The Political Junkie Thread

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Wow. Really well put. Hopefully they will do something like that. To make it even more personal, I would add something along the lines of "And do you want your children, grandchildren, and other descendants to wonder how their forebearer could be supportive of this? The man had no problem with you being put within a few feet of death at the hands of an angry mob while you were dutifully serving your country because he couldn't admit defeat? Look your grandchild in the eye and explain that!

These are the same people that continued to deny that COVID should be taken seriously, shunned masks and social distancing even though there were members of their own party literally dying, all because their leader thought it was a sign of weakness. I truly think that even if one of them had been physically harmed or worse on the 6th, they would still acquit. I'm betting members of the Capitol Police would agree with me.

I have wondered a lot how the reaction would have been different if they had injured/killed a politician. And to take it a step further, how the reaction would have been if they had gotten someone like Pelosi vs. if they had gotten Pence. Also, they clearly had a very violent tendency and obviously did physically injure and kill people, but it is different to do that to an anonymous person who is standing in your way vs. if you are standing face to face with someone - would any of them have followed through on killing one of the politicians if presented with the opportunity and knowing who they were killing?

My other deep thought hypothetical is wondering how differently things would have turned out if Twitter had shut down Trump for violating its service terms at an earlier date. Let's say they shut him down in August - would it have impacted the election? Let's say they shut him down beginning election day? He still would have theoretically had the world's attention at his disposal through traditional channels like press conferences, rallies, etc. but he would have been a very different person.

[dudog]

This short Seinfeld clip encapsulates Trump and the Republican party. Elaine is Trump, George is the Rs, and Jerry is the rest of us. George's comment at the end says it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4fRzMkP-xE

[dudog]

Also wanted to commend gumbomoop for being more eloquent than me. Yesterday I emailed this idea for summation to a friend:

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1,056,264 Americans have died defending this country. Raskin should state that and end with "We're not asking you to die to defend this country. We're just asking you to vote to defend this country."

Unfortunately, I don't think the Rs can be shamed. I wanted to email the idea to Raskin (I know, fool's errand), but you cannot email anyone who is not your representative. I am "represented" by Rs in the House and Senate, so I have no one to talk to.

[Phredd3]

But I’d be glad if such an argument added even a single vote. So I’d like the final presentation to be solemn, foreboding, and focus on the future impact of those images and those sounds on those students, and their “judgment of history.”

I would add to your excellent summation a bit about Lincoln and the effect of actual, future voters. Keep in mind, that Republicans are fully aware that demographics are already trending against them, so those future voters - even those just for the next few years - matter to them a great deal. Meanwhile, Republicans love to mention that they are the "Party of Lincoln". They tout it at every opportunity.

Well, future voters will look back and say, "Republicans are the Party of Insurrection". And they will have a much more difficult time supporting that party. Yes, this will be true at colleges and universities in 50 years in a theoretical way, but it is arguably more important to point out that this will also be true at a very practical level in 2022 and 2024 at the ballot box. A vote to acquit Trump is literally a vote to tarnish the party, not just for posterity and future personal reputations, but for currently and presently holding on to what power remains with the Republican party right now. Republicans are voting to acquit because of Trump's supporters. But being the party that let Trump off the hook and condoned anti-government violence could matter to them in a way that a non-office-holding, Twitter-free Trump may not.

If you're damned if you do, damned if you don't, choosing to do the right thing is always defensible.

[dudog]

What a great quote of Voltaire by Raskin:

“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

[Furniture]

This short Seinfeld clip encapsulates Trump and the Republican party. Elaine is Trump, George is the Rs, and Jerry is the rest of us. George's comment at the end says it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4fRzMkP-xE

Brilliant.

[Furniture]

The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis, has opened a criminal investigation into tRump. Really enjoyed listening to her on Rachel Maddow tonight. She is one tough lady. If it goes to trial there will be a real jury.

[gumbomoop]

The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis, has opened a criminal investigation into tRump. Really enjoyed listening to her on Rachel Maddow tonight. She is one tough lady. If it goes to trial there will be a real jury.085820E7-C826-4ED2-965B-76D096C0673C.jpeg

Agree enthusiastically with Furniture on this. She had good answers, oozed unpretentious confidence, experience, expertise. Hope our eyes turn again to Georgia this spring and she nails the traitor.

