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Coup Attempt in USA?

by Frank Schnittger Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 07:56:03 PM EST


Following an incendiary speech by President Trump crowds of protestors marched from his protest meeting and breeched the security lines and stormed the Capital Buildings in Washington DC. The Senate and Congress were in joint session to certify the Presidential election results and had just heard an objection from Senator Cruz to certifying the result. Senators and Congressmen were evacuated through various tunnels carrying gas masks and Vice President Pence and others were evacuated to a safe place.

More to follow as events unfold...

The Mayor of Washington had earlier called in the National Guard and has declared a curfew from 6.00 PM onwards. CNBC has reported that gunshots have been heard inside the building and that there is an armed stand-off within the chamber. Tear gas has been fired and more protestors are reported as banging on the doors of the House chamber and gaining entry.

President Trump had earlier addressed the protestors and told them he would meet them at the Capital building to join in their protest at Vice President Pence failure to halt the certification process.The Justice Department has denied the request of the Mayor of Washington for the National Guard t clear the building. As Washington DC is not a fully fledged state, she does not have the ability, as a state governor would, to call in the national guard on her own authority.

45 minutes after the Joint session of Senate and Congress proceedings were halted, President Trump tweeted that protestors should cooperate with police. There are no plans for Trump to speak in public, although Biden is reported as preparing to address the nation.

A bomb has been defused in the Capital Building and another has been detonated at the Republican National Committee Headquarters without hurting anyone. Large numbers of National Guardsmen are being mobilised by neighbouring states Virginia and Maryland to assist the DC authorities.

President Elect Biden is just addressing the nation calling on President Trump to address the Nation and call on the protestors to disburse. He has referred to the protestors as an extremist mob and said that "this is not who we are". He is doing what Trump should be doing and no doubt greatly annoying Trump for doing so.

President Trump has just released a Video in which he still claims to have won the election by a landslide at which point CNBC stopped airing the video.

Display:
Coup Attempt in USA? | 68 comments (68 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 4)
I'm enjoying watching US correspondents expressing embarrassment that the rest of the world may no longer be looking at the USA as the shining city on a hill and beacon of democracy to the world. What planet are they on?

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 08:32:13 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 2)
I remember as a 10 year old watching TV when programmes were interrupted to report that President Kennedy had been assassinated. I was, today, for my sins, streaming the speeches at the joint session when the session was suddenly stopped, people seemed to mill around in confusion, and then the stream was stopped. I took to the TV to see CNBC commentators going gradually more apoplectic as the situation unfolded and Trump remained silent.

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 08:43:59 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
He did tweet ~ 2 hr into the SIEGE ostensibly to restore calm. To Captitol press pool hysteria.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:10:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Markets hit an all time high (4.00 / 3)
Meanwhile the markets hit an all time high, so all must be well...

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 09:04:45 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 3)
Will they manage to restart in time, or will we get President Pelosi?
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 09:06:33 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 0)
Electoral count resumed ~3 hrs ago, as promised mid-SIEGE. I quit watching C-SPAN when the feed switch entirely to nationwide caller crazy talk. Tomorrow I'll read Congressional Record, as I did during the 'peachment circus, to "fact check" press corpse journalism.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:21:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 4)


Dow up on news of sectarian violence in the capital.
by generic on Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 09:41:47 PM EST
Iran weighs in (none / 1)
by generic on Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 10:48:39 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
by generic on Wed Jan 6th, 2021 at 11:14:11 PM EST
Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
No.  They aren't that smart or competent.  Just a bunch of ignorant hick bigots causing some mayhem.  

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 01:10:17 AM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 0)
The protesters are just the diversionary tactic. What is Trump really up to? If he can stop Biden being inaugurated, he can stay President and commander in Chief indefinitely... Why were all the former defence secretaries so worried he would call in the army?

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 01:13:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 3)
Trump's term ends on noon January 20th.  

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 01:26:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
exactly--so why are House democrats calling for his impeachment < wipes tears > Y U hate Joe's magical 100 days?
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:13:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 2)
Likewise, milking Loeffler should be labeled porn.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:27:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
How the hell should I know?

