February 2021 Current Events: Slow Down, Rush is Dead

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > February 2021 Current Events: Slow Down, Rush is Dead

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Cugel the Clever posted:

But don't you see‽ All AOC wants to do is attack Republicans, why can't they work across the aisle

https://twitter.com/themattdimitri/status/1355411889946128385?s=19

https://twitter.com/elivalley/status/1356674466449936385

# ¿ Feb 3, 2021 01:14

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 18, 2024 00:31

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Fallom posted:

I thought these things were pitched as an economic stimulus and not just a bailout?

It is, but people with decent income aren't going to be spending even as much as usual during a lockdown; they sure aren't going to spend the bonus Bidenbux. Stimulus is always best when the biggest amount goes to the lower brackets.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2021 02:08

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

ThisIsJohnWayne posted:

The USA didn't survive the decade.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2021 13:38

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Hot Karl Marx posted:

https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1356964212250206214

That was entirely predictable.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2021 19:11

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Platystemon posted:

I’m comparing a great man to a pathetic one here, but the justices of the Supreme Court were ready to declare that Mohammed Ali’s draft refusal was not a sincere religious matter before one of the clerks (Tom Krattenmaker ) said “I think this guy’s the real deal and you should take another look”.

I am a lot more inclined to take Ali’s religious views seriously prima facie, but that’s not the point. The point is that courts should err to defer to a person’s professed beliefs unless there is extremely good reason not to, and “this guy’s request is minorly expensive” does not rise to that.

Minorly expensive? This opens the door to more prisoners using the constitution to try and get edible food and then where would we be?

# ¿ Feb 3, 2021 19:16

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

facialimpediment posted:

https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1357142928385314820

Secret ballot. She thought they were wimps and she was right.

So only 1/3 of the House Republican caucus thinks that being an ultraconservative nightmare is less important than being an openly fascist nightmare.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2021 02:55

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Sacrist65 posted:

Doing honest to god charity work doesnt seem like it wins hearts and minds anymore and like 20% of people think Bill Gates funds vaccinates to implant microchips so .

Jeff Bezos donated 10 Billion to combat climate change. Say what you want about the guy but that can do some serious good and, I believe, that is more than the federal government pledged in the last 4 years.

No different than the robber barons.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2021 00:02

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Mr. Nice! posted:

11 republicans voted with the democratic house members to remove marjorie green from her committee seats.

Just two years ago, a majority of House Republicans voted to strip Steve King for defending white supremacy. Now only 11 vote against someone who advocates assassinating other House members and supported an attempted coup which would have resulted in the murder of other House members.

And 61 voted to remove archconservative Liz Cheney for not sucking the orange mushroom.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2021 02:36

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

fknlo posted:

Does the house booting Greene from her committee set any precedent that's going to have the Republicans booting half the Democrats from everything for being "communists" when they get power again?

Yeah kind of but part of finding their spine again means Democrats are taking tentative steps towards doing what's right despite pundits clutching the pearls about "but then the Republicans can do it!"

As if the GOP gives a poo poo about precedent and norms and traditions.

"Better not do anything about insanity and treason that's happening right now because maybe at some point in the future the Republicans will be mean to you!"

# ¿ Feb 5, 2021 12:39

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

bulletsponge13 posted:

The last admin broke a lot of people.

Suddenly, Chuds are oppressed, we are all turning communist, we will soon turn into a third world hellhole because white dudes are no longer running the show.

We are all two days from Stasi and Camps.

