Saturday, January 09, 2021

Gov. Cuomo announces legalization of marijuana with proposed adult-use cannabis program

The legalization of marijuana in New York is likely to "generate more than $300 million in tax revenue."

By Ashley Curtin
-January 7, 2021
SOURCE NationofChange

It’s no longer a question of whether New York will legalize marijuana, its how to go about the legalization. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he will effectively end marijuana prohibition by pursuing legislature to create a legal cannabis market.

Gov. Cuomo’s proposal, which is part of the 2021 State of the State, includes an adult-use cannabis program that taxes and regulates marijuana in the same manner alcohol is managed for adults over the age of 21.

“Despite the many challenges New York has faced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it has also created a number of opportunities to correct longstanding wrongs and build New York back better than ever before,” Gov. Cuomo said. “Not only will legalizing and regulating the adult-use cannabis market provide the opportunity to generate much-needed revenue, but it also allows us to directly support the individuals and communities that have been most harmed by decades of cannabis prohibition.”

According to a press release, a newly created Office of Cannabis Management will help oversee the adult-use cannabis program, along with the likes of the State’s existing medical and cannabinoid hemp programs. Also, an equitable market structure will “invest in individuals and communities disproportionately impacted by prohibition” by offering licensing to such entrepreneurs.

The legalization of marijuana in New York is likely to “generate more than $300 million in tax revenue,” according to a press release.

Gov. Cuomo’s proposal will “reflects national standards and emerging best practices to promote responsible use, limiting the sale of cannabis products to adults 21 and over and establishing stringent quality and safety controls including strict regulation of the packaging, labeling, advertising, and testing of all cannabis products,” a press release stated.

Organizations advocating for legalization of marijuana applaud Gov. Cuomo’s announcement, but also hold him accountable to pass a bill dedicated to marijuana justice this session.

“New York still has the opportunity to lead the country on cannabis legalization by establishing the most ambitious and progressive legalization program in the U.S. and implementing cannabis legalization from a social justice lens where other states have fallen short,” Melissa Moore, New York State director of the Drug Policy Alliance and member of Start SMART NY Coalition (Sensible Marijuana Access through Regulated Trade), said. “Given New York’s appalling history with racially-biased marijuana enforcement, we must be bold and innovative in creating justice and equity.

The Start SMART NY Coalition is comprised of organizations and advocates dedicated to criminal justice reform, civil rights, public health, and community-based organizations who support legalization.

“Governor Cuomo and the legislature can cement New York as the national model for marijuana legalization by centering community reinvestment, equity, and justice within our comprehensive reform,” Moore said.

Big Tech Further Mutes President, Far Right Megaphone as Demands for Trump Removal Swell

Google yanked Parler from its app store Friday in light of "continued posting... that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S."

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer

Published on Saturday, January 09, 2021
by Common Dreams

Donald Trump's Twitter account displayed on a mobile phone screen next to a vinyl doll which features the U.S. President Donald Trump, seen in front of the U.S. flag, on Saturday, 9 January 2021, in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Amid ongoing calls for President Donald Trump to face accountability for his role in encouraging Wednesday's attack on the U.S. Capitol, Google announced Friday that it pulled from its app store Parler—a social media platform described as "where the rancor of the far-right thrives"—citing "continued posting... that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S."

"In order to protect user safety on Google Play, our longstanding policies require that apps displaying user-generated content have moderation policies and enforcement that removes egregious content like posts that incite violence," a Google spokesperson said. "All developers agree to these terms and we have reminded Parler of this clear policy in recent months."

"We're aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S.," the statement continued. "In light of this ongoing and urgent public safety threat, we are suspending the app's listings from the Play Store until it addresses these issues."

Now permanently ban him from office through impeachment and conviction.— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) January 8, 2021

Arusha Gordon, associate director of the James Byrd Jr. Center to Stop Hate at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, welcomed the development. "It is time companies enforce their terms of use and ensure their products are not used by white supremacists and others to organize violent attacks on our democracy," she said.

Google's announcement followed Apple's threat earlier on Friday to ban Parler within 24 hours unless the social media app submitted an updated plan for moderating its content amid accusations Parler was a key medium for facilitating Wednesday's failed coup effort.

"We have received numerous complaints regarding objectionable content in your Parler service, accusations that the Parler app was used to plan, coordinate, and facilitate the illegal activities in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 that led (among other things) to loss of life, numerous injuries, and the destruction of property," Apple wrote to Parler, according to BuzzFeed News. "The app also appears to continue to be used to plan and facilitate yet further illegal and dangerous activities."

President Trump is such a threat to this country that there's a realistic fear that if he's allowed to tweet, he'll back an attack on the government. Get him out now.— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) January 9, 2021

The developments came the same day Twitter suspended Trump's personal account, @realdonaldtrump. The ban followed Trump firing off over 57,000 tweets, frequently using the platform throughout his time in office to spread xenophobia, throw insults, and amplify false claims of voter fraud, which prompted Twitter warnings on the posts starting in May.

Twitter and other platforms have content moderation and civic integrity policies for a reason. Platforms cannot give any individual regardless if they are a private or public figure free pass after free pass before finally enforcing their rules.— Yosef Getachew (@ygetachew2) January 9, 2021

@TeamTrump was subsequently suspended on Friday after that account posted a series of tweets attributed to the president, since "using another account to try to evade a suspension is against our rules," Twitter said.

