Former President Barack Obama Who wants to hear a president who speaks in complete sentences and sounds sane? Via CBS News:
In his first television interview since the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President, former President Barack Obama sits down with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King to discuss the first volume of his memoirs, “A Promised Land.”
He talks about the enormous opposition he experienced as he entered the White House; the impact of his political career on his family; and why he campaigned for his former vice president – and spoke out so vociferously against his successor, President Donald Trump.
Donald Trump (screen capture) Donald Trump seemed to acknowledge that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. had indeed won the presidential election (as projected by nearly all major news outlets including Fox News), but then U-turned dispatching a new tweet that read, “I concede NOTHING!” This is just the latest in Trump’s woefully embarrassing behavior in light of his loss to Biden. From the New York Times:
His first tweet came Sunday morning at 7:47. Referring to Mr. Biden, the president said that “he won.” That represented the first time Mr. Trump had publicly said what his advisers have been telling him for days privately: His re-election bid failed and Mr. Biden will be inaugurated on Jan. 20.
After a flurry of tweets and news reports about his “concession,” Mr. Trump insisted that he had been misunderstood.
At 9:16, he insisted falsely: “RIGGED ELECTION. WE WILL WIN!” And three minutes later, he wrote that Mr. Biden “only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!”
Even though Republican Attorneys General and Republican Governors in the final battleground states have assured the public there’s been no evidence of the ‘widespread voter fraud’ Trump continues to allege, he continues. #sad Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic rages on with no president attending to the issue as more than 1,000 Americans are dying on average each day. From the Washington Post:
Since Election Day and for weeks prior, Trump has all but ceased to actively manage the deadly pandemic, which so far has killed at least 244,000 Americans, infected at least 10.9 million and choked the country’s economy.
The president has not attended a coronavirus task force meeting in “at least five months,” said one senior administration official with knowledge of the meetings who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share candid details.
He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!
As per election officials all over the nation, it was the most secure election in history. Biden WON in a landslide both in terms of the popular vote (by nearly 6 million) and the electoral college (306 to 232).
Pres has departed the WH, probably to play golf. Before leaving, he was tweeting, more adamant than ever, that “election was rigged, we will win,” and “I concede nothing.”
Conor Climo (screen capture) Regular readers may recall I reported on a 20-something white supremacist who had been “self-patrolling” my own Las Vegas neighborhood last year. He was arrested in August 2019 after telling an undercover FBI agent he planned to firebomb a Las Vegas gay bar or synagogue. The young man, Conor Climo, has now been sentenced to two years in prison. Now 24-years-old, he will receive credit for time served since his arrest and will then be bound to home confinement for six months with electronic monitoring. Federal prosecutors had originally requested a 30-month prison sentence. From Edge Media:
“I was truly wrong for all of this,” Climo said. “I even have come to really regret everything, everything that I was involved with.”
The judge gave Climo credit for the jail time he already has served since his August 2019 arrest and agreed to recommend that he serves his prison time in Louisiana, near grandparents whom he plans to live with after his release.
Defense attorney Paul Riddle said his client is grateful that FBI agents arrested him when they did because he knows that he was on a “very dark path.”
“But he’s not on that path anymore, and he’s the not same person that was arrested,” Riddle said.
The FBI said it began investigating Climo in April 2019 after learning of his encrypted internet chats with members of Feuerkrieg Division, an international offshoot of a U.S.-based neo-Nazi group called Atomwaffen Division. Climo told FBI agents that he joined Feuerkrieg Division but left because he “became bored with the group and their inaction,” according to a court filing.
Climo pleaded guilty to a firearm charge after discussing his bombing plans with an FBI agent and informant. In searching his home, authorities found multiple rifles and bomb components.
As the full recount of Georgia’s nearly five million votes continues (where Joe Biden holds a 14,000 vote lead), Donald Trump is having a full-on Twitter meltdown:
The hand recount taking place in Georgia is a waste of time. They are not showing the matching signatures. Call off the recount until they allow the MATCH. Don’t let the Radical Left Dems STEAL THE ELECTION!
.@FoxNews and the Fake News Networks aren’t showing these massive gatherings. Instead they have their reporters standing in almost empty streets. We now have SUPPRESSION BY THE PRESS. MAGA! https://t.co/RMOa4jKZwA
There is tremendous evidence of wide spread voter fraud in that there is irrefutable proof that our Republican poll watchers and observers were not allowed to be present in poll counting rooms. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and others. Unconstitutional!
