A Historic Senator for Georgia

January 5, 2021 9:25 PM

With control of the US Senate and hanging in the balance, two runoff Senatorial elections in the US state of Georgia with major national consequences draw to a close this evening. With 97% of the vote tallies, Decision Desk HQ (Twitter) has called one of the races for Democrat Raphael Warnock. Warnock, the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. preached a gospel of social justice, will be the first Black Senator elected by Georgia.

Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff currently trails by less than 2000 votes, but the remaining votes to be tallied are in heavily Democratic counties. If he can make up the difference — which is statistically likely — then the US Senate will be 50/50 Democratic/Republican, with the tie broken by the incoming Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. If so, Democrats will have wrested control of the White House and both chambers of Congress from Republican Control in the past two years. Previously on MeFi.

posted by darkstar (516 comments total)

Feels like the first day of 2021.
posted by skewed at 9:28 PM on January 5, 2021 [68 favorites]

is this how Pandora felt when she finally got to the bottom of the box
-@petridishes
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:29 PM on January 5, 2021 [52 favorites]

Thanks for starting this tread darkstar! MeFi is my favorite place to follow elections.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:29 PM on January 5, 2021 [26 favorites]

Raise your glass for Stacey Abrams. This is for John!
posted by adept256 at 9:29 PM on January 5, 2021 [101 favorites]

Never piss off a romance novelist when a happy ending is on the line.
posted by suelac at 9:30 PM on January 5, 2021 [100 favorites]

Thank you Stacey.
posted by cmfletcher at 9:32 PM on January 5, 2021 [31 favorites]

NTRB: it was excruciating to wait to post an FPP until at least one of the races was called! I didn’t want to just create a liveblog of the election results, since we have Chat. But it seems timely now that one race has been called and the other seems to be mostly reported, so we have an FPP to discuss the hugely significant results.
posted by darkstar at 9:33 PM on January 5, 2021 [11 favorites]

Is there any chance this will be called tonight? Are all the counties still counting or have a lot of them suspended counting until the morning?
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:35 PM on January 5, 2021

Georgia, assuming Warnock/Ossoff win, just reduced the net worth of the Senate by over half a billion dollars.
posted by Mitheral at 9:37 PM on January 5, 2021 [78 favorites]

Gwinnett County has suspended for the night, but remaining votes are in heavily Dem-favored counties, and also weighted toward early votes. So it looks pretty clear that Warnock has won (Decision Desk has called that race) and Ossoff will make up his gap.

The State won’t call it for days, likely. But there have been no reports of fraud or any other irregularities.

This is a major rebuke to the Republicans generally, and should be the nail in the coffin for the BS arguments that Trump really won GA.
posted by darkstar at 9:38 PM on January 5, 2021 [14 favorites]

I know this isn't how it works, but I want Mitch to come home to find the locks changed and all his shit on the lawn.
posted by adept256 at 9:38 PM on January 5, 2021 [75 favorites]

Yeah, sadly he's still going to be a Senator regardless.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:39 PM on January 5, 2021 [7 favorites]

We can thank Trump's obsessive narcissism for starting a Republican civil war in Georgia. A lot of Republican politicians are going to be royally pissed at him.
posted by JackFlash at 9:41 PM on January 5, 2021 [21 favorites]

Warnock just gave his Victory speech!

Edit: Zoom to 3:30 mark in the video for start of his speech.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:42 PM on January 5, 2021 [10 favorites]

@KBAndersen: The @nytimes says there are 93,000 votes left to count and that Warnock's and Ossoff's estimated shares of those uncounted votes will be 77%. That'd give them each a net gain of 71,000 votes. If true, Ossoff would win by 69,000 votes (1.5%) and Warnock by 106,000 votes (2.5%).
posted by rhizome at 9:42 PM on January 5, 2021 [25 favorites]

That's a bit of unexpected good news. Hopefully that disciplines the Republicans against obstructionism and austerity.
posted by eagles123 at 9:42 PM on January 5, 2021 [8 favorites]

Warnock's speech on MSNBC ended with a weird audio glitch. "Let us rise up and meet the challenge challenge challenge challenge challenge."

We are living in Max Headroom
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:42 PM on January 5, 2021 [36 favorites]

Amazing news. Thank you Stacey & thank you Georgia!
posted by p3t3 at 9:44 PM on January 5, 2021 [7 favorites]

We can also thank Trump for his stupid phone call, because now we know the Republicans in charge of votes in Georgia aren't on the take, which comes in handy when there are re-counts/court cases filed.
posted by valkane at 9:44 PM on January 5, 2021 [28 favorites]

I'm just so happy about this.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:44 PM on January 5, 2021 [7 favorites]

It looks like Fulton and DeKalb are the last to be counted, and likely to seal the deal. Those are in John Lewis' district. He's still with us.
posted by adept256 at 9:45 PM on January 5, 2021 [57 favorites]

"Rev. Warnock was Congressman John Lewis's pastor. Ossoff was Lewis's intern. And somewhere, somehow both near and far, I have to think that Rep. Lewis is saying, "Well done."" -- Fred Smith on twitter
posted by valkane at 9:46 PM on January 5, 2021 [87 favorites]

We can thank Trump's obsessive narcissism for starting a Republican civil war in Georgia. A lot of Republican politicians are going to be royally pissed at him.

Boo Frickity-Hoo. I'm guessing we're going to be hearing from a lot of indignant "Republicans" who went along with 110% of everything and beat down anybody who raised a quarrel. They should all be heckled and hounded to redeem themselves. I can't wait until this bullshit 126 congresspeople getting seated (or not) tomorrow. Maybe they're re-evaluating.
posted by rhizome at 9:47 PM on January 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Georgia, assuming Warnock/Ossoff win, just reduced the net worth of the Senate by over half a billion dollars.

...back of the napkin calculations...330 million people or so...carry the senate, divide bicameral, plus Stacy "AG" Abrams for some righteous vengeance and... look at that... it comes to about $2,000 per person, just saying...
posted by albion moonlight at 9:49 PM on January 5, 2021 [21 favorites]

CNN has Perdue/Ossoff at only 919 vote difference
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:49 PM on January 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Here's to John Lewis! And Stacey Abrams! And to the mostly Republican Georgia administrators who are running a fair election despite whining phone calls from their crazy conspiracy theorist uncle in the White House!

I'm not looking forward to the biggest display of narcissistic rage since Narcissus himself though...
posted by mmoncur at 9:51 PM on January 5, 2021 [18 favorites]

If nothing else, I really, really hope that these close elections have taught people that every vote really does count.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:52 PM on January 5, 2021 [57 favorites]

hot damn - Stacey Abrams deserves everything she wants for her next project. Give her all the staff and resources she asks for. Make her Governor, or head of the DNC, or Secretary of State. Provide her with a crown, or a new MacBook, or a Batmobile. Just find out what she needs and get it to her.
posted by harriet vane at 9:52 PM on January 5, 2021 [113 favorites]

If ~12% of the 115,000 third-party nutball voters had held their nose and voted for Perdue instead of for the very conservative Libertarian spoiler, Ossoff wouldn't have made it to this run-off.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:52 PM on January 5, 2021 [12 favorites]

@SirajAHashmi: Cocaine Mitch gotta switch back to shitty ol’ ditch weed. you hate to see it.
@daveweigel: Mids McConnell
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:53 PM on January 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

We can also thank Trump for his stupid phone call, because now we know the Republicans in charge of votes in Georgia aren't on the take

I read an alternate take of this, that Raffensberger is Secretary of State, the dude who ran the election. He was just defending his own work, not doing the right thing.
posted by rhizome at 9:55 PM on January 5, 2021 [16 favorites]

Trump started his administration with both houses, and he lost his administration and both houses.
posted by valkane at 9:55 PM on January 5, 2021 [49 favorites]

@LindseyGrahamSC: If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it.
posted by sainttoad at 9:55 PM on January 5, 2021 [82 favorites]

I wonder how many potential Republican votes weren't cast because of people boycotting the election due to something or other that was posted on Parler.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:56 PM on January 5, 2021 [6 favorites]

"Trump started his administration with both houses, and he lost his administration and both houses."

There really was "a pox on both your houses"
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:57 PM on January 5, 2021 [10 favorites]

oh god my heart can't take this (about Ossoff)
posted by numaner at 9:57 PM on January 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Chuck Schumer will be the new Majority Leader, but the other important issue is how Senate committees will be set up. The last time there was a 50/50 split, they also split the committee seats 50/50. This causes a problem because bills can't be voted on unless they are passed out of committee and you are likely to have some, maybe all, deadlocks. But last time they put in a rule to allow a motion to discharge from the floor.

The rules for the new Senate are voted on by an organizing resolution and the organizing resolution is subject to a 50/50 vote that does not include the VP. So in this case, the organizing resolution really has to be a compromise. It comes down to who is the best deal maker. Last time it was Tom Daschle vs Trent Lott and Daschle got the best of it. This time it will be Chuck Schumer vs Mitch McConnell. We'll see who blinks first.

Here is a good commentary on what is at stake by Marty Paone who was a staffer with a front row seat to the negotiations in 2000.
posted by JackFlash at 9:58 PM on January 5, 2021 [40 favorites]

Get Mitch or die trying Got Mitch
posted by inflatablekiwi at 10:00 PM on January 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

He was just defending his own work, not doing the right thing.

Raffensperger only released the tape, because Trump tried to make him look bad -- not because of the oath to the Constitution that the Sec't presumably took. That's not exactly a profile in courage. I hope history is not kind to him.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:01 PM on January 5, 2021 [29 favorites]

Tonight the Grim Reaper is grimly reaping what he hath sown
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:01 PM on January 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

538 is going to bed and will be back in the morning
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 10:02 PM on January 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Proud Boys update:

"Meanwhile over by the White House, MAGA hats and proud boys are rushing a police line and getting hosed in pepper spray, then recording videos saying “BLM” and “antifa” attacked them." -- Molly McKew on twitter
posted by valkane at 10:02 PM on January 5, 2021 [26 favorites]

Perdue/Ossoff now separated by 1322 votes. This Ossoff Oscillation is Opsetting me!
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 10:04 PM on January 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

I still have mild PTSD from Trump's win in 2016. I am not shouting for joy...yet. Keeping it tamped down. I can wait.
posted by zardoz at 10:06 PM on January 5, 2021 [9 favorites]

Perdue means “lost” in French, just sayin’.
posted by oulipian at 10:07 PM on January 5, 2021 [21 favorites]

It also means "chicken" in American grocery stores.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:11 PM on January 5, 2021 [22 favorites]

Perdue was the CEO of Dollar General so we know how much he costs.
posted by valkane at 10:13 PM on January 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Since you brought up Dollar General, previously on Mefi: How dollar stores became magnets for crime and killing.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 10:15 PM on January 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

If Trumpists want to try to overturn the GA runoff elections, they’ll have to find a new kraken.

Via Newsweek: Attorneys Lin Wood and Sidney Powell were the subject of a request for disbarment by the city of Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday after filing a November lawsuit that sought to overturn the results of the state's presidential elections.
posted by darkstar at 10:16 PM on January 5, 2021 [26 favorites]

Assuming Ossoff holds, it feels to me, as an observer of the US from afar, that you have just stepped back from the very brink of an unmitigated disaster. Had the Republicans held the Senate, I am not sure the center would have held. I am not sure who first said, "Hope dies last.", but I think there is still hope for the US, and that is a good thing. Massive, massive issues remain, but hope remains alive.
posted by vac2003 at 10:16 PM on January 5, 2021 [30 favorites]

I was very sad that the margin of Trump’s loss was so slim. I expected better of the American people. But this narrow victory in the executive branch and both houses of Congress gives me solace that a party which has waged mass murder via sociopathic negligence against its own citizens has not been rewarded with continued power.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:19 PM on January 5, 2021 [13 favorites]

If Ossoff does win as expected, it will also be the first time a Jewish person has held statewide office in Georgia.
posted by darkstar at 10:21 PM on January 5, 2021 [56 favorites]

It was slim in the electoral college but consider that the popular vote difference was over 7 million votes. While that's still slim considering the number of eligible voters in the US, that's still a lot considering how often Presidents do win reelections here.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 10:22 PM on January 5, 2021 [13 favorites]

"Rev. Raphael Warnock on his mother: "The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator." -- ABC News on twitter
posted by valkane at 10:24 PM on January 5, 2021 [103 favorites]

Never piss off a romance novelist when a happy ending is on the line.

As a foreigner I can neither vote nor donate but I'm going to buy all her other books. And read at least the one I already have.
posted by hat_eater at 10:25 PM on January 5, 2021 [9 favorites]

@NikemaWilliams: "When Stacey has a plan, the best thing to do is to ask how you can help!"[1,2,3]
posted by kliuless at 10:32 PM on January 5, 2021 [31 favorites]

TV's Frank with the deliciously piping hot take: Warnock and Ossoff won't officially have won the election until Republicans officially declare it stolen
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:36 PM on January 5, 2021 [17 favorites]

"What Stacy Abrams has done in Georgia is undeniable proof that America has very few red states and too many voter suppression states.

Every Dem state lead should follow the Abrams mode for 2022 and beyond. America is a blue country." -- Qasim Rashid on twitter
posted by valkane at 10:41 PM on January 5, 2021 [92 favorites]

@atrupar: this graphic just aired on Fox News
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:47 PM on January 5, 2021 [14 favorites]

ossoff pulls ahead!
posted by provocateur at 10:50 PM on January 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Thinking about this Mike Luckovich work depicting John Lewis as “The Bridge”.

I so wish Lewis were alive to see this. It feels like Moses, leading his people for so long out of oppression, but not being allowed finally into the Promised Land. Abrams, Warnock, Ossoff and others now picking up the mantle from one of American history’s truly great leaders.

Thinking also of these Lewis quotes:

"Take a long, hard look down the road you will have to travel once you have made a commitment to work for change. Know that this transformation will not happen right away. Change often takes time. It rarely happens all at once. In the movement, we didn't know how history would play itself out. When we were getting arrested and waiting in jail or standing in unmovable lines on the courthouse steps, we didn’t know what would happen, but we knew it had to happen."

... "Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part."

... "You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone — any person or any force — dampen, dim or diminish your light … Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won."

— John Lewis, Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America

posted by darkstar at 10:51 PM on January 5, 2021 [54 favorites]

CNN saying Ossoff leads by 3560!!!
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 10:52 PM on January 5, 2021 [13 favorites]

If Stacey wrote the trivia in the Snapple caps, guess I'd be drinking a whole lot of Snapple this year.
posted by adept256 at 10:53 PM on January 5, 2021 [6 favorites]

Wow. I gotta admit, I was completely resigned to a Republican Senate. What, after all, are the chances of the coin coming up heads twice? Let's hope a lot of good stuff gets done in the next two years!
posted by kaibutsu at 10:56 PM on January 5, 2021 [12 favorites]

West Virginia after we're done bribing Joe Manchin :P
posted by kliuless at 10:56 PM on January 5, 2021 [10 favorites]

"Let's hope a lot of good stuff gets done in the next two years!"

Including voting out WI senator Ron Johnson in 2022! Also voting out other terrible senators and reps.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 10:57 PM on January 5, 2021 [10 favorites]

NBC and CBS have called the race for Warnock. EDIT: Also CNN and AP. This one's done.
posted by reductiondesign at 11:01 PM on January 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

CNN as well.
posted by valkane at 11:02 PM on January 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

OK, who is the Stacey Abrams of North Carolina and of Pennsylvania?

Great question! Off the jump, I suggest uplifting every non-white person and non-cis-het-male person around you-- at work, at home, at the store, on the street, and at the polls. Starting yesterday! Give us all a chance to lead the way, and do it before only a small fraction of us succeeds in spite of the barriers against us.
posted by el gran combo at 11:03 PM on January 5, 2021 [35 favorites]

A lot of the shitty agenda this administration has been racing to put in place during its final few weeks will now be much easier to roll back with Democratic control of the Senate, since many of the regulations will be subject to the Congressional Review Act — much of the asylum-related stuff, for example.
posted by theory at 11:05 PM on January 5, 2021 [20 favorites]

I'm too tired to hope for the best, but if McConnell is having a shitty night, I take great joy in that.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:06 PM on January 5, 2021 [15 favorites]

One minor advantage to how these two contests came together: Warnock will have to run for office again in two years, but he is the stronger candidate of the two Dems. Ossoff’s tenure will be for a full six year term, so he will have longer to develop his incumbency before having to run again.
posted by darkstar at 11:07 PM on January 5, 2021 [38 favorites]

"I'm too tired to hope for the best, but if McConnell is having a shitty night, I take great joy in that."


Mitschadenfreude?
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:08 PM on January 5, 2021 [17 favorites]

darkstar: "If Ossoff does win as expected, it will also be the first time a Jewish person has held statewide office in Georgia."

