Impeachment is right around the corner again!

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Until you speak to Drum's friend:
Yesterday, Kevin Drum spoke to a friend. We can learn a lot—although, needless to say, we won't—from their conversation.

Drum's friend is less enlightened than we are. This is Drum's account of their conversation:
DRUM (9/22/19): I had an, um, spirited discussion about political matters with a friend this morning, and among other things he disagreed with my considered assessment that Ukrainegate, if true, represented “Nixonian levels of corruption.” In fact, he saw nothing wrong with it at all. It was just ordinary politics and he figured that presidents ask foreign leaders for favors like this all the time. Oh, and why did Joe Biden want to get rid of that prosecutor, anyway?
News flash! "Ukrainegate" is going to look that way to a lot of people:

They'll wonder why an all-around "Fredo" like Hunter Biden was ever offered "a lucrative seat on the board of a company called Burisma, which is a major energy company in Ukraine."

They'll wonder why he was ever offered that seat, and they won't be crazy to do so. (We're quoting The New Yorker's Adam Entous, speaking on NPR last night.)

They'll assume that some slippery motives were involved somewhere in the mix. It's hard to assume that such an assumption is wrong.

They'll wonder why Hunter Biden accepted the lucrative post. They'll wonder why his father didn't tell him to quit. They'll wonder why it doesn't make sense to ask the Ukrainian government to develop information about this matter. They'll assume that our team isn't worth listening to, and on many occasions that's right.

Over Here, we hear various representations about this matter. We're inclined to believe the things we hear from those on our team, but The Others are inclined to believe what they hear on Fox, and they often hear things on Fox which aren't completely bogus.

As Drum continued, he continued to characterize the way this whole thing looks to his friend:
DRUM (continuing directly): What’s more, he said, this wasn’t nearly as bad as all the stuff Hillary did. Nor was it as bad as Obama promising “more flexibility” to the Russians on a hot mic. It was just more Democratic witch huntery, like Mueller all over again, who proved that Trump was innocent of obstruction of justice because you can only obstruct criminal investigations, not counterintelligence inquiries.

I wasn’t even really mad about all this. Just depressed. This is what a big chunk of ordinary conservativedom thinks, and nothing is going to change it.
Of course, Mueller didn't "prove that Trump was innocent of obstruction of justice." It's silly to claim that he did.

On the other hand, Mueller also didn't claim that he had found ten instances of obstruction, as we liberals are now told on a regular basis by Nicolle Wallace, our newest and bestest friend.

All in all, the American nation has split into two warring political tribes, in large part because of the activity of our aggressively tribal news orgs. Members of the two tribes hear recitations of different facts. They also hear different types of erroneous statements, generally without understanding that what they're hearing is wrong.

Drum's friend isn't crazily wrong when he sees the latest excitement as "just more Democratic witch huntery, like Mueller all over again." We made clowns of ourselves with our true belief in the things we kept saying King Mueller would prove, and we're largely making clowns of ourselves by believing that this will be the magic route to impeachment now that King Mueller has failed.

It's very, very hard to believe that there will be a good ending to this. Over Here, we have to 1) win next year's election, and 2) look for ways to convince more people to listen to things we say.

As a team, we have no desire or inclination to engage in that second activity. In part for that reason, there may be an increasing chance that we won't accomplish that initial goal.

(When we see Trump say "Pocahontas," we go straight to "racist" and "slur," full stop. It doesn't enter our brainwashed heads to wonder why our candidate made that peculiar claim during all those years. They do wonder about that Over There. Concerning that possible damaging matter, We are more brainwashed than They are.)

Drum is right in one respect, a bit premature in another. In his post, he was describing "what a big chunk of ordinary conservativedom thinks." And given the haplessness of our own tribe, there's no sign that we'll ever find a way to address that state of affairs.

By the way:

Why was Hunter Biden offered that lucrative seat? Why didn't his father tell him to quit? Why won't our other candidate speak to the question of whether Michael Brown was actually "murdered?" We aren't asked to consider such questions. The Others are encouraged to do so.

