Well, it has begun. Donald Trump’s refusal to cede his loss to President-elect Joe Biden has caught fire in Republican-led states. This is a very disturbing turn of events. A Pennsylvania Republican state senator, Nicole Ziccarelli (R) challenged Senator Jim Brewster’s (D) win. The result has been disastrous, reflective of Trump’s daylight coup.
The GOP majority in Wisconsin removed Lt. Governor John Fetterman and installed President Pro Temp Jake Corman. The result was that Corman prevented Brewster from being sworn in, accorded to The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Abraham Gutman. He tweeted:
‘Welp. Republican majority of the Pennsylvania State Senate just removed @JohnFetterman from the chamber. President Pro Temp Corman is presiding instead. Fetterman refused to recognize a motion that would have prevented a duly elected Democratic senator from being sworn in.’
Ziccarelli challenged Brewster’s win and requested the court throw away 311 mail-in ballots in Allegheny County. The reason she gave was that they did not have a handwritten date on the outer ballot envelope. Pennsylvania law requires this, but the issue has been before the state’s Supreme Court, which allowed them to be counted.
Gutman tweeted:
‘Fetterman did not leave the chamber or the rostrum so there are two people presiding. Fetterman is being ignored by the Republican senators in the majority. Corman is starting the certification of the results district by district. Very ugly.’
Westmoreland County is partly within Brewster’s district and had not counted undated ballots:
“Ziccarelli complained to U.S. District Court that her due process and equal protection rights were violated, although Brewster and Democratic officials argued federal courts had no jurisdiction to overturn a state court decision.”
Gutman reported how the event unfolded:
‘Corman is moving to administer the oath of office to Democratic senators. Brewster is on the floor. Corman asking the judge to wait until Corman leaves. Fetterman: Senator Brewster is the certified winner of his district! Corman: he was not read Williams: I read the results!’
One Democratic state senator shouted as Corman started recognizing the others to be installed, according to The Law & Crime:
‘There is nothing about this day that is appropriate. And we will not lay down and roll over because we got more lawful votes than the folks on the other side of the aisle. This is about Pennsylvania–not Democrats or Republicans. This isn’t about someone winning. This is about protecting our democracy. That’s what this is.’
The GOP steamrolled the Democrats. So, the Democrats continued shouting while the Republicans remain composed:
‘This is not a roll call vote. The president has not been acknowledged, has not been recognized–it is inappropriate to do such. We will not participate in this farce.’
But the ayes had it.
Then, Gutman tweeted that Brewster did not want “his election to take away from the celebratory nature of the day:”
‘Jim Brewster, mensch, asked that all other Democratic senators be sworn in. He didn’t want the issue around his election to take away from the celebratory nature of the day for others, according to Williams. They are sworn in, including @NikilSaval of Philadelphia.’
Twitter world caught fire when this hit. Take a look at some of our favorite responses below:
Exactly. Unenforced rules aren’t really rules, are they? pic.twitter.com/TOfuITeU0Q
— Mrs. Skybar (@MrsSkyBar) January 5, 2021
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
