"Coronavirus 'COVID-19': The Latest" by Jameson H.

 

Just in the last few weeks, the numbers of the coronavirus have spiked in such a way that no one has ever imagined. We have seen many people hurt and destroyed by this terrible virus that has been spread for months now. But there are still many things to be left considered. One major thing is what President-Elect Joe Biden believes in doing to help stop the spread of the virus. 

According to the “Biden Plan to Combat Coronavirus” on the Joe Biden website, he plans to “establish and manage a permanent, professional, sufficiently resourced public health and first responder system that protects the American people by scaling up biomedical research, deploying rapid testing capacity, ensuring robust nationwide disease surveillance, sustaining a first class public health and first responder workforce, establishing a flexible emergency budgeting authority, and mobilizing the world to ensure greater sustained preparedness for future pandemics.” President-Elect Biden wants to improve many things when it comes to the coronavirus to ensure the safety of the American people from being harmed from the virus. 

In Franklin County, the number has spiked to being 790 cases in total. In the state of Arkansas the total number has reached over 155 thousand people, increasing over the weekend by almost 1,400 people. 

Many people are asking questions that no one can seem to answer to be certain. How long will it take before things are under control? Why does COVID-19 effect different people and have different reactions to the virus? 

Links:

https://informingfamilies.org/covid-plain-lang/

https://joebiden.com/covid-plan/

“Trump’s Transition of Power” by Kirstyn M.

 

The importance of a peaceful transition of power between presidents has continually been made abundantly clear, as well as peoples’ concerns over President Trump’s clear resistance to concede.  While Joe Biden has launched into an informal transition process, Trump has refused to concede and has been making allegations of fraud and casting doubt on the validity of the election results. NPR labeled the 2020 election as Trump’s “biggest, most public loss,” and he is struggling to walk away because of his “long history of punching his way back from losses.” President Trump is spending his last days in office fighting, yet his efforts are being found to be more of a concern than anything.

Recently, several former Homeland Security secretaries spoke out about the risks of the transition of power being delayed. Each day of delayment reduces the availability of vital information for the Biden team to use to combat threats to our country. The secretaries also brought attention to the fact that the official commission for the 9/11 attacks showed that the 36-day delay in transition of power also delayed staffing in national security for six months. It was concluded in the report that delay in the transition resulted in more vulnerability to the U.S., and made it evident that transitions in the future should attempt to reduce any disturbance of policymaking in national security if possible.

What do you think; is President Trump going to concede peacefully? If not, should we be concerned for the security of our country? What could be some of the outcomes of delayment of this presidential transition?

Links: 

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/21/937060717/trumps-futile-fight-to-overturn-election-loss-breeds-turmoil-risk

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/18/what-is-happening-with-the-us-presidential-transition

"2020: The Battle For The White House" by Jameson H.

 

While there are still votes being counted, some people are ready to get this election over with. The American people are tired of this election dragging on and on for nearly three weeks. But what most people don’t realize is that this is probably one of the most, if not the most, important elections in American history. 

As we have seen in the last few weeks, this so-called “battle” is continuing in America, the “battle” of power. According to the Associated Press, they have called the Presidential Race of 2020 by projecting that Fmr. VP Joe Biden has won the election with 290 electoral votes and President Donald Trump having only 232 electoral votes. At this time in our political system, there is a big difference in who should hold the power, Republicans or Democrats. In this too, it is a never ending battle for power. 

Many people are waiting both patiently and impatiently for the correct results. Biden has only been projected to win, he has not been declared. Many news outlets have been somewhat offended by the fact that he could be our next president. CNN told the American people that if Biden is in fact declared the winner, Fox News is not to call him the “president-elect”, being that Fox News is a big supporter of President Trump and they tend to lean more on the Republican side of things whereas CNN is more to the Democratic side of the political spectrum. 

So this subject brings many questions. What is taking the voting counters so long to count all of the votes? Do you think that Joe Biden will bring this country in a new direction? Do you think President Trump will ever concede his position to Joe Biden? If legal actions are taken, do you think it will reach the Supreme Court?

https://ig.ft.com/us-election-2020/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/06/media/fox-news-election-projection-plan/index.html

“Fraud or No Fraud” by Kirstyn M.

 

During the election, there have been many allegations of fraud, specifically by President Trump. He launched a variety of legal challenges in several battleground states. Many sources have been saying that Trump’s court battles have been a case of too little, too late. He has provided little evidence of improper counting or voter fraud. The goal of Trumps’ lawyers was to persuade the courts to discount many of the votes by mail. 

