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This right out of the Tory playbook- blame the media when you screw up. There was no reason to believe that voluntary measures would stop the spread and there were lots of examples to prove the opposite. The Cons were afraid to alienate their base by clamping down like the Kiwis and Aussies did.

I'm Not Saying Donald Trump Is Planning a Coup, But He's Doing Exactly What Someone Would Do if They Were Planning a Coup Is Donald Trump Planning a Coup? (theroot.com) (An interesting read)

Ironically, it sure as spit doesn't look like Pence has any future in politics. Religion pays much better, you don't have to run for office, and, once in, you do whatever you want.

No question for me that Pallister was sincere in the anguish he displayed, but his core belief system is that Manitoba needs to be remade in a Tory image- hostile to unions and labour, regulated business and social infrastructure with deference to the rich and powerful.

The "Fundies" hold the Conservatives hostage much as they hold the GOP in thrall. In both cases, the core political philosophy is so weak that without that sort of tainted support, neither would win another election.

WELL, THAT BACKFIRED: Judges to Boycott South Dakota Courthouse That Will Allow Guns Inside Custer County A South Dakota county commission that voted to let people bring guns into the courthouse may have shot itself in the foot: The judges plan to boycott the facility. The Rapid City Journal reports that the presiding judge of the 7th Judicial Circuit has drafted an order that says the Custer County courthouse “is currently unsuitable and insufficient due to safety concerns.” Under the order, which has to be approved by a higher court, trials would take place in a different courthouse where guns are prohibited and judges may preside remotely. The commissioner who introduced the pro-gun rule refused to discuss it with the newspaper but has claimed the courthouse would be a target unless civilians could be armed. Judges to Boycott South Dakota Courthouse That Will Allow Guns Inside (thedailybeast.com)

Pastor of California Megachurch That Defied Lockdown Order Dies of COVID-19 Jason Cairnduff/Reuters A California pastor has died from COVID-19, five weeks after his megachurch reopened in defiance of the state’s ban on indoor religious services. Bob Bryant, a 58-year-old associate pastor at the Water of Life Community Church in San Bernardino County, contracted the virus in November and eventually suffered severe pneumonia in his lungs, the Los Angeles Times reports. San Bernardino is one of the hardest hit regions in a state struggling to contain a vicious winter wave of the virus. But the church nevertheless ignored a mid-July order banning indoor church services. Church officials insisted to the Times that Byrant didn’t come to church after he developed symptoms but they weren’t sure when the pastor was last in the church.

Apparently McConnell has decided to make things as difficult as possible for Biden, so reaching out to the GOP will be futile, and a sign to the GOP that Biden is weak. Prosecuting Trump and his followers to the full extent of the law ought to give them some pause.

Trump Pentagon Pick Suggested President Should Declare Martial Law Over Election ‘Coup’: ‘NOT A BAD IDEA’ Reuters President Trump’s nominee for a senior post at the Pentagon has repeatedly spread false conspiracies about the 2020 election, reposting tweets that it was stolen from Trump as part of an attempted “coup” and that Trump should declare martial law, CNN reports. Texan Scott O’Grady, an ex-fighter pilot who’s been nominated for assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, retweeted a post on Nov. 25 that falsely declared, “Trump won & Biden & his Comrades will now attempt a coup.” The tweet featured a doctored photo of Biden with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Several days later, he reposted a tweet suggesting it was time for Trump to invoke martial law. “I don’t know who needs to hear this,” the post read, “But calling for martial law is not a bad idea when there is an attempted coup against the president and this country happening right now.” That same account also posted an article about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn calling for martial law in a petition, which O’Grady shared as well.

If our current provincial government is willing to court the right-wingers, this is only a small step beyond that.

Silence is complicity and silence from the incoming Biden administration would signal that the GOP can do whatever they want with impunity. It would also mean that they see whatever Trump and his sycomphants did as licit, and open the floodgates all manner of election tampering and corruption. Precedent is very important in law.

I would bet that Trump is functionally broke and his empire is living on credit, so he needs to divert as much money as possible into accounts that cannot be traced.

The current crop of Protestant evangelists have repeated all the mistakes of the Catholic church when it was at the height of its power and corruption in the Middle Ages. At that time you could purchase an "indulgence" whereby you could, for the right price, get forgiveness of a sin (or sins) in advance of doing it. Sort of the pre-emptive pardons Trump is preparing to give out in exchange for donations to him. So few clergy are willing to speak out to condemn these travesties.

