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Showing posts with label attack on Capitol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attack on Capitol. Show all posts
Saturday, May 8, 2021
It's the Republican Party vs the United States and Democracy
What I've thought and said for some time. It's either the Republican Party or our United States of America, no overstatement.
Understand, Americans, the Republicans and their political party are attacking our vote, our votes, our elections and our democracy. Doanld Trump, his followers and Mitch McConnell and their political party cannot win.
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Post-Dispatch Spanks Senators Blunt and Hawley
Yes sir and ma'am, I can't anything but love, love, love the editorial from Missouri's own St. Louis Post-Dispatch virtually spanking our Senators Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley for not finding now former President Donald Trump guilty of insurrection.
Hawley and Blunt deepen Missouri's embarrassment by refusing to see Trump's guilt
A bit from the article--
The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump should be an opportunity for Missouri Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley to redeem themselves for blindly supporting a man whose conduct was indefensible. Instead, they continue bringing additional embarrassment to the state after having flirted with the abolition of democracy in favor of keeping a dictator wannabe in the White House.Hawley, of course, is the Senate’s biggest cheerleader when it comes to asserting that Trump won the Nov. 3 election and that Trump shouldn’t be held accountable for directing a mob to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6. Blunt had the gall to tell reporters that, until a 13-minute video of the Capitol attack was shown to senators on Tuesday, he had never taken so much time to watch what occurred on that “truly a horrendous day.” Both voted against allowing the trial to proceed.
Missourians must not allow themselves to be fooled by the weak boilerplate defenses by Hawley and Blunt. Hawley tweeted on Tuesday: “Today Democrats launched their unconstitutional impeachment trial while President Biden cancels thousands of working class jobs across this country. Americans deserve better.” In fact, a bipartisan majority of senators have deemed the proceeding to be constitutional. And the attempt to divert attention to Biden, who has not canceled a single job, is pathetic but oh-so-typical of Hawley.
I can't recommend the complete article enough.
Meanwhile, the Post0Dispatch doesn't stop there, either. They have yet more excellent, even powerful editorials on the Right Wing.
Editorial: Fox could finally face the (very expensive) music for its disinformation
Editorial: Unemployment beneficiaries get a heartless wake-up call from Parson
Editorial: Missourians should heed Danforth's warning. FrankenHawley is on the loose.
Seems clear the Republicans just can't seem to do us, the American people or even themselves, any favors.
Additional coverage:
Friday, February 12, 2021
Why We Need to Impeach
This, this is why we need to impeach Donald J Trump.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Quote of the Day -- Quote of this Impeachment Trial
“The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”
--Republican Senator Mitch McConnell
Even he recognized this. He makes the case, right here for the trial this week.
#Impeach45
Link:
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
A Question for All Republican US Senators Just Now
How could you, as a US Senator, Democrat or Republican, sit in the Senate chambers--that were just attacked January 6--and listen to the evidence on both sides of this impeachment trial, knowing you yourself had to take cover and hide from the insurrectionist attackers, and then vote that Donald J Trump didn't incite them, invite them to do so, time and again, even that very morning of January 6, right there in Washington, on video?
Political power for your political party and for yourself is that much more important?
More important even than your own safety, which was threatened that day?
More important than your nation's safety?
And election?
Really?
Links:
The Impeachment Trial, Simply
The facts. The simple, straightforward facts.
--He called his supporters to come to our nation's capitol and attack.
--He asked and invited his supporters to interrupt and stop the counting of our votes that day, January 6, in Congress.
--Then, finally, he had our nation's Capitol be there unprotected.
Oh, yeah. #Impeach
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Quotes of the Day -- Second Impeachment Edition
"We are an imperfect nation, but one that was founded on a clear set of democratic ideals that must be upheld," said the coalition, which includes Public Citizen, Stand Up America, Common Cause, and more than a dozen additional organizations.
According to the coalition, "The president of the United States incited a murderous insurrection, then used his bully pulpit to fan the flames of hatred."
Source:
Second quote:
Castor and Schoen must be the most incompetent legal representation of any modern President, incumbent or otherwise.
Happy 2nd Impeachment Day!
Yes, America, impeachment trial number two begins today for none other than one Donald J "Jenius" Trump. Fantastic. As it should be. As he's earned.
Keep this in mind, too, for some perspective.
This is what we Americans, what America wants and what we need, let there be no doubt. And it's not just keeping him from any further federal office, either. Americans support this impeachment. We all need and want accountability in our legal system. We also need to know and let the world know that no one, no one, even a President of our United States, is above the law.
And we don't just want him impeached, oh no. We want more than that.
It just keeps getting better, too. Check these out.
Additionally, this broke yesterday.
And let's be clear on this, too.
So absolutely! Let's do this! It's Happy 2nd Impeachment Tuesday! Let it all begin!
Final side note. It's not just the Trumpster who's in trouble, either.
Think happy thoughts, campers. Have a great, great day. I know I will be.
Monday, February 8, 2021
Informative, Helpful, Hopeful Signs and Information About Tomorrow's 2nd Impeachment
And from--who else?
