truthout--2020-11-05--Trump’s PA Strategy Is to Use the Courts to Toss Votes Out. It’s Not Working.

Bethany Hallam , an at-large member of the Allegheny County Council and its elections division , was working a polling place in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , when the calls started coming in .
Poll workers at other local precincts were running out of provisional ballots .
Around lunchtime she left to vote at her assigned precinct with a plan to test whether the election was working as it should .
Hallam would surrender or “ spoil ” the mail-in ballot she requested and vote in person , which is legal under Pennsylvania law .
However , poll workers told her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to fill out a provisional ballot instead .
Hallam explained that she is an election official and produced the rulebook for poll workers .
It turned out the poll workers had mistakenly directed an untold number of voters who received their mail-in ballot late , or received a mail-in ballot but decided to vote in-person , to vote provisionally .
Hallam knew poll workers were making the same mistake elsewhere based on the multiple calls she received reporting shortages of provisional ballots .
Hallam estimates that thousands , perhaps tens of thousands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provisional ballots instead of voting in person — in addition to voters who voted provisionally because their mail-in ballots were not accepted .
“ Luckily I had the poll worker manual handy and showed them why it ’ s wrong and they were like , ‘ Oh , we ’ ve been doing this all day , ’ ” Hallam said in an interview with Truthout on Wednesday .
It was an honest mistake , but Hallam was worried .
She knew Alleghany County , with its large number of Democratic voters who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballot due to the COVID-19 pandemic , would be one of the last counties in Pennsylvania to report results .
Hallam worried about Pennsylvania ’ s 20 electoral votes that could decide the presidential election , not to mention tight local and state races decided by much smaller margins .
Provisional ballots are normally counted , but that process can take up to a week , because election workers must verify that voters did not vote another way .
However , this is not a normal election .
“ I ’ m not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not being counted for the next seven days , I am concerned about future litigation , ” Hallam said , adding that the Trump campaign had already sued her county elections office multiple times ahead of the election .
“ At the end of the day , it ’ s my job to make sure that every vote is counted.
” The Trump campaign and Republicans have filed more than 300 lawsuits nationwide challenging efforts to expand access to the ballot during the pandemic , or opposing lawsuits filed by voting rights advocates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said a law passed by Pennsylvania ’ s GOP-controlled legislature in 2019 that expanded mail-in voting appeared to be convenient when the pandemic hit months later , but she now wonders if the law was “ intentionally ” written to be “ ambiguous , ” setting the stage for dozens of legal challenges filed by Republicans and the Trump campaign both before the election and after , as the results trickle in .
Several hours after the polls closed on Tuesday , Trump ’ s lead in key swing states was withering as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were tallied .
Like clockwork , the Trump campaign prematurely declared false victory and announced his intention to contest the election before the Supreme Court , where Senate Republicans had just rushed to install Amy Coney Barrett at Trump ’ s request .
With the addition of Justice Barrett , the court now has a solid conservative majority .
By Wednesday , Trump , his son , and top campaign officials were spreading baseless conspiracies about mail-in voting in a desperate attempt to undermine the results .
“ We Want All Voting to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential race in Pennsylvania had not been called by Thursday morning , when President Trump held a slight lead over former Vice President Joe Biden .
The secretary of state ’ s election dashboard showed that the 22 percent of mail-in ballots yet to be counted — about 581,000 as of Thursday — were mostly mail-in ballots cast in Allegheny County and the Philadelphia area , two Democratic strongholds that could tip the state in favor of Biden .
Hallam and other elections officials had warned for weeks that the results of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flood of mail-in ballots , but Trump had already spent months making baseless claims linking mail-in voting to “ fraud.
” “ We want all voting to stop , ” Trump declared from the White House in the wee morning hours following election night .
Fundraising emails from his campaign soon echoed the same line , claiming without evidence that Democrats created “ chaos ” with mail-in ballots and are trying to “ steal ” the election .
Of course , voting had already stopped at every polling place across the nation by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday morning .
Distorting reality with a lie , Trump was actually demanding that vote counting stop .
The Trump campaign began raising money for a legal fight that the president said should go before the Supreme Court .
In the days to come , angry mobs of Trump supporters would gather at vote counting sites in Arizona , Michigan , and Pennsylvania with vague demands to “ count the vote , ” which election workers were already busy doing .
Legal experts quickly pointed out that Trump could not bring a case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court is stacked with his appointees ; cases must go through lower courts first .
In the hours and days that followed , the Trump campaign and its GOP allies filed a flurry of challenges and lawsuits in key swing states demanding recounts or challenging vote counting procedures — including Pennsylvania , where the campaign hopes to intervene in a Supreme Court case over a state deadline for mail-in ballots that could invalidate thousands of votes .
“ It ’ s just a shame that with an election this crucial a sitting president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the courts instead of listening to the will of the people , ” Hallam said .
GOP Fights to Throw Out Votes in Pennsylvania Hallam quickly realized she had good reason to be worried about the number of provisional ballots cast in Pennsylvania .
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania , a Trump ally in Congress who defeated a progressive Democrat for reelection , and five other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar in state court on Tuesday .
Republicans in Congress called on Boockvar to resign .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a guidance allowing election officials to notify voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected , often due to simple mistakes like a missing security envelope , so they could cast provisional ballots on Election Day .
The lawsuit claims the practice of “ curing ” mail-in ballots with a provisional ballot runs afoul of state law and created confusion , a charge denied by Boockvar , who has pledged to count all legitimate votes .
The lawsuit demands the provisional ballots be thrown out and follows a similar challenge against election officials in Montgomery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Philadelphia suburbs .
