Trump is throwing a Pity Party for the Ages on Twitter today. See also Imploding MAGA World Turns to Civil War Fantasies, Secession After Supreme Court Disaster. I understand Milo Yiannopoulos had a psychotic break on Parler.
And the Proud Boys have showed up in force in Washington, DC.
Hundreds of Proud Boys are marching in downtown D.C. Thousands are expected for pro-Trump protests today pic.twitter.com/vohgn8RenA
— Debbie Truong (@debbietruong) December 12, 2020
The leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, claimed to have been invited to the White House. The White House says Tarrio just took the public tour.
Trump swears he will fight on. According to CNN, “Before the high court rejected his bid Friday, his campaign announced a cable ad buy to further his fraudulent claims about the election, and he clearly intends to try and meddle in Congress’ counting of the Electoral College results in January.” According to several reports, Melania wants to go home and is packing, already.
The Electoral College votes on Monday.
Trump, of course, is using the chaos to raise money and establish a post-presidential role for himself in the Republican Party. What the Republican Party is getting out of the deal isn’t clear. And we need to give serious thought about the 126 Republican members of Congress (listed at the end of this post) and the 18 state attorneys general who signed on to the embarassing Texas court challenge of other states’ elections.
The suit amounted to a loaded gun at the head of our democracy, said Chris Hayes.
If there is one potential silver lining to this sorry episode of U.S. history, it’s that a considerable portion of the political and media establishment is publicly recognizing that the Republican Party is no longer acting on behalf of the United States.
No one expressed this better than former Republican political consultant Steve Schmidt: “The Republican Party is an organized conspiracy for the purposes of maintaining power for self-interest, and the self-interest of its donor class.”
See also Paul Waldman, who writes that hatred of liberals is all that’s left of conservatism.
The Republican Party has proved that its hatred of liberals is so foundational that it will abandon any pretense of commitment to democracy, if democracy allows for the possibility that liberals might win an election. They have come to regard Democratic voters as essentially undeserving of having their will translated into power, no matter how large their numbers. …
… Forget all that inspiring talk about the genius of the Framers and their vision for democracy; if having an election means that the people we hate might win, then the election must simply be nullified.
Instead of Republican officeholders waiting out Trump’s postelection tantrum, he is waiting them out, and slowly bringing the party around to his side. In this way, Trump is ending his presidency just the way he won it: by correctly recognizing what Republican voters want and giving it to them, and gradually forcing the party’s purported leaders to follow along.
This embrace of the president’s attempt to overturn the results of the election is both shocking and horrifying. As Trump’s fraud claims and legal cases have steadily failed, the arguments he has pursued have become more outlandish and absurd, and they have also become more disturbing. Many Republican voters agree, and in refusing to stand up to him and them, Republican officials have gone from coddling a sore loser to effectively abandoning democracy.
It has to be said that most of the characters perpetrating this atrocity are not political newbies, but have been visible parts of the national politcal landscape for many years. For example, Texas GOP Chair Allen West, who in effect called for states won by Trump to secede yesterday, had already been clanking around in the GOP for quite some time before Trump became POTUS.
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) on Friday urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to refuse to seat any of the 126 Republican House members who signed an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit aimed at overturning the results of the presidential election.
I don’t expect anything to come of this, but Rep. Pascrell is right to call for some kind of consequences for the failure of the 126 to abide by their oath to uphold the Constitution. I suggest the 126 be required to complete some kind of Reconstruction program before they can be seated in the House again. This might include a remedial course in the critical role of elections in a democracy and a deprogramming from the Trump cult.
Here are the members of Congress who signed on to the Texas suit.
