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Since 2014 I have spent Xmas Eve calling my grand nieces and nephews as
Elvis Elfington. It started with just two little ones, 3 and 2 at the time, and it’s grown to seven.
So this nasal-voiced-Bowery-affecting-union-shop-boss calling from the Workshop at Elf Union No. 1 in the North Pole takes time out each Xmas Eve to remind the kids that Santa’s on his way and then delivers some humorous inside baseball family stuff.
Each kid gets a call-out and a special nickname Judy “The top book reader of 2020 and awesome bike rider!!!” Jones or Bobby “I can’t find my pants” Smith (Bobby is special, leave him be) and they get an update on Santa’s current location (Jersey City Jersey is a standard for the East Coasters and Denver for the Westies) as the night gets long.
Somewhere, the ghost of Richard Nixon grins mirthlessly.
But despite the ‘Stupid Watergate’ memes, the current WH mess reminds me more of the last days of the Reagan (mis)Administration. While the television pitchman promoted beyond his talents grows increasingly distant from reality, the Oval Office is in the hands of swashbuckling grifters (Oliver North, back in the day), xenophobic sadists (Elliot Abrams), and grey-faced men in nicely tailored suits just hoping they can escape scrutiny for their own behavior (James Baker, George H.W. Bush).
How seldom reboots do justice to the original sagas…
… Members of the group assembled in the Oval Office on Friday for a marathon meeting that lasted more than four hours and included discussion of tactics ranging from imposing martial law in swing states to seizing voting machines through executive fiat. The meeting exploded into shouting matches as outside advisers and White House aides clashed over the lack of a cohesive strate
@Elizabelle: I’m thinking just from a national security perspective here (all of what you listed qualifies), but cyber is the domain where we’ve transitioned most of our key communications/intelligence/assets. We’re digitally linked across every facet of our lives. Also you can’t control any of the space assets without a comm up/downlink. The majority of our military operations do depend on satellites working, but they’re not in danger of being shot down. All the spoofing/jamming equipment is here on the ground. It’s easier to do that (the Iranians did it when they brought down an RQ-170 about 6 years ago) than it is to shoot down a satellite.
kilgore trout, tiny desk carpenter (@KT So It Goes) December 12, 2020
Looking to be a scary night, though. The ‘True Trump Majority’ is whittling itself down to the hardcore cultists and nihilists, and that’s when things go from risible to ugly fast. From the
Washington Post,
“Tensions flare in Washington as thousands gather for pro-Trump demonstrations”:
Thousands of maskless rallygoers who refuse to accept the results of the election turned downtown Washington into a falsehood-filled spectacle Saturday, two days before the electoral college will make the president’s loss official.
In smaller numbers than their gathering last month, they roamed from the Capitol to the Mall and back again, seeking inspiration from speakers who railed against the Supreme Court, Fox News and President-elect Joe Biden. The crowds cheered for recently pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn, marched with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and stood in awe of a flyover fro