Monday, January 18, 2021

Tom Tomorrow: The end of an error

 

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Unraveling the insurrection

 Posted by Jamie Clarke Chavez

Seen on Twitter (The More You Know Edition):
Language warning
> How bad do things have to be inside Lauren Boebert's Congressional office—and how much do you have worry that your boss is now under federal investigation—to quit your job 14 days after all your hard work pays off and you become a communications director for a member of Congress? (Seth Abramson)
> "You're outnumbered," one of the terrorists says to a Capitol Police officer. "There's a fucking million of us out there and we are listening to Trump -- your boss." (The New Yorker)
> "I think Cruz would want us to do this so I think we're good," says one of the terrorists in this @NewYorker video. (Jake Tapper)
> News: A top official at FEMA, which has been assisting in preparations for the Inauguration next week, took personal leave to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. It alarmed some staff, who reported it to the IG and FBI. (Natasha Bertrand, Politico)
> Does anyone doubt this Trump mob would have killed Pence and Pelosi if it had reached them? The more we learn, the more it’s clear the president incited an attack on not just his own Vice President, not just on a co-equal branch of govt, but the Constitutional line of succession. (Garrett M. Graff, Wired, CNN)
> New affidavits this morning in Capitol insurrection investigation. This rioter, who was caught on camera flushing his eyes from pepper spray, allegedly threatened his [teenage] children if they turned him in. (Kyle Cheney, Politico)
[Note: they did anyway.]
> Chris Hayes: Trump, the Capitol mob, and Republicans in Congress all had the same goal. “All of those people were trying to install the defeated man as head of the government, against the will of the people, via any means necessary.” (All In with Chris Hayes)
> Tonight, in our beloved country: "Defense officials tell AP they fear possible inside attack at inauguration, will have National Guard troops vetted.” (Michael Beschloss, historian)
> What a mess, we need the military for a simple presidential inauguration. We aren't at war, we aren't in a global war - we are simply watching the torch be passed. Republicans need to take responsibility for this mess.

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Too soon to make nice.

 



I'm thinking we can talk unity when McConnell gives back the judge positions he stole, releases and passes those 400 bills, and admits being a tool of Putin.
We can talk unity when cops stop being militarized and go to about 4 years of sensitivity training. When Black lives do matter to them.
We can talk unity when we stop setting new precidents like "first woman vice president" because it's just another woman, another South Asian descended, another gay, another person in the job. Because we are unified.
Want to talk unity? Stop dividing us. Stop stealing the wealth of the nation and putting it in the hands of the few. Stop giving healthcare to the so-called elite, like #IMPOTUS, before the rest of us can get it. Special salt in that wound for coming around and saying that Covid-19 is nothing to worry about while hundreds of thousands die.
Sure, let's talk unity. Take the knives out of our backs first.
Edit: I missed voter suppression. Want unity? Make elections really free and fair. Change campaign finance, redistricting, polling access, voting hours, and all the rest so if anyone wants to run, they can compete fairly. Prove in court that there's fraud or shut the fuck up.
While I'm at it, change the election of Senators to be by national district the same way Representatives are at a state level. Fix it so the people of Wyoming get the same voice as the people of California. It's important that rural folks have a voice, but not a bigger one than everyone else. Unity requires that.
It would be good to recognize tribal interests, too. I'm not at all sure how unity works with sovereign entities but we, the People, owe a huge debt.
Update:


Monday, January 11, 2021

Steve Schmidt

From Steve Schmidt: former campaign manager to John McCain and lifelong Republican, newly registered Democrat.

“No, Biden’s rallies weren’t bigger. No, you didn’t see many Biden flags on houses or Biden bumper stickers on cars. No, you don’t know a single person on your street or at your church who supports Biden. But guess what? We’re here.

Biden’s rallies were small because people who live in reality don’t want to expose themselves to the virus you continue to downplay or deny. We don’t fly Biden flags because we don’t want our houses burned down. We don’t put Biden bumper stickers on our cars because we want to avoid becoming targets for road rage. We don’t trust you. We’ve decided to minimize our interactions with people who cannot be reasoned with. This is for our own safety.

In private groups – where you’re not invited – we share our bewilderment of your descent into madness. We all have stories about how we’ve cut ties with you, our family and former friends, because we don’t want your hatred poisoning our social media streams. We can’t stand to listen to you vomiting the lies of your cult, day after day. You used to be different. We liked you. But now that we know what was inside your heart all along, we’ve decided you don’t deserve to know about our lives.

We’ll skip family reunions, even after we get the vaccine. We’ll make up some excuse just to be polite. But in reality, we just don’t feel like sitting around eating potato salad and making small talk with people who have such monstrous beliefs.

To all the brothers and aunts and cousins and dads and neighbors out there who just can’t wrap their heads around what this means going forward, know that these scars aren’t going away anytime soon. We won’t be reaching out, and we won’t be mending fences. It’s not up to us to apologize for the wounds you have gleefully inflicted upon us and our friends. You poured the gasoline, you lit the match. You burned this to the ground.

So if we seem different from now on, I guess we are, in a way. We’ve seen your truth laid bare, and we’re horrified.

I hope Trump was worth it.”

Tuesday, January 05, 2021

One plus one equals five

 


Is anyone listening?

 


OHIO GOV DEWINE: Senator Portman has a good proposal. And that proposal is to get two very distinguished people in this country, Democrat and Republican, have a commission, and to take a hard look at voter security. [...] We have a lot of people in this country who -- who are very concerned about it.
JAKE TAPPER: Because they have been lied to, Governor.
DEWINE: And with the change in ...
TAPPER: Governor, because they have been lied to by President Trump for -- for weeks. ... But this isn't about actual allegations of legitimate fraud. This is about fomenting lies in order to undermine the democracy. It's very different.
DEWINE: Jake, you -- you can make that point, but I will go back to my point. I think it's valid as well. And what's valid about it is that we have a lot of people in this country who are questioning this election. That's a problem for us.
TAPPER: But why? Why? Why do you think they are?
DEWINE: Why? Look, you can go through why. The question for us is, what do we do about it?
ME: Once again, a very concerned "reasonable" republican is trying to solve the wrong problem. The only way Trump is going to accept any commission's finding is if it finds that he won. It doesn't matter how respectable they are. Because he doesn't respect anyone. You think he's just going to shrug and say "I guess I lost after all?" How did that work out for Bill Barr?
The only thing that can be done is to tell the truth. Every Republican Senator. Every Republican congressperson. Everyone anywhere near a microphone who knows the truth - and make no mistake, they know - needs to step up to it just like Gabriel Sterling did in Georgia the other day and SAY it. Clearly and unambiguously.
And then people must be held accountable. REALLY accountable. People need to be fired. Lawyers need to be disbarred. Criminals need to be prosecuted. Not by the incoming president, it's bad precedent to have politicians jailing their rivals; rather, by the states, and by the current justice department. And Trump needs to be impeached again now, and quickly, with solid majorities from both parties.
THAT'S what you do about it.