I have to admit, I am confused and dismayed about what Nancy is doing today

[scheming daemons]

Announcing articles of impeachment at 9am.

Good!



Giving Trump a political win an hour later by announcing that the USMCA will pass.

Bad!



Why is she stepping on the biggest story of the Trump Presidency ONE HOUR LATER by giving Trump a win?



I have tried to tell myself through this whole thing to "Trust Nancy". But I have to admit, this has me perplexed.

[madaboutharry]

1. I don't see it that way.

USMCA is not a headline grabber. I would bet that 90% of Americans have no clue what it even is.

The news today is going to be impeachment.

Also, it gives democrats a bit of cover. They can point to the new trade agreement and say that they get things done for the good of the American people.

[CincyDem]

3. Agree. Lol. You type faster.

[hlthe2b]

6. I'm sure that is her strategy... More neutralization of RW (supposed) "ammo" against us

[StarfishSaver]

8. Six months ago people were demanding "Just IMPEACH the MF already!"

Now we're on the verge of impeaching him and they're nitpicking the details of how many articles and what's in them?

Jeez. Some people really aren't really interested in impeaching him - they just want to smear Democrats.

[scheming daemons]

11. My point is that the USMCA could've waited a week. Why step on the HUGE news of impeachment?

[brooklynite]

21. Next week the House would be voting on Impeachment and the complaint would be the same...

[scheming daemons]

22. Ok... well let the impeachment be the ONLY story for at least 24 or 48 hours then?

Secondly.... I don't like the USCMA passing *AT ALL*.

It is NAFTA repackaged. It does nothing for the country, except allow Trump to tout a "win".

[StarfishSaver]

39. No

She's showing that the Democrats aren't obsessed with impeachment and they're doing their jobs. She shut down the Republicans' main argument against impeachment - that it's preventing anyone from getting anything done.

[DesertRat]

43. Exactly! nt

[Pisces]

28. She can walk and chew gum

[scheming daemons]

30. But the press (and public) can't. We should be talking about nothing BUT impeachment today

Now she will be splitting the news day between impeachement and USMCA... and USMCA is something Trump can spin as a win.

[Peregrine Took]

59. I agree. Keep it simple. Let the Articles sink in. n/t

[Me.]

48. She Doesn't Chew Gum

She walks around all day eating chocolate...

[The_Counsel]

31. I'm Guessing in a Week's Time, Trump Will Be in No Mood to Negotiate.

Take what you can get now and also remove the "Do-Nothing Democrats" talking point.

Win/Win.

[getagrip_already]

12. It's simple. The house is continuing doing the business of the country....

The gop mantra is do nothing dems care about nothing but impeachment. even though hundreds of bills have been passed and sen to the senate, it's been tuned out by the media and thus the people.

This is visible since the senate will take it up.

It's also not a win for trump. It's really just nafta light. He still is playing tarrif games because he is vindictive so nobody is going to give him credit for it.

[StarfishSaver]

40. Don't get in the way of people whining

This has to be a tough day for the people who've been insisting that Pelosi would never allow impeachment. They need to find something else to complain about now.

[lagomorph777]

14. More like "Step on USMCA with the impeachment announcement."

NAFTA Part 2 is likely to be quite controversial; makes sense (if she believes in it and worked to pass it, but knows not everybody will be happy on our side) to let it disappear under the impeachment news.

[scheming daemons]

15. It gives Trump a win on what should be the worst day of his life

[lagomorph777]

16. Remind me - how much wall funding is Mexico providing in USMCA?

[scheming daemons]

17. He gets to spin it as a legislative win

[lagomorph777]

18. He can spin 'til his head snaps off.

But today is the day he's read the Riot Act.

[StarfishSaver]

29. Announcing that they will draft and vote on Articles of Impeachment isn't the worst day of his life

It's an announcement. That's all. They used the announcement to step all over anything else he does today. And everything else he does or says this week will have that cloud hanging over it.

And then on Thursday, they tee it up and actually vote Articles of Impeachment out of the Judiciary Committee for only the fourth time in American history. That will be huge. And that will suck for him.

And then next week, they will impeach him. THAT will be his worst day.

And, fyi - Pelosi had no choice. Committee rules require that markups be noticed 48 hours in advance. If they want to vote on Articles of Impeachment on Thursday, they had to announce it today. So whether Pelosi had a press conference or not, the announcement would have come out of the committee and it still would have been huge news.

[Caliman73]

53. I agree.

Trump has been waiting for impeachment. Trump and the GOP knew that we would draft articles which is why they have been attacking the process since the beginning. Trump will continue to say that it is an "illegitimate witch hunt and the Democrats hate me, and they won't... Oh, wait, I can't say they won't work with me, because they just voted to pass the trade agreement I've been working on and bragging about... shit!"

