From the NYT live commentary running next to the live video feed from the impeachment hearing, where William Taylor, "the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine," is the first witness.
Castor is Steve Castor, House Intelligence Committee Counsel for the minority, who is asking questions on behalf of the GOP. See "Meet Steve Castor, the attorney handling questioning for GOP during impeachment hearings."
UPDATE: From one of the NYT commentators, Kenneth Vogel: "A small victory for Republicans: George Kent testifies that Ukrainian prosecutors 'should' investigate the oligarch owner of Burisma, the gas company that paid Hunter Biden, for possibly paying a bribe to kill an investigation in 2015."
It's a "small" victory because it's "for Republicans." If it were "for Democrats," it would be a mind-blowing bombshell.
AND: Again, from the NYT commentators: White House correspondent Annie Karni says, "Jordan is, at least, a more energetic questioner than the lawyer Castor." I'm not following this enough to get the "at least." Then White House correspondent Peter Baker responds with, "This aggressive, prosecutorial style by Jordan is just what Trump wants to see in his defenders." Seems like Baker is puffing for Jordan, and it's hilarious that he knows "just what" is in Trump's head. So much of this whole enterprise is about figuring out what's in Trump's head. Why do some people assume they know? I instinctively mistrust these people who purport to know and (obviously) won't acknowledge if they are self-aware enough to know that they're talking about something they cannot know.
MORE: I get the "at least" now. Jordan is a Republican. So Baker isn't "puffing for Jordan," he is putting him down. I didn't understand that before. I stumbled into understanding because I follow Matt Gaetz on Twitter. You can see Jordan's "aggressive, prosecutorial style" here:
Their star witness knows nothing. #ImpeachmentHearings @Jim_Jordan pic.twitter.com/djTTLkvNZo
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) November 13, 2019
Posts
127 comments:
But who's watching?
The old grey lady ain’t what she used to be. Of course, in the past, she excused Stalin’s atrocities and totally ignored the Nazi extermination of Jews and others.
Now we know why CNBC wasn't hammering away on the hearings. Democrats don't want people to watch because of the risk of viewers believing their lying eyes.
This clown that has been positioned to sneer disapprovingly over Castor’s right shoulder is amusing.
The dems case requires the ability of these non-witness "witnesses" to read illicit intent into Trump's perfectly normal interactions with the Ukraine President.
Thus, this line of questioning destroys the make believe ability of the dems to read minds and project evil intent where none is manifested.
Impeach Schiff!
I thought Schiff's eyes were about to bug-out of his head when Rep. Ratcliffe pressed him on whether the Federal Rules of Evidence would apply henceforth.
I'm not a fan of dog and pony shows.
They'll have to impeach without me.
You're watching Pencil-Neck's heads I win, tails you lose scam?
Taylor is total goofball. I think the legal term is "officious meddler". Maybe, "concern troll" is better. This is so boring and tedious. There is no bombshell, there is no drama, it is so stupid. Taylor is a bit more sentient than Mueller, but has NOTHING of import to say.
Ann, welcome to the morass!
This is all so surreal. We keep asking questions about a transcript we've seen.
Until or unless someone brings forward new evidence, from President Trump himself, asking for a quid pro quo, what is there?
And even then, what is there? I'm starting to wonder why we don't get anything in return for our aid. Shouldn't we?!
Cancel a the aid and there won't be any questions anymore about motivations behind granting aid.
All of it. Everywhere. Throughout the whole world.
No mas.
Everyone knows that to have a successful show trial you need to have beaten a confession out of the accused first. Then you get a few others with limps and bruises to corroborate. Then you take all of them down to the basement and shoot them before they can recant.
Can’t the Dems do anything right?
“Star prosecution witness testifies defendant did nothing wrong” is a small victory for the defense.
Amadeus has studied his Vyshinsky.
BAG
They called that woman who questioned Ford boring and low key, but she destroyed Ford's story without bullying or rudeness. A brilliant performance.
Wince: "I thought Schiff's eyes were about to bug-out of his head when Rep. Ratcliffe pressed him on whether the Federal Rules of Evidence would apply henceforth."
You can really tell that Schiff, in the open and in public, cannot operate his show trial effectively at all. Schiff-ty jumped in to signal to the fake "witness" that he did not have to accept any question where the premise of the question could on any level be challenged.
Of course, as soon as Ratcliffe piped up and said every single dem question raised was based on obviously moronic premises Schiff-ty's eyes bugged out more than usual because there it all is, out in the open and unable to muddied up by controlled dem leaks to the dem controlled press.
The Dem Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.
The Democrats' position is that Trump cannot ask for something from Ukraine that is not in the interest of the U.S., but is rather in his own interest. This hearing is demonstrating that what Trump asked for was in the interest of the U.S. Did the Biden's interfere with or influence U.S. policy in Ukraine (Trump's policy, not the Deep State's)
So far this circus is exposing what Trump is up against and making his re-election a sure thing. He is fighting for us and not surrendering to the Deep State that is totally corrupt. Rush says Ford told a source that Pelosi would pull it Friday if it doesn’t get better.
