Georgia’s New Jim Crow

Republican Governor Brian Kemp, elected in 2018 after suppressing Georgia’s Black vote, has signed a new voter suppression bill into law. Georgia’s S.B. 202 bans mobile voting, limits secure drop boxes, and prohibits volunteers from giving water to Georgia voters waiting in the long voting lines typical of the state’s black neighborhoods. It cuts the time window when voters can request a mail-in ballot by half, and absentee ballots will now be mailed out three weeks later than before. S.B. 202 also allows the State Board of Elections to overide county election boards and replace them with state-appointed administrators.

The NAACP and ACLU, understandably, have challenged the new law in court as a violation of the First, Second, and Fifteenth Amendments, and the Voting Rights Act. Who else is against the law? Georgia’s biggest employers, including Coca Cola, Home Depot, AFLAC, Delta Airlines and Tyler Perry Studios.

More:

“’Jim Crow In a Suit and Tie’: Georgia Passes Massive Voter Suppression Bill,” Eric Lutz, Vanity Fair

“72 Black executives call on corporate America to fight voting restrictions,” Shawna Chen, Axios

“Georgia-based companies face boycott calls over voting bill,” Chris Isidore, CNN Business

“MLBPA open to discussing moving 2021 MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta after new voting laws pass in the state,” R.J. Anderson, CBS Sports

“Black voter says a painting at Georgia governor’s voter bill signing shows the plantation where her family worked for generations,” Natasha Chen and Theresa Waldrop, CNN

Updates:

“MLB will move its All-Star Game out of Atlanta as backlash to Georgia voting law continues,” Chelsea Janes, Washington Post

“What Georgia’s Voting Law Really Does,” Nick Corasaniti and Reid J. Epstein, New York Times

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Inaugration Day 2021

Today Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala D. Harris will be inaugurated as, respectively, President and Vice President of the United States of America. They will be inheriting a nation beset with violent threats of domestic terrorism, a deep economic crisis, and a plague that has killed 400,000 Americans in the past year.

God Save the Republic.

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‘We did what we came here to do’

After killing 400,000 Americans through neglect, tanking the U.S. economy, destroying his own political party, and inciting followers to sack the Capitol in an attempt to keep Congress from performing its constitutional duties, Donald Trump recorded a farewell video that summed up his four years in office: “We did what we came here to do.”

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Twitter’s Insurrection Night Massacre

After it became clear that Donald Trump had used Twitter to organize and incite the murderous mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, Twitter finally suspended his disinformation-spewing account permanently.

Twitter also disabled 70,000 QAnon-linked accounts used to propagate the conspiracy theories behind the MAGA Capitol insurrection. People those conspirators followed were unhappy.

Trump Insurrection Selfies: Sedition Self-Incrimination

The seditious MAGA insurgents who broke into the U.S. Capitol at the bidding of Donald Trump and killed a police officer are being sought by law enforcement. Photos of the red-hatted terrorists have been posted by the FBI and DC Metropolitan Police, and the public is being asked to identify them. The FBI has even posted wanted photos at bus shelters in the DC metro area.

While a few brave press photographers provided some serious documentation of the domestic terrorists, many more pix were taken and posted by the Trump supporters themselves, bragging on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, DLive, and other social media platforms about their illegal occupation of the Capitol in answer to the president’s call.

The FBI and DC police aren’t the only ones preserving and scrutinizing the Capitol mob social selfies. Activists around the world, digital sleuths, have archived the MAGA-brag trophy pix before they could be taken down, and have been scrutinizing them since last Wednesday. One of the bigger finds so far was retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock, Jr., identified by John Scott-Railton at The Citizen Lab and outed by The New Yorker. 

Insurrectionists have scattered, but arrests on Federal and District charges are mounting. Before Instagramming the boys back home, those White Supremicist Christian warriors should have recalled Proverbs 16:18, “‘Hold my beer’ goeth before a fall,” and suchlike.

