The Schiff Show
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Did you have Tuesday-Thursday classes in college? I hated Tuesday-Thursday classes. Tuesday-Thursday classes, in my experience, were almost certain to combine the agony of classes that were 50 percent longer than Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes, with the most boring professors on campus. It’s almost as if the provost would look at a professor and say, “Well, you look like a drab, uninteresting, colorless drone. Let’s schedule you for Tuesday-Thursday classes.”
If you have similar memories and a well-functioning imagination, imagine your worst nightmare of a Tuesday-Thursday college class made two thirds longer – a soul-destroying two and a half hours. Create that picture in your mind, complete with your recollection of the fact that when you and I were in college, we did not have the ready diversions of smartphones, tablets and laptop computers. In a crushingly dull class, we had to just sit there and take it.
Now, imagine that that classroom of yours is brimming with TV cameras ready to catch you daydreaming or dozing off.
Imagine those days of endless Tuesday-Thursday class lectures writ large and then put on TV for the consumption of those wishing to catch you in an unguarded moment (of severe ennui) – and you can somewhat imagine what it had to be like in the Senate chamber Wednesday when Adam Schiff gave the House’s opening statement in the Donald Trump impeachment trial.
Since the Democrats have no case – as anyone with a functioning brain stem can see and as is being made clear by their non-stop whining about the need for witnesses that they, themselves could have called but didn’t – it then becomes possible to believe that the Democrats are hoping that Senate Republicans, desperate to be relieved of mind-melting boredom, will vote to remove President Trump from office just to make it stop.
If you watched this farce – which is to say if you either don’t have a job or are obligated as a hazard of your job to suffer such codswallop – you saw a somewhat unstable man in the form of Representative Adam Schiff taking up the time of the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body. You saw him repeating the same vacuous, focus-tested, CNN-ready soundbite statements ad nauseum.
It wasn’t just dull, it was cosmically dull. There wasn’t a hint of drama. There was nothing compelling. Certainly, there was nothing that would convince an impartial observer to remove a sitting president from office and overturn a duly constituted national election.
For three years now, starting with the Mueller Russian “collusion” investigation, Adam Schiff has been over-promising and under-delivering. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s – and the media’s – pro-forma gushing analyses notwithstanding, Schiff made a fool of himself Wednesday. He disgraced the House of Representatives and he disgraced the Constitution. His impeachment trial opening statement will go down as one of the worst, most pointless episodes on the floor of the Senate in that body’s 231-year history.
Is it any wonder, then, that as impeachment drags on, President Trump’s poll numbers only get stronger?
I agree with you 100% however, I have been viewing the blogosphere and there are plenty of leftists who are gobsmacked at the terrific job Schiff is doing. They are talking about how calm, poised, and professional he is while doing an expert job of laying out the facts and making a case that no one could deny.
We need to keep in mind that more than half the votes went to Hillary. That means we cannot take it for granted that reason will prevail. If reason prevails Trump will be acquitted and will be reelected in 2020. I am cautiously optimistic that this is the case, but I am not going to be too sure about it.
Sic em brother
Spot on Paul. The Democrats in the Senate are ticking off many voters from what I see and hear locally.
Why is Rudy Giuliani being left out?
Do you like what Representative Adam Schiff is saying/doing and will it succeed and do you think he is on the right track? In summary, what IS he trying to accomplish with his beautiful rhetoric and “supporting evidence”?
I agree that Paul is completely correct in his analysis of the taxpayer funded 24 hour Democrat political advertisement, also known as an impeachment trial. Michael also makes a great point cautioning against complacency toward the 2020 elections. The contributors to this forum are much more informed than a large percentage of the electorate, so it cannot be assumed that others recognize this Schiff show as a hoax. The Republican candidate always faces an uphill challenge, and must run the table in the mostly blue swing states to win the electoral college. We sure do not want to perceive this impeachment debacle as the issue that assures President Trump of re-election; however, it certainly SHOULD improve his chances. One would think that the outstanding performance of this administration is enough to deserve a landslide victory, but with the highly partisan divide, we cannot take anything for granted.
I would not miss “You Tell Me Texas” because you think, write, and speak well. Scott Adams (developer of the Dilbert comic strip), in his book, “Loser Think” notes that the business model of the press changed from presenting information to manipulating brains. He notes that the best way to drive viewership and profits today is with provocative fake news.
My interpretation that is blended with Mr. Adams comments.
The liberal left measures audience reaction to headlines to determine the income potential of different approaches and hence the business model of the left is to support. The liberals’ creation of crises in the minds of the public are perfect fodder to support that business model, which in turns supports the political left.
Scott Adams notes that programming involves panels of pundits who hold the same biased opinions , joined by only one relatively unpersuasive pundit for the other side. Obviously this can be observed on some programs on both left and right media so it is left to use to seek additional information and to critically think about what is being claimed. Jason Chaffetz’ book “Power Grab” exposes Pelosi’s work to rig the political system in favor of the Democrats. By checking many of the facts in his book for veracity we can conclude that Chaffetz is being truthful about Pelosi’s efforts and actions. So, as thinking citizens we need to listen, read, check the facts, and then draw conclusion. “You Tell Me Texas” is an important part in my effort to make sense out today’s political world.
You know what I miss? Civility. You used to offer practical and good advice on things that mattered to our area, Paul. Now all I hear you talk about is how evil the Dems are. How about being better than name calling? Your words used to matter but now you are no better than any of the politicians in Washington who can’t make a coherent argument that doesn’t involve “yeah well the other side is evil and dumb.” I am embarrassed for you.
