1/13/2021 0 Comments A New Record For The History Books Remember yesterday how I promised this wasn't becoming a political blog? Well...here I am again with another political post. I'm still planning on posting other content but there's something happening literally every minute of every day and it always happens before I can post my usual blogs. So don't worry. They're coming. It's just a matter of time. It's been a crazy day and if you have a twitter or facebook account, you probably know what's coming up. Let's discuss, shall we?
Minutes ago from when I'm originally writing this, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for the second time on a charge of incitement of an insurrection. All house democrats voted for it as expected but not as expected was the votes from the ten house republicans. That may not seem like a lot but it's actually both historic and significant because it is the largest bipartisan effort to date and the last time Trump was impeached (which was only a year ago) not a single republican in the house voted yes to the articles. Now it'll go to the senate for trial but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not be calling for them to convene early meaning the senate will not be in session until next week on the 19th which is the day before the inauguration. A trial would then be pushed into the Biden Administration and by that point the senate will be controlled by the democrats thanks to those two seats lost in the Georgia runoff election. Also to be noted, Mitch McConnell has not spoken out on if he will vote for impeachment or not and sources have reported that McConnell recognizes that Trump has committed multiple impeachable offenses and he's apparently pleased with it all. Chuck Schumer, the future majority leader has just released a statement saying that there will indeed be a trial and if it goes his way, Trump will also never be able to hold a public office again. To be convicted in the senate, a 2/3 majority is required which evens out to sixty-seven senators. Seven republicans have already stated that they will vote to convict as of today. If you are wondering, yes, I watched all three hours of coverage of the impeachment as the house was debating just so you wouldn't have to. You're all welcome. I was losing brain cells watching as republicans tried and failed miserably to make the case for the house to vote against impeachment. I think at one point Jim Jordan based his claim off of the fact that the Wright brothers flew the first plane and the U.S. put man on the moon within sixty years of each other. When I tell you they couldn't make a case, they couldn't make a case. Security around the capitol is very tight following last week's attack. There are now 3x as many troops in the Washington then in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Many national guard personnel are actually sleeping inside the capitol. The whole complex is also blocked off by large fences. New this week, metal detectors are in place outside the house chamber. Many democrats are worried about their GOP colleagues and how involved any of them were in the attack. Yesterday, Chuck Schumer (current minority leader; future majority leader) held a press conference yesterday where he stated that all the people involved last week should be placed on the no-fly list so they cannot get into the capitol ahead of the inauguration. New facts are coming to light that the entire thing had been preplanned leading up to January 6th and a nationwide investigation is underway to identify and capture members of the pro-Trump mob who stormed the capitol. Currently, 150+ people are being searched for and more than 170 domestic terrorism, seditious conspiracy, and insurrection cases opened. It also was released that the pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC offices, both in close proximity to the capitol building, were real and running on timers. As you know, yesterday President Trump traveled to the boarder town of Alamo, TX to see the progress of the boarder wall that was the key point of his campaign. He made a speech that the major networks didn't even carry and the city of Alamo released a statement online that the White House never officially contacted them in relation to the president's visit. As the president leaves the mess he's created in D.C., Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is staying put. He was originally set to make one last visit to Europe but canceled after Luxembourg officials reportedly phoned his offices to say they refused to meet with him. Anyone else notice how the current political landscape resembles a high school more and more every day or is it just me? Honestly, everyone is just dissing this administration. I feel like "We Are Never Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift should just be playing on a loop until the new administration gets in the White House. Even banks that Trump has done business with for years are done with him. Deutsche Bank and Signature Bank have now closed all accounts Trump had with them. Can we just take a moment to imagine how many fruit baskets Joe Biden is going to have to send out to foreign dignitaries as a way to apologize for four years of the U.S. government being run into the ground by a peach-faced psycho with an atrocious haircut. You know what? It shouldn't be fruit baskets. They put up with four years of Donald Trump. Give them all PS5's. In the seven days since the attack on the capitol, a flurry of resignations have come. The full list includes the secretary of transportation, the secretary of education, the acting secretary of homeland security, chief of the council of economic advisors, chief of staff to the first lady, white house social secretary, deputy national security advisor, special envoy for Northern Ireland, chief of the capitol police, sergeant at arms of the senate, and sergeant at arms of the house of representatives. In closing, twitter deactivated the president's account so he, for the first time in probably four years, had to release statements. Actual statements, not just tweets. Earlier today, an official statement came from the press secretary's account and a little while ago, a video about five minutes in length came from another account that was again, filmed prior to its release and scripted. Many are saying it's too little too late and are wondering how long it'll be before he says that he regrets filming it. The last video the president posted came with that same sentiment less than twenty-four hours after it was released so we'll see how long it takes this time. Whatever he hoped to accomplish probably won't come to fruition with how low he's sunk in the last couple months but honestly, is anyone surprised? This day has been a long one and I would just like to remind you that we are exactly seven days from the Trump administration coming to an end and the Biden administration takes its place. Let's focus on the fact that the light is now visible because we all need some good news right now.
