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[#1]

[JMOldeVintage]

Possibly at least a month before election day, Trump was saying that if he lost, the Democrats cheated. He pushed the myth of mail-in voting being rigged, and not in his favor. Trump kept repeating the lies over and over. Then after election day, once he realized things might not go his way, he ramped up his accusations of fraud, that the election was rigged. His lawsuits & accusations flew all over & even the voting machine company was called into question. His team of lawyers made some even wilder claims, but never backed up those claims with factual evidence in a court of law. Rumors didn't sit well with any judges & his lawsuits were thrown out. Trump started making calls, threatening state lawmakers, trying to bribe & cajole, almost pleading that "votes be found". His twitter feed was brimming with lies. He encouraging people to travel to DC, to stop the steal, to fight for their rights. Trump forgot one thing - Words Matter. The past 3 plus months of his bs ended in the Capitol riots, when on that very day, he made a speech, egging on his supports "to fight".

Now the White House has released this statement on twitter:
"In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You.”

Does he tell people the election was fair? Does he concede the election to Joe Biden? Does he tell his supporters to stay home? Does he tell them that there will be elections in 2022 & 2024 that they can vote in & hold people "accountable"? No, he doesn't & in the end I don't see Inauguration Day being a normal day.

[PillowDetails]

I saw that- and since Trump spoke most often vehemently to his supporters in all caps - I'll bet 

NO NO NO ... ALL will be seen as a secret message to some of them.

[PacificKnots]

Breaking News.... President Elect Biden will be the next president to be Impeached.  Okay, he won't be but Junior Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she will be filing Articles of Impeachment against President Elect Biden after he is sworn in.  You just can't make this stuff up.   So much for quiet times ahead. 

[JMOldeVintage]

Oh My - What's her reason - the Democrats stole the election through fraud?

To top off the wild month, Trump is going to have some sort of "send off ceremony" as he leaves for Florida on Wednesday morning, ahead of the inauguration. May be complete with a 21 gun salute & other stuff to stroke his ego.

[PacificKnots]

She is claiming President Elect Biden was bought off by the Ukrainian and Chinese energy companies.  Facts aren't important to her.  The senate found no wrongdoing with the Ukrainian energy companies.  As for Chinese energy companies that something the current White House resident pull out of thin air. 

[JMOldeVintage]

Cut and paste from a site but I can't access the more mainstream site any longer this month:

"Now why, exactly, is Trump spending his final days in office meeting with the CEO of a pillow company? We don’t have to guess. Lindell left his notes exposed as he was heading into the White House, and it looks like he and the president were set to talk about something related to … steps to be “taken immediately to save” … something, something … “Constitution.”

OK, this doesn’t seem good. Let’s keep reading.

“…Insurrection Act now as a result of the assault” … something, something … “martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any…”

OK, then!

So just to reset where we’re at here: As states are struggling to inoculate their citizens against a relentless pandemic that has killed nearly 400,000 Americans, and as the nation continues to reckon with how a violent mob of extremists was able to infiltrate the Capitol and kill five people in an attempt to overthrow the government, the president of the United States is meeting with a pillow salesman to discuss the possibility of instituting martial law. Sound about right.".......

Then there's the article in Washington Post saying Trump "no longer needs to know" about intelligence so they suggest cutting off his intelligence updates?
And Trump's businesses being hit from all sides with contract cancellations, etc. And now that "his" banks will no longer do business with him, wonder where the $$ will come from to pay off the loans that will soon be due?
Then a pardon for Steve Bannon being discussed?

Oh, and the Vaccine Reserves were apparently just reserves "on paper"? The actual vaccine doses have already been delivered? Or they've been "allocated" to States but the States still need to order & then The States decide how they want to use them? Or there are the vaccines "in reserve" which are no longer be held in reserve, but will be shipped if requested?  My head is spinning on the news about Vaccines, and yet Azar had the nerve to say that if States "attended" the Meetings the Team held, they'd know what was going on - really? 

Then here in Florida, apparently Gov. DeSantis has not activated the National Guard - in any numbers - to be at the Capitol in Tallahassee this weekend (or beyond). It's being reported that the Mayor of Tallahassee has sent a request for Troops to the Governor. I'm with the Mayor. Yeah, Florida may be a "red State" & DeSantis may be one of "Trump's fans" - but to not even think along the lines of "better safe than sorry" seems to be a rather "rash plan", almost like "no plan".

