Tuesday Open Thread

20
  by: Colorado Pols February 9, 2021 at 6:54 AM MST

“What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

–Oscar Wilde

Tweet
Share

20 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. davebarnes says:
    February 9, 2021 at 7:14 AM MST

    Today is Extraterrestrial Culture Day

  2. Duke Cox says:
    February 9, 2021 at 7:34 AM MST

    An old friend asked me last night if I thought the congress should go through with this impeachment or not.

    The answer is yes. Emphatically, yes.

    Senator Susan Collins of Maine gets my vote for "Most Loathsome". Are you ready to teach him another lesson, Susan? The first time you taught him he could get away with extortion, fraud, and lying to Congress.

    Now do you want to teach him he can get away with treason?

    Hm.

  3. CDW says:
    February 9, 2021 at 7:52 AM MST

    I have two questions about this impeachment: can it be delayed while the constitutionality question is referred to scotus; and can he be tried in federal court on charges of sedition, incitement, treason or whatever whether he's convicted of impeachment charges or not?

    • Duke Cox says:
      February 9, 2021 at 8:17 AM MST

      I think the first answer is, yes, by necessity, at some point. The second…dunno.

    • spaceman2021 says:
      February 9, 2021 at 8:47 AM MST

      There's no way SCOTUS is going to weigh in on the constitutionality.  There's no procedural mechanism that would get it there, and the justices are going to view impeachment and the trial of the impeachment to be within Congress' exclusive purview.  SCOTUS would be more likely to address it on the backend, say, if trump were convicted and barred from future office, and then tries to run for something again.  Then there'd be a viable claim (e.g., ballot access) that could make the issue justiciable.  Otherwise, I see virtually zero chance of SCOTUS weighing in.  This was illustrated by CJ Roberts declining to preside at this second impeachment trial.  He was required to preside over the first trial as the president was on trial then.  Not so now. 

      • Duke Cox says:
        February 9, 2021 at 9:08 AM MST

        Thanks for that insight. 👍

        • CDW says:
          February 9, 2021 at 10:54 AM MST

          Thank you for responding.

          I had a devil of a time finding the language in the constitution that wasn't annotated or "interpreted", but the chief justice is the only designated presider in the wording of the Constitution. 

          It seems to me that Roberts has already weighed in by not presiding.  If I were [*]'s attorneys, I would have found some way to get the question before the scotUS before the trial began. Perhaps they knew it was baloney…but wait…baloney lawsuits haven't stopped [*] and his attorneys before.

    • JohnInDenver says:
      February 9, 2021 at 9:32 AM MST

      Constitutional question isn't going to be referred to SCOTUS, by my guess.  Neither side sees benefit in delay that could cause.

      And yes, impeachment is only a "political" issue … there is no "double jeopardy" to prevent a prosecutor from following up (or an impeachment to follow a criminal process).  You can read the fascinating tale of Judge Alcee Hastings (now Rep. Alcee Hastings) to see some interesting elements of the various processes.

  4. Duke Cox says:
    February 9, 2021 at 8:35 AM MST

    I am already tired of talking heads saying T***p was already out of office when he was impeached. He was impeached on Jan. 13th.

    Tell the "process" mavens to STFU.

  5. MichaelBowman says:
    February 9, 2021 at 2:08 PM MST

    Let's work for a Farm Bill that represents the challenges of a 21st-century economy.

    Our food system is broken — there's a blueprint to fix it

    "We waste 40% of the food produced while tens of millions of Americans go hungry. We subsidize harmful commodity crops & provide little support to producers growing nutrient-rich crops…We must build the food system we need for our society to thrive."

Leave a Reply

Comment from your Facebook account


You may comment with your Colorado Pols account above (click here to register), or via Facebook below.