Biden won the election and Trump holes up in his own personal bunker in his mind

Enough already! It’s time for the adults in the room to notify Donald Trump that he has to stop his temper tantrums where in fits of anger, revenge, refusal to face reality, grief over losing the election, and ‘fill-in-the-blank’ reasons, he fires top leaders in his administration and installs political toadies and hacks who have no experience to be in those positions. The problem is when it comes to our Defense Department and intelligence positions, this is dangerous for the U.S., Democracy and the world.

Then there’s Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and the Republican spineless crew that refuse to speak truth to Trump that it’s time for him to grow up and stop acting like a two-bit dictator because he lost the election.

Joe Biden Assembles a Pandemic Task Force: While the pandemic is raging in the U.S. and we have more people infected and dead from COVID-19 than anywhere in the world, Trump is acting less like a leader of the U.S. and more like a child having a meltdown because someone else won at the party. The only person acting like a real president and leader is President-elect Joe Biden who has already appointed a special pandemic task force of people who actually have expertise in science and medicine. Biden’s pandemic task force has no requirement for it’s members to sign a loyalty oath. That’s refreshing! So far, Joe Biden, being the responsible adult in the room, is urging everyone in the U.S. to wear a mask to save thousands of lives. Wearing a face mask has been proven to increase the chances of protecting the wearer from COVID-19 infection and also from the mask-wearer from possibly infecting others. That’s a good thing.

Joe Biden assembles “pandemic taskforce” ahead of taking office – BBC News, Nov. 9, 2020

Georgia: Battleground Election to Determine Control of the U.S. Senate

The reality is that Republicans still have no guarantee that they will retain control over the U.S. Senate. There is a good chance that if Democrats can register voters and turn out the vote for the January 2021 Senate Georgia Run-off election, they will be able to take back the Senate. Also, Alaska still has thousands of mail-in ballots to count beginning on Thursday, November 12, 2020 when all mail-in ballots must be received.

Meanwhile, what the heck is Trump trying to do? Is he doing a slow moving coup? Is he lying to the public to raise money for his lawsuits and debts and, therefore, trying to keep his base upset so Trump can still collect money for his own personal purposes? Or, is Trump really trying to set the stage to refuse to leave the White House?

#DemocracyNow
Dahlia Lithwick: Trump’s Ridiculous Coup Attempt Will Fail, But It Will Hurt Democracy in Long Run | Democracy Now! November 11, 2020

As President Trump continues to launch baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud in the presidential election, Democratic and Republican election officials across the United States have told The New York Times they uncovered no evidence to support Trump’s claims. Despite his electoral defeat, Trump has not conceded, and his administration is proceeding as though it will continue into a second term, blocking President-elect Joe Biden from accessing government funding and other resources for a smooth transition. “The entire country is trying to figure out: Is this just going to go away?” says Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate magazine. “Or are we really in this slow-rolling denialist attempt to give this man a second term?”

Democracy Now! Interview with Dahlia Lithwick

Are Trump and Barr abusing their power by trying to block states from counting and certifying their citizens’ legally cast ballots?

Here we are, November 9, 2020, and Donald Trump, as we were warned by Mary Trump, psychologist and Trump’s niece, seems to be in denial and trying to interfere with the November 3, 2020 election because there’s only one way Trump told us he would accept the election…if he won.

Note to Donald Trump: That’s not how Democracy works. The voters in a Democracy choose their president and other leaders and it’s clear that in multiple states, you, Mr. Trump, have lost the election. When all the votes are counted, it will be even more clear that Joe Biden will have won by an even larger margin than today. Currently, Joe Biden, President-elect, has 279 electoral votes and when all votes are counted that amount will most likely exceed 300+ electoral votes.

Is Trump a Sore Loser?

Trump’s bizarre behavior enabled by some of his family members, William Barr, and those unwilling to accept the reality of facts and truth, are abusing their power and our U.S. taxpayer dollars by getting William Barr to use our U.S. Justice Department to attack state election officials, who properly administered their state elections. Meanwhile, Trump’s proxies are going around the country promoting baseless stories regarding the election.

Truth: One Person, One Vote, is the bedrock of our Democracy

Here are the Facts about State Elections Vote Counting:

1. Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada all allow representatives of each political party to have observers view the vote count.
2. Some or all of these states also have a live video feed of the ballot counting that other people can watch of dedicated election workers tirelessly counting the votes and/or processing the mail-in ballots to be prepared to be counted by machines.

#Wisconsin #Election2020 #Election
Wisconsin Chief Election Official Responds to Trump’s ‘Insulting’ Accusations | NowThis, Nov. 5, 2020

Georgia officials’ election update | ABC News Nov. 5, 2020
Georgia Voting System Implementation Manager, Gabriel Sterling, “We more appreciate accuracy…key to all of our process.”