Just ahead of that account's suspension, it "had pointed its 2.3 million followers to its account on Parler," Reuters reported.

The swelling list of suspended Trump-affiliated accounts includes Facebook, with that company blocking the president from posting on his account for at least two weeks. "We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation says the companies are justified in the bans, calling the moves "a simple exercise of [the platforms'] rights, under the First Amendment and Section 230, to curate their sites."

"Nevertheless," EFF legal director Corynne McSherry wrote Thursday, "we are always concerned when platforms take on the role of censors, which is why we continue to call on them to apply a human rights framework to those decisions." She urged the platforms to be "more transparent and consistent in how they apply their rules—and we call on policymakers to find ways to foster competition so that users have numerous editorial options and policies from which to choose."

EFF's call came as questions swirled about how the extremist mob was able to wreak the havoc they did, especially given indications the violence would unfold. As ProPublica reported Thursday, "warnings of Wednesday's assault on the Capitol were everywhere" on social media, including Parler.

Detailing those warnings, far-right extremism researcher Alex Newhouse wrote Friday at The Conversation:

Although posts on Facebook and Twitter hinted that more than just protests were possible, nowhere was the coming violence as obvious as on Parler. The site, which has attracted millions of new conservative users in the past year, has positioned itself as a bastion for right-wing conspiracy theories and organizing efforts. From my research, hundreds of Parler users expressed their sincere belief, and even desire, that the demonstrations would spark a physical battle, revolution or civil war.

We are ready to fight back and we want blood," a Parler post from Dec. 28 declared. "The president need to do some thing if Jan. 6 is the day then we are ready." Another user stated, "January 6 will either be our saving grace or we will have another civil war that should end very quickly!! Either way Trump will be our POTUS!! Anything less is unacceptable!!"

Using tools that allow me to monitor large-scale social media data, I found evidence that right-wing activists had been explicit and open with their intentions for the Jan. 6 demonstrations since at least mid-December.

The heightened scrutiny of Parler joins growing calls for Trump's removal, either through impeachment or the 25th Amendment, with the demands coming from advocacy groups as well as a growing list of lawmakers.

A group of House Democrats plans on introducing an article of impeachment against Trump on Monday for "willfully inciting violence against the government of the United States."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will act on the measure next week of the president doesn't resign first.

MySpace's Tom Anderson Reacts to Memes About Donald Trump Joining MySpace

Tom Anderson (aka “MySpace Tom”), who is one of the co-founders of the social media company MySpace, is reacting to all the memes about Donald Trump signing up for the service.

After Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, lots of people have been making jokes about where he will go next to reach his follower

One meme shows Trump sitting in front of a computer screen with the MySpace logo pictured on it. The caption reads, “@MySpaceTom about to get a new friend.”

Tom reposted the meme on his Twitter account and simply captioned it with the thinking face emoji, 🤔.

Back in 2003, Tom founded MySpace with Chris DeWolfe and he later became the company’s president and then a strategic adviser until his departure in 2009. He gained his nickname because he automatically was assigned as each user’s first “friend” when they created a profile.

Trump called GOP senator pushing for additional Electoral College objections during Capitol riot

© Provided by Washington Examiner

President Trump called a Republican senator urging him to object to additional Electoral College state tallies as the mob he incited stormed the Capitol.

Trump, who had, only a short time earlier, encouraged his supporters to march to Congress to demand they stop the Electoral College certification, called Utah Sen. Mike Lee shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, but he was looking for Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, according to CNN. A spokesperson for the Utah senator confirmed the call.

With the president on the line, Lee tracked down Tuberville and gave him the phone. Tuberville and Trump spoke for less than 10 minutes, and the president urged him to object to more states than the Republicans had intended. For an objection to be heard, which forces a two-hour debate followed by a vote, it must be in writing and has to be signed by a member of both chambers of Congress — they agreed to object on three states, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

The certification was halted for hours after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the session at the president's direction. The chaos led to five deaths, countless injuries, destruction of federal property, dozens of arrests, and a lockdown of the Capitol, but it did not stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College for Joe Biden for more than a couple hours.

Hours after the insurgence began but before Congress had restarted the session, the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, also called Lee thinking it was Tuberville.

"Sen. Tuberville? Or I should say Coach Tuberville. This is Rudy Giuliani, the President's lawyer," he said, according to a transcript of the voicemail he left for Lee, which was published by the news blog Emptywheel. "I'm calling you because I want to discuss with you how they're trying to rush this hearing and how we need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you."

"I know they're reconvening at 8 tonight, but it ... the only strategy we can follow is to object to numerous states and raise issues so that we get ourselves into tomorrow — ideally until the end of tomorrow."

Congress ultimately certified the Electoral College after only two states' results led to objections that were heard, and they were for Arizona and Pennsylvania. Both states' Electoral College votes ended up counting as the Republican objectors were severely outnumbered.

Original Author: Mike Brest

Original Location: Trump called GOP senator pushing for additional Electoral College objections during Capitol riot

'We will not be bullied': Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear lashes out after 'patriot rally' draws armed protesters to state Capitol

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Only days after a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear condemned a "patriot rally" on Saturday outside the commonwealth's statehouse.

A photo advertising the event, posted in the "United Kentucky" Facebook group on Jan. 2, said it would be "the biggest patriot rally the state of Kentucky has ever seen."

It turned out to be about 100 protesters, many armed, who showed up around noon to stand outside the Kentucky Capitol while both chambers of the General Assembly were in session.

