American Politics Impeachment: 2 fast? No, we're 2 furious

[The United Confederacy of Texas]

Schumer looking at invoking emergency measures, to force the Senate to immediately take up the impeachment bill

Small problem: It needs McConnell’s approval

Fuck McConnell. How does one man have that much power? It's insane.

He feasts on the souls of poor people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDf_8Ixi4Xw

[Freiheit Reich]

Well, putting a lot of people in prison is a form of totalitarianism. In this case, the USA is #1.

U.S. Has World’s Highest Incarceration Rate

https://www.prb.org/us-incarceration/

Since 2002, the United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world.

..because of the war on drugs and the right's incessant clamour to lock up poor people and minorities whereas I rarely see coke-snorting bankers going to jail..

Actually, supporting the industrial prison complex is a bi-partisan effort. Both sides agree on the need to keep millions of Americans locked up and often for minor offenses (politically it is a safe thing to support-we gotta keep the women and children safe). At least Clinton admitted he was part of the problem (a politician actually admitted to a mistake, there must have been a frost advisory in Hell on that day):

Bill Clinton admits his crime law made mass incarceration 'worse'

https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/clinton-adm ... msna640031

n 1994, President Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which offered states billions in funding for new prisons -- but only if they adopted "truth in sentencing laws" that would reduce prisoners' eligibility for parole. The law also established mandatory life-sentences for people convicted of a third violent felony, among other punitive measures. By the end of the Clinton presidency, the number of people in America's prisons rose by nearly 60%, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

[Bombadil]

..because of the war on drugs and the right's incessant clamour to lock up poor people and minorities whereas I rarely see coke-snorting bankers going to jail..

Actually, supporting the industrial prison complex is a bi-partisan effort. Both sides agree on the need to keep millions of Americans locked up and often for minor offenses (politically it is a safe thing to support-we gotta keep the women and children safe). At least Clinton admitted he was part of the problem (a politician actually admitted to a mistake, there must have been a frost advisory in Hell on that day):

Bill Clinton admits his crime law made mass incarceration 'worse'

https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/clinton-adm ... msna640031

n 1994, President Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which offered states billions in funding for new prisons -- but only if they adopted "truth in sentencing laws" that would reduce prisoners' eligibility for parole. The law also established mandatory life-sentences for people convicted of a third violent felony, among other punitive measures. By the end of the Clinton presidency, the number of people in America's prisons rose by nearly 60%, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Sure.. but..

https://imgur.com/a/9Rq7AVr

[The Archregimancy]

Trump thinks if he goes there he'll find guns randomly laying around that he can use to make his final stand.

Why not go to Little Bighorn already..

If Trump were to go to that site, I would recommend using the Native American name for the battle.

'Greasy Grass' seems a far more appropriate name for anything sullied by Trump's presence in this closing week of his presidency.

[Parxland]

Well apparently..

Rather than focus on any of these pressing issues, Trump is going Tuesday to Alamo, Texas -- not to be confused with The Alamo -- to talk about the border wall as his last stand.

Is going to place called Alamo really the actions of a responsible president in these times?

Trump thinks if he goes there he'll find guns randomly laying around that he can use to make his final stand.

I heard trump say cannonballs are so powerful, a single one can destroy everything for miles around it.

Oh wait, those are nukes. Nevermind.

EDIT: scary thought. What's keeping trump from using those nukes under his control to force everybody to acknowledge him as president?

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

EDIT: scary thought. What's keeping trump from using those nukes under his control to force everybody to acknowledge him as president?

That nobody would obey his orders to nuke anything.

[Page]

Trump thinks if he goes there he'll find guns randomly laying around that he can use to make his final stand.

I heard trump say cannonballs are so powerful, a single one can destroy everything for miles around it.

Oh wait, those are nukes. Nevermind.

EDIT: scary thought. What's keeping trump from using those nukes under his control to force everybody to acknowledge him as president?

"Our founding fathers took over the British airports with just a few cannons and muskets!" - Trump, probably at some point in the past or future

[Gravlen]

ha ha approveal line go down

Also reading the latest report from morning consultant was the way I found out Im a zoomer (97 bab)

What on Earth happened in December 2017?

Passing of the unpopular tax bill, while he started retweeting racist, anti-muslim propaganda amid the Russia investigation picking up steam.

[Shrillland]

In other news...for other news there still is as the world rolls on, Yang put his foot in his mouth: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/andrew-yang-covid-new-york-mayor-b1785801.html

Pity, really. And he was leading, too.

