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Is Trump Setting Mike Pence Up To Be The Fall Guy?

Mike Pence

Mike Pence
L-R Donald Trump, VP Mike Pence (image: public domain/Flickr)
Donald Trump is really setting Mike Pence up as the fall guy for his failure to secure a second term as president. Trump falsely announced on Tuesday that his number two “has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.” Last night in Georgia at a campaign rally for the two Republican senatorial candidates, he told the crowd of supporters “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you. Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him as much.” Think how Trump’s supporters will feel about Pence (who probably was considering a 2024 run for the White House) if he doesn’t “come through” for Trump and somehow flip the election results. The Vice President has no such power to pick and choose which slate of electors from a state to count on January 6 at the joint session of Congress.

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Berlin’s Terri Nunn Apologizes For NYE Mar-A-Lago Performance

Terri Nunn of Berlin

Terri Nunn of Berlin
Terri Nunn of Berlin (photo via Facebook)
Terri Nunn, lead singer for 80s band Berlin, has penned an apology for performing at Donald Trump’s New Year’s Eve super-spreader event at Mar-a-Lago. On the band’s Facebook page she writes:

I am truly sorry I performed at Mar-a-Lago and would not have done so if I’d known what I learned while I was there. My goal in performing was not to support a political party. I see now that that’s not the way it appeared and I am apologetic for that as well.

The contract stated it was a small Covid-safe event for the members of Mar-a-Lago. Unfortunately it was not Covid-safe anywhere in Florida. I had no idea masks and social distancing were not required. I thought I was current on all Covid news everywhere, but clearly I was not.

I was shocked by Florida and Mar-a-Lago’s lack of regard for the pandemic and if I’d known I would never have gone. Once I fulfilled my contractual obligation, I left the event as quickly as I could. It is a mistake I regret. I took a Covid 19 test yesterday and tested negative. My apologies to those in the LGBTQ community who thought my performance was a statement against them. I have been and always will be fully supportive.

I’m not sure how you could perform at Trump’s own party and not see how it could be considered some kind of stamp of approval for him and his woeful policies. But the apology was direct and without qualifications, so I give her that. Berlin's Terri Nunn apologizes for performing at Donald Trump's NYE event

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EMTs Told Not To Bring COVID Patients To Hospitals If Survival Chances Are Low

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

A man wearing a face mask to improve his survival chances against COVID-19 Things are getting even worse in Los Angeles in regard to the coronavirus pandemic. EMTs are being told to assess the survival chances of a patient before bringing them to a hospital where resources are growing thin. From the Washington Post:

First responders in Los Angeles County have been told not to bring patients to hospitals if their survival chances are low, as health-care workers try to dig out from a deluge of covid-19 patients.

More than 128,000 people across the United States were hospitalized with covid-19 on Monday, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. That number is a record and represents an increase of 2,800 patients in a single day.

The L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency issued a directive Monday that ambulance crews should conserve oxygen by administering it only to patients who have oxygen saturation levels below 90%.

To reduce demand on hospitals, the agency recently issued memos directing ambulance staff not to transfer to hospitals most patients who have virtually no chance of survival.

People who require hospitalization are reportedly waiting over 8 hours in ambulances before being admitted. Related: Trump Didn’t Want People Tested For COVID Unless Vomiting In ER

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News Round-Up: January 4, 2021

Screen capture from Brokeback Mountain

Screen capture from Brokeback Mountain
Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (screen capture)
Some news items you might have missed: • Out Magazine: The author of Brokeback Mountain says she wishes she’d never written the story because so many people now pen fan fiction based on the characters attempting to give ‘Ennis’ and ‘Jack’ a happy ending. • Acadiana Advocate: Nineteen-year-old Holden White is lucky to have survived a Grindr date gone horribly wrong during which he was strangled, stabbed, hit in the head, and nearly had his hands sawed off. • BosGuy: The new year is here and so is the 2021 Warwick Rowers calendar (below).
The 2021 Warwick Rowers calendar is here
(image via BosGuy)
• Associated Press: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a new 6-week lockdown for England in an attempt to get the new quickly spreading variant of the coronavirus under control. Under the new rules, schools and colleges will be closed for face to face learning except for the children of key workers and vulnerable pupils; all nonessential services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services. • KFOR News: An Oklahoma City gar bar has been vandalized with food two nights in a row. • Right Wing Watch: Lin Wood, an attorney who has partnered with leaders of the “Stop the Steal” movement and has called on Trump to declare martial law and use the military to oversee a new election, charged on Twitter in the early hours of Monday morning, “I believe Chief Justice John Roberts & a multitude of powerful individuals worldwide are being blackmailed in a horrendous scheme involving rape & murder of children captured on videotape.”

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Failed GOP Candidate George Santos: Fiancé Was Fired For Attending Trump NYE Soiree

George Santos and his fiancé at Mar-a-Lago

George Santos and his fiancé at Mar-a-Lago
George Santos and his fiancé at Mar-a-Lago
George Santos, a failed gay GOP congressional candidate who lost his New York state race in November, says that his fiancé, a pharmacist, lost his job after the couple attended Donald Trump’s $1,000-per-head COVID-unsafe New Year’s Eve bash at Mar-a-Lago. Santos shared pics of himself and his fiancé at the soiree on his social media accounts but somehow blames the New York Times for the firing of his fiancé because the newspaper included a link to his Instagram posts from the party. Related: George Santos Was Married To A Woman While Living With Boyfriend? The Times had written the piece in regard to the flouting of Palm Beach County health guidelines during the pandemic. In the photos, Santos and his boo can be seen in formal attire and meeting folks from Trump’s orbit like Rudy Giuliani. George Santos meeting Rudy Giuliani Social media post shared by George Santos In a Facebook post, he claimed that the couple was forced to “leave our home this evening with our 4 dogs” due to the Times having reported on the party. Santos claimed that his fiancé, “a pharmacist who worked 12h/7 days shifts for 9 months was fired!” after the Times article. He added, “The violence against us is real,” although what violence he had faced was not clear.
Facebook post
(via Facebook)
Twitter was neither impressed nor sympathetic to the failed GOP candidate in his plight. Perhaps if he hadn’t shared the photos in the first place, no one would have seen them…?  

