DragonI

Liz Cheney, No 3 House Republican, will vote to impeach Trump

Powerful conservative joins growing number of Republicans seeking accountability for president after Capitol attack

www.theguardian.com

"On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic.”

"Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

"I will vote to impeach the President."

Georgia's Recount Confirms Biden's Lead; AP Declares Him State's Winner

The full hand recount of the state's 5 million presidential votes resulted in a slight narrowing of Joe Biden's lead over President Trump, but not nearly enough to change the result.

www.npr.org

Georgia election officials released a report Thursday evening on the results of the hand tally recount of the presidential election, affirming Joe Biden's lead in the state.

The full hand recount of the state's 5 million presidential votes resulted in a narrowing of Biden's lead over President Trump in Georgia, but not nearly enough to change the result. He started out with a 14,000 vote lead, and now leads by just over 12,000 votes.

Secret Service plans to ramp up protection of Biden in anticipation of his possible win

The move comes after his campaign alerted the Secret Service that the Democratic nominee would make a major speech as early as Friday.

www.washingtonpost.com

The Secret Service is sending reinforcements to Wilmington, Del., starting Friday to help protect former vice president Joe Biden as his campaign prepares for the possibility he may soon claim victory in his bid for the White House, according to two people familiar with the plans.

The Secret Service summoned a squad of agents to add to the protective bubble around Biden after his campaign  told the  agency that the Democratic nominee would continue utilizing a Wilmington convention center at least another day and could make a major speech as early as Friday, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the security protocols. 

In a tirade delivered from the White House on Thursday night, Trump declared without evidence that “corrupt” state officials were unfairly counting invalid votes in the states where he is behind Biden.

Virus hospitalizations surge as pandemic shadows US election

Americans went to the polls Tuesday under the shadow of a resurging pandemic, with an alarming increase in cases nationwide and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 reaching record...

apnews.com

Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota and New Mexico all reported record high hospitalizations this week. Nebraska’s largest hospitals started limiting elective surgeries and looked to bring in nurses from other states to cope with the surge. Hospital officials in Iowa and Missouri warned bed capacity could soon be overwhelmed.

In Indiana, the Republican candidate for attorney general tested positive for COVID-19 after developing “some symptoms,” his campaign announced Tuesday. Former U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita had been quarantining with his family after learning he was exposed to the virus, it said.

Meanwhile, Iowa hospital officials warned that facilities and staff could be overwhelmed without serious efforts to curtail the virus spread. The seven-day rolling average of the state’s positivity rate reached 36.4% over the weekend, the third-highest in the nation behind South Dakota and Wyoming, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations reached a record 730 on Monday.

• Missouri’s health department reported 1,659 hospitalizations statewide Monday, surpassing by 10 the previous record set a day earlier
• New Mexico’s hospitalizations marked a new high for the 12th day in a row, with 401 reported Tuesday.
• The seven-day rolling average for deaths from COVID-19 has risen over the past two weeks from about 58,424 on Oct. 19 to 83,805 on Monday
• The virus has killed more than 232,000 people in the country, and total confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed 9 million.

Cruise Lines International Association, which represents the bulk of the cruise industry, said its members are extending the suspension of U.S. sailing operations through the end of the year, just days after the U.S. government effectively lifted its no-sail order. The cruise industry group estimates that the suspension of cruises snuffed out more than $25 billion in economic activity and 164,000 U.S. jobs.

Trump prematurely crowns himself winner in chaotic U.S. election that remains undecided | CBC News

Given the unclear outcome, the ingredients have now been assembled for a combustible post-election aftermath in the U.S., writes Alex Panetta.

www.cbc.ca

• Trump falsely asserts election fraud, claims a victory, Washington Post
• With 9 states still counting millions of votes, Trump falsely claims he won, NBC News
• Trump falsely claims he won election as millions of votes remain uncounted , CBS News
• As America Awaits a Winner, Trump Falsely Claims He Prevailed, NYTimes
• Trump claims victory with many states still undeclared, hints at possible Supreme Court case, Fox News
• Fox News host Chris Wallace condemned Trump's baseless claim of election victory: 'extremely inflammatory', Business Insider
• Fact check: Trump makes series of egregious false claims in Election Night address, CNN

Via @actdottv, this is how the Republican Party suppresses the vote to maintain power.

Retweet if you think it's time to #VoteThemAllOut.

— George Takei@GeorgeTakei

Cash-Strapped Trump Camp Pulls Ads Out OF Florida - Joe.My.God.

Bloomberg News reports: President Donald Trump’s campaign has all but pulled its advertising out of Florida, as it stakes its relatively small bank account on the industrial northern states that carried him to victory in 2016. Since the beginning of the fall campaign on Labor Day, Trump has cut $24 million from his national ad …

www.joemygod.com

Since the beginning of the fall campaign on Labor Day, Trump has cut $24 million from his national ad budget, while former Vice President Joe Biden has added $197 million. Biden has outspent Trump three-to-one over that time.

Trump is now placing his final bet on just four battleground states: Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Polls show he’s down in all those states but Ohio, where it’s effectively even.

The president still has $350,275 budgeted to spend on ads in Florida through Election Day, but has canceled $5.5 million in the final two weeks of the campaign, according to data compiled from ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics.

The Biden campaign has added $41 million to its ad budget in the home stretch, pouring more money into every battleground state except Texas. Through Election Day, the campaign has budgeted 

• $8.3 million in Florida
• $7.1 million in Pennsylvania
• $5.3 million in Michigan
• $4.9 million in North Carolina.