What happened is shocking, heartbreaking, and previously unthinkable.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.
Following a speech by President Trump to his supporters, where he told them to go to the Capitol, they went to the Capitol to protest. Then a mob formed and broke into the Capitol and stormed through the hallways. At the time, the House and the Senate were debating the election results.
Amid utter chaos, Vice President Pence was rushed out of the Senate chamber. Capitol Police then escorted Senators and Members of the House from the Capitol building. The mob, adorned with Trump merchandise, entered the Senate chamber, the offices of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and others, amid reports of gun fire.
Just before, majority leader of the Senate Mitch McConnell, Republican Senator of Kentucky, was giving a speech explaining his intention to vote against other Senators’ challenges against Joe Biden’s victory, according to the New York Times. In the speech, he called some of President Trump’s claims of election fraud “sweeping conspiracy theories.” He said, “The voters, the courts, and the states have all spoken. If we overrule them all, it would damage our republic forever.” And he added, “If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral.”
The US Army, upon a request from Mayor Muriel Bowser, is activating 1,100 members of District of Columbia National Guard, according to an Army official. It remained unclear what their function would be or if they would go to the Capitol. Under a preexisting agreement, the neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland are sending police units to Washington. Bowser also announced a curfew from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday. Events continue to unfold.
This is truly a shocking and historic moment for the US, where a mob, riled up by the President who’d lost an election but refuses to concede, stormed into the Capitol, with Senators and Members of the House being rushed out of the way to safety.
This is a scene similar to the ones we may have seen in the past in some capitals in Africa or Latin America. It’s shocking and it’s heartbreaking that this is happening in Washington DC. But it’s not totally unexpected, given the game of brinkmanship some Republicans have been playing in recent months. And that game has now gotten out of hand, and they lost control over it.
But I can already hear the voices on Wall Street, and the Robinhood traders, and all the folks constantly promoting the ever-lasting-to-the-sky Pandemic rally. Everything is just fine because stocks are up.
Just like they have been saying for months that the economy is doing just fine because stocks are up. Forget the millions of unemployed people. Forget the hardships and disfigurement and distortions of the economy. Forget the trillions of dollars in taxpayer money and in newly created money to keep this economy afloat and markets from collapsing. They’ve been saying, everything is fine because stocks are up.
And in a similarly amazing and utterly cynical feat, stocks today surged, with the S&P 500 closing the day up 0.6%, though it was below its level before the chaos at the Capitol unfolded. The Dow closed up 1.4%. The Russell 2000 soared nearly 4%.
So everything is fine in the US because stocks are up? Hardly.
This moment, and its consequences, have stained US democracy forever. Democracy is never a perfect thing. It’s always messy and noisy. Lots of people are rightfully cynical about the processes, about the money involved, about the abuses of power, about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans, about the characters involved, about how people get trampled by this system. But there are checks and balances. The whole system with all its warts, wrinkles, and blemishes, is supposed to enable a peaceful transfer of power so that the Nation can go on. That’s the bedrock of US democracy. But what we’re seeing today is a crazy banana republic moment.
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I think the election results in Georgia has the market believing more stimulus is on the way.
Wait until they begin unwinding Trump’s tax cuts to pay for the additional stimulus. That’s when the fun begins…
They don’t need to unwinds tax cuts . They’d simply print more.
no no no no no
dimwits believe corporations need to pay more
well I – as libertarian agree
they should pay simple 15% on NET PROFITS GLOBALLY
oops – did I say GLOBALLY – yep
and with NET PROFITS you don’t get all TAX BREAKS corrupt congress agrees to
why in 1980(when we made things)
did corporations pay 50% of INCOME TAXES – today 10%
and THEN THEY TOOK AWAY PENSIONS for 201k’s which NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO MANAGE – what grift
time to tax corporations NOW – bezos, google, apple, dumb social media – facesless, tweetyville and ALL REST
Joe – corporations are not taxpayers, they are a legal fiction to limit liability and ensure longevity. Every dime corporations “pay” in taxes is money taken from consumers. Do you know of some way that corporations create money without the people? I thought that was limited to the Federal Reserve.
oh no, the big bad tax boogieman.
When have “they” ever unwound tax cuts for the rich? They are both on the same team, and we’re not on that team.
The top bracket was raised from 35% to 39.6% in 2008, and was reduced down to 37% in 2017.
In any case, now that both parties have fully embraced MMT, they don’t need taxes anymore. All money can just be printed.
I don’t know if they actually believe this nonsense theory works, but they’re acting as though it does.
This. The mess we are in is the work of TWO parties.
We haven’t had democracy for some time. Money talks louder than votes. Since we already *are* a banana republic it is helpful that we now look like one.
Frump is a barbarian. He blew the system’s cover. I hope the liberals learn a lesson, but I doubt it. They will continue to blame everything on the short fingered vulgarian.
It’s true Monkey Biz. todays Dems are to the right of Eisenhower.
And his income tax schedules would help, except net worth is where some heavy taxing ought to occur, and dodging taxes is such a worked out art I doubt either would work.
Having said that I’ve been up since yesterday and just can’t sleep. The GOP made a deal with a creature that might as well be the Christian devil and I’m really sad and scared. Not for me, hell, I’m 73 and had an OK life, but for everyone who hasn’t had a chance to organize and cycle through atoms for at least 60 years. And of course the Democracy experiment itself.
NBay, what most people here don’t know is that the work to unwound the tight bank regulations introduced to protect against another Great Depression was started by Democrat senators back in the 1960s/70s (forgot the exact time). And of course our good friend Bill Clinton finished the whole thing off by lifting Glass Steagal.
You don’t get into this terrible state in 4 years, and certainly not because of one party. The mess we are in is the result of EVERYONE’s work including mup pets.
Who says there’s no justice in this world?
Monk. Yeah, agree it’s all been slow unwinding of FDR era financial laws….just bit by bit, always chipping away, like the derivative law written by Citibank lobbyists that sent Liz Warren through the ceiling and caused her rant about how biz is done in congress. Dems do toss the plebs a bone now and then, the GOP wants everyone for themselves with no wealth limits. I think most of our thinking is based on Calvinism, which to me is a bad sign.
I’m damned glad I grew up when I did, and sorry for kids now.
-Monk
And all this current scare over FDR/Eisenhower Socialism. What a lot also don’t realize is that FDR maybe saved this country from going full blown Communist. There were many people in that party out of starvation and desperation and getting plenty of organizing help from Moscow. (One of the reasons McCarthy had such easy pickings when he had his witch hunts.)
Being a nitpick by nature, I can’t help pointing out that ‘unwinding Trump’s tax cuts to pay for the additional stimulus,’ is not at all accurate. Unwinding the tax cuts is a good idea because it takes some wealth away from the people who already own our governments. Lessens, a little, income inequality too. But as for funding any Congressional spending, unwinding the tax cuts doesn’t fund anything. Congress funds all its spending one simple way: It creates new currency to pay the bills. Congress spends new currency into existence. Taxes eliminate currency. Spend in, tax out. Really simple.
The current stimulus is so big that it’s still inflating massive bubbles everywhere.
$600 is hardly “big.” And by far most of it’s going to pay bills and food. So how is that creating a bubble?
Since when is $600 the current stimulus? I’m talking about the TRILLIONS. Wake up.
Bro. $600 is just the tippy tip of a massive iceberg. The tally is well over $5.5trillion?! I totally agree, ridiculously huge asset bubbles are everywhere.
The bubbles are in financial assets and property. Other prices can rise just based on expectations. If you believe all this spending will guarantee inflation then you will act accordingly. The Feds didn’t do much real QE, but just hinting that it might inflated bond prices (and kept yields low). Jawboning was just as effective as actually buying the stuff. Wolf Richter wrote about this. My bet is that 20 million unemployed people, and still sky high private debt, will keep over all demand and thus, the economy, weak. That’s not a recipe for inflation.
Can’t you feel it? The Fever has broken. Our current President promised many things but at least ‘order’. And now we no longer even believe that. Instead we now realize we are surrounded by bat shit crazy folks on all sides. So it’s wake up! Yeah, wake up and suddenly discover the incredible mess we are in now – a fever break producing a heart attack. None of this started with Trump, of course. But the cult did. And today’s bumbling coup did. And what the market saw today was a “is this all you got?” and laughed.
{SideBar: All Trump had to do was angrily pace the sidelines while regularly tossing in a few incendiary comments about how Biden has ruined everything, just enough to keep his 30M supporters revved and keep them paying $5/mth to ‘Take America Back’. Yeah, the sound you hear is 29M of these folks quietly walking away}
Twitter is considering a permanent ban – sweet whispers to Parler – and people are thrilled, reinforcing my belief that Bloomberg should have just bought Twitter instead spending $500 million on a political vanity project which became his own Wolf chart. But it doesn’t matter. The Fever has broken. And as we look around in our groggy awakening state of disbelief, we will see all these really important things that needed to be done yesterday and the incredible amounts of money to be made doing them. This is what Mr. Market sees.
@Crazy Chester
Bat shit is correct you do not know how right you are
Is it not said that the current virus springs from bats to crossover to …..
Nah…the news cycle keeps moving and next week our attention will be riveted by something else. The markets know this…plus we were due for a market rotation out of heady tech stocks and into value and small caps. It’s just the heartbeat of capitalism you hear…not the roar of rebellion.
Agree, the silliest putsch ever. I expect that’s why Ortega worried about nitwits reading newspapers.
Watch the U.S. dollar crater if we don’t get our sh!t together as a country.
You think we have problems now?
@R.Sekler
What is with this shit, first ‘bat’ now ‘our’
A lot of problems yes : pandemic deaths on the up and up is a big problem, poor vaccine distribution another, and reports that all this may soon be turned around 180° by new viral strains, faster spreading and perhaps un treatable by the current vaccines
That might soon result in a great many more deaths
Pandemic appears to have revealed/precipitated development of many underlying faults and divisions and rendered them much more dangerous
The US dollar had already started cratering in late 2020! Go look at the charts. Dollar down, Bitcoin Up, Corn Up, Copper Up (commodities),
Lots if inflation
You left out the two big ones Gold and Silver up
Branding business for sale. Motivated seller.
This article is a DISGRACE to wolfstreet!
It departs from claims made by Wolf not to advance political views, allowed lots of trolls to disseminate their bile, and doesn’t adhere to any guidelines imposed on the majority of other articles!!
Is this the way onward?!
Instead of discussing the impact of politics on the Economic life of millions of lives, we are degenerating into slinging matches?!
I am truly disappointed at the lack of respect to the multitudes who abstained from sliding to this level.
Hopefully the rest of the year will see those who think they’re basking in the ECONOMIC SUNSHINE to learn of the disastrous impact of one side controlling the debate and the short sightedness of their views.
There will be eye watering consequences that will follow this absurd take on the future of the COUNTRY.
This is more of a “Chickens come home to roost” moment I think. We are getting a taste of the color revolutions that the foreign policy and intelligence apparatus have been fomenting all over the world for the last 30 or more years. In case any one does not know the script, it goes like this. Some unliked foreign leader ( morales etc.) wins the vote but the election is declared to be rigged and gangs of thugs and agitators are set in motion to overthrow the newly elected leader. But here in the USA we are managing to do it ourselves with no outside influence needed. Ironic that this happened the same day Biden appointed color revolution specialist ( Victoria Newland) to a state department post.
Grinch stole the elections
It’s the result of 50 years of wealth transfers from the average Joe to the “elite”. Income disparity has grown to unacceptable levels. When the few have it all and the vast majority has nothing, societies become unstable.
Everywhere, anytime. And the “elites” never learned, until they met mr. Guillotin.
IIRC correctly, one of the ancient romans, Cicero? Stated that when the top to bottom income/wealth ratio exceeds 1 to 10 society becomes unstable.
Thanks Seneca.
Wolf, I thought you promised to keep politics out of this blog. Please consider starting a political blog. It will attract ten times more traffic.
I would have been largely okay with today’s developments if not for the execution of an unarmed veteran in the capitol. Biden admin is painted in blood.
Nacho. Given the chaos, it’s a miracle there weren’t more deaths. Not to be too nitpicky, but Trump is the President. And I’ll bet good money most of the rioters are either libertarians or registered Republicans. Not really a strong Biden vote there. That you could get this confused, makes me wonder if you were there.
Nah, they’re “Banana Republicans” – thanks to a very perceptive commenter I can’t recall.
Does everybody see what @VintageVNvet is doing? This is how Trump Media operates. Fabricating rumors that get past from comment section to comment section, chat room to chat room, building as they go with iterative improvements each time. People who argue against them merely facilitate the process of building a rumor that sounds , to the functionally illiterate, “probably true”. At some point even credible outlets and politicians can repeat the rumors by saying “people have said”, “as reported”, “I saw on Twitter”, “…it’s gone viral…”. Eventually the rumor can become a legend which can NEVER be disproven to people with a compatible bias.
And it all begins right here, with no basis in reality, no credible sources, and no way for anybody to check if it’s true. I think this kind of politics isn’t really new, but it’s become supercharged by the internet. How can we stop the Digital Revolution’s assaults on the pursuit of truth?
The United States was founded in defying the British King, resulting in blood of Americans and British.
You might say the American Constitution, the very foundation of the American Market system, was written in that blood.
Nacho Libre:
No, sorry. The Trump presidency and his elected cohorts are “….painted in blood!” Get your facts in line with reality. And, should be impeached and arrested for incitement to riot and sedition. The “cohorts” should be all impeached and expelled from the government. It’s called, “Taking the Castor Oil” program to cleanse our totally corrupt government.
And, I agree with your comments about politics and the Richter Report.
Sometimes you can’t avoid politics. It’s the world we live in.
Facts: None of the protesters drew weapons. None of them roughed up any officers. None of the representatives were in danger. People occupying people’s chambers is not crime.
The same reps who called all the lootings of 2020 as peaceful protests started clutching their pearls at the slight bit of perceived fear.
Enjoy higher taxes, increased censorship, lower employment, higher debts, new wars.
I’m curious why folks that spew “whataboutisms” about how the racial unrest over the summer was worse (it was in sum of death and destruction) than what happened at the Capitol yesterday, choose to not realize those two events are horses of a different color.
The events over the summer were protests against police violence, and things certainly got wildly out of hand at times.
What happened yesterday was one branch of the government (Trump) compelling a group of armed people, to threaten another branch of government (congress) to do what Trump wants, to disrupt their constitutionally mandated duties. Therefore Trump was attempting to undermine the constitution, the core document of our republic. He had no sense of how far the rioters would take it, and balked at calling the national guard.
In other words, it was clearly an act of sedition on Trump’s part. He has f^$?ed around, but will he find out?
@Nacho LibreNacho Libre
An imminent and overt threat of violence is morally equivalent to violence. Both are intended to bring another person under your compulsion. No physical damage or follow through has to occur to consider a threat, in itself, as violence.
Incidentally this is why the open carry of firearms shouldn’t be allowed in civilized society. Sorry, Hee-Haw fans.
@Montague – You are so right. Even thinking about violence is the same as assault/murder. Everyone except the State must be disarmed. If people such as yourself could be sufficiently enabled we wouldn’t need any judiciary.
You are spewing the propaganda talking points. I will pray for your Godless soul.
What a joke. The woman was INSIDE THE CAPITOL trying to climb over barricades and into an area where our elected officials were sheltering. She was warned repeatedly, at gunpoint, to stop what she was doing. She did not.
On top of that, her social media accounts proved that she was a nutter who literally called for the execution of the elected officials she was trying to get to.
If ever there was a justified police homicide, this is it.
Your reply below again ignores the reality that Trump is president.
If you had any intellectual honesty, you would now say, “Trump has blood on his hands”. But, no.
You don’t make any sense, Nacho. DJT sends his mob to the US Capitol to interfere w/the processing of electoral votes of the man who defeated him in the election.
DJT and his mob have caused the deaths of 5 people including a police officer. You refer to a “biden administration” that doesn’t even exist.
What are you smoking, Sir? Please share…..
Yes. It’s called Karma. What happened yesterday was wrong, but did not surprise me. I’m more shocked with BLM and Antifa destroying cities and getting a pass by the media and by the D.C. and local politicians. Again, protesting is fine, but destruction and physically attacking people wrong. What happened yesterday was nothing compared to what happened in cities with buildings on fire and rampant vandalism. Because it was black folks along with other races, the media and politicians quietly turned their heads. Goebbels would be proud!
A woman was murdered yesterday by a police officer. She was white. There is no outcry over this. No media will cover her save Tucker Carlson last night.
A divorce in America is coming. I don’t wish it, but the tight pants boys at Google, Twitter and other media outlets as well as their masters (the Democratic Party) are going to push people over the edge and it’s going be ugly. There is going to be blood to the knees and I’m quoting this from a guy who fought in the Civil War in Yugoslavia in the 1990’s. He said what’s happening here is same as what happened there. Unless there is a massive change in philosphy, rule of law. fiscal responsiblity and morality, I have to agree with him. Good luck.
Looking at the overweight diabetes protestors yesterday, the blood in the streets will actually be ketchup from their McDonald’s frys.
JK – You are exactly right.
This violence against the government was much worse earlier in the year and was not only accepted but condoned. Cities even brought out food to help support those occupying government buildings. We wouldn’t want the violators to be too uncomfortable. As long as the destruction supports your narrative it is justified.
Until all evil is treated equally, there will be those that feel neglected by the system and they will respond in a way they believe will get the most attention.
In these conversations where excuses are made it’s always left out that the reason there were protests in many of those other instances were legitimate reactions to injustice!
Those were protests to clear examples of injustice while this was a delusional fantasy with no basis in reality and no legitimate reason for their position. Violence and destruction of property shouldn’t be condoned but it does matter what starts it and if it was a reaction to something real that actually happened and if it was wrong or not.
Violence from the left is not justified under any circumstances. Violence from the right is not justified under any circumstances. We don’t need to hedge that statement. The media downplayed this all summer.
The fact that this violence was egged on by a narcissistic sitting pres is especially reprehensible and is another dimension of irresponsibility. But the riots this summer were also completely unjustified and anyone who suggests otherwise is part of the problem.
Several years ago the Capital Police executed an innocent women for making a wrong turn on Maryland Ave 1 block from the Senate Annex. They received an award for their murder of a mentally challenged women with a baby in her back seat. Protestors Wednesday were unarmed and no threat to anyone. That building used to be readily accessible for the public before 911, (its the taxpayer funded peoples house) and I was in there many times myself without any appointment. Now they’ve turned it into an armed camp. I was down there and saw the police launch concussion tear gas canister grenades, one of which killed a guy. This has not even been reported by the corrupt news media. All the tear gas blew back into the House chamber by the wind. These Capital police are totally incompetent and out of control. They are, and a threat to safety of the public.
Delusional…Back to the swamp.
