…let’s face it…even with a one (dead) horse sleigh you’re not gonna get far if you hitch it to a turtle
Even the Senate chaplain saw the light before a majority of Republicans inside his flock.
“Lord, we respect the conclusions of the electoral college and ask you to bless President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris. We pray in your great name. Amen,” The Rev. Barry Black, the nonpartisan religious steward of the Senate for 17 years, said in Tuesday’s opening prayer.
A few minutes later Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arrived for his daily opening statement, in which he too admitted to what most of the world — including Russian President Vladimir Putin — had already acknowledged.
“The electoral college has spoken. So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” McConnell said, finally acknowledging someone he once called a “trusted partner” had defeated President Trump.
[…]
It remained unclear Tuesday whether McConnell’s remarks suggested a true break in the dam of Republican denial — or, coming so many weeks after the election result, a mere reminder of the dynamics that have defined the party of Trump for the past four years.As he spoke, fewer than 20 of the 52 Senate Republicans had formally recognized Biden as the winner of an election that took place exactly six weeks ago. Just 16 House Republicans had recognized Biden as the president-elect, based on a tally The Washington Post has maintained since starting a GOP survey almost two weeks ago.
More than 200 Republicans in Congress continued to duck the question altogether, avoiding any public comment on a pretty fundamental question of democracy.
Most GOP lawmakers remain afraid to admit the obvious — Biden’s national-vote margin is the second-highest of the past six presidential races — out of fear that Trump could turn his supporters against them ahead of their 2022 election campaigns, leading to ideological primary challenges.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/mcconnell-finally-answers-the-gotcha-question-of-the-day-by-acknowledging-bidens-win-but-much-of-the-gop-remains-in-denial/2020/12/15/story.html
[…]
A few House Republicans are organizing a last-gasp effort to block Biden’s ascension to the White House, hoping to take what has also been a formality — the congressional ratification of the electoral college count, slated for Jan. 6 — and using it as a protest vehicle.
[…]
Even if the House Republicans get a Senate sponsor, it would result only in a two-hour debate in each chamber. Enough Senate Republicans have already vowed to vote against this effort to ensure that it would not gain much traction — but it could put them in the uncomfortable position of casting a vote that would trigger exactly the sort of angry Trump tweet many have spent years trying to avoid.
In the end, McConnell was truly in an impossible position. He appears to have chosen the less-bad route, which is to acknowledge reality rather than let this drag on and on while his status as majority leader is uncertain, and hope this all blows over sooner than later.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/15/mcconnell-sets-up-clash-with-trump-over-whos-charge-gop
[…]
Now is when we find out who is truly running this party from this point forward because its two top leaders’ positions are completely irreconcilable.
[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-finally-recognizes-biden-won-u-s-election]
[…]while the Constitution gives Congress the final say in the election, there is no chance that it will agree to overturn the results and keep Mr. Trump in office.
Could Congress overturn Biden’s Electoral College win? Possibly. Will it? No. [NYT]
After the electoral college cemented his victory on Monday, President-elect Joe Biden urged the nation and the GOP to “turn the page” on weeks of false claims by President Trump and his allies that massive fraud had flipped the election.
Trump, though, soon made it clear that he has no intention of moving on.
In a cascade of tweets sent after midnight, the president shared more dubious claims of electoral fraud and falsely insisted, yet again, that he was the true victor.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/15/trump-electoral-college-biden
…hell, even down the rabbit hole there’s signs they might be seeing the light
…although apparently it’s kind of faint?
Sen. Ron Johnson believes Americans have been “snookered into this mass hysteria” about the coronavirus. He continues to promote the use of hydroxychloroquine, rejecting scientific studies that found it can endanger covid-19 patients. He has said the country’s intelligence service conspired with the media to undermine President Trump.
Now the Republican from Wisconsin is using his last days as chairman of the powerful Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee to investigate what he calls “election irregularities” related to the 2020 campaign. The hearing, to be held Wednesday, comes after an array of federal and state courts rejected Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud, and in the wake of Monday’s electoral college vote confirming Joe Biden’s victory.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ron-johnson-trump-election-senate/2020/12/15/
[…]
Johnson said Tuesday in an interview with The Washington Post that he accepts the electoral college vote. He said he does not plan to challenge the electoral college results when the matter comes to Congress on Jan. 6.
[…]
Still, Johnson is moving forward with the hearing, saying, “A large percentage of the American population don’t view this election as legitimate.”
story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/15/republicans-no-longer-understand-what-courts-do
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/15/florida-grim-reaper-desantis-uhlfelder
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gop-reckoning-never-came/2020/12/14/story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/chase-trump-martial-law/2020/12/15/story.html
…so maybe it isn’t just the vaccine we need to reassure some “older americans” about
The Next Vaccine Challenge: Reassuring Older Americans [NYT]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/15/biden-coronavirus-policy-reverse-trump-failures
Here’s Why Vaccinated People Still Need to Wear a Mask [NYT]
We Know How to Curb the Pandemic. How Do We Make People Listen? [NYT]
As President-elect Joe Biden and his team devise a governing strategy to defeat the coronavirus pandemic — the incoming administration’s most urgent priority — they have become centrally focused on instilling broad, bipartisan faith in vaccines.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/15/biden-covid-health-plan
…but with a big dose of “winter is coming” headed for the east coast
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/biggest-snowstorm-years-still-track-bury-parts-northeast-2-feet
…maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if this particular turtle got snowed in?
