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

[Tami]

Steve Bannon has been Indicted by a Federal Grand Jury, charged with two counts of Contempt of Congress

Steve Bannon indicted after refusal to comply with Jan. 6 committee subpoena

Former White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon was charged Friday with contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

He was indicted by a grand jury in Washington.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the charges reflect the Justice Department’s commitment to “show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law.”

Bannon, 67, was subpoenaed on Sept. 23, one of a number of former advisers to President Trump who have balked at answering the select committee’s questions about the events before and during the pro-Trump riot that sought to prevent Congress from formally certifying the election of President Biden.

[Mister Mets]

Not coincidentally, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is looking to punish the 13 Republicans who didn't vote alone party lines and voted for the Infrastructure and Jobs Bill.

There are three main reasons Republicans wouldn't be so eager to support the infrastructure bill.

The first is political. It gave Biden and Democrats a win. I do think this is one argument the party should be quiet about, because it's not a moral reason to block legislation.

The second is that Biden and congressional Democrats said that the two massive bills are interlinked, so a vote for the infrastructure bill could be seen as a vote to make passage of the Build Back Better act easier, which is a bad thing for anyone who doesn't want to vote for the Build Back Better Act.

The final reason would be the argument that this is the wrong time for an infrastructure bill. The United States has spent trillions on Covid relief, and is experiencing the worst inflation in thirty years (which may be a temporary blip due to supply chain issues but is still a consideration.) Meanwhile, we already have pent up demand for construction projects, which means there's going to be less bang for the buck when it comes to infrastructure spending, and it's likely to increase the costs of private investment at a time when it's already relatively high.

I think Congressman Mets would have supported the bill, but I can understand the opposition.

[Mister Mets]

An Air Force sergeant killed himself on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The note he left is heartbreaking.

Don’t Blame “Wokeness” On Democratic Losses

Wokeness is not seen as a criticism of African Americans.

The general understanding is that Democratic-leaning white people have become more liberal.

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/182598...ing-trump-2020

Conservatives are happy to point out that a majority of the people who would be considered Latinx have not even heard of that term.

https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic...just-3-use-it/

The attacks on wokeness are not about Eric Adams, Jim Clyburn, the Obamas, Shontel Brown or Linda-Thomas Greenfield.

Don't recall the numbers but hypothetic if 5000 votes are snagged in GA and 1250 of those are correctly fakes you are saying that is not enough to tip GA? Maybe. Trump I think was looking for 11000 so 44000 fake ballots out of 7,233,584 is not so incredible to drop into the system to defraud it. That's like .6%

"Over 1.7 million absentee ballots were requested in the state for the November election, according to the U.S. Elections Project."


I didn't say it was but nor is presidency determined in the same way as the down ballot is though. It would in fact have to be a whole other operation as the tipping example shows above.

Speaks to the character of the party and how it follows a pattern of intention. Degrees of cheating don't add up always to a smoky room conspiracy but cumulative collusive behavior can amount to the same thing; that what Cartels are. Do we not take Cartels seriously?

I was simply referring to a qualified statement that was being blown up to one without it

The difference in Georgia was 11,779 votes. The difference in Arizona was 10,457 votes. The difference in Wisconsin was 20,682 votes.

That would flip the electoral college to a 269-269 tie, which favors Republicans due to the method of a tiebreaker (each House congressional delegation picks one person to vote for President; Republicans had 26 delegations.)

There was also a difference on 80,555 votes in Pennsylvania.

If you've got massive fraud they wouldn't know in advance how many votes they need, so they would presumably manufacture some extras. They would also need to make up whatever the real Trump advantage is. If Trump was supposed to win Georgia by two points pre-fraud, that would mean they would need to manufacture an additional 100,000 votes.

But how would they go about dumping these extra votes? Who's in charge? What level of coordination is there? Agents within cartels tend to work together to achieve their ends, so there would still be some kind of larger conspiracy.

If someone who thinks the election was stolen can't articulate how it would happen, it seems entirely likely that they are mistaken and wasting people's time on a fantasy.

[worstblogever]

There are three main reasons Republicans wouldn't be so eager to support the infrastructure bill.

