US Politics: Shutdown Showdown

[Zorral]

Standing My Ground review: Capitol cop Harry Dunn on January 6 and the Trumpist threat

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/12/standing-my-ground-review-harry-dunn-january-6-trump

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If you think you’ve read everything you need to know about the violent attempt to overthrow the US government on 6 January 2021, this insider’s book by a 6ft 7in African American Capitol police officer will change your mind.

Harry Dunn has written a 237-page cri de coeur for himself and for the US. It is a story that is more important than ever when so many crazed Republicans continue to revere the traitor whom the justice department says is directly responsible for this singularly shameful episode in American history.

On that terrible day, Dunn and hundreds of his fellow Capitol cops were in hand-to-hand combat with scores of drunken and drug-addled seditionists. The police officers were attacked with everything from metal bike racks to flagpoles and banisters ripped from the stairs of the building.

“You could hear the screaming and hollering as the battle raged on,” Dunn writes. “Blood was streaming down officers’ faces. They were yelling, grunting, and trying to force the rioters back. Many of them were blinded and coughing after being doused with pepper spray, bear spray, and even WD-40.”

In the years since then, Dunn has beaten back post-traumatic stress disorder with the help of his family, his friends, professional therapists and sympathetic Congress members like Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Raskin took Dunn to lunch after the officer called the congressman’s office to tell him he was the source of an anonymous quote in a story in BuzzFeed which – to Dunn’s delight – Raskin had tweeted out.

Since then, Dunn has made dozens of public appearances and written this book, with a single goal: “I want the people responsible for that day, including Trump … to pay a price, just like we paid a price … I will always be standing my ground to make sure our democracy exists. And I’ll ask that you stand with me so that nothing like this ever happens again.”

Dunn reserves his greatest anger for those he and his fellow officers risked their lives for in the face of that furious mob. He was “full of rage” when it became clear that “Republicans were walking away from their earlier condemnation of the attack … Congress members … whom I had guarded and protected through State of the Unions [and] inaugurations … had suddenly turned on me. It angered me that loyalty to a single individual could overwhelm otherwise decent people … who had fallen into the darkness and forgotten their oaths of office.” ....

 

I am currently reading Bordewich, Fergus M. (2023) Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction.

The organization, objectives, operation and methods of the KKK is the same as the many violent contemporary orgs whose aim is violent overthrow of our democracy and government and imposition of inegalitarian, white, male authoritarianism, whether identified as ‘christian’ or not. Only concerted federal, military force stopped it.  It was the War of the Rebellion 2. The major difference between then and now, is that the KKK, like the war, was generally w/in a particular geographical region of the US, and weapons are in the hands of everyone everywhere, except people like me, who is not scheming and howling to overthrow our democracy and impose inegalitarian, white, male authoritarianism, whether identified as 'christian' or not.
 

[Zorral]

Why Silicon Valley billionaires like Peter Thiel turned against Trump
The right-wing titans of tech helped create Donald Trump. Now they’re alienated from politics and searching for allies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/12/silicon-valley-billionaire-donors-presidential-candidates/

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.... The ambivalence among tech leaders goes well beyond a distaste for the former president, who was scorned by several high-profile tech-world supporters in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Although the tech elite often have criticized the left and “wokeness,” some now say the GOP has overemphasized divisive social issues such as transgender rights and abortion at the expense of the tech titans’ primary political goal: radical deregulation.

Once enticed by the prospect that Trump would usher in a new, ultra-capitalist era in Republican politics, members of the right-leaning tech elite are now looking for allies to protect the industry from bruising attacks by both parties and champion its worth as the country’s most dynamic economic engine. These views have been calcified by government efforts to regulate artificial intelligence, which the Silicon Valley figures see as a transformative technology that would suffer from government meddling. ....

 

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.... Thiel has said he is sitting out the 2024 election entirely. Three people familiar with his thinking said his decision was driven by the absence of a candidate who reflects his views and the erosion of his privacy that has accompanied his highly visible involvement in presidential politics.

But pressure from the billionaire’s friends and his husband — amid his alienation from a party that is leaning heavily into divisive cultural fights — also pushed him away from the GOP, according to the people.

Thiel continued to support GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters in 2022, even as Masters railed against the Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage, despite attending Thiel’s wedding to a man.

But Thiel’s inner circle of gay friends criticized him for backing Masters and for remaining a key GOP donor at a time when the party was taking increasingly anti-LGBTQ+ stances. ....

 

 

[Martell Spy]

McCarthy weighs leaving the House with his GOP foes on his mind

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/12/politics/kevin-mccarthy-matt-gaetz-mike-johnson-house-speaker/index.html

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The California Republican reserved his harshest attacks for Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the charge for McCarthy’s ouster. McCarthy continually accused Gaetz of only going after him because of a House Ethics Committee probe he’s facing, a charge the GOP hardliner has repeatedly denied.

“I don’t believe them to be conservatives,” McCarthy said of the eight Republicans. “It’s driven by Gaetz, and it was all based upon an ethics complaint that happened in the last Congress. He would throw his country away to try to protect himself for what would come out as the truth.”

