janea4old

More on DHS - Department of Homeland Security. Before the early 2000s, there was no DHS. There was only FEMA -Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA is known for helping with natural disasters and manmade disasters. Things like hurricanes or a bridge collapse, etc. DHS was formed after the Sept. 11. 2001 terror attacks. FEMA became a subsidiary of DHS. In recent years, Chad Wolf was a policy official at DHS, who was one of the ones responsible for the family separation policy, among other bad stuff. His official title was “Assistant Secretary of DHS for Strategy, Plans, Analysis & Risk”. In April 2019, the actual Director of DHS Kirstjen Nielsen stepped down. Kevin McAleenan was named temporary Acting Director of DHS. McAleenan was never ratified by the Senate, so never was officially the director. Later in 2019, stepped down. Chad Wolf became the "Acting Director" of DHS - unofficially. In normal times, the President should have immediately nominated a replacement who could have been Wolf or anyone else- and then the Senate would have to do a formal confirmation process of the nominee. There would be no new actual Director until the Senate confirms him/her. Trump didn't nominate anyone so there was nobody for the Senate to confirm. Chad Wolf continued functioning in the role of UNOFFICIALLY running DSH for more than a year, even though that wasn't legal. While in this unofficial role, Chad Wolf issued some racist directives/edicts/rules while "in office". There were legal challenges in the courts saying none of his edicts/directives were lawful - because he was never lawfully in the job - because he was never confirmed. The courts ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, which meant that all his racist directives/edicts were voided. In August 2020, Trump finally nominated Wolf, but the Senate never got around to confirming him. So he remained illegally functioning in the role. A few days ago (Jan. 11, 2021), Chad Wolf announced that he was stepping down as Director of DHS, because the courts had declared he was not a valid director. Nobody knew what that meant -- but people wondered if it had to do with the transition to Biden -- or because he was another rat leaving the ship of rats. Following what remained of the line of succession, FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor has become the new Acting Director of DHS. Yesterday (Jan. 13, 2021), Chad Wolf reminded everyone that he hadn’t left DHS. He had merely stopped functioning as Director, and he has returned to his original job at DHS as “Assistant Secretary of DHS for Strategy, Polices, Plans” which is a position of some authority and does not require Senate confirmation. Furthermore, he says that the newt Acting Director of DHS (FEMA's Gaynor) has issued a directive giving Wolf additional powers which include ratifying Wolf's prior polices/edicts, and ratifying stuff started by prior DHS secretaries, including stuff from the prior unofficial acting secretary McAleenan, and other officials. Then Wolf says that he has analyzed all those policies, (including all of his previous racist edicts that the courts voided because he wasn’t in charge) and he declares them to be reasonable policies he hereby declares them ratified, and is putting them into action. So basically as @emptywheel tweeted, he's focused on harming as many immigrants as he can in his final week. Instead of doing his job which would be analyzing ACTUAL terrorists who are white Americans.

This is about DHS- Dept of Homeland Security which was formed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 -- to protect the US from terror attacks. (and they try to accuse immigrants of crimes because of that) Regarding why DHS didn't warn anyone about the Jan 6, 2021 attack: quoting snippets of the article linked in the tweet: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/why-dhs-failed-to-warn-the-country-about-jan-6 “Nobody wanted to write a formal intelligence report about this, in part out of fear that such a report would be very poorly received by the MAGA folks within DHS,” one former DHS official who served in the Trump administration told TPM, on condition of anonymity to speak freely. One whistleblower, ...... said that DHS officials had ordered him to stay away from the threat of white nationalism. Former officials at DHS echoed the whistleblower’s comments, saying that a climate of fear had been instilled in the office which made intelligence officers want to “keep their heads down” for fear of their jobs.

This isn't breaking news from a reporter. It's just some random twitter account. I checked his feed and he's very very angry that people are asking him for sources. When asked about it, the twitter account said "Do your research online and you'll see it's true". He got indignant when people asked him for a link. I mean, at least one of these congressional reps were probably giving tours on Jan 5th. That's obvious from everything we know already. But it hasn't been reported this way officially in the news yet.

During the impeachment proceedings, Trump was giving the National Medal of the Arts to Toby Keith and Ricky Skaggs. https://variety.com/2021/music/news/trump-toby-keith-ricky-skaggs-national-medal-arts-impeachment-1234884959/ (Washington post mentions only Toby Keith, doesn't mention Ricky Skaggs). Whatever. The big thing in that WaPo article is that he doesn't want to pay Giuliani.

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So he used the White House youtube account because his own was suspended. But he still took the opportunity to say a bunch of times "our movement", and to whine about his ban from social media. He didn't condemn the display of Confederate and Nazi symbols.