But if that's what Rep. Omar wants to do then I stand with her.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:30:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 0)
Context: why they are voting on impeachment

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:31:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 0)
And Margaret Thatcher? You do know, Omar's her, right? Because buy my memoir.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:37:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
4 hours of hate
President Donald Trump has only 14 days left in office, but some lawmakers want his presidency over sooner, calling for his impeachment in the wake of Wednesday's violence on Capitol Hill that left at least one woman dead.
[...]
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., announced that she's drawing up articles of impeachment, tweeting: "We can't allow him to remain in office, it's a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath."
[...]
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., called for Trump's removal through the 25th Amendment, which was ratified in 1967 in the wake of President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963 and lays out the procedures for replacing the president in the event of death, removal, resignation or incapacitation.
< wipes tears>
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 02:34:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Now what? (4.00 / 2)
The < checks watch > 12-day "caretaker government" ... and purge of "government buildings", yanno, to route out evil.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 04:50:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Now what? (4.00 / 3)
Art. I, sec. 5 Housekeeping
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) has introduced a resolution to have the Republican members of the House who supported contesting battleground states' electors in Wednesday's joint session of Congress be investigated and potentially removed from office.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 06:33:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Now what? (none / 1)
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 07:59:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Now what? (4.00 / 2)
Purging evil
[Pelosi] also announced that Paul Irving, the House sergeant-at-arms [!], would resign his position. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, said he would fire Michael Stenger, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, as soon as runoff elections in Georgia for two seats are certified and Democrats control the Senate.
picking up the GD III pace
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 10:24:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Riot Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 4)
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 04:54:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 3)
Former Joint Chiefs Chair Mike Mullen (2007-2011) rejects out-of-office email and vmail messages; recommends cheeto's 25th amendment deposition by senate one week before Joe's inauguration. Vaccination acceleration not cited.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 03:21:30 AM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 2)
All of the "knowledgeable" sources say that this whole thing was put on by antifa.
by asdf on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 03:46:10 AM EST
Resilience of Democracy (4.00 / 3)
US Congress has certified the election ... seven Senators remained in support of sedition and side with traitors of the US Constitution. As close advisors are resigning, losing allies in Congress, talk of invoking the 25th Amendement due to a State of Delusion, suspended from Twitter and his incendiary posts removed from media.

Trump exits in DISGRACE. An historical event maintained and democracy preserved ... for now. This is what a Banana Republic looks like and a fascist leader in the White House. Across the nation nearly 75 million fervent supporters and his MOB invaded the Capitol leaving a trail of destruction and leaving four Americans dead today.

A president bearing responsibility for up to 400,000 deaths due to Corona virus.

VP Pence dissolved the Joint Session of Congress after fine closing statement and prayer by Reverend Black.

From my diary ...

Georgia Turns Blue, Insurrection @Capitol

by Oui on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 09:11:47 AM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
I refuse to believe this could happen with the level of security that exists.

This was the Reichstag fire, orchestrated by the left and the deep state.

-----
sapere aude

by Number 6 on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 09:55:25 AM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 3)
You seem to work backwards from your conclusion.

I had a look at some video clips on Youtube and what I saw was the police - and in some cases what appears to be military - defend fences with punches and gas - probably pepper spray - and when there is enough opponents the police falls back. What isn't shown in the street fights outside the buildings is drawn guns and massive amount of tear gas.

If the police is unwilling to escalate violence, has undefensible positions, are fewer then the protestors and the protestors wants to go through or around the police and are willing to use some amount of violence to do so, then the protestors wins.

I find the unwillingness to escalate violence against protestors on the right (in contrast to protests form BLM or the left in general) very consistent with police forces in the US.

I don't see where any conspiracy would be needed or have greater explanation power.

by fjallstrom on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 11:13:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 3)
The policing was entirely consistent with how far right protestors are generally policed in the USA - when Police generally regarding themselves to be on the same side as the protestors - and the complete antithesis of how peaceful liberal, progressive or BLM protests are policed, where the violence is generally instigated and amplified by the police.

And was it not Trump's Justice dept. which refused the mayor's request for National guard support? Who needs the National Guard when you have the Proud Boys in control?

Index of Frank's Diaries

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 11:26:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The Emperor Caught With No Clothes (4.00 / 4)

It was intentional to let it happen! The additional troops of the National Guards were NOT called. The Capitol and legislatures of a Joint Meeting were left unprotected as Trump's mercenaries marched towards the Seat of US Government ... the enemy of Trump for not letting him have a second term.

by Oui on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 11:33:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 2)
And of course the deep state is deeply leftist and actually run by BLM and antifa activists...

