The Republicans made fools of themselves yesterday.

[MineralMan]

By not asking Comey and Rogers about anything other than leaks, they gave the discussion to the Democrats, who went after the real meat of the entire investigation.

Comey skillfully blew off the Republicans' questions about leaks. He carefully answered the questions posed by Democrats, while declining to answer specific questions about individuals. That information will be forthcoming during closed hearings, though.

The Republicans know what the truth is. They simply cannot handle it. They don't have any clue what to do with a President who is so far underwater that he will never emerge. Instead of taking charge of this, they are chaining themselves to the anchor that is Donald Trump, and will be carried down to the bottom of the sea with him.

I do not think they are capable of understanding what is going on and how it is going to affect their own phony baloney jobs. I do not think they are even thinking about how ridiculous they look up against the cogent, clear questions from the Democrats.

May they sink forever with Trump!

[Blanks]

1. The chairman of the intelligence committee...

Was ridiculed on TV for asking if they were going to investigate ties to the Clinton campaign and the Russians.

I guess it's our turn to remind them of their historic victory. Time to shift out of campaign mode and into governing mode.

[MineralMan]

4. As he should have been.

Attempting to divert this to Hillary was just plain stupid.

[beachbum bob]

2. they did not make fools of themselves to the party faithful...that was the

point of their actions...luckily thats only about 35% of the voters....to rest of america they appeared as fools engaged in a second rate coverup by ignoring the issue of the hearing itself....

2018 could be the a huge disaster for conservatives if they continue this tactic

[MineralMan]

5. Those are the same people who are polling in support

of Trump, and that's it. Screw them. The Trump administration is simply floundering around like a fish in the bottom of the boat.

If we, as Democrats, don't use this whole catastrophe to regain control of both houses of Congress in 2018, then we don't deserve to be a political party any longer.

[beachbum bob]

16. yep...conservatives depend on apathetic democratic voters to not vote...2018 should be different

if not...then fuck all of us democrats...we deserve the "new america"

[MineralMan]

18. Yes. 2018 will be a test.

It will be a test we really, really must pass with flying colors, too. I hope we have the resolve to do so and the unity to carry it off. If we act as we did in 2016, we will almost certainly lose control of this country for decades to come. I will be long dead before we recover from such a loss.

Democrats must vote! We must also bring those we know to the polls like never before. We have no other options.

[Augiedog]

20. To quote the second biggest asshole in America "ditto "

[kentuck]

3. They are showing themselves to be out of touch with reality.

Even when they go home and are shocked at the reception they receive from their constituents.

[MineralMan]

7. For many of them, even their constituents aren't getting

through, and they're speaking loudly and clearly. I truly believe that many of them are simply dullards, with no real intelligence at all. I'm completely shocked by their lackluster capabilities in that hearing. They just sat there and let our Democrats take control of the entire thing. "Weak. Sad."

[Mr. Ected]

6. Some of the obfuscation makes me think that some of their Congresspersons are complicit

And had foreknowledge of the Trump/Russia ties and are now dissembling to save their own asses. Maybe they're on the take as well.

I mean, come on, WE here on DU were quite familiar with the Trump team connection to Russia prior to the election. To think that the GOP wasn't....well...that's unfathomable.

[MineralMan]

8. Well, there may well be some truth in that.

Nunes, especially. He hasn't been in those closed door sessions with Comey, either. He may well be under investigation in his own right. The only thing the Republicans seem to be worried about is leaks to the press. That indicates to me that they're worried about their own sorry asses, not about the country.

[Gothmog]

9. Yep

It was fun to watch

[MineralMan]

11. I sat there, dumbfounded, at the difference between

the Democrats questions and those of the Republicans. Nothing of any relevance came from any of the GOP congresspeople, just nonsense about leaks. They're always happy about leaks, except when they make them look bad, and Comey clearly didn't give a damn about them, despite admitting that they were not a good thing.

The Democrats, on the other hand, set up the timetable of the collusion clearly, and then asked question that were relevant, even though they knew that Comey couldn't answer a lot of them. They got confirmation that an investigation was underway and a clear, clear shutdown of Trump's nonsense about "wiretapping."