…not that he’s fooling anybody…least of all Katie Porter
…but the joy of the snow day might be starting to look like a thing of the past
…one way or another the kids seem to have been getting kind of a raw deal thanks to this damn virus
…some more than other, at that
…which is the sort of thing we really ought to have got around to dealing with…& speaking of things that are past time to be dealt with
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/eu-announces-new-rules-force-breakups-hefty-fines-big-tech
The European Union on Tuesday unveiled sweeping new rules for online businesses that could potentially force fundamental changes in the business practices of digital giants such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/eu-tech-google-amazon-facebook/2020/12/15/story.html
The Federal Trade Commission ordered technology companies to turn over information on how they track consumer data, potentially setting the stage for an even more wide-ranging Washington crackdown on the technology industry.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/15/technology-202-ftc-demands-nine-companies-disclose-their-data-collection-practices
…but that would require shit to start making sense
The U.S. government spent billions on a system for detecting hacks. The Russians outsmarted it. [WaPo]
…which is seldom the word that comes to mind when contemplating the GOP
Hogan, a Republican, will join former senator Joseph I. Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, leading No Labels, which supports the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-no-labels/2020/12/15/story.html
…so I guess don’t hold your breath?
Many of President Trump’s tweets are inexplicable. But when the president announces on Twitter he will veto bipartisan legislation to support the military because “THE BIGGEST WINNER OF OUR NEW DEFENSE BILL IS CHINA!,” it’s only natural to wonder what the heck he is talking about. I checked with more than a dozen administration officials, lawmakers and congressional officials to find out. The unanimous answer was, “No one knows.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/14/trump-bashes-defense-bill-pro-china-baffling-washington
…but then again
Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that he has called his Winter White House, have a message for the outgoing commander in chief: We don’t want you to be our neighbor.
That message was formally delivered Tuesday morning in a demand letter delivered to the town of Palm Beach and also addressed to the U.S. Secret Service asserting that Trump lost his legal right to live at Mar-a-Lago because of an agreement he signed in the early 1990s when he converted the storied estate from his private residence to a private club. The legal maneuver could, at long last, force Palm Beach to publicly address whether Trump can make Mar-a-Lago his legal residence and home, as he has been expected to do, when he becomes an ex-president after the swearing-in of Joe Biden on Jan. 20.
The contretemps sets up a potentially awkward scenario, unique in recent history, in which a former Oval Office occupant would find himself having to officially defend his choice of a place to live during his post-presidency. It also could create a legal headache for Trump because he changed his official domicile to Mar-a-Lago, leaving behind Manhattan, where he lived before being elected president and came to fame as a brash, self-promoting developer. (Trump originally tried to register to vote in Florida using the White House in Washington as his address, which is not allowed under Florida law. He later changed the registration to the Mar-a-Lago address.)
In the demand letter, obtained by The Washington Post, an attorney for the Mar-a-Lago neighbors says the town should notify Trump that he cannot use Mar-a-Lago as his residence. Making that move would “avoid an embarrassing situation” if the outgoing president moves to the club and later has to be ordered to leave, according to the letter sent on behalf of the neighbors, the DeMoss family, which runs an international missionary foundation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/trump-mar-a-lago-neighbors-dispute/2020/12/15/story.html
Judge orders Trump Organization to give more records to N.Y. attorney general [WaPo]
…maybe don’t despair?
…or just content yourself with the idea that however they spin the thing…punting your AG this close to your end of term is almost certainly a schoolboy error one way or another
Of the many images of William P. Barr embedded in the historical record, the ones that most resonate with his time as attorney general in the Trump administration reflect a graceless block of a man hunched over a hearing room desk with a resting expression of genial disgust.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/15/bill-barr-was-disdainful-block-gray
Barr couldn’t pass Trump’s loyalty test: shredding the US constitution [Guardian]
…even if I seem to have messed up my time management & failed to leave myself enough time to pick some tunes to make up for all the scrolling I just made you do…& once again I seem to have links left over
Early this month, a group of Democratic members of Congress introduced an Abolition Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Why, in the year 2020, does the Constitution need an amendment dealing with the abolition of slavery? Wasn’t that accomplished over a century and a half ago?
We Are Not Done With Abolition [NYT]
Biden to Face a Confrontational Russia in a World Changed From His Time in Office [NYT]
Just How Dangerous Was Donald Trump? [NYT]
…truth be told I have a few things to do that won’t wait so I really am out of time for now…but I’ll try to make up for it later?
