Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Here are a few news items from the week for you to chew over. Please feel free to add anything that you think might interest readers in the comments. Make sure to include links.
First news item
Geez, he’s only been out of office for a week:
A pair of Ohio representatives want to make June 14th a day to honor former President Donald Trump.
Republican Reps. Jon Cross of Kenton and Reggie Stoltzfus of Paris Township sent an email to their House colleagues Friday asking them to cosponsor an upcoming bill “to celebrate one of the greatest presidents in American history.”
“Let’s show the 3,154,834 Ohio voters who cast their ballot to re-elect Donald J. Trump that we as a legislature recognize the accomplishments of his administration,” according to the request for co-sponsors.
Second news item
On or about January 12, 2021, the FBI received a tip with a video purported to be filmed by BANCROFT. The video was a “selfie” video which depicted BANCROFT and another woman, later identified as SANTOS-SMITH, in the process of attempting to exit the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The video further captured a large mob of individuals who had become bottlenecked at a Capitol exit point. During the video, BANCROFT stated, “We broke into the Capitol…we got inside, we did our part.” BANCROFT continued, “We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin’ brain but we didn’t find her.” Your affiant believes that the “Nancy” BANCROFT was referencing is Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. BANCROFT was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” ski-cap style hat, and SANTOS-SMITH wore a red “Make America Great Again” baseball hat during the video.
Third news item
Kelli Ward, who was reelected party chair Saturday at a state party meeting, said the Arizona GOP lacked the “structure” to perform an audit, but said she welcomed input to improve elections.
Ward praised the party’s election process, saying “we had no complaints from anyone, from any state committeeman” or those carrying proxy votes. The party used paper ballots and machines from Gila County to run the race.
“Everything was above board,” she said. Ward said there was “no procedure, process, rule that allows for it to be done, and you certainly don’t allow a challenger who lost an election to demand something that they don’t have the right to, and we don’t have the responsibility for providing.”
…Ward also slammed media local and national media outlets for publishing stories about the controversy, saying they are “not friends of Republicans.” And she criticized Republicans who talked to the media about their concerns with potential irregularities.
Fourth news item
Maybe be more careful about whom you choose to put in positions of extraordinary power:
In fact, according to sources close to the campaigns, people in and around the White House, including the president’s lawyer former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, put near-constant pressure on the two Georgia Republicans, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, to shape their runoff campaigns around his demands.
“It was a hostage situation every day,” said one Republican strategist familiar with the campaigns who only agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.
“We were always trying to guard against the tweet [from Trump],” the strategist said.
“Every week we had some new sort of demand,” said another strategist involved with the campaigns. “Calling for the hand recount. The signature match. A special session. $2,000 [coronavirus relief] checks. Objecting to the electors.”
“It was, ‘If you do not do this, the president will actively work against you and you will lose,’ ” he recalled.
“In the president’s shadow”
“What was happening was obvious,” said Brian Robinson, a Georgia Republican strategist who did not work for either campaign. “It was obvious from the outside, not just the inside.”
“Our Republican candidates have been in this corner for a couple of years, having to run 100% unrelenting, un-independently mindedly supporting Trump,” he said. ” ‘Whatever [Trump] says, that’s my new position. If it contradicts something I said before, that’s fine. It’s my new position.’ “
Fifth news item
In the midst of his campaign for president, Joe Biden took his younger brother, Frank, aside to issue a warning.
“For Christ’s sake, watch yourself,” Biden said of his brother’s potential business dealings, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation. “Don’t get sucked into something that would, first of all, hurt you.”
Biden…seemed to know then what is becoming plainly obvious now: His family’s business ties threatened to undermine an administration whose messaging is centered on restoring integrity in the White House.
Relatives’ money-making ventures, most prominently his son Hunter’s overseas dealings, have long dogged Biden. But it’s taking on a new dimension now that he’s in the White House.
Only a week into his presidency, Biden already has had to answer for matters related to his family. A law firm ad promoting Frank Biden’s relationship with the president caused a stir when it ran on Inauguration Day. A federal investigation into Biden’s son, Hunter, has invited scrutiny of just how strict a firewall he’ll keep between the White House and the Justice Department. And another of the president’s brothers, James, has previously come under fire for his business dealings.
Sixth news item
Eh, they’re going to spend it, one way or the other:
With Republican opposition growing to the size of his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal, President Joe Biden on Friday expressed his clearest support yet for Senate Democrats to use a fast-track budgetary tool that would allow the legislation to pass with a simple majority.
Asked by reporters as he left the White House, “Do you support passing COVID relief through budget reconciliation?,” Biden answered, “I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But COVID relief has to pass. There’s no ifs, ands or buts.”
Biden had focused repeatedly on has repeatedly called for a bipartisan approach, reaching across the aisle to try to rally support only to be stonewalled by opposition. A few Republicans have expressed a willingness to consider a far smaller, “targeted” package, but none has come close to supporting the level of spending advocated by Biden and congressional Democrats.
Seventh news item
“What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous of a word for what they might be doing?” Pelosi said Thursday of the GOP’s decision to seat [Marjorie Taylor Greene] on that committee. “It’s absolutely appalling, and I think the focus has to be on the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the deaths of those children.”
Some rank-and-file Democrats, however, are taking the matter into their own hands and ratcheting up efforts to ex-communicate Greene. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) is introducing a privileged resolution to expel Greene from Congress, meaning it will receive a floor vote — potentially as early as next week.
But expulsion would require two-thirds support in the House, making it highly unlikely that it will succeed. Still, it will force every single lawmaker, including members of GOP leadership, to go on the record when it comes to Greene.
“Only today’s Republican party could pull off the public-relations coup of putting the dumbest person in Congress on the education committee.”
Eighth news item
Clearly, the definition of “health” is up for grabs, and if you have no voice because you are yet too small, too bad, so sad:
And it will be our policy to support women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in the United States, as well as globally. To that end, President Biden will be revoking the Mexico City Policy in the coming days, as part of his broader commitment to protect women’s health and advance gender equality at home and around the world.
Ninth news item
May she stay safe, be strong, and never, ever give up:
Anastasia Vasilyeva, an ally of Alexei Navalny, decided to play the piano while police raided her house along with other properties connected to the Kremlin critic pic.twitter.com/BkGOQVyVEK
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 28, 2021
Tenth news item
There cannot and will not be unity until there is trust. Trust cannot be rebuilt until Trump Republicans in Congress acknowledge and publicly condemn what happened at the Capitol *and* condemn Trump’s incitement of the Jan. 6 events. They also need to acknowledge their own tacit approval-by-association too. (And every Republican who stupidly refused to wear a mask when barricaded in the room with their Democratic colleagues should be publicly named and shamed.) Republican members who continue to enable these colleagues by remaining silent, need to speak up. Until said disapproval reaches Liz Cheney levels, even a normal range of “unity” (standard tension between Congressional Reps. and Dems.) cannot happen. There must first be remorse, regret, and restitution:
Some House lawmakers are privately refusing to work with each other. Others are afraid to be in the same room. Two members almost got into a fist fight on the floor. And the speaker of the House is warning that “the enemy is within.”
Forget Joe Biden’s calls for unity. Members of Congress couldn’t be further divided.
Just weeks into the 117th Congress, the bedrock of relationships hasn’t been on such shaky ground in more than a generation, with a sense of deep distrust and betrayal that lawmakers worry will linger for years. And those strains could carry long-term effects on an institution where relationships — and reputations — matter more than almost anything else.
“This is a real tension,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who was among the roughly two dozen Democrats barricaded into the chamber during the Jan. 6 riots and later contracted coronavirus after spending hours in a safe room with Republicans who refused to wear masks. “I don’t know if that’s repairable. It is certainly a massive chasm that exists right now between a large majority of the Republican caucus and all of us Democrats across the ideological spectrum.”
The friction is particularly intense in the House, where two-thirds of the GOP conference voted to overturn the election just hours after lawmakers were attacked by a mob that demanded that very action. The position of those 139 members is now threatening to upend decades of relationships in the House, forcing long-time colleagues to work through their raw emotions and palpable anger in the weeks since the attack.
Just for fun
Here is an absolutely brilliant clip from the Royal Ballet’s “Don Quixote”:
💃 This Christmas day, tune in to our YouTube channel at 7pm to watch @TheRoyalBallet's Don Quixote for free!@CAcostaOfficial's production brings the sunshine of Spain and the exuberance of the entire Company to the stage 😍https://t.co/5fDhY1STmT#OurHouseToYourHouse pic.twitter.com/Tf4beai3i4
— Royal Opera House (@RoyalOperaHouse) December 21, 2020
Uh-oh:
Have a good weekend!
–Dana
Good morning.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 7:53 amProud Boys Charged With Conspiracy in Capitol Riot
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 8:14 amFederal prosecutors investigating the violent riot at the Capitol this month announced their first conspiracy charges against the Proud Boys on Friday night, accusing two members ( Dominic Pezzola, of Rochester, N.Y., and William Pepe, of Beacon, N.Y.) of the far-right nationalist group of working together to obstruct and interfere with law enforcement officers protecting Congress during the final certification of the presidential election.
……..
While more than 170 people have been charged in the deadly assault on the Capitol, most have been accused of relatively minor crimes such as disorderly conduct and unlawful entry. The only other serious conspiracy charges in the inquiry have been brought against three members of the militia group the Oath Keepers, who are accused of preparing for the Jan. 6 rally in Washington as early as one week after the election.
……..
Investigators have made a priority of exploring whether the attack was planned in advance. Earlier this week, Michael Sherwin, the U.S. attorney in Washington, said that prosecutors were focused on bringing “more complicated conspiracy cases related to possible coordination among militia groups” and “individuals from different states that had a plan to travel” to Washington before Jan. 6.
………
When F.B.I. agents searched Mr. Pezzola’s home near Rochester after the riot, prosecutors said, they found a thumb drive with several PDF files, some suggesting he had been studying bomb-making techniques. The computer files, court papers said, had titles like “Advanced Improvised Explosives,” “Explosive Dusts” and “Ragnar’s Big Book of Homemade Weapons.”
………
At least four other members of the Proud Boys have been charged so far in connection with the Capitol attack, including a top-ranking leader of the group, Joseph Biggs. Mr. Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran, stands accused of leading a group of about 100 Proud Boys on an angry march toward and into the Capitol.
>>>>>>>>
Good morning, Dana. Great topics!
On the Fourth News Item, I consider myself affirmed. It was a very good thing that such Trump toadies, such weak sister, such unpatriotic cowards, Perdue and Loeffler, did not go back to the Senate to vote on judges and treaties and cabinet positions and to pass other laws that affect all of us.
