Saturday, November 14, 2020

Lawrence: ‘It’s All Over’ for William Barr & Donald Trump | The Last Word | MSNBC

Lawrence O’Donnell explains how Donald Trump’s remarks in the Rose Garden show that the president knows his administration is coming to an end on January 20. Aired on 11/13/2020.

Mary Trump on Her Uncle’s Loss

The niece of President Trump and author of "Too Much and Never Enough" Mary Trump texted me saying, “consider yourself lucky that you’re not out on the golf course with him right now.” So we decided to have a chat on Instagram Live. We chatted about the President’s reaction and how the next 74 days will unfold.

Friday, November 13, 2020

Democracy

It's time for Republicans to put America first.

Sainsbury’s Christmas Ad 2014

Is this, perhaps, one of the very best Christmas ads ever made? In my opinion, this year’s Christmas ads from the nation’s major supermarkets don’t hold the candle to this great ad by Sainsbury’s. This advertisement has everything: it is Christmassy, it represents the true spirit of Christmas, it is moving, and it is extremely well made. A wonderful advert! This is going to be very difficult to improve upon. It is timeless.

Elton John - Something About The Way You Look Tonight

"Directed by Tim Royes, the music video for The Big Picture’s first single features supermodels Alek Wek, Kate Moss, and Sophie Dahl. 'Something About The Way You Look Tonight' peaked at #1 in over 20 countries as the double-A side single with 'Candle In The Wind 1997'".

Downing Street Denies Internal Crisis Has Harmed Brexit Talks

THE GUARDIAN: Senior French and EU figures claim infighting at No 10 has delayed chances of deal

Downing Street has been forced to deny Boris Johnson has lost control of the Brexit negotiations as French ministers warn of weeks more talks amid “upheaval” in London, and senior Brussels figures claim the chaos had led to a standstill.

France’s minister for EU affairs, Clément Beaune, appeared downbeat on Friday about the chances of an imminent breakthrough on a UK-EU deal.

There has been scant progress in the last week of the trade and security talks, while No 10 has been shaken by infighting that led to the news that Dominic Cummings would be quitting as the prime minister’s chief adviser. » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels, Jon Henley in Paris and Peter Walker in London | Friday, November 13, 2020

Trump Is Bashing Fox News on Twitter as Pandemic Rages

CNN's Brian Stelter explains how President Donald Trump's relationship with Fox News is changing following the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Corona-Krise: Schweden ist auf dem Weg in eine dunkle Zeit

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Schweden war stolz auf den eigenen Weg in der Corona-Krise. Jetzt steigen die Infektions- und Totenzahlen deutlich. Der Ministerpräsident stimmt die Bürger auf schwere Zeiten ein – und weicht immer mehr vom bisherigen Kurs ab.

Stefan Löfven hat klare Worte gewählt. Als der schwedische Ministerpräsident in Stockholm vor die Presse trat, hatte er Grundsätzliches zu sagen. Es sei November, begann er, der dunkelste Monat des Jahres, die Dunkelheit werde noch eine Weile bleiben, „und leider scheinen wir uns auch auf dunklere Zeiten zuzubewegen, wenn es um die Ausbreitung von Infektionen in Teilen der Welt, in Europa und in Schweden geht“.

Alle Anzeichen gingen in eine unerwünschte, falsche Richtung. Es bestehe die Gefahr, dass die Situation „völlig dunkel“ werde, sagte er. „Wir riskieren, dass mehr Menschen krank werden, mehr Menschen sterben“, dass es mehr überarbeitete Menschen im Gesundheitswesen gebe und mehr Operationen verschoben würden. Es war Mittwochnachmittag und auch den letzten Schweden sollte nach seiner Rede klargeworden sein, dass die Lage im Königreich sehr ernst ist. » | Von Matthias Wyssuwa, Hamburg | Donnerstag, 12. November 2020

McEnany's Answer Stuns Cooper: That's Next Level Stuff

CNN's Anderson Cooper discusses the lack of action from President Donald Trump and his White House administration days after the election results and reacts to a White House press secretary's reaction to the situation.

