newyorker--2020-06-22--How Statues in Britain Began to Fall

How Statues in Britain Began to Fall

When the twenty-nine-year-old writer and performer Vanessa Kisuule moved to Bristol , England , ten years ago , to attend Bristol University , she didn ’ t know much about the city ’ s links to the transatlantic slave trade .
“ My only cultural reference point was , like , ‘ Skins , ’ ” she told me , referring to the British drama about teen-agers growing up in the city .
At some point , she became aware of the ubiquity of the word “ Colston ” on Bristol ’ s streets and buildings .
Kisuule , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Street , pass a pub named Colston Yard , and visit Colston Hall , the city ’ s largest concert venue .
They were named after Edward Colston , a British slave trader and politician who was born in the city in 1636 .
“ I think my understanding of Bristol ’ s links with the slave trade came very much in tandem with my general awakening to the complexities and depths of Britain ’ s colonial history , ” Kisuule told me .
“ It ’ s just this slow , agonizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ read and you learn things .
And , you ’ re , like , Oh , shit , O.K.
” During Colston ’ s lifetime , she learned , Bristol was the U.K. ’ s largest slaving port , and the town grew wealthy from the trade .
Colston worked for the Royal African Company , which , for decades , held the English monopoly on slave trading , and he eventually became the company ’ s deputy governor .
During his tenure , the company transported eighty-four thousand men , women , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America as slaves .
Some nineteen thousand of them died on the voyage .
Colston donated much of the money he made through the trade to local schools , almshouses , and other charities , though he only gave to organizations that aligned with his strict Anglican beliefs .
He briefly served as a Tory M.P .
and joined Bristol ’ s Society of Merchant Venturers , a group for business élites chartered in the fifteen-hundreds , which still helps manage his legacy .
In 1895 , nearly a hundred and seventy years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Colston was erected in Bristol ’ s town center .
Madge Dresser , a historian at the University of Bristol , told me that the Victorian élites of that era were looking for a homegrown hero to stoke local pride .
“ They saw themselves as boosting Bristol up , ” Dresser said .
The statue of Colston appears pensive and wears an expensive-looking frock coat .
A plaque beneath it reads , “ Erected by citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the most virtuous and wise sons of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tributes to Colston grew : ceremonial dinners took place each year on his birthday , a fruity “ Colston bun ” was given to children , and a “ Colston Day ” procession made its way through the city .
A local legend circulated that a dolphin had once saved one of Colston ’ s ships by plugging a hole with its body .
Another story said that the Merchant Venturers had preserved his hair and nails .
( They had . )
But , even as the celebrations persisted , there was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city should take a slaver as its mascot .
Kisuule is now Bristol ’ s official city poet .
On June 7th , she was in her apartment near the city center when protesters at a Black Lives Matter march toppled the statue of Colston .
“ It was incredible , ” she said .
In video footage , masked protesters , most of them young , many of them white , throw eggs at the statue and remove the protective covering that had been placed over it before the march .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together and attach ropes to his head .
When he came down—easier than expected—the crowd ran toward him , dancing and cheering .
Some knelt on his neck .
Others climbed onto the empty plinth and raised their fists .
They rolled him through the streets , and then tossed him into the River Avon .
The act appears to have been spontaneous , or , at least , it wasn ’ t planned by the organizers .
Yvonne Maina , one of the leaders of Black Lives Matter Bristol , was at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into a loudspeaker , when she heard that the statue had come down .
Her section of the march had already passed Colston , and she learned of his fall when a journalist showed her a video .
“ We were so shocked , ” Maina , who is twenty and studying fashion at the University of the Arts London , told me .
With other protesters from the front of the march , she doubled back to see the empty plinth .
“ We were , like , It feels so weird @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not there.
” Kisuule later watched videos of the statue falling on repeat .
“ I can ’ t recall another time of feeling , like , Oh , my God , this is history , ” she said .
“ This is history happening now , like , fifteen minutes from my frickin ’ house.
” Her housemate bought them a bottle of cava to celebrate .
“ After a week of just horrible news , and incessant noise online , ” everything had been feeling “ very heavy , very difficult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then Colston happened on Sunday , and it was , like , Boom !
I was back in the room.
” She continued , “ That statue going down just reminded me , like , O.K.
, let ’ s go , we can do this.
” Kisuule told me that she was struck by how light the Colston statue appeared ; she had always assumed it was solid bronze .
The images dispelled her sense of the statue ’ s “ immovability , or its permanence , ” she said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re , like , Look at it , it ’ s so big , it ’ s so tall , it ’ s made out of metal .
When I saw it come down , I was , like , That shit is coming down like it ’ s made out of wafer.
” The next day , she wrote a poem , titled “ Hollow , ” and posted a video of herself reading it online .
“ Colston , I can ’ t get the sound of you from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Countless times I passed that plinth , its heavy threat / of metal and marble .
But as you landed a piece of you / fell off , broke away , and inside : nothing but air .
/ This whole time , you were hollow.
” The toppling of Colston ’ s statue in Bristol , along with a series of Black Lives Matter protests that have taken place across the U.K. in recent weeks , has revived a long-simmering debate over monuments to Britain ’ s past .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jefferson and Christopher Columbus were recently taken down—a painful reckoning is taking place in the U.K. Days after Colston ’ s statue was rolled into the River Avon , thousands of protesters gathered at Oxford University to campaign for the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes , the nineteenth-century imperialist , from Oriel College .
( The college has since recommended its removal . )
That same day , a statue of the British slave trader Robert Milligan , who owned two sugar plantations in Jamaica , was quietly removed from outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Edinburgh , authorities proposed the addition of a plaque to a statue of Henry Dundas , a politician who delayed the abolition of the slave trade .
The plaque would read , in part , “ In 2020 this was dedicated to the memory of the more than half a million Africans whose enslavement was a consequence of Henry Dundas ’ s actions.
” Not everyone is onboard with the changes .
After the Colston statue in Bristol came down , a spokesperson for the Prime Minister , Boris Johnson , condemned it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adding that “ the police will want to hold to account those responsible.
” “ The P.M. absolutely understands the strength of feeling , ” the spokesperson said , “ but in this country we settle our differences democratically , and if people wanted the removal of the statue there are democratic routes which can be followed.
” The Home Secretary , Priti Patel , addressing the House of Commons on the Monday after the protest , announced , “ What we witnessed yesterday was mob rule , which is completely out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unacceptable.
” After the first weekend of marches in London , authorities boarded up a statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square .
A protester had crossed out Churchill ’ s name in black spray paint and written “ was a racist ” beneath it .
The same day , another protester had tried to set fire to a flag on the Cenotaph , a First World War memorial .
In response , far-right groups , including the Democratic Football Lads Alliance , organized a “ defend our memorials ” event , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Images emerged of white men , many of them shirtless , nearly all maskless , shouting at peaceful anti-racism protesters .
The following day , Johnson published an op-ed in the Telegraph in which he denounced the far-right protesters as “ patently racist.
” He also wrote that he would “ resist with every breath in my body any attempt to remove ” the Churchill statue , though no one really seems to be calling for that .

