Problem is, that applies to every vote. What good does it do for them to stay in office if they’re not going to vote any differently than the people they’re trying to keep out?
@Euphonious_Polemic, you might in some cases be right. Same thing still applies. If you do what the blackmailer says, the blackmailer won’t go away; they’ll just raise the next payment.
Money, mostly.
Let us listen to the words of Kipling:
“We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!”
Well, yes. But that’s not the reason BobLibDem was giving.
I can see a principled Republican (there used to be such beings) staying in the party, or even in the Congress, in the hope of wrenching it back to sanity. But they can’t do that by voting with the people they’re trying to oppose, on the issues on which they’re trying to oppose them.
– Kipling sometimes did get something right.
What happens tomorrow? Does the trump side get to make a presentation?
This seems … irregular.
The eternal question: who’s gonna stop them?
“I’d love to do the right thing, but someone might see me.”
As a great man once said, that is an act of craven puppyhood.
Yes, it will be the Trump team making their case. Of course, this will take the form of “argle bargle witchhunt, unconstitutional, Trump really won, thankyouverymuch”
Also have heard that Republican Senators were in meetings with the Trump defense team tonight. If this is in fact true, then I must say… WTF! Are they F’ing joking? If true, Graham, Cruz and Lee have just broken their oath and must be removed.
Cruz said the meeting with the Trump defense team was an opportunity for “sharing our thoughts” about their legal strategy.
When asked if he’s now comfortable with the Trump team’s legal strategy, Cruz said, “I think the end result of this impeachment trial is crystal clear to everybody.”
“Donald Trump will be acquitted,” he added. “It takes 67 votes to convict him and every person in the Senate chamber understands that there are not the votes to convict, nor should there be.”
Cruz has broken his sworn oath to be an impartial juror and look at the evidence. He should be barred from the chamber, and should not be allowed to vote.
I can see an argument that goes “sure, I’ll vote to acquit, but that keeps the nutjobs from doing the real whacky stuff”. There’s right wing and the total batshit right wing, the mainstream right wingers might throw a bone to the batshit crowd just to keep them from running the asylum.
If you throw them a bone, they’re going to use it to smash in your skull because the Great Leader told them to. They are insane. You can’t expect them to behave like a rational human.
Problem is, that what used to be the total batshit right wing is now the right wing, and the batshit is further out there. And that’s how you get there, further and further out.
Here’s the thing about GOP Senators feeling trapped in a dilemma - not that I believe that many of them are; they’re just going ‘la la la la la, I can’t hear you’ to the Dems because they don’t want to vote against Trump and they don’t want to even think about anything that might give them pause.
But I digress. The thing is, there are only 100 Senators, only two from each state. There are plenty more people out there who would be willing to take their jobs. Even people of their own party.
If any of them are actually torn between the desire to do what is right, and the fear of the consequences of voting against Trump, they can fucking resign. That’s all they have to do to extract themselves from this difficult situation. Or if they don’t want to do their jobs and pay fucking attention to what’s being presented, like Sen. Hawley for instance, he can fucking resign too.
Nobody’s holding a gun to anyone’s head and forcing them to stay in the U.S. Senate. If they can’t stand the heat, they can get out of the fucking kitchen, and let someone else do their job. It’s that simple.
For all his White Man’s Burden crap, he was an astute observer and writer in many other ways.
This. We’ve been watching this happen over and over again for the past 40 freakin’ years: the GOP cuts off its left wing and moves to the right, and somehow it doesn’t lose votes. 1980, 1994, 2010, 2016, 2020 - over and over again.
Well, it has lost some votes, but by voter suppression and gerrymandering and hook and crook, they’ve managed to retain a large share of power. Eventually they have to lose enough support that all the tricks won’t be enough to make up for it, right?
Who knows.
With a hefty portion of “both sides do it” thrown in.
Apparently the Managers quoted Prime Minister Trudeau’s comments shortly after the insurrection:
And some of those are sitting in the senate acting as the jury right now. Co-conspirators in the jury.
And I hope the bastard lies awake nights realizing that.
I’ve read their defence brief. Basically their arguments are:
No, I don’t think so.
Trump’s lawyer is asked about it here. While he doesn’t outright dismiss it, he doesn’t seem terribly enthusiastic about the suggestion.