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 11:20:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 4)
Fox is actually trying to sell this.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 07:31:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 2)
You got us. We planned the operation at the 13th International to lure the True Patriots™ to the center of the Capitol Pentagram and corrupt Q shamanism.
by generic on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 12:05:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
You misspelled "white privilege".
by Bernard on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 07:08:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
trendy (none / 1)
Twitter Questions Lack of Security at Nation's Capitol
gallery, noting racial "injustice"
Congress Members Trapped in Capitol Hill Tweet in Fear Amid Bomb Threat and Gunfire [inside Capitol]
gallery, noting IT "security"
To put into perspective how quickly staff evacuated, emails are still on the screen along side a federal alert warning members of the current revolution pic.twitter.com/m24YjtWIXh
-- ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) January 6, 2021 @ElijahSchaffe
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 08:22:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
trendy (4.00 / 2)

Anyone ready to roll back tape through months of gilet jaunes casualties?  Toppled international slavers' statutes?

by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 08:34:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
trendy (4.00 / 3)
New uses for old "thugs"
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 09:30:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 6)
Having your followers storm the parliamentary buildings is indeed a classic step in a coup, but in order to make it stick you also need your followers to occupy the parliament, run off (or kill) your opponents in parliament and have the rump vote to give you the powers you want. And all this is really step two, where step one is to grab enough control over armed state functions so that police and military do not interfere with the occupation and afterwards prevents other groups from interfereing with the occupation. And while police seems to have stand back and let Trump followers get into the building in the first place, it seems to have been the common non-interference applied to far right protestors in the US rather then coordinated policy to let them occupy the building.

A poorly planned and ham-fisted coup attempt, but a coup attempt all the same. Not that I expect anything to come of it. It is one thing to impeach presidents over process crimes or failure to keeping up a proxy war (in the words of former National Security Council official Tim Morrison: "The United States aids Ukraine and her people so they can fight Russia over there and we don't have to fight Russia here"), but holding former presidents responsible for their crimes would go against "when the president does it, it means it is legal" as Nixon put it. And then where would the US be with all the things the state does that goes against the laws as written?

by fjallstrom on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 10:28:28 AM EST
Democracy is not well understood. (none / 1)
The Growing Appointee Class
Such moves trigger a chain reaction of vacancies that keep the powerbrokers busy in Maryland - one of only five states where appointment power is handed to a private organization, in our case, the state Democratic and Republican parties.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 04:17:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Democracy is not well understood. (4.00 / 2)
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 05:32:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Democracy is not well understood. (none / 1)
Four Dead, 45 Arrested Amid Pro-Trump Capitol Riots
D.C. authorities said that three people died around the Capitol grounds due to medical emergencies [?], while one woman, who was identified as San Diego woman Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed inside the Capitol Building after a pro-Trump mob swept past police, forcing lawmakers to evacuate.
I'm pretty sure the press corpse won't be cleaning up this "deadly" subplot this week, before Portland commune disbands, the odious finishes ceremonial cheeto removal resolutions or returns from pre-inauguration recess[!]. Evidence of police brutality is best left to simmer in Jeffersonian resentment.
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 07:54:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Democracy is not well understood. (none / 1)
[White] Woman killed in siege of U.S. Capitol was veteran who embraced conspiracy theories
The officer who killed Babbitt, whose identity has not been released, is on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, the Capitol Police said in a statement.
hmm, yes, well The conclusion to that inquiry is foregone.

Three anonymous casualties' stories developing ...

by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 10:05:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Democracy is not well understood. (4.00 / 2)
alrighty then: transformations of the data are trickling in. Now, 4 dead (UP from one dead + 3 "medical emergencies") of which US Capitol Police officer dies from stroke following Wednesday breach at Capitol + 14 "concerning" injuries to LE officers.

Number of arrests (52, UP from 45) still developing into rolling avg ...

by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 01:11:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Democracy is not well understood UPDATE (none / 0)
APsplainin "accountability," Records show fervent Trump fans fueled US Capitol takeover
The Associated Press reviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to the Jan. 6 unrest or who, going maskless amid the pandemic, were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the melee.
wut
So far, at least 90 people have been arrested on charges ranging from misdemeanor curfew violations to felonies related to assaults on police officers, possessing illegal weapons and making death threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Among them was Lonnie Leroy Coffman, 70, an Alabama grandfather who drove to Washington to attend Trump's "Save America Rally" in a red GMC Sierra pickup packed with an M4 assault rifle, multiple loaded magazines, three handguns and 11 Mason jars filled with homemade napalm, according to court filings.

