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Democrats are busy trying to ensure a victory in the 2022 elections. If public opinion plays any part (and if the elections are honest), theyll likely lose in even larger numbers than in 2020, which was bad for them, President Joe Bidens victory notwithstanding.

But the Democrats in power are very, very good at gaming the system; we can expect them to exploit fear porn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. They will demand the continuation of practices that are rife with potential for fraud, such as ballot harvesting and mail-in ballots, and fight tooth and nail against election integrity efforts state legislatures are enacting. Indeed, Eric Holder, attorney general under former President Barack Obama, has already called for people to be in the streets, using considerable civil resistance and getting arrested to protect their voting rights. Holders call to arms sounds like hes summoning rioting mobs such as those that did up to $2 billion in damage in cities across the country in the summer of 2020.

This effort at intimidation is pure propaganda, and irresponsible to boot. In truth, no American citizens voting rights are threatened by the legislation currently making its way through a number of states. State legislatures must hold the line and enact legislation that will protect election integrity and prevent fraud and other illegal voting that does disenfranchise Americans.

Democrats know all this. They also know that they lose elections when Americans are told the truth about the policies theyre pushing which is why they rely upon the media to lie for them, and Big Tech to prevent anyone from telling the truth.

A perfect example of this is so-called universal or single-payer health care, which is one of Democrats pet projects. Imposing a socialist form of health care has been at the top of their wish list since long before Obama managed to get the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) rammed through Congress in 2009 without a single Republican vote, and based upon a series of lies repeated to the American public for months. (No, insured people could not keep their doctors or their plans; no, insurance was not going to cost less; yes, sorry premiums were going to skyrocket, and did.)

The launch of healthcare.gov, the website where Americans were supposed to sign up for insurance, was an unmitigated disaster, as were the state-run health care plans and exchanges, most of which closed or went bankrupt due to higher-than-predicted costs and inadequate revenue and government reimbursements.

Thats proof that health care should not be run, administered or paid for by the U.S. government. But in truth, it isnt the government that pays for health care in a single-payer system; its the taxpayers.

In that vein, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed another ugly reality: what collectivist healthcare does to us as individuals, and the attitude that people begin to take toward other peoples health, their personal behavior and their medical care decisions.

The ongoing debate over the medical necessity and constitutionality of mask and vaccine mandates has brought out the authoritarian impulses in no small number of Americans. Pundits describe those with serious concerns about vaccines as evil and malicious. Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger notoriously said screw your freedoms in response to people opposing mask mandates. Actor and activist George Takei is among many on social media who have called for the unvaccinated to be denied health care; or worse. Talk show host James Corden joked that unvaccinated people should be punched in the face. One Twitter user (who later deleted his account) actually said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should tell people to get the shot or get shot. Those who refuse, he tweeted, should be lined up in front of a trench and executed by a firing squad.

Even among those not moved to violence, the rationale offered for penalizing people is that the choice not to wear a mask or be vaccinated causes harm. When one points out that the same could be said of smoking, substance abuse or obesity, the response is, Thats different. Those choices dont affect other people.

Oht, but under single-payer health care, they would.

That would prompt the same hostility were seeing about COVID, and we already have the proof.

A Google search for Should the unvaccinated receive health care? pulls up dozens of links to editorials arguing against providing care. One author, Trish Zornio, explicitly uses limited resources as justification for denying care to those whose choices strain the system when resources become scarce. Choices have consequences, she wrote.

Yes, they do.

As the socialized health care systems in Canada and the United Kingdom both demonstrate, a single-payer system inevitably results in budget shortfalls. Governments are never accurate (or honest) about the costs of social programs, and you can only raise taxes so much. When the money runs low, here come the delays, waiting lists and rationing. Now the government will decide who receives care and who doesnt.

How will Americans feel about each other then?

Lets use obesity as an example. More than 40% of Americans are obese. Obesity is the single greatest comorbidity presaging serious complications from COVID. But even without the coronavirus, the costs of treating obesity-related illness heart disease, stroke, renal failure, hypertension and even some cancers runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

How long will it take before Americans start saying choices have consequences when they discover that other peoples behavior affects their access to health care?

Collectivism isnt kindness or charity; its compulsion. We cease being neighbors and instead become rivals for limited resources dispensed by powerful people over whom we have no control, so we seek to control our fellow citizens instead.

Dont be fooled. Socialized health care is a prescription for social disaster. Vote against those who would impose it.

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COVID exposes the ugly side of 'single-payer' health care - Minot Daily News

Summary

Trump still hasn`t been reinstated as president. Mike Lindell predicts Trump will be reinstated. Republicans control redistricting in 20 states. Census data to be used to allot congressional seats.

