Steve Schmidt calling it SEDITION

[bucolic_frolic]

Glenn Kessler
@GlennKesslerWP · 12h
Trump appointee at GSA declines to sign letter authorizing Biden transition - The Washington Post https://washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gsa-letter-biden-transition/2020/11/08/07093acc-21e9-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html

Link to tweet

10:08 PM · Nov 8, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

Steve Schmidt
@SteveSchmidtSES
This is a moment of global jubilation and profound relief. It is also a moment that requires vigilance and presence. This decision will kill Americans at a moment when Covid is raging. This will be a miserable winter of death in our country. The actions real target is 1/

2/ American democracy. This is the first meaningful action in an attempt to kill it. I’m going to use a word with intention. Sedition. That is the appropriate word to describe the actions of @newtgingrich @LindseyGrahamSC @RudyGiuliani @TomCottonAR as they hurl baseless conspiracy

3/ Theories with no evidence of voter fraud whatsoever. Their actions are despicable and profoundly UNAMERICAN. The failure of incumbent GOP elected officials to congratulate the President-Elect is disgraceful. It is dangerous. It is

4/ unprecedented in the history of the country. This is thuggish and authoritarian behavior. It is not acceptable in America. The bad faith and dishonesty of the GOP majority in Washington at this moment is appalling. Apparently Trump’s ego needs sating so he is going to start

5/ Holding more super spreader rallies that will kill people as he takes a sledgehammer to the American people’s faith and belief in the legitimacy of the system with his blizzard of lies and conspiracy nonsense. What we are seeing is astounding. Senior American elected officials

6/ are refusing to accept the will of the American people. This may be playing out as a farce for now but we should all watch with wariness. We are witnessing an authoritarian moment. It won’t succeed. This time. But it is here and it has rooted itself in the soil of our polity.

7/ This is the essence of Trumpism. It is an authoritarian movement and a cult of personality. It has fascistic markers and teems with menace and extremism. Sadly, it is here to stay. @ProjectLincoln will fight on the side of American democracy and liberty. Here, the people are

8/ Sovereign. We choose our leaders and fire them when they fail. American soil is a bitter place for tyrants and autocrats. Trump has been defeated. Yet, the damage he has done will endure and he is not yet done vandalizing America and defacing his high office. There is light

9/ At the end of the tunnel but these next 70 days will be very hard. Trump is going to do things that will weaken our democracy for a generation over the next weeks. We are watching the greatest conspiracy theory of all time forming before our eyes— right now. That of course is

10/ The baseless idea that the election was stolen from Trump. It will be an article of faith in the GOP and belief in it will be tablestakes for every 24 candidate. What a tragedy for America.

[CottonBear]

1. Can the house directly authorize emergency transition funding & bypass the GSA Trump toady?

[getagrip_already]

22. no, it would require the standard legislative approvals

house + senate + potus (or override).

No one house can act alone. Except for trump apparently.

[Iliyah]

2. K & R . . .

And the republican party is part of it.

[C_U_L8R]

3. Exactly.

The election is over. There's a clear difference between opposition and insurrection. These idiots seem like they're about to pick the wrong fight. It will be deadly for them and the GOP.

[kentuck]

4. Biden should meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff from all the militaries...

...to show authoritatively that our vote and our Constitution is the final word in this democracy.

[JI7]

6. It's not the military that is the problem here

[kentuck]

11. Of course not. It would only be symbolic.

To show that there is only one Commander in Chief and that is the one that obeys the Constitution.

[wnylib]

31. Military leaders have already stated

that they will stay out of politics.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

60. However, Biden is not yet Commander in Chief.

[padah513]

9. Besides

We only have one President at a time. Unfortunately, it is still trump.

[dware]

14. I would imagine he already has met with the JCoS

and reminded them that they took an oath to protect the Constitution, not the Pres.

[getagrip_already]

24. He can't legally do that....

Until the transition commission approves transition activities. It would be like any random politician who hadn't won anything but is claiming victory meeting with them. It wouldn't be allowed.

They are still under orders. And there is no legal wedge to get around them.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

38. I agree.

This may already be a done deal.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff must know by now that Trump is mentally, emotionally, and psychologically unstable, and a clear, present, and immediate threat to national security.

[sdfernando]

45. That is a BAD idea

Military has NO role in the election as they've already stated.

Not only that, the orange usurper could use such a meeting as basis for firing every single one of them.

[roscoeroscoe]

54. I think Joe is already getting the PDB

Presidential Daily Brief.