by Cat on Mon Jan 11th, 2021 at 02:28:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Democracy is not well understood. (none / 1)
HOLD THE PHONE
APsplainin medical emergency obituaries "during the storming of the Capitol"

US Capitol Police beats tabloid NYT, CNN reports of fatality No. 5 like rented mules

by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 02:19:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
HOLD THE PHONE ... (none / 1)
Capitol Police recant, double down
U.S. Capitol Police officer dies after attack on Congress
"Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on-duty," the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement late Thursday. "He returned to his division office [?] and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries."
[...] More than 50 law enforcement officials were injured and several were hospitalized, USCP said earlier Thursday.

The growing number [?!] of deaths from the unprecedented attack on Capitol Hill comes as the enormous complex faces a reckoning over its security, including the operations of its roughly 1,800-member police force. On Thursday, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Michael Stenger and House Sergeant-At-Arms Paul Irving all resigned.

Sicknick was initially in critical condition [!] when reports of his death surfaced. But USCP confirmed in a statement that he died Thursday at about 9:30 p.m. USCP, the Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch and federal law enforcement will investigate Sicknick's death.
[...]
"This tragic loss should remind all of us of the bravery of the law enforcement officers who protected us, our colleagues, Congressional staff, the press corps [!], and other essential workers yesterday," [House reps DeLauro, Ryan] wrote. "To honor Officer Sicknick's memory, we must ensure that the mob [!] who attacked the ["]People's House["] and those who instigated them are held fully accountable."

by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 12:28:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
OBJECT LESSON (none / 1)
Boston Massacre journalism, 1770 or 2013. You be the judge.
by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 12:52:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
OMFG (none / 0)
U.S. Capitol Flag Will Fly At Half-Staff; FBI Offers Reward Over Pipe Bombs
Two days after a shocking insurrection took over the U.S. Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered the building's flags be flown at half-staff in honor of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after being injured in the mayhem
[...]
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 [!] for information about who placed the bombs in Washington.
[...]
"The violent and deadly act of insurrection targeting the Capitol, our temple [?!] of American Democracy, and its workers was a profound tragedy and stain on our nation's history," Pelosi said.
by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 06:03:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Democracy is not well understood. (none / 1)
24 hr UPDATE: 82 people have been arrested following the storming, illustrated
The U.S. Capitol Police said they had arrested 14 people suspected of involvement in the rioting, most charged with unlawful entry, while the [D.C.] Metropolitan Police Department made at least 68 arrests.
[...]
the initial numbers reported by Washington, D.C. police paled in comparison with the more than 300 arrested following the June 1 [?!] protests in Washington over the death of George Floyd, a Black man
13th consecutive day, 9 June, max 100K crowd
recap
31 May, D.C. police chief thanks peaceful protesters, says 17 arrests were made, 11 officers hurt
4 June, DC police chief says there were zero arrests in city on Wednesday,"29 arrests Tuesday night and 288 Monday evening"
6 June
"If you are like me, on Monday, you saw something that you hoped you would never see in the United States of America: Federal police moving on American people, peacefully protesting in front of the ["]People's House["]," Bowser said.
Aug-Dec, police records become exceedingly murky as MAGA-BLM "clashes" escalate arrests, casualties, resentment and prayer circles bleeding into press.

...
Now, I'm truly well and irked by whiney Capitol press, cloaking congressional staff in an $11B BLM IPO masquerading as the one and only legislative lobby to real black electorate, captured by Biden Dems's southern "strategy".

by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 11:16:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Take me to your leader. (none / 1)
by Cat on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 04:09:28 PM EST
Re: Take me to your leader. (4.00 / 3)
More like "Take me to your dealer."
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 07:33:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 4)
Until yesterday, all Republicans were perfectly happy to hide behind Trump. Of course, they feared him and were scared of the spell he has on the Republican voters; they made sure not to cross him.

As long as the Trump presidency allowed them to deliver their agenda (SCOTUS, tax cuts, immigration,...), they didn't care. Trump was their biggest asset.

But it has changed: in the past two years under Trump, the GOP has lost the House, then the White House and now the Senate, thanks in no small part to Trump undermining the Georgia runoffs since he lost re-election.