ARI MELBER, MSNBC HOST: You know what, we just -- we had our other artisan together, producer and rapper, I would love to do a joint interview Meek Mill with you. It would by my honor, Joy.

JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: Officially, we have pitched that just now on national T.V. Let`s do it.

MELBER: There it is, to the world.

REID: All right, Ari, have a great weekend. Thank you. All right, cheers.

All right, good evening everyone. We begin THE REIDOUT with the horror story. Today is Friday the 13th. Now, for most of us who are old enough to remember, that date conjures up memories of Jason Voorhees and his nightmare-inducing murdering rampages near Crystal Lake.

So spooky. In 2021, that nightmare has been replaced by another horrifying reality, the modern Republican Party. For many hardcore Trump followers and the orange emperor with no clothes himself, this Friday the 13th is the day of his glorious and his triumphant return to power. Yes. Today is the day that the military, which is secretly in power, will hand over the White House to the bloated retiree over in Bedminster and remove the Biden hologram. Trump, like every sad narcissist, believes this lie.

According to one report, he`s taking to telling people that he would be reinstated as president. Now, all of those people don`t just laugh in his face, it`s beyond me. But that probably explains why the #trumpisalaughingstock trended all afternoon. The factually dubious and dangerous idea was cooked up in the rancid bowels of the QAnon inter webs and pushed by right wing heretics led by, the MyPillow guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LINDELL, CEO, THE MY PILLOW: By the time, August 13th -- the morning of August 13th, it will be the talk of the world point. Hurry up. Let`s get this election pulled down and right the right.

On August 13th, Donald Trump is going to be reinstated as President. The alliance is going to overturn the cabal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Nearly 30 percent of the Republican Party actually believes this nonsense.

Well, it is past 7:00 P.M. and Joe Biden is still the president. And he is not a hologram, because there is no constitutional mechanism or legal tool to reinstate a man who was rejected by 81 million Americans and lost his re-election bid, period.

Now some of this seems comical. The sheer stupidity of it all masks the truly disturbing under belly of the Republican Party in this moment, because today is just another example of how far the right-wing misinformation regime is willing to go, to feed poison to their people, poison that led to a deadly insurrection, poison that led to the only American president in modern history, in any of our of our history, to actively try to overthrow a free and fair election, poison that prompted the DHS to issue a terrorism threat alert that include a warning about domestic terrorists engage in grievance-based violence.

The bulletin also warned of violence stemming from conspiracy theories based on perceived election fraud and alleged reinstatement. Sound familiar? The same poison that`s now fuelling a two-pronged attack on democratic voters in the form of voter suppression and racial gerrymandering. This kind of corrosive propaganda has become acceptable to Republicans, even Republicans who know better, because it helps subjugate democracy in their quest for power.

Why did they allow all of this poison? Well, new census numbers this week give us a clue. The United States is increasingly multiracial and urban and the white population is shrinking. Even more interesting, the majority of the Americans under the age of 18 are ethnically diverse, the majority.

While the census also showed us is that the bulk of the diverse population growth is in states like Texas and Arizona, where Republicans get to draw the lines in a way that ensure that they keep more power than they deserve. That is what we call gerrymandering, folks.

That`s also what happens when old America keeps the new America from fully blossoming, because democracy can die in broad daylight. That`s why it feels like a deck is so stacked. Because every time democracy ekes out a victory, Republicans throw up a new hurdle.

Just take a look at what`s happening in Georgia or Texas or at the Supreme Court, where conservative justices have left the Voting Rights Act on life support, with a fading pulse. The next few months pose a make-or-break moment for America. And the question is what will Democrats do about it.

And joining me now is Eric Holder, former U.S. Attorney General under President Barack Obama, and the Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

And, General Holder, thank you so much for being here. You`re just the person that I wanted to talk to in this moment when it does feel like our democracy is teetering on the brink of collapse.

[19:05:03]

And I want to go back to start with this reinstatement thing. It`s ridiculous, it`s ludicrous, but it`s also a national security threat. And I wonder if as somebody who was attorney general, do you think that, U.S. attorneys and the current DOJ is being aggressive enough in having some sort of consequence for pushing this big lie and these big lies that are actually potentially making people get violent.

ERIC HOLDER, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, you know, the Justice Department clearly is investigating and prosecuting all the people involved on January the 6th. It seems to me that there probably needs to be a wider investigation to see how you tie what happened January the 6th to what happened starting the day of the election or immediately thereafter.

It seems to me these are part in parcel of the same things as the revelations come out about the White House trying to influencing the Justice Department, trying to get people at the Justice Department to say that the election results were fraudulent and use it as a basis to then use operatives in the state to, you know, overturn the election results. This is something that I think calls for a pretty expansive view of -- you know, review of what happened.