When the twenty-nine-year-old writer and performer Vanessa Kisuule moved to Bristol, England, ten years ago, to attend Bristol University, she didn’t know much about the city’s links to the transatlantic slave trade. “My only cultural reference point was, like, ‘Skins,’ ” she told me, referring to the British drama about teen-agers growing up in the city. At some point, she became aware of the ubiquity of the word “Colston” on Bristol’s streets and buildings. Kisuule, who is black, would walk down Colston Street, pass a pub named Colston Yard, and visit Colston Hall, the city’s largest concert venue. They were named after Edward Colston, a British slave trader and politician who was born in the city in 1636. “I think my understanding of Bristol’s links with the slave trade came very much in tandem with my general awakening to the complexities and depths of Britain’s colonial history,” Kisuule told me. “It’s just this slow, agonizing realization as you get older and you read and you learn things. And, you’re, like, Oh, shit, O.K.”
During Colston’s lifetime, she learned, Bristol was the U.K.’s largest slaving port, and the town grew wealthy from the trade. Colston worked for the Royal African Company, which, for decades, held the English monopoly on slave trading, and he eventually became the company’s deputy governor. During his tenure, the company transported eighty-four thousand men, women, and children to the Caribbean and North America as slaves. Some nineteen thousand of them died on the voyage. Colston donated much of the money he made through the trade to local schools, almshouses, and other charities, though he only gave to organizations that aligned with his strict Anglican beliefs. He briefly served as a Tory M.P. and joined Bristol’s Society of Merchant Venturers, a group for business élites chartered in the fifteen-hundreds, which still helps manage his legacy.
In 1895, nearly a hundred and seventy years after his death, a statue of Colston was erected in Bristol’s town center. Madge Dresser, a historian at the University of Bristol, told me that the Victorian élites of that era were looking for a homegrown hero to stoke local pride. “They saw themselves as boosting Bristol up,” Dresser said. The statue of Colston appears pensive and wears an expensive-looking frock coat. A plaque beneath it reads, “Erected by citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the most virtuous and wise sons of the city.” Over the years, the tributes to Colston grew: ceremonial dinners took place each year on his birthday, a fruity “Colston bun” was given to children, and a “Colston Day” procession made its way through the city. A local legend circulated that a dolphin had once saved one of Colston’s ships by plugging a hole with its body. Another story said that the Merchant Venturers had preserved his hair and nails. (They had.) But, even as the celebrations persisted, there was rising dissent in Bristol about whether the city should take a slaver as its mascot.
Kisuule is now Bristol’s official city poet. On June 7th, she was in her apartment near the city center when protesters at a Black Lives Matter march toppled the statue of Colston. “It was incredible,” she said. In video footage, masked protesters, most of them young, many of them white, throw eggs at the statue and remove the protective covering that had been placed over it before the march. They tie Colston’s wrists and ankles together and attach ropes to his head. When he came down—easier than expected—the crowd ran toward him, dancing and cheering. Some knelt on his neck. Others climbed onto the empty plinth and raised their fists. They rolled him through the streets, and then tossed him into the River Avon.
The act appears to have been spontaneous, or, at least, it wasn’t planned by the organizers. Yvonne Maina, one of the leaders of Black Lives Matter Bristol, was at the front of the march, yelling into a loudspeaker, when she heard that the statue had come down. Her section of the march had already passed Colston, and she learned of his fall when a journalist showed her a video. “We were so shocked,” Maina, who is twenty and studying fashion at the University of the Arts London, told me. With other protesters from the front of the march, she doubled back to see the empty plinth. “We were, like, It feels so weird being here, and it’s not there.”
Kisuule later watched videos of the statue falling on repeat. “I can’t recall another time of feeling, like, Oh, my God, this is history,” she said. “This is history happening now, like, fifteen minutes from my frickin’ house.” Her housemate bought them a bottle of cava to celebrate. “After a week of just horrible news, and incessant noise online,” everything had been feeling “very heavy, very difficult,” Kisuule said. “And then Colston happened on Sunday, and it was, like, Boom! I was back in the room.” She continued, “That statue going down just reminded me, like, O.K., let’s go, we can do this.”
Kisuule told me that she was struck by how light the Colston statue appeared; she had always assumed it was solid bronze. The images dispelled her sense of the statue’s “immovability, or its permanence,” she said. “When you walk past these statues, you’re, like, Look at it, it’s so big, it’s so tall, it’s made out of metal. When I saw it come down, I was, like, That shit is coming down like it’s made out of wafer.” The next day, she wrote a poem, titled “Hollow,” and posted a video of herself reading it online. “Colston, I can’t get the sound of you from my head,” her poem reads. “Countless times I passed that plinth, its heavy threat / of metal and marble. But as you landed a piece of you / fell off, broke away, and inside: nothing but air. / This whole time, you were hollow.”
The toppling of Colston’s statue in Bristol, along with a series of Black Lives Matter protests that have taken place across the U.K. in recent weeks, has revived a long-simmering debate over monuments to Britain’s past. As in the United States—where statues of Thomas Jefferson and Christopher Columbus were recently taken down—a painful reckoning is taking place in the U.K. Days after Colston’s statue was rolled into the River Avon, thousands of protesters gathered at Oxford University to campaign for the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the nineteenth-century imperialist, from Oriel College. (The college has since recommended its removal.) That same day, a statue of the British slave trader Robert Milligan, who owned two sugar plantations in Jamaica, was quietly removed from outside the Museum of London Docklands. In Edinburgh, authorities proposed the addition of a plaque to a statue of Henry Dundas, a politician who delayed the abolition of the slave trade. The plaque would read, in part, “In 2020 this was dedicated to the memory of the more than half a million Africans whose enslavement was a consequence of Henry Dundas’s actions.”
Not everyone is onboard with the changes. After the Colston statue in Bristol came down, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, condemned it as a “criminal act,” adding that “the police will want to hold to account those responsible.” “The P.M. absolutely understands the strength of feeling,” the spokesperson said, “but in this country we settle our differences democratically, and if people wanted the removal of the statue there are democratic routes which can be followed.” The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, addressing the House of Commons on the Monday after the protest, announced, “What we witnessed yesterday was mob rule, which is completely out of kilter with the rule of law and unacceptable.”
After the first weekend of marches in London, authorities boarded up a statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. A protester had crossed out Churchill’s name in black spray paint and written “was a racist” beneath it. The same day, another protester had tried to set fire to a flag on the Cenotaph, a First World War memorial. In response, far-right groups, including the Democratic Football Lads Alliance, organized a “defend our memorials” event, which led to over a hundred arrests. Images emerged of white men, many of them shirtless, nearly all maskless, shouting at peaceful anti-racism protesters. The following day, Johnson published an op-ed in the Telegraph in which he denounced the far-right protesters as “patently racist.” He also wrote that he would “resist with every breath in my body any attempt to remove” the Churchill statue, though no one really seems to be calling for that.
Days after Colston’s fall, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, announced a review of the capital’s monuments, especially those with links to slavery. “It is an uncomfortable truth that our nation and city owes a large part of its wealth to its role in the slave trade,” he told reporters. For many, the review will seem long overdue. The historian David Olusoga has written that slavery is often misremembered in the U.K. as a uniquely American atrocity. He has pointed out that British-owned slaves mostly lived and worked in the Caribbean, and not the British Isles. “That geographic distance made it possible for slavery to be largely airbrushed out of British history,” Olusoga wrote, in the Guardian, in 2015. “The word slavery is more likely to conjure up images of Alabama cotton fields and whitewashed plantation houses, of ‘Roots,’ ‘Gone with the Wind’ and ‘12 Years a Slave,’ than images of Jamaica and Barbados.” Many of the young protesters at the Black Lives Matter marches in London carried signs that put it another way: “The U.K. Is Not Innocent.”
Marvin Rees, the son of a white mother and a Jamaican father, became mayor of Bristol in 2016, making him the U.K.’s first directly elected black mayor. In a BBC interview following the protest, Rees called the Colston statue a personal “affront,” and criticized the government’s response. “You can’t just bury your head in the sand and just determine to describe this as mindless vandalism,” he said. “Even if you don’t like the events, the events have meaning.” When the interviewer asked Rees why he hadn’t taken the statue down earlier, he bristled, noting “how contentious the place of that statue has been.”
The campaign to remove the statue has been brewing since at least the nineteen-nineties. In 2015, Ros Martin, a fifty-nine-year-old artist and writer, formed the group Countering Colston with a mix of black and white Bristolians. They began by demonstrating outside of an annual Colston ceremony, in which schoolchildren would attend a church service in Colston’s honor. Martin would bring placards and candles, and write messages about slavery in chalk. Other artists painted the Colston statue’s face white, yarn-bombed the statue, or attached manacles. “People would stop and say, ‘What are you doing?’ ” she recalled. “And you’d explain. Sometimes they’d say, ‘Oh, I feel guilty.’ ” In 2018, someone laid dozens of sculptures of human figures at Colston’s feet in the formation of a slave ship.
The pedestal in Bristol that once held a statue of Edward Colston is now empty. Photograph by Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP / Shutterstock
Around that time, the city decided to add a corrective plaque to the sculpture. Dresser, the historian, was called in to work on the wording. She consulted with a former Ph.D. student, Roger Ball, a fifty-five-year-old member of Countering Colston. According to Ball and Dresser, the initial wording they proposed noted that Colston was a Tory M.P., and that his philanthropy did not benefit those who “did not subscribe to his religious or political beliefs.” It also stated that Colston was a “high official” in the Royal African Company, and included statistics on the number of slaves transported during Colston’s years at the R.A.C., including twelve thousand children.
Dresser told me that, when her group released the proposed plaque to a city-planning site for public review, “We were just attacked.” Some members of the Society of Merchant Venturers viewed the plaque as partisan, and helped draft new wording. The statistic on the twelve thousand children was removed, as were Colston’s links to the Tory Party and the Merchant Venturers, and his selective philanthropy. The revised plaque mentioned Colston’s involvement in the R.A.C., but only after listing the Bristol institutions he supported, and called him “one of the city’s greatest benefactors.” Rees, the mayor, vetoed it. “By the time something came to my desk, it was weak,” Rees told me recently. “I prefer to have no plan than a bad plan.”
The project stalled in the spring of 2019. The next year, George Floyd’s death hit the news. On June 7th, Ball had decided not to attend the protest, over fears of the coronavirus. As soon as he heard that the statue had fallen, though, he put on a mask and gloves and left the house to see for himself. He recalled discussing what should happen to the statue at a Countering Colston meeting years earlier. His official position was that it should be put into a museum. “But my heart said, ‘I’d love a big crowd of black and white Bristolians to pull it down and throw it in the dock,’ ” he told me. At the protest, he experienced a kind of déjà vu. “It was almost like how I imagined it,” he said. “We were standing there, some of us, going, I can’t believe that. This is what we talked about years ago, and it’s happened.”
When I spoke to Rees, a few days after the statue fell, he described the mood in Bristol as varied, with some residents celebrating and others, who saw the statue as “integral to the identity of the city,” dismayed. He commended the police force for their handling of the crowd that pulled the statue down; out of the ten thousand people who attended the protest, no one was injured. He also noted the potent symbolism of the act: the statue was thrown into the water near Pero’s Bridge, named after Pero Jones, an enslaved person who lived and died in Bristol in the seventeen-hundreds.


newyorker--2020-06-22--Everything Is an Emergency: Art on Medication

From “ Everything Is an Emergency : An OCD Story in Words & Pictures ” by Jason Adam Katzenstein , @ @ @ @ @ Perennial .

