US Politics - The Liar in Winter

[SpaceChampion]

Is this true?  If the House files articles of impeachment again, without the Senate trying the case, would that actually block Trump from pardoning anyone?

Also, that whole thread by Ed Norton is worth reading.

[Zorral]

 

[Fragile Bird]

1 hour ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew has tested positive for COVID. And he was at his dad's sweaty press conference yesterday.  I wouldnt be surprised if Rudy has it too (after surviving the first round during debate prep)

Funny, I posted that infamous dripping picture on my Facebook page and a friend asked if anyone had suggested that Rudy was suffering from a Covid-19 fever. Everyone I saw on tv yesterday was saying things like, just how hot was it there?

[Zorral]

3 hours ago, mormont said:

What makes you think he can find a Republican judge to rule in his favour?

Because they are his judges?  Conversion therapy ban overruled today in Florida because banning this torture of young gay people is counter to free right of speech.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-conversion-therapy-idUSKBN28029C

Though I agree that if they are smart enough to have plan, logistics, legal and otherwise in mind to play, keeping quiet about it is the right move right now.

 

 

[DMC]

2 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

My point is that Democrats don't seem inclined to change their strategy, even though they're in a far worse position now than in 2009 (and I was definitely calling for major structural reforms that year and beyond).

Well you're just the wisest of us all then.  I reject the notion the Dems are simply saying "don't rock the boat" and unwilling to change their strategy right now.  Hell, all the handwringing going on the last two weeks even though they won the election by the second largest margin this century is evidence enough that Dems are more than willing to change their strategy (albeit how to change that strategy is decidedly a huge internal conflict). 

But even before that, there obviously was a large push to change the composition of the court, even Obama came out for abolishing the filibuster, and there's been actual progress towards DC statehood - as well as increased calls for Puerto Rican statehood - in recent years.  Not to mention the pushes towards independent commissions and/or court challenges to counteract gerrymandering across the country over the past decade.  Whether Biden would've gotten on board with these is something we'll never know (even if the Dems win both Georgia seats they're still not gonna happen with Manchin as the swing vote), but I think it's objectively wrong to assert the Dems haven't made institutional change a large part of their message/platform during the Trump era.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

10 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Funny, I posted that infamous dripping picture on my Facebook page and a friend asked if anyone had suggested that Rudy was suffering from a Covid-19 fever. Everyone I saw on tv yesterday was saying things like, just how hot was it there?

I am always going for the most obvious explnation first.

The shit inside Rudy's was overflowing, as the natural sewage (aka Rudy's mouth) could not keep up with the constant stream of shit being produce inside his head.

[Derfel Cadarn]

33 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

 

 

[Larry of the Lawn]

Not going to hold my breath but one potential upside of all the "elections are rigged rhetoric" could be reduced GOP/Trunk base turnout in GA special elections or even 2022 midterms.

[IheartIheartTesla]

15 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Funny, I posted that infamous dripping picture on my Facebook page and a friend asked if anyone had suggested that Rudy was suffering from a Covid-19 fever. Everyone I saw on tv yesterday was saying things like, just how hot was it there?

There were comments before the press conference even started about how crowded the room was. These clowns are really without empathy (at the most charitable), and criminally dangerous at worst

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, Simon Steele said:

I know, I know. I allow them to suck me in every time.

Yep, I forgot.

Here lies the Democratic Party: Moderation in All Things, Especially Moderation.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Just now, larrytheimp said:

Not going to hold my breath but one potential upside of all the "elections are rigged rhetoric" could be reduced GOP/Trunk base turnout in GA special elections or even 2022 midterms.

I mentioned that to my Dad yesterday.  He thought that was funny.

[Kalbear]

4 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

Not going to hold my breath but one potential upside of all the "elections are rigged rhetoric" could be reduced GOP/Trunk base turnout in GA special elections or even 2022 midterms.

I think it's going to be quite the opposite.

[Kalbear]

51 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

This could work out well for Democrats.  Not everyone on the right is crazy.  This litmus test of being a Trumpanista or not could (should) divide the Republican base.  If the establishment Republicans fall away from Trump when he leaves office the Trumpanista die hards will become the new Perot supporters.  If the establishment really becomes Trumpanista many rational Republicans will leave and attempt to form something else, either way, that bloc is then divided giving the Democratic bloc a shot at control.

Everyone on the right is crazy, Scot. I'm sorry, but 72 million people seem to disagree with you. 

[Kalbear]

I mean, seriously

Quote

 

Among those who believed that the election wasn’t free and fair, 78 percent believed that mail-in voting led to widespread voter fraud and 72 percent believed that ballots were tampered with — both claims that have made a constant appearance on the president’s Twitter thread. Like President Donald Trump, a majority of the people that thought the election was unfair, 84 percent, said it benefited Biden.

