SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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!
[Updates Begin]:
(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: 5, Interesting) by sjames on Thursday January 07 2021, @07:45AM (11 children)
As a Citizen of the United States and long time resident of one of the "contested" states, I am sick and damned tired or Trump and his horde of flying monkeys trying to deny me my right to vote. He has tried repeatedly to invalidate my vote (as one of millions). I cast my ballot fair and square as did millions of others in my state. It turns out I was in the majority this time (not so much in 2016). Trump's repeated suggestions and demands that my ballot be tossed in the shredder is an insult to everything this country is supposed to stand for.
At this point, I'm ready to agree to a wall, a big tall beautiful wall topped with shiny barbed wire, around Mar-a-lago. And we should make Trump pay for it. Failing that, chuck him in any handy supermax.
(Score: 2) by slinches on Thursday January 07 2021, @06:10PM (10 children)
I'm sick and tired of both parties complete disregard for the integrity of our elections. The tactics both sides use range from technically legal but unethical to straight up fraud and we are supposed to just continue to go along with that? I can't claim to know which candidate "really" won any of the past several elections, but I do know that we can't keep going this way. If control of the country continues to be decided in a few small jurisdictions with both parties doing every underhanded thing they can (legal or not) to swing it their way, this sort of thing will only continue to escalate. A large number of Americans believe Biden's election to the presidency not to be legitimate, probably even more than thought the same of Trump's, which is more than the number who thought Obama's wasn't and Bush's before that. We had a mob disrupting congress this time around and we will be lucky if it stops there. This needs to be fixed before the next election and it's not just an issue with the integrity of our elections, it's an issue with the integrity of our people and the willingness justify any means to satisfy our ends.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07 2021, @07:22PM
Yeah, most liberals have been wailing about election reform for years now, and many were quite upset about the DNC fuckery that gave us Clinton and Biden. We shall now see if Democrats are up to the job of pushing election reforms.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday January 07 2021, @07:33PM (8 children)
Don't give me that both sides argument. Trumps actions and a significant part of the GOP lining up to kiss his ass are orders of magnitude beyond. The dem's few procedural questions and challenges don't even move the needle. For one, none of them were probable felonies (the now infamous call to Raffensperger) frivolous (the MANY MANY lawsuits that presented no evidence or even claims in some cases) or seditious (Trump calling on his flying monkeys to storm the capitol). In 2000 Gore brought one clearly troubled State election to the Supreme court. A ruling was made and Gore accepted the result. In 2016, Clinton gracefully conceded as soon as the writing was on the wall. To this day, Trump is still refusing to accept the results, even after they have been checked, re-checked, checked again and ratified by the House and Senate.
If the GOP wants to maintain any legitimacy they'll confiscate Trump's membership card and incinerate it.
(Score: 2) by slinches on Thursday January 07 2021, @08:24PM (7 children)
The point is that it's escalating and by excusing the behavior of your side and pointing the finger at the other saying that "they" are worse is how it happens.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday January 07 2021, @08:44PM (6 children)
That's like A saying to B "You robbed a bank and killed 3 people" and B replies "Well you didn't finish your peas before you had dessert!".
Short of just not running against a Republican in order to avoid trouble, what more can the Dems do to de-escalate? As I said, in 2016, Clinton conceded promptly and urged unity as soon as the counts were in.
(Score: 2) by slinches on Thursday January 07 2021, @09:47PM (5 children)
How about listening to the opposition and working together to address everyone's concerns? The Republicans should do the same.
(Score: 3, Touché) by sjames on Thursday January 07 2021, @10:46PM (4 children)
Movement of goalpost noted.
It's been tried. The Dems frequently compromise only to be told compromise some more. After a few iterations the bill looks exactly like the republican proposal and they still reject it because a Democrat might get the credit.
We're already at the point where the Dems are a bit to the right of many countries conservatives by default.
We've tried "so what's your proposal?" as well. Before he even took office, Trump promised this amazing healthcare reform that we were "going to love". He has less than 2 weeks left and we're still waiting.
At this point, the GOP compromise proposal is more of less "Tell you what, give Trump another 4 years then we can hold a new election....".
(Score: 2) by slinches on Thursday January 07 2021, @11:06PM (3 children)
So then continue to push your agenda while ignoring and demonizing everyone who disagrees and we'll see where that gets us. I'll bet it's nowhere good.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday January 07 2021, @11:42PM (1 child)
So you're saying the Dems must fully surrender or the country gets it?
And you consider this to be somehow a reasonable position?
How about when the Dems offer a compromise, the GOP should compromise back? And stop supporting 70-something toddlers when they throw a tantrum.
(Score: 2) by slinches on Friday January 08 2021, @01:22AM
This is what I'm asking of both sides. Just keep going back and forth with this until something that both sides can accept is reached. It helps when each new proposed compromise addresses the objections raised against the last one.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 08 2021, @01:04AM
TIL: reality == political agenda
at least in the minds of Republicans :|