thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--ACLU Drags John Bolton's Record After He Retweets Support Of His Book Release

If politics does indeed make strange bedfellows , then the sleeping arrangements between John Bolton and the American Civil Liberties Union are truly bizarre .
After the Trump administration sued the former national security adviser on Tuesday to stop the publication of a book the White House says contains classified information , the ACLU released a tweet supporting Bolton ’ s right to release it .
50 years ago , SCOTUS rejected the Nixon administration 's attempt to block the publication of the Pentagon Papers , establishing that government censorship is unconstitutional .
Any Trump administration efforts to stop John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are doomed to fail .
https : //t.co/QOiiPcOHg0 — ACLU ( @ ACLU ) June 15 , 2020 Bolton was apparently happy to get the support and retweeted their tweet .
But the ACLU didn ’ t want its support of Bolton ’ s right to release his book to be seen as support for Bolton himself .
The group quickly dragged his “ atrocious human rights record ” with these telling tweets .
Now that we have your attention @ AmbJohnBolton , please also see the ACLU statement on your atrocious human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ACLU ( @ ACLU ) June 16 , 2020 As National Security Advisor , @ AmbJohnBolton threatened the ICC over its investigations into the United States ’ war crimes in Afghanistan , and celebrated when survivors were denied the opportunity to hold their torturers accountable .
We didn ’ t forget.https : //t.co/w4i0SJnjNz — ACLU ( @ ACLU ) June 16 , 2020 The group has previously put principle and precedent over ideology in the past , even defending the Ku Klux Klan ’ s right to free speech in 2012 .
Still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when they see one and set their GIFs to stun .

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If politics does indeed make strange bedfellows, then the sleeping arrangements between John Bolton and the American Civil Liberties Union are truly bizarre.
After the Trump administration sued the former national security adviser on Tuesday to stop the publication of a book the White House says contains classified information, the ACLU released a tweet supporting Bolton’s right to release it.
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50 years ago, SCOTUS rejected the Nixon administration's attempt to block the publication of the Pentagon Papers, establishing that government censorship is unconstitutional.
Any Trump administration efforts to stop John Bolton’s book from being published are doomed to fail. https://t.co/QOiiPcOHg0 — ACLU (@ACLU) June 15, 2020
Bolton was apparently happy to get the support and retweeted their tweet.
Please see the @ACLU statement on my upcoming book release. https://t.co/QNiG40vmQ6 — John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) June 16, 2020
But the ACLU didn’t want its support of Bolton’s right to release his book to be seen as support for Bolton himself.
The group quickly dragged his “atrocious human rights record” with these telling tweets.
Now that we have your attention @AmbJohnBolton, please also see the ACLU statement on your atrocious human rights record. https://t.co/GWZNZCj9Lz — ACLU (@ACLU) June 16, 2020
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As National Security Advisor, @AmbJohnBolton threatened the ICC over its investigations into the United States’ war crimes in Afghanistan, and celebrated when survivors were denied the opportunity to hold their torturers accountable.
We didn’t forget.https://t.co/w4i0SJnjNz — ACLU (@ACLU) June 16, 2020
The group has previously put principle and precedent over ideology in the past, even defending the Ku Klux Klan’s right to free speech in 2012.
Still, many Twitter users know a burn when they see one and set their GIFs to stun.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--The Police Aren't Very Good At Their Main Job: Solving Crimes

We are taught as children that the police are there to help and protect us from criminals and to bring the bad guys to justice , and fictional portrayals of police officers in books , TV shows and movies reinforce this image .
That is , of course , not how the Black community and many others actually experience the police in real life .
It also barely connects to reality for anyone .
Statistically , cops are good at arresting people ( and sometimes beating and killing them ) , but not so good at crime solving .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FBI ’ s official crime data .
Law enforcement solved less than half ― just 46 % ― of violent crimes and just 18 % of property crimes in 2017 , the most recent year for which numbers are available .
Homicides and aggravated assaults were the only types of crime with clearance rates above 50 % .
They also solved only 35 % of rapes , 29 % of robberies , 14 % of burglaries , 19 % of larcenies and 14 % of automobile thefts .
Other FBI data shows that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solved when the victim is Black .
Given that these figures themselves come from a law enforcement agency that has an incentive to portray law enforcement in a positive light , there are good reasons to question how accurate even those are .
For instance , a police department would get credit this year for clearing a previously unsolved case from a prior year .
This creates a misleading view of how well a department responds to new crimes in any given year .
‘ This Is Why I Don ’ t Live @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was a victim of a crime was in May 1998 , when I was living in London .
