Earlier this evening The Washington Post published a letter, as an op-ed, from all ten living former Secretaries of Defense, warning about the importance of keeping the US military out of any involvement with deciding the outcome of elections, specifically the 2020 election. There is no way this letter is put together and then pushed for publication unless someone senior, most likely either senior uniformed personnel (general officers/flag officers) and/or senior executive service personnel at the Department of Defense or one of the Services unless someone got a message out to one or more of their former bosses. Someone is very worried that the Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, his Chief of Staff Kash Patel (who really works for Devin Nunes and was once thrown out of a Federal courtroom in Texas for being an ass and sanctioned by the judge in the case with an order of ineptitude), the Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Acting as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations & Low Intensity Conflict Ezra Cohen-Watnick (who is the protege of LTG Flynn, Michael Ledeen, and Safra Catz and who has been completely unqualified for every position he’s been appointed to in the Trump administration), the Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Anthony Tata (a noted racist, anti-Semite, Islamophone, homophobe, and all around bigot), and the Special Advisor to the Acting Secretary of Defense Douglas MacGregor (noted extremist kook) are up to something dangerous.
Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld are the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense.
As former secretaries of defense, we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the U.S. armed forces and the Defense Department. Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party.
American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy. With one singular and tragic exception that cost the lives of more Americans than all of our other wars combined, the United States has had an unbroken record of such transitions since 1789, including in times of partisan strife, war, epidemics and economic depression. This year should be no exception.
Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.
As senior Defense Department leaders have noted, “there’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.” Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.
Transitions, which all of us have experienced, are a crucial part of the successful transfer of power. They often occur at times of international uncertainty about U.S. national security policy and posture. They can be a moment when the nation is vulnerable to actions by adversaries seeking to take advantage of the situation.
Given these factors, particularly at a time when U.S. forces are engaged in active operations around the world, it is all the more imperative that the transition at the Defense Department be carried out fully, cooperatively and transparently. Acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and his subordinates — political appointees, officers and civil servants — are each bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration, and to do so wholeheartedly. They must also refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.
We call upon them, in the strongest terms, to do as so many generations of Americans have done before them. This final action is in keeping with the highest traditions and professionalism of the U.S. armed forces, and the history of democratic transition in our great country
Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld are not known for their bipartisanship, nor for being squishes. For them to agree to sign on to this means that something has gone very, very, very wrong at the Department of Defense.
A warning flare has been sent up. Whether it has any effect is another matter entirely.
Open thread!
Princess
Even more shocking, something I saw on twitter said that Cheney was the ringleader and organized the letter.
WaterGirl
Someone on the earlier thread said it was Cheney’s idea. I would not have predicted that!
rikyrah
Cheney and Rumsfeld?
It’s as bad as we thought it was😒 at Defense.
Elizabelle
I took this as a warning to the seditious Republican Senators, too.
WaterGirl
I’m not sure which of these two parts is more distressing –
Frankensteinbeck
That they read the Joint Chiefs’ statement that the military will not get involved in the election and felt they should second the motion is sufficient reason for this letter. Reading it, my impression is they’re actually mad about stonewalling transition. Bear in mind, Cheney is a neocon True Believer. The main tenet of the philosophy is that the rest of the world is just waiting for the US to punch them so they can shout “Thank you, Sir, may I have another?” because it will prove how dreamy and virile we are. But I could easily see there being unexpected side effects like him being disgusted at having the good name of the holy United States military dragged through the mud.
Brachiator
Wait. They told me that 2021 was going to be better than 2020.
Don’t let me down.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I hope the Seditious Senators are feeling a very strong breeze and suddenly discover that they are way out on a limb that is starting to be sawed off.
Elizabelle
The bad actors assembled in DOD leadership is … appalling and needs adult supervision.
“All the whack jobs are here.” Industrial strength.
