[guest post by Dana]

Note: Consider this a little impeachment reprieve for those who are exhausted from talking about it.

I have written a number of posts concerning the seeming-rise of charlatans and grifters in Evangelical church pulpits since the ascendancy of Trump. The Church has always had wolves in its midst, this is nothing new. The pulpit provides a uniquely tempting opportunity for the corrupt to wield power and influence over vulnerable, lost souls. The corrupt shepherds dressed in sheep’s clothing, who deign to instruct others on how they should live, are practiced in the art of deception and can smoothly recite longed-for words of persuasion as they successfully manipulate the naive and the willing. It’s a dangerous game, this wolf playing good shepherd. Eventually their con will come to an end, and they will have to answer for their perversion of God and Scripture, and for preying on the saints. Until that time though, the “mission” remains: If the money is good, let the good times keep roll. All in the name of Christ, of course.

With that, this is Paula White, President Trump’s spiritual advisor and Special Adviser to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative . She is also known as the God Whisperer. I’ll just say that if she is actually advising Trump on spiritual matters, it could explain a whole lot.

Presidential spiritual adviser Paula White takes authority over the marine kingdom, the animal kingdom, and all "satanic pregnancies" that seek to harm Trump or the church. pic.twitter.com/pmrJEIxCHk

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) January 24, 2020

We interrupt that which has been deployed to hurt the church in this season, that which has been deployed to hurt this nation. In the name of Jesus, forgive us for our sins. Come on, I need you guys to pray. We cancel every surprise from the witchcraft [sic] and the marine kingdom — any hex, any spell, any witchcraft, any spirit of control, any Jezebel, anything that the enemy desires through spells, through witchcraft, through any way that is manipulation, demonic manipulation. We curse that. We break it, according to the word of God.

In the name of Jesus, we come against the marine kingdom, we come against the animal kingdom, the woman who rides upon the waters. We break the power, in the name of Jesus, and we declare that any strange winds, any strange winds that have been sent to hurt the church, sent against this nation, sent against our president, sent against myself, sent against others — we break it by the superior blood of Jesus right now. In the name of Jesus, we arrest every infirmity, affliction, fatigue, weariness, weakness, fear, sickness, any self-righteousness, any self-serving action, God.

Let pride fall, let pride fall, let pride fall, let pride fall, in the name of Jesus. We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now. We declare that anything that’s been conceived in satanic wombs, that it will miscarry, it will not be able to carry forth any plan of destruction, any plan of harm …

White, who leads a congregation of 10,000 worshipers at the New Destiny Christian Center megachurch, attempted to clarify what she meant when she prayed for women to miscarry babies in their um, [double-checks notes]…”satanic wombs”:

That is- any plans to hurt people. Let's be clear what is really going on… this is a disingenuous attempt to use words out of context for political gain. I will just keep praying!

— Paula White-Cain (@Paula_White) January 26, 2020

So calling out White’s crazy “satanic womb” mumbo-jumbo is nothing but a disingenuous attempt to use words out of context for political gain…

For reference, here is Ephesians 6:12 NASB:

For our struggle is not against [a]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Yet more evidence of disturbed Trump-supporting pastors who have deified the President as if he were a co-equal with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is Evangelical pastor Rodney Howard-Browne. Howard-Browne was so upset over John Bolton’s claims about Trump and the Ukraine in his yet-to-be-released memoir, “The Room Where it Happens,” that he launched an attack on the former national security advisor:

I have no respect for someone who is disloyal to the President and loyal to deep state !!!

No respect! No respect at all …… what a globalist sellout!

— Rodney Howard-Browne (@rhowardbrowne) January 28, 2020

When we are fighting for the republic, endeavoring to save it from a deep state coup, this “clown” walrus – Warhawk Bolton just needs to just return to the deep state ocean he swam out of!

