Quote (Surfpunk @ Jul 22 2022 02:40pm)

So all people named Tyrone are black men? Subtle nod to racism, well done.

Quote (justhackitup @ Jul 22 2022 08:27pm)

Yup. Anyone else using that name is guilty of cultural appropriation, or something. Sorry I was going to keep going as a leftie but my brain won’t let me right now because it’s on.

Anyways this whole thing is a sham, as noted above the dereliction of duty of these fraudsters to do their actual day job at the expense of the American people should be the bigger headline. So you have to work 2 jobs to pay for the incoming 25% rent increase or the inevitable property tax rates coming, at least, thankfully, Nancy Pelosi totally definitely certainly did not influence her husband to exercise his options of millions of dollars in the tech industry right before a congressional vote to spend your, mine, his, and her money to the tune of $52 billion to inject into one company, after creating a economic crisis by shutting down the economy over the friggen flu. Oh, and enriching those big bad businesses who to date, are not giving “free vaccines”. They are billing the government and making record profits off of again, your, mine, his, and her tax dollars.

It’s all a play it’s all a joke and we’re the suckers paying for it. Bannon is nothing more than a political scapegoat to distract people from their consistently lowered quality of of life coming to an end. It’s all a jooooooke. It’d be funny if it wasn’t real.

Quote (duffman316 @ Jul 22 2022 05:40pm)

only tyrone i ever knew personally was pudgy white kid in the 6th grade ^_^

Quote (Goomshill @ Jul 22 2022 03:15pm)

This sets a great precedent that republicans will definitely never exploit, surely. Particularly the bit where Bannon was given a show trial, disallowed from presenting a defense
History is littered with examples of regimes that invented crimes to lock up political opponents, the more decadent a society the more likely to engage in passive aggressive pretense of legitimacy to their despotism. Hit a real stride in the english reformation for example. American history, however, has been mercifully light on it. We mostly went through our formative years with the vindictive spirit being brushed aside in the name of civility, with a few notable exceptions like the sedition act. We started up again during the red scare, but none other than albert einstein shamed the mccarthyists into dropping their witchhunt of du bois.

American democracy rests upon two principles: One is following the law, the agreement that the rules govern, that what prerogatives held by congress and states respectively can be exercised as written in the constitution. But the other, and more important, is a shared civic spirit. One that says that we do not engage in the reckless game theory min/maxing of positions to exploit the rules to their fullest to spite the other side. Because the law as written is deeply flawed to its core, reliant on human interpretation, and when you try to exploit it, it breaks.

When Republicans raised their sound and fury over Benghazi and Hillary's emails and Gunwalking and so on, they clanged their pots and pans and made a racket. But they didn't burn down the house. Democrats, on the other hand, are now using the levers of government to persecute rival politicians and pundits. Going after Navarro, going after sitting members of congress from the opposing party. Weaponizing the subpoena power and denying executive privilege. When Eric Holder exerted it over Fast and Furious, Republicans didn't test the fabric of our democracy. Democrats, on the other hand, are the party of arsonists.

Quote (NEEDdemRARES @ Jul 22 2022 08:59pm)

Republicans would never exploit this because they are, unfortunately, pussies.

Quote (duffman316 @ Jul 22 2022 06:07pm)

mitch mcconnel is probably one of the most effective politicians of the past decade

Quote (excellence @ Jul 22 2022 05:08pm)

bogie made the same assertion, what does Bannon ignoring a subpoena have to do with their (congress') Constitutional authority? you're not this stupid either. is ignoring a subpoena unprecedented?

congress has no legitimate reasoning as to why Bannon, or anyone else wrapped up in this supposed 'trial' aimed at persecuting sovereign citizens, is interfering with their legislative responsibilities. and again, if anything they should call themselves to order on contempt charges seeing as they have failed for several decades now at legislative responsibilities.

for instance, they are waffling at passing any legislation aimed at curbing insider trading by friends and family: https://www.yahoo.com/news/speaker-nancy-pelosi-denies-her-173636168.html

Quote (bogie160 @ Jul 22 2022 05:08pm)

Bannon is not being summoned because his testimony is urgently required for a legislative purpose. He's being summoned because the Democratic Congress hopes to use his testimony to the detriment of their political adversaries. That's unfortunate.

Democratic incompetence is not for want of trying. They've just been astoundingly bad at picking their spots. Schumer will go down as one of the more incompetent politicians in generations.

Quote (thundercock @ Jul 22 2022 08:22pm)

Bannon is a civilian and isn't a high ranking government official associated with the Executive Branch. In short, Bannon has ZERO claim to executive privilege and CAN NOT ignore a Congressional subpoena. The same rules that apply to you and me must apply to him.



You can't ignore a Congressional subpoena if you're a civilian. End of story. Do we really want to live in a world where Hunter Biden can just say fuck you to Congress next January? That would be an unmitigated disaster. If you're worried about incriminating yourself, just plead the Fifth. Bannon thumbed his nose at the Constitution and he's going to pay the price (as he should). Anyway, Bannon is a critical witness based on what we know b/c he's part of the "connective tissue" between various groups so to speak. We need to have all the facts so that we can prevent this from happening again. There's a reason some REALLY right wing people are testifying. People who had unquestionable loyalty to the administration and the conservative cause. This was a UNIQUELY bad situation and it should not be allowed to happen again.

One of many legislative purposes is here: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112937054/proposed-reforms-for-the-electoral-count-act-draw-broad-support
Future legislation may revolve around better record keeping, increased penalties for various crimes, etc. You can come up with a legislative purpose for pretty much anything (including going after Hunter Biden!)

I agree that Schumer isn't a particularly good leader. The Democrats would be better off with a firebrand like Warren but she's too far to the left.