New Developments III

[Sabin]

Trump just joined Parler. This could go... a lot of different ways but one thing is certain: we now officially have an alternate reality social media platform.

[OscarGuy]

The national guard was called up, but required approval by the administration. Pence did that, not Trump. That's part of the reason it took so long, but to address the other issues. I guarantee if it was being planned that heavily, then the FBI would have known about it. The problem is that the FBI itself has become politicized and they can't do much without permission from the administration. So, if all of this comes down to the administration dragging its feet rather than some vast conspiracy, that will all come out in the investigation that will surely follow.

I also caution heavily against this notion of a conspiracy. Do not be led into the same dark corners or incredulity that these knuckle draggers were. It was there very hate and vitriol of the other side that allowed them to believe these nutty theories and to become radicalized. By putting too much faith in that on the left, we're heading down a road that is just as precarious. Let's wait until the investigation is conducted and figure out what's going on then.

BTW, the House Sergeant at Arms was relieved of duty by Nancy Pelosi and it looks like the Capitol Police are going to be getting a hatchet taken to them for their failures. On the Senate side, Chuck Schumer has said he will relieve the Senate Sergeant at Arms as well...when they gain control, which might be as late as 1/22/21 (since we have to wait for the two Georgia Senate seats to be confirmed by GA's SoS and Gov).

[Big Magilla]

Greg wrote
In an ominous sign for getting progressive legislation through the next Congress with a 50+1 Democratic majority, Joe Manchin (DINO-WV) just came out against the $2,000 covid stimulus checks.

Yes, Joe Manchin is effectively the Senate Majority Leader now, but it's pretty astonishing that we have a Senator in West Virginia at all. He may have voted with Trump 52% of the time but he's why we can do anything. I'm sure Joe Biden will be able to find some cause Joe Manchin cares about to bargain to get some things done. Child homelessness is a problem in West Virginia. This cause will be funded in exchange for something. That said, immigration reform, background checks, and anything pertaining to climate change and green energy is off the table if it even negatively perceived in West Virginia.

Relax. Manchin walked it back ten minutes ago after prodding by Biden.

[Sabin]

taki15 wrote
Taking over the senate was important not because Democrats can now pass sweeping legislation (they'd need at least 52-53 for that) but because now Biden can get his cabinet and judges confirmed.

Maybe after the midterms? I know we usually do worse in the first midterms but, I don't know, a lot of the opposition party signed onto sedition...

...Looks at 2022 Senate Map...

... and it is surprisingly generous to the Democrats. 2-3 seats might not be an impossible dream.

[taki15]

Taking over the senate was important not because Democrats can now pass sweeping legislation (they'd need at least 52-53 for that) but because now Biden can get his cabinet and judges confirmed. If McConnell remained majority leader it was almost guaranteed that he'd have blocked, or at least slow-walked, every one of them.

[Sabin]

Greg wrote
In an ominous sign for getting progressive legislation through the next Congress with a 50+1 Democratic majority, Joe Manchin (DINO-WV) just came out against the $2,000 covid stimulus checks.

Yes, Joe Manchin is effectively the Senate Majority Leader now, but it's pretty astonishing that we have a Senator in West Virginia at all. He may have voted with Trump 52% of the time but he's why we can do anything. I'm sure Joe Biden will be able to find some cause Joe Manchin cares about to bargain to get some things done. Child homelessness is a problem in West Virginia. This cause will be funded in exchange for something. That said, immigration reform, background checks, and anything pertaining to climate change and green energy is off the table if it even negatively perceived in West Virginia.

[Big Magilla]

In an ominous sign for getting progressive legislation through the next Congress with a 50+1 Democratic majority, Joe Manchin (DINO-WV) just came out against the $2,000 covid stimulus checks.

I hadn't herd that, but I wouldn't worry about it. There will be enough Republicans to put it over the 50% threshold.

From what I've read, Capitol police unlocked doors to avoid extensive damage being done.

I don’t buy this theory at all and it’s completely ridiculous. This means that if those redknecks came with tanks and torpedoes it would have been even easier.

I hadn't heard this one either, but it makes no sense. The doors were opened so the thugs could come in, possibly by the idiot capitol cop who psoed for selfies with them.

[Sabin]

I was a bit depressed after election week when I saw how much Donald Trump over-performed my expectations and despite Biden's seven million victory how much the Democratic Party under-performed across the board (leaving us with a scant 10 seat majority in the House) and made significant inroads with African-Americans and Latinos. I didn't think we would win the Senate. I felt dread for the future and for the Biden-Harris coalition.

