“Corey Lewandowski, Trump adviser who’s been working on efforts to bring lawsuits alleging illegal election activity in specific states, tested positive for COVID yesterday per a person briefed. Lewandowski had been in Philly for days and believes he contracted it there. He was at the White House election night party, but tested positive eight days later” reports NYT’s Maggie Haberman.

Remember before the election when hopeful incumbent presidential nominee Donald Trump claimed that he wanted a coronavirus aid package bigger than what the Democrats proposed?  “Go big or go home!” Trump tweeted.

According to Bloomberg, the White House has now completely withdrawn from negotiations with Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, dropping the responsibility for coming up with a relief package to Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Prior to the election, Trump pushed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to come to an agreement with Pelosi, saying that he would get Republicans in the Senate on board with any negotiated package.

Now, however, it seems he couldn’t give a damn. 

“REPORT: DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE. DATA ANALYSIS FINDS 221,000 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES SWITCHED FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP TO BIDEN. 941,000 TRUMP VOTES DELETED. STATES USING DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS SWITCHED 435,000 VOTES FROM TRUMP TO BIDEN.” @ChanelRion @OANN

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020

In another action demonstrating the Trump administration’s pettiness and unwillingness to accept the inevitable, the State Department is preventing President-elect Joe Biden from seeing messages sent by world leaders congratulating him on his election victory, CNN reports.

In a normal transition, the State Department acts as a clearinghouse for the president-elect, passing along messages that come through normal government channels to the incoming administration.  These are typically formal congratulations on the election victory and other diplomatic messages.

The Trump administration, however, has refused to accept the outcome of the election, and has therefore stalled the efforts of the transition to the Biden administration.  This includes refusing to pass these diplomatic messages on to Biden. 

White House spokesperson Kayleigh “Don’t Call Me Kelly” McEnany had a very curious response to a question from the “Fox & Friends” hosts about if President-elect Joe Biden should be getting Intel briefing now.

Binder Barbie said that that was a question the White House would have to answer.

Apparently, Kelly forgot that she’s the White House spokesperson.

https://youtu.be/asj7H25chw8

A federal appeals court has ruled that Harvard University did not intentionally discriminate against Asian American applicants in its admission process, dealing a blow to conservative attacks on universities who seek diversified student bodies, Politico reports.

In upholding the decision of the 1st District Court, the appeals court’s three-judge panel ruled that while race was a factor in determining admissions at the University,  it was a limited consideration and “is consistent with the requirements of Supreme Court precedent.”

Students For Fair Admissions, back by the Trump Department of Justice, claimed that Harvard had illegally discriminated against Asian Americans who had better test scores than others, particularly Black students, in the admission process.  The Trump Administration supported the lawsuit in an effort to overturn affirmative action practices. 

Politico: “Launching Kamala Harris into the White House as vice president come January has officially kicked off one of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s biggest political decisions: appointing California’s next U.S. senator. Many Newsom insiders insist that the governor wants to make a historic choice, making Secretary of State Alex Padilla a leading contender. If picked, Padilla, a longtime Newsom supporter, would become the first Latino senator in the state’s 170-year history.”

“The governor also has to contend with women’s groups who have also pressured him to fill Harris’ seat with another woman of color, putting Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, high on the list. Bass was on Joe Biden’s vice-presidential shortlist, and said recently that she’s keeping her options open with a new administration coming in. Other considerations include whether Harris’ replacement would be able to hold the seat at the end of her current term, which expires in two years — or if he should pick a ‘placeholder’ that would allow an even playing field given how someone may hold the seat for decades. Newsom said he is being lobbied day and night by Democrats, and joked they’re getting creative in attempting to get his attention. ‘You know there’s phone calls, there’s emails,’ he said. ‘People just happen to show up certain places. They want to babysit your kids, they offer to get groceries, get coffee.'”

Politico: “President Donald Trump is challenging the outcome of the Nov. 3 presidential election in several razor-thin battleground states, pushing for recounts and filing lawsuits that are very unlikely to overturn Joe Biden’s current leads. Faced with this prospect, some allies of the president are advocating, or beginning to whisper about, Republican state legislatures taking matters into their own hands and sending slates of Trump electors to Congress regardless of the vote count.”

