All entries by this author
Nov 8th, 2020 8:51 am |
By Ophelia Benson
Interesting.
https://twitter.com/BostonJoan/status/1325255345204322306
The full passage reads:
Establish a new Task Force on Online Harassment and Abuse to focus on the connection between mass shootings, online harassment, extremism, and violence against women. As highlighted above, Biden will convene a national Task Force with federal agencies, state leaders, advocates, law enforcement, and technology experts to study rampant online sexual harassment, stalking, and threats, including revenge porn and deepfakes — and the connection between this harassment, mass shootings, extremism and violence against women. The Task Force will be charged with developing cutting-edge strategies and recommendations for how federal and state governments, social media companies, schools, and other public and private entities can tackle this unique challenge. The Task Force will consider platform accountability,
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9 comments
Nov 7th, 2020 5:44 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
Trump intends to sulk as long as he can get away with it.
The president, who has spent months trying to undermine the election results with unproven allegations of fraud, pledged on Saturday to go forward with a legal strategy that he hopes will overturn state results that gave Biden the win in Tuesday’s vote.
Not gonna happen.
The president’s allies and advisers privately admitted that the former New York businessman’s chances of overturning the election results and staying in the White House were slim. While preparing for an eventual concession, they called for time to let the legal challenges run their course.
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Republicans are trying to raise at least $60 million to fund legal challenges in several states,
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21 comments
Nov 7th, 2020 3:55 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
Parteeeeee.
Almost as soon as television networks called the presidential race Saturday morning for former vice president Joe Biden, his supporters began flocking to the streets. The celebrations that ensued — unbridled jubilation, dancing, singing and chanting — represented a release of emotions after an excruciating four-day wait for the election results, but also of a release of four years of pent-up frustration and anger at President Trump, some said.
“Some” as in many millions.
In New York, the show of support was especially reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic, when residents poured out of their apartments nightly to applaud hospital workers and first responders risking their lives to treat coronavirus patients. Shouting and music could be
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2 comments
Nov 7th, 2020 12:30 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
No.
One, no, because Trump is evil, transparently evil, so no we’re not going to be extra special nice to the fans of an evil sadist 5 minutes after he lost the election. (Also ever.)
But two, no we do not feel the same. This isn’t just about losing and winning, this is about voting for an evil sadist and not doing that. The feelings on losing are not the same.… Read the rest
Posted in Notes and Comment Blog |
31 comments
Nov 7th, 2020 12:00 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
Meanwhile, back in Loserville –
At least five people within President Donald Trump’s orbit have tested positive for coronavirus, including his chief of staff and a top campaign aide, becoming the latest administration officials to be infected with the virus after a string of outbreaks in the West Wing.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, top campaign aide Nick Trainer, who has been crunching the numbers when it comes to election data, and at least three other people in the White House, including a deputy for Meadows, have tested positive, multiple sources told CNN.
And have they been wearing masks and distancing, or better yet staying home? Of course not.
Trump campaign staffers told CNN they are furious because
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4 comments
Nov 7th, 2020 11:34 am |
By Ophelia Benson
Heads of state are breathing a HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF.
Remember when Trump tried to yank Trudeau’s arm off at the front door of the White House? And failed because Trudeau was expecting it and stiff-armed him with the other hand?
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9 comments
Nov 7th, 2020 10:38 am |
By Ophelia Benson
Sidney Blumenthal says Trump’s struggles will be NO USE.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe sent a team to view the American election, a routine exercise they have performed nine previous times. But this time they were shocked by what they observed. “Nobody – no politician, no elected official, nobody – should limit the people’s right to vote,” said Michael Georg Link, a member of the German parliament who led the group. “Baseless allegations of systematic deficiencies, notably by the incumbent president, including on election night, harm public trust in democratic institutions.”
This was his last chance to shame us.
Apart from the next few weeks, which is another bad holdover from the 18th century, but he’s … Read the rest
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1 Comment »
Nov 7th, 2020 9:16 am |
By Ophelia Benson
The fun part –
Trump LOST. He LOST. He’s a LOSER. He LOST.