[finickypatternshop]

“…Insurrection Act now as a result of the assault” … something, something … “martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any…”

This is what the Q-nuts have been saying trump has done. Their latest is trump is letting things appear to proceed as it should, setting a trap for the Dems (his 3-D chess bull), and that there will be mass arrests at the inauguration. The same arrests they have been saying would happen for 4 years that obviously didn't occur. Slow learners. Some have been making money off pushing their conspiracies for 4 years and see that coming to an end so becoming desperate. Grifters facing having to look for an actual job. The trump clan included.

Of course the stories vary between the Q-nuts, the 'patriotic' maga folks, and even the bible clutchers, all with some overlap.

[OwlTalk]

I saw this too and I think the Pillow Guy is losing it! Unfortunately, he keeps making money from people like my boyfriend's brother, who buys us My Pillow stuff almost each year for Christmas--- for example, the TOO soft mattress cover I'm sleeping on right now because my boyfriend insisted--- NOT IMPRESSED!!!

[JMOldeVintage]

"With less than 48 hours left in his presidency, President Trump announced late Monday he's lifting COVID-19-related travel restrictions he placed on foreign nationals coming from much of Europe and Brazil. Travel restrictions will continue for most coming from China and Iran. 

The restrictions would be lifted as of January 26, after President-elect Joe Biden comes into office, and Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki tweeted Monday that the new administration does not intend to lift the travel conditions on January 26.  

"With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel," Psaki wrote."

Well at least Biden's team has already confirmed to the world not to hold their breath on this, that it's not going to happen. 
Does anyone else get the feeling that Trump is tossing out as many of those "tire spike strips" as he possibly can? Yeah, isn't that wonderful for the country. 

[finickypatternshop]

Thats the one downside to him being blocked on social media, who knows the damage the toddler is doing on his way out. Still feels more peaceful though. It is getting much more difficult to find Q-nut/maga stuff too so hopefully that means most are clued in that they were played and are carrying on. Most now seem to be fundraising attempts, grifting as long as they can.

Edited to add, just caught the last bit of Maddow and it may mean there is more to worry about with the Q-nuts/maga folks. Not surprising similar to trump being silent and having more to worry about. If only their crap conspiracies were squashed out 4+ years ago and not allowed to grow.

[OwlTalk]

On the news this morning (CBS This Morning) there was a quick blurb about how the spread of misinformation has slowed down (I missed who did the study), most likely due to the bans on some people's accounts. The numbers were expected to go down but not this much--- almost 70%. I need to go find out where they got these statistics when I get a chance!

[JMOldeVintage]

McConnell has started the Republican Party separation from Trump. He stated that "supporters were fed lies" and "trump provoked" the mob on the 6th. My, oh my.

@OwlTalk - When you read articles that people get their news from the conspiracy sites or facebook, well, it just amazes me.

[finickypatternshop]

One of trumps first steps was to push 'fake news'. To claim "what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening". That he, or sites he approved of (boot lickers), were the the only sources of truth. He pushed it every chance he got because, as a con, he knew if that step failed, he failed. The problem is why so many believed him, despite his obvious history and continuing lies.

The Netflix documentary Social Dilemma touches on it (not trump specific or even just about the right). Explains why when some trump followers are interviewed they appear not in touch with reality, as though all they hear are trump/right wing talking points so they repeat them as responses. It is because that IS all they hear.

I will read or view just about anything. I trust myself to fact check and decide what is closest to the truth. 

[JMOldeVintage]

The "farewell speech" that's more like a "boasting fest", mixed in with outright lies and exaggeration. Obviously written by staffers, one must give them credit for throwing in words Trump enjoys using:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-farewell-address-nation/

@finickypatternshop - My better-half gets annoyed if I watch Faux news. It's not something I do with regularity but I always find it interesting to see/hear what "conservatives" are thinking. I try to avoid some of the hosts that are really over the top. Just as I don't care for a couple of MSNBC hosts, they seem to take "liberalism" a bit far for me. Have never been "on" Facebook though I know some people who get local news updates & stuff like that. But, then we have friends who tell us "the latest news" and after some "say what?" comments you find out their "news" came from a friend of a friend of a friend's posting of "whatever" on their Facebook page. Sadly Trump's Twitter account at times gave you an idea of his thinking. Parler never interested me, or maybe it was all the outlandish stuff that came to the "front of the line". I've never visited any QAnon "specific" sites - oh I'd want to get rid of my cache quickly! In the end, what it might boil down to is that despite all of Trump's lines in his speech, he not only enjoyed but needed the utter servitude of his followers. The sad & scary side is that Trump was apparently able to find such a large number of people who would just take what he said as truth, maybe add a bit of a personal spin to it, and make it a creed to live by.

