Vee

My advice would be a little more Shakepearean.

Meanwhile: Lindsey goes where power goes. If Mitch says do it, he'll do it unless there are enough other GOP Senators to make his vote not matter.

I didn't. I thought he'd slink away in 12 days. But the possibility was always in the back of my mind, I shouldn't be too surprised. What he fomented and caused, he's been doing for years. I just didn't think it would implode on him before he left office.

He is also dangerously unstable, dangerous to all of us.

We have some GOP votes in the House, I know that. I think we have enough in the Senate, but I want to know more.

I watched that live. This is the actual context. It lasted about 15 seconds, they shut her down, she agreed and then the entire panel spent the next five hours trashing Trump, calling his response pathetic and demanding his removal. I have no love for CNN; I know exactly what they are. And these kind of behaviors (especially by Dana Bash, who does this all the time but has become notably sensitized to critique over it and backs down very quickly now, not just this time but last time) should always be called out and disciplined. But context is important for a sense of a larger picture, otherwise people are going to spend their entire day online on social media seeing the worst possible things clipped, breathlessly retweeted, and thinking the media is apologizing for Trump and spinning this for him, that he's invincible, and that is absolutely incorrect. I know what the Beltway media is and have for many years. I also know he put a lot of their lives in danger two days ago and they are pissed. That is what matters to them right now. It is important to understand their current posture while remembering how venal they are.

Every single media outlet except Fox has spent the last 48 hours all but demanding impeachment or 25th Amendment and removal. This hit them where they live, which is important for perception. I watched Wolf Blitzer, of all people, try to buttonhole Colin Powell into admitting impeachment was necessary. So no, it's not going to be dismissed. And I think that is Sasse signaling he'll do whatever Mitch wants. I also don't know how people think the GOP easily hold onto the MAGA base without Trump unless they do something drastic. Look at Georgia. This isn't like before; a good bulk of their base have broken with the mainstream party heads, wish death on them for disloyalty and are all in on Trump. They were coming for everyone two days ago, not just Dems. It is going to take a considerable amount of time for them to corral these people and hope for the best in 2022. Just doing nothing won't solve the problem. There have got to be a lot of old money donors and kingmakers inside saying, the only way to get the red base back in line is to cut Trump out of the body and then spend the next two years pumping the propaganda, retraining them, trying to unperson him like they did George W. Bush and pretending he wasn't their king. It will be tough but that is IMO their only shot not to keep bleeding for years to come. Which is not what I want, but it is a calculation someone is almost certainly making.

I may be delusional, but I've believed since Wednesday they have the votes this time. Mitch is looking to save his legacy and the party's image, and he can't do that without slitting Trump's throat. They can wrangle the base later. The media - all of it, except Fox, all of whom were also personally put at risk - is demanding Trump's removal. The GOP rank and file were endangered physically for the first time and much of the Senate is enraged. We'll see what happens. This is a complete puff/rehab piece on Alyssa Farah who is a bullshitting Nazi, but I am posting it simply for history and for some indication on the changes inside the WH in the last weeks:

I hate them too, but to be clear that clip is from before his speech, not after or during the riots. Meanwhile: When you've lost Peggy Noonan...

Lest we invoke the Curse of Tanya Roberts, this officer appears to have officially died this time:

Well, we can keep moving the goalposts of what is the optimum result and sink into nihilism or we can focus on accountability now. I'm focused on the latter.

A lot of them are being arrested and tracked down as we speak.

Hawley will remain a darling of the far right, but IMO he is now fated for the Palin trajectory. Any ambitions for rising to higher office or mainstream conservative stardom are now doomed.