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Showing posts from January, 2020

The Pelosi Gambit

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Republicans are in a quandary about the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. (I originally wrote "ethical quandary," but there is nothing ethical about their motives.) Republican Senators want to cover-up all of Trump's offences, but they don't want it to look too obvious. If Nancy Pelosi had transferred the articles for which Trump was impeached to the Senate immediately after his impeachment, they would have had a chance. But Pelosi had other plans. Many people were involved in Trump's attempted extortion of Ukraine. And secrets are difficult to keep especially when the person you're covering for tends to shoot his mouth off and brag about his offences. (Remember the Access Hollywood tape.) Another concern is that Trump has no loyalties to anyone except Trump. He would turn on anyone in a heartbeat and tweet mean things about them. Prior to Lev Parnas's document and video release and his interview, and prior to the leak of John Bolton's...

Rick Wilson's Warnings to Slow Learning Republican Senators

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Rick Wilson is a Republican political strategist. His first book, "Everything Trump Touches Dies," was published in 2018; a second, "Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump," was published in January 2020. He has also written numerous opinion and analysis columns for various political publications including The Daily Beast, The New York Daily News, and The Federalist. On January 21, in a series of tweets that were also covered in an article on Crooks & Liars , he cautioned Republicans about the consequences of ignoring evidence and silencing witnesses to protect Trump. His Twitter posts are shown below verbatim but formatted and consolidated for easier reading. His Twitter ID is @TheRickWilson : ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll summarize this for the slow learners in the Senate one last time. Your protestations of independence, integrity, and honor will mean nothing to the voters this Fal...

The "Trial" of Donald Trump

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Vladimir Putin is restructuring the Russian government to insure that he remains in power for life. Republican Senators of the United States are doing something similar for Donald Trump. But their goal is to prevent him from being removed from office for offences for which he has already been impeached. From the time of his impeachment to the time the articles were delivered to the Senate -- less than one month -- more evidence and witnesses have become available. All have corroborated Trump's attempted extortion of Ukraine's president and implicated other Trump officials and cohorts. The Government Accountability Office recently concluded that his delay of Ukraine aid violated federal law. And yet, troves of documents and crucial witnesses are being withheld by Trump. If Trump is innocent as he and his supporters claim, why the obstruction? Witnesses and documents may show what Trump claims. Democrats don't know how witnesses will testify or what is contained ...

Impeachment & War

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On New Year's Eve, Donald Trump tweeted that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was the "Most overrated person I know?" He had been rage tweeting about Pelosi and she has been ignoring him, which drives him even crazier than usual. A journalist wrote that she is living in his head rent free. Pelosi reluctantly presided over his impeachment on two articles: attempted extortion of the president of Ukraine, and obstruction of Congress. She hasn't sent the articles to the Senate until the Senate decides to hold a real trial and call critical witnesses. While Mitch McConnell stalls, additional evidence is being uncovered that will be exceedingly uncomfortable for Republican Senators to ignore after swearing a special trial oath to be impartial. Thus, GOP Senators will have to violate two oaths where GOP Representatives violated only one. New evidence shows the following: (1) Top Trump officials (Mulvaney, Pompeo, Esper, and former advisor Bolton) knew that Trump's ex...