All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[ed2962]

I reckon we'll have to see if a pardon comes or not. Given there's already an impeachment on, I say not. If Trump pardons someone who did crimes FOR him specifically while impeachment hearings are on, public sentiment on him getting impeached will soar, and the GOP will cave in the face of it becoming overwhelming.

Yes, I'm very curious as to what kind sentence he does or doesn't get.

[ed2962]

Is anyone claiming he's a journalist? It seems he's been considered a commentator and media personality for a while. Before that, he was a comedian.

When first started his show he tried to pretend he would be all about seeking the truth and being open to discussing any and all ideas. But after a while it became clear that he was really pushing one particular agenda.

[worstblogever]

Trump live-tweeted insults about Yovanovitch WHILE SHE WAS TESTIFYING.

Schiff had that read to the ambassador in real time, and it's being talked about already on cable news as potentially being added to the pile of Trump crimes as witness intimidation.

Who the f*** let him Tweet that? Like, is nobody on his legal team telling him, "That will get you in jail. No good will come from that. DO NOT DO THAT. WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT!?!"

Just... f***ing Christ, he's insane.

And, Fox News tried to get his back by claiming you can't be impeached for witness intimidation because it's not listed as an impeachable offense in the Constitution. It doesn't explicitly say murder or rape or a lot of crimes in there... but "high crimes" is a whole category, y'know?

[Kirby101]

He thinks he is invulnerable because the GOP will never turn on him. He is right.

[InformationGeek]

Trump live-tweeted insults about Yovanovitch WHILE SHE WAS TESTIFYING.

Schiff had that read to the ambassador in real time, and it's being talked about already on cable news as potentially being added to the pile of Trump crimes as witness intimidation.

Who the f*** let him Tweet that? Like, is nobody on his legal team telling him, "That will get you in jail. No good will come from that. DO NOT DO THAT. WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT!?!"

Just... f***ing Christ, he's insane.

And, Fox News tried to get his back by claiming you can't be impeached for witness intimidation because it's not listed as an impeachable offense in the Constitution. It doesn't explicitly say murder or rape or a lot of crimes in there... but "high crimes" is a whole category, y'know?

Speaking of Fox News, he may be losing them.

Wow. Fox News' Bret Baier says that Trump's tweets attacking Yovanovitch could be construed as witness intimidation and hence "adding essentially an article of impeachment in real time as this hearing is going on."

[Tami]

Hearings

Last I saw, and i haven;t been watching it straight through, the Ambassador was being questioned by the Republican Lawyer and his focus was on 'Ukraine is anti-trump'. Part of which involves, 'Manafort is in jail as a conspiracy by Ukraine to go after Trump', Ukraine took down Manafort's boss in the Ukraine just so that they can attack Trump by going after Manafort, or some such nonsense.

[BeastieRunner]

Speaking of Fox News, he may be losing them.

Chris Wallace is going after Trump now, too.

Shep is proud!

[BeastieRunner]

Mike Turner is an *******.

[BeastieRunner]

Beastie's Cartoons of the Week:

[BeastieRunner]

Roger Stone Found Guilty!

On all 7 counts, too.

I reckon we'll have to see if a pardon comes or not. Given there's already an impeachment on, I say not. If Trump pardons someone who did crimes FOR him specifically while impeachment hearings are on, public sentiment on him getting impeached will soar, and the GOP will cave in the face of it becoming overwhelming.

Witness tampering carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The other counts can carry 5 years each. So Stone is looking at 50 years, +/- his bench issues like when he was violating his non-contact orders. IF the judge throws the book at him, he's looking at 62 years, IF the judge is lenient, he's looking at 19 years. He also has the state crimes, which is ~30 years and pardon-proof.

Stone is dying in prison.

[worstblogever]

Witness tampering carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The other counts can carry 5 years each. So Stone is looking at 50 years, +/- his bench issues like when he was violating his non-contact orders. IF the judge throws the book at him, he's looking at 62 years, IF the judge is lenient, he's looking at 19 years. He also has the state crimes, which is ~30 years and pardon-proof.

Stone is dying in prison.

Oh yeah... state crimes. (TRUMP CAN'T PARDON THOSE.)

He's dying in jail, all right.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

At this point the Senate Republicans have to realize how bad its gotten today. There is no going back to redeem this anymore. They need to meet with Trump and demand he resign from office at some point. Put the support behind Pence and go from there. This is becoming an utter disaster . If Trump refuses they have to tell him they will seek impeachment fully . So either resign ala Nixon in disgrace or go down as an impeached President in disgrace.

Republicans are in a danger of looking like bigger idiots if this moves to a bigger stage.

[Kirby101]

At this point the Senate Republicans have to realize how bad its gotten today. There is no going back to redeem this anymore. They need to meet with Trump and demand he resign from office at some point. Put the support behind Pence and go from there. This is becoming an utter disaster . If Trump refuses they have to tell him they will seek impeachment fully . So either resign ala Nixon in disgrace or go down as an impeached President in disgrace.

Republicans are in a danger of looking like bigger idiots if this moves to a bigger stage.

The Senate Republicans will never do that, they are all, 100% in support of treason. The GOP base will not support anyone who does not bend their knee to Trump.
Hopefully the 60% to 70% of all other voters will reject Trump and the GOP.

[worstblogever]

Summary of the day:

Adam Schiff is f***ing baller in how he wields that gavel, and uses the rules established to reign in the moonbats.
Danny Heck just brought up Trump slandering the ambassador, and recalled that Trump has previously besmirched John McCain and the Khan family, people who nobly served the nation, even after their deaths right before a recess. Powerful stuff.
GOP attorney Steve Castor is really, really bad at this. He's asked questions that have only led to the ambassador's credibility, and insinuated how much corruption there is.
Jim Jordan has been quiet today, and the GOP Reps have not ceded their time to him by default as on Day One. Instead, they're ceding time to Elaine Stafanik, who's been trying to use her time to smear Adam Schiff and out the whistleblower. Stefanik asking questions of the ambassador does appear a smarter strategy than having Jordan doing it, because it would look sexist as hell if he badgered her.

Democrats remain mostly calm, and respectful of the process, with a few moments where people like Eric Swalwell rebut conspiracy theories. The GOP, as a whole, are agitated and grasping at straws.

One side has a winning hand. The other side knows it's gonna lose, and are freaking out as it all comes unraveled and they can't stop it.

[worstblogever]

The Senate Republicans will never do that, they are all, 100% in support of treason. The GOP base will not support anyone who does not bend their knee to Trump.
Hopefully the 60% to 70% of all other voters will reject Trump and the GOP.

It's 70%. GOP membership is at its lowest point of percentage of the population in decades. And independents are breaking for Democratic support, and Trump opposition.