American Politics: We're in for it now

[Demon Rin]

Republican members of Wayne County's election board refuse to certify results.

Welp, Biden's down to 290 now... that's not good.

[onemoment]

I'm pretty sure they changed this.

https://twitter.com/adam_brew/status...82544348180483

BREAKING: The Wayne County Board of Canvassers has just unanimously voted to certify the results of the election & called on Michigan SOS Jocelyn Benson to conduct an audit of the unexplained precincts in Wayne County that did not match.

[sgamer82]

Welp, Biden's down to 290 now... that's not good.

Only if it sticks.

Edit: Which it didn't: In reversal, GOP officials in key Michigan county certify ballot count after striking a compromise with Democrats
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit....co/znDeXA0463

An excerpt:

Spoiler:

Republican appointees on a key board in Michigan’s most populous county Tuesday night reversed their initial refusal to certify the vote tallies in the Detroit area, striking a last-minute compromise with Democrats that defused a political fight over the process to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
The unexpected twist came after the four-member Wayne County Board of Canvassers had deadlocked on the day of the deadline for Michigan counties to certify the vote — a move President Trump celebrated on Twitter as “a beautiful thing.”


The Trump campaign has alleged irregularities in the vote count in the county seat of Detroit, accusations city officials have vigorously denied. Democrats accused GOP officials of seeking to disenfranchise voters in the majority-Black city of Detroit.

Deadlocked board in key Michigan county fails to certify vote totals by deadline

State Democrats say Trump has no hope of overturning Biden’s 148,000-vote lead.
But Trump supporters have urged Michigan’s majority-Republican state legislature to try to appoint its own electors if the state canvassing board, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, fails to certify the vote before the electoral college meets in December.

“If the state board follows suit, the Republican state legislator will select the electors. Huge win for @realDonaldTrump,” Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis tweeted Tuesday night after the initial Wayne County deadlock.


But experts said such a move would have been on shaky legal ground, and key GOP lawmakers have acknowledged Biden’s win and said they do not plan to attempt to intervene.

After the initial deadlock in Wayne County was met with an outpouring of condemnation, the board recessed Tuesday night and returned with a new agreement to certify the results, along with a request that the secretary of state’s office conduct a comprehensive audit of the vote tallies.

Republican board Chair Monica Palmer, who initially said that she did not “have faith that the poll books are complete and accurate,” said that the compromise addressed her concerns.

“I appreciate putting our heads together to come to a solution,” Palmer said.


The initial refusal of the Wayne County GOP officials to certify the vote drew outrage from Democrats, who said the Republicans were playing politics with the vote, and emotional objections from local election officials, who noted their staff have worked 16 hours a day for the past two weeks to certify the results.

“We have been here tirelessly,” said Jennifer Redmond, the deputy director of elections for Wayne County, calling the move a “slap in the face.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) called the two Republican votes against certification a “blatant attempt to undermine the will of the voters.”

“The process, however, will move forward,” she said in a statement. “Under Michigan law, the Board of State Canvassers will now finish the job and I have every expectation they will certify the results when the job is done.



The reversal in Michigan came as the Trump campaign has faced a string of failures in its beleaguered effort to overturn the result of the election through the courts. In the latest defeat on Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the campaign’s claim that GOP observers did not have sufficient access to the vote count, underscoring how the president’s claims of voting irregularities have repeatedly run aground before judges.

---

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2020/11/17/day-1398/

Day 1398: "Move on."

Spoiler:

1/ The leaders of three major medical associations urged Trump to share “all critical information related to COVID-19” with the incoming Biden administration “as soon as possible” in order to “save countless lives.” The CEOs of the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association urged the Trump administration to share “real-time data and information on the supply of therapeutics, testing supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators, hospital bed capacity […] the capacity of the Strategic National Stockpile, the assets from Operation Warp Speed, and plans for dissemination of therapeutics and vaccines […] so that there is no lapse in our ability to care for patients.” Biden, meanwhile, noted that getting a coronavirus vaccine to more than 300 million Americans is a “huge, huge, huge undertaking” that would be further complicated by a continued delay in the presidential transition. Over the past 14 days, coronavirus cases have increased in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. There has also been a 100% or more increase in confirmed cases over 14 days in Vermont, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Iowa, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and New York. The seven-day average of new deaths in the U.S., meanwhile, eclipsed the Aug. 2 peak of 1,150. And, more than 73,000 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday – a new record. Dr. Anthony Fauci, meanwhile, called for the nation to adopt “a uniform approach” to the coronavirus pandemic, rather than the current “disjointed” state-by-state response. (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal)

• �� Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”
  
  
• Global: Total confirmed cases: ~55,473,000; deaths: ~1,336,000
• U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~11,321,000; deaths: ~249,000
• Source: Johns Hopkins University
• Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / CNBC / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / CNN