Adam L Silverman
Before I get asked: I DO NOT know what these chucklefucks are up to. I’ve been trying to game it out for a former boss for about two weeks since Miller shut off access to the DOD for the Biden-Harris DOD transition team prior to Christmas. At first I thought they were either trying to buy time to hide something illegal that had been long done and that the transition folks were getting to close to in their ride along. Or that they, contrary to custom and tradition, had a highly classified named op – possibly against Iran – ready to go at the beginning of 2021and didn’t want the Biden-Harris DOD transition folks to know. But with this letter I’m not sure. And, frankly, my real concern since July has always been not the Active or Reserve components of the military, but the National Guard (NG). Specifically, Trump, as Commander in Chief, has complete control of the DC National Guard. The DC NG Adjutant General reports to Trump directly. There are at least 20 of the 30 Republican governors that I can think of offhand who would be willing to send some of their National Guard if he asked for them. Governors Ducey and Kemp would be under intense pressure to do so given that they wouldn’t fix their states’ election results in Trump’s favor. And while the Adjutant Generals, Deputy Adjutant Generals, Chiefs of Staff, and Chiefs of Operation for these states’ National Guard would all likely object, as would the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, they can all, also, be replaced by their governors. This type of mobilization, combined with the knee breakers from among Federal law enforcement and a call for support to the law enforcement unions, which all supported Trump’s reelection, have always been my real concern.
The Dangerman
Someone got caught sniffing around martial law and sniffing glue (one begat the other).
Trump isn’t going away without emptying his quiver.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: See my comment at #10.
BR
Sec. Perry says Cheney (!) initiated it:
Adam L Silverman
And since I technically Bigfooted Cole’s post, obligatory!
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: I thought that might be one reason for Raffensperger (or whomever) to release the
Krakenaudio of yesterday’s Trump phone call.Try to protect the party in the long term by trying to reel the seditious back in. Give them a lifeline. “Get back in the damn boat, morons.”
Adam L Silverman
@BR: When Cheney was VP, he was able to burrow in a lot of his people into career senior civil service positions at DOD at the end of the Bush 43 administration. My guess is one of them got a sniff of something vile and gave him a heads up.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Also, Rapfensberger was threatened by Trump with Federal criminal prosecution. You put the full audio out to nip that in the bud.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: re threat of Federal prosecution: Oh yeah.
And, FWIW, I love bigfooting. There was over an hour before your new post went up.
There is going to be a limit to how much Juicers can say about Jake Tapper. Even the new and improved Tapper.
BR
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s a strange feeling to be relieved that Cheney is standing up for the country…
Raven Onthill
Trump is now acting out revenge fantasies. Anything, I suppose, is possible. He will also continue to pursue revenge even after he is out of office. This is monarchical politics based on personality, something that has not previously been part of the US Presidential politics.
Did the Founders make a mistake to outlaw bills of attainder?
dmsilev
Perry said Cheney was the organizer
I think the last few years, and certainly the last few months, have taught us in a deep visceral way why ‘may you live in interesting times’ is a curse.
RaflW
It ain’t nothing that one of the 10 former Secretaries is also the former Republican Vice President of the United States.
BR
More here, but it seems like this isn’t the full story:
Percysowner
Swell, we all get to live in “Interesting Times”.
dmsilev
@Brachiator: Way back in the prehistory of the Internet, there was the concept of Endless September, that it was always September 1993 no matter what. In a similar vein, I fear we’re now in Endless November, 2020.
Elizabelle
@Raven Onthill: No. I just learned what a bill of attainder was this weekend (again, reading up on Tudor history) and they are way too cruel and overreaching. I’d guess you are snarking, but I was surprised how powerful attainder was.
I think our state and federal criminal justice system can deal with Trump and his self-dealing spawn, if there is a will to prosecute. And we can help put some steel in spines there.
This cannot be allowed to stand.
RaflW
Oh, and as for Adam saying “Chief of Staff Kash Patel (who really works for Devin Nunes)”, it’s being tossed about that Nunes will receive the (tarnished, ass-smelling) Trump Medal of Freedom in the waning days of this insane Administration.
Adam L Silverman
@BR: He always has. He just has a very weird understanding of what that means. This is the only thing that separates him from Bolton. Bolton is solely out for himself and his wallet. Cheney actually cares, it’s just that his view of the world, and therefore the need to wield power unilaterally and often, is VERY, VERY, VERY dark!
BR
@Adam L Silverman:
Is this his “1% doctrine” (if I’m remembering the term right)? (That anything or anyone who presents even a 1% chance of harming the country should be stomped out?)
Mary G
It’s definitely Opposite World when Dick Cheney is one of the good guys of the day.
Adam, are these guys competent enough to pull something off?