[Furniture]

The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis, has opened a criminal investigation into tRump. Really enjoyed listening to her on Rachel Maddow tonight. She is one tough lady. If it goes to trial there will be a real jury.085820E7-C826-4ED2-965B-76D096C0673C.jpeg

Agree enthusiastically with Furniture on this. She had good answers, oozed unpretentious confidence, experience, expertise. Hope our eyes turn again to Georgia this spring and she nails the traitor.

And here she is..

https://mobile.twitter.com/MSNBC/status ... 2940574722

[dudog]

The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis, has opened a criminal investigation into tRump. Really enjoyed listening to her on Rachel Maddow tonight. She is one tough lady. If it goes to trial there will be a real jury.085820E7-C826-4ED2-965B-76D096C0673C.jpeg

Agree enthusiastically with Furniture on this. She had good answers, oozed unpretentious confidence, experience, expertise. Hope our eyes turn again to Georgia this spring and she nails the traitor.

And here she is..

https://mobile.twitter.com/MSNBC/status ... 2940574722

I don't know. Convincing 12 jurors that Trump has "a clear mind" is quite a task.

[dudog]

I've always said Trump is a coward.

One of the aides reportedly told reporters that Trump loves seeing his followers in action and doing things for him as in the Capitol attack.

It is actually erotic for him. It turns him on. Trump's supporters make him feel powerful. They are like an unconscious extension of himself. They're doing the things that Trump was always afraid to do. For example, the one thing that he was always afraid to do was to stand up to his father. He never could do it. Then he was afraid to stand up to Robert Mueller and he got Bill Barr to do it. Trump is afraid to directly stand up to people. He can do it through tweets. He can do it by menacing people. He can do it in front of a large audience, but not face to face. He is afraid of Adam Schiff. He is afraid of the Democrats who are managing his impeachment. Donald Trump is a frightened man, which is the same person who had "bone spurs" to avoid going to Vietnam — because he was scared, not because he had principles.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ ... =Peregrine

[CameronBornAndBred]

I have no doubt that we will see Trump appear in at least one criminal court. It will be interesting to see what lawyers are brave enough to take his cases, and if they are any good. It will also be interesting to see if they allow him to take the stand, where perjury will have to be weighing heavy on their minds.

Same goes with his civil cases. Unlike those, though, he won't be able to stall a case for which he is appearing under indictment.

[OPK]

I have no doubt that we will see Trump appear in at least one criminal court. It will be interesting to see what lawyers are brave enough to take his cases, and if they are any good. It will also be interesting to see if they allow him to take the stand, where perjury will have to be weighing heavy on their minds.

Same goes with his civil cases. Unlike those, though, he won't be able to stall a case for which he is appearing under indictment.

“Release the Kraken”

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I've always said Trump is a coward.

One of the aides reportedly told reporters that Trump loves seeing his followers in action and doing things for him as in the Capitol attack.

It is actually erotic for him. It turns him on. Trump's supporters make him feel powerful. They are like an unconscious extension of himself. They're doing the things that Trump was always afraid to do. For example, the one thing that he was always afraid to do was to stand up to his father. He never could do it. Then he was afraid to stand up to Robert Mueller and he got Bill Barr to do it. Trump is afraid to directly stand up to people. He can do it through tweets. He can do it by menacing people. He can do it in front of a large audience, but not face to face. He is afraid of Adam Schiff. He is afraid of the Democrats who are managing his impeachment. Donald Trump is a frightened man, which is the same person who had "bone spurs" to avoid going to Vietnam — because he was scared, not because he had principles.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ ... =Peregrine

Totally agree. I think we have discussed it here before, but he is the guy who walks into a bar with his larger friend, makes a lot of obnoxious comments, picks a fight, then leaves and lets his larger friend fight the fight for him. Does anyone really like that guy? I think a lot of his supporters have this false illusion that prior presidents were wimps who let foreign countries walk all over us, while Trump stood up to them and showed how strong we are. I'm not sure how this jives with him basically being Putin's bitch (pardon my French). And how Mexico would pay for the wall...

It is amazing that throughout his entire life he has had people who believe in him and enable him. Most banks stayed far away, knowing he would screw them, but he always found ones to work with him. But it was all fun and games until he became president, when his problems became all of our problems.

