Thread by @LLinWood...

Welcome back to Fresno County Board of Supervisors: 2021 version! Today's meeting will only consist of Oath of Office for re-elected Supervisors Steve Brandau, Sal Quintero and Nathan Magsig as well as designation of Officers. #fresno @uSparkValley Video

Supervisors are moving to 10 AM start time rather than the previous 9 AM. Pre-Covid the parking was tough to find even at 9 AM . I imagine 10 AM will be even harder for the public to engage (if) and when we can meet in person again.

Meeting begins. Sal Quintero is on phone. Rest are present in person. Brandau has Rev. Jim Franklin give invocation. Administering of the Oath of Office to Supervisors Steve Brandau, Sal Quintero, and Nathan
Magsig

Brandau comes down first along with "these old people" (He gets a playful whack from an old lady I assume a relative). Rev. Franklin gives Oath to Brandau.

Quintero is having his administered by Sheriff Mims in an office somewhere. @LincolnSeward Nathan Magisg is having his administered by County Clerk Bernice Seidel.

THREAD 1-13

1/ How have we come to this, teetering on the precipice of a political extinction event? The Electoral Certification challenge will certainly fail but immoral political theater is damning. And also a victory. For stupidity, naked greed, personal ambition, raw power.

2/ In which cynical propaganda has superseded campaigning and fund-raising as the most effective political tools. In which endless shit-trains of conspiratorial nonsense cannot be differentiated from policy, from McCain’s bus or RFK entreating crowds on a whistle-stop tour.

3/ Why do we assume we've evolved? The leaders of Babylon similarly ran their society, culture, empire, and the verdant Eden that surrounded them into the ground, sheerly out of greed and willful ignorance. It is now Iraq, a pit of sand and blood and unabated violence.

4/ Sedition. Traitor. Quisling. Apostate. Benedict Arnold. Aldritch Ames. Tokyo Rose. Ezra Pound. Judas Iscariot. Julian Assange. Ted Cruz. Josh Hawley. Tommy Tuberville. Kelly Loeffler. Ron Johnson. Steve Daines. Marsha Blackburn. Mike Braun. James Lankford. John N. Kennedy.

5/ These people, Orwell’s Pigs, flaunting incomprehension and intellectual sterility, are lead weights, the Unbearable Darkness Of Non-Being, want us to knuckle under in exasperation and despair, exhausted from fighting generations of exactly this brand of deceit and moral ruin.

The first important thing to realize is that they won. They got in the Capitol, ran amok for an afternoon, took selfies and live-streamed their conquest and, after the President told them he loved them, they left.

Nothing we can do now changes the fact that they won yesterday. And we cannot effectively understand or deal with them if we don’t see this as their victory.

The second important thing that we have to understand right now is that they are violent racists. This isn’t just pro-Trump. This is some of the very same people from Charlottesville looting the Capitol.

These evil fucks brought a Confederate flag into the US Capitol and set up a gallows outside to protest the election of a Catholic Obama man and his black VP. Look at our history. Look at yesterday. You don’t even have to connect the dots. You just have to recognize the line.

This country was founded as a white supremacist haven for rich landowners to do whatever the fuck they wanted. The mistake they made was that their most eloquent propagandist was also something of a romantic. So, he threw in all that bullshit about all men being equal and having

American democracy has suffered attacks over the past decade.

It’s time for change.

The #ForThePeopleAct (#HR1) would enact some of the greatest improvements our democracy has seen in decades. What's in the bill? Here are some of the highlights:

#HR1 will protect access to the fundamental right to vote. It would ensure voters can always register on Election Day and are not wrongfully purged from voter rolls. The bill would also expand the right to vote by mail to every eligible voter.

