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[theflashunc]

The idea that some have been trying to impeach the president since inauguration, and the idea that he did something worthy of impeachment, are not mutually exclusive.

What is rough for me, is the multiple counter-narratives offered up by allies to try to simultaneously justify actions in Ukraine, while saying those actions never happened. Nunez’s “you can see why he would be frustrated with the Ukrainians” line of reasoning offered up yesterday seemed to justify actions that are self-interested by the president. Jordan goes on to say that, “don’t worry about what a president ‘was trying’ to do...cause it didn’t happen”, ignoring a timeline in which a whistleblower called his bluff. I will also offer up, that the failure to cooperate with investigations is undemocratic. Investigations into Benghazi and “Fast and furious” lasted years, were politically charged, but I seem to remember Holder and Clinton sitting in front of congress.

So, yeah, some people don’t like the guy. He is an ignorant SOB with a history of deception who relies on bullying, nepotism, and cronyism. His actions on Ukraine sure look to run counter to everything that Republicans espoused for decades with regards to national defense and the rule of law. You can chalk that up to some “everyone gets a trophy” millennial/snowflake assumptions about the character of folks questioning Trump’s actions, but folks like Mattis and Kelly and Tillerson and Bolton and McCain (RIP) would seem to disagree. Those folks used to be the heart and moral compass of the party...what the fuck happened?

He's uncouth and rough around the edges but he is also, fundamentally, a very Republican president. Tax cuts. A conservative judiciary. Restrictive immigration policy. A shooting war with Iran until he got cold feet over the retaliatory strike.

He is the symptom of what's been eating away at the party since the Reagan Revolution, not the disease. If anything he's the culmination of 40 years of GOP ideology and right wing echo chamber come home to roost. Even those "principled" conversatives were voting for the guy's policies 80-90 percent of the time. Eisenhower's GOP died a long time ago.

There may be a handful of defections in the Senate, but we're light years away from a conviction in a trial. Tough to see a path to re-election the way he's energizing Democrats and independents of all stripes though.

[BBB]

Noah on Trump's rant: 'One of the least presidential things I've ever seen' | Culture | The Guardian

It's amusing, save for it comes at the cost of a bastardisation of your democracy.

[Mabouya]

Tough to see a path to re-election the way he's energizing Democrats and independents of all stripes though.

Unfortunately, that may well be wishful thinking.

For example, there's this: Poll Shows Democrats Have Been Living in a Fantasy World

[guido]

Opinion | Trump and His Corrupt Old Party - The New York Times

[guido]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/clima...ebc_story.html

[Scott G.]

[snip]

There may be a handful of defections in the Senate, but we're light years away from a conviction in a trial. Tough to see a path to re-election the way he's energizing Democrats and independents of all stripes though.

First, 2nd the motion DJT was the mostest Republican running in last election.

I doubt there will be a trial in the Senate, Mitch will punt the report to the committee on semi-colons and protocol.
Where it will sit till 2021. Punting worked for the Supreme Court, why not for impeachment ?

[ides1056]

Listening to Fiona Hill and the Republican response I thought, "pearls before swine."

[vertical_doug]

Sacha Baron Cohen speaking as himself about social media
His speech gets strong as it goes on and really starts to roll from the 5 minute mark

[caleb]

I knew about the royal family of Oudh, of course. They were one of the city’s great mysteries. Their story was passed between tea sellers and rickshaw drivers and shopkeepers in Old Delhi: In a forest, they said, in a palace cut off from the city that surrounds it, lived a prince, a princess and a queen, said to be the last of a storied Shiite Muslim royal line.

There were different versions, depending on whom you spoke to. Some people said the Oudh family had been there since the British had annexed their kingdom, in 1856, and that the forest had grown up around the palace, engulfing it. Some said they were a family of jinns, the supernatural beings of Arabian folklore.

An acquaintance who had once glimpsed the princess through a telephoto lens said her hair had not been cut or washed for so many years that it fell to the ground in matted branches.

One thing was sure: They didn’t want company. They lived in a 14th-century hunting lodge, which they surrounded with loops of razor wire and ferocious dogs. The perimeter was marked with menacing signs. INTRUDERS SHALL BE GUNDOWN, said one.

The Jungle Prince of Delhi - The New York Times

What a story.

[ides1056]

Genius. I haven't ever been able to watch his comedy, but I couldn't not watch this. Truth. Thanks for posting this, Doug. I would otherwise not have seen it.

Sacha Baron Cohen speaking as himself about social media
His speech gets strong as it goes on and really starts to roll from the 5 minute mark

[guido]

Barr’s Legal Views Come Under Fire From Conservative-Leaning Lawyers - The New York Times

[ericpmoss]

[thollandpe]

Here's another example of very strong investigative reporting. Journalism lives. The subject matter is anti-journalism, someone willing to weaponize information in order to make a buck. OK a lot of bucks.

A Former Fox News Executive Divides Americans Using Russian Tactics - The New York Times

"This slow-and-steady mainstreaming of disinformation-like tactics is normalizing things we would otherwise identify as inauthentic behavior." -- Cindy Otis, Nisos' director of analysis and threat investigations

Charming how people starting up a "digital news start-up with the stated goal of restoring faith in the media" carefully hid any involvement, but they were tracked using internet and state business records, web addresses, WordPress, Facebook, and Google Analytics. Restoring faith by destroying it. Fascinating.

[ides1056]

Orwell just got the timing wrong.

[guido]

Impeachment hearings: America’s epistemic crisis has arrived - Vox

[ides1056]

And it cost Putin pennies on the dollar to overthrow the country with a blizzard of bs. No shots were fired.

There's no man so big that a smaller man with a little bit of cunning can't bring down.

Orwell had it nailed a long time ago:

The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius | The Orwell Prize

[jclay]

Impeachment hearings: America’s epistemic crisis has arrived - Vox

Wow.

The overarching idea of leveraging wedge issues with the net result of everything coming down to tribal identification is not news to me but the manner in which the author frames it is very powerful and very chilling.

[ericpmoss]

[Too Tall]

Lemme just say I love this thread.

This piece on the subject of Polymaths caught my attention today: Why some people are impossibly talented - BBC Worklife

[Scott G.]

Natural Wine, seems after the hipsters exited frame building they started making wine.

How Natural Wine Became a Symbol of Virtuous Consumption | The New Yorker