[Gravlen]

A judge has revoked Lin Wood’s privileges to argue in Delaware because of his “toxic stew of mendacity, prevarication, and surprising incompetence.”

[Agarntrop]

In other news...for other news there still is as the world rolls on, Yang put his foot in his mouth: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/andrew-yang-covid-new-york-mayor-b1785801.html

Pity, really. And he was leading, too.

Yang is still young politically. There are many offices he can run for.

[Picairn]

Sure.. but..

https://imgur.com/a/9Rq7AVr

Dang, the crack cocaine epidemic in the 80s was wild.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Sure.. but..

https://imgur.com/a/9Rq7AVr

Dang, the crack cocaine epidemic in the 80s was wild.

That was Reagan's Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 and its tougher sentences for cannabis.

[The Archregimancy]

Well apparently..

Rather than focus on any of these pressing issues, Trump is going Tuesday to Alamo, Texas -- not to be confused with The Alamo -- to talk about the border wall as his last stand.

Is going to place called Alamo really the actions of a responsible president in these times?

Alamo, TX is a nothing town about 8 miles from the border. There's no crossing there, and you can't see his wall from there, so unless things have changed since I was last there (about '96), there's no reason to choose it over the larger cities in the Rio Grande Valley like Brownsville, McAllen, or Harlingen.

You're obviously more familiar with the area than I am, so a quick question...

It's my understanding that the town of Alamo is directly north to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, a hugely important bird and butterfly sanctuary that runs along the border, and the Los Palomas Wildlife Management Area; locations where attempts to construct and/or expand the Trump wall have been heavily contested by local Republicans due to its impact on conservation. Furthermore, the town isn't adjacent to the border, but some five miles north of the Rio Grande; so even if that stretch of the border wasn't included in two wildlife refuges, there would be no border wall to see. Is this broadly correct?

If so, it seems even stranger to choose this particular town, and it seems even more possible that this is another Four Seasons Total Landscaping; though perhaps not quite on the same scale as the latter fiasco.

[The Alma Mater]

EDIT: scary thought. What's keeping trump from using those nukes under his control to force everybody to acknowledge him as president?

Pelosi *seriously* has expressed worries about this and has asked them to be removed from Trump.
Republicans were not amused.

[The Alma Mater]

A judge has revoked Lin Wood’s privileges to argue in Delaware because of his “toxic stew of mendacity, prevarication, and surprising incompetence.”

May many follow.
I like how humble the judge is in the piece as well.

[Diahon]

The batshit "we're fucked" stuff

Capitol Police briefed Democrats on Monday night about three more potentially gruesome demonstrations planned in the coming days, with one plot to encircle the U.S. Capitol and assassinate Democrats and some Republicans.

On a private call Monday night, new leaders of the Capitol Police told House Democrats they were closely monitoring three separate plans that could pose serious threats to members of Congress as Washington prepares for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.

The first is a demonstration billed as the “largest armed protest ever to take place on American soil.”

Another is a protest in honor of Ashli Babbitt, the woman killed while trying to climb into the Speaker’s Lobby during Wednesday’s pro-Trump siege of the Capitol.

And another demonstration, which three members said was by far the most concerning plot, would involve insurrectionists forming a perimeter around the Capitol, the White House and the Supreme Court, and then blocking Democrats from entering the Capitol ― perhaps even killing them ― so that Republicans could take control of the government.

The members of Congress whom HuffPost spoke to Monday night were extremely concerned by the call.

“It was pretty overwhelming,” one member said.

Officials on the call warned lawmakers about sharing too much information with the media, saying that divulging specific dates, times and countermeasures could aid the organizers of the plots. HuffPost is not disclosing certain information, such as who appears to be organizing these plots and when they are to take place.

One member was explicit that these groups were trying to get journalists to report on their demonstrations.

“Some of their main communications to organize these have been cut off, so they’re purposely trying to get the media to report on this as a way to further disseminate information and to attract additional support for their attacks,” this member said.

Democrats were told that the Capitol Police and the National Guard were preparing for potentially tens of thousands of armed protesters coming to Washington and were establishing rules of engagement for warfare. In general, the military and police don’t plan to shoot anyone until one of the rioters fires, but there could be exceptions.