Heather Cox Richardson
Pundits are saying that the Senate will vote to acquit former president Donald Trump at the end of his second impeachment trial, set to start on Tuesday.
I’m not so sure.
After the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the House of Representatives passed an article of impeachment against Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” The article accuses the former president of engaging in high crimes and misdemeanors “by inciting violence against the Government of the United States.” It charges him with lying about voter fraud, trying to get the Georgia secretary of state to falsify election results, and encouraging his supporters to attack the Capitol to stop the process that would certify Biden’s victory.
The article charges that the former president “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution… and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law…. [He] warrants… disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
The House passed this article of impeachment with 232 representatives voting yes and 197 voting no. Ten Republicans joined 222 Democrats to impeach Trump in his last days in office. The Senate will hold a trial to determine whether to convict the former president of this charge. If all 100 senators are present, the number needed to convict is seventeen. But there is no requirement that all senators be present.
Pundits are basing their belief that senators will vote to acquit on the fact that 45 Republican senators voted against a motion proposed by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), calling for a debate over the constitutionality of trying a former president. Paul insisted that vote was a proxy for conviction, but a vote immediately after that one, on the structure for the trial, drew only 17 no votes from Republicans. Thirty-three voted yes. My guess is that neither vote is a definitive sign of what is to come.
There are a number of things going on.
This trial brings into public view the fight for control of the Republican Party. Business Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have run the Republican Party since the 1980s. They cultivated the populists for their votes, but business Republicans never intended to give them power.
The two wings jockeyed along together because both like tax cuts and originalist judges, who reject the idea of business regulation and government protection of civil rights. But that uneasy alliance is wrenching apart. Trump gave his populist supporters a taste of power, and they do not want to give it up. The Trump wing has become a personality cult, embracing violence and an attack on the rule of law in order to keep the former president in office.
Business Republicans cozied up to the Trumpers because they need the votes Trump turned out and the money he raised. But it is no longer clear that he can keep commanding votes or raising big money.
Since the January 6 coup attempt, social media giants Twitter and Facebook, as well as others, have banned the former president, taking away his ability to marshal his troops. Lawsuits from voting machine companies that Trump surrogates attacked have shut up media personalities, hampering the Trump team’s ability to spread their narrative.
Trump and his inner circle have also lost their access to major publishing venues: the last major publisher willing to buy books from Trump’s people turned away from them after January 6, handing them back to smaller publishers.
At the same time, Trump supporters increasingly look unhinged. Their face is the new Georgia representative who has, in the past, embraced political violence and QAnon. Since January 6, Republican voters have been leaving the party. Their timing is a red flag: voters usually only change parties before an election.
Voters are not the only ones disgusted by the riot. Major Republican donors have announced that they will not donate to anyone who voted to challenge the counting of the electoral votes on January 6 and 7. Others have announced at least a temporary hold on political donations.
So for a Republican senator, what’s the political calculation on impeachment?
The course for Trump Republicans is easy: they will defend their man. Today, in what appeared to be a coordinated publicity maneuver, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tried to argue that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is to blame for the January 6 attack on the Capitol. (Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani blamed “Antifa” and “BLM.”)
But the calculation for the business Republicans is not so clear. They don’t want to alienate either Trump voters or anti-Trump voters, and they need to raise money.
Trump and his supporters have tried to lock up the party apparatus. The former president controls money and email lists, and is trying to put his people into positions of power at the state level. They are publicly challenging the ten Republican representatives who voted to impeach Trump. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) actually traveled to Wyoming to urge voters to turn Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), the third-ranking member of the Republican House leadership, out of office. It is likely the Trump wing will launch primary challengers against anyone who votes to convict the former president.
At the same time, Trump’s support is falling. An ABC News/Ipsos poll released today shows that 56% of Americans believe that Trump should be convicted and barred from ever holding office again. By a 17-point margin, Americans say that the Republican Party has more radical extremists than the Democrats.
There is another problem: it is likely that the more we learn about what happened on January 6, the worse the participants are going to look. And, if indeed the Department of Justice decides to use RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, against those who participated in the insurrection, it might well sweep in Republican lawmakers or operatives who spoke at, raised money for, or planned the January 6 rally. In that case, a vote to acquit the president would tie a senator who is not associated with the rally to those that are.
Republican senators have tried to stay quiet about the upcoming trial. When forced to comment, some leading business Republicans have pushed back against the Trump wing. McConnell has called the right-wing fringe a cancer that must be cut out, and today Cheney—who won Gaetz’s challenge to remove her from leadership by a 2-1 vote-- went for Trump himself, saying he “does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward.” On “Fox News Sunday,” Cheney told host Chris Wallace that Trump lied when he said the election had been rigged. She warned that Republicans had to face reality or face defeat in the future.
In contrast, Democrats are operating from a position of strength. It seems likely they will use the impeachment trial to explain to the American people what happened on January 6. Using videos and the words of those who were in the Capitol when the mob stormed in, they will paint a picture of an attempted coup, incited by a former President of the United States.
