Jan 08 2021

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news media and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Paul Krugman: Appeasement Got Us Where We Are

It’s time to stand up to the fascists among us.

One shouldn’t use the term “fascist” lightly. It isn’t a catchall for “people you disagree with.” It isn’t even a synonym for “bad political actors.” Mitch McConnell’s brand of politics has, in my view, greatly damaged America; but cynical legislative maneuvers aren’t the same thing as threatening and encouraging violence, and I wouldn’t call McConnell a fascist.

Donald Trump, however, is indeed a fascist — an authoritarian willing to use violence to achieve his racial nationalist goals. So are many of his supporters. If you had any doubts about that, Wednesday’s attack on Congress should have ended them.

And if history teaches us one lesson about dealing with fascists, it is the futility of appeasement. Giving in to fascists doesn’t pacify them, it just encourages them to go further.

So why have so many public figures — who should have known what Trump and his movement were — tried, again and again, to placate them by giving in to their demands? Why are they still doing it even now?

Consider a few milestones on the way to the sacking of the Capitol.

Catherine Rampell RIP, the GOP of ‘Personal Responsibility’

If Republicans will not own their actions that led to the attempted coup, accountability must be forced upon them by voters.

What ever happened to the “personal responsibility” we’ve so often heard Republicans prattle on about?

Republican Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Ted Cruz (Tex.) and others aided and abetted our authoritarian president, amplifying his lies about voter fraud. White House officials and their confederates in right-wing media have thoroughly brain-poisoned the GOP base, claiming that shadowy forces stole the 2020 election. In so doing, these quislings all helped foment the insurrectionist storming of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

They should man up and own it.

And yet for their role in Wednesday’s seditious acts, not a whit of personal responsibility is anywhere to be found. In a video released Thursday evening, President Trump claimed to be “outraged” by the mob he himself had beset upon the Capitol. “It is not your fault. It is their fault” came the appalling apologia of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, with the ambiguous “their” seemingly referring to Democrats. Cruz more explicitly blamed random Democrats. Other right-wing personalities and Republican leaders claim the attempted coup was really the work of far-left antifa, even though Capitol rioters were on camera chanting “Trump” and “Stop the Steal” and carrying the Confederate flag. [..]

Let’s review the tape.

Janmelle Bouie: Running Out the Clock on Trump Is Cowardly and Dangerous

Forget the 25th Amendment. It’s Congress that was attacked and Congress that must act.

The most shocking thing about Wednesday’s assault on the Capitol is that it happened. A mob of Trump supporters, some of them armed, stormed and vandalized both chambers of Congress, sending duly-elected lawmakers into hiding and interrupting the peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next. [..]

Nearly as shocking as the attack itself has been the response from Congress. On Wednesday night, its members resumed their count of the electoral vote and certified Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. So far so good. But then they adjourned into recess. It was Thursday afternoon before the Democratic leadership — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the soon-to-be Senate Majority leader, Chuck Schumer — called for the president’s removal. And even then, they urged the vice president, Mike Pence, to use the 25th Amendment to do it, with impeachment as a backstop.

This is backward. A physical attack on Congress by violent Trump supporters egged on by the president demands a direct response from Congress itself. Impeachment and conviction is that response. To rely on the executive branch to get Trump out of the White House is to abdicate the legislature’s constitutional responsibility to check presidential lawbreaking.

Amanda Marcotte: Ignore Trump’s manipulative damage control: He must be impeached again

Donald Trump can’t be trusted to oversee a peaceful transition of power

Thursday night, a clearly reluctant Donald Trump released a video, promising, “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.”

Of course, his focus just the day before was on stoking a violent insurrection, making any hope of an “orderly” — much less a “seamless” — transition of power impossible. It was a little like throwing someone’s pet off a balcony, and then promising that, from here on out, you’re going to be the most responsible of dog sitters.

Still, there is no doubt many will be tempted to believe Trump, especially as it’s only 10 days until the inauguration of Joe Biden removes him from office. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has threatened to impeach trump if Vice President Mike Pence doesn’t remove him through the 25th Amendment procedure. The latter is doubtful to happen, the former likely, but in either case, it takes time. The promise that Trump is done acting out and will be a good little sociopathic narcissist is appealing, because any effort to hold him accountable in this short amount of time is a logistical nightmare. That, however, is what Trump is counting on. [..]

