Tag Archives: impeachment verdict

Snarky Snippets For A Snowy Day

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

I woke feeling a need for a bit of snarking this morning, and wouldn’t you know that I found plenty to be snarky about!

Family matters?

Yesterday I mentioned the republicans – 10 representatives and 7 senators –  who had the courage and conscience to stand up against Donald Trump, to vote to impeach and in the case of the senators, to convict on the impeachment charges.  The Republican Party, as I told you, is planning to censure them, a largely symbolic move, but one that will have repercussions the next time they come up for re-election.  None that I’m aware of, however, have faced the level of censure that Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger is facing:  his own family is disowning him!

He received a letter penned by his cousin, Karen Otto, and signed by six other family members, that starts out …

“Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us …”

It goes on to say that he has “joined the devil’s army”, referring to democrats.  But the part that made me laugh was when she said that “Donald Trump is not perfect, but … it is not up to us to judge”, and yet that is precisely what she is doing to her cousin!  Can we say ‘hypocrisy’?

Adam Kinzinger is a republican with republican ideologies … that did not change when he voted to impeach Donald Trump.  He merely saw what Trump had done, knew it wasn’t the right thing for anyone, let alone the president, to do, and decided that there should be consequences for Trump’s actions.  That’s it.  He did not go against his religion, as his cousin’s letter implied, nor did he set aside his republican views.  He found his conscience and said that there must be accountability.

I have a great deal of empathy for Mr. Kinzinger, for with a family like that, who needs enemies?  Read the entire letter here.  Ms. Otto ends by saying …

“Donald Trump has done more for the American people in four years than you, the Rino’s, and democrats have done in years!!”

This woman needs help!

Fox goes to the UK

Ol’ Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox News is struggling financially and is the subject of a $2.7 billion lawsuit, is taking his show on the road, it seems … or rather, across the pond to the United Kingdom!  I hope he takes his nasty crew with him … Hannity, Ingraham, Pirro, Carlson and the rest.

According to an article in the New York Times …

Rupert Murdoch and a competing group of investors are seizing this moment to create two upstart news services that will challenge the BBC and other broadcasters by borrowing heavily from Mr. Murdoch’s Fox playbook.

While Britain has long had a freewheeling, unabashedly partisan newspaper industry, critics say the last thing it needs after Brexit is a Fox-like news channel — one that could sow further divisions and open the door to the kinds of conspiracy theories nurtured by President Donald J. Trump, and amplified by Fox.

The service, which is to begin a low-key rollout in April, will promote Mr. Murdoch’s stable of British media properties, from The Sun, a mass-market tabloid, and The Times, an upmarket broadsheet, to Talk Radio, which offers Rush Limbaugh-style commentary. All skew to the right.

News UK TV will also skip breaking news coverage and feature shows with politically opinionated voices. But it is punching up the lighter side in its publicity. The first announced show, “News to Me,” will be hosted by Gordon Smart, a Scottish-born rock music aficionado who worked for The Sun.

Fox ‘News’ has played a large role in exacerbating the divisiveness in this country, and now Murdoch hopes to do the same in the UK.  I hope … I truly hope that his venture fails from the start.  Our friends in the UK have enough troubles without adding the Fox idiots whose only goal is to create hate.

Just a little ruckus

Senator Ron Johnson, a republican from Wisconsin, has been on my idiot radar for some time for a variety of idiotic things he’s said and done, but his recent comments about the January 6th attack on Congress and the Capitol take the cake …

“This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me. When you hear the word ‘armed,’ don’t you think of firearms? … To call that an armed insurrection, it was the most pitiful armed insurrection anyone could possibly imagine.”

Well, Mr. Johnson … perhaps while you were cowering in a closet, you didn’t notice the guns and other weapons.  Five people died, including a police officer, and two more officers have taken their own lives since then. Other police officers were so traumatized that they have reportedly contemplated self-harm, with one turning in her gun. Guns, bombs and stun guns were seized from members of the mob, while other rioters used wrenches, clubs and flagpoles as weapons. An officer has said that police “had been seizing guns all day.”