I was returning to my apartment from a nightclub at around midnight , when my two friends and I got separated by about 20 yards .
Suddenly , a group of young men blocked my way and started punching and kicking me .
My friends rescued me , got me home and alerted nearby police .
They took a statement , told me not to expect much and left .
I only realized afterward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moved to Washington , D.C. , later that year , and shortly thereafter the house I shared with several roommates was robbed .
I wasn ’ t home when the crime occurred , and the only evidence that the police made even a cursory attempt to investigate was the fingerprint dust they left all over the house .
None of us ever heard from those cops again .
About a year later , I got a phone call from a detective who said he had just returned from a lengthy disability leave and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I went to the precinct , where he perfunctorily showed me some mug shots and sent me on my way .
Here ’ s the thing , though : I had provided the responding officer with the muggers ’ license plate number .
I also knew they had used my credit card at a gas station , a McDonald ’ s and a Denny ’ s .
It doesn ’ t take Sherlock Holmes to use that information to maybe track down the perpetrators .
I never heard back from that detective .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jr. Day in 2007 , I was hanging out with two friends on their front stoop in D.C. when a man armed with a broken bottle ran up on us , demanded our wallets and fled .
We flagged down an officer a few blocks away who took a statement .
I asked him to reassure me that we ’ d done the right thing by not trying to fight off the mugger .
“ Well , I would ’ ve handled it differently , ” he responded , smirking at me .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I followed the woman I was dating into her Washington home one night and found a masked man pointing a gun in my face when I turned to close the door behind us .
He ordered us to lie face down on the floor , and said he would shoot us if we moved .
He emptied my pockets and took some belongings from her purse and the house .
When we thought he had moved upstairs , we ran to a friend ’ s house and called the police , who showed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in April 2018 , I discovered someone had robbed the mailbox on my block in Brooklyn , taken a check I ’ d mailed and forged it for more than $ 5,000 .
I reported it at the nearest police station .
A few weeks later , I even got a call from a detective who wanted additional information .
Apparently , there had been a rash of mail thefts in New York City , which have probably stopped now ― not because the New York Police Department caught anyone , but because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mailboxes with theft-deterrent models .
I ’ m in a position of personal privilege here .
I ’ m a white man from the suburbs who went to college and has a job with a decent salary .
I look like a poster child for the person the police are “ supposed ” to help , especially now that I ’ ve reached my mid-40s .
When I sought help from the police , I never had to fear they ’ d hurt or kill me , and I could assume they would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respect .

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One of the most common arguments you see made against the notion of “defunding” the police is: “Well, who are you going to call if someone burgles your home or attacks you?”
And yet a quick look at crime statistics makes it pretty clear that calling the police in those situations doesn’t do you much good anyway. I learned that lesson myself from the multiple times I’ve called the cops after being the victim of a crime.
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We are taught as children that the police are there to help and protect us from criminals and to bring the bad guys to justice, and fictional portrayals of police officers in books, TV shows and movies reinforce this image. That is, of course, not how the Black community and many others actually experience the police in real life. It also barely connects to reality for anyone. Statistically, cops are good at arresting people (and sometimes beating and killing them), but not so good at crime solving.
It’s all right there in the FBI’s official crime data. Law enforcement solved less than half ― just 46% ― of violent crimes and just 18% of property crimes in 2017, the most recent year for which numbers are available. Homicides and aggravated assaults were the only types of crime with clearance rates above 50%. They also solved only 35% of rapes, 29% of robberies, 14% of burglaries, 19% of larcenies and 14% of automobile thefts. Other FBI data shows that murder cases are less likely to be solved when the victim is Black.
Under the FBI’s definition, a crime is deemed “cleared” if a suspect is arrested, charged and handed over to prosecutors. A case also is deemed cleared under other extraordinary circumstances, such as when the suspect dies prior to arrest or leaves the jurisdiction, or when a victim refuses to cooperate with prosecutors.
Given that these figures themselves come from a law enforcement agency that has an incentive to portray law enforcement in a positive light, there are good reasons to question how accurate even those are. For instance, a police department would get credit this year for clearing a previously unsolved case from a prior year. This creates a misleading view of how well a department responds to new crimes in any given year.
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If those statistics and my own experiences are any guide, the person on the other end of the phone when you call the cops to report a crime is less Detective Briscoe from “Law & Order” than Chief Wiggum from “The Simpsons.”
Solving crimes is difficult. Police often cite resource constraints, and say that cutting budgets will mean fewer investigations. Maybe. But also maybe some of the money being used to send legions of riot cops in body armor and tanks out against peaceful protesters could be repurposed to, you know, actual crime.
