You people are not subtle at all.
Non, je ne regrette rien. Le bon, le mauvais, c’est pareil.
Je sais me proxénétisme.
Dec 20 2019
The Breakfast Club (At This Table)
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
This Day in History
New Orleans marks completion of Louisiana Purchase; South Carolina is first state to secede from Union; Vermont Supreme Court rules in favor of homosexual couples; ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ premieres in New York.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
We grow small trying to be great.
Dec 19 2019
Plan C With Revisions
When TMC and I are on a fact finding assignment (say, discovering who has the best Digby Scallops in Nova Scotia or what exactly is happening in the 3rd floor Ladies of the Five Fishermen) things frequently do not go quite according to agenda and we find ourselves re-evaluating our priorities and re-scheduling our activities.
Since we are generally on time for all our important appointments and eventually complete the vast majority of the goals we have set nobody much notices how drastically things have changed except us which is good because that’s what we want them to think. During the moments of desperation when decisions must be made we laugh and say, “Time for Plan B,” whether we have a clue or not and call it an adventure.
Here’s how long Pelosi should hold onto the articles of impeachment
By Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post
12/19/19
If McConnell and Republicans refuse to have an actual trial and three Republican senators are not brave enough to object, Pelosi could deploy a backup plan that also addresses Republicans’ professed concerns that they wait on witnesses Trump has blocked by assertion of a phony “absolute immunity” claim.
Pelosi can wait to transmit the articles, now that impeachment is complete, until such time as the cases involving senior officials wind their way through the courts and reach a final ruling (likely at the Supreme Court level where cases concerning production of documents now rest). In short, she can wait until the Supreme Court frees up former White House counsel Donald McGahn and former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman (whose case Bolton said he would rely upon for guidance) to testify. (If the Senate still won’t call them as witnesses, the House can hold additional hearings and supplement the record.)
Faced with a client frantic to get a Senate acquittal, Trump’s attorneys might then have a real incentive to get the courts to expedite a determination on witnesses. Who knows? By next year, Bolton may have cashed in on his book deal, published his tell-all and supplied us with his firsthand account of Trump’s extortion plot against Ukraine. Or even more likely, Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and his henchmen might have disclosed even more damning information putting Trump at the center of the scheme to force Ukraine to assist Trump’s campaign.
In short, Pelosi can give McConnell the chance to do the right thing. She can also give three Republicans the chance to do the right thing by insisting on fair rules. Ultimately, she can simply wait for the courts to do the right thing before entrusting the Senate with the articles of impeachment. We keep hearing from the Republicans that this whole process has been rushed. They might be pleased to learn Pelosi can slow things down. A lot.
Oh, what’s happening in the 3rd Floor Ladies of the Five Fishermen is that it’s supposedly the most haunted spot in the restaurant, which is in a re-purposed morgue that was used to receive Titanic victims. TMC who is sensitive to such things and a Lady says she didn’t notice much out of the ordinary.
Dec 19 2019
The Loser’s Club
I am not unaware of Stephen King. Like my cousin, the New York Times bestselling author (twice, and I’m not at all jealous), I find his popularity disappointing because I don’t think the writing especially mesmerizing (my cousin is better technically). I suppose they both appeal to particular audiences, Stephen to horror fans and my cousin to people who live or work within 20 miles of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. His is bigger and he gets movie deals.
You might think I’d have met him personally because I spend a lot of time in Maine and we kind of run with the same crowd but not yet and what would I say if I did? Tim Curry is the best Pennywise ever? Kubrick was a genius? He hated those (loved The Dark Tower with Elba) so I could do it just to piss him off for sport.
Anyway I have a certain familiarity with “The Loser’s Club” as portrayed in It. King tries to explain the gang rape of Beverly as ‘team building’ and ‘magically necessary’ but that’s a pretty gross and creepy idea even for the late 50s when the original action in Derry is set. Creepy? Go to the library, find a circulated copy of It, prop the book on its spine and let it flop open to the most used page.
Congratulations. Some teenage boy has jacked off to that. You should probably wash your hands.
However I raise the context to dismiss it (and It for that matter) and focus on the ‘Loser’ part of the label.