An on top of that, Trump all but encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol: maybe he thought they would bully McConnell & Pence to certify him as the winner instead of Biden; at a minimum, to tar Biden's election with the brush of illegitimacy, so that he could prepare his return in 2024, while still milking the suckers his supporters for as much money as he can.

This is where he was hoist by his own petard: the whole thing went way further than he thought (not that he may have thought about it in advance - he's not a planning ahead guy).

The Capt. Renault Repubs were shocked, shocked! to discover that the mob was after them as much as after their Democratic colleagues. Trump allies were crapping their pants while they had to be exfiltrated in emergency and I'm fairly sure that neither McConnell nor Pence (who might have lifted one eyebrow) liked it one bit. The Repugs have now realized that Trump shifted is now a liability.

They'll now try to ditch him, but the reckoning is coming a day late and a dollar short: they supported Trump, they protected him from impeachment - they own him and his legacy.

Republican Party faces defining moment under Trump's shadow - AP
The day Trump broke the GOP - Politico
`He screwed the country': Trump loyalty disintegrates - Politico

by Bernard on Thu Jan 7th, 2021 at 07:53:54 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 3)
Continuing the "Trump now a liability to the Republicans", the WSJ op-ed page calls Trump's action "impeachable" and suggests he should resign:

Donald Trump's Final Days - WSJ

This was an assault on the constitutional process of transferring power after an election. It was also an assault on the legislature from an executive sworn to uphold the laws of the United States. This goes beyond merely refusing to concede defeat. In our view it crosses a constitutional line that Mr. Trump hasn't previously crossed. It is impeachable.
If Mr. Trump wants to avoid a second impeachment, his best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign. This would be the cleanest solution since it would immediately turn presidential duties over to Mr. Pence. And it would give Mr. Trump agency, a la Richard Nixon, over his own fate.

Adding to several news outlets like USA Today, the WaPo and the Miami Herald.

Trump has finally realized he is now in danger and is scrambling to clean up the mess he has created.

by Bernard on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 10:58:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 2)
A Republican Senator will never vote to impeach for the same reason as last time: it would end their political career

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 05:54:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
reasons, excluding obligated Ukraine aid (none / 1)
Gallup Poll: President Trump And Michelle Obama Most Admired Man And Woman In America, Dec 29
by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 06:17:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: reasons, excluding obligated Ukraine aid (4.00 / 3)
So:

A.  He needs to divorce Melanoma, marry Michelle, and RULE THE US LIKE A CROWNED PRINCE!!!

:-)

OR

B.  The majority of Americans are fucking morons.

I'll go with B

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 06:53:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: reasons, excluding obligated Ukraine aid (4.00 / 2)
Oprah Winfrey placed fourth, while Queen Elizabeth II tied with Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in fifth place
There's still hope....
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 07:04:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Where's muh $2K stim check? (none / 1)
Booker T blasts DeVos, Chao for resigning without invoking 25th Amendment
The third-ranking House Democrat also suggested the president is unlikely to be removed from office by impeachment with less than two weeks before his term expires.

"No, I do not believe 13 or 14 days are enough to run that. But it's sure enough for the vice president and the Cabinet members," Clyburn said, before invoking DeVos and Chao.

Where's muh vaccine?
"For two Cabinet members to resign, that says to me they are running away from their responsibility. If they feel that strongly, they would stay there and wait on this meeting so they can cast two of the votes that are necessary to invoke the 25th Amendment," he said. "They are running away."
by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 06:14:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Where's muh $2K stim check? (4.00 / 3)
I find it hilarious Republicans prattle on about the Constitution and then run like scared jackrabbits at the first sign of a threat to the Constitution.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 06:55:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Where's muh $2K stim check? (none / 0)
My dude < checks watch > they've simply delivered customary 2-week notice. It's the "temple" priests who are having a bit of difficulty explaining OPM mysteries DURING A PANDEMIC to most ignorant, litigious nation on planet...

while IT recovers a copy of the CASH Act from Miss Nancy's cloud account?

by Cat on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 09:01:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (4.00 / 3)
This is interesting.

Dominion Voting Systems files $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against pro-Trump election attorney Sidney Powell

Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit on Friday against the pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, seeking $1.3 billion in damages.

For months Powell pushed a false conspiracy theory alleging that Dominion's election technology helped to falsify the result of the 2020 presidential election by switching votes from President Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

Her convoluted -- and debunked -- theory alleged Dominion was secretly in cahoots with a rival election-technology company, Smartmatic, and had links to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013.