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 8:18 amUltimately, I agree, nk. Overall, it’s better that they didn’t win. My point is that people happily elected this thug who operates by strongarming, manipulating, and even threatening his own team members. And after all those efforts, they both ended up losing anyway.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 8:37 amhttps://nypost.com/2021/01/29/expect-cuomo-to-take-revenge-on-ag-james-for-nursing-home-death-report/
Cuomo’s actions led to the death of countless seniors. He was lauded and rewarded for his actions.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 8:58 amhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/a-pass-for-kevin-clinesmith-11611962556
Two sets of rules. One for politically connected leftists. One for everyone else.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:00 amhttps://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(20)30673-2/fulltext
Looks like some uses after all. As was said all along.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:00 amhttps://torontosun.com/news/world/who-advisor-covid-19-pandemic-started-via-a-lab-leak
There’s a reason the press calls the variants the British Coronavirus and the South African Coronavirus, but won’t dare speak the name of the nation that started this mess.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:02 amNJRob @ 5,
That reminds me, I didn’t even put up a Covid-19 news item today! Honestly, there is just too much going on…
Anyway, Cuomo’s audacity, tone-deafness, and self-congratulations over his management of Covid in his city are mind-boggling. I don’t even know what to say.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:04 am#NotACult
Dave (1bb933) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:29 amRate of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents in the United States as of September 27, 2020, by state
Per 1,000 population
Massachusetts 125.1
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:35 amNew Jersey 120.1
Connecticut 100
Rhode Island 86.6
Louisiana 85.5
Mississippi 74.9
Georgia 73.7
Pennsylvania 66.2
South Carolina 63.1
Maryland 62.4
Texas 62
Arizona 59.6
Alabama 59.3
Indiana 59
District of Columbia 56.3
Delaware 55.3
Florida 53.1
Illinois 52.8
California 51.8
New York 50.5
……..
‘The perfect target’: Russia cultivated Trump as asset for 40 years – ex-KGB spy
The most useful idiot in history.
Dave (1bb933) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:47 amIt’s now January 30, 2021, Rip. That was the point. People died, Cuomo lied, hid half(?) the deaths.
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:48 amRip, the recent report claims that New York did not count nursing home residents who died in hospitals as nursing home residents. Because of this, the report claims, the number of nursing home deaths is 50% higher than reported, which (if true) would put NY closer to the top of that list (but still behind a number of other northeastern states).
Note that the total number of COVID deaths in NY is not affected by this alleged bookkeeping irregularity, just the count of nursing home resident deaths.
Dave (1bb933) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:52 amI have been saying that for a long time, Mr. Dave. Does the article mention that when Donnie met Ivana only agents of the StB, the Czechoslovakian subsidiary of the KGB, were allowed to travel out of the country?
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:53 amThose Ohio reps overlooked one key detail with regard to establishing a commemorative holiday…but there are many who’d be happy to make sure that box was checked off as soon as possible.
urbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:54 amhttps://abc7.com/amp/los-angeles-county-restaurants-outdoor-indoor/10129618/
We have chamged the agreement. Pray we do not change it further.
Doing all they can to ruin business in California.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:55 amIt’s to prevent a rush for Super Bowl viewings — even in an uninterrupted/unrestricted South Dakota or non-metro county in Florida (TB^2 notwithstanding) mode of operation, it may be a prudent decision. At least at blunts any “Why Football, not Church” arguments.
urbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:01 amhttps://marchforlife.org/2021-virtual-events/
Just a reminder that the March for Life was yesterday. It was unfortunately done virtually, but it’s still important to remind people that fighting for the lives of our most vulnerable is critical and morally required.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:02 amI know the purpose ULB. So instead people will congregate indoors to watch. Genius.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:02 amMitt Romney, Giant of the Senate, on Ms. Taylor Greene, Midget of the House…
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:06 am“Do you support passing COVID relief through budget reconciliation?
Nothing promotes comity and unity like a 51-50 vote.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:06 amurbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:54 am
There’s so many things they could have missed. Would it be the same thing these guys overlooked?
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:12 amBut expulsion would require two-thirds support in the House, making it highly unlikely that it will succeed. Still, it will force every single lawmaker, including members of GOP leadership, to go on the record when it comes to Greene.
This is a party that had no problem with the antisemitic 9/11 truther Cynthia McKinney or the very stupid Hank (“Don’t capsize Guam!”) Johnson (who defeated McKinney).
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:14 amhttps://thefederalist.com/2021/01/29/alexander-solzhenitsyn-takes-on-the-progressives/
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:15 amIt’s now January 30, 2021, Rip. That was the point. People died, Cuomo lied, hid half(?) the deaths.
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:48 am
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:35 am
Rip, the recent report claims that New York did not count nursing home residents who died in hospitals as nursing home residents.
September 2020 is only one quarter in the past, so not that long ago. I am familiar with the NY AG’s report, and that it is not reflected in official data.
This report, as of 1/14/21, shows deaths per 100 nursing home residents. North and South Dakota area the top with 3.97 and 3.93 respectively, followed by Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Minnesota, Arkansas, and New Mexico, all exceeding 3.0 deaths per 100 residents. New York is down near the bottom with .77 deaths per 100 residents, ranking 45 out of 51 jurisdictions (including the District of Columbia). California is slightly higher at .95.
My point is the obsession with New York’s nursing home deaths. It has more to do with Cuomo’s personality (and the fact he is a Democrat) than any relative number of deaths. No one cares about the higher death rates in Republican-controlled states.
Rip Murdock (80e6b4) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:27 amPaul Montagu (77c694) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:06 am
It’s good that pierre delecto found the courage to do it on his main. Good for him. It’s catchy and clever. It’s not a haiku but his followers probably don’t have the attention span needed for that anyway. Best to keep it pithy.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:29 amTrue.
In reaction to this. Lots of overlap between our conspiracy-theory loving ex-president and current resident House nut.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:31 amI am trying to recall. Didn’t Republicans use reconciliation to pass a tax cut, with the vote of noted worrier, Susan Collins, 51-49, with senators representing states with much less than half of the population?
It’s not clear to me why “unity” always has to be on Republican terms. They are also capable of joining worthy Democratic initiatives.
Victor (4959fb) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:37 amthe dumbest person in Congress
Hank (“Guam”) Johnson still serves. He CHAIRS the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:37 amIs there a law against outing an FBI snitch, like there was a law against outing Valerie Plame, and will Enrique Tarrio get a Vanity Fair spread do you think?
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:42 amRip Murdock (80e6b4) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:27 am
Cuomo made a bad decision on nursing homes, took action to cover it up, lied about both with the help of a willing press, is still lying about it with the help of a willing press, and is also being touted as “a leader”.
It’s disgusting that anyone would defend Cuomo and it’s an insult to see him on the news yucking it up and getting tongue baths by the press.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:43 amIt’s not clear to me why “unity” always has to be on Republican terms. They are also capable of joining worthy Democratic initiatives.
The problem is two-fold.
One, the minority refuses to participate (e.g. reforming Obamacare in the House in 2017), leaving the majority to try to pass things on their own. This often fails as the majority is not monolithic, but sometimes is works, like with Obamacare in 2014. It helps a lot to have spare votes, which they don’t right now. When things fail, the minority is blamed for not engaging.
Two, the majority refuses to engage the minority in the first place, as seems to be happening with the $.19 trillion (any bets that it won’t grow) Covid relief. This requires a strong consensus in the majority party (or lots of spare votes, which they don’t have right now). This often fails as some maverick fails to support, or someone thinks it’s a good place to squeeze a favor. When it fails, the minority is blamed for its refusal to go along.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:46 am* $1.9 trillion. If only it was .19 trillion
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:47 amVictor (4959fb) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:37 am
Not clear why relabeling obey as unity isn’t working? Baffled by why claims of “you can’t work with these people” result in “these people” not doing what they’re told?
Why do we even think there will be anything passed via reconciliation? At the rate JB is signing EO’s all he needs is for the congress to look busy.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:48 amwill Enrique Tarrio get a Vanity Fair spread do you think?
First we need to see who the special prosecutor is.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:49 am# 30
Y’all should realize that you owe a debt of gratitude to Hank Johnson. He primaried Cynthia McKinney and won.
Appalled (1a17de) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:15 amOk, I see your #24 now. That’s what I get for reading from the bottom
Appalled (1a17de) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:17 amI, too, am glad that both Loeffler and Perdue lost their seats in the Senate because now we have a chance to get some good Senators in there. Who’s going to be running for their seats do you suppose now that they’re gone?
Jerryskids (999ce8) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:25 amKasparov should realize that Europe spends a lot more money propping up the authoritarians in Beijing than Moscow, but dollars talk so it is easier to signal virtue with the easy low-hanging fruit than the one that actually matters.
Hoi Polloi (139bf6) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:33 amThanks to Patrick for starting the Gamestop conversation.
steveg (43b7a5) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:34 amIt gave me a chance to converse politely and respectfully with some posters I’ve clashed with before.
“Baffled by why claims of “you can’t work with these people” result in “these people” not doing what they’re told?”
You literally cannot work with people who believe that the election was stolen. The “unity” step would be Trump recanting his election disinformation, or the Republican party as a whole repudiating Trump, but we both know that will never happen. The Republican party is the party of lies and disinformation.
Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:36 amI expect it will be closer to 55-45, and if it looks like it’s 51-50, McConnell will get a Republican to switch so as not to give Kamala the grandstand.
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:41 amFrosty @32-
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:43 amIt’s disgusting that anyone would defend Cuomo….
I am not defending Cuomo, just pointing out that most states had higher per capita nursing home deaths than New York that aren’t receiving the same attention.
Cuomo deserves opprobrium for several reasons: for causing a high death rate in the first place with his decision to send sick elderly COVID patients back to their nursing homes; Cuomo bragged about his policies to stem COVID while ignoring his nursing home order; attacking Trump’s COVID policies while ignoring his own; and even trying to blame NY death rate on Trump.
I haven’t heard of any other governor doing this so yeah, he deserves all the attention.
Hoi Polloi (139bf6) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:00 pm39..Karyn Handel is always around, and Nikki Haley grew up an hour away from the border and graduated from Clemson – might not be a bad lark if reality about not being the it girl of True Trump suddely sinks in.
urbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:02 pmTo be clear, Trump called Ms. Greene after the news came out about her Jewish space laser conspiracy theory. Dysfunctional is the most charitable take on my GOP.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:08 pmMcCarthy should take some time out of the weekend to look for his balls.
BTW, other than summoning McCarthy to Mar A Lago and calling Ms. Greene, has Trump called any other Senator or House member?
Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:36 am
Then stop the whining and fake calls for unity that you don’t believe in yourself. What’s the point of jumping up and down and flailing your arms demanding the other side do something that you claim you know they won’t do? Do you think you’re going to show them the error of their ways while claiming they are incapable of seeing the error of their ways? Just start advocating for whatever you think the next step is for “these people” who can’t be worked with.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:12 pmThe only ones who view calls for unity as “relabeling obey” are Trump loyalists who still believe that he didn’t lie about the election results, wasn’t part of the incitement of Jan. 6, didn’t mislead Americans, and said Americans who still can’t admit that the election win by Joe Biden clean and legitimate.
It’s got nothing to do with obeying. It’s got to do with a large segment of Republican members of Congress still believing the Big Lie and pushing the Big Lie on their constituents, as well as adopting the Big Lie on behalf of their constituents so they wouldn’t lose votes. And that Big Lie lead to the death of Americans.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:15 pmRussian chess master Kasparov rails against capitalism?!?! Hilarious. It’s like electricity; it follows the path of least resistance, Garry.
