alternet--2020-11-20--Here's how Ivanka Trump reacted to a bombshell report about a criminal investigation involving her

Ivanka Trump echoed her father 's rhetoric on Thursday night after the New York Times broke a new story about the criminal and civil investigations surrounding the family business .
Two separate New York State fraud investigations into President Trump and his businesses , one criminal and one civil , have expanded to include tax write-offs on millions of dollars in consulting fees , some of which appear to have gone to Ivanka Trump , according to people with knowledge of the matter .
`` This is harassment pure and simple , '' Ivanka said in a tweet linking to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by NYC democrats is 100 % motivated by politics , publicity and rage .
They know very well that there 's nothing here and that there was no tax benefit whatsoever .
These politicians are simply ruthless . ''
Dismissing any legitimate legal scrutiny as `` harassment '' is exactly how the president has attacked those who have attempted to hold him accountable , including former Special Counsel Robert Mueller 's office .
But previous reports have found that the family business , the Trump Organization , really has been involved in potentially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have managed to escape serious consequences .
Serious questions have also been raised about the legality of the Trump 's taxes , based on reporting and publicly available information .
It may be that only now , with the family at the center of the U.S. politics and the media scrutinizing their history , that investigators have become bold enough to actually pursue serious charges .
Ivanka Trump 's comments are also highly hypocritical because her father has openly made the case that the Justice Department should pursue charges against his political enemies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to investigate now-President-elect Joe Biden .
And the Mueller Report revealed that he directed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reopen investigations into Hillary Clinton in 2017 , which he did .
The Times reported that the Trump Organization probes have advanced recently .
`` The inquiries — a criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney , Cyrus R. Vance Jr. , and a civil one by the state attorney general , Letitia James — are being conducted independently , '' the report found .
`` But both offices issued subpoenas to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ related to the fees , the people said . ''
Since the Trumps would be aware of such subpoenas , Ivanka 's tweet can be read as confirmation of the report .
The report does also note that there 's `` no indication that his daughter is a focus of either inquiry . ''

Ivanka Trump echoed her father's rhetoric on Thursday night after the New York Times broke a new story about the criminal and civil investigations surrounding the family business.
The Times reported:
Two separate New York State fraud investigations into President Trump and his businesses, one criminal and one civil, have expanded to include tax write-offs on millions of dollars in consulting fees, some of which appear to have gone to Ivanka Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
"This is harassment pure and simple," Ivanka said in a tweet linking to the story. "This 'inquiry' by NYC democrats is 100% motivated by politics, publicity and rage. They know very well that there's nothing here and that there was no tax benefit whatsoever. These politicians are simply ruthless."
Dismissing any legitimate legal scrutiny as "harassment" is exactly how the president has attacked those who have attempted to hold him accountable, including former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office. But previousreports have found that the family business, the Trump Organization, really has been involved in potentially corrupt and illegal behavior, but they have managed to escape serious consequences. Serious questions have also been raised about the legality of the Trump's taxes, based on reporting and publicly available information. It may be that only now, with the family at the center of the U.S. politics and the media scrutinizing their history, that investigators have become bold enough to actually pursue serious charges.
Ivanka Trump's comments are also highly hypocritical because her father has openly made the case that the Justice Department should pursue charges against his political enemies. He was impeached for pressuring Ukraine to investigate now-President-elect Joe Biden. And the Mueller Report revealed that he directed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reopen investigations into Hillary Clinton in 2017, which he did.
The Times reported that the Trump Organization probes have advanced recently.
"The inquiries — a criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and a civil one by the state attorney general, Letitia James — are being conducted independently," the report found. "But both offices issued subpoenas to the Trump Organization in recent weeks for records related to the fees, the people said."
Since the Trumps would be aware of such subpoenas, Ivanka's tweet can be read as confirmation of the report. The report does also note that there's "no indication that his daughter is a focus of either inquiry."


alternet--2020-11-20--Trump legal team wants you to think Hugo Chavez stole the election. Yes, really

At high noon on Thursday , Donald Trump 's crack legal team sauntered out for a showdown with destiny .
They were there to demonstrate for America that Trump 's refusal to concede the election was n't a demonstration of infantile refusal to accept reality , but was really real .
Really real .
Oh , so real .
And in their presentation on why the press should never again say they were lacking evidence , what emerged before their own tech team appeared to pull the plug was a claim that Democrats engaged in a vast conspiracy to `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ votes by using voting machines built by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez , with the help of wealthy Jew George Soros , that sent American votes overseas to servers in Germany where they could be altered according to orders from antifa .
And then , when even that proved inadequate to defeat Trump , Democrats brought in `` garbage cans '' full of votes that were marked for Biden .
Then counted them three times each .
That may sound like an exaggeration .
It 's not .
It 's only a subset of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peek into an alternative reality .
Also Rudy Giuliani 's hair dye began pouring off his head at a rate that made it look as if his brain might be leaking from his skull .
Which seemed entirely possible .
Giuliani took the stage first to begin the general theme of the day , which was to berate the press for saying that there was no evidence of voter fraud when he had a fistful of affidavits .
Affidavits , people !
For example , Giuliani claimed to have `` 60 witnesses '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pulled up in the wee hours of the morning `` and people rushed to it thinking it had food '' but instead it was `` full of ballots , thousands of ballots '' that were in garbage cans and paper bags .
And then these votes were brought in `` when they thought all the Republican observers had gone home '' and run through the voting machines three times .
This was not a single event , declared Giuliani , but a product of Joe Biden 's `` election fraud team '' that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to plant the votes needed to put Biden ahead of Trump .
Giuliani then gave way to Sidney Powell , who demonstrated that when it comes to being disconnected from reality , this conference went to 12 .
Powell immediately veered away from trash can votes and right into how the election was really rigged by voting software written for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez .
Chavez , rather unexpectedly , is apparently very anti-Trump .
( That 's really unexpected since he died in 2013 . )
But Powell launched into an emotional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counted in Germany and in Spain by a company owned by affiliates of Chavez and Maduro , '' and these companies are , of course , run by `` the number two associate of George Soros . ''
As Powell went on , she also expressed how Cuba was involved , and how there was an `` algorithm '' that allowed this Venezuela-Jewish-Cuban cabal to define the values of votes .
That algorithm that `` probably flipped votes all over the country '' because , according to Powell , `` Donald Trump won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said that .
This came right before the part where she explained that she also has an affidavit from someone who chatted about all this with Chavez ( I am still not making this up ) and that it was all approved by antifa .
It was a Biden-Venezuelan-Jewish-Cuban-antifa conspiracy .
And if you think she did n't mention the Clinton Foundation in this … oh yes she did .
All of these groups `` had the election rigged for Mr. Biden , '' said Powell .
She went on to explain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote counts 1.25 and a Trump vote counts 0.75 , and that may be the numbers that were used here . ''
All of this was explained to her by the Chavez chat man .
Also , there is a server in Germany that is definitely connected .
Though we do n't know how .
So … just assume everyone not standing on the stage was a part of the conspiracy .
Powell then gave way to Jenna Ellis , who explained that , lord help everyone , all that had gone before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the full trial they wanted to have .
Ellis then explained that this would not be a trial of the public opinion before complaining that there was n't time to do it in court .
But definitely , definitely , 99 % of the press was n't worthy to even report on the story .
Because they 're part of the conspiracy .
The whole thing finished off with some Q & A time in which Giuliani stepped forward to embrace everything that Powell had claimed about Chavez , Soros , antifa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about states being `` stupid enough to send our votes out of the country ... to be counted by people who are allies of Chavez and Meduro ... run by an ally of George Soros . ''
He knows this is a fact , said Giuliani .
`` When I first heard it , I did n't believe it , until Sydney showed me the documents ... you can Google it , well , unless they took it down . ''
This was accompanied by more complaints about antifa 's role in fixing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this has to be true , because Giuliani gestured around the stage to proclaim , `` There is nobody here who engages in fantasies . ''
This was followed by a claim that Trump won Michigan by 50,000 votes , and that the campaign was looking into challenges in both Virginia and New Mexico .
By that point , Giuliani 's hair dye was largely on his shirt .
All this happened .
And I did n't even touch on the most ridiculous moments .

