H. Res 660 (complete text here) was approved 232-196, and lays out the rules of the investigation for two of those certain committees. At some point the investigations will conclude. The house can then choose to vote to impeach. Or not. Upon impeachment by the house, the Senate conducts a trial which ends with a vote on whether to remove the impeachee from office. So we are on step one of a three-step process. Let’s do a quick march through H. Res 660 and see what it actually says.
“[It] bein’ the biggest crime of the last fifty Years and everybody wanted to get in the newspaper story about it,” as Arlo Guthrie once famously said. The ponderously-named House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is Chaired by Adam Schiff; the ranking minority member is Devin Nunes.
(1), the chair and ranking minority member of the Permanent Select Committee shall be permitted to question witnesses for equal specified periods of longer than five minutes, as determined by the chair.
This seems hopeful. A congressman from each of the two political parties gets to question each witness – the chairman (a Democrat since that party currently is in the majority in the House), and the ranking minority member (the party not in the majority, ie currently Republican). The “ranking member” may also subpoena witnesses subject to the approval of the chairman, and should the chairman deny the subpoena request the ranking member may appeal that decision to the committee as a whole. Currently this committee consists of thirteen Democrats and nine Republicans. There is also a provision for questioning of witnesses by employees of the permanent select committee upon request from the chair or the ranking member, though apparently other members of the committee may not question witnesses. The chairman is authorized, though notably not required, to release to the public transcripts of depositions, properly redacted. Finally, the committee is directed to issue a report with its findings and recommendations.
The Judiciary Committee is chaired by Jerrold Nadler, who the author would like to personally thank for making his research easier by listing his name at the top of the committee’s homepage in all caps, then repeating it liberally throughout the site; other chairs made me dig for that info. Somewhat harder to find was the name of ranking member Doug Collins. The primary duty of the committee is overseeing the administration of the federal courts and federal law enforcement agencies. This committee traditionally conducts impeachment investigations. H. Res 660 outlines an investigation protocol for the Judiciary Committee which is similar to that imposed on the Intelligence Committee.
So what about those other committees? Is your author slacking? No, the “guidance” of H. Res 660, to use the bureaucratese term of art, stops with the standing committee on the Judiciary and the permanent select committee on Intelligence. That open and transparent thing is not defined for those other named committees, who we shall now briefly introduce.
The Financial Services Committee is chaired by the charming and stateswomanly Maxine Waters, with Patrick McHenry of North Carolina as the ranking minority member. Foreign Affairs is chaired by the Eliot L. Engel of the Bronx with Michael McCaul as the ranking member; Ilhan Omar is also on the committee.
The Oversight and Reform Committee webpage, at of the time this article was written, still lists the late Elijah Cummings of Maryland as its chairman with Jim Jordan of Ohio as ranking member. Resigned member Katie Hill of California is also still listed. The committee also includes such congressional luminaries as longtime nonvoting member Eleanor Norton from the District of Columbia, IT-savvy Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, crusading freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The Committee on Ways and Means is the oldest committee of the United States Congress, and is the chief tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives. The Committee derives a large share of its jurisdiction from Article I, Section VII of the U.S. Constitution which declares, “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” -Committee Website
While seemingly unimportant, the House Ways and Means Committee is the committee which writes tax legislation and claims jurisdiction over basically everything because of that. The committee is chaired by Richard Neal and the ranking member is Kevin Brady.
So there you have it. The stage is set. The roles cast. The House Select Committee on Intelligence seems to be taking the lead on this, and is the seeming star of the show. The House Committee on the Judiciary, though the traditional lead is cast in a supporting role. But keep an eye on the Oversight and Reform Committee; the committee contains three-quarters of the squad, and it will be interesting to see who replaces Cummings and Hill. Enjoy the show.
Comments
338 responses to “House Resolution 660: Congress Formalizes the Impeachment Inquiry”
“The stage is set. The roles cast.”
I’ve seen smarter casts of people on a Comedy Central roast.
I’ve seen smarter ensembles on the Gong Show
Nice Tesseract JG43
Thanks! I forgot where I found that since it’s been over 10 years. Weirdly enough it’s the same avatar I’ve always had here but sometime this year moving gifs started working.
I still can’t take my eyes off it.
Better than the Gong Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2naTw9y7zsE
What what??
+2 Jaye P. Morgan knockers.
Let the games begin!
It’s pure politics for me, and the hand-wringing on either side is silly (exhausting, even) since this is going nowhere.
The ideal test of our republic and the best use of popcorn would be: impeachment, conviction and removal, and then reelection.
If I didn’t think impeachment, conviction, and removal would result in Grand Commisar Warren, I’d be all for that.
Yes indeed. Maximum LULZ and enough salty tears to put out a California wildfire. It’s almost too bad that scenario couldn’t have happened a year ago. Then Trump would be eligible to run in 2024 too.
impressive; never occurred to me
One problem, I’m pretty sure romoval can include a ban from holding office again within the censure options.
Well that would be skirting with a Bill of Attainder unless they can also convict him of treason. Who knows what the supremes would say at this point.
If it’s just a removed President shall be unable to run for office, that would probably pass the bill of attainder.
Besides of Trump is removed, every Democrat controlled state will pass legislation prohibiting impeached and removed Presidents from being candidates or appearing on state ballots. Every Democrat Secretary of State and local elections official will do the same administratively. Good luck getting re-elected when you don’t appear on the ballot.
It’ unconstitutional. The standard is 35 and a natural born citizen. Congress and the states can’t override that.
Left and right coast states have been floating ideas about how to keep Trump off the next ballot since 2016. I wouldn’t put it past them to figure out a way to make it happen.
California’s law requiring tax returns to be on the primary ballot was ruled unconstitutional as well.
Article I, Section 3 specifically grants the Senate the power to disqualify an impeached individual from holding future office. Furthermore, impeachment cannot be pardoned.