But here is the deal. You know, I think, in some ways, the most important thing is for that congressional committee to look at all these things so that the information that they get can be shared with the American people and can be shared with history.

Criminal investigations, you know, a lot of it happens in grand juries, a lot of it doesn`t get revealed to the public, ever. And there has to be an accounting of who was involved, what did they do. A prime question has to be, what did the president`s men know and what did they do.

REID: Well, and we know that there is not a history in this country unlike some countries of prosecuting a former president. But this just seems like a sui generis case with Donald Trump, when know that Spiro Agnew, former vice president, was prosecuted. But there isn`t -- there hasn`t really been a history of that.

But right now, this former president, Donald Trump, there is a Georgia investigation that is ongoing right now into his call to overturn the election directly there in the state of Georgia. Georgia election officials opened that in February about that phone call in which he pressured the secretary of state there to overturn the election.

And I wonder if combining that fact, that he is already under that criminal investigation, and the fact that there is this January 6th commission that is looking at what could come out to be crimes. I mean, George Conway has come out and said, there`s even prosecution here. If you were still in a position to do so, would you be open to the idea that perhaps Donald Trump should be prosecuted?

HOLDER: Yes. I certainly think that, you know, everybody who was involved in that matter, and, I mean, you just -- you can`t look at it. You can`t cabin (ph). You just think that January 6th is the only thing we need to be looking at. We have to go back a couple of months and everybody who was involved in that. I mean, everybody should be investigated and then potentially prosecuted.

Now, prosecution of a former president involves a whole range of things that you know goes -- that`s a little different from, you know, people who serve and below him. There are national interests, divisions that that could unleash, which is not to say that he should not be held accountable if he is found to have committed criminal acts. Put it in a minimum, at a minimum, an investigation needs to be done to find out who exactly was involved, what was the connection between people in the White House and the people who were there on January the 6th through intermediaries or direct.

REID: And you were there obviously when Merrick Garland was chosen to be on the Supreme Court by former President Obama. So I assume you know at least, know a lot about him. Do you get the sense that he is overcautious in that regard when it comes to investigating the former president, members of Congress and others who may have been complicit in what amounted to -- what not what amounted to, in what was an attempted coup, an insurrection against the United States?

HOLDER: No, I don`t think so. I mean, I`ve known Merrick for, you know, maybe 20, 30, 20, 25 years at this point. I think he is a person that is going to do things by the book. And I think he understands the enormity of what happened and the negative impact that, you know, what happened on January the 6th and what led up to January the 6th, The negative impact of that had on the nation, and, you know, the negative impact that would occur if people who are responsible for all that were not held accountable. You know, I think he feels that. I think understands that. And I think he is prepared, you know, to make those kinds of difficult decision.

You know, I got a lot of grief when I decided that I was going to look back at what happened in the prior administration, when it came to the use of -- a torture as interrogation technique. And, you know, I think Merrick went in to the job understanding this. Sometimes you`ve got to make these decisions that are going to be politically controversial, maybe even unpopular. You know, I think he has got the type of like a backbone that will allow him to make the appropriate determination in these cases.

REID: Now, that is good news I think to a lot of our viewers.

Okay, let`s get to the other half of the threat to democracy.

[19:10:00]

Republicans are using the big lie. Whether they personally believe it or not, they are deciding to use it to their advantage. I know you sued multiple states when you were attorney general over attempts to disenfranchise voters in some of this southern state, in these red states. We now have that on steroids happening in places like Texas, in Georgia et cetera.

In your view, how do we put the brakes on that enough to allow enough people to be able to vote so that we have a free and fair election in 2022? And are you worried that these states have now gone so far that we won`t have a free and a fair election?

HOLDER: They haven`t done things at to this point that are I think irreversible. I am concerned, however, that if we do not pass the For the People Act and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, that we can`t get to a point where they will put measures in place that will be irreversible, and that could have a negative impact on our democracy.

I mean, some of the things that they were at least considering, and I think that`s still being considered, you know, in a variety of state, is this notion that you would somehow empower state legislators to an essence overturn the will of the people, overturn a vote by the people in a presidential election. That kind of stuff has going to be outlawed, in addition to, you know, the dark money components, the anti-gerrymandering component, the voter protection stuff that`s all in the For the People Act.

So, you know, the best way to get all of this stuff is to pass the legislation that the House has already passed and is now pending in the Senate.

REID: Let`s also get to the other part of what they are doing, the gerrymandering that`s coming. We know the census is out. We know it`s saying the country is much more diverse. The reaction to that among the Republican Party does not seem to be to say, well, let`s adjust our policies to make it more attractive to a diverse population. It seems to be that they are gearing up to gerrymander the hell out of the map in a way that could mean that even if Republicans and Democrats win huge majorities in state like Texas, Arizona, and Georgia, they won`t get the seats that seem that they would go with it. What can we do about that? I know that, that is what your organization is primarily focused on.

