Mainstream media has been terrorizing Americans with fake/debunked news (1/12):

1. Capitol Hill siege pre-planned (meaning Trump could not have incited it with speech he was *impeached*

The "center" of American politics is not a fixed point, it shifts over time. What is "the center" today would have been considered pretty far left in the 1990s. Likewise, what was the imagined "center" in the mid-1980s would have been considered pretty far right in the 70s.

One of Lincoln's skills as a politician was that he moved the center of American politics into an antislavery place, and he also evolved in his own thinking about slavery and race. Finding and helping to move "the center" is one (not the only) form of effective politics.

There is no such thing as a democratic political culture that lacks an imagined "center" and people who inhabit it. This is especially the case in a diverse and often fractious nation. The politics of persuasion is all about moving that imagined center in the direction you want.

Most of the people currently on the American far right are highly unlikely to move to the center, because their basic political commitments are hostile to America's multi-racial democracy. One task ahead is to prevent that segment of our political culture from growing.

How to do that is unclear. History shows that deplatforming can often work. History also shows that sometimes right wing radicals can gain fame and attention by presenting themselves as "martyrs" who've been persecuted by "elites." There's no iron clad formula.

My two cents on the political economics of the first political crisis in Italy… with a shrinking Parliament. What are the incentives for Italian Senators, if they put themselves first and the country’s welfare next? Take the 2018 elected Senate, no subsequent party change

Let me assume that next election will be with a pure Proportional system -- no majority premium, no minimum thresholds. Strong simplifying assumption, I know: deciding the new electoral system is another interesting game on its own! I use yesterday SWG electoral polls

5 Stars movement (15.7% expected vote share) down from 111 to 31 seats: 80 current Senators going from MP salaries to….basic income (scary, um?). Democratic Party (19.6%) from 53 seats to 39 + 6 seats (counting Renzi’s Italia Viva). Forza Italia (6.3%) from 57 seats to only 13!

Even the most voted party Salvini’s League (23.5%) may lose seats: from 58 to 47. The big winner is Meloni’s Italian Brothers (16.3%) from 18 to 33 seats. So not surprisingly, Meloni & Salvini want early elections to get back in power. But the others?

5Star MPs will try to hold on to their seats: early elections cost each of them at least € 250k. Their leader may want to bet all their chips on a new Conte government, but do they have enough leverage to control their troopers if other govenments (options to stay on) emerge?

A couple of articles in today's Toronto Star has prompted me to address them. They are mentioning the misconduct of the Conservative Party, but not in the way that they should. The following are just excerpts of the full article, but you can google the full story if interested.

The news sources are playing it as "it's just politics between rival parties", but we all know that the right-wing movement has nothing to do with politics. It's all fake drama, lies, blatant misinterpretations of anything the Liberals put forth.

The Conservative Party is sabotaging our federal government (the federal & the provincial conservative premiers are in cahoots). They are doing this in order to get Erin O'Toole into the PM position so that he can continue the destruction of Canada that Stephen Harper started.

The intention was to get conservatives in at the provincial level, in order to rip up our Charter, destroy confederation, and line us up with other destructive countries that run an authoritarian government.

The news sources are not addressing the misconduct by the right-wing party on their FaceBook pages or their Twitter accounts. They aren't letting CDNs know what the right-wing intentions are. None mention that they have caused risings of the "Yellow Vests", The O&G Convoys,

As I have pointed out in a previous posting, many of the rioters found to their dismay and bewilderment that there was no plan, at least that they could discern, for the mob to carry out that day. 1/63

The only thing they knew is that there had been a call to action--and to a large extent to arms as well--to disrupt the certification of Biden’s electoral college win. 2/63

According to Ali Alexander (formerly known as Ali Akbar) the idea was to show up so angry and in such overwhelming numbers that it would “change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body, hearing our loud roar from outside.” 3/63

(In fact, there is mounting evidence that Ali and other organizers of the event intended for the rioters to get INSIDE the fenced-in perimeter and even the building itself, which would in themselves have been unlawful actions--but that is a subject for another thread.) 4/63

Ali’s description might well fit the motives of many in the mob that assembled on January 6. But the more interesting and important question is: What did Trump and the activists and event organizers expect (or a least hope) that the *members of Congress* would do that day? 5/63

The current split we’re seeing in the Republican Party is not a sudden split of ‘consciousness’ or ‘doing what’s right’, but rather a split between two factions of their billionaire donors: Langone et al. vs. Mercers et al. 1/14

Policy-wise, these two groups agree on nearly everything, but there is a rift in strategy. One group funds & supports conspiracy theories, right-wing & white-supremacist extremist groups, etc.