That’s how that game is played.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:18 pm@10. Reaganoptics.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:20 pm“Do you think you’re going to show them the error of their ways while claiming they are incapable of seeing the error of their ways? Just start advocating for whatever you think the next step is for “these people” who can’t be worked with.”
“These people” will will never see the error of their ways. But “these people” aren’t the majority. The attempts at unity are still useful at showing the non-lunatics that “these people” are the Republican party.
Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:30 pmIt’s not clear to me why “unity” always has to be on Republican terms.
Reaganoptics: Newtie led the charge banning the ‘art of compromise’ decades ago. Hence, it’s as clear as glass w/t on-the-outs-GOP; “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is negotiable.”
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:45 pmDana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:15 pm
This “everyone who doesn’t agree with me are insurrectionists” is becoming the new normal. The problem is I’m not sure I disagree with you. There is a growing divide between people who want to maintain the status quo no matter how corrupt and dysfunctional it is and people who aren’t willing to do that anymore. It’s only natural for the first group to decide everyone in the second group are insurrectionists.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:00 pmDCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 12:18 pm
He said western companies and leaders. He didn’t say anything about capitalism. Those are not the same thing.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:06 pm@55. Except he did- ‘launder money and profit‘… but if you believe Western banks & businesses are ‘crooks’ for pursing and conducting commerce for profit, fine; Reaganoics. 😉
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:15 pmSteve was an avid Trump supporter who didn’t allow an inch to come between him and the people he loved, virtually all of whom disdained his politics. He was a gentle giant, a judo champion in his youth, and record-setting weight lifter later on. He was a high achiever with the brains and work ethic to be anything he wanted. He chose to spend his life helping people. In nearly 40 years as a social worker, his salary never topped $50,000, and he felt not a spec of envy for another person. He was a devout Christian who enjoyed singing for children.
Steve was my older brother, my best friend, and the finest person I knew. Wednesday morning he died of COVID. My world will never be the same.
lurker (59504c) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:19 pmMarjorie Taylor Greene b-itch-slaps the black and white world of Pierre Delecto by tweeting him how le cow ate la cabbage:
“Grow a pair.”
Glorious.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:23 pm@57. OMG lurker. How was it he was unable to get access to any vaccine?
I am so very, very sorry. 🙁
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:26 pmOh lurker, I’m so sorry for the loss of someone you so obviously respected, admired, and deeply loved. My deepest condolences. Thank you for sharing the video of him singing. He was clearly a happy soul.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:35 pmfrosty @ 54,
Would you clarify whether you are addressing me, specifically, as implying/saying that everyone who doesn’t agree with me are insurrectionists”? I’ll hold off on commenting until I am clear on that point.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:38 pmDCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:15 pm
So, anything done “for profit” makes it capitalism? You’re original snark then was more correctly
but what you really mean is self interest so
Which is, I think, what he’s actually railing against. Do you think he’s wrong to criticize western leaders and companies making money from authoritarianism? I don’t.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:38 pmlurker (59504c) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:19 pm
I’m sorry for your loss and for the loss everyone impacted by your brother must feel.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:43 pmlurker,
I am so very, very sorry. Your wonderful tribute and video link show your sweet brother was a shining light in many lives. The wound from losing him may never heal but I am grateful for his good works.
DRJ (aede82) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:50 pmlurker, I’m so sorry for your terrible loss. I appreciate you sharing your beautiful tribute to your brother, who sounded like a rare and amazing person.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:52 pmDana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:38 pm
I’m responding to your comment, yes. If you’re trying to figure out whether you can accuse me of saying you, specifically, said something you didn’t say, no. I’m not saying you said that.
Do you disagree that this is becoming a trend though? It was a sub-plot of the GME conversation even though there is no relationship. It’s embedded in a lot of the covid conversation. It’s seeping into anything that can be framed as a right-left, us-them, situation and everything is now being framed as us-them.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:55 pm“The Capitol Insurrection Was as Christian Nationalist as It Gets.’
It’s impossible to understand the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol without addressing the movement that has come to be known as Christian nationalism.
……..
In her recent book, “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism,” Katherine Stewart, a frequent contributor to these pages, does not mince words:
This, Stewart writes, “is not a ‘culture war.’ It is a political war over the future of democracy.”
While much of the focus of coverage of the attack on the halls of the House and Senate was on the violence, the religious dimension went largely unnoted…….
I asked (Samuel L. Perry, a professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma and co-author of “Taking America Back for God”) about the role of the religious right, and he replied by email: “The Capitol insurrection was as Christian nationalist as it gets.”
Perry elaborated:
………
The conservative evangelical pastor Greg Locke, the founder of the Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tenn., epitomizes the mind-set Perry describes. In his Sept 2020 book, “This Means War” Locke writes, “We are one election away from losing everything we hold dear.” The battle, Locke continued, is “against everything evil and wicked in the world.” It is
On Jan. 5, Locke tweeted:
Along similar lines, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and a leading figure among conservative evangelicals, was asked in a 2018 Politico interview, “What happened to turning the other cheek?”
…….
Paul D. Miller, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, reasons along parallel lines:
………
Samuel P. Perry, a professor of communications at Baylor — and no relation to Samuel L. Perry — (has) argued …….
……….
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:10 pmlurker (59504c) — 1/30/2021 @ 1:19 pm
To lose someone you have loved all your life must be unbearable. My deepest condolences and sympathy.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:13 pm@62. Shorter: Reaganomics.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:16 pmI understand why some tempers are frayed, but for the most part insisting that someone admit they are wrong and beg forgiveness before you will deal with them gets you a quick “GFY” and “Have a nice life!”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:32 pm40.Kasparov should realize that Europe spends a lot more money propping up the authoritarians in Beijing than Moscow, but dollars talk so it is easier to signal virtue with the easy low-hanging fruit than the one that actually matters.
Europe won the Cold War by warming their homes and powering their businesses w/Russian oil & gas; invested and established a modern infrastructure– w/ better quality of life in Dusseldorf than Detroit– and let America, clinging to 20th century policies pay the bulk the freight to protect them from the very place they’re pipelined and plugged into well into the 21st century.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:32 pmRip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:35 am
Is that before or after they accounted for the 50% of nursing home deaths Cuomo’s people called something else?
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:34 pm@Lurker@57 I am so very sorry. It sounds like he was a great guy and lived a life where he gave joy and hope to many others.
Nic (896fdf) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:37 pmWell, just for comparison’s sake, what protocols/procedures were put in place in other states for domiciling nursery home residents post-diagnosis and treatment?
urbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:39 pmurbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:39 pm
I don’t feel like wasting time reviewing all of the policies in every states for comparison. How about you make a list of states where the governor lied and knowingly covered up the deaths caused by his policies while claiming he was noble and slept soundly at night. We’ll see how long that list is and we can talk about reviewing the policies of those states.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:52 pmLet me disabuse you of the notion that I am trying to figure out whether I can accuse you of anything. I’m not interested in that game. I was genuinely unclear about what you meant and whether it about me specifically or just a generality. It helps me to have all the particulars clear before responding and potentially making a goof of myself.
I’m blanking out on what GME is, and the convo therein?? I can say that because I don’t have any loyalty to either party, I don’t feel compelled to reflexively defend one and attack the other.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:52 pm@62. He’s “operating outside the area of his competence” – a Gregory Peck line plagiarized from ‘Marooned’ 1969.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:55 pm“I understand why some tempers are frayed, but for the most part insisting that someone admit they are wrong and beg forgiveness before you will deal with them gets you a quick “GFY””
WheRe’S tHe UniTY?
Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:57 pm“I’m blanking out on what GME is, and the convo therein??”
GME is Gamestop’s stock ticker.
Davethulhu (6ba00b) — 1/30/2021 @ 3:00 pmAh, thanks, Davethulhu. I wasn’t part of that thread so I don’t know what was said.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 3:06 pmPlease accept my condolences, lurker.
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 3:38 pmIt’s also possible for the word conversation to apply to things outside of threads on this site. It’s a flexible word.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 3:44 pmMy condolences, Lurker.
urbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 4:07 pmI, too, am glad that both Loeffler and Perdue lost their seats in the Senate because now we have a chance to get some good Senators in there. Who’s going to be running for their seats do you suppose now that they’re gone?
Done. We’re good for the next six years.
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 4:16 pmLurker @ 57
I am sorry for your loss. His singing will be missed by many. May God comfort you and your family.
Chris (3d25b0) — 1/30/2021 @ 4:32 pmWarnock’s up in 2022
urbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 4:32 pmOh, yeah. I forgot it’s still Isakson’s term.
nk (1d9030) — 1/30/2021 @ 4:36 pm@DCSCA, Dana, Frosty, DRJ, Dustin, Rip, Nic, nk, urbanleftbehind, Chris,
Thank you all for the kind condolences. I couldn’t be prouder of Steve and the life he lived, or feel less worthy to have meant as much to him as he did to me.
lurker (59504c) — 1/30/2021 @ 5:29 pmTrump’s top impeachment lawyer has left his team
……..
Butch Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer who was reportedly set to play a major role in the Senate’s trial of the ex-president, is now no longer with the team. Deborah Barbier, another South Carolina lawyer, won’t be either. The person described it as a “mutual decision” and said new names will be announced shortly.
The decision by Bowers and Barbier to not join the team raised immediate questions, both about what compelled them to part ways and who actually will play the role of lawyer to Trump when the impeachment trial starts in early February.
…….
News outlets in South Carolina also named trial attorneys Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser as part of Trump’s impeachment team, although aides to Trump never officially confirmed who would be representing the former president.
In a statement, Trump spokesman Jason Miller did not address the uncertainty around the legal team but, rather, railed against impeachment itself, noting that the vast majority of Senate Republicans voted that convicting an ex-president is an unconstitutional act—a conclusion with which legal scholars disagree.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 5:42 pm……..
Sweeping budget blueprint for pandemic aid readied for floor action
Democrats on Monday will kick off a convoluted process to try to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package, through a budget resolution that would direct two dozen House and Senate committees to draft pieces of a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill.
……..
The contents were still in flux as of Friday night, but the current plan calls for 11 Senate committees and 13 House panels to receive instructions to develop pieces of the aid package, which the budget would cap at $1.9 trillion over a decade.
……..
House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky., plans to begin the process by releasing a fiscal 2021 budget resolution on Monday, according to sources familiar with the planning. The “skinny” budget resolution, intended only as a vehicle for the COVID-19 reconciliation bill, is expected to go to the Rules Committee on Tuesday and hit the floor Wednesday.
In the Senate, incoming Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is expected to introduce an identical budget resolution early in the week. If all goes according to plan, after a few days of debate the Senate would proceed to the “vote-a-rama” amendment process on Thursday with a goal of adopting the budget Friday morning.
………
The process is being closely coordinated between House and Senate Democratic leaders, who are aiming to have the legislation ready for Biden to sign before March 14. That’s when a federal $300 weekly unemployment insurance supplement enacted last month as well as extensions of regular benefits lapse.
The White House said this week it has dropped consideration of moving the package in two separate bills. As a result, Democrats are preparing to include all or most of what Biden has proposed in a reconciliation bill that can pass the Senate with a simple majority.