And the declass comes next.
Sorry, Trump wasn't president when the Bidens were interfering. My point is that Trump's questions to Ukraine are in the interest of the country.
Uh ... I thought you weren't watching and weren't blogging ...
I have it on in the other room. If I hear a big commotion, I might get up to see what it's all about.
Taylor receives the kick in his reproductive bits from Jordan with alarm... film at 11 !!!
Refusing to testify to what Trump was thinking is part of the coverup!
Is expressing a definitive about a person's state of mind who you didn't speak to and which you arrived at based on a conversation you had with a third party worse than hearsay? Legally speaking.
Scott Adams in his new book, Loserthink: "Don't engage in mind reading. It isn't a human skill.
Schiff jumps in to give Taylor time to think and apply some salve...
Taylor just stated that he doesn't think of himself as a star witness for the Dems. Jordan replies, "They do." Anyone watching knows he is the Dems star witness. A butt hurt career diplomat pissed that the guy with all the power, The President, didn't put that diplomats opinion and power on a pedestal and kiss his ass enough. Poor baby. He'll get even.
This sort of reminds me of election night, that started out as a mortal lock according to the press.
The more I see of Schiff the more I am convinced Pelosi set him up as the fall guy. Pelosi may have concluded that this was the best way to shut up The Squad and others that demanded impeachment.
The dems are going to wheel in some big 'Exhibit A' anytime now, right?
A radical Trump hater over at Ricochet is enthralled with the hearings.
I don't think this is helping the Dims.
Has Burisma received funds from US aid? Why yes they have, has Taylor received funds from Burisma through the Atlantic Council? It’s almost like money laundering.
It's just a joke. It's so embarrassing for Schiff and Hines and these other Democrat weasels. They really have no shame.
"Taylor’s pauses after Castor asks questions as he seems to be trying to understand what Castor is asking."
In bred Ivy league hack, three generations of "public service"which is east coast speak for the more truthful Chicago style statement: "Dad got on the buses and Uncle Pete got on the cops".
Nailed it, Ann.
It would be BOMBSHELL. But the corrupt hacks in the media are in bed with the corrupt hacks in the D-party.
Tradguy: "Rush says Ford told a source that Pelosi would pull it Friday if it doesn’t get better."
Not to worry lefty sheeples!!
Schiff-ty and his Idiot "Moron-tes" have already seen the errors of their ways and have scheduled more secret hearings for additional misleading leaks!!
So you've got that going for you.
Which is nice.
Now the fact that stuff was leaked to the New York Times through the DNC and published in that august broadsheet, the paper of record, is waived away as part of a “conspiracy theory about black ledgers.”
Schiff knew that almost no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, so he avoided it as long as possible. Battles are won through positions of strength, not through intricate plans that assume that the enemy will not exploit any weaknesses.
Taylor and Kent are definitely not "Deep State". They are Shallow State.
stevew: "The more I see of Schiff the more I am convinced Pelosi set him up as the fall guy. Pelosi may have concluded that this was the best way to shut up The Squad and others that demanded impeachment."
Pelosi is just devious enough to do just that. Give her lunatic lefties exactly what they want...with the inevitable results as payback for them not listening to her more sage counsel.
Bay Area Guy: "Taylor and Kent are definitely not "Deep State". They are Shallow State."
Deep down, they are shallow.
Not allowed to mention that Ciaramella met with Stynryt (sp?) the guy who leaked the black ledger, at the White House before it was leaked. It’s in WH Logs that Steve McIntyre is sifting through to great effect.
Investigating government corruption isn't an impeachable offense. It's the President's job.
I cannot emphasize how pitiful and pointless this hearing is.
These 2 witnesses, Kent and Taylor, never met with or to spoke with Trump.
They both have double hearsay accounts of trivial low level foreign policy decisions. Jordan is cutting up these two clowns.
That 'small victory' was a rare moment of obvious reality that somehow snuck into the show.
Not sure how damaging this is.
Suspect less so than the 'soon to be released"..
Omarosa audio tapes.
Cohen audio tapes
Tom Arnold video/audio
DEVELOPING......
Here is another star witness, BTW, who makes an appearance in a NYT story.
Shortly after taking up her post in 2016, the American ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, went to meet the new prosecutor general, Mr. Lutsenko, in his office — and complained that his deputies were stained by corruption, according to two Ukrainian officials familiar with the encounter.
The ambassador then pressed Mr. Lutsenko further, the officials said, asking him to stop investigating anti-corruption activists [Funded by Soros and Obama Administration] who were supported by the American Embassy and had criticized his work.
Isn’t Yovoanovitch another star witness?
Shiff must buy Visine by the quart.
Leftwing liars to scorch the earth!
Watched a bit of the questioning.