From “Everything Is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words & Pictures” by Jason Adam Katzenstein, to be published by Harper Perennial.


newyorker--2020-06-22--Trump Calls Drinking Glass of Water Proudest Achievement as President

WASHINGTON , D.C. ( The Borowitz Report ) —Donald J. Trump on Monday called his successful drinking of a glass of water at his Tulsa rally his proudest achievement as President .
“ I brought that glass of water up to my mouth and drank from it without spilling a drop on my tie , ” Trump told reporters at the White House .
“ You can look at the tape .
There was not a single drop of spillage.
” Trump added that , while drinking a glass of water was an impressive achievement in itself , executing it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large crowd made it even more extraordinary .
“ There was a lot of pressure on me to drink that water right , ” he said .
“ There must have been forty thousand people there.
” Trump lashed out at the media for emphasizing the missteps of his Presidency while failing to cover his crowning moments , such as his flawless quaffing of a glass of water .
“ I guarantee you , all the dishonest media is going to want to talk about this week is the coronavirus and unemployment and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You people will act as though me drinking that glass of water never happened.
” In his most stunning claim , Trump argued that he might be “ better at drinking a glass of water than any other President in history.
” “ You won ’ t find any tape of Obama drinking water , probably , because he was afraid of spilling , ” Trump said .
“ Honest Abe , I will bet you anything , got water on his beard , which is disgusting .
Look at the tape of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I drank a perfect glass of water .
Anyone who says differently is a horrible human being .
”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump on Monday called his successful drinking of a glass of water at his Tulsa rally his proudest achievement as President.
“I brought that glass of water up to my mouth and drank from it without spilling a drop on my tie,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “You can look at the tape. There was not a single drop of spillage.”
Trump added that, while drinking a glass of water was an impressive achievement in itself, executing it so well in front of such a large crowd made it even more extraordinary.
“There was a lot of pressure on me to drink that water right,” he said. “There must have been forty thousand people there.”
Trump lashed out at the media for emphasizing the missteps of his Presidency while failing to cover his crowning moments, such as his flawless quaffing of a glass of water.
“I guarantee you, all the dishonest media is going to want to talk about this week is the coronavirus and unemployment and protests,” he said. “You people will act as though me drinking that glass of water never happened.”
In his most stunning claim, Trump argued that he might be “better at drinking a glass of water than any other President in history.”
“You won’t find any tape of Obama drinking water, probably, because he was afraid of spilling,” Trump said. “Honest Abe, I will bet you anything, got water on his beard, which is disgusting. Look at the tape of me again and decide for yourself. I drank a perfect glass of water. Anyone who says differently is a horrible human being.”


newyorker--2020-06-20--After George Floyd and Juneteenth

After George Floyd and Juneteenth

Tennille Newbold is a twenty-six-year-old medical assistant at a community health center in Manhattan .
In the midst of a Juneteenth celebration in Central Park—a kind of barbecue-picnic political rally , on the grounds of what was once Seneca Village , where freed black people and Irish immigrants lived—she stepped to a microphone and announced that one of the three Louisville police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in her home , in March , would be dismissed from the force .
A cheer went up , but not a very loud one .
This was a small step @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for justice .
Afterward , Newbold talked about why the moment struck her so deeply .
“ The truth is , I am Breonna Taylor , ” she said .
“ She was an essential worker , and so am I .
She was a black woman , and so am I .
She was my age , an E.M.T .
I look in the mirror , and I see Breonna Taylor .
I go to work in the morning , and I see Breonna Taylor.
” Newbold said that she makes $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her life in East Harlem .
Her father works as a civilian cook at Rikers Island .
She ’ s taking many hours of classes to get ahead and hoping that she ’ ll soon become a practical nurse .
Nothing in her life , Newbold said , has raised her expectations , her sense of hope , like these past few weeks , an exhausting and exhilarating blur of demonstrations and marches .
“ I got arrested in my scrubs trying to protect a black man from the cops at a demonstration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
“ I got taken in .
Eleven hours , no phone call .
And I went to work the next morning .
It ’ s been a lot of torment and trauma .
But , finally , you see a lot of people paying attention .
Maybe because there ’ s less distraction .
Before , there was always the playoffs , the Super Bowl , some election campaign , some celebrity doing something on TV—always something to distract everyone .
It took a pandemic to get people to finally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives matter.
” History , and its litany of lost chances , the pile of vanishing declarations , the volumes of vaporous government studies , can be so disheartening to consider that it ’ s hard for anyone to confess suddenly to a brightening outlook .
What followed eight years of a black President , after all ?
Ta-Nehisi Coates , a writer who has always been mindful of staying within the lines of realism , told me that he ’ s emerged from all that ’ s taken place in recent weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m feeling pretty good , ” he said .
“ I ’ m not sure that people realize just how quickly the needle has moved .
Even people in the middle ground are now talking about systemic racism .
Look at the rapidity with which so many people are finally seeing things for what they are .
It ’ s hard to argue that there isn ’ t actual progress.
” For Coates , a pivotal moment of the past few weeks came when officials initially failed to act against the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s neck .
That was followed by the uprising on the streets of Minneapolis and in many cities beyond––and then a string of indictments .
And , in its majority , the American public reacted not against the scattered instances of looting but against the original injustice , the sickening refusal of a white police officer to recognize the humanity of a black man whose alleged offense was to pass off a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill .
But why this time ?
“ I always thought that people underrated the power of Obama ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ By having a black President , you make a statement about black humanity .
Which is why a lot of people may have responded differently to George Floyd than they responded to , say , the death [ in 1955 ] of Emmett Till .
In the era of the civil-rights movement , there was also this spectacle of brutality against black people .
But this is a different time .
Many more people can see themselves in George Floyd .
People have a living memory of a black President .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change , but I ’ ve long believed that if you can ’ t see the humanity in your midst , or under your knee , then it doesn ’ t matter .
Now you have more and more people who actually see black people as human.
” Opal Tometi , a community activist and one of the founders of Black Lives Matter , agreed with Coates that there has been movement in public consciousness , even if it has come at a terrible price .
“ Yes , there is a shift @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as she marched on Juneteenth .
“ It ’ s unfortunate that the filming and photographing and hash-tagging of broken Black bodies had to be the catalyst for this shift , but there is one .
Now the question is , how do we mobilize , move forward , support Black agency , and activate our allies ?
” Tometi , and Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors , her Black Lives Matter co-founders , have always refused to take on the mantle of centralized , charismatic leadership , insisting that the civil-rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for that model .
She said that a community model— “ all in the trenches , side by side ” —has been essential in the movement ’ s growth .
“ I ’ m hopeful and optimistic that everyone will keep the same energy that they have now , two weeks from now , two years from now , two hundred years from now , and more , ” Tometi said .
“ It ’ s hard not to let thoughts creep in , like , ‘ Is this just performative ?
’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But I know , at minimum , that the rhetoric has changed , and there ’ s more self-awareness from people outside the black community around what is actually happening .
And there is a clear resolve for change .
The goal is for that rhetoric and awareness to turn into action and real change.
” The writer and scholar Imani Perry told me that the moment has not only been a breakthrough in the way people think about policing—and the opinion ranges from reformist to abolitionist—but also in the way they see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Take the health of the nation , ” Perry said .
“ Over the years , we ’ ve developed concrete knowledge , data about the disparities in health care , the disparities in medical outcomes .
We ’ ve known for a long time about the biases , the unequal treatment .
Then along comes COVID-19 , and then the demonstrations , and everything is made plain to so many people.
” At the Seneca Village Juneteenth celebration , nearly all the signs were in a consistent key : “ Black Lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now.
” But , at one point , a small group marched by with signs that referred , in the harshest terms possible , to the current President and the need to remove the “ fascist ” come November .
When I raised the 2020 election with Coates , he said , “ Voting is essential—and insufficient .
I hear a lot of people denigrate the protests in the streets by saying , ‘ Yeah , but will they show up to vote ?
’ I would say , ‘ I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will you show up to protest ?
’ Without protest , those indictments in Minneapolis and Atlanta might not have come as quickly as they did .
Or look at Joe Biden .
He ’ s moved from crime-bill-era Joe Biden to where he is now largely as the result of protest , of people holding his feet to the fire .
Voting is civic hygiene .
You have to take out the trash .
You can ’ t not do that .
But that ’ s just the beginning , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ household .
”