[finickypatternshop]

@JMOldeVintage  My partner is the same, he rarely even watches our national news. I put stuff on in the background when I am working on my computer which is in a different room. He has his shop and I have my computer/work room. The kids are gone so we took over their spaces ; )

I close down my browsers nightly which is set to clear the cache. I mostly skim things from Qanon unless it is an article/podcast about them, not by them. They crept into Canada too so I wanted to know at least some. I didn't dive too deep as they are straight up conspiracy crazy. Nightmare material.

A few months ago a family my partner grew up with went full-on Q-nut. Their brother died suddenly and it seemed to push them over the edge. My guy was grateful then that I told him a bit about Q because he was shocked at what they were suddenly spouting. He tried to keep them in his life because he was worried but when they turned anti-maskers he felt it was unsafe to. Not sure what point they are at now but their actions are concerning and they are just a few of many.

[PillowDetails]

Huge sigh of relief!

[finickypatternshop]

Congrats USA!

I'm baking a blueberry streusel coffee cake to celebrate, in the oven and it smells wonderful.

[kaslkaos]

Make Politics Boring Again!

Yes. That is what I'm hoping for. Enjoy!

[finickypatternshop]

@kaslkaos  I've been saying that I look forward to mostly ignoring US politics. Back to just keeping track of the basic stuff.

[JMOldeVintage]

Hopefully Biden's Cabinet Picks don't get held up for too long in the Senate. Florida's Marco Rubio apparently still wanting to keep Trumpism alive, saying something to the affect about we can't go back to the "same old" type of governing. Then there's Hawley's delay tactics. In the meantime maybe they both need to read this from NBC News:

"Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, meanwhile, said that Biden represented "victory of democracy over the ultra-right." Then he took aim directly at the former president.

"Five years ago, we thought Trump was a bad joke, but five years later we realized he jeopardized nothing less than the world's most powerful democracy," he said in a speech."...

The EU President said that "after four years it was nice to have a friend of Europe in the White House". 

The blueberry streusel sounds good. Think I might do any extra glass of wine tonight.

[finickypatternshop]

Yes hopefully things aren't held up to be petty. I think most leaders are breathing easier, maybe not his buddy putin.

The cake was so good we each had two pieces. I will likely regret it as it is too cold to go for our usual after dinner walk. It has been more like fall here until last night.

[PillowDetails]

I stayed up late last night, hoping to see the Inauguration Ball and first dance of the new first and second couples.  Duh!  The concert was in place of the ball, due to Covid.  Darnnit!

And news this morning, there was basically no plans for vaccine distribution.  And no reserves, a promised.  What about Fauci?  What about the "good guys" ?  Weren't they in the know on this the past year?

[JMOldeVintage]

Why do I get the feeling that Dr. Fauci was probably shut out of the actual plans? Yes, they probably gave him data on the health aspects of the virus, but the actual inner workings, the plans, were probably only on a "need to know" basis & he was relegated to the "doesn't need to know" group. Sure, he may have been in on some of the Task Force Meetings or calls with Governors, but maybe just spoke on transmission rates, vaccine data. etc. 

[SilverShineIndia]

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[JMOldeVintage]

This from Florida Sen. Rick Scott: 
"Day 1 & at POTUS & at SenateDems are already pushing a radical immigration agenda of amnesty & open borders. We need substantial immigration system changes, but blanket amnesty is not the answer. Finding genuine consensus & permanent solutions starts with securing the border." 

The other night caught a blip on Faux, host with a GOP & Dem. guest/contributor. The Democrat said USA's immigration policies need fixing & he was happy to see Pres. Biden send something to Congress to look at and discuss. The GOPer said Pres. Biden should be concentrating on USA citizens = the COVID crisis, the "horrible" lockdowns. Well, duh, I thought the new administration was doing both right now. Yes, two things at the same time.

And then Scott talking about the deficit, so how could the Country possibly spend the necessary money to fight the Virus? Well, if this is the drum they are going to beat, imo they need to be careful how far they go. After all, who passed the last Tax Bill?