The Democrats on the House Intel Committee are conducting a master class

[mcar]

on congressional hearings today. They have set the stage, connected the dots, implicated pretty much all of Trump World. And they are making the Repubs look like idiots.

[ismnotwasm]

1. K&R

[Moostache]

2. But it is Monday AM, and 90% of the country is not watching.

By the time the day ends, the RW spin machine on radio and TV will be covering only the "brave GOP" who are trying to end the scourge of leaks and blasting anyone who is not in line. Democrats win the logic and lose the emotion so consistently that I am beginning to think we have a Vulcan problem in the party...

[mcar]

3. The RW is already spinning

But the MSM will be all over the reality of this.

[Moostache]

4. I pray that you are right...

Rachel Maddow should be an interesting watch tonight...I expect the dot connecting will be extensive...too bad the people watching are not the one's most in need of the knowledge!

[Doreen]

45. I thought the exact same thing.

Always waiting for Rachel to come on.

[PsychoBabble]

11. WE DO have a Vulcan problem ...

Dems MUST get better at winning the emotional arguments ... we need a Division in the DNC that translates all of our policy points and rational arguments into "feeling soundbites." They work, clearly. A con man used sleight of hand and a 4th grade vocabulary to win the Presidency ....

[stillcool]

12. who is going to hear...

those rational '"feeling sound-bytes"? Why not find a way to educate the people, without sound-bytes and the TV?

[PsychoBabble]

22. Tons of research proves we aren't really primarily rational ....

So whereas education is a GREAT long-term goal, truthful "emotional soundbites" are the best way to get results from the high percentage who process the word that way rather than rationally.

[enid602]

49. psa

I envision a PSA where Putin's air force is obliterating Aleppo, with all iits attending carnage. Is this the new world order we want to be a part of?

[LiberalLovinLug]

27. I agree completely

Sometimes it seems that Democrats cannot resist proving just how much more smart and intellectual they are. Hey I understand. You paid for all that education, graduated at the top of your class, and now you want to show everybody. Stooping to 4th grade sloganeering seems backwards. You might as well have just quit school and ran a failing business before you entered politics.

But that is what has proven to work on a large segment of the population. They are conditioned to it now. example: Republicans used the term "death panels" to describe what would happen under Obamacare. And Democrats were sent scrambling into reactionary mode....as usual. Why did not Democrats first use the phrase "death panels" to describe private insurance companies who decide life and death decisions by probing the clients past medical history for the slightest hang nail to deny a crucial operation? Too over the top? To emotionally charged? Yes and yes....but it works.

[stillcool]

13. I'm not watching

but i read....and I'm not alone. TV is like a land-line.

[WinkyDink]

38. Justice works all hours. People were at work during the Watergate hearings, too.

[OldHippieChick]

5. It's so obvious the R's aren't

nearly as prepared or coordinated. Suspect Schiff is responsible for that and even more kudos to him.

[mcar]

6. Yes

I'm surprised that the Rs are so woefully unprepared.

[OldHippieChick]

8. Part of it could be that the collective IQ on the R

side is less than Adam Schiff's.

[mcar]

14. I don't think they understand

Seems like all they can do is stick to their talking points.

[NewJeffCT]

32. Schiff received his JD from Harvard

Devin Nunes has a Master's Degree in agriculture. A nice achievement, but not quite at the level as a JD from Harvard.

[OldHippieChick]

34. And I might say that a Masters in Ag is obviously

a cut above a Bus degree from Wharton.

[nikibatts]

7. Actually, they are making the GOP look like Russian tools. Country first, if they mean Russia.

This needs to be pounded by the media and the Dems.

[UTUSN]

9. As usual Dems are better/smarter all around.What's caught my attention, are they getting more time?

[mcar]

16. It seems like they are

Trump's minions only gave them a few TP so they don't know what else to say.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. What is interesting is this.

As we all know,most of the questions to be asked by individual Congress Persons are drafted by Staffers. Now,the quality of questions as well as the breath and depth are far superior for the Democratic side verses Campaign talking points and accusations against Obama and Clinton from the Republican side.

Really enjoy the I.Q. of the Democratic Staffers over the Rethug Staffers. Facial expressions tell a story do they not.

[mcar]

17. The Rs on this committee

seem to be dumb as a bag of hair.

[Wellstone ruled]

39. You nailed it

and that has been confirmed by several DU inside posters.

[mcar]

40. The Tea Party at work

They hate educated people so they vote for

[arthritisR_US]

15. They are but let's be honest, it's not difficult to

make the ridiculous look like what it is.

[Fast Walker 52]

18. Trey Gowdy was way more upset about who leaked FISA info than the treason

what an asshole

[Alice11111]

19. He's as bad as Ryan. He needs to go.

[Alice11111]

20. It was all for a Distraction

Yeah, maybe the Republicans commited treason, but leaks! These leaks make THEM look bad. Got to stop. Well, that's how the press gets much of its news. It was fine when they were leaking info and coordinating w putin and wiki leaks. Remember when Gulianni promised something big comimg out, and it did.

But now, since the leaks are about DT'S illegal and unethical acts, treason, then, the LEAKS are the problem.

It's just like DTs camp coordinating w the Russians, to leak, treason, but, but, but... Hillarys emails....which, ironically, the Republicans were helping to leak!

Bizarre, circular hypocrisy! Their tools of winning are lying and cheating, and most Repubs embrace them.