They do so for two primary reasons: 2/14

First, people’s lives are in turmoil. Millions are food and housing insecure. Capitalist alienation & atomization is rampant. Our political system represents corporate interests & the 1% - leaving crumbs for everyone else. People are hurting. 3/14

Conspiracy theories & RW extremist groups speak to people’s pain, but rather than place blame where it belongs: capitalism, authoritarianism, racism, sexism etc. they deflect blame towards anything but the truth: immigrants, black & brown people, deep state, lizard people... 4/14

Billionaires support conspiracy theories because they keep people confused and angry at any boogeyman other than the TRUE cause of their pain & alienation: the very system that allows for Billionaires while peoples’ lives are falling apart. 5/14

The Libertarian-billionaire funded Right pretend free speech is threatened from an authoritarian Left, yet 90% of UK campaigners say their free speech is threatened by hostile right-wing politicians & media using them as “fodder for phoney culture

Nearly two-thirds of campaigners say politicians are increasingly negative & less tolerant towards charities which actively fight for social justice, with politicians “shutting down channels of communication, & attacking campaigners & their allies as a threat to the common good”.

Examples include criticism of the @nationaltrust by the "Common Sense group" of Tories for publishing a report into historical slavery links at some of its country house properties. The MPs used an antisemitic conspiracy to accuse the Trust of "cultural Marxist", “woke” agenda.

Also cited was Priti Patel’s targeting of “do-gooders” and “lefty” "activist lawyers" in a speech at Tory party conference, despite Law Society complaints that the home secretary’s earlier comments about “activist lawyers” had led to a racist assault on an immigration lawyer.

Unicef was accused last month of a “political stunt” by Jacob Rees-Mogg after it funded food support for deprived children in south London, while Tory MPs reported Barnardo’s to the charities regulator after it published a blog discussing racial inequality and white privilege.

Former President Trump incited a violent insurrection against our democracy. He charged up a violent mob to attack the Capitol to stop the Congress from fulfilling our Constitutional duty to count the electoral ballots that have duly elected the next President & Vice President 1/

The mob violently attacked law enforcement and smashed its way into the Capitol, calling for the hanging of the Vice President and hunting the Speaker and Members of Congress. 2/
#Capitol #ImpeachAndConvict

Five Americans have died following this violent attack and more than 50 police officers were seriously injured, including 15 officers who were hospitalized – and without law enforcement’s heroism, the attack could have been even worse. 3/
#Capitol #ImpeachAndConvict

President Trump caused this attack and refused to stop it – using social media to urge his supporters to come to Washington to disrupt the counting of the electoral ballots, 4/
#Capitol #ImpeachAndConvict

Trump encouraged the rioters to ‘march on the Capitol’ and ‘fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.’ The President then ignored or rejected entreaties to call off the mob when it became violent. 5/ #ImpeachAndConvict

Melle Rant: How to create extremists from normies who are just trying to get on with their life:

For two months we've been feted with snarky Jabs noting #typographical and #othererrors in #electionchallenge lawsuits.

You know, #mistakes?

The Grifter - In 9 Tweets

1)

Frontpage lawsuit by a Jane Doe in April 2016 against Candidate Trump, during the run-up to the Presidential

2)

After the headlines did their damage, the case was suddenly

3)

Politico confirmed in #2 above that the Jane Doe lawsuit in April 2016 ahead of the 2016 Presidential Election, was in fact Virginia Giuffre

4)

Yet in 2016 Giuffre sued the President anyway, nearly costing him the election. Certainly impacting it.

5)

Giuffre started trying to take/shake down President Trump in 2016, went quiet for 4 years, and now she's back again in 2020?