Adam “Manson Eyes” Schiff and Jerry “I’m So Physically Repulsive I Make Newt Gingrich Look Downright Handsome” Nadler are going to turn this farce into a shitshow. Should be good for quite a few good laughs though.
Sug nailed Schiff with “the Innsmouth look,” a reference to the fish people (deep ones) in Lovecraft.
Tom Shillue has bern doing a great Adam Shiff impression. What SNL should be doing.
https://youtu.be/NW23WQQlybM
Nice summary Tonio. Thank you.
I don’t know, fellows. I just can’t shake the feeling that this isn’t going to be an unbiased pursuit of the fact no matter where they may lead.
You don’t trust this to not be a fishing expedition mashed up with a witch hunt? Don’t you have confidence in your representatives?
I don’t have any representatives.
The Schiff and Barr Comedy Hour is going to make for an “entertaining” 2020.
From the dead thread:
FYI,
Space 1999 is now streaming on Amazon Prime. It appears to have been remastered or at least improved visually from the 70’s classic. It might just be my TV upconverting it but it looks great.
I saw that. Coolness. I used to have a simulator which would let you fly the Eagle shuttles out of Moonbase Alpha.
http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/
Geeky af, and you have to download a crapton of addons.
I loved that show when I was a kid. I started watching the first season and got about halfway through before ‘meh’. Barbara Bain is still the shiznit in that in spite of the loopy writing.
The loopy writing is what makes S01 so great.
For S02 they turned it into a bog-standard monster show, and ditched the cathedral set for an underground closet while they were at it.
That’s funny. I loved that show as a kid, too. I think we only got to watch it at my cousins’ house, well my dad’s sister and her family. Their kids were like 5-7 years older than us and their parents were way more lax than my dad on both bedtimes and what we could watch. Plus, I don’t even know if we had reception for it, in fact, now that I look at the wiki for when it ran – ’75-’77. Man, I’m gonna have to watch that. And reading the wiki has an interesting factoid: it was made by the same couple that gave us Thunderbirds, the marionettes. I loved that show, too. It’s part of what made me love Trey Parker and Matt Stone for “Team America.” It was that same schmaltzy marionette shit from my childhood, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work, somehow. I couldn’t stop laughing the whole time just because of the puppets, and the animation itself. It’s funny as shit.
Did they get UFO also?
You can find every episode of UFO on YouTube.
I don’t believe a single thing out of Schiff’s mouth, so that makes this whole “impeachment” thing a lot easier. He’s a media whore and a tool, and has always been as far as I can tell. Small-minded men should never get this kind of power, but it’s too late, so we’ll see where he takes it. I kinda hope it ends with him being dragged off in handcuffs, but I probably won’t be that lucky.
Are the handcuffs attached to a wood chipper?
He also has a classic punchable face.
They should put his mug on Pin the tail on the donkey kits.
Pin the tail on the punchable face or Pin the tale on the punchable weasel face.
Punch the Face on the Ass?
https://archive.li/rPaZj/d74d2159d9e6104056816204c434e81e730d6a93.jpg
You disappoint me, Q. Not even a token beefcake for me after I read the Congressional Record until my eyeballs ached?
That does seem only fair.
OT: Now if only the SCOTUS would follow suit.
https://reason.com/2019/11/01/indiana-supreme-court-applies-eighth-amendment-to-curb-oppressive-asset-forfeitures/
Where is my friend Q, and what have you done with him?
OTOH, his link is… stimulating.
Russian gun laws. Interesting.
https://youtu.be/z0Wtyan3Qos
Funny how that video shows up three years later.
That whole channel’s good if you like that sort of thing.
I subscribed. Guess I’m on another list as a russian stooge now.
Since the dead vote for dems, I see no reason why a dead dem can’t be on a committee.
Tonio:
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/400409923007-0-1/s-l1000.jpg
Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4f/cc/ee/4fcceeb05bd8b59d76da4454a74fa2cc.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0c/e4/ba/0ce4ba1cbf7e517f0406488676649ccf.jpg
https://archive.li/bfi8K/7a25826b22a2deb0c51853f80906146710685b4a.jpg
OK, OK, stop already.
Pay no attention to him, Q!!!
I think I have met Rey Rey. And he has good taste in models.
Awww… you care. Thanks, bro.
Oh yaaaaassssss …
Thanks for the write up, can’t wait to see where this shitshow goes. Also, howdy y’all. Wifi died at my place for about a week so yeah that happened. Hope y’all been doing okay though.
Destination: Clown World
Destination: fucked.
Good God! I first misread that as “wife died at my place for about a week…” before doing a double-take and reading that again.
She got better!
I just thought maybe Pie paid him a visit.
No, Pie is at MikeS’ house.
I keep waiting for the NDG&F Tactical Unit to burst through my door.
Oh, poor baby.
https://archive.li/6atSU/4c8565a4c63f72b44e3963edb64887a953992ea4.jpg
Do they make tommy guns in the size to fit that violens case?
Well, if you were good at it you’d have already done all the legwork to know that all those tweets from dude were based on Tosh.O references beforehand, so…
I mean, he starts off with a skinny little p*ssyb*y typeface headline and things just go downhill from there.
I looked at King’s court records as well as his public social media, and found a few racist jokes he’d tweeted in high school.
Much brave. So woke. Columbia journalism review harshing on the words written by a high schooler? Next, middle school tweets disqualify SCOTUS nominee. Second Grade cloakroom classmate kiss derails cabinet appointment?
Right? The thin font headline screams “Pajamaboy”. Smug hipster “liberal” who weaponizes victimhood. And the fact that this dude is so busy doing anything but just coming out and owning the fact that he made a serious mistake, like not just an accident but a moral transgression, is right in line with all that. Just someone with absolutely no character.
