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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
November 11, 2020
The Electoral College Play
How low will they go?
https://politicalwire.com/2020/11/11/the-electoral-college-play/
The Electoral College Play
November 11, 2020 at 7:48 am EST By Taegan Goddard
“As the weaknesses of President Trump’s legal cases to overturn Joe Biden’s win become clearer, Republicans are talking more about the Electoral College — hinting at an extreme last-chance way for Trump to cling to power,” Axios reports.
“In this long-shot scenario, Trump and his team could try to block secretaries of state in contested states from certifying results. That could allow legislatures in those states to try to appoint new electors who favor Trump over Biden.”
Said one lawyer: “It’s basically hijacking the democracy. They’ve got nothing else; you’d be trying to deny Joe Biden 270.”
“In this long-shot scenario, Trump and his team could try to block secretaries of state in contested states from certifying results. That could allow legislatures in those states to try to appoint new electors who favor Trump over Biden.”
Said one lawyer: “It’s basically hijacking the democracy. They’ve got nothing else; you’d be trying to deny Joe Biden 270.”
November 11, 2020
High-ranking GA Republican: We must ‘acknowledge the voice of the people’ and ‘transition in grace’
Walter Einenkel
Daily Kos Staff
Tuesday November 10, 2020 · 4:16 PM EST
If you haven’t heard, Donald Trump and the GOP he represents are attempting to steal the election won by President-elect Joe Biden. Republicans like Sens. Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and Rick Scott, terrified of losing Trump’s base, have been calling our democracy into question. Sadly, this is just another example of the cowardice shown by Republican leadership in the last four years.
But not every Republican official is anti-democracy. Mike Boyce, the chairman of Cobb County, Georgia, lost his bid for reelection on Election Day. Boyce is a Republican and lost to his Democratic challenger, Lisa Cupid. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Boyce congratulated Chair-elect Cupid on her victory, telling the news outlet: “I think it’s also important, that as part of this process, that we have a transition in grace, that we acknowledge the voice of the people, we hear them and we move on. I hope that this message gets loud and clear to our national and our state leaders, that this transition in grace is part of the election process.”
Boyce went on to diplomatically point out that it was “extraordinary” that the last time we went through this process, the Republican Party that had zero complaints about the “integrity of the voting process” is now the same group of people crying about losing. Boyce is a veteran of the Marines, and on the eve of Veterans Day, he also had this to say:
Unlike Donald Trump, former Chairman Boyce understands how our Democratic process works. People vote. Those people are the American people. Their decision is regarded as the primary consideration in how our government works and runs. At the very least, the people’s voice is the only consideration that is supposed to be relevant when choosing our representation in this democracy. That might be an ideal, but it is the promise of our country. It is that promise that makes America great.
High-ranking GA Republican: We must 'acknowledge the voice of the people' and 'transition in grace'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/10/1994727/-High-ranking-GA-Republican-We-must-acknowledge-the-voice-of-the-people-and-transition-in-graceHigh-ranking GA Republican: We must ‘acknowledge the voice of the people’ and ‘transition in grace’
Walter Einenkel
Daily Kos Staff
Tuesday November 10, 2020 · 4:16 PM EST
If you haven’t heard, Donald Trump and the GOP he represents are attempting to steal the election won by President-elect Joe Biden. Republicans like Sens. Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and Rick Scott, terrified of losing Trump’s base, have been calling our democracy into question. Sadly, this is just another example of the cowardice shown by Republican leadership in the last four years.
But not every Republican official is anti-democracy. Mike Boyce, the chairman of Cobb County, Georgia, lost his bid for reelection on Election Day. Boyce is a Republican and lost to his Democratic challenger, Lisa Cupid. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Boyce congratulated Chair-elect Cupid on her victory, telling the news outlet: “I think it’s also important, that as part of this process, that we have a transition in grace, that we acknowledge the voice of the people, we hear them and we move on. I hope that this message gets loud and clear to our national and our state leaders, that this transition in grace is part of the election process.”
Boyce went on to diplomatically point out that it was “extraordinary” that the last time we went through this process, the Republican Party that had zero complaints about the “integrity of the voting process” is now the same group of people crying about losing. Boyce is a veteran of the Marines, and on the eve of Veterans Day, he also had this to say:
“Tomorrow, I just think it’s a great time to remember, if nothing else, what this country stands for,” he said. “Although veterans fought for freedom, and still fight for freedom, we all fight for freedom in our own ways, and the way to do that is to acknowledge the will and voice of the people and to continue, to encourage, what I call this transition in grace.”
