Right Matters

Impeach, Impeach, Impeach:  The Trump impeachment hearing went on and on again yesterday as the Democrats focused on the abuse of power charge against Trump.  House Intel Chief/Impeachment Guru Adam Schiff again performed admirably, whatever happens here, and we kind of know what will happen, his star is rising, so much that portions of his closing statement went viral last night, cited as “gripping” and “a statement for the ages” particularly his ending remarks that "Colonel Vindman said here right matters. If right doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how good the Constitution is. It doesn't matter how brilliant the Framers were. It doesn't matter how good or bad our advocacy in this trial is. Doesn't matter how well written the oath of impartiality is.  If right doesn't matter, we are lost. If the truth doesn't matter, we're lost."  #RightMatters

Praise and Agita: Even Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s most ardent fanboys and a veteran of the Clinton impeachment squad, congratulated Schiff on the “good job” he’s been doing.  Well, at least he did that on Wednesday, yesterday Graham was noticeably distressed.  He exited the Senate chamber when House Judiciary Chair/Impeachment Manager Jerry Nadler played a 1999 video of him arguing that "high crimes" don't "even need to be a crime," a statement that “runs counter to a central Republican talking point this time around.” During that clip Graham said “when you start using your office and you're acting in a way that hurts people, you have committed a high crime."  Graham wasn’t the only Republican suffering impeachment agita, Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson became visibly upset when, while pointing out that VP Biden’s efforts to see Ukraine’s former prosecutor general Viktor Shokin removed had nothing to do with his son’s role at Burisma but everything to do with the widely held view that Shokin was incredibly corrupt, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, another one of the impeachment managers, referenced a letter that he, Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman and a number of Democrats had signed calling for Shokin’s removal. Portman didn’t seem phased by the reference, but Johnson who continues to insist that he doesn’t remember signing the letter that he did sign, left the room, possibly to place a plea for mercy call to his orange haired leader.  And then there’s pearl clutching Senator Susan Collins, it was her note to Chief Justice Roberts, a complaint that Jerry Nadler had gone a step too far on Tuesday, violating Senate protocol, when he accused Republican Senators of “covering up” Trump’s criminal activity.  Collins’ note  prompted Roberts’ admonishment to both sides to tone down their rhetoric.  Notably, Collins wasn’t upset that Trump’s lawyers Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow lied during their opening statements, only that Nadler had insulted her and her colleagues.  Collins insists that despite her tattle tailing she is still giving serious consideration to voting for the admission of additional evidence, the release of more White House documents and witnesses.  It’s possible she’s telling the truth about that as Independent Angus King, Maine’s other Senator, reports that his office has been inundated with calls, 90% of which come from constituents who want to see that evidence and hear from those witnesses.  It’s fair to assume that the acutely sensitive and highly vulnerable Collins, who has gotten so skittish that she requested that the first row of the press seating area be kept vacant because she doesn’t want the media crowd hanging so close to her, is getting similarly bombarded. Getting back to witnesses, several Republican Senators and a view of Trump’s surrogates are now insisting that since the Democrats preemptively mentioned the Bidens, calling Hunter Biden as a witness is fair game.

The Democrats are due to wind up their presentations today turning things over to Trump’s defense team for a Saturday session that is supposed to go on all day but now may be truncated because even though Trump wants the whole trial wound up before next weekend’s Super Bowl, he believes that no one will waste a weekend day watching them prevaricate on his behalf. Right about now Trump may also be wishing that his crowd stays away from Fox, or at least stays far from listening to or reading anything by Fox Legal pundit Judge Andrew Napolitano who commented on the case presented by the Democrats and the behavior of the Republican “jury” saying “It leaves us with valid, lawful, constitutional arguments for Trump's impeachment that he ought to take seriously. That is, unless he knows he will be acquitted because Republican senators have told him so. Whoever may have whispered that into his ear is unworthy of sitting as a juror and has violated the oath of ‘impartial justice’ and fidelity to the Constitution and the law.” Adding “What is required for removal of the president? A demonstration of presidential commission of high crimes and misdemeanors, of which in Trump's case the evidence is ample and uncontradicted.”   

Et Cetera:  While in Davos Trump proved provided more proof that he is totally clueless and unqualified for his job when during a meeting with  Nechirvan Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, he launched into a defense of his Syria policy and the how much he was helping the Syrian Kurds, the guys that he’s been busy pushing into oblivion.  Barzani’s Kurdish government has no involvement with the Syria situation but to Trump, who doesn’t read his briefing materials, a Kurd is a Kurd is a Kurd, so he rambled on incoherently leaving the audience stunned and our remaining allies heading for the doors.  On the domestic front, when not tweeting endlessly about the impeachment hearings and calling out his foe du jour “shifty,” “pencil necked,” “crooked” Adam Schiff, Trump said that he would consider cuts to social safety-net programs like Medicare to reduce the federal deficit, the one imploded as a result of his corporate tax cuts, if he wins a second term.  Then after the Democrats jumped on his remarks, thanking him for still another election talking point, he tried to clean up his mess tweeting “Democrats are going to destroy your Social Security, I have totally left it alone, as promised, and will save it!” As to health care, the Trump administration got their wish earlier this week when the Supreme Court rejected a request from Democratic state officials and the House to quickly consider whether to hear an appeal of a decision concerning the Republican State Attorneys General lawsuit that aims to wipe out the entire Affordable Care Act. That makes it unlikely that the case will be heard before the election.  It’s not that the Democrats want to see the ACA overturned this year, it’s just that they want voters to clearly understand that while their candidates are debating how best to provide health care, Republicans really are trying to eliminate it altogether.  The Iowa Caucuses take place on February 3. Michael Bloomberg who has risen in the polls into the second tier category isn’t even campaigning in Iowa, however, he is doing a great job of getting under Trump’s skin.  When asked whether the country wanted a race between two New York billionaires, Bloomberg threw shade at Trump by asking “who’s the second one.”