The Daily Nooze

"All the news we deem fit to print"

You are here: Home / Archives for Senate

Dems Take Trump Acquittal To Court Of Appeals … The American People

By 6 Comments

Now that the United States Senate has voted to keep our lawless president in office; now that the courts have shown a reluctance to interfere in what they see as political disputes … it is up to the American people to render the ultimate verdict by voting Trump out of office in November. 

But even though a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump, such a simple and obvious strategy runs up against three obstacles. 

First, will the Democrats nominate a strong candidate that can send Trump packing? For a while, it appeared they had such a candidate … Joe Biden. But after a poor fourth-place showing in Iowa, the Biden-as-the-Democratic-savior narrative is starting to fray. While many Democrats have a favorable opinion of the former VP, they wonder if he has the stuff to go head-to-head against perhaps the most vicious, hit-below-the-belt politician of all-time, Donald J. Trump. Many seem to have concluded that, at the age of 77, Biden simply does not have the fire in the belly to get the job done.  While the fiery septuagenerian Bernie Sanders seems to have the momentum that can carry him to the nomination, many moderate Democrats worry he is too radical (god forbid, a democratic socialist who believes health care is a basic human right!) to win a national election.

Second, do most Americans even know what’s at stake in the upcoming election? Do they understand the Constitutional framework of three co-equal branches of government? Do they understand the Framers’ wise insistence on checks and balances between those three branches? Do they understand that our very democracy and the rule of law is on the line in 2020; that with Trump we are well on the road to an imperial presidency?  It is hard to answer in the affirmative on any of these questions when 61% of all Americans cannot even name the three branches of government!

Third, and most important, can we rely on a free and fair election? Now that Trump has been given a pass on trying to extort a foreign government into meddling in our 2020 election, does anyone, other than Susan Collins, believe Trump has learned his lesson and will stop trying to cheat his way into office … again? Can we have any faith in a Department of Justice, run by Trump’s flunky, Willian Barr, to safeguard the integrity of our electoral system? Can the American people have any confidence in the election outcome, no matter which way it goes? 

We keep hearing that this next election is the most important in our lifetime. It’s become an election-year cliché. But 2020 truly is the election which will determine whether or not our Constitution still matters … whether the rule of law still matters … and whether we, as a nation, will continue to strive towards that noble, yet elusive, goal of a more perfect union based on equal justice under the law.

Photo | voteosceola.com

O’Donnell: “51% Of The Senate Defies 75% Of The People”

By Leave a Comment

Last night on MSNBC’s The Last Word, Lawrence O’Donnell talked about how it’s possible the Senate could defy the will of the people to hear witnesses at Trump’s impeachment trial. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, 75% of Americans favored the Senate allowing witnesses.

“When you’re watching the United States Senate on days like today, it’s always important to remember you’re not watching democracy in action,” said O’Donnell. “The Senate is now, always has been, and always will be an anti-democratic institution because the Senate does not represent people, the House represents people, that’s why it’s called the People’s House. The U.S. Senate represents land.”

“And because people are not evenly distributed over our land,” continued O’Donnell,” the 760,000 people of North Dakota get two United State senators and the 39 million people of California get two United States senators.”

“California gets 53 members in the House of Representatives and North Dakota gets one. And that is fair,” O’Donnell offered as an example of what democratic representation looks like.

O’Donnell took issue with the common refrain that yesterday’s Senate vote to block witnesses killed our democracy.

“American democracy didn’t die today. American democracy once again revealed its most serious structural flaw … the United States Senate.”

O’Donnell implored Democratic voters to concentrate on winning the United States Senate just as much as winning the presidency “and making our government more responsive to the will of the people … what a true democracy is supposed to represent.”

It should be noted that up until 1913, Senators were elected by state legislatures. The 17th amendment to the Constitution changed all that by allowing direct votes by the people.

While revamping the Senate is a fantasy, wouldn’t it be nice if that other undemocratic and outdated institution, the Electoral College, were also reformed in favor of a direct, popular vote?

Photo | variety.com

The Real Oath Senate Republicans Took Within Their Minds

By 3 Comments

The United States Senate likes to call itself “the world’s greatest deliberative body.” But as we are seeing with Trump’s impeachment trial, the only thing senators are doing is deliberately violating their oaths of office.

The Oath Act of June 1, 1789, was the first legislation passed by the Senate and the first law signed by President George Washington. It simply read: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.”

Following the Civil War, the Oath was amended several times to now read:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

Besides the above oath taken by each senator-elect before assuming office, all 100 senators took the following special oath before the start of Trump’s impeachment trial:

 “I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of [Donald John Trump], now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God.”

