Cleveland Sports Forum

Trump slams mail-in voting but Trump & family as well as senior aides use it often.

So! What are we saying? It's OK for a corrupt GOP to cast mail-in ballots but the cheating Democrats can't participate???

Just saw on the news where Trump says it's OK for citizens in Florida & Texas to cast mail in ballots!! Wonder why??

So! Just who are some of the folks in Trump world that mail in their votes:


“Well sure, I could vote by mail,” Trump responded, explaining away the dissonance by saying he wasn’t able to get down to his primary residence in Florida to do so — despite visiting his golf course in the state at least 89 times since becoming president. In all, Trump has voted by mail or submitted an absentee ballot in at least three elections.

Like Trump, the First Lady also cast a mail-in ballot in Florida's Republican primary this March. The New York Daily News reported that she also tried to vote absentee in New York City's 2017 mayoral election, but her vote wasn't counted because she failed to properly sign the envelope containing her ballot.

Jared Kushner requested a mail-in ballot but did not send one in.

Ivanka Trump sent her ballot in past the deadline.

Is this a dysfunctional family or what?

Pence and his wife voted earlier this year using their old address at the Indiana governor's mansion, Business Insider first reported. The couple voted using the address when they submitted their absentee ballots in the state's June primary, even though they have not lived there since December 2016. Both the Vice President and Second Lady cast absentee ballots at that address in the 2018 primary and general elections and in the Indiana 2020 primary elections this spring, Insider's Tom LoBianco reported.

Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has voted by mail 11 times in 10 years. McEnany, a Florida native, had voted absentee in every election she had participated in since 2010. McEnany has defended Trump’s assault on vote-by-mail, insisting, like her boss, that it invites election fraud. But, also like her boss, McEnany has taken advantage of its convenience time and time again.

Florida does not have absentee voting. Anyone can vote by mail here without a reason. The Times asked McEnany if Florida should change its law to restrict voting by mail to those unable to vote in person. The story will be updated if she responds.

Attorney General Bill Barrr voted absentee in the 2012 and 2019 elections, the Washington Post reported.

Wilbur Ross, 82, has voted absentee in 15 of the last 15 elections, including the Florida primary in March,

Betsy DeVos, meanwhile, has permanent absentee voting status in Michigan.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, a New Jersey native, voted by mail in the state's Bergen County in the 2018 midterm elections, the Huffington Post reported. New Jersey allows any voter to cast a mail-in ballot without an excuse and allows voters to elect to vote by mail permanently.

Trump administration staffer Alex Azar. voted absentee.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel repeatedly voted by mail before leading California mail voting lawsuit, according to voting records obtained by @ProgressMich. McDaniel has shared her own criticisms of voting by mail, calling Democratic bills to expand absentee voting amid a pandemic an effort that “vastly expand[s] opportunities for fraud and weaken confidence in our elections.”

Campaign Manager Brad Parscale encountered a series of problems receiving his absentee ballot from Texas and missed the deadline,” Parscale told CBS News last week. For the 2018 midterms, Parscale stepped up and voted by mail.

Melania Trump's chief of staff and former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham voted by mail in the 2016 presidential election in her home state of Arizona, which allows any voter to cast a mail-in ballot without an excuse.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who worked as a top lobbyist at defense contractor Raytheon before joining the Trump administration, voted absentee in Virginia in 2008, 2012, and 2016, Bonier told Insider.

Senior Trump campaign advisor Nick Ayers, Pence's former chief of staff, has voted absentee in Georgia since 2014, the Associated Press reported. Georgia allows any voter to cast an absentee ballot without an excuse.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue the former governor of Georgia, signed into law a bill that allows all Georgia voters to cast an absentee ballot without an excuse back in 2006. He's voted absentee himself in every election since then, Bonier told Insider, citing public records.

Senior Trump campaign official — chief operating officer Michael Glassner has repeatedly voted by mail in New Jersey. Glassner has voted absentee four times since 2016. That includes a general election ballot that was rejected by election officials in 2019.

Trump deputy campaign manager Bill Stepien has also repeatedly voted by mail in New Jersey. Stepien has voted seven times by mail since 2006, the records show.

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Trump’s unrelenting attacks on the integrity of mail-in voting are puzzling for a variety of reasons, not least because they are unfounded. But they’re particularly awkward for Republican leaders—especially those allied with the president—who need their voters to continue using a system Trump is trying to discredit. the president has, for example, gone after Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, for mailing absentee-ballot applications to every voter in the state as part of an effort to avoid depressed turnout due to the coronavirus pandemic. GOP leaders in several other states have done the same thing.

Other Republicans question Trump’s attacks on voting by mail as a matter of political strategy. “It’s tough to imagine you’d want to disenfranchise the 25 percent of Americans who voted [by mail] in the election you won.