These are a few of the many questions we won't see raised on The One True Liberal Channel. We liberals are being propagandized too—and like tribal groups since the dawn of time, we're strongly disinclined to understand this fact.

Impeachment is right around the corner again! So we're persistently told, and so we truly believe.

Final point: Every time this matter is discussed, voters are hearing an amorphous suggestion that Candidate Biden was engaged in something underhanded, corrupt.

Over here, we enjoy laughing at Giuliani's craziness. Our favorite pundits all take this approach.

Unfortunately, he put this back in play this past week, and it may end up serving Trump well. Who is getting zoomed by who? We can't say we're sure.

And also this: For Chait's assessment, click here.

47 comments:

  1. "just more Democratic witch huntery, like Mueller all over again."

    Meh. This time, it appears to be more like the zombie cult forcing their opponents' hand, getting rid of poor Creepy Joe while it's not too late.

    And Creepy Joe (sans his corruption scandals) was, I suspect, the strongest among the current front-runners.

    Pocahontas - meh. And Bernie The God is not even a real candidate.

    Oh well, perhaps the zombie cult will find some other passable clown to replace Creepy Joe. We'll see...

    ReplyDelete
  2. “Why was Hunter Biden offered that lucrative seat? Why didn't his father tell him to quit?... We aren't asked to consider such questions. The Others are encouraged to do so.”

    It’s always possible that Somerby, who spends an inordinate amount of time perusing Page A3 and scouring the Times for “lost dog” stories, may have missed this prominent article by Kenneth P. Vogel that appeared in yesterday’s Times:
    “Trump, Biden and Ukraine: Sorting Out the Accusations”
    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/us/politics/biden-ukraine-trump.html

    The article addresses the very questions Somerby raises.

    Those Others may be encouraged to consider such questions, but are they encouraged to seek out answers like the Times is providing?

    It must be tough being a blogger spending all his time worried about the trivialities contained in the Times that he misses serious content that addresses the undoubtedly real concerns he raises about how liberals are being kept in the dark about important matters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Somerby's case, the 'important matters' that he brings up are right wing memes and propaganda.

      Delete
  3. A bizarre aspect of this "scandal" is that there's nothing new. Several months ago it was reported that Giuliani was encouraging the Ukraine to investigate Biden. From the May 9 New York Times:

    Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, is encouraging Ukraine to wade further into sensitive political issues in the United States, seeking to push the incoming government in Kiev to press ahead with investigations that he hopes will benefit Mr. Trump.

    Mr. Giuliani said he plans to travel to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in the coming days and wants to meet with the nation’s president-elect to urge him to pursue inquiries that allies of the White House contend could yield new information about two matters of intense interest to Mr. Trump.


    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/us/politics/giuliani-ukraine-trump.html?searchResultPosition=3

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    Replies
    1. Umm...to reiterate what mm has already pointed out: Rudy is a nobody. He's perfectly entitled to ask Ukraine leaders to do whatever he wants, and no one should care.

      Trump, on the other hand -- and I know it's hard to wrap one's mind around that -- is our el presidente.

      Delete
    2. Rudy is not some random private citizen. He's Trump's personal lawyer. Acting as Trump's agent, he's not entitled to do whatever he wants.

      Delete
  4. From Wikipedia, about Hunter Biden's career prior to joining Burisma (the company he was on the board of):

    "Hunter Biden was appointed by Bill Clinton to serve in the United States Department of Commerce[8] under Secretaries Norman Mineta and William M. Daley. He was director of E-commerce policy issues in the Department of Commerce,[8] a position he held from 1998 to 2001.[9]
    From 2001 to 2008, Biden was a founding partner of Oldaker, Biden, and Belair, LLP, a Washington DC-based lobbyist firm [10] and law firm.[11]
    During this period, He also served as a partner and board member of the mergers and acquisitions firm Eudora Global. Biden was chief executive officer, and later chairman, of the hedge fund Paradigm Global Advisors, founded in 1991 by Dr. James Park. At MBNA, a major US bank, Biden was employed as a senior vice president.[8]"

    and it goes on. He has exactly the kind of credentials you would expect in someone appointed to such a position, in his own right, not as a VP's son. Somerby doesn't bother presenting this info because he wishes to leave the impression that there was improper dealing going on (of the type that is standard with the Trump family).

