The Viability Threshold: In an embarrassment to the party, problems with counting the votes have prevented the Iowa Democrats from reporting the results of their caucuses. This morning, the numbers on the board are all still zeroes.

  Party officials say they found “inconsistencies” in the reporting of numbers. They were using a new and evidently not properly reporting app. The Iowa Democrats say the results will be reported later today.

  Of course, President Trump dove in with his usual grace. He tweeted, “The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.”

  The situation has called to question Iowa’s outsized influence on presidential primaries. It’s a small state with big power in the process.

  Part of the reporting problem is that the precincts for the first time had to give three sets of numbers rather than the traditional one for each candidate. In the first alignment of support for candidates, those with less than 15 percent of the crowd were determined to be “not viable” and the supporters were allowed to move to a second choice. The numbers had to be reported from 1,600 precincts. 

  This morning, the final count is chaos.

 Final Arguments: President Trump’s lawyers, whose defense migrated from “never happened” to “not impeachable,” said in the closing arguments of the President’s trial that voters should decide whether to remove Trump from office.

  White House counsel Pat A. Cipollone called the impeachment “an effort to overturn the results of one election and to try to interfere in the coming election that begins today in Iowa.”

  The President is virtually assured acquittal in a vote scheduled for tomorrow.

  House manager Adam Schiff of California said, “If you find that the House has proved its case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of iron and for all of history.” He said, “But if you find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be among the Davids who took on Goliath. If only you will say ‘enough.'”

  A growing number of Republicans  now admit that Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine was wrong but not an offense worthy of removing him from office. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in a speech to a nearly-empty Senate chamber, said, “The president’s behavior was shameful and wrong. His personal interests do not take precedent over those of this great nation.” But she said she’s voting to acquit anyway. 

  West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin who’s still on the fence, suggested that Trump should be censured. “Censure would allow this body to unite along party lines,” Mr. Manchin said in a speech on the Senate floor. “His behavior cannot go unchecked by the Senate.”

  NY Times columnist  David Leonhardt writes that Trump’s immorality has merged with a Republican party concerned mostly with just staying in power. He says, “The current Republican Party cares more about holding on to power than anything else. In service of this goal, the party has even fought democracy, be it preventing American citizens from voting, changing the rules for Supreme Court nominations, stripping authority from incoming governors or running an impeachment trial unconcerned with facts.

The State of Trump:  President Trump delivers his State of the Union message tonight in the House chambers where he was impeached in December. The President can surely be expected to declare that the country is in far better shape than under any previous occupant of the White House.

  He’ll be crowing about “the American comeback,” but there are some flaws. Economic growth slowed in the last quarter to 2.1 percent, manufacturing is in recession, and the China situation has the markets rumbling.

  What will have the nation on the edge of its seat is how he will handle the constitutional crisis of his impeachment and trial, which will be unresolved when he speaks. Will he be conciliatory and move on, or will he drive in the stake of his hatred for the Democrats? 

The Sick List: Conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh announced on his show yesterday that he has advanced lung cancer. He’s one of the primary purveyors of so-called conservatism that includes a of hate, lies, and ignorance. A lot of people love him, but he’s a nasty guy.

  The 69-year-old Limbaugh said, “I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down with this, but the upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.” He’s a big cigar smoker and he’s probably in fatal trouble.

Outbreak: Chinese leader Xi Xinping has called the coronavirus crisis “a major test of China’s system and capacity for governance.” It’s a stunning admission from a totalitarian government that traditionally hides imperfections.

  China is reporting 420 deaths in the coronavirus epidemic and 20,438 confirmed cases. Hong Kong reported its first death.

  The streets of some major Chinese cities are nearly empty as the population hides from exposure to the disease. Some local officials have already been thrown out of office for bungling their response. “Those who disobey the unified command or shirk off responsibilities will be punished,” Xi said. 

Geography 101: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an angry confrontation recently challenged an NPR reporter to identify Ukraine on an unlabeled map, and she did.

  Sunday after the Super Bowl, President Trump tweeted, “Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on a great game, and a fantastic comeback, under immense pressure. You represented the Great State of Kansas and, in fact, the entire USA, so very well.” 

  The Chiefs are based in Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas. Let’s show that man an unmarked map of Ukraine.

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