Tom Ridge, the Republican former Pennsylvania governor and homeland-security secretary, is now helping to lead a bipartisan group called VoteSafe that promotes mail-in balloting. He noted that Trump has the built-in advantages of incumbency and an enormous campaign war chest that he could use to mobilize his base with a mail-in-balloting drive. “Why he would be sowing, potentially, seeds of doubt for an outcome when he’s got all these assets perfectly aligned to maximize support from an absentee-ballot perspective is beyond belief,” Ridge said.

In a number of states, mail-in voting is particularly popular among older and rural voters, who tend to favor Republicans. “We did it principally to encourage seniors and winter visitors who re-registered [in Arizona] to vote,” Coughlin told me. “His base and Republicans are much better at returning ballots” by mail.

And it means that GOP leaders in many of these states are telling their voters to support Trump—and also, implicitly, to ignore him. “We’re giving people the choice,” Gruters, the Florida GOP chairman, told me. “If you want to vote by mail, vote by mail.”

Officials identified just 372 possible cases of double voting or voting on behalf of deceased people out of about 14.6 million votes cast by mail in the 2016 and 2018 general elections, or 0.0025 percent.

Montana ... yes, Montana ... stops destruction of the Post Office

Friday August 14, 2020 · 9:07 PM CDT

Quick and dirty … Trump’s unqualified choice for postmaster general has f**ked up and the state of Montana has called him out — and won.

Rachel Maddow tonight, in reporting on the despicable actions of unqualified postmaster general Louis Dejoy has highlighted how public pushback has stopped at least one Dejoy/Trump action in it’s tracks.

Among the many orders Dejoy has implemented is removing hundreds or perhaps thousands of postal drop boxes from street corners around America, especially ones located in convenient places for voters to drop their mail-in ballots, like in poor neighborhoods and communities of color. An astute local reporter in Montana got a list of the boxes being removed, and almost all were in convenient locations, while those being left in place were in out-of-the-way inconvenient places.

The reporting led to a letter-writing campaign from Montanans who were already pissed off about the mail slow-down Dejoy implemented. Montana is mostly rural, and the only way to get anything delivered in most of the state is via USPS. People were already pissed that their medications, checks, bills, online orders and other mail was being delayed. Now their ability to mail a letter was being squeezed. This caught the attention of the state’s two U.S. Senators who sent short, tersely worded letters to Dejoy telling him to knock off the removal of the drop boxes.

Within hours, the Postal Service announced no more boxes would be removed in Montana, and a short time later the service announced it would not remove any more boxes nationwide until after the election.

In what has got to be a truly American moment, Rachel’s people convinced Montana Sen. John Tester (D) to get off his tractor, on which he was harvesting winter wheat, to talk to Rachel (people forget that rural legislators aren’t all lawyers and bank presidents — some actually work for a living). And he was eloquent and to the point, calling Dejoy’s actions reprehensible and the Trump administration’s assault on the the Postal Service an attack on rural America. It was a thing of beauty. Then he got back on his tractor.

The lesson, as I have suspected, is that to address this assault on the Postal Service we need to attack the weakest link, Trump’s appointee as postmaster general. The Montana experience makes it clear he doesn’t have the cajones to stand up to pushback. Trump doesn’t handle pushback well, either, but pressuring Richy Rich Dejoy will probably drive him out of office.

That, folks, means the answer is PUSH BACK!

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8 ... ost-Office

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Internal USPS Documents Outline Plans to Hobble Mail Sorting

'This will slow mail processing,' a union official wrote on one of the documents announcing the machine removals.

By Aaron Gordon

August 14, 2020, 8:22am

The United States Postal Service proposed removing 20 percent of letter sorting machines it uses around the country before revising the plan weeks later to closer to 15 percent of all machines, meaning 502 will be taken out of service, according to documents obtained by Motherboard outlining the agency’s plans. USPS workers told Motherboard this will slow their ability to sort mail.

One of the documents also suggests these changes were in the works before Louis DeJoy, a top Trump donor and Republican fundraiser, became postmaster general, because it is dated May 15, a month before DeJoy assumed office and only nine days after the Board of Governors announced his selection.

The title of the presentation, as well as language used in the notice to union officials, undermines the Postal Service’s narrative that the organization is simply “mov[ing] equipment around its network” to optimize processing, as spokesperson Dave Partenheimer told Motherboard on Thursday. The May document clearly calls the initiative an “equipment reduction.” It makes no mention of the machines being moved to other facilities. And the notice to union officials repeatedly uses the same phrase. Multiple sources within the postal service told Motherboard they have personally witnessed the machines, which cost millions of dollars, being destroyed or thrown in the dumpster. USPS did not respond to a request for comment.

In May, the USPS planned to remove a total of 969 sorting machines out of the 4,926 it had in operation as of February for all types of letters and flat mail. The vast majority of them—746 out of 3,765 in use—were delivery bar code sorters (DBCS), the type that sort letters, postcards, ballots, marketing mail and other similarly sized pieces. But a subsequent document distributed to union officials in mid-June said 502 of those machines would be removed from facilities.