It actually looked to me as though the Democrats were the majority party for this hearing.

[Blanks]

27. Interestingly...

If the Russian ambassador leaked the conversation that he had with Flynn, the reporter wouldn't want to share where the information came from because it would compromise his/her source, but since it was his (the amabassador's) conversation and not a conversation picked up through "wiretapping" it wouldn't be illegal for the ambassador himself to leak it. Even if it is illegal, he'd have diplomatic immunity.

My point is that the republicans in congress might want to rethink how hard they're pursuing these leakers. There is no reason to believe that the Russians like Trump.

They're out to destroy our democracy. Now that Trump is our representative to the world, he'd be the next person in line for the Russians to destroy. It may be a good time for the republicans to come to that conclusion.

[lark]

31. drumpf is such a moron!

He actually thinks the Ruskies like and admire him, when what he's really seeing is them liking that he's a useful tool and is willing to destroy our country and the world for what the personal profit he's been promised. What Putin will deliver, once NATO is down the tubes, is a shiv in the back of Drumpf. That is his ultimate goal, have his tiny tool destroy the world's unity against Russia, then take us down by destroying the presidency while he invades Ukraine. The FBI better take this seriously and release the information so action can be taken to prevent this planned catastrophe.

[world wide wally]

10. They will be relieved to throw Trump under the bus after he gets the ACA repealed and Gorsuch

on the Supreme Court. Then they will go into the 2018 elections bragging about what reasonable and fair minded patriots they are. In the meantime, he still has a purpose to serve.

[MineralMan]

12. While I believe Gorsuch will be confirmed, the ACA repeal

and replacement is a lot more iffy. I think that may well fail in the Senate, leaving the GOOPers holding their sacks and hoping they can preserve their manhoods.

[charlyvi]

25. My dear MM....

That ship sailed long ago.

[DeminPennswoods]

13. On MSNBC last night

David Corn commented that no one expected Comey's opening statement to be the public acknowledgement that there are ongoing counterintelligence investigations in Trump/Russia connection and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Corn said all but Nunes and Schiff were unaware of that and the rest of the members were caught off-guard by Comey's admission. He said the Rs plan was to hammer leaks, but once the news of the investigation broke, that plan was overcome by events. The Rs stuck to it, though, because they had no plan B and it, therefore, made them look dumb and more interested in protecting Trump than the country.

[MineralMan]

14. Yes. That was the impression I got, as well.

The Republicans had no real game plan, other than to hammer away uselessly at the leaks question, which Comey brushed off and Rogers had nothing to say about, really.

That left the field open for the Democrats, who brought their A-game to the venue.

[Augiedog]

21. They have a plan, it's called Lemmings march to the sea and drown

[Tatiana]

15. I'd go a step further and suggest that many are complicit.

Nunes and McConnell, in particular, contort themselves in ridiculous ways to protect Trump. I find it highly unusual that Trump appointed Elaine Chao to a position when McConnell was not supportive of his candidacy at all.

It defies logic to just be obsessed with leaks and not be curious about the information that was leaked. Someone needs to start asking these Republicans what did they know about Russian connections and when.

Giuliani and various members of the Trump family clearly knew Russian was working to help them win the election. Roger Stone and many other contacts did the dirty work for Trump. Except -- Trump is on record asking Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails.

I really think all of this requires a constitutional convention to determine the appropriate remedy. The Founding Fathers did not count on such a stupid citizenry. We require a remedy that cannot be found in the Constitution.

[MineralMan]

17. The very last thing we should be pushing for right now is

a Constitutional Convention. The result of that would be even more disastrous than the results of this election. With Republican Governors and legislative control of many state legislatures, including my own in Minnesota, a Constitutional Convention would produce something that would destroy any chance of the USA ever being a progressive nation again.

Do not ask for that. It will not turn out as you would like, I guarantee. Go and read your Constitution regarding such a convention. Take close note of how that would happen. Right now, the Republicans would run it.

We screwed up big time in 2016. We can fix Congress in 2018 if we are willing to do the work. We cannot fix a rewritten Constitution if it is rewritten by Republicans. Think about it, after reading how such a convention would work.