He'll also be the youngest serving senator by a walk, and the first Millennial elected to the chamber (dude's only 33!)
posted by Rhaomi at 11:12 PM on January 5, 2021 [24 favorites]

And maybe we can enjoy the poignant fact that the CRA was part of **Georgia** Rep. Newt Gingrich's 'Contract with America'.
posted by theory at 11:12 PM on January 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Stacey Abrams is a lawyer, right? Just asking in case Justice Breyer decides to retire.
posted by rdr at 11:12 PM on January 5, 2021 [16 favorites]

And it just now occurs to me that if Abrams wants to take another run at the Governorship (please oh please) in 2022, then she and Warnock will both be on the ballot in that mid-term election. And all of these new voters that have been registered will be critical.
posted by darkstar at 11:12 PM on January 5, 2021 [27 favorites]

who is the Stacey Abrams of North Carolina and of Pennsylvania?


I get where this is coming from, and Stacey Abrams deserves massive credit and a bottle of her favorite libation (and the Governorship), but this country has to stop relying on black women to do our work for us.
posted by basalganglia at 11:13 PM on January 5, 2021 [51 favorites]

Has Abrams publicly discussed what her next plans are? I know she still really wanted to work at the state level and wasn't planning on seeking Federal office yet but that was stuff she'd said prior to the November election.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:14 PM on January 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’d lay money on another Governor run. She’s perfectly positioned for it and the timing couldn’t be better to start campaigning later this year. But I haven’t heard her say definitively.
posted by darkstar at 11:17 PM on January 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

She was on Colbert last night and actively refused to comment on any plans past the 5th
posted by flaterik at 11:17 PM on January 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

Without Abrams I doubt Biden would have won Georgia. He'd still be president but the margin would have been thinner and Trump stumbling coup might have had a better chance of working. If tonight's results hold, then Abrams is responsible for giving Biden a senate majority. He owes her. We owe her.
posted by rdr at 11:18 PM on January 5, 2021 [36 favorites]

Ossoff leading by 9527 according to CNN!
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:18 PM on January 5, 2021 [6 favorites]

Still holding my breath, though perhaps not as tightly as a few hours ago.
posted by Pouteria at 11:19 PM on January 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

"One last thought before sleep overtakes me. Kamala Harris running up the Capitol steps in her Converse to break tie after tie." -- Barbara Malmet on twitter
posted by valkane at 11:19 PM on January 5, 2021 [37 favorites]

These shoes are made for ruling
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:20 PM on January 5, 2021 [7 favorites]

Decision Desk has called the race for Ossoff. They were hours ahead of anyone else for Warnock as well.
posted by reductiondesign at 11:21 PM on January 5, 2021 [8 favorites]

as per reductiondesign above:

Decision Desk HQ projects @ossoff (D) has won the Georgia Regular Senate Runoff Election, giving Democrats control of the Senate on January 20th.

Race Called: 2:14AM EST 01.06.21
posted by valkane at 11:25 PM on January 5, 2021 [8 favorites]

Without Abrams I doubt Biden would have won Georgia. [...]If tonight's results hold, then Abrams is responsible for giving Biden a senate majority. He owes her. We owe her.

That's just the nature of very close elections though, right? When the margin is tiny, almost any individual factor can be considered decisive.
posted by kickingtheground at 11:27 PM on January 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

Incredible.

Just incredible.

I remember this time in January 2017, right after Trump won the White House and Republicans held both houses of Congress. I was so deep down a dark, dark hole of grieving for the country.

Here we are, only four years later, and I’m at a loss for how to celebrate hard enough to adequately commemorate the moment. It just feels like a mixture of numbness and relief at this point.
posted by darkstar at 11:28 PM on January 5, 2021 [16 favorites]

"now mitch mcconnell can take his tie off, let his neck down, watch his head roll away just like the witch who cursed him said it would" -- Blaire Erskine on twitter
posted by valkane at 11:30 PM on January 5, 2021 [41 favorites]

Because all news is local:
The Age, Melbourne: [Jon Ossof] will also have what is believed to be one of the closest personal connections to Australia of any member of Congress in American history.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:32 PM on January 5, 2021 [22 favorites]

You know, I was angry (but not surprised) when McConnell was reelected but I do look forward to 2 years of him failing over and over again and being powerless to do anything.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:32 PM on January 5, 2021 [9 favorites]

Whoa, both races the Dems won. Republicans lost. I was expecting the worst but no, the best thing happened.

For two years anyway, Dems have the presidency, House, and Senate. I am happy about this, but that is mainly about Republicans getting their ass handed to them.

But I am also not expecting the changes that need to go through in the next two years will go through. Because centrist/right-leaning Democrats won't want to change much of anything, and IMHO that includes Biden and Harris right at the top. This is just the start of a different kind of battle for those of us on the left.
posted by zardoz at 11:38 PM on January 5, 2021 [26 favorites]

Not to mention, Joe in Australia, Ossoff will be the 37th Jewish person to serve in the Senate, and the first ever from Georgia - where the 1915 antisemitic lynching of Leo Frank led to the creation of the Anti-Defamation League.

(I'm not this smart, I stole this from Wesley Lowery)
posted by valkane at 11:38 PM on January 5, 2021 [24 favorites]

Ray Charles, Georgia On My Mind, live performance in 1960. (YT)

I think about what Georgia was like when that performance was given. It had to be a much more bittersweet anthem sixty years ago.
posted by darkstar at 11:41 PM on January 5, 2021 [6 favorites]

This is just the start of a different kind of battle for those of us on the left.

Yes, now those on the left can battle a group of people we have some ideological differences with, instead of battling a bunch of mindless toady followers of a megalomaniac who openly advocates racism, misogyny and homophobia and wants to destroy all of the left and Democracy itself.

I'll take it!
posted by mmoncur at 11:43 PM on January 5, 2021 [70 favorites]

"Meanwhile over by the White House, MAGA hats and proud boys are rushing a police line and getting hosed in pepper spray, then recording videos saying “BLM” and “antifa” attacked them." -- Molly McKew on twitter

The linked twitter thread has a short-fingered vulgarian who's been given his two weeks' notice declaring that antifa is a terrorist organization. I'm reminded of the observation that governments don't declare they are fascist, just that those who oppose fascists are criminals.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:47 PM on January 5, 2021 [16 favorites]

Congrats to Warnock on his election to the Senate. And separate congrats to Warnock for defeating the entitled, self-dealing, truly horrible Loeffler. I won't count Ossoff until it's called but encouraged by people here and elsewhere pointing out the odds in his favor.

Josh Marshall (paywalled), This is a Big Deal:

This doesn’t change the legislative calculus. Major progressive legislation seems highly unlikely in the next two years. We’re not going to be able to expand the Court. But it accomplishes two critical things. First, it allows Joe Biden to assemble a government. I think people have been underestimating the likelihood that a Republican senate would simply refuse to confirm major Biden appointees, forcing the President to try to wing stuff together with recess and vacancies act appointments that would themselves become tied up in the courts.
[ . . . ]
This is a huge, huge deal. We were looking at a situation in which it was quite likely that, in effect, Biden would need to barter with Mitch McConnell simply to be able to be President.
[ . . . ]
McConnell barely did anything legislatively during his six years at the helm. His mastery and control was simply in controlling the calendar. Republicans could hide from major issues because they were simply never allowed to come up.
[ . . . ]
Nothing even gets a vote unless Mitch McConnell decides it advantages the Republican party. Wielding this power McConnell could disable the government and then have members of his caucus run on its failures.

That stranglehold is over.

Quite simply, these victories allow Joe Biden to actually be President, as opposed to spending two years being Merick Garlanded by Mitch McConnell. It changes everything.

posted by mark k at 11:47 PM on January 5, 2021 [65 favorites]

Is there someone willing to wade into the toxic territory of Parler and similar ilk to see what they're saying? I don't want to know the worst stuff but are they generally feeling like they lost?
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:52 PM on January 5, 2021

I hadn’t allowed myself this hope. I’m in shock.
posted by samthemander at 11:54 PM on January 5, 2021 [10 favorites]

Not to mention, Joe in Australia, Ossoff will be the 37th Jewish person to serve in the Senate,

The first was Judah Benjamin. I have always chortled as his rejoinder to a senator of German descent who used what we might now term a dog-whistle anti-semitic remark:

The gentleman will please remember that when his half-civilized ancestors were hunting the wild boar in Silesia, mine were princes of the earth.

posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:55 PM on January 5, 2021 [21 favorites]

CNN has Ossoff leading by 12,806!!!
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:00 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

MSNBC saying that they're not calling it yet and that there are still about 40k votes left to count.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:02 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I wonder what the Proud Boys have planned as far as exfiltration is concerned? It really makes you say "Hmmmmm?"
posted by valkane at 12:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I mean, there's Uber.
posted by valkane at 12:07 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

I'm sticking around for awhile longer to see if any of the networks call it tonight.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:09 AM on January 6, 2021

NotTheRedBaron, the Twitter account ParlerTakes has been posting various reactions this evening. Worth a follow.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 12:12 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

computech_apolloniajames Oh, that's some delicious Schadenfreude. Thanks!
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I might not follow them, but that sounds like a great way to spend the next hour before I finally give up and go to sleep.
posted by ChrisR at 12:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

It is interesting that someone unpinned the notice at the top of Trump's Twitter feed that he'd be speaking publicly tomorrow morning at The Ellipse. No news that it has been cancelled as he pitches a fit or sulks, but telling the announcement is gone?
posted by bcd at 12:32 AM on January 6, 2021

The voters of Georgia just told Mitch what he can do with those 600 dollar checks.
posted by Beholder at 12:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Eric Trump Threatens to Primary Republicans Who Won’t Help His Dad Overthrow Election -- The Daily Beast

“Tomorrow’s gonna tell you a lot about the country,” Eric Trump told pro-Trump Fox News host Sean Hannity. “Because I can tell you, Sean, any senator or any congressman that does not—meaning on this side—that does not fight tomorrow, their political career is over. Because the MAGA movement is going nowhere!”
posted by valkane at 12:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

MSNBC still saying Trump will rally though
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:39 AM on January 6, 2021

Holy crap. I did not expect this. I was enthusiastic about the attempt to win these runoffs but honestly had no expectation that we could actually win both of them. I've never been so happy to be wrong.
posted by biogeo at 12:40 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

“Because the MAGA movement is going nowhere!” —  Eric Trump

One can only hope.
posted by romanb at 12:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [43 favorites]

That's the joke.
posted by valkane at 12:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Quick question: does the Tea Party still exist or did they just become MAGA?
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:46 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Is there someone willing to wade into the toxic territory of Parler and similar ilk to see what they're saying?

If they're saying anything new, it'll be reported in some reputable outlet elsewhere.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:47 AM on January 6, 2021

Just to spread the love (and credit) around, huge props to LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, and Nsé Ufot, the CEO of The New Georgia Project (which was founded by Abrams in 2014). They’ve also been doing incredibly important work this past year to get us to these victories.
posted by darkstar at 12:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [58 favorites]

Fourteen more days until inauguration. Let's hope we can still save the country from the fascists. They do not want to go away quietly.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

It is interesting that someone unpinned the notice at the top of Trump's Twitter feed that he'd be speaking publicly tomorrow morning at The Ellipse.

Maybe he's speaking at The Ellipse Rooftop Bar.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:51 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

Even though Warnock was projected to win hours ago, just thought I'd mention that he leads by 49,845 votes at this point. Just wanted to share the size of the lead :)
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:54 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

> Quick question: does the Tea Party still exist or did they just become MAGA?

The Tea Party did not become the MAGA. Nevertheless, they're still the same, and so is the Republican party.
posted by runcifex at 12:57 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

That's the joke

I thought he was serious.
posted by romanb at 1:02 AM on January 6, 2021

MSNBC now saying Ossoff leads by only 3560 votes now
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 1:04 AM on January 6, 2021

I apologize, MSNBC was talking about a specific county.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 1:05 AM on January 6, 2021

Ugh, sorry, no the 3560 difference is statewide. Apologies for trying to update while watching TV.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 1:06 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Maybe it's wise not to liveblog TV news.
posted by Pendragon at 1:08 AM on January 6, 2021 [23 favorites]

Fortunately I’m reading WaPo where his lead is 12,806
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:11 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I don’t usually follow politics much, so this recent trend of using primary as a verb confuses me. What does it mean when people say “he’s going to primary them” or whatever?

I was convinced they couldn’t win, and I’m still afraid to really believe that that festering scrotum McConnell won’t be able to maintain his slimy grip on the government. But I’m allowing myself to breathe just a little and thinking all the best thoughts for Rev. Warnock and Mr. Ossoff.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 1:13 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

CNN's website just put Ossoff leading by 16,370. Why are everyone's numbers suddenly diverging? Everyone was on the same page for so long.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 1:15 AM on January 6, 2021

Primary someone = run against them in a primary election (i.e. as the same party) or use your influence to get someone else to do the same.
posted by mmoncur at 1:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

In the meantime, Trump has been told he will not be allowed to run away to Scotland to escape Biden's inauguration.

(Incidentally, linguists will note the inverted nominative sentence structure that is peculiar to Scottish English, e.g. Sam is who I am; green eggs and ham are what I do not like. To a non-Scottish English ear, it can sound belittling; Sturgeon will be fully aware.)
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [17 favorites]

What does it mean when people say “he’s going to primary them” or whatever?


It means that he will run against him in the next party Primary Election.

In many cases, when a district or state is reliably red or blue (i.e., favoring one political party), then the race is effectively won in the Primary Election to determine the nominees from the respective parties. Because whoever wins the Primary for the dominant party will almost certainly win the General Election.

This is one of the big fears of politicians in “safe” seats: not that they will be defeated by a candidate from the opposing party in the General election, but that they will be “primaried”, and defeated by a member of their own party who can better appeal to the more partisan and engaged members of their party (who disproportionately vote in Primary elections) and thus win the party nomination and then advance to the General.

On preview: what mmoncur said more succinctly. :)
posted by darkstar at 1:18 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

This tends to make electeds more partisan and less cooperative, but sometimes it backfires when a primary race gets so one-sided that the winner can’t win the general.
posted by clew at 1:20 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

(Are they really playing golf in Scotland this time of year?)
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:21 AM on January 6, 2021

Primary someone = run against them in a primary election (i.e. as the same party) or use your influence to get someone else to do the same.

Primary someone = throw red, blue and yellow paint over that kid you hate, when the teacher isn't looking
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:28 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

Thanks for the explanation of primaried! I was sort of thinking that direction but I just couldn’t quite put it together.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 1:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Seems somehow symbolic that a lot of Georgians will be waking up on Wednesday morning and celebrating Epiphany...
posted by darkstar at 1:40 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

(Are they really playing golf in Scotland this time of year?)

Most definitely. Over here, queues for golf club memberships are long and selective, and if you're lucky enough to be a member, rounds have to be booked way in advance. So, if you've got a round, you play it, even in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

Before the lockdown hit, we were lucky enough to spend a weekend at a country house in Hertfordshire for a spot of masked, socially-distanced relaxation. Outside it was just above freezing, with icy rain and a biting 40-mph wind. I went out for my morning walk, soaked to the skin because the umbrella wouldn't stay up in the wind, hands shaking in spite of gloves, mask filling up with hot snot. When I passed by the golf course, there they all were, in their best clothes, putting casually away as if it were a sunny day in Augusta.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:40 AM on January 6, 2021 [31 favorites]

Without knowing exactly how many votes are yet to be counted (roughly 55,000 according to Nate Cohn), it looks like Ossoff needs to add roughly 7000 to his current lead of 16,370 in order get beyond the 0.5 percentage point margin, below which Perdue could request a recount.

It seems very likely he can accomplish this, given the precincts that have yet to be tallied.
posted by theory at 2:00 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

In the meantime, Trump has been told he will not be allowed to run away to Scotland to escape Biden's inauguration.
Janey Godley breaks the news gently.

(Incidentally, linguists will note the inverted nominative sentence structure that is peculiar to Scottish English,)
In Scotland we also use the combination of 2 affirmative words - specifically "Aye, right!" - preferably delivered with a nod and a smile - to mean "when the very hottest corner of hell freezes over".
posted by rongorongo at 2:12 AM on January 6, 2021 [28 favorites]

who is the Stacey Abrams of North Carolina and of Pennsylvania?

Why not you?

For a million reasons! We all have really great reasons why we're not Stacey Abrams. What pisses me off is that many of our leaders have no excuses. They didn't want to fight for states like Georgia, or Texas, or Nevada. Why would they waste their time on a red state? They need to look to fighters like Abrams and follow, or gtfo of the way. There has been too much premature surrender in 'red states'.

'Why not you?' is an asshole question. I know you have other stuff going on. You need to be asking that question of your leadership.
posted by adept256 at 2:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

BVM
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

In part because there is such a disconnect between national leadership and local Dems. In this part of rural America, the Dem officials are a tight, smug clique focused on national issues. Wasn’t there once a saying that Democrats eat their young? Huge credit to Abrams for overcoming this party weakness.
posted by mmiddle at 2:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

OK, who is the Stacey Abrams of North Carolina and of Pennsylvania?

