Must See TV Day

Impeach, Impeach:   Impeachment Part II kicks off today with a debate about whether it is constitutional to impeach an out of office president.  In addition to the legal mumbo jumbo, the debate is likely to include some histrionics from the usual crowd of outspoken Republican Trump acolytes like Rand Paul, the doctor who is barely a doctor, and Lindsey Graham, an actual lawyer who long ago stopped pretending to be ethical.  After Trump’s team argues that the impeachment is both unconstitutional and mean the Senate will vote on whether it has the jurisdiction to go forward with the rest of the trial.  The answer to that is they do.  Since the threshold to move on is a simple majority of 51 votes and given that all 50 Democrats plus five Republican Senators including Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey more or less already decided the constitutionality issue when it was first raised by Rand Paul, it’s a given that the trial will continue.  It’s also possible that a few more Republicans including one or more of those brave soon to be retirees like Rob Portman will join the initial five Republicans and the fifty Democrats.  Tomorrow the trial will proceed giving up to sixteen hours to each side to present their cases.  Both sides plan to show lots of carefully selected and edited videos with Trump’s team portraying him as an enthusiastic but good natured cheerleader just out having fun and exercising his First Amendment rights while also citing dubious right wing sources that claim that the evil doers were antifa plants and the like.  The Democrats’ director’s cut will document how all that not so mild mannered “enthusiasm” inspired the mayhem and rampage that endangered the lives of all of those next in line for the presidency while resulting in death and critical injuries. Though he hasn’t gotten a Kushner dispensation from his Rabbi, Trump lawyer David Schoen has withdrawn his request that the trial be put on hold on for the Sabbath, saying that the rest of the team can cover for him while he attends shul.  Of course they can, it’s not like the outcome of the trial hasn’t already been decided. Also on the legal front, Georgia’s Secretary of State has opened an investigation into Trump’s very questionable  taped phone call, the one where he asked Secretary of State Raffensperger to find enough votes to seal his victory.    

Human Resources:  Yesterday Alabama’s long term Republican Senator Richard Shelby announced that he will not be running for reelection in 2022, he’s 86 so that’s not a total surprise.  Though it would be nice to believe that Shelby’s retirement  provides another opportunity for Democratic former Senator Doug Jones, it’s Alabama so absent another child molestation scandal, that’s not going to happen.  It’s far more likely that Alabama puts forth another Tommy Tuberville or maybe even worse Congressman Mo Brooks. Former Obama Chief of Staff Denis McDonough was confirmed as Veterans Affairs Secretary yesterday by a vote of 87 to 7 and yes, of course, Missouri’s Josh Hawley was among the 7  voting against his confirmation.  The other “no” voting Republicans were Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, Joni Ernst, Roger Marshall and Bill Haggerty. Republican Congressman Ron Wright of Texas has died of COVID.  Wright, a mask skeptic, who also had lung cancer, tested COVID positive following the January 6 insurrection. On a less dire note, at least with regard to life and death, upstate NY Congressman Anthony, a Democrat, formally conceded his close loss to Republican Claudia Tenney yesterday, further closing the gap between Republicans and Democrats in the House. Believe it or not one more seat is still being disputed. After “winning” by six votes Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller Meeks was seated in the House in January but only on a provisional basis.  Her opponent Democrat Rita Hart is contesting the election asserting that 22 previously uncounted ballots will change the election’s outcome.  And one more thing to keep an eye on, although the Democratic House margin is frighteningly teeny, it’s been reported that Speaker Pelosi has okayed Congressman Adam Schiff’s efforts to be appointed to the California Attorney General position soon to be vacated by Biden HHS Secretary nominee Xavier Becerra.  The AG position is viewed as a stepping stone to the Senate seat that will at some point be vacated by Diane Feinstein.  

Viral Musings: With supplies still frustratingly limited getting a vaccine appointment requires being in a qualifying group plus lots of luck and perseverance but the good news is that it looks like getting shots into the most vulnerable is already paying off.  New COVID cases among nursing residents and staffs have dropped more than 50% in about four weeks with cases falling more than twice as fast in those facilities where shots have been most aggressively administered.  Also, according to an article published in Nature Medicine yesterday, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine grants protection against both the concerning South African and British coronavirus variants. Pfizer also reports that as it ramps up production its been able to shorten the its vaccine manufacturing time from 110 to around 60 days. One more thing, while the fully vaccinated are being told to follow all masking and distancing rules under all circumstances, Virus Guru Fauci says that the CDC is likely to be issuing revised guidelines soon focusing on loosening some rules for vaccinated “pods.”   

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42,417,600 shots in arms