Visible from the front windows of the White House residence. https://t.co/Y0AW673X8V
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 14, 2021
Saturday Morning Open Thread: Moving AlongPost + Comments (227)
This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat
Visible from the front windows of the White House residence. https://t.co/Y0AW673X8V
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 14, 2021
Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez will perform at Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony, which will also feature remarks from a Black firefighter from Georgia, a former Youth Poet Laureate, a Catholic priest and a pastor from Biden's hometown https://t.co/TYA0tKnjbB pic.twitter.com/jgu6qotOKy
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 15, 2021
How it started: How it's going: pic.twitter.com/GbiRDQDtIh
— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) January 15, 2021
A shonda for the neighbors!, as my Irish-American, NYC-born Nana used to say…
How Washington DC is preparing for Joe Biden's inauguration after the Capitol riots https://t.co/phtfPTbDvt pic.twitter.com/AgxNXriHvX
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 15, 2021
The plaque in this photo memorializes troops who were quartered in the Capitol after responding to Lincoln’s call for volunteers to save the Union from treasonous enemies. https://t.co/ndRUkLa9vm
— Ruben Gallego (@RepRubenGallego) January 13, 2021
DC resident –
When journalists say shit like "it's abandoned, there's no one on the streets" they mean the K Street/Farragut Square area and Capitol Hill itself, which have been abandoned all year, because no one lives there and all the white collar work is remote. The rest of the city is fine https://t.co/adIBWawurp
— sean hannity's bottomless pasta pass (@MenshevikM) January 16, 2021
Saturday Morning Open Thread: Moving AlongPost + Comments (227)
by Betty Cracker| 248 Comments
This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, President Biden
If you missed Biden’s speech last night, do yourself a favor and watch it when you have a moment:
We have no time to waste when it comes to getting this virus under control and building our economy back better. Tune in as I announce my American Rescue Plan. https://t.co/4YAg0nhJMn
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 15, 2021
The mister and I, cynical and jaded as we are, nearly wept with relief at hearing a normal elected official discuss national policy in a sane and coherent manner. It kind of felt like this:
To continue the Shawshank Redemption theme, enduring the Trump era has been like “crawling through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can’t even imagine,” but the end is in sight. This time next week, we might no longer be seized with dread at each news alert on our phones or reflexively cringe when the President of the United States speaks. Hope.
Open thread.
PS: Media folks are speculating about whether or not Trump will leave a letter in the Resolute Desk for Biden. Allegedly there have been discussions in the West Wing about it. I hope not because, even if composed entirely in words with no illustrations, Trump’s note would be the equivalent of a crude crayon drawing of male genitalia.
But the speculation got me thinking about the note President Obama left for Trump, which included this:
[W]e are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions – like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties – that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.
Just like the rest of us, Obama saw the train wreck coming.
Cold, gray, predawn, squishable morning threadPost + Comments (248)
by Adam L Silverman| 170 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, America, Biden-Harris 2020, Healthcare, Humorous, Open Threads, Silverman on Security
Tonight President-elect Biden announced that he would be announcing his vaccination plan tomorrow. For your convenience, we here at the Balloon Juice bunker have gotten a copy of the plan, codename Operation Lollipop, and it is our distinct honor and privilege to bring it to you now. Full disclosure: contrary to initial reports, Dave Anderson was not injured in obtaining these plans. Several Bothans, however…
Operation Lollipop
Open thread!
Just to be on the safe side, because it is American and it is 2021:
Operation Lollipop: A Preview Of President-Elect Biden’s Vaccination PlanPost + Comments (170)
This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Lock Him Up...Lock Them All Up
This is sweet and a bit cheesy, which is honestly exactly what is needed. https://t.co/0HlhpExcsd
— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) January 12, 2021
On January 20th, we will celebrate the work of democracy as we watch a new President and barrier-breaking Vice President make an oath of office. The next day, on January 21st, we will join them in making a commitment to do our part to heal and rebuild America. We envision a nation that is anti-racist, equitable, and sustainable. Each of us has a role in that labor, and we will only succeed if we lead with love.
January 21st will be a day of virtual conversations, artistic expressions, music performances, teach-ins, vigils and around-the-table family ceremonies. Some events will focus on grief and healing; others on justice and reckoning, others on joy and rising. All of them will have one thing in common: the expression of a “people’s oath” that recommits us to our core values and to one another…
What do you mean by ‘love’?