The Stacey Abrams of North Carolina and of Pennsylvania is... Stacey Abrams. Abrams's Fair Fight is a national organization. Ben Wikler, head of Wisconsin's Democratic Party, thanked Abrams for helping turn WI blue again in his Nov. 6 tweet:

"There's a lot of totally correct talk about how @StaceyAbrams was pivotal to winning Georgia. Folks: Stacey & her team were pivotal to flipping Wisconsin too. And every other battleground. They worked with us to build massive, supercharged voter protection teams—starting *early.*"

And luckily for us, it's not just Abrams in Georgia, it's a massive coalition of groups led by people of color, focusing on voter outreach and stopping voter suppression. LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter has been doing incredible work with voter outreach, for example. If you're looking for a way to celebrate this incredible election news, AOC has a fundraiser for groups that have skilfully and successfully been organizing in GA (including Fair Fight and Black Voters Matter), many of which do work in other states too.
posted by rogerroger at 3:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [60 favorites]

This Georgia fight really engaged people in a way I've never seen before. I've made calls for elections in the past, both in 2016 and 2020, but this is the first time I saw organized efforts put on by my local mom's group, for example, in the Boston area. I myself wrote about 50 postcards sending voter registration information and urging people to vote. My local mom's group sent more than a thousand. Lots and lots of people pulled together to make this happen, from Stacey Abrams down, and I'm thinking of all of them.
posted by peacheater at 3:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

MeFites outside the US can contribute to fighting voter suppression in the US by donating to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law."
posted by brainwane at 3:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

I’m trying to take the huge win but my dumb brain keeps harshing my mellow by imagining how many of our bright shiny legislative priorities will crash upon the rocks of the Supreme Court. :/
posted by thejoshu at 4:07 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

This is your periodic moment to pause and ask, if you are referring to Jon Ossoff as Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as Warnock but Stacey Abrams as Stacey, perhaps you could think about why you are doing that and what message it sends.
posted by medusa at 4:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [84 favorites]

Don't worry, plenty of our (and your) legislative priorities will get watered down by the river of "considered Nixon a dirty commie, what with the EPA and all" Democratic Senators. Luckily, in the context of today's Republican Party, Nixon really does look like a dirty commie, so there is still plenty of room for improvement. In that sense, even Medicare for All is on the table; it was seen as an inevitability back then. We just need to remind everyone of that fact.
posted by wierdo at 4:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

You know, I was angry (but not surprised) when McConnell was reelected but I do look forward to 2 years of him failing over and over again and being powerless to do anything.

Wellll...Unless the Dems kill-off the fillibuster, Mitch will still be able to monkeywrench things a bit. I detest the turtle with the fury of a thousand exploding suns, but I do recognize his ability to work the most arcane of rules to his advantage. Dismiss him at your own peril.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

(Are they really playing golf in Scotland this time of year?)

I’m literally reading this thread sat on a rock outside my flat in Edinburgh, where it’s 1C, but the sun is shining for the first time in several days so I’ve put on my big coat and hat, found a perch in the sun, and rolled my sleeves up to absorb a few rays. So, probably yes (though actually no because we’re in lockdown, but that aside...).

Anyway. Congratulations, well done and thank you, to Stacey, to Georgia, to the US, and every single voter, for making this sunny day feel even sunnier.
posted by penguin pie at 4:31 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Thrilled to see that Warnock’s win is definitive, but (TW: poop in the punch bowl) has Loeffler done the mature and responsible thing and conceded?
posted by Mchelly at 4:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

In part because there is such a disconnect between national leadership and local Dems. In this part of rural America, the Dem officials are a tight, smug clique focused on national issues. Wasn’t there once a saying that Democrats eat their young? Huge credit to Abrams for overcoming this party weakness.

The solution to this is to simply put Abrams in charge of the DNC, then she can direct operations in all the other states until her US Supreme Court seat opens up.
posted by mikelieman at 4:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [30 favorites]

Just been to local West of England supermarket, and they were playing 'Midnight Train to Georgia'. Is this just a coincidence? I smiled under my mask.
posted by TwelveNoteRow at 4:55 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

fun to think about how “the Georgia call looks bad for Trump” means two different things entirely
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:00 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

The Stacey Abrams of North Carolina and of Pennsylvania is... Stacey Abrams. Abrams's Fair Fight is a national organization. Ben Wikler, head of Wisconsin's Democratic Party, thanked Abrams for helping turn WI blue again in his Nov. 6 tweet:

"There's a lot of totally correct talk about how @StaceyAbrams was pivotal to winning Georgia. Folks: Stacey & her team were pivotal to flipping Wisconsin too. And every other battleground. They worked with us to build massive, supercharged voter protection teams—starting *early.*"

Ben's point here about their role in building VoPro at a very early stage is super important. Regardless of your feelings about the DNC itself, the state parties in NC, PA, SC, TX, etc. will also benefit from your donations and can use that to build infrastructure. They go through a lot of turnover and lot of strain in offcycles as fundraising dries up between elections. If most of the donations for a campaign only come in around September or October, that 1 to 2 months is not enough time build anything substantial. Durable organizations like FairFight help a lot by keeping the work and expertise going when state parties and campaigns have to lay off people after the election is done.

Right now, looking at the landscape of who's doing what, there's a very healthy number of orgs working on GOTV. Civitech (Beto's old tech team) created a lot of great vote-by-mail and voter reg tools but they needed to start that work in 2018. VoteAmerica, BallotReady, and Amplify all worked on text-to-poll tools and other new GOTV strategies. FairFight is the only org outside of the DNC and Perkins-Coie (Marc Elias' firm), that's thinking hard about voter protection, and it's something that deserves that sort of year-after-year longterm capacity building.

If you want to build infrastructure to flip those states invest in the state democratic party, and invest in Fairfight. And make your donations recurring and as regular as your Netflix or phone subscription.
posted by bl1nk at 5:03 AM on January 6, 2021 [17 favorites]

The justice boner I've gotten at this news has completely drained the blood from my brain
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 5:03 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

Ossoff declares victory, thanks voters. @ 8 am.

DecisionDesk called it for Ossoff @ 2:14 am.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

I feel like we're finally on the road to the correct timeline (our timeline was broken when Trump was elected).
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:39 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

(Personally, I think our timeline was broken when Survivor ended up being a smash hit. Direct line from that to the last four years.)
posted by nobody at 5:50 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

(our timeline was broken when Trump was elected).

You've mis-spelled Reagan.
posted by pompomtom at 5:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [49 favorites]

It could have been the Cubs winning the World Series too.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Nope, I meant Trump, thanks!
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

(Personally I think its a little strange, this internet thing of "fixed that for you" or "you misspelled this." I'd prefer if people used their own words instead of "correcting" other people's.)
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:02 AM on January 6, 2021 [34 favorites]

If you all don’t stop with the played-out timeline jokes I’ll turn this timeline right around and we’ll go back to 2020
posted by oulipian at 6:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [29 favorites]

It could have been the Cubs winning the World Series too.

I think the terms for us Cubs fans pledging that "we don't care how anything else in this world turns out, just give us the World Series" is finally expiring and everything is righting itself again. OK Cubs, keep on sucking, it's OK now that we know what happens when you win.
posted by NoMich at 6:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

Congratulations America! This is good news for the world. Now there is a chance we can tackle climate change and the virus together with you all.

I can't help feeling that this also happened because Mitch McConnell overplayed his cards. If he had just now and then pretended to work across the aisle and make things happen, a lot of people would still be going "they are crooks on both sides, my vote doesn't count, etc." For the last six years, he has driven government into a more and more extreme situation, where even teenagers who aren't yet eligible to vote can see he is the bad guy they need to fight at every corner (or senate race).
The Republicans should have kicked out Trump, already during the 2017, because of his involvement with the Russians. It would have been painful, the MAGA-hats would have been angry, and Joe Biden would probably still have won over President Pence this November. But now the movement for real change has gained force every time McConnell has broken norms, as he did from his first day in that chair. Another white guy who thinks he is smart and cynical in a cool way, but really isn't.

If he continues to obstruct the law-making proces in every way he can, 2022 may be a really bright election, bringing real progress.

I'm hoping and believing that this victory in Georgia becomes an inspiration, all over the country, regardless of Mitch McConnell. That even more people realize not only that voting matters, but also that participation matters.
posted by mumimor at 6:07 AM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

So, as a fairly left wing person living in Nebraska, I dearly wish that there was somebody here with Abram's perceptiveness, incisive intelligence, drive, and commitment, to spend a decade or two trying to build up some Democratic muscle here. As things stand, the local Democratic party is such a damn clown show that they didn't endorse their own candidate for the Senate this year. And the Democratic candidate for the House in my district wasn't endorsed by the last Democratic Representative to hold the seat. And then she lost, despite Biden having secured the district's electoral vote.

I agree with those who argue that this is not a center-right country, but rather a country with a heavily suppressed voting populace. That suppression will not be corrected overnight, or without brutally hard labor requiring razor-sharp thinking on the part of people who will not be thanked for their efforts. So, although I know the kudos being laid at Abrams' feet smell faintly of virtue signaling (a term I despise), I'm going to hand her one more. Thank you, Ms. Abrams. This has been an amazing thing to watch.
posted by Ipsifendus at 6:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

I had mentally written this off. ("It's Georgia, right?")

I am pleased to be wrong.
posted by SoberHighland at 6:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

oulipian, your comment was funny and I wanted to favorite it but it included the appalling obscenity "back to [redacted]," so I couldn't.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:21 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

Looks like Trump just woke up and he's rapid fire tweeting. Guess he might be upset about something...
posted by Packed Lunch at 6:22 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

After the events of today I can almost believe that Trump has two weeks before he's permabanned from Twitter
posted by Merus at 6:23 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

Oh my, MeFi, I could cry. And as I've said elsewhere, Kamala Harris delivering the tie breaking vote in the Senate is just delicious.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

tiny frying pan:
I'd prefer if people used their own words

My apologies.

I was suggesting that the current US lurch to fascism began earlier than 1981. I think that you are saying that it began in 2000, given the Trump reference. Is this correct?
posted by pompomtom at 6:25 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Rev. William Barber isn't the Abrams of NC, but if you're not aware of him for his work organizing Moral Mondays and the Poor People's Campaign to build progressive coalitions across people of all faiths & none, and to shine a light on the absolute fuckery of North Carolina's GOP, you should be. He's not fighting the legal fights against voter suppression so much as building power from a Religious Left perspective, but he's likely to be heavily involved in any successful play to unfuck that state.
posted by deludingmyself at 6:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [42 favorites]

Nope, not what I was saying.
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

It was right here on the blue that I learned about Fair Fight in what feels like a million years ago. I've donated more money to Stacey Abrams' organization than any other political organization in my life and I'm so proud of her work. I'm going to take a deep breath and celebrate today. On January 21st the work starts again to make sure healthcare is a human right in the USA and that racial justice is taken seriously. Cheers!
posted by photoslob at 6:33 AM on January 6, 2021 [18 favorites]

I think the takeaway here is that there is no single "crossing the Rubicon" moment where Republicans pushed us into a different timeline. At every point, whether it was when slavery was written into the Constitution, the failure of Reconstruction, the elections of Nixon, Regan, Bush 43, or Trump, or whatever other moment you think set us on a particular path, there were opportunities to push back and move things in a better direction, and a lot of people trying their best to do so.

Those efforts failed, obviously, and maybe we can start another thread to discuss individual instances where could have done better. But now seems like a much better time to celebrate what good has been done than to lament previous failures or go frame-by-frame throughout the history of Republican ratfuckers to try to find the exact moment that things went awry.

We're living through a moment when something went very, very right for a change. This is what Democracy looks like. Let's celebrate that!
posted by tonycpsu at 6:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [41 favorites]

Who do I throw money at in NC and PA monthly for the next two years that will take the Fair Fight model and run with it in those two states. Because I will do it, goddamn it.

I'll put in a plug for the Movement Voter Project -- that's where my money is going. Answering your question is more or less their full time job. In Georgia this cycle they were supporting Black Voters Matter and Fair Fight Action and a bunch of others. In Pennsylvania they were supporting 22 groups. I'm betting the leaders you're looking to support are in there.
posted by john hadron collider at 6:39 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

This was my morning:
I awoke with a feeling of dread that grew worse as I lingered in bed reading bad virus news in the newspaper. I finally dragged into the kitchen to make coffee and steeled myself to switch on NPR. Somebody said something vaguely positive that included the name Warnock, so I came to check this thread. On the way I stumbled across a pile of unopened mail and in it was an envelope from Fair Fight and when I opened it I found a thank you card with my favorite person in the entire world smiling at me on it. January 1 was sortof a yawner by contrast: I nominate today as the true New Year's Day.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:39 AM on January 6, 2021 [18 favorites]

Is it definite for Ossoff? UK media is reporting that results are yet to be confirmed.
posted by freya_lamb at 6:43 AM on January 6, 2021

the local Democratic party is such a damn clown show that they didn't endorse their own candidate for the Senate this year

Janicek? Sexual harasser Janicek?
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Still too close to call for Ossoff for many organizations, but it looks like a done deal. I’m not sure he’s going to escape recount territory though, so it may take a good while before it’s truly official.
posted by Room 101 at 6:45 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Tell Donald...
posted by jquinby at 6:47 AM on January 6, 2021 [17 favorites]

Yeah, I think a bit of the hesitation in calling it for Ossoff is about the margin of victory - he needs a greater than .5% margin to be out of recount territory, and according to CNN he is officially at .4%.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:49 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Not speaking for Ipsifendus but yeah, Janicek. Perhaps the better phrasing is not "didn't endorse" but "couldn't endorse" because of his horribleness. Also, if I remember correctly, he wasn't a fabulous candidate even before his grossness was made evident. I wrote in the candidate that was the new option, but knew it was not going to do much.
posted by PussKillian at 6:54 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

@Reddy:

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders

Meet the senators who will be in charge if Dems win the Senate
posted by tonycpsu at 6:55 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

Stacy Abrams on the Urgency of Voter Registration

"My favorite speech by Dr. Martin Luther King is not his extraordinary “I Have a Dream” delivered at the 1963 March on Washington. I actually prefer his lesser-known 1966 speech delivered in Kingstree, South Carolina, where his audience gathered in folding chairs and he addressed listeners from a makeshift podium, asking them to “March on Ballot Boxes.” On a damp Mother’s Day morning, the almost entirely black gathering heard him lay out his case, arguing that the ability to change the legislative agenda—and by extension their very lives—began with registering to vote. Like a golden ticket, the act of voter registration opens the process of democracy, and without it, citizens are just aspirants at the gate."
posted by bluesky43 at 7:00 AM on January 6, 2021 [29 favorites]

Judging from my overflowing inbox, pretty much every major organization from the center to the left of the Democratic party was involved in voter mobilization and outreach during these elections. A non-exhaustive list of e-mails I received:

Moveon
StopRepublicans
OurRevolution
Democracy for America
People's Action
Mijente

I'm probably leaving a few out. If you make just one political donation apparently you end up on a lot of e-mail lists.
posted by eagles123 at 7:10 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Sweet Georgia Brown: Globetrotters beat Washington Senators.
Have two incumbents from the same state ever lost simultaneously?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:20 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

As of January 3rd, Perdue wasn't incumbent any more. I wonder if he cleared out his desk or if he has to get security to escort him back in
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Woke up to this news + announcement of Phase 1B (serious medical conditions) vaccine signups finally going live for my county. Currently 47,000th in line (out of one million). It's a fantastic day.

This is also a gentle reminder, based on some comments upthread, that it's not too late to make a New Year's resolution to assume good faith on the part of your fellow Mefites. To not repeat the endless cycle of left-wing circular firing squads and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Now that we have the minimum possible margin of breathing space the temptation is going to be to resume sniping at each other, and if we want to turn this thing around we need to resolve to do better in the coming year.
posted by Ryvar at 7:31 AM on January 6, 2021 [46 favorites]

If you make just one political donation apparently you end up on a lot of e-mail lists.

This is true, and I personally got fairly tired of some of the scare-tactics. Moveon is frankly always really annoying about this. But apparently it works on some people - I read at least one interview in the Post of a Georgia voter who mentioned being inspired to register because of all the emails. So . . . I'll just keep sending my $ where it seems to count and throw the emails in the pile.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:31 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Have two incumbents from the same state ever lost simultaneously?

Well, Perdue wasn't an incumbent and Loeffler wasn't actually elected, right?
posted by aspersioncast at 7:33 AM on January 6, 2021

@nhannahjones: "Now I’m waiting for a thousand stories with BLACK rural diners and BLACK suburban soccer moms in Georgia and why the Republicans did so poorly and how they need to change."
posted by gwint at 7:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [84 favorites]

If you make just one political donation apparently you end up on a lot of e-mail lists.