Gun-toting mobs chanting, “Hang Mike Pence” seems to me enough to label it an ‘armed insurrection’.  But, Johnson was one of the 43 republicans who voted to acquit Trump on the charge of inciting an insurrection, so I suppose Ronnie had to somehow justify his actions.  I suppose that, unlike Adam Kinzinger, Ron Johnson’s family is proud of him.  I’m not … I call him a coward and a bastard.

cartoon

Darkness

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

Today is a dark day in the United States.  Today, some 43 senators threw the first shovelful of dirt into the grave of the United States Constitution, of law and order, of justice for all.  These are the men and women who have the blood of this nation on their hands … these are the men and women who sold their conscience in exchange for future votes … these are the men and women who owe us all an explanation, an apology, and their resignations:

  1. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
  2. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
  3. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)
  4. John Boozman (R-Ark.)
  5. Mike Braun (R-Ind.)
  6. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
  7. John Cornyn (R-Tex.)
  8. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
  9. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
  10. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
  11. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)
  12. Steve Daines (R-Mont.)
  13. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
  14. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
  15. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.)
  16. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa)
  17. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
  18. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
  19. John Hoeven (R-N.D.)
  20. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)
  21. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.)
  22. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
  23. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.)
  24. James Lankford (R-Okla.)
  25. Mike Lee (R-Utah)
  26. Cynthia M. Lummis (R-Wyo.)
  27. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)
  28. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
  29. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
  30. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
  31. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
  32. James E. Risch (R-Idaho)
  33. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
  34. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
  35. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
  36. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
  37. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.)
  38. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
  39. John Thune (R-S.D.)
  40. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
  41. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
  42. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
  43. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.)

Remember these names, for they are responsible for what follows.  Seven Republicans actually found a bit of courage and voted to convict:

  1. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
  2. Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
  3. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
  4. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
  5. Mitt Romney (R-Utah)
  6. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.)
  7. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.)

I will write to these 7, thanking them for upholding their oaths of office and having the courage to do the right thing.

The Choices We Make

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

This post by Rosaliene Bacchus is a spot-on summation of where we are today, after last week’s decision by the Senate not to uphold the Constitution. I could not have said it any better, and Rosaliene puts it all into perspective without ranting, without rancor. Thank you, Rosaliene for this excellent post, and for your permission to share it!

Three Worlds One Vision

Pen Scratch Verse 182 by American Artist Michael Caimbeul

February 5, 2020. This is the day that the United States Senate chose to acquit Republican President Donald Trump of the impeachment charges brought against him by the Democratic controlled House of Representatives. I found the evidence of his guilt compelling. Except for just one of its members, the majority Republican senators chose to stand firm behind their leader. The loyalty to their party is admirable. It’s a valuable commodity in our times of divisive politics. On the other hand, party loyalty doesn’t always align with the best interests of we the people. Ever since corporations gained personhood and began financing politicians, corporate interests have gained paramountcy.

Today, we live in a New Republic. The balance of power has shifted beneath our feet. All that remains for the President and his Executive Branch of loyalists to consolidate their power is to…

View original post 339 more words

We Are … WHAT???

Posted on by under Election 2020, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants

It seems that you and I, my friends, have suddenly become the “enemy of the people”!  Just this morning, the invisible White House Press Secretary, what’s-her-name, said in reference to Donald Trump’s impeachment …

“… how horribly he was treated, and maybe people should pay for that. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but they’re being sore losers.”

Maybe people should pay for that???  What, should we all send him sympathy cards, or did she mean something more sinister?  He’s an impeached president, for Pete’s sake!  A criminal!  She went on to say that Mitt Romney’s vote to convict Trump on the ‘abuse of power’ charge was just sour grapes, that he was only jealous because he isn’t president.  This woman seriously needs to stop drinking the Kool-Aid!

Then, Trump spoke at a “national prayer breakfast” in Washington … I’m not clear just what a national prayer breakfast is, since this nation is so diverse that there really is no “national prayer”, and why do they need breakfast for their prayers?  Leaves me scratching my head.  But listen to what Trump, the impeached president, said …

“As everybody knows, my family, our great country and your president has been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people. They have done everything possible to destroy us and by so doing very badly hurt our nation. They know what they are doing is wrong, but they put themselves far ahead of our great country.”

Wait just one damn minute here … WHO has been putting themselves ahead of the nation for three years now???  WHO has done everything possible to destroy the nation???  So, we are all ‘very dishonest and corrupt’ people, eh?  Well, funny he doesn’t seem to mind taking our money, does he?  Oh … and he doesn’t like us, either …

“So many people have been hurt, and we can’t let that go on, and I’ll be discussing that a little bit later at the White House.  When they impeach you for nothing, then it’s not easy to like them. It’s not easy, folks.”