………The 13 House committees that would receive instructions under the current proposal include the following:
………
The 11 Senate committees getting instructions include:
………
The Appropriations committees won’t get reconciliation instructions, but they’ll work with the authorizing committees on large portions of the bill that will contain discretionary funds.
The authorizers will include discretionary spending in their legislative portions, which is unusual but has been done in the past. The move will also prevent appropriators from breaching statutory spending caps for fiscal 2021.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/30/2021 @ 6:01 pm…….
After passing the bill, the House would send it to the Senate as early as the week of March 1. With the idea being House and Senate Democrats will “pre-conference” the package, the current thinking is to skip Senate committee markups and go straight to the floor.
………
……… Republicans and Democrats both are preparing amendments with the goal of forcing members of the other party to take politically painful votes on amendments that could come back to haunt them in the next election.
>>>>>>>>>
NJRpb @7: Did you notice this?
Masks can prevent someone from infecting someone else, or make the resulting infection milder, to the point of non-detection, but will make a person who is infected sicker.
So, anyone with anything more than an almost asymptomatic case should wear a mask as little as possible. And exchange the air.
Dr. Fauci and the whole public health community won’t tell you that.
Now this is not news. It goes without saying.
The anti-maskers won’t tell you that either, because they only say stupid, wrong or misleading things.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:16 pm9. Dana (fd537d) — 1/30/2021 @ 9:04 am
Cuomoo’s order not to exclude or even test patients released from the hospital for Covid didn’t really cause the high death rate (although it could have made it worse) because this also occurred in other states and other countries. And besides he withdrew it in May.
The disease was probably brought in by staff and transferred from one nursing home to the other by staff, some of whom worked in more than one location. Even if you try, you cannot stop Covid by testing. You can probably stop serious cases, but you can’t prevent each iteration after the first from spreading progressively worse cases, and the nursing home, like a cruise ship, becomes a Petri dish,
As I have been saying since the beginning, the original sin was excluding visitors. That would have resulted in more people being alerted to epidemics in nursing homes, and things being done to stop it and people taking family members out of them. This exclusion of visitors was and is almost universal throughout the world.
Now another thing Cuomo did was hide the number of cases that originated in nursing homes. Until a report came out.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:47 pm74. urbanleftbehind (2c2c71) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:39 pm
New Jersey was really just as bad, but Cuomo released phony statistics (not counting as a nursing home death any death that occurred outside of a nursing home, like in a hospital, something no other state did) that made New York’s record look very good.
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edit-nursing-home-cuomo-new-jersey-doj-civil-division-20201102-7ea67ggrmvgnth5gnlavanks2u-story.html
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/30/2021 @ 10:58 pmlurker, I extend you my sympathy concerning your brother. That was a touching tribute you wrote for him.
norcal (b4d7b1) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:05 pmfrosty (f27e97) — 1/30/2021 @ 2:52 pm
There’s probably only one state on that list. Because no other state reported nursing home deaths the way New York State did.
And remember, he wrote a book and won an Emmy for his press conferences.
Oh, by the way I don’t think I mentioned anywhere the fact that there was a nursing home that vaccinated only their permanent residents ANS NOT PEOPLE SENT THERE FROM HOSPITALS FOR REHABILITATION.
I would guess this is because of the way they interpreted the regulations about who was to get the vaccine first and because Cuomo had threatened heavy fines against any institution that vaccinated people out of turn. (and fines one tenth the size for not using all the vaccine they got. That last was not a factor for the nursing home in question since the pre-planned doses and CVS supplied them.)
An epidemic developed – was going on already when they did the first vaccinations, and they vaccinated the rest, either because the guidelines changed or because they realized they had misinterpreted it.
https://nypost.com/2021/01/23/nyc-nursing-home-refused-to-give-rehab-patients-covid-19-vaccine
That was the old figure. in nursing homes.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:31 pmhttps://nypost.com/2021/01/30/nyc-nursing-home-resident-who-was-denied-a-vaccine-dies-of-covid-19/
I don’t think the vaccine would have helped in this case. It’s not a cure, and in fact, logically should give an infected person a more difficult time if administered a few days before or after an infection.
What would work, as I think I said months ago, is giving a person antibodies. That works immediately, (not two to six weeks out) and 100%, except maybe for the South African variant.
There;s even been clinical trials, both for the Eli Lilly and Regeneron antibodies, which have been stopped because they are so successful and now everybody at the nursing homes in question gets the antibody infusion, bt nobody else does because it hasn’t yet been approved for emergency use by the FDA which is taking its own good time approving it.
https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/21/eli-lilly-says-its-monoclonal-antibody-prevented-covid-19-in-clinical-trial
I have a question:
What is scaring so many people so that they say it not competition? Of course, it is more effective than vaccines; And sooner. And safer. And the only thing vaccines have over them is that vaccines should be longer lasting. For prophylaxis you can use smaller doses than for treatment. This was demonstrated long ago in animal tests.
Here’s the Regeneron link:
https://www.mcknights.com/news/clinical-news/clinical-trial-suggests-regenerons-monoclonal-antibody-cocktail-prevents-covid-19
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/30/2021 @ 11:44 pmRE; Coronavirs lab leak.
Chine is spreading disinformation about the virus originating in U.S. lab in Maryland.
This is a good article about the lab escape theory which doesn’t have to be the lab creation theory. Lab creation should be understood as making one or two modifications to the virus.
What people are getting wrong is that the lab it escaped from was almost certainly not the Wuhan Center for Virology, which had an enormous collection of bat cornoviruses (but not SARS-Cov-2 says Shi Zhengli, the person in charge of bat voruses although it had one 96% identical)
The logical escape place it would have escaped from would be the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (WHCDC) which was about 30 yards from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, falsely blamed as the original source. A seafood </i? market with few stalls that sold any animals that breathed air, and not a "wet market".
And the virus would have been at Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a less secure lab than the Wuhan Center for Virology (these are the English names, which might have names with different meanins in Chinese, because somebody wanted to escape the supervision, or the notice the Shi Zhengli, the bat woman, who would have told the person or persons involved not to do this research.
This is the case even if she was outranked – it could have been done there in order to circumvent her possible meddling.
The New York Magazine article describes exactly what kind of foolhardy research this could have been:
Gain-of-function research promoted by Dr. Ralph Baric at the University of North Carolina, who when his U.S. funding for this kind of research was cut off in 2014, managed to interest the Chinese.
You could say a mad scientist if there ever was one.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 12:26 am‘O.J. Simpson, the 73-year-old NFL Hall-of-Famer and former double murder suspect, received a COVID-19 vaccine Friday. “Get your shot. I got mine!!!”’
Memo to President Plagiarist:
Explain.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 12:44 amAll of Trump’s lawyers have left him because he insists on using the Election was Really Stolen defense at his impeachment trial.
I would not have thought that in America it would be impossible to find somebody who has passed the bar to represent you if paid upfront, but it looks like T is testing that proposition. Or perhaps not paying upfront.
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:49 amExplain.
He’s a citizen? Just because he’s scum does not mean he’s not a person.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:45 amI would not have thought that in America it would be impossible to find somebody who has passed the bar to represent you if paid upfront
IIRC, Kalid Sheik Mohammad got pro bono counsel. Is Trump entitled to less?
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:48 amAll of Trump’s lawyers have left him because he insists on using the Election was Really Stolen defense at his impeachment trial.
I called this two weeks ago. Sometimes trust content from Kevin M.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:53 amIt’s not the only instance of Trump being proof that there are some jobs Americans won’t do.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:53 amBTW, I cannot think of a better way to get Trump convicted than to rest his case on the stolen election theme.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:58 amWhat follows from that is: “The insurrection was therefore justified.”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:59 amTrump’s defense is too ridiculous for his entire legal team.
But not too ridiculous for ~45 senators from the party of fascism.
Dave (1bb933) — 1/31/2021 @ 7:02 amBut not too ridiculous for ~45 senators from the party of fascism.
They are only representing their constituents. A better question one might ask is “Why are all these people so adamant about keeping this person in power?”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 7:13 amA better question one might ask is “Why are all these people so adamant about keeping this person in power?”
For the same reason your E. coli are interested in keeping your bowels regular.
The question has been answered like a million, billion, trillion, gazillion times.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 7:23 amIt’s been pretty clear that T could just walk in to the Senate, pretend to dance to Macho Man, moon the senators, and walk out and get 40-45 votes. But it’s nice to see an actual test of the proposition.
Oh, as for Kalid, you don’t have a right to an attorney in a civil suit only criminal. And whatever’s going on in the Senate won’t be criminal, except in sort of a metaphorical sense.
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 7:28 amI think it’s all fake news, anyway. Ain’t no way the frustrated paperback writers are getting the real lowdown about Trump looking to hire a lawyer (or anybody else except their own selves for that matter) from any reliable source. It just doesn’t work that way.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 7:42 amOk Nk, using only those sources that you feel you can trust to tell you the news you are prepared to believe, who, today, are Trump’s impeachment lawyers for the trial that will begin in nine days?
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:00 amWe’ll know when they enter their appearance in the case.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:01 amQuoting from the Politico article:
Where do they get these people from? TMZ?
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:07 amLate to the party, but deepest sympathies, lurker.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:20 amThe question has been answered like a million, billion, trillion, gazillion times.
Sure. They’re stupid. They’re deplorable. They’re ignorant. Trump conned them. Lots of ways of calling them unwashed scum. All I know for certain is that they are royally pissed off. In a democracy ignoring large parts of the electorate is a recipe for disaster. Last time it was Trump, next time ???
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:26 amOh, as for Kalid, you don’t have a right to an attorney in a civil suit only criminal. And whatever’s going on in the Senate won’t be criminal, except in sort of a metaphorical sense.
So, it’s a civil suit? First I’d heard. And Kalid’s case was military, not criminal, until recently.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:27 amNow that Trump has repelled his legal team because of his insistence that they present a case on massive fraud, maybe the one-term sore loser can testify himself, under oath.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:30 amlurker, I missed your post originally. But my deepest sympathy. I lost a long-time friend early on who was just as giving and deserved much better than she got. A lot of good people have been taken by this plague.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:32 ammaybe the one-term sore loser can testify himself, under oath.
Or defend himself. Who better?
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:33 amThe peasants are always revolting. Trump and his wretched refuse yearning to breathe free waffle sundaes would be nowhere without the GOP parasites who welcomed them. That’s the E. coli I meant cause I thought that’s whom you meant.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:35 amOnce the media digs through their social media accounts we will have a better idea if they were really tRump voters.
BillPasadena (5b0401) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:42 amKevin,
An impeachment trial doesn’t have a real counterpart in the legal system but given that criminal penalties aren’t allowed, it seems closer to civil than anything else. As for Kalid, remind me if you can what the proposed penalties would have been for his conviction in a military trial. I would think that if they involved imprisonment than a right to an attorney would be appropriate.
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:44 am“All I know for certain is that they are royally pissed off.”
