alternet--2020-12-07--Trump has lost — but his deadly legacy will remain

Donald Trump encouraged coronavirus denialism for months for one simple reason : He thought it would help him win re-election .
Ever the believer that appearances matter more than reality , Trump felt that as long as people acted like there was no pandemic — by refusing wearing masks and continuing to crowd into public places , especially his rallies — that was as good as there being no pandemic .
The mounting death toll and hurricane-like effects on our health care system did n't matter to him , as long as he could pretend everything was doing well and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why I held out hope , in the days after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election , that Republicans would finally drop the act and start taking the pandemic seriously .
After all , as Heather Digby Parton argued Monday morning at Salon , conservatives have a remarkable ability to discard their current enthusiasms the second they lose political value , and pretend that particular lunacy never happened .
( You 'd never know from its current behavior how gung-ho the American right was for the Iraq war 15 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible that in the face of rising case counts and Trump 's defeat , the right would suddenly embrace public health measures and begin casually acting as if coronavirus denialism was never really a thing .
Unfortunately for the health of the nation , the opposite has happened .
If anything , coronavirus denialism is as powerful a force as it was a month ago , when the media finally called the election for Biden .
On Saturday , Trump attended a rally in south Georgia , supposedly to support the Senate campaigns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Perdue .
In practice , it was just another opportunity for Trump to whine at length about how he supposedly `` won '' Georgia ( which he did n't ) and how Republican state officials had conspiring to steal the election away from him ( blatantly false , and also preposterous ) .
The crowd ate these lies up , chanting `` fight for Trump ! ''
when Perdue and Loeffler bothered to peek their heads out at what was supposed to be their rally .
Just as alarming as the crowd 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of most attendees , who were packed shoulder to shoulder , to wear masks .
The political usefulness of coronavirus denialism to Trump has ended .
But for his avid supporters , continuing to pretend the pandemic is n't a problem — even as well over 1,000 people die every day — has clearly become an entrenched part of the `` conservative '' identity .
This attitude is reflected on Fox News , where the steady drumbeat of coronavirus denialism has not abated , even though it no longer has any impact on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past week , Fox News hosts have called for a `` lockdown rebellion , '' celebrated businesses that refuse to take safety precautions , continued to bash Dr. Anthony Fauci and hyped snake-oil treatments over scientifically sound prevention techniques like social distancing and mask-wearing .
The situation is similar to the widespread support among conservative pundits and Republican voters for Trump 's coup attempt .
They know that Trump 's chances at succeeding are effectively zero , but they keep on encouraging him anyway , because his rhetoric undermines democracy and sets the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may well be more successful .
Clearly , coronavirus denialism has some ideological benefit that people on the right find gratifying , which is why it 's continuing even though it no longer offers any political advantage to Trump .
It likely serves the same purpose as backing Trump 's coup , by providing cover for a direct assault on the concept of the common good , an attack on science and `` elite '' expertise , and an attack on the very idea that conservatives have any obligation to be responsible members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , right-wing media has conflated selfish behavior with `` freedom , '' encouraging audiences to see any contribution to the collective good as an attack on human freedom , similar to the way liberals and progressives see assaults on reproductive or voting rights .
That 's how universal health care got reframed as an attack on `` freedom of choice , '' for instance .
In reality , universal health care enhances freedom , making it possible for people to make important life decisions about where to work or whether to get married @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health insurance .
But after decades of right-wing propaganda equating any expansion of the public good with a loss of individual freedom , millions of voters were easily panicked at even the slightest moves towards expanding health care access .
This kind of rhetoric is being pushed by a wealthy conservative elite whose main goal is avoiding taxes and enforcing inequality , but the result is that any kind of civic responsibility is swiftly reframed as an attack on `` freedom , '' no matter how nonsensical that may be .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue of mask mandates .
By any sensible measure , being expected to wear a mask in public is no more burdensome than being expected to wear pants — arguably , mask mandates are even more reasonable , since there 's a direct public health benefit .
But precisely because the American right has absorbed the notion that any responsibility towards others is necessarily an attack on individual freedom , mask mandates are treated as a gross infringement on liberty , while no one seriously objects to shirt-and-shoes requirements in public or commercial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your neighbor necessarily comes at great personal cost to yourself suits the wealthy interests of Republican leaders , because it justifies their opposition to taxes and regulation .
But for everyone else , the losses are immense .
The COVID-19 death toll is rapidly approaching 300,000 people , and soon there will be 15 million confirmed cases .
The national failure to take the virus seriously has also undermined political support for more robust government relief , which means that countless more businesses will close and millions of jobs will be lost .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is an illusion .
If anything , people are far less free .
If the pandemic had been more reasonably contained , it 's easy to imagine a situation where lockdowns gradually lighten up as the vaccine starts to be distributed .
As things stand , the safe bet is that most of us will be stuck at home until next summer — at the earliest — because the virus is so rampant that anything short of herd-immunity levels of vaccination will make it unsafe to resume anything like `` normal '' activity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is failing , but this will be his lasting legacy : Cementing the idea that childish and selfish behavior is somehow a sign of `` freedom . ''
The last remaining threads of conservatism as an ideology of `` personal responsibility '' are gone .
Now the stance of the ordinary right-winger is that social responsibility , in and of itself , is a dreadful imposition that must be shunned .
`` Triggering '' liberals is the only value left standing , and it remains the top priority even in the face of @ @ @ @ @

Donald Trump encouraged coronavirus denialism for months for one simple reason: He thought it would help him win re-election. Ever the believer that appearances matter more than reality, Trump felt that as long as people acted like there was no pandemic — by refusing wearing masks and continuing to crowd into public places, especially his rallies — that was as good as there being no pandemic. The mounting death toll and hurricane-like effects on our health care system didn't matter to him, as long as he could pretend everything was doing well and take credit for it.
That was why I held out hope, in the days after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, that Republicans would finally drop the act and start taking the pandemic seriously. After all, as Heather Digby Parton argued Monday morning at Salon, conservatives have a remarkable ability to discard their current enthusiasms the second they lose political value, and pretend that particular lunacy never happened. (You'd never know from its current behavior how gung-ho the American right was for the Iraq war 15 years ago.) It seemed entirely possible that in the face of rising case counts and Trump's defeat, the right would suddenly embrace public health measures and begin casually acting as if coronavirus denialism was never really a thing.
Unfortunately for the health of the nation, the opposite has happened. If anything, coronavirus denialism is as powerful a force as it was a month ago, when the media finally called the election for Biden.
On Saturday, Trump attended a rally in south Georgia, supposedly to support the Senate campaigns of Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. In practice, it was just another opportunity for Trump to whine at length about how he supposedly "won" Georgia (which he didn't) and how Republican state officials had conspiring to steal the election away from him (blatantly false, and also preposterous). The crowd ate these lies up, chanting "fight for Trump!" when Perdue and Loeffler bothered to peek their heads out at what was supposed to be their rally.
Just as alarming as the crowd's hunger to overturn democracy was the unwillingness of most attendees, who were packed shoulder to shoulder, to wear masks. The political usefulness of coronavirus denialism to Trump has ended. But for his avid supporters, continuing to pretend the pandemic isn't a problem — even as well over 1,000 people die every day — has clearly become an entrenched part of the "conservative" identity.
This attitude is reflected on Fox News, where the steady drumbeat of coronavirus denialism has not abated, even though it no longer has any impact on Trump's electoral chances. Over the past week, Fox News hosts have called for a "lockdown rebellion," celebrated businesses that refuse to take safety precautions, continued to bash Dr. Anthony Fauci and hyped snake-oil treatments over scientifically sound prevention techniques like social distancing and mask-wearing.
The situation is similar to the widespread support among conservative pundits and Republican voters for Trump's coup attempt. They know that Trump's chances at succeeding are effectively zero, but they keep on encouraging him anyway, because his rhetoric undermines democracy and sets the stage for future Republican power grabs that may well be more successful.
Clearly, coronavirus denialism has some ideological benefit that people on the right find gratifying, which is why it's continuing even though it no longer offers any political advantage to Trump. It likely serves the same purpose as backing Trump's coup, by providing cover for a direct assault on the concept of the common good, an attack on science and "elite" expertise, and an attack on the very idea that conservatives have any obligation to be responsible members of the American community.
For decades, right-wing media has conflated selfish behavior with "freedom," encouraging audiences to see any contribution to the collective good as an attack on human freedom, similar to the way liberals and progressives see assaults on reproductive or voting rights.
That's how universal health care got reframed as an attack on "freedom of choice," for instance. In reality, universal health care enhances freedom, making it possible for people to make important life decisions about where to work or whether to get married without being hamstrung by fear of losing health insurance. But after decades of right-wing propaganda equating any expansion of the public good with a loss of individual freedom, millions of voters were easily panicked at even the slightest moves towards expanding health care access.
This kind of rhetoric is being pushed by a wealthy conservative elite whose main goal is avoiding taxes and enforcing inequality, but the result is that any kind of civic responsibility is swiftly reframed as an attack on "freedom," no matter how nonsensical that may be.
This is most evident when it comes to the issue of mask mandates. By any sensible measure, being expected to wear a mask in public is no more burdensome than being expected to wear pants — arguably, mask mandates are even more reasonable, since there's a direct public health benefit. But precisely because the American right has absorbed the notion that any responsibility towards others is necessarily an attack on individual freedom, mask mandates are treated as a gross infringement on liberty, while no one seriously objects to shirt-and-shoes requirements in public or commercial spaces.
This knee-jerk assumption that helping your neighbor necessarily comes at great personal cost to yourself suits the wealthy interests of Republican leaders, because it justifies their opposition to taxes and regulation. But for everyone else, the losses are immense. The COVID-19 death toll is rapidly approaching 300,000 people, and soon there will be 15 million confirmed cases. The national failure to take the virus seriously has also undermined political support for more robust government relief, which means that countless more businesses will close and millions of jobs will be lost.
The "freedom" that was preserved is an illusion. If anything, people are far less free. If the pandemic had been more reasonably contained, it's easy to imagine a situation where lockdowns gradually lighten up as the vaccine starts to be distributed. As things stand, the safe bet is that most of us will be stuck at home until next summer — at the earliest — because the virus is so rampant that anything short of herd-immunity levels of vaccination will make it unsafe to resume anything like "normal" activity.
Trump's current coup against democracy is failing, but this will be his lasting legacy: Cementing the idea that childish and selfish behavior is somehow a sign of "freedom." The last remaining threads of conservatism as an ideology of "personal responsibility" are gone. Now the stance of the ordinary right-winger is that social responsibility, in and of itself, is a dreadful imposition that must be shunned. "Triggering" liberals is the only value left standing, and it remains the top priority even in the face of mass illness and death.


