Elections are not decided by news desks. They are decided by the electoral college, which meets in mid December. Electors sent there are chosen by the State based on election results certified by each State. If an election is in doubt, the decision goes to State legislatures, pursuant to the Electoral Count Act (1887) and a Supreme Court interpretation from Bush v Gore (2000).
Judges don’t decide whether election results are certifiable; State legislatures do. The burden is not on the Trump campaign to prove vote fraud to judges. The burden is on the polling stations to prove there was no fraud to State legislatures.
Right now, five key states are in severe doubt concerning polling credibility: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia. Republicans control the legislatures of all five. And, Trump just backed McDaniel to continue as RNC chair. Perhaps she will have some sway over those Republican legislatures.
Republicans don’t have an option. Gross suspicions of election cheating have caused the Republican base to turn away from Fox News to Newsmax. News networks wouldn’t call Georgia or North Carolina, even though it looked long past the time it seemed reasonable. To Republicans, this is a conspiracy to institute nation-wide political machines, which they can’t accept. In their minds, if they let Democrats steal this election, there will be no more fair elections, and the only way to escape would be an armed revolution. There is no scenario in which the Republican base allows Trump to lose. If Trump gave in, they would turn against him also.
Democratic voters aren’t about to tuck tail and turn. Emboldened by a news industry, that insists on its own ability to declare an election outcome, the DNC base only builds for greater disappointment. They don’t have the power to decide disputed elections, but they think they do. They haven’t already won, but they think they have. Note cautiously, the media does not hope to sway the election outcome, but to sway a revolt for when Trump inevitably wins—a revolt from, of all people, the gun haters.
In order for Trump to lose, he would have to bow out, then Republican voters would take up arms and the RNC, seen as an obstruction, would be dissolved by its base. When he does win, Democrats voters will riot. In either scenario, we are looking at martial law in the coming weeks and months.
But, the question remains: Why was there such gross election ambiguity specifically in states with Republican-controlled legislatures? It’s almost as if the entire election controversy were staged. But, the reason remains yet to be seen, unless the answer is: China.
Trump
Trump Faces Legal Cases After White House Departure // WSJ
Trump CFO’s Family Tax Records Reviewed by New York Authorities // MSN News
Election
Rudy Giuliani says Trump will not concede election // CBS News
BUSH v. GORE // Cornell Law School
Trump endorses McDaniel to remain RNC chair, ponders 2024 run // Yahoo News
Chinese yuan after Biden election win, Trump’s trade war // CNBC
Biden carries Arizona, flipping a longtime Republican stronghold // CNN
Republican state AGs ask U.S. Supreme Court to hear mail-in ballot dispute // Yahoo News
Georgia Republican Party head casts new doubt on election transparency // Fox News
GOP backs Trump as he fights election results, transition // AP
Senior Republican senators say Biden should have access to classified briefings // CNN
The ‘nonsense’ narrative
Fox News’s Daytime-Primetime Divide on Election Fraud // The Intercept
Pompeo doubles down on refusing to acknowledge Biden win // The Hill
Trump allies brace for 30-day legal war as Senate hangs in the balance // Axios
Biden transition team announces coronavirus advisers, including whistleblower Rick Bright // CNN
Donald Trump’s refusal to concede sparks transition sabotage fears // Guardian
Law
Thomas poses mask mandate question during Supreme Court ACA hearing // NBC News
Supreme Court Justice Alito weighs in on Pennsylvania mail-in ballot case // NBC News
News Media, Journalism & Free speech
Trump eyes starting his own digital media empire to take on Fox News // Axios
Newsmax TV: Trump voters are flocking to a channel that claims Biden is not president-elect // CNN
Fox News cuts away from Trump campaign briefing over election fraud claims // YouTube @ The Sun
Human Rights, Civil Liberties & Privacy
Science, Weather & Health
Pandemic
Thanksgiving 2020: How to say no in the name of Covid // CNN
San Francisco, long hailed for beating COVID-19, now faces a spike in cases // Yahoo News
Chicago issues stay-home ‘advisory,’ 10-person limit on social gatherings // Chicago Sun Times