2020 Election - The curtain starts coming down

[Bob Schroeck]

Betsy DeVos resigns as Secretary of Education. All these loyalist Cabinet members starting to bail... I need to look up if there's a quorum for the Cabinet vote on a 25th amendment removal.

[Labster]

I think you're reading it wrong. It's a purge; the least loyalist members of the Cabinet are leaving. Possibly of their own accord, if they don't want to be on record as voting against Trump. Plus I think Trump's words mean "A new administration will be sworn in on January 20, and it will be the second Trump administration."

13 days left. This doesn't sound like long, but may I remind you the high-stakes part of the Cuban Missile Crisis took 13 days. May God have mercy on our souls.

[Bob Schroeck]

The thing is, DeVos is one of the most loyal of loyal, not the least. She's one of the few of Trump's appointees who lasted the whole administration and never did anything to piss him off.

[hazard]

You sure it's loyalty, and not being outside the interests of Trump and his power structures, so mostly left alone to do her damage as she pleases?

[Bob Schroeck]

Checking the record, that's the way she's been described almost from the start -- and certainly so in the reports of her resignation.

[Bob Schroeck]

People at the US Capitol riot are being identified and losing their jobs

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, and the death count from Wednesday's attack on the Capitol is now five -- one of the Capitol police has died.

[Bob Schroeck]

Dominion Voting Systems sues Sidney Powell for defamation for $1.3 billion

[Bob Schroeck]

Trump Officials Rush to Keep Him From Sparking Another Conflict—at Home or Abroad

[Bob Schroeck]

“The Stink of His Family Is Nearly Impossible To Get Off”: Jared and Ivanka’s Final Chapter in Washington Demolished Their Future

[Bob Schroeck]

Trump-supporting Chicago CEO arrested for allegedly entering Capitol during riots

[Bob Schroeck]

From the "Sadly Predictable" Department:

Donald Trump fans cry betrayal as he rebukes Capitol violence

Parler Users Call Trump's Concession Video 'Deep Fake,' and Worry He'll 'Sell Us Out'

[robkelk]

Trump Officials Rush to Keep Him From Sparking Another Conflict—at Home or Abroad

“Yesterday was the worst day for the Republican Party since Lincoln’s assassination.”
— Joe Grogan, Trump’s former top domestic policy adviser

Worth re-quoting

[Bob Schroeck]

Trump is still lashing out at anyone who's not kissing his butt:

Trump withdraws actng Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf's nomination to become the actual Secretary of DHS after Wolf says Trump should 'strongly condemn' Capitol violence.

State Department political appointee fired by White House after tweeting Trump was unfit for office

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, and the death count from Wednesday's attack on the Capitol is now five -- one of the Capitol police has died.

His name was Brian D. Sicknick, and a Federal investigation has been opened into his death.

[SilverFang01]

It seems some police officers were very helpful with the insurrectionists:
These Are the Rioters Who Stormed the Nation’s Capitol

But they could not find Mr. Schumer’s office. He said they asked a Capitol Police officer, who tried to direct them. But they appeared to have gotten nowhere near the minority’s leader’s office. They ended up smoking a few cigarettes inside the building — “We can smoke in our house,” Aaron said — and one of his friends, who would not give his name, joked that he had gone to the bathroom and not flushed.

Others had zip ties with them so at least we can infer they wanted to take hostages, plus the pipe bombs, plus beating a cop to death with a fire extinguisher. We were damn lucky that it failed as fast as any business Donald Trump is involved in, and that DC's gun laws prevented most of them from taking their toys. But next time? And there will be a next time, with someone smarter at the helm.

[Bob Schroeck]

Pelosi confers with top general on preventing 'unhinged' Trump from launching nuclear strike

[Bob Schroeck]

Dominion Voting Systems sues Sidney Powell for defamation for $1.3 billion

Dominion Voting doesn't rule out suing Trump, media allies over election conspiracy theories

[robkelk]

Dominion Voting Systems sues Sidney Powell for defamation for $1.3 billion

Dominion Voting doesn't rule out suing Trump, media allies over election conspiracy theories

And remember: the company is originally Canadian. They're being nice... so far. Beware the Nice Ones.

[Labster]

It seems some police officers were very helpful with the insurrectionists:
These Are the Rioters Who Stormed the Nation’s Capitol

But they could not find Mr. Schumer’s office. He said they asked a Capitol Police officer, who tried to direct them. But they appeared to have gotten nowhere near the minority’s leader’s office. They ended up smoking a few cigarettes inside the building — “We can smoke in our house,” Aaron said — and one of his friends, who would not give his name, joked that he had gone to the bathroom and not flushed.

Others had zip ties with them so at least we can infer they wanted to take hostages, plus the pipe bombs, plus beating a cop to death with a fire extinguisher. We were damn lucky that it failed as fast as any business Donald Trump is involved in, and that DC's gun laws prevented most of them from taking their toys. But next time? And there will be a next time, with someone smarter at the helm.