— Rodney Howard-Browne (@rhowardbrowne) January 28, 2020

“You are a slime ball of the highest order …. I should have knocked your sorry butt through the door of the Oval Office into the rose garden when I saw you. I would have gladly been arrested …. what a Benedict Arnold ….. I am glad you were fired !!!!!” Howard-Browne tweeted Monday.

“I have no respect for someone who is disloyal to the President and loyal to deep state !!! No respect! No respect at all …… what a globalist sellout!” he added.

As if that weren’t enough, Howard-Browne also tweeted:

“WWJD: he would have made a whip and beat the crap out of him!!!!”

Apparently this was a tweet too far for Howard-Browne, as it seems that he has since deleted the tweet.

I am reminded of this gem from David French, as he discussed the Evangelical response to *any* political leader:

The proper Evangelical position toward any president is not hard to articulate, though it is exceedingly difficult to hold to, especially in polarized times when one party seems set on limiting religious liberty and zealously defending abortion: We should pray for presidents, critique them when they’re wrong, praise them when they’re right, and never, ever impose partisan double standards. We can’t ever forget the importance of character, the necessity of our own integrity, and the power of the prophetic witness.

In other words, Evangelicals can never take a purely transactional approach to politics. We are never divorced from our transcendent purpose, which always trumps political expediency. In scripture, prophets confronted leaders about their sin. They understood a core truth, one clearly articulated in the Southern Baptist Convention’s 1998 Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials: “Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestrained immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God’s judgment.”

All too many of our nation’s Evangelical leaders haven’t just “tolerated” serious wrongdoing by Trump, they’ve rationalized and minimized it.

WWJD, you ask?? He’d tell White, Howard-Browne, and other false prophets, grifters, and liars misrepresenting him in the Evangelical church to knock this shit off right now. (See 2 Peter.) He would also remind believers that He has already made it very clear that they are to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. Time for those sitting in the pews to
wise up.

–Dana

All indications are that the vote to hear no relevant evidence will pass today, quickly followed by the acquittal for lack of relevant evidence. The crowning of King Trump will follow later tonight and will be carried live by all networks.

All hail King Trump.

All those who say aye: say aye! I shall wait for the unanimous decision of the Republicans in the Senate.

[guest post by Dana]

The ad is undeniably profound in its eloquent testimony to life, as told by abortion survivors:

Details:

Lyric Gillett, founder of Faces of Choice, accused Fox, which is broadcasting the game, of stringing her along after she began negotiating in July to air a powerful black-and-white ad featuring adults and children of different genders and ethnicities with one thing in common: they survived abortions.

“In an era where we’re trying to give survivors a voice, whether that is through the #MeToo movement or on any number of issues, for some reason we deem survivors of abortion worthy of being ignored into oblivion,” Ms. Gillett said. “That, to me, is both ironic but also just appalling.”

[…]

A Fox spokesperson said in an email that the network sold out its ad space early on for this year’s championship game in Miami between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

“Super Bowl LIV sold out at a record pace this year, and unfortunately we were unable to accommodate Faces of Choice and other advertisers,” the spokesperson said.

Gillet pushed back against it being a simple matter of ad space being sold out:

Ms. Gillett said there is more to the story. After providing storyboards and fielding questions about her organization, she said, she was told by the sales division that she would have a response from the legal department by a date in late November.

“Some individuals had apparently expressed that the sales division was not happy with the way the legal division was going in terms of not providing answers,” Ms. Gillett said. “So an executive flew up from New York and we were told Friday to expect an answer by Monday. Monday came along, we got no answer, and then found out that night that they were sold out.”

After that, she said, she asked Fox again to clear the ad in case other slots opened from cancellations for financial or content reasons. She said she was told in mid-December to expect an answer “very, very soon,” but the response never came.

“It feels like the reason for that is they don’t want to, I guess in their minds, give a story that we were rejected,” Ms. Gillett said. “I guess that’s the reason behind it. Nothing else makes sense. But again, that’s unprofessional, and I don’t think that’s how they operate with other clients.”

