Category: Latest News

‘The arrogance is breathtaking’: Milwaukee newspaper slams Ron Johnson for defying will of Wisconsin voters

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Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is among the Republican senators who, unlike Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has vowed to contest the Electoral College results when the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives meet for a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, January 6. Wisconsin was among the states that President-elect Joe Biden won in the 2020 presidential election, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s editorial board slams Johnson for failing to respect the will of Wisconsin voters in a scathing editorial published on January 5.

“The arrogance of Ron Johnson is breathtaking,” the Journal Sentinel declares. “Johnson and 12 other Republican senators say they will challenge the tabulation of Electoral College votes in Congress on Wednesday in a dangerous political stunt that will accomplish nothing but may burnish their image with those who would choose outgoing President Donald Trump over democracy. Johnson and his shameful friends are planning to support Trump as he directly opposes the will of the people.”

The editorial board stresses that although Biden will remain president-elect regardless of the “stunt” from Johnson and other GOP senators, that doesn’t make it any less shameless. Continue reading.

Flying the flag of fascism for Trump

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Amid the chaos and mayhem at our nation’s Capitol, the flags flew high. Dangerous. Despicable. And familiar.

The day had begun with the results of Georgia’s runoff elections, in which Raphael Warnock was a projected winner and fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff declared victory. In the aftermath of his success, Warnock reflected on the hopeful history he had just made, as the first African American senator from Georgia. The country had come so far, a journey measured by the life of his 82-year-old mother, who had gone from picking cotton for the benefit of overseers to casting a vote for her son for the betterment of her country.

Ossoff, who had interned with the civil rights icon John Lewis, would make history, too. He would by nightfall be projected to become the state’s first Jewish senator.

But our grievous history is relentless. And so is hate. Continue reading.

Proud Boys Leader, A Convicted Felon, Will Face Illegal Weapons Charge

Enrique Tarrio, the Florida-based national chairman of the Proud Boys, was arrested Monday in Washington, D.C., by Metropolitan Police on property-destruction charges related to his admitted participation in the December 12 vandalization of African American churches following a pro-Trump rally earlier in the day. Tarrio was taken into custody at National Airport as he arrived to participate in this week’s “March for Trump” rally.

Police also said they found Tarrio in possession of two high-capacity ammo magazines for a gun, and “charged him accordingly.” Tarrio is a convicted felon and thus forbidden to possess weapons or ammunition, and is likely to face felony weapons-possession charges as a result.

Tarrio’s arrest was first reported on Twitter by USA Today reporter Will Carless, who tweeted that he was on the phone with Tarrio when the arrest occurred. “While we were on the call, sirens started blaring in the background,” Carless tweeted. “They’re for me,” Tarrio joked at first, then told his driver to pull over. Continue reading.

Aides weigh resignations, removal options as Trump rages against perceived betrayals

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President Trump was ensconced in the White House residence Wednesday night, raging about perceived betrayals, as an array of top aides weighed resigning and some senior administration officials began conversations about invoking the 25th Amendment — an extraordinary measure that would remove the president before Trump’s term expires on Jan. 20.

A deep, simmering unease coursed through the administration over the president’s refusal to accept his election loss and his role in inciting a mob to storm the Capitol, disrupting the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden. One administration official described Trump’s behavior Wednesday as that of “a total monster,” while another said the situation was “insane” and “beyond the pale.”

Fearful that Trump could take actions resulting in further violence and death if he remains in office even for a few days, senior administration officials were discussing Wednesday night whether the Cabinet might invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to force him out, said a person involved in the conversations. Continue reading.

Trump era bows out with scorched-earth drama in divided GOP

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The heated partisan politics of Capitol Hill will jump to scorching on Wednesday, when President Trump‘s staunchest Republican allies will launch a formal, public and futile effort to keep him in power by overturning the results of November’s election.

Trump’s allegations of rampant voter fraud have been debunked by the states and rejected by the courts. But that hasn’t stopped more than 100 GOP loyalists in the House and Senate from backing his bid to toss out the vote tallies of certain battleground states. 