At high noon on Thursday, Donald Trump's crack legal team sauntered out for a showdown with destiny. They were there to demonstrate for America that Trump's refusal to concede the election wasn't a demonstration of infantile refusal to accept reality, but was really real. Really real. Oh, so real.
And in their presentation on why the press should never again say they were lacking evidence, what emerged before their own tech team appeared to pull the plug was a claim that Democrats engaged in a vast conspiracy to "inject" hundreds of thousands of Biden votes by using voting machines built by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, with the help of wealthy Jew George Soros, that sent American votes overseas to servers in Germany where they could be altered according to orders from antifa. And then, when even that proved inadequate to defeat Trump, Democrats brought in "garbage cans" full of votes that were marked for Biden. Then counted them three times each. That may sound like an exaggeration. It's not. It's only a subset of the claims that were made during this peek into an alternative reality. Also Rudy Giuliani's hair dye began pouring off his head at a rate that made it look as if his brain might be leaking from his skull. Which seemed entirely possible.
Giuliani took the stage first to begin the general theme of the day, which was to berate the press for saying that there was no evidence of voter fraud when he had a fistful of affidavits. Affidavits, people! For example, Giuliani claimed to have "60 witnesses" to an incident in which a truck pulled up in the wee hours of the morning "and people rushed to it thinking it had food" but instead it was "full of ballots, thousands of ballots" that were in garbage cans and paper bags. And then these votes were brought in "when they thought all the Republican observers had gone home" and run through the voting machines three times. This was not a single event, declared Giuliani, but a product of Joe Biden's "election fraud team" that worked in "Democrat led cities" to plant the votes needed to put Biden ahead of Trump.
Giuliani then gave way to Sidney Powell, who demonstrated that when it comes to being disconnected from reality, this conference went to 12. Powell immediately veered away from trash can votes and right into how the election was really rigged by voting software written for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Chavez, rather unexpectedly, is apparently very anti-Trump. (That's really unexpected since he died in 2013.) But Powell launched into an emotional explanation of how "Our votes are counted in Germany and in Spain by a company owned by affiliates of Chavez and Maduro," and these companies are, of course, run by "the number two associate of George Soros." As Powell went on, she also expressed how Cuba was involved, and how there was an "algorithm" that allowed this Venezuela-Jewish-Cuban cabal to define the values of votes. That algorithm that "probably flipped votes all over the country" because, according to Powell, "Donald Trump won in a landslide."
Yes, she said that. This came right before the part where she explained that she also has an affidavit from someone who chatted about all this with Chavez (I am still not making this up) and that it was all approved by antifa. It was a Biden-Venezuelan-Jewish-Cuban-antifa conspiracy. And if you think she didn't mention the Clinton Foundation in this … oh yes she did. All of these groups "had the election rigged for Mr. Biden," said Powell. She went on to explain: "They can say a Biden vote counts 1.25 and a Trump vote counts 0.75, and that may be the numbers that were used here." All of this was explained to her by the Chavez chat man. Also, there is a server in Germany that is definitely connected. Though we don't know how. So … just assume everyone not standing on the stage was a part of the conspiracy.
Powell then gave way to Jenna Ellis, who explained that, lord help everyone, all that had gone before was only the "opening statement" to the full trial they wanted to have. Ellis then explained that this would not be a trial of the public opinion before complaining that there wasn't time to do it in court. But definitely, definitely, 99% of the press wasn't worthy to even report on the story. Because they're part of the conspiracy.
The whole thing finished off with some Q&A time in which Giuliani stepped forward to embrace everything that Powell had claimed about Chavez, Soros, antifa … the works. That included complaining about states being "stupid enough to send our votes out of the country ... to be counted by people who are allies of Chavez and Meduro ... run by an ally of George Soros." He knows this is a fact, said Giuliani. "When I first heard it, I didn't believe it, until Sydney showed me the documents ... you can Google it, well, unless they took it down." This was accompanied by more complaints about antifa's role in fixing the election.
And you know all of this has to be true, because Giuliani gestured around the stage to proclaim, "There is nobody here who engages in fantasies." This was followed by a claim that Trump won Michigan by 50,000 votes, and that the campaign was looking into challenges in both Virginia and New Mexico. By that point, Giuliani's hair dye was largely on his shirt.
All this happened. And I didn't even touch on the most ridiculous moments.


alternet--2020-11-20--Trump's Michigan con: Why his supporters keep falling for it

If you want proof that Donald Trump is not an anomaly , but rather a symptom of the racism and anti-democratic yearning that define the modern Republican Party , look no further than what 's going on in Wayne County , Michigan .
It 's the county that encompasses the majority-Black city of Detroit as well as many of its majority-white suburbs , and the normally staid process of certifying an election there has gone badly off the rails .
This situation starkly illustrates how Trump 's long-shot coup attempt — which is more a money-grabbing con job at this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being too blinded by their own racism and hatred for democracy to really grasp the ways Trump is using them , as he uses everyone .
To recap what happened for those who did n't get embroiled in the blow-by-blow drama of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers this week : On Tuesday , the board , which certifies local election results before sending them along to the state board , held a public meeting .
By any reasonable measure , this should have been a quick vote to certify the results , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and relatively smooth election .
Instead , the two Republican members of the board — who are both white — refused to certify the vote count , angering and bewildering the two Democratic members , who are both Black .
Their formal excuse for this refusal to was that the vote count apparently included a few minor mistakes and anomalies , of the sort that occur in any election , in the precinct counting reports .
This would , at most , affect a few hundred votes in a county where Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reasons , of course , were racism and a desire to steal the election for Trump .
The two Republicans , Monica Palmer and William Hartmann , were making a last-ditch attempt to keep the votes of Detroit , a city whose population is nearly 80 % Black , out of the final Michigan vote count .
It was a temper tantrum based on the longstanding , but usually better-concealed Republican belief that there 's something not quite right about letting Black people have the same right to vote as white people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the citizens of Wayne County for the next two hours , Palmer and Hartmann cracked and voted to certify the election .
But after talking on the phone with Trump himself later on Tuesday night , the two circled around again , demanding a chance to rescind their votes .
They are continuing to push baseless conspiracy theories clearly meant to imply that there 's something shady about the very concept of treating Detroit 's election the same way elections everywhere els are treated .
Sean Hannity , of course , protested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ set of `` truly vile smears '' to suggest that racism was to blame for Republicans ' singling out Detroit 's election results for unnecessary delays .
Of course , the racism here is self-evident .
During deliberations , Palmer said , `` I would be open to a motion to certify communities other than the city of Detroit . ''
In case there 's any lingering doubt , journalist Del Quentin Wilber was able to remove it with a cursory Facebook search : Trump 's efforts to steal this election are , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shot .
Democratic strategist Chris Marshall has argued otherwise here at Salon , suggesting that those of us who believe this are being too sanguine about the Republican eagerness to end democracy .
But the belief that Trump will fail is not based on any faith that Republicans will do the right thing .
As this Wayne County situation shows , the entire Republican Party is rotten to the core , ready to throw out democracy rather than accept that people of color have equal rights to vote .
Rather we are assuming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that Trump and his minions are too disorganized and incompetent to pull off a coup , especially in the making-it-up-as-they-go-along fashion evident in the repeatedly failed lawsuits of the past couple of weeks .
Indeed , the weirdest aspect of Trump 's ongoing litigation efforts is that the most immediate victims of his conspiracy are his fellow Republicans : They 're the fools who keep responding to Trump 's emails begging for cash .
But the money Trump 's fans donate , believing it may help Trump 's electoral Hail Mary , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America '' leadership PAC , not to his legal efforts .
These `` leadership PACs '' rose up after the Supreme Court forcibly deregulated campaign finance law in Citizens United vs. FEC , and they are often total scams .
The people who run them often treat them like slush funds , using them to pay for personal expenses and luxury vacations , as well as lining the pockets of various consultants .
For instance , former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin started a PAC in 2009 , which she promised would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raised millions of dollars for her PAC , but only gave 5 % to 8 % of the money to candidates in any given election cycle .
Instead , most of the of the money was spent on travel , media and mailing groups whose job was to promote Palin 's brand under the umbrella of `` fundraising . ''
Trump will almost certainly find even more creative ways to pocket the money , probably by having his PAC hold `` fundraising '' events at Trump properties .
His team of lawyers is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who is trying to wet his own beak by demanding $ 20,000 a day to waste the court 's time with incoherent conspiracy theories .
Who is bankrolling all this chicanery ?
Ordinary Republican voters , who foolishly open Trump fundraising emails and keep hitting that `` donate '' button .
And their foolishness is driven by bone-deep racism .
Trump and his allies have n't been subtle about their race-baiting , repeatedly attacking Detroit , Philadelphia , Milwaukee and Atlanta , all cities where white residents are a minority .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ populations .
These suits are failing in court , but succeeding at the main goal of stirring up racist hysterics in the GOP base and turning those hysterics into cash .
Trump 's message to his voters is clear : The votes of people of color are inherently `` corrupt '' and should n't be counted .
Sadly , that 's a message that 's causing GOP wallets across the country to fly open .
Republican racism is so strong it trumps the common-sense understanding that it 's unwise to hand over money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It might be funny to watch fools parted from their money like this , except for the fact that the very fabric of our democracy is being torn asunder .
Fully half of Republicans reportedly believe that Trump `` rightfully '' won the election , which is to say , they 're embracing conspiracy theories that allow them to believe that white votes are the only legitimate votes .
Trump will soon be leaving office and finding creative ways to pocket his PAC money , but the poison he 's pumped into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans that their racism is righteous will linger on for decades .