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One armed protester who carried zip ties visibly attached to his backpack told a photographer he brought them “just in case.”

From Oregon to Utah to Georgia: Mapping pro-Trump demonstrations across the country

“Three days after domestic terrorists attacked our U.S. Capitol, there was a militia rally in Frankfort,” Beshear said on Twitter. “They brought zip ties. We will not be intimidated. We will not be bullied. America is counting on the real patriots. Those who condemn hate and terror when they see it.”

But Johnny Rice, the first of many speakers at Saturday's rally, said the group was there for peace, though they are “sick and tired” of what is happening in their country. The event was peaceful, too, with no reported acts of violence or attempts by participants to enter the statehouse.

Others in the succession of speakers took aim at President Donald Trump's election loss to Joe Biden, warning against what they see as an incoming administration set on stripping away freedoms.

Timeline: How a Trump mob stormed the US Capitol, forcing Washington into lockdown

Kentucky Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell also drew sharp criticism, as did Beshear, who was roundly criticized for his executive orders designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

"The bottom line is: He has destroyed us," said Patricia Oliver, who was collecting donations to help the poor and hungry. "From Day One with his mandates, he has failed everybody."

© Matt Stone/Courier Journal As Three Percenters patrolled, Kentucky state senator Michael Nemes-(R) district 38 talks with other militia members as a 'Patriot Freedom Rally' event Saturday afternoon outside the state capitol. Around 150 people attended to protest against the Gov. Andy Beshear's mandates. Speakers also talked about helping the poor in Eastern Kentucky and the "stolen election." .Jan. 9, 2021.

Kentucky is in the grips of a spike in COVID-19 cases, with record-breaking daily totals this week. The state has seen more than 2,800 deaths from the virus.

The rally crowd had mostly dissipated within three hours, with about two dozen protesters finishing with a march around the Capitol shortly after 2 p.m.

Contributing: Ben Tobin, Courier Journal

Jonathan Bullington is an investigative reporter. Reach him at: 502-582-4241; JBullington@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jrbullington.

Slide 1 of 20: Protesters look on during a 'Patriot Freedom Rally' Saturday afternoon outside the state capitol. Around 150 people -- Trump supporters as well as militia and Second Amendment advocates -- attended the event to hear speakers rail against Gov. Andy Beshear and the state of the country. Jan. 9, 2021.

Protesters look on during a 'Patriot Freedom Rally' Saturday afternoon outside the state capitol. Around 150 people -- Trump supporters as well as militia and Second Amendment advocates -- attended the event to hear speakers rail against Gov. Andy Beshear and the state of the country. Jan. 9, 2021.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 'We will not be bullied': Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear lashes out after 'patriot rally' draws armed protesters to state Capitol

Decoding the extremist symbols and groups at the Capitol Hill insurrection

Flags, signs and symbols of racist, white supremacist and extremist groups were displayed along with Trump 2020 banners and American flags at Wednesday's riot at the US Capitol.

© CNN Illustrations/Jim Urquhart/Reuters

The pictures tell part of the story of the beliefs of some of those who chose to show up on that day -- from passionate and peaceful Trump supporters to extremists who showed their hate with their symbols as well as their actions.

The mixing of the groups is one issue that experts who track extremism and hate have long been concerned about.

The certification of the election results proved to be exactly the type of event that brought together various groups and could have led to radical ideas being shared, they say. The initial event, which was heavily promoted and encouraged by President Trump, gave all of these groups something to rally around.

"This was an event designed to oppose the results of a free and fair democratic election and the transition of power that would naturally follow," Mark Pitcavage, a historian and expert in extremism with the Anti-Defamation League said.

© CNN Illustrations/Samuel Corum/Getty Images

CNN spoke with him to identify the symbols and understand the chilling messages of tyranny, white supremacy, anarchy, racism, anti-Semitism and hatred they portray.

Noose and gallows

While a noose on its own is often used as a form of racial intimidation, Pitcavage says he believes in this context the gallows were to suggest punishment for committing treason. "It is suggesting that representatives and senators who vote to certify the election results, and possibly Vice President Pence, are committing treason and should be tried and hanged," he explains.

That treason rhetoric was seen on right-wing message boards in days leading up to the event.

Three Percenters flag

The Three Percenters (also known as III%ers, 3%ers or Threepers) are part of the militia movement in the United States and are anti-government extremists, according to the ADL.© CNN Illustrations/Brendan Gutenschwager

Like others in the militia movement, Three Percenters view themselves as defending the American people against government tyranny.

"Because many adherents to the militia movement strongly support President Trump, in recent years, Three Percenters have not been as active in opposing the federal government, directing their ire at other perceived foes, including leftists/antifa, Muslims and immigrants," according to the ADL.

The group's name comes from an inaccurate claim that only three percent of the people in the colonies armed themselves and fought against the British during the Revolutionary War.

The flag seen above is their logo on the traditional Betsy Ross flag. Pitcavage says right-wing groups (mainstream or extreme), which think of themselves as patriotic, sometimes co-opt America's first flag.

"Release the Kraken" flag

© CNN Illustrations/ITV

The flag references former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell's comments that she was going to "release the Kraken." Powell falsely said she had evidence that would destroy the idea that Joe Biden won the presidency.

The "Kraken," a mammoth sea creature from Scandavian folklore, has turned into a meme in circles that believe the election was stolen. The Kraken, they say, is a cache of evidence that there was widespread fraud. On social media, QAnon conspiracy and fringe sites #ReleaseTheKraken has been widely shared along with false theories of fraud.

