BC POLITICS
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

1) Not every column is vindicated by subsequent events but, unhappily, this one in @JNS_org from Monday was: Why the #Georgia Senate runoff hinges on the tribal culture war about @realDonaldTrump.

 2) The GOP's loss of both #Georgia Senate runoffs was in part caused by changing demography & weak candidates. But it was also entirely avoidable. Instead of a referendum on #Warnock & #Ossoff, it was a referendum on #Trump.
3) Had the president & those who believe every word he says & every conspiracy theory floated by his acolytes who won't accept the reality that a majority of the nation rejected him, not spent the last two months re-litigating that loss, the Senate would not have been lost.
4) Trump visited GA only twice to campaign in that time & spent both ranting about the delusion that he won instead of trying to ensure that the GOP had the means to prevent a radical transformation of the country that would erase his legacy.
5) Yes, the Dems are hypocrites & there were irregularities & likely some fraud as is the case with every election. But the idea that magical Communist software or mass dumps of illegal votes decided the election was as much of a conspiracy theory as Russian collusion.
6) The problem is that Trump & many of his followers didn't understand that his losing wasn't the end of the republic so long as the GOP held the Senate & was in position to win back the House in 2022 & the White House in 2024.
7) But by obsessing over the myth of his winning when he lost & by foolishly claiming that all elections were frauds despite the fact that Republicans did well in other House & Senate races, Trump & the true believers have now ensured the worst possible outcome for conservatives.
8) Challenging election results isn't an assault on democracy but it treated Trump's rage & sore loser attitude (& yes Dems were sore losers after 2016 as the collusion hoax & impeachment showed) as more important that Republicans fighting for the future of the country.
9) Moving on & showing some class about Nov. 3 wouldn't have been weakness. It would have meant a commitment to future victory. Instead, Trump has engaged in a destructive Gotterdammerung act in which he has dragged the GOP onto his funeral pyre & lost the Senate.
10) Everything that follows from the loss of the Senate & the radical disasters that the Democrats will impose on the nation will not be the fault of RINOs but be the result of Trump's destructive & selfish behavior over the last 2 months.
11) Trump's presidency had its ups & downs but his achievements for conservatives on the courts, the economy, trade & foreign policy were real & deserved to be continued. And might have been if not for the pandemic. But the answer to losing in November was not to blow up the GOP.
12) The Republican Party is not destroyed because nothing is permanent in politics. Given the disaster that a Biden presidency & a Dem Congress is likely to be, its prospects for 2022 & 2024 are still bright.
13) But if Trump & the segment of the party that is going down with the ship with him continued to sink the GOP in a morass of conspiracy theories & denial that led to defeat in Georgia, then the disaster will be complete & possibly permanent.
14) The last two months of conspiracy theories have been a self-fulfilling prophecy for some on the right as they have truly made this a Flight 93 election with implications that are truly frightening.
15) But it didn't have to be that way. By listening to Trump's delusions, they have made it so. And, though they'll never admit it & will continue to deflect & foolishly cast blame elsewhere, what happened in Georgia & the implications of a Dem Senate is on his and their heads.

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Handy guide for Dominic Raab and other Brexiteers, and for anyone keen to replace our EU trade with trade with the rest of the world on WTO terms...


You can't magic away the vast distances involved. Clue: we fly in only 1/192th of our trade compared to the amount that arrives via sea


But even if you invented a teleporter tomorrow, WTO terms are so bad, so stacked against us, that a no-deal Brexit will be a total economic disaster


And while the Brexiteers fantasise, real jobs are being lost, investments are drying up, companies are moving assets to the EU27 or redomiciling. All already happened and happening right now, not in some mythical


Of course, there are many, many myths that Brexiteers perpetuate that are total fiction. You've seen a couple of them already. The thread below busts a whole lot
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I was working on something before the election that became the election...

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Pretending that voting for Trump or denying climate change or suggesting the solution to every problem is more guns is a legitimate point of view, worthy of respect is not "how America works." It is how it dies.

People in a free society are entitled to any point of view no matter how obviously wrong or outlandish or destructive provided they do not impose their views on others.

But suggesting that something ignorant or divorced from reality warrants the same kind of treatment in public debate as something based in fact or at least credible is absurd and when done on behalf of a society in public media or academic settings it is self-destructive.