Boebert's twitter account is back up https://thehill.com/policy/technology/534099-twitter-says-lock-on-gop-congresswomans-account-was-result-of-incorrect Quoting the article: Twitter on Wednesday said that the brief locking of a GOP congresswoman's account was the result of "incorrect enforcement action." A spokesperson for Twitter confirmed to The Hill Wednesday afternoon that the site's content moderation team "took the incorrect enforcement action" in response to one of the congresswoman's tweets, and had rectified the decision by unfreezing Boebert's account and placing a warning on the tweet in question. "The Tweet in question is now labeled in accordance with our Civic Integrity Policy. The Tweet will not be required to be removed and the account will not be temporarily locked," said the Twitter spokesperson. The incident appeared to center around a Jan. 9 tweet in which Boebert falsely accused the Democratic National Committee (DNC) of rigging the 2020 election. The tweet is now labeled with a content warning from Twitter which restricts users from replying to or otherwise interacting with the post. End quote.

Boebert's twitter account is back up (for now) https://twitter.com/laurenboebert

NYTimes complied quotes from today's impeachment proceedings. Representative Jamie Raskin (Democrat) of Maryland, the lead impeachment manager: “It’s a bit much to be hearing that these people would not be trying to destroy our government and kill us if we just weren’t so mean to them.”

RE: House Republicans who favor impeachment but fear for their lives/physical safety if they follow through with that vote. Yeah well lots of Dems are afraid too, but they are doing the right thing anyhow.

It took all that for youtube to give Trump's channel a "strike"? Meanwhile youtube channels posting old soap opera scenes are frequently given strikes and then suspended/deleted.

Until now, YouTube had been the only remaining major social media platform not to have suspended Trump in some fashion. Facebook has suspended Trump's account "indefinitely," while Twitter has banned Trump completely. YouTube is suspending Trump's channel for at least one week, and potentially longer, after his channel earned a strike under the platform's policies, the company said Tuesday evening. (the article does NOT say anything about deleting all the existing content, Youtube has only removed a specific vid. They are only preventing new vids from being uploaded, and also they are preventing commenting on existing vids.) full story: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/tech/youtube-trump-suspension/index.html A recent video on Trump's channel had incited violence, YouTube told CNN Business. That video has now been removed. YouTube declined to share details of the video that earned Trump the strike, but said that after the one-week timeout, it will revisit the decision. YouTube also removed content from the White House's channel for violating policy, the company told CNN Business, but the channel itself has not been suspended or been given a strike -- just a warning. "After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence," a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. "As a result, in accordance with our long-standing strikes system, the channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or livestreams for a minimum of seven days—which may be extended." YouTube also said it will be taking the extra step of disabling comments underneath videos on Trump's channel. Under YouTube's policies, earning a second strike will result in a two-week suspension and three strikes will result in a permanent ban. New twitter thread: Brian Fung @b_fung More: YouTube tells me the company also removed content from the White House’s official channel for violating policy. Doesn’t sound like it earned a strike but I’m asking. Content that’s similar to the violative posts and lack context will also be removed, the company said. Brian Fung @b_fung YouTube tells me that although content was removed from it, the official White House channel has not been suspended or been given a strike -- just a warning. If further violative content gets uploaded there, it would be eligible for a strike under YouTube policies, I'm told. Brian Fung @b_fung Been trying to figure out which video it was that triggered the enforcement. YouTube tells me that it was comments he made to press yesterday morning. From my notes, though, he spoke to reporters twice -- from the south lawn of the White House and again at Joint Base Andrews.

Ava DuVernay who created/directed the miniseries "When They See Us" which is about the Exonerated Five (aka the Central Park Five). This pic shows her and the real-life Exonerated Five who attended the Emmys with her.