Unlike Donald Trump, former Chairman Boyce understands how our Democratic process works. People vote. Those people are the American people. Their decision is regarded as the primary consideration in how our government works and runs. At the very least, the people’s voice is the only consideration that is supposed to be relevant when choosing our representation in this democracy. That might be an ideal, but it is the promise of our country. It is that promise that makes America great.
November 11, 2020
Klobuchar Considered for Biden Cabinet Post
November 10, 2020 at 12:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
Klobuchar Considered for Biden Cabinet Post
https://politicalwire.com/2020/11/10/klobuchar-considered-for-biden-cabinet-post/Klobuchar Considered for Biden Cabinet Post
November 10, 2020 at 12:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is being floated for a Cabinet post inside President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, CNBC reports.
Klobuchar is being considered by Biden and his team for a number of positions, including attorney general and secretary of Agriculture.
Klobuchar is being considered by Biden and his team for a number of positions, including attorney general and secretary of Agriculture.
November 10, 2020
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
11/09/2020
We Need to Accept That At Least 70 Million Americans Just Suck
I have never disliked anyone because of their income. Poor, rich, it's fine. I've never condemned anyone for their race or their gender or any aspect of their identity. I don’t even hold people’s beliefs against them until they try to impose them on me or use them to harm me or others. Then, whether they're religious or political or social, fuck your beliefs and fuck you for having them.
So if you think that I’m just supposed to forgive a bunch of racists fucknuts who decided that I am not really American and who attacked others, directly or through people they elected, yeah, fuck that. If someone has a shitty ideology, they need to give that shitty ideology up before we’ll even talk about forgiveness. And right now, Trump voters aren't giving up on a thing, so, yeah, I'm gonna fucking continue with my condemnation, my ridicule, and my dismissal of them.
That's not just because they spent the last five years (including the campaign) allowing their hate-filled ids to run rampant. No, that wasn't enough. It's that they actively rejected science, favoring the gut instincts of an objectively failed businessman over people who had spent their whole lives studying things like diseases and the climate. It's that they rejected things that were occurring right before their eyes, preferring whatever algorithm fucked their faces with a continuous feed of lies on their Facebook pages. And, more importantly, it's that they dragged the rest of us down with them and then thought we were the traitors for not agreeing with them.
They dragged us backwards as we saw scenes out of the civil rights era take place before our eyes or to us, along with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and anti-LGBTQ bias, putting so many people in real danger. They joined or cheered on terrorist groups they called "militias," who really believe they might have to start killing us. They bought into the most idiotic of conspiracy theories by the millions. They degraded and debased us as they cheered on the cruelty of the Trump administration and laughed at us for how upset their savagery made us, mocking us for normal human emotions, like sympathy for migrant families fleeing brutality and death only to be subject to the depraved actions of our government. Instead of trying to empathize, they sent us Pepe the Frog memes and accused of never getting over the 2016 election and said we only cared about the Russia hoax or the Ukraine hoax or the COVID hoax and drank our liberal tears.
And if some of them say they didn't believe any of this shit, they just liked the tax cuts, well, they fucking tolerated it and did nothing to stop it. So fuck 'em, too.
more...
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/11/we-need-to-accept-that-at-least-70_9.html
The Rude Pundit: We Need to Accept That At Least 70 Million Americans Just Suck
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
11/09/2020
We Need to Accept That At Least 70 Million Americans Just Suck
I have never disliked anyone because of their income. Poor, rich, it's fine. I've never condemned anyone for their race or their gender or any aspect of their identity. I don’t even hold people’s beliefs against them until they try to impose them on me or use them to harm me or others. Then, whether they're religious or political or social, fuck your beliefs and fuck you for having them.
So if you think that I’m just supposed to forgive a bunch of racists fucknuts who decided that I am not really American and who attacked others, directly or through people they elected, yeah, fuck that. If someone has a shitty ideology, they need to give that shitty ideology up before we’ll even talk about forgiveness. And right now, Trump voters aren't giving up on a thing, so, yeah, I'm gonna fucking continue with my condemnation, my ridicule, and my dismissal of them.
