The Partisan Divide on Issues

[David Horn]

(01-09-2021, 05:42 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: Some posts from the Facebook site that got promptly buried.  I'll repeat them here where you have the forum format's greater control.  I'm sort of with Dave in having a dislike of Facebook.

I have heard that the insurgents behind the capital riots are starting to talk about a repeat on January 17th. The internet talk has been intercepted. The police could be ready for it if they chose to be. We will see if the force available and the no arrest policies have changed. It seems likely. Putting up huge forces against BLM but obviously inadequate forces against Trump's insurgents has drawn attention. MSNBC's Joy Reid ranted on the subject. Meanwhile, I expect the insurgents might break down and wear masks and not put their insurgency on the net.

The House is running a fast track impeachment. In the Senate, McConnell put out a memo suggesting he will slow schedule it, that he would not start a trial until Biden was going to be inaugurated anyway. Last night, Schiff was on MSNBC. He thinks McConnell is bluffing. If he were to block rapid impeachment, he would own everything Trump did in the remaining days. McConnell would be better off putting the credit or blame on all senators, rather than shining history’s spotlight on himself.

Rachel also made another point. Conviction requires two thirds of the senators present at the trial. It does not require two thirds of the senators. If 20 or so senators stayed away from the trial, the fifty or so Democratic and independent votes for conviction is enough for two thirds, plus a few Republicans who have suggested that they would vote to convict. That allows Republican a route by staying away to not bump into Trump head on but still do their part to see Trump convicted.

Another point is that while it takes two thirds to convict, it only takes a simple majority to ban the convicted from holding office or a position of authority again. This would be a later vote held only if they got a conviction.

They also showed a draft version of the article of impeachment. While it was short and to the point for a official document, it could be made shorter and easier to attract Republican votes.

I argued in an op-ed to my local paper that the time for the House to have impeached was 1/7/2021 -- immediately following regular order.  Congress was attacked, and immediate response was not just warranted but required.  Of course, that didn't happen.