There are many reasons that impeachment must go forward, of course, starting with the fact that it’s important to take a stand, even if it’s just symbolic, against politicians fomenting anti-democratic insurrections. The death of Brian Sicknick, a Capitol police officer who appears to have been murdered by an insurrectionist armed with a fire extinguisher, only heightens the moral necessity of impeachment.

Impeachment is also a matter of prevention.

Jennifer Rubin: Trump can and must be prosecuted

The most serious consequences possible should be pursued.

Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol so stunned the country that we run the risk of not fully processing the unique violation of law that it represents. Imagine not considering whether we should prosecute Islamist terrorists or the Oklahoma bombing terrorists or a mass shooting in a parking lot. The same urgency we would apply in those cases should be applied in holding everyone involved in the attack on the Capitol legally responsible. That includes not only the participants but also all others who incited it.

Not only did the mob’s attack result in deadly violence, it also sought to overthrow our democracy. It was in every sense of the word sedition, as defined in federal law [..]

Once we understand the gravity and uniqueness of the case, we can fully appreciate that not only the direct participants but also those who funded, organized and incited them must be dealt with. If there was a conspiracy (in laymen’s terms, an overt agreement to storm the Capitol), then all members of that conspiracy remain liable for the crimes that ensued.

Jan 08 2021

Cartnoon

Angry man Kieth Olbermann sums up the last 2 days.

THIS WAS DONALD TRUMP’S 9/11 ATTACK ON AMERICA.

You and I have known something like this was coming.

We have tried to tell the politicians enabling it, ignoring it, exploiting it, that they were playing with fire.

Now they’ve all been burned.

It goes without saying Trump must be removed from office immediately. And all those who entered the Capitol must be arrested and charged with what they attempted to do: violently overthrow the government of the United States.

And, the House and Senate must reconvene to certify Joe Biden’s Electoral College vote as soon as possible. Because THAT, not this nightmare today, is the true test of whether democracy will continue in America.

Despite a domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory was finally certified by the House and Senate at 3:41 AM Eastern Standard Time, this morning.

And despite the same domestic terrorist attack, 121 Republican members of the the House and six Republican Senators still voted to give the terrorists exactly what they wanted – votes to overturn a valid election.

You and I have known something like this was coming.

We have tried to tell the politicians enabling it, ignoring it, exploiting it, that they were playing with fire.

Now they’ve all been burned.

It goes without saying Trump must be removed from office immediately. And all those who entered the Capitol must be arrested and charged with what they attempted to do: violently overthrow the government of the United States.

The democracy will survive and those who tried the coup will be punished. Now it remains to address the terrorist collaborators inside the Republican coalition in the House.

THERE WAS NO ‘NEW TONE.’ HIS TERRORISTS WILL NOTICE ONLY THE MISSING WORDS.

Trump’s return from Twitter Prison may have included a peck of platitudes somebody else shoved into the teleprompter, and a reference to a “new administration” coming into office January 20. It may even have referred to an “orderly and seamless transition of power.”

It did NOT, however, refer to a PEACEFUL transition of power, and it never mentioned Joe Biden by name. And given the opaque way he communicates with his conspiracy theory addicted, brain-addled followers, these omissions were no accident. He was giving them exactly the kind of “hidden signal” that will allow them to ignore everything else, and conclude he was, like Wednesday at the Capitol, sending his stormtroopers off to attack the government again – during the inauguration.

There are no other actions left. The House must impeach him – again – immediately, if only to tie up the White House from further mayhem in this country’s most dangerous stretch of thirteen days since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

TMC for ek hornbeck

Jan 08 2021

The Breakfast Club (The Bell Tolls)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Elvis Presley born; President Lyndon Johnson declares war on poverty; Ramzi Yousef sentenced to life in prison for first World Trade Center bombing. Physicist Stephen Hawking born.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.

Stephen Hawking

Continue reading

Jan 07 2021

The Late Show Today

Although we all could use a good chuckle at the events of the day, there was nothing to laugh about yesterday and that is reflected by our late night hosts.

The Late Show‘s host Stephen Colbert’s opening was delivered live.

Hey, Republicans Who Supported This President: Are We Great Again Yet?

After the unprecedented assault on democracy that took place in the Capitol Building today, Stephen Colbert kicks off his LIVE monologue with a message for cowardly Republican lawmakers who for five years have coddled the president’s fascist rhetoric: there will be a terrible price to pay.

As well, Jimmy Kimmel Live gives his thoughts on the storming of the Capitol building.