Jaime Harrison's campaign sent me one with the subject line "got a second [taquito realname]?" & I was like "nope there's always just been the one of me"
posted by taquito sunrise at 7:37 AM on January 6, 2021 [23 favorites]

Janicek? Sexual harasser Janicek?

Yep, that's who I meant, and as PussKillian said above, I expressed my complaint badly: the failure was not in failing to endorse Janicek. It was in allowing him to become the nominee in the first place. Hell, allowing him on to the ballot. A serious organization would have pulled the rug out from under him before things got to that point.

Hey...come to think about it, that's largely what I've been saying about the GOP in re: Trump!
posted by Ipsifendus at 7:37 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Loeffler was appointed specifically to appeal to moderate suburbanites who dislike Trump. Then she went full Trump. Then she lost to a Democrat. Funny.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [33 favorites]

If you all don’t stop with the played-out timeline jokes I’ll turn this timeline right around and we’ll go back to 2020

I wasn't joking! Plus, on top of the cultural benefits of sinkholing the ship that launched a thousand reality shows, the time-cops are much less likely to be patrolling the Nielsen ratings databases in the Summer of 2000 than, say, the election results of 1980, 2000, or 2016.
posted by nobody at 7:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I personally got fairly tired of some of the scare-tactics

Me too. The breathless message copy and frequent use of all caps were a little too evocative of the off-the-rails Trump campaign emails for me. Any time I unsubscribed from a Dem-aligned fundraising email and got a feedback form, I said as much. I would be curious as to whether there's actual good data showing that this style of email is effective, or if it's just the political consultant class falling back on muscle memory.
posted by Kosh at 7:42 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

the time-cops are much less likely to be patrolling the Nielsen ratings databases in the Summer of 2000

Take it closer to the source. Get rid of the Birchers in '60 who were promoting Eisenhower being a secret communist and learning how to organize via newsletter mailing lists.
posted by Buy Sockpuppet Bonds! at 7:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Actually, that type of fundraising email is very effective.
posted by all about eevee at 7:45 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Anti-democratic, power-mad, prejudiced people have always been with us, have always had representation in politics, and always will. This origin-story hunt is nonsense.
posted by argybarg at 7:50 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

If there's anything I learned from working in marketing for 15 years, it's that things I personally find incredibly annoying and counterproductive work (unfortunately) on a provably large percentage of people. There's a reason popups appear asking you to signup for people's newsletter.

Whether those people stay subscribed to your annoying emails is another matter, but retention is usually someone else's job.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:52 AM on January 6, 2021 [20 favorites]

I would be curious as to whether there's actual good data showing that this style of email is effective, or if it's just the political consultant class falling back on muscle memory.

I don't know anything about that particular style of email, but I worked as an freelance IT Tech Guy for many years, and one of my largest clients was a company that ran a large-scale email sending system, pushing out about 10,000,000 emails a day, all political.

The emails campaigns are very data driven, and the systems that send them are very good at gathering all kinds of information. The senders know how many recipients opened the mail, how many bounced back, how many recipients clicked the unsubscribe button, how much money was raised, and so on.

If you see an email (like the all caps kind) repeated over and over, it's a good bet it's actually bringing in the dollars.
posted by Frayed Knot at 7:57 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

“Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.” --Mary Harris Jones
posted by medusa at 7:59 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Yeah, I work in fundraising and write this kind of e-mail. I've even written fundraising e-mails for some of the mentioned organizations. If they weren't working, they would change them. Also, in fundraising, what people SAY they like and how they actually RESPOND to an appeal are two different things. I can't trust what donors say, only how they behave.
posted by all about eevee at 8:02 AM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

The breathless message copy and frequent use of all caps were a little too evocative of the off-the-rails Trump campaign emails for me.

Not to mention the frequent use of extra-spammy deceptive subject lines crafted to get my attention, though I suppose that's the point.

Also--the night RBG left us, I made a large (for me anyway) panic donation of $$ to Biden's campaign, and since then almost every single fundraising email from every organization my email address has been distributed to has been asking me to donate another $$. It was kind of annoying that $$ has became my personal floor, and although it's not a large amount, it's not something I'm going to casually part with because some random email has the subject "Could you chip in another $$?"
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:03 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

David Dayen, The American Prospect: Time for $2,000 Checks

Ossoff and Warnock both ran on direct payments for months, and they leaped on Trump’s support for bigger checks, especially as they got bogged down in Mitch McConnell’s Senate. It finally gave specifics to a Democratic campaign message: vote for X and we’ll give you Y. For all the establishment cringing at populism, it’s, well, popular. And a simple message, repeatedly delivered, works. [...]

Now it’s time to deliver. The question is not if, but how. As I noted on Monday, 37 of the 44 Republicans who voted for $2,000 checks in the House are still there in this new Congress. Senators in both parties stated confidently that 60 votes were available for checks. So you probably don’t need to do anything special other than put the bill on the floor for it to pass. [...]

Most important, this was a campaign promise, from a party that has a trust problem with the electorate. An early, definitive win on an issue that polls 80-20 and splits the opponent is highly desirable. It’s not time to get cute. Simple messaging won the Senate, and simple messaging will build support in the country for Democrats. Just pass the checks.

Importantly, nothing can be done until Chuck Schumer gains the votes to become Majority Leader, and because he’ll rely on Kamala Harris to become President of the Senate, that means January 20 (maybe later as we wait for the Georgia elections to be certified; hopefully Ossoff breaks out of recount territory). There’s time to devise a quick-strike strategy. I’d argue that the simplest one is the best.

posted by tonycpsu at 8:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

things I personally find incredibly annoying and counterproductive work (unfortunately) on a provably large percentage of people.

Viz Trump's verbal diarrhea, which makes me want to poke my ears out but some people apparently interpret as straight talk.

To the subject at hand, Perdue and Loeffler were pretty shitty candidates even for Republicans. Now's time to celebrate, but also to keep planning for the next few years and the next few races, now that there are some actual possibilities beyond "be continually disappointed by a particular asshole senator from Kentucky."
posted by aspersioncast at 8:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Just a wee note from Edinburgh that -- as the day dawned brightly on our Trump-free golf courses -- my wife and I went for a celebratory walk. And there, indeed, on a course that was mostly ice, and mud where it was not ice, were a whole series of golfing parties, teeing off and managing not to slip. We'll enjoy our outside lands, thanks, and cheers to America from here!
posted by SandCounty at 8:06 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Not about fundraising, more a general note:

This past weekend my roommate did the last legwork to finish cleaning out an apartment for a friend who'd moved to Korea; in thanks for taking on the job, the friend said my roommate could adopt any of the (very nice!) stuff he'd left behind.

One of the things my roommate brought home is a bottle of a rather nice-looking champagne, and he is seriously considering opening it today.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:07 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

I can't trust what donors say, only how they behave.

do you capture the behavior of one-time donors who stop interacting with your organization under the email barrage?
posted by 20 year lurk at 8:12 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

Not to abuse the edit window, but the checks as delivered are in many ways a regressive bandaid. $600 or $2k per person is a drop in the bucket compared to the actual money we need to be spending on healthcare, housing, and food security. It's bread and circuses.

Anecdotally, I do not need a check. But because I'm in a DINK household and we file separately, I got a check. That money should have gone somewhere else. And it will, but now I'm deciding, which is bass-ackwards.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:13 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

do you capture the behavior of one-time donors who stop interacting with your organization under the email barrage?

Yep, we consider that. It's just not enough people to make it worth it to change it.
posted by all about eevee at 8:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

Everyone from zero income students to Bezos should get the check and then claw back from the wealthy. Simple, easy to execute, fair and no one falls through the cracks.
posted by Mitheral at 8:19 AM on January 6, 2021 [32 favorites]

Yes, but then someone undeserving may receive a check. Better that no one gets one than risk that catastrophe.
posted by star gentle uterus at 8:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

Cake for everyone.
posted by MtDewd at 8:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Not to abuse the edit window, but the checks as delivered are in many ways a regressive bandaid. $600 or $2k per person is a drop in the bucket compared to the actual money we need to be spending on healthcare, housing, and food security. It's bread and circuses.

Absolutely, but it's also something that Democrats can do on January 20th. They have the votes for it, and it's not a surprise new policy. There is probably nothing more effective the Democratic Party can do to restore faith and confidence in democracy than say, while it's fresh in people's minds, "we said we wanted to cut you a $2000 check, and we have cut everyone a $2000 check".
posted by Merus at 8:26 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

It begins: Republicans turn on Trump after Georgia loss
posted by jquinby at 8:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

They should send us the $2000. They should get rid of student debt like they talk about. Give us healthcare. I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of people who want to run a country full of desperate and destitute people and I have nothing kind to say.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 8:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

Mod note: Couple comments deleted. Friendly nudge to drop the derail about fundraising email tactics -- or go ahead and make a separate post if folks really want to dive more deeply on this?
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Democrats need to back policies that are easy to understand and provide concrete benefit. Even backers of Obamacare can’t explain it. Yes, $2,000 is blunt and insufficient, but it is comprehensible and need not be the endpoint.
posted by argybarg at 8:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

fine with $2,000 but with some persons that puts them over the income level to receive other services i.e. medicaid
posted by robbyrobs at 8:34 AM on January 6, 2021

Trump's verbal diarrhea, which makes me want to poke my ears out but some people apparently interpret as straight talk

fucken dummies
posted by flabdablet at 8:34 AM on January 6, 2021

Sure, send those $2000 checks.

And keep sending them every month or two until the pandemic is over.

And then say "oh hey, those checks boosted the economy so much, we're just going to keep doing it. And we'll pay for it by taxing the wealthy, who it turns out, weren't very helpful to the economy when we needed it."
posted by Foosnark at 8:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [66 favorites]

Build free clinics, improve roads, build a new power grid, deliver broadband to rural areas, run free colleges and lifelong vocational schools, improve the Postal Service. Make everything visibly, tangibly better for all communities. Keep it all simple and catchy, like pop music.
posted by argybarg at 8:49 AM on January 6, 2021 [20 favorites]

A brief history of Georgia’s runoff voting – and its racist roots (The Conversation, 23/11/2020, before the senate runoff elections)

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the county unit system unconstitutional as a violation of the “one person, one vote” principle. This prompted Georgian legislators to look for a new electoral system that could similarly, yet legally, suppress the African American vote. Later that year, Denmark Groover – a staunch segregationist – proposed the adoption of runoff voting, as it “would again provide protection which … was removed with the death of the county unit system.”

The fear among whites was that if elections were left to plurality voting, the white vote could be split among several different candidates, while African Americans could – in theory – vote as a single bloc for an African American candidate, who could end up winning with the most votes overall.

posted by runcifex at 8:51 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

And do it all in separate, small, easy-to-digest pieces. No omnibus anything.
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 8:51 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

Exactly: Do popular things. And make them clear, as Matt Yglesias says in his latest column, er, newsletter: Effective ideas meet a simple test: "It does exactly what it says on the tin."
posted by PhineasGage at 8:52 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

PhineasGage: Exactly what I was about to post. Reconnect to voters by doing things that make their lives tangibly, obviously better. And keep it simple. As Jonathan Livengood says, one benefit at a time.
posted by argybarg at 8:59 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

We can and should celebrate. But, whatever else, the Democratic Party can no longer have excuses, in light of the work that needs to be done.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:02 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Foosnark, now that is the kind of approach I want to see from Dem leadership.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Not to abuse the edit window, but the checks as delivered are in many ways a regressive bandaid.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think sending out the same amount to everyone is, if anything, progressive! The less one makes, the bigger percentage of one's income is being refunded. (Plus, anyone making more than a certain amount is getting zero, though there are some fiddly bits about which year's income counts for this.)
posted by nobody at 9:06 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

I have voted in Georgia since I was 18 (with the exception of the 1984 election, when I was at UT Austin and voted there). It is a strange feeling to have voted with the winning side in the presidential and 2 senatorial elections; I think I like it though!
posted by TedW at 9:07 AM on January 6, 2021 [29 favorites]

It was in allowing [Janicek] to become the nominee in the first place. Hell, allowing him on to the ballot. A serious organization would have pulled the rug out from under him before things got to that point.

I'm not going to go look at the specific electoral laws in Nebraska, but *in general* any jackass that wants to can run in whatever primary they like, and the party can't do shit about it. At least not without convincing a judge that they really and truly aren't part of the party. Then, whoever wins the primary is the party's nominee, no matter what the party thinks about that.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:10 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

$2000 / month, retroactive to March. Prorate March if absolutely necessary. Once all checks have been delivered, hard lockdown nationally for four weeks.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:11 AM on January 6, 2021 [23 favorites]

For all the non-Georgians out there, there was also a seat on the public service commission on the ballot; it looks like it was narrowly won by the incumbent Republican. I can live with that, even though a clean sweep would have been nice.
posted by TedW at 9:13 AM on January 6, 2021

Joe Biden has selected Judge Merrick Garland to serve as his attorney general, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. -- Kyle Griffin on twitter
posted by valkane at 9:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [29 favorites]

While we're asking for ponies -- Line Item Veto anyone?
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:17 AM on January 6, 2021

So, Sally Yates wasn’t available?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:18 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

Trump currently describing Republicans as "pathetic" in his speech. May the split begin.
posted by nicoffeine at 9:19 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I think when we step back from the stochastic mess that is the present day, the picture will be clear: Trump has become no fun. And that’s fatal.
posted by argybarg at 9:21 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

fine with $2,000 but with some persons that puts them over the income level to receive other services i.e. medicaid

No, it does not. The covid relief checks are not counted as income.
posted by JackFlash at 9:22 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

The Garland nomination is a great opportunity to allow Biden to nominate someone to the Federal Court of Appeals, which is often the de facto minor leagues for SCOTUS. I have read some reasonable speculation that Biden is going to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson, a well thought of district court judge, presumably with an eye toward nominating her for SCOTUS down the road.
posted by skewed at 9:23 AM on January 6, 2021 [22 favorites]

While we're asking for ponies -- Line Item Veto anyone?

Nah. President shouldn’t be able to unilaterally cut spending. And anyway, Newt and Pals actually passed it back in the 90’s and Bill Clinton line item vetoed some stuff but it was ruled to be unconstitutional.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:23 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Appointing Garland opens a spot on the US Court of Appeals, which lets Biden slot in a young Supreme Court candidate.
posted by argybarg at 9:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

You know, I was angry (but not surprised) when McConnell was reelected but I do look forward to 2 years of him failing over and over again and being powerless to do anything.

The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can't.
posted by JackFlash at 9:25 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

I almost wet myself in glee at the Merrick Garland AG info.
posted by hilaryjade at 9:25 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

The electoral vote count should start right around 1:00 Eastern time, and should be on the House livestream (https://live.house.gov/). You may need to click on the picture of the Capitol to get it to start for you.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:26 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Hoping that AG Garland appoints Doug Jones as a special counsel to investigate election tampering, specifically with respect to voter suppression in southern states and fraud put forth in the purpose of attempting to overthrow a duly-elected candidate.
posted by delfin at 9:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

I’m trying to take the huge win but my dumb brain keeps harshing my mellow by imagining how many of our bright shiny legislative priorities will crash upon the rocks of the Supreme Court.

If the filibuster isn't nuked then this Georgia election very nearly doesn't matter. Right? Someone convince me I'm wrong. No, that's going too far, there are a bunch of things not subject to filibuster anyway, but any major legislation will be subject to filibuster unless it's really nuked.

Then any legislation has to make it past the Scylla of conservative Dems and the Charybdis of conservative media before it can be sunk by the Supreme Court.

SCOTUS is probably the least of these obstacles, I think.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 9:28 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

!
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 9:28 AM on January 6, 2021

Joe Biden has selected Judge Merrick Garland to serve as his attorney general

That sentence was a minor rollercoaster, I was dreading it ending with a Supreme Court nomination just to stick it to Mitch when that would be a terrible move. But appointing him AG and freeing up his seat in the Court of Appeals is a great choice!
posted by jason_steakums at 9:28 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

Without going into a derail, is Garland the type that will throw the book at Trump? I mean, just the last week alone, if that's allowed to go unpunished then it's allowed.
posted by adept256 at 9:28 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

$2000 / month, retroactive to March.

Do this and you could wipe out the Republican party for a generation.

Alternatively, fail to learn the lesson that delivering actual concrete benefits to voters gets you votes, and the GOP will be back in two years.
posted by Beardman at 9:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [17 favorites]

Even keeping the filibuster, if Dems are in control of the agenda and committees, they can force Republicans to vote against things. Moscow Mitch has protected his klan from ever having to vote for or against anything.
posted by rikschell at 9:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

It's kinda funny. I remember Merrick Garland's nomination as a pretty standard Obama compromise centrist candidate who would obviously vote for all the tentpole progressive priorities but probably end up somewhere around Kagan in terms of ideology rather than Ginsburg or Sotomayor.