    There is no need for him to have resigned. This is the standard Republican smear campaign against Biden, coming out of Somerby's mouth.

    Of course conservatives will raise these questions and Trump supporters will believe the worst of Biden. But there is no requirement for the kids of former government officials to stay out of both politics and business in order to prevent Republican smears.

    Somerby should be labeling this as another Trump distraction, intended to rescue him from the real crimes he committed, still unknown in that Whistleblower's memo.

    Drum is right that many Republicans will believe this stuff, just as they believe whatever Fox tells them to. The solution is not for the Left to stay as blameless as possible, nor is it to avoid candidates who can be accused, because they ALL will be accused. The solution is to defend our candidates and get out the vote among those who can read and think and who care about our world and its people.

    Somerby doesn't do that. He joins the right in its attacks on liberal candidates.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 3:37 PM, who no doubt learned about the world by watching reruns of Robin Leach's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," writes:

      He has exactly the kind of credentials you would expect in someone appointed to such a position, in his own right, not as a VP's son. Somerby doesn't bother presenting this info because he wishes to leave the impression that there was improper dealing going on (of the type that is standard with the Trump family).

      LINK:

      [QUOTE] Hunter said that, in divorce proceedings, he offered to give Kathleen “everything,” including a monthly payment of thirty-seven thousand dollars for alimony, tuition, and child-care costs for a decade. Hunter told me that he was living on approximately four thousand dollars a month; he was hardly poor, but it was an adjustment. On occasion, transactions on his credit cards were declined.

      One of Kathleen’s motions contains a reference to “a large diamond” that had come into Hunter’s possession. The motion seems to imply that it was one of Hunter’s “personal indulgences.” When I asked him about it, he told me that he had been given the diamond by the Chinese energy tycoon Ye Jianming, who was trying to make connections in Washington among prominent Democrats and Republicans, and whom he had met in the middle of the divorce.

      Hunter told me that two associates accompanied him to his first meeting with Ye, in Miami, and that they surprised him by giving Ye a magnum of rare vintage Scotch worth thousands of dollars.

      Hunter was on the board of the World Food Program USA, a nonprofit that generates support for the U.N. World Food Programme, and he had hoped that Ye would make a large aid donation. At dinner that night, they discussed the donation, and then the conversation turned to business opportunities.

      Hunter offered to use his contacts to help identify investment opportunities for Ye’s company, CEFC China Energy, in liquefied-natural-gas projects in the United States. After the dinner, Ye sent a 2.8-carat diamond to Hunter’s hotel room with a card thanking him for their meeting. “I was, like, Oh, my God,” Hunter said. (In Kathleen’s court motion, the diamond is estimated to be worth eighty thousand dollars. Hunter said he believes the value is closer to ten thousand.)

      When I asked him if he thought the diamond was intended as a bribe, he said no: “What would they be bribing me for? My dad wasn’t in office.” Hunter said that he gave the diamond to his associates, and doesn’t know what they did with it. “I knew it wasn’t a good idea to take it. I just felt like it was weird,” he said.

      Hunter began negotiating a deal for CEFC to invest forty million dollars in a liquefied-natural-gas project on Monkey Island, in Louisiana, which, he said, was projected to create thousands of jobs. “I was more proud of it than you can imagine,” he told me.

      In the summer of 2017, Ye talked with Hunter about his concern that U.S. law-enforcement agencies were investigating one of his associates, Patrick Ho. Hunter, who sometimes works as a private lawyer, agreed to represent Ho, and tried to figure out whether Ho was in legal jeopardy in the U.S. That November, just after Ye and Hunter agreed on the Monkey Island deal, U.S. authorities detained Ho at the airport. He was later sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a multiyear, multimillion-dollar scheme to bribe top government officials in Chad and Uganda in exchange for business advantages for CEFC.