Jimmy Kimmel on Angry Trump Mob Storming the Capitol

Jimmy gives his thoughts on the angry mob of Trump supporters storming the capitol building in Washington D.C. today, Mike Pence shutting down Donald Trump’s request to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which shouldn’t, Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and others keeping this stolen election charade going, Democrats gaining control of the Senate after a double victory in Georgia’s runoff election, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump going after the Republican establishment, and we revisit Trump’s inauguration speech with the benefit of hindsight.

On The Late, Late Show with James Corden, James reflects on a very dark day.

James Corden Is Hopeful on a Dark Day in the U.S.

James Corden begins The Late Late Show reflecting on what was a dark day at the United States Capitol, but sees hope on the horizon. After, he looks at Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’s victories in the Georgia Senate run-off election.

Jan 07 2021

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news media and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Eugene Robinson: We just saw an attempted coup d’etat. Blame Trump. Blame his Republican enablers.

Today’s events were shameful — and inevitable.

Let’s be clear: What happened Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol was an attempted coup d’état, egged on by a lawless president desperately trying to cling to power and encouraged by his cynical Republican enablers in Congress.

It was perhaps inevitable that President Trump’s chaotic and incompetent tenure in office would end with riots and tear gas. Not since British Major Gen. Robert Ross set fire to the president’s residence and the Capitol building in 1814 have we seen such a scene at the hallowed citadel of our democracy, as an angry and disillusioned mob — whipped into a frenzy by Trump himself — forced its way into the Capitol to disrupt the official certification of Trump’s electoral defeat. [..]

The central act of our democracy — the peaceful and orderly transfer of power — was not allowed to take place. Blame the rioters themselves, who must take responsibility for their own actions. But blame Trump above all. And blame the Republican members of Congress who sought to boost their own political fortunes by validating Trump’s self-serving paranoid fantasies.

David Landau and Rosalind Dixon: Why Trump Must Be Removed and Disqualified From Public Office

Mr. Landau and Ms. Dixon are law professors.

The magnitude of the current crisis calls for two constitutional measures: the 25th Amendment and impeachment.

After a mob incited by President Trump stormed and occupied the Capitol, American democracy needs protecting now — and not just now but in the coming weeks and years as well.

There are reports of preliminary discussions within the administration about invoking the 25th Amendment, a provision in the Constitution that provides a process to declare a sitting president no longer capable of fulfilling his duties. Another call is coming from a surprising source: The National Association of Manufacturers, not normally an organization known for this kind of political activism, said that Vice President Mike Pence “should seriously consider working with the cabinet” to invoke the amendment to remove President Trump and “preserve democracy.” People are invoking the 25th Amendment on the grounds that Mr. Trump is not fit to hold office and incited the chaos that unfolded on Capitol Hill — and may unfold again.

There are also calls from a number of Democratic representatives to impeach and remove the president for his actions around the illegal and violent takeover of one of the most hallowed traditions in American democracy.

The magnitude of the current crisis calls for both of these measures. The threat the president poses to our democracy is not short-lived and must be cut off urgently and decisively — before it leads to even greater degradation to American democratic processes and traditions. It will need to happen quickly, even with other demands pressing on our country’s leadership like certifying the election results, rolling out the coronavirus vaccine and calming a nation in crisis.

Ezra Klein: Trump Has Always Been a Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing

By enabling the president anyway, Republican elites helped make the storming of the Capitol possible.

For years, there has been a mantra that Republicans have recited to comfort themselves about President Trump — both about the things he says and the support they offer him. Trump, they’d say, should be taken seriously, not literally. The coinage comes from a 2016 article in The Atlantic by Salena Zito, in which she complained that the press took Trump “literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.”

For Republican elites, this was a helpful two-step. If Trump’s words were understood as layered in folksy exaggeration and schtick — designed to trigger media pedants, but perfectly legible to his salt-of-the-earth supporters — then much that would be too grotesque or false to embrace literally could be carefully endorsed at best and ignored as poor comedy at worst. And Republican elites could walk the line between eviscerating their reputations and enraging their party’s leader, all while blaming the media for caricaturing Trumpism by reporting Trump’s words accurately. [..]

The problem isn’t those who took Trump at his word from the start. It’s the many, many elected Republicans who took him neither seriously nor literally, but cynically. They have brought this upon themselves — and us.

