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POLITICS

Richard Baehr on Impeachment and Politics

There was never any chance that the Senate was going to convict Donald Trump.  In the House, the Democrats could not persuade a single  Republican and lost a few of their own members on the impeachment vote. What chance was there to persuade 20 Republican Senators, even assuming the Democrats could get all of their own 47 Senators to convict (which may not happen)? The entire process from start to finish was theater- designed by the Democrats to weaken Trump before the November election, and force some Republican Senators in competitive races,  to cast difficult votes (Collins, Gardner, Tillis, McSally, Ernst, among others). The case itself was the weakest presidential impeachment case ever considered in Congress.

The Democrats, buoyed by the 2018 midterm results, and two governors elections and the Virginia legislative elections in 2019, were confident that 2020 was going to be their year- win the White House, take control of the Senate, hold the House, and win control of  a bunch of state legislatures so as to manage redistricting after the census results were announced.  It is still over 9 months before the November elections, and anyone who thinks that the results are already baked in, is kidding himself or herself. Even Nate Silver says it is hazardous to predict the Iowa caucus results, which have been heavily polled, and are only 4 days away.  One state legislative race  in Texas was seen as a  possible harbinger of how Texas was changing, a state critical to the fortunes of the GOP, and whether Democratic electoral momentum in the suburbs was continuing.  Democrats spent a bunch of  money on the race,  and had a lot of big name surrogates campaign, and the results were to put it mildly, disappointing . In an open seat race, the GOP candidate won by a much bigger margin than Ted Cruz, who carried the district in 2018, or Trump, who won it in 2016.

https://pjmedia.com/election/bellwether-to-blowout-texas-house-district-gets-redder-to-lead-off-2020-elections/

Nate Silver on Iowa: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-iowa-caucuses-are-in-4-days-almost-anything-could-still-happen/

Colorado Republican Cory Gardner Is a ‘No’ for New Impeachment Witnesses By Tobias Hoonhout

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/trump-impeachment-trial-senator-cory-gardner-does-not-believe-additional-witnesses-necessary/

Senator Cory Gardner (R., Colo.) said in a statement Wednesday that he does “not believe” additional witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial are necessary, casting doubt on a Tuesday claim that at least four Republicans were willing to call additional witnesses.

“I do not believe we need to hear from an 18th witness,” the Colorado Republican told Colorado Politics in a statement. “I have approached every aspect of this grave constitutional duty with the respect and attention required by law, and have reached this decision after carefully weighing the House managers and defense arguments and closely reviewing the evidence from the House, which included well over 100 hours of testimony from 17 witnesses.”

Gardner’s public stance comes after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) told his caucus that at least four Republicans wanted testimony from more witnesses. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, with 51 votes needed to call more witnesses.

Above the Law? Hillary Clinton Refuses to Get Served Tulsi Gabbard’s $50M Lawsuit By Tyler O’Neil

https://pjmedia.com/trending/above-the-law-hillary-clinton-refuses-to-get-served-tulsi-gabbards-50m-lawsuit/

Last week, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), a Democratic presidential candidate, sued former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for defamation, requesting $50 million in damages. Yet Clinton has twice refused to accept the lawsuit, trying to weasel her way out of a legal battle.

Gabbard’s attorney, Brian Dunne, told The New York Post that Clinton’s staff twice snubbed a process server attempting to deliver the defamation lawsuit.

“I find it rather unbelievable that Hillary Clinton is so intimidated by Tulsi Gabbard that she won’t accept service of process,” Dunne told The Post. “But I guess here we are.”

Joe Biden says he’d want Michelle Obama to be his running mate By Emily Jacobs

https://nypost.com/2020/01/29/joe-biden-says-hed-want-michelle-obama-to-be-his-r

Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden this week reaffirmed his desire to have former first lady Michelle Obama be his running mate.

“I sure would like Michelle [Obama] to be the vice president,” Biden said Tuesday at a campaign stop in Muscatine, Iowa.

The comment came after the former vice president was asked if he would consider nominating former President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court.

“Yeah, I would, but I don’t think he’d do it. He’d be a great Supreme Court justice,” Biden responded.