Adam L Silverman
@BR: Yep.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: I don’t know. By all reports Miller is competent. But he’s never run anything as big as the DOD. Patel is a competent ratfucker. MacGregor is a genius, he’s just twisted and vile. Tata was just competent enough to make one star. Cohen-Watnick is a tool for more powerful interests. He’s Flynn’s and Catz’s catspaw. And Catz has long been rumored to be one of Bibi’s primary catspaws in the US.
Adam L Silverman
Time to make something to eat, back in a bit.
BR
@Adam L Silverman:
Strikes me that using the GA tapes the House Dems could really protect the country by filing articles of impeachment and rushing it over to the senate in a day. That way if there are any crazy things that happen in the next week or two it’s ready to go to remove him.
Dan B
@Adam L Silverman: Now I’m anxious again. The DC National Guard could try to arrest Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, plus the DC mayor and a few GOP politicians that have displeased Trump. And they might go after the upper ranks in the military with the commanders at nearby bases. There is little doubt that Trump would demand something like this.
It would be interesting to know how many National Guard are in DC. DOD is probably the most difficult to neuter.
Adam L Silverman
@BR: The only way that happens is if they managed to pull out the upset in Georgia.
Adam L Silverman
@Dan B: 3,400. About a brigade minus a battalion.
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: If they do, does Chuck Schumer get to be Majority Leader immediately, or only after the 20th once Harris can be the tie-breaker? I suppose he could cut a deal with Pence,.,
WaterGirl
@BR: Even if the house is thinking of articles of impeachment, we won’t see anything publicly until we know the results of the GA runoffs.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: I’m thinking the Congressperson from Wyoming may have had something to do with this letter.
Steeplejack
Just noticed that BBC America started the two-hour premiere episode of The Watch, based on Terry Pratchett’s City Watch novels, at the top of the hour. It will be repeated at various times through the week. I have no idea whether it’s supposed to be good.
dmsilev
Sleep well, everyone.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
So, a catzpaw then?
WaterGirl
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: I had thought about that connection, too. Steve Schmidt said in his interview today that he says the R party is splitting – there is the autocratic part of the R party now and the democratic part of the R part – and that he sees Liz Cheney as the defacto leader of the small d democracy republicans.
So this could be part of a power play by Cheney to set Liz up to the president someday. Ugh.
Elizabelle
I just regret that today was all about Trump again. Like every other fucking day of his Reign of Error.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I think it’s worth it to be able to have this tape out there. I think this only helps us in Georgia, and Georgia is everything now.
Unless we don’t win both seats, and then we have to figure out how to move forward. But getting GA is EVERYTHING. At least until that that’s off the table.
I, however, believe there is a good chance that we will win both seats in GA.
eclare
@Elizabelle: It is exhausting, we are all held hostage by an abusive relative threatening to burn down the house with us in it. He kicks the door in every day.
Dan B
@Adam L Silverman: Seems like enough, with other red state Guards, to lock down large sections of DC. I hope the 20th or 19th isn’t “interesting”.
If Cheney is conferring with Biden’s team I’d be more at ease.
BR
@WaterGirl:
I feel crazy to say this, but we may need a Pres. Romney or someone like him before all this is over. Without a pro-democracy GOP president, this fever won’t break.
Wyatt Salamanca
I wish I could locate a master list of links to all of these letters or joint statements written by former Republican senators, former federal prosecutors, national security officials, et al who were responding to some despicable actions committed by Trump. Hopefully, such a list now exists or will be compiled for the benefit of history. It blows my mind just how many of these letters and joint statements were produced over the past four years.
Fuck Trump and his scumbag enablers.
Kattails
while we’re at it, just stopped by Bill Kristol’s twitter feed–because we’re through the looking glass–and found him praising Pelosi both as minority and majority leader of the house. “Under her leadership, the House then did what it could to check Trump.”
rikyrah
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: I think the Trump tape is going to help Democrats in Georgia.
Especially his allegations that Democrats cheated like never before. Uh, no. Do it again, Georgia voters. Show up.
Baud
@dmsilev:
“I think” is not a “scoop.”
Elizabelle
@BR: No. Please. We do all the work, and the GOP takes all the credit.
Just. No.
Baud
@rikyrah:
👏👏👏
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
I know what you mean
But, we learn something everytime a tape of him is released.