Michelle Cottle: Say It With Me Now, ‘Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’

With Raphael Warnock winning and Jon Ossoff leading, the political world has been remade.

Raise your hand if Georgia’s going deep blue was on your 2021 bingo card.

Me neither. But it turns out the state really has evolved — in part thanks to a decade-long push by voting-rights advocates and organizers like Stacey Abrams — into a different kind of political animal than its Deep South cousins. The final tallies from its twin Senate runoffs are still to be determined, but the Democratic contenders, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, are on track to unseat the Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

This is a welcome development for the health of American democracy. At the risk of sounding harsh, both incumbents needed to lose. Not because of their politics or how they served constituents — though there was plenty to criticize in those departments. Rather, Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue proved themselves unfit for office with their cynical, spineless embrace of MAGA nihilism, topped off by their support of President Trump’s crackpot crusade to reverse the results of the presidential vote. Such rank betrayals of democracy should not go unpunished. There will, in fact, need to be more such reckonings if the Republican Party is to find its way out of Trumpism. [..]

Minority leader Mitch McConnell. These four words are music to the ears of those long frustrated by the obstructionism and gridlock that have defined the Kentucky Republican’s reign. Mr. McConnell’s Senate is where ambitious legislation — any legislation, really — goes to die. From the minority, he can still make trouble for the Democrats. And bills will still fail — more often than not, in a Congress so closely divided. But Mr. McConnell’s days as the Grim Reaper of legislation are over. He no longer controls what, or who, gets brought to the floor for consideration. This, to paraphrase a certain president-elect, is a big freaking deal.

Amanda Marcotte: Don’t let smarmy calls for “civility” fool you — most Republicans still side with insurrectionists

Despite the violence and death Wednesday, the majority of House Republicans voted in support of Trump’s coup

Calling for “peace” was the word of the day on Capitol Hill Wednesday, after an insurrectionist mob overran the U.S. Capitol, in what was ultimately a failed attempt to prevent Congress from affirming Joe Biden’s victory in November’s presidential election. Some politicians — mostly Democrats, but a few clearly rattled Republicans — meant these words of peace. But some, most obviously Donald Trump himself, did not.

In his repeated messages to supporters Wednesday and into Thursday, Trump made sure to sandwich every mealy-mouthed wish for peace in between carbo-loaded language inciting more violence by continuing to insist that he won “a sacred landslide election victory” and that it’s being “unceremoniously & viciously stripped away.” [..]

But how many other Republicans, especially Republicans with power, agree with Trump? How many can we safely assume are full of it when they speak of peace? Well, just look at how many still support his coup. [..]

Empty condemnations of violence are meaningless. What Hawley, Cruz, and the majority of House Republicans are standing for is a belief that elections should be voided if they don’t like the results, and that it’s okay to lie and cheat in order to steal elections. That kind of belief system inevitably leads to political violence, because it shares the same logic as political violence, which is that if you don’t get what you want by playing fairly, you need to break the rules.

Jan 07 2021

Cartnoon

Robertson, Phillips, and the History of the Screwdriver

Canadian P.L. Robertson, though he was not the first person to patent the idea of socket-head screws, was the first to successfully commercialize them, starting in 1908. Socket screws rapidly grew in popularity, and are still used for their resistance to wear and tear, compatibility with hex keys, and ability to stop a power tool when set. Though immensely popular, Robertson had trouble marketing his invention to the newly booming auto industry, for he was unwilling to relinquish his patents.

Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, Henry F. Phillips patented his own invention, an improved version of a deep socket with a cruciform slot, today known as the Phillips Screw. Phillips offered his screw to the American Screw Company, and after a successful trial on the 1936 Cadillac, it quickly swept through the American auto industry. With the Industrial Revival at the end of the Great Depression and the upheaval of World War II, the Phillips screw quickly became, and remains, the most popular screw in the world. A main attraction for the screw was that conventional slotted screwdrivers could also be used on them, which was not possible with the Robertson Screw. [..]

Phillips screwdrivers come in several standard sizes, ranging from tiny “jeweler’s” to those used for automobile frame assembly—or #000 to #4 respectively. This size number is usually stamped onto the shank (shaft) or handle for identification. Each bit size fits a range of screw sizes, more or less well. Each Phillips screwdriver size also has a related shank diameter. The driver has a 57° point and tapered, unsharp (rounded) flutes. The #1 and smaller bits come to a blunt point, but the #2 and above have no point, but rather a nearly squared-off tip, making each size incompatible with the other.