[…]

Her biggest frustration lies in what she described as Fox’s lack of responsiveness. She said she also reached out to the Academy Awards about running an ad, and an ABC executive got back to her the same day to tell her that the show has a policy against advocacy spots.

[…]

“Every time we would meet a stipulation or request, it would morph into something different. I would send an email saying, ‘What else do you need to get some type of answer?’ Even if it’s a ‘no,’ we don’t want a ‘no,’ but at least we can have an answer. We never got that answer,” Ms. Gillett said.

Note that there will be both advocacy and political ads aired during the Super Bowl, including an ad focusing on police shootings of black people, an Audi ad focusing on environmentalism, an ad featuring drag queens Kim Chi and Miz Cracker from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” about which LGBTQ marketing strategist Bob Witeck said:

“For queer audiences, it is an art form and an ‘outsiders’ language,” Witek said of drag. “Reaching the Super Bowl means taking our language into every home in the nation and millions around the world.”

There will also be ads airing from Michael Bloomberg about gun violence, and President Trump promoting the achievements of his first term in office.

Ad Age confirmed that Fox Super Bowl ad units were sold out in November:

After network honcho Seth Winter spent the better part of the last few weeks warning would-be clients that the last of the Big Game inventory was about to run out, the executive VP of sales for Fox Sports sold the last available spot on Friday.

Not a single commercial unit is being held back for the stragglers who may have been iffy on their creative or were simply hoping to hold out for a better price. The early bird has a belly full of worm meat. Better luck next year.

[…]

“Because we didn’t want anyone to get caught out, we over-communicated to the marketplace that this was going at a pace we’d never seen before,” he says. “We’d spent weeks imploring them: ‘We are serious! We are going to sell out!’”

[…]

Winter says the fact that the in-game ad units in the 2020 Super Bowl have been picked clean before Thanksgiving is largely a testament to the strength of the national economy.

As a reminder, Gillett began negotiating with Fox about airing her group’s ad in July.

Oh. Now we are learning that Fox Super Bowl ad units were sold out until they weren’t:

Fox declared in November that it had sold all the advertising time available in its looming February 2 broadcast of Super Bowl LIV. But just this week, it found a little more.

After holding nearly two months’ worth of discussions, Fox and the National Football League have devised a way to add commercial inventory to an event that in most years limits the amount of advertising that can be shown. While Fox and the NFL had long planned this year to trim one ad break from each quarter of the 2020 game, the pair discovered demand from some key sponsors was so robust that it was hard to ignore…Fox has decided to create what executives call a “floating” commercial break that will allow for two 60-second ads from sponsors…Since the network announced its sell out… sales team has been deluged with requests not only from advertisers still hoping to get in on the game, but from sponsors who were able to buy time but want to grab more so they can run longer commercials…

To be clear: not all advocacy is created equal. Surviving an abortion is the very real definition of #ShePersisted (and #HePersisted), but as Gillett observed, “we deem survivors of abortion worthy of being ignored into oblivion.” The trend continues.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Feel free to talk about anything you think is newsworthy or might interest readers.

I’ll start.

First news item:

Coronavirus numbers, queue the stupid:

Scientists at Hong Kong University published research in a medical journal on Saturday that projects as many as 75,815 people in Wuhan, China, may have been infected with Coronavirus, the South China Morning Post reported.

The city of 11 million people has been on virtual lockdown for weeks as China seeks to stem the spread of the deadly virus. The death toll jumped overnight by 46 to 259 people, while the number of confirmed cases in China soared to 11,791. Around two dozen other countries have reported another 137 cases, Reuters reported.

President Trump tweeted a photo of the White House task force at work with various agencies about a response to the virus:

Just received a briefing on the Coronavirus in China from all of our GREAT agencies, who are also working closely with China. We will continue to monitor the ongoing developments. We have the best experts anywhere in the world, and they are on top of it 24/7! pic.twitter.com/rrtF1Stk78

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2020

Here was CNN reliably bringing the stupid:

Coronavirus task force another example of Trump administration's lack of diversity | Analysis https://t.co/bs7L1rUZzc pic.twitter.com/MzzoslqZpT

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 30, 2020

CNN wasn’t alone:

As the world continues to worry about the spread of the coronavirus, many weary style lovers are beginning to wonder; how do I stay chic in the event of an epidemic? The social set are now rushing to get their hands on surgical-grade face masks, rumoured to be the most effective, but fashion has been getting prepared for a while.