That's not just because they spent the last five years (including the campaign) allowing their hate-filled ids to run rampant. No, that wasn't enough. It's that they actively rejected science, favoring the gut instincts of an objectively failed businessman over people who had spent their whole lives studying things like diseases and the climate. It's that they rejected things that were occurring right before their eyes, preferring whatever algorithm fucked their faces with a continuous feed of lies on their Facebook pages. And, more importantly, it's that they dragged the rest of us down with them and then thought we were the traitors for not agreeing with them.
They dragged us backwards as we saw scenes out of the civil rights era take place before our eyes or to us, along with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and anti-LGBTQ bias, putting so many people in real danger. They joined or cheered on terrorist groups they called "militias," who really believe they might have to start killing us. They bought into the most idiotic of conspiracy theories by the millions. They degraded and debased us as they cheered on the cruelty of the Trump administration and laughed at us for how upset their savagery made us, mocking us for normal human emotions, like sympathy for migrant families fleeing brutality and death only to be subject to the depraved actions of our government. Instead of trying to empathize, they sent us Pepe the Frog memes and accused of never getting over the 2016 election and said we only cared about the Russia hoax or the Ukraine hoax or the COVID hoax and drank our liberal tears.
And if some of them say they didn't believe any of this shit, they just liked the tax cuts, well, they fucking tolerated it and did nothing to stop it. So fuck 'em, too.
more...
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/11/we-need-to-accept-that-at-least-70_9.html
November 10, 2020
https://politicalwire.com/2020/11/10/trump-burrows-loyalists-inside-government/
Trump Burrows Loyalists Inside Government
November 10, 2020 at 11:02 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Trump Burrows Loyalists Inside Government
https://politicalwire.com/2020/11/10/trump-burrows-loyalists-inside-government/
Trump Burrows Loyalists Inside Government
November 10, 2020 at 11:02 am EST By Taegan Goddard
James Hohmann: “Perhaps as consequential as President Trump firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper via tweet on Monday, which has been widely expected for months, was the hiring of Michael Ellis to be the National Security Agency’s general counsel.”
“As one of the most controversial staffers in the White House over the past four years, Ellis has shown himself to be as much a staunch Trump loyalist as anyone else in the administration. But his new job means that he will no longer be a political appointee. Instead, as a civilian member of the senior executive service, he gets protections that will make it quite difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to fire him.”
“Burrowing down into what Trump derides as “the deep state” will give Ellis, a former Republican campaign operative, a powerful platform from which he could seek to complicate or undermine the incoming Democratic administration’s agenda. This is a preview of the sort of behavior from Trump that many on Biden’s transition team expect, and fear, during the lame-duck president’s final 71 days in power, even as he refuses to concede defeat.”
“As one of the most controversial staffers in the White House over the past four years, Ellis has shown himself to be as much a staunch Trump loyalist as anyone else in the administration. But his new job means that he will no longer be a political appointee. Instead, as a civilian member of the senior executive service, he gets protections that will make it quite difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to fire him.”
“Burrowing down into what Trump derides as “the deep state” will give Ellis, a former Republican campaign operative, a powerful platform from which he could seek to complicate or undermine the incoming Democratic administration’s agenda. This is a preview of the sort of behavior from Trump that many on Biden’s transition team expect, and fear, during the lame-duck president’s final 71 days in power, even as he refuses to concede defeat.”
November 10, 2020
Mike Pence is already on vacation
[The Week]
Jeva Lange
,The Week•November 9, 2020
Like many Americans, Vice President Mike Pence needed a vacation after the year that was last week. And so he's making like a man who isn't partially embroiled in a complicated but ultimately doomed legal battle to try to wrench back an election victory from the legitimate winners, and heading to Florida, Bloomberg News' Jennifer Jacobs reports.
"According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Pence is scheduled to travel to Sanibel, Florida, Tuesday through Saturday," The Associated Press added Monday. Once there, he will presumably knock back a few virgin margaritas while continuing his habit of being conspicuously absent when things are going off-the-rails, a skill he honed while heading the White House coronavirus task force.
"President goes to Palm Beach; I go to Sanibel Island," the vice president has previously said of his preferred vacation spot, which is perhaps best known as being a world-renowned sea shell-collecting destination. "We love going there. Been going there for 30 years."
