Donald Trump is reportedly furious in private over the role Vice President Mike Pence is about to play in confirming his election defeat.
Mike Pence: Donald Trump fumes over VP’s role in confirming Biden’s win
Author: peterimrich
24 President Donald Trump on Tuesday added more loyalists to the long list of friends who’ve gotten plum jobs as he eyes the exits. Hope Hicks, the Trump confidante and two-time White House employee, will serve on the board of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship. But Hicks isn’t alone. Tuesday’s list has a few familiar names: Ric Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence who later played a key PR role in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, was given membership on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. (Andrew Giuliani, Rudy’s son, was added to the council last week.)
Trump Gives Loyalists Ric Grenell, Hope Hicks, Pam Bondi Gigs On His Way Out | Talking Points Memo
The jaw-dropping speed of COVID-19 vaccine development is a glorious marvel of science, cooperation, and economic planning — a glimpse of how much more an egalitarian world could produce and achieve. But the lifeboat ethics of vaccine rollout is a horrifying display of the inefficiency and cruelty of capitalism.
Thank Socialism for the Vaccine. Blame Capitalism for Its Distribution.
The reality is the Coalition Government has engaged in blatant class warfare that has punished and disenfranchised workers and the most vulnerable, whilst protecting corporate interests and its political donors. Let’s take a tour of the most recent policy misadventures.
The Morrison Government’s program of class warfare
My thought for the day I feel people on the right of politics in Australia show an insensitivity to the common good that goes beyond any thoughtful examination. They have hate on their lips, and their hate starts with the beginning of a smile.
Pathetic leadership = pathetic policy = pathetic cabinet = pathetic governance – » The Australian Independent Media Network
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable.” In many ways, Australia heading into 2021 is broadly summed up in this way.
No favourable economic winds for Morrison’s Australia
One thing is certain the LNP attacks on the ABC slow at election time (ODT)
2020 has ended badly for the ABC — so badly that it’s time to ask if chair Ita Buttrose is capable of halting the broadcaster’s slide. Right now it looks like she’s not. But is there anyone who could, given how the stars have aligned against the ABC this year?
Can the ABC survive the war under chair Ita Buttrose?
With Trump raving in White House meetings, prompted by the equally certifiable Michael Flynn, about declaring martial law, it sets an old Middle East hand like me thinking.
Trump aping Mideast Tinpot Dictators and raving about declaring Martial Law, which even Iran Prohibits
TRUMP’S RELIEF PACKAGE
Donald J. Trump will exit the White House as a private citizen next month perched atop a pile of campaign cash unheard-of for an outgoing president, and with few legal limits on how he can spend it.
Trump’s Future: Tons of Cash and Plenty of Options for Spending It – The New York Times
Democrats refused to seize a rare opportunity to outmaneuver Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. They settled for a COVID relief bill that skimps on benefits, provides tax breaks to the rich, and pulls us toward austerity extremism.
We Can’t Survive on $600. The New Relief Bill Is Not a Victory.
Netanyahu’s hope that a human experiment will accelerate a Final Solution
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received a coronavirus shot on Saturday. He has pledged that the 9 million Israelis will be vaccinated in a matter of months. Inside Israel, Netanyahu was widely thought to have mishandled the pandemic, and it hurt his popularity as the country goes yet again to the ballot box. He is no doubt hoping that the vaccine will save him. If he loses the next election, he could well go to prison on current corruption charges for which he is being tried. Vaccines will be supplied to the hundreds of thousands of government-backed illegal Israeli squatters on Palestinian land in the West Bank, but not to the indigenous Palestinian population.
Everyday War Crimes: Israeli PM Netanyahu Gets COVID Vaccine, Squatters get Vaccine, but Not Occupied Palestinians
Meanwhile Trump Gives Morrison Military Honours For His Foresight
Labor has called on the Morrison government to guarantee a proposed Chinese fishing facility on Australia’s doorstep will not threaten national security and deplete the area’s fish stocks, saying it has “clearly dropped the ball”
Labor says Morrison government ‘dropped the ball’ on Chinese fishing facility in PNG
The farce goes on CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN? TWO MEN NEVER SERVED & THEIR MILITARY AWARD
Donald Trump has awarded Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison a prestigious American military decoration for “leadership in addressing global challenges” and strengthening the alliance between the two countries.
