Assorted comments on the Cohen testimony, the Trump/Kim meeting, etc.

I think this is the easiest way to handle another week of craziness.

1.  Regarding the meeting between Trump and Kim, I am reminded once again of my beloved Babylon 5.  I wrote a series in August of 2018 explaining the relevance of the show to modern day politics (which is bad since the show had a major plot about the rise of a fascist government on Earth), but in the context of the Trump/Kim meeting, I am reminded of one scene in particular.  Early in the show, the two best characters-- the Narn and Centauri ambassadors-- run off to handle their own personal nonsense, leaving their flunkies to negotiate official matters.  They each give their flunkies the same instructions:  "don't give away the homeworld."  Trump walked away rather than sign whatever Kim wanted him to sign.  At least Trump didn't give away the homeland, hand over our nukes, or any of the other possibilities that we have to consider when negotiations are handled by such an idiot, nor did we wind up in a nuclear war because Trump started doing racist impressions of an Asian guy, or mutual insults of penis sizes, or anything like that.  This was the best possible scenario.  Remember, anyone who ever thought North Korea would give up their nukes was as big a fool as the people who signed up for Trump University.

2.  What did we learn from Cohen's testimony?  Little, if anything.  Seeing the check was fun, as was hearing about Trump's threats to Fordham, but real news?  Not much.

3.  The danger is that a lot of Democrats might start looking at this kind of thing as locking the party onto a path towards impeachment.  Remember, there is zero chance of conviction in the Senate, and an acquittal in the Senate helps Trump in 2020.  Impeaching Trump would be deeply stupid.  Yes, Cohen just accused Trump of federal crimes, including campaign finance violations, with documentation, and a recording trail of Trump lying in the past about it, but anyone who expects the Senate GOP to respond differently from Jim Jordan hasn't been paying attention, which brings me to...

4.  Jim Jordan.  Described by John Boehner as an "asshole," and a "legislative terrorist," here's one of my previous posts on the guy and his history of covering up sexual assault at OSU.  Interestingly, I wrote that before Cohen turned on Trump, and made some jokes about it!  Anyway, Jordan is a straight-up sociopath, and non-sociopathic Republicans like Boehner have had his number for years.  However, Jordan was the guy, on the GOP side, during the Cohen hearings.  That pretty much tells you everything you need to know right now.  They all know Jordan's guilty.  They don't care.  All they care about doing is protecting Trump, who... hey!  I'm detecting a pattern here.  And why would you expect the Senate to be any different?

5.  I'll comment briefly on resolutions to block Trump's "emergency" declaration.  There are some Republican defections.  Not enough to accomplish anything, but there are some.  In the Senate, Collins and Murkowski.  As long as there's a veto that can be sustained, Collins is still being cowardly, so no, I'm not updating my opinion of her.  The surprise was Thom Tillis.  One more and the Senate can pass the resolution, which McConnell must put up for a vote, but the Senate is nowhere near a veto override, hence, this doesn't matter.  Lamar Alexander, though, is claiming that this will break the party.  Really?  I'm... not seeing it.  Collins and Murkowski defect.  That happens.  They bring Thom Tillis with them, and that's a big deal?  I don't get it.  McConnell is, as usual, being sleazy by backing Trump on the move while effectively admitting that it isn't constitutional, but even Alexander isn't formally stating a willingness to take action against Trump.  Why not?

He's a Republican.  They don't do that.

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