HOLDER: Well, certainly, again, you can pass the For the People Act. That bans partisan gerrymandering. Racial gerrymandering is already outlooked under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and that remains in effect. But we really have got to make sure that we are focused on the decision in a way that we have not before. We`ve been working on this since January 2017. We have put people in place in the states who control the process. Governors and secretaries of state in a variety of states, they`d all be in a place to somehow act as a check against Republican legislatures.

We sponsored and put in place these independent commissions that will draw the lines. But also an advocacy campaign that has a big part of what it is that we are doing to make sure all of that stuff happen in a transparent way, that they don`t go all behind closed doors just draw the maps, you know, draw the lines, and then present maps that are in effect for the next ten years.

Given the census, we know that the population is now more urban, it is more diverse, it`s more suburban, it is less rural, it is more young. All of these things tend to favor Democrats. Those extra seats that Texas was getting, those are seats that should be Democratic seats, though they were fueled by 50 percent increase in Hispanic population. The overall population was increased by 90 percent. You know, overall increase of the population fueled by 90 percent of that being from people of color. So, you know, the drawing of lines there should reflect that, and you should have a greater Democratic representation from Texas, as well as from other states.

REID: Absolutely. Before I let you go, do you have any scoops for us on whether or not you think that any version of For the People actually will pass? Because it looks like the original For the People Act, it really should be called the John Lewis Act, because that is the one that his team wrote. Is any of that going to pass? And if so, how?

HOLDER: You know, I certainly hope so. I think Leader Schumer has got ideas about the process that they`ve going to go through to try to convince some Senators who, at this point, seem to be more concerned about the filibuster than about our democracy. So, I`m cautiously optimistic that will this can happen. You know, Senators Schumer has said this is the first thing they`re going to take up when they come back from their August recess. And I think we will have a better sense then as to how successful he`s going to be in getting these thing across the line.

But then that is a vital, vital piece of legislation. We`ve got to get the For the People Act passed.

REID: Well, thank you for saying that. I agree, and I think most of people who are watching tonight agree as well. Attorney General Eric Holder, thank you very much. It`s always great to talk to you. Thank you and have a great weekend.

HOLDER: Thank you.

REID: All right. And coming up next on THE REIDOUT, the cynical COVID politics of Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, the Republican governors willing to risk the lives of their own constituents in exchange for the votes of the anti-mask crowd.

Plus, as Rand Paul serves up COVID misinformation, he has some questions to answer about his family`s rush to profit from the pandemic.

And things are rapidly going from bad to worse in Afghanistan. But after 20 years, would there have ever been a good time for us to leave?

[19:15:05]

A member of Congress who served in Afghanistan joins me tonight.

THE REIDOUT continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REID: As COVID rages in their states, two Republican governors are prioritizing their own political ambitions over the lives of their own constituents, and the toll is evident. First, Florida`s Ron DeSantis, who is standing by his ban on mask mandates while running the nation`s most transparent 2024 presidential campaign.

With the school year set to begin next week in Broward County, the second largest school district in the state, teachers return to news that three educators died of COVID within 24 hours this week. The teachers union said all three were unvaccinated and that their deaths are a tragedy. But what if those educators had been in a classroom with kids too young to get vaccinated and who, by governor`s orders, could be in the classroom unmasked.

[19:20:07]

That tragedy for these three families could have been extended to many, many more families. all because of Ron DeSantis. Broward County schools have already defied the anti-mask order, as have two other districts.

Then a judge heard a challenge to the mask mandate ban for parents in six counties today. Ron, the junior Don, conceded he doesn`t even have the authority to follow through on his threat to withhold the salaries of educators who defy his ban.

But his partner in carnage, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who, like DeSantis, is up for reelection next year, issued a threat of his own to Texas school districts rejecting his mask mandate ban.

Meanwhile, as Governor DeathSantis, as his detractors call him, soldiers on, the scope of the threat to Florida`s most vulnerable only grows. School districts around Tampa are reporting hundreds of cases in students and teachers. And in Palm Beach County, more than 400 students are in quarantine days after starting classes.

Amid that, more than 800 Florida doctors signed a letter to DeSantis, demanding that he repeal his stupefyingly dangerous order.

One of the doctors who signed that letter joins me now, Dr. Bernard Ashby, a Miami cardiologist, along with Olivia Troye, who resigned as a senior aide to the Coronavirus Task Force in the Trump administration and is currently director of the Republican Accountability Project.

And, Dr. Ashby, it`s always good to see you.

I have to say I take this one very personally. My three kids went to school in Broward County schools. If they were still young and we were still in Florida, that`s where they would be going to school. And I would be afraid to send them, quite frankly. I`m not sure that I would.