The last admin revealed just how broken a lot of people are.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2021 20:01

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

My Rep.
https://twitter.com/People4Bernie/status/1357505055516102658/photo/2

# ¿ Feb 6, 2021 16:45

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

We're one month out now from the endgame of a fascist coup attempt orchestrated by the former President of the United States.
It's deeply disconcerting to me that I'm going through everyday life, making career plans and deciding about energy efficient furnace payoff times while simultaneously low-key researching and contingency planning for fleeing the country if the next coup is successful.
And even more disconcerting that it seems like most Americans have forgotten about this and treat it like some wacky few hours that happened, isolated from everything else and not part of a planned scheme to overthrow democracy
https://twitter.com/RWPUSA/status/1355588534594375684

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 00:02

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Pine Cone Jones posted:

I really don't know what to do about any of this. I am hoping that if there is an investigation, the folks who were responsible will be punished, but I doubt it. I wish I had anywhere to flee to, neither me or my husband have passports or dual citizenship and I'm not sure Europe would be much better in the long run.

My plan involves convincing my wife to let me get a PhD while we both learn German. It's not a great plan.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 00:18

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Time article on the people who saved democracy (for now)

quote:

Sometime in the fall of 2019, Mike Podhorzer became convinced the election was headed for disaster�and determined to protect it.

This was not his usual purview. For nearly a quarter-century, Podhorzer, senior adviser to the president of the AFL-CIO, the nation�s largest union federation, has marshaled the latest tactics and data to help its favored candidates win elections.

Trump�s election in 2016�credited in part to his unusual strength among the sort of blue collar white voters who once dominated the AFL-CIO�prompted Podhorzer to question his assumptions about voter behavior. He began circulating weekly number-crunching memos to a small circle of allies and hosting strategy sessions in D.C. But when he began to worry about the election itself, he didn�t want to seem paranoid. It was only after months of research that he introduced his concerns in his newsletter in October 2019. The usual tools of data, analytics and polling would not be sufficient in a situation where the President himself was trying to disrupt the election, he wrote. �Most of our planning takes us through Election Day,� he noted. �But, we are not prepared for the two most likely outcomes��Trump losing and refusing to concede, and Trump winning the Electoral College (despite losing the popular vote) by corrupting the voting process in key states. �We desperately need to systematically �red-team� this election so that we can anticipate and plan for the worst we know will be coming our way.�

The chief difference between the U.S. and countries that lost their grip on democracy, he concluded, was that America�s decentralized election system couldn�t be rigged in one fell swoop. That presented an opportunity to shore it up.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 01:21

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Midjack posted:

Wamp was my rep when I was in in high school, haven�t thought about him in years. Good to see he�s not a total shithead today.

I don't know if the article was intentionally manipulative like that, but it really did calm me down a bit to see how many across the entire rational political spectrum joined together to make sure that the election was free and fair. Really disturbing that it took a year's worth of work and hundreds of millions of dollars, but it's also heartening to know that there are that many people with influence and money who do actually care about democracy.

It's really an amazing article, how carefully the group anticipated Trump's moves and planned effective countermeasures.

quote:

As much as they were eager to mount a show of strength, mobilizing immediately could backfire and put people at risk. Protests that devolved into violent clashes would give Trump a pretext to send in federal agents or troops as he had over the summer. And rather than elevate Trump�s complaints by continuing to fight him, the alliance wanted to send the message that the people had spoken.

So the word went out: stand down. Protect the Results announced that it would �not be activating the entire national mobilization network today, but remains ready to activate if necessary.� On Twitter, outraged progressives wondered what was going on. Why wasn�t anyone trying to stop Trump�s coup? Where were all the protests?

Podhorzer credits the activists for their restraint. �They had spent so much time getting ready to hit the streets on Wednesday. But they did it,� he says. �Wednesday through Friday, there was not a single Antifa vs. Proud Boys incident like everyone was expecting. And when that didn�t materialize, I don�t think the Trump campaign had a backup plan.�

Activists reoriented the Protect the Results protests toward a weekend of celebration. �Counter their disinfo with our confidence & get ready to celebrate,� read the messaging guidance Shenker-Osorio presented to the liberal alliance on Friday, Nov. 6. �Declare and fortify our win. Vibe: confident, forward-looking, unified�NOT passive, anxious.� The voters, not the candidates, would be the protagonists of the story.