The questioner followed up with the question, “Which Obama?”

Biden responded: “They’re both incredibly qualified people and they’re such decent, honorable people.”

The pairing would be a first in American politics; there has never been a presidential ticket that included a former first lady in the VP slot.

This isn’t the first time Biden had mentioned the idea of the former first lady being his running mate or the former president being on the Supreme Court.

In September, Biden joked during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” that he had “only [asked Michelle] to be my vice president,” when asked if he had asked her for advice.

The former vice president said in December at another Iowa campaign stop that he’d nominate President Obama to the nation’s highest bench “if he’d take it.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein indicated that she might vote to acquit Trump – and then recanted. By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/sen_dianne_feinstein_indicated_that_she_might_vote_to_acquit_trump__and_then_recanted.html

On Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers ended their arguments before the Senate against Trump’s impeachment. In contrast to the Democrats’ 24-hour marathon of imagination, mind-reading, invective, and hysteria, Trump’s team presented tight constitutional and factual arguments of the type every lawyer loves best: Using the oppositions’ own facts and arguments against them.

On Monday, Pam Bondi revealed what the impeachment is really about: The very serious possibility that Joe Biden used his position as Vice President to obtain unreasonably lucrative jobs for his alcoholic, coke-addled son, a man without skills or morals.

In a presentation that even arch-Progressive Talking Head Jeffrey Toobin conceded was damaging to Biden, Bondi introduced mainstream media footage showing that, despite a complete lack of qualifications, Hunter got an $83,000 a month gig in Ukraine, one that required almost no work and that made no demands on his non-existent skills. At the same time, said Bondi, the average American family earned less than $54,000 a year.

Bondi’s argument underscored that the scandal isn’t that Trump was trying to investigate corruption in the American government; the scandal is that the Democrats are running a sham impeachment so that the object of that corruption investigation can become President of the United States.

GOP senator: Romney trying to ‘appease the left’ with impeachment witnesses By Jordain Carney

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/480118-gop-senator-romney-trying-to-appease-the-left-with-impeachment-witnesses

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) on Monday lashed out at fellow GOP Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) over his apparent openness to call witnesses as part of President Trump’s impeachment trial.

Loeffler — who was just sworn into the Senate earlier this month after being appointed to succeed Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who was popular among members on both sides of the aisle — tweeted that it was “time to move on” from the impeachment effort. 

“Sadly, my colleague [Romney] wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame. The circus is over,” Loeffler tweeted.

Officials for Romney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Loeffler, in her tweet, didn’t specify what comment from Romney had sparked the public call out of her colleague, but it comes after Romney reiterated his interest in hearing from former national security adviser John Bolton on Monday, though he specified that he would make a final decision after opening arguments and questions from senators.

“It’s pretty fair to say John Bolton has relevant testimony,” Romney said. “I think it’s increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton.”

Islamist groups making inroads in local politics in America By Hesham Shehab

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/islamist_groups_making_inroads_in_local_politics_in_america.html

When Sadia Gul Covert was elected in 2018 and sworn into the office of Dupage County commissioner, she took her oath on the “Quran, Torah, and the Bible,” in what seemed at the time like a symbol of unity and moderation.

But Covert’s decision to cast her lot with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) raises questions about the extent of her moderation.

Covert will be a speaker at the CAIR-Chicago 2020 Banquet fundraiser in February, among other Islamist speakers.

CAIR was connected to the terrorist organization Hamas during the terror-financing trial against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF).

According to the Justice Department report published in 2009, “HLF became the chief fundraising arm for the Palestine Committee in the U.S. created by the Muslim Brotherhood to support Hamas.”

In 2010, former assistant attorney general Ronald Weich sent a letter to four members of Congress in which he “included trial transcripts and exhibits” “which demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders, and the Palestine Committee.”

