adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Politics

Impeachment caps a dark and dysfunctional decade in American politics – NBC News

Published

 on


WASHINGTON — It’s only fitting that the decade is coming to an end with an impeachment vote against the president of the United States, because it’s been a dark ten years in American politics.

And it’s gotten progressively worse, especially in the last three years.

Dec. 18, 201902:05

Consider this timeline of controversy, gridlock, outrage and resentment in our politics:

  • The rise of the Tea Party (2010)
  • The Health Car War (2010-present)
  • Mitch McConnell’s “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president” (2010)
  • The Tucson shooting (2011)
  • The debt-ceiling debacle (2011)
  • The Birther movement led by one Donald Trump (2011)
  • The shooting of Trayvon Martin (2012)
  • Barack Obama’s campaign nuking Mitt Romney over Bain Capital (2012)
  • Romney’s 47-percent comment (2012)
  • Benghazi and its political aftermath (2012-2016)
  • The Newtown shooting (2012)
  • Government shutdown (2013)
  • The rise of Trump (2015-present)
  • Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination (2016)
  • “Lock her up!” (2016)
  • Trump’s “American carnage” inaugural address (2017)
  • Trump’s 15,000 and counting false or misleading claims (2017-present)
  • Trump’s controversial Muslim/travel ban (2017)
  • The rise of the Resistance (2017)
  • The Mueller investigation (2017-2019)
  • The congressional baseball shooting (2017)
  • Charlottesville (2017)
  • The Helsinki press conference (2018)
  • Trump’s comments after John McCain passed away (2018)
  • Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination (2018)
  • Pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats and journalists (2018)
  • The 35-day government shutdown (2019)
  • Trump’s all-but certain impeachment (2019)

Add them all up, and it’s easily the darkest decade in politics since the 1960s. And think of anyone in their 20s right now — it’s all they’ve seen.

They weren’t old enough to remember when Democrats and Republicans came together after 9/11 (even though it later led to the disastrous Iraq war).

They weren’t old enough to vote in the “Hope and Change” election of 2008, when both political parties had popular presidential nominees.

And they wouldn’t believe you if you told them that Obama threw an inaugural ball in McCain’s honor after that election.

One other characteristic that has defined the past decade: When given the choice, political actors have typically pursued the more populist/radical/confrontational option.

That was especially true on the right earlier in the decade, and it’s become more true on the left in the last few years.

And it’s come amid growing polarization in our political media, the rise of social media, and the decline of local news.

And it’s all contributed to a dark and dysfunctional decade in our politics.

It’s Impeachment Vote Day

The U.S. House of Representatives today will vote to impeach a president for only the third time in U.S. history, per NBC’s Geoff Bennett.

The two articles of impeachment: 1) Abuse of power and 2) obstruction of Congress.

The House gavels in at 9:00 am ET, and the House Judiciary Committee chairman (Democrat Jerrold Nadler) and ranking GOP member (Doug Collins) lead six hours of debate, with time divided equally between Democrats and Republicans.

Barring any delays, NBC’s Alex Moe and Bennett believe the final vote on the articles of impeachment will occur between 6:30 pm ET and 7:30 pm ET.

And as it just so happens, Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally in Battle Creek, Mich., beginning at 7:00 pm ET.

Trump’s six-page tirade

On the one hand, you have to give credit to President Trump and his allies for fighting this impeachment to a near draw when it comes to public opinion.

Love him or hate him, one of Trump’s top political assets is how he wears down — and outlasts — his opposition.

On the other hand, however, you have to acknowledge just how dishonest and disturbed his defenses have been in this entire episode.

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

And that was underscored by his six-page letter yesterday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “In a rambling six-page letter, Trump accused Pelosi of having ‘cheapened the importance of the very ugly word, impeachment’ and said she was ‘declaring open war on American Democracy’ by pursuing his impeachment,” per NBC News.

Tweet of the day

Data Download: The number of the day is … at least 21

At least 21.

That’s the number of false or misleading claims counted by the Washington Post in President Trump’s letter to Nancy Pelosi yesterday.

Those falsehoods include: His characterization of the 2016 results, his description of his call with the Ukrainian president, and some of his boasts about his administration’s policy and economic record.

2020 Vision

Susan Collins announces she’s running for re-election: It’s not a surprise, but it’s still significant: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced this morning that she’s running for re-election.

“The fundamental question I had to ask myself in making my decision was this: in today’s polarized political environment, is there still a role for a centrist who believes in getting things done through compromise, collegiality, and bipartisanship?” she wrote in a letter to supporters, per NBC’s Frank Thorp.

“I have concluded that the answer to this question is ‘yes,’ and I will, therefore, seek the honor of continuing to serve as Maine’s United States Senator.”