But then McConnell said "kindly fuck off with your norms", and then Trump came along and pretty much did away with the idea of norms entirely. So now Garland has sort of been elevated to this symbol of getting back at them for doing that.

And hey, maybe he will be a more progressive AG if confirmed than he would have been as a SCOTUS justice. And maybe he would have been a more liberal SCOTUS justice than he seemed on paper.

But maybe it's only this precise sequence of events, where he had what was probably his lifetime dream taken away from him (at least temporarily) by a Machiavellian Senaturtle, that leads him to really take the gloves off.

"Get ya popcorn ready."
posted by tonycpsu at 9:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

Oh, that's delightful. An AG with a personal grudge against the outgoing administration. [ Rubs hands together, starts small fire. ]
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

"Between banning anonymous shell companies and the results in Georgia, this might well be the best anti-corruption/counter-kleptocracy week in American history." -- Casey Michel on twitter
posted by valkane at 9:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

I think Garland will go by the book more than he'll throw the book, but I hope his prior experience will give him that extra bit of motivation to not pull a single punch on any Senate R's whose dirty laundry comes up in the course of investigations into *gestures wildly at the last four years*

I don't think you nominate Garland to this in a vacuum and you don't nominate Garland to this as a pat on the back for being a good sport in the last fracas. It reads like something that's in the same ballpark as a Bharara or Yates nom but not giving any ammo to Trump playing the court of public opinion about personal retaliation. Like it's definitely sending a message, it's just not a bullhorn.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

"This is just speculation on my part, but I think that a Dem Senate makes it more likely that Biden chooses Merrick Garland as AG, because then he can appoint Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Garland seat on the DC Circuit and make her the obvious heir apparent to Justice Breyer." -- Ian Millhiser, 13 hours ago.
posted by valkane at 9:40 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

Let the Southern District of NY prosecute Trump and his allies. Let the US AG deal with consent decrees against any police department that dares shoot another black man in the back. Not to mention, the US AG is going to have their hands full trying white supremacist terrorists. I think Doug Jones would be perfect for that role.
posted by photoslob at 9:42 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

now we need Clarence Thomas to retire as he has been hinting at for some time
posted by robbyrobs at 9:43 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Expand the court and Judge Jackson doesn't need to be heir to anything.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:43 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

The immediate recrimination is emblematic of the complicated GOP dynamics that have emerged after Trump’s loss in the November election. Fissures are forming as Republicans decide whether it's useful to cling to Trump — even as he tries to subvert an election — or to distance themselves. And if the Georgia races are any indication, it appears Republicans are willing to turn on Trump if he can’t reliably turn out the vote for candidates in the months and years ahead.

From the Politico article linked above. That's right, racism was a feature. Separating children from their families was a feature. Ending as many environmental protections as possible was a feature. But losing the presidency and not being able to turn out voters for the GOP? That, my friends, is a sin and apparently the only thing that will spur Republicans to turn on Trump. For now. (I do not condone violence and do not encourage it. But I hate these fuckers so so much.)
posted by Bella Donna at 9:43 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

A friendly reminder to all that Sen. Manchin has explicitly said he does not support eliminating the filibuster or expanding the Supreme Court, and other Senators have hinted at feeling the same.
posted by PhineasGage at 9:46 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Not to abuse the edit window, but the checks as delivered are in many ways a regressive bandaid.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think sending out the same amount to everyone is, if anything, progressive!

Right, checks are more progressive than tax cuts or a lot of other choices.

They are made more progressive because, despite some of the rhetoric, not everyone gets checks--they dry up somewhere in the top quintile (and well below the top 1%).

The checks, despite their prominence, are not the only aid or even the majority of the aid for many poorer Americans.

Finally, while I know a lot well meaning people who are all "I don't need a check, we're wasting money, we should means test" the problem with trying to stick with this approach is summed up by the adage benefits for the poor become poor benefits.
posted by mark k at 9:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

"I don't need a check, we're wasting money, we should means test"

Determining who does and who does not "deserve" supplemental aid would be such a monumental task that it is actually cheaper to just send checks to everybody.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:50 AM on January 6, 2021 [27 favorites]

A friendly reminder to all that Sen. Manchin has explicitly said he does not support eliminating the filibuster or expanding the Supreme Court, and other Senators have hinted at feeling the same.

Totally true, which is why we need to look to 2022 to expand control of the Senate. And the 2022 map is very favorable.

Today is a huge, massive step forward, but 50-50 won't be enough to end the filibuster because Manchin.

McConnell just got vanquished though, which is cause for heart-felt emotional revelry.
posted by mcstayinskool at 9:50 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

> A friendly reminder to all that Sen. Manchin has explicitly said he does not support eliminating the filibuster or expanding the Supreme Court, and other Senators have hinted at feeling the same.

He said that before he became the most powerful person in the Senate, and one whose power is actually diminished by the existence of the filibuster.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:50 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

Exactly. One hopes that Manchin will begin singing a different tune under new power dynamics.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:52 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Would it make sense for the next AG (whoever that person is) to recall Mueller and have him "complete" his report by making explicit recommendations about Trump after Trump stops being president? I mean, I know how I interpret the Mueller report, but I'd sort of like to see Mueller actually say (at minimum), "We should indict that man on multiple counts of obstruction of justice."

Put differently: What's the cleanest way to fairly and honestly pursue justice with respect to all the apparent wrong-doing of the last four years?
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 9:52 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

Yeah, maybe Manchin becomes the opposite of Susan Collins, being very "concerned" before doing the right thing. We can hope.
posted by mcstayinskool at 9:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

I've also heard it said (as an argument for a universal basic income, though I haven't read any serious analyses of the idea) that making it universal helps increase support, or at least reduce pushback by people upset that someone "undeserving" is getting more than them. Universal benefits can seem more "fair", even if they're not quite equitable, and a lot of people who don't strictly need supplemental income are still happy to find their account balance has gone up.
posted by trig at 9:54 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

Trump gave a speech today, with the White House as a backdrop.

Warm-up-the-crowd music included 'Candle in the Wind' (Marilyn Monroe version), 'Beat It,' 'Tiny Dancer,' 'Macho Man,' 'Don't Stop Believin',' 'Gloria' (Laura Branigan), and, Trump's walk-out music, 'God Bless the USA.' He lets the song finish playing before starting to speak. There are at least a dozen flags on the stage. When he first starts talking, his mic's not turned on.

The crowd looks like a couple hundred people, tops. He claims there are hundreds of thousands of people in attendance. Let's see... media is the worst problem, Democrats rigged both the presidential election and the Georgia runoff, election stolen by radical left and fake news... we'll never give up and never concede, we'll stop the steal, we won by a landslide, the real pollsters said we were going to win... does anybody believe Joe had 80 million votes? He had 80 million computer votes... third-world countries' elections are more honest... they're all running around like chickens... we're not going to let them silence your voices.

The crowd (well, a fraction thereof) starts chanting 'Fight for Trump.'

Trump again claims tens of thousands in attendance, asks if the people can join him on stage, thanks Rudy Giuliani ('he's got guts, unlike a lot of people in the Republican party')... I hope Mike Pence is gonna do the right thing. If he does the right thing, we win the election... He has the absolute right to do it... states want to re-vote, they got defrauded, they got false information and voted on it. All Pence has to do is send it back to the state to re-certify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people...

The crowd (well, a fraction thereof) chants what sounds like 'We love Trump.'

Trump claims the crowd goes past the Washington Monument. It does not.

He says that we won't take the names off the Washington Monument, Jefferson memorial. He claims the Biden administration will take down the Lincoln Memorial. He says they could use Rudy in NYC, because his city's going to hell. Well, a little younger version of Rudy.

We're here to save our democracy... 'they've used the pandemic as a way of defrauding the people in a proper election'... 'They said, 'sir, in four years you're guaranteed.' I said 'I'm not interested now, I want to go back eight weeks.'... our country will be destroyed... for years Democrats have gotten away with election fraud... Jim Jordan and some of the House guys are fighting... 'I helped Mitch get elected, I could name twenty more of them' ... weak Republicans are pathetic Republicans. If this happened to the Democrats, there'd be hell all over the country.

He tells the crowd "You're stronger, you're smarter, you've got more going than anybody, and they try and demean everybody having to do with us."

Weak Republicans have turned a blind eye as Democrats put America last... Did you see Joe Biden said 'I want to get rid of the America First policy'?... You have to get your people to fight, and if they don't fight you primary the hell out of them... using the pretext of the China virus and the scam of mail-in ballots, Democrats attempted the most outrageous and brazen election theft... everybody knows it... 'late in the evening or early in the morning, boom, these explosions of bullshit'

The crowd starts chanting indistinctly.

When Romney got beat, he stands up 'well, I'd like to congratulate the victor'... who is the victor, Mitt?... He got slaughtered... 'You know what the world says about us now? They say we don't have free and fair elections and we don't have a free and fair press.'... 'We want to be so nice, we want to be so respectable of everybody, even bad people.'... 'Mike Pence has to come through for us'... 'We're gonna walk down to the Capitol and we're gonna cheer on our brave Senators and Congressmen and -women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them'... we'll see whether Republicans stand strong for the integrity of our elections... our country has been under siege for a long time... 'I thought, four more years, I thought it'd be easy.'

All the accomplishments--tax cuts, regulation cuts, great economy, etc... Used to take ten years to get a highway approved, now it takes two 'And it may get rejected for environmental or safety reasons. But we got it down, the safety.'... Space Force... stuff about veterans... 'Many people don't like us, because we've done too much.'...

Back to the press... claims to have set records in Ohio, in Texas, with Hispanic and Black voters, etc... we're going to see whether we have great leaders or ones who should be ashamed through eternity... if they do the wrong thing we should never forget... it's much more important than it was 24 hours ago... I spoke with Perdue and Loeffler, and it's a setup... I want to thank the more than 140 members of the House... warriors, studying the roots of the Constitition... they gave these people bad things to vote for... Hillary Clinton said 'why didn't you do this for me four years ago?'... I also want to thank Cruz, Johnson, Hawley, Loeffler... let's give her and David a hand because it was rigged against her... Blackburn, Braun, Daines, Hagerty, Kennedy, Langford, Tuberville, Marshall...

You better start looking at your leadership because your leadership has led you down the tubes... complains about giving people $600 rather than $2,000... says China totally destroyed the American people... 'give 'em a couple of bucks, let 'em live, give 'em a couple of bucks'... asks how that plays politically... media asserts no evidence of widespread fraud... again claims hundreds of thousands of people in attendance... says media suppresses voices like communist countries... asks where Hunter Biden is... goes on about Hunter Biden's adventures in Russia and the Ukraine... corrupt media has gone silent... I realize how good it was ten years ago... media has lost all credibility... we will not be intimidated into accepting the hoaxes and lies that we've been forced to believe... calls Georgia's governor Kemp 'one of the dumbest governors in the United States,' takes credit for his victory, says he beat Stacey Abrams, Oprah, who used to like him, Michelle Obama and Barack Hussein Obama, says Kemp weighs 130 pounds and used to be an offensive lineman... Supreme Court loves to rule against me... sticks up for Bret Kavanaugh even as Senators urged him to cut him loose... SC going out of their way to hurt our country... all of a sudden Bill Barr changed...

Okay, this is getting very repetitive, and I just wanted to list the songs. I'm out. There's at least twenty-four more minutes of this.
posted by box at 9:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [25 favorites]

Democrats have been excruciatingly slow to learn that you can't replicate Clinton or Obama just by invoking their style and aping their tactics, so it's a nice distraction watching Republicans get a crash course in trying Trumpism without Trump.

Old dusty copies of the 2012 GOP postmortem are still sitting there ignored but inevitable while the GOP's off burning its hands on the stove a few more times.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:59 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Box, thanks for jumping on the grenade to save the rest of us...
posted by PhineasGage at 10:00 AM on January 6, 2021 [20 favorites]

In Sweden, the medical benefits, the monthly stipend to parents for each child, the retirement benefits, etc. are all the same. Years ago I was told the reason why Sweden has such good benefits is largely because every citizen gets them. There are not restrictions. They are a blanket deal. I think that's the way to go, honestly.
posted by Bella Donna at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2021 [33 favorites]

Given that EVERY objection possibly made by crybaby Republican losers has already been thoroughly debunked, I hope that their bad-faith objections will be dismissed as quickly as possible, to not waste valuable time.
posted by mikelieman at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Anonymous GOP operative-speak, so grain of salt, etc., but:

@jaketapper: GOP operative texts: “it may just be better, instead of recriminations, we tacitly acknowledge we made a deal with the devil for 4 years. Be proud of what we got out of it (SCOTUS Justices, Fed Judges, Tax Reform, ending neoconservatism and fiscal austerity) and move on.”

On the one hand: yeah, the scoreboard looks great for whatever non-Trumpist paleocon/establishment conservatives are left.

On the other hand: the reason it looks great is because they never "move on". Trump's particular flavor of authoritarian revanchism is a bit sui generis in that he never even pretended to be anything else in the way Reagan or Nixon did, so maybe that changes the calculus this time. But if Trump wants to remain a powerful political figure with a lot of establishment GOP support, I don't think he will have trouble doing so, and whoever this GOP operative represents is going to have to deal with that.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Warm-up-the-crowd music included 'Candle in the Wind' (Marilyn Monroe version), 'Beat It,' 'Tiny Dancer,' 'Macho Man,' 'Don't Stop Believin',' 'Gloria' (Laura Branigan), and, Trump's walk-out music, 'God Bless the USA.'

I'm seeing reports on Twitter that the music included Elton John's "Funeral For a Friend" and Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage" ("the lunatics are on the grass") which some folks are taking as shade from the DJ/audio crew . . .
posted by soundguy99 at 10:02 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

PALEOCONS? IIRC Frum kicked them all out of the GOP when they suggested that the invasion of Iraq might not be a great idea.
posted by mikelieman at 10:03 AM on January 6, 2021

Totally true, which is why we need to look to 2022 to expand control of the Senate. And the 2022 map is very favorable.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Dem turnout in a midterm for the first time ever after 2018 and this runoff, but god I'm going to be on edge waiting to see how it plays out when we're the incumbent party in the White House. We've done amazing work building a culture of civic engagement very quickly but if it falls apart without Trump as energizing opposition I'm going to be immensely disappointed.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:04 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

While Trump drones on with the lies, Pence releases a statement that he will NOT participate in the coup:

"It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not."
posted by valkane at 10:04 AM on January 6, 2021 [35 favorites]

i was watching that, box, and noted the warm-up song for failson eric was elton john's "funeral for a friend" which was allowed to segue into "love lies bleeding" before failson little don took the stage. struck me as poetic. on preview: i didn't hear the floyd, but did hear fortunate son.
posted by 20 year lurk at 10:04 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

ending neoconservatism and fiscal austerity

Is this an intentional or ironic lack of an Oxford comma? Because as much as they demand fiscal austerity (when Dems are in power), they sure did blow it up in the Trumpster fire.
posted by Dashy at 10:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

If the filibuster isn't nuked then this Georgia election very nearly doesn't matter. Right?

Even if the filibuster remains, Democrats will basically have one chance per year to pass major legislation through what's known as the budget reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority vote in the Senate. This is how the Affordable Care Act was eventually passed, and it's how the Trump tax cut bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, was passed. That will likely be how the Dems will roll back parts of the TCJA as well.

The budget reconciliation process has some restrictions though, namely that it has to be used for legislation that has a major effect on the budget, so it can't be used for everything.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 10:06 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

did some assbutt just boo Pelosi when she told people to respect social distancing on her floor
posted by phunniemee at 10:06 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

That will likely be how the Dems will roll back the TCJA as well ...
The budget reconciliation process has some restrictions though,

I sure as hell hope they roll back & redistribute the TCJA.

And I sure as hell hope they don't feel limited by "restrictions". That word feels so quaint after 4 years of steamrolling.

Tear down the damn wall, already.
posted by Dashy at 10:09 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

WHOA. Pence is sticking to the script, and just rejected a hypothetical question about a possible future point of order as "debate" which is not allowed, and shut him down.
posted by mikelieman at 10:10 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

oh FUCK OFF Paul Gosar
posted by taquito sunrise at 10:13 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Christ, he's still droning on. This huge crowd, blah, blah, walls, Mexicans, rip us off, blah, blah, caravan, blah, blah, corrupt elections, blah, blah, fight like hell, blah, blah, exciting adventures, blah, blah, I love Pennsylvania Avenue, blah, blah, Democrats are hopeless they never voted for anything, not one vote, blah, blah, pride, boldness, take back our country, blah, blah, god bless america and he's done.

So much whinning.

