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It looks like every race is going to be contested. I don’t know the issues, nor even most of the candidates. Anybody want to provide some insight?
A COUPLE OF NEW NAMES (to us, anyway) appear on the current list of people who have filed candidacy papers for Mendo County Supervisor. We knew that First District Supervisor Carre Brown was retiring so it’s not surprising that three people have filed to replace her: John Sakowicz, James Green and Jon Kennedy, all three of whom list their residence as Ukiah. In the Second District seat that John McCowen currently holds we find Ukiah City Councilwoman Maureen Mulheren (insurance agent) and realtor Joel Soinila, but not — so far — incumbent John McCowen. (The filing deadline is December 6, but it’s interesting that McCowen hasn’t already filed.) And in the Fourth District we have incumbent Dan Gjerde opposed by Fort Bragg City Councilman Lindy Peters and MendocinoTV’s Terrance Vaughn.
Republicans are scrambling for a narrative here, but if they actually manage to out the whistleblower on the basis that he or she isn’t actually a whistleblower, that will probably explode in their faces if McGuire’s testimony as to the whistleblower’s credibility (and the credibility of his or her facts) is accurate. And why wouldn’t it be? Careful what you wish for!
And then there a bunch of weird defenses of Trump which are varying slightly from the talking points he ordered them to take last week. This one in particular cracks me up.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) compared Trump’s conduct to a police officer who beats up a suspect while arresting them.
“This is the way I analyze this … I look at this like a guy robs a bank and on the way to jail the cops beat the bejesus out of him.” Kennedy said. “Should cops beat the bejesus out of suspects? No. Should it be investigated? Yes. But you can’t ignore the alleged bank robbery either.”
But this is the essence of what you’ll be hearing all week long from Republicans.
A White House aide accidentally sent a copy of its talking point for Republican lawmakers to Democratic offices on Wednesday.
The document argued that Trump made no quid-pro-quo request to Zelensky and discussed Biden only after Zelensky initiated the conversation about corruption-related issues.
The talking points also shifted scrutiny to the whistleblower by arguing the “real scandal” was that Trump’s confidential conversation with a foreign leader was leaked to the press.
The document reflected Johnson’s argument that it was proper for Trump to ask a foreign leader to investigate any connection between his country and attempted interference in the 2016 election.
Republicans strategists acknowledge their prospects in the 2020 election, when control of the Senate as well as the White House and House will be up for grabs, are closely tied to Trump’s.
So this is what the Constitution says on impeachment:
he House of Representatives … shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
[The President] … shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
“How long you are on it is a different matter, but I would have no choice but to take it up based on a Senate rule on impeachment,” he said, adding that Senate “impeachment rules are very clear.”
This is concerning, because they keep referring to it as if it’s merely a vote, but the Constitution requires a trial to be presided over by the Chief Justice. Now, they can rig the trial to their advantage and vote however they want, but the Constitution is very clear that there must be a trial. Can they exclude Democrats from introducing evidence and asking the questions of witnesses? Can the Chief Justice simply show up and say, “We have all the evidence we need, let’s just get to the vote”? If the Chief Justice decides to take that route, there is pretty much no recourse.
And very likely, the Senate Republicans are more afraid of the Trump base than the loss of moderate voters, although it would be too late to primary them. I wonder if right wing candidates will declare candidacies just to keep pressure on them. So in the short term, the Republicans will win.
And then it will be up to American voters.
There were three Recall Gavin Newsom tables outside of Costco today. I hadn’t realized that it’s a serious effort, so I looked it up when I got home. Apparently it’s for nothing in particular – just a litany of right wing grievances of liberal policies. Nothing which wasn’t raised in the election campaign and still these people’s candidate got crushed.
I’m not a huge fan of Newsom, but the reality is that he will defeat the recall, win reelection easily in the next cycle, and will probably be elected President someday. These people are just going to help him on his way.
I previously posted about my discovery that famed Longshoreman and Communist activist Bill Bailey had lived for some time in Eureka, up here from San Francisco to ditch FBI harassment and elude blacklists. In his autobiography, The Kid from Hoboken, he describes a discussion with a friend who has a Local 14 connection in Eureka and offers to make a plug to hire Bailey. Bailey accepted and drove up to Eureka
He describes some of his experiences as follows – the text of the whole book is available through the link above. Right now, the paperback book is selling for over $70.00 on Amazon. I’m kicking myself, because I bought in back in the 1990s but lent it out before I had the opportunity to read it.
Apparently the Local owes Bailey a debt. When he arrived there were gang bosses attending the union meetings to whine about worker performance. Meanwhile, the employers were not honoring the west coast contract. Bailey drew attention from the International and it changed pretty quickly.
Bill Bailey’s Eureka experiences:
It took me two days to make it to Eureka. The car was old and needed some loving care, like playing nursemaid to a leaky radiator. But we made it in one piece, and that I considered an accomplishment. The many hours to get there just gave me the time I needed to think some more about the future of the country, the world, and, yes, myself.
Eureka, a lumber town with a lovely little port, was a stopover for tourists, campers and backpackers. The main highway went right through the middle of town, leading you through the giant redwoods on the way to Portland and Seattle. Lumber and fish were its main exports to the rest of the country. Foreign ships, most of them Japanese vessels, took out shiploads of logs to their finishing mills to eventually return to America in the form of beautiful paneling. American vessels that came into Eureka took away finished cut lumber for the ports in the East.
I contacted the president of the little local of longshoremen. He read the letter, then told me that work was not in abundance in the port, but when a ship did come in, he would see that I got some work. That was fair enough for me. An ad in the paper steered me to a two-story house not too far away from the union hall. A bed and a small kitchen would take care of my immediate needs and the price was right–about$20 per month. The landlady did not live on the premises, and that, too, was okay with me.
As posted below, Republican Senators have ducked questions about the complaint and “transcript,” some of them saying that they just haven’t had the time to read it. They’re lying of course. They’re hedging their bets. Curiously few of them are defending Trump. Now they have a two week vacation to watch the polls and figure out what they want to say when they come out of hiding.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t putting up with it.
“There is almost no excuse for a member of Congress to have not read the whistleblower report by now,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter. “It’s a few pages. This is literally our jobs. If you don’t have the commitment to be here and do the work, cut your fancy fundraisers & make the time, or quit.”
She’s of course giving them the benefit of the doubt about their lying. I’m really glad she’s there!
I really hope they can pull it off. A foreclosure would be devastating to a community desperate to have a diversified economy.
We don’t just need banking reform. We need a public bank option. It was the banking and lending industry which brought the world economy down a decade ago, and the changes in regulations since then are woefully inadequate.
Redheaded Blackbelt has the story.
Never ceases to be amazing what he can say and Republicans won’t stand up to him.
According to the NY Times, the whistleblower is CIA. That will add to the deep state fringe theories.
Meanwhile, the Republicans in the Senate are dodging. Does anybody really believe they haven’t read the complaint?
And by the way, these responses are really bad news for Trump. Only idiots like Nunes have gone to bat for him so far, and these people are just waiting to see which way the wind blows.
Sohum Parlance II 
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