Trump is impeached and joins the ‘losers’ of presidential history
By Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post
12/19/19
Even Trump knows he will be lumped in with the “losers” in the presidential history rankings such as Richard Nixon and Andrew Johnson. Impeachment will define his presidency, dwarfing any other foreign or domestic action. No wonder he rages against a speaker he is powerless to stop. His worst nightmare is to be humiliated, and if not now, history certainly will regard him as a pitiful, damaged man utterly unfit for the role he won through a series of improbable events (thanks to a hostile foreign power and an undisciplined FBI director).
The facts Trump now dismisses and contorts (in contrast to the propaganda delivered to him by the Kremlin via right-wing media and useful idiots on the right), are as easily verified and as unassailable as the details of Watergate. In comparison to Nixon’s impeachable acts, Trump’s are likely to be viewed more harshly. Trump betrayed the country’s national security and continued his affront to the Constitution by authorizing Rudolph W. Giuliani’s ongoing effort to scrounge up “evidence” from Russian-backed operatives to use against a political rival.
The transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky preserves Trump’s multiple references to “Biden” in black and white. (“There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it…”) It has become and will be seen historically as Trump’s smoking gun.
Also preserved in the transcript is Trump’s demand to a foreign leader to assist his political interests — “I would like you do us a favor though” — which will be reproduced in history books along with the testimony of witnesses such as former White House expert on Russia Fiona Hill, who called out Republicans’ parroting of Russian propaganda. Trivia contests will feature such memorable phrases as former national security adviser John Bolton’s remark: “I am not part of whatever drug deal [U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon] Sondland and [acting White House chief of staff Mick] Mulvaney are cooking up.” (History may come faster than you think, as Bolton cashes in on his book advance in what is sure to be a self-righteous recounting of the scandal and, ironically, a reminder of Bolton’s cowering behavior, emblematic of those unwilling to tell the truth in service of the Constitution.)
Just as Watergate figures then-Sen. Sam Ervin (D-N.C.) and then-Reps. Barbara Jordan (D-Tex.) and Peter Rodino (D-N.J.) were lionized as defenders of the Constitution, so too will Pelosi and House Democrats Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), Eric Swalwell (Calif.) and Jamie B. Raskin (Md.) be among those admired for their lucidity, intellect and character. There is no shortage of patriots, if you know where to look. If ever you needed an illustration for your children, here is an episode vividly demonstrating that doing the right and difficult thing, sacrificing for a cause greater than oneself, has its own rewards. (We have no doubt which side the late senator John McCain would venerate and which he would disdain.) For every clownish, contemptible, screeching and dishonest House Republican, there is a sober, admirable, restrained and honest Democrat.
Meanwhile, in hundreds of gatherings around the country on Tuesday night, American citizens turned out to defend the Constitution and support impeachment. The same day, a band of Republicans unveiled the Lincoln Project to work on dislodging Trump and his accomplices from office in 2020. One after another, brave freshmen Democrats decided duty to the Constitution was far more important than political calculation and announced their support for impeachment. They put to shame Republicans such as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) who know all too well the danger Trump poses yet cannot muster the courage to put country above party.
Unlike Republicans of the past who are credited with getting Nixon to resign — including Barry Goldwater, House Minority Leader John Rhodes and Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott — no Republican save for ex-Republican Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) and the Never Trumpers outside of Congress has secured a place in history. So far, out of political cowardice or calculation or both, we lack even one Republican willing to denounce Trump’s actions let alone support impeachment or a lesser penalty. (No matter how badly House members conduct themselves in the future, at least we will be able to say, “Hey, he’s no Jim Jordan — or Devin Nunes — or Doug Collins.”)
No letter, no tweet, no Fox News spin can repair the reputations of Trump enablers. The right-wing media that cheered them on will, like outlets that rooted for Jim Crow and demonized Freedom Riders, be shunned by decent, freedom-loving people who reaffirm objective reality. The Republican Party will be known not as the Party of Lincoln but the Party of Trump, a quisling party that lost its bearings and its soul to defend an unhinged narcissist. Psychologists and sociologists will study a mass cult phenomenon, seeking to explain how a con man and his greedy media accomplices duped millions of Americans.
Perhaps some small number of Senate Republicans will decide to separate themselves from the pack of Trump worshipers. Some might demand a real trial with witnesses or even vote for impeachment. And if not, they, too, will join the other moral weaklings who failed their country when it needed them to do their jobs.