'Dejected' Trump Waffles over Waging Baseless Election Fight

CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports on President Trump's attitude and strategy days after President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

South African Activist Kumi Naidoo: Trump Is Attempting a Coup to Install Minority Rule

We continue to look at the world’s response to the U.S. election with South African activist Kumi Naidoo, a global ambassador for Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity, former secretary general of Amnesty International and former head of Greenpeace. Naidoo says President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden is good news, but notes that the world lost four crucial years to tackle the climate crisis and other issues because of the Trump administration. “This is a relief, but it is not something for us to — at this stage, anyway — celebrate with any great enthusiasm,” he says.

Why Ex-CIA Chief Is More Worried about Trump Now

Former CIA Director John Brennan tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer why he's more worried now than he has been during the past four years of President Trump's administration.

Debate - What Could Trump Do in Next 76 Days- And Is He a 'Flight Risk'?

We’re joined by Timothy Snyder - professor of history at Yale University. His latest book analyses what he calls "America's turn towards authoritarianism" under Donald Trump.

Democracy Now! : Top US & World Headlines — November 12, 2020

The Invasion - The Outbreak of World War II

This extra-long episode reconstructs how Hitler's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 triggered a chain of events sparking a global conflagration. Hitler’s Poland Campaign unleashed a “Blitzkrieg” lasting six weeks only. However, it was a war of unprecedented brutality resulting in a tremendous suffering of the Polish people in the long run. Sheds light on some of their lives telling almost forgotten stories.

Lawrence: ‘Donald Trump’s Silence Is His Concession Speech’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

Lawrence O’Donnell explains why Donald Trump’s silence is the silence of a man who is terrified of what his life will become on January 20th. Aired on 11/11/2020.

Decoded: Saudi Food Wars

US Election: Gulf Arab Leaders Face New Reality after Biden Victory

BBC: "You'll have to forgive me if I seem a little distracted," said the Saudi ambassador to the UK as his eyes flicked towards his mobile phone. "I'm keeping an eye on the results coming in from Wisconsin."

That was eight days ago, when we still did not know who would be in the White House in January.

When Joe Biden was declared the winner, the Saudi leadership in Riyadh took rather longer to respond than they did when Donald Trump was elected.

This is hardly surprising: they had just lost a friend at the top table.

Mr Biden's victory could now have far-reaching consequences for Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states.

The US strategic partnership with the region goes back to 1945 and it will likely endure, but changes are coming and they will not all be welcome in Gulf capitals. » | Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent | Thursday, November 12, 2020

Loser: Donald Trump Derided Defeat – Now He Must Live with It

THE GUARDIAN: What was once the president’s go-to insult now unequivocally applies to him, as his record of failure finally catches up with him

In the Manichean world of Donald Trump, there is one epithet more pathetic than any other: loser. He has used the term when describing fellow Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain, critics such as Cher, his friend Roger Stone, and even American fallen heroes who died fighting for their country in France in 1918. Now he joins their ranks. He will forever carry around his neck the yoke of the one-term president, a burden shouldered in the last 40 years by just two other men – George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter.

To make his humiliation complete, Trump lost to someone he denigrated as“ the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics”. But in the end, after a nail-biting vote count, Joe Biden proved himself to be a more worthy opponent than that, albeit by a thinner margin than polls predicted.

In 2016 Trump was a curiosity – the outsider who promised to take Washington by storm, the real estate magnate who said he would drain the swamp, the self-proclaimed billionaire who wouldn’t reveal his tax returns but would be the champion of “forgotten Americans”. » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Wednesday, November 11, 2020


Trump’s Post-Election Tactics Put Him in Unsavory Company »

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Keilar: Trump Denying Transition and Installing Loyalists Is Dangerous

CNN's Brianna Keilar breaks down the danger of President Trump's team refusing to begin the transition for President-elect Joe Biden and Trump firing key people in the administration to replace them with loyalists.

Trump's Handling of the Transition Is 'Innapropriate' and 'Reckless' | Andrea Mitchell | MSNBC

William Cohen, former Republican senator and Secretary of Defense to President Clinton, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the lack of cooperation in the transition process and President Trump's refusal to concede. Cohen reflects on the transition between President Clinton and President George W. Bush, "That's what a democracy is supposed to be about, that you want your successor to be in a position to protect and defend the interests of the American people." Aired on 11/11/2020.