Timill
@dmsilev: It still is: I get my Usenet feed from news.eternal-september.org
MoCA Ace
@Adam L Silverman: If Emperor Tang want’s to call up the National Guard to Washington he is going to need a false flag operation… some well timed violence timed to coincide with certification of the Electoral College votes would be appropriate. Coincidentally, they are calling for the proud boys and other white supremacist’s to come demonstrate their fealty to the orange skid mark on that very day.
la caterina
@Adam L Silverman: this is starting to sound vaguely like the plot of one of those Jamie Foxx/Gerard Butler/The Rock-type action flicks. The Rock and those other guys are on OUR side, right??
zhena gogolia
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Elizabelle
To my knowledge, we have not heard a word about the Trump Georgia Show tape from Biden or any leading Democrats.
Guessing that we might get an incredibly written Biden speech/civics lesson tomorrow.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Now that sucks.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle: trump is not on the ballot, like he was when Biden won the state. Now Biden is letting trump put himself on the ballot. A variant on not getting in the way when your opponent is stepping on his own dick.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Good point. Biden has always been very good about avoiding slideshows.
dm
@Dan B: If Warner and Ossoff win, they’ll be seated sometime between May and August when the law-suits and recounts finally end.
(You’ll notice I didn’t say May and August of what year.)
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Stepping on his own dick, and those of all the seditious Senators and other enablers.
Wise. Hold your fire.
AxelFoley
@BR:
No. Fuck that.
WaterGirl
@BR: Please don’t take this personally, but I find that idea to be absolutely appalling.
The thing is, in order for a non-crazy GOP president to get elected, the crazy will already have passed. So I think you have it backwards. :-)
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: No, he would not get to be majority leader until Biden and Harris are sworn in.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: To the republicans, if you’re black, voting = cheating. Ugh.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: Steve Schmidt also thought Howard Schultz would 1) make a good president and 2) wouldn’t serve as a spoiler and thereby hand Trump a second term.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud:
Biden hates powerpoint!
Mike in NC
Has Jared been named a five star general?
YY_Sima Qian
How bad is it at the DOD for Cheney and Rumsfeld, two firm believers in the unitary executive, to be sending up warning flares?
As things stand today, Trump and his cohorts will be hard pressed to come up with justifications to attempt what Adam has described. However, what if Trump instigates a military conflict (with Iran or China, for example), and uses that to declare emergency? Rumors has been rife in Taiwan about a surprise visit by Trump to the island before Jan. 20, egged on by normally fringe types in US policy circles. (I say normally because the inmates are clearly running the asylums now, even at DOD.) Most people (in Taiwan, the US and China) have dismissed the possibly as being far too provocative and risky, and Trump does not appear to be the type that would actually put his own rear on the line. On the other hand, a military conflict with Iran may not give enough justification to declare national emergency and halt the transition of power.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: The GOOPers would probably be fine with black votes (Is there such a thing?) were counted as 3/5ths.
Cheryl Rofer
Jim already said it at #62, but the rapid turnaround on this suggests Trump is calling some of the, er, shots. Threats issued by Iran against Trump and other USG officials? Like the shredded ballots?
Leto
@Adam L Silverman: listen, I already voted for the guy and will vote for him again in 2024. You don’t have to keep selling him! :P
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: GEN Milley and Gen McKenzie asked Miller last week not to order the Nimitz to make steam for home port. They wanted the carrier group to remain in the area of operations. All Miller did was reverse course based on their request.
Cheryl Rofer
@Adam L Silverman: Eh, maybe
Elizabelle
@Cheryl Rofer: I know. What threats against Trump and other US officials?
I don’t believe a word coming out of Trump’s hack at DOD.
Adam L Silverman
@Leto: Always be selling!
eclare
@Cheryl Rofer: Just like he said the general in Iran had threatened a US embassy. I don’t believe a word.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Send them where?
Dan B
@Adam L Silverman: My Mike guy worked for Shari and Howard Schultz, and lived a block away. They were unpleasant neighbors and blamed their neighbors when their landscaping, driveway and concrete walls, encroached on the neighborhood park. Plus a number of top Starbucks execs are nasty.
Schmidt does some good but there is plenty of his politics I don’t want. His “rich executives make good presidents” is crap.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@YY_Sima Qian: The Presidency leaves Trump at noon on January 20th unless Congress certifies him the winner of the election. There is no provision to change that date for an emergency. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if Trump attempted anything like that, the United States would be a smaller and poorer country.
Geminid
@Adam L Silverman: In October the NYT had a story that trump raised the question of an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Supposedly his top advisers persuaded trump it was a bad idea. Do you think there is a significant possibility that trump would try this now? Could the Saudis bribe him to do it?
