#he serves on the small council in some minor role as the commander of the city watch

[wackygoofball]

Moodboard - Jaime x Brienne - Queen Brienne AU

After the death of Aerys Targaryen at the hands of a man of his own Kingsguard, the battle over the Iron Throne ravages across the Seven Kingdoms. The smallfolk suffers for the ambition of the lords and ladies with their eyes set on the crown.

Despite their efforts and the sheer endless bloodshed, no contestant can take the Iron Throne. Instead, the wars continue to not just empty their armies but also their purses. And so, the rivaling alliances come together for parley to discuss what to do with this war-ridden nation.

After the discussions are over, the unexpected surprise is that a new ruler for the Seven Kingdoms is declared by all rivaling parties:

Brienne of Tarth, daughter to the late Evenstar, a plain girl not yet of age and no political ambition or knowledge. Perhaps most surprised about that decision is Brienne herself, when news reach her just what honor was bestowed upon her. She is brought to the capital and is crowned in front of the former contestants for the Iron Throne almost in a rush.

Assigned to her protection is none other than the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister. A young man turned bitter ever since he slew Aerys Targaryen and since has not just the stigma of dishonor sticking to his white cloak but also the scorns and misgiving of the people who only see in him a man without honor. Brienne, for her part, is little impressed with the man, acting as though she was a fool for ever agreeing to take the crown. As though that was an alternative.

Brienne soon finds herself confronted with the harsh reality her protector lays out in not at all kind words. There is only one reason for her being Queen: The rivaling parties, their resources for war depleted, understood that they could not afford to continue the fight. And so, they settled for a royal candidate they believed could easily be overthrown. An ugly girl from a minor House, without her father’s protection and no good prospects of marriage or an heir, not just for matters of her age but also her looks and character, the Maid of Tarth. The moment the contestants for the Iron Throne have gathered new strengths, of that Jaime is sure, they will usurp her. Brienne is merely there to keep that uncomfortable chair warm until one of them sits down on it in her stead.

The young Queen will not give in without a fight, though. Her father raised her better than that. So long she sits the Iron Throne, she shall rule as justly as she can and protect her people from men and women only ever driven by their own ambition.

But the hardships just carry on without abandon, despite Brienne’s best efforts to grow into the role as the Queen of Westeros. The people don’t much care about her. She hardly knows how to speak in front of a crowd and cannot impress with her sheer beauty or grace. No one is as much as considering alliance with her, which leaves Brienne to run a country massively indebted and with no support to aid her people still suffering from the aftermath of the last war after the death of Aerys Targaryen.

Even her Small Council won’t fill with anyone beside Jaime’s brother Tyrion who is the only one to answer the Queen’s call. After all, why would you side with a Queen you know is not meant to last?

While Jaime finds her efforts admirable, he simply feels done with this whole ordeal, the game of thrones. He killed a man, so half a million could live, and still they scorn and laugh behind his back. His best act is his worst. And the Queen he is now sworn to protect makes it very hard for him to fulfill his solemn duty. Not only does she tend to sneak away in men’s clothes to the tourneys or to walk amongst her people in disguise, but she shows no trust in him as a member of her Queensguard.

On a journey to the Twins to meet with the recently proclaimed King in the North Ned Stark, Jaime lets her know some truths about how he became a member of the Kingsguard, how Aerys just wanted to spite his father with the act, how he did it for an ill love for his sister stuck at Storm’s End now, how people would have burned, had he not acted. And for the first time in his life, he dares to trust someone with his story, with himself. And to his even greater shock, for once, she does not push him away or call him a man without honor.

An attempt on the lives of both the King in the North and the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms is a fortune they barely dodge. Though as a result, a truce is born between the North and the remaining kingdoms, as Brienne wins Ned Stark’s trust by defending his family at the risk of her own life.

Though that solves only few problems. Many lords and ladies disagree with a King in the North staying in power. Thus, not much is gained out of the alliance that may secure Brienne’s throne. Not that the young Queen cares.

Honor compelled her, after all.

In the aftermath, Brienne decrees a change to the old rules and protocols: No man of a Kingsgaurd or now Queensguard should be forced to swear fealty for life. Not all rulers are good, and so, the Queensguard should not be forced to defend a bad King but protect the realm instead. As a result, a man of her Queensguard can choose to resign at any time. Brienne is fully aware that she is thus giving way to Jaime to resign and likely chase the ghosts of old awaiting him in the Stormlands. After all, as he told her, we don’t get to choose who we love. And Brienne cannot, in good conscience, choose to take that choice away from anyone.

To her great shock, however, she finds Jaime training the youths the very next day, with no intention to leave. Instead, he asks her to make him Lord Commander, as Barristan Selmy was gravely injured at the battle at the Twins and cannot continue his service to her. Brienne agrees to his choice and chooses him as her new Lord Commander.

Time seems to fly and moons turn to years that heal some of the wounds of the nation, but the heat of the fires of war is barely crackling beneath the surface of a fragile peace. Jaime is increasingly worried about his Queen. With only one person not against her - and yet no ally ready to ride into battle for her throne - Brienne is exposed to great dangers even a sword can’t protect her from. Jaime, since fully committed to not just her safety but to his Queen, is desperate to keep her safe.

While she is perhaps the most stubborn woman he ever met, Jaime long since harbors romantic feelings for her. Though Jaime knows he couldn’t possibly admit his feelings to her, let alone act upon them. Even if times weren’t as dangerous, Jaime fears that if he were to confess his true feelings and wishes, he would lose what he gained throughout the years: Her trust in him and his honor. Because he’d rather run away with Brienne, to where no one could find them, build a house, have a family, and grow old together. But for that, she’d have to forsake her vow to her country. And Jaime knows he couldn’t possibly ask of her to betray her vows for him without losing her.

As much as it pains him, well aware of Brienne’s own misgiving to such an idea, Jaime advises her to seek alliance through marriage. It is one of the few devices she has left to secure her throne. With a great House to support her, she may stand a chance against the impending war. And if she has an heir, too, all the more.

Brienne shows little care for his suggestion, though, readying herself for a fight instead of wedlock. After all, she is the Knight Queen in the eyes of everyone already. She once had a suitor who only ever sought her father’s riches. And Brienne won’t let herself be reduced to someone keeping the throne warm for a man to serve the duty she has fulfilled ever since the crown was put upon her head. Brienne understands that the people don’t love her, that no lord will ever desire her and choose to be by her side with all of himself, so Brienne will have to do it on her own.

She will fight to keep her vow, or die in the attempt.

Though her decision against an alliance by marriage is not only tied to her suspicion of any suitor’s true intentions. After all, her heart does no longer beat solely for her people, it also beats all the faster for the one man who went through all those hardships with her throughout the years, despite his reputation inspiring little confidence. Even if Brienne wanted to, she couldn’t say the words, take a vow she can only ever mean for her Lord Commander, her best advisor, her friend, her one true love. But she knows it is a futile kind of love, the way it always seems to be for her. And tempting as it may be to envision a life with him by her side, Brienne fears that her love for him may make her forsake her vows to her nation. Because she’d love him more. And Brienne wants to be the Queen he believes in.

After all, isn’t love the death of honor?

And so, while the war parties ready themselves for the next dance of blood and ashes, the Knight Queen and her Lord Commander must not only battle their own feelings but fight together to safeguard that which they swore to protect.

But in the game of thrones, you either live or die playing this most vicious game. So it may well be that their happier times of the past and their small prospects of a merrier future may well turn into faded memories in teh face of a long night...

Additional image sources: The Hollow Crown and The White Queen

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Re: Star Wars prequel novelizations - the Revenge of the Sith book is genuinely one of the best things I have ever read and changed my life.

THANK YOU, anon, for reminding me about the Revenge of the Sith novelization.  I just reread it, and my crops are watered, my skin is clear, and — I cannot overstate this — I actually remember why I love Star Wars.  That love has been for too long stolen by The Fandom Menace sucking the life out of those movies to invent a new definition of suffering while digesting them slowly over a thousand years.

Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover is one of the greatest works of adventure fiction I have ever read, and it continues to inspire the way I write action sequences and character conflicts.  It does so damn much to transform a movie that is, to be honest, just okay.  There are a couple of big additions from the novel that make the whole Skywalker saga richer, and there are about five hundred little tweaks that deepen the lore in a way that shows that Stover loves Star Wars to the core.

First big addition: having Obi-Wan tell Padmé that he’s in love with Anakin. This is great because yay, queer representation!  But within the specific context of RotS, it also sets up the super-important contrast between Obi-Wan and Anakin.  Obi-Wan, Stover’s novel makes clear, is the quiet and unassuming embodiment of everything a Jedi is supposed to be: he’s selfless, loving, hard-working, and incredibly skilled with the Force.  Obi-Wan falls in love with Anakin, realizes that Anakin doesn’t love him back in that way, and... lives with it.  He spends time with Anakin, supports Anakin, enjoys Anakin’s company, and doesn’t act like the world will end if Anakin isn’t his.

Anakin loves Obi-Wan, in a siblinglike way, and he loves Padmé.  But he’s got a nasty habit of expressing that love through possession and control, through going behind Padmé’s back to “fix” her life without her permission.  Anakin falls in love with Padmé and immediately concludes that he cannot possibly live like this: they must begin a secret relationship, and he must both marry her and remain a Jedi.  Later he destroys the Jedi and eventually Padmé herself because he sees himself as having no way out of that dilemma.

And all the while, Obi-Wan is there in the background.  Also in love with someone with whom he cannot have a relationship, and just… dealing with it like an adult.  Because millions of people are in love with people who don’t love them back, and that’s just how it is sometimes.  It’s selfish to obsess over “having” their love at all costs.  For Anakin, that obsession with saving Obi-Wan and Padmé eventually leads to him killing them both.

When Yoda tells Anakin that he must deal with his fear of losing Padmé through letting go, Anakin takes this to mean “let her die.”  But what Yoda means is not “let her die,” but rather “love her the way Obi-Wan loves you: quietly, selflessly, and with a willingness to do what’s best for her, whether or not that means you get to have her.”  And Anakin never understands that, because Anakin’s view of the world is so intensely egocentric.

Second big addition: updating the Force to explain the Dark Side. Revenge of the Sith, even more so than any other Star Wars, is all about the contrast between the Dark Side and the Light Side.  Here, Stover’s contribution is brilliant; he makes the Dark Side egocentric and the Light allocentric.

Terminology! “Egocentric” in psych refers to the perspective that focuses on how the world affects you and how you affect the world.  At the extreme, egocentric thinking can be believing that a baby is crying in a deliberate effort to annoy you, or that every person in a crowded cafeteria will remember what shirt you wore when you ate there a week ago.  “Allocentric” refers to the perspective that the self is one of several disparate elements buffered around by the world.  At the extreme, allocentric thinking can be failing to realize that others are reacting to your presence, or viewing your own life as one thing you can give to help others.

Stover doesn’t use those terms, but he does describe how Dooku “drew power into his innermost being until the Force itself existed only to serve his will” (p. 64).  Later, Obi-Wan “gave himself to the living Force… the Force moved him, let him collapse as though he’d suddenly fainted, then it brought his lightsaber from his belt to his hand” (p. 285).  Dooku ultimately loses his fight against Anakin because he focuses on how everyone is responding to him, and misses that Anakin and Palpatine are beginning to build an alternate alliance right under his nose.  Obi-Wan ultimately wins his fight against Anakin because he allows the Force to shove him around, and sets aside his concern with both his own life and that of his best friend while fighting for the greater goal of peace.

Not only that, but Obi-Wan’s understanding of the Force moves beyond that of most Jedi.  He compares “the will of the Force” to “the will of gravity,” in essence stating that simply because it is beyond human comprehension doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own rules.  One can be a Jedi without needing to understand the Force in the same way one can be a pilot without needing to be a physicist.  In RotS, we see that his refrain of “search your feelings” is a way of calling on a Force user to be mindful enough to accept realities that are already evident, if one can only allow oneself to have that knowledge.

Stover also uses these competing perspectives — allocentric and egocentric — to explain why the Jedi Order falls.  The tight control the Order exerts over the Jedi moves them away from the will of the Force and toward the will of the Council.  Its insularity creates a sense of superiority, which is the reason so many Jedi fail to see their clone troopers as threats until it’s too late. Stover tweaks the Jedi Purge scene to emphasize that the only reason Obi-Wan and Yoda survive is because of their selflessness.  Obi-Wan takes the time to befriend his alien mount, repeatedly confirming her well-being, and then she shields him with her body when his troopers open fire.  Yoda respects the Wookie command and puts himself in a position to assist rather than lead the resistance movement on Kashyyyk, meaning that when a fight breaks out between him and his troopers the Wookies don’t hesitate to side with him.  Yoda and Obi-Wan are the only two Jedi who truly give themselves to the service of others, and thus they are the only two to survive the Purge.

...and the million little favors this book does for the movie.

During the opening battle, having Obi-Wan tell Anakin to “use the Force” to fly a narrow trench and having Anakin roll his eyes at such an obvious suggestion.  It’s a callback to A New Hope, but one that drives home how much more the Force is integrated in the lives of Old Republic Jedi than it is in the lives of Imperial kids like Luke.

Fixing the minor continuity error from Episode III to Episode IV — why would Admiral Motti dismiss Vader as following outdated superstitions if there were millions of Jedi within his lifetime? — by explicitly stating that the Sith are considered a dead culture.  Ergo, Vader’s “ancient religion” isn’t the Force in general; it’s specifically the Sith creed.

Making Palpatine scarier and more seductive than he is in the movie.  Stover’s rhetoric about killing even the Jedi children is frighteningly rational and coherent, and he uses it to give Palpatine some stomach-churning speeches while corrupting Anakin.

