WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, August 14, 2020

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• ???? Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”

• Global: Total confirmed cases: ~21,026,000; deaths: ~762,000

• U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~5,293,000; deaths: ~169,000

• Source: Johns Hopkins University

1/ Trump’s top two officials at the Department of Homeland Security are illegally serving in their positions, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The independent watchdog agency reported to Congress that Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and his deputy Kenneth Cuccinelli are serving under an invalid order of succession under the Vacancies Reform Act. After the resignation of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019, Kevin McAleenan took over and altered the order of succession for other officials to succeed him after his departure. GAO has referred the matter to the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security for further review and potential action. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Axios)

2/ Trump perpetuated a racist and false conspiracy theory that Kamala Harris is not eligible to be vice president because her parents were immigrants. The claim is false. Harris was born in California and is eligible to serve. Trump, nevertheless, continued: “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements – I have no idea if that’s right.” Constitutional law experts say Harris’ parents are beside the point since the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all people born in the U.S. And, Article II Section 1 of the Constitution says that to be eligible for the vice presidency and presidency, a candidate must be natural-born U.S. citizen, at least 35, and a resident of the United States for a minimum of 14 years. Trump appeared to be referring to a widely discredited op-ed that claims that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t grant birthright citizenship. Trump used a similar tactic to undermine the legitimacy of Barack Obama’s administration by claiming that Obama was born outside the United States. (New York Times / Associated Press)

3/ The U.S. Postal Service warned 46 states and D.C. that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election will arrive in time to be counted because of lags in mail delivery. States — including the key battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida — were warned that their long-standing deadlines for requesting, returning and counting ballots were “incongruous” with mail service and that voters who send ballots in close to those deadlines may become disenfranchised. In Pennsylvania, USPS warned that some ballots might not be delivered on time because the state’s deadlines are too tight for its “delivery standards.” The ballot warnings were reportedly planned before the appointment of Louis DeJoy as postmaster general, but issued at the end of July. (Washington ...

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