NEW: @StateDept's top counterterrorism official says the Jan 6 siege of the #USCapitol "wasn't just an assault on the Capitol. It was an assault on democracy, w/a violent mob trying to interfere with the results of the election"

"Nothing is more sacred to our constitutional democracy than the peaceful transfer of power" per Amb. Nathan Sales speaking to @AEI

Adds that those who rioted "desecrated the Capitol & the principals for which its stands"

"There's no room for complacency" @StateDept's Sales warns on the fight vs terrorism, repeating warnings that there needs to be a focus on #ISIS, #alQaida in #Africa
#StateCTatAEI

CT needs to remain "an urgent priority" per Sales

"Counterterrorism & Great Power Competition are not mutually exclusive" he says "CT is a competitive advantage for our country...security cooperation can forge durable relationships that blunt our rivals' malign influence"

"The basic architecture of American counterterrorism has been remarkably durable & stable" per @StateDept's Amb Sales, noting border security keeping out #ISIS #alQaida, plus the success of sanctions

The errant Christian participation in the Capitol insurrection has its roots in the apocalyptic craziness espoused by the likes of the late Hal Lindsey and Tim Lahaye. Their 'end of the world' mania misled many, laying the foundation for conspiracy theories...

... and the horrid view of the civil government so many trapped in the maze of this nonsense espouse. In an odd-couple marriage, Christian post-millennialism was then married this movement to a 'save America', all in the name of a mythical 'lost' Christian America and hopes for a

... future Christianized state, a theocracy in the Christian sense. Opposition to Christian positions on moral issues was equated w/ opposition to God. How? Paul Weyrich and the Reagan-era GOP saw this as an opening to win the Evangelical vote for themselves & beat Carter in 1980

EVs had voted for Carter in large numbers in 1976, Carter identifying with them as a Baptist and Sunday School teacher, a humble, gracious, country boy. The GOP wrangled that support to itself by taking up the fearful millennialism of the EVs and making the Democrats...

... an embodiment of the Beast of Revelation. American could be a Christian Republic, saved from evil - from the Democrats in particular - and, later, from the swamp, the deep state, or whatever label worked best. Because a majority of people would never accept these wild views

The coming year will see Biden Democrats walking slowly through a vast field of small businesses exhausted by the battle with the coronavirus, shooting any who can still move. Big Tech will hold a pillow over the faces of those who cry out too loudly.

The destruction of the independent American middle class is one of the highest policy goals of the hard Left. It is finally at hand, thanks to the coronavirus and its political aftershocks. A year ago, they could not have dreamed they would get such a perfect kill shot.

A true middle class has economic interests that run counter to command economics, confiscatory taxation, centralized power, and other features of socialism. It also has the numbers to protect those interests at the ballot box. Of COURSE the Left hates it and wants to subdue it.

Small business is the vital engine of middle class prosperity, and the specific enemy the Left hates the most. Small business owners - and their sharpest, most ambitious employees - place a high value on capitalist freedom and competitiveness. They know the value of a dollar.

The small business experience is defined by the atmosphere of competitiveness that statism and socialism are sworn to destroy. Local enterprises appear quickly in response to demand that cannot easily be seen by distant central planners. Entrepreneurship requires agility.

Evangelicals, America, and their utter disgrace (Cracks Knuckles) A THREAD.

Now that Evangelicals have lost their most important political figure since, well Ronald Reagan (we may dispute on this but I'm going with Reagan) What Now? How should we write about them?

First off, let me state the obvious. Evangelicals supported a white supremacist president because they support White Supremacy. The theologies and practices are racist, and while you may say not all evangelicals are racists.....

I spent a year writing about about Evangelical Racism from the 19th to the 20th century. Let me assure you, this is not the History that NOLL, MARSDEN, KIDD or any of the rest of the old guard who created that history wanted to admit.,

Evangelicals have started the long tap dance to try to dance away from Donald Trump, their lord and Savior. Yep. Exhibit A, David Brooks article in the NYT yesterday

(Sorry, long, rambling, unthought-out thread here) I've lost count of the amount of times I have been proud to call myself an Unioner, and of their commitment to direct, and often local action instead of parrotting nebulous and often ultimately meaningless phrases.

I know personally people at the club who take very seriously their commitment to eradicating racism from the club, as well as from football itself. But I have seen and heard racism in the stands, as well as on the way to and from games too many times before.

I have always shied away from acknowledging it. I've accentuated the positives, I've said it comes only from a small minority (which is also true), all because I don't want my own romantic image of the club to be tarnished, and I don't want to be guilty through association.