More here.

Second news item:

A positive State of the Union speech coming:

President Trump’s third State of the Union address on Tuesday will put forth a vision of “relentless optimism” that focuses on addressing issues affecting America’s working families…”The theme of the State of the Union is the great American comeback,” the senior administration official said. “In his address, the president will lay out a vision of relentless optimism…“He will encourage Congress to work with him to continue building an inclusive economy where the least well-off are making some of the fastest gains and where people of every background are finding new opportunities,” the official said.

When the president heads to Capitol Hill, the Senate will be on the verge of acquitting the president of the impeachment articles brought against him by the Democratic-controlled House. It’s unclear whether or how the vote will impact what he plans to say.

The official on Friday declined to say whether Trump planned to address impeachment at all, further emphasizing that the speech would strike an “optimistic” tone and urge Congress to take action on legislative actions related to health care and other areas.

[Ed. – Since Trump’s likely acquittal will happen Wednesday, Trump, who is not a gracious winner or loser, will not be able to resist addressing the impeachment during the SOTU by mocking Democrats, emphatically reiterating that he has done nothing wrong, and droning on about having been the victim of a “Witch Hunt”.]

Third news item:

March of the Media – A Metaphor:

Impeachment coverage looks rad pic.twitter.com/FvBi94JjCv

— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) January 31, 2020

Fourth news item: You have a voice, use it to dialogue with whom you disagree, instead of hiding out in fear:

Conservative author Heather Mac Donald spoke at Emory University on Tuesday—despite the best efforts the student government’s chief of staff, who filed a petition arguing that the event violated “the right of freedom from discrimination by any student group.”

This petition was dismissed, since Mac Donald’s talk was not funded by student fees and therefore was free of the non-discrimination requirement.

But many students agreed that Mac Donald’s words were discriminatory and a threat to public safety. They gathered in a “safe space” while she spoke, watching her speech on a video feed from a remote location.

…Simultaneously, downstairs, a group of more than 80 students, faculty and staff members crowded into a lecture hall to watch a livestream of Mac Donald’s remarks. This event, hosted by Emory NAACP, the Caucus of Emory Black Alumni (CEBA) and Rollins Earn and Learn, was advertised as “a safe space for students to be able to express their reaction to what Heather Mac Donald has to say.”

CEBA President Natalie Gullatt (11C), who helped organize the response event, emphasized the need for an environment for individuals affected by Mac Donald’s inflammatory remarks. Gullatt said that the two events were held at the same time to reduce attendance at Mac Donald’s lecture.

“We don’t want to give her any type of ammunition or any type of way to use anything that’s done tonight to help propel her message,” Gullatt said.

Fifth news item:

Speaking of optimism:

Do you think the country will elect a woman president in the next 20 years?
Stacey Abrams: Yes.

Do you think they'll elect a black woman?
Stacey Abrams: Yes.

Do you think they'll elect you?
Stacey Abrams: Yes. That's my plan. And I'm very pragmatic. https://t.co/J9Tnmzslnr pic.twitter.com/R0i1GJ5oNn

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) January 31, 2020

–Dana

It is the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. Today’s music is “Les Béatitudes” by César Franck:

Today’s Gospel reading is Matthew 5:1-12:

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words:

Chorus:
Poor human souls, thus striving
For the fitful joys of earth;
Whom deadly sin is driving!
Give holy Meekness birth.
Her sacred lamp burns ever brightly,
She, only, can allay your care,
She, only, maketh hang more lightly
Those chains, which goad you to despair.

Christ:
O! blessed are the meek!
For them earth’s treasures all are gathered.

