John Kass (CHCAGO TRIBUNE) notes that the farce has ended :
The cable news networks loved it because they love a show but there was no real drama. Americans knew for months how this would turn out. They knew Democrats didn’t have the votes in the Senate. It was all about targeting select Republican senators in the next elections.
The people turned off this farce of Democratic Impeachment Theater long ago.
Americans aren’t as dumb as some politicians think they are. They paid attention for a while. They read the transcript of his phone call to Ukraine — which needed military assistance — asking for an investigation into the Bidens.
But they figured this thing out. They saw the flaws in the arguments. Independent voters didn’t think the call — which didn’t ultimately prevent Ukraine from getting military aid and didn’t lead to a Ukraine investigation into the Bidens — was grounds to remove a president.
I also enjoyed this from Mr. Kass:
During his State of the Union speech the other night, Trump didn’t mention the impeachment once.
With Pelosi sitting behind him, muttering to herself like some angry bag lady alone on a night train, he didn’t have to mention it.
He focused instead on his accomplishments and the economy, which infuriates his enemies. When he was done, Pelosi grabbed Trump’s speech, and in a fit of petulance, theatrically ripped it to shreds.
That partisan rage will last in the American mind and be featured in Trump political commercials, just as CNN anchor Don Lemon’s laughter mocking Trump voters as illiterate rubes will last until November.
I am so glad this farce is over. There was no point to it. Jonathan Turley, among other scholars, warned throughout that the process was rushed in the House and no case had been made. This came off like sour grapes in an attempt to overturn an election. Grasp that this February. In nine months -- the length of a pregnancy -- we will be holding another presidential election. This was the wrong time. It pulled Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren off the campaign trail at a crucial moment. There was never a need for impeachment to begin with. And if President Donald Trump is re-elected, we all need to blame Speaker Nancy Pelosi for this nonsense that she pushed through.
Grasp that she refused to impeach Bully Boy Bush. The late John Conyers wanted to impeach him and Mr. Conyers was correct about that. The disgraced Mr. Bush had started an illegal war and had done so with lies. That was a high crime. That is impeachable. But Speaker Pelosi infamously 'took it off the table.' Now some silly phone call qualified for impeachment? I do not think so. Ms. Pelosi is an embarrassment.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, February 6, 2020. America still waits on Iowa and the caucus
results, Joe Biden is not the front runner, Joe has slipped in South
Carolina, a bloody night in Iraq as Moqtada al-Sadr's thugs attack
protesters, and more.
The Democratic Party's Iowa caucus took place Monday. It is now Thursday and the final results are still not in.
This is what's currently offered:
That's 1711 of 1765 precincts. And these may not be final on what is reported. There are claims that some prcints numbers in the official tally so far are not matching the tallies on Monday night.
The Democratic Party's Iowa caucus took place Monday. It is now Thursday and the final results are still not in.
This is what's currently offered:
| Candidate | SDE | National Delegates |
| Bennet | 0 | - |
| Biden | 331.351 | - |
| Bloomberg | 0.21 | - |
| Buttigieg | 550.339 | - |
| Delaney | 0 | - |
| Gabbard | 0.114 | - |
| Klobuchar | 255.216 | - |
| Patrick | 0 | - |
| Sanders | 546.912 | - |
| Steyer | 6.672 | - |
| Warren | 381.258 | - |
| Yang | 21.643 | - |
| Other | 0.693 | - |
| Uncommitted | 3.957 | - |
That's 1711 of 1765 precincts. And these may not be final on what is reported. There are claims that some prcints numbers in the official tally so far are not matching the tallies on Monday night.
.@CNN Pete Buttigiegand Bernie Sanders in virtuality in Iowa.
Joe Biden -- the 'front runner' -- appears to have come in fourth at present.
BREAKING: With 97% of the votes reported in Iowa...
BERNIE IS SURGING!
Popular Vote:
Bernie: 44,753 votes
Pete: 42,235 votes
Pledged Delegates: Tied
SDE:
Pete: 550 (26.2%)
Bernie: 547 (26.1%)
The campaign is in shambles. POLITICO reports that today. We told you that Tuesday morning. POLITICO tells you that the campaign was surprised by Joe's poor showing. They shouldn't have been. Over a month ago, the campaign's own internal numbers showed support had eroded. As low as it ended up being. Not not that low but with Joe offering nothing new in the weeks that followed and not addressing the issues that go to his character -- something his campaign's own polling noted was troubling voters -- of course he was going to drop even further.