#HR1 will end partisan gerrymandering & ensure #FairMaps for all. H.R.1 requires the establishment of an independent redistricting commission (IRC) in each state, a reform essential to restoring confidence that every vote matters. Learn more about IRCs:

#HR1 will help ensure transparency in our elections and in digital political advertising. Voters have a right to know which wealthy special interests are spending big money to secretly influence our vote and our government. 4/ #StopSecretSpending

Multiple sections of #HR1 will strengthen protections against foreign influence in our elections, by extending the foreign national spending ban to ballot referenda, improving donor disclosure laws & updating digital transparency requirements. 5/ #GovernmentByUS

2020 has been a devastating year. We could all do with some good news.

Here are some of @CrisisGroup’s 10 reasons for hope in 2021.

1. Vaccines. Several vaccines developed in record time have already been approved against #COVID19.

Their roll-out gives good reasons to believe 2021 will see a dramatic turnaround of the pandemic.

2. Return to diplomacy. After 4 years of the Trump era’s erosion of multilateralism and tensions among the P5, the Biden administration could help restore U.S. engagement in multilateral conflict resolution efforts and at the Security Council

3. Climate. The U.S. is likely to rejoin the Paris Agreement and lead a renewed charge to fight climate change and its destructive consequences.

See @CrisisGroup’s research on the complex relationship between conflict and climate ☟


4. In Afghanistan, ongoing peace talks could lead to meaningful progress.

There are many obstacles on the road ahead, but the current negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban represent the country’s best shot at peace in a

1) Listening to the likes of Tucker Carlson, Lindsey Graham, Matt Gaetz, Ted Cruz and many other traitors in our government warning us of the dangers of further division would be laughable...

2) if those comments, weren’t made in the wake of a failed coup that left 5 dead. A coup attempt where people brought guns, bombs and screamed hang Mike Pence.

3) They want to convince us that impeaching trump again would only serve to divide the country further, to enrage trump and his supporters, to create more chaos and invite more destruction…

4) And they don’t see or pretend not to see that this is the very reason consequences must be delt out. Trump can rant and rave out of the white house and preferably behind bars.

5) That people who created and participated in this failed coup attempt, think that they should not have to pay for their crimes because they think they did nothing wrong is the biggest danger facing the country now and in the future.

Hello, friend. It is the last day of the year & I have a few words for you. You had a good year & I am proud of you. You adjusted your entire life to get through a plague & pandemic & you did so w/little to no help from our Government. You switched gears, started new jobs, began

new projects & new home businesses. Some of you became homeschool teachers, & others became primary caregivers. You learned to bake, cook, clean, shop online, & manage your way through Zoom. You did so much & because we were all "In it", no one really was available to shout your

praises. Well, I am. You are awesome. You stayed being a good friend, even when you told your friends you would not gather. You constantly told friends & relatives to wear a mask, social distance, wash hands, don't gather - even when they no longer wanted to hear that message.

And you know what? You worked part-time to help elect your primary candidate & then most of us had to switch to supporting a different person but you rallied for the good of.. all of us, & you phone banked, texted, attended zooms, & gave money to get Biden/Harris elected. I know

you also struggled w/loneliness, grieved deaths, broke up, argued, became depressed, missed sleep, stopped exercising, & retreated from.. life. That is okay. You are okay. As my Teenlet said in all your youthful wisdom: Daddy, these are the days we will be talking about forever

The Pennsylvania State Senate begins its new legislative session of the people's business with.....

An argument about masks and whether or not Senators on the floor should be required to wear them.

#WTAE

They're taking a vote now to require senators on the floor to wear masks for today's session.

They DID NOT call on Jim Brewster for this roll call.

Some

OK.

Democratic Senator Steve Santarsiero from Bucks County has requested a delay in swearing in Senators pending resolution of the judicial challenge to Brewster's win.

Critical of Ziccarelli's "specious" actions, and says she didn't go through proper procedure in courts.

"This happens not in a vacuum, it happens in the context of some very serious threats to our democracy today," Santarsiero said.

Brings up tomorrow's certification challenges expected in DC despite Joe Biden being elected and certified as the winner of Presidential election.

