Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

Cal Thomas, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, Matt Lewis and Susan Ferrechio joined WMAL on Wednesday!

5am – A/B/C HOUSE IMPEACHMENT VOTE TODAY

• House Rules Committee adopts rule for historic impeachment proceedings, after contentious marathon session. By a 9-4 party line vote late Tuesday night, the Democrat-led House Rules Committee approved the procedures for how the full House will consider the two articles of impeachment against President Trump on Wednesday, following a marathon session that, at times, provided a glimpse of the fireworks to come. The House Rules Committee has approved six hours of debate on the House floor on the Resolution to impeach President Trump. The six hours of floor time will be divided equally by Democrats and Republicans and will be led by the House Judiciary Committee leaders. The House will also have one hour of debate before taking the procedural vote to approve the rule governing the debate. This evening, the House will vote on two articles of impeachment on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. No amendments will be allowed, according to the resolution approved by the rule-making committee Tuesday.
• What’s happening Wednesday? The House will spend the day Wednesday debating the two impeachment articles on the House floor. The first article is for abuse of power, and the second is for obstructing the congressional inquiry. Lawmakers allotted themselves six hours to debate, but procedural maneuvers mean the proceedings could go well into the evening. Once debate is over, they will vote separately on the two articles of impeachment. If just one passes with a majority vote, Trump will be impeached. That won’t mean Trump is removed from office. The Senate determines whether that will happen.
• TRUMP TO RALLY TONIGHT AFTER IMPEACHMENT: With Trump impeachment vote imminent, president traveling to Battle Creek, Mich., to rally the faithful. President Trump on Wednesday will be far away from Capitol Hill — and the Washington establishment he has long criticized as an irredeemable “swamp” — as the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives prepares to impeach him in a likely party-line vote on charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.

5am – D         DC, Maryland, Virginia among multi-state pact could curb transportation carbon emissions. (Fox 5 DC) – WASHINGTON (AP) – Carbon emissions from cars, trucks and other means of transportation would drop while gas prices would jump under a multi-state draft climate proposal released Tuesday. The proposal — known as the Transportation and Climate Initiative — is aimed at reducing pollutants contributing to global warming. An alliance of Northeast and mid-Atlantic states have been working on the project that would create a cap on pollution from transportation. Under the agreement, wholesale fuel companies would be required to purchase pollution allowances at auction. The sale of those allowances could generate billions for states to invest in carbon-reducing transportation options — like electric buses, electric car charging stations, bike lanes and sidewalks. If fuel companies pass the cost of the allowances onto consumers, the price of gas in the region could climb by five cents to 17 cents per gallon in 2022, when the pact would take effect. The states say they hope the change would also put pressure on fuel companies to come up with alternatives to carbon-polluting fuels.

5am – E         The FISA Court destroys the FBI for its egregious mishandling of the Carter Page FISA applications & says those abuses by the bureau call into question the accuracy of its other hundreds & hundreds of FISA applications. A truly stunning rebuke of Comey’s FBI by the secret court.

6am – A/B/C Are Holiday Traditions Important? 

• Pundit Kat Timpf recently tweeted this: “Why would you ever put up a Christmas tree?” Timpf rhetorically asked. “I mean, my family does it—but, personally, I just don’t get it. It’s just creating another mess that you’ll have to put away. To me, it’s the same as taking all of the clothes out of your dresser and decorating them with lights.”
• The Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis had this response: A Christmas-related tweet sent by conservative TV personality Kat Timpf caught my eye, the other day.  “Why would you ever put up a Christmas tree?” Timpf rhetorically asked. “I mean, my family does it—but, personally, I just don’t get it. It’s just creating another mess that you’ll have to put away. To me, it’s the same as taking all of the clothes out of your dresser and decorating them with lights.” Maybe she was just trolling us, or maybe she means it? Either way, it struck me as a teachable moment.  That’s because, almost all the traditions and practices that bring long-term joy could also be considered a pretty big pain in the tuchus.  Think about it. Making a big Thanksgiving dinner for your extended family could easily constitute “creating another mess.” Besides, relatives can be annoying. Let’s be honest, eating pizza alone is pretty awesome.  Getting my kids up on Sunday, getting them dressed, and getting them to church is likewise, a hassle. Come to think of it, the very idea of having kids is an expensive (often thankless) ordeal (which helps explain why so few of us are doing it).  If the goal is creating an easy or simple life, lots of baggage can be eliminated.  Why take dad to that annual football game when it’s cheaper to watch on TV—and the view is better? Why go to a Broadway musical when you can stay home and watch Netflix? Who needs a real fireplace when you can just put it on TV?  Becoming a utilitarian would save a lot of time and mess. At the end of it all, though, you’ll end up home alone.  Sure, maybe you’ll get more work done. Maybe you’ll get a little more sleep. But for what? Will you have really lived?  So many of the things that bring us joy and meaning and community also require a lot of investment, sacrifice, and hard work.

