US Politics

You have the best words @danstuff

I do.

The very best.

Everyone says they're the best.

They're literally the best.

Sessions sacked and Rosenstein removed from overseeing Mueller.

It'll be interesting to see what Mueller's next move is, because you know he'll have expected this and have plans in place on how to respond.

It's more evidence of obstruction.

Also:

1 Attachment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5Xv7QqXiM

You would hope this, but Trump's seems a premeditated move, too. Is he now somewhat safer with a larger Senate majority?

https://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2014/05/iowa-u-s-senate-candidate-profile-qa-matt-whitaker/

which looks like a carve up not the borders built by cultural identity.

Sure, that is exactly what happened. That doesn't mean those borders are less legitimate nowadays though. Also, 'surely a better way' isn't saying much, what way exactly? In a country as federal as the US (or Switzerland for that matter), the states, such as they are, are perceived to be important entities. I have not yet heard of a 'better' way myself, but feel free to suggest one.

Impeachment trials are conducted in the Senate.
GOP Senators have previously shown total grovelling subservience to Trump, so he is very safe.

I think I might switch off from all this and await the David Attenborough nature documentary.

dons bestest hushed Attenborough tones
"and the orange alpha baboon, his cheeks puffed with cheeseburgers and skin stained from the cheetos, asserts his dominance over the room by firing one employee, hamstringing the fake investigation into his life and in a somewhat predictable power move now feels emboldened to actively call for reporters to be castrated live on television for the viewing public's pleasure.

Its been a long journey but finally the alpha baboon can wash off the dust off the thinly veiled racism that has been for so long waiting in the wings, today Trump blossoms into full on edgelord dictator mode"

Cant wait.

total grovelling subservience to Trump

More likely, Trump serves as a convenient foil for their own shitbaggery.

Either way, the GOP tendency is to stick together, no matter what the means or the ends.

Joining this debate too late, but yeah, I don't buy the borders are just "lines on a map" argument either. People made those lines, however arbitrary, so the people vs. lines dichotomy is false.

And yes, some states, countries, kantons, whatever are less populated than others. But that shouldn't take away from the effort people have put into creating and sustaining that unit. Moreover, I would argue that these states/countries may very well have values and traditions worth sustaining, regardless of numerical disadvantage. If you take nations as an example, the various well being indices are usually topped by small countries like NZ, Denmark, Switzerland etc. I would therefore argue that something happens in those small places that is worth learning from. But at the same time they don't have many people in them, so... should they just be swamped by larger countries/states whenever international deals are being worked out? Like, the US wants to scrap the Paris Agreement, while a bunch of smaller nations want to keep it. But fuck those liliputians right? Have a bunch of Estonians stand up to the US on climate issues means international democracy is broken if seen from the "arbitrary lines" perspective. After all, the US and China can more fairly be said to represent the people in general.

But if you want a functioning union, whether federal or international you just have to give smaller populations that at times unfair overproportionate representation. Indeed they are less good at having babies, but they can be good at other things. And the alternative to listening to them might very well be that they'll just abandon the cooperative project altogether.

Protests called across the USA and Canada today as a consequence of Sessions and Rosenstein being fired. I have a feeling we'll be hearing more from Mueller very soon. Also a Dem house means we'll finally get to see Trump's taxes, among other things. This was a good result.

https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/

A 5.38 podcast explained it thus;
Seats in the House that were susceptible to switching to the Democrats were 8%more Republican than the USA as a whole.
Senate seats up for election were 16% more Republican. With Trump running as a disapproval rating of 10-11%, the Democrats had a very good chance if winning the House, very little chance of winning the Senate.

With more states under Democrat control the systematic gerrymandering & voter supression can be unwound.

I don't think Rod Rosenstein has been fired, yet. Trump has however transferred oversight of the Mueller's inquiry from Rosenstein to Whitaker. In John Kelly's words that role gives Whitaker "visibility into the special counsel's work".

Several Republican Senators have expressed the view that if Trump fired Mueller it would lead to an impeachment trail. In 1973 the trigger for Nixon's impeachment was that he ordered the Acting Attorney General to fire special investigator Cox. "Fire him or I will fire you like I just did to the others". Nixon resigned before the impeachment trial was completed.

What if Whitaker decides to sack Mueller by his own decision? He has already expressed the view that the investigation should be stopped. Would Trump be impeached for a bad act by his Acting Attorney General? Would Trump resign because an impeachment process had begun? It would just give him more ammunition to fire up his supporters. Trump only needs 1/3 of the Senate (35) to support him in order to survive impeachment. As we have seen, what doesn't beat him makes him stronger.

The Special Counsel can only be terminated by Whitaker for "misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause."

I don't like the "other good cause" bit.

Presumably one could argue that the words 'other good cause' should be interpreted ejusdem generis, which would limit their scope considerably.

your a ejusdem generis

But yes, having googled what that means, I would hope so.

I've never seen Danstuff and JRM in the same place, come to think of it.

And I thought JRM spoke British.

Do you even Babylonian?
https://mobile.twitter.com/jacob_rees_mogg/status/957933095939960833?lang=en

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshazzar%27s_feast