The May document, titled “Equipment Reduction,” breaks down the exact number of machines the USPS slated to remove by region and facility. Although the document uses terms like “proposed reduction” and “reduction plan” and does not reflect the USPS’s final plan, it provides a general picture of the sweeping changes previously reported by Motherboard about mail sorting machines being removed around the country. It also shows that USPS management is undertaking a broad reduction of the agency’s ability to sort and process all types of mail, except for packages which have been steadily increasing in recent years before booming during the pandemic.

Further, the timeline of the May document did not come to pass. It proposed a plan resulting in the machines being removed by the end of July, but that didn’t happen. Interviews with six postal workers and union officials around the country, who spoke to Motherboard on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak to the media, revealed these machine removals are still occurring in Michigan, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Texas.

More machine removals are planned in the months ahead. The document sent to union officials in June shows an updated plan to extend the machine removal timeline through the first quarter of 2021.

Motherboard also viewed documents from the same region that laid out detailed plans to reroute mail to sorting facilities further away in order to centralize mail processing even if it moves the mail across further distances. To the union officials, the result of these plans was clear: “This will slow mail processing,” one wrote in large font.

The move to slash the agency’s mail-sorting capacity just as the post office prepares to play a pivotal role in the upcoming election has raised alarm among elected officials. On Wednesday, 47 Senators sent a letter to DeJoy urging him “not to take any action that makes it harder and more expensive for Americans to vote.”

The removal of so many letter-sorting machines also does little to quell concern that President Trump—who has stated his opposition to giving the USPS additional money to handle the election because he doesn’t want mail-in ballots to be properly handled and counted—is intentionally interfering in the USPS’s operations to achieve his desired ends.

“Donald Trump made clear that he is dismantling the Postal Service so he can steal the election by making it harder to vote by mail,” said Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, a signatory of the letter. “Removing 20 percent of the Postal Service’s sorting and processing equipment looks like another part of his plan to bulldoze a vital American institution just to cling to power.”


“The Trump Administration is launching an all-out war on the U.S. Postal Service,” said West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, another letter signatory. “Several weeks ago we learned they had unexpectedly announced closures of several West Virginia post offices. Then we learned of their plans to change the regulations surrounding the first class mail and election mail. Now we’re hearing reports that the post office is removing sorting machines and reducing capacity a few months before an election where we’ll see more mail-in ballots than ever before. This is insane.”

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pkyv ... il-sorting

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WORLD

Trump Asked U.S. Ambassador To Seek British Open For A Trump Resort, Ex-Diplomat Says

July 22, 20204:57 PM ET

Frank Langfitt

U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Robert Wood "Woody" Johnson IV told embassy staff in 2018 that his friend, President Trump, asked him to help get the British Open golf tournament held at one of the Trump family's golf resorts in Scotland.

[ The Turnberry resort is not doing well financially and neither is Mara Lago. Trump tried to land the "G6-G7" meeting at Mara Lago to boost financial losses on that property;; Not too long ago, the Department of Defense spent more than $17 million on fuel at Scotland’s Glasgow Prestwick Airport and crew members staying at Turnberry complained saying their daily per diem didn’t cover food and drinks at the Trump resort. The $17 million was a 100% increase from what the DOD spent at Prestwick before Trump’s election, the records show, and about $6 million more than the House Oversight and Reform Committee is now reportedly investigating as a conflict of interest and possible Constitutional violation. ]

U.S. Embassy staff have separately complained that Johnson made racist and sexist comments on the job.

The State Department's inspector general has been looking at these claims as part of a routine review of the embassy, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry was first reported by the New York Times and CNN.

Lewis Lukens, the embassy's former second-in-command, confirmed in a text to NPR that Johnson told him about the president's request.

"I advised him that doing so would violate federal ethics rules and be generally inappropriate," Lukens wrote.

But Johnson apparently went ahead and raised the matter with David Mundell, then secretary of state for Scotland, according to a person familiar with the conversation.

In a statement, the British government said Mundell met with Johnson in early 2018, "but Johnson made no request regarding the British Open or any other sporting event."

Johnson did not respond directly to the claim. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy said Johnson is "fully focused on the important foreign policy priorities that represent our Special Relationship with the United Kingdom."

In a separate statement, the State Department said it stood by Johnson, "who has led Mission U.K. honorably and professionally."

Embassy staffers have told the inspector general that Johnson has made people uncomfortable with some of his comments. For instance, ahead of a Black History Month event, Johnson reportedly seemed "agitated" and wanted to know if he would be speaking to "a whole bunch of Black people," according to CNN.

Johnson also hosted official get-togethers in London at a men's-only club called White's.