And ah, wouldn't it just be the perfect place for a retirement home too, one day?
Mike Pence is already on vacation
https://news.yahoo.com/mike-pence-already-vacation-214800284.htmlMike Pence is already on vacation
[The Week]
Jeva Lange
,The Week•November 9, 2020
Like many Americans, Vice President Mike Pence needed a vacation after the year that was last week. And so he's making like a man who isn't partially embroiled in a complicated but ultimately doomed legal battle to try to wrench back an election victory from the legitimate winners, and heading to Florida, Bloomberg News' Jennifer Jacobs reports.
"According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Pence is scheduled to travel to Sanibel, Florida, Tuesday through Saturday," The Associated Press added Monday. Once there, he will presumably knock back a few virgin margaritas while continuing his habit of being conspicuously absent when things are going off-the-rails, a skill he honed while heading the White House coronavirus task force.
"President goes to Palm Beach; I go to Sanibel Island," the vice president has previously said of his preferred vacation spot, which is perhaps best known as being a world-renowned sea shell-collecting destination. "We love going there. Been going there for 30 years."
And ah, wouldn't it just be the perfect place for a retirement home too, one day?
November 10, 2020
Gaslighting Georgia — the press assumes GOP will control the Senate
Two runoff elections
Eric Boehlert
Leapfrogging over two crucial Georgia runoff races slated for January that will determine control of the U.S. Senate, much of the Beltway press is already assuming Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will oversee that chamber’s agenda for at least the next two years. Rushing into a narrative that has President-elect Joe Biden facing off against McConnell's GOP majority in the Senate, the press seems enamored by the idea of looming partisan battles, and possible Democratic frustrations.
A flood of media coverage in recent days has been built on the premise that Democrats can't win the Senate. But they can, if they win both Georgia contests in January. Why the manic desire to get ahead of the story and sidestep Georgia voters in January? Part of it might be because the Beltway press loves the "gridlock" narrative that comes with divided government.
We just witnessed a political earthquake in Georgia with the Blue Wave election results, and the Beltway press wants to pretend it didn't happen. They're insisting that the status quo remains in place and that Republicans will triumph in January.
snip//
Something has clearly changed in the Peach State, as Democrats posted record turnout in counties outside Atlanta. The press ought to respect that and stop assuming Republicans are going to win the Senate before a single runoff vote is counted.
Eric Boehlert: Gaslighting Georgia -- the press assumes GOP will control the Senate
https://pressrun.media/p/gaslighting-georgia-the-press-assumesGaslighting Georgia — the press assumes GOP will control the Senate
Two runoff elections
Eric Boehlert
Leapfrogging over two crucial Georgia runoff races slated for January that will determine control of the U.S. Senate, much of the Beltway press is already assuming Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will oversee that chamber’s agenda for at least the next two years. Rushing into a narrative that has President-elect Joe Biden facing off against McConnell's GOP majority in the Senate, the press seems enamored by the idea of looming partisan battles, and possible Democratic frustrations.
A flood of media coverage in recent days has been built on the premise that Democrats can't win the Senate. But they can, if they win both Georgia contests in January. Why the manic desire to get ahead of the story and sidestep Georgia voters in January? Part of it might be because the Beltway press loves the "gridlock" narrative that comes with divided government.
We just witnessed a political earthquake in Georgia with the Blue Wave election results, and the Beltway press wants to pretend it didn't happen. They're insisting that the status quo remains in place and that Republicans will triumph in January.
snip//
"All this is happening in a state exploding with diversity, whose new politics are defined by young voters, suburban women alienated by President Trump, and minorities energized by Stacey Abrams and her near miss bid in 2018 to become the country’s first African-American woman governor," Time noted right before Election Day.
Something has clearly changed in the Peach State, as Democrats posted record turnout in counties outside Atlanta. The press ought to respect that and stop assuming Republicans are going to win the Senate before a single runoff vote is counted.
November 10, 2020
Expert predicts US could soon hit 200K daily coronavirus cases as the country tops 10M infections
Expert predicts US could soon hit 200,000 daily coronavirus cases as the country tops 10 million infections
By Christina Maxouris, CNN
Updated 8:40 AM ET, Tue November 10, 2020
(CNN)After reporting 100,000 new coronavirus infections seven days in a row, the US has now surpassed a total of more than 10 million cases since the start of the pandemic -- far more than any other country.
