Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
The GOP is on trial here, and the American people are the jury.
  

    
karish, this timeline is going a long way to connect the dots. I'm
deeply impressed.

alden, I'm not optimistic that this is falling on the ears of
Americans willing to really listen. My guy is doing what I don't
dare to do: following the comments on Fox and other propaganda
sites. With full knowledge that it's not a representative slice of
the populace, they're impressive in their numbers, dismaying in
their content, and alarming in their vehemence.
  

    
Julian Castro summed the whole thing up succinctly in 11 words: “On
Jan. 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead.”
  

    
So they're going to call witnesses. I didn't expect this, but I
guess it's fallout from the reports of the Trump/McCarthy call on
1/6.
  

    
Turnabout: decided against calling witnesses. I'm assuming it's
because they don't want to draw it out.
  

    
Yeah, I heard the Republicans were threatening to keep the Senate
shut down for weeks if they proceeded. Too bad.
  

    
I wonder how many more Republicans would have voted to convict if it
was an anonymous vote.

Conversely, I wonder how many are fascist to the bone.
  

    

Well, there's no wondering about the ones who were active in trying to
overturn the election and/or enable and encourage the insurrection.
  

    
At least all the witnesses are safe from being Oliver Northed.
  

    
Of course national Republican leadership was on trial here as
much as Trump was.   And they failed miserably.

Then there's the final - inevitable - capper:

---
On Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a
strong case for convicting former President Donald Trump of
inciting insurrection  less than half an hour after voting
to acquit Trump of inciting insurrection.
.
.
Theres no question, McConnell said, that President Trump is
practically and morally responsible for provoking the events
of the day, which left five people dead, US Capitol Police
officers injured, and parts of the building damaged. The people
who stormed this building believed they were acting on the
wishes and instructions of their president.

https://www.vox.com/2021/2/13/22282034/mitch-mcconnells-speech-trump-acquittal
-impeachment
---

McConnell's entire speech can be viewed here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/mcconnell-denounces-trump-after-acquittal-vote-i
mpeachment-trial/

McConnell was, of course, still Senate majority leader when
Trump was impeached and as such was the one who delayed the trial
until Trump was out of office.   Then - in spite of his Oh! So
Strong! feelings that Trump was responsible - he voted to acquit
on the grounds that former presidents can't be tried.

I guess he's trying to appease Trump's supporters by voting to 
acquit while simultaneously trying to the appease the party's
financial base by condemning Trump.   I'm sure a sternly worded
letter to Trump will follow along soon.
  

    
McCOnnell is such a weasel. He knows he should have voted to convict
and he was too weak to do it. If he had, he'd have swayed enough
others and he could be leading the broken party through its
recovery. Now he's just a weak old man who doesn't have the courage
of his convictions. No surprise.
  

    
Damning commentary.

All true.
  

    
But rather an insult to weasels.
  

    
What surprised me was that seven Republican senators were
willing to stand up to him.

Romney I expected - he was the lone R vote against Trump
in the last trial.

Sasse I pretty much expected - he's been really vocal
about his disgust with Trump.

Collins certainly, and to some extent Murkowski, I expected 
to behave as usual.   To express "concern" and to be "deeply 
troubled" before they vote the party line.   Collins just
got re-elected and won't face the voters until 2026 so maybe
that gave her a tiny bit of extra courage.

Murkowski is the only one of the seven who will run in 2022
so her vote took some courage.   She's been here before.  
She originally got the seat because her father, Frank, was a
senator from AK who won the governor's office and appointed
his daughter to finish out his Senate term.   When she ran
in 2010 she lost the Republican primary to Joe Miller - then
ran, and won, a write-in campaign.   She's got moxie. 

I was truly surprised by Burr, Toomey and Cassidy.   Of course
Burr and Toomey have announced they won't run for re-election
next time around so they don't have anything to lose.   Cassidy
just got re-elected so he won't face voters until 2026 either.

Three others that took a significant political risk are Joe
Manchin of WV, Kyrsten Sinema of AZ and Jon Tester of MT.  
They're all Democrats from deep red states.   Few would have
blamed them for not taking a big risk on a lost cause.   They
can be proud to have stood up for the right thing in both
impeachments.
  

    
I suspect that Collins and Murkowski were pissed off that Trump's
lawyers blew off their clear and straightforward question.  They
wanted to know when Trump learned that the Capitol had been breached
and what he did in response. 

The relevant exchange is at about 13:20 here: 
<https://www.c-span.org/video/?508916-4/impeachment-trial-day-4-senators-questi
ons>
  

    
Why would anyone expect them to answer a clear and straightforward question
that would only harm their client?
  

    
I can't see that the questions and answers had any effect on the outcome.  
I doubt if any of the Republicans who defected were responding to the 
Kabuki on the Senate floor, magnificent though Raskin was.
  

    
The week it took to get this on the record was time well spent.
  

    
That was the entire point of the exercise.
  

    
> On Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a
strong case for convicting former President Donald Trump of
inciting insurrection  less than half an hour after voting
to acquit Trump of inciting insurrection.

Ummm .... isn't a Senate impeachment trial a Federal court?

Wouldn't a trial in a different Federal Court be disallowed under
double jeopardy?
  

    
No.  The Senate is part of the Legislative branch.  All Federal
courts are in the separate but equal Judicial branch. 
  

    
I thought Collins and Murkowski's question was aimed at any wavering
Republicans.
  

    
Agree with <72>.  It looked like Trump's lawyers foresaw that they
could win without any of those wavering Republicans. The question
was certainly one they should have anticipated and could  have had a
ready answer to, rather than the hand-waving they engaged in. 
  

    
Apparently Alaska just switched to an open primary and to
ranked-choice voting for the general election, so Murkowski probably
doesn't have to worry much.

https://www.ktoo.org/2021/01/29/alaskas-new-voting-system-gives-murkowski-immu
nity-from-trumps-revenge/
  

    
The Republicans who voted to impeach are getting all kinds of shit
at home. 


PA GOP Lashes Out At Toomey Conviction Vote: He Was Not Elected To
‘Do The Right Thing’

<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pa-gop-lashes-out-at-toomey-conviction-vote
-he-was-not-elected-to-do-the-right-thing>