Not sure I buy his ‘I meant no harm’ so why even bother? Are you that naive to think it would have ended well given the context of zeitgeist?
Sounds like Wokesters run CJR now.
The pick probably thought he was going to win SJW of the year for exposing the tweets.
Took me a minute to realize who that was.
WAH! As if that garbage-person doesn’t have a future at a thousand other garbage-outlets.
Oh FUCK OFF!!!!!
Asshole.
He probably falls under the 51% of millennials who think the 1A needs to be amended to reflect cultural norms but don’t touch his right to free speech as a journalist.
FTFY
The little PoS still doesn’t get. His defense of himself just confirms what a twerp he is.
It’s rich that at the end his lament is that people have forgotten about him and in stories about King he isn;t mentioed.
Performing background checks on public figures is part of a journalist’s responsibility. If I had found the tweets, others would, too.
So what? In the future, I suggest you let those others try to turn a hero into a heel over decade-old tweets and suffer the consequences. They can join you in the unemployment line.
Is this true? This doesn’t seem true to me. I mean, if you’re doing a deep-dive type expose, maybe. But a stupid “viral news” piece? Nah.
And it’s funny he admits that part of his job was to create or enhance viral stories, but manages to not equate digging up old tweets with accomplishing that.
Yep, he is one of the army of Gen-Z stringers that every outlet has now.
Even the NY Post does it. Every day there’s another “racist hick in Iowa” story and it’s always some freelancer I’ve never heard of.
Well we’re all racist hicks here in Iowa, so I’m not sure why that’s news 😛
He’s Gen Z? Damn. I’m getting real old.
Up top I mentioned millennial.
He also mentioned he didn’t believe in ‘cancel culture’ saying Gannett chose to fire him and that’s different.
He looks about 12 so I assumed.
Cancel culture is scorched earth politics. He got to you before you got to him, to bad, not sad until the leftists in media (all of it) stop.
Way late, but wanted to thank Animal for the great article earlier today. I missed it because I was out duck hunting.
I wish I had a hunting buddy/mentor around here. I’ve been dove hunting a few times and pheasant hunting once, but I wouldn’t know the first thing about serious hunting.
Start with the most dangerous game.
SMITH family?
Ratting out the Clintons.
Did you bag your limit?
Got the mallard limit (5 in central flyway), but one duck shy of overall limit. Still a great day, although my young dog has been frustrating, needs a lot more training.
I know how you feel. I’ve got an awesome dog, if I can get him to quit chewing on birds.
My dog is great for not chewing up the birds, she’s just been slow on learning hand signals for blind retrieves. I mostly hunt on a river so she needs to get after the ducks quick.
Push carpet tacks through a rubber band. Wrap the rubber band around a shot-down bird and have the dog fetch it. He bites the bird and the bird bites back. Unless the pooch has less brain than the average decoy, he’ll get the idea and soft-mouth his pickups.
/h/t Robert Ruark.
I’ve been hesitant to go to that point, but I may have to.
That Oversight and Reform committee team.
It’s….yeh….smh.
Kinda makes the UN Human Rights Committee membership look not quite so insane, huh?
That’s a serious problem. How can no one see it’s a problem? If I can see it’s a problem from Mount Royal standing next to Marguerite Bourgeoy’s Cross how can Americans not see it’s a problem? It’s a problem that needs to be solved. And fast.
Thanks for laying it all out there, Tonio. And thanks for the article, as well!
Seriously, good job.
I’ll second this.
The whole shit-show gets a little much to follow,
The Alt-Right keeps getting bigger.
https://quillette.com/2019/11/04/meet-the-gay-activists-whove-had-enough-of-britains-ultra-woke-homophobes/
I’m too old for this shit.
me too, but shit isn’t going away anytime soon.
Oh this is the tip of the iceberg. Once you’ve taken objective reality and tossed it out the window in favor of, “I am what I feel and you have to agree” it’s anything goes.
I read the whole thing.
Wow. Just, wow.
How must this strike LGB folks who have endured actual discrimination in their lives?
I honestly don’t know what to do with the T’s. I’m sure they face discrimination too but at the same time I think *most* Americans can deal with them as long as they’re not trying to do things like change the language or entrap people in Catch-22 logic puzzles. The problem, as always, is that the loudest voices are assholes.
Present yourself as a man. I treat you as if you are a man. Present yourself as. woman, I treat you as if you are a woman.
I do not care what’s under your dress or what’s not in your jeans. I CARE about my next errand, my next client, my next house repair. I don’t have time to notice your face, much less care about you, much less your preferred pronouns.
You get a she or a he if I must acknowledge your existence. I have shit to do.
Buncha narcissistic toddlers.
Oh, and don’t compete with girls.
This for sure.
And don’t go out and rape women as a man and then after your convicted say you identify as a woman and demand to be put in a women’s prison and housed with them. This happens in Canada.
The world’s gone mad.
Link
https://quillette.com/2019/10/12/male-bodied-rapists-are-being-imprisoned-with-women-why-do-so-few-people-care/
I’ll keep saying it: Post. Rational. Epoch.
We now live in a world managed by bureaucratic morons, catering to retards screaming inanities and it has the force of reality. It defies belief. Seriously. Think about this. They’re housing convicted male rapists in a women’s prison because he said he “identifies” as a woman. We’ve given up control of reality. Just ponder that on the Tree of Woe.
The problem for me are the activists. Use the bathroom of your chosen sex (?), fine. But I do not trust activists to stop at reasonable and next you get men in women’s showers.
Wait, there is no next that was simultaneous. Then there is the destruction of women’s sports.
More than a few folks around here predicted that there was going to be a big ol’ schism in the…I don’t know, not LGTBTQQEG_#!+ community based around sex vs. gender, and damned if that’s not exactly it. This train was heading for the station the first time the concepts of gender and sex became disconnected. And meanwhile, talk about the strange bedfellows all of this is producing.