“Civility” seems quaint, eh?
Trumpsters LOVE overstatement.
What Paul’s doing is accretive.
As Natalie Merchant sang:
“Give ‘em what they want.”
Paul is giving his readers exactly what they want. He offers the facts of the story, which are of little interest to most reporters these days. The lack of civility cannot be blamed only on Trump. One of the reasons Trump was elected is a majority of the country disagreed with where the U.S. was and was headed. A large portion agrees with his progress so far. You don’t hear democrats complain about the economy or jobs. Their arguments are against Trump himself.
The intelligent contributors to this space recognize that complete and accurate exposure of the opposition with massive examples of their duplicity and lies as “evil” (using your words) is total proof that the TARGET has been HIT when the opposition quivers as they call for “civility.”
Paul ALWAYS justifies his opinions with proof, not rhetoric. Your call for “civility” is a call for suppressing the TRUTH provided to his readers by throwing a GUILT TRIP on those (such as Paul) you can’t tolerate, and THAT is the problem. You want to SHUT UP your opposition by calling for “civility”. Q.E.D.
The Trump-style Caps Lock makes Jordan’s point.
And what fun is “civility” anyway?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/24/npr-mike-pompeo-dropped-f-bomb-after-being-questioned-ukraine/4569387002/
You must be joking! Is CAPS LOCK now to be considered a lack of “civility’ when they are innocently used for emphasis? Holland you just made my point! The “civility” argument is just what I said. It is used to suppress the unvarnished truth from coming out and it is the same as if you blocked up your ears if I was talking to you in person. The “civility” of the Democrat Impeachment rules and performance has reached negative infinity and I didn’t think that was possible.
Sir, you and your follow comrades can’t handle the TOTAL truth. Schiff’s performance is worthy of an Academy Award. He has spun a tale that is so full of lies and half-truths and so complicated that it would take a hundred pages of flow charts to detail. It is therefore almost impossible to debunk each fallacious claim, hence the advantage of the Big Lie if told big and often enough and particularly if flowery rhetoric and a super sincere demeanor is displayed. That is what makes Schiff one of the most despicable con-artists ever to come on the American scene and most people can see through this weak, fake person.
I am embarrassed for any American that is hoodwinked by Schiff’s duplicity! This is not a movie or novel; it is an attempt to defame (Impeach) a President that has over ½ of your fellow Americans now realizing that he is NOT the typical smooth politician and is determined to bypass the government bureaucracy in order to get his commitments DONE in spite of the unbelievable opposition and hatred from the Democrats at every step both in and out of government. This whole charade is nothing more than a perpetual Democrat Party Campaign commercial paid for by the American Tax Payer. You should be ashamed of your fellow Democrats and your accomplices in the “fake” media and academia that tolerates this decaying waste, fully deserving of the “dung” pit for disposal!
If you’re late to cyber-discourse — and new voices should always be welcome — this tip: CAPS LOCK IS SHOUTING.
Caps lock can be EMPHASIS if you lack the capacity to use italics, which is the case for readers posting comments on this site.
Not that I really care, but you (Holland) used CAPS twice: 24 and 5 hours before your warning against my using them based on posted time stamps – interesting? Thank you, Paul, for explaining why CAPS are used for emphasis on your site.
When one sees a bunch of clowns piling out of a clown car at a circus, appropriate observations are in order. That is ALL that Paul is doing. Every week I find Paul right on target. Civility is not undermined simply because Paul–and other readers of his column, I among them–see in Democrat posturing both willful ignorance and dishonesty. That you are “embarrassed for” Paul tells us more about you than Paul.
Jordan, I don’t think I have ever really offered “advice.” What I have tried to do, since starting this feature, is call ’em like I see ’em. Many of my pieces have, in fact, been what I believe to be cogent and understandable arguments in favor of conservatism (it works every time it’s tried).
But often the events of the day call for an expositive statement on the utter foolishness of the leftists that still have the capacity to dominate the headlines (a quaint term, “headlines,” but you get the point) and negatively impact the culture.
Adam Schiff’s performance Wednesday — in truth the entirety of his behavior since November 2016 — cries out to be called out.
As to “civility” and the lack thereof, stay tuned. That piece is coming.
GREAT READ, explaining the tone not just here but in Social Media generally:
https://www.wired.com/story/polarization-politics-misinformation-social-media/amp
Want to make America great again?
Instead of dividing us, follow George Costanza’s advice:
“Do the opposite.”
SMILE and ask everyone to pitch in.
For all the problems we might’ve THOUGHT we had in 1980, it was a more optimistic time, and we knew we would, as the song sang, “see each other through:”
https://youtu.be/zdtQm0naKyg
What you propose is our Conservative defeat in the face of Progressive/Marxist forces that hate our fundamental rights as Americans and are determined to wipe us out! There is NO way that “coming together” with an opposition that is ideologically foreign to all that we hold sacred would ever succeed in anything but the “destruction by compromise” that you seek, all in the name of “harmony” to solve the division that you supposedly wish would go away.
This is an ideological fight to the death in the arena of ideas and you are willing to fool around with a false hope of harmony? I am not willing to risk my American future simply because you don’t recognize the deadly serious issues at stake.
I don’t accept your premise that this fight is illegitimate because it creates a “divide” in the country. Holland: that is the nature of having convictions in which one recognizes the results of evil having run amok in almost all of human history – it is the nature of men seeking power who are not angels and thrive by deceit at the expense of others. Freedom is not free and will disappear if not defended and that means we have to fight to retain it – that is why America and our beloved Constitution still exists in spite of everyday assaults from the Left.
Wow.