PA officials discuss votes in process of being counted | AP | Nov. 9, 2020
“We’re going to count the votes and we’re going to end up at the end. But it’s going to be accurate and we will continue to give you information as it becomes available,” said Philadelphia Commissioner Lisa Marie Deeley during a news conference this morning.

This is How Democracy Works: These presidential candidates show us how to handle peaceful transition of power and accepting reality when the voters speak through casting their ballots:

How to concede a presidential election | CNN on Nov. 4, 2016
A look back at presidential election concession moments since 1960, starting with Richard Nixon and ending with Mitt Romney.

Robert De Niro Speaks Out about Donald Trump to Ari Melber

Joe Biden, now President-elect, as of November 7, 2020, surpassed the necessary 270 electoral votes to win the U.S. Presidency in the November 3, 2020 election. The votes including Nevada and Pennsylvania brought Biden from 253 electoral votes to 279 electoral votes. Even when there was a question about the 2016 election during recounts in MI, WI and PA, President Barack Obama ensured there was a smooth transition to whoever would be the next President of the United States. Donald Trump, however, has yet to provide funds so far for a smooth transition.

Instead, today, Trump fired Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, and threatened to fire CIA Chief, Christopher Wray. His appointee at the General Services Administration has refused to date to sign a document to release necessary funds to the President-elect transition.

Robert De Niro interviewed by Ari Melber on November 9, 2020 on MSNBC expressed relief that Joe Biden is President-Elect. De Niro said that the entire country has been in an “abusive relationship” with Trump:

“Well, I’m relieved, very very relieved.

It’s like being in an abusive relationship. We don’t know what’s going on from one day to the next. I don’t even think he knows what’s going on.”

Robert De Niro interview with Ari Melber on MSNBC, Nov. 9, 2020

#DonaldTrump #RobertDeNiro #MSNBC
As Trump Loses WH, Robert De Niro Shares Relief And The Hope For Accountability | MSNBC
Nov. 9, 2020

In an earlier interview with Lawrence O’Donnell in June 2020 Robert De Niro tells O’Donnell that he is hopeful for the future because people are standing up to Donald Trump. Aired on 6/11//2020.

Robert De Niro: ‘People Have To Take A Stand’ | The Last Word | MSNBC, June 11, 2020

Breaking News: Donald Trump Fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Donald Trump Fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper | MTP Daily | MSNBC
#DonaldTrump #MarkEsper #MSNBC

Joe Biden President-Elect Announced by AP and Networks today November 7, 2020

Millions of people around the United States and the world are dancing in the streets and feeling relief today as former VP Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won at least 279 electoral votes and are on their way to exceed 300+ electoral votes with Nevada and Georgia!

Thank you to all the dedicated US postal workers who helped deliver mail-in ballots to elections officials despite the obstacles put up by Postmaster General DeJoy and his proxies. With Biden in the White House there will be more efforts to help the important US Postal Service thrive. We have seen through this election in the midst of the pandemic how crucial our USPS is for the original mission of binding up this nation in good communication.

Today is a Great Day for Democracy! Joe Biden and Kamala Harris received more votes than any President and Vice President in the history of the U.S. and still counting!

Live: Celebrations Around The U.S. As Joe Biden Projected President-Elect | NBC News

Biden: ‘I Am Honored And Humbled’ | NBC News

Let the Healing Begin!

Thank you to Election Officials and Election Workers Counting All the Votes for America!

Thank You to our Election Officials | Brennan Center for Justice
Election officials are on the frontlines of our democracy. These individuals have spent countless hours planning and coordinating our upcoming elections amidst a truly historic set of challenges. They serve our voters amidst a global pandemic, mounting cybersecurity concerns, all while battling increasing disinformation campaigns. Though a small tribute, we hope this video will let them know that they are appreciated and that they have supporters encouraging them as November nears.

In 2020 election administrators in the midst of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan requested permission to be able to pre-process their state’s mail-in ballots to get them ready to count on November 3, 2020. However, Republican legislatures said No.

Pre-processing mail-in ballots in the time of this pandemic would be a good thing.

Presidential battleground states

Currently, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — two critical swing states — do not begin pre-processing ballots until Election Day, meaning they may take longer to have results.

Michigan, another important state, begins pre-processing just 10 hours before Election Day. Florida, by contrast, allows ballots to begin to be pre-processed 40 days before Election Day.

How Quickly will your absentee vote be counted? A state-by-state timeline
| The New York Times by nick corasaniti and denise lu

So why did Republican state legislatures tie the hands of election officials in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan and prevent them from pre-processing their mail-in ballots?

