Friday, September 25, 2020
Thursday, September 24, 2020
The Fox News Decision Desk Controls the Fate of American Democracy
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/can-trump-supreme-court-decide-election.html
The question, then is: How much damage could an all but openly partisan Supreme Court, particularly in tandem with partisan supreme courts at the state level and partisan appeals judges, do? It’s impossible to give a single definitive answer, because that would require knowing exactly what is in Trump’s brain when he makes these comments. And no one, including Trump himself, ever knows exactly what he means by anything. But we can look at his remarks in the context of what his campaign has done, then put that in the context of what we know about what might be happening on the ground in November.
Donald Trump's election threat is actually worse than it appears
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/24/politics/donald-trump-election-peaceful-transition/index.html
Here's What GOP Senators Said About the 2016 Supreme Court Vacancy—And What They're Saying Now- (Why no one trusts their promises)
https://time.com/5892574/senate-republicans-supreme-court-vote/
For the GOP, it’s a sharp departure from the precedent they set in 2016. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died in February of that year, nearly nine months before that year’s election. With President Barack Obama set to nominate a replacement who would pull the court to the left, Senate Republicans said that the seat should not be filled in an election year, and refused to hold hearings to consider Obama’s eventual nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. McConnell argued that not since 1888 had the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee by an opposing party’s President to fill a vacancy that arose in an election year.
GOP downplays Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transition of power: 'The President says crazy stuff'
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/24/politics/republican-reaction-trump-transfer-of-power/index.html
President Donald Trump's stunning refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power was mostly dismissed by Republicans on Capitol Hill, with many downplaying the remarks as merely rhetoric and others deflecting questions about a comment that Democrats fear could threaten a fundamental principle of American democracy.
Yeshivas are asking teachers not to test for COVID-19, even as cases rise
Some Haredi yeshiva day schools in Brooklyn are asking teachers not to get tested for COVID-19, and also not sharing information about students who test positive, to try to avoid school closures, said three sources with direct knowledge of specific schools said in interviews.
The news comes amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases in six Queens and Brooklyn neighborhoods which include the “Ocean Parkway Cluster” of Borough Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst — named after the avenue that links them, according to a Department of Health statement issued Tuesday.
Did Trump Say Protesters Threw Cans of Soup at Police?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-protesters-cans-of-soup/
Given that Trump did make the statements about protesters using cans of soup as weapons against law enforcement and there is footage confirming he made the statement, we rate this claim as a “Correct Attribution.”
Yom Kippur synagogue closure will be ineffective among haredim - Analysis
Moshe Weisberg, editor of the B’hadrei Haredim ultra-Orthodox news website, says likewise that a closure order of synagogues on Yom Kippur will be widely violated.
In B’hadrei Haredim’s editorial on Wednesday, the site described a closure of synagogues on Yom Kippur as “a declaration of war on God and his Torah,” and that “thousands of worshipers and synagogue administrators will not comply with such a decision.”
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Israel is winning on the world stage, but losing the plot at home
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/23/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-world-stage-at-home-intl/index.html
The Pentagon Reportedly Blew Its $1 Billion Coronavirus Budget on Body Armor and Planes
Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars Congress intended for pandemic relief were instead diverted for military spending, with bailout cash used to produce products like jet engine parts, body armor, and dress uniforms. For a period of time, the Washington Post reported, the $1 billion fund that Congress gave the Pentagon via the Cares Act to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus” was on track to be used for its original purpose, with $750 million for medical resources and $250 million for defense contractors. That was what Ellen Lord, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, told reporters in April. But at a congressional hearing two months later, she backtracked, telling lawmakers that defense contractors had “critical needs as well.” The ultimate spending plan that the Pentagon put forth to Congress in June, the Post notes, prioritized $688 million for the defense industry.