alternet--2020-11-30--GOP Gov. Brian Kemp tells Trump he won’t break the law to help him steal Georgia

Republican Georgia Gov .
Brian Kemp on Monday responded to President Donald Trump 's latest attacks , in which the president demanded he conduct an impossible-to-perform election audit .
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Kemp 's office responded to Trump on Monday and told him that the governor would not break the law to help him overturn the already-certified Georgia election results .
In particular , Kemp 's office took issue with Trump 's demand that he overrule Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to conduct a signature-match audit of ballots , despite the fact that voters ' signatures were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ send in ballots , not the ballots themselves .
`` Georgia law prohibits the governor from interfering in elections , '' said Kemp spokesman Cody Hall .
`` The Secretary of State , who is an elected constitutional officer , has oversight over elections that can not be overridden by executive order . ''
Hall then insisted that Kemp would continue to follow the law and would not actively try to overturn the election results for the president .
`` As the governor has said repeatedly , he will continue to follow the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take reasonable steps — including a sample audit of signatures — to restore trust and address serious issues that have been raised , '' he said .

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday responded to President Donald Trump's latest attacks, in which the president demanded he conduct an impossible-to-perform election audit.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Kemp's office responded to Trump on Monday and told him that the governor would not break the law to help him overturn the already-certified Georgia election results.
In particular, Kemp's office took issue with Trump's demand that he overrule Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to conduct a signature-match audit of ballots, despite the fact that voters' signatures were only used on the envelopes used to send in ballots, not the ballots themselves.
"Georgia law prohibits the governor from interfering in elections," said Kemp spokesman Cody Hall. "The Secretary of State, who is an elected constitutional officer, has oversight over elections that cannot be overridden by executive order."
Hall then insisted that Kemp would continue to follow the law and would not actively try to overturn the election results for the president.
"As the governor has said repeatedly, he will continue to follow the law and encourage the Secretary of State to take reasonable steps — including a sample audit of signatures — to restore trust and address serious issues that have been raised," he said.


alternet--2020-11-30--Passing the 'stress test': Meet the Republicans in key battleground states who rejected Trump electi

Passing the 'stress test': Meet the Republicans in key battleground states who rejected Trump election assault

Critics of President Donald Trump — from liberals and progressives to right-wing Never Trump conservatives — are slamming Republicans in Congress who refuse to publicly acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect or speak out against Trump 's election-related lawsuits .
But New York Times reporters Peter Baker and Kathleen Gray , in an article published on November 28 , emphasize that in key battleground states , some of the people who have refused to indulge Team Trump 's legal challenges and bogus election fraud claims are Republicans .
`` If the president hoped Republicans across the country would fall in line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election was somehow rigged on a mammoth scale by a nefarious multinational conspiracy , he was in for a surprise , '' Baker and Gray explain .
`` Republicans in Washington may have indulged Mr. Trump 's fantastical assertions , but at the state and local level , Republicans played a critical role in resisting the mounting pressure from their own party to overturn the vote after Mr. Trump fell behind on November 3 . ''
Team Trump has been challenging the election results in Pennsylvania , Michigan , Arizona , Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states that Trump won in 2016 but were flipped by Biden in 2020 .
Altogether , Biden won 306 electoral votes , which is exactly how many Trump won four years ago .
`` The three weeks that followed ( the November 3 election ) tested American democracy and demonstrated that the two-century-old system is far more vulnerable to subversion than many had imagined even though the incumbent president lost by 6 million votes nationwide , '' Baker and Gray note .
`` But in the end , the system stood firm against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president in the nation 's history because of a Republican city clerk in Michigan , a Republican secretary of state in Georgia , a Republican county supervisor in Arizona and Republican-appointed judges in Pennsylvania and elsewhere . ''
The Times reporters add , `` They refuted conspiracy theories , certified results , dismissed lawsuits and repudiated a president of their own party , leaving him to thunder about a supposed plot that would have had to include people who had voted for him , donated to him or even been appointed by him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ office over the will of the people effectively ended when his own director of the General Services Administration determined that Joseph R. Biden Jr. is the president-elect and a judge Mr. Trump put on the bench chastised him for ludicrous litigation . ''
In Pennsylvania , Trump 's legal team — including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani — has been trying to get millions of mail-in votes thrown out , claiming that Trump was the real winner in the Keystone State and that he was the victim of widespread voter fraud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stephanos Bibas — a Trump appointee — dismissed one of Team Trump 's Pennsylvania lawsuits , saying , `` charges of unfairness are serious .
But calling an election unfair does not make it so .
Charges require specific allegations and then proof .
We have neither here . ''
Other Republicans who have rejected Trump 's voter fraud claims , Baker and Gray point out , have ranged from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers .
However , Baker and Gray note that in Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who include Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue — both of whom called for his resignation — as well as Rep. Doug Collins .
Attorney Mark Aronchick , who has represented the City of Philadelphia in some of the lawsuits brought against it by the Trump campaign , believes that the legal system has worked well despite Trump 's willingness to abuse it .
`` This period of time , with all the things that the Trump campaign were throwing , I viewed as very much a stress test on what I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ best legal system the world has ever seen , in terms of independence of the judiciary and the rule of law , '' Aronchick told the Times .
`` And at both the state and federal level , the system has come through with flying colors . ''

Critics of President Donald Trump — from liberals and progressives to right-wing Never Trump conservatives — are slamming Republicans in Congress who refuse to publicly acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect or speak out against Trump's election-related lawsuits. But New York Times reporters Peter Baker and Kathleen Gray, in an article published on November 28, emphasize that in key battleground states, some of the people who have refused to indulge Team Trump's legal challenges and bogus election fraud claims are Republicans.
"If the president hoped Republicans across the country would fall in line behind his false and farcical claims that the election was somehow rigged on a mammoth scale by a nefarious multinational conspiracy, he was in for a surprise," Baker and Gray explain. "Republicans in Washington may have indulged Mr. Trump's fantastical assertions, but at the state and local level, Republicans played a critical role in resisting the mounting pressure from their own party to overturn the vote after Mr. Trump fell behind on November 3."
Team Trump has been challenging the election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, all of which are states that Trump won in 2016 but were flipped by Biden in 2020. Altogether, Biden won 306 electoral votes, which is exactly how many Trump won four years ago.
"The three weeks that followed (the November 3 election) tested American democracy and demonstrated that the two-century-old system is far more vulnerable to subversion than many had imagined even though the incumbent president lost by 6 million votes nationwide," Baker and Gray note. "But in the end, the system stood firm against the most intense assault from an aggrieved president in the nation's history because of a Republican city clerk in Michigan, a Republican secretary of state in Georgia, a Republican county supervisor in Arizona and Republican-appointed judges in Pennsylvania and elsewhere."
The Times reporters add, "They refuted conspiracy theories, certified results, dismissed lawsuits and repudiated a president of their own party, leaving him to thunder about a supposed plot that would have had to include people who had voted for him, donated to him or even been appointed by him. The desperate effort to hang onto office over the will of the people effectively ended when his own director of the General Services Administration determined that Joseph R. Biden Jr. is the president-elect and a judge Mr. Trump put on the bench chastised him for ludicrous litigation."
In Pennsylvania, Trump's legal team — including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani — has been trying to get millions of mail-in votes thrown out, claiming that Trump was the real winner in the Keystone State and that he was the victim of widespread voter fraud. But on November 27, Judge Stephanos Bibas — a Trump appointee — dismissed one of Team Trump's Pennsylvania lawsuits, saying, "charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here."
Other Republicans who have rejected Trump's voter fraud claims, Baker and Gray point out, have ranged from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers.
However, Baker and Gray note that in Georgia, Raffensperger is being lambasted by pro-Trump Republicans who include Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue — both of whom called for his resignation — as well as Rep. Doug Collins.
Attorney Mark Aronchick, who has represented the City of Philadelphia in some of the lawsuits brought against it by the Trump campaign, believes that the legal system has worked well despite Trump's willingness to abuse it.
"This period of time, with all the things that the Trump campaign were throwing, I viewed as very much a stress test on what I will shout from the rooftops is the best legal system the world has ever seen, in terms of independence of the judiciary and the rule of law," Aronchick told the Times. "And at both the state and federal level, the system has come through with flying colors."


alternet--2020-11-30--The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was a record-smasher. Will climate change make it worse?