More:

“Thanks For the Evidence, You Seditious Dweebs,” Whitney Kimball and Tom McKay, Gizmodo

“The Pro-Trump Mob Was Doing It For The ’Gram,” Elamin Abdelmahmoud, BuzzFeed News

“The Instagram Insurrection,” Brian Kahn, Gizmodo

“More Capitol rioters in viral posts arrested, senator urges social media providers to keep data,” Rich McKay, Reuters

“The Capitol rioters put themselves all over social media. Now they’re getting arrested.” Sara Morrison, Vox

“Local Police Departments Investigate Whether Their Officers Took Part in Capitol Riot,” Andrea Noble, Route Fifty

“Off-duty police, firefighters under investigation in connection with U.S. Capitol riot,” Maria Caspan, Reuters

“At least 25 domestic terrorism cases opened as result of assault on Capitol: lawmaker,” Andrea Shalal and David Shepardson, Reuters

Updates:

“Anne Arundel police officer suspended while department investigates possible involvement in Capitol insurrection,” Lilly Price, Capital Gazette

“US Capitol Building Riot: Justice Dept. Pursues at Least 150 Suspects,” Katie Benner and Adam Goldman, New York Times

“Who were they? Records reveal Trump fans who stormed Capitol,” Michael Biesecker,
Michael Kunzelman, Gillian Flaccus, and Jim Mustian, Associated Press

“Archivists Are Mining Parler Metadata to Pinpoint Crimes at the Capitol,” Jason Koebler and Joseph Cox, Motherboard

“MAGA Civil War shirts, a Camp Auschwitz hoodie, and other extremist merchandise was on full display at the Capitol riot,” Hilary George-Parkin, Vox

“‘Trump said I could’: One possible legal defense for accused rioters,” Teri Kanefield and Mark Reichel, Washington Post

“Capitol Riot Suspect Arrested in DC Airport After Bizarre Series of Events,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“This Site Published Every Face From Parler’s Capitol Riot Videos,” Wired

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The Trump Coup: It’s Coming From Inside the House! And Senate.

Clearly, the chief instigator of the rioting mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol was one Donald John Trump, who summoned the mob with a December 20th tweet (“Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”) and gave them their marching orders on the day of the insurrection, inciting the riot.

 It’s Coming From Inside the House! And Senate.

Terrorist Trump had allies, and some of them were already inside the Capitol, blocking the purely ceremonial recognition of the presidential election results, a rite required by the Constitution, which usually takes two hours. The falsehood-spewing, Trump-abetting obstructionists seeking to overturn the will of the electorate, all Republican members of the Senate and House, helped incite the MAGA mobs. Their names can be found here. Chief among them were Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, who used their unconstitutional, unconscionable ploy to send out fundraising emails at the very time mobs were vandalizing the Capitol building.

While some of these congressional coup plotters have already faced loss of political donors and publishing contracts, Congress itself needs to act. Tepid measures like censure seem inadequate; perhaps expulsion under Article I, Section 5, clause 2 of the Constitution, expulsion from the Senate and House, should be invoked, since precedents have concerned disloyalty to the United States and its Constitution.

But of course, of these 147 insurrectionists, all but two (Byron Donalds and Burgess Owens) are White, so they may escape any punishment whatsoever, just like all but a handful of the Capitol-desecrating MAGA mob and its Instigator-in Chief.

More:

“Never Forget the Names of These Republicans Attempting a Coup,” Tom Friedman, New York Times

“The Disgrace on Capitol Hill,” Wall Street Journal

“The Republicans Have an Insurrectionist Caucus,” Jordan Weissmann, Slate

“Here Are The Republicans Who Objected To The Electoral College Count : Insurrection At The Capitol,” Barbara Sprunt, NPR News

“The long list of Republicans who voted to reject election results,” Alvin Chang, The Guardian

Updates:

“Some GOPers Blame Colleagues’ Anti-Democracy Scheme For Fueling Capitol Riots,” Summer Concepcion, Talking Points Memo

“Lawmakers who voted against Biden are denounced back home,” Jeffrey Collin, Associated Press

“Letters signed by House Republicans objecting to election results,” Jesse Byrnes, The Hill

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Trump-Worshipping Thugs to Celebrate 3 Kings Day in Washington

Election-denying Trump supporters will return to DC on December 6th to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany in DC by protesting congressional approval of the Electoral College vote. The red-hatted faithful will make a pilgrimage to the White House in adoration of their orange-faced savior and present him with the Gifts of the MAGA: fragrant frankincense Filet-o-Fish, super-sized golden fries, and Mace. Tiki Torches are optional.