*raises hand*
The T was always a kind of ugly red-headed stepchild in this arrangement. We kept them around because we liked getting drunk and watching our drag queens (the vast majority of whom are not T) and they reminded us of them. I don’t think we counted on Generation Z latching on to them as the newest, most-importantest cause ever.
A Glib posted this a couple of days ago.
I think Rhywun was correct. I don’t think it’s most Trans people. It’s the bullies, the ideologues. They’re unfortunately the loudest and they have prog allies in power too willing to enable their fantasies. They have lots of reasons to push some of these things. Not all of them related to “equal rights and fairness”.
There is no LGB without the T,” tweeted Owen Jones
What a cune.
Well, there’s barely any B, so …
I’ve always given the B’s a side-eye myself.
Why is it hard to believe people are attracted to both?
But even if it hard to believe, I have bi friends who don’t dare tell their gay friends they’re bi. Straight people think, “Damn, twice as many opportunities.” Gay people think, “Stop being so self-loathing.”
Because the ones I’ve known did it for the attention. And eventually settled on “straight”.
*shrugs* Their loss 😛
So my brother’s bi trending gay. Wife, 2 kids. She knew before they got married and they’re best friends.
His view is that women are for nesting and making love and cuddling. Men are for fucking—and that’s all.
IMHO if he only uses men as fucktoys, he’s not gay let alone trending.
I’d say he’s gay and stealing women away from straight men just to have kids!
He’s sexually attracted to men, less attrcacted sexually to women. Gay? Not gay? Bi?
I don’t know if he’s ever actually had sex with a man, but I highly doubt it.
Alby on Big Love was “bi trending gay.”
The whole idea of separating who I want to have sex with from who I want to nest with or cuddle is completely foreign to me, so… I’ll beg off from trying to judge.
Nesting is what you think you should, fucking is what you want to do. Like all those gay guys who pretend to be straight because they’re soooo scared of how friends and family would react if they found out they were gay, then they come out and everyone is just, ‘Took you long enough.’
I think the issue is that a LOT of political, and emotional, capital in the L and G worldview has been invested in the notion that sexuality is a fixed, genetically determined attribute akin to race or sex. That is I believe the result of a tactical decision made very early in the movement that the path to the goal of equality was more likely to be found down the progressive path of the Civil Rights Act, and a lot of the basis for that approach is the idea that it is evil to punish people for immutable characteristics.
I can’t really blame them for that choice since the alternative is a more libertarian approach focused on the fact that the laws discriminating against homosexuality were laws against behavior that did not harm anyone, and given how utterly unsuccessful libertarians have been at everything it makes sense to take the progressive route.
The problem is I don’t think the underlying assertion is really true. There may be some people so far out along the spectrum of sexuality that they are immutably, unalterably, gay or straight. It may even be a majority (although I doubt this), but it is not an overwhelming majority, and the doctrinaire parroting of that idea I think causes real pain for people who are more fluid.
I doubt you can shame many gay men to have sex with a person with a vagina and no penis. No matter how woke they are.
Thanks for the write up, Tonio. This whole pile of crap is one of the most annoying political shit shows I’ve ever seen.
It is truely pathetic.
I guess I’m spoiling for a (civilized) fight.
Someone posted in the Tesla Facebook group that her state (WV) has just imposed an “alternative fuel tax” that costs her flat annual fee that gas cars don’t have to pay.
Apparently the local pols are missing that sweet, sweet gasoline tax revenue.
There were some playful comments about how that’s because WV wants everyone driving coal burning cars.
But then the SJWs came out.
One lady (not an SJW) wrote: “I have 3 gas cars and my Tesla. So I am double taxed.”
A male socialist envypig replied to her “REDACTED1 no you aren’t… you are luxury taxed. You own 4 vehicles.”
To which I replied “REDACTED2 Once upon a time there was a document that was pretty popular in the US that made mention of “the rights of people to acquire, use, and dispose of property freely.” The fact that REDACTED1 has 4 cars doesn’t hurt anyone else.”
He then huffily said he was as capitalist as they come, but that she doesn’t need to register those cars. WTF? As capitalist as they come? Nice try, Bernie lover.
To the original post about the WV tax , my statement was “All the politicians claim to be doing things for “the environment” or “the children” or “the little guy” in order to get votes and then pass laws that line their pockets (and relatives’ pockets). All they want is money and to get re-elected so they can make more money. A rare few are not hypocrites.”
Have they started implementing the Hazardous waste disposal fees for the dead batteries? Or is there precedent from smaller LIon batteries?
Yeah, they’ve got it pretty figured out on the batteries. Once they dropped the cobalt and came out with Lithium-iron phosphate batts, they got much more stable, and parts are even recyclable.
I didn’t get my Tesla for “the Environment”—I know where batteries come from and where most electricity comes from. I got a Tesla because it’s a dream to drive and I charge free from home solar.
I’ll still make tesla jokes, but I picked a hybrid because it was the most comfortable to drive when I was at the dealership. So I understand the criteria.
You’re braver than I to interact with norms like that.
I’m counting down until the admins delete the post.
I agree. I ended up quitting derp book over stuff like that, as I just can’t seem to keep my trap shut when someone says something stupid. I was quickly finding out who my friends were, and who my “friends” were.
The only good part of FB is my distant family pics.
I think I’ll quit all other groups.
Fuck ‘em.
Even my best, oldest friends have gone full derp.
I try not to think of it too much.
I’ve seen some of the same. I suppose most of them would say the same of me though.
Enh, I turned 50 this year. Don’t really care at this point.
*yells at cloud*
So, everything you said being true; I still don’t have an issue with an alternate fuel tax. Gasoline tax (in theory) is supposed to pay for roads. Well, that and registration fees. So, if the E-cars aren’t paying gas tax, shouldn’t they have to pay for use of OUR ROADZ?
