Political unrest within the White House led to a domestic terrorism event some in the media have compared to the attack on Pearl Harbour, writes Dr Lee Duffield.
6 January 2021: America’s new ‘day of infamy’
Author: peterimrich
“If Congress had a shred of decency, this impeachment would be unanimous.”
In Historic House Vote, Only 10 Republicans Join Democrats to Impeach Trump for Inciting Insurrection | Common Dreams News
“Regardless of what he leaks to the press, McConnell remains Trump’s ‘Enabler-in-Chief.'”
‘Fascist-Enabling Coward’: McConnell Declines to Reconvene Senate for Trial as House Moves to Impeach Trump | Common Dreams News
Donald Trump deserted by corporate funders now regulations are gutted and tax breaks banked – Michael West
Corporate America is frantically distancing itself from Donald Trump in the dying days of his presidency after spending four years financing him, enjoying his tax giveaways, his attacks on workers and gutting of regulations to fatten corporate profits. Elizabeth Minter reports on the rank hypocrisy, even extending to Scott Morrison’s top adviser on Covid-19 economic recovery.
Donald Trump deserted by corporate funders now regulations are gutted and tax breaks banked – Michael West
The scientists warn that world leaders must act to avoid a grim future while planning for impending changes the planet is set to face
Top scientists warn of ‘ghastly future’ for planet as leaders underestimate ecological threats – CNN
With Donald Trump’s help, Adelson spent the last years of his life helping to make the dreams of the Israeli right a reality. Alex Kane
Sheldon Adelson Helped Turn the GOP Into the Israeli Apartheid Party
Uncle Roy served his time, but he never had to apologize for what he’d done. A lifelong champion of the working class, not once did he doubt that he was on the right side of history.
Communists Like My Uncle Fought to Expand American Democracy. Fascists Fought to Destroy It.
Well, if not you, PM, then who? Who speaks plainly for Australia’s bedrock values of due process, free and fair elections, the orderly handover of power, respect for courts, multiculturalism?
Perhaps the real Scott Morrison just stood up? | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT
Is the decision of the editor not to publish my letter substantially different from Twitter’s decision to cease the publication of Trump’s opinions? If the answer is that he has the right to be published because he’s President, then you’ve already decided that, when it comes to freedom of speech, it’s no longer a right but a privilege granted to the important few and the rest of us just have to accept that it’s conditional for the many. If you need to ask permission, it’s no longer a right.
Acting Prime Minister Morrison, Acting Prime Minister McCormack And Not Acting At All – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Morrison’s National Cabinet served the purpose of his being able to claim credit for any worthwhile policies agreed to, while passing national responsibility for issues like quarantine – for which the Federal government is responsible – onto the states and territories, brushing aside the appalling level of deaths in Aged Care accommodation – again a Federal responsibility – and generally doing little but appearing to be in charge. Because of Trump, the USA has experienced a massive loss of respect from the rest of the world. Recent events have brought out very clearly the extent to which Trump’s Presidency has been a total disaster. Because of Morrison and his stubborn refusal to properly review his policies on emissions reductions, Australia is also losing respect in the developed world.
Is Scott Morrison a Donald Trump lite? – » The Australian Independent Media Network
And it is hard to imagine that the recent actions of the U.S. President, which continue to incite violence and terrorism and refute the wishes of the democratic majority, and even the decisions of the judiciary, would ever be repeated here.
Morrison crew backs Capitol coup
That ABC lead with the impeachment of Trump while Ch9 and The Daily Telegraph see the need to tell us Trump has called for peace. No mention of the threat he made “Better be careful what you wish for” That’s your NEWS Australia. Save the ABC Save our Democracy.
Key points: The Senate Majority Leader blocked a quick Senate impeachment trial for Mr Trump Ten Republicans voted in favour impeachment Mr Trump watched the proceedings on TV from the White House
US House of Representatives votes in favour of Donald Trump impeachment after attack on Capitol Hill – ABC News
Scott Morrison’s ‘distress’, not condemnation of U.S. Congress attack If the PM does not make his allegiances clear, we must assume he supports the seditious actions of outgoing President Trump and his QAnon followers.
America’s global authority disgrace as leaders condemn Trump
Setting a precedent now is essential
Accountability for high crimes needs to exist for not just the current president but future ones, too.
Trump Precedent: No President Should Be Above the Law
The US will thus most likely be the world’s new epicenter of political and geopolitical instability in the months and years ahead. America’s allies will need to hedge their bets against a future return of Trumpism, and strategic rivals will continue to try to destabilize the US through asymmetric warfare. The world is in for a long, ugly, bumpy ride.
America Is the New Center of Global Instability by Nouriel Roubini – Project Syndicate
The $2,000 survival checks for all Americans would immediately deliver enormous benefits to the millions facing eviction, starvation, and bankruptcy. The case against those checks that is currently being argued by Joe Manchin and Mitch McConnell is bogus.
Joe Manchin and Mitch McConnell’s Case Against $2,000 Checks Is Complete Garbage
Perfect Speech
Donald Trump has defended telling his supporters to “fight like hell”, calling his speech before the deadly US Capitol riot “totally appropriate”.
