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| GA's cats catching up on the news |
McCAIN'S GHOST: "I LIKE PRESIDENTS WHO AREN'T IMPEACHED"
HO HO HO! Great tidings of impeachment joy unto you and yours!
My two cents: it's utterly disingenuous to call this a "sad day" for our Republic. It is a great day. You know what a sad day is? Normalizing presidential corruption; normalizing the enlistment of a foreign government to help cheat to win an election by using congressional aid (taxpayer money) as leverage in exchange to smear a political opponent. That would be a sad day.
So be happy! Savor the fact that our hobbled Republic still works, sort of.
Because it's all downhill from here. Trump Cult gatekeeper, Mitch McConnell won't perform his constitutional duties to hold a fair and impartial trial because he's an advocate, in cahoots with the accused, determined to bar witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the alleged high crimes and misdemeanors.
If this is such a big nothing, why bar direct witness testimony?
Prediction: an impasse. The Trump Cult gatekeeper will not budge. The House will not play ball. Impeachment Articles I and II, abuse of power and obstruction of congress respectively, will die on the vine. The President will neither be exonerated nor removed from office.
Terrible result, I hope I'm wrong.
CITY COUNCIL FUNNIES
A few quick dips into Hoboken City Council live stream last night provided some levity.
One member of the public who regularly speaks at meetings, asked the Council for permission to take home pieces from the demolition of old Genovese Family hangout, Casella's Restaurant, to put in her garden. C'mon, that's funny. What's the Council got to do with it? It's my understanding that the City agreed to demo and re-mediate the property, but they don't own it, a fellow named Esmat Zaklama does. So the question should be directed to the guy who owns the bricks, right? Who knows, Zaklama may have sold the old bricks to a contractor for re-purposing.
Next, speaker HHA Commissioner Dave Mello paid tribute to the service of departing Councilman Peter Cunningham by calling him a "better-than-average councilman."
As tributes go, that one was underwhelming and hilarious. Imagine telling your spouse/partner, "Darling, you are better-than-average!" Dave, do not go into the greeting card business. Can you imagine his Valentine's Day line...
As tributes go, that one was underwhelming and hilarious. Imagine telling your spouse/partner, "Darling, you are better-than-average!" Dave, do not go into the greeting card business. Can you imagine his Valentine's Day line...
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Since you're better-than-average
I won't divorce you
Or his Birthday cards:
Have a better-than-average birthday!
Or his Get Well cards:
Get better-than-average soon!
Or his Sympathy line:
Better-than-average-depth condolences on the loss
of your better-than-average loved one
Stop me! Other stuff heard through the grapevine...
RUSSO'S SANTACON RESOLUTION TANKS
The vote was 7-2. The two were it's sponsor, Mike Russo and Ruben Ramos.
PLAQUE TO MEMORIALIZE VICTIMS OF HOBOKEN FIRES PASSES 9-0
This has been a long time in coming. The plaque will be installed in Tom Olivieri Park at 13th street and Willow. Thanks to the wonderful Hoboken resident Rose Orozco for leading this project.
FALCO'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING ORDINANCE TABLED
The vote to table was 6-3. The three against tabling were Vanessa Falco, Emily Jabbour and Jim Doyle. Why was this tabled?
The Constitution: "The President shall be impeached for: Treason (nope), bribery, (nope) high crimes (nope) and misdemeanors (nope).
ReplyDeleteTop 10 1st's and records: 1) 1st sole partisan vote, only bi-partisan vote was against, 2) Smallest margin in history. 3) President not permitted to defend himself. 4) Republicans not allowed to call own witlessness. 5) 1st secret hearings. 6) Started in Intelligence Committee not Judiciary 6) 11 out of 12 witnesses by Democrats. 7) Only 4 hours of discussion (vs. 12 for Clinton) 8) Clinton cited for 11 felonies, Trump 0. 9) 3-1 "expert" witnesses against Trump. 10) Republicans expert had to be approved by Democrats). Good news: Trump now ahead of every Democratic challenger. Note: just 1 example: Obama refused for 6 years to hand over documents and some witnesses over Fast & Furious scandal.
Shud uppa you face SS.... Oh and the "SS" pun intended?
DeleteThanks Scott, I am familiar with Trump Cult disinformation and alternate facts. The alleged actions of Dear Leader deserve impeachment and the truth about what really happened as told by fact witnesses will either exonerate him or get him kicked out of office. Why don't Trump Cultists want fact witnesses like Bolton, Pompeo and others to testify and exonerate Dear Leader at trial? Answer: Cause they know the shitstain is guilty as hell. It's called a cover-up.
DeleteI hope you had a great birthday!
The Constitution provides for many protections, including the "separation of powers". No branch, the House, the Senate or the President is above or below the others. Many Presidents have refused to hand over documents or personal before and none have been impeached. I showed that for 6 years Obama refused to cooperate on Fast & Furious. That's just one of a multitude of examples. In the past the legally responsible Congress of both the parties would go to court to settle the matter. For example Nixon refused to hand over the tapes, eventually SCOTUS ordered him to do so. The Democrats never once went to court. Let's go over the "whistleblower". The Act defines one as an employee of an Agency, not a member of the staff. He is protected against retaliation, but not anonymity. Yet Obama fired 3 real whistleblowewers, including the Fast & Furious one.
ReplyDeleteLet's say you run a Government Agency and an employee lodges a complaint against you to me, the DA. Like him I don't like what you said but after searching law books I can't find a legal statute against you. This why for the 1st time no legal statutes were named in the impeachment articles. You come before court and have a list of witnesses. Normally you would give them to the judge but in this you have to give them to me. You have 6 names of people that you believe you can help you but I disallow 5 of them. Your lawyer is not permitted to attend. I can ask all the questions I want, but you are stopped from asking certain questions. I can have 3 expert witness against you, but you can only call one. I can name anyone I want, but I have to approve yours. There is also secret testimony against you
you can't attend. You can only look at transcripts with my staff watching you and peering over your shoulder. Would you attend a procedure like this? Even Joe Brennan said no.
Hey SS, who knew you must be a really successful attorney there SS. Please post your business card so we can refer our friends! ?!
DeleteThis is my 3rd go around in watching impeachments. Nixon's taught me a lot. The President claimed executive privilege over documents and personnel. The Democrats went to court and finally SCOTUS ruled against him. You don't have to be a lawyer to listen the hearing and read the newspapers of the day. Anyone can also read the Constitution. There you can learn about important American principles such as due process, the right have an attorney, confront your accuser, et al. You can also read the Democrats articles of impeachment as see that it doesn't list certain crimes in the Constitution, none of which appear in this document. You can also read the "Whistleblower Act" for yourself. It doesn't take a rocket scientist read or watch TV to learn the truth.
ReplyDeleteHappy Hanukkah, Scott! 🕎 ✡️
Delete