We would not grant media coverage or much bandwidth at all to a group that argued that unicorns exist or that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet views like denying climate change or basing policy decisions on sweeping, obvious lies, are just as unsound.

Somewhere, somehow, judgments must be made. Some behaviors are wrong and must be condemned. Someone must challenge lies and demand facts. Coddling people who embrace idiocies does not help them no matter how loudly they demand to be coddled.
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legalnerd
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1. @JonathanTurley
Trump has only been out of office and, therefore, no longer (purportedly) immunized from criminal prosecution for ~1 month. Also, because of R delay, Garland is still awaiting confirmation. Once Garland is AG, expect a thorough



2. investigation of Trump for inciting insurrection in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2383, together with other federal crimes. Once that investigation is completed, based on the information that is currently public, there is a good chance that Trump will be prosecuted for violating

3. 18 U.S.C. 2383, together with other federal crimes. Not absolutely guaranteed. But a very good chance. The only element of inciting insurrection that is open to credible dispute is Trump’s intent. Is there sufficient evidence that he intended his speech to incite imminent

4. lawlessness? As you know (or should know), criminal intent is invariably established by circumstantial evidence. That means prosecutors must analyze everything Trump did and said (and didn't do or say) before, during and after his incendiary speech.

5. That investigation takes time. Sometimes a lot of time to empanel a grand jury and begin issuing subpoenas and seeking warrants. The fact that Trump's previous crimes, including the 10 felonies outlined in Vol. II of Mueller's report, haven't been prosecuted is irrelevant.
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Mangy Jay
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I don't think that "Democrats were cowards and couldn't stand up to McConnell" is the correct framing. Dems clearly made a political calculation. Plenty to potentially criticize about that calculation, but it was informed by factors unrelated to generalized "fear of republicans"

What we largely know now:
-There would never have been enough GOP votes to convict
-GOP had the power to hold up *all* Senate business & that means COVID relief (Dems would have been blamed for this hold up)
-Witnesses were uncooperative & would have had to have been subpoenaed

So I think the correct framing is that Democrats made a political calculation that the benefit of adding witnesses (who would not change the outcome) was not worth the political & moral cost of holding up COVID relief, as well as important confirmations. . . .

This calculation can be criticized on its own merits, but it's categorically different than just being scared of McConnell & the GOP.

For my own part, I think an error Democrats made w/r/t witnesses was not calling cooperative police officers who had been attacked that day. Just a few personal narratives from the police would have deeply embarrassed the GOP. That's a missed opportunity, in my view.
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1. Yang


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https://t.co/CYtqYorhzH
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ANTARVEDI LAKSHMI NARASIMHA SWAMY, EAST GODAVARI DIST.(AP)

Located where Vasistha Godavari joins Bay of Bengal.

Present structure was built by Kapanati Krishnamma of Agnikula Kshatriya clan in 1823.

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@LostTemple7


Legend says that here Maharishi Vasishta prayed to Narasimha to end the demon Rakta Vilochana.

Narasimha created Maha Maya, also called Ashwaroodambika or Gurralakka to suck his blood as he got a boon from Brahma that blood falling from his body would produce another demon.


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Narasimha,then,washed Sudarshan Chakra at a place called Chakra Tirtha.

Brahma is said to have performed Yagna and installed Shiva Linga here. Hence the place was called Antarvedi.


Later Sri Rama prayed here and Arjun also visited here.

Panchamrita Abhishekam is done every day.
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Jaya_Upadhyaya
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BANASHANKARI AMMA, NEAR BADAMI (KAR)
#bharatmandir #navratri2021

Originally built by Chalukyas in 7th century. Devi Banashankari was their family deity. This image of Banashankari Amma was installed by Jagadekamalla I in 630 AD.

Later renovations were done by Marathas.


Once, a demon Durgamasur was troubling the people of this area. Answering the prayers of Devas, Ma Parvati emerged from the yajna fire as Banashankari and killed Durgamasur.
This area has rich forests of coconut, betel nut and other trees.
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It is said that during a severe famine, Devi provided vegetables and fruits to the people of this area.
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#threadseries #Madurai

Story 16- it is about how Bhagwan Shiva explained the meaning of Vedas to the Rishis.

வேதத்துக்குப் பொருள் அருளிச் செய்த படலம்


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