BC POLITICS
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

January 6th will be a freak show. Biden will become president because the only way to stop it would be for the House to agree, and that won't happen.

Going forward, the GOP becomes even more dangerous and radicalized.

 A few hopeful points:

The GOP could very well lose control of the Senate.

Because these GOP Senators will force a vote, the GOP may fracture, with moderates forced out. While this radicalizes the party, they lose numbers.

https://t.co/pb95rlJpqA
A few reasons. As @ProfBrianKalt points out, refusing to seat them because they say the election wasn't valid gives credence to the lie that the election wasn't valid.

Moreover, there's no authority to refuse to seat an elected rep for telling lies. . .
https://t.co/dhbJeCHU8F
. . . which is what refusing to seat them would amount to.

The Democrats say, "You are doing really bad things so we won't seat you."

See the problem with that?

(1) It's illegal. The House doesn't get to decide who is seated. The states send their own reps.

moreover . . .
(2) If you say, "The House gets to refuse to seat a person who tells a lie about the election," where does that lead?

If things continue this direction, the political divide will not longer be liberal v. conservative.

The divide will be pro- democracy v. anti-democracy. . .
. . which means at least one party has to stand up for rule of law, which means that Pelosi can't take it on herself (and the Democrats can't take it on themselves) to decide who gets sworn in.

The states decide. Period.
The states elect their own representatives. They certify their elections.

There is no legal authority for the House to say, "You are breaking the law (or lying or inciting violence) or whatever, therefore, we won't seat you."

There are consquences. . .
https://t.co/DJhmgAVmAk
But because of due process and rule of law, the consequences are not quick or easy.

Quick and easy consequences happen only in authoritarian regimes. The autocrat decides. It's easy. No due process. No process.

See the appeal? Process is slow.
There are procedures for indicting a person and charging a person with a crime.

We don't decide as a group.
Pelosi doesn't decide.
There are things the house can do, but refusing to seat them isn't one of them.

What if . . .
https://t.co/MWeOg2c86q
. . . the elected representatives are acting at the direction of their constituents?

What if voters deliberately choose to elect a person who has vowed to end democracy?

See the problem?

People want easy fixes, but the problem is that a lot of Americans don't want democracy.
Yes.

Also, in a two-party system, it's hard for a party without a majority to maintain control of the presidency. If the Democrats win the Senate next week, they can take steps to reduce the ability of a minority party to hold power beyond its numbers.
https://t.co/YxnxIPz8YR
People who claim to be pro-democracy want the members of the House to overthrow rule of law and take it on themselves to ignore elections and decide who can and cannot be members of Congress.

Careful.

Rule of law means following all laws . . .
. . . even those in the way of what we think is best right now.

If both sides disregard rule of law to get the results they want, say goodbye to democracy. Neither side will be defending rule of law.

Moreover, the "both sides are equally bad" argument will be proven true.
The Fourteenth Amendment Section 3 does not give the Speaker of the House unilateral power to decide who can be seated in Congress and who cannot.

Can you imagine if that were true?

The issue is how this is defined and enforced.

https://t.co/wyMcOYeQCi
I can't imagine reading the text to mean:

"The Speaker of the House has the authority to refuse to seat members of Congress who the Speaker has determined violated this section."

See the problem? Read carefully. What is "insurrection"? What if the person never held office?
You all won't like this, but the Constitution contains a provision for removing House members who behave badly and against the interests of democracy.

They have short terms. Vote them out.

The problem is that so many voters support what they are doing.
https://t.co/BYJqkjZQze
You won't like it because you want a quick fix, but there are no quick fixes.

If a majority of voters sent Representative A to Congress to enact an agenda which the majority perceive as contrary to the best interests of democracy, you can't refuse to seat that member.
He is supported by a majority of Senators, who in turn, are supported by a majority of voters who are anti-democracy

https://t.co/JhSk8JVEsO
McConnell is thus enacting an anti-democratic agenda.

Do you see a problem with urging the Democrats to follow his example?
The party trying to jettison rule of law has an advantage over the party trying to uphold rule of law.

The party trying to uphold rule of law must follow the rules.
The other is free to disregard laws and norms.

Fortunately, a majority of Americans want democracy.
The way to save democracy is not to imitate the party trying to destroy democracy.

The way to save democracy is with more democracy.

What do I mean?

See my list: https://t.co/Er6v4syFQS

More from Teri Kanefield

Teri Kanefield
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
It looks like 45 Republican Senators voted against holding an impeachment trial for Trump.

I hope nobody had high hopes that the GOP would do the right thing.

The GOP remains the Party of Trump and is hardening into an extremist anti-democratic

They are the anti-rule of law, anti truth party. https://t.co/e6EME39xNn
Fortunately, they're outnumbered.