Lawmakers were told that the plot to encircle the Capitol also included plans to surround the White House ― so that no one could harm Trump ― and the Supreme Court, simply to shut down the courts. The plan to surround the Capitol includes assassinating Democrats as well as Republicans who didn’t support Trump’s effort to overturn the election ― and allowing other Republicans to enter the building and control government.

All of these plots may never materialize. The Capitol Police have established a new perimeter with fencing and razor wire, and the National Guard has already been called in to help protect the Capitol and lawmakers.

But while Capitol Police assured members they were prepared for these terrorist plots, there was obvious concern from a number of lawmakers.

One topic of discussion was the need to put every member of Congress through a metal detector before the inauguration. A member on the call told HuffPost that there was an “eyes-wide-open realization” that Capitol Police needed to take precautions against “all these members who were in league with the insurrectionists who love to carry their guns.”

“You can’t just let them bypass security and walk right up to [Joe] Biden and [Kamala] Harris at inauguration,” this lawmaker told HuffPost.

Another area of concern was the Trump administration’s involvement in tamping down an insurrection. “I don’t think anyone has confidence that the folks at the Pentagon, that may or may not even be needed for some of this, or the Department of Homeland Security, where we don’t even know who’s in charge, are going to be cooperative,” one member told HuffPost.

One Democrat on the call also raised the issue of security for members coming from their residences to the Capitol, as well as traveling to Washington, given recent confrontations at airports and on flights between some protesters and lawmakers. One member who spoke to HuffPost said the Capitol Police didn’t have a satisfactory answer about that concern.

This member mentioned how the briefing had underscored the wisdom of Twitter suspending Trump’s account, as well as tens of thousands of accounts associated with the right-wing conspiracy theory QAnon, and said the decision to cut off the social media platform Parler “looked a lot smarter” given the efforts to recruit armed extremists to come to the nation’s capital in the coming days.

“It’s a decision that might ultimately save lives,” this member said.

One of the lawmakers who spoke to HuffPost said members of Congress were all experiencing difficult reactions to the storming of the Capitol last week.

“Most of us are feeling that,” this Democrat said. “But we are also feeling that we don’t have time to indulge too much of it, that this is not about us, that it’s about a job that’s way bigger than us, and we are just going to suck it up and get through, and we’ll talk about how nutty it is on the other side.”

literally the first thought that came to my mind is, "what would chesty puller do?"

also, this gathering storm of insurrections that may or may not happen, as it were, with parts of the executive and even certain congresspeople's loyalties doubtful at best, only reinforces my contention that the way to go moving forward is de facto one-party rule by the democratic party till such a time as the mainstream of american conservatism can be trusted to wield, exercise, and give up power democratically once more

and one last thing: what about the states? it's not only dc that's going to get attacked in the days leading to and probably even after january 20; the fbi raised the alarm for similar armed gathering in all 50 states (even hawaii -- HAWAII!)

[The Archregimancy]

EDIT: scary thought. What's keeping trump from using those nukes under his control to force everybody to acknowledge him as president?

Pelosi *seriously* has expressed worries about this and has asked them to be removed from Trump.
Republicans were not amused.

The precedent is for the Joint Chiefs to quietly ensure that the nuclear protocols can't be used by an unstable president; or rather, that any nuclear order from an unstable president has to be confirmed by the Secretary of Defense and/or State and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

Nixon drank heavily in his final weeks in office before his resignation, and was also showing clear signs of what we would today likely classify as depression. Senior cabinet officials stepped in.

Defense Secretary James Schlesinger recalled years later that in the final days of the Nixon presidency he had issued an unprecedented set of orders: If the president gave any nuclear launch order, military commanders should check with either him or Secretary of State Henry Kissinger before executing them. Schlesinger feared that the president, who seemed depressed and was drinking heavily, might order Armageddon. Nixon himself had stoked official fears during a meeting with congressmen during which he reportedly said, “I can go in my office and pick up a telephone, and in 25 minutes, millions of people will be dead.” Senator Alan Cranston had phoned Schlesinger, warning about “the need for keeping a berserk president from plunging us into a holocaust.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... xon-215478


This following an earlier incident where a drunk Nixon had seemed to be on the verge of launching a tactical nuclear strike on North Korea, and 'Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor for Nixon at the time, also got on the phone to the Joint Chiefs and got them to agree to stand down on that order until Nixon woke up sober the next morning'.

https://www.businessinsider.com/drunk-r ... ?r=US&IR=T


So it's likely that when Speaker Pelosi called the Pentagon, they quietly reassured her privately - and confidentially - that no, ma'am, they couldn't just take the nuclear codes completely away from the president, while nonetheless reassuring her that protocols were in place to make sure that an unstable Trump won't be launching a nuclear strike on Iran in the last week of his presidency.