As Trump Loses White House, Robert De Niro Shares Relief and the Hope for Accountability | MSNBC

Legendary Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro speaks out in his first interview since Pres. Trump’s defeat, telling MSNBC’s Ari Melber that he is relieved about Trump’s loss and concerned about how someone like Trump could get as far as he did in American government, warning that “more people like” Trump may test democracy again. De Niro also reflects on Trump’s ethics, his silence since Saturday’s election call, why he believes Trump has “no center” and the appeal and role of “tough guys” and mafia films in American life and culture. Aired on 11/09/2020.

The Surging Coronavirus Finds a Federal Leadership Vacuum

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The winter wave has been anticipated for months. Now that it’s here, health officials worry once again about strategy and supplies.

WASHINGTON — When senior Food and Drug Administration officials held their morning call on Tuesday, they received a sobering warning from the agency’s chief, Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, who had just gotten off the phone with the White House: Block out “all the craziness” afoot and stay focused on fighting the pandemic, he said.

There are plenty of distractions. President Trump is pushing to overturn the results of the election and his only public statements about the coronavirus in the last few days were to make clear his pique that good news about a vaccine had not come until after Election Day — even as the average number of new daily infections topped 116,000, average daily deaths neared 1,000, and Covid-19 hospitalizations hit a record high of 61,964 on Tuesday.

Vice President Mike Pence canceled a vacation at the last minute this week as the virus numbers grew worse, but the White House coronavirus task force that he leads has been all but publicly silent. Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff who is infected with the virus, declared last month, “We are not going to control the pandemic,” and said the focus should instead be on the longer-term goals of developing vaccines and treatments. » | Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Noah Weiland, Sharon LaFraniere and Andrew Jacobs | Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Viktor Orban plant Verfassungsänderung: Ungarn will Rechte Homosexueller einschränken

TAGES ANZEIGER: Viktor Orban wird mit seinen Plänen zu Änderungen in der Verfassung, die auf Familien und die LGBTQ-Community zielen, viel Aufregung verursachen.

Die rechtskonservative ungarische Regierung hat überraschend eine Reihe von Verfassungsänderungen und Gesetzen eingebracht, die Opposition und Zivilgesellschaft in Atem halten und auch in Brüssel Irritation auslösen dürften. So soll das von der Regierungspartei Fidesz mit Zweidrittelmehrheit dominierte Parlament in den nächsten Tagen zwei Paragrafen zustimmen, in denen die Definition von Familie und die Rechte von Kindern umformuliert wurden. » | Cathrin Kahlweit aus Wien | Mittwoch, 11. November 2020

Several Injured in Explosion at Saudi Armistice Day Event

THE GUARDIAN: France condemns ‘cowardly attack’ at Jeddah ceremony for foreign diplomatic staff

Several people have been wounded in an explosion in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah during a ceremony to commemorate the end of the first world war attended by staff from foreign diplomatic missions, officials have said.

“The embassies involved condemn this cowardly attack, which is wholly unjustified,” the French foreign ministry said. “They call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators.”

A Greek government official told Reuters that an explosive device had gone off at a ceremony at a non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah. Four people had been slightly injured, the official said, including a Greek national.

A statement from the Mecca governorate on Saudi state TV said two people were injured: a Greek consulate employee and a Saudi security guard. The British government said one UK national suffered minor injuries. » | Jon Henley | Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Democracy Now! Top US & World Headlines — November 11, 2020

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

See What Pompeo Said When Asked about Biden's Victory

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there would be a smooth transition to a "second Trump administration" despite President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Brianna Keilar discusses with CNN's Kylie Atwood, Gloria Borger and legal analyst Laura Coates.

Only in America! Pro-Trump Televangelist Laughs at News Biden Won US Election | NowThis

Say Goodbye to Trump’s Cabinet | NowThis

It's not just Trump leaving the White House in January — say goodbye to all his lackeys, too.

Brianna Keilar Sounds Off on GOP Enablers Fueling Trump's Refusal to Concede

CNN's Brianna Keilar calls out enablers of President Donald Trump for fueling the President's refusal to accept defeat in the 2020 election

Hitler and the Children of Obersalzberg

The Obersalzberg retreat was the summer residence and retreat of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun and his closest confidants in the Nazi regime. The public are mainly familiar with film footage and photographs from the alleged Nazi idyll. For the first time, eye witnesses are willing to talk about their experiences in Obersalzberg.

Monday, November 09, 2020

John Major: Brexit Set to Be 'More Brutal Than Anyone Expected'

BBC: Brexit may be "even more brutal than expected" due to the UK's negotiating "failures", Sir John Major has said.

