Free Republic

Protesters had amassed in Washington, D.C., to reject the results of the Nov. 3 election, cheering as President Trump himself addressed the crowd and urged them to protest what he falsely claims was a rigged election before marching to the Capitol and pushing past security barriers there.

In all Trump gave us — the good, the bad, the hilarious, and the unsettling — his administration brought much-needed clarity to the GOP and the country.At the end of his second term, amid the early retrospectives about his presidency, George W. Bush reportedly remarked, “the true history of my administration will be written 50 years from now.” It was a wise reminder that the passage of time generally yields a more honest, dispassionate analysis of events than is often allowed by the heated political present.While we are left to wonder how history will judge the last four years of...

Organizers say they’ve collected about 800,000 signatures, more than half of those needed. Political consultants who work on state initiative campaigns, however, say they’ll likely need an extra 500,000 valid signatures to ensure that the recall qualifies for the ballot. With Newsom it’s more personal, and incidents like the French Laundry reinforce the image of Newsom and his wife as Marin County royalty. And there could be an issue about his kids going to private school while (other) kids are stuck learning from home.” Whatever the outcome, Newsom is facing a potentially potent mix of anger, resentment and dissatisfaction just...

"As Newsom begins his third full year in office, the governor’s team is increasingly concerned with a long-shot conservative recall that could mushroom into a major threat in 2021 if it attracts significant financial support." "Sources close to Newsom said the governor's office has been disorganized over the past month and has not responded effectively to damaging headlines" including his French Laundry trip, controversial new stay-at-home order and delay in naming Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' replacement in the United States Senate. In addition, most of the state's public schools remain closed while they are open in other deep blue states......

Dr. Tomás Aragón, who the SF Chronicle once described as “SF’s most powerful person in pandemic response,” is headed to Sacramento. Since 2010, he’s been the city’s health officer, which means that he’s been the final decision-maker on what’s been allowed to open and forced to close since the coronavirus crisis began. It’s a set of powers that SF’s City Attorney even laid out in May, after conflicts arose over who got to call the county’s COVID-19 shots. This morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that Aragón has been appointed Director of the California Department of Public Health, replacing acting director...

Here are 29 pages of a document dump with all sorts of interesting information.

The rush was on Sunday night for out-of-town travelers to get back home to Santa Clara County as a new mandatory travel directive went into effect at midnight. The order requires that travelers arriving in the county from more than 150 miles away quarantine for two weeks. But how will the county enforce such a broad order? Airports are going to be a key component of the new order, as it will be up to them to post signs and educate passengers about the new requirement. Passengers will be given a written copy of the directive upon landing. There are...

Fear, Prejudice Contribute to Pandemic Slump in San Francisco Chinatown SAN FRANCISCO — Chinatown is one of the most colorful and historic districts in San Francisco but, despite a relatively low infection rate, the area is fighting for its life as fear of the pandemic is causing longtime businesses to fail. “It’s desolate and there’s nothing here anymore,” said area resident Mark Lobell. Grant Avenue on a Sunday morning would normally be jammed with shoppers and diners but, these days, it’s quiet and empty. Steven Lee co-owns the Sam Wo restaurant which has been operating in Chinatown for more than...

Wast just informed by my boss I will be asked to go home if I don't wear a mask while on premise. Informed him of my anxiety condition and he said get a doctors note. Informed him the are I work in is 900 Square feet and I am generally the only person in that office and "the rules" say I am exempt from a mask under those conditions. "Go tell your king newsom but, that is the way it is" he replied. "If you have to wear a mask at the grocery store, you can wear one at work"...

Chinese police are joining Italian officers on the streets of Rome and Milan in an experiment aimed at helping tourists from China feel safe, Italy’s interior ministry said on Monday.

Santa Clara County has surpassed 1 million tests for the novel coronavirus since the pandemic began in March, the county’s testing officer said Monday. County COVID-19 testing officer Dr. Marty Fenstersheib said between 7,000 and 8,000 tests are being conducted per day in Santa Clara County. “The more testing we do, yes we may find and we do find more cases, but then we are able to educate those people that are infected and to keep them safe and others around them safe until they are no longer infectious,” he said. As of Sunday, 25,139 coronavirus cases have been confirmed...

In an effort to address economic disparities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco voters have overwhelmingly approved several tax measures targeting property owners and big businesses with CEOs who are paid far more than their average workers. Under a newly approved law, any company whose top executive earns 100 times more than its average worker will pay an extra 0.1% surcharge on its annual business-tax payment. If a CEO makes 200 times more than the average employee, the surcharge increases to 0.2%, and so on per multiple of 100. "We’re not gonna shed any tears if penthouse dwellers...

"He said what [the GOP] is doing is not Constitutional. How is it not constitutional what they're doing constitutional?" Tapper asked. "His point is that the people have the opportunity to weigh in on this constitutional process through their vote," Bedingfield explained. "And we are now in the midst of the election. Millions of people have already cast their votes. And you see that the vast majority of people say they want the person who wins the election on November 3rd to nominate the justice." "That's a poll. That's not the Constitution," Tapper clapped back. "By trying – that is...

The response to our country's last pandemic resulted in over 60 million infections. If it has been as deadly as COVID-19 there would have been an outrageous number of deaths. Biden criticizes Trump, but all we have to do is look back a few years to see what would have happened had he been in charge. Trump should hit him with this over and over!

The video shows police tackle a shirtless Parscale to the ground and place handcuffs on him after he emerged from his home, as he repeatedly said he “didn’t do anything.”

Di president of United States of America get big influence on how di world dey take respond to international crises like war, global pandemic and climate change. So wen time for election reach for every four years, plenty pipo dey dey interested on wetin di result go be, but no be many pipo understand how di process dey work. Even here for BBC News, we gatz remind oursef how di electoral college dey take work and wetin battle ground state be. So if you dey look for how to refresh your memory or you dey try to understand am for...

If it was prerecorded, that would be interesting to know because that means they could have done 15,000 takes to get it right. But I’m not aware that it was prerecorded, and I’m not aware that they said that it was. At any rate, two things — three things — we’re gonna do here before we get back to the phones. One thing Biden did… Whether it was live or on tape, one thing Biden did last night was repeat this humongous lie that Trump said that the Aryan Nation’s white supremacists, neo-Nazis at the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally three years...

According to Rush, President Trump quoted a claim that in the case of chaos in the Electoral College the Speaker of the House could become President. IMHO that cannot be the meaning of the Twelfth Amendment: The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted...

The San Leandro Police Officers’ Association is expressing concern over a report that shows an almost 50 percent increase in month-over-month violent crime with significant increases in robbery, assault, residential burglary, and shoplifting in San Leandro. New crime numbers released Friday from July show a 500 percent increase in robberies involving a firearm, a 125 percent increase in assaults with a deadly weapon, a 100 percent increase in shoplifting, and a 75 percent increase in residential burglaries over the previous month of June 2020. Year-over-year crime statistics show that rape is up 38 percent, assault with a deadly weapon is...

A man in his late teens was slashed to death with a machete in broad daylight in central London, as violent crime levels return to pre-lockdown levels in the capital. The teen was hacked to death at around 5:30 on Monday evening, close to Oxford Street, one of the busiest shopping streets in the country.