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Mitch was attempting to cover all his bases, it's pretty simple.
Trump fans can say "See, he voted 'not guilty' during the trial." and Trump haters can say "He wanted to vote 'guilty', but he felt the impeachment process no longer applied."
Umm, because the constitution isn't something you violate, even for the sake of justice.
There has never been a conviction of a private citizen in an impeachment hearing. We would be in uncharted waters. And no matter how much liberal lawyers twist the constitution to make it sound like it says things that it doesn't say, if his conviction was challenged, the Supreme Court would rule it unconstitutional.
Does this senate really want to be the first senate to have an impeachment conviction overturned for being unconstitutional?
If the Supreme Court rules it was unconstitutional, what does that say about the 55 senators who voted that it IS constitutional in the initial vote?
To me it means that we have elected officials, sworn to uphold the constitution, who dont even understand the document they are sworn to uphold.
Is that the message that congress really wanted to send? The only outcome that saves them this embarrassment, is acquittal.
I have said since the beginning, a conviction will cause a huge mess. So the only way they will hold the trial is if they already know they do not have enough votes to convict.
I don't trust McConnell. I suspect he pushed conviction away from the Senate, then 'helpfully suggested' he could still go up on criminal charges....which puts the Biden administration in the hot seat as to whether to prosecute Trump (which could be construed to be revenge on their part), or to pass on it (which gives Trump the ability to say, "See? They know I didn't do anything wrong, that's why they're not going after me!")
Either way, the Biden admin is in the 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' scenario.
The Biden administration doesn't want to get involved in a prosecution. Mitch's little comments aren't going to change anything for Biden.
McConnell is completely, totally, 100% tactical in his thinking.
He has all he ever wanted; the conservative's catbird seat in the Senate. It allows Mitch to set his agenda as he pleases when he's the majority leader, and it lets him lead his party in opposition when he's the minority leader.
Both ways, he drags home the pork to Kentucky, lines his pockets, and keeps his long career afloat. That career is the most gratifying part of it all for him.
As a tactician, Mitch instantly understood everything he's ever done in his 40-some years in Congress would go flying out the window if Trump's mob ever got their hands on a member of Congress.
It was one bad step too far for the Republican Party, for Trump, and for every Republican in Congress.
But if Mitch didn't let Trump off the hook, the GOP could suffer massive losses in 2 years and in 4 years. Mitch wants to rule a majority again, not a shrinking minority, so he could let that happen.
But if the GOP has someone better than Trump rise up from the ranks and do what Trump did better than Trump, that guy would destroy the GOP like an A-bomb.
So Mitch straddled both sides like only he can. He voted one way and spoke out the other way. Now he can side with whichever comes to the fore and still hang on to his leadership.
Originally I thought for Mitch, it was a tactical move for his benefit.
But, it seems that are there Senators like Lindsay Graham that have remained loyal to Trump, and will be even more loyal to Trumpism going forward, while Mitch decided otherwise.
Graham was interviewed this morning on Fox News Chris Wallace, and stated that Trump is needed for the Republican Party and the Republicans elected in office can't lead without Trump. A true sycophant.
It seemed to me very wimpy on Graham on his Trump dependence. Nonetheless there might be consequences for Mitch and his influence, as even in the Senate, there will be a Trump loyalty split within the Republican caucus.
it is a tough read. McConnell is walking a knife edge in that he really yet doesn’t yet know if Trump is out of the picture or not. It is still very early. That may become clearer if a strong Repub can emerge to help reduce Trump.
And yet we are still being informed of details leading up to the election. The business with Cuomo and the Nursing homes could get serious. Dems are hunting for Trump in the Criminal Courts so they say, but Cuomo may be there first. Only 40 % of NY voters went for Trump, so it didn’t make much difference, but withholding deaths during a pandemic , and possibly contributing to them wouldn’t be good for the party.
the next few weeks should be interesting. Will the MSM be able to give up on their addiction to all things Trump? If so, what will they be all about?
you’re kidding, right? Cuomo’s idiot base probably loves him even more now.
Ya'll really should have been watching MSNBC when McConnell finished.
