Marching women highlight a week of impeachment formalities
Listen to this article“I solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God.”
And so started the Big Republican Lie, or as it is formally known, the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. It’s a lie because two key members of this legislative jury have already stated they will not be impartial and their GOP followers have fallen into lockstep behind them. About a month ago Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told Fox News, “Everything I do during this, I will be coordinating with White House counsel,” He added there will be “no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this.”
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
His confederate, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told an audience attending a forum in Qatar, “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.”
So, is it a crime to willfully take an oath with the intention of violating the oath? Considering they have already violated their oath to protect the Constitution against all adversaries, foreign and domestic, it just seems par for the course.
Donald J. Trump is the greatest threat to the Constitution. His subservience to Vladimir Putin, reckless foreign policy decisions, on top of his use of the Justice Department (and the Attorney General) to go after political rivals threaten to turn this nation into a plutocracy.
But the GOP doesn’t care about any of that. No, the goal is to keep power so go along with Trump and his small but extremely loyal bloc of followers/voters.
The questions now are: Will there by witnesses and documents presented in this trial? In the days following the impeachment in the House of Representatives Moscow Mitch McConnell said he wasn’t going to allow witnesses or evidence to be presented. It would be a short affair with a quick vote and guaranteed acquittal. There would be no semblance of justice or fairness, just a trial to say they did it.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi then said she would not send the articles of impeachment to the Senate until she knew what kind of trial McConnell was planning. In the month since the House of Representatives impeached President Trump until the day the House managers presented the articles to the U.S. Senate, troves of emails confirming the extortion scheme were made public, former National Security Advisor John Bolton said he would testify before the Senate trial and Lev Parnas went on the Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC) and put what he knows out into the public.
Funny thing about that: lots of critics said he could be — or was — lying, but then he provided extemporaneous notes, photos, and videos of himself with President Trump to bolster his claims. Who are we going to disbelieve? The guy with all this evidence of his relationships with Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump, or the guy who is a proven liar, over 15,000 times, according to the Washington Post. The Vietnam War draft dodger with the dubious bone spurs who called the highest-ranking military officers “… a bunch of dopes and babies.” Apparently that was the meeting that had former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling Trump a “fucking moron.” Private Bone Spurs.
- Just an aside: just how innocent is President Trump when so many of his associates are either doing time, convicted and awaiting sentencing or indicted and awaiting trial? Food for thought.
So, with the collection of fact witnesses the House Impeachment Managers can call from their hearings, here is the second question: will they call the witnesses Trump blocked from the House hearings: Mick Mulvaney, Giuliani, and Bolton, to name three plus all the documents and communications that were blocked. And now there is Lev Parnas and all the communications that have just been released through a FOIA request. And Trump supporter Robert Hyde who apparently was in contact with someone who was shadowing former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Then there’s this little nugget: the GAO released a report that says the Trump administration broke the law when it withheld the aid from Ukraine. The GOP doesn’t care for facts so the report will have little, if any, influence on the impeachment trial. Can’t have too many facts get in the way of a criminal cover up.
The trial will start Tuesday, a day after Martin Luther King Day. The irony abounds.
(WMLA Facebook)
But that isn’t even the big news on this Saturday. The Women’s March took place across America, from New York and Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle. And all points in between. With the GOP all but assured of giving Trump a pass in the Senate trial the largest voting bloc in America is gearing up for the 2020 general election.
Nancy Pelosi was on Real Time With Bill Maher on January 17. As she aptly pointed out, Trump is impeached forever. Now he just needs to be removed from office.
The top photo is a YouTube screenshot of Rep. Adam Schiff
reading the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate
Tim Forkes started as a writer on a small alternative newspaper in Milwaukee called the Crazy Shepherd. Writing about entertainment, he had the opportunity to speak with many people in show business, from the very famous to the people struggling to find an audience. In 1992 Tim moved to San Diego, CA and pursued other interests, but remained a freelance writer. Upon arrival in Southern California he was struck by how the elected government officials and business were so intertwined, far more so than he had witnessed in Wisconsin. His interest in entertainment began to wane and the business of politics took its place. He had always been interested in politics, his mother had been a Democratic Party official in Milwaukee, WI, so he sat down to dinner with many of Wisconsin’s greatest political names of the 20th Century: William Proxmire and Clem Zablocki chief among them. As a Marine Corps veteran, Tim has a great interest in veteran affairs, primarily as they relate to the men and women serving and their families. As far as Tim is concerned, the military-industrial complex has enough support. How the men and women who serve are treated is reprehensible, while in the military and especially once they become veterans. Tim would like to help change that.