18 votes

Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 18

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Tags: usa, politics, recurring.daily

This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

27 comments

  1. spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether a woman took a laptop computer or hard drive from U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol...

    U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether a woman took a laptop computer or hard drive from U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol and tried to sell the device to Russian intelligence, according to a court filing.

    16 votes
  2. [7]
    cfabbro
    Link
    FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack

    FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack

    U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event.

    The massive undertaking reflects the extraordinary security concerns that have gripped Washington following the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. And it underscores fears that some of the very people assigned to protect the city over the next several days could present a threat to the incoming president and other VIPs in attendance.

    Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press on Sunday that officials are conscious of the potential threat, and he warned commanders to be on the lookout for any problems within their ranks as the inauguration approaches. So far, however, he and other leaders say they have seen no evidence of any threats, and officials said the vetting hadn’t flagged any issues that they were aware of.

    About 25,000 members of the National Guard are streaming into Washington from across the country — at least two and a half times the number for previous inaugurals. And while the military routinely reviews service members for extremist connections, the FBI screening is in addition to any previous monitoring.

    14 votes
    1. [6]
      unknown user
      Link Parent
      So there's going to be 25,000 people with guns—some of which will be within firing range of the incoming President of the United States, on inauguration day. I'm not trying to drum up fears here,...

      So there's going to be 25,000 people with guns—some of which will be within firing range of the incoming President of the United States, on inauguration day. I'm not trying to drum up fears here, but vetting incoming personnel seems like an absolute necessity.

      Say National Guard members split like the rest of the country, 46.9% of those 25,000 guard members voted Trump (11,725). Say 99% of them are sane, morally upstanding, principled people. What about the remaining 1%? The 1% who are so enraged by Biden's aggressive and corrupt tactics to steal the election, that they see shooting him as defending god and country in the name of Trump. That's ~117 armed military members with guns with that view point. Let's say most of these people aren't smart, and 90% of them get weeded out during the vetting process.

      We're left with ~12 smart, highly-focused individuals with an extreme right-wing bent, attending the inauguration of a fake President of the United States who has stolen an election.

      Yikes. I'd be very concerned if I were a defence official.

      10 votes
      1. spit-evil-olive-tips
        Link Parent
        Fuck, this is the most depressing Fermi problem I've ever read.

        Say National Guard members split like the rest of the country, 46.9% of those 25,000 guard members voted Trump (11,725). Say 99% of them are sane, morally upstanding, principled people. What about the remaining 1%? The 1% who are so enraged by Biden's aggressive and corrupt tactics to steal the election, that they see shooting him as defending god and country in the name of Trump. That's ~117 armed military members with guns with that view point. Let's say most of these people aren't smart, and 90% of them get weeded out during the vetting process.

        Fuck, this is the most depressing Fermi problem I've ever read.

        9 votes
      2. [4]
        skybrian
        Link Parent
        The 1% aren’t all in the same place and are surrounded by a lot of other soldiers.

        The 1% aren’t all in the same place and are surrounded by a lot of other soldiers.

        7 votes
        1. [3]
          LukeZaz
          Link Parent
          This. They'd have to not only satisfy the above-listed requirements, but also be willing to kill someone, in broad daylight, while surrounded by people they know would likely kill them in turn....

          This. They'd have to not only satisfy the above-listed requirements, but also be willing to kill someone, in broad daylight, while surrounded by people they know would likely kill them in turn. Even the best case scenario has them in jail while Biden gets replaced by somebody they still don't like. It's just not a realistic idea.

          6 votes
          1. [2]
            unknown user
            Link Parent
            I mean, someone who wants to kill a political figure in the name of god/country/another person could easily rationalise and justify being a martyr for their cause, even if it meant certain and...

            I mean, someone who wants to kill a political figure in the name of god/country/another person could easily rationalise and justify being a martyr for their cause, even if it meant certain and immediate death—we see all manner of deluded Americans shooting up schools and universities knowing they're likely to die because they're doing it for their own personal causes or for some form of fucked up glorification, that's far less enduring than something which meaningfully goes into the history books.

            I'd happily wager there's more than one Trump militia-nut in military uniform who's dreamt about taking out someone who he sees as an enemy of the conservative, rural, christian, white, United States of America they yearn for. What better prize than a fake president of the United States who stole votes and rigged an election? What better way to preserve democracy?

            People can rationalise the parts they find comforting (their own personal goals and ideals) whilst ignoring the parts that are inconvenient (like having Kamala Harris assume the presidency instead). In fact, a large proportion of Americans seem to live this way already!

            5 votes
            1. skybrian
              Link Parent
              You are talking about motive, and I’m questioning whether it’s likely to be a good opportunity. I don’t have much insight into what it’s like to be on duty in the National Guard, but I imagine...

              You are talking about motive, and I’m questioning whether it’s likely to be a good opportunity. I don’t have much insight into what it’s like to be on duty in the National Guard, but I imagine they are under orders, working with other members of their squad, and most aren’t going to have the freedom of movement needed for an assassin to get into position.

              It seems the threat is enough for the FBI to do background checks, though.