I wonder if most Americans are even getting this? Do they understand what is going on??

Of course, the Repubs who get it, like the House, DT admin, big wigs, just want to cover up the real info, and scream leaks!

[George II]

31. I mentioned that elsewhere, he's obsessed with the "illegal" act of exposing the illegal acts...

...and now he's droning on and on again, whining about "anonymous sources". Someone should remind him of who "John Miller" is!!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-alter-ego-barron/2016/05/12/02ac99ec-16fe-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0_story.html?utm_term=.b41af8f662c9

Donald Trump masqueraded as publicist to brag about himself

The voice is instantly familiar; the tone, confident, even cocky; the cadence, distinctly Trumpian. The man on the phone vigorously defending Donald Trump says he’s a media spokesman named John Miller, but then he says, “I’m sort of new here,” and “I’m somebody that he knows and I think somebody that he trusts and likes” and even “I’m going to do this a little, part time, and then, yeah, go on with my life.”

A recording obtained by The Washington Post captures what New York reporters and editors who covered Trump’s early career experienced in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s: calls from Trump’s Manhattan office that resulted in conversations with “John Miller” or “John Barron” — public-relations men who sound precisely like Trump himself — who indeed are Trump, masquerading as an unusually helpful and boastful advocate for himself, according to the journalists and several of Trump’s top aides.

[George II]

21. I'm sure they had hours and hours of planning caucuses. One representative's questions leads...

...into another's, and another's.....and going full circle back to the original points they wanted to hammer.

And notice that since very few have dwelt on the illegal leaks that Gowdy wanted to use as a smokescreen, he's been de-nutted and gone mute.

[mcar]

29. Well coordinated

Kudos to their hard-working staff members!

[KewlKat]

23. Does anyone else notice the Admiral seems to be looking down a lot and not

making much eye contact........what does this behavior say?

Eye contact keeps you in control.

[George II]

24. And now Denny Heck is wrapping it up in pretty (ugly?) paper and putting a bow on top of it!!!

[CajunBlazer]

25. Very well choreographed

It appears that each Democratic committee person was given an area of the investigation to explore and points to make. Taken together they form a complete picture of the story that they want the American people to understand.

[Turbineguy]

26. When it comes to making republicans look like idiots...

they are getting a lot of help.

From republicans.

[Orrex]

28. As a cube-rat, I'm very pleased to hear this

A friend on FB lamented that (in his view) Dems are blowing what should be an easy deal to seal.

Glad to hear that his assessment may not match reality.

[mcar]

30. Don't know what your friend's been watching

They have sealed the deal over and over since Rep Schiff's opening table-setting at about 10:15 this morning.

[Orrex]

35. Excellent.

[font color="white"]XXX[/font]
[font color="white"]XXXXXX[/font]
[font color="white"]XXXXXXXXX[/font]
[font color="white"]XXXXXXXXXXXX[/font]

[mcar]

36. Yes!

[Xolodno]

33. It would appear, the Repubs...

....didn't expect Comey to drop the shoe that there was an investigation on collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia.

Probably were expecting the "yes we are investigating the Russia Hacking and I cannot comment any further on any other investigations"

They are doing some serious gymnastics.

Dems on the other hand, seemed to be ready and well prepared. As if they knew there was an investigation and it was only a matter of time before it came out.

[mcar]

37. They were embarrassingly unprepared

[Fritz Walter]

41. Denial ain't just a river in Africa

While driving to a noon business meeting, I was listening to the live coverage on NPR. At the meeting, an acquaintance wondered aloud why attendance at the meeting was so light -- I suggested that some people are watching or listening to the hearings. Her comment to me: "Why don't people just get over it?"

Get over the hacking of our free and fair elections by a foreign power?
Get over the shameless profiteering partnerships with a kleptocracy?
Get over the daily trainwreck that the current administration and legislature oversee, if not engineer?



This was neither the time nor the place to get into that discussion with this otherwise intelligent person, but I must wonder...

When did we as a society cross over the line where the liberals were willing to fight against intrusion by a former Communist, oppressive regime, while the conservatives embrace Putin as a valuable ally, jettisoning our NATO friends of the past 20-60 years?

When did intelligent white Xtians sell their souls to an AntiChrist so blatantly obvious as the ShitGibbon?

When will they cross the river of denial and wake the fuck up?

[mcar]

43. Great post!

I share your frustration and hope they will someday answer these questions.

[jmg257]

42. Yup - getting all the different ties, theories & players on the record.

[Greybnk48]

44. It has been a joy to watch whenever a Dem is speaking!

The difference in eloquence and intellect between the Repubs and Dems is stark, with the Repubs looking very pedestrian.

[3catwoman3]

46. The Dems definitely had...

...their ducks in a row during the portions I watched.

[malaise]

47. They were excellent

Still can't believe how ReTHUGs ignored the Russia connections

[Cha]

48. And, this is what our Dems having been doing for those

who were asking.

Thank you, mcar!

[CentralMass]

52. Thank you for posting this.

[Cha]

53. You're Welcome

[mcar]

55. This exactly!

Where are the Dems? They are here fighting for us!

[spanone]

50. K&R...

[delisen]

51. I was impressed with what I heard. nt

[Cha]

54. Dem shames Repuks: Trump/Russia probe "is about patriotism" (LOVE THIS)

Link to tweet