US Politics: One No Trump

[DMC]

9 minutes ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

I am kinda hoping there’s at least one defection from one of the senators who voted to convict.

Preferably one(s) who’d be willing to do away with the filibuster. 

Murkowski has already recently ruled out a party switch, and Collins has as well many times in the past.  Those are the only two that were remotely possible.  Even if they did, they definitely would not be on board with abolishing the filibuster.  Moderates are inherently the members most attached to the filibuster.

[Varysblackfyre321]

27 minutes ago, DMC said:

Murkowski has already recently ruled out a party switch, and Collins has as well many times in the past.  Those are the only two that were remotely possible.  Even if they did, they definitely would not be on board with abolishing the filibuster.  Moderates are inherently the members most attached to the filibuster.

The odds I admit for a party switch is low, the odds of them being open to getting rid of the filibuster even lower.

[Ran]

No one else saw that Cassidy made his statement directly in front of the blue dog of George Rodrigues's Blue Dogs and Cajuns on the River? That looks like a party switch signal to me!

(No, not really, but it was amusing to recognize the painting.)

[DMC]

Just read this piece on the pros and cons of the Dems' witnesses kerfuffle today.  Thought it was worth sharing, pretty good read and strong arguments on both sides.  (Although, to be clear, the move to have a vote on allowing witnesses and then immediately back down was obviously incredibly stupid.  I don't know if it was Raskin or someone else, but from a political standpoint that shit is inexcusable.)  The point of agreement they reach at the end - that a 9/11 style commission needs to be set up - is an imperative.  I also think both chambers should start to move on censure votes, even if it is purely symbolic.

[DMC]

1 minute ago, Ran said:

No one else saw that Cassidy made his statement directly in front of the blue dog of George Rodrigues's Blue Dogs and Cajuns on the River? That looks like a party switch signal to me!

(No, not really, but it was amusing to recognize the painting.)

I'd be insanely surprised and impressed if Cassidy was capable of such subtle symbolism.

[Lollygag]

I doubt any Republicans will switch to Dem, but it might be worth exploring a bi-partisan majority with either refugee Republicans or independent pro-democracy conservatives. Think someone was saying that they do that in Alaska. It'd be weird to be sure.

Kasie Hunt said today that she had a long discussion with Romney that she couldn't discuss, but it was about how exhausted some Republicans were dealing with Trumpists. That's been reported countless times since the 2016 primary, so in reporting that and the gravity that she gave it makes me wonder if the break has all but happened and it's just about what form that takes and how many split. Romney and Ron Johnson were reported to be in an ugly public fight.

 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

15 hours ago, Mindwalker said:

Here's Steve Schmidt on Real Time:

 

Why does the video you attached close out with Laura Ingram?

[Larry of the Lawn]

5 hours ago, DMC said:

Just read this piece on the pros and cons of the Dems' witnesses kerfuffle today.  Thought it was worth sharing, pretty good read and strong arguments on both sides.  (Although, to be clear, the move to have a vote on allowing witnesses and then immediately back down was obviously incredibly stupid.  I don't know if it was Raskin or someone else, but from a political standpoint that shit is inexcusable.)  The point of agreement they reach at the end - that a 9/11 style commission needs to be set up - is an imperative.  I also think both chambers should start to move on censure votes, even if it is purely symbolic.

I think where the fuck up was, and your link gets into it with the "walk/chew gum at the same time" stuff, is what the fuck was the rush to do the impeachment right now if they needed to rush it to focus on covid?  Just do the covid relief first, have an actual 9/11 style commission and hearings afterwards, and then have an actual impeachment.  

The entire Senate flying home for a week right after this is just a shitty look too.   I didn't expect anything to come it of this but they can't be surprised people are out off.  Where're those $2000 checks?

[kairparavel]

15 hours ago, Ormond said:

I hope that anyone who lives in a state with one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict will communicate with them in some way to thank them.