Talk to me about this letter that you all sent and about the impact of this ban on mask mandates in Florida.

DR. BERNARD ASHBY, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT MEDICARE: Joy, as always, it`s a pleasure to be here. But I wish it was under better circumstances...

REID: Yes.

ASHBY: ... considering our kids are now at risk from this pandemic.

So, basically, myself and some other physicians, or quite a few other physicians, as you can see, decided to basically speak from the point -- from our reference point as front-line workers and as physicians, frankly, with our mandate of ethics, meaning that what we do is, we protect the well-being of our patients.

And it`s not only within the context of the hospital or our clinics, but this goes for the community as well. And, essentially, what we were asking DeSantis to do was essentially, do your job, meaning that your job, as our governor, duly elected, is to protect the health, the wellness of our community.

And he`s derelict in his duties. And, essentially, what the point of the letter was, was communicating that message and hopefully -- hoping that he would have some semblance of humanity and do what`s right for our children and our entire state.

REID: But he`s not.

I mean, what -- his response to that is to sell these stupid anti-Fauci T- shirts. And now his new thing is to urge Floridians to use Regeneron antibody treatments, which is like $1, 200 a pop. And he`s deploying mobile units to administer the treatment, basically saying, let COVID in the school, let people go unmasked and be exposed to unvaccinated people who could have COVID, and then I will send a van to give them Regeneron.

Does that make sense to you as a physician?

ASHBY: So, Joy, believe it or not, we actually advocated that he promote this monoclonal antibody therapy.

There`s a 70 percent chance of hospitalization and death if you get that therapy early. And right now, in the midst of an emergency while our hospitals are being filled up, that`s one of the therapies that we can use, in addition to vaccines, to kind of quell this outbreak.

However, he only did that because of our advocacy. I have been on really about do something, do something. And these are one of -- this was one of the measures that we have asked him to do. And now he`s finally moving forward on that.

So it`s one thing for him to be against masks, which is ridiculous and indefensible. It`s one thing to for him to actually criticize vaccines de facto with his criticism of Fauci and others, but he wasn`t doing anything.

And so this is the least that he could do, given the fact that that therapy is so effective and underutilized and could potentially save a lot of lives. But what would save more lives is actually wearing a mask. And the fact that he`s actually against masks, with no reason, rationale whatsoever, and simply making this a political issue, is simply inhumane and simply derelict.

And this is something that, if we were in a fantasy world, wouldn`t even make sense to me, because people are literally dying because of the decisions that`s making.

[19:25:06]

REID: Olivia, having served on the Trump task force that ostensibly was about preventing us getting to where we are right now, I am just fascinated to hear your thoughts on these governors, for political purposes, siding with what now includes the Proud Boys are showing up and violently -- threatening violence, essentially, against doctors, like Dr. Ashby, people who are trying to save lives.

These doctors are being shouted down and bullied, including by the Proud Boys, who helped with the insurrection.

Your thoughts on the fact that these Republican governors have decided that this is their key to power, and the fact that they don`t seem to care that it could be killing people?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: No, they don`t care.

And it is frustrating. And it is so angering to me especially, because I have seen this before. I have seen this whole show before. I saw them do this a year ago, when we were going into a really terrible winter, where they created this divisiveness, and they got ahead of it. And they could have put measures in place that would have prevented the deaths of many.

And that was back then. And we are seeing this show again. And, look, talking about the Proud Boys, I have to say, DHS just issued their latest bread advisory. And what was striking to me in it was the language in it, and also the highlighting of potential threats because of the current misinformation and rhetoric and divisiveness that we have across the country on COVID specifically.

So, now, let`s think about that. Our own homeland security enterprise is warning about the potential for violence and increased rhetoric and divisiveness across the country. So, of course, Proud Boys, yes, you`re seeing the congruence of these narratives come together with this belief system.

And it`s being driven by people like DeSantis and Abbott, the governors of the states. These are leaders of our country that are encouraging these types of narratives that are inevitably going to lead to these threats, this increase in it.

So you have national security officials warning about this, while you have governors at odds with what -- truly what they`re saying. And they`re part of the messaging that is driving these threats.

REID: We have had Dr. Fauci on last night, where he said that he`s -- he`s constantly getting threats. Doctors are having to get added security, because it`s become a matter of sort of cultural rage just the idea of putting on a mask.

You`re nodding, Dr. Ashby. Have you experienced that?

View post:
Transcript: The ReidOut, 8/13/21 - MSNBC

The Mexican government is planning to sue U.S. gun manufacturers due to the number of illegal guns in Mexico. Certainly, this is in collaboration with the progressive Democrats that despise the ability for law abiding Americans to protect themselves. This is also a confession of the Mexican governments inability to govern. But instead of looking introspectively to determine why this problem exists and how to fix it, it is easier to blame others, especially when payday appears to be near.