The Proud Boys and the OK sign

The far right has co-opted the OK sign as a trolling gesture and, for some, as a symbol of white power. The ADL added that symbol to its long-standing database of slogans and symbols used by extremists.

"They are wearing orange caps to identify each other; in past rallies they wore identifying shirts and other gear, but they ditched that for this event after their leader was recently arrested," Pitcavage explained.

The Proud Boys has been supportive of President Trump and present at "Stop The Steal" rallies in Washington, DC. The Proud Boys' leader, Henry Tarrio, who goes by Enrique Tarrio, was released from police custody Tuesday on charges related to allegedly burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a Black church last month during protests in the city after a "Stop the Steal" rally last month. He was ordered by a local judge to stay out of DC as he awaits trial, including during this week's protests.

"Kekistan" flags

The green, white and black flag was created by some members of the 4chan online community to represent a made-up joke country named for "Kek," a fictional god they also created. It has long been present at right-wing and far-right rallies.

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election.

(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

© CNN Illustrations/Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post/Getty Images

"The Kekistan flag is controversial because its design was partially derived from a Nazi-era flag; this was apparently done on purpose as a joke," Pitcavage explained. "Younger right-wingers coming from the 4chan subculture (both mainstream right and extreme right) often like to display the Kekistan flag at rallies and events."

Altered historic flags

Altered Confederate and Gadsden flags were seen throughout the crowds at the Capitol. One Confederate battle flag variation included an image of assault rifle and the slogan "Come and take it" to convey an anti-gun control message. The phrase "come and take it" paraphrases the "come and take them" retort uttered by Spartan King Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae when the Persian King Xerxes told him and his people to lay down their spears in return for their lives, Pitcavage said.

The Gadsden flag, which is known to many as the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, is a traditional and historical patriotic flag dating to the American Revolution. The flag and symbol are also popular among Libertarians. But it also has been co-opted by right wing groups. Pitcavage explains that while some fly it as a symbol for patriotism, others use it as a "symbol of resistance to perceived tyranny."

Oath Keepers

A man is seen wearing an Oath Keepers hat inside the Capitol after it was breached. The Oath Keepers is a pro-Trump, far-right, anti-government group that considers itself part of the militia movement charged to protect the country and defend the constitution. The group tries to recruit members from among active or retired military, first responders, or police.

© CNN Illustrations/Roberto Schidt/AFP/Getty Images

Their leader has spouted vast conspiracy theories on his blog, accused Democrats of stealing the election, previously threatened violence if it was necessary on Election Day during an interview with far-right conspiracist Alex Jones and said his group would be armed to protect the White House if necessary, according to the ADL.

The Confederate flag

During the United States' long Civil War, no Confederate battle flag came within the shadow of the US Capitol, but on Wednesday, an insurrectionist carried one right through its halls.

© CNN Illustrations/Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

Photographers captured a man carrying it past the portraits of abolitionist Charles Sumner and slaveholder John Calhoun.

The flag was always a symbol of support for slavery. After World War II, it became a prominent symbol of Jim Crow and segregation, Pitcavage says not surprisingly, it is a popular symbol among white supremacists -- even outside the United States.

America First flag

A rioter cloaks himself in an America First flag with the logo of the podcast by far-right commentator Nick Fuentes. Fuentes attended the event at the Capitol, but was photographed remaining outside the Capitol building.

© CNN Illustrations/Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

"America First" was also a slogan President Trump used in describing his foreign policy. Its adoption was criticized by the ADL, which said it had an anti-Semitic use seeking to keep the US out of World War II.

The ADL says Fuentes is part of the "groyper army," which the ADL calls a white supremacist group.

"While the group and leadership's views align with those held by the white supremacist alt right, groypers attempt to normalize their ideology by aligning themselves with 'Christianity' and 'traditional' values ostensibly championed by the church, including marriage and family," the ADL explains. "Like the alt right and other white supremacists, groypers believe they are working to defend against demographic and cultural changes that are destroying the 'true America' -- a white, Christian nation."

"Camp Auschwitz"

A rioter inside the Capitol wore a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt. The bottom of the shirt reads "Work brings freedom," which is the rough translation of the words "Arbeit macht frei" on the gates of the Nazi concentration camp. Auschwitz was the largest and most infamous Nazi concentration camp, where about 1.1 million people were killed during World War II.

Pitcavage says he believes the shirt came from the now-defunct website Aryanwear. The design, which has been around for about 10 years according to Pitcavage, has been popping up on differing websites in recent weeks, though it is often taken down when a complaint is made.

© CNN Illustrations/Telegram

A social media image shows Nationalist Social Club stickers on what appears to be US Capitol Police equipment It's unclear when the photo was taken, but it was posted Wednesday in a Telegram chat the group uses, which includes a Nazi symbol as part of their name.

NSC, apparently a word play on the National Socialists or Nazi party, is a neo-Nazi group that has regional chapters in both the United States and across the globe, according to the ADL. It is unclear if the sticker on the right refers to a New England chapter, or because the group originally called itself the New England Nationalists Club.

"NSC members see themselves as soldiers at war with a hostile, Jewish-controlled system that is deliberately plotting the extinction of the white race," according to the ADL. "Their goal is to form an underground network of white men who are willing to fight against their perceived enemies through localized direct actions."