0 Comments
1/12/2021 0 Comments New Week, Same Issues I promise this is not becoming a political blog. There will be more of the usual content coming up but you guys had a great (definitely unexpected) reaction to my posts last week so I thought I would keep these daily updates going plus politics is a big interest of mine so I’m really enjoying putting these together. I took the weekend off which will probably keep happening because I think all of us need breaks at some point but don’t worry because I kept track of all the major news coming out of Washington all weekend and am back with all you need to know!
Up first, earlier this morning the president appeared in public for the first time since last week’s attack on the capitol. He has been increasingly isolating himself in the days following the attack, only surrounding himself with people who will support his delusions. Today he heads to Alamo, TX to the US/Mexico boarder but before he left, he approached reporters gathered at the air field. The president didn’t take any questions instead going off on another delusional tangent where he claimed that analysis of his speech declared that it was, “totally appropriate”. For those who don’t know, the speech in question was the one that the president gave at the so-called rally last Wednesday where he incited the attack on the capitol. I don’t know who analyzed the speech on his side (maybe it was Fox News) but if you listen to respected experts, the ones with brains that are not filled with an insane bias, this speech was anything but appropriate. Speaking of speeches, the First Lady released a statement via her official @FLOTUS twitter account where she condemned the violence but didn’t acknowledge her husband’s role in it. She even put in there how she was hurt that people were attacking her. I mean, I really don’t know why anyone would do that. It’s not like she wasn’t in the middle of a furniture photo shoot as the capitol was under attack at the hand of her husband and she refused to do anything about it. As soon as the statement was released, many reporters felt that they had heard it before and they actually had. Parts of this statement were exact excerpts from her speech last summer at the Republican National Convention. Yesterday, Articles of Impeachment were introduced by the House and it will be voted on tomorrow. After that, it can move on to the senate. If this goes according to plan, President Trump will become the only president in US history to be impeached twice. This is one of the fastest impeachment proceedings to date. Also introduced yesterday was a bill demanding Vice President Pence invoke the 25th amendment. A republican objected so now that will go to a full House vote and the results of that should come out later today. Meanwhile, many republicans are still spreading lies and conspiracy theories in respective interviews and their various social media platforms. They’re not a political party at the moment. It’s like a circus show and a cult all rolled into one. As you all know, Trump was banned from twitter Friday after he released a slew of tweets that they deemed could further acts of violence. Over the weekend he tried to find a loophole in the form of the official @POTUS account. Twitter, not one to be outsmarted, immediately took those down as well. If anything, Trump not being able to tweet does in fact, make America great again. I imagine his face turning red and smoke coming out of his ears and that image brings me so much joy. But twitter’s not all. Many sites have been banning Trump from their platforms including Shopify and Pinterest. To be clear, that means he can no longer sell merch or create mood boards. I honestly want to know how one gets banned from Pinterest. Like you gotta be extra-psycho with a side of delusional for them to do that. You also may have heard about a platform called Parler in recent days. This is a platform where many Trump supporters have been gathering since the capitol attack. Google and Apple pulled it from their stores and Amazon also pulled away from it so the app is currently inactive. They are also in the midst of suing Amazon. I want to know who thought that this was a smart idea. You’ll sue a hundred bajillion dollar company for a couple hundred million in hopes that your app where actual acts of terror against the United States are being discussed? Sure. The distancing from Trump and other republicans isn’t just happening online, it’s happening in business too. Many of America’s biggest companies are suspending donations to the GOP and Trump. The PGA announced that the 2022 championship will not be held at Trump’s golf course in New Jersey. Forbes also warned major news organizations against hiring Trump staffers, saying that they would lose credibility . The inauguration is next week and law enforcement is warning of more attacks. Chatter was picked up about plans for more sieges in the capitols of all 50 states and again at the US capitol on January 17th and other armed protests taking place before and on January 20th. There’s also serious threats against President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to name a few. Washington D.C. mayor asked President Trump to declare a state of emergency in the lead-up to the inauguration... and he actually agreed. There is national guard personnel coming in from 11 states and the NYPD is also assisting. The Washington Monument is also closed until the 24th and the capitol is being prepared with more protection. Many are wondering if the ceremony should be moved inside the White House but president-elect Biden is still going forward with the original plan of taking the oath of office on the steps of the United States Capitol. More details are coming out about the nature of the attack and the information obtained points to a much darker, violent plan. Rioters can be heard shouting, “Hang Mike Pence”, and, “Where’s Nancy?” There is also concern that they were wanting to take members of Congress hostage. More arrests have been made, including major lawmakers and more than 17 people are facing federal charges. The president himself could face charges in relation. In fact, discussions are already taking place in the D.C. Attorney General’s office. It has also come to light that the outgoing Capitol Police Chief asked for help from the national guard 6 different times. The investigation is a nationwide effort and more information is expected to be released in the coming days and weeks. In other odds and ends, it was discovered over the weekend that the president made a call to a Georgia election investigator, telling the investigator to, “find the fraud.” People have been comparing Trump to a mob boss lately but let’s all be real here. A good mob boss would never come straight out with what he wanted because he knows that there will most definitely be a tape made of