The planned day of celebration happened to coincide with the election being called on Nov. 7. Activists dancing in the streets of Philadelphia blasted Beyonc� over an attempted Trump campaign press conference; the Trumpers� next confab was scheduled for Four Seasons Total Landscaping outside the city center, which activists believe was not a coincidence. �The people of Philadelphia owned the streets of Philadelphia,� crows the Working Families Party�s Mitchell. �We made them look ridiculous by contrasting our joyous celebration of democracy with their clown show.�

quote:

Election boards were one pressure point; another was GOP-controlled legislatures, who Trump believed could declare the election void and appoint their own electors. And so the President invited the GOP leaders of the Michigan legislature, House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Senate majority leader Mike Shirkey, to Washington on Nov. 20.

It was a perilous moment. If Chatfield and Shirkey agreed to do Trump�s bidding, Republicans in other states might be similarly bullied. �I was concerned things were going to get weird,� says Jeff Timmer, a former Michigan GOP executive director turned anti-Trump activist. Norm Eisen describes it as �the scariest moment� of the entire election.

The democracy defenders launched a full-court press. Protect Democracy�s local contacts researched the lawmakers� personal and political motives. Issue One ran television ads in Lansing. The Chamber�s Bradley kept close tabs on the process. Wamp, the former Republican Congressman, called his former colleague Mike Rogers, who wrote an op-ed for the Detroit newspapers urging officials to honor the will of the voters. Three former Michigan governors�Republicans John Engler and Rick Snyder and Democrat Jennifer Granholm�jointly called for Michigan�s electoral votes to be cast free of pressure from the White House. Engler, a former head of the Business Roundtable, made phone calls to influential donors and fellow GOP elder statesmen who could press the lawmakers privately.

When the meeting began, Reyes�s activists flooded the livestream and filled Twitter with their hashtag, #alleyesonmi. A board accustomed to attendance in the single digits suddenly faced an audience of thousands. In hours of testimony, the activists emphasized their message of respecting voters� wishes and affirming democracy rather than scolding the officials. Van Langevelde quickly signaled he would follow precedent. The vote was 3-0 to certify; the other Republican abstained.

After that, the dominoes fell. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the rest of the states certified their electors. Republican officials in Arizona and Georgia stood up to Trump�s bullying. And the Electoral College voted on schedule on Dec. 14.

quote:

There was one last milestone on Podhorzer�s mind: Jan. 6. On the day Congress would meet to tally the electoral count, Trump summoned his supporters to D.C. for a rally.

Much to their surprise, the thousands who answered his call were met by virtually no counterdemonstrators. To preserve safety and ensure they couldn�t be blamed for any mayhem, the activist left was �strenuously discouraging counter activity,� Podhorzer texted me the morning of Jan. 6, with a crossed-fingers emoji.

Trump addressed the crowd that afternoon, peddling the lie that lawmakers or Vice President Mike Pence could reject states� electoral votes. He told them to go to the Capitol and �fight like hell.� Then he returned to the White House as they sacked the building. As lawmakers fled for their lives and his own supporters were shot and trampled, Trump praised the rioters as �very special.�

It was his final attack on democracy, and once again, it failed. By standing down, the democracy campaigners outfoxed their foes. �We won by the skin of our teeth, honestly, and that�s an important point for folks to sit with,� says the Democracy Defense Coalition�s Peoples. �There�s an impulse for some to say voters decided and democracy won. But it�s a mistake to think that this election cycle was a show of strength for democracy. It shows how vulnerable democracy is.�

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 03:18

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

TheWeedNumber posted:

I�m a little amused: let�s flee to the place that spawned hitler and that still has a white nationalism problem anywhere East Germany used to be. I don�t know if that�s gonna work out for you when they flip the script and go all 4th Reich on you. Maybe France? I�d do France personally.

France has that issue, too.