To me I look at them, a mix of people wearing shirts bearing neo-Nazi slogans, Confederate flag bearer bros, your run of the mill skinhead or two, and a few dozen gentlefolk rejected during Duck Dynasty casting calls, and I can't help but think back to this bit from Ash Knight:

        "Why are we here?"
        Saionji gave his student a sidelong look.  "Philosophy isn't one of your usual hobbies," he said.
        "No, not in an abstract sense.  I mean, what are we doing -here-?  These people... "  He hesitated, fidgeting.
        "Go ahead," Saionji said.  "Never hesitate to speak your mind to me, Ani."
        "... Well... it's just that most of them are -losers-," Anakin said.  To his surprise, the remark drew a snort of laughter from his teacher.
        "That's true - more true than you know," Saionji said.

All of these folks are history's rejects.  And even when they invade our government on a fluke, a few hours later we go back to what we were doing, denounce them a bit, and move on.  Trump is a loser, and so are all of his followers.

[Bob Schroeck]

Video Shows Newly Elected W.Va. Lawmaker Among Mob That Stormed The U.S. Capitol

A followup NPR article notes that the video was originally a live feed on the Facebook page of Republican Derrick Evans, member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.  It's since been deleted, but not before copies were made and spread across the Web.  Evans is currently claiming he was there "as an independent member of the media to film history" even though he isn't a journalist of any kind.  However, the members of the mob in his vicinity clearly knew who he was, and "We're in! We're in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!" can be heard on the video.

West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw has implied he's going to be interrogating Evans as to just what the hell he was doing.  And there have been calls for his resignation from other House of Delegates members.

And he's now facing federal charges. Fellow Delegates are demanding his resignation or expulsion from the House of Delegates. And his lawyer says he was carried along by the wave of humanity and "had no choice but to enter". Yeah, right. And he had no choice but to yell triumphantly "we're in!"

[RMH999]

Senator Murkowski (R-Alaska) calling for Trump's resignation

Sen Murkowski (R) calling for Trump to resign and mentioning maybe leaving the Republican party (believe it when I see, but with Alaska going Ranked Choice Voting, she doesn't have to cater nearly as much to the right).

[SilverFang01]

To me I look at them, a mix of people wearing shirts bearing neo-Nazi slogans, Confederate flag bearer bros, your run of the mill skinhead or two, and a few dozen gentlefolk rejected during Duck Dynasty casting calls, and I can't help but think back to this bit from Ash Knight:

        "Why are we here?"
        Saionji gave his student a sidelong look.  "Philosophy isn't one of your usual hobbies," he said.
        "No, not in an abstract sense.  I mean, what are we doing -here-?  These people... "  He hesitated, fidgeting.
        "Go ahead," Saionji said.  "Never hesitate to speak your mind to me, Ani."
        "... Well... it's just that most of them are -losers-," Anakin said.  To his surprise, the remark drew a snort of laughter from his teacher.
        "That's true - more true than you know," Saionji said.

All of these folks are history's rejects.  And even when they invade our government on a fluke, a few hours later we go back to what we were doing, denounce them a bit, and move on.  Trump is a loser, and so are all of his followers.

So? These guys were taken as clowns and losers too at first. A couple decades later no one was laughing at them.

So I am not inclined to dismiss them. As a matter of fact I’m having the same wish as Vir, just with the GOP leadership in place of Mr. Morden.

[Dartz]

I'm catching up on this in a big way. Partly because it's so damned fascinating. It's like 99% useful idiots - people showing up for shits, giggles and selfies at a BBQ with no real concept of what they're planning beyond get the fuck in a shit on the place, get smashed on whiskey and just wrecking shit like hooligans.

Then you have the sinister forces. Those who opened the door, stood aside and dilly-dallied. Whomever set up that gibbet, and those few lost in the crowd dressed in black, with zip-tie handcuffs and an actual plan.

On the one hand, it's a laughably shit coup attempt - almost a joke. On the other - if the zip-tie guys had been that bit faster - something far more frightening could've happened. And they're only just starting to entire the narrative. There was apprently, one line of police between the attackers, and congress - even while half the police were opening doors along the way.

Then of course, it's drowned out by the spa who shocked his own balls to death, yer man who had a stroke, or yer wan with the "Don't Tread on Me" flag who got trodden to death.

I can't fathom Trump being intelligent enough to plan this. But the dominoes of resignations and appointments almost seem to suggest it's possible. There was brain in there.

This'd be some shit Tom Clancy stuff - maybe if you swapped the parties it'd have his name in the title block.

Yous are probably lucky that there're no legislators dead on the floor. Or on national television. That nobody actually feels that is probably telling.

[STMPD]

Alabama state rep plays up the ol' false flag narrative.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, same as it ever was. But I can't stop mentally laughing at the phrase 'fascist antifa'. It's like saying that the Nazis were socialists- oh wait shit the right does that too. Huh.

War is peace! Truth is lies! All animals are equal but some are more equal than others! And so on.