DAYS OF TRIAL: What did the former commander know...

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021

...and when the heck did he know it?: We've spent a few minutes this morning revisiting some basic information about the Clinton impeachment vote.

We may post that information later. Right now, before today's session starts, we'll consider a basic pair of questions:

What did the former commander know? And when the heck did he know it?

None of what follows should have much bearing on an assessment of the former commander-in-chief. It does shed light on the way we the people are propagandized on "cable news" under current arrangements.

What did the commander know? When did the commander know it? We refer to the chronology of two events which occurred during the January 6 riot—the commander's now-famous phone call with Senator Tommy Tuberville, and his now-famous idiotic tweet concerning Vice President Pence.

Which came first—the phone call or the tweet? Below, we show you the way that question was answered on Anderson Cooper's program last night. (CNN still creates transcripts.) 

We'll show you an excerpt from Cooper's program. That said, it's our impression that we in Our Town were offered this chronology all over cable last night.

We note a minor irony. As we start, Cooper has just finished speaking with CNN's fact-checker, Daniel Dale:

COOPER (2/12/21): Daniel Dale, I appreciate it. Thanks.

For reaction on the hearing on the Hill, I want to bring in our congressional correspondent, Ryan Nobles. So Ryan, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, who has been one of the former president's strongest allies from day one, he has been responding to this new reporting. What is he saying?

NOBLES: Yes, that's right, Anderson. You know, the Trump impeachment lawyers attempted to make the case that the recollection of what Tommy Tuberville remembered on that day at the Capitol wasn't correct, and that that indicated that the former president had no idea that his vice president was being evacuated after, or I should say before, he then attacked him on Twitter.

But Tuberville stood by his recollection of that day today, telling reporters afterwards exactly what the phone call was like. He actually told our Manu Raju that he had to get off the phone with the president and he told him the reason he needed to get off the phone was because the vice president was being evacuated.

And if you match up the timeline, the president's tweet attacking Vice President Pence came about 10 minutes after that fact.

So this idea that the Trump legal team is trying to present, that somehow the president had no idea that his vice president was in danger when he attacked him, just really does not meet up with the facts of the case.

According to Nobles, Trump spoke with Tuberville on the phone, then issued his idiotic tweet about Pence roughly ten minutes later.

It's our impression that this chronology was presented all over cable last night—at least, all over the cable news channels which are viewed in Our Town. 

We don't know if that chronology is accurate. But as of this morning, the Washington Post is reporting that this widely-reported chronology is wrong.

The Post's analysis piece was written by Philip Bump. You can read the full piece for yourselves, but here is the relevant section, section heading included:

BUMP (2/13/21): The Tuberville call

Then there’s that call with Tuberville. It wasn’t actually placed directly to Tuberville. Instead, the president called Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) phone.

At the time of the question posed by Collins and Murkowski, the timing of the call wasn’t clear. On Friday evening, a spokesman for Lee said that the senator received the call from Trump at 2:26 p.m. Lee has said once he realized Trump was intending to call Tuberville, he quickly handed Tuberville his phone so the two could speak.

With that clarity, it’s now clear that the president spoke with Tuberville—and was told about Pence’s evacuation—two minutes after the tweet.

According to Bump, it's now clear that the former commander posted his idiotic tweet about Pence two minutes before he spoke with Tuberville. That would mean that CNN's chronology was wrong.

We don't know which chronology is correct. We do know this:

At present, our nation's corporate "cable news" stars work almost wholly from script, and also from the desire to please you. You shouldn't believe the things they say until you've had a chance to check their statements out.

(In fairness, everyone makes mistakes. But when "news" must conform to Storyline, the errors all tilt one way.)

Our world was already running on Storyline and script during the Clinton impeachment. We'll include one highly amusing example in our later post.

We don't offer this morning's rumination to tilt your view concerning the former commander-in-chief. We focus  here on the nation's press corps—and actually no, you really can't believe the things you hear them (ardently) say.

The most famous of the cable kids are paid millions of dollars per year. More and more and more and more, they're paid to keep you happy.


29 comments:

  1. I don't know if ad hubris hurts or hinders, but it is certainly the order of the day here, and with more despondence than ennui, it is impossible to escape the feeling Bob Somerby is an numbskull.