Here’s the significance of Collins’ decision: Given that Democrats need a net pick up of at least three Senate seats to take back control of the chamber, it’s hard to see how Democrats win the Senate without defeating Collins.

Democrats’ top pick-up opportunities — from easiest to hardest: Colorado, Arizona, Maine, North Carolina.

And remember, the GOP has a pick-up opportunity in Alabama.

On the campaign trail today

It’s a quiet day before tomorrow night’s Dem presidential debate… Julian Castro, who didn’t qualify for the debate, stumps in the Los Angeles area… Michael Bloomberg holds a health-care roundtable in Medford, Mass… Cory Booker stumps in Nevada… And President Trump holds a rally in Battle Creek, Mich., at 7:00 pm ET.

Dispatches from NBC’s campaign embeds

Pete Buttigieg pitched himself to California Democrats last night in Hollywood, and his speech touched on some old Barack Obama themes — of hope and change. NBC’s Priscilla Thompson reports on Buttigieg’s remarks: “I refuse to be told that my hope is a function of my age. Because the truth is, my hope for more unified America is a function of my experience as a result of what I saw in my own city – written off at the beginning of this very same decade we’re living in now as a dying city that now stands tall, is growing for the first time in a long time, seeing jobs added neighborhoods lifted up the thousands lifted from poverty. It’s the hope that I cultivated in the dust of a war zone in Afghanistan among fellow Americans who I had nothing in common with besides the flag on our shoulders, different races, different backgrounds, different politic definitely different politics, but we learned to trust each other with our lives, because we had to.”

NBC’s Maura Barrett followed a YouTube livestream that Tom Steyer held with young Democrats and picked up on how this may become commonplace for the senators in the 2020 race: “I note the details regarding how the virtual town hall was conducted as speculations swirl around how senators who are also running for president while potentially sitting on an impeachment trial in January might continue to campaign. Obviously, this won’t be a problem for Steyer, but Cory Booker’s campaign manager floated the idea of tele-town halls on a press call last week and other campaigns are looking for creative solutions; the virtual town hall or other solutions utilizing new technology might something we see more of, come January.”

The Lid: Commercial break

Don’t miss the pod from yesterday, when we looked at new polling on the reach of Michael Bloomberg’s TV ads.

ICYMI: News clips you shouldn’t miss

Bookmark NBC’s impeachment live blog for today.

Adam Schiff is raising questions about how Vice President Mike Pence’s office described his call with the Ukrainian president.

Protestors rallied yesterday to show their support for impeachment.

House Republicans are running ads on impeachment, but Democrats are trying their best to change the subject.

Trump Agenda: My Man Mitch

Mitch McConnell says he’s not “an impartial juror” in the impeachment trial.

The House Rules Committee approved six hours of debate on the House floor today before the impeachment vote.

The House has passed a $1.4 trillion government spending bill.

Paul Manafort was hospitalized after a “cardiac event.”

2020: Biden releases his medical history

Joe Biden has released a three-page summary of his medical history.

Voting rights advocates are worried about a recent voter purge in Georgia.

Pete Buttigieg finally started going after his rivals. Is it working?

POLITICO delves into Pete Buttigieg’s Harvard days.

Both Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg are trying to crack the code of how to win in California.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Politics

Trump is consistently inconsistent on abortion and reproductive rights

Published

 on

 

CHICAGO (AP) — Donald Trump has had a tough time finding a consistent message to questions about abortion and reproductive rights.

The former president has constantly shifted his stances or offered vague, contradictory and at times nonsensical answers to questions on an issue that has become a major vulnerability for Republicans in this year’s election. Trump has been trying to win over voters, especially women, skeptical about his views, especially after he nominated three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the nationwide right to abortion two years ago.

The latest example came this week when the Republican presidential nominee said some abortion laws are “too tough” and would be “redone.”

“It’s going to be redone,” he said during a Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday. “They’re going to, you’re going to, you end up with a vote of the people. They’re too tough, too tough. And those are going to be redone because already there’s a movement in those states.”

Trump did not specify if he meant he would take some kind of action if he wins in November, and he did not say which states or laws he was talking about. He did not elaborate on what he meant by “redone.”

He also seemed to be contradicting his own stand when referencing the strict abortion bans passed in Republican-controlled states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump recently said he would vote against a constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot that is aimed at overturning the state’s six-week abortion ban. That decision came after he had criticized the law as too harsh.

Trump has shifted between boasting about nominating the justices who helped strike down federal protections for abortion and trying to appear more neutral. It’s been an attempt to thread the divide between his base of anti-abortion supporters and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights.

About 6 in 10 Americans think their state should generally allow a person to obtain a legal abortion if they don’t want to be pregnant for any reason, according to a July poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Voters in seven states, including some conservative ones, have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to restrict them in statewide votes over the past two years.