Tennille Newbold is a twenty-six-year-old medical assistant at a community health center in Manhattan. In the midst of a Juneteenth celebration in Central Park—a kind of barbecue-picnic political rally, on the grounds of what was once Seneca Village, where freed black people and Irish immigrants lived—she stepped to a microphone and announced that one of the three Louisville police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in her home, in March, would be dismissed from the force.
A cheer went up, but not a very loud one. This was a small step, after all, in the demand for justice. Afterward, Newbold talked about why the moment struck her so deeply. “The truth is, I am Breonna Taylor,” she said. “She was an essential worker, and so am I. She was a black woman, and so am I. She was my age, an E.M.T. I look in the mirror, and I see Breonna Taylor. I go to work in the morning, and I see Breonna Taylor.”
Newbold said that she makes $16.35 an hour. She has lived her life in East Harlem. Her father works as a civilian cook at Rikers Island. She’s taking many hours of classes to get ahead and hoping that she’ll soon become a practical nurse.
Nothing in her life, Newbold said, has raised her expectations, her sense of hope, like these past few weeks, an exhausting and exhilarating blur of demonstrations and marches. “I got arrested in my scrubs trying to protect a black man from the cops at a demonstration on the West Side Highway,” she said. “I got taken in. Eleven hours, no phone call. And I went to work the next morning. It’s been a lot of torment and trauma. But, finally, you see a lot of people paying attention. Maybe because there’s less distraction. Before, there was always the playoffs, the Super Bowl, some election campaign, some celebrity doing something on TV—always something to distract everyone. It took a pandemic to get people to finally focus on this one fact: black lives matter.”
History, and its litany of lost chances, the pile of vanishing declarations, the volumes of vaporous government studies, can be so disheartening to consider that it’s hard for anyone to confess suddenly to a brightening outlook. What followed eight years of a black President, after all? Ta-Nehisi Coates, a writer who has always been mindful of staying within the lines of realism, told me that he’s emerged from all that’s taken place in recent weeks in a distinctly optimistic mood.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “I’m not sure that people realize just how quickly the needle has moved. Even people in the middle ground are now talking about systemic racism. Look at the rapidity with which so many people are finally seeing things for what they are. It’s hard to argue that there isn’t actual progress.”
For Coates, a pivotal moment of the past few weeks came when officials initially failed to act against the officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck. That was followed by the uprising on the streets of Minneapolis and in many cities beyond––and then a string of indictments. And, in its majority, the American public reacted not against the scattered instances of looting but against the original injustice, the sickening refusal of a white police officer to recognize the humanity of a black man whose alleged offense was to pass off a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill.
But why this time? “I always thought that people underrated the power of Obama’s symbolism,” Coates said. “By having a black President, you make a statement about black humanity. Which is why a lot of people may have responded differently to George Floyd than they responded to, say, the death [in 1955] of Emmett Till. In the era of the civil-rights movement, there was also this spectacle of brutality against black people. But this is a different time. Many more people can see themselves in George Floyd. People have a living memory of a black President. So, yes, we need real policy change, but I’ve long believed that if you can’t see the humanity in your midst, or under your knee, then it doesn’t matter. Now you have more and more people who actually see black people as human.”
Oakland, California. Photograph by Marissa Leshnov for The New Yorker
Opal Tometi, a community activist and one of the founders of Black Lives Matter, agreed with Coates that there has been movement in public consciousness, even if it has come at a terrible price. “Yes, there is a shift,” she said, by text, as she marched on Juneteenth. “It’s unfortunate that the filming and photographing and hash-tagging of broken Black bodies had to be the catalyst for this shift, but there is one. Now the question is, how do we mobilize, move forward, support Black agency, and activate our allies?”
Tometi, and Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors, her Black Lives Matter co-founders, have always refused to take on the mantle of centralized, charismatic leadership, insisting that the civil-rights movement of the sixties paid in blood for that model. She said that a community model—“all in the trenches, side by side”—has been essential in the movement’s growth.
“I’m hopeful and optimistic that everyone will keep the same energy that they have now, two weeks from now, two years from now, two hundred years from now, and more,” Tometi said. “It’s hard not to let thoughts creep in, like, ‘Is this just performative?’ ‘Is change actually happening?’ But I know, at minimum, that the rhetoric has changed, and there’s more self-awareness from people outside the black community around what is actually happening. And there is a clear resolve for change. The goal is for that rhetoric and awareness to turn into action and real change.”
Oakland, California. Photograph by Marissa Leshnov for The New Yorker
The writer and scholar Imani Perry told me that the moment has not only been a breakthrough in the way people think about policing—and the opinion ranges from reformist to abolitionist—but also in the way they see many realms of day-to-day life. “Take the health of the nation,” Perry said. “Over the years, we’ve developed concrete knowledge, data about the disparities in health care, the disparities in medical outcomes. We’ve known for a long time about the biases, the unequal treatment. Then along comes COVID-19, and then the demonstrations, and everything is made plain to so many people.”
At the Seneca Village Juneteenth celebration, nearly all the signs were in a consistent key: “Black Lives Matter,” “Black History Is Now.” But, at one point, a small group marched by with signs that referred, in the harshest terms possible, to the current President and the need to remove the “fascist” come November.
When I raised the 2020 election with Coates, he said, “Voting is essential—and insufficient. I hear a lot of people denigrate the protests in the streets by saying, ‘Yeah, but will they show up to vote?’ I would say, ‘I’m glad you’re voting, but will you show up to protest?’ Without protest, those indictments in Minneapolis and Atlanta might not have come as quickly as they did. Or look at Joe Biden. He’s moved from crime-bill-era Joe Biden to where he is now largely as the result of protest, of people holding his feet to the fire. Voting is civic hygiene. You have to take out the trash. You can’t not do that. But that’s just the beginning, it’s what’s expected of the household.”


newyorker--2020-06-23--Trump Offers Stimulus Checks to Anyone Willing to Come to His Next Rally

WASHINGTON , D.C. ( The Borowitz Report ) —Hoping to avert another debacle like the one at his rally in @ @ @ @ @ said on Tuesday that he was offering economic-stimulus checks to anyone willing to come to @ @ @ @ @ Arizona .
Displaying a sample check in the Oval Office , Trump said that he @ @ @ @ @ of unemployed Americans back to work as full-time audience members at his rallies .
“ @ @ @ @ @ that people wouldn ’ t go to one of my rallies if I paid them @ @ @ @ @ “ Well , we ’ ll see about that.
” Larry Kudlow , Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ that the twelve-hundred-dollar stimulus checks would be paid “ in installments , based on how @ @ @ @ @ at the rally.
” “ If you walk out after the first hour , you @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ You ’ re really going to have to earn the @ @ @ @ @

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Borowitz Report)—Hoping to avert another debacle like the one at his rally in Tulsa, Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday that he was offering economic-stimulus checks to anyone willing to come to his next rally, in Arizona.
Displaying a sample check in the Oval Office, Trump said that he hoped eventually to put millions of unemployed Americans back to work as full-time audience members at his rallies.
“The dishonest media are saying that people wouldn’t go to one of my rallies if I paid them,” Trump said. “Well, we’ll see about that.”
Larry Kudlow, Trump’s economic adviser, said that the twelve-hundred-dollar stimulus checks would be paid “in installments, based on how long the recipients actually stay at the rally.”
“If you walk out after the first hour, you only get six hundred,” he said. “You’re really going to have to earn the full twelve hundred.”


newyorker--2020-06-23--What Trump Has in Common with the Last President to Lose Reëlection

