Fairy tales are more than true–not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten. -G. K. Chesterton & Neil Gaiman
They're gambling big on people going "Well inflation and gas prices are high under Biden! We never had inflation and high gas prices under Trump! Fuck all the talk, things must have been better under Trump! We should vote him back in and inflation and gas prices will be lower again!" ...and forgetting everything else that happened under Trump.
Which of course assumes that gas prices and inflation are still issues more than two years from now.
“Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
Words to live by.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/15/polit...ing/index.html
Courts told Bannon nah.A federal judge on Wednesday refused to throw out the charges against Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress, sending the former Donald Trump adviser to trial next month.
Judge Carl Nichols of the DC District Court rejected Bannon's motion to dismiss the case against him, including his arguments that the House select committee's subpoenas were illegal and that he was protected by the secrecy of the presidency because he had been in contact with Trump at the end of his administration.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/proud-b...anuary-6-2021/
"There was no plan to take over the government! Just the Capitol building and adjoining offices in their entirety and the SCOTUS building."In the week leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol assault, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio received a nine-page memo titled "1776 Returns" that laid out detailed plans to occupy congressional office buildings to protest the counting of the Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential election.
The memo, which was filed in court as part of a recent motion made by one of Tarrio's co-defendants, outlined a goal to "maintain control over as select few, but crucial buildings in the DC area for a set period of time, presenting our demands in unity."
"We must show our politicians We the People are in charge," the memo said. Targeted buildings allegedly included the three Senate and House office buildings, the Supreme Court of the United States, and CNN —to "at least egg doorway," according to the filing.
Ah, at least they were smart enough to not explicitly write about the violence required to take and hold these buildings. I guess.However, nowhere in the document is there a suggestion that violence should be used against police, members of Congress or their staff or other Capitol personnel.
The Proud Bois don't seem like they were proud of what they were doing. And like they are pretty sure they knew it would be illegal."Use Covid to your advantage," the document advised. "Pack huge face masks and face shields, protect your identity."
Huh, and plans to cause chaos throughout the city to divert law enforcement resources...this is sounding more like a terror plot.Participants around the city should pull fire alarms at various locations like Walmart, hotels, and museums to distract law enforcement if necessary, according to the document.
Something they can do at any time, actually. And something many activists, including disability activists, have done and been arrested for because they have conviction in their beliefs.Once inside, the entire group would then present its list of demands and perform sit-ins in certain senators' offices, the filing says.
Oh, and they just wanted overall chaos downtown, too.The manual advised readers to use large trucks or a large caravan of cars to block intersections to make traversing the city more difficult. "Now is the time to reach out to truckers or bikers for Trump for these roadblocks," a note reads.
Ignoring that this is blatantly unconstitutional, and ignoring that Bill Gates has literally nothing to do with any of this...According to the portion of the memo meant for external distribution, participants were to demand a new election be conducted on Jan. 20, 2021, monitored by the National Guard.
"Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Mike Pence & Bill Gates," it says, "We the people are watching you.
"Rand Paul & Ron DeSantis...We the people love you."
Sure is weird that they're big fans of Republicans Ron DeSantis and Rand Paul? I bet those two won't be bragging about the Proud Bois love for them.
The lawyer for one of the Proud Bois sure has thoughts though -
Man, if only this was a plan existing in isolation without anything more, he might have a point. Might."[A] proposal to occupy office buildings is a time-tested protest activity," Rehl's legal team pointed out. "There is no indication that the government has ever charged any protestors who have actually occupied buildings with the felony conspiracies charged in the instant case."
Man who carried Confederate flag in US Capitol and son found guilty of felonies.
Good - I was hoping this one wouldn't slip through.The man who was captured parading through the US Capitol with a large Confederate flag during the January 6, 2021 riot, was -- along with his son -- found guilty by a federal judge on Wednesday of obstructing an official proceeding, a felony.
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I'm still wondering if the RICO route is either available and/or going to be used.
Another post where this could go into three different threads.
Researchers combed through 45 million tweets that sowed doubt on the 2020 election. Here are the "top spreaders":
Official link to study/website: https://techpolicy.press/researchers...2020-election/
Alright so surprising by this study the top award goes to actor, James Woods! Who would have thunk.
No the combination of Trump and Musk/Twitter thread is good ole Donald at #6. Now he didn't crack top 5, but again as President and the guy who could whip up the base the most about a stolen election, is a pretty good reason for his ban on Twitter.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States…. [It is] nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
-Isaac Asimov
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...ack-justified/
More polling on the Jan 6 attack. Results are self explanatory -
25% of Republicans believe the attack was justified, with another 25% being "unsure". The other 50%-ish believe it was not, though that's notably lower than the Democrat, Independent, and "didn't watch" subgroups.
A majority, well over 55%, of Republicans believe it WASN'T a conspiracy to overturn the election. Despite that being the literally stated goal/intent of most attendees.
And finally, a vast majority of Republicans, nearly 75%, believe that the attack was done by "leftists trying to make Trump look bad."
Republicans continue to be extremists that live in a world of pure imagination.
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https://thehill.com/policy/national-...isconceptions/
I'm not sure what "misconceptions" there are about the text messages and emails we can read because they were released publicly but hey, maybe she'll surprise us.“I can’t wait to clear up misconceptions,” Thomas told The Daily Caller. “I look forward to talking to them.”
It'd be funny if she just went and lied a lot under oath and got in trouble for it, though.