My opinion? By virtue of being the last Axis standing Germany, unlike most of Europe, was forced to confront its aggressive genocidal tendencies and make cultural and legal changes. Most of Europe was happy to ship their Jews to concentration camps and there were plenty of happy collaborators with fascism.
Also, like a lot of you, I've spent time in Germany and I loved it there. The climate, the culture, the food, the political system, the civic attitudes. There are problems everywhere but Germany seems to comparatively have its poo poo together economically and culturally, plus unlike Canada or Scandinavia my wife won't commit suicide in the winter.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 16:52

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Wasabi the J posted:

I was willing to fight and die for this country when it was wrong before.

I'm more hesitant now that I'm older and jaded, but my conviction never wavered and I'll be damned if the fascists take over.

If I didn't have children, this would be my attitude too.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 17:05

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

PookBear posted:

if you flee the country because of fascism you're no better than those bitch rear end Schr�dingers

# ¿ Feb 7, 2021 19:37

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Churchill posted:

Isn't that too late, or does the car sense it's falling or something

They work off accelerometers.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2021 00:53

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

boop the snoot posted:

I don’t even remember what was even wrong with the Ukraine call. It was like a decade ago.

Trump withheld congressionally appropriated aid to try and leverage Ukraine's president into fabricating a Biden investigation.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2021 01:43

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Mr. Nice! posted:

The evidence so far is overwhelming. They haven't even gotten to the most damning things, either.

Not that it matters.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2021 22:06

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

As Nero Danced posted:

The house managers could just be screaming "they wanted to murder you! If they got ahold you you, we'd be holding up pictures of your corpse! And your colleagues would still be unwilling convict."

This county is loving doomed.

For Donald Trump.
80s gold plated toilet joke Trump.
80s divorce joke Trump.
90s multiple bankruptcy joke Trump.
00s reality show star Trump.

The fascist coup was carried out in the name of Donald Goddamn Trump.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2021 23:36

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Platystemon posted:

Hashtag �believescience� is currently being wielded as a baton to pack teachers back into schools like it�s the Tokyo metro at rush hour.

Next week, my best friend who is a 40 year old fat guy who ate himself into type 2 diabetes and works either from home or in an individual office (his choice), is getting his vaccine.

Meanwhile I, an "essential worker" who has been crammed into a classroom full of students since August, whose workplace has over a 25% adult infection rate, have been told that it'll be late March/early April before they get to us.

Kazinsal posted:

There is no way to fix America.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2021 23:55

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

mlmp08 posted:

Keep schools open for young kids. Middle and High school etc is a different story and ymmv. Vaccinate older people first.

Pretty important not to gently caress over a bunch of young children who attend public schools and deprive them of education, food, social work access and limited health access.

Hey here's a thought maybe not gently caress over a bunch of underpaid teachers and instead fund social programs so that the only option for kids getting food, social work access, and education isn't being crammed into a plague incubator. Or fund hiring of additional teachers and aides so the classes can be split into safe pod sizes.
But nah, we have to "think of the children" in the way that doesn't actually improve their lives and actively harms a profession that America, in general, hates. Much like service workers.

Nick Soapdish posted:

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1360034522197184513?s=20

Neither the insurrectionists / QAnon wing or the Trump apologists will give a poo poo about this

No, but the never Trumpers who helped push Biden over the finish line will, and it doesn't actually hurt anything policy-wise.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2021 12:43

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

mlmp08 posted:

It’s because years of development and education lost in grade school are incredibly hard and sometimes impossible to make up later. A quality grade school education is a massive discriminator in access to education and jobs and opportunities and basics like language and arithmetic later in life.

A crummy or missed high school or college is far easier to recover via adult education or work experience than making up for not learning the basics and having a (relatively) stable environment early in life.

Beyond that, it is not a good tactic to shame lower income parents who do want their kids at school so they can work. Mocking the poor as bad parents just because they want their kids to learn to read and interact socially while the parent earns money is some bootstraps bullshit. “Learn to be an unpaid home school teacher” is a garbage plan to give to a parent who isn’t qualified to do so and doesn’t have any interest in doing that and has another job.

