5895

Both literally and metaphorically, apparently, we’ll never leave Harlan alive.

5896

I don’t know about you, but I spent the whole last season waiting for McConnell to show up as one of Sam Elliot’s crime buddies.

5897

Lordy there was a tape…

5898

Was he moving on her like a bitch?

Dude is so revolting, but if grabbing them by the pussy didnt matter to gop voters, i doubt this will change their minds.

5899

Definitely won’t change minds. The gaslighting will continue until the Republic is destroyed or we vote that mofo out.

5900

I’ve only been able to watch the highlights, but I see hope in the proceedings. There’s now what, 16 or 24 hours of Democrats eloquently making the case for the Senate’s complicity in Trump’s crimes. That video is already in the historic record and it’s not going away. It’ll still be here in November, and it’ll still be here every time a current GOP senator runs for reelection.

And, while I don’t want to upset anyone’s dead-certain pessimism, I’m still hopeful Schiff et al will win a few Republican votes as the life-long implications of supporting Trump become real.

5901

No, they’ll just say the President has the authority to fire Ambassadors.

5902

I agree, I think that the quality of the Dem presentation justifies the impeachment effort despite the certain knowledge that the Republicans will acquit. It seems to be making a difference to the public, and will make more as the video is edited into ads and widely disseminated, and that ought to translate into votes. Of course the Republicans can do the same, but the quality of their presentations and arguments has been laughable, and at least some voters will see that. And it helps, in a terrible way, that more evidence that Trump is guilty and dangerous is certain to emerge after acquittal. That will produce even better ads.

My pessimism isn’t dead-certain, but certainly has overwhelmed any nascent optimism I might have had. It looks like the handful of vulnerable brow-furrowers are dividing themselves into three camps: Those who are going all-in with Trump (McSally), those who are looking for opportunities to appear thoughtful and judicious with meaningless votes but will still vote for acquittal (Collins, Murkowski), and those who have decided that it is best to seem aloof and inscrutable (Gardner, Romney).

My guess is that the Republicans will best case offer some very narrow bargain on witnesses, e.g. you pick one and we pick one, with the idea that the Dems will (rightly) reject it as a sham, and then the Republicans will say we offered to call witnesses but the Dems declined and wattayagonnado?

5903

Are you implying that 30 seconds of a weirdo yelling “Lawyer lawsuits?!” won’t drive people to the polls?

5904

The one bright spot i keep in mind is that white suburban women turned against trump in 2018 and hes continued to do things that show just what a monster he is. They are much more likely to vote against him in november than they were in 2016. The comments about “taking her out” may well reaffirm their disgust for him.

5905

So, if the Senate fails to uphold the rule of law will this create a crisis? Will it at least put a spotlight on how corrupt and broken the current system is? What are the positives here?

5906

Well, you have your health!

5907

The Dems can use it as part of this campaign to replace those GOP Senators with Dem Senators. That’s basically the silver lining at this point.

5908

Yep.

5909

Id say its more then a silver lining. Its a big part of why impeachment had to happen in spite of expecting the gop to vote to aquit.

Now we can hammer them with their lawlessness and lack of morality from now until election day.

5910

I guess. It just seems that if they don’t impeach they are essentially saying, “If the president holds a senate majority, you are allowed to do anything you want”. Like a dictatorship. I have trouble understanding how people of all stripes can be ok with that.

5911

They think they are never going to lose power now, and even if they do they believe they somehow won’t let the Democrats get away with the same thing.

5912

Do those republicans want McGahn and Bolton called? Or joe and Hunter Boden?

5913

I would even go as far as saying that impeaching trump would be good for the Republicans. You still have the presidency, and you get rid of the fool that is embarrassing your party and country. It gives you a better chance in the next elections, and you get to hold a leadership race to build up hype.

5914

Isn’t the impeachment just handing Trump a powerful narrative?
If impeachment fails he can now say the Dems are trying to subvert the 2016 election result. They are trying to remove me through abuse of power. This is a populist tactic. From the little I’ve read his supporters appear to be galvanized rather than cowed. Rather than decrease support could the impeachment actually increase it instead?