Skeptical Thomas
Skeptical Thomas's JournalMessage auto-removed
Message auto-removed
Bitter GOP split upends the pomp as a new Congress takes over
Source: Washington Post
By Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane
Jan. 4, 2021 at 12:11 a.m.
A new Congress convened Sunday with Republicans in open warfare as several GOP senators unleashed salvos against at least a dozen Republican colleagues who are planning to challenge the results of the presidential election later this week.
The bitter split among Republicans, virtually unprecedented during the ironclad tenure of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), came as the traditionally celebratory moment unfolded instead against the backdrop of a pandemic that is killing thousands of Americans each day.
The conflict played out in public as dissenting senators said they only wanted to "get the facts out" and critics said they were sabotaging democracy. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) called the challenge "a very, very, bad idea," adding, "I'm concerned about the division in America -- that's the biggest issue -- but obviously this is not healthy for the Republican Party, either."
It was the starkest illustration yet of the civil war that could engulf the Republican Party in the post-Trump era as factions prepare to battle over whether the party will continue down the unorthodox, scorched-earth path forged by President Trump or return to a more traditional brand of conservative politics. The back-and-forth came two days before a pair of special elections in Georgia that will determine whether the GOP retains control of the Senate.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-republicans-fight-new-congress/2021/01/03/27eff4d0-4dd4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html?itid=hp-top-table-main
Not healthy for the Republican Party, Senator Sasse? I hope it proves fatal for the Republican Party!
Republicans In Big Trouble As Georgia Numbers Get Released
Sounds good. Just remember that the election is still three days away. (Hey, I gotta rep my username!)
As Understanding of Russian Hacking Grows, So Does Alarm
Source: New York Times
By David E. Sanger, Nicole Perlroth and Julian E. Barnes
Jan. 2, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
On Election Day, General Paul M. Nakasone, the nation’s top cyberwarrior, reported that the battle against Russian interference in the presidential campaign had posted major successes and exposed the other side’s online weapons, tools and tradecraft.
“We’ve broadened our operations and feel very good where we’re at right now,” he told journalists.
Eight weeks later, General Nakasone and other American officials responsible for cybersecurity are now consumed by what they missed for at least nine months: a hacking, now believed to have affected upward of 250 federal agencies and businesses, that Russia aimed not at the election system but at the rest of the United States government and many large American corporations.
At a minimum it has set off alarms about the vulnerability of government and private sector networks in the United States to attack and raised questions about how and why the nation’s cyberdefenses failed so spectacularly.
Those questions have taken on particular urgency given that the breach was not detected by any of the government agencies that share responsibility for cyberdefense — the military’s Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, both of which are run by General Nakasone, and the Department of Homeland Security — but by a private cybersecurity company, FireEye.
“This is looking much, much worse than I first feared,” said Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The size of it keeps expanding. It’s clear the United States government missed it.”
“And if FireEye had not come forward,” he added, “I’m not sure we would be fully aware of it to this day.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/us/politics/russian-hacking-government.html
This is why Biden should wait for the first warm night of the year in Moscow, and shut down the entire city and district's power grid. Provocative? Oh yeah! But, as a child of the Cold War, I can tell you the Russians, who know damn well that their country is a Potemkinesque "power," won't do anything of significance in retaliation. "Probe with a bayonet," goes one of their sayings. "If you encounter mush {Trump}, continue. But if you encounter steel, withdraw!"
John Heilemann Says We're Heading Into The 'Crescendo Of Crazy' - MSNBC
This was uploaded on Dec.30, but I've not seen it posted here previously, and it's a very interesting vid, so.....
First lorries cross into France as Britain and Europe wake to new Brexit reality
Source: The Guardian
Helen Sullivan
Fri 1 Jan 2021 06.05 GMT
Moments after the UK left the EU with an 11th-hour deal, the first trucks hauling goods across the new customs border presented their clearance documents to French agents before loading on to a train to pass through the Eurotunnel.
With Britain having finally quit the EU single market and customs union, there were no early signs of feared chaos at the border in the first hours of 1 January 2021.
Scenes in Dover have been quiet as many hauliers have been staying away to avoid being the first to test new border controls. Yann Leriche, chief executive of Getlink which operates the Eurotunnel, told Reuters tweaks to customs procedures might be necessary but that there would be no chaos in the weeks ahead.
But Matt Smith, managing director of HSF Logistics, which ships mainly fresh meat and chilled goods between Britain and Europe, said the new post-Brexit customs systems and paperwork were largely untested.
