HEALING AND UNITY WIHTOUT ACCOUNTABILITY IS BULLSHIT

 As I type this it's been a week and a half since the Capital building riot on Jaqnuary 6, 2021 that, in retrospect, seems to be a failed coup attempt to stop the electoral vote count and overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election. While the coup attempt, thankfully, only delayed the inevitable vote count it has left a deep wound and many questions regarding security issues at the Capital building in DC and wondering what role the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago and his minions had in instigating this (enough, according to the House of Representatives that he's being impeached a second time - just days before his term is supposed to end). However, there's another issue that's emerging in all this garbage that needs to be addressed.

In the aftermath of the riots, a number of right wing pundits and Repub (Coupublican?) politicians have been urging president elect Biden and the Democratic controlled House of Representatives to drop impeachment proceedings against the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago rather than hold him accountable for what role he may have played in this mess. Those promoting this line of thought claim the country needs "healing" and :"unity" in this time and that impeachment would only "bring on more violence" at this time. While the mainstreeam media, under the illusion of being neutral and non partisan, air this with the illusion that these folks are arguing in good faith it is, in fact, bullshit.

First off, this intention of this line of reasoning is based more on plausible deniability for the Mad Fuhrer than anything else. At first, many of the right tried to claim that it was antifa activists pretending to be fans of the Mad Fuhrer that stormed the Capital. However, this was undercut by participants often going on social media and claiming that they were acting on the invitation of the President. They then attempt to claim those who rioted were anarchists, which [unfortunately and stupidly] drew a little more traction even amongst some mainstream media types and Democrats who seem unable to understand the simple reality that those following a philosophy that's mostly anti authoritarian and against all bosses and leaders would never support the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago and the Coupublicans. 

Since then the arrests have come at a semi brisk pace. Anger first mounted as the coup people were allowed to leave the Capital building with minor incidents. In the time sense, social media (and the white privilege that made these idiots think they could post these acts wihout consequence) led to the police and FBI arresting a lot of them - many on seemingly minor charges though some may get more serious down the road. It also brought to light reports from one Congressperson saying she witnessed Repub colleagues escorting people in tactical gear on a tour of the Capital, including some possibly verboten areas.  It also brought to light racial tensions within the Capital police where some officers were trying to fight off those in the coup while others took pictures with them and gave them directions to certain places. Some of this may be proven to be conjecture in due time but what does emerge right now is a system unprepared for something lie this to happen, even when reports have emerged that they were warned about it days in advance (and social media accounts of those involved found them planning often in plain sight). Because of this there needs to be accountability.

So what action do we take? Some have suggested going further into a security state but much of this could've been stopped if they enforced the laws they already have. Also, more laws regarding terrorism may backfire as police use them to target black and brown communities instead of the white supremacists and militias that have grown into this threat. 

What can be doe involves government involvement in this coup attempt, especially those in the House and Senate that objected, may have helpd plan it, or some combination of both. First off Senators Joshy (Josh Hawley [R, MO]) and Teddy (Rafall Edward a/k/a/ Ted Cruz [R, TX]) have to go. Joshy was seen leaving th eCapital building just as the marchers were about to take it over and giving them a solidarity fist while bothe Jishy and Teddy continued to object to the electoral count in Pennsylvania even after the coup attempt failed and the vote eventually resumed. They may claim it was out of concern but it was a way to appeal to the base. They should be made to resign but, since that';s unlikely, they need to be removed from office. This also goes for those repubs in the House who objected to the electoral votes as a way to try and overturn the election as well.

As for the reports that have emerged that aides to some of those in Congress may have helped plan the coup attempt with three Congresspeople helping plan the event that may have led to the riot itself.  These need to be investigated and, if found to be true, people need to lose their jobs at best if not face charges for their role in this shit.  In addition, some off duty police and military people have been found to have taken part in the coup, which means they should be fired from their jobs and face charges for their actions. Admittedly this might be easier to do in the military due to the Uniform Code of Military Justice as well as those in the military have taken an oath to uphold the constitution. Regardless, it's something that needs to happen.

That takes us to those who claim we need healing or more violence will happen. While some in the media are thinking these people act in good faith they really aren't. What they're actually doing is threatening violence if they don't get their way and couching it in plausible deniability. While there may be times that this might be a useful tactic in negotiation, in this instance it becomes another example of trying to make the Democrats give the Repubs what they want or else.  So far it appears this isn't working mainly because Repubs in both Houses of Congress were thratened, leading a handful of them in the House to vote for impeachment, making the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago the only leader in the U.S. to have been impeached twice. Now it's up to the Senate whehter or not to convict.

