As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.
Congratulations to the
Kansas City Chiefs and their deserving head coach
Andy Reid on winning the Super Bowl last night 31-24. Among the true football fans offering congratulations was this "
jenius:"
The Chiefs, of course, represent Kansas City, in the great state of
Missouri. The "jenius" has since deleted the tweet and replaced it with one referring to the correct state. But not in time to avoid some shade:
The looming acquittal of said "jenius" by Senate Republicans on Wednesday is the subject of several articles and op/ eds this morning. Here's
E.J. Dionne, Jr.'s take on
the "Trump 51" who voted against hearing witnesses:
This
was no ordinary roll call. It was a direct assault on American
democracy and our core freedoms. Whatever the flaws of our system, we
could once believe that a president who tried to bring down a political
opponent by conspiring with a foreign government — and using American
taxpayer dollars in the process — would be punished. The Trump 51 told
us that such faith is for suckers.
The
moral and intellectual bankruptcy of a party that once crusaded against
slavery and led the fight to amend our Constitution to guarantee equal protection under the law was exposed by the tortured rationalizations offered for its capitulation to absolutism. [snip]
There is one thing we need not fear: that the Republican apostles of
surrender to Trump (and to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, his
coverup sidekick) have set a precedent for their future behavior. On the
contrary, we know that they will do exactly the opposite if a Democrat
is president.
The editorial board of the
Washington Post takes direct aim at one of the most vile, treacherous members of the "Trump 51,"
Sen. Lindsey "Huckleberry" Graham:
Mr.
Graham’s behavior has been particularly shabby as he has threatened to
misuse his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate
the former vice president. He has announced a formal probe and asked
the State Department for documents. “We’re not going to live in a world
where only Republicans get looked at,” he said
in December, indulging in a toxic (and unwarranted) display of
grievance and implying that Mr. Biden’s demonstrably benign activities
in Ukraine are equivalent to Mr. Trump’s corruption.
But
there is no moral equivalence. There is no reasonable case against Mr.
Biden. The case against Mr. Trump, on the other hand, is just as
definitive in the opposite direction. Mr. Trump had no good reason to
press Ukraine to investigate Mr. Biden, an American citizen whom U.S.
authorities were not themselves investigating. He did so anyway, to no
conceivable benefit to the United States. That Mr. Graham would suggest
that the two belong in the same universe shows that he is so poisoned by
partisanship, he either does not understand or has lost all moral
direction.
Mr.
Trump’s corrupt scheme to persuade the president of Ukraine to slander a
political rival did not succeed. It is pathetic that U.S. senators
would do the job instead.
Everyone is in the loop (surprise!):
A midnight court filing on Friday night revealed that the White House
is refusing to release at least two dozen emails directly related to
Donald Trump’s withholding of military assistance from Ukraine. The
filing, authored by an attorney from the Office of Management and
Budget, described the until now hidden documents as communications by
Trump or his immediate advisers “regarding Presidential decision-making
about the scope, duration, and purpose of the hold on military
assistance to Ukraine."
In other words, the idea that Trump withheld military assistance to
Ukraine because of concerns over corruption, or the need for more
“burden sharing” — as Trump’s defense team has stated throughout
hearings in the House and the trial in the Senate — could be directly
revealed by an examination of these documents. Which they will not
share.
As CNN reports,
the Department of Justice withheld the existence of these emails until
just hours after the Senate had made it’s vote to not subpoena any
further witnesses or documents in Trump’s impeachment trial. This
appears to be another staggering example of how Trump has used the full
power of the executive branch to paper over his actions, block access
to key information, and simply prevent the release of the truth.(our emphasis)
Kerry Eleveld has a silver lining and
a call to active engagement:
But here's the silver lining: During a time when Washington
commanded the attention of most Americans and when polling consistently
showed that voters overwhelmingly craved resolution, Senate Republicans
exposed themselves a nothing short of tools of Trump's regime. They no
longer serve the people, they serve him and him only.
Pundits across spectrum smelled trouble for Senate Republicans. "I
think (McConnell) underestimates the backlash to this vote,"
conservative radio host Charlie Sykes told MSNBC. "I think people are
going to be a lot more angry about this vote on the witnesses than folks
in Washington really understand. And it really does put the Senate in
play."
Former GOP operative Nicolle Wallace called the vote “political suicide,” adding, “I hope they take it." They did.
So as we enter the start of the Democratic nomination contest
in earnest on Monday, bundle up all that rage and take it to the polls.
Let it drive your engagement and participation throughout the rest of
the year until Election Day.
Of course, tonight are the
Iowa caucuses, which (for better or worse) may produce multiple "winners" and potentially end some campaigns for candidates deemed non- viable. HuffPo has a "
things to watch for tonight." (November can't come soon enough.)
Finally, do yourself a favor and check out
Infidel 753's link round- up for the most comprehensive selection of interesting finds across the internet. It's so much more than just politics -- more like a digest of life happening around us.