But is it justifiable….or artificially manufactured? Many supporters just like hearing their unfiltered…and frequently under considered….views coming out of the President’s mouth…or previously off his Twitter feed. Over-the-top rhetoric on trade, immigration, Muslims, the Deep State, and nationalism feeds a narrative about being able to blame someone else for all your problems….whether it makes logical sense or not. This is raw emotionalism….but we’re not in double digit inflation like the ’70’s or double-digit unemployment like past recessions or double-digit mortgage rates. Yes, globalism causes stress as blue collar jobs shift around industries, but the solution is not Trump’s rhetoric on protectionism and nationalism….and of course worshipping Trump. I’m not willing to elevate views that are not based on sounder reasoning. Why are people gravitating to bad information? That’s what we need to fix….
AJ_Liberty (a4ff25) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:46 amThe peasants are always revolting. Trump and his wretched refuse yearning to breathe free waffle sundaes would be nowhere without the GOP parasites who welcomed them
Damn them for listening to the rabble!
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:50 amI would think that if they involved imprisonment than a right to an attorney would be appropriate.
Sure. But I think people volunteered to do it for free, which is not actually required.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:51 amIn other words, election officials have made a claim about the election, it can’t be validated, and it also can’t be challenged.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:53 amBut is it justifiable….or artificially manufactured? Many supporters just like hearing their unfiltered…and frequently under considered
They are pissed off for other reasons; reasons they elected Trump to address. Which he did, ineffectively, but in such a way as to make them think he was their champion. On those issues they are as justified as any citizen is. They are not justified in trying to overturn the election results, even if they believe them fraudulent. But they can still be righteously pissed.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:55 amKelli Ward refuses to blink.
Lizards don’t blink.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:55 amIn a democracy a minority of the voting population are not supposed to decide policy. That’s not ignoring them, that’s how democracy is supposed to work.
It reminds me of a common saying, sure God answers your prayers. Sometimes the answer is no.
If the Trump supporters can’t accept being told no, then it’s pretty clear that they can’t accept living in a democratic United States. And it’s increasingly clear that Republican leaders feel the same way.
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 9:13 amKelli Ward as chair of the Arizona GOP is one of those things which is its own punishment, like bigamy or a Nickelback concert.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 9:23 amDamn them for listening to the rabble!
I have no power to damn, and besides it’s Sunday, but otherwise “Yes!” It’s the difference between democracy and ochlocracy.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 9:27 amThat is true, but if a witness under oath commits perjury while testifying before Congress, then that is a federal felony. If Trump does testify, he’ll probably perjure himself, which means his case can be referred to the AG for prosecution, just like what happened to Michael Cohen and Roger Stone.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/31/2021 @ 9:33 am“But they can still be righteously pissed”
What do you think makes them righteously pissed? Was illegal immigration REALLY at stratospheric levels in 2016….was a wall REALLY the best answer to controlling it….or was this manufactured fear and anger…that right wing media gladly enabled?
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 1/31/2021 @ 9:36 amComrades, I believe it’s up to Congress whether to allow lawyers in the building at all, let alone to represent anybody, but I could be wrong. Does anybody know of any court cases applying the Sixth Amendment to impeachments?
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 9:41 amAmanda Carpenter…
Steve Vladeck…
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:13 amAfter Record Turnout, Republicans Are Trying to Make It Harder to Vote
…….
……. Republicans who for more than a decade have used wildly inflated allegations of voter fraud to justify making it harder to vote, are now doing so again, this time seizing on Mr. Trump’s thoroughly debunked charges of a stolen election to push back at Democratic-leaning voters who flocked to mail-in ballots last year.
……
In Arizona, where Democrats captured a second Senate seat and Mr. Biden eked out a 10,500-vote victory, lawmakers are taking aim at an election system in which absentee ballots have long been dominant.
One bill would repeal the state’s no-excuse absentee ballot law. Others would pare back automatic mailings of absentee ballots to the 3.2 million voters who have signed up for the service. One ardent advocate of the stolen-election conspiracy theory, State Representative Kevin Payne of Maricopa County, would require that signatures on all mail ballots be notarized, creating an impossibly high bar for most voters. Yet another bill, paradoxically, would require early ballots that are mailed to voters to be delivered by hand.
……..
A proposal by (Georgia) Republicans in the State Senate to eliminate no-excuse absentee ballots — a quarter of the five million votes cast in November — has drawn opposition even before it has been filed. But Republicans broadly support a bill to require submitting a photocopied identification card such as a driver’s license with both applications for absentee ballots and the ballots themselves. ……
……..
……[T]he Republican agenda on voting is less about lost trust than lost elections. A Republican election official in suburban Atlanta said as much this month, arguing for tougher voting laws that reduce turnout after Democratic candidates won both of the state’s Senate seats in runoffs.
“They don’t have to change all of them,” said Alice O’Lenick, who heads the Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections, “but they have got to change the major parts of them so we at least have a shot at winning.”
…….
……[A] handful of bills seem to make no bones about their partisan goals. One Arizona proposal would give the Legislature the power to decide presidential elections by overriding the secretary of state’s certification of electoral votes.
Bills in Arizona, Mississippi and Wisconsin would end the practice of awarding all electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the statewide vote. Instead, they would be allotted according to votes in congressional districts — which in Republican states are generally gerrymandered to favor Republicans. In Arizona, the Legislature also would choose two electors.
In the last election, the moves would have reduced Mr. Biden’s electoral vote total by 11 votes.
Nebraska, on the other hand, would do the reverse with a similar partisan outcome: The state now awards presidential electors by congressional district, but legislation would move the state to the winner-take-all system. One of Nebraska’s three House districts voted for Mr. Biden in November.
……..Among other proposals, (Texas) legislators want to cut the time allotted for early voting, limit outsiders’ ability to help voters fill out ballots and require new voters to prove they are citizens.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:28 am…….
…….. A handful of (Pennsylvania) Republican state lawmakers want to abolish no-excuse absentee voting only 15 months after the Legislature approved it in an election-law package backed by all but two of its 134 G.O.P. members who cast votes. ……..
Rolling back the law appears a long shot. But there seems to be strong Republican support for other measures, including eliminating drop boxes for absentee ballots, discarding mail-in ballots with technical errors and ending a grace period for receiving ballots mailed by Election Day.
………..
Trump and the Republican Party have admitted they can’t win without voter suppression and never “be elected” again if voting was made easier.
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:49 am
Yep, more examples that the America that was isn’t. You can see this with the ACLU as well.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:30 amExactly. And he’s trying to keep that fire burning, hoping for more. The GOP and democrats could unite and break this trap and save us a lot of hardship in coming years. What’s happening in Team R is a choice.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:34 amWhether we get paid or not, attorneys don’t want to represent people who can’t deal with and accept facts. I helped represent one early in my career and it was a roller coaster, alternating between wildly entertaining and insane misery. I learned to watch out for people like that.
DRJ (aede82) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:45 amSomeone will represent Trump. Presumably he wants someone experienced, intelligent, and credible but that will be hard to find.
DRJ (aede82) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:54 amVictor raises a good point. Trump should be able to get lawyers. And of course he did get a lot of great lawyers. Claims this is some democrat conspiracy that Trump can’t get lawyers is hilariously stupid.
Think about this: we know Trump will prevail. The GOP senators already (dishonestly) said they will acquit Trump.
Trump had lawyers about to get a major win on their resume that maybe fewer than ten lawyers have in all of history. And they quit.
There are only a couple of reasons why. Perhaps as the democrats build their case, Trump’s lawyers realize just how complicit Trump was, particularly as the riots and murders were happening, as the wannabee rapists were seeking hostages. Maybe Trump’s just asking them to do the kinds of extremely awful things only Powell, Wood, and Giulani were willing to do, and the inciting victory wound up being a liability. And maybe all lawyers are controlled by the cult of baby eating deep staters in a pizza parlor command center. You’ll have to ask Frosty about that possibility.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:57 amThis seems very realistic. Trump wound up having a few people he relied on for this freedom from reality, like Rudy, and I wish Rudy would just represent Trump. It would be an exception as he’s a witness, but I’m OK with it.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:04 am@100. Citizen? Can he vote as a convicted felon? And why him ahead of a teacher, a doctor– a nurse or you or me? SNL skewered him and the reality that President Plagiarist doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:15 am@102. Given how these two political parties- whichthe majority f voters do not belong to– have rigged the systems instate to their favor- he may just have an argument– albeit a losing on gien those same party members are on the ‘jury.’ 😉
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:19 amNo. Reaganomics.
Pentagon
papers
He is you.
Reaganomics.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:22 amImpeachment is less about The Donald and more about The Nancy.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:22 am@145. You bought him; you own him, Dustin.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:24 amReaganomics
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:24 amIt’s possible that Giuliani is getting ethics in his old age, but I tend to think it more likely that he and Trump have mutually decided that there’s no percentage in continuing their relationship.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:31 amOT- a pause for history: 50 years ago today, when America truly was great, didn’t need hats to say so- and threw 36 story buildings into the sky:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HobB01qFi4
Recall this like it was yesterday– stellar television imagery.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:31 amGiven that five experienced, intelligent, and credible lawyers have just walked away from defending Trump, I think we can presume that more important to Trump than the qualities listed, is a willingness to fight as he does, and push his “the election was stolen” line of defense. It doesn’t seem like anyone with integrity and credibility would agree to that.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:37 amThat’s giving Giuliani far more benefit of the doubt than I could or would give him. I think your ultimate assessment is spot-on. They seem to be very similar in only staying in something as long as they benefit (financially) from it.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:47 amDustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:57 am
Do you have any link to someone actually saying this or is that just another figment of your imagination?
Or this one? This one doesn’t even make sense. Why do rapists need hostages? Are you sure you heard the voices in your head correctly? Or was this a copy-paste mistake?
frosty (f27e97) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:48 amMaybe the real best and brightest don’t want to risk their reputations by associating with Trump, even if they know Trump will prevail. To be associated with him is one thing, but wouldn’t this lend themselves to also be associated with and/or lumped in with Lin Wood, the Kracken lawyer, and Guiliani, etc? It doesn’t seem like that would really be in the best interest of their professional reputations.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:50 amDustin: “Reaganomics”
No, it’s clearly Reaganoptics…have you learned nothing?
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 1/31/2021 @ 11:58 am@155. More like Reaganaurics: “Here’s the deal: this is the United States of America!”
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 12:01 pmThat makes sense of course, for a lot of people. Me for example.
But there are a lot of lawyers. A lot a lot. There have to be thousands of lawyers who would love a sure win at the highest level. It didn’t hurt OJ’s lawyers that OJ was guilty. I think it helped their careers.
I know a couple of lawyers who have the stomach to defend people who did very bad things. They are distinct from the rest. I don’t see those guys dropping the case right before the trial, except under some bizarre circumstances.
But Trump always provides bizarre circumstances so who knows?
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 12:29 pmPENTAGON PAPERS
APOLLO 18
DICK CHENEY CONSPIRED WITH NIXON
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 12:30 pm“DICK CHENEY CONSPIRED WITH NIXON”
Unless you include the Big Dick in there…it’s unreadable….GLORIOUS!
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:12 pmVictor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:49 am
It actually might be a good thing if he does that, although the trial would take longer, because that would be the way to rebut that. A lawyer, though is not supposed to introduce false evidence, so the lawyers might withdraw.