In a speech in London, the ex-prime minister said the UK's "inflexibility" and "threats" towards the EU would make future trade "less profitable".

And he warned of the "corrosive" impact to the UK's reputation of a proposed law giving ministers the power to over-ride aspects of the Brexit Agreement.

Peers will vote shortly on whether to amend the Internal Market Bill.

They are expected to remove a series of clauses which would give the UK the right to disregard obligations in the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU in relation to Northern Ireland, a move that Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has conceded would break international law. » | Monday, October 9, 2020

John Podesta: Trump 'Is Interfering with the Orderly Transition of Power' | Andrea Mitchell | MSNBC

John Podesta, the White House Chief of Staff to President Clinton and counselor to President Obama, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the transition and recount process. In regards to the GSA administrator refusal to sign the paperwork allowing for the Biden-Harris transition, Podesta says "I think that people need to think about how they are going to go down in history if they decide that they are going to follow the president's lead and kind of set themselves on fire as they go out the door." Aired on 11/9/2020.

Boris Johnson Congratulates Joe Biden But Faces Strained Relations - BBC News

Boris Johnson has said he is looking forward to working with the US President Elect Joe Biden on climate change - as well as on international trade - and security.

However, relations are likely to complicated by Joe Biden’s opposition to Brexit and his previous description of Boris Johnson as a “political and emotional clone of Donald Trump”.

The new administration is thought likely to want to establish a strong relationship with the European Union and its policies towards China will be watched closely after years of tension with the Trump White House.

Mishal Husain presents BBC News at Ten reporting by diplomatic correspondent James Landale, political editor Laura Kuenssberg, economics correspondent Dharshini David and China correspondent Jon Sudworth.


Merkel Congratulates Joe Biden: International Reactions on the US Election | DW News

While US President Donald Trump refuses to accept the result of the presidential election, many world leaders congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.

In her first extended remarks about the outcome of the US election, Chancellor Angela Merkel has outlined how Germany hopes to move forward with projected presidential winner Joe Biden in the White House. German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced hope for a return to stronger ties with Washington on Monday, following Joe Biden's projected presidential win. Merkel's speech on Monday marks the chancellor's first extended reaction to the results of the US election after she offered her congratulations to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris this weekend.


Goodbye Trump, Hello Biden: How America Is Waving Goodbye to a Shocking, Shameful Era

THE GUARDIAN: Trump’s brutal policies and spread of misinformation have divided the US. Uniting the country will be Biden’s biggest task

As the result was finally called, the end of his presidency confirmed, Donald Trump teed off on a crisp, autumnal Saturday afternoon at his private golf club in Virginia.

The president was in the midst of a four-day mission to spread baseless misinformation about election integrity in an attempt to subvert US democracy.

“I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” he tweeted, falsely, hours before hitting the fairway.

Of the many false claims Trump has made over the past four years – lying about the size of his inauguration crowd, lying about the trajectory of a life-threatening hurricane, lying about the deadliness of the coronavirus – the lies about this election are the most farcical and grotesque.

And they have not worked.

A growing chorus of world leaders, some members of the Republican party, and tens of millions of Americans have already begun to move on. Trump cast a lonely figure as he returned to the White House after golfing, his motorcade met on the street by hundreds of protesters who simultaneously gave him the middle finger. » | Oliver Laughland | Monday, November 9, 2020

Trump's a Loser: What Does His 2020 Loss Mean for America? | The Beat with Ari Melber | MSNBC

Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to a diverse coalition backing Joe Biden -- powered especially by women of color and new voters. On the weekend that Biden was formally projected the winner and President-Elect, MSNBC anchor Ari Melber reports on implications of the election and digs into clues about America’s direction in the results. (This interview is from MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber, a news show covering politics, law and culture airing nightly at 6pm ET on MSNBC.

Sunday, November 08, 2020

Will President-elect Joe Biden Change US Foreign Policy? | Inside Story

After days of uncertainty and a hard fought, bitter campaign, Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the US Presidential election. He says he wants to restore the soul of America and unite a deeply divided nation.

Biden received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history. But he's appealed to the tens of millions of Americans who did not vote for him - to give him a chance.