Which is perfectly fine with me, because I don’t like him, either!  I’m thinking we should all send a letter to him …

“Dear Donnie … Since you believe I am such a terrible person, then I will no longer burden you by sending you my tax dollars each month.  I’m sure this will greatly relieve you of the burden of having to accept money from a terrible person.”

And then came his “victory lap”, a speech he gave shortly after noon today, whereby he further criticized and name-called democrats in general …

“We’ve been going through this now for almost three years. It was evil, it was corrupt. This is a day of celebration because we went through hell.”

Not a sign of that remorse Susan Collins claimed he felt, but instead he equated his crimes with jaywalking …

“Because if they find that I happen to walk across the street and maybe go against the light or something, let’s impeach him. So, we’ll probably have to do it again, because these people have gone stone cold crazy. But I’ve beaten them all my life, and I’ll beat them again if I have to. But what they’re doing is very unfair, very unfair.”

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr … I’d like to beat him … with a club!  And then …

“They’re vicious and mean, vicious. These people are vicious. Adam Schiff is a vicious, horrible person. Nancy Pelosi is a horrible person.  Mitch, he stayed there right from the beginning. He never changed. And Mitch McConnell, I want to tell you, you did a fantastic job. … He understood this was crooked politics. This was crooked politics.”

Crooked politics?  Who is the biggest purveyor of crooked politics???  Have you ever, in all your years, heard a president speak in such a way about his fellow public servants?  I have not.  Not even Nixon, not even G.W. Bush … and certainly not Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama.  Why are we putting up with this?  Why are we paying to be treated this way?  Last year, We the People paid $1.698 trillion … in exchange for which we get to be cursed, called names, cheated, lied to, and our lives endangered by this ‘man’ and his cronies.  Frankly, folks, I don’t feel like we’re getting our money’s worth, do you?

Bastards! R.I.P. United States

Posted on by under Law and justice, Personal, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

The vote began shortly after 4:00 p.m. and by 4:20 this afternoon, the Senate had decided that Donald Trump should be given the keys to the kingdom, should not be held accountable for his crimes, and should be henceforth allowed to run the nation as he pleases, without interference from either the Courts or the U.S. Congress.

I was writing a letter to a friend when the verdicts flashed across my screen.  Sure, I expected it, knew the final outcome would be that the GOP members of the U.S. Senate — those whose salaries and luxurious lifestyle WE support — would have neither conscience nor male-parts enough to do the right thing, to hold the excuse for a man who sits in the Oval Office accountable for his actions.  I was prepared, right?  No surprises.  And yet, when I saw those news briefs cross my screen, I honestly felt as if I had been punched in the stomach.

I gasped for air, but there was none.  I felt tears welling, yet my struggle to breath precluded all else.

This is what the bastards we have elected and whose salaries we pay have done to us.  They have laughed at the idea of holding the “president” of the nation accountable for his actions.  They scoff at the notion of values or ethics.  And, they have decided that the time has come to burn the Constitution that was ratified in 1787, some 233 years ago.  How many of them could even quote from the Constitution they swore to uphold, I wonder?  Few, I think.

We have, in the last few hours, traded in a democratic republic for an autocracy with a cruel dictator who has no conscience, no moral compass, and no compassion for any who are not his equal in wealth and stature.  And now, permit me to blow off just a bit of steam before I screw my head back on straight …

I hope … sincerely hope … that Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and every other republican in Congress, as well as those who put them there, contract the Coronavirus and die a very long, slow, and painful death, equal to the one they have just cast upon this nation.

crying

Snarky Snippets — Yes, Again

Posted on by under cartoons, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Good afternoon, my friends!  As you might expect, the events of the last two days – Iowa caucus, impeachment trial, State of the Union address – have my hackles raised and have left me filled with snarky angst.  And you know what that means, right?  Snarky Snippets!

The economy is … what???

Trump claims the economy is so great, but I see signs to the contrary.  One of the largest and oldest retailers, Macy’s, plans to shut down 125 stores over the next three years, 30 in this year alone.  They will also be cutting some 2,000 corporate jobs.  Hmmmm … that doesn’t sound like a sign of a booming economy to me.

