The Biden administration (was: The NEW 2020 Election Thread)

[PermissionToLand]

Majority of Americans say Trump should be convicted, barred from holding federal office

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/majority-americans-trump-convicted-barred-holding-federal-office/story?id=75729878

[PermissionToLand]

COVID-19 vaccinations now exceed cases in Virginia

https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/covid-19-vaccinations-now-exceed-cases-in-virginia/article_7d61f7f2-60b6-11eb-87dd-af27b501b255.html

Ohio vaccine doses now exceed coronavirus cases

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2021/02/with-908096-shots-given-ohio-vaccine-doses-now-exceed-coronavirus-cases-wednesday-update.html

The benefits of electing a competent leader!

[tim_m]

COVID-19 vaccinations now exceed cases in Virginia

https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/covid-19-vaccinations-now-exceed-cases-in-virginia/article_7d61f7f2-60b6-11eb-87dd-af27b501b255.html

Ohio vaccine doses now exceed coronavirus cases

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2021/02/with-908096-shots-given-ohio-vaccine-doses-now-exceed-coronavirus-cases-wednesday-update.html

The benefits of electing a competent leader!

Indeed, we are now a day or two away from 1.5 million doses a day. Which was Biden's revised minimum goal per day. We did 1.46 million yesterday.

[PermissionToLand]

New claims of migrant abuse as ICE defies Biden to continue deportations

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/02/ice-immigration-migrants-asylum-seekers-abuse-allegations

They're certainly making the case to abolish their own department...

[tim_m]

We are now on track for Biden's 100 million shots in 100 days. We are up to 1.5 million shots from 1.1 million 2 weeks ago. Amazing what competence can accomplish.

[PermissionToLand]

Trump frequently accuses the far-left of inciting violence, yet right-wing extremists have killed 329 victims in the last 25 years, while antifa members haven't killed any, according to a new study

https://www.businessinsider.com/right-wing-extremists-kill-329-since-1994-antifa-killed-none-2020-7

In other news, Republicans have been hard at work in state legislatures attempting to rig the next election...

"Legislators have introduced three times the number of bills to restrict voting access as compared to this time last year. Twenty-eight states have introduced, prefiled, or carried over 106 restrictive bills this year"

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-2021

To be clear, that is just in the past month since reconvening.

But their most brazenly anti-democratic move has been in Arizona, where the GOP is introducing a bill to LET LEGISLATORS OVERRIDE THE RESULTS.

Arizona GOP lawmaker introduces bill to give Legislature power to toss out election results

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/arizona-gop-lawmaker-introduces-bill-give-legislature-power-toss-out-n1256097

[jarmo]

Mass shooting - Republican reaction: Thoughts & prayers
Lost presidential election - Republican reaction: Violent coup attempt




/jarmo

[PermissionToLand]

Mass shooting - Republican reaction: Thoughts & prayers
Lost presidential election - Republican reaction: Violent coup attempt




/jarmo

Don't forget: "Violent coup attempt immediately followed by maneuvering to rig future elections"

Not to mention, the violence is still continuing. Let us not pretend it was isolated to January 6th. The 329 murders as a result of right wing extremism mentioned in my last post are the result of decades of hate-mongering and fear-baiting by the right wing media.

‘I’m going to come kill the president’: NC man charged with threatening Biden

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article249175500.html

[PermissionToLand]

So the Republicans in Congress are going with "but he said the word 'peaceful' one time amid 20 mentions of the word 'fight'!!!"

Okay then...

"You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong... everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard ... Our country has been under siege for a long time... and now we’re out here fighting... if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country any more." - Donald Trump

"When we rise up, we can end all of this. We can do it peacefully, I hope we don't have to do it the other way... but we should feel like we will if we have to" - Marjorie Taylor Greene

"As a peace-loving man, I have made every effort to give the German nation the defence and the weapons which are appropriate to persuade others also for peace. A hedgehog never attacks another animal except when it is attacked." - Adolf Hitler

Couching incitements to violence in claims that you desire peace is an age-old tactic that nobody should be fooled by.

It's also important to understand that conspiracy theories are a feature of fascist movements.

"Conspiracy theories destroy an information space. The goal — fascism is based on a friend-enemy distinction, so you're either with them or against them. The enemy is the enemy of civilization. What it does is it destroys the information space. It makes you think that even if your guys are corrupt and lying, it is because [the leader is] facing a mysterious cabal that is controlling things that are trying to foment a race war. This is the basis of the Ku Klux Klan ideology.