Hurricanes Sally and Paulette , Tropical Depression Rene , and Tropical Storms Teddy and Vicky were all active on Sept. 14 , 2020 .
It was clear before the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season started that it was going to be busy .
Six months later , we 're looking back at a trail of broken records , and the storms may still not be over even with the season 's official end on Nov. 30 .
This season had the most named storms , with 30 , taking the record from the calamitous 2005 season that brought Hurricane Katrina to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second time the list of storm names was exhausted since naming began in the 1950s .
Ten storms underwent rapid intensification , a number not seen since 1995 .
Twelve made landfall in the U.S. , also setting a new record .
Six of those landfalling storms were hurricane strength , tying yet another record .
Tropical storm tracks show how busy the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was .
As atmospheric scientists , we target our research at better understanding both what drives the formation of tropical cyclones and how climate change is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Here 's what research tells us about the 2020 season and what may be ahead .
Why did 2020 have so many storms ?
An unfortunate combination of two key factors made this season ripe for tropical storms .
First , a La Niña pattern of cool surface waters developed in the equatorial Pacific , and it was stronger than anticipated .
Ironically , cooling in the equatorial Pacific makes it easier for tropical storms to form and gain strength in the Atlantic .
That 's because La Niña weakens the vertical wind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wind shear – a change in wind speeds with altitude – is highly disruptive to storm development .
As the La Niña pattern became established this season , it made the tropical Atlantic much more hospitable for storms to form and intensify .
Atlantic sea surface temperatures in September 2020 were warmer than the 1981-2010 average .
The second critical factor was the extremely warm temperatures in the Atlantic , including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean .
Hurricanes are powered by the transfer of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the maximum potential intensity a storm can attain under perfect conditions – it 's like a thermodynamic “ speed limit '' on hurricane intensity .
The sea surface temperature approached record levels in the Atlantic hurricane basin this season , including in September , the most active Atlantic storm month on record .
What does climate change have to do with it ?
An important part of this season 's story is the Atlantic warming trend we 're witnessing , which is unprecedented going back at least several millennia .
The oceans store @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greenhouse gases .
With greenhouse gas concentrations still increasing due to human activities , such as the burning of fossil fuels , average sea surface temperatures are likely to continue rising over the coming decades .
Whether climate change caused the extremely high number of storms this season is unclear .
There is no detectable trend in global hurricane frequency , and computer modeling studies have had conflicting results .
However , the warming climate is increasing the threat posed by hurricanes in other ways .
A growing proportion of high-intensity storms , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is being observed around the world , including in the Atlantic .
Since ocean temperature controls the potential intensity of tropical cyclones , climate change is likely behind this trend , which is expected to continue .
The U.S. is also seeing more storms with extreme rainfall .
Think about Hurricane Harvey 's 50 inches of rain in the Houston area in 2017 and Florence 's 30-plus inches in North Carolina in 2018 .
The warming climate plays a key role here , too .
With warmer temperatures , more water is able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in greater moisture in the air .
Ten storms this season underwent rapid intensification – a 35 mph increase in maximum winds within 24 hours .
Rapidly intensifying storms are especially dangerous because 1 ) they are challenging to accurately predict , and 2 ) they provide minimal time for evacuations when they intensify just before making landfall .
Satellite instruments capture Hurricane Iota making landfall in Nicaragua on Nov. 16 .
The image shows the temperature of cloud tops , which tells scientists how tall the clouds are .
Hurricanes Laura and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ landfall on the Gulf Coast this season .
Eta rapidly intensified to a Category 4 just before hitting Nicaragua , and just two weeks later , Iota essentially repeated the act in the same location .
Forecasts for the tracks or paths of tropical cyclones have dramatically improved in recent decades , as much as five days in advance .
However , forecasts of storm formation and intensification have improved very little by comparison .
The forecasts for hurricane rapid intensification are especially poor .
While the official forecasts issued by the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they greatly depend on the guidance of numerical prediction models , which are very inaccurate when it comes to rapid intensification .
Addressing this issue therefore hinges on researchers ' ability to improve the accuracy of numerical prediction models .
The complexity of weather models makes this a daunting challenge .
However , it becomes more tractable as researchers learn more about how hurricanes form and intensify and identify the root causes for errors in computer model predictions .
[ Deep knowledge , daily .
Sign up for The Conversation 's newsletter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clouds create their own greenhouse effect , trapping heat that causes hurricanes to form and intensify more quickly .
Improving how numerical models account for this cloud feedback may ultimately hold promise for more accurate forecasts .
Innovative ways of collecting new measurements in developing storms , down to their smallest scales , will also be necessary for guiding these improvements .
Given the upward trend in high-intensity storms , the risks from these storms will only grow .
The ability to accurately predict how and when they will form , intensify and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

Hurricanes Sally and Paulette, Tropical Depression Rene, and Tropical Storms Teddy and Vicky were all active on Sept. 14, 2020.
NOAA
James H. Ruppert Jr., Penn State and Allison Wing, Florida State University
It was clear before the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season started that it was going to be busy. Six months later, we're looking back at a trail of broken records, and the storms may still not be over even with the season's official end on Nov. 30.
This season had the most named storms, with 30, taking the record from the calamitous 2005 season that brought Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans. It was only the second time the list of storm names was exhausted since naming began in the 1950s.
Ten storms underwent rapid intensification, a number not seen since 1995. Twelve made landfall in the U.S., also setting a new record. Six of those landfalling storms were hurricane strength, tying yet another record.
Tropical storm tracks show how busy the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was.
Brian McNoldy, CC BY-ND
As atmosphericscientists, we target our research at better understanding both what drives the formation of tropical cyclones and how climate change is affecting them on longer time scales. Here's what research tells us about the 2020 season and what may be ahead.
Why did 2020 have so many storms?
An unfortunate combination of two key factors made this season ripe for tropical storms.
First, a La Niña pattern of cool surface waters developed in the equatorial Pacific, and it was stronger than anticipated.
Ironically, cooling in the equatorial Pacific makes it easier for tropical storms to form and gain strength in the Atlantic. That's because La Niña weakens the vertical wind shear over the tropical Atlantic. Vertical wind shear – a change in wind speeds with altitude – is highly disruptive to storm development.
As the La Niña pattern became established this season, it made the tropical Atlantic much more hospitable for storms to form and intensify.
Atlantic sea surface temperatures in September 2020 were warmer than the 1981-2010 average.
NOAA
The second critical factor was the extremely warm temperatures in the Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
Hurricanes are powered by the transfer of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere. The sea surface temperature therefore dictates the maximum potential intensity a storm can attain under perfect conditions – it's like a thermodynamic “speed limit" on hurricane intensity.
The sea surface temperature approached record levels in the Atlantic hurricane basin this season, including in September, the most active Atlantic storm month on record.
What does climate change have to do with it?
An important part of this season's story is the Atlantic warming trend we're witnessing, which is unprecedented going back at least several millennia.
The oceans store much of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. With greenhouse gas concentrations still increasing due to human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, average sea surface temperatures are likely to continue rising over the coming decades.
Whether climate change caused the extremely high number of storms this season is unclear. There is no detectable trend in global hurricane frequency, and computer modeling studies have had conflicting results.
However, the warming climate is increasing the threat posed by hurricanes in other ways.
A growing proportion of high-intensity storms, Category 3, 4 and 5, is being observed around the world, including in the Atlantic. Since ocean temperature controls the potential intensity of tropical cyclones, climate change is likely behind this trend, which is expected to continue.
The U.S. is also seeing more storms with extreme rainfall. Think about Hurricane Harvey's 50 inches of rain in the Houston area in 2017 and Florence's 30-plus inches in North Carolina in 2018. The warming climate plays a key role here, too. With warmer temperatures, more water is able to evaporate into the atmosphere, resulting in greater moisture in the air.
Implications of the 2020 season
Ten storms this season underwent rapid intensification – a 35 mph increase in maximum winds within 24 hours. Rapidly intensifying storms are especially dangerous because 1) they are challenging to accurately predict, and 2) they provide minimal time for evacuations when they intensify just before making landfall.
Satellite instruments capture Hurricane Iota making landfall in Nicaragua on Nov. 16. The image shows the temperature of cloud tops, which tells scientists how tall the clouds are.
NOAA; James H. Ruppert Jr.
Hurricanes Laura and Sally both rapidly intensified just before making landfall on the Gulf Coast this season. Eta rapidly intensified to a Category 4 just before hitting Nicaragua, and just two weeks later, Iota essentially repeated the act in the same location.
Forecasts for the tracks or paths of tropical cyclones have dramatically improved in recent decades, as much as five days in advance. However, forecasts of storm formation and intensification have improved very little by comparison.
The forecasts for hurricane rapid intensification are especially poor.
While the official forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center are issued by human forecasters, they greatly depend on the guidance of numerical prediction models, which are very inaccurate when it comes to rapid intensification. Addressing this issue therefore hinges on researchers' ability to improve the accuracy of numerical prediction models.
The complexity of weather models makes this a daunting challenge. However, it becomes more tractable as researchers learn more about how hurricanes form and intensify and identify the root causes for errors in computer model predictions.
[Deep knowledge, daily.Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]
Our latest research explores how clouds create their own greenhouse effect, trapping heat that causes hurricanes to form and intensify more quickly. Improving how numerical models account for this cloud feedback may ultimately hold promise for more accurate forecasts. Innovative ways of collecting new measurements in developing storms, down to their smallest scales, will also be necessary for guiding these improvements.
Given the upward trend in high-intensity storms, the risks from these storms will only grow. The ability to accurately predict how and when they will form, intensify and threaten coastal populations is crucial.
James H. Ruppert Jr., Assistant Research Professor, Penn State and Allison Wing, Assistant Professor of Meteorology, Florida State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