Yesterday it was announced that the number of homeless students in the U.S. is at its highest number in over a decade – 1.5 million!  Most are staying with friends or other family members, but some 7% are living in abandoned buildings or cars.  It begs the question, for whom is the economy so great?

As I mentioned in a previous post, there is more to the economy than just the stock market and employment rates.

Time for her to go

The self-serving senator from Maine, Susan Collins, lost part of her vertebrae and found it impossible to stand for what is right, once again, so she plans to vote to acquit Trump on both charges today, along with all but two of the other republican boot-lickers.  But Sue had an interesting spin … she is convinced that because of the impeachment, Trump will be a better president going forward …

“I believe that the president has learned from this case.  The president has been impeached. That’s a pretty big lesson.  He was impeached. And there has been criticism by both Republican and Democratic senators of his call. I believe that he will be much more cautious in the future.”

Oh, sure, Sue … he’s going to stop calling people names, stop using vulgar language, start acting like a human, stop throwing away OUR money on his damn wall, start supporting humanitarian causes, and treat our allies like friends instead of like enemies.  Perhaps we should all sit in a circle and sing Kumbaya?

Susan Collins wasn’t alone in her blind stupidity, though.  Senator Joni Ernst was equally sycophantic …

“I think that he knows now that, if he is trying to do certain things — whether it’s ferreting out corruption there, in Afghanistan, whatever it is — he needs to go through the proper channels.”

Are these people really so utterly clueless, so stupid?  No, I don’t think so … I think they know full well that Trump has broken just about every law in the book in his efforts to first get and then hold the center of power that is the Oval Office.  I simply think they care more about their own future than ours.

A few had courage

Kudos to four members of Congress who skipped the campaign rally/State of the Union address last night:

  • Ayanna Pressley: “The State of the Union is hurting because of the occupant of the White House, who consistently demonstrates contempt for the American people, contempt for Congress & contempt for our constitution. I cannot in good conscience attend tonight’s sham.”
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “After much deliberation, I have decided that I will not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump’s lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution. None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it. Consequently, I will not be attending the State of the Union.”
  • Maxine Waters: “To think that I would attend the #SOTU to hear the message of an IMPEACHED president is a thought that in no way would be consistent w/ my fight and struggle against this dishonorable president. I will certainly NOT be there!”
  • Bobby Rush: “It would be painfully hypocritical of me to endure 90 minutes of unrelenting lies and all types of distortions and untruths, while at the same time watching his Republican apologists cheer. I cannot honor this man in any way.”

I’m told that several other democrats did walk out during the speech, once they realized that it was being turned into little more than a campaign rally.  What, I wonder, kept the rest of the democrats in Congress from doing the same?  I’m sure they will claim professionalism, but frankly the time has come for them to show the nation that this “president” is not legitimate, that he deserves no respect.  At least House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave him the proverbial finger when she ripped up her copy of his speech, later explaining that she couldn’t find a single page that contained truth.

A slap in the face

I do not know of another time in the history of the nation that the Presidential Medal of Freedom was awarded to such an undeserving person as Rush Limbaugh.  Mr. Limbaugh is a racist, a misogynist extraordinaire, a hypocrite who calls abortion “murder”, yet fully supports the death penalty.  He is a climate denier and referred to the 2017 Women’s March as “”Deranged Feminazi March”.  While not of the same caliber as Alex Jones, Limbaugh has engaged in a number of his own conspiracy theories, and his statements have an 84% “untrue” rating.  He has done not one damn thing in his entire adulthood that would qualify him for the Presidential Medal of Freedom … not one!  

And yet, during his State of the Union address, Donald Trump awarded him that honour.  Why?  No doubt because Mr. Limbaugh has been such a strong supporter of Trump’s, has defended the indefensible time and time again.  This, my friends, is a slap in the face to the people such as Rosa Parks and Mother Teresa who have received the medal for acts of bravery and humanitarianism.  In fact, this is a slap in the face to every person in this country.  The medal no longer has any meaning, any value.  It is naught but a trinket, handed out for political favours.

There will no doubt be some who tell me that I shouldn’t criticize Limbaugh, who has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, but let me make my position clear from the outset:  being ill does not suddenly erase all the evil he has perpetuated.  He is not a good man, not a kind man, not deserving of any honour, let alone the freedom medal.

impeach-1long-monthsotu-1sotu-2