And even when they seem respectable they're really being controlled by the Marxists and the minorities. And so that makes you think that your opposition is not legitimate and there's no debating them because they're really in a conspiracy to hide a pedophilic sex ring and advance the interests of Marxism. And so what we find is not just a conspiracy theory but a conspiracy theory that echoes the worst aspects of European history and American history." - Fascism Scholar Jason Stanley, Yale University

Qanon is literally just the exact same conspiracy as "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".

https://www.justsecurity.org/72339/qanon-is-a-nazi-cult-rebranded/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE4UhROjVxM

We must not underestimate the threat we are facing right now. All it takes is a more competent version of Trump. That's it.

[jarmo]

The Trump party don't care what he said or did, he's their leader and won't get convinced by his supporters.

It's the Law & Order party!


Edited to add: But it looks like the party isn't as united as the result might suggest. Mitch did say Trump is guilty. The same person who didn't want the trial to start before Biden was sworn in and then used that delay as an excuse to acquit #45...




/jarmo

[pilferk]

I find this fascinating:

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1361723966159749128

Since Nov 2020, there has been a significant decline in the share of voters calling themselves Republicans, according to The Economist/YouGov polls. A monthly average of 42% of voters called themselves Reps before 11/3; today, 37% do. Capitol riot may have accelerated the trend.

[PermissionToLand]

Imagine that, the American people dislike a party endorsing treason. Meanwhile the right keeps on trying to gaslight everyone with fake astroturf campaigns like #walkaway. Beware, as their party further splits and becomes more of an extremist minority, they will take even more desperate anti-democratic measures to maintain their power, like the 106 voting restriction bills proposed so far just this past month.

I heard a good point recently that anyone who endorsed the idea that the election was stolen is culpable for the insurrection, too, because were it true, it would indeed justify revolt. Look at how many foreign affairs we've engaged in with violent force because of subverted democratic elections. We need to recognize that lying about the election being stolen is itself an incitement to violence.

[C0ma]

I find this fascinating:

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1361723966159749128

Since Nov 2020, there has been a significant decline in the share of voters calling themselves Republicans, according to The Economist/YouGov polls. A monthly average of 42% of voters called themselves Reps before 11/3; today, 37% do. Capitol riot may have accelerated the trend.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in a major election and more specifically how it impacts a primary. The rise of the independent voter should hopefully reign in the extremes on both sides where everyone seems to court that fringe of their party but now there is going to be a moderate middle that they both need to court. There is certainly a hell of a lot of middle ground between 'The Squad' and Trump... I would love to see politics start moving it's way back into that area.

[COMAMOTIVE]

I find this fascinating:

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1361723966159749128

Since Nov 2020, there has been a significant decline in the share of voters calling themselves Republicans, according to The Economist/YouGov polls. A monthly average of 42% of voters called themselves Reps before 11/3; today, 37% do. Capitol riot may have accelerated the trend.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in a major election and more specifically how it impacts a primary. The rise of the independent voter should hopefully reign in the extremes on both sides where everyone seems to court that fringe of their party but now there is going to be a moderate middle that they both need to court. There is certainly a hell of a lot of middle ground between 'The Squad' and Trump... I would love to see politics start moving it's way back into that area.

Amen

[pilferk]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in a major election and more specifically how it impacts a primary. The rise of the independent voter should hopefully reign in the extremes on both sides where everyone seems to court that fringe of their party but now there is going to be a moderate middle that they both need to court. There is certainly a hell of a lot of middle ground between 'The Squad' and Trump... I would love to see politics start moving it's way back into that area.

Here's the thing: I find the graph fascinating, but I'm not sure EXACTLY what it's telling me.  Is that drop all people disgusted with Trump, who are mostly fleeing to "indie-ville"?  Or is it the other way....are they Trump supporters who don't like the more moderate swing the Repubs were showing for a few weeks, who are abandoning ship for the potential "Maga" party?  Or some of both?

All those possibilities are interesting, and would potentially cripple the Republican party, especially in national elections.  I think a party split is likely, and it would take herculean efforts to try to pull the party back together.  I don't see anyone in the party capable of doing that.  I think the war of words that has started between Mitch and Trump is just more evidence of this.