If you want proof that Donald Trump is not an anomaly, but rather a symptom of the racism and anti-democratic yearning that define the modern Republican Party, look no further than what's going on in Wayne County, Michigan. It's the county that encompasses the majority-Black city of Detroit as well as many of its majority-white suburbs, and the normally staid process of certifying an election there has gone badly off the rails.
This situation starkly illustrates how Trump's long-shot coup attempt —which is more a money-grabbing con job at this point — relies heavily on everyday Republicans being too blinded by their own racism and hatred for democracy to really grasp the ways Trump is using them, as he uses everyone.
To recap what happened for those who didn't get embroiled in the blow-by-blow drama of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers this week: On Tuesday, the board, which certifies local election results before sending them along to the state board, held a public meeting. By any reasonable measure, this should have been a quick vote to certify the results, as usually happens after such a clean and relatively smooth election. Instead, the two Republican members of the board — who are both white — refused to certify the vote count, angering and bewildering the two Democratic members, who are both Black.
Their formal excuse for this refusal to was that the vote count apparently included a few minor mistakes and anomalies, of the sort that occur in any election, in the precinct counting reports. This would, at most, affect a few hundred votes in a county where Joe Biden won by 350,000 votes.
The real reasons, of course, were racism and a desire to steal the election for Trump. The two Republicans, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, were making a last-ditch attempt to keep the votes of Detroit, a city whose population is nearly 80% Black, out of the final Michigan vote count. It was a temper tantrum based on the longstanding, but usually better-concealed Republican belief that there's something not quite right about letting Black people have the same right to vote as white people.
After being the target of the wrath of the citizens of Wayne County for the next two hours, Palmer and Hartmann cracked and voted to certify the election. But after talking on the phone with Trump himself later on Tuesday night, the two circled around again, demanding a chance to rescind their votes. They are continuing to push baseless conspiracy theories clearly meant to imply that there's something shady about the very concept of treating Detroit's election the same way elections everywhere els are treated.
Sean Hannity, of course, protested on Fox News that it was a set of "truly vile smears" to suggest that racism was to blame for Republicans' singling out Detroit's election results for unnecessary delays. Of course, the racism here is self-evident. During deliberations, Palmer said, "I would be open to a motion to certify communities other than the city of Detroit." In case there's any lingering doubt, journalist Del Quentin Wilber was able to remove it with a cursory Facebook search:
Trump's efforts to steal this election are, it must be reiterated, a long shot. Democratic strategist Chris Marshall has argued otherwise here at Salon, suggesting that those of us who believe this are being too sanguine about the Republican eagerness to end democracy.
But the belief that Trump will fail is not based on any faith that Republicans will do the right thing. As this Wayne County situation shows, the entire Republican Party is rotten to the core, ready to throw out democracy rather than accept that people of color have equal rights to vote. Rather we are assuming, as has proven correct so far, that Trump and his minions are too disorganized and incompetent to pull off a coup, especially in the making-it-up-as-they-go-along fashion evident in the repeatedly failed lawsuits of the past couple of weeks.
Indeed, the weirdest aspect of Trump's ongoing litigation efforts is that the most immediate victims of his conspiracy are his fellow Republicans: They're the fools who keep responding to Trump's emails begging for cash. But the money Trump's fans donate, believing it may help Trump's electoral Hail Mary, is mostly going toward his "Save America" leadership PAC, not to his legal efforts.
These "leadership PACs" rose up after the Supreme Court forcibly deregulated campaign finance law in Citizens United vs. FEC, and they are often total scams. The people who run them often treat them like slush funds, using them to pay for personal expenses and luxury vacations, as well as lining the pockets of various consultants. For instance, former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin started a PAC in 2009, which she promised would be dedicated to funding Republican candidates. Palin raised millions of dollars for her PAC, but only gave 5% to 8% of the money to candidates in any given election cycle. Instead, most of the of the money was spent on travel, media and mailing groups whose job was to promote Palin's brand under the umbrella of "fundraising."
Trump will almost certainly find even more creative ways to pocket the money, probably by having his PAC hold "fundraising" events at Trump properties. His team of lawyers is getting whittled down quickly to Rudy Giuliani, who is trying to wet his own beak by demanding $20,000 a day to waste the court's time with incoherent conspiracy theories.
Who is bankrolling all this chicanery? Ordinary Republican voters, who foolishly open Trump fundraising emails and keep hitting that "donate" button. And their foolishness is driven by bone-deep racism.
Trump and his allies haven't been subtle about their race-baiting, repeatedly attacking Detroit, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Atlanta, all cities where white residents are a minority. The lawsuits have targeted cities with large Black populations. These suits are failing in court, but succeeding at the main goal of stirring up racist hysterics in the GOP base and turning those hysterics into cash.
Trump's message to his voters is clear: The votes of people of color are inherently "corrupt" and shouldn't be counted. Sadly, that's a message that's causing GOP wallets across the country to fly open. Republican racism is so strong it trumps the common-sense understanding that it's unwise to hand over money to an obvious con artist like Trump.
It might be funny to watch fools parted from their money like this, except for the fact that the very fabric of our democracy is being torn asunder. Fully half of Republicans reportedly believe that Trump "rightfully" won the election, which is to say, they're embracing conspiracy theories that allow them to believe that white votes are the only legitimate votes. Trump will soon be leaving office and finding creative ways to pocket his PAC money, but the poison he's pumped into the system by telling millions of white Americans that their racism is righteous will linger on for decades.


alternet--2020-11-20--How I discovered a hole in the story of a JFK conspiracy theory

Most conspiracy theories surrounding President John F. Kennedy 's assassination have been disproven .
Kennedy was not killed by a gas-powered device triggered by aliens or by actor Woody Harrelson 's dad .
But speculation about Kennedy 's Nov. 22 , 1963 murder in Dallas continues , fueled by unreleased classified documents , bizarre ballistics and the claim of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald – who was later killed on live TV while in police custody – that he was “ just a patsy . ''
Several JFK assassination experts , like the former New York Times investigative reporter Phillip Shenon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to find answers regarding a possible conspiracy and who was behind it .
Just over a month before Kennedy 's killing , Oswald took a bus from Texas to Mexico City .
He arrived Friday morning , Sept. 27 , 1963 and left very early on Wednesday , Oct. 2 , according to American and Mexican intelligence .
Was Oswald a kind of rogue James Bond who went south of the border to consort with communists , Cuban revolutionaries and spies – or just a deranged killer ?
I dug into that question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Mexico , and I think I found something everybody else missed : a hole in the story of the very man who started a tenacious conspiracy theory about Oswald 's Mexico trip .
Mexico was a Cold War hot spot in the mid-20th century , a haven for Soviet exiles , American leftists fleeing the anti-communist persecution of McCarthyism and sympathizers with Cuba 's Castro regime .
Every communist and democratic country had an embassy in Mexico City – the only place in the Western Hemisphere where these enemies coexisted more or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Cuban and Soviet diplomatic missions , Oswald visited their embassies repeatedly on Friday and Saturday .
He was desperately seeking visas to those countries , which Americans were then prohibited from visiting .
Told such documents would take months to process , Oswald got in a heated argument with the Cuban consul , Emilio Azcué .
Oswald also forced a KGB volleyball match on Saturday morning to be canceled when he brandished a weapon at the Soviet consulate , before bursting into tears and leaving .
Those events are well documented by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had ramped up its Mexico operations to monitor communist activity , even hiring 200 Mexican agents to help .
The Mexican Secret Service , whose 1960s-era files Mexico has recently begun to declassify , also tracked Oswald on Sept. 27 and Sept. 28 , 1963 .
Oswald 's whereabouts for the next three-and-a-half days , however , remain unknown .
A main conspiracy about Oswald 's undocumented time in Mexico City puts him in contact with dangerous Mexicans on the left side of the Cold War .
This story originated in March 1967 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mexican coastal city of Tampico , Benjamin Ruyle , was buying drinks for local journalists .
One of them – Óscar Contreras Lartigue , a 28-year-old reporter for El Sol de Tampico – told Ruyle he 'd met Oswald in 1963 when he was a law student at Mexico 's National Autonomous University .
Contreras said he 'd been in a pro-Castro campus group and that Oswald had begged this group for help getting a Cuban visa .
According to Contreras , Oswald spent two days with these National Autonomous University students , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few days later at the Cuban Embassy .
Evidently afraid for his life , Contreras would n't tell Ruyle much more .
He said he himself had traveled to Cuba , knew people in the Castro regime and had blown up the statue of a former Mexican president on campus in Mexico City .
Contreras feared persecution for his political activities .
Contreras did say this was n't the first time he was sharing his story , though .
After JFK was shot , Contreras told Ruyle , he 'd commented to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Contreras ' account hinted at suspicious , previously unknown connections between Oswald and communist Cuba made shortly before JFK 's assassination .
His story was , according to a memo later sent from CIA headquarters , “ the first solid investigative lead we have on Oswald 's activities in Mexico . ''
U.S. government officials needed to find out if Contreras was a trustworthy source .
Three months after Ruyle 's happy hour , a CIA official from Mexico City went to Tampico to question Contreras .
During the six-hour interrogation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he did say Oswald never mentioned assassination – only that he said repeatedly he “ had to get to Cuba . ''
In 1978 , a researcher from the U.S. House Select Commission on Assassinations named Dan Hardway went to Mexico to investigate the JFK assassination .
He was unable to interview Contreras despite several attempts , but in an influential report warned his account should not be dismissed .
The New York Times reporter Shenon , who interviewed Oscar Contreras for a 2013 book on the JFK assassination , also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Contreras – whom he calls a “ prominent journalist '' – “ went much further '' in their interview than he had with the CIA , alleging “ far more extensive contacts between Oswald and Cuban agents in Mexico . ''
Dan Hardway , who is now a lawyer in West Virginia , still believes Contreras .
After reading Shenon 's book , he reiterated in 2015 that Lee Harvey Oswald might have been part of a wider Cuban intelligence web .
Óscar Contreras died in 2016 , so I could not interview @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a minute detail of his biography grabbed my attention – an apparently overlooked contradiction that could undermine his entire story .
In Contreras ' telling , he fled the National Autonomous University campus and moved to Tampico around 1964 .
Yet Contreras also allegedly told his “ editor '' about his encounter with Oswald after the 1963 Kennedy assassination .
College newspapers are n't common in Mexico , and Contreras was a law student .
So how could he have had an editor in 1963 ?
I thought his hometown paper , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the answer .
Digging through its archives , I found that the newspaper ran a Sunday gossip column in the early 1960s called “ Crisol , '' or “ melting pot . ''
Óscar Contreras became the reporter for “ Crisol '' on June 6 , 1963 , and continued writing the gossip column in September and October that year .
While Lee Harvey Oswald was in Mexico City , Contreras was 300 miles away in Tampico .
In flamboyant prose , faded back issues of the local paper show , he chronicled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yacht excursions of Tampico 's high society .
A political correspondent may live far from where his newspaper is published .
But for a gossip columnist , that would be dereliction of duty .
This revelation plunges Oswald 's fall 1963 trip to Mexico back into the dark .
There are other conspiracy theories , including that Oswald had a Mexican mistress who took him to a party of communists and spies .
But it 's more likely Mexico holds no hidden clues to JFK 's assassination .
Conspiracy theories offer assurances of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the biggest enigma of the 20th century is solvable .
But from what we know about what Oswald did and did n't do in Mexico City , he was a volatile , disorganized loner who could n't even handle travel logistics .
JFK 's assassination is a cold case .
And in Mexico , only exhausted leads remain .
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