alternet--2020-11-30--GOP congressman slams Trump’s 'baseless conspiracy' claiming the FBI helped 'rig' the election

When President Donald Trump was interviewed by Fox News ' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday , November 29 , he not only doubled down on his claim that he was the victim of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election — he also pointed the finger at the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice .
And Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois is calling him out for it .
Appearing on Fox News ' `` Sunday Morning Futures , '' Trump told Bartiromo , `` This is total fraud .
And how the FBI and Department of Justice — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involved , but how people are getting away with this stuff , it 's unbelievable . ''
The 42-year-old Kinzinger , who represents Illinois ' 16th Congressional District , was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and was reelected on November 3 , defeating Democratic challenger Dani Brzozowski .
Trump 's claim that the DOJ is working against him is laughable in light of the fact that the DOJ is headed by Attorney General William Barr , who has been a consistent Trump loyalist and has backed the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some responses to Kinzinger 's tweet :

When President Donald Trump was interviewed by Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, November 29, he not only doubled down on his claim that he was the victim of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election — he also pointed the finger at the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. And Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois is calling him out for it.
Appearing on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Trump told Bartiromo, "This is total fraud. And how the FBI and Department of Justice — I don't know —maybe they're involved, but how people are getting away with this stuff, it's unbelievable."
In response, Kinzinger tweeted:
The 42-year-old Kinzinger, who represents Illinois' 16th Congressional District, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and was reelected on November 3, defeating Democratic challenger Dani Brzozowski.
Trump's claim that the DOJ is working against him is laughable in light of the fact that the DOJ is headed by Attorney General William Barr, who has been a consistent Trump loyalist and has backed the president time and time again.
Here are some responses to Kinzinger's tweet:


alternet--2020-11-30--Conservative National Review trashes Trump for his ‘disgraceful’ conduct after losing to Joe Biden

The editors of the conservative National Review kicked off Monday morning with an editorial calling out Donald Trump for his `` disgraceful '' conduct since losing the 2020 presidential election to former Vice President Joe Biden , saying the outgoing president is damaging the public 's faith in the government .
The Review has long been the voice of mainstream conservatism since its founding in 1955 by author William F. Buckley Jr .
Prior to the 2016 election , the Review warned the Republican Party against the now-outgoing president with a special edition with a headline blaring `` Against Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York businessman was `` a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones . ''
However , following Trump 's surprise election win in November of 2016 , the conservative outlet quickly fell in line .
That was then , this is now .
With the president refusing to accept his loss and concede the election to his opponent , the Review 's editors scolded him for his `` flailing '' attempts to get the courts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` President Trump said the other day that he 'd leave office if he loses the vote of the Electoral College on December 14 , '' the editorial began .
`` This is not the kind of assurance presidents of the United States typically need to make , but it was noteworthy given Trump 's disgraceful conduct since losing his bid for reelection to Joe Biden on November 3 . ''
The editors then added , `` the president ca n't stand to admit that he lost and so has insisted since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he really won — and won 'by a lot . '
'' The editors then took the president to task for his legal maneuvering to overturn the will of the voters , writing : `` The chief driver of the post-election contention of the past several weeks is the petulant refusal of one man to accept the verdict of the American people .
The Trump team ( and much of the GOP ) is working backwards , desperately trying to find something , anything to support the president 's aggrieved feelings , rather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as warranted , '' before adding , `` …nothing that the Trump team has alleged has withstood the slightest scrutiny .
In particular , it 's hard to find much that is remotely true in the president 's Twitter feed these days . ''
Following a review of a few of the nearly 40 defeats the president and his supporters have suffered in the courts , the editorial all but said it 's time for Trump to get on with his life because the law is not on his side .
`` The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintains , that the Supreme Court is going to take up this case and issue a game-changing ruling is fantastical .
Conservative judges have consistently rejected Trump 's flailing legal appeals , and the justices are unlikely to have a different reaction , '' they wrote before concluding , `` Getting defeated in a national election is a blow to the ego of even the most thick-skinned politicians and inevitably engenders personal feelings of bitterness and anger .
What America has long expected is that losing candidates swallow those feelings and at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's not capable of it , he should at least stop waging war on the outcome . ''
You can read the whole piece here .

The editors of the conservative National Review kicked off Monday morning with an editorial calling out Donald Trump for his "disgraceful" conduct since losing the 2020 presidential election to former Vice President Joe Biden, saying the outgoing president is damaging the public's faith in the government.
The Review has long been the voice of mainstream conservatism since its founding in 1955 by author William F. Buckley Jr.
Prior to the 2016 election, the Review warned the Republican Party against the now-outgoing president with a special edition with a headline blaring "Against Trump," with the editors writing the New York businessman was "a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones."
However, following Trump's surprise election win in November of 2016, the conservative outlet quickly fell in line.
That was then, this is now.
With the president refusing to accept his loss and concede the election to his opponent, the Review's editors scolded him for his "flailing" attempts to get the courts to hand the election to him instead.
"President Trump said the other day that he'd leave office if he loses the vote of the Electoral College on December 14," the editorial began. "This is not the kind of assurance presidents of the United States typically need to make, but it was noteworthy given Trump's disgraceful conduct since losing his bid for reelection to Joe Biden on November 3."
The editors then added, "the president can't stand to admit that he lost and so has insisted since the wee hours of Election Night that he really won — and won 'by a lot.'"
The editors then took the president to task for his legal maneuvering to overturn the will of the voters, writing: "The chief driver of the post-election contention of the past several weeks is the petulant refusal of one man to accept the verdict of the American people. The Trump team (and much of the GOP) is working backwards, desperately trying to find something, anything to support the president's aggrieved feelings, rather than objectively considering the evidence and reacting as warranted," before adding, "…nothing that the Trump team has alleged has withstood the slightest scrutiny. In particular, it's hard to find much that is remotely true in the president's Twitter feed these days."
Following a review of a few of the nearly 40 defeats the president and his supporters have suffered in the courts, the editorial all but said it's time for Trump to get on with his life because the law is not on his side.
"The idea, as the Trump team stalwartly maintains, that the Supreme Court is going to take up this case and issue a game-changing ruling is fantastical. Conservative judges have consistently rejected Trump's flailing legal appeals, and the justices are unlikely to have a different reaction," they wrote before concluding, "Getting defeated in a national election is a blow to the ego of even the most thick-skinned politicians and inevitably engenders personal feelings of bitterness and anger. What America has long expected is that losing candidates swallow those feelings and at least pretend to be gracious. If Trump's not capable of it, he should at least stop waging war on the outcome."
You can read the whole piece here.


