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

[Robotman]

I highly doubt that. The SS isn't any more fond of these people than the rest of the country is.

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/06/92084...onavirus-risks

Well last month they had to change the Secret Service detail around Trump because it seemed like some of them were starting to drink the orange Kool Aid.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-trump-loyalty

Joe Biden is expected to receive Secret Service protection with a new team that is more familiar to him and replacing some agents amid concerns that they may be politically allied with Donald Trump.

It’s not surprising that Biden would want secret service agents that he’s familiar with, but it is disturbing to think that even these guys are susceptible to the MAGA cult.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Well last month they had to change the Secret Service detail around Trump because it seemed like some of them were starting to drink the orange Kool Aid.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-trump-loyalty

Joe Biden is expected to receive Secret Service protection with a new team that is more familiar to him and replacing some agents amid concerns that they may be politically allied with Donald Trump.

It’s not surprising that Biden would want secret service agents that he’s familiar with, but it is disturbing to think that even these guys are susceptible to the MAGA cult.

This is starting to read like Game of Thrones stuff.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Well last month they had to change the Secret Service detail around Trump because it seemed like some of them were starting to drink the orange Kool Aid.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-trump-loyalty

Joe Biden is expected to receive Secret Service protection with a new team that is more familiar to him and replacing some agents amid concerns that they may be politically allied with Donald Trump.

It’s not surprising that Biden would want secret service agents that he’s familiar with, but it is disturbing to think that even these guys are susceptible to the MAGA cult.

A smart move on Biden's part. No telling how deep the rot runs as the taint of Trump spread throughout the government.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Did anyone read about this from the 11th?

Susan Collins recounts the moment rioters stormed the Capitol

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, was destined to be a significant day. The Senate and the House would decide whether to certify the electoral votes in the presidential election, and I knew that there would be challenges against at least three states. I had studied the very limited role that the Constitution assigns to Congress, but was well aware that emotions were running high because of the president’s repeated claims that the election was “stolen,” despite the fact that approximately 90 judges, including the Supreme Court justices, had ruled otherwise.

Little did I know when I arrived in the Senate Chamber at 12:30 p.m. just how turbulent and dangerous the day would be, with the Capitol occupied, a police officer murdered and rioters breaking windows, looting offices and attempting to block the certification of an American election.

The proceedings began calmly enough. Around 1 p.m., we senators proceeded to the House for a joint session. Soon there was an objection, baseless in my view, to accepting the electoral count from Arizona. We returned to the Senate to begin our two-hour debate with senators, beginning a series of 5-minute speeches. Sen. James Lankford had just started speaking when, all of a sudden, the Capitol Police and staff from the Sergeant at Arms burst into the chamber and removed Vice President Mike Pence who was presiding. Shortly thereafter, the two Senate leaders were also rushed away.

My first thought was that the Iranians had followed through on their threat to strike the Capitol, but a police officer took over the podium and explained that violent demonstrators had breached the entire perimeter of the Capitol and were inside. Several of us pointed out that the doors to the press gallery were unlocked right above us. That tells you how overwhelmed and unprepared the Capitol Police were, although many, many of them were very courageous.

That miserable, pearl clutching cow actually thought Iranians had invaded the Capitol! How fucking stupid was THAT?

[Tendrin]

Did anyone read about this from the 11th?

Susan Collins recounts the moment rioters stormed the Capitol



That miserable, pearl clutching cow actually thought Iranians had invaded the Capitol! How fucking stupid was THAT?

Oh for god's sake.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Did anyone read about this from the 11th?

Susan Collins recounts the moment rioters stormed the Capitol



That miserable, pearl clutching cow actually thought Iranians had invaded the Capitol! How fucking stupid was THAT?

What, was she supposed to think that white people were involved? That's just crazy!