Claire McCaskill, former Dem Senator from MO, immediately stated EXACTLY why McConnell said what he did.
MONEY FROM BIG CORPORATE DONORS
which was in serious jeopardy. Corporate America DID NOT LIKE what Trump had done on Jan. 6. Political stability is paramount to business.
McConnell has now straddled the issue. He (and other Republicans) can say "but for this technicality" - in other words, they've given themselves plausible deniability for not casting the patriotic vote.
And, thus, the seven/eight figure donation spigot is opened.
It really isn't any more complicated than that.
Correct. It's all about the money. Several corporate donors have indicated that the money flow would stop to those who voted to overturn the election.
Voila! All that is in the past; McConnell straddled the fence and let the money come rolling back in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by banjomike
McConnell is completely, totally, 100% tactical in his thinking.
He has all he ever wanted; the conservative's catbird seat in the Senate. It allows Mitch to set his agenda as he pleases when he's the majority leader, and it lets him lead his party in opposition when he's the minority leader.
Both ways, he drags home the pork to Kentucky, lines his pockets, and keeps his long career afloat. That career is the most gratifying part of it all for him.
As a tactician, Mitch instantly understood everything he's ever done in his 40-some years in Congress would go flying out the window if Trump's mob ever got their hands on a member of Congress.
It was one bad step too far for the Republican Party, for Trump, and for every Republican in Congress.
But if Mitch didn't let Trump off the hook, the GOP could suffer massive losses in 2 years and in 4 years. Mitch wants to rule a majority again, not a shrinking minority, so he could let that happen.
But if the GOP has someone better than Trump rise up from the ranks and do what Trump did better than Trump, that guy would destroy the GOP like an A-bomb.
So Mitch straddled both sides like only he can. He voted one way and spoke out the other way. Now he can side with whichever comes to the fore and still hang on to his leadership.
Mitch never does anything just off the top of his head. You narrowed it down perfectly. He voted one way and spoke out another and he did it all for political gain - whichever way the wind blows.
Where are you getting your information that a convicted felon is disqualified from running for president?
I can't find anything that says so. All I'm finding is that there is nothing in the constitution that prohibits a felon from running for any public office. That's shocking. Yet convicted felons can't vote.
As Far as McConnell not voting to convict Trump when he said he's clearly guilty. What do you think would happen to that gravy train of donations from Trump supporters?
Many big businesses said they would not donate to anyone's campaign that supported Trump. So what does McConnell do? He tries to have it both ways. Yes Trump is guilty but we are going to over ride the vote in the senate that it is constitutional to hold a trial for an impeached president after he leaves office. Even though it has been done before. McConnell set up that off ramp by not holding the trial in the final weeks of Trump's presidency. He refused to hold the trial until after Trump left office. The last impeachment? Oh yeah, Trump is guilty but it is not an impeachable offense. Why upset the base when they are money makers for the GOP? Feckless? Yes. But that's what you get when money is involved.
He recognizes that the Trump faction of the GOP is bad for the party long-term and wants to get rid of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boneyard1962
Wow for once we agree. Although I dont feel as if he threw Trump under the bus. That's normally done to a scapegoat or an innocent. Trump is innocent of nothing.
For starters, if Trump is guilty in your minds, then all the Democrats who specifically called for unrest and attacks must also be guilty of incitement, right?
Yet, I will bet dollars to donuts you nor anyone in the (D) party feels that way.
As to wanting to purge Trump, I doubt McConnel wants 70+ million voters to hit the road. Obviously many of those votes would vote for any (R) over a leftist (D). However getting people out to vote would be key, and many Trump supporters are passionate.
Frankly I'd be surprised if he ran again, so I am not sure what Mitch's end game here is, but politically he must be calculating something.
Let's face it. Like him or not, McConnell is a shrewd politician. He used Trump to advance his agenda. Trump is no longer useful to him so he said what he really thought about him.
Exactly! Trump and McConnell are alike in that they take advantage of useful idiots and then denounce them after they got out of them what they wanted.
Those who stormed the Capitol following trump's direction, will now face serious charges. Meanwhile, trump golfs in sunny Florida laughing.
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