In a sane country, Trump would have been removed from office ten minutes after Taylor finished his opening statement. Especially after that new bit: "Trump cares more about the investigation of Biden."
The Republicans are going after these guys now. The usual smear tactics. I am trying to force myself to listen, but man...this is infuriating.
Updates: The Republican attacks demonstrate the validity of one of my all-time favorite quotes:
Never forget how easy it is to make a maniac's hellsbroth of any proposition, however plain to common sense.
Yes, Aleister Crowley said that. The old SOB was right.
The fact that Ukraine finally received aid does not invalidate the fact that extortion exists, or the fact that the administration had no right to hold up aid voted by Congress.
If the funds were being held up because Trump wanted Zelinsky to make an anti-Biden statement -- and if the funds were belatedly released even though Zelinsky did NOT make the requested statement -- then clearly the release was due to political pressure. Or to plain fear. The Whistleblower was making his concerns known to the CIA Inspector General, who went to the White House. In other words, the Trumpers knew that their scheme was discovered; the jig was up. Trump deserves no credit for doing what he was forced to do, and he deserves no exoneration for his attempted extortion.
Of course Zelensky said that he felt no pressure. He needs those javelins. One cannot fairly expect him say anything likely to piss off Trump.
The corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor whom Joe Biden criticized was protecting Burisma; he did not investigate it. Every Republican who obscures that key point is a deliberate liar.
A Republican -- was it Stewart? -- stipulated that political candidates should be investigated. But Trump's lawyers said that Trump could not be investigated even if he shot someone.
The Republicans are trying to cancel all inconvenient testimony as hearsay, even though: 1. Much of this testimony is direct, 2. Some direct witnesses were prevented from testifying, 3. There are numerous exceptions to the hearsay rule in a court of law, and 4. This is not a court of law and not a trial; it is an investigation. (Trial occurs in the Senate.)
Nobody has demonstrated or even alleged that Hunter Biden did anything wrong. We've been living with this thing for quite a few weeks now, and still we have no details as to what Hunter supposedly did.
The Republicans seem reluctant to discuss the stuff about Crowdstrike and the alleged server in Ukraine. That all came from those false John Solomon stories. Solomon's source was Lev Parnas, a member of the Dmitry Firtash crime organization. Firtash is beholden to Putin. Basically, Solomon and all who cite him are conduits of Russian disinformation.
The whole idea of this administration criticizing Ukraine for corruption has become a bad joke. Pot, kettle. Zelensky knew the score when Trump demanded that statement. Zelensky knows about Firtash and his influence on this administration. And let's not even talk about Rick Perry...!
I've been paying half-attention while writing. Did Jim Jordan accuse the whistleblower of working for Biden? Wow. Joe Biden has CIA guys working for him?
Asha Rangappa offers a brilliant tweet:
Has any GOP member explained why — if as Jim Jordan says Ukraine is “one of the three most corrupt countries on the planet” — Trump trusted them to investigate two U.S. citizens for...corruption?Josh Marshall just released a tweet which makes the same point I made earlier: The only reason Trump gave up on his extortion scheme is that he was caught.
This - FINALLY - is the point. Very, very clear that the White House finally released the aid only when the whistleblower report was coming to light and the Intel committee was already starting its investigation! They relented because they finally got caught.
4 comments:
Bailey, the Alaskan Malamute wants to pee, maybe dump a Trump. Good time during republican questioning.
Important note about the Javelins Trump gave to Ukaraine: They couldn't be used
"But there is a big catch. The Trump administration provided the missiles on the condition that they not be used in the war," New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/world/europe/ukraine-war-impeachment.html
Didn't watch the hearings and only reading the commentary about it. Hate to go straight to the horse race and the theatrics, but it appears this was a fantastic opening day for the Democrats. An A+ on the substance, Republicans spinning their wheels, and most importantly, the MSM commentary I'm reading suggest are lamenting how awful it is for the country for things to have gotten this far. I note this as a good thing because the MSM in the lead up was dying to give the Republicans a "win" but they appear unable to do so. If Republicans can't even get a win when the media is dying to give them one, make no mistake, this is great for the Democrats.
I watch for The most part,the hearings today. I waited to hear what is a key point to me or perhaps I missed it.The (R) questioners dragged out and killed again the dead horse of what Biden did,the Obama administration did or did not do, but after crazed statement,the Dems. did not state the obvious,at least to me. The illegal impeachable act was Trump ASKED for a Biden/son investigation.He admits this,Mulvaney says this happens "all the time" and to "get over it!" It was that he asked.
Post a Comment