Really, as far as taxes go, isn’t a use tax the “best” kind? I know there’s issues with differing mileage that makes a gas tax not perfect, but it’s closer than most, isn’t it?
Tesla annual registration in CA is a whopping $600 vs the $112 of my husband’s SUV.
Go figure.
If there is every a tax or fee for car registration it should be by gross weight of the vehicle…
In NoDak, gross weight and age are the deciding factors for setting the registration fee.
When i was in NM they did by gross weight. Not sure if they still do. I thought that was fair. I have a heavy vehicle that in theory puts more strain on the road, i pay.
But light cars are used for commuting so put more miles on the road per year.
Hawaii auto taxes are based on vehicle weight.
Somebody gettin’ paid in CA! I get pissed at $72 reg fee–I can only imagine having to drop 10x that.
Everything is proportionally higher out here: salaries, housing costs, clothing, taxes, etc.
That’s why raising the minimum wage doesn’t help. Everything just gets more expensive because human labor goes into providing it for purchase.
Except wine. Wine is actually cheaper here.
And so are many fruits and veggies.
Of course–the three food groups!
На здоровье!
Heh, almost 20 years ago when I stayed with my cousin in California, Registration on their brand new fuel efficient vehicle was something like $900. Registration on the ’69 (or what not) suburban he used to go rock crawling was under $100…That was also the first time I ever went to a Whole foods and they’re spouting off about non-GMO as we walk past the corn, and I mention that teosinte was just a grass before the natives messed with the genes…silence.
Can’t bring myself to read the whole bill (Thanks, Tonio, for enacting my labor,) but I’m not sure how well defined “open” is even for the Permanent Select Committee. Am I jaded and cynical to expect some “creative” interpretations of “open,” based on how this crap has been handled so far?
That does most likely make you jaded and cynical. It also most likely makes you correct.
All the deep state types and corrupt politicians who have been getting rich Hunter Biden style – profiting off our forever wars – are trying to expell the outsider who is threatening the gravy train.
This stuff all has Fusion GPS Hillary stink on it.
In risk of stepping on Hyperbole’s kingdom….is he really? Or is he just installing his own type of class that will continue to get enriched off a new gravy train?
That is a good point. We here know that the problem isn’t that people are gaming the system, it is the fact that system’s very existence makes it an avenue for corruption.
Trump is the closest President to Andrew Jackson we’ve had since the man himself. And, like Andrew Jackson, he’s loved by (some of) the “common man” and hated by the (current crop of) “elites”. He also, if he had his way, would replace everybody around him with somebody he likes. The biggest difference between then and now is that, in Jackson’s day, the civil service was seen as (almost) exclusively an executive branch creature, and thus Jackson could do damn near whatever the hell he wanted with it. The end result was the first iteration of what later became known as the spoils system. It took another 40 years after Jackson, but Congress eventually passed the Pendleton Act, which sets up the “independent” civil service as we know it today.
The short of it is, I think Trump would set up things to benefit himself and his friends if he could. He has, to some extent, but he’s limited by inertia and the other 2 branches. Unlike Jackson, he has neither the temerity nor the support necessary to tell the Supreme Court off.
So is Schiff using parody transcripts or his co-conspirator transcripts for the record?
Whichever will get him the most airtime on CNN.
Does it really matter?
He’s using the neighbor’s dog.
I strongly suspect that the use of Intelligence Commitee is so that information that doesn’t jive with the narrative can be redacted to … wait for it…
*doesthe most exaggerated air quotes in the history of air quotes*
… “””pRoTEct NatIOnAl sEcUriTy.”””
Britain’s Brexit situation sounds quite similar to our Trump situation. Same leftest bullies. I guess at least they let Trump take office, even though they’re trying to kick him out.
https://youtu.be/DGF7-xcvXYM
I think they are more screwed. Everything in their electoral system is much more tied to party affiliation which makes it much harder to throw the bums out.
Yeah, as much of a crazy train we’re on here in the US – it’s hard to believe but it’s even crazier there.
Yeah, I’m not sure what I would do if the government just decided to ignore the electorate completely. Why even put it up for a vote if your only going to honor one outcome?
We don’t need to vote because Top Men are better at making decisions for you than you are.
They don’t have any guns so…
Guns would be nice but there are many ways to skin a cat.
They also don’t have any knives.
What we need is common sense boiling water control.
So you always make a proper cuppa.
Cuppa what?
That crap our forebears rightly dumped in the harbor.
It’s with a heavy heart that we have decided to impeach the President of the United States. I mean, we are really, really, really unhappy about doing this and it pains our souls to have to do it, but all his impeachable behavior is being done in the open. The emolumental claws has been clearly been violated and, gosh darn it, we have to go against our desire to protect the president and instead boot him out. It is a sad day for our republic that we have to do this.
They’re so brave and courageous to sacrifice themselves like this.
Here’s why I would make a terrible political consultant. My take would’ve been: This is fuckin’ great! We’ve been trying to get rid of this asshole since the day he was elected, but, well, all of the shit we threw at the wall just slid down into a giant steaming pile. That Russia thing? Sucked that it didn’t work, but, oh well. And then Trump comes out and hands us this one. Yeah, it’s gonna help us a shitload. We were probably gonna lose the election. Can’t believe how lucky we got.
The honesty would be refreshing at least.
One of the Great Lies: “This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you.”
Don’t you make me come up there!
*cringes*
Knock it off!
“If I have to pull this car over…”
“Don’t make me emancipate you.”
Just slow down to 10 mph and advise them to tuck and roll as you push me out the door.
I’d come to a complete stop before making him get out and walk 20 miles home.
I’m not a monster.
Then drive away like this.
Moral of the story: don’t fuck with David Leisure.
Now, of all the responses to my comment, I suspect the guy’s posted what they heard, but you posted what you said.
No, I didn’t say that.
