by John Walters
We The Sheeple
Yea 56, Nay 44. You lose, Yay.
As a good friend texted after the Senate failed to reach a 2/3 vote on Donald Trump’s (second) impeachment, “Sat nite, celebrating the groundwork-laying victory today for the Fascist Party takeover in 2024. We had a good run: 200 years that were good, five decades or so that were kind of crappy…Rotten Tomatoes will give us a 63, plus/minus 5.”
As another person wrote, “Dems get impeached for an erections, R’s for an insurrection.” And neither found guilty via the 2/3 Senate rule.
For those keeping score, in the past five years Donald Trump twice failed to win the majority vote in a presidential election and twice had more Senators vote to impeach him than to acquit him. And through all of that he still won the presidency once, was not impeached by the Senate, and nearly stuck around for a second term.
We’re not a democracy. We’re a Republic with Fascist training wheels.
You really must listen to both Chappelle and Maher here. Maher’s point is dead-on, something many of us have personally witnessed (he should’ve followed Chappelle’s lead, though, and excised the lame jokes; give it to us straight, Bill). How do you persuade people who believe in virgin births and a man rising from the dead that some of their other faith-based view points are illogical?
Rest assured that if the Rs ever regain control of the House or Senate or even the White House they’ll do their best to deny voting rights to those who oppose them while praising the military and police up and down. It’s their only shot going forward and they know it.
Me, I’ve got to return to Googling, “Zillow New Zealand.”
Takin’ It To The Streets
At Daytona, thunderstorms created a five-hour delay. There was a metal-bender before the deluge and then another, fiery one on the final lap. When the debris cleared, long-timer Michael McDowell emerged without scath (scathe?) to take the checkered flag. The driver who should be sponsored by M&Ms won his FIRST NASCAR race in his 358th start, the second-longest drought (Michael Waltrip, 401) in stock-car racing annals.
The race ended after midnight, more than nine hours after the green flag came out. So, yes, you could have covered the distance faster in your Honda Civic.
Sleetless In Seattle
Much of the USA, from Seattle to Texas to the eastern seaboard, is getting walloped by snow storms this President’s Day weekend. We found it funny that the governor of Texas has petitioned the White House for federal funding; wasn’t Texas looking to secede just a few days ago?
Truth In Signage
Traveling Man
LeBron James did this last night, in a nationally televised game, with impunity. I’m not talking about the Nuggets failing to defend him. I’m talking about the zebras failing to whistle him for traveling.
And if this isn’t traveling, then why does the rule even exist?
Not the first time I’ve made this argument. Won’t be the last. It’s the little things going uncalled that are the first stages of an empire in decline, be it the USA or the NBA.
Addendum
I like this passage from Pete Wehner in today’s NY Times Op-Ed section. I’ve longed believed that, much like a preacher or even a God, all of Donald Trump’s “power” is purely ephemeral. As soon as enough people, particularly those of import, defy him, his power will vanish. All it would’ve taken is 11 more Republicans with a spine. But they were too afraid.
So why did Republicans, with seven honorable exceptions — Senators Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Pat Toomey, Bill Cassidy, Richard Burr and Ben Sasse — profess their loyalty to a sociopath who has been exiled to Mar-a-Lago? Why do they continue to defend a man who lost the popular vote by more than seven million votes, whose recklessness after the election cost Republicans control of the Senate, and who is causing a flight from the Republican Party?
There are different, sometimes overlapping explanations. For some, it’s a matter of cynical ambition. They want to win over the loyalty of Trump supporters, who comprise a huge part of the base of the Republican Party. For others, it’s recognizing that standing up to Mr. Trump might make life quite unpleasant and even dangerous for them, exposing them to hazards that range from primary challenges to physical attack. And for still others, it’s driven by such antipathy toward the left that they will not do anything Democrats ask them to do, even if doing so is the right thing to do. These Republicans would much rather “own the libs” than side with them against a corrupt, corrosive former president.
There’s also the natural human reluctance to take a stand that puts you in conflict with your own political tribe, your colleagues, your friends. And there’s this: Over the course of the Trump presidency a lot of Republicans repeatedly — sometimes daily — quarantined their conscience in order to justify to others, and to themselves, their support for an unscrupulous man.
Can I put all of this on one T-shirt?
Addendum No. 2
This, by Dave Chappelle, completely held me in its spell for all 18-plus minutes. He’s the George Carlin of our time. Incredible.