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After delaying Trump impeachment trial, all but 5 GOP senators vote in favor of saying now it's too late
January 27, 2021
Despite widespread demands that the U.S. Senate hold former President Donald Trump accountable for helping to incite a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol just before leaving office, all but five Republican senators on Tuesday voted to invalidate the trial as unconstitutional—a move that ultimately failed but portends poorly for those hoping for conviction.
"Convicting Donald Trump for inciting a white supremacist insurrection against the government of the United States should be a given."
—Stand Up America
<p>
Just 10 House Republicans
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/13/historic-house-vote-only-10-republicans-join-democrats-impeach-trump-inciting" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">joined</a> with Democrats earlier this month to impeach Trump—the only president to be <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/13/historic-house-vote-only-10-republicans-join-democrats-impeach-trump-inciting" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">impeached twice</a>—for his role in sparking the January 6 attack on Congress. House impeachment managers delivered the article to the Senate on Monday.
</p><p>
While senators were sworn in on Tuesday for Trump's second impeachment trial, arguments aren't set to start until February 9.
</p><p>
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday
<a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1354163711917903872" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claimed</a> that the trial is unconstitutional and forced a procedural vote on the matter. Paul's move "might seem like a silly procedural gambit, but it's important," <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-pm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> <em>Politico</em>, because it forces GOP senators to go on record about whether they think the trial should be allowed to proceed.
</p><p>
Only Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.), and Pat Toomey (Pa.) joined with Democrats to oppose Paul's effort, which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) supported. The
<a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=117&session=1&vote=00008" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">55-45 vote</a> signals that the necessary two-thirds of senators do not support a conviction.
</p><p>
The Senate vote was swiftly condemned, including by House Democrats who supported Trump's impeachment:
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As <em>MSNBC</em>'s Chris Hayes <a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1354174459461197824" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">noted</a>: "McConnell delayed the trial and then voted in favor of a point or order to dismiss it because it was...starting too late."
</p><p>
Despite the timing of the House impeachment vote, McConnell, while he was still Senate majority leader in the immediate wake of the attack, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/13/fascist-enabling-coward-mcconnell-declines-reconvene-senate-trial-house-moves" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">refused</a> to start a trial before President Joe Biden's inauguration.
</p><p>
Ahead of the Tuesday vote, Paul <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/26/rand-paul-impeachment-462655" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> reporters: "I think there will be enough support on it to show there's no chance they can impeach the president... If 34 people support my resolution that this is an unconstitutional proceeding, it shows they don't have the votes and we're basically wasting our time."
</p><p>
Paul tried to claim that the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-presidency-trump-impeachment-1-26-21/h_bbbcc5bd4d2937830e4eb29804e46452" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">responded</a> by pointing to Article II, Section II of the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the "removal of office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office honor."
</p><p>
"If the framers intended impeachment to merely be a vehicle to remove sitting officials from their office they would not have included that additional provision, disqualification from future office," he said.
</p><p>
"The language is crystal clear without any ambiguity," Schumer said. "The history and precedent is clear. The Senate has the power to try former officials, and the reasons for that are basic common sense."
</p><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1354174974790168577" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1354174974790168577&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2650146720%23publish&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 363px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div><p><em>Common Dreams</em> reported earlier Tuesday that polls <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/26/majority-us-want-senate-convict-trump-bar-him-holding-office-ever-again-poll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">continue to show </a>that the American public supports convicting Trump and barring him from ever holding office again. A survey conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute from January 21 to January 24 found 56% of Americans approve of the House impeaching Trump.</p><p>That polling results also showed that 52% of the U.S. public wants the Senate to convict Trump on the impeachment charge. Additionally, when those surveyed were told that a conviction must precede a ban on Trump holding office in the future, support for the Senate convicting the ex-president jumped from 52% to 55%.</p><p>As the advocacy group Stand Up America <a href="https://twitter.com/StandUpAmerica/status/1354175029546770434" target="_blank">put it</a> in a tweet Tuesday: "Convicting Donald Trump for inciting a white supremacist insurrection against the government of the United States should be a given."</p> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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Supporters of the far-right QAnon conspiracy cult were among the extremists who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, inspiring national security experts to voice concerns about QAnon possibly making inroads in the military and law enforcement. But some pundits at Fox News, including Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, don't view QAnon as a threat and are now defending the movement by equating criticism of QAnon with attacks on free speech.
Carlson, during one of his angry rants on Tuesday night, mocked the idea that QAnon is dangerous.