Trump says speech before Capitol riot was ‘totally appropriate’
Australia’s Disgusting Leadership (ODT)
Members of the Morrison government have saved their loudest outrage for Twitter, the social media platform Trump used to incite his followers, and the platform that has finally banned Trump for life. This, it appears, is the great injustice, an affront to “free speech,” and, wait for it, censorship.
When your government thinks banning Trump from Twitter is the real injustice – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The connections between the Murdochs and the Republican Party run deep. Joe Biden’s government must get it out into the open.
Democrats should summon Rupert and Lachlan to Washington for a grilling
Murdoch had rehersed his skills as far back as the 70″s in Australia (ODT)
Rupert Murdoch had never had a US president in his pocket before Donald Trump landed there in 2016.
Origin of the specious: how the Murdoch business polluted a democracy
Donald Trump may have lit the match that sparked the violence in Washington DC, but Murdoch planted the explosives, writes Kevin Rudd.
Kevin Rudd: Rupert Murdoch can’t whitewash his role in the rise of Trump
It’s time to tackle charity rorts, writes William De Maria. The richest schools are charities, as are big businesses like Queensland Sugar Limited. Even the likes of AI Group and NSW Business Chamber Ltd, organisations which fight against higher pay and better conditions for workers, enjoy charity and tax exempt status. Why should taxpayers foot the bill?
Charity Rorts: how private schools and big business rob from the poor to give to the rich – Michael West
Last week’s right-wing riot at the Capitol was egged on by politicians and organizations that have received substantial dark-money funding from corporate interests. It’s past time to enact reforms to end the era of dark money — and find out who exactly is bankrolling the anti-democratic far right.
We Should Know Exactly Who Funded Last Week’s Right-Wing Riot
Call me old-fashioned, but when the president of the United States encourages armed insurgents to breach the Capitol and threaten the physical safety of Congress, in order to remain in power, I call it an attempted coup.
Accountability for the Attempted Coup | The Smirking Chimp
The market doesn’t care about politics. It’s a creature that acts in accordance with the goals of its largest participants. The real economy, on the other hand, requires far more effort — planning, prioritizing, and executing programs and projects that can produce tangible profits. We’re a long way from a world that puts investment in the real economy ahead of those soaring financial markets. That gap, in fact, might as well be like the distance between Earth and Mars. In the midst of a pandemic, as billionaires only grow richer and the markets soar, can there be any question that we’re experiencing a Martian invasion?
Letting the Markets go Wild while the People Go Down: A War of the Worlds
Fox executives seem committed to ensuring that trend continues long after Trump leaves office. The network belongs to the Tucker Carlsons and Sean Hannitys. And with Fox unwilling to reform from within, only its advertisers and the cable providers who carry it can exert enough influence to get it to behave responsibly.
Fox throws in the towel on its “news” side | Media Matters for America
Rudy Giuliani is about to become the first presidential lawyer whose own actions helped lead to his client being impeached twice
Giuliani Allies Were Part of “Russia-Linked Foreign Influence Network,” US Government Says – Mother Jones
Israel and its supporters are ramping up efforts to outlaw solidarity with Palestinians in the name of combating antisemitism. But these authoritarian maneuvers can’t hide the fact that Israel is losing the battle for public opinion over its denial of Palestinian rights.
Israel’s Leaders Are Trying to Cancel the Debate Because They Know They’re Losing
Few Australian politicians have public Parler accounts under their own names. Nationals MP George Christensen is a regular user, as is Senator Malcolm Roberts, while One Nation leader Pauline Hanson occasionally posts on her profile.
Extremism inquiry to focus on ‘serious threats’ on right-wing social media
If the Prime Minister does not make his allegiances clear, we must assume he supports the seditious actions of outgoing President Donald Trump and his QAnon followers, writes Dr Jennifer Wilson.
Scott Morrison’s ‘distress’, not condemnation of U.S. Congress attack
Third Wave: Australia close to world’s best as Covid-19 numbers soar globally – Michael West
Donald Trump aside, deaths in the US continue to soar from Covid-19, with a reported 383,000, and 23 million infections. Europe has also reported huge rises in the final month of 2020, while the numbers in African countries rose sharply too. Alan Austin takes a look at the latest pandemic wave.
Third Wave: Australia close to world’s best as Covid-19 numbers soar globally – Michael West
In my view Twitter and Facebook have every right, indeed a duty to ensure that their platforms are suitably moderated – just a pity they didn’t think about it earlier.
Freedom of Speech is Dead! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Hidden away in my ‘To read’ file I found a piece written by former Liberal Party leader John Hewson. I shall have to clean my list out more often in the hope of finding more gems. Hewson’s piece is important and I’m not sure how I missed it because I have witnessed him going through a Fraser-like conversion in his approach to politics in the past few years. The piece was written almost 12 months ago and spoke to a favourite subject of mine. How to clean up our politics to make for a better democracy for all Australians. John Hewson proposes six Rules of engagement.
