This is incredibly ugly, but here are the salient points

| 8:35 pm EST February 11, 2020
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Let’s stop wasting time fretting over the sanctity of democracy. That ship sailed three years ago. Today is exciting. Trump made the mistake of meddling in the Roger Stone case, which gives us a huge 2020 advantage. The media will seize on how scandalous it is. The Democrats will use it as a key component of their 2020 campaign messaging. Today is a win for us. In war, this is what winning looks like. Sure, today is exceedingly ugly. But here are the salient points:

– Judge Jackson will give Roger Stone the same sentence she was always going to give him

– William Barr will likely be impeached now

– Trump may be impeached again too

– None of this magically helps Trump’s weak 2020 prospects

No, Trump and Barr aren’t magically going to be removed by the Senate. But under these circumstances, that’s not the point of impeachment. The point is to hold House hearings, educate voters on Trump’s latest crimes, and force Trump and Barr to play defense. And again, all that matters here is what helps or hurts any given side in the 2020 election.

This isn’t “optimism.” I’m not trying to make you “feel good.” This is just reality, based on the available facts, logic, and evidence. If any of this sounds optimistic it you, it’s only because you’re comparing it to the ratings-driven pundits who constantly feed you doomsday hysteria in order to scare you into staying tuned in. You’d have to be almost literally insane to think that Judge Jackson is going to give Stone a shorter sentence to appease Trump, or that this stunt somehow magically helps Trump’s 2020 prospects. That’s how severely the doomsday pundits can brainwash you with their hysteria.

Stop trying to figure out Trump’s evil genius strategy. He doesn’t have one. He’s just flailing. Stop painting Barr as having a magic wand. He’s just a flailing guy who’s desperately trying to convince Trump to pardon him. Barr knows he’s going to prison without a pardon. When bumbling crooks like Trump and Barr do brazenly corrupt things that are stupid and self defeating, it’s an outrage and it’s bad for democracy – but it doesn’t somehow magically help them. Dumb criminals brazenly screw themselves over all the time. These two are no different. If you want to win, your job is to identify and exploit their weaknesses – not to fret all day about what supposed magic powers they’re going to use next.