[Diahon]

an additional, worrying thought: how sure are we that trump, de facto held incommunicado as he is, is not actually actively plotting more bullshit, possibly including kowani's above bullshit, with pence (assuming the reconciliation between them was genuine and not a show of formality, and in all likelihood the reason why the 25th amendment is still not invoked) and their confederates sprinkled across the rest of the executive branch, especially the pentagon?

[Minoa]

What I have seen on Parler is abhorrent and definitely grounds for termination of service, but unfortunately the first amendment doesn’t apply to private companies, no matter how I frame it.

I am also concerned that the abuse of free speech to call for violence and intimidation against people they do not like threatens legitimate uses of free speech for things like greater government transparency, as well as to expose corruption in countries like Greece (the fakelaki comes into mind), and government mismanagement such as the Windrush scandal.

If free speech keeps getting abused like what Parler did, it might lead to governments or people turning on the concept out of frustration.

[Cannot think of a name]

an additional, worrying thought: how sure are we that trump, de facto held incommunicado as he is, is not actually actively plotting more bullshit, possibly including kowani's above bullshit, with pence (assuming the reconciliation between them was genuine and not a show of formality, and in all likelihood the reason why the 25th amendment is still not invoked) and their confederates sprinkled across the rest of the executive branch, especially the pentagon?

Well, he's going in front of microphones soon to say things live in front of people while he's being impeached for the second time. We'll have a pretty good idea where his head's at when that happens.

EDIT: Wait, my bad, I think the impeachment has been moved to Wednesday.

[Nekostan-e Gharbi]

What I have seen on Parler is abhorrent and definitely grounds for termination of service, but unfortunately the first amendment doesn’t apply to private companies, no matter how I frame it.

I am also concerned that the abuse of free speech to call for violence and intimidation against people they do not like threatens legitimate uses of free speech for things like greater government transparency, as well as to expose corruption in countries like Greece (the fakelaki comes into mind), and government mismanagement such as the Windrush scandal.

If free speech keeps getting abused like what Parler did, it might lead to governments or people turning on the concept out of frustration.

Free speech is free speech. Allowing gov to censor any speech leads to it censoring speech it doesn’t like.

[Diahon]

What I have seen on Parler is abhorrent and definitely grounds for termination of service, but unfortunately the first amendment doesn’t apply to private companies, no matter how I frame it.

I am also concerned that the abuse of free speech to call for violence and intimidation against people they do not like threatens legitimate uses of free speech for things like greater government transparency, as well as to expose corruption in countries like Greece (the fakelaki comes into mind), and government mismanagement such as the Windrush scandal.

If free speech keeps getting abused like what Parler did, it might lead to governments or people turning on the concept out of frustration.

Free speech is free speech. Allowing gov to censor any speech leads to it censoring speech it doesn’t like.

allowing trump to pursue an autogolpe and his fanatics to hash out a first attempt shows us the impracticality of allowing certain people all the bullshit they can say

[Kowani]

The batshit "we're fucked" stuff

Capitol Police briefed Democrats on Monday night about three more potentially gruesome demonstrations planned in the coming days, with one plot to encircle the U.S. Capitol and assassinate Democrats and some Republicans.

On a private call Monday night, new leaders of the Capitol Police told House Democrats they were closely monitoring three separate plans that could pose serious threats to members of Congress as Washington prepares for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.

The first is a demonstration billed as the “largest armed protest ever to take place on American soil.”

Another is a protest in honor of Ashli Babbitt, the woman killed while trying to climb into the Speaker’s Lobby during Wednesday’s pro-Trump siege of the Capitol.

And another demonstration, which three members said was by far the most concerning plot, would involve insurrectionists forming a perimeter around the Capitol, the White House and the Supreme Court, and then blocking Democrats from entering the Capitol ― perhaps even killing them ― so that Republicans could take control of the government.

The members of Congress whom HuffPost spoke to Monday night were extremely concerned by the call.

“It was pretty overwhelming,” one member said.

Officials on the call warned lawmakers about sharing too much information with the media, saying that divulging specific dates, times and countermeasures could aid the organizers of the plots. HuffPost is not disclosing certain information, such as who appears to be organizing these plots and when they are to take place.