We all know, because some have actually told us, not all Republican senators will be living up to their sacred oaths to do impartial justice.

I’m guessing while mindlessly mouthing their prescribed oaths, these were the words that actually registered within their brains:

“I solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump I will do all I can to exonerate him even though I will be presented with a mountain of incriminating evidence which will clearly show he violated his oath to the Constitution and laws: so help me my constituents.”

Of course, the more religious members of the Senate had their fingers crossed behind their backs while the impeachment oath was administered by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Photo | msnbc.com

Please, Let’s Stop Calling What’s Taking Place In The Senate A Trial

By 2 Comments

As we are all transfixed on the spectacle taking place in the Senate, let us not dignify it by calling it a trial.

The Constitution gives the Senate the sole power to try a case of impeachment. In other words, to hold a trial.

A trial by its very definition is a formal examination of evidence before a judge; an exercise in seeking the truth. The basic structure normally follows this pattern:

  1. Opening statements
  2. Witness testimony and cross examination
  3. Closing arguments
  4. Jury deliberation and verdict

What’s taking place in the Senate is not a trial but a partisan, and some might add, unconstitutional, impeachment process. Senate Republicans voted down every effort by the Democrats to call witnesses (and produce documents, for that matter). 

As many have observed, a trial without witnesses is a sham; a coverup.

Oh yes, but aren’t they just following the Clinton impeachment model you ask?

Yes and no.

Yes, in the Clinton impeachment there was unanimous agreement among senators to vote on the need for witnesses after the trial concluded. But key witnesses had already given sworn testimony before the trial. The idea of not calling live witnesses during Clinton’s trial was mainly due to the salacious nature of the facts which gave rise to Clinton’s perjury.

But in Trump’s case, there is nothing indecent about any potential witness testimony … just plain old-fashioned abuse of power and obstruction.

House manager Adam Schiff put the difference between Trump and Clinton this way:

“If we’re really serious about modeling this proceeding after the Clinton trial, the Clinton precedent is one where all the documents had been provided, up front, where all the witnesses had testified, up front, prior to the trial. That is not being replicated by the McConnell resolution — not in any way, not in any shape, not in any form, far from it.

What the Senate is doing is flipping the meaning of “trial” on its head… conclude the presentation and then vote on whether witnesses and documents are necessary!

Look for Republican senators to vote down the need for witnesses at the end of the trial and for either a motion to dismiss or a quick vote leading to acquittal.

So, let’s just call what’s happening in the Senate what it is … a “presentation” by a group of Democrats seeking to uphold the Constitution and a group of Republicans willing to undermine our constitutional democracy. 

Photo | nypost.com

As Senate Trial Nears, Trump Set To Call Three Character Witnesses

By Leave a Comment

Reprint from moronmajority.com

We learned today from Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, that Trump’s impeachment trial may start as early as next Tuesday.

Word has it Donald Trump’s legal team is scrambling to prepare his defense. At the suggestion of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, three character witnesses will be called by Trump’s legal team to vouch for his good reputation and moral character: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and Recep Erdogan.

Putin, it is being reported, is prepared to say Trump is the model of honesty and probity. In the past, Putin has called Trump, “Greatest U.S.A. president.”

Trump’s love affair with the Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is well documented. It is expected Kim will repeat his description of Trump as “a most wonderful, handsome and loving dear leader.”

Turkey president Erdogan is also a big fan of Donald Trump. He called Trump, “Allah’s gift to Turkey” after the impulsive commander-in-chief abandoned our allies, the Kurds, in Syria.

Yet some are already questioning the Giuliani-inspired tactic. They point out the three men are obviously beholden to Trump for various favors afforded them in the past. And, oh yes, they are all despots!

Nonetheless, the three strongmen are held in such high esteem by nearly all the Republican senators who will act as jurors at Trump’s impeachment trial that it seems well worth the effort, according to one of Trump’s most trusted advisors, son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Photo | salon.com

Warning – this could be “fake” nooze

Graham to Pelosi … We Can Hold Sham Trial Without Your Stinkin’ Articles of Impeachment

By 2 Comments

Ever since the House voted to impeach Trump on December 18, Nancy Pelosi has refused to send the two impeachment articles to the Senate for a vote. She has wanted just one simple thing from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell … an assurance of a fair trial.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has apparently had enough of Pelosi’s “political stunt.” He has given her until sundown to get out of town.

Graham’s ultimatum to Pelosi is this … if she does not deliver impeachment articles against Trump to the Senate by the end of the week, the Senate should “take matters in our own hands.”

