Election integrity and the transfer of power

[pr0ner]

This is a clear and present danger. Putin is probably creaming in his jeans. It may indeed get down to whether the military will follow an illegal command.

You *really* think this is going to happen? C'mon, man.

Not terribly likely, but Trump is a desperate man, and desperate men do desperate things. He has repeatedly shown a wanton disregard for anything, including human life, but his own self interest. We are not dealing with a rational actor.

That doesn't mean any of what's being tossed about by Powell and Flynn and Wood and the rando QAnons on Parler is actually going to happen, either. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

[LordMortis]

I'm not going to pretend to know or be surprised if I under estimated his depravity but I'm not seeing desperation. I'm seeing grift. It's only goes to desperation if he looks like he's going to be punished and that would only happen, if it happens at all, well after he's left office. Then comes desperation and an attempt to mobilize his 2A cult of "freedom loving" "Constitution supporting" "patriots".

[Zaxxon]

This is a clear and present danger. Putin is probably creaming in his jeans. It may indeed get down to whether the military will follow an illegal command.

You *really* think this is going to happen? C'mon, man.

Not terribly likely, but Trump is a desperate man, and desperate men do desperate things. He has repeatedly shown a wanton disregard for anything, including human life, but his own self interest. We are not dealing with a rational actor.

That doesn't mean any of what's being tossed about by Powell and Flynn and Wood and the rando QAnons on Parler is actually going to happen, either. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Same boat here, but this is yet another case of 'not losing sleep over it... this time with this particular guy. The cracks keep on being exposed, and in 4, 8, 16 years if we haven't shored up the system so we're not relying on dozens of 'norms' to keep things running, the next wannabe dictator is going to have great success.

[malchior]

What I'm most concerned about is a localized event that might put more pressure on a sick system. We have a lot of dry kindling. Hunger is at all time highs in the United States, people are angry about the economic effects of coronavirus, and there is a high level of conspiracy delusion out there. The threat level is higher than it seems. Maybe nothing happens but it only takes a wingnut or two being egged on by their leaders to cause real mayhem.

[Jaymann]

What happens if Trump stages a new election under martial law and Biden still wins?

Just a thought, y'all have a good day.

[El Guapo]

What happens if Trump stages a new election under martial law and Biden still wins?

Just a thought, y'all have a good day.

If Trump is able to establish martial law, then there is zero chance that any subsequent election results would show him losing to Biden. That is, in the end, the core point of establishing martial law. That's a very very very big "if" - it's establishing martial law that's the hard part. If he's able to do that, then it's unclear whether he'd ultimately have to hold an election at all.

[Isgrimnur]

What happens if Trump stages a new election under martial law and Biden still wins?

Just a thought, y'all have a good day.

Drazzil, get out of Jaymann's account.

[El Guapo]

What happens if Trump stages a new election under martial law and Biden still wins?

Just a thought, y'all have a good day.

Drazzil, get out of Jaymann's account.

I think there's a very low chance of any effort to establish martial law getting anywhere. That said, it does seem like people are too dismissive in general of the significance of the President's former National Security Advisor, who was recently pardoned by the President, endorsing a military coup with the goal of overturning the election.

[Blackhawk]

I wouldn't be surprised to learn in coming years that Trump attempted any number of absurd things over the course of his presidency that he was told were impossible or was simply told 'no' (probably leading to 'surprise' terminations.)

[Isgrimnur]

What happens if Trump stages a new election under martial law and Biden still wins?

Just a thought, y'all have a good day.

Drazzil, get out of Jaymann's account.

I think there's a very low chance of any effort to establish martial law getting anywhere. That said, it does seem like people are too dismissive in general of the significance of the President's former National Security Advisor, who was recently pardoned by the President, endorsing a military coup with the goal of overturning the election.

As long as it's 'former,' he can spout whatever bullshit he wants.

[El Guapo]

What happens if Trump stages a new election under martial law and Biden still wins?

Just a thought, y'all have a good day.

Drazzil, get out of Jaymann's account.

