Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Rudy Giuliani: from hero of 9/11 to leader of Trump's last stand

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/06/rudy-giuliani-from-hero-of-911-to-leader-of-trumps-last-stand

On election night, as it started to become clear that the presidency was slipping away from Donald Trump, his son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner was looking for a hero.

Biden wins presidency but struggles with these voters

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-wins-presidency-struggles-voters

 Former Vice President Joe Biden may have crossed the Electoral College threshold to win the 2020 presidential race – but he did so amid a shift in demographics that failed to deliver the landslide victory Democrats had hoped for.

Alleged Proud Boys Leader Declares ‘Standby Order Has Been Rescinded’ While Some Trump Supporters Protest

 https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/11/07/alleged-proud-boys-leader-declares-standby-order-has-been-rescinded-while-some-trump-supporters-protest/?sh=5985b3fb179a

With many Trump supporters and the campaign denying that President Trump lost the election after it was called for Joe Biden on Saturday, protests have continued along with threats of violence by far-right militants, including the claimed head of the Proud Boys.

Politico: Trump's Allies Know He's Lost The Election | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Brianna Keilar sounds off on GOP enablers fueling Trump's refusal to concede

Trump is only waiting for the electors to make it official since the projected win has no legal status

 This is totally irrelevant. According all the established facts Trump lost the election and even if his absurd claims about fraud were true he still can not win. The normative practice is to accept the obvious for the well being of the country to ensure a smooth and safe transition.  When Trump was the certain winner in 2016 all the Republicans and Democrats acknowledged this and made the transition as efficient and friendly as possible. To claim now " but it isn't official until the electors vote in December - while true ignores the elephant i.e. Trump claims without any proof that he won the election and he is blocking the transition. Why? Because his feeling were hurt when he lost! He is not claiming I lost but I want to wait until the electors make it official. . Why endanger a safe transition because he is throwing a tantrum?

Misinformation channels claim Biden is no longer President-elect. That's not true.

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/10/tech/biden-lost-pennsylvania-fact-check/index.html

 Widespread allegations that President-elect Joe Biden "stole" the election are now tinged with unfounded claims that media outlets are rescinding their calls of certain states or are changing their projections in ways that disfavor Biden. These claims are untrue. But they continue to circulate virally on social media and show how, for online platforms, the problem of misinformation is as serious as ever.

US states say election went smoothly, despite Trump’s baseless claims of fraud

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-states-say-election-went-smoothly-despite-trumps-baseless-claims-of-fraud/

 The 2020 election unfolded smoothly across the country and without any widespread irregularities, according to state officials and election experts, a stark contrast to the baseless claims of fraud being leveled by US President Donald Trump following his defeat.

 

Trump is handling his election loss like every other setback. It can't work

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/10/politics/trump-election-loss-setback/index.html

 Until now, life has taught Trump one overriding lesson. One way or another -- with lawyers and lies, family money and shameless bluster -- he has always found a way to skate past trouble.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Ben Shapiro Calls Trump ‘Deeply Irresponsible’ for Falsely Declaring Early Victory

 https://www.thewrap.com/ben-shapiro-trump-election/

 Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said Wednesday it was “deeply irresponsible” for President Donald Trump to falsely and prematurely claim a re-election victory.

“No, Trump has not already won the election, and it is deeply irresponsible for him to say he has,” Shapiro tweeted early Wednesday morning as votes were still being counted in a handful of crucial swing states.

Trump formally notifies US Congress of F-35 sale to United Arab Emirates

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-formally-notifies-us-congress-of-f-35-sale-to-united-arab-emirates/

The Trump administration has formally informed the United States Congress of its intention to sell dozens of F-35 advanced fighter jets and other military hardware to the United Arab Emirates, the Washington Post reported Monday.

The deal for the UAE to acquire the stealth F-35s has raised concerns in Israel that it would erode the country’s regional military edge, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drawing criticism for allegedly authorizing it in the context of Israel’s normalization with Abu Dhabi.

Can Pfizer (or any) vaccine really end the pandemic?

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290938

 Following close on the heels of Pfizer’s announcement came warnings from public health officials in several countries that a “campaign of misinformation” would likely follow, promoted by anti-vaxxers eager to dampen the public’s enthusiasm in the vaccine. Nonetheless, many of the reservations put forward by experts in the last few days are well-founded and scientifically based, and cannot be easily dismissed.

Speaking at a webinar to the Board of Trustees of the University of Haifa this week, Professor Richard Horton, editor of the prestigious medical journal the Lancet, admitted that “there are question marks surrounding the vaccine.”

Citizen Trump will face legal woes

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkZVEjUFP

Since taking office in January 2017, President Donald Trump has been besieged by civil lawsuits and criminal investigations of his inner circle.
With Democrat Joe Biden capturing the presidency on Saturday, according to all major U.S. television networks, Trump’s legal woes are likely to deepen because in January he will lose the protections the U.S. legal system affords to a sitting president, former prosecutors said.

Trump shows transition will be as turbulent as his presidency

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/10/politics/donald-trump-transition-joe-biden-presidency/index.html

The question is not whether President Donald Trump is leaving. It's how much destruction, revenge and chaos he will wreak on the way out the door.

Trump's refusal to concede the election, delusional tweets about states tipping his way and failure to so far grant President-elect Joe Biden access to federal funding and resources to power up his administration mean America is in for a rocky 71 days. Trump may be a lame duck, but he retains the authorities of the presidency until noon on January 20, and his chokehold on the Republican Party was if anything strengthened by winning 70 million votes last week. So the President has the power -- institutional and political -- and apparently the motivation to create a great deal of disruption before returning to civilian life.