The extraordinary gambit has convulsed the Capitol in the final days of Trump’s reign and cleaved the GOP into warring factions — divisions that will bear long-lasting implications for both the future direction of the Republican Party and the success of the ambitious figures scrambling to lead it into a post-Trump world. Continue reading.

From ‘beautiful’ to ‘disgraceful’: World reacts to US mob

TOKYO (AP) — Amid the global outrage at the storming of the U.S. Capitol building by angry supporters of President Donald Trump was a persistent strain of glee from those who have long resented the perceived American tendency to chastise other countries for less-than-perfect adherence to democratic ideals.

The teargas and bullets inside the Capitol, a globally recognized structure that stands at the center of America’s idea of democracy, are more usually associated with countries where popular uprisings topple a hated dictator. The Arab Spring, for instance.

This time, however, it was an attempt by Americans to stop a peaceful transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden after a democratic election in a country that many around the world have looked at as a model for democratic governance. Continue reading.

EPA ‘transparency’ rule provides basis to block new regulations

It’s the latest in a series of rules issued by the outgoing Trump administration as it prepares to hit the exits

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler says his agency has provided more than 50 briefings and thousands of pages of material to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.

But none of those briefings has focused on the final rule Wheeler announced Tuesday that requires the agency to give greater weight to scientific studies based on publicly available data.

With that lack of discussion, it’s unclear how the incoming Biden administration will approach the requirement, which could complicate its initial efforts to ratchet up public health protections. Wheeler described the new rule as an internal housekeeping matter, but he also said there’s a reason he opted for more than just a staff memo on the subject. Having an official rule creates a basis for lawsuits if a future administration tries to work around it. Continue reading.

The Fox News Coup Turns Ultra-Violent

As I write this, the U.S. Capitol has been breached by a riotous mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters who are bent on preventing the peaceful transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden. The House of Representative and the Senate, whose members had convened in their separate chambers after some Republicans objected to the counting of Arizona’s electoral votes, are locked down, while Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding, has left the area. Insurrectionists continue to stream into the building. It’s unclear when or how the legislators will be able to proceed with their constitutional duty.

A coup attempt is underway in the United States of America, which prides itself on being a beacon of democracy.

It was not an accident. It did not just happen. Democracy in this country has enemies.

The American people spoke, and Trump lost the election by a sizable margin. But rather than accept that reality, he claimed that the election had been rigged, stolen away from him by fiendish Democratic operatives in a number of states. These were wild conspiracy theories, the dregs of the internet fever swamps. Continue reading.

Lawyer on Trump Election Call Quits Firm After Uproar

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The law firm, Foley & Lardner, had distanced itself from Cleta Mitchell after a recording of the call revealed she helped the president pressure Georgia elections officials.

A lawyer advising President Trump in recent weeks has resigned from her law firm after it was revealed that she participated in the call where Mr. Trump pressured Georgia officials to help him reverse the state’s election results, the firm said in a statement on Tuesday.

The lawyer, Cleta Mitchell, has been advising Mr. Trump despite a policy at her firm, Foley & Lardner, that none of its lawyers should represent clients involved in relitigating the presidential election.

“Cleta Mitchell has informed firm management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner effective immediately,” the firm said in its statement. “Ms. Mitchell concluded that her departure was in the firm’s best interests, as well as in her own personal best interests. We thank her for her contributions to the firm and wish her well.” Continue reading.

Missouri senator’s home-state paper: Hawley has ‘blood on his hands’

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican at the forefront of a bid to block congressional certification of the Electoral College vote, is largely to blame for “inspiring one of the most heartbreaking days in modern American history,” his home-state newspaper’s editorial board wrote.

The scathing editorial was published on Wednesday on the home page of the Kansas City Star under the headline: “Assault on democracy: Sen. Josh Hawley has blood on his hands in Capitol coup attempt.”

The editorial went on to say: “No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible” for the violence that ensued when a “mob” of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building demanding his re-election defeat in November be overturned. Four people died, including a women shot to death, during the pandemonium. Continue reading.