28 Comments

Nancy Pelosi is playing McConnell. If she holds the articles, he can't do anymore about it. It will swirl like 20 toilet flushes and women and their dishwashers Trump mentioned in his rally last night.

Think of all the payback on those House passed bills gathering dust on Mitch's desk.

Karma, baby.

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Help me with this. How does delaying delivery to the Senate give Pelosi significant power (i.e., force a real trial)? And if there's no Senate trial, how does that significantly affect anyone?

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They do not have the articles of impeachment, they cannot vote to acquire him. So it stays over his head. Trump cannot say he has been exonerated.

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In that event, Trump will just play it that commie pinko dems know they've got nothing and that's why Pelosi refuses to send the articles. There are many more pathways on the dark side.

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Time as the stones is on our side. With so much going on with Rudi, his Russian trolls and a million dollar payment, the lady from CA might be waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I am a registered Independent. O have stones even if I am a gal and so does Nancy. I Guarentee that she is holding those articles for good reasons and calling her and dems names. Who cares. He is melting down. Eventually the truth like murder, will come out. Unrefutted. Epstein dying was unfortunately a place where truth was held. I feel the same truth is here with the mentioned payout. How long can Trump stand it. Read Daniel Dale's thread on last night's rally. Trump is getting crazier by the day.

@ddale on Twitter. He is with CNN now but was with the Toronto Star.

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Stupid phone aquit him

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I wondered that myself. And, maybe that's not well-known right now. But, perhaps we will get a silver lining out of the inevitable outcome.

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I'm pessimistic enough at this point to believe that McConnell will get all Republicans on-board for an acquittal without a trial. Based on past conduct, the "compassionate conservatives" and conscientious objectors have been all talk, but fall in line.

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My guess is McConnell will make an allowance for one or two who face muddy political waters in their 2020 reelection campaigns. But if Romney (yeah, right!) were to vote his conscience (yeah, right!), all hell would break loose.

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Long shot, Pollyanna thinking here, but what if the articles of impeachment were not delivered & Dems got out the vote a la 2018 midterms & ousted vulnerable Republican Senators like Tom Tillis, and G_D help us, Mitch McConnell, could the articles be delivered to a Senate that is less likely to acquit Trump or more open to allowing Trump Dept members to testify?

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was not in a talking mood. Mitch was. She is a tough cookie.

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Collin Peterson is a huge problem in Minnesota, (I’m in his very large district). The Minnesota DFL supports him & touts him as effective. Probably because he’s labeled a Democrat, even though his district is extremely rural & heavily Republican. I disagree with them. He’s consistently voted with Republicans even to the point of supporting the racist Steve King (until you backed him off by uncovering it, thank you Judd). The district is so heavily Republican I don’t know how we could get any other Democrat to win here. It’s more likely a Republican would take control if Peterson is ousted. The only hope for this district is to completely block the signal of Fox News out here. Only then would there be a possibility of reprogramming their severely damaged minds.

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Clearly, Collin Peterson is deplorable, in every sense of the word. Such a shanda.

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Anybody who is expecting ANY Senate Republican to “do the right thing” is about to be sorely disappointed.

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Because I am a bleeding heart idiot I think we will have four (or more) Republicans who will stand for a real trial. I don't know if he will be found guilty but we have the right to hear the witnesses.

Oyez, am I right?

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I'm guessing any witness close to Trump will lie his ass off. What's the downside if you're Stephen Miller or Mick Mulvaney? Think Barr would bring charges against these guys for lying to Congress? Zero chance.

As for R's with a conscience: it depends on whether voting is public or private. If private, possibly. That's why McConnell will require open voting.

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She seems too smart just to make this about Trump. Mitch has stopped every house bill. He is in his neck up in Russia, too as well as his wife funneling money and transportation projects to his state. He is battling for re-election. You can bet she has multiple ideas. But keeping the articles is a great idea. It will serve the Dems well. They just have to maintain resolve.

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Oh, boy, a pledge from Susan Collins and Mitt Romney.

Seriously, though, pressuring Republicans in vulnerable districts would seem to be the best tack. Mitch McConnell may be unresponsive to public pressure, but these politicians surely are not.

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Do not trust either of those 2

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Impeachment was a double edged sword and I don't know if democrats are looking at the blunt edge anymore. When Trump is "acquitted" in the Senate he will not stop shouting how the Senate found him "innocent." In fact, I'm 100% positive he'll extend that "get out of jail free" card to Trump anything anyone ever throws at him in the future.

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That's precisely why Nancy Pelosi resisted for so long. But when the evidence is so obvious and so compelling, action is not only necessary, but demanded. To ignore the actions of this President and his administration in such a case would be more than allowing the line to shift; it would be the complete excision of the line. No one steeped in American constitutional law and theory could allow that, unless they are repugnants.

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The trouble w/ playing this game sincerely (and politics has become a sad game, here), is the opponent is just looking for technicalities to exploit & half-truths to inflate. Only one side is playing by the rules... When we lose our republic, will we be proud we did not stoop to their level to save it?

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Hobbesian choice? If the result is disaster no matter what you do, do the right thing.

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Agreed. But, is it a disaster no matter what?

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I contend that ignoring criminal activity today results in acceptance of worse in the future. That's a disaster.

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Agree 100% Robert. To ignore the crime is to embrace it.

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I’m not confident that will happen. R’s tow the line even if they have nothing to lose because they aren’t seeking re-election. They confirmed Kavanaugh only giving lip service to the notion of thoroughness and fairness in the confirmation process. Either they’re compromised in some way or they fear a tRump tweet storm or both.

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Remember. If any condemning vote in the Senate gets 51, then that's a club to beat over Mangowanker's head.

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