They knocked out 2 talking point on that move, the one that says the Democrats haven't worked on anything, and the one that the Democrats don't work together. We all know they are both lies to begin with, but some people who hear it on the news might not and now when Trump says it, they will say, "wait, didn't they just pass that thing Trump wanted?"

Trump may want to brag about his trade agreement "best trade agreement ever!!" and he'll go and go on it the rest of the week, then BOOM, impeachment vote!

[stopbush]

34. Bingo!

[CincyDem]

2. Trust Nancy.

Another interpretation is that an hour later, she erases the “do nothing Dems are obsessed with impeachment and aren’t doing the people’s work” meme from trump.

It’s going to be hard for him to stand up and say the House isn’t doing anything else when he gets to crow about his nafta lite.

She’s still playing him.

[tazkcmo]

10. I get what you're saying I normally would agree

My only point is Drumpf will say and do what he always says and does regardless of reality. Speaker Pelosi will not stop him from lying about the do-nothing Democrats. Having said that, it is a good thing that during this impeachment process the House it's certainly taking care of America business.

[MontanaMama]

26. THIS.

Trust Nancy.

She will ALWAYSbe playing the MF. She owns him.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

27. +1000

[StarfishSaver]

41. Exactly!

[Joe941]

4. USMCA shows they are still governing and getting real work done.

[scheming daemons]

13. The USMCA is nothing but NAFTA repackaged.

Why give the asshole a win?

[meow2u3]

61. Actually, the USMCA is NAFTA with a license for Big Pharma to rip patients off

[Submariner]

62. To prepare us for an even harder kick in the nuts when congress

gives the mf'er his legacy space force for some basic family leave act that can wait for the next president.

[NurseJackie]

5. It's a mistake to fall into the trap of "overthinking" and "over-analyzing" things.

But I have to admit, this has me perplexed.

It's a mistake to fall into the trap of "overthinking" and "over-analyzing" things.

I trust Nancy Pelosi. This isn't a big deal.

[Hortensis]

7. Boy, Nancy must be incompetent! Not that that's a new thought, right?

I wouldn't bother trying to trust she has good reasons for the bizarre things she does. Or reading to find out what excuses others are making for her.

Even if you manage it today, just imagine what new inexplicable thing she'll do tomorrow that can only be handled by whomping yet more blind trust. There's no end to it.

[Mike 03]

9. This is in harmony with what Nancy Pelosi has said all along.

That Impeachment is a moral Constitutional imperative, not about partisan politics. So I think it looks good, even honorable, that she can do both on the same day. It also shows the world that Impeachment hasn't "stopped" the Democrats from governing.

[Chemisse]

65. I agree. It emphasizes that she is NOT impeaching for political reasons.

We're so accustomed to political manipulations being the primary reason for doing things that we can't imagine that Nancy would not milk the impeachment for all it is worth.

It's refreshing to see her continuing to do the People's business.

[beachbumbob]

19. USMACA is a needed treaty to be passed, who cares

[scheming daemons]

20. No, it isn't. It is basically NAFTA re-packaged.

There is no need for this "treaty".

[beachbumbob]

23. always a need for trade

[scheming daemons]

25. We already have NAFTA in place.

Putting a new name on it so the President can claim a "win" doesn't change anything on the ground.

[randr]

24. While the focus is on the impeachment Trump will be seen with his Russian handlers

Pretty good optics is my call.

[Raven123]

32. Just a guess

Trump wanted something to deflect from the impeachment announcement. Speaker got some concessions in the Bill, she wouldn’t have otherwise.

Deflects the attack that Congress is not legislating.

The Speaker did discuss this at the CNN town hall. She said it was coming. No surprises

[dalton99a]

33. I bet most people think USMCA is some kind of Marine Corps thing

[EarlG]

35. Not sure I agree

Trump crowing about striking a deal with Democrats is only going to make people aware of the fact that Democrats are still working to pass legislation and aren't just obsessing about impeachment -- undercutting a Republican talking point.

Meanwhile, Trump is still getting his ass impeached.

Doing both of these things on the same day shows that Democrats are walking and chewing gum at the same time, while also muddying the GOP's message.

Edited to add: in fact, the Dems are all up there right now seemingly thrilled about this legislation and talking about how many concessions they managed to get and how pro-worker they've made the deal. I wonder what the GOP rank and file is going to think about Trump touting a deal which Democrats essentially say he caved on -- while they're simultaneously impeaching him!

