Tag: GOP now the cult of Trump

Trump’s Supporters And The Denial Of Reality

There was a time when I was unconvinced of the case that greenhouse gases were causing the planet to warm and that action was needed to curb them. I’m not one to jump to conclusions on such an important matter. But over time, I noticed something fishy. The people who began by rejecting the case kept changing their story.

First, they said the planet was not getting hotter. Then they said it might be getting hotter but not because of carbon dioxide. Then they said that maybe the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was causing it but that it was a good thing. Then they said that even if it’s a bad thing, it would be costly or futile to take remedial action. At each stage, they devised a new argument.

What didn’t change was their unshakable commitment to doing nothing. They didn’t consider the evidence and then sort through it to reach a logical conclusion. They reached a conclusion and then found ways to justify it no matter what. Most of these people, as it happens, were Republicans. Continue reading.

The impeachment evidence will catch up to Republicans and Trump — whether they ignore it or not

Washington Post logoDONALD TRUMP’S presidency has been, among other things, a war against truth. So it’s fitting that in making the case for his removal from office this week, House impeachment managers showered the Senate with facts. Over and over again, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and his co-managers laid out the hard evidence that Mr. Trump used presidential powers to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations that would aid his reelection campaign, and that he engaged in unprecedented obstruction of Congress’s subsequent investigation.

Videos of testimony and damning statements by Mr. Trump, as well as images of revealing text messages among administration officials, were exhibited repeatedly on the Senate floor, prompting some Republicans to complain that they were being forced to rehear the same pieces of evidence. So be it: GOP senators intent on exonerating the president without bothering to fairly consider the case against him should at least be forced to face the reality of his abuses. Meanwhile, busy Americans who took the time to tune in to the proceedings for even an hour or two between Wednesday and Friday likely heard a substantial version of the case.

Several strands of the managers’ argument struck us as particularly on point. One presentation laid out a 10-point proof that in pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr. Trump was pursuing not U.S. foreign policy but his private interests. The campaign was orchestrated by his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, who said publicly that he was seeking to benefit Mr. Trump, not the country. Mr. Giuliani convinced Mr. Trump that there was dirt to be found in Ukraine on Joe Biden; but a presentation by Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Tex.) demolished the claim that Mr. Biden acted improperly when, as vice president, he sought the ouster of a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor. Continue reading.

Here are 7 embarrassing arguments Republicans have tried to use to defend Trump

AlterNet logoWith the Senate impeachment trial in full swing, Republicans have launched an aggressive if scattershot campaign to defend President Donald Trump and discredit the Democrats’ case.

It’s not going well. Multiple recent polls have found that a majority of the country thinks Trump should be removed from office and many more think he has done something seriously wrong, even if they think he should remain in the White House until the next election.

While the Democrats have unleashed a torrent of facts and compelling arguments for the charges that Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress, Republican replies have been all over the map. Many of their arguments are completely beside the point of the case, and the sheer weakness of their defenses is an embarrassment to the party.

Here are seven of weakest and most embarrassing arguments Republicans have made to defend Trump: Continue reading.

‘Nothing New’ Carp GOP Senators — After Blocking Trial Evidence

Senate Republicans emerged from the first full day of arguments in the impeachment trial against Donald Trump with complaints that they didn’t learn anything new that made them believe Trump deserves to be removed from office.

The GOP complaints come after Republicans blocked nearly a dozen attempts by Democrats to introduce evidence Trump himself blocked from view during the House’s impeachment inquiry.

Democrats sought to ensure that the Senate trial would include interviews with key witnesses Trump blocked from testifying — such as former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — as well as documents from multiple government agencies that Trump blocked from view. Continue reading.

‘This ends badly for Trump’s lackeys’: MSNBC’s Morning Joe warns GOP senators they’re doomed for opposing impeachment

AlterNet logoMSNBC’s Joe Scarborough ripped Senate Republicans for selling their souls to President Donald Trump — and risking their political careers.

The “Morning Joe” host praised Rep. Adam Schiff’s impassioned plea to GOP senators in the impeachment trial, but lamented that his appeal likely fell on deaf ears.

“It’s a fear of those who follow Donald Trump, who follow Donald Trump in the Republican Party,” Scarborough said. “It’s a fear of losing a primary election, and, then, yes it is a fear for many of these people, and I consider it to be extraordinarily weak of them, of Donald Trump criticizing them, or tweeting attacks at them.” Continue reading.