Erin O’Toole Sidesteps Questions On Tory MP Derek Sloan Sponsoring Petition Questioning Safety Of COVID-19 Vaccines The Conservative leader blamed Liberals for causing anxiety and uncertainty. By Ryan Maloney Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole wouldn’t say Thursday if he has a problem with MP Derek Sloan’s sponsoring of an electronic petition that falsely casts doubt on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines at a time when the Tory leader is pushing to see vaccinations in Canada. At a press conference in Ottawa, O’Toole faced several questions about Sloan’s involvement with an e-petition that calls COVID-19 vaccine developments “rushed,” and claims that “bypassing proper safety protocols means COVID-19 vaccination is effectively human experimentation.” Erin O’Toole Sidesteps Questions On Tory MP Derek Sloan Sponsoring Petition Questioning Safety Of COVID-19 Vaccines | HuffPost Canada (huffingtonpost.ca)

If they had a sushi/seafood special at the restaurant , it would solve both problems at the same time.

And the opposite of irony is wrinkly.

Agreed. The silences of MLA and MP are deafening, and Pallister has already indicated that he will not run again, so he has freedom to speak openly.

Pallister started out aggressively and appropriately, but took his foot off the gas. Now the sick and dying are paying the price. He may have regrets, but that is of little comfort.

Not in foreign countries, but is working hard to start another civil war on American soil.

Georgia Investigating Florida Lawyer Accused Of Illegal Vote Registration. Officials said the attorney tried to register to vote in Georgia’s Senate run-off election and urged other Floridians to join him. .Jeff MartinMARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Election officials are investigating the actions of a Florida lawyer who they say tried to register to vote in a high-stakes runoff in Georgia that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. They say he was also captured on video urging other Floridians to do the same. Moving to Georgia just to vote — with no intention of staying in the state afterward — can amount to a felony, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday announcing the investigation. The lawyer went online and attempted to register to vote using the address of his brother in Hiram, Georgia, said Deidre Holden, the elections supervisor in Paulding County, Georgia. The system put his registration in a pending status because he didn’t provide a Georgia driver’s license number or other proof of address. Georgia Investigating Florida Lawyer Accused Of Illegal Vote Registration | HuffPost

When you have major relgious groups enthusiastically rubber-stamping every reprehensible thing you do as divinely approved, hubris is automatic.

FOR ANYONE WHO DOUBTED THAT TRUMP IS A MONSTER: Trump accused of withholding data needed to reunite families separated at border: 'Unconscionable' Following what one attorney described as months of deliberate stonewalling, the Trump administration has finally handed over key data that could help legal advocates reunite immigrant families separated under the Justice Department's destructive "zero tolerance" policy. In a court filing (pdf) Wednesday, attorneys with the ACLU said they have not yet been able to locate the parents of 628 children, down from 666 last month. The filing revealed that the Trump administration provided "information from another government database that had not previously been disclosed (the Executive Office for Immigration Review)" last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. "Among other things, the information includes phone numbers that had not previously been disclosed," the court document reads. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project and one of the lawyers working to reunite families, told CNN that "we've been asking them for any additional information they have forever and we only finally got this information after outcry that parents still could not be found and the issue reached the presidential debate level." https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/trump-immigration/

‘They were wearing rhinestones’: Read this hilarious account of the most ridiculous witnesses at Michigan fraud hearing On Tuesday, Michigan lawmakers dedicated more than six hours to allowing evidence-free testimony on the unproven and, frankly, unprovable election fraud claims of Trump supporters. A good summary of these kinds of events came from a man named Bill Schmidt, who according to The Detroit News, had considered himself a lifelong Republican before this year's election. "Evil can be seen by evil people," he said. Schmidt reportedly told officials that while he saw people make mistakes, he didn't believe he saw anything nefarious or illegal take place. "Good people see goodness. What I saw is, I saw hardworking people working hard," he continued. "That's what I saw. That's America. That's democracy." Schmidt sounds like a reasonable person. But not everyone claiming fraud is as reasonable, and thinking about or watching or reading about the conspiracy-laden, fact-free bullshit that some believe is worth destroying our democracy for can be frustrating. Luckily, someone running a satirical account decided to produce a very sobering set of reports on the testimony in Michigan, so that you and I need not watch it all. https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/trump-michigan/

And its gonna get worse, cresting in two-three weeks . Then the mortality and morbidity will continue for months following barring a massive clampdown. Meanwhile, Australia has become nearly COVID- free.

Thid would be comical if it wan't for the fact that this pack of fools and thieves had free rein in the government for four years. We can only hope that there is a steady parade to the courts for them soon. That is the only way to deter them from doing this thing again.