How do you come back from that?
Well you scapegoat and fire one employee. Yeah, let's all pretend the problem with Joe Biden's campaign boils down to one employee and not the actual candidate himself. And you quote Joe calling it "a gut punch" to come in fourth. Then you pretend that was honesty and you move right on.
No.
Joe's on the attack. Paul Steinhauser and Madeleine Rivera (FOX NEWS) report:
Former Vice President Joe Biden cranked up the volume Wednesday in his attacks against two of his top rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination – Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
[. . .]
With that in mind, Biden then unloaded on Sanders, warning that “if Senator Sanders is the nominee for the party, every Democrat in America up and down the ballot – blue states, red states, purple states, easy districts competitive ones – every Democrat will have to carry the label that Senator Sanders has chosen for himself.”
He then stressed that Sanders “calls himself a Democratic socialist."
[. . .]
Biden then used some of his most muscular language to date to criticize Buttigieg, who’s narrowly leading Sanders in Iowa as the results trickle in.
Biden said: “Mayor Pete likes to attack me as well and he’s a good man. He calls me part of the old failed Washington. Really. Was it a failure that I went to Congress to get ObamaCare passed?”
Bill Barrow and Brian Slodysko (AP) report on Joe's sudden trashing of Bernie and Pete. Tim O'Donnell (THE WEEK) also notes the attacks:
He also went after former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who looks like he has a good shot at emerging victorious once the dust finally settles in Iowa. Buttigieg had earlier described Biden as a member of the "old failed Washington," which prompted Biden to dare his younger competitor to take his criticism a step further and direct it at former President Barack Obama. Buttigieg so far hasn't taken up the offer.
The country, the world, we are all so much better off that Joe has just discovered these critiques, right? I mean, it's not like he hasn't had months on stage with Bernie and Pete and didn't blow through all those chances to speak, right?
These are the sour grapes of a pathetic loser.
Bernie's politics are known. They're not going to harm anyone in any race -- other than Joe, of course. Bernie has enthusiasm among his supporters who will turn out. Joe can whine all he wants but all Iowa did was prove what we've said since he declared in April. He doesn't have support.
Grasp that we speak to groups in 49 states (we don't go to Alaska). I've said over and over, month after month, that Joe doesn't have the support. I've based that not on what I wanted but on reality. During these same months I've noted that Tulsi Gabbard had practically no support on college campuses. That also was reality.
Yes, I will look at polling -- with an educated eye, I did take methods and research courses a poli sci major -- but I'm also going by what we have seen over and over, month after month in the states we've been in.
Bernie has energized the electorate. I'm not for Pete but I won't say he can't. He hasn't so far. He has a devoted and small following across the US. That could grow, I'm not saying it won't. But Bernie's got the widespread support -- you know, the thing Joe Biden has claimed he had for months.
Joe should be over by now. He should be shutting down his campaign.
There are no better days coming. The best Joe can do is whisper about Bernie and attack Pete while he (Joe) hides behind Barack.
Joe has no accomplishments. That's the reality of everything. All those years in the Senate where he made himself known as the senator who was in love with his own voice and couldn't stop talking. What did he accomplish? Nothing. Then he was put into the ceremonial position of vice president and achieved nothing there either.
A lifelong record that has nothing anyone can point to with pride.
That's part of the reason for the questioning of his character.
Then there are the ludicrous remarks he and other Bidens make about family and how important it is -- as they ignore their grandchild. Hunter remains a Deadbeat Dad. One month of child support -- that's not even the sum he should be paying -- does not erase that.
Hunter's also got IRS issues.
And Joe's running for president?
Yes, it does go to character and that's what voters say.
How can someone be as rich and privileged as Hunter Biden and still be a deadbeat dad?
That family is awful.
This is not an issue in the past, grasp that.
Times have changed. If this was Hunter being a Deadbeat Dad in the 80s or even 90s, people could say it wasn't good but we're in different times now.
Hunter is a Deadbeat Dad right now. He's still not turned over the financial documents to the court. This is active.