Thanks to the 2019 election law passed by the state legislature ’ s Republican majority , Pennsylvania election officials were not allowed to start counting the unprecedented numbers of mail-in ballots until Election Day .
Similar restrictions were passed by the GOP-controlled legislatures in Wisconsin and Michigan , two other swing states that became nail-biters as officials scrambled to count mail-in ballots and the Trump campaign ’ s lawyers swooped in .
Hallam agreed that these restrictions contributed to delayed results in Pennsylvania , giving the Trump campaign space to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ There were no surprise ballot dumps , and it ’ s important to remember that Wisconsin , Michigan and Pennsylvania were all blocked by GOP legislatures from counting ballots early despite requests from both Republican and Democratic local election officials in those states wanting do so , ” said Vanita Gupta , a civil rights attorney and member of the National Task Force on Election Crisis , during a Wednesday press briefing .
“ And so that is why we find ourselves with these delays in this moment.
” Hallam said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials were allowed to open mail-in ballots a week before the election , giving them time to notify voters if their ballots were rejected .
So , officials in Alleghany County and others began “ pre-canvassing ” on Election Day by opening the mailing envelope without opening ballots concealed in security envelopes inside .
That way , election workers could identify common defects that invalidate a ballot under state law : a missing security envelope for example , or a political message like “ Trump 2020 !
” scrawled across it .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t always read instructions , ” Hallam said .
In Hallam ’ s county and others , voters with rejected mail-in ballots were notified , often by telephone , so they could cast provisional ballots on Election Day .
These are the ballots Rep. Kelly and other Republicans want thrown out , arguing that earlier court rulings block Pennsylvanians from correcting their ballots and casting a vote that will count .
The Trump administration also moved to intervene on Wednesday , announcing multiple legal challenges in Pennsylvania and demanding that vote counting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is directly connected to the case the Trump campaign wants to litigate before the Supreme Court , especially if the presidential race comes down to Pennsylvania .
Last month , the Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 on a Republican request to block a Pennsylvania Supreme Court order allowing election officials to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day .
Similar to efforts in some other states , Pennsylvania ’ s Supreme Court recognized there could be postal delays in delivering ballots , and ordered ballots to be counted unless there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Election Day .
After the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-minute plea from Republicans last week to fast-track the case just days ahead of the election , Trump falsely claimed the decision would “ incite violence.
” Republicans argued the Pennsylvania Supreme Court thwarted the will of the state ’ s legislature , while Pennsylvania ’ s Democratic attorney general argued the court acted within its authority to protect “ free and equal elections.
” At least three conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court hinted that they would consider overturning the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since taken the bench and has not recused herself from hearing the case , despite concerns among Democrats that Senate Republicans rushed her nomination to give Trump leverage in a major election challenge .
Kelly and other Republicans now claim Boockvar told the Supreme Court that mail-in ballots received by mail after 8 p.m. Election Day would be “ segregated ” from those received before the polls closed in case the Supreme Court takes up the Republican challenge against the deadline extension .
They argue that guidance from Boockvar allowing election officials to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their ballot was rejected complicated the effort to “ segregate ” ballots in some counties .
In a press conference , Boockvar said her guidance conformed to state law , and that she checked in about canvassing and segregating ballots with vote counters , who said it wouldn ’ t be a problem .
“ We will oppose every effort to at any point shut down the vote , ” Boockvar said on Wednesday .
“ We get to decide when the last vote is counted.
” The legal wrangling is complicated , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Pennsylvania is clear : Use the courts to throw out as many votes as possible , especially those that arrived in the mail after the polls closed , despite postage delays that observers say were engineered by the Trump administration .
While legal challenges filed by the Trump campaign in other swing states have little to do with mail deadlines — the Biden campaign argues they simply serve to cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the election — it ’ s the challenges to votes in Pennsylvania that may have the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s favor .
However , election law experts say it ’ s somewhat unlikely the Supreme Court will hear a case over ballots in Pennsylvania .
The election would have to come down to Pennsylvania alone , and by a slim margin .
Biden is currently leading in Arizona and Nevada , which would give him enough electoral votes to win the presidency .
Meanwhile , the Trump campaign continues to fight to throw out legitimate votes in a desperate attempt to cling to power .
“ Why should any voter who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have their vote invalidated ?
” Hallam said .

Part of the Series Voting Wrongs
Bethany Hallam, an at-large member of the Allegheny County Council and its elections division, was working a polling place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when the calls started coming in. Poll workers at other local precincts were running out of provisional ballots. Around lunchtime she left to vote at her assigned precinct with a plan to test whether the election was working as it should. Hallam would surrender or “spoil” the mail-in ballot she requested and vote in person, which is legal under Pennsylvania law. However, poll workers told her she could not vote in-person and would have to fill out a provisional ballot instead.
Hallam explained that she is an election official and produced the rulebook for poll workers. It turned out the poll workers had mistakenly directed an untold number of voters who received their mail-in ballot late, or received a mail-in ballot but decided to vote in-person, to vote provisionally. Hallam knew poll workers were making the same mistake elsewhere based on the multiple calls she received reporting shortages of provisional ballots. County officials now estimate more than 17,000 voters cast provisional ballots instead of voting in person — including voters who voted provisionally because their mail-in ballots were not accepted.
“Luckily I had the poll worker manual handy and showed them why it’s wrong and they were like, ‘Oh, we’ve been doing this all day,’” Hallam said in an interview with Truthout on Wednesday.