He’s fired. We fired him. You’re FIRED, Dumb Donny. Get out. Leave the silver where it is. We’ll be checking your luggage.
Gonna lose all your … Read the rest
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11 comments
Nov 6th, 2020 3:19 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
Another detail of Bannon’s beheading fantasy:
Speaking on his podcast, the War Room, which was distributed in video form on a number of social media outlets, the far-right provocateur appeared to endorse violence against Wray and the US’s most senior infectious diseases expert.
“Second term kicks off with firing Wray, firing Fauci … no I actually want to go a step farther but the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man,” Bannon said.
Ahhhhhhhh no. No he’s not. That’s the very thing he isn’t. It’s the very worst thing about him – the all too obvious fact that there isn’t the tiniest trace of ordinary normal human sympathy and kindness in him. He could see a … Read the rest
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6 comments
Nov 6th, 2020 2:34 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
This brave new world…
Twitter permanently suspended an account associated with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon after he suggested in a video posted online Thursday that Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray should be beheaded.
Bannon made the comments calling for medieval violence during a livestream of his talk show and podcast, War Room: Pandemic.
“I’d put the heads on pikes. Right. I’d put them at the two corners of the White House. As a warning to federal bureaucrats: Either get with the program or you’re gone,” he said in the now-deleted video previously posted on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. However, it has been recirculated through other accounts.
Totally normal, right? We know Fauci … Read the rest
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6 comments
Nov 6th, 2020 12:20 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
State of play:
Joe Biden appears to be on the cusp of the victory in the US presidential election, as the Democratic nominee grows his leads in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
“Grows his leads”? His leads grow, or increase, but he’s not “growing” them, like a tomato patch. Get a grip.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Biden now leads Donald Trump by 13,220 votes in Pennsylvania, but the AP has not yet declared a winner in the state. Biden is clearly intending to declare victory, with plans to deliver a primetime address tonight.
Georgia will hold a recount to settle the virtual tie between Biden and Trump in the state. As of now, Biden leads Trump by
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8 comments
Nov 6th, 2020 12:03 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
Trump has issued another official whine.
“We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process,” Trump said.
Hahaha that’s funny. No it’s not. Nothing Trump does is ever about anything other than Trump.
“From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn. We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I
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4 comments
Nov 6th, 2020 11:06 am |
By Ophelia Benson
Trump “has no plans to concede.”
Naturally.
In conversations with allies in recent days, President Trump has said he has no intention to concede the election to Joe Biden, even if his path to a second term in office is effectively blocked by losses in places like Georgia and Pennsylvania.
That’s Trump for you. Just Say No.
Aides, including his chief of staff Mark Meadows, have not attempted to bring Trump to terms [with] what’s happening and have instead fed his baseless claim that the election is being stolen from him.
Trump’s allies have grown concerned that someone is going to have to reckon with [telling] the President that his time in office is potentially coming to an end, though
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8 comments
Nov 6th, 2020 10:11 am |
By Ophelia Benson
It seems that Biden is now far enough ahead in Pennsylvania that it’s game over.
Biden will almost certainly pull off a comfortable win in Pennsylvania with 40,000 to 100,000 votes depending on who’s back of the envelope math you want to believe. But, the state may not be called for a few hours yet.
Speaking at a press conference, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney was asked for his response to Trump’s baseless accusations of voter fraud in the city.
Kenney replied, “I think what the president needs to do is, frankly, put his big boy pants on. He needs to acknowledge the fact that he has lost, and he needs to congratulate the winner.”
No doubt Princess Ivanka will persuade … Read the rest
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14 comments
Nov 5th, 2020 4:40 pm |
By Ophelia Benson
Maggie Haberman on that press conference full of lies:
President Trump broke a two-day silence with reporters to deliver a brief statement filled with egregious falsehoods and smears about the election process as workers in a handful of states continued to tabulate votes.
The president painted the election results so far as part of a broad conspiracy to deprive him of a second term by Democrats, election officials in various cities and the news media.
“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” Mr. Trump began when he took the podium in the White House briefing room, a false statement that cast aspersion on the rest of the election. He offered no evidence; instead, he listed a series
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7 comments