In a political climate where Republicans are accepting lies and outlandish conspiracy theories as justification for putting American security at risk by delaying the peaceful transition of power to a duly elected President, this mealy-mouthery from Senator John Thune counts as courage, I guess:
Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota also told CNN that Biden should have access to classified briefings.
“Well, I think that it probably makes sense to prepare for all contingencies,” Thune said when asked if Biden should get briefings. “And as these election challenges play out in court, I don’t have a problem with, and I think it’s important from a national security standpoint, continuity. And you’ve seen other members suggesting that. I think that makes sense” [Manu Raju and Ted Barrett, “Senior Republican Senators Say Biden Should Have Access to Classified Briefings,” CNN, 2020.11.12].
Notice that Senator Thune is not stating the plain fact that Joe Biden won the Presidential election fair and square. Senator Thune is still treating obvious fact as a mere “contingency.” No matter how plain certain facts are, the overriding fact on John Thune’s mind is that he must pander to 261,043 Trumpist voters back home who he thinks will throw him overboard if he dares mention any fact they find offensive to their radical fantasy world. (Someone needs to remind Tall John that he won elections before Trump hijacked his party. The South Dakota Democratic Party can’t even hold a District 1 State Senate seat; does Thune really think there’s any credible threat to his keeping his U.S. Senate seat in 2022? He could call Trump a fat lying pig, and his Republican base would not turn Democratic or Libertarian or anything else.)
But Senator Thune is correct, if not courageous: it is in the nation’s interest that President-Elect Joe Biden receive security briefings and all the other support from the federal government that presidents-elect traditionally receive to ensure an orderly transition of power and continuity in creating and carrying out the necessary functions of government.
Related Cowardice: Senator Marion Michael Rounds is also speaking out of both sides of his mouth, trying to faintly acknowledge the right thing to do while refusing to acknowledge the plain fact of Biden’s victory:
Rounds said Biden should have access to classified briefings “as a matter of protecting our nation’s interests.”
“At this point, just as a matter of protecting our nations interests, I do think that both the President and his competition here, Vice President Biden, should have access to those classified reports,” he said [Devan Cole, “These Republicans Are Publicly Recognizing Biden’s Legitimacy as President-Elect,” CNN, 2020.11.22].
Notice CNN overtags with its headline: Rounds is not acknowledging Biden’s legitimacy. He’s still referring to Biden as Trump’s “competitor” when the competition is clearly over and Biden has won. But I guess when we elect babies as our Senators, we can only expect baby steps.
Oh, this is just too Thune.
Dear Marlboro Barbie, there really is nothing to sort out in courts. Your loser will not make up over 5 million popular votes and since the only person who claims fraud is drumpfraud hisownself, court challenges have no legs to stand on.
Now go chase parked postal trucks.
It is amazing that Stretch’s father could spawn such a spineless individual. Hard to imagine. As for Smilin’ Mikey, Joe Biden is not the “competition,” he is the PRESIDENT ELECT! Geez, what an embarrassment! !@#%^&*
All this while our Noem seeks donations from her followers in poor SD to help Trump win in court! (Oh, by the way, these dollars go to her campaign chest-never to see transfer). How grifting can the GOP get? They decry ‘socialism’ but encourage out-right, deceitful theft?
Georgia called for Biden/Harris just now.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/biden-and-harris-win-georgia-major-upset-in-once-red-state/
Biden now has eleventy billion electoral votes.Moar than drumpf ever dreamed of getting.
If they can overturn the vote in Nevada. Negate the election in Arizona. And upend the results in Georgia…. well… they still lose.
But, if you are prone to believe Kristi Noem when she tells you that a doubling in testing was the cause of our twentyfold increase in Covid-19 cases… you might likewise believe Donald Trump when he tells you that he’s winning.
Haters gotta hate, as my granddaughter’s boyfriend would say. Mr. Thune could say he loves America and apple pie and you fellows would whine and bitch. Mr. Thune might say “god drowned in a bowl of cereal” and Mr. H wouldn’t give him credit.