You don't have to like them and certainly don't have to promise to vote for them or imply you agree with them on anything else. But they deserve to hear from as many of their constituents as possible who agree with their votes, since they will surely be getting all sorts of death threats from Trump worshippers. I don't think I will ever like Sasse as a person, but I did just send him a thank you email. I especially hope people in Louisiana and North Carolina will thank Cassidy and Burr. 

Thank them for doing the bare minimum? Where are the calls to thank the The Squad members out there getting death threats all the time, while doing their jobs? 

To thank the people that sat idly by for years, that allowed and enabled this from go, who had an opportunity to do the correct and morally right thing before, and didn't? Nah. 

 

[Ser Reptitious]

15 hours ago, DMC said:

@Ser Reptitious

It wasn't so much luck.  So there are 9 positions on the board of governors and they choose - and can remove - the postmaster general with a simple majority vote.  The board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate - their terms are technically seven years, the PMG has no term limit. 

The reason Trump was able to get DeJoy installed is because Senate Republicans kept on blocking Obama's nominees to the board of governors.  During this time, in 2014, the board delegated its authority to a "Temporary Emergency Committee" in order to continue to be able to do anything since they were about to lose their quorum due to all the vacancies.  So by the time the board chose DeJoy, all of its members were Trump appointees - including the one Democrat (no more than 5 members can be of one party).  There were still only 5 members of the board, but the "TEC" was able to select DeJoy.

Right now, there are 4 Republicans and 2 Democrats with still 3 vacancies on the board.  Plus one of the Democrats is serving a holdover term, meaning Biden can replace him.  So Biden could achieve a Democratic majority by filling the vacancies and then urge the Democrats/his appointees to oust DeJoy.  The problem there, as the article I linked notes, is that the one Trump-appointed Democrat - Donald Moak - continued to back DeJoy even during all the horseshit over the summer.  So without his vote, DeJoy would still remain until they can replace the next Trump appointee whose term expires - which would be Republican John Barger on December 8. 

Thanks for the thorough reply. Much appreciated! 

[Fez]

8 hours ago, Ran said:

No one else saw that Cassidy made his statement directly in front of the blue dog of George Rodrigues's Blue Dogs and Cajuns on the River? That looks like a party switch signal to me!

(No, not really, but it was amusing to recognize the painting.)

Funnily enough, Cassidy was originally a Democrat. He's only ever been in elected office as a Republican, but was still a Democratic donor as recently as 2004. I can't see him switching back though; but I can see him trying to be a moderate deal maker. There were some signs of that back in 2017, when he made some noises about trying to properly replace the ACA rather than just repeal it. He didn't get any traction though and fell back into the background. But he just won re-election, so he's got 6 years to work with now; and he was one of the 10 Republican senators that at least made an offer to Biden on COVID relief.

7 hours ago, Lollygag said:

I doubt any Republicans will switch to Dem, but it might be worth exploring a bi-partisan majority with either refugee Republicans or independent pro-democracy conservatives. Think someone was saying that they do that in Alaska. It'd be weird to be sure.

Alaska is a different situation. It's that Republicans in the state House are so badly fractured that no one can command a majority to become Speaker unless moderate Republicans team up with Democrats. Democrats already have a majority in the US Senate.

Also, while coalition majorities have occasionally happened in other states too; it's a very different thing to try for it at the national level. And, I think, probably impossible. There's just too much national attention and partisanship, so you're guaranteeing you'd lose re-election. Better to just switch parties if you're going to support the other side; and the only ones who might conceivably do that have ruled it out.

[Mindwalker]

2 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Why does the video you attached close out with Laura Ingram?

Oops, sorry, I didn't watch it until the end. No idea why.

Someone wanted to watch Schmidt on Real time and I came across this.

[Ormond]

24 minutes ago, kairparavel said:

Thank them for doing the bare minimum? Where are the calls to thank the The Squad members out there getting death threats all the time, while doing their jobs? 

To thank the people that sat idly by for years, that allowed and enabled this from go, who had an opportunity to do the correct and morally right thing before, and didn't? Nah. 

 

Yes, thank them for doing the bare minimum. And I am only asking for people who are their constituents to do it, as I don't think politicians are going to pay attention to people outside of their state/district.  If you want to thank the Squad, great. 