It was an honest mistake, but Hallam was worried. She knew Allegheny County, with its large number of Democratic voters who were more likely to request a mail-in ballot due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would be one of the last counties in Pennsylvania to report results. Hallam worried about Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes that could decide the presidential election, not to mention tight local and state races decided by much smaller margins. Provisional ballots are normally counted, but that process can take up to a week, because election workers must verify that voters did not vote another way. However, this is not a normal election.
“I’m not concerned about [the provisional ballots] not being counted for the next seven days, I am concerned about future litigation,” Hallam said, adding that the Trump campaign had already sued her county elections office multiple times ahead of the election. “At the end of the day, it’s my job to make sure that every vote is counted.”
The Trump campaign and Republicans have filed more than 300 lawsuits nationwide challenging efforts to expand access to the ballot during the pandemic, or opposing lawsuits filed by voting rights advocates seeking to expand ballot access. Hallam said a law passed by Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled legislature in 2019 that expanded mail-in voting appeared to be convenient when the pandemic hit months later, but she now wonders if the law was “intentionally” written to be “ambiguous,” setting the stage for dozens of legal challenges filed by Republicans and the Trump campaign both before the election and after, as the results trickle in.
Several hours after the polls closed on Tuesday, Trump’s lead in key swing states was withering as more mail-in ballots in large metropolitan areas were tallied. Like clockwork, the Trump campaign prematurely declared false victory and announced his intention to contest the election before the Supreme Court, where Senate Republicans had just rushed to install Amy Coney Barrett at Trump’s request. With the addition of Justice Barrett, the court now has a solid conservative majority. By Wednesday, Trump, his son, and top campaign officials were spreading baseless conspiracies about mail-in voting in a desperate attempt to undermine the results.
“We Want All Voting to Stop”
As Hallam predicted, the presidential race in Pennsylvania had not been called by Thursday morning, when President Trump held a slight lead over former Vice President Joe Biden. The secretary of state’s election dashboard showed that the 22 percent of mail-in ballots yet to be counted — about 581,000 as of Thursday — were mostly mail-in ballots cast in Allegheny County and the Philadelphia area, two Democratic strongholds that are now tipping the state in Biden’s favor. By Friday morning, Biden pulled ahead in Pennsylvania and Georgia, putting the Democrat on a clear path to victory. Hallam and other elections officials had warned for weeks that the results of the election could be delayed due to a flood of mail-in ballots, but Trump had already spent months making baseless claims linking mail-in voting to “fraud.”
“We want all voting to stop,” Trump declared from the White House in the wee morning hours following election night. Fundraising emails from his campaign soon echoed the same line, claiming without evidence that Democrats created “chaos” with mail-in ballots and are trying to “steal” the election. Of course, voting had already stopped at every polling place across the nation by the time Trump took the podium early Wednesday morning. Distorting reality with a lie, Trump was actually demanding that vote counting stop.
“It’s just a shame that with an election this crucial a sitting president is trying to have it decided in the courts instead of listening to the will of the people.”
The Trump campaign began raising money for a legal fight that the president said should go before the Supreme Court. In the days to come, angry mobs of Trump supporters would gather at vote counting sites in Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania with vague demands to “count the vote,” which election workers were already busy doing. Legal experts quickly pointed out that Trump could not bring a case before the Supreme Court simply because the court is stacked with his appointees; cases must go through lower courts first. In the hours and days that followed, the Trump campaign and its GOP allies filed a flurry of challenges and lawsuits in key swing states demanding recounts or challenging vote counting procedures — including Pennsylvania, where the campaign hopes to intervene in a Supreme Court case over a state deadline for mail-in ballots that could invalidate thousands of votes.
“It’s just a shame that with an election this crucial a sitting president is trying to have it decided in the courts instead of listening to the will of the people,” Hallam said.
GOP Fights to Throw Out Votes in Pennsylvania
Hallam quickly realized she had good reason to be worried about the number of provisional ballots cast in Pennsylvania.
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, a Trump ally in Congress who defeated a progressive Democrat for reelection, and five other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar in state court on Tuesday. Republicans in Congress called on Boockvar to resign. Boockvar’s alleged wrongdoing? Issuing a guidance allowing election officials to notify voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected, often due to simple mistakes like a missing security envelope, so they could cast provisional ballots on Election Day. The lawsuit claims the practice of “curing” mail-in ballots with a provisional ballot runs afoul of state law and created confusion, a charge denied by Boockvar, who has pledged to count all legitimate votes. The lawsuit demands the provisional ballots be thrown out and follows a similar challenge against election officials in Montgomery County, a Democratic-leaning area in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Thanks to the 2019 election law passed by the state legislature’s Republican majority, Pennsylvania election officials were not allowed to start counting the unprecedented numbers of mail-in ballots until Election Day. Similar restrictions were passed by the GOP-controlled legislatures in Wisconsin and Michigan, two other swing states that became nail-biters as officials scrambled to count mail-in ballots and the Trump campaign’s lawyers swooped in. Hallam agreed that these restrictions contributed to delayed results in Pennsylvania, giving the Trump campaign space to spread disinformation and file legal challenges.
“There were no surprise ballot dumps, and it’s important to remember that Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were all blocked by GOP legislatures from counting ballots early despite requests from both Republican and Democratic local election officials in those states wanting do so,” said Vanita Gupta, a civil rights attorney and member of the National Task Force on Election Crisis, during a Wednesday press briefing. “And so that is why we find ourselves with these delays in this moment.”
