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

[Malvolio]

When I think of the people who attacked the Capitol last year, it makes me think of a Pandemic of Emotional Immaturity .

Adults acting like spoiled children.

That's exactly what they are. And Trump gave them license to act that way.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That's exactly what they are. And Trump gave them license to act that way.

And that's why Trump's supporters won't quit him, because that would mean growing up to be responsible adults who don't stage riots at the Capitol, and they clearly DON'T want to do that.

[Mister Mets]

It's the reforms that are urgent, the Electoral Act will only stop the GOP from trying to stop the House confirmation again. Schumer is right. It's a diversion from the anti-democratic laws the GOP is passing around the country.
Unless you think your Party will once again try to stop the House Electoral count, it isn't as urgent as voting rights.

I think it's unlikely that there will be a major effort to stop the House Electoral count, let alone a successful one.

But it's possible.

It's also a loophole that can be exploited in the future, so it makes sense to close it now, especially if there are the votes for it.

They can always try to do a separate bill on other provisions, and make a case for it on its merits.

Except the GOP State Legislatures are already passing laws that allow them to control the count in the first place.
Without the Voting Act, voting is already moot in this country.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022...-voting-rights

The article doesn't really say anything about restrictions passed by GOP legislatures, or how it makes voting moot in much the country. It doesn't defend the controversial provisions within the bill.

The main claim is the worry that Manchin won't be on board if he can get something on ECA reform, although this assumes Manchin to be ignorant of this dynamic.

[Mister Mets]

Just a reminder of the sorts of people who stormed the Capitol:





Trump and the GOP are still lying about the attack not being planned, still lying about the results of the election, and plotting the next coup attempt. In plain sight. There's no remorse. Any statements you see from anyone still with a Republican Party membership today are crocodile tears.

The claim that the idiots on those photos were on the verge of victory that day just doesn't ring true. Exaggerating their effectiveness will only encourage that kind of stuff in the future.

[Gray Lensman]

The claim that the idiots on those photos were on the verge of victory that day just doesn't ring true. Exaggerating their effectiveness will only encourage that kind of stuff in the future.

The effectiveness was contingent upon the countermeasures being mostly shut down.

[Tami]

Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory.

It might smack of QAnon, the conspiracy theory that the world is controlled by an elite cabal of child-trafficking Democrats. Except that the creator of Birds Aren’t Real and the movement’s followers are in on a joke: They know that birds are, in fact, real and that their theory is made up.

What Birds Aren’t Real truly is, they say, is a parody social movement with a purpose. In a post-truth world dominated by online conspiracy theories, young people have coalesced around the effort to thumb their nose at, fight and poke fun at misinformation. It’s Gen Z’s attempt to upend the rabbit hole with absurdism.

“It’s a way to combat troubles in the world that you don’t really have other ways of combating,” said Claire Chronis, 22, a Birds Aren’t Real organizer in Pittsburgh. “My favorite way to describe the organization is fighting lunacy with lunacy.”

At the center of the movement is Peter McIndoe, 23, a floppy-haired college dropout in Memphis who created Birds Aren’t Real on a whim in 2017. For years, he stayed in character as the conspiracy theory’s chief believer, commanding acolytes to rage against those who challenged his dogma. But now, Mr. McIndoe said in an interview, he is ready to reveal the parody lest people think birds really are drones.

“Dealing in the world of misinformation for the past few years, we’ve been really conscious of the line we walk,” he said. “The idea is meant to be so preposterous, but we make sure nothing we’re saying is too realistic. That’s a consideration with coming out of character.”

Most Birds Aren’t Real members, many of whom are part of an on-the-ground activism network called the Bird Brigade, grew up in a world overrun with misinformation. Some have relatives who have fallen victim to conspiracy theories. So for members of Gen Z, the movement has become a way to collectively grapple with those experiences. By cosplaying conspiracy theorists, they have found community and kinship, Mr. McIndoe said.v

they are fighting Fire with Fire. Lets' see if it actually works.

[Tami]

[Dalak]

The claim that the idiots on those photos were on the verge of victory that day just doesn't ring true. Exaggerating their effectiveness will only encourage that kind of stuff in the future.

It's not that those specific people were the ones 'on the verge of victory', they were always pawns of the people engineering the coup who actually were the ones nearly there. As pointed out by Captain Europe, we'd be singing a different tune right now if those pipe bombs had actually gone off.

Brushing everything off based on just the pawns isn't a smart move.

[CaptainEurope]

The claim that the idiots on those photos were on the verge of victory that day just doesn't ring true. Exaggerating their effectiveness will only encourage that kind of stuff in the future.

They were not the actors of the coup. They were one of the tools of the coup.

Again: There are literally PowerPoint presentations of their plans. If those bombs had gone off, if Kamala Harris had been injured or killed in the blast, if Mike Pence had gotten lynched - Trump would have declared a state of emergency.
Are you confident that the Trump/McConnell SCOTUS would have stopped him?

[CaptainEurope]

If Biden is the Jobs President, then why is the company Cyber Ninjas shutting down and letting go all employees?

[The Watcher]

If Biden is the Jobs President, then why is the company Cyber Ninjas shutting down and letting go all employees?

Crippling losses inflicted by Cyber Daredevil.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Crippling losses inflicted by Cyber Daredevil.

No one saw it coming!

[Tami]

Canadian passengers partied maskless on a charter flight to Mexico. Airlines are refusing to fly them home.

Passengers on a Canadian charter flight danced, drank alcohol and vaped as they made their way from Montreal to Cancún the day before New Year’s Eve. Video footage of the rave-like atmosphere made its way onto social media, and the images of maskless travelers partying in the air amid surging coronavirus cases sparked broad condemnation.

Now, those passengers have found themselves waylaid in Mexico, with several airlines unwilling to fly them back to Canada as the trip’s organizer tries to negotiate their return.

Sunwing Airlines, which flew the group to Mexico, canceled the return flight, citing the group’s disruptive behavior and refusal to accept the airline’s stated terms and expectations for the flight back. Two other commercial airlines have refused to allow the group of more than two dozen passengers to board their planes.

[Xheight]

That's exactly what they are. And Trump gave them license to act that way.

Name-calling and bullying. In general, adults don’t resort to schoolyard tactics when they relate to other adults. You seldom see two adults calling each other mean names. Someone who behaves like a mean kid in school is not using mature emotional tactics. Instead, they are relying on childlike displays of temper.

LOL - As if being called deplorable, racist and phobic of every kind is not name calling. After trash talking most of middle america for about a decade people wonder why THEY won't just take it or adopt the lessons of the scolds they receive. The elites and those posing as elites just don't understand why people don't accept the mores of their betters, snark.

[Tami]

Cyber Ninjas, the firm hired to conduct an election review in Arizona, ordered to pay $50,000 a day in sanctions

Cyber Ninjas, the firm hired to conduct a partisan review of election results in Maricopa County, Ariz., has been ordered to pay sanctions of $50,000 a day until it turns over records from the review sought by the Arizona Republic newspaper.

A superior court judge in Maricopa County found the Florida-based company in contempt of court Thursday and ordered the sanctions, according to the Republic.

Maricopa Superior Court Judge John Hannah had previously ordered the company to turn over emails, text messages and other documents to the publication.

“It is lucidly clear on this record that Cyber Ninjas has disregarded that order,” Hannah said.

The order of sanctions comes as the company claims to be shutting down.

Jack Wilenchik, a lawyer representing Cyber Ninjas, said that the company has laid off all employees, including its former chief executive officer Doug Logan, and is now insolvent, according to Newsweek. Wilenchik said the company is unable to go into its records to find the audit documents.