Month: October 2019

We are now in week 4 of Trump’s impeachmentpalooza. I’m not sure if anyone noticed, but Mitch McConnell was hiding out in Dick Cheney’s underground bunker for the first 3 weeks. Since then, he’s only let his nose poke out of his shell but he hasn’t made any declarative statements. More notably, he hasn’t made a full-throated defense of his Douchenfûhrer. Mitch McConnell has never been one to shy away from a fight, and he’s not a person who gives a damned about sounding like a hypocrite. His absence through this process is very telling as to what he’s doing.

He’s been furiously negotiating a resignation deal with Trump. To be clear, I’m not making any sort of predictions about what Trump is going to do. I’m simply stating that I’m positive about what Mitch McConnell is doing.

20 republican senators are up for reelection in 2020. There’s no way in hell McConnell is going to allow his members to go on record voting either for or against impeachment if he can help it. 3 of those 20 who are up for reelection are definitely going to lose their seats. 1 more is very vulnerable and yet another is vulnerable. Even Joni Ernst is freaking the fuck out about her reelection prospects. Safe republican seats suddenly aren’t so safe. As impeachment and removal becomes more popular among the American people, allowing a vote makes the situation even more untenable for McConnell. Let me repeat: he is not going to allow a vote on impeachment to happen on his watch.

I’m not going to speculate on how McConnell’s negotiations with Trump are going because that would be pure speculation on my part, and there isn’t a ton of evidence to follow. I will say this though: we’re in week 4 so I imagine that as with most negotiations, they’ve moved from the carrot phase and on to the stick. Yesterday, McConnell was asked about Trump’s assertion that they had discussed the infamous July 25th call with Zelensky. Trump’s claim is that McConnell agreed that it was a perfect call. When asked, McConnell said that he and Trump had never discussed the call. Uh-oh. Big uh-oh. The senate majority leader distancing himself from the centerpiece of an impeachment inquiry against the leader of his party is a yuuuuuuggggge tell.

I imagine that negotiations started with offers of immunity and promises that Trump can keep his fake wealth. Now that we’re in week 4, it’s clear that Trump isn’t playing ball. So now we’re on to the “we’re going to impeach you” stage of the game. For the first part of this week, Trump seemed to be obsessed with the idea that republicans must stick together. Why would this be of concern? Republicans always stick together. Ever since Reagan, they’ve spoken with one voice. So why is Trump worried? Because McConnell is telling him to be worried. This purely a bluff on McConnell’s part because let me repeat: he is not going to let his members go on record for a vote either against or for impeachment if it’s in his power to stop it.

This is going to end in a resignation, and it’s going to happen soon. If Trump were smart (I know, I know) or had a rational friend in the world (I know, I know) he would resign before the house impeaches. I suspect that’s going to happen in the next 2 weeks. If he waits until after that happens, McConnell is going to beat him with all the sticks in order to secure a resignation and avoid a vote in the senate. At that point, the thing to look out for is GOP senators saying the “i” word to the press. That will be a pressure tactic by McConnell. So far, we haven’t heard a single republican senator utter the word “impeach”. When we do, you know that McConnell is going hard.

There is potentially one way this can all go sideways. Again, remember that McConnell is going to do anything he can to avoid a vote. Anything. It is customary for the house to vote on whether to start an impeachment inquiry. It’s not a formal rule, but it’s always been done. Nancy didn’t do that, and she claims that she doesn’t have to. She didn’t hold a vote because she’s trying to protect 6 vulnerable members of her caucus from losing their reelection bids in 2020. I am fucking furious about this. Fuck politics. This is about saving our country. But not for Nancy, who never wanted to impeach in the first place.

By not holding that vote, McConnell may have an avenue to claim that the impeachment vote in the house isn’t legitimate. This is a really inane move on Pelosi’s part because the members she’s protecting have to vote to impeach in a matter of days or weeks. So while she is probably correct when she asserts that she doesn’t need to hold a vote to open an impeachment inquiry, that doesn’t mean that she isn’t leaving the door cracked open for McConnell to barrel through and get what he wants. Remember, it is also customary for the senate to hold confirmation hearings when there’s a Supreme Court vacancy. McConnell stole a SCOTUS seat, so I’m pretty confident that he’s finding ways to nullify a house impeachment vote.

Either way, this impeachment process is going to end soon. I just hope that Pelosi doesn’t manage to out bungle Trump.