Donald Trump awards Scott Morrison with one of the highest military honours
Youth has borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting recession, yet their representation in the media is minuscule and dropping, according to a research report. News Corp’s widespread use of damaging stereotypes about young people was also notable, writes Elizabeth Minter.
Research Report: mainstream media either ignores young Australians or castigates them – Michael West
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt ploughed ahead with a “beach nourishment” project in his electorate even though the Victorian government had decided that such short-term fixes were a case of throwing away good money. Dr Sarah Russell reports.
Greg Hunt’s climate change plan drowns public money in Port Phillip Bay – Michael West
When it comes to the managing of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, there is plenty of blame to go around. But don’t look to the federal government to accept its fair share.
Paul Bongiorno: PM shirks duty in gold-standard quarantine blame game
U.S. President Donald Trump used his abilities as a conman to win over the public and key political figures during his time in office, writes Paul Begley.
Donald Trump: A great man of history or a Wizard of Oz
A new report shows that over the last 12 months — following the Black Summer bushfires — nearly half of all climate coverage in four News Corp publications cast doubt on or completely rejected climate science.
News Corp Kept Lying About Climate Change After The Summer Fires
For forty years, governments around the world have been cutting taxes on the rich, claiming that the result would be more jobs and higher incomes. A new study shows how catastrophically wrong that policy has been.
They Said Tax Cuts for the Rich Would Create Jobs. It Never Happened.
A new study confirms tax cuts for the rich do not benefit the rest. Recovery from the pandemic is a chance to change course
Trickle-down economics doesn’t work but build-up does – is Biden listening? | US economy | The Guardian
Remember when Morrison kept blaming Andrews for NOT requesting ADF personel?
Premier Daniel Andrews says he is “not happy” his request for up to 300 Australian Defence Force troops to help protect Victoria’s border with NSW throughout the Christmas period has been turned down.
Coronavirus: Victoria records 52 days of no new COVID-19 cases in the community
Hundreds of police officers from across Victoria will spend Christmas on the NSW border after the Australian Defence Force turned down a request to help prevent Sydney’s coronavirus outbreak spreading south. The officers are being recalled or redeployed to the border as the Andrews government imposes tougher restrictions on people entering Victoria from NSW.
Hundreds of police drafted into protecting Victoria’s border with NSW
Millions of people in the world are struggling to survive, while a very small minority are working furiously to acquire millions, to salt away their wealth, and secure themselves recognition and a place in the super rich category. In reality, many in this group are totally insensitive to the fact that their greed is causing genocide in many nations, destroying the environment all round the world, including an alarming assault on biodiversity, while ignoring the existential threat of global warming. And we have a PM who is a happy member of that minority – gladly rubbing shoulders with and kowtowing to a wealthy elite, while trying to be seen as the leader who cares. Actually he is – but not because he cares about others in need, but because he cares about his own needs for praise and recognition. He is a mini-Trump – and that is no compliment!
Our PM is incompetent, insensitive and incapable of good judgment – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The three key economic messages from the Morrison Government are quite false, but the media keeps promoting them anyway. Alan Austin reports.
No, Australia’s economy is not rebounding strongly. Who told you that?
When Donald Trump announces his intention to run again for president, tens of millions of Americans will flock to his side. If he ultimately doesn’t run, they will throw their support behind anyone that the disgraced ex-president selects as his successor. They will do so despite all the harm Trump has caused the United States and the world. For the United States, at least, that might prove to be the most dangerous denialism of them all.
How America’s Denialism– Elections, COVID, Climate — is Leading to its Downfall
Officials at the Stanford University Medical Center apologized Friday after residents and other health care staff staged a walkout after frontline workers were bumped to the back of the line for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Stanford Hospital Apologizes After Frontline Doctors Protest Botched Vaccine Rollout | HuffPost Australia
Pence is a serial science denier. He says smoking cigarettes does not cause cancer. He has called the human-caused climate emergency “a myth.” The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine involves science and Muslim immigrants, so why is he getting it?
Pence, who backed Muslim visa Ban, gets Vaccine invented by Muslim Immigrants
The workplace abuses of the 18th and 19th centuries have returned under the guise of the gig economy. The Morrison government has now proposed sweeping changes to labour laws that will cut wages, entrench precarious work, cripple unions and hand absolute power to bosses. But the assault on casual workers is just the beginning. If the IR bill becomes law, permanent workers will also be affected. Alison Pennington reports.
Coalition’s war on casual workers a harbinger for assault on permanent workers – Michael West
Australia’s biggest supermarket chain has locked out its warehouse workers in New South Wales. The lockout is the first battle in a coming war over who will benefit from automation — solidarity with the Coles workers is vital.
The Coles Warehouse Lockout Is a Front-Line Struggle in the Battle Over Automation
GOTTA LAUGH
Scott Morrison has had a really successful year! I know this, and not just because the media keep telling me what a great year he’s had.
Scott Morrison’s Successful Year! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Racism, fear and lack of moral courage sees Australia tied to a declining America.
Australia must forge an independent foreign policy
It’s not Conservativism. It’s the senescence of Trump-ism = Fear and without it they can’t exist
If the ABC didn’t exist, conservatives would have to invent it. It provides two vital functions to the right side of politics: it is the foe which unites the army, as well as a decoy which distracts progressives from the main game.
If the ABC didn’t exist, conservatives would have to invent it
“Mr. Assange is not a criminal convict and poses no threat to anyone, so his prolonged solitary confinement in a high security prison is neither necessary nor proportionate and clearly lacks any legal basis.”
Pardon Assange
For the United States, the lesson is stark. Surviving the recent electoral turmoil does not guarantee it will outlast a similar scenario the next time. Republican leaders’ failure to repudiate baseless allegations of electoral fraud – and some Republicans’ willingness to pursue legal action based on these claims – further undermines the legitimacy of the democratic process. Trump was defeated, but Trumpism will have a lasting effect.
How Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook will Turn America into a Banana Republic
We should examine the oppressor, not the oppressed, otherwise all hope is lost, writes Gerry Georgatos. OPPRESSION IS NOT a phenomenon of modernity but a deliberation through the human ages. We are born with inherent rights to live in ways that warm the soul, but human beings have devolved to ways birthrights and choices are denied to us. Those who resist become outlaws. All recorded human history describes the oppressor and the oppressed and has imbibed punch-drunk justifications for ruling classes, tyrannies and carceral estates.
Power can be taken back by exposing our oppressors
The greatest threat to humanity lies in this unprecedented and unequal distribution of resources – the inability of the selfish few to share what they have stolen from all of us through globalism. The future of life on this planet hangs in the balance.
Who is the owner of Nature?
London will run out of hospital beds within weeks, NHS England bosses have said. The care body warned that if coronavirus admissions continue at their current rate, the city will be short of 600 critical care beds and 1,500 general hospital beds by 5 January.
NHS England warns London could run out of critical care beds within weeks | The Independent
Stan Grant (wonderful man) is currently hosting One on One on the ABC. He is exploring the notion of IDENTITY with various more than interesting guests. It has made me think about what sort of tribe I identify with, it has made me think about who am I as a human being, it has made me think about who am I? On the surface I am a straight old white man. Gosh … on the surface … so easy to vilify. Think Trump. Think Putin. Think Australian CEO’s. Think power imbalances, think historical power elites who use their strength and financial power to keep out the ‘others’ and protect their own entitlement. But that is not me.
I am a Survivor of extreme childhood sexual abuse. If you simply see me as a straight old white man then you are dithering yourself in stupidity.
