The Topline: Democracy's Daily Digest
The Electoral College meets today to cast its vote in the presidential election, another step in the electoral process to certifying Joe Biden being sworn in next month as the 46th President of the United States. President Trump, meanwhile, continues to show the American people he has zero intention of conceding the election and acknowledging Biden’s victory. Presidential concessions are a long-standing tradition in American politics, dating back to 1896, when Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Jennings Bryan, upon learning of his loss to McKinley, sent a telegram congratulating his opponent and conceding, "We have submitted the issue to the American people, and their will is law." Since then, every American presidential candidate has conceded upon losing election. Regardless if Trump refuses to observe this tradition, his term will expire at noon on Jan. 20, as outlined in the 20th Amendment. However, withholding a concession speech or tweet not only breaks with tradition but also denies closure on the 2020 presidential election for his supporters, the Republican Party, and those who need it most, the American people. Trump knows what he is doing, and he is holding American democracy hostage by playing these games to the detriment of our electoral system. The election was not stolen, rigged, or in any way fraudulent. Instead, the election was free, fair, and without foreign interference. And it is time Trump concedes. —Mary Anna Mancuso, Media Manager, Stand Up Republic
Welcome to all of our new readers. We're glad you're here! Please help us spread the word about THE TOPLINE by sharing it here.
Violence erupts after SCOTUS decision
It all started on Friday evening. The Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated verdict on the case brought by the attorney general of Texas, seeking to overturn the presidential election results in four states: dismissed. That brought immediate calls for war and secession from outraged MAGA adherents, who were expecting a win and felt betrayed by the justices appointed by President Trump. The next day, Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., to march in protest. As night fell, the demonstrations turned violent. Amid the chaos, at least four people were stabbed in the vicinity of a crowd of "Proud Boys," a White nationalist group that supports the president. —The Washington Post
— Wisconsin hands Trump another loss. Not to be outdone by the SCOTUS, on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig, who was appointed by Trump, threw out a lawsuit in Wisconsin that sought to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's election victory in the state. Ludwig said that if Trump's argument that disagreements over the conduct of an election by state officials created a federal claim were correct, "any disappointed loser in a presidential election, able to hire a team of clever lawyers, could flag claimed deviations from the election rules and cast doubt on the election results." —Bloomberg
— Last-ditch effort. A small group of Trump's most loyal backers in Congress is plotting a final-stage challenge on the floor of the House of Representatives on Jan. 6 to try to reverse Biden's victory. The effort is being led by Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, who is eyeing challenges to the election results in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He's not likely to get much support in the Senate, however, as several Senate Republicans, including Lamar Alexander, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, and Pat Toomey, have publicly rejected the idea of overturning the results. —The New York Times
— Violence fears close Michigan legislature. Ahead of today's meeting of Michigan's 16 electors at the state Capitol in Lansing, officials announced the state legislature's office buildings will be closed due to "credible threats of violence." The decision to close the state House and Senate offices—while the presidential electors convene in the Senate chamber to cast their votes for Biden—came from a recommendation from law enforcement, officials said. —ABC News
MORE: In challenging election defeat, Trump cements his control over the Republican Party —The Washington Post
McCarthy: There's no there there
"It has become an article of faith among ardent Trump followers that the election was stolen. The president continues to insist that this is the case, and these flames were further fanned by 19 Republican-controlled state governments, along with 126 Republican members of Congress, who joined the meritless Texas lawsuit, tossed out by the Supreme Court on Friday. The rationalization behind that stunt was that the president has been denied his day in court. But every time a court offers him an opportunity to establish by proof what he is promoting by Twitter, Team Trump folds. Why is that?" —Andrew McCarthy in National Review
Andrew McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute.
MORE: Kimberly Wehle: There's a way to halt Trump's baseless election fraud cases —Politico
Coronavirus vaccinations begin in the US
— Sandra Lindsay was administered the vaccine during a live video event at about 9:20am ET today. Dr. Michelle Chester, the corporate director of employee health services at Northwell Health, delivered the shot. "I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history," said Lindsay.
— Michael Dowling, the president and CEO of Northwell Health, who was also in attendance, noted that the regional hospital system has seen over 100,000 patients with COVID-19. "This is a special moment, a special day," Dowling said. "This is what everybody has been waiting for."
— The first batch of the vaccine was shipped out from a Pfizer plant in Portage, Mich., yesterday, headed for over 600 sites across all 50 states. State and local authorities make their own decisions on who gets vaccinated and when. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities get the vaccine first. —CNN
MORE: Trump to delay early COVID-19 vaccinations of White House staff —Bloomberg
Russian hackers strike federal agencies
— The timing suggests that while the government was focused on preventing Russian intervention in the 2020 election, key agencies working for the administration—and unrelated to the election—were actually the subject of a sophisticated attack that they were unaware of until recent weeks.