2/ The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the Trump campaign’s claim that election observers were improperly denied access to watch ballot counting in Philadelphia. The court noted that state law mandates that observers be permitted to be “in the room” during ballot counting, but the law does not set a minimum distance between them and the counting tables. The 5-2 ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court came as Rudy Giuliani appeared in federal court on behalf of the Trump campaign, claiming that Republican election observers weren’t allowed to get close enough to the vote counting tables in Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties. The loss in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court could harm the Trump campaign’s related legal effort in the federal court to block the state from certifying its election results in coming weeks. (CNBC / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / ABC News)

• Rudy Giuliani reportedly asked Trump’s campaign to pay him $20,000 a day for his legal work. (New York Times)
• Trump-Biden Transition Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / CNN

3/ Lindsey Graham proposed throwing out legally mailed ballots to Georgia’s top elections official in an effort to reverse Trump’s narrow loss in the state. According to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Graham questioned him about the state’s signature-matching law, whether political bias could have prompted poll workers to accept ballots with non-matching signatures, and if he had the power to throw out all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of non-matching signatures. Raffensperger said he took Graham’s comments as “an implication of look hard and see how many ballots you could throw out.” Graham denied pressuring Raffensperger to throw away legal ballots, calling the allegation “ridiculous.” Graham, however, acknowledged that he also reached out officials in Arizona and Nevada – states Biden also won – in an attempt to learn how they validate signatures on mail-in ballots. (Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / CNN / The Guardian / Wall Street Journal)
4/ Biden told aides that he’s concerned that Trump investigations would consume his presidency and divide the nation. Biden, however, wants his Justice Department to function independently from the White House and said he would leave the decisions to investigate up to the DOJ. Biden reportedly “just wants to move on” from Trump. (NBC News)
5/ Biden announced his first nine campaign aides and longtime advisers who will join him in the White House in January, including five women and four people of color. In a statement, the transition team said Biden was committed to “to building an administration that looks like America.” (Associated Press / The Guardian / Politico / CBS News / NBC News / CNN / ABC News)
6/ Trump’s acting defense secretary announced that the U.S. military will halve the number of troops it has in Afghanistan within the next two months. The military will also cut a smaller number in Iraq. Christopher Miller announced the plan eight days after he took over for fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who had submitted a memo recommending that Afghanistan did not warrant reductions. (Washington Post / CNBC / Bloomberg)

7/ Trump asked his top national security aides what options were available to taking action against Iran’s main nuclear site in the coming weeks. The meeting occurred a day after international inspectors reported a significant increase in Iran’s stockpile of nuclear material. Seniors advisers reportedly warned Trump that a strike against Iran’s facilities could escalate into a broader conflict in the last weeks of his presidency. Officials left the meeting believing a missile attack inside Iran was off the table. Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei warned against an attack, saying “Any action against the Iranian nation would certainly face a crushing response.” Biden, meanwhile, has promised to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran as long as Iran also comes back into compliance. (New York Times / The Guardian)

[Envy]

So wait, that was a thing that almost actually happened? The GOP almost stole Michigan by certifying the state without certifying the deciding county's massive amount of votes?

How in the world is the GOP afforded this kind of crooked power? What in the **** is wrong with this country that we even have to worry about this?

[theackwardstation]

While that’s all well and good some of these institutions have seen laws or policies coming from the judicial, executive, legislative branch generally at the hands of Republican loyalists undermining what they do or should do. The only institution that’s largely been unaffected is the military issues with sexual assaults and the failure of aiding veterans notwithstanding.

Well, my knowledge doesn't go too deep into the facts (so maybe I'm wrong), but even if the Republican party is evil and doesn't rule in favor of the best for the american people, until recently most of what they did was playing by the book, inside the formal limits of the system, so the institutions were being respected from this point of view... even though the design of the system needs to be fixed quickly...

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

So wait, that was a thing that almost actually happened? The GOP almost stole Michigan by certifying the state without certifying the deciding county's massive amount of votes?

How in the world is the GOP afforded this kind of crooked power? What in the **** is wrong with this country that we even have to worry about this?

This is the Dark Souls of elections.

[Ubiq]

See what righteous anger really looks like after the sham version we usually get from Republicans.

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/statu...82122724155393

So wait, that was a thing that almost actually happened? The GOP almost stole Michigan by certifying the state without certifying the deciding county's massive amount of votes?

How in the world is the GOP afforded this kind of crooked power? What in the **** is wrong with this country that we even have to worry about this?

I don't think it could have remotely stood up in court but it was basically a situation where a traditionally routine process was temporarily hijacked. It's pretty clear that this is a system that's not really designed to have contested votes but is basically just a formality to sign off on since it's a four person board; there's no tie-breaker.

[Satsuki]

Randy's here to make us feel a little lighter during the shitstorm:

[Ubiq]

More clips of people standing up for democracy during the public comments last night.

https://twitter.com/JennaWils/status...53289371373568

[pariston_hill]

[Green_vs_Red]

I wonder if anyone made a snarky comment about Ted “Vote With Your Conscience” Cruz calling Sherrod Brown an ass.

[sgamer82]

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday...1/18/day-1399/

Day 1399: "We did it right."