DC Police are corrupt as hell I had one especially telling encounter with one during a visit to my son at Georgetown in 2005 Scary is what those people are
Well considering you have one video of the capital hill police which can only be seen as voluntarily moving the barricades to let the protesters go by, another where a couple of questionable individuals pick up a barricade at another location and push it on the few officers present and then going past, another where the security guard looks more like he is leading the crowd to specific areas rather than holding them back with somehow the camera man behind him in the capital building (seams like reality TV on display), a BLM fellow who was also there, arrested, and now seemingly released with no charges, a few philly antifa people who others are trying to say they are just anarchist members though one chubby guy has a distorted hammer and sickle tattoo on his hand also seen in a together photo in the capital building with the shamon horn guy who has been at both trump and liberal events seemingly in support, several witness accounts of the police hitting people at the barricades some children and an elderly person plus flash bang grenades (trying to make the crowd angry maybe?), security very weak at these barricades (anyone remember the large security force in front of the White House because of the support BLM and Antifa had from primarily Democrates and financial support of cities, corporations, and NGO’s to remove a dually elected president by violence but somehow we cannot mention it since its somehow tinfoil, fake news coming from the Pravada people). They new there was going to be a lot of people coming, even the crazy DC mayor was playing her part. It certainly has the feel of a reichstag fire, or even a controlled opposition event similar to when Cheka in the revolutionary Russia would infiltrate the white russians and help stage prison breaks, bombings, etc in the effort to buy time to solidify power and redirect anomisity against the communits that would be harmless to their cause. Well played to those revolutionaries who now have taken full control of our government by the looks of it. Oh by the way, did you see the former CIA director John Brennon comment that trump supporters should be shamed like those in communist China during Mao’s cultural revolution or an ABC political director saying to ‘cleanse’ trump supporters, then cleaning up the language so it doesn’t sound like something Stalin, Mao or Hitler would say? Parlor now being shut down, Citi saying they will not allow donations for those politicians who challenged the vote though the democrats have done so in the Senate/House at least 2 times without repercussions. Again, it sounds a lot like communism has taken over the country. As the late Bish Fulton J Shean said, communism is the scavenger of dead or decaying civilizations. When you abandon God, this is what happens. It’s going to get much worse and the nuts in charge will push until the other side completely loses it so they can solidify their power
Depends on what you consider an ‘outside influence’. We defeated Germany during WWII. We did NOT defeat the Nazi party. They moved to South America (among other places like…the U.S.A.) with a LOT of money. There was a documentary I saw of someone (can’t remember names at the moment) of someone currently tracking the 4th Reich. Per his narration, the 4th Reich stoked the cold war between the Soviets and the US with the plan of taking power after the super powers were rubble. So these neo nazis that were wandering around the halls of the Capitol Building. Are they ‘outside influences’?
Set down the tin foil hat my friend
“the election is declared to be rigged”
It’s just that some people in the US are FINALLY waking up to this:
Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens [Princeton University, 2014]
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
Excerpts:
A great deal of empirical research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions against each other within a single statistical model. We report on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues.
Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism.
In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule—at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes.
When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the U.S. political system [that describes the influence of the so-called deep state/swamp which is the vast, unelected administrative state- W], even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.
To be sure, this does not mean that ordinary citizens always lose out; they fairly often get the policies they favor, but only because those policies happen also to be preferred by the economically-elite citizens who wield the actual influence.
Stocks are up with 123k job cuts. The rest is just “spilt milk.”
This is gonna get some money printed for sure
Looting & burning down main street businesses…. stand by and watch.
Break down the doors of a Wall Street Employee, let the bullets fly.
Very true.
But the Leftist mobs burning down cities were ‘mostly peaceful protests’, according to the Media. Let’s get the narrative straight.
“This is truly a shocking and historic moment for the US, where a mob, riled up by the President”
The US Congress (arguably the best proxy for the average US citizen’s perception of what DC “means”) has had an approval rating in the low teens more or less for decades.
What was revealed today started long before Trump and will continue long after him.
The economy of this country (especially shorn of DC “GDP bootstrapping”) has been stagnating (at best) for 20 years.
(The Fed hasn’t been ZIRP’ing in one form or another for kicks).
And then you add in multiple recent elections where the counts (40+ yrs into the computer era) somehow,
1) require many, many hours to count
2) frequently have mysterious residual untallied percentages in certain precincts/counties that only come in at the absolute end,
3) end up in minute margins.
The political leadership of this country, at every level, has used up every ounce of citizen trust.
You are correct!
Somebody leaked the AP narrative. They weren’t allowed to say “riot” and a whole bunch of other words, like “looting,” etc.
I’m with you Heinz, With the exception of the Capitol Police that shot and killed an unarmed woman there was ZERO Violence, no stolen Nikes, no burned down buildings, no violence other than Antifa punching a MAGA Marcher.
Saw some vids with lots of violence, mob against the totally outnumbered Capitol Police.
Wolf,
The 4 tour female air force vet who was shot and killed in the Speaker’s (Pelosi) Lobby was unarmed…which was the endlessly repeated standard of outrage for the multiple BLM crimes/riots of the last year.
You can replace a couple of broken window. You can’t replace a lost life. The police were totally incompetent . I left early as I was more afraid of the police than the crowd of peaceful protestors.
Capitol police did not kill that woman. Secret Service did and they were justified in doing so. The woman was trying to breach a security area with the sitting VP inside. Actions have consequences. Secret Service could have lit up the entire room, and they’d be justified.
But the Trumpian mobs breaking into the capital “were mostly peaceful protests”, according to the media. Let’s get the narrative straight.
The only injuriies or deaths yesterday were caused by the poliice and “”natiional guard””. Property damage was limited to a couple of windows.
Contrast that with the various other “”protests”” this year.
MAGA
Maggats
A puppet biden presidency guarantees USA as a China colony.
More like a Chinese Colonic! But Biden & his donors will be OK.
Only stupid countries intent on setting off their terminal decline early wants colonies. The aquistion of Afghanistan traditionally sets the high-water mark for “The Empire”. China is not stupid.
POTUS and all the rest of the politicians have been puppets of the oligarchy for eva A.
Some say the battle between the factions of the oligarchy is most evident on the floors of the house and senate,,, and that DJT just interrupted that battle briefly because our owners were not prepared for him, having supported Clinton and expecting business as usual, and hence the unrelenting media war against him, etc., etc.
Very Sad day for USA to be sure, but IMO makes very little difference to WE the Peedons.
1.4 Bln > 325MM
China is still screwed from various other groups and forces, but, the pres-elect is still a setback.
We are already half way there.
Yeah, like the gilded age…we were really really great then. Not so good for the peons, though.
Actually it is MAWA….make America white again, if you actually observe what true has and is doing
DONALD Trump Jr has warned Republicans who decide to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory that “this isn’t their party” and “we’re coming for you.”
The outgoing president’s eldest son delivered his message during a wild, profanity-filled speech on live TV to a “Stop The Steal” crowd on Wednesday.
Killer super virus in the air and now the exciting climax of our first family and the destruction of America, they must be super proud of themselves!
There there, Nancy. It’ll be okay.
Trump’s presidency has revealed just how many stupid people there in America.
Half the country loathes, despises, and hates the other half. The future is not bright. Expect more of the same for a long time.
They should break it up. Red State Confederacy versus Blue, based on majority vote of cities and counties. If they try to keep it together they will risk a Civil War, and that would be bad news.
Born in California, former Democrat. Until earlier this year. The party of Kennedy is dead. That party has gone so round the bend, I registered independent, we sold our condo in San Diego and are moving to Nashville. I, for one, have no interest in living near Democrats, and that is a crazy thought to me. It’s time to separate the sides.
A lot of people have suggested breaking the country up into two Red and Blue nations. This is simplistic thinking and will not work. For example, I lived 65 years in CT. Most people consider it to be one of the most liberal Blue states. However, the elections are always very close, with 51% liberal winning out over 49% conservative. Many states have the same demographics, even Texas, the flagship Red state.
To all above re breaking up USA:
As r2/3 says, it will not work unless we were to break apart almost every state, though clearly not all.
Just looking at GA map of counties the last couple of days, especially those that had active access to each county total as one example, with majority of counties red, but larger counties blue.
CA and FL are similar, with areas of each blue and red. Might be helpful to look at the POTUS election results by county to see this.
And BTW, having lived in a very red (90%)county south of Nashville, please do NOT count on Nashville continuing to be red majority, though most rural counties will be until the reds change their stripes as the blues did in the 1960s.
Before then, the rock hard and controlling conservatives, at least in the south, were ALL democrats, and the republicans were the liberals.
The Trump clan are about going out with a bang .. “They won’t forget us in a hurry.”
“There is no damn business like show business, you have to smile to keep from throwing up” Billie Holliday
WOLF STREET is a business, finance, and economics site, not a political site. Readers from across the political spectrum are invited and should feel comfortable. So when writing a comment, for those moments, we check our political views at the door, so to speak. It’s OK to mention politicians and policy issues. It’s not OK to descend into partisan bickering.
We are not a democracy we are a Constitutional Republic.
The courts refused to hear the evidence and the one court that did sided with potential fraud.
The election officials in the controversial states did not follow the law which should upset all American voters.
Goodbye WolfStreet.
TXRancher,
The US is a constitutional republic. We have a democracy. Get the difference? A “republic” is a state.
A constitutional republic is a form of government in which the head of the state, as well as other officials, are elected by the country’s citizens to represent them.
It’s a state with that type of government.
Yes, a republic, also known as a “representative democracy.”
https://legaldictionary.net/representative-democracy/
Tired of hearing this ignorant nonsense.
TXRancher,
Bye!
Don’t let the door hit your butt on your way out
———–
Wolf,
The ICUs at the hospital
system I work for are filled with COVID patients. Saw literally dozens and dozens of chest x-rays last night filled with the fluffy ground glass infiltrates of COVID pneumonia.
Youngest was 30 years old. One 60-ish man had been on the ventilator since being admitted around Thanksgiving. These people are never going to be normal, ever again, if they live. Yep, another triumph for the outgoing administration
Meh, I saw all the news coverage, heard about the woman who died, and the only thing I could think was, huh, I hope she was one of the rioters, and not a staff person or some other innocent bystander. I hope she got shot by a cop while committingacts of violent.
I had a strong feeling that some bad juju was going to happen before the Orange One finally got evicted.
The last four years have seen a huge amount of incompetence and corruption and disinformation. As a student of history, I feel we are fortunate, that this is still the US, that its democratic institutions have so far survived the worst efforts of this would be dictater. We are not the Weimar Republic, not yet anyway, and we now have a chance to set things right
Mr. Wolf this is for you to read ( I do not think you would publish this anyway )
Quote by H.L. Mencken:
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people.On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage. – H. L. Mencken
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. – H. L. Mencken
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. – H. L. Mencken
Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods. – H.L. Mencken
Karl Marx:
“private property is abolished as soon as the property qualification for the right to elect or be elected is abolished,”
Suffrage Debate, N.Y. Constitutional Convention of 1821
Chancellor James Kent
The tendency of universal suffrage, is to jeopardize the rights of property, and the principles of liberty. There is a constant tendency in human society, and the history of every age proves it; there is a tendency in the poor to covet and to share the plunder of the rich; in the debtor to relax or avoid the obligation of contracts; in the majority to tyrannize over the minority, and trample down their rights; in the indolent and the profligate, to cast the whole burthens of society upon the industrious and the virtuous; and there is a tendency in ambitious and wicked men, to inflame these combustible materials.
Thou shalt not covet; thou shalt not steal; are divine injunctions induced by this miserable depravity of our nature.
The notion that every man that works a day on the road, or serves an idle hour in the militia, is entitled as of right to an equal participation in the whole power of the government, is most unreasonable, and has no foundation in justice.
…the individual who contributes only one cent to the common stock, ought not to have the same power and influence in directing the property concerns of the partnership, as he who contributes his thousands. He will not have the same inducements to care, and diligence, and fidelity. His inducements and his temptation would be to divide the whole capital
Glad we don’t live in 1821 anymore :-]
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
“Democracy is the worst form of government. Except for all the others.” Winston Churchill
I appreciate the mention of this topic and that Wolf has actually introduced the elephant in the room on this wonderful economic site is responsible reporting, to say the least.
I will not pontificate my usual anti-corporate pro working man views. (whew…saved). Long time readers know where I am coming from. However, this is a very very serious time for the USA and it will take a long time to heal this mess.
Regardless, all the best to my fellow US readers and I very much respect how troubling this must be. My American sister has been in tears lately, often often often. As a Canadian, but born in the US, I told my wife today that I was glad my Dad was no longer alive to see this unfold. He was a WW2 medal recipient, Day 2…Normandy. It would break his heart.
If there was ever a time to listen to other opinions, this is it. Furthermore, in reference to the usual focus of WS, if our economic system was more just, this crop of grievance would never have germinated, and neither would the blatant racism have found a home. Today’s nightmare is a symptom, not a cause. (At least for now). Good fortune, all.
Paulo-sagacious as always, and with you. The conundrums posed by the desires for, and rewards of, socialism for the rich dressed up as laissez-faire capitalism that have directly resulted in the unjust economic systems, historic and present, we discuss constantly on Wolf’s courageous site are even more visible.
Talk of separation abounds on this thread, and no doubt sounds appealing to many-it’s no more than that which the wheel of history has presented to humanity in perpetuity. But note this-after a separation into a new nations of ‘like-minded’ people, the separation into new hierarchies to those within will commence immediately.
The wheels will turn, but which ones are you willing and able to maintain and repair, and which ones to effectively reinvent?
may we all find a better day.
Wolf, a two-party system does not align with the values of a true democracy. A democracy means everybody has a voice, and everybody has the power to exercise their voice at the ballot box. I am not the brightest man in the world; in fact some would categorize me as an idiot. But I truly believe half a billion voices cannot be expressed by only one of two choices. I do not believe our Founding Fathers ever forethought the Constitution would be applied to a country this large. I just hope this all passes soon…
That’s why we need Proportional Representation, at the state and federal lever, a coalition government system as they have in Europe. Germany’s doing pretty well with PR.
Rank-choiced voting, which inserts the harvest of voter’s second choices, produces dangerous mediocrities, like the mayor and district attorney of San Francisco, and is worse than a two party system. From the S.F.Examiner Dec. 8, 2011:
“A very small number of San Franciscans ended up electing our municipal officials and deciding important measures in November’s election.
Whether you are liberal, progressive, moderate or conservative, you should be alarmed at the loss of majority rule.”
Add to that district elections, parochial identity political based candidates, instead of a slate representing the overall interest of the city, and you get a completely corrupt, hyper expensive, failing form of city government, which what we have.
A republic is a form of government that is supposed to belong to it’s citizens as opposed to being the private realm of a king. Another word that was used in the 17th and 18th centuries was Commonwealth, which as its name suggests, means that it is supposed to work for the welfare of all its citizens.
The USA is [officially] a constitutional federal republic!
Well, was…..
It’s a political economy.
Its been nothing more than a monetary economy/country , since 1913. Our un-elected rulers are becoming transparent, now, concerning the material “equality” they see as their job to enforce (among other matters). Ridiculous to concern oneself with politics/govt in this age of world-wide central banking!
“So when writing a comment, for those moments, we check our political views at the door”
… then, writes:
“The courts refused to hear the evidence and the one court that did sided with potential fraud [yada yada yada…]
”
Hmmm… can you spell “hypocrisy”?
“So when writing a comment, for those moments, we check our political views at the door”
– This comes from the rules on commenting for this site, not my opinion.
Then it should have been surrounded by quotes.
Also, I thought it was a goodbye.
Trump’s lawyers, when directly asked by Judges, stated they were NOT alleging fraud. The judges MOCKED Trump’s lawyers for appearing in Court with NO evidence, just a lot of “feelings”.
Trump is the biggest Loser EVER. He will soon realize that.
+1
Funny how you mentioned not OK to descend into partisan bickering, yet bring this up, which is made up of conspiracy theory at its best. Goodbye and Good riddance…
It’s not OK to descend into partisan bickering.
We are not a democracy we are a Constitutional Republic.
The courts refused to hear the evidence and the one court that did sided with potential fraud.
The election officials in the controversial states did not follow the law which should upset all American voters.
Funny thing is Wolf wasn’t born in the U.S. (I wasn’t either). I have found that those who weren’t born in the U.S. have a much better grasp of American Civics and History than those who were.
@IdahoPotato
B/c we are required to read and pass the tests (+oral questions during interview) while applying for naturalization. American Civic studies should be re-instated in the schools, along with basic financial literacy. I also learned a lot during Watergate scandal trial about all the 3 branches, especially that NO one is above the law.
That and also when you’re not born in this country, you’ll less likely to be brainwash from childhood into how Murica is the greatest country on earth and how our military presents help liberate other countries in the name of freedom and all other “Patriotic” way of thinking into seeing everything through the eyes of American exceptionalism. Combine that with reading something like People’s history of America, it’s much easier truth for “foreigner” to except the messiness of Murica rather screaming at the top of their lungs about how great everything is in good ol US of A. As Gore Vidal said We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing.
How can one bicker in a partisan way when both parties are essentially the same on all the big, core issues:
Both are pro war.
Both are pro corporate and anti working folks.
Both oppose Medicare4All/Universal single payer healthcare.
They both claim we can’t afford it dispute the CBO just stating it would save the Federal Govt about $650 billion dollars a year. You read that right – giving Medicare4All like Bernie Sanders proposed, would save us A LOT OF MONEY.
But almost every question the media asked Bernie was “how are you going to pay for it?” despite it costing less.
Having a 3rd World healthcare system, is one reason I have been saying that the US is a 3rd World nation.
Like our other major institutions, both parties are driven by their bottom line. They want to maintain maximum cash flow more than they want to win. If they wanted to win they would listen to the voters.
Total agree with you, I am no fan of either parties. Both are parties for big corp interest. Only difference is one pretends to be kinder to regular joes while the other parties don’t even try anyway and openly embrace insanity.
The courts did not refuse to hear evidence. The evidence was weak and easily rebutted by the opposing counsel’s responses to the complaints filed in the various courts. That’s why the cases never got any far. Many, if not most of the judges were Republicans, some even appointed by the current admin.
The entire system is corrupt and compromised, from top to bottom. Only when the descent into a Chinese model of Communism is complete will the sheeple wake up and realize they were duped. Ignorance is bliss, apparently.
@rip
Nearly 50 civic cases were filed at various state courts, state supreme courts and even SCOTUS. None of them could stand the scrutiny under the law. Many of the judges are GOP/Trump appointed over the years! No one could prove FRAUD in any of the cases!
Atty Gen Bill BAR (also a republican) declared there was NO electionfraud.
Many of the state officials including Secy of state and Governors are republicans and supported the the RULE of LAW” and partisan politics!
Rhetoric is NOT evidence in the court of law!
That’s not true at all.
China has not been a communist nation since 1978. Private property, freedom to travel, and widespread free enterprise does not jive with any definition of communism. It is now easier to start a company and get rich in China than America. Seven years of living in China in China has allowed me to see the difference. Actually, it only took 3 days.
America slid into economic and political decay a long time ago. It lost me when it became the United States of Torture and most Americans were OK with that.
Sunny129,
All true but one look at how the election review statutes are drafted indicates the *extreme* deference given to the elected/unelected election officials in America’s incredibly balkanized, ineptly administered (hours and hours to “count” in internet age, 3 AM lopsided vote allocations, etc ), and very, very poorly supervised election machinery.
More broadly speaking, the Courts have a non-intervention policy when it comes to “Political Questions” (a vast area of Constitutional law).
But in practice, the “Political Question” jurisprudence tends to be applied with a lot of hypocrisy (ie, Statist actions are rather cravenly deferred to, whereas citizen objections are shown the door due to “lack of standing”…as defined by the Statists).
The rejection of those cases says a lot less about the integrity of the election process than it does about lack of integrity with which a lot of Courts view State action (by elected or unelected officials, consistently or inconsistently applied).
There is a *lot* of intellectually incoherent gibberish in contemporary Constitutional law, as applied in practice.
Beyond the inanity of declaring election processes to largely be unreviewable “political questions”, there is the palpable absurdity of “protected class” jurisprudence under a Constitution with an Equal Protection clause.
So, this is the 40% functional, ever degrading political system we have…but that is nowhere near testimony as to its inerrancy.
@Cas127… that’s utter nonsense.
Whether fraud occurred or not is not a political question. It’s a question of law.