Jim Jordan for the Republicans questions Ambassador Taylor. Jordan reads previous testimony on what Sondland or Taylor knew - a tangled description of what Sondland thinks Taylor thinks Sondland told someone Zelensky thinks but was never mentioned or was it someone else told Taylor Sondland thinks Taylor thought Zelensky might have been thinking that what Sondland thought Taylor was however never mentioned. Or maybe ... Anyhow, then Jordan says: I've read clearer prayer chains. And you are their star witness! implying the rest have even less direct knowledge or an even longer chain of things they think that someone thought because they thought someone thought someone else thought they heard someone told someone who would chuck wood. And for this tangle of hearsay and guesses at what someone thought, they would impeach an American President.
Appendix Added
In previous testimony there was this:
"I quite agree with you, and the moral of that is–‘Be what you would seem to be’–or if you’d like it put more simply–‘Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'”
“I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can’t quite follow it as you say it.”
“That’s nothing to what I could say if I chose.”
“Pray don’t trouble yourself to say it any longer than that.”
After winning the Civil War, when we fought the Democrat Party to abolish slavery, it mighta been a good idea to simply abolish the Democrat Party.
Can we still do that? I'm not saying the GOP is so great, either. They have a fair component of RINOs, snowflakes, elitists, country-clubbers and Jeb! Bush political dynasties.
But the Democrats are just awful. So stupid, so pretentious, so unprofessional, so disloyal to our country. They really are inept morons.
Time to bring on the Veldman. He's fancy-pants. Surely he'll save the day.
After winning the Civil War, when we fought the Democrat Party to abolish slavery, it mighta been a good idea to simply abolish the Democrat Party.
Can we still do that?
Corruption needs to die, swiftly and soon or we are doomed.
Be nice. But then we'd have to abolish their corrupt house-press -the MSM.
Amadeus 48 said...
"Everyone knows that to have a successful show trial you need to have beaten a confession out of the accused first."
It also helps if you have imprisoned their families and threatened to torture them. I'm amazed Schiff neglected such an obvious precaution.
Oh, boy... Jackie Speier... I remember when my late BIL told me about his dealings with her during the 90s when he was the leader of the California Physical Therapists Assoc., how she always had her hand out, palms up.
Of course, an important organizing principle of Leninism is that you must elevate people of no evident talent to positions of great power, because such people will realize that they owe everything to the Party, and must give it their unswerving allegiance. So maybe Schiff's incompetence is not that surprising.
Pelosi is just devious enough to do just that. Give her lunatic lefties exactly what they want...with the inevitable results as payback for them not listening to her more sage counsel.
That was my first thought too, but after some consideration, I'm not so sure. There are too many downsides with that strategy, starting with a surefire loss in the general POTUS next year, if not the House as well. Unless there's another layer here, I'm not sure she would pull the trigger on something so Machiavellian.
Don't attribute to conspiracy what incompetence covers nicely. I look at her political allies across the length and breadth of higher education and wonder how in the world we got where we are and remember that there's no star chamber pushing an overall conspiracy. There's just a general cowardice and incompetence that tends to aggregate. Perhaps the downside is the key. In the university system, there IS no downside for not only holding a incandescently ridiculous progressive worldview.
If this keeps the House from doing anything else for the next six months, I say keep it going.
It's a huge time waste, but, it's better than these dummies passing new legislation.
Rush had great comments on this.
Ratcliffe asked the two witnesses to identify the impeachable offenses. Silence.
This is a total bomb for the Dems. Nancy might not schedule a vote.
Maybe, Eric Swalwell's penetrating, incisive, insightful questions will re-energize his presidential campaign.
Then again, maybe not.
If the democrats can say "Nobody is above the law!" and "The constitution" enough - will that do the trick?
Of course nobody is above the law except the Bidens and the Clintons of the world. and all other corrupt D's.
Unknown: "That was my first thought too, but after some consideration, I'm not so sure. There are too many downsides with that strategy, starting with a surefire loss in the general POTUS next year, if not the House as well."
Pelosi was being overrun by a revolt in her party that she could no longer stave off.
It's not incompetence. It was a rapid decision (made literally just a couple hours after declaring she wasn't at an impeachment hearing point yet) that she was forced into it.
Once forced into it, she let them go all the way to satisfy the howling hyenas on the left fully knowing what was going to happen because....what else was she going to do.
And lets not forget that funding of democrats was not exactly setting the world on fire and lack of an impeachment push was the primary drive.
Ambassador Taylor: "I'm only telling you what people told me."
LOLOLOLOLOL
During the Cold War, the Soviets had a term - "Useful Idiots" - to describe leftists who had no direct connection to the Soviets or to the American Communist Party, but generally supported all their political and strategic aims.
These two witnesses - Taylor and Kent - are not even "Useful Idiots". The are Useless Idiots. The Democrats on the Committee are just idiots.
Speaking of useful idiots, I give you Eric Swalwell..
It would be BOMBSHELL. But the corrupt hacks in the media are in bed with the corrupt hacks in the D-party.
The entire point of this absurd theater is to provide selective anti-Trump sound bites for the propaganda arm of the DNC - the mainstream press.