MAGA Civil War January 6, 2021 shirts

There are still many questions about how exactly the attack on the Capitol happened and who led the charge. But the calls for overthrowing the government and for a civil or race war have long been rallying cries in far-right circles.

The shirts worn by these men on the Capitol grounds on Wednesday show there was at least an intention to commemorate the day. They wore pre-printed shirts, referencing Trump's signature Make America Great Again slogan, alongside the words Civil war and the date of the event that turned into insurrection.

Many commenters in far-right forums have written since the attack, that this is just the beginning of that civil war that many of them have long desired.

Biden says Cruz, other Republicans responsible for 'big lie' that fueled Capitol mob

Celine Castronuovo THE HILL

President-elect Joe Biden on Friday blamed Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and other GOP lawmakers who led efforts to challenge election results ahead of Wednesday's pro-Trump mob at the Capitol, with Biden drawing a parallel between the elected officials' actions and a Nazi propaganda minister.

© Getty Images Biden says Cruz, other Repupblicans resonsible for 'big lie' that fueled Capitol mob

"If he's the only one saying it, that's one thing," Biden said of President Trump, who for weeks made disputed claims that the election was "stolen" from him.

"But the acolytes that follow him, like Cruz and others, they are as responsible as he is," Biden continued, according to The Washington Post.

Biden did not join some other Democrats who have called for Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to be removed from office for encouraging the claims that fueled Wednesday's events, with the former vice president instead saying, "I think they should be just flat beaten the next time they run."

Biden then added, "I think the American public has a real good, clear look who they are ... they're part of the big lie."

"The big lie" refers to an idea espoused by Joseph Goebbels, one of Adolf Hitler's closest advisers, who argued that if you continuously repeat a major lie to people, they will eventually start to believe it.

Biden has previously compared Trump to the Nazi official, including in a September MSNBC interview in which Biden explained Trump was "sort of like Goebbels. You say the lie long enough, keep repeating it, repeating it, repeating it, it becomes common knowledge."

Biden also previously compared Trump to Goebbels when he called for the president's impeachment in October 2019, according to the Post.

Both Cruz and Hawley responded to Biden's remarks Friday, with Hawley writing in a statement that the president-elect should "act like a dignified adult and retract these sick comments."

"This is undignified, immature, and intemperate behavior from the President-elect," the Missouri senator added. "It is utterly shameful."

Cruz took to Twitter to respond to Biden's comments, calling them "really sad."

"At a time of deep national division, President-elect Biden's choice to call his political opponents literal Nazis does nothing to bring us together or promote healing," Cruz wrote. "This kind of vicious partisan rhetoric only tears our country apart."

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the incoming chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the No. 3-ranking Senate Democrat, have both called on Hawley and Cruz to resign for challenging the validity of Biden's victory.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has also called for both Cruz and Hawley to step down, and Texas Democrats and twin brothers Rep. Joaquin Castro and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro have also vocalized support for Cruz's resignation.

A day before the riot at the Capitol, people received a call from a group of Republican attorneys general urging them to 'march:' report

ydzhanova@businessinsider.com (Yelena Dzhanova)

The fundraising arm of a national Republican attorney general group sent out robocalls the day before the deadly riot at the Capitol urging people to "march," according to NBC News.
"At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal," a voice on the call said.
Pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday after the president encouraged them to protest the results of the election.
Five people, including a police officer, died.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The day before pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol building, people received an encouraging phone call from a group of Republican attorneys general telling them to "march," NBC News reported.

The group - the Republican Attorney General Association - is made up of some of the nation's highest-ranking law enforcement and legal officers.

Its fundraising arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, disseminated robocalls to people urging them to head to the Capitol on January 6, according to NBC News.

"At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal," a voice on the call said, NBC reported.

There was no direction in the call to storm the Capitol building, according to NBC News. Violence was also not advocated.

The Rule of Law Defense Fund is closely tied to the Republican Attorney General Association, NBC News reported. The two share offices and funding. Staff members collaborate and work on the same projects.

Steve Marshall, the Alabama attorney general who is in charge of the arm, said he was unaware these calls went out.

"I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week's rally," Marshall said in a statement to NBC News. "Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chairman of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions. I have directed an internal review of this matter."

When reached for comment by Business Insider, RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper expanded on Marshall's statement.

"The Republican Attorneys General Association and Rule of Law Defense Fund had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring, or the organization of Wednesday's event," Piper said. "No Republican AG authorized the staff's decision to amplify a colleague speaking at the event. Organizationally and individually, we strongly condemn and disavow the events which occurred. Wednesday was a dark day in American history and those involved in the violence and destruction of property must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and held accountable."

The riot, which began after President Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to protest the results of the election, has been characterized as an attempted coup. Rioters stormed the Capitol building as lawmakers were meeting inside to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Five people, including one police officer, died. Members of the Proud Boys, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were reportedly present at the Washington, DC, riot.

Many lawmakers began to shelter in place upon notice that the riot broke out. Many evacuated the Capitol building. A quick-thinking Senate aide secured the boxes containing the electoral votes, rescuing them from possible damage.

The vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden went on as planned hours after the riot ended.

A day after the riot, Trump said there would be "an orderly transition" on January 20, Inauguration Day.

The riot spurred calls to once again impeach Trump, this time on a charge for "incitement of an insurrection." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell circulated a memo to Republicans saying Trump cannot logistically be removed from office before Inauguration Day.

RAGA also released multiple statements from its attorneys general and leaders, saying the organization condemns the "violence and lawlessness" at the Capitol.