"They are not intending to seat Senator Brewster despite the fact that the people of the 45th district have spoken."

"This is the most serious issue that has come before us" in his time in the senate, Santarsiero said.

"All because one candidate is displeased with having lost."

There are still plots across the US to attack state capitols as well as the capitol in DC. These are credible threats against America and American democracy. And they are enabled by Republicans like Hawley, Cruz, Kennedy, Rubio et al, the flag bearers of Trump fascism 1/

Each and every individual who played a part, any part, in the attempted coup on Wednesday must be exposed, arrested, charged & tried. No ifs, no buts. Otherwise they will melt away into alt-web cells & networks, continuing their attacks in support of Trump’s fascistic cult 2/

Rounding up the ringleaders on the ground on the day is one thing. But they were activated by senior Republican lawmakers, emboldened by 139 House Republicans and 8 Senators who voted to overturn a free & fair democratic election. These truths are self-evident 3/

They were also assisted by members of the Capitol and DC police. They included members of fire departments and other forces, elected representatives from across different states. This was not an amorphous mob. This was an alliance of anti-American forces intent on revolution 4/

This runs deeper & wider than saying it was a “mob” event. This was planned & equipped, armed to support the Trump lie. It was mobilised in a clear & present effort to overthrow the legitimate outcome of the 2020 election. It wasn’t a one-off chaotic event. There will be more 5/

Pence just shut the gentleman from Alabama’s request for parliamentary inquiry down— KERSPLAT!

This is probably the first and last time in my life that anyone of these is going to be interesting, so what the hell. I rinsed off some blackberries and made the fancy coffee

The gentleman from Arizona says how dare you count. How dare any of us count! This is not proper! This is incorrect

well, I know someone who would beg to differ

The Senate now has two hours to go back to its chambers and debate for up to two hours.

This process is going to repeat itself in for at least two more times, as I understand it, because Republicans are trying to make it go as long as possible. But they will lose.

The reality of demagoguery is you cannot control the hate & division you unleash.

You seeing America? Pls notice the distinct absence of the National Guard though the president set the agenda for this rally.

This is his legacy. This is #MAGA. This is America

There AREN'T "good people on both sides", Trump.

He told them to stand back & stand by. Here they are.

Guilliani said at today's rally "trial by combat"

The ugly truth is they've weaponised fear & hate BUT they didn't create it. They weaponised what was already there.

A collosal failure of so many institutions. His entire presidency was leading to this moment and law enforcement weren't ready?

That's the reality that a lot of people are unwilling to confront. It's not just Trump. He is a distilled manifestation of what has never been exorcised. All of it was just waiting there for decency to be replaced with blind ambition & greed.

The levers of white supremacy & racism are as present as they ever were. All it took was for someone to say fuck being decent, tap into the primal. It happened in the UK first and then, having resorted to the same playbook, lightning struck again Nov. 16

@BorisJohnson gaslighting dither & delay Government helped create conditions for the new covid strain to emerge

1/ When it became clear that schoolchildren were likely contributing significantly to the spread of the virus, his Government denied & issued legal threats to schools

2/ Scientists issued repeated warnings that allowing households to mix during Xmas would lead to a surge in cases.

@BorisJohnson Government refused to heed that advice, U-turned predictably days before Xmas, causing chaos to people’s plans, with crowded scenes at train stations.

3/ Viruses mutate & adapt as they multiply and, if we continue to have high levels of transmission in the population i.e. more cases, this provides fertile ground for new mutations to arise.

Sadly, but very avoidably, this is exactly what @BorisJohnson Government has provided.

4/ Too Little Too Late.

Through repeated negligent decisions and consistently late actions, @BorisJohnson Government has not only missed many opportunities to control the virus in the UK but actively worsened it.

5/ In September 2020, when cases were once again rising sharply, was another example of @BorisJohnson Government deciding not to