      In February, 2018, Ye was detained by Chinese authorities, reportedly as part of an anti-corruption investigation, and the deal with Hunter fell through. Hunter said that he did not consider Ye to be a “shady character at all,” and characterized the outcome as “bad luck.” [LINK]

      Delete
    2. When did Hunter Biden declare his candidacy? Will he be in the next debate?

      Delete
    3. 9:27 AM, Hunter Biden has not declared his candidacy, and probably won't this election cycle.

      [QUOTE] In late May, doctors removed Beau’s tracheostomy tube, telling the family that he would likely die within a few hours. Beau kept breathing on his own for almost a day and a half before he died, surrounded by his family.

      On June 6, 2015, thousands of people paid their respects at a service at St. Anthony of Padua Church, in Wilmington. The next day, President Obama, Ashley Biden, and Hunter, who was fearful of public speaking, delivered eulogies. On the drive back to Washington, Hunter—moved by the outpouring of support for him and his family at the funeral—told Kathleen that he was thinking about running for public office. She pointed out that he had only recently been discharged from the Navy* after testing positive for cocaine. They rode the rest of the way home in silence. [END QUOTE]
      _______________
      * [QUOTE] ...[In order to join the Navy Reserves in 2013 at age 43] Hunter applied for an age waiver, which the Navy granted. The service has a zero-tolerance drug-and-alcohol-abuse policy, and states that all recruits will be asked “questions about prior drug and alcohol use.” Hunter disclosed that he had “used drugs in the past,” but said that he was now sober, and the Navy granted him a second waiver....

      In a small, private ceremony at the White House, Hunter was sworn in by his father. Later that month, the night before Hunter’s first weekend of Reserve duty, he stopped at a bar a few blocks from the White House. Outside, Hunter said, he bummed a cigarette from two men who told him that they were from South Africa. He felt “amped up” as he was driving down to Norfolk, and then “incredibly exhausted.” ...On his first day, Hunter had a urine sample taken for testing.[END QUOTE]

      More "bad luck," it seems the cigarettes those South Africans were providing to any unsuspecting strangers who asked for a smoke were laced with cocaine.

      Delete
  5. Figures that Somerby would continue being a Trumptard, ignoring the WSJ (that notorious left wing rag) reported about the so called scandal.

    ReplyDelete
  6. “They'll wonder why he [Hunter Biden] was ever offered that seat, and they won't be crazy to do so.

    They'll assume that some slippery motives were involved somewhere in the mix. It's hard to assume that such an assumption is wrong.”

    Yet again, Somerby sows doubt without offering any pushback by looking at the actual facts.

    If Somerby had had this mindset back in the Bill Clinton days, he might have said:
    “They’ll wonder whether there were shady dealings involving Whitewater. They'll assume that some slippery motives were involved somewhere in the mix. It's hard to assume that such an assumption is wrong.”

    Instead, back then, Somerby *maintained a blog* devoted to *correcting the record* about Whitewater and all the other Clinton-era pseudoscandals. That is one of the ways liberals counteract bullshit GOP and press narratives. Today, Somerby just expresses a concern, claims The Others are perhaps justified in their concern, *and he leaves it at that*, without the slightest attempt at providing facts to counter these so-called concerns.

    Of course, insinuation is much easier than advocacy or informed pushback, so since Somerby has declared ALL of the Dem candidates to be “terrible”, that relieves any need Somerby might otherwise feel to correct the record when they are being slimed.

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    Replies
    1. Somerby thinks it's very important to defend Roy Moore and Trump, even when they are at fault. But like the Trumptard that he is, he attacks Dem candidates.

      Delete
  7. While we liberals are being forced to unearth every detail about Biden/Ukraine and worry over its impact in the election, (because conservatives are so deeply troubled by the possible slippery motives involved), do you think those same conservatives might be interested in asking the same questions about their president?

