There has been a lot of news since Last week tonight with John Oliver it aired for the last time in November, like the vaccine launch, the Wall Street Game Stop extravaganza and a week-long obsession with sea slums – whatever it is. That said, Oliver decided to inaugurate season 8 with one of the most urgent news stories from last week: Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
“Democrats presented a convincing forensic case about Trump’s clear role as an instigator of the January 6 riots, and in response, his lawyers set up a defense that could charitably be characterized as ‘inconsistent’ with details ranging from a lawyer recalling about his collection of childhood records to another by submitting the Senate to an 11-minute video of Democrats simply using the word ‘struggle’, ”said Oliver. It may have looked like they weren’t trying too hard, but that may be because they didn’t really need it. ”He stressed that Ted Cruz even met with Trump’s lawyers while the case was still underway to tell them that the outcome was almost certain and that they have already won.
Longer term
“The point is, he was right,” admitted Oliver. He added that Republicans would absolve the first Celebrity Apprentice host, no matter what a “depressing sign of how deep Trumpism is in your party”. However, at the state level, it is even worse.
More than a dozen state legislators attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the unrest and one of them, Derrick Evans, a newly elected West Virginia state legislator, actually made it in and claimed he was a member of the media to “film story, “the footage he shot seemed to say otherwise when he was seen shouting” Trump! ” and delightfully participating in the insurrection.
Evans has since resigned – but there is more.
The Republican Party of Oregon issued a statement saying the disturbances were a “false flag” operation designed to discredit Trump, while Michigan’s top elected Republican, Mike Shirkey, made false claims, saying the deadly disturbances were a scam and was planned by someone who finances despite Trump tweeting repeatedly about the January 6 protest saying things like “Be there, it will be wild”.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Republican Party has censored three members for not sufficiently supporting Trump, including Cindy McCain. They also retweeted and tweeted messages that helped fuel the fire that would later erupt on January 6, including a 2008 quote. Rambo film that said: “This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing or die for something ”in relation to the Stop the Steal campaign.
In addition, Republican senators in Arizona also tried to hold the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors out of contempt for refusing to hand out ballots and machines for inspection. A Republican legislator in Arizona also introduced a bill that would allow the legislature to revoke electoral certification. In other words, if that were a law in November, the state would have given Trump the electoral votes.
Republicans across the country still responded to what has been called “the safest election in the history of the United States,” by promoting laws that will continue to make voting more difficult. Arizona has submitted 19 restrictive voting rights bills, while 33 states have submitted more than 165 restrictive bills this year.
Fortunately, there is the John Lewis HR1 and Voting Rights Promotion Act that can contain all of this electoral suppression – but there is a catch. These bills have a good chance of being enacted if the obstruction ends. To do this, all Democrats must be on board – Joe Manchin does not want to kill the obstructionist. It makes things difficult.
“Is it bad enough [he’s] defending the obstruction to defend the legacy of Robert C. Byrd, a man who literally tried to block the original Voting Rights Act in 1964, ”said Oliver. Byrd used what Manchin stands for in the worst possible way.
“It would be like promoting Zoom by reminding everyone that Jeffrey Toobin used it,” joked Oliver.
In addition to Manchin, Oliver points out that Democrats like Kyrsten Sinema and Dianne Feinstein defended the obstruction, while President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris remained “indifferent” on the issue.
“Democrats simply cannot afford to rest on their laurels now – Republicans are definitely not!” he insisted. “They made it very clear that they are willing to take things to drastic levels and the Democrats just don’t seem even remotely prepared to face that threat right now.”
Best of time
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