And the outro music is YMCA and he's doing his little dance. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
posted by flabdablet at 10:13 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Pence seems like the guy who would be 100% behind another VP doing what Trump wants but not the guy to do the dirty work himself. I hope.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:14 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Apologies for the stimulus check derail - I maintain that as implemented a one-time check is a bandaid on a bleeding wound, and a progressive implementation would be something more like what Bella Donna describes above. I am also in no way suggesting or advocating means testing, although I can see how my statement about not needing a check could be interpreted that way.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

While Trump drones on with the lies, Pence releases a statement that he will NOT participate in the coup

I had somewhat expected him to break with Trump today--basically, go about his duties as an "Ocsars Presenter" without much commentary. He'd leave the attacks on democracy to folks like Cruz. He realizes the game is over, and trying to break precedent will put him in the history books in a way he doesn't want. Anytime folks said "get rid of Trump, and you still have Pence," I'd note that he's a conventional politician who' adhere to norms. We may not like his policies, but at least we don't think he'd risk a war with every utterance.

I did not expect him to straight up say "I'm defying Trump" in a letter. By TrumpWorld standards, it seems like an act of courage. I'm not going to say I'm proud of him, but it did surprise me.

A lot of people speculated that Trump resigns after today, and let Pence finish out the term, perhaps with a pardon.

Thought 1: That's not going to happen.
Thought 1a: Never going to happen in the first place. Trump will try to pardon himself because he wants to create the chaos and destruction.
Thought 2: That's exactly what they discussed yesterday. Trump will continue his bluster, sure. But, recognizing the gig is up and self-pardoning was iffy at best, figures to give Pence his independence today, the office tomorrow, so he can be pardoned the next day.

My money is on 1a, but 2 is interesting.
posted by MrGuilt at 10:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Stocks extend their gains amid Georgia runoff results, Dow jumps 550 points to record -- CNBC

Joke heard on twitter: "I guess zombie Hugo Chavez is rigging the stock market, too."
posted by valkane at 10:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

oh FUCK OFF Paul Gosar

(should add context - he's objected to counting the AZ vote based on nothing more concrete than "it was not regular" & now both chambers of Congress have to entertain this inane argument for the next two hours)
posted by taquito sunrise at 10:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Pence just gives off a vibe of someone who was miscast for the role of being the adult in the room when the non-adult in the room is a raging narcissistic sociopath with 100M Twitter followers. Maybe he just wants to get this over with and go do some old white guy shit for a few years while collecting generous speaking fees and online donations, then re-emerge in time for the next election.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:19 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

What I would love to see, but of course I won't, is for every response or mention of one of the Republicans who have stood with Trump in all these shenanigans to begin with, "You attempted to subvert the Constitution and stage a coup to overthrow the legally elected government of the United States..." I think the Democrats should hit them over the head with that at every possible opportunity for the next several years.
posted by slkinsey at 10:19 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

"Regularly Given" is a Constitutional term. IN THEORY they will present their evidence ( already debunked ) in the House and Senate sessions. Will Republicans stretch this out 12 hours? Stay tuned and find out, but moderate your day-drinking, because this could be a marathon.
posted by mikelieman at 10:20 AM on January 6, 2021

A good time to revisit the video of six of Paul Gosar's siblings urging the public to not vote for their terrible brother
posted by theodolite at 10:21 AM on January 6, 2021 [28 favorites]

Okay, this is getting very repetitive

What I find astonishing is that Trump is obviously suffering from diminished mental capacity such that he can't understand anything presented to him in more that a cartoon picture. Yet he can recall with exquisite accuracy and speak without notes for an hour about every single slight that has occurred to him over the years, everyone who has been mean to him and everyone who has been nice to him to the smallest detail. It's the tiniest survival lizard part of his brain that remains intact.
posted by JackFlash at 10:21 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

Obama's opening statement as he congratulates Raphael Warnock:

"My friend John Lewis is surely smiling down on his beloved Georgia this morning, as people across the state carried forward the baton that he and so many others passed down to them."
posted by valkane at 10:23 AM on January 6, 2021 [34 favorites]

Steve Scalise demonstrates his inability to read the US Constitution and understand that every legislature he's complaining about DID determine the "manner" of elections, and that administration is delegated to the executive.

I hope the next speaker just shuts this entire argument down by citing, say, ED of WI's decision.
posted by mikelieman at 10:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Watching the count for a minute on C-Span - considering that every time an objection is raised the Senators have to traipse out of the room, I feel like it's not gonna take long before McConnell and some other Senate Republicans run out of patience with this charade and at the very least force fast votes to reject the challenges and get this over with.

Democracy Docket Twitter:

"For context, here's what the timing of a few past #ElectoralCollege votes looked like:

2009: 1:01 PM-1:36 PM
2013: 1:06 PM-1:29 PM
2017: 1:00 PM-1:41 PM"

(And Pelosi has now TWICE already had to yell at Republicans for not following mask/distance guidelines.)
posted by soundguy99 at 10:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

"Despite suggesting multiple times he was going to march to Capitol Hill after his speech, President Trump just returned to the White House. Many of his supporters are on their way." -- Kaitlan Collins on twitter.
posted by valkane at 10:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

$600 or $2k per person is a drop in the bucket compared to the actual money we need to be spending on healthcare, housing, and food security.

The $600 amount meant that you could sponsor an American for only $1.64 per day, less than the price of a cup of coffee.

The $2000 amount means that it costs $5.48 per day to sponsor an American, which is crazy Starbucks prices. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel my sponorship.
posted by clawsoon at 10:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Not sure I follow. Are the supporters on their way to Capitol Hill or following Trump to the White House? I'm sleep-deprived, forgive me.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 10:31 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

The Republicans gave Steve Scalise a standing ovation for his performance in front of a blown-up image of the beginning of the Constitution in which he lied about the process and claimed that several states had utterly failed to follow the Constitution. This is so annoying.
posted by Bella Donna at 10:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

...And they're storming the Capitol building.

"Trump supporters have breached the Capitol building, tearing down 4 layers of security fencing and are attempting to occupy the building — fighting federal police who are overrun

This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Thousands, police can’t stop them" -- Elijah Schaffer on twitter w/ video.
posted by valkane at 10:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Trump supporters currently fighting with police, climbing barricades, ripping down fencing, on their way to try and storm the Capitol.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:33 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

McConnell finally just turned on Trump.
posted by sammyo at 10:33 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Can anyone find the clip of the Rod Steiger scene from "The Longest Day"? Unable to find it on YouTube. Switch the title to "The Longest Four Years" and you've got a small inspirational metaphor for what Abrams did in Georgia and a larger inspirational metaphor for what needs to be done for the next two and four years.
posted by goalyeehah at 10:34 AM on January 6, 2021

I'm surprised and delighted by how hard McConnell is going after Trump. "This is the most important vote I will ever take"... Trump's claims of a stolen election include "sweeping conspiracy theories"... The courts have rejected his claims "over and over"... To "overrule the people" would "damage our democracy forever"... The election was "actually not unusually close"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Not sure I follow. Are the supporters on their way to Capitol Hill or following Trump to the White House? I'm sleep-deprived, forgive me.

Trump lit the fire and ran away.
posted by valkane at 10:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Summary of McConnell's statement from Daniel Dale.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Gym Jordan, recent Medal of Freedom winner, is standing in front of Pelosi and lying his head off about voting irregularities. Maybe someone could toss him and Steve to the crowd.
posted by Bella Donna at 10:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Democrats will basically have one chance per year to pass major legislation through what's known as the budget reconciliation process

The Canadian Parliament is unfortunately all to familiar with the omnibus thousand-page bill approach. It's been used by two of our governments now federally, and several times at the Provincial level. It's not a process you want to run a democracy with. Many of them have turned into major messes because its functionally impossible for representatives to debate such a beast before the votes are forced. Not a road you really want to travel, if avoidable.
posted by bonehead at 10:37 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

The supporters were on their way to Capitol Hill to rumble. Hope nobody gets hurt and I mean that sincerely.
posted by Bella Donna at 10:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

WaPo says it's hundreds, not thousands:

-- Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed through metal barricades at the back of the Capitol building about 1 p.m. Wednesday, running past security guards and breaking fences.

-- Capitol Police ordered evacuations of two Capitol campus buildings — the Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building and the Cannon House Office Building, both just across Independence Avenue from the Capitol.
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

I kinda feel like the Trumpers themselves should get hurt by some pepper spray at least. I know that if there were a large BLM group doing this they'd be getting more than pepper spray.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:39 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

lock em up
posted by philip-random at 10:39 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

McConnell is trying to get points as the voice of reason after allowing this bullshit to go on unchecked for months.

Is there a word for that? Making a show out of propriety after knowingly abetting egregiousness?

Let's call it "McCaining."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:40 AM on January 6, 2021 [29 favorites]

Moscow Mitch's speech is making me physically ill. "All this political polarization is awful," as if he weren't the prime mover of it. Words are not adequate to describe what an awful human he is.
posted by rikschell at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [38 favorites]

I'm surprised and delighted by how hard McConnell is going after Trump.

I was too, but then I was angered and dismayed by the pivot to "but don't forget, the Democrats did this too, and you wouldn't want to do what they did and let the Democrats' threat to democracy become the norm."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

GARLAND REACTION #1: Jesus, Joe, wtf are you doing? You might like the guy, but that's not worth sacrificing a DC circuit judge!

GARLAND REACTION #2: oh it's actually fine because WE WON THE SENATE, BAY-BEEEEE
posted by Rhaomi at 10:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Not to abuse the edit window, but the checks as delivered are in many ways a regressive bandaid. $600 or $2k per person is a drop in the bucket compared to the actual money we need to be spending on healthcare, housing, and food security.

Look, the $2,000 check idea didn't come out of a vacuum. Trump is president and the Republicans have a majority in the Senate. At the time, they had just passed the $600 check version, but everything else was off the table. So it was $600 or nothing. Are you advocating nothing?

Until Trump jumped in and demanded $2,000 checks. So the Democrats jumped at the chance. Again, it was $2,000 or nothing. Are you advocating nothing?

$2,000 checks wasn't Democrats first choice. They wanted bigger unemployment relief and aid to the states. But that wasn't possible. So although $2,000 checks is not the best choice, it was the only choice. Everyone recognized that.

So now the tables have turned, slightly, but Warnack and Ossoff both ran in Georgia on $2,000 checks, so the Democrats better deliver. Whether they can do better than that is still an open question due to the filibuster.
posted by JackFlash at 10:42 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Jesus. I was afraid the brownshirts would storm the building. How was there not enough security in place?

The hell of it is, they actually want to have scenes of them getting beaten/sprayed/handcuffed/etc. recorded, because it merely confirms their paranoia to them and their ilk.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:43 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Mitch realizes with Trump out of the game and the Senate in Dem hands his biggest threat to losing more power is one Mitt Romney taking de facto party leadership in the rush to media rehabilitation.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Oh, McConnell shouldn't get any "decent person" points for this. He has only developed a proto-spine now he has lost the majority leadership forever. He is merely expressing his feelings about the man responsible for the loss because he has nothing left to lose.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

The most unhinged part of McConnell's speech was when he tried to claim it's the Democrats who have been attacking and weakening our country's institutions over the past four years.
posted by nobody at 10:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

The hell of it is, they actually want to have scenes of them getting beaten/sprayed/handcuffed/etc. recorded, because it merely confirms their paranoia to them and their ilk.

Honestly, I doubt there's anything that would fail to confirm their paranoia to them and their ilk. Right now I'm all in favor of them experiencing ... uncomfortable ... consequences for their traitorous asinine actions, in every manner possible.
posted by DingoMutt at 10:46 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

In a 50-50 senate, the minority can still wield a lot of power by picking off the most wavering members of the other side. McConnell is flipping to Let's All Be Friends mode because he knows it gets him more leverage than joining the doomed coup.
posted by theodolite at 10:46 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

Gotta Hand it To Hitler

always_margot: Not a great look for a freshmen Congresswoman to be caught on tape at a rally in the Nation’s Capitol saying “Hitler was right.” @Miller_Congress

And for those who want to nitpick what she said, let me just stop you right there—Hitler was right on literally nothing.

"Hitler was right on one thing, he said whoever has the youth has the future."

@dril: issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the terror group ISIL. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to them"

posted by tonycpsu at 10:46 AM on January 6, 2021 [18 favorites]

Andrew Egger on Twitter: Most of the action is happening down by the Washington Monument. Wandered down to the Capitol where Congress will begin certifying the electoral votes in a few hours. Scattered groups of MAGA folks and one ominous dude in camo who handed me this
(NOTICE OF LEVEE EN MASSE)
posted by Glinn at 10:47 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Mitch realizes with Trump out of the game and the Senate in Dem hands his biggest threat to losing more power is one Mitt Romney taking de facto party leadership in the rush to media rehabilitation.

My impression is that on the 20th or shortly after, when he loses the ability to set the Senate calendar, McConnell will have no more political relevancy than any other elderly senator from a party holding no elected branch of the federal government.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:49 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Scattered groups of MAGA folks and one ominous dude in camo who handed me this
NOTICE OF LEVEE EN MASSE

Worst SCA chapter ever
posted by jason_steakums at 10:50 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

> It reads like something that's in the same ballpark as a Bharara or Yates nom but not giving any ammo to Trump playing the court of public opinion about personal retaliation. Like it's definitely sending a message, it's just not a bullhorn.

Marcy Wheeler: Why Merrick Garland Is a Better Attorney General Pick Than You Think

I also think this makes it more likely that DOJ could investigate and prosecute Trump. As AG, Garland would only have oversight over a select set of decisions in such an investigation. For example, he would likely have to approve subpoenaing Trump Organization to figure out if Trump got a bribe via an Egyptian bank during 2016 (though such a subpoena would be easier to do after Trump is out of office and if New York State charges other corruption crimes). The most important step Garland would have to approve would be any charges of Trump (or presumably those close to him).

But Garland would not be involved in the day-to-day investigation. He would sign off on any major steps against Trump, but prosecutors well below Garland’s level will conduct the investigation (including investigations already in process that implicate Trump).

My biggest concern about this appointment is criminal justice reform (something that would be pursued in the Criminal and Civil Rights Divisions). One item of note, however: Garland has been recusing on death penalty cases in recent weeks, obviously in anticipation that he might get this appointment. One reason he would do so is an expectation that Biden might change policy significantly in this regard. At the very least, it suggests it is something that has come up in conversations between the two.

posted by tonycpsu at 10:51 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Can we please drop this binary of "McConnell had all the power, now he has no power." Even during the two years of Obama's first term when he led the Minority, he wielded enormous leverage and power.
posted by PhineasGage at 10:51 AM on January 6, 2021 [32 favorites]

super not comfortable with the support for police violence in this thread right now. the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and cop-administered beatings are unacceptable, even when deployed against the proud boys.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 10:52 AM on January 6, 2021 [18 favorites]

Well, if last night was a test-case, I think the cops will just squirt the Trumpers with some tear gas and they'll run away. At least the cops are wearing proper riot gear today; last night they looked like they were just ready to write some traffic tickets.
posted by valkane at 10:52 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

It occurs to me that, with Warnock and Ossoff winning and handing Senate control to the Dems, it’s now more likely (albeit still a long-ish shot) that Biden might entice a GOP Senator like Toomey to join his Cabinet, resulting in a Dem replacement appointment and a 51-49 Dem advantage.

As long as the GOP controlled the Senate, it seemed really unlikely that a GOP Senator would have done so. But now, when there’s no GOP control to jeopardize, and the options are either a Cabinet position vs being in the minority in the Senate, it seems like the chances just got better.
posted by darkstar at 10:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

That's a good point, RNTP. I apologize for my previous comment. This is a new year and probably a good time to reassess the ways the last four years have brought out some really bad things in me. Wishing harm upon horrid people makes me a smaller person and it's time to work on that shit. I'm guessing I'm not the only one, but I'm the only one I can speak for.
posted by DingoMutt at 10:57 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and police-administered beatings are unacceptable, even when deployed against the proud boys

On the other hand, the "law and order" crowd have no problem calling for chemical weapons to be deployed indiscriminately against the left and PoC, many of whom are peaceful protesters and not the violent rabble we're seeing here today. Maybe a taste of it will make it clear to Republicans that some of them, too, just might possibly one day be the victims of their own Fascist movement.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:57 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Senator Cruz is demanding an Electoral Commission in the style of the 1876 Presidential Election. My understanding is that subsequent legislation has made that a literal impossibility. No laws can be passed until today's counting of the votes is complete, so no law can be made to set up the Electoral Commission. Presumably the qualified lawyer Senator Cruz is aware of this.

I'm beginning to think Ted Cruz might be somewhat disingenuous
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [25 favorites]

Oh god, Toomey is a fucking toad. I would vomit so hard I'd launch myself into low-earth orbit if he had a cabinet position.
posted by DingoMutt at 10:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and police-administered beatings are unacceptable, even when deployed against the proud boys.

I, for one, am waiting with keen anticipation for the chance to deplore the use of these measures against those people.