alternet--2020-11-30--Moderna submitting its COVID-19 vaccine to the FDA for emergency approval

It 's a day we 've waited for : Moderna is applying for Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for its coronavirus vaccine .
The drug manufacturer announced updated data on the vaccine trial , showing 94.1 % effectiveness , in line with earlier results showing 94.5 % effectiveness .
Of 196 COVID-19 cases found among people in the trial , 185 had gotten the placebo and just 11 had gotten the vaccine .
There were 30 severe cases among people who had gotten the placebo , one of whom died , and not one severe case among people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ application will undergo final review on December 17 , and the first vaccinations could be administered by December 21 .
Moderna expects to have 20 million doses—enough for 10 million people—by the end of December .
Those doses are expected to go to healthcare workers , other essential workers , and employees and residents of nursing homes .
But since Donald Trump will still be in charge of the federal government for the first month of vaccine distribution , do n't expect a smooth rollout .
Perhaps predictably , Trump has punted vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will get doses in proportion to their population , and have to make tough decisions about who 's first in line .
`` States are going to have to pick and choose who gets the first doses , '' Josh Michaud , an associate director for global health policy at Kaiser Family Foundation , told Politico .
`` It 's very obvious that states are in different places when it comes to planning and identifying who those people are . ''
But Trump is building in an ability to deflect blame for distribution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vaccine .
A vaccine is a huge , huge step forward .
But vaccinations are what ultimately matters , and there will be a month of Trump-era vaccinations before President-elect Joe Biden can start to get the process under control .

It's a day we've waited for: Moderna is applying for Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for its coronavirus vaccine. The drug manufacturer announced updated data on the vaccine trial, showing 94.1% effectiveness, in line with earlier results showing 94.5% effectiveness. Of 196 COVID-19 cases found among people in the trial, 185 had gotten the placebo and just 11 had gotten the vaccine. There were 30 severe cases among people who had gotten the placebo, one of whom died, and not one severe case among people who got the vaccine.
The EUA application will undergo final review on December 17, and the first vaccinations could be administered by December 21. Moderna expects to have 20 million doses—enough for 10 million people—by the end of December. Those doses are expected to go to healthcare workers, other essential workers, and employees and residents of nursing homes. But since Donald Trump will still be in charge of the federal government for the first month of vaccine distribution, don't expect a smooth rollout.
Perhaps predictably, Trump has punted vaccine distribution decisions to the states. States will get doses in proportion to their population, and have to make tough decisions about who's first in line.
"States are going to have to pick and choose who gets the first doses," Josh Michaud, an associate director for global health policy at Kaiser Family Foundation, told Politico. "It's very obvious that states are in different places when it comes to planning and identifying who those people are." But Trump is building in an ability to deflect blame for distribution disasters—while taking credit for the existence of the vaccine.
A vaccine is a huge, huge step forward. But vaccinations are what ultimately matters, and there will be a month of Trump-era vaccinations before President-elect Joe Biden can start to get the process under control.


alternet--2020-12-01--Lax states are attracting shoppers and students from stricter neighbors — and sending back COVID cas

Lax states are attracting shoppers and students from stricter neighbors — and sending back COVID cases