Hallam said that, in the past, Pennsylvania election officials were allowed to open mail-in ballots a week before the election, giving them time to notify voters if their ballots were rejected. So, officials in Allegheny County and others began “pre-canvassing” on Election Day by opening the mailing envelope without opening ballots concealed in security envelopes inside. That way, election workers could identify common defects that invalidate a ballot under state law: a missing security envelope for example, or a political message like “Trump 2020!” scrawled across it.
“As you can imagine, folks don’t always read instructions,” Hallam said.
In Hallam’s county and others, voters with rejected mail-in ballots were notified, often by telephone, so they could cast provisional ballots on Election Day. These are the ballots Rep. Kelly and other Republicans want thrown out, arguing that earlier court rulings block Pennsylvanians from correcting their ballots and casting a vote that will count. The Trump administration also moved to intervene on Wednesday, announcing multiple legal challenges in Pennsylvania and demanding that vote counting be halted. On Friday, judges in Philadelphia and Georgia threw out lawsuits from the Trump campaign attempting to halt vote counting.
Kelly’s lawsuit is directly connected to the case the Trump campaign wants to litigate before the Supreme Court, especially if the presidential race comes down to Pennsylvania. Last month, the Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 on a Republican request to block a Pennsylvania Supreme Court order allowing election officials to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day. Similar to efforts in some other states, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court recognized there could be postal delays in delivering ballots, and ordered ballots to be counted unless there is clear evidence the ballots were postmarked after Election Day. After the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-minute plea from Republicans last week to fast-track the case just days ahead of the election, Trump falsely claimed the decision would “incite violence.”
Republicans argued the Pennsylvania Supreme Court thwarted the will of the state’s legislature, while Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general argued the court acted within its authority to protect “free and equal elections.” At least three conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court hinted that they would consider overturning the order after the election. Barrett has since taken the bench and has not recused herself from hearing the case, despite concerns among Democrats that Senate Republicans rushed her nomination to give Trump leverage in a major election challenge.
Kelly and other Republicans now claim Boockvar told the Supreme Court that mail-in ballots received by mail after 8 p.m. Election Day would be “segregated” from those received before the polls closed in case the Supreme Court takes up the Republican challenge against the deadline extension. They argue that guidance from Boockvar allowing election officials to pre-canvass mail-in ballots and notify voters that their ballot was rejected complicated the effort to “segregate” ballots in some counties. A Pennsylvania state judge on Friday denied the bulk of Kelly’s lawsuit and counts of provisional ballots continued.
In a press conference, Boockvar said her guidance conformed to state law, and that she checked in about canvassing and segregating ballots with vote counters, who said it wouldn’t be a problem.
“We will oppose every effort to at any point shut down the vote,” Boockvar said on Wednesday. “We get to decide when the last vote is counted.”
“Why should any voter who voted by the 8 p.m. election deadline have their vote invalidated?”
The legal wrangling is complicated, but the Trump and GOP post-election strategy in Pennsylvania is clear: Use the courts to throw out as many votes as possible, especially those that arrived in the mail after the polls closed, despite postage delays that observers say were engineered by the Trump administration. While legal challenges filed by the Trump campaign in other swing states have little to do with mail deadlines — the Biden campaign argues they simply serve to cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the election — it’s the challenges to votes in Pennsylvania that may have the potential to swing the election in Trump’s favor.
However, election law experts say it’s somewhat unlikely the Supreme Court will hear a case over ballots in Pennsylvania. The election would have to come down to Pennsylvania alone, and by a slim margin. Biden appears to have clinched Arizona and is currently leading in Nevada, which would give him enough electoral votes to win the presidency.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign continues to fight to throw out legitimate votes in a desperate attempt to cling to power.
“Why should any voter who voted by the 8 p.m. election deadline have their vote invalidated?” Hallam said.
This story has been updated.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
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truthout--2020-11-05--Trump Loses Lawsuit to Toss Out 53 Absentee Ballots in Georgia

A Georgia state judge dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday brought forward by the Trump campaign over allegations that some ballots for the presidential election were improperly included in the total vote count .
The campaign had alleged that late-arriving ballots to Chatham County voting jurisdictions were mixed in with ballots that had arrived on time .
Per Georgia law , any ballots received after 7 pm on Election Day are not to be counted .
“ Having read and considered said petition , all argument and evidence of record , including the evidence presented at the hearing , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is no evidence that the ballots referenced in the petition were received after 7:00 p.m. on election day , thereby making those ballots invalid , ” Bass wrote in his decision , adding that there wasn ’ t any evidence “ that the Chatham County Board of Elections or the Chatham County Board of Registrars has failed to comply with the law.
” The Trump campaign had relied on two witnesses making allegations of impropriety .
Yet under oath , those witnesses admitted they weren ’ t certain that illegitimate ballots ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court documents ) had been mixed in with ones that were legal to count .
Two other witnesses affirmed that improper ballots were not included in the totals .
The witnesses “ have been flatly incapable of proffering competent evidence to prove that point , ” Jeff Harris , a lawyer representing the Democratic Party of Georgia , said in his closing arguments .
As of Thursday at 2:30 pm Eastern Time , fewer than 13,000 votes separated Trump from his Democratic challenger , former Vice President Joe Biden , in Georgia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Nate Cohn , the tens of thousands of ballots that remain to be counted in the state are expected to mostly trend toward Biden because they are coming from Democratic-leaning areas and are most likely to be early absentee ballots , which have also tended to favor the former vice president .
If Biden does indeed win the state and Trump disputes the outcome , a recount will likely take place , given how close the race between the two candidates is in the state right now .
Four years ago , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it meant questioning his own election wins in Wisconsin , Michigan and Pennsylvania in the 2016 presidential race .