[58Sunliner]

5. K & R!! Sedition indeed.

[malaise]

7. Let them all know that prison awaits

That is all

[jaxexpat]

20. And does not wait PATIENTLY.

[malaise]

33. LOL

The truth

[KPN]

50. Let's hope so. I'm not convinced at this point. We

in a period of crisis caused by traitors to our Constitution right now. They know what they are doing — which says to me they know what is at stake for them personally. I can only think they believe they will “win” — that’s the stuff civil war and dictatorships are borne of.

[Mr. Ected]

8. Watch "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix

I found it extraordinarily compelling. It shows how social media has brainwashed the masses around the world and given credence to the myriad conspiracy theories we see posited from those on the right.

My thinking is that there is a trickle up process by which those who have been propagandized force their elected leadership to conform their actions to the lies and distortions delivered via social media. The people demand it, their reps go along with it so as not to lose a voter. It's sick, it's premeditated, and ultimately it will destroy all of us. Not hyperbole, not in the least.

[mikeysnot]

10. gop is giving us ammo for 2022.

let them dig their own graves.

[dameatball]

12. "American soil is a bitter place for tyrants and autocrats."

[dchill]

13. K & R!

[BigOleDummy]

15. I've seen a lot of posts on here...

... slamming Mr. Schmidt and The Lincoln Project. Yes, we disagree with many of the policies he may support as a conservative but the man is a Patriot in the truest sense of the word. He's telling us NOW and in real time how far too many on the right think. We would be wise to pay attention to him.

[not fooled]

36. Yep

Gotta give him credit--he isn't just folding now that red don is on the way out, but continuing to call out the fascists.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

16. KnR...

The row has been hoed and seeds are planted. We must not let them sprout and grow.

[jaxexpat]

25. Just for clarification: the row hoeing doesn't really start until after the sprouting and growing.

You see, there is literally no "row" to hoe until it is revealed by a line of growing plants.

Not sure how this impacts the analogy but truth in agriculture is important. For instance, "food insecurity" may be when the majority of farmers vote Republican. Just saying.

[not_the_one]

40. You are thinking about "weeding a row" by hoe...

In farming and gardening, to hoe a row is to turn a line of soil for the planting of seeds or bulbs. This is the origin of the idiom tough row to hoe, which describes a large, challenging task.

https://grammarist.com/usage/row-to-hoe/

[jaxexpat]

44. Oh Great. So now we get farming lessons from people who've never hoed a row in their life?

Some degree of experience with this. Born into farming, did farming. Raising 1500 acres of soybeans, corn, wheat and tobacco.

Hoeing a row is when you not only chop out weeds but also bed loose soil around the individual plant stems. It's a process that usually waits about 2-3 weeks after planting, a point at which most garden plants are tall enough to have their lower stem part threatened by breaking from the stress of wind caught on the leafy upper parts of the plant. Often it's repeated about every week as the pressure from growing weeds continues. If you've failed to have a beautiful garden then these are the steps you may have failed to take.

Sometimes the hoe is used to create a furrow in which to sow seeds or place bulb-lets for planting a small garden by hand. More serious gardeners will use a shovel point attached to a two handled frame over a single wheel for making the furrow. But in any case this "furrowing" is, apparently, the task some ill-informed "experts" have confused with hoeing a row.

A long row to hoe is when you are, at 6:00 am and its already 70 rising towards 90, on the first half-mile row of a 100 acre field full of weeds. A truly daunting proposition. It is pure man-power, hot, miserable and exhausting. And when you're done it's time to start all over again. That's why modern farming is nearly all done mechanically and chemically with elaborate and expensive machinery. Otherwise the world would starve to death.

It is of no consequence what a person who has never held a hoe has to say about the intimacy of ones hands and arms with a steel broad-blade attached to a wooden handle or the tenderness of one's aching back and shoulder muscles (by 8:00 am then by noon it's cramping and only sundown marks quitting time). For further instruction you'll have to get somebody a lot younger than I to go out and do that crap again.

[True Blue American]

59. You have to hoe the row to plant the seeds.

Then you hoe to get rid of the weeds.

[marble falls]

61. 99% of hoeing happens after the seeds get planted.

[True Blue American]

67. You still have to plant and cover the seeds or plants.

Today much of that is done with machines, but it still has to be done.

[marble falls]

68. We even thinned and trimmed with a hoe. I know I'd want a long handled hoe rather than a short one.

That was a good introduction to becoming a mortar mason's laborer. The hoeing stuff I picked up in the "garden" over the years came in handy chopping mortar for six or eight bricklayers while moving scaffold bucks and planks around.

[bdamomma]

74. We still

have "weeds" to get rid of.

[UpInArms]

17. I have contacted both of my Republican Senators with this message

Please stand for democracy and acknowledge our free and fair elections by congratulating our newly elected President and Vice President.

To do less undermines confidence in our country’s ability to hold elections.

