2020 Elections

[mamselle]

Pence seems pissed off. First time I've heard him sound like he has a spine.

So, something good might come of it after all.

Hmm....

M.

[ciao_yall]

I'm just fondly remembering this time just over 4 years ago. 700,000 women marched on Washington and it was perfectly civilized.

[mamselle]

Indeed.

I haven't had a chance to check, but has there been any confirmation that a plan of similar range to that for kidnapping and possibly executing Michigan's governor was in play?

One friend reported it but I haven't seen a source yet.

M.

[pgher]

Yeah, I've been arguing with someone on Facebook who said if Trump had won, every city would have been a smoldering ruin. I said yeah, just like 2016. My son commented, "Nobody is going to break anything for Joe Biden."

[hmaria1609]

Earlier today, we got a staff e-mail that we were closing early and Mayor Bowser had a 6 pm curfew for DC. It was nice to go home and get ahead of rush hour traffic leaving the city.

[research_prof]

Earlier today, we got a staff e-mail that we were closing early and Mayor Bowser had a 6 pm curfew for DC. It was nice to go home and get ahead of rush hour traffic leaving the city.

Serious trolling?

[mamselle]

Earlier today, we got a staff e-mail that we were closing early and Mayor Bowser had a 6 pm curfew for DC. It was nice to go home and get ahead of rush hour traffic leaving the city.

Serious trolling?

Why would that be trolling? I just texted two friends who work in DC to be sure they got home OK tonight. With the Metro shut down along with everything else, it could have been difficult.

Hmaria, stay safe.

I've also just seen a BBC article saying some of the Capitol police let the protesters in, and let them take selfies with them.

Any corroboration?

M.

[pgher]

Earlier today, we got a staff e-mail that we were closing early and Mayor Bowser had a 6 pm curfew for DC. It was nice to go home and get ahead of rush hour traffic leaving the city.

Serious trolling?

Why would that be trolling? I just texted two friends who work in DC to be sure they got home OK tonight. With the Metro shut down along with everything else, it could have been difficult.

Hmaria, stay safe.

I've also just seen a BBC article saying some of the Capitol police let the protesters in, and let them take selfies with them.

Any corroboration?

M.

I saw a tweeted video of them doing so. This only could have happened through incompetence, malice, or complicity on the part of law enforcement.

[Langue_doc]

Earlier today, we got a staff e-mail that we were closing early and Mayor Bowser had a 6 pm curfew for DC. It was nice to go home and get ahead of rush hour traffic leaving the city.

Serious trolling?

From The Washington Post: By midafternoon Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced a citywide curfew starting at 6 p.m. But when the notification hit the phones of protesters, they scoffed at it. "Guess who's going home? None of us," someone in the Capitol yelled. "Time to take back what's ours," someone else screamed. "A new 1776 has just begun."

Arlington and Alexandria also imposed a 6 PM to 6 AM curfew.

Here is the link to the timeline of events: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/

[lightning]

If he won't concede, this little shindig may finish the job of removing him anyway:

1) House Democrats Omar, Pressley and Moulton, among others, have called for Trump's immediate impeachment and removal by Congress when it can reconvene.

   https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-impeachment-ilhan-omar-us-capitol-b1783535.html

   https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/06/954125266/rep-omar-says-she-is-drafting-new-articles-of-impeachment-against-trump

   Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford has also described Trump's conduct as impeachable:

  - Byrne, Deirdre (January 6, 2021). "Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford: 'Impeachable Offense to Incite Violence'". Montgomery Community Media.

2) Representatives Lieu and Crist and Governors Pritzker (D-Ill) and Scott (R-Vt) have asked Pence to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment:

- "'Donald Trump has incited a violent coup attempt' Illinois Gov. Pritzker on DC demonstrations".

- "Governor Scott: "President Trump should resign or be removed from office", other Vermont officials react to U.S. Capitol riots".