<p>"The real threat is a forbidden idea," Carlson said mockingly. "It's something called QAnon."</p><p>Carlson went on to show a collage of cable news clips describing QAnon's extremism before suggesting that those attacking QAnon are promoting "tyranny."</p><p>"No democratic government can ever tell you what to think," Carlson told viewers. "Your mind belongs to you. It is yours and yours alone."</p><p>This was a non-sequitur. The clips he had showed included media figures sharing fears and concerns about the belief system, not a call for the government to "tell you what to think."</p><iframe src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1353873669437665280&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2650145363%23publish&partner=rebelmouse&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 405px; height: 390px; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe><p>Carlson went on to denounce QAnon critics as a "mob of censors, hysterics and Jacobin destroyers, all working on behalf of entrenched power to take total control of everything."<br/></p><p>In a rant of her own, Ingraham showed a clip of Jen Psaki — the new White House press secretary under President Joe Biden — telling reporters that the National Security Council will try to determine "how the government can share information" on efforts to "prevent radicalization" and "disrupt violent extremist networks." And Ingraham tried to spin Psaki's announcement not as an effort to prevent domestic terrorism, but as a crackdown on conservatives in general.</p><p>"Republicans need to step up in unison and demand that the Defense Department and the Biden administration clearly define what they think constitutes extremism," Ingraham declared. "Now, if a member of the military voted for Trump, does that make him an extremist? Now, what if someone complains on Facebook that the federal government wastes a lot of money? Is she an extremist? What if they say that <em>Roe v. Wade</em> should be overturned? Or what if they participate in the March for Life?"</p><p>Ingraham continued, "What if they're conservative Baptists — they believe that sex outside of marriage is immoral? Is that extremist? What if they have guns at home and they're lifetime NRA members? Will they now be considered extremists or even terrorists? We deserve to know. You see where this is destined to lead. And it is certainly not to a freer and more united America."</p><p>By suggesting there's no way to target the threat from violent extremist ideologies like QAnon without targeting other conventional conservatives, Ingraham, too, offered more cover for the conspiracist movement.</p>
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Lincoln Project creates mock instructional video to teach 'liars' how to deny COVID is real
January 27, 2021
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on in the United States, nearly 430,000 people have died. Still, some Republicans continue to deny that COVID-19 is real or that masks will protect people against the virus.
In a mock instructional video, the Lincoln Project ridiculed the Republicans, trying to teach other "liars" how to deny the virus was real using quotes from members of the party.
<p>Step one, they said, is to downplay the danger. In the case of former President Donald Trump, downplaying the seriousness of the virus early on was key in spreading it and killing many Americans. He claimed it was nothing more than the flu for the first several months of the pandemic while <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/white-house-aides-are-more-concerned-trump-did-the-woodward-book-than-his-lies-about-19/" target="_blank">telling others behind closed doors that it was deadly serious</a>. </p><p>Step two, the Lincoln Project listed, is to mock any safety precautions and CDC recommendations to wear masks, wash hands or social distance. If there is one thing Trump didn't want to do, it was wear a mask. <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/on-trump-masks-and-masculinity-what-the-presidents-bare-face-really-reveals/" target="_blank">He spent most of 2020 mask-shaming </a>anyone who dared to wear one around him. From <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/trump-mask-shames-cbs-reporter-lesley-stahl-and-ominously-warns-much-more-to-come/" target="_blank">reporters</a> to <a href="https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/10/05/people-rolled-their-eyes-a-look-inside-the-white-house-pandemic-response" target="_blank">White House staff,</a> no one was safe from Trump's anti-mask bullying. Trump reportedly <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/cnn-panel-tears-into-trump-for-obsessing-over-the-optics-of-face-masks-this-isnt-about-looks/" target="_blank">didn't like the way it looked on him</a>. </p><p>Step three in the lies for COVID denialism is to attack the experts. When Dr. Anthony Fauci contradicted Trump, the former president benched the top infectious diseases expert and blocked him from appearing on television. When he disagreed with the science over hydroxychloroquine, <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/huge-fight-breaks-out-at-white-house-over-what-trump-thinks-is-a-miracle-coronavirus-drug-dr-fauci-disagrees/" target="_blank">Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro screamed at him</a> in front of other White House staffers. </p><p>Step four is to ignore the first three steps and take credit for the vaccine. When it was finally announced that vaccines worked, Trump took credit for the success saying that it was due to the money he allocated to funding. There was no money allocated to funding the vaccine for those drug companies, however, and the pharmaceutical companies openly said so, humiliating the president in the press. </p><p>In the end, if all of those steps fail, just blame the Democrats, the video says. </p><p>See it below: </p><p><br/></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="195223d619dfa385e2dde97e0b56b771" id="27cf2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1354285532545642502"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Liar's Guide to COVID Denialism https://t.co/Y3Co2ia4a7</div> — LPTV (@LPTV)<a href="https://twitter.com/lptv/statuses/1354285532545642502">1611721807.0</a></blockquote></div>
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