Why have I turned against Pelosi, after defending her for so long? This is why. Corey Lewandowski is laughing at Congress, claiming that a Trump crony who has never officially served one day in the White House deserves executive privilege.
It also underscores what has been a central dilemma for House Democrats all year — they have promised to investigate Trump, aggressively, and many of their base supporters want them to move quickly to try to remove him from office. But the White House has blocked their oversight requests at most every turn, declining to provide new documents or allow former aides to testify.This is bullshit.
The DOJ won't prosecute Lewandowski. The DOJ won't prosecute anyone who defies a subpoena.
If Barr won't enforce the law, Congress can and should. Congress has its own jail -- and there was a time when Congress would toss people into the clink if they defied Congress the way Lewandowski is doing right now as I write. This long-established exercise of congressional authority is called inherent contempt.
Inherent contempt was the mode employed by Congress to directly enforce contempt rulings under its own constitutional authority until criminal and civil contempt statutes were passed, and it remained in use into the twentieth century. Under inherent contempt proceedings, the House or Senate has its Sergeant-At-Arms, or deputy, take a person into custody for proceedings to be held in Congress."But Congress hasn't used that power since the 1930s!" So? If nothing else will work, you use the tool you have. I haven't used a pay phone in many years, but if the sitch were desperate, I would walk to a working pay phone (yes, I know where one is) and make the connection. You use the tool you have.
If you don't have a flat head screwdriver, use a butter knife. You use the tool you have.
Nancy Pelosi doesn't get that.
To hell with her. Right now, I have inherent contempt for her. You know damned well that if the shoe were on the other foot, the Republicans would use any tool that gets the job done, and damn the consequences.
Yes, my metaphors just got horribly mixed. I'm too angry to care.
Added note: Seth Abramson's tweets have been spot on.
Here's how to understand Lewandowski's testimony: Barr has made clear he won't prosecute anyone for perjury—so long as the lies are to Democrats in Congress—and Trump has surrounded himself with liars like Lewandowski, so they're doing what they do: lying.
The mechanism the law has to keep someone honest is a threat of prosecution; Trump has effectively removed that—so what you're getting are witnesses whose combativeness, self-contradictions, and outright lies confirm that they think there are no consequences for their actions.A day like this makes me wish I had some vodka in the house.
Added added note: Just to show that I'm serious about getting rid of Pelosi, I've embedded an interview with the woman who should replace her. Agatha Bacelar is the real deal. I agree with her on pretty much all of the big issues, and even if I didn't, I think she has the kind of guts that Pelosi lacks. There are other primary challengers in that race: One is a BernieBro (NO!!) and the other looks like a hippie version of Satan. Bacelar is the only real choice here. She's bright, she's young, she's serious, she's articulate. It's her turn.
4 comments:
The entire Democrat leadership in the House are just as guilty as Nancy. Every move made by the House Committees has been met by "no" answers from the Trump-led conspirators. Impeachment is the only weapon available for the President, Vice President and Civil Officers which includes the Cabinet - and convictions by a Republican Senate are not possible.
As for any and all other conspirators, laws have been broken and trials can be requested through the judiciary with penalties up to one year in jail and a $100,000 fine. But courts routinely dismiss these cases as "politics " and nothing happens. So using the power of legislative arrests is worthless as well.
So I am left to conclude that the legislature has no power due to the conduct of the other two branches of government - short of refusing to finance the government. And I am not sure that there is a foolproof way to pull that off since enforcing legislative restrictions has often been ignored.
Now this is not a reason I'm opposed to getting rid of Pelosi.
(Pelosi voice) DON'T WORRY 2020 WILL FIX EVERYTHING!!!!
In all seriousness, it looks like the primary is coming down to Warren vs Biden. Kamala is fading (WHO KNEW BUSING WOULDN'T BE A WINNING STRATEGY?), and thank goodness Bernie has raged himself out of serious contention. I actually enjoy following him onw because his campaign is so bad it's become comic relief. But am I the only one who finds this final two incredibly weak? Neither ran in 2016 because Hillary was too strong. I know it doesn't exactly work this way, but if we couldn't win in 2016 with Hillary, how are we going to win with someone who was too scared to even take on Hillary? I do take real consolation that the nominee isn't Bernie though.
Warren will never kick Biden's ass when he is down. That is not her.
But she won't spare Trump.
Let's give her a chance to shine. She might be the genuine article.
Go back a few administrations to the Democratic victory in 2006 and when Pelosi became Speaker in 2007. At the end of the House session of 2006, the House Judiciary Committee's Democratic minority composed an impeachment case against Bush, submitted by its ranking member, John Conyers (who had investigated election fraud in Ohio after the 2004 election). Conyers became the chairman in 2007. He was quickly visited by the FBI, who had him dead to rights over his using tax-supported staff members to perform personal services, like picking up his dry cleaning. He was reminded that Dr. Cyril Wecht, as Allegheny County's coroner and chief pathologist, had recently been indicted by federal prosecutors for the very same offense. Conyers got a slap on the wrist and acknowledged the ethical breach. He didn't call for any impeachment hearings.
When Speaker Pelosi announced that "impeachment is off the table", she said that after Bush sent the Navy's attack fleet to the Persian Gulf.
Now that Trump, AG Barr, and five reactionary Supreme Court justices have made the law effectively illegal, it's impossible for us, who are way out of our depth right now, to grasp whatever drives Pelosi, who also happens to be third in succession for POTUS as long as the Constitution remains viable, lol. If there were a lottery for the salvation of the republic and democratic rule, I would pick the JCOS to save them.
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