The virus shouldn’t be advertised as a means for Donald Trump to stop the November election nor should enable Trump’s Justice Department throw out laws that guarantee American citizens their freedom…
And the media needs to STOP doing this stories which are bound to find their way to Trump and egg him on….
As states scramble to push back their primaries to comply with the federal guidelines aimed at social distancing to combat the coronavirus, whispers have begun that maybe, just maybe, President Donald Trump will use the pandemic to cancel the 2020 election entirely.
The DOJ requests — which are unlikely to make it through a Democratic-led House — span several stages of the legal process, from initial arrest to how cases are processed and investigated.
In one of the documents, the department proposed that Congress grant the attorney general power to ask the chief judge of any district court to pause court proceedings “whenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation.”…
image…usatoday
I remember well Condoeezza Rice’s declaration, after some had suggested that terrorist dangers might justifying cancelling or postponing the 2004 election that the U.S. had conducts normal elections during war “even civil war”.
Officials discuss how to delay Election Day
¶ Talks stem from recent fears of terror attack timed to vote
Monday, July 12, 2004
WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. officials have discussed the idea of postponing Election Day in the event of a terrorist attack on or about that day, a Homeland Security Department spokesman said Sunday.
The department has referred questions about the matter to the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, said a spokesman, confirming a report in this week’s editions of Newsweek magazine.
Bush’s national security adviser Condoleezza Rice tried to put an end to the controversy Monday evening.
“We’ve had elections in this country when we were at war, even when we were in civil war, and we should have the elections on time. That’s the view of the president. That’s the view of the administration,” she said. “No one is thinking of postponing the elections.”
Newsweek said the discussions about whether the November 2 election could be postponed started with a recent letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge from DeForest Soaries Jr., chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
The commission was set up after the disputed 2000 presidential vote to help states deal with logistical problems in their elections.
Soaries, who was appointed by President Bush, is a former New Jersey secretary of state and senior pastor of the 7,000-member First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset.
Newsweek reported that Soaries expressed concern that no federal agency had the authority to postpone an election and asked Ridge to ask Congress to give his commission such power.
Ridge warned Thursday that al Qaeda terrorists were planning a large-scale attack on the United States “in an effort to disrupt the democratic process.” (Full story)….
Democratic Rep. Jane Harman of California, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that she believes planning for the possibility of postponing Election Day is “excessive, based on what we know.”
“Six days ago, the leadership of the House and Senate intelligence committees and leadership of the House and Senate were briefed on these so-called new threats,” Harman said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
“They are more chatter about old threats, which were the subject of a press conference by Attorney General [John] Ashcroft and [FBI] Director [Robert] Mueller six weeks ago.
“[Ridge] sounded more like an interior decorator talking about what more we can do under the shade of yellow,” she said.
The news that such discussions have taken place raised other eyebrows on Capitol Hill as well.
“I don’t think there’s an argument that can be made, for the first time in our history, to delay an election,” said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a member of the intelligence committee.
“We hold elections in the middle of war, in the middle of earthquakes, in the middle of whatever it takes. The election is a statutory election. It should go ahead, on schedule, and we should not change it.”
But the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Christopher Cox of California, said on “Late Edition” that he sees Ridge’s request as part of a prudent effort to plan for “doomsday scenarios.”
“We don’t have any intelligence to suggest that it is going to happen, but we’re preparing for all of these contingencies now,” Cox said.
Noting that New York election officials were able to postpone their September 11, 2001, primary election after terrorists slammed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center, Cox said “there isn’t any body that has that authority to do that for federal elections.”
“So what Secretary Ridge has asked the Justice Department to do is, ‘Give me a legal memo, tell me what will be necessary. Do we need to go to Congress and get legislation?’ “…
https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/11/election.day.delay/
‘Noting that New York election officials were able to postpone their September 11, 2001, primary election after terrorists slammed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center, Cox said “there isn’t any body that has that authority to do that for federal elections.”….
…
As long as the reasoning IS that Congress has the word on this?
And the Supreme’s can’t change it?