[Mister Mets]

The Pentagon won't offer Trump a farewell ceremony traditionally offered to Presidents at the end of the term.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/202...-trump/171408/

Who's gonna accuse the US Military of cancel culture? The woke left has taken over the Pentagon and will soon spread its woke ideas across the Empire.


We also have direct evidence and a confirmation of how it's an inside job. It turns out some members of the group were on the staff of US Representative Bob Good, a very far-right Republican.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...6d6_story.html

You're off with a few details.

Only one member (not some) of the staff was at the crowd.

It's not confirmation of how it's an inside job, as the district director says she never breached the police barrier. She may be lying about that, but it is a little premature to say so.

A district director for a new member of Congress is not necessarily going to be the most knowledgeable about the layout of the capitol.

Bob Good started his term as congressman less than a week before the riots.

The district director doesn't work at the capitol. She's supposed to work with local groups and manage the district office.

Good announced that the district office will be in Campbell County, about 200 miles from the capitol.

https://www.cbs19news.com/story/4311...f-appointments

Republicans winning legislative seats and governor mansions is quite different from winning Senate seats. The party would have literally zero hope of scoring seats in Massachusetts or Maryland, yet both states currently have Republican governors. Statewide federal votes are far better predictors for where the environment is headed.

As for the other stuff, I’m sure Republicans will try, but most of what people will remember is that Trump’s last year in office was disastrous, sparked riots that he incited, and that the vaccine was really slow moving. It will be hard for Republicans to run against that. Just like it was hard for Republicans after Hoover lost to claim that Hoover at least moved some social programs before FDR. Trump’s strongest issue was the economy. By all metrics, it will probably be stronger under Biden in 2022 than it was under Trump in 2020. And Trump’s weakest issue was COVID. And Biden will probably handle that much better too.

A difference between New Hampshire and Maryland is that Republicans were able to win the legislature in New Hampshire. That does require voters willing to put up with Republican control (In Massachusetts, moderates are aware that a Republican Governor will be limited by the Democratic legislatures.)

Montana Governor Steve Bullock outperformed the fundamentals by seven points when running for Senate. That wasn't enough for a Democrat in Montana, but it can make things competitive for a Republican Governor in New Hampshire.

[Tami]

Sen. James Lankford apologizes to Black Tulsans for questioning presidential election results

uh huh

U.S. Sen. James Lankford apologized to Black Tulsans on Thursday for not recognizing that his involvement in questioning presidential election results would offend them.

In a letter addressed to “My friends in North Tulsa,” Lankford acknowledges that his actions “caused a firestorm of suspicion among many of my friends, particularly in Black communities around the state. I was completely blindsided, but I also found a blind spot.”

Arguably, Lankford has been more involved with Black Tulsans, and particularly the historic Greenwood District, than any statewide Republican officeholder in decades.

His decision to raise issues about the presidential election in several key states — most of them with large African American populations — hurt and angered many Tulsans, however, with some leaders saying he should resign or be removed from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission.

In his letter, though, Lankford asks for another chance.

[Tami]

Facebook is playing whack-a-mole against 'stop the steal' groups after Capitol riots

(CNN Business)Groups and individuals spreading lies about the 2020 election and calling to protest the outcome have continued to hide in plain sight on Facebook, even as COO Sheryl Sandberg this week tried to downplay the platform's role in the Capitol riots.

From altering the names of their online forums to abusing the core features of Facebook's own services, conspiracy theorists have worked to evade content moderators despite the company's vows of a crackdown, new research shows.

These groups' efforts to remain undetected highlight the sophisticated threat confronting Facebook, despite its insistence the situation has been less of a problem compared to on other platforms. It also raises new concerns that the groups' persistence on these mainstream social networks could spark a new cycle of violence that stretches well into Joe Biden's presidency.

The latest examples surfaced on Thursday, as extremism experts at the activist group Avaaz identified 90 public and private Facebook groups that have continued to circulate baseless myths about the election, with 166,000 total members.