Love without limit. Not civility. Not a rush to forgiveness. Not healing without accountability. This is love that anchors nonviolent social movements for justice. The People’s Inauguration brings to life the “revolutionary love” proclaimed by the visionary writer and activist Valarie Kaur…
***********
Which doesn’t mean we can’t hold every one of these liars, socipaths, and grifters to account, of course…
I don’t want to unite with those responsible for the insurrection at our nation’s Capitol. I want us to unite in holding them accountable.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 12, 2021
destroying faith in american democracy in service of a man you *knew* to have lost is a mortal sin. others can be in the forgiveness business, that’s fine. not really my jam.
— Normie Transition Team (@CalmSporting) January 13, 2021
It was Antifa but it was no big deal but it was patriots fighting for their country but everyone condemns what happened but if you punish Trump they might do it again but it's censorship to prevent them but what we need to do now is just heal and move on.
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) January 13, 2021
Opinion | The phony GOP calls for ‘unity’ deserve nothing but contempt – The Washington Post https://t.co/46gPAXlnPw
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 11, 2021
Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Speech, 1860 pic.twitter.com/RyQQXJDazJ
— Paul Musgrave (@profmusgrave) January 12, 2021
it’s more than ironic that the tough hardass politically incorrect republicans want to reason with and appease the monster and talk about its feelings while the soft participation trophy democrats just say fuck you
— kilgore trout, brad r’s brother (@KT_So_It_Goes) January 12, 2021
Wednesday Morning Open Thread: (Mostly) Positive ThoughtsPost + Comments (117)
This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Information As Power, Open Threads
DC Mayor Bowser urges people to avoid DC as National Guard plans to have at least 10,000 troops in city by the end of the week https://t.co/TeviY5JerL
— David P Gelles (@gelles) January 11, 2021
The good news — let’s take it where we find it — is that this was going to be a mostly-online Inauguration Day in any event, so the Biden team isn’t scrambling at the last minute to put on a good show. They did a fine job with the nominating convention, and it’s the same people working on this project.
Also, there’s gonna be a considerable number of security professionals roaming DC who will be eager to demonstrate they are not on the side of the insurrectionists, which won’t stop the deluded conspiracists, but should give the semi-pro quasi-military terrorists cause to wonder just how much becoming a martyr is really worth, on a personal level.
It’s sure not the event any of us would have chosen, but… as long as President Biden and Vice-President Harris take over the Oval Office, we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy future uplifting spectacles.
I swear if Capitol Police and every other federal and local policing agency don't go hard like diamonds against these terrorists (who are cop-killers) between now and the 20th, Congress should choke off funds to every single one of them. Let's see how Defund the Police hits then.
— Joy WE VOTED!! WEAR A MASK!! Reid ??) (@JoyAnnReid) January 11, 2021
The mayor of DC sent a letter to the WH on Sunday requesting this emergency declaration. By approving it, Trump is acknowledging the reality of the threat his supporters pose more clearly than he has in any statement since he gently told the mob he incited to go home Wednesday. https://t.co/Hn8gRkYVe8
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) January 12, 2021
National Park Service is shutting down national monuments in D.C. until after inauguration, @peytonforte reports.
Maryland’s governor plans to send National Guard to help during inauguration, per @TShields3 https://t.co/rn4W6z9VWg
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 11, 2021
Department of Defense says they will review troops deployed to Biden inauguration to ensure they don’t have sympathies to domestic terrorists — meaning the US govt is now trying to prevent a military coup.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) January 11, 2021
An hour after he issued this, it's announced that he is stepping down. It's hard not to conclude that the prospect of being point-man during a real domestic security crisis was a lot scarier than cosplaying in aviators while rounding up people in unmarked vans. https://t.co/qWrHNUfkHa
— Kieran Healy (@kjhealy) January 11, 2021
Sixteen groups — some of them armed and most of them hard-line supporters of President Trump — have registered to stage protests in Washington around the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, prompting deep concern among federal officials. https://t.co/pBR1bj9IIA
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 12, 2021
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Inaugural PlanningPost + Comments (179)
This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, GOP Death Cult, NANCY SMASH!, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Lock Him Up...Lock Them All Up
Tonight, in the first interview with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi since a mob smashed its way through the Capitol, Speaker Pelosi tells Lesley Stahl one motivation for impeaching POTUS is to assure he never runs for the presidency again. https://t.co/GB0n5UOLgK pic.twitter.com/aU6dCSO2BQ
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) January 10, 2021
Consequences?!? gasps Lelie Stahl, for a *Republican*?
Consequences, Speaker Pelosi asserts grimly.