The first is political. It gave Biden and Democrats a win. I do think this is one argument the party should be quiet about, because it's not a moral reason to block legislation.

The second is that Biden and congressional Democrats said that the two massive bills are interlinked, so a vote for the infrastructure bill could be seen as a vote to make passage of the Build Back Better act easier, which is a bad thing for anyone who doesn't want to vote for the Build Back Better Act.

The final reason would be the argument that this is the wrong time for an infrastructure bill. The United States has spent trillions on Covid relief, and is experiencing the worst inflation in thirty years (which may be a temporary blip due to supply chain issues but is still a consideration.) Meanwhile, we already have pent up demand for construction projects, which means there's going to be less bang for the buck when it comes to infrastructure spending, and it's likely to increase the costs of private investment at a time when it's already relatively high.

I think Congressman Mets would have supported the bill, but I can understand the opposition.

You're missing the point... it is not normal for any party's leadership to start headhunting based off of common sense, non-controversial votes like this. Especially while they're ignoring doing anything about of other members harassing or making death threats towards other members of Congress that would get anyone in any other workplace fired.

[Xheight]

Wokeness is not seen as a criticism of African Americans.


If someone who thinks the election was stolen can't articulate how it would happen, it seems entirely likely that they are mistaken and wasting people's time on a fantasy.

Again that Time article is so instructive - are these names and operatives commonly known people? I couldn't name a single KStreet Lobbyist but they exist. Apart from the AFL-CIO character we know a name but clearly he mentions that he worked with others. PAC and other NGOs provide the perfect cover because in a certain regard they aren't under cover but have been working developing the mechanisms for years that allow for someone to print out a run of ballots from a database that some org had collected. Some more work and investigation needs to be done to unearth that turn of numbers and crucial to being done was that the perpetrators couldn't themselves be absolutely sure they would win by this stratagem just like a card cheat doesn't have a Flush up their sleeves like they do in movies to give themselves away. Card counters don't even see themselves as cheats particularly just deep thinking players. If I had the goods on the Steal I wouldn't be on a message board but compared to all the hyperbole and distortions I think I am doing a slight better with skepticism.

[JB]

Steve Bannon indicted after refusal to comply with Jan. 6 committee subpoena

Woah. That's some strong precedent regarding executive privilege. This means any administration, past or future, can't use it.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Woah. That's some strong precedent regarding executive privilege. This means any administration, past or future, can't use it.

Yeah, only the present president can use it. Crazy idea that.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Steve Bannon indicted after refusal to comply with Jan. 6 committee subpoena

Good! Throw his rumpled ass in jail!

[Xheight]

Woah. That's some strong precedent regarding executive privilege. This means any administration, past or future, can't use it.

I have to say the Ex Priv argument was weak for him being in no official capacity then or now but I am sure he is fine with Congress playing ¿Quien Es Mas Macho?

[Xheight]

Good! Throw his rumpled ass in jail!

And the Left wonders where all the blowback comes from.

meanwhile over at another news provider

https://thejasminebrand.com/2021/11/...ant-be-bought/

No congressional committee on that I guess as it is only the work-for-hire apparatchiks, not officials, doing something we don't approve of.

[The Cool Thatguy]

And the Left wonders where all the blowback comes from.

meanwhile over at another news provider

https://thejasminebrand.com/2021/11/...ant-be-bought/

No congressional committee on that I guess as it is only the work-for-hire apparatchiks, not officials, doing something we don't approve of.

And The Right wonders why they can't break the law without consequences

[Gray Lensman]

I don't think there was a congressional committee looking into Bill O'Reilly either.

[Tendrin]

that's such an absurd equivalence that it doesn't even warrant a response.

[Tendrin]

... WBE I...

https://twitter.com/ChrisCaesar/stat...35989583540227

Just...

... just something for you to add to a proifle. 'Playing with deer poop' is definitely weird, right?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

And the Left wonders where all the blowback comes from.

meanwhile over at another news provider

https://thejasminebrand.com/2021/11/...ant-be-bought/

No congressional committee on that I guess as it is only the work-for-hire apparatchiks, not officials, doing something we don't approve of.

The Jasmine Brand? Seriously? That sounds like a line of scented candles sold at Bath & Body Works. Give me a break.