[scheming daemons]

36. I hope you are right.

But I think the focus for the next 24 hours should've been the impeachment articles.


We've now stepped on that story.

[Happy Hoosier]

37. She's taking "DO YOUR JOB" off the table.

It's pretty simple.

[okieinpain]

38. nancy pelosi is a OG!

while trump is screaming about how deranged dems are she is all smiles talking about passing a bill that the president wanted. lmao freaking genius.

[Gothmog]

42. This is a better deal than NAFTA

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

44. Labor has endorsed this new bill

Link to tweet

[scheming daemons]

45. Trump gets to spin it as *HIS* win... and Impeachment news gets bumped to the background

[Gothmog]

46. Speaker Pelosi negotiated some major improvements to this bill

Link to tweet

[scheming daemons]

50. True... but that's not what the narrative will be

It will be Trump claiming victory.

[Gothmog]

52. I think that this is a good move by Speaker Pelosi

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

47. From the Hoarse Whisperer

Link to tweet

[Politicub]

49. I don't see it that way

The democrats were working on the trade bill negotiations behind the scenes. NAFTA was and has been highly unpopular among American workers ever since it was passed.

And now, democrats can seize the mantle of architecting the end of NAFTA. Pelosi has the right to be proud of the accomplishments of the congressional democrats.

She had the foresight to strike while the iron was hot and build a box around the GOP. The accusation that democrats are obstructing has been swept away.

She is not “stepping” on the story; the democrats are adding another chapter to the story that will be told over the coming days.

[scheming daemons]

51. Democrats won't be able to "sieze" that mantle. Trump will take credit.

And the media will give it to him.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

54. I think you are worrying too much about Fat Nixon "seizing credit."

He seizes credit for the sun coming up in the morning. It's what he always does, regardless of the circumstances. The impeachment news is going to overshadow it, regardless. Pelosi knows what she's doing.

[scheming daemons]

55. MSNBC just a minute ago: Democrats Hand Trump his Biggest Legislative Victory of the Year

Already trampling the Impeachment news cycle.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

56. And how long is that going to last? It will be old news by this afternoon

because the Dems just released their draft Articles of Impeachment. That will take over the news cycle again.

[StarfishSaver]

64. Operative phrase: "Democrats hand Trump ..."

That works to our advantage. There go the "Democrats just want to see Trump fail" and "Democrats are obsessed with impeachment" arguments.

[Kaleva]

70. I don't see that on the main page of MSNBC

https://www.msnbc.com/

[StarfishSaver]

71. I also don't think that anyone who doesn't already think Trump should be impeached and removed

is closely following MSNBC headlines for their information.

[Kaleva]

69. The biggest headline at MSNBC "Senate trial could become major problem for McConnell"

https://www.msnbc.com/

[stonecutter357]

57. Cool Story, Bro , !

[scheming daemons]

58. Um... what?

[meow2u3]

60. I don't see any confusion here

I think Pelosi is focusing on the Ukraine scandal and basing articles of impeachment on what the public can easily understand and the House can prove. As Nadler put it, the Ukraine case is a slam-dunk prosecution in which only jury nullification can get Trump off.

Throwing the kitchen sink at Trump will likely backfire, especially about the Mueller report, because Barr tainted the results by falsifying the results and the legalese in which Mueller wrote the report. The report is written at too high a level for the average American to understand, perhaps by design.

[Kentonio]

63. Have you ever considered that assuming the public are dumb keeps backfiring?

All that is achieved by dropping the Mueller stuff is reinforcing the pukes lies about it being a witch hunt. So what do we say when people claim there was nothing to the Mueller report? “Well gosh there was tons of proof there, but we thought you’d be too dumb to understand it so we didn’t impeach on it’?

[lunatica]

66. The Iron Lady wears silk gloves.

[Wellstone ruled]

67. The Speaker was able to walk and chew gum on this

had it been a Rethug Speaker,you would never see this happen.

The Speaker was able to get a Budget Bill done and this Trade deal has been in the works for three years. All it does is change some of the old NAFTA language to benefit some of the USA industries when it comes to Manufactured Content and Sourcing. As well as cross border sales of AG goods .

The Budget deal should prevent the Orange Imposter from shutting down our Government before New Years. For we Dems,it is a mega win all the way around. Only ugly left is Moscow Mitch and how he plays his Power Card.

[Kaleva]

68. CNN headline "Democrats announce new US-Mexico-Canada trade deal"

https://www.cnn.com/

Another headline in even bigger font:

"Growing divide between Trump and McConnell over impeachment trial"

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/10/politics/donald-trump-mitch-mcconnell-senate-trial-impeachment/index.html