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When Congressman Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas, announced he would vote against President Trump’s second impeachment earlier this month, he hinted he might one day regret it.
McCaul said he wanted more time to review “the facts and evidence” on the events leading up to the Capitol Riot. He said he opposed the indictment “for now”, but added: “I am really concerned that there are more facts being revealed in the future that would put me on the wrong side of this. debate.”
This quote echoed in my brain all weekend. The public is learning new facts about three different sons of the Trump presidency: Trump’s latest coup attempt; the insurgency that triggered the dismissal; and its mismanagement of the pandemic.
“It was even worse than we knew” is the take out …
Dr Deborah Birx speaks
Trump’s Covid-19 task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, gave an in-depth interview with CBS’s Margaret Brennan. Parts of it aired on “Face the Nation” Sunday morning, and the full 89-minute interview is now live in video and text form. Among the many things of note: She says she hardly ever saw or spoke with Trump. She says he was getting a “parallel set of data and charts” that she was not aware of. Brennan asked if this was “disinformation” but Birx did not respond.
Birx’s late confession came under close scrutiny on Sunday. Reaction from Dr Seema Yasmin on Reliable: “It feels like she’s now on a nationwide apology tour, but where was her skepticism … when she was in administration and had the platform? and the post, at least potentially, to be honest with the public? ” Maggie Haberman also offered her perspective on Twitter: “A lot of reporters tried to talk to Birx while she was there. She wasn’t interested. And when she spoke publicly at first, she appeared at the same time” with Trump …
“The skunk at the picnic”
I think we’ll continue to learn more and more about how Trump’s Covid denial has hurt the country.
Over the weekend, NYT’s Donald G. McNeil Jr. stayed with Dr Anthony Fauci for a long time about life under Trump, and he said of Birx, “It was much more of a situation. painful for her, “because she was much more closely related to the WH. Fauci said Trump called him sometimes to “express his disappointment in me not being more positive,” and Trump surrounded himself “with people saying things that didn’t make any scientific sense,” but he always felt that it was better to stay in his post than to resign. “I always thought that if I walked away, the skunk at the picnic wouldn’t be at the picnic,” Fauci said. “Even though I wasn’t very good at changing everyone’s minds, the idea that they knew nonsense couldn’t be dismissed without me pushing it back, I felt important. Read on …
But are these revelations being felt?
Thanks to the efforts of media like the NYT, WSJ and CNN, we continue to learn more about the latest gasps of Trump’s coup attempt.
We also hear more and more about the assault on Capitol Hill. I was struck by this WaPo story the other day, titled “Self-proclaimed Militiamen Planning to Storm the United States Capitol Days Before the Jan. 6 Attack, According to Court Documents,” because ‘he was quoting messages that one of the accused leaders received during the riot. “When he posted a one word message, ‘Inside’, he received admonitions and instructions describing tunnels, doors and hallways, the FBI said.” Directions from whom? How? ‘Or’ What? There is so much that we still don’t know.
Likewise, this NYT story describes how a Capitol Police lieutenant scrambled to protect House lawmakers by stacking tables and chairs in a makeshift barricade. “He had 31 rounds for his service weapon, and he told others he was afraid he would need all of them.” I can’t help but wonder: is this new information leaking out? Or have most people made up their minds about 1/6?
The view from NW PA
Maria, a regular “Reliable Sources” viewer, emailed me after the Sunday show to say, “In my hometown of Trump in Northwestern Pennsylvania, it’s like l he insurgency hadn’t happened, Trump won the election, Trump was the most successful POTUS ever, and Democrats are going to take away their freedoms. Moreover, it is ANTIFA, and not MAGA, which provoked the violence, the insurrection. THERE IS ZERO TALKING ABOUT INSURRECTION OR PANDEMIC and lots of praise for Trump. “It’s anecdotal, of course, but that’s exactly what I see on right-wing radio and television …
“They don’t even share a vocabulary.” But…
The PA’s Claire Galofaro and Juliet Linderman filed an article on “Bridging the Political Divide” dated from Frederick, Maryland, to Highway 80 where I grew up. The story was ridiculed because of it tweeted summary: “She thinks the election was stolen from Donald Trump. He believes what dozens of courts and officials have found: that Joe Biden is the rightful winner. They try to find common ground but wonder if they – and the nation – – can do it. “
I get all the criticism – namely that she believes in fantasy and he believes in reality, and the story should just tell. But I really wish people would click on it the tweet and read the profile topics. History might actually give you more hope for our collective future. Yes, the subjects in the profile “don’t agree on basic facts. They don’t even share a vocabulary. They use the same words – truth, evidence, patriotism – but they don’t mean the same thing.” This is all true. But they are still friends. And it still matters. Read on …
Impeachment will progress this week
The articles of indictment will be sent from the House to the Senate on Monday evening. An impeachment trial is expected to last in February. But “what is clear”, CNN’s Manu Raju said Sunday is that “after comments from GOP senators over the past week, there is virtually no path towards 17 votes to condemn Trump – unless something changes in the trial or the dynamics party changes. “
>> “Trump began to believe there are fewer votes to condemn than there would have been if the vote had taken place almost immediately after January 6,” Haberman reported Sunday night, citing people familiar with his thinking …
FOR THE RECORD
– Margaret Hoover on CNN: “Let’s be clear, there has been no better opportunity for the Republican Party to part ways with conspiracy theorists and kooks than this upcoming impeachment trial.” (Twitter)
– Speaking of conspiracy theorists, Maria Bartiromo will host Fox’s 7pm hour this week …
– David Folkenflik on Fox’s strategy: “What they’re doing is trying to figure out what kind of public posture they can take to keep the greatest loyalty and the biggest audience possible …” (NPR )
– Glenn Kessler and co. on “the final tally of Trump’s presidency: 30,573 false or misleading claims – nearly half of which in his final year …” (WaPo)
– The “lost cause” of voter fraud is alive and well on the airwaves, including on Rudy Giuliani’s WABC radio show in New York City, Azi Paybarah reports … (NYT)
– Yet another reminder that America is not really a 50/50 country: “In his first week in the Oval Office, President Biden achieved high approval ratings for his coronavirus response (69%) and confidence in its ability to unify the country (57%), “according to this new ABC / Ipsos poll … (ABC)
No president should be noted on a curve …
But in many ways, Trump has been noted on a curve throughout his presidency. Every period without a hateful tweet was noted. Every sign of a “new tone” was greeted. The bar was set low, far too low, for Trump. Now, the Biden team is happy to raise the bar. When WH chief of staff Ron Klain said on Twitter during the weekend it was great to see Fauci on Rachel Maddow’s show – a place where Fauci was banned from going during Trump’s tenure – Klain said Fauci would now be seen “everywhere else he wants to say what he thinks.” Maddow replied and thanked Klain and said “I’ll hold you there”. That’s the really important part – the press now has to hold the Biden team there …
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