I do not mean to make light of the real and lasting damage Trump and his henchmen have inflicted on our institutions and national psyche, but we survived a Civil War, economic calamities and eras dominated by corrupt and disloyal politicians. As scarred as our democracy is, we now have a new pantheon of patriots to inspire and teach Americans about honor, courage and intellectual rigor. When your children or grandchildren attend Nancy Pelosi Elementary School or win a Jamie Raskin scholarship, they will remember who distinguished themselves. When they see Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, Hill and Marie Yovanovitch receive accolades and honors, they will know what gallant public service looks like.
As demoralizing and infuriating as this presidency has been, it is now within our power to wipe it all away and to vindicate the heroes, punish the villains and reset our democracy. We have 321 days until Election Day.
Dec 19 2019
The Breakfast Club (The Highest Bidder)
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
This Day in History
President Bill Clinton impeached; General George Washington opens camp at Valley Forge; Charles Dickens’ novel “A Christmas Carol” is first published; Apollo 17 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean; ‘The Music Man’ opens on Broadway.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
Dec 18 2019
From the Well
CSPAN because we’re nothing but neutral (not really, we’re so far Left Democrats don’t recognize us).
Dec 18 2019
Black Letter Law
I mean, when even Napolitano gets it…
Trump impeachment: Undisputed evidence that he abused his power
By Andrew P. Napolitano, Washington Times
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
It is undisputed that Mr. Trump withheld the delivery of the $391 million in military aid to Ukraine that Congress authorized and ordered and that Mr. Trump himself signed into law. He said he withheld that aid because he first wanted “a favor” from the president of Ukraine. The favor, requested by others on Mr. Trump’s behalf, was the announcement of a Ukrainian government criminal investigation of Mr. Trump’s potential political adversary, former Vice President Joe Biden.
In the language of the streets, this is a shakedown; it sought to enhance Mr. Trump’s personal political needs and bears no relationship to American foreign policy.
That presidential behavior implicates two crimes. One is the federal prohibition on soliciting campaign aid from a foreign government — whether the aid arrives or not. It did not.
The other crime is bribery, which is the exploitation of public duties for personal gain. Bribery consists of the intentional refusal to perform a required public duty — here, releasing the $391 million to Ukraine — until a personal thing of value — here, the announcement of the Ukrainian investigation of Mr. Biden — arrives. The crime of bribery is complete when the thing of value is solicited, whether it arrives or not. It did not.
The other crimes implicated by Mr. Trump’s behavior took place after he was accused of the first two. Then, he directed his subordinates to disregard congressional subpoenas, lawfully issued and validly served, which sought testimony, documents and electronic records of the president’s behavior.
We know from the impeachment charges recommended by the House Judiciary Committee against Richard Nixon and voted by the House of Representatives against Bill Clinton that obstructing the constitutional duty of Congress is impeachable. We also know from the Roger Clemens case, in which he was prosecuted, and acquitted, for obstruction of Congress by allegedly lying to a House committee, that obstruction can be criminal.
Because Mr. Trump declined to participate in the House investigation that resulted in the construction of the articles of impeachment against him — except for his tweets and bluster and the Republicans’ personal attacks on House Democratic committee chairs — the facts underlying the charges against Mr. Trump are essentially uncontested.
Everyone who believes in the rule of law should be terrified of a president who thinks and behaves as if it does not apply to him. As the DOJ has stated repeatedly, impeachment is the proper constitutional remedy for that.
Yeah, yeah, Washington Times. He works for Faux, where do you expect him to be published? Me? I picked it up from digby
Dec 18 2019
Pondering the Pundits
Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from> around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.
Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt
George T. Conway III, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver and Rick Wilson: We Are Republicans, and We Want Trump Defeated
The president and his enablers have replaced conservatism with an empty faith led by a bogus prophet.
Patriotism and the survival of our nation in the face of the crimes, corruption and corrosive nature of Donald Trump are a higher calling than mere politics. As Americans, we must stem the damage he and his followers are doing to the rule of law, the Constitution and the American character.
That’s why we are announcing the Lincoln Project, an effort to highlight our country’s story and values, and its people’s sacrifices and obligations. This effort transcends partisanship and is dedicated to nothing less than preservation of the principles that so many have fought for, on battlefields far from home and within their own communities.