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in other states across the country , including in Michigan , alleging that rules allowing observation of ballot tabulation had been violated .
The suit was dismissed , however , when the judge presiding over the case noted that the Trump campaign had sued the wrong person .

The suit was dismissed after witnesses citing wrongdoing admitted they hadn’t actually seen what they alleged they had.
A Georgia state judge dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday brought forward by the Trump campaign over allegations that some ballots for the presidential election were improperly included in the total vote count.
The campaign had alleged that late-arriving ballots to Chatham County voting jurisdictions were mixed in with ballots that had arrived on time. Per Georgia law, any ballots received after 7 pm on Election Day are not to be counted.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge James Bass dismissed the case as meritless.
“Having read and considered said petition, all argument and evidence of record, including the evidence presented at the hearing, and the applicable law, the Court finds that there is no evidence that the ballots referenced in the petition were received after 7:00 p.m. on election day, thereby making those ballots invalid,” Bass wrote in his decision, adding that there wasn’t any evidence “that the Chatham County Board of Elections or the Chatham County Board of Registrars has failed to comply with the law.”
The Trump campaign had relied on two witnesses making allegations of impropriety. Yet under oath, those witnesses admitted they weren’t certain that illegitimate ballots (allegedly 53 in total, according to court documents) had been mixed in with ones that were legal to count.
Two other witnesses affirmed that improper ballots were not included in the totals.
The witnesses “have been flatly incapable of proffering competent evidence to prove that point,” Jeff Harris, a lawyer representing the Democratic Party of Georgia, said in his closing arguments.
As of Thursday at 2:30 pm Eastern Time, fewer than 13,000 votes separated Trump from his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, in Georgia. According to The New York Times’s Nate Cohn, the tens of thousands of ballots that remain to be counted in the state are expected to mostly trend toward Biden because they are coming from Democratic-leaning areas and are most likely to be early absentee ballots, which have also tended to favor the former vice president.
“But caution is warranted,” Cohn added.
If Biden does indeed win the state and Trump disputes the outcome, a recount will likely take place, given how close the race between the two candidates is in the state right now.
Four years ago, Trump dismissed the idea of recounts when it meant questioning his own election wins in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in the 2016 presidential race.
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in other states across the country, including in Michigan, alleging that rules allowing observation of ballot tabulation had been violated. The suit was dismissed, however, when the judge presiding over the case noted that the Trump campaign had sued the wrong person.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-05--No Matter Who Wins This Election, We Still Have to Defeat Trumpism

In the weeks leading up to Election Day , some Biden supporters began to see a Biden election landslide as a necessary outcome to rebuke Donald Trump .
However , this swift rebuke of Trump did not arrive as we watched the race turn into a battle of attrition overnight .
Anti-Trumpers ’ desires for a repudiation of Trump is understandable .
This administration has traumatized many and people desperately want to see this president held accountable and repudiated .
However , as some activists and observers have suggested on social media and in opinion pieces , this country is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not marginalize Trumpism , nor eradicate the structures that his brand of politics exploited and deepened — structural racism , settler colonialism , sexism , classism and policing .
We received our marching orders on election night : We must build upon already existing organizing , campaigns and movements , create transformative projects focused on mutual aid , political education and alternative institution building , and engage in political struggle to eradicate the aforementioned oppressive structures and to build the world we would like to see .
Progressive victories in local politics on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of America ( DSA ) will continue to serve as an onramp toward mass radical politics in the U.S .
The DSA continues to serve as a crucial vehicle for winning radical demands on a local level as the Portland , Oregon , chapter started organizing a “ Tax the Rich ” campaign in 2017 , which developed into a movement for universal preschool .
Last night , a little more than 64 percent of Multnomah County residents voted to approve a measure establishing the program that would be funded by raising taxes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 125,000 a year .
And building on the DSA ’ s 2018 electoral success , DSA-backed candidate Nikil Saval won election to the Pennsylvania State Senate and DSA members Zohran Kwame Mamdani , Jabari Brisport , Phara Souffrant Forrest and Marcela Mitaynes were all elected to the New York State Assembly .
Members of a national debtors ’ union known as the Debt Collective are building a national movement against one of capitalism ’ s most exploitive relationships — that of creditors and debtors .
The Debt Collective ’ s campaign , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ financial bondage by abolishing millions of dollars of personal debt .
Its work has contributed to national conversations about student and medical debt , which has led presidential candidates to advocate for canceling student debt , in the form of forgiving $ 50,000 of loans , as part of COVID relief .
The COVID crisis , as historian and activist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor argues , underscores the deep racial and class inequalities embedded in the capitalist system .
In response , many have continued to develop mutual aid projects operating on varying scales .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ coalition of social and climate justice organizations and organizers , ” formed the People ’ s City Council to intervene in the city ’ s budget process — pushing elected city councilmembers to reject Mayor Eric Garcetti ’ s budget proposing a larger police budget .
The group raised more than $ 750,000 and redistributed it to Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles and used the rest to bolster their bail fund .
With COVID overlapping with climate disasters , Mutual Aid Disaster Relief , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offered assistance to people enduring hurricanes and other natural disasters in New Orleans and Puerto Rico and inspired similar efforts in Iowa .
Mutual aid work such as this has important ripple effects because it can spur further radicalization and growth of the leftist social movements needed to confront the intersections of state violence and abandonment , interpersonal violence , climate disaster and evictions .
As movement lawyer Dean Spade argues in his new book on mutual aid , “ Mutual aid gives people a way to plug into movements based on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spaces where people grow new solidarities.