    Reply

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello everyone..........I thought the physicians said there is no pills or another way for PENIS ENLARGEMENT !!! I am telling you today that Dr Olu has the product for PENIS ENLARGEMENT and it worked perfectly for me from 3:0 to 8:95 and still counting. Contact Dr Olu for help to Enlarge your penis via Email Address: Drolusolutionhome@gmail.com and also reach him on WhatsApp with mobile number: +2348140654426 Be your brothers keeper by sharing this vital information to other fellow men around the global


































      Hello everyone..........I thought the physicians said there is no pills or another way for PENIS ENLARGEMENT !!! I am telling you today that Dr Olu has the product for PENIS ENLARGEMENT and it worked perfectly for me from 3:0 to 8:95 and still counting. Contact Dr Olu for help to Enlarge your penis via Email Address: Drolusolutionhome@gmail.com and also reach him on WhatsApp with mobile number: +2348140654426 Be your brothers keeper by sharing this vital information to other fellow men around the global













































      Hello everyone..........I thought the physicians said there is no pills or another way for PENIS ENLARGEMENT !!! I am telling you today that Dr Olu has the product for PENIS ENLARGEMENT and it worked perfectly for me from 3:0 to 8:95 and still counting. Contact Dr Olu for help to Enlarge your penis via Email Address: Drolusolutionhome@gmail.com and also reach him on WhatsApp with mobile number: +2348140654426 Be your brothers keeper by sharing this vital information to other fellow men around the global


































      Hello everyone..........I thought the physicians said there is no pills or another way for PENIS ENLARGEMENT !!! I am telling you today that Dr Olu has the product for PENIS ENLARGEMENT and it worked perfectly for me from 3:0 to 8:95 and still counting. Contact Dr Olu for help to Enlarge your penis via Email Address: Drolusolutionhome@gmail.com and also reach him on WhatsApp with mobile number: +2348140654426 Be your brothers keeper by sharing this vital information to other fellow men around the global

      Delete
    2. It is a very hard situation when playing the lottery and never won, or keep winning low fund not up to 100 bucks, i have been a victim of such a tough life, the biggest fund i have ever won was 100 bucks, and i have been playing lottery for almost 12 years now, things suddenly change the moment i came across a secret online, a testimony of a spell caster called DR EMU, who help people in any type of lottery numbers, i was not easily convinced, but i decided to give try, now i am a proud lottery winner with the help of DR EMU, i won $1,000.0000.00 and i am making this known to every one out there who have been trying all day to win the lottery, believe me this is the only way to win the lottery. contact him via email: Emutemple@gmail.com call or whats app +2347012841542 Website: http://emutemple.website2.me/

      Delete
    3. Isiyku Abdulahi
      My ex-boyfriend dumped me one week ago after I accused him of seeing someone else and insulting him. I want him back in my life but he refuse to have any contact with me. I was so confuse and don’t know what to do, so I reach to the Internet for help and I saw a testimony of how a spell caster help them to get their ex back so I contact the spell caster and explain my problem to him and he cast a spell for me and assure me of 2 days that my ex will return to me and to my greatest surprise the third day my ex came knocking on my door and beg for forgiveness. I am so happy that my love is back again and not only that, we are about to get married. Once again thank you Dr Believe. You are truly talented and gifted.He is the only answer. He can be of great help and I will not stop talking about him because he is a wonderful man. Contact this great love spell caster for your relationship or marriage problem to be solved today via email: believelovespelltemple@gmail.com or WhatsApp: +19713839183




















      Isiyku Abdulahi
      My ex-boyfriend dumped me one week ago after I accused him of seeing someone else and insulting him. I want him back in my life but he refuse to have any contact with me. I was so confuse and don’t know what to do, so I reach to the Internet for help and I saw a testimony of how a spell caster help them to get their ex back so I contact the spell caster and explain my problem to him and he cast a spell for me and assure me of 2 days that my ex will return to me and to my greatest surprise the third day my ex came knocking on my door and beg for forgiveness. I am so happy that my love is back again and not only that, we are about to get married. Once again thank you Dr Believe. You are truly talented and gifted.He is the only answer. He can be of great help and I will not stop talking about him because he is a wonderful man. Contact this great love spell caster for your relationship or marriage problem to be solved today via email: believelovespelltemple@gmail.com or WhatsApp: +19713839183



      Delete
  2. There is no timing that makes that tweet about Pence acceptable. It was wrong no matter when Trump did it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Notice how Somerby today supports the President's defense and not the liberal prosecution.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "What did the former commander know? And when the heck did he know it?"