I said, “If you were legal to get a job, you’d be out the door right now.”
(Oh, lordy – a stray apostrophe! ::frantically tries to douse out T’ed’S. signal::)
Paging Lachowsky
https://dailycaller.com/2019/11/04/glover-traffic-stops-supreme-court/
On what basis did he run the registration to begin with? For fun? These fishing expeditions are a huge part of the problem.
As someone who deals with this on a regular basis, running the registration isn’t really the issue. Without further explanation from the article, it would seem that Kansas ties Drivers License info into the vehicle registration info, which is really odd to me.
In Texas (as far as my work has gone), you can’t run a DL check based on who the registered owner of a vehicle is. I worked with someone, prior to them becoming an officer) who did that for “his” officers–yeah, he was that kind of gung-ho. He was told in no uncertain terms that it was not permissible for him to do that; an officer had to request a check, and it had to be on a person with whom the officer has made contact.
Why Kansas ties them together in one “return” is beyond me. Then again, I actually believe in probable cause being necessary. I can attest to the fact that a whole metric shit-tonne of leeway is granted to officers when using their on-board terminals to run things. That leeway starts with the courts, and is certainly backed up by the FBI.
Gorsuch’s statist is showing.
For me, probable cause will always mean “what I see is a crime, probably,” not “cops probably deserve the benefit of the doubt to do whatever they want.”
I agree. They are going from individualized, articulable suspicion to what’s true most of the time.
This is our Gaius Marius / First Roman Civil War moment when everyone stopped following the rules. That how a Republic dies.
nah: Senate shoots it down and then we laugh about all the energy and ink wasted on it
The trick is to shoot it down slowly and thoroughly, plowing over as many shady people as possible in the process. I’d the democrats don’t rue the day they first thought about impeachment, the senate hasn’t done enough.
I suppose a bright side is that an impeachment may lead to knee capping the executive branche’s power. The dark side is that it may (most likely will) lead to the executive branch being unable to stand up to the warmongers in the DoD and intelligence agencies even (if a dove ever manages to get elected).
And Tonio, thank you for the article. As an attorney, kinda history nerd, Constitutionalist, this just pains me. The whole thing. Just a farce.
I really am curious to see what happens in 2020.
Aaaand, the Giants still suck.
High point: “Leading rusher” of the game.
That was funny as hell.
🙁 N/A in your country.
Howzis?
Yeah, thanks
Reminiscent of Buschie the Rally Squirrel.
Yup, highlight of the night.
Mo: “Don’t make me emancipate you.”
OUr tax deductiion. Sunday: “I’m outta here, I don’t have to put up with this shit.” Me: “See ya.”
Tuesday” ” Do you know how expensive apartments are around here?” Me “No shit.”
Things got a lot more pleasant.
EXCELLENT!!!??????
That was high school. I middle school he had a freind that was using the threat of the CPS against his parents to get what he wanted. He tried that with us. I handed him the phone and said ‘I hope you get a nice foster family.”
My brother made that threat because we didn’t have a Nintendo.
Jeez…shoulda gone for a Genesis.
A Turbo Grafx, at least.
My friend put the CPS number on the refrigerator and told her kids to go ahead, “but remember, they take the children.”
Lol. My mom used CPS as a threat against me. She took me there one morning before anyone was there. Sat in the parking lot and 10 year old me pleaded with her to not leave me there. Kicker? I hadn’t done anything wrong. She was just nuts.
Whoa.
I a’ not exaggerating when I say my dad would have murdered this child before he was 10. No-shit, straight-up murder, and he’d sit in prison believing he was right to do it.
This child? Mikey’s? I get that. Even as a kid, I knew I wanted nothing to do with government goons.
No, sorry! Not Mikey’s kid.
MY kid. From what I remember of the stories told of my dad’s childhood, that my son is very much like him.
I didn’t know there was such a thing as “CPS” until college or after.
/mostly uneventful childhood, probably a relief to my mom as I was the 4th in line
If they aren’t willing to sell their body on the streets, they’re not serious.
LOL
One of the long list of reasons why I am pushing my two spawn to master basic English is so that if they ever do start with that kind of attitude – and I have to expect there will come a day when they do – I can walk them over to a recruiter and sign them up.
I’m convinced every kid has to go through to break from mommy and daddy and become their own person. Some are easier than others. I wasn’t too bad. My wife made her parent’s life hell. Our kid’s asshole stage only lasted about a year and it was quicly done. We laugh about it now.
Mine will be 14 next month, so we’re into year 12 of his issues. His first two years weren’t a picnic either.
Funny thing, though, is that he’s very huggy with me. Occasionally if I’m in a good mood, I’ll chase him around to tickle him (I never do; the fun is in the chase) and every day he comes home and gives me a big hug. He really does feel bad if he’s pushed me so far I just break down and cry, but that doesn’t happen too often. So as far as it is possible for him to be so, which is not saying much, he is a mama’s boy.
That’s known as “teenager”. It will get worse.
Ayup.
I remember getting particularly pissed at my mom for some reason and putting a hole in the wall with my fist. When my mom told my dad about it, his response was “better the wall than you”, shrugged, and handed me a bucket of spackle.
They divorced not too much later.
I know I am a freak of nature because I never gave either of my parents that kind of attitude. I couldn’t wait to get out on my own but that wasn’t a reaction against them. On my 17th birthday I was at the recruiter’s office enlisting. He put me on a delayed enlistment for 6 months to finish high school.
The only time I lived in the same house again was the brief time between the military and starting school – and I paid rent for that time.
So kids like that are a total mystery to me.
What would you have done had you not enlisted?
I can’t imagine it. I basically made up my mind when I was 12. I went down to the recruiter’s office when I was 15 just to be sure there wasn’t anything about me that would bar me from enlisting. I even did high school ROTC just to get prepared. I never considered a different path.
