DL Open Thread: Monday, December 21, 2020
How Trump Drove The Lie That The Election Was Stolen. Some excerpts:
He has done so by harnessing the power of his position, using his pulpit at the White House and his Twitter feed to let loose a fusillade of conspiracy theories. His assault on the integrity of the election has gotten a hefty assist from pro-Trump media outfits and an assortment of state lawmakers and lawyers who gave oxygen to the debunked allegations — and a majority of congressional Republicans, who called on the Supreme Court to overturn the results in four states.
Trump is continuing to press his case, even now that the electoral college has formally elected Biden. In a meeting with allies on Friday, the president discussed deploying the military to rerun the election and appointing attorney Sidney Powell, whose conspiracy theories about election fraud have been widely discredited, as a special counsel to investigate the outcome.
Along the way, Trump has willfully damaged two bedrocks of American democracy that he has been going after for years: confidence in the media as a source of trusted information and faith in systems of government. It might be one of his lasting legacies.
Which reminds me…look who was at the White House last night. Trump is not gonna let this go. Rethugs are horrified–at the dropping of an F-bomb in a Glamour magazine article by a Biden operative. Priorities, pipples. Voter suppression remains a top Rethug priority, and state legislators are taking their cues from Trump.
Giuliani: Seize The Voting Machines. Voting machine manufacturers threaten lawsuits against media outlets claiming fraud. The threat is already having an impact.
Biden’s Worst Cabinet Pick. WTF was he thinking? Another evaluation–equally critical. Indefensible.
Congress Reaches Deal On Covid Relief. Three-martini lunch gets special break. Marshall Islanders finally get promised health care. Consumers get relief from surprise medical bills. Pell Grants to be restored for incarcerated students. Clinton and Biden deep-sixed them with the passage of the Omnibus Crime Bill. As of 8:10 this morning, nobody has seen the text of this bill, which is scheduled to be voted on later today. You can bet there are all kinds of landmines in there that won’t be discovered until after the fact.
Covid Outbreak At Cali Megachurch, Church Covers It Up. Church ministers, at least in part, to the Filipino community.
Seaweed Key To Slowing Global Warming? Could be. It stops cows from farting.
Rethugs Terrified Of Electoral College Floor Fight. It’s a ‘bad look’, you see.
What do you want to talk about?
Worker Ran Winery Out Of A ‘Bama Sewage Plant:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/21/us/illegal-winery-waste-treatment-plant.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage
Aficionados had deemed the wine to be ‘redolent of barnyard with a firm sense of terroir’. They were right.
I wish I had a nickel for every progressive complaint about someone in Biden’s cabinet.
That article is a bowl of cherries, each individually picked with loving care. You could easily assemble a similar, but much longer, article explaining all the ways Joe Biden is going to betray the same groups of people the article cites.
Howzabout we hold our fire until his confirmation hearing? Would that be too long to wait?
This appointment stunk from the very beginning both from a policy and a political perspective. A Big Ag guy reprising his role from the Obama Administration. I don’t consider it cherry-picking if you remove the moldy cherry from the bowl.
As to waiting until his confirmation hearing, what’s he gonna do? Renounce his previous stewardship of the Department? Renounce his role on behalf of Big Ag since he left office? He has a record. I think it sucks.
So his record sucks. So what? So does Biden’s, but most people have agreed to pretend that it doesn’t, because he’ll get enough criticism from people on the right. You vote for a corporatist Democrat, you shouldn’t act surprised that he fills his cabinet with corporatist Democrats.
Let’s see what McConnell and the boys have to say about him. If they stonewall his nomination you won’t have to worry about him at all.
If I’m going to get upset over anything, it’s going to be the way the mainstream Dems fucked over AOC for a seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. That has more impact on my future than the farm policies of Tom Vilsack ever will.
And the notion that rural Americans would vote for Democrats if only Democrats would pick the right Ag Secretary is laughable on its face.
BTW, the cherry-picking referred to the complaints about Vilsack, which added up to pretty weak sauce. The Shirley Sherrod decision, for example, was not up to Vilsack alone, because if it were, and it wasn’t backed up by Obama, Vilsack would have been fired himself. That’s cherry-picking.
Stop it, stop it, STOP it with the pleas for cash for the Georgia races already. Every bleeping time I check my e-mails there are brand new requests.
I’ve contributed what I CAN give, and what I WILL give.
I think everybody is sick of this ongoing begathon. These entreaties are now, IMO, counterproductive. Would-be supporters are being burnt-out.
Putin critic Navalny reportedly tricks Russian agent into revealing how he was poisoned
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has reportedly uncovered details of his own poisoning by successfully duping a Russian agent into revealing them.
Navalny, a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is recovering after being poisoned in August. On Monday, CNN reported that an agent from the toxins team at Russia’s FSB security service made the “stunning disclosure” that Navalny was poisoned through a nerve agent planted in his underwear.
The way the revelation came about was just as stunning: evidently in a 45-minute phone call in which the agent, who was tasked with trailing Navalny, thought he was speaking with an official from Russia’s National Security Council — but in reality, he was speaking with none other than Navalny himself. Navalny disguised his phone number so it looked like that of Russia’s FSB headquarters to dupe the agent, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, who ultimately “talked about others involved in the poisoning in the Siberian city of Tomsk, and how he was sent to clean things up,” CNN reports.
Wow. OutKGB’d the former KGB. Biden should hire him. Seriously.
“…to dupe the agent, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, who ultimately “talked about others involved in the poisoning…”
Stay away from windows, Kostya.
Here in scenic Delaware we already know what we’re going to get from Joe, that being wishy washy centrist crap followed by assorted corporate ass kissing. And we also know Biden will get a sum total of nothing from McConnell if we don’t win the senate. Not holding my breath but am crossing the odd finger for Georgia.
Newsmax Backpedals (As Swiftly As A Phony News Channel Can Backpedal) On Charges That The Voting Machines Were Rigged Against Trump:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/newsmax-runs-away-from-its-election-conspiracy-coverage-like-a-scalded-dog
Amazing how the one’s perspective can change when faced with one’s own demise.
Nevertheless, the damage has already been done.
Random but had seen a post about getting involved in RDs and wanted to do so. No responsiveness in the 9th where we need to be building a bench … disappointing.
Meager response to my inquiries as well. I was going to try again today.
The RD committees are required to reorganize in 2021 (the year following a presidential election). These caucuses are held between January and March and are publicized. Anyone who is a registered Democrat may attend the caucus held for the RD they are registered in and vote for and/or run for a committee person position. In New Castle and Kent Counties there are two committee members per ED (election district). In Sussex there are 3. After the RD caucus, each RD committee will elect officers for that RD. The committee persons elected at the RD caucuses will gather in early Spring to elect officers of the county committees, and delegates elected by the RD committees will gather in convention in late Spring to elect state party officers.
The Rules of the state and county committees can be found at Deldems.org “Our Party”.
Many RD committees do not meet regularly this time of year. Anyone interested in joining an RD committee is better off waiting until the caucuses- where all positions are open.
Good info. Thanks