The folks who only pay cursory attention to the news while they are getting the kids ready for school or preparing dinner will not understand how legally absurd this is. The Dems are in the false narrative business. It works to a large extent with many people out there.
No... wait... he’s a useLESS idiot...
I'm not sure either, Unknown @1:32pm, but from my perch Pelosi has most often been a shrewd and competent party leader. If she truly believes Trump is assured victory (she's seen the same candidates we all have) she plays this out now to get it off the table and put her members that are up for election in November in a stronger position by not having to talk about a loser issue (impeachment).
Remember, these are the 2 "strongest" "witnesses" for the dem hacks.
Trump seems pretty quiet on Twitter. That quote from Napoleon comes to mind.
I'm not watching, but Jordan is always amazing to me. He can reel off names, and dates and quotes like he's reading a teleprompter, and he can do it for long rants that are usually devastating. There are few like that in the Congress and none on the Dems side.
this is glorious:
Rep. Devin Nunes
Opening Statement for Kent and Taylor Hearing on Impeachment
November 13, 2019
In a July open hearing of this committee following publication of the Mueller report, the Democrats engaged in a last-ditch effort to convince the American people that President Trump is a Russian agent. That hearing was the pitiful finale of a three-year-long operation by the Democrats, the corrupt media, and partisan bureaucrats to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election.
After the spectacular implosion of their Russia hoax on July 24, in which they spent years denouncing any Republican who ever shook hands with a Russian, on July 25 they turned on a dime and now claim the real malfeasance is Republicans’ dealings with Ukraine.
In the blink of an eye, we’re asked to simply:
forget about Democrats on this committee falsely claiming they had “more than circumstantial evidence” of collusion between President Trump and the Russians;
forget about them reading fabrications of Trump-Russia collusion from the Steele dossier into the congressional record;
forget about them trying to obtain nude pictures of Trump from Russian pranksters who pretended to be Ukrainian officials;
forget about them leaking a false story to CNN, while he was testifying to our committee, claiming Donald Trump Jr. had colluded with Wikileaks;
and forget about countless other deceptions, large and small, that make them the last people on earth with the credibility to hurl more preposterous accusations at their political opponents.
And yet now we’re supposed to take these people at face value when they trot out a new batch of allegations. But anyone familiar with the Democrats’ scorched-earth war against President Trump would not be surprised to see all the typical signs that this is just a carefully orchestrated media smear campaign. For example:
After vowing publicly that impeachment requires bipartisan support, Democrats are pushing impeachment forward without the backing of a single House Republican.
The witnesses deemed suitable for television by the Democrats were put through a closed-door audition process in a cult-like atmosphere in the basement of the Capitol, where the Democrats conducted secret depositions, released a flood of misleading and one-sided leaks, and later selectively released transcripts in a highly staged manner.
Violating their own guidelines, the Democrats repeatedly redacted from the transcripts the name of Alexandra Chalupa, a contractor for the Democratic National Committee who worked with Ukrainian officials to collect dirt on the Trump campaign, which she provided to the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The Democrats rejected most of the Republicans’ witness requests, resulting in a horrifically one-sided process where crucial witnesses are denied a platform if their testimony doesn’t support the Democrats’ absurd accusations. Notably, they are trying to impeach the President for inquiring about Hunter Biden’s activities, yet they refused our request to hear from Biden himself.
The whistleblower was acknowledged to have a bias against President Trump, and his attorney touted a “coup” against the President and called for his impeachment just weeks after his election.
At a prior hearing, Democrats on this committee read out a purely fictitious rendition of the President’s phone call with President Zelensky. They clearly found the real conversation to be insufficient for their impeachment narrative, so they just made up a new one.
And most egregiously, the staff of Democrats on this committee had direct discussions with the whistleblower before his or her complaint was submitted to the Inspector General, and Republicans cannot get a full account of these contacts because the Democrats broke their promise to have the whistleblower testify to this committee. Democrat members hid these contacts from Republicans and lied about them to the American people on national television.
I’ve noted before that the Democrats have a long habit of accusing Republicans of offences they themselves are committing. Recall that:
For years they accused the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia when they themselves were colluding with Russia by funding and spreading the Steele dossier, which relied on Russian sources.
And now they accuse President Trump of malfeasance in Ukraine when they themselves are culpable. The Democrats cooperated in Ukrainian election meddling, and they defend Hunter Biden’s securing of a lavishly paid position with a corrupt Ukrainian company, all while his father served as vice president.
Despite this hypocrisy, the Democrats are advancing their impeachment sham. But we should not hold any hearings at all until we get answers to three crucial questions the Democrats are determined to avoid asking:
First, what is the full extent of the Democrats’ prior coordination with the Whistleblower and who else did the Whistleblower coordinate this effort with?
Second, what is the full extent of Ukraine’s election meddling against the Trump campaign?
And third, why did Burisma hire Hunter Biden, what did he do for them, and did his position affect any U.S. government actions under the Obama administration?