Chorus:
Grief o’er all creatures
Reigns supreme,
Her terrible features
Haunt every dream;
Our sad cries unavailing,
Each she claims as her slave;
Each with rigor unfailing
Drives to the grave.

Christ:
Blessed are the mourners,
For they shall be consoled!

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.

[guest post by Dana]

Filed under: You have got to be kidding.

Bloomberg has the report:

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst warned Sunday that Republicans would immediately push to impeach Joe Biden over his work in Ukraine as vice president if he win the White House.

“I think this door of impeachable whatever has been opened,” Ernst said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “Joe Biden should be very careful what he’s asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, ‘Well, we’re going to impeach him.’”

The grounds for impeachment, the first-term Republican said, would be “for being assigned to take on Ukrainian corruption yet turning a blind eye to Burisma because his son was on the board making over a million dollars a year.”

Ernst discussed Trump’s impeachement Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union:

I think ferreting out corruption is absolutely the right thing to do”…[I]f Trump was “tying it to other things,” referring to the allegations that the president connected U.S. military aid to investigations into this political rival, that’s something she “wouldn’t have done.”

“The president has a lot of latitude to do what he wants to do…I think, generally speaking, going after corruption would be the right thing to do. He did it maybe in the wrong manner.”

Ernst said she will be voting to acquit Trump in the Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday, adding that “whether you like what the president has done or not,” she does not think it rises to the point of removing a president from office.

Ernst, who is an at-risk Repuplican in a battleground state, was recently pushing for a quick end to the impeachment:

We’ve had 17 witnesses, from the House…We do hear from people back home, but they’re like, ‘get this over with.’ That’s what I’m hearing, is that we really need to wrap this up and get the American people’s business done.

On the question of Republicans possibly pushing to impeach a President Biden, consider a sampling of the Republican response to the impeachement of Trump:

Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, was also “sad,” he told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning, because Democrats wanted only to impeach Trump and prevent him from doing his “amazing” work—an observation that the President liked so much that he promptly tweeted it.

[I]mpeaching the President was, in the words of the Ohio Republican Jim Jordan “unfair,” “dangerous,” and “harmful to our country.”

And this from Kellyanne Conway:

“People will not forget about it,” Conway said Tuesday morning. “People will remember how those Democrats spent their time and the taxpayers’ money, which was a big waste. And if you waste my time, you risk my trust is what these voters will say to them. And can we stop calling them moderate Democrats? I think they’ve proven that they’re not. They are not representing the will of their people.”

“If you’re called a representative, if that’s your day job, you ought to represent the will of your people. And these folks saying, ‘Oh, it’s a vote of conscience. I’ve been struggling. I had to read all the documents all weekend.’ They would sound more legitimate and more credible if they just said, ‘I need to follow the leadership of my party, which has gone so far to the left, we can’t even see the middle from where we are anymore. And frankly, which probably dangles committee assignments and campaign money in front of me for me to make this vote,'” she said.

Even viewing the the hearing was considered a waste of time, let alone the impeachment itself:

“They’re kind of on a fishing expedition,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

[…]

“It’s a political sideshow and I’ve got more important things to do,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “The House has its job to do. And then when it comes to us, that’s when our job kicks in.”

[…]

“It’s a sham. It’s a show trial. Not even that,” said Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). “Nothing rises to the level of impeachment. So, this is just a big waste of time.”

And let’s not forget these GOP responses when the impeachment inquiry was launched:

“So much for being prayerful and thoughtful, I think it’s a bad day for the country, I think this whole thing is a joke,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham…

“I guess if you’re going to come up with an inadequate case, you might as well go for the impeachment and have the circus,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told reporters, adding that he’s glad they’re getting to it “sooner rather than later.”