The design is often criticized for its tendency to cam out at lower torque levels than other “cross head” designs, an effect caused by the tapered profile of the flutes which makes them easier to insert into the screw than other similar styles. There has long been a popular belief that this was actually a deliberate feature of the design. Evidence is lacking for this specific narrative and the feature is not mentioned in the original patents. However, a subsequent refinement to the original design described in US Patent #2,474,994[8][9][10] describes this feature.

Robertson, also known as a square, or Scrulox screw drive has a square-shaped socket in the screw head and a square protrusion on the tool. Both the tool and the socket have a taper, which makes inserting the tool easier, and also tends to help keep the screw on the tool tip without the user needing to hold it there. (The taper’s earliest reason for being was to make the manufacture of the screws practical using cold forming of the heads, but its other advantages helped popularize the drive.) Robertson screws are commonplace in Canada, though they have been used elsewhere,[14] and have become much more common in other countries in recent decades. Robertson screwdrivers are easy to use one-handed, because the tapered socket tends to retain the screw, even if it is shaken. They also allow for the use of angled screw drivers and trim head screws. The socket-headed Robertson screws are self-centering, reduce cam out, stop a power tool when set, and can be removed if painted-over or old and rusty. In industry, they speed up production and reduce product damage. One of their first major industrial uses was the Ford Motor Company’s Model A & Model T production. Henry Ford found them highly reliable and saved considerable production time, but he couldn’t secure licensing for them in the United States, so he limited their use solely to his Canadian division. Robertson-head screwdrivers are available in a standard range of tip-sizes, from 1.77mm to 4.85mm.

TMC for ek hornbeck

Jan 07 2021

The Breakfast Club (Trust I Seek)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

First U.S. Presidential Election; Clinton goes on trial in Senate; Khmer Rouge overthrown; Emperor Hirohito dies.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

You can’t please everyone, and you can’t make everyone like you.

Katie Couric

Continue reading

Jan 07 2021

It’s Done

At 3:32 AM ET on January 7, 2021 with the verification of the 3 electoral votes of Vermont, a joint session of Congress confirmed 271 electoral votes for Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris to be the next President and Vice President of the United States

At 3:41, Vice President Mike Pence confirmed the vote of the Electoral College that Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris will take the oaths of office to be President and Vice President of the United States on January 20, 2021.

The joint session adjourned at 3:44 AM ET.

ek hornbeck’s vote counted.

Jan 06 2021

Electoral Vote Count

Up Date 8:15 PM ET: After the events of the day, Congress will resume the certification of the Electoral College votes and certify the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States and his Vice Presidential choice, Kamala Harris.

WATCH LIVE: Congress holds joint session to count Electoral College vote

On Wednesday, the nation will tune in to a dramatic and historic, if mostly symbolic, joint session of Congress. Usually there would be relatively little fanfare over the counting of Electoral College votes by Congress — a necessary step in the presidential election process. But as the electoral votes from each state reach their final destination at the U.S. Capitol, Republicans in both chambers have declared that they will object to the counting of some states where President Donald Trump lost his closest races to President-elect Joe Biden.

Ed.: Congress stands in recess due to rioters on the East steps of the Capitol Building just outside the Senate chamber trying to gain access. Previously, these individual had been listening to the heated rhetoric of the Squatter-in-Chief who incited this behavior. Reports are coming in that congress members have been told to shelter in place. The Vice President, and Speaker of the House are being protected by the Secret Service. To be clear, this riot was instigated by the lame duck President of the united States.

Ed.: Protesters have breached the building and are marching through Statuary Hall which is about 20 yards from house floor. It is pretty clear that the Capitol police do not have control of this situation. There are less than half a dozen police in the hall.

Ed.: Protesters are now on the West side of the building on the platform for the Inauguration. Those who have entered the building did not go through metal detectors and may be armed. Capitol police are now using tear gas on the rioters. The Senate floor has now been evacuated.

Ed.: Members of the House in side the chamber have been told to put on their gas masks that are kept under the members’ seats.

ED.: There is now an armed standoff in the House of Representatives chamber. Police hare in the gallery near the doors with their guns drawn. There is a protester in the Senate sitting in the Leader’s chair.

Sen. Mitt Romney is blaming the Squatter and calling this an insurrection.

ED.: Reports of shots fired inside the building and there is a video of a woman, who is covered in blood, being removed by paramedics.