‘Like nothing seen in nature before’: strange dinosaur has scientists enthralled [Guardian]
…for now, though…here’s a reminder that the Wu-Tang get on pretty well with Texas (…no…the other Texas…you know…the one from scotland)
Love the Texas/Wu-Tang friendship (actually, love seeing any supportive friendship where people revel in each other’s company). The best part of your linked article is the second video, ending with “You don’t even know how to drive properly – I mean, where the hell are we?”
Also, awaiting the snow – nothing yet, but the skies are heavily clouded and gray into white, it’s coming!
But what now for the most famous reindeer of all?
Dude.
and poor Pompeo…
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/hundreds-of-invitees-skip-mike-pompeos-superspreader-holiday-party
♫ It’s my party, I can die if I want to. ♫
I know we have a bunch of fans of this show on this site, are you this big a fan?
https://www.q13fox.com/video/881167
On the ed thing….
This HuffPo story, and the comment underneath it is, imo, a REALLY great example of the dichotomy going on in Ed right now…
The teacher who wrote the first-person account honestly sounds like a GREAT teacher😃🤗💖.
She gets it. And she understands that right now, this year, we can’t use the old ways of teaching anymore.
This year, if we want to get kids through to the other side safely, more than ever we NEED to find ways to connect with them. To keep lines of communication 100% OPEN. To create environments where they can feel SAFE, HEARD, and like someone out there CARES about them.
This year is ALL about just stabilizing & shoring-up the base of the Pyramid, of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs…
That’s IT–Safety, Security, Shelter, Food, Clothing…
Ideally, YES, we are educating, too…. but that BASE needs to be there, before kids (or ANYONE, honestly!), are capable of being ready to learn…
So a teacher like Ms Osman–who understands where her kiddos are–who gets that in kids that age, voices literally may be cracking & undependable, that background noises may betray a reality the child doesn’t care to broadcast, that video/pictures may offer up opportunities for bullying or stigmatization?
That sort of teacher can be an absolute godsend for their kids right now…. can MAKE the online-school arena an ACTUAL safe space & escape from the harsher realities of life during this damn pandemic.
And may just be tossing out that life-ring on a rope, which is the ONLY thing some of her kiddos have to float them through.
And that’s why the stupid, hard-headed, insensitive, assholish, and frankly boorish comment–by the ONE person under the story–claiming to be a woman and teacher, who’s claiming Osman’s way of teaching is basically “bullshit” is so… infuriating.
Because it’s teachers like the second, who gatekeep, and exclude their kids–by expecting that kids growing up TODAY, in an environment ENTIRELY divorced from our own educational upbringings–somehow compete in their modern world, using OUR childhoods tools….
Ffs, it’s like that baggage expects kids to learn on and then to compete in the modern era, using an Apple IIe and a landline phone….
It’s NOT gonna WORK, because the entire playing field, and ALL THE RULES OF THE GAME HAVE CHANGED!!!
Ms Osman gets that.
And her students will be better in the long term, BECAUSE of that.
I just wish ALL our kids had teachers who got it like SHE does, and that less kids had to deal with “old fashioned” teachers like the asshole commenter.
Goddamn, this made my day. Maybe even my week. Did not see this coming.
Buh-bye.
Well shoot, it looks like WordPress or The Guardian killed my photo.
More from today, in “Ed done Right”😉💖
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/school-districts-sweet-snow-day-letter-will-remind-you-to-let-go-of-the-worry_l_5fda308fc5b610200986c7e9
and apparently this was NOT the only district/school to declare a snow day,or to decide to KEEP snow-days snow-days😁
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/no-more-snow-days-thanks-to-remote-learning-not-everyone-agrees/2020/11
Emmer, sorry for writing an essay but apparently I have a lot of thoughts about this issue! 🙂
Our mayor made today a full-remote day and people are so angry about the kids losing a snow day. I’m on the other side of this: the kids have had so much disruption, uncertainty, and upheaval this year that keeping things consistent is so important. The school year started late. Some schools keep bouncing between open and closed due to confirmed cases in the building. The whole system went full remote in November, then reopened a few weeks later. Teachers get reassigned, kids leave and join the class as they switch between full remote and blended modes, etc. I’m really glad they are having a normal week this week. While an unexpected change of plans might feel like a wonderful rite of childhood during normal times, it feels very different when the past nine months has been a barrage of unexpected changes of plans that leave kids feeling instability and isolation.
In my city, the majority of parents work. For their kids, a snow day wouldn’t be a day out playing in the snow. The majority of kids don’t have backyards and we can’t send them out to play unsupervised. It would be a day sitting at home, killing time, isolated yet again from their teachers and classmates. That’s the last thing these kids need– they’ve had plenty of those days over the past nine months.
In my city snow days are very rare. When I was a child we almost never had them– they were a suburban thing. All these people screaming about how kids aren’t getting to experience childhood either came here from someplace else or are fundamentally misremembering our childhood. Someone posted on Facebook that in the last 40 years we’ve had 13 snow days, and 6 of them have been under the current mayor.