Slouching Towards Oblivion

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Ending With A Whimper

Sec'y Of State Mike Pompeo has been denied meetings with foreign leaders, as the days of Qult45 dwindle down to nothing.

The latest of which being Luxembourg's Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn:

"Mister Trump is a criminal, a political pyromaniac who should be sent to criminal court. He's a person who was elected democratically but who isn't interested in democracy in the slightest."

- and -

"The 6th of January 2021 was a 9/11 attack on democracy itself, and Trump was the one who egged it on."

- and -

"The people who are truly responsible are Trump and members of the GOP. People like Ted Cruz and other elected Republicans are responsible because they acted like Trump's poodles."


Luxembourg, EU Snub Pompeo in Final Europe Trip, Diplomats Say

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled his Europe trip at the last minute on Tuesday after Luxembourg's foreign minister and top European Union officials declined to meet him, European diplomats and other people familiar with the matter said.

The Europeans snubbed Washington's top envoy days after the storming of the U.S. Capitol by thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump, an unprecedented attack on American democracy that stunned many world leaders and U.S. allies.

Pompeo, a close ally of Trump, had sought to meet Jean Asselborn in Luxembourg, a small but wealthy NATO ally, before meeting EU leaders and the bloc's top diplomat in Brussels, three people close to the planning told Reuters.

Pompeo had originally planned to go to Luxembourg, but that leg of the trip was scrapped, one diplomatic source said, after officials there showed reluctance to grant him appointments. The Brussels leg was still on until the last minute.

But Pompeo's final visit schedule in Brussels was not going to involve any meetings with the EU or any public events at NATO. A third diplomatic source said allies were "embarrassed" by Pompeo after the violence in Washington last Wednesday.

Trump encouraged his supporters at a rally to march on the building that houses the Senate and the House of Representatives while lawmakers were certifying Democrat President-elect Joe Biden's Nov. 3 election victory. Republican Trump claims, without providing evidence, that the election was stolen from him.

Pompeo condemned the violence but made no reference to the role Trump's baseless claims played in galvanizing the march on the Capitol.

Appalled by the violence, Luxembourg's Asselborn had called Trump a "criminal" and a "political pyromaniac" on RTL Radio the next day.

Luxembourg's foreign ministry confirmed the previously planned stop there was cancelled, but declined to give further details. The EU declined to comment.


And of course, they needed something to cover for the snub and save face.

The U.S. State Department, in a statement, attributed the cancellation to transition work before Biden takes office on Jan. 20, even if until recently Pompeo had been reluctant to unequivocally recognise Biden's win. The State Department declined further comment on European officials' rejection of meetings with Pompeo.

Meanwhile, down there is Texas...

Chicago Tribune:

Trump takes no responsibility for riot, tours Texas border wall construction after days spent out of sight and banned from Twitter


ALAMO, TEXAS — President Donald Trump on Tuesday took no responsibility for his part in fomenting a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, despite his comments encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol and praise for them while they were still carrying out the assault.

“People thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump said.

He made the comments during his first appearance in public since the Capitol siege, which came as lawmakers were tallying Electoral College votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Trump arrived in Texas on Tuesday to trumpet his campaign against illegal immigration in an attempt to burnish his legacy with eight days remaining in his term, as lawmakers in Congress appeared set to impeach him this week for the second time.

In Alamo, Texas, a city in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexican border — the site of the 450th mile of the border wall his administration is building, Trump brushed off Democratic calls on his Cabinet to declare him unfit from office and remove him from power using the 25th Amendment.

“The 25th Amendment is of zero risk to me, but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration,” Trump said. “As the expression goes, be careful of what you wish for.”

The rampage through the halls of Congress sent lawmakers of both parties and Trump’s own vice president into hiding, as crowds called for Mike Pence’s lynching for his role overseeing the vote count. The scene also undermined the hallmark of the republic — the peaceful transition of power. At least five people died, including one Capitol Police officer.

And that's quite enough of that shit.

First, c'mon, Trib - 450 miles of wall? At least try to get things right. Qult45 has built about 50 miles of new wall and the rest of it is Rebuild-n-Rehab.

And that "speech"?

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