alternet--2020-12-03--Watchdog sues Trump, Kushner and White House to prevent records from being illegally destroyed

A government watchdog group filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to prevent President Donald Trump , son-in-law Jared Kushner and the White House from destroying government records before leaving office .
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ( CREW ) and several historical groups in Washington D.C. warn in the lawsuit that Trump might attempt to destroy records in order to avoid legal scrutiny .
The groups accuse Trump and his administration of violating the Presidential Records Act by failing to preserve official records as required by the law .
The lawsuit claims that the White House records @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential record material , '' because it allows staff to preserve screenshots of messages sent on non-official platforms like WhatsApp as presidential records .
The groups argue that the screenshots do not include the metadata associated with each message , and therefore are incomplete records .
The suit calls out Kushner for admitting to `` using non-official messaging accounts like WhatsApp to conduct official White House business , relying on screenshots alone to satisfy his record-keeping obligations . ''
Kushner has claimed he takes screenshots of his WhatsApp messages , which he has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg , and sends them to be preserved .
`` Given the central role Mr. Kushner has played in implementing the domestic and foreign policies of the Trump administration , the missing information is likely to yield historically important details about what the Trump administration did and why , '' the suit said .
The policy allows the `` loss and destruction of presidential record material , '' CREW said in a statement , describing it as `` part of a larger pattern of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , if not flouting , their obligation to create and preserve records memorializing official actions and decisions . ''
The statement also raised concerns that Trump might seek to destroy records , because he is `` facing potential legal and financial exposure once he leaves office . ''
`` With the approaching onset of a new president , much public attention has focused on the likelihood that President Trump , or White House personnel acting at his behest , will destroy records of his presidency before he leaves office , fearing the consequences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ become public , '' the lawsuit said .
`` With President Trump 's term in office soon coming to an end , absent judicial intervention this conduct will permanently deprive plaintiffs and the public of records documenting a critical part of our nation 's history . ''
The group said the screenshot policy may obfuscate the decision-making process behind the administration 's policies .
`` The Presidential Records Act exists for a simple reason : to prevent presidents and their staff from destroying historically valuable records .
By deleting or preserving only parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is destroying essential historical records , '' CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement .
`` The American people deserve not only to know how their government is making important decisions but to understand what was going on behind closed doors and what we could do better in the future . ''
CREW filed a similar lawsuit last year , which was thrown out , according to Bloomberg News .
District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in the previous lawsuit that Congress would need to amend the Presidential Records Act before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration acts in accordance with statutory requirements , '' White House spokesman Judd Deere told the outlet .
CREW was joined in the lawsuit by the National Security Archive , the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and the American Historical Association .
`` Presidential records are always at risk because the law that 's supposed to protect them is so weak , '' National Security Archive Director Tom Blanton said in a statement , adding that the lawsuit seeks to `` prevent any bonfire of records in the Rose Garden .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ American Historical Association , said historical research into records preserved by the law `` provides an unparalleled look inside an administration 's activities that would , if absent , leave the world wholly reliant upon the memoirs and memories of those whose deeds we professionally investigate and evaluate . ''
`` For the purpose of creating a 'usable past ' for generations of future citizens , the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations is gravely concerned with preserving the integrity of the Trump administration 's records , '' Richard Immerman , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , added .
`` In light of the administration 's previous violations of the Presidential Records Act , it consequently judges it essential to take legal action to prevent any efforts to destroy records or otherwise fail to retain them in their entirety . ''

A government watchdog group filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to prevent President Donald Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and the White House from destroying government records before leaving office.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and several historical groups in Washington D.C. warn in the lawsuit that Trump might attempt to destroy records in order to avoid legal scrutiny. The groups accuse Trump and his administration of violating the Presidential Records Act by failing to preserve official records as required by the law.
The lawsuit claims that the White House records preservation policy "authorizes the destruction of presidential record material," because it allows staff to preserve screenshots of messages sent on non-official platforms like WhatsApp as presidential records. The groups argue that the screenshots do not include the metadata associated with each message, and therefore are incomplete records.
The suit calls out Kushner for admitting to "using non-official messaging accounts like WhatsApp to conduct official White House business, relying on screenshots alone to satisfy his record-keeping obligations."
Kushner has claimed he takes screenshots of his WhatsApp messages, which he has used to discuss issues with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, and sends them to be preserved.
"Given the central role Mr. Kushner has played in implementing the domestic and foreign policies of the Trump administration, the missing information is likely to yield historically important details about what the Trump administration did and why," the suit said.
The policy allows the "loss and destruction of presidential record material," CREW said in a statement, describing it as "part of a larger pattern of the president and the White House ignoring, if not flouting, their obligation to create and preserve records memorializing official actions and decisions." The statement also raised concerns that Trump might seek to destroy records, because he is "facing potential legal and financial exposure once he leaves office."
"With the approaching onset of a new president, much public attention has focused on the likelihood that President Trump, or White House personnel acting at his behest, will destroy records of his presidency before he leaves office, fearing the consequences to him and his legacy should they become public," the lawsuit said. "With President Trump's term in office soon coming to an end, absent judicial intervention this conduct will permanently deprive plaintiffs and the public of records documenting a critical part of our nation's history."
The group said the screenshot policy may obfuscate the decision-making process behind the administration's policies.
"The Presidential Records Act exists for a simple reason: to prevent presidents and their staff from destroying historically valuable records. By deleting or preserving only parts of these records, the White House is destroying essential historical records," CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement. "The American people deserve not only to know how their government is making important decisions but to understand what was going on behind closed doors and what we could do better in the future."
CREW filed a similar lawsuit last year, which was thrown out, according to Bloomberg News. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in the previous lawsuit that Congress would need to amend the Presidential Records Act before courts could intervene.
"The Trump administration acts in accordance with statutory requirements," White House spokesman Judd Deere told the outlet.
CREW was joined in the lawsuit by the National Security Archive, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and the American Historical Association.
"Presidential records are always at risk because the law that's supposed to protect them is so weak," National Security Archive Director Tom Blanton said in a statement, adding that the lawsuit seeks to "prevent any bonfire of records in the Rose Garden."
James Grossman, who heads the American Historical Association, said historical research into records preserved by the law "provides an unparalleled look inside an administration's activities that would, if absent, leave the world wholly reliant upon the memoirs and memories of those whose deeds we professionally investigate and evaluate."
"For the purpose of creating a 'usable past' for generations of future citizens, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations is gravely concerned with preserving the integrity of the Trump administration's records," Richard Immerman, the chairman of SHAFR's Historical Documentation Committee, added. "In light of the administration's previous violations of the Presidential Records Act, it consequently judges it essential to take legal action to prevent any efforts to destroy records or otherwise fail to retain them in their entirety."


alternet--2020-12-04--The naked emperor has become a national laughingstock

Donald Trump was at it again Wednesday , releasing a 46-minute video full of ridiculous lies , claiming that his loss to Joe Biden in November 's presidential election was due to `` corrupt forces '' operating `` on a scale never seen before . ''
He called on the Supreme Court to throw out enough votes so that `` I very easily win in all states . ''
It 's the sort of thing that used to be both riveting and terrifying .
Indeed , two days after the election , Trump went on national television to give a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making essentially the same claims : That he 's the victim of a widespread conspiracy , that he 's the real winner , that votes from certain cities — strangely enough , cities with large Black populations — are inherently suspect and illegitimate .
At the time , most experts felt confident that Trump 's coup attempt would fail .
Still , watching the president of the United States blatantly attempt to steal an election by telling vicious and racist lies was chilling .
For weeks , there was an undercurrent of panic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as he has managed , in the past , to pull off all manner of illegal and unethical acts without facing consequences .
Even Stephen Colbert was rattled .
And Stephen Colbert never gets rattled .
But as often happens with sequels , Trump 's latest conspiracy theory tirade was bigger and bolder , yet somehow much less impressive .
Trump 's self-pitying rant registered as pitiful instead of frightening .
The speech barely touched the top headlines at most major news sites .
It was driven down in coverage not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also by other political stories , such as the U.S. Senate runoff election in Georgia and even other Trump-related stories , like the fate of Attorney General Bill Barr or the impact of Michael Flynn 's pardon .
The tone of most media coverage was more condescending than fearful .
Outrage is quickly being eclipsed by annoyance at Trump for being a pest who does n't know when to pack it up and go home .
Stephen Colbert was back to his usual form , dunking on Trump with carefree laughter .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't Trump himself , who has n't changed in his entire life , and will die as the same dumb and miserable narcissist he has been since he first paid someone else to take his SATs for him .
His attacks on democracy are just more of the same narcissistic pseudo-ideology that has defined his entire life , a stalwart belief that he can bullshit his way out of anything and that he should be allowed to `` win , '' no matter what , simply because he was born a Trump .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump may still be president for another 48 days , but his power is receding , and with it his ability to terrorize us with his lies is receding as well .
Arguably , Trump accelerated the process of losing his power by attempting a coup in a first place .
Every time he loses a battle , in the courts and the statehouses , he illustrates again the limits of his powers .
He 's looking less like a dictator and more like a sad guy at an undersized desk every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stupid hair and clownish lies , Trump is a living illustration of why authoritarians worship power so much — because only power can imbue a buffoon as ridiculous as Donald Trump with importance .
Liberals wonder constantly why Trump supporters are n't more embarrassed by the man , who can barely read and who suggested , with a straight face , that doctors might want to treat COVID-19 by injecting bleach into people 's lungs .
How do they not cringe in shame to vote for such a person ?
Not to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that Trump 's cringeworthiness was part of the pleasure for his supporters .
Being able to foist this embarrassment of a president on the nation was quite the flex !
It was a demonstration of raw power , being elevate a man so absurdly unqualified to the highest office in the land .
When owning the liberals , subtlety is not required .
On the contrary , those who worship power could n't get enough of watching the smart people of the world — the Dr. Anthony Faucis and the Nancy Pelosis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sit in a room with this ignorant tub of self-regarding goo and take him seriously , just because he was legally the president .
Trump himself understands this dynamic .
It 's why his very first act as president was to tell a ridiculous lie , that his inauguration crowd size was bigger than Barack Obama 's .
It was a lie he made his then-press secretary Sean Spicer repeat to reporters , as a clear test of Spicer 's skills at keeping a straight face through obvious whoppers .
Soon enough , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ con , insisting to pollsters that they believed Trump 's crowd was bigger than any crowd ever , no matter what the photographic evidence indicated .
Many liberals responded by assuming that everyone involved with bolstering this lie had to be a delusional idiot , but experts in authoritarianism saw it differently : Trump was testing his newly obtained power .
`` The absurdity is part of the point , '' Megan Garber of the Atlantic wrote about Trump 's silly inauguration lies .
`` The president lies because , as any autocrat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own will to power . ''
For four years , liberals held out hope that somehow , one of our many cherished values would save us from Trump .
We looked to reason , to decency , to truth and to justice .
None of it mattered .
In the end , the only thing that took Trump down was power — the power of 80 million voters rising up to kick him out on his butt .
There 's a lesson in this , if liberals want to learn it .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the only thing that really matters .
His lies are the same whirlwind of noise that they always were .
They 're not meant to be believed or to make sense or to achieve any of the other goals of more prosaic liars .
His crackpot legal team led by Rudy Giuliani does n't even bother to bring any actual evidence or coherent arguments before the various authorities — judges , state legislatures , election boards , governors — they are seeking to pressure into stealing this election for them .
It 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a plea for those with power to abuse it on behalf of their overlord .
If this election had been closer , that strategy might very well have worked .
If it had come down to a narrow margin in just one state , for instance , it 's easier to imagine the Supreme Court or a state legislature or some other Republican-controlled body deciding to leverage their power to give Trump more of it .
But because voters used their power , Biden won too many states for Trump to pull off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump himself is becoming a joke now , but unfortunately the larger Republican Party has fully absorbed these lessons about power .
GOP politicians speak openly and shamelessly about their efforts to disenfranchise voters .
They 've become fully authoritarian , uninterested in even pretending to care about fairness or justice , and instead are quite open about their focus on a will to power .
Their voters continue to reward them for it , because virtually the entire Republican base has also been radicalized .
The situation is grim .
Still , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Trump 's swift metamorphosis from a direct threat to democracy to the butt of jokes about `` massive dumps . ''
There 's an important lesson here .
Authoritarians can not be shamed or reasoned with , the way believers in democratic norms typically can be .
There is no arguing authoritarians down , bargaining with them or laughing them away .
But authoritarians do respond to power .
Power is how Trump was finally stopped and beaten , and revealed as the small , strange man he always was .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop the rise of American fascism .

Donald Trump was at it again Wednesday, releasing a 46-minute video full of ridiculous lies, claiming that his loss to Joe Biden in November's presidential election was due to "corrupt forces" operating "on a scale never seen before." He called on the Supreme Court to throw out enough votes so that "I very easily win in all states."
It's the sort of thing that used to be both riveting and terrifying. Indeed, two days after the election, Trump went on national television to give a similar, if blessedly shorter, speech making essentially the same claims: That he's the victim of a widespread conspiracy, that he's the real winner, that votes from certain cities — strangely enough, cities with large Black populations — are inherently suspect and illegitimate.
At the time, most experts felt confident that Trump's coup attempt would fail. Still, watching the president of the United States blatantly attempt to steal an election by telling vicious and racist lies was chilling. For weeks, there was an undercurrent of panic that he might somehow pull it off, as he has managed, in the past, to pull off all manner of illegal and unethical acts without facing consequences.
Even Stephen Colbert was rattled. And Stephen Colbert never gets rattled.
But as often happens with sequels, Trump's latest conspiracy theory tirade was bigger and bolder, yet somehow much less impressive. Trump's self-pitying rant registered as pitiful instead of frightening. The speech barely touched the top headlines at most major news sites. It was driven down in coverage not just by the rapidly worsening COVID-19 pandemic, but also by other political stories, such as the U.S. Senate runoff election in Georgia and even other Trump-related stories, like the fate of Attorney General Bill Barr or the impact of Michael Flynn's pardon. The tone of most media coverage was more condescending than fearful. Outrage is quickly being eclipsed by annoyance at Trump for being a pest who doesn't know when to pack it up and go home.
Stephen Colbert was back to his usual form, dunking on Trump with carefree laughter.
What has changed? It certainly isn't Trump himself, who hasn't changed in his entire life, and will die as the same dumb and miserable narcissist he has been since he first paid someone else to take his SATs for him. His attacks on democracy are just more of the same narcissistic pseudo-ideology that has defined his entire life, a stalwart belief that he can bullshit his way out of anything and that he should be allowed to "win," no matter what, simply because he was born a Trump.
No, what has changed is power. Trump may still be president for another 48 days, but his power is receding, and with it his ability to terrorize us with his lies is receding as well. Arguably, Trump accelerated the process of losing his power by attempting a coup in a first place. Every time he loses a battle, in the courts and the statehouses, he illustrates again the limits of his powers. He's looking less like a dictator and more like a sad guy at an undersized desk every day.
With his bad suits, stupid hair and clownish lies, Trump is a living illustration of why authoritarians worship power so much — because only power can imbue a buffoon as ridiculous as Donald Trump with importance.
Liberals wonder constantly why Trump supporters aren't more embarrassed by the man, who can barely read and who suggested, with a straight face, that doctors might want to treat COVID-19 by injecting bleach into people's lungs. How do they not cringe in shame to vote for such a person?
Not to get too galaxy-brain about this, the truth is that Trump's cringeworthiness was part of the pleasure for his supporters. Being able to foist this embarrassment of a president on the nation was quite the flex! It was a demonstration of raw power, being elevate a man so absurdly unqualified to the highest office in the land.
When owning the liberals, subtlety is not required. On the contrary, those who worship power couldn't get enough of watching the smart people of the world — the Dr. Anthony Faucis and the Nancy Pelosis and the Justin Trudeaus — have to sit in a room with this ignorant tub of self-regarding goo and take him seriously, just because he was legally the president.
Trump himself understands this dynamic. It's why his very first act as president was to tell a ridiculous lie, that his inauguration crowd size was bigger than Barack Obama's. It was a lie he made his then-press secretary Sean Spicer repeat to reporters, as a clear test of Spicer's skills at keeping a straight face through obvious whoppers. Soon enough, Trump's supporters were in on the con, insisting to pollsters that they believed Trump's crowd was bigger than any crowd ever, no matter what the photographic evidence indicated.
Many liberals responded by assuming that everyone involved with bolstering this lie had to be a delusional idiot, but experts in authoritarianism saw it differently: Trump was testing his newly obtained power.
"The absurdity is part of the point," Megan Garber of the Atlantic wrote about Trump's silly inauguration lies. "The president lies because, as any autocrat will tell you, lying is its own will to power."
For four years, liberals held out hope that somehow, one of our many cherished values would save us from Trump. We looked to reason, to decency, to truth and to justice. None of it mattered. In the end, the only thing that took Trump down was power — the power of 80 million voters rising up to kick him out on his butt. There's a lesson in this, if liberals want to learn it.
Trump himself understands perfectly well that power is the only thing that really matters. His lies are the same whirlwind of noise that they always were. They're not meant to be believed or to make sense or to achieve any of the other goals of more prosaic liars. His crackpot legal team led by Rudy Giuliani doesn't even bother to bring any actual evidence or coherent arguments before the various authorities — judges, state legislatures, election boards, governors — they are seeking to pressure into stealing this election for them. It's all just an appeal to authority, a plea for those with power to abuse it on behalf of their overlord.
If this election had been closer, that strategy might very well have worked. If it had come down to a narrow margin in just one state, for instance, it's easier to imagine the Supreme Court or a state legislature or some other Republican-controlled body deciding to leverage their power to give Trump more of it. But because voters used their power, Biden won too many states for Trump to pull off the coup he was anticipating.
Donald Trump himself is becoming a joke now, but unfortunately the larger Republican Party has fully absorbed these lessons about power. GOP politicians speak openly and shamelessly about their efforts to disenfranchise voters. They've become fully authoritarian, uninterested in even pretending to care about fairness or justice, and instead are quite open about their focus on a will to power. Their voters continue to reward them for it, because virtually the entire Republican base has also been radicalized. The situation is grim.
Still, we can glimpse a ray of hope in Trump's swift metamorphosis from a direct threat to democracy to the butt of jokes about "massive dumps." There's an important lesson here. Authoritarians cannot be shamed or reasoned with, the way believers in democratic norms typically can be. There is no arguing authoritarians down, bargaining with them or laughing them away. But authoritarians do respond to power. Power is how Trump was finally stopped and beaten, and revealed as the small, strange man he always was. And power is what it will take to stop the rise of American fascism.


alternet--2020-12-04--Watch: Rudy Giuliani's star election witness turns out to be a hilarious disaster

Rudy Giuliani , erstwhile spokesperson for LifeLock identity theft protection services and current top lawyer for President Donald Trump 's slapdash crusade to litigate an electoral win and undermine public trust in the country 's elections , led a motley group of witnesses alleging baseless claims of voter fraud and other malfeasances in a five-hour hearing on Wednesday evening in front of Michigan State lawmakers .
There is no evidence of voter fraud in the presidential election , according to election officials in every state .
President-elect Joe Biden won the electoral contest with a record-setting 81 million popular votes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 7 million votes over Trump , according to the most recent numbers from the Associated Press .
A number of the campaign 's plaintiffs , including several in Michigan lawsuits , present complicated biographies , many of them publicly embracing fringe conspiracy theories .
Giuliani 's witnesses on Wednesday appeared to follow an unreliable track , alleging that dead people had voted and tossing out racist terms , but were not required to testify under oath .
Committee Chair Matt Hall , a Michigan Republican , overruled a Democratic colleague 's request to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Detroit — a majority-Black city — `` one of the most corrupt cities in America . ''
Hall would feel compelled to intervene at other points in the evening .
He stepped in multiple times with freelance IT worker and Trump campaign witness Melissa Carone , who slurred her way through a series of lies about fraudulently tabulated votes while berating a stoic Republican lawmaker .
Carone had previously made a number of recent appearances in right-wing media , in one interview stunning even Fox Business host and election denier Lou Dobbs with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inside food vans .
A Wayne County district judge later deemed Carone 's allegations `` simply are not credible . ''
But Carone 's erratic exchange with Republican Rep. Steven Johnson immediately went viral on social media , with a multitude of observers — including supporters — speculating about her sobriety .
At one point , Giuliani shushed her and grabbed at her arm .
By late Thursday afternoon , one clip being circulated on Twitter had racked up more than 15 million views .
`` The poll book is completely off , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
`` I 'd say that poll book is off by over 100,000 .
That poll book — why do n't you look at the registered voters on there ?
How many registered voters are on there ? ''
Carone challenged .
`` Do you even know the answer to that ? ''
`` No , '' Johnson replied .
`` I 'm trying to get to the bottom of this . ''
`` Zero .
Zero , '' Carone replied .
`` There 's zero . ''
`` What about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Giuliani leaned over to tug her arm in an apparent effort to get his witness back on track .
Carone did not seem to notice : `` 120 % ? ''
`` Let 's let Rep. Johnson ask his question , '' Hall said , after which Carone laughed .
When Johnson told Carone the tabulations were not off by 30,000 votes , she accused the state legislature of monkeying with the books .
`` What 'd you guys do ?
Take it , and ah , do something crazy to it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her bottom lip and hiked her eyebrows .
`` The numbers are n't off by 30,000 , '' Johnson responded .
`` I know what I saw .
I know what I saw , '' Carone said .
`` And I singed something saying that if I 'm wrong , I can go to prison , '' she added .
`` Did you ? ''
`` Do n't interrupt him , '' he told Carone .
`` And if you want to answer him — that 's fine . ''
`` I just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poll book , '' Johnson said .
`` Is it either wildly off — or are they filling in names ? ''
`` Wildly off , '' Carone said .
`` It 's wildly off , and dead people voted and illegals voted .
So that 's my answer . ''
Carone also alleged that threats from Democrats had forced her to close her social media accounts , but as of Thursday , her Facebook page was active and featured dozens of publicly viewable posts .
She later added that she was not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At the end of her time , Giuliani distanced himself .
`` For the record , I met her for the first time today , '' he volunteered .
`` Talked to her for the first time yesterday . ''
Carone was followed by a naturalized American citizen from India , who had worked as a Republican poll watcher in Detroit on Election Day .
Her argument for strict voter ID laws was met with fierce backlash after she described all Chinese people with a racist epithet .
`` And the fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said — you can actually show up and vote without an ID .
It 's shocking .
How can you allow that to happen ? ''
she said .
`` Like , a lot of people think all Indians look alike .
I think all Chinese look alike .
So how would you tell ?
If some Chow shows up , you can be anybody and you can vote .
And if somebody with my name — you ca n't even tell my name — anybody can vote on my behalf .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Giuliani , for his part , urged state lawmakers to `` take back your power '' and ignore the state 's already certified election results .
He called President-elect Joe Biden 's 154,000-vote victory in the state a `` complete falsehood . ''
`` Look , the people who certified your election — what are they worth ? ''
Giuliani asked .
But courts have ruled against Trump and his allies in every lawsuit alleging voter fraud that the attorneys have not withdrawn themselves — though the campaign still holds out hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day before the hearing , Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press that a Department of Justice investigation had not found evidence of irregularities which would overturn the results of the 2020 election .
`` To date , we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election , '' Barr said .
Giuliani and Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis shot back in a statement .
`` With the greatest respect to the Attorney General , his opinion appears to be without any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and evidence of systemic fraud , '' they wrote .

Rudy Giuliani, erstwhile spokesperson for LifeLock identity theft protection services and current top lawyer for President Donald Trump's slapdash crusade to litigate an electoral win and undermine public trust in the country's elections, led a motley group of witnesses alleging baseless claims of voter fraud and other malfeasances in a five-hour hearing on Wednesday evening in front of Michigan State lawmakers.
There is no evidence of voter fraud in the presidential election, according to election officials in every state. President-elect Joe Biden won the electoral contest with a record-setting 81 million popular votes — a margin of victory of nearly 7 million votes over Trump, according to the most recent numbers from the Associated Press.
A number of the campaign's plaintiffs, including several in Michigan lawsuits, present complicated biographies, many of them publicly embracing fringe conspiracy theories. Giuliani's witnesses on Wednesday appeared to follow an unreliable track, alleging that dead people had voted and tossing out racist terms, but were not required to testify under oath.
Committee Chair Matt Hall, a Michigan Republican, overruled a Democratic colleague's request to swear in Giuliani, who later called Detroit — a majority-Black city — "one of the most corrupt cities in America."
Hall would feel compelled to intervene at other points in the evening. He stepped in multiple times with freelance IT worker and Trump campaign witness Melissa Carone, who slurred her way through a series of lies about fraudulently tabulated votes while berating a stoic Republican lawmaker.
Carone had previously made a number of recent appearances in right-wing media, in one interview stunning even Fox Business host and election denier Lou Dobbs with claims that ersatz ballots had been smuggled inside food vans. A Wayne County district judge later deemed Carone's allegations "simply are not credible."
But Carone's erratic exchange with Republican Rep. Steven Johnson immediately went viral on social media, with a multitude of observers — including supporters — speculating about her sobriety. At one point, Giuliani shushed her and grabbed at her arm. By late Thursday afternoon, one clip being circulated on Twitter had racked up more than 15 million views.
"The poll book is completely off," Carone said. "Completely off."
"Off by 30,000?" Johnson asked.
"I'd say that poll book is off by over 100,000. That poll book — why don't you look at the registered voters on there? How many registered voters are on there?" Carone challenged. "Do you even know the answer to that?"
"No," Johnson replied. "I'm trying to get to the bottom of this."
"Zero. Zero," Carone replied. "There's zero."
"What about the turnout rate?" she continued, as Giuliani leaned over to tug her arm in an apparent effort to get his witness back on track.
Carone did not seem to notice: "120%?"
"Let's let Rep. Johnson ask his question," Hall said, after which Carone laughed.
When Johnson told Carone the tabulations were not off by 30,000 votes, she accused the state legislature of monkeying with the books.
"What'd you guys do? Take it, and ah, do something crazy to it?" she challenged as she bit her bottom lip and hiked her eyebrows.
"The numbers aren't off by 30,000," Johnson responded.
"I know what I saw. I know what I saw," Carone said.
"And I singed something saying that if I'm wrong, I can go to prison," she added. "Did you?"
Hall again interposed on Johnson's behalf.
"Don't interrupt him," he told Carone. "And if you want to answer him — that's fine."
"I just want to keep following up with the poll book," Johnson said. "Is it either wildly off — or are they filling in names?"
"Wildly off," Carone said. "It's wildly off, and dead people voted and illegals voted. So that's my answer."
Carone also alleged that threats from Democrats had forced her to close her social media accounts, but as of Thursday, her Facebook page was active and featured dozens of publicly viewable posts. She later added that she was not working with Giuliani but rather another attorney. At the end of her time, Giuliani distanced himself.
"For the record, I met her for the first time today," he volunteered. "Talked to her for the first time yesterday."
Carone was followed by a naturalized American citizen from India, who had worked as a Republican poll watcher in Detroit on Election Day. Her argument for strict voter ID laws was met with fierce backlash after she described all Chinese people with a racist epithet.
"And the fact that now — as the other representatives said — you can actually show up and vote without an ID. It's shocking. How can you allow that to happen?" she said. "Like, a lot of people think all Indians look alike. I think all Chinese look alike. So how would you tell? If some Chow shows up, you can be anybody and you can vote. And if somebody with my name — you can't even tell my name — anybody can vote on my behalf. So ID should be the basic requirement."
Giuliani, for his part, urged state lawmakers to "take back your power" and ignore the state's already certified election results. He called President-elect Joe Biden's 154,000-vote victory in the state a "complete falsehood."
"Look, the people who certified your election — what are they worth?" Giuliani asked.
But courts have ruled against Trump and his allies in every lawsuit alleging voter fraud that the attorneys have not withdrawn themselves — though the campaign still holds out hope for appeals, including Michigan.
The day before the hearing, Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press that a Department of Justice investigation had not found evidence of irregularities which would overturn the results of the 2020 election.
"To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election," Barr said.
Giuliani and Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis shot back in a statement.
"With the greatest respect to the Attorney General, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud," they wrote.


alternet--2020-12-04--McConnell’s COVID plan has business tax breaks — but $0 for unemployment boost and direct payments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , on Tuesday rejected a bipartisan compromise to break the months-long delay of coronavirus stimulus funding , instead offering a counterproposal which includes few of the priorities economists say are crucial to saving the economy .
McConnell , who has already rejected a $ 3.4 trillion offer and a $ 2.2 trillion compromise from House Democrats , shot down a $ 900 billion short-term deal urged by a bipartisan group of legislators that included GOP Sens .
Mitt Romney , R-Utah , Susan Collins , R-Maine , and Bill Cassidy , R-La .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 500 billion proposal providing even less relief for jobless Americans than his previous offers , which will be dead-on-arrival in the House of Representatives .
Though McConnell 's previous proposal included an extension of a federal unemployment boost at $ 300 per week , or half of the rate included in the Cares Act , his latest proposal includes $ 0 for the unemployment boost .
McConnell 's spokesman declined to say why the unemployment boost was scrapped entirely .
The plan does include a temporary one-month extension of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to contractors and gig workers , and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ( FPUC ) , which extends `` base '' unemployment benefits , The Washington Post 's Jeff Stein reported .
The proposal was unveiled after Trump reportedly seemed to lose `` interest in the stimulus '' following his election loss .
McConnell 's proposal , which is otherwise essentially a rehash of previous offers that went nowhere , also includes no funding for a second round of $ 1,200 direct payments to Americans , despite bipartisan support , nor much-needed aid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governments before they are forced to lay off millions of workers .
The proposal does include an `` array of tax cuts '' for companies , including a 100 % deduction on business meals , The New York Times reported .
It also includes a legal liability shield for companies , which watchdog groups warned was `` breathtakingly broad . ''
The bill would provide $ 300 billion for Paycheck Protection Program loans to small businesses , $ 31 billion for vaccine distribution and $ 16 billion for testing .
But it would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lend unspent money from the Cares Act and create new barriers for people seeking unemployment benefits , Stein noted .
`` Leave it to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to propose a bill that creates tax write-offs for fancy lunches and gives the middle finger to working families and 20 million unemployed Americans , '' Rep. Don Beyer , D-Va. , who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee , tweeted .
`` This is not a serious proposal , it is a slap in the face to people who need help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 150,000 COVID cases per day and miles-long lines at food banks nationwide , and Leader McConnell wants to do tax breaks for three-martini lunches and broad legal immunity for his corporate donors , '' Sen. Ron Wyden , D-Ore. , the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee , said in a statement .
`` It 's insulting to the American people . ''
McConnell 's proposal came after he shot down the most conservative compromise offer yet .
The bipartisan group of senators , which also included Sens .
Mark Warner , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Angus King , I-Maine , called for a short-term $ 908 billion plan that would extend key relief programs through March .
The plan did not include a second round of $ 1,200 direct payments but extended the federal unemployment boost at $ 300 per week for four months — roughly half of what Democrats have called for — and would provide $ 160 billion in aid to state and local governments — which Republicans have staunchly opposed despite many red states being forced to make drastic cuts , because they do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their budgets .
The plan also included $ 288 billion for PPP loans to small businesses and a temporary liability shield for businesses sought by the GOP .
`` Our action to provide emergency relief is needed now more than ever before .
The people need to know we are not going to leave until we get something accomplished , '' Manchin said at a news conference on Tuesday .
`` I 'm committed to seeing this through . ''
`` We just do n't have time to waste time , '' he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have time for messaging games .
Ee do n't have time for lengthy negotiations .
The issue is : We want to get a result . ''
Murkowski rejected McConnell 's comments in a private call with fellow Republicans , saying his plan was just a `` messaging '' bill that was `` offensive '' to Americans suffering from the pandemic , according to The Times .
Collins also pressed her GOP colleagues to back the bipartisan proposal .
McConnell also told reporters that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D-N.Y. , had sent a secret relief offer to senior Republicans .
Democratic aides would not say what was in the offer , but Schumer said it was a `` private proposal to help us move the ball forward , '' according to the Washington Post .
Some Democrats also expressed unease about the $ 900 billion compromise , arguing that it should not include a liability shield .
Sen. Dick Durbin , D-Ill. , the No .
2 Democrat in the Senate , said he was `` not happy with a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposal but hoped it would at least come to the floor for debate .
`` That 's what it 's all about in this world of the United States Congress , '' he said .
`` You come together , willing to sit down and listen to the other side , and if necessary , compromise . ''
Economists have urged Democrats to accept a lower unemployment boost rate than the $ 600 per week being sought , but many experts said the compromise offer was still not enough given the infection spikes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Most economists believe the next round of relief needs to be at least $ 2 trillion to $ 3 trillion in order to be effective .
Indeed , Democrats who back the bipartisan proposal say the government would still need to pass a larger package by March after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated .
`` Additional COVID relief is long overdue and must be passed in this lame duck session , '' Pelosi said in a Tuesday statement .
Business groups have also warned that the partisan stalemate could severely damage the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business community are running out of patience , '' Kip Eideberg of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers told Bloomberg News .
`` It is beyond surreal that they are still bickering over politics when they should be focused on policies . ''
A group of five Democrats led by Wyden , Schumer , and Sen. Sherrod Brown , D-Ohio , the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee , have introduced a piecemeal bill which would retroactively extend the federal unemployment boost at $ 600 per week through next October .
`` With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide , Senate Republicans are set to push millions of American families off a cliff , '' Wyden said .
`` Whether or not you can pay rent or feed your family should not depend on whether or not Mitch McConnell sees it in his political interest . ''

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Tuesday rejected a bipartisan compromise to break the months-long delay of coronavirus stimulus funding, instead offering a counterproposal which includes few of the priorities economists say are crucial to saving the economy.
McConnell, who has already rejected a $3.4 trillion offer and a $2.2 trillion compromise from House Democrats, shot down a $900 billion short-term deal urged by a bipartisan group of legislators that included GOP Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bill Cassidy, R-La. The Republican leader alternatively presented another $500 billion proposal providing even less relief for jobless Americans than his previous offers, which will be dead-on-arrival in the House of Representatives.
Though McConnell's previous proposal included an extension of a federal unemployment boost at $300 per week, or half of the rate included in the Cares Act, his latest proposal includes $0 for the unemployment boost. McConnell's spokesman declined to say why the unemployment boost was scrapped entirely.
The plan does include a temporary one-month extension of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides unemployment benefits to contractors and gig workers, and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which extends "base" unemployment benefits, The Washington Post's Jeff Stein reported. The proposal was unveiled after Trump reportedly seemed to lose "interest in the stimulus" following his election loss.
McConnell's proposal, which is otherwise essentially a rehash of previous offers that went nowhere, also includes no funding for a second round of $1,200 direct payments to Americans, despite bipartisan support, nor much-needed aid to cash-strapped state, local and tribal governments before they are forced to lay off millions of workers.
The proposal does include an "array of tax cuts" for companies, including a 100% deduction on business meals, The New York Times reported. It also includes a legal liability shield for companies, which watchdog groups warned was "breathtakingly broad."
The bill would provide $300 billion for Paycheck Protection Program loans to small businesses, $31 billion for vaccine distribution and $16 billion for testing. But it would terminate the Federal Reserve's ability to lend unspent money from the Cares Act and create new barriers for people seeking unemployment benefits, Stein noted.
"Leave it to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to propose a bill that creates tax write-offs for fancy lunches and gives the middle finger to working families and 20 million unemployed Americans," Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, tweeted. "This is not a serious proposal, it is a slap in the face to people who need help."
"There are upwards of 150,000 COVID cases per day and miles-long lines at food banks nationwide, and Leader McConnell wants to do tax breaks for three-martini lunches and broad legal immunity for his corporate donors," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. "It's insulting to the American people."
McConnell's proposal came after he shot down the most conservative compromise offer yet. The bipartisan group of senators, which also included Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Angus King, I-Maine, called for a short-term $908 billion plan that would extend key relief programs through March.
The plan did not include a second round of $1,200 direct payments but extended the federal unemployment boost at $300 per week for four months — roughly half of what Democrats have called for — and would provide $160 billion in aid to state and local governments — which Republicans have staunchly opposed despite many red states being forced to make drastic cuts, because they do not have enough tax revenues to cover their budgets. The plan also included $288 billion for PPP loans to small businesses and a temporary liability shield for businesses sought by the GOP.
"Our action to provide emergency relief is needed now more than ever before. The people need to know we are not going to leave until we get something accomplished," Manchin said at a news conference on Tuesday. "I'm committed to seeing this through."
But McConnell quickly rejected the plan.
"We just don't have time to waste time," he told reporters. "We don't have time for messaging games. Ee don't have time for lengthy negotiations. The issue is: We want to get a result."
Murkowski rejected McConnell's comments in a private call with fellow Republicans, saying his plan was just a "messaging" bill that was "offensive" to Americans suffering from the pandemic, according to The Times. Collins also pressed her GOP colleagues to back the bipartisan proposal.
McConnell also told reporters that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had sent a secret relief offer to senior Republicans. Democratic aides would not say what was in the offer, but Schumer said it was a "private proposal to help us move the ball forward," according to the Washington Post.
Some Democrats also expressed unease about the $900 billion compromise, arguing that it should not include a liability shield. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said he was "not happy with a lot" of the funding decisions in the proposal but hoped it would at least come to the floor for debate.
"That's what it's all about in this world of the United States Congress," he said. "You come together, willing to sit down and listen to the other side, and if necessary, compromise."
Economists have urged Democrats to accept a lower unemployment boost rate than the $600 per week being sought, but many experts said the compromise offer was still not enough given the infection spikes around the country and new business restrictions. Most economists believe the next round of relief needs to be at least $2 trillion to $3 trillion in order to be effective.
Indeed, Democrats who back the bipartisan proposal say the government would still need to pass a larger package by March after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.
"Additional COVID relief is long overdue and must be passed in this lame duck session," Pelosi said in a Tuesday statement.
Business groups have also warned that the partisan stalemate could severely damage the economy.
"Large parts of the business community are running out of patience," Kip Eideberg of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers told Bloomberg News. "It is beyond surreal that they are still bickering over politics when they should be focused on policies."
A group of five Democrats led by Wyden, Schumer, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, have introduced a piecemeal bill which would retroactively extend the federal unemployment boost at $600 per week through next October.
"With the economy backsliding as COVID-19 cases explode nationwide, Senate Republicans are set to push millions of American families off a cliff," Wyden said. "Whether or not you can pay rent or feed your family should not depend on whether or not Mitch McConnell sees it in his political interest."


alternet--2020-12-03--Stop 'thanking' the troops — here's what military members and their families really need

By the end of this year , the White House will reportedly have finally brought home a third of the 7,500 troops still stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq ( against the advice of President Trump 's own military leaders ) .
While there have been stories galore about the global security implications of this plan , there has been almost no discussion at all about where those 2,700 or so troops who have served in this country 's endless wars will settle once their feet touch U.S. soil ( assuming , that is , that they are n't just moved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Greater Middle East ) , no less who 's likely to provide them with badly needed financial , logistical , and emotional support as they age .
When it comes to honoring active-duty troops and veterans of this country 's forever wars , we Americans have proven big on symbolic gestures , but small on action .
Former First Lady Michelle Obama 's organization , Joining Forces , was a short-lived but notable exception : its advocacy and awareness-raising led dozens of companies to commit to hiring more veterans .
Unfortunately , those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't last long .
Zoom out to the rest of America and you 'll find yellow-ribbon bumper stickers on gas-guzzling SUVs galore ; tons of `` support our troops '' Facebook memes on both Veterans Day and Memorial Day regularly featuring ( at least before the pandemic struck big time ) young , attractive heterosexual families hugging at reunions ; and there is invariably a chorus of `` thank you for your service '' when a veteran or active-duty soldier appears in public .
In practical terms , though , this adds up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watch soldiers ' kids while they 're gone , nor do they transport those troops to competent , affordable specialists to meet their health and vocational needs when they return from battle .
Memes do n't power vets through decades of rehabilitation from traumatic brain injuries , limbs blown off by homemade explosives , depression , anxiety , and grief for comrades lost .
I 'm the spouse of a U.S. naval officer .
My husband has served on two different submarines and in three military policymaking positions over the course of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move around the country four times ( an exceedingly modest number compared with most military families we know ) .
We have dual incomes , as well as extended family and friends with the means to support us with care for our two young children and help us with the extra expenses when that uprooting moment arrives every two or three years .
We have self-advocacy skills and the resources necessary to find the best possible health providers to help us weather the strain that goes with the relentless pace of post-9/11 military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can speak for other military families who have so much less for one reason : I 've dedicated much of my career to research and advocacy on behalf of people affected by the American-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq .
I 've focused my attention , in particular , on the vast loss of life , both abroad and at home , caused by those wars , on decimated and depleted healthcare systems ( including our own ) , and on the burdens borne by the families of soldiers who have to struggle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who return .
Troops from our current wars in Afghanistan , Iraq , and elsewhere across the Greater Middle East and Africa are , in certain ways , unique compared to earlier generations of American military personnel .
More than half of them have deployed more than once to those battle zones -- often numerous times .
Over a million of them now have disability claims with the Veterans Affairs Department and far more disabled veterans than in the past have chronic injuries and illnesses that they will live with , not die @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who , as a naval officer , has never deployed to Iraqi or Afghan soil , days have grown longer and more stressful due to a distinctly overstretched military that often lacks the up-to-date equipment to work safely .
And mind you , the costs of caring for the soldiers who have been deployed in our never-ending wars wo n't peak for another 30 to 40 years , as they age , and the government is n't faintly ready to meet the expenses that will be involved .
And mind you , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even less prepared to care for the families of their troops and veterans , those most likely to be tasked with their round-the-clock care .
Among the many grim possibilities from my own experience and the stories I 've been told as an advocate over the years by military veterans , military spouses , and military children , let me try to paint just one picture of what it 's like when a member of that military returns home from deployment : Imagine your spouse suddenly walking through the door after months away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from fatigue and fear .
He may tell you some horror story about some set of incidents that occurred while he was deployed and indicate that he fears , given his state , he might even be out of a job soon .
You think about the work you cut back on in the months since he left because you could n't handle the 24/7 demands of caring for confused children who had stopped sleeping .
What will you do to support the family if his worst fears come to pass ?
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he 's been rattling on , there are children present whom he has yet to greet .
He hugs them now , his face a combination of love and lack-of-recognition ( given how they 've grown in the months since he 's been gone ) .
The kids ' facial expressions are a mirror image of his .
You do your best to catch him up on the changes that have taken place in his absence : the kids ' latest developments , your new work schedule , the need for more childcare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extended family ( including the terminal illness of a family member ) .
Family or friends want to swoop in and take the kids so the two of you can get away , yet after months of his silence , you 're feeling too confused to want that yet .
What 's more , your own hard-earned role as head of the household is suddenly about to be subsumed by his needs .
( After all , he 's used to telling others what to do . )
You try to call other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your husbands were deployed together , but they 're as stressed out and preoccupied as you are .
Even the other commanders ' wives are , like you , up far too often at night as their spouses accept calls about drunk driving , partner violence , suicide threats , and child abuse within the stressed-out command .
Your unnerved husband is helping deal with such events , counseling those still on duty , and you 're counseling him .
One night , he tells you that part of the reason for his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do by his war-traumatized commander while he was deployed .
These stories keep you awake at night .
You suggest he see a mental health professional .
After all , the base has licensed psychologists and psychiatrists on staff , ready to help .
He reminds you that the decision to seek care is not private in the military and the stigma among those handling his promotions could cost him his career .
So you look for mental-health assistance yourself to deal with the stress and grief over your changed relationship with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 45 miles who accepts military insurance tells you that , to receive care , you must sign a contract accepting that you can be hospitalized at his discretion `` because military spouses go psychotic during their husband 's deployments . ''
You walk away .
Childcare support of some kind is needed more than ever now that your spouse is in such distress .
Because you moved posts recently by military order , the Navy tells you that you 're at the back of the local line for financial childcare assistance .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and in that you 're typical of so many other military spouses .
And you also turn your gaze to the citizenry of this country that , in the world of the `` All Volunteer '' military , generally ignores us .
Before I became a military spouse , I grew up in an affluent part of New Jersey .
I remember how war veterans were ignored or even mocked ( including by me ) .
In the 1990s , I used to vacation at the Jersey shore and sometimes , from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family and I would catch a glimpse of a middle-aged man in military uniform , marching like a metronome up and down the island 's main boulevard .
The glazed , far-off look on his face with its telltale ruddiness signaled , I know now , someone who probably drank too much , too often .
Back then , we would just refer to him as `` the soldier '' when he passed and laugh at him , once safely out of earshot .
Of course , he was undoubtedly suffering from some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of care that might have helped him make sense of things .
My family and I had no idea that it was normal for war-traumatized soldiers to have difficulty distinguishing the past from the present , that it would n't have been strange for him to see lines of summertime beach traffic and think `` convoy '' or hear a car engine backfire and think `` sniper ! ''
Later , when I was living in San Francisco , a friend who worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development told me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on leave between deployments , who called their office to request that a military tent village be set up in a popular city park to house homeless and mentally ill veterans like himself .
My friend and I laughed about that over drinks , imagining the eyesore of an instant military base suddenly arising in the middle of a popular San Francisco tourist destination .
Some 15 years later , I think : how appropriate it would have been to remind Americans having fun of just what they were invariably missing -- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go with them that all of us pay for endlessly but ignore .
Maybe it finally is time to create spaces meant for U.S. troops and veterans right in the middle of everything .
President-elect Biden , I 'm hoping against hope that you 'll read these thoughts of mine and take steps to support such priorities when you take office , so that our soldiers and our veterans do n't find themselves in ever deeper holes as their service ends : 1 .
Give those who serve and military veterans , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about where to go to get healthcare , whether primary care , physical therapy , specialized surgery , psychological therapy , or dental care .
The Veterans Choice Program , first rolled out in 2014 , should have been a decent start in expanding that sort of access , but in practice few providers have received authorization to participate because of low reimbursement rates and excessive wait times for approval and reimbursement .
Anything your administration could do , including ensuring that there 's just one less form to fill out or a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make a difference .
2 .
Sponsor large-scale studies on the health of military spouses and children .
Evidence of the effects of military life on such families is scattered at best , but does n't look good , particularly during and immediately after deployments .
The needs of spouses and children who deal with veterans for healthcare , vocational training , and protection from family violence appear high and badly unmet .
3 .
Advocate making training on the issues faced by our troops and their families central to continuing education requirements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them , especially the military insurance contractors who are the gatekeepers to care .
Urge such providers to place veterans and their families first in line .
Make sure therapists , including those focused on children and adolescents , know about the special challenges faced by military kids after parents return .
Fund and support off-base family therapy for soldiers and their families , since Department of Defense therapists too often prioritize the needs of the soldier or of the mission above the needs of the family .
4 .
Teach everyone to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their service , which effectively ends any conversation instead of beginning one .
Teach them instead to ask about what service in the U.S. military in the forever-war era is really like .
Believe me , that would start a conversation that would n't end soon .
5 .
Remove needless barriers to military families receiving childcare , whether they 're active duty and awaiting their next assignment or settling for good in communities where they 'll begin their lives as civilians .
Nothing About Us Without Us In all such things , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and their families .
Nationally , what about creating a presidential commission that represents such groups in equal measure and in as diverse a way as possible ?
Let it investigate violations of the rights of military personnel and their families when it comes to health and safety in military commands and on bases across the country and around the world .
Often when I talk about changes like these , I 'm met with skeptical looks from family members and friends .
Where will we get the money for such changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at higher rates for accepting military insurance ?
The striking thing is that there 's no ceiling when it comes to putting money into disastrous weapons systems , the U.S. nuclear arsenal , or the Pentagon generally .
But when it comes to putting money into us , it 's another matter entirely .
How about , as a start , cutting down on waste and fraud ?
Money that could have done us some good has disappeared into gas stations in the middle of nowhere and other corrupt construction projects in our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of dollars or more have been lost to waste and fraud in some of those unfinished foreign reconstruction projects .
As economist Heidi Garrett-Peltier has pointed out , U.S. federal defense spending accounts for more than half of all of our government 's discretionary spending , with piles of taxpayer dollars going to expensive contractors who provide services like cleaning , meals , and security guards on bases in those same war zones .
Instead of spending $ 100 more on a single bag of laundry in Iraq , how about spending it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggling with postwar trauma here at home ?
It 's long past time to end America 's fruitless post-9/11 wars .
But if we do n't start re-examining our basic priorities , bringing our troops `` home '' will just create a new crisis , involving what , in the long run , will be millions of sick , grieving , and injured Americans who will lack the safety net of adequate healthcare .
Please remember , President-elect Biden : war , even failed war , should n't be about sacrifice by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Andrea Mazzarino , a TomDispatch regular , co-founded Brown University 's Costs of War Project .
She has held various clinical , research , and advocacy positions , including at a Veterans Affairs PTSD Outpatient Clinic , with Human Rights Watch , and at a community mental health agency .
She is the co-editor of War and Health : The Medical Consequences of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan .
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook .
Check out the newest Dispatch Books , John Feffer 's new dystopian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ series ) Frostlands , Beverly Gologorsky 's novel Every Body Has a Story , and Tom Engelhardt 's A Nation Unmade by War , as well as Alfred McCoy 's In the Shadows of the American Century : The Rise and Decline of U.S .
Global Power and John Dower 's The Violent American Century : War and Terror Since Worl War II .

By the end of this year, the White House will reportedly have finally brought home a third of the 7,500 troops still stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq (against the advice of President Trump's own military leaders). While there have been storiesgalore about the global security implications of this plan, there has been almost no discussion at all about where those 2,700 or so troops who have served in this country's endless wars will settle once their feet touch U.S. soil (assuming, that is, that they aren't just moved to less controversial garrisons elsewhere in the Greater Middle East), no less who's likely to provide them with badly needed financial, logistical, and emotional support as they age.
When it comes to honoring active-duty troops and veterans of this country's forever wars, we Americans have proven big on symbolic gestures, but small on action. Former First Lady Michelle Obama's organization, Joining Forces, was a short-lived but notable exception: its advocacy and awareness-raising led dozens of companies to commit to hiring more veterans. Unfortunately, those efforts proved limited in scope and didn't last long.
Zoom out to the rest of America and you'll find yellow-ribbon bumper stickers on gas-guzzling SUVs galore; tons of "support our troops" Facebook memes on both Veterans Day and Memorial Day regularly featuring (at least before the pandemic struck big time) young, attractive heterosexual families hugging at reunions; and there is invariably a chorus of "thank you for your service" when a veteran or active-duty soldier appears in public.
In practical terms, though, this adds up to nothing. Bumper stickers don't watch soldiers' kids while they're gone, nor do they transport those troops to competent, affordable specialists to meet their health and vocational needs when they return from battle. Memes don't power vets through decades of rehabilitation from traumatic brain injuries, limbs blown off by homemade explosives, depression, anxiety, and grief for comrades lost.
I'm the spouse of a U.S. naval officer. My husband has served on two different submarines and in three military policymaking positions over the course of our decade together. We've had to move around the country four times (an exceedingly modest number compared with most military families we know). We have dual incomes, as well as extended family and friends with the means to support us with care for our two young children and help us with the extra expenses when that uprooting moment arrives every two or three years. We have self-advocacy skills and the resources necessary to find the best possible health providers to help us weather the strain that goes with the relentless pace of post-9/11 military life.
And yet I feel I can speak for other military families who have so much less for one reason: I've dedicated much of my career to research and advocacy on behalf of people affected by the American-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I've focused my attention, in particular, on the vast loss of life, both abroad and at home, caused by those wars, on decimated and depleted healthcare systems (including our own), and on the burdens borne by the families of soldiers who have to struggle to deal with the needs of those who return.
Troops from our current wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere across the Greater Middle East and Africa are, in certain ways, unique compared to earlier generations of American military personnel. More than half of them have deployed more than once to those battle zones -- often numerous times. Over a million of them now have disability claims with the Veterans Affairs Department and far more disabled veterans than in the past have chronic injuries and illnesses that they will live with, not die from. Among troops like my spouse who, as a naval officer, has never deployed to Iraqi or Afghan soil, days have grown longer and more stressful due to a distinctly overstretched military that often lacks the up-to-date equipment to work safely.
And mind you, the costs of caring for the soldiers who have been deployed in our never-ending wars won't peak for another 30 to 40 years, as they age, and the government isn't faintly ready to meet the expenses that will be involved.
Homecoming
And mind you, the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs are even less prepared to care for the families of their troops and veterans, those most likely to be tasked with their round-the-clock care.
Among the many grim possibilities from my own experience and the stories I've been told as an advocate over the years by military veterans, military spouses, and military children, let me try to paint just one picture of what it's like when a member of that military returns home from deployment: Imagine your spouse suddenly walking through the door after months away. His face is a greenish hue from fatigue and fear. He may tell you some horror story about some set of incidents that occurred while he was deployed and indicate that he fears, given his state, he might even be out of a job soon. You think about the work you cut back on in the months since he left because you couldn't handle the 24/7 demands of caring for confused children who had stopped sleeping. What will you do to support the family if his worst fears come to pass?
You need to remind him that, while he's been rattling on, there are children present whom he has yet to greet. He hugs them now, his face a combination of love and lack-of-recognition (given how they've grown in the months since he's been gone). The kids' facial expressions are a mirror image of his.
You do your best to catch him up on the changes that have taken place in his absence: the kids' latest developments, your new work schedule, the need for more childcare support, and the problems of your extended family (including the terminal illness of a family member).
Family or friends want to swoop in and take the kids so the two of you can get away, yet after months of his silence, you're feeling too confused to want that yet. What's more, your own hard-earned role as head of the household is suddenly about to be subsumed by his needs. (After all, he's used to telling others what to do.)
You try to call other spouses who were your lifeline while all your husbands were deployed together, but they're as stressed out and preoccupied as you are. Even the other commanders' wives are, like you, up far too often at night as their spouses accept calls about drunk driving, partner violence, suicide threats, and child abuse within the stressed-out command.
Your unnerved husband is helping deal with such events, counseling those still on duty, and you're counseling him. One night, he tells you that part of the reason for his stress is the things he was asked to do by his war-traumatized commander while he was deployed. These stories keep you awake at night.
You suggest he see a mental health professional. After all, the base has licensed psychologists and psychiatrists on staff, ready to help. He reminds you that the decision to seek care is not private in the military and the stigma among those handling his promotions could cost him his career.
So you look for mental-health assistance yourself to deal with the stress and grief over your changed relationship with your spouse. The lone practitioner within 45 miles who accepts military insurance tells you that, to receive care, you must sign a contract accepting that you can be hospitalized at his discretion "because military spouses go psychotic during their husband's deployments." You walk away.
Childcare support of some kind is needed more than ever now that your spouse is in such distress. Because you moved posts recently by military order, the Navy tells you that you're at the back of the local line for financial childcare assistance. You're in your own hell on earth and in that you're typical of so many other military spouses.
Perspectives on Service From a Coastal Elite
And you also turn your gaze to the citizenry of this country that, in the world of the "All Volunteer" military, generally ignores us. Before I became a military spouse, I grew up in an affluent part of New Jersey. I remember how war veterans were ignored or even mocked (including by me). In the 1990s, I used to vacation at the Jersey shore and sometimes, from the front porch of our house, my family and I would catch a glimpse of a middle-aged man in military uniform, marching like a metronome up and down the island's main boulevard. The glazed, far-off look on his face with its telltale ruddiness signaled, I know now, someone who probably drank too much, too often. Back then, we would just refer to him as "the soldier" when he passed and laugh at him, once safely out of earshot.
Of course, he was undoubtedly suffering from some form of mental illness without the sort of care that might have helped him make sense of things. My family and I had no idea that it was normal for war-traumatized soldiers to have difficulty distinguishing the past from the present, that it wouldn't have been strange for him to see lines of summertime beach traffic and think "convoy" or hear a car engine backfire and think "sniper!"
Later, when I was living in San Francisco, a friend who worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development told me about a veteran of the Afghan War, on leave between deployments, who called their office to request that a military tent village be set up in a popular city park to house homeless and mentally ill veterans like himself. My friend and I laughed about that over drinks, imagining the eyesore of an instant military base suddenly arising in the middle of a popular San Francisco tourist destination.
Some 15 years later, I think: how appropriate it would have been to remind Americans having fun of just what they were invariably missing -- their military and the forever wars that go with them that all of us pay for endlessly but ignore. Maybe it finally is time to create spaces meant for U.S. troops and veterans right in the middle of everything.
A Task List
President-elect Biden, I'm hoping against hope that you'll read these thoughts of mine and take steps to support such priorities when you take office, so that our soldiers and our veterans don't find themselves in ever deeper holes as their service ends:
1. Give those who serve and military veterans, as well as their families, real choices about where to go to get healthcare, whether primary care, physical therapy, specialized surgery, psychological therapy, or dental care. The Veterans Choice Program, first rolled out in 2014, should have been a decent start in expanding that sort of access, but in practice few providers have received authorization to participate because of low reimbursement rates and excessive wait times for approval and reimbursement. Anything your administration could do, including ensuring that there's just one less form to fill out or a few more dollars in reimbursement, would make a difference.
2. Sponsor large-scale studies on the health of military spouses and children. Evidence of the effects of military life on such families is scattered at best, but doesn't look good, particularly during and immediately after deployments. The needs of spouses and children who deal with veterans for healthcare, vocational training, and protection from family violence appear high and badly unmet.
3. Advocate making training on the issues faced by our troops and their families central to continuing education requirements among healthcare providers and the staff supporting them, especially the military insurance contractors who are the gatekeepers to care. Urge such providers to place veterans and their families first in line. Make sure therapists, including those focused on children and adolescents, know about the special challenges faced by military kids after parents return. Fund and support off-base family therapy for soldiers and their families, since Department of Defense therapists too often prioritize the needs of the soldier or of the mission above the needs of the family.
4. Teach everyone to stop "thanking" the troops for their service, which effectively ends any conversation instead of beginning one. Teach them instead to ask about what service in the U.S. military in the forever-war era is really like. Believe me, that would start a conversation that wouldn't end soon.
5. Remove needless barriers to military families receiving childcare, whether they're active duty and awaiting their next assignment or settling for good in communities where they'll begin their lives as civilians.
Nothing About Us Without Us
In all such things, take your cues from soldiers, veterans, and their families. Nationally, what about creating a presidential commission that represents such groups in equal measure and in as diverse a way as possible? Let it investigate violations of the rights of military personnel and their families when it comes to health and safety in military commands and on bases across the country and around the world.
Often when I talk about changes like these, I'm met with skeptical looks from family members andfriends. Where will we get the money for such changes, since we're already reimbursing providers at higher rates for accepting military insurance?
The striking thing is that there's no ceiling when it comes to putting money into disastrous weapons systems, the U.S. nuclear arsenal, or the Pentagon generally. But when it comes to putting money into us, it's another matter entirely.
How about, as a start, cutting down on waste and fraud? Money that could have done us some good has disappeared into gas stations in the middle of nowhere and other corrupt construction projects in our distant war zones. Tens of millions of dollars or more have been lost to waste and fraud in some of those unfinished foreign reconstruction projects. As economist Heidi Garrett-Peltier has pointed out, U.S. federal defense spending accounts for more than half of all of our government's discretionary spending, with piles of taxpayer dollars going to expensive contractors who provide services like cleaning, meals, and security guards on bases in those same war zones. Instead of spending $100 more on a single bag of laundry in Iraq, how about spending it on a therapy session for a veteran struggling with postwar trauma here at home?
It's long past time to end America's fruitless post-9/11 wars. But if we don't start re-examining our basic priorities, bringing our troops "home" will just create a new crisis, involving what, in the long run, will be millions of sick, grieving, and injured Americans who will lack the safety net of adequate healthcare.
Please remember, President-elect Biden: war, even failed war, shouldn't be about sacrifice by the military alone but by all of us.
Andrea Mazzarino, a TomDispatch regular, co-founded Brown University's Costs of War Project. She has held various clinical, research, and advocacy positions, including at a Veterans Affairs PTSD Outpatient Clinic, with Human Rights Watch, and at a community mental health agency. She is the co-editor of War and Health: The Medical Consequences of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Books, John Feffer's new dystopian novel (the second in the Splinterlands series) Frostlands, Beverly Gologorsky's novel Every Body Has a Story, and Tom Engelhardt's A Nation Unmade by War, as well as Alfred McCoy's In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power and John Dower's The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since Worl War II.
Copyright 2022 Andrea Mazzarino


alternet--2020-12-03--'WTF?': Astronomers are baffled by a new ghostly phenomenon in space

In September 2019 , my colleague Anna Kapinska gave a presentation showing interesting objects she 'd found while browsing our new radio astronomical data .
She had started noticing very weird shapes she could n't fit easily to any known type of object .
Among them , labelled by Anna as WTF ?
, was a picture of a ghostly circle of radio emission , hanging out in space like a cosmic smoke-ring .
None of us had ever seen anything like it before , and we had no idea what it was .
A few days later , our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , even more spooky than Anna 's .
Anna and Emil had been examining the new images from our pilot observations for the Evolutionary Map of the Universe ( EMU ) project , made with CSIRO 's revolutionary new Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder ( ASKAP ) telescope .
EMU plans to boldly probe parts of the Universe where no telescope has gone before .
It can do so because ASKAP can survey large swathes of the sky very quickly , probing to a depth previously only reached in tiny areas of sky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , diffuse objects like these .
I predicted a couple of years ago this exploration of the unknown would probably make unexpected discoveries , which I called WTFs .
But none of us expected to discover something so unexpected , so quickly .
Because of the enormous data volumes , I expected the discoveries would be made using machine learning .
But these discoveries were made with good old-fashioned eyeballing .
Our team searched the rest of the data by eye , and we found a few more of the mysterious round blobs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stands for “ odd radio circles '' .
But the big question , of course , is : “ what are they ? ''
At first we suspected an imaging artefact , perhaps generated by a software error .
But we soon confirmed they are real , using other radio telescopes .
We still have no idea how big or far away they are .
They could be objects in our galaxy , perhaps a few light-years across , or they could be far away in the Universe and maybe millions of light @ @ @ @ @ @ @ images taken with optical telescopes at the position of ORCs , we see nothing .
The rings of radio emission are probably caused by clouds of electrons , but why do n't we see anything in visible wavelengths of light ?
We do n't know , but finding a puzzle like this is the dream of every astronomer .
We know what they 're not We have ruled out several possibilities for what ORCs might be .
Could they be supernova remnants , the clouds of debris left behind when a star in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are far from most of the stars in the Milky Way and there are too many of them .
Could they be the rings of radio emission sometimes seen in galaxies undergoing intense bursts of star formation ?
Again , no .
We do n't see any underlying galaxy that would be hosting the star formation .
Could they be the giant lobes of radio emission we see in radio galaxies , caused by jets of electrons squirting out from the environs of a supermassive black hole ?
Not likely , because the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tangled clouds we see in radio galaxies .
Could they be Einstein rings , in which radio waves from a distant galaxy are being bent into a circle by the gravitational field of a cluster of galaxies ?
Still no .
ORCs are too symmetrical , and we do n't see a cluster at their centre .
In our paper about ORCs , which is forthcoming in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , we run through all the possibilities and conclude these enigmatic blobs do n't look like anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to explore things that might exist but have n't yet been observed , such as a vast shockwave from some explosion in a distant galaxy .
Such explosions may have something to do with fast radio bursts , or the neutron star and black hole collisions that generate gravitational waves .
Or perhaps they are something else entirely .
Two Russian scientists have even suggested ORCs might be the “ throats '' of wormholes in spacetime .
From the handful we 've found so far , we estimate there are about 1,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bärbel Koribalski notes the search is now on , with telescopes around the world , to find more ORCs and understand their cause .
It 's a tricky job , because ORCS are very faint and difficult to find .
Our team is brainstorming all these ideas and more , hoping for the eureka moment when one of us , or perhaps someone else , suddenly has the flash of inspiration that solves the puzzle .
It 's an exciting time for us .
Most astronomical research is aimed at refining our knowledge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Very rarely do we get the challenge of stumbling across a new type of object which nobody has seen before , and trying to figure out what it is .
Is it a completely new phenomenon , or something we already know about but viewed in a weird way ?
And if it really is completely new , how does that change our understanding of the Universe ?
Watch this space !
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

by Ray Norris, Western Sydney University
In September 2019, my colleague Anna Kapinska gave a presentation showing interesting objects she'd found while browsing our new radio astronomical data. She had started noticing very weird shapes she couldn't fit easily to any known type of object.
Among them, labelled by Anna as WTF?, was a picture of a ghostly circle of radio emission, hanging out in space like a cosmic smoke-ring. None of us had ever seen anything like it before, and we had no idea what it was. A few days later, our colleague Emil Lenc found a second one, even more spooky than Anna's.
Anna and Emil had been examining the new images from our pilot observations for the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) project, made with CSIRO's revolutionary new Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope.
EMU plans to boldly probe parts of the Universe where no telescope has gone before. It can do so because ASKAP can survey large swathes of the sky very quickly, probing to a depth previously only reached in tiny areas of sky, and being especially sensitive to faint, diffuse objects like these.
I predicted a couple of years ago this exploration of the unknown would probably make unexpected discoveries, which I called WTFs. But none of us expected to discover something so unexpected, so quickly. Because of the enormous data volumes, I expected the discoveries would be made using machine learning. But these discoveries were made with good old-fashioned eyeballing.
Hunting ORCs
Our team searched the rest of the data by eye, and we found a few more of the mysterious round blobs. We dubbed them ORCs, which stands for “odd radio circles". But the big question, of course, is: “what are they?"
At first we suspected an imaging artefact, perhaps generated by a software error. But we soon confirmed they are real, using other radio telescopes. We still have no idea how big or far away they are. They could be objects in our galaxy, perhaps a few light-years across, or they could be far away in the Universe and maybe millions of light years across.
When we look in images taken with optical telescopes at the position of ORCs, we see nothing. The rings of radio emission are probably caused by clouds of electrons, but why don't we see anything in visible wavelengths of light? We don't know, but finding a puzzle like this is the dream of every astronomer.
We know what they're not
We have ruled out several possibilities for what ORCs might be.
Could they be supernova remnants, the clouds of debris left behind when a star in our galaxy explodes? No. They are far from most of the stars in the Milky Way and there are too many of them.
Could they be the rings of radio emission sometimes seen in galaxies undergoing intense bursts of star formation? Again, no. We don't see any underlying galaxy that would be hosting the star formation.
Could they be the giant lobes of radio emission we see in radio galaxies, caused by jets of electrons squirting out from the environs of a supermassive black hole? Not likely, because the ORCs are very distinctly circular, unlike the tangled clouds we see in radio galaxies.
Could they be Einstein rings, in which radio waves from a distant galaxy are being bent into a circle by the gravitational field of a cluster of galaxies? Still no. ORCs are too symmetrical, and we don't see a cluster at their centre.
A genuine mystery
In our paper about ORCs, which is forthcoming in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, we run through all the possibilities and conclude these enigmatic blobs don't look like anything we already know about.
So we need to explore things that might exist but haven't yet been observed, such as a vast shockwave from some explosion in a distant galaxy. Such explosions may have something to do with fast radio bursts, or the neutron star and black hole collisions that generate gravitational waves.
Or perhaps they are something else entirely. Two Russian scientists have even suggested ORCs might be the “throats" of wormholes in spacetime.
From the handful we've found so far, we estimate there are about 1,000 ORCs in the sky. My colleague Bärbel Koribalski notes the search is now on, with telescopes around the world, to find more ORCs and understand their cause.
It's a tricky job, because ORCS are very faint and difficult to find. Our team is brainstorming all these ideas and more, hoping for the eureka moment when one of us, or perhaps someone else, suddenly has the flash of inspiration that solves the puzzle.
It's an exciting time for us. Most astronomical research is aimed at refining our knowledge of the Universe, or testing theories. Very rarely do we get the challenge of stumbling across a new type of object which nobody has seen before, and trying to figure out what it is.
Is it a completely new phenomenon, or something we already know about but viewed in a weird way? And if it really is completely new, how does that change our understanding of the Universe? Watch this space!
Ray Norris, Professor, School of Science, Western Sydney University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.