The cases didn’t go anywhere because there was not enough evidence to support the claims made by the plaintiffs. Whatever evidence, affidavits, etc. that were submitted in support of their complaints were easily refuted by the defense.
“Cas127… that’s utter nonsense.
Whether fraud occurred or not is not a political question. It’s a question of law.”
Max, you didn’t read what I actually wrote…there is a (large) body of legal jurisprudence concerning “Political Questions” where the Courts usually (for frequently very weak reasons) defer to actions of the Executive.
You can go to any Constitutional Law book or student guide and read about the (many) cases concerning the doctrine.
Or ask a lawyer, he will confirm the existence of “Political Question” caselaw.
So, far, far from rubbish.
Btw, I am a lawyer.
“The cases didn’t go anywhere because”
The broad point I stated was that the statutes and caselaw surrounding election law in general show a fairly absurd deference to the Executive (elected and unelected) – a la Political Question jurisprudence – so that the level of judicial review in many – if not all – of the defeated cases was of a weak sort.
To point to the loss of the cases as some sort of iron clad confirmation of the integrity of the election process is just…misleading.
Statute, caselaw, and Executive practice make the actual operation of elections a much more ramshackle affair than the average person probably believes.
And repeated public reports of dubious behavior reflect that.
The system could be much, much better and tightly run, but at various times it has served the interests of both parties to perpetuate the amateur hour (usually 3 am…).
At the state capitals, in practice, R and D loyalties sometimes take a back seat to the mutual backscratching of *incumbents*
That is why the election law Statutes/enforcement is so much less than it could be.
You see incumbent backscratching in redistricting and it makes its presence felt in election law too.
Very few people in office want the public to know exactly how the sausage is made.
@Cas127
Your twisted and covoluted response reminds me of one of the Trump’s attorney’s line accusation of ‘fraud in election’ and keep on repeating the same, without producing any evidence then found out that it was the wrong court, for the jurisdiction involved.
Incoherent and utter non-sense on the issue involved.
Sunny129,
“Incoherent and utter non-sense on the issue involved.”
Your lack of reading comprehension skills is nobody’s fault but your own.
You don’t address the specific points I made, you just make vague hand waving gestures about how it is all too “convoluted” for you.
If a brief posting is too “convoluted” for you to understand, why should anybody believe that you have an educated grasp of the Trump election cases, election law statutes in general, or their operation in practice?
Those are all rather more “convoluted”.
Hilarious, about the deliberate diversion to “where’s the evidence”.
The coup says “where’s your evidence?” as they stand by the burn pit, stirring the ashes.
I agree with TXRancher, do not make this a political site! Stick to Business, Finance & Money. Those are the topics that will make us all better investors. Not biased political pieces…
TXRancher’s comment is a political piece. There is nothing in it about business, finance, or economics.
In a country where investments are taxed and money printed (diluting savings)…it is pretty much going to be impossible to separate the political and the financial.
Word. The financial is the political. And vice versa. You can’ t talk about the ocean without talking about water.
Economics and Business are founded in Laws, which are founded in Politics.
TXRancher your statements lack factual accuracy, the courts heard the arguments from Trump’s team about the election, the filings were found to lack merit, evidence and in many cases failed to follow even basic court proceeduce, laden with typographical and factual errors, many of these cases were heard by Trump appointed judges.
Prior to the election Trump had even sabotaged the postal office to make it more difficult for his opponents to vote. Trump lost, get over it.
The United States was founded as a constitutional republic. Then the franchise was extended to unlanded white males, black men, women, 18 year olds and up, and you know what happened then? We became a democracy.
In this democracy, we suffered from an airborne epidemic. You might have heard of it. It has killed 1 in every 1,000 Americans and that number becomes staler with every passing day. To combat the spread of this plague and still allow for representative democracy, states made voting by mail easier.
The primaries winnowed down the candidates. The people voted. The states certified. The courts upheld the result after dozens and dozens of challenges. The Electoral College voted. Congress certified the certification. It is over. O-V-E-R. Your guy lost, but the beauty of this game is that it is repeated every four years. You get to try again, playing with the same rules. Instead of supporting dead-ender thugs in a death cult for a narcissist, how about thinking about a platform that can appeal to a majority of voters?
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
?
?\,,
It’s pretty simple: Biden won, Trump lost. Get over it!!!!! You lost.
Trump lost for all the obvious reasons. Why are the people such sore losers? Watch the videos of the red hat mob…they are clearly some of the dumbest, most deranged people in our society.
If you commit sedition or treason vs. the USA, it may cost you your life. We put them down during the Civil War.
You don’t like the USA? Go try Russia, Iran or Saudi Arabia. This is an imperfect country but we still have some rules. Even Mitch McConnell knows crying foul with NO evidence doesn’t mean you get to turn over an election.
Who would have thought electing a mentally ill charlatan would turn out so terribly?! I am shocked….just shocked I tell you.
“Wolf Street is a business, financial, economic site.”
No politics allowed ..
Sorry but I do not agree .. money = all of the above .. politics is where it is regulated & for political reasons & purposes .. ignoring politics is a bit like leaving your left arm at home.
When, by their foolish thirst for reputation, they [popular leaders] have created among the masses an appetite for gifts and the habit of receiving them, democracy in its turn is abolished, and changes into a rule of force and violence. . . . For the people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others, and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others, …degenerate into perfect savages, and find once more a master or monarch. Polybius 264 -146 BC
He’s no Cincinnatus.
LM,
The quote refers to a long politically degraded population…not Trump (who in all probability *won’t* be a Cincinnatus…
…but DC is already 100% populated by millions of Political Class Lifers who never worked a plow to go home to…ever.)
It has been the same story on the left and right throughout 2020; it is now, the center of national power and elitist safe space has seen the pent up frustration up close. Trump is nothing more than a symptom, and as long as govt works for Wall Street and seeks to enrich themselves at the expense of the rest of the population, you can probably expect more Maiden Square type shenanigans, just back where they are more tolerated, like Ferguson, Kenosha, Minneapolis, etc.
Thinking about it, with all the Russiagate stuff, if Trump had one, we probably could have seen the exact same thing, and who knows, maybe we will, unless the masses are appeased with some helicopter money. Either way, I think being long popcorn will be a good bet! :)
Most of our politicians are bought off by China. The people refuse to acknowledge that, instead screaming “racist!” at anybody who suggests it. With a populace this stupid, a descent into communism is deserved.
communism
My father was a communist .. he would eat lunch watching B A (Bob) Santamaria .. an Australian, Roman Catholic, anti- Communist political activist .. on TV every Sunday & at some point in the program dad would throw his piece of bread at the TV & cures the well to do know all who was against equality for all.
I used to watch with him sometimes & sometimes I agreed with Bob.
Isn’t the word communism just convenient name calling ??
Yes .. socialism has been taken too far & so has capitalism.
I proclaim 2021 the year of the Five Emperors. Now they elect themselves and soon they will auction off the throne.
Do they have good burgers?
They’ll hold all the pickles, the meat, and lettuce because “Ripping you off does not upset us”. We’ll have it “their way”.
No, just good barbecues.
Yes, many like their corruption well barbecued!
“I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a lifestyle today.”
I think this is also partly the poisoned fruit of a long history of undue US tolerance for electoral fraud and the associated culture of concession (remember how Gore was savaged in 2000 for having the audacity to demand a recount?). This is the end result: no trust in the electoral process.
Nonsense. Fraud in US elections exists but is far in the margins. There is no evidence whatsoever of widespread fraud. Those who claim there is are only doing so because whatever election’s outcome doesn’t suit them.
I appreciate your vigorous defense of reason and fact MP
Seconded.
Then why were there no less than 50x affidavit’s by private individuals stated that they had first-hand witnessed election fraud in PA, WI, MI, and AZ?? I think it is a felony to make false witness in all 50 States.
The judicial system is as corrupt as the political system in the United States. Look at the District court judges in D.C. that have attempted to thwart Presidential pardons. The Supreme Court failed to review the evidence presented in at least two suits they even agreed to docket. Some tend to ignore evidence that is counter to their world views.
It may have not been 16 million fraudulent votes, but why should we put up with even hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes in a nation that put a man on the Moon. The Poor Loser thesis does not wash. The Dominion voting software could be hacked by a third-grader, and has a very questionable ownership string overseas.
If former President Jimmy Carter sees the mail-in ballot as a recipe for voter fraud, then isn’t there the possibility that the process was gravely flawed in November, 2020??
There are tens of millions of Americans that consider the 2020 election result as illegitimate. Some of these disenfranchised citizens made an unscheduled visit to Capitol Hill today, and they will be back to D.C. in even greater numbers in the months ahead. They have awakened the Sleeping Giant said the Japanese admiral after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
No. No. No.
You are only counting one side of those court cases, as if the other side of the case doesn’t exist at all.
In reality, in response to those complaints to which those affidavits were attached, the attorneys for the defendants provided incontrovertible evidence that directly showed that the plaintiffs’ evidence, including those affidavits, were either false, wrong, misleading, misinformed, or otherwise irrelevant.
The courts most-certainly weighed these arguments and evidence and found for the defendants… in many, if not most instances done so by GOP-appointed judges (some even by the current administration). The oft repeated notion that the courts “ignored” said affidavits is a bald-faced, dangerous lie intended to mislead the public who are not versed in the legal adjudication process.
The hand recount in GA and countless hand count audits performed in many other places have shown no evidence whatsoever that Dominion or any other vote tallying machines switched votes to other candidates.
Simple statistics- have the country supports republicans and half the country supports Democrats. Any fraud is gonna be roughly equal by both parties. It would take a statistical miracle to have fraud impact the election. Even if there was fraud, I argue both sides had same opportunity to cheat. So it was fair and square. If you cheated and didn’t get caught, good for you.
All is fair here.
And this is exactly the culture of being comfortable with electoral fraud that I was referring to. And that’s before getting into gerrymandering. voting disenfranchisement tactics etc
In an era of narrow victories and contested elections the US will need to purge itself of this culture if it wants to avoid further damage to its political system.
To be clear: I am not and was not saying that _this_ election was stolen: I don’t know, only that given the peculiarities of the US electoral system and the culture around it it is difficult to feel certain that it wasn’t.
Jeremy, this is for Max Power above your comment: Max, you will never convince 71 Million voters of your fallacious arguments. The die has already been cast. No, No, No YOURSELF.
Really? No need to perform signature verification in many states? How does that not invite fraud? Maybe you’ll say ‘not enough fraud’ to change the outcome. Why allow this kind of fraud at all?
Oh I know, the old “you’re trying to suppress my vote” charade.
Georgia did a signature verifications and determined 8 did not match. They contacted all 8 and 5 said that was their signature and 3 were signed by the voters spouses.
The sad fact is that in the current system a US voter has no idea whether or how their vote was tallied. Some take it on faith that the election system works. I have lost that faith.
I have lost that faith because I have been lied to over and over by the mass media, by the leadership of both parties, and by enough other Establishment figureheads that I no longer trust any of them. If the people in power cannot be trusted to tell me the truth, they certainly can’t be trusted to run an accurate election which might jeopardize their power. This was as true in 2000 as it is today; it’s not a partisan issue.
I have lost that faith because I have read about the historical Daley machine, the Tammany Hall machine (New York), the Philadelphia machine, a host of other political machines, and most recently the Battle of Athens (Tennessee, 1946) when a group of returning veterans overthrew their local political vote-fraud machine.
I have lost that faith because I’m a scientist – I understand how difficult it actually is to count events accurately with various measuring systems. I have lost that faith because electronic voting systems are insecure; because paper ballots can be forged; and because, when criminal voting fraud is alleged, it is blatantly insufficient to respond by having the perps “recount” or “audit” their own work. (A recount makes sense if an error is suspected, but when fraud is in question a forensic process is required, evidence must not be destroyed, and so on. If that fraud being alleged is believed by a large portion of the public, then the forensic process must also be made public to clear things up. This was not done.)
I have lost my faith in the U.S. election system because, despite the obvious need for a rigorous counting-verification process, at least 4 states this year demonstrated that they had no intention of living up to the single most basic requirement of having elections: accurate votes.
Now, banks can keep track of everyone’s money for decades, to the penny in most cases, with only rare errors. Why is that here, in the same nation, the same elites cannot properly count a few million votes? Double-entry accounting, dual-party verification of each transaction, and truly independent audits would seem like a good starting point…
I completely agree with Karl Marx that voting doesn’t matter but the counting does. I hear bleating sheep mouth the corporate news mantra “no widespread fraud”. The same system that gave the bleating sheep the Gulf of Tonken and WMD propaganda are whom the bleating sheep are parroting. Government and Politics always embraces the lowest standard possible. Voting in elections have reached the low standard of a convenience store. After you buy your beer and lottery tickets you can also grab a bunch of blank ballots going out the door. Parrots ate always yaking away inside their cages .
I think it was Joseph Stalin who said “voting doesn’t matter but its who counts the votes that matters.”
Wisdom Seeker, regarding the political machine illustrated in Athens,Tennessee, 1946, I suggest examination of the far more successful, for its donors, controllers and parasites, long term political machine originating in San Francisco which extends statewide and nationally.
In the last 35 years, a currently serving governor, 3 senators, Boxer, Feinstein & Harris, a soon to be president, and multiple official have all gotten their start in this rotten borough.
More onerous than city hall are the politics of civic decay and cultural suicide that have metastasized nationwide from our local universities and non-profits, which employ 17% of all workers in SF, per superior court judge and ex-legislator Quentin Kopp.
You forgot to mention the Bilderbergers and Sasquatch.
Politics is barely a sideshow in this country. All politicians are just puppets for the master class. Jerome is the most important person in Americans’ life, not Trump or even their spouse. Jerome says if you have a job tomorrow, and how far your dollars go. Now the Fed controls all the asset markets, they are de facto the country’s leadership. No one cares to notice, and they’re not even elected. The markets don’t care about the political circus, it knows who is really in charge.
Attempted violent overthrow of the government is treason. This sedition is the worse threat to America since 9-11-2001. Trump is the worse president of my lifetime. The rioters broke windows and climbed into the capitol building threatening national leaders. Rioters fought hand to hand combat with police. Some were talking to a reporter about making Trump a dictator in charge, There have been arrests for two days. People are dead.
I’ll take the other side. These were peaceful protests. Isn’t that what the mainstream media said as they egged on BLM looters and arsonists? Trump was wrong to incite this crowd but there are plenty of pissed off people that after four years of shjt by the likes of Nadler, Schiff, Pelosi and Schumer are fed up. The mainstream media has worked overtime to vilify Trump and to quickly label any conservative protestors as ‘White Supremacists’ and to incite division in this country for the sake of ratings. There’s a lot of blame to go around but what you saw today was emotions boiling over after watching the endless protests in Portland and Seattle by the other side, condoned and even encouraged by the local leftist politicians. People are damned tired of seeing the president mocked and disrespected by the so-called late night comedians and jerks like De Niro. No president should have to have endured what Trump endured after he was elected. Yeah he went off the rails promoting a demonstration in the Capitol.
You nailed it!
*weaksauce*
You can do better. Put some effort into it.
Really? That’s all you’ve got? Spoken like a true liberal. No counter argument, just disparage the messenger.
Again weak. You can write a better attack.
Put some effort into it. Better name calling please. Insult my parents at least.
Use a thesaurus if you need to.
Mocked? Whaddya mean?
You elect a clown you get a circus. Simple as that.
He has cheated his entire life and finally over reached. Done. Now it’s Judge Judy time. The only question is do they have orange jumpsuits big enough?
Sounds like you didn’t watch anything, instead deciding to engage in hyperbole to try to craft a narrative that fits in line with your magical thinking. I watched protesters who were asking police if they were ok, saying “we support you, we don’t want to hurt you.”
“We don’t want to hurt you.” “We’re on your side” say the rioters and insurrectionists as they forced their way through police lines and beat police with sticks and flagpoles. Utter nonsense.
I just can’t believe the restraint of these police. In the BLM protests people were beaten and arrested by police for standing in front of their lines. These people were able to push their way through them with little to no consequences.
David, and this is my last comment tonight, where was your outrage this summer when entire business districts were destroyed, citizens were beaten, policemen were attacked, and sections of cities were taken over by so-called protestors bused in by deep-pockets!!!
“Threatening national leaders”, please point out three “leaders” for me, I can’t see them. One fatality at the hands of a very poorly trained and operated District of Columbia or National Park Service police force. Look at the history of excessive force reactions in Washington over the last 40 years before you judge. We are not even close to sedition at this point.
The Capitol Police are actually held in very high regard for their training and professionalism. I can’t speak for DC metro cops.
Wellstone, have lived in the D.C. metro area at least 50 years of my young life, and beg to differ. They have been involved in several wrongful death lawsuits over the years. Not impressed.
*were*
Taking selfies with the rioters has permanently destroyed their reputation.
Wrong. They are completely incompetent. I’ve seen multiple incidents.
Turn off CNN. This ain’t no where near an attempted over throw of Govt. Too much time in front of the Cable Conflictanator will drive you mad. It is however, a heart breaker if you believe in our Constitutional Republic with a Federal Govt with democratic representation. Trump hate or Biden hate will not move the ball. I wish we all could agree and act on a real fact that the Electorate has allowed the Fed and Congress to kill sound money. Not many believe,care or even know what sound money is. This is a defect that will ,and has, overthrown a Republic.
The facts: The President of the USA told his mob they needed to come to Washington, DC on 1-6-20 and he would “be with them.”
They arrived and he told them they must “march on the Capitol”, “stop the stealing of the election”….”do it now or we will have no country left.” and that the “election was stolen from him.”
So his mob went to the Capitol as the votes were being processed to technically make the man who defeated the President in the last election our new President.
It’s not CNN. It’s reality. Reality.
Total consensus on more QE in the Fed minutes released today.
Jerome has set the controls for the heart of the sun. This goes until it explodes.
Central bankers are the enemy.
It’s a fallen world we live in. We all struggle. Everyone needs grace and the inner peace to choose a more compassionate path. Im trying to take things one step at a time. This year, I’m trying to to do a good turn daily.
Those “scum” have the same vote, rights and privileges you do. Just doing a job Americans won’t do. Note that stealing packages off doorsteps, to be replaced or refunded by the world’s richest man,* is better than rapearations.
*”Package never received” usually gets a free replacement or refund. likewise,
cancel your order an hour or so after it has shipped-easily checked online, and it is on the truck, you will often get a “keep it for free” message. :-)
“but refuses to accept the will of the voters”. That’s an interesting statement. Such certainty that the will of the voters was to elect Joe Biden. I am not quite so certain of anything. We are in a period of history where I reckon everyone is left to determine for themselves what the truth is. Elected officials are always a source of lies, but now with the television media in full propaganda mode, it’s hard to tell up from down. Experts continuously peddle lies. Take the hedonic adjustments to inflation as an example. Every book is cooked and every narrative is spun to its maximum effect. I think this “crazy banana republic moment” is just getting started.
That’s cute. Did you say the same in 2016? Or when taking a knee at a game was considered seditious?
In other news, the National Association of Manufacturers has called for the 25th Amendment in a statement.
Yes, I have been referring to the corporate media as propagandists for a good long time now. That’s sort of what got Trump elected in the first place. If all of the apparatus of lies is against him, he is clearly the best choice.
“If all of the apparatus of lies is against him, he is clearly the best choice.”
Sorry, this is a special kind of logic that does not resonate with me.
And Happy New Year Wolf. I had resolved not to comment, but you lured me this time with your post. ;-)
Oh, you know, kind of a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” sort of deal. Or, I like to think of it more as he was the human grenade thrown into a room filled with filthy villains. I guess it wouldn’t resonate if you feel that our current system is functional and benign, rather than malicious and parasitic.