Alabama
Rep. Gary Palmer, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Mo Brooks, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Bradley Byrne, First Congressional District
Rep. Robert Aderholt, Fourth Congressional District
Arizona
Rep. Andy Biggs, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Debbie Lesko, Eighth Congressional District
Arkansas
Rep. Rick Crawford, First Congressional District
Rep. Bruce Westerman, Fourth Congressional District
California
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, 23rd Congressional District
Rep. Ken Calvert, 42nd Congressional District
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, First Congressional District
Rep. Tom McClintock, Fourth Congressional District
Colorado
Rep. Ken Buck, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Doug Lamborn, Fifth Congressional District
Florida
Rep. Matt Gaetz, First Congressional District
Rep. Ted Yoho, Third Congressional District
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, 12th Congressional District
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, 25th Congressional District
Rep. John Rutherford, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Daniel Webster, 11th Congressional District
Rep. Michael Waltz, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Ross Spano, 15th Congressional District
Rep. Neal Dunn, Second Congressional District
Georgia
Rep. Doug Collins, Ninth Congressional District
Rep. Rick W. Allen, 12th Congressional District
Rep. Earl Carter, First Congressional District
Rep. Drew Ferguson, Third Congressional District
Rep. Austin Scott, Eighth Congressional District
Idaho
Rep. Russ Fulcher, First Congressional District
Rep. Mike Simpson, Second Congressional District
Illinois
Rep. Mike Bost, 12th Congressional District
Rep. Darin LaHood, 18th Congressional District
Indiana
Rep. James Baird, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Jim Banks, Third Congressional District
Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, Ninth Congressional District
Rep. Greg Pence, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Jackie Walorski, Second Congressional District
Iowa
Rep. Steve King, Fourth Congressional District
Kansas
Rep. Ron Estes, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Roger Marshall, First Congressional District
Louisiana
Rep. Steve Scalise, First Congressional District
Rep. Mike Johnson, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Ralph Abraham, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Clay Higgins, Third Congressional District
Maryland
Rep. Andy Harris, First Congressional District
Michigan
Rep. Jack Bergman, First Congressional District
Rep. Bill Huizenga, Second Congressional District
Rep. Tim Walberg, Seventh Congressional District
Rep. John Moolenaar, Fourth Congressional District
Minnesota
Rep. Tom Emmer, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Jim Hagedorn, First Congressional District
Mississippi
Rep. Michael Guest, Third Congressional District
Rep. Trent Kelly, First Congressional District
Missouri
Rep. Sam Graves, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Jason Smith, Eighth Congressional District
Rep. Ann Wagner, Second Congressional District
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Third Congressional District
Montana
Rep. Greg Gianforte, at-large district
Nebraska
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, First Congressional District
Rep. Adrian Smith, Third Congressional District
New Jersey
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, Second Congressional District
New York
Rep. Elise Stefanik, 21st Congressional District
Rep. Lee Zeldin, First Congressional District
North Carolina
Rep. Dan Bishop, Ninth Congressional District
Rep. Ted Budd, 13th Congressional District
Rep. Virginia Foxx, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Richard Hudson, Eighth Congressional District
Rep. David Rouzer, Seventh Congressional District
Rep. Gregory Murphy, Third Congressional District
Ohio
Rep. Jim Jordan, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Bob Gibbs, Seventh Congressional District
Rep. Bill Johnson, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Robert E. Latta, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Second Congressional District
Oklahoma
Rep. Kevin Hern, First Congressional District
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, Second Congressional District
Pennsylvania
Rep. John Joyce, 13th Congressional District
Rep. Fred Keller, 12th Congressional District
Rep. Mike Kelly, 16th Congressional District
Rep. Dan Meuser, Ninth Congressional District
Rep. Scott Perry, 10th Congressional District
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, 14th Congressional District
Rep. Glenn Thompson, 15th Congressional District
South Carolina
Rep. Jeff Duncan, Third Congressional District
Rep. Ralph Norman, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Tom Rice, Seventh Congressional District
Rep. William Timmons, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Joe Wilson, Second Congressional District
Tennessee
Rep. Tim Burchett, Second Congressional District
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Third Congressional District
Rep. Mark Green, Seventh Congressional District
Rep. David Kustoff, Eighth Congressional District
Rep. John Rose, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, Fourth Congressional District
Texas
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Second Congressional District
Rep. Kevin Brady, Eighth Congressional District
Rep. Michael Burgess, 26th Congressional District
Rep. Michael Cloud, 27th Congressional District
Rep. Mike Conaway, 11th Congressional District
Rep. Bill Flores, 17th Congressional District
Rep. Louie Gohmert, First Congressional District
Rep. Lance Gooden, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Kenny Marchant, 24th Congressional District
Rep. Randy Weber, 14th Congressional District
Rep. Roger Williams, 25th Congressional District
Rep. Ron Wright, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Jodey Arrington, 19th Congressional District
Rep. Brian Babin, 36th Congressional District
Virginia
Rep. Ben Cline, Sixth Congressional District
Rep. Rob Wittman, First Congressional District
Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, Ninth Congressional District
Washington
Rep. Dan Newhouse, Fourth Congressional District
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Fifth Congressional District
West Virginia
Rep. Carol Miller, Third Congressional District
Rep. Alex Mooney, Second Congressional District
Wisconsin
Rep. Tom Tiffany, Seventh Congressional District
I have a few suggestions about what to do with these seditious traitors. I got them from my favorite source: Otto MyAzz.