Hmmm….Trump and his media allies called for all his supporters to come to Wash DC and all they came was a few thousand at best. Really makes you wonder if Trump legitimately got 70 plus million votes. Just saying,,,#MarchForTrump#MAGAMillionMarch
Peter Porte and Juan Pablo Di Pace in Dashing in December (screen capture/Paramount) This really is the year of the gay Christmas movie! I’ve previously reported on several holiday romance flicks coming our way including the Sony Pictures film Happiest Season premiering on Hulu, as well as Lifetime’s The Christmas Setup and Hallmark’s The Christmas House. And now, there’s a gay cowboy Christmas rom-com on the way –Dashing in December– that looks to be a cross between God’s Own Country and Brokeback Mountain but with a much lighter touch and a whole lot more tinsel. Official synopsis: When Wyatt Burwall (Peter Porte) finally returns home for the holidays in an effort to convince his mother Deb (Andie MacDowell) to sell the family’s Colorado ranch, a romance unexpectedly ignites between Wyatt and their dashing new ranch hand Heath Ramos (Juan Pablo Di Pace), who dreams of saving the beloved property and the ranch’s magical Winter Wonderland attraction while reawakening the spirit of Christmas in Wyatt’s lonely heart. Dashing in December, from MTV Studios, will debut on Paramount TV on December 13 with simulcasts on TV Land, Pop, and Logo.
Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain) One of the Trump campaign’s big ‘hail Mary’ moves is to try and flip the results of the presidential election by encouraging Republican-controlled state legislatures to disenfranchise voters in their states by picking members of the Electoral College that would vote for Trump instead of the Joe Biden for their state. But GOP leaders in key states flipped by Joe Biden in this election cycle have told the Associated Press they have no plans to subvert state laws.
State GOP lawmakers in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all said they would not intervene in the selection of electors, who ultimately cast the votes that secure a candidate’s victory. Such a move would violate state law and a vote of the people, several noted.
“I do not see, short of finding some type of fraud — which I haven’t heard of anything — I don’t see us in any serious way addressing a change in electors,” said Rusty Bowers, Arizona’s Republican House speaker, who says he’s been inundated with emails pleading for the legislature to intervene. “They are mandated by statute to choose according to the vote of the people.”
The idea loosely involves GOP-controlled legislatures dismissing Biden’s popular vote wins in their states and opting to select Trump electors.
Team Trump was probably hoping that such ploys would become entangled in legal rabble-rousing that would end up at the Supreme Court where the Donald’s handpicked conservative justices might hand him a win. In related news, the Washington Post reports “two prominent law firms have sought to withdraw from representing the Trump legal effort in Arizona and Pennsylvania.”
‘Map daddy’ Steve Kornacki (screen capture) Some news items you might have missed: • LA Times: MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki – dubbed ‘map daddy’ or ‘chart-throb’ due to his 2020 election count performance – has so inspired millions his regular go-to khakis have surged 90 percent in sales at the GAP. • Pink News: Poland’s ugly war against LGBTQ people continues with a horrifying new bill that would ban Pride parades throughout the country. The proposed law, entitled “Stop LGBT”, would ban Pride parades as well as any other public gatherings that “promote” queer identities. #StopTheHate • New York Daily News: Donald Trump’s favorite rapper, Lil’ Pump, shared a campaign rally stage with the Donald just before the election to show his support. But it turns out the 20-year-old (who posted a video on Instagram to his 17-million followers declaring “All I gotta say is Trump 2020, b-tch!”) didn’t bother to even register to vote. The video is no longer online. • Christmas Music: Australian pop star Delta Goodrem surprised fans with a new Christmas album titled Santa Only Knows complete with a gorgeous guitar-driven duet with international superstar Olivia Newton-John, “Merry Christmas to You.”
• Axios: Donald Trump has told friends he wants to start a digital media company to clobber Fox News and undermine the conservative-friendly network, sources tell me. Some Trump advisers say Fox News enraged Trump by making an early call (seconded by AP) of a Joe Biden win in Arizona. “He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it” said a source.. • The Hill: Prosecutors in the case over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery earlier this year presented the court on Thursday with racist text messages and social media posts from one of the two white men who fatally shot him while he was jogging in Brunswick, Ga. • KDKA: A federal appeals court in Philadelphia on Friday rejected an effort to block about 9,300 ballots that arrived after Election Day. The three-judge panel, led by Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Brooks Smith, ruled “that the lawfully cast vote of every citizen must count.” The ruling involves the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision to accept mail-in ballots that arrived by Friday, Nov. 6, three days after the close of polling places.