Their condemnation was not enough for the Democratic Attorneys General Association, according to a statement from organization chairs and attorneys general Maura Healey and Aaron Ford.

"It is not enough for Republican Attorneys General to denounce the violence at the Capitol; they must publicly distance themselves from the Republican Attorneys General Association and its leadership," the statement reads. "And we encourage any individual and entities financially-backing the committee to abstain from further supporting an organization that makes such a mockery of the rule of law and our beloved democracy."

Read the full report from NBC News here.

Expanded Coverage Module: capitol-siege-module

Read the original article on Business Insider

Scenario: Trump resigns after extorting pardons – deluded he’ll fend off recrimination and penalties

Many voices must apply maximum pressure, but it’s no slam dunk that anything overcomes Trump’s impenetrable defenses.

Robert S. Becker

January 8, 2021

SOURCENationofChange

The wheels are coming off what was already skidding off the icy bridge onto the guardrails. Who knows the odds for or against Trump finishing his term, so here’s one scenario that follows the logic of the current dynamics.

If there’s one Trump nightmare more terrifying than losing, even humiliation, it’s being held responsible – and, horror or horrors, personally punished for criminal misconduct. This is a creep who wants everyone else to pick up every breakfast, lunch, and dinner tab. Any successful malignant narcissist must have perfected his manipulative style, erecting thick walls to keep him (or her) from ever having to pay a price for untreated psychopathology. Now in free fall, Trump the righteous warrior has to feel besieged, in fortress mode, confused that his machinations no longer work.

Paranoia feeds on itself when enemies, hiding under every rock, rush out in force to persecute the innocent, “stable genius.” Having gotten away with so much, Trumped cannot abandon the fiction he can get away with anything, even inciting a riot against Congress debating his own delusional election challenges. That’s why Trump spent hours on Tuesday, per current reports, pressing Pence to bring off a coup – or else there would be hell to pay for all perceived foes. Delusion, thy name is Trump.

If an intervention had stopped earlier derangement, this psychopath might have been shocked into awareness of sickness, with heavy demands to get therapy. But Republicans were too cowardly and too blinded by ambition to understand the bomb in their midst ready to go off. Indeed, his party shared many of the same delusions, that it, too, could ruthlessly get away with anything. That’s exactly what its pulled off with the unconscionable manipulation of two Supreme Court nominations. That makes it far more than poetic justice to see Merrick Garland nominated for Attorney General – and with Democratic senate control a sure thing.

The Farce of Self-pardoning

That Trump is again ready to pardon himself, per utterly unsurprising reports on Thursday, is exactly how power-hungry madmen perpetually try to escape harm’s way. Forget the blatant contradictions (and likely impossibility) of self-pardoning, turning the law on its head by making the unrepentant criminal his own corrupt judge. High-flying narcissists would be paralyzed if they believed for moment they were truly and permanently trapped.

Thus ends one of Trump’s most corrosive, norm-busting lies. Never could Trump have shot someone on Fifth Ave and walked away scot-free. That was just an unfunny, dark fantasy to obscure his over-weening confidence that someone so entitled was an untouchable superman. That jest wasn’t true four years ago, and it’s not true today. Of course, indicted narcissists are the last ones to know the walls are closing in and the doors are all locked – and there is no way out.

Trump’s own major appointments are finally, tellingly too late, rushing for the exits. High time. If Speaker Pelosi says the House is ready to impeach if the 25th Amendment isn’t invoked, then we will have another impeachment. The 25th Amendment is too cumbersome to work, with too many built in delays; plus, it’s designed not to remove the criminally deranged but the unconscious, physically defective, incapable to performing basic duties. That is, alas, not Trump unless he has a stroke – and what, in the next two weeks? This is no quicky impeachment alternative. And if invoked, there will be more outraged Trumper mayhem and more bloody streets.

The Walls are Closing in

Trump, like Nixon, should be given no choice except to resign. Trump will insist that resignation comes only with a full Pence pardon for past, present and future sins (and maybe some bonus cash on the side, if Trump’s predictable blackmail works). Pressure from cabinet members talking up the 25th amendment would help corner the criminal president. So would Moscow Mitch declaring that a majority of senators are ready, if not eager to convict, to save their asses and careers.

In short, many voices must apply maximum pressure, but it’s no slam dunk that anything overcomes Trump’s impenetrable defenses. That’s what crazy is all about. How do you make clear to a psychopath that he’s run out of options? If Trump remains in fortress mode, more vindictive and paranoid than ever, he won’t hear any more reality about personal threats than he ever did about the legitimacy of the election that fired him.

And what if we haven’t seen the worst? What if this enraged commander-in-chief attempts to call for martial law or orders the military to do his bidding? Until he is defanged, and not even then, any president has immense powers. As a positive, this finale will force some of the 74 million voters to regret thinking Trump worthy of re-election. Many are as crazy as he. But some Trump voters will come to understand they voted for madness over a sane centrist who makes genuine contact with other earthlings and accepts unpleasant realities beyond his control.

Trump proves what a desperate malignant narcissist will do – scheming up a coup is par for the course. His is no mildly neurotic condition, capable of normal restraints: losing delusional control over his world represents a mortal threat. His fabricated, protective walls are his persona and without them he is unacceptably vulnerable. That surpasses all other fears, that he will make history by being doubly impeached, or threatened with the 25th Amendment, or eventually the first U.S. jailbird president.