Should any of the Pout Boys suffer beatings and/or injuries from hostile police, my thoughts and prayers will naturally be with them.
posted by flabdablet at 10:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [40 favorites]

I remember a couple of years ago when an odd flashmob attempt went viral. Someone posed the idea that if enough people charged into Area 51 then the MPs couldn't stop them all. Some would slip through and find the truth.

It fizzled out and never happened. I think there was an assertion made, in very diplomatic terms, that attempting to break into a military base was just a Bad Idea, because the military specialize in stopping exactly that.

People understood that. I can't remember how it turned out but the flashmob didn't happen. OH! Yes, I remember now, it didn't happen because the fucking PRESIDENT didn't tell them to do it.
posted by adept256 at 11:01 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

If the filibuster isn't nuked then this Georgia election very nearly doesn't matter. Right?

Nope. It makes a huge difference,. even though the filibuster almost certainly will not be nuked.

Most immediately, now Biden can expect reasonable, moderate Democrats he nominates to his administration or the courts to be confirmed, instead of only being able to nominate people acceptable to McConnell. They'll still have to be acceptable to moderate/conservative Dems like Sinema and Manchin, but that includes a broad swath of mainstream Democrats.

Second, there's a lot of things that if they came to a vote would pass the Senate, and a smaller but substantial list of things that if they came to a vote could win cloture and then pass. $2K checks, frinstance. They could pass or win cloture and then pass because Democrats actually support them and they're popular enough that at least some Republicans would feel compelled to vote for them. 49D/51R, none of those things would see the light of day because McConnell would prevent a vote on them. 50/50, some of those things will get votes and become law. Likewise, there are lots of ways now to try to pick off less-crazy Republicans to get closer to 60 for cloture, such as by crassly packing pork for their states in with stuff Democrats want.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:04 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

super not comfortable with the support for the cops in this thread right now. the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and police-administered beatings are unacceptable, even when deployed against the proud boys


I get where you’re coming from. But this is a group of seditionists literally trying to storm the US Capitol to violently overthrow democratic elections in a coup attempt. So in this rare instance, I feel some allowance should be made for law enforcement being able to take strong measures to prevent violent insurrectionists from gaining access to the Capitol building. I’m not sure how you do that nicely, though I agree there shouldn’t be civil rights abuses as part of their methods.
posted by darkstar at 11:04 AM on January 6, 2021 [64 favorites]

Wishing harm upon horrid people makes me a smaller person

Does that work? I could stand to lose a bit of weight.
posted by flabdablet at 11:05 AM on January 6, 2021 [32 favorites]

if this was a crowd of a few hundred to a thousand black lives matter supporters (especially if they also happened to be black) attempting to occupy the capitol building through force they would be getting machine gunned right now. the fascists aren't even getting tear gassed yet.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:09 AM on January 6, 2021 [20 favorites]

this is a group of seditionists literally trying to storm the US Capitol to violently overthrow democratic elections in a coup attempt. So in this rare instance, I feel some allowance should be made for law enforcement

Well, I think we can all agree that it's quite sad seeing this right-wing circular firing squad
posted by Beardman at 11:09 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Nah, sorry, if you attempt literal violent insurrection of the legislature with the aim of usurping a democratic election, you are a literal fascist foot soldier and should be treated as such. There is zero overlap with that and police brutalising peaceful protesters exercising their democratic rights. It's like the opposite thing.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 11:10 AM on January 6, 2021 [54 favorites]

Wishing harm upon horrid people makes me a smaller person

It's an important question to ask oneself. Always. But I feel like I side with Karl Popper, on this one. Republicans are using violence to attempt to overthrow a democratically-elected government, and the response of the state should be appropriate to dealing with that behavior.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:12 AM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

They are now at the doors of the capitol, which is now in lockdown mode. Voice over loudspeaker in senate telling people to stay away from windows and doors.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:12 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Watching the video linked upthread of these traitorous idiots "storming" the Capitol, my wife just commented that she's seen more impressive games of capture the flag, and I agree. What I wish for them is that they be held up for public ridicule and scorn, both as a group and individually, and I hope the shame of being part of this miserable, hateful, idiotic little insurrection follows them around for years to come. I realize that's too much to hope, but that's where I'm at.
posted by DingoMutt at 11:13 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

this is insane
posted by mumimor at 11:16 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

also, is this Gosar person ill?
posted by mumimor at 11:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

They are attempting to violently overthrow a branch of the US government. Yeah, that warrants a bit of a violent response. Now, if they want to stand outside and yell and wave signs and whatnot, then let 'em. But they are trying to storm the Capitol. There should be National Guard there.
posted by mrgoat at 11:17 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

What happens between now and Jan 20th? I've never had a reason to pay attention before. What does Congress do during this period?
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:18 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I think someone broke into the Capitol, there's shouting and noises and turmoil on the House feed
posted by theodolite at 11:19 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Looks like they're evacuating the Senate. Boy was I wrong.
posted by valkane at 11:20 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate recesses Electoral College debate after protesters force lock-down of Capitol. -- Kyle Griffin on twitter
posted by valkane at 11:21 AM on January 6, 2021

We need to apply law and order against these people trying to overthrow the election results. Send in the Armed Forces!

Wait, I'm being told the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has been actively encouraging the mob in their attempt to overthrow the election results. Well, shit
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:22 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Having been at a few protests outside the British parliament, it is unbelievable to me how lax the Capitol police have been and are being.

I would not be the greatest fan of the Metropolitan police or the Territorial Support Group, but I am pretty confident that this is not the approach they would have taken.
posted by knapah at 11:22 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

How the fuck is this reality? Where's the National Guard?
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:22 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

"MSNBC reporting the Secret Service just had to usher Pence out of the Capitol through underground tunnels . . . to protect him from an angry mob sent by Trump." -- Radley Balko on twitter
posted by valkane at 11:22 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

The president told them to do this just minutes ago. He should be arrested with the rest of them.
posted by adept256 at 11:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

Reading that MAGA protesters are spraying pepper spray back at police on Capitol Hill.

That's what happens when MAGAhats and police have such a high degree of overlap!
posted by Dashy at 11:24 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

They are inside now, steps away from Senate chamber. Confederate flags on display.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:25 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

OMG, we are literally in the midst of the violence phase of this coup attempt.

I mean, it won’t work. But just because a coup attempt fails doesn’t mean it’s not a literal, violent coup attempt.

BY INSURGENTS SENT BY THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT WHO DOESN’T WANT TO RELINQUISH POWER.

This is incredible.
posted by darkstar at 11:25 AM on January 6, 2021 [22 favorites]

breaching the door of the capital building
Senate chamber locked.
posted by joeyh at 11:25 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

So how does moon law work in this situation? If they capture the capitol, do they win the constitution or something?
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 11:26 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

box: 'They said, 'sir, in four years you're guaranteed.'

So that's how his inner circle has been trying to talk him down from an attempted coup. Ineffectively.
posted by clawsoon at 11:26 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

It's notable that even in the event that the protestors don't deliberately intend to do violence to those lawfully present at the Capitol, they are still quite likely to infect them with a deadly virus.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:26 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

This is a coup.

Amazing picture - no masks
posted by Dashy at 11:26 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

There's even a shirtless dude wearing an animal skin hat holding an american flag that appears to have been converted to a spear?
posted by lazaruslong at 11:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

I've had CSPAN up all day listening in.

I'm in a group chat with a couple of coworkers and updated them that things were in recess because the MAGA mob is storming the Capitol wtf, etc.

And while I'm typing this another coworker is showing the pending three dots of typing.

Hit enter almost at the same time. Coworker bud has covid and shit is bananas everywhere. AAAAHhhh
posted by phunniemee at 11:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

I just hope none of these patriots are suffering infringement of their Second Amendment right to personally bear firearms
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:27 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

"Militia members have gathered outside the Georgia Capitol. Brad Raffensperger and senior staff have been escorted out to safety." -- Amy Gardener on twitter
posted by valkane at 11:28 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

"It took 159 years, but a mob marching behind a confederate flag has stormed the US Capitol. They are doing so on @realDonaldTrump’s express orders."
posted by lazaruslong at 11:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [24 favorites]

I think I'll call my GOP Senator's office and ask if she's issued a statement in support or opposed to the ongoing violent overthrow of the federal government
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:29 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

Seattle Protest Network live cams
posted by Glinn at 11:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

CNN's Jake Tapper: "The President could stop this with one tweet, but he will not because, quite frankly, he likes this."
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

Got to be honest, knowing how easy it would be to hold them back if they took a normal crowd control approach, this is giving me uncomfortable coup vibes where suddenly the security forces that were expected to defend the government buildings evaporate.
posted by knapah at 11:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Might not be a bad idea for Congress to remove Trump from office immediately, once the MAGA mob has been cleared out. This has gone too far.
posted by vitout at 11:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [15 favorites]

The reporter on CBC up here in Canada was being very careful in pointing some things out during this, in terms of noting that there are far less police and national guard out than there were in the spring during BLM and that there has been no use of tear gas and so forth.

Stay safe everyone.
posted by nubs at 11:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

This is not what Democracy looks like.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:30 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

also, is this Gosar person ill?

Not sure if he's ill, but he's definitely sick.
posted by biogeo at 11:31 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

So ... Is this treason? Does this finally count?
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 11:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

> There should be National Guard there.

correct. the military is at least occasionally on the side of democracy. the police are never on the side of democracy. send in the guard, but keep the cops out of it.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 11:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Time magazine editor Richard Stengel, back in October: Armed Right-Wing Groups Aren’t ‘Militias’—We Need to Stop Calling Them That: "Call them what they are: gangs, extremist groups, criminals, even domestic terrorists."
posted by kristi at 11:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

I wonder whether or not this stops the 2-hour clock for debate.
posted by nobody at 11:32 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Does this set up a call by Trump for military intervention...?
posted by PhineasGage at 11:33 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I think it would be very important for all of this to be addressed by the incoming administration, immediately, you need to nip this shit in the bud. Fire every security officer if they can't do their job or followed orders from the coup. Jail time. Fines. Every invader should be put on trial, every politician who encouraged this impeached. But nothing will happen, if history is our guide.
posted by maxwelton at 11:33 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Casey Wooten: As Pelosi and Hoyer ushered away and the House chamber doors are closed and locked, one member from the Democrat side points to the Republican side and shouts "this is because of you!"


May they keep that fire alive.
posted by Dashy at 11:33 AM on January 6, 2021 [44 favorites]

I just had to evacuate my office because of a pipe bomb reported outside. Supporters of the President are trying to force their way into the Capitol and I can hear what sounds like multiple gunshots. - Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), whose office is in the Cannon building on the Capitol campus
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:33 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

If there was ever a reason to invoke the 25th Amendment, this is pretty much it.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:34 AM on January 6, 2021 [21 favorites]

The US Capitol Police works for Congress. The DC Police works for the Mayor of DC, who just ordered a 6pm curfew. It may take time, it may even necessitate unfortunate violence, but I have zero doubt that this coup attempt is going to fail.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:34 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

F***, this is the scariest thing I've seen live since 9-11
posted by mumimor at 11:34 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

You'd think that a president would do something to calm down a crowd of protestors like this.

However, our president happens to be Donald Trump - whose most recent tweet was a condemnation of Pence for "not having the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts".

As I was typing those words, NBC was reporting that protestors were heading towards the House chamber and that inside the chamber the representatives were being warned that they may need to retreat to the cloak room or hide under their desks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

I mean, it won’t work. But just because a coup attempt fails doesn’t mean it’s not a literal, violent coup attempt.

CNN's Jake Tapper: "The President could stop this with one tweet, but he will not, because quite frankly, he likes this."

For anyone who is freaked out right now, please take comfort in knowing that things are no worse now than they were yesterday, they are just, finally, more visible; but especially take comfort in the knowledge that this incompetent fool's insistence on showing everyone he can command a violent mob has just made it about a gajillion times more likely that he will be prosecuted for all of his many, many crimes.

If he'd just slinked away to go whine on OAN, the political argument for prosecution would have been trickier. Not to me, but to many. Now? Now?

He's fumbled the dumbest coup attempt in history. Successful coups are not organized like flash mobs, you fucking malevolent ball bag, they are actually organized. All he's done is made it extremely clear what has to happen next. And that's prosecuting everyone involved in the last four years of criminality.
posted by schadenfrau at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [23 favorites]

What the actual hell is going on in DC? Thank you to everyone posting Tweets or Sites with some updates, but this is insanity. If these were BLM or Million Women protesters, they'd have already been brutally suppressed (not that either group would ever be this stupid or awful). Why aren't the police DOING anything???
posted by sharp pointy objects at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

I think it's worth taking a beat to consider the fact that the US capitol cannot (or will not) be secured against a few hundred MAGA idiots engaged in an active, violent coup attempt under the flag of the defeated Confederacy.

I realize now that I had some weird fantasy in my head that life was still like the West Wing in at least this way - teams of highly trained and skilled secret service guards or something, on hand to secure our nation's headquarters. That we can get put into lockdown by these chumps is pathetic.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

> correct. the military is at least occasionally on the side of democracy. the police are never on the side of democracy. send in the guard, but keep the cops out of it.

You don't wait for the correct law enforcement apparatus to show up when there are a bunch of thugs literally marching into the building where the people sent to represent us are trying to certify an election. Save your ACAB speech for when the bastards in question aren't the only entity not controlled by the fascist who sent the mob keeping Democracy from being attacked.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump: Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!

This is the President's response to his Vice President being threatened by an armed mob overrunning the U.S. Capitol.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

Here's video from the inside showing the capitol door's glass windows being busted in.
posted by nobody at 11:36 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

BY INSURGENTS SENT BY THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT WHO DOESN’T WANT TO RELINQUISH POWER.

Well we don't have to draw parallels anymore.
posted by Mitheral at 11:37 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

Sounds like tear gas finally being deployed.

Another update: They've just disbursed tear gas in the rotunda and are telling members to put on gas masks under their seats.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:37 AM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

Not to be all "I just read a history book" but this is the exact scene that defines the French Revolution. Including the tacit or overt support of the National Guard. And it worked, many times - the mob broke in, threatened legislators, told the legislators what to say, and the legislators did it and said the right things and then stuck to it even after the mob left. This tactic worked against the king. We live in a very different time and place, but I wouldn't underestimate this tactic. This is scary and serious.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:37 AM on January 6, 2021 [14 favorites]

Good.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:37 AM on January 6, 2021

Trump gave a speech today, with the White House as a backdrop.

A while back I was thinking of making a post about Chimurenga music. One of the clips I would have used keeps coming to mind, reading the long slow story of Trumps defeat: the Zimbabwe freedom fighters coming out of the bush for the ceasefire at Foxtrot Assembly Point. There's a ceremony (they disarmed,) speeches, cordial handshakes and a choir. Ian Smith is present as are Joshua Nkomo and Zanu and Zapu representatives. The white people smile condescendingly at the quaintness of a choir in such a situation. Unknown to them, the choir is singing, You've lost, you've lost, you've totally lost (from 17m to about 19.35m.) I've had that in my head over the past few weeks.

As well as acknowledging the tremendous feat of organising, the actual struggle itself, the payoff (Independence) and the cautionary example (Zimbabwe eventually, not to simplify/minimise the global forces ranged against a self-determining Africa) and the fact that a struggle isn't over just because you've won.
posted by glasseyes at 11:37 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

What rhymes with "beer hall putsch"?
posted by PhineasGage at 11:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Mistress Emma Evans @MelanieMoore
In the PBS feed I just tweeted?

You can see armed MAGA protesters freely "brazenly" as the reproter put it, entering the capitol.

I saw 2 armed people myself on the stream entering, and one cop with them who then stepped over the ropes, while GESTURING THE CHUDS FURTHER IN
posted by Dashy at 11:38 AM on January 6, 2021 [11 favorites]

and I can hear what sounds like multiple gunshots.

There are multiple people banging on drums in what I am both uncharitably and also probably accurately certain is to make people afraid that there's active gunfire.
posted by phunniemee at 11:39 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

That answers the "why aren't police doing anything?"
posted by Dashy at 11:39 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

Meanwhile, in Georgia:

Militia members have gathered outside the Georgia Capitol. Brad Raffensperger and senior staff have been escorted out to safety.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

There was a story in the Post the other day about how Biden was bringing back a bunch of Secret Service from his VP days because the President's team was all virus-denying MAGA heads.
posted by rikschell at 11:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

At the very least, I’m pretty sure that every one of these insurgents is soon to be on an FBI watch list, if they aren’t already.
posted by darkstar at 11:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

> What rhymes with "beer hall putsch"?

Reichstag Fire
posted by runcifex at 11:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

When the dust settles, so many people need to be prosecuted and fired for their involvement in this. Especially the cops who are aiding and abetting.
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 11:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

Fucking hellfire.

Stay safe America.
posted by MattWPBS at 11:41 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

but this is the exact scene that dots the French Revolution.

