No Holds Barred

Attorney General William Barr (below) testified before the House Judiciary Committee this past Tuesday, and I'll give him this much - despite fears to the contrary, he showed up.

But as to the question of whether the Democrats or Barr and his fellow Republicans made the case for Barr's heavy-handed response to people demonstrating against racial injustice,  his recommendation against a seven-to-nine year jail sentence for Roger Stone, or the Russia probe investigation, I fear that Barr and his congressional allies may have made the better arguments - mainly by lying and obfuscating at loud volumes and with righteous indignation.  Barr defended his recommendation on Stone's prison sentence, citing his age, and he maintained that force from the civilian government agents in Portland was necessary to protect the courthouse from the more violent elements of the demonstrations, whose rights to free speech he supported so long as they were peaceful.  And GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee backed him up with their spins on the issues, as well as displaying  eager anticipation of the report on the Russia probe investigation. 

The Democrats landed some effective punches, such as Representative Jerrold Nadler (NY) citing the mothers, veterans and public officials that make up many of the peaceful demonstrators against racial injustice, as well as Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (TX) going after Barr for not hiring any black aides while trying to sound sanctimonious in invoking the recently deceased John Lewis (still lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda during the hearing).  Democratic Representative Joe Neguse (CO) even got Barr to suggest that former New York District Attorney Geoffrey Berman resigned without knowing it, a preposterous idea.  But Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) and his opening salvo in the form of an eight-minute montage video that contrasted TV news reporters and commentators talking about "peaceful demonstrators" with scenes of violent confrontations seemed to overshadow all that.  And why not?  It had more noise and chaos than another famous eight-minute montage, "Revolution 9."

Take this, brother, may it serve you well.

Democratic Representative David Cicilline (RI) countered Jordan's video montage with one of his own, showing still pictures from the same demonstrations featuring peaceful protesters.  Too bad one of those still pictures - which aren't as effective as videos - showed one demonstrator holding up a sing with an obscenity on it.

It was left to CNN's Jake Tapper to point out that Jordan had marshaled and edited clips for his video selectively without offering the comments from reporters and commentators about peaceful demonstrators in their proper context, with Tapper showed the original news clips to illustrate that these reporters and commentators, some of whom were Tapper's coworkers, were saying that the demonstrations mostly peaceful but turned violent when provoked by federal agents.  Yes, but how many people are going to pay attention to Jake Tapper? Jordan's' tactic was slimy propaganda but smart politics.

Hopefully, a few days or so will shed more light on how evasive and arrogant Barr and his Republican defenders were and make them look more preposterous than they already do.  But for Trump supporters - still comprising two-fifths of the electorate, making them a dangerous, large minority - evasion and arrogance are badges of honor. 

Impeachment Ho? Impeachment, WHOA!

The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Representative Jerold Nadler (D-NY), below, begins its hearings on impeaching Trump, in the hope of drawing up articles of impeachment that center on abuse of power and bribing foreign nationals.  This will put the Trump trail on a very fast track.

Except for one thing- the House Intelligence Committee still has a lot of work to do, because new leads point toward more corruption.

New details are emerging about more shady deals to help Trump, including calls from Rudolph Giuliani to the Office and Management and Budget and connections between Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee, and the key players in the Ukraine scandal.  But the Intelligence Committee, while promising to continue further investigations, doesn't seem to want to hold more hearings for the time being, preferring instead to let the Judiciary Committee take the lead.  MSNBCs Howard Fineman compared what the Democrats are doing to catching a whale instead of a big fish and being reluctant to reel it in.  Instead of finishing the job, the House Intelligence Committee seems to be closing the case without exposing more corruption that could get more Americans to side with their pursuit of impeachment  - because of political concerns over the 2020 election campaign.  Meanwhile, the Republicans relentlessly campaign against impeachment with a message of a witch hunt base on a disagreement with Trump's Ukraine policy . . . with the powerful and persuasive marketing savvy that got Reagan elected President twice and Al Gore deposed after being elected President fairly.  Not only are the Democrats' chances of winning the Presidency and the Senate in doubt, so are their chances of holding the House.   

The Democrats are among the most pathetic bunch of Keystone Kops I've ever seen. Damaging Trump and possibly destroying him going forward into 2020 should be easy as 1, 2, 3, but by looking at it as a political rather than as a constitutional matter, they've already managed to screw it up to the point of making it as complex as πr².  The American people are now less enamored with impeachment, and if the Democrats blow the 2020 election, I'll be much less enamored with them.

If that's possible.  

Abandon All Hope

Hope Hicks, the former aide to Donald Trump, used to be a model, and she was not one of those famous star models who stand out as unique icons of fashion and beauty.  Hope Hicks was one of those small-time models you see in a magazine or on a book cover who come across as nameless, lifeless faces.  You don't know who they are or what they're like; they're just ciphers who stare back blankly from the page, have no identity and communicate nothing.

Which is exactly how she proved to be in real life when she testified before the House Judiciary  Committee about Trump in a closed-door session.

Backed by White House lawyers and advisers, Hicks refused to say anything that Trump didn't want out in official testimony.  She proved to be just as mute when she entered and left the committee room, reporters failing to get much out of her.  Calvin Coolidge said more when, replying to a woman at a White House dinner who said she'd bet a friend she could get the President to say at least three words, said, "You lose!"   

As did the House Judiciary Committee, which was unable to get Hicks on record or on camera refusing to go on record.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler sees a blessing in disguise, though, because he thinks that Hicks' stonewalling will make it easier for a judge to force the White House to comply. Maybe.  But perhaps that's the reason why Trump is packing the courts - to make sure there are judges who do not allow that to happen.

And, like Hope Hicks, they're probably not going to say much.      

81 and It's On

Donald Trump will have to give up being President in peace for Lent.  House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has asked for documents from 81 individuals and entities related to Trump's business interests, and the White House is already calling it a fishing expedition.  In fact, Nadler is only doing in 2019 what the House Republican majority should have been doing in 2017 and 2018 - looking at suspicious, alert-causing behavior that may or may not lead to evidence of wrongdoing and obstruction of justice.  In other words, congressional oversight.

Nadler, in other words, is making up for lost time.  This means that he's going to have to do four years' worth of oversight in two years' time, and if he doesn't find anything explosive - and maybe even if he does find something explosive - it's going to look like an excessive, vindictive campaign against Trump by the Democrats . . . that is, a witch hunt.  The Democrats can inoculate themselves from such charges if they do this right.  All Nadler has to say is, "We're making up for lost time."

And then they have to talk about health care.