this call. Like, my god, when will he learn? I feel like every other day there’s phone calls being released and honestly it’s getting exhausting because They’re. All. The. Same. Thing. It’s also been learned that Trump regrets making the video where he called for a peaceful transition but let’s not act surprised because the word, “peaceful” does not exist in this president’s vocabulary. I was shocked that he said it without cringing or skirting over the it entirely. President-elect Biden also announced his pick for CIA director which was the last position in his cabinet needed to be filled. He chose William Burns as his nominee, a man with over 33 years in foreign service including ambassador to Russia and Jordan. That was a lot but I wasn’t lying when I said that politics wasn’t a slow game. There’s more happening as I’m typing this but it’d literally be impossible to keep up with everything and if I kept going, this would never end. But I’ll be back to cover it all tomorrow. Maybe I’ll do a live marathon post on Inauguration Day. That might be fun. 1/8/2021 0 Comments Odds And Ends This will not be super long, I promise. There are just a few updates that I need to let you all in on. Up first, twitter has finally banned President Trump’s account permanently. Yes, you read that right. The president’s main form of communication is now gone for good. The platform released a statement that reads, “After a close review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them- specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter- we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Next up, the man who notoriously took a picture in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has been arrested. And finally, more details are coming out about what was happening in the White House as the attack against US Capitol by his own supporters was unfolding. Apparently, the president was trying to reach a specific senator to tell him to do whatever he could to stop the certification of the electoral college. The call came in at about 2:26 pm ET, mere minutes after the initial siege. First of all, he called the wrong senator so he had to pass his phone to the correct one. Second of all, the capitol is under attack, these senators are huddled in an underground, secure room and the president had no concern for the real issue at hand. Instead, he only seems to be focused on his political career which is seemingly going up in flames as the minutes pass.
New information also has come through that the Vice President has reached out to the family of the capitol police officer who lost his life in the riots. The president-elect has also relayed his condolences in his live broadcast earlier today. The president has not reached out at all. After his death was confirmed, Speaker Pelosi order all the flags at the capitol complex to be lowered to half mast while flags at the White House remain in their places with no plans to move them. 1/8/2021 0 Comments More Questions Answered I wasn’t planning on another post this soon but you all actually are enjoying my blogs on all this and politics is not a slow game. It’s barely after 10:00 am when I’m writing this and there’s already major updates coming from Washington. This is what you need to know.
As you all know from my last update, President Trump was given back his twitter account late last night after a 12-hour lock was placed on it. The first thing he did was release a pre-taped, scripted video in which we were given what was as close to a concession speech as I think we’re going to get. However, don’t take this video at face value. Top aides had to convince the president to release the video because he had no plans to do anything like this himself. Now today, we’ve gotten our first set of actual tweets from the president’s personal account and as I said in my closing last night, he did not surprise anyone in anyway. The first tweet mentions the 75,000,000 “American patriots” who voted for him and how they will have a “giant voice long into the future”. He also states that, “They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” That was a direct quote in case you’re wondering why that sentence ended in three exclamation points. I told my dad the other day that Trump must think if he uses enough adjectives and punctuation that he would be seen in a better light. I personally don’t think it’s working if that is, in fact the strategy. For weeks, we’ve all been wondering if President Trump would be in attendance of the inauguration of his successor, Joe Biden. Lucky for us, Trump decided to clear it all up in a simple tweet released earlier this morning. It reads, “To all those who’ve asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.” As a side note, I don’t recall any president or other political figure who used twitter as an official way of communication as much as this one does. You’d think he or his press officers would at least write it first on an official form and release that instead of informal posts that only allow for 140 characters. I guess by now it doesn’t matter but I thought I’d point it out anyway. This is a major break with tradition as every outgoing president has attended the inauguration of their successor going all the way back to the transition from George Washington to John Adams in 1797. 224 years of peaceful transition and respect has gone out the window. While his action is against tradition it might be a good thing in retrospect. I mean, look what happened on Wednesday. It has also been reported that the president and First Lady may not even be in Washington on Inauguration Day, instead leaving for their Florida resort Mar-a-Lago on the 19th. Apparently, they would leave early in order to use Air Force One without having to ask for Biden’s permission, which is, again, normally tradition. This means that Vice President Pence would be the only representative of the outgoing administration present on the 20th. In other attendance news, former presidents Obama, Clinton, Bush, and their spouses will be present at the inauguration. In the wake of Wednesday’s attack on the capitol, the venue for the inauguration, some have raised concerns about security. Current officials and former secret service agents are reassuring the public that security is their top concern and are working overtime to make it as safe and secure as possible. The COVID-19 pandemic is still a major threat and the US is continuing to hit bleak milestones with each passing day. Many are rightly concerned about these numbers, especially considering that there are still millions of vaccines waiting to get into the arms of the American people. The Trump administration said that they planned to have 20 million Americans vaccinated by the end of last year. By that point, there had only been about 3 million people vaccinated. Today it was reported that