Or, to be honest, to endanger my privileged position of being able to write about the club I adore in the city I love.

When it happens it is a reflection of a broader racism in Germany, and in football, but that is no excuse for my inaction, for my sitting on my hands and hoping the problem goes away, so I can just go back to hailing them as a rebellious club from a rebellious city.

Good morning, post-election frivolous performative litigation followers - we've got another new filing in Seditionists v 117th Congress et al.

It's yet another motion for a Temporary Restraining Order - making it the 3rd in 3 days.

And it's a

Now, you'd think that if you kept throwing 'emergency' paperwork at the court and the court kept saying nothing in reply that you might want to take some time and figure out what you're doing wrong, but nope. Not these buffoons.

They're still not within 50 miles of complying with Fed R Civ P 65 - and my guess is that this judge might view that as entirely a "them" problem which the court has no obligation to explain.

So they're still stuck at Step 1.

But that's honestly the least of their issues.

They have, apparently in lieu of attempting to comply with Rule 65, put "ORAL HEARING REQUESTED" in all caps right after the heading.

I'm not a litigator but I don't think that's a recognized alternative to attempting to provide notice to the adverse party.

They want to "preserve the status quo" by placing two of the three branches of government in a state of "stewardship." That's...

...unique.

With a lot of coverage of the latest dramatic Scottish poll results, it's time to remind everyone that predicting results in individual seats or seat totals (and overall majorities or lack thereof) is MUCH harder than predicting national shares of the vote.

This is REALLY IMPORTANT when people will be holding forth on the supposed certainty or otherwise of a single-party majority, or of a single-party whitewash in a particular region, and perhaps encouraging people to change their votes in light of this supposed certainty.

Let's assume you could go to the start of 2016 with the vote shares from the election, Biff Tannen from Back to the Future style. You are far ahead of any pollster - you know the *exact* national vote totals. What would they have told you would be the result in terms of MSPs?

Well, they'd have said it was going to be an SNP majority. Plug it in and you would have seen SNP 66, Con 30, Lab 23, Grn 5, LD 4. Close, but off in that one key detail. And remember, this is assuming you actually had the correct national numbers rather than just poll estimates.

Why? Basically, all the seat predictors out there for Holyrood have a big simplifcation. They assume all parties' shares of votes will change by equally in all constituencies. If the SNP are up 1% nationally they increase that vote by 1% everywhere and work out the new 'winner'.

THREAD📌 Since Jan. 20, 2017, I have been terrorized by the Trump presidency as a lesbian, as a #disabled person, as a journalist. I have reported hundreds of stories of how marginalized groups in particluar have been harmed by Trump's policies, even in his final days.
1/

I have reported on the uptick in poverty under Trump, particularly among women and LGBTQ people. I have written relentlessly about #healthcare and how each year under Trump fewer Americans had access to it and more people were bankrupted and having to crowdfund medical bills.
2/

I have written about violence against POC: the relentlessness of it. The anti-Black animus. The hatred of brown immigrants--even babies. I have reported on the way Trump and his extremist white nationalist cohort have stoked violence from Charlottesville to the Insurrection.
3/

There's been so much to report under Trump, crucial stories get lost, erased by some new Trump-fueled crisis in our country. I'd write about homelessness under Trump or the rise in environmental racism under him or the loss of access to elder care--all erased by new headlines.
4/

It's been hard to be an in independent left journalist under Trump, esp since the pandemic. Trump has made America monomaniacal: We can only focus on one or two stories at a time. Do folks think #gunviolence or #climatechange are over? They are both more terrible, not less.
5/

MAJOR:
Dr Fauci Backed Wuhan Lab with $ for Risky Coronavirus Research

Over “200 scientists called for the work to be halted. The problem..is that it increased the likelihood that a pandemic would occur through a laboratory accident” in

Here’s a detailed 15min video investigation by UK PM David Cameron’s former Downing Street adviser @SteveHiltonx for his @NextRevFNC show on @FoxNews

The investigation is damning & implicates Dr Fauci & others.

Hilton calls for Fauci’s

Here are some further extracts from the @Newsweek article:

“last year, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology..for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses”

“Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release”

“with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7m over 6 years for research that included some gain-of-function work.. followed another $3.7m, 5-year project for collecting & studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4m”

Q: What’s missing?
A: Exactly

Jan 3rd: FBi sends intel to Capitol Hill police of violent plans to storm Capitol Hill. Trump authorizes National Guard. DC mayor issues stand down order. DC police reject NG assistance.