” The COVID and climate crises inspired activists in Ann Arbor , Michigan , to bring together the abolitionist spirit of this summer ’ s protests and calls for greater democratic control of utilities .
The Graduate Employees Organization ( AFT 3550 ) , the University of Michigan ’ s graduate student union , incorporated demands of “ disarming , demilitarizing , and defunding , ” campus police in their wildcat strike platform .
Contributing to struggles for transformative justice taking place throughout the country , members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ground ( SONG ) are joining with the Alabama chapter of the ACLU in Montgomery , Alabama , to organize a campaign “ to ( re ) define public safety as a means for creating alternatives to policing and ensuring our communities ’ safety needs are met through housing , healthcare and education.
” We are seeing these types of demands growing around the country , as the movement to defund the police has nurtured existing abolitionist projects and planted the seeds for new ones .
Organizers are calling not only for decreased @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priorities at every level , focusing on human needs , racial justice and new possibilities for safety and transformation .
These are just a few examples of building blocks for growing grassroots power , whether we find ourselves facing a second term from Trump or a Biden presidency .
While these projects in themselves may not lead to immediate transformation , they will most likely serve as entry points into a larger struggle against capitalism , structural racism and sexism , settler colonialism and the climate crisis .
And it will be critical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a two-front battle against Trumpism , which may grow more violent and repressive , and centrist neoliberalism , which offers us no solutions either .

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, some Biden supporters began to see a Biden election landslide as a necessary outcome to rebuke Donald Trump. However, this swift rebuke of Trump did not arrive as we watched the race turn into a battle of attrition overnight.
Anti-Trumpers’ desires for a repudiation of Trump is understandable. This administration has traumatized many and people desperately want to see this president held accountable and repudiated.
However, as some activists and observers have suggested on social media and in opinion pieces, this country is deeply polarized, and defeating Trump would not marginalize Trumpism, nor eradicate the structures that his brand of politics exploited and deepened — structural racism, settler colonialism, sexism, classism and policing.
We received our marching orders on election night: We must build upon already existing organizing, campaigns and movements, create transformative projects focused on mutual aid, political education and alternative institution building, and engage in political struggle to eradicate the aforementioned oppressive structures and to build the world we would like to see.
Progressive victories in local politics on Election Day illustrate how the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) will continue to serve as an onramp toward mass radical politics in the U.S. The DSA continues to serve as a crucial vehicle for winning radical demands on a local level as the Portland, Oregon, chapter started organizing a “Tax the Rich” campaign in 2017, which developed into a movement for universal preschool. Last night, a little more than 64 percent of Multnomah County residents voted to approve a measure establishing the program that would be funded by raising taxes on those who earn more than $125,000 a year. And building on the DSA’s 2018 electoral success, DSA-backed candidate Nikil Saval won election to the Pennsylvania State Senate and DSA members Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Jabari Brisport, Phara Souffrant Forrest and Marcela Mitaynes were all elected to the New York State Assembly.
Members of a national debtors’ union known as the Debt Collective are building a national movement against one of capitalism’s most exploitive relationships — that of creditors and debtors. The Debt Collective’s campaign, “Rolling Jubilee,” liberated people from financial bondage by abolishing millions of dollars of personal debt. Its work has contributed to national conversations about student and medical debt, which has led presidential candidates to advocate for canceling student debt, in the form of forgiving $50,000 of loans, as part of COVID relief.
We must build upon already existing organizing, create transformative projects focused on mutual aid, political education and alternative institution building, and engage in political struggle to eradicate oppressive structures.
The COVID crisis, as historian and activist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor argues, underscores the deep racial and class inequalities embedded in the capitalist system. In response, many have continued to develop mutual aid projects operating on varying scales. In Los Angeles, “an actions-oriented coalition of social and climate justice organizations and organizers,” formed the People’s City Council to intervene in the city’s budget process — pushing elected city councilmembers to reject Mayor Eric Garcetti’s budget proposing a larger police budget. The group raised more than $750,000 and redistributed it to Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles and used the rest to bolster their bail fund.
With COVID overlapping with climate disasters, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, a national grassroots network of radical activists, offered assistance to people enduring hurricanes and other natural disasters in New Orleans and Puerto Rico and inspired similar efforts in Iowa. Mutual aid work such as this has important ripple effects because it can spur further radicalization and growth of the leftist social movements needed to confront the intersections of state violence and abandonment, interpersonal violence, climate disaster and evictions. As movement lawyer Dean Spade argues in his new book on mutual aid, “Mutual aid gives people a way to plug into movements based on their immediate concerns, and it produces social spaces where people grow new solidarities.”
It will be critical to align all of these efforts in a two-front battle against Trumpism, which may grow more violent and repressive, and centrist neoliberalism, which offers us no solutions either.
The COVID and climate crises inspired activists in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to bring together the abolitionist spirit of this summer’s protests and calls for greater democratic control of utilities. The Graduate Employees Organization (AFT 3550), the University of Michigan’s graduate student union, incorporated demands of “disarming, demilitarizing, and defunding,” campus police in their wildcat strike platform.
Contributing to struggles for transformative justice taking place throughout the country, members of the activist group Southerners on New Ground (SONG) are joining with the Alabama chapter of the ACLU in Montgomery, Alabama, to organize a campaign “to (re)define public safety as a means for creating alternatives to policing and ensuring our communities’ safety needs are met through housing, healthcare and education.”
We are seeing these types of demands growing around the country, as the movement to defund the police has nurtured existing abolitionist projects and planted the seeds for new ones. Organizers are calling not only for decreased police budgets, but for radically shifted priorities at every level, focusing on human needs, racial justice and new possibilities for safety and transformation.