president-elect Biden plans to release every vaccine once he takes office. This breaks with the prior administration’s plan to hold back vaccines for the second round of shots. Biden feels the ball has been dropped in terms of vaccine rollout and wants to do all he can to get it into the hands of Americans ASAP especially with the numbers climbing and intensive care units on the brink. The invoking of the 25th amendment and the impeachment of the president is still very much on the forefront on everyone’s mind. The cabinet is informally discussing the 25th amendment. Today, House Speaker Pelosi and members of the House today had a phone call with the democratic caucuses discussing impeachment. During this call, the call for impeachment was made and agreed upon by more democrats than before. Now it seems likely that Articles of Impeachment will be drafted and that vote could come as early as next week. However, the Senate is still under republican control headed up by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell so conviction may be unlikely given the previous trial. It is also out of session until January 19th and they may not be jumping at the chance to convene early for this event. Two more republicans have said that they would vote to impeach if the charges were valid. Nancy Pelosi also sent a letter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss revoking the president’s access to the nuclear codes and the ability to launch nuclear attacks and other acts of war. This was done following a few days of reports that the president’s mental state has deteriorated and that he has become even less rational than before this week’s events. Repercussions from the capitol attack are still unfolding and the latest is perhaps one of the most severe so far. Following the death of a capitol officer on Wednesday, US attorneys are opening a federal death investigation. Law enforcement agencies are also doubling down on charging anyone involved with the capitol attacks which means that the president could potentially face criminal charges connected to the attack if law enforcement officers deem it necessary and valid. Speaking of criminal charges, reports have been spreading for weeks that President Trump plans to pardon those who are in his inner circle, including his adult children, son-in-law, attorney, and even himself. Apparently we could start seeing those pardons role out on January 19th. Whether this will actually happen remains to be seen. Over the last day, we’ve seen a number of resignations from the White House. The First Lady’s chief of staff, the deputy national security advisor, the special envoy to Northern Ireland, the secretary of transportation, the secretary of education, the capitol police chief, and the sergeant-at-arms of the Senate. Today, key White House counsel, Pat Cipollone is thinking of resigning as is Hope Hicks. Her resignation comes as a shock given that she is one of the president’s most trusted allies. The days in this administration are dwindling down and the next twelve days will definitely be ones to watch. Whether he is impeached or the 25th amendment is invoked is not known at the present but something happening to remove him does seem likely as the hours pass. 1/7/2021 1 Comment An Update: Part II I posted an article a couple of hours ago about what was happening in Washington over the last day and a half. I’m back again with more updates for those who are following along. Here’s what’s happened so far.
First and foremost, there have been five confirmed deaths after the siege of the US capitol building. The latest being a capitol police officer. There have also been 80 arrests as of late and the FBI is asking for the help from the public in finding more involved in yesterday’s mobs. Many have been quick to note the lack of response initially from police as well as the lack of severity against the people who were attacking the capitol. Some videos show police allowing people into the building and even some taking selfies with them. In the aftermath, a large wall has been erected around the capitol complex and it will remain for the next 30 days. The security has been increased around the capitol and it includes both members of the DC national guard and capitol police with additional assistance from the DC metropolitan police. The team assembled by the DC mayor is also receiving help from neighboring states. In the midst of this there has been a flurry of resignations from the White House. The latest in that long line is the capitol police chief Steven Sund, effective January 16th. His successor has yet to be named. It was also announced that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVois would also be resigning from her post, making her the second cabinet secretary to do so. Since the dust has settled, three pipe bombs were reported to be found within the capitol grounds, the RNC offices, and the DNC offices. A car close to one pipe bomb was found to contain a rifle and molotov cocktails. An individual was arrested in relation to this. A cooler of Molotov cocktails was found in another location. In total, 6-8 firearms were confiscated by police as DC has no law allowing for individuals to carry firearms openly. Over the last 36 hours rumors of impeachment and the invoking of the 25th amendment have been making the rounds to every corner of the federal government. Here’s where that stands. Last night, calls for the president’s impeachment or removal via the 25th amendment came from major leaders and today they just got stronger. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement this afternoon that she will be discussing with members of Congress the impeachment of the president if Vice President Pence doesn’t take steps necessary to invoke the 25th amendment. With thirteen days left in this administration, many are doubtful that either of those actions would happen in the timeframe but we’ll see what happens in the following days. The Wall Street Journal released another op-ed (see last weekend’s bombshell report of the President’s call with Georgia’s Secretary of State where he implored them to “find 11,780 votes”) telling the president to resign instead of facing another impeachment trial. You’ll recall that last January that President Trump went through an impeachment trial. He was convicted in the House but the Senate, who was then controlled by republicans, voted to acquit and because both chambers have to agree on conviction or acquittal, all charges were dropped against the president. In social media news, President Trump has been banned indefinitely from facebook and instagram. Twitter reactivated his personal account after a 12-hour lock. His return was marked by the release of a video where the president can be seen reading from a teleprompter and acknowledging that a new administration will be taking over on January 