Profile picture
, 4 tweets, 2 min read
My Authors
Read all threads
Peggy Noonan?

That thunk you just heard was me falling off my chair.

Maybe there's hope for the GOP.
If the Senate censures instead of outright acquits, the GOP will splinter and suffer a bloodbath in 2020.



Removing Trump but keeping the GOP radicalized won't change anything. Trump is a symptom, not the cause.
They can censure instead of acquit.

Censure says that he's guilty, but they didn't want to remove.

It's finding of wrongdoing (by a Republican Senate!) while avoiding the trauma and upheaval of removal.
Acquittal without censure could do that.

But as we saw with the Ukraine Shakedown, extorting a foreign government involves witnesses.

The only way to pull off politically motivated prosecutions between now and Nov. 2020 is domestically, through Barr.
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with Teri Kanefield

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Teri_Kanefield see all

Profile picture
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) Why the GOP prefers Russia

Spoiler: It's all about race

In disseminating propaganda fabricated by Russian intelligence, Trump is taking steps to turn the U.S. into what Hungarian Scholar Bálint Magyar calls a Post-Communist Mafia State.
1/ The GOP-Russia love affair has been evident for some time.

Last summer Tucker Carlson said the U.S. should “rethink America’s alliances.”

And remember when Sen. Rand Paul went to Moscow to "open the lines of communication"?
abcnews.go.com/International/…
2/ Guiliani attended a pro-Russia conference. Last year.
thinkprogress.org/why-is-rudy-gi……

He was about to attend another when the Ukraine scandal exploded and he abruptly cancelled.
Read 29 tweets
Profile picture
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) Are Ukrainian oligarchs throwing Giuliani under the bus?
nytimes.com/2019/11/25/us/…

This article packs in lots of information.

Sources are interviews with Firtash and Kolomoisky (Ukrainian oligarchs) and “several other people with knowledge of Giuliani’s dealings.”
1/ First, to summarize.

According to this article, Parnas met with Firtash at Giuliani’s direction and encouraged Firtash to help in the hunt for compromising dirt on Biden “as part of any potential resolution to his extradition matter.”
2/ “As part of” and “potential resolution” sets this encounter up the solicitation of a bribe.

(The client is Parnas)

It seems to me we can paraphrase it like this: If Firtash wants help resolving his DOJ problems, he can help Giuliani dig up [manufacture] dirt on Biden.
Read 29 tweets
Profile picture
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
It seems to me that this defense is undercut by the following:

If Trump sincerely felt he was justified in withholding the aid, there are legal means to do so. The law requires that Congress must be notified.

He went around those legal means.
So it seems to me that Congress anticipated this defense by calling Laura Cooper, who testified about the procedures Trump must follow if he feels aid should be withheld. @SethAbramson
The procedures were explained a few times during the hearings.
@SethAbramson I'll add that these aren't criminal proceedings, so criminal standards (like appropriate level of mens rea, or criminal intent) shouldn't apply.

The only "punishment" is removal from office.
So it's more akin to a civil proceeding in which a person is removed from a job.
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Victoria Brownworth 🏳️‍🌈
@VABVOX
What an absolutely grotesque and morally bankrupt thread 📌📌📌 Reducing the corruption and outright criminality of Trump to a distasteful handwave whilst pearl clutching over Kavanaugh typifies how the GOP sees itself as the party of maintaining str8 white male ascendancy.
1/
Bahnsen argues weakly, and without even a soupcon of evidentiary support, that progressive politics are the problem because of the Senate judiciary hearings on Bork and Kavanaugh--which is frankly just dull-witted. He basically blames "progressives" for Trump's ascendancy.
2/
But also, Bahsen ignores POC entirely and even dismisses crimes against white girls like the teenaged Christine Blasey Ford. Bahsen even sidesteps Clarence Thomas. Why note Kavanaugh and leave out Thomas/Hill? Lazy thinking and bad tropes.
3/
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
Our democracy has no more "guardrails"
@brucewilson
What's the end game?