Tough question, isn’t it? I can barely remember my state of mind when I was 40, let alone when I was 18. I’d imagine it was weed and chicks all day.
I only thought about 3 career paths my entire life: GI Joe, NFL player or film maker/writer. The first one isn’t real, as for the second my school didn’t even have a football team.
::eye roll::
Now, who’s being naive?
I moved out the morning I turned 18.
I moved back in for about a month and change when I enlisted later before I shipped to basic and then one more time around a deployment a few years after that.
My motivation was my dad kept saying at several times during high school that if I wasn’t going to college I was going to have to pay rent (at some unnamed point in time). I figured if I was going to pay rent, I’d have my own place and my own rules. I didn’t wait to be asked.
In HS I was working all legal hours allowed (and more when the boss let me skirt the law) and borrowed money to my parents to pay bills. I wanted to leave and go make movies, I didn’t want to be here, but the plan was always to send money back to keep the family afloat, unfortunately my dad’s health didn’t last that long (something we knew was coming) so I came back to help out physically instead of with money. I wasn’t a shit as a teenager, I got that all out of my system by the time I was 10.
I get the feeling we’re living in the last days of the republic. And Trump’s impeachment is just bringing us one step closer to the end result. The aims of the left in that regard are pretty damned obvious. The ostensible crime they’re accusing Trump of consists of making inquiries about what any sane observer would know is a blatantly corrupt arrangement between a foreign enterprise and individuals most intimately connected at the highest levels of our government. Whatever bad things you want to say about Donald Trump, this is probably one of the better things he’s tried to do. But, it’s not hard to see where this could very easily turn on them. Let’s say the guy looking to tear down the system wasn’t a reality television show host, but, say, a national hero, say a general who’d just been credited for winning a war? Does anyone really think someone like that couldn’t summon a national following ready to take up arms in a situation like this?
The last days of the republic started when they Hamilton any power.
It’s frustrating to sit back and watch. The Democrats have been doing this show trial crap for years and now it’s reached a new level. Also annoying that I find myself defending Trump when there is plenty of legitimate criticism of him that’s going ignored.
Peaceful transition of power was nice while it lasted.
Is it just inevitable that a society built on rule of law can only last a few hundred years?
There have always been, and will always be people who want power. You keep liberty by enforcing limits on those people, but since those people are drawn to positions where they can change the laws, or the enforcement of the laws, law is not a defense against them. The only defense against them is a moral (nothing to do with who you get your rocks off, morality is willingness to to do the right, even when it is dangerous or inconvenient), educated in civics and basic critical thinking, populace with a free press to inform them when the power seekers break the rules, and the arms to take action.
Since the press has been coopted and the educators are wholly onboard with the power grads, we are largely fighting a delaying action now.
I’ll count that as a jinx. Forget who said it (Aristotle?), but the virtuous usually have the most to lose, so they are the most reluctant to act.
But then you get into what that ‘right thing’ is. Morality is a feeling, ethics is an idea. So lets say ethical, instead of moral? Morality can’t be argued, ethics can.
You are making up your definitions here. Ethics refers to external rules of conduct, morality refers to internal rules of conduct. It is not ideas v feelings but rather codes of conduct that may vary by setting vs. the basic precepts that don’t change. I’m going to stick with morality here because ethics can be twisted to support tyranny very easily.
Yes, those are called feelings.
*Yanks juke box plug from socket* I’ve seen the ethics vs morality debate before and it never ends well. On second thought…*Plugs jukebox back in, cues up Wagner*
I took an Ethics and Morality class a looong time ago. I remember virtually nothing about it.
Welp, that’s the extent of my input here.
Things found immoral are immutable and inarguable, it is how a one feels about a subject, feeling that it is wrong. It does not involve thinking. If a person finds something immoral, you can’t argue them out of that position. But, with a logical argument, you can convince someone that something they find immoral should none the less be legal. As you said, that can be used as a detriment as well, but that is the only way to properly argue the law. For further thought on the subject, morals are personal, ethics are political.
It’s always about who has the power. There’s a reason the cops get away with stuff that would get us mortals locked up. Same with politicians. Set up a system that attracts the scum of the earth and it’s no mystery why eventually they outnumber the people who actually had honorable intentions.
It doesn’t help that far too many humans want controls placed on Those People Over There.
Of course, they themselves have no problem following any and all rules. It’s those “others” who insist on doing whatever they want who must be controlled. And, if you’re willing to get legislation passed and enforced, you will get that vote.
Hey
SullyArnie, remember when I told you I would kill you last?I lied.
Arnold Schwarzenegger goes cycling with his ‘friend and hero’ Greta Thunberg
(Barf)
Such a cute couple! Maybe he can get her a role in the next Conanator flick.
/you know she’s a T-800. Or, a Cultist of Doom
She’ll be enthusiastically embracing SkyNet destroying mankind to preserve the planet.
Of course, she envisions herself as the Earth Mother Goddess reclining in the green goodness of earth rather than being thrown onto the ash heap along with the rest of us kulaks and wreckers.
Then the AI blankets the earth in silicon solar collectors and interconnecting microcontrollers etc. After all, what do robots need with O2 produced by plants?
::suspiciously eyes hayeksplosives::
Say–you sure do seem to know a lot about what robots need….
::eyes HS again, for good measure::
Sorry it has taken so long to ack your reply.
I had to recha—, uh reset the Betamax.
That’s a normal human thing, right?
If that is in reference to Beto’s husband, then…yes.
::eyes again, just to be on the safe side::
And the computers work better in a cooler environment.
Say–you sure do seem to know a lot about what
robotscomputers need….If I were a computer program I wouldn’t need to sleep…and I clearly say I’m going to sleep at the end of the night, therefore I’m not a computer…
Just what a computer says… “Sleep”, “Restart”, and “Shut Down”.
Are you spying on me at work?