The lack of trust in the election system has led to Republicans being more skeptical about the election results. Although only 18 percent of Republicans had said the results would be unreliable prior to Election Day, now 64 percent feel the same way following Biden’s victory. By contrast, 86 percent of Democrats say they trust the results.

 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Pump the breaks. Who in 2020 uses the word “persnickety?”

[Ormond]

2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Pump the breaks. Who in 2020 uses the word “persnickety?”

I do, whippersnapper.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

18 minutes ago, Kalbear Total Landscaping said:

Everyone on the right is crazy, Scot. I'm sorry, but 72 million people seem to disagree with you. 

How many voted out of “party loyalty” or “I always vote for the Republican”.  I really wonder.  You may be right 72 million people all really buy into Trump’s cult of personality.  But, I doubt it.

I know too many people who claim to dislike Trump but held their nose and voted for him anyway.  If he splits from the Republican Party... it is an opportunity for Democrats. 

Seeing him solidify his hold on the Republican party out of the White House is harder because of the “party loyalty”, I concede that point.  But this may genuinely be an opportunity.

[DMC]

1 hour ago, SpaceChampion said:

Is this true?  If the House files articles of impeachment again, without the Senate trying the case, would that actually block Trump from pardoning anyone?

It's true that Hamilton basically wrote that in Federalist 69.  Here's the relevant passage:

Quote

Thirdly. The power of the President, in respect to pardons, would extend to all cases, EXCEPT THOSE OF IMPEACHMENT. The governor of New York may pardon in all cases, even in those of impeachment, except for treason and murder. Is not the power of the governor, in this article, on a calculation of political consequences, greater than that of the President? All conspiracies and plots against the government, which have not been matured into actual treason, may be screened from punishment of every kind, by the interposition of the prerogative of pardoning. If a governor of New York, therefore, should be at the head of any such conspiracy, until the design had been ripened into actual hostility he could insure his accomplices and adherents an entire impunity. A President of the Union, on the other hand, though he may even pardon treason, when prosecuted in the ordinary course of law, could shelter no offender, in any degree, from the effects of impeachment and conviction. Would not the prospect of a total indemnity for all the preliminary steps be a greater temptation to undertake and persevere in an enterprise against the public liberty, than the mere prospect of an exemption from death and confiscation, if the final execution of the design, upon an actual appeal to arms, should miscarry? Would this last expectation have any influence at all, when the probability was computed, that the person who was to afford that exemption might himself be involved in the consequences of the measure, and might be incapacitated by his agency in it from affording the desired impunity? The better to judge of this matter, it will be necessary to recollect, that, by the proposed Constitution, the offense of treason is limited "to levying war upon the United States, and adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort''; and that by the laws of New York it is confined within similar bounds.

And this ideal is reflected in the constitution - Article II Section 2 - granting the president pardon powers (which is exactly what Hamilton was discussing).  However, to my knowledge this has never been tested by the courts.

22 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Pump the breaks. Who in 2020 uses the word “persnickety?”

I absolutely love the word persnickety no matter what year it is and I will proudly die on that hill.

[Ran]

  And resurrecting again...

On 11/13/2020 at 8:59 PM, DMC said:

Damnit.  Shoulda figured he'd move on after the election, not after inauguration.

ETA:  Like the name, btw.

And now Ezra Klein's leaving Vox for NYT Opinion. Just coincidence that they both leave at the same time? Like, if Matt knows Ezra's going, does he figure he's lost the guy who has had his back over these culture war kerfluffles (he said ironically) over the years was now gone, so better get out while the getting was good?

Hmmm.... OTOH, last week one of The Weeds regulars left for NYT to host a podcast series titled The Argument. 

On the gripping hand,  I believe Yglesias was just randomly tweeting today or yesterday about the fact that Vox partially saw itself as a project to "disrupt" traditional media like NYT... and NYT not only failed to be disrupted, but basically went on and began poaching a lot of their early team. Feels like he knew what was up.

Speaking of Klein (and bringing it back to the election), his podcast with Ian Haney López of UC Berkley about the Hispanic vote was very interesting. It also led me to his Race-Class Academy website that helps explain the thrust of his research, namely that the message with the broadest appeal was one in which race and economics were intrinsically linked rather than treated as separate subjects. The basic message he advocates for is, in essence, that wealthy elites use race as a wedge to divide the lower classes so they can enrich themselves even further, rather than going all-in on just anti-racism or "color blind", economic populism.

[DanteGabriel]

9 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Along with Ormond, I also can lay claim to having used the word “persnickety” in 2020.

I have also used the word “kerfluffle” not just once, but on multiple occasions.

My wife and I both use those words but only one L in kerfuffle.

A few months ago, back before the Covid times, I used the word "jeepers" and a co-worker looked at me like I have two heads.

Then there was the occasion a few years ago when some other colleagues made a big deal of me saying I was "fixin'" to do something. 

"Wow Dante, were you raised in Alabama?"

"No, dick, I just enjoy language."