A joint session of Congress has begun the final steps of counting the Electoral College votes that will officially make Joe Biden the next president.

https://t.co/9YTss44fxL
Vice President Mike Pence said he concluded, after “a careful study of the Constitution,” that he doesn’t’ have the sole power to accept or reject electoral votes. Instead, he said, his role is “ministerial.”
https://t.co/zke97UPowm
Outside the Capitol, where a joint session of Congress is meeting. https://t.co/XKSsW2Qpnh
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., delivered a stern warning to his congressional colleagues against attempting to overturn the 2020 election, saying democracy would enter a "death spiral" if Congress were to reject the counting of electoral votes.
https://t.co/YJ7URBQtBs
U.S. Capitol locked down as protesters push through fence, breach building. https://t.co/hPME7wgdJG
https://t.co/meWfZd5hcp
Photos show protesters inside the U.S. Capitol.

More: https://t.co/RDH29zOk2j
The House and Senate recessed from their session as protesters breached the Capitol and the building locked down. Vice President Mike Pence has been taken to an undisclosed, secure location, according to a source. https://t.co/QAFvkxmMlb
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asked for the National Guard to clear and secure the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the situation not authorized to speak on the record.
U.S. Capitol Police detain protesters outside of the House Chamber.
Protective gear is handed out as protesters storm the Capitol building.
A protester sits in the Senate Chamber after pro-Trump supporters storm the Capitol. 📸: Getty

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THREAD:
Good afternoon, followers of frivolous election litigation. There's a last-minute entry in the competition for dumbest pre-inauguration lawsuit - a totally loony effort to apparently leave the entire USA without a government.

We'll start with the complaint in a minute.

But first, I want to give you a quick explanation for why I'm going to keep talking about these cases even after the inauguration.

They're part of an ongoing effort - one that's not well-coordinated but is widespread - to discredit our fundamental system of government.

It's a direct descendent, in more ways than one, of birtherism. And here's the thing about birtherism. It might have been a joke to a lot of people, but it was extremely pernicious. It obviously validated the racist "not good enough to be President" crowd. But that wasn't all.

Don't get me wrong, that was bad enough. Validating racism helped put the kind of shitbird who would tweet this from an official government account into power. But it didn't stop


(Also, if you agree with Pompeo about multiculturalism - the legendary melting pot - not being what this country is all about, you need to stop following me now. And maybe go somewhere and think about your life choices and what made you such a tool.)
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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