My guess is the graph is a little bit of everything I mentioned.  But if (and this is a BIG if) we see "Republicans" drop to 30-ish percent and indies come up to 20ish percent.....we will be witnessing a political paradigm shift of epic proportions.

Not to sound like a broken record, but...fascinating.  We'll have to see if the trend continues and perpetuates to see if it's really remarkable. 

[pilferk]

Rush Limbaugh, long time conservative radio host, has died.

[PermissionToLand]

Rush Limbaugh, long time conservative radio host, has died.

And suddenly, there was less evil in the world.

[PermissionToLand]

My heart goes out the the Texans who are struggling and even dying as a result of their Republican leaders' inaction (and decades of deregulation and privatization). What's amazing is how quickly the right wing media organized around this lie about wind turbines in order to abdicate their own culpability and protect their in-group. Once again, they prove they are the party of abandoning personal responsibility.

This is what Republican governance looks like, people:



And as if that weren't bad enough, one of their mayors literally gaslights his constituents like an abusive spouse:

"No one owes you or your family anything; nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim, it’s your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a d--- handout!"

He went on to write that anyone complaining about the cold must be lazy and products of bad parenting.

"If you don’t have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your family warm and safe. If you have no water you deal with out and think outside of the box to survive and supply water to your family," Boyd continued. "If you were sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-mayor-resigns-telling-freezing-175748091.html

This is, of course, the logical conclusion of this right wing "bootstraps" mentality. It only ever existed as a way to dodge accountability for their actions. Once again, we see the abuser tactics; Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. Did you do something objectively wrong? No problem, just blame the victim for not being able to avoid the consequences of your actions!

Sickening. The Texas GOP legislature was too busy fighting LGBT civil rights to update their power infrastructure. Who would have thought that a party which fixates on fomenting a "culture war" would be incapable of actually governing?

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/02/texas-spent-time-fighting-lgbtq-civil-rights-fixing-power-grid-howd-work/

[tim_m]

My heart goes out the the Texans who are struggling and even dying as a result of their Republican leaders' inaction (and decades of deregulation and privatization). What's amazing is how quickly the right wing media organized around this lie about wind turbines in order to abdicate their own culpability and protect their in-group. Once again, they prove they are the party of abandoning personal responsibility.

This is what Republican governance looks like, people:



And as if that weren't bad enough, one of their mayors literally gaslights his constituents like an abusive spouse:

"No one owes you or your family anything; nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim, it’s your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a d--- handout!"

He went on to write that anyone complaining about the cold must be lazy and products of bad parenting.

"If you don’t have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your family warm and safe. If you have no water you deal with out and think outside of the box to survive and supply water to your family," Boyd continued. "If you were sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-mayor-resigns-telling-freezing-175748091.html

This is, of course, the logical conclusion of this right wing "bootstraps" mentality. It only ever existed as a way to dodge accountability for their actions. Once again, we see the abuser tactics; Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. Did you do something objectively wrong? No problem, just blame the victim for not being able to avoid the consequences of your actions!

Sickening. The Texas GOP legislature was too busy fighting LGBT civil rights to update their power infrastructure. Who would have thought that a party which fixates on fomenting a "culture war" would be incapable of actually governing?

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/02/texas-spent-time-fighting-lgbtq-civil-rights-fixing-power-grid-howd-work/

We were in the thick of it. We lost power starting early Monday around 2. It started with rolling blackouts until 3:30. From there we lost power until the afternoon. Around 14 hours later. It was on for an hour or so then went off for about 15 hours. It came on for about 2 1/2 hours again that night. It then went off until around 3pm yesterday when it finally stayed on. So yep 4 outages of 12+ hours.

[PermissionToLand]

Ocasio-Cortez raises $1 million for Texas relief in 4 hours

https://www.pix11.com/news/national-news/ocasio-cortez-raises-1-million-for-texas-relief-in-4-hours

While conservatives like Dinesh Dsouza are making comical excuses that Cruz couldn't actually do much to help his constituents, REAL LEADERS from other states are humiliating him by actually helping.

Think of it; when was the last time you heard of a single republican going out of their way to help a blue state that was struggling? The GOP has been fighting against state covid relief funding, self-admittedly because it would help blue states. Never mind that when CA had blackouts, conservatives were dancing on the graves of the people who died in order to score political points against the left. Disgusting.