    Somerby provides his genius answer: “They'll assume that our team isn't worth listening to, and on many occasions that's right.”

    Brilliant. It’s our fault that they don’t hold their own tribe members accountable for anything. Because liberals aren’t worth listening to “on many occasions.”

    Another version of “Republicans have no agency.”

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bob,
    Your bigotry is shining through.
    Killed for selling "loose" cigarettes. Why not?
    Killed for crossing in the middle of the street. Why not?
    Killed for going home with candy from the corner store. Why not?
    Killed for protesting Confederate statues in Charlottesville. Why not? "Nice" people. "Good" people.

    I know that you (like FOX) can justify every murder of any minority who has ever been killed.
    You "love" MLK; You "love" Gandhi; you "love" Mandela. Two were murdered and one was imprisoned for decades.
    Those are the minorities you "love".

    As a added attraction-you "love" Trump and the racist republicans.
    I hope that a minority person, having coffee in your morning coffee shop is not killed for slurping his coffee. You would be able to give a firsthand account plus justification.

    There are only two rationales for voting for Trump.
    i.e. Racism and Stupidity.
    In your case, I am leaning towards racism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Calm down, Sparky. Your blood pressure must be in the stroke range.

      All TDH has written is “Why won't our other candidate speak to the question of whether Michael Brown was actually ‘murdered’?”

      (Punctuation corrected; emphasis original.)

      Both Harris and Warren have called Brown’s death a murder. That’s not what investigations concluded, including one by the DOJ, back when it was actually a department of justice.

      There are actually three rationales for voting for Trump. You forgot money.

      Delete
    2. “Why won't our other candidate speak to the question of whether Michael Brown was actually ‘murdered’?”

      First of all, Somerby’s statement is odd. There are still at least 10 other Democratic candidates for president. Who is this “other” candidate?

      And, Warren and Harris, if one of them is the “other” one Somerby is talking about, have indeed spoken to this question. They assert that Brown *was* “actually”
      murdered.

      Delete
    3. Maybe he's wondering why the other candidates don't call them out for being wrong.

      Delete
    4. The cop who shot Mike Brown to death did himself no favors by filling his police report about the incident with lies

      Delete
  9. Chris Hayes devoted two entire programs to climate change on September 19-20. Guests included Bernie Sanders and an extended interview with Al Gore.

    Not mentioned by Somerby of course. Hayes should probably have spent his program attending to important matters like why Hunter Biden was ever offered that seat.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If Bob covered the Guardian, he would be all over this article, which finds deep significance in a hairdo.

    Why Ivanka Trump’s new haircut should make us very afraid

    ...that is no excuse for me missing what may prove to be the biggest story of the year: Ivanka Trump getting a haircut....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course Somerby would have been all over that. He would have ignored all the serious, important stories they publish in order to ridicule them as foppish for publishing a single tongue-in-cheek article about a hair-do.

      Delete
  11. Why was Hunter Biden offered that lucrative seat? Such questions could be asked of any CEO or board member. These what David Graeber calls bullshit jobs in his eponymous book. Such positions always go to well-connected people.

    Let's use Occam's razor here. Is it acceptable to make non-specific requests to investigate this person or that person in the course of the campaign? I would say yes. Maybe in poor taste, but I can't see anything wrong with that. Does it follow that it's acceptable to make such requests from the presidential chair, in one's capacity as president? Now, that is somewhat eyebrow-raising. After all, there are no personal favors at this level; therefore, the assumption of quid-pro-quo is inescapable. Alternatively, Trump was strong-arming the Ukranian president. No matter how you slice it, Trump's behavior is more than a little suspect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eyebrow-raising? More than a little suspect?

      What are you doing? Going for Understatement of the Year Award?

      Trump isn’t asking the DoJ to investigate possible criminal action against the Bidens, something that itself would be an abuse of power. He’s extorting a foreign government to investigate private US citizens for corruption under the laws of the foreign country.

