There's no holding him back now

FFS, he's going after Mitt Romney, the one Republican who had the cojones to do the right thing and vote to remove Trump from office, because of course he is.

During an interview with Fox News Channel host Chris Wallace that aired shortly after his Senate floor speech, Romney referred to his 2012 White House defeat, describing it as the worst thing that’s happened to him politically.

“I’ve got broad-enough shoulders to weather personal changes in my career, political or otherwise,” he told Wallace. “But what I don’t have is the capacity to ignore my conscience.”

[...]

“I am sure to hear abuse from the President and his supporters,” Romney said in his floor speech announcing his vote. “Does anyone seriously believe I would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it of me?”

[...]

“It’s the hardest thing to do in the world — to stand up to your party, your donors, your friends — to do what is right,” [Democrat Chris] Murphy said. “We all wonder if we would do the same thing. … There is still honor in this place.”

But not much.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman and lead House impeachment manager Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) called Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) an “inspiration” Wednesday for breaking with his party to vote to convict President Trump on the charge of abuse of power, saying his speech explaining that vote will “change history.”

“I mentioned on the floor that even a single vote can change history and I think his vote just did,” Schiff said in a brief interview Wednesday. “For a lot of us, when we face difficult votes in the future, we’ll think back to the courage that he displayed, how he put country over party.”

  WaPo

Kudos to Mitt Romney.

Romney voted to acquit Trump on the obstruction of Congress charge.

Now THAT I don't understand.

But moderate Democrats all voted to convict Trump on both counts, and Schiff congratulated them for “courage” in taking that vote too.

Good. There was some question about that happening.

Several Trump administration officials, including Vice President Pence and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, had predicted earlier Wednesday that Trump would be acquitted on a bipartisan vote.

But that prediction did not come true: Republicans did not succeed in persuading any Democrats to cross the aisle in voting for acquittal on either charge.

[...]

In a brief break before the trial formally began, Manchin’s Democratic colleagues came over to him in the back of the chamber, hugging him, patting him on the back — finally aware that he would join them in a united caucus vote to remove Trump from office.

[...]

“I take no pleasure in these votes, and am saddened this is the legacy we leave our children and grandchildren,” Manchin said. “I have always wanted this president, and every president to succeed, but I deeply love our country and must do what I think is best for the nation.”

[...]

“There are a number or Democratic senators that showed very similar courage, and that shouldn’t be overlooked either,” Schiff said. “There were some real profiles in courage here, which give me a lot of optimism. So I leave this optimistic about the future.”

Schiff would not, however, say if the future includes a subpoena for former national security adviser John Bolton. “We’ve made no decisions about Bolton or other things,” he insisted.

They better not drop it. They better keep digging and exposing, because the rest of this year is going to be pure hell with Trump unleashed and once again calling himself completely exonerated.

Pelosi gave a scathing assessment of the Senate’s vote to acquit Trump, who she called a “rogue president.”

The Founders, she said, “never imagined that they would at the same time have a rogue leader in the Senate who would cowardly abandon his duty to uphold the Constitution.” — ripping Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

She maintained, as she has previously, that the acquittal is illegitmate because the trial did not have “the most basic elements of a fair judicial process.”

Pelosi accused the GOP of “betrayal of the Constitution” and said because of that Trump “remains an ongoing threat to American democracy.”

He'll be absolutely unbearable now.

And what the fuck is THIS?....

He'll be getting a cease and desist from Nazareth.

And, WTF, Bob Dole?!

Jesus, I thought the man was dead.  He's obviously senile.

Shortly after the Senate voted to acquit Trump, GOP Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) announced they would be probing Hunter Biden — just as Trump had wanted Ukraine to do.

[...]

They are seeking from the Secret Service any time Hunter Biden traveled with protective security detail during the time his father was vice president and whether he flew on government planes.

  WaPo

While the Trump spawn go everywhere with secret service details.

A number of influential GOP figures, including Donald Trump Jr., have pressed Senate Republicans to remove Romney from their party’s ranks in the chamber.

But McConnell was notably restrained in his criticism of his Utah colleague and declined to say whether he thinks Romney should be expelled.

Unbelievable. You're not allowed to have your own convictions and your own vote if you're a Repubican?

Actually, I don't think Mitch would dare. That would surely cost the party votes in November. Republican voters (aside from Trumpalos) are not such cowards and sycophants as the Republican Congressfolk.

[Justice] Roberts spoke briefly at the conclusion of the trial, offering senators his “sincere good wishes as we carry out our common commitment to the Constitution.”

It's obviously not common at all.

For what it's worth...

He'll pay for it.  But he'll always have his self-respect and, like Barbara Lee, who was the lone vote against invading Iraq, he'll eventually be the one with the laudits.

And Old Mitch is taking his shots.

And this one thinks he can be president in 2024 (if Daddy agrees to leave after two terms):