All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Tami]

Conservatives spread false claim Biden invented 'office' of the president-elect

Several prominent right-wing activists and conservative pundits have been pushing the false claim that Joe Biden invented the "office" of the president-elect or that he is the first incoming president ever to use the title.

The assertions come as President Trump has refused to concede the election weeks after it was called for Biden. Health and national security experts have said the White House's refusal to begin the transition process could harm the incoming administration's ability to respond to major crises such as the coronavirus pandemic.

“They even created a fake office for Joe Biden, the Office of the President-Elect. Sounds nice, but it’s fake. It’s not real. For the record there is no such thing as the Office of the President-Elect,” said Benny Johnson, creative director of Turning Point USA and a host on the conservative network Newsmax. “How insecure. These people are about as confident as Brian Stelter on a Peloton. This is not the behavior of winners. This is the behavior of feeble thin-skinned tyrants, who can’t wait to have control over your life again.”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

A quote from Twitter:

"One paragraph on the first page about her job; the rest is whining about herself."

Just read the letter, and that was my conclusion as well.

[BeastieRunner]

GSA did not give transfer documents to W. till day 35 after the election. This was on day 20. I think the writing on the wall has appeared.

[Kirby101]

GSA did not give transfer documents to W. till day 35 after the election. This was on day 20. I think the writing on the wall has appeared.

Remind me when the Supreme Court installed Bush as President elect?

[Amadeus Arkham]

[SUPERECWFAN1]

He will never really concede as we know. Closest he will come to doing it.

[BeastieRunner]

Remind me when the Supreme Court installed Bush as President elect?

Day 35.

That wasn't the point of my post.

My point was that this is over and has been over.

It's not going to be 2000 again.

[Kirby101]

Day 35.

That wasn't the point of my post.

My point was that this is over and has been over.

It's not going to be 2000 again.

OK, got it.

[Zauriel]

Donald Trump will probably refuse to accompany his successor to the inauguration. If it is definite, he will be the fourth president to do so. John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Johnson refused to accompany their successors to the inauguration. The election battle between President Johnson and candidate Ulysses Grant was so bitter, they refused to ride in the same carriage on the day of President-elect Grant's inauguration. John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson's sides accused and slandered each other so brutally that they refused to meet with each other on the day of President-elect Jackson's inauguration. President Adams's supporters labelled candidate Jackson's wife as an adulteress and bigamist. In retaliation, Jackson's supporters accused Adams of human trafficking. They accused him of presenting a teenage American girl as prostitute to the Russian Czar when he was Ambassador to Russia.

The slander caused Mrs. Jackson to fall into depression and suffer a heart attack, leaving him a widower. Therefore, Jackson never forgave President Adams and his supporters.

[Tami]

Trump Exits Open Skies Treaty, Moves to Discard Observation Planes

The Trump administration formally shut the door on the Open Skies treaty Sunday, exiting the agreement while moving to get rid of the U.S. Air Force planes that have been used to carry out the nearly three-decade-old accord.

President Trump had served notice in May that the U.S. would withdraw in six months from the accord, which was intended to reduce the risk of war by allowing Russia and the West to carry out unarmed reconnaissance flights over each other’s territories. U.S. officials, however, have long complained that Moscow hasn’t fully complied with its terms.

In a move that could complicate President-elect Joe Biden’s options if he sought to re-enter the agreement, the Trump administration is taking steps to dispose of the two specially equipped OC-135B planes the U.S. has used to carry out Open Skies flights.

A senior U.S. official said the planes are being designated as “excess defense articles,” which means they can be given to foreign partners at reduced or no cost.

“We’ve started liquidating the equipment,” the official said. “Other countries can come purchase or just take the airframes. They are really old and cost-prohibitive for us to maintain. We don’t have a use for them anymore.”

As part of the disposal, the old wet-film cameras on the aircraft are likely to be given to European allies. New digital cameras that the Pentagon had planned to install on the planes used for Open Skies flights will instead be transferred to other units in the Air Force.