Well, in 2009 top architect of the Christian right Paul Weyrich teamed up with the man who crafted the far right's new Uber-narrative, a conspiracy theory concerning "cultural Marxism", to author a book. In early 2016 Trump met that man...
...whose name is William S. Lind. The book? - "The Next Conservatism", which advances most of the policy ideas the Trump Administration has pushed, including protectionist tariffs, no more dumb wars (good!) and "The Wall". Lind is also author of a 2014 novel which depicts...
...Christian militias fighting a race war and coming to rule America. Puerto Ricans are forced onto ships to Puerto Rico. Black families are forced from cities and into slavery, as sharecropper farmers. Now, back to the 1st book, "The Next Conservatism". Trump doesn't read...
Read 38 tweets
Profile picture
Our democracy has no more "guardrails"
@brucewilson
Influential figures on the American religious right have explicitly invoked totalitarian communist models for the "utopia" they hope to usher in. One such figure is Morningstar Ministries founder Rick Joyner, an honorary "prophet" in the global NAR movement, who in 2007 said...
"The kingdom of God will not be socialism, but a freedom even greater than anyone on earth knows at this time. At first it may seem like totalitarianism". elijahlist.com/words/display_… Lest his words be misconstrued, Joyner explained...
"Instead of taking away liberties and becoming more domineering, the kingdom will move from a point of necessary control while people are learning truth, integrity, honor, and how to make decisions, to increasing liberty so that they can." IN other words...
Read 20 tweets
Profile picture
Do you know who William S. Lind is ?
@brucewilson
Here's how the US evangelical right, to this day, monkeywrenches US politics and (as one piece of its agenda) prevents even modest action to address climate change. It's called "The Fifteen Percent Solution" but even that overstates the necessary numbers. theocracywatch.org/taking_over_fi…
All the movement really has to do is hold at least one branch of Congress. But start here: "The formula they've concocted has been called the "15 per cent solution" by the Christian Coalition. Even in a well attended presidential election, only 15 per cent of eligible voters..."
"...determine the outcome. Here's the simple math: about 60 per cent of the qualified electorate is registered, and only half of them vote. Half again of that 30 per cent determines the outcome, hence the all powerful 15 percent."
Read 28 tweets
Profile picture
Rachel Murphy Azzara #DemsWork4USA
@RachelAzzara
1. What's particularly grotesque about you, @senatemajldr, is that you're smart enough to understand the differences between those bills and DT's proposal. You're just pretending to be obtuse for your own political purposes. You're being obsequious.
2. One might wonder if it's your mind or character that has given way, but I'm fairly sure your mind is still firing away. Still, if this is your best argument out of the trap you've set for yourself, I could be wrong. You have thrown it all away to aid a foreign adversary.
3. In your quest for power and judicial control, you have offered up our democracy, reputation and values. You have recklessly risked our economic security and foreign relationships on your 'legacy'. And a legacy it will be. A legacy of weakness, corruption and greed.
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
Victoria Brownworth
@VABVOX
#GOP salivating over someone 6yrs older than Trump with reams of oppo on him and a phalanx of haters among Democrats does not equal "a lot of people." Sanders polls at 12% & #Midterms were about women & POC.

A Lot of People Want Bernie to Run in 2020
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
As I wrote a few weeks ago for @damemagazine, 2020 won't be about one term, but two. Any Democrat running for 2020 must be prepared to be an incumbent for 2024. Sanders will be 83 going in.

damemagazine.com/2018/09/04/how…
The reality that neither Bernie nor Biden wants to face is how neither of them looks all that different from Trump on a debate stage. But the counterbalance between Trump and a woman, especially one 20yrs his junior, would be incredibly stark.
Read 4 tweets

Trending hashtags

#deathpenalty #SchoolHouseRock #corruption #GOP #ProtectOurCare #Dignity #YomKippur #GrahamCassidy #KirstenGillibrand #DrainTheDeepState #BLOODMOON #Democrats #GOPTaxScam #ACA #UnitedStates #SCOTUS #McAllen #StateSponsoredElections #Reconstruction2 #cancer #GrahamCassidyBill #GunControl #Republicans #Lobbyists #ZeroTolerance
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!