(diary)
Fri 31 Jan 2020
For the past 3+ years political events have compounded daily to the horrible then more horrible; this week compressed that and moved the catalyst of horribleness from Trump to (mostly) the Republican Senators. What they’ve done is shocking.
Now, we never expected them to vote for impeachment, but the manner that they didn’t went far beyond the cravenness we’ve come to expect. Much like the “he won’t be that bad” of the conservatives in the first weeks of the presidency, there was a naive expectation that “they won’t debased themselves that much.” We now know that both expectations were far, far off-the-mark.
What happened this week? I honestly have to look back to my Twitter likes. That’s one use for them: bookmarks to re-read and re-understand opinions and events from those who I trust as authorities or at least semi-authorities. And that’s why the whirlwind of 3+ years is so disorienting: a firehose of gaffes and offenses and corruptions and just plain destructive and degrading policies. I value What The Fuck Just Happened Today? for it’s rigorous daily documentation, but it’s just so damn exhausting. (I guess this diary is my own WTFJHT?) The notables from that site for yesterday/Thursday:
The Trump administration will allow states to cap Medicaid spending, which covers about 1 in 5 low-income Americans.
Trump’s commerce secretary [ed. Wilbur Ross, natch] said the Chinese coronavirus “will help to accelerate the return of jobs” to the U.S. and North America.
A section of Trump’s new border wall in California fell over during high winds and landed on a row of trees on the Mexico side of the border. [ed. from The Daily Show: “This is the only thing with Trump’s name on it that couldn’t dodge a draft.” lol]
The U.S. economy missed Trump’s 3% growth target for the second year in a row.
Trump administration is expected to loosen restrictions on the military’s ability to use landmines, which have been banned by more than 160 countries due to their history of killing and wounding civilians. [ed. to quote everybody: cruelty is the point]
The House approved two measures aimed at reigning in Trump’s war powers following recent aggression between Iran and the U.S. The White House opposed the measures, which limit Trump’s ability to use military force without congressional authorization.
Lawyers for a woman who accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s are asking for a DNA sample to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress she wore during the encounter.
That. Is. Fucking. Every. Day. Just… how? Yes it’s a technique of dictators–and let me emphasize that Mike Godwin (of Godwin’s Law) has suspended said law and declared that “Inspired by Trump, the world could be heading back to the 1930s “–but still, how?
So this week:
- Pompeo’s map with no country names, presented to Mary Louise Kelly as a challenge to find Ukraine.
- Kenneth Starr’s soporific soliloquy to the Senate to tear down everything he caused as if he’s an hero. “Indeed, we are living in what I think can aptly be described as the age of impeachment. … How did we get here?” Fuck. You.
- Trump’s lawyers shifted through so many evolving explanations for his behavior, no one (except Schiff who is, let’s face it, a god right now (and forever)) would have expected that they’d end yesterday with, as Lamar Alexander said with such amoral eloquence:
There is no need for more evidence to conclude that the president withheld United States aid, at least in part, to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens; the House managers have proved this with what they call a “mountain of overwhelming evidence.”
- Jared Kushner talked down to Christiane Amanpour when she presses him on his Middle East “peace” plan (i.e. his plan to strip Palenstine for parts and sell to the highest bidder). The title of Alexandra Petri’s piece “I have just read 25 books and am here to perform your open-heart surgery” is all you need to know about him and his “peace” plan.
The arrogance towards Mary Louise Kelly and Christiane Amanpour makes you suspect, gasp, that this administration attracts misogynists. As I said: gasp.
There’s so much more. Bolton having the Keys to the Corrupt Kingdom but doing nothing. Cippolone, as Trump’s lawyer, being a material witness for the prosecutors. Murkowski and Collins Murkowski-and-Collins-ing up that shit as per usual. Fox News poll “On impeachment, by a 50-44 percent margin, voters think the Senate should vote to convict Trump and remove him from office.”
