Pins and Needles

Impeach, Impeach:  Two weeks ago when Mitch McConnell said “I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate” he raised hope that Trump inciting a violent insurrection might well have been a step too far even for him.  Well, that moment in time appears to have passed.  Yesterday, McConnell together with 44 other Republican Senators voted to support Senator Rand Paul’s challenge to the constitutionality of conducting a trial of an out of office president.  He also threatened a scorched earth policy against Democrats if they ever get rid of the legislative filibuster. Only Republican Senators Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski and Pat Toomey voted alongside all of the Democrats in opposing Paul’s challenge.  The vote took place after McConnell had Jonathan Turley, the so-called constitutional expert who testified in defense of Trump during his first impeachment, meet with his GOP Senate caucus to make the case that impeaching an out of office Trump would be unconstitutional.  By the way, Turley’s opinion, like some of his early views on impeachment is all too convenient for Trump and is not widely held by Constitutional experts including a number at the conservative Federalist Society.  There is a precedent for impeaching an out of office official, in 1876, the House voted unanimously to impeach Secretary of War William Belknap hours after he rushed his resignation to  President Ulysses S. Grant in an effort to avoid the humiliation of an impeachment.  Anyway, while some of the Republican Senators who voted in support of Rand Paul’s call to end the impeachment saga now, a few others suggested so quietly that no one could hear them that they might still be open to finding Trump guilty, though no one really believes that their whispers count.  At least Susan Collins and Democrat Tim Kaine are skeptical.  According to Axios the two are quietly raising the idea of censuring Trump instead of moving forward with the trial. That’s probably not in the cards and really who thinks that the equivalent of a wrist slap would mean anything to Trump? 

Not Over Yet: By the way, it doesn’t appear that the insurrection is quite over yet. QAnon websites are spreading the word that the January 20^th inauguration of Biden was a false flag, that the real inauguration takes place on March 4, the date specified in the Constitution before it was changed in 1937 after ratification of the 20^th Amendment. Concern that there will be more violence in Washington on and in the run up to March 4^th is the reason that so many National Guards troops are still guarding the capitol. As to the January 6 “festivities” more and more reports are coming out about how poorly it was handled despite credible intelligence that the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and the 3 Percenters, all far right groups with large former and, as it turns out, current military and law enforcement membership were on their way to the “rave.”  The Washington Post reports that according to the commander of the DC National Guard the Pentagon restricted his authority ahead of the riot, requiring higher-level sign-off to respond that cost time as the events of the day “spiraled out of control” and the increasingly violent insurgents got close to killing Pence, Pelosi and a few others.  If concerns about more demonstrations aren’t keeping you up at night, Senator Patrick Leahy’s health should.  The 80 year old Vermont Democrat/President Pro Tempore of the Senate was sent to the hospital last night by the Capitol physician “in an abundance of caution” after he reported feeling ill.  Leahy was later sent home, a good thing for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that Vermont’s governor is a Republican.  

Politics as Usual: Tony Blinken was confirmed as Secretary of State yesterday by a vote of 78 to 22 with Rand Paul, of course, leading the charge against him.  In addition to Paul, the usual cast of characters, including Senators Cruz, Hawley, Lee, Blackburn and Tuberville were among the twenty-two Republicans who voted against Blinken.  By the way, not that he is to be believed, Missouri’s “Fist Bump” Hawley who appears to be bleeding both Twitter followers and financial support now says that he’s not running for president in 2024. As to the president,  Biden has kept busy fulfilling a lot of the promises he made on the campaign trail.  He ended the military transgender ban that Trump imposed for no other reason than to placate the religious right, you know those guys who had no problem with him lying and cheating, his multiple marriages and his screwing around with playmates and porn stars but couldn’t deal with transgender people fighting for their country.  Biden also put a halt to the zero tolerance police that resulted in all those family separations at the border and after giving a speech on racial inequity signed a series of executive actions intended to redress racially discriminatory federal housing policies, end the use of private prisons, recommit the federal government to Tribal sovereignty and to combat discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders “intensified” during the pandemic by the last guy who to this day calls COVID the Chinese virus.

Viral Musings:  Of immediate concern to everyone, Biden also addressed concerns regarding vaccine sufficiency, announcing that the government will be purchasing 200 million more doses, 100 million each from Pfizer and Moderna, a 50% increase over what had been on order, to insure the ability to vaccinate 300 million by the end of the summer. The US population stands around 328 million, so the ability to vaccinate 300 million could if it comes to pass actually leave us with extra doses as not everyone is expected to line up or qualify for a shot.  Additionally, he announced that states will be receiving about 15% more doses over the coming weeks, while also promising that state officials will be told their delivery amounts three weeks in advance to allow them to schedule appointments with the confidence that supplies will actually be available for those who show up for those hard to get shot slots. Just about everyone agrees that more doses sooner would be far better but at least now there is a plan and more certainty about vaccine supplies.  Yesterday in my signoff I suggested wearing two masks, that’s not just me being paranoid, more and more experts, including virus guru Fauci are now advocating double masking especially when in more crowded areas.  So please give serious thought to wearing a cloth mask over a surgical one when heading out to run errands or going anywhere near an elevator. 

The Crazies:  Pillow man Lindell has been banned from Twitter for continuing to share misinformation about the election.  A review of Georgia Congresswoman/QAnon representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s social media accounts reveals that during 2019 she endorsed shooting Speaker Pelosi in the head and hanging Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  Her defense of course is that someone else must have hijacked her Facebook account.  The Kraken strikes again?

425,250 dead

23,541,000 Vaccines Administered

#Wear2Masks