Grudz, the point here is that Thune cooked up some mealy-mouthed code talk to avoid saying one simple fact: Biden has won the Presidency. Americans have elected Biden to be President, and he is entitled to everything that victory entails. Why can’t Thune say that?
Thune is nothing more than a photo op .
History will not be good to senators like Senator Thune, when it comes to the Trump era, or should we say the Trump Theater of the Absurd? They have been enablers to a wanting autocrat; and such a comment by Thune lends itself, or the GOP, to party that is no longer a conservative alternative, but rather an increasingly authoritarian alternative.
As South Dakotans look to 2022, it is imperative that the SDDP present a candidate for the US Senate that speaks frankly about the enabling qualities of Senator Thune. Qualities that have not made our country greater, but rather weaker; and qualities which have allowed political norms in this country to be damaged, and which can only be repaired by electing someone other than John Thune to the US Senate in 2022.
“Haters gotta hate.” I could not agree more Mr. Grudznick. It IS a shame that Sen. Thune, a fine, moral upstanding leader of the Grand Old Party, would have to spew such hate for the President -Elect of these United States. There was a time when an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of this Great Nation meant something — even when it meant upholding the laws and Constitution that allows the “competition” to be elected.
I suppose it forces a Conservative pause to wonder: what is the point of rigging an election system if you still cannot win?
Cory, sometimes I think you post as “grudznick” so you can bounce off his foil to elucidate on the obvious.
If maryann roundz and wan toon ever had any interest in national security I’d say their about four years too late to put their money where their mealy mouths are.
Wonder how Sen Tune, Marion R and Dusty and Gnoem (Maggie and Ian’s Mentor) Charles Koch, like his statement about mistake funding tRump and American divisiveness??
I like watching the loser trump act out. Funny as can be, all that fake bluster as he ooze’s the loses.
Georgia,Georgia,Georgia! Shout it from the rooftops, swing the senate, donate, tell your friends. All this friggin smoke and mirrors is trumpolini 101, watch the shiny object while our democracy disappears. The fascist has no moral compass and thus has no constraints,along with his flock of sycophants who are engaging in political theater to try and appease their constituents.
All the while the lust for power has blinded nearly all the republicants in congress, they appear to be willing to risk being complicit in an coup attempt.
Restaffing the pentagon with trumpist sycophants is a calculated move that should scare anyone who cares about America, Step up make your self heard donate to Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock. It’s a chance to kick Moscow Mitch to the curb.
Moscow John and Putin’s puppets Mitch and POTUS. Somewhere here our four masked horsemen/woman are pictured.
Tami Burages
@tburages
· 2h
Wow. McCabe says this regarding the Russia report:
“There is some very, very serious, very specific undeniable intelligence that has NOT come out … that would risk casting the president in a very negative light.”
This might be good. Butina. Dusty. Erickson. SD/GOP. Putin/Alexander Torshin. NRA. https://fishinabarrel.org/
https://www.propublica.org/article/russian-politician-who-reportedly-sent-millions-to-nra-has-long-history-in-spain
Laundering dirty money.
Maybe Erickson and Torshin/Putin were more interested in the South Dakota legislature’s secret $350M trust industry? Jtol
Thune has his words tuned to more to just his SD constituents. Like our governess, his sights are set on a national electorate.
Meanwhile, the Trump court case score is 0-17.
Can someone tell me why the reservations vote for these people in SD? What has KN and JT done for any of them?????
Look at Georgia ! Wow
He is the guy who wants homecoming king and says safe things and then sits back in silence. I am honestly surprised he even said this.
I am having a lot of trouble telling Thune from a nearly empty jar of mayonnaise.
If we can learn anything from the past: the reason President Trump is keeping President-Elect Biden out of the security loop is that he is covering up his incompetence and malfeasance in his execution of the office of the Presidency. As has been the case over and over, the more information that comes out, the worse Trump is found to be.
Mr, T follow this link https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/south-dakota-2020-election-results/story?id=73573016 .
I noticed Rounds didn’t have the courage to even say “The President Elect” in any of these sniveling announcements. He is in denial of the election results.