Politics | Buzz Chronicles

Since it's Veteran's Day, it seems like an appropriate time to talk about how the Georgia General Assembly has screwed military voters out of their opportunity to vote in runoff elections for state offices like the one we're about to have on December 1 (for PSC). #gapol 1/

To begin, you have to understand that there is a federal law, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (known as UOCAVA "you-oh-cava"), that protects military voters and citizens living overseas. 2/

One provision of the UOCAVA requires states to send absentee ballots to protected UOCAVA voters at least 45 days before any federal election. This is because mail to and from overseas military can be very slow. 3/

Back in the early 2010s, the Department of Justice under Obama sued the State of Georgia because the state's election calendar held runoff elections too close to the general election to allow absentee ballots to meet the 45-day deadline. 4/

Georgia argued in court that the UOCAVA did not apply to runoff elections and it lost. UOCAVA applies to *all* federal elections, including runoff elections. 5/

Marilia Coutinho, Ph.D...
@mariliacout

1 / Who won the debate? Nobody: there was no debate. Kamala Harris would have won a debate if there was one. She is a trained litigator and masters the art of argumentation.

Why wasn't there any debate? Not between presidential candidates or VPs?

2 / Who knows. I suppose if one of the campaign managers insisted on rules the GOP side wouldn't have agreed and would proceed into yet another bout of conspiratory whining. Since it's all about perception and the perception of the average American is informed by...

3 / ... the intellectual capacity of a housefly, I assume this is what you get.

However, as someone who presided over more round-tables and presentations than I can count, let me tell you how it is done.

4 / The moderator has a fixed time for the whole thing to happen. Suppose I have two hours for the session. I give each presenter from 12-15 minutes to deliver their presentation and I have 3 pieces of paper that I show them: "10", "5" and "2" (to go).

5 / When the timer zeroes, I take the mic from the presenter whether he was done or not (yes, the ability of sticking to the allotted time is learned). I can either have presenters follow each other and open for discussion in the end or open for Q&A after each presenter.

EricStoner
@TesterTwitt

Obama's homestretch itinerary: On the campaign trail and inside Trump's head
For nearly four years, the former president refrained from attacking his successor. As he took to the trail on Biden's behalf in the 2020 race's closing days, the gloves came

What a LIE. He, they, didn't refrain from anything! Perhaps you missed the attempt to frame him for colluding with Russia to steal an election?

Sohrab Ahmari
@SohrabAhmari

A thread.

.@andymstone, the ex-Democratic operative who said Facebook is "reducing circulation" on our Hunter Files reporting, said that step is being taken pending fact-checking.

It was a bizarre standard, seemingly not applied to countless anti-Trump stories that collapsed.

It's now been nearly two weeks: Has the "fact-checking" process been completed? Have our stories been allowed to recirculate?

Because in the interval, neither Joe nor Hunter Biden has disputed the authenticity of the e-mails or the ownership of the hard drive.

In the interval, the director of national intelligence has ruled out that this story was Russian disinformation.

In the interval, the FBI and Justice Department have also ruled out Russian disinformation.

In the interval, a former business partner of Hunter and Jim Biden's (a Democratic-donating naval officer) has come forward, on the record, to confirm the authenticity of another key e-mail thread we exposed.

Already, this story has far more evidentiary and on-the-record corroboration than, say, the Dossier reporting or that blooper of a report in Buzzfeed (remember, @benyt?) on Trump suborning perjury, which the Mueller team demolished within 12 hours.

Thom Hartmann
@Thom_Hartmann

(1/21) The Republican Party is an organized gang of sociopaths.

(2/21) Trump doesn’t care how many people in Omaha are stuck for hours in the freezing cold, over 3 miles from the nearest road or parking lot, after he’s left his rally, putting some in the hospital. And he clearly doesn’t care how many people die of Covid.

(3/21) One of the defining characteristics of a sociopath is that they view themselves as the only “real“ humans on the planet, and everybody else is basically a prop in the amazing story of their lives.

(4/21) Other people, they think, don’t feel emotions or pain or anything else with the intensity that they do. They believe they’re the only ones who matter, because they’re the only ones who truly exist.

(5/21) The Republican Party, starting in 1980, has brought that sociopathic worldview to politics, and made it a cornerstone of policy as well as a criteria for elective office.

Tally Wilgis
@TallyWilgis

Here's a politician telling you the truth. The Omnibus Bill is a pork-laden collection of wasteful spending that may not stand scrutiny on their own. Collectively, politicians look the other way so long as everyone gets a seat on the Omni-bus.