It is not absolutely clear that that is the reason – an anonymous source said to be close to Trump gave as their opinion that there was no chemistry between Donald Trump and Butch Bowers. It might be that Trump didn’t want to actually state he was right, but the lawyer wanted (maybe for his own reputation) to preemptively admit he was wrong about that. Trump maintains that the case is “simple” – in other words all he has to argue is that the assault on the Capitol was planned well in advance by people acting on their own without his participation, and he did not send the mob to invade the Capitol, or incite it, and that issue of his claiming election fraud, or what he wanted the Congress or Mike Pence to do is irrelevant.
Plus argue that impeachment of a former officeholder is not provided for within the framework of the constitution. Thus is what the lawyers wanted to focus on. They might actually make no defense on the merits at all.
The lawyers who withdrew were found for Trump by Senator Lindsey Graham.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:21 pmSammy,
You may be right that the reasons were mixed. We’re relying on anonymous sources and I bet a fair amount is the lawyers trying to make themselves look better. But “chemistry” could well include lawyers not agreeing eagerly as T goes on and on about how the election was really stolen and can anybody imagine that that’s not what every client consultation inevitably ends up degrading to?
And although he may eventually realize that’s his best angle I would bet that viscerally, which is where he does most of his thinking, T hates to admit that he wasn’t participating, or the center of the action, or generally in favor of “pressuring” Congress and that his many loyal followers weren’t obeying him.
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:25 pmGLORIOUS!
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:32 pmVictor,
your brother sounds like a good stand up guy, with a solid heart. A good role model. May he rest peacefully and be remembered by those whose lives he touched.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:42 pmThis speaks to the intelligence, credibility and experience of Bowers, I suspect. It’s not at all hard to picture that Trump wants someone like himself to defend him. But they would also have to be willing to take directions from their client, no matter how far-fetched and insane.
As if he cares:
But given that he basically assumed control of the Republican party by not playing it safe, why would he start now? He knows the Republican members are not going to vote to convict. And while it might serve to make those Republicans take a public stance on Stop the Steal nonsense, in the end it won’t impact Trump one way or the other. He has already won.
Dana (fd537d) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:43 pmSammy,
I linked the Toronto article on the Chinese leak of the virus because it was interesting and something that is considered verboten in our press. Which lab the leak came from is in dispute, but it’s logical to assume it came from one of them. I remember how cell phone traffic dropped precipitously from one of them in October last year. That’s a good a place to look as any.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:44 pm@158/159/162
Conservative whine; bitter dregs.
Yes… glorious.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:45 pm101. 104. 105. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:48 am and 6:58 am and 6:59 am
There’s a whole lot of people who consider Trump more of a danger to the country, or constitution.
Which is why a patriotic (but unethical?) lawyer would let him do it.
Perhaps the problem was that Trump wanted to testify, and you can guess some of the things he would say. Besides saying he did not incite the crowd or plan the attack, he’d say he won the election by a landslide. At least under cross examination.
No, but he would say he said nothing wrong in his speech and there was nothing wrong with what he wanted Congress or Mike Pence to do (instead of saying that is not an issue here)
106. Dave (1bb933) — 1/31/2021 @ 7:02 am
No, I think the problem is that they are concerned that it could be illegal for them to be a party to it.
It is illegal for a lawyer to present false affidavits in a proceeding, and, if that can be avoided, to suborn perjury, and if they let Trump testify he might lie, or at least say things that are not true (albeit about matters that are not within his personal knowledge.)
A lawyer can say any number of false things just so long as it is not presented as evidence but some of Trump claims might wind up being presented as evidence. Now lawyers suborn perjury all the these lawyers probably wouldn’t.
117. Paul Montagu (77c694) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:30 am
That’s the problem for the lawyers, because they’d be vouching for him unless they distanced themselves from him in advance and said he was testifying against legal advice. Which they are not prepared to do.
119. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:33 am
That’s what Trump said, according to a leak.
134. nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 9:41 am
All you have is precedent and an argument for fairness. In 1974, Hillary Clinton tried to hide a 1970 precedent where the person being investigated was allowed to have lawyers engage with the committee, (Douglas) in the Nixon case, but really not on her own but following the instructions of John Doar.
But not too ridiculous for ~45 senators from the party of fascism.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 1:50 pmAs Nancy and Chuckie waste time on impeachment, President Plagiarist croaks ’bout Covid relief package needed by mid-March.
Say it ain’t so, Swamp Creature EO. That’s unacceptable. What about ‘shut it down’ and aid on the way– how many more Americans and American businesses will die in the next 60 days- if not longer- due to the very incompetence you accused Trump of, President Plagiarist?
Where’s that take it behind the high school gym attitude? Could it be it that YOU are the lyin’-dog-faced-pony-soldier? If O.J. already got vaccine, why do millions of honest, law-abiding, idled, desperate U.S. citizens who drive the nails and school buses and pay your salary have to wait until summer or longer, President Plagiarist? Where’s all that half century of swamp-savvy you brag about??
No wonder you yanked Winnie’s bust from the Oval. His standing order: “Action this day!” Your standing order: Ensure w/a side of more Ensure.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 2:05 pmNJRob,
I appreciate the kind words about my brother, and he is in fact a stand up guy with a solid heart, (though we disagree on politics) but last I heard also still alive. Did you mix me up with somebody else?
Victor (4959fb) — 1/31/2021 @ 2:11 pmThe GameStop Short Squeeze Shows an Ugly Side of the Investing World
Andrew Left is no stranger to conflict when it comes to investing. He makes a living betting that companies will stumble, and he calls out executives by name.
Companies and their supporters fight back, but the criticism he normally gets is nothing compared with the venom spewed in recent days by stock traders who have come together online to drive up shares of an unlikely momentum stock, mall retailer GameStop Corp.
“It makes you feel vulnerable,” Mr. Left, 50, founder of Citron Research, said in an interview. “We live in a world where we’re all exposed and people don’t understand boundaries.”
The angry traders have shared his personal information, hacked into Mr. Left’s social-media accounts and texted Mr. Left and his two children, using threatening, profane and personal language, according to people close to the matter.
……..
Online forums like Reddit’s WallStreetBets are full of traders boasting that they are beating up the big investors who normally control the market. It is an ironic twist, or a sign of their lack of understanding, that they equate short sellers with the Wall Street establishment.
…….
This time, Mr. Left targeted GameStop, which soon became the subject of a short squeeze, where rising prices prompt bearish investors to buy back shares they had sold short to cut their losses, pushing the stock higher still. Traders have driven the price of GameStop up threefold since Thursday when Mr. Left canceled a live stream presentation arguing the stock would fall by 50%.
The company’s fans have ordered dozens of pizzas sent to his home, well past midnight. Mr. Left even reached out to one online critic after he asked Mr. Left why he made his Twitter account private. “We spoke on the phone, he sounded like 15 years old,” Mr. Left said.
But Mr. Left has also contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities Exchange Commission about the more vicious abuse and what he sees as collusion among the investors. In a YouTube video posted on Wednesday, Mr. Left said he has now closed the short position.
Current and former regulators say that authorities do have means to crack down on online groups that band together to pump stocks. There are several cases where authorities have successfully won cases against groups of investors that have acted together online to manipulate a stock’s price. In most cases, they have targeted those that spread false information online.
It is unclear whether what is happening online now could be considered manipulation. Many of the posters are simply announcing their intention to drive a stock higher, and not attempting to deceive other investors by making false claims.
The current and former regulators say that there are mechanisms for the SEC to quickly limit some of this activity. Much like when the SEC banned short selling in hundreds of companies at the height of the financial crisis, it can take emergency measures that would make it harder to trade options, which many traders are using to juice their returns and drive the stock higher.
………
Mr. Left said the traders’ attacks on him are a sign of the risks they are taking by trading options and buying into stocks with the markets near all-time highs. The fact that so many investors are cooped up amid the coronavirus pandemic puts even more people on edge.
“It’s extreme capitalism gone wild,” Mr. Left says. “We’re a nation of gamblers.”
(Muddy Waters LLC’s Carson Block) believes this will end badly for the traders, who are ignoring the “investing lessons of the past,” such as not chasing expensive stocks. In time, he believes the new investors will be burned. “Frenzied retail speculation always leads to tears,” says Mr. Block.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 2:27 pm>>>>>>>>>>
Originally published in the Wall Street Journal.
NJRob,
I think you meant your condolences for lurker:
Dana (fd537d) — 1/31/2021 @ 2:30 pmI did Victor. My sincere apologies. My post was meant for lurker and my mind mixed the two of you up.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/31/2021 @ 2:50 pmTime to look forward to the 18-24″ of snow that’s already begun. Need to figure out how to get to work tomorrow.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/31/2021 @ 2:58 pmIn a democracy a minority of the voting population are not supposed to decide policy. That’s not ignoring them, that’s how democracy is supposed to work.
And yet Trump won election and those that opposed him continued to try to set policy, mostly by non-democratic means (idiolog judges, apparatchiks networking and working to undermine the bosses, rioting in the streets, etc). You don’t have to like Trump to see the excesses of his opponents and supporing these non-democratic means of opposition is NOT “principle.”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 3:27 pmDCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 2:05 pm
What they are not doing so far is overriding or lobbying the FDA. (which is what Trump was accused of)
Now it is being more seriously proposed.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/send-out-the-search-party-for-new-covid-strains-11611525878
I;ve been saying that we need different drug regulation since the beginning. I’ve thought this for over 30 years.
Democrats attacked the very idea.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 3:30 pmIt’s the difference between democracy and ochlocracy.
PoTAYtoe, PoTAHto. Democracy is mob rule, with a little structure thrown in. A Democratic Republic is just a little bit more structure.
In no case, however, can you oppress a large portion of your voters without there being some pushback.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 3:31 pmNo, it’s clearly Reaganoptics…have you learned nothing?
It’s always a question of which end of the optics the Reagan is at.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 3:32 pmWhether we get paid or not, attorneys don’t want to represent people who can’t deal with and accept facts.
But if you’re the defense counsel, they’re OK on juries.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 3:35 pmTrump names new lawyers for impeachment defense team
David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will head the legal team for the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, his office announced Sunday, a day after CNN first reported that five known members of his impeachment defense team had left.
One point of friction with his previous team was Trump wanted the attorneys to focus on his election fraud claims rather than the constitutionality of convicting a former president.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 3:38 pm………
It’s unclear if Schoen and Castor will go along with what Trump wants.
………
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 3:27 pm
You’ll find a lot of commenters here that would disagree with that.
frosty (f27e97) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:00 pmRip,
That Schoen guy was Epstein’s lawyer! He met with him right before Epstein’s death.
I wonder if Ghislaine has a pardon and we just don’t know about it. Trump’s connections to those guys is a very cloudy story.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:07 pmAnd the other lawyer is interesting too. Sued Bill Cosby’s victim after losing an election over refusing to prosecute Cosby.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:14 pmI really do want to see Trump mount a “It was justified and I ordered it!” defense. I can think of no hill quite as awful for a GOP senator to die on.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:19 pmBut, heck, if he can PROVE to the Senate that he actually won the election he should really try. I would not preclude that defense if he wants to go there. Life with Trump is like a box of chocolates….
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:21 pmDemocracy is mob rule, with a little structure thrown in.