Doubt this will actually go anywhere.  The American Bar Association will do everything they can to protect Powell because they don't want to establish a precedent of lawyers being held responsible for their actions.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 07:20:18 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? (none / 1)
"John Biden" - nice!

Schengen is toast!
by epochepoque on Fri Jan 8th, 2021 at 09:33:01 PM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? - On Idiots (4.00 / 2)
Idiot has always been a word of rebuke, reproach and rebuff. But it has not always meant what it has now come to mean. In some ways, it meant much worse. In other ways, it meant much more.
Ancient Greeks would have used the word idiot to describe someone who was "not interested in politics." Wait. Before the jokes come flowing in, please recall that in Athenian Greece politics did not mean what it has come to mean today. More on that later.
According to Webster's Word Histories (1989), the word idiot comes from Greek, idiotes, through Latin idiota, and then middle French, idiote. It derives from the original Greek root idios which means pertaining to one's own self, private, peculiar, self-focused, separate. The words `idiom' or `idiosyncratic', for example, derive from similar roots.
In Athenian democracy an idiotes was a person not active in - or not capable of being active in - public affairs. From this flowed the idea of an idiot as an `ignorant person' and later evolved into our modern sensibility of an idiot as an insult to someone's intelligence.
True to Athenian arrogance, it was even then a disparaging and derogatory label. As, in fact, was the idea of the `common man' - `common' precisely because they were focused on individual gain and not the societal good.

Politics was matters pertaining to the polis, or city. But the only thing worse than idiots who are not interested in the common good are idiots who want to capture the 'polis' to serve their own self aggrandizement. We have plenty of those.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Jan 11th, 2021 at 05:59:33 AM EST
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? - On Idiots (none / 1)
And those the Athenians called tyrants.
by fjallstrom on Mon Jan 11th, 2021 at 08:45:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]
a/k/a demagogues (4.00 / 4)
For Aristotle, there was an essential distinction between the two Greek forms of monarchia (one-man-rule), namely basileia, traditional kingship according to established forms of law, and tyrannis, the rule of a tyrant. They differed in their very origin. Kingship, says Aristotle, 'came into existence for the purpose of helping the better classes [hoi epieikeis--just another name for the propertied class] against the demos' (common people), whereas tyrants arose 'from among the common people and masses, in opposition to the notables [hoi gnorimoi], so that the demos should not suffer injustice at their hands ... The great majority of the tyrants began as demagogues, so to speak, and won confidence by calumniating the notables' (Pol. V. 10, 1310). A little later he says that the king 'wishes to be guardian of society, so that those who possess property may suffer no injustice and the demos may not be subjected to arrogant treatment', whereas the tyrant does just the opposite and in practice considers only his own interests. The tyrants, who had fulfilled their historic role long before Aristotle's day and by this time were often the oppressive and despotic figures he conceives most tyrants to have been, receive almost uniformly hostile treatment in our surviving sources. One single figure emerges only slightly tarnished: the Athenian tyrant Peisistratus, who receives some positive encomia from Herodotus, Thucydides and Aristotle.

I must not leave the subject of Greek tyranny without recalling some passages in Marx, inspired by the seizure of power in France by Louis Napoleon in December 1851: these are cited in II.iii above.

Ste. Croix, The Class truggle in the Ancient Greek World, p 284
by Cat on Mon Jan 11th, 2021 at 03:00:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
ET Standards... (4.00 / 3)
The literary and logical standards of the European Tribune are improving by leaps and bounds...

Index of Frank's Diaries
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Mon Jan 11th, 2021 at 04:11:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? - On Idiots (none / 0)
by Cat on Mon Jan 11th, 2021 at 04:28:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Coup Attempt in USA? - by Idiots (none / 1)
Democrats to Biden: Go big on executive actions, even with Senate control, of tyrants, filibusters, "Reid Rule"
After watching in horror at the ways President Donald Trump wielded the power of the executive, progressives say they are eager for Biden to do the same. Democratic lawmakers and outside groups are readying lists of executive actions they want Biden to enact early in his presidency.
[...]
The push for sweeping use of executive action has created a strange dynamic within the Democratic Party. Lawmakers are increasingly eager to cede their legislative power to Biden -- but Biden says he doesn't want it.
archived The Dictator and The Decider
by Cat on Mon Jan 11th, 2021 at 05:08:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Coup Attempt in USA? | 68 comments (68 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)


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