2021-01-07 14:44:44 UTC: UPDATE (See below the fold).
Pro-Trump rioters breach the US Capitol on historic day in Congress:
Supporters of President Donald Trump breached the US Capitol on Wednesday while Congress was meeting to certify the Electoral College's votes for president and vice president.
The Capitol has been put on lockdown and the certification vote has been paused. Vice President Mike Pence was evacuated from the building. House and Senate leadership is safe and in undisclosed locations, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Congress' counting of electoral votes is typically little more than an afterthought. But this joint session was expected to be a contentious affair that would last late into the evening and possibly on Thursday. Some Republicans are objecting to the count and delaying the inevitable certification of President-elect Joe Biden's win.
Also at AlJazeera (In Pictures: Pro-trump mob storms US Capitol building) and c|net (Mob storms Capitol forcing halt of election vote count).
[2021-01-06 22:33:53 UTC; UPDATE] NOTE: This is a chaotic time.
The Electoral College votes are currently being confirmed and tallied. Runoff votes in Georgia are being tallied and the results may swing the balance of power in the US Senate. The Georgia secretary of state [has been] relocated from [State] Capitol for security reasons. Mitch McConnell goes off on Trump. Pro-Trump reporter gloats over access to fleeing Hill staffer's computer. And Trump hand-picks replacement for Atlanta's US attorney after surprise resignation.
Let's please try and keep the discussion civil.
Also, please be polite and share your popcorn!
(1) Fox News reports Biden's Electoral College victory certified -- hours after Capitol chaos:
The U.S. Congress early Thursday certified the Electoral College vote that gave Democrat Joe Biden his presidential victory -- after a day in Washington that was marred by pro-Trump protesters storming the U.S. Capitol.
Vice President Mike Pence, who had announced he would not overturn the will of voters, confirmed the Biden victory at 3:41 a.m. ET.
Lawmakers had returned to the chamber in an act of defiance, with some Republicans who initially vowed to challenge states' results due to voter fraud concerns announcing they'd instead vote to certify.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called the breach of the Capitol a "failed insurrection," adding that those who "tried to disrupt our democracy" had not succeeded.
(2) President Trump "Responds" via Staffer's Twitter Account after His Account was Suspended:
Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Electoral Certification:
"Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our...
...fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!"
(3) Facebook, Twitter lock Trump's account following video addressing Washington rioters:
- Twitter and Facebook on Wednesday said they would lock the account of President Donald Trump after he continued to make false claims about the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
- Facebook, YouTube and Twitter on Wednesday removed a video by President Donald Trump addressing Washington rioters.
- Meanwhile, calls are mounting for Twitter and Facebook to suspend Trump's accounts.
(4) The Associated Press has called the results for the Georgia Senate elections: both Democratic candidates defeated their GOP opponents:
With projected victories in the twin races of Warnock and Ossoff, President-elect Joe Biden will have the narrowest majority in the Senate, with both parties holding 50-50 seats apiece, allowing the tie-breaking vote to be cast by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Also at The New York Times.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @12:56AM (16 children)
Oh I didn't realize that. What two different incidents is that?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @01:09AM (3 children)
The speech he gave to the Left and the speech he gave to the Right. They are so different they must have been separate speeches.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @01:27AM (2 children)
It's not the only time that's happened. It seems like everything that comes out of Trump's mouth is said twice: once to the left wing and once to the right wing. It's amazing too because it happens at the same time on the same TV channel but two completely different interpretations.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Thursday January 07 2021, @02:11AM (1 child)
I've occasionally looked carefully as what he said, and the reason for the multiple interpretations is quite clear. What he said didn't make any sense at all when interpreted literally. But if you insisted on parsing it into something with a meaning, the meaning you came out with was the meaning you attributed to him given that you knew the context in which he was speaking. People normally correct for small errors without noticing. And these were "fairly small" errors...but if taken literally they totally destroyed the meaning. So people assume that the "small automatic corrections" they make need to be loosened a bit to allow larger corrections to be made. So they hear what they're willing to hear in a form that makes meaning possible.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @03:05AM
I concur 100% with your analysis and I have shared parts of it with others before. Trump tends to emit word salad and like art it is highly open to interpretation. I haven't yet seen anything people get worked up over Trump saying actually being worth all the noise made over it. Well, I can imagine such a thing if I come at it with preconceived notions about how much of a $thing that Trump is, be it dictator, racist, or grandma murderer. What I see is some vague mostly nonsense that if any value can be extracted at all involves taking what he says with several heavy grains of salt. He likes to wonder out loud, he likes to talk and think at the same time, he doesn't know when to shut up, and his vocabulary isn't very good. I'd say he embarrasses himself but I don't think he knows what that means.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @04:05AM (11 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @04:26AM (10 children)
Is there a point you are making that isn't completely discredited by the fact that the Proud Boys are not white supremicists? BLM group, Proud Boys stand together at Salt Lake City press conference [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @04:40AM (9 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @04:51AM (8 children)
Jesus christ your memory is faulty as fuck. Biden suggested Trump denounce the PB. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-q-drlJg1U [youtube.com]
Three people have microphones: Trump, Biden and Wallace. You can tell it wasn't Wallace who said Proud Boys in that jumble. It sure wasn't Trump.
In all cases the request to identify and denounce Proud Boys by name came external from Trump.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @05:32AM (7 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @06:15AM (6 children)
What is the required amount of times to denounce white supremacy then? https://www.factcheck.org/2020/02/trump-has-condemned-white-supremacists/ [factcheck.org]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @06:19AM (4 children)
Just once if it is a sincere condemnation. Trump's condemnations are the lightest criticism immediately followed by "anteefa is the devil" and how bad liberals are. Pretty pathetic, but hey it lets you trolls pretend like white supremacists aren't white supremacists.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @07:53AM (3 children)
I've been witch hunted enough by you fucks to know that if you actually mean and believe what you said that you are utterly unable to identify who is a white supremacist.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @08:00AM (1 child)
"We found a witch! May we burn her?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @05:21PM
Does she float?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @08:04AM
Uh oh, your brain is imploding.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @03:30PM
Funny that you ask that right after YOU provide a link showing Trump dodging a specific request about denouncing white supremacy. https://soylentnews.org/breakingnews/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=41509&page=1&cid=1096256#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] It's brave of you to accuse others of a witch hunt after you've shot your own case in the foot.