Dan B
@YY_Sima Qian: I wonder if Cheney realizes that war with Iran could break the US military. He must have DOD people who are telling him this. It also may be that Trump would like to redeploy from Afghanistan to Iraq or Saudi leaving Afghanistan to the Taliban and terrorists.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: DC and anywhere else Trump wants them sent.
Adam L Silverman
@Dan B: What’s a Mike guy?
Adam L Silverman
@Geminid: Anything is possible with him. It would be a stupid idea. But when has that ever stopped him.
Adam L Silverman
@Dan B: Cheney is aware. He was aware in 2004 when he was planning one.
Dan B
@Adam L Silverman: My partner Mike is “My Mike guy”.
Sorry, too cute.
YY_Sima Qian
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Well, the Constitution will not stop Trump and his cohort from making the attempt, if they believe they have a reasonable chance of success. They have never shown any respect for the founding document. If other people object on that basis, that is where the DC National Guard, the NG from select Republican states, and select federal law enforcement come in. Militias can play a supporting role after the fact.
Hopefully, warning flares such as the open letter from the 10 ex-SecDefs will dampen their enthusiasm.
Subsole
@Adam L Silverman:
Adam, I had a ghastly, and hopefully quite stupid, thought:
Is it possible for the nuclear arsenal to be targeted at American locations?
Adam L Silverman
@Dan B: Now I’m tracking. The way it was phrased I thought it was some sort of type of home contractor that only exists in Seattle.
Adam L Silverman
@Subsole: This is beyond my area of expertise to answer.
raven
@Subsole: Jesus christ, take a break.
Mart
@MoCA Ace:
And the Proud Boys are planning to dress up as Antifa and bust shit up. Will need the National Guard to stop those evil Antifa bastards.
Geminid
@Elizabelle: Kamala Harris had some strong words to say about the tapes at her Savannah rally today.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@YY_Sima Qian: You can’t lead if no one will follow you.
Subsole
@Steeplejack: Thanks for the heads up! Cpt. ‘Headbanger’ Carrot is my homie…
Subsole
@SiubhanDuinne:
Argh. Haven’t we suffered enough?!
leeleeFL
@Adam L Silverman: This occurred to me, as well. Not clearly, but fuzzy, like I always knew something, but what?
If Cheney and Rumsfeld are worried, then the sick feeling I have had in the pit of my stomach is likely gonna get much worse this fucking week!
I didn’t think it possible I could hate tRump and his sycophants more than I have, but again….wrong! I want to start breaking stuff!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Okay internet: You know what to do
Shalimar
@Adam L Silverman: I suspect Steve Schmidt thought Howard Schultz was a narcissistic idiot who would give a lot of pointlessly wasted money to Steve Schmidt.
Subsole
@Mike in NC: As if the princeling would consent to a mere five…
raven
Adam, could they use a MOAB on the Ellipse?
Adam L Silverman
@raven: More likely to watch an eclipse from Moab.
Adam L Silverman
@Shalimar: Pretty much.
AnotherBruce
@dmsilev: Give me that sweet,sweet boredom.
Subsole
@raven: Hey, I said it was (hopefully) stupid.
I think it is FAR more likely the guy offs himself before he does something like that. And honestly I think he lacks the mental makeup for that, too.
But the man is abusive. He’s every wife-beating asshole I’ve ever met. And a lot of abusive people will kill their partners before they ever let them go. So I tried to map that behavior onto a national scale, and I got to wondering. Sue me. Don’t see how it’s any wilder than worrying about the National Guard machine-gunning congress.
jackmac
@Steeplejack: There@Steeplejack: Reviews are decidedly mixed and there have been much better adaptions of Pratchett novels in the past. The first episode of The Watch is disjointed mess but if you’re a Pratchett fan, it’s certainly worth a look.
Subsole
@Adam L Silverman:
Adam, you mentioned one of these folks being catspaws for Netanyahu. Can you expand on the nature of that relationship? Is it like the unofficial channels we had with the USSR, or something else altogether? Is he Bibi’s, or Israel’s man?
WaterGirl
@Dan B: You’re not sorry! :-)
Dan B
@Adam L Silverman: I’ll buy that Cheney had some idea that Iraq would hurt the military. But he also had Rumsfeld’s Shock and Awe myth to distract from the level of damage. Iran is so much bigger than Iraq and our military so much more stretched thin.