[Tatiana]

19. I don't think we should convene a constitutional convention now.

We have to let the political and legal (DOJ) processes play out. We have to regain control of Congress in 2018 and take care of these gerrymandered districts and legislative maps.

However, I do believe we need to reckon with the idea of illegitimacy and a constitutional amendment (or convention) is the only venue I see for doing so. The fact that we haven't addressed this problem has led to Republicans continual abuse of the electoral process. We had Al Gore and the shenanigans in Florida, then Kerry and the problems in Ohio. Now we have Clinton losing as a result of intervention by a foreign entity.

We as a nation need to reckon with what is and has taken place regarding the 2016 election and discourage Republicans from continuing to use dirty tricks to steal the White House. I stand by my position (with clarification that it should not take place until we have resolved all questions surrounding the Russian connections).

Thanks for your engaging response.

[Augiedog]

24. NEVER forget that once a constitutional convention gets started ALL things are on the table.

They could rewrite everything, or nothing, and just cancel the bill of rights. We do not want a constitutional convention. What we could use are a few more well drafted amendments that undo Citizens United and also reinforce voting rights. Make voting a constitutional right, maybe even an obligation, a mandate.

[Tatiana]

28. I agree with a constitutional amendment as well.

I do understand all things can be placed on the table during a constitution convention. There is definitely a risk. There are many ideas that the oligarchs and corporate masters would love to push through. They probably don't have the votes for their most radical agenda. However, my point is that we are facing an unprecedented attack on our democracy and we need to codify something constitutionally to keep ourselves from repeating the cycle of stolen elections as well as neutralizes the potential of a right-wing court to hand a Presidency to the true loser (e.g. Bush v Gore).

Thank you for your comments as well. I think we need to start thinking outside of the box. The system as it stands is broken and will only lead us to more stolen elections by corrupt Republicans if we don't get proactive about the situation. I was struck by Comey's demeanor when he said that Russia is going to continue to intervene in our elections, especially 2020. That's a frightening thought.

[LakeArenal]

22. I wish on a star, stroke a rabbits foot, cross my fingers, pray to the fates...

that you are right.

[lunatica]

23. The Republicans are clutching at their majority moment.

In their minds this is THEIR moment in history. This is the once in a lifetime moment when they can run roughshod through government to destroy what they don't want and replace it with their favorite structures. But to their dawning horror they see Trump dissolving the ground under them like sliding sand destabilizing their footing so they just scramble double and triple time trying to ram their agenda through before they stumble and lose their footing altogether.

They're not falling off the cliff's edge. The cliff edge is falling out from under them.

Their mistake was to ever think they could control Trump.

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. The current party is so full of

idiot tparty sycophants, they really dont know what is going on and are so party over country, dont care.

We need to remember, the Gohmerts, Nunes, Gowdy's aren't smart enough to run a 7/11 store, let alone be congress-members.

Nunes clearly is willing to allow treason and commit it if necessary, if it means his power continues.

Not a patriot in the GOP that I can find, can you?

[colorado_ufo]

29. Defining description

of Republican Representatives: "phoney baloney jobs."

[Left-over]

30. The Republicans made fools of themselves yesterday.

The Republicans made fools of themselves yesterday, the day before that, the day before that, the day before that, the day before that,..........etc and the day after

[Kablooie]

32. They are totally committed to enabling Russia to influence our country.

The house is on fire, Trump is running around with a box of matches, and the GOP demands to know who called the fire department. -- Garry Kasparov

We will clearly have at least 2 years of Russian interests guiding our government since Republicans have shown they will do nothing to prevent this. They will protect Trump and without their backing Trump remains no matter what crimes have been blatantly committed.

I just hope the electorate comes to their senses by 2018 and allows a little karma to influence things.

But beware.

Americans have a very, very, very short memory. Particularly conservative Americans.
There will certainly be an intense campaign to paper over all the damage that will be done to the country in the next 2 years and many, many conservatives will buy it even as their lives degenerate and their loved ones die from illness and neglect around them.

[Fast Walker 52]

33. what else is new?

the are stupid, sorry excuses for human beings.

[joanbarnes]

34. Amen.

[Amaryllis]

35. They were trying to deflect what is becoming undeflectable. See this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016181548