For the greediest of status-conscious billionaires, whose self-esteem equals his bank balance, jail is only slightly worse than losing all his money. Without an inheritance to wave about, whither his slavish family? To avoid harsh penalty, children might even start telling the truth – and won’t that be a juicy tale for the ages? Truthtelling would be infinitely more enlightening than hearing one more nutcase rightwinger blame anti-Trump haters for causing the Capitol riots. So we’re not done yet, but we are making progress through pain, tears and bloodshed.

The Mob Is Gone, but the Crisis of the Republican Party Has Only Begun

By Amy Davidson Sorkin January 7, 2021

Even after the storming of the Capitol, a group of senators,

including Josh Hawley, of Missouri, still voted to disenfranchise

millions of their fellow-Americans.

Photograph by Win McNamee / Getty

Just after 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, Representative Conor Lamb, Democrat of western Pennsylvania, rose on the floor of the House to defend the franchise of the people in his state. Even at that late hour, and even after a Trumpist mob urged on by the President had attacked the Capitol, a group of Republican House members, joined by Senator Josh Hawley, of Missouri, was trying to get the state’s electoral votes thrown out. Their objections, Lamb said, “don’t deserve an ounce of respect—not an ounce.” His colleagues, he said, had to be clear about what had happened that day: “Invaders came in for the first time since the war of 1812. They desecrated these halls.” And, he added, “for the most part, they walked in here free. A lot of them walked out free. And there wasn’t a person watching at home who didn’t know why that was: because of the way that they look.”

Lamb was referring to the apparent leniency that the mostly white mob had been afforded by law-enforcement officers in the course of an attempt to violently undo the election. Many of the Trumpists had displayed, for the cameras, a thuggish air of territorialism, as if it hadn’t occurred to them that battering through the windows of the Capitol; assaulting police officers; trying to hunt down the Vice-President, Mike Pence; physically threatening legislators; or vandalizing the Speaker’s office might carry with it legal liability. It’s not known how many may have had guns or other weapons. There had been no effective effort to repel them and, in the immediate wake, few arrests. (A woman died after being shot by the Capitol police; three people died of what authorities described as medical emergencies.) Those circumstances will require an urgent and profound inquiry in the days to come—how much is attributable to a security failure, to the mis-deployment of law-enforcement, to a sense of impunity encouraged by Donald Trump, to a strain of violence in our political culture, or to, as Lamb suggested, racism? (Some of the rioters carried Confederate and white-supremacist symbols, as well as “TRUMP” flags.) But the immediate reaction to Lamb’s words was a low rumble of voices from the Republican side of the aisle.

Lamb, who had earlier debunked the conspiracy theories that Trump has pushed about the Pennsylvania vote, continued, “We know that that attack today, it didn’t materialize out of nowhere. It was inspired by lies, the same lies that you’re hearing in this room tonight. And the members who are repeating those lies should be ashamed of themselves; their constituents should be ashamed of them.” As he continued speaking, the Republican hubbub grew. “Point of order,” Representative Morgan Griffith, of Virginia, said, after Lamb got a few more sentences out. “The gentleman said that there were lies, on this floor, here today, looking over in this direction. I ask that those words be taken down!”

Members of Congress are not supposed to insult one another directly, but the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who was presiding, said that the complaint had come too late. (She added that she had been called the same thing on the floor.) Griffith and his cohort continued to try to shout down Lamb; as so often with Trump’s allies, they appeared to imagine that they were the real victims. In an instant, members on both sides were leaving their seats in what became a near skirmish, before Pelosi restored order. Perhaps the events of the day had left some Republicans chastened—but not all of them. “The truth hurts,” Lamb said. “But the fact is this: we want this government to work more than they want it to fail.”

All the elements that Lamb cited—the lies, the shame, the failure, and the determination to make our democracy work—had been on display in the preceding hours. It was a remarkable relief that, after such a tumultuous, bitter, dangerous day (chronicled by my colleagues John Cassidy, Evan Osnos, Susan Glasser, Masha Gessen, and Vinson Cunningham), both houses of Congress had reassembled in the same chambers to get the job of counting the electors done. If those halls had been desecrated, they were also, in part, reconsecrated. A little after 3:30 a.m., the electors for Wyoming, the final state alphabetically, were added to the tally, and, with that, the last box was checked in certifying Joe Biden’s victory. Pence and the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, had broken with Trump on the question of whether he could stage a coup, if on nothing else. But there was no instant great awakening on the part of the Republican caucus. In the late-night session, the Party’s pathologies and Trumpist distortions were still present.

Before the storming of the Capitol, thirteen Republican senators had said that they planned to object to the electors of various states, as did some hundred and forty representatives. Senator James Lankford, of Oklahoma, was in the middle of a speech urging the disenfranchisement of Arizona’s voters, when the senators were told that the rioters were in the building. By the time that he and his colleagues returned, he had decided to withdraw his objection. But six senators—Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Cindy Hyde-Smith, John Kennedy, Roger Marshall, and Tommy Tuberville—still voted to reject Arizona’s electors and thus disenfranchise the state’s voters. (Before the assault on the Capitol began, Hawley had greeted the gathering mob with a fist-in-the-air salute.) So did a hundred and twenty-one representatives—a majority of the Republican caucus in the House—including the Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, of California.

