Share this page!

Dave Keating Profile picture
Twitter logo
12 Jan, 5 tweets, 2 min read
The US government was already incredibly hollowed out after four years of Trump's purges and volatility.

But after the insurrection, the US government has been left more unmanned and vulnerable than at any time in living memory.
washingtonpost.com/national/chad-…
As the US braces for riots across the country in the coming week, it has no permanent Homeland Security chief, Defence Secretary or Attorney General.

The cabinet is largely empty after post-insurrection resignations.
washingtonpost.com/national/state…
The lack of leadership at the Pentagon following Trump's purge in November is the most worrying aspect of this.

That purge looks likely to have played a role in the failure of the military to protect the Capitol Building last week. bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
US Secretary of State Pompeo is making a surprise visit here to Brussels tomorrow to reassure terrified NATO allies that US is still capable of defending Europe over next week.

Even as US experiences its most serious power vacuum in memory. How can they possibly be reassured?
Update on Pompeo: the trip’s cancellation was as last-minute as its scheduling.

EU and national officials refused to meet with the US Secretary of State. That would have left him with only NATO officials to meet with, and apparently that wasn’t enough for him.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Dave Keating

Dave Keating Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @DaveKeating

Dave Keating Profile picture
13 Jan
It took a week, but the US president has finally unequivocally condemned last week's insurrection in DC.

Immediately after being impeached, he has stiffly read out a script prepared for him.

As the prospect of Senate conviction looms. Image
Reminder: Immediately after the Capitol Building siege, Trump praised the insurrectionists as "patriots" and told them "we love you".

This is a Trump cowed. Will it be enough to stop Senators from convicting him, preventing from ever being elected again?
“Mob violence goes against everything I believe in,” Trump reads out. "No true supporters of mine could ever endorse political violence. No true supporter of mine could disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag".

But he takes no responsibility for incitement.
Read 5 tweets
Dave Keating Profile picture
13 Jan
BREAKING: Donald Trump has become the first US president in history to be impeached twice.

This time, with 10 Republican votes, he has been impeached for incitement to insurrection. Image
However Trump will not, barring unforeseen developments, be removed from office before 20 Jan

Pence has rejected House request to #InvokeThe25th.

McConnell has rejected House request to vote on #impeachment *conviction*.

Republicans are protecting Trump from consequences.
Many Republicans said during the House debate that they do believe Trump incited what they called either an insurrection or domestic terrorism.

But they said they could not support a rushed impeachment process that would shatter norms and divide the country.
Read 4 tweets
Dave Keating Profile picture
13 Jan
Republican Congressman Tom Cole says if the House leadership withdraws motion to impeach, he'll submit a motion to create a bipartisan commission to examine what happened during the "domestic terrorism" incident last week.

But Democrats say a committee, or censure, is not enough Image
It's noteworthy that I haven't heard any Republican in this House debate so far try to majorly downplay what happened last week.

The Republicans are calling it an insurrection and an act of domestic terrorism.

But they say a rushed impeachment would violate norms and decorum.
Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer responds to Cole and other Republicans saying House shouldn't impeach because the Senate couldn't convict before Trump's term ends (it could actually).

"Is there little time left? Yes. But it's never too late to do the right thing."
Read 8 tweets
Dave Keating Profile picture
12 Jan
Now official: #Belgium has extended its lockdown until at least 1 March.

That will be at least 4 months for this second lockdown that started 2 November - longer than the first.
brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-a…
Belgium’s new PM @alexanderdecroo has been praised for his ‘tough and honest’ approach to lockdown, preparing people for the difficult months ahead back in November, not giving any false hope.

Cases were brought way down from an alarming peak in October.
newstatesman.com/world/europe/2…
But after cases fell to an extreme low at the end of December, they are rising again now, most likely because of Christmas travel.

We are now waiting to see if this is a blip, or starts a lasting surge.

If it doesn’t, it’s still possible lockdown could be ended earlier. Image
Read 4 tweets
Dave Keating Profile picture
12 Jan
What a bizarrely distorted graph.

It leaves off Denmark, the EU country that has in 2 weeks vaccinated almost as much as UK in 5 weeks.

It conveniently sets threshold for any shade of red to start with best-performing EU countries.

And ignores context of a 3-week-earlier start
Here's another way of showing the data in a global context that shows the UK vaccinations relative to the rest of Europe.

The UK had a three-week head start compared to EU because it gave emergency authorisation rather than waiting to do a conditional authorisation.
Vaccination in the UK has been a success story so far.

I don't understand why so many British Conservatives right now feel the need to distort that success or exaggerate the EU's vaccination problems in order to try to justify #Brexit.

It's just bizarre.
Read 5 tweets
Dave Keating Profile picture
12 Jan
Will we have an EU vaccination certificate soon?

The Greek PM has written to the Commission president proposing the EU introduce a vaccination certificate, for “facilitating the freedom of movement of persons who have been vaccinated against #COVID19,” @florianeder reports.
Airlines, concerts, universities, etc could only admit people who have certificate. Could help in overcoming vaccine scepticism.

“It's urgent to adopt a common understanding on how a vaccination certificate should be structured so as to be accepted in all member states" said PM.
Greece will not "make vaccination a prerequisite for travel", PM says, but "persons who have been vaccinated should be free to travel” (will be airlines' decision).

“This will also provide a positive incentive for ensuring that citizens are encouraged to undergo vaccination.”
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @DaveKeating has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @DaveKeating!

Read all threads by @DaveKeating