Yeah, Star Trek utopia would be awesome as hell, but in the meantime educating and caring for young children is for the greater good.

Besides, the privileged are eagerly getting an even greater opportunity advantage for their own kids by finding schools that are open or private lessons for their kids while public schools for the poor and minorities are shut down.

If the people pushing for open schools actually gave a poo poo about child development and education, there would be money to open schools safely. But no, most of the people yelling the loudest are disingenuously using the arguments to get the free childcare back in the building so the service workers they also don't give a poo poo about can get back to serving them.
If I seem upset it's because every day I go to work with colleagues who, months later, still have a bad cough, trouble going up stairs, and bouts of brain fog. Who have all put in time and labor to keep kids off drugs, out of jail, stop self harm, get into college, etc. And we're being told, as a profession, that we don't care enough about the well-being of children.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2021 13:51

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

mlmp08 posted:

It’s fine to be angry about funding and prioritization. It’s hosed! But it doesn’t follow that the result should be screwing over the people with the absolute least possible influence on those decisions: children.

It shouldn't be the result but...
This is the same line of poo poo we get every time we try to organize and demand better conditions or funding or health. The responsibility for the decisions that created the situation is nebulous, but if we walk out we're the ones responsible for hurting the kids. Every loving time.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2021 18:40

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Anarcho-Bidenism posted:

There's enough plausible deniability for republican senators with 2020-era republican voters to ignore the whole thing. The Romney and Pence types will be gone in a few years to be replaced with Senators Boebert and co., and the democrats are never going to call for their voters to attack the capitol the next time a Republican wins the Presidency, so whats even the point of voting yes? Not to mention (this is admittedly anecdotal) to the ~average American~ who is no/low information this all looks like the democrats screwing around wasting time while everyone is waiting impatiently for their $600-2000 checks.

Actually the average American who is aware enough to know what the Democrats are doing thinks Trump bears responsibility for the attempted coup.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2021 00:10

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Anarcho-Bidenism posted:

I sure hope you're right.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2021 00:34

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

facialimpediment posted:

A lot of the Republicans pretty much assume that things can't really get worse, or they can duck the responsibility if it does. They're probably right about the ducking responsibility bit.

https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1360375150856798210

https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1360375756417884165

Fuckin' weasel still backs Trump, Greene, and every other lunatic fascist seditionist.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2021 01:04

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Police have the discretion to give elderly pacifists brain damage for breaking curfew. It's just our glorious system.
https://twitter.com/MikeBaggerman/status/1359984548512210950

# ¿ Feb 13, 2021 02:51

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

The impending acquittal of Trump is a bad omen of things to come. I can guarantee that there will be a day when Republicans just outright threaten their opposition with mob violence knowing that there will be no consequences. I hope that day doesn't come soo-

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1360642399853109248

well poo poo.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2021 19:53

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Pine Cone Jones posted:

As lovely as it is, at least I can't go down the full doomer path, because that'll lead to me eating lead or the like. I will still somehow imagine that at there's some light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's further down the line then I'll live to see.

Long term planning to move to Europe is what's going to keep me from going full doomer. I don't know if I'll actually make that decision, but putting myself in a position where it's at least possible will help.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2021 22:13

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

I thought we all agreed to forget that jersey existed.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2021 01:33

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

CommieGIR posted:

We need a good Chernobyl scale event to really drop the hammer.

How about a plague that the government is unwilling to address?

# ¿ Feb 16, 2021 01:41

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

That Works posted:

https://twitter.com/_mariocarrillo_/status/1361500392522211328?s=20

https://twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1361550973584424961?s=20

Are we still doing the "late stage capitalism" meme?

# ¿ Feb 16, 2021 14:26

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

UP THE BUM NO BABY posted:

Hell yeah, loving this country today
https://twitter.com/Oregonian/status/1361916778318815234?s=19

John Steinbeck posted:

There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificate- died of malnutrition- because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2021 18:10