As the Presidential campaign gets going in earnest , a number of commentators have been drawing comparisons to other tumultuous election years , including 1932 , 1968 , and 1980 .
That ’ s understandable , but as I watched Donald Trump gab away to a half-empty arena in Tulsa the other night , a different year came to my mind : 1992 , when George H. W. Bush became the last sitting President to be defeated .
The parallel isn ’ t immediately obvious .
You ’ d be hard-pressed to find two individuals less alike than Poppy Bush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a preëminent Connecticut senator , the other a brash parvenu from the outer boroughs of New York .
They also hailed from opposite ends of the Republican Party .
And nothing happened in 1992 that came close to creating the sort of tumult that the coronavirus pandemic and the killing of George Floyd have unleashed this year .
Despite all these differences , however , the forty-first and forty-fifth Presidents share one key attribute : as they prepared for their reëlection campaigns , the world changed in ways they were ill-suited to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of his Presidency , Bush focussed on foreign policy and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which he handled pretty deftly .
At the start of his third year , he launched the Gulf War , in which an American-led military alliance routed Saddam Hussein ’ s Iraqi forces in Kuwait .
In January , 1991 , Gallup put Bush ’ s approval rating at eighty-nine per cent .
As late as the summer of 1991 , Bush ’ s approval rating was seventy-four per cent , and it seemed as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting reëlected .
What changed things for Bush was a faltering economy .
In the second half of 1990 , a downturn had begun .
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research , this recession ended in March , 1991 , but that wasn ’ t how it seemed at the time .
In the second half of 1991 , G.D.P .
growth was barely perceptible , and the unemployment rate kept climbing until the middle of 1992 , when it hit 7.7 per cent .
Economics wasn ’ t Bush ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ malaise continued , Bill Clinton ’ s campaign eagerly promoted the notion that Bush was out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans .
That year ’ s race had an attention-grabbing third-party candidate , Ross Perot , who also focussed on economics .
Few voters wanted to discuss the end of the Cold War .
Poppy seemed a bit lost .
In the end , he carried only eighteen states .
Trump has never come anywhere near the level of approval that Bush achieved in the wake of the Gulf War @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , his ratings were remarkably steady , and at the start of this year the betting odds suggested he was the favorite to win the election .
But , since March 25th , when states were starting to issue stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus , his net approval rating—that ’ s his approval rating minus his disapproval rating—has fallen by almost ten points , according to the Real Clear Politics poll average .
In a head-to-head matchup with Joe Biden , he trails by 9.5 points .
In the sports books , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now the favorite .
None of this means that Trump can ’ t win , of course .
It does mean that , like Bush in 1992 , he is struggling to come to terms with a changed political environment , which , in addition to the pandemic , has also featured a national movement for police reform and racial justice .
More than once during his Tulsa speech , Trump mentioned how well things were going before the onset of the pandemic .
He returned to the theme during a rambling digression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Force One from Boeing .
On this occasion , though , he referred to himself rather than the economy .
“ This was the Boeing before that , and they were riding high , ” he said .
“ Like I was before this thing came in .
But we ’ re still riding high , because you know what ?
On November 3rd , we ’ re going to win .
We ’ re going to win.
” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phrase “ this thing came in ” was equally revealing .
For the first three years of his tenure , Trump didn ’ t face any great national emergency that tested his abilities as a leader and manager .
With the economy humming along and the unemployment rate at near-record lows , he continued to play the role of insurgent , disrupter , and inciter that he had patented in the 2016 race .
Then “ this thing came in.
” The pandemic provided a challenge that demanded a complicated , sustained response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; was oblivious to his rhetoric and his Twitter account ; brought the economy to a virtual halt ; terrified elderly voters , who are a key part of his electoral coalition ; and even scared off some diehard Trump voters from attending his rally .
After initially trying to dismiss the threat of the virus , Trump was forced to take it seriously , at least for a time .
But many Americans couldn ’ t help but notice his failure to provide reassuring leadership , or the fact that the economy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the start of April , the number of people who approved of Trump ’ s response to the coronavirus was pretty similar to the number who disapproved .
Today , 41.5 per cent approve and 55.5 per cent disapprove , according to the FiveThirtyEight poll average .
Even now , months into the pandemic , Trump can barely hide how unfair he finds this new reality , or how hard he is finding it to adapt .
Rather than using the Tulsa speech to fashion a fresh agenda for a changed world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his old resentments and themes , particularly his anger at the media .
He did try to portray Biden as a captive of the Democratic left , which his campaign reportedly sees as its most promising line of attack .
But with all the other racist , inflammatory , and self-destructive stuff that Trump said , including his statement that he directed officials to slow down COVID-19 testing , the message about Biden almost got lost .
Adapting to changed circumstances is a skill that successful politicians have to learn .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t make the necessary transformation .
Trump , amid reports that he was furious about the relatively small crowd in Tulsa , and that some of his own advisers are questioning “ if he is truly interested in serving a second term , ” has got four and a half months left to figure it out .

As the Presidential campaign gets going in earnest, a number of commentators have been drawing comparisons to other tumultuous election years, including 1932, 1968, and 1980. That’s understandable, but as I watched Donald Trump gab away to a half-empty arena in Tulsa the other night, a different year came to my mind: 1992, when George H. W. Bush became the last sitting President to be defeated.
The parallel isn’t immediately obvious. You’d be hard-pressed to find two individuals less alike than Poppy Bush and Trump: one the preppy son of a preëminent Connecticut senator, the other a brash parvenu from the outer boroughs of New York. They also hailed from opposite ends of the Republican Party. And nothing happened in 1992 that came close to creating the sort of tumult that the coronavirus pandemic and the killing of George Floyd have unleashed this year. Despite all these differences, however, the forty-first and forty-fifth Presidents share one key attribute: as they prepared for their reëlection campaigns, the world changed in ways they were ill-suited to deal with.
During the first two years of his Presidency, Bush focussed on foreign policy and the collapse of the Soviet Union, which he handled pretty deftly. At the start of his third year, he launched the Gulf War, in which an American-led military alliance routed Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces in Kuwait. In January, 1991, Gallup put Bush’s approval rating at eighty-nine per cent. As late as the summer of 1991, Bush’s approval rating was seventy-four per cent, and it seemed as if he had a good chance of getting reëlected.
What changed things for Bush was a faltering economy. In the second half of 1990, a downturn had begun. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, this recession ended in March, 1991, but that wasn’t how it seemed at the time. In the second half of 1991, G.D.P. growth was barely perceptible, and the unemployment rate kept climbing until the middle of 1992, when it hit 7.7 per cent. Economics wasn’t Bush’s forte, and, as the malaise continued, Bill Clinton’s campaign eagerly promoted the notion that Bush was out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans. That year’s race had an attention-grabbing third-party candidate, Ross Perot, who also focussed on economics. Few voters wanted to discuss the end of the Cold War. Poppy seemed a bit lost. In the end, he carried only eighteen states.
Trump has never come anywhere near the level of approval that Bush achieved in the wake of the Gulf War. For a long time, though, his ratings were remarkably steady, and at the start of this year the betting odds suggested he was the favorite to win the election. But, since March 25th, when states were starting to issue stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus, his net approval rating—that’s his approval rating minus his disapproval rating—has fallen by almost ten points, according to the Real Clear Politics poll average. In a head-to-head matchup with Joe Biden, he trails by 9.5 points. In the sports books, things have flipped, and Biden is now the favorite.
None of this means that Trump can’t win, of course. It does mean that, like Bush in 1992, he is struggling to come to terms with a changed political environment, which, in addition to the pandemic, has also featured a national movement for police reform and racial justice. More than once during his Tulsa speech, Trump mentioned how well things were going before the onset of the pandemic. He returned to the theme during a rambling digression about ordering a new version of Air Force One from Boeing. On this occasion, though, he referred to himself rather than the economy. “This was the Boeing before that, and they were riding high,” he said. “Like I was before this thing came in. But we’re still riding high, because you know what? On November 3rd, we’re going to win. We’re going to win.”
He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was the members of the crowd. The phrase “this thing came in” was equally revealing. For the first three years of his tenure, Trump didn’t face any great national emergency that tested his abilities as a leader and manager. With the economy humming along and the unemployment rate at near-record lows, he continued to play the role of insurgent, disrupter, and inciter that he had patented in the 2016 race. Then “this thing came in.” The pandemic provided a challenge that demanded a complicated, sustained response based upon a command of the details; was oblivious to his rhetoric and his Twitter account; brought the economy to a virtual halt; terrified elderly voters, who are a key part of his electoral coalition; and even scared off some diehard Trump voters from attending his rally. After initially trying to dismiss the threat of the virus, Trump was forced to take it seriously, at least for a time. But many Americans couldn’t help but notice his failure to provide reassuring leadership, or the fact that the economy had entered a steep recession. At the start of April, the number of people who approved of Trump’s response to the coronavirus was pretty similar to the number who disapproved. Today, 41.5 per cent approve and 55.5 per cent disapprove, according to the FiveThirtyEight poll average.
Even now, months into the pandemic, Trump can barely hide how unfair he finds this new reality, or how hard he is finding it to adapt. Rather than using the Tulsa speech to fashion a fresh agenda for a changed world, he spent most of his time harping on his old resentments and themes, particularly his anger at the media. He did try to portray Biden as a captive of the Democratic left, which his campaign reportedly sees as its most promising line of attack. But with all the other racist, inflammatory, and self-destructive stuff that Trump said, including his statement that he directed officials to slow down COVID-19 testing, the message about Biden almost got lost.
Adapting to changed circumstances is a skill that successful politicians have to learn. In 1992, George H. W. Bush couldn’t make the necessary transformation. Trump, amid reports that he was furious about the relatively small crowd in Tulsa, and that some of his own advisers are questioning “if he is truly interested in serving a second term,” has got four and a half months left to figure it out.


newyorker--2020-06-23--Kentucky Primary Election 2020: Live Results, Maps, and Analysis

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newyorker--2020-06-23--New York Primary Election 2020: Live Results, Maps, and Analysis


newyorker--2020-06-23--Three-Step Crisis Management for the High-End Karen

So someone caught you on camera , aggressively not minding your own business .
What now ?
Our crisis-management firm will walk top-drawer Karens like you through these three simple action items in response to this unforeseen incident .
Immediately scrub the crap out of your social-media accounts .
Delete your Twitter , your Instagram , your LinkedIn , your Facebook .
That way , your enemies and/or the media can not find more incriminating evidence of your Karenness .
Also , they will not have a ready-made Venn diagram of your affiliates to badger into making your life even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) is .
Immediately issue our patented Karen Redemption Script : “ I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone , and especially to [ _________ ] , for my shameful behavior , which was caught on camera .
The video was unacceptable .
I humbly and fully apologize to everyone who ’ s seen the video and been offended .
I also apologize deeply and humbly to everyone who now sees me in a lesser light .
I understand why they do .
When I think about law enforcement in America , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , privileged white person .
I ’ ve come to understand , especially after the uproar over the video , that the police are not my personal protection agency .
With great sadness , I have come to comprehend that there are so many people in this country who don ’ t have the luxury that I had of calling the police .
I am not a racist .
I do not foster any ill will in my heart toward [ _________ ] ; I was just scared because of where I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ _________ ] , you don ’ t know what ’ s happening .
My behavior is not excusable .
It ’ s not defensible .
I reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about [ _________ ] and his/her intentions .
I should have minded my own business .
The last forty-eight hours have made me a better person , and definitely not a racist .
This incident has taught me that my actions were those of someone who was not aware of the damage caused by being uninformed and naïve to racial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Petit Saint Vincent .
Or Fregate Island , in the Seychelles .
Lay low .
Do some spa stuff .
Strategize a career pivot .
Dissolve , then re-incorporate , your business .