Jan 6th: CIA Syria trained Antifa assets pose as Trump supporters and incite insurrection.

43. Military Intelligence Contact Update continued...
. . . He is confirming info from Mark Baughman last Fri 1/22, a former DEA agent and crime analyst for First Coast News Jacksonville FL, that the top patriots’ real plan in the war against the Deep State has been “to go...

Here are 10 questions I'm loosing sleep over regarding asylum at the border:

1) What process will the Biden administration put in place to help those who are already in MPP and have been waiting in danger in Mexico for a long time? Will it use parole for those with pending cases? What of those ordered removed and deported in abstentia?

2) Will the administration lift or change the CDC order so that asylum seekers can seek protection at the border?

3) If yes, will it rely on metering? Will it rely on swift screening that does not provide adequate due process? Will it shift away from detention?

4) There are many asylum seekers stranded in Mexico who were metered or expelled. Will there be any redress for them? Many of these folks are from Central America but many also from elsewhere--especially from Africa and Haiti (not subject to MPP).

5) How will the U.S. work with UNHCR, Mexico, local U.S. officials, and NGOs on both sides of the border to really make needed changes so that we turn the page on reception?

First Thread: Before Trump

So my Ph D treaties on Twitter, about how Trump split up the GOP. We start with history of course. And we go to the political era before Trump. To the origins.

No. Not Sarah Palin.

No. Not Newt Gingrich. The origins:

George Wallace, the last racist

So reality check to my younger Tweeps, some who do not know this. Up to the 1960s, it was the DEMOCRATIC party that was the racist party and the Republicans stood for equal rights. Yes that is true.

The South had 'Dixie-crats' who were KKK Nazis, Democrats who were openly racist

The last Racist to openly run for President to win some (Southern) states - was former Democrat - turned Independent, George Wallace.

Democrats threw the racists out of their party and embraced the minorities, with a passion. Today it seems impossible to imagine DEMs as racists

George Wallace ran as an Independent (the American Independent Party, does that sound MAGA to you?)

When George Wallace's runs ended, the racists had no party to call their own. They infiltrated the Republican party who tolerated them. THAT WAS A MISTAKE

We need to understand the roots to Maganutters. George Wallace & Dixie-Crat / American Independent Party racists were mostly from the South. Land owners, whites. Gun-lovers. Fake Christians (churches were strongly segregated, so WHITE Christians in South easily racists)

You can count the people who have the full picture on two hands.
Of those (less than 10 people) only three are non-military.
Why is this relevant?

☀️ @PunchbowlNews AM: Problem Solvers Caucus grows

One of the trends we’ve noticed in this Congress is that middle-of-the-road caucuses are getting larger and attempting to grab more power.

We noted yesterday that the bipartisan Senate group that helped lay the groundwork for a Covid deal grew to 16 -- the Senate Sweet 16™, as we’re calling it.

News here from the House: The Problem Solvers Caucus has grown to 56 members, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. @RepJoshG and @RepTomReed chair this group

@RepTomReed News here from the House: The Problem Solvers Caucus has grown to 56 members, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) chair this group.

@RepTomReed I have dogged the Problem Solvers Caucus a good deal, but both of these groups have an opportunity here if they play their hand right.

Mainstream media has been terrorizing Americans with fake/debunked news (1/12):

1. Capitol Hill siege pre-planned (meaning Trump could not have incited it with speech he was *impeached*

The "center" of American politics is not a fixed point, it shifts over time. What is "the center" today would have been considered pretty far left in the 1990s. Likewise, what was the imagined "center" in the mid-1980s would have been considered pretty far right in the 70s.

One of Lincoln's skills as a politician was that he moved the center of American politics into an antislavery place, and he also evolved in his own thinking about slavery and race. Finding and helping to move "the center" is one (not the only) form of effective politics.

There is no such thing as a democratic political culture that lacks an imagined "center" and people who inhabit it. This is especially the case in a diverse and often fractious nation. The politics of persuasion is all about moving that imagined center in the direction you want.

Most of the people currently on the American far right are highly unlikely to move to the center, because their basic political commitments are hostile to America's multi-racial democracy. One task ahead is to prevent that segment of our political culture from growing.

How to do that is unclear. History shows that deplatforming can often work. History also shows that sometimes right wing radicals can gain fame and attention by presenting themselves as "martyrs" who've been persecuted by "elites." There's no iron clad formula.