The second amendment was purposefully created by our founders (educated during the enlightenment era) because they understood human behavior, and that Democracy is fragile to maintain. Had it not been for the American idea to maintain arms, the Revolutionary War and the ultimate outcome would have ended much differently.

A gun is an inanimate object and is harmless in and of itself. Guns dont kill people, people kill people. A vehicle is a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. We have tests and procedures to ensure this privilege is either maintained or taken away to protect others. Whats next, suing Ford and GM for making cars that in the wrong hands kill people?

If the Mexican Government really wants to sue someone in America for the illegal guns in their country, sue Eric Holder, Attorney General who authorized the Project: Gun Runner and Operation Fast and Furious that exported hundreds of assault weapons across the border, then refused to testify before Congress. Now that would be justice for justices sake.

David Eddy

Middletown

View original post here:
Letter to the editor: 2nd Amendment maintains democracy - The Winchester Star

If efforts by states and cities to pass privacy regulations curbing the use of facial recognition are anything to go by, you might fear the worst for the companies building the technology. But a recent influx of investor cash suggests the facial recognition startup sector is thriving, not suffering.

Facial recognition is one of the most controversial and complex policy areas in play. The technology can be used to track where you go and what you do. Its used by public authorities and in private businesses like stores. But facial recognition has been shown to be flawed and inaccurate, often misidentifies non-white faces, and is disproportionately affects communities of color. Its flawed algorithms have already been used to send innocent people to jail, and privacy advocates have raised countless concerns about how this kind of biometric data is stored and used.

With the threat of federal legislation looming, some of the biggest facial recognition companies like Amazon, IBM and Microsoft announced they would stop selling their facial recognition technology to police departments to try to appease angry investors, customers, and even their own employees who protested the deployment of such technologies by the U.S. government and immigration authorities.

The pushback against facial recognition didnt stop there. Since the start of the year, Maine, Massachusettsand the city of Minneapolis have all passed legislation curbing or banning the use of facial recognition in some form, following in the steps of many other cities and states before them and setting the stage for others, like New York, which are eyeing legislation of their own.

In those same six or so months, investors have funneled hundreds of millions into several facial recognition startups. A breakdown of Crunchbase data by FindBiometrics shows a sharp rise in venture funding in facial recognition companies at well over $500 million in 2021 so far, compared to $622 million for all of 2020.

About half of that $500 million comes from one startup alone. Israel-based startup AnyVision raised $235 million at Series C earlier this month from SoftBanks Vision Fund 2 for its facial recognition technology thats used in schools, stadiums, casinos and retail stores. Macys is a known customer and uses the face-scanning technology to identify shoplifters. Its a steep funding round compared to a year earlier when Microsoft publicly pulled its investment in AnyVisions Series A following an investigation by former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder into reports that the startups technology was being used by the Israeli government to surveil residents in the West Bank.

Paravision, the company marred by controversy after it was accused of using facial recognition on its users without informing them, raised $23 million in a funding round led by J2 Ventures.

Last week, Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition startup that is the subject of several government investigations and multiple class-action suits for allegedly scraping billions of profile photos from social media sites, confirmed to The New York Times it raised $30 million from investors who asked not to be identified, only that they are institutional investors and private family offices. That is to say, while investors are happy to see their money go toward building facial recognition systems, they too are all too aware of the risks and controversies associated with attaching their names to the technology.

Although the applications and customers of facial recognition wildly vary, theres still a big market for the technology.

Many of the cities and towns with facial recognition bans also have carve-outs that allow its use in some circumstances, or broad exemptions for private businesses that can freely buy and use the technology. The exclusion of many China-based facial recognition companies, like Hikvision and Dahua, which the government has linked to human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang, as well as dozens of other startups blacklisted by the U.S. government, has helped push out some of the greatest competition from the most lucrative U.S. markets, like government customers.

But as facial recognition continues to draw scrutiny, investors are urging companies to do more to make sure their technologies are not being misused.

In June, a group of 50 investors with more than $4.5 trillion in assets called on dozens of facial recognition companies, including Amazon, Facebook, Alibaba and Huawei, to build their technologies ethically.

In some instances, new technologies such as facial recognition technology may also undermine our fundamental rights. Yet this technology is being designed and used in a largely unconstrained way, presenting risks to basic human rights, the statement read.

Its not just ethics, but also a matter of trying to future-proof the industry from inevitable further political headwinds. In April, the European Unions top data protection watchdog called for an end to facial recognition in public spaces across the bloc.

As mass surveillance expands, technological innovation is outpacing human rights protection. There are growing reports of bans, fines and blacklistings of the use of facial recognition technology. There is a pressing need to consider these questions, the statement added.

