S2P05 - Meanwhile

These are my notes for the political/news segment of the S4E02 Two Old Guys Drinking Beer podcast episode. There are always far more topics than there is time to discuss. Many of the below items have links to the underlying news reports. Remember, these are notes for a podcast, not fully fleshed out and edited ideas. There are also some format inconsistencies since this material is gathered from many sources over several days or weeks. 

• Who are supporters of Dem candidates who have dropped out migrating to?
• Who is running the country? Trump is either golfing or holding rallies.
• I find the Senate chaplain’s invocations long and over the top. Barry Black, Seventh-Day Adventist.
• Coming up -
• 02/04 - State of the Union
• 02/05 - Senate impeachment vote
• 02/07 - Democratic debate
• 02/11 - New Hampshire primary
• 02/19 - Democratic debate
• 02/22 - Nevada caucuses
• 02/25 - Democratic debate
• 02/29 - South Carolina primary
• 03/03 - Super Tuesday
• National
• Trump lies - as of 01/19 - 16,241 in 3 years, 15/day
• Trump approval rating - 51.7% disapprove, 43.8% approve
• Trump Golf - 246 visits in 159 weeks
• 538 Democratic projection model - Sander 2 in 5, No one 1 in 4
• Bloomberg’s $11 million Super Bowl ad costs him the equivalent of $17 for someone with a net worth of $100K.  
• Criticism of the Israeli government now equates to anti-Semitism according to Trump/Kushner.
• Impeachment is a big deal. Fox News chose not to air all the proceedings in the Senate. A Trump bias perhaps?
• MSNBC & CNN did wall to wall coverage.
• 01/22 - On the first day of the Democratic impeachment presentation, Trump breaks his tweet record with over 130 tweets & retweets. 
• 01/22 - DC attorney general sues the Trump inaugural committee for overpaying at Trump’s DC hotel. 
• 01/22 - Trump and EPA rolls back environmental controls on streams and wetlands. Because we don’t want clean water.
• 01/24 - Trump threatens to withhold funds from California over abortion insurance.  
• 01/24 - The Pentagon now says 34 service members have traumatic brain injuries from Iranian rocket attacks. More than just headaches. 
• Fox News did not air the impeachment proceedings during prime time. Aired their normal lineup of Trumpers.
• 01/25 - SOS Pompeo can’t handle a real interview and flies off the handle. Anger management issues. Very undiplomatic of our chief diplomat.
• 01/25 - A new recording shows Trump wanted ambassador Yovanovitch out and also that he does know Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
• Based on some leaked info from his book, it looks like Bolton does have pertinent information about Ukraine. 
• Judge Judy endorses Mike Bloomberg. 
• 01/27 - The Supreme Court allows new Trump immigration rules while case is litigated. 
• 01/27 - The Trump defense team
• Did not mention the Bolton leak. 
• Ken Starr gave a history lecture on impeachment. Nothing specific about this impeachment. No defense of Trump’s acts, just procedure and precedent stuff. 
• Jane Raskin - defends Giuliani. He is a minor player.
• Patrick Philbin - argues legality of House subpoenas.
• Pam Bondi - argues there is Ukraine, Burisma, and Bidens are corruption so Trump was justified. Weak presenter.  
• Eric Herschmann - But Obama did it. 
• Robert Ray - Goes over Andrew Johnson’s impeachment?
• Alan Dershowitz - Not impeachable offenses. Constitutional arguments. Other legalize tricks. Quite a convoluted presentation. Makes up new term “crime-like” acts. 
• Watched Fox News on 2nd day of Trump defense. They break in for analysis during presentations. Want more pizazz.
• On 01/28 Sekulow attacks Mueller Report and FBI. Other points were completely off-topic. Muddy the waters.
• The question & answer portion could have had better procedures. Lots of wasted time passing paper and recognizing questioners. 
• Schiff got a little verbose.
• Senators mostly asked questions of their side.
• Dershowitz seemed more intent on defending his own views and reputation than defending Trump. He said almost all other academics are biased since they disagree with him. Contends almost nothing is impeachable. 
• What is the purpose of adding multiple Senators’ names to a question? 
• What difference does it make if impeachment is in an election year or a Supreme Court nomination? 
• 01/31 - No witnesses. 51-49, Romney, Collins vote for witnesses, the only party defections. 
• 01/28 - CBO says 2020 deficit will exceed $1 trillion.
• Pompeo bars NPR reporter from a foreign trip
• 01/28 - Trump unveils the Kushner “NO Peace” plan.
• 01/29 - Doug Collins (R-GA) to run for the senate.
• 01/29 - Trump signs USMCA.
• Trump turns on Bolton. What a surprise. One truism, if you work for Trump, he will eventually turn on you. 
• 4th quarter 2019 GDP growth rate 2.1%, full 2019 growth 2.3%. 2.5% in 2018.
• 2019 drug OD deaths (67,367, 46,802 opioids) decline for the first time in 28 years. Life expectancy up (78.7) for the first time since 2014.