Johnson did not directly address these claims either, and issued a statement saying it is the "honor of a lifetime" to represent the U.S. in the U.K. He praised the "extraordinary work that each and every member of the team does to strengthen and deepen our vital alliance with the United Kingdom."

Johnson, 73, is heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune and is the owner of the New York Jets football team.

It is not clear when the inspector general's report will be released.

[ If history has it's way of repeating itself, look for Trump to fire another inspector general that's investigating him]

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/22/89435484 ... trump-reso

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Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, the truth hurts:

https://youtu.be/wKBeArVeemg

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NEWS POLITICS & ELECTIONS

USPS Sorting Machines Are Still Being Dismantled Despite DeJoy’s Promise to Stop

BY

Chris Walker, Truthout

PUBLISHED

August 20, 2020



In spite of promises from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy earlier this week to suspend radical changes to United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities that resulted in slower mail delivery, some post offices in Michigan appear to be continuing to dismantle their mail sorting machines.

DeJoy had wanted to decommission more than 600 machines across the U.S. used to help workers more efficiently sort mail, but after reports that machines were being removed — and a potential lawsuit from 20 states’ attorneys general against him — the postmaster general announced on Tuesday that he would suspend what he claimed were efforts to improve the USPS.

“I believe significant reforms are essential … and work toward those reforms will commence after the election,” DeJoy said.

Many critics noted that removing sorting machines, as well as changes to employees’ working hours at post offices across the country, would make it more difficult for voters to participate in mail-in voting during this year’s presidential election.

Those worries were heightened when President Trump suggested earlier this month that he was refusing to agree to additional funding for the USPS that would help the agency deal with an influx of mailed-in ballots.

“They don’t have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can’t do it,” Trump said last week. “How are they going to do it if they don’t have the money to do it?”

In spite of assurances from DeJoy that he would suspend his sudden changes to the USPS, reports out of Michigan after his announcement was made seem to suggest mail sorting machines continue to be decommissioned and tossed out. Heather Walker, a reporter with Grand Rapids, Michigan, television station WOOD-TV, tweeted a video on Wednesday noting that machine parts still appear to be leaving the local post office facility.

According to Walker, an employee also said a dumpster in the lot had “been filled three times since last week with parts and pieces of what we’re being told are the mail-sorting machines.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) was asked by MSNBC host Joy Reid whether she believed DeJoy’s promises in light of Walker’s report.

“I believe my eyes,” Whitmer responded.

She added that the governor’s office was receiving reports that machines were still being removed from Michigan post office facilities.

“We’re getting reports from across the state, despite what the Trump administration said yesterday that they weren’t pursuing this, that this is, in fact, happening,” Whitmer said, stating that a facility in Pontiac, Michigan, also had reported discarding machines — “opposite sides of the state,” Whitmer added.

The Michigan governor requested that people across the U.S. contact the office of their state attorney general if they are aware of more machines being dismantled.

“We have to fight back to protect the U.S. postal system,” Whitmer said. “This is about our election at the end of the day, and we’ve got to ensure that every vote gets counted.”

In a statement Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke out against DeJoy’s assurances, pointing out that his promise to suspend his so-called reforms did not reverse the harmful changes that had already been made.

“The Postmaster General’s alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked,” Pelosi said, adding that the changes DeJoy has already implemented, whether paused or not, “directly jeopardize the election and disproportionately threaten to disenfranchise voters in communities of color.”

https://truthout.org/articles/usps-sort ... e-to-stop/

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Been a while.

Pray to God this nightmare is almost over.

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Although he most certainly will pardon himself and all the other corrupt members of the party that assisted in leading the assault on our Democracy, Trump and those who ride on his coat tails continue to wreak havoc on his way out. In his latest assault, Trump exited the Open Skies Treaty and is in the process of dismantling and discarding the observation planes as we speak just as he had destroyed the sorting equipment at the post offices around the country just a short two months ago.

Without specialized aircraft and equipment, the Biden administration would have a difficult time re-entering the post-Cold War pact.

The Treaty on Open Skies:

Entered into force on January 1, 2002, and currently has 34 party states. It establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them. The idea of allowing countries to openly surveil each other is thought to prevent misunderstandings (i.e. to assure a potential opponent that one’s country is not about to go to war) and limit the escalation of tensions. It also provides mutual accountability for countries to follow through on treaty promises. Open Skies is one of the most wide-ranging international efforts to date promoting openness and transparency of military forces and activities.

The 34 state parties to the Open Skies Treaty are:

Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark (including Greenland), Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Kyrgyzstan signed the treaty but has not yet ratified it. Canada and Hungary are the Depositories of the treaty in recognition of their special contributions to the Open Skies process. Depository countries maintain treaty documents and provide administrative support.

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On his way out, Trump continues his assault on democracy and the safety of our country The Trump administration removed senior defense officials and installed loyalists, triggering alarm at Pentagon. Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Four senior civilian officials have been fired or have resigned. Conspiracy theorists and Trump loyalists have taken their place.