What is Preprocessing Mail-In Ballots?

When election officials receive a mail-in or absentee ballot, the ballot may need to have the signature checked and the envelope needs to be carefully opened and the ballot flattened out ready to count. The mail-in ballot is put in a special batch to get ready to be counted when state law allows it. Allowing election officials to legally pre-process ballots enables the election system to work more efficiently and effectively so election results are reported faster.

However, Republicans stopped this pre-processing of mail-in ballots in key battleground states forcing election workers to have to process the mail ballots in PA, WI and MI on election day. That’s why the vote count is taking longer in those states. Some states had hundreds of thousands and even millions of mail-in ballots to count only beginning on November 3, 2020 even though they received them weeks ago!

Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss Says Every Vote Should Be Counted

What are signs of a healthy democracy? Michael Beschloss interviewed by Brian Williams on MSNBC, November 4, 2020, stated:

“The sign of health in a democracy is that the votes are counted fully, fairly and accurately however long it takes.”

Presidential Historian and Author, Michael Beschloss

One-On-One with Michigan Secretary of State on the importance of continuing the vote count of every vote cast by Michigan voters in the November 3, 2020 Election:

#Election2020 #Decision2020 #NBCNews
One-On-One With Michigan Secretary Of State As Vote Count Continues | NBC Nightly News

On September 24, 2020 before the November 3, 2020 Election, Presidential Historian and author, Michael Beschloss, warned the American people about exactly what Donald Trump might try to do to prematurely seize power.

For Historical Parallels To Trump, Look To Mussolini: Historian | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, tells Rachel Maddow that while there is nothing in U.S. history that matches Donald Trump’s attacks on the integrity of the approaching election, Italian history might be more informative. Aired on 09/24/2020.

Michael Beschloss forewarned Americans in the above September 2020 video-taped interview with Rachel Maddow about Trump’s efforts to try to discredit the 2020 election. Here is a partial transcript:

Rachel Maddow: Did any other president ever play with this kind of fire in advance of the votes being counted talking about the election as something that ought to be disregarded?

Michael Beschloss: Nothing even remotely similar. You want to go into history to look for something like this? Go into Italian history and look at Mussolini.

This is the way dictators come to power. He’s telling you what he intends to do. And we’ve got to make very sure that in the next 5 1/2 weeks and after that, we do not get into a situation where, just as Senator Sanders announced tonight: Donald Trump announces that he’s won and puts us in a situation where our democracy is being stolen minute by minute. This is not a drill.

Franklin Roosevelt said in 1940 at the time of Adolf Hitler, “Never before since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock has American civilization been in this kind of danger. We are approaching that point tonight.”

Fast forward to November 4, 2020

In an interview on November 4, 2020 with Brian Williams of MSNBC, Michael Beschloss talked about the inappropriate use of the White House East Room for Trump’s partisan political event while votes were still being counted in US states after the close of polls on November 3, 2020:

Michael Beschloss: The White House East Room is sacred. That’s where FDR lay in state in 1945. John Kennedy did in 1963. It was designed to some extent by George Washington for grand state occasions. Washington would be horrified to see it used for a partisan political event last night like the spectacle we saw.

Especially, Brian, can you believe it? All those people without masks jammed into that room? How many people are going to get sick or possibly worse as a result of Donald Trump’s selfish decision to hold the event there rather than where it should have been, in some hotel ballroom? It didn’t need to be his.

Brian Williams: The authority the president seems to be claiming in things like his twitter feed is to declare an end to voting, to declare different states in his category even though the American people have a funny way of determining that for themselves.

Michael Beschloss: In 1964 at the Republican convention, Nelson Rockefeller said to hecklers, “It’s still a free country ladies and gentlemen.” And, if we are a free country, the president doesn’t get to declare when the voting is stopped or who is declared president on election night even if the votes have not come in.

The sign of health in a democracy is that the votes are counted fully, fairly and accurately however long it takes. Often times in American history, as you know it’s taken a long time. In the future if we do more and more early voting which we probably will, we just have to get accustomed to the fact that we’re not going to have instant gratification on election night and a decision that sounds as if its popped out of a toaster.”

President Lydon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act July 2, 1964 in the White House East Room. People watching include Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Senator Hubert Humphrey, First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, Speaker of the House John McCormack. Television cameras are broadcasting the ceremony.
O. J. Rapp, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Count Every Vote: Wait for it…Wait for it…Wait for it!

We are in the midst of a pandemic and millions of voters opted for mail-in ballots to stay safe from being infected by COVID-19. In Pennsylvania alone there are over 1.4 million outstanding mail-in ballots to count as of Nov. 4, 2020. Key states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia are in the midst of counting legal ballots.

