"'A completely unserious and selfish move,' one House Democrat told Axios on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about a colleague."

I'm reading "Democrats fume at 'unserious' Trump impeachment vote" (Axios).

128 Democrats sided with House Republicans to block Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) from bringing a Trump impeachment vote, including most of Democratic leader...

Green's five-page measure argued that Trump "disregarded the doctrine of separation of powers by usurping Congress's power to declare war."...

Make a list of all the Presidents who should have been impeached if things like what Trump did to Iran is a basis for impeachment.  

Green told Axios in an interview he doesn't have "one scintilla of regret" about forcing the vote, adding that it "does not in any way cause me any degree of consternation to be criticized."

When last I noticed Al Green, he was interrupting Trump's address to Congress and waving a cane at him. 

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) getting rightly removed from President Trump’s speech really illustrates the demise of the Democrat Party.

They are out of ideas. They can’t offer anything positive for America so they try to ruin it.

Al Green needs to be censured and hopefully expelled. pic.twitter.com/CV15kVsz9x

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) March 5, 2025

Did that register any degrees on the consternation meter?

He's a man without consternation. He's a man who doesn't know how to sell an accusation.

AND: In Greener pastures:

OMG!!! 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/a1PbaFTjpP

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 24, 2025

Asked what was the "best moment" of Trump's speech, 2 of the NYT's 9 opinion writers said it was Al Green disrupting the session.

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) getting rightly removed from President Trump’s speech really illustrates the demise of the Democrat Party.

They are out of ideas. They can’t offer anything positive for America so they try to ruin it.

Al Green needs to be censured and hopefully expelled. pic.twitter.com/CV15kVsz9x

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) March 5, 2025

I'm reading the NYT analysis of Trump's big speech: "'It Was 90-Plus Minutes of Bad Moments': 9 Opinion Writers on Trump’s Address to Congress."

From the "Best Moment" section of the article:

Binyamin Appelbaum Representative Al Green’s stand in defiance of a president who has governed in defiance of the law. Green’s civil disobedience was the behavior of a man who believes that Trump is a threat to American democracy. Why did he stand alone?...

Michelle Goldberg Green’s heckling. Democrats shouldn’t have shown up at all, but if they were going to be there, noisy protest made more sense than holding up dumb little paddles. There’s nothing dignified about quietly playing the foil to an autocratic thug gloating about stripping America for parts....

Meanwhile, at home, I was comparing the scene to January 6th. You don't like what's going on in the Capitol? Disrupt! Try to stop the proceedings!

"Who did this?"

who did this? 😂 pic.twitter.com/TzJZdbq0Xc

— Al Green (@algreen) September 2, 2020

Help me make a list of people who have been imitated by a President of the United States.

The previous post has video of Harry Truman doing an imitation of the radio commentator H.V. Kaltenborn. And I can remember Barack Obama imitating Al Green. Or maybe that shouldn't count. He was just doing his best at singing "Let's Stay Together." Oh, I see that later he joked: "Tonight, I am speaking not just as a President, but as one of America's best-known Al Green impersonators." Obama also imitated the Seahawks' Richard Sherman: "I'm the best President in the game!"

I couldn't think of anything else. I googled people who have been imitated by presidents, and the first hit was a NYT pieced called "The Spirit of the President. Let it be Imitated." which I misread as promising for my list-making purpose. Turned out it was from November 12, 1864. Abraham Lincoln had called upon "all having a common interest [to] reunite in a common effort to save our common country," and the NYT editors recommended an imitation of his "forbearing and generous spirit." That's an immensely interesting detour, profound when I'm being lightweight. I'm only mentioning it because it's my way to blog about the process of blogging, and today, especially, has been a day of blogging details.

I'm genuinely trying to make a a list of people who have been imitated by a President of the United States.

At Obama's Milwaukee rally, Katy Perry sang "Let's Stay Together" and then ripped off her dress...

... to reveal a tighter, shorter dress that Obama's slogan/Wisconsin's motto "Forward" written on it in big letters. That was Milwaukee. Monday Obama comes to Madison, but we get Springsteen, not Perry.

After Obama's ad mocked Romney's singing, Romney responded with an ad that used Obama's singing "Let's Stay Together."

And now the ad is gone, due to a copyright claim. The campaign says "Our use was 100% proper, under fair use, and we plan to defend ourselves." I'm 95% sure that's correct. But:

1. "Let's Stay Together" is a beautiful, well-loved song that belongs to all of us, and we're all hurt if it is appropriated into a hostile, political context.

 2. A candidate who supports business and free enterprise should respect property, and it's Al Green's song. There's a legal limit to his property right in his song, and I don't think the Romney campaign overstepped that limit, but there's still a social space within which we might want to show respect for the owner. Think about how you feel about the public sidewalk in front of your house. Would you stand on the sidewalk outside somebody's house if you knew it was bothering them? I wouldn't. It's a matter of living together in harmony, beyond the call of legalities.

3. Obama is very attractive in his singing-like-Al-Green mode. Romney shouldn't even want to display that. It's Obama at his most likable. And he's been losing in the likability contest. Don't remind us why we've been liking the President... whether times are good or bad, happy or sad... oh! why do people break up...

IN THE COMMENTS: Paul Zrimsek said:

If you’ve got a hit song — you didn’t sing that. Somebody else made that happen.

Here's "the Barackness Monster" doing 5 minutes of...

... I think it's comedy.



Doesn't he have a job?

Dialogue chez Meadehouse at about 4:00:

ALTHOUSE: Does this go anywhere?

MEADE: No. It doesn't go anywhere. It's embarrassing. It's a comedy vehicle for Jimmy Fallon, and it puts Obama in a beta position.

At 4:29, his voice even cracks — like a pubescent teen. Look at his eyes. He looks like he knows it's a disaster. It seems that he's supposed to be doing some sexy Barry White style intonations, but he's obviously decided not to. It's a far cry from the actually very cool Al Green tribute he did back in January. It's like he wanted to recapture some of that charm, but it was so not happening.

"Five years ago today, a few thousand of us gathered in Springfield, Illinois, to launch an improbable campaign for president."

Email from Barack Obama.

The task was to build a grassroots movement capable of making the kind of change we believe in.

You've got to see this video about that journey -- it will make you smile...

Oh, really? Let me try...



Trying to rekindle the old spirit. Did I smile? Of course! It's a nice presentation of all the smiley Obama-related things there are... including catching the fly, dancing with Ellen, hugging his daughters, singing "Let's Stay Together," and saying he just killed Bin Laden. And Joe Biden. I always laugh when I see Joe Biden, but maybe that's just me.

Obama sings a bit of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" to an audience at the Apollo Theater that includes Al Green."

"I'm... so in love with you..."



Beautiful!

IN THE COMMENTS: Writ Small said:

There was more likeability in that 55 second clip than in the last two months of the GOP race. 

♫ Loving you whether, whether times are good or bad, happy or sad... ♫

What's your favorite slang expression for sexual intercourse?

Mine is in this performance:



It's not as clear there as on the original record, which I think he's lip-syncing to here. But I'm not embedding that video because it's really blurry... and because Al Green is has been seriously abused by his fashion stylist. Or do you think 1973 was such a crazy time that a man would get up in the morning and put that on? I know men like their shorts... but...