But this mob is counter-revolutionary. So it would be precisely the converse scene.
posted by polymodus at 11:42 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

The anchor on CBC: "The verification of the election has been suspended as protestors swarm the capitol building with apparently no one stopping them?"
posted by nubs at 11:43 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Trump (or a handler) finally tweeting something that calls for de-escalation. I won't link to Trumps twitter account.

Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!
2:38 PM · Jan 6, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
posted by lazaruslong at 11:43 AM on January 6, 2021

Yeah that's definitely an american flag spear.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:44 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

He's not de-escalating, he's congratulating the cops for letting his MAGA mob take over the Capitol.
posted by theodolite at 11:45 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

> I mean, it won’t work

I hear you, and I'm inclined to agree with you, but...think of all the times people have said some sort of variation on "it won't work" in relation to something Trump has stated he was going to do or was planning to do, all the way back to "running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States." Everyone wants to believe this because it's the United States we're talking about, but the problem is it's the United States of 2021 we're talking about.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:45 AM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

That's not de-escalation. That's a call for the police to support the coup.
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 11:45 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Mmm yeah that's fair. I saw the peaceful part but yeah, that read makes sense too. God, this asshole.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:47 AM on January 6, 2021

Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!

Uh huh. That sounds more like an announcement that the cops are on the terrorists’ side in this.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:47 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

"“This is what you’ve gotten, guys,” Senator Mitt Romney yelled as the mayhem unfolded in the Senate chamber, apparently addressing his colleagues who were leading the charge to press Mr. Trump’s false claims of a stolen election." -- Vicky Ward on twitter
posted by valkane at 11:47 AM on January 6, 2021 [16 favorites]

The guy in the fur headdress has been a staple at QAnon rallies for years. The QAnon Anonymous Podcast met him as part of a profile on the new-agey wing of conspiracy believers.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 11:47 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

and people wonder why I hate reality TV
posted by philip-random at 11:47 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

Amid a breach of the U.S. Capitol by Pro-Trump protesters, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted calling it a "coup attempt." Then responded to Trump's Pence-didn't-have-the-courage tweet: You are not protecting the country. Where is the DC guard? You are done and your legacy will be a disaster.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:47 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

C-SPAN just reported shooting into the Chamber.
posted by flabdablet at 11:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

I'm watching BBC from here in the UK. There's live footage of hundreds on the steps of the Capitol building.

Only just seen about four or five armed police.

How the fuck...?
posted by MattWPBS at 11:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

Wow, this is a hell of a photo. Looks like armed guard inside the chamber with guns drawn pointed at the door the fascists are currently attempting to break down.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

CBC now showing video of cops with pepper ball guns and also a cloud of tear gas being deployed.
posted by nubs at 11:48 AM on January 6, 2021

Meaning hinges on whether you believe the Cheeto is acting as the President or the "President".
posted by Mitheral at 11:48 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Reichstag Fire

More like the vote on the Nazis' Enabling Act, when mobs of storm troopers freely roamed inside the parliamentary chamber during the vote.
posted by hangashore at 11:49 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

Live updates from a journalist in the chamber.

https://twitter.com/Olivia_Beavers
posted by Buntix at 11:50 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

CSPAN's reporting that the National Guard has been called.
posted by mrgoat at 11:51 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

> CSPAN's reporting that the National Guard has been called.

thank fucking god
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 11:52 AM on January 6, 2021

Confirming other reports: @SpeakerPelosi has requested National Guard troops to clear and secure the Capitol via request from the Capitol Police Board. A D.C. government official tells me troops are on the way.
(sorry, copied from twitter and lost the source)
posted by Dashy at 11:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

"“This is what you’ve gotten, guys,” Senator Mitt Romney yelled as the mayhem unfolded in the Senate chamber, apparently addressing his colleagues who were leading the charge to press Mr. Trump’s false claims of a stolen election." -- Vicky Ward on twitter

You were happy enough to have a meal with the Cheeto back in 2016, Mitt, when you thought he might give you a job. Fuck you and your shit eating grin.
posted by nubs at 11:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [17 favorites]

Video in the chamber from Matt Fuller, he's also saying he's heard an officer saying "shots fired".
posted by MattWPBS at 11:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

They've taken the podium, and some dude who looks like every chud at every philly fascist rally is in the big chair.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:53 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

CBC reporting an armed standoff outside the Chamber.
posted by nubs at 11:54 AM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Every one of them should be arrested and tried for treason.
posted by slkinsey at 11:54 AM on January 6, 2021 [13 favorites]

Should? Probably. But sedition is the charge that would be more likely to stick in this case.
posted by Green With You at 11:55 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

I'm sensing significant economic anxiety. When this situation is resolved, I look forward to reading many New York Times pieces about how we can best work with and understand our fellow Americans.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:57 AM on January 6, 2021 [28 favorites]

If anyone else needs a mental health break, there's a thread with some beautiful pictures over here. Stay safe and well, friends. <3
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 11:57 AM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

This fascist dude is in Pelosi's office, just casually committing felonies while browsing official emails.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

https://twitter.com/byaaroncdavis/status/1346908166030766080 (WaPo Reporter)

BREAKING: A source tells me The Defense Department has just denied a request by DC officials to deploy the National Guard to the US Capitol.

posted by Buntix at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

45 can just pardon them all in advance though until he's actually not the President.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2021

For context as to how this is being seen in the UK, the BBC is describing this as "a real test for America and democracy in the country".
posted by MattWPBS at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

This is scary, terrifying. Getting very bad 9/11 vibes and generally concerned about the next few weeks.

And there are the wingnuts who've gotten inside and worse, but just watching majority of supporters outside on the steps of the capital, most are...really just there for the party. Laughing, taking selfies, they're going to get tired at some point and need to go eat and use the bathroom etc. These are the all talk crowd but at the end of the day too pathetic and lazy to follow through.

If you really thought this was as a serious life or death matter worth storming the capitol, you wouldn't be chilling and taking selfies! This is their last hurrah, they want to feel good about themselves but they're not disciplined and ready for what the fight entails. It's disgusting and I wish it were over asap, but these people do not have the fortitude for a siege.
posted by andruwjones26 at 11:59 AM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon: "super not comfortable with the support for police violence in this thread right now. the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and cop-administered beatings are unacceptable, even when deployed against the proud boys."

Still feel the same way?
posted by octothorpe at 11:59 AM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

Lots of compare and contrast re National Guard presence at peaceful protests last summer.

The Hill, Jan 6 : More than 300 National Guard personnel have been activated in D.C. this week to support the city government as it responds to the demonstrations calling on Congress not to certify Biden's Electoral College victory. President Trump has made various unsubstantiated claims of election fraud ahead of the congressional count.

They're wearing black vests instead of camo, indicating "domestic support operations" mode, same as last summer; why weren't they stationed close to the Capitol Building from the jump?
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:59 AM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

> BREAKING: A source tells me The Defense Department has just denied a request by DC officials to deploy the National Guard to the US Capitol.

hard yikes to this
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 11:59 AM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

This is both utterly unsurprising and sickly unreal. Did anybody really NOT expect these frothing fucks to do something like this, given how much their cult leader has been whipping them into a frenzy? I hope both history and the law are harsh with these traitorous shitstains and their fucking delusional army man LARPing.
posted by DingoMutt at 12:00 PM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

> Still feel the same way?

which side are the cops on.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:00 PM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

CNN: For more than 40 minutes, the White House has refused to comment on the chaos unfolding involving Trump's supporters on Capitol Hill, who have now breached the area where Vice President Mike Pence is currently inside. Despite repeated requests, Trump's spokesperson have declined to say anything or deliver any message from the President on what's ongoing.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:02 PM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

which side are the cops on.

Astonished you need to ask that.
posted by flabdablet at 12:02 PM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

They don't seem to care about protecting my representatives.
posted by achrise at 12:02 PM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

BREAKING: A source tells me The Defense Department has just denied a request by DC officials to deploy the National Guard to the US Capitol.

I do not love this
posted by schadenfrau at 12:02 PM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

MSNBC just showed a woman being taken out on a stretcher and her head was bloody and I may just have been shocked at what I was looking at, but she had her eyes open, and seemingly in the way that someone does that is dead. I hope I saw that wrong. I wasn't ready to see that.
posted by cashman at 12:03 PM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Pence will no longer speaking at RNC meeting on Thursday.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:03 PM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Civil War is trending on Twitter
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 12:04 PM on January 6, 2021

cashman, CBC showed a stretcher going by with the man on it getting chest compressions, so yeah, I think some real bad shit is happening.
posted by nubs at 12:04 PM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

I hope congress is spending their time wherever they are now writing the articles of impeachment for Donald Trump. But I guess they aren't. This is insane
posted by mumimor at 12:04 PM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

I think congress is spending their time right now hiding under their desks.
posted by biogeo at 12:05 PM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

@tedcruz: Violence is always unacceptable. Even when passions run high.

Anyone engaged in violence—especially against law enforcement—should be fully prosecuted.

God bless the Capitol Police and the honorable men & women of law enforcement who show great courage keeping all of us safe.

Fuck you, you snake. It's really easy to say this when you're the one within screaming distance of the thugs you incited.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:06 PM on January 6, 2021 [19 favorites]

We should probably move coup tracking to this new thread. Thanks, NotLost!
posted by lazaruslong at 12:06 PM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

Well didn't I pick a good time to post after a while away. Good grief
posted by glasseyes at 12:06 PM on January 6, 2021

Christ - best wishes for all the non-lunatics caught up in this. I was hoping beyond hope that the rally and the objection circus in congress would be the extinction burst for this lunacy. For those that are caught up - stay safe/look for the helpers / be a helper for those in need.

Also Twitter needs to shut realDonaldTrump and all the rest of them right now. It's the fucking command and control network.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:07 PM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

Two sources familiar tell me that
@SpeakerPelosi
&
@MayorBowser
have asked for the national guard to come to Capitol Hill to clear rioters. One of those sources says DOD has not yet approved change-of-mission for the DC guard.

From here.

Different journalist than the guy who said the request was denied.
posted by schadenfrau at 12:07 PM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

I think congress is spending their time right now hiding under their desks.

I think you are right. But that is not what you do when your nation is under attack.
posted by mumimor at 12:07 PM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

so generally other legislative bodies — i'm thinking here about city councils, since those are the ones i'm most familiar with — have alternate meeting rooms where official business can be carried out in the event that the actual chambers are inaccessible due to popular action. is there anything like that at the level of the federal legislature? is there an emergency chamber where the house & senate can officially meet?
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:08 PM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Can't they arrest the old fool yet?
posted by glasseyes at 12:08 PM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Wow, we're really going to have to listen to a public debate on whether gathering a group of armed supporters and sending them into the capitol for a coup is really an impeachable offense or just "highly charged partisanism."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:10 PM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

God damn it. We all got, what, six hours to celebrate before this shit?
posted by tonycpsu at 12:10 PM on January 6, 2021 [10 favorites]

The BBC just had a reporter with someone shouting in the background that she should point her camera to where “The FBI just shot a woman in the neck”.
posted by gnuhavenpier at 12:10 PM on January 6, 2021

PBS has a reporter in the House who was evacuated with members of Congress (many wearing gas masks). They're back to talking heads now.
posted by Mchelly at 12:11 PM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Can't they arrest the old fool yet?

They who? He’s deep inside one of the most secure building in DC, surrounded by very loyal guards and military. No one’s getting to him other than his most loyal minions.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:12 PM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

OTHER THREAD OVER HERE

OTHER THREAD OVER HERE

OTHER THREAD OVER HERE


OTHER THREAD OVER HERE

OTHER THREAD OVER HERE
posted by lalochezia at 12:15 PM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

INVOKE THE GODDAMNED 25TH AMENDMENT NOW!
posted by goalyeehah at 12:18 PM on January 6, 2021 [5 favorites]

rerail: Hurray for Georgia! (And hurray for the Congressional Review Act!)
posted by nobody at 12:23 PM on January 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

BREAKING: A source tells me The Defense Department has just denied a request by DC officials to deploy the National Guard to the US Capitol.

As I understand it, as DC isn't a state, the National Guard is under the authority of ... the President.
posted by essexjan at 12:27 PM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

BREAKING: A source tells me The Defense Department has just denied a request by DC officials to deploy the National Guard to the US Capitol.


"I am told that the reluctance of DOD to call out the DC guard is because they would come under the command of POTUS, which would obviously be a problem." -- Robert Farley

NEW THREAD
posted by goalyeehah at 12:31 PM on January 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Right about now I went back and watched the Raphael Warnock loves puppies campaign ad. Feel like the country needs an extended remix of him just playing with puppies right about now. On a jumbotron screen. In DC.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:52 PM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

Journalist Bryan Taylor Cohen on Twitter: BREAKING: The race has officially been called in favor of both Jon Ossoff and Rafael Warnock. Democrats take control of the United States Senate.
posted by soundguy99 at 1:11 PM on January 6, 2021 [21 favorites]

Putting this here, b/c it's Georgia specific -- with probable bearing on any attempt to contest election results. As discussed upthread, Byung "BJay" Pak, a Trump appointee who has served in the office since 2017, left his job abruptly on Monday as the US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, which includes Atlanta and Fulton County, citing "unforeseen circumstances" in a memo to staff. (CNN) The Justice Department said the Southern District of Georgia's US attorney, Bobby Christine, who is also a Trump appointee and has been in the job since 2017, would take over as acting head in Atlanta, taking on both roles. "On January 4, 2021, by written order of the President, Bobby was named Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia," Christine's bio on the Justice Department website said.

The Atlanta office's top assistant US Attorney, Kurt Erskine, normally would have taken on the acting US Attorney role but was passed over for Christine. Erskine declined to comment on Tuesday.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:19 PM on January 6, 2021

Newly elected Raphael Warnock on "The View". When I think of this day (and I will think of this day), I'll think of that picture.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 1:33 PM on January 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

...particularly Meghan McCain's death glare.
posted by hangashore at 1:44 PM on January 6, 2021 [8 favorites]

Meghan looks like she wants to speak with a manager.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:49 PM on January 6, 2021 [9 favorites]

NYTimes has gone ahead and called the race for both democrats.
posted by nobody at 1:52 PM on January 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

(Oops, missed that already mentioned a half hour ago above.)
posted by nobody at 1:56 PM on January 6, 2021

Good news: as of right now, with 99% of the vote tallied, Ossoff has 50.4% vs Perdue’s 49.6%. So it’s comfortably outside of the 0.5% recount margin.
posted by darkstar at 6:45 PM on January 6, 2021 [12 favorites]

I recall visiting a celebration of thousands the nite after Obama was elected. Feeling happy for them, sad for their expectations.

Same feeling now, only moreso. Twelve years ago, our troubles were much milder. Voting takes hours. Pressure to deliver takes years. Without that ...
posted by Twang at 8:13 PM on January 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

super not comfortable with the support for police violence in this thread right now. the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and cop-administered beatings are unacceptable, even when deployed against the proud boys.

I read the comments of “where is the tear gas, etc.?” not as, “You should shoot then the same way you shoot us,” but as, “How about refraining from shooting us the way you are able to do with them?”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:09 PM on January 6, 2021 [7 favorites]

So has either Perdue or Loeffler conceded yet?
posted by valkane at 5:52 AM on January 7, 2021

I just did a google search, and it doesn't look like either one has.
posted by valkane at 5:55 AM on January 7, 2021

I suspect that “never concede” is going to become one of the unfortunate trademarks of future alt-right and Trumpist candidates that comes out of this sordid era in politics. Concession speeches are for losers, and Trumpism absolutely cannot tolerate that.
posted by darkstar at 10:53 AM on January 7, 2021 [5 favorites]

Ironic, as Trump is “a loser the likes of which the world has never seen. Believe me folks — people say he lost the popular vote twice, and lost both houses in a single term, AND he was impeached. I hear he couldn’t even get re-elected as incumbent! What kind of incumbent loses an election? And even the failing New York Times says he killed 350,000 Americans. I hear it was more like a million.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:59 PM on January 7, 2021 [4 favorites]

Loeffler finally conceded last night. Perdue is "pursuing all legal avenues" or some other bullshit.
posted by hydropsyche at 8:27 AM on January 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

Perdue is "pursuing all legal avenues" or some other bullshit.

Keep in mind that in 2008, Republicans kept Al Franken from being seated for eight months! using lawsuits and recounts. This prevented Democrats from getting their 50 seat Senate majority until July of the following year.

Republicans might being attempting the same again.
posted by JackFlash at 11:31 AM on January 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

It was actually a 60-seat majority when Franken was seated (Harry Reid refused to entertain any limitations on the Senate's august tradition of minority rule). Then Kennedy got brain cancer, Massachusetts let the country down, and the rest is history.
posted by Not A Thing at 12:07 PM on January 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

Sorry, right, 60-seat filibuster proof majority, which was necessary for the ACA.
posted by JackFlash at 12:11 PM on January 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

David Perdue concedes Georgia Senate race to Jon Ossoff (CNN, Jan. 8, 2020)
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:42 PM on January 8, 2021 [7 favorites]