You know what other Austrian expressed pleasure at a Swedish puppet and figurehead?
Ooh, good one!
Is it me or did she escape from Children of the Corn or some similar scare flick?
I vote Village of the Damned.
It was a hoot when a local theater was showing both VotD and the Goofy Movie at the same time. The marquee read:
Village of the Damned
Goofy
there’s a ‘fucking Goofy’ joke in there somewhere…
Minnie suspiciously absent…
Sounds like that should be on the Washington, DC city limits sign.
I can see Village of the Damned, for sure.
Yeah…all in all, I don’t want to drag a beloved character into that morass.
That’s outstanding.
Too bad camera phones weren’t a thing back then. And, that I wasn’t keen enough to tote a camera everywhere I went.
*snort*
That guy probably used to eat more meat in a year than I have in my entire life.
Phrasing?
Definitely.
Remaking Twins?
That guy’s been in Gullyfornia too long – it’s broken his brain.
I ‘member when he was first elected and it was like the second coming of Adolf.
Because being a huge disappointment as governor wasn’t enough.
Thanks, Tonio! I now know far more than I wanted to about this mess. 😉
Also, I’d like to publicly and sincerely thank Tonio for picking up much of the editing load the past few weeks. The site wouldn’t be running half as well without his assistance. I think TPTB should double his salary!
Triple it!
Mojeaux, or any of the other Mormon contingent, I would be very interested if one of you would do a review of Big Love. I love me some Bill Paxton, and we’ve got a big contingent of Mormons in my town.
I have never seen it. Never had HBO and while I can watch the series with Amazon Prime, I’m not really interested in it. After my life settles down, I might give it a whirl.
That show was so good I subscribed to HBO just to watch it. The only other times I subscribed to a channel were to watch Penn & Teller: Bullshit and Ash VS The Evil Dead.
I moved, and subscribed to Showtime just to catch the last season of “The L Word” and then hated it.
I love that show (also Bill Paxton) as well. If you are a Veronica Mars fan, be on the lookout for lots of cross casting of minor characters.
https://archive.li/ML4T9/a02d54fda1ec266eb9574cd7dc6c046f398dff2f.jpg
NSFW.
Wait a sec, two are out of place. What is this, the backpage of Highlights for Children?
A belated thank you to Tonio. Good article.
Yep. I sometimes forget to thank people for their subs. This one was especially useful.
Somehow I don’t think this is going to swing the election.
https://dailycaller.com/2019/11/04/tom-steyer-kamala-harris-stolen-data/
That has to be crap–he’s rich! A rich guy wouldn’t need to steal, especially a Dem!
It was the Plumbers what done it!
What good would that data do the Steyer campaign? He’s gonna steal her volunteers? That speaks volumes about what both campaigns think about the volunteers intelligence.
Exactly
They’re not going to elect you, dude, no matter how much money you flush down the drain.
I think NY got his impeachment tv ads, too, right? So insufferable.
I give you, my comrades, the People’s Cube.
Ocasio’s Cortex
https://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/ocasio-s-cortex-t21015.html
“sense of humor cell”
*chortle*
Props to the person who added the piddling dog.
People whose every movement is noisy, overly large, dramatic drive me nuts. The guy next to me at the cafe is one of these types. Grunts, sighs, sniffles all excessively audible. Twitchy, self absorbed body movements. Not everyone needs to be calm like a monk, but everything this guy is doing screams, “Look at me! I’m important!” Now, I bet I’m guilty of mind reading, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying AF.
Maybe he’s covering a case of farts?
He who smelt it dealt it.
Maybe. He just one of those spazzy Japanese guys that isn’t comfortable in his own skin. If you ever get a chance, go to a tea ceremony. Every movement the lady serving the tea makes, from entering the room to leaving, is designed to inspire calm in the customer. It’s a filthy massage for your soul.
Driving my aunt anywhere.
Small bump “oooh”
Smaller bump “ow”
No bump “aahh”
Coke with the aunt, eh?
Diet Coke.
Oopsy daisy!
And now he left and an old guy sat next to me. The old guy gave me the ol’ hand wave and nod/bow as he scooted past me and into his seat. I like this guy.
Well, if he rips one, you’ll have to forgive him.
I mean, still tell us about it.
Not very exciting. Just avoiding doing the paperwork I need to get done.
Maybe those old guys have “paperwork” to do…
What?
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2019/11/04/wake-up-sheeple-nyt-opinion-piece-explains-that-if-you-wear-clothes-youre-part-of-the-problem-of-climate-change/
The patriarchy aren’t the ones tossing clothes. Hell, I was very upset when I lost a hat I had for 18yrs last year, and I finally threw out a pair of underwear because there was LITERALLY nothing left in the taint area and ma balls kept dropping out.
Taint nothin’ to ’em, I guess…
This.
https://www.xkcd.com/1013/
I now go to sleep, like a normal hooman. Which is what I am. IGNORE ME!
I approve, oh Robot Overlord Sentinel.
Gotta get to work meself. See ya guys later.
PEACE!
wake up and get to work ya lazy bastards
Ugh! Don’t remind me!
Well, I guess it’s OK to remind me, lest I get too wrapped up in the e-mail I’m writing to one of our Glib novelists, having just finished one of his books.
And good morning/afternoon, Pie.
Fan mail is unbecoming. Let him have it. Criticize every chapter.
I’m on vacation, Pie. I don’t have to work if I don’t want to.
Get back in the word mined
mines goddamnit
The yield this year has not been particularly rich, I only got 3700 words yesterday.
Aaaaaaaaand “Send”…
Check your Inbox when you’re so inclined.
I’m at work…
Doesn’t mean I’m actually working though.
And I’m off to the world. Good day/evening to you, gentlemen!
G’Day
Thanks Tonio.
though apparently other members of the committee may not question witnesses.
I wonder how they will get their grandstanding in.