rachel on 13/1/2021 at 22:04
Aaaaand done, first POTUS ever to be impeached TWICE. Woohoo, so much winning!
zombe on 13/1/2021 at 23:07
Sadly, as far as i know, impeachment is pretty much completely meaningless. And i do not have much hope for getting to 2/3 needed for conviction (*) - or anything that would actually do anything.
Dem: 222yea, 0nay, 0withTheirHeadInTheAss
Rep: 10yea, 197nay(!), 4withTheirHeadInTheAss
SubJeff on 13/1/2021 at 23:15
197 nays though.
Splintered nation.
Cipheron on 14/1/2021 at 02:51
(
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/01/republicans-congress-metal-detectors-capitol-hill-riot-schools)
Quote:
Less than three years before Republican lawmakers today threw temper tantrums about metal detectors in the halls of Congress, they passed GOP legislation supporting more metal detectors in schools.
In 2018, the Republican-controlled House tried to head off strict gun control legislation by instead passing Florida GOP Rep. John Rutherford’s bill authorizing new resources for “evidence-based strategies and programs to prevent violence, which may include the use of appropriate technologies, including the placement and use of metal detectors.”
Among those voting for the metal detector legislation were Republican Reps. Steve Scalise, Steve Stivers, Larry Bucshon, Louie Gohmert, Rodney Davis, Markwayne Mullin, and Steve Womack.
NBC News reported that Scalise, Stivers, Bucshon, and Gohmert were among the “Republican lawmakers [who] complained about — or outright bypassed — the metal detectors to enter the House floor” that were installed after the chamber was attacked in last week’s violent insurrection. Fox News reported that
Davis “exchanged harsh words with Capitol Police” about the new security measures and called them “political correctness run amok.” And CNN reported that Mullin and Womack “erupted at Capitol Police as they were forced to go through” the metal detectors.
The Huffington Post reported that Stivers last night “told the cops at the door he believes the magnetometers are unconstitutional.”
Three years ago, Stivers boasted to constituents that he supported “improving school safety by increasing funding for schools to have metal detectors.”
Anti-terrorism measures are "political correctness run amok" if they inconvenience a Republican at all.
demagogue on 14/1/2021 at 04:33
They have to get 2/3 of a quorum. The Senate will be split 50/50. I think they said at least 6 GOP senators might get on board. (Up to 20 have made negative statements against Trump which put them in the running.) If they can get +10, then if 10 GOP senators are no-shows, 60 will be 2/3 of the quorum of 90 members present. (It's right on the line, but VP Harris will get a vote to break it in favor of impeachment, I think.) So that's something of a wildcard possibility in the political calculus.
Nicker on 14/1/2021 at 04:37
There are reports that along with GOP officials conducting recon tours of the Capitol Building for MAGAHATS in the days before the Coup attempt (when even family members were barred) (
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/capitol-riots-ayanna-pressley-panic-buttons-b1786678.html) the panic buttons in some offices had been torn out.
Quote:
Panic buttons installed in Ayanna Pressley’s congressional office were torn out before rioters stormed the Capitol last week, her staff have said.
Sarah Groh, who serves as Ms Pressley’s chief of staff, was with the congresswoman when president Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol building last Wednesday.
She told the Boston Globe that she had reached for the panic buttons installed in Ms Pressley’s office as they tried to barricade themselves in.
But, when they went to press panic buttons, Ms Pressley’s staff saw that they weren’t there, and appeared to have been ripped out.
“Every panic button in my office had been torn out - the whole unit,” Ms Groh told the paper.
demagogue on 14/1/2021 at 04:49
Speaks to premeditation. But we already knew it was premeditated because of what they were carrying with them. This adds that officials may well have been part of the planning. Either way, it's more support for the case that Trump didn't need to say the thing directly because they know exactly what he was getting at when he called them to that "stop the steal" gathering.
Nicker on 14/1/2021 at 04:53
Sorry, everybody. My bad!!
It was Cuba all along.
[video=youtube;-7Op-gfzdSU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Op-gfzdSU[/video]
Cipheron on 14/1/2021 at 05:17
Quote Posted by demagogue
They have to get 2/3 of a quorum. The Senate will be split 50/50. I think they said at least 6 GOP senators might get on board. (Up to 20 have made negative statements against Trump which put them in the running.) If they can get +10, then if 10 GOP senators are no-shows, 60 will be 2/3 of the quorum of 90 members present. (It's right on the line, but VP Harris will get a vote to break it in favor of impeachment, I think.) So that's something of a wildcard possibility in the political calculus.
A couple of issues there. Firstly, supermajorities don't need "tie breakers". You just need the supermajority. Tie breakers are used because 50/50 votes are equal. Second, it would be Pence not Harris, until Trump's gone anyway. Third, Ossoff and Warnock aren't sworn in yet. They're expected to be sworn in some time next week one article suggests the 20th, but the Republicans running Georgia have until the 22nd to actually certify the results.
(
https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_runoff_elections_in_Georgia_(January_5,_2021)#When_will_election_winners_be_sworn_in.3F)
Quote:
The winners will be sworn in once results are certified. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) has until January 22, 2021, to certify results. David Perdue's term ended at noon on January 3, 2021. The seat he held will be vacant until the regular runoff election results are certified. Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed to temporarily serve the term Johnny Isakson won, which ends January 2023. She will remain in office until the election is decided, and whoever wins the race will complete the term.
So the situation is 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and 1 vacant seat. The vote would *have* to be on the 19th of January, because that's the first day the Senate returns from recess, and by the 20th, Trump won't be president any more. So the vote needs exactly 66 votes, meaning 48 Democrats and 18 Republicans would have to vote for it. If you took your scenario however and modified it so that 9 Republicans were no-show then you'd need 12 Republican Senators to change sides (60/90: no tie-breaker needed, because there is no concept of a tie in super-majorities).
Best-case scenario is that the Republicans en-masse don't show up out of "protest" and then the impeachment gets passed. This is a way the Republicans could shed Trump like a hot potato while giving plausible deniability.
Nicker on 14/1/2021 at 05:39
Also, by the time of the vote, a number of Senators might be cooling their heels as co-conspirators and insiders in the Coup. Every bit helps.