Trump and his allies have come up with theories of SharpieGate regarding Arizona. SharpieGate is a suspicion of election workers validating votes, generally unfounded. However, none of these claims have been supported by evidence. Trump’s lawsuit has claimed that Pennsylvania disparate procedures in voting in person and by mail violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert stated that it's mostly likely too late for the Trump campaign considering they have known about the Pennsylvania voting procedures for months. The biggest issue for Trump’s legal team is that the amount of disputed ballots at stake might not be enough to have an impact on the outcome of the election.  

A week after Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the presidential race, Trump supporters gathered in Washington to protest the results. Charmion Prince, an army veteran from Tennessee stated “It doesn’t add up. If he lost, then we need to say ‘Ok, he lost.’ But this is not the process I fought for.” James Dozer had skepticism as well, saying “I saw the trends. It evaporated out of thin air in Pennsylvania… All of a sudden at four in the morning, boom, Biden’s leading. Democracies are stolen in the dead of night.” He also said that it would take a full recount in all states for him to be convinced that Biden one. 

What do you think? Was there fraud in the election involving mail-in ballots? Or is this just a conspiracy theory?

https://www.voanews.com/2020-usa-votes/trumps-legal-challenge-biden-win-seen-uphill-battle

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54926084

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/thousands-trump-supporters-gather-washington-falsely-claim-election-fraud-n1247849

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/14/election-2020-gop-officials-swing-states-shoot-down-trump-fraud-claims/6271421002/

“Iran and Russia’s Election Interference” by Aaron B.

 Over the last couple of weeks, registered Democratic voters in Florida and Alaska (and Hawaii from what I’ve heard) have been receiving pressuring emails to “Vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you!” These threatening messages are currently to be believed as coming from Iran and Russia. Those who have received these messages turned them over to the FBI for investigation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was created in 1908 when Attorney General Joseph Bonaparte issued an order to create an investigative agency in the Department of Justice. It was confirmed in 1909 by Attorney General George W. Wickersham who established the agency. The FBI was officially designated by Congress in 1935. When it comes to election-related threats, the agency is very serious to look into the issue. The emails were sent from the address, “info@officialproudboys.com” in a way to pin Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group that supports Trump. A member of the group said that it would not have been their group as they would not be so sloppy to get their agenda across. In Brevard County in Florida, Sheriff Wayne Ivey indicated that at least some of the emails are coming outside of the United States. University of Florida looked into the situation after 183 people associated with the university received similar emails. UF’s spokesperson Steve Orlando determined that the email to look like it came from Proud Boys was likely fake. Florida’s department of State is aware of the emails but there was no breach to Florida’s Voter Registration database. Roughly 3,000 calls have been made since last Tuesday from Florida and Alaska, and Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of Proud Boys, said similar emails have gone out to states such as Pennsylvania and Arizona, but nowhere near as many as Florida.

What do you think about this? Could Trump or Proud Boys have anything to do with this? Or does Iran and Russia just want to blow up the media bubble? And most importantly: Will this have any effect on the election?

Links: 

https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/10/21/feds-point-to-iran-russia-for-emails-urging-floridians-to-vote-trump-1328913

https://www.justice.gov/jmd/organization-mission-and-functions-manual-federal-bureau-investigation#:~:text=The%20mission%20of%20the%20FBI,agencies%20and%20partners%3B%20and%20to

"Amy Coney Barrett Sworn In" by Tanner R.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/us/politics/senate-confirms-barrett.html

With the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg it leaves a seat open in the Supreme Court. With it being this close to the election it brought even more controversy than it already would have. Democrats insisted Republicans should have waited for voters to have their say on Election Day, but Republicans believed that it was their right as the majority party to select a new supreme court justice. 

The senate voted 52 to 48 to confirm the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, and she overcame unanimous Democratic opposition. Susan Collins of Maine was the only republican who was in opposition. It was the first time in 151 years that a justice was confirmed without the support of a single member of the minority party. This shows how bitter the two sides have become. 

This was a huge win for President Trump as it most likely will tip the court right for years to come. President Trump spoke very well of Judge Barrett stating that, “She is one of our nation’s most brilliant legal scholars, and she will make an outstanding justice on the highest court in our land.” 

Judge Barrett has potential to make in immediate impact. There are major election disputes awaiting immediate action by the Supreme Court from the battleground states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania, which both concern the date by which absentee ballots may be accepted. 

Do you wish that they would have waited to select a new supreme court justice until after the election, or do you believe that Republicans had the right to do this? Do you like the decision of Amy Coney Barrett? Please explain your reasoning.