VIDEO FROM THE NEW YORKER“That’s Not Who We Are” Is the Wrong Reaction to the Attack on the Capitol

The debate on Arizona, when it resumed, became a venue for senators to also address the violence. Michael Bennet, of Colorado, invoked the fall of the Roman Republic, with “armed gangs” who “ran through the streets,” and asked that the election results be received with “the biggest bipartisan vote we can.” He added, “Every single member of this Senate knows this election wasn’t stolen.” Dick Durbin, of Illinois, remembered Abraham Lincoln’s struggles, and his victories. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, noted that both during the War of 1812 and this week, the forces attacking the capital were “waving flags to a sole sovereign”—one a British King and the other an American President who has forgotten what the limits on that office are, and has built a cult of personality.

Ron Wyden, of Oregon, called the mob “domestic terrorists” and noted that “Donald Trump can do enormous damage to our country in the next two weeks”—as, indeed, he can. Wyden said that the use of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to remove a President who has become incapable of doing his job was being discussed, in some circles, in earnest. (There are reports that those talks are taking place within the Administration; some mid-level officials have already resigned. On Thursday morning, Trump said in a statement that there would be an “orderly transition” but continued to claim fraud.) Tammy Duckworth, of Illinois, a combat veteran, described her shock at witnessing a domestic coup attempt. She said that she wasn’t asking her Republican colleagues for any “grand gesture”—she was just asking them not to sacrifice American democracy to protect Trump’s “porcelain ego.”

Those were the Democrats. On the Republican side, the responses to the attack ranged widely. Senator Mitt Romney said that he had been “shaken to the core” by what he called an “insurrection.” He bluntly told his fellow-Republicans that if they objected to the electors they would be complicit, and that “the best way we can show respect for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth; the truth is that President-elect Biden won the election; President Trump lost.” Mike Lee said that he had struggled with the decision, but wouldn’t object. Marco Rubio thought that politics had made “everybody” crazy—an abdication of both personal and partisan responsibility. Pat Toomey defended the election’s integrity, while assuring those listening to his speech that he had voted for Trump and had hoped that he’d win. Senator Lindsey Graham embarked on a freewheeling ship-jumping riff: “All I can say is count me out”—out of the coup attempt, presumably—“enough is enough, I’ve tried to be helpful.” He has indeed tried—to be helpful to Trump, including by stoking his efforts to undermine confidence in the election result and even donating money for the President’s legal challenges.

It is, obviously, a good thing that Graham has had enough, that Pence did not try to rip up the electoral certifications, and that McConnell worked with Democratic leaders to quickly reconvene Congress and condemned what he called “this failed insurrection.” But they all supported Trump for far too long; their subservience has been pathetic, and they cannot be surprised by where Trump has taken them and the country. He has been openly calling for the sort of attempted putsch that we witnessed on Wednesday. He reportedly had to be pushed to tell the rioters to leave, and only did so in ambiguous statements that mixed incitement with an expression of love for them. What has changed is that Trump is now clearly on the losing side, and McConnell and Graham know it.

Other Republicans still haven’t given up. Over in the House, Matt Gaetz, of Florida, babbled about how “some pretty compelling evidence from a facial-recognition company” showed that people in the mob weren’t Trump supporters at all but “members of the violent terrorist group Antifa.” There had been some hope that the congressional Trumpists would not press on with objections about other states. (An objection requires the signature of at least one representative and one senator, and triggers two hours of debate.) Senator Kelly Loeffler, of Georgia, who lost her reëlection bid on Tuesday, announced that she would withdraw her objection to her state’s tally. And, when the conspiracy-minded Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, also of Georgia, lodged her objection to Michigan’s electors, she got no senatorial takers. But, after midnight, Hawley signed on for Pennsylvania. That meant another two-hour debate for his colleagues, many of whom had earlier been forced to barricade themselves in safe rooms or behind furniture. (Grace Meng, of New York, told CNN that she texted her family goodbye, thinking that she might not survive; other legislators had similar stories.)

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When the debate on the Pennsylvania electors began, Representative Scott Perry, of that state, who had co-signed the objection with Hawley, had the temerity to wave a copy of the Constitution and inform his colleagues that it was “just a piece of paper; it cannot defend itself.” That was too much for Representative Joe Neguse, Democrat of Colorado. “I carry the same Constitution that you do,” he said, holding up his copy. “And the Constitution, sir, does not allow you, me, or any member of this body to substitute our judgment for that of the American people. It does not allow us to disregard the will of the American people.”

The truth of what Neguse said seems self-evident. Still, seven Republican senators—Cruz, Hawley, Hyde-Smith, Cynthia Lummis, Marshall, Rick Scott, and Tuberville—voted to reject Pennsylvania’s electors. So did a hundred and thirty-eight Republican representatives. In a statement on Wednesday, General James Mattis, the former Secretary of Defense, said that Trump “will deservedly be left a man without a country.” But he is not yet a man without a party, or a faction. This is a precipitous moment, but whatever struggle lies between now and January 20th—and it may be a profound one—Trump’s poisonous Presidency will soon end. The crisis of the Republican Party has barely begun

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Read More About the Attack on the Capitol
Donald Trump, the Inciter-in-Chief.
He must be held accountable.
An Air Force combat veteran was part of the mob in the Senate.
The invaders enjoyed the privilege of not being taken seriously.
The crisis of the Republican Party has only begun.

A Pelosi staffer recounts the breach.

Amy Davidson Sorkin has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2014. She has been at the magazine since 1995, and, as a senior editor for many years, focussed on national security, international reporting, and features.

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