If you do not do so, you will make people question the validity of your ability to hold office and question whether even you have the right to be elected fairly.

Do not be a party to the destruction of our United States.

Sincerely,

[Lonestarblue]

21. Unfortunately, I too have Republican Senators, but I'll send this message to them.

Cruz and Cornyn are part of the problem—two of the most useless sycophants in the Senate.

[UpInArms]

23. I also sent it to McConnell

They must hear from us ....

This is an abomination

[wnylib]

35. I don't think McConnell responds

to requests. A letter reminding him of the futility of opposing Biden's transition and the consequences to him personally of continuing to do so might be more effective, but I doubt even that would sway him. He probably feels that he has nothing to lose from standing by Trump because the end of Trump leaves McConnell open to investigations and more.

[DFW]

28. Cruz and Cornyn are decorative wallpaper in McTurtle's Senate

Moscow Mitch doesn’t care about either of them or about Texas. They are useful as long as they kiss Trump’s ass, and traitors the second they no longer choose to.

[narnian60]

32. Yes. Well said.

👍

[cayugafalls]

18. I am so glad Steve is a Patriot...

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. I can count on Schmidt to tell it like it is.

[czarjak]

26. What you wrought though?

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

69. It is.

Palin was his idea, no? Gave a real boost to the Tea Party, which basically opened the door for Trump.

[Politicalgolfer]

27. Repubs have refused the legitimacy of Dem elected candidates for years

This is nothing new. It's been going on since the Newt years. It's the first time it hit this big! It has been coming for years!

[Cosmocat]

30. YEP

I have had burn over the GOP since the early 90s.

Have seen this building like a slow motion train wreck for over a quarter century.

[2naSalit]

37. +++++++++++++++++++++++!!!

[Texin]

29. We all knew (or feared) this would happen.

One of the things that tRump doesn't get is the fact that when a person is sacked or voted out, people move on really fast. The defeated (or fired) become irrelevant immediately.

Calling the election on Saturday was actually positive. For a lot of folks who work M-F, they had the day off to party -- and that's what tRump saw on his television(s). The burn.

[oasis]

34. American democracy will withstand Trumpism. Truth will prevail. nt

[wendyb-NC]

39. Excellent article, by Steve Schmidt

Thank you for posting, bucolic_frolic.

[Evolve Dammit]

41. Great post. Steve Schmidt speaks unvarnished truth daily. Sedition is right. Listen to AM.

[not_the_one]

42. Steve is spot on. I am fully aware that one day in the future,

when (or IF) the republican party has regained a semblance of sanity, Steve may be on the opposite side from us once again. But that is going to be a very long time.

Meanwhile, I accept The Lincoln Project's assistance wholeheartedly. Steve and his cohorts do not
fit the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" category. They sincerely see where the republican party has run completely off the rails, and that our country's very foundations are at stake.

The Project has helped us get this far. Frankly, I don't think we would have made it without them. The next question is whether President Biden and our democratic leaders have what it takes to make sure it doesn't happen again...

These treasonous atrocities CAN NOT go unpunished. I hope that President Biden has the courage and strength to administer the tough love (and I am talking JAIL TIME) to every perpetrator and enabler of this effort to deliver our country into the hands, and control, of Vladimir Putin. Starting at the top.

Acting "bipartisan" and promoting the "we are not red states or blue states, we are the UNITED STATES" meme, does NOT include "compromise" with treasonous traitors.

Because at the base of the logic for all of the turd's actions, is total acquiescence to Vladimir Putin. FOR MONEY.

If the turd had another 4 years he would have had time to finish off the destruction, and NEVER leave. At which point we would have been reduced to being, literally, another state of Russia, under the control of Putin.

And I am NOT being hyperbolic for dramatic effect. Donald Trump has been Vladimir Putin's wet dream. And we can not right off the turd's role as "useful idiot". He has known, every step of the way, what he was doing, and for whom.

The punishment should reflect that.

edit for grammar

[bucolic_frolic]

48. TLP lent Dems backbone we still don't have, & US still fighting for legitimacy in the world

every bit as much as in Colonial Times. David McCullough's "John Adams" documents our difficulties as a new democracy vis-a-vis old European Royalty. Few countries recognized us, we had little collateral to borrow money. Adams scoured Europe for loans. Don't recall who answered the call - France? Dutch bankers? Dunno.

Democracy has been a thorn in the side of dictators for almost 250 years. We fought and won wars against some, some backed the insurrection against us - the losers in our Civil War. Foreigner powers remember, they remember their wars with us, and their descendants remember, even if they're no longer in power. There are states in the world, and politicians, and financial interests, who still want our democratic instincts curbed or neutered. It may be more civil today than back then, perhaps because the consequences in the extreme are unthinkable, but it's still there.