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All 10 Living Defense Secretaries Warn Against Using Military In Election Disputes

Defense Department

Photo of U.S. military service member
(image: public domain/WhiteHouse/Flickr)
All 10 living former U.S. defense secretaries – Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry, and Donald Rumsfeld – have penned an op-ed for the Washington Post saying involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory.

As former secretaries of defense, we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the U.S. armed forces and the Defense Department. Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party.

American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy. With one singular and tragic exception that cost the lives of more Americans than all of our other wars combined, the United States has had an unbroken record of such transitions since 1789, including in times of partisan strife, war, epidemics and economic depression. This year should be no exception.

Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.

Read the full op-ed at the Washington Post.

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Nurse Gets COVID, Raises $20K For Medical Bills, Then Heads Back To Parties?

Mike Schultz before and after COVID-19 in May 2020
(via Instagram)
You might remember Mike Schultz, a male nurse who got COVID last May after attending a circuit party, and shared photos of his drastic weight loss after weeks of battling the disease. At the time, Schultz told BuzzFeed News:

I knew what I thought going in [about the coronavirus]. I didn’t think it was as serious as it was until after things started happening. I thought I was young enough for it not to affect me, and I know a lot of people think that.

I wanted to show it can happen to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, have preexisting conditions or not. It can affect you.

A GoFundMe campaign was set up to assist with his medical recovery bills. The crowdfunding effort raised over $20,000 shattering the initial $15,000 goal. Mike Schultz scored over $20,000 in a GoFundMe campaign after contracting COVID-19 So, that might have been the end of the story – guy gets sick, fellow humans help him out – yay! Except it appears Schultz headed back to the party scene shortly after recovering. And he recently expressed his enthusiasm for the New Year’s events that were planned in Puerto Vallarta for the circuit gays. Mike Schultz was excited to head to Puerto Vallarta back in December Some on Twitter now say Schultz denies going to PV but it certainly got some folks riled up that a healthcare professional, who had gone through COVID-19 (and received $20K from folks via GoFundMe) would consider heading back to the circuit scene for seconds. In fact, the Instagram account GaysOverCovid, which has been highlighting irresponsible behavior by certain gays during the pandemic, has gotten under folks’ skin. This weekend some circuit gays were promoting a reward on the Facebook group CircuitBitch for anyone who could ‘out’ the person running GaysOverCovid. According to reports, though, the post has been removed at this time. Reward offered for outing GaysOverCovid Schultz apparently chimed in on the conversation saying he might have a lead on who GaysOverCovid might be. He also took his Instagram account private while adding, “Cyberbullying will not be tolerated.” Things that make you go ‘hmm…’ Schultz commented that he might have a lead as to who GaysOverCovid might be TheBearded_Nurse took his Instagram account private after being called out for heading back to the party circuit (h/t Instinct)

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Dr. Anthony Fauci On COVID-19: ‘The Deaths Are Real’

Dr. Anthony Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci on ‘This Week’ (screen capture)
During an appearance on ABC News’s This Week, Dr. Anthony Fauci shared that he did not foresee how the COVID-19 pandemic death toll in the United States would spin out to such high levels. Fauci pointed to indoor activities and holiday travel for aiding transmission of the virus. He also repeated his call for Americans to take public health precautions seriously if we ever hope to slow the current surge. From ABC News:

“To have 300,000 cases in a given day, and between two and 3,000 deaths a day is just terrible,” the nation’s top infectious disease expert told ABC’s “This Week” Co-anchor Martha Raddatz Sunday. “There’s no running away from the numbers, Martha. It’s something that we absolutely got to grasp and get our arms around and turn that inflection down by very intensive adherence to the public health measures, uniformly, throughout the country, with no exception.”

“The deaths are real deaths,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, when asked by Raddatz for his response to the president’s tweet. “All you need to do is go out into the trenches. Go to the hospitals and see what the health care workers are dealing with. They are under very stressful situations in many areas of the country. The hospital beds are stretched, people are running out of beds, running out of trained personnel who are exhausted.”

“That’s real,” he continued. “That’s not fake. That’s real.”

Just prior to Fauci’s appearance, Donald Trump tweeted (with no evidence) that the numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of infected persons and deaths in the country are “exaggerated.” That’s in spite of nearly every state reporting increased coronavirus infections nationwide. According to Johns Hopkins University COVID tracker, the U.S. this weekend surpassed 20 million reported cases of COVID-19, and the number of deaths has now exceeded 351,000 since the pandemic began 10 months ago.

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Trump To Georgia Officials: ‘Find 11,780 Votes’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump
Donald Trump (screen capture)
In an extraordinary phone call between Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find 11,780” so the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia could be reversed. The hour-long phone call was obtained by the Washington Post. From the Washington Post:

“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” he [Trump] said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”

Raffensperger responded: “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong.”

At another point, Trump said: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”

The rambling, at times incoherent conversation, offered a remarkable glimpse of how consumed and desperate the president remains about his loss, unwilling or unable to let the matter go and still believing he can reverse the results in enough battleground states to remain in office.

“There’s no way I lost Georgia,” Trump said, a phrase he repeated again and again on the call. “There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.”

You can listen to the excerpts below.

In addition to being harmful to our democratic process, Trump’s desperation is really very sad and pathetic. He continued his empty, baseless claims on Twitter, of course.