Using the novel format for all it’s worth.  Stover skims over the physical-comedy elevator sequence in favor of having Dooku and Palpatine discussing their plans for the war.  He only tells us about Anakin’s conversation with Yoda after the fact, in scattered flashes as a panicking Anakin runs through the halls of the Jedi temple.  He gives us intense focus on Anakin’s mindset while trying to land the broken halves of Invisible Hand, less on what the ship itself is doing.  He cuts away from Anakin and Obi-Wan’s final battle, toward R2D2 and C3PO as they struggle to drag a dying Padmé into her ship out of a desperation to find some small way to help her.

Revealing that Palpatine spends the entire story trying to kill Obi-Wan.  This gets hinted at in the movie, but Stover includes several moments throughout Palpatine’s “rescue” from Dooku when Palpatine sets Obi-Wan up to die, and mentions like eight other attempts on Obi-Wan’s life as orchestrated by Palpatine.  It’s a great character addition, that Palpatine assumes he cannot get Anakin to fall unless he first eliminates Obi-Wan.

Expanding Padmé’s role in the movie (set dressing, and later refrigerator filling) by having her secretly organize and launch the Rebel Alliance right under Vader and Palpatine’s noses.

Those are just examples of how Stover clearly knows the Force, gets the Force, and strives to make the Force more internally coherent.  How he sometimes translates, sometimes preserves, and always improves the pacing and tone of the film.

I haven’t even touched on the FUCKING AMAZEBALLS imagery or introspection in the book yet, but this post is getting wicked long, so I’ll go ahead and leave it here for now.  Point is, all y’all should go out immediately and get a copy from your library and/or used bookstore, because Nonny is right and it’ll change your life.

[semicolonthefifth]

Colonial Military General of the Aurora Station: Ethan Redding

Once serving several famous land-based skirmishes and battles against the Kronian Empire on both theirs and the UROE’s own systems, General Ethan Redding considered a late retirement from active service. “I’ve seen enough action, and frankly my feet are tired from all the moving.” He’s admitted, “I can leave it to more capable hands.” Honored, he was let go and sent back to his homeworld of Aurora to get some rest from the warring. Unfortunately, not long after, he was given a request by the Colonial Office of the UROE - as a temporary security officer over the colonization of the arid planet of Aurora. Not quite used to his retirement yet, he accepted the position in the hopes that the job would be uneventful.

Like everyone else, he expected no sentient life on the planet. Early scans showed no intelligent signs of life, with the most interesting sightings being reptilian creatures that roamed the vast red-colored deserts. Settlements were quickly made, and Redding mostly sat in his office to hand out the standard patrol and recon routes for his fellow officers. Things were calm with no issues dealing with the local fuana - yet this all soon changed when the native populace was discovered: the Deltan - giant, humanoid beings who live and breath like the ancient swordsmen of old Earth history. The discovery erupted from the colony and outward to the rest of the UROE systems, bringing both excitement and curiosity. Redding, meanwhile, was busy having to calm down the colonists, only for that act to be interrupted by UROE command who had a new task for the retired General: make first contact with the Deltans. After some personal debate, he set out to accomplish this mission with a small group of troops and civilian volunteers, and with a meeting in a clearing between them and a trio of Deltan natives. This meeting would be remembered as a major success, although a journal from Redding would recall it as, “--a laugh for the natives. They had fun, so that’s good.”

Over 2 years, as the Deltan and Human languages were shared, Redding would reluctantly become fast friends among the Deltans. In particular with their leadership, the honored Great Mother and her wedded partner, the titled “War God” Avgnar Baal. They enjoyed his stories of war-time success, as well found his calm, understated explanation of human civilization to be fascinating. There was a moment when things would turn hostile when the Kronian Empire landed on the planet and made contact, with fear that war would stretch onto this new planet. However, to everyone’s surprise, the Empress of the Kronian Empire was eager to know these natives herself. In a now iconic image, a photo was made of a meeting between General Redding, the Great Mother, Avgnar Baal, and Empress Waltraud - all of them sat down in calm discussion before the Aurora landscape. Unfortunately this peace would not last.

2 years since first contact, and war was coming close. Despite public knowledge, interactions between these three factions wasn’t entirely peaceful. The Deltan’s clan-based government brought plenty of issues, where some smaller clans would often attack human/Kronian camps for their supplies or land. Humans and Kronians, with little knowledge of Deltan customs and territory, were constantly making insults towards the natives with how they developed their colonies. Eventually, it all came tumbling when the Kronian Empire expanded deeply into Deltan lands, prompting a declaration of war by several Deltan clans. This war would spread into human owned colonies, which forced Redding to again take the role of General, and to fight against the growing Deltan threat. This war would barely last a year before a morale-destroying defeat in Satta land forced the Deltans to surrender.

Avgnar Baal would become missing from the final battle, and the Great Mother had to act as the face of her people’s surrender. Initial treaties were harsh towards the Deltans, with the Empress Waltraud demanding either full or majority surrender of Deltan lands to both themselves and the humans. This was talked down to only a minor 10% of Deltan lands, as the Kronian Council and UROE saw no reason to enact such a deal. However, this change did include an execution of the Great Mother, who made the claim of full responsibility over the initial hostile actions made by her people. With the Empress Waltraud and most war council members in agreement, despite a strong impassioned refusal by Redding, the decision was made: the Great Mother would be executed by firing squad, with the act organized by Redding.

General Redding would later hold an ineffective position over the further colonization of Aurora. His command was criticized heavily when thieving and corruption grew from the growing colonies, especially as he seemed to take no action to stop them. After 12 years of service working for the colony, he was let go for retirement; then when 3 years passed, just 15 years after first contact was made, he died from an illness. His final journal entrees still mentioned Aurora even in his last days alive.

Nearly a millenia after, General Ethan Redding would be remembered as an incompetent, war-hungry buffoon: who was a weak leader for both the colony and its wars, as well becoming the face for the terrible deeds done to the Deltan people.

[isadomna]

Queen Katherine set out from Greenwich, with her husband and six hundred archers dressed in long, white, wide-sleeved gabardine coats and caps, on 15 June 1513. They travelled in small stages south towards Dover. There in the castle overlooking the sea, Katherine was formally appointed Queen Governor of the Realm. She was aged about 28 and was, by then, vastly experienced in her own right as a diplomat, princess and queen. Her upbringing in Spain at the side of her mother, Queen Isabella of Castile, had coloured her childhood with high politics and war.

As soon as her husband set sail for the English port of Calais, from where he was finally to launch his campaign against the French, she was to rule in his place or, rather, in his name. She could raise armies, appoint sheriffs, approve most church appointments and spend money exactly as she wished. Henry declared that he was leaving the English people in the care of a woman whose ‘honour, excellence, prudence, forethought and faithfulness’ could not be doubted. They, in turn, were instructed to obey her every command. A small council was left behind to advise her. With power now in her hands, it was time to say goodbye. Katherine and her ladies ‘made such sorrow for the departing of their lords and husbands, that it was great dolor [pain] to behold’. Most of the army was already across the other side of the Channel.

Governing England in Henry’s absence now occupied her days. There were felons to be pardoned, prebends, canons and bailiffs to be appointed, lands and annuities to be handed out, the estates of the recently deceased countess of Somerset to be dealt with and a long-running administrative spat between the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of Winchester to be resolved. She also, from a distance, dealt with the affairs of Calais, in Henry’s rearguard. Letters, patents, grants and writs now carried ‘teste Katerina Anglie Regina’ (‘witnessed by Catherine, Queen of England’) rather than the ‘Teste me ipso’ (‘I have witnessed this’) of Henry. She signed them ‘Katherine [or Katherina] the Qwene’. 

Katherine had pressed for war, but she was still worried that her glory-seeking husband would behave recklessly, placing himself in unnecessary danger. Shortly after he had sailed she wrote to his almoner, Thomas Wolsey, anxiously begging for weekly letters to reassure her that her hot-headed husband was safe. She also wrote to her former sister-in-law Margaret of Austria, who was now regent of the Netherlands, begging her to send a doctor to be at hand for her husband. Katherine felt safer once Margaret’s father, the Emperor Maximilian – basically serving as a paid mercenary but still a far more experienced fighter than Henry – appeared at the scene of battle. Her hope now, she told Wolsey, was that ‘with his good counsel, his grace [Henry] shall not adventure himself so much as I was afraid of before’.

In August and September, Queen Katherine was faced with an invasion from the Scots, led by her brother-in-law James IV, who was married to Henry’s sister Margaret Tudor. James had threatened war with England if Henry went to war with France. Henry even recruited his sister to try to persuade her husband not to invade England while he was away in France. At the same time, Anne of Brittany, Queen of France was writing James, asking him to be her knight in shining armor and attack England. In the end, against the advice of his councilors, James decided to attack England. In August of 1513, James IV’s herald presented King Henry VIII with a written declaration of war. The king of Scotland was actually excommunicated by the Pope for breaking the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with England.

Katherine started preparing in July, as soon as news reached her that James IV of Scotland was mustering a large army. Early in August she demanded to know why the mayor and sheriffs of Gloucester had not responded to her letters asking how many men and horses they could supply. ‘News from the Borders show that the king of Scots means war,’ she said. There was no time for dallying. She ordered them to answer within fifteen days. In mid-August Katherine wrote light-heartedly to Wolsey asking him to tell Henry that ‘all his subjects be very glad, I thank God, to be busy with the Scots, for they take it for [a] pastime’. Katherine was not intimidated. She relished the challenge coming her way and had thrown herself fully into organising England’s defence. ‘My heart is very good to it,’ she said excitedly in a letter to Wolsey signed nine days before James led his army of up to thirty thousand men across the River Tweed. One of his first actions was to attack and take Norham Castle, belonging to the bishop of Durham. James had to be stopped before he marched farther south. 

Surrey and his sons, Edmund and Thomas Howard, were in position by the beginning of September; their army gathered near Newcastle ready to march toward the enemy. Sir Thomas Lovell had another army at Nottingham; Katherine and her council had gathered a third in the south just in case the worst happened and James somehow got through the other two. The Queen was well prepared. She had been busy and not just, as she coyly told Wolsey, ‘making standards, banners and badges’. Katherine sent ten thousand pounds, a considerable sum of money, north to be guarded (and, presumably, used for war expenses) by the Abbot of St Mary, near York. She also sent artillery, gunners and a fleet of eight ships, including the Mary Rose, which carried additional troops, towards the Scottish border. Grain, pipes of beer, rope, cables and suits of light armour were also shipped north. For her first line of defence she would rely on the earl of Surrey and the troops he was raising in the northern counties, together with those that had arrived by sea. James had a large army, however, backed by some recently delivered and formidable modern French artillery. 

Documents were drawn up, meanwhile, to declare Scotsmen living in England to be ‘enemies’; but that all Scotsmen that have married English women and have children may remain. All others would have their goods seized and their persons banished under penalty of their lives. All Frenchmen to have their goods forfeited and be committed to prison if they dwell near the sea coast; or else, if they dwell inland, to find sureties. Henry VIII  – flush from his minor triumphs in France – decided to send Katherine one of his more illustrious captives, the duke of Longueville. Katherine was about to set off northwards towards the Scottish threat herself. The duke and six others with him would just have to stay in the Tower of London for a few weeks.

As the Scottish threat grew, in a letter dated 2 September to Thomas Wolsey in France, Katherine revealed that she was ready to head northwards. These short notes show that Katherine personally led what was left of the king’s artillery towards the North. In early September Katherine wrote to the Great Wardrobe (the central store of royal clothing and equipment behind Baynard’s Castle in London) demanding delivery of banners, standards and pennants for those who would march north with her. A herald and a pursuivant, dressed up in the coats of arms of England, were also to travel with her. It would be the herald’s job to deliver any formal battle challenges or other messages she might care to send the Scottish king. She took 1500 suits of armour, called Almain Rivets, on her journey – all part of her direct responsibility for organising England’s deep defence. Finally, so she might display a suitable amount of magnificence, six trumpeters with their trumpet banners were to accompany her. 

Katherine began to move north with a body of troops variously described as ‘a great power’ or a ‘numerous force’. At this time she also ordered up a golden ‘headpiece with crown’, and had both a light sallet helmet and a rounded, broad-brimmed shapewe helmet (rather like an armoured sun hat) especially garnished – presumably with gold or jewels. There is no record of her being seen in armour.  ‘Our queen also took the field against the Scots with a numerous force one hundred miles from here,’ reported a London-based Venetian. Peter Martyr, Katherine’s old professor, heard that “Queen Katherine, in imitation of her mother Isabel and imbued by the spirit of her father … made a splendid oration to the English captains, told them to be ready to defend their territory, that the Lord smiled upon those who stood in defence of their own, and they should remember English courage excelled that of all other nations”.

In the invasion crises of the previous reign, Henry VII had gathered his power at Kenilworth castle. In 1513, nearby Warwick was the destination of the queen, her guns and likely muster point for Lovell’s troops. Instead of seeking refuge in the secure Tower of London and letting her husband’s councillors take the lead, Katherine’s decisive action moved her closer to danger and confirmed her role as national commander. She would not have been involved in any battle that might have occurred had the Scots broken through on the border, but her determination to be nearby to organise the country’s stretched resources sent all the right signals to the people she temporarily ruled.

Prior to Sean Cunningham’s find, historians had only known that Katherine was in Buckingham, around 60 miles north of London, when she received word of Surrey’s victory. But the new evidence suggests that the queen intended to travel further north, if not directly into battle like Joan of Arc, then at least into the vicinity of combat. James IV’s army was routed at Flodden Field, near the Northumberland village of Branxton. The fighting, which began in the afternoon of September 9, was ferocious. Courageous men on both sides fell in bloody hand-to-hand combat, but gradually the tide turned away from the Scots to leave the English in control of the field. Many of the Scots, or so we read in English accounts, were so “vengeable and cruel in their fighting” that their opponents preferred to kill them rather than capture them alive, contemptuously leaving the corpses naked on the ground. Among the dead was the king: James struggled like a man possessed only to fall within a few feet of the great Surrey himself. The flower of the nobility died with him; so did the Archbishop of St. Andrews, two bishops, and two abbots  and perhaps another eleven thousand or so of the more humble. English losses are estimated to have numbered about one thousand.

