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

[WestPhillyPunisher]

As if we didn't have enough to worry about.
Trump may actually have the power to suspend the election and quell any resulting opposition through the PEAD system.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rewriti...ential-powers/

The fact the PEAD system has been around since the 1950’s and was never used, not even during the worst moments of the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis or after 9/11 means presidents never felt the need to do something as dangerous as suspend the Constitution. Now comes Trump who’s freedom literally depends on staying in office, for him, that’s most definitely an emergency, and that dovetails into a suspicion I’ve had for the last three plus years that he’s had lawyers looking into ways to bypass if not repeal the 22nd Amendment from day one of his administration. Looks like Trump found his magic bullet that will keep him in power. Shit!

[The Cool Thatguy]

The fact the PEAD system has been around since the 1950’s and was never used, not even during the worst moments of the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis or after 9/11 means presidents never felt the need to do something as dangerous as suspend the Constitution. Now comes Trump who’s freedom literally depends on staying in office, for him, that’s most definitely an emergency, and that dovetails into a suspicion I’ve had for the last three plus years that he’s had lawyers looking into ways to bypass if not repeal the 22nd Amendment from day one of his administration. Looks like Trump found his magic bullet that will keep him in power. Shit!

In the hands of a more competent president, this would be worrying. I'm sure Trump will screw it up

[Jack Dracula]

In the hands of a more competent president, this would be worrying. I'm sure Trump will screw it up

I honestly don't consider myself an alarmist, but when people who have more knowledge about the inner workings of government say we should be concerned I listen.

[Gray Lensman]

I'll be honest- without clicking on the link, I thought you were talking about the actress. It's been so long since we've heard anything from this Tara, I had forgotten all about her.

I think it's been even longer since I have heard anything from or about the actress.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I honestly don't consider myself an alarmist, but when people who have more knowledge about the inner workings of government say we should be concerned I listen.

I actually saw the report about these powers. I understand the concern, but Trump is an idiot and if no one knows he has these legal powers, who would put their neck on the line for him?

[Malvolio]

Trump probably would let Reade speak at the convention, when you consider he dragged Bill Clinton's accusers to a debate against Hillary.

Hell, were it not for Covid-19, that was probably has plan with Reade in the 2020 debates.

Democrats respect social distancing guidelines too much to cram 20-odd Trump's accusers in one room, though.

Well, most of the Democratic Convention is going to be virtual anyway, so they could get several of Trump's accusers in on a Zoom conference.

[Jack Dracula]

I actually saw the report about these powers. I understand the concern, but Trump is an idiot and if no one knows he has these legal powers, who would put their neck on the line for him?

Mitch McConnell and 90% of the Republican politicians in Washington D.C.-including the Attorney General, loyalist Governors and conservative-majority state governments, the second-largest police union in the country, ICE and other departments in border protection (note: a wall also serves to keep people in), Eric Prince and whatever version of Blackwater he's currently running, a nation-wide network of various right-wing and alt-right militias, gangs and vigilante groups, Republican-elected Sherriffs departments. I could go on.

[Tami]

How three conspiracy theorists took 'Q' and sparked Qanon

In November 2017, a small-time YouTube video creator and two moderators of the 4chan website, one of the most extreme message boards on the internet, banded together and plucked out of obscurity an anonymous and cryptic post from the many conspiracy theories that populated the website's message board.

Over the next several months, they would create videos, a Reddit community, a business and an entire mythology based off the 4chan posts of “Q,” the pseudonym of a person claiming to be a high-ranking military officer. The theory they espoused would become Qanon, and it would eventually make its way from those message boards to national media stories and the rallies of President Donald Trump.

Now, the people behind that effort are at the center of a fractious debate among conspiracy enthusiasts, some of whom believe the three people who first popularized the Qanon theory are promoting it in order to make a living. Others suggest that these original followers actually wrote Q’s mysterious posts.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Mitch McConnell and 90% of the Republican politicians in Washington D.C.-including the Attorney General, loyalist Governors and conservative-majority state governments, the second-largest police union in the country, ICE and other departments in border protection (note: a wall also serves to keep people in), Eric Prince and whatever version of Blackwater he's currently running, a nation-wide network of various right-wing and alt-right militias, gangs and vigilante groups, Republican-elected Sherriffs departments. I could go on.

It’s all about power (and for some, white supremacy), and the only way they keep same is by keeping Trump in office. It’s as simple as that.