Trump also has been repeating the narrative that he returned the question of abortion rights to states, even though voters do not have a direct say on that or any other issue in about half the states. This is particularly true for those living in the South, where Republican-controlled legislatures, many of which have been gerrymandered to give the GOP disproportionate power, have enacted some of the strictest abortion bans since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Currently, 13 states have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while four more ban it after six weeks — before many women know they’re pregnant.

Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups and their Republican allies in state governments are using an array of strategies to counter proposed ballot initiatives in at least eight states this year.

Here’s a breakdown of Trump’s fluctuating stances on reproductive rights.

Flip-flopping on Florida

On Tuesday, Trump claimed some abortion laws are “too tough” and would be “redone.”

But in August, Trump said he would vote against a state ballot measure that is attempting to repeal the six-week abortion ban passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

That came a day after he seemed to indicate he would vote in favor of the measure. Trump previously called Florida’s six-week ban a “terrible mistake” and too extreme. In an April Time magazine interview, Trump repeated that he “thought six weeks is too severe.”

Trump on vetoing a national ban

Trump’s latest flip-flopping has involved his views on a national abortion ban.

During the Oct. 1 vice presidential debate, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that he would veto a national abortion ban: “Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it.”

This came just weeks after Trump repeatedly declined to say during the presidential debate with Democrat Kamala Harris whether he would veto a national abortion ban if he were elected.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said in an interview with NBC News before the presidential debate that Trump would veto a ban. In response to debate moderators prompting him about Vance’s statement, Trump said: “I didn’t discuss it with JD, in all fairness. And I don’t mind if he has a certain view, but I don’t think he was speaking for me.”

‘Pro-choice’ to 15-week ban

Trump’s shifting abortion policy stances began when the former reality TV star and developer started flirting with running for office.

He once called himself “very pro-choice.” But before becoming president, Trump said he “would indeed support a ban,” according to his book “The America We Deserve,” which was published in 2000.

In his first year as president, he said he was “pro-life with exceptions” but also said “there has to be some form of punishment” for women seeking abortions — a position he quickly reversed.

At the 2018 annual March for Life, Trump voiced support for a federal ban on abortion on or after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

More recently, Trump suggested in March that he might support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks before announcing that he instead would leave the matter to the states.

Views on abortion pills, prosecuting women

In the Time interview, Trump said it should be left up to the states to decide whether to prosecute women for abortions or to monitor women’s pregnancies.

“The states are going to make that decision,” Trump said. “The states are going to have to be comfortable or uncomfortable, not me.”

Democrats have seized on the comments he made in 2016, saying “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions.

Trump also declined to comment on access to the abortion pill mifepristone, claiming that he has “pretty strong views” on the matter. He said he would make a statement on the issue, but it never came.

Trump responded similarly when asked about his views on the Comstock Act, a 19th century law that has been revived by anti-abortion groups seeking to block the mailing of mifepristone.

IVF and contraception

In May, Trump said during an interview with a Pittsburgh television station that he was open to supporting regulations on contraception and that his campaign would release a policy on the issue “very shortly.” He later said his comments were misinterpreted.

In the KDKA interview, Trump was asked, “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?”

“We’re looking at that and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly,” Trump responded.

Trump has not since released a policy statement on contraception.

Trump also has offered contradictory statements on in vitro fertilization.

During the Fox News town hall, which was taped Tuesday, Trump declared that he is “the father of IVF,” despite acknowledging during his answer that he needed an explanation of IVF in February after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.

Trump said he instructed Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., to “explain IVF very quickly” to him in the aftermath of the ruling.

As concerns over access to fertility treatments rose, Trump pledged to promote IVF by requiring health insurance companies or the federal government to pay for it. Such a move would be at odds with the actions of much of his own party.

Even as the Republican Party has tried to create a national narrative that it is receptive to IVF, these messaging efforts have been undercut by GOP state lawmakers, Republican-dominated courts and anti-abortion leaders within the party’s ranks, as well as opposition to legislative attempts to protect IVF access.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Saskatchewan Party’s Scott Moe, NDP’s Carla Beck react to debate |

Published

 on

 

Saskatchewan‘s two main political party leaders faced off in the only televised debate in the lead up to the provincial election on Oct. 28. Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe and NDP Leader Carla Beck say voters got a chance to see their platforms. (Oct. 17, 2024)

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Saskatchewan political leaders back on campaign trail after election debate

Published

 on

 

REGINA – Saskatchewan‘s main political leaders are back on the campaign trail today after hammering each other in a televised debate.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is set to make an announcement in Moose Jaw.

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck is to make stops in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

During Wednesday night’s debate, Beck emphasized her plan to make life more affordable and said people deserve better than an out-of-touch Saskatchewan Party government.

Moe said his party wants to lower taxes and put money back into people’s pockets.

Election day is Oct. 28.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending