alternet--2020-11-19--Trump ‘reached out’ to 2 Michigan election officials day before they rescinded certification of resu

Trump ‘reached out’ to 2 Michigan election officials day before they rescinded certification of results

U.S .
Senator Lindsey Graham is not the only Republican who appears to be placing what one ethics experts called `` inherently coercive '' pressure on an election official .
In Michigan , Monica Palmer and William Hartmann , two of the four members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers , refused to certify the results of the election despite there being no record of fraud .
Wayne Country includes the majority-Black city of Detroit .
Their actions were so indefensible that a Michigan businessman , among many others , during public comments accused them of outright racism .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ know that the Trump stink — the stain of racism that you , William Hartmann and Monica Palmer , have just covered yourself in is going to follow you throughout history , '' said Ned Staebler via Zoom , in a now-viral video .
`` Monica Palmer and William Hartmann will forever be known in southeastern Michigan as two racists who did something so unprecedented that they disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Black voters in the city of Detroit . ''
Later Tuesday Palmer and Hartmann voted to certify the count , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of relief .
But Wednesday Palmer and Hartmann signed documents declaring they were rescinding their votes to certify , `` under penalty of perjury . ''
What happened in between ?
President Donald Trump , according to the Associated Press .
`` A person familiar with the matter said Trump reached out to the canvassers , Monica Palmer and William Hartmann , on Tuesday evening after the revised vote to express gratitude for their support .
Then , on Wednesday , Palmer and Hartmann signed affidavits saying they believe the county vote 'should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington Post notes that despite signing the forms rescinding their votes , it 's too late .
`` Jonathan Kinloch , a Democrat and the board 's vice chairman , told The Post it 's too late for the pair to reverse course , as the certified results have been sent to the secretary of state in accordance with state rules . ''
But the perception of a free and fair – and unfettered – election , thanks to President Trump , has been damaged .

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is not the only Republican who appears to be placing what one ethics experts called "inherently coercive" pressure on an election official.
In Michigan, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, two of the four members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, refused to certify the results of the election despite there being no record of fraud. Wayne Country includes the majority-Black city of Detroit.
Their actions were so indefensible that a Michigan businessman, among many others, during public comments accused them of outright racism.
"I just want to let you know that the Trump stink — the stain of racism that you, William Hartmann and Monica Palmer, have just covered yourself in is going to follow you throughout history," said Ned Staebler via Zoom, in a now-viral video. "Monica Palmer and William Hartmann will forever be known in southeastern Michigan as two racists who did something so unprecedented that they disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Black voters in the city of Detroit."
Later Tuesday Palmer and Hartmann voted to certify the count, and many across America breathed a huge sigh of relief.
But Wednesday Palmer and Hartmann signed documents declaring they were rescinding their votes to certify, "under penalty of perjury."
What happened in between?
President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press.
"A person familiar with the matter said Trump reached out to the canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, on Tuesday evening after the revised vote to express gratitude for their support. Then, on Wednesday, Palmer and Hartmann signed affidavits saying they believe the county vote 'should not be certified.'"
The Washington Post notes that despite signing the forms rescinding their votes, it's too late.
"Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat and the board's vice chairman, told The Post it's too late for the pair to reverse course, as the certified results have been sent to the secretary of state in accordance with state rules."
But the perception of a free and fair – and unfettered – election, thanks to President Trump, has been damaged.


alternet--2020-11-19--Trump summons GOP Michigan leaders to Washington DC as he tries to stop state from certifying Biden

Trump summons GOP Michigan leaders to Washington DC as he tries to stop state from certifying Biden win

A group of Michigan state Republicans is flying into Washington D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump as he desperately tries to stop the state from certifying President-elect Joe Biden 's win .
According to the Washington Post 's Amy Gardner , the Michigan lawmakers are flying into Washington at Trump 's request .
According to the Detroit News , Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield are both expected to be at the White House .
Trump 's legal team has spent the last two weeks trying to overturn the results in Michigan , despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that state by more than 150,000 votes .
Trump 's legal team has said that they want GOP-led legislatures in swing states to appoint their own electors who will overturn the vote results in their states and hand the election to Trump .
Such a move would be unprecedented in the history of American democracy and many legal scholars believe that it would not be permitted by the Constitution .
Adav Noti , chief of staff at the Campaign Legal Center and a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's pretty much impossible-to-overcome obstacles '' to state legislatures firing the current electors and replacing them with people who will defy voters .

A group of Michigan state Republicans is flying into Washington D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump as he desperately tries to stop the state from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win.
According to the Washington Post's Amy Gardner, the Michigan lawmakers are flying into Washington at Trump's request.
According to the Detroit News, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield are both expected to be at the White House.
Trump's legal team has spent the last two weeks trying to overturn the results in Michigan, despite the fact that Biden defeated him in that state by more than 150,000 votes.
Trump's legal team has said that they want GOP-led legislatures in swing states to appoint their own electors who will overturn the vote results in their states and hand the election to Trump.
Such a move would be unprecedented in the history of American democracy and many legal scholars believe that it would not be permitted by the Constitution.
Adav Noti, chief of staff at the Campaign Legal Center and a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises, told Politico this week that "there's pretty much impossible-to-overcome obstacles" to state legislatures firing the current electors and replacing them with people who will defy voters.


alternet--2020-11-19--‘Starting to get embarrassing’: Even some Trump loyalists admit his attempted coup is floundering

President Donald Trump still insists that he 's going to win a second term even though he lost the 2020 election handily to President-elect Joe Biden .
However , the Wall Street Journal reports that even some loyalists to the president now see his attempts to overturn the 2020 election as doomed to fail .
`` There was this period of hope that there 's fraud , '' one Trump campaign aide explained to WSJ .
`` And then it was , 'Is there really enough fraud ? '
It 's starting to get a little embarrassing . ''
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawyer Rudy Giuliani forcefully took over efforts to lead the fight against the election results by accusing the president 's advisers of lying to him about having little chance of overturning the outcome .
`` He was the only person telling the president he could win , '' one Trump campaign source tells the paper .
However , Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller defended Giuliani 's work and told the Journal that the former New York mayor was `` the Eliot Ness of his generation '' who would be able to uncover a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mike DuHaime , a longtime GOP strategist , told WSJ that it 's time for the Trump campaign to stop playing games and accept that Trump wo n't be president after January 20th .
`` Donald Trump lost , '' he said .
`` We should n't be telling people it was fraud when it was n't . ''
However , Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller defended Giuliani 's work and told the Journal that the former New York mayor was `` the Eliot Ness of his generation '' who would be able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fraud conspiracy .
Mike DuHaime , a longtime GOP strategist , told WSJ that it 's time for the Trump campaign to stop playing games and accept that Trump wo n't be president after January 20th .
`` Donald Trump lost , '' he said .
`` We should n't be telling people it was fraud when it was n't . ''

President Donald Trump still insists that he's going to win a second term even though he lost the 2020 election handily to President-elect Joe Biden.
However, the Wall Street Journal reports that even some loyalists to the president now see his attempts to overturn the 2020 election as doomed to fail.
"There was this period of hope that there's fraud," one Trump campaign aide explained to WSJ. "And then it was, 'Is there really enough fraud?' It's starting to get a little embarrassing."
The Journal's sources also describe how Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani forcefully took over efforts to lead the fight against the election results by accusing the president's advisers of lying to him about having little chance of overturning the outcome.
"He was the only person telling the president he could win," one Trump campaign source tells the paper.
However, Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller defended Giuliani's work and told the Journal that the former New York mayor was "the Eliot Ness of his generation" who would be able to uncover a purportedly vast Democratic voter fraud conspiracy.
Mike DuHaime, a longtime GOP strategist, told WSJ that it's time for the Trump campaign to stop playing games and accept that Trump won't be president after January 20th.
"Donald Trump lost," he said. "We shouldn't be telling people it was fraud when it wasn't."
However, Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller defended Giuliani's work and told the Journal that the former New York mayor was "the Eliot Ness of his generation" who would be able to uncover a purportedly vast Democratic voter fraud conspiracy.
Mike DuHaime, a longtime GOP strategist, told WSJ that it's time for the Trump campaign to stop playing games and accept that Trump won't be president after January 20th.
"Donald Trump lost," he said. "We shouldn't be telling people it was fraud when it wasn't."


alternet--2020-11-19--Trump campaign dismisses its own Michigan lawsuit in latest courtroom flop

Another day , another legal loss for President Donald Trump 's campaign .
The Trump campaign on Thursday filed a notice of voluntary dismissal ( PDF ) of its lawsuit in the United States District Court in the Western District of Michigan Southern Division in which it said it was no longer seeking to stop Wayne County from certifying its election results .
Strangely , the notice argued that it no longer needed to pursue this course of action because the `` Wayne County board of county canvassers met and declined to certify the results of the presidential election , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voted unanimously this week to do just that .
`` This morning we are withdrawing our lawsuit in Michigan as a direct result of achieving the relief we sought : to stop the election in Wayne County from being prematurely certified before residents can be assured that every legal vote has been counted , '' said Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani in a statement .
The two Republican members of the board on Wednesday night tried to rescind their votes to certify the Wayne County results , but many legal experts say it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from being approved .
`` There is no legal mechanism for them to rescind their vote .
Their job is done and the next step in the process is for the Board of State Canvassers to meet and certify , '' a spokesperson for the Michigan secretary of state said .
As Democratic election attorney Marc Elias notes , this dismissal means Trump and his allies now have just one win and 29 losses in court cases .

Another day, another legal loss for President Donald Trump's campaign.
The Trump campaign on Thursday filed a notice of voluntary dismissal (PDF) of its lawsuit in the United States District Court in the Western District of Michigan Southern Division in which it said it was no longer seeking to stop Wayne County from certifying its election results.
Strangely, the notice argued that it no longer needed to pursue this course of action because the "Wayne County board of county canvassers met and declined to certify the results of the presidential election," despite the fact that the board voted unanimously this week to do just that.
"This morning we are withdrawing our lawsuit in Michigan as a direct result of achieving the relief we sought: to stop the election in Wayne County from being prematurely certified before residents can be assured that every legal vote has been counted," said Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani in a statement.
The two Republican members of the board on Wednesday night tried to rescind their votes to certify the Wayne County results, but many legal experts say it is too late for them to stop certification from being approved.
"There is no legal mechanism for them to rescind their vote. Their job is done and the next step in the process is for the Board of State Canvassers to meet and certify," a spokesperson for the Michigan secretary of state said.
As Democratic election attorney Marc Elias notes, this dismissal means Trump and his allies now have just one win and 29 losses in court cases.


alternet--2020-11-19--Newsmax host calls on Trump supporters to overthrow GOP and form 'MAGA Party'

Newsmax host Greg Kelly is calling on conservative Trump supporters to overthrow the Republican Party by forming a new MAGA-inspired political party .
During his Wednesday evening segment of Greg Kelly Reports , he encouraged his viewers to distance from both the Democratic and Republican Parties as he claimed they are not `` cutting it . ''
Kelly went on to pitch idea of possibly forming a Make America Great Again ( MAGA ) political party .
`` We need a new party , '' Kelly told his viewers .
`` Democrats are n't cutting it , and quite frankly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are cutting it .
At least a lot of them are just mailing it in . ''
According to Kelly , a so-called `` MAGA Party '' should be taken into `` serious consideration . ''
The `` party , '' he said , would focus on the Constitution and place an emphasis on `` canceling '' the so-called `` deep state . ''
He added , `` The 'MAGA Party ' — a party about ideas , the Constitution , opportunity , liberty , '' Kelly said .
`` Term limits , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deep state and the federal bureaucracy . ''
Greg Kelly Reports - The MAGA Party ?
Yes , it 's time .
( 11/18/20 ) While he conceded that there are `` some good people '' in politics , he believes it may be time for the American public to embrace other parties .
`` There are some good people , but let 's face it , '' Kelly added .
`` It is big and bloated , and all kinds of waste could be cut away .
I think it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this country . ''
Since 2016 , the Republican Party has become enmeshed with the MAGA movement .
Although Trump 's presidency will be coming to an end in January 2021 , the president 's spread of misinformation and his focus on circulating conspiracy theories while undermining the presidential election results signals the MAGA movement will haunt the Republican Party long after the embattled president is gone .
Based on the number of Americans who voted for Trump , the country will also be polarized for quite sometime .

Newsmax host Greg Kelly is calling on conservative Trump supporters to overthrow the Republican Party by forming a new MAGA-inspired political party.
During his Wednesday evening segment of Greg Kelly Reports, he encouraged his viewers to distance from both the Democratic and Republican Parties as he claimed they are not "cutting it." Kelly went on to pitch idea of possibly forming a Make America Great Again (MAGA) political party.
"We need a new party," Kelly told his viewers. "Democrats aren't cutting it, and quite frankly, I don't think the Republicans are cutting it. At least a lot of them are just mailing it in."
According to Kelly, a so-called "MAGA Party" should be taken into "serious consideration." The "party," he said, would focus on the Constitution and place an emphasis on "canceling" the so-called "deep state."
He added, "The 'MAGA Party' — a party about ideas, the Constitution, opportunity, liberty," Kelly said. "Term limits, the Second Amendment, and canceling … the deep state and the federal bureaucracy."
Greg Kelly Reports - The MAGA Party? Yes, it's time. (11/18/20) www.youtube.com
While he conceded that there are "some good people" in politics, he believes it may be time for the American public to embrace other parties.
"There are some good people, but let's face it," Kelly added. "It is big and bloated, and all kinds of waste could be cut away. I think it's something that deserves serious, serious consideration in this country."
Since 2016, the Republican Party has become enmeshed with the MAGA movement. Although Trump's presidency will be coming to an end in January 2021, the president's spread of misinformation and his focus on circulating conspiracy theories while undermining the presidential election results signals the MAGA movement will haunt the Republican Party long after the embattled president is gone.
Based on the number of Americans who voted for Trump, the country will also be polarized for quite sometime.


alternet--2020-11-21--Here are 5 reasons Trump’s challenge to the 2020 election won't lead to civil war

Some Americans fear that the deep political divisions in the country and President Donald Trump 's determination to challenge the results of the election will cause civil war .
Those who object to Trump 's tactics argue that he behaves like an autocrat .
Delegitimizing sources of information that resist his narrative , demonizing political opponents , supporting political violence and using courts as political tools are all hallmarks of dictators .
Much as the South rejected President Abraham Lincoln 's 1860 election with armed rebellion , will President Trump 's many supporters attempt to violently overthrow a Biden-led government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studies public opinion and American politics .
I believe the United States will not erupt in open rebellion .
Here are five reasons .
As the lawfully elected president of the United States , President Trump must follow certain rules and laws .
This rule of law has continued even while he challenges the election .
The courts are quickly dispatching judicial challenges as meritless and recounts are proceeding legally and normally .
Despite the recent invitation of Michigan GOP legislators to the White House , state legislatures have not signaled any desire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outcomes may frustrate the president , the legal process is being honored .
In contrast , before the Civil War , interpretation of the Constitution became contentious , states argued that the Union was dead and politicians fought in open combat in the Senate .
Military officers resigned their commissions to support revolution .
The current American political system has avoided such systematic conflict .
Of course , governments can be shaken by the will of their citizens .
While President Trump 's supporters are vocal , they are organized around a cult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This limits their ability to overthrow systems of power .
Compared with organizations that resisted the Vietnam War or Revolutionary War , they lack discipline and hierarchy .
They also lack supplies and material to combat entrenched resistance , and can hardly be seen as dangerous to military and federal law enforcement , which as of Jan. 20 will report to Joe Biden .
2 .
Trump 's most vocal supporters enjoy little support from the powerful .
The South rebelled with the full support of politicians , the plantation class and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rebellion .
Currently , however , Wall Street does not embrace Trumpism and has nothing to gain from rebellion .
While many Fox News commentators have covered allegations of voter fraud – claims that have often been debunked – the channel is hardly calling for violent revolution .
President Trump actually finds them too moderate .
Many prominent Republicans are seeking to satisfy Trump supporters while also quietly backing a transition of power .
Corporate America has not signaled any interest in entering the fray .
Powerful communications platforms are resisting streams of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revolution .
3 .
The geography of pro-Trump support does not favor rebellion .
In 1861 , although the border states were heavily divided , the Confederacy was unified in rebellion .
Anti-war sentiment in the North was generally sporadic and mostly anti-draft rather than pro-Southern .
In short , the North and South were relatively unified , quite adversarial , and ideologically polarized .
In the South , this made arming and preparing for insurrection easy .
It also made the rebellion difficult to quell .
The Constitution of the Confederate States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , circa March 1861 .
The geography of those strenuously contesting the election is far less uniform .
Blue metropolitan areas dot the map throughout the country .
Demonstrators do not represent the views of all Republicans .
And even in a deep-red state like North Dakota , almost 32 % of voting residents chose Biden .
This geographical diffusion of ideology makes organized rebellion extremely difficult .
4 .
The military is loyal to the office , not the man .
When governments are overthrown , at least some elements of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Civil War , both commanders and soldiers joined the rebellion .
This seems implausible in the contemporary United States .
Trump 's mismanagement and disrespect toward enlisted soldiers and the generals have been notable , and he keeps firing very popular commanders and replacing them with political surrogates .
Privately , many generals are eager for his presidency to end , and most are unlikely to execute any unlawful orders .
Some have even criticized his politicization of the military .
Certainly , the president can dismiss officers and appointees he believes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as former Secretary of Defense Mike Esper and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Christopher Krebs .
Yet the military at large has not demonstrated unwavering loyalty to Trump , and appears to remain loyal to the office and rule of law .
In extending increased protection to Joe Biden , the Secret Service has demonstrated this too .
Finally , the social upheaval of the present day should be placed in historical perspective .
Compared with the 1860s , or even the 1960s , civil disorder is tame at best .
Protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been some violence at recent demonstrations in Washington and leftist-led disturbances on the West Coast , the violence is far less dramatic or widespread than in previous periods .
Consider , for instance , violence at the 1968 Democratic Convention , the 1970 shootings at Kent State , or John Brown 's bloody raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 .
If things were going to fall apart , city halls and statehouses would be occupied , National Guardsmen would throw down their weapons and join a revolution and violence would escalate beyond @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
[ Deep knowledge , daily .
Sign up for The Conversation 's newsletter . ]
Without a doubt , the president 's attempts to undermine faith in the integrity of the election are dangerous to democracy .
Legal processes to ensure that every legal vote is counted will proceed .
And , without a doubt , Trump and his surrogates will continue to focus on small details , broad generalizations and debunked theories to cast popular doubt on the legitimacy of a possible President Biden .
They will try to delay vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election to the House , where the president would win .
This is their right in a democracy .
Yet , for the moment , the system appears poised to hold together .
The months ahead will be turbulent , but civil war is unlikely .
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

by Alexander Cohen, Clarkson University
Some Americans fear that the deep political divisions in the country and President Donald Trump's determination to challenge the results of the election will cause civil war.
Those who object to Trump's tactics argue that he behaves like an autocrat. Delegitimizing sources of information that resist his narrative, demonizing political opponents, supporting political violence and using courts as political tools are all hallmarks of dictators.
Much as the South rejected President Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election with armed rebellion, will President Trump's many supporters attempt to violently overthrow a Biden-led government?
I am a political scientist who studies public opinion and American politics. I believe the United States will not erupt in open rebellion. Here are five reasons.
1. The American political system remains stable, if stressed.
As the lawfully elected president of the United States, President Trump must follow certain rules and laws. This rule of law has continued even while he challenges the election. The courts are quickly dispatching judicial challenges as meritless and recounts are proceeding legally and normally. Despite the recent invitation of Michigan GOP legislators to the White House, state legislatures have not signaled any desire to upend the electoral process. While outcomes may frustrate the president, the legal process is being honored.
In contrast, before the Civil War, interpretation of the Constitution became contentious, states argued that the Union was dead and politicians fought in open combat in the Senate. Military officers resigned their commissions to support revolution. The current American political system has avoided such systematic conflict.
Of course, governments can be shaken by the will of their citizens. While President Trump's supporters are vocal, they are organized around a cult of personality rather than any organizational structure. This limits their ability to overthrow systems of power. Compared with organizations that resisted the Vietnam War or Revolutionary War, they lack discipline and hierarchy. They also lack supplies and material to combat entrenched resistance, and can hardly be seen as dangerous to military and federal law enforcement, which as of Jan. 20 will report to Joe Biden.
2. Trump's most vocal supporters enjoy little support from the powerful.
The South rebelled with the full support of politicians, the plantation class and the small landholders. Nearly everyone embraced rebellion.
Currently, however, Wall Street does not embrace Trumpism and has nothing to gain from rebellion. While many Fox News commentators have covered allegations of voter fraud – claims that have often been debunked – the channel is hardly calling for violent revolution. President Trump actually finds them too moderate.
Many prominent Republicans are seeking to satisfy Trump supporters while also quietly backing a transition of power. Corporate America has not signaled any interest in entering the fray. Powerful communications platforms are resisting streams of misinformation.
The powerful do not support revolution.
3. The geography of pro-Trump support does not favor rebellion.
In 1861, although the border states were heavily divided, the Confederacy was unified in rebellion. Anti-war sentiment in the North was generally sporadic and mostly anti-draft rather than pro-Southern.
In short, the North and South were relatively unified, quite adversarial, and ideologically polarized. In the South, this made arming and preparing for insurrection easy. It also made the rebellion difficult to quell.
The Constitution of the Confederate States of America before the U.S. Civil War, circa March 1861.
Photo by Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images
The geography of those strenuously contesting the election is far less uniform. Blue metropolitan areas dot the map throughout the country. Demonstrators do not represent the views of all Republicans. And even in a deep-red state like North Dakota, almost 32% of voting residents chose Biden. This geographical diffusion of ideology makes organized rebellion extremely difficult.
4. The military is loyal to the office, not the man.
When governments are overthrown, at least some elements of the military must be supportive. In the U.S. Civil War, both commanders and soldiers joined the rebellion.
This seems implausible in the contemporary United States. Trump's mismanagement and disrespect toward enlisted soldiers and the generals have been notable, and he keeps firing very popular commanders and replacing them with political surrogates. Privately, many generals are eager for his presidency to end, and most are unlikely to execute any unlawful orders. Some have even criticized his politicization of the military.
Certainly, the president can dismiss officers and appointees he believes are personally disloyal to him, such as former Secretary of Defense Mike Esper and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Christopher Krebs. Yet the military at large has not demonstrated unwavering loyalty to Trump, and appears to remain loyal to the office and rule of law.
In extending increased protection to Joe Biden, the Secret Service has demonstrated this too.
5. Present civil disorder is, relatively speaking, tame.
Finally, the social upheaval of the present day should be placed in historical perspective. Compared with the 1860s, or even the 1960s, civil disorder is tame at best.
Protests have been mostly orderly. While there has been some violence at recent demonstrations in Washington and leftist-led disturbances on the West Coast, the violence is far less dramatic or widespread than in previous periods. Consider, for instance, violence at the 1968 Democratic Convention, the 1970 shootings at Kent State, or John Brown's bloody raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. If things were going to fall apart, city halls and statehouses would be occupied, National Guardsmen would throw down their weapons and join a revolution and violence would escalate beyond control. We simply are not there.
[Deep knowledge, daily.Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]
Without a doubt, the president's attempts to undermine faith in the integrity of the election are dangerous to democracy. Legal processes to ensure that every legal vote is counted will proceed. And, without a doubt, Trump and his surrogates will continue to focus on small details, broad generalizations and debunked theories to cast popular doubt on the legitimacy of a possible President Biden. They will try to delay vote certification, nullify state results and push the election to the House, where the president would win.
This is their right in a democracy. Yet, for the moment, the system appears poised to hold together. The months ahead will be turbulent, but civil war is unlikely.
Alexander Cohen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Clarkson University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


alternet--2020-11-21--Rural hospitals are under siege from COVID-19

by Lauren Hughes , University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Jennifer Bacani McKenney , University of Kansas It 's difficult to put into words how hard COVID-19 is hitting rural America 's hospitals .
North Dakota has so many cases , it 's allowing asymptomatic COVID-19-positive nurses to continue caring for patients to keep the hospitals staffed .
Iowa and South Dakota have teetered on the edge of running out of hospital capacity .
Yet in many communities , the initial cooperation and goodwill seen early in the pandemic have given way to COVID-19 fatigue and anger , making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health measures , like wearing face masks , that can reduce the disease 's spread .
Rural health care systems entered the pandemic in already precarious financial positions .
Over the years , shifting demographics , declining revenue and increasing operating expenses have made it harder for rural hospitals to stay in business .
The pandemic has made it even more difficult .
In mid-March , most rural hospitals halted elective procedures to slow the spread of the virus , cutting their revenue further , and many have faced price gouging for supplies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rural doctors and hospital administrators across the country as a researcher , and I see the stress they 're under from the pandemic .
Here is what two of them – Konnie Martin , chief executive officer at San Luis Valley Health in Alamosa , Colorado , and Dr. Jennifer Bacani McKenney , who practices family medicine in Fredonia , Kansas – are facing .
Their experiences reflect what others are going through and how rural communities are innovating under extraordinary pressure .
I 'll let them explain in their own words .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ wearing on people .
Everyone wishes we were past this .
I read the other day about health care workers being the “ keeper of fears . ''
During COVID-19 , patients have disproportionately placed their fears on clinicians , many of whom experience the same fears themselves .
I focus on building resilience , but it 's hard .
My hospital currently has seven patients with COVID-19 and can make room for as many as 12 .
Back in the spring , we converted a visiting specialist center into a temporary respiratory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and reduce pressure on our emergency department .
It 's all about making sure we have enough staff and hospital capacity .
There is n't any hospital that is n't under siege , which means that getting patients to the right level of care can be a challenge .
In the past few days , we have accepted three transfers from facilities that are on the front range .
We 've never had to do this before .
With six ICU beds and 10 ventilators , we are trying to help others .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ community , and I worry about when it comes .
We have nearly 40 staff out right now on isolation or quarantine , a staggering number for a small facility .
We are having to shift staffing coverage in half-day increments to keep up .
We are not at a point where we are even contemplating bringing COVID-19-positive staff back to work , like the governor of North Dakota suggested .
I hope we never get there .
We are , however , considering high-risk versus low-risk exposures .
If a clinician is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ procedure , that 's high risk .
If a clinician is exposed in a classroom of 50 people who were all socially distanced and wearing masks , that 's low risk .
If we face critical workforce needs , we may bring back health care workers that have had low-risk exposures .
We have gained a lot of knowledge this year , and we all feel wiser now , but definitely older , too .
We chose to live in a rural community because we look out for one another .
Our one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Our sheriff 's department will drive medications outside of city limits .
If we could return to our rural values of caring for and protecting one another we would be in a better position .
Somewhere along the way , these values took a back seat to politics and fear .
Wilson County , where I practice in Southeast Kansas , did n't see its first COVID-19 case until April 15 .
By August , you could still count the number of cases on two hands .
But by mid-November , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county with a population of about 8,500 – meaning about one out of every 40 residents has been infected .
Our 25-bed critical-access hospital does n't have dedicated ICU beds , and it has only two ventilators .
Emergency department calls are split among the five physicians in Fredonia .
In addition to dealing with COVID-19 cases , we 're managing every other illness and injury that walks through the door , including strokes , heart attacks , traumatic injuries and rattlesnake bites .
We have sectioned off a hallway of rooms for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , however , we have to rely on other hospitals .
Recently , my partner had to transfer a patient who had a gastrointestinal bleed .
She had to call 11 different hospitals to find one that could take the patient .
I feel lucky to have on-site testing in the hospital lab .
But like many of my rural peers , getting enough face masks and other personal protective equipment early on was tough .
The community is tired , frustrated and stubborn .
Politicians talk about relying on personal responsibility to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't see a majority of people wearing masks in public spaces despite pleas from health professionals .
Some people are scared .
Others act as if COVID-19 does n't exist .
Politics is making things harder .
I have been Wilson County 's health officer for the past eight years .
This year , county commissioners gained more control over COVID-19 health decisions .
When I proposed a mask mandate early in the pandemic , one county commissioner argued it would violate his rights .
Another commissioner balked at one of my reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell schools how to evaluate kids before they can return to sports , despite the health risks .
I recently proposed a new mask mandate given our rising numbers .
I explained that masks would not only save lives , they would help businesses stay open and keep employees at work .
The commissioners voted it down 3-0 .
Preparing for the next pandemic We live in an interconnected world where commerce and people cross state and national borders , and with that comes the risk of new diseases .
America will face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care delivery systems can leverage lessons from COVID-19 to prepare .
Among other things , their emergency preparedness “ tabletop exercises '' can include planning for infectious disease outbreaks , in addition to fire and floods ; mass casualty incidents ; and chemical spills .
They can permanently diversify supply chain options from other industries , such as construction and agriculture , to help ensure access to needed supplies .
To avoid staff and supply shortages , they can create regional rural health care networks for swapping staff , conducting testing and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and health care administrators are being as flexible and resourceful as they can in the face of adversity .
[ Understand new developments in science , health and technology , each week .
Subscribe to The Conversation 's science newsletter . ]
Lauren Hughes , Physician , Associate Professor of Family Medicine , University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Jennifer Bacani McKenney , Family Physician , Assistant Dean for Rural Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center , University of Kansas This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

by Lauren Hughes, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Jennifer Bacani McKenney, University of Kansas
It's difficult to put into words how hard COVID-19 is hitting rural America's hospitals. North Dakota has so many cases, it's allowing asymptomatic COVID-19-positive nurses to continue caring for patients to keep the hospitals staffed. Iowa and South Dakota have teetered on the edge of running out of hospital capacity.
Yet in many communities, the initial cooperation and goodwill seen early in the pandemic have given way to COVID-19 fatigue and anger, making it hard to implement and enforce public health measures, like wearing face masks, that can reduce the disease's spread.
Rural health care systems entered the pandemic in already precarious financial positions. Over the years, shifting demographics, declining revenue and increasing operating expenses have made it harder for rural hospitals to stay in business. The pandemic has made it even more difficult. In mid-March, most rural hospitals halted elective procedures to slow the spread of the virus, cutting their revenue further, and many have faced price gouging for supplies given extreme shortages.
I work with rural doctors and hospital administrators across the country as a researcher, and I see the stress they're under from the pandemic. Here is what two of them – Konnie Martin, chief executive officer at San Luis Valley Health in Alamosa, Colorado, and Dr. Jennifer Bacani McKenney, who practices family medicine in Fredonia, Kansas – are facing. Their experiences reflect what others are going through and how rural communities are innovating under extraordinary pressure.
I'll let them explain in their own words.
Konnie Martin, Alamosa, Colorado
COVID-19 fatigue is real. It's wearing on people. Everyone wishes we were past this. I read the other day about health care workers being the “keeper of fears." During COVID-19, patients have disproportionately placed their fears on clinicians, many of whom experience the same fears themselves. I focus on building resilience, but it's hard.
My hospital currently has seven patients with COVID-19 and can make room for as many as 12. Back in the spring, we converted a visiting specialist center into a temporary respiratory clinic to keep potentially infectious patients separate and reduce pressure on our emergency department.
It's all about making sure we have enough staff and hospital capacity.
There isn't any hospital that isn't under siege, which means that getting patients to the right level of care can be a challenge. In the past few days, we have accepted three transfers from facilities that are on the front range. We've never had to do this before. With six ICU beds and 10 ventilators, we are trying to help others.
Influenza hasn't arrived yet in our community, and I worry about when it comes. We have nearly 40 staff out right now on isolation or quarantine, a staggering number for a small facility. We are having to shift staffing coverage in half-day increments to keep up.
We are not at a point where we are even contemplating bringing COVID-19-positive staff back to work, like the governor of North Dakota suggested. I hope we never get there. We are, however, considering high-risk versus low-risk exposures. If a clinician is exposed to COVID-19 during an aerosolizing medical procedure, that's high risk. If a clinician is exposed in a classroom of 50 people who were all socially distanced and wearing masks, that's low risk. If we face critical workforce needs, we may bring back health care workers that have had low-risk exposures.
We have gained a lot of knowledge this year, and we all feel wiser now, but definitely older, too.
Dr. Jennifer Bacani McKenney, Fredonia, Kansas
We chose to live in a rural community because we look out for one another. Our one grocery store will deliver to your home. Our sheriff's department will drive medications outside of city limits. If we could return to our rural values of caring for and protecting one another we would be in a better position. Somewhere along the way, these values took a back seat to politics and fear.
Wilson County, where I practice in Southeast Kansas, didn't see its first COVID-19 case until April 15. By August, you could still count the number of cases on two hands. But by mid-November, the total was over 215 cases in a county with a population of about 8,500 – meaning about one out of every 40 residents has been infected.
Our 25-bed critical-access hospital doesn't have dedicated ICU beds, and it has only two ventilators. Emergency department calls are split among the five physicians in Fredonia. In addition to dealing with COVID-19 cases, we're managing every other illness and injury that walks through the door, including strokes, heart attacks, traumatic injuries and rattlesnake bites.
We have sectioned off a hallway of rooms for suspected COVID-19 cases. Without an ICU, however, we have to rely on other hospitals. Recently, my partner had to transfer a patient who had a gastrointestinal bleed. She had to call 11 different hospitals to find one that could take the patient.
I feel lucky to have on-site testing in the hospital lab. But like many of my rural peers, getting enough face masks and other personal protective equipment early on was tough.
The community is tired, frustrated and stubborn. Politicians talk about relying on personal responsibility to end the pandemic, but I don't see a majority of people wearing masks in public spaces despite pleas from health professionals. Some people are scared. Others act as if COVID-19 doesn't exist.
Politics is making things harder. I have been Wilson County's health officer for the past eight years. This year, county commissioners gained more control over COVID-19 health decisions.
When I proposed a mask mandate early in the pandemic, one county commissioner argued it would violate his rights. Another commissioner balked at one of my reports, saying I had no right to tell schools how to evaluate kids before they can return to sports, despite the health risks.
I recently proposed a new mask mandate given our rising numbers. I explained that masks would not only save lives, they would help businesses stay open and keep employees at work. The commissioners voted it down 3-0.
Preparing for the next pandemic
We live in an interconnected world where commerce and people cross state and national borders, and with that comes the risk of new diseases. America will face another pandemic in the future.
Rural health care delivery systems can leverage lessons from COVID-19 to prepare. Among other things, their emergency preparedness “tabletop exercises" can include planning for infectious disease outbreaks, in addition to fire and floods; mass casualty incidents; and chemical spills.
They can permanently diversify supply chain options from other industries, such as construction and agriculture, to help ensure access to needed supplies. To avoid staff and supply shortages, they can create regional rural health care networks for swapping staff, conducting testing and acquiring supplies.
Meanwhile, rural doctors and health care administrators are being as flexible and resourceful as they can in the face of adversity.
[Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.Subscribe to The Conversation's science newsletter.]
Lauren Hughes, Physician, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Jennifer Bacani McKenney, Family Physician, Assistant Dean for Rural Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, University of Kansas
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


alternet--2020-11-21--Michigan Republicans throw cold water on Trump's hopes to steal the election from Biden

A White House meeting on Friday had observers spooked all day as it appeared to be a part of President Donald Trump 's attempt to hold on to power despite losing the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden .
But by Friday evening , it appeared the meeting had wrapped up with Trump no closer to his goal — and he was perhaps even farther from it than ever .
Trump met with Michigan 's State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Speaker of the State House of Representatives Lee Chatfield , two leading Republicans in the legislature .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his campaign have focused on Michigan as one of the key Biden states to contest .
Earlier in the week , two Republican officials on a county board tried to block certification of Detroit 's ( heavily Democratic ) votes , a move quickly celebrated by the Trump team .
The Republicans relented and certified the vote , but they subsequently recanted and tried to withdraw their certification ( though that move seems to have failed . )
One of the officials admitted that she had spoken for Trump before reversing her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hardly surprising that Trump 's meeting with top state legislators in the state raised alarm bells .
Legislatures are ultimately the body empowered by the Constitution to appoint the electors that pick the president .
There are powerful legal arguments that the legislatures ' decisions have already been made and can not be reversed at this point in time , but some fear Trump may be willing to push a dangerous gambit and pressure legislatures to subvert the law and the will of the voters to keep him in power .
It 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fail , as I 've argued , but it could cause a lot of chaos in the meantime .
However , the plan is stalling at the starting line .
After the meeting , the legislators released a statement making clear they see no basis for overturning the result of the election : The Senate and House Oversight Committees are actively engaged in a thorough review of Michigan 's elections process and we have faith in the committee process to provide greater transparency and accountability to our citizens .
We have not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders , we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan 's electors , just as we have said throughout this election .
Michigan 's certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation .
Allegations of fraudulent behavior should be taken seriously , thoroughly investigated , and if proven , prosecuted to the full extent of the law .
And the candidates who win the most votes win elections and Michigan 's electoral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should provide confidence in our elections .
[ emphasis added ] Of all the key swing states , Biden won Michigan by the largest margin of over 150,000 votes .
Since it was n't even close , it always seemed that Trump 's chance of altering the final result was the biggest stretch ( though changing the result of any state officially does n't seem remotely plausible . )
But one benefit of the state 's top legislators coming out to clearly reject the idea that the outcome was wrongly tabulated is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , such as in Pennsylvania , who may have been inclined to go along with Trump 's attempted coup .
If the Michigan officials had made clear they would try to facilitate Trump 's steal , others may have been emboldened to do the same .
But that door appears closed now .
And it should be noted that while the Skirkey and Chatfield were criticized for even taking the meeting with Trump under such dubious circumstances , it appears they tried to use their visit with the president for good .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the White House to deliver a letter to President Trump making clear our support for additional federal funds to help Michigan in the fight against COVID-l9 .
We have since sent the same correspondence to congressional leaders .
Months ago , Michigan received funds through the federal CARES Act , and we used that funding to quickly support front line workers , improve testing , ensure adequate PPE , provide additional support to out-of-work Michiganders , and deliver assistance to local businesses that are struggling through no fault of their own .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state when additional support would go a long way to help those same residents who need our help .
We highlighted our commitment to appropriating further federal dollars to Michiganders most in need as we continue to deal with the impact of COVID-19 .
We also emphasized our commitment to fiscal responsibility in the state budget as we move forward .
The country as a whole truly is in desperate need of more support as the pandemic reaches new heights .
Trump 's attempts to deny the reality of the election and to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have only been a distraction and hindrance to the most important issue facing Americans right now .
But unfortunately , with his days in office numbered , it 's not clear if Trump sees any personal advantage in doing what 's right .

A White House meeting on Friday had observers spooked all day as it appeared to be a part of President Donald Trump's attempt to hold on to power despite losing the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden. But by Friday evening, it appeared the meeting had wrapped up with Trump no closer to his goal — and he was perhaps even farther from it than ever.
Trump met with Michigan's State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Speaker of the State House of Representatives Lee Chatfield, two leading Republicans in the legislature. This was highly disturbing, because the president and his campaign have focused on Michigan as one of the key Biden states to contest. Earlier in the week, two Republican officials on a county board tried to block certification of Detroit's (heavily Democratic) votes, a move quickly celebrated by the Trump team. The Republicans relented and certified the vote, but they subsequently recanted and tried to withdraw their certification (though that move seems to have failed.) One of the officials admitted that she had spoken for Trump before reversing her position on certification.
So it was hardly surprising that Trump's meeting with top state legislators in the state raised alarm bells. Legislatures are ultimately the body empowered by the Constitution to appoint the electors that pick the president. There are powerful legal arguments that the legislatures' decisions have already been made and cannot be reversed at this point in time, but some fear Trump may be willing to push a dangerous gambit and pressure legislatures to subvert the law and the will of the voters to keep him in power.
It's a scheme that would be highly likely to fail, as I've argued, but it could cause a lot of chaos in the meantime.
However, the plan is stalling at the starting line. After the meeting, the legislators released a statement making clear they see no basis for overturning the result of the election:
The Senate and House Oversight Committees are actively engaged in a thorough review of Michigan's elections process and we have faith in the committee process to provide greater transparency and accountability to our citizens. We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election.
Michigan's certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation. Allegations of fraudulent behavior should be taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and if proven, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And the candidates who win the most votes win elections and Michigan's electoral votes. These are simple truths that should provide confidence in our elections. [emphasis added]
Of all the key swing states, Biden won Michigan by the largest margin of over 150,000 votes. Since it wasn't even close, it always seemed that Trump's chance of altering the final result was the biggest stretch (though changing the result of any state officially doesn't seem remotely plausible.)
But one benefit of the state's top legislators coming out to clearly reject the idea that the outcome was wrongly tabulated is that it may discourage other Republican officials elsewhere, such as in Pennsylvania, who may have been inclined to go along with Trump's attempted coup. If the Michigan officials had made clear they would try to facilitate Trump's steal, others may have been emboldened to do the same. But that door appears closed now.
And it should be noted that while the Skirkey and Chatfield were criticized for even taking the meeting with Trump under such dubious circumstances, it appears they tried to use their visit with the president for good. They explained:
We used our time in the White House to deliver a letter to President Trump making clear our support for additional federal funds to help Michigan in the fight against COVID-l9. We have since sent the same correspondence to congressional leaders.
Months ago, Michigan received funds through the federal CARES Act, and we used that funding to quickly support front line workers, improve testing, ensure adequate PPE, provide additional support to out-of-work Michiganders, and deliver assistance to local businesses that are struggling through no fault of their own. We once again face a time in our state when additional support would go a long way to help those same residents who need our help.
We highlighted our commitment to appropriating further federal dollars to Michiganders most in need as we continue to deal with the impact of COVID-19. We also emphasized our commitment to fiscal responsibility in the state budget as we move forward.
The country as a whole truly is in desperate need of more support as the pandemic reaches new heights. Trump's attempts to deny the reality of the election and to block the transition to a Biden administration have only been a distraction and hindrance to the most important issue facing Americans right now. But unfortunately, with his days in office numbered, it's not clear if Trump sees any personal advantage in doing what's right.


alternet--2020-11-20--Trump's war on democracy is bad for business — but corporate leaders are getting what they paid for

The latest news out of Michigan — in which the current occupant of the White House has not only summoned Republican legislative leaders to meet with him but pressured two members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers into attempting to rescind their votes to certify the election outcomes , potentially disenfranchising thousands of legitimate votes — makes clear that Donald Trump and his minions have opened a trap door in the foundation of democracy and are diving into an abyss of raw power and violence that none of us may escape .
Joe Biden 's administration will have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's coming .
Business and civic leaders , in the large corporations and the elite universities , should grow some brass knuckles , too .
Other news of recent weeks makes one wonder if they will .
Thirty important CEOs of major corporations logged into an early morning , off-the-record Zoom meeting on Nov. 6 to explore responses to Donald Trump 's defiance of democracy .
One of those was Robert Iger , the 69-year-old executive chairman of the studiously apolitical Walt Disney Company .
He and the other chief executives , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Jeffrey Sonnenfeld , the peripatetic maestro of confidential executive conclaves and business-leadership programs who is a professor of management at Yale and a founder of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute .
The virtually assembled CEOs had been shaken by Trump 's delusional White House briefing room pronouncements about the election .
So they listened intently as Yale historian Timothy Snyder , a scholar of 20th-century authoritarianism and the author of `` On Tyranny : Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century , '' explained how business elites ' inaction and prevarications about rising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had wound up facilitating Nazi and other fascist coups whose tactics Trump has been emulating , with eerie if somewhat loopy fidelity .
But after Snyder signed off , Stephen Schwarzman , billionaire CEO of the Blackstone private equity group , a key Trump confidant and mega-donor , and a Yale College alumnus whose $ 150 million gift to his alma mater prompted it to rename and repurpose its semi-sacred civic complex for him , defended the president 's legal right to challenge the election outcome .
Schwarzman urged the CEOs to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump 's refusal to concede defeat .
Although Disney 's Iger and most others at the meeting had no connections to Yale , the university 's background role in these conflicted reckonings is n't a coincidence .
It 's an emblem of the crisis itself .
First things first : Iger , born in Brooklyn and raised as a Democrat on Long Island — he co-chaired a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton 's 2016 campaign — switched his voter registration to independent soon after Trump 's victory .
In a videotaped interview on Nov. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smooth transition then underway from Obama 's presidency to Trump 's , noting his hope for `` a new tax policy '' with lower corporate rates and better incentives to competition .
`` I think it 's too soon to say '' whether Trump would deliver it , he added , but on Dec. 2 , 2016 , he joined the president-elect 's Strategic and Policy Forum , a business advisory council led by Schwarzman .
Yet Iger resigned from that group only six months later , when Trump withdrew the U.S. from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discomfort with Trump more generally after the Las Vegas massacre ( in which a Disney employee was killed ) , saying that , `` In this day and age , we get outraged when an athlete does n't stand for the national anthem — where 's the outrage here ? ''
This year , he donated more than $ 250,000 to Joe Biden 's campaign .
Having worked for 25 years at Disney 's helm to expand its entertainment offerings and media properties , Iger and other CEOs were `` alarmed , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Trump 's duplicitous , nearly deranged remarks in the White House briefing room just after the election .
Such behavior , compounding the COVID crisis , endangered corporate efforts to expand their markets and profits `` intelligently , '' by their lights , as demagogue-addled mobs destroyed the consumer-friendly , democratic comity that steady profit-making requires .
CEOs `` do n't want fractured communities .
They do n't want hostile workplaces , '' Sonnenfeld told the FT , and , the very next day , Nov. 7 , the influential national Business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ logged into the Yale meeting , congratulated the Biden-Harris ticket on its clear victory .
But , echoing Schwarzman 's sinuous advice , the Roundtable statement also commended Trump `` for a hard-fought campaign that has garnered over 70 million votes .
We know the outcome is disappointing to his millions of supporters .
While we respect the Trump campaign 's right to seek recounts , to call for investigation of alleged voting irregularities where evidence exists and to exhaust legitimate legal remedies , there is no indication that any of these would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exemplifies the tension between business leaders ' need to acknowledge democracy 's challenges to their tax-cutting , wage-cutting , public deregulatory and private surveillance agendas , on the one hand , and the public 's need to limit the dangers those agendas pose to democracy , on the other .
The Roundtable 's statement certainly did n't illuminate what executives like Iger have worked so hard to finesse : the cold reality that top-down political derangement such as Trump 's has been rising in America — at the hands of big business itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fake businessman on `` The Apprentice '' and in his many real but casino-like ventures .
The Trumpism that has enveloped and devoured an entire political party is the result not only of his own pathologies but of systemic relations between the happy , confident consumerism that companies need and the accelerating decay of democratic legitimacy and comity that consumerism now promotes .
But , echoing Schwarzman 's sinuous advice , the Roundtable statement also commended Trump `` for a hard-fought campaign that has garnered over 70 million votes .
We know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of supporters .
While we respect the Trump campaign 's right to seek recounts , to call for investigation of alleged voting irregularities where evidence exists and to exhaust legitimate legal remedies , there is no indication that any of these would change the outcome . ''
That statement exemplifies the tension between business leaders ' need to acknowledge democracy 's challenges to their tax-cutting , wage-cutting , public deregulatory and private surveillance agendas , on the one hand , and the public 's need to limit the dangers those agendas pose to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Roundtable 's statement certainly did n't illuminate what executives like Iger have worked so hard to finesse : the cold reality that top-down political derangement such as Trump 's has been rising in America — at the hands of big business itself — since well before he emerged as a fake businessman on `` The Apprentice '' and in his many real but casino-like ventures .
The Trumpism that has enveloped and devoured an entire political party is the result not only of his own pathologies but of systemic relations between the happy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the accelerating decay of democratic legitimacy and comity that consumerism now promotes .
The attempt by Yale 's Sonnenfeld to reconcile or at least mediate between the conflicting assessments of Trump by Yale historian Snyder and Yale alumnus and mega-donor Schwarzman reflected a crisis in Yale 's and other universities ' mission to temper their students ' preparation for capitalist wealth-making with commitments to scientific ( originally , Puritan religious ) truth-seeking and to the arts and disciplines of civic-republican governance .
Although Schwarzman has lavishly funded , served and defended Trump 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Schwarzman 's attempt to steer the CEOs away from condemning Trump .
He assured student reporters at the Yale Daily News that , in the meeting , `` Schwarzman never defended President Trump 's assertion that this was an unfair election .
… There was no parochial self-interest , no corporate strategic angles that [ Schwarzman and the other CEOs ] were arguing .
This was 100 percent a spirit of patriotism and common concern that alarmed them . ''
A Blackstone spokesman assured the FT that `` As an American , Steve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the democratic process will play out in an orderly and legal manner , as it has throughout our nation 's history . ''
But Sonnenfeld 's fervent defense of Schwarzman as a disinterested citizen , standing like Horatio at the bridge to defending the republic , ca n't be reconciled with Schwarzman 's fervent support for and collaboration with Trump , his powerful beneficiary and benefactor .
Although Schwarzman has now acknowledged that `` it looks like Joe Biden '' has won the election , his years-long collaboration with Trump accelerates the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' mission to balance their students ' ( and some professors ' ) assiduous wealth-making with liberal education 's truth seeking and its great conversation across the ages about lasting challenges to politics and the human spirit .
Although Yale recently renamed its John C. Calhoun College to cease honoring that champion of white supremacy and Black slavery , it just as recently repurposed and renamed its civic center as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Center , honoring the man who bankrolls and counsels the current champion of white supremacy and , sotto voce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of rogue police officers and COVID .
The hypocrisy is n't confined to private universities like Yale .
Christopher Newfield , a professor of English at the University of California , Santa Barbara , and a trenchant critic of misguided business policies that undermine higher education , showed recently in his authoritative blog Remaking the University that liberal Democrats capitulated decades ago to business leaders ' worst priorities and practices .
The universities did little to offset their own growing sense of themselves as corporations in an education industry that incentivizes students to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead of deliberating citizens .
That sea-change in liberal Democrats ' own priorities is symbolized by Yale 's renaming of Commons , but it 's also devastating to the public universities fiscally and ideologically , as Newfield makes strikingly clear .
Democracy 's genuflection to plutocracy is n't hard to detect in convergences among participants in Sonnenfeld 's meeting .
He and Schwarzman grew up in suburban Philadelphia in the 1950s , albeit seven years apart , both attending public school in the Abington township , both working in their fathers ' small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clothing store , the Schwarzmans ' dry goods store ) .
Both sons went on to the Ivy League , Sonnenfeld to Harvard College and then to the Harvard Business School , which Schwarzman also attended after graduating from Yale .
Both emerged as fanatical self-promoters , not only in business but also in education and public life .
Schwarzman 's `` edifice complex , '' as egregious as Trump 's , has driven him to put his name on countless public institutions , as I reported in Dissent magazine .
Sonnenfeld , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in many other venues , is almost infamously ravenous for public attention and respect from business elites .
`` He 's the Oprah Winfrey of business schools , '' the late political scientist Robert Pastor told Philip Weiss , a Harvard College classmate of Sonnenfeld who profiled him for The New York Observer .
Although Sonnenfeld is acutely skeptical of Trump — in 2004 , he disparaged `` The Apprentice '' for teaching wrong lessons about business leadership — it takes one to know one .
Trump 's compulsive attention-getting rides more on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he and Sonnenfeld have had to fight maniacally to restore and embellish almost-ruined careers — Trump through bankruptcy after bankruptcy , and Sonnenfeld owing to an incident at Emory University in 1997 that ended with his vindication only after an excruciatingly long fight that impels him to advise CEOs on how to stage comebacks from career disasters .
It 's worth noting that Trump got his B.A .
and MBA in Sonnenfeld 's native Philadelphia , at the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Business School .
Historian R.H.Tawney characterized the hypocrisies of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face on their uncontrollable power-lust and greed : '' Few tricks of the unsophisticated intellect are more curious than the naïve psychology of the business man , who ascribes his achievements to his own unaided efforts , in bland unconsciousness of a social order without whose continuous support and vigilant protection he would be as a lamb bleating in the desert , '' Tawney wrote in 1926 .
`` That individualist complex owes part of its self-assurance to the suggestion of Puritan moralists that practical success is at once the sign and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demonstration that distress is a proof of demerit , though a singular commentary on the lives of Christian saints and sages , has always been popular with the prosperous .
By the lusty plutocracy … roaring after its meat and not indisposed , if it could not find it elsewhere to seek it from God , it was welcomed with a shout of applause . ''
Plutocrats and their apologists do n't exactly `` roar '' after their meat at redoubts such as Davos , the Aspen Ideas Festival and Sonnenfeld 's Chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and ruin of the democratic public that their own practices and premises have demoralized , they sigh sagely and wonder piously how `` the people '' might return to self-government , even as plutocrats like Trump show that they can barely govern themselves , let alone anyone else .
Democracy benefits only fleetingly when some plutocrats oppose others who 've gotten out of hand : The historian Snyder , writing recently in the liberal Catholic journal Commonweal , contends that Trump is driven now by desperation to escape the legal and economic ruin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immunity against civil and criminal indictment .
Trump has come very close indeed to derailing the election with more than a little help from his Republican Party , thanks to which even Congress wo n't uphold the rule of law unless public resistance to current arrangements moves beyond episodic looting and assaults and beyond tweeting , texting , signing petitions and writing articles like this one .
Ultimately there 's no substitute for disciplined , humane democratic movements such as those led by Mahatma Gandhi , Adam Michnick , Vaclav Havel , Nelson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the founders of the American republic .
They 've reconfigured and sometimes replaced national-security states and regimes built on grinding inequality and corruption .
Often , as in Eastern Europe and the American South , they 've done it without perpetrating violence : Even the American Revolution `` was effected before the War commenced ... in the Minds and Hearts of the People , '' wrote John Adams .
Perhaps the clearest assessment of such movements is the late Jonathan Schell 's `` The Unconquerable World : Power , Nonviolence , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recounts how leaders of such movements discovered that power flows ultimately not from the few who are daunting , dazzling or wealthy but from seemingly powerless masses who stop obeying and who reconfigure their lives together without official permission or reward , through disciplined non-cooperation that 's nonviolent but all the more effectively coercive .
Time and again , Schell wrote , rulers driven by power-lust and greed respond to such movements `` with refreshed ignorance '' : A state that militarizes its police and floods its streets with soldiers , surveillance and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ massive but principled non-cooperation .
There 's no revolutionary thrill in discovering that America has come to this .
Elites , too , must act , but in ways that heal and empower others , not just by pouring money into Democratic Party coffers .
And universities that fund institutes and programs for elite leadership and grand strategy-making should fund more courses like the one on nonviolence and power that Schell taught at Yale for years , along with programs that prepare organizers for the movements that democracies everywhere need now .

The latest news out of Michigan — in which the current occupant of the White House has not only summoned Republican legislative leaders to meet with him but pressured two members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers into attempting to rescind their votes to certify the election outcomes, potentially disenfranchising thousands of legitimate votes — makes clear that Donald Trump and his minions have opened a trap door in the foundation of democracy and are diving into an abyss of raw power and violence that none of us may escape. Joe Biden's administration will have to grow brass knuckles to deal with what's coming. Business and civic leaders, in the large corporations and the elite universities, should grow some brass knuckles, too. Other news of recent weeks makes one wonder if they will.
Thirty important CEOs of major corporations logged into an early morning, off-the-record Zoom meeting on Nov. 6 to explore responses to Donald Trump's defiance of democracy. One of those was Robert Iger, the 69-year-old executive chairman of the studiously apolitical Walt Disney Company. He and the other chief executives, including three former U.S. cabinet secretaries, convened with Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the peripatetic maestro of confidential executive conclaves and business-leadership programs who is a professor of management at Yale and a founder of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute.
The virtually assembled CEOs had been shaken by Trump's delusional White House briefing room pronouncements about the election. So they listened intently as Yale historian Timothy Snyder, a scholar of 20th-century authoritarianism and the author of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century," explained how business elites' inaction and prevarications about rising fascism in Weimar Germany and other countries had wound up facilitating Nazi and other fascist coups whose tactics Trump has been emulating, with eerie if somewhat loopy fidelity.
But after Snyder signed off, Stephen Schwarzman, billionaire CEO of the Blackstone private equity group, a key Trump confidant and mega-donor, and a Yale College alumnus whose $150 million gift to his alma mater prompted it to rename and repurpose its semi-sacred civic complex for him, defended the president's legal right to challenge the election outcome. Schwarzman urged the CEOs to be patient, and not publicly critical of Trump's refusal to concede defeat.
Although Disney's Iger and most others at the meeting had no connections to Yale, the university's background role in these conflicted reckonings isn't a coincidence. It's an emblem of the crisis itself.
First things first: Iger, born in Brooklyn and raised as a Democrat on Long Island — he co-chaired a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign — switched his voter registration to independent soon after Trump's victory. In a videotaped interview on Nov. 10, 2016, Iger praised the smooth transition then underway from Obama's presidency to Trump's, noting his hope for "a new tax policy" with lower corporate rates and better incentives to competition. "I think it's too soon to say" whether Trump would deliver it, he added, but on Dec. 2, 2016, he joined the president-elect's Strategic and Policy Forum, a business advisory council led by Schwarzman.
Yet Iger resigned from that group only six months later, when Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, and expressed discomfort with Trump more generally after the Las Vegas massacre (in which a Disney employee was killed), saying that, "In this day and age, we get outraged when an athlete doesn't stand for the national anthem — where's the outrage here?" This year, he donated more than $250,000 to Joe Biden's campaign.
Having worked for 25 years at Disney's helm to expand its entertainment offerings and media properties, Iger and other CEOs were "alarmed," Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told the Financial Times, by Trump's duplicitous, nearly deranged remarks in the White House briefing room just after the election. Such behavior, compounding the COVID crisis, endangered corporate efforts to expand their markets and profits "intelligently," by their lights, as demagogue-addled mobs destroyed the consumer-friendly, democratic comity that steady profit-making requires. CEOs "don't want fractured communities. They don't want hostile workplaces," Sonnenfeld told the FT, and, the very next day, Nov. 7, the influential national Business Roundtable, some of whose members had logged into the Yale meeting, congratulated the Biden-Harris ticket on its clear victory.
But, echoing Schwarzman's sinuous advice, the Roundtable statement also commended Trump "for a hard-fought campaign that has garnered over 70 million votes. We know the outcome is disappointing to his millions of supporters. While we respect the Trump campaign's right to seek recounts, to call for investigation of alleged voting irregularities where evidence exists and to exhaust legitimate legal remedies, there is no indication that any of these would change the outcome."
That statement exemplifies the tension between business leaders' need to acknowledge democracy's challenges to their tax-cutting, wage-cutting, public deregulatory and private surveillance agendas, on the one hand, and the public's need to limit the dangers those agendas pose to democracy, on the other. The Roundtable's statement certainly didn't illuminate what executives like Iger have worked so hard to finesse: the cold reality that top-down political derangement such as Trump's has been rising in America — at the hands of big business itself — since well before he emerged as a fake businessman on "The Apprentice" and in his many real but casino-like ventures. The Trumpism that has enveloped and devoured an entire political party is the result not only of his own pathologies but of systemic relations between the happy, confident consumerism that companies need and the accelerating decay of democratic legitimacy and comity that consumerism now promotes.
But, echoing Schwarzman's sinuous advice, the Roundtable statement also commended Trump "for a hard-fought campaign that has garnered over 70 million votes. We know the outcome is disappointing to his millions of supporters. While we respect the Trump campaign's right to seek recounts, to call for investigation of alleged voting irregularities where evidence exists and to exhaust legitimate legal remedies, there is no indication that any of these would change the outcome."
That statement exemplifies the tension between business leaders' need to acknowledge democracy's challenges to their tax-cutting, wage-cutting, public deregulatory and private surveillance agendas, on the one hand, and the public's need to limit the dangers those agendas pose to democracy, on the other. The Roundtable's statement certainly didn't illuminate what executives like Iger have worked so hard to finesse: the cold reality that top-down political derangement such as Trump's has been rising in America — at the hands of big business itself — since well before he emerged as a fake businessman on "The Apprentice" and in his many real but casino-like ventures. The Trumpism that has enveloped and devoured an entire political party is the result not only of his own pathologies but of systemic relations between the happy, confident consumerism that companies need and the accelerating decay of democratic legitimacy and comity that consumerism now promotes.
The attempt by Yale's Sonnenfeld to reconcile or at least mediate between the conflicting assessments of Trump by Yale historian Snyder and Yale alumnus and mega-donor Schwarzman reflected a crisis in Yale's and other universities' mission to temper their students' preparation for capitalist wealth-making with commitments to scientific (originally, Puritan religious) truth-seeking and to the arts and disciplines of civic-republican governance. Although Schwarzman has lavishly funded, served and defended Trump's deranged politics since 2016, Sonnenfeld defended Schwarzman's attempt to steer the CEOs away from condemning Trump. He assured student reporters at the Yale Daily News that, in the meeting, "Schwarzman never defended President Trump's assertion that this was an unfair election. … There was no parochial self-interest, no corporate strategic angles that [Schwarzman and the other CEOs] were arguing. This was 100 percent a spirit of patriotism and common concern that alarmed them." A Blackstone spokesman assured the FT that "As an American, Steve believes the electoral system is sound and that the democratic process will play out in an orderly and legal manner, as it has throughout our nation's history."
But Sonnenfeld's fervent defense of Schwarzman as a disinterested citizen, standing like Horatio at the bridge to defending the republic, can't be reconciled with Schwarzman's fervent support for and collaboration with Trump, his powerful beneficiary and benefactor. Although Schwarzman has now acknowledged that "it looks like Joe Biden" has won the election, his years-long collaboration with Trump accelerates the unraveling of Yale's and other universities' mission to balance their students' (and some professors') assiduous wealth-making with liberal education's truth seeking and its great conversation across the ages about lasting challenges to politics and the human spirit.
Although Yale recently renamed its John C. Calhoun College to cease honoring that champion of white supremacy and Black slavery, it just as recently repurposed and renamed its civic center as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Center, honoring the man who bankrolls and counsels the current champion of white supremacy and, sotto voce, of Black death at the hands of rogue police officers and COVID.
The hypocrisy isn't confined to private universities like Yale. Christopher Newfield, a professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a trenchant critic of misguided business policies that undermine higher education, showed recently in his authoritative blog Remaking the University that liberal Democrats capitulated decades ago to business leaders' worst priorities and practices. The universities did little to offset their own growing sense of themselves as corporations in an education industry that incentivizes students to become self-marketing, indebted buyers and sellers instead of deliberating citizens. That sea-change in liberal Democrats' own priorities is symbolized by Yale's renaming of Commons, but it's also devastating to the public universities fiscally and ideologically, as Newfield makes strikingly clear.
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Democracy's genuflection to plutocracy isn't hard to detect in convergences among participants in Sonnenfeld's meeting. He and Schwarzman grew up in suburban Philadelphia in the 1950s, albeit seven years apart, both attending public school in the Abington township, both working in their fathers' small businesses (the Sonnenfelds' men's clothing store, the Schwarzmans' dry goods store). Both sons went on to the Ivy League, Sonnenfeld to Harvard College and then to the Harvard Business School, which Schwarzman also attended after graduating from Yale. Both emerged as fanatical self-promoters, not only in business but also in education and public life. Schwarzman's "edifice complex," as egregious as Trump's, has driven him to put his name on countless public institutions, as I reported in Dissent magazine.
Sonnenfeld, an effusive business pundit on MSNBC and in many other venues, is almost infamously ravenous for public attention and respect from business elites. "He's the Oprah Winfrey of business schools," the late political scientist Robert Pastor told Philip Weiss, a Harvard College classmate of Sonnenfeld who profiled him for The New York Observer. Although Sonnenfeld is acutely skeptical of Trump — in 2004, he disparaged "The Apprentice" for teaching wrong lessons about business leadership — it takes one to know one. Trump's compulsive attention-getting rides more on combat than on connecting, but both he and Sonnenfeld have had to fight maniacally to restore and embellish almost-ruined careers — Trump through bankruptcy after bankruptcy, and Sonnenfeld owing to an incident at Emory University in 1997 that ended with his vindication only after an excruciatingly long fight that impels him to advise CEOs on how to stage comebacks from career disasters. It's worth noting that Trump got his B.A. and MBA in Sonnenfeld's native Philadelphia, at the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Business School.
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Historian R.H.Tawney characterized the hypocrisies of leaders who try to put a righteous face on their uncontrollable power-lust and greed:
"Few tricks of the unsophisticated intellect are more curious than the naïve psychology of the business man, who ascribes his achievements to his own unaided efforts, in bland unconsciousness of a social order without whose continuous support and vigilant protection he would be as a lamb bleating in the desert," Tawney wrote in 1926. "That individualist complex owes part of its self-assurance to the suggestion of Puritan moralists that practical success is at once the sign and the reward of ethical superiority. … The demonstration that distress is a proof of demerit, though a singular commentary on the lives of Christian saints and sages, has always been popular with the prosperous. By the lusty plutocracy … roaring after its meat and not indisposed, if it could not find it elsewhere to seek it from God, it was welcomed with a shout of applause."
Plutocrats and their apologists don't exactly "roar" after their meat at redoubts such as Davos, the Aspen Ideas Festival and Sonnenfeld's Chief Executive Leadership Institute. Surveying the degradation and ruin of the democratic public that their own practices and premises have demoralized, they sigh sagely and wonder piously how "the people" might return to self-government, even as plutocrats like Trump show that they can barely govern themselves, let alone anyone else.
Democracy benefits only fleetingly when some plutocrats oppose others who've gotten out of hand: The historian Snyder, writing recently in the liberal Catholic journal Commonweal, contends that Trump is driven now by desperation to escape the legal and economic ruin that awaits him when he loses presidential immunity against civil and criminal indictment. Trump has come very close indeed to derailing the election with more than a little help from his Republican Party, thanks to which even Congress won't uphold the rule of law unless public resistance to current arrangements moves beyond episodic looting and assaults and beyond tweeting, texting, signing petitions and writing articles like this one.
Ultimately there's no substitute for disciplined, humane democratic movements such as those led by Mahatma Gandhi, Adam Michnick, Vaclav Havel, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and the founders of the American republic. They've reconfigured and sometimes replaced national-security states and regimes built on grinding inequality and corruption. Often, as in Eastern Europe and the American South, they've done it without perpetrating violence: Even the American Revolution "was effected before the War commenced ... in the Minds and Hearts of the People," wrote John Adams.
Perhaps the clearest assessment of such movements is the late Jonathan Schell's "The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People." He recounts how leaders of such movements discovered that power flows ultimately not from the few who are daunting, dazzling or wealthy but from seemingly powerless masses who stop obeying and who reconfigure their lives together without official permission or reward, through disciplined non-cooperation that's nonviolent but all the more effectively coercive. Time and again, Schell wrote, rulers driven by power-lust and greed respond to such movements "with refreshed ignorance": A state that militarizes its police and floods its streets with soldiers, surveillance and thugs ends up displaying its impotence before massive but principled non-cooperation.
There's no revolutionary thrill in discovering that America has come to this. Elites, too, must act, but in ways that heal and empower others, not just by pouring money into Democratic Party coffers. And universities that fund institutes and programs for elite leadership and grand strategy-making should fund more courses like the one on nonviolence and power that Schell taught at Yale for years, along with programs that prepare organizers for the movements that democracies everywhere need now.