A 30-ish white woman calls the police on an 8-year-old black child selling water “illegally” on the sidewalk. Pure Karen. You’ve probably seen the name “Karen” bandied about a lot lately. She is a meme popularized over the past few years.—The Los Angeles Times.
Photograph from Alamy
So someone caught you on camera, aggressively not minding your own business. What now? Our crisis-management firm will walk top-drawer Karens like you through these three simple action items in response to this unforeseen incident.
Step One: Erase
Immediately scrub the crap out of your social-media accounts. Delete your Twitter, your Instagram, your LinkedIn, your Facebook. That way, your enemies and/or the media cannot find more incriminating evidence of your Karenness. Also, they will not have a ready-made Venn diagram of your affiliates to badger into making your life even more miserable than it currently (clearly) is.
Step Two: Apologize
Immediately issue our patented Karen Redemption Script: “I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone, and especially to [_________], for my shameful behavior, which was caught on camera. The video was unacceptable. I humbly and fully apologize to everyone who’s seen the video and been offended. I also apologize deeply and humbly to everyone who now sees me in a lesser light. I understand why they do. When I think about law enforcement in America, I realize that I am such a blessed, privileged white person. I’ve come to understand, especially after the uproar over the video, that the police are not my personal protection agency. With great sadness, I have come to comprehend that there are so many people in this country who don’t have the luxury that I had of calling the police. I am not a racist. I do not foster any ill will in my heart toward [_________]; I was just scared because of where I was. When you’re alone in [_________], you don’t know what’s happening. My behavior is not excusable. It’s not defensible. I reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about [_________] and his/her intentions. I should have minded my own business. The last forty-eight hours have made me a better person, and definitely not a racist. This incident has taught me that my actions were those of someone who was not aware of the damage caused by being uninformed and naïve about racial bias.”
III. Escape
Go to Fiji. Or Petit Saint Vincent. Or Fregate Island, in the Seychelles. Lay low. Do some spa stuff. Strategize a career pivot. Dissolve, then re-incorporate, your business.


newyorker--2020-06-23--Telling the Stories of the Protests Here and in Hong Kong

There comes a moment in every foreign correspondent ’ s life when she must confront whether the story that she is telling is hers to tell .
This much was apparent to me when I went to Hong Kong last September , to report on the protests that had engulfed the city .
For two weeks , I dutifully donned my press vest , helmet , and face mask ( to fend off tear gas , not yet the coronavirus ) and bore witness to demonstrations that invariably ended in violent clashes with the police , knowing that the piece @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , incomplete .
A week ago , as helicopters buzzed above my Harlem apartment and police lights glided across my window , I scrolled through image upon image that I had captured on my phone of men and women in masks facing off against police in riot gear .
Nine months earlier , when I posted similar images from Hong Kong , friends and colleagues here who had known the city as a gleaming , orderly metropolis expressed their shock .
What compels a city to erupt ?
This , of course , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to answer .
I already knew the broad arc of the story .
In 2019 , Beijing had supported an extradition bill that would allow people in Hong Kong wanted on criminal charges in China to be taken to the mainland and detained there ; the fear was that this could include people wanted on political , rather than legal , grounds .
The bill might have been the trigger , but the size and the scale of the protests that ensued attested to increasing frustrations with Beijing ’ s encroachment on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been protected by its semi-autonomous status .
There are close to seven and a half million people in Hong Kong ; at one point , almost two million of them joined the street marches .
The protests began peacefully , but sometimes turned violent , and police brutality further inflamed the demonstrators .
Nearly nine thousand people were arrested .
There is no hope , more than one protester told me ; Beijing will have its way .
Eight months on , those words are proving prescient .
On Saturday , Beijing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that would grant it broader power over the territory , by overriding Hong Kong ’ s independent judiciary and establishing a national security office in the city .
The law would give Beijing the authority to “ exercise jurisdiction ” over cases that “ jeopardize national security under specific circumstances.
” Beijing ’ s extradition bill was the spark but not the sole reason for the Hong Kong protests .
Similarly , the death of George Floyd , an unarmed black man who died under the knee of a white police officer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cause for the protests across the United States that have followed it .
Rage at institutionalized racism—including wrongful deaths at the hands of the police—was exacerbated by an unequal toll in deaths and hardships during the pandemic , and by the words and actions of a President who seems determined to provoke division and hatred .
In the past three weeks , more than two thousand cities and towns have seen protests .
Twenty-three states called in the National Guard , and a total of sixty-two thousand troops have been activated .
More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrested .
Watching the protests in New York , I ’ ve been compulsively pattern-matching them to the events in Hong Kong .
Similarities aren ’ t hard to find , but my role is different now .
In Hong Kong , I was an outsider : born in mainland China but reared in the United States , where a free press is constitutionally protected .
Any storyteller chooses what information and details and sources to rely on , and my choices reflect my own culturally inflected values .
Under President Xi Jinping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China , and the media has increasingly become an arm of the government , publishing news that serves the interest of the state .
The irony is that the mainland media believes the same of Western reporters , denouncing them as government-sponsored shills selling propaganda to thwart China ’ s rise .
My most memorable interview in Hong Kong was with a young man who had a different perspective .
“ On the one hand , ” he told me , “ I want you to report on what ’ s happening in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. government can help us .
On the other hand , I ’ m not really sure that that can be your responsibility.
” His words came back to me recently , as the protests spread across this country .
What is the American responsibility at this moment ?
The uncertain , expansive nature of events has come into direct confrontation with Donald Trump ’ s fixation on a consistent message : any narrative that does not endorse his agenda is part of a conspiracy .
In that , he has much in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kong .
The city ’ s chief executive , Carrie Lam , with the support of Xi and the Communist Party , has portrayed the primary actors in the protests there as fringe hooligans and mercenary criminals .
The state media has reported that the protesters were wreaking havoc on society , and that the use of aggressive force was necessary to quell them .
Trump predictably chose a similar tack , characterizing the U.S. protests as the work of radical-left terrorist “ thugs ” and encouraging his supporters to clash with Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distract the public is a tried-and-true tactic of the tyrant .
While Trump repeatedly denigrates journalists as “ the enemy of the people , ” Xi likely says to himself , “ That ’ s why I silenced them.
” It should come as no surprise , then , that , according to the former national-security adviser John Bolton , Trump courted Xi to help him win reëlection , while publicly berating his rival Joe Biden for supposedly being soft on Beijing .
( Or that Trump reportedly endorsed the idea of holding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centers . )
Yet the emergence of an American would-be authoritarian has largely played to Xi ’ s benefit .
Images of American police officers using tear gas , pepper spray , and rubber bullets to crack down on protesters , including across the street from the White House , were splashed across Chinese media .
“ U.S .
Deploys Weapons of War in Bid to Control Protests , ” a headline in the Global Times , a Communist Party-controlled news outlet , read .
Its editor also took to social media to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the “ repression of domestic unrest has further eroded the moral basis to claim itself a ‘ beacon of democracy.
’ ” Then there was a message from my aunt , a retired journalist for Xinhua , China ’ s official state-run news agency , telling me that “ America has begun arresting and shooting at journalists.
” She had predicted all of this long before , she said , and added , “ Please watch what you write about America and Trump.
” I tell my aunt that I can write @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that freedom of the press marks one of the fundamental differences between the United States and China .
But I have to admit to myself that my pride in that fact has been shaken not only by Trump ’ s attacks on the press but by his contempt for the truth .
What concerns me most , as a journalist and as an American , is how relentlessly the President seeks to rewrite the American story in real time .
Now he ’ s trying to vilify the protesters who hope to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of his reëlection strategy .
He anoints himself the “ President of law and order ” at a time when he is transparently inciting disorder .
This kind of revisionism is another hallmark of the Chinese Communist Party , which , in erasing the truth of China ’ s story , has inflicted a kind of cultural amnesia upon generations of its people .