[godisawesome]

I actually saw the report about these powers. I understand the concern, but Trump is an idiot and if no one knows he has these legal powers, who would put their neck on the line for him?

Honestly, at the most base, desperate and amoral level, this would become a matter of whether or not Trump’s most powerful political allies would believe that the escalating equation in a worst case, almost-certainly violent scenario, would end with judicial and military leaders backing Dictator Trump or not, and whether or not that would suit their personal long-term interests. So it would require a judiciary that would be fine with losing all its own remaining political power (something I think Chief Justice Roberts and others jealously guard even over their “policy goals”), a collection of military leaders who have not expressed reservations or professional loyalty to the country (Which I'd say we’ve seen enough evidence to suggest is not the case), and for the legislative leaders to also be willing to become extensions of his will rather than try and grapple around to use him for their own ends (which I think is more how McConnel, Graham and others see the situation).

So I don’t think it could be pulled off.

Trump is scary only in the sense that he has enough ballot box power to abuse the authority it gives him, especially among the GOP - very few of them respect him or fear him in a personal way, and it all comes down to whether or not he can hurt their chances of winning primaries and elections. Since he can definitely hurt them in primaries, he has their obedience now. But if he tried to just remove the ballot box entirely, I think you’d see enough politicos who see their chances better with him out of office than as a likely doomed wannabe dictator that he’d find himself sufficiently isolated.

That’s how I see it, at any rate.

[Tami]

Surreal scenes inside Russia’s battle against the pandemic

When I started to photograph in Moscow, there were these strange processions taking place—priests marching around their monastery with holy water, chanting and singing, praying that Russians would be protected from the coronavirus. One of the priests posted something about this on Instagram, saying they planned to do this every evening. I took a taxi out to the monastery to see them. I was feeling a little weak because I’d been sick myself, three weeks at home. I was just getting healthy again when I went out to watch the priests.

It was frightening. Russia closed its long border with China as the pandemic started to spread, but by the time I shut myself in, national news here was starting to report diagnosed cases and deaths. As spring extended into summer, the numbers really climbed. By August 12, Russia was reporting the world’s fourth-largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, about 907,000, according to data from Russia and international sources. And it was just this week, of course, that we learned Russia is bringing out its version of a vaccine, after very limited testing. (Why Anthony Fauci is skeptical about Russian vaccine.)

But back in March, while I was managing my voluntary self-quarantine, I read and watched news reports and social media. When I emerged, near the end of the month, the case and death numbers were multiplying, and social media was full of rumors that a city lockdown was coming: the subway will close, everything will close, even the supermarkets will close. At one of our local markets people were rushing to buy huge bags of buckwheat—Russians really love buckwheat, it’s the traditional cereal—and already some were wearing masks. Everything looked quite changed.

It was shocking inside the hospitals. From the moment you’re in the elevator you’re in a “red zone,” which is considered contaminated. Everywhere is a red zone, really, because the staff transfers patients from building to building. The nurses prepare COVID medicines, infusions, and antibiotics, and rush back to the patients. One patient who had just arrived in the hospital was a boy so sick he needed to be intubated immediately. In the ICU almost no one is conscious; it’s a huge floor where all the old people look more dead than alive. There’s this awkward silence. You see bodies not moving anymore. Some of the bodies turn a strange color. They look like porcelain.

[Robotman]

Pelosi to Recall House for Postal Service Vote as Democrats Press for DeJoy to Testify

The House will cut short its summer recess to consider legislation that would counter changes at the Postal Service that critics say undermine casting ballots by mail.

[AnakinFlair]

Pelosi to Recall House for Postal Service Vote as Democrats Press for DeJoy to Testify

The House will cut short its summer recess to consider legislation that would counter changes at the Postal Service that critics say undermine casting ballots by mail.

The Senate should also cut short their vacation, but of course McConnell will never do that.

[Robotman]

As if we didn't have enough to worry about.
Trump may actually have the power to suspend the election and quell any resulting opposition through the PEAD system.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rewriti...ential-powers/

Oh for %#*$ sakes. So we’re totally screwed.

Building that giant wall around the White House last month was a pretty ominous sign.

[sammy_hansen]

Oh for %#*$ sakes. So we’re totally screwed.

Building that giant wall around the White House last month was a pretty ominous sign.

Disgusting. It’s hard not to react emotionally to this PEAD bullshit. Just imagine if Barack Obama has ever suggested something like this. I honestly believe Republicans and their supporters are some of the worst people on this planet.