by Gonzalo Soltero, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Most conspiracy theories surrounding President John F. Kennedy's assassination have been disproven. Kennedy was not killed by a gas-powered device triggered by aliens or by actor Woody Harrelson's dad.
But speculation about Kennedy's Nov. 22, 1963 murder in Dallas continues, fueled by unreleased classified documents, bizarre ballistics and the claim of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald – who was later killed on live TV while in police custody – that he was “just a patsy."
Several JFK assassination experts, like the former New York Times investigative reporter Phillip Shenon, see Mexico as the best place to find answers regarding a possible conspiracy and who was behind it.
Just over a month before Kennedy's killing, Oswald took a bus from Texas to Mexico City. He arrived Friday morning, Sept. 27, 1963 and left very early on Wednesday, Oct. 2, according to American and Mexican intelligence.
Was Oswald a kind of rogue James Bond who went south of the border to consort with communists, Cuban revolutionaries and spies – or just a deranged killer?
I dug into that question while researching my book on conspiracy narratives in Mexico, and I think I found something everybody else missed: a hole in the story of the very man who started a tenacious conspiracy theory about Oswald's Mexico trip.
Communist Mexico City
Mexico was a Cold War hot spot in the mid-20th century, a haven for Soviet exiles, American leftists fleeing the anti-communist persecution of McCarthyism and sympathizers with Cuba's Castro regime. Every communist and democratic country had an embassy in Mexico City – the only place in the Western Hemisphere where these enemies coexisted more or less openly.
According to witnesses from the Cuban and Soviet diplomatic missions, Oswald visited their embassies repeatedly on Friday and Saturday. He was desperately seeking visas to those countries, which Americans were then prohibited from visiting.
Told such documents would take months to process, Oswald got in a heated argument with the Cuban consul, Emilio Azcué. Oswald also forced a KGB volleyball match on Saturday morning to be canceled when he brandished a weapon at the Soviet consulate, before bursting into tears and leaving.
Those events are well documented by the CIA, which in the 1960s had ramped up its Mexico operations to monitor communist activity, even hiring 200 Mexican agents to help. The Mexican Secret Service, whose 1960s-era files Mexico has recently begun to declassify, also tracked Oswald on Sept. 27 and Sept. 28, 1963.
Oswald's whereabouts for the next three-and-a-half days, however, remain unknown.
A conspiracy theory is born
A main conspiracy about Oswald's undocumented time in Mexico City puts him in contact with dangerous Mexicans on the left side of the Cold War.
This story originated in March 1967, when the American consul in the Mexican coastal city of Tampico, Benjamin Ruyle, was buying drinks for local journalists.
One of them – Óscar Contreras Lartigue, a 28-year-old reporter for El Sol de Tampico – told Ruyle he'd met Oswald in 1963 when he was a law student at Mexico's National Autonomous University.
Contreras said he'd been in a pro-Castro campus group and that Oswald had begged this group for help getting a Cuban visa. According to Contreras, Oswald spent two days with these National Autonomous University students, then met up with them again a few days later at the Cuban Embassy.
Evidently afraid for his life, Contreras wouldn't tell Ruyle much more. He said he himself had traveled to Cuba, knew people in the Castro regime and had blown up the statue of a former Mexican president on campus in Mexico City. Contreras feared persecution for his political activities.
Contreras did say this wasn't the first time he was sharing his story, though. After JFK was shot, Contreras told Ruyle, he'd commented to his editor that he'd recently met Oswald.
The Contreras question
Contreras' account hinted at suspicious, previously unknown connections between Oswald and communist Cuba made shortly before JFK's assassination.
His story was, according to a memo later sent from CIA headquarters, “the first solid investigative lead we have on Oswald's activities in Mexico." U.S. government officials needed to find out if Contreras was a trustworthy source.
Three months after Ruyle's happy hour, a CIA official from Mexico City went to Tampico to question Contreras. During the six-hour interrogation, Contreras still refused to go into details, but he did say Oswald never mentioned assassination – only that he said repeatedly he “had to get to Cuba."
In 1978, a researcher from the U.S. House Select Commission on Assassinations named Dan Hardway went to Mexico to investigate the JFK assassination. He was unable to interview Contreras despite several attempts, but in an influential report warned his account should not be dismissed.
The New York Times reporter Shenon, who interviewed Oscar Contreras for a 2013 book on the JFK assassination, also found Contreras credible. Shenon wrote that Contreras – whom he calls a “prominent journalist" – “went much further" in their interview than he had with the CIA, alleging “far more extensive contacts between Oswald and Cuban agents in Mexico."
Dan Hardway, who is now a lawyer in West Virginia, still believes Contreras. After reading Shenon's book, he reiterated in 2015 that Lee Harvey Oswald might have been part of a wider Cuban intelligence web.
Hole in the web
Óscar Contreras died in 2016, so I could not interview him myself.
But in my investigation, a minute detail of his biography grabbed my attention – an apparently overlooked contradiction that could undermine his entire story.
In Contreras' telling, he fled the National Autonomous University campus and moved to Tampico around 1964. Yet Contreras also allegedly told his “editor" about his encounter with Oswald after the 1963 Kennedy assassination.
College newspapers aren't common in Mexico, and Contreras was a law student. So how could he have had an editor in 1963?
I thought his hometown paper, El Sol de Tampico, might hold the answer. Digging through its archives, I found that the newspaper ran a Sunday gossip column in the early 1960s called “Crisol," or “melting pot."
Óscar Contreras became the reporter for “Crisol" on June 6, 1963, and continued writing the gossip column in September and October that year.
While Lee Harvey Oswald was in Mexico City, Contreras was 300 miles away in Tampico. In flamboyant prose, faded back issues of the local paper show, he chronicled the sumptuous wedding receptions, quinceañeras and yacht excursions of Tampico's high society.
Three dark days
I believe the Sol de Tampico archives discredit Contereras' account.
A political correspondent may live far from where his newspaper is published. But for a gossip columnist, that would be dereliction of duty.
This revelation plunges Oswald's fall 1963 trip to Mexico back into the dark.
There are other conspiracy theories, including that Oswald had a Mexican mistress who took him to a party of communists and spies.
But it's more likely Mexico holds no hidden clues to JFK's assassination.
Conspiracy theories offer assurances of depth and closure, a promise that the biggest enigma of the 20th century is solvable. But from what we know about what Oswald did and didn't do in Mexico City, he was a volatile, disorganized loner who couldn't even handle travel logistics.
JFK's assassination is a cold case. And in Mexico, only exhausted leads remain.
Gonzalo Soltero, Professor of Narrative Analysis, School of Higher Studies, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


alternet--2020-11-20--El Paso is reaching a breaking point with COVID surging and hospitals and morgues overwhelmed