Not thanking people who have finally done the right thing and still being nasty about them not doing it earlier is a good way to never have anyone else change their mind in the future. Converts to your side should always be welcomed. It is the smart thing to do. 

 

[Martell Spy]

New York Investigating $280 Million In Loans To 4 Trump Manhattan Properties: Report
The son of the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer works at a real estate investment trust that made the loans, reports The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cyrus-vance-manhattan-district-attorney-trump-property-investigation_n_60287ee7c5b680717ee83dab

Quote

 

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is investigating some $280 million in loans over eight years to four Donald Trump properties in Manhattan, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The loans — to his flagship Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, Trump International Hotel and Tower, Trump Plaza and a high-rise in the financial district at 40 Wall Street — were all made by subsidiaries of Ladder Capital Corp., a real-estate investment trust based in New York, according to the Journal. The son of the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization works at Ladder Capital, the newspaper reported.

 

 

[kairparavel]

22 minutes ago, Ormond said:

Converts to your side should always be welcomed. It is the smart thing to do. 

 

Please don't conflate doing the right thing, a single act and at long last at that, with being on 'my' side or converting to it. They are still Republicans, and this one moment doesn't change that. Just watch how they proceed going forward. 

Also, speaking the truth is being nasty? 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

16 hours ago, Ormond said:

I hope that anyone who lives in a state with one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict will communicate with them in some way to thank them.

You don't have to like them and certainly don't have to promise to vote for them or imply you agree with them on anything else. But they deserve to hear from as many of their constituents as possible who agree with their votes, since they will surely be getting all sorts of death threats from Trump worshippers. I don't think I will ever like Sasse as a person, but I did just send him a thank you email. I especially hope people in Louisiana and North Carolina will thank Cassidy and Burr. 

Thank them for doing voting to convict Trump? Why? They did the bate minimum to remain human.

Seeing someone else posted the same thing and you've already responded to them: a thank  you shouldn't be tied to a hope of them changing their behavior.

A thank you for the bare minimum is a shift in normailty. By thanking them for something that doesn't deserve thanks, we're drifting oaer to the alt right's world of normality is. This is my porblem with incrementalism. The left is incrementally shifting to the right thru microactions like this.

Benn Sass, for example, is still a huge piece of shit and doesn't need a singlr thank you.

 

[Mindwalker]

https://www.politicususa.com/2021/02/14/lindsey-graham-impeach-kamala-harris.html

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threatened that Vice President Kamala Harris would be impeached if Republicans win back the House. (On Fox, ofc)

[Lykos]

40 minutes ago, Ormond said:

I don't think politicians are going to pay attention to people outside of their state/district.

Sadly, they also seem to only pay attention to people, who matter in their primaries and nominations especially in secure states/districts.

Apart from that I'm all for letting them know that they did the least, that could be expected from a democratically elected representative.And it's probably wise to do so in a way makes them pay attention. 

With all the Barabbas shouts, it's all too easy for them to wash their hands off it.

Is there a sensible way to influence the republican primaries for a democrat?  I guess the open primaries are mostly in deep red districts?

[Mindwalker]

2 hours ago, kairparavel said:

Thank them for doing the bare minimum? Where are the calls to thank the The Squad members out there getting death threats all the time, while doing their jobs? 

To thank the people that sat idly by for years, that allowed and enabled this from go, who had an opportunity to do the correct and morally right thing before, and didn't? Nah. 

 

Funny, that's usually what I would have said. And I still agree.

If anyone feels like giving them a note of support, I think it's fine. I just shared a tweet by someone announcig they'd leave the GOP (while rolling my eyes. Really, THAT's what it took?!), so I'm probably a bit schizophrenic.

No, they are definitely NOT on our side.

 

ETA: I want a longer version of this song:

 

***

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

@Ormond is right here, and like Billy Zane, you should listen to him.

A Republican voting to convict does not absolve them of all their past or future mistakes, but you should be gracious towards them for the vote in question, and your outrage should go after the cowards who put their own careers ahead of their loyalty to country. Fuck them.