monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

'These are dictator moves': Defense officials alarmed as Trump installs more loyalists at the Pentagon

President Donald Trump has filled a series of senior defense positions with loyalists, causing alarm among Pentagon officials.

Four defense officials, including Mark Esper, the defense secretary, and James Anderson, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, have either resigned or been sacked since Trump lost the presidential election.

Anderson was replaced by Anthony Tata, a retired US Army brigadier general who made false claims about President Barack Obama including that he was a "terrorist leader," CNN reported.

"This is scary. It's very unsettling," one defense official told CNN, adding, "These are dictator moves."

Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the next few months could be "downright dangerous."

I am wondering what the remedy is when Trump has to go and refuses. He is now replacing top Pentagon officials with loyalist. What can we do? Are we stuck with a bogus faux President? Every single accusation these idiot Trumpies make are actions they take themselves.

Quote:

'These are dictator moves': Defense officials alarmed as Trump installs more loyalists at the Pentagon

President Donald Trump has filled a series of senior defense positions with loyalists, causing alarm among Pentagon officials.

Four defense officials, including Mark Esper, the defense secretary, and James Anderson, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, have either resigned or been sacked since Trump lost the presidential election.

Anderson was replaced by Anthony Tata, a retired US Army brigadier general who made false claims about President Barack Obama including that he was a "terrorist leader," CNN reported.

"This is scary. It's very unsettling," one defense official told CNN, adding, "These are dictator moves."

Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the next few months could be "downright dangerous."

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-installs-loyalists-at-the-pentagon-officials-sound-alarm-2020-11

Six states where President Trump has threatened to challenge his defeat continued their march toward declaring certified election results in the coming weeks, as his advisers privately acknowledged that President-elect Joe Biden’s official victory is less a question of “if” than “when.”

Trump began the day tweeting about “BALLOT COUNTING ABUSE” as he and his allies touted unproven claims that fraud had tainted the election in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Vice President Pence gave a presentation to Republican senators on Capitol Hill about new litigation expected in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia — imploring them to stick with the president, according to several Republicans in the room.

But even some of the president’s most publicly pugilistic aides, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and informal adviser Core
Trump began the day tweeting about “BALLOT COUNTING ABy Lewandowski, have said privately that they are concerned about the lawsuits’ chances for success unless more evidence surfaces, according to people familiar with their views.

Trump met with advisers again Tuesday afternoon to discuss whether there is a path forward, said a person with knowledge of the discussions, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. The person said Trump plans to keep fighting but understands it is going to be difficult. “He is all over the place. It changes from hour to hour,” the person said.

In the states, Democratic and some Republican officials said they have seen no evidence of fraud on a scale sufficient to overturn the results. “There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud,” one GOP official in Georgia said.

...

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for Republicans to try to upend the vote certification process lies in Michigan, where a four-person state canvassing board made up of two Democrats and two Republicans is responsible for certifying the state results. If they deadlock, the decision could fall to the Republican-controlled state legislature, but it is also likely that Democrats would ask a court to intervene.

Of all six states in question, Michigan delivered Biden the largest margin of victory, nearly 150,000 votes, raising questions about what justification Republicans would offer to reverse the popular vote.

Stu Sandler, a former director of external affairs for the Michigan attorney general’s office and now a leading GOP political consultant in the state, said Tuesday that there is growing concern in Michigan about “irregularities and anomalies” in the counting of ballots in the state. He said he is being very cautious in evaluating the claims, but he said that some reports of irregularities seem credible.

Sandler and other Republican officials also expressed concern this week about “the cavalier attitude” of Wayne County elections officials when Republican poll watchers tried to flag concerns.

Such claims have not been substantiated in the courts. Four lawsuits contesting the counting have been filed in Michigan state court by Republican interests. Three have been dismissed by judges in the state, and lawyers for Republican interests have said they will appeal. A fourth lawsuit is expected to be considered during a court hearing Wednesday. A fifth suit, expected to be filed in federal court Tuesday evening by the Trump campaign, was to allege fraud and discrimination against Republican voters.

The two Republicans on Wayne County’s canvassing board said in interviews that they had some concern about the security of the count but stopped short of saying they would object to certifying the vote.

As states press forward with vote counts, Trump advisers privately express pessimism about heading off Biden’s win

Quote:

Six states where President Trump has threatened to challenge his defeat continued their march toward declaring certified election results in the coming weeks, as his advisers privately acknowledged that President-elect Joe Biden’s official victory is less a question of “if” than “when.”

Trump began the day tweeting about “BALLOT COUNTING ABUSE” as he and his allies touted unproven claims that fraud had tainted the election in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Vice President Pence gave a presentation to Republican senators on Capitol Hill about new litigation expected in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia — imploring them to stick with the president, according to several Republicans in the room.

But even some of the president’s most publicly pugilistic aides, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and informal adviser Core
Trump began the day tweeting about “BALLOT COUNTING ABy Lewandowski, have said privately that they are concerned about the lawsuits’ chances for success unless more evidence surfaces, according to people familiar with their views.

Trump met with advisers again Tuesday afternoon to discuss whether there is a path forward, said a person with knowledge of the discussions, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. The person said Trump plans to keep fighting but understands it is going to be difficult. “He is all over the place. It changes from hour to hour,” the person said.