McCarthy suggested that Gaetz had called for the vote for McCarthy’s removal – and later backed Mike Johnson’s ascension as speaker – simply to quash the ethics probe.

“If the Ethics Committee never does anything to Gaetz, then Gaetz was successful in stopping probably what rightfully should come to him,” McCarthy said.

 

 

[ThinkerX]

7 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Saw similar article today.

Trump plots mass detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants should he regain power.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/11/politics/trump-stephen-miller-immigration-detention-deportation

A Trump 2nd term would feature attempted Muslim country travel bans and mass detention centers for non-white immigrants.

You can't make this shit up. 

 

Given Trumps past, those 'detention centers' would almost certainly be better described as 'labor camps,' with the detainee's rented out to various corporations and billionaires. No need to pay them of course.,

[kissdbyfire]

1 minute ago, Martell Spy said:

I don’t believe them to be conservatives,” McCarthy said of the eight Republicans. “It’s driven by Gaetz, and it was all based upon an ethics complaint that happened in the last Congress. He would throw his country away to try to protect himself for what would come out as the truth.”

That's rich, coming from Kevin McCarthy.

[Martell Spy]

4 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

That's rich, coming from Kevin McCarthy.

I think he's stunned that his plans went so awry. I'm just kind of shocked about all this. I mean it isn't the first House Speaker devoured by the far right. He thought he was smarter. The last thing he should be is surprised at the outcome.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Martell Spy

[The Anti-Targ]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

Why Silicon Valley billionaires like Peter Thiel turned against Trump
The right-wing titans of tech helped create Donald Trump. Now they’re alienated from politics and searching for allies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/12/silicon-valley-billionaire-donors-presidential-candidates/

 

Business freedom > sexual freedom for some people I guess.

Also pretty thought provoking I think

 

[kissdbyfire]

4 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

I think he's stunned that his plans went so awry. I'm just kind of shocked about all this. I mean it isn't the first House Speaker devoured by the far right. He thought he was smarter. The last thing he should be is surprised at the outcome.

Exactly! It's bonkers. I mean, just those... 15? votes to get the gavel and even then he only manages b/c he agrees w/ basically everything the maga nuts want, and he didn't see it coming? Not very smart, is he? Perhaps he can get a gig at MaL filling golden jars full of red & pink starbursts. What a  pathetic excuse of a human being. 

[The Anti-Targ]

1 hour ago, kissdbyfire said:

Exactly! It's bonkers. I mean, just those... 15? votes to get the gavel and even then he only manages b/c he agrees w/ basically everything the maga nuts want, and he didn't see it coming? Not very smart, is he? Perhaps he can get a gig at MaL filling golden jars full of red & pink starbursts. What a  pathetic excuse of a human being. 

And yet was 2 heart attacks away from being President. And now look who's in that position. Mr I haven't declared any bank accounts because I'm just a poor working stiff who's been earning at least triple the median income for most of my adult life.

Edited November 13, 2023 by The Anti-Targ

[kissdbyfire]

2 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

And yet was 2 heart attacks away from being President. And now look who's in that position.

People will miss My Kevin, is that what you're saying? B/c given what we know of Maga Mike I definitely think he's way worse. One is a spineless cowardly sycophant who only cares about himself. The other is a total nutter who thinks the separation of state and church is a mistake, he's a proper christofascist who was all in w/ Mango's coup. And who has his own teenage son as "porn monitoring buddy" b/c that's not weird and creepy af at all.

And btw, saw some tech journo talking about that app. I don't remember all the details b/c it was too techy for me, but basically the guy said it's a major security risk for for someone in Mike Johnson's position. He went into some detail about how they installed the app to see what it does on your phone even when not in use, that type of thing, but at that point my eyes glazed over a bit... But in short, the fact that it's really not good was my main takeaway. 

[The Anti-Targ]

Do people who had a bad head cold a few weeks before going to hospital with severe COVID and still don't yet know if they are going to suffer from long COVID really ever say they missed having a cold?

I work for the gubmint and I as a lowly public servant have a personal phone and a work phone. I would hope that every member of congress, and everyone who works for a member of congress and everyone who works in the White House that has access to information that is in any way classified (including private information about someone other than themselves), has a work phone that is carefully curated and controlled by the relevant govt security agencies to limit the apps permitted on work phones to only those that have been vetted as safe for devices that handle classified information.

There should also be policies and codes of conduct in place to prevent people from using personal* phones for work related activity.

So, in theory the porn monitor on Mike's personal phone should be a total non-issue. But perhaps the Secret Service should occasionally have a look on Mike's work phone to see if he's sneaking behind his son's back and looking at naked men, or possibly women, or perhaps other things.

*That's not to say that in special circumstances a govt official couldn't have a private-but-for-work email server, so long as it was approved and cleared by the relevant agencies, to keep certain things off the books and out of the prying eyes of FOIA requests.

I always assumed that my sons looked at porn, but only the legal kind, and so far they've turned out to not be raving perverts...as far as I can tell at least, and assuming my perception of what a raving pervert is sits within a reasonable spectrum of OK and not OK. I mean who really knows unless we talk about these things?