Members of the House of Representatives disliking the new metal detectors. There were too many tweets from reporters about this, so I'll just post the reporters' tweets in plain text: (These were all tweeted around 7:30pm - 8:30pm EST, Tuesday Jan. 12.) -------------------------- Tweeted by: Matt Fuller @MEPFuller (Huff Post) Members are stacked up at a metal detector, trying to get on the floor right now. Steve Womack was just yelling that he was “PHYSICALLY RESTRAINED” from entering the floor. Just watched about 10 Republicans walk around the magnetometer. The group just literally pushed through and the cops guarding the door didn’t seem to know what to do. Didn’t see them all, but among the group was Ralph Northham and Scott Perry. Jeff Duncan bypassed the metal detector right before them. Yes, yes. It was Rep. Ralph Norman, not Governor Ralph Northham. That’s an autocorrect, I swear. Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) just told the cops at the door he believes the magnetometers are unconstitutional. To clarify for people here, Stivers did go through the magnetometer. He just told the cops he thought it was unconstitutional. Louie Gohmert just walked around the magnetometer. “You can’t stop me; I’m on my way to a vote,” he said as he passed the cops. Another member — didn’t catch who it was — sets off the metal detector. He doesn’t stop to get wanded and the Capitol Police don’t stop him. The metal detectors are going to be useless if they’re just going to let the members who don’t want to go through the magnetometer sidestep it. I’m watching Democrats and about 4/5ths of Republicans comply. It’s really causing tension between police and members. It’s actually incredible to watch Members of Congress go through a metal detector. There are certain tricks — like walking through the center, not wearing large belt buckles — that won’t set off the machine. They’re blithely unaware, setting it off most of the time. Another member — I believe it was Russ Fulcher — just pushed his way through. He went through the metal detector, set it off, ran into a cop, and then pushed his way past her. Randy Weber just sneaks past the metal detector, pushing his way past the cops and another member. Richard Hudson just walks through the metal detector, no concern that he set off the magnetometer. Pretty amazing to watch Republican Members of Congress, after the week that Capitol Police has had, push their way past officers and not follow rules about metal detectors on the floor. Randy Weber blows past security once again, setting off the metal detector and not stopping. Rep. Randy Weber’s office is looking to send out a joint statement about the metal detectors. -------------------------- Tweeted by: Ryan Nobles @ryanobles (CNN) RIGHT NOW-> Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who has bragged about her desire to carry a weapon on Capital Hill is currently in a standoff with Capitol Police at the newly installed Metal Detectors outside the chamber doors. Boebert walked through with her bag which set off the mags. She refused to offer the bag over to be searched and is now in a standoff with Cap Police. Capitol Police won’t let her in until Boebert shows them what is in her bag, she won’t and is now standing by the entrance of the chamber. She is respectful but defiant Boebert has now been let into the chamber it was unclear from my vantage point if the Capitol Police searched her bag before she went in. -------------------------- Tweeted by: Chad Pergram @ChadPergram (Fox News) GOP TX Rep Chip Roy: “The metal detector policy for the House floor is unnecessary, unconstitutional, and endangers members. I did not comply tonight. I will not comply in the future.” -------------------------- Tweeted by: Emily Goodin @Emilylgoodin (Daily Mail) Two GOP Reps. angry about new metal detectors to get on House floor, reports pooler @elwasson “This is bull****," Rep. Rodney Davis tells USCP officers while Rep. Steve Womack yelled at them: "You are creating a problem you do not understand the ramifications of" -------------------------- Tweeted by: Manu Raju @mkraju (CNN) House GOP furious at new mags outside the chamber. Reps. Markwayne Mullin and Steve Womack erupted at Capitol Police as they were forced to go through the mags. Womack shouted “I was physically restrained!” And Mullin said “it’s my constitutional right” and “they cannot stop me Rep. Rodney Davis told Mullin not to shout at Capitol Police, and he said: “This is not their fault, they’re doing their job.” But Davis, who is the top Republican on House Admin, told me: “I’m pissed” that the mags have gone up without any consultation. Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 Republican, told me that the situation is “untenable” because it “impedes the ability of members to come and vote. This is our job.” These are the lines [image of them standing in line to go through] Some Dems aren’t happy about the metal detectors either, which have prompted long crowded lines to get into the chamber “I’m more likely to die of covid because I got it from a colleague than I am to die because a colleague shoots me,” Rep. Filemon Vela, Democrat of Texas, said -------------------------- Tweeted by Emily Cochrane @ESCochrane (NY Times) Republicans are complaining about the magnetometers — Rodney Davis calls it “bullshit” and tells Hoyer that they’re “taking valuable resources completely away from where it needs to be without any consultation.” normally lawmakers are exempt from the usual magnetometers on Capitol Hill, and now they have to get through one every time they vote. “Where can I sign up for Clear?” one lawmaker jokes. (It’s very strange to see lawmakers — including Hoyer and Clyburn — get stopped and wanded outside the chamber). I have now heard multiple lawmakers - Dems and a Republican, I’m pretty sure - apologize to Capitol Police for the disrespect from their colleagues. Speaker Pelosi just went through the magnetometers and was wanded down. Such a surreal sight. Kathleen Rice admonishing Republicans behind her as she gets wanded — “if I can do it, you can do it.” -------------------------- Tweeted by Caroline McKee @CarolineMcKee12 (Fox News) Freshman Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene went through the magnetometers to enter the House chamber. When photojournalists started snapping her picture she admonished them asking where they were this summer when people “burned building and looted... do you guys remember that?” She was wearing a mask, something she hasn’t been fond of since she joined the Congress last Wednesday. And as of late today, failure to wear that mask can result in a $500 fine for first offense/2,500 for second. This will be implemented when the House passes H. Res. 38. --------------------------

This *really* has been Trump's official announced schedule for many days. “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings.” Really. For days.

Pence already issued a formal letter saying he won't invoke the 25th. House of Reps has impeachment vote Wednesday morning.EST. First the House votes to impeach (which is like an indictment). Then the Senate is the jury who conducts the trial. To convict, two-thirds of Senate must vote to convict.