• A section of Trump’s wall blew over into Mexico. Only 34 mph winds.
• The GOP continues to expose the whistleblower by name.
• 01/30 - Is the ERA now a constitutional amendment?
• 01/30 - Lev Parnas releases another video.
• 01/30 - The White House to propose keeping Ukraine aid in the budget after years of trying to cut funds. Coincidence? 
• 01/30 - Anti-human trafficking groups boycott Ivanka’s summit. 
• 01/31 - John Delaney drops out of the presidential race.
• 01/31 - More Bolton book leaks. 
• 01/31 - Trump bans visitors from six more countries, all are black &/or Muslim. 
• 01/31 - Trump allows for increased use of land mines. Reverses Obama’s restrictions. 
• 01/31 - The Senate votes 51-49 not to have witnesses and additional documents in the impeachment trial. Romey and Collins cross party lines. 
• Trump’s border wall will need storm gates.
• 02/01 - The Arab League unanimously rejects the Trump/Kushner peace plan
• Rush Limbaugh lung cancer. I hope he survives and retires. 
• 02/03 - My 2020 American Community Survey form arrived.
• 02/03 - Iowa caucuses 
• Slow results due to glitches, no results until late 02/04. Full 100% results not until late on 02/06. A complete clusterfuck.  Des Moines Register poll screwup.
• Time to kill the caucuses and Iowa going first.
• Iowa uses delegate formula similar to the electoral college. Gives more weight to rural counties. 
• Trump and minions brag about him winning GOP caucuses.
• Results - Buttigieg 26.2% (564 delegates), Sanders 26.1% (562), Warren 18.0% (387), Biden 15.8% (341), Klobuchar 12.3% (264)
• Popular vote: Sanders - 45,826; Buttigieg - 43,195; Warren - 34,771; Biden - 23,691
• Is Biden toast? No money, no energy, no ideas. Makes staff changes.
• Tom Perez, DNC chair, calls for a recanvas. 
• 02/04 - SOTU 
• Fact check of speech
• Trump won’t shake Pelosi’s hand
• It was a campaign speech
• The usual passel of Trump lies
• Slams Obama, of course
• Will always protect Medicare and SS. BS
• Limbaugh Medal of Freedom. He fakes surprise. #1 he doesn’t deserve the honor, #2 the completely inappropriate venue. I hope he recovers from cancer and then retires.
• Preemie who survived
• Reunites soldier with family 
• We’re going to Mars. Space Force
• No mention of impeachment
• Pelosi rips up speech
• About ⅓ of Trump’s speech was applause.
• Michigan governor Gretchen Whitner does democratic response, good job
• If Trump gets reelected and the Dems keep the House, Nancy or the next speaker should not invite Trump to deliver the SOTU (aka campaign rally) in Congress. Make him send a written SOTU. He can hold his campaign rally and reality show at another venue. 
• 02/05 - Trump acquitted on both impeachment counts
• Obstruction charge - 53-47
• Abuse of power - 52-48 Mitt Romney voted to convict. 
• The campaign to destroy Romney has already started.
• 02/06 - Trump’s speech at National Prayer Breakfast and White House victory party show no remorse, contrition or apology. He attacks enemies.
• The prayer breakfast theme was "to love your enemies". Then Trump trashed enemies.
• Vicious attacks on Romney.
• Proves Senators Alexander and Collins were fools to think Trump learned a lesson from impeachment. 
• 02/06 - Trump to allow drilling and grazing in former Utah national monument areas. 
• 02/06 - Trump to remove Lt. Col. Vindman from the NCS.  He also fires his brother.
• 02/07 - The US adds 225K jobs in January. 112 straight months of growth. 3.6% unemployment, up 0.1%
• 02/07 - Vindman and Sondland fired.
• 02/07 - Trump charges high rates to the Secret Service. Ongoing abuse. 
• 02/07 - Democratic Debate - Seven candidates.

International

• 03/03 - Israeli elections.
• 01/22 - UN says Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is behind the hacking of Jeff Bezos’ phone.
• The coronavirus epidemic.
• The UK allows Huawei to supply 5G network equipment. Defy Trump. 
• The EU recommends limiting but allowing Huawei in 5G networks.
• 01/28 - Netanyahu says he will immediately annex about 30% of Palestinian land.  
• 01/31 - Brexit officially happens. 11 month transition period begins.
• Seven UK sites cancel Franklin Graham speaking engagements. 

 

Texas

• Anti-abortion PAC going after Kay Granger as pro-choice. She’s running ads featuring Trump.
• Granger sponsored the bill to reprimand Pelosi for tearing up the SOTU speech.
• Tarrant County will have voting centers at area colleges despite a new state law banning temporary polling sites. 
• 01/28 - Ellis County becomes an “Unborn Sanctuary” county. BTW, there are no abortion facilities in Ellis county. 
• 01/30 - A Texas Lyceum poll has Biden and Sanders on top in the state. MJ Heger slightly leading senate race.
• S-T endorses Jeff Whitfield for HD92 Dem primary. Carpetbagger funded by other lawyers and PACs outside the district. 

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