Hello Glib, meet Facile: What is not ________, with a little structure thrown in? Even the eternal dream which we dream is reality is a dream of form.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:22 pmIf y’all have seen the memo to the DC national guard, it’s … not exactly like the White House wanted the Capitol to be protected.
Dustin (4237e0) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:31 pmhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtF4GG0WMAUK7YJ?format=jpg&name=medium
Disgraceful, Dustin. Miller should be included in the indictments, along with Trump.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:52 pmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/politics/john-weaver-lincoln-project-harassment.html
Glad to see the left finally discussing this. Those associated with him need to answer questions as well.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/31/2021 @ 4:59 pmLincoln Project disavows co-founder John Weaver after allegations he made unsolicited sexual overtures to young men
The Lincoln Project is condemning co-founder John Weaver in the wake of allegations that the longtime GOP strategist made unsolicited sexual overtures to several young men, including one who was 14 years old at the time he received sexual messages from Weaver.
“John Weaver led a secret life that was built on a foundation of deception at every level. He is a predator, a liar, and an abuser. We extend our deepest sympathies to those who were targeted by his deplorable and predatory behavior,” the group said in a statement Sunday.
…….
Weaver has been on a medical leave of absence from the Lincoln Project since last summer and said he would not return to the organization.
On Sunday, the Lincoln Project noted that Weaver was never around other members.
“The totality of his deceptions are beyond anything any of us could have imagined and we are absolutely shocked and sickened by it. Like so many, we have been betrayed and deceived by John Weaver,” the group’s statement said. “We are grateful beyond words that at no time was John Weaver in the physical presence of any member of The Lincoln Project.”
…….
Steve Schmidt, a co-founder of the group, told the New York Times that they had heard “chatter” last summer Weaver could be in relationships with men, but denied they knew it was inappropriate.
“There was no awareness or insinuations of any type of inappropriate behavior when we became aware of the chatter at the time,” Schmidt told the Times.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 5:07 pm>>>>>>>>
I’m shocked, shocked, to find out that there are pederasts who oppose Trump in the Republican Party! I thought he had a lock on them, honestly.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 5:13 pmhttps://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-trials-impeachments-south-carolina-d1d2b8d5b76c68acdde662b3b7e00c82
David Schoen was already working for him.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 5:28 pm‘She is weighing us down’: Georgia GOP cringes at Marjorie Taylor Greene spectacle
The Georgia GOP is tearing itself apart in a civil war. It lost two Senate seats in an ill-fated January run-off election. And the once-Republican suburbs in metro Atlanta — the most populous part of the state — have bolted toward the Democratic side.
Now, it’s contending with another budding public relations catastrophe: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the newly elected congresswoman whose extremist beliefs and promotion of bizarre conspiracy theories have rocketed her to national notoriety.
The calls for censure and her removal from Congress don’t appear to have damaged her standing in her conservative north Georgia district — and may have even strengthened the so-called QAnon Congresswoman there for now. She tweeted Friday that she raised $1.6 million off all the controversy and on Saturday told her 300,000 followers she just had a chat with a supportive Donald Trump — the former president who has referred to her as a “future Republican star.”
…….
“Some people are saying maybe [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi will throw her out” of Congress, (Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election administrator) said, referring to the House speaker. “The Democrats would never throw her out. They want her to be the definition of what a Republican is. They’re gonna give her every opportunity to speak and be heard and look crazy — like what came out Wednesday, the Jewish space laser to start fires. I mean, I don’t know how far down the rabbit hole you go.”
……..
Greene is expected to play a pivotal role as a campaign issue in 2022 when Sterling’s boss, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, runs for reelection along with two other top Republicans, Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.
All three are likely to face primary challenges…….
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 5:29 pm……..
Establishment Republicans worry that if the GOP nominates conservatives from the party’s Trump and Greene wing, they’ll run the risk of suffering the same fate as Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who lost Jan. 5.
………
“MTG is the AOC of the GOP. But as much as I hate to say it, AOC is nowhere as crazy as this,” (Greene’s primary opponent in 2020, John Cowan) said. “I’m a neurosurgeon. I diagnose crazy every day. It took five minutes talking to her to realize there were bats in the attic. And then we saw she had skeletons in the closet.”
…….
“Here’s the problem with Marjorie Taylor Greene: you can’t look away. She has great camera presence. She has great TV presence. She’s a natural, a true talent,” (Brian Robinson, an adviser to former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal) said. “The question is whether she’s a moron who’s a natural talent or is she just a cynical manipulator? I just happen to believe she’s a true moron who happens to be great on camera. But we’ll see.”
>>>>>>>>>
Other people gpt thid before me – and better.
In a related mater, I heard on Meet the Press that it was Trump who released that picture of him and Kevin McCarthy.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 5:33 pm233. Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 5:29 pm
They should win the primaries. Only about half of Republicans support Trump and only about half of them are particularly loyal to him.
The problem will be the general election, if 10% to 20% of the Republican base won’t vote for them.
The person who will be a success in politics will be someone who, like Winston Churchill till 1940, isn’t in the mainstream of either party.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 5:39 pmTook the NY Times finally calling out the Lincoln Project for them to respond. All the other critiques and the constant calls from those abused didn’t matter one whit to them. But once the staple leftist newspaper speaks, they respond.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:00 pm“Here’s the problem with Marjorie Taylor Greene: you can’t look away. She has great camera presence. She has great TV presence. She’s a natural, a true talent,” (Brian Robinson, an adviser to former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal) said. “The question is whether she’s a moron who’s a natural talent or is she just a cynical manipulator? I just happen to believe she’s a true moron who happens to be great on camera. But we’ll see.”
Shorter: Newt Gingrich.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:06 pmThat’s Politico talking. They’re of the same mind as you, DCSCA: People don’t want to be informed, they want to be entertained. Figured it out this morning, with that “play the role of lawyer to Trump” scribbling of theirs at Comment 89 up the thread. Well, whatever. Patterico’s been right all along not to link them, they’re for entertainment purposes only.
nk (1d9030) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:14 pmShorter: Newt Gingrich.
MTG is better looking.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:23 pmhttps://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-january-31-2021-n1256299
Dr Osterholm also said:
I told you so, because I already read that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/world/europe/uk-covid-19-vaccine-oxford-astrazeneca.html
The period of tim between doses was NOT picked because that’s the most ideal.
It was rather, picked so as to get the highest chance of approval in the shortest time – as close as possible after November 3rd without getting earlier because it became clear that the Democrats would never not criticize any approval of a vaccine made before Election Day.
Johnson and Johnson gambled that they could get good enough results with one shot to get it approved. Now they ar ein clinical trials for a 2-dose regimen.
It’s not really that Pfizer and Moderna need two doses and Johnson and Johnson needs only one.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:24 pmI think Marjorie Taylor Greene is a cynical manipulator. And a plagiarist.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:25 pmThe fact that she repeats crazy stuff doesn’t make Marjorie Taylor Green a moron. It makes her a plagiarist.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:28 pm@197. My favorite Gingrich ploy was bloviating for hours on the House floor to an empty chamber and CSPAN, w/their cameras and must carry deal, pumped his hot air into every Congressional office w/a set on– and every household cable system stateside- and worldwide– which carried CSPAN.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:32 pm@norcal, kevin, NJRob: Thank you. I appreciate it.
lurker (59504c) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:39 pmFormer QAnon supporter apologizes to Anderson Cooper
A man who once believed in the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory apologized to CNN’s Anderson Cooper for thinking he ate babies.
The apology from the former QAnon supporter Jitarth Jadeja was part of a special report the network aired late Saturday called “Inside the QAnon Conspiracy.”
…….
“Did you at the time believe that high-level Democrats and celebrities were worshipping Satan? Drinking the blood of children?” Cooper asked, referring to some of the baseless theories to come out of the conspiracy movement.
“Anderson, I thought you did that, and I would like to apologize for that right now. So, I apologize for thinking that you ate babies,” Jadeja said.
“You actually believed that I was drinking the blood of children?” Cooper asked.
“Yes, I did,” Jadeja responded.
“Was it something about me that made you think that?” Cooper asked.
“It’s because Q specifically mentioned you, and he mentioned you very early on,” Jadeja said. “He mentioned you by name, and from there – he also talked about, like, for example, like, your family.”
“People still talk about that to this day,” he continued. “There were posts about that just four days ago. … Some people thought you were a robot.”
“You really believed this?” Cooper asked again.
“I didn’t just believe that. I, at one stage, believed that QAnon was part of military intelligence, which is what he says, but, on top of that, that the people behind him were actually a group of fifth dimensional, interdimensional, extraterrestrial … aliens called blue avians,” Jadeja said.
“I was so far down in this conspiracy black hole that I was essentially picking and choosing whatever narrative that I wanted to believe in,” he added.
……..
“The QAnon fringe has previously focused on me and a bunch of other reporters, as well as many other public figures, as somehow being responsible for some of their more outlandish, should we say, and bizarre, conspiracy theories,” Cooper said.
Among those unsubstantiated theories were allegations that Cooper was a pedophile, as well the spread online of “phony flight logs reported to be from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane” that included the television host’s name and other well-known figures.
Rip Murdock (328795) — 1/31/2021 @ 6:46 pm………
Disgraceful, Dustin. Miller should be included in the indictments, along with Trump.
Willi Cici : “Oh yeah, a buffer. The family had a lot of buffers!”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:32 pmMarjorie Taylor Greene’s district (the area, not the number) was previously held by Bob Barr and Larry McDonald. Shortly before McDonald ironically died abord KAL 007, he was elected chairman of the John Birch Society.
It’s not like they haven’t elected crazy before.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:40 pmGeorgia is also home to Cynthia McKinney and Hank (“Guam”) Johnson. They elect them strange there.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:44 pmShorter: Newt Gingrich.
Newt may be different, but he does have a PhD in history so he’s probably not a moron. That Old Reaganomics dislikes him is a powerful endorsement by itself. Sadly, though he supported Trump early on and will sink with him.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/31/2021 @ 8:46 pm…so he’s probably not a moron
Except he is: ‘student janitors’…
Newt Gingrich, Moon President =mike-drop=
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35n6Ya-dW-4
‘May Divorce Be Wit You.’
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:28 pmNewt may be different, but he does have a PhD in history so he’s probably not a moron.
Except he is:
House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Saturday that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should have been disbanded after the Apollo moon program ended in the 1970’s – source http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/06
[ ] moron
[ ] idiot
[ X ] all of the above
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 1/31/2021 @ 10:51 pm@Dustin@186 You might remember me being furious at the time about the SecDef. It was blindingly obvious that there was a major problem occurring in that office.
Nic (896fdf) — 2/1/2021 @ 1:05 amA piece over at Redstate (yes, I’m a glutton for punishment) began with the following quote from the American Spectator:
I figured it was a segue into how both sides need to turn down the rhetoric. To my surprise….OK, maybe not because this is Redstate mind you….it was an article how the Left is in fact out to get you….and irreversibly change life as we know it in the U.S. Message received: Stay Angry! Don’t worry about China, Russia, economic uncertainty, Covid, or Muslim extremism….worry about your neighbor that doesn’t quite think like you.