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Despite controversies and bans, facial recognition startups are flush with VC cash - TechCrunch

Elaine Chao was one of the last few Trump-administration longtimers left gaping at the horror of January 6the now infamous day when a supporter of the 45th President stormed into the US Capitol wearing horns and face paint and sat in the Vice Presidents chair in the Senate chamber; a fellow Trump loyalist was killed as she tried to breach the House chamber; and hundreds of other so-called patriots marauded through the building in the name of Making America Great Again after maiming police officers outside. Widely viewed as an experienced voice of conservative reason when confirmed as Secretary of Transportation in 2017, Chao had outlasted many colleagues who jumped off the Trump train well before the Capitol insurrection. It wasnt the first time she had stuck it out in a controversial administration. After heading the Labor Department through the entirety of George W. Bushs tenure, she was rewarded with a board seat at Dole Food Company, and later News Corp. and Wells Fargo, with a payout from the latter reported to potentially hit $5 million. But this time, her loyalty seems to have come with complications.

Although she resigned in protest on January 7, until very recently Chaos only publicized post-Trump gig was a slot at the right-leaning Hudson Institute; in late June, she was named to the board of a maker of self-driving truck technology. Her association with Trump, along with an inspector generals finding that she used agency resources to help her wealthy familys shipping business, will mess with her ability to get on the board of a Fortune 500 company, says a former Republican strategist: They need people with pristine reputations.

Such has been the fate of the Always Trumpers who stayed until the cataclysmic end, or at least through the 2020 election. Whereas a number of insiders who got out early found their way in the private sector, seven months out from the transition, the die-hards are still branded with a scarlet T. Trump attorney general Bill Barrs former firm, Kirkland & Ellis, has not rehired him, compared with Covington & Burling, where Barack Obamas AG Eric Holder returned as partner. And while Colin Powell joined the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins and accepted multiple board seats, including at the Council on Foreign Relations, after he was Secretary of State under Bush, Mike Pompeo is doing Fox News hits and serving as a fellow at the Hudson Institute. (I guess he could go to the MyPillow board, the former GOP strategist quips.)

Some Trumpies were never considered terribly qualified to begin with. (See: press sec Stephanie Grisham, adviser Hope Hicks.) As for others, if they were really Trump boosters, they knew what they were getting into, says Doug Heye, a former communications director for the RNC and top aide to exGOP majority leader Eric Cantor. This is the natural progression of the orbit that theyre in. They werent necessarily expecting gigs with a Washington or Wall Street imprimatur, the theory goes, because they saw their future in the land of Keeping America Great.

Still, the stain of January 6 is making post-administration life harder than usual for former powerbrokers who could otherwise expect softer landings. The publishing industry has faced open revolt from its own authors who petitioned to keep Trumpers from cashing in on tell-all memoirs. After Mike Pences $3-million-plus, two-book deal with Simon & Schuster went public, the company was hit with a petition signed by more than 200 employees and 3,500 supporters (including its own authors) calling for the deal to be killed. Three months earlieron January 7S&S had canned a slated book by Missouri GOP senator Josh Hawley, who had sought to overturn Joe Bidens election.

Out of the public eye, meanwhile, other institutions are redlining Trumpers who endorsed the former Presidents stolen-election claims. The Council on Foreign Relations, the bipartisan think tank with a long embrace of administration formers, has four exTrump political appointees from Treasury and State (including former ambassador to India Kenneth Juster) serving as fellows and hasnt received any blowback. If we did get pushback, we would be prepared to defend our decisions . . . with the quality of their scholarship and the depth and range of their experience, a council spokesperson says. But its highly unlikely we would hire someone in any capacity who was promoting the factually incorrect idea that the election was stolen.

Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus were fellows at Harvards Kennedy School of Government despite their Trump ties, but when New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik became a congressional figurehead of the stolen-election movement, the institution removed her from a committee.

Will the ostracism last? Some are convinced there will never come a moment of forgive-and-forget for the Trump 2020 crowd. Anybody who knew [the President] and still thought it was a good idea for him to be in the Oval Office, says the former GOP strategist, they either have utterly broken judgment or were solely interested in advancing their own interests independent of what the national interest should have been.

But others believe the 2022 midterms will be a tell. If theres a red wave and Trumpers are newly empowered, K Street would come to see a lot more value in, say, a former congressman turned Trump chief of staff like Mark Meadows who could play nice with the incoming leadership. Proximity to power is a great way to launder a reputation.

Veep, 201721

Settling into his new 10,000-square-foot home north of Indianapolis, making moves for a 2024 run. Writing two books in a $3-million-plus deal. Launched the Trump-backed Advancing American Freedom, a dark-money political group. Distinguished visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Planning to podcast.