alternet--2020-12-07--Michigan judge slaps down Sidney Powell’s lawsuit to overturn Biden’s victory: ‘The people have spok

Michigan judge slaps down Sidney Powell’s lawsuit to overturn Biden’s victory: ‘The people have spoken’

Sidney Powell 's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election have been so beyond the pale that even President Donald Trump 's legal team has distanced itself from her .
And another one of Powell 's lawsuits just ran into a brick wall — this time , in Michigan , where she received a stern rebuke from U.S. District Judge Linda Parker .
Parker clearly did n't buy into Powell 's claim that Trump , not President-elect Joe Biden , is the real winner in Michigan .
The judge , responding to a lawsuit that Powell filed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote , `` Plaintiffs ask this court to ignore the orderly statutory scheme established to challenge elections and to ignore the will of millions of voters .
This , the court can not , and will not , do .
The people have spoken . ''
Reporter Adam Klasfeld , in Law & Crime , describes Parker 's ruling as a `` complete evisceration '' of the lawsuit — which Powell and Wood filed in the name of six Michigan residents .
Wood was hoping for an injunction that would decertify the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ totally hostile to the idea .
The judge , in a 36-page opinion , wrote , `` The right to vote is among the most sacred rights of our democracy and , in turn , uniquely defines us as Americans .
The struggle to achieve the right to vote is one that has been both hard fought and cherished throughout our country 's history .
Local , state , and federal elections give voice to this right through the ballot .
And elections that count each vote celebrate and secure this cherished right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claiming , without evidence , that Trump was the victim of widespread voter fraud in Michigan , Georgia and other battleground states that Biden won .
Wood has even called for Trump to declare martial law because of that nonexistent fraud .
But Parker wrote that the lawsuit presented no concrete evidence of the type of widespread voter fraud the lawsuit was alleging .
According to Parker , `` With nothing but speculation and conjecture that votes for President Trump were destroyed , discarded or switched to votes for Vice President Biden , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Powell has also been claiming , without evidence , that Dominion Voting Systems helped swing the 2020 election in Biden 's favor — arguing that Dominion 's voting software was used to help leftist President Hugo Chavez ( who died of cancer in 2013 ) steal elections in Venezuela .
But Dominion , in an official statement , responded that its equipment has never even been used in that South American country .
Dominion stated , `` Dominion has no ties to the Venezuelan government , nor any other foreign government , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never participated in any elections in Venezuela and has no connection or relationship with the now deceased former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez .
Other companies have serviced elections in Venezuela , but Dominion is not one of them . ''
David Fink , an attorney for the City of Detroit , is happy with Parker 's ruling and believes that sanctions against Powell would be appropriate .
Fink told Law & Crime , `` It 's a good day for democracy , not such a good day for frivolous Republican lawsuits .
Once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ count based upon groundless conspiracy theories has been rejected in court .
Every judge who has reviewed these claims brought by Donald Trump and his allies has found them for what they are : frivolous lawsuits intended to undermine faith in our democracy .
It 's time for the purveyors of these dangerous lies to be sanctioned by the courts . ''

Sidney Powell's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election have been so beyond the pale that even President Donald Trump's legal team has distanced itself from her. And another one of Powell's lawsuits just ran into a brick wall — this time, in Michigan, where she received a stern rebuke from U.S. District Judge Linda Parker.
Parker clearly didn't buy into Powell's claim that Trump, not President-elect Joe Biden, is the real winner in Michigan. The judge, responding to a lawsuit that Powell filed with fellow pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood, wrote, "Plaintiffs ask this court to ignore the orderly statutory scheme established to challenge elections and to ignore the will of millions of voters. This, the court cannot, and will not, do. The people have spoken."
Reporter Adam Klasfeld, in Law & Crime, describes Parker's ruling as a "complete evisceration" of the lawsuit — which Powell and Wood filed in the name of six Michigan residents. Wood was hoping for an injunction that would decertify the election results in Michigan, and Parker was totally hostile to the idea.
The judge, in a 36-page opinion, wrote, "The right to vote is among the most sacred rights of our democracy and, in turn, uniquely defines us as Americans. The struggle to achieve the right to vote is one that has been both hard fought and cherished throughout our country's history. Local, state, and federal elections give voice to this right through the ballot. And elections that count each vote celebrate and secure this cherished right."
Powell and Wood have been claiming, without evidence, that Trump was the victim of widespread voter fraud in Michigan, Georgia and other battleground states that Biden won. Wood has even called for Trump to declare martial law because of that nonexistent fraud. But Parker wrote that the lawsuit presented no concrete evidence of the type of widespread voter fraud the lawsuit was alleging.
According to Parker, "With nothing but speculation and conjecture that votes for President Trump were destroyed, discarded or switched to votes for Vice President Biden, plaintiffs' equal protection claim fails."
Powell has also been claiming, without evidence, that Dominion Voting Systems helped swing the 2020 election in Biden's favor — arguing that Dominion's voting software was used to help leftist President Hugo Chavez (who died of cancer in 2013) steal elections in Venezuela. But Dominion, in an official statement, responded that its equipment has never even been used in that South American country.
Dominion stated, "Dominion has no ties to the Venezuelan government, nor any other foreign government, including China and Iran. Dominion has never participated in any elections in Venezuela and has no connection or relationship with the now deceased former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Other companies have serviced elections in Venezuela, but Dominion is not one of them."
David Fink, an attorney for the City of Detroit, is happy with Parker's ruling and believes that sanctions against Powell would be appropriate.
Fink told Law & Crime, "It's a good day for democracy, not such a good day for frivolous Republican lawsuits. Once again, a challenge to our vote count based upon groundless conspiracy theories has been rejected in court. Every judge who has reviewed these claims brought by Donald Trump and his allies has found them for what they are: frivolous lawsuits intended to undermine faith in our democracy. It's time for the purveyors of these dangerous lies to be sanctioned by the courts."


alternet--2020-12-07--Karen Pence’s anti-LGBTQ school got $725,000 in COVID bailout funds

The Immanuel Christian private school in Springfield , Virginia bans LGBTQ teachers and students because `` homosexual acts and lifestyles @ @ @ @ @ in the sight of God '' , at least , according to its employment application @ @ @ @ @ got $ 725,000 in bail-out funds from the federal Paycheck Protection Program ( PPP ) @ @ @ @ @ designed to help keep businesses afloat during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic .
Karen Pence , @ @ @ @ @ Mike Pence teaches at the school .
`` It is shameful that an institution that @ @ @ @ @ nearly $ 1 million in taxpayer funds , '' Kyle Herrig , president of government @ @ @ @ @ in a statement to The Washington Blade .
`` This money was meant to help @ @ @ @ @ meet payroll and keep the lights on — instead the wealthy and well-connected cashed in @ @ @ @ @ does n't prohibit anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the distribution of PPP funds , the publication adds @ @ @ @ @ likeTitle VII and Title IX requiring equal opportunities regardless of gender in schools .