20th. He doesn’t mention Joe Biden by name but that might be asking too much at this point so I say let’s take what we can get. Some key takeaways from this video? As I mentioned above, this speech was done using a teleprompter, was pre filmed, and released more than 30 hours after the initial attacks. In contrast, president-elect Joe Biden has addressed the nation twice on live television. Once a short time after the attacks began and again earlier this afternoon. President Trump also tells a lie when he says he immediately deployed the Washington D.C. national guard. It was actually hours before they arrived and the president had to be convinced by aides to even send them in the first place because he was actually enthusiastic about the whole thing. I guess if you’re telling the president to deploy the national guard to a deadly event taking place at his insistence, that is the expected reaction. In fact, the Vice President was the one coordinating with the national guard telling them to get there faster. While he was under a lockdown. In a secure location within the capitol complex. Due to a situation Trump instigated. It has also been determined that the President and the Vice President have not actually spoken or been in the same room since yesterday before the Joint Session of Congress where Pence promised to uphold his constitutional duty even if it causes his boss to have a toddler-like temper tantrum. President Trump is currently holed up in the West Wing and he has isolated himself from anyone who is of importance or could persuade him to act properly in his power as commander-in-chief. In other news, Merrick Garland was announced as president-elect Biden’s pick for Attorney General. This is one of the last major cabinet position needed to be filled. We are still waiting on a nomination for director of the CIA. The last few hours have been packed with new facts and shocking moments. There is only thirteen days until the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris. Over the next few days it’ll be interesting to see if the 25th amendment will be invoked or if impeachment will be pursued. The president also has access to his twitter account which is of course his favorite mean of mass communication. We shall see if he follows what he said in his video statement or if he resorts back to spreading conspiracy theories and lies which is what led to this disaster in the first place. Somehow I doubt he’ll surprise us. 1/7/2021 0 Comments An update It has been a whirlwind 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon, the United States Congress which consists of both the Senate and the House of Representatives convened for the Joint Session of Congress that occurs every four years after a presidential election. Normally, this is only a ceremonial step in the transfer from one presidential administration to the next but this year was different. To recap, President Trump lost the November 3rd election to former Vice President Joe Biden. However, the president refused fo believe that he lost and therefore refused to concede. He instead began a slew of legal challenges against key states including Pennsylvania and Georgia. His legal team was headed up by his personal attorney Rudy Guliani who thought it was a great idea to hold a press conference at Four Season’s Total Landscaping which just so you know was between a crematorium and an adult bookstore. What a great way to make this effort seem totally legit and professional.
Earlier in the morning on January 6th, hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters gathered for a rally called the “Save America March”. Headline speakers included an attorney who tends to melt like the wicked witch of the west, a son who has major anger issues, and a president who acts more like a tyrant or ruthless dictator rather than the leader of the free world. It was during his speech at this rally that Trump encouraged his supporters to march to the capitol as a way to protest the electoral college count happening on the senate floor. He even told them that he’d be there with them! Fun Fact: No member of the Trump family was present in any of those riot crowds. They did what they do best. Peacing out before anything got dicey so they can say they never encouraged the actions of the people who follow them. Inside the United States capitol, the Senate and the House of Representatives had just retreated to their separate chambers for a two-hour debate on the objection to the electoral votes in Arizona. This is allowed and was expected after many republicans said they would be objecting to up to six states’ results. An effort that was spearheaded by Senators Hawley and Cruz, both republicans. All was going smoothly until about 2:15 pm ET when all members of both chambers were escorted to undisclosed, secure locations within the capitol complex after word was received that the building was surrounded and had been breached by a massive group of Trump supporters. Over the next couple of hours, the capitol was overtaken by rioters who somehow saw themselves as doing something patriotic. They let themselves into lawmakers offices, destroyed/vandalized property, and some people actually made it into the senate chamber onto the dias where the Vice President had just been sitting in his capacity as President of the Senate. We were seeing reactions from nearly everyone from the president-elect to congresspeople to senators to celebrities to entertainers to everyday people. The one person we didn’t hear from? The president. Instead of speaking out and using his platform to tell these people to go home, to stop the act of terrorism they were committing, he holed himself up in the West Wing watching the chaos he has encouraged unfold on television. He posted a few tweets as well as a video telling these rioters to go home and that they were special and he loved them. These posts were later removed from his twitter account before it was put on a 12-hour lock. He and his family members, including a now deleted tweet by Ivanka Trump, repeatedly called these rioters and terrorists, “patriots”. His aides actually had to convince him to call in the DC national guard because he was enthusiastic about the whole thing. Eventually, the capitol was declared secure at about 6:00 pm ET and a short while later the Joint Session of Congress continued. However, something major happened after they reconvened. Members of both chambers on both sides of the aisle stood up and delivered speeches condemning the violence. Many even said they would cease to object the states’ electoral results. Now things could proceed as normal. There were still objections but not as many and the amount of support had dwindled so some were shot down after it went to vote; see the Arizona objections being voted 93-6. The proceedings continued well into the morning but shortly