“What I would do, if she continues to refuse to send the articles as required by the Constitution, I would work with Senator McConnell to change the rules of the Senate so we could start the trial without her, if necessary,” Graham proposed.

Now isn’t that just peachy? So simple … so Republican!

You have to hand it to GOPers, they are masters at the the art of political cheating. If they don’t like rules, they change them. If they don’t like laws, they ignore them!

This is what actually came out of Graham’s mouth:

“Well, we’re not going to let Nancy Pelosi use the rules of the Senate to her advantage. This is dangerous to the presidency as an institution. They impeached the president, but the speaker of the House is holding the articles back, trying to extort from the majority leader of the Senate a trial to her liking. They’re trying to hold these articles over the head of the president.”

So Nancy Pelosi is using the current rules of the Senate to extort a promise of a fair trial? What gall, what brazenness!

Unfortunately for Graham, it’s unlikely Republican senators would vote for such a radical move.

According to Rachael Bade of the Washington Post, “Senate rules suggest such a move would be difficult, if not impossible. It would take 60 votes to pass a resolution on impeachment outside a trial and 67 votes to change the impeachment rules. That threshold would require Democratic support, since McConnell has only 53 Republicans — and Democrats would be loath to undercut Pelosi.”

But with Graham, McConnell and all the other Republican sycophants in the Senate, is anything really beyond the realm of possibility?

Photo | Joshua Roberts/Reuters, nationalreview.com

Democrats Don’t Understand The “McConnell Rule”

By 4 Comments

Now that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced his retirement, Democrats are insisting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abide by the same rationale he used to thwart President Obama from naming his own replacement to the Court in 2016. Namely, the Senate will not consider a Supreme Court nominee during an election year.

This unprecedented move by the Senate leader has come to be known as the “McConnell Rule.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on McConnell to play by his own rule now that a vacancy will soon be taking place on the high court because of Kennedy’s departure. After all, 2018 is also an election year.

To do otherwise, said Schumer, would be the “height of hypocrisy.”

What Schumer and the rest of his fellow Democrats don’t understand is that there is only one true McConnell rule. It’s called, “I win, you lose.” McConnell has proven time and again he will do whatever it takes to win.

Democrats think they can shame McConnell into doing the right thing? They believe they can convince the evil genius to play fairly?

Without wasting a moment after Kennedy’s announcement, McConnell declared, “The Senate stands ready to fulfill its constitutional role by offering advice and consent on President Trump’s nominee to fill this vacancy. We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy’s successor this fall.”

Good luck Chuck!

Dems just don’t get it. They are dealing with pure ruthlessness. Trying to use the “fair play” card with McConnell is as useless as pushing water uphill with a rake.

The best Democrats can hope for is that enough moderate Republicans block any extreme right-wing jurist Donald Trump is sure to nominate.

If history is any guide, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

As the front page of the NY Daily News aptly stated, “We’re F*#%’D.”

Barack Obama was right … “Elections have consequences.”

Photo | gazette.com

 

 

 

State Of The Union?… Broken

By 5 Comments

                   -“All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again” 

Tonight, Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address. No doubt we will hear how great the country is doing under his strong leadership. The official theme of Trump’s monologue will be “building a safe, strong, and proud America.”

The address is sure to be filled with many half-truths and outright lies. Trump will unquestionably take credit for a booming economy (stock market) that had its origins under the Obama administration. He will falsely claim this is all due to his tax cuts and deregulatory agenda.

But no matter what fiction Trump is willing to peddle, the majority of Americans won’t be buying the snake oil. They know better. They can see.

They can see a country divided like never before (at least not since the Vietnam War).

They can see hate crimes on the rise.

They can see racism displayed openly.

They can see a dysfunctional healthcare system.

They can see an unrelenting onslaught on immigrants.

They can see the looting of the treasury to benefit millionaires and corporations.

They can see an assault on the Constitution and the rule of law.

They can see a political party defending and supporting an incompetent and, mostly likely, corrupt president.

They can see the open rejection of political norms and institutions.

They can see a steady and continuing attack on the free press.

Many Americans are hoping the midterm elections will put an end to our national nightmare when it is believed Democrats will regain control of the House.

But even if Democrats flip the House and begin impeachment proceedings, it is the Senate that votes to expel a president. The odds that two-thirds of senators will vote for conviction are best described as slim.

One thing is for sure, however. The Trump regime will eventually come to an end. Unfortunately, it will take years, perhaps decades, to undo the damage done by Trump, and his band of enablers, to that great country Reagan once called “ a beacon of hope, a light unto the nations.”

Photo | tvo.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.