The Immanuel Christian private school in Springfield, Virginia bans LGBTQ teachers and students because "homosexual acts and lifestyles are clearly perversions and reprehensible in the sight of God", at least, according to its employment application.
Unfortunately, the school got $725,000 in bail-out funds from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a financial stimulus program designed to help keep businesses afloat during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Karen Pence, the wife of Vice President Mike Pence teaches at the school.
"It is shameful that an institution that discriminates against LGBT Americans received nearly $1 million in taxpayer funds," Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement to The Washington Blade. "This money was meant to help mom and pop small businesses meet payroll and keep the lights on — instead the wealthy and well-connected cashed in."
Current federal law doesn't prohibit anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the distribution of PPP funds, the publication adds, even with federal laws likeTitle VII and Title IX requiring equal opportunities regardless of gender in schools.


alternet--2020-12-07--Wall Street to begin betting on water scarcity: 'The future we are looking at'

Though the international community recognizes water access as an essential human right , hedge fund managers and public water agencies are poised to begin profiting off water scarcity , which experts say will worsen in the coming years in the U.S. as well as other countries .
As Bloomberg reported late Sunday , water will be treated as a commodity and traded on Wall Street for the first time starting this week , with market participants able to bet on or against potential water scarcity .
The Chicago-based global markets company CME Group first announced in September—as wildfires linked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ West Coast—that it would soon offer contracts within California 's $ 1.1 billion spot water market .
`` Climate change , droughts , population growth , and pollution are likely to make water scarcity issues and pricing a hot topic for years to come , '' RBC Capital Markets managing director and analyst Deane Dray told Bloomberg Sunday .
Progressives , climate action campaigners , and rights advocates expressed shock Monday that traders are poised to treat water scarcity—which plagues two billion people around the world and is expected to affect two-thirds of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an opportunity to profit .
`` If we do nothing about the climate crisis and if we do nothing about our system , which fuels extreme inequality , this is a small indicator of our very dark destiny , '' tweeted former New York congressional candidate Lindsey Boylan .
`` What could possibly go wrong ? ''
tweeted environmental lawyer Scott Hecht sarcastically , adding that the U.N. officially recognized the human right to water in 2010 .
In the water market , based on the Nasdaq Veles California Water Index , market @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contracts through 2022 , betting on the prices of 10 acre-feet of water , equal to about 3.26 million gallons .
CME Group told Bloomberg that agriculture producers , public water agencies and utilities , and Wall Street investors have discussed participating in the market .
Human rights non-profit Dig Deep and the U.S. Water Alliance released a study last year showing that more than two million people in the U.S. lack access to running water .
Even in the wealthiest country on the planet , the share of households that will face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 36 % from 12 % over the next five years , according to a 2017 analysis published in the journal PLOS One , due to an `` increasing strain on water prices '' brought on by the climate crisis , water quality , and other factors .
Indigenous rights defender and journalist Ruth H. Hopkins tweeted that in addition to rising global temperatures and the prevalence of drought—which affected nearly half of the continental U.S. this fall , in the most widespread drought the country has seen since 2013—water supply is negatively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue to poison it . ''
`` If nothing else does it , this should make you passionate about climate change , '' author and former Democratic presidential primary candidate Marianne Williamson tweeted .

Though the international community recognizes water access as an essential human right, hedge fund managers and public water agencies are poised to begin profiting off water scarcity, which experts say will worsen in the coming years in the U.S. as well as other countries.
As Bloomberg reported late Sunday, water will be treated as a commodity and traded on Wall Street for the first time starting this week, with market participants able to bet on or against potential water scarcity.
The Chicago-based global markets company CME Group first announced in September—as wildfires linked to higher temperatures and drought raged across the West Coast—that it would soon offer contracts within California's $1.1 billion spot water market.
"Climate change, droughts, population growth, and pollution are likely to make water scarcity issues and pricing a hot topic for years to come," RBC Capital Markets managing director and analyst Deane Dray toldBloomberg Sunday.
Progressives, climate action campaigners, and rights advocates expressed shock Monday that traders are poised to treat water scarcity—which plagues two billion people around the world and is expected to affect two-thirds of the population in the next four years—as an opportunity to profit.
"If we do nothing about the climate crisis and if we do nothing about our system, which fuels extreme inequality, this is a small indicator of our very dark destiny," tweeted former New York congressional candidate Lindsey Boylan.
"What could possibly go wrong?" tweeted environmental lawyer Scott Hecht sarcastically, adding that the U.N. officially recognized the human right to water in 2010.
In the water market, based on the Nasdaq Veles California Water Index, market participants will be able to claim quarterly contracts through 2022, betting on the prices of 10 acre-feet of water, equal to about 3.26 million gallons.
CME Group told Bloomberg that agriculture producers, public water agencies and utilities, and Wall Street investors have discussed participating in the market.
Human rights non-profit Dig Deep and the U.S. Water Alliance released a study last year showing that more than two million people in the U.S. lack access to running water. Even in the wealthiest country on the planet, the share of households that will face unaffordable water bills is expected to skyrocket to 36% from 12% over the next five years, according to a 2017 analysis published in the journal PLOS One, due to an "increasing strain on water prices" brought on by the climate crisis, water quality, and other factors.
Indigenous rights defender and journalist Ruth H. Hopkins tweeted that in addition to rising global temperatures and the prevalence of drought—which affected nearly half of the continental U.S. this fall, in the most widespread drought the country has seen since 2013—water supply is negatively affected by fossil fuel projects which "continue to poison it."
"If nothing else does it, this should make you passionate about climate change," author and former Democratic presidential primary candidate Marianne Williamson tweeted.


alternet--2020-12-07--GOP congressman’s plan to challenge the Electoral College hits a major snag — thanks to Senate Repub

GOP congressman’s plan to challenge the Electoral College hits a major snag — thanks to Senate Republicans

At the end of last month , Rep. Mo Brooks ( R-AL ) announced he would be pushing for Congress to reject the results of the Electoral College vote — and called on his colleagues to join him .
According to the Alabama Political Reporter , Brooks is citing an 1880 law that would allow a joint session of Congress to deny certification : `` The joint session to certify the results would then be suspended and each House would go back into their own session to debate and vote on the objection .
In theory , the election would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Representatives on a state-by-state basis with Alaska and Wyoming each having one vote just like the much more populous California and Texas . ''
But , said the report , there is a huge obstacle that could stop Brooks ' plan before it even begins : `` To advance , such a plan requires a member of both chambers .
To this point , GOP senators have been dismissive of Brooks 's plan . ''
Sen. John Cornyn ( R-TX ) , for example , called the certification vote a `` formality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to respect the judgment of the American people , the voters . ''
And Sen. Mike Braun ( R-IN ) said `` if there 's not enough other stuff in place I doubt that would be a maneuver that would seem to work . ''
Even Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama , a fellow member of Brooks ' congressional delegation , has n't voiced support for the idea .
`` Brooks has accused Democrats of election fraud and more recently has accused undocumented immigrants and other non-citizens of voting , '' said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no evidence that undocumented immigrants voted in the election , nor is there evidence of widespread voter fraud or other types of voting irregularities that could have impacted the results of the election in any state . ''

At the end of last month, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) announced he would be pushing for Congress to reject the results of the Electoral College vote — and called on his colleagues to join him.
According to the Alabama Political Reporter, Brooks is citing an 1880 law that would allow a joint session of Congress to deny certification: "The joint session to certify the results would then be suspended and each House would go back into their own session to debate and vote on the objection. In theory, the election would then be voted on in the House of Representatives on a state-by-state basis with Alaska and Wyoming each having one vote just like the much more populous California and Texas."
But, said the report, there is a huge obstacle that could stop Brooks' plan before it even begins: "To advance, such a plan requires a member of both chambers. To this point, GOP senators have been dismissive of Brooks's plan."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), for example, called the certification vote a "formality" and added, "we have to respect the judgment of the American people, the voters." And Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) said "if there's not enough other stuff in place I doubt that would be a maneuver that would seem to work." Even Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, a fellow member of Brooks' congressional delegation, hasn't voiced support for the idea.
"Brooks has accused Democrats of election fraud and more recently has accused undocumented immigrants and other non-citizens of voting," said the report. However, "There is no evidence that undocumented immigrants voted in the election, nor is there evidence of widespread voter fraud or other types of voting irregularities that could have impacted the results of the election in any state."


alternet--2020-12-07--Trump's attorney general mulling his 'you can't fire me, I quit' moment — but the damage is already

Trump's attorney general mulling his 'you can't fire me, I quit' moment — but the damage is already done