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Failing to admit defeat, Donald Trump continues to wage an all-out assault on the election results throughout the United States and in particularly the swing states, as well as Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona.

Repudiating Trump, officials say elections were the ‘most secure' ever. It’s hard to put it any more bluntly: “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised.” A broad coalition of top government and industry officials is declaring that the Nov. 3 voting and the following count unfolded smoothly with no more than the usual minor hiccups.

Thursday’s statement was written for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which spearheaded federal election protection efforts, and was tweeted by its director, Chris Krebs. Hours earlier, he was the subject of a Reuters story that said he had told associates he expected to be fired by Trump. Krebs has been vocal on Twitter in repeatedly reassuring Americans that the election was secure and that their votes would be counted.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired the Department of Homeland Security official who had rejected Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud.

Trump announced on Twitter he was firing Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and directly tied it to Krebs' statement that said there "is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."

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Speaking of Georgia:

It's the battle for the two remaining seats in the Senate to be decided in the January runoffs.

Georgia Senator David Perdue VS Jon Ossoff

Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler VS senior pastor, Raphael Warnock

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FBI Investigation of Potential Insider Trading Turns Up Heat on Loeffler & Perdue

Senator Kelly Loeffler already earned a “sharp warning” from the Securities and Exchange Commission and David Perdue’s questionable stock transactions are under increasing scrutiny.

Senators Loeffler and Perdue made a series of shady stock trades as the pandemic was taking hold in the United States while downplaying the threat it posed to Georgians:

Loeffler began selling millions worth of stock the same day she attended an exclusive, senators-only briefing on the pandemic in late January while proceeding to invest in “a company that makes COVID-19 protective garments” and a teleworking software company. Here’s a timeline.

Perdue’s stock market activity “increased nearly threefold” as the pandemic began sweeping the country as the senator invested in the same “chemical company that supplies personal protective equipment” as Loeffler, as well as streaming provider Netflix, while selling off shares in casino giant Caesars Entertainment.

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Sen. Perdue Helped Defense Contractor—and Sold Off Its Stock.

David Perdue had never invested in the Navy supplier BWX Technologies until right before he assumed control of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower.

Right before he was put in charge of a powerful Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over the U.S. Navy, Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) began buying up stock in a company that made submarine parts. And once he began work on a bill that ultimately directed additional Navy funding for one of the firm’s specialized products, Perdue sold off the stock, earning him tens of thousands of dollars in profits.

In January 2019, Perdue was named as the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower. It was good home-state politics for Perdue: Georgia is home to one of the most important Naval facilities on the East Coast, the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. And his appointment was seen as a win for the submarine segment of the Navy, with trade publications calling it a “coup” for submariners.

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Georgia Sen. David Perdue declines to debate opponent ahead of January 5 runoff

Georgia Senator David Perdue Is Terrified That Jon Ossoff Will Shred Him in Another Debate

After Jon Ossoff calls him a ‘crook’ during a Georgia Senate debate, David Perdue cancels final one.

Senator Perdue of Georgia cancels his final debate with Jon Ossoff after Ossoff calls him a ‘crook.’

“It’s not just that you’re a crook, Senator,” Mr. Ossoff said, turning to face his socially-distanced opponent as Mr. Perdue’s eyes remained fixed on the camera. “It’s that you’re attacking the health of the people that you represent. You did say Covid-19 was no deadlier than the flu. You did say there would be no significant uptick in cases. All the while you were looking after your own assets and your own portfolio.”

Mr. Ossoff broke the news that Mr. Perdue had canceled on him on Twitter:

“At last night’s debate, millions saw that Perdue had no answers when I called him out on his record of blatant corruption, widespread disease, and economic devastation,”

he wrote. “Shame on you, Senator.”

Ossoff's campaign told CNN they have accepted the Press Club's invitation, with Ossoff tweeting Sunday,

"Looks like Sen. David Perdue is too much of a coward to debate me again. ... Senator, come on out and try to defend your record. I'm ready to go."

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Crimes against humanity:

The 'Wartime president' Donald Trump surrendered to COVID-19 a long time ago. Shows how much he cares about the citizens of this country. As the virus rages out of control, infections at record proportions, deaths continue to break daily records, hospitals running at or near capacity, Trump has taken his remedy of controlling the virus to twitter and the golf course. Disgusting and shameful behavior. It's shameful and embarrassing to see his base acknowledge this type of behavior. Sadly, I guess it takes one to know one.