BREAKING NEWS: A federal appeals court in Pennsylvania has rejected a Republican-led effort to block about 9,300 ballots that were postmarked by Nov. 3, but arrived after Election Day. https://t.co/0uxGfmTo0l
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito (screen capture) While delivering the keynote speech at the Federalist Society’s convention last night, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito surprised some by going full-on anti-same-sex marriage by openly criticizing the high court’s 2015 Obergefell ruling. The Federal Society is the ulra-conservative organization that, among other things, has advised and recommended all three of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court picks. From HuffPost:
Alito condemned the landmark same-sex marriage decision Obergefell v. Hodges, saying it has led to censorship of people who believe is “a union of one man and one woman.” He suggested it meant that freedom of speech is “falling out of favor in some circles.”
“You can’t say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Until very recently, that’s what the vast majority of Americans thought. Now it’s considered bigotry,” Alito said.
“That this would happen after our decision in Obergefell should not have come as a surprise,” he added. “Yes, the opinion of the court included words meant to calm the fears of those who cling to traditional views of marriage. But I could see, and so did the other justices in dissent, where the decision would lead.”
First of all, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word bigotry as “obstinate or intolerant devotion to one’s own opinions and prejudices.” So, “clinging” to one’s own views without considering those of others pretty much falls under that definition. And, as HuffPost points out, “people can still freely express opposition to same-sex marriage, just as their critics can freely call them ‘bigots.'” Alito also criticized governors for issuing “sweeping restrictions” in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which is currently surging in nearly every state in the union.
Here is Justice Alito complaining that the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision has crushed the free speech of anti-LGBTQ advocates. pic.twitter.com/0eH9QsxMTU
Alito's position is literally "You can't be mad at people for saying you are less-than and shouldn't have rights. Please respect their right to try and deny you yours." pic.twitter.com/kDDobb9ond
Alito's position is literally "You can't be mad at people for saying you are less-than and shouldn't have rights. Please respect their right to try and deny you yours." pic.twitter.com/kDDobb9ond
Milahroy in ‘Cool’ (all images via artist) Woofy out singer/songwriter Milahroy premieres his latest music video, “Cool,” complete with danger, drama, and sexy, furry goodness. Milahroy describes the introspective pop/rock track (featuring theLMNOP & rapper KTLYN) as “a West Coast-inspired ode to our best intentions and the facade of perfection because no one lies better than we do to ourselves.” The indie artist thoughtfully explains the song exists “somewhere between hubris and doubt.” The track is a pop music earworm that lands right at the sonic corner of ‘current’ and ‘now’ with pensive lyrics in search of our hero’s questioning psyche.
Tangled up in my excuses, Trippin on my shadowGettin used to feeling useless, Shadows grow when light’s low
In advance of the new release, I chatted with the talented artist about the new single, confronting doubts and inner demons, and remembering to let life happen. https://youtu.be/88LqHm46kiU?si=CUODdoCcSL1hXjE6
The Randy Report: Congratulations on the new single and music video, “Cool.” Dark, edgy, and mysterious – you had me at go. What was the inspiration behind the song?
Milahroy: Thank you! I used to beat myself up a lot, mentally. It wasn’t a healthy coping mechanism and I’ve been trying to be more gentle with myself. This song captures the backlash of working on and with yourself. Sometimes, you betray yourself and it hurts. It’s a trip & will probably last a lifetime but I take pride in coming this far.
“COOL” embodies one confronting their doubts and inner demons.
TRR: In translating the track to video, where did the concept come from? What do you want folks to take away from the musical journey?
Milahroy: A new friend of mine, Patrick McPheron (Interior State), who directed the video, really helped capture the vibe of this tune and where I wanted it to go visually. The concept reflects the inspiration of this track: being held hostage by one’s own insecurities and doubts.
I want folks to understand we all fall victim to lying to ourselves and for what? The facade of perfection? With today’s standards of how we “should be”, we start to lose focus on who we want to be or even simply who we truly are.