William Barr may stop being attorney general before the end of Donald Trump 's time in the White House , but will it be because he quit or was fired ?
Days after it was reported that Trump may fire Barr , new reports have Barr considering quitting .
Anonymous sources tell both The New York Times and The Washington Post that Barr was totally , absolutely , thinking about quitting before the reports that he might be fired .
But even if this is n't a case of `` You ca n't fire me because I quit , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sinking ship .
As long as Trump was in a position for Barr to advance an agenda of unchecked executive power , firing squads , white supremacy , and attempting to crush U.S. cities under federal power , Barr was on board—he reportedly told people that he would like to stay on into a second Trump term if Trump had won .
But now , be it the impending humiliation of being fired or the impending loss of power anyway , he 's ready to go .
One key question about Barr is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He came into the job hailed as a guy who was going to be sober , respectable , and serious , a counterweight to Trump .
He 's been anything but—a brazenly dishonest figure abusing power in lockstep with Trump .
At 70 years old , it 's unlikely he thinks he 's going to hang on to become attorney general in a third administration , but he could still be a prominent figure in the conservative legal world , the Republican Party , and the media .
The question is which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which part of the Republican Party , and which part of the media .
Does Barr want to resume being an establishment guy , quoted approvingly in media not owned by Rupert Murdoch and those to his right ?
Or does he want to stay full Trump ?
Either way , the man who 's presided over a federal capital punishment killing spree and sent unmarked federal militias to kidnap people off the street in U.S. cities can not be gone soon enough .
Here 's hoping he and Trump trade blows on @ @ @ @

William Barr may stop being attorney general before the end of Donald Trump's time in the White House, but will it be because he quit or was fired? Days after it was reported that Trump may fire Barr, new reports have Barr considering quitting.
Anonymous sources tell both The New York Times and The Washington Post that Barr was totally, absolutely, thinking about quitting before the reports that he might be fired. But even if this isn't a case of "You can't fire me because I quit," it's definitely a rat deserting the sinking ship. As long as Trump was in a position for Barr to advance an agenda of unchecked executive power, firing squads, white supremacy, and attempting to crush U.S. cities under federal power, Barr was on board—he reportedly told people that he would like to stay on into a second Trump term if Trump had won. But now, be it the impending humiliation of being fired or the impending loss of power anyway, he's ready to go.
One key question about Barr is whether he hopes to rehabilitate his reputation. He came into the job hailed as a guy who was going to be sober, respectable, and serious, a counterweight to Trump. He's been anything but—a brazenly dishonest figure abusing power in lockstep with Trump. At 70 years old, it's unlikely he thinks he's going to hang on to become attorney general in a third administration, but he could still be a prominent figure in the conservative legal world, the Republican Party, and the media.
The question is which part of the conservative legal world, which part of the Republican Party, and which part of the media. Does Barr want to resume being an establishment guy, quoted approvingly in media not owned by Rupert Murdoch and those to his right? Or does he want to stay full Trump?
Either way, the man who's presided over a federal capital punishment killing spree and sent unmarked federal militias to kidnap people off the street in U.S. cities cannot be gone soon enough. Here's hoping he and Trump trade blows on the way out.


alternet--2020-12-07--Gov. Kemp and Lt. Gov. Duncan block request for pro-Trump Republicans to select their own electors i

Gov. Kemp and Lt. Gov. Duncan block request for pro-Trump Republicans to select their own electors in Georgia

Although Georgia Gov .
Brian Kemp has been a major ally of President Donald Trump , members of Trump 's legal team have grown disenchanted with the far-right Republican for not helping them overturn the election results in his state — which President-elect Joe Biden narrowly won in the 2020 presidential election .
And now , Kemp and Lt. Gov .
Geoff Duncan are blocking a request from pro-Trump Republicans who are asking for their own set of electors in Georgia .
Biden won Georgia 's 16 electoral votes , but some Trump supporters in Georgia believe that they should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who would give those electoral votes to Trump even though Biden is the winner .
It 's a blatant power grab , and four state senators in Georgia requested a special session for selecting their own electors .
But Kemp and Duncan , according to WTOC-TV ( the CBS affiliate in Savannah , Georgia ) , are denying that request .
In an official statement , Kemp and Duncan said , `` The ( Georgia ) General Assembly decided that Georgia 's presidential electors will be determined by the winner of the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the legislature to retroactively change that process for the November 3 election would be unconstitutional and immediately enjoined by the courts . ''
The 2020 presidential election has been followed by a great deal of infighting among Republicans in Georgia .
Trump has been claiming , without evidence , that he was the victim of widespread voter fraud in Georgia .
But Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger , a conservative Republican , has maintained that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the Peach State and that Biden won Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and the Georgia Republicans who have been calling for Raffensperger to resign include Rep. Doug Collins , State David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler .
Trump described Raffensperger as `` an enemy of the people . ''

Although Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has been a major ally of President Donald Trump, members of Trump's legal team have grown disenchanted with the far-right Republican for not helping them overturn the election results in his state — which President-elect Joe Biden narrowly won in the 2020 presidential election. And now, Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan are blocking a request from pro-Trump Republicans who are asking for their own set of electors in Georgia.
Biden won Georgia's 16 electoral votes, but some Trump supporters in Georgia believe that they should have their own set of electors — who would give those electoral votes to Trump even though Biden is the winner. It's a blatant power grab, and four state senators in Georgia requested a special session for selecting their own electors. But Kemp and Duncan, according to WTOC-TV (the CBS affiliate in Savannah, Georgia), are denying that request.
In an official statement, Kemp and Duncan said, "The (Georgia) General Assembly decided that Georgia's presidential electors will be determined by the winner of the state's popular vote. Any attempt by the legislature to retroactively change that process for the November 3 election would be unconstitutional and immediately enjoined by the courts."
The 2020 presidential election has been followed by a great deal of infighting among Republicans in Georgia. Trump has been claiming, without evidence, that he was the victim of widespread voter fraud in Georgia. But Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a conservative Republican, has maintained that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the Peach State and that Biden won Georgia's 16 electoral votes fair and square — and the Georgia Republicans who have been calling for Raffensperger to resign include Rep. Doug Collins, State David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Trump described Raffensperger as "an enemy of the people."


alternet--2020-12-07--The liberal class's Faustian bargain: Profit from the ravages of neoliberalism while we descend into

The liberal class's Faustian bargain: Profit from the ravages of neoliberalism while we descend into Christianized fascism