Well, the most important week of the Biden administration has come to a close. The Democratic Party has been delivered the Senate and the most incredible midterm ads you could ever hope for. I never thought anything would be able to top "My opponent supports death panels" lies but now we have "My opponent voted to overturn the election and sided with the insurrectionists" truth. Yes, there is the existential threat of Trump running again. I personally do not think he will be removed by impeachment (happy to be wrong) but literally every member of the GOP gets them name written in the books as supporting a mentally snapped President Benedict Arnold. Either way, so many of these horrible GOP mainstays are desperately fucked now.

Also, Trump's approval rating was dropping before the insurrection, making him the only outgoing President

I'm no longer depressed about the Biden-Harris coalition. It delivered us Georgia, the Senate, and the Presidency. Every image of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff bumping elbows gives me joy. We have everyone who worked with Stacey Abrams to redefine the Democrat's outreach machine. We have Nancy Pelosi, whom I have concerns about but gets one more round with the Senate for her legacy. We have AOC to continue to outreach to the youth vote via social media, something that isn't remotely appreciated enough on this board. We have an opposition has aligned itself with an ideologically incoherent insurrectionist party. We have a President-elect who is absolutely dedicated to unity and against shaming Republicans. We have a polarizing Vice President who will break more ties than likely any other Vice President in history. We have redistricting power.

I feel a little better about our future.

A quick word about Ashli Babbitt who was shot and killed. I'm sure I wouldn't have liked her as a person. At all. She chose to become radicalized. Her life ended horribly. I wish she didn't throw her life away. I wish she didn't radicalize herself. I wish none of these people did. By saying this, I am not erasing or ignoring any of the suffering of black and brown people in this country. 25th Amendment now.

[mlrg]

From what I've read, Capitol police unlocked doors to avoid extensive damage being done.

I don’t buy this theory at all and it’s completely ridiculous. This means that if those redknecks came with tanks and torpedoes it would have been even easier.

I have read in several forums (I can send you links you wish) that show that the Capitol invasion was being prepared several days in advance, of course instigated by the lunatic. Everyone knew what was being prepared. It could have been avoided but it wasn’t, on purpose.

What happened reminded me of the Reischtag fire in 1933.

[Greg]

In an ominous sign for getting progressive legislation through the next Congress with a 50+1 Democratic majority, Joe Manchin (DINO-WV) just came out against the $2,000 covid stimulus checks.

[OscarGuy]

From what I've read, Capitol police unlocked doors to avoid extensive damage being done. I doubt that many of the interior offices would have been locked because there was a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The only person on this list I even remotely feel sorry for is the woman who was trampled to death. That is only a modicum of sympathy because she shouldn't have been there in the first place, but of all the people mentioned, she was the only one who was a victim of forces not of her own devising. If she'd been shot by police or put in prison, I would have no sympathy for her.

I have no sympathy for the woman who declaimed the event saying that they were supposed to shoot antifa, not the patriots. That and the mother who got a call from the FBI and who doesn't know why when she had previously shared a photo of her son inside the legislative chamber and declared her pride in what he had done.

[Big Magilla]

The stories that are emerging about the the insurrectionists who stormed the capitol run teh gamut from bizaare to sad.

The 60-year-old man who shot himself in the balls with a taser and then had a heart attack and died supplied the buses that brought groups of people to there.

The 32-year-old woman who was trampled to death had never been to a Trump rally before and only made up her mind to go at the last minute.

The bearded guy with the police shield who walked off with Pelosi's lectern is the son of a controversial Brooklyn judge.

A woman interviewed by NBC was distraught because her son disowned her after seeing pictures of her there.

Then there were the two blatant Nazis, one with an Auschwitz sweatshirt and another with 6MWNE (meaning six million were not enough) emblazoned across his chest.

The moron who stole the letter from Pelosi's desk claims it wasn't stealing because he left coins on her desk to pay for it.

Questions:

How did these idiots know exactly where do go?

Who unlocked the door they initially walked through?

There was a conspiracy all right, but NOT to steal the election, it was to cause great harm at the capitol, likely involving more than one insider.

[Sabin]

OscarGuy wrote
Hawley is the worst. He got elected to one office, then jumped ship the minute a senate race came available. He's an opportunist. He's my senator, but I certainly didn't vote for him.

I certainly didn't think Josh Hawley was the worst. I didn't like him much but he supported stimulus payments so I thought he might be different. And I was right! Voting to challenge and election result is different...

Here he was yesterday, the seditious dork. He understands that you can't win the primary without courting the death cult.

https://twitter.com/RWPUSA/status/1347220139138306048

Okri wrote
Matt Gaetz just blamed ANTIFA for the events of yesterday.

I'm starting to think that Matt Gaetz's last name is "just blamed ANTIFA for the events of yesterday."

That being said, I did say this would happen yesterday.

[Okri]

Matt Gaetz just blamed ANTIFA for the events of yesterday.

[OscarGuy]

Hawley is the worst. He got elected to one office, then jumped ship the minute a senate race came available. He's an opportunist. He's my senator, but I certainly didn't vote for him.