The Squatter is in the Oval Office watching the rioting he instigated on TV. There are calls now for his immediate impeachment and conviction in the Senate.

Virginia Gov. Northam is sending the VA National Guard

Ed.: According to reports from the news media the Capitol building has been secured and the White nationalist terrorists have been removed. So far, there are now reports of arrests. Police and other law enforcement officers used flash bangs and tear gas to remove the terrorists from the grounds.

At 6 PM ET the entire city is locked down and a curfew is in effect and, as per the DC Mayor Murial Bowser, it will be strictly reported

The woman who was shot earlier has been pronounced dead at the hospital.

Facebook and YouTube have removed the Squatter’s video messages to the rioting supporters of his who breached the Capitol building. In the video, he told the terrorists that they were special, he loved them and that the election was stolen from them. Essentially, he was saying this violent insurrection was justified.

There is now a wide spread call from the right and left for the Squatter to be removed by the 25th Amendment.

ED.: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to her colleagues that the certification of the election of Pres.-Elect Joe Biden and VP-Elect Kamala Harris will proceed tonight

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that he expected the joint session to resume in a little over an hour, at 8 pm ET.

The DC police chief, Robert Contee, said that 13 people have been arrested so far in connection to the “riot” at the US Capitol.

Ed.: From The Guardian:

Twitter has announced that Donald Trump’s account will be locked for at least 12 hours, after the removal of three of the president’s tweets.

“As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,” the Twitter Safety account said in a tweet thread.

“This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked.”

The social media giant added, “Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

Jan 06 2021

Cartnoon

he Toledo War: When Ohio and Michigan Went to War and Wisconsin Lost

The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Great Toledo War, the Michigan-Ohio War or the Ohio-Michigan War, was an almost bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan.

Poor geographical understanding of the Great Lakes helped produce conflicting state and federal legislation between 1787 and 1805, and varying interpretations of the laws led the governments of Ohio and Michigan to both claim jurisdiction over a 468-square-mile (1,210 km2) region along the border, now known as the Toledo Strip. The situation came to a head when Michigan petitioned for statehood in 1835 and sought to include the disputed territory within its boundaries. Both sides passed legislation attempting to force the other side’s capitulation, while Ohio’s Governor Robert Lucas and Michigan’s 24-year-old “Boy Governor” Stevens T. Mason helped institute criminal penalties for citizens submitting to the other’s authority. Both states deployed militias on opposite sides of the Maumee River near Toledo, but besides mutual taunting, there was little interaction between the two forces. The single military confrontation of the “war” ended with a report of shots being fired into the air, incurring no casualties.

During the summer of 1836, the United States Congress proposed a compromise whereby Michigan gave up its claim to the strip in exchange for its statehood and about three-quarters of the Upper Peninsula. Although the northern region’s mineral wealth would later become an economic asset to Michigan, at the time the compromise was considered a poor outcome for the new state, and voters in a statehood convention in September soundly rejected the proposal. But in December, the Michigan government, facing a dire financial crisis and pressure from Congress and President Andrew Jackson, called another convention (called the “Frostbitten Convention”) which accepted the compromise that resolved the Toledo War.

Ed.: Pardon the promotional in the video. It can’t be edited out. TMC

TMC for ek hornbeck

Jan 06 2021

The Breakfast Club (Driving At Night)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Joan of Arc is born; Samuel Morse demonstrates the telegraph to the public; Commercial airplane completes first round-the-world flight; Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked; Dizzy Gillespie and Rudolf Nureyev die.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

E. L. Doctorow

Continue reading

Jan 06 2021

And The Winners In Georgia Are: Warnock and Ossoff

As of 3 AM ET, Jon Ossoff was leading David Perdue by 12,806 votes with 98% of the votes counted. The outstanding votes are mail-ins that more often than not lean heavily Democratic. There are currently about 40 thousand outstanding votes. Ossoff’s win should be confirmed by noon tomorrow.

The race between the Reverend Raphael Warnock and Kelly Loeffler was called earlier when Warnock’s lead, which is now over 49,000 votes, became insurmountable. He will be the first Black senator from Georgia.

It’s a 50 – 50 split Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris the deciding vote. This won’t be easy, especially with the filibuster still in place and Sen. Joe “I’m really a Republican” Manchin (D?-KY) adamantly opposed to ending it. Let’s hope the Democrats don’t screw this up too much.

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