It's been one heck of a week:
Against the backdrop of record-setting numbers of COVID-19 deaths and infections in the US and around the world, there was turmoil in Washington, DC. As court cases surrounding the presidential election were filed and dismissed, a close race in Georgia was coming down to the wire and with it control of the US Senate. While the US Congress was completing the Electoral College tally and certification, a mob formed outside — and eventually broke into — the US Capitol. This resulted in a 4-hour lock-down. Eventually, the intrusion was repelled, and the Electoral College count was completed: Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was confirmed as the 46th president of the United States of America.
Conspiracy theories have flourished. Propaganda has streamed forth across multiple platforms. Tempers have flared.
And SoylentNews has been there for you. And have you ever spoken up! Two of the most-commented stories in the site's nearly seven-year history were posted in just the past week!
Insomuch as the activities in the US Capitol were far from the US' most shining moments, neither were things all unicorns and rainbows on SoylentNews. Tempers flared. People were attacked and called names. I even accidentally deleted a story and the 17 comments attached to it! [NB: Problem addressed: the delete button no longer appears by default for our editors.]
IRC (Internet Relay Chat):
Even our IRC service was not free from controversy. We had a spate of nick (nickname) impersonations. Going forward, IRC users are free to use whatever nick they like with the following caveats:
Further, we understand conversations can easily ramble from subject to subject, but there are separate channels for different topics. (Use the /list comand to see what is available.) As #soylent is the default landing channel, we want to keep the discussions there civil. Name calling and personal attacks are grounds for a timeout. I have had discussions with deucalion (the site's CEO and also IRC-maintainer) about these activities.
NOTE: we are NOT going to sit there watching every discussion, poised to take action. But, if such activity is seen by staff on IRC, they are free to take such actions as they deem necessary.
Aspirations:
As I approach posting my 10,000th story(!) to SoylentNews, I think back to when it all started. How a group of people got together. They shared freely of their expertise, of their free time, and of their hard-earned funds. They tried to create a place free from corporate overlords where people could engage in discussions that focused primarily on technology, but with a dabbling in other areas and current events.
SoylentNews provides a forum for discussion. It also provides tools so the community can express themselves in the comments and moderate those comments, as well.
This got me to thinking. What are our aspirations today? What are our guiding principles? I will list some of my guiding principles, and I encourage the community to share what guides them in the comments.
How about you? What sayings guide your aspirations?
Thank You!
Lastly, I thank all of you for supporting me as Editor-in-Chief. I have no formal background in writing or management. I've made mistakes, but I've tried to own up to them as they happened. I strive to be fair, impartial, and open-minded. Under the watchful gaze of the community, I have grown. It is my hope that I may continue to earn your respect and continue in service for many years to come.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 13 2021, @04:29AM (1 child)
He told the terrorists that attempted to kill legislative leaders and the Vice President "we love you, you're very special."
As for ending the insurrection, it is his job. He's the head of the executive branch. He has the authority to send in the DC National Guard, even if the guy he appointed says no. This right here is why Democrats calling to invoke the 25th amendment are offering an easy way out. The 25th is for a president that is unable to perform their duties, such as due to illness or general incompetence. If Pence invokes it and Trump doesn't fight it he could quietly leave office as merely not up to the job of president because the alternative explanation is that he intentionally allowed a group of violent terrorists roam the capitol building for hours while his silence indicated his agreement with his appointments refusal to end the attack.
And lets not forget, before the sixth somebody ordered the Capitol Police and DC National Guard not to take the normal precautions they would take for any large gathering, this despite the fact that the FBI knew an attack was coming [rollingstone.com].
So our options are Trump is so incompetent that his appointments and advisers have orchestrated a coup attempt around him without his involvement or knowledge and then he just went along with it when they pulled the trigger or he himself attempted the coup. In the former case we might say that his rhetoric was inciting but not intentional. In the later case there's no question what he was attempting.
So, what do you think? Is Trump so weak he can't even bring himself to override Senior Army official Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, a man he appointed last month, or did he just try to overturn the vote by violence?
(Score: 2) by helel on Wednesday January 13 2021, @04:31AM
Accidentally posted AC, didn't notice I had gotten logged out by mistake. That's one downside of allowing AC posts, I guess?