Cheney is a demagogue but not stupid.
Lyrebird
@Dan B:
Hey if you’re still here, thanks again for the lighting info! I have not bought anything yet. I did take a couple food photos with standard LED flood lights on and the food did look very blue.
Best to you and your #1 Mike guy, too.
Now I have “My mic sounds nice, check one, my mic sounds nice, check two!” stuck in my head. Salt N Pepa
cain
I actually said this about two thread ago :-)
cain
@Timill:
I suppose you read in addition to alt.sex,
alt.politics.trump.fuck.fuck.fuck.fuck?
Dan B
@Adam L Silverman: Mike will be amused that he has a home contracting name ready to roll. I however will be in hot water.
cain
@YY_Sima Qian:
I wonder if they still believe in the unitary executive given this shit show?
WaterGirl
@cain: Great minds?
MoCA Ace
@cain: As long as the executive is Republican… yes
Gvg
@YY_Sima Qian: no. It doesn’t matter what Trump thinks. People know. They will just stop obeying him on January 20th. Look at how many are not going along with him now. The courts knocked down every lawsuit except one allowing observers to get 4 feet closer to watch in one state. The military is not getting involved very publicly. The only thing he has been able to do is delay transition briefings. We’ll have to fix that later. Stronger laws or something.
Anya
I made a vow to never listen, watch or engage anything relating to Trump after December 2020 but I listened to the full tape of Trump pressuring Raffensperger to reverse the election results in his favour and now this. Hopefully, all of this madness will end on Jan 20th.
Fair Economist
@BR:Nobody in the GOP is pro-democracy at this point. People like Romney support soft authoritarian techniques like voter suppression and gerrymandering. President Romney would probably still be the end of democracy in the country, just via a less vile form of authoritarianism.
O. Felix Culpa
@Anya: I’m listening to it now. It’s bonkers. I almost feel sorry for Raffensberger. Trump on a nonstop haranguing monologue. What is it that Mr. Moshpotato calls him? Shitpile moblord? Pretty much that.
Bill Arnold
@Raven Onthill:
He has no clue how pissed off people, some with considerable power, are at him. Making more powerful people angry with him would be stupid. Which he is, sigh.
(Plus, to be blunt, it’s hard to reliably stop an ordinary singleton very angry citizen with an elk rifle (or, splurge, sniper rifle) and 500+ meters. Obligatory we don’t want to go there; that way lies death squads and the death of America, and Iran wins, and so does Putin.)
Anya
@O. Felix Culpa: I was just shocked at how many times he repeats the “I just want to find 11,780 votes”. And who is Ruby Freedman or Freeman? The whole thing is insane. And those who work for him who kept pressuring Raffensperger to show them the data. At one point Trump snaps at one of them.
O. Felix Culpa
@Anya: I wonder about the impact of this “conversation” on the Georgia Republican officials. If I were them, I would go home and change party affiliation immediately. Or release the tape to the press. :)
Bill Arnold
@Elizabelle:
Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of Islamic Republic of Iran‘s twitter has been interesting the last week or two, but not threatening.
However, this (well the original sources for this) is probably what is triggering them:
Iran says killers of top general Soleimani, including Trump, ‘not safe on Earth’ – Meanwhile successor to assassinated Quds force chief threatens ‘severe revenge’ — which may come from within the United States (1 January 2021)
VOR
@Elizabelle: only Donald Trump could take a global pandemic and make it all about him.
The Pale Scot
@Dan B:
Who exactly is in the DG NG? Is it solely citizens of DC or do suburbs contribute too?
YY_Sima Qian
Just to clarify, I do not expect Trump and his cohorts to try to stage a coup, or that they would come anywhere close to success if they actually tried, precisely because I would think very few people would follow. Nevertheless, with Trump and his enablers, it is a possibility that has to be entertained, because they have clearly shown that they are capable of anything.
Adam L Silverman
@Subsole: The RUMINT is she is Bibi’s agent.
Adam L Silverman
@Dan B: I was referring to Iran.
Elliott
Sounds like iran is suggesting trump and his family will be targeted post presidency.
Luthiengineer
Deleted – incompetent lurker comment to be replaced
Luthiengineer
@Adam L Silverman:
Well, for what it’s worth, my friend in the DC National Guard was put on notice and standby today in anticipation for the protests on Jan. 6th. First step of your worry outlined above.