      (Even supposing bribery occurred, it’s not clear to me whether Biden’s son, as an agent and employee of a foreign company in a foreign country would have any criminal liability under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.)

      Delete
    2. "Does it follow that it's acceptable to make such requests from the presidential chair"

      "Such request". Such as what exactly, dembot? As the one that you and your dembot comrades are instructed to imagine?

      Delete
    3. Trump admitted that he had asked Zelenksy to investigate Hunter Biden. Are you a few steps behind? That's the context of this conversation. No one is arguing about what Trump had actually asked. Even zombies move faster than you.
      https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-defends-conversation-with-ukraine-leader-11568993176

      Delete
    4. Here's the Trump quote I saw: "The conversation I had was largely congratulatory, with largely corruption, all of the corruption taking place and largely the fact that we don't want our people like Vice President Biden and his son creating the corruption already in the Ukraine, and Ukraine has got a lot of problems,"

      If you have a different one, please post it here, with a link, and no paywall.

      And if you believe this one amounts to asking Zelenksy to investigate Hunter Biden (why Hunter Biden? It's Joe Biden who should be investigated), then I can't help you.

      Delete
    5. ...also, I don't think it's realistic for Zelenksy to investigate either of the Bidens. What he could do is to share the evidence (or 'dirt', if you prefer).

      Exactly the same thing as what they did to Manafort in 2016, at the request of the psycho-witch (or her minions), believing, at that time, that she would definitely win.

      Hey, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

      Delete
    6. Mao isn't "a few steps behind". He's a Right-winger, so he's a few centuries behind.

      Delete
    7. Who cares about the Biden/ Ukraine story?
      The nation rapt attention is still on the investigation of Hillary's pedophile ring run out of the basement of a DC area pizzeria.

      Delete
    8. Yes, it was largely about large corruption that largely occurs in Ukraine, largely. I understand.
      What was the corruption that he largely asked to be largely investigated?

      Delete
    9. No quotes, then, for "Trump admitted that he had asked Zelenksy to investigate Hunter Biden."

      But hey, apparently he will release the transcript, and then your zombie high priests will instruct y'all as to what exactly you should be outraged about.

      See you then, I suppose...

      Delete
    10. "release the transcript"

      Bwahahahaha!!! Too late Dittohead Maggot, the Whistleblower says his complaint isn't even about a transcript of a call. We'll be hearing from him also. Donald J Chickenshit is shitting his pants right about now.

      Delete
    11. Look at your own quoted text, Mao -- or I can copy and paste it for you: ""The conversation I had was largely congratulatory, with largely corruption, all of the corruption taking place and largely the fact that we don't want our people like Vice President Biden and his son creating the corruption already in the Ukraine...".
      Again, what were the acts of corruption he asked to investigate. In other words, he seems to know a priori that Biden and his son were involved in corruption -- which was what? Has it occurred to any Trumbots that it is inappropriate for president to ask for any individuals to be investigated. Of course, Putin does it, so it must be okay. Largely.

      Delete
    12. You said "Trump admitted that he had asked Zelenksy to investigate Hunter Biden."

      I asked to produce a quote with Trump admitting it.

      You don't produce a quote, you wouldn't admit you made a mistake. No. You reply with incomprehensible word-salad.

      So, indeed you are a bot? Y'know, now I see that you don't pass the Turing test, but you did fool me for a while...

      Delete
    13. It's up there in your quote? Can you read or only cut'n paste?
      Trump: "The other thing, there's a lot of. talk about Biden's son,that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you ·can look into it ... It sounds horrible to me."

      Delete
  12. Here's an interesting video.

    LINK

    Got it from here.

    Sounds to me like Drum's friend made a good call re corruption. No doubt this shit goes on all the time. Seems rare to view a major pol admitting that fact.

    Leroy

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    Replies
    1. Leroy,

      You have linked to a video on the YouTube channel Heartland, USA run by Frank Miele, who says about himself

      Getting the word out about the great changes underway thanks to the presidency of Donald J. Trump is a passion he will happily pursue with humor, wit and insight.