These are just a few examples of building blocks for growing grassroots power, whether we find ourselves facing a second term from Trump or a Biden presidency. While these projects in themselves may not lead to immediate transformation, they will most likely serve as entry points into a larger struggle against capitalism, structural racism and sexism, settler colonialism and the climate crisis. And it will be critical to align all of these efforts in a two-front battle against Trumpism, which may grow more violent and repressive, and centrist neoliberalism, which offers us no solutions either.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-05--Judge Orders Twice-Daily Sweeps of USPS Facilities to Get Every Vote Counted

A U.S. district judge has ordered several United States Postal Service ( USPS ) facilities to perform twice-daily sweeps of their grounds to ensure that every ballot sent before Election Day this year arrives at its proper destination .
The order will ensure that states like North Carolina , Nevada and Pennsylvania , which count ballots if they were mailed before Election Day but arrived late , to legally count as many votes as possible and prevent further delays in delivery .
The order , issued by Judge Emmet Sullivan on Thursday , comes one day after he scolded USPS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all ballots earlier this week in a number of locations across the U.S. “ In no uncertain terms , I ’ m not pleased about this 11th-hour development last night , ” Sullivan said in his order on Wednesday .
“ You can tell your clients that — and someone might have a price to pay.
” Sullivan also ordered Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify in court regarding the failure to follow the judge ’ s previous orders .
Sullivan had sought to “ ensure that no ballots have been held up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent out for delivery ” to be included in election totals .
Sullivan ’ s insistence on sweeping a number of USPS facilities came after voting rights ’ groups discovered hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots had been scanned into facilities but had not been scanned out of them .
Lawyers for USPS argue that the lack of an outgoing scan doesn ’ t necessarily mean some ballots were not sent out , but rather that they were taken from facilities without a scan to ensure a speedier delivery .
On Thursday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the USPS was late in delivering ballots to Pennsylvania and Georgia , two states where President Donald Trump is currently in the lead in vote counts for the presidential election , but where continued counting could tip the scales in favor of Democratic nominee Joe Biden .
There were “ potentially thousands [ of ballots ] in PA , dozens in *Atlanta* arriving late , ” according to reporter Scott MacFarlane .
“ Large numbers of ballots put in [ the ] mail Sunday ” were only delivered Wednesday by USPS , MacFarlane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been delivered , according to attorneys from Vote Forward , “ including 604 ballots in Atlanta and 7K in Pennsylvania , ” Courthouse News ’ s Megan Mineiro reported .
Of those , about 136 ballots in Atlanta and around 1,400 in Pennsylvania were not processed in time , Mineiro added .
Ballots were dropped off over the weekend but had failed to arrive until Wednesday .
The twice-daily sweeps ordered by Sullivan will remain in place to allow for receipt of ballots in states where extended ballot receipt deadlines are active @

The order comes a day after Judge Emmet Sullivan chastised USPS officials for failing to do a check earlier this week.
A U.S. district judge has ordered several United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities to perform twice-daily sweeps of their grounds to ensure that every ballot sent before Election Day this year arrives at its proper destination.
The order will ensure that states like North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania, which count ballots if they were mailed before Election Day but arrived late, to legally count as many votes as possible and prevent further delays in delivery.
The order, issued by Judge Emmet Sullivan on Thursday, comes one day after he scolded USPS lawyers for failing to thoroughly account for all ballots earlier this week in a number of locations across the U.S.
“In no uncertain terms, I’m not pleased about this 11th-hour development last night,” Sullivan said in his order on Wednesday. “You can tell your clients that — and someone might have a price to pay.”
Sullivan also ordered Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify in court regarding the failure to follow the judge’s previous orders. Sullivan had sought to “ensure that no ballots have been held up and that any identified ballots are immediately sent out for delivery” to be included in election totals.
Sullivan’s insistence on sweeping a number of USPS facilities came after voting rights’ groups discovered hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots had been scanned into facilities but had not been scanned out of them. Lawyers for USPS argue that the lack of an outgoing scan doesn’t necessarily mean some ballots were not sent out, but rather that they were taken from facilities without a scan to ensure a speedier delivery.
On Thursday, plaintiffs returned to court to argue that the USPS was late in delivering ballots to Pennsylvania and Georgia, two states where President Donald Trump is currently in the lead in vote counts for the presidential election, but where continued counting could tip the scales in favor of Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
There were “potentially thousands [of ballots] in PA, dozens in *Atlanta* arriving late,” according to reporter Scott MacFarlane. “Large numbers of ballots put in [the] mail Sunday” were only delivered Wednesday by USPS, MacFarlane added.
Hundreds of thousands of ballots have been delivered, according to attorneys from Vote Forward, “including 604 ballots in Atlanta and 7K in Pennsylvania,” Courthouse News’s Megan Mineiro reported.
Of those, about 136 ballots in Atlanta and around 1,400 in Pennsylvania were not processed in time, Mineiro added. Ballots were dropped off over the weekend but had failed to arrive until Wednesday.
The twice-daily sweeps ordered by Sullivan will remain in place to allow for receipt of ballots in states where extended ballot receipt deadlines are active.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-05--COVID Infections Hit New Record in US on Heels of Election

With much of the nation ’ s attention understandably consumed by developments in the high-stakes presidential election , the United States on Wednesday reported a daily record of more than 104,000 new Covid-19 infections , the latest alarming indication that — far from President Donald Trump ’ s repeated insistence that the virus is fading away — the deadly pandemic is only getting worse as the winter months approach .
“ The count that worries me ?
Over 100,000 Covid-19 cases yesterday , ” Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves tweeted Thursday morning .
“ Deaths up 21 % .
There has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House and the Dems .
This is a tsunami .
Washing over us .
Pay attention.
” Coming just 24 hours after millions of Americans showed up at polling places across the nation to cast their ballots in the presidential race and down-ballot contests , Wednesday marked the first time the U.S. recorded at least 100,000 new coronavirus infections in a single day .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , has been warning since June — when the U.S. was reporting around 40,000 cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100,000 new infections per day if more aggressive preventative measures were not taken by the federal government in partnership with state and local leaders .
“ We ’ re in for a whole lot of hurt .
It ’ s not a good situation , ” Fauci told the Washington Post last week .
“ All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season , with people congregating at home indoors .
You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.
” On top of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitalizations are also soaring in more than a dozen states , according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project .
The latest record-shattering coronavirus figures came days after Deborah Birx , coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force , warned in an internal report dated November 2 that the U.S. is “ entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic ” and urged the Trump administration to take “ much more aggressive action.
” “ Cases are rapidly rising in nearly 30 percent of all USA counties , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have seen with this pandemic , ” reads Birx ’ s report , which was obtained by the Post .
“ Half of the United States is in the red or orange zone for cases despite flat or declining testing.
” As Birx sounded the alarm behind the scenes and other experts issued similar warnings publicly , Trump continued to hold crowded in-person rallies in the days leading up to Tuesday ’ s election and downplay the severity of the pandemic , which has killed more than 234,000 people in the U.S. alone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekend , a Stanford University analysis linked 18 of Trump ’ s campaign rallies from June 20 to September 30 to more than 30,000 coronavirus infections and at least 700 deaths .
“ That ’ s all I hear about now .
Turn on television , ‘ Covid , Covid , Covid Covid Covid.
’ A plane goes down , 500 people dead , they don ’ t talk about it .
‘ Covid Covid Covid Covid , ' ” Trump told a crowd of his supporters in North Carolina late last month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ November 4 , you won ’ t hear about it anymore.
” Dr. Peter Hotez , a professor at Baylor College of Medicine , tweeted Wednesday that he has long worried the U.S. would reach 100,000 Covid cases in a single day , a grim milestone he said further lays bare the Trump administration ’ s failures .
“ I dreaded this day , here it is .
And the lights are off for the entire Executive Branch of our Federal Government , ” Hotez said .
“ Historic and unprecedented abandonment of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ horrified .
”

On top of the surge in cases nationwide, coronavirus hospitalizations are also soaring in more than a dozen states.
With much of the nation’s attention understandably consumed by developments in the high-stakes presidential election, the United States on Wednesday reported a daily record of more than 104,000 new Covid-19 infections, the latest alarming indication that — far from President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that the virus is fading away — the deadly pandemic is only getting worse as the winter months approach.
“The count that worries me? Over 100,000 Covid-19 cases yesterday,” Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves tweeted Thursday morning. “Deaths up 21%. There has been silence on this from the White House and the Dems. This is a tsunami. Washing over us. Pay attention.”
Coming just 24 hours after millions of Americans showed up at polling places across the nation to cast their ballots in the presidential race and down-ballot contests, Wednesday marked the first time the U.S. recorded at least 100,000 new coronavirus infections in a single day.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been warning since June — when the U.S. was reporting around 40,000 cases daily — that the nation could reach 100,000 new infections per day if more aggressive preventative measures were not taken by the federal government in partnership with state and local leaders.
“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Fauci told the Washington Post last week. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”
On top of the surge in cases nationwide, coronavirus hospitalizations are also soaring in more than a dozen states, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project.
Hospitalization numbers peaked in 16 states today. 20 states have over 1,000 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/9vpAkVNoZb — The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) November 5, 2020
The latest record-shattering coronavirus figures came days after Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, warned in an internal report dated November 2 that the U.S. is “entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic” and urged the Trump administration to take “much more aggressive action.”
“Cases are rapidly rising in nearly 30 percent of all USA counties, the highest number of county hotspots we have seen with this pandemic,” reads Birx’s report, which was obtained by the Post. “Half of the United States is in the red or orange zone for cases despite flat or declining testing.”
As Birx sounded the alarm behind the scenes and other experts issued similar warnings publicly, Trump continued to hold crowded in-person rallies in the days leading up to Tuesday’s election and downplay the severity of the pandemic, which has killed more than 234,000 people in the U.S. alone.
As Common Dreams reported over the weekend, a Stanford University analysis linked 18 of Trump’s campaign rallies from June 20 to September 30 to more than 30,000 coronavirus infections and at least 700 deaths.
“That’s all I hear about now. Turn on television, ‘Covid, Covid, Covid Covid Covid.’ A plane goes down, 500 people dead, they don’t talk about it. ‘Covid Covid Covid Covid,'” Trump told a crowd of his supporters in North Carolina late last month. “By the way, on November 4, you won’t hear about it anymore.”
One of Trump’s closing messages was that, because people were only talking about the coronavirus to make him look bad, you would no longer hear much about it as of November 4, which is today. https://t.co/hRXjtZHRnR — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 4, 2020
Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, tweeted Wednesday that he has long worried the U.S. would reach 100,000 Covid cases in a single day, a grim milestone he said further lays bare the Trump administration’s failures.
“I dreaded this day, here it is. And the lights are off for the entire Executive Branch of our Federal Government,” Hotez said. “Historic and unprecedented abandonment of the American people. I’m horrified.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.