The impact of Flodden and its consequences was immediately felt in England. Surrey wrote at once to the Queen, informing her of the victory, and sent her James's banner and the bloody coat he had died in as trophies; Katherine duly sent them on to Henry by a herald. The body taken to London, which had been suitably bowelled, embalmed and cered. Then she gave devout thanks to God for Surrey's success, and returned in triumph to Richmond. On the way, she stayed the night at Woburn Abbey, and it was here that she took time to write to her husband:

Sir, My Lord Howard hath sent me a letter open to your Grace, within one of mine, by the which you shall see at length the great Victory that our Lord hath sent your subjects in your absence; and for this cause there is no need herein to trouble your Grace with long writing, but, to my thinking, this battle hath been to your Grace and all your realm the greatest honor that could be, and more than you should win all the crown of France; thanked be God of it, and I am sure your Grace forgetteth not to do this, which shall be cause to send you many more such great victories, as I trust he shall do. My husband, for hastiness, with Rougecross I could not send your Grace the piece of the King of Scots coat which John Glynn now brings. In this your Grace shall see how I keep my promise, sending you for your banners a king’s coat. I thought to send himself unto you, but our Englishmens’ hearts would not suffer it. It should have been better for him to have been in peace than have this reward. All that God sends is for the best. My Lord of Surrey, my Henry, would fain know your pleasure in the burying of the King of Scots’ body, for he has written to me so. With the next messenger your Grace’s pleasure may be herein known. And with this I make an end, praying God to send you home shortly, for without this no joy here can be accomplished; and for the same I pray, and now go to Our Lady of Walsingham that I promised so long ago to see. At Woburn the 16th of September. I send your Grace herein a bill found in a Scotsman’s purse of such things as the French King sent to the said King of Scots to make war against you, beseeching you to send Mathew hither as soon as this messenger comes to bring me tidings from your Grace. Your humble wife and true servant, Katharine.

Queen Katherine tactfully credits the victory against the Scots to Henry himself. She understood Henry and his desire for glory. Even while engaged in the Scottish campaign, she never forgot to congratulate him fulsomely on all that he did. According to many historians, Katherine had the intention of sending James's body (some even say "head") as a trophy to her husband, but the Englishmen thought it was too crude so she settled his bloodstained coat instead. I think Katherine’s letter is misinterpreted. In my opinion Katherine wanted to send James as a prisoner to France, in exchange for Henry sending her the Duke of Longueville – that’s what she meant by saying she intended to send the king’s person, but the stout ‘English hearts’ would not stand for it (and killed James) so she sent his bloodied coat instead. Katherine did not even dare to order the burial of James’s corpse without Henry’s agreement. She sent a message to Queen Margaret, offering her consolation for a husband killed by her own soldiers. ‘The queen of England, for the love she bears the queen of Scots, would gladly send a servant to comfort her,’ it said. Soon Friar Langley was on his way.

The island of Britain was, temporarily and for the first time, in the hands of two women. Katherine governed England as regent for her husband. It was her task to administer the victory. The newly widowed Margaret ruled in Scotland as protector for her one-year-old son, James V. The infant king had been crowned shortly after his father’s death at what, because of the tears shed for the dead left behind at Flodden, became known as the ‘Mourning Coronation’. Within a fortnight of Flodden, the talk was already of a truce. Katherine’s commanders in the north wrote recommending an end to the war. Many of the remaining Scottish nobles, however, were hankering for revenge and Katherine was asked to decide whether troops should be permanently billeted at certain points near the border. The situation was by no means stable and war could have flared again at any time. 

Katherine continued to oversee negotiations for a truce with the Scots, and showed great skill in her diplomatic messages to her man on the spot, the bishop of Durham. Langley acted as an intermediary in the negotiations for a truce that was not finally signed until the following February. At the same time, Katherine instructed Lord Dacre to assert King Henry’s right to become guardian of his nephew, the young James V of Scotland – potentially re-opening the troubled English claim to overlordship of Scotland. Henry VIII also did his bit to improve relations by begging the pope for permission to bury James IV at St Paul’s, even though the latter had been excommunicated for breaking a papally sanctioned treaty of nonaggression with England.   

Katherine oversaw the unwinding of the war machine, paying soldiers’ and sailors’ wages and signing off on the costs of artillery, shipping and transport. Even while at Walsingham, where she would have walked the last mile to the Virgin Mary’s shrine barefoot, she still had to oversee the day-to-day running of a country where domestic worries began to take precedence. The plague, for example, was killing three or four hundred Londoners a day. Although proud of the Scottish defeat and her own performance as regent, Katherine wanted Henry home. There would be “noo joye” here without him, she confided. On 21 October Henry sailed from Calais to Dover. He rushed eagerly home to Katherine, riding ‘in post’ to Richmond ‘where was such a loving meeting that every creature rejoiced’. They were back together again, this time as a pair of young conquerors. 

There had been rumours that she was pregnant and had lost a child while Henry was away. Now was a good time to start again. According to Julia Fox we cannot know whether those ambassadors who stated that she gave birth in the autumn of 1513 were right, but it is doubtful. Certainly no baby or miscarriage is mentioned in her correspondence, and it seems unlikely that she would have risked a much-wanted child by accompanying the army from London. But her mother, Isabella I of Castile, despite being pregnant rode with the troops.  

At that stage of her life, as Henry’s regime sent thousands of English soldiers to fight on the Scottish border, in France and at sea, Katherine was an ideal partner for her dynamic and aggressive husband. The chamber books and related papers can still offer much to deepen our understanding of how Henry and Katherine’s marriage developed, changed and soured over the following 25 years – a relationship that came to have a powerful influence on the course of the nation’s history.  

Sources:

Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s Spanish Queen by Giles Tremlett

Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, Volumen 1 by J. S. Brewer

https://tudorsandotherhistories.wordpress.com/2015/09/09/a-field-of-blood-and-glory-flodden-field/

https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2012/10/27/the-battle-of-flodden/

https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/katherine-of-aragon-and-an-army-for-the-north-in-1513/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-catherine-aragon-led-englands-armies-victory-over-scotland-180975982/#.X4wBqV0fcr4.twitter

[sheikah]

How would you LOVE for Game of Thrones to end vs how you would expect it to realistically end?

Sorry I took so long to answer this! I first received it out of town and then got so many more asks that were quick and easy answers. This is one I really wanted to take my time with haha. 

Okay, so I would LOVE for Game of Thrones to end in a way that is totally not consistent with its tone thus far so I know this won’t happen. I put this disclaimer here as a filter for the long string of wet blanket anons who love to come into my inbox and tell me all of the problems with my answers even when those answers are meant to be in good fun, and not to be taken seriously–like this one haha. 

So in my happy fantasy ending (that we know will never happen, okay?), the WW are dead. Jon and Dany’s season-long relationship has lead to an unexpected (for them at least) pregnancy. Dany has a baby girl. This is not a problem because they are both alive to assert that their daughter will have full rights to inherit any titles they hold upon their death, because if anyone thinks the “men first” inheritance rules are bullshit, it’s Dany. Baby is named Lyanna. Bite me, I love this name and the idea of Jon wanting to name his daughter after the mother he never knew but later learned of. 

Speaking of that, Jon comes to terms with his Targaryen roots when he learns of them. At first he feels strange about his familial connection to Dany but his affection for her overcomes any weirdness since as we all know, cousins and other family members often wed in this universe. If anything, their shared blood gives both Jon and Dany a renewed sense of belonging with one another. Jon no longer feels like the cast off or bastard, and Dany takes comfort in the fact that she is not the last dragon after all, and that she and Jon can carry on her family’s special bloodline together. 

But Jon is still a Stark at heart, and he is the planner, the pragmatist, and the surly one in the relationship. Dany is still fiery, temperamental, and passionate. But she is even more compassionate and together they are very happy. They get married without frills while they are still in the North, because Jon keeps the Old Gods and I love Northern wedding ceremonies :) 

Instead of ruling the 7k as king and queen, they both desire a quieter life after everything they’ve been through. Dany’s main prerogative is to leave the world better than she found it, and she can do that without being queen of the 7k. This makes sense because the Iron Throne both visually and literally is a seat for one, not for a happy, functioning couple. So Dany and Jon take up residence at Dragonstone to raise their family while remaining close enough to King’s Landing to still be involved in the governance of the realm. Dany serves as a representative of sorts who periodically travels to King’s Landing along with other prominent survivors to discuss important business. 

Her dothraki are complicated. I suppose they could have a good life in the South, where the landscape isn’t so different from the dothraki sea. They breed the best horses in the realm. The Unsullied stay at Dragonstone as Dany and Jon’s personal guard.

Tyrion travels between King’s Landing and Casterly Rock, and serves in a position something like a prime minister, overseeing and calling the aforementioned meetings of representatives together. He also oversees the people who hold important “small council” style positions. There is still a master of coin, etc, and a bank. Things still have to function. It’s not a utopia. Varys lives in KL as well and is still our favorite gossip and to some extent shares governance with Tyrion as he did in Meereen while Dany was gone.

Jaime stays in King’s Landing with Tyrion, who he managed to reconcile with after Cersei’s death. I’m going to say that Jaime finally wised up and saw Cersei’s role in the deaths of all their children and fulfilled the prophecy by killing her himself. Since I will always see Jaime as a man who loves to fight, he will serve as something between the commander of the City Watch and the commander of what was the Kingsguard, because Tyrion and other government officials will still need protection. 

Brienne, whose life’s goal it has been to serve honorably and to serve someone deserving, stays in Winterfell where she protects Sansa, the Lady of Winterfell. Sansa is married to Podrick Payne, and she doesn’t care at all that people reading this are freaking out about how he isn’t enough of a noble and it isn’t an advantageous marriage. Because Sansa always wanted a handsome, gallant knight to sweep her off her feet. And who better than the truly adorable and perfect cinnamon that is Pod? Not to mention the fact that he is canonically sensational in the sack. Sansa deserves a positive romantic relationship for once in her life. 

I think it’s difficult to choose for Arya because I want so many different things for her. I am not sure if Arya’s character where she stands now would be happy being rooted in one place, if she really would settle down and stay in Winterfell. I see Arya exploring what is left of the world to explore, doing cool shit and always coming back to visit her beloved big brother/cousin, of course :P She also will have Gendry at her side because I will continue shipping Gendrya from beyond the grave lol. Maybe for added fun The Hound joins them on these adventures. That’s a spinoff I would watch the hell out of.

Bran lives at Winterfell with Sansa. I am also on the fence about Bran’s ending. Does he like being the Three-Eyed Raven when all is said and done? Does he want to have visions in peace time? If not, I like to think he would find reprieve from them at Winterfell with his sister. Maybe he’s married to Meera and they have gorgeous children with curly brown hair. God this is so sickeningly sweet and nothing like GoT hahaha I am so sorry. 

Sam finishes his studies at the Citadel and becomes maester at Dragonstone, because there is no longer a Wall and no longer a Night’s Watch. There is nothing to fight off North of The Wall and the Free Folk are now free. Gilly lives with Sam and Little Sam.

The Free Folk have all been given lands in the wide expanse of the North, which has even more room thanks to the catastrophic casualties of the wars we’ve seen through the seasons.

All of these noble houses whose lords are dead are quickly filled with people who were helpful in the war effort, like Davos, Edd, Grey Worm, Missandei (those two are together, of course :P), maybe even Tormund, Theon. 

Speaking of Theon, Euron died in some glorious fashion, a battle at sea, and Yara is queen of the Iron Islands, where there is no more raping and reaving, and my beautiful pirates live well, crafting the best ships for travel throughout Planetos. 

I’m sure I’m forgetting someone but that’s it for now. 

So onto how I think it actually will end. 

I think that the war with the WW will be devastating. The Wall will be totally destroyed and there will be a lot of damage to the North. Winterfell will be okay because the Stark’s always endure, etc etc. King’s Landing will be destroyed.

Again, my honest speculation is that all of our faves can’t possibly live until the end. I think that Jon might die during this war. I don’t want that to happen. But I think it will happen. I will be inconsolable for the rest of my life but I am still trying to be logical about it and manage my expectations haha. 

If Jon does die in battle, I think he and Dany will have conceived a baby before that happened so that the Targaryen line continues on. As I’ve said before I am not sure the Iron Throne will still be a thing at the end so instead of ruling in KL Dany will be queen at Dragonstone and will raise her child, who will probably be a son. 

Since she granted independence to the Iron Islands in the season 6 finale, she will happily let other kingdoms govern themselves if they wish and I imagine whatever is left of Dorne will choose that route, along with the North. 

Alternatively, both Jon and Dany live through the battle. But Dany dies in childbirth, and Jon raises their child at Winterfell. These are two very different predictions, I know. But I just don’t know if George or D&D will be nice enough to let both live haha.

I have a feeling that the remaining Starks will live, but that Sansa will be the one to rule Winterfell and possibly serve as Wardeness of the North if such a title still exists, maybe even QitN, which could be cool. 

If Arya survives, my prediction for her is kind of similar in my fantasy version and real speculation. I don’t see Arya just marrying some lord and I certainly don’t see her just sitting around serving Sansa at Winterfell. I feel that Arya might continue roaming.

I kind of buy into all the fun theories that Bran really is all of those Bran’s throughout history, or that he at least influences them as the Three-Eyed Raven. So I think that Bran will continue to be the Three-Eyed Raven, watching over everyone and staying rooted wherever he has to to do that.