More:

“Yet Another Trump March Promised for January 6 in DC,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“There’s Another MAGA Rally Planned In D.C. On Jan. 6, The Day Congress Declares Election Result,” Matt Blitz, DCist

“Trump Fans File Permit Application for January 6 Rally,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“2 downtown DC Trump supporter hangouts to be closed for Jan. 6 rally,” Will Vitka, WTOP News

“Hotel Harrington And Harry’s Bar, Gathering Place For Proud Boys, Will Close During January MAGA March,” Rachel Kurzius, DCist

Updates:

“Jan. 6 protests multiply as Trump continues to call supporters to Washington,” Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post

“Proud Boys Say They’ll ‘Be Incognito’ During January 6 Trump Rallies in DC,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“D.C. is becoming a protest battleground. In a polarized nation, experts say that’s unlikely to change.” Marissa J. Lang, Washington Post

“Capitol Police to enhance security at Jan. 6 session to certify election,” Chris Marquette, Roll Call

“Rep. Gohmert Calls for Street Violence as Another Legal Loss Sends MAGA World Spiraling,” Justin Rohrlich, Daily Beast

“Louie Gohmert Suggests People ‘Go to the Streets’ and Be ‘Violent’ After Judge Throws Out Baseless Election Suit,” Peter Wade, Rolling Stone

“DC mayor asks area residents to stay away from protesters ‘who come to our city seeking confrontation,'” Justine Coleman, The Hill

Yet More Updates:

“MAGA marchers plot final D.C. stand on Jan. 6,” Tina Nguyen, Politico

“What We Know About This Week’s MAGA March,” Mikaela Lefrak, Elliot C. Williams, and Martin Austermuhle, DCist, DCist

“DC Cops Tell Descending MAGA Hordes: Guns Banned From Jan. 6 Pro-Trump Protest,” Jamie Ross, Daily Beast

“D.C. National Guard activated to respond to pro-Trump protests,” Jacqueline Feldscher, Politico

“Streets in downtown D.C. to close Tuesday, Wednesday for pro-Trump demonstrations,” Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post

“5 Reasons to Avoid the January 6 Pro-Trump Marches in DC,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“Mayor and Black Lives Matter Ask Public to Avoid Trump Supporters,”Amanda Michelle Gomez, Washington City Paper

Astoundlingly, More Updates:

“Proud Boys Brawl With D.C. Cops Ahead of Pro-Trump March,” Allison Quinn, Daily Beast

Related:

“Gohmert’s Pence lawsuit seeks to declare Electoral Counting Act unconstitutional in bid to overturn Biden win,” Ronn Blitzer, Fox News

“Trump supporters organizing ‘second inauguration’ for him online Jan. 20,” Joseph Choi, The Hill

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Trump’s Christmas Message to the Troops: F*ck You.

High School Cadet Capt. Trump. Thank you for your service.

Before leaving for holiday R&R at Mar-a-Lago, bone spur survivor and U.S. Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump vetoed the Defense Bill because it didn’t defend him from being called out on Twitter. The bill would have provided pay raises to U.S. Armed Forces members. Mr. Trump also objected to removing names of previous violators of constitutional oaths from military installations, apparently fearing it would keep the Pentagon from naming Space Force facilities after himself.

More:

“Trump Vetoes Annual Defense Policy Bill, Including Military Pay Raise,” Kevin Freking, AP via Military.com

“Trump Vetoes Defense Bill, Defends Confederate Bases Over Troops’ Pay,” Arya Hodjat, Daily Beast

“Trump vetoes $741 billion defense bill over his completely unrelated spat with social-media companies and against the wishes of top Republicans,” John Haltiwanger, Business Insider

“Trump vetoes $740B defense bill, citing ‘failure to terminate’ Section 230,” Kate Cox, Ars Technica

“Trump vetoes $740bn US military bill over clause to rename bases honoring Confederates,” Griffin Connolly, The Independent

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Top image: Cadet Capt. Trump’s high school picture. Download a copy here.