Your skin colour means nothing to me. Your sexual orientation means nothing bad to me. The nature of your heart … however … ah … that’s where we start to address the real things.
If you have a good heart … then you are of my Tribe.
Straight old white man – » The Australian Independent Media Network
New Zealand’s stonking growth brings to mind Scott Morrison’s claim Australia suppressed the virus without its neighbour’s crippling costs
Scott Morrison’s economic humblebrag disproved by New Zealand comeback | Scott Morrison | The Guardian
Mug punters are usually classified as people that frequently wager more than they can afford, Initially they may revel in the satisfaction of beating the odds, usually the odds catch up and the punter loses the lot. Morrison was, in a previous life, the head of both the New Zealand and Australian Tourism Commissions. He was ‘let go’ prior to the expiry of his contract in both countries. They reckon things happen in threes. What do you think?
The mug punter – » The Australian Independent Media Network
I once supported Albanese’s leadership tilt, but the Labor leader’s competitiveness is compromised by factors internal and external
Without a reboot in 2021, can Anthony Albanese win the next election? | Anthony Albanese | The Guardian
Trump’s Role Model was always Putin and he tried to do it like Putin
Those living in the bubble created by right-wing news hear Trump’s lies repeatedly from multiple sources, making them appear credible. This is the underpinning of all propaganda. That firehosing lacks a commitment to consistency and objective reality can seem counter intuitive. But as Masha Gessen of the New Yorker explains, that is because the goal of firehosing is not persuasion but power. The immediate reaction of the media and others to a firehose of lies is to fact-check. That turns the lies into a political fight. What shouldn’t be up for debate becomes a partisan tit for tat. As Peter Pomerantsev, a Soviet-born British journalist and author, wrote about Putin’s information warfare in 2014: “insisting on the lie, the Kremlin intimidates others by showing that it is in control of defining ‘reality.’ This is why it’s so important for Moscow to do away with truth. If nothing is true, then anything is possible.”
The GOP’s Assault on Truth Is About Power, Not Persuasion | Washington Monthly
Laying the foundations for the INSURGENCY of a PRESIDENT in EXILE
In the waning days of his presidency, Donald Trump is engaged in a deliberate campaign of terrorism aimed at Americans who oppose him politically. That description of his actions is neither a metaphor nor hyperbole—it is the assessment of veteran national security experts, whose view of the political violence being stoked by the outgoing president is echoed by law enforcement and political leaders.
National Security Experts Warn Trump “Is Promoting Terrorism” – Mother Jones
Trump’s coup attempt is on-going. Despite being rejected by state officials and the country’s highest courts, Trump and his agents are continuing their seditious and treasonous attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election — and, in effect, overthrow American democracy. These efforts to stop Biden from becoming president have extended to the use of stochastic terrorism and other provocations, to murmurs about martial law, political violence and a second civil war. Because Trump yearns to be a neofascist strongman, his campaign to remain in power indefinitely will not stop. Michael D’Antonio, a CNN contributor and author of “The Truth About Trump”, warned Salon about this during a recent phone conversation:
Richard Painter: Trump is an “incompetent dictator” — but a “shrewder” plot might have worked | Salon.com
PUNCH DRUNK
But Trump still hasn’t conceded and claimed Tuesday that there’s “Tremendous evidence pouring in on voter fraud. There has never been anything like this in our Country!” He didn’t provide any such evidence, nor did his legal team in more than four dozen failed lawsuits contesting the election’s results.
This Is How Many Times Donald Trump Has Lost Since The Election | HuffPost Australia
But after Donald Trump’s divisive term as US President, some of their old neighbours won’t be rolling out the red carpet when they return. In Palm Beach, Florida, a group of locals has gone so far as initiating legal action to stop Mr Trump from moving back to his private club, Mar-a-Lago. The move is bound to incite a furious reaction.
Neighbours launch legal action to stop Donald Trump living at Mar-a-Lago
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