Tyrion will live and so will Varys and like I said in my fun ending I believe that they will manage the government of the realm, but since I think KL will get destroyed, perhaps they do this from Dragonstone as their headquarters. 

I do think that Cersei will die but unlike in my happy fantasy ending I think that Jaime will die too. I hate this but it’s just what I predict. Jaime, especially show!Jaime, seems to base so much of his identity on Cersei that I honestly can’t picture what he would do without her, especially now that all of their children are dead. 

I think that a lot of our minor characters that we love will die in the war, too. Probably The Hound. Maybe Tormund. I could see Brienne going out defending Sansa as much as I would hate that. But I know they’re going to tear at our heartstrings a few more times before this is all through. 

If Davos lives I believe he will be given a lordship somewhere if Jon is dead. If Jon lives, I see him continuing to be Jon’s own sort of “Hand of the King”/adviser/hype man. 

Sam’s story is one that I also see the same in real ending and happy ending. He will finish his studies to be a maester and then serve somewhere, always keeping Gilly with him because “fuck the system” Sam is a thing and I am 100% here for it. 

Theon will die fighting but it will be okay because he can never be the man he was before Ramsay got to him anyway. Euron will eventually be killed but not before wreaking a fuck ton of havoc. He probably kills Theon. Yara gets to rule the Iron Islands but it is not easy and she faces a lot of resistance as their first female ruler. 

If Gendry lives he could possibly be legitimized and be lord of Storm’s End. I would dig that.

I have no idea what to say about the Sand Snakes. No idea.

Drogon and Rhaegal will be the last dragons because their power is too much for any one person to have. Dragons returned to the world with Dany because she uses them for good to fight the WW. But they, and many other traces of magic, will die out from the realm at the close of our story. 

If I’m being realistic I’m sure that Essos will to some extent return to its former lawlessness, but I doubt slavery will ever truly take root their again, especially around the Bay of Dragons :)

Anyway, I wish this was more detailed but I am tired and this answer is already insanely long. I hope it is at least of some interest to you, anon!

[placetobenation]

Lilo and Stitch

Release Date: June 21st, 2002

Inspiration: N/A

Budget: $80 million

Domestic Gross: $145.8 million

Worldwide Gross: $273.1 million

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

IMDB Score: 7.2/10

Storyline (per IMDB): In a place far, far away, illegal genetic experiment #626 is detected: Ruthless scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba has created a strong, intelligent, nearly indestructible and aggressive being with only one known weakness: The high density of his body makes it impossible for the experiment to swim in water. The scientist is sentenced to jail by the Grand Council of the Galactic Federation. The experiment is supposed to be transported to a prison asteroid, yet manages to escape Captain Gantu, who was supposed to deliver him there. With a stolen police cruiser (the red one), the destructive being races towards a little and already doomed planet: Earth. Stranded on Hawaii, experiment #626 can’t actually do much harm: water all around, no big cities and two well-equipped representatives of the Galactic Federation already following close behind to catch him again. But Dr. Jookiba and the Earth expert Pleakley never could have guessed that earth girl Lilo adopts the experiment as dog, gives him …

Pre-Watching Thoughts: We continue on through the 2000s with a pretty interesting film that many consider probably the best film of this decade and one that is also considered pretty underrated. I always have had a weird relationship with this film in that it is the only film I had seen in this stretch prior to this project, and while I didn’t hate it I ultimately didn’t like it a lot and always felt it was getting praise that it didn’t deserve similar to Finding Nemo. Now it has been a while since I had seen this film so maybe my opinion has changed on it, and considering how underwhelming the last few films have been I’m hoping this turns things around.

Voice Cast: We once again have a fairly small cast for this film and it once again consists of a lot of newcomers with only a few returning actors, and of the returning actors we first have Chris Sanders who voices Stitch and he also serves as one of the directors and writers of the film. The other returning actor is David Ogden Stiers who voices Dr. Jumba Jookiba as he was nearing the end of his tenure at Disney after being one of the mainstays for the last decade. Moving onto the new actors, we first have Daveigh Chase who voices Lilo though she would become more well-known for her role in “The Ring” that same year, and then we have Tia Carrere who voices Nani as she was at the peak of her career in film and TV. We then have Kevin McDonald who voices Agent Pleakley in arguably one of his only roles in an animated film, and then we have Ving Rhames who voices Agent Cobra Bubbles as he was hitting the peak of his career at this point. Next, we have Kevin Michael Richardson who voices Captain Gantu as he was really hitting his stride with his career by this point, and then we have Zoe Caldwell who voices the Grand Councilwoman as she was starting to wind down her career. We then have Jason Scott Lee who voices David in one of his lone animated film appearances and then we have Amy Hill who voices Mrs. Hasagawa in a minor role, and finally we have Miranda Paige Walls who voices Mertle and Susan Hegarty who voices the rescue lady in minor roles and then the various other voices throughout the film. It is interesting how we’ve fluctuated with the star power in these films as we would have a few big stars in one and then hardly any in another, and we will see how that continues to play out over the years.

Hero/Prince: When looking at our hero for this film, it is a bit tough to pinpoint who it exactly would be but in the end, it is one of the main characters of the film and that is Stitch or as he is referred to at the start of the film, Experiment 626. He is the creation of Dr. Jumba Jookiba though he is captured and sentenced to be exiled to a rogue asteroid, but he manages to escape and crash lands on the planet Earth as he is run over inadvertently and taken to a shelter. He blends himself in as a dog and is adopted by Lilo much to Nani’s dismay and he struggles consistently to not revert to his destructive nature, and eventually he begins to be accepted by Lilo and Nani though Jookiba and Agent Pleakley arrive to take him away. He manages to escape and reveals his true identity to Lilo who is heartbroken though they are captured by Captain Gantu, and Stitch manages to escape and he rallies Nani, Jookiba, and Pleakley to save Lilo. They manage to bring Gantu down and save Lilo though Stitch is still to be taken back to space, but Lilo shows that she is indeed his owner and Stitch is allowed to stay on Earth under the guise of exile and he becomes a true part of Lilo and Nani’s family. Stitch is a unique creature in that he was created to be a destruction machine and he is himself indestructible, and this is evident when he arrives on Earth as all he knows is destruction and he struggles fitting in at first. But eventually, he learns about love and compassion to the point that he considers Lilo and Nani to be his family and he even saves Lilo from Gantu, and while he won’t rank high amongst the other heroes he is still a very interesting character especially for Disney.

Princess: On the surface, it doesn’t seem like we would have a princess in this film and while the person I talk about may technically not be a princess, she is worth mentioning and that is of course Lilo Pelekai. She lives with her sister Nani and is an outcast as she has no friends and she also has her own issues with Nani, and she is threatened with being separated from Nani by Cobra Bubbles unless Nani can prove herself. Nani allows Lilo to get a dog and she finds Experiment 626 which she names Stitch, and she tries to turn Stitch into a proper and model citizen though Stitch struggles to adapt. After a mishap where Stitch is accused of trying to drown Lilo, Agent Bubbles decrees that Lilo must be taken from Nani and Stitch leaves out of shame though he returns when Jookiba and Pleakley arrive to take him. They end up destroying the house and Lilo is set to be taken away though she runs away and confronts Stitch who reveals he is an alien, and they are captured by Captain Gantu though Stitch escapes and with Nani, Jookiba, and Pleakley, they bring Gantu down and save Lilo. Stitch is set to be returned to space as a prisoner though Lilo produces a contract stating that she is his owner, and he is permitted to stay on Earth and he becomes part of the family. Lilo is a typical girl in that she wants to fit in and lashes out in anger at anyone she can including Nani, and she does her best to turn Stitch around using her idol Elvis Presley as a base. Even though she has her issues with Nani and eventually with Stitch, she truly loves them as part of her family and is happy in the end when everything turns out for the better. Again, she is technically not a princess so she will more than likely rank at the bottom of the list, but she deserved to be mentioned because she is a vital part of the film.

Villain: Looking at this film, there doesn’t appear to be a villain even though there are a few characters that you would think should be the villain, they are not bad enough or evil enough to be considered a true villain. However when reading further into the film, the character that is officially deemed the villain of the film is Captain Gantu who is the second-in-command of the Galactic Federation. He is tasked with bringing Experiment 626 to a remote asteroid though Experiment 626 ends up escaping and flying to Earth, and after Jookiba and Pleakley fail to find him Gantu goes to Earth himself and finds him along with Lilo who he considers a simple snack for the newly named Stitch. Stitch manages to escape and with the help of Nani, Jookiba, and Pleakley, they bring Gantu back to the ground and save Lilo as the council arrive and Gantu is retired for his actions. Gantu is clearly arrogant and confident in his abilities as well as harboring a strong hatred of Stitch, and he is more than willing to be the one to bring him back to space even though he would rather kill him. While his villainous tendencies would grow in later films, we are specifically talking about this film and he is arguably the weakest villain to this point which is incredible since we’ve had some fairly weak villains to this point.

Other Characters: Like we have seen over the last few films, we don’t have a lot of other characters to talk about though the ones that I do talk about are very important to the story within the film. The first character to talk about is Nani who is Lilo’s older sister and guardian though they clearly have their differences and are struggling, and Nani works to keep legal guardianship of Lilo though she unfortunately loses her job due to Lilo and Stitch’s antics. She struggles to find a job and at one point is angry with Stitch thinking he was trying to drown Lilo, and her friend David tries to help her and even secures her a job though Lilo is set to be taken away. After Lilo is kidnapped by Gantu, Stitch convinces Nani along with Jookiba and Pleakley to save her which they do, and Stitch is welcomed into the family as Nani and Lilo become closer as sisters. We then have Dr. Jumba Jookiba who is a scientist that creates Stitch as a weapon of destruction, but he is arrested and jailed along with Stitch who escapes and Jookiba is tasked to retrieve him alongside Pleakley. They try and fail repeatedly in finding Stitch and Jookiba finally confronts him at Lilo and Nani’s house which leads to the house being destroyed, and after Lilo is taken by Gantu Jookiba joins Stitch, Nani, and Pleakley as they save Lilo and he decides to stay on Earth to watch over Stitch. Next, we have Agent Wendall Pleakley who serves as the expert of Earth and he joins Jookiba in traveling to Earth to recover Stitch, and he does his best to keep them hidden from humans though they ultimately reveal themselves to Lilo when Jookiba tries to capture Stitch. After Lilo is taken by Gantu, Pleakley joins Stitch, Jookiba, and Nani in rescuing Lilo and Pleakley decides to stay on Earth in watching over Stitch along with Lilo and Nani. We then have former CIA agent and social worker Cobra Bubbles who is handling Lilo and Nani’s case, and he is hard on Nani and ultimately prepares to take Lilo away though she runs away. After Lilo is saved, he meets with the Grand Councilwoman who recognizes him from the old days and he agrees to watch over Lilo, Stitch, and Nani as he becomes a father figure to them. Next, we have David Kawena who is Nani’s friend and he clearly has feelings for her though she doesn’t seem to reciprocate them, and he does what he can to help Nani and Lilo even going as far as to help Nani get a new job and he remains by their side after Stitch joins the family. We then have the Grand Councilwoman of the Galactic Federation who has Jookiba jailed and she orders Stitch to be exiled, and after Stitch escapes she forces Jookiba and Pleakley to go to Earth to retrieve him. After they fail, she has Gantu go and he nearly kidnaps Lilo only for Stitch, Nani, Jookiba, and Pleakley to save her, and the Councilwoman arrives to take Stitch though after realizing that he has changed his ways and that Lilo has adopted him, she allows him to stay under the care of Lilo and Nani who are now protected by the Federation. Finally, we have other random characters to bring up like the various natives of the island including the girls that Lilo tries to befriend, and also the random aliens we see at the beginning of the film. All of these characters played a vital and important part in the film and they helped keep the film moving along.

Songs: Even though I have only seen this film once, I had always believed that there were no original songs for this film, but after reading about it and watching it I found out that I was actually wrong because there are two songs to talk about. The two songs that I will mention are the songs “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” and “He Mele No Lilo” sung by a children’s choir and while they fit the setting, they were fairly forgettable and almost not even worth having. Obviously, I would be remiss to talk about the fact that Elvis Presley was featured heavily in the film with several of his songs being played due to Lilo being a huge fan, but as we know songs like that aren’t included since they are not original songs for the film as well as his songs that are covered by other artists. I feel like the films going forward are not going to feature much in the way of music until we get to the end of the decade, but we will see going forward.

Plot: It’s always interesting to talk about a film that is not based off of something else like a novel or something else, and while there are elements of the film that are certainly based on other things the overall story itself is original and helps make the film unique. The film begins in space where Dr. Jumba Jookiba is on trial for creating an illegal experimental creature that he dubs Experiment 626, and he is imprisoned and the experiment is to be exiled onto a rogue asteroid though it escapes and travels to Earth. Jookiba is joined by Earth agent Pleakley in retrieving the experiment which is taken to a shelter, and he is adopted by a girl named Lilo who names him Stitch and he attempts to blend in despite his destructive nature. Eventually, he learns to love Lilo and her sister Nani who are being watched over by a social worker and Jookiba tries to capture Stitch who escapes, but Lilo’s home is destroyed and Lilo is to be taken away from Nani though she runs away. Stitch reveals he is an alien and he is captured along with Lilo by Captain Gantu though Stitch escapes, and Stitch rallies Nani, Jookiba, and Pleakley as they manage to save Lilo while bringing Gantu down. The Galactic Federation attempt to reclaim Stitch though Lilo produces a document saying that she adopted Stitch, and they allow Stitch to stay on Earth with Lilo and Nani as they finally become a family. As mentioned, there are plenty of familiar elements in this film such as an outcast trying to fit in and a mismatched family coming together, and most of the times those aspects can work really well if done well and I feel they were done pretty well in this film.