This is not a past embarrassment, this an ongoing issue. He fathered a child. He lied about that. He lied that he never had sex with the woman. DNA proved he was the father. He's still refusing to turn over financial documents. He's claiming he's broke as he rents a mini-mansion in Ben Affleck's neighborhood and tools around in a rented Porsche. He can't pay child support but he can party, can't he?
Again, this is not something anyone can say, "Well that was a few years back and he regrets his actions and he has learned from them."
No.
These are ongoing issues and they speak to the character of both Hunter Biden and his father Joe. Joe's trying to get sympathy. He's talking about his stutter and we're all supposed to cry. First off, I believe he has a stammer and not a stutter. Second, insert any Joan Rivers' joke about THE KING'S SPEECH. It's a desperate ploy for sympathy and it's being received that way. (Remember, we are in New Hampshire and have been throughout January. We aren't going home until after the New Hampshire primary. That's next Tuesday.)
Yesterday, CBS NEWS spoke with South Carolina's Andy Shain (bureau chief of POST AND COURIER). Guess what? "Joe Biden's lead in South Carolina is slipping." Who could have guessed? Uh, right here. We talked about how these were soft numbers that would fade. People are moving beyond name recognition. From 31% ahead of all rivals (in May), he's now fallen to a 5% lead over Bernie Sanders.
Miranda Devine (NEW YORK POST) offers:
Michael Bloomberg wants to capitalize on the Democratic implosion in Iowa by doubling his already eye-watering advertising budget. Bloomberg has laid out $300 million and reportedly is willing to spend upwards of $1 billion to buy the presidency.
But, as President Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, says, if money were all that mattered, “Hillary Clinton would have won in 2016” because she outspent Trump by 4 to 1.
Money didn’t do much for no-name rich guy Tom Steyer, either. He has spent more than $150 million, which bought him every billboard near the Des Moines airport, but left him down among the weeds with less than 1 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses, at latest count.
In Iraq, the protests continue. Also continuing? The attacks on the protesters.
In a statement, @USEmbBaghdad says Iraqi government has an "obligation to put an end to this thuggery, which includes the kidnapping & assassination of civil activists and journalists, as well as beatings, use of live fire, and the burning of tents at peaceful demonstrations."
8 shot dead and more than 160 wounded in Najaf, after Sadr supporters storm anti-government protest camps, torch tents:
Clashes in Iraq’s Najaf kill 6 after cleric’s followers storm protest camp
TRT WORLD reports:
At least eight people were killed in clashes in Iraq's southern city of Najaf on Wednesday after supporters of populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed an anti-government protest camp, medical and security sources said.
The medical sources said at least 20 more were wounded in the violence but did not provide further details.
The security sources said that supporters of Sadr, known as blue hats for the blue caps they often wear, had tried to clear the area of anti-government protesters, who in turn tried to stop them.
: horrible night in 
Protestor video from #Najaf after clashes with Sadr supporters. Sadr's 'blue hats' - followers and security enforcers - moved in to suppress #Iraq's anti-government protests after Muqtada Sadr, now in #Iran, threw his support behind Iraq's prime minister designate. #IraqProtests
At least 8 PPL were killed in clashes in #Iraq-city of #Najaf after supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr stormed anti-government protest camp
Supporters of Sadr, known as blue hats wear, had tried 2 clear area of anti-government protesters, who in turn tried to stop them
#IraqiProtests
A hospital source tells ANADOLU AGENCY that the number wounded was actually over 120. MIDDLE EAST MONITOR ONLINE observes, "It marked the bloodiest episode yet in the escalating tensions between Sadr, a militiaman-turned-politician with a cult-like following across Iraq, and decentralised rallies that have demanded regime change since October." And ANADOLU AGENCY reports, "Meanwhile, in Babil, one person was killed after the Blue Hats attacked protesters in the central Iraqi city." Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) reports:
Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi ordered an investigation on Thursday into the killing of seven protesters in the holy city of Najaf following clashes with supporters of populist Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr.
The events on Wednesday night marked the bloodiest episode yet in escalating tensions between followers of Mr Al Sadr and anti-government demonstrators who have demanded an overhaul of the entire political system since October.
Does anyone take that investigation seriously?
The following sites updated:
