Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
brooklynite
brooklynite's Journal
brooklynite's Journal
January 20, 2021
Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) sworn in this afternoon
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1351560931248119808
January 20, 2021
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/01/20/biden-surgeon-general-resignation/
Biden to ask Surgeon General Adams to resign
Source: Washington Post
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to ask for the resignation of U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams after being sworn in Wednesday, ousting the nation’s top doctor in a symbolic break with his predecessor’s covid-19 response, said two people with knowledge of the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.
Adams, who was nominated by President Trump, was sworn in as surgeon general on Sept. 5, 2017, to serve the office’s standard four-year term, which expires this September. The anesthesiologist and former Indiana health commissioner — a political independent who crafted a close relationship with then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — had emerged as a key spokesman for Trump’s coronavirus response, regularly appearing on national TV and using social media to advocate for public health measures like social distancing. However, Adams’ visibility also made him a target last spring for Democrats, who accused him of defending Trump’s statements.
Biden has nominated Vivek H. Murthy, surgeon general under President Obama and a close adviser of the president-elect, to be the nation’s new surgeon general, but Murthy first needs to undergo Senate confirmation hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. The people with knowledge of the decision said the incoming Biden administration would choose an acting surgeon general as soon as Wednesday, bypassing Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz, a career civil servant.
Schwartz, a rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who had served as the Department of Health and Human Services’ point person for the transition between the Trump and Biden administrations, is planning to retire as a result of being passed over, the people said.
Adams, who was nominated by President Trump, was sworn in as surgeon general on Sept. 5, 2017, to serve the office’s standard four-year term, which expires this September. The anesthesiologist and former Indiana health commissioner — a political independent who crafted a close relationship with then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — had emerged as a key spokesman for Trump’s coronavirus response, regularly appearing on national TV and using social media to advocate for public health measures like social distancing. However, Adams’ visibility also made him a target last spring for Democrats, who accused him of defending Trump’s statements.
Biden has nominated Vivek H. Murthy, surgeon general under President Obama and a close adviser of the president-elect, to be the nation’s new surgeon general, but Murthy first needs to undergo Senate confirmation hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. The people with knowledge of the decision said the incoming Biden administration would choose an acting surgeon general as soon as Wednesday, bypassing Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz, a career civil servant.
Schwartz, a rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who had served as the Department of Health and Human Services’ point person for the transition between the Trump and Biden administrations, is planning to retire as a result of being passed over, the people said.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/01/20/biden-surgeon-general-resignation/
January 20, 2021
Trump Has Discussed Starting a New Party
Source: Wall Street Journal
President Trump has talked in recent days with associates about forming a new political party, according to people familiar with the matter, an effort to exert continued influence after he leaves the White House.
Mr. Trump discussed the matter with several aides and other people close to him last week, the people said. The president said he would want to call the new party the “Patriot Party,” the people said.
Mr. Trump has feuded in recent days with several Republican leaders including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who on Tuesday said Mr. Trump deserved blame for provoking the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Polls show Mr. Trump retains strong support among rank-and-file GOP voters.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-impeachment-biden-inauguration/card/90pPMzFPqr5fMzg1Bkbs
January 19, 2021
Tyler Hubbard, Tim McGraw, and Black Pumas to Perform
Program to Include DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic, Featuring Ozuna and Luis Fonsi
Special to Celebrate Americans Who Are Getting Us Through the Pandemic
WASHINGTON — Today, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced additional participants and American heroes who will be highlighted during “Celebrating America,” the capstone prime-time program for the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Kamala D. Harris to celebrate the beginning of a new national journey toward an America united.
During the primetime special, country artists Tyler Hubbard and Tim McGraw will sing a duet and the Black Pumas will perform. The program will also include DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic, featuring Ozuna and Luis Fonsi.
The artists join Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jon Bon Jovi, Ant Clemons, Foo Fighters, John Legend, Demi Lovato, Bruce Springsteen, and Justin Timberlake in the line-up for the primetime special. Additionally, the special will include appearances from actors Kerry Washington and Eva Longoria, Skyhook Foundation Chairman and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Founder of World Central Kitchen Chef José Andrés, labor leader Dolores Huerta, and the first woman MLB general manager Kim Ng.
“Celebrating America” will be hosted by Tom Hanks on January 20 from 8:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT and will showcase the American people’s resilience, heroism, and unified commitment to coming together as a nation to heal and rebuild. The program will feature remarks from President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and include remarks, performances that represent the rich diversity and extensive talent America offers, and the American heroes who are helping their fellow Americans through this crisis.
Some of the American heroes who will be featured include:
Anthony Gaskin of Virginia is a UPS driver who was celebrated by a neighborhood along his route for his hard work and dedication during the pandemic.
Cavanaugh Bell, 8, of Maryland made care packages for elderly people, started a pantry with food and essential supplies in his community, and delivered a truck full of supplies to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Mackenzie Adams of Washington state is a kindergarten teacher at Glenwood Elementary School who went viral for videos of her energetic remote lessons.
Sarah Fuller of Texas is the first woman to play and score in a Power Five college football team. In addition to playing on the Vanderbilt University football team, Fuller helped lead Vanderbilt’s women’s soccer team to an SEC championship.
Morgan Marsh-McGlone, 8, of Wisconsin started a virtual lemonade stand that has raised over $50,000 to feed food insecure families after learning that some kids who used to get meals in school were going hungry because of COVID-19.
Sandra Lindsay of New York is a director of critical care at Northwell Health in New York and is the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial.
The program will be carried live by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, and PBS. It will be streamed live at https://BidenInaugural.org/watch and on PIC social media channels: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch. The PIC’s streaming partners, including Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Bing, NewsNOW from Fox, and AT&T U-verse (Channel 212/1212 in SD/HD) and DIRECTV (Channel 201).
Over the course of five days of programming, “America United” activities will honor our traditions while safely allowing more Americans than ever before to participate from their own homes. These activities include, “United We Serve,” a National Day of Service on January 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day; a nationwide COVID-19 Memorial to Lives Lost on January 19; and the official Inaugural Ceremonies, a wreath laying on Arlington National Cemetery, and a “Parade Across America” on January 20. The events will culminate with the “Celebrating America” program. The PIC will also install an extensive public art display — a “Field of Flags,” which will cover the National Mall up to 13th Street — to represent the American people who are unable to travel to Washington, DC.
Presidential Inaugural Committee Announces Additional Participants for "Celebrating America"
Presidential Inaugural Committee Announces Additional Participants for the “Celebrating America” Primetime SpecialTyler Hubbard, Tim McGraw, and Black Pumas to Perform
Program to Include DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic, Featuring Ozuna and Luis Fonsi
Special to Celebrate Americans Who Are Getting Us Through the Pandemic
WASHINGTON — Today, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced additional participants and American heroes who will be highlighted during “Celebrating America,” the capstone prime-time program for the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Kamala D. Harris to celebrate the beginning of a new national journey toward an America united.
During the primetime special, country artists Tyler Hubbard and Tim McGraw will sing a duet and the Black Pumas will perform. The program will also include DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic, featuring Ozuna and Luis Fonsi.
The artists join Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jon Bon Jovi, Ant Clemons, Foo Fighters, John Legend, Demi Lovato, Bruce Springsteen, and Justin Timberlake in the line-up for the primetime special. Additionally, the special will include appearances from actors Kerry Washington and Eva Longoria, Skyhook Foundation Chairman and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Founder of World Central Kitchen Chef José Andrés, labor leader Dolores Huerta, and the first woman MLB general manager Kim Ng.
“Celebrating America” will be hosted by Tom Hanks on January 20 from 8:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT and will showcase the American people’s resilience, heroism, and unified commitment to coming together as a nation to heal and rebuild. The program will feature remarks from President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and include remarks, performances that represent the rich diversity and extensive talent America offers, and the American heroes who are helping their fellow Americans through this crisis.
Some of the American heroes who will be featured include:
Anthony Gaskin of Virginia is a UPS driver who was celebrated by a neighborhood along his route for his hard work and dedication during the pandemic.
Cavanaugh Bell, 8, of Maryland made care packages for elderly people, started a pantry with food and essential supplies in his community, and delivered a truck full of supplies to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Mackenzie Adams of Washington state is a kindergarten teacher at Glenwood Elementary School who went viral for videos of her energetic remote lessons.
Sarah Fuller of Texas is the first woman to play and score in a Power Five college football team. In addition to playing on the Vanderbilt University football team, Fuller helped lead Vanderbilt’s women’s soccer team to an SEC championship.
