US Politics - I'm not orange I'mpeach

[Zorral]

Bipartisan agreement?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mcconnell-joins-other-republicans-in-rebuking-trumps-syria-withdrawal/2019/10/07/aef0d11e-e914-11e9-9306-47cb0324fd44_story.html

 

 

[James Arryn]

So Pat Robertson is pissed, says Trump might be risking America’s Heavenly Mandate as the Bestest Freedomer or some shit.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, James Arryn said:

So Pat Robertson is pissed, says Trump might be risking America’s Heavenly Mandate as the Bestest Freedomer or some shit.

And another one bites the dust ....

[Red Tiger]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

And another one bites the dust ....

I was hoping that meant Robertson bought the farm.

Shame.

[Darth Richard II]

2 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

I was hoping that meant Robertson bought the farm.

Shame.

Preach.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

14 minutes ago, Zorral said:

And another one bites the dust ....

Dude, I was already polishing my grave dancing shoes, and now I checked and he is still breathing.

Choose your words more wisely. Next time I will charge for the shoe polish.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Yeah agree - also I think the stare decisis taboo was stronger.  I'm pretty sure as of June 30, 2020, Roe's only remaining relevance will be that the federal government will not be able to regulate a state's ability to permit abortions, which, of course, will (i) cause certain parts of the constituency to have a states' rights v. outlaw abortion struggle (know how that turns out!) and (ii) cause there to be a lot more pressure to find a federal angle.   

I'm skeptical that it moves that quickly. Roberts does not want to be the deciding vote that effectively kills Roe. They'll chip away at it until they can get another vote on the court and then it's done.

[Martell Spy]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'm skeptical that it moves that quickly. Roberts does not want to be the deciding vote that effectively kills Roe. They'll chip away at it until they can get another vote on the court and then it's done.

Depends on what you mean by chip away at it. I think that they will effectively ban it in most red states. Might take a couple years and will involve incremental steps, but it would seem that is the goal. For certain some women will be forced to travel hundreds of miles, not affordable for many.

[Bonnot OG]

Im still raging about what’s going on in Northern Syria. That fucking tyrannical degenerate Erdogan is going going genocide off multiple ethnic groups because he’s an fucking tyrant. Trump supporters have more blood on their hands, so do leftists that were worried about some “world war 3” bullshit with Russia.

[Jace, Extat]

Be a short war. We'd win.

[DMC]

3 hours ago, Martell Spy said:

Depends on what you mean by chip away at it. I think that they will effectively ban it in most red states. Might take a couple years and will involve incremental steps, but it would seem that is the goal. For certain some women will be forced to travel hundreds of miles, not affordable for many.

The way they're going to effectively ban it in red states is by eliminating access.  All they need really is for SCOTUS to do nothing about these gambits.  I think this will happen relatively quickly, and it will be virtually impossible to get an abortion in most of the south and the plains states.

[Which Tyler]

Thought you guys might like this

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/xhYCQh4?s=fb

[Toth]

I must admit, I'm watching the news about Turkey's preparation for an invasion into Syria with utter despair. If it makes me so anxious already, I don't want to know how miserable my Kurdish acquaintances from university must feel right now. To know that people who identify with the same ethnicity as yours are going to be murdered for what is essentially a publicity stunt for Erdogan, who keeps profiting politically from the conflict generated by the suppression of Turkish Kurds. With Trump essentially giving up the US protection of the Syrian Kurds the EU is the only remaining actor capable of pressuring Erdogan to back down and I fear our spineless leaders won't do that because they allow themselves to be blackmailed with Erdogan threatening to send us more refugees. Which is happening either way, the pressure on Greece has already increased again and another large-scale conflict in Syria would cause all hell to break loose again.

This is all so disheartening... Why can't the world stop being this mad?

[Mlle. Zabzie]

15 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'm skeptical that it moves that quickly. Roberts does not want to be the deciding vote that effectively kills Roe. They'll chip away at it until they can get another vote on the court and then it's done.

Yeah - wasn't clear.  They won't overturn Roe.  Roe will remain "precedent."  HOWEVER, like others, I think they will change the Casey standard such that states can pretty much do whatever they want to do as long as there isn't a total ban.

[Trebla]

So the U.S. ambassador to European Union, Gordon Sondland, was scheduled to appear before the House this morning regarding the Ukraine investigation but was then ordered by the Trump administration not to appear. My gosh, who could have given that order???

Because these days a tweet is just as good as going under oath before Congress. I'm seriously thinking that we are not too far away from him saying we should dissolve the House of Representatives until the 2020 election. 

[Inkdaub]

16 hours ago, Red Tiger said:

I was hoping that meant Robertson bought the farm.

Shame.

Isn't it Pat Robertson that has super human strength in his legs?  Due to some secret smoothie recipe or some such thing?  A man with access to a drink like this would be far more resilient than your average old man.

[sologdin]

one descends too far into the fascistic weeds when hoping for the death of political opponents. the argument must be addressed to policy, not to persons--proceeding ad hominem is a dead end, producing at best fruitless victories, which should be plain when live fascists fill the offices of dead fascists.

 

no quid pro quo’s of any kind

here we see that trump's narrative will be to contest the existence of a transaction; this is the incorrect standard. arguing that the teleconference was transactional cedes the ground of the debate to the regime. the argument must be that the teleconference was a unlawful solicitation--not that electoral interference was bought, but simply that interference was sought.

[Trebla]

Ah, here's what really happened. 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

8 hours ago, DMC said:

The way they're going to effectively ban it in red states is by eliminating access.  All they need really is for SCOTUS to do nothing about these gambits.  I think this will happen relatively quickly, and it will be virtually impossible to get an abortion in most of the south and the plains states.

 

55 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Yeah - wasn't clear.  They won't overturn Roe.  Roe will remain "precedent."  HOWEVER, like others, I think they will change the Casey standard such that states can pretty much do whatever they want to do as long as there isn't a total ban.

They won’t do anything significant before the election. That would be suicide, and these justices are every bit as political as the senators that vet them. That’s why I’d be surprised if anything happens in 2020.

[Gaston de Foix]

15 minutes ago, sologdin said:

no quid pro quo’s of any kind

here we see that trump's narrative will be to contest the existence of a transaction; this is the incorrect standard. arguing that the teleconference was transactional cedes the ground of the debate to the regime. the argument must be that the teleconference was a unlawful solicitation--not that electoral interference was bought, but simply that interference was sought.

This is the right analysis.  But the text messages already prove the existence of a quid pro quo for a WH meeting, which Zelensky desperately sought. 

The question of whether aid was withheld until Ukraine held a press conference declaring an investigation into the 2016 election and the Burisma/the Bidens is inconclusive.  It is also unlikely that the House will get a truthful answer to this question, because of the tendency of Trump appointees to shade the truth/lie to protect the President and executive stonewalling.

The narrative building for loyal Rs in the Senate is troubling and inappropriate but not sufficient for impeachment which is the Portman view.  The way to overcome this is to point to Trump's prior abuses of power, particularly multiple instances of obstruction of justice in the Russian investigation and the risk that he will continue this behavior, particularly because he continues to insist he did nothing wrong.