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom .
Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox .
For months after Washington state imposed one of the earliest and strictest COVID-19 lockdowns in March , Jim Gilliard did n't stray far from his modular home near Waitts Lake , 45 miles north of Spokane .
The retiree was at high risk from the coronavirus , both because of his age , 70 , and his medical condition .
Several years ago , he had a defibrillator implanted .
So he mainly ventured out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There was n't much else to do anyway .
Gatherings in his county were limited to no more than 10 people , there was a mask mandate , movie theaters were closed and many nightclubs and concert venues were shuttered because of a state ban on all live entertainment , indoors and out .
An hour away in Idaho , life was more normal .
The state left key COVID-19 regulations up to localities , many of which made masks optional .
Even in places that required face coverings , enforcement was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sports , canceled for the fall in Washington , were on full display in Idaho .
Most Idaho schools welcomed back students in person , in contrast to the remote learning prevailing in Washington .
Businesses reopened earlier and with fewer restrictions .
There were concerts and dances .
Weary of Washington 's restrictions , thousands of residents made the easy drive over the border to vacation , shop and dine in Idaho .
Gilliard resisted temptation until he learned that the annual Panhandle Bluesfest would go on as scheduled near Priest River @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A keyboardist who used to own a blues club just outside Coeur d'Alene , Idaho , Gilliard was buoyed after months of relative isolation by the prospect of hanging out with friends while listening to music on a remote mountainside surrounded by soaring pine trees and thick hemlocks .
He decided to go .
A friend took a picture of Gilliard at the festival .
Wearing a bandanna fashioned as a headband , a cut-off T-shirt and dark glasses , he was perched on a tree stump and pointing back at the camera @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the time , he was not wearing a mask , nor were about 10 people sitting together in the background .
As the number of COVID-19 cases skyrockets nationwide , the extent of the public health response varies from one state — and sometimes one town — to the next .
The incongruous approaches and the lack of national standards have created confusion , conflict and a muddled public health message , likely hampering efforts to stop the spread of the virus .
The country 's top infectious disease expert , Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country needs “ a uniform approach '' to fighting the virus instead of a “ disjointed '' one .
Nowhere are these regulatory disparities more counterproductive and jarring than in the border areas between restrictive and permissive states ; for example , between Washington and Idaho , Minnesota and South Dakota , and Illinois and Iowa .
In each pairing , one state has imposed tough and sometimes unpopular restrictions on behavior , only to be confounded by a neighbor 's leniency .
Like factories whose emissions boost asthma rates for miles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health policies can wreak damage beyond its borders .
“ In some ways , the whole country is essentially living with the strategy of the least effective states because states interconnect and one state not doing a good job will continue to spread the virus to other states , '' said Dr. Ashish Jha , dean of the Brown University School of Public Health .
“ States ca n't wall themselves off . ''
A motorcycle rally in August in Sturgis , South Dakota , with half a million attendees from around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beyond , according to Melanie Firestone , an epidemic intelligence service officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , who co-authored a report on the event 's impact .
South Dakota “ did n't have policies regarding mask use or event size , and we see that there was an impact in a state that did have such policies , '' Firestone said .
“ The findings from this outbreak support having consistent approaches across states .
We are all in it together when it comes to stopping the spread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ geographic boundaries .
While some states require visitors , especially from high-risk areas , to be tested or quarantined , others like South Dakota have no such restrictions .
Many people who are tired of strict COVID-19 measures in their states have escaped to areas where everyday life more closely resembles pre-pandemic times .
There , with fewer protections , they 're at risk of contracting the virus and bringing it back home .
After the Idaho concert , Gilliard started feeling ill and was diagnosed with the coronavirus .
For about a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As his condition worsened , he was admitted to a Spokane hospital and placed on a ventilator .
He died on Oct. 15 .
His death certificate lists COVID-19 as the underlying cause .
Going to the Idaho festival likely killed Gilliard , his ex-wife , Robin Ball , said .
“ If he had been wearing a mask , not shaking hands and keeping distance , he could probably be alive , '' she said .
“ He had been careful before that .
He should n't have been up there .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to track political lines .
President-elect Joe Biden carried blue Washington state with 58 % of the vote , while President Donald Trump easily won red Idaho with 64 % .
Trump has helped to fuel the patchwork response to the pandemic , criticizing the approaches of some states , praising others and at times contradicting the advice of his own coronavirus task force and Fauci .
“ What really struck me [ is ] how hard it is to take the pandemic strategy as laid out by the White House with every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it because every state is not on its own , they are all interconnected , '' Jha said .
Biden has said he wants to implement national standards , such as required mask wearing , to help blunt the spread of COVID-19 while acknowledging the federal government lacks little power to do so .
He hopes to work with governors and local officials to establish consistent standards across the country .
A lack of such consistency is affecting eastern Washington , which appears to be absorbing some of the costs — both human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laissez-faire approach to the virus .
The rate of new cases in and around Spokane , near the Idaho border , is far higher than in Seattle and western Washington , which experienced one of the earliest outbreaks in the country in February .
Although slightly more than half of recent COVID-19 cases in Spokane spread among households or personal contacts , Spokane Regional Health District epidemiologist Mark Springer said , “ people bringing back COVID-19 from larger events in Idaho '' has been a problem .
And with Idaho 's rate of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Idahoans who commute to the Spokane area pose an outsized danger .
At the same time , Washington 's shuttered businesses have ceded customers to their Idaho competitors .
Public schools in Washington have also suffered .
After opening the school year with remote-only instruction , the Newport School District lost about one-fourth of its 1,200 students .
Most of them opted either for specialized online-only programs or for nearby private and public schools across the border in Idaho , which offered in-person learning and sometimes did n't require masks or social distancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The plunge in enrollment has led to a $ 1.2 million drop in funding , he said .
In early October , Newport began some in-person learning but had to return to remote instruction after a COVID-19 outbreak in the community .
The source was traced to a Christian church and school only a few feet from the Washington border in Oldtown , Idaho .
“ It 's incredibly frustrating , '' Smith said .
“ I certainly think aligned standards across the nation would have changed our situation . ''
Washington Gov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Idaho leaders to show some leadership '' and be more aggressive in combating COVID-19 .
He blamed the virus spread in Idaho for straining Washington hospitals .
For their part , some in Idaho have complained that the rise of COVID-19 there has more to do with the influx of Washington residents over the summer and fall than with a lighter regulatory touch .
Many of those Washingtonians headed to Coeur d'Alene ( pop .
52,400 ) , the seat of Kootenai County and the largest city in northern Idaho .
Despite some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as scheduled .
The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane ran a feature headlined , “ A nearby escape : Coeur d'Alene Resort offers amenities for singles and families . ''
The resort , the article noted , was offering special packages for families that include a pizza-making experience , scenic cruise tickets and discount theme park tickets .
In the resort garage , most of the license plates were from Idaho or Washington .
“ Yes , the coronavirus exists , '' the article continued .
“ However , the luxe Coeur d'Alene Resort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an experience as safe as possible . ''
While employees wore masks , the article said , they were optional for guests and about two-thirds opted not to use them .
The resort did not respond to requests for comment .
At a park in downtown Coeur d'Alene , a weekly concert series called Live After 5 attracted crowds all summer .
Though attendance was lower than in prior years , it swelled as promoters targeted marketing to tourists , concert organizer Tyler Davis said .
At one show in July , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gathering and said , “ Look around you guys , it feels kind of normal tonight . ''
Groups of people danced in front of the stage , food trucks lined up along one side and vendors set up tents .
Masks were “ encouraged but not required . ''
The day after that show , the Panhandle Health District encompassing five Idaho counties ordered a mask mandate in Kootenai .
It required masks in indoor and outdoor public places when a social distance of 6 feet could not be maintained .
Springer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Spokane County residents to Idaho with concern .
“ The issue with Idaho is a somewhat significant one for us in that the restrictions are a pretty stark contrast between what is in Idaho and what we have in Washington , '' he said .
“ Coeur d'Alene is a sister community to us . ''
Jim Gilliard was a popular figure in the blues music community around Spokane and northern Idaho .
In the 1990s , he operated a music club outside Coeur d'Alene called Mad Daddy 's Blues .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keyboards in local blues bands , even after losing a finger and badly injuring two others in a table saw accident .
Gilliard was raised in New York City and Pennsylvania .
His father , E. Thomas Gilliard , was an acclaimed ornithologist who served as curator of birds at the American Museum of Natural History and was often gone for months at a time on expeditions to New Guinea .
After Gilliard met Ball , the two headed to Colorado and enjoyed life as ski bums , moving from resort to resort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ settling in Coeur d'Alene , and having a son .
After they divorced two decades ago , she stayed in Coeur d'Alene and he ended up in the village of Valley , Washington .
( pop .
164 ) .
Gilliard was one of nearly 300 people who paid $ 25 each to attend the blues festival , which was held 2 miles up a mountain road outside Priest River , Idaho , a tourist town 6 miles from the Washington border .
Bonner County , where the concert was held , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health mandates related to the coronavirus .
When the local library instituted a mask requirement for users , mask-less demonstrators , some clutching small children , protested and tried to enter the library as staff members stood their ground and explained they were only trying to prevent people from getting sick .