Some Republican governors are dropping their resistance to mask mandates , as public health officials in the United States brace for a COVID-19 surge from the Thanksgiving holiday amid already record-high infection rates .
However , Republican resistance to other public health safety measures continues as coronavirus cases in Texas reach record highs for a second time during the pandemic .
El Paso County , an area along the U.S.-Mexico border where 80 % of residents are Latinx , is also facing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. and now has 10 mobile morgues to hold bodies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 2 an hour to move the bodies as the number of cases and deaths has completely overwhelmed local hospitals .
`` We 're at capacity , '' says Dr. Emilio Gonzalez-Ayala , a leading pulmonary disease and critical care specialist in El Paso .
`` We 're beyond the limit where we can continue to admit to the hospital patients that come in critically ill. '' This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : Over 1,700 people died from COVID Tuesday in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadliest day of the pandemic in at least six months .
As public health officials across the country brace for a COVID-19 surge from the Thanksgiving holiday and already record-high infection rates , some Republican governors are dropping their resistance to mask mandates , including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds , who imposed a limited mask mandate Tuesday .
But many of these same governors continue to hold off on implementing other public health measures .
In Texas , where coronavirus cases have reached record highs for a second time in the pandemic , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is coming .
He 's even pushing back on local policies in places like El Paso County along the Mexico border , which is facing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the country .
After the Texas attorney general sued to stop an order closing nonessential businesses in El Paso , a Texas appeals court agreed with the challenge Thursday , which allowed businesses to open the next day .
About 80 % of El Paso residents are Latinx .
The county now has 10 mobile morgues to hold bodies .
Some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an hour to move the bodies as the numbers of cases and deaths has completely overwhelmed the hospitals .
They are moving the corpses .
A traveling nurse who worked at the El Paso University Medical Center spoke out about what she called a `` horrific '' scene for patients with COVID-19 .
In a Facebook video earlier this month , Lawanna Rivers also described a room she calls `` The Pit , '' where she says patients were sent to die with minimal treatment .
Well , for more , we go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emilio Gonzalez-Ayala , a leading pulmonary disease and critical care specialist .
Thanks so much for taking the time , Dr. Ayala , to speak to us today .
If you can start off by describing the situation in el Paso , so extreme that the county administrator tried to put major restrictions in El Paso , and the governor prevented them from being implemented ?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA : Yeah .
Unfortunately , we 've been facing these decisions by the government of the state .
And , obviously , as you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nonessential businesses has impacted us in a significant way , because we continue to see the surge of numbers in the hospitals , in the ERs throughout the city , and we 're at capacity .
We 're beyond the limit where we can continue to admit to the hospital patients that come in critically ill , and we 're flying them out directly from the ER to other hospitals in the state where they can be admitted and treated .
We are keeping a large number of intubated , mechanically ventilated patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to open in the ICU .
But sometimes these patients are too unstable and too critically ill to continue waiting there , so we need to make space for them by either moving the stable patient in the ICU or flying out the stable ones that are in the ER .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Dr. Gonzalez , I wanted to ask you about also the situation in Juárez , which is across the border , right across the border .
It 's often called the sister city of El Paso .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ argue that El Paso is actually a suburb of Juárez , which is a much , much bigger city .
Your sense of how the close relationship between these two cities has affected the COVID pandemic one way or the other ?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA : Well , it 's the same city , in essence .
It 's called a metroplex , Juárez-El Paso .
And , obviously , we have a lot of patients that are U.S. residents and U.S. citizens that reside in the other side of the border , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obviously , and request to be seen and treated in El Paso , as they 're rightly citizens or residents .
And , obviously , we 're seeing those patients come across the border .
That impacts also our ability to continue to treat patients in the hospital .
And they 're at capacity , as well .
There is no place in Juárez , no hospital in Juárez , that has available beds .
So , it 's the same situation , in essence .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And this whole — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , sorry .
Go ahead , Juan .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : This whole issue of the refusal of state officials to allow the municipality and the local officials to implement the kinds of restrictions on public gatherings that you want to have , what 's the impact of that on your being able to curb the pandemic ?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA : Well , obviously , we are not going to be able to curb that surge in numbers without those mandates .
Obviously , we 're entering the influenza season , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both infections , with influenza and with COVID .
Obviously , that does n't help at all .
We 're pleading with the public to avoid visiting or bringing in visitors during the holidays .
Thanksgiving is in the next couple of weeks .
We 're asking them not to relax precautions , and to avoid getting even their neighbors into their houses to celebrate .
I think if we want to continue to celebrate these holidays next year , we need to sit out this one .
AMY GOODMAN : Can you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rationing that we 're hearing ?
We 're hearing that the county judge , Ricardo Samaniego , has said that care is being rationed in El Paso hospitals .
And can you talk about what that traveling nurse said , the horror of nurses working in `` The Pit , '' leaving — doctors not being able to go into that area , or not going into that area , people just being left to die , and then prisoners being paid something like $ 2 an hour to move corpses — we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been set up — all of this ?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA : So , I am in private practice .
Although I have privileges at University Medical Center , I do n't practice there , so I can not speak to the situation at UMC .
I have n't been there in a while .
I am familiar with the Facebook video that this nurse posted .
I know my colleagues in UMC and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center , which staff that hospital , very well .
And I 'm not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ account .
These are very humane , very ethical , very professional physicians .
I do n't see that really happening .
I doubt it , but I have n't been there .
I can tell you that care is not being rationed in the private hospitals where I practice .
Yes , we 're overstretched .
We are having to receive help from FEMA with physicians , nurses , respiratory therapists , nurse practitioners .
We 're grateful that we 're receiving this help to staff the hospitals and continue to deliver @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the people that live here in El Paso , the physicians that work here in El Paso , can not provide on our own without that help .
But we are not rationing care .
I mean , we 're limited by the number of beds we have available , but we 're not deciding who lives and who dies .
And that would be unethical and illegal .
So , I do n't see that happening at this point in the facilities where I practice .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the — as a frontline worker facing this pandemic , not only the problems that you see at the state level , but also at the national level , when you find that the White House itself often makes contradictory statements to those of the health professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health .
Your sense of what the impact of these mixed messages from the political leadership has , the impact it has on your ability to work on the frontlines ?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical community has better judgment and understands that when , for example , Dr. Fauci speaks , he speaks with the truth .
And I think we mostly follow his advice .
He 's an authority not only in the country , but worldwide .
And even though we have a lot of political [ inaudible ] coming out from Washington , for the most part , what comes out of Dr. Fauci and most of what the CDC puts out is good advice , and we tend to follow it , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this political messaging , I filter out what does n't make sense to us from a scientific or medical standpoint .
AMY GOODMAN : Can you talk , Dr. Gonzalez-Ayala , about Thanksgiving and what this means for El Paso ?
What message are you putting out right now ?
And also , if you could talk about being a pulmonologist and what that means , the kind of deadly combination , if you could talk more about the flu , as well as COVID ?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA : Well , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again , is , please , to everybody , avoid celebrating in person .
It sounds terrible .
It sounds like a draconian measure .
But we 're asking people not to go and visit anybody .
I 'm following up with patients that have recovered already from COVID over the last few months in my office via telephone encounters , and I have a lot of patients asking , `` Hey , Dr. Gonzalez , can I go and visit my relatives in Houston or my relatives in California ? ''
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , do n't go anywhere .
Stay put .
Even though you already caught COVID and we assume you have some immunity , you can still catch another virus .
You can catch influenza .
Stay put .
Do n't go anywhere .
And sit out this holiday so you can celebrate next year . ''
Now , to the question of what it means to be a pulmonologist and dealing with this , I think that it 's the experience that I had never been exposed to .
We 're seeing this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ usually see it with the influenza peak in the months of January and February , where we have , yes , a lot of patients waiting for beds in the ER , but never to this extent .
It 's way beyond .
Never seen it before anywhere , and I 've worked in Miami , and I worked in Houston and , obviously , here in El Paso .
I have never encountered these kinds of extremes , where we 're overrun with patients that are critically ill. AMY GOODMAN : Well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to thank you so much for being with us , leading pulmonary disease and critical care specialist .
This is Democracy Now !
When we come back , we go from El Paso , which is one of the hot spots of this country , to North Dakota , which currently has the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world .
We will talk with a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe , and we 'll go to Navajo Nation in Arizona , which is now going through yet another lockdown .
@ @ @ @