Speechwriter and senior adviser to the President, 201721

Launched America First Legal, an ACLU-style conservative legal watchdog created to challenge Biden-administration initiatives in conflict with Trumpian agendas. Reportedly living in Arlington, though still owns his CityCenter condo in DC; has been spotted at Cafe Milano with wife Katie Miller.

White House Chief of staff, 202021

On the board of Millers legal organization; senior partner at the Conservative Partnership Institute, an advocacy group/think tank founded by former senator Jim DeMint. Still has his Alexandria condo.

Office of Management and Budget director and other appointments, 201821

Founded the Center for Renewing America think tank to fight critical race theory in schools, voting-rights expansion, and Big Tech. Part of Millers legal watchdog and Pences political group.

White House legislative director, 2017-18; chief of staff to the VP, 201921

Co-chair of Pences political group. Cofounded his own group (the Coalition to Protect American Workers), which is buying ads to fight the Biden tax agenda and tax hikes on businesses.

VPs communications director and other appointments, 201721

Popping up on the right-wing airwaves recently, flacking as comms director for the Coalition to Protect American Workers, Shorts new group.

Assistant to the President (Office of American Innovation) 201820; Acting director, Domestic Policy Council, 202021

Founded the America First Policy Institute to promote the Trump agenda. The new think tank has put a bunch of Trumpies to work.

UN ambassador, 201718

Founded a dark-money group that focuses on border security, tax reform, and other pet issues for conservatives. Recently met with the ousted Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and sparked outcry after referring to him as prime minister on Twitter. Expected to go for the Oval in 2024 . . . as long as her ex-boss doesnt run.

Acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security and other appointments, 201921

Representing congressmen Louie Gohmert and Andrew Clyde in a lawsuit challenging new security measures in the House. Leading an initiative to prevent expansion of the Supreme Court and push for states rights when it comes to voting laws.

Counselor to the President, 201720

Her pitch for a tell-allwhich may even include juice about the domestic dramas that dominated her latter years in powerreportedly snagged a multimillion-dollar advance from a conservative imprint at Simon & Schuster. Adviser for Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, a car dealer. Has registered a consulting business in DC with cousin Giovanna Pence.

Attorney general, 201920

Formerly of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis, Barr isnt back to billing by the hour for the firm but reportedly has a deal (with an unspecified publisher) for a memoir about his time heading DOJ.

White House communications director, 201718; counselor to the President, 202021

Though she had a stint as a Fox News executive vice president after her first White House departure, shes been off the grid since her second exit this past January.

White House Press secretary and other appointments, 201721

The first press sec in history never to hold a press conference, she was largely invisible to the public while on the job . . . the same as now.

Advisers to the President, 201721

Serving out their exile from the Acela corridor in a waterfront condo in Surfside, Florida, about an hour south of Dad and two blocks away from the condo building that recently collapsed. Reportedly informal advisers to Brooke Rollinss new think tank. Jared just landed a deal for a tell-all that a conservative imprint at HarperCollins will publish in 2022.

An unscientific ranking of Trumpie book deals by payout, sales, and publisher prestige

1. John Bolton $2 millionplus advance

2. Mike Pence* $3 millionplus advance

3. Kellyanne Conway* multimillion-dollar advance

4. Anonymous/Miles Taylor

5. Cliff Sims seven-figure advance

6. Jared Kushner* seven-figure advance

7. Nikki Haley

8. Sarah Huckabee Sanders

9. H.R. McMaster

10. Omarosa Manigault Newman

11. Anthony Scaramucci

12. Kayleigh McEnany*

13. Scott Atlas*

14. Mark Meadows*

15. Peter Navarro*

*Not yet published

Surgeon General, 201721

Medical expert/contributor for Wish-TV, an Indianapolis affiliate of the CW network; practicing anesthesiology at OrthoIndy Hospital; a deans fellow at UVAs business school. On the board of an antiviral-drug company banking on a pill to fight Covid.

Secretary of Homeland Security and other appointments, 201719

Founded a consulting firm, Lighthouse Strategies, to advise the tech sector on security threats. Sold her Old Town townhouse and moved to California.

Secretary of Energy, 201719

On the board of LE GP, a Texas-based energy transportation company. (He was on the board of an affiliated firm before coming to DC.) A chairman at Brooke Rollinss America First Policy Institute.

Secretary of Health and Human Services, 201821

Named to the Aspen Institutes Health Strategy Group, ex officio.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 201721

Launched the American Cornerstone Institute think tank and the Think BIG America PAC. Consulting for a biotech (Galectin Therapeutics) thats developing a cirrhosis treatment and recently joined the board of a homebuilding company (D.R. Horton).

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The Trumpies: Where Are They Now? - Washingtonian