before 4:00 am ET this morning it was made official by Mike Pence himself that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had been elected by the people as the next President and Vice President of the United States. This is a big deal because throughout the last week President Trump had been putting pressure on the vice president to change the results of the electoral college in his favor. To clarify, Mike Pence cannot change the results if he doesn’t like them. It is written out in the constitution what exactly is supposed to happen. His role is strictly ceremonial when it comes to the process of the certification. This was just another attempt by a president with a damaged ego to try and undermine a totally legitimate election and in fact, the entire democratic process. I mean, don’t even get me started on that call with the Georgia Secretary of State. So what happens now? Within the White House there is a mass exodus happening. Every hour delivers another letter of resignation. These resignations include the First Lady’s chief of staff, the deputy national security advisor, the special envoy to Northern Ireland, and at least two cabinet secretaries so far. The sargent-at-arms in the senate and the house is also being pressured to leave after yesterday’s security failure allowed things to escalate. The president’s social media accounts have been locked by the platforms and it’s unknown when or if they will be given back to the president for use. We did hear from him through an emissary on twitter this morning where he stated that there would be a peaceful transition of power over the next thirteen days. Don’t celebrate just yet because within this statement, the president still reiterated the false claim of election fraud. Talk of invoking the 25th amendment is being discussed among staffers in the White House and other major players on Capitol Hill. The 25th amendment was added to the constitution in 1961 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. There are four sections to this amendment and they are specifically focused on section four. This section allows for the Vice President to assume the office if they gather enough signatures from the cabinet. Many senators and representatives are calling on Pence to invoke the 25th and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also calling for this action. If not, she says Congress will look at beginning the process of the president’s impeachment. Sources close to the president have said that he is, “out of his mind” and is still only concerned with getting even with those he feel betrayed him instead of taking command of the country which is why many are fearful that he is unable to lead and is a potential danger if he continues to remain in office. Let’s also not forget who has all the nuclear codes. Inauguration Day is in approximately thirteen days and it will take place on those same capitol steps. Security is being increased around the capitol and large walls are also being erected around the complex. The time left in this administration makes many uneasy about the use of the 25th amendment or another impeachment trial but many are concerned that these last thirteen days may get increasingly worse without any action taken to prevent it. Like I said at the beginning. It has been a whirlwind 24 hours with chaos, strife, and major division within the legislature of this country but here’s what we do know. The president’s entire platform is currently inactive for the next two weeks (At least for facebook and instagram, twitter has only suspended it for a couple hours so far but we’ll see what happens as the day(s) go on). As we all know, twitter is his favorite way to communicate so we may not hear from the president for quite some time. Take that whichever way you please. Congress has officially certified the electoral college votes which is the last step in the formal election process. This means that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated on January 20th. Officially their power begins at 12:01 pm ET and President Trump will cease to be commander-in-chief. Thanks for heading into the trenches with me as I did my best to unravel all the chaos and upheaval currently taking place in the US capitol. I’m still in shock as more information continues to come out and the fallout for this unprecedented attack on democracy continues to unfold. Stay tuned here. I’ll probably be back tonight to delve more into today’s events and break down the more complex aspects of what’s happening in the government. 1/6/2021 0 Comments Late Night ThoughtsI’m not sure how long this will be or what it will even amount to because right now my brain is such a mess that I can hardly string together coherent sentences so bare with me as I try to get through this. The last couple of hours have been absolutely insane and something that I never thought I would witness. It’s a complete 180 from earlier in the day. This morning I woke up and began watching coverage of the Georgia runoffs and the upcoming certification of Biden’s electoral college win by the United States Congress (because that’s what you do at 7 am on a Wednesday). I got ready just thinking the only thing I’d have to worry about was Ted Cruz’s idiotic objections to the certification along with Trump tweeting insanities that Pence somehow has more power than the constitution grants him to somehow change the results of the electoral college in his favor. Just so you know, that can’t happen per the 12th amendment but as we know, Trump refuses to believe the laws of the nation. Heck, I don’t even know if he’s read the constitution or if he got confused after, “We, the people” and just gave up. I had an orthodontist appointment that took up most of the morning but my dad and I were able to watch the lead up to the joint session of Congress. We got home as they were getting to Arizona which we knew was going to be debated. So we’re sitting there when all of a sudden it cuts to the capitol (the actual US capitol building) and it’s absolute madness. People. People everywhere. We watched as they all packed the outside of the capitol, as they showed images of the secret service and other members of law enforcement drawing guns towards a barricaded door, as they showed these rioters- actually, let’s be real here. These people were domestic terrorists. There is no way around it. They showed these terrorists literally break the windows of the capitol and get inside to vandalize and ransack the building. Luckily, these acts did not stop our democratic process and both the House of Representatives along with the Senate were able to return to their respective chambers in order to continue the electoral college count. I don’t know what’s going to happen next but with this president and this administration I’ve learned to never expect anything considered normal or average.