Not by much, but they're outnumbered.


Hi, everyone.

A lot of these doomsday comments are annoying me.

Have you all learned nothing over the past few years?

You might want to duck because, I'm about to go on a tear . . .

The same people telling me we're doomed and democracy is dead are probably the same people who told me (1) Trump would make himself dictator (2) The Supreme Court would keep him in office and (3) he would never leave the White House.

Nobody owes you a democracy . . .

My mantra the past 4 years: democracy will survive if enough people want it to, and are willing to do the work.

Did the doomsday people happen to see that the vote was 55-45 in favor of holding a trial?

I think the problem is there has been so much peddling of hope porn. . .
GOVERNMENT
Teri Kanefield
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
(Thread) Over the Cliff Notes: Impeachment #2

Let’s start with the Article of Impeachment itself: https://t.co/KRiPGstRwi

The charge: Incitement of Insurrection.

Spoiler: This is a slam-dunk in the impeach-and-convict department, and will create a moment of truth for the GOP.

1/ The basics:

🔹Impeachment requires a majority vote in the House. 

🔹Impeachment is followed by a Senate Trial.

🔹Conviction requires 2/3 of the Senate.

After conviction, preventing Trump from holding office again requires a simple majority vote.

2/ This is not a criminal trial.

The Constitution specifically says that a criminal trial may be appropriate AFTER impeachment and removal.

Defendants in a criminal trial have special protections because they stand to lose their liberty, property, or even their life.


3/ An impeached president stands to lose his job and the ability to hold the job again.

Therefore certain requirements for a criminal trial, such as the requirement that allegations be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, do not apply.

4/ In addition to charging Incitement of Insurrection, the Article invokes the 14th Amendment (sec 3) and Trump’s duty to faithfully execute the oath of office. 

Notice the 14th Amendment doesn’t give the procedure for determining when Section 3 applies.
POLITICS
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Teri Kanefield
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
This is what he wants to do.

No matter how this trial plays out, the US will remain divided between those who choose truth, Democracy, and rule of law and the millions who reject these things.

1/


The question is how to move forward.

My mantra is that there are no magic bullets and these people will always be with us.

Except for state legislatures, they have less power now than they have for a while.

2/

The only real and lasting solutions are political ones. Get Democrats into local offices. Get people who want democracy to survive to the polls at every election, at every level.

It’s a constant battle.

3/

Maybe I should tell you all about Thurgood Marshall’s life to illustrate how hard the task is and how there will be backlash after each step of progress.

4/

Precisely. That's why Thurgood Marshall's life came to mind.

We are still riding the backlash that started after the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

That's why I keep saying there are no easy
LAW
Teri Kanefield
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
Reading recommendation: Rand Corp, "The Russian Firehose of Falsehoods Propaganda Model," includes advice on how to counter a rapid and continuous stream of lies.
https://t.co/1Jg5CvgrJC

1/

The liar has a “shameless willingness” to tell outrageous lies that lots of people know are lies.

The liar doesn’t care about consistency.
He doesn’t care if it’s obvious he’s lying.
https://t.co/C08paJsKTT
In fact, that's the whole point.

Putin perfected the method.

2/

It seems to come naturally to Trump.

@TimothyDSnyder tells how reporters were often so astonished by Putin's outrageous lies, that they focused on the lies instead of Putin's latest atrocities.

The lies became the news.
The actual news gets pushed off the stage.

3/

The goal is the “disruption of truthful reporting and messaging.”
https://t.co/C08paJsKTT

That's why Trump really wants an actual trial, and why he was so annoyed with the Supreme Court (and other courts) refusing to hear the case.

He wants a stage for the lies.

4/

From the Rand study: The Firehose of Falsehood technique “entertains, confuses and overwhelms the audience.”

I think the "entertainment" part applies to the GOP leadership who know Trump is lying but cheer the lies because they are so destructive.

5/
POLITICS
Teri Kanefield
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
Happy New Year 🪅🎉🥳

Goodbye 2020 and good riddance.

Thank you all for sharing the journey with me. Thank you for the questions, comments, gifs. We got through 2020. 2021 will be better.

2021 will be the year to Make Democracy Cool Again.

How about a few resolutions?

#1: Run for Something

(or help someone else run for something)

Want to really make a difference in politics and government? Don’t just march, @runforsomething.

Make sure things are done right. Be the person in

#2: If you can’t run for something, find someone you know who would be terrific, and encourage that person to run.

You can also volunteer to help Run for Something screen candidates.

#3: Be a Community Organizer

Do you have a talent for organizing? If so, democracy needs you. One reason the Tea Party was successful was that they organized locally and put pressure on local officials.

#4: Register New Voters

Start now. It's not too early.