There comes a moment in every foreign correspondent’s life when she must confront whether the story that she is telling is hers to tell. This much was apparent to me when I went to Hong Kong last September, to report on the protests that had engulfed the city. For two weeks, I dutifully donned my press vest, helmet, and face mask (to fend off tear gas, not yet the coronavirus) and bore witness to demonstrations that invariably ended in violent clashes with the police, knowing that the piece I produced would be, by necessity, incomplete.
A week ago, as helicopters buzzed above my Harlem apartment and police lights glided across my window, I scrolled through image upon image that I had captured on my phone of men and women in masks facing off against police in riot gear. Nine months earlier, when I posted similar images from Hong Kong, friends and colleagues here who had known the city as a gleaming, orderly metropolis expressed their shock. What compels a city to erupt? This, of course, is the question that I was sent to answer. I already knew the broad arc of the story. In 2019, Beijing had supported an extradition bill that would allow people in Hong Kong wanted on criminal charges in China to be taken to the mainland and detained there; the fear was that this could include people wanted on political, rather than legal, grounds. The bill might have been the trigger, but the size and the scale of the protests that ensued attested to increasing frustrations with Beijing’s encroachment on the city’s civil liberties, which have been protected by its semi-autonomous status. There are close to seven and a half million people in Hong Kong; at one point, almost two million of them joined the street marches. The protests began peacefully, but sometimes turned violent, and police brutality further inflamed the demonstrators. Nearly nine thousand people were arrested.
There is no hope, more than one protester told me; Beijing will have its way. Eight months on, those words are proving prescient. On Saturday, Beijing revealed plans for a new security law that would grant it broader power over the territory, by overriding Hong Kong’s independent judiciary and establishing a national security office in the city. The law would give Beijing the authority to “exercise jurisdiction” over cases that “jeopardize national security under specific circumstances.”
Beijing’s extradition bill was the spark but not the sole reason for the Hong Kong protests. Similarly, the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died under the knee of a white police officer, was the catalyst but hardly the only cause for the protests across the United States that have followed it. Rage at institutionalized racism—including wrongful deaths at the hands of the police—was exacerbated by an unequal toll in deaths and hardships during the pandemic, and by the words and actions of a President who seems determined to provoke division and hatred. In the past three weeks, more than two thousand cities and towns have seen protests. Twenty-three states called in the National Guard, and a total of sixty-two thousand troops have been activated. More than eleven thousand people have reportedly been arrested.
Watching the protests in New York, I’ve been compulsively pattern-matching them to the events in Hong Kong. Similarities aren’t hard to find, but my role is different now. In Hong Kong, I was an outsider: born in mainland China but reared in the United States, where a free press is constitutionally protected. Any storyteller chooses what information and details and sources to rely on, and my choices reflect my own culturally inflected values. Under President Xi Jinping, independent voices have been silenced in China, and the media has increasingly become an arm of the government, publishing news that serves the interest of the state. The irony is that the mainland media believes the same of Western reporters, denouncing them as government-sponsored shills selling propaganda to thwart China’s rise. My most memorable interview in Hong Kong was with a young man who had a different perspective. “On the one hand,” he told me, “I want you to report on what’s happening in Hong Kong, so that maybe the U.S. government can help us. On the other hand, I’m not really sure that that can be your responsibility.”
His words came back to me recently, as the protests spread across this country. What is the American responsibility at this moment? The uncertain, expansive nature of events has come into direct confrontation with Donald Trump’s fixation on a consistent message: any narrative that does not endorse his agenda is part of a conspiracy. In that, he has much in common with the current leadership in Hong Kong. The city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, with the support of Xi and the Communist Party, has portrayed the primary actors in the protests there as fringe hooligans and mercenary criminals. The state media has reported that the protesters were wreaking havoc on society, and that the use of aggressive force was necessary to quell them. Trump predictably chose a similar tack, characterizing the U.S. protests as the work of radical-left terrorist “thugs” and encouraging his supporters to clash with Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Sowing division to distract the public is a tried-and-true tactic of the tyrant. While Trump repeatedly denigrates journalists as “the enemy of the people,” Xi likely says to himself, “That’s why I silenced them.”
It should come as no surprise, then, that, according to the former national-security adviser John Bolton, Trump courted Xi to help him win reëlection, while publicly berating his rival Joe Biden for supposedly being soft on Beijing. (Or that Trump reportedly endorsed the idea of holding members of an ethnic minority in detention centers.) Yet the emergence of an American would-be authoritarian has largely played to Xi’s benefit. Images of American police officers using tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets to crack down on protesters, including across the street from the White House, were splashed across Chinese media. “U.S. Deploys Weapons of War in Bid to Control Protests,” a headline in the Global Times, a Communist Party-controlled news outlet, read. Its editor also took to social media to post that, for the United States, the “repression of domestic unrest has further eroded the moral basis to claim itself a ‘beacon of democracy.’ ” Then there was a message from my aunt, a retired journalist for Xinhua, China’s official state-run news agency, telling me that “America has begun arresting and shooting at journalists.” She had predicted all of this long before, she said, and added, “Please watch what you write about America and Trump.”
I tell my aunt that I can write what I want about American politicians, and that freedom of the press marks one of the fundamental differences between the United States and China. But I have to admit to myself that my pride in that fact has been shaken not only by Trump’s attacks on the press but by his contempt for the truth. What concerns me most, as a journalist and as an American, is how relentlessly the President seeks to rewrite the American story in real time. Now he’s trying to vilify the protesters who hope to heal America’s most searing wound—racism—as part of his reëlection strategy. He anoints himself the “President of law and order” at a time when he is transparently inciting disorder. This kind of revisionism is another hallmark of the Chinese Communist Party, which, in erasing the truth of China’s story, has inflicted a kind of cultural amnesia upon generations of its people.


newyorker--2020-06-23--For Now, Donald Trump and William Barr Are Losing Their Way

On Friday night , William Barr seemed to embrace obstruction of justice as a way of life in his ongoing defense of Donald Trump .
It didn ’ t go well .
In an apparent attempt to protect President Trump ’ s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani from criminal prosecution , Barr issued a false statement that the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan , Geoffrey Berman , had agreed to step down .
“ With tenacity and savvy , Geoff has done an excellent job leading one of our nation ’ s most significant U.S. Attorney ’ s Offices , ” Barr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at 9:15 p.m. “ I appreciate his service to the Department of Justice and our nation , and I wish him well in the future.
” Barr added that Jay Clayton , the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission , and a golf buddy of Trump ’ s , would replace Berman in the powerful post .
In a startling act of defiance , Berman called out Barr ’ s lie : at 11:14 p.m. , he issued his own statement , declaring , “ I have not resigned , and have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” ( A Justice Department official said that phrases such as “ stepping down ” are used as a courtesy when officials are removed from their posts . )
The federal prosecutor then made a remarkable—and historic—plea for the other two branches of government to confront and restrain an out-of-control President .
And , in this case , his out-of-control Attorney General , too .
“ I was appointed by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York , ” Berman wrote .
“ I will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is confirmed by the Senate .
Until then , our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption.
” The duelling announcements captured the confusing combination of brazen corruption and sheer incompetence that has become a hallmark of the Trump Administration .
Barr , surely at Trump ’ s behest , was attempting to remove a federal prosecutor who has carried out a series of politically embarrassing investigations of Trump allies .
The attempted Friday-night firing confirmed allegations in a new book by the former national-security adviser John Bolton—which Trump and Barr unsuccessfully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interfered in criminal investigations into friends , political allies , and , most of all , himself .
A Justice Department official who asked not to be named denied Bolton ’ s allegations and said that the extent of Southern District investigations that involve Trump associates is being exaggerated .
The official added that Clayton is well liked in the Administration and that Barr ’ s actions are being cast in an unfairly conspiratorial way .
“ He was planning on leaving the Administration , and he expressed interest in the position , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Clayton .
“ The Attorney General thought he would be a good fit to lead the office.
” Berman ’ s mention of having been appointed by federal judges was a reference to the Trump White House ’ s handling of his appointment in the first place .
Normally , a newly elected President nominates federal prosecutors to serve in posts across the United States , and they are then confirmed by the Senate .
Trump interviewed and nominated Berman , who is a Republican , in 2017 , but the Administration never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , fearing that Democrats would block it .
After a hundred and twenty days , U.S. federal judges nominated him .
But the Administration , for its purposes , appears not to have properly vetted Berman—who , because his jurisdiction includes Manhattan , would inevitably oversee cases involving Trump associates .
From the start , Berman signalled his refusal to protect Trump politically ; in other words , he would take proper action as a federal prosecutor .
Berman had donated to Trump ’ s 2016 campaign , and he recused himself from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s former personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen .
In a case that consumed the headlines for months and infuriated Trump , federal prosecutors in Berman ’ s office brokered a plea deal with Cohen , in which he confessed to having violated campaign-finance laws by facilitating hush-money payments to the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and the model Karen McDougal .
Cohen stated under oath that Trump ordered him to make the payments .
Trump enjoys immunity from prosecution for as long as he is President , but he was reportedly irate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ embarrassing case go away .
In 2019 , prosecutors working in Berman ’ s office indicted two Giuliani associates , Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman , alleging that they had made illegal campaign contributions to a U.S. congressman and others .
( Parnas and Fruman ’ s trial is scheduled for next year ; both have pleaded not guilty . )
Berman ’ s office is now reportedly investigating Giuliani for potential violations of foreign-lobbying disclosure requirements .
( Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged . )
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demanded Barr ’ s resignation , citing his repeated interventions in Trump-related probes , in ways that appeared to aid the President politically .
The Attorney General ’ s likely rationale is his decades-long belief in an extreme interpretation of Presidential power , which gives Trump control of all executive-branch agencies , without restriction .
In Barr ’ s view , this means that Trump would be within his rights to oversee an investigation into his own misconduct .
Legal experts have called the interpretation bizarre and dangerous .
In a sign of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political standing is shifting , one of Trump ’ s most fawning backers in the Senate , Lindsey Graham , indicated on Saturday that he would not support the nomination of Clayton , who has no experience as a prosecutor .
Graham is locked in a tight reëlection race with Jaime Harrison , the Democratic challenger , in South Carolina .
After other Senate Republicans declined to support Clayton , Barr agreed to appoint Berman ’ s deputy , Audrey Strauss , as an interim U.S. Attorney , following standard practice .
Former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Strauss , like Berman , would defy pressure to quash politically embarrassing investigations .
“ None of the office ’ s work will be compromised , ” Samidh Guha , a former assistant U.S. attorney in the office , told the Washington Post .
Support for Barr among career Justice Department officials appears to be eroding , the Times reported .
Since Barr took office , nineteen months ago , he has carried out some of the Administration ’ s most controversial legal actions , from reducing the sentence requested for Roger Stone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Flynn to the so-far-failed effort to block the publication of Bolton ’ s book .
In the past several weeks , three senior department officials have announced their departures : Brian Benczkowski , the head of the criminal division ; Noel Francisco , the solicitor general ; and Jody Hunt , a career official who runs the civil division .
The Justice Department official whom I spoke with denied any morale problems .
The official added that Barr is adhering to legal views that he has held for decades ; that the evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was thin and the sentence against Stone excessive .
Barr is “ just doing what is right—he ’ s going back and fixing things that shouldn ’ t have happened , ” the official said .
“ And that ’ s what he ’ s done consistently.
” Meanwhile , Trump ’ s handling of the pandemic , the concurrent recession , and the nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd have , for now , driven his poll numbers down .
Bolton , the former Defense Secretary James Mattis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have publicly declared Trump a danger to American democracy .
Barr , for his part , continues to double down on enabling and defending Trump .
Last Monday , Barr dismissed Bolton ’ s claim that the President intervenes in criminal cases to aid autocrats and allies .
Five days later , Barr tried to remove Berman .
On Sunday , Barr again defended Trump , in a Fox News interview , warned of mob rule , and said that mail-in voting “ opens the floodgates to fraud.
” On Monday morning , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s interview and then exaggerated his claim , falsely stating that foreign governments are printing millions of fake mail-in ballots , and that the November vote is already “ FIXED.
” The Justice Department official told me that the Attorney General is defending the Presidency , not merely this particular President , and that Barr is taking the actions because he feels they are right , not because of pressure from Trump .
The official added that Barr has no regrets and intends to serve through the November election , noting that “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He would not say something that he doesn ’ t believe.
” Who finds Bill Barr convincing ?
Increasingly , not the judges , not the prosecutors , and not , if one believes the polls , the American public .