Think happy, hopeful thoughts, campers!! IMPEACH!
Friday, February 5, 2021
Ways to -- Shutter-- Save the GOP
(As always, for easier viewing/reading, click on picture).
Ironically, coincidentally, after their treasonous, traitorous insurrection and attack they created and lead on our nation's Capitol in Washington, January 6, they're in more, far more disarray and self-destruction today than they were even then.
Darn the luck, huh?
Think happy thoughts, campers. Have a great day, a great RED FRIDAY and GO CHIEFS!!!
Thursday, February 4, 2021
This Guy Has Trump and the Republicans Spot On
If you don't already follow this guy, Matthew Cooke, on YouTube or Facebook or both, you might want to. He's extremely level headed and straight forward with facts and where we are. Here's another good one from him.
#Impeach45
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Quote of the Day -- On Insurrection. And Treason. And Traitors
Michael Beschloss @BeschlossDC
January 6 should be an annual day of national remembrance from now on. Americans should never forget exactly how close our democracy came to being fractured and how zealously we must always work to protect it.
Thanks, Mr. Trump!
Thanks, Republicans!
Monday, February 1, 2021
Tim Cook, at Apple, Takes a Very Welcome Broadside Against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook
Yahoo!! (not the website).
Yes, Tim Cook, over at Apple, took this broadside at Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook this week (from Inc. Magazine).
Tim Cook May Have Just Ended Facebook
What happens when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object?
In a recent speech at Brussels' International Data Privacy Day, Apple CEO Tim Cook went on the offensive against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. Cook's speech seems to be a direct response to Facebook's recent attack on Apple, in which the world's largest social network took out full-page ads in several newspapers attacking Apple's new privacy changes.
But what's most fascinating is that Cook took direct aim at Facebook without ever mentioning the company by name.
Just check out the following excerpt:
"Technology does not need vast troves of personal data stitched together across dozens of websites and apps in order to succeed. Advertising existed and thrived for decades without it, and we're here today because the path of least resistance is rarely the path of wisdom.
If a business is built on misleading users on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, then it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform.
We should not look away from the bigger picture and a moment of rampant disinformation and conspiracy theory is juiced by algorithms. We can no longer turn a blind eye to a theory of technology that says all engagement is good engagement, the longer the better, and all with the goal of collecting as much data as possible.
Too many are still asking the question, 'How much can we get away with?' When they need to be asking, 'What are the consequences?'
What are the consequences of prioritizing conspiracy theories and violent incitement simply because of the high rates of engagement?
What are the consequences of not just tolerating but rewarding content that undermines public trust in life-saving vaccinations?
What are the consequences of seeing thousands of users joining extremist groups and then perpetuating an algorithm that recommends even more?
It is long past time to stop pretending that this approach doesn't come with a cause. A polarization of lost trust, and yes, of violence.
A social dilemma cannot be allowed to become a social catastrophe."
The fact that Cook doesn't name Facebook somehow increases its impact. Because as you hear Cook's 's speech, you can't help but immediately think of the house that Zuckerberg built.
If you're wondering how Apple and Facebook ended up at odds, you can read more of the details here. But the reality is these two tech giants have been heading towards a major conflict for quite some time.
The problem is that Apple's and Facebook's business philosophies are diametrically opposed to each other:
Apple is a lifestyle brand. And part of the lifestyle Apple sells is users having more control over their privacy.
Facebook, on the other hand, is in the data business. The more data they collect on users, the more effectively they can sell targeted ads.
But collecting and selling all that data comes at great cost, as Cook highlights. "The end result of all of this is that you are no longer the customer," said Cook. "You are the product."
Cook went on to further highlight the differences in Apple's and Facebook's philosophies, in no uncertain terms.
"We believe that ethical technology is technology that works for you," said Cook. "It's technology that helps you sleep, not keeps you up. It tells you when you've had enough. It gives you space to create or draw or write or learn, not refresh just one more time."
At first glimpse, it might appear that Apple and Facebook are on diverging paths. But in reality, they're on a collision course.
So, what does happen when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object?
One of them gets destroyed.
Facebook, on the other hand, is in the data business. The more data they collect on users, the more effectively they can sell targeted ads.
But collecting and selling all that data comes at great cost, as Cook highlights. "The end result of all of this is that you are no longer the customer," said Cook. "You are the product."
Cook went on to further highlight the differences in Apple's and Facebook's philosophies, in no uncertain terms.
"We believe that ethical technology is technology that works for you," said Cook. "It's technology that helps you sleep, not keeps you up. It tells you when you've had enough. It gives you space to create or draw or write or learn, not refresh just one more time."
At first glimpse, it might appear that Apple and Facebook are on diverging paths. But in reality, they're on a collision course.
So, what does happen when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object?
One of them gets destroyed.
I personally think the author is overstating the effects Tim Cook and Apple will do here to Zuckerberg and Facebook but hey, it's an attack on Facebonkers and people are paying attention so it's a good thing, for sure.
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