The Blacklist S3:E23 – Red: “I know so many zealots, men and women who choose a side, an ideology in which to interpret the world, but to get up every single day and do the hard work of deciding what to believe , what’s right today, when to stand up or stand down, that’s courage.”
This is nihilistic garbage. I’m not a demo but Biden an by a sizable margin. Voting in this country isn’t perfect but he won by millions of votes. Trump is a buffoon who can’t admit he lost. Good riddance.
“they went to the Capitol, broke into the Capitol and stormed through the hallways. ”
Not one person who “broke in” is identified. Must make them Trump supporters. Who else would break anything????
They have been liveblogging at Parler and Twitter.
At least a few of them have been.
Also, there might have been the occasional identifying bit of paraphernalia.
We all need to recognize that this is all theater and the actors are trying to get us to fight against one another while those in control continue to print and print and print some more money.
A woman was shot dead.
And lots of arrests are forthcoming.
They better be. I can’t believe that there were only 60 arrests while hundreds stormed the Capitol of all places.
Dozens or hundreds of arrests were common during BLM protests, but attacking the heart of American democracy barely saw any arrests?
The BLM protests had thousands of associated rioters and looters. A small minority have done prison time.
Or to be more clear at this point…An armed government employee shot and killed an unarmed American Veteran on public property. Let’s see what else comes out.
She was a traitor trying to over throw the government. She deserved what she got.
Like the occupy movements? Shall we just go ahead with the cannons on them with no facts. At what point did she burn the capitol to the ground? Get some real facts before you jump. Or maybe we should just start screaming to defund all federal armories.
So what! Those jokers think their little hats make them Special?
There is plenty enough footage on the internet for everyone to educate themselves about what happens when one rush armed police in America.
“Stocks go up” is the purpose. Everything a president does is aimed at raising Share Value. That’s the only job of a president. All other verbalized “purposes” are meaningless noise.
Trump does his job in unusual ways, but he gets it done, and that’s ALL THAT COUNTS.
If anything this might encourage the need of statehood for D.C. Despite being asked the D.C. guard did NOT mobilize. They, unlike Virginia or Maryland are not mobilized by the governor of the state but by the President.
A mayor may request but in this case the D.O.D. sat on their Trumpish hind ends.
Much can also be said for the singular lack of arrests. Had this been the same number of blacks breaking into the Congressional building you could be assured thy would have be arrested. (assaulting officers – no problemo if you belong to the M.A.G.M.A crowd.
Pence authorized the National Guard.
He didn’t want to watch the Republic burn.
Drama Queen much?
I disagree with your assessment, which of course is merely a political opinion and not related to your economic analysis specialty. As I see it, Trump is a mentally ill, sociopathic, malignant narcissist (my apologies to all mentally ill, sociopathic, malignant narcissists in bringing you down toTrump’s level). But if we can get through the next two weeks we will have survived him. Democracy will have proven itself. True Trumpism has exposed how many right wing nutcase people we have in the country, but they were always there, Trump simply brought them out of the closet. So life will go on. The sociopaths like Cruz have exposed who and what they are and they will be watched closely and held in check. The Dems are taking over and the great amount of damage caused by Trump will slowly be repaired. Given the huge amount of liquidity and the optimism of the Democrats, infrastructure spending, etc. this likely will be a very good year in the market.
LOL at the idea that the Democrats spending is going to repair anything. We’ve already spent $8 trillion on this recession. Do you think another $4 trillion is not going to destroy the dollar? We’re talking over 10 times spent on the 2008 recession.
Yep, the Dems are going to “save” us from the fires of the Greater Depression and a fiscally insolvent nation. I sure as heck want to know how so I can take the other side of the trade. Let’s see how the Dollar does in the days ahead as our Banana Republic starts to spread its wings for all the world to see.
Fires of the depression are not the worry of the day.
I fully believe there will be huge financial consequences, just not in 2021. Liquidity will drive the market far higher…the repercussions are down the road
I don’t want a pony. Just someone else to pay for solar panel siding and roof on my house and an electric car.
Shoulda bought crypto. It pays for everything and you never have to work again, or so I’m told.
Don’t worry, “Joe” will send the money……FREE!!
This kind of comment is just the worst. You have no proof or idea what will happen and you are sowing a kind of political divisiveness without any factual basis. You should be ashamed of yourself.
When Trump was elected I was horrified but the very next day at work I said to all I spoke with, well I’ll give the guy a chance. I do not know what he will do and it’s wrong to pre-judge him for a job he has not even done yet. So I tried to remain hopeful and I encouraged others to give him some time before criticizing.
He ended up being a pathetic loser after all, but I still gave him a chance …
“This kind of comment is just the worst. You have no proof or idea what will happen and you are sowing a kind of political divisiveness without any factual basis. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
I happen to think your comment about poor people was “the worst.” Or maybe it was your made up statistics about CNN being 80% fact, 20% fiction, but Fox being 20% fact, 80% fiction. I think you’re “the worst” and should be ashamed of yourself.
At 77 years old and a war veteran who lived according to the book and worked hard for decades to experience the American Dream, I am totally disgusted with politicians in this country. They, as a GROUP, have gotten to the point where cheating, lying, stealing, and other corruptible acts are commonplace and done by them for the “good” of the 0.1% at the expense of the rest of us. And it’s done in full view of the voting public and the whole world! What balls!
This is so sickening that myself and my 65+ year old friends won’t even watch or listen to the news anymore because it is filed with half truths, blame placing and only meant to stir the “pot”.
No wonder people all over this planet look down on Americans.
And now once this last four years is over and “purged”, we will get a new dose of the same from another band of thieves. It sucks big time.
I’ll bet this post gets deleted but I got it off my chest anyway.
Anthony A.,
Many people share your feelings.
Right, and that’s exactly why the BLM rioters did what they did over the summer and why the rioters today did what they did. Rioting is the language of the unheard. Whether or not any particular case of rioting is justified is in the eye of the beholder.
Agreed. And the grievances in the US are HUGE and have been ignored and brushed off by Washington for decades.
Yes. And regardless of whether people on the left and right are willing to admit it, many of the grievances of the black population and the grievances of white middle America are the same. They have been sold out, and their wages are depressed by the availability of immigrant labor and/or the lack of good jobs due to globalization and “free trade.” Meanwhile, Fed and other government policy makes it as such that they can never afford houses, education, health care, and many other things that have suffered crazy inflation.
Neither George Floyd nor Trump losing in November were the cause of the riots. They were the catalysts.
One side still waves the Confederate flag, doe.
Best solution would be some type of amicable divorce between right and left.
Honestly, how much longer do people think two sets of laws, an inversion of life incentives, demonizing/ doxxing those with opposing views, cultural destruction, managed explanations, and never-ending fleecing of people is going to be tolerated? (Among countless other affronts to sanity; “A-Woman” being the latest example of unfathomable stupidity?)
Hello, McFly?
Not you though, right Wolf? Happy to see the next hand picked king.
The Kavanaugh hearings, the Collusion Delusion, the purely partisan impeachment. Adam Schiff — bald faced liar. Swalwell eager to expose Trump’s so called high crimes and misdemeanors only to be exposed as someone who cavorted with a Chinese spy. You can’t make this stuff up. And the mainstream media complicit in all of it. They stopped being journalists and became an arm of the Democrat party. And we wonder why this country is divided and pissed off?
Let me take a wild guess. You probably think FOX, OAN and Newsmax are the truth or are they also the mainstream media that’s now an arm of the democrat party as you mentioned?
And you watch CNN like a good little sheep, right?
If it weren’t for Fox we wouldn’t have anyone to expose what the democrats are up to. The mainstream media, and now it seems the big social media Tech companies, have become an arm of the DNC.
BTW, your response was entirely in keeping with that of the typical liberal. You didn’t dispute anything I said, you just killed the messenger — not me in this case, but Fox and the other outlets. Afraid of the truth much?
Is that all you can do is “guess”?
When I look at mainstream media, I look at both CNN and Fox. I am under no illusion that either side has the whole truth or is lacking bias.
CNN is annoying in that they push the sanctimony that people on the right hate so much, and justifiably so. Fox is annoying because while CNN reports about 80% facts and 20% editorialization, Fox reports about 20% facts and 80% editorialization.
Both could be better for sure, but Fox is definitely worse.
ANTHONY
I think you nailed it. We have known for decades, but especially the past 2 decades or so – that ANY elected representative in DC “might” arrive with good intentions, but they all transform into gift-giving machines for special interests (Big Labor, Big Pharma, Wall Street, Big Green, Big “fill in the blank”). Some fly more under the radar than others, but the result is that Trumpazoids and Left wing wack-a-doodles and about 85% of those in between those 2 fringes are disenfranchised. In the infamous words of Fat Albert’s friend Rudy “….You all just like school at night – NO CLASS…”
The unfortunate (but probably inevitable) result is rioting without a cause – seems to happen with all races creeds and colors. It’s not about who’s more victimized or wronged – it’s just about wrong.
That’s why I am getting a puppy. We all need puppies. A puppy will be better than taking up drinking. Go puppies
Bet, as long as the puppy doesn’t bark non-stop out my back door, count me in.
What if puppy ends up turning into an adult dog?
Right on brother!
Anthony I’m right there with you. Votes, if they even count at all, are only a false choice: “Which of the two legalized crime syndicates will I support this time?”
And don’t talk about “lesser of two evils”, because they both work for the same Establishment corporate masters. For over 20 years now, no matter which party won, Wall Street and the other elite insiders always came out ahead of the workers and savers.
Hear, hear.
Termites in the leadership of both parties have spent the last four decades destroying the house of democracy from within. The fact that a guy like Trump got elected, and could do what he did, shows how rotten the system had already become. National politicians are a bunch of craven hypocrites, every last one of them. There is no honor in standing tall amid this wreckage.
No wonder the people are angry–none feel heard, but many will find ways to make themselves heard.
Even before this, the USA healthcare is terrible; the education just keeps getting worse, the US has a University System that’s a disgrace and full of corruption and both the two party system and the fact the president is not decided by a majority vote make democracy a joke.
Oh, let’s not forget the rampant racism, the violence in the streets and the fact the police force is so corrupt they don’t even care to pretent otherwise while having body cameras that film them all the time.
And yes this already was a problem, has been one for a while.
Yes there are a whole lot if worse places to live in, there may be places with more corruption, but if you ask American themselves if things are worse that a meee twenty years ago the big mayority are goibg to say the answer is yes.
Look at the numbers, look at the stadistics, ask students today what they think their future looks like in twenry years.
Is not pretty.
The problem with a simple direct-majority national election is that the entire country would be controlled solely by the occupants of the major cities. Our founders were wiser than the current batch of politicians.
Totally agree lh,, and IIRC, even at the time of the creation of our constitution it was known that the majority of big city votes were totally controlled by some sort of food for votes type of situation,, which appears to have persisted to be the same thing today.
Kinda funny and fulfilling of the concept of, ”what goes around comes around.”
Anthony, I agree. It’s especially hurtful as I can’t even speak rationally to friends and family back in the States- it’s like trying to talk to someone perched on a window ledge- one wrong word and all reason flies away and hell breaks loose.
I’ve never felt the visceral hatred toward Trump- he was always a tool in way over his head IMO- but he was always a symptom of the problem(s), not the problem itself. My fear is that after all this ‘blue wave’ relief, America will wake up one day to find someone/something much worse in his place.
Bring on the paddy wagon’s and start arresting people one by one…it may take a few days at most. Who will ever hire someone with federal charges on their record?
I just drove past my state capitol since it is nearby. Most of the them are relatively young and nieve looking. If they are arrested while trying to overthrow the US government their lives will change in ways they cannot begin to imagine.
But I’ll bet you were fine with the nightly peaceful protests in Portland. They tried their darndest to destroy Federal buildings but they get a pass right? Only conservative protestors are a threat to the republic.
– comedian
Thanks for that correction. I said it would take a few days – I meant to say a few hours. Best to you and yours.
Police and deputized federal mercenaries were the prime aggressors in Portland and the use of force by them was massively disproportional for over 100 nights. I live there.
Wow. So the men and women manning the line against brick and firebomb throwing radicals were the aggressors?
You belong in Portland.
Wow. That is staggeringly inaccurate.
I’m guessing you’ve never been tear gassed, bum rushed and assaulted by the police and soldiers while sitting in a park watching people express their opinions.
Experiences like that tens to shape one’s opinions.
The late night activities in Portland have nothing to do with peaceable assembly.
You mean like George Washington who never got another position under Grosse Britannia? Or all those other folks, both rich and poor, that thought it best to finally dump Parliament and Curly Top George in order to set up a system that might work toward a common good for all so long as we could sort out the enemies within and dispose of them accordingly and as necessary to prevent the kind of evils going on for the last half century? Forget King and Country, we should all serve the corporate masters as they are benevolent dictators with full rights of ownership of the legislature…so say our courts.
The new congressional motto proposed…”Let conversation cease. Let laughter flee. Abandon hope all ye who enter here, for this is the place where death delights to befuddle the living.” It can go over the doorways at the Fed and on Wall Street to boot.
To be fair the market started the year on a down note. The one thing of conseqence today was the jump in yields and a pause in the dollars destruction. Saudi Arabia cut another 1Mbbls of production. The GA elections cleared out a lot of doubt, and the rest is political theatre. A great moment for the victors to be a bit self-righteous, they earned it. Once the fear passes then we see where this market resets. Inflation seems like a good call.
Keep a close eye on the Saudis and Russians. They are playing a game to get the price of Brent over $60. They need the cash. My guess is that if the “new band of thieves” in DC have their way with crude oil exploration and production destruction in this country, we will see $4 gasoline in a couple of years. (Well Ca may see $6 though).
@ Anthony A
Don’t forget Covid 19. It is NOT going away. Vaccines are invented illusions ( by WAll ST & Govts) to dream that back to pre-covid economy, very soon.
NONE of the vaccines are proven, with certainty that they will prevent viral infection or prevent transmission. By mid summer promises will prove to be fake sugared purposely with LIES.
PCR viral tests are unreliable!
New strains of virus from South Africa will be a challenge, soon!
This is not accurate.
Nothing destroys the economy quite like high fuel prices. Well, at least the Dems plan on forcing everybody into electric cars they can’t afford. Why do Dems hate the poor so much, anyway? All they try to do is make their lives more and more expensive and miserable. It’s a shame the poor can’t figure that out.
Sometimes you have to sacrifice some things to make yourself and your surroundings better.
Most of the poor I’ve seen have huge fat guts. It makes it hard to sympathize with someone who can’t even take care of their own body.
Harsh words, sorry, but true.
@Zantetsu
I think PEP and NVO are great long term stock plays to continue to capitalize on the trends.
That’s a way to help capitalize on both ends.
Fifteen gallons of gas weighs about 120 pounds. A Tesla is always moving a dead load of around 1200 pounds of batteries, so acceleration is expensive. Regenerative braking is about 70% efficient so it’s lossy when you repeat accelerating that 1200 pounds. It’s like always having an extra 7-8 people in the car.
Checks and balances? OAC recently mentioned that the three branches of Government were the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Administration. Apparently there are some who believed her because there was no backlash to that idiotic statement. We have fools in Congress leading fools in the Electorate.
Our students can’t find Canada on a map, can’t form a complete sentence, can’t do simple mathematical problems, have no idea what Civics mean, etc. The list is long. My personal belief is that they’re not being taught anything. Instead, they are being indoctrinated.
Plato was spot on when he described the Ship of Fools. He was probably the first person to accurately describe a future country called the United States of America.
We are a Ship of Fools. Sadly, nobody seems to care anymore.
Some of us care, but at over 75 years old, this age group has no pull.
People ask me why I quit voting. I tell them I voted conservatively for 50 years and things became “progressively” worse. It could have been my fault so I quit.
Listen to John Taylor Gatto about the purpose and effect of regimented education
@Satya Mardelli
fyi: Not exclusive to democrats!
New Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville(Alabama-R) botches history facts, including three branches of government
“Our government wasn’t set up for one group to have all three branches of government — wasn’t set up that way,” Tuberville continued, saying incorrectly: “You know, the House, the Senate, and the executive.”
Satya nailed it.
Plus, the more sophisticated our electronics become, the less people think. All ages.
I use my electronics to improve my thinking. For example this electronic place right here is full of people that can think. For the first time ever we have all the information in the world at our fingertips. Parents and the educational system are the reason people are illiterate and innumerate.
Caring isn’t a strategy. Furthermore, AOC is no dummy–she knew that cancel culture had “disappeared” Chief Roberts. Once Biden packs all of the courts throughout the land, AOC will suddenly begin pontificating about the role of the “fourth branch of govt.”
Seriously, I agree with you. 70% of American youth are not considered fit for military service–THAT FACT SHOULD GAIN THE EMPIRE’S ATTENTION. (After all, the corporate cronies sucking up dollars at our expense are not known for doing the dying in service to “our” nation, despite “our all being in this together”. Obviously, the indoctrination of American kids by the public school systems of the land is for the purpose of creating obedient NEW WORLD ORDER CITIZENRY. YOU CAN CHANGE THIS OUTCOME–HOMESCHOOL YOUR KIDS, SO THAT THEY ACQUIRE A FACTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD AND DO NOT BECOME “SNOWFLAKES”.
I actually think that promising people money to vote for you is also emblematic of a banana republic. That’s not to say that we haven’t done it indirectly in the U.S. before, but this was unprecedented.
Yang literally ran on giving money to the people (UBI).
Yes, but he wasn’t a serious candidate. Ossoff and Warnock obviously were.
40 years ago someone was talking about money for nothing AND chicks for free.
Great band – Dire Straits. We play that song in our performances. :-)
Yes, Loeffler who got $3.5 million in farm subsidies and made millions insider trading was spot on about denying $2000 to the average moocher citizen.
Completely irrelevant. Regardless of how you feel about farm subsidies, they aren’t given in exchange for votes.
That is hilarious but please carry on and have a nice rest of your day.
I just want those farmers drug tested weekly and made to work at least 20 hours a week minimum.
I am sick of those farmers sitting at home smoking that dope listening to gangsta rap.
I agree. The Dem Senate candidates in GA both promised $2K. This should be illegal and considered a form of bribery for votes. This is the achilles heel of democracy — the fact that politicians can buy votes through promises of a financial nature.
Yes. I hardly recognize America anymore, and am certainly not proud of it.
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” has become “Give me the money!”
“Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what’s for lunch.” – Orsen Wells
Vote Democratic in Georgia and I’ll send you a free $2000 – Joe Biden on national TV the day before the run-off.
Wolf speaks the truth and is my go source for a real common sense voice. This is a sad day for our country on so many levels. I pray to God to save our nation. On our coins says “in God we Trust”. My fear is the truth is it should be “in the market we Trust”.
I really can’t believe that “In God We Trust” hasn’t been taken off the money by now. Did the politicians miss that?
Heck, statues of U,S, heroes are being destroyed and schools don’t teach history anymore, so how did they miss removing the slogan from the money?
They only carry plastic. Money is too vulgar to behold.
Anthony, to take a statue of Robert E. Lee out of the U.S. Capitol is a sign of a country trying to deny its own history. General Lee was a graduate of West Point, a Northern school that my late father attended in 1946. TO CHANGE HISTORY IS TO IGNORE ITS LESSONS.
One of my best friends is a West Point graduate and ended his career as a Lt. Colonel and saw duty in the Gulf war. He’s still active with recruiting young men for the corp. He is so sick of what’s going on I can’t describe it.