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Congressional COVID-19 Relief Bill Revives 3-Martini Lunch

Lame-duck President and high-ticket eatery owner Donald Trump has called for restoring the 100% federal tax deduction on “3-Martini Lunch” business meals to aid the pandemic-pummeled restaurant industry, an action economists call completely ineffective. Nevertheless, in their eleventh-hour effort to pass another COVID-19 relief bill the ritzy-restaurant-running president will sign, the GOP put the 3-Martini Lunch on the menu, and democrats will just have to hold their noses and choke it down if they want coronavirus relief funding before the Christmas recess.

More:

“White House secures ‘three martini lunch’ tax deduction in draft of coronavirus relief package,” Jeff Stein, Washington Post

“Restoring The Three Martini Lunch Tax Deduction Won’t Feed The COVID-19 Economy,” Howard Gleckman, Tax Policy Center

“‘It’s unconscionable’: Outrage over the ‘three-martini lunch’ tax deduction in the new coronavirus aid deal,” Nicole Lyn Pesce, MarketWatch

“‘Three martini lunch’ tax break may not save many restaurants, advisors say,” Darla Mercado,. CNBC

“On ‘three-martini-lunch’ policy, Republicans get what they wanted,” Steve Benen, MSNBC

“‘Three-martini lunch’ tax break draws outrage. It also may fall short for restaurants.” Aimee Picchi, CBS News

“When Will Eating the Rich Also Be a Tax Deduction?” Esther Wang, Jezebel

Related:

“Dictionary.com weighs in as #LetThemEatCake trends over relief bill,” Justine Coleman, The Hill

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Trump Appoints Giuliani’s Son to the Holocaust Museum Board

United States Temp-President Donald Trump has appointed Andrew Giuliani, son of his epically inept attorney Rudy, to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the museum’s board of trustees. Andy Giuliani, a White House aide, has served as liaison to the sports community, an easy task since so many sports champions have refused to visit the Trump White House or weren’t invited. Andy Giuliani’s chief duty was as the POTUS on-call golf partner, one unlikely to call out his legendary cheating. For that, he’s been paid $95,000 a year. Hope he saved some of that. The new post is unpaid, and only provides travel reimbursement and per diem rates during meetings.

Washingtonian‘s Andrew Beaujon sums up:

“Giuliani will serve a five-year-term on the 55-person board, which meets twice a year. His qualifications include…uh…that time he sued Duke University for cutting him from the golf team? The time he lost his West Wing pass? The time he made out furiously with his wife at the Harman Center?”

Donald Trump appointed two other cronies to the Holocaust Memorial board, Mitch Webber from the Office of the White House Counsel, and Nick Luna, film actor and Trump’s “body man,” or personal attendant. Mr. Webber is Jewish, according to Haaretz; Andy’s Catholic dad once claimed to be “more of a Jew” than Holocaust survivor George Soros. 

But why is Donald Trump appointing pals to the Holocaust Museum board, anyway? Maybe to help him with his defense against any future charges of Crimes Against Humanity.

More:

“Trump taps Giuliani’s son for membership on the Holocaust Memorial Council,” Zach Montague, New York Times

“Trump to name Giuliani’s son to role on Holocaust Memorial Council,” Celine Castronuovo, The Hill

“Trump To Appoint Rudy Giuliani’s Son To Holocaust Memorial Council,” Andrew Solender, Forbes

“Trump Will Appoint Andrew Giuliani, Rudy’s Son, to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“Trump Names Rudy Giuliani’s Son, Two Other Aides to Holocaust Museum Council, JTA and Ron Kampeas, Haaretz

Related:

“The Time Trump Signed Into a Holocaust Museum Like It Was a Bar Mitzvah,” Eric Levitz, New York Magazine

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