TRR: In August, you released “D.F.O” which rocks a very different vibe. It’s totally catchy and sounds like the Monkees made a hit record with the B-52s in the year 2020. In other words, it’s awesome. Tell me about it.
Milahroy: Thank you so much for the compliment. I’m a huge fan of those artists. “Love Shack” is one of my favorite tunes off my summer playlist. so I love that reference!
“D.F.O.,” short for Don’t Freak Out (it’s been wild to hear what people think it stands for), is a song I wrote with Jessie Shapiro & Rob Shore (theLMNOP). Creating problems is a common theme I’ve seen in myself and friends, this song is a good wave of joy taking you out and reminding you sometimes you just need to let life happen and trust the universe.
https://youtu.be/AqZe9oqlYIA?si=_dlHZq-njaoxBA6h TRR: In 2018, you released an EP titled ‘Thoughts in Sound’ under the artist name RØY – what does the shift to Milahroy mean for you? Change in sound? Change in perspective?
Milahroy: Ah! Yes! 2020 has really warped my sense of time so two years ago feels like a lifetime away.
I was thinking of a new name to represent this new image and new shift in my life and while a friend and I were walking down Hollywood Blvd., I had a spark of inspiration.. and Milahroy came to fruition.
Milahroy is my birth name flipped on its head. The first half is my Muslim surname spelled in reverse which butts up against my first name. This all represents my internal reflection on my family’s spiritual history, my own personal truth and the internal changes I’ve had to make in order to accept them both into my heart with love and honesty.
The shift feels massive – it created this identity for me. It’s almost as if I was able to take the reins of this alter ego that’s still myself, leaving a small town to pursue my dreams. It was like a new part of my self was born. I sometimes want to be a diva and introduce myself as Myla! Ha!
TRR: What do you do outside of music that contributes to your creativity?
Milahroy: I don’t think there’s an easy way to answer this question, everything contributes to my creativity including all of my travels across the country, the people and friends I interact with on a daily basis, the beautiful imagery I see around me every day to the dark corners of my inner and outer world but on a personal level I’m a very introspective person so I’ve been practicing having gratitude for the little things in life. A lot of my practice has to do with sitting in stillness, journaling, and doing my best to live in the present moment. Allowing for me to really channel my thoughts & emotions into my music.
TRR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Milahroy: Great question.. when moving to LA the best advice I’ve received was to stay persistent and to get comfortable hearing “no.” It’s so easy to get distracted in this big city, so reminding myself to stay focused and to remember where I came from has really helped me. If you were to tell me 10 years ago I would be moving to LA to pursue music, I would’ve laughed and whipped my Bieber Fever locks in your face. Lol.
TRR: What’s next?
Milahroy: A similar-sounding EP, then another completely different sounding EP, and followed by a studio album. I’m sitting on a lot of beautiful music with different characters and plots, different emotions, ideas, and themes. I’m just trying to hear and feel what works and I’m beginning to realize I’m the kind of artist who wants to connect with people and have the people take the time to process and reflect on themselves with these sounds.
(graphic via MSNBC) And the final two states have been projected in the 2020 presidential election. Multiple news outlets have projected President-elect Joe Biden will win Georgia, and as expected, Donald Trump will win North Carolina. Biden is the first Democrat to win Georgia in 28 years and the first non-southern Democrat to win the state in 60 years. Biden wins 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. In 2016, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway called Trump’s win with 306 electoral votes a “massive landslide” and “historic.” Trump would repeat that claim many, many times.
CNN PROJECTION: President-elect Joe Biden wins Georgia, flipping the traditionally red state, and Donald Trump wins North Carolina. This brings the final electoral vote tally to 306 for Biden and 232 for Trump https://t.co/A6zhdqRxV6#CNNElectionpic.twitter.com/2VCXWD2UhH
Breaking News: President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia, a major victory for Democrats, and President Trump took North Carolina. The results do not affect the overall election outcome. https://t.co/SSIFp1hDOdpic.twitter.com/tF2KjmZm10
The last two states of the 2020 election have been called 🇺🇸 Joe Biden wins Georgia — while Trump wins North Carolina, giving President-elect Biden 306 electoral votes to 232 for Trump https://t.co/vhp5nBI14Ypic.twitter.com/XUbSwhIyoj
From the 