10/27/2020 0 Comments Halloween Movie GuideHalloween movies, or just scary movies in general are fun to watch and sometimes re-watch if you have it in you. Keep reading if you're in need of some new thrills this Halloween! Disclaimer: This list isn't very long. I always want to inform and entertain through my blog but neither of those things can be accomplished if you're scrolling absentmindedly through a list of every Halloween movie ever made wondering when the torture is going to end. You'd lose interest really fast and that is just bad writing skills on my part. With that in mind, I tried to pick ones that I loved as a kid and now watch over and over again at 16. I also threw in a few that I've only ever seen the trailer for and decided they were was too scary for me to sit through but you should totally give them a go. Enjoy!
Hocus Pocus Halloweentown Casper Beetle Juice Clue Edward Scissorhands It The Shadow Man Practical Magic E.T The Extra-Terrestrial Harry Potter Ghostbusters Corpse Bride The Addams Family The Nightmare Before Christmas The Shining Can anyone believe that it snowed this last weekend?? It's barely Halloween and Winter has already decided to slowly descend upon our doorsteps. That's wicked sorcery right there if I've ever seen it. I was watching it fall outside my window and my mind was already thinking about winter blog posts and the newsletters for the next couple of months as it gets colder aka more Christmasy. I hope your month is going well and if not, really try to finish strong as best you can. I find that it's much easier to transition from month to month when your head is clear and your stress/anxiety levels are at healthy balances. If anyone has any ideas for future blogs that they would like to share, please do so! There is a form under the "Contact" tab and that'll go directly to my inbox if you have thoughts or just want to say hi! -Caroline:) Instagram: @carhill765 Facebook: Caroline Hill and Fashion Fun and Extra Twitter: @carolinegh16 Podcast: Convo's With Caroline YouTube: Caroline Hill Pinterest: Caroline Hill It's book club day! October is my favorite month to do book picks because anything can go. Murder, romance, adventure, mystery. You wouldn't normally put books like that together but October is the exception because in my mind, the month is as versatile as those genres. Enjoy October's picks!
#5: The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan So fun fact! In fifth grade, I was flipping through the scholastic book catalog (who remembers those) and two things happened. #1: I saw one of my favorite book series' that I had yet to own. #2: There was a new book released by the same author and it was called The Hidden Oracle. Eventually, it would also span a few books, becoming the Trials of Apollo series (Hint: It's all based around greek mythology). Because I enjoyed his last series and the Percy Jackson series, I asked my mom to please buy me both the set of books and the single. Now jump forward five years later and the final Trials of Apollo book came out and I read it in a day and a half, obviously. Since there's four books ahead of it, I won't spoil much but I will say that the ending was very satisfying, there was plenty of action which kept the pace going, and I may or may not have almost cried when I read the last few lines. #4: The Romanov Ransom by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell This book is adventure, historical fiction, mystery, and murder all rolled into one. It's all based on the hunt for the rumored Romanov Ransom, a whole lot of very expensive jewels that were intended to be used to free the imprisoned Russian Imperial Family (Google them if you want to know more, it's very interesting). Instead of being used as payment, the collection is hidden away for decades. In World War II, the Nazis found the treasure and decided to hide it somewhere only known to them as a way to fund another war should this one not end favorably. Decades after that, the hunt begins again and there is no shortage of twists or surprises. #3: A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci This book also belongs in a series but if you go back a few months, I write about the first one. Being a sequel, this novel picks up pretty soon after where the first book left off. The premise of this story, which is touched upon in the first book, is the kidnapping of the main character's twin sister when they were 6. It's written very nicely and constantly throws you for loops. The one thing that irritated me was that the story continues into the third book and that doesn't come out until November! Something to look forward to at least. #2: Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus The great thing about this and why I love it is because the story is both engaging and interesting but also fast so the possibility of getting bored halfway through is greatly reduced. A good thing when reading creepy murder mystery novels. The cool thing about this book is that it's actually a teenager trying to solve this girl's disappearance. So often, it's centered around a detective solving things, the change is nice. Some parts were a little cheesy but the overall story was a quality mystery and you really have no idea what actually happened until the last five chapters or so. #1: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan I had to include a romance novel this month! I realized that most of these were pretty gruesome options so for those of you who enjoy a more light-hearted story, here you go. This novel is loosely based on Will and Kate's romance (if I have to explain them to you, we are not friends). It's very easy to get into and I found myself staying