“We’re not too sure to be honest, it seems to be a bit of a headache,” he told AFP. “There’ll be delays along the line at some stage.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/01/first-lorries-cross-into-france-as-britain-and-europe-wake-to-new-brexit-reality
Well, with Trump Lite Boris running the show, you know there are gonna be serious problems sooner or later. (Most likely the former.)
From August 14 of This Year
I can't believe I only came across it today!
, as always, Neil 
Do YOU Think Pence will Defend Our Democracy?
Neal K. Katyal and John Monsky
Dec. 29, 2020
New York Times
President Trump recently tweeted that “the ‘Justice’ Department and FBI have done nothing about the 2020 Presidential Election Voter Fraud,” followed by these more ominous lines: “Never give up. See everyone in D.C. on January 6th.”
The unmistakable reference is to the day Congress will count the Electoral College’s votes, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding. Mr. Trump is leaning on the vice president and congressional allies to invalidate the November election by throwing out duly certified votes for Joe Biden.
Mr. Pence thus far has not said he would do anything like that, but his language is worrisome. Last week, he said: “We’re going to keep fighting until every legal vote is counted. We’re going to win Georgia, we’re going to save America,” as a crowd screamed, “Stop the steal.”
Mr. Trump himself has criticized virtually everyone’s view of the election, from that of the Supreme Court to the F.B.I. to Senator Mitch McConnell, but he has never attacked Mr. Pence, suggesting he has hopes for the vice president.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/opinion/pence-electoral-college-votes-.html
To be sure, Messrs. Katyal and Monsky go on to state that ".....as a matter of constitutional text and history, any effort on Jan. 6 is doomed to fail. It would also be profoundly anti-democratic and unconstitutional." What troubles me is that anti-democratic and unconstitutional has pretty much been the modus operandi of the entire Trump administration!
Maybe you think I'm being a Nervous Nellie. Maybe you think I'm subconsciously concern-trolling. Hell, I don't know, maybe you'd be right on both counts.
But we all know Donnie, and we all know he'll do anything to retain power. We also know that the GOP, from Pence on down, has been disgustingly servile to the Fat Orange Nutjob. So, fool or not, I simply must ask: Do you believe the next three weeks are going to flow smoothly? Or do you suspect that Serious Shit will Ensue before Joe Biden becomes POTUS on Jan 20?
How Stephen Colbert's defiant honesty helped me navigate the madness of 2020
By JUSTIN PELOFSKY, SALON,
DECEMBER 28, 2020 10:00PM (UTC)
Relentlessly spinning in this revolving year of depressing callbacks and recurring bits, I attempted to steady myself by finding someone — anyone — who seemed to have a clue as to what was going on. But rather than cling to a more natural choice, like, say, a criminal narcissist, strongman politician, or "real lawyer," I turned to the uncertain guidance of a man who seemed to have dialed in on the depressing, comedic rhythms of the year in his own way: Stephen Colbert.
At the beginning of the COVID days in March or April or so, Colbert changed the name of his show from "The Late Show" to "A Late Show," appearing from his basement noticeably just as disheveled and confused as many of us were at the time. I was a fresh viewer of the show then, but the name change was noticeable and instantly grabbed my attention. There was a simple comic honesty in the humble move that I think is hard to overestimate, especially when much of the entertainment media at that time was so curated, projecting a tone deaf, and at times nauseating sense of self-importance.
Instead of taking this route, Stephen let us into the operation of the show through the many asides to his wife and, eventually when he switched locations to an office above the Ed Sullivan Theater, small production crew about the unexpected length of a certain intro, a slip-up in his speaking, his untamed hair (which, really isn't that long by most standards other than his own), or the funniness/unfunniness of a bit. And while he did occasionally comment on his disappointment about not having an audience, he didn't seem anxious to get back in front of a camera like many of his peers. Rather, he seemed careful to balance the dramatic and comedic in what has been an unquestionably devastating year.
But he seems to have managed it extremely well in the end, empathizing with and mirroring the swinging emotions of an invisible audience.
https://www.salon.com/2020/12/28/stephen-colbert-a-late-show-2020/
Colbert truly has been a Gibraltar of Sanity and laughter in these past four years of Hell. When Trump is finally gone, Colbert should be recognized as an indispensable Pillar of the Resistance. I am 100% serious in saying this!
Profile Information
Name: TomGender: Male
Hometown: SC
Home country: US
Current location: UK
Member since: Sun Dec 20, 2020, 04:36 AM
Number of posts: 82