Are there extreme socialists on the Left that unwittingly want to dismantle capitalism in hopes of finding that socialist Utopia? Sure, and there are those that want to continue to erode critical social institutions and norms to validate the chaos in their own minds…attempting to “perfect” the nature of man. I guess we’ll see what Uncle Joe Biden and his razor-thin majorities have in store for us, but the beauty of our Constitutional Republic is that it is largely premised on the idea of compromise….despite not seeing much of it for years. Just as there will always be a hard Right, there will be a hard Left pushing for progressive solutions. They need to be balanced by persuasive arguments on the Right….not theatrical hyperbole or bad faith hate mongering. We have met the enemy and he is us….is unfortunately what we’ve chosen to become. We need to choose something different…..
AJ_Liberty (a4ff25) — 2/1/2021 @ 5:14 amBREAKING NEWS, 2-1-2021: Donald Trump is still not the President.
nk (1d9030) — 2/1/2021 @ 5:33 am#213
Just you wait until March 4….
Appalled (1a17de) — 2/1/2021 @ 6:08 amhe was robbed mr nk
Dave (1bb933) — 2/1/2021 @ 6:12 amNo Presidency, no House, if push comes to shove no Senate, I see the snake as defanged and gumming its own tail, now that the sun is peeking through the clouds after three days of snow.
nk (1d9030) — 2/1/2021 @ 6:23 amSitus Chord Lagu terlengkap dan terpopuler
Chord Lagu (eaee3f) — 2/1/2021 @ 7:22 amnk,
no worries, I should have looked upthread to figure it out, and I get people wrong myself at times.
and Lurker, my sympathy. It is very hard to lose someone you love.
Victor (4959fb) — 2/1/2021 @ 8:00 am213. nk (1d9030) — 2/1/2021 @ 5:33 am BREAKING NEWS, 2-1-2021: Donald Trump is still not the President.
That would have been good on Saturday Night Live. They didn’t mention him at all. Or Joe Biden. But O.J. Simpson was.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 2/1/2021 @ 8:07 amLsst week, (broadcast Sunday January 24, 2021 on NBC) on “The Weakest Link” there was a question whose answer (not given on the program because that round ran out of time) was Hank Aaron – the first person to break Babe Ruth’s home run record.
Another question was who was the Secretary of State and the answer was Mike Pompeo. It had, of course, been taped in advance.
Didn’t anybody realize it would be broadcast after the inaguration? Was it even before the election? In any case that would be a risky question answer if it was to be broadcast past Jan. 20.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 2/1/2021 @ 8:26 amThey shouldn’t worry about children sledding on the Capitol grounds. There are no protesters around within 100 miles probably.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 2/1/2021 @ 8:28 amThey stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn’t vote in
……..
One was Donovan Crowl, an ex-Marine who charged toward a Capitol entrance in paramilitary garb on January 6 as the Pro-Trump crowd chanted “who’s our President?”
Federal authorities later identified Crowl, 50, as a member of a self-styled militia organization in his home state of Ohio and affiliated with the extremist group the Oath Keepers. His mother told CNN that he previously told her “they were going to overtake the government if they…tried to take Trump’s presidency from him.” She said he had become increasingly angry during the Obama administration and that she was aware of his support for former President Donald Trump.
Despite these apparent pro-Trump views, a county election official in Ohio told CNN that he registered in 2013 but “never voted nor responded to any of our confirmation notices to keep him registered,” so he was removed from the voter rolls at the end of 2020 and the state said he was not registered in Ohio. A county clerk in Illinois, where Crowl was once registered, also confirmed he was not an active voter anywhere in the state.
Crowl was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of destruction of government property and conspiracy for allegedly coordinating with others to plan their attack. He remains in custody after a judge said, “The suggestion to release him to a residence with nine firearms is a non-starter.” In an interview cited by the government, Crowl told the New Yorker that he had peaceful intentions and claimed he had protected the police. Crowl’s attorney did not provide a comment about his client’s voting record.
……
……[A] least eight of the people who are now facing criminal charges for their involvement in the events at the Capitol did not vote in the November 2020 presidential election, according to an analysis of voting records from the states where protestors were arrested and those states where public records show they have lived. They came from states around the country and ranged in age from 21 to 65.
…….
Among those who didn’t vote were a 65-year-old Georgia man who, according to government documents, was found in his van with a fully-loaded pistol and ammunition, and a Louisiana man who publicly bragged about spending nearly two hours inside the Capitol after attending Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. Another was a 21-year-old woman from Missouri who prosecutors say shared a video on Snapchat that showed her parading around with a piece of a wooden sign from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. And a Florida man previously convicted of attempted murder who was accused by the government of refusing to leave the Capitol likely did not have the option to cast a ballot because of his unpaid court fines.
…….
Jack Griffith, a 25-year-old from Tennessee, trumpeted his arrival in Washington DC with a Facebook post saying, “THE CAVALRY IS COMING!!!!,” using the hashtag “#MAGA,” according to court documents. Shortly after leaving the Capitol on January 6, he posted a message of disappointment. “I hate to be that guy, but The New World Order beat us,” he wrote. “Trump was our greatest champion, and it still wasn’t enough. He tried his very best. He did so much, but he’s only one man…I even helped stormed(sic) the capitol today, but it only made things worse…Why, God? Why? WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US? Unless…Trump still has a plan?”
These online missives describing his participation in the Capitol siege were later used by the Department of Justice to build a criminal case against him. Griffith faces a number of charges, including violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Election data from Tennessee and Alabama, where public records show Griffith had lived, showed that he had voted in the 2016 and 2018 elections but not the 2020 presidential election. The public defender who initially represented him declined to comment. Another attorney listed as representing him now did not respond to requests for comment.
……..
In a string of social media posts he shared straight from the Capitol, Edward Jacob Lang of New York portrayed himself as ready for a revolution. “1776 has commenced,” he wrote in one that was cited by the government, showing him standing on the steps of the Capitol. “I was the leader of Liberty today. Arrest me. You are on the wrong side of history,” read another. After leaving the Capitol, he continued to encourage followers to join the “patriot movement” with him. “GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH,” he posted.
Federal prosecutors said that video footage from January 6 shows Lang attempting to attack police officers with a baseball bat, donning a gas mask and riot shield. He now faces a variety of federal charges, including assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees, civil disorder and violent entry. ……
Though state records show that Lang is registered to vote and had participated in a couple of past elections, county and state officials confirmed to CNN that he did not vote in the November election. Lang’s attorney said in a statement that Lang claimed from jail that he submitted an absentee ballot, saying, “Mr. Lang has always represented himself as a Libertarian…He is not a devout Trump supporter, but believes that those taking office will not uphold citizens’ First and Second Amendment rights.”
……..
Lang’s attorney also said the 25-year-old was a “naive, impressionable young man” who had been provoked by Trump’s rhetoric. He cited Senator Mitch McConnell’s statement that “the mob was fed lies” and said he hoped that Lang and others would not be considered guilty “due solely to their associations, beliefs and presence.”
A man who identified himself with the name of Lang’s father refused to talk with a reporter, saying, “We hate CNN. We’re pro Trump, goodbye.” In a statement to a local newspaper, Lang’s father attributed his son’s actions at the Capitol to “a substance abuse problem.”
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/1/2021 @ 9:21 am……..
About one third of all Americans have been infected by Covid so far, approximately six sevenths of them without getting diagnosed.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 2/1/2021 @ 9:24 amhttps://www.newser.com/story/301982/nfls-covid-insight-goes-beyond-the-game.html
The NFL was a business, and if it wanted to keep transmission down, it couldn’t stick with the nonsense that was coming out of the CDC and WHO.
Now the CDC has anew paper, which means, even if this works, it is still partly nonsense
https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/resources/press-releases/cdc-publishes-scientific-paper-jointly-authored-with-the-nfl-on-covid-19-lessons
This probably won;t stop transmission but might limit it to asymptomatic cases.
This is the CDC paper:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7004e2.htm
It was both more strict and more lenient.
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 2/1/2021 @ 11:05 amI see advertisements on CBS for Superbowl LiV – but that keep on saying Super Bowl 55. LIV is 54.
What’s going on? If it means it will be broadcast “live” why is there the missing final “e”
Sammy Finkelman (7bb55f) — 2/1/2021 @ 3:14 pmVictor,
Thanks.
lurker (59504c) — 2/1/2021 @ 7:24 pmI used to be a regular reader of this forum. There were many interesting topics and discussions on a variety of topics.
Not so anymore. Seems that there are only Trump haters and Republican haters. Very little tolerance for opposing points or ideas. The prevalent attitude is complete disdain for anything positive about Republicans or anyone who espouses Conservative perspectives.
I miss the old days where opposing ideas were allowed and debate over ideas and ideals was allowed, encouraged and reveled in.
Rest in Peace, Civility.
Jay Curtis (1de02e) — 2/2/2021 @ 11:13 amNot good news:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.25.428137v2.full.pdf
This is actually somewhat too technical for me, but from links to it, and other reports, I gather:
1) The UM variant of the coronavirus, designated B.1.1.7, is more contagious, and therefore somewhat
more deadly (the two things go together) than the standard version of SARS-CoV-2, but the vaccine
and the neutralizing antibodies should work just as well.
2) The South African variant of the coronavirus, designated B.1.351 is NOT noticeably more contagious than the standard version of SARS-CoV-2, but the vaccine is about 20% less effective (it immunizes 20% less people) and you can be infected after recovering (it’s not clear how serious and infection it would be) and convalescent plasma works somewhat less well, but neutralizing antibodies only have about 1/8 the effect.
I would question whether they have any effect at all, except that maybe even a partial match weakens the virus. This may depend on how many different antibodies are infused.
Eli Lilly limited it to one and Regeneron to two (as part of their efforts to maximize passing FDA scrutiny by minimizing possibilities for auto-immune reactions) but this study seems to have tested some (30 in all – 3 = 27) antibodies not included in any of the widely available therapeutics but targeted solely against the old version of the spike protein. Only about 4 of them worked.
3) The Brazilian variant,called B.1.1.28 or 501Y.V3, wasn’t checked, but has a few of the same mutations as the South African variant, B.1.351, and so should disable some neutralizing monoclonal antibodies, and they know which ones, but the paper doesn’t say if they are among the ones currently used by Regeneron or Eli Lilly (they apparently feel that they gotta limit themselves to pure science, which isn’t helpful.)
The effect of the Brazilian variant on the vaccine and on convalescent plasma and on the possibility of being seriously re-infected after recovering is less than that of the South African variant, which means not too serious an effect at all.
4) Note: Other variants with significant differences may exist or arise. I think there’s one in California.
Sammy Finkelman (5b302e) — 2/3/2021 @ 8:10 amBreaking: NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Chokshi tests positive for COVID
Sammy Finkelman (5b302e) — 2/3/2021 @ 8:20 amIt’s Superbowl 55 {LV)
https://www.nfl.com/super-bowl
But the logo on television seems to say LiV That “i” even has a dot.
There are many things I noted in the news. Napoleon;’s older brother Joseph lived in New Jersey after Waterloo, I knew about Jerome not this.
Sammy Finkelman (5b302e) — 2/4/2021 @ 8:07 am