Hold onto your hats: Hillary says she’s got the urge to run again By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/hold_onto_your_hats_hillary_says_shes_got_the_urge_to_run_again.html

Thanks to a 4-hour documentary about herself, which premiered to great Progressive buzz at the Sundance Film Festival, Hillary’s in the news again. More than that, she’s doing so at a time when Democrats are panicking about Bernie’s increasing lead in New Hampshire and the general pressure he’s putting on “mainstream” candidate Joe Biden. Sane Democrats strongly suspect that, while Bernie’s manna for the base, most Americans are not going to vote for a candidate who still adores socialism despite the Gulags, the reeducation camps, and those nasty National Socialist gas chambers.

Because of the buzz, a scrubbed, buffed, injected, stretched, and actually pretty fine looking Hillary got herself an interview with Variety magazine, which is still one of the premier magazines in the entertainment world. Inevitably, Hillary blamed misogyny for her loss:

After “Hillary” premiered at Sundance, you spoke at the Q&A about the misogyny that women candidates face online, particularly women running for president. Why do you think there’s so much hatred for women who are seeking leadership positions?

It’s a great question. I don’t think it’s in any way limited to women trying to run for president. But because of the high visibility of women who try, misogyny that is directed not only to women themselves but to their supporters is so shocking. And I remember in 2016 — look, I have tough skin. I put myself out there. I was the one running. But what was said and done to my supporters, men and women — but predominantly women — who spoke for me or proclaimed their support for me, it was just so vile. And some of the groups, like Pantsuit Nation, they had 4 million members. And people were targeting individual members all over the country, insulting them and threatening them. So I’m seeing the same right now. Some of the organized efforts to undercut, demean, belittle the women who had been running and still are running in this election.

Joe Biden ups the ante in the woke sweepstakes with his latest about transgenderism By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/joe_biden_ups_the_ante_in_the_woke_sweepstakes_with_his_latest_about_transgenderism.html

Anybody who says Joe Biden isn’t a follower is a stone-cold liar. At the macro level, Biden’s been disavowing his 47-year history in Congress and the White House by moving as hard to the Left as he can. At the macro level, it’s all pander, pander, pander. His latest attempt to out-do his fellow Democrats is his push for peak woke with the all-important transgender lobby, a group that, in a comprehensive 2016 study, was estimated to make up 0.6% of the American population.

To be fair to Joe as he competes in the “most woke on transgender issues” category, he’s already said that one of his top legislative priorities would be to pass the Equality Act which, among other things, forces schools to let biological males compete on girls’ sports teams. That’s woke but the competition has been getting tough.

Elizabeth Warren has long been sounding the transgender horn. Already back in 2017, she was sending out tweets on Transgender Day of Remembrance, something she was careful to do again in 2019 when the Democrat primary was heating up. Warren outdid herself, though, when she got endorsed by Black Womxn, an organization for “all black folks that do not claim male identity,” including “black trans & cis women, gender non-confirming folks and others.” Proving that she had read Black Womxn’s web page, Warren tweeted back, “Black trans and cis women, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary people are the backbone of our democracy.” Who knew?

Are swing states swinging towards Trump? By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/are_swing_states_swinging_towards_trump.html

While the media focus on two power-hungry, low-wattage men — one a stone-cold communist candidate and the other an “I’ll say anything to win” candidate — that’s not the real news. The real news, as two articles illustrate, is in the swing counties around America.

The Wall Street Journal looks at Howard County, Iowa, which swung wildly from Democrat to Republican in 2016. In 2012, Obama won the county by 20%; in 2016, Trump won the county by the same margin. This year, though, voters in Howard County still like Trump and are planning to stick with him:

Recent interviews with dozens of voters here suggest that most of Mr. Trump’s 2016 supporters, including Mr. Wacha [one of 2016’s swing voters], plan to stick with him, even though some said they have grown weary of his personal behavior and trade fights. Among those who previously voted for Mr. Obama and Mr. Trump, many said they are reserving judgment until they see who wins the Democratic nomination.

As for Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial, now under way in the Senate, most voters said they haven’t followed the case closely and don’t expect it to weigh heavily in their decisions. Several said they view it as just more Washington partisanship.

What such swing voters do in 2020 will have national implications. Before Mr. Trump, Howard County hadn’t backed a Republican for president since Ronald Reagan in 1984. It is one of the 31 counties in Iowa—the most of any state—that backed Mr. Obama twice and then switched to Mr. Trump.