How to clean up Australian politics – » The Australian Independent Media Network
You cannot reason with a psychopath, you cannot shame such a person or appeal to their better instincts. There is no point in writing open letters to them. The usual way of dealing with politicians who develop some wild ideas in the course of their search for voters and campaign funds will not work.
Four Years Later: ‘Welcome to Psychopathocracy,’ the Sequel
Bannon believes he has a Trump pardon coming his way. (ODT)
One of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s mantras is “action, action, action” — a call to his followers to be engaged and ready for political fights. On January 8, YouTube finally acted, removing Bannon’s War Room account, after months of Bannon calling for revolution and violence.
YouTube terminated Steve Bannon’s account. He had blood on his hands after months of calling for revolution and violence. | Media Matters for America
A deranged mob of Americans, fueled by lies about election fraud peddled by the president of the United States along with multiple senators and House members, sacked the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as part of an insurrection encouraged by Donald Trump to stop the constitutional process allowing for the peaceful transfer of power taking place within the building. “[Y]ou’ll never take back your country with weakness,” Trump told the rioters immediately before they marched on the Capitol. “You have to show strength and be strong.”
Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ Myth Reaches Its Catastrophic Conclusion | HuffPost Australia
Frydenberg, McCormack, Kelly and even Morrison shame our nation. They believe inciting encouraging and promoting sedition, violence, and insurrection is simply allowable and to prevent it a matter of “suppression of free speech”. Rest assured they don’t practice what they preach at home in the workplace or other of their social and cultural situations. Swearing like drunken sailors isn’t tolerated in their homes. Do they seriously listen to what they are saying? All readily condemning whistleblowers and journalists, so much so, that they demand we maintain and even strengthen the laws that prosecute them are (ODT)appropriate. They don’t speak up for Julian Assange who the American government wants to put away for 174 years. Not so poor old Don the victim of Twitter.( ODT)
Senior government ministers have lashed Twitter’s ban on Donald Trump as multiple social media giants removed the outgoing US President from their platforms.
Donald Trump Twitter ban: Josh Frydenberg ‘uncomfortable’
A new coronavirus variant has been detected in four travellers from Brazil’s Amazonas state, Japan’s Health Ministry says, the latest new mutation of the virus discovered. Studies were now underway into the efficacy of vaccines against the new variant, which differs from highly infectious variants first found in Britain and South Africa that have driven a surge in cases.
Japan finds another coronavirus variant, Health Ministry says
“President Trump is a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst president ever. The good thing is he will soon be as irrelevant as an old Tweet.”
Schwarzenegger compares Trump Capitol riots to Nazi’s Kristallnacht
Labor’s health spokesman, Chris Bowen, seized on the controversy, arguing the social media giant had “called out ‘Conspiracy Craig’s’ medical disinformation campaign” after the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and federal health minister, Greg Hunt, failed to do so.
Liberal MP Craig Kelly attacks Facebook for warning him over unproven Covid treatment post | Australian politics | The Guardian
The overall population projection Treasury is now making is that once international borders fully re-open and things go back to “normal”, the population will grow at around 350,000 per annum for the second half of the 2020s. So, can we believe this latest population projection? Is Treasury really now being transparent?
Treasury’s latest population projections seem hard to believe
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor of California and Hollywood action star has issued a heartfelt and stinging criticism of outgoing US President Donald Trump, while comparing last week’s Capitol riots to Kristallnacht, the night the Nazi attacked the Jewish population in Germany in 1938.
US Capitol riots: Arnold Schwarzenegger compares Capitol riots to Kristallnacht, says ‘it all started with lies’
Yesterday I reported that an insurrectionist at the Capitol on Wednesday had repeated Steve Bannon’s call to put federal bureaucrats’ “heads on pikes.”
After an insurrectionist at the Capitol repeated Steve Bannon’s call for violence, his show is still streaming via Google Play | Media Matters for America
In reaction to Twitter’s announcement that it will be permanently suspending Donald Trump’s account, Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America issued the following statement:
Angelo Carusone: Twitter banning Trump now is “a lot like senior administration officials resigning with only days left” | Media Matters for America
Keilar mopped the floor Friday with Carlson’s effort to downplay the insurrection at the Capitol as “a political protest that got out of hand” and his attempt to make those who rightly labeled the insurrection as sedition the real villains. She also exposed Carlson’s racism with a devastating comparison of his tolerance for the MAGA violence with his condemnation of Black Lives Matter protests.
Tucker Carlson’s Pathetic Response To CNN Shredding His Racist Insurrection Denial | Crooks and Liars
Donald Trump’s presidency has had plenty of low points, but none as low as the past week. With barely two weeks left, many of the president’s Cabinet members are distancing themselves or outright resigning. Twitter—the social media megaphone that he’s used for years to peddle conspiracy theories and incite hatred—has permanently suspended his account. And even his allies can’t defend his legacy as the only president in modern history to incite a riot against the US government.
Even Trump Loyalists Can No Longer Defend His Legacy – Mother Jones
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