Flying the flag of fascism for Trump

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Amid the chaos and mayhem at our nation’s Capitol, the flags flew high. Dangerous. Despicable. And familiar.

The day had begun with the results of Georgia’s runoff elections, in which Raphael Warnock was a projected winner and fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff declared victory. In the aftermath of his success, Warnock reflected on the hopeful history he had just made, as the first African American senator from Georgia. The country had come so far, a journey measured by the life of his 82-year-old mother, who had gone from picking cotton for the benefit of overseers to casting a vote for her son for the betterment of her country.

Ossoff, who had interned with the civil rights icon John Lewis, would make history, too. He would by nightfall be projected to become the state’s first Jewish senator.

But our grievous history is relentless. And so is hate. Continue reading.

With brazen assault on election, Trump prompts critics to warn of a coup

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During four years in office, President Trump has trampled political norms, attacked democratic institutions, sought to discredit government agencies, peddled baseless conspiracy theories and been impeached by the House.

Since his defeat in the November election, Trump’s critics have warned that his scorched-earth effort to invalidate the outcome amounts to a new level of danger: the first attempted coup d’etat in U.S. history to illegally maintain power.

The chorus of alarm grew this week after the disclosure that Trump bullied and threatened Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in an hour-long private phone call Saturday, during which the president demanded that Raffensperger find thousands of votes for Trump that do not exist. Continue reading.

Trump delivers thinly-veiled threat to Mike Pence ahead of electoral vote count in Congress

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During his rally in Dalton, Ga., on Monday, Jan. 4, President Donald Trump delivered a thinly-veiled threat to Vice President Mike Pence ahead of Congress’ formal count of electoral votes.

Trump told his crowd of supporters that he hopes Pence “comes through” for themalthough the vice president’s role in overseeing the vote is procedural. The embattled president also insinuated that Pence would no longer be on his list of favorable people, according to The Daily Beast.

“I hope Mike Pence comes through for us,” Trump said to his crowd of supporters. “If he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.” Continue reading.

Trump tells supporters to be ‘peaceful’ after they storm Capitol

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President Trump urged his supporters to “stay peaceful” while throngs of pro-Trump demonstrators flooded to the U.S. Capitol and breached the complex on Wednesday afternoon.

“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!” Trump tweeted.

His message came after several lawmakers spoke out about the threats to the Capitol. U.S. Capitol Police locked down the building earlier Wednesday as demonstrators surrounded House and Senate office buildings. Continue reading.

Pence removed from Senate as protestors breach Capitol security

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Vice President Mike Pence was taken from the Senate chamber after protesters entered the Capitol to protest the results of President-elect Joe Biden‘s win.

The House and Senate gaveled out of their debates on the Electoral College results as footage showed protesters breaching security and entering the Capitol.

The doors of the House chamber were locked for safety purposes. A member of the Capitol Police confirmed protesters had entered the building. Continue reading.

Why Congress Should Impeach Trump Again

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And this time, he should be convicted. The country cannot risk his becoming president again.

The emergence of an audio recording of President Trump pressuring the Georgia secretary of state to overturn the results of the election is a harrowing moment in the history of our democracy. And though the number of his days in office is dwindling, the only appropriate response is to impeach Mr. Trump. Again.

Whether he acknowledges it or not, President Trump is leaving the White House on Jan. 20 — but right now, there is nothing stopping him from running in 2024. That is a terrifying prospect, because the way he has conducted himself over the past two months, wielding the power of the presidency to try to steal another term in office, has threatened one of our republic’s most essential traditions: the peaceful transfer of power.

Fortunately, our founders anticipated we would face a moment like this, which is one reason Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution entrusts Congress with the power not only to remove a president but also to prevent him or her from ever holding elected office again. Mr. Trump’s conduct over the past two months has left our legislators with no choice but to use it. That impeachment inquiry would take time, far more than Mr. Trump has left in office. But it would be well worth it. Continue reading.

An Insurgency From Inside the Oval Office

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President Trump’s effort to overturn the election he lost has gone beyond mere venting of grievances at the risk of damaging the very American democracy he is charged with defending.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s relentless effort to overturn the result of the election that he lost has become the most serious stress test of American democracy in generations, one led not by outside revolutionaries intent on bringing down the system but by the very leader charged with defending it.

In the 220 years since a defeated John Adams turned over the White House to his rival, firmly establishing the peaceful transfer of authority as a bedrock principle, no sitting president who lost an election has tried to hang onto power by rejecting the Electoral College and subverting the will of the voters — until now. It is a scenario at once utterly unthinkable and yet feared since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s tenure.

The president has gone well beyond simply venting his grievances or creating a face-saving narrative to explain away a loss, as advisers privately suggested he was doing in the days after the Nov. 3 vote. Instead, he has stretched or crossed the boundaries of tradition, propriety and perhaps the law to find any way he can to cling to office beyond his term that expires in two weeks. That he is almost certain to fail and that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be inaugurated on Jan. 20 does not mitigate the damage he is doing to democracy by undermining public faith in the electoral system. Continue reading.

The Republicans refusing to join Trump’s coup attempt are making a stunning admission

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A small group of far right GOP members of Congress were getting some initial praise after announcing they would not be joining Republicans contesting the presidential election – until they released a statement explaining why.

Essentially, the seven lawmakers are explicitly warning their Republican colleagues to not challenge or disrupt the Electoral College, because that is likely the only way America will see another Republican president.

“Republican presidential candidates have won the national popular vote only once in the last 32 years,” they freely admit. “They have therefore depended on the electoral college for nearly all presidential victories in the last generation.” Continue reading.

Capitol placed on lockdown, buildings evacuated amid protests

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The U.S. Capitol Police on Wednesday locked down the Capitol building and evacuated multiple congressional buildings amid increasingly violent protests outside.

Buildings being evacuated included the Library of Congress’s Madison Building across from the Capitol as well as the Cannon House office building. In an alert sent to Hill staffers, police ordered occupants of the Madison building to “move in a safe manner to the exists” and “close doors behind you but do not lock.”

Capitol police also told those in the Cannon House building to “take visitors, escape hoods, and Go Kits” and report to a tunnel connected to a nearby building. Continue reading.

Business leaders urge Congress to certify Biden win

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Almost 200 of the country’s top business leaders urged Congress to certify the electoral results for President-elect Joe Biden in a letter Monday, arguing that “attempts to thwart or delay this process run counter to the essential tenets of our democracy.”

The letter marked the business community’s most significant push yet to ensure President Trump’s efforts to overturn the November election are unsuccessful. Signers included a wide array of executives of Fortune 500 companies, from the leaders of banks, airlines, investment firms, pharmaceutical companies, professional sports leagues, real estate conglomerates, top law firms and media companies.

“The presidential election has been decided and it is time for the country to move forward,” the letter reviewed by The Washington Post said. “ … The incoming Biden administration faces the urgent tasks of defeating covid-19 and restoring the livelihoods of millions of Americans who have lost jobs and businesses during the pandemic.” Continue reading.