2020 Political Chatter

[colker]

White America has work to do, and a lot of heavy lifting at that. Asking anyone else to help reckon with systemic racism and injustice of centuries of white supremacy is an unfair deflection from the hard reckoning every white person needs to have about the system created for their benefit.

Once we reckon with that, then all of us can figure out how to build a truly just and equitable society. But white people gotta do the work first, because the problem rests solely with us.

Imho racism will not go away because a lot of us feel sorry about it. Racism will not go away...it´s deep. Otoh making sure everyone is treated equal can happen now. Today. When white suprematists are told "please behave" and BLM are hit w/ violence by the same authorities, those need to give up their jobs.

[colker]

You are being reactionary. Simply stating if we want to have a discussion on racism maybe we can start by listening to POC instead of lecturing them.
It's like mansplaining to my wife and daughter about something.

It's like a rich person explaining to someone why they are poor.....

You listen to everyone that wants to end racism. I am not explaining anything to anyone. I am using logic. If you only listen to one side of conflict you perpetuate conflict. Racism is exactly that: alienate one party of the conflict from discussion and pretend they should have no voice.

[Clean39T]

I think there is a lot of talking past eachother going on here and if you were sitting around a fire having this discussion, you'd find more to nod in agreement about than want to slap eachother for.. The internet is not a great place for the context and connection needed for these conversations. Maybe someone wants to host a zoom call and coordinate having a real chat?

[ColonelJLloyd]

I think there is a lot of talking past eachother going on here and if you were sitting around a fire having this discussion, you'd find more to nod in agreement about than want to slap eachother for.. The internet is not a great place for the context and connection needed for these conversations.

Heard.

Timely opinion piece relative to the recent content in this thread.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/o...ost-cause.html

What Trump Shares With the ‘Lost Cause’ of the Confederacy
It is hard to miss the parallels between now and then of rewriting history and campaigns of disinformation.

[gregl]

I gotta' say, I love this place. Came for the bikes, stayed for the insightful, thoughtful, considerate people. An island of civility in a stormy sea.

With sincere thanks to all of you,
Greg

[guido]

T. Hamilton in the current issue of the New Yorker

[classtimesailer]

Seems like Wall Street is pretty happy about the last couple of days. wtf? I mean besides wages determined to remain depressed and the BidenHarris team determined to cary water for the bankers, what is going on?

[thollandpe]

I am as outraged as anyone concerning systemic racism, I chose to use my thesis to research and hopefully publish journal articles that will teach.

Pretty awesome that one of our members is doing this work. Much appreciated, @bigbill.

Saw this on the Union of Concerned Scientists blog. Let's not underestimate how traumatic Wednesday's events, or the past four years, have been.
About the Siege of the US Capitol

[BBB]

A few observations:

(1). Only at the death have people abandoned Trump. McConnell and Pence have both been obsequious towards Trump, but only when the dance took them to the very edge did they grow a spine. I'm not sure what they privately thought of the previous four years (the Russia business, the various obstruction of justice to try and avoid the Russia business coming out etc etc), but they both enabled Trump for his period in office. As much as their actions brought some much needed sanity at a crucial moment, they should be forever tarred with enabling a wrecker.

(2). The 'protestors' again appear to be white and men. Save for the woman who got shot (granted she was white). Dennis was right 28 years ago.

(3). Immediately preceding these 'protests' the Democrats won the Senate race in Georgia. The vote was close. Not one peep from Trump about voting fraud as seemingly it was a vote that did not directly impact on him. And a man of colour was won of the victors. Ironic in view of (2) above.

(4). Trump's time in office saw him or his party lose control of the House, the Senate and the White House. The greater first term in office indeed. What a twit.

[vertical_doug]

Seems like Wall Street is pretty happy about the last couple of days. wtf? I mean besides wages determined to remain depressed and the BidenHarris team determined to cary water for the bankers, what is going on?

Really simple, Wall Street Lives for Today. Democrat sweep means possibility for another round of stimulus checks. Biden/Harris wants $2000. That wasn't going to happen under the republicans with a split senate. The loss of Georgia is yuuuge regarding this.

[Clean39T]

If you have any doubt how dangerous this actually was, google "@jsrailton twitter" and check out some of the sleuthing people are doing to identify those who were obviously not breaking in to take selfies and souvenirs..

[ides1056]

^^^

damn

[AngryScientist]

wow, twitter, which DJT has used so extensively has now permanently banned him. one of the reasons cited by them was his tweet responding that he would not be attending the inauguration, and their partial reason was that this could be viewed as him indicating the event is a soft target to attack. that's an interesting angle that i had not considered.

this is probably a big blow to him and will be hard for him to take. i would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he found out he's twitter banned!