Liberals who express dismay , or more bizarrely a fevered hope , about the corporatists and imperialists selected to fill the positions in the Biden administration are the court jesters of our political burlesque .
They long ago sold their soul and abandoned their most basic principles to line up behind a bankrupt Democratic Party .
They chant , with every election cycle , the mantra of the least worst and sit placidly on the sidelines as a Bill Clinton or a Barack Obama and the Democratic Party leadership betray every issue they claim to support .
The only thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race , once again , was removing a Republican , this time Donald Trump , from office .
This , the liberals achieved .
But their Faustian bargain , in election after election , has shredded their credibility .
They are ridiculed , not only among right-wing Trump supporters but by the hierarchy of the Democratic Party that has been captured by corporate power .
No one can , or should , take liberals seriously .
They stand for nothing .
They fight for nothing .
The cost is too onerous .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always do , chatter endlessly about political and moral positions they refuse to make any sacrifices to achieve .
Liberals , largely comprised of the professional managerial-class that dutifully recycles and shops for organic produce and is concentrated on the two coasts , have profited from the ravages of neoliberalism .
They seek to endow it with a patina of civility .
But their routine and public humiliation has ominous consequences .
It not only exposes the liberal class as hollow and empty , it discredits the liberal democratic values they claim to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic Party when Bill Clinton and political hacks such as Biden transformed the Democratic Party into the Republican Party and launched a war on traditional liberal values and left-wing populism .
They should have defected by the millions to support Ralph Nader and other Green Party candidates .
This defection , as Nader understood , was the only tactic that could force the Democrats to adopt parts of a liberal and left-wing agenda and save us from the slow-motion corporate coup d'état .
Fear is the real force behind political change , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this pressure , this fear , especially with labor unions destroyed , there is no hope .
Now we will reap the consequences of the liberal class 's moral and political cowardice .
The Democratic Party elites revel in taunting liberals as well as the left-wing populists who preach class warfare and supported Bernie Sanders .
How are we supposed to interpret the appointment of Antony Blinken , one of the architects of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and supporter of the apartheid state of Israel , as Secretary of State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the massive expansion of domestic oil and gas production , largely through fracking , and , according to Barack Obama 's memoir , worked doggedly to convince those concerned about the climate crisis to `` offer up concessions on subsidies for the nuclear power industry and the opening of additional U.S. coastlines to offshore oil drilling '' as the new climate policy czar ?
Or Brian Deese , the executive who was in charge of the `` climate portfolio '' at BlackRock , which invests heavily in fossil fuels , including coal , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic adviser who advocated austerity measures , to run the White House 's economic policy ?
Or Neera Tanden , for director of the Office of Management and Budget , who as president of the Center for American Progress raised millions in dark money from Silicon Valley and Wall Street while relentlessly ridiculing Bernie Sanders and his supporters on cable news and social media and who proposed a plank in the Democratic platform calling for bombing Iran ?
The Biden administration resembles the ineffectual German government formed by Franz von Papen in 1932 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a utopian conservatism that ensured Germany 's drift into fascism .
Biden , bereft like von Papen of new ideas and programs , will eventually be forced to employ the brutal tools Biden as a senator was so prominent in creating to maintain social control – wholesale surveillance , a corrupt judicial system , the world 's largest prison system and police that have been transformed into lethal paramilitary units of internal occupation .
Those that resist as social unrest mounts will be attacked as agents of a foreign power and censored @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including through algorithms and deplatforming on social media .
The most ardent and successful dissidents , such as Julian Assange , will be criminalized .
The shock troops of the state , already ideologically bonded with the neofascists on the right , will hunt down and wipe out an enfeebled and often phantom left , as we saw in the chilling state assassination by U.S .
Marshals of the antifa activist Michael Reinoehl , who was unarmed and standing outside an apartment complex in Lacey , Washington , in September when he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this kind of routine state terror during the war in El Salvador .
Reinoehl allegedly killed Aaron Danielson , a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer during a pro-Trump rally in Portland , Oregon in August .
Compare the gunning down of Reinoehl by federal agents to the coddling of Kyle Rittenhouse , the 17-year-old accused of killing two protesters and injuring a third on August 25 in Kenosha , Wisconsin .
Police officers , moments before the shooting , are seen on video thanking Rittenhouse and other armed right-wing militia member @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them bottles of water .
Rittenhouse is also seen in a video walking toward police with his hands up after his shooting spree as protesters yell that he had shot several people .
Police , nevertheless , allow him to leave .
Rittenhouse 's killings have been defended by the right , including Trump .
Rittenhouse , who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for his legal fees , has been released on $ 2 million bail .
We stand on the cusp of a frightening authoritarianism .
Social unrest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the climate crisis , the siphoning off of diminishing resources to the bloated war machine , political stagnation and the failure to contain the pandemic and its economic fallout , is almost certain .
Absent a left-wing populism , a disenfranchised working class will line up , as it did with Trump , behind its counterfeit , a right-wing populism .
The liberal elites will , if history is any guide , justify state repression as a response to social chaos in the name of law and order .
That they , too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the corporate state 's long list of groups to be neutralized will become evident to them when it is too late .
It was Friedrich Ebert and the Social Democratic Party of Germany , siding with the conservatives and nationalists , that created the Freikorps , private paramilitary groups composed of demobilized soldiers and malcontents .
The Freikorps ruthlessly crushed left-wing uprisings in Berlin , Bremen , Brunswick , Hamburg , Halle , Leipzig , Silesia , Thuringia and the Ruhr .
When the Freikorps was not gunning down left-wing populists in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assassinations , including the murder of Walther Rathenau , the foreign minister , it was terrorizing civilians , looting and pillaging .
The Freikorps became the antecedent of the Nazi Brownshirts , led by Ernst Röhm , a former Freikorps commander .
All the pieces are in place for our own descent into what I suspect will be a militarized Christianized fascism .
Political dysfunction , a bankrupt and discredited liberal class , massive and growing social inequality , a grotesquely rich and tone-deaf oligarchic elite , the fragmentation of the public into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hunger , chronic underemployment and unemployment and misery , all exacerbated by the failure of the state to cope with the crisis of the pandemic , combine with the rot of civil and political life to create a familiar cocktail leading to authoritarianism and fascism .
Trump and the Republican Party , along with the shrill incendiary voices on right-wing media , play the role the antisemitic parties played in Europe during the late 19th and early 20th century .
The infusion of anti-Semitism into the political debate in Europe destroyed the political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintaining a democracy .
Racist tropes and hate speech , as in Weimar Germany , now poison our political discourse .
Ridicule and cruel taunts are hurled back and forth .
Lies are interchangeable with fact .
Those who oppose us are demonized as human embodiments of evil .
This poisonous discourse is only going to get worse , especially with millions of Trump supporters convinced the election was rigged and stolen .
The German Social Democrat Kurt Schumacher in the 1930s said that fascism `` is a constant appeal to the inner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by `` mobilizing human stupidity . ''
This mobilized stupidity , accompanied by what Rainer Maria Rilke called `` the evil effluvium from the human swamp , '' is being amplified and intensified in the siloed media chambers of the right .
This hate-filled rhetoric eschews reality to cater to the desperate desire for emotional catharsis , for renewed glory and prosperity and for acts of savage vengeance against the phantom enemies blamed for our national debacle .
The constant barrage of vitriol and fabulist conspiracy theories will , I fear , embolden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only of mainstream Democrats , Republicans Trump has accused of betrayal such as Georgia governor Brian Kemp and those targeted as part of the deep state , but also those at media outlets such as CNN or The New York Times that serve as propaganda arms of the Democratic Party .
Once the Pandora 's box of violence is opened it is almost impossible to close .
Martyrs on one side of the divide demand martyrs on the other side .
Violence becomes the primary form of communication .
And , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence and readiness to kill that lies beneath the surface of human nature has been awakened and turned against other humans , and even made into a duty , it is a simple matter to change the target . ''
This , I suspect , is what is coming .
The blame lies not only with the goons and racists on the right , the corporatists who pillage the country and the corrupt ruling elite that does their bidding , but a feckless liberal class that found standing up for its beliefs too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their timidity and cowardice , but so will we .