Meanwhile, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the District Court of Columbia, ordered the US Postal Service to do a sweep of their processing centers to find any outstanding mail-in ballots that were not yet delivered to election centers by 3:30 pm on November 3, 2020. However, USPS “lawyers” refused to follow the judge’s Court order on November 3, 2020.

The U.S. Postal Service turned down a federal judge’s order late Tuesday [Nov. 3, 2020] afternoon to sweep mail processing facilities serving 15 states, saying instead it would stick to its own inspection schedule. The court order came after the agency disclosed that more than 300,000 ballots nationwide could not be traced.

Washington post: Election Ballot Delays

Regarding Florida’s outstanding mail-in ballots, The Palm Beach Post headline on Nov. 3, 2020, read:

“Election 2020: It’s Election Day, where are those 1 million mail-in ballots?”

As of Tuesday morning [Nov. 3, 2020], the [Florida] state elections office reports that there are more than 1 million mail-in ballots that were ordered but have not yet been returned to county elections officials for counting.

That includes 402,419 from Republicans, 540,950 from Democrats, 19,749 from members of other parties and 310,850 from voters with no party affiliation.

The Southern Poverty Law Center said Monday that, nationally, there are as many as 23 million people who have an outstanding mail ballot that they have not returned.

Palm Beach Post, November 3, 2020: Where are Those 1 Million Mail-In Ballots

In order to respect every person’s right to vote in this country, we need to let the vote counts continue. Every person who cast a ballot has a right to have their vote counted, whether someone voted in person or by mail-in ballot or absentee ballot.

Count Every Person’s Vote Now!

Let The Vote Count Continue To Count Every Person’s Vote!

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks a day after Election Day — 11/4/2020 #CNBC #CNBCTV

“Now every vote must be counted…We the People will not be silenced. We the People will not be bullied…This will be a victory for the American People, it will be a victory for Democracy”

by Joe Biden, November 4, 2020

Joe Biden speaks To the People Live

The Most American and Patriotic Thing to Do: VOTE!

Photo: debaird via Creative Commons

In the United States of America, we are fortunate that U.S. citizens are able to vote. Will all citizens, regardless of party be able to have their votes counted as cast without voter suppression tactics in 2020?

We are currently in unusual times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Isn’t it time for Republicans and Democrats to work together across party lines to ensure that all people can safely vote free of worrying whether they might get sick standing in line for up to 10 hours waiting to vote?

Solutions to Safely Vote:

In Harris County, Texas, the Clerk’s office legally implemented creative and safe ways for voters to cast their ballots.

According to an article in the Texas Tribune, in populous Harris County, the Clerk’s office offered drive-thru voting options for voters so they could safely vote from their cars instead of being exposed to COVID-19 while standing in line or inside polling areas where people are not mandated to wear masks!

After testing the approach during the July primary runoff with little controversy, Harris County, home to Houston, set up 10 drive-thru centers for the fall election to make early voting easier for people concerned about entering polling places during the pandemic. Voters pull up in their cars and, after their registrations and identifications have been confirmed by poll workers, are handed an electronic tablet through their car windows to cast ballots.

The Texas Tribune: “Texas Supreme Court rejects Republican efforts to Toss nearly 127,000 Harris County Votes,” by Jollie MCCullougH

So why are Republicans suing to get 127,000 legally cast Harris County, Texas, voters’ ballots disqualified from being counted? Hiding behind questionable misapplication of the law, some conservative Republicans appear to be trying to rig the Texas vote through using the Courts to stop the vote count.

However, not all Republicans are buying the lame arguments to try to stop counting legally cast votes by Harris County citizens.

The above-referenced article in The Texas Tribune stated:

A legal cloud hanging over nearly 127,000 votes already cast in Harris County was at least temporarily lifted Sunday [Oct. 31] when the Texas Supreme Court rejected a request by several conservative Republican activists and candidates to preemptively throw out early balloting from drive-thru polling sites in the state’s most populous, and largely Democratic, county.

The all-Republican court denied the request without an order or opinion, as justices did last month in a similar lawsuit brought by some of the same plaintiffs.

The Texas Tribune: “Texas Supreme Court rejects Republican efforts to Toss nearly 127,000 Harris County Votes,” by Jollie McCullough

How Texas Republicans are Trying to Stop People From Voting | NowThis #MarcElias #TexasVoterSuppression

Appeals court dismisses Texas GOP drive-thru voting lawsuit |KHOU 11

Election Day is November 3, 2020. Let’s Get Out and Vote and encourage every registered voter to vote in Texas and every state!

If you have a Mail-In Ballot, please bring it to your local election office or legal Ballot Drop Off Box!