The edit on the Jordan-Taylor video, stopping at Taylor's goofy smile, is Emmy worthy in the short film category.
more Nunez:
These questions will remain outstanding because Republicans were denied the right to call witnesses who know the answers.
What we will witness today is a televised theatrical performance staged by the Democrats. Ambassador Taylor and Mr. Kent—I’d like to welcome you here, and congratulate you for passing the Democrats’ Star Chamber auditions held for the last six weeks in the basement of the Capitol. It seems you agreed, wittingly or unwittingly, to participate in a drama. But the main performance—the Russia hoax—has ended, and you’ve been cast in the low-rent Ukrainian sequel.
I’ll conclude by noting the immense damage the politicized bureaucracy has done to Americans’ faith in government. Though executive branch employees are charged with implementing the policy set by our President, who is elected by and responsible to the American people, elements of the civil service have decided that they, not the President, are really in charge.
Meanwhile, something happened to panic the DOW at 2 PM, and then it went right back on it’s seeming way to 28K.
more Nunez:
Thus, as we’ll learn in these hearings:
After expressing skepticism of foreign aid and concern about foreign corruption on the campaign trail, President Trump outraged the bureaucracy by acting skeptically about foreign aid and expressing concerns about foreign corruption.
Officials’ alarm at the President’s actions was typically based on second-hand, third-hand, and even fourth-hand rumors and innuendo.
They believed it was an outrage for President Trump to fire an ambassador, even though the President has full authority to retain or remove diplomats for any reason at any time.
Officials showed a surprising lack of interest in the indications of Ukrainian election meddling that deeply concerned the President at whose pleasure they serve.
Despite all their dissatisfaction with President Trump’s Ukraine policy, the President approved the supply of weapons to Ukraine, unlike the previous administration, which provided blankets as defense against invading Russians.
finally:
"By undermining the President who they are supposed to be serving, elements of the FBI, the Department of Justice, and now the State Department, have lost the confidence of millions of Americans who believe that their vote should count for something. It will take years, if not decades, to restore faith in these institutions.
This spectacle is doing great damage to our country. It’s nothing more than an impeachment process in search of a crime."
Nunez. All of that above is Devin Nunes - BRAVO
And FU all corrupt leftwingers and your lazy intellectually dishonest supporters.
When is fake Whistleblower Eric Ciaramella gonna testify under penalty of perjury about this fake Coup?
I wonder if at 2PM, somebody made a bid to crash the dow to make it look like Trump was doomed, and people just scooped up their money? That would be pretty funny.
The whole thing started out with Adam SCHITT lying about knowing who the whistle blower is.
What a piece of shcitt.
The witnesses seem very prepared when answering the Dems questions and not for the Republicans. Did the Dems practice with them?
How is it in the national interest for the United States to project corruption in a “new democracy.” Apparently there is “nothing wrong” with the kind of graft that Hoover Biden was scooping up.
Hoover Biden is a crack head. That’s settled, how has he ever displayed the kind of sober judgement expected of board members?
"The witnesses seem very prepared when answering the Dems questions and not for the Republicans.”
Mueller testimony redux.
OK, this is where Schiff goes full Fonzi and jumps the shark on water skis in a leather jacket.
Not allowed to answer as to whether Trump had any reason to distrust Ukraine. Like for example, because of election interference on behalf of Hillary in 2016.
Even though Taylor testified that there was “no possible reason” for Trump to question Ukraine’s motives.
"Remember, these are the 2 "strongest" "witnesses" for the dem hacks."
And I'm sure it's coincidental that there is a day between hearings that allows the Dem operatives in the media to hammer on the narrative about how damaging the testimony was to Trump. Could the planning be any more transparent?
I am skeptical of Pelosi's skills. She never should have let this clown show out of Leakville, where at least it had some impact on people like that NeverTrump clown at Ricochet. Allahpundit at Hot Air I am sure is also slavering over Trump's corpse. Bill Kristol is wearing a risus sardonicus while he checks his "likes" on Twitter.
But in the real world, this is a disaster for the Dems. They have managed to top the Obama birthers in their ignorance, arrogance, and fascination with an echo-chamber. The Dems appear less credible here than Orly Taitz (and the Trump of those days). They also appear dangerous because they are playing with dynamite at the foundations of our political institutions. If and when (I know, I know) the Obama DOJ and CIA blow up under the tender ministrations of Durham, the Dems may well be out of power for fifty years, as they were from 1860 to 1912. (Grover Cleveland was a classical liberal and would have been comfortable in the Reaganite Republican Party.)
The Dems are still living in 1973, when they think that if they can just capture ABCNBCCBSWAPONYT, they control the narrative. I remember those days, and you couldn't get another view. There was no Fox News. There was no talk radio. There was no internet. There were only the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal (more robust then than now), the National Review (a bi-weekly that came through mail and occasionally shifted ground on principles and policy), the American Spectator (a monthly), and Human Events. There were a few Republican journalists with major news organizations in those days, but very few.