    Jeez, dear Bob, you're really into it, the idiotic clown show performed by your liberal-zombie cult. Lol.

    But then, hey, you are a liberal after all, so it would be silly to expect anything else...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL.
      Trump tried to gaslight a viral pandemic like it was some common Mao Cheng Ji---whistling and stomping his feet along to the rhythms of Trump's HUGE tax break for the Establishment, while pretending his bigotry is economic anxiousness.

      Delete
  5. Why is Somerby today reminding us about Clinton's impeachment? When you support the former President, then a bit of what-aboutism is presumably in your self-interest.

    Overnight, several Republicans have remembered and talked about events that do not help the president at all. They include McCarthy, Beutler, and Pence (in a leak). This info supports the House Managers' case and hurts the former President by showing his lack of willingness to help stop the rioting.

    And this morning we see Somerby more aggressively supporting the former President's case. OF COURSE it is liberal script that the former President instigated an insurrection. And it is obvious from the evidence presented that he did so. There has been no effective defense of the ex-president's actions. Storyline is not an issue because there can be no "storyline" when one side is telling the truth and the other is not.

    If Somerby doesn't like hearing about the awful things Trump has done, he shouldn't be backing him now that his misdeeds are being revealed for all to see and more importantly, understand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The movement from Bob's concern for "poor Baltimore black kids" to his concern for the feelings of Right-wing bigots, has been fascinating to watch.

      Delete
  6. Somerby fails to mention one version of this telephone call, the one in which Tuberville tells Trump that "they've got Pence (referring to the secret service) but Trump understands him to be saying that the rioters have taken him. Then Trump sends out his tweet justifying that action, which some on the internet are calling Pence's obituary. This is the worst reading possible of Trump's actions and Somerby fails to mention it. Instead, he tries to cast Trump's action (which makes no sense under the two circumstances Somerby discusses), in the best possible light, and uses it to undermine the timeline and testimony of the House Managers, claiming that anyone who supports the House Manager's version is supporting "storyline." As if it isn't a different kind of storyline to take a more favorable view of the dispute.

    And Somerby is busy looking up Clinton impeachment details (he says, but presents nothing to support) instead of figuring out what happened by reading the entire breadth of discussion on the internet last night.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As reported by The Hill (not a particularly liberal site):

    "CNN on Friday reported the details of the expletive-filled call between Trump and McCarthy, citing Republicans who were briefed on the call.

    The news outlet reported that McCarthy pressed Trump to call off the riot, and they ended up in a shouting match.

    According to the lawmakers, Trump said, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”

    The quote was first mentioned by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), who was one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, during a town hall. She and other Republicans confirmed it to CNN.

    Herrera Beutler, who also later shared the quote in a statement, told the news outlet that the line demonstrated that “either [Trump] didn't care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry.”

    ReplyDelete
  8. “On Friday evening, a spokesman for Lee said that the senator received the call from Trump at 2:26 p.m.”

    Did Lee share that information before it was presented at the trial?

    In fact, at the impeachment trial, Sen Cassidy (R-LA) asks a question about the phone call:

    “Senator Tuberville reports that he spoke to President Trump at 2:15...”
    https://www.c-span.org/amp/video/?c4945804

    So, the most accurate information anyone had prior to and during the trial was the time Tuberville stated. That would have been what the news media reported on.

    Next question: is Lee telling the truth?

    Subsequent question: Why wouldn’t the VP’s team or the VP himself not have informed the President of his danger as it was happening? Does the president of the United States have no other way of getting vital information other than watching Fox News and misdialing random US Senators?

    ReplyDelete
  9. From Fox News:

    "The story in the Utah-based Deseret News from Jan. 7 that broke the news of the Trump call to Lee that was meant for Tuberville cites Lee as explaining that the call happened. But it does not reveal the content of the call between Trump and Tuberville. A CNN story published the next day claims that Trump was trying to convince Tuberville to make further Electoral College objections, but does not cite that information to either Lee or Tuberville.

    Notably, however, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani also during the riot left a voicemail with Lee in which he was explicitly asking Tuberville to delay the certification of the election results. The recording of that voicemail has been widely reported, but there is no such record of the conversation between Tuberville and Trump.

    "Tonight the House impeachment managers made false statements mischaracterizing Sen. Lee’s account of a phone conversation between President Trump and Senator Tuberville," a spokesperson for Lee said Wednesday. "Sen. Lee objected and asked that the false statements be stricken from the record. The House managers agreed to withdraw those statements."

