Getting the House component done before the end of the year won’t help the Dem-candidate Senators at all, as McConnell will be free to drag out the Senate trial through week after week of the primaries. Just keeping the trial going during a mere eight weeks (February through March) will keep the Democratic candidates from actively campaigning in TWENTY-NINE state contests (though of course they’ll still be on those ballots).
McConnell can keep it going for eight weeks with no sweat. And with the majority of the witnesses called being people who can “testify” to issues not only about Biden but about Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg, and anyone else at the top of the polls, the double-purpose of smearing Trump’s opponents can be accomplished.
So, I’m certainly not arguing against your well-known position that the economy and consequent voter-mood are crucial, here.
I’m just saying that what we’ve seen so far of the public hearings will not be giving Trump’s side happy feelings, no matter what they say on camera. Independents are not going to be won over to Trump’s side by these hearings.
Schiff is engaging in political theater. That’s what he does for a living.
The people who are under oath are under oath and, if they perjure themselves, then well…Roger Stone. If they say bad things against the President, then they lose their livelihood. This is not scripted TV and the people answering the questions are just regular people who would prefer to be at work, living a quiet, making the world a better place. Instead, they’re destroying their life either way they go and trying to be lawful citizens and faithful employees.
If your argument require time travel or mind control then your argument is wrong.
Schiff can be every bit as scummy as you desire but he does not have the magical power of mind control.
They say the things they say because it’s a crime for them to lie and going to jail is worse than being fired.
@ Jim Peebles — Supposing that we stipulate that the charges against Ms. Yovanovitch are true, how would you compare her perjuries with the crimes that Donald Trump is charged with?
I can’t really disagree with this, and his support has actually been softening for a while. By that I mean that probably 10-15% of those who support him do so mainly because they are optimistic about the country as a whole in spite of Trump. I think a fair percentage of Trump voters don’t really like Trump’s personality or style, and some might have grave reservations about it all. But at their core, they don’t trust democrats and they are suspicious of people with progressive values. This is how politicians exploit culture wars, which is Trump’s ace card.
But if suddenly people begin to feel that the situation itself is going down the tubes. If they, for instance, they see the entire economy go into reverse, then that’s a game changer. The president gets the blame if Americans are miserable, fearful, or pessimistic about their futures. Most likely, these 10-15% of Trumpers wouldn’t vote Dem, but they might just vote for William Weld or stay home, which is probably the best we can hope for.
Jesus Christ the JAQing in this thread. It doesn’t matter how he thinks she compares to Trump. It’s a matter of witness credibility. Which has already been addressed some posts back. You’re perfectly capable of making your own argument instead of asking other people to make it for you.
See our earlier conversation on how criminals and psychopaths think everyone is criminal and psychopathic. The Gateway Pundit is just a bunch of liars who assume everyone else are liars.
The tweets aren’t just designed to intimidate, although that’s certainly partly the motive behind them; more than that, the tweets are Trump’s way of asserting himself and projecting power. It’s a message to all civil servants who oppose him or who blow whistles: “This is what will happen to you. And nothing will happen to me.” It’s also aimed at Republicans in the Senate. He’s projecting strength and dominance, which fires up the voters upon whom some senators will depend to get re-elected next fall. It’s a message from a tribal leader, intended to unite the tribe. Classic Roy Cohn type stuff.
That’s some serious gaslighting, especially the last one. That one involves the bogus “do not prosecute” list that she allegedly gave the prosecutor. Which he retracted.
But according to this bombshell, He denies that he never retracted the list!.
All this Ukrainian stuff is going to provide lots of opportunities for gaslighting. Yovanovitch discussed the “do not prosecute” stuff in deeper detail in her closed door testimony. In that country, corrupt prosecutors frequently target innocent people for both political and business/financial reasons. Part of the “cleaning up corruption” mandate involves squelching this type of corrupt law enforcement activity.
But these efforts can easily be swung back around and “tried to stop so and so from being prosecuted” sounds bad, on its face. Especially when you’re dealing with an audience that doesn’t understand the former USSR. Because Lutsenko, Lestchenko, same difference, right?
Frankly, because of this, I know that there’s no way to get Trump’s much deserved impeachment and removal based on the Zelensky shakedown. (Unless Zelensky decides otherwise, if he complained on the world stage about being strong-armed that would be a game changer).
But the Republicans still have a problem, because it’s blindingly obvious that Trump does not differentiate between his own self-interest and US interests. So he’s going to keep his minions running around the world doing stupid vengeful stuff, and Vlad is going to feed him enough disinformation to keep it interesting. It’s not ending with this.
Given CNN’s knack for shooting themselves in the foot, I’m going to guess that they haven’t double-checked anything that their acquaintance of Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump is saying, and that this will come back to bite them and anyone that falls for it.
Interesting but unconfirmed, it’s rumored McConnell doesn’t have the votes to do that. More unrest in his caucus over this than is perhaps publicly known.
Of course, he will do his best to make the Senate trial a joke and will simultaneously sideline a number of Democratic candidates for president. That will allow Trump and his minions to focus their efforts and money on dirtying up Biden.
I suspect the end result will be acquittal, but why rush it? Senator McConnell should drag the trial out through February, March, maybe even April. Keep Sanders, Warren, Harris, Spartacus, Klobuchar, and Bennet tied up in hearings the whole time. Basically, clear the field for Biden. At the same time, use the subpoena power that Schiff has denied Republicans in the House to bring Hunter Biden, Eric Ciaramella, Schiff, etc. before the Senate and focus on Biden’s corruption and the “political-motivated witch hunt” nature of the impeachment proceedings in the House. Pound Biden over and over again for the impropriety with Burisma and the extortion he used to have the prosecutor fired. Then, after all that, call for the vote and queue the “Trump exonerated, no bribery” talking points. Seems like a cake walk from there to victory in November.
If Hunter Biden actually testified, what’s the hope? He doesn’t explain his role as a Board Member well? They’ll never call him to testify because, as far as I can tell, he has nothing to be defensive about.