Of those, a half-dozen groups appeared to have successfully evaded Facebook's restrictions on "stop the steal" content, according to Avaaz. Though many initially had "stop the steal" in their names, the groups have since altered their profiles, according to page histories reviewed by CNN Business — allowing them to blend in with other Facebook activity.

[TheDarman]

A difference between New Hampshire and Maryland is that Republicans were able to win the legislature in New Hampshire. That does require voters willing to put up with Republican control (In Massachusetts, moderates are aware that a Republican Governor will be limited by the Democratic legislatures.)

It is important to note that the primary argument against complete control of a state government by any one party is for concerns about gerrymandered districts, at least for Democrats. In New Hampshire, there are protections against gerrymandering, hence why the state legislature has flipped back and forth between Democrats and Republicans even after Republicans brutally gerrymandered Democrats out of control of the House and many state legislative seats, even in elections where they vastly outperform them in the popular vote.

Moreover, there were substantially fewer votes cast overall for state legislative seats than for Biden and Trump. This indicates that the primary contest of concern for most voters was who was the federal office holder and that there likely wasn't an effort by many Democrats to cast their votes down ballot while Republicans did for Trump. (And we know there was a turnout surge for Trump nationwide that made this election more competitive than initially suspected).

Montana Governor Steve Bullock outperformed the fundamentals by seven points when running for Senate. That wasn't enough for a Democrat in Montana, but it can make things competitive for a Republican Governor in New Hampshire.

It is important to note, again, that this was a presidential election year where both Republicans and Democrats were acting in good faith with their vote, believing it mattered, at least to the limited degree that most recognize their vote mathematically is important. The only one to escape the fate of the person at the top of the ticket in their state was Susan Collins, likely getting by on her vote not to replace Ginsburg mere weeks after her death in a blatantly political power grab (especially since Obama wasn't allowed a replacement on the Supreme Court for almost a year because it was "an election year").

Maybe a Collins Republican could be successful in the state. But that would likely require Trump not to be a national presence in 2022 for the Republican Party (where he would tour the country and hurt the not-Trump-enough Republicans in a primary). We saw Georgia swing three points towards the Democrats from November to January because Trump continued to be a powerful motivator for Democrats to turn out. I'm not optimistic enough that Trump will leave the political scene, where he gets so much free spotlight. Are you?

[TheDarman]

A lot of the discussion about the Senate also should reference the better argument for D.C. Statehood. Republicans would certainly be opposed to this as it would reasonably make the hill to climb to a Senate majority considerably more difficult. But, in the wake of the attack on the Capitol, there have been very succinct arguments about how D.C. would have fared better, with a more swift response on their behalf, if it had been a state and able to call in the National Guard on their own.

However, Senator Manchin, the most Conservative Democrat in the Senate, has expressed that he would be open to adding two more states, including Washington D.C.

This is one of those political moves that would have virtually no blowback for Democrats. Republicans can't rescind a territory's statehood. And there are no additional territories that Republicans would be able to add that would give them any more Senate seats. Indeed, adding Puerto Rico, while potentially being more competitive, is likely only to add additional Democrats to the Senate. American Samoa, which hasn't been expressive of a desire to become a state itself, would maybe be helpful, but that remains largely unclear.

[DrNewGod]

Turns out, "The Big Pull" Parler hack didn't actually harvest as much confidential information as originally reported. Still, there's a enough to pleasantly terrify those seditious terrorists.

[Amadeus Arkham]

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Well, that’s sure to stick in Trump’s craw. GOOD! He brought that all on himself by endlessly whining about the election and egging on the horde that attacked the Capitol last week.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

https://news.yahoo.com/gop-sen-lankf...120417755.html

One of the Senators who initially opposed certifying the election and then changed his mind has offered a statement to Black voters in Oklahoma.
https://news.yahoo.com/gop-sen-lankf...120417755.html

https://tulsaworld.com/read-the-lett...58d2cd9e6.html