Cont: House Impeachment Inquiry - part 2

[plague311]

The Dems need to be asking more questions of the GOP lawyer. Get him on record, and trap him into a corner with regards to the lies they've been telling. We already know the storyline, use this time to do damage to the GOP claims.

ETA: Jesus Christ, all the GOP do is scream.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

There is no Gotcha when it comes to Trump: a signed confession wouldn't be enough.

All the Dems can do is collect and collate evidence for a time when Republicans have managed to break the spell they are under.

 

[alfaniner]

I am slightly amused that the guy Collins (R) has been badgering has spent a lot of time just staring back as if saying "What in the flying **** are you talking about, you idiot?"

 

[carlosy]

I couldn't really follow Collins, what was his question about either Schiff or Goldman? Goldman refused to answer.

 

[Stacyhs]

Chris Collins needs a Valium. His head is going to explode if he doesn't get his faux outrage under control.
His method of questioning is loud, angry and accusatory. He cuts off answers not allowing a complete answer as soon as he realizes he's not going to get the simple answer he wants. For example, he wants a one or two word answer about who ordered the cross referencing of the phone numbers but when Goldman tries to explain how it was done, Collins cuts him off and implies Goldman is trying to hide something nefarious.

Collins reminds me of a gorilla thumping the ground and pounding his chest trying to make himself look like a tough guy. I keep expecting him to start flinging his feces.

 

[Hellbound]

I keep expecting him to start flinging his feces.

Hasn't that been the GOP tactic pretty much since Trump was named the Republican candidate?

 

[Stacyhs]

I couldn't really follow Collins, what was his question about either Schiff or Goldman? Goldman refused to answer.

He wanted to know who ordered the cross referencing of the subpoenaed phone numbers to Nunes, Guiliani, Parnas and Solomon. More explanation here:

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/04/7848...hat-the-impeachment-report-phone-records-mean

 

[Craig4]

He wanted to know who ordered the cross referencing of the subpoenaed phone numbers to Nunes, Guiliani, Parnas and Solomon. More explanation here:

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/04/7848...hat-the-impeachment-report-phone-records-mean

So he's mad Nunes got caught.

 

[WilliamSeger]

It's for editing. GOP propagandists can add appropriate effect music and sounds to the video if he does that.

... and dramatic zooms. That's how you know it's really serious.

 

[Stacyhs]

So he's mad Nunes got caught.

Pretty much. Collins is so all over the place no wonder Carlosy had trouble following him. Right now he's into another grandstanding, accusatory rant directed toward Goldman. He's demonstrating the tactic of "the best defense is a good offense". When you have no defense, attack and try to put your adversary on the defense.

 

[Trebuchet]

Collins reminds me of a gorilla thumping the ground and pounding his chest trying to make himself look like a tough guy. I keep expecting him to start flinging his feces.

Otherwise he'd have to flush them ten or twenty times.

 

[Minoosh]

And this is why the whole "Oh just ignore the trolls" thing pisses me off so much.

Because this was gonna happen. We let people basically practice trolling unopposed online until they perfected it and then it leaked into the real world and we have no way of combating it when it matters.

I'm torn on this. Correcting the record is one way to combat trolls, but another way is to out-troll them. Otherwise, they are still driving the conversation, and the rebuttals risk sounding defensive. Trump opponents are saying, "OK, these are the real facts" as if facts matter to the people you're trying to reach.

Remember what Trump said in (IIRC) rebuttal to Hillary? "Wrong. Wrong. Wrong." It's a cunning response. No danger of being tripped up by facts; just a contemptuous dismissal. He plays on emotion while Dems are trying to play on facts and logic. There's a place for that, surely. But ... there's also a place for manipulating the audience.

 

[Minoosh]

The thing about lies and nonsense such as the Republicans/Trump are pushing is that it takes very little time to spout them and much longer to refute them. And most people have the attention span of gnats.

Then work with that. I think it's fine to deconstruct the lies and nonsense, particularly in the context of a legal hearing that is being watched by political nerds. But there's also a place for deploying other tactics. Straw-manning, poisoning the well, name-calling. Maybe not in the hearings themselves, but in managing the public's perceptions of the hearings.

I'm not watching, so a big caveat there.

 

[Stacyhs]

Then work with that. I think it's fine to deconstruct the lies and nonsense, particularly in the context of a legal hearing that is being watched by political nerds. But there's also a place for deploying other tactics. Straw-manning, poisoning the well, name-calling. Maybe not in the hearings themselves, but in managing the public's perceptions of the hearings.

I'm not watching, so a big caveat there.

You think the Dems should resort to "straw-manning, poisoning the well, name-calling"?

 

[Minoosh]

You think the Dems should resort to "straw-manning, poisoning the well, name-calling"?

Whatever works, in context. And that context is probably NOT during the actual hearings. But in ancillary coverage, sure. IMO, there's no point in denying that such tactics can be effective.

 

[theprestige]

You think the Dems should resort to "straw-manning, poisoning the well, name-calling"?

Wrong verb tense, I think.

 

[Minoosh]

I'm also torn on labeling each side by political party, even though it's accurate enough for now.

But as I have emphasized, I'm not watching this round of hearings. So I'm no kind of expert in how effective certain tactics would be in that context. There was a flash of humor way back on Day One or so that I thought was pretty effective.

 

[Stacyhs]

Gohmert is now joining Collins in the fainting couch outrage. I expected nothing more from that fool.

On a personal note, listening to those two just reinforces my dislike for Southern accents. And I used to have one.

 

[Hellbound]

Gohmert is now joining Collins in the fainting couch outrage. I expected nothing more from that fool.

On a personal note, listening to those two just reinforces my dislike for Southern accents. And I used to have one.

Don't take it out on all of us, please. We didn't all drink the kool-aid, snort the meth, sniff the glue, and/or tip the cow.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

The Dems need to be asking more questions of the GOP lawyer. Get him on record, and trap him into a corner with regards to the lies they've been telling. We already know the storyline, use this time to do damage to the GOP claims.

ETA: Jesus Christ, all the GOP do is scream.

Jordan thinks if he yells he sounds like he spouting gotchas.