I agree. I am not for removing Lee statues by executive action. A person who did something bad does not need to be remembered as a bad person. A person can be remembered for the entirety of their life. Many accounts of Lee are as a gentleman and military genius. Seems enough to deserve a statue, even if he supported slavery and fought against America. No one is perfect. Maybe we should just have no statues if perfection is the standard.
Typical lib, put up statues to people who came in second. Second place is first loser.
Don’t worry about winning, here is your participation trophy for just showing up.
I am waiting for them to remove the statue of Thomas Jefferson from the Jefferson Memorial because he was a slave owner. Maybe rename the Washington Monument too.
Wall Street is immune to the forces of a Coup??? I came here to see what Wolf had to say about whatever effect sedition has on the economy. And lo & behold, there is none! When can we stop calling it a K shaped recovery & just admit we got an economy for the rich and an economy for the poor?
I came here to see what the newly minted deficit hawks had to say. ;-)
lol nice one
Wolf,
The other bit of banana ‘republicry’ you did Not skim on, are the massive, apparent efforts at massaging election results in one direction only with the blessings and vigorous assistance of Big Le(ga$$y) Media, Big Social SiliCON – as has been their way for weeks.. months.. years.. , and where most of the members of the Cong & Haus never fail in adorning themselves in latest of in-fashion’ .. whilst flinging, almost off-handly one would think .. ‘memorabilia’ of a different kind amongst the livestock – essentially labled: “You will own NOTHING, and like IT.. or Die”
Concerns not addressed .. will only fester!
The Paris exchange rallied from 90 in 1939 to 615 in the end of 1944. Not too shabby!
Proof that the Plunge Protection Team exists.
” But it’s not totally unexpected, given the game of brinkmanship some Republicans have been playing in recent months.”
No mention of Madame Pelosi’s brinkwomanship. Your bias and
politics are exposed. Me no like.
The Banana Republic company will have a field day coming up with new taglines.
#ABananaRepublicYouCanBelieveIn
#BananasNotChaos
#ABananaADayKeepsChaosAway
etc,etc
Well on the bright side, after January 20th;
everything will go back to normal,
the virus will disappear, there will be no media coverage of increased corruption, there will be new wars started to boost the economy, guns will be outlawed so only criminals have guns, all inner cities will become BLM zones, internal vaccination passports will be introduced to control internal/international travel, climate change will make a come back, green everything is back, more $2,000 checks, Chinese import tariffs will be eliminated, more good jobs shipped overseas, unemployment will increase, Joe’s first foreign trip will be to China, US/Mexican wall construction will stop and newly built wall will be torn down, cheap labor will flood into the country, the stock market will go up, nobody will be evicted, student debt will disappear, education costs will increase rapidly, the health system will get more expensive, taxes will go up, government regulations will increase, lockdowns will increase, billionaires will become trillionaires, Hunter will become a billionaire, the US Chamber of Commerce will be back in the drivers seat, congress will become richer, the dollar will become more worthless,
and the Fed will print enough money to make everyone a millionaire!
So, what is there not to like!
Everything will now be great!
Happy 2021!
You are my favorite financial writer and one with a heart.. Looks like I need to increase my monthly contribution.. Good for you, Wolf..
I agree! I applaud Wolf Richer for stating the obvious about these horrific events, if it the real snowflakes get the panties in a wad. I tried for 3 decades to understand a “cult of personality” in the form of Adoph Hitler.
I never could understand how Germans supported an insane man who was clearly bringing destruction to their country and the world. I watched films, read books, went to Germany, etc.
But 2016-2021 finally allowed me to understand what a Cult of Personality looks/sounds like in the modern world: the red hats.
What’s that old saying? Mental patients has taken over the asylum or something to that effect. Well, the market and what’s going on around this country is a perfect illustration. Perhaps we’re heading into the point of no return, decline of an empire and the beginning to an end.
For now, the market is invincible, bad news is good news, good news is great news…I think I should just adopt the Seinfeld Constanza mentality and just do the opposite of what reality or what make sense and go the opposite direction. Looks like so far that’s been working for all those Tesla, Boeing, Amazon investors since March..crash will probably never happen in my lifetime.
Phoenix:
Your first sentence reminded me of watching the 1975 movie “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” starring Jack Nickleton, while working in a Siberian coal mine in 1983!
We used to roar with laughter at the unmistable parallel of the movie’s insane assylm and the police state we found ourselves in!
However, we had a hell of a time trying to explain the movie to our Russian interpreters because the movie confirmed their worst fears about America per Russian propaganda!
In a tweet Wednesday night, Trump said, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.
Banana Republic Leader speaks, koolaid drinkers gulp it down, just like the Jim Jones refreshments — utterly insane that so many people are so willing to drink that tribal BS
White male grievance is a helluva drug.
He is a contemptible moron
Seems like there are only 300-500 in this mob. No one mentions the size of the crowd, just the chaos. This is Trump’s last gift to msnbc and cnn.
My goodness what will the media do after Trump, go back to actual reporting?
This is not serious at all. Wake me up when 50,000 armed people enter Washington to effect change. All I see is posturing from politicians on both sides.
This country has become one great big joke.
No, they will opt for layoffs. After the Trump show, interest will wane and the crooks will be able to do their thing without the drama.
That being said, I can see a market for “insurrection ” merchandise.
One important lesson learned, the revolution will be televised!
I spent almost an hour this morning (the 8th) with web searches for an estimate of the number of people around the Capitol on Wednesday. Found nothing, nada, zippo. Only the fact that the park district had increased the permit from 5000 to 30,000. No estimates published by the right, left, or fringe groups. Why??? Estimates available for BLM demonstrations.
There’s nothing legitimate to protest. It looks to me like a bunch of people were hoping for a coup, and all they got was a $50 charge for parking in DC. They were asked to show up and cause trouble, then told to go home peacefully.
Peoples’ chains got yanked around today, and the master lost some credibility.
When the talking heads on tv and folks in Washington say “Our Democracy” they mean their democracy, not ours.
Not surprised this happened. America’s voting system is a farce and more and more are finally realizing it.
The US doesn’t have a voting system. It has like 3,000 voting systems – one in each county.
Managed by how many companies?
“Since 1932, K&H Election Services has printed ballots for over 40 counties throughout the western United States…covering voters in three quarters of Washington, over one-third of California, and half of Utah.”
Get real. You don’t trust your own fellow citizens to count votes? You really think that thousands of voting officials all over the country are colluding to corrupt the system? That’s so beyond ridiculous. Why am I wasting my time even responding to this?
Heh heh, I have to comment on this one just a little. Cause it’s so much fun.
“You really think that thousands of voting officials all over the country are colluding to corrupt the system?”
no… not really, given the number of swing states involved to shift an election thanks to the bifurcation of the voters (thank you one party rule for a majority of the country), you only need a handful of voting officials to collude and corrupt the system.
Cause technically speaking, votes in CA, OR, WA, or MT, WY, ND, SD don’t matter one bit. After all, how many Trump ads did you see in CA, and the same for Biden ads. I am thankful that I saw none. Everyone knows where those EVs will end up. Those officials can in probably 40+ states can all be squeaky clean and honest and no collusion necessary.
You just have to corrupt a few officials in a few states to affect any outcome. The usual like OH, PA, FL, and a few other swing states are the only real ones that matter in the last few years as far as shifting the balance of power goes.
But, the fact is, all the conspiracy theories about voter fraud, corrupt election officials, and rigged ballots are baseless and completely not grounded in facts. So, no need to trigger me in my safe space with all of these falsehoods.
All I care about is that now that the blue wave is complete, please turn back on the SALT deductions, or 2020 is going to look like a picnic. Rachet corporate taxes back up…. after all, those foreign cash has all been repatriated for the purpose of stock buybacks, and the companies that matter doesn’t pay much in taxes anyway.
We are resolving this issue of swing states by increasing the number of Democratic voters in the larger cities in those states. Be patient, it is only a matter of time. Free money will help. /s
P.S.
Been saying for years now, the the U.S. is a 3rd World nation.
Because she is.
I too have said that this country is a Banana Republic. A sophisticated looking one, but it’s a Banana Republic regardless.
Give it a month and things will go back to normal. The Fed will probably print a trillion dollars tomorrow to calm the soul of the nation!!!!
Comparing the Portland, Minneapolis, Kenosha riots to the US Capital Riots
Who was protected in the city riots and who was harmed?
Small business owners were harmed and many rioters were protected due to lack of police coverage or commands to stand down by city officials.
Who was protected and harmed by the riots at the US Capital?
Rioters were not protected since there was a large police force. Those who were protected were the Elite Govt bureaucrats who never lost a paycheck during the lockdowns or riots.
So Elites protected vs Small business not protected – once again.
Go, Brett, a voice of reason in a crap storm of wet noodle opinions. Welcome to the Fray.
I agree that the comparisons are lame. What happened to businesses and property in the summer riots was criminal. What happened today was criminal also, but to a much lesser degree. No need to compare these. Just condemn them both.
Yes, agree!
This is nothing new and people should take it seriously but it is not the end of the world. In fact people all over the world do this all the time. When cities in the US were burning and people getting shot it was “mostly peaceful”. Portland still has armed occupiers. George Washington violently put down the Whiskey Rebellion. Trail of Tears. Before he was a general, MacArthur violently put down the veterans Bonus March. Radical bombings in the 30’s and 60’s. Not to mention the Civil War.
Throughout history when people feel oppressed or lack Freedom they act. The country has handled it and survived. But over the short term now, over-reaction and restricting freedom for a false security is the wrong approach. But as for COVID, over-reaction and restricting freedom in the name of political slogans seems to be the go-to solution. Unfortunately I don’t see anyone with a foot in both camps who can fix the damage that had been going on too long and is now international.
Who do you trust?
joe2
Excellent historical recounting. The USA has seen a pendulum with administrations and congressional houses for…..EVER. Bush started a term with both houses, then Obama did and then Trump. Though Trump only got 4 years (an anomaly, but understandable due to Covid), Biden will start with the same ability to effectuate change with both houses in the Dem column. Change is generally offensive to about half the country – but it seems we appease the other half every 8 years or so to keep it “fair.”
This is the illusion of 21st Century USA Democracy – that the New Boss(es) are NOT the same as the old bosses. Unfortunately for Townsend, Daltry, Entwistle and Moon, we WILL get fooled again – we always do, but at least we are mostly civil about it and will live to see another day. The pendulum swung again in November as it always does – it will be recorded with little ceremony in future decades, as you (joe2) have pointed out.
If people stay fearful and reasonable, the pendulum will swing. And I think it will. Now that the democrats have achieved power, they will cut the useful idiots loose as they are a liability to those in power which is now them. But if new idiots arise, or everyone overreacts, we are in a position socially and more importantly technically, that it could be stopped at 1984 leading to a new dark age like after the Roman fall. If so, I am curious who will emerge as the neo church to preserve knowledge.
The manta in the last few years has been “we’ve never been so divided”. Unfortunately the highest presidential approval ratings in my lifetime were at the outset of the BushCo I & II false flag wars.
Im with Wolf on this. Today’s market with this backdrop is a true joke. To me there is no real market anymore. Junk isn’t junk. Everything is upside down.
Years ago, when food scientists did an analysis of breakfast cereats, they determined that most shredded wheat cereals were crap, unhealthy foods. Many people made the same comment, that anything that tastes so rotten nust be good for you. Look around now as Bolshevik government leaders impose lockdowns across the Western world, claiming these lockdowns are good for you, just like voice in the TV ad forfrosted shredded wheat cereal said it was a healthy breakfast food. All lies, of course, even when the wheat used back then was not contaminated with glyphosate and not the semi-dwarf high gluten wheat of today.
As long as big corporations like Comcast, Boeing and GM can spend all their earnings to boost their share price with stock buybacks permitted since 1982 by the SEC, the Dow Jones has nowhere to go but up. And those 20 million Americans made jobless by insane politicians like NYC Mayor DeBlasio (dancing with wife on a grandstand facing an empty New Year’s Eve Times Square) can pound sand, according to CNN.
“Who was protected and harmed by the riots at the US Capital?”
Whatever remains of the integrity of public service and a peaceful transition of power in what we call ‘free elections.’ (HA. 800+ billion to elect the last two Senators.)
As I pointed out had this same crowd been brown or black you would be sure that they would not have had such quick access into our second most powerful building of government. Carrying backpacks that might have included explosives. Security was totally compromised … and none of our elected representatives deserved that lack of protection. The chicken dance (or running soccer field jabs) instead of full defensive line riot gear equipment and use of it was totally appalling. Same for the lack or arrests and the delayed call up of the local FEDERALLY approved National Guard for D.C.
Security for the national capital was totally thrown out the window today.
BIDEN, sure as hell better hire a private security company to augment the Secret Service guys he gets … and inaugurate in some safe hidden place. Harris should be on the other side of the country. same thing.
Never thought Americans would let terrorists into the capital without a fight….sad day …. except for the guys carrying the Confederate flag. They finally carried into the Capital building.
BLM terrorists were in DC last summer, remember?
I remember the burned out block next to the Hoover building in the 90’s still there from the 80’s riots.
Nothing new.
It all seems so different depending on which side you are on – the freedom fighters or the terrorists.
But my dear Wolf, what did you think people like Petunia or even me were fore-seeing? THIS. Everything going seriously tits up, because you cannot write about what you write about here—money, and the insane diabolical sociopathically brilliant THINKING behind money and the inherent unfairness of its disbursement, now in the US and the increasing class divide—and NOT expect society to blow rupture and ooze.
Especially people who’ve HAD “the stuff” and lost it … we know that you multiply that kind of despair exhaustion rage bitterness many times over… you get THIS.
James and i are now arguing (agreeing to disagree) on this situation with the capitol. i’m PROUD, as a writer, idealist, as an American who’s renewed my own vows and belief in the original ideals of this country as they were WRITTEN, not as they’ve been manipulated ignored revised played out etcetera.
we’re still a young country and a lot has gone wrong. the most exciting thing i remember about Jefferson (complicated yes, but one helluva bigger thinker than the shmucks running things now), i dug that Jefferson and the founders knew that FUTURE REVOLTS may be necessary to keep the country’s ideals in alignment, to overthrow abuses of power, and return the government to the PEOPLE.
seems like the situation we have now.
so in San Francisco, a city of passive death and acceptance of the loss of people’s businesses and the trashing of buildings and people’s lives, i’m finally PROUD that there are still people left in America with balls ovaries and tits, with rage, who’ll put their lives and their future ability to merely LIVE and get a job, on the line because yeah… ask how easy it is for people with arrest records to get even a crappy job. / especially now that they’ll be fighting out of work WFH home folks for gigs or rides.
i’m The Bad Kid, and have been all my life. i am the one who blows situations up to get to Reality, the Truth. i don’t want people clutching their pearls during the day but tip-toeing into my room at night to take it out on me later.
James thinks Trump’s NOT THE GUY. / i ask him, “who else would rip out the moldy carpeting but him? everyone else wants to get along. wants the paycheck.”
everyone else wants to be invited BACK./ i don’t trust such people.
will anything change after this? probably not in plain sight. MORE surveillance, MORE hassles with IDs and security around federal buildings but who’ll even notice anymore?
however, it won’t be over.
all that you write about HERE, Wolf… this isn’t just cocktail money talk and i knew you were in a dangerous (seditious) position by telling the truth behind wall street. wall street and america are synonymous now.
you have heart, YES, but i am surprised that YOU are surprised!
so i for one am proud. it’s actually the first truly bad ass American Thing i’ve seen in a long ass time… DON’T TREAD ON ME.
have we forgotten all this stuff?
i don’t think it’s very American to shuck and jive and just go along to get along. what can you get out of this country? can you come here and make a killing?
i used to think JFK’s “ask not what this country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” was just clap trap but it’s REAL. it’s why i don’t even wanna leave San Francisco to go to the east bay or marin; so that any and ALL energy and love and power of visualizing and manifesting can be put back into this struggling pained city of San Francisco.
my friend at City Lights, Peter Maravelis, 10 years ago or more, when i asked him: “where did the underground GO?” (i didn’t realize the internet had absorbed all the local creativity) Peter looked at me and said, “your job now is to MAKE a new underground,” it was a San Francisco version of JFK’s speech.
so i have to say that it was proven time and time again we’re not able to “vote” ourselves out of this, so i’m mad PROUD that this many people had the balls and ovaries to show up and go all out.
it’s not over. / the capitol may be a lot of show, but it’s the most optimistic idealistic thing i’ve seen in a long ass time.
this is why i’ve gone beyond race because it’s about CLASS and i won’t say it again because i CAN’T as google censors you me and all of us: but we ARE all ni**ers now.
and you WFH people are next even though you’re thinking you’re in phat citay.
so THIS is the future i was seeing but i’m sad that it’ll be relegated to a cheap story and people will lose lives literally or financially or existentially.
or maybe not. / who knows anything anymore. i’m surprised every day.
i’m actually excited in a way that makes my stomach hurt. because this is necessary. it’s like lancing a boil.
will something better come of it? / i shrug because how great are things for a majority of Americans NOW???
full disclosure: i’m also a fan of Oscar Lopez Rivera, for storming congress to free Puerto Rico as a colony. i don’t want ANYONE to be ANYONE’s ni**er.
how long is one supposed to ask nicely?
so that’s why i always told you, Wolf: “no.. this isn’t just a ‘money site.'”
it’s the detailed secrets of The Man Behind the Curtain… the confusing secret insane details behind everything and why some have got and others haven’t, and a whole lot more about to become haven’ts.
voting ain’t working. / rigged machines or not, the media wasn’t ever ours, as in The People’s, in the first place.
i believe almost nothing anymore, either.
so yes. i’d bet Petunia also saw this coming and more, because she apparently IS ahead on the peak and on her second pack of outlawed (for her own good) menthols. / and yeah, there’s a worry that we’ll just end up with Napoleon .. but more of the SAME that got us into this in the first place? i feel smothered even without a damp mask.
and at least Napoleon was interesting enough to write in his love letter, “Don’t wash, Josephine, i’m coming home.”
(shrug and a smile)
Happy New Year, Wolf.
x
It’s better for the government to fear the people than for the people to fear the government. Dissent is a patriotic duty.
KL,
My only surprise was that it didn’t happen sooner. And no, it’s not over, only just beginning. The best lesson in power I ever learned was from a man who told me, the most powerful person in a situation is always the one that doesn’t give a shit how things turn out.
Those people in DC, yesterday, are now the most powerful people in America.
I have a lot more to say on the subject but Wolf censored my flippant, but serious, comment on voting.
Interesting comment, Petunia, it is comforting in a way and I will take it to heart.
Kitten, City Lights owned by a decca-millionaire, Larry Ferlinghetti? Revolution is profitable!
Thank you Kitten. Nice doesn’t work much anymore. I’ve missed you. A lot.
to say vote fraud was rampant is to say your neighbor is a cheat and a thief. The community counts votes together.
Remember Indonesia 1965, the communist scare.
Neighbors killed each other because they might be
“Communist” a million dead neighbors. Fortunately the reproduce Vigorishly, informative web site.
All you have to do is to force yourself to think what is the largest demographic constantly attacked by what major poltical party? If you are un-comfortable with the answer,or in denial that the premise of the question is valid you might be getting kinda close to part of the answer as to the cause of events that happened in DC today. Also, were they financed by someone? If they were not induced by money the problem may be bigger than one would like to consider.
You, my friend, NAILED it!
Let’s face it . All of these congressman are weenies . They grew up privileged and are accustomed to getting what the want by any means . The cheating and stealing that is hidden in these 5,000 page bills they pass right in front of everyone with no attempt to hide it . When pieces of legislation that 90% of the population are not in favor pass time and time again . We have a government that is working against the people best interests.