      It’s always wise to check what feral Trumpers have to say. The video is subtitled “Biden admits bribing Ukrainian official,” but Biden doesn’t discuss paying bribes. He says he told Ukrainian officials that the US would withhold aid money if Viktor Shokin, a prosecutor known for corruption and whose removal had been promised, remained in office. According to Biden, this was the administration’s policy and he had Obama’s backing.

      Now you can say that the US shouldn’t be strong arming aid recipients, but this tactic isn’t bribery. And the dismissal was hardly unpopular. The UK, the IMF, local citizenry, and the Ukrainian parliament wanted Shokin gone.

      Your source for the video, a breathless Consortium News article about the imminent downfall of Biden, claims that Shokin was fired “after investigating corruption at Burisma Holdings Ukrainian gas company of which Hunter Biden was a board member.” From what I’ve read, Shokin is the only person claiming he was investigating Burisma. His own deputy denies it, and the company itself claimed that Shokin was using the investigation ploy as blackmail.

      Delete
    2. "Now you can say that the US shouldn’t be strong arming aid recipients..."

      Well put. It isn't bribery in the legal sense, applied to the lumpen, but rather how things work out on the international stage. That video was, of course, no real indictment of Biden for bribery, or his son. It's just the way the things work out when you're fortunate enough to be controlling the levers of power.

      And Biden said in the video that he was pressing, not personally, but as a result of higher decisions, to withhold the billion dollars. I should not have overlooked that fact. It seems quite a bit of timing, however, for his son to become a board member of Burisma, if Lauria is to be believed. I cannot overlook the possibility of mere coincidence.

      To be perfectly honest, I almost always ignore these fantastic political dramas until something actually comes to light, and real shit starts happening.

      Thanks for your response, helps me understand the depth of my ignorance, and I mean that sincerely.

      Leroy

      P.S. One of the things that caught my eye was the fact that McGovern was pointing out the political implications of this supposed scandal, and how it will probably benefit Trump. Makes me wonder if Pelosi might be right in not seeking impeachment. The way the Republicans in the Senate are behaving under Trump, I would wager that Trump would be the beneficiary of such a process .


      Delete
  13. “Impeachment is right around the corner again! So we're persistently told, and so we truly believe.”

    I am at this moment watching an intelligent discussion on Chris Hayes’ program about impeachment. The pros and cons were mentioned, the danger to Democrats in swing districts if they *do* vote to impeach, the danger to Democrats and the country if they do *not* vote to impeach, the continued reluctance of Pelosi to push for impeachment, the principles at stake.

    All far removed from Somerby’s simple-minded contention.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. what you are watching is not intelligent and it's also simple-minded. Simple-minded, reductive garbage propaganda of the sort that gave us Trump.

      Delete
    2. Nah. I wasn’t watching Fox News.

      Delete
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  16. Hello everyone out there, help me Thank Dr UGO! My name is MRS LINDA from Netherlands. I am here to give testimony on how I got my ex husband back, my husband left me for no reason 6 Months. He moved in with another woman, I felt like killing myself, my life became very bitter and sorrowful. Then 1 day, a friend of mine told me about a great spell caster that is very good and she said that he told her all about her life history and the problem she is facing, I didn't believe it because I've worked with so many of them and it didn't work. She begged me further so I decided to try this great spell caster called Great Dr UGO. I still didn't believe, but inside me I wanted to give a try and as God will have it, I used the spell solution he gave me and the next day I received a call from my darling husband Romero last month. He apologized and came back to me. I'm very happy now with my family it worked for me and I believe it will work for you too just give him a try and follow up this is a clear truth from a testifier. Thank you Dr UGO once again, if you want to reach him via email:(dr.ugo.temple@gmail.com) 

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  17. Great forum , Here is the effective strategy i use to win back my ex in our dispute . it strengthen the bond between us ,if you need help
    ( Templeofanswer@hotmail . co . uk or whatsapp + 234 8155 42548-1 )

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  18. 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

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