— Last night, the Department of Homeland Security ordered all agencies to shut down any use of a network management software made by a company called SolarWinds and installed on networks belonging to government agencies and American corporations. The order was so urgent that it gave a deadline of noon today for "a completion report" confirming that the software was no longer in use.— Though a specific motive for the attack remains elusive, government officials say it is too soon to tell how damaging the attacks were and how much material was lost. According to several corporate officials, the attacks had been underway as early as this spring, meaning they continued undetected through months of the pandemic and the election season. —The New York Times
MORE: Israeli spy tech firm says it can break into signal app previously considered safe from hacking —Haaretz
Bershidsky: How Russia's guerilla media targets Putin
"An investigative media outlet in today's Russia needs to be light on its feet and hard to pin down. The smaller its footprint in the physical world, especially in Russia, the better it can do its job—and the fewer no-go zones designated for the traditional media matter to it. The journalists who work in these small, flexible, mobile teams are technically savvy. They can work from anywhere, and they can handle data that has been intentionally scrambled to defy analysis. They are creatures of a world deeply alien to Putin, who does not use the internet on his own and often appears to prefer the late 20th century to the modern version of reality." —Leonid Bershidsky in Bloomberg
Leonid Bershidsky is a Russian Berlin-based journalist and a columnist for Bloomberg View.
Barr becomes unlikely Trump target
— Hunter Biden was subpoenaed last week to provide information about his work on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company where he sat on the board. He was also asked to turn over documents related to business dealings in China and other financial activities. On Saturday, a 2017 e-mail emerged from Hunter's former business partner saying he did not disclose on his tax returns $400,000 in income from Burisma.
— Trump considered firing Barr during a White House meeting on Friday and unloaded on him over the weekend on Twitter and in a Fox News interview. The president has reportedly been unhappy with Barr for months for his failure to deliver on an investigation targeting former Obama officials over the FBI's Russia probe, and for publicly confirming that the DOJ had no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
— Barr, meanwhile, has reportedly shrugged off Trump's remarks as being those of a "deposed king ranting." A CNN source said that Barr "cannot be intimidated" by Trump, and The Wall Street Journal reports that he intends to stay on at the department unless he's fired. —Business Insider
MORE: Donald Ayer: Trump and Barr wrecked the Justice Department. Here are 6 ways Joe Biden can fix it —USA Today
Ghitis: US at epicenter of global war over democracy
"On a global scale, the battle between democracy and authoritarianism is the defining political contest of our time. Authoritarianism comes in many colors. It is not much of an ideology. Along with its populist mechanisms, it is above all a way for individuals or parties to hold power. That's why we see it on the left—as in Venezuela—and on the right—as in Hungary, Poland, the Philippines—as well as in countries where it’s hard to even position a regime on the left-right continuum, as in Nicaragua. Just as Trump's 2016 election came as a blow to democrats (small d) around the world, his defeat felt like a major victory in that global battle. The battle in the United States is not over. But if the U.S. can solidify and strengthen its democracy enough to withstand the forces attacking it from within, the world's 14-year trend of democratic decline may just begin to reverse." —Frida Ghitis in INSIGHT
Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist and analyst. She is the author of "The End of Revolution: A Changing World in the Age of Live Television."
MORE: GOP efforts to overturn election may do lasting harm to democracy, political scientists warn —The Washington Post
Paying it forward
— A man came by the drive-thru window on Thursday and asked if he could pay for his meal and for the car behind him. When the next customer came to the window, store manager Tina Jensen explained what the man in front of them had done—and the acts of kindness continued to multiply.
— Jensen told her cashier this tends to happen once in a while, but at most it lasts for 15 or 20 cars and fizzles out. This time, the chain continued for two and a half days with more than 900 cars participating, raking in $10,000 in sales.
— Heidi Bruse experienced the act of kindness on Friday evening during a dinner run. "During times like these it kinda restores your faith in humanity a little," Bruse said. "The way the world is now, you see a lot of anger, tension, and selfish behavior. What we witnessed was pure kindness, and it was a breath of fresh air really." —CNN
So, if Trump's legal team can file lawsuit after lawsuit, based on often delusional fabrications, and completely devoid of facts when asked to swear to them in a court of law, why can't poll workers file lawsuits against Rudy Giuliani? He has accused them of federal crimes. He has refused to provide sworn evidence to back up his claims. Many election officials, both Republican and Democrat have been subjected to harassment and threats, even to their spouses and children because of his unproven claims.
If ever there was just cause for lawsuits, Trump, Giuliani, and other Trump sycophants, including several elected officials, have provided it. After he leaves office, could Trump also be liable for damages? When he was running for office, he would not have been acting in his official capacity as president. The people who were defamed by his words are not all public figures. Why can't he be sued for libel? —Bill M., Pennsylvania
tell us what you think
about today's stories
The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
Got feedback about THE TOPLINE? Send it to Melissa Amour, Managing Editor, at editor@thetopline.com.
Did you receive this email from a friend? Sign up at www.thetopline.com.
CARE ABOUT DEMOCRACY? SHARE SOME DEMOCRACY.
If you love THE TOPLINE, share it with your friends and reap the rewards—from a shoutout in an issue of TL, to exclusive swag, to a call with Evan and Mindy.
Your Dashboard has everything you need to easily share THE TOPLINE
and track your progress.