After his victory in Pennsylvania, Biden is projected to have a majority of the Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
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How Will the Biden Presidency Impact US Foreign Relations? | US election 2020

Many European leaders are hoping Joe Biden will help repair the transatlantic ties that have been strained under the Trump presidency. So what is a Biden administration likely to do for relations with Europe and the rest of the world?

Biden Addressed Supporters, and the Nation

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris addressed the nation from Wilmington, Del.


Read the article HERE »

Saturday, November 07, 2020

Congratulations!

I would like to congratulate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their clear victory in the US presidential election. This is a moment of hope for America: decency and common sense have triumphed. Decency has triumphed over vulgarity, light has triumphed over darkness, wisdom has triumphed over folly, knowledge has triumphed over ignorance, and hope has triumphed over despair.

America is fractured; its society is divided. Much damage has been done in recent years. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have their work cut out to try and undo the damage that Donald Trump and his administration have done to the American economy, to American society.

America has been crying out for change for many years. Now, change has come. In January, the US will have its new beginning. The road ahead will be long, rough and bumpy. I wish the new administration well in the difficult task ahead of them.

© Mark Alexander

Van Jones Fights Back Tears: Result Shows Character Matters

CNN's Van Jones reacts to Joe Biden's election as the 46th president of the United States.

Biden Wins Presidency, Ending Four Tumultuous Years Under Trump

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Joseph R. Biden Jr. achieved victory offering a message of healing and unity. He will return to Washington facing a daunting set of crises.

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was elected the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, promising to restore political normalcy and a spirit of national unity to confront raging health and economic crises, and making Donald J. Trump a one-term president after four years of tumult in the White House.

Mr. Biden’s victory amounted to a repudiation of Mr. Trump by millions of voters exhausted with his divisive conduct and chaotic administration, and was delivered by an unlikely alliance of women, people of color, old and young voters and a sliver of disaffected Republicans. Mr. Trump is the first incumbent to lose re-election in more than a quarter-century.

The result also provided a history-making moment for Mr. Biden’s running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, who will become the first woman to serve as vice president. » | Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns | Saturday, November 7, 2020

Steve Bannon Loses Lawyer After Suggesting Beheading of Fauci

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Mr. Bannon, the former adviser to President Trump, said the heads of the F.B.I. director and Dr. Anthony Fauci should be put on pikes, leading Twitter to ban one of his accounts.

Stephen K. Bannon, the former adviser to President Trump who is known for his right-wing extremism, suggested on Thursday that the F.B.I. director and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci should be beheaded, and Twitter responded by banning one of his accounts.

On Friday, a prominent lawyer who was defending Mr. Bannon against fraud charges in federal court in Manhattan abruptly moved to drop him as a client, one person familiar with the matter said.
“Mr. Bannon is in the process of retaining new counsel,” the lawyer, William A. Burck, said in a brief letter to the court, giving no explanation.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Bannon declined to comment. » | Benjamin Weiser, Michael S. Schmidt and William K. Rashbaum | Friday, November 6, 2020

Biden Says 'We're Going to Win This Race' as Election Count Puts Him on the Cusp of Victory

Presidential hopeful Joe Biden has said 'we're going to win this race' as crucial states trend in his favour as vote counting in the US election continues. Biden, who stands on the cusp of victory, said late on Friday he was on track to claim 300 electoral votes. The former vice-president has already urged unity during the count after Donald Trump moved to sow doubt about the election process without presenting any evidence. 'We may be opponents, but we're not enemies,' Biden said. 'We're Americans' 'We're going to win this race': Biden addresses the nation as his lead grows

Friday, November 06, 2020

US Presidential Election: Biden on Cusp of Clinching Victory in Narrow Race

We dissect a week like no other with the latest on the US election. And asking how does America hope to become re-United in the wake of the most bitter election of living memory? Trump's legacy may well be the rise of the far right: his policies and personal attitude have been emboldened and branch of politics long thought to be shamed into silence. No more. With Trump's threats of legal action, and his inflammatory, but it seems baseless claims of election fraud, is he trying to take down the system at the same time as the people vote him out?

Divided States of America? | UpFront

Note: This episode was recorded on Thursday, November 5, 2020.

In this episode of UpFront we ask former Congressman Jack Kingston why the president of the United States is repeatedly claiming, without evidence, that Democrats are "stealing" the election.

And in the Arena, as more than 68 million Americans vote for President Donald Trump, we debate the future of "Trumpism" and ask whether it is time to end the Electoral College.