When the people start to revolt and resort to violence they take notice . Boiled rope and lampposts is the only thing that can change this .
The TLT dropped bigly today. Bonds are trying to tell a story
No story yet. 30-year Treasury still just at 1.8%.
Below historical and Fed-requested inflation. Barely above the inflation of the past 12 months. Way below money-supply growth. Way below the deficit as a share of GDP (a measure of credit-supply growth rate).
In a fiat currency system where bankrupt debtors run the printing presses to preserve the illusion of solvency, lending at 1.8% for 30 years is insane.
In my opinion, the most dangerous thing we have going right now is this cryptocurrency mania. This should have been nipped in the bud years ago, made illegal by the US and all the governments of the world. Instead, they’ve let money laundering, fraud and graft run unchecked, and now it’s even encouraged because Wall Street’s got its hooks in. There is nothing backing this rotten garbage and millions will get burned. It’s despicable.
Why is it dispicable? Too bad you didn’t get in under 10 grand like I did. Boohoo and open your eyes.
What I find dispicable is this endless money printing that forced people to look for alternatives to this fiat system. The next forcible entry you are going to see isn’t going to be the Capital, but your own house when the hungry hordes can’t afford a $1000 can of Ravioli’s.
Around 2010, I was active on a financial website w/ similar content to WolfStreet. Some crazy poster kept going off about Bitcoin, not because QE was inflationary, but because he didn’t want Wall Street to have control of currency. I think he said he put ALL of his savings into BTC back when it wasn’t even a buck…
ah, 1-currency-yogi.
Today’s moments unfolded in a way “they” wanted it to happen. If you look during the BLM protests, the national guard were activated early and unnamed federal troops (they did not have insignia), the barricades were placed way before and tightly controlled (curfew was declared a day before).
These protests were neither a secret nor a unanticipated grass-root event. The date, plans and groups were organized all over the social media, in the plain sight of watchful eyes. How could anyone be oblivious to the call from President to assemble and protest the election results?Even local people were aware of something bad might happen. Somehow, no LEO took precautions, no tight security and just capitol police without any riot gear. Even the first request for activating NG was declined (activated only very late). When the swat from VA arrived, the protesters already took over the chamber, shots fired (by someone). The bearded stoner, the wolf-skin costume players appeared already on the hallways. (They were identified by tattoos and their photos from extreme organizations). My favorite was the guy sitting in the speakers chair in the chamber (Not the guy in Nancy Pelosi’s office). The guy looting a podium came a close second. Not a single rubber bullet, tear gas or warning shots. Better, they should have posted a “Protestors-welcome” sign.
Thankfully, COVID made federal employees WFH and this is the first week after holidays. So, lot of people are not yet back to their office. Otherwise it would be even more chaotic. Think about the traffic alone…
(Wolf, I thought you are a practical business man. It seems you are patriotic which I never guessed)
27, the number of amendments to the constitution , the founding fathers would not recognize it as the constitution they wrote, still if you don’t like the rules get all your cronies together and bend them, starting with only gold or silver shall be money, I suggest you all take a look at Plato’s ship of fools.
Women voting? Slaves gone free?
Founding Fathers would be shocked!!
Under the Constitution, only gold and silver coins may be required to be used as legal tender (‘a tender in payment of debts’). … But such notes are not legal tender in the constitutional sense, because they are fiat money and bills of credit, which the Constitution forbids.
And guns are owned by people in “….well regulated militias.”
I don’t consider myself right-wing or left-wing but like many here, share a passionate dislike of the center/status-quo.
The coverage of today’s events in the mainstream media is emblematic of the bigger problem. Everywhere I look, it’s the “mob” that’s descended on Capitol Hill according to the MSM. For weeks and weeks, the mobs that actually behaved like mobs and trashed cities and destroyed small businesses were referred to only as “protesters” by the MSM. However legitimate their grievances regarding racism and police brutality, it was undeniable to any sane observer of the “protests” that what may have started as peaceful protests quickly devolved into anything but peaceful. There was plenty of violence committed by the peaceful “protesters” and plenty of damage done via blatant looting and wilful destruction of property, often of small businesses who had no beef in this.
I blame the MSM for as much of this polarization as Trump, perhaps more so. They’ve done nothing but demonize anything and everything he did while offering nothing constructive. I truly believe Trump is a very incompetent person. You just have to hear him speak for a minute to reach that conclusion. He had a chance but surrounded himself with all the wrong people and deserves some of what he got in the end. He didn’t achieve much IMO and I’m not sure was going to anyway given his competence or lack thereof. His supporters and quite frankly anyone tired of the status quo projected their wishes onto him and he became the vehicle for a sizeable number of people to express their frustrations. I think the fact that he was so inarticulate and imprecise in his language allowed people to read into him their own biases.
But the extremely antagonistic and elitist attitude the MSM has against him and his entire base for the entirety of his administration is completely on the MSM. I honestly can’t blame those who overran the government buildings today because outside of physical protests, they feel they have nowhere to go if they have any grievances (if they are allowed to have any by the MSM). The MSM shafted Bernie twice (shame on him) and then went after Trump quite successfully with manufactured crises throughout his four years.
The result of this going forward is that we will see even more radical and polarizing candidates because we haven’t moved the needle at all in terms of what the majority of the population wants, whether on the left or right.
If you thought Trump was bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
This is extremely eloquent.
Good courageous column. WR. As for those who feel you have violated your ‘no politics’ rule, at some point political chaos threatens the country which includes the economy. And one or two should migrate to Zoohedge, which has been a fountain head of the conspiracy theories about a ‘stolen’ election.
Re: the rioters and looters exploiting BLM, that is criminal, but there is a difference between that and invading the seat of govt.
Long ago I heard a US historian on a TV panel being asked what the Founders would think of today’s political US. His answer: ‘horrified’
They didn’t intend to create another variety of monarch, elected or not. The root word of monarchy is ‘mono’ meaning ‘one’. These thoughts are explored in Schlesinger’s ‘The Imperial Presidency.’
The Founders were not starting from scratch. The US system is not what engineers call a ‘clean sheet design.’ It is a modified English system circa 1800, when power was divided three ways: the monarch, a Lower House (Commons) and a hereditary Upper House (Lords).
Today in the UK and Canada all executive power resides with the Commons. The PM heads the party with the most seats. He is not himself personally a co-equal branch of govt. The Party elects him and can replace the PM at any time; e.g. Thatcher in the UK and Diefenbaker in Canada.
No one is the Maximum Leader.
One example of the difference: the US is in the grip of a ‘pardoning epidemic’ where anyone who the President likes gets a pardon. No one in the UK or Canada can give someone a pardon because they like them. The era of personal rule is over.
In US law the President’s legally unlimited pardon power is known as his ‘Crown Privilege’
Which describes aspects of the Presidency as well as the privilege. The Office has become top heavy with power, unstable, and awaiting abuse by someone unconstrained by respect for it. I think practical man Benjamin Franklin, for one, would be open to reconsidering what it has become.
Good comment, Nick.
I am heartened that our Parliamentary system is so responsible to voters, and resilient. If Trudeau even slightly goes off the rails his party will remove him and Chrystia Freeland would take over until a new leadership race ensued.
The most important aspect is our voting act which restricts corporate and union political donations, and provides a % public funding option. It astounds me that so many service positions are political and party affiliated in the US. Election officers. (Really?) Sheriffs, judges, municipal operations….all have party affiliations. In Canada, applicants of such are just hired to do a job.
There is always some corruption and influence, but it can be controlled with common sense legislation.
The hope of the Republic was to ensure there was no Royal leadership, or leadership by birthright. But in a country where money is king? That ensures dysfunction and corruption.
Here is an example. In Alabama, a highly respected lawyer and solicitor general (our terms) was defeated for US Senate by a freaking football coach; someone so dumb and ill informed he doesn’t even know what the three branches of Govt are.
Can’t make this up.
A parliament permits replacement of a numbskull (of any colour) without having to wait four years.
For some strange reason people seem to think that elections and the elected haven’t been bought and sold since the beginning of the republic.
And no, Wolf, it’s not 1821 anymore but human behavior is timeless. Ancient Rome was no different even when it was a republic. Ironically many of the principles embraced by the Founders drew heavily from Cicero.
BTW if you have Netflix you MUST watch “Death to 2020”.
DEMS control:
-White house
-Senate
-House
+
Supreme court. the last 2 justices appointed are scared crapless of the DNC… they’ll get with program.
Get ready for LOTs of free money:
-Nobody has to pay anything
-FREE rent
-Reparations
-No Foreclosures ( tax payers will pay)
-Student Loans forgiven ( I laugh at the id!ots that paid back loans)
-Landlords will be made whole by the GOV.
-Section 8 program expanded x10 (gotta fill all the units)
-More checks sent out to plebs
-Green life for everyone. cough cough
RAISED taxes for everyone responsible… hahahahaha
Home of the free!!! ;)
Supreme Court? They’ll just add more judges as necessary.
The ingredient are all now present for a fascist regime.
Kamala for President next year!!!
Bid’n Harris
Scare tactics. You have no idea what will actually eventuate.
Watching a video of politicians walking back into the chamber, surrounded by hundreds of armed police/military in a surreal return to reality. On one hand it’s sad enough that I want to cry, but encouraging to see democracy carry on.
I wasn’t in love with Obama 4 years ago, but hated the idea of trump becoming president, but, I accepted the process and have endured 4 very ugly years of a maniac. It’s unfathomable that so many people feel so passionate about the thoughts that are uttered by this disgraceful human.
I’m grateful that Wolf is allowing people to express their feelings, versus shutting everyone off. This level of stress has to be expressed versus denied — and there is obviously a lot of pent up anger on both sides. That anger has been fueled by trump and the polarization we have today and the violence and disgrace, is because of his leadership, his incitement.
What is this trump passion supposed to produce, what was the goal in whipping people into a frenzy, other than to cause chaos? At this point, expecting any logical game plan, it seems the only thing driving the bandwagon was mindless hysteria, the same kind of fervent mindless passion that filled the brains of Germans, who willing followed a madman into ruin. It must be fear or anger that drive people into rage — I can realize that a person can be pushed into a corner and become destructive like an animal, but as a group, why do these people need to follow a leader and become mindless sheep?? I seriously don’t get it, it’s just basic tribal difference, with one group hating another group — it’s a common human flaw — exposed by conmen …
Twitter locks Trump’s account for at least 12 hours
Twitter has announced that Donald Trump’s account will be locked for at least 12 hours, after the removal of three of the president’s tweets.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Conflict between the Emperor and the Senate
Weakening of the emperor’s authority (after Christianity the Emperor was no longer seen as a god)
Political Corruption – there was never a clear-cut system for choosing a new emperor, leading the ones in power to “sell” the position to the highest bidder.
Money wasting – the Romans were very fond of their prostitutes and orgies and wasted a lot of money on lavish parties, as well as their yearly “games”
Slave labor and price competition – Large, wealthy farm owners used slaves to work their farms, allowing them to farm cheaply, in contrast to smaller farmers who had to pay their workmen and could not compete price wise. Farmers had to sell their farms, leading to high unemployment figures.
Economical Decline – After Marcus Aurelius, the Romans stopped expanding their empire, causing in a decrease of gold coming into the empire. The Romans however kept spending, causing coinmakers to use less gold, decreasing the value of money.
Military spending – Because they wasted so much money and had to defend their borders all the time, the Government focused more on military spending than building houses or other public works, which enraged the people.
Moving on to more important things… MJ spiked today with the GA election results. I think it’s time for the gold rush to begin right into cannabis. Now that the next two years are clear, it’s time to load up on cryptos, clean energy, marijuana and commodities (except oil).
Oh and let’s not forget TSLA $2k. This year.
And as for the swamp and the media coverage, I’d love to spend my time dwelling on this stuff but I think I am going to take a nap instead. ?
We the people are feed up with Washington don’t elect the same millionaire s and expect a different outcome first step in a civil correction everyone is broke nothing to lose happy 2021 get involved
Ron
Let me guess….writing is not your forte ?
Goodness Wolf… your last paragraph absolutely nails it. Why are so many people willing to believe that the Checks and Balances don’t work any more?
I was down there today at the event and talked to a lot of people from flyover country who attended the rally. Their anger reached the breaking point after what will be shown to be the most corrupt election in US History. The checks and balances built into the Constitution have broken down. The courts and State Legislatures and state governors did not do their jobs in insuring a fair election that everyone could have faith in. The demonstration and civil disobedience was peaceful until the police swat teams showed up and used excessive force. We’re lucky there was only just some minor property damage and more people weren’t injured or killed. The elections should be done over in the five states that were in question.
That’s a bold faced lie.
The traitors left pipe bombs at DNC and RNC headquarters.
The traitors were armed and violent. They smashed windows and broke open doors, destroyed offices.
They were violent from the beginning. They came looking to cause harm.
They would have killed Pence if they had caught him.
Where were you and your outrage as Portland and Seattle burned over the past 6 months? Oh, that’s right, smugly enjoying it.
You are listening to fake news. I was there. It was a peaceful rally until the storm troopers showed up, and the Capital Police starting launching tear gas bombs. Its the peoples house. Taxpayers pay for it. They have a right to protest peacefully.
Swamp Thing
Stop spreading fake news.
Thank you Apple. With your penetrating insights we won’t need a judicial system.
And there were no states in question. Except by the idiot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And idiots on the internet.
Still suffering from that TDS, huh? Who will be your bogeyman in 2 weeks? Because we know it’s not about him, it’s about your mind and the sickness within.
Most corrupt election is US history? Not remotely. Trump flat out lost. If he had even a second graders control of his Twitter finger he would have been reelected, but he has zero self discipline and is a supreme narcissist.
True. If he had kept his mouth shut last year he would have been reelected.
Az had a free and fair election, just like we always do. No rules were changed, no different ways to vote. Most people here were more than a bit confused as to why there was any question. There was no new way to count votes, no different way to determine the electors.
A big to-do for nothing.
Back to the original thesis of this thread. Why the disconnect between the crumbling institutions of our Government and the financial markets? Class warfare. The rich get ultra rich while the rest of us peasants fight among ourselves as evidenced by the teeth gnashing here.
I think it’s more about the overall confidence in the system. The institutions can be rebuilt. Everyone knows it…. it’ll just take a bit of time.
Reply to Boomer
This hits the nail on the head. The rich people who inhabit the levers of power in the swamp have no connection with the people of flyover country, many who have blue collar jobs and are in the middle or lower middle classes. I talked to a lot of them down there yesterday as an impartial observer, an they are a lot smarter that you think. We who live on the coasts and relatively well off need the listen to them more.
I agree, but it’s an old, old pattern, despising people outside the metropolitan centre.
Even the old Italian city republics really screwed the peasants who gave them their nice white bread with their hard labour.
Always easy to think that poorer people are stupid, and somehow ‘deserve’ their fate.
Well, the news is that they are not, do not -and have the best damn music in the States.
I am appalled as a foreign observer by the virulent hatred and contempt which many ‘educated’ Americans see to feel is acceptable as polite discourse.
What happened in the Capitol may well have been a kind of payback for all the insults since Clinton’s ‘deplorables’ sneer, and long before.
As you have sown, so shall you reap……
Wolf,
Just a thought. And am not being sarcastic about it… may be the fact that the stock market stormed to a new high in spite of the turmoil in DC is a sign of strength and resilience in the belief around the liberal capitalist based democracy. It’s a signal about the confidence in the democratic system to weather a minor four year event like Trump, and that life and business will go on.
After all, in terms of real threat to the health and stability of this country in its almost 250 year history, ok… 244 to be exact. A Donald Trump wouldn’t amount to much as a significant threat to this country when viewed in the entirety of that history.
Lol, you are thinking too highly of the market participants IMO. How about “late stage bubble?”
I was astounded by the events of yesterday, the speech, then the march and breach of the US Capital building and into the Senate floor – guns drawn, Congress people whisked away by Secret Service.
Then idiots on the Senate, unknown chaos yet to come, shots fired, the whole Gov under siege, with a Pres fiddling away with “love you all protestors” Tweets.
Essentially there wasn’t a Gov for that time and because they were in hiding!
I unglued myself from the unprecedented chaos and thought for sure markets were down a few 1000, but to my astonishment the Dow it was up about 326 points – you gotta be kidding me!!!!!!!
It’s even better:
“Yesterday, when the U.S. capitol was being attacked, more than 29 million call options traded — the fourth most in history” – Sarah Ponczek
It’s very strange that while congress is in session, the Vice President is in the Capital building, a mob of people are able to surround the building, smash windows and doors, enter the building with virtually no resistance? In D.C., the fortress zone? With it known to all that a big protest was happening on that day? Something is very off.
They were suckered in , to ensure an ‘incident’ -quite simple.
Just as ‘intelligence and security’ agencies allow plots they are aware of to go ahead sometimes if it will suit their agenda.
Standard practice.
Is Biden the Best the US has to offer? If so, yesterday was just the beginning of much more decline. I’ll be surprised if he lasts the full for years without getting seriously sick or having some sort of breakdown. He looks physically not to mention his mental faculties.
Perhaps that’s why he was put into leadership?
Yikes!
Biden, who is trim, appears much fitter and healthier than Trump. They’re about the same age.
Alas, if one is over 70 one is really a just corpse, walking – it’s all a facade and very fragile.
‘The lives of men are but as the leaves which fall from the trees in autumn.’ Homer.
Just biology……
Couldn’t the same be said of a newborn baby? After all, in a mere 80 years it will be in the grave.
“Alas, if one is over 70 one is really a just corpse, walking – it’s all a facade and very fragile.”
I call this comment bullsh*t. I’m 77 and no where near being just a walking corpse. Many of my same age group friends are the same way.
Until you reach the age of 70 you have no full and true perspective. The young are ruled by their emotions.
Wolf, if you have watched any unedited interviews with Biden, there are definitely signs of dementia in his ability to remember and respond to unrehearsed questions. Not a doctor, but am an old guy with many old friends.
Nonsense. He talks better than I do.
At age 76+, and having watched Biden, who is 77, some recently, I agree with you dwy.
While it is impossible to determine some of the various age related pathologies from just the clues available from listening to speech, there is almost always available these days observation of the ”body language” that was once a very popular subject of pop culture.
Seriously qualified scholars had/have estimated that as much as 95% of communication may be ”non verbal,” and IMO that would be where both Biden and DJT reveal themselves the most, along with the rest of the political puppets.
While statistically it has been thoroughly tested and proven that almost all people are very poor at determining when some one is lying, a few/some of the various ”tells” that indicate lying to professionals are quite commonly recognized by most folks.
Is it his main priority to look good in interviews, or is it to get things done in an ethical and thoughtful manner. I’d rather a person tell the truth in uncharismatic fashion than smoothly sell us a bag of goods.
Hannity and Madow are great in interviews. Do you want either of them for president?
Trump is 74 and Biden is 78.
Biden has had two procedures to repair brain aneurysms.
Trump is obese.
This whole entire conversation is nuts.
Thank you for your “diagnosis” Dr. Richter, based how patient Joe Biden looks on TV. Now how about your evaluation of his mental health?
Given our experience with President Franklin Roosevelt, physical health is less important than mental health for a president.
At this point, it’s Trump’s mental health I’m more concerned about, TBH.
This is the new normal.. Introduced by months of violence, looting, and riots by do-gooder activists and opportunistic criminals that went mostly unchecked by law enforcement across the country. It set a precedent. Simple.
The congress bubble got popped yesterday. All the violence the politicians stoked boomerangs back. ( Maybe they should tone it down but I doubt it ) I also find the Mayor of DC ironic when she allowed “Black Lives Matter” painted on a Washington DC street. It sure feels like terrorism when the shoe is on the other foot.
