SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN

Lead House Manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joked about imprisoning restless senators at the outset of the second day of the Democrat prosecutors presenting their case to the Senate.

Wednesday’s repetitious first session by the Managers and Tuesday’s late night marathon rules debate and votes have left senators “bored out of their minds” and in “agony” according to news reports, with senators nodding off, leaving their chairs, leaving the chamber or passing notes and candy to each other. Sen. Dianne Feinstein even left the Capitol Wednesday night during the trial, claiming through a spokesman to be under the weather.

Schiff: “But I also want to again take this opportunity to thank the senators for their long and considerable attention over the course of the last two days. I’m not sure the Chief justice is fully aware of just how rare it is, how extraordinary it is for the House members to be able to command the attention of senators sitting silently for hours–or even for minutes for that matter. Um, of course it doesn’t hurt that the morning starts out every day with the Sergeant at Arms warning you that if you don’t, you will be imprisoned. Um, it’s our hope that when the trial concludes and you’ve heard us and you’ve heard the President’s counsel over a series of long days that you don’t choose imprisonment instead of anything further.”

In a brief moment of levity, Rep. Adam Schiff notes "how rare it is, how extraordinary it is" for House members to command a silent audience with the Senate "for hours—or even for minutes." https://t.co/LVCFeZy1nz pic.twitter.com/g52Si7OgDD

— ABC News (@ABC) January 23, 2020

NY Daily News reporter Michael McAuliff took the remarks as Schiff taking a shot Republican senators, “Schiff opens with sly jab at restless Rs. Tell Roberts he may not be aware how extraordinary it is for senators to sit silently for the House. “It doesn’t hurt that the morning starts out every day with the sergeant at arms warning you that if you don’t you will be imprisoned.”

Members of President Trump’s impeachment defense team were not amused.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), “Adam Schiff starting off today with a joke about imprisoning Senators came off like a joke written by Jerry Seinfeld but delivered by George Costanza”

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), “Adam Schiff kicks off Day 3 of the Senate impeachment trial threatening Senators with imprisonment. Not sure what he’s worse at: reading his audience or telling jokes. Either way he is not helping his cause.”

Adam Schiff kicks off Day 3 of the Senate impeachment trial threatening Senators with imprisonment. Not sure what he’s worse at: reading his audience or telling jokes. Either way he is not helping his cause. pic.twitter.com/vLEixsoVTt

— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) January 23, 2020

By Ashe Schow

Maybe it was an April Fool’s Day joke, because that would be the kindest explanation for presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) tweet on Monday claiming we need to “abolish the Electoral College” in order to “restore” the principle of “one person, one vote.”

She put out the tweet and included a link to a Daily Beast article about Democrat senators introducing a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College (because their supporters live in big, populous cities and a popular vote will ensure they’re elected).

“Our democracy is built on the principle of one person, one vote. It can’t function until we restore that principle. It’s time to abolish the Electoral College,” Gillibrand tweeted.

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The problem with the tweet, as Mark Hemingway and others pointed out, is that there is no “principle” to “restore” by eliminating the Electoral College. It’s in the constitution. It is a principle on which our “democracy” (constitutional republic) was built.

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The Electoral College is described in Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

In 1804, the states ratified the Twelfth Amendment, which supersedes the paragraph after the one quoted above. Originally, the person with the most electoral votes would be president, and the person with the second highest would be vice-president.

The Twelfth Amendment changed that by making president and vice-president two separate elections.

The national popular vote was never an American principle, or at least not the way Democrats want it to be now. The Electoral College results from a popular vote – in each state and the District of Columbia. It is 51 separate popular votes, although two states award proportional electoral votes.

Democrats don’t like the way elections are currently done because their party lost in 2016 and 2000 due to electoral votes when they won the popular vote. So, naturally, because the system didn’t work for them, they want to abolish it.

Republicans run using the Electoral College. Then-candidate Donald Trump visited states he thought he could win to increase his electoral votes. Hillary Clinton visited some states she knew she wouldn’t win in order to increase her vote totals so she would not only be the first female president, but also the president with the most votes ever.

This strategy, of course, did not work out in her favor. She ignored states she assumed would give her their electoral votes (like Wisconsin), assuming the Electoral College was a lock for her. She was wrong.

Now Democrats are upset that their strategy to win the election didn’t work, and they think that because Clinton won the national popular votes, that a national popular vote would result in total Democrat control.

Republicans don’t run on the national popular vote. If they did, maybe they would win it. It’s a chance Democrats seem willing to take.

Tag: SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN

Schiff Jokes About Imprisoning Senators for Not Paying Attention to House Managers in Impeachment Trial

Lead House Manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joked about imprisoning restless senators at the outset of the second day of the Democrat prosecutors presenting their case to the Senate.

Kirsten Gillibrand Wants To Abolish Electoral College To ‘Restore’ A Fundamental American Principle. There’s Just One Problem.

Maybe it was an April Fool’s Day joke, because that would be the kindest explanation for presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) tweet on Monday claiming we need to “abolish the Electoral College” in order to “restore” the principle of “one person, one vote.”