All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[Tami]

Why do News anchors and reporters waste their energy talking to Congressional Republicans? Chuck Todd is talking to Senator John Kennedy, at least they seem to be having a good time of it.

.@SenJohnKennedy is insisting to @chucktodd that "if you're going to be fair, you're going to have to investigate everybody" meaning Trump & Biden. He's wrong - FBI investigates when there's reason to believe a crime occurred. As to Biden, it's just a smear. There's no beef.

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WATCH: Chuck Todd asks Republican Senator John Kennedy why the president went to Ukraine instead of the FBI to investigate Joe Biden #mtpdaily

@SenJohnKennedy: "You don't know whether the FBI has been contacted or not."

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[Mister Mets]

I'm with you on this. I don't understand what his drug use has to do with alleged Obama Era abuse of power over a Ukrainian gas deal. Seems like character assassination to me pure and simple, but whatever.

When did I make any claim about alleged Obama era abuse of power?

[Celgress]

It's official, Pelosi announced Impeachment Hearings/Inquiries.

A huge blunder, At the very least she should have waited until Winter or even Spring so it would be ongoing with the General Election Campaign. This decision will bring ruin to everything, mark my words.

[jetengine]

A huge blunder, At the very least she should have waited until Winter or even Spring so it would be ongoing with the General Election Campaign. This decision will bring ruin to everything, mark my words.

The problem is the Ukraine and other nations thing. You can't ignore it.

[Celgress]

When did I make any claim about alleged Obama era abuse of power?

I'm talking about my statement(about the possible Ukrainian gas deal) and how you brought up the bit about Biden's son using drugs in response.

[Celgress]

The problem is the Ukraine and other nations thing. You can't ignore it.

Win the battle (moral) lose the war (power). I have a feeling in a couple of years people will wish this choice was never made.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Texas’ 26th Congressional District, Mike Burgess, the U.S. House Representative from Texas’ 26th Congressional District whose claim to fame is discussing masturbating fetuses touching themselves in the womb for their own pleasure as part of his “pro-life” arguments before Congress. Burgess has also openly discussed the impeachment of Barack Obama (declining to comment WHAT the impeachable offense he committed was), going on FOX News to call for witch hunts into the attacks in Benghazi, amongst other tacky quotes and votes. Not surprisingly, he also bought into the Center for Medical Progress’ “sting” video and tried defunding Plannned Parenthood around this time a year ago.Going into the latest session of Congress, Mike Burgess was looking forward to trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and when asked about the millions of people who would lose their insurance coverage as a result, he laughed it off and was excited to do so because it would mean “more freedom”. Ah yes. The freedom to die because you can’t afford your medical costs anymore. That’s something to strive for, Mike. Especially for someone who purports himself to be a “pro-life” physician. His voting record still shows us that Burgess is the same old frowny sack of nuts he’s always been, after winning re-election in 2018 with 59% of the vote:

• May 2nd, 2018: Mike Burgess is one of 18 Republicans who sign on to a letter asking to nominate Donald Trump for a Nobel Prize for meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (LIST:
• January 22nd, 2019: Burgess cannot be arsed to vote against HR 676, which would prevent Donald Trump from doing the unthinkable and walking away from our allies in NATO to appease the Russians. Just a reminder, Burgess is a high-ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee who seems indifferent about the United States’ biggest adversary.
• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Burgess voted against HR 648, because he was gleeully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• February 28th, 2019: Mike Burgess votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 7th, 2019: Burgess votes against HR 183, a resolution to condemn anti-Semitism as a hateful extension of intolerance.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Burgess votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• April 4th, 2019: Mike Burgess is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 17th, 2019: Burgess votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Burgess votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Mike Burgess can’t be bothered to vote against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.

Michael Burgess is currently trending more towards the anti-immigrant demographic, not blinking while, he was shouted down and booed by constituents outraged over the Trump administration’s family separation policy, which he dug in and stated his support for. By April 2019, he showed he’s far enough gone that he’d even support the extreme idea to completely shut down the U.S./Mexico border so no one crosses it in either direction.

Texas has been trending more and more blue every year, but Texas’ 26th Congressional District still has a +11 Republican lean. Thus, it will be an uphill battle for any Democratic candidate to upset Burgess in 2020. Good luck to whomever that might be.

[worstblogever]

Why do News anchors and reporters waste their energy talking to Congressional Republicans? Chuck Todd is talking to Senator John Kennedy, at least they seem to be having a good time of it.

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Trump already scoffed at the idea of calling the FBI if a foreign nation offers dirt in his interview with George Stephanopolous a few months back. That's how we know he wouldn't.

[jetengine]

Win the battle (moral) lose the war (power). I have a feeling in a couple of years people will wish this choice was never made.