6am – D         INTERVIEW – CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist – discussed impeachment.

6am – E/F      Stafford County votes to be 2nd Amendment sanctuary. (Fox 5 DC) — The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted unamiously 7-0 to pass the declaration. People have voiced concern that when the Democrats take control of both the State Houses of the General Assembly in January they’ll lose some of their gun rights. Democrats have promised swift action on gun control laws, including background checks on all firearm sales and transactions. They have also promised a ban on assault-style weapons, high-capacity magazines, bump stocks and silencers. Hundreds of people braved the cold on Tuesday to show they wanted Stafford County to declare itself a Second Amendment sanctuary. A small number of gun control advocates came out as well. The Virginia Civil Defense League has been lobbying leaders at the county level to declare sanctuary status, which is largely a symbolic measure. Other counties that have made the declaration in Northern Virginia include Prince William, Culpeper and Spotsylvania counties.

7am – A/B/C HOUSE IMPEACHMENT VOTE TODAY           

7am – D         INTERVIEW – LT COL TONY SHAFFER — Homeland Security Advisor for Stafford County Sheriff’s Office and president of the London Center for Policy Research – discussed the Stafford County Second Amendment Sanctuary vote last night.  Tony has been advising the Stafford Sheriff on the 2A Sanctuary issue.

7am – E         DEM DEBATE IS BACK ON: The Democrats’ next primary debate will proceed as scheduled this week, after the Party stepped in to help arrange a settlement to a labor dispute that had threatened the forum. DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement that he helped “bring all stakeholders to the table to reach a deal that meets their needs and supports workers.” All seven of the candidates who qualified for the Thursday night debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles said late last week that they would boycott the debate if it meant crossing a picket line.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MATT LEWIS – Senior Columnist for The Daily Beast. Political Commentator at CNN. Podcaster – discussed whether holiday traditions are important.

• Pundit Kat Timpf recently tweeted this: “Why would you ever put up a Christmas tree?” Timpf rhetorically asked. “I mean, my family does it—but, personally, I just don’t get it. It’s just creating another mess that you’ll have to put away. To me, it’s the same as taking all of the clothes out of your dresser and decorating them with lights.”
• The Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis had this response: A Christmas-related tweet sent by conservative TV personality Kat Timpf caught my eye, the other day.  “Why would you ever put up a Christmas tree?” Timpf rhetorically asked. “I mean, my family does it—but, personally, I just don’t get it. It’s just creating another mess that you’ll have to put away. To me, it’s the same as taking all of the clothes out of your dresser and decorating them with lights.” Maybe she was just trolling us, or maybe she means it? Either way, it struck me as a teachable moment.  That’s because, almost all the traditions and practices that bring long-term joy could also be considered a pretty big pain in the tuchus.  Think about it. Making a big Thanksgiving dinner for your extended family could easily constitute “creating another mess.” Besides, relatives can be annoying. Let’s be honest, eating pizza alone is pretty awesome.  Getting my kids up on Sunday, getting them dressed, and getting them to church is likewise, a hassle. Come to think of it, the very idea of having kids is an expensive (often thankless) ordeal (which helps explain why so few of us are doing it).  If the goal is creating an easy or simple life, lots of baggage can be eliminated.

8am – B/C     Ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page explains anti-Trump ‘insurance policy’ texts, defends Russia probe in TV interview. Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page spoke out Tuesday night, explaining her controversial texts with her lover, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, and defending the Russia investigation into President Trump. Appearing on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Page was asked about the “insurance policy” text Strzok had sent to her during the 2016 election that was released by the Justice Department in 2017, part of a string of texts that led to Strzok’s removal from the Russia probe over concerns of potential bias. “It’s an analogy,” Page began. “First of all, it’s not my text, so I’m sort of interpreting what I believed he meant back three years ago, but we’re using an analogy. We’re talking about whether or not we should take certain investigative steps or not based on the likelihood that he’s going to be president or not.”

8am – D         INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – Washington Examiner’s Chief Congressional Correspondent – previewed the House impeachment vote today.