Trump supporters storm the Capitol Building

gruntled · 2021-10-22T00:18:36.310Z

Annie Grayer

On the House floor, Liz Cheney entered this into the record calling out Jim Banks for sending letters to government agencies claiming he is the ranking member of the 1/6 committee even though he is not on the committee. https://t.co/C1OxGeVhXN

7:05 PM - 21 Oct 2021 16K 5.3K

ShivaX · 2021-10-22T00:41:17.370Z

Timex:

I think we would all agree that he a supremely competent jurist, and that he is invested in upholding the rule of law. Wouldn’t we?

Eh, he has his issues.

That said, I wouldn’t be all for replacing him over this. But to me the stupidity of the Legislative branch going to the Executive to hold the Executive accountable is the dumbest thing in the entirety of US politics.

“Hey, why don’t you hold yourself accountable, if you don’t we’ll be really miffed.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that in a few months. Maybe. Probably not.”

Inherent contempt powers are all that Congress has to keep the Executive honest and they decided to outsource it to the Executive.

Strollen · 2021-10-22T02:43:33.565Z

ShivaX:

Inherent contempt powers are all that Congress has to keep the Executive honest and they decided to outsource it to the Executive.

I agree, I’m all for Congress having its own police force, (which I guess in theory it does) and jail.Given the challenge of Congress to agree on anything, I really don’t fear them abusing the power.

Alstein · 2021-10-22T04:02:15.436Z

They have impeachment, but well that is toothless now.

Gordon_Cameron · 2021-10-22T04:25:17.870Z

And my bow!

Tortilla · 2021-10-22T04:45:49.315Z

Strollen:

I agree, I’m all for Congress having its own police force, (which I guess in theory it does) and jail.Given the challenge of Congress to agree on anything, I really don’t fear them abusing the power.

Congress has all the power in the world to check the executive. They can cut their budget which is a threat with TEETH.

Strollen · 2021-10-22T05:07:46.879Z

Tortilla:

Congress has all the power in the world to check the executive. They can cut their budget which is a threat with TEETH.

Except for Presidents seem to be pretty good about finding workarounds for their pet projects. Starting with Reagan, if not before, and pretty much every other President.

inactive_user · 2021-10-22T09:44:59.448Z

Calling Iran-Contra a “workaround” feels a bit disingenuous.

ShivaX · 2021-10-22T09:46:56.822Z

inactive_user:

Calling Iran-Contra a “workaround” feels a bit disingenuous.

Trump just took it from the military. There are plenty of inventive ways to do it when Congress just shrugs and hands over all their powers to you. And if they object? Who cares? They wont impeach you and you control the enforcement of laws.

ShivaX · 2021-10-25T02:22:03.293Z

twitter.com

Noah Shachtman

@NoahShachtman

EXCLUSIVE: Two Jan. 6 organizers tell @RollingStone that Rep. Paul Gosar dangled the possibility of a “blanket pardon” in an unrelated investigation to encourage them to plan the protests. One of many 👀 moments in this wild @hunterw investigation. rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

12:42 AM - 25 Oct 2021 1K 500

Timex · 2021-10-25T03:17:13.374Z

If you are telling people that they are going to get pardoned, that seems to demonstrate that you are about to commit a crime, and is evidence of criminal intent.

rrmorton · 2021-10-25T03:20:21.311Z

But not if you just dangle the possibility, Timex… Heaven forfend.

Thrag · 2021-10-25T04:00:51.222Z

It doesn’t count unless they hereby dangle.

Alstein · 2021-10-25T04:18:41.075Z

At the very least, it’s quid pro quo to preemptively offer a pardon for something that benefits the pardoner, which is illegal.

scottagibson · 2021-10-25T11:00:08.676Z

Yeah, that’s evidence of state of mind for all concerned, both those offering and those getting the offer.

Tortilla · 2021-10-25T13:44:41.796Z

Thrag:

It doesn’t count unless they hereby dangle.

Spot on. Plus it was all probably organized on Hillary’s secret email server by Hunter Biden anyway.

Scotten · 2021-10-25T14:19:51.512Z

Wake me up with this has impact. When almost all GOP lawmakers consider January 6 to be “tourism”, these law-breaking scumbags will continue to walk the streets and halls of Congress.

Gordon_Cameron · 2021-10-25T21:06:37.874Z

Obama made comments relating to Jan 6 while stumping for Terry McAuliffe:

twitter.com

Acyn

@Acyn

Obama: You can’t run ads telling me you’re a regular old hoops playing dish washing fleece wearing guy but quietly cultivate support from those who seek to tear down our democracy…. https://t.co/0u6hZ8mbwO

7:43 PM - 23 Oct 2021 36K 8.9K

Penny_Dreadful · 2021-10-25T21:53:31.775Z

As long as I live I’ll never understand how we went from that to Trump.

CraigM · 2021-10-25T22:39:44.362Z

The thing about a significant portion of Americans you need to remember is