1. Don't seat these seditious KKKongressKKKritters.
2. Sanction all if the lawyers who signed on – and disbar the most seditious of the lot.
3. And finally, take away their US citizenship. And if they want it back, they'll have them reapply, and then they'll have to pass a very tough test on our Constitution AND on civil rights!
4. If they successfully follow these steps, they'll get their citizenship back. But not their license(s) to practice law. And while they'll be allowed to vote again, they will be forever forbidden from working on a campaign, or running for office.
I'm just spitballin' here, so take these ideas for what they're worth – AND with a humongous grain of salt.
I stumbled onto a right-wing livestream tonight of the evening action in DC. The overt desire declared by comments was that the Proud Boys be allowed to get at 'Antifa' and BLM. There were counterprotesters a block away (as far as I could guess.) The DC police were keeping both sides apart. I could not tell without a map but it looks like Proud Boys tried to flank the DC police who were at the intersection(s) preventing a physical confrontation. The streaming FB commentary was a bloodthirsty demand that the cops stand aside with the implicit suggestion that people opposed to Trump can be attacked at will. The only guns I saw were carried by police but a lot of the Proud Boys must be lame because they had walking sticks.
As of 11PM, it looks like the cultists were thinning out. An amazing number seem to think the election isn't over and Biden will not be sworn in. Monday is when the next nail will be driven into the casket of the Trump presidency. There was talk about "Marshall law." (Amazing how many cultists can't spell.) A lot of them expect Trump can wave his wand and set aside the Constitution. Whether Trump is desperate enough to try it is anyone's guess.
People have speculated about whether Trump is driven more by ego or by greed as he attempts to subvert the popular will. Speculation is my specialty – Trump knows better than anyone what his liability in NY state is. Is the proof there for a criminal case? Trump may be cornered, and a cornered animal is dangerous. Trump can't win but what will he try to do to survive?
I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's no point trying to figure out what Trump is thinking. It's like taking a bulging carton of smelly, chunky milk out of the refrigerator and trying to figure out whether it went bad two weeks ago or three. It's bad. Throw it out.
Trump is looking to grift money AND avoid prosecution AND he knows he can't stay in office AND he thinks maybe he can. The only thing Trump believes in (other than violent racism and sexism) is that if you just keep moving forward, demanding and grabbing and screaming every second of every day, you will wind up with more at the end of the day than if you act like a decent person. It's like "Aim for the moon and even if you fail you'll land among the stars," but for shitheads.
They're like the Soviets in the old story of the district Party meeting where everyone stood up to applaud to mark Comrade Stalin's birthday and an hour later they were still at it because no one wanted to be pegged as The First One To Stop Clapping.
But yes, the fact that they're turning themselves inside-out for the benefit of a broke, senile game show host who after four years as president still thinks stealth bombers are literally invisible is — not surprising, but shocking.
The predicted, but not desired or necessary, blood has started to flow.
Fascist fuKKKers and Antifa counter-protesters clashed in Washington, DC, and in Olympia, Washington.
I don't know who started the trouble (but my guess is the Fascist fuKKKers), and I haven't heard what the extent of the injuries are.
The violence is starting, and will almost surely escalate.
Is the end of Trump the end of the Republican Party?
https://www.newsweek.com/pro-trump-rally-chants-destroy-gop-boos-georgia-rinos-loeffler-perdue-1554354?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3VWfhvivsWHxjptVFYrniz–ThpCRsIKLdNmjDvefTFA–wV3mOpUasGY#Echobox=1607808690