Random Watching Thoughts: Are we assuming that the logo is going to be probed like any human would?; We never actually learn where Planet Turo is; I wonder how many people watching this thought the film was going to be a space adventure; So Jookiba is apparently Russian; He claims that he hasn’t done anything illegal until they reveal Stitch; If Stitch is Experiment 626, what happened to Jookiba’s previous 625 experiments?; Stitch can move objects 3,000 times his size, yet can’t somehow get out of that pod; Why exactly would Jookiba want with a creature whose only goal is to destroy?; In any case anyone was wondering, “Meega, nala kweesta” means “I want to destroy”; So that robot puked out loose gears and parts; At first I thought they were taking his blood just to have for their own use, but they I see it was so the guns would track him constantly; If you think that bite looks infected, wouldn’t it be better to seek the advice of a doctor?; Pretty smart of Stitch to use his saliva to throw the guns off; Gantu figures out he’s in the power grid a mere second after the power goes out; I guess they have different colored police cruisers; All of those ships chasing Stitch and yet not one of them could hit him; That’s a strong hyperdrive that it moved the large ship; Ironic that Earth is located in Area 51 according to the Federation when the real life Area 51 is long connected to alien activity; She was so confident that the ship would land in the water only to see it would land in Hawaii; We as humans hate mosquitos with a passion yet apparently never realized that our planet was used by the Federation to rebuild the population; I always like how in any film involving aliens, they are so hyper-advanced and always see humans as a primitive lifeform; Pleakley is pretty spot on that any alien landing on Earth would just cause mass hysteria and panic; He lists off all this possible choices yet she knew immediately to choose Jookiba; A group of fish there and one just swims by holding a sandwich; I believe this is the first film set in Hawaii and showcasing Polynesian culture; So one of Lilo’s hobbies is taking pictures of random tourists; Lilo couldn’t be bothered to dry herself off before getting on the stage; That’s some good deductive reasoning by Lilo that Pudge wouldn’t want to eat another fish; She asks the same question about infection that Gantu asked after Stitch bit him; Lilo throws the doll down in anger and storms off though quickly goes back to get the doll; I get Nani had to get home, but the car had stopped and was pulling out so she was really in the fault for jumping in front of it; It is funny that of all the musicians Lilo can become a fan of, Elvis is a pretty interesting choice; Lilo went the extra mile to nail the door shut so Nani couldn’t get in; Cobra Bubbles is the most intimidating social worker ever; Nani went too far destroying the record player; Again, Lilo was on point asking if Cobra has killed anyone which considering he was CIA, it wouldn’t be a complete shock; Why do they have a book about voodoo?; He literally just walked out the door yet somehow didn’t hear Lilo’s screams to come back and check; They have a pizza box doubling as the door to the dryer; Obviously, Lilo has hidden in the dryer numerous times if Nani knew immediately to trick her into coming out; I can’t really tell if Lilo wants to stay with Nani or if she wants to be away from her; Poor Lilo doesn’t think much of herself if she thinks a rabbit is smarter than her; I wonder how many people were stunned to learn that Nani and Lilo were sisters and not mother and daughter; Why would she want to get yelled at on Bank Holidays?; Lilo has seen a lot of tourists; That rocket must’ve really been traveling fast if it knocked out power briefly in the area; The Councilwoman says Stitch wouldn’t survive in water yet it has no problem being out in a rainstorm; Stitch is clearly indestructible considering all the damage he took from those trucks; Nani says they want something sturdy and Lilo suggests a lobster; Considering that they are under investigation by a social worker, I don’t know if getting a dog would be the smartest idea; Those are some agile dogs that they were able to climb up as high as they did; Nani and the rescue worker are so adamant with Lilo getting another dog, but Lilo sticks to her guns and wants Stitch; His hearing is very good apparently; Stitch mocking Jookiba while Lilo is blissfully unaware of what’s going on; The movie playing on the TVs in the store that Stitch is watching is the 1958 film “Earth vs. the Spider”; Mertle seems like the typical mean girl with the other two girls being part of her clique; Jookiba says Stitch will be drawn to large cities yet the island they are on is lacking of them and Stitch just wanders the island at break neck speed; Stitch was steal people’s left shoes, just the left ones; Stitch gets in the toy ship thinking he can take off in it while Lilo causally puts a coin in it and rides it; Aside from burning the top of the hut, David was pretty good as a fire dancer; So according to Lilo, Stitch’s badness level is pretty high but it doesn’t encompass his whole body so there is some good in him; Lilo thinks Stitch was a collie before he got run over; Stitch scarfed down both slices of cake and munched on them, yet when he spit them out they were still perfect like when Nani delivered them; That chicken leg is looking sickly; That was big of Pleakley to say it wasn’t Nani’s fault even though she was ultimately blamed and lost her job because of it; Lilo clearly sees a lot of herself in Stitch which is why she wants to keep him; Of all the drinks to give him, she had to give him coffee; Like a typical pet, Stitch wants to sleep on Lilo’s bed; Interesting that they had the pictured blurred so you can’t see it at first; She gives him a lei and he just shuts down; He makes a solid model of San Francisco only to act like a monster and destroy it; You know Jookiba and Pleakley haven’t gotten out much if they are fighting over a wig; He was so excited to get covered by the mosquitos until they started biting him; Nani thinks she saw a monster when it was just Stitch getting a midnight snack; They have books on oyster farming, fire eating for fun and profit, and the roadmaps of Iowa; A bit of a different ending to the Ugly Duckling as he is happy to have a family as opposed to growing up to be a beautiful swan; So they figured out a way to have the music come out of Stitch’s mouth; So Nani must get a new job and Stitch must become a model citizen; Lilo decides Stitch has to be like Elvis to become a model citizen; Stitch catches on quick with the dancing; When was the last time that high guitar notes were able to shatter glass?; They were able to have a mini jumpsuit and a wig for him to wear; So in Hawaii, all problems can be solved by surfing; It’s not often you build a sandcastle while at the same time burying someone in the sand; Jookiba was able to swim in the wave with no problems; Even though they thought Stitch was trying to drown Lilo, David still went back in and saved him; Does Cobra really think that the best thing for Lilo would be to take her from the only family that she has?; Nani really doesn’t want to tell Lilo that she has to give her up; We finally see that the picture is of the family and we learn what happened to the parents; Lilo thinks that Stitch misses his family not realizing that he has no family; Pleakley hopes it’s not an octopus yet when he surfaces, there’s an octopus on his face; Jookiba was so happy to learn they were fired so he could do things his way; Oh, if only Nani would know what was about to happen; When has Jookiba ever listened to Elvis?; I get why she was calling Cobra, but wouldn’t she think that he probably wouldn’t believe her story about aliens?; They’re been so calm passing that gun back and forth even though it could explode any minute; Such a huge explosion and the picture managed to escape though a bit burned on the corners; That’s pretty cold of Gantu to call Lilo a “snack”; I just realized that Nani was obviously more worried about Lilo that she didn’t even bat an eye to the fact that she saw an alien in a rocket ship; She’s tells Stitch to talk and he does which freaks her out even though she knew he could talk; Again, Nani is seeing two aliens in front of her and thinks nothing of it though again she is more concerned about Lilo; Even alien ships have car alarms; Is it just me or does the body of Jookiba’s ship look suspiciously like a Stormtrooper helmet?; Clearly, Jookiba is the type of alien that thinks of his plans on the fly; That tourist just wants some peace and quiet while enjoying his ice cream and he can never get it; Isn’t Gantu supposed to bring Stitch in, so why would he want to get rid of him unless he’s actively trying to kill him?; Stitch even made sure that the frog was safe; That tanker lasted quite a long time in the lava until Stitch released the gasoline to cause the explosion; Also, how did that explosion not cause an eruption?; Now David sees a big spaceship and three aliens with Lilo and Nani, but even he doesn’t bat an eye to it; The Councilwoman clearly wants to let Stitch go, but can’t because of the laws of the Federation; Lilo just so happened to have the adoption papers on her to prove that she paid for Stitch and he belongs to her; She obviously has a great memory if she remembered who Cobra was; It would’ve been great if after Cobra revealed he was the one to declare mosquitos endangered to save the Earth, Pleakley gets mad at him for that; So in a montage, Stitch becomes completely domesticated and is in essence the homemaker; Included in the montage is them celebrating Halloween and Christmas; I wonder where they went if it was snowing and if that was the first time any of them had seen snow; We come full circle as they also visit Graceland; Again, Jookiba and Pleakley were just able to blend into society with no one caring that they are clearly aliens; Stitch sharing “The Ugly Duckling” with the baby ducks; Stitch makes himself a recliner made of sand; We close with the original picture of the family that includes a merging of a picture of Stitch.

Overall Thoughts: Overall, this ended up being a pretty good film and was a lot better than I ever remembered it being, and to this point it is easily the best film of the 2000s though the bar was set pretty low when the decade started. I feel like this film could’ve been released during the 1990s in the Disney Renaissance and it would’ve fit well, and it feels like a return to form for Disney after the last three films felt like they were taking things in a different direction. The 2000s have been pretty interesting for Disney and it looked like things were getting back on track with this film, and we will see if they continue to grow or if we go back off the rails through the rest of the decade. As for this film, it is a pretty good film and was pleasantly surprising with how much I enjoyed it.

Final Grade: 7.5/10

[thisdaynews]

Where they were when men first walked on the moon

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/where-they-were-when-men-first-walked-on-the-moon/

Where they were when men first walked on the moon

NASA/AP Photo

NASA’s Apollo 11 moon landing 50 years ago this weekend marked one of the most seminal achievements in human history.

At the momentous hour the mission’s command module pilot, Michael Collins, was orbiting on the far side of the moon and, as he recently related, “couldn’t hear the descent landing.”

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But an estimated half a billion people around the globe tuned in on television or radio when his fellow astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down — “the Eagle has landed” — and Armstrong indelibly declared, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” as he stepped onto the lunar surface.

There was a palpable excitement. “This was probably the first time since Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the Louisiana Purchase where man didn’t know what they were going to find,” says Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio.

There was also fear for the safety of the three astronauts. “I remember being afraid for them,” recalled retired Army Gen. Jack Keane. “There was no certainty of success.”

And there was a rare feeling of unity at a very tumultuous time in American politics. “The United States of America was very divided and things seemed kind of out of control,” says Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas. “This was an experience that brought everyone together and talk for a long time shifted away from all the problems in the country to all the opportunities in the country.”

POLITICO this week asked Cabinet members, members of Congress, and other bold-faced names where they were on July 20, 1969; what they remember most; and how they were shaped by an accomplishment that many considered next to impossible.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Democrat from Texas and chair of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology

“I was a registered nurse at the VA hospital in Dallas. Everyone at the VA hospital, it of course being federal, was paying close attention to the Apollo 11 launch. It seemed that every chance people got they were looking outdoors. I remember being with my in-laws at the time. We gathered in their backyard to look up to see if we were going to see a sign of anything. These events inspired me to pass my first piece of legislation in the Texas State House calledBroadening Education to Include Women and Minorities,so we could begin to promote diverse participation in the subjects — now known as STEM — that were going to play a vital role in the space race.”

James Morhard, deputy administrator of NASA

“I’m 13, me and my dad and my uncle are at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. … The day of the landing, it’s pouring down rain. The rain is bubbling up under the floor, because my dad put the tent in a low spot on the campground. We’re soaking wet huddled by a fire we built, listening to a transistor radio. The three of us just grouped together trying to listen to what was going on. … I’m a child of Apollo. … We’re going to go to the moon to basically test out and prove out technology so we can go to Mars … I’ve got three grandchildren. I want my children and grandchildren to be children of Artemis as I’m a child of Apollo. Apollo was a generational achievement, and I want my offspring to feel that achievement.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Republican from West Virginia and member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

“I was at camp that summer. All the girls got together, and they brought TVs in so we could see the launch and then the subsequent landing. As you can imagine, the TV coverage was a little grainy and difficult to see. But I remember sitting there with another 250 young ladies, and we all screamed in victory when we saw Neil Armstrong take that first step and heard his words. The fact that we landed on the moon — that we had an aspiration to go to the moon, fulfilled it, and were able to do it so quickly — I think that serves as an inspiration. Our next big aspirations are Artemis — the NASA project so that we have a sustainable station going around the moon — and to have a woman on the next landing. I just think it inspires future generations. The next theater of economic development and exploration is in space. We need to grab it and go!”

Jack Keane, retired Army General

“I had just returned from the war in Vietnam, and I was on duty at the Indiantown Gap military reservation [in Pennsylvania] for ROTC camp, providing instruction on how to operate in Vietnam. We watched the landing completely transfixed. There was huge tension. I remember being afraid for them. There was no certainty of success. It was just an extraordinary unifying experience. I don’t remember anything as inspiring. I’ll never forget it.”

Heather Wilson, former secretary of the Air Force and Republican congresswoman from New Mexico

“We were all criss-cross apple sauce on the floor, while sitting in front of a black-and-white Zenith television. I’m a third generation aviator. One of the things that to me was amazing was my grandfather, who was still alive in 1969 — he wasn’t even 70 years old — was born before the invention of the airplane. He started flying shortly after the Wright brothers. He flew airplanes that were made of fabric and wood and had unreliable engines that were lubricated with castor oil. And he lived to see a man walk on the moon. Isn’t that amazing? In the life that I have lived since that moment, there is more computing power in the little box I am holding to my ear right now than all of NASA had to put a man on the moon. That’s amazing. How quickly we have innovated. I can’t think of another field, with the possible exception of medicine, where there was as much innovation and change in the span of a single lifetime.”