Liberals who express dismay, or more bizarrely a fevered hope, about the corporatists and imperialists selected to fill the positions in the Biden administration are the court jesters of our political burlesque. They long ago sold their soul and abandoned their most basic principles to line up behind a bankrupt Democratic Party. They chant, with every election cycle, the mantra of the least worst and sit placidly on the sidelines as a Bill Clinton or a Barack Obama and the Democratic Party leadership betray every issue they claim to support.
This article originally appeared on ScheerPost.com.
The only thing that mattered to liberals in the presidential race, once again, was removing a Republican, this time Donald Trump, from office. This, the liberals achieved. But their Faustian bargain, in election after election, has shredded their credibility. They are ridiculed, not only among right-wing Trump supporters but by the hierarchy of the Democratic Party that has been captured by corporate power. No one can, or should, take liberals seriously. They stand for nothing. They fight for nothing. The cost is too onerous. And so, the liberals do what they always do, chatter endlessly about political and moral positions they refuse to make any sacrifices to achieve.
Liberals, largely comprised of the professional managerial-class that dutifully recycles and shops for organic produce and is concentrated on the two coasts, have profited from the ravages of neoliberalism. They seek to endow it with a patina of civility. But their routine and public humiliation has ominous consequences. It not only exposes the liberal class as hollow and empty, it discredits the liberal democratic values they claim to uphold. Liberals should have abandoned the Democratic Party when Bill Clinton and political hacks such as Biden transformed the Democratic Party into the Republican Party and launched a war on traditional liberal values and left-wing populism. They should have defected by the millions to support Ralph Nader and other Green Party candidates.
This defection, as Nader understood, was the only tactic that could force the Democrats to adopt parts of a liberal and left-wing agenda and save us from the slow-motion corporate coup d'état. Fear is the real force behind political change, not oily promises of mutual goodwill. Short of this pressure, this fear, especially with labor unions destroyed, there is no hope. Now we will reap the consequences of the liberal class's moral and political cowardice.
The Democratic Party elites revel in taunting liberals as well as the left-wing populists who preach class warfare and supported Bernie Sanders. How are we supposed to interpret the appointment of Antony Blinken, one of the architects of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and supporter of the apartheid state of Israel, as Secretary of State? Or John Kerry, who championed the massive expansion of domestic oil and gas production, largely through fracking, and, according to Barack Obama's memoir, worked doggedly to convince those concerned about the climate crisis to "offer up concessions on subsidies for the nuclear power industry and the opening of additional U.S. coastlines to offshore oil drilling" as the new climate policy czar? Or Brian Deese, the executive who was in charge of the "climate portfolio" at BlackRock, which invests heavily in fossil fuels, including coal, and who served as a former Obama economic adviser who advocated austerity measures, to run the White House's economic policy? Or Neera Tanden, for director of the Office of Management and Budget, who as president of the Center for American Progress raised millions in dark money from Silicon Valley and Wall Street while relentlessly ridiculing Bernie Sanders and his supporters on cable news and social media and who proposed a plank in the Democratic platform calling for bombing Iran?
The Biden administration resembles the ineffectual German government formed by Franz von Papen in 1932 that sought to recreate the ancien régime, a utopian conservatism that ensured Germany's drift into fascism. Biden, bereft like von Papen of new ideas and programs, will eventually be forced to employ the brutal tools Biden as a senator was so prominent in creating to maintain social control – wholesale surveillance, a corrupt judicial system, the world's largest prison system and police that have been transformed into lethal paramilitary units of internal occupation. Those that resist as social unrest mounts will be attacked as agents of a foreign power and censored, as many already are being censored, including through algorithms and deplatforming on social media. The most ardent and successful dissidents, such as Julian Assange, will be criminalized.
The shock troops of the state, already ideologically bonded with the neofascists on the right, will hunt down and wipe out an enfeebled and often phantom left, as we saw in the chilling state assassination by U.S. Marshals of the antifa activist Michael Reinoehl, who was unarmed and standing outside an apartment complex in Lacey, Washington, in September when he was shot multiple times. I witnessed this kind of routine state terror during the war in El Salvador. Reinoehl allegedly killed Aaron Danielson, a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer during a pro-Trump rally in Portland, Oregon in August.
Compare the gunning down of Reinoehl by federal agents to the coddling of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old accused of killing two protesters and injuring a third on August 25 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Police officers, moments before the shooting, are seen on video thanking Rittenhouse and other armed right-wing militia member for coming to the city and handing them bottles of water. Rittenhouse is also seen in a video walking toward police with his hands up after his shooting spree as protesters yell that he had shot several people. Police, nevertheless, allow him to leave. Rittenhouse's killings have been defended by the right, including Trump. Rittenhouse, who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for his legal fees, has been released on $2 million bail.
We stand on the cusp of a frightening authoritarianism. Social unrest, given a continuation of neoliberalism, the climate crisis, the siphoning off of diminishing resources to the bloated war machine, political stagnation and the failure to contain the pandemic and its economic fallout, is almost certain. Absent a left-wing populism, a disenfranchised working class will line up, as it did with Trump, behind its counterfeit, a right-wing populism. The liberal elites will, if history is any guide, justify state repression as a response to social chaos in the name of law and order. That they, too, are on the Christian Right and the corporate state's long list of groups to be neutralized will become evident to them when it is too late.
It was Friedrich Ebert and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, siding with the conservatives and nationalists, that created the Freikorps, private paramilitary groups composed of demobilized soldiers and malcontents. The Freikorps ruthlessly crushed left-wing uprisings in Berlin, Bremen, Brunswick, Hamburg, Halle, Leipzig, Silesia, Thuringia and the Ruhr. When the Freikorps was not gunning down left-wing populists in the streets and carrying out hundreds of political assassinations, including the murder of Walther Rathenau, the foreign minister, it was terrorizing civilians, looting and pillaging. The Freikorps became the antecedent of the Nazi Brownshirts, led by Ernst Röhm, a former Freikorps commander.
All the pieces are in place for our own descent into what I suspect will be a militarized Christianized fascism. Political dysfunction, a bankrupt and discredited liberal class, massive and growing social inequality, a grotesquely rich and tone-deaf oligarchic elite, the fragmentation of the public into warring tribes, widespread food insecurity and hunger, chronic underemployment and unemployment and misery, all exacerbated by the failure of the state to cope with the crisis of the pandemic, combine with the rot of civil and political life to create a familiar cocktail leading to authoritarianism and fascism.
Trump and the Republican Party, along with the shrill incendiary voices on right-wing media, play the role the antisemitic parties played in Europe during the late 19th and early 20th century. The infusion of anti-Semitism into the political debate in Europe destroyed the political decorum and civility that is vital to maintaining a democracy. Racist tropes and hate speech, as in Weimar Germany, now poison our political discourse. Ridicule and cruel taunts are hurled back and forth. Lies are interchangeable with fact. Those who oppose us are demonized as human embodiments of evil.
This poisonous discourse is only going to get worse, especially with millions of Trump supporters convinced the election was rigged and stolen. The German Social Democrat Kurt Schumacher in the 1930s said that fascism "is a constant appeal to the inner swine in human beings" and succeeds by "mobilizing human stupidity." This mobilized stupidity, accompanied by what Rainer Maria Rilke called "the evil effluvium from the human swamp," is being amplified and intensified in the siloed media chambers of the right. This hate-filled rhetoric eschews reality to cater to the desperate desire for emotional catharsis, for renewed glory and prosperity and for acts of savage vengeance against the phantom enemies blamed for our national debacle.
The constant barrage of vitriol and fabulist conspiracy theories will, I fear, embolden extremists to carry out political murder, not only of mainstream Democrats, Republicans Trump has accused of betrayal such as Georgia governor Brian Kemp and those targeted as part of the deep state, but also those at media outlets such as CNN or The New York Times that serve as propaganda arms of the Democratic Party. Once the Pandora's box of violence is opened it is almost impossible to close. Martyrs on one side of the divide demand martyrs on the other side. Violence becomes the primary form of communication. And, as Sabastian Haffner wrote, "once the violence and readiness to kill that lies beneath the surface of human nature has been awakened and turned against other humans, and even made into a duty, it is a simple matter to change the target."
This, I suspect, is what is coming. The blame lies not only with the goons and racists on the right, the corporatists who pillage the country and the corrupt ruling elite that does their bidding, but a feckless liberal class that found standing up for its beliefs too costly. The liberals will pay for their timidity and cowardice, but so will we.


alternet--2020-12-07--‘Absolutely unnecessary’: Jenna Ellis begs Arizona House not to close after Giuliani contracts COVID

Jenna Ellis , an attorney for President Donald Trump 's campaign , complained this week that the Arizona state House is closing for two weeks after Rudy Giuliani met with Republican lawmakers in the state before contracting COVID-19 .
`` Out of an abundance of caution for recent cases and concerns relating to COVID-19 , the House building will be closed for one week , starting Monday , December 7 , '' Arizona House of Representatives Chief of Staff Michael E. Hunter said in a statement .
Last week , Giuliani participated in a meeting with Republican lawmakers in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Few of the participants wore masks at the event .
According to Trump 's legal team , Giuliani `` tested negative twice immediately preceding his trip to Arizona , Michigan , and Georgia . ''
On Sunday , Ellis responded to a tweet that suggested that the Arizona state House had been closed because Speaker Rusty Bowers ( R ) `` needs an excuse to give his angry constituents about why he 's refusing to call a session and examine the fraud in his state . ''
`` Absolutely unnecessary , '' Ellis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AZ and tell him not to use COVID as an EXCUSE !
! ''
Attorneys for the president have encouraged Republican lawmakers to `` take back your power '' and appoint electors who will select Trump as the next president despite the popular vote in the state .

Jenna Ellis, an attorney for President Donald Trump's campaign, complained this week that the Arizona state House is closing for two weeks after Rudy Giuliani met with Republican lawmakers in the state before contracting COVID-19.
"Out of an abundance of caution for recent cases and concerns relating to COVID-19, the House building will be closed for one week, starting Monday, December 7," Arizona House of Representatives Chief of Staff Michael E. Hunter said in a statement.
Last week, Giuliani participated in a meeting with Republican lawmakers in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Few of the participants wore masks at the event.
According to Trump's legal team, Giuliani "tested negative twice immediately preceding his trip to Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia."
On Sunday, Ellis responded to a tweet that suggested that the Arizona state House had been closed because Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) "needs an excuse to give his angry constituents about why he's refusing to call a session and examine the fraud in his state."
"Absolutely unnecessary," Ellis replied. "Call Rusty Bowers in AZ and tell him not to use COVID as an EXCUSE!!"
Attorneys for the president have encouraged Republican lawmakers to "take back your power" and appoint electors who will select Trump as the next president despite the popular vote in the state.


alternet--2020-12-08--Trump is ‘terrified’ of losing power because he’ll lose relevance in American culture: NYT’s Tom Fri

Trump is ‘terrified’ of losing power because he’ll lose relevance in American culture: NYT’s Tom Friedman

