McConnell's Trump Pivot, Luntz Explains, and Some Shout Outs.

2021 is shaping up to be quite the year of change. Get ready.

COVID symptoms and diagnosis notwithstanding, it was last week’s historic impeachment proceedings left me dazed and confused.

Everyone knew that President Trump was going to be acquitted of impeachment again and he was. Even the last minute revelation of his telephone conversation during the riots with Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy couldn’t persuade enough U.S. Senators to convict the former president.

Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.

That call was as close to a smoking gun as one could have imagined.

Trump is no longer president and therefore is ineligible for impeachment according to enough senators. That’s not an unsound constitutional argument to make and maybe one day the Supreme Court will be asked to rule on it. Hopefully, they won’t have to be asked.

But it was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s blistering and narrative busting speech following the acquittal vote that set the stage for the first act of the post-Trump era. McConnell knew he needed to pivot the narrative away from acquittal and did so brilliantly. Give the man his due, Mitch is savage.

It really is Must Watch as it will reverberate for much of the 2022 cycle.

Did Trump get away with it? Politically, maybe. Legally? Well, McConnell lays out where he thinks the path will go next for Trump.

Put another way, in the language of today: President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run, still liable for everything he did while in office, didn't get away with anything yet – yet.

We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.

Here is a remarkable interview from late January by PBS Frontline of pollster Frank Luntz. This is MUST WATCH TV. It’s an hour long but you will want to watch the whole thing at least once.

The COVID symptoms are subsiding gradually so I’ll have an updated break down of the Big Three races and how the General Assembly session is likely to impact this year’s elections later this week.

A couple of Shout Outs first.

1. To the pharmaceutical companies especially Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson - which only seem to get roundly attacked politically - THANK YOU for not only cranking out multiple vaccines in record time but also being able to make hundreds of millions of them available. While I was diagnosed with COVID, my 82 year old dad received his second vaccine and we are all very grateful for that.

2. Virginia hospitals especially Inova and Sentara on receiving some great rankings last week. Those rankings don’t include the tremendous job the whole system has done getting the Commonwealth into the top tier of vaccinated states following the initial roll out. Special shout out to Augusta Health for the very smooth and efficient vaccination of my dad and his peers.

3. Public Private Partnerships - it’s amazing what happens when the public and private sectors come together to get a job done. We’re not out of the woods yet, but can we at least stop the endless blame game? Honestly. If there has ever been a time to get Americans working together for the common good, now is it. When we agree to problems, we can find solutions. It shouldn’t always take a crisis to find the best version of America. Team work makes the dream work, folks.

4. Gallup survey shows that Americans did not change their political ideology much last year - 36% conservative, 35% moderate, and 25% liberal.

5. Gallup also track polls support for a third party in America. Currently, 62% of Americans think a third party is needed - up 22 points from 2003.

6. While the Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team got trounced last night in Tallahassee, they did - once again - defeat North Carolina on Saturday. That never gets old. The Tar Heels almost scored 50 and have their eyes set on hosting a first round NIT game.

7. Virginia FREE Fridays Special Guest this week - Republican candidate for Governor Glenn Youngkin. Join the Noon Zoom on Friday!