Additionally, Lamar Alexander held fast that it was voters who should decide Trump’s fate, not Congress:

“If this shallow, hurried and wholly partisan impeachment were to succeed, it would rip the country apart, pouring gasoline on the fire of cultural divisions that already exist…It would create the weapon of perpetual impeachment to be used against future presidents whenever the House of Representatives is of a different political party… Our founding documents provide for duly elected presidents who serve with ‘the consent of the governed,’ not at the pleasure of the United States Congress. Let the people decide.”

Ernst’s warning provided Biden this nugget to use on the campaign trail:

They very much don’t want to face me obviously,” Biden told the Des Moines Register. “I’ve never seen a sitting president and his allies this frightened about who may be the nominee.”

Claiming that the impeachment of Trump has opened a “door of impeachable whatever” diminishes the impeachment process, as well as conveniently relieves a president of accountability for his actions. There is something hypocritical about a party that has cried foul from the Trump impeachment get-go and blamed it on everything from a witch hunt, to partisan politics, and as nothing more than an attempt to undue an election, and yet these same people are now warning a contender from the other side of the aisle that there could be a push for impeachment if he is elected. Let’s call it weaponizing impeachment. Whatever happened to letting the voters decide? Whatever happened to doing the will of the people? What about accusations that the impeachment effort was nothing more than an effort to overturn an election? Does all of that go out the window when the president is a Democrat? Shouldn’t consistency and an equal-application of laws and processes be the goal rather than straight partisanship? Because if Biden becomes our next persident, then clearly the people will have spoken and made their will known.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

This makes my brown skin crawl:

Freshly made pasta is drying on the wooden bannisters lining the hall of a beautiful home in Denver, Colorado. Fox-hunting photos decorate the walls in a room full of books. A fire is burning. And downstairs, a group of liberal white women have gathered around a long wooden table to admit how racist they are.

“Recently, I have been driving around, seeing a black person, and having an assumption that they are up to no good,” says Alison Gubser. “Immediately after I am like, that’s no good! This is a human, just doing their thing. Why do I think that?”

This is Race to Dinner. A white woman volunteers to host a dinner in her home for seven other white women – often strangers, perhaps acquaintances. (Each dinner costs $2,500, which can be covered by a generous host or divided among guests.) A frank discussion is led by co-founders Regina Jackson, who is black, and Saira Rao, who identifies as Indian American. They started Race to Dinner to challenge liberal white women to accept their racism, however subconscious. “If you did this in a conference room, they’d leave,” Rao says. “But wealthy white women have been taught never to leave the dinner table.”

These moneyed, white liberal women belong to a select group of malleable, non-independent thinking individuals. A group which notably excludes men and Trump-supporting women:

Rao and Jackson believe white, liberal women are the most receptive audience because they are open to changing their behavior. They don’t bother with the 53% of white women who voted for Trump. White men, they feel, are similarly a lost cause. “White men are never going to change anything. If they were, they would have done it by now,” Jackson says.

White women, on the other hand, are uniquely placed to challenge racism because of their proximity to power and wealth, Jackson says. “If they don’t hold these positions themselves, the white men in power are often their family, friends and partners.”

I simply lack the energy to do any analysis of this report. Yet given how painfully self-serving the leaders of Race to Dinner are, and the deep insecurity and neediness of its attendees, there’s really not much to say. Because honestly, the real issue with Race to Dinner is as plain as the problematic white nose on your face…

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

[guest post by Dana]

While we still don’t know which Democrat will come out ahead in the caucus results, we do know that Trump views the disaster as a solid win for himself:

The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020

From CNN:

(CNN)The Democratic 2020 crusade to oust President Donald Trump could not have got off to a more disastrous and embarrassing start.

The party couldn’t even deliver a first-in-the-nation election night winner after a vote-reporting debacle in Iowa — where candidates spent months and millions of dollars vying for a glittering opening prize in their nominating duel.

[…]

The caucus nightmare also played right into the hands of a President spoiling for months to brand his rivals as weak, disorganized and even worse — plotting to rig the results to hand its crown to an establishment favorite. There’s little doubt that Trump, who consistently erodes distrust in institutions and governing systems, will weaponize such a narrative if it looks like he will lose in November.