Some Republican governors are dropping their resistance to mask mandates, as public health officials in the United States brace for a COVID-19 surge from the Thanksgiving holiday amid already record-high infection rates. However, Republican resistance to other public health safety measures continues as coronavirus cases in Texas reach record highs for a second time during the pandemic. El Paso County, an area along the U.S.-Mexico border where 80% of residents are Latinx, is also facing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. and now has 10 mobile morgues to hold bodies. Some prisoners are being paid just $2 an hour to move the bodies as the number of cases and deaths has completely overwhelmed local hospitals. "We're at capacity," says Dr. Emilio Gonzalez-Ayala, a leading pulmonary disease and critical care specialist in El Paso. "We're beyond the limit where we can continue to admit to the hospital patients that come in critically ill."
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Over 1,700 people died from COVID Tuesday in the United States. It's the deadliest day of the pandemic in at least six months. As public health officials across the country brace for a COVID-19 surge from the Thanksgiving holiday and already record-high infection rates, some Republican governors are dropping their resistance to mask mandates, including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, who imposed a limited mask mandate Tuesday. But many of these same governors continue to hold off on implementing other public health measures.
In Texas, where coronavirus cases have reached record highs for a second time in the pandemic, Governor Greg Abbott says no new lockdown is coming. He's even pushing back on local policies in places like El Paso County along the Mexico border, which is facing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the country. After the Texas attorney general sued to stop an order closing nonessential businesses in El Paso, a Texas appeals court agreed with the challenge Thursday, which allowed businesses to open the next day. About 80% of El Paso residents are Latinx. The county now has 10 mobile morgues to hold bodies. Some prisoners are being paid just $2 an hour to move the bodies as the numbers of cases and deaths has completely overwhelmed the hospitals. They are moving the corpses.
A traveling nurse who worked at the El Paso University Medical Center spoke out about what she called a "horrific" scene for patients with COVID-19. In a Facebook video earlier this month, Lawanna Rivers also described a room she calls "The Pit," where she says patients were sent to die with minimal treatment.
LAWANNA RIVERS: They did not aggressively treat them as they should have. And according to their staff, the doctors at that hospital wasn't aggressive before COVID, but even with COVID. So, I saw a lot of people die that I feel like shouldn't have died. Y'all, that assignment there broke me. I was put in what's called a "Pit." And in this Pit was eight patients, all COVID-positive. My first day of orientation, I was told that whatever patients go into the Pit, they only come out in a body bag. …
The patients that we coded, we were not allowed to bag them, because we would get too much exposure, which I hadn't seen. And because they were COVID-positive, this hospital's policy was they only get three rounds of CPR, which is only six minutes. This, out of all the codes that we had there, there's not a single patient that made it. Y'all, when I say this assignment here, like, literally almost destroyed me. Like, I called my husband from there. I called my best friend from there. And I just cried, and I just said, "What I'm seeing here is just not right."
AMY GOODMAN: That's visiting nurse Lawanna Rivers describing a hospital in El Paso.
Well, for more, we go to El Paso to speak with Dr. Emilio Gonzalez-Ayala, a leading pulmonary disease and critical care specialist.
Thanks so much for taking the time, Dr. Ayala, to speak to us today. If you can start off by describing the situation in el Paso, so extreme that the county administrator tried to put major restrictions in El Paso, and the governor prevented them from being implemented?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA: Yeah. Unfortunately, we've been facing these decisions by the government of the state. And, obviously, as you mentioned before, the mandate to close nonessential businesses has impacted us in a significant way, because we continue to see the surge of numbers in the hospitals, in the ERs throughout the city, and we're at capacity. We're beyond the limit where we can continue to admit to the hospital patients that come in critically ill, and we're flying them out directly from the ER to other hospitals in the state where they can be admitted and treated. We are keeping a large number of intubated, mechanically ventilated patients in the ER, waiting for beds to open in the ICU. But sometimes these patients are too unstable and too critically ill to continue waiting there, so we need to make space for them by either moving the stable patient in the ICU or flying out the stable ones that are in the ER.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dr. Gonzalez, I wanted to ask you about also the situation in Juárez, which is across the border, right across the border. It's often called the sister city of El Paso. It's actually — some people would argue that El Paso is actually a suburb of Juárez, which is a much, much bigger city. Your sense of how the close relationship between these two cities has affected the COVID pandemic one way or the other?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA: Well, it's the same city, in essence. It's called a metroplex, Juárez-El Paso. And, obviously, we have a lot of patients that are U.S. residents and U.S. citizens that reside in the other side of the border, and they can come in legally, obviously, and request to be seen and treated in El Paso, as they're rightly citizens or residents. And, obviously, we're seeing those patients come across the border. That impacts also our ability to continue to treat patients in the hospital. And they're at capacity, as well. There is no place in Juárez, no hospital in Juárez, that has available beds. So, it's the same situation, in essence.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And this whole —
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Gonzalez — oh, sorry. Go ahead, Juan.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: This whole issue of the refusal of state officials to allow the municipality and the local officials to implement the kinds of restrictions on public gatherings that you want to have, what's the impact of that on your being able to curb the pandemic?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA: Well, obviously, we are not going to be able to curb that surge in numbers without those mandates. Obviously, we're entering the influenza season, and we already are seeing patients presenting with both infections, with influenza and with COVID. Obviously, that doesn't help at all.
We're pleading with the public to avoid visiting or bringing in visitors during the holidays. Thanksgiving is in the next couple of weeks. We're asking them not to relax precautions, and to avoid getting even their neighbors into their houses to celebrate. I think if we want to continue to celebrate these holidays next year, we need to sit out this one.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk, Dr. Gonzalez-Ayala, about the rationing that we're hearing? We're hearing that the county judge, Ricardo Samaniego, has said that care is being rationed in El Paso hospitals. And can you talk about what that traveling nurse said, the horror of nurses working in "The Pit," leaving — doctors not being able to go into that area, or not going into that area, people just being left to die, and then prisoners being paid something like $2 an hour to move corpses — we're talking 10 mobile morgues that have been set up — all of this?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA: So, I am in private practice. Although I have privileges at University Medical Center, I don't practice there, so I cannot speak to the situation at UMC. I haven't been there in a while. I am familiar with the Facebook video that this nurse posted. I know my colleagues in UMC and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which staff that hospital, very well. And I'm not sure that I can fully believe that account. These are very humane, very ethical, very professional physicians. I don't see that really happening. I doubt it, but I haven't been there.
I can tell you that care is not being rationed in the private hospitals where I practice. Yes, we're overstretched. We are having to receive help from FEMA with physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, nurse practitioners. We're grateful that we're receiving this help to staff the hospitals and continue to deliver the care that we, alone, the people that live here in El Paso, the physicians that work here in El Paso, cannot provide on our own without that help. But we are not rationing care. I mean, we're limited by the number of beds we have available, but we're not deciding who lives and who dies. And that would be unethical and illegal. So, I don't see that happening at this point in the facilities where I practice.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dr. Gonzalez, I wanted to ask you about the — as a frontline worker facing this pandemic, not only the problems that you see at the state level, but also at the national level, when you find that the White House itself often makes contradictory statements to those of the health professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. Your sense of what the impact of these mixed messages from the political leadership has, the impact it has on your ability to work on the frontlines?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA: Well, I think that the medical community has better judgment and understands that when, for example, Dr. Fauci speaks, he speaks with the truth. And I think we mostly follow his advice. He's an authority not only in the country, but worldwide. And even though we have a lot of political [inaudible] coming out from Washington, for the most part, what comes out of Dr. Fauci and most of what the CDC puts out is good advice, and we tend to follow it, for the most part. When I hear this political messaging, I filter out what doesn't make sense to us from a scientific or medical standpoint.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk, Dr. Gonzalez-Ayala, about Thanksgiving and what this means for El Paso? What message are you putting out right now? And also, if you could talk about being a pulmonologist and what that means, the kind of deadly combination, if you could talk more about the flu, as well as COVID?
DR. EMILIO GONZALEZ-AYALA: Well, the message we're trying to send, again, is, please, to everybody, avoid celebrating in person. It sounds terrible. It sounds like a draconian measure. But we're asking people not to go and visit anybody. I'm following up with patients that have recovered already from COVID over the last few months in my office via telephone encounters, and I have a lot of patients asking, "Hey, Dr. Gonzalez, can I go and visit my relatives in Houston or my relatives in California?" I'm pleading with them, "Please, don't go anywhere. Stay put. Even though you already caught COVID and we assume you have some immunity, you can still catch another virus. You can catch influenza. Stay put. Don't go anywhere. And sit out this holiday so you can celebrate next year."
Now, to the question of what it means to be a pulmonologist and dealing with this, I think that it's the experience that I had never been exposed to. We're seeing this go completely beyond the point where we usually see it with the influenza peak in the months of January and February, where we have, yes, a lot of patients waiting for beds in the ER, but never to this extent. It's way beyond. Never seen it before anywhere, and I've worked in Miami, and I worked in Houston and, obviously, here in El Paso. I have never encountered these kinds of extremes, where we're overrun with patients that are critically ill.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Dr. Emilio Gonzalez-Ayala, we want to thank you so much for being with us, leading pulmonary disease and critical care specialist.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we go from El Paso, which is one of the hot spots of this country, to North Dakota, which currently has the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world. We will talk with a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and we'll go to Navajo Nation in Arizona, which is now going through yet another lockdown. Stay with us.


alternet--2020-11-20--Virginia attorney general shuts down gun group's attempt to hold convention during pandemic

One of the saddest parts of the conservative movement is how full of bullshit it is .
Republican officials fan the fires of freedom , while offering nothing to ameliorate the crisis conditions of the Americans they pretend to represent .
In so doing , they get their base all frothed up , carrying guns , calling elections fraudulent , practicing unsafe public health habits , only to then leave them out in the lurch when the proverbial shit hits the fan .
We are now in an unchecked pandemic and Republican officials have finally begun ripping away all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they cared about when there was still an election to win .
Unfortunately , their voting base is still under the impression that surging COVID-19 cases and our stressed medical infrastructure are all secondary concerns when it comes to their snowflake feelings of anxiety and resentment .
The Washington Post reported that a Virginia gun show organizer was trying to get an exemption from the state 's newly tightened COVID-19 restrictions .
Showmasters , Inc. argued that these new restrictions will shut down their weekend-long `` Nation 's Gun Show '' exhibition , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly .
Do n't tread on being a self-absorbed and dangerous prick !
Good news ?
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring successfully trod all over their silly dangerous madness .
On Thursday he tweeted out that `` I have successfully BLOCKED a massive gun show from operating at full capacity this weekend in NOVA .
Putting hundreds or even thousands of Virginians at risk for the sole purpose of selling guns is just not worth it and I 'm pleased that the Judge agreed with me . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ been a target of gun-toting militia groups and other Second Amendment fetishists for years .
The COVID-19 pandemic has , like most things in our society , magnified these frictions .
Northam has been responding to the alarming rise in cases in his state and elsewhere , telling reporters that mandating smaller gatherings was prompted by what he 's seen going on around the country in places that did n't act fast enough or accordingly .
`` What really affected me is seeing mobile morgues outside of hospitals because there 's no place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't want that to happen in Virginia . ''
The problem for the gun show folks is that under the new guidelines , both public and private gatherings must not exceed 25 people at any given time .
This is a reduction from 250 , and clearly dampens the Nation 's Gun Show attendance .
Attorney General Mark R. Herring said he would fight this claim for exemption because , as seems obvious to most but clearly not to the gun fetishists , `` Holding a massive gun show for the sole purpose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disastrous toll it will take on the health of our communities . ''
Showmasters , Inc. is argueing that the state was regulating their gun show while Virginia 's AG explained that Northam 's executive order only regulates the Dulles Expo Center .
The point being , you can still have your gun show , you just have to conduct it in a much safer way , with certain parameters put around you .
This is an important distinction for some .
For others , it 's easy to just point to superspreader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South Dakota .
That event , held in early August , is believed by many experts to have led to at least a quarter of a million people contracting the virus over the weeks and months after it .
Meanwhile , South Dakota 's Republican governor—the one who pooh poohed all talk of social distancing and mask mandates , the one who allowed the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to go on and infect her state and dozens of others—is busy scamming Trump 's fraud MAGA-mites into giving her money for her reelection campaign while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months of the virus .