We’re good…
Here we go!
Chris Cillizza
@CillizzaCNN
Trump says he wants the anti-malarial drug used to treat Coronavirus now. Says Fauci might disagree.
Fauci is a doctor. Trump is not.
Now there’s a a terrifying thought: imagine if Donald J. Trump, M.D., were your personal physician.
Maybe he’d prescribe leeches or cupping.
😳😯😱‼️
FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor was eviscerated in real time on national television (ABC’s This Week) by Martha Raddatz, the show’s co-host with George Stephanopoulos. No more able to answer simple, specific questions than he was on Friday’s or Saturday’s press briefing (when even Trump pressed him with “How many masks?”)
8 1/2 minute video here :
Trnascript below:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-22-20-fema-administrator-pete-gaynor/story?id=69733494
But we begin this morning with FEMA Director Peter Gaynor, who is now in charge of the government’s response effort.
Good morning, Mr. Gaynor. And I want to start right away with FEMA’s mission, which is to lead America, to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disaster. So how did we get to this point, where we have healthcare workers desperate for critical supplies?
GAYNOR: It’s a — it’s a great question, Martha. And, you know, my role today is — is about today; it’s about tomorrow; and it’s about where we are in two weeks. My job is to bring together whole of government, whole of nation, to include our business partners to make sure that we can navigate our way out of this. And that’s what we’re doing every day.
So when it comes to things like supplies, we are shipping supplies — we shipped yesterday; we shipped today; we’re going to ship tomorrow. We’re going to try to meet every need in the nation.
But a word of caution. The supplies that governors are looking for are the same supplies that every other country in the world is looking for. So this is a global problem. It’s a national problem. And, again, we’re working hard every day here to meet those demands.
RADDATZ: We know you’re working hard. The task force announced yesterday that 600 million N-95 masks to protect healthcare workers have now been ordered. But no one on that task force, not the president, not the vice president, not you, could answer the question, “When will they be ready for use?”
Let me run you part of that exchange that began with our own Trevor Ault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: When exactly can they expect to receive these masks, though?
GAYNOR: Every single governor across the country’s looking for the exact same things. So there’s a balance, but we’re examining the entire supply chain, to make sure that we make them…
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP (?): When will the masks start coming?
GAYNOR: They’re — they’re — they’re out there now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RADDATZ: They’re out there now. So can you tell us this morning when those masks will be distributed and how many?
GAYNOR: They have been distributed. They’ve been distributed over the past couple weeks. They’re shipping today. They’ll ship tomorrow. We find more and more masks to ship because we have — developing great partnerships with the commercial sector out there, through donations, ramping up production.
So, again, they have been shipping. We are trying to focus those shipments on the most critical hot spots in the country, places like New York City, Washington state, California. That is our priorities.
RADDATZ: But — but will the healthcare systems there be overwhelmed before masks get there?
I know you’ve been shipping some masks, but these 600 million ordered are very important and critical at this point.
GAYNOR: We…
RADDATZ: Will they get them in time, before the health system is overwhelmed?
GAYNOR: Again, they’re shipping today. They’ve shipped yesterday. They’re shipped tomorrow. And I think one of the things…
RADDATZ: When you say “they,” what do you mean? How many? Which masks, the new masks?
GAYNOR: Well, I mean, there’s hundreds of thousands of — millions of things that we’re shipping from the stockpile. I mean, I can’t give you the details about what every single state or what every single city’s doing. But — but I’m telling you that we are shipping from our national stockpile. We’re shipping from vendors. We’re shipping from donations. It is happening. The demand is great. The demand from the governors is great. The demand around the world is great. And I — I have the best experts here. I have a two-star general from the Joint Staff here, logistics, that is helping me solve these problems, plus many other from government. We are in this 100 percent.
RADDATZ: How many masks were in the strategic stockpile? You said you’re shipping from the stockpile. Have all those masks been distributed? And if not, why not?
GAYNOR: Again, there are still supplies in the stockpile. We are shipping all those supplies to all the demands, all the asks from all the governors every day. We are — we’re prepared to go to zero in the stockpile to meet demand.