    Tuberville told Politico Wednesday that there was not much to his conversation with Trump.

    "I don’t know if you’ve ever talked to President Trump – you don’t get many words in. But he didn’t get a chance to say a whole lot because I said ‘Mr. President, they just took the Vice President out, I’ve got to go,'" Tuberville said. "That’s pretty much what it was."

    --------------------

    Note the ambiguous wording of Tuberville's reported statement. He says they just took Pence out, but he doesn't say who took him out.

    Mike Lee's objection tried to make it sound like all of the facts concerning the phone call were incorrect, like the House Managers were lying, not simply that he was not the source of what the President said to Tuberville. The call has been substantiated by Tuberville himself.

    This is why we need these Republicans to give their info under oath. Mike Lee's attempted obstruction, his dishonesty in stating his objection, should be noted as well, not that it is the first time Republicans have done something like this. Like Somerby, Lee apparently thinks that hair-splitting and obfuscation are legitimate parts of communication. The right is slippery and so is Somerby.

    It doesn't make the tiniest bit of difference what Trump knew. There is no possible scenario that justifies his behavior on Jan 6. As Beutler (R-WA) says, it is very bad one way and worse the other.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "The most famous of the cable kids are paid millions of dollars per year. More and more and more and more, they're paid to keep you happy."

    It would make me happier if they eliminated the middle men and just gave the millions directly to me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The Capitol perimeter was breached at 1:49 pm. Trump was watching it on TV. It’s clear that he knew, or should have known, the danger this presented to Congress. Even after that, he tweeted an attack on Pence and called Lee, who handed the phone to the intended recipient, Tuberville, in order to demand the electoral count stop. This is all in the House managers’ brief.

    Somerby presents the very narrow objection about the exact timing of the phone call, as if it calls into question the basic timeline, or casts doubt on Trump’s knowledge of events.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Businesses were being ramshackled! The horror.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bob,
    You are a liar.
    You say you read the comments at Drum's site but not at your site.
    Bullshit.
    Lie.

    Name one "liberal" who agrees with you
    Come out of the closet.

    You say you never read the

    ReplyDelete
  14. May we ask, dear Bob: what about Andrew Mario's Son Cuomo vs NY nursing homes?

    We are reasonably certain that your goebbelsian-zombie media are mute, but apparently you occasionally muster up enough courage to watch Fox News (horrors! horrors!)?

    Based on what you know, is Andrew Mario's Son Cuomo, in your esteemed opinion, an idiot? a psycho? insane? Or, is he an unfortunate victim, a-la Demigod Algore?

    We're pretty sure it's the latter, but please tell us, dear Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Trump was today acquitted by his accomplices in the Senate. This is a shameful day in American history.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is what emboldened sounds like:

    "Former President Trump declared victory on Saturday after Senate Republicans voted to acquit him for a second time, saying that his political movement has “only just begun” and that he would have more to share in the near future.

    Trump thanked his legal team for “upholding justice and defending truth.”

    “Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people,” he said in the statement."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trump is planning a revenge tour, targeting the Republicans that voted to convict him:

      https://digbysblog.net/2021/02/we-have-a-problem-2/

      Delete
    2. At this point you can call it plotting rather than planning.

      Delete
    3. "In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people,” he said in the statement."

      That assumes he makes bail.

      Delete
  17. I'd LOVE to see Trump peel the bigots away from the Republican Party, leaving them with literally hundreds of voters throughout the country. Alas, Trump is far too lazy to do something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What did Trump know? Who cares? It didn't matter after he set up the insurrection and watched it play out. The question itself implies that Trump was innocent, a bystander, to the attempted coup. Based on the evidence presented by the House Managers, that was not Trump's role. He was the planner in chief and the Republican senators who voted to acquit him were his co-conspirators.

    That Somerby would ask such a question tells us who and what Somerby is.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I don't know how we're going to hold this maniac accountable but I do know it begins with sympathy for The Other and bipartisanship. /sarcasm

    ReplyDelete
  20. If you are looking for the best escort service. We guarantee we will satisfy all your basic needs. Contact here for service.Indore Escorts with an extremely appealing and tempting body. I'm an erotic, liberal, and appealing face female model escort girl. I'm here to offer the best quality escort service to proficient respectable men.
    Indore Call Girls
    Escorts in Indore

    ReplyDelete

  21. LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
    Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever

    ReplyDelete