“This is a poisonous idea that stands out as radical and destructive, even in a year when we’ve been debating court-packing and defunding the police. The best that can be said for it is that it is almost certainly a nonstarter, which doesn’t mean that it won’t get more oxygen. Donald Trump Jr. has pushed this option and Sen. Lindsey Graham, now bonded to Trump more firmly and completely than he was to the late Sen. John McCain, says ‘everything should be on the table.’ A conservative in the Pennsylvania House, Daryl Metcalfe, has declared, ‘Our Legislature must be prepared to use all constitutional authority to right the wrong.’ We may be one presidential tweet away from this gambit becoming orthodoxy for much of the Republican Party. There is no doubt that the state legislatures have enormous power in this area. Article 2 of the Constitution states that ‘each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.'”

It took long enough! What is taking North Carolina so long? Are they looking for more ballots to fix that one also? Now with a recount, we will win Georgia also. Pennsylvania & Michigan wouldn’t let our Poll Watchers & Observers into counting rooms. Illegal! https://t.co/TVTVv4s5Lx

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020

“Running for office in Brazil’s municipal elections this weekend are, in no particular order, Adilson Bolsonaro, Aldo Bolsonaro, Angela Bolsonaro, Fernanda Bolsonaro, Zezinho Bolsonaro, Junior Bolsonaro, Maclaiten Bolsonaro, Cabo Ramos Bolsonaro and Wesley Bolsonaro.”

“None of them are related to the Bolsonaro – the president, Jair – and in fact none of them are actually even named Bolsonaro. But in a sign of just how wildly popular his Trump-ian brand of conservative politics is in many parts of the Brazilian hinterland, scores of candidates are tacking Bolsonaro onto their registered names appearing on ballots this Sunday. In all, more than 70 politicians have adopted it. There’s nothing illegal about borrowing a celebrity’s name to create a political nickname in Brazil. There’s a long tradition of it here, a country where politics often have a certain zany flair to them. Lula – as the leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was known to everyone – was a popular one years ago, and to this day appears on a smattering of ballots across the country. There’s nothing illegal about borrowing a celebrity’s name to create a political nickname in Brazil. There’s a long tradition of it here, a country where politics often have a certain zany flair to them. Lula – as the leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was known to everyone – was popular years ago, and still appears on a smattering of ballots across the country” – Bloomberg.

Reuters: “The largest law firm representing the Trump campaign or its allies in post-election litigation challenging votes in key states has withdrawn from an election lawsuit in Maricopa County, Arizona. Associate Presiding Civil Judge Daniel Kiley on Tuesday granted Snell & Wilmer’s request to withdraw as counsel of record for the Republican National Committee. The RNC had teamed-up with the Trump campaign and the Arizona Republican Party in the case, which alleges that Maricopa County incorrectly rejected some votes cast on Election Day. Snell & Wilmer partners Brett Johnson and Eric Spencer first moved to withdraw on Sunday, a day after the case was filed. Johnson and Spencer did not respond to requests for comment. Snell & Wilmer chairman Matthew Feeney said the firm doesn’t comment on its client work.”

“President Trump has told friends he wants to start a digital media company to clobber Fox News and undermine the conservative-friendly network, sources tell Axios. ‘He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it,’ said a source with detailed knowledge of Trump’s intentions.”

“Here’s Trump’s plan, according to the source: There’s been lots of speculation about Trump starting a cable channel. But getting carried on cable systems would be expensive and time-consuming. Instead, Trump is considering a digital media channel that would stream online, which would be cheaper and quicker to start. Trump’s digital offering would likely charge a monthly fee to MAGA fans. Many are Fox News viewers, and he’d aim to replace the network — and the $5.99-a-month Fox Nation streaming service, which has an 85% conversation rate from free trials to paid subscribers — as their top destination. Trump’s database of email and cellphone contacts would be a huge head start. Trump’s lists are among the most valuable in politics — especially his extensive database of cellphone numbers for text messages. Axios is told told Trump may use vote-count rallies to undercut Fox. ‘He’s going to spend a lot of time slamming Fox,’ the source said” – Axios.