The county sheriff wrote to the governor criticizing lockdown orders early in the pandemic , alleging that public health officials misled the public and that “ COVID-19 is nothing like the plague . ''
Concert organizers Billy and Patty Mullaley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ June before deciding to go ahead with it .
The only potential roadblock was getting liability insurance at an affordable price during a pandemic , which they were able to do after shopping around .
“ At the time , there were not any restrictions '' on events like theirs in Idaho , Patty Mullaley said .
“ We did not take it lightly , having the event .
We really put thought into it . ''
They bleached outhouses and the area around the concert stage offered plenty of space for social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most grateful they went ahead , she said , were musicians who had been starved for gigs because of coronavirus-related cancellations .
Featured acts included Sammy Eubanks , Coyote Kings and Tuck Foster and the Tumbling Dice .
Mullaley said the festival drew Washington residents eager for events banned in their own state .
“ From my experience , everyone and their dog from Washington was over here , '' she said .
“ Our COVID is probably from people coming over here from Washington . ''
Few of the hundreds of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did n't stay socially distant , according to attendees .
“ Part of what made it magical was people were completely free and happy and not fearful at all , '' said Sylvia Soucy , who had COVID-19 earlier in the summer .
People danced barefoot on the soft sand and mingled with friends , she said .
Mullaley said people socially distanced “ as much as possible . ''
In the end , she said , “ these were all adults '' who made individual decisions .
Soucy agreed .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made , '' she said .
The remote setting — no cellphone service , no electricity and surrounded by hundreds of acres of undeveloped forest — added to the temporary joy of escaping from the virus , Soucy said .
Soucy said she talked to Gilliard there and he was in good spirits , “ glad that people were not worried about being able to get together there on the mountain . ''
Gilliard also chatted with other friends , including a former girlfriend , according to Soucy .
Ball said the former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the festival and notified Gilliard .
“ I do n't know why he let his guard down , '' Ball said .
“ I will never understand that . ''
In the end , she thinks it had to do with “ a long summer of not having a lot of stuff to do .
He had been so cautious for those seven or eight months .
He just did n't feel like it was going to be a problem . ''
The Mullaleys said they were unaware of anyone else from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But some Washington residents who tested positive for the coronavirus told contact tracers that they had attended the blues festival , according to Matt Schanz , the administrator of Northeast Tri County Health District , a public health agency in Washington covering counties near the Idaho border .
That does n't definitively mean that they contracted the virus at the festival , he said .
“ We have 550 cases within three counties , and if you read the summary reports , a decent number of those have some affiliation with Idaho , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largely remained open for business during the pandemic .
Gov .
Kristi Noem , an ally of Trump 's , has refused to impose a mask mandate , saying there are questions about its effectiveness .
The state has not placed any restrictions on bars and restaurants and officials allowed the 10-day motorcycle rally in Sturgis .
Such a rally would have been prohibited in Minnesota .
Both Minnesota and South Dakota are in the top five states when it comes to rates of cases per capita over the last week .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risky than indoor ones .
The Sturgis rally , which featured events in both settings , is now linked to at least 86 COVID-19 cases in Minnesota , including four people who were hospitalized and one death , according to a CDC report released in November .
The report said the total is likely an undercount as some of those infected declined to share their close contacts with health officials .
“ These findings highlight the far-reaching effects that gatherings in one area might have on another area , '' the researchers wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only had a direct impact on the health of attendees , but also led to subsequent SARS-CoV-2 transmission among household , social , and workplace contacts of rally attendees upon their return to Minnesota . ''
Mike Kuhle , the mayor of Worthington , Minnesota , said South Dakota 's approach to the pandemic “ is a source of heartburn for me and sleepless nights . ''
His city is close to both the South Dakota and Iowa borders .
In addition to worries about the virus spreading from South Dakota , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people have gone to Sioux Falls for shopping .
It 's ugly for our businesses . ''
A similar dynamic has played out in the Quad Cities area at the border of Illinois and Iowa .
There , thousands of people cross bridges over the Mississippi River every day to work , visit family and shop in each state .
As cases in Iowa began to surge this summer , Gov .
Kim Reynolds dismissed mask mandates as “ feel-good '' measures that are difficult to enforce .
Until recently , Iowa restaurants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full capacity as long as social distancing measures were in place .
There was no state-imposed limit on the size of social gatherings .
Nicknamed “ COVID Kim '' by her critics , Reynolds changed course in mid-November in the face of surging cases and hospitalizations , requiring masks .
Illinois clamped down earlier and harder , instituting a mask mandate at the end of April .
Movie theaters opened in Iowa before those in Illinois .
Iowa never closed its golf courses when neighboring states like Illinois did .
For Illinois businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' regulations has been crushing , said Paul Rumler , the president of the Quad Cities Chamber .
“ A river runs through it but otherwise this is one community , '' he said .
On the Illinois side , “ we have retailers and restaurants who want to be responsible corporate citizens and follow the guidelines knowing they are at a disadvantage from a business literally 3 miles away . ''
Rumler said the chamber advocated for the two states to have a consistent approach to the pandemic to no avail .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it would eliminate the confusion of our region , '' he said .
“ It would make our life a lot easier . ''
Debbie Freiburg , a volunteer contact tracer for the county encompassing the Illinois side of the border , said the looser restrictions in Iowa offered Illinois residents the chance to “ take a break '' from the virus .
“ It 's bad and the differences are huge , unfortunately , '' she said .
“ I can be in Iowa in 10 minutes , and there were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iowa . ''
Freiburg , who retired to the area after working as a pediatric cancer nurse in Washington , D.C. , said cases in her Illinois county have been tracked to Iowa , including several from a large wedding at a hotel just over the border .
Tensions between Washington and Idaho over their divergent responses to the pandemic escalated in October .
As the count of COVID-19 cases climbed , the board of the Panhandle Health District in Idaho voted 4-3 to rescind the mask order it had imposed on Kootenai @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington were stunned .
Inslee , the governor , refused to rule out restrictions on border traffic .
The move by the health board came amid growing resistance in the state to mandatory public health measures to control the virus and skepticism that COVID-19 was even real .
A group of Idaho politicians , including Lt. Gov .
Janice McGeachin , appeared in a video in October urging the state to limit restrictions .
Sitting in a truck with an American flag draped over the side , McGeachin placed a gun over a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of us by nature are free and equal and have certain inalienable rights , '' she said .
A legislator in the video said “ the pandemic may or may not be occurring . ''
State Rep. Tony Wisniewski , who represents Kootenai and also appeared in the video , urged the health board to make masks optional .
He compared the mask mandate to what he said was a requirement in Nazi Germany to tell authorities if a neighbor was Jewish .
Health board member Allen Banks said he was “ deeply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In an email to a senator who had criticized the board 's mask mandate , he wrote , “ I hope you and the legislators who support your effort will continue to stand for truth rather than the fantasy of a phony disease based on a false test . ''
Board member Walt Kirby , who had voted in July to approve the mask mandate initially , was the deciding vote .
He opposed a mandate because people were “ pretty damn nasty '' to him for supporting it before , he explained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote for it , I am just not because no one is wearing the damn masks anyway , '' Kirby said , adding that he wears a mask .
As for people who ignore the advice of public health experts , he said , “ I am just sitting back and watching them catch it and die and hopefully I will live through it .
You know I am 90 years old already and I am not getting involved in it anymore . ''
Even as the requirement was rescinded , cases in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitalizations in the border area in northern Idaho is nearly double the rate in the Spokane region .
Overall , the number of new cases in Idaho per capita is almost twice that of Washington .
With the county mandate overturned , the city of Coeur d'Alene considered in late October whether to adopt one on its own .
Mayor Steve Widmyer and the City Council were inundated with hundreds of emails and telephone calls , many from mask opponents .
“ This is Idaho , not Washington or California , '' wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decide if they wish to mask up or not . ''
Another told the city leaders , “ If you want to live with a mask 'muzzle ' on your face move to California or Washington . ''
Ball , Gilliard 's ex-wife , urged Widmyer to support a mandate .
“ People come here so they do n't have to wear a mask and fill our bars and businesses while spreading covid , '' she wrote .
In Coeur d'Alene , the mayor only votes to break a tie among the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that city officials “ should n't have been put into this position , '' did n't have to vote , because the council approved the mandate 4-2 on Oct. 26 .
Protesters outside chanted , “ No more masks , we will not comply , '' and the blowback has been swift .
A group of residents is pushing to recall the pro-mandate councilors .
The mayor did not respond to interview requests .
While Coeur d'Alene adopted a mandate , nearby Post Falls and Hayden rejected similar proposals .
All three cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington border .
Idaho Gov .
Brad Little has also remained steadfast in opposition to the idea , unlike Iowa 's Reynolds .
“ Idaho 's health officials have been mindful of the challenges of mitigating spread of COVID-19 in border communities since the onset of the pandemic , '' a spokeswoman for Little said in an email .
The governor 's “ priority at this time is mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in Idaho and preserving health care capacity for those in need . ''
For the Panhandle health board , however @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ignore .
On Nov. 19 it reversed itself again and passed a mask mandate for all five of its counties , including Bonner , the site of the blues festival .
But county sheriffs have ignored enforcing the mandate or made it a low priority , according to local media .
The move came too late to save Gilliard .
“ Until everyone in this country can do the same thing , all states on the same page , limit crowd size and mask mandates that are enforced , this is going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ex-wife .
“ It only makes sense .
Because what we have been doing has n't been working . ''