Why 4 years of silence then strike again now?

The abuse of Lincoln’s second Inaugural speech by GOP seditionists who are making bad faith calls for unity is appalling. Lincoln did indeed say with “Malice towards none and charity for all....”. He said it in the context of finishing the war which had killed 600,000. (1)

The preceding paragraph of the speech is important. It reads, “ Fondly do we hope - fervently do we pray ~ that this mighty scourge of war may pass speedily away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all of the wealth plied by the bondman’s 250 years of unrequited toil

Shall be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid with another drawn with the sword as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said “ the judgements of the lord are true and righteous altogether”. Lincoln was making clear that he would

Not yield in the prosecution of the war and the military destruction of the Southern insurrection. There would be charity after victory. That charity was offered without compromise or condition. It followed unconditional surrender. One month after Lincoln delivered this speech

he sat behind Jefferson Davis’s desk. He sat there as a conqueror. The south’s slave autocracy was destroyed. Lee would surrender within days. American democracy was poisoned by a “Big Lie” during November and December. 147 Memners of Congress embraced the lie and betrayed

Voters: each voter is responsible for our choice. In 2016 we were attacked by Russia, who interfered with our election. Russia started interfering as far back as 2012 and they focused on conservatives so they could place a president who would help their agenda. 1/

Denying it happened is silly. Every one of our intel agencies including the Senate has agreed we were overwhelmingly attacked by Russia. No, they didn’t change votes, but they changed MINDS. Their aim was to create chaos, make us distrust our government, and they wanted...2/

...division so we would have a civil war. The Kremlin wanted Trump as president. He was the man for them to manipulate.

SO it is urgent we realize that this insurrection which was incited by Trump fits right into one of Russia’s Active Measures

We have a choice. We live in a democracy. We are protected in this democracy. We are free to speak, to worship, to protest to get peaceful redress (remedy for problems) and in authoritarian countries, such freedoms don’t exist. Trump is a criminal who wants to...4/

...overthrow this government. He has been taking illegal steps and is trying to throw out millions of legal votes. He used his power, our tax money and his status to file and he lost over 60 lawsuits trying to prove election fraud. He did not prove fraud. The election is...

5

Now that the political calculus has changed in US...

I don't accept the notion that one must critique both right & left in the same way or even give equal time to critiquing them in order to have a fair & faithful public witness. Why?

1. Critiques that aim for equal time will end up missing underlying dynamics of power & responsibility. Those w/ power are responsible in different ways than those w/out it. And those who claim the name of Christ have distinct repsonsiblities from those who don't.

2. Critiques that posit right/left as mirror images miss that while each may operate on different principles, they do so w/in the same set of social shaping forces. IOW, they might be swimming in different directions but they're in the same stream

3. Critique emerges from a specific ethos & is directed to a certain audience. Critiquing those outside your tribe is so much easier than those w/in it. B/c of this, faithfulness might sometimes mean more focused critique of your own group & less of your ideological opponent.

4. Critique of opponents requires extra work to do fairly b/c it means understanding their arguments as they understand them. It requires asking right questions, hearing answers, & being able to find true sources of disagreement, not superficial ones.

Last day of the Donald Trump presidency. Let's see where we're at on those 2016 campaign promises!

1. "I will build a great wall, and Mexico will pay for it!"
Only 80 miles of new wall was built where there was none before. Mexico didn't pay for it... you did.

2. "If I become president, we're all going to be saying 'Merry Christmas' again."
...

3. "I'll eliminate 'Department of Environment Protection' (EPA)"

He did cut the budget, but the EPA is still alive and well. In fact, he felt the EPA was necessary enough to look into his claim of “People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once."
No, really.

4. Heavily surveil and close some mosques in the US, and create database of Syrian refugees.

Good news! No mosques were closed on government order.
But if you really think mosques weren't being surveilled before, or that Feds didn't already have refugees in a database...

1/There is a lot of hope and denialism going on in QAnon communities ahead of inauguration day so I will try and capture some of them throughout the day, and as the acts of President Trump are enacted and decoded for secret meanings.