The person who is running the Executive Branch of our government is deranged, unhinged, and dangerous. @60Minutes pic.twitter.com/HoiTWc1zQx
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 11, 2021
House Democrats are planning a vote to urge Vice President Mike Pence to take steps to remove President Trump from office following the deadly Capitol siege, as momentum grows for a second impeachment https://t.co/2qfdKAASJi pic.twitter.com/FOZLGk6pgT
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 11, 2021
Or then again, suggests Rep. Clyburn, we could let the sorry bastid twist in the wind, while we do the most important stuff first…
—>> Clyburn: House may wait until after Biden's first 100 days to send impeachment articles to Senate – CNNPolitics https://t.co/ptjf4rPWKm
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 10, 2021
President Trump has lost the support of many former loyalists in his administration after a riot at the U.S. Capitol that he helped provoke, and his White House is in 'meltdown' as it lurches through his final days, current and former officials said https://t.co/Gz3be3RMab
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 11, 2021
And this four-year gap in your resume?
I was in prison.
You *sure* you weren’t working for the Trump administration?
Nope. Prison!
REPUBLICANS: “We just lost the House, the Senate, the Presidency, the respect of the world and 350,000 lives, meet us in the middle.”
No.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) January 10, 2021
Monday Morning Open Thread: Preparing to Take Out the TrashPost + Comments (202)
This post is in: Excellent Links, local races 2019/2020, Open Threads
Yesterday’s assault on the Capitol didn’t have to happen. Politicians who spread the lies that incited this violence bear responsibility. Politicians who continue to lie in order to shift blame and falsely claim this was Antifa or BLM, are contemptible. More thoughts: pic.twitter.com/ZbMPfPXEi5
— Rep. Peter Meijer (@RepMeijer) January 7, 2021
It ain’t all kakistocrats, even in Betsy deVos’s back yard. Peter Meijer (grandson of the man who founded the deservedly beloved Meijers chain) brings the truth:
We can’t paper over the assault on the Capitol with empty calls for ‘unity.’ Unless my party faces the truth of what happened and holds those responsible to account, we will never regain the public’s trust and earn the honor of leading the nation forward. https://t.co/QudmjFEZ8o
— Rep. Peter Meijer (@RepMeijer) January 10, 2021
On Wednesday afternoon in the House Chamber, I assured a colleague we were in the most secure possible place as we unpacked gas masks.
Tear gas had been deployed after violent protestors stormed the rotunda, but as we took cover under bulletproof chairs I assured my colleague we would be fine. After all, there had been incidents in the past, but Capitol Police had maintained control over the seat of our democracy since 1814.
The mob then rushed the barricaded doors to the chamber, trying to break them down. The illusion of security, of the sanctity of our constitutional order, collapsed. With guns drawn, police ordered us to evacuate, leading to chaos as we fled down corridors and into the tunnels beneath Capitol Hill. Several times our group of lawmakers found ourselves alone, with no police escort, fearful of what threats might lie around the next corner…
My colleague told me that efforts to overturn the election were wrong, and that voting to certify was a constitutional duty. But my colleague feared for family members, and the danger the vote would put them in. Profoundly shaken, my colleague voted to overturn.
An angry mob succeeded in threatening at least one member of Congress from performing what that member understood was a constitutional responsibility…
Worse yet, while a dead woman’s blood dried mere feet from our chamber, other Republican colleagues doubled down, repeating lies of a stolen election, baselessly deflecting blame for the Capitol assault from Trump loyalists to Antifa, doing whatever they could to justify, equivocate, rationalize or otherwise avoid taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
Blood has been spilled, and those who encouraged this insurrection are in too deep.
Those of us who refused to cower, who have told the truth, have suffered the consequences. Republican colleagues who have spoken out have been accosted on the street, received death threats, and even assigned armed security…
It didn’t have to end like this, with five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. This should be a moment of reckoning for the country as a whole, and the conservative movement in particular.
If the Republican party ever hopes to regain the public’s trust and lead the country forward after this heinous assault, it must first be honest with itself.
I personally think Rep. Meijer is too optimistic about his comrades’ ability to face the truth, but I give him points for speaking up.
While I don’t doubt they said this to Meijer, I think they just felt more comfortable saying that instead of saying they were simply lying for political advantage. https://t.co/cKxN3HpxKB
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) January 10, 2021
(It’s actually a pretty good interview, even if it is Reason magazine.)
Credit Where Due Open Thread: Not All GOP MichigandersPost + Comments (323)