They say that everyone has or at least has heard about a family member, a friend, a neighbor that has contracted the virus and has died or recovered from dire circumstances. I have one. The husband of my cousin. He lived in the Villages of Florida. He and my cousin (originally from Dillonvale Oh) came back to St. Clairsville, Ohio to stay with close friends for two weeks. Friends they haven't seen since they moved to Florida over six years ago. Upon their return home to Florida, their friend called and reported that she tested positive for the virus. A week later he was on a ventilator. Three days after that, he died. My cousin tested positive also. She was asymptomatic. I can't imagine how their friends feel right now.

Considering all he knew concerning the virus, considering all the lies and all the deceit he has spewed forth in the media and to his base at those deadly mega-ralleys, the refusal to listen to the advice of Fauci and the scientific community to simply issue a mandate to wear a mask, wash hands, and social distance, Trump, in my opinion, should be held in custody for crimes against humanity.

It's not difficult to do folks. I am still working full time at 76 year of age. I work on a staggered schedule with my co-workers to assure social distancing. I work Mon, Wed, & Fri one week and Tue & Thr. the next week, etc. We have a stand alone temperature device as you enter the office. Everyone is required to have their temperature checked. Masks are mandatory at all times except for eating or drinking. Sanitizer dispensers are located at every doorway and sanitizing soap in all washrooms and lunch rooms. We even have liquid sanitizer for toilet seats.

I wear a mask everywhere I go, even if its for a walk around the block. IT'S EASY! IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO! I like to feel good about myself that I'm protecting you and others. I feel good about myself that I hope I am saving lives.

Best Regard & Stay Safe!

Now that this is over, how about finally deleting this folder?

As Yogi said, "It ain't over until it is over". Jan 20, 2021 cannot come fast enough.

OK Joe, I'm on your side, but I really would prefer that this folder disappears. It doesn't have too much to do with the Indians.

Dennis:

After the events of the past few days, indeed, the past four years, I couldn't agree more.
It's hard to describe my feelings right now.
I'm heart broken, saddened, frustrated, and embarrassed for sure.
This is hard to watch. Hard to comprehend.
I hope our better angels are watching over us.
Peace & Stay Safe!
JoeZ

Civ:

Up to the moderator. I don't have any control over the folders.
Go Browns!
Peace & Stay Safe!
JoeZ

OPINION

Hurry up Cubans! Nicaragua may be ending

The need for dollars by Cubans who want to leave the country has skyrocketed the price of the US currency on the black market and, incidentally, the cost of everything else.

RAPHAEL CRUZ

Havana 22 Jan 2022 - 17:58 CET

Nicaragua , that escape valve that Castroism pulled out of its hat at the end of 2021, is turning into a time bomb, and that is because the Cuban government has fewer and fewer tricks left to hide the disaster... Cuba is sinking .

When the Nicaraguan dictator, Daniel Ortega, in collusion with the Castro regime to whom he owes so much, opened the borders of his country by abolishing the visa process , it was clear what the move was, since not a single Cuban wanted to visit the lakes and volcanoes of the Central American country. : dusty Managua was just one stepping stone on the way north.

By having Ortega open up Nicaragua, Castroism has tried to exorcise two dangers that seem imminent: to avoid a humiliating media show like the Maleconazo [1] or Mariel [2], and to reduce internal pressure by giving youth a concrete and palpable objective: to emigrate.

The Government of Havana knows that, when people get desperate and feel that they have nothing more to lose, they can even lose their fear and throw themselves into another Maleconazo, a ghost that is still too much alive. Unfortunately, the only real illusion that the Revolution can offer to the youth is a concrete way to leave Cuba … wherever Canel is, wherever.

That was the double objective that Castroism intended with the "little favor" that Ortega was doing it... but it did not correctly calculate the impact of the maneuver on the national economy, so battered that it has suffered strongly. That Nicaragua—no less than Nicaragua, for God's sake!—removed visas from Cubans has exacerbated the drama of living on the island .

As soon as the change in Nicaraguan immigration regulations became known, grotesque scenes were seen of Cuban families getting into debt or selling off the car, the house with everything inside and whatever it took to pay for the several thousand dollars —the ticket only exceeds 2,000— that it costs them to arrive in Nicaragua and from there continue the dangerous journey towards the US border .

These enormous expenses, from which travel agencies and airlines are thriving —including those of the Castro regime— are generating a great demand for dollars in Cuba , something that has exploded in the last ten days, causing that, of the little more than 70 pesos that cost one dollar on January 11, today up to 92 pesos are being paid for each US bill , a spectacular increase of 32%. If this rate is maintained, in less than three weeks the mythical level of 150 pesos per dollar would be reached, which was only reached in the 1990s, at the "most glorious" moment of the "Special Period".

Although the official price of the dollar is 24 Cuban pesos, the government has not sold the US currency for months . The only way to access it is the black market.

But the point is that the price of the dollar in the informal market is not exclusive to those who escape , those who remain in the tropical mousetrap now have to live with this increase in the Yankee currency, or what is the same, this accelerated depreciation of the national currency.