This effort asks all Americans of all places, creeds and ways of life to join in the seminal task of our generation: restoring to this nation leadership and governance that respects the rule of law, recognizes the dignity of all people and defends the Constitution and American values at home and abroad.
Paul Krugman: How Trump Lost His Trade War
On speaking loudly and carrying a small stick.
Trade wars rarely have victors. They do, however, sometimes have losers. And Donald Trump has definitely turned out to be a loser.
Of course, that’s not the way he and his team are portraying the tentative deal they’ve struck with China, which they’re claiming as a triumph. The reality is that the Trump administration achieved almost none of its goals; it has basically declared victory while going into headlong retreat.
And the Chinese know it. As The Times reports, Chinese officials are “jubilant and even incredulous” at the success of their hard-line negotiating strategy.
To understand what just went down, you need to ask what Trump and company were trying to accomplish with their tariffs, and how that compares with what really happened.
Jon Meacham and Michael E. Shepherd: Republicans face political risks on impeachment. But history shows not all is lost.
Always vanishingly rare, political courage is virtually extinct now. Over and over again, we are told the great fact of our politics in the Age of Trump is that our elected representatives fear crossing the aisle because they will pay a price at the polls — a courageous vote, in other words, will be rapidly followed by defeat and exile from office.
There’s a problem, however, with this prevailing piece of conventional wisdom: It’s wrong. Over the past six decades, courageous high-profile votes have tended not to cost the courageous their seats. From Southern Democrats who supported the Civil Acts Right of 1964 to Republicans who backed Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 through the Clinton impeachment in the 1990s, tough votes have been difficult but not necessarily fatal.
This is not to minimize the political risks of today’s Republicans (and of Democrats who represent pro-Trump territory) who are considering the impeachment and removal of President Trump. But history suggests all was not automatically lost if a lawmaker chose to vote against the prevailing opinion of his party or of his constituents.
Katrina vanden Heuvel: Those who ran the Afghanistan war lied. They must be held to account.
They lied. They lied repeatedly, year after year, about America’s longest war — the Afghanistan fiasco now in its 19th year. They — presidents, department heads, generals, civilians and uniformed military up and down the line — misled the American people, reporting “progress” in a misguided war that they knew was not being won. “At war with the truth” is the stark and inescapable conclusion of the Afghanistan Papers, dubbed this generation’s Pentagon Papers, a trove of documents brought to light by the extraordinary efforts of The Post. The reality, as retired Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the former White House czar for Afghanistan during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, admitted, “We didn’t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking.”
The House of Representatives’ vote this week to impeach President Trump will indict his dangerous abuse of power and his obstruction of the congressional investigation of that abuse. The Afghanistan Papers pose the fundamental question: What will be the accounting for the serial abuses of office that misled the American people about a war for nearly two decades?
Activists in the United States often pledge to “speak truth to power.” The sad reality, as once more exposed in these papers, is that power often knows the truth. The real question is that posed by William Greider, national affairs correspondent for the Nation and a former national political reporter for The Post: Who will tell the people?
Catherine Rampell: Mitt Romney bucks his party. Republicans should follow his leadership.
t’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is bucking his party and endorsing a Democratic initiative that long should have been bipartisan one. This politically courageous stance is raising hopes that more Republicans might follow his lead.
I’m talking about his latest tax proposal, of course.
On Sunday, Romney and Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) unveiled a promising bipartisan proposal that would expand the child tax credit. But more than that, it potentially signals a coming Republican Party realignment over the federal government’s obligations to families. [..]
The Bennet-Romney proposal expands the child tax credit in two key ways. First, it makes the existing credit more generous to families with children under age 6 by raising its maximum value to $2,500 (vs. $2,000 available under current law).
Additionally, and perhaps more historically significant: The proposal would for the first time ever extend the child tax credit to the very poorest children by making the first chunk of the credit available to families regardless of income. That is, families with kids might have very low or even zero earnings (think: a single mom working toward a degree, say, or a retired couple raising their grandchildren) and still get a significant check.
The technical term for this is that the first $1,500 of the credit for children under age 6 (or $1,000 for older kids) would be “fully refundable.” In practical terms, it means parents get money just for being parents, and they don’t have to do anything in exchange for the cash.
Even more astonishing, given Romney’s support, is that this proposal would be paid for largely by closing a capital-gains tax loophole enjoyed by the very wealthy.
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