The President pounced on the confusion early Tuesday morning.

“The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Trump operatives are already spinning conspiracy theories and disinformation about what the Iowa Democratic Party said were “inconsistencies” in its results. Their aim is to create a narrative that tars the eventual nominee as illegitimate. And on the eve of his State of the Union address and two days before he’s set to be acquitted in his impeachment trial, things cannot have worked out better for the President.

“It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said, gleefully wringing every last drop of political advantage out of the Democratic blushes.

It could be that after the countless twists of the campaign and changes of fortune, Monday’s snafu — apparently by a vote-reporting app — will be a distant memory by November, especially if one of the candidates turns Trump into a one-term president. Democrats will get the last laugh then.

But there must also be questions about whether the Iowa mess is isolated — or augurs a party ill-equipped in the states to take on Trump’s formidable turnout machine, which is being built with his massive campaign war chest. And the importance of Iowa in the process of choosing a president magnifies the cost of its terrible night on Monday.

Details of the disaster:

Mandy McClure, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, said the delays were the result of quality checks and the fact the party was reporting three sets of data for the first time. She said the party did find inconsistencies in the three data sets — the first round, the second round and the overall delegate numbers.

“We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report,” she said in a statement.

“This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results,” McClure said.

More than 7,000 people attended a Trump rally just last Thursday at Drake University in Des Moines.

As of this posting, results have still not been released.

–Dana

Shot:

Republican Senator Susan Collins announced Tuesday she will vote to acquit President Trump in his Senate trial, telling CBS News she believes the president has learned a “pretty big lesson” from impeachment and will be “much more cautious” about seeking foreign assistance in the future.

“I believe that the president has learned from this case,” Collins said in an exclusive interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell on Tuesday, before a speech on the Senate floor about her decision. “The president has been impeached. That’s a pretty big lesson.”

Chaser:

Asked about Sen. Susan Collins saying he’d learned a lesson, Trump told the anchors he did not agree. He had done nothing wrong. “It was a perfect call.” https://t.co/CNJmi46w7A

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 5, 2020

This must come as a shock to Susan Collins, because it’s not like Trump has said things like this before! Indeed, let’s review some of Trump’s statements to see what he has “learned” since being impeached:

Why should I have the stigma of Impeachment attached to my name when I did NOTHING wrong? Read the Transcripts! A totally partisan Hoax, never happened before. House Republicans voted 195-0, with three Dems voting with the Republicans. Very unfair to tens of millions of voters!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020

Great idea. This phony Impeachment Hoax should not even be allowed to proceed. Did NOTHING wrong. Just a partisan vote. Zero Republicans. Never happened before! https://t.co/47oV6z4RQc

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020

I hope Republicans & the American people realize that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is exacty that, a Hoax. Read the Transcripts, listen to what the President & Foreign Minister of Ukraine said (“No Pressure”). Nothing will ever satisfy the Do Nothing, Radical Left Dems!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2020

Exacty! He has learned so much! Why, Senator Collins, you truly are a stateswoman and a serious human being. I cannot praise your integrity highly enough!

“Oh my God, this is the most classless act ever!!!!1!” say the people who don’t find Donald J. Trump’s actions classless at all:

And there it is. The most classless act ever conducted in Congress, by Nancy Pelosi. pic.twitter.com/kxNFzKIEIb

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 5, 2020

Pelosi’s action was both understandable after Trump refused to shake her hand at the beginning of the evening, and snitty and petulant and weak.

That said, Ian Miles Cheong is a Trump supporter. I cannot take a Trump supporter seriously when they whine about classless acts by Democrats, since I know that if Trump did the same thing they would applaud and cheer.

As an aside: in the Trump era, any particular thing that happens today must be the biggest worstest mostest thing that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Sure, Representative Preston Brooks brutally beat Senator Charles Sumner on the head with a cane on the floor of the Senate, but yeah, this was the most classless act evah!

More degradation of our politics in the Trump era.