The public impeachment hearings have begun and so far so great!

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

Impeachment Corner! 

So, it’s finally here, the beginning of the public hearings in the impeachment inquiry — I have them on as I type this, and so my attention, it’s a little split. Additionally, it’s going to be hard to write about the impeachment as news is being made in real time as this is not a live blog (for which I have neither the time nor the attention span), so I’m going to try to keep this brief and suggest, strongly, that you watch the proceedings for yourself because Ambassador Bill Taylor and George Kent, these guys are compelling and making strong arguments explaining why Ukraine matters.

But I will just point out one VERY important detail that Ambassador Taylor added in his opening statement: apparently, the DAY AFTER The Phone Call, one of Taylor’s staff members overheard President Russian Asset on the phone with Ambassador Gordon “Call Me” Sondland, asking about the status of “the investigations,” i.e., the investigations into the Bidens and this batshit insane conspiracy theory that the Ukrainians helped Clinton in the election.

This is HUGELY important because this directly ties President Corruption to demanding the investigations, just as the Republicans are going to try to be like, “Nope, it was just Crazy Rudy being crazy and Dear Leader had nothing to do with anything, he doesn’t even know what ‘Ukraine’ is.” Well, that just got blowed up. Stick a pin in this because I think it will prove to be a pretty big fucking deal.

In other hearings news, there are going to be so many more public hearings next week:

On Nov. 19, lawmakers will hear from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council director for European affairs; Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine; Jennifer Williams, a special adviser to Vice President Pence on Europe and Russia; and Tim Morrison, a former White House national security aide.

Witnesses on Nov. 20 will be Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union; Laura Cooper, the Pentagon official who oversees Ukraine policy; and David Hale, the State Department’s third-ranking official.

And on Nov. 21, Fiona Hill, former top Russia adviser to the White House, will testify.

The Republicans asked to bring nine witnesses, but the Democrats are only allowing three of them: Volker, Hale, and Morrison, because The Whistleblower, Hunter Biden and “Hillary’s emails” were bullshit requests. ALSO, ELECTIONS MATTER, KIDS, SO MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE BEFORE NEXT YEAR.

Additionally, more closed-door hearings are still happening: on Friday, David Holmes, the counselor for political affairs at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine will testify, and on Saturday, Mark Sandy, the associate director for national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget. Both of these guys are interesting because Holmes is the staffer that overheard the phone call Ambassador Taylor mentioned and Sandy is interesting because he failed to show up for a hearing last week. Is the noose tightening on Sandy’s boss, Mick Mulvaney? MAYBE.

Meanwhile, Lev Parnas continues to be chatty and now he’s claiming that he met President Fraud Guarantee at a private and intimate dinner in the Washington Trump Hotel where he told President Conspiracy Theory that then-Ambassador Marie ­Yovanovitch was a pussy-hat-earing Never Trumper and President Dumbass was all, “FIRE HER!”  And CNN is reporting that President Up To His Neck In This met Parnas and his fellow goon Fruman some 10 times (that we know about). So good luck with your “I don’t know her” defense, President Dipshit.

Elsewhere, it’s notable that Kellyanne Conway’s husband, George Conway is currently on MSNBC talking shit about the president and the Republicans. That divorce clock just edged one minute closer to midnight.

Other TV News

The Friends reunion you lunatics keep demanding might be in the works at HBO Max. But don’t be expecting a reboot — it will probably just be the cast and creators talking about the show.

But that fifth season of Veronica Mars you might have been hoping for isn’t happening. At least not anytime soon. (I, for one, did not hate the fourth season.)

American Horror Story star, Angelica Ross, says that the finale is not going to satisfy everyone. Well, why start trying to satisfy anyone now?

James Holzhauer and Emma Boettcher meet again.

Richard Plepler, the former head of HBO, is close to signing a deal with Apple TV+. Could he be the streamer’s white knight?

Disney+ was downloaded some 3 million times yesterday, and it might have been larger had they not had technical issues. Another report says they are up to 10 million subscribers already, DAMN.

And this is interesting: Disney has added a disclaimer to some of their classic films, specifically Dumbo, The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp and The Aristocats, that reads, “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

Byron Allen’s racial discrimination case against Comcast goes before the Supreme Court today.

Han and Greedo shot simultaneously, and everything you ever believed in or held dear is wrong.

Tyler Christopher, please get some help. (And I can’t help but think the timing of this behavior might have something to do with the recasting of Nikolas Cassadine on General Hospital.)

Reminder: Twilight Zone classic episodes are coming to movie theaters tomorrow to celebrate the show’s 60th anniversary.

Good job, People Magazine:

Good job, Chrissy Teigen:

Yes, Kanye is coming to Houston’s own Lakewood Church this weekend and … y’all … I just …

Renewals

  • The Witcher has been renewed for a second season at Netflix.
  • Games People Play has been renewed for a second season at BET.
  • Sex Life has been renewed for a second season at Epix.

Cancellations

In Development

Casting News

  • Will Ferrell is going to host the November 23rd episode of Saturday Night Live. He will join the five-timers club.
  • T.R. Knight is joining the cast of The Flight Attendant on HBO Max.
  • Christian Serrato has joined the cast of Selena on Netflix.
  • Freddie Highmore will star in Leonardo, an upcoming series about Leonardo da Vinci.
  • Auli’i Cravalho is joining the cast of The Power on Amazon.

Mark Your Calendars

  • Last Man Standing will return on Fox on January 2.

R.I.P.

Virginia Leith, Actress in a number of films and TV series.

WATCH THIS

IMPEACHMENT TESTIMONY: Bill Taylor and George Kent are the first to spill the tea about L’affaire Ukraine. CPSAN, CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, CBS 

American Horror Story: The end of this godforsaken season. Season finale. 9 p.m., FX

The Preppy Murder: A five-part series on a murder and rape that FREAKED PEOPLE OUT in the 80s. 8 p.m., AMC

The 53rd CMA Awards: It’s apparently the Year of Dolly. 7 p.m., ABC

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Rachel Maddow, Tony Hale, Dominic Fike
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Sebastian Maniscalo, Liz Phair, Chris Johnson
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Tim Robbins, Nicole Wallace
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Beth Behrs, Sam Claflin, Grace VanderWaal
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Ray Romano, Don Johnson, Maren Morris, Zac Brown Band
  • The Daily Show: Daniel Kaluuya
  • Conan: Jenny Slate
  • Lights Out with David Spade: Chris Hardwick, Brian Posehn
  • Watch What Happens Live: Leslie Grossman, Melissa Gorga
  • A Little Late with Lily Singh: Jenny Slate, Kathryn Hahn

 

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC The 53rd CMA Awards
(live)
CBS Survivor
(new)		 S.W.A.T.
(new)
CW Riverdale
(new)		 Nancy Drew
(new)		 Local
FOX The Masked Singer
(new)		 Almost Family
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Chicago Med
(live)		 Chicago Fire
(new)		 Chicago P.D.
(new)

3 thoughts on “The public impeachment hearings have begun and so far so great!”

  1. I’m not surprised Disney put the disclaimers up. My boys have the complete Donald Duck collection on DVD. Before a handful of cartoons they have Leonard Maltin do a disclaimer.

    Reply

  2. “Christian Serratos has joined the cast of Selena on Netflix.”

    I’m sure she’ll be great, but what does this mean for Rosita?

    Reply

    1. Probably nothing good, Jim. Though it should be noted that “Selena” is going to be a limited series, so it’s possible Rosita will be just fine. (But probably not.)

      -T

      Reply

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