Just as the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade was headed before the United States Supreme Court , a new journal of academic philosophy prepared to publish its inaugural issue including an innovative argument from Judith Jarvis Thomson .
That 1971 paper , `` A Defense of Abortion , '' published in Philosophy & Public Affairs , became one of the most influential pieces of contemporary applied ethics , an enduring part of the legacy left behind when she died at 91 on Nov. 20 , 2020 .
`` It has had such an incredible impact on people who have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a professor of philosophy and women 's and gender studies at MIT , where she worked alongside Professor Thomson , told me .
`` Almost anybody who teaches contemporary moral problems or an intro to moral philosophy is likely to teach that paper . ''
The key genius of the paper , one of the sources of its originality and staying power , is that it conceded to the opponents of abortion their strongest premise : that a fetus is a person worthy of full moral concern .
Thomson did n't defend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had serious objections to it — but she wanted to show that even if we believe a fetus has as much a right to live as anyone else , it does n't follow that abortion is impermissible .
To make her case , Thomson spun an elaborate and memorable thought experiment : '' I imagine you would regard this as outrageous , '' she told her readers , counting on the widely shared view that the kidnapped person would not be obligated to give over their body in this way .
The paper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , along with increasingly fanciful examples that illuminate different features of pregnancy and address potential counterarguments , show something perhaps unexpected about our moral intuitions : A right to life is not always the end of an ethical argument .
We are not morally required to forfeit control over our bodies , even if death of another may be the foreseeable result .
Abortion , therefore , may be permissible , even if pro-life arguments about the moral status of the fetus are correct .
It was an impressive argument , and it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` My body , my choice . ''
`` It 's had a huge influence in the field .
No argument about abortion can proceed without taking her arguments really seriously , even if it ends up opposing abortion , '' Kate Manne , a philosophy professor at Cornell University who worked with Thomson while studying at MIT , told me .
Despite its remarkable impact , though , Manne argued the central thesis of `` A Defense of Abortion '' is still underappreciated .
`` I actually think it should have had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
`` We 're still at this annoying dialectical point where the personhood of the fetus is taken establish the impermissibility of abortion in wider culture .
So it 's still a very good thing that Judy 's piece showed that that 's far too quick .
But in a way , I wish it had had more uptake . ''
Thomson 's paper is n't just notable for its influence or the importance of its ideas about morality .
As a piece of philosophy , it 's exceptionally inventive and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The structure of the thought experiment she used did n't need the patient with a kidney ailment be a violinist , as opposed to an unidentified person , but these kinds of details add color and life to what could otherwise be a stark examples .
Her personal humor and charm were reflected in her writing .
`` She 's quite witty about it , '' Manne said of Thomson 's argumentation style .
`` She says if she needed Henry Fonda 's cooling touch upon her fevered brow , it would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in from the West Coast to apply it ' and save her life .
But she is n't owed that by him . ''
Of course , excessively creative thought experiments in an argument have the potential to bog a paper down or complicate an argument unnecessarily , if not deployed right .
But Thomson was a master of the form , using a series of whimsical examples to convince the reader of the plausibility of her view while never abandoning or distracting from the rigor of her argument .
But while it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the paper on abortion did n't define her career .
Within academia , Thomson was n't known solely as a philosopher of applied ethics .
Much of her work focused on foundational issues in philosophy and metaphysics , such as the nature of normativity , moral objectivity , composition , and action .
In its own way , Thomson 's presence in these debates was perhaps as bold and unflinching as her views on abortion .
`` Philosophy is male-dominated , but metaphysics is the most-male dominated , even now , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a period in grad school in the '80s , mainly .
Judy was already producing really stunning work .
And I started my career in analytic metaphysics .
This remains a field where there are not very many women .
And I would look in the bibliographies of the books I was encouraged to read or the articles I was encouraged to read , just looking for any name of a woman .
And there were always only two , pretty much : Ruth Barcan Marcus and Judith Jarvis Thomson . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to debates about the concept of goodness , which she leveraged to make nuanced arguments against one of the most dominant theories in philosophical ethics .
In Thomson 's view , good `` is n't the kind of thing appropriately applied to states of affairs , '' said Haslanger .
Something ca n't merely be good , simpliciter .
It has to be good in some way .
`` So you can have a good toaster , or a good breakfast , or a good person .
But a good state of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have criteria of goodness built into them . ''
This conclusion , she argued , was a big problem for utilitarianism and other consequentialist theories , which hold , more or less , that actions are to be judged by the consequences or states of affairs that they bring about .
For Thomson , this view was n't even really coherent , Haslanger said .
But she could be surprisingly effusive about views she did n't hold .
Once , in a talk of hers I heard addressing another objection to utilitarianism , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the view , arguing that there were many things about the theory to recommend it .
`` Many things , '' she stressed , repeating herself for emphasis .
First and foremost , the best reason to be impressed with utilitarianism was the simplest : `` It 's a theory ! ''
she exclaimed .
Thomson made clear that many of the alternatives to utilitarianism that have been proposed over the years would n't merit this designation .
And for her , utilitarianism 's status as a full-fledged theory was undoubtedly high praise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though , was manifest in another of her philosophical contributions that has reached far beyond the academy and into the popular imagination : Trolley problems .
She actually credited the invention of the problem type to philosopher Philippa Foot , but it was Thomson who clarified and popularized the topic , which has become a sub-field of ethics in its own right known as trolleyology .
In her first paper laying out the problem , she put forward the now-standard formulation : Almost everyone seems to agree that it 's permissible to turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debate breaks out when you ask whether you are morally required to turn the trolley .
But the structure of the case lends itself to endless variation : What if you 're not the driver , but just a bystander able to pull a lever and divert the trolley ?
What if the trolley loops around , such that the crushing of the one person is n't just an alternative to the deaths of the five , but would actually slow the trolley and thus be the means by which the others are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strike us so differently than a case of a surgeon who kills one unsuspecting healthy person to harvest organs that will save the lives of five patients who would otherwise die ?
On an austere consequentialist or utilitarian approach to moral reasoning , all these problems have simple answers : make the choice that results in the most lives saved , that does the most good .
But Thomson reveled in complexities and qualifications of our moral commitments , and she rejected simplistic solutions .
This was n't mere pedantry for its own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the principles that underlie our intuitions in these cases and what they can tell us about morality .
Her work on the topic eventually led her to change her mind about a key part of the problem , which she explained once in a seminar at MIT in 2013 that I was lucky enough to attend .
She argued that a bystander watching the trolley would not be permitted , despite what she had previously believed and argued , to pull a switch to save the five people and kill the one .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
She imagined a new scenario in which the bystander had the opportunity to flip the switch to direct the trolley away from the five people and toward herself .
Were she so noble , she might be willing to make that choice .
But in Thomson 's view , she was n't obligated to make this choice .
In an argumentative move that echoes the insight from `` A Defense of Abortion , '' she posited that morality does n't require us to sacrifice our lives for the lives of five others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she reasoned , then how can the bystander in the original case make the decision for the one person on the track to sacrifice her life for the other five ?
The bystander ca n't justify that choice , in Thomson 's view .
Despite what most people 's intuition tells them , it 's not permissible to flip the switch to kill one and save five from the oncoming trolley .
Her views were n't unforgiving or completely absolutist , though .
If the cost were high enough , you might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Were the trolley carrying a bomb and on a course to destroy New York City , you ought to kill the one person to save the lives of millions .
`` We must save New York ! ''
she said .
One characteristic about Thomson that came through both in her writing and when she spoke was a firm belief that when discussing these kinds of ethical questions , there is a correct answer , even if it 's hard to discern .
In one seminar I attended at MIT , the group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' is objective or subjective .
Does it make sense to think of what we `` ought '' to do in a moral dilemma as reflecting the objective conditions , or our subjective perception of those conditions ?
Debating this question , naturally , brings up more clever thought experiments , some of which seem to suggest that `` ought '' must be interpreted objectively , while others suggest a subjective interpretation of `` ought '' is best .
It seemed to me that the solution is to simply stipulate that sometimes `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sense , and sometimes it is used in an objective sense .
Thomson disagreed .
She believed `` ought '' is objective — end of story .
The clever counterexamples that suggest otherwise were certainly worth considering for her , but they were n't a reason to back down from the idea that there was a definitive answer to the puzzle .
This conviction stood out , especially because it was matched by fierce wit .
`` There was just no one like her , '' said Haslanger .
`` To have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of it , out-arguing others and making her way .
It was really inspiring to me . ''
Thomson 's confidence , fortitude and toughness were undoubtedly necessary for the career she had .
Without this disposition , she may not have lasted in the world of academic philosophy or had such an impact at the time she entered the field .
`` I found it in the eighties and nineties just awful to try to survive in mainstream analytic metaphysics , '' Haslanger explained .
`` It was just grueling .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ahead of me is just mind-boggling .
And she would comment on that now and then .
She was n't someone to complain or make a fuss about things that happened to her along the way .
But you ca n't survive it unless you 're very strong-minded and very determined , and brilliant .
And she was all those things . ''
But if that toughness helped her survive , she did n't feel a need to abandon it once she had reached the pinnacle of her career .
She was known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ papers .
Getting the mechanics of a philosophical paper right — not just the argument , but the structure and the presentation of the ideas , down to the level of the sentence — was a top priority for her .
Manne remembered how Thomson subjected her work as a grad student to exacting standards .
Those lessons stayed with Manne and influence her writing to this day , though she doubted that Thomson would always be satisfied with the results .
`` She brought me into her office , '' Manne recounted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mine , and very plainly said , in a tone that was genuinely warm : 'This paper is terrible ! '
'' Manne added : `` She was incredibly tough , but I always got the sense that she was tough in the service of making people better philosophers .
She was never just mean . ''
For Haslanger , this side of Thomson was an asset .
Haslanger joined the philosophy department faculty at MIT when Thomson was the only other woman .
`` I 'm known for my strong feminist , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often and loudly .
And I came to MIT , and it was the first time in my career where I could be the feminist 'good cop , ' because Judy had spent so many years already being the feminist 'bad cop . '
So we kind of worked together quite well .
And it was such a relief , '' said Haslanger .
`` We definitely worked well together on encouraging people , and insisting , in fact , that people take women seriously . ''
She added : `` She really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of us , who gave us hope and gave us courage to carry on . ''
It 's notable , though , that — with the one clear exception — Thomson 's work itself was n't feminist philosophy .
She generally worked on the traditional types of ethical and metaphysical questions handed down in the canon of philosophy , a canon that was historically fashioned by men .
Questions that male philosophers have tended to ignore , such as those about the nature of gender oppression , say , did n't draw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions about the relationship between the statue and the clay or personal identity over time did .
The exception , of course , is her defense of abortion — what she 's best known for .
`` The fact that she just did what she did was a powerful feminist intervention .
Her being who she was was a feminist intervention .
I do n't think that her work draws on gendered experience , or shows herself to draw on her feminist commitments to intervene in a debate , except for the abortion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whether or not she would have avowed it , I do think there 's something feminist about her tough and unapologetic stance on bodily autonomy being something that is important , and that people have a right to , within limits , '' said Manne .
`` It really is about ways in which we 've perhaps been myopic about the fact that women are entitled to bodily control , even if others depend upon them for their lives , which really is a deeply feminist point . ''

