PBC News & Comment: Pelosi & McConnell Vie For Impeachment Leverage

In shrewd move, Pelosi holds the football, and won’t pass it to McConnell before rules of the game are clear….--the unexpected move shows Pelosi has mastery of procedure, and it also upstaged the impeachment votes
--Trump counter-programmed with a mob rally in Battle Creek, delivering 2-hour ramble with snap, crackle, pop and defaming the late John Dingell
--in his annual marathon news conference Vladimir Putin says the Trump impeachment charges are “absolutely made up”
--in curious attempt to “unify”, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard voted “present”
--NJ Rep. Jeff van Drew switches to GOP, went to kiss The Don’s ring in Oval Office visit
--at The Intercept, Mehdi Hassan compiled an A to Z list of impeachable offenses
--at ConsortiumNews, law professor Steven Lubet clarifies the role of senators in trial, they aren’t really jurors
--federal appeals court shreds individual mandate, a major blow to Obamacare
--PBS is hosting the Demprez debate in LA tonight, so don’t expect many tough questions
--following example of House races in 2018, Senate Dems back former Republicans in key races
--as the “twenty-teens” come to an end, we are sliding backwards in addressing climate crisis
--at The Intercept, Kate Aronoff details how rich nations blocked any meaningful progress at recent Madrid conference
--in fresh, emotional interview, journalist Dahr Jamail wrestles with depression and despair over inaction that threatens his beloved Denali
--California’s AB5 was intended to protect Uber drivers, but it’s screwing freelance journalists
--Trump campaign is using phone location data to ID voters
--new study by NIST shows racial bias in false positives from facial recognition systems
--facing widening protests over exclusionary citizenship law, India shuts off internet and cell service in major cities