to say, 19 hours in, that this accomplishes nothing.

what would put pressure on him tho?

the prospect of losing his seat or his Senate majority

― Οὖτις

i haven't checked in on the senate horserace polling in a while. last time i did, the chances of democrats taking the majority seemed slim (largely due to a tough 6-year cycle, following the 2014 mid-terms). has that changed at all in the past few months?

I don't think so. Dems have clear shots at several seats, others are bizarre toss-ups, etc. There's no way they get to 60 though.

I'm feeling slightly better about a possible Senate majority but it would still shock me if it happened.

It is, however, likely that Pelosi and the House Dems will remain in charge.

the AL race is gonna be crazy. Sessions will get the nom but Trump hates him/considers him a traitor and then there's Li'l Doug and his army of black women that just *miiiiiight* get him the margin

It's being reported (fwiw) that Trump, primed to have the senate "exonerate" him, is really jonesing to get the trial going, knowing the outcome. So if Trump wants the Senate trial ASAP, and Pelosi is keeping that from him, then there's a chance he (not Mitch) will eventually cave and allow those witnesses/release documents/whatever to get the show on the road. This is, after all, the same guy that has done ... well, every stupid thing he has done. Releasing the Ukraine transcript is an apt one to start with, since he surely thought it would exonerate him rather than pull him in deeper.

So yeah, take your time, Pelosi. He's already been impeached, what's the hurry on the senate? Let him dangle.

it's gratifying to see anyone get under Trump's skin

this is a more understandable but thus far dubious equivalent to "owning the libs"

I don't think so. Dems have clear shots at several seats, others are bizarre toss-ups, etc. There's no way they get to 60 though.

oh, i didn't mean 60, i just meant 51

that's probably what you meant, though - even getting to 51 will be very difficult this year

no I meant 60, which is the gold standard. 51 is doable but if it happens it will be on very slim margins.

Pelosi will send articles to Senate the week before Super Tuesday if Biden is trailing in delegates

Sessions will get the nom but Trump hates him/considers him a traitor

This is still just the funniest shit on a number of levels. Sessions was the cool dad who looked the other way while the neighborhood kids drink at his house but because he wouldn't go buy them another case of Natty Light, Little Donnie called DCFS on him. He who lies with dogs, Jefferson. He who lies with dogs. I mean, you were already desperately in need of some Frontline, but you get my meaning, Captain Keebler.