Whistleblower by Nancy OhanianEarly yesterday, Texas Democratic congressional candidate Mike Siegel tweeted "Let history remember that @RepMcCaul used his last term in office to cover up Trump’s gross abuse of power. It is despicable that a President used military aid to coerce a foreign nation to attack a political rival. And it is certainly impeachable." Simultaneously, Jon Hoadley, the progressive Democrat running in southwest Michigan for the seat help by Trump-enabler Fred Upton, issued this statement: "The Rule of Law is the cornerstone of American democracy and is not a partisan issue. I support an impeachment inquiry. Congressman Fred Upton has a decision to make. Does he, or does he not support an impeachment inquiry after the release of the phone call transcript and whistleblower report." Pretty much every Democratic candidate should be using similar messaging. Mitt Romney, Moscow Mitch and Kevin McCarthy will never do for Trump what Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), House minority leader John Rhodes (R-AZ) and Senate minority lLeader Hugh Scott (R-PA) did for Nixon on Aug. 7, 1974 when they strolled over the White House and told him he was doomed and should resign. No one will because they all know Trump doesn't listen to anyone.The whistleblower complaint-- released as we were all waking up (on the West Coast) yesterday-- begins like this: "In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President's main domestic political rivals. The President's personal lawyer, Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, is a central figure in this effort. Attorney General Barr appears to be involved as well." It gets worse. Yesterday, during the hearings, Dary Rezvani, the progressive candidate taking on hard-core-- and increasingly deranged-- Trumpist Devin Nunes in California's Central Valley: "It’s clear that Nunes does not have the mental capacity for the role that he serves. The hearing this morning was just the latest in a series of absolutely idiotic statements in his misguided attempts to protect the president. His inability to understand the gravity of this situation is just more evidence of his incompetence. Aside from legitimately being an enemy of the state, he is an absolute embarrassment to the Central Valley. He would rather kiss the ring than show any form of having a spine. We look forward to his retirement next year."In reporting the release of the complain for the Washington Post, Devin Barrett noted that "An unidentified intelligence official was so alarmed by the conversation, and related interactions between Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and Ukrainian officials, that they filed a whistleblower complaint to the inspector general for the U.S. intelligence agencies. Some members of Congress were allowed Wednesday to view a classified version of the whistleblower complaint on Wednesday, while the White House made a redacted version available to a larger group of lawmakers. That complaint, filed in August, became the subject of a high stakes back-and-forth among government agencies about how it should be handled. While the inspector general sought to alert Congress to the concern, lawyers at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded it should not be shared with Congress. The Justice Department decided it was not a proper whistleblower complaint, because it involved the conduct of the president, who is not an employee of the intelligence agencies. Instead, the complaint was relayed to the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in late August as a possible violation of cmapaign finance laws. After reviewing the matter for several weeks, Justice Department officials concluded the law had not been broken and closed the matter without ever opening a formal investigation."I guess it will be hard for the establishment to keep Barr out of prison in the long run. But I'm sure they'll manage.Let's go back to the political blowback from this. On the Democratic side, even the worst of the Blue Dog scumbags who normally lick Trump's ass-- take Henry Cuellar of Texas as an example-- have now hinted they may vote for impeachment. Late Wednesday night, Cuellar himself wrote "I agree with Speaker Pelosi that the respective committees in Congress must continue their investigations to see if these allegations are true before we proceed with impeachment. However, no one is above the law and if investigations prove that impeachment is the necessary course of action, then I will be forced to act on impeachment proceedings." The other Texan who had been holding out-- crooked Blue Dog Vicente Gonzalez-- released a few hours earlier his own statement: "The president, in holding back information required by law, chose to violate the law of our land by subverting the ability of Congress to uphold its constitutional oath. It is my duty as a patriot and as a member of Congress to defend the Constitution, and that is why today I must support the formal impeachment inquiry."There are now over 220 statements like that-- enough to impeach Trump. And which garbage is left over, still not backing the rule of law, still not standing up for the Constitution? Well... every single Republican-- plus a tiny gaggle (one dozen) of political cowards and fake Democrats:
• Anthony Brindisi (Coward-NY)• Joe Cunningham (Coward-SC)• Tulsi Gabbard (Fake Dem-HI)• Jared Golden (Coward-ME)• Kendra Horn (Coward-OK)• Ron Kind (Fake Dem-WI)• Conor Lamb (Coward-PA)• Ben McAdams (Fake Dem-UT)• Collin Peterson (Coward-MN)• Max Rose (Coward-NY)• Xochitl Torres Small (Coward-NM)• Jeff Van Drew (Coward/Fake Dem-NJ)
At the Atlantic Festival yesterday, Romney, voicing frustration about his GOP colleagues fecklessness and cowardice, said "I think it’s very natural for people to look at circumstances and see them in the light that’s most amenable to their maintaining power, and doing things to preserve that power."Nonetheless, Robert Costa reported for the Washington Post about the cracks beginning to open between congressional Republicans. "One Senate Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly [later identified as Ben Sasse of Nebraska], said the transcript’s release was a 'huge mistake' that the GOP now has to confront and defend-- while the party argues at the same time that House Democrats are overreaching with their impeachment inquiry of Trump."Trump sought to make sure Republicans would stay in line so-- something he learned from Mafia attorney Roy Cohn an all-around scumbag and historical monster Trump idolizes-- he attacked Romney in a way no Republican facing election wants to see his or her name attached to. Look at this disgusting Trump tweet aimed at humiliating and shaming a member of his own party, while threatening other Republicans to not step out of line. The following say Trump was slightly-- for him-- more subtle. Here's a look at his Twitter feed early in the morning:Axios reporters Margaret Talev and Alayna Treene took a swing at showing how Señor Trumpanzee is trying to revive his 2016 playbook, "trying to sully or smear the Biden family reputation, like he did with the Clintons during his last campaign." Personally, I'm certain he's doing this to ensure that Democratic primary voters who loath him so passionately will give him the weakest opponent. Whether that's true or not, these six parts of the playbook would be seen as hurting Biden in the general:
• Argue that your opponent is guilty of something as bad or worse than the accusations against you.• Create constant fog, amplified by Twitter. Allege the media is guilty, too.• Convince party leaders and Fox News to fall instantly in line, focused solely on your opponent’s supposed transgressions.• Demand documents and testimony, fostering an “everyone’s dirty and hiding something” atmosphere.• Stymie anyone on your side who’s thinking of dissenting by torching them on Twitter, like he did to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).• Bet that your own standing, while getting no better, gets no worse.