Does calling the Repubs bluff mean more acts like this won't happen in the future? That can't be answered at this time. What we do know is that if the government fails to hold those truly res;ponsible for this coup attempt accountable for their actions and tried to focus on healing and cries of false unity without the need for real accountabilitiy, then it's definitely likely to happen again somwhere down the road - and that time might be successful (which, on soem level, I personally think those Coupublicans crying for unity noiw really want). 

 And that is why calls for healing and unity on a national level without actual accountability is bullshit. Let's just hope those in the legislative branch realize that and don't fall for the Coupublicans trap.

WHAT A SURPRISINGLY SURREAL DAY - OR HOW THE MAD FUHRER OF MAR-A-LAGO'S MINIONS ALMOST GOT THE COUP FOR HIM

Let's talk about yesterday's bullshit coup attempt the fans of the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago tried to pull.

Yesterday was sup[posed to be merely the day a joint session of Congress counts the electoral votes in the final step to declaring the winner of the Presidential election back in November. In normal times this would be a non issue with, if there's any news coverage at all, any coverage buried in a small news article buried deep near the back of the front section of the newspaper. By then usually whoever lost already had conceded and this would be a mere formality.  However, this was before the reign of the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago,

The Mad Fuhrer decided that even after losing over 60 court cases in various state and Federal court to try and overturn his loss to Joe Biden that he'd stir the pot and have a big rally for the more angry and vengeful of his fans to come and try and fuck shit up in Washington, Naturally the milita types and christian extremist fanatics decided to take him up on the offer and hit the nation's capital to try and sitr up some shit. 

Tuesday night had the humorous moment of some of these so-called protests falling into some obvious police kettling situations and/or trying to start fights with the cops. However, the day of the rally the Mad Fuhrer gave a speech that instigated the crowd and told them to march to the Capital, even claiming he might join them (which, of course, he didn't preferring to hide in the White House instead). Once atg the Capital the rioters trashed the place, breaking windows and some doors to try and reach either the Senate or House chamber (both the Senators and Congresspeople were rushed into lockdown at a moment's notice with a couple of interns (are they interns or pages") grabbing the boxes with the electoral ballots and taking them to safety moments before they took the Senate chamber, armed with a mix of weapons, Trump and QAnon flags, and creating a menace as they chased the Capital cops who actually tried to do their jobs (as opposed to the assholes in their ranks who decided to take selfies with these arguments for why abortion should be encouraged).  When all was said and done four people were dead and a number of people were injured., 

While the rioters thought they were instigating a revolution, their coup did backfire as they were eventually forced out in a way that angered a lot of activists who noted that they took a far harsher stance with Black Lives Matters protestors (whose protests nationwide last summer were over 90% peaceful) along with people who have actually been arrested for protests at the Capital and know the Capital police are more than willing to arrest people in a far more harsh manner than they treated these rioters.  Even overlooking the seeming kid gloves treatment these idiots got from the cops it backfired in that not only did the military not drop everything and join them but what they did actually scared some Repub Senators off of challenging the election results (though seven did challenge Pennsylvania including TX Senator and often considered the most hated man in Senate Ted Cruz and Missouri Jr. Senator Josh Hawley (whom we'll refer to as Sen. Joshy from now on). In fact Sen. Joshy was phtotgraphed walking by and giving a raised fist in solidarity with the rioters just before the shit went down.

We'll leave a few tips on how to look at this for the next post but let's look at what they thought would happen and what actually did.  These rioters thought that they could attack and bully their way into stopping the vote count and believed that doing so would keep the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago in office as election winner. Instead, a number of hours later the vote count resumed with the only states challenged being Arizona (which happened just before the riot) and Pennsylvania. In both cases the challenges were unsuccessful and somewhere around 4 to 4:30 am Eastern time it was official that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election.  

It was a surprisingly surreal day that began with news of the Georgia runoff election results being puple leaning blue with the win of Rev. Raphael Warnock and news during the riots that Jon Ossoff was declare the winner in the other runoff (thus giving the Senate an even number of seats with the Repubs (with VP Harris being the 51st vote when ties need to be broken) and ended with many angry (including a number of Repubs) over the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago's bullshit inciting violence that led to a coup attempt and four people dead in the crossfire.

We still have two weeks until inauguration day and it's going to be a rough ride.

