Alaska Fingers Crossed
Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski found her voice. She says Mitch McConnell’s behavior is “disturbing.”
I think it’s real nice of her to notice. Finally.
Murkowski indicated she’d prefer to see a “full and fair process” that possibly uses the Clinton precedent as a model.
But would not say how she plans to vote on the question of conviction.
“For me to prejudge and say there’s nothing there or, on the other hand, he should be impeached yesterday, that’s wrong, in my view, that’s wrong,” Murkowski said.
Two things:
They cannot use the Clinton model. Clinton testified under oath. Trump refuses to do that. Clinton did not send a 6 page letter to Newt Gingrich that went beyond disturbing and into the Land O’ Scary as Hell.
Second, Murkowski will do what the hell ever her handlers – the Alaskan oil and gas industry – tell her to vote. Trump supports raping the Alaska environment so she will support Trump.
She’s talking a good game, but she couldn’t find courage with a map, a sherpa, and a mission statement.
I agree that she will do what her handlers want. The general concept of “moderate Republican” is a contradiction in terms, no matter the few times she voted against Trump.
1Let’s all remember that Murkowski didn’t vote against Kavanaugh. She voted present. She got clearance from McConnell to do that because the outcome was predetermined. She’ll pretend to be all concerned, handwring, then vote at the last minute with the rest of the knuckle draggers. She does it every time. Fool me once…
2Couldn’t find … – what a delightful analysis of republi-cons.
3When the Senate takes up the charges against Trump, each senator will take an oath to be impartial in judging those charges.
McConnell and Graham, who have already proclaimed that they are not impartial, will be lying under oath. Probably others too.
The House should be ready to slap articles of impeachment against them on the spot.
4Yes, her methods are pretty clear to us in Alaska. Another Susan Collins but maybe a wee bit better…not very much. Just enough to give us (a wee bit of) hope once in awhile.
5The R Senators just don’t believe that they are on trial as well. What a sick, disgusting joke they all are!
6Lucy Murkowski is playing tease her constituents with a football as imaginary as her ethics. Alaskans, you know what you need to do. Same with South Carolina, Kentucky and any other state harboring criminals in the Senate.
IQ4.5 supporters and Republicon voters, if you want to keep your Social Security and Medicare benefits for which you have prepaid, stop voting against your own best interests.
7Clinton faced his accusers.
8Trump sits in his room (with a lock on the door) and watches TV. Or flies off to a rally of enablers.
Right on, Rick!
9She will continue to blindly support her thuglican “daddy’s” no matter how many villages in Alaska are forced to relocate because of climate change and unfettered industrial pollution.
10Sad part is in the end (in)justice roberts will also fall into line and put a heavy thumb upon the scales when ensuring that demented donnie is not even revealed to be a crook.
Party over justice, ideology over country, profits over humanity those are their mantras everything else is nothing but kabuki
Glad to see you’re back and in fine form. Your posts are a joy to read.
11Sincerely hope that you are both feeling better from the accident.
Like Susan Collins, she will vote for trump – but both of them will have big frowny faces, so it’s OK.
12None of this matters, it requires a 2/3rds majority (67 votes) which will never happen. Clinton missed it by one with 12 indictments an $800,000 fine and disbarment from the Arkansas Bar association. Trump wont see more than 50 votes.
Get this useless BS over with so that they can get back important things.
Until term limits are passed in Congress, we’ll never get a truly representative government.
If you think one party is better than the other, your just fooling yourself
13I’m going to play devil’s advocate or at least Murkowski’s advocate. More than any other Republican she has bucked the party line. She is not Susan Collins. She has a real independent streak-remember she originally won as a write in candidate. She didn’t tow the party line on Kavanaugh (Do you suppose Tulsi got the idea for “present” from her?), and she thwarted repeal of the ACA just as much as McCain did.
I was tempted to say that I wouldn’t bet the farm on her doing the right thing but sadly, we may all be betting democracy as we know it on her doing exactly that.
My take, which is worth exactly what you are paying for it, she’s giving cover to other at risk Senators who would like Mitch and Lindsey to shut up about the fact that the fix is in. Those at-risk senators, specifically: Murkowski, Collins, and Gardner will make lots of noise about “being concerned’, ‘troubled’ etc. but in the end Big $$$$ will win out and Mitch will let each of them have a few “votes of conscience” so they can claim they tried. They just won’t win any of those votes because they’ll divvy them up.
One caveat, the moment that it appears control of the Senate is in jeopardy, or that Trump’s hold on the base dips below 30% McConnell will personally throw him under the bus. It’s that simple. So, if you live in Colorado or Alaska, be polite, call your Senator’s office with your concerns. And if you live in other places with Republican Senators, call the office, let em know you vote, you give money, and you work for candidates – just not for ones who lie under oath.
14https://twitter.com/RudeFulk/status/1210580371101900801?s=20
Lisa Murkowski follows the Susan Collins outrage meter (see above).
15I have been emailing Murkowski, Collins and Romney. All I ask for is an open mind on the vote to include witnesses and documents heretofore withheld. I will add Gardner to my list.
16Toomey is a lost cause, but I’ll continue to bombard him with emails as well. Once is definitely not enough. It may all come to naught, but look what happened with the ACA.
Hope springs eternal at the beginning of a new year.
Best to all.
Keith A.:
1767 votes to impeach. Check. But as I understand it, it’s 51 to call witnesses. The ones trump is keeping from testifying. And the way I see it, this dictator wannabe has already set major precedents blocking checks and balances obstructing Congress. Oh, and installing an A.G. who’s eager to bring the full power of the American justice dept. to bear on political rivals. There aren’t many things more important than that with regards to the survival our democracy.
We don’t have the votes to impeach. But this opportunity to possibly bring evidence to light will probably never come again. We might not win this battle. But if we refuse to risk political capital for short term gains at the expense of denying ammunition for future lawmakers to hold the facist “conservative” right for the destruction of our democracy, we’ll deserve what we get. Term limits, check. But if you think one party is no better than the other, you’ve come to the wrong joint. And this fool will gladly tell you “Oh yeah, well you’re a bigger one!
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