* Imagine having a president who was a jeer-leader for democracy. But the Pillage People love it.
* Once having stoked a deadly insurrection, Trump did nothing to try and stop it. And he was the only one who could have. Not unlike the Rev. Jim Jones being the only one who could have effectively said: “Don’t touch that Kool-Aid.” Kevin McCarthy would now agree.
* Congressional comity? How the hell do those who ran for their lives and feared being held hostage because of what Trump had incited now get along with those who voted to acquit? There’s ideology and politics–and then there’s right or wrong, country or careerand life or death.
* Quote the craven ever more: “President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of (Jan. 6). No question about it. … The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things. … A disgraceful dereliction of duty.” That was Senate Minority Misleader Mitch McConnell, who could have been a difference-maker, but voted to acquit—no question about it. A McConnell vote to convict was as likely as a Trump apology to the country and the family of the slain police officer.
* Hardly surprising that Louisiana GOPsters voted to censure Sen. Bill Cassidy—for following the evidence and his conscience in voting to convict Trump. Other country-first Republican senators facing similar censure: North Carolina’s Richard Burr and Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey.
* Party on: Lindsey Graham is still, alas, Lindsey Graham. “I said, ‘Mr. President, this MAGA movement needs to continue. We need to unite the party. Trump-plus is the way back in 2022.” That was Graham on Fox News Sunday.
* “(They) haven’t tied it in any way to Trump.” That was Trump impeachment attorney David Schoen on the traumatic video footage of the Capitol invasion. He really said that.
* “In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.”–Abraham Lincoln. Too bad the “Party of Lincoln” has whored out for Lincoln’s antithesis. Words matter, especially for the president of the United States. Little did we know that it would get a lot worse than what “Access Hollywood” revealed.
* For what it’s worth, Betfair, the British bookmaker, lists odds of Donald Trump being on the 2024 GOP ticket at 4-1. Next is Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and former ambassador to the U.N., at 11-2. Then it’s Mike Pence, 6-1; Donald Trump Jr., 10-1; and Ivanka Trump 10-1.
* As for Haley, she has already announced a new political action committee, “Stand for America,” which aims to make GOP gains in 2022. She also commented carefully on former President Trump. “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that happen again.” Too bad she didn’t flat-out say: “He deserved impeachment—and he should have been convicted. If fomenting a deadly, traumatic—and well-documented—insurrection against American democracy isn’t cause for conviction, then, seemingly, nothing is. That’s more than a blight on America, that looks like the beginning of the end. It all must end. We don’t want any more insurrectionist punks ‘standing by.’”
Haley calculated her chances against Joe Biden or Kamala Harris by stopping well short of supporting impeachment. She still has some wiggle room. More like: “Donald Trump did some good, even great, stuff but stuff happens, and now we move on. BTW, Donny Junior and Ivanka, I’m still looking for base-appealing help on the 2024 ticket.”
* According to an American Enterprise Institute survey, 55 percent of Republicans said they agreed that “The traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.” And nearly two-thirds believed the 2020 election was marked by “widespread fraud.” Would that such opinions were a shock.
* Michael Flynn is leveraging his public persona to raise money to pay off his legal debts. That includes camo trucker hats with the emblem “WWG1WGA.” For the uninitiated, that refers to a popular QAnon motto: “Where we go one, we go all.”