Pissed About The Senate Impeachment Vote? GET THE F*CKERS OUT.

Onward to November!

Oh, the hours we have liveblogged! We have been impeaching the motherfucker for months and months now, and we have finally made it to the end, at least for now. Donald Trump has been "acquitted" by a slovenly and servile Senate, which has itself been on trial for, and has been found guilty of, abdicating its constitutional duty owing to its allegiance to a criminal half-elected "president."

It wasn't a bipartisan acquittal, though.

It's hard to overstate the significance of what Mitt Romney did yesterday, voting to convict Donald Trump for his clear abuse of power, becoming the first senator in American history to vote to remove a president of his/her own party. (Yes, in Watergate, Republicans were about to run for the hills. That's why Nixon resigned. But they didn't vote to remove him.) It's especially significant considering how the GOP under Trump has turned into little more than a front organization for the purpose of protecting his crimes.

Clearly, lead House manager Adam Schiff had somebody like Romney in mind when he delivered his chilling closing argument to the Senate. (Or maybe he specifically had Romney in mind, because who among us thinks Schiff woke up that morning like "Know who I'm going to get to do the right thing today? Susan Collins. And then I'm going to become a space man!")

 www.youtube.com 

Schiff said:

"Every single vote, even a single vote by a single member, can change the course of history," Schiff intoned to a Senate that has already turned its back on the House's case. "It is said that a single man or woman of courage makes a majority. Is there one among you, who will say, Enough?'"

Indeed, there was one among them.

Donald Trump really really really really REALLY wanted a bipartisan acquittal (which is why equal due must be given to moderate Democratic senators like Doug Jones, and to a lesser extent Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin). Ever since the House vote on the impeachment articles, Trump and pals have been crowing about how the vote against impeaching him was bipartisan, whereas the vote to impeach was strictly party line, because in Trump's world, Justin Amash, who was a very conservative Freedom Caucus Republican until the party shunted him out for supporting impeachment, no longer exists.

But when it came to the Senate vote, the Democrats stayed together, and the president's own party did not.

(Sidebar: This is a dumb tweet from the New York Times 's Peter Baker:

Sinema and Manchin both to vote for conviction, meaning a party-line vote except for Romney.

— Peter Baker (@Peter Baker) 1580936166.0 

It was exactly that! Except for how it wasn't!)

Anyway, if you're keeping score: Trump is 1) impeached forever, though he was ultimately "acquitted" by his protectors, and 2) the vote to remove him was bipartisan.

So what now? What of the vulnerable Republican senators up for re-election who didn't pull a Romney and grow a pair and strap a dog to the roof of the car and vote to remove Donald Trump? Will this vote be consequential for them ? It should be. In fact, it should be far more consequential for them than it was for Romney, Jones or to a lesser extent Sinema or Manchin.

The presidential election is important, obviously, but one thing that's maddening to us (FUCKING MADDENING, if we are being honest) is how little our Democratic candidates are emphasizing that, even if/when one of them is elected, they're not going to be able to accomplish a whole hell of a lot if the Senate is still controlled by Addison Moscow Mitchell McConnell. (You think Democrats have been dawdling with their thumbs up their asses while obsessed with Mueller and impeachment, David Brooks? Tell that to the pile of legislation from the House currently sitting on Moscow Mitch's desk, you fuckin' dick.) That's why we want you to know about a new initiative from Indivisible called the Payback Project, and no, it is not about the kind of "payback" that involves Donald Trump Jr. posting mom jeans memes of Mitt Romney and calling him a pussy.

The Payback Project has identified nine Republicans up for re-election, some of whom are vulnerable as shit , and all of whom obviously voted this week to give Donald Trump dictator-like powers to break any laws and steal any elections he's able to seize. They are:

• Martha McSally (AZ)

• Cory Gardner (CO)

• David Perdue (GA)

• Joni Ernst (IA)

• Mitch McConnell (KY)

• Susan Collins (ME)

• Thom Tillis (NC)

• Lindsey Graham (SC)

• John Cornyn (TX)

Obviously some of those are easier "gets" than others, although all should be targets, and taking back the Senate should be an equal priority to retaking the presidency. Run the tables. Kick ALL their asses out. You want President Bernie Buttigieg Klobuchar to do something about healthcare? GIVE THEM A FUCKIN' SENATE.

The Payback Project's tagline, or one of them, is "Get angry. Then, get even," and we like it, because holy shit, how many times have we heard since Trump was selected by the Electoral College and Russia that that election was some sort of "payback" from a solid minority of forgotten white racists Politico then spent the next three years interviewing in roadkill cafes? Many times! Fuck that . There are way more of us, and in no reasonable world should a Republican senator be representing Maine or Colorado or even Arizona or North Carolina or Texas.

The Payback Project strategy was rolled out before the impeachment acquittal vote was taken, and now that we've seen what those GOP senators have done, it's even more urgent. Get involved. Get the fuckers out.

November seems far away, but like most things after age 30 or so, it'll be here a hell of a lot faster than we realize. So go hit up the Payback Project, brought to you by your neighborhood Indivisible, and DO A DAMN THING.

Pitter patter!

[ Payback Project / Politico ]

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