On CNN Monday, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman broke down the reason why outgoing President Donald Trump is "terrified" of losing his office.
"Clearly, President Trump is going to attempt to stay in the headline as much as possible, and whatever network he ends up and doing whatever he's going to do on," said anchor Anderson Cooper. "Obviously Twitter and things like that, and maybe he'll start merchandising stuff and make paid speeches to people who admire him. He's going to do everything he can. Do you think that he'll be able to maintain the sort of grip he has on so many people, or out of office, he'll be like so many people on talk radio?"
"We talked about this once before," said Friedman. "I pointed out that former Secretary of State Jim Baker joked that, how do you know you're out of power in Washington? It's when your limousine is yellow and your driver speaks Farsi. So what will Trump's grip on that be when he's out of power? Trump understands power. He's terrified that the phone calls won't be answered so quickly. Maybe the access to Fox News won't be so great."
"The real culprit here, and the truly shocking thing beyond his behavior, is that at this point in this election and at this point in this pandemic, there are not five or ten Republican senators who just said enough, sorry, this election is over, this pandemic has not even begun to crest, I am not participating in this any longer," added Friedman. "When you think of people who already go to prison to suffer the worst pain in defense of human rights, and these people won't give up their free parking place at National Airport to do the right thing? It is so shameful."
Watch below:


alternet--2020-12-08--A Black man was shot three times for carrying a Subway sandwich outside of his home in Ohio

After a 23-year-old Black man was killed outside of his home in Ohio by a veteran SWAT deputy, local activists are questioning what really happened that led to the incident. The man killed, identified as Casey Goodson Jr., was neither a suspect nor the focus of any investigation, according to Buzzfeed News.
Officers were said to be looking for a suspect nearby when Goodson drove by, said Peter Tobin, the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, on Friday at a press conference. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a statement Sunday that veteran and Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Jason Meade shot Goodson for allegedly waving a gun from his car. However, Goodson's family said that Goodson was shot three times in the back while entering his home carrying a Subway sandwich after returning from a dentist appointment.
Tobin claimed that Goodson was outside of his vehicle when he was approached by deputies, who ordered him to drop the gun. After refusing to drop his weapon, he was shot and taken to Ohio Health Riverside Methodist Hospital where he later died, Tobin said according to USA Today. He added that Goodson was not the suspect the task force was looking for, but the shooting was justified. Tobin's narrative not only failed to mention where Goodson was shot, but left out other details essential to the incident.
The inconsistency in the recollection of events has caused outrage across the country. Activists are demanding the release of body cam footage, police reports, and an investigation into the incident in order to hold officers accountable. While the sheriff's office statement did not clarify whether or not Goodson drew his weapon at officers or was holding one when shot, it was claimed that the weapon was found at the scene, but the statement failed to specify where.
Additionally, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, Marc Gofstein, alleged that officers do not have body cameras, USA Today reported.
"Casey was not a target of that task force and his death is completely unrelated to that investigation," Walton + Brown, the law firm representing the Goodson family, said in a statement Sunday. "While police claim that Casey drove by, waving a gun, and was confronted by the deputy after exiting his vehicle, that narrative leaves out key details that raise cause for extreme concern."
Goodson not only had a clean record but was licensed in Ohio to carry a concealed weapon. Family members shared that Goodson only carried a gun for protection and had not used it for "violence or ignorance."
"At this point, witness testimony and physical evidence raise serious concerns about why Casey was even confronted, let alone why he was shot dead while entering his own home," the law firm said.
Goodson's sister, Sani Payne, told BuzzFeed News that Goodson's grandmother and two children witnessed his death. "They ran in the kitchen to my brother on the floor bleeding," Payne, who wasn't home at the time of the incident, said. Payne added that at the time that her brother was shot, he was carrying a Subway sandwich, his keys, and a mask while opening the door to his home.
"Even hours after his death, the keys that he used to let himself in the house as he was shot and killed hung in the door – a reminder to his family of how close he was to safety," the family's attorneys said in a statement.
Kaylee Harper, Goodson's other sister, created an online fundraiser for his funeral and posted on Facebook to share her thoughts on the incident. "My brother literally walked across the yard, walked into the back fence to get to the side door, had his Subway (sandwich) and (COVID) mask in one hand keys in the other, unlocked and opened the door and stepped in the house before (police shot) him," Harper wrote. "If he was such a threat," she continued, "why did you wait so long to shoot?!"
Activists are not only concerned about the inconsistency the authorities have been prone to in this case, but about the rising number of Black folks killed by the police nationwide. "He had a family ... and was living his life as a person and was shot down by the police," said Aramis Sundiata, executive director of the People's Justice Project.


alternet--2020-12-08--More than 250 scientists and scholars warn of full-fledged 'societal collapse'

More than 250 scientists and scholars from 30 countries have issued an open letter calling on policymakers to "engage more with the growing risk of societal disruption and collapse due to damage to the climate and environment," arguing that only then "might communities and nations begin to prepare and so reduce its likelihood, speed, severity, harm to the most vulnerable, and to nature."
The letter, a version of which appeared in The Guardian Sunday, comes on the heels of a pair of United Nations reports warning of the dire direction in which the planet is headed. As U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres put it: "The state of the planet is broken. Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal."
This weekend, world leaders will hold the Climate Ambition Summit 2020 to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate agreement. After failing in the years since then to cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with that accord, the letter says, "we must now face the consequences."
While "some armed services already see collapse as an important scenario, requiring planning," the letter notes that "the topic is not well reported in the media, and mostly absent from civil society and politics," even though such collapse "is already the experience or memory of many communities in the Global South."
The U.K. arm of Extinction Rebellion shared pieces of the letter on Twitter with photos of climate activists around the world demanding urgent action:
Denouncing media coverage that "typically cites people who condemn discussion of the topic," the letter says that "ill-informed speculations, such as on foreign misinformation campaigns, or impacts on mental health and motivation, will not support serious discussion. Rather, such claims risk betraying the thousands of activists and community leaders whose anticipation of collapse is part of their motivation to push for change on climate, ecology, and social justice."
The letter continues:
People who care about environmental and humanitarian issues should not be discouraged from discussing the risks of societal disruption or collapse. That could risk agendas being driven by people with less commitment to such values.
Some of us believe that a transition to a new form of society may be possible. That will involve bold action to reduce damage to the climate, nature and other people, including preparations for major disruptions to everyday life. We are united in regarding efforts to suppress discussion of collapse as hindering the possibility of that transition.
"We have experienced how emotionally challenging it is to recognize the damage being done, along with the growing threat to our own way of life," the letter concludes. "We also know the great sense of fellowship that can arise. It is time to invite each other into difficult conversations, so we can reduce our complicity in the harm, and be creative to make the best of a turbulent future."
Signatories and supporters of the letter shared it on social media with the hashtag #scholarswarning, offering their summaries of what the letter calls for and detailing why they signed on to it.
"We're saying we must confront the real possibility of climate collapse so that we can do our utmost to avoid it," American climate scientist Peter Kalmus, a signatory to the letter, said in a tweet Sunday. "This is as far from 'doomerism' as you can get."
In a statement, University of Cumbria professor Jem Bendell, another signatory, explained that "we come from dozens of countries and subject disciplines and perceive a resistance by the establishment to serious engagement in adapting to the increasing disruptions to food, water, health, and the economy."
"It is time to listen to the scholarship," Bendell added, "and try to reduce harm from societal disruption and even collapse."