One of the saddest parts of the conservative movement is how full of bullshit it is. Republican officials fan the fires of freedom, while offering nothing to ameliorate the crisis conditions of the Americans they pretend to represent. In so doing, they get their base all frothed up, carrying guns, calling elections fraudulent, practicing unsafe public health habits, only to then leave them out in the lurch when the proverbial shit hits the fan. We are now in an unchecked pandemic and Republican officials have finally begun ripping away all of those "individual freedoms" they pretended they cared about when there was still an election to win.
Unfortunately, their voting base is still under the impression that surging COVID-19 cases and our stressed medical infrastructure are all secondary concerns when it comes to their snowflake feelings of anxiety and resentment. The Washington Post reported that a Virginia gun show organizer was trying to get an exemption from the state's newly tightened COVID-19 restrictions. Showmasters, Inc. argued that these new restrictions will shut down their weekend-long "Nation's Gun Show" exhibition, which is scheduled to start on Friday at Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly. Don't tread on being a self-absorbed and dangerous prick! Good news? Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring successfully trod all over their silly dangerous madness. On Thursday he tweeted out that "I have successfully BLOCKED a massive gun show from operating at full capacity this weekend in NOVA. Putting hundreds or even thousands of Virginians at risk for the sole purpose of selling guns is just not worth it and I'm pleased that the Judge agreed with me."
Virginia's Gov. Ralph Northam has been a target of gun-toting militia groups and other Second Amendment fetishists for years. The COVID-19 pandemic has, like most things in our society, magnified these frictions. Northam has been responding to the alarming rise in cases in his state and elsewhere, telling reporters that mandating smaller gatherings was prompted by what he's seen going on around the country in places that didn't act fast enough or accordingly. "What really affected me is seeing mobile morgues outside of hospitals because there's no place to put the dead. We don't want that to happen in Virginia."
The problem for the gun show folks is that under the new guidelines, both public and private gatherings must not exceed 25 people at any given time. This is a reduction from 250, and clearly dampens the Nation's Gun Show attendance. Attorney General Mark R. Herring said he would fight this claim for exemption because, as seems obvious to most but clearly not to the gun fetishists, "Holding a massive gun show for the sole purpose of selling firearms is not worth the disastrous toll it will take on the health of our communities."
Showmasters, Inc. is argueing that the state was regulating their gun show while Virginia's AG explained that Northam's executive order only regulates the Dulles Expo Center. The point being, you can still have your gun show, you just have to conduct it in a much safer way, with certain parameters put around you. This is an important distinction for some. For others, it's easy to just point to superspreader events like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. That event, held in early August, is believed by many experts to have led to at least a quarter of a million people contracting the virus over the weeks and months after it.
Meanwhile, South Dakota's Republican governor—the one who pooh poohed all talk of social distancing and mask mandates, the one who allowed the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to go on and infect her state and dozens of others—is busy scamming Trump's fraud MAGA-mites into giving her money for her reelection campaign while her state sees the fastest-growing cases in months of the virus.


alternet--2020-11-20--Fox News goes off the rails when Trump's friend admits the 2020 election is over

An airing of Fox News ' `` The Five '' turned into a shouting match on Thursday evening when host Geraldo Rivera , a friend of President Donald Trump , urged his fellow panelists to admit that the scheme to overturn the result of the 2020 election was doomed .
The incident followed a truly bizarre and dangerous press conference featuring Rudy Giuliani and others on the president 's legal team , who pushed conspiratorial and fictitious narratives to argue that Trump actually won the election , rather than President-elect Joe Biden .
These claims are preposterous and have no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a disinformation campaign the president has been fueling for years to discount the possibility that he could ever lose an election .
Rivera seemed to admit as much on Thursday when he listed a litany of particularly ridiculous details Giuliani and others have tried to cram into the conspiracy fiction .
`` The Clinton Foundation ?
George Soros ?
Hugo Chavez ? ''
Rivera said incredulously to his fellow panelists .
`` An international conspiracy ?
Why not Elvis ? ''
Jesse Watters , the lead host of the show , began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the evidence the Trump team has put forward is worth examining .
Other hosts chimed in too with indecipherable crosstalk .
`` I did n't say anything about that , '' Watters shouted .
`` I 'm talking sworn affidavits .
As a lawyer , you should recognize the validity of that ! ''
`` I love the president !
I wanted him to win the election , '' said Rivera , speaking over Watters .
`` What I saw with Rudy Giuliani , who I 've known for decades , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was conspiracy theory , this and that .
When you have evidence that you suggest — what 's the lawsuit that that evidence attaches to ?
What 's the action ?
You ca n't go to a court and say , 'It 's fraud , judge , prove it for me !
Or ask the FBI to prove it for me ! '
That 's not the way it happens ! ''
`` They have three pending lawsuits right now , in three different states , '' Watters said .
In fact , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawsuits in the election and has lost all but one of them , affecting an insignificant number of ballots .
`` They dropped Michigan !
They dropped Pennsylvania ! ''
Rivera shot back .
`` We 're giving false hope !
We 're giving false hope to people . ''
`` Geraldo , you as an American should want everybody to be confident in the results of the election , '' said Watters .
`` This is false hope ! ''
Rivera interjected again .
`` And if you do n't pursue these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to feel like it was crooked !
You do n't want that ! ''
said Watters .
This last point from Watters was particularly pernicious .
He cast himself as some who cares about public faith in the election , but he is actually tearing away at this faith by giving credence to bogus claims promoted by Trump and his allies .
Trump has told an endless stream of demonstrable lies about the election while asking supporters to submit affidavits to back up these claims .
And he has outright told his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it 's being stolen from him , not that there are some claims that need to be evaluated by the legal system .
It 's a disinformation campaign , and it 's clear intent it to fuel distrust in the process , Biden 's win , and his forthcoming administration .
Watters is playing his role in that campaign just as expected .

An airing of Fox News' "The Five" turned into a shouting match on Thursday evening when host Geraldo Rivera, a friend of President Donald Trump, urged his fellow panelists to admit that the scheme to overturn the result of the 2020 election was doomed.
The incident followed a truly bizarre and dangerous press conference featuring Rudy Giuliani and others on the president's legal team, who pushed conspiratorial and fictitious narratives to argue that Trump actually won the election, rather than President-elect Joe Biden. These claims are preposterous and have no factual support, but they are part of a disinformation campaign the president has been fueling for years to discount the possibility that he could ever lose an election.
Rivera seemed to admit as much on Thursday when he listed a litany of particularly ridiculous details Giuliani and others have tried to cram into the conspiracy fiction.
"The Clinton Foundation? George Soros? Hugo Chavez?" Rivera said incredulously to his fellow panelists. "An international conspiracy? Why not Elvis?"
Jesse Watters, the lead host of the show, began shouting at Rivera and defending his view that the evidence the Trump team has put forward is worth examining. Other hosts chimed in too with indecipherable crosstalk.
"I didn't say anything about that," Watters shouted. "I'm talking sworn affidavits. As a lawyer, you should recognize the validity of that!"
"I love the president! I wanted him to win the election," said Rivera, speaking over Watters. "What I saw with Rudy Giuliani, who I've known for decades, was bizarre, it was unfocused. It was conspiracy theory, this and that. When you have evidence that you suggest — what's the lawsuit that that evidence attaches to? What's the action? You can't go to a court and say, 'It's fraud, judge, prove it for me! Or ask the FBI to prove it for me!' That's not the way it happens!"
"They have three pending lawsuits right now, in three different states," Watters said. In fact, the Trump side has filed over 30 lawsuits in the election and has lost all but one of them, affecting an insignificant number of ballots.
"They dropped Michigan! They dropped Pennsylvania!" Rivera shot back. "We're giving false hope! We're giving false hope to people."
"Geraldo, you as an American should want everybody to be confident in the results of the election," said Watters.
"This is false hope!" Rivera interjected again.
"And if you don't pursue these fraud allegations, half the country is going to feel like it was crooked! You don't want that!" said Watters.
This last point from Watters was particularly pernicious. He cast himself as some who cares about public faith in the election, but he is actually tearing away at this faith by giving credence to bogus claims promoted by Trump and his allies. Trump has told an endless stream of demonstrable lies about the election while asking supporters to submit affidavits to back up these claims. And he has outright told his followers that he won the election and it's being stolen from him, not that there are some claims that need to be evaluated by the legal system. It's a disinformation campaign, and it's clear intent it to fuel distrust in the process, Biden's win, and his forthcoming administration. Watters is playing his role in that campaign just as expected.
Watch the clip below:


That 's how much Trump charged the federal government for a glass of water in April of 2018 when he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met at Trump 's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida .
According to the Washington Pos t , Trump 's company also charged the government `` $ 13,700 for guest rooms , $ 16,500 for food and wine and $ 6,000 for the roses and other floral arrangements , '' over the two days he held meetings with Abe at the resort .
But one day , Trump was scheduled to meet with Abe without aides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or cocktails or any other celebratory nonsense .
Just the two leaders , alone in a room , talking .
According to the Post , the bill for that day contained a line item reading , `` Bilateral meeting .
Water .
$ 3.00 each . ''
Donald Trump has been paid `` at least $ 2.5 million by the U.S. government , '' since taking office , according to official documents obtained by the Post .
Trump has made more than 280 visits to his own hotels and golf clubs over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ covered costs for `` hotel rooms , ballrooms , cottages , rental houses , golf carts , votive candles , floating candles , candelabras , furniture moving , resort fees , decorative palm trees , strip steak , chocolate cake , breakfast buffets , $ 88 bottles of wine and $ 1,000 worth of liquor for White House aides . ''
according to the Post .
And water .
A total of six bucks for water , no charge being too small to make it onto a bill to the government for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the man who owns the Trump Organization and everything it comprises , including his resort in Palm Beach .
It 's apparently a good part of what the Trump base likes about him — his appetites , his pure , unadulterated , money-grubbing-right-down-to- $ 3-for-water greed .
Trump has wanted more his entire life .
He wants more money , of course .
He has spent a lifetime in pursuit of more money , and then some more , and more and more .
He borrowed so much money in pursuit of even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bankruptcy , several bankruptcies in fact .
Today , as president , he is said to be in debt for nearly $ 1 billion to banks and other lenders , a debt that will come due within the next few years , according to the New York Times and other reports .
Trump wants more fame , a drive that started off with mentions in gossip columns like the New York Post 's `` Page Six , '' during the years he was coming into his own as a builder in New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ columnists and plant items about himself , posing as a PR person , and then he would call the columnists the next day and comment on their mention of him in order to gain yet another column inch or two in the tabloids .
Some said he ran for president back in 2016 to `` burnish his brand , '' to achieve even more fame and use it to make even more money .
Since he became president , he has been relentless in his pursuit of attention , tweeting at all hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give him enough coverage , calling in to shows like `` Fox & Friends '' and `` Hannity '' both to reward them for the coverage they 've already given him , and to get more coverage .
He wants more women , from wife No .
1 , Ivana , when he was just starting out , to wife No .
2 , Marla Maples , after he jettisoned Ivana , and now wife No .
3 , Melania , who replaced No .
2 when he determined she had a few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then there were all the women in between , in and among his marriages , the women he groped on airplanes and at bars and during parties , the women he ( allegedly ) raped in places like a Bergdorf 's dressing room or a hotel room or a bathroom during a party , the women whose mouths he forced his tongue down , the women he pushed up against walls and pressed himself against , the women whose bodies he commented on in offices or across rooms , the women whose skirts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tables , the women whose breasts he grabbed at tennis tournaments and beauty pageants , the women whose rear ends he grabbed in green rooms before television show tapings , the women he dragged behind curtains at New Year 's Eve parties and forcibly kissed and groped .
All of those women .
Trump wanted their bodies and their mouths and he took them without asking permission because he was Donald Trump , and he took what he wanted .
He wanted more golf , so he played more golf more frequently than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so much golf that he went around the world buying and building his own golf courses , and then he played them , because he owned them , and because he owned the golf carts , as president he could charge the government for his own Secret Service agents .
He could even charge the government for the hotel rooms the agents stayed in while they protected him .
He charged the government $ 17,000 a month for a cottage at his Bedminster , New Jersey , golf course , which the Secret @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just in case he had a mind to play a round of golf .
Trump wants more adulation , more love from the `` base , '' and when he feels he is n't getting enough , he tweets .
There are n't enough hours in the day for Donald Trump .
He was up at 3 a.m. this week , tweeting about the Supreme Court , the court to which he has appointed three arch-conservative justices , yelling at them for their recent decisions allowing mail-in votes to be counted after Election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wants more votes .
He 's been up at 3 a.m. tweeting before , taunting a Miss Universe contestant for a `` sex tape , '' taunting CNN as `` low rated , '' bragging about his debate performance , yelling at polls that show him losing .
And now Trump is making his final campaign swing through the `` battleground states , '' feeding the insatiable need of his base for more of himself .
`` Four more years '' has become `` 12 more years . ''
Somehow Trump is owed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they '' took two or three years away from him during the Russia investigation , because `` they '' spied on his 2016 campaign , because `` they '' do n't deserve to win .
The red-hat-wearing mobs of un-masked fans at his rallies want more of the America they think Trump is bringing back to them .
It 's an America that is more white , has more guns , has more churches , more of `` us , '' less of `` them . ''
That 's what they like about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same way he does .
That 's what opposition to affirmative action has always been .
They do n't want some of the college admissions , they want them all .
That 's what Shelby County v. Holder was about , that 's what voter IDs and all the restrictive rules about voting by mail are about .
They want all the votes .
For the Trump base , making America great again means making America ours again , but he 's going to make sure he puts it on their tab @ @ @ @ @ @ @ water and $ 546 for rooms and $ 50 for decorative palm trees for table decorations and $ 1,005.60 for 26 servings of Patron and Don Julio tequila , 22 Chopin vodkas , and six glasses of Woodford Reserve bourbon consumed by White House staffers at the Mar-a-Lago bar .
It 's going to cost us more than votes to get our country back .
We 're going to be paying for Trump 's insatiable greed long after he 's gone .
More than 228,000 of us have already paid with our lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — 98,500 new cases and more than 900 dead — a half million of us may perish by the time Trump walks out of the White House for the last time .

Remember this number: $3.
That's how much Trump charged the federal government for a glass of water in April of 2018 when he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. According to the Washington Pos t, Trump's company also charged the government "$13,700 for guest rooms, $16,500 for food and wine and $6,000 for the roses and other floral arrangements," over the two days he held meetings with Abe at the resort. But one day, Trump was scheduled to meet with Abe without aides and advisers, with no meal service or cocktails or any other celebratory nonsense. Just the two leaders, alone in a room, talking. According to the Post, the bill for that day contained a line item reading, "Bilateral meeting. Water. $3.00 each."
Donald Trump has been paid "at least $2.5 million by the U.S. government," since taking office, according to official documents obtained by the Post. Trump has made more than 280 visits to his own hotels and golf clubs over the last four years, and the payments covered costs for "hotel rooms, ballrooms, cottages, rental houses, golf carts, votive candles, floating candles, candelabras, furniture moving, resort fees, decorative palm trees, strip steak, chocolate cake, breakfast buffets, $88 bottles of wine and $1,000 worth of liquor for White House aides." according to the Post.
And water. A total of six bucks for water, no charge being too small to make it onto a bill to the government for a payment going straight into the pocket of the man who owns the Trump Organization and everything it comprises, including his resort in Palm Beach.
It's apparently a good part of what the Trump base likes about him — his appetites, his pure, unadulterated, money-grubbing-right-down-to-$3-for-water greed. Trump has wanted more his entire life. He wants more money, of course. He has spent a lifetime in pursuit of more money, and then some more, and more and more. He borrowed so much money in pursuit of even more money that it drove him into bankruptcy, several bankruptcies in fact. Today, as president, he is said to be in debt for nearly $1 billion to banks and other lenders, a debt that will come due within the next few years, according to the New York Times and other reports.
Trump wants more fame, a drive that started off with mentions in gossip columns like the New York Post's "Page Six," during the years he was coming into his own as a builder in New York City. He used to call gossip columnists and plant items about himself, posing as a PR person, and then he would call the columnists the next day and comment on their mention of him in order to gain yet another column inch or two in the tabloids. Some said he ran for president back in 2016 to "burnish his brand," to achieve even more fame and use it to make even more money. Since he became president, he has been relentless in his pursuit of attention, tweeting at all hours, criticizing cable networks who don't give him enough coverage, calling in to shows like "Fox & Friends" and "Hannity" both to reward them for the coverage they've already given him, and to get more coverage.
He wants more women, from wife No. 1, Ivana, when he was just starting out, to wife No. 2, Marla Maples, after he jettisoned Ivana, and now wife No. 3, Melania, who replaced No. 2 when he determined she had a few too many miles on her. And then there were all the women in between, in and among his marriages, the women he groped on airplanes and at bars and during parties, the women he (allegedly) raped in places like a Bergdorf's dressing room or a hotel room or a bathroom during a party, the women whose mouths he forced his tongue down, the women he pushed up against walls and pressed himself against, the women whose bodies he commented on in offices or across rooms, the women whose skirts he put his hand up at restaurant tables, the women whose breasts he grabbed at tennis tournaments and beauty pageants, the women whose rear ends he grabbed in green rooms before television show tapings, the women he dragged behind curtains at New Year's Eve parties and forcibly kissed and groped. All of those women. Trump wanted their bodies and their mouths and he took them without asking permission because he was Donald Trump, and he took what he wanted.
He wanted more golf, so he played more golf more frequently than any president before him. He wanted so much golf that he went around the world buying and building his own golf courses, and then he played them, because he owned them, and because he owned the golf carts, as president he could charge the government for his own Secret Service agents. He could even charge the government for the hotel rooms the agents stayed in while they protected him. He charged the government $17,000 a month for a cottage at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course, which the Secret Service had to rent month after month just in case he had a mind to play a round of golf.
Trump wants more adulation, more love from the "base," and when he feels he isn't getting enough, he tweets. There aren't enough hours in the day for Donald Trump. He was up at 3 a.m. this week, tweeting about the Supreme Court, the court to which he has appointed three arch-conservative justices, yelling at them for their recent decisions allowing mail-in votes to be counted after Election Day, because of course, he wants more votes. He's been up at 3 a.m. tweeting before, taunting a Miss Universe contestant for a "sex tape," taunting CNN as "low rated," bragging about his debate performance, yelling at polls that show him losing.
And now Trump is making his final campaign swing through the "battleground states," feeding the insatiable need of his base for more of himself. "Four more years" has become "12 more years." Somehow Trump is owed more years of the presidency because "they" took two or three years away from him during the Russia investigation, because "they" spied on his 2016 campaign, because "they" don't deserve to win. The red-hat-wearing mobs of un-masked fans at his rallies want more of the America they think Trump is bringing back to them. It's an America that is more white, has more guns, has more churches, more of "us," less of "them."
That's what they like about him. They want it all, the same way he does. That's what opposition to affirmative action has always been. They don't want some of the college admissions, they want them all. That's what Shelby County v. Holder was about, that's what voter IDs and all the restrictive rules about voting by mail are about. They want all the votes.
For the Trump base, making America great again means making America ours again, but he's going to make sure he puts it on their tab, right there with $3 for water and $546 for rooms and $50 for decorative palm trees for table decorations and $1,005.60 for 26 servings of Patron and Don Julio tequila, 22 Chopin vodkas, and six glasses of Woodford Reserve bourbon consumed by White House staffers at the Mar-a-Lago bar. It's going to cost us more than votes to get our country back. We're going to be paying for Trump's insatiable greed long after he's gone. More than 228,000 of us have already paid with our lives. If the Friday totals keep up — 98,500 new cases and more than 900 dead — a half million of us may perish by the time Trump walks out of the White House for the last time.