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For months after Washington state imposed one of the earliest and strictest COVID-19 lockdowns in March, Jim Gilliard didn't stray far from his modular home near Waitts Lake, 45 miles north of Spokane.
The retiree was at high risk from the coronavirus, both because of his age, 70, and his medical condition. Several years ago, he had a defibrillator implanted. So he mainly ventured out during the pandemic to shop for food.
There wasn't much else to do anyway. Gatherings in his county were limited to no more than 10 people, there was a mask mandate, movie theaters were closed and many nightclubs and concert venues were shuttered because of a state ban on all live entertainment, indoors and out.
An hour away in Idaho, life was more normal. The state left key COVID-19 regulations up to localities, many of which made masks optional. Even in places that required face coverings, enforcement was laxer than in Washington. High school sports, canceled for the fall in Washington, were on full display in Idaho. Most Idaho schools welcomed back students in person, in contrast to the remote learning prevailing in Washington. Businesses reopened earlier and with fewer restrictions. There were concerts and dances.
Weary of Washington's restrictions, thousands of residents made the easy drive over the border to vacation, shop and dine in Idaho. Gilliard resisted temptation until he learned that the annual Panhandle Bluesfest would go on as scheduled near Priest River, Idaho, on Sept. 12. A keyboardist who used to own a blues club just outside Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Gilliard was buoyed after months of relative isolation by the prospect of hanging out with friends while listening to music on a remote mountainside surrounded by soaring pine trees and thick hemlocks. He decided to go.
A friend took a picture of Gilliard at the festival. Wearing a bandanna fashioned as a headband, a cut-off T-shirt and dark glasses, he was perched on a tree stump and pointing back at the camera. As was permitted by local regulations at the time, he was not wearing a mask, nor were about 10 people sitting together in the background.
As the number of COVID-19 cases skyrockets nationwide, the extent of the public health response varies from one state — and sometimes one town — to the next. The incongruous approaches and the lack of national standards have created confusion, conflict and a muddled public health message, likely hampering efforts to stop the spread of the virus. The country's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said last month that the country needs “a uniform approach" to fighting the virus instead of a “disjointed" one.
Nowhere are these regulatory disparities more counterproductive and jarring than in the border areas between restrictive and permissive states; for example, between Washington and Idaho, Minnesota and South Dakota, and Illinois and Iowa. In each pairing, one state has imposed tough and sometimes unpopular restrictions on behavior, only to be confounded by a neighbor's leniency. Like factories whose emissions boost asthma rates for miles around, a state's lax public health policies can wreak damage beyond its borders.
“In some ways, the whole country is essentially living with the strategy of the least effective states because states interconnect and one state not doing a good job will continue to spread the virus to other states," said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. “States can't wall themselves off."
A motorcycle rally in August in Sturgis, South Dakota, with half a million attendees from around the country spread COVID-19 to neighboring Minnesota and beyond, according to Melanie Firestone, an epidemic intelligence service officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who co-authored a report on the event's impact.
South Dakota “didn't have policies regarding mask use or event size, and we see that there was an impact in a state that did have such policies," Firestone said. “The findings from this outbreak support having consistent approaches across states. We are all in it together when it comes to stopping the spread of COVID-19."
Viruses don't respect geographic boundaries. While some states require visitors, especially from high-risk areas, to be tested or quarantined, others like South Dakota have no such restrictions. Many people who are tired of strict COVID-19 measures in their states have escaped to areas where everyday life more closely resembles pre-pandemic times. There, with fewer protections, they're at risk of contracting the virus and bringing it back home.
After the Idaho concert, Gilliard started feeling ill and was diagnosed with the coronavirus. For about a week, he stayed in bed. As his condition worsened, he was admitted to a Spokane hospital and placed on a ventilator. He died on Oct. 15. His death certificate lists COVID-19 as the underlying cause.
Going to the Idaho festival likely killed Gilliard, his ex-wife, Robin Ball, said.
“If he had been wearing a mask, not shaking hands and keeping distance, he could probably be alive," she said. “He had been careful before that. He shouldn't have been up there."
The degree of coronavirus regulation tends to track political lines. President-elect Joe Biden carried blue Washington state with 58% of the vote, while President Donald Trump easily won red Idaho with 64%. Trump has helped to fuel the patchwork response to the pandemic, criticizing the approaches of some states, praising others and at times contradicting the advice of his own coronavirus task force and Fauci.
“What really struck me [is] how hard it is to take the pandemic strategy as laid out by the White House with every state on its own and ... implement it because every state is not on its own, they are all interconnected," Jha said.
Biden has said he wants to implement national standards, such as required mask wearing, to help blunt the spread of COVID-19 while acknowledging the federal government lacks little power to do so. He hopes to work with governors and local officials to establish consistent standards across the country.
A lack of such consistency is affecting eastern Washington, which appears to be absorbing some of the costs — both human and economic — of Idaho's more laissez-faire approach to the virus. The rate of new cases in and around Spokane, near the Idaho border, is far higher than in Seattle and western Washington, which experienced one of the earliest outbreaks in the country in February. Although slightly more than half of recent COVID-19 cases in Spokane spread among households or personal contacts, Spokane Regional Health District epidemiologist Mark Springer said, “people bringing back COVID-19 from larger events in Idaho" has been a problem. And with Idaho's rate of new cases now doubling Washington's, Idahoans who commute to the Spokane area pose an outsized danger. At the same time, Washington's shuttered businesses have ceded customers to their Idaho competitors.
Public schools in Washington have also suffered. After opening the school year with remote-only instruction, the Newport School District lost about one-fourth of its 1,200 students. Most of them opted either for specialized online-only programs or for nearby private and public schools across the border in Idaho, which offered in-person learning and sometimes didn't require masks or social distancing, said Newport Superintendent Dave Smith. The plunge in enrollment has led to a $1.2 million drop in funding, he said.
In early October, Newport began some in-person learning but had to return to remote instruction after a COVID-19 outbreak in the community. The source was traced to a Christian church and school only a few feet from the Washington border in Oldtown, Idaho.
“It's incredibly frustrating," Smith said. “I certainly think aligned standards across the nation would have changed our situation."
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recently called on “Idaho leaders to show some leadership" and be more aggressive in combating COVID-19. He blamed the virus spread in Idaho for straining Washington hospitals. For their part, some in Idaho have complained that the rise of COVID-19 there has more to do with the influx of Washington residents over the summer and fall than with a lighter regulatory touch.
Many of those Washingtonians headed to Coeur d'Alene (pop. 52,400), the seat of Kootenai County and the largest city in northern Idaho. Despite some cancellations, many tourism activities went on as scheduled. The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane ran a feature headlined, “A nearby escape: Coeur d'Alene Resort offers amenities for singles and families." The resort, the article noted, was offering special packages for families that include a pizza-making experience, scenic cruise tickets and discount theme park tickets. In the resort garage, most of the license plates were from Idaho or Washington.
“Yes, the coronavirus exists," the article continued. “However, the luxe Coeur d'Alene Resort is open and taking steps to make an experience as safe as possible." While employees wore masks, the article said, they were optional for guests and about two-thirds opted not to use them. The resort did not respond to requests for comment.
At a park in downtown Coeur d'Alene, a weekly concert series called Live After 5 attracted crowds all summer. Though attendance was lower than in prior years, it swelled as promoters targeted marketing to tourists, concert organizer Tyler Davis said. At one show in July, a member of the band surveyed the large gathering and said, “Look around you guys, it feels kind of normal tonight." Groups of people danced in front of the stage, food trucks lined up along one side and vendors set up tents. Masks were “encouraged but not required."
The day after that show, the Panhandle Health District encompassing five Idaho counties ordered a mask mandate in Kootenai. It required masks in indoor and outdoor public places when a social distance of 6 feet could not be maintained.
Springer, the epidemiologist, watched the flow of Spokane County residents to Idaho with concern. “The issue with Idaho is a somewhat significant one for us in that the restrictions are a pretty stark contrast between what is in Idaho and what we have in Washington," he said. “Coeur d'Alene is a sister community to us."
Jim Gilliard was a popular figure in the blues music community around Spokane and northern Idaho. In the 1990s, he operated a music club outside Coeur d'Alene called Mad Daddy's Blues. He was a talented musician himself, playing keyboards in local blues bands, even after losing a finger and badly injuring two others in a table saw accident.
Gilliard was raised in New York City and Pennsylvania. His father, E. Thomas Gilliard, was an acclaimed ornithologist who served as curator of birds at the American Museum of Natural History and was often gone for months at a time on expeditions to New Guinea. After Gilliard met Ball, the two headed to Colorado and enjoyed life as ski bums, moving from resort to resort for a couple of years before eventually settling in Coeur d'Alene, and having a son. After they divorced two decades ago, she stayed in Coeur d'Alene and he ended up in the village of Valley, Washington. (pop. 164).
Gilliard was one of nearly 300 people who paid $25 each to attend the blues festival, which was held 2 miles up a mountain road outside Priest River, Idaho, a tourist town 6 miles from the Washington border.
Bonner County, where the concert was held, is a rural pocket of defiance against government public health mandates related to the coronavirus. When the local library instituted a mask requirement for users, mask-less demonstrators, some clutching small children, protested and tried to enter the library as staff members stood their ground and explained they were only trying to prevent people from getting sick. The county sheriff wrote to the governor criticizing lockdown orders early in the pandemic, alleging that public health officials misled the public and that “COVID-19 is nothing like the plague."