William Cohen, former secretary of defense and Republican senator from Maine

“I was on the city council and assistant county attorney. I was listening on the radio at the courthouse. There was excitement and pride. That day represented to me the courage of the American people. It said a lot about our country. It said a lot about what we are missing today — this sense that we are all Americans. That spirit back then was tangible. We don’t have that sense of unity any longer. To me the greater challenge is not going to be whether we get to Mars but whether we save this planet from becoming Mars.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota and candidate for president

“My mom and dad had friends over to watch it and I remember [newscaster] Walter Cronkite and the words as Neil Armstrong took his first step. I also remember the dinner table that night—my mom was always into decorations on big days and for the moon landing she went with a lunar theme, complete with a rocket shaped Jell-O configuration.”

Chris Wallace, anchor of Fox News Sunday

“I was working as an associate producer for CBS News at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz. CBS News had a remote there because the USGS played a big role in the Apollo program. There were serious questions about the surface of the moon and whether it would support the lunar lander. Some said the lander would only sink an inch or two into the surface, while others said it would sink much deeper and possibly jeopardize the [lunar module] taking off and returning to the command module. I was in a room with the scientists. And I was keenly aware their professional standing was at stake. Some of them would have their analyses confirmed, while others would be proven wrong. Outside of Mission Control, I can’t imagine there were many places where the tension was more intense. After the astronauts left the LEM and started taking pictures panning across the lunar surface, I remember one of the scientists took Polaroid photos of the TV screen and then taped them together, creating his own panorama of the area around Eagle. On a historic day, I felt I had one of the best seats in the house.”

Rep. Charlie Crist, former governor of Florida and Democratic member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee

“I was in my home in St. Petersburg, Fla. It was either very late or very early in the morning. I was just in the family room watching the television with my family. It was mind-blowing to see Neil Armstrong hop down the ladder onto the surface of the moon. It was hard to believe that what you were seeing … was actually occurring. … There’s no question [that it impacted my career.] … We’re all impacted by our environment and our upbringing and a significant part of my environment and upbringing as a Floridian was to be able to witness first hand the development and success of America’s space program.”

Rick Perry, secretary of Energy

“I was living in Festus, Mo., working as a door-to-door Bible salesman at 19 years old. I watched in wonder on a 19-inch black-and-white TV in my parents’ roadside motel room as Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon. However, it wasn’t until years later when I became a pilot in the United States Air Force that I fully understood the magnitude of Apollo 11’s technical achievement and how our country’s place in history was forever cemented on that monumental day.”

Sen. Jerry Moran, Republican from Kansas and chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies

“I was a sophomore or junior in high school. I fully remember the words that were said when ‘the Eagle has landed.’ I fully remember the words the astronauts said. I remember it was one of those moments in life that was just awe-inspiring. Like, wow, what an amazing thing. I also remember that the country had so many challenges with division, racial issues, riots. The United States of America was very divided and things seemed kind of out of control. … This was an experience that brought everyone together and talk for a long time shifted away from all the problems in the country to all the opportunities in the country. It lasted a lifetime. People who were living at that time still remember the great things this country can do together.”

Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance

“Golly. I grew up on a ranch in California near Lake Tahoe. We all went over to the neighbors’ ranch because they had the biggest TV in the county. I was 8 years old and we were just rapt. It was magical. I thought it was the most amazing technological marvel that could be imagined. That was the launch and we all came back from the landing and as the landing sequence went through no one was breathing in the room. When it finally landed everyone cheered. I’ve never forgotten. Within a year I was in the back of the barn with some 80-year-old dynamite and wrought iron pipe making my own rockets. And here I am today, the rocket guy.”

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Democrat from Colorado and member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee

“I was sitting with my family: my mom, dad, brother and sister … in our living room at home in Colorado watching it on a big Magnavox TV … watching this thing with amazement. I was 16. …This thing had been building for some time. The program from the early ’60s to actual touchdown on the moon was a nine- or 10-year process with some missteps, but with real progress the whole way and this was kind of the culmination. I just remember all of us sitting there silent, watching it in amazement and with pride. I mostly can see the room, which was just classic ’60s: shag rugs, art deco furniture, big couch, this big old TV. My dad loved to change the tubes in the TV to always keep it going. But here we saw these guys coming down from the lander and stepping onto the surface of the moon. I get goosebumps thinking about it right now.”

Rep. Jim Cooper, Democrat from Tennessee and chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee

“I was at home in Shelbyville, Tenn., watching it on what was probably our black-and-white television and as excited as any young person can be. We had followed the space program through the Mercury capsules. My father was so interested he had taken us down to Florida to Cape Canaveral. We ate breakfast one morning in a Holiday Inn hotel and it seemed to us that astronauts were visiting the hotel or were staying at hotel. There were several eating breakfast, like Alan Shepard and Gordon Cooper. It seemed like John Glenn was there too — all the greats, the immortals, and they were remarkably accessible to the public. These men were genuine heroes … but they seemed like just plain folks. They ate scrambled eggs and toast just like we did.”

Rep. Mike Turner, Republican from Ohio and ranking member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee

“Iwas 9. We had a black-and-white television and the entire family was transfixed watching every aspect of the moon landing. Our country held its breath at every stage that Apollo 11 had to go through to get to the moon and get back. From lifting off to orbiting the moon to descending on the moon to redocking and then returning back to Earth, and then the splash landing in the ocean. Every one of those were incredibly tense. This was probably the first time since Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the Louisiana Purchase where man didn’t know what they were going to find.”

John McLaughlin, former deputy and acting director of the CIA

“I knew exactly where I was. I was a couple months back from a tour in Vietnam in the Army and I was going to graduate school. I remember the effect it had on me because of the contentiousness of those times. This was 1969, the height of the Vietnam controversy. People were marching in the streets. It was a moment when I felt and those of us who came back from Vietnam were not treated all that well. It was a moment I felt, ‘Well, thank God we can all still come together on something. All of humanity can celebrate something about America at a moment when Americans’ themselves are divided.”

Sen. Gary Peters, Democrat from Michigan and member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

“I was in France visiting my relatives with my mother. We huddled together with my grandparents around a small black-and-white TV to watch the landing. It was so memorable for me because seeing the landing abroad gave me a perspective into how the rest of the world saw it. I remember it being a uniting moment that brought people from all walks of life together. It also showed to the world what was possible if humankind unleashed their imagination.”

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[democratsunited-blog]

Harry Reid's 'machine' may help Democrats take the Senate

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=5361

Harry Reid's 'machine' may help Democrats take the Senate

Last month Donald Trump came to Nevada and did what Donald Trump tends to do: He made headlines.

During his remarks at the Republican Party’s state convention in Las Vegas, Trump weighed in on the Senate race between GOP incumbent Dean Heller and Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen. Heller is the only Republican senator running for another term in a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. After vacillating on Obamacare repeal, immigration and even Trump himself, his approval ratings have plummeted 14 points since the start of 2017, falling a full 5 points this year alone; more Nevadans now disapprove than approve of his job performance. So far, all but one poll has shown Rosen in the lead; the most recent, taken in June, gives the Democrat a 4-point edge.

In other words, Heller is in serious trouble — and if he loses, Democrats could seize control of the Senate.

Enter Trump. On stage in Vegas, the president made sure to praise Heller, calling him “rock solid” and “outstanding” (even though Heller declared in 2016 that “I vehemently oppose our nominee” because he “denigrates human beings”). Trump went on to criticize Rosen, claiming that a vote for her would be “a vote for increased taxes, weak borders” and “crime.”

All of which is pretty much par for the presidential course. But then Trump did something that no other commander in chief has done, or would do, on the trail: He called Rosen a childish name.

“I have a great nickname for her,” Trump boasted. “‘Wacky Jacky.’ You don’t want her as your senator.”

And the media, of course, lapped it up, churning out hundreds of stories about Trump’s latest taunt.

Trump with Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. (Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

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Though silly, the spectacle was telling. Republicans have decided that a key way to preserve their narrow Senate majority is by deploying Trump to rally his voters on Heller’s behalf, and on behalf of other vulnerable Republicans. Never mind the president’s historically low approval ratings, both nationally and in Nevada; the important thing, as Josh Holmes, a top political lieutenant to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, recently told the Huffington Post, is that “no one fires up the Republican base like President Trump.”

Or, as Trump put it in Las Vegas, “I’ll be back a lot.”

At the same time, Nevada Democrats have settled on a less top-heavy strategy. The contrast couldn’t be starker. While everyone was distracted by “Wacky Jacky,” state party staffers weren’t trying to come up with insulting nicknames or win national news cycles. Instead, they were doing the same quiet, unglamorous, dogged work that has, over the last dozen years or so, built the Nevada Democratic Party into perhaps the most effective state party organization in the country: They were making calls, knocking on doors, registering new voters and laying the groundwork to turn their people out in November.

If this painstaking plan succeeds, and if Rosen unseats Heller, the Silver State could provide Democrats elsewhere with a practical blueprint for turning resistance into reality in an environment otherwise dominated by Donald Trump. The question is whether the Nevada machine can still power Democrats to victory now that the man it’s informally named after — former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who retired in 2017 — is no longer around to fire them up the way Trump fires up the right.

***

Among politicos, the “Reid Machine” is the stuff of legend. In the 2002 midterms, Nevada Republicans carried all six constitutional offices in Carson City, from governor on down. Two years later, Reid, then the Senate majority whip, won reelection against a weak opponent — yet on the same day Nevada helped propel George W. Bush to a second term in the White House. It was the fourth straight cycle in which Democrats had struggled, and Reid, mulling the results at home in Searchlight, Nev., decided to shake things up.

For years, volunteers had largely run the skeletal organization known as the Nevada Democratic Party. There were no precinct captains and no real voter files. To mobilize rank-and-file Democrats, the party had relied instead on organized labor — and the quadrennial presidential campaigns.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid in 2016. (Photo: Sait Serkan Gurbuz/AP)

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Reid demanded a new approach. To that end, he recruited Rebecca Lambe, a Missouri-based strategist, to “professionalize” the state party. Lambe started in 2003, but her efforts ramped up after 2004. She hired paid staffers (including a communications director). She cast a wider voter net, targeting the state’s growing Latino and Asian immigrant communities. She built a permanent, web-based voter file. She trained canvassers to upload voter data from the field, via their mobile devices. She emphasized the importance of electing Democrats to local, nonpartisan offices, such as city councils and county commissions. Lambe was also the first to pitch Reid on securing an early presidential caucus for Nevada, and she pushed to hold presidential debates in the state — reforms that eventually helped the party raise millions of dollars and attract thousands of new voters. And later, as Reid’s chief political strategist, she quietly helped steer potential Democratic candidates into specific races and shape their campaign teams.

It didn’t take long for Lambe’s work to pay off. In 2006, Democrats won back four of Nevada’s six constitutional offices. In 2008, Barack Obama defeated John McCain there by nearly 13 percentage points, while Democrats flipped the Third Congressional District and regained control of the state senate. Most impressive, however, is what happened in 2010 and 2016, two disastrous years for Democrats nationally. In 2010, even as the GOP’s tea party wave flipped six Senate seats and 63 House seats — and even as the final polls showed Republican challenger Sharron Angle leading by nearly 3 percentage points — Reid managed to win reelection by registering thousands of new Latino voters and winning two-thirds of their votes on Election Day. Similarly, in 2016, Democrats banked tens of thousands of early Latino votes and managed to flip the state legislature, elect two new Democrats to Congress, send the first Latina, Catherine Cortez Masto, to the Senate and secure the state for Hillary Clinton as a result — at the same time Trump and the GOP were winning traditionally Democratic territory elsewhere.

Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid address the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Las Vegas, Aug. 4, 2016. (Photo: David Becker/Getty Images)

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“We outperformed the national environment by small margins — 1, 2, 3 percentage points,” says Stewart Boss, who served as communications director for the state party in 2016 and now plays the same role on Rosen’s campaign. “That’s what folks in this business call a ‘field margin’ — when the ground game makes the difference in whether you win or lose.”

Lambe and others were instrumental in these success stories. But it was Reid — the machine’s boss, so to speak — who led the charge. Fully aware of his clout in Washington and back home, Reid cultivated the loyalty of the casino industry and the powerful Culinary Workers Union by pushing their favored policies on Capitol Hill and funneling development money to Las Vegas. In 2016, he personally called casino execs and secured paid leave for 300 culinary workers to knock on 350,000 doors, talk to over 75,000 voters, and ultimately deliver 54,000 early votes. For decades, he strengthened his ties to Nevada’s Latino community, which now represents almost 30 percent of the state’s population, by advocating for the DREAM Act and broader immigration reform — a major factor in the huge margins by which Nevada Latinos now routinely favor Democratic candidates. And Reid was also known to steer big donors toward his favored candidates — and to avoid divisive primaries by talking others out of the running.

Cortez Masto, Reid’s handpicked successor, has vowed to raise $1.5 million for the state party this cycle, and she’s already raked in more than a million. But can anyone really replace Reid? The success of Rosen’s campaign — not to mention the larger Democratic campaign to take back the Senate — could turn on the answer to that question.

Rep. Jacky Rosen with, from left, Rep. Dina Titus, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Las Vegas shooting survivor Jason Sherman and retiring Rep. Ruben Kihuen. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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***

Talk to Nevada Democrats, and they insist that nothing has changed. “The much-vaunted Nevada Democratic machine that Harry Reid was leading — we like to say it’s still humming,” declares Helen Kalla, communications director for the state party.

Election Day is still several months away, but she and other Nevada Democrats can point to some early proof. In 2017 — the first year of the Trump era — the state party heavily invested in flipping a GOP-held seat on the Las Vegas city council, making 12,000 calls, knocking on 8,400 doors, sending 10,000 text messages and mailing more than 10,000 postcards. In the end, the Democratic field operation turned out 622 voters who hadn’t previously voted, according to Kalla — and the Democratic candidate won by 592 votes. That same year, state Democrats partnered with labor, Planned Parenthood and other allies to torpedo partisan recall petitions against three Democratic-aligned state senators that could have shifted the balance of power in the legislature if successful. Efforts to “meet voters where there are,” as Kalla puts it, are continuing apace; a third of the party’s organizing staff speaks Spanish, and a couple of organizers speak Tagalog, the native language of the Filipino immigrants who have flocked to Clark County in recent years. And with anti-Trump activism in full swing, local Democrats seemed to be fired up. In 2016, Kalla says, organizers had to call 108 people, on average, before one person agreed to sign up for a volunteer shift; so far this cycle, someone has been agreeing to volunteer every 20 calls.