When a big bill like this comes together, your job as a lawmaker is to try to get as many of your legislative and funding priorities into the text as possible.

Throughout the day, I'm going to explain the provisions in the omnibus budget/COVID relief bill that I led.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 21, 2020

Don't blindly celebrate politicians "bringing home the bacon" because your $4 million project just cost Taxpayers $2.3 trillion. A bank wouldn't give credit to any of us who handled money like our government does.

Your taxes don't go up simply because we needed Covid relief. They go up because 435 lawmakers have to impress you with how much they can add to our debt of our great grandkids. As a nation, we don't actually have any of this money. Neither party cares.

#COVID19 #omnibusbill

We have to pay more attention. The credit card payment will come due at some point and there are not enough rich people to tax.

Finally, for now, don't you think it's odd that the leaders of these parties have been doing their jobs for 20-30 years and we keep having to get to Christmas deadlines to pass large, unread legislation? That's not a design flaw, it's a feature! They're playing all of us.

$\U0001f344\U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8\u0191\u0289\u036bc\u0367\u043a\u036d\u03b9\u036a\u03b7\u0363 The Real Fungi Crew \U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8\U0001f344$

🍄🇺🇸Ƒʉͫcͧкͭιͪηͣ The Rea...
@RealFungiCrew

Thread...
Maybe next time man! I'm up on a truck trail. I'm ready for weather. Haha that's why I came out
Concise explanation: FOR NON-Q FOLLOWERS: 10 Days of Darkness We are now about to go into a period of time where the Internet may be shut down for up to no longer than

Eddie Thomas
@eddiethomas88

Thread for Sudan watchers summarizing the peace deal between Sudan’s transitional civil/military government and Sudan Revolutionary Front, whiwas signed in Juba yesterday. There's no official English translation yet.

Francis Hoar
@Francis_Hoar

This is a quite disgraceful and shameful update from the @barcouncil. Not *one word* on the government's decision - pushed through Parliament days after it was announced - to strip - without reservation - cardinal democratic and fundamental

Not so much as a whisper about the fact that the government has, by secondary legislation imposed under an Act that was before never envisaged to give such widespread powers:

- Removed wholesale the right to protest - something that even this government has said, in representations to *Zimbabwe* should not be done in response to this very virus;

- Banned all communal worship, despite its chief advisers admitting in evidence that there was no empirical evidence about the risk of infection;

- Continued to restrict the rights to family life, including by preventing the right to access to the 'home' for those considered to live in a different household, one give specific protection by the ECHR: Buckley v United Kingdom (1996) 23 EHRR 101 at [63];

The Hydrogen Answer
@thehydrogenans

@eyejosh I started a Tweet went to a second tweet and it all disappeared
So try again... We have a an excellent option to end this Govt and perhaps the whole Parliament

It revolves around my beef that Vote Leave Broke the Law in the Referendum - 2

2/ The Electoral Commission investigated Vote Leave after a Complaint - they needed 3 x attempt before finding that Vote Leave had formed a company BeLeave with the specific intent to have extra spending of £700,000 in the last days of the run up to the Vote 3/

3/ Electoral Commission found Vote Leave had Broken Electoral Law which was their authority and fined V_L max Fine . E-C also found further "more serious offences" and as the Report states these were referred to Met Police for investigation 4/

4/ Take the Breaking Electoral Law = crime, as a group they agreed/took part in / Aided and Abetted the crime --

"an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or to accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action"

Criminal Conspiracy - Electoral Law -- 5/

5/ The "Serious Offences" referred to the Met Police were ignored - 6 months -- then Met {Police sat on for 12 months - Peers X Party forced Met Police to pass the E-C Files of evidence of Serious Offences to the Crown Prosecutions -

Files so serious that will be the DPP. 6/

$\u029f\u1d1c\u029f\u1d1c \u029f\u1d07 \u1d0d\u1d07\u1d21 \u1555( \u0361 \u0361\xb0\u2038\u21bc\u2036)\u1557$

ʟᴜʟᴜ ʟᴇ ᴍᴇᴡ ᕕ( ͡ ͡°‸↼‶...
@LuluLemew

Russians are masters of disinformation.

Don’t fall for their lies on social media

“The goal is to manipulate and divide humans because it sells. “We just provide a space for people to connect” is the sanctimonious response.

What rubbish.”

“They have created an addictive ecosystem that uses persuasive technology to catch, hook and exploit

“Russians’ mastery in this arena flows from their deep understanding and comprehensive formulations of information warfare, technology, active measures & human psychology. No other nation can muster the resources & skills Russia can with potentially game-altering effectiveness.”