This collapse of the peso makes life even more and suddenly more expensive for Cubans , forced to acquire much of what they need —from clothing to medicine and food— in an informal market maintained by mules, since the state offer is non-existent or more expensive.

But the price does not end there. National producers, mainly farmers, who are the only ones who produce something in Cuba for the national market, will inevitably also have to raise their prices , both because of the increase in their living costs and because of the increase in their production costs.

The Castro regime will have calculated that the trips to Nicaragua would be paid mainly from Miami via remittances . In his speculations about how to continue extracting "little dollars" from Cubans who have "betrayed the Revolution," he will have estimated that the flow of additional bills from the United States would be enough to cover the new demand caused by trips to Nicaragua . But it has not been like that, hence the pressure that is being exerted today on the dollars that are already inside the Island and the rise in their price , which has dragged with it the prices of everything else.

What seemed like a master move by Castroism, a valve through which to release all that tension that galvanized Maleconazo has become one more bellows to fan the flames of discontent of a people who feel they are suffocating while watching with their mouths open of stupor and hunger, how their wages quintupled by work and grace of the Planning Task are not even enough to pay for a tourist postcard with the image of The Great Lake of Nicaragua. The question that remains to be resolved is: when will Castroism ask Daniel Ortega to close his borders?

The Castro regime will have calculated that the trips to Nicaragua would be paid mainly from Miami via remittances . In his speculations about how to continue extracting "little dollars" from Cubans who have "betrayed the Revolution," he will have estimated that the flow of additional bills from the United States would be enough to cover the new demand caused by trips to Nicaragua . But it has not been like that, hence the pressure that is being exerted today on the dollars that are already inside the Island and the rise in their price , which has dragged with it the prices of everything else.

What seemed like a master move by Castroism, a valve through which to release all that tension that galvanized 11J, has become one more bellows to fan the flames of discontent of a people who feel they are suffocating while watching, with their mouths open of stupor and hunger, how their wages quintupled by work and grace of the Planning Task are not even enough to pay for a tourist postcard with the image of The Great Lake of Nicaragua. The question that remains to be resolved is: when will Castroism ask Daniel Ortega to close his borders?

[1]
The Maleconazo was a protest on 5 August 1994, in which thousands of Cubans took to the streets around the Malecón in Havana to demand freedom and express frustration with the government. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Cuba fell into a crippling economic crisis that had many citizens looking to flee the island. On the day of the uprising, the Cuban police blocked people from boarding tugboats leaving Havana, prompting thousands of citizens to storm the streets in the largest anti-government demonstration Cuba had seen since the Cuban Revolution. n the weeks following, President Fidel Castro quelled the frustration by opening the doors of the country and allowing Cubans to leave, which proved to have a significant impact on Cuba's relationship with the United States moving forward

[2]
Seaport in Cuba

https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1642870688_36994.html

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As war rages, Paralympics open in Beijing without Russia

BEIJING (AP) —

The Winter Paralympics opened Friday in Beijing with the Russian athletes sent home, the Ukrainian team escaping a war zone to get to China and an impassioned call for peace.

Andrew Parsons, the president of the International Paralympic Committee, declared his horror at the fighting in Ukraine and called on world authorities to promote peace.

“Tonight, I want, I must begin with a message of peace,” Parsons said in brief remarks to the athletes and spectators at the Bird’s Nest stadium. “As the leader of an organization with inclusion at its core, where diversity is celebrated and differences embraced, I am horrified at what is taking place in the world right now.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shortly after the Winter Olympics wrapped up in Beijing, is roiling the world. And the world of sports is no exception.

Paralympic organizers initially announced that Russians and Belarusians would be allowed to compete in Beijing, but reversed course one day before the opening and expelled athletes from both countries. They cited tensions in the Athletes Village. The Russian Paralympic Committee called the decision “absolutely politicized.”

The live broadcast of the opening on Chinese state TV did not translate Parsons’ condemnation of war and and then lowered the volume of his remarks in English for a while. The Chinese government has been restricting anti-Russia views in state media and online. Unlike the U.S. and Europe, it has not criticized the invasion and opposed sanctions on Russia.

Ahead of the opening, about 16 members of the Ukrainian team, wearing their yellow and blue winter outfits and knit hats, chanted “peace for Ukraine” as they held up large banners including “Stop War” in a holding area for the participants. Competitors from other countries applauded and cheered and a few came up and hugged the Ukrainians.

Maksym Yarovyi carried the country’s now widely known blue and yellow flag into the stadium at the head the delegation. All the athletes and spectators wore face masks to protect against the coronavirus, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and other dignitaries.

“It’s a miracle that we have made it to the Paralympics,” Ukrainian delegation head Valerii Sushkevych said earlier.

He said it took four days for team members in Ukraine to reach Beijing, and that he slept on the floor of a bus because of a back condition during the last two days of the journey through Europe.