Even so, the Reid Machine has been known to sputter when Reid isn’t fully engaged. Critics say that in 2014, for instance, Reid devoted most of his attention to maintaining control of the U.S. Senate — and the result was a Democratic disaster in Nevada, with Republicans gaining a congressional seat and taking complete control of the state government. Meanwhile, the state GOP, long considered the weaker organization, argues that it’s finally getting its act together this cycle, with a helping hand from the Republican National Committee. According to Keelie Broom, the RNC’s Nevada communications director, the national party currently employs two dozen paid staffers across the state; together, they have trained more than 1,600 volunteers, fellows, neighborhood team leaders and core team members to date.

“The RNC has invested more than $250 million in its state-of-the-art data program, and that program serves as a resource to Republican candidates up and down the ticket in Nevada,” adds Broom. “Winning elections takes total teamwork, and the RNC is working hand in glove with the Nevada GOP, our Republican ticket, county committees, Republican clubs, activists and community leaders to identify, register and persuade voters.”

Rep. Jacky Rosen, left, greets Giselle Rodriguez at a Cinco de Mayo festival in North Las Vegas. (Photo: John Locher/AP)

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Democrats claim they aren’t concerned about Republicans overtaking them on the ground. The state GOP, says Boss, is “not so sustainable,” because “so much of their budget comes from the RNC, as do their staff and operation.” Nevada Democrats are different, he adds, because they’ve “built a strong and sustainable and independent infrastructure over the course of more than a decade — an infrastructure to support field organizers, data efforts and permanent staffers with donor relationships and political relationships” that remain in place “regardless of what’s going on in Washington, D.C.”

The plan, then, is simple: Register the largest possible pool of potential Democratic voters. Turn out as many of them as you can. Run up the score in Clark County, home to Las Vegas. Fight for every vote in purple Washoe County, home to Reno. And hold the line in the rest of the state, which is largely rural.

In the end, Democrats say, the numbers won’t lie — and they cite this year’s registration data as evidence. When Democrats brought on their first full-time organizers in March, the party’s registration advantage had shrunk (largely due to routine voter-roll attrition) to 59,000 voters — smaller than 62,036-voter margin in 2014, and much smaller than the 88,818-voter edge in 2016. The bigger the gap, the better the chance of Democratic victory; the party’s voters tend not to turn out as consistently as Republicans, especially in a midterm election. Over the next three months, however, as organizers got to work, the Democratic margin grew: first to 61,000 in April, then to 63,000 in May, and finally to nearly 66,000 in June. For three straight months now, Democratic registrations have outpaced Republican registrations.

If Nevada Dems can keep this trend going, they will have a chance to prove in November that the Reid Machine can still win elections — even without Reid at the wheel.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:

  Read full story here

[studentofrhetoric-blog]

Part 2, Thursday, March 9th, 2017

International News:

--- "U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host a 68-nation meeting in Washington this month to discuss the next moves by a coalition fighting Islamic State, the State Department said on Thursday. The March 22-23 meeting of coalition foreign ministers aimed "to accelerate international efforts to defeat ISIS in the remaining areas it holds in Iraq and Syria and maximize pressure on its branches, affiliates, and networks," the State Department said in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State. The State Department said it would be the first meeting of the full coalition since December 2014, shortly after it was founded."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-usa-idUSKBN16G271?il=0

--- "The U.S. State Department held out the possibility on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might take reporters with him to Asia after it initially broke with decades of tradition by telling the media he would not. "We are still working out the logistics for this trip, so (we) cannot yet speak definitively as to whether we'll be able to accommodate any press on the Secretary's plane," State Department spokesman Mark Toner wrote in an email."Going forward, the State Department will do everything it can to accommodate a contingent of traveling media on board the Secretary's plane." The State Department told reporters earlier this week that Tillerson would not take any of them on a March 15-19 trip to Japan, South Korea and China, countries of strategic, military and economic interest to the United States."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-diplomacy-idUSKBN16G34K?il=0

--- "Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said on Thursday the "No. 1 focus" of her government, including her department, is trade relations with the United States, as Canada steels itself for possible NAFTA renegotiation with its southern neighbor."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-usa-trade-idUSKBN16G30B?il=0

--- "A new U.S. strategy to break a stalemate in Afghanistan will require additional American troops, the head of the U.S. Central Command said on Thursday. "I do believe it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise and assist mission more effective," Army General Joseph Votel said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Votel said a strategy was still being developed and did not give details on the number of troops that would be required or when a final decision would be made."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-afghanistan-idUSKBN16G28V?il=0

--- "The United States looks forward to a "productive relationship" with the next South Korean president, a U.S. embassy spokesman said on Friday following the removal of President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-usa-idUSKBN16H0BT?il=0

--- "Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday repeated his opposition to a U.S. proposal for an import tax, telling energy executives gathered in Houston a levy would hurt both economies. "Anything that creates impediments at the border, extra tariffs, new taxes is something we're concerned with," Trudeau said, adding: "You're going to be hurting not just the Canadian economy but the American economy as well." Republicans have proposed a border adjustment tax that favors exports over imports as part of a plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code. The idea is under attack from import-heavy businesses but it is supported by large exporters, such as manufacturers."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-nafta-idUSKBN16H04Y?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "A Republican plan backed by President Donald Trump to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system passed through a second congressional panel on Thursday, despite controversy among lawmakers, hospitals and insurers about its unknown costs and impact on coverage. The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee approved the proposal to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's "Affordable Care Act" by a vote of 31-23, after debating the draft legislation for more than 24 hours."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-vote-idUSKBN16G2PK?il=0

--- "Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo is in Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to discuss the bilateral agenda, Mexico's government said on Thursday, without offering further details."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-trade-idUSKBN16G2UN?il=0

--- "The U.S. Senate intelligence committee wants some former aides of President Donald Trump to testify in its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, CNN reported on Thursday, citing senators who sit on the panel. CNN said lawmakers wanted to hear directly from former Trump aides who have been named in news reports, including Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager; retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser; and Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-probe-idUSKBN16G2UT?il=0

--- "The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee voted overwhelmingly on Thursday in favor of President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of national intelligence, former Republican Senator Dan Coats, sending his nomination to the Senate floor. The vote, which took place in a closed hearing, was 13-2, the committee said. Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Kamala Harris were the only two members to vote no. Coats must still be confirmed by the full Senate to be the top U.S. intelligence official. The popular former lawmaker, who also served as ambassador to Germany, is expected to be confirmed easily."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-coats-idUSKBN16G2Z3?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump promised in a meeting with community bankers on Thursday to strip away some Dodd-Frank financial regulations and ensure they can continue giving small businesses access to capital. Trump, joined by National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, said community banks play a "vital role" in the U.S. economy. "Nearly half of all private-sector workers are employed by small businesses. We must ensure access to capital to small businesses and for small businesses to grow. Community banks are the backbone of small business in America," Trump said at the beginning of the meeting. Representing the industry were chief executives of nine community banks with assets of around $1 billion or less and the heads of the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). Bankers who attended the 45-minute meeting said they discussed the role community banks play in rural areas and provided real-world examples about the difficulties smaller banking institutions face."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-banking-idUSKBN16G14G?il=0

--- "FBI Director James Comey on Thursday met with senior congressional leaders, including the intelligence committee chiefs, FBI and congressional officials said. The officials declined to discuss the subject of Comey's meeting with the group of leaders known as the "Gang of Eight". U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged that the Obama administration wiretapped his election campaign. The Gang of Eight, who have routine access to highly classified materials, include House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and its top Democrat, Adam Schiff. Senate members include Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the top Republican and Democrat on the intelligence committee, Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-documents-idUSKBN16G2PY?il=0

--- "U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday called on Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling "at the first opportunity" and announced the first of several likely cash management measures aimed at staving off a U.S. default. The Treasury said it would suspend sales of State and Local Government Series securities, known as "slugs," effective noon EDT on March 15. A debt ceiling suspension expires at the end of that day...Mnuchin said additional "extraordinary measures" to avoid default would likely be taken. The United States is one of only a few nations where the legislature must approve periodic increases in the legal limit on how much money the federal government can borrow."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-debt-limit-idUSKBN16G2QO?il=0

--- "Several states said on Thursday they would move forward with legal challenges to a revised executive order signed by President Donald Trump this week that temporarily bars the admission of refugees and some travelers from a group of Muslim-majority countries."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-legal-idUSKBN16G2RC?il=0

--- "U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recused himself from issues related to TransCanada Corp's application for a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department said in a letter on Thursday to the environmental group Greenpeace. "He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application," said the letter from Katherine McManus, the State Department's deputy legal adviser. McManus' letter came after Greenpeace wrote to officials at the State Department and the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday, urging Tillerson recuse himself from any decisions on the multibillion-dollar pipeline, given his former role as chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-transcanada-keystone-tillerson-idUSKBN16G384?il=0

--- "The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday he is not convinced that carbon dioxide from human activity is the main driver of climate change and said he wants Congress to weigh in on whether CO2 is a harmful pollutant that should be regulated. In an interview with CNBC, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the Trump administration will make an announcement on fuel efficiency standards for cars "very soon," stressing that he and President Donald Trump believe current standards were rushed through...Scientists immediately criticized Pruitt's statement, saying it ignores a large body of evidence collected over decades that shows fossil fuel burning as the main factor in climate change. "We can’t afford to reject this clear and compelling scientific evidence when we make public policy. Embracing ignorance is not an option," Ben Santer, climate researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said in a statement...Pruitt has previously said the EPA should not regulate CO2 without a law passed by Congress authorizing it to do so. The Republican-controlled Congress could potentially issue a strong signal to the EPA that carbon dioxide should not be regulated by the agency, a move that would undermine many Obama-era rules aimed at curbing emissions. "Administrator Pruitt is correct, the Congress has never explicitly given the EPA the authority to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant and the committee has no plans to do so," said Mike Danylak, spokesman for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the panel that oversees the EPA."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-pruitt-idUSKBN16G1XX?il=0

Trump's potential domestic conflicts of interest: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-conflicts-idUSKBN16H0JN?il=0

[patriotsnet]

How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump Today

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-voted-to-impeach-trump-today/

How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump Today

The Law Enforcement Response

The Secret Service takes command today of all security preparations for the inauguration.

The agency will be backed by as many as 15,000 National Guard troops, thousands of police and tactical officers, and layers of eight-foot steel fencing. The high-alert security posture is starting six days earlier than planned, Carol Leonnig, Karoun Demirjian, Justin Jouvenal and Nick Miroff report. “Everyone can just rest assured they are throwing the kitchen sink at this event, said one Secret Service official involved in protective planning The accelerated timetable has also allowed authorities to fortify the city and deploy officers in anticipation of potential violence on Sunday, when pro-Trump groups are calling for armed marches in Washington and the 50 state capitals. Veteran Secret Service and Homeland Security officials described a level of concern unlike anything in their careers. 

The FBI warned of a war at the Capitol in advance of the mayhem.

“The warning is the starkest evidence yet of the sizable intelligence failure The head of the FBIs Washington Field Office, Steven DAntuono, told reporters on Friday that the agency did not have intelligence suggesting the pro-Trump rally would be anything more than a lawful demonstration. Steven Sund, who resigned as Capitol Police chief, said in an interview Tuesday that he never received nor was made aware of the FBIs field bulletin. 

The Daily 202: A Vote Of Conscience Five House Republicans Explain Why They Will Vote To Impeach Trump Today

with Mariana Alfaro

No matter how you look at her decision, Rep. Liz Cheney supporting the impeachment of President Trump took immense political courage. A new CBS-YouGov poll shows 55 percent of Americans favor impeachment, but just 15 percent of Republicans do. In November, the president carried her state with 70 percent of the vote. The leader of the Freedom Caucus and other Trump loyalists quickly called for Cheneys ouster as the No. 3 in House GOP leadership. The No. 1 and No. 2 on the leadership team oppose impeachment. The single article that has been introduced, for incitement of insurrection, already had the support of 218 House Democrats, enough to ensure its passage without her walking the plank. Even if no action is taken, Trump will be out of the White House in seven days.

Taken together, these factors make the statement Cheney issued Tuesday all the more remarkable. The 54-year-old has offered perhaps the most forceful and eloquent case of any lawmaker in either party for removing Trump from office over his behavior last week.

During a Monday evening conference call with Republicans, Cheney hinted at where she was heading. This is going to be a vote of conscience, the congresswoman told the members, according to two people who were on the private call.

Rep. Fred Upton complained that Trump showed no contrition when he spoke on Tuesday and described his speech from last weeks rally on the Ellipse as totally appropriate.

Democrats 10 Republicans Vote For 2nd Impeachment Of Trump

Democrats in the House of Representatives, joined by 10 Republicans, voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, in a 232197 vote on Jan. 13. The single article of impeachment alleges that the president incited an insurrection that resulted in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The impeachment, accomplished in a single seven-hour session, was the fastest in U.S. history. It is also the first time in the nations history that a president has been impeached twice.

Republicans criticized the rush, arguing that it offered no due process to the president and no confidence in the proceedings to the American people. Democrats justified the truncated process by alleging that Trump poses a danger to the nation every day he is in office.

We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion, against our common country, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi alleged. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.

Every Democrat voted in favor of impeachment.

Republicans who voted to impeach the president were Reps. Liz Cheney , John Katko , Adam Kinzinger , Fred Upton , Jaime Herrera Beutler , Dan Newhouse , Anthony Gonzalez , Tom Rice , David Valadao , and Peter Meijer

Some Republicans argued that moving forward with impeachment would further divide the nation.