The moves follow a July decision by then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper to cancel the program to buy newer planes to replace the OC-135Bs, eliminating the option of replacing the aircraft with more-modern variants as well.

Sens. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) and Jack Reed (D., R.I.), who support the accord, noted earlier this year that Congress had already appropriated $41.5 million toward the estimated $250 million cost of replacing the planes.

Mr. Biden has been sharply critical of Mr. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty, saying that the accord had strong allied support and that problems with Russian compliance should be addressed by using the treaty’s dispute procedures.

In a May statement, Mr. Biden said, “I supported the Open Skies Treaty as a senator, because I understand that the United States and our allies would benefit from being able to observe—on short notice—what Russia and other countries in Europe were doing with their forces.”

[numberthirty]

He will never really concede as we know. Closest he will come to doing it.

Are there folks that really need to/are seriously invested in seeing the guy concede?

While there's probably going to be a "Gopher Rodeo..." when it comes to the transition, almost every possible version outside of Trump pulling out a win involved some kind of a gopher rodeo.

Seems like the focus ought to be on moving on, and not whatever the terms are that the guy is trying to set.

[numberthirty]

Donald Trump will probably refuse to accompany his successor to the inauguration. If it is definite, he will be the fourth president to do so. John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Johnson refused to accompany their successors to the inauguration. The election battle between President Johnson and candidate Ulysses Grant was so bitter, they refused to ride in the same carriage on the day of President-elect Grant's inauguration. John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson's sides accused and slandered each other so brutally that they refused to meet with each other on the day of President-elect Jackson's inauguration. President Adams's supporters labelled candidate Jackson's wife as an adulteress and bigamist. In retaliation, Jackson's supporters accused Adams of human trafficking. They accused him of presenting a teenage American girl as prostitute to the Russian Czar when he was Ambassador to Russia.

The slander caused Mrs. Jackson to fall into depression and suffer a heart attack, leaving him a widower. Therefore, Jackson never forgave President Adams and his supporters.

Don't care.

The guy not being their pulling his usual Killer Klowns From Outer Space bit might be the most inadvertently patriotic thing that he could do.

[Malvolio]

Here's what must be understood about Donald Trump. Nothing he does can ever be small. Everything has to be a big deal. But the transition from one President to the next is totally mundane and ordinary. So how can you make it into a big deal? You refuse to do it for two weeks, so that when you finally agree to it, it's huge news. This is all about Trump's ego. Of course, there could also be some secret deal being worked out to keep Trump from being prosecuted once he's out of office.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Are there folks that really need to/are seriously invested in seeing the guy concede?

While there's probably going to be a "Gopher Rodeo..." when it comes to the transition, almost every possible version outside of Trump pulling out a win involved some kind of a gopher rodeo.

Seems like the focus ought to be on moving on, and not whatever the terms are that the guy is trying to set.

The current president breaking the tradition to acknowledge a peaceful transfer of power to their successor is a big thing to worries about and we shouldn't be ignoring as nothing of significance. Trumps' allies in the government have deliberately sabotaged Biden's transition and creates the narrative that what they're doing is normal.

"Gopher rodeo" minimises their horrific actions of an outgoing administration creating confusion and weakening the state when its in a weakened period.

Trump's gone, thirty, time to move onto another Republican.

[numberthirty]

The current president breaking the tradition to acknowledge a peaceful transfer of power to their successor is a big thing to worries about and we shouldn't be ignoring as nothing of significance. Trumps' allies in the government have deliberately sabotaged Biden's transition and creates the narrative that what they're doing is normal.

"Gopher rodeo" minimises their horrific actions of an outgoing administration creating confusion and weakening the state when its in a weakened period.

Trump's gone, thirty, time to move onto another Republican.

You seem to be the only one taking such a narrative seriously enough to even type out that it could exist.

Everyone else?

They realize that it is, at best, a gopher rodeo that will be dealt with as folks who wind up in those roles assume them.