I think there's a very low chance of any effort to establish martial law getting anywhere. That said, it does seem like people are too dismissive in general of the significance of the President's former National Security Advisor, who was recently pardoned by the President, endorsing a military coup with the goal of overturning the election.

As long as it's 'former,' he can spout whatever bullshit he wants.

Yeah, but....Flynn is close with Trump *today* (and really, probably always, just that Trump felt compelled to distance himself from Flynn for awhile). As evidenced by the pardon, among other things. So it's not like Flynn is some fringe nobody - he has direct influence with the president.

[hepcat]

Somewhere out there, a solitary tear rolls down Paul Manafort's cheek.

[Jaymann]

Will Sommer
@willsommer

Lin Wood tells a raucous crowd to sit out the Georgia Senate races until David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler back up Trump's effort to overturn the vote: "Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election?"

Oh yeah! Punish the Republicans for not cheating enough. And if you must vote, vote for Trump.

[Paingod]

Once it's that absolute, all is permitted.

That really is the sharp edge of the knife. The rest of it may be dull, bent, and useless - but that's a razor's edge. People with absolute beliefs and a feeling that violence is the only answer are some of the most dangerous ones.

When Trump won 2016, I don't remember hearing Democrats urging people to take to the streets and gun down Republicans. Throw up in their hats and cry for a week? Yeah. Become enraged to the point of public death threats? I don't remember seeing that.

It's this division in attitudes towards "the other side" that's going to make it impossible to reconcile and get our nation on the same page - or even the same book or library - any time soon... and the Right seems hell-bent on stoking those fires and increasing the rift.

[pr0ner]

[Roman]

Jeebus Fuck!

I really really really hope there is nothing to all this BS the entire world has had to deal with...............

[Smoove_B]

Even today, he manages to lower the bar yet again - it's absolutely amazing. He's beyond deplorable.

[Little Raven]

Jesus Christ. I hope this costs them Georgia.

[Kraken]

Jesus Christ. I hope this costs them Georgia.

As well as their party. I don't see how the GOP avoids splitting when Squattergate finally ends.

[LordMortis]

So a month in to the lawsuits of not fraud being thrown out he's making the most important speech of his life which is nothing but innuendo?

[pr0ner]

Basically.

Very telling he dropped that on Facebook and not as a live speech. No way any network beyond Newsmax or OAN would have shown the whole thing.

[El Guapo]

Honestly after the "most important speech" buildup, I was kind of relieved that it wasn't worse. Beyond the unfortunately now routine "they're trying to steal the election" schtick, he ultimately just calls for the process to play out, which is, you know, what has been happening.

[El Guapo]

Will Sommer
@willsommer

Lin Wood tells a raucous crowd to sit out the Georgia Senate races until David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler back up Trump's effort to overturn the vote: "Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election?"

Oh yeah! Punish the Republicans for not cheating enough. And if you must vote, vote for Trump.

He's been hitting this hard enough that I wonder whether Trump / Wood's strategy is to implicitly threaten Republicans to do more to help him stay president or else he'll do everything to deprive Republicans of their Senate majority.

[malchior]

They don't have a strategy. They never do. He just acts out impulsively. He beats at the walls because over and over he has found a weak spot he can punch through. It seems like he found a strong box this time. And we're lucky for it but if he keeps up with this he is going to get someone killed.

[Zaxxon]

Twitter really needs to do better than 'disputed.' It's not disputed.

[Jaymann]

Orin Kerr
@OrinKerr

At her rally, Sidney Powell just said that America has been in decline for decades and that, when she grew up, in the 50s, there was no division in the nation, "at least in my life."

Nice caveat.



I love the look of the dude on the right, it's like, "I know I needed that money, but damn, that cracker is one crazy bitch!"

[Skinypupy]

Understatement of the year, right there.

Covering bullshit intelligently is maybe the biggest challenge in journalism right now.

[Isgrimnur]

You've had five fucking years to practice.

[Holman]

[Pyperkub]

What happens if Trump stages a new election under martial law and Biden still wins?