Edited November 13, 2023 by The Anti-Targ

[kissdbyfire]

Agree re personal/work phones. But how many leaked WhatsApp msgs have we seen from government officials - from many different countries! - at this point? The msgs of Tories' infighting on WhatsApp was leaked just yesterday (or the day before), and that's just the latest example that popped in my head. I'm pretty sure Johnson has a personal phone and a work one, but people are weird and sometimes even weirder when they think they're untouchable. Though by now a Republican Speaker shouldn't feel untouchable at all. 

[Bironic]

Tim Scott has suspended his presidential campaign. Not that he ever had a chance. 
But he got some media attention and probably has a decent chance for a post in a possible Trump presidency. Maybe VP? 

 

[kissdbyfire]

5 minutes ago, Bironic said:

Tim Scott has suspended his presidential campaign. Not that he ever had a chance. 
But he got some media attention and probably has a decent chance for a post in a possible Trump presidency. Maybe VP? 

 

[Fez]

13 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

Exactly! It's bonkers. I mean, just those... 15? votes to get the gavel and even then he only manages b/c he agrees w/ basically everything the maga nuts want, and he didn't see it coming? Not very smart, is he? Perhaps he can get a gig at MaL filling golden jars full of red & pink starbursts. What a  pathetic excuse of a human being. 

It was always an open secret in DC that most of his colleagues (and most reporters) think McCarthy isn't that bright. Entirely independent of ideological leanings, he just pretty dumb. And it shows. 

Here's an Op-Ed from Politico in the summer of 2022, making the case about the reporters knowing it but it being taboo to directly say: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/03/kevin-mccarthy-washington-media-taboo-intelligence-00036894

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Is Kevin McCarthy a great big dummy?

That’s not a rhetorical question. Read between the lines of some of the coverage during McCarthy’s 15 years in Congress and you start to suspect that many folks who pay close attention to our likely next House Speaker don’t think he’s the sharpest tool in the shed.

The hints slip in, often as asides: McCarthy is “a golden retriever of a man,” “not known for being a policy wonk,” “not known for his immersion in policy details,” “not known to have a mind for policy,” “a coastal extrovert of ambiguous ideological portfolio who … would far rather talk about personalities than the tax code” and “not necessarily a policy wonk or political mastermind like his predecessors in House leadership.” His elevation would mean that “even though the fractured House Republican caucus may benefit from McCarthy’s networking abilities, others may have to step up to help filter out the details of policy quagmires to come.” No wonder “many believe he lacks the political and tactical gravitas to be a force” and “there are those who privately question his policy chops and intellectual abilities.”

It’s not hard to conclude that the authors of these lines may be trying to tell us something.

Granted anonymity, some journalists do just that. “He’s a lightweight,” says one veteran political journalist who has covered McCarthy.

“I would never consider him to be smart,” says a TV figure who has interviewed him several times.

“In a strange way that is hard to explain, he’s gotten more stupid the longer he’s here,” opines a longtime Capitol Hill reporter who has watched McCarthy since his early days of palling around with the wonkier likes of Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor.

 

[kissdbyfire]

 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

10 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

Jesus, that tweet reads like an Onion headline. Too bad the reality is more terrifying than funny.

[kissdbyfire]

6 minutes ago, Phylum of Alexandria said:

Jesus, that tweet reads like an Onion headline. Too bad the reality is more terrifying than funny.

Right? I'll say this, he's been giving Americans plenty of warnings on what a 2nd term would mean and look like.  And people who don't like Biden, who don't like Democrats in general, who think their vote isn't needed b/c it's just the one vote, people who are going to stick to the "moral high ground" and vote for Stein or West or whoever... well, they all have a decision to make. 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

3 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

Right? I'll say this, he's been giving Americans plenty of warnings on what a 2nd term would mean and look like.  And people who don't like Biden, who don't like Democrats in general, who think their vote isn't needed b/c it's just the one vote, people who are going to stick to the "moral high ground" and vote for Stein or West or whoever... well, they all have a decision to make. 

Yup. Granted, a lot of people aren't paying attention to Trump's craziness right now. But still, by Nov of next year, the choice will be crystal clear. The choice is so stark that if we fail to topple him in 24, even considering his electoral college advantage, maybe we as a country deserve someone like Trump. Or at very least need our government to completely sink into an autocracy before the people realize what they had and lost. I sincerely hope that's not the case, but my faith in the American people is admittedly not as strong as I'd like.

[Wilbur]

The other negative outcome from Trump's autocratic intentions is that he is a model for other Republicans.

The Maricopa County Republican Committee organization has been entirely captured by MAGA Republicans, and they have basically thrown the ruleset of the Arizona Republican Party out the window.  So far this year the MCRC has threatened to recall the state GOP chairman, endorsed Trump against party policy, and tried to use County Party money to fund his campaign in violation of state rules.

So rather than an adult, orderly organization, the MCRC has instead replicated Trump's baby-throwing-toys-out-of-the-pram behavior.  That sort of loose cannon performance doesn't bode well for the GOP or the nation.

Maricopa County GOP bucks state party bylaws with Trump endorsement (azcentral.com)