Morgan Marsh-McGlone, 8, of Wisconsin started a virtual lemonade stand that has raised over $50,000 to feed food insecure families after learning that some kids who used to get meals in school were going hungry because of COVID-19.
Sandra Lindsay of New York is a director of critical care at Northwell Health in New York and is the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial.
The program will be carried live by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, and PBS. It will be streamed live at https://BidenInaugural.org/watch and on PIC social media channels: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch. The PIC’s streaming partners, including Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Bing, NewsNOW from Fox, and AT&T U-verse (Channel 212/1212 in SD/HD) and DIRECTV (Channel 201).
Over the course of five days of programming, “America United” activities will honor our traditions while safely allowing more Americans than ever before to participate from their own homes. These activities include, “United We Serve,” a National Day of Service on January 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day; a nationwide COVID-19 Memorial to Lives Lost on January 19; and the official Inaugural Ceremonies, a wreath laying on Arlington National Cemetery, and a “Parade Across America” on January 20. The events will culminate with the “Celebrating America” program. The PIC will also install an extensive public art display — a “Field of Flags,” which will cover the National Mall up to 13th Street — to represent the American people who are unable to travel to Washington, DC.
January 19, 2021
Reality is dawning for our FRiends...
Farewell Address of President Donald J. TrumpSO WHERE EXACTLY IS THE “PLAN”?????????
Looks like there wasn't one.
Looks like there wasn't one.
So, what plan? What miracle? Where's our White Knight?
We believed lies instead of writing letters to those who made decisions that mattered.
We believed lies instead of writing letters to those who made decisions that mattered.
Unfortunately, “the plan” (and all the many variants of it that have been breathlessly speculated about for the past 2 months)apparently have been total and complete BS all along.
We’ll know by Noon tomorrow.
And when nothing happens tomorrow at noon, other than Biden being sworn in, will the Qtards go TF away?
And when nothing happens tomorrow at noon, other than Biden being sworn in, will the Qtards go TF away?
January 19, 2021
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/conspiracy-oath-keeper-arrest-capitol-riot/2021/01/19/fb84877a-5a4f-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html
Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in advance of Jan. 6 attack
Source: Washington Post
Self-styled militia members from Virginia, Ohio and other states made plans to storm the U.S. Capitol days in advance of the Jan. 6 attack, communicating in real time as they breached the building on opposite sides and led dozens in a hunt for lawmakers to make “citizen’s arrests,” according to new court documents filed Tuesday.
U.S. authorities charged an apparent Oath Keeper leader, Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, of Clarke County, Va., in the attack, alleging that the U.S. Navy veteran helped organize a ring of what became 30 or 40 people who “stormed the castle” to disrupt the electoral vote confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan,” co-defendant Jessica Watkins, 38, a U.S. Army veteran, said while the breach was underway, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.
“You are executing citizen’s arrest. Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud,” a man replied, according to communications recovered from her phone, the FBI alleged.
U.S. authorities charged an apparent Oath Keeper leader, Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, of Clarke County, Va., in the attack, alleging that the U.S. Navy veteran helped organize a ring of what became 30 or 40 people who “stormed the castle” to disrupt the electoral vote confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan,” co-defendant Jessica Watkins, 38, a U.S. Army veteran, said while the breach was underway, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.
“You are executing citizen’s arrest. Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud,” a man replied, according to communications recovered from her phone, the FBI alleged.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/conspiracy-oath-keeper-arrest-capitol-riot/2021/01/19/fb84877a-5a4f-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html
January 19, 2021
Fasten your seatbelts...
https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status/1351630558393225226
January 19, 2021
Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-maxwell-q-anon-hearing-20210119-b5liwmphhzf6xolytsktawxozq-story.html
Hearing on unsealing of Ghislaine Maxwell documents disrupted by QAnon crazies
Source: New York Daily News
A routine court hearing on the unsealing of documents in a civil case against Ghislaine Maxwell was overwhelmed Tuesday by more than 14,000 followers of the insane QAnon conspiracy theory.
A conference line used by reporters and the public to listen to the remote proceeding was at capacity. A YouTube personality who managed to get access to the hearing broadcast it on his channel to more than 14,000 listeners who shared bizarre conspiracies about a global sex trafficking cabal in a livechat.
Word of the livestream reached Manhattan Federal Judge Loretta Preska, who halted the hearing.
“Whoever is doing this, you are operating against the law. I suspect there’s a way to find out, so I will ask you most respectfully to stop doing it. We’ve had enough of a lack of the rule of law around here, let’s try to observe it,” she said.
A conference line used by reporters and the public to listen to the remote proceeding was at capacity. A YouTube personality who managed to get access to the hearing broadcast it on his channel to more than 14,000 listeners who shared bizarre conspiracies about a global sex trafficking cabal in a livechat.
Word of the livestream reached Manhattan Federal Judge Loretta Preska, who halted the hearing.
“Whoever is doing this, you are operating against the law. I suspect there’s a way to find out, so I will ask you most respectfully to stop doing it. We’ve had enough of a lack of the rule of law around here, let’s try to observe it,” she said.
Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-maxwell-q-anon-hearing-20210119-b5liwmphhzf6xolytsktawxozq-story.html
January 19, 2021
If Trump Doesn't Keep You Up All Night, MyPillow Will
New York MaqazineThey arrived flat and rolled up in a cardboard box with instructions for fluffing. Order No. 12454350: two standard/queen classic MyPillows, one firm and one medium, $59.98 each plus $19.95 for shipping and handling. Beneath the distinct MyPillow logo, with its cushiony bubble letters, and above a photo of Lindell himself floated the alluring promise: “Guaranteed The Most Comfortable Pillow You’ll Ever Own!” His arms stretched across his product in a loving embrace. A smile stretched across his face. I had to admit, he looked well rested.
According to Lindell, who promoted a “miracle” treatment for COVID-19 called oleandrin, the pillows can cure insomnia because of their “patented interlocking fill,” which “adjusts to your individual needs.” As instructed, I puffed up the MyPillows for 15 minutes in the dryer. They came out fluffier but still stiff, looking sort of like poster boards covered in the MyPillow logo. I replaced my normal pillows with them anyway and didn’t tell my boyfriend until he asked, while closing his eyes, why it felt like he was sleeping “on a bed of rocks.”
Look, this would be a better story if the pillows were good. That would be complicated, and maybe confronting such an inconvenient truth would yield some kind of worthwhile insight about the nature of man and how we can tolerate evil in exchange for comfort. I don’t know if it comes through, but that’s sort of what I’m going for here, generally, in my work as Washington correspondent for New York Magazine. I take no pleasure at all in reporting that these pillows are just as bad as you would assume they are.
It’s not just that they’re hard. They’re lumpy. Like piñatas filled with fist-size cotton balls and packing peanuts. I placed my MyPillow receipt and instruction manual on my desk, mostly as a reminder to eventually write this story, and for days I’d find myself walking over to stare at the paperwork to confirm that these really were MyPillows and not some kind of knockoff produced by a left-wing James O’Keefe–style troll (but that’s a free idea if anyone wants it).
According to Lindell, who promoted a “miracle” treatment for COVID-19 called oleandrin, the pillows can cure insomnia because of their “patented interlocking fill,” which “adjusts to your individual needs.” As instructed, I puffed up the MyPillows for 15 minutes in the dryer. They came out fluffier but still stiff, looking sort of like poster boards covered in the MyPillow logo. I replaced my normal pillows with them anyway and didn’t tell my boyfriend until he asked, while closing his eyes, why it felt like he was sleeping “on a bed of rocks.”
Look, this would be a better story if the pillows were good. That would be complicated, and maybe confronting such an inconvenient truth would yield some kind of worthwhile insight about the nature of man and how we can tolerate evil in exchange for comfort. I don’t know if it comes through, but that’s sort of what I’m going for here, generally, in my work as Washington correspondent for New York Magazine. I take no pleasure at all in reporting that these pillows are just as bad as you would assume they are.
It’s not just that they’re hard. They’re lumpy. Like piñatas filled with fist-size cotton balls and packing peanuts. I placed my MyPillow receipt and instruction manual on my desk, mostly as a reminder to eventually write this story, and for days I’d find myself walking over to stare at the paperwork to confirm that these really were MyPillows and not some kind of knockoff produced by a left-wing James O’Keefe–style troll (but that’s a free idea if anyone wants it).
Profile Information
Name: Chris BastianGender: Male
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Home country: USA
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 94,503