And that number will likely keep rapidly climbing, one expert told CNN.
"We are watching cases increase substantially in this country far beyond, I think, what most people ever thought could happen," Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday. Osterholm has been named a member of President-elect Joe Biden's Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board.
"It will not surprise me if in the next weeks we see over 200,000 new cases a day," he added.
The country's seven-day average of new daily cases was 119,238 on Monday -- more than three times higher than it was around mid-September, when it was at a post-summer-surge low.
But it's not just the rising number of infections that is alarming. On Monday, the US had more than 59,200 people hospitalized nationwide, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
That's the country's highest total number since July 25, and not far from the nation's pandemic peak of 59,940 set on April 15.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html
November 10, 2020
Biden expected to issue swift reversals on climate
By Rebecca Beitsch and Rachel Frazin - 11/10/20 06:00 AM EST
Early action on climate change from President-elect Joe Biden is likely to start with a series of executive orders reversing President Trump’s environmental policies, laying the groundwork for an administration that has vowed to sharply curb emissions.
Environmentalists are optimistic about Biden’s climate agenda, particularly given his remarks on the topic both before and after the election. On Saturday, after he surged across the 270 electoral vote threshold, Biden cited “the battle to save the climate” among his top five priorities, calling for the nation to “marshal the forces of science” along with decency, hope and fairness.
more...
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/525233-biden-expected-to-issue-swift-reversals-on-climate
Biden expected to issue swift reversals on climate
Biden expected to issue swift reversals on climate
By Rebecca Beitsch and Rachel Frazin - 11/10/20 06:00 AM EST
Early action on climate change from President-elect Joe Biden is likely to start with a series of executive orders reversing President Trump’s environmental policies, laying the groundwork for an administration that has vowed to sharply curb emissions.
Environmentalists are optimistic about Biden’s climate agenda, particularly given his remarks on the topic both before and after the election. On Saturday, after he surged across the 270 electoral vote threshold, Biden cited “the battle to save the climate” among his top five priorities, calling for the nation to “marshal the forces of science” along with decency, hope and fairness.
“The fact that climate has made it into every speech -- it’s one of top issues on the transition website -- I think that really bodes well for taking the federal agencies and shaking them by their shoulders and turning them into the light,” said Nada Culver, an attorney with the Audubon Society.
“And that's exciting because without that commitment it's difficult to move a big bureaucracy forward. There’s a lot to be done. We’ve lost four years when we could have been doing important work,” Culver added.
“And that's exciting because without that commitment it's difficult to move a big bureaucracy forward. There’s a lot to be done. We’ve lost four years when we could have been doing important work,” Culver added.
more...
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/525233-biden-expected-to-issue-swift-reversals-on-climate
November 10, 2020
White House Instructs Agencies to Ignore Biden’s Transition Team Until Trump Accepts Defeat, Says Report
HEAD IN SAND
Jamie Ross, Reporter
Updated Nov. 10, 2020 8:18AM ET /
Published Nov. 10, 2020 6:19AM ET
White House Instructs Agencies to Ignore Biden's Transition Team Until Trump Accepts Defeat
https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-instructs-agencies-to-ignore-bidens-transition-team-until-trump-accepts-defeat-says-reprt?ref=homeWhite House Instructs Agencies to Ignore Biden’s Transition Team Until Trump Accepts Defeat, Says Report
HEAD IN SAND
Jamie Ross, Reporter
Updated Nov. 10, 2020 8:18AM ET /
Published Nov. 10, 2020 6:19AM ET
Leaders at agencies across the federal government have been instructed not to cooperate with Joe Biden’s transition team until President Donald Trump finally accepts that he’s lost the election, The Washington Post reports. The report states agencies have been told to ignore communications from Biden’s team until his victory is confirmed by the General Services Administration—an agency that, in normal times, signs the paperwork to start the transition, but its Trump-appointed leader has so far refused to do so. One senior administration official told the newspaper: “We have been told: Ignore the media, wait for it to be official from the government.” On Monday, a Biden transition official said legal action is “certainly a possibility” when asked how they plan to resolve the obstruction.
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