In some states, you can become an official volunteer voter registrar. James Williams in Maryland told how he did it in his state.
SOCIETY

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Brian Cates
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@drawandstrike
A lot of people don't understand that Trump & his incoming team didn't face a normal transition period, like it was over a in a matter of a few weeks or months.

The DOJ transition period JUST ENDED when Sessions left. Almost 2 exact years to get it there.

Pompeo at the CIA took over a year before he was done and ready to shift over to the State Department.

All kinds of stuff has been going on behind the scenes nobody leaks or talks about.

We only had the barest mention of the fact the Clinton Email investigation restarted

Nobody leaked in a year that Huber was deep diving into the Clinton Foundation.
Keep that in mind as all the usual suspects continue to INSIST nothing is happening/going to happen.
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When Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 6, 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy cried out, “If they’re killing Kennedys, then my children are targets. I want to get out of this country.”


2. Mrs. Kennedy had a heartbreaking reason and a compelling reason to say that.

President Kennedy’s family are either incredibly accident prone or possibly, and this is just my supposition, there was an underlying plot by the de*ep state to remove every Kennedy that they...

3. ... believed posed a threat to their envisaged defeat.

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Christina Warren
Christina Warren
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A brief thread on Jovan Hutton Pulitzer, the crazy con man who is now claiming to have hacked into the Georgia voting machines in Fulton County. 90s kids and tech aficionados might remember Jovan as the inventor of the CueCat, the dumbest gadget of all time.

Also, for anyone who wants to claim that Jovan Hutton Pulitzer (not his given name, but one he changed legally after the CueCat debacle) invented QR Codes: he did not. Like that other right-wing crazy man who claimed to have invented email, Jovan didn’t invent QR Codes.

He did invent the CueCat, a product that somehow raised $185 million dollars for a tethered barcode scanner for magazines and newspapers, so you could get ads from your ads. As I said, the dumbest product of all time. Good backup barcode scanners after they were hacked, however

Oh, that’s another thing. When CueCat was a thing, its systems were hacked. I guess that’s what makes Jovan a security expert. His bankrupt company from 20 years ago was hacked and widely mocked. He’s a genius.

In recent years, Jovan pivoted to being a treasure hunter who was featured on and widely mocked on Curse of Oak Island, because the man is insane.
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I reckon a lot of you probably view me as a crazy left winger. And that may well be fair, but if you’re wondering how I got here , I’m gonna have a crack.
In my 20s I had pretty much zero interest in politics. I grew up in Central Qld, surrounded by conservative influences.

Towards the end of the Howard years I began to feel that what he was doing wasn’t right, probably starting when they changed the rules retrospectively in the wharfie dispute. But it was even more troubling when he began adopting Hanson’s racist immigration views, and children

Overboard was a shameful chapter in racist dog whistling. I was disappointed that he spent the proceeds of the mining boom on Johnny’s Battlers instead of future proofing our economy and building a sovereign wealth fund. His failure to implement any sort of climate policy was

His biggest failure though, in my opinion. Despite that, I admired his guts with the gun reform he achieved following Port Arthur.
It was with renewed hope that I rode the #Kevin07 wave to a change in government. I felt hopeful that Australia was going to be a world leader in

The fight against climate change. How disappointed I was, as Rudd and the Greens completely botched a golden opportunity. Then Rudd showed a streak of cowardice I still cannot comprehend after miners spent a few bucks on tv ads attacking the RSPT. Julia jumped in the hot seat
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Mangy Jay
Mangy Jay
@magi_jay
A central tension in our politics is this we have 1 political party that cares about upholding democracy, whereas the other party's aims can only be achieved thru undermining democracy. This is coupled w/ the fact that 1 party cares about people's well-being & the other does not

These 2 facts lead to a situation in which, in order to both uphold democracy & advance well-being, 1 party is dedicated to a functional gov't & the other party is well-served by a dysfunctional government. Such dysfunction is both instrumental & ideological (anti-government)

And then, of course, we have gerrymandering + a cap on the House of reps, 2 Senators per state, & the electoral college. A set of circumstances that gives massively disproportionate power to the anti-democracy & anti-well-being party.

Taken together, the structural issues in our electoral system, deep ideological divides about government/democracy, & the differential investment in advancing citizens' well-being does leave Democrats at a perpetual disadvantage.

A firefighter who is looking at a burning house & trying to decide whether to concentrate on stopping the fire from spreading or to save a child at the expense of a grandmother is facing a fundamentally different set of choices than the person who lit the fire in the first place
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1/ Stolen from the greatawakening(DOT)win...

I will only be making one post here. Do not ask who I am. Do with this information as you please.

The Trump Card is being played. It's much simpler than you all realize. Some of you have gotten it right.
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