              Since we don’t know enough to usefully speculate, I think it’s not something to take a confident stand on. We are just observers here.

              5 votes
  3. Greg
    Link
    Trump to hold early morning sendoff ceremony on Biden inauguration day It sounds as though the military has ruled out the flashy ceremony he had reportedly wanted, but he's still getting some kind...

    Trump to hold early morning sendoff ceremony on Biden inauguration day

    It sounds as though the military has ruled out the flashy ceremony he had reportedly wanted, but he's still getting some kind of public function in before jumping on Air Force One.

    11 votes
  4. [5]
    cfabbro
    Link
    Parler website appears to be back online and promises to 'resolve any challenge before us' It should be noted that only the website landing page appears to actually be back, but the microblogging...

    Parler website appears to be back online and promises to 'resolve any challenge before us'

    The website of controversial social media platform Parler was back online Sunday, following a nearly week-long outage after it was booted from Amazon Web Services and kicked off Apple and Google's app stores.

    A WHOIS search indicates that Parler is now hosted by Epik. Parler last week registered its domain with the Washington-based hosting provider known for hosting far-right extremist content, though Epik denied in a statement that the two companies had been in touch.

    It should be noted that only the website landing page appears to actually be back, but the microblogging service itself is still down.

    10 votes
    1. [3]
      nacho
      Link Parent
      It will surely be a huge DDOS target for a long time to come. Remember when The Piratebay was complaining of DDOS-ing making real users not reach the site? That will surely also happen here. But...

      It will surely be a huge DDOS target for a long time to come. Remember when The Piratebay was complaining of DDOS-ing making real users not reach the site?

      That will surely also happen here. But at a much larger scale.

      9 votes
      1. [2]
        Deimos
        Link Parent
        Not very meaningful at all, but since it fits here so well: One of The Pirate Bay's co-founders was making fun of Parler's incompetence.

        Not very meaningful at all, but since it fits here so well: One of The Pirate Bay's co-founders was making fun of Parler's incompetence.

        10 votes
        1. MonkeyPants
          Link Parent
          I believe it is not so much technical incompetence, as management incompetence. Parlers CEO said on Fox News According to Amazon's letter Sounds like a complete and utter lack of contingency planning.

          I believe it is not so much technical incompetence, as management incompetence.

          Parlers CEO said on Fox News

          What is really interesting is that they all did on the same day, those three [Apple, Google and Amazon] without any prior warning

          According to Amazon's letter

          Over the past several weeks, we’ve reported 98 examples to Parler of posts that clearly encourage and incite violence.

          Sounds like a complete and utter lack of contingency planning.

          10 votes
    2. Amarok
      Link Parent
      Likely down because they built it out of services they've been denied access to rather than in-house on bare metal - which I'm sure they are working on right now. Radical re-implementations...

      Likely down because they built it out of services they've been denied access to rather than in-house on bare metal - which I'm sure they are working on right now. Radical re-implementations usually take a while.

      7 votes
  5. [2]
    ali
    Link
    If anyone missed /r/findthebostonbombers - /r/capitolconsequences is giving me the same vibes.

    If anyone missed /r/findthebostonbombers - /r/capitolconsequences is giving me the same vibes.

    10 votes
    1. skybrian
      Link Parent
      That is not giving me good vibes at all. It reminds me of: The wrong ID: Retired firefighter, comedian and Chuck Norris falsely accused of being Capitol rioters And: Boston bombing: How internet...

      That is not giving me good vibes at all. It reminds me of:

      The wrong ID: Retired firefighter, comedian and Chuck Norris falsely accused of being Capitol rioters

      And:

      Boston bombing: How internet detectives got it very wrong

      (I'm guessing you know this already.)

      12 votes
  6. [4]
    cfabbro
    Link
    Cowboys for Trump leader arrested over US Capitol riot

    Cowboys for Trump leader arrested over US Capitol riot

    A New Mexico county official and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump who had vowed to return to Washington after last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk has been arrested Sunday by the FBI.

    Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol.

    According to court documents, Griffin told investigators that he was “caught up” in the crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and entered the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol, but he said he did not enter the building and instead remained on the U.S. Capitol steps.

    A video posted to Griffin’s personal Facebook page shows Griffin in the restricted areas, according to the affidavit.

    On Thursday, Griffin, said he planned to travel with firearms to Washington, D.C., for Biden’s inauguration.

    “I’m gonna be there on Jan. 20 ... and I’m gonna take a stand for our country and for our freedoms,” Griffin said during a meeting of the Otero County Board of Commissioners.

    “I’m gonna leave either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve got a .357 Henry Big Boy rifle lever action that I’ve got in the trunk of my car and I’ve got a .357 single action revolver, the Colt Ruger Vaquero that I’ll have underneath the front seat on my right side and I will embrace my Second Amendment,” he said.

    9 votes
    1. [2]
      MimicSquid
      Link Parent
      I continue to be impressed by the flimsiness of the excuses on offer.

      I continue to be impressed by the flimsiness of the excuses on offer.