- Ting, Eric (January 6, 2021). "After Trump supporters storm Capitol, Rep. Ted Lieu calls for Trump's immediate removal from office". SFGATE.

- Contorno, Steve (January 6, 2021). "Charlie Crist: Remove Donald Trump from office by invoking 25th Amendment". Tampa Bay Times.

I'm also most impressed by the courage of the folks going back in to finish the count and make the declaration.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/06/954164654/congress-reconvenes-after-violent-rioters-breach-u-s-capitol

Tested and found able, I think.

But it started out as such a nice day today. I was just glad Georgia's two Democratic Senatorial candidates were doing well....

M.

Impeachment and conviction might make many of us feel good, but no, I would not want that.

It would mean Pence could pardon Trump and anyone connected to his lunacy.

It would mean Pence is our president, even for a very short time. He doesn't deserve it. He may have showed a spine today, but he has not shown a spine for four years.

It would also mean that the Republicans could sort of save face.

The Republicans own this. They got in bed with it, and I don't want them to have any opportunity to put distance between themselves and the monster of their own making.

I have said this over and over again, and I'll say it again: the Republicans are the fringe.

[mahagonny]

Yes, it's BLM's fault that bombs were planted in the nation's capital today, and that the President encouraged his supporters to riot.

No, of course not, but it's the liberal higher education community's fault if just about no one among them who makes a fancy paycheck publishing and pontificating about social justice causes and studies and gets the admiring ear of the media insists that BLM, Warren, Harris and other movers and shakers get their facts straight over basic things, such as relevant details of what actually happened in the Michael Brown and George Floyd incidents. If you're letting them fan your flame, you're in business together. So have some integrity, please. (you know who you are, readers) And all of that is one piece of what we saw today.

writing prof, how can Raphael be a bigot? isn't he a minister?

[marshwiggle]

I've also just seen a BBC article saying some of the Capitol police let the protesters in, and let them take selfies with them.

Any corroboration?

M.

I saw a tweeted video of them doing so. This only could have happened through incompetence, malice, or complicity on the part of law enforcement.

It could also be a tactic, like police taking the knee during the George Floyd protests, of trying to reduce the temperature to prevent violence.

[mamselle]

Well, yes, and some police departments have a better track record with relating more personally to all the people for whose safety they are responsible.

But I think the answer to the BLM charge here is in the optics themselves.

As Doc Rivers and others are pointing out, there is a vast difference with the way the protesters were met and dealt with.

His summation was: "Can you imagine today, if those had all been black people?"

    https://sports.yahoo.com/doc-rivers-storming-us-capitol-trump-supporters-black-people-nba-233432973.html

M.

[spork]

Mick Mulvaney and Matt Pottinger have resigned. Mulvaney was nothing but a Trump stooge and apologist, but Pottinger was competent.

[research_prof]

Earlier today, we got a staff e-mail that we were closing early and Mayor Bowser had a 6 pm curfew for DC. It was nice to go home and get ahead of rush hour traffic leaving the city.

Serious trolling?

From The Washington Post: By midafternoon Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced a citywide curfew starting at 6 p.m. But when the notification hit the phones of protesters, they scoffed at it. "Guess who's going home? None of us," someone in the Capitol yelled. "Time to take back what's ours," someone else screamed. "A new 1776 has just begun."

Arlington and Alexandria also imposed a 6 PM to 6 AM curfew.

Here is the link to the timeline of events: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/

I am aware of all that. I do not live in a parallel universe. However, the following sentence sounded quite odd given what happened yesterday: "It was nice to go home and get ahead of rush hour traffic leaving the city."

So, we had people dying, but someone cared about not having to deal with traffic?! Like seriously people? Let's be a bit more human and not just care about ourselves. What happened yesterday is also related (among many other things) to having people that think like that on both sides of the aisle (i.e., just care about themselves and nothing other than that). So, the world is falling apart next to you and you care about traffic? Really!? Let's be humans, not robots.