Hey I am in a foul mood and I need to yell about this for a minute, I know everyone already knows this but I didn't see it explicitly laid out (maybe I missed it) and I have been fuming for days now.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the Senate Republican leader's remarks "pathetic."
www.nbcnews.com
"There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it," the Kentucky Republican said Saturday. "The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president."
"And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet earth," he continued.
But despite all the criticism, he said he voted "not guilty" because he believes Trump is "constitutionally not eligible for conviction" given that he is no longer president.
So to be clear.
The House decided to vote Trump. There was a vote, in the Senate, as to whether that was constitutional, a vote which passed 56 to 44 (
https://www.dw.com/en/us-senate-votes-trump-impeachment-is-constitutional/a-56515610).
What this means is that the issue of constitutionality was asked and answered before McConnell or anyone else was asked to vote on impeachment.
Whether or not Trump was constitutionally eligible for conviction was not at hand. This was raised in Mitch's own place of work, and he and his lost. And he admitted to the world he thinks Trump is guilty of the charges levied against him. But he voted in the opposite way because he disagreed with the premise - a premise which was already asked and answered by he and his colleagues.
I mean, like,
what?! Really? Honest question, am I missing something here? Because even by the super low bar we judge American politicians by, this seems brazen. And I get that he was never going to be convicted because Washington is just fucking full of cowards, but to go out and
flaunt your willful disregard for what your own chamber of congress decided was true is just....
I don't even know what to do at this point. We're all calling the QAnon Shaman and his friends traitors for their attempted insurrection, but like, does this ever get better? Are McConnell's remarks not, in some way, more evidence thrown on the pile that the GOP can basically do whatever it wants thanks to decades of brainwashing the middle class into believing their lies? At what point do some heads need to go on some fucking spikes?
If the government asks, I was kidding about that last part.
And I am.
....sorta.
/end rant