Spoiler:

1/ More than 3 million people in the United States – about 1% of the population – have active coronavirus infections and are potentially contagious, according to a team of infectious-disease experts tracking the pandemic. The estimate does not include an approximately equal number of latent infections – the people who were infected in recent days but can’t pass it on yet because it is still incubating. On Monday, at least 1,707 new COVID-19 deaths were reported – about one American every minute – and by Wednesday, the U.S. had recorded it’s 250,000 death with a record 76,000 people hospitalized with the coronavirus. The White House coronavirus task force, meanwhile, stated in it’s weekly report that there is “now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties, without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration.” (Washington Post / CNN / The Guardian / NBC News / CNBC / Wall Street Journal)2/ Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is reportedly 95% effective with no serious side effects. The company said it planned to apply for emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration “within days.” Pfizer said it could have up to 50 million doses available by the end of the year, but only about half of the supply will go to the United States this year – or enough for about 12.5 million people. Moderna said this week that an early analysis of its vaccine showed it was nearly 95% effective. (New York Times / Washington Post)

• 😷 Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”
  
  
• Global: Total confirmed cases: ~56,076,000; deaths: ~1,347,000
• U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~11,486,000; deaths: ~251,000
• Source: Johns Hopkins University
• Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / CNN / CNBC
• New York City’s entire public school system will close Thursday after the city reached a 3% test positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. (New York Times)
• The CDC deleted two documents it posted this summer to support Trump’s push to reopen schools this fall. The documents titled “The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools this Fall,” was issued two weeks after Trump complained about the agency’s guidance as “very tough and expensive” and threatened to withhold funding from schools that did not offer in-person classes. (New York Times)
• The FDA authorized the first at-home coronavirus test. The test requires a prescription from a health care provider. The molecular single-use test and is expected to cost $50 or less. (New York Times / NPR)
• Chuck Grassley tested positive for COVID-19. The 87-year-old is the oldest Republican currently serving in the Senate. (NBC News / USA Today / CNN)

3/ Trump fired the Department of Homeland Security director who repeatedly refuted Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud. Christopher Krebs, the nation’s top election security official, was fired after his agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, released a statement calling the 2020 election “the most secure in American history.” Trump – in two misleading tweets about the security of the election – said Krebs’ termination was “effective immediately.” The former director acknowledged Trump’s action in a tweet: “Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow.” Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called the move “pathetic and predictable from a president who views truth as his enemy.” (NPR / Associated Press / Washington Post /Axios / USA Today / The Guardian)
4/ The Trump campaign formally asked election authorities in Wisconsin to conduct a recount in two counties. In a statement, the campaign said it transferred $3 million to Wisconsin to cover the costs of recounting votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties. Biden received 577,455 votes in the two counties compared with 213,157 for Trump. Biden won the state by a little more than 20,000 votes. (NPR / Reuters / Associated Press)

• Trump-Biden Transition Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News

5/ Election officials in Michigan’s largest county certified the presidential election results after Republican members of the board initially refused to certify the vote tallies. The four-member Wayne County Board of Canvassers had deadlocked on the day for Michigan counties to certify the vote – which Trump called “a beautiful thing” on Twitter. Hours later, however, the board — composed of two Republicans and two Democrats — reversed itself and unanimously agreed to certify the results and ask the secretary of state to conduct an independent audit. (Politico / Washington Post / CNN)
6/ A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop expelling immigrant children who cross the southern border alone before they could request asylum or other protections under federal law. The Trump administration has expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied children since March. (NBC News)
7/ White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows “can’t guarantee” that lawmakers will reach a deal to avert a mid-December shutdown. Congress and the White House have until Dec. 11 to approve new spending legislation to prevent the federal government from shutting down. (Washington Post)

[Demon Rin]

I was ready for a lot of things here but Rudy Giuliani going on TV and just fucking melting was not one of them.

[pariston_hill]

First time I'm seeing hair paint meltdown over someone face. Or maybe he so full of bull that he's oozing it.

[RoboBlue]

Biden just said there absolutely won't be a national shutdown.

[Green_vs_Red]

Yeah this doesn't look suspect at all.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/rai...et-with-trump/

[tolazy]

I was ready for a lot of things here but Rudy Giuliani going on TV and just fucking melting was not one of them.

It would be hilarious if the whole thing wouldn’t be so pathetic.

[Green_vs_Red]

It was pathetic when he was blowing smoke up W's ass now this is hilarious.

You're already fucking bald why are you dying your hair?

[Envy]

I was ready for a lot of things here but Rudy Giuliani going on TV and just fucking melting was not one of them.

I saw a clip of him on the news where he was wiping his head with a folded cloth. It was hilarious because it looked just like what a cartoon character does when they're caught in a lie and their head is sweating.

[Demon Rin]

Yeah this doesn't look suspect at all.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/rai...et-with-trump/

One way or another, they are stealing this election....

I need a drink...

[theackwardstation]

One way or another, they are stealing this election....

I need a drink...

Well, they're trying a coup and they're not even hiding it, but if it makes you calm down, it's unlikely that this Michigan stunt will work out.

But we'll only sleep like a baby again in 20th january... until a new nightmare starts.