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https://www.businessinsider.com/john...hearing-2022-6
Eastman apparently asked Giuliani to be put on the pardon list after Jan. 6
Why did Trump surround himself with so many people asking for pre-emptive pardons? It's almost like they're worried that they knowingly engaged in illegal activities.9
Is there any chance the Jan 6 hearings will change any Trump supporters' minds?
I'm not tremendously concerned with what Trump supporters believe, because supporting Trump means that their grasp on reality is either woefully shaky or deeply twisted.
The people who matter are everyone who isn't a Trump supporter (a term for that all intents and purposes is also synonymous with "person who votes GOP no matter what," because they're effectively the same) because they outnumber Trump supporters by... well, millions. If these hearings can convince everyone else that Trump is a greedy, habitually-lying, dangerously unqualified myopic narcissist unfit to lead (which should have been obvious from the getgo, but I suppose realizing now is better late than never) and that 1) the person running against him is miles better basically by default, 2) they shouldn't vote for him and/or 3) they should actively vote against him, then I'd say they'll have been worthwhile.
Or, you know, best case scenario Trump gets thrown in jail and can't run either way, and whether Trump's followers believe he's in there wrongly or not won't matter one tick to the rest of the world as it continues to turn despite any of their guttural outrage.
That's the thing with the GOP, and Trump is no exception. They don't respect things like morals or ethics or shame. They mean nothing to them. All they understand is money and power, and that's why they need to be deprived of both of them until they re-align their priorities. Or disappear as a party. Either is fine by me.
“Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
Words to live by.
Not sure if this belongs here but I guess Mike Lindell will have to go cry into his MyPillow now that the worlds largest retailer has pulled his products from their online store at the tune of a $10 million loss.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/...cid=uxbndlbing
Walmart said it pulled MyPillow products from its stores as the pillow company’s founder and CEO Mike Lindell continues to falsely claim the 2020 presidential election was rigged against former President Trump.
A Walmart spokesperson confirmed the products’ removal after Lindell posted a series of live videos on his Facebook page in which he talked about the decision in interviews with conservative podcasters.
“While we are no longer carrying them in stores, MyPillow products continue to be available on Walmart.com,” a Walmart spokesperson told The Hill.
In a livestream Lindell posted on Thursday of him speaking with Steve Bannon for an episode of “Bannon’s War Room,” the MyPillow CEO said the removal would be a “$10 million hit” to his company.
He also told Bannon the company was spending $500,000 a week on television advertising, adding that he offered to lower the price of MyPillow products for Walmart.
In a separate interview Lindell livestreamed on Wednesday, he said Walmart was “canceling” him.
“You guys are canceling us just like the other box stores,” Lindell said he had told a Walmart executive. “Shame on you, Walmart. You’re disgusting.”
Lindell, an ally of Trump, has repeatedly made debunked claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
He has been sued by voting system companies Dominion and Smartmatic for defamation over his claims. Lindell also filed suits against the two companies, but both his counterclaims have been dismissed.
And in May, a federal judge ordered Lindell to pay some of Smartmatic’s court costs and fees, saying some of the MyPillow CEO’s allegations against the company were “frivolous.”
Serious question: Where the fuck does Lindell get all this money from?
Like, he's spending million on lawsuits and investigations and "events" and shit, while also losing money hand over fist as the companies willing to work with him shrinks. And despite mounting losses in predictable income, he's claiming to spend more and more.
Either he's bullshitting all these numbers - extremely likely - or he's getting a lot of money from somewhere else.
Also, does this mean the Q crowd will have to #CancelWalMart? Can they even do that?
Nobody should give a flying fuck.
If the hearings end up seeing Trump and 30% of sitting Republicans facing 14th Amendment challenges if not sedition charges, forcing them all permanently out of federal office forever, those Trump supporters can whine about it on Facebook and go fuck themselves. Penalizing people for breaking the law is not partisan.
Their opinions literally do not matter one whit, and if they don't like that, they can try their best to kick off a civil war. And if they won't, they can fuck off and cry in a corner. Nobody gives a shit what they think. Changing their minds is in no way an objective or goal, here. It takes a whopping heap of unwarranted entitlement to think anyone's obligated to change their minds. They can go on being wrong and stupid as long as they want to. If their chosen representatives keep being seditious criminal morons, so be it.
Looks like the DoJ has again requested the J6 committee's transcripts after today's hearings.
Unfortunately, with the steady diet of lies and conspiracy theories that makes up mainstream GOP rhetoric...it kind of is. And if by some miracle, GOP officials actually do see repercussions from this, you know full well that Trump's cult (and plenty of the slightly less insane Republican voters) will definitely believe it's "Democrats imprisoning their opposition because they know they can't keep power without cheating!!!"
And it is a problem for this country (and its allies) when so many of its voters are so immune to basic facts of reality. That's how we wind up with these fascist fucks in office in the first place.
Last edited by s_bushido; 2022-06-17 at 08:29 AM.
I've been pretty busy so I haven't been able to watch the hearings until last night and this morning. Powering through #3 now.
It's kind of refreshing to see Republicans following actual republican beliefs rather than "I believe whatever I need to believe to own the libs."
It's kind of the opposite of refreshing to see other Republicans privately saying one thing, and publicly saying something completely different. Mostly enraging.
I'm going to wager no one on Trump's side will care, as is custom, and nothing happens.