The landscape has changed. The major news organizations have dropped their pretenses of objectivity and have become open cheering sections for the left wing of the Democratic Party. The voices on the right have flourished on talk radio, Fox News, the WSJ editorial page, the internet. Opinion is cheap and widely available.
The Democrat Party will pay a high price for their arrogance, stupidity, and failure to respect our institutions. This "impeachment inquiry" is a wonder to behold.
And it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.
I'm with stevew @ 11/13/19, 1:52 PM. This isn't a winner-takes-all game. Nancy has to play the cards she's dealt and get the best outcome she can. She could no longer contain the loonies, so now she's just trying to contain the damage.
BleachBit, thanks for providing Nunez's statement
Liberals are so very, very fucked.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/indisposed-due-to-illness-ruth-bader-ginsburg-absent-from-supreme-court
Those who don't watch Matt Gaetz video to the end to see Taylor's smile response are doing themselves a disservice.
Amadeus 48: "I am skeptical of Pelosi's skills. She never should have let this clown show out of Leakville, where at least it had some impact on people like that NeverTrump clown at Ricochet. Allahpundit at Hot Air I am sure is also slavering over Trump's corpse. Bill Kristol is wearing a risus sardonicus while he checks his "likes" on Twitter.
But in the real world, this is a disaster for the Dems."
It is a disaster for the dems, again.
But I urge you to consider just how far left and radicalized the center of gravity on the dem side has become. Nancy is a lifelong operator in the "old" ways, but we have entered a period of open socialism/communism/marxism on left and they have captured the soul of the democrats.
Nancy is now fighting to retain the power she only tenuously holds onto. It's a no brainer for her to use the impeachment acceptance to tame the crazies for just a bit even with the danger it poses to the House dems for 2 primary reasons:
1) Something continues to happen behind the scenes with the GOPe-ers who continue to retire at record rates
2) Ballot harvesting in CA is probably seen as a barrier to the dems actually losing control of the house back to the republicans
Expect ballot harvesting measures to be passed in all massive dem controlled states leading to the eventual shoving out any chance of republicans winning in those locales.
The dems will lock those states down structurally (as with their changing the rules so that 2 dems appear on the ballot for general elections) and then continue to work their illegal immigration and lawfare magic to target red states.
It will be interesting to see how the MSM creatively re-edits today's raw video before the evening news shows in an effort to paint a dark picture for the president.
The low information voters who are the target for this dog and pony show have no interest in sifting through the full context. The Dems are counting on the MSM's sound bites to do their dirty work.
Regarding RBG, I beginning to believe those who think the current hearings are a stop gap measure to prevent Trump from nominating a new SCOTUS member should RGB die before January 2020 when the "Biden Rule" can be used to block a nomination until after the election.
"The star witness knows nothing."
That's because he isn't a "witness."
Doug, RBG just needs to make it until March 16 based on the Merrick Garland rule.
JRoberts: "Regarding RBG, I beginning to believe those who think the current hearings are a stop gap measure to prevent Trump from nominating a new SCOTUS member should RGB die before January 2020 when the "Biden Rule" can be used to block a nomination until after the election."
McConnell and other republicans have already spoken quite emphatically on that point, and besides, it doesn't matter at all.
The previous instances involved the Senate under different party control than the Presidency. So, there you go.
But yes, the dems will attempt to use it to drive election turnout. But in that case, once its over its more likely demoralization will set in and I would fully expect all the usual crazy dems to start talking up impeachment of BOTH Kavanaugh and the justice to be named later.
No doubt about it.
Mark: "Doug, RBG just needs to make it until March 16 based on the Merrick Garland rule."
Our survey says: Zzzzzzzzzzzt!
Incorrect!
The "Merrick Garland rule" (LOL) only applies if the dems control the Senate.
They. Do. Not.
Blogger Leland said...
Those who don't watch Matt Gaetz video to the end to see Taylor's smile response are doing themselves a disservice.
Jim Jordan, no? But yeah, Taylor's shit-eating grin makes me think he's playing the Dems for fools.
Doug, RBG just needs to make it until March 16 based on the Merrick Garland rule.
Nope. That 'rule' only applies to a lame-duck President's nominee.
What I love most about the idea of Tump/McConnell shoving a nominee down the dems throats during the election year is that it is almost certainly going to be Amy Coney Barrett and just the thought of the democrat jackals screeching and disrupting and wailing and moaning and protesting and viciously attacking her would be perfectly timed for commercials targeting moderate suburban women.
Win win.
Skipped in and out. Mostly boring and just showed it was a lot of "much ado about nothing". Taylor and Kent "Heard things". And were "Concerned" -mainly that Trump was doing something they didn't like and without getting their advice. Lets hear from LT. COl Vineman and Eric Ciaremella, the whistleblower/leaker.
“Hunter Attacked by Gator...”
Talk about a Drudge headline that quickly disappointed after hitting the link!
Democrat Rep. Mike Quigley: "Heresay can be much better evidence than direct [evidence]." End of Impeachment inquiry. He really said this.