“Today, we are experiencing disinformation campaigns to create alternative realities. These forces combine to erode the very foundation of our open society and its democratic traditions by promoting a polarized world.”

Parler: @PaulSchmehl #...
@PaulSchmehl

Thread: Some thoughts as we go into the re-election of Trump. About 20% of the country is hard-core leftist. These people would love to see America become a communist dictatorship, and they’re silly enough to think it will benefit them.

But that leaves 80% of the country that is NOT hard core leftist. Of that 80%, another 10% is hard core Democrat. They’re going to vote for Biden no matter what we find out about his corruption, because they’re willing to sacrifice the country for their progressive vision.

That leaves 70% of the country that isn’t irredeemable. Of that 70%, 20% will normally vote Democrat, because, well, their fathers did or because the media has them convinced that GOP is evil (and Dems are either not or less evil) or just because. But they can be swayed.

And a lot of swaying has been going on. Between the riots, and the anti-American posturing of Dem politicians, $2 trillion “health” plans, banning oil production, and other craziness, a LOT of swaying has been going on. Gays, blacks, Hispanics, all have been migrating to Trump.

Mind you, some of them still won’t be swayed. They’ll either reluctantly pull the lever for Biden or they’ll stay home. We’re seeing some of that staying home factor in the voting numbers coming in from various states. The rest will vote for Trump.

Mark R. Levin
@marklevinshow

1. Phony Joe Biden.
Joe Biden is truly an ambulance chaser. He had nothing to do with the vaccine that is about to be made available to the public, he had nothing to do with the manufacturing process that is already underway,

2. and he had nothing to do with the distribution process that is set in place, all of which were superbly instituted by President Trump and his team.

3. So, there he is, at a podium, reading from a teleprompter, telling us how he will follow the science, how he will distribute the vaccine, etc.,

4. now that Pfizer announced today that its vaccine is ready to go very, very soon (obviously, Pfizer chose to hold back its announcement until after the election).

5. This is the kind of bullshit we are going to hear from this clown (to quote him), who did absolutely nothing and has done absolutely nothing.

$Andy Slavitt @ \U0001f3e1$

Andy Slavitt @ 🏡...
@ASlavitt

My update on what I know.

I have lots of phone calls & emails & texts & will give it to you straight & with a couple of early thoughts.

Have coffee not gin & follow if interested. 1/

The presidential is confusing, but a scenario many anticipated (including both campaigns)— if not the pollsters exactly— although that verdict isn’t entirely even set. 2/

Let me start with some certainties.

1) If every vote counted equally, this would be a Biden-Harris landslide or very close.
2) Every vote isn’t counted equally & everyone knew that.
3) More people than ever voted for the other guy than you. Record turnout for both. 3/

A large disappointment is that many hoped for a significant repudiation of Trump & his indifference to human life, human suffering, his corruption, and goal of getting rid of the ACA.

No matter the final total it will be hard to make that claim. 4/

In the next few days, the vote will be added up in Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Arizona is also not universally called, but looks like Biden.

Expectations are... 5/

Ruchir Sharma
@ruchirsharma_1

100%. Need clear separation of powers.

With direct elections for an executive President, who appoints the Cabinet of Ministers and sets government policy.

In parliament, the Speaker to be seen as the leader of the legislature. MPs responsible only for laws, amendments, repeals.

Westminster model is so bizarre that we elect legislators to form Executive Govts.
Most problems are due to interference of MLAs/MPs in governance who legally can't but people expect them to.
Hence, new model to elect Govts &MLAs/MPs separately has to evolve [avoiding US defects] https://t.co/Oyujk365IE
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS (@MNageswarRaoIPS) December 27, 2020

The Constitution and laws need to be democratised.

Rewritten in simple language, translated into every state language, and made available as original sources online, so people can access them and understand laws themselves instead of being dependent on self-appointed custodians.

We need more local democracy and fewer regional satraps.

Dissolve the current states and upgrade 740 districts into elected Janapadas/Prefectures, to improve policy outcomes on the ground.

No more MLAs and DMs acting like local feudal lords. Bottom-up, accessible institutions.

In each Janapada, assign community policing/crime prevention to local police, accountable to local citizens.

Assign law and order, crime investigation, counter-terrorism to a new central police force, independent of executive. Like the armed forces, with parliamentary oversight.

Split the Supreme Court into a Constitutional Court and Court of Final Appeal, with clear and separate functions and duties.

Give each Janapada a system a decentralised system of courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, working in local languages and jargon-free.