Put it another way: Would you keep paying a plumber who only fixed your toilet 18% of the time?
‘This Is Why I Don’t Live In This City’
The global Black Lives Matter protests that erupted after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd last month and the growing interest in major policing reform got me thinking about my own experiences as a crime victim and how basically useless the police were.
The first time I was a victim of a crime was in May 1998, when I was living in London. I was returning to my apartment from a nightclub at around midnight, when my two friends and I got separated by about 20 yards. Suddenly, a group of young men blocked my way and started punching and kicking me. My friends rescued me, got me home and alerted nearby police. They took a statement, told me not to expect much and left. I only realized afterward that my wallet was gone.
The next morning, I dragged my bruised body to the neighborhood police station to see if anyone had been arrested and if they found my wallet. The sergeant at the desk had no idea.
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“If it’s any consolation,” she said, “I don’t think you were mugged. Your wallet probably just fell out of your pocket while they were beating you.” This was not, in fact, a consolation.
I moved to Washington, D.C., later that year, and shortly thereafter the house I shared with several roommates was robbed. I wasn’t home when the crime occurred, and the only evidence that the police made even a cursory attempt to investigate was the fingerprint dust they left all over the house. None of us ever heard from those cops again.
In November 2005, three young men held me up at gunpoint about a block from my apartment in Washington. I called the police from my landline. The officer who came to my statement told me, “See, now, this is why I don’t live in this city.”
About a year later, I got a phone call from a detective who said he had just returned from a lengthy disability leave and found my case waiting for him. I went to the precinct, where he perfunctorily showed me some mug shots and sent me on my way. Here’s the thing, though: I had provided the responding officer with the muggers’ license plate number. I also knew they had used my credit card at a gas station, a McDonald’s and a Denny’s. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to use that information to maybe track down the perpetrators. I never heard back from that detective.
On an unseasonably warm Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2007, I was hanging out with two friends on their front stoop in D.C. when a man armed with a broken bottle ran up on us, demanded our wallets and fled. We flagged down an officer a few blocks away who took a statement. I asked him to reassure me that we’d done the right thing by not trying to fight off the mugger. “Well, I would’ve handled it differently,” he responded, smirking at me.
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In July of that same year, I followed the woman I was dating into her Washington home one night and found a masked man pointing a gun in my face when I turned to close the door behind us. He ordered us to lie face down on the floor, and said he would shoot us if we moved. He emptied my pockets and took some belongings from her purse and the house. When we thought he had moved upstairs, we ran to a friend’s house and called the police, who showed up in force.
After taking statements, a lone officer stayed behind for far longer than was necessary so he could flirt with the women who lived in the house. We never heard another word about the case.
Most recently, in April 2018, I discovered someone had robbed the mailbox on my block in Brooklyn, taken a check I’d mailed and forged it for more than $5,000. I reported it at the nearest police station. A few weeks later, I even got a call from a detective who wanted additional information. Apparently, there had been a rash of mail thefts in New York City, which have probably stopped now ― not because the New York Police Department caught anyone, but because the U.S. Postal Service replaced the mailboxes with theft-deterrent models.
Officer Friendly Is Off Duty
In each case, officers pretty much told me not to expect anything to come out of reporting the crimes. I have no reason to believe any of those crimes were ever solved. If they were, nobody ever told me about it.
I’m in a position of personal privilege here. I’m a white man from the suburbs who went to college and has a job with a decent salary. I look like a poster child for the person the police are “supposed” to help, especially now that I’ve reached my mid-40s. When I sought help from the police, I never had to fear they’d hurt or kill me, and I could assume they would treat me with at least a little respect.
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The first few times I reported the crimes with actual hope somebody would get caught. I was angry. I’d been attacked, threatened and had my belongings stolen. The perpetrators made me fear for my life and safety, and the lives and safety of people I care about. I felt powerless, and calling the cops felt like getting a little of that power back.
I also believed I had a civic duty to report those crimes and do what I could to make it less likely they would victimize other people.
To describe this attitude as naive would be an understatement. Pretty much all I got out of calling the police was the paperwork that allowed my banks to return money stolen from my checking account and to clear fraudulent charges from my credit cards.
Considering my encounters with the police and the track record the statistics show, it’s unsurprising that fewer than half of crimes are even reported to the police, according to a Justice Department survey. It also doesn’t speak well of the quality of police work that so many crimes are going unsolved during an era of relatively low crime rates.