[colker]

wow, twitter, which DJT has used so extensively has now permanently banned him. one of the reasons cited by them was his tweet responding that he would not be attending the inauguration, and their partial reason was that this could be viewed as him indicating the event is a soft target to attack. that's an interesting angle that i had not considered.

this is probably a big blow to him and will be hard for him to take. i would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he found out he's twitter banned!

Without social media, he disappears.

[BBB]

wow, twitter, which DJT has used so extensively has now permanently banned him. one of the reasons cited by them was his tweet responding that he would not be attending the inauguration, and their partial reason was that this could be viewed as him indicating the event is a soft target to attack. that's an interesting angle that i had not considered.

this is probably a big blow to him and will be hard for him to take. i would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he found out he's twitter banned!

Without meaning to quote myself...see my point (1) in my post above. Twitter should have been taking active steps along time ago. Only when he's about to be out the door do they act. It is a good outcome, don't get my wrong, but maybe something that should have been done a while back.

[classtimesailer]

Oops.

[classtimesailer]

Really simple, Wall Street Lives for Today. Democrat sweep means possibility for another round of stimulus checks. Biden/Harris wants $2000. That wasn't going to happen under the republicans with a split senate. The loss of Georgia is yuuuge regarding this.

Stimulus checks are inflationary according to the big chief L. Summers who very recently said they were a big mistake. It is nice that the post Georgia runoff lets the town criers claim Dow records are in response to forthcoming help for workers but Wall Street money poured into the two republicans right up to the end.

[davids]

Seems like Wall Street is pretty happy about the last couple of days. wtf? I mean besides wages determined to remain depressed and the BidenHarris team determined to cary water for the bankers, what is going on?

Business likes stability and predictably. Plus there's no where else for the money to go.

[guido]

Meanwhile in a galaxy far far away...

In Capital, a G.O.P. Crisis. At the R.N.C. Meeting, a Trump Celebration. | New York Times

"AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — In Washington, Republicans were dealing with a burgeoning crisis in their ranks, with high-profile resignations and bitter infighting over how to deal with an erratic and isolated president. But at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting on Friday, most party members were operating in a parallel universe.

In a chandelier-adorned ballroom at the seaside Ritz-Carlton here, there was no mention of President Trump’s disruption of the coronavirus relief package or his phone call to the Georgia secretary of state demanding that he help steal the election, both of which contributed to Republicans’ losing control of the Senate.

And while the R.N.C. chair, Ronna McDaniel, condemned the attack on the Capitol, neither she nor any other speaker so much as publicly hinted at Mr. Trump’s role in inciting a mob assault on America’s seat of government.

Even as the president faces a possible second impeachment proceeding, this collective exercise in gaze aversion was not the most striking part of the meeting. More revealing was the reason for the silence from the stage: Party members, one after another, said in interviews that the president did not bear any blame for the violence at the Capitol and indicated that they wanted him to continue to play a leading role in the party.

“I surely embrace President Trump,” said Michele Fiore, the committeewoman from Nevada, where Republicans have lost two Senate races and the governorship since 2016. Ms. Fiore, who was sporting a Trump-emblazoned vest, said the president was “absolutely” a positive force in the party.

The fealty to Mr. Trump was made plain on Friday when the state chairs and the committeemen and women who make up the R.N.C.’s governing board unanimously re-elected Ms. McDaniel, Mr. Trump’s handpicked chair. They also reappointed her co-chair, Tommy Hicks, who was first appointed to his post because of his friendship with the president’s eldest son.

Mr. Trump is the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over the loss of the White House, the House and the Senate in a single term and will be the first since Andrew Johnson to boycott his successor’s inauguration. That hasn’t yet fazed the Republican rank and file."

[bigbill]

Pretty awesome that one of our members is doing this work. Much appreciated, @bigbill.

Saw this on the Union of Concerned Scientists blog. Let's not underestimate how traumatic Wednesday's events, or the past four years, have been.
About the Siege of the US Capitol

My intro had led off with recent events starting with Charlottesville and then Charleston acts by white supremacists. Now it leads off with 1/6. BTW, the response after the Charleston shooting was to remove the Confederate flag at the SC statehouse, but Mother Emanuel AME Church is still located on Calhoun street. I wish the street would be renamed after Vesey who was accused of planning a slave revolt and hanged. Calhoun was a VP and strong proponent of slavery.