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FIVE ACTUAL TAKEAWAYS FROM TUESDAY’S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
1. However much the House managers are lionized as Greek gods; however horrific Donald Trump’s lawyers were; however much significance one wishes to attach to Senator Cassidy’s procedural vote; however great the sequel to the prosecution’s highly-produced video is; however much the Dominant Media wishes it were otherwise; however much polls show a majority of Americans believe the facts and justice require it to be otherwise -- the former president is not going to be convicted.
2. You can read the Politico, Washington Post, and New York Times stories about how angered Trump was by the weak, meandering, off-putting, comical, and weak (“weak” repeated for appropriate emphasis) performance of his lawyers — and/but you will only get a 1/15th sense of JUST HOW FRIGGIN’ ANGRY HE WAS (and is).
3. God bless the souls of those who died connected to the events at the Capitol on January 6, and we all wish a speedy recovery to those who were hurt – but my goodness – after looking again at the violence on video from that day -- it is amazing that the human carnage wasn’t worse.
4. I’ve done a complete 180 in 24 hours: I now think Trump’s post-acquittal victory lap will be less robust than I previously did (in part because the gap between the Gang of 500 focus on this trial and the country’s focus is the biggest such divide since America was (not) consumed with Larry Summers’ op-ed piece on inflation). This will be the most bipartisan congressional impeachment in U.S. presidential history and Democrats will not pay that big a price for failing to convict Trump a second time.
5. Members of Congress of both parties remain steaming mad about Trump’s unwillingness to move aggressively to stop the insurrection after it was underway. Although that period is not at the heart of the article of impeachment, you need to read this Washington Post story to get the fullest account yet of what actually happened (and didn’t happen…) during those hours to understand what is really going on here.
If you made those who were around Trump in the White House on 1/6 take some sodium pentothal and commanded them to commit to telling the truth, a very high percentage of them would say they watched him violate his oath of office in real time.
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FIVE ACTUAL TAKEAWAYS FROM TUESDAY’S NEWS BLOTTED OUT BY THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
1. This was arguably the biggest news story of the cycle; consider why you, a big consumer of news, probably don’t know about it:
As President Joe Biden works to reopen most of the nation's public schools within his first 100 days, the White House clarified its benchmarks Tuesday, giving a less ambitious goal than some parents might want to hear.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday Biden's goal is for more than 50% of schools to have "some teaching" in person "at least one day a week" – not necessarily fully reopened – by Day 100 of his presidency.
"Hopefully it's more," Psaki said. "And obviously it is as much as is safe in each school and local district."
When he announced the goal in December, Biden said he aimed to ensure "a majority of our schools" are open within 100 days.
But in Biden's plan to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, released on his first full day in office, the White House lowered its marker, saying the goal only applies to "a majority of K-8 schools," not high schools.
I know we are in the midst of a pandemic, but arguably the most significant story in America right now (because it impacts, among many other things, how the nation grapples with the governmental choices that are being made about the pandemic) is the majestic capacity of Team Biden’s Comms Division (Anita Dunn, Kate Bedingfield, Jen Psaki, etc.) to use carrots, sticks, psyops, and their extraordinary home field advantage to keep the Dominant Media in deep, deep dark Biden Blue jerseys.
The press corps should wear Purple at all times (although they’ve worn Light Blue or Standard Blue in the modern era almost without exception).
The first draft of history is being written for 55% of the nation, which is great (in the short term) for those 55%.
All parents and all those who care about the economy (read: everyone) should know about what Jen Psaki said on Tuesday about schools — and debate and discuss it. That includes the media.
2. My spideysense says that at least one of these three stories is about to become the first “new” crisis of/for the Biden administration:
Two U.S. carrier groups conducted joint exercises in the South China Sea on Tuesday, days after a U.S. warship sailed near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed waters, as China denounced the United States for damaging peace and stability. (Reuters)
*
Iran’s intelligence minister raised the possibility that his country would be forced to seek nuclear arms if American sanctions were not lifted, an attention-grabbing break from the country’s pledge that its atomic energy program would always be peaceful. (New York Times)
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More than 50 House Republicans on Tuesday warned President Biden of a brewing "crisis" of illegal migration at the southern border amid indications of a surge in numbers -- just as Biden has forged forward with a number of policies limiting border security and interior enforcement. (Fox News)
3. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is at it again.
Please read this entire thread:
As the Washington Post documents, the top Republicans in the House are hoping to go back to the bad/good old days in which MTG can spout whatever she wishes and they can just refuse to comment on it.
4. Had it not been for the events of January 5 (the Georgia Senate runoffs) and January 6 (you know), Neera Tanden’s confirmation hearing might never have taken place. And it if had taken place, it would have been one of the most epically confrontational such sessions of all time.
Instead, Tuesday was just an opportunity for Rob Portman to read mean tweets as Joe Biden’s OMB pick glides over speed bumps to confirmation.
5. What’s going on at the New York Times is not just about cancel culture, work place fairness, and the weakness of so-called “leaders” (although it is about all of those things); it’s about what kind of country we are going to have and how much we want to be like Mao’s China.
Read this Free Beacon story.
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FIVE ACTUAL TAKEAWAYS ON WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT WIDE WORLD OF NEWS
1. Plenty of people who are less well off than you are have already opened up their digital check books to kick in.
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3. The jokes!
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