      7 votes
      1. cfabbro
        Link Parent
        Ditto. But I especially love how those excuses also get completely destroyed in the next sentence/paragraph of most articles. Journalists are throwing serious shade on these people. :P

        Ditto. But I especially love how those excuses also get completely destroyed in the next sentence/paragraph of most articles. Journalists are throwing serious shade on these people. :P

        6 votes
    2. cfabbro
      Link Parent
      Related: Trump promoted N.M. official’s comment that ‘the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.’ Now the man is arrested in the Capitol riot. I had no idea the recently arrested "Cowboys for...

      Related: Trump promoted N.M. official’s comment that ‘the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.’ Now the man is arrested in the Capitol riot.

      Trump promoted the video by saying, “Thank you Cowboys. See you in New Mexico!” (Twitter suspended both Trump’s and the Cowboys for Trump accounts this month.)

      [pic up Trump's reply to Griffin]

      But while Griffin qualified his comments in the video, he later indicated to the Daily Beast that he wasn’t speaking entirely figuratively. He suggested Democratic governors who locked down their states amid the coronavirus pandemic could be guilty of treason and might face the death penalty.

      “You get to pick your poison: You either go before a firing squad, or you get the end of the rope,” Griffin said.

      I had no idea the recently arrested "Cowboys for Trump" guy is the same lunatic that tweeted out the "metaphorical" death threat video that Trump replied to all those month ago.

      7 votes
  7. cfabbro
    Link
    Some particularly funny articles from The Beaverton (Canada's version of The Onion) today: Trump spends final days just rubbing his dick on everything in White House NRA files for bankruptcy after...

    Some particularly funny articles from The Beaverton (Canada's version of The Onion) today:
    Trump spends final days just rubbing his dick on everything in White House

    “There are streaks on all the windows and most of the upholstery is just ruined,” confirmed the aide, “and for those who wonder if Mr. Trump uses bronzer on parts of his body beyond the face, the stains on the Lincoln bedroom linens have solved that mystery.”

    NRA files for bankruptcy after “Attending a Wedding of 100” people becomes hot new way to murder

    “Guns just don’t give me that same feeling they used to,” stated former gun advocate Todd Redd, a Texan who hasn’t washed his hands since 2018. “Sure, they go bang bang, which is appealing, but watching two people in love vow to be together for the rest of their life, knowing that they’ll probably die within the next month… that’s Shakespearian.”

    9 votes
  8. cfabbro
    Link
    Telegram says it ‘shut down hundreds of public calls for violence’ in US last week

    Telegram says it ‘shut down hundreds of public calls for violence’ in US last week

    In a public Telegram post on Monday, Durov emphasized the service’s commitment to banning speech that actively incites violence. “Telegram welcomes peaceful debate and protest, but our Terms of Service explicitly prohibit distributing public calls to violence,” he wrote. “Сivil movements all over the world rely on Telegram in order to stand up for human rights without resorting to inflicting harm.”

    Notably, the post does not address Telegram’s encrypted chat feature, which protects conversations from outside access and thus is not subject to centralized moderation. Telegram has moderated against violence and terrorism in public rooms, but resisted mounting pressures to make those conversations more accessible to law enforcement. The rise of pro-Trump extremist violence in the United States has rekindled the country’s debate about the value of encryption, and reinvigorated calls to weaken privacy protections for encrypted chat services.

    Durov said that Telegram had seen the same spike in violent threats that other US services have reported during the past month. “In early January, the Telegram moderation team started to receive an increased number of reports about US-related public activity on our platform,” the post reads. “The team acted decisively by clamping down on US channels that advocated violence. Thanks to these efforts, last week our moderators blocked and shut down hundreds of public calls for violence that could’ve otherwise reached tens of thousands of subscribers.”

    8 votes
  10. [3]
    cfabbro
    Link
    Dominion Voting Systems threatens to sue Mike Lindell, MyPillow C.E.O., over false claims.

    Dominion Voting Systems threatens to sue Mike Lindell, MyPillow C.E.O., over false claims.

    Officials with Dominion Voting Systems have sent Mike Lindell, the C.E.O. of MyPillow, a legal letter warning of pending litigation over his baseless claims of widespread fraud involving their machines.

    In a brief telephone interview, Mr. Lindell said he welcomed a lawsuit from Dominion.

    “I would really welcome them to sue me because I have all the evidence against them,” he said. “They sent this letter a couple of weeks ago. They’re lying, they’re nervous because I have all the evidence on them.”

    7 votes
    1. [2]
      Omnicrola
      Link Parent
      Oh man, it would be intensely schadenfreude to watch Lindell get financially destroyed by this.

      Oh man, it would be intensely schadenfreude to watch Lindell get financially destroyed by this.

      9 votes
  11. spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    Photojournalist at a hotel in Silver Spring, Maryland (which is just outside DC, for non-US Tilderinos) posted a picture of a notice from their hotel. Staff will be checking every guest's room,...

    Photojournalist at a hotel in Silver Spring, Maryland (which is just outside DC, for non-US Tilderinos) posted a picture of a notice from their hotel.

    Staff will be checking every guest's room, every day. Presumably to look for stockpiles of guns or bombs or other weapons.

    I get why they're doing it, and I think it's the right call, but holy crap it's sad that it's necessary.

    5 votes