U.S. Electile Dementia paralytica 2020

[Dr Sardonicus]

From AP's The Latest

11:20 a.m.

U.S. defense officials said James Anderson, the top policy adviser at the Pentagon, submitted his resignation Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Anderson has been the acting undersecretary for policy since June. Previously he served as the deputy undersecretary since his confirmation for that job in August 2018.

Trump's firing of Esper comes as he has refused to concede his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Defense officials spoke about Anderson's resignation on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

A wide range of policy staff positions in the Pentagon have been filled with people on an acting basis over the past year or more, as a number of staff have left or have not been confirmed.

Chris Miller, who was tapped to serve as the Pentagon chief on Monday after Esper was fired, was in his second day in the building, meeting with top staff.

Trump loyalist who posted offensive tweets gets Pentagon job

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Trump loyalist and former Fox News commentator has been moved into the Pentagon's top policy job, defense officials said Tuesday, just a few months after he failed to get through Senate confirmation because of offensive remarks he made, including about Islam.

Officials said Anthony Tata, a retired Army one-star general, will be performing the duties of the undersecretary for defense policy. James Anderson, who had been acting undersecretary, resigned on Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.
<snip>
Trump appointed Tata to the policy post earlier this year, but the Senate canceled a hearing on the nomination when it became clear that it would be difficult if not impossible to get him confirmed. Tata withdrew his name from consideration for the job, which is the third-highest position in the department.
<snip>
Tata will be "performing the duties of" the undersecretary job, rather than holding the "acting" title. Officials who carry the "acting" title have more authority than those who are "performing the duties of" the job.

According to reports, Tata posted tweets in 2018 calling Islam the "most oppressive violent religion I know of," and he called former President Barack Obama a "terrorist leader" and referred to him as Muslim. The tweets were later taken down.

[Batalov]

Matt put together an educational video quite fast... with a clickbait title, too!

Spoiler alert: it is mostly just math, no politics.

[LaurV]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Barr tells DOJ to probe election fraud claims if they exist

Have you (general you) seen the last John Oliver's LWT show, as well as the one before it?

MUST TO SEE!

They both worth all the money (but they are not accessible on YT everywhere around the world in real time, for example in Australia they are delayed with 1 to 3 weeks; when you click the link there is nothing there, until they show it at the local TV, then it becomes accessible, so if you live there, you may need some anon proxy or VPN - we know this because we sent similar links in the past to the little LaurV who lives in SA, and she could not access them for a while, but other LWT videos posted in the past were accessible).

[rogue]

Step 1 (for Trump): block certification in PA

It shouldn't be successful, but I expect that they will want this to go to SCOTUS and we don't know what will happen there.

If he gets any traction here, then Michigan will be next.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by rogue

Step 1 (for Trump): block certification in PA

It shouldn't be successful, but I expect that they will want this to go to SCOTUS and we don't know what will happen there.

If he gets any traction here, then Michigan will be next.

And if that doesn't work, they may go for a military solution. An update to a previous post:

Trump loyalists get top Pentagon jobs after Esper firing

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, three staunch loyalists to the president were named to top defense jobs. Among them was a former Fox News commentator who failed to get through Senate confirmation because of offensive remarks he made, including about Islam.
<snip>
James Anderson, who had been acting undersecretary for policy, resigned Tuesday morning and he was quickly replaced by Anthony Tata, a retired Army one-star general. A short time later, Joseph Kernan, a retired Navy vice admiral, stepped down as undersecretary for intelligence, hastening what had been an already planned post-election departure. Kernan was replaced by Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who becomes acting undersecretary for intelligence.

The departures came on Christopher Miller's second day on the job as defense chief. Miller also brought in his own chief of staff, Kash Patel, to replace Jen Stewart, who had worked in that job for Esper. Patel and Cohen-Watnick are both considered staunchly loyal to Trump and previously worked at the National Security Council.

[storm5510]

Originally Posted by rogue

Step 1 (for Trump): block certification in PA

It shouldn't be successful, but I expect that they will want this to go to SCOTUS and we don't know what will happen there.

If he gets any traction here, then Michigan will be next.

"No evidence of fraud," the article above says. It also mentions something like the exclusion of all votes from the Philadelphia area. He's trying to trample on states-rights to conduct fair elections. The only observers that should be allowed in counting rooms are those picked by the county governments within the state. IIRC, election certifications are usually something which happens in December. States will do recounts simply by someone asking. Can a state be forced to do a recount? I would not think so.

So, what is it that Trump is so afraid of that he is desperately trying to hang on? How about immunity from criminal prosecution. I just read something which says, "The President is not immune from criminal charges stemming from his official or unofficial acts while he is in office."

I will only give him credit for one thing: Negotiating a formal end to The Korean War. Nothing else, ever.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by storm5510

I just read something which says, "The President is not immune from criminal charges stemming from his official or unofficial acts while he is in office."