The democrats are already abandoning their first set of fake witnesses and will be hauling in a brand new and improved fake hearsay witness!!
Huzzah!
What could go wrong?
Trump should tweet:
"Very sorry to hear about Justice Ginsburg. RIP! At such a time we must put aside our political differences and remember a true patriot. I will announce my nominee for her replacement forthwith!"
wendybar: "Democrat Rep. Mike Quigley: "Heresay can be much better evidence than direct [evidence]." End of Impeachment inquiry. He really said this."
Even worse, like all leftists/libs/dems/LLR-leftists, he actually believes it....
Does anybody buy that ridiculous update/new info that Taylor tried about his aide overhearing a phone conversation between Trump and Sondland? Weeks after the fact... is it plausible that something that important (especially to Democrats) wouldn’t be brought to Taylor by the aide before his initial testimony.
I call bullschiff!
Full quote:
Democrat Rep. Mike Quigley (IL) on evidence: "Hearsay can be much better evidence than direct ... and it's certainly valid in this instance"
Dammit Lucy, stop moving the ball! Now one more time, but do it right.
"Democrat Rep. Mike Quigley: "Heresay can be much better evidence than direct [evidence]." End of Impeachment inquiry. He really said this."
Quigley is a third generation Demo pol. Illinois did a test run on avoiding the hearsay rule. A Bolingbrook Police Sgt was accused of murdering at least two of this three wives. Lack of direct evidence and lack of physical evidence coupled with an inept States Attorney resulted in acquittals. The legislature with the connivance of the Illinois supreme court allowed hearsay in his third trial and he was convicted.
search: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Peterson
"The Illinois State Legislature attempted to help the prosecution with the passage of a new Illinois law, 725 ILCS 5/115-10.6, or "Drew's Law", which allows prosecutors to enter hearsay statements into evidence under certain conditions. Passed while investigators were looking for Stacy, the legislation permits courts to consider statements from "unavailable witnesses," provided that prosecutors are able to prove that the witness was killed to prevent his or her testimony and that the hearsay statements are reliable"
Hold My Beer, Tovarisch!
Just a little something I came up with on a meme-maker!
The fact that Mueller, Weissmann, Schiff, Comey, Brennan, 6-ways to Sunday Schumer, Clapper, and Lois Lerner are unable to find anything that is clearly criminal behavior by this president is a remarkable testament to Trump's law abidance.
It's amazing to realize Donald Fucking Trump is the least dirty modern president.
Democrats have managed to find something worse than making The Squad the face of their Party...making Adam Schiff the face of their party.
Taylor's spectacles are very good, very expensive. I can't discern the lenses at all!
Politico challenges Politico's reporting on Ukraine's 2016 pro-Hillary efforts
The most amazing part of Trumps apparent honesty:
There is no evidence of corruption in his dealings with corrupt New York politicians and labor unions(mafia). He was a New York developer. Nothing ever happened? Considering how much he has been investigated,(by people who could find a ham sandwich guilty), this degree of honesty seems a divine miracle. Perhaps he actually is a "Judge" sent by God to fight our corruption.
Blogger BleachBit-and-Hammers said...
"The whole thing started out with Adam SCHITT lying about knowing who the whistle blower is."
Did I hear correctly that Schiff also said anyone verbalizing the name of the whistle blower will be held in contempt?
If so, how will Schiff know if the name has been spoken?
Looks like the Dems are gonna need a bigger hoax!! 😜
Schitt should be throw out of congress and the prosecuted for his lies.
For those interested, you can find an updating transcript of today's hearing right here.
I have read the entire thing so far (as of right now, we are 4 minutes into Stefanik's time).
This was a disaster for Schiff from what I have read. Even Jeffrey Toobin understood that today. I guess we will now hear from Taylor's aide who Taylor claimed to have claimed to overhear a phonecall between Sondland and Trump- that was the only new thing learned today from either witness that I have read so far. So, did Sondland put the phone on speaker when talking to Trump? If not, then the aide's testimony is also just going to be more hearsay and opinion.
I don't know what Pelosi is going to do. Schiff no doubt led off with his best two witnesses, and I kind of doubted that Vindman would be allowed to testify again given how bad his private testimony went, but Schiff may have no choice but to roll the dice.
it is 'do or die' for the Dems-- they want to say they left it all on the field
They know already there arent the votes to impeach
the Dem hope's death will coincide with RBG's...by the end of the year, perhaps?
The fact that Mueller, Weissmann, Schiff, Comey, Brennan, 6-ways to Sunday Schumer, Clapper, and Lois Lerner are unable to find anything that is clearly criminal behavior by this president is a remarkable testament to Trump's law abidance.
It's amazing to realize Donald Fucking Trump is the least dirty modern president.
It is amazing on the face of it — but that now strongly appears to be the case.
