It is this argument any different than there past attempts to stonewall? Hasn’t a court(s) already shot it down? Real question for lawyers are there any practical consequences for ignoring subpoenas but making BS arguements? (Although admittedly 8 days isn’t a lot of time to comply.)
A lot of ambassadors are appointed as cushy positions as a reward for being a great fund-raiser (this was Sondland’s genesis), and almost 100% of them are going to be unprepared for the job… which is why the State Department is supposed to provide folks like Fiona Hill to do the actual work.
On the other hand, the cushy jobs are supposed to be the like of Italy, Denmark and Luxembourg. For the really important posts (like Ambassador to the EU) they’re supposed to put a career diplomat in place.
No, I don’t think so. Congress has oversight authority, and can subpoena the lunch menu if they want, and can even do it because they’re opposed to ham sandwiches. We don’t think you have a good reason is an invalid, insufficient objection to a Congressional subpoena.
RichVR
1984
I am getting so tired of this. Not you personally, this fatalistic attitude in general. I just wish that if this is what one feels, keep it to yourself. Again, not you personally, in general.
Not to pile on but I totally agree. There’s a time to despair and let cynicism overwhelm you. Today is not that day (for me at least).
KevinC
1986
My issue with it is it’s self-fulfilling. I get the despair, but polls show these things do matter to people.
And they especially matter within the context of absolutely exhausting the same sub-set of voters in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin that got Trump elected in the first place.
Nesrie
1988
I kind of remember what the polls showed last time. Maybe Josh is just trying not to set himself up for another round of devastation
Remember voicing despair does not actually mean someone isn’t going to vote, or anything like that.
edit, sorry wrong name was in there.
MikeJ
1989
Maybe I am weird, but I don’t take the “Nothing matters” posts as fatalistic exactly. They usually read as a sort of jeremiad against the amazing complacency that has marked the overall response to Trump’s outrages from the beginning of his campaign. It’s still incredible to me that he can break so many norms and rules and the collective response of the median of the US population has been to kind of shake their heads.
Barr announces investigation into Warren one week before the election.
boom.gif
KevinC
1991
For sure, I wasn’t trying to imply that. I can’t figure out exactly how I want to word what I’m trying to say, but I just mean that if everyone believes that nothing matters then it won’t matter. Yes, nothing is going to sway the cult, but the polls are clear that all this crap has an impact in the sense that people do care. A majority supports impeachment and removal now when that wasn’t the case before. If the numbers get bad enough, it’ll happen (or at the very least he won’t be re-elected).
Like Rich, I wasn’t addressing Josh or anyone here specifically, just the overall attitude. If people convince themselves that nothing matters than nothing will matter.
Sorry, I’m probably talking in circles and am as clear as mud. Hope some part of it made sense.
I was just discussing this with a coworker. The walls are definitely closing in but, for now at least, Trump still has the full support of McConnell and the DOJ. The question of “Does anything matter?” Boils down to, “Is it possible to hold Trump accountable for any of these things that matter?”
Nesrie
1993
I spent more than a few years studying the public in general, but one of the easier points to take away from a study in something like economics, is what people say they will do and what they actually do… is not the same thing.
It’s true, nothing matters to the cult. It’s questionable how much this matters to the people that voted for the guy who wound up doing pretty much what he said he was going to do in the exact screw everyone but me attitude he indicated he would do.
I will know something matters when these people are held accountable for what they are doing.
I just… I think it’s okay to voice that sentiment. I don’t know why anyone should have to feel alone because they’re struggling in some way with our messed up system. I mean we’re still a community in the end right? Let’s commune.
Pretty sure it won’t have the same effect.
JoshL
1996
Sorry if I touched a nerve! And I appreciate people being polite about it. I just meant that if people think Rudy getting arrested is going to bounce back onto Trump, they should temper their expectations.
I will reiterate my prediction, just for fun:. Trump is impeached, acquitted, re-elected, and dies of a heart attack during his second term, so he never goes to jail.
The only thing I don’t know is if he will jettison Pence and pick Tucker Carlson as his VP in 2020. There’s your nightmare scenario.
One thing that is clear now is that the impeachment proceeding are driving Trump insane, and he simply can’t restrain his bad impulses in reaction to it. Which means, I think, it should have started a long long time ago.
Easy to miss in today’s clusterfuckingmeltdownpocalypse: Trump ever-so-gently nudging Rudy towards the bus lane.
I think it’s the combination of the massive disapproval over Syria and the impeachment inquiry coming at the same time that is really driving him nuts, but yeah - it’s pretty amazing (and frightening) to watch this kind of meltdown happening in real time.
Timex
2000
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.