Wolf did not mention one of the primary reason the stock market is going up. Wall Street was a big donor to the Democrats this time around (70%). They got their man and they are happy. So money is being poured into stocks from the donor class which is mostly rich investors and pension funds.
I forgot to add, Wall Street loves the new Cabinet picks by Joe Biden. They are all crony capitalists in bed with Wall Street, who’s primary allegence is to the high income donor classes. They were and will be the ringleaders of the descent of this country into the halfs and the halve nots. The top 1% are salivating. The people in flyover country will be left “on their own” . His foreign policy team are NEOCON scum (Victoria Nuland etc) which I hoped the American people had enough of after the Cllinton , Bush and Obamas foreign policy blunders. You can bet that when this economy melts down these people that have been brought in will be the first to ask the taxpayers to pay for a financial bailout of all the financial institutions that go under as a result of their incompetence.
Enjoy the next 4 years
Wolf , great job. By letting your readers defuse there hidden anger about present political theater , you have calmed part of the storm. Now back to financial world. / Gene
We can get to business as usual now with stocks always going up and shorts getting killed.
Wait actually that happened yesterday too.
ROFL.
A meteor can hit the US and kill half of the population and stocks will be up.
FYI:
Here’s the FBI’s definition of domestic terrorism: “Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.”
So, ‘environmental terrorists ‘ would be corporations and the great financiers, right?
So funny.
I dare say that publishing the truth about the economy will soon be classified as ‘economic terrorism’ …..
The FBI has been co-opted by corporatism.
“Environmental” is a synonym for “Scientific.”
Biology, botany, chemistry, medicine, statistics, pathology are all scientific.
When natural systems, as measured and quantifiable with science are defended, it’s the equivalent of fighting religion, i.e. profit and economic theory, with reason. Fighting and opposing the destroyers of natural systems is self preservation, not terrorism.
Preventing arson could be seen as an “environmental terrorism” per the FBI definition. Ask an FBI agent how he feels about his children getting cancer from someone else’s profit taking.
From an observer.
“Representative” once was an elected person representing his/her constituents within Government. Representation is now only for power and money brokers.
What we have had for several decades, is a Government “Institution”. Those who build careers there are fierce defenders of the “institution” and its members, not the Constitution nor its Citizens. Institutional support is provided only to those who actively, and sometimes violently, support the institution’s viewpoints, power, and goals.
Investigations? Hearings? FBI and CIA probes? Massive Corruption? Please tell me of any member of the “institution” that has been charged, let alone indicted. Only those few who have dared to speak out against the corrupt institution have felt its wrath.
Red, Blue, Independent….doesn’t matter. They are institutionalized and continuing the institution is everything.
God help us.
A bureaucracy is like a primitive organism with money for blood – it’s main goal is to survive and grow. Makes you wonder where all this will end, although I will be long gone. Maybe I’ll catch the movie version at the end of time.
Thank you CreditGB.
From the immortal wisdom of Yogi Berra: “You can observe a lot by watching.”
You’ve been keeping watch.
“This moment, and its consequences, have stained US democracy forever. ” The thought of our senators and representatives discreetly instructing their aides to bring clean underwear is amusing. Maybe they will learn something from the experience. Probably not.
DC show is over. Need to move on to 8 more years of the last 60.
Difference between the US and a banana republic
The US trades worthless pieces of paper with each other, while the banana republic actually produces a useful commodity , bananas
Wolf,
What happened yesterday was overblown. This is nothing compared to the Business Plot and the Bonus Army Siege. The parallels are important because both came during the biggest economic crises in the country. In my opinion, things are just getting started. I don’t believe the FED will start tapering, that has already been tried and it failed…I believe we are headed for the crack-up boom part now.
Guys, I’m not an American so I can watch the entire fiasco happening with the US elections with detached bemusement.
If I were an American citizen, it will truly be the saddest day of my life to bear witness to the death of the Republic in such a manner.
For the life of Jesus : WHY CAN’T US of A just SIMPLY CALL FOR ANOTHER ELECTION? – Only this time ALL use PAPER ballots only and ALL MUST vote in PERSON.
NO Computers allowed and only humans to do the counting! Full Stop.
That way full and transparent audit trails with paper evidence throughout.
Is it that difficult for America (the Wealthiest country in the world) to organize another vote or the administration and paperwork is too much hassle?
Right now, the whole world economy is mostly shutdown now and everyone has available time on their hands to go vote once more with All-Hands-On-Deck, yes?
Is this not THE most sensible approach to resolve ALL doubts to democratic process and save a Republic, or would you rather risk a Second American Civil War because its just too much hassle ??!
I really hope America is smarter than this…
A replay would prove the crime.
Petunia,
There is likely no crime. Instead notice Jo Jorgensen. I think enough Republicans voted for her and then voted Republican downballot.
@DanR, you began with: There is “likely” no crime.
You do realize that this statement implies some shred of doubt remain, yes?
And as long as there are doubts on election integrity, then the damage is already done to your vaulted democratic institutions.
Re: “I really hope America is smarter than this…”
That’s funny, because apparently there are 50 million people that worship an insane conman — all believing in unison that trump can kill anyone he wants and not be held accountable …. or be held accountable for a massive amounts of covid deaths, etc., etc., etc — so, no, Americans are not smart and the path forward was put on display yesterday by people that have no respect for their country!
Sadly Kevin, in this country, the political divide has gotten to such an extreme that ordinary things like mentioning which political party a person is with is likely to trigger an extreme reaction. Either: “socialist/communist” or “fascist/racist” Followed rapidly by a shouting match. Normal conversation becomes difficult. And of course, our media loves to egg this on to ensure that the divide continues so that they can get eyeballs.
And no one can help you if you’re an “independent.” Because that’s like walking down the middle of the unobstructed freeway, and you’ll get hit by both sides.
It’s insane how politics has managed to become the main way lots of people identify themselves in the US. Again, I blame that on the educational system in this country that has been left to rot by its political class.
Good idea. Do it all over. Let the best man win
@ Kevin… you are too Naive. They ( the people in power) the elite, do NOT want clean elections. Especially this one election. They need to control who’s in those seats!.
3rd world countries have voter ID and vote in person only!!!
Trump was fluke. It was not supposed to happen. They spent 4 years trying to get rid of him. They were not going to let him win another 4 years no matter what.
I don’t care who wins. It’s all the same for me. But at lease it’s wide open to everybody that you have to be in the circle of trust (swamp) to be allowed to hold a position in gov. US politics are more corrupted than other countries while virtue signaling all over the world.
@Jimmy Pen, a cynical curmudgeon like me can hardly qualify to be naive. lol.
I suppose you did not even bother to vote this time around, yes?
If I were an American citizen, I would abstain from voting too if I see so much IT/computers involved. It would only be legitimizing a process that cannot be easily and unambiguously verified.
Just as you commented, many other countries have stuck to paper ballots and in-person voting and in my country, they can complete the process end-to-end within days.
For something as fundamental as election integrity, KISS ‘eM (Keep It Simple, Stupid & Manual) is the best approach. Any use of complicated “black box” IT technologies will incite unnecessary suspicions (even when done flawlessly) and invite outright fraud eventually… when the stakes are high enough.
My point is: Its really NOT that difficult to go through a 2nd voting exercise. America has done far more difficult, dangerous and expensive projects like going to the Moon, for Christ sake….
or even fighting multiple proxy wars around the world. ;)
It’s all a matter of administration & paperwork, some time & tedium to do manual counting throughout. Time which many of us have anyway, in this ongoing pandemic.
In fact, I’d even suggest to get all those who had stormed Capitol Hill to go volunteer to be observers at ballot stations the 2nd time around. Only inclusive democracy can have a chance to heal the divisions and re-establish confidence in your institutions.
Otherwise, whats your alternative??
No one will even bother to vote in the next US elections if you can’t address the glaring issues of this current one.
And if America refuse to do a quick re-do of voting now, for whatever reasons or lame excuses, you would still have to face the EXACT SAME problem 4 years later and more yes?
Perhaps, you think there would be no more USSA left by then? And so what happens to the shining beacon of democracy for the world? *half-sarcastically*;)
There would be no path forward for your political system, naïve or otherwise, except maybe revolution or dissolution like your former Cold War opponent the USSR or maybe this “More Perfect Union” can just pretend and extend while living in denial and abject apathy?
Re: “In fact, I’d even suggest to get all those who had stormed Capitol Hill to go volunteer to be observers at ballot stations the 2nd time around. Only inclusive democracy can have a chance to heal the divisions and re-establish confidence in your institutions.”
The problem with that, once again, is that those people, including the vast majority of republicans, believe that trump can kill someone and not be held accountable. They literally believe that and pray for that, and now that are dead from the chaos caused by trump, the entire republican party, with a handful of cry babies, do not support holding trump responsible for his crimes.
Thus, those people (that are brainwashed and passionately love and worship their cult leader) — are clearly not the people to count votes in America at an election. There is no path forward — the lack of support to hold trump accountable simply suggests that the republican party is preparing itself for Civil War ll, with white extremists against anyone that doesn’t love trump — the way forward will not be through elections and we all saw Tuesday how the republicans plan to deal with elections in the future!!!!!!
@Martha Careful, you’re talking based on allegations on “those people” (whoever they are…), and I’m talking about a rational solution going forwards.
Look, as I’ve mentioned I’m not an American, so I have no grudges or emotional baggage with either Democrats or Republicans / “Dog & Pony” (I mean… Elephant vs Donkey lol) or Pro-Trump or Anti-Fa arguments ad nauseum…
Sometimes we need a 3rd-person POV, with some distance from the hubbub, to help us think clearer and lay out the scenarios.
If the same mess were to happen in my country, I’m sure US of A will interject too as an unbiased voice of reason, as they often have in world affairs in the good-old days, yes? ;-)
From where I’m from, I’ll admit we have similar, shall I say “passions” too when it comes to political discourse, the biggest differences though is that we do have a lot more than 2 miserable boxes to choose from; and as I’ve mentioned, we stick to paper ballots and in-person voting.
Perhaps, its time Uncle Sam consider these too instead of just that two tired and old circus animals?
Afterall, in such a large representative democracy with the world’s most innovative economy, you really need to include all colors, cast and creed and alligators in the swamp too. lol.
You missed the last 4 years where activists of a certain political party fought against photo ID, signature checking, voting in person, checking voter registrations roles against death certificates, checking for citizenship before registering to vote, equal distribution of information, etc.
A certain political party is not in favor of fair elections or even having a fair election commission.
@joe2, Yeah, I don’t keep close watch on US elections developments, as much as I do on US markets. :)
I guess the only good thing that could come of this, is as a wake-up call for US (and the rest of the free world) to revert back to manual ballot systems and in-person voting.
You know the trite “We’ve been there, done that.. so now we all know its back to basics” again.
No way. Another election might not produce the results the creatures of DC demand. See Hezbollah elected in Palestine.
@Lisa_Hooker, as I’ve already alluded to earlier: So what makes you think your next election 4 years later and onwards, isn’t going to be the same s***show or is going to produce “better” results?
Kevin, I’m pretty darn certain the next (and subsequent) election will result in exactly what the Empowered require. Trump was accidental.
@Lisa, one thing I learnt early in life and especially in the markets, is that you try not to be darn sure about anything and to be prepared for unexpected outcomes.
The way I see things: Trump is a symptom and a product of American society, rather than an accident of the times.
I’m well over 65 and the pandemic is running rampant where I live. So only mail-in ballot for me.
In my State we have voted by mail for 30+ yrs. Works just fine. And it is a paper ballot, they do signature match and we are notified when our ballots are sent to us, received from us and when it is counted.
Our voting changed in no way and worked just fine. No need for a do-over. Besides, another several months of this drama would make me insane.
Fair enough josap, you’re entitled to your opinions, but past performance is no guarantee its working now or going to work in the future.
As for the do-over, well you have to find a way somehow to RIGHT the wrongs now or wait another 4 yrs to face the SAME drama, yes? Look at where kicking the can down the road has gotten us in so many ways.
My take is that a quick re-do is better for shoring up confidence in your institutions but I guess aged lives take precedence so you’ll have to let the gaping wounds in the Republic fester for another 4 years….
In any case, my observation tells me this could be just the prelude of things to come, so if you think the past several months is already making you insane, then you’d better prepare a sound-proof padded basement room for the next few years. lol.
Let me say that although it may seem as if skies have fallen to the Earth for the current generation, actually nothing unusual is happening. Presidents got assassinated, political activists got assassinated, black riots destroyed whole cities like Detroit, inflation was as high as 12% or even more, people had to cue at gas pumps for days like in Venezuela, American embassies got seized and bombed, planes were driven into high-rise buildings, federal buildings were blown up with hundreds killed and many other things have happened in the US, but the country is still there.
There is one caveat, though. The US does start to look more and more like the Soviet Union about ten years before its collapse. The signs are many. One is, of course, the relentless money printing. Another one is Afganistan and Iraq. Still one more is that key posts are retained by very old people, who just don’t want to go. Ethnic (in this case racial) unrest is one more sign. Run-away defense spending.
But what finished the Soviet Union was a string of major disasters, natural and industrial. Everyone knows about Chernobyl, but there were several other major incidents, the major one being of course the Armenian earthquake.
Covid pandemic can be viewed as one such disaster that will have consequences for years to come. It may set off a chain of events nobody can really predict today.
DV, while I fully agree with your observations on the close parallels with the fall of USSR; I might add that there’s one more big caveat to the situation with the US.
And that is US of A has a HUGE nuclear arsenal at the ready and any destabilization in her political system could have serious consequences for, not only US herself, but the entire world.
That is why we have to be careful not to be too lackadaisical with regards to political flashpoints in all the nuclear powers (i.e. Russia, China, North Korea, France, UK… likely Israel etc.).
Maybe its inevitable that all Empires overstretch themselves and fail eventually, but good luck to us all when we’re in the Nuclear age.
When the crowds stormed the Capitol an image immediately popped into my mind. It’s an obvious meme. But I have yet heard mention of it. That image is the storming of Bastille. Start of the French revolution. Start of payback time for the aristocrats. In a big way. It seems elitists who would rule over humanity never learn their lesson until its too late. To see the frightened polititions scurrying away in fear for their own safety was their moment of epiphany. The moment when they realized their dreams of godhood weren’t panning out. The moment when they realize that governmental oppression is bidirectional – the people push back.
I hope the ending of the French revolution is not our ending. But as a template it must be considered.
RedRaider,
The Bastille was a prison. And not even a big one. And maybe it had political prisoners, but it was not the center of French power for sure for sure.
The Bastille was just a convenient symbol, you know, like the Capitol buildings in DC.
Both Bastille and Capitol are symbols of governmental authority. The Capitol is “Do as we say” whereas Bastille is “If you don’t do as we say…”. They are both components of government vs people.
And just look at what has happened since I first made my remark. The liberals trying to keep Trump from running in 2024 and Delta throwing conservatives off flights to mention just two things.
I would like to suggest if you have to resort to such measures to remain in power you probably have already lost it.
Delta returned the plane to the gate because two women refused to wear masks, despite requirements to do so on a flight, and despite being asked to do so multiple times. But they just refused. They weren’t “conservatives.” Conservatives try to protect other people. These women were endangering other people by refusing to wear masks. They were reckless and wanted to be on TV. And it worked. They got their five minutes of fame.
If you have a banana republic economy for long enough, since 1971, then you end up with a banana republic government.
For the sake of the country the GOP leadership should stand up now and state unequivocally that there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the November election. There are millions of rubes who hang on Trump’s every word and buy into his rhetoric that the Presidency was stolen from him.
To show how far we have digressed, former Sec of Defense Mattis stated that’s Trump should be stripped of his citizenship and forced to go into exile.
A question for everyone
What event has done more damage to the country
Yesterday’s action
or one days deficit spending abetted by the FED actions
“What event has done more damage to the country”
Well for starters, the Vietnam war.
I think it was when we ended Communism by fighting and dying in Korea.
PETUNIA:
“The best lesson in power I ever learned was from a man who told me, the most powerful person in a situation is always the one that doesn’t give a shit how things turn out.”
ah yes… when i felt the same way 8 or 9 years ago, stopping my car in intersections to get out and start fights with men twice my size, i realized how precarious all this was when others also found little reason left to politely keep their misery to themselves or quietly stay in their places and behave for eventual meager pensions.
i don’t know if you were referring to either Trump OR the populace (or both or ALL), regarding nothing left to lose, and i agree it’s only the beginning. i found this portentous quote below from Baldwin. i’d originally thought it was from a country song:
“The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.” –James Baldwin
Kitten, are you old enough to remember those wonderful days when, for a while, people were paying the bridge toll for the car behind them? “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose. Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free.” Thanks KK.
yes, it happened to me a couple of times. it’s as transcendent as getting your wallet back in the mail, which i’ve had happen maybe a half dozen times.
a bunch of guys who work with James kept handing on a wallet that had been found on the path at Crissy Field. with many $20s still in it and an expired gun i.d. for some Filipino cat far away in the suburbs somewhere. / i was charged with going to the post office, and returning it with all the $20 minus one for priority shipping, was such a high on MY side and i had fun making the return address his own so he couldn’t thank me or anyone and just had to HOLD the feeling …and believe in miracles again. (i anonymously wrote how many hands it’d passed through to get to ME.. I MYSELF believed in humanity over the fact that anything was left at all).
i try to teach young women that feeling of daring to be anonymously giving for the hit of power (it feels empowering and freeing to give without permission or expecting even acknowledgement or thank you) so they’re not so passive consumptive or “do me” / “give me”, and then resentful about losing at such a game later and lurch into rigid bitchiness “fuck you” and call it asserting oneself.
and yeah! i remembered the lyrics to the song! i’m 53 but maybe by spring i’ll round it up to “almost 60” to get myself used to it and so people can hopefully say how young i still look.
time to lie up again like when we were jailbait and wanted in.
x
53 is a good start. ;-) xx
Of course stocks are up. The events in Washington just delivered full control to the corporations. It`s not they weren`t in charge before, but you can`t even imagine any checks on their power now.
Speaking of banana republics,
Lived in Guam for 2 years. Banana territory if there ever was one. Every institution on the Island was corrupt. Kissed the US soil when I got back to the continental USA. Now the US is copying everything that was wrong there. The swamp (DC) actually may be even worse.
USD ===> Z$
Coming your way. For the same reasons.
Ultimately, what we have learned this week, is that mob rule is the way forward in all contests.
Football games at high schools will be won by parents storming administrative offices, to denounce official results.
The lack of accountability and denial by republicans, is the way forward for America
Republicans finally learned that from Democrats and the peaceful protests of BLM and antifa.
When I lived with a lady in Tucson, we used the Walgreens, The Safeway, ate at the Metropolitan Restaurant, and used the BofA, plus using the strip mall directly across Oracle Rd (at Ina St) for ice cream and such. We lived within easy walking distance at her condo just north on Oracle.
When the Congresswoman was shot outside that Safeway, I was back here helping my sister take care of my mom at her house.
But I did watch the news on it intensely and the thing that really sticks out in my mind was when the Pima County Sheriff (a staunch conservative) went way outside of his duties and editorialized with a plea for the excessive hate speech on Tucson talk radio to end.
I had heard a bit of it and it was scary.
Words matter.
This interview is worth reading:
Amash-Successor Peter Meijer: Trump’s Deceptions Are ‘Rankly Unfit’
Rookie GOP congressman describes Capitol Hill chaos, says that some Republicans who knew better voted against election-certification out of physical fear, and explains how serving in Iraq and Afghanistan made him want to “end the endless wars.”