He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding, McCarthy said.

How Many Republicans Will Vote To Convict

In Trump’s first impeachment trial, one year ago, just one Republican voted to convict, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee. If Democrats unanimously vote to convict him again, at least 17 Republicans would have to join them to succeed.

That’s a high bar.

The likeliest targets, apart from Romney, are Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he will keep an open mind, a departure from a year ago, when he declared the effort dead before the proceedings began.

Some GOP leaders are, again, telegraphing failure.

“At this point, there’s not going to be a conviction. You can read the writing on the wall,” John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate’s third-ranking Republican, said recently on CNN.

The 10 Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Donald Trump

Ten House Republicans joined every Democrat in voting yes, in the most bipartisan impeachment in US history

Ten Republican members of the US House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump over the deadly insurrection at the Capitol, making it the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in US history.

The break with the president stood in sharp contrast to the unanimous support for Trump among House Republicans when he was first impeached by Democrats in 2019.

All Democrats who voted supported impeachment, while 197 Republicans voted no.

The Republican votes made it a historic moment. In comparison, five Democrats voted to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998.

How the Senate will fall on Trumps second impeachment trial vote remains to be seen. Two-thirds of the 100-member body are required to convict a president, meaning 17 Republicans would have to join Democrats to render a guilty verdict. So far only a small number of Republican senators have indicated an openness to convicting the president in a senate trial, which is now set to begin after Bidens inauguration. Mitch McConnell, the top-ranking Republican in the Senate, indicated to colleagues that he is undecided on how he would vote.

Below are the Republicans who voted for impeachment in the House of Representatives:

Process For Impeachment And Conviction

The following two charts show the process for impeachment, which begins in the U.S. House with the introduction of an impeachment resolution and a committee inquiry conducted by the United States House Committee on the Judiciary. If the committee adopts articles of impeachment against the official, the articles will go to a full floor vote in the U.S. House.

When articles of impeachment are adopted by the U.S. House, the process moves to the U.S. Senate where senators will either acquit or convict the official following a trial.

Other News That Should Be On Your Radar

Biden nominates Samantha Power to run USAID.

Biden announced this morning that he will put the former U.N. ambassador in charge of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Biden is also expected to enhance Power’s role by elevating the position to membership on the National Security Council, NBCs Andrea Mitchell reports. Under , the agency’s budget has been slashed and career development experts have been replaced by political appointees with little experience in the field. In the administration’s proposed budget last year, foreign aid and USAID funds were cut by 22 percent.

The Senate Armed Services Committee appears poised to approve a waiver allowing retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as the next defense secretary, despite serious concerns lawmakers risk dismantling the tradition of civilian leadership of the Pentagon.

Biden will likely tap Gary Gensler to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. A final decision, however, has not been made. Gensler, pushed by liberals for the post, is viewed as a Wall Street critic and would probably be opposed by the banking industry if selected,” Jeff Stein reports.

Biden will appoint acting agency heads across the federal government once he takes office because of delays in Senate consideration of his nominees.

The Trump administration executes the first female death row inmate in seven decades.

Next Steps In The Impeachment Process

Now that the House has voted for impeachment, it is up to the Senate to hold a trial. A two-thirds vote in the Senate would be required to convict Mr. Trump on the impeachment charges.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that the Senate cannot conclude an impeachment trial before Mr. Trump’s term in office ends on January 20. But the trial could continue into Mr. Biden’s term, and senators could vote to convict Mr. Trump even after he leaves office. If he is convicted, a majority of the Senate could also vote to bar him from holding federal office in the future.

The article of impeachment, introduced Monday by House Democrats, accuses Mr. Trump of “willfully inciting violence against the government of the United States” in violation of his constitutional oath and duty. 

“President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United State and its institutions of government,” the article states. “He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coordinate branch of government. He thereby betrayed his trust as president to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”

The vote is the culmination of swift efforts by the Democrat-led House to punish Mr. Trump for his role in inciting the violence at the Capitol, which led to the deaths of four protesters and one U.S. Capitol Police officer who was fatally injured the melee. 

Gop Largely Sides Against Holding Trump Impeachment Trial

WASHINGTON All but five Senate Republicans voted in favor of an effort to dismiss Donald Trumps historic second impeachment trial on Tuesday, making clear a conviction of the former president for incitement of insurrection after the deadly Capitol siege on Jan. 6 is unlikely.

While the Republicans did not succeed in ending the trial before it began, the test vote made clear that Trump still has enormous sway over his party as he becomes the first former president to be tried for impeachment. Many Republicans have criticized Trumps role in the attack before which he told his supporters to fight like hell to overturn his defeat but most of them have rushed to defend him in the trial.

I think this was indicative of where a lot of peoples heads are, said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, after the vote.

Late Tuesday, the presiding officer at the trial, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was taken to the hospital for observation after not feeling well at his office, spokesman David Carle said in a statement. The 80-year-old senator was examined by the Capitols attending physician, who recommended he be taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, he said. Later Tuesday, Carle said Leahy had been sent home after a thorough examination and was looking forward to getting back to work.

But many others indicated that they believe the final vote will be similar.

Lawyer group: Trump adds ex-prosecutor to impeachment team

Here Are The 7 Republicans Who Voted To Convict Trump

Seven Republican senators voted to convict former President Trump on the charge of incitement to insurrection, joining Democrats to make it it a far more bipartisan vote than Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial. But the final vote of 57-43 fell short of the 67 votes that would have been needed for conviction. 

The Republicans voting to convict were Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Romney’s vote was all but a given, and the votes from Collins and Murkowski weren’t unexpected. Perhaps the most surprising vote came from Burr.

But something distinguishes most of the Republicans who voted to convict Mr. Trump most of them aren’t up for reelection soon. Murkowski is the only one of the group facing reelection in 2022. Burr and Toomey aren’t running for another term.

Collins and Murkowski asked some of the most probing questions on Friday when senators had the chance to pose questions to the defense and to the House impeachment managers. 

Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Sasse also joined Democrats in voting to call witnesses Saturday, as did Repubilcan Senator Lindsey Graham. But Democrats ultimately backed off on calling witnesses. 

Several of the senators released statements explaining their decisions following the vote Saturday.

“His betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office required conviction.”

Rep Liz Cheney Wyoming

The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack, Cheney wrote. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not.

Cheney is the highest-ranking House member to vote for Trumps impeachment.

Rep Tom Rice South Carolina

Rep. Tom Rice, representing South Carolinas 7th Congressional District, voted to impeach Trump, though he had not spoken out publicly about his decision prior to the vote.

In a statement after the vote Wednesday, Rice said he was not sure whether Trumps speech before the mobs attack amounted to incitement of a riot, but any reasonable person could see the potential for violence.

Once the violence began, when the Capitol was under siege, when the Capitol Police were being beaten and killed, and when the Vice President and the Congress were being locked down, the President was watching and tweeted about the Vice Presidents lack of courage, Rice wrote.

I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.

Us House Votes To Impeach President Donald Trump See How Louisiana Congressmen Voted

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WASHINGTON  Louisiana congressmen took on key roles during the historic impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, one of the first members to speak during the six-hour debate before Trump became the third president in history to be impeached, laid out the GOPs argument against impeachment.

Our Democrat colleagues have weaponized the impeachment provision of the constitution to nullify the votes of 63 million Americans who elected President Donald J. Trump, said Johnson, R-Shreveport. They are trying to meet their own arbitrary, completely reckless timeline to take down a president that they loathe.

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre, gave a fire-and-brimstone-inspired speech that drew intense interest online.

I have descended into the belly of the beast, he said. I have witnessed the terror within. And I rise committed to oppose the insidious forces which threaten our republic.

U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, called for the ouster of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, eliciting boos from the Democratic side of the chamber.

What is shameful is that Speaker Pelosi has allowed this political witch hunt to move forward, Abraham said. Democratic extreme partisanship will set a dangerous precedent for this nation, and mark my words, this sinister attempt to remove this lawful president will not go unnoticed.

Louisiana’s House delegation split 5-1, along the party line.

House Impeachment Managers Request Trump To Testify Under Oath Next Week

Democrats requested that Trump testify in person, an offer his attorneys declined. Inside his orbit, there has been disagreement about whether to repeat his groundless claims that the election was stolen or whether to push the procedural argument that appeals to GOP senators.

His attorneys, David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr., have indicated that they will do the latter, saying in their brief that the impeachment is “unconstitutional, and must be dismissed with prejudice.”

Impasse And Final Vote

Prior to the House impeachment vote, McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham expressed their intentions not to be impartial jurors, contrary to the oath they must take. McConnell said, “I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There is not anything judicial about it. Impeachment is a political decision.” Graham said, “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here … I will do everything I can to make die quickly.”

On January 14, 2020, Pelosi announced the House managers who would prosecute the case in the Senate. On January 15, the House voted on Resolution 798, which appointed the impeachment managers and approved the articles of impeachment to be sent to the Senate. Later that afternoon, Pelosi held a rare public engrossment ceremony, followed by a stately procession of the managers and other House officers across the Capitol building, where the third impeachment of a U.S. president was announced to the senate. With the exception of the managers, who would conduct the trial, the House’s involvement in the impeachment process came to an end.

Voting results on House Resolution 798 Party

Republican Support For Trump On Decline Ahead Of Impeachment Vote

Republicans offered only modest reproach when President Donald Trump said there were very fine people on both sides of a white supremacist rally. They stayed in line when Trump was caught pressuring a foreign leader and later defended his handling of a deadly pandemic.

But with a sudden force, the wall of Republican support that has enabled Trump to weather a seemingly endless series of crises is beginning to erode.

Trumps weakened standing among his own party will come into sharper focus on Wednesday when the House is expected to impeach the president for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol last week. A handful of Republicans have already said theyll join the effort, a number that could grow as the vote nears.

Read more: Donald Trump faces 2nd impeachment vote as McConnell rejects calls for immediate trial

The choice facing Republicans isnt just about the immediate fate of Trump, who has just seven days left in his presidency. Its about whether the partys elected leaders are ready to move on from Trump, who remains popular with many GOP voters but is now toxic in much of Washington.

How they proceed could determine whether the party remains viable in upcoming elections or splinters in a way that could limit their relevance.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy blamed Trump for the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week after arguing against the presidents impeachment on Wednesday.

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Numerous Gop Primary Challengers Could Split Anti

As they prepare to face primary challengers, the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 raised significantly more money during the first quarter of 2021 than they did two years earlier.

The group, leveraging the power of incumbency, also swamped their GOP primary opponents in almost every instance during the first round of fundraising since angering Mr. Trump with their votes, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

While all the incumbents outraised challengers who filed campaign finance reports, it is still early in the two-year election cycle and money is just one factor in typically low-turnout primaries.

Mr. Trumps political-action committees could also weigh in financially on some of the contests, and his endorsements could carry significant weight with the partys base. The PACs arent required to report their latest totals until July, but one of them, Save America PAC, started the year with $31 million in the bank and has continued to raise money since then.

In a speech earlier this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he called out all 10 by name, Mr. Trump told his supporters to get rid of them all in next years elections.

Illinois Rep Adam Kinzinger

Kinzinger, first elected to Congress in 2010 when voters swept House Republicans into power, has relied on his military background in crafting his legislative priorities, especially on foreign policy. The veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan serves on the House Foreign Affairs panel, as well as Energy and Commerce. Kinzinger initially defended Trumps foreign policy and national security posture, but by 2018 he had become a critic of the commander in chief. 

He voted in line with the president on legislation 90 percent of the time during the Trump years, according to CQ Vote Watch. Kinzinger voted with Trump 85 percent of the time in 2019. Trump carried Kinzingers 16th District, which stretches from Illinois Wisconsin border north of Rockford to its line with Indiana, in 2020. Trump got 57 percent of the vote in the district, according to Daily Kos Elections, while Kinzinger got 65 percent.

He immediately condemned Trump in a video statement on Jan. 6. The storming of the Capitol was a coup attempt, with the purpose of overturning the election of a duly elected president, he said. The current president incited this coup, encouraged it, and did little to protect the Capitol and the Constitution.

What If Anything Will We Hear From Trump

Trump is now without the tool he used during the previous impeachment trial to try to influence the proceedings: his Twitter account.

On the second day of his 2020 trial, Trump pumped 140 tweets, including retweets, into his timeline. Now his account is suspended, along with his Facebook and Instagram accounts. As a result, his attorneys will probably have to carry the burden.

South Carolina Rep Tom Rice

Rices vote for impeachment stunned those familiar with the South Carolina lawmakers record as a staunch Trump defender, especially during his first impeachment. 

I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice, Rice said in a statement Wednesday evening. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.

Rice voted for motions to object to certifying Bidens Electoral College victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania last week, votes that came after security teams cleared the building of rioters and members returned from a secure location. Rice told local media he waited until the last minute to cast those votes because he was extremely disappointed in the president after the riots and that Trump needed to concede the election. He also said last week that he did not support impeaching the president or invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. 

Rice, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, has supported the Trump administrations position 94 percent of the time over the past four years. He represents a solidly Republican district in the Myrtle Beach area that Trump carried by 19 points in November. Rice, who has had little difficulty holding his seat since his first 2012 victory, won his race by 24 points in November. 

Rep Jaime Herrera Beutler

While Beutler admitted that she did not vote for Trump in 2016, she did back the president for a second term in 2020.

On Tuesday, the congresswoman announced she would vote to impeach, saying: The Presidents offenses, in my reading of the Constitution, were impeachable based on the indisputable evidence we already have.

I understand the argument that the best course is not to further inflame the country or alienate Republican voters, she added. But I am a Republican voter I see that my own party will be best served when those among us choose truth.