up well into the midnight hours to finish it. If you have trouble falling asleep before bed, I recommend reading this because it's probably one of the most entertaining books I've read and there is absolutely no violence or anything disturbing. There is a sequel called The Heir Affair and yes, I ordered it. Actually, I was still in the middle of this one when I ordered the next book. I've never ordered a sequel before finishing the first book before so that's when you know it's good. For more context, I was physically reading this book while placing my amazon order. Multi-tasking at its finest! That's all for this month! I hope you enjoyed October's book club picks. Let me know if you've read any of them or want to in the future. I'm also thinking about adding a section all about the book that I'm currently reading. Because I tend to read a book in a whole day, each review would probably be up for about a week. Or to be more interactive, I'd pick my favorite out of each month's "Top Five" and if you guys have read it, are reading it, or want to read it, we can all have a place to talk about it together. Kind of like an actual book club minus a reading schedule. Let me know if this would even be interesting to you and if it is, what option you prefer! -Caroline:) Instagram: @carhill765 Facebook: Caroline Hill and Fashion Fun and Extra Twitter: @carolinegh16 Podcast: Convo's With Caroline YouTube: Caroline Hill Pinterest: Caroline Hill 9/27/2020 0 Comments Fabfitfun: Fall 2020 unboxingMy favorite thing about the changing of the seasons is by far my FabFitFun box. This fall might be one of my top boxes. I feel like they really hit the mark on what to offer this season. Plus, the box design was super cute so that contributed to my rating significantly. But you don't want the boring details. You're here for what was inside. Let's get started!
🍁Customization #1 (All members can choose)🍁 I can't even begin to explain my excitement when the box sneak peeks were released and this was one of the potential choices. What is it? A curling iron. A $100 curling iron that I got for free in my box. Can you read my awe? I'm excited to use this because the barrel is ceramic so it'll protect your hair from heat damage which keeps it healthy. Win-win! 🍁Customization #2 (All members can choose)🍁 I've been getting FabFitFun for over a year now and never have I been so excited about a piece of clothing they've offered. When fall comes around, I end up freezing on a daily basis and my joints tend to get very sore and stiff. So in an effort to combat some of that, I picked a scarfigan as my second customization. Now what is a scarfigan? Exactly what the name suggests. A cardigan that can also be worn as a scarf. When I was pulling this out of the box, I felt like one of those magicians who pull out that never-ending handkerchief from their jacket pocket. It's so big and soft and something I'm excited to wear. The ability to wear this scarfigan is the only reason I am looking forward to the cold weather. 🍁Customization #3 (All members can choose)🍁 There's always that one category each season that I don't really see anything I need or want and this season, it was this choice. Normally they follow a type of pattern of sorts but this one felt like they just threw a bunch of stuff together. In the end I went with a set of face masks. You can never have enough face masks for those mid-week emergency spa nights! 🍁Customization #4 (Select members can choose)🍁 When temperatures drop, it's like all the moisture in your skin disappears so I wanted to stock up on as much as I could to help combat that. For this pick, I went with a cleansing cream. Not only does it help remove all your makeup, it helps your skin retain its moisture instead of sucking it away along with your makeup. 🍁Customization #5 (Select members can choose)🍁 I have come to realize that, for me, most of my dryness comes from my hands (they're dry right now as I'm typing this but luckily I have a lot of lotion next to me) so this category was a simple choice. I went with a very nice smelling cuticle oil. Cuticle oil is great because it helps keep the skin around your fingers healed and looking pretty. It's one of my favorite steps when I get a manicure as a matter of fact. 🍁Customization #6 (FFF Picks)🍁 The last three items are picked for you specifically. There are six total items that can go into these choices so no person has the same three picks. My first FFF pick was lavender sleeping spray by Hythe. 🍁Customization #7 (FFF Picks)🍁 My second FFF pick was Glo Milk (liquid highlighter) by The Beauty Crop. 🍁Customization #8 (FFF Picks)🍁 My third FFF pick was Crease Release Spray by The Laundress. No more ironing hassle for me! 🍁My Fall Box Add-on's🍁 I picked three add-on's this season. For those who don't know, add-on's are extra items you can order outside of the stuff above but you have to pay for whatever you pick. I picked a new lunch box, a portable charger keychain, and a new toner. This took me much longer to publish than I originally thought but I hope it was worth the wait for those of you who enjoy my virtual unboxings! -Caroline:) Instagram: @carhill765 Facebook: Caroline Hill and Fashion Fun and Extra Twitter: @carolinegh16 Podcast: Convo's With Caroline YouTube: Caroline Hill Pinterest: Caroline Hill |
Archives
April 2024
|
The Blog in a NutshellHi! Welcome to Fashion Fun and Extra, a blog run by Caroline Hill. A wheelchair user, podcaster, little sister, writer, and more, Caroline's unique view on life allows readers to take a glance into something they don't experience everyday. Told with humor, realness, remarkable wit, and a special kind bluntness, no blog will fail to entertain!
|
|