Concert organizers Billy and Patty Mullaley said they waited until the end of June before deciding to go ahead with it. The only potential roadblock was getting liability insurance at an affordable price during a pandemic, which they were able to do after shopping around.
“At the time, there were not any restrictions" on events like theirs in Idaho, Patty Mullaley said. “We did not take it lightly, having the event. We really put thought into it." They bleached outhouses and the area around the concert stage offered plenty of space for social distancing, she said. Among those most grateful they went ahead, she said, were musicians who had been starved for gigs because of coronavirus-related cancellations. Featured acts included Sammy Eubanks, Coyote Kings and Tuck Foster and the Tumbling Dice.
Mullaley said the festival drew Washington residents eager for events banned in their own state. “From my experience, everyone and their dog from Washington was over here," she said. “Our COVID is probably from people coming over here from Washington."
Few of the hundreds of people at the festival wore masks and many didn't stay socially distant, according to attendees. “Part of what made it magical was people were completely free and happy and not fearful at all," said Sylvia Soucy, who had COVID-19 earlier in the summer. People danced barefoot on the soft sand and mingled with friends, she said.
Mullaley said people socially distanced “as much as possible." In the end, she said, “these were all adults" who made individual decisions. Soucy agreed. “It was completely a choice all of us made," she said. The remote setting — no cellphone service, no electricity and surrounded by hundreds of acres of undeveloped forest — added to the temporary joy of escaping from the virus, Soucy said.
Soucy said she talked to Gilliard there and he was in good spirits, “glad that people were not worried about being able to get together there on the mountain." Gilliard also chatted with other friends, including a former girlfriend, according to Soucy. Ball said the former girlfriend was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after the festival and notified Gilliard.
“I don't know why he let his guard down," Ball said. “I will never understand that." In the end, she thinks it had to do with “a long summer of not having a lot of stuff to do. He had been so cautious for those seven or eight months. He just didn't feel like it was going to be a problem."
The Mullaleys said they were unaware of anyone else from the concert getting COVID-19 around that time. But some Washington residents who tested positive for the coronavirus told contact tracers that they had attended the blues festival, according to Matt Schanz, the administrator of Northeast Tri County Health District, a public health agency in Washington covering counties near the Idaho border.
That doesn't definitively mean that they contracted the virus at the festival, he said. “We have 550 cases within three counties, and if you read the summary reports, a decent number of those have some affiliation with Idaho," Schanz said.
South Dakota has largely remained open for business during the pandemic. Gov. Kristi Noem, an ally of Trump's, has refused to impose a mask mandate, saying there are questions about its effectiveness. The state has not placed any restrictions on bars and restaurants and officials allowed the 10-day motorcycle rally in Sturgis. Such a rally would have been prohibited in Minnesota. Both Minnesota and South Dakota are in the top five states when it comes to rates of cases per capita over the last week.
The CDC advises that outdoor events are less risky than indoor ones. The Sturgis rally, which featured events in both settings, is now linked to at least 86 COVID-19 cases in Minnesota, including four people who were hospitalized and one death, according to a CDC report released in November. The report said the total is likely an undercount as some of those infected declined to share their close contacts with health officials.
“These findings highlight the far-reaching effects that gatherings in one area might have on another area," the researchers wrote. They added, “This rally not only had a direct impact on the health of attendees, but also led to subsequent SARS-CoV-2 transmission among household, social, and workplace contacts of rally attendees upon their return to Minnesota."
Mike Kuhle, the mayor of Worthington, Minnesota, said South Dakota's approach to the pandemic “is a source of heartburn for me and sleepless nights." His city is close to both the South Dakota and Iowa borders. In addition to worries about the virus spreading from South Dakota, Kuhle said, “during the lockdown people have gone to Sioux Falls for shopping. It's ugly for our businesses."
A similar dynamic has played out in the Quad Cities area at the border of Illinois and Iowa. There, thousands of people cross bridges over the Mississippi River every day to work, visit family and shop in each state.
As cases in Iowa began to surge this summer, Gov. Kim Reynolds dismissed mask mandates as “feel-good" measures that are difficult to enforce. Until recently, Iowa restaurants and gyms were allowed to operate at full capacity as long as social distancing measures were in place. There was no state-imposed limit on the size of social gatherings. Nicknamed “COVID Kim" by her critics, Reynolds changed course in mid-November in the face of surging cases and hospitalizations, requiring masks.
Illinois clamped down earlier and harder, instituting a mask mandate at the end of April. Movie theaters opened in Iowa before those in Illinois. Iowa never closed its golf courses when neighboring states like Illinois did.
For Illinois businesses, the gap between the two states' regulations has been crushing, said Paul Rumler, the president of the Quad Cities Chamber.
“A river runs through it but otherwise this is one community," he said. On the Illinois side, “we have retailers and restaurants who want to be responsible corporate citizens and follow the guidelines knowing they are at a disadvantage from a business literally 3 miles away."
Rumler said the chamber advocated for the two states to have a consistent approach to the pandemic to no avail. “If there was a federal standard, it would eliminate the confusion of our region," he said. “It would make our life a lot easier."
Debbie Freiburg, a volunteer contact tracer for the county encompassing the Illinois side of the border, said the looser restrictions in Iowa offered Illinois residents the chance to “take a break" from the virus.
“It's bad and the differences are huge, unfortunately," she said. “I can be in Iowa in 10 minutes, and there were a lot of us going shopping in Iowa."
Freiburg, who retired to the area after working as a pediatric cancer nurse in Washington, D.C., said cases in her Illinois county have been tracked to Iowa, including several from a large wedding at a hotel just over the border.
Tensions between Washington and Idaho over their divergent responses to the pandemic escalated in October. As the count of COVID-19 cases climbed, the board of the Panhandle Health District in Idaho voted 4-3 to rescind the mask order it had imposed on Kootenai County three months before. Officials in Washington were stunned. Inslee, the governor, refused to rule out restrictions on border traffic.
The move by the health board came amid growing resistance in the state to mandatory public health measures to control the virus and skepticism that COVID-19 was even real.
A group of Idaho politicians, including Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, appeared in a video in October urging the state to limit restrictions. Sitting in a truck with an American flag draped over the side, McGeachin placed a gun over a Bible. “We recognize that all of us by nature are free and equal and have certain inalienable rights," she said. A legislator in the video said “the pandemic may or may not be occurring."
State Rep. Tony Wisniewski, who represents Kootenai and also appeared in the video, urged the health board to make masks optional. He compared the mask mandate to what he said was a requirement in Nazi Germany to tell authorities if a neighbor was Jewish.
Health board member Allen Banks said he was “deeply suspicious" of tests for COVID-19. In an email to a senator who had criticized the board's mask mandate, he wrote, “I hope you and the legislators who support your effort will continue to stand for truth rather than the fantasy of a phony disease based on a false test."
Board member Walt Kirby, who had voted in July to approve the mask mandate initially, was the deciding vote. He opposed a mandate because people were “pretty damn nasty" to him for supporting it before, he explained. “I am not going to vote for it, I am just not because no one is wearing the damn masks anyway," Kirby said, adding that he wears a mask. As for people who ignore the advice of public health experts, he said, “I am just sitting back and watching them catch it and die and hopefully I will live through it. You know I am 90 years old already and I am not getting involved in it anymore."
Even as the requirement was rescinded, cases in Kootenai were soaring. The rate of hospitalizations in the border area in northern Idaho is nearly double the rate in the Spokane region. Overall, the number of new cases in Idaho per capita is almost twice that of Washington.
With the county mandate overturned, the city of Coeur d'Alene considered in late October whether to adopt one on its own. Mayor Steve Widmyer and the City Council were inundated with hundreds of emails and telephone calls, many from mask opponents.
“This is Idaho, not Washington or California," wrote one resident. “Let the people decide if they wish to mask up or not." Another told the city leaders, “If you want to live with a mask 'muzzle' on your face move to California or Washington."
Ball, Gilliard's ex-wife, urged Widmyer to support a mandate. “People come here so they don't have to wear a mask and fill our bars and businesses while spreading covid," she wrote.
In Coeur d'Alene, the mayor only votes to break a tie among the city councilors. Widmyer, who had complained that city officials “shouldn't have been put into this position," didn't have to vote, because the council approved the mandate 4-2 on Oct. 26. Protesters outside chanted, “No more masks, we will not comply," and the blowback has been swift. A group of residents is pushing to recall the pro-mandate councilors. The mayor did not respond to interview requests.
While Coeur d'Alene adopted a mandate, nearby Post Falls and Hayden rejected similar proposals. All three cities are less than 20 miles from the Washington border. Idaho Gov. Brad Little has also remained steadfast in opposition to the idea, unlike Iowa's Reynolds. “Idaho's health officials have been mindful of the challenges of mitigating spread of COVID-19 in border communities since the onset of the pandemic," a spokeswoman for Little said in an email. The governor's “priority at this time is mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in Idaho and preserving health care capacity for those in need."
For the Panhandle health board, however, the situation became too dire to ignore. On Nov. 19 it reversed itself again and passed a mask mandate for all five of its counties, including Bonner, the site of the blues festival. But county sheriffs have ignored enforcing the mandate or made it a low priority, according to local media.
The move came too late to save Gilliard. “Until everyone in this country can do the same thing, all states on the same page, limit crowd size and mask mandates that are enforced, this is going to happen," said Ball, his ex-wife. “It only makes sense. Because what we have been doing hasn't been working."