Again, this is a whole of government effort. And if could — if I could just, you know, and this is shared responsibility. I know the president, Dr. Fauci talked about testing. You know, if you don’t need a test, if you don’t have symptoms, please don’t get a test. Because the demand for PPE on unnecessary testing is — is something that’s working against us.
So we’re all in it together. Every American has a role to play. And we ask you, if you need to get a test and you have symptoms, go get it. If you just want to test to make yourself feel better, please don’t do that.
RADDATZ: I just want one more time on these masks. You say you’re shipping them out where they’re needed first. You’ve still got some in the stockpile. I wonder why that stockpile hasn’t been depleted. Have you seen the urgent pleas from healthcare workers?
GAYNOR: We have. I have talked to our governors. I have talked to emergency managers. We’ve gotten updates through the task force. I am well aware of the high demand for these items.
RADDATZ: But, again, so why haven’t those been shipped to those urgent care facilities? If you have those masks in the stockpile as you say you have, and they’re shipped, why weren’t they shipped before — which really goes back to my original question — how are we in such bad shape at this point, in terms of supplies?
GAYNOR: Yeah, so, again, like I said in the beginning, you know, my focus is today, right? Filling all the demands that have been in the queue, filling the demands that we get today, tomorrow, and through the next month, to make sure that we find, connect the supply with the demand and meet that need.
RADDATZ: You said your agency hadn’t been invited to join the White House task force until last week. Should FEMA’s involvement have ramped up sooner? And why didn’t it?
GAYNOR: Well, you know, I’m not going to look back at, you know, what should have been done, what wasn’t done. And we can do that at a later time. Again, my focus as the lead for coordinating federal operations is on — is on today. We can look back at another date. My — my eyes are focused today, tomorrow, the next day, in order to beat this coronavirus.
RADDATZ: The Washington Post just reporting that the U.S. intelligence agencies were issuing ominous classified warnings beginning in January about the global danger of coronavirus, all this while President Trump and others were downplaying the threat. The Post says that, according to an official, “Donald Trump may not have been expecting this, but a lot of other people in the government were. They just couldn’t get him to do anything about it. The system was blinking red.” The president says this report is inaccurate.
So did you know about those warnings? And if not, why not?
GAYNOR: You know, when it comes to public health emergencies, you know, HHS has been the lead for that. They kind of own that mission. I — I was not part of any of those discussions, whether they’re purported or factual.
RADDATZ: I want to go back to your mission again. It’s to lead America and to prepare for it. You had no indication? The worldwide threat assessment of 2019 said “we assess that the United States will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death and disability, severely affect the world economy, and strain international resources…”
So is it really fair to say you had no warning about this, really?
GAYNOR: Again, you know, the public health medical mission, statutory lies with HHS. My mission, FEMA, prior to this, natural disasters and those catastrophic events that happen. Now it’s a different world. Now HHS and FEMA are locked arm in arm, plus many other agencies from around government to include our private partners. And today I’m trying to focus on today and tomorrow and where we want to be in a couple weeks. That is my mission.
RADDATZ: And what do you think we’ll see in a couple of weeks, a big change?
GAYNOR: Well, again, I think every American has a role to play. I think the 15 days — do what you can do to help yourself, help your family, help your neighborhood, help your business. You know, do those things that are simple. Stay indoors if you’re sick. Don’t go to work. You know, wash your hands. Don’t touch surfaces. All those things make a difference. This is every American playing their role to make sure that we can beat the coronavirus. That — that’s as simple as I can make it.
RADDATZ: Thanks very much for joining us this morning, Mr. Gaynor. Appreciate it.
GAYNOR: You’re welcome.
RADDATZ: Up next, governors in two hard-hit states respond and tell us what they’re seeing on the ground. Plus Dr. Jen Ashton joins us with the latest medical analysis as we enter a new phase in the fight against coronavirus. We’ll be right back.
They don’t know WTF to say or do….
They are afraid to piss Trump off…
They are actually useless ….