Ignoring it implies Impeachment is toothless or the democrats agree. Both are bad even if the first is true

[Robotman]

I think the general public will constantly need to be educated on this process now. And I think all the Democratic candidates going forward should speak on why this is important and how likely it is that the GOP controlled Senate will not hold up to their end of the constitution and will likely never follow through with the findings.

Or they will downplay and excuse any findings as they have with the Mueller Report and every other scandal including this Ukraine issue.

It will be used as a rallying cry of poor me Dems attacking me by Trump in all his rallies.

This can be good getting more information on the scope and breadth of corruption. But, if not handled properly and if expectations get overblown without educating people it could blow up Dem chances. Which is exactly why Nancy was hesitant in the first place.

This is my concern as well. Call me a pessimist but I think the odds of this turning into a win for Trump are huge. They’ll deny every finding even if there is concrete evidence. The state run news aka Fox and the countless conservative commentators will hammer ever lie and talking point into the heads of the American public. Thus far the GOP has been expertly utilizing Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda philosophy “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” They’re already turning Trump’s extortion of Ukraine as a patriotic act as a means to take down the “corrupt Biden family.”

We all know there is no way the Senate votes to remove him from office. So I guess the strategy is just to dig up as much dirt as possible on Trump during the proceedings. But it seems like we live in a post-facts reality where no amount of evidence matters to the Trump cult. So I really don’t know if it will matter.

[Celgress]

Ignoring it implies Impeachment is toothless or the democrats agree. Both are bad even if the first is true

If they actually want to get rid of Trump then they should not do this. Often times to win people have to be ruthlessly political. All this will do is gin up Trump's base (whose level of engagement was slowly whittling away) and give him talking points. He won't be removed from office or thrown out of the Republican Party.

[InformationGeek]

OH WBE! Get a load of the balls on this guy!

Freshman Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) introduced a resolution aimed at removing House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) from his role as the top Democrat on the panel responsible for handling impeachment proceedings.

The Republican-backed resolution comes as an influx of Democrats come out in support of moving forward with articles of impeachment following reports that President Trump threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless the country investigated former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

According to Gooden, the resolution “would formally recognize the illegality of impeachment proceedings,” arguing authorization is needed for the committee to move forward with impeachment proceedings.

“In recent days Democrats have sanctimoniously declared their allegiance to the rule of law. I encourage them to follow those rules and hold Chairman Nadler accountable for breaking them,” he said in a statement.

“By law, he may not launch impeachment proceedings until the full House votes for him to do so. This attempted coup against a duly-elected, sitting president is unprecedented and must be stopped. I urge the Majority to move immediately to have him stripped of his chairmanship and that any accomplices on the Judiciary Committee not be considered as a replacement.”

[numberthirty]

A huge blunder, At the very least she should have waited until Winter or even Spring so it would be ongoing with the General Election Campaign. This decision will bring ruin to everything, mark my words.

Win the battle (moral) lose the war (power). I have a feeling in a couple of years people will wish this choice was never made.

If they actually want to get rid of Trump then they should not do this. Often times to win people have to be ruthlessly political. All this will do is gin up Trump's base (whose level of engagement was slowly whittling away) and give him talking points. He won't be removed from office or thrown out of the Republican Party.

When it comes to some things, there is never going to be a right time/way to do them.

[JCAll]

A huge blunder, At the very least she should have waited until Winter or even Spring so it would be ongoing with the General Election Campaign. This decision will bring ruin to everything, mark my words.

This isn't going to be over in a weekend, it's going to last months. Maybe they'll hold the impeachment vote on the 4th of July.

[kidfresh512]

This is my concern as well. Call me a pessimist but I think the odds of this turning into a win for Trump are huge. They’ll deny every finding even if there is concrete evidence. The state run news aka Fox and the countless conservative commentators will hammer ever lie and talking point into the heads of the American public. Thus far the GOP has been expertly utilizing Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda philosophy “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” They’re already turning Trump’s extortion of Ukraine as a patriotic act as a means to take down the “corrupt Biden family.”

We all know there is no way the Senate votes to remove him from office. So I guess the strategy is just to dig up as much dirt as possible on Trump during the proceedings. But it seems like we live in a post-facts reality where no amount of evidence matters to the Trump cult. So I really don’t know if it will matter.

Its being practical not pessimistic. There is a reason Pelosi was being cautious. And she was right. But, this Ukraine thing and the changing story and the clear implication he was literally withholding aid until they agreed to investigate Biden....I mean.

That's why I think the smart thing is do your investigation but all Democratic surrogates have to help educate. They have to keep harping on the endgame that GOP controlled Senate will NEVER impeach. It doesn't matter what they find. This is being done because one party still believes in the Constitution and doing its duty regardless of GOP just being the arm of trump. Fox News will be harping on the new Witch Hunt until this is over or the election. Democrats have to fight the misinformation and expectations or it looks terrible.