Just a thought, y'all have a good day.

It would be what is commonly termed a Military Coup.

[Zarathud]

When Rudy taps you on the shoulder to calm down, you have a problem. And you shouldn't say that you're going to prison if you're wrong. They might call your bluff.

[Kraken]

I had to squint to make sure that wasn't Kate McKinnon doing a character.

[Daehawk]

I fully support these morons fine citizens completely.

'They have not earned your vote': Trump allies urge Georgia Republicans to sit out Senate runoffs

Allies of President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election urged Republicans in Georgia on Wednesday to stay at home for the Jan. 5 Senate runoff elections, arguing Trump supporters shouldn't take part in another "rigged election."

Attorneys Lin Wood and Sidney Powell told a crowd of Trump loyalists not to vote for either of the two Georgia incumbent Republican senators, Kelly Loeffler or David Perdue, during a "Stop the Steal" gathering in Alpharetta, Georgia.

The event, billed as a "press conference" but resembling the raucousness of a Trump rally, was filled with wild conspiracies and falsehoods about last month's election won by President-elect Joe Biden. Attention also turned to the two runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate.

And my favorite quote from the article.......

"Where is Kelly Loeffler here? Where is David Perdue?" said Wood, who unsuccessfully sued Georgia seeking to stop the presidential election's certification. "He ought to be standing right here."

"Do not be fooled twice," he added. "This is Georgia. We ain't dumb. We're not going to vote on Jan. 5 on another machine made by China. You're not going to fool Georgians again. If Kelly Loeffler wants your vote, if David Perdue wants your vote, they've got to earn it."

[Jaymann]

What's hilarious is there is not a damn thing Loeffler and Perdue could do, even if they wanted to.

[LordMortis]

What's hilarious is there is not a damn thing Loeffler and Perdue could do, even if they wanted to.

Who will speak for me?

[Formix]

It really IS the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party. I'd like to say "unbelievable" but it isn't. There just isn't a bottom.

[Holman]

There's an article about QAnon/StopTheSteal lawyer Lin Wood over on TPM. It's paywalled, so (per a recent thread on EBG) I won't quote much of it.

tl;dr More than just an arch-grifter, he seems to be genuinely nuts.

Back in September three former law partners sued Wood for fees tied to the dissolution of the partnership. They claim they had to quit because he’d essentially lost his mind.

In the course of their filings they list a range of behavior from abusive to unstable and erratic all the way to perhaps even delusional. Again some of the claims are just ‘boss from hell.’ Others are more in the realm of genuine abuse and even violence. They claim that Wood committed “assault and battery” on one of the former partners who came to do a welfare check on him back in late 2019, which was when the erratic behavior began. There are various other times when he summoned them to his residence in the middle of the night or called and texted in the early hours of the morning. At other times he claimed he was disciplining his legal partners “at the discretion of Almighty God.” In one monologue conference call he allegedly referred to himself as “the Almighty.”

There are further examples. All signs suggest that this guy (who now seems to be eclipsing Sidney Powell as the public face of the movement) is not at all a rational actor. The GOP really might not be able to accommodate him and make him go away.

[Paingod]

It really IS the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party. I'd like to say "unbelievable" but it isn't. There just isn't a bottom.

Somewhere in ancient Sparta, rationality is still falling down the hole Leonidas kicked it into.

For four years we've been learning that there's not a single norm (or even law) that Trump and his allies aren't willing to overlook in order to achieve their goals. I don't think even the word "corruption" works anymore. It's something far beyond that. They've become so disconnected from reality that they've slipped right into the ability to rationalize and believe anything that works for their agenda. I'd think it was funny if it wasn't so frightening. Its a kind of blind religious zealotry, applied to politics.

[Jaymann]

Countdown to Biden inauguration as President:

48 DAYS

[Remus West]

When Rudy taps you on the shoulder to calm down, you have a problem. And you shouldn't say that you're going to prison if you're wrong. They might call your bluff.

I'm really really hoping they do bring the full brunt of the law down on these people who signed bullshit affidavits.