As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.
The bombshell reporting on corrupt, dangerous dimwit Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump's call to Georgia officials to pressure them to fraudulently change the results of the election continues to develop. There are some recent updates and reactions here and here.
Meanwhile, all 10 living former Secretaries of Defense -- Democrats and Republicans, including Trump's two SecDefs -- penned an unprecedented op/ed in the Washington Post that was clearly meant as a warning to Mango Mussolini and his sycophants in the Pentagon to stop obstructing the transition to the Biden Administration, saying in part:
Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.
As senior Defense Department leaders have noted, “there’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.” Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic. [snip]
Given these factors, particularly at a time when U.S. forces are engaged in active operations around the world, it is all the more imperative that the transition at the Defense Department be carried out fully, cooperatively and transparently. Acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and his subordinates — political appointees, officers and civil servants — are each bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration, and to do so wholeheartedly. They must also refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.
We call upon them, in the strongest terms, to do as so many generations of Americans have done before them. This final action is in keeping with the highest traditions and professionalism of the U.S. armed forces, and the history of democratic transition in our great country. (our emphasis)
David Atkins writes about the sedition caucus putsch cosplay planned for January 6:
The GOP senators carrying Trump’s water here are using as justification the fact that millions of Americans falsely believe there was election fraud. But the GOP base believes it precisely because the President and his allies in conservative infotainment media have been promoting the lies.
It’s a perfect self-referential paradox of propaganda. Lie to millions of Americans in order to justify destroying democracy, then use the fact that millions of Americans believed your lies as the reason to try to do so, regardless of the validity of the underlying claims.
Technically, the Senators supporting this effort are claiming they are not trying to overturn the election. They say they only want a “10-day audit” of the election results. The problem, of course, is that the results have been checked and double-checked repeatedly. An “audit” (which would not rise even to the level of a full recount) would accomplish nothing that has not already been done. The voting machines have been double- and triple-checked. Mail ballot envelope signatures have been checked and double-checked–and in any case, there is no longer any way to match envelopes to ballots. The Senators involved do know all of this. They just don’t care.
The immediate goal, of course, is to placate Trump and Trump’s base. Some of the Senators supporting this move are presidential hopefuls for 2024. The secondary goal is to blow enough smoke over the issue to justify new voter suppression schemes in future elections, in order to resolve the “doubts about our elections” that they themselves cynically promulgated. (our emphasis)
In a similar vein, Tom Sullivan writes about Republicans' authoritarian urge to rule:
As others observed before me, Republicans do not want to govern, they want to rule. The first rule once was, heads they win, tails you lose. Now it is heads they win, tails “Nice constitutional republic ya got there….”
“So what’s a plutocrat to do?” asked Paul Krugman at a time before openly rejecting democracy was de rigueur for Republicans. Since they could not come straight out and say only the wealthy should have the franchise, they resort to propaganda about voter fraud, etc. More democracy, better democracy is the last thing they want.
The latest wrinkle in our Trumpist saga is the effort among elected Republicans to raise objections to the decision of voters on January 6 when the U.S House and Senate meet to accept electoral vote certifications from the states. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas proposes a special commission charged with yet another examination of electoral college votes from “disputed states.” [snip]
Anti-democrats do not want a more perfect democratic republic. They want the answer they want. They want to rule or else. Like a former client, like Donald Trump, he of the bottomless cup of lawsuits, they will keep raising objections to the will of the people, they will wear down opponents until they get the answer they want. If they lose, they try to will get even, Donald Trump-style. No presidential commission will remediate that. (our emphasis)
Put succinctly --
"A cult is attempting a coup in America."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 3, 2021
Is that the most accurate way to frame what's going on right now? Well, here's how I opened RS today... https://t.co/YpBXIw5tEn
Former Republican strategist turned Democrat Steve Schmidt has a tweet thread on the sedition caucus, which reads in part:
They are fighting to maintain the power of a defeated President against the sovereign will of the American people as lawfully exercised under the Constitution of the United States. They are fighting to establish a tyranny. They are deliberately poisoning 7/
Faith and Belief in American democracy. Democratic Republic’s cannot survive such a collapse. The system is rooted in the willingness of one side to cede power to another at the will of the people. There are no other systems of government except for this type that are free. 8/
The legitimacy of that system is being strangled by Trumps lies and the lies of his movement. That movement is an autocratic one with fascistic markers. It is hostile to the American Constitution, the rule of law and the highest ideas and ideals of American liberty. 9/
It's a coup that will fail, and those who enabled it will have forever
marked themselves as the unAmerican betrayers of our democracy that they
are. We must dedicate ourselves to seeing that they all pay a serious price
for their seditious actions.
Finally, a reminder to please go check out Infidel753's link round- up for links to interesting posts from the past week from around the Internet. You can thank us later (or not)!