But his wife would like to let you know that he’s self-made human garbage, so you should give him a fair shake. I really didn’t know anything about this guy, other than the fact that he gave Trump a million dollars for that tacky inaugural and that he owned hotels and was therefore in no way, shape, or form qualified for the ambassadorship that he bought. He doesn’t even own hotels around the world. He mostly owns hotels around Seattle and Portland. You might want to bookmark that link so that you know which hotels to avoid in the future.

The Post did a profile piece on him this morning that really made clear for me, just how big a piece of shit this guy is. First, let me start with his background. He’s the son of immigrants. Right fucking there, I’m done with this asshole, but there’s more. He’s Jewish. His parents fled from Nazi Germany. Again – GIANT piece of human garbage. But there’s more. Here’s how he describes high school, “Everyone mixed in the same high school,” he recalled, “so that created a lot of aspirational emotions when you saw some kids showing up on their 16th birthday with the new BMW that their parents had bought them, and some kids had to walk or take the bus. It created a lot of interesting dynamics that probably followed me for the rest of my life.” Apparently not, you total piece of shit. After Trump went after the Khan family, Sondland and his business partner Bashar Wali (you can see where this is going) took their names off a fundraiser for the Douchenfûhrer because, “In light of Mr. Trump’s treatment of the Khan family and the fact his constantly evolving positions diverge from their personal beliefs and values on so many levels, neither Mr. Sondland or Mr. Wali can support his candidacy”. That’s right, his partner is a Syrian immigrant.

And yet, this craven piece of crap who has always coveted the idea of an ambassadorship for himself (but couldn’t be bothered to rack up any actual qualifications) decided to pathetically grovel by licking Trumps shoes until he got what he wanted. This asshole has no principals whatsoever. After Trump won the election, this piece of crap started hitting the phones to try and fellate himself that ambassadorship he so desired, even going to far as to lick Javanka’s asses. How fucking pathetic.

Fast forward to today. We all read the text messages a couple of weeks ago. They make it clear that Sondland was up to his ass in the Ukrainian extortion plot. In case you need a refresher, here’s the key exchange in the text messages:

[9/9/19, 12:31:06 AM] Bill Taylor: The message to the Ukrainians (and Russians) we send with the decision on security assistance is key. With the hold, we have already shaken their faith in us. Thus my nightmare scenario.

[9/9/19, 12:34:44 AM] Bill Taylor: Counting on you to be right about this interview, Gordon.

[9/9/19, 12:37:16 AM] Gordon Sondland: Bill, I never said I was “right”. I said we are where we are and believe we have identified the best pathway forward. Lets hope it works.

[9/9/19, 12:47:11 AM] Bill Taylor: As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.

[9/9/19, 5:19:35 AM] Gordon Sondland: Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop the back and forth by text If you still have concerns I recommend you give Lisa Kenna or S a call to discuss them directly. Thanks.

This asshole plans to go to congress and claim that Trump told him to say that last part, and he didn’t know it to be untrue. If you didn’t know anything else, that claim defied reason and logic. But now we do know more because Fiona Hill testified yesterday, and she said that Sondland was up to his ass in this extortion plot, and that she had confronted him about it. The shocking part of her testimony is that John freaking Bolton was the voice of reason in that situation.

Why am I so furious? Well, for one thing he’s human garbage. No decent human with his background would ever support this xenophobic, anti-semitic, Islamophobic administration, let along plant their tongue in Trump’s lower intestine for two years. Let me repeat: how fucking pathetic.

The second reason I’m furious is that this shitbag will never be held accountable for what he’s done. Neither will Bill Barr, Rudy Giuliani, or anyone else who conspired with the Douchenfûhrer. Why? Nancy Pelosi. She does not like to fuck with power, which is why she didn’t want to “look back” at the Bush/Cheney crimes. She didn’t want to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump, but after Elijah Cummings spoke up to advocate for impeachment, she had no choice. New York state offered up Trump’s tax returns on a silver platter two months ago, and Richard Neal (chairman of house and ways – the only committee that has the authority to ask for them) has declined to obtain them because Nancy doesn’t want this. Fortunately, he has a primary challenger who would make a great addition to The Squad (please donate if you can).

I’m pissed because this (and dozens of others) asshole will be allowed to go about his life, and will be regarded as influential, powerful, and valuable because for some inane reason, our society automatically respects rich people. Even when they’re human garbage. They will always get assistance (not resistance) from people like Nancy Pelosi.

I really hope that Sondland’s wife can see how fair I’ve been to him so that she can stop worrying about the economic backlash (her words) she fears is coming against his businesses. I did after all refer to him as human, which I think we can all agree is an assertion that there really isn’t sufficient evidence to support.