I'd like to point in this regard to a posting that (Volokh Conspiracist and) George Mason University law professor David Bernstein (who is far from being a Trump supporter, more a “NeverTrumper” in fact, though he's not a leftist) put up on Facebook earlier this year — following Trump ex-attorney Michael Cohen's testimony (i.e., before release of the Mueller Report): [quoting…]
Donald Trump is a man of low character. But he’s apparently quite careful in avoiding doing things that are obviously illegal. Or, at least, that’s what I surmise from the fact that his personal lawyer of 10 years really can’t come up with anything he did that was obviously illegal.
[/unQuote]
I think this fact is almost jaw-droppingly noteworthy. For how many millionaire/billionaire businessmen and -women — working for half a century in (say) building construction, with all the political compromises which must be made in that line of work — as seen from the vantage point of a decade-long relationship with his or her (turned!) personal attorney — could this be said? Not many at all, I suggest.
I say it's extremely doubtful, therefore, that Trump could really be a flagrant criminal, corrupt to the core, as so many Democrats and others the left have managed to so utterly convince themselves, despite the even more striking lack of evidence.
Michael McNeil,
Understand you are quoting.
I'm always struck by remarks like "low character." Is this "high character?"
"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Samms, but some things have come up that you will have to handle. Knobos is calling from out near Mars. He has caught the Endymion, and has killed about half her crew doing it. Milton has finally reported from Venus, after being out of touch for five days. He trailed the Wintons into Thalleron swamp. They crashed him there, but he won out and has what he went after. And just now I got a flash from Fletcher, in the asteroid belt. I think that he has finally traced that dope line. But Knobos is on now--what do you want him to do about the Endymion?"
"Tell him to--no, put him on here, I'd better tell him myself," Samms directed, and his face hardened in ruthless decision as the horny, misshapen face of the Martian lieutenant appeared upon the screen. "What do you think, Knobos? Shall they come to trial or not?"
"Not."
"I don't think so, either. It is better that a few gangsters should disappear in space than run the risk of another uprising. See to it."
"Right." The screen darkened and Samms spoke to his secretary. "Put Milton and Fletcher on whenever their rays come in." He then turned to his guests. "We've covered the ground quite thoroughly. Good-bye--I wish I could go with you, but I'll be pretty well tied up for the next week or two."
"Tied up, doesn't half express it," Rodebush remarked as the two scientists walked along a corridor toward an elevator. "He probably is the busiest man on the three planets."
"As well as the most powerful," Cleveland supplemented. "And very few men could use his power as fairly--but he's welcome to it, as far as I'm concerned. I'd have the pink fantods for a month if I had to do only once what he's just done--and to him it's just part of a day's work."
"You mean the Endymion? What else could he do?"
"Nothing--that's just what I'm talking about. It had to be done, since bringing them to trial would probably mean killing half the people of Morseca; but at the same time it's a ghastly thing to have to order a job of deliberate, cold-blooded, and illegal murder."
"You're right, of course, but you would...." he broke off, unable to put his thoughts into words. For while inarticulate, manlike, concerning their deepest emotions, in both men was ingrained the code of their organization; both knew that to every man chosen for it The Service was everything, himself nothing.
Even secret murder can be parsed as virtue of the highest sort. Is this what the Deep State offers?
I watched a couple of clips of "Ambassador Taylor" answering questions, and I was embarrassed for the US.
He appears to be a total idiot. As in "took the short bus to school".
This is what we had representing us?
This is the kind of moron who makes that must not be violated "interagency consensus"?
I suppose the other possibility is that he's of ordinary intelligence, and running a scam. And thus has to take long pauses before answering questions to make sure that he's not blowing his own scam out of the water if he answers honestly.
What's that line? "The nice thing about telling the truth is you don't have to try to keep track of who you told what"?
The nice thing about not running a scam is you don't have to take long pauses to consider the implications of every word you say, if you're just telling the truth
Blogger stevew said...
The more I see of Schiff the more I am convinced Pelosi set him up as the fall guy. Pelosi may have concluded that this was the best way to shut up The Squad and others that demanded impeachment.
I just don't see how the Democrats in the House can go this far, then stop, without completely flipping out their Base
If the Democrats hold a House investigation, then do NOT impeach Trump, Trump will spend the next year pointing out that even the house Democrats agreed that he's done no wrong
And Trump will be elected, with a massive EC win, and a majority of the popular vote
If the Democrats DO impeach, then they're going to lose the House next year. Because when the case is tried in the Senate it will utterly fall apart. The WB will be subpoenaed. For that matter, Schiff will be forced to testify (see Inherit the Wind). And they will be exposed as partisan hacks and liars, for all the country to see.
Which means the Base will stick with the Dems, but everyone else will run away.
Impeachment without actual crimes was a strange game. The only way to win was not to play. But the Democrats weren't able to do that.
Kind of like the way they filibustered Gorsuch, making it possible for Kavanaugh to be nominated
Oh, and Democrat kiddies: The "Biden rule" / "Garland rule" only kicks in when the President and Senate are of different Parties. It doesn't matter when a seat opens up, Trump can try to fill it, and the Senate can chose to vote on it. Or not, as the case may be
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