While in office, the only way to charge the prez is impeachment. Once out of office, other charges can happen. However, the Prez can wave the magic pardon wand on the way out the door and make all of that go away. However, the pardon wand does not work on impeachment.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by storm5510

"No evidence of fraud," the article above says. It also mentions something like the exclusion of all votes from the Philadelphia area. He's trying to trample on states-rights to conduct fair elections. The only observers that should be allowed in counting rooms are those picked by the county governments within the state. IIRC, election certifications are usually something which happens in December. States will do recounts simply by someone asking. Can a state be forced to do a recount? I would not think so.

The fun things just keep coming. The Washington Post seems to have got this out first (my emphasis): Postal worker recanted allegations of ballot tampering, officials say

Richard Hopkins's claim that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day was cited by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in a letter to the Justice Department calling for a federal investigation. Attorney General William P. Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open probes into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud before results are certified, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy.

But on Monday, Hopkins, 32, told investigators from the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General that the allegations were not true, and he signed an affidavit recanting his claims, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee tweeted late Tuesday that the "whistleblower completely RECANTED."
<snip>
Hopkins did not respond to messages from The Washington Post seeking comment through his social media accounts, family members and phone messages earlier this week. But in a YouTube video he posted Tuesday night, he denied recanting. "I'm here to say I did not recant my statements. That did not happen," he said.
<snip>
Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe on Saturday hailed Hopkins as "an American hero" on Twitter. A GoFundMe page created under Hopkins's name had raised more than $136,000 by Tuesday evening, with donors praising him as a patriot and whistleblower. The fundraising page was removed by GoFundMe after this story was published Tuesday, a spokesman for the platform said.

"Your donations are going to help me in the case I am wrongfully terminated from my job or I am forced into resigning due to ostrizization [sic] by my co-workers," the page states. "It will help me get a new start in a place I feel safe and help me with child support until I am able to get settled and get a job."

A spokesman for GoFundMe, Bobby Whithorne, said in a statement that the money raised on the site was "not disbursed and Hopkins never had access to the funds."
<snip>
A page on the social networking site LinkedIn that matches Hopkins's name and other biographical details says he served in the Marine Corps from 2007 to 2012. Hopkins subsequently held numerous jobs for short periods of time, including as a nurse's aide and as an employee at a hydrologic fracking company in Texas, according to a Facebook profile. The Facebook page says he became a letter carrier in Erie in August 2018.

IMO that background doesn't help his credibility.

Other things I've read indicate that his claims started falling apart as soon as they came under scrutiny. But now it seems, he's signed one affidavit making claims of ballot tampering, then signed another affidavit saying it was all a pack of lies (i.e. recanted), and then made a video saying he never recanted. Wow.

If he's actually signed an affidavit renouncing his initial claim, he could conceivably be in legal jeopardy for perjury.

So, what is it that Trump is so afraid of that he is desperately trying to hang on? How about immunity from criminal prosecution. I just read something which says, "The President is not immune from criminal charges stemming from his official or unofficial acts while he is in office."

He's afraid of being branded a "loser" for one thing. It's possible he can pardon himself out of having to answer for any federal offenses, but not offenses against, e.g. the State of New York. I'm not sure how far "sovereign immunity" goes WRT criminal charges for official acts. Abuses of power are in theory, but (as we have seen) not always in practice, covered by impeachment and removal from office. We have also seen the DOJ trying to have the government substituted for him as defendant in a civil suit.

[rogue]

Per this site Pennsylvania must certify the election by November 23.

My concern is that if any cases get to SCOTUS then SCOTUS is likely to throw a wrench into the certification process. Trump has at least four states in his crosshairs: PA, GA, MI, and WI. These states voted for Biden, but have Republican legislatures. That is enough to give him victory.

If he does win, I am very concerned about the inevitable "purge" of Democrats, RINOs, and non-loyalists from his administration. He has already threatened to change the classification of government employees so that he and his appointees can fire anyone for any reason.

[storm5510]

Originally Posted by rogue

...My concern is that if any cases get to SCOTUS then SCOTUS is likely to throw a wrench into the certification process. Trump has at least four states in his crosshairs: PA, GA, MI, and WI. These states voted for Biden, but have Republican legislatures. That is enough to give him victory....

I don't see anything getting to SCOTUS. It would take far too long to resolve. This would also be a violation of states-rights to conduct their own business without interference from the federal government. It would fall to the Attorney General's of each state to say would will, or will not, happen. Pulling votes from one candidate and giving them to another, I just don't see that happening...

[Dr Sardonicus]

Georgia audit to trigger hand tally of presidential vote

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's secretary of state on Wednesday announced an audit of presidential election results that he said would be done with a full hand tally of ballots because the margin is so tight.

State law requires an audit but leaves it up to the top elections official to choose the race. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference that the presidential race makes the most sense. Raffensperger's office has said there's no evidence of systemic problems with the voting or the count that shows Democrat Joe Biden with a lead of about 14,000 votes over President Donald Trump.

Raffensperger said his office wants the process to begin by the end of the week and he expects it to take until Nov. 20, which is the state certification deadline.