On Friday night, William Barr seemed to embrace obstruction of justice as a way of life in his ongoing defense of Donald Trump. It didn’t go well. In an apparent attempt to protect President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani from criminal prosecution, Barr issued a false statement that the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, had agreed to step down. “With tenacity and savvy, Geoff has done an excellent job leading one of our nation’s most significant U.S. Attorney’s Offices,” Barr said, in a press release issued at 9:15 p.m. “I appreciate his service to the Department of Justice and our nation, and I wish him well in the future.” Barr added that Jay Clayton, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a golf buddy of Trump’s, would replace Berman in the powerful post.
In a startling act of defiance, Berman called out Barr’s lie: at 11:14 p.m., he issued his own statement, declaring, “I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position.” (A Justice Department official said that phrases such as “stepping down” are used as a courtesy when officials are removed from their posts.) The federal prosecutor then made a remarkable—and historic—plea for the other two branches of government to confront and restrain an out-of-control President. And, in this case, his out-of-control Attorney General, too. “I was appointed by the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,” Berman wrote. “I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption.”
The duelling announcements captured the confusing combination of brazen corruption and sheer incompetence that has become a hallmark of the Trump Administration. Barr, surely at Trump’s behest, was attempting to remove a federal prosecutor who has carried out a series of politically embarrassing investigations of Trump allies. The attempted Friday-night firing confirmed allegations in a new book by the former national-security adviser John Bolton—which Trump and Barr unsuccessfully tried to suppress—that the President has repeatedly interfered in criminal investigations into friends, political allies, and, most of all, himself.
A Justice Department official who asked not to be named denied Bolton’s allegations and said that the extent of Southern District investigations that involve Trump associates is being exaggerated. The official added that Clayton is well liked in the Administration and that Barr’s actions are being cast in an unfairly conspiratorial way. “He was planning on leaving the Administration, and he expressed interest in the position,” the official said, referring to Clayton. “The Attorney General thought he would be a good fit to lead the office.”
Berman’s mention of having been appointed by federal judges was a reference to the Trump White House’s handling of his appointment in the first place. Normally, a newly elected President nominates federal prosecutors to serve in posts across the United States, and they are then confirmed by the Senate. Trump interviewed and nominated Berman, who is a Republican, in 2017, but the Administration never formally submitted his nomination to the Senate, fearing that Democrats would block it. After a hundred and twenty days, U.S. federal judges nominated him. But the Administration, for its purposes, appears not to have properly vetted Berman—who, because his jurisdiction includes Manhattan, would inevitably oversee cases involving Trump associates. From the start, Berman signalled his refusal to protect Trump politically; in other words, he would take proper action as a federal prosecutor.
Berman had donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign, and he recused himself from the Southern District’s investigation of Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen. In a case that consumed the headlines for months and infuriated Trump, federal prosecutors in Berman’s office brokered a plea deal with Cohen, in which he confessed to having violated campaign-finance laws by facilitating hush-money payments to the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and the model Karen McDougal. Cohen stated under oath that Trump ordered him to make the payments. Trump enjoys immunity from prosecution for as long as he is President, but he was reportedly irate with Berman for not making the politically embarrassing case go away. In 2019, prosecutors working in Berman’s office indicted two Giuliani associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, alleging that they had made illegal campaign contributions to a U.S. congressman and others. (Parnas and Fruman’s trial is scheduled for next year; both have pleaded not guilty.) Berman’s office is now reportedly investigating Giuliani for potential violations of foreign-lobbying disclosure requirements. (Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged.)
More than a thousand former Justice Department officials have demanded Barr’s resignation, citing his repeated interventions in Trump-related probes, in ways that appeared to aid the President politically. The Attorney General’s likely rationale is his decades-long belief in an extreme interpretation of Presidential power, which gives Trump control of all executive-branch agencies, without restriction. In Barr’s view, this means that Trump would be within his rights to oversee an investigation into his own misconduct. Legal experts have called the interpretation bizarre and dangerous.
In a sign of how quickly Trump and Barr’s political standing is shifting, one of Trump’s most fawning backers in the Senate, Lindsey Graham, indicated on Saturday that he would not support the nomination of Clayton, who has no experience as a prosecutor. Graham is locked in a tight reëlection race with Jaime Harrison, the Democratic challenger, in South Carolina. After other Senate Republicans declined to support Clayton, Barr agreed to appoint Berman’s deputy, Audrey Strauss, as an interim U.S. Attorney, following standard practice. Former federal prosecutors in New York said that Strauss, like Berman, would defy pressure to quash politically embarrassing investigations. “None of the office’s work will be compromised,” Samidh Guha, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the office, told the Washington Post.
Support for Barr among career Justice Department officials appears to be eroding, the Times reported. Since Barr took office, nineteen months ago, he has carried out some of the Administration’s most controversial legal actions, from reducing the sentence requested for Roger Stone to attempting to withdraw charges against Michael Flynn to the so-far-failed effort to block the publication of Bolton’s book. In the past several weeks, three senior department officials have announced their departures: Brian Benczkowski, the head of the criminal division; Noel Francisco, the solicitor general; and Jody Hunt, a career official who runs the civil division.
The Justice Department official whom I spoke with denied any morale problems. The official added that Barr is adhering to legal views that he has held for decades; that the evidence against Flynn, despite his guilty pleas, was thin and the sentence against Stone excessive. Barr is “just doing what is right—he’s going back and fixing things that shouldn’t have happened,” the official said. “And that’s what he’s done consistently.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s handling of the pandemic, the concurrent recession, and the nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd have, for now, driven his poll numbers down. Bolton, the former Defense Secretary James Mattis, and other former senior Administration officials have publicly declared Trump a danger to American democracy. Barr, for his part, continues to double down on enabling and defending Trump. Last Monday, Barr dismissed Bolton’s claim that the President intervenes in criminal cases to aid autocrats and allies. Five days later, Barr tried to remove Berman. On Sunday, Barr again defended Trump, in a Fox News interview, warned of mob rule, and said that mail-in voting “opens the floodgates to fraud.” On Monday morning, Trump tweeted a link to Barr’s interview and then exaggerated his claim, falsely stating that foreign governments are printing millions of fake mail-in ballots, and that the November vote is already “FIXED.”
The Justice Department official told me that the Attorney General is defending the Presidency, not merely this particular President, and that Barr is taking the actions because he feels they are right, not because of pressure from Trump. The official added that Barr has no regrets and intends to serve through the November election, noting that “Bill Barr is his own man. He would not say something that he doesn’t believe.” Who finds Bill Barr convincing? Increasingly, not the judges, not the prosecutors, and not, if one believes the polls, the American public.