GEROGIA RUNOFF ELECTION THOUGHTS

 As I the this it's a few hours until the polls closed in today's runoff elections in Georgia for the U.S. Senate seat.  While early reports and early polls according to Five Thirty Eight) show Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev, Raphael Warnock with a two point lead over Senators Pewrdue and Loeffler (the latter appointed in the interim after the resignation of Sen. Johnny Isakson for health reasons), that remains within the margin of error which means the election can go either way. I've ever heard a prediction that it may be unlikely that we;ll know who wins tonight. Because of this here are a few thoughts to keep in mind.,

First, early polls have shown Warnock and Ossoff with a slight lead (Democratic voters have taken COVID more seriously and are more willing to vote early). However, it's the ground game on election day that will make the difference and traditionally Repubs tend to vote on election day itself. Because of this the runoff can go either way with either the Democratic eke-ing out a slim majority for the Senate (with VP elect Kamala Harris, once VP, being the tie breaker) or the Repubs (a/k/a: Coupublicans) getting a slim majority in the Senate but acting like they have a damn mandate to do everything to make Biden a one term President and make sure nothing gets done with Senate Majority leader Addison the Turtle doing just what he did during the Obama years. Between election day turnout, how the votes will get counted and the issue of absentee ballots this means that it's in the air and that nothing should be taken for granted.

Also of note is the reason for the run-offs is the third candidates in the race with Perdue facing off against both Jon Ossoff and Libertarian candidate Shawn Hazel and Loeffler (who's election was a special election due to Isakson's retirement facing off against both Warnock and former Rep. Doug Collins. These candidates might have gotten just enough votes to force runoffs in both races but it's hard to say. It did seem to have enough of an effect to make this possible so in the runoffs with just two candidates it's hard to say what voters for third candidates might go.  

So what will happen now? Time will tell. If the Democrats win there may be some steps in the right direction. If the Repubs win it'll likely be a mirror of what went down during the Obama administration with total obstructionism and the Repubs doing everything to make sure we don't move forward as a nation.

Here's to hoping things don't get too damn bad.

THE MAD FUHRER WANTS HIS 11,780 VOTES AND HE WANTS THEM NOW....

 I expected a lot of things as we turned the corner into 2021 and we enter what appears to be (and, if there's any remote sense in the world, should be) the last few weeks of The Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago's stranglehold on the country. With the Georgia Senate runoff elections just a couple days away it should be clear that eyes would focus on that and whether Democratic candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will defeat interim Senator Kelly Loffler and Senator David Perdue (respectively) due to a mix of strong turnout (which appeared to happy early in this runoff) and whether Repubs would boycott claiming its rigged (a possibility I don't think is all that likely since Repubs tend to always vote and have for decades).  Then, a day after the runoffs Congress will hold a joint session where electors votes are counted and Joe Biden will finally win the 2020 Presidential election. While this should be something we normally don't pay attention to because of how routine it is, the Mad Fuhrer's legal team keeps refusing to throw in the towel means this is still an issue. However, on Sunday January 3, 2021 the Washington Post reported something that comes truly out of left field.

Yes, I'm talking about the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago's phone call with the Georgia Secretary of State that lasted an hour and had electoral vote winner Donny badgering, threatening, and pleading with the Georgia SOS to find 11,870 votes (one more than the amount he lost to Biden by). This has pretty much shocked people who aren't drinking the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago's non carbonated soft drink mix (with added water that's likely from a place similar to Flint, MI) but, even when just focusing on the main clip that got leaked there's some simple things we can take from this.

First, I think it's pretty apparent that Donny violated both Federal and GA State election laws with even the excerpt that got the most mileage. Within one segment Donny implied that Repub voters in Georgia might not vote because Donny didn't win the Presidential election and that both the Secretary of State and his legal counsel could face charges.  At one point he even tried to claim that he won because his rallies were bigger (somehow overlooking the fact that not everyone at said rally is a GA voter [some may be too young, others may come from a neighboring state] and that attending a rally isn't the same as casting a ballot) than Biden's (who rallies were kept small due to COVID protocols and not wanting people to get sick)., This is obviously an attempt to threaten or otherwise influence in some way a state official to change the result of an election.

Now, in any other times, a President who said this shit and got caught would likely face immediate removal procedure under the 25th Amendment. At the very least this is impeachable and, even at this late date, steps would be taken. For better or worse, that is unlikely to happen in part because he only has three weeks left in office (provided the Repubs' coup attempt on the 6th isn't successful) and it seems easier to wait it out. However, there are demands of Federal investigations into Donny and his minions over this call so time weill tell how this goes. 

Also, this was a violation of GA election laws which means it is feasible that the Mad Fuhrer would be arrested if he ever sets foot in Georgis. While this is a feasible step, the state is run by Repubs (even though both the Secretary of State and the Governor remain on Donny's shit list) and are unlikely to take that step to ensure things are fair.  

So what now? Hard to say. While it may be unlikely that this gets Donny out of office prematurely it does show that he is committing acts that should be investigated and may be continuing to commit crimes. Regardless, this adds another log onto the fire of things he and his minions might maybe sort of get jailed for in the long run.

Time will tell.