My stories are just a few random examples of bad things that happened to one guy. Any encounter with the police could end far worse. But if the police routinely behave as though real crimes are not worth their time, utterly disregard the victims and solve a paltry percentage of crimes, what are they even for? Maybe real police reforms, whether you call it defunding or something else, will provide an answer.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Assault Charges For Missouri Detective Accused Of Hitting Protester With SUV

O ’ FALLON , Mo .
( AP ) — A white suburban St. Louis police detective who was captured on video apparently hitting a black suspect with a police SUV then kicking and punching the man was charged Wednesday with two counts of assault and armed criminal action .
Special Prosecutor Tim Lohmar announced the charges against Florissant Detective Joshua Smith , 31 , who was fired June 10 , eight days after the violent arrest amid nationwide protests and unrest over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis .
About one-third of Florissant ’ s 51,000 residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ferguson , where Michael Brown ’ s death at the hands of a white police officer in 2014 was a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement .
The St. Louis region has been the site of dozens of protests since Floyd ’ s May 25 death .
The arrest occurred on June 2 , a day after four St. Louis police officers were shot and a retired St. Louis police captain was fatally shot during a violent night in the city .
Florissant Police Chief Timothy Fagan has said Smith was on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ area .
Officers were pursuing a vehicle occupied by three men because it had been seen near an earlier shots-fired incident , Florissant Mayor Tim Lowery said .
The pursuit ended on a residential street in nearby Dellwood .
Attorneys for the 20-year-old man who was struck released a second video Tuesday , from another home ’ s security camera , closer and with a different angle .
It shows a car slowing on a residential street .
Two men in the front seat jump out of the still rolling car , before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back seat .
The unmarked police SUV appears from behind the car and drives across part of the front lawn , striking the third man and knocking him onto the driveway as he cries out in pain .
An officer gets out of the SUV and appears to kick and hit the man on the ground as the man yells out , “ OK !
OK !
OK !
” and repeatedly says , “ I don ’ t have nothing.
” “ When you see the second video it ’ s clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used the vehicle as a weapon , ” the man ’ s attorney , Jerryl T. Christmas , said Wednesday .
“ It ’ s difficult to watch , and difficult to listen to the audio because of the way he ’ s screaming and hollering.
” Fagan said the man was treated at the hospital for an ankle injury , but Christmas said his injuries were far worse .
He said the man ’ s leg was “ shattered ” and required multiple surgeries .
Fagan said police are seeking municipal charges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest .
No weapons were found on the men or in their car .
In addition to Lohmar ’ s investigation of the officer , U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen said his office , the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice and the FBI also are reviewing the case to determine if a federal response is warranted .
The arrest led to several peaceful protests outside of police headquarters in Florissant , including a “ die-in ” in which participants lay face down with their hands behind their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gathered Monday outside Lohmar ’ s office urging prosecution of Smith .
Two other officers who were with the detective but are not seen on the video participating in the arrest are on leave pending the investigation , Fagan said .

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O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A white suburban St. Louis police detective who was captured on video apparently hitting a black suspect with a police SUV then kicking and punching the man was charged Wednesday with two counts of assault and armed criminal action.
Special Prosecutor Tim Lohmar announced the charges against Florissant Detective Joshua Smith, 31, who was fired June 10, eight days after the violent arrest amid nationwide protests and unrest over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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About one-third of Florissant’s 51,000 residents are black. Its just north of Ferguson, where Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a white police officer in 2014 was a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement. The St. Louis region has been the site of dozens of protests since Floyd’s May 25 death.
The arrest occurred on June 2, a day after four St. Louis police officers were shot and a retired St. Louis police captain was fatally shot during a violent night in the city. Florissant Police Chief Timothy Fagan has said Smith was on duty because of civil unrest in the area.
Officers were pursuing a vehicle occupied by three men because it had been seen near an earlier shots-fired incident, Florissant Mayor Tim Lowery said. The pursuit ended on a residential street in nearby Dellwood.
What happened next was captured by a resident’s doorbell camera and posted online by media outlet Real STL News soon thereafter.
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Attorneys for the 20-year-old man who was struck released a second video Tuesday, from another home’s security camera, closer and with a different angle. It shows a car slowing on a residential street. Two men in the front seat jump out of the still rolling car, before a third man jumps out of the back seat.
The unmarked police SUV appears from behind the car and drives across part of the front lawn, striking the third man and knocking him onto the driveway as he cries out in pain. An officer gets out of the SUV and appears to kick and hit the man on the ground as the man yells out, “OK! OK! OK!” and repeatedly says, “I don’t have nothing.”
“When you see the second video it’s clear that he intentionally ran into him and used the vehicle as a weapon,” the man’s attorney, Jerryl