One member was explicit that these groups were trying to get journalists to report on their demonstrations.

“Some of their main communications to organize these have been cut off, so they’re purposely trying to get the media to report on this as a way to further disseminate information and to attract additional support for their attacks,” this member said.

Democrats were told that the Capitol Police and the National Guard were preparing for potentially tens of thousands of armed protesters coming to Washington and were establishing rules of engagement for warfare. In general, the military and police don’t plan to shoot anyone until one of the rioters fires, but there could be exceptions.

Lawmakers were told that the plot to encircle the Capitol also included plans to surround the White House ― so that no one could harm Trump ― and the Supreme Court, simply to shut down the courts. The plan to surround the Capitol includes assassinating Democrats as well as Republicans who didn’t support Trump’s effort to overturn the election ― and allowing other Republicans to enter the building and control government.

All of these plots may never materialize. The Capitol Police have established a new perimeter with fencing and razor wire, and the National Guard has already been called in to help protect the Capitol and lawmakers.

But while Capitol Police assured members they were prepared for these terrorist plots, there was obvious concern from a number of lawmakers.

One topic of discussion was the need to put every member of Congress through a metal detector before the inauguration. A member on the call told HuffPost that there was an “eyes-wide-open realization” that Capitol Police needed to take precautions against “all these members who were in league with the insurrectionists who love to carry their guns.”

“You can’t just let them bypass security and walk right up to [Joe] Biden and [Kamala] Harris at inauguration,” this lawmaker told HuffPost.

Another area of concern was the Trump administration’s involvement in tamping down an insurrection. “I don’t think anyone has confidence that the folks at the Pentagon, that may or may not even be needed for some of this, or the Department of Homeland Security, where we don’t even know who’s in charge, are going to be cooperative,” one member told HuffPost.

One Democrat on the call also raised the issue of security for members coming from their residences to the Capitol, as well as traveling to Washington, given recent confrontations at airports and on flights between some protesters and lawmakers. One member who spoke to HuffPost said the Capitol Police didn’t have a satisfactory answer about that concern.

This member mentioned how the briefing had underscored the wisdom of Twitter suspending Trump’s account, as well as tens of thousands of accounts associated with the right-wing conspiracy theory QAnon, and said the decision to cut off the social media platform Parler “looked a lot smarter” given the efforts to recruit armed extremists to come to the nation’s capital in the coming days.

“It’s a decision that might ultimately save lives,” this member said.

One of the lawmakers who spoke to HuffPost said members of Congress were all experiencing difficult reactions to the storming of the Capitol last week.

“Most of us are feeling that,” this Democrat said. “But we are also feeling that we don’t have time to indulge too much of it, that this is not about us, that it’s about a job that’s way bigger than us, and we are just going to suck it up and get through, and we’ll talk about how nutty it is on the other side.”

literally the first thought that came to my mind is, "what would chesty puller do?"

also, this gathering storm of insurrections that may or may not happen, as it were, with parts of the executive and even certain congresspeople's loyalties doubtful at best, only reinforces my contention that the way to go moving forward is de facto one-party rule by the democratic party till such a time as the mainstream of american conservatism can be trusted to wield, exercise, and give up power democratically once more

and one last thing: what about the states? it's not only dc that's going to get attacked in the days leading to and probably even after january 20; the fbi raised the alarm for similar armed gathering in all 50 states (even hawaii -- HAWAII!)

As far as I’m aware, only Wisconsin and Michigan are actively taking measures, though New York was discussing some

I’ll do a deeper dive tomorrow and TG you the post

[Diahon]

an additional, worrying thought: how sure are we that trump, de facto held incommunicado as he is, is not actually actively plotting more bullshit, possibly including kowani's above bullshit, with pence (assuming the reconciliation between them was genuine and not a show of formality, and in all likelihood the reason why the 25th amendment is still not invoked) and their confederates sprinkled across the rest of the executive branch, especially the pentagon?

Well, he's going in front of microphones soon to say things live in front of people while he's being impeached for the second time. We'll have a pretty good idea where his head's at when that happens.

EDIT: Wait, my bad, I think the impeachment has been moved to Wednesday.

ah right, the non-alamo alamo likely chosen for the non-symbolic symbplism of making one's non-last stand last stand at a place well away from the actual place the actual last stand happened

i say we can guess where his head is