Trump may be in it for Trump. But he has allies too. And loans.

[panader0]

43. "it will be tablestakes for every 24 candidate."

This is going to hurt the repub party in '24 and maybe beyond.
Their lack of foresight and sense has given way to their true Bullshit core.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

70. It should.

But some memories are short.

[NCjack]

46. Another norm broken by GOP and available for a vengeful DEM president to employ

against the GOP in the future.

There will be more provocations by the GOP. I think that they want DEMs to breach the White House wall, where Mr. Barr waits with his armed BOP thugs.

[BarbD]

47. Those who would destroy our democracy are still at work.

I suppose it was too much to hope that the repulsive republicans would suddenly become patriotic. This refusal to fund the transition is nothing short of treason.

They will not get away with this.

[ScratchCat]

49. I said this time and time again for nearly a year:

"If Donald Trump is allowed to run for re-election, he will burn the country down when he loses".

[yaesu]

51. We are watching a nickel & dime con artest that NBC made famous & trained, and that con will put us

through the worst reality show on the planet.

[crickets]

52. This isn't just about hanging on to power for its own sake.

We've only seen the tip of the corruption iceberg. Look to who supports trump, even those who merely stay silent rather than defend the interests of the country. So many are in this thing up to their necks, and they know the investigations are coming. They've had a fun ride for several years, but now they are all too terrified about what they've done and what will happen when it all comes out.

[SunSeeker]

53. K & R & Retweeted!

[PatrickforO]

55. This is a classic example of the power of social networking,

and how the Democratic Party needs to beef up its presence and increase the weight of its presence.

We KNEW Trump was going to do this, and we KNEW some of these Republicans will continue to put party over country, and profits over people. They don't care. They lie. All the time. If their mouths are open and words are coming out, they are lying.

This is why all of us need to get seriously sophisticated and become influencers. We criticize Zuckerberg and Dorsey, but they have put forth these platforms, and it is up to us to make sure we are exerting the maximum possible influence.

I would encourage you to watch the HBO series, Agents of Chaos, which tells us how Russia was able to influence an American presidential election through social platforms in key battleground states. Not that they DID - everyone knows that - but HOW they did it.

What it says is that we all need to have twitter, Facebook, Instagram, NextDoor, Tik Tok and all those other ones old guys like me aren't so hot on, like maybe Reddit.

And we have to make sure we are getting the word out on ALL these platforms to counter lies. The minute the lies happen we need to be out there countering them. Right away, on all these platforms.

[BobTheSubgenius]

56. He is not wrong.

Everyone knows that quote that begins "When fascism comes to America..."

[rustysgurl]

57. This was the question I asked last night.

Glad to know Steve Schmidt and I think alike, I guess.

[Hekate]

58. Steve Schmidt is all in for preserving the republic & democracy. He knows his former party ...

...is now a monster that will kill the country he loves as much as we do.

I feel sorry for those who still doubt his intentions. There is no Republican Party for him to return to — there’s just us.

“If we don’t hang together, we will surely hang separately” were words spoken in the 1770s to point out the perils of in-fighting when faced with tyranny. There’s a war on, and my party has factions that want to start imposing purity tests again.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

66. The current fascist Republican party is the result of their extremists "imposing purity tests".

If we do as they did, we too will become a monolithic, extremist party.

[reader1]

62. This is directly from Putin playbook

and more of a reason to believe Trump on his way out is taking down the U.S with him by permanently giving his followers the impression the election was stolen from him.

[Bayard]

63. Inciting insurrection

Cross-post

I can't find much about this online. It seems to me, with trump continuing his antics with his post-election rallies, that he is inciting insurrection to the lawfully elected government. It definitely suggests there will be violence.

Does anyone have any facts on the situation, or informed opinions?

I did find these in CHAPTER 115—TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
https://uscode.house.gov

§2383. Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

§2384. Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, §1, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)

§2385. Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or

Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or

Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.

If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.

As used in this section, the terms "organizes" and "organize", with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, §2, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 87–486, June 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)

[DENVERPOPS]

64. Insurrection

is a better word than sedition concerning Trump and the RepubliCON party actions...........

It is too bad that the ignorance displayed my millions of Trumphumpers isn't excrutiatingly painful.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

71. Thanks for that.

Like all laws, selectively enforced. But still, it's a start.

[Duppers]

72. Thank you! +100

[calimary]

65. Yes. Time to play HARDBALL!

Bastard fuck Mitch isn’t even acknowledging that Biden WON.

[bdamomma]

73. We must

remain vigilant.

We must never forget what this monster has done to our country, and the filthy GOP. They never cared about the American people.

[Poiuyt]

75. Yes, it is sedition!