Bloomberg: “It’s fashionable to think that, just like his former boss, President Barack Obama, president-elect Joe Biden is inheriting a damaged economy that will struggle to recover, perhaps for years. The reality is quite the opposite, with Biden stepping into a dream scenario for economic growth on the other side of the battle with the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“There is nothing fundamentally ‘broken’ in the economy that needs to heal. And unlike the last two cycles, there was no obvious financial bubble driving excessive activity in any one economic sector when the pandemic hit. There is no excessive investment that needs to be unwound and the financial sector has escaped largely unharmed. The indiscriminate nature of the shutdowns this past spring provides the economy with a solid base from which to grow. The economy collapsed in the spring because in the effort to get ahead of the virus, we shut down about a third of the economy on an annualized basis. That created a lot of opportunity to rebound when the unnecessary causalities of the shutdown came back online and began to grow around the virus. That process will continue.”

“President Trump is lashing out at the Food and Drug Administration following a disclosure Monday that an experimental coronavirus vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is more than 90 percent effective, convinced the timing — six days after Election Day — proves the ‘medical deep state’ deliberately tried to sabotage his electoral prospects by delaying the results. Shortly after Trump heard the news Monday, he demanded Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar ‘get to the bottom’ of what happened with Pfizer, according to a senior White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the president’s actions” reports the Washington Post.

“Trump’s anger at the FDA raises fresh questions about whether Hahn will hang on to his job until Jan. 20 — when Trump leaves office — in an administration intent on purging officials deemed insufficiently loyal. Trump called Hahn shortly before he tweeted Monday and was ‘screaming at him’ about the Pfizer announcement, in the words of one senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive matters. The accusations against the FDA may further fuel baseless conspiracy theories that the election was stolen from Trump.”

Axios: “The Trump administration’s fight to question the election’s outcome is providing a massive field test of the effectiveness of online echo chambers and filter bubbles. So far, the evidence from the Trump universe shows partisan delusion winning out over objective reality. That belief may be fast on its way to becoming GOP orthodoxy. A full 86% of Trump voters polled Nov. 8 to 10 didn’t believe Joe Biden had legitimately won, the Economist and YouGov found. ‘Filter bubbles’ and ‘echo chambers’ are both names for the idea that partisans use the internet to create preferred alternate versions of truth, tuning in to strident voices on their side and ignoring contradictory information.”

“Social networks and cable news networks show users material that aligns with their worldviews, and users in turn seek out public figures and communities to reinforce those views. If millions of citizens finish the year believing — without proof or even evidence — that the rightful leader of the nation has been deposed in a coup, the U.S. could face long-term instability and a deepening crisis of legitimacy.”

The new National Museum of the US Army opened Wednesday, Veterans Day, celebrating the history of the oldest US military force in the nation, according to the Associated Press.

The museum features items such as a sword used in the defense of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, a Sherman Tank that fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, and a wristwatch recovered from the wreckage of the Pentagon after the 9/11 attacks, stopped at the moment the plane hit the building.

The museum does not back away from some of the unseemly deeds undertaken in war, featuring some war crimes and controversies committed by members of the Army.

“We don’t shy away from the more sensitive subjects the Army’s been involved in,” Paul Morando, chief of exhibits at the museum, said. “We mention My Lai. We mention Abu Ghraib. We mention Wounded Knee. These events are put out in a factual way for the public to interpret or learn more about, but we do not ignore those subjects.”

In an incredible exchange, conservative pundit and alleged minister Mike Huckabee claimed that President-elect Joe Biden supported abortion “up until the moment of birth and beyond”–in other words, infantcide–prompting Fox News host Laura Ingraham to abruptly stop the interview and cut to commercial.

https://youtu.be/hENWYoY-BBw

(Forgive the sound and the shakiness.  I filmed this off my television with my phone.)

Decision Desk HQ Projects Biden (D) Has Won The State Of AZ And Its 11 Electoral Votes

Race Called At 10:29 PM EST

All Results: https://t.co/7CxbLsQ3gY

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 12, 2020

Decision Desk becomes the third outlet calling the race for Biden.  Both the Associated Press and Fox News called the race on Election Night.

Unveiled Wednesday, Veterans Day, during a virtual ceremony, the National Native American Veterans Memorial was unveiled Wednesday, Veterans Day, to honor the tens of thousands of Native peoples who served in the US military over the centuries, NPR reports.

Native peoples, be they American Indian, Inuit or Hawaiian, serve in the US military at a greater proportion than any other American racial or ethnic group.