I want to see him take the stand and have a bulldog attorney cross-examine the hell out of him. Make him justify all of his alleged facts. Make him sweat. With no one there to defend him except some hack lawyer screaming "I object!" And have the judge, who is a cross between the one from My Cousin Vinny and the one from A Few Good Men, repeatedly say "you must answer the question. And may I remind you that if your responses are not truthful, you can be charged with perjury."

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Looks like Nikki Haley has officially jumped off the Crazy Train - she lashed out at Trump pretty hard. She has always struck me as being a total opportunist like Cruz who will do anything she can to ascend to greater power. If I recall correctly, early in the Trump presidency she did a pretty good job of sitting on the fence, then at some point she went all-in on him, but now she is backing away. Hopefully this is her reading the tea leaves and seeing that America is shifting away from him so if she wants to run for president, she would be best off doing the same. I wish some Senators were reading the same tea leaves.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... llowed-him

[dudog]

Looks like Nikki Haley has officially jumped off the Crazy Train - she lashed out at Trump pretty hard. She has always struck me as being a total opportunist like Cruz who will do anything she can to ascend to greater power. If I recall correctly, early in the Trump presidency she did a pretty good job of sitting on the fence, then at some point she went all-in on him, but now she is backing away. Hopefully this is her reading the tea leaves and seeing that America is shifting away from him so if she wants to run for president, she would be best off doing the same. I wish some Senators were reading the same tea leaves.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... llowed-him

No, your second sentence nails it. She can't compete with Cruz/Hawley for the Trump faction. Why? Because she is a woman. These racists are also misogynists. I hate to admit it, but she has a few brains.

Her only chance at the R nomination for President is as the non-Trump option. The question is, who will compete with her for these "Rs".

[OPK]

The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis, has opened a criminal investigation into tRump. Really enjoyed listening to her on Rachel Maddow tonight. She is one tough lady. If it goes to trial there will be a real jury.085820E7-C826-4ED2-965B-76D096C0673C.jpeg

Agree enthusiastically with Furniture on this. She had good answers, oozed unpretentious confidence, experience, expertise. Hope our eyes turn again to Georgia this spring and she nails the traitor.

And here she is..

https://mobile.twitter.com/MSNBC/status ... 2940574722

I would love to see an indictment. But, a DA going on the news like this prior to one is a really bad idea. I’m surprised she did the interview tbh.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Looks like Nikki Haley has officially jumped off the Crazy Train - she lashed out at Trump pretty hard. She has always struck me as being a total opportunist like Cruz who will do anything she can to ascend to greater power. If I recall correctly, early in the Trump presidency she did a pretty good job of sitting on the fence, then at some point she went all-in on him, but now she is backing away. Hopefully this is her reading the tea leaves and seeing that America is shifting away from him so if she wants to run for president, she would be best off doing the same. I wish some Senators were reading the same tea leaves.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... llowed-him

No, your second sentence nails it. She can't compete with Cruz/Hawley for the Trump faction. Why? Because she is a woman. These racists are also misogynists. I hate to admit it, but she has a few brains.

Her only chance at the R nomination for President is as the non-Trump option. The question is, who will compete with her for these "Rs".

If Trump chooses not to run himself, I wonder if he does some kind of Apprentice TV show where everyone spends weeks on TV kissing his backside to get his approval. And it would be even more fun if one or more of his kids was among the group. It would get HUGE ratings and feed his ego.

[gumbomoop]

Looks like Nikki Haley has officially jumped off the Crazy Train - she lashed out at Trump pretty hard. She has always struck me as being a total opportunist like Cruz who will do anything she can to ascend to greater power. If I recall correctly, early in the Trump presidency she did a pretty good job of sitting on the fence, then at some point she went all-in on him, but now she is backing away. Hopefully this is her reading the tea leaves and seeing that America is shifting away from him so if she wants to run for president, she would be best off doing the same. I wish some Senators were reading the same tea leaves.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... llowed-him

I can strongly recommend this long Tim Alberta piece in Politico.

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2 ... ys-choice/

Her opportunism comes through loud, clear, and ugly. Alberta shows there’s more to her than the ugly, but overall it’s not flattering. Alberta says flat out, “Nikki Haley is going to run for president in 2024.”

[Furniture]

I can’t watch Trumps defense. Disheartening, disgusting,sad.

Trump always said he could kill someone and get away with it.
Now with the help of his GOP accomplices, he may just do that.