America Is Watching Trump’s Trial

It is my habit, and my ethical obligation, to disclose a fact of my marriage when failing to do so could mislead you or diminish your trust in me.

Circumstances and subject matter dictate when this is necessary. If I’m writing about our two rescue dogs, my husband’s profession is irrelevant in his utter devotion to them. Likewise, his job has nothing to do with my insistence that no husband should speak for his wife without her permission, and by “permission” I impose the strictest of boundaries. Saying, “Yes, Honey, go ahead and order the curry for me,” does not mean my husband may start any sentence with, “What my wife meant to say…”

Fortunately, like all good men, he understands the difference. Continue reading.

The Shame Of The Senate

Well before completing his first term, President Donald Trump firmly established himself as the worst president in American history, which should surprise nobody. What we have seen this week suggests that many of the senators now hearing his impeachment trial will join him in historic infamy.

From the very beginning of Trump’s impeachment, a majority of Republican senators have indicated that they would not dare to sanction his unmistakable wrongdoing.

The Republicans stood mutely as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told the nation that he would manage the trial in lockstep with the president’s lawyers. They said nothing when the president brushed aside the constitutional separation of powers and the prerogatives of Congress by withholding all evidence and witnesses. They pretended to believe McConnell when he promised to conduct the trial fairly, and apply the same standards and procedures seen during the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton. Continue reading.

Tucker Carlson and Devin Nunes: Vindman Should Just ‘Go Work in Ukraine’

“Why not just say, ‘Mr. Vindman and your lawyer brother, take a hike,’” Carlson fumed. “They are not in control of the government. It’s not their government.”

Hours after Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) questioned Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s patriotism, Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) called on the National Security Council official and Purple Heart recipient to be booted from his position and “go work in Ukraine.”

During a broadcast that largely ignored the live impeachment proceedings taking place, Carlson devoted an “investigative” segment to the Iraq War veteran after House impeachment managers referenced Vindman’s testimony throughout Thursday’s Senate trial. Why, Carlson asked, was Vindman still serving on the White House National Security Council as a Ukraine and Russia expert?

Before bringing Nunes on his primetime show Thursday night, the Fox News star complained that Vindman testified against his boss and acknowledged that “a foreign power keeps trying to recruit him,” wondering “how could someone like that keep his job.” Continue reading.

Democrats detail abuse-of-power charge against Trump as Republicans complain of repetitive arguments

Washington Post logoHouse impeachment managers laid out the heart of their abuse-of-power case against President Trump on Thursday — charging that his efforts to pressure Ukraine into political investigations were precisely what the nation’s founders wanted to guard against when they empowered Congress to remove a president from office.

The Democrats also detailed their defense of former vice president Joe Biden’s actions regarding Ukraine in anticipation that it will be a major portion of the White House’s defense later this week, saying Biden’s actions were in line with official U.S. policy at the time and not done to benefit an energy company connected to his son.

But a significant number of Senate Republicans remained unmoved and downplayed the case from House managers, dismissing it as repetitive and unpersuasive as they sought to counter Democrats’ narrative at a time when Trump’s lawyers must stay silent in the Senate Chamber. Continue reading.

NOTE:  Remember, the Trump White House didn’t supply a single document and blocked testimony from witnesses. And, the GOP Senate blocked subpoenaing witnesses and documents. So, GOP Senators saying things are repetitive pretty much proves there is no Republican party, just a Trump loyalist party.

Senate GOP uses Trump’s executive privilege threat as rallying cry against subpoenas

A growing number of Republicans are pointing to President Donald Trump’s threat to invoke executive privilege in order to make their case against subpoenas sought by Democrats for key witnesses and documents, a development that could bolster Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s goal of a swift end to the impeachment trial.

GOP senators are privately and publicly raising concerns that issuing subpoenas — to top officials like acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton and for documents blocked by the White House — will only serve to drag out the proceedings. Plus, many say there’s little appetite for such a time-consuming fight, given that legal battles may ultimately not be successful and could force the courts to rule on hugely consequential constitutional issues about the separation of powers between the branches of government.

McConnell has little margin for error since it would take just four Republican defections to join with 47 Democrats in order to issue a subpoena. But his increased warnings that subpoenas could prompt an “indefinite” delay in the trial and get tied up in the courts have been gaining traction within his conference, GOP senators and aides told CNN. Continue reading.