“We overcame a lot of barriers on the way,” Sushkevych said. “Many members of our team had to escape while there was bombardment and shells exploding.”

Li Duan, a blind former long jumper for China who won gold in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008, felt around for the holder and then struggled a bit to insert the flame. The crowd cheered him on until he mounted it properly in the center of a large white snowflake that then ascended to the top of the open-air stadium.

A total of 564 athletes, of which 138 are women, are competing in the Paralympics. China has the largest team, with 96 competitors, followed by the United States with 65. The Paralympics includes six sports — Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, hockey, snowboarding and curling.

“Much work still needs to be done to achieve gender parity but having increased female participation significantly at the Winter Games in the last 20 years shows we are heading in the right direction,” Parsons said.

The 10-day Paralympics close on March 13.

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Ukraine surges to top of medal table at 2022 Winter Paralympic Games amid Russian attacks

China is second in the medal table, first in the medal count with two gold medals and eight overall

By Paulina Dedaj | Fox News

Days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine's Paralympic team saw its chances of attending the Games in Beijing fading. But after successfully making the trip as its homeland remains under constant attack, the "miracle" team of 20 athletes has surged to the top of the medal table.

Ukraine took home three gold medals in the biathlon and seven overall after the first day of competition at the 2022 Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing. Vitalii Lukianenko, who won gold in the men's sprint vision-impaired event, told reporters that Ukraine’s success was "important" for the people back home.

"I'm really proud that we have the Ukrainian podiums today, because it's really important for our country ... Also, I want to say hello to all my relatives who are in Kharkiv now. Please be strong," he said, via Reuters. "I want to dedicate this medal to the guys who protect our cities. Not only on the borders of the country, but on the borders of the city they protect us, and I dedicate this medal to them."



Ukraine's Vitalii Lukianenko is hugged by Ukraine's Dmytro Suiarko after the men's sprint vision-impaired biathlon event March 5, 2022, at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre during the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images)

International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons said last week that getting the Ukrainian team to Beijing safely would be a "mammoth challenge." Ukrainian Paralympic Committee President Valeriy Sushkevych told reporters Thursday it took more than four days for the team to get to China.

"It's a miracle that we're here. … A part of our team was already abroad. A part of our team was in Ukraine. All the necessary equipment was in Ukraine. … We had to unite all those parts," Sushkevych said.

"It is 25 years I am president of the National Paralympic Committee of the Ukraine. And never was it so difficult, so heavy to come to the Paralympic Games."

Sushkevych added it may not be so easy returning home, especially if the fighting escalates.

No athletes from Russia or Belarus are competing in the Games after the IPC reversed its decision to allow them to compete as "neutrals."

China is second in the medal table and first in the medal count with two gold medals and eight overall.

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Paralympics-Ukraine athletes call for peace after medal haul on day one of Winter Games

Mar 5, 2022 | 5:15 AM

By Dhruv Munjal

YANQING, China (Reuters) –

Ukraine’s athletes put a difficult week behind them as they clinched seven medals including three golds in biathlon to move to the top of the medal table on an emotional first day at the Beijing Winter Paralympics on Saturday.

The 20-member Ukrainian contingent almost didn’t make it to the Chinese capital after Russia invaded their country just over a week ago, and Saturday’s winners appealed for peace and dedicated their medals to people back home.

Grygorii Vovchynskyi, who claimed gold in the men’s sprint standing event over Germany’s Marco Maier at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre, said it was difficult to focus on sport given the events back home, but he found a way to win.

“When war started in Ukraine, every day I was thinking about how I can help my people, my free country, my president, how I can support the team, how I can help,” the 33-year-old told reporters.

“I tried thinking about the competition, but today it’s difficult. (What’s) more important is life. It’s our people, our children.”

Ukraine vaulted to the top of the medal table with a podium sweep in the men’s sprint vision-impaired event.

Gold medallist Vitalii Lukianenko hailed the win and sent a message of solidarity to the residents of Kharkiv, which has been under constant bombardment by Russian troops.

“I’m really proud that we have the Ukrainian podiums today, because it’s really important for our country… also, I want to say hello to all my relatives who are in Kharkiv now. Please be strong,” said Lukianenko following his fifth Paralympic medal.

“I want to dedicate this medal to the guys who protect our cities. Not only on the borders of the country, but on the borders of the city they protect us, and I dedicate this medal to them.”

Russian and Belarusian athletes earlier this week were banned from the Games by the International Paralympic Committee over the full-scale invasion, for which Belarus has been a key staging area.

Oksana Shyshkova, the women’s sprint champion in the visually-impaired category, added that medals were meaningless when seen in the context of people suffering and cities ravaged by war.

“I just want peace for Ukraine. I hope everything will be calm and peaceful because I worry a lot about the situation in Ukraine… medals mean nothing compared to the lives of relatives and people.”

(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal; Editing by Hugh Lawson)