MATT WELCH | 1.8.2020
Life doesn’t suck my friend. It just rarely turns out the way we expected. Slog on.
Life as human species just appears to be currently best available opportunity so far to cultivate ”non attachment” LH, though it also seems that we might lose out to dolphins or some other species soon if we continue on same idiocies now appearing.
Be clear that there is no way out,,, no matter what ya do you’re going to die and leave your human shroud behind.
So, you can either take it all seriously, or not;
either way, you still have the everyday choice of doing your best to cultivate non attachment and all the other potential karma/kamma related activities, or not.
Please remember ”moderation in all things, including moderation.”
VV, my best friend once gave me some sage advice long ago while I was in the throes of despondency: “No one’s getting out of here alive.” It woke me up that same night.
Jan. 8, 2021:
QUOTE:
Wolf Richter
Jan 7, 2021 at 5:35 pm
Nonsense. He talks better than I do.
End QUOTE (that comment from you, Wolf, was in response to a comment re Biden’s spoken communications)
Wolf, you must know that your readers rely on you for accuracy, clarity of expression, and your almost-entirely successful effort to set aside political bias in your reporting on economy and finance.
You must know that both Biden and Trump exhibit deplorable weakness in the spoken and written word.
Biden: commonly scrambles big numbers (for gov budgets; for Covid cases; etc.) by an order or more of magnitude. Indulges in divisive political invective (in post-Jan. 6 sound bite, he labelled the Trump-march supporters as “insurrectionists”. Someone wrote that speech for him ?? He coulda shoulda corrected that word choice as he spoke). Seems none too bright.
Trump: typical speech style is word salad. Indulges in divisive political invective. Civility mostly absent. Vulgarity common. (“Never Trump”,pre-2016 election, was largely about his faulty communication. ) Did not , during time in office, exhibit effort to discipline his communication habits. Seems none too bright.
Thanks, Wolf, for your habitual accuracy, clarity of expression, efforts to correct all typos and mistakes. Thanks, commenters, for accuracy, clarity of expression, and wit (looks like much dark humor and clear thinking are needed in the days ahead).
Look, scrambling numbers and data and words is incredibly easy when you’re under pressure, live, on TV, while you plan the next two or three sentences in advance and dig up data from the depth of your brain while, in real time, you’re trying to put words together in a way that make sense. If you have ever watched or listened to my live interviews, you will see that. That’s an accurate statement. Now, you’re correct, I don’t have exact numbers as to who is worse in that department, Biden or I. But no one cares when I blow it. When Biden blows it, he gets shredded in the social media.
There are some people, however, that are really good at this. Biden was NEVER one of them. He has always been lousy at it. He has been known for being lousy at it ever since I started paying attention to him a long time ago. This has nothing to do with age. He might have gotten a little lousier over the years, that’s possible.
I disagree with you on Trump. He is one of the most powerful off-the-cuff speakers I have ever listened to. OK, never mind the “facts” that come out of his mouth. But in terms of speaking, he nails it, and has always done it. I watched an interview he did decades ago on Oprah; he was incredibly good as a speaker, even back then. His advantage may be that he doesn’t worry about the facts.
Biden is a lot worse than Wolf and 100x worse than Trump. Trump is real good under pressure even if he is loose with the facts even lying at times as does Biden.
Even with a 100% in the tank MSM, it will be interesting just how much/little public access Biden will allow/be allowed.
Even the most recent speech…which should have been a slam dunk for Biden given the context, was not particularly smooth/fluent.
He is either really showing his age or his rust…neither will play well if he tries to push through controversial/divisive proposals…he’ll sound senile and Pelosi has turned the 25th Amendment into a meme already by this point.
Biden might get better, go in to a bunker, or actually lead from the middle…but so far he is still basically lurching rustily.
Wolf,
That Italian dictator and his German buddy the AH dude, the mere mention of whose name will get this post whacked by your word filter, were also great, mesmerizing public speakers.
The main difference in the final outcome on July 6, 2021, was that the US still had far stronger democratic traditions and institutions than inter-war Italy and Germany did 90 years ago. And that’s why American democracy managed to survive on July 6.
Just sayin’
Oops, sorry, January 6
Gandalf,
The AH dude was such a horrific evil character that no one in modern political life today in the US or in any other major country can be compared to him. That’s why I delete all those comparisons. These comparisons diminish the horrificness and evilness of that AH dude. There is just no comparison. Period.
People are recklessly casual about this.
Yes, the American democratic traditions and institutions are much more solid than what the Germans had. And there are many many other differences. But the biggest difference is that the US doesn’t have an AH dude — not anywhere near. Period.
People who draw these parallels don’t want to understand the AH dude and don’t want to grasp how immensely evil that character was.
Just because some guy can draw a crowd with his demagoguery doesn’t make that guy an AH dude. You’ve got to get that straight.
Government needs reasonably bright people running it, but honor and honesty and leadership skills, etc., are equally important.
Here’s a bright one, a person willing to change the results of any contest and kill anyone that’s not on her side; GOP Mom’s unite!
Miller, from Oakland, a small town in east central Illinois, spoke at the “Moms for America Saving the Republic” rally outside the Capitol on Tuesday.
At the rally, Miller said, “Each generation has the responsibility to teach the next generation. You know, if we win a few elections we’re still going to be losing unless we win the hearts of our children. It’s the battle. Hitler was right on one thing — that whoever has the youth has the future. Our children are being propagandized.”
TONY 22:
yes, THAT City Lights, Tony 22 / i didn’t know he was any kinda millionaire, so i’m glad Ferlinghetti is a “deca-millionaire” and has his own store / building that he OWNS, as the bohemian funky nasty funny North Beach has been savagely gentrified, and City Lights won’t let “well-meaning” invasive institutions in to “give” them money and take over (like Stanford et al), and they’re the ONLY store still willing to carry my work when i got black balled from publishing my last/final book.
i didn’t know Ferlinghetti was so flush, but cool. glad for it as i’m not a purist–as in, “you’ve gotta be skint to be down with the people”–and i’m not even a Marxist, so i’m not gonna denigrate the man for having his own…
…and thus enabling OTHERS of us to have our own/say in the midst of all this Not-So-Free speech era.
even though i think Peter’s one of the few friends i may have left who may have recently nixxed me for publicly defending Harvey Weinstein. some of his other female writer friends had had issues with Weinstein. and if one of ’em was the brilliant and beautiful Rebecca Solnit, who’s his dear friend, and she coined the term “mansplaining,” i still won’t change my mind about Weinstein. i think accusing a man of “Mansplaining” is just a woman who’s trying to have the bigger dick in a conversation.
Men explain things because they wanna HELP and feel needed. / if a woman doesn’t get the heart in that, she’s gonna be decades away from how to deal with a Weinstein.
—
PETUNIA:
ah! the positive twist is the quote i’d been looking for and like all things left on the tips of tongues, i found it in the quiet of the middle of the night:
FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE!
of COURSE! i was thinking of Kristofferson’s/Joplin’s versions of “Me and Bobby McGee.”
x
“thus enabling OTHERS of us to have our own/say in the midst of all this Not-So-Free speech era”
Just try and get him to sell a book that doesn’t adhere to or questions his personal and familial inter-generational politics and you’ll see how tolerant he is. I’ve heard the broken promises and screwed over authors for over 50 years since the 1960s, before he fired Shig. Don’t know who Shig is? Ask your friend.
Solnit is just Femplaining.
You should have tried the capitalism of the 1970s when you could be an artist, do one job, probably unionized, and live comfortably and modestly eating out in Chinatown or North Beach every night.
you sound more like Miss Haversham than me, Tony. i’m very sorry you had a bad experience with them. i am way too self absorbed to be interested in anyone’s gossip and prefer to let people have their own relationships without my judging them. life is hard enough. as long as they’re good to me and have my back, i’ll be a feral dog for ’em back.
thanks for making me look hella young, Tony.
much appreciated. but now we’re done with this little interchange.
(smile)
x
P.S. TONY 22:
if i’m not a Marxist, what am i? i was just discussing that with James after breakfast this morning, during our usual morning philosophical discussion. he’s reading Kropotkin, apparently some anarchism guy. and even HE called out the b.s. of the ideals vs. reality of a representative government back in the 1800s, so this isn’t such a “modern” predicament. he saw the inevitable elite cornering the market yet AGAIN even in representative democracy, coming hundreds of years away.
so what, then, Miss Smarty Pants? i called out Unamused for playing with us like mice, holding back on us. having The Answer.
he said ask the right QUESTIONS then left in a poof of smoke. He’s like Q from the bad 80s Star Trek. i loved when Q was on because he was so sadistic, too.
so i say to James, “okay so libertarianism has its problems and we’re not ready for social anarchism or ‘anarcho communism’ as a species, so all this supposed revolutionary me b.s. and all i want is REFORM? to go back to capitalism circa the early 90s, back when you felt like as long as you could at least crawl and bark with a shiv between your teeth, you had half a chance?…
“… because next to this post internet world where our brightest future is hoping they’ll give you a measly $600 of your own money that’s becoming useless and Pelosi’s eating fancy ice cream while the American Dream is now hope to rent back our soon-to-be-foreclosed homes or retire in an old RV you have to move to alternate sides of the street while wait til Work From Home people are squeezing their tits on the sidewalks with the rest of us—”
(even and ESPECIALLY the men. there’s even a country song for THAT. / or there WILL be, promise you that.)
so that’s all i am. all this bluster and all i am is a reformer because now i just want to return to an earlier archaic capitalism of 10, 15 years ago, before when folks re we can afford to live in our own country and have LIVES.. you know, families, free time, options.
in the world of today, that’s tantamount to me in the fetal position, sucking my thumb, obliviously living in some imagined misty long gone past. i feel like Miss Haversham.
x
In the interests of getting Wolf to a record for comments, here is a sure to be uncontroversial question…
In Trump’s pre-riot speech, which words are considered to be the “incitement” (which presumably will be a core part of any Impeachment docs).
I got curious because of an anomaly with the MSM talking heads…lots of outrage, lots of *saying* what Trump allegedly said…but no video, and no Twitter clips of the “incitement” (ie, “go break in to the Congress”, “go beat up Nancy”).
Plenty of “they stole the election” and “we’re not going to put up with it”…but not any specific incitement of a specific act as far as I can.
Here is a link to Trump’s speech…pull the parts you think are the actionable incitement and post below.
[link deleted]
It is long, but I am curious.
My guess is that there is nothing specific in there, otherwise the MSM would have shown the vid/tweet…I mean, Trump never shuts up and is seemingly very loose with his speech.
So, everyone take a look and quote the parts you believe to be “incitement”.
Wolf…you may want to get ready for a record.
I deleted the link. Anyone who wants to listen to his speech, can google it. I’m not about to link to and promote a Trump speech.
Wolf,
I’m no fan of Trump but I’m less of a fan of powerful media organizations permanently silencing someone (anyone) without providing the *specifics* of their alleged criminal/violative acts.
As I said, I got curious about the Trump “incitement” speech because the MSM were not showing video excerpts or Twitter pulls of the actual “incitement”.
This happened so much it became very noticeable.
This is television news, not “Sock Puppet Theater”…the essence of it is direct video evidence, not talking head “re enactment”/paraphrase.
There were tons of “he said” comments from the talking heads…but no video and no direct quotes…which has become more and more of a MSM trademark that extends far beyond Trump…not *direct* coverage of the primary actors (in the age of internet and video) but owned and operated talking heads’ paraphrase of what person X said.
The traditional response is that “we know” what was said…but not so much if all that you are getting is person A’s version of what person X’s actually said (especially when independent transcripts exist).
That is why hearsay generally doesn’t fly in court.
You say you won’t link to “a Trump speech” (the implication being that you already know in detail what it actually says).
Fine.
But *you* can go the speech and pull the quotes you believe to be direct incitement (or really incitement…versus angry *criticism*…at all).
That is all I proposed for *anybody* to do.
Trump is a nitwit and more than occasionally reckless, but the MSM is worse…calculatedly, habitually deceptive and cheerleaders for a fascism/totalitarianism in many forms that serves their interests…look at the the multiple conservative bannings across Twitter, Facebook, and Google…again, all extending beyond Trump (how exactly did “Walk Away” incite a riot? By having liberals say why they left “liberalism”?)
Cas127,
Without having to watch the Mad Potus spew, I looked up a transcript of that speech posted online.
The vast majority of the speech was filled with complete lies about how the election was stolen from him, and hate raging against people that he thought should have agreed with him on that point, fellow Republicans like Brian Kempe and Mitch McConnell, the Supreme Court, etc., and raging against Democrats, in highly inflammatory language.
He also praised the Republicans who he expected would change the results of the electoral vote, including Mike Pence, and in his words
“We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. ” (18:16)
And he ended by saying:
“So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, I love Pennsylvania Avenue, and we’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give… The Democrats are hopeless. They’re never voting for anything, not even one vote. But we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.” (01:12:43)
Well, he didn’t say explicitly that the mob should storm the Capitol and break into the Congressional chambers, but HE DID TELL THE MOB TO GO TO THE CAPITOL AND TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY, and he had earlier in the rambling said that he demanded “Congress do the right thing”.
That’s definitely an implied threat.
A jumpsuit of Prison Orange awaits.
Gandalf,
filled with complete lies”
I’ll say what *any* defense lawyer would say if their client were accused of “incitement for a crime” (really, *conspiracy* to commit would be the infinitely more common charge…I’m not sure if “incitement” exists as a standard charge in criminal law, absent some specific statute).
Basically,
1) “Telling lies” is not inciting anybody to take a specific criminal act. Why?
A) It isn’t directing anybody to do anything specific. (“Go assault Nancy, Mob”)
B) Beyond that lowish hurdle, some affirmative act in furtherance would have to be taken (“Grab that gun, follow me, hand out these blueprints to the Capitol, Mob, etc”.)
C) Absent that specificity and affirmative act, it is an expression of opinion (“Dems are liars, cheats, and thieves, Mob”) directly implicating First Amendment rights (“Dems are stealing the election to seize power, Mob”)
“HE DID TELL THE MOB TO GO TO THE CAPITOL AND TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY”
Actually…no.
I computer scanned the whole speech and “take back” only appears twice…neither in the line you put in caps (I suspect that is why you didn’t put it in quotes…because that is *your line*…not actually anything Trump actually said…which *still* wouldn’t be actionable/criminal anyway…”take back our country” is much more easily seen as political metaphor as it is a step toward conspiracy to commit a crime (“Take Nancy’s Head, Mob”)
Your substitution of words for what Trump actually said is what I criticize the MSM for doing systematically (to 50% of the public beyond Trump).
*And* that is exactly why I posted the transcript to Trump’s speech…rather than just “saying what Trump said” people could see and *quote exactly* what Trump said.
But, of course, “everyone knows” what Trump said…because some third party on TV said so.
In the end Impeachment is a political process, so criminal law parameters not particularly relevant…*except* to the extent that an alleged criminal act is supposed to be the predicate for the Impeachment (with less than two wks left in Trump term).
My guess is that if Pelosi doesn’t abort the Impeachment talk (Senate would rq 100% consent to move on any House measure earlier than 1 day before Trump leaves…) the “incitement” claim may vanish…it would just draw out/weaken the House’s claims (see above).
Moscow Mitch has already outlined his plans to have the Senate hearings on the conviction/removal phase scheduled for the day AFTER Biden is sworn in as President, so it’s already in the cards that Trump is not going to be removed from office by Congress before his term expires through the impeachment process.
Impeaching Trump in the House before his term expires appears to be on a fast track, and has a good chance of succeeding. It would make Trump the ONLY President to ever be impeached twice while in office. That, IMHO, would be the appropriate minimal response by Congress to being threatened by Trump and his mobster supporters.
Then there will be the Federal investigation into this riot, now to be directed by Merrick Garland and a Democratic administration. Already they are rounding the rioters up. There is the Capitol Police officer who died – circumstances are still unclear, but appears to be related to some sort of violent contact with the rioters.
So, on the Federal level, incitement to riot leading to the death of a Federal officer = one of the lower levels of homicide, not Murder 1, but surely manslaughter or negligent homicide, something like that. Criminal lawyers feel free to weigh in.
Then there’s the civil liabilities. The officer’s family will likely sue everybody, including Trump. Probably even some of the rioters who died, the woman who was shot, the woman who was crushed to death, will sue. Suing the police would be obvious, but Trump could be sued as well for having incited them to “walk over to Congress” in the first place.
And we haven’t even started on the raft of lawsuits and investigations already on the docket for sexual harassment/rape, tax evasion, and probably money laundering with the Russian oligarchs through Deutsche Bank – all of which will be opened up when Trump’s tax records get released, finally.
I do still see a nice orange jumpsuit waiting for the Donald.
Pulling words or sentences out of context won’t make anyone’s point.
This gathering, the actions of the mob (it did become a mob) were not spontaneous. It was a preset event, with a date, time, speakers for a purpose.
The purpose was to express a grievance. The purpose was to take action in regaurds to the grievance. The grievance was Trump’s and he used these people to express his grievance. That is abuse. Those people will bear the consequences, Trump will not.
Someone in power used a gathering of like minded people and turned them into a mob. A mob has no brain, it is only uncontrolled action. It’s like vomiting.
This mob was years in the making. It was speech after speech. Hate chants and button pushing, over and over until people believed.
I don’t understand why I am banned again. I have a better track record than anyone else on this site. You are letting your political bend get in the way of financial commentary. Sometimes, you may not agree with the politics of the day, but you have to acknowledge it if you want to make money. That is the first think you learn on wall street.
SocalJim,
You’re not “banned again” as you can see. You’re welcome to post here, and I encourage you to. But I deleted a couple of comments. I don’t allow commenters to use this site to spread Trump’s BS and lies. You can spread those on his Twitter account. I sometimes delete my own comments because they violate my own policies. Don’t take it personally. Happens to the best of us :-]
One of the first lessons you learn on wall street is to put your politics on the side or you will lose money. I know Dems love to call everything the pres says is a lie, but that is not true. Some things he says are a lie, but more things he says are true. So, if you ignore things he says that are true like CNN and MSNBC does, or if you ignore things he says that are false like FOX News does, you will miss returns and your wall street boss will fire you. When he says something, you need to do your own research and not get misled by the media.
In light of that, BITCOIN is saying that there is a question surrounding the integrity of the election, even though CNN will call that a lie. The 10yr is starting to indicate the same. Ignore that at your own peril.
There are so many lies coming from the mainstream media and the mainstream financial media that I stopped listening to them. Even Fox business news is starting to put out a lot of fake news. That’s why I look at raw data and anecdotal evidence to make my financial decisions.
Like the phony economic recovery. There ain’t any here in the swamp. Was in Home Depot yesterday and the place was practically empty. Small businesses are closing left and right. This place is in a depression.
The politics is now affecting the investment and business communities. I got news for these big global companies. Put your politics aside if you want any business. If not, there are going to be organized boycotts on a big scale.
Pets.com-My Space-GooglePlus, Facebook-Twitter-? all seem(ed) powerful and like they would last forever.
75+ million Trump voters have a fair amount of market influence. Their organized boycotts of these social media, and especially of the ADVERTISERS thereon, can destroy any business.
“Have you been to our Facebook page or read my tweets?”
“Those are losers and 7-11 level minds. We don’t associate with people, or patronize businesses like that.”
Look what the boycotts of South Africa “achieved” on the international stage. Those of Israel were so threatening that congress climbed out of its cage to pass anti-BDS legislation.
The taxpayers must demand that public agencies that use Facebook, like police, stop forcing the public onto a corporate controlled potentially censored advertising mediums and instead maintain their own websites.