In the states, Democratic and some Republican officials said they have seen no evidence of fraud on a scale sufficient to overturn the results. “There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud,” one GOP official in Georgia said.

...

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for Republicans to try to upend the vote certification process lies in Michigan, where a four-person state canvassing board made up of two Democrats and two Republicans is responsible for certifying the state results. If they deadlock, the decision could fall to the Republican-controlled state legislature, but it is also likely that Democrats would ask a court to intervene.

Of all six states in question, Michigan delivered Biden the largest margin of victory, nearly 150,000 votes, raising questions about what justification Republicans would offer to reverse the popular vote.

Stu Sandler, a former director of external affairs for the Michigan attorney general’s office and now a leading GOP political consultant in the state, said Tuesday that there is growing concern in Michigan about “irregularities and anomalies” in the counting of ballots in the state. He said he is being very cautious in evaluating the claims, but he said that some reports of irregularities seem credible.

Sandler and other Republican officials also expressed concern this week about “the cavalier attitude” of Wayne County elections officials when Republican poll watchers tried to flag concerns.

Such claims have not been substantiated in the courts. Four lawsuits contesting the counting have been filed in Michigan state court by Republican interests. Three have been dismissed by judges in the state, and lawyers for Republican interests have said they will appeal. A fourth lawsuit is expected to be considered during a court hearing Wednesday. A fifth suit, expected to be filed in federal court Tuesday evening by the Trump campaign, was to allege fraud and discrimination against Republican voters.

The two Republicans on Wayne County’s canvassing board said in interviews that they had some concern about the security of the count but stopped short of saying they would object to certifying the vote.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-challenges-state-count/2020/11/10/45148fac-2378-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html

I wish these cowardly advisors and republicans who express private concerns would develop a backbone and think about the country for a change. I don't care why they don't, they have shown their lack of a backbone for four years, time to step up or just shut up. Do they think privately conceding the point lets them off the hook in their own minds?

I think the institutions are strong enough to survive Trump but it may get very messy between now and 20th Jan.

and Biden’s pretty calm.

Well isn’t that puzzling. Trump’s people are not questioning the mail-in votes or any other kinds of votes in Alaska and North Carolina - states being called for Trump, now that the votes have been counted.

They only seem to have concerns about the votes being counted after Election Day in states he is clearly not going to win.

It’s almost as if they only complain about cheating when the math doesn’t favor them.

As states press forward with vote counts, Trump advisers privately express pessimism about heading off Biden’s win

Pa. postal worker denies recanting ballot-tampering claim

Meanwhile in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. Postal Service (USPS) whistleblower Richard Hopkins is fighting against federal agents and the mainstream media to maintain his allegations that illegal backdated postmarks were added to some late mail-in ballots.

Hopkins came forward only to have USPS Inspector General Russell Strasser try to bully him into saying his story was fabricated. On top of that, the Washington Post published an article stating that Hopkins had officially recanted his claims.

Richard Hopkins, the Erie, Pennsylvania Postal Employee blasts the @washingtonpost for publishing a fake recant story that has since gone viral. Richard says we’ll learn more tomorrow. To be continued.#RichardHopkins #EriePA #StopTheSteal pic.twitter.com/U52BJ7CZYK

— Secretary of State-Select (@AbrahamLopezNJ) November 11, 2020

Dem activists urge violence, repressions against Trump voters

Democrat party activists are calling for political retribution against supporters of President Trump and other Republicans.

According to reports on Tuesday, many Democrats took to Twitter with calls to fire, shame and deny future employment to republicans.

You can't heal or reform the GOP who are now an extremist party. They have to be broken, burned down and rebuilt. When Biden is in power treat them like the active threats to democracy they are. If those who committed crimes aren't punished then they will be more emboldened.

— Wajahat "Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic" Ali (@WajahatAli) November 10, 2020

Evidence of alleged voter fraud appears in Mich., Pa.

The Trump campaign is pursuing litigation in key swing states as allegations of voter fraud continue to pop up across the country.

In a conference call Tuesday, Trump campaign attorney Matt Morgan told reporters it filed a lawsuit to stop the state of Michigan from certifying its results until it can be verified that votes were cast lawfully.
This came after Shiawassee County polls suddenly showed Democrat nominee Joe Biden having a 200,000 point lead over President Trump. Officials later attributed that to a “typo.”

There is only one party in America that opposes voter ID; one party in America that opposes verifying signatures, citizenship, residency, eligibility,” said White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “There is only one party in America trying to keep observers out of the count room and that party, my friend, is the Democrat Party.”

McEnany recently went on air to say she had 234 pages of sworn affidavits alleging election irregularities in Wayne County alone. She said officials reported several ballots, including one batch where 60 percent had the same signature. Additionally, another 35 ballots had no voter record yet were counted anyway.

But after meeting with USPS Office of the Inspector General Agent Russell Strasser, Hopkins met with Project Veritas' James O'Keefe. He provided O'Keefe with a recording of the interview Hopkins allegedly had with the IG. The recordings are evident that federal agents were trying to coerce Hopkins into recanting his story.

I would find the Washington Post to be credible,

Damn. Georgia’s got to do a hand recount.