US Politics: Nine Days in January

[Week]

9 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I think the talk of fear for their lives is real, which, ya know, kind of underscores the entire point of impeachment: political violence.

Based on the indefatigable work of the Squad in the face of this on a daily basis:

Grow a pair of ovaries and do the right thing.

Christ, these cowards. Any of them against impeachment are cowards or dullards - I invite them to decide which is the proper moniker.

[Varysblackfyre321]

hmm I think this article is being proven right; https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/10/trump-impeachment-articles-incite-insurrection-seditious-conspiracy-456937

 

[Mindwalker]

Bob Good - ugh. Look at how he wears his mask.

Did I miss the Gentlewoman Ocasio-Cortez?

[Varysblackfyre321]

1 minute ago, Leap said:

So, do you think that 'establishment' Rs sufficiently outnumber the crazies at this point? The clear majority of House Rs voted to challenge the results of the election. 

Not all of those are Boebert levels of insane, but there's definitely a spectrum in there and it's hard to see how it will coalesce into more distinct sides.

Yeah given the majority of republicans in congress  actively are shirking the chance of getting rid of Trump and go along with his insanity can’t we say Trumpists are the establishment of the Republican Party?

[IheartIheartTesla]

3 minutes ago, Leap said:

So, do you think that 'establishment' Rs sufficiently outnumber the crazies at this point? The clear majority of House Rs voted to challenge the results of the election.

Don't need a majority, just folks like McCarthy and McConnell to be in favor of such a purge. Also, I cant discount that many more Republicans may be not-so-crazy when the cameras arent on them and Trump is no longer in power.

[DMC]

7 minutes ago, Week said:

Based on the indefatigable work of the Squad in the face of this on a daily basis

Haven't watched much but while eating I caught Cori Bush's brief statement, which was by far the most forceful I'm assuming of any Dem that's been allotted time.  And, of course, was booed by Republicans.  A great new addition to the Squad.

[GrimTuesday]

Never ever feel bad for these motherfuckers. They knew what they were doing and they didn't care because it suited their interests. We see this constantly where the Republicans foment hate and violence and then they walk away shrugging and either saying that they never supported it and were just say they were too scared to do anything, or they will just got on the attack and both sides it, and it will all be forgotten just like every single other atrocity perpetuated by the Republican party, because the Democratic party and the media do not have the stomach to actually make them pay a price.

Also don't worry guys Trump is still going to win

 

[Varysblackfyre321]

3 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Don't need a majority, just folks like McCarthy and McConnell to be in favor of such a purge. Also, I cant discount that many more Republicans may be not-so-crazy when the cameras arent on them and Trump is no longer in power.

I can’t say I agree that there are that many republicans who don’t agree what the substance of what Trump is doing.

[DMC]

15 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Don't need a majority, just folks like McCarthy and McConnell to be in favor of such a purge.

If this has made anything apparent, it's that McCarthy and McConnell are leading very different conferences and will accordingly behave very differently.  (To be clear, I'm just talking vis-a-vis the purge of Trumpists/insurrectionists.  President Biden will surely unite the scum of the universe policywise.)

[Mindwalker]

 

[Fragile Bird]

I just want to give you guys a good laugh in the middle of all this grim stuff.

It's economic sort of news, and no, Ormond, I'm not going to open a new thread to discuss. 

When you buy bitcoin, you are given a crypto-key with a password to access your bitcoin. If you forget your password you have ten tries to unlock it, and then the key locks forever.

About 20% of all bitcoin owners have forgotten their passwords. That's about $140 B, billion with a B, worth of bitcoin.

There's this programmer in California with $220 M worth and he lost the piece of paper he wrote his password on, and has used 8 of his guesses.

Quote

Stefan Thomas, a German-born programmer living in San Francisco, has two guesses left to figure out a password that is worth, as of this week, about $220 million.

The password will let him unlock a small hard drive, known as an IronKey, which contains the private keys to a digital wallet that holds 7,002 Bitcoin. While the price of Bitcoin dropped sharply on Monday, it is still up more than 50 percent from just a month ago, when it passed its previous all-time high of around $20,000.

The problem is that Mr. Thomas years ago lost the paper where he wrote down the password for his IronKey, which gives users 10 guesses before it seizes up and encrypts its contents forever. He has since tried eight of his most commonly used password formulations — to no avail.

“I would just lay in bed and think about it,” Mr. Thomas said. “Then I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn’t work, and I would be desperate again.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/technology/bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes.html

[Fez]

1 hour ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Dan Newhouse is the 6th Republican to join the previous 5 deciding to impeach the President. Will be interesting to see the final tally.

If you recall, I had mentioned a while back something about a purge within the GoP of Trump loyalists by the 'establishment'. I now believe there is a high likelihood of it once the temperature of the country goes down (and it can be done in quiet). I'd also place the odds of a third party forming in 2021 off-shooting from the GoP as non-trivial.

As Twitter election heads have pointed out, 2 of the 6 Republicans so far are 2 of the 3 Washington GOP Reps. Washington has a Top-2 election system, which protects against primary challenges. Just goes to show the impact of election systems.

I wonder how many Reps in gerrymandered ruby red districts would prefer to have 53-ish% Trump districts instead. Enough to easily win the general in all but the biggest wave years, but not so red that there's enough crazies to easily primary you for any independence from Trump. 

[Week]

27 minutes ago, DMC said:

Haven't watched much but while eating I caught Cori Bush's brief statement, which was by far the most forceful I'm assuming of any Dem that's been allotted time.  And, of course, was booed by Republicans.  A great new addition to the Squad.

She was also one of the four in Knock Down the House which was an awesome watch as a balm during all this* bullshit.

*Time period of any second since it was released.

[Mindwalker]

 

[mormont]

34 minutes ago, GrimTuesday said:

Also don't worry guys Trump is still going to win

It can be hard to tell, these days, and I'm not saying for sure, but that looks like a parody account to me.

[GrimTuesday]

Steve "I'm David Duke without the baggage" Scalise out there calling the insurrectionists anarchists is so fucking low. He is clearly trying to make people associate the events that happened last week with anarchists, who are associated with the left wing. I hate to defend anarchists, because I think they are kind of silly, but calling the insurrectionists anarchists is an insult to anarchists.

Remember when we all pretended we were sorry when this psycho almost got clapped?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I’m listening to “On Point” on NPR and they’re talking about an “incipient insurgency”.  And it being based on fear of demographic changes.  

Are we going to see death squads in the streets attacking people of color and those who those murderers they think are their “sympathizers”?

[GrimTuesday]

2 minutes ago, mormont said:

It can be hard to tell, these days, and I'm not saying for sure, but that looks like a parody account to me.

Probably, but it is still making the rounds in Q circles that managed to avoid getting banned as a valid claim, Poe's law and all. I also seem to remember an account like that existing a few months back, so it may be someone who re-created a banned account to troll people.

[Mindwalker]

https://www.comicsands.com/gay-trump-hairdresser-capitol-riot-2649920901.html

Kristopher Dreww is an enthusiastic and vocal Trump supporter, hairdresser, business owner and online personality/podcast host who calls himself the "adorable deplorable." His social media accounts have been filled with far-right, pro-Trump posts for years.

(...)

Those two things came together in a perfect storm of self-own when Dreww posted footage of himself boasting about storming the Capitol.

The now-deleted (but not before people copied) video features Dreww relishing his moment—completely debunking the rumor that "ANTIFA" was behind the attempted coup—and encouraging others to join in the fun of chasing the police and facing off with National Guard.

It was, essentially, a video confession and recruitment post, captured in a series of increasingly disturbing tweets.

(...)

In the videos above, Dreww boasts about the violence and encourages others to join in; but he tearfully told The Orange County Register he was scared for his life because of the mean comments and reviews he's gotten as a result.

He also told the publication he was proud of what the "patriots" had done but thought "we took [the Capitol] back peacefully." He claims he was peaceful and he did not know there had been violence ("I regret not doing my research").

Dreww now claims he is horrified and believes those who were violent should face prosecution.

Dreww's videos show people chanting for Pence to hang, describe the death of Ashli Babbitt, show him talking about police running from the mob and facing off against the National Guard.

Perhaps most damningly, Dreww filmed himself excitedly establishing premeditation, planning, awareness and deep enjoyment all in one gem.

"I'm only at the hotel to get some gear on, I'm going back, baby. They brought the National Guard out for us and sh*t. We had the f*cking cops running from us; not because they are bitches but because they're smart."

"We did it. God, this is so exhilirating!"

(...)

[Fez]

Now 7 House Republicans

Fun fact about Meijer, he is the Republican who replaced Justin Amash (didn't run against him; Amash retired last term). Something about that district makes principled Republicans I guess.