Sunday, February 19, 2017

Excellent article about how and why Impeachment got into the Constitution


As talk turns toward impeachment over the next few months--and it will--this is the article to read to be informed.  
~ Seth Abramson

            Commentary: 
            What the Constitution says about   
            impeachment  Chicago Tribune (click)




18 comments:

  1. Good article to start this thread, certainly. Thanks, listener.

    Yet another universal basic income experiment—this one in Finland[Click] Within a few years we may have answers to the question of how well it works, to answer political positions based on uninformed speculation.

    —Alan

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  2. Warring West Wing factions dismay management experts[Click] Boston Globe

    Bonus Quote of the Day
    February 19, 2017By Taegan Goddard
    “We don’t have problems in the West Wing.”
    — White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, in an interview on NBC News.


    Millard Fillmore was deservedly forgotten, but his politics sound familiar[Click]

    Waking the Mexican sleeping giant[Click]

    —Alan

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  3. Replies
    1. Interesting. I'd had thought Texas cattlemen would be great fans of Trump. Little does he know how dangerous it is to get a Texan pissed off at you!

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    2. Hmmm...Reading the cattlemen's press release is instructive. As a trade unionist, I have always opposed free trade deals, going back to NAFTA - Anyone remember Ross Pirrot's great sucking sound? My Uncle Tim, rest his soul, a member of the Machinists' Union and a shop steward marched against NAFTA. And I also opposed CAFTA and the TPP. Farmers, as represented by beef producers, have a diametrically opposite view of trade; namely, that broadening foreign trade ties sustain and grow agriculture as an entity. Am I remembering rightly that midwestern farmers were angry about the grain embargo against the Soviet Union for similar reasons? I seldom have occasion to think about the opposition in interests between agriculture and industry. It's a sobering reflection.

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  4. Replies
    1. From "Is Russia A Red Herring?"

      Democrats must become the party of middle- and working-class Americans of all colors and backgrounds, not the party of Wall Street. If they don’t, they’ll make it easy for Trump to keep playing his phony populism game for all it’s worth. But to give the Democrats the space and opportunity to campaign on substantive progressive issues, we first must be sure that future elections can’t be hijacked.

      I've been saying this for twenty-five years!

      Thanks, Alan. this is an excellent piece. Both speakers make excellent points.

      While it is true that the Left has limited resources, nonetheless I feel it is necessary to pursue as many lines against the Louse as possible. The merest possibility that Russia holds compromising material on the Louse is dangerous and destabilizing and must be thoroughly investigated.

      That investigation is, though, only one prong of a multi-pronged approach which includes but is not limited to exposing/investigating/prosecuting his criminal activities and exposing/discussing his mental illness and much else. And that's just to do with the Louse!

      Repairing and/or rebuilding the Democratic Party involves a whole raft of other arduous and probably highly contentious tasks, including, as one of the speakers in the article alludes to, exposing and dismantling Clintonism aka "the New Democrats" otherwise known as Republican Lite. Regardless of Putin's machinations, if we are to have any hope at all of retaking our country from the Trump supporters and placing it on a solid Social Democratic/Christian Democratic footing, we must either reclaim the Democratic Party or create a new, firmly grounded, future-oriented Progressive movement or party.

      One major obstacle I see to this happening is the bewildering multiplicity of Lefty groups, which has only mushroomed further since the Louse's election. How can we pull together and get anything done when everybody and his twin uncle Louie has his own little splinter group? It was bad enough before, but now it's ridiculous! Talk about wrangling cats!

      I'm reminded of the saying that every Irishman is a king, which I've always, perhaps cynically, taken to mean that no Irishman willingly submits to authority. Yet, while it's lovely for the morale and the ego for one to be a king, sometimes one needs to consolidate with others and - the horror of it! - work together in concert for a common goal. Every Democrat is a cat, a king, a totally separate and independent entity, unwilling to lower himself to conform or cooperate. To use a familiar American expression, they all want to be chiefs; no one wants to be an Indian. That's a great way to disperse energy and let the Republicans destroy this country we all claim to love.

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  5. Thanks for holding down the fort today, Alan!!

    I've been running all weekend and plan to turn in early. But I got to see 5 of our 6 Grands this weekend, and that's always a joy. Sadly, two of them are grieving the death of their kitty, Fuzzy Bear, who died of natural causes. As he was 15 and they are 10 and 7, they have never known life without him. I was glad to be able to see them and given them hugs, especially the older, as she being a reader and he being an old kitty, they snugged up a lot the last few years. =^. .^=

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm sorry. It's so hard losing a kitty. It must be especially hard for children.

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    2. My pleasure, listener--but I WAS beginning to wonder if this was the "Day Without a Blogger" and I hadn't been apprised of the fact [grin]

      And I sympathize with Fuzzy Bear's family. But it is a valuable life lesson.

      --Alan

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  6. Back from Capricon. Definitely enjoyed it, even beyond the break from work. Got to attend more panels than usual because I wasn't on any myself and the hours I expected to spend promoting New Zealand's bid to hold the 2020 Worldcon didn't happen because the guy who should have reserved a table for us didn't. Both of those would have been enjoyable, but the panels I went to were as well. Also several very nice parties, including one with live folk music.

    Also enjoyed the balmy spring weather.

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  7. Made it through Part One of Asimov on Chemistry, on Inorganic Chemistry, and not only mostly understood but actually enjoyed it. Currently in Part Two, on Nuclear Chemistry. Just finished the chapter on isotopes. Though it made my eyes cross and required a few rereadings, I think I finally grasped it. Flagging a bit but still game to continue.

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    1. Cat--I remember Howland Owl explaining the New Clear Physics to the other critters in a Pogo comic strip a long time ago...

      Chemistry: Developed by Facts and Principles Drawn Chiefly From the Non-Metals, by John Howard Appleton, A.M. (1884) [Click] Here is an online copy of a book I happen to have in my library: I commend the Preface to your attention. (I transcribed it yesterday, but Blogger shredded it...)

      --Alan

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  8. Driverless trucks & the future of jobs. [Click] Some interesting observations about where truck driving is concentrated and speculation about the future evolution of the work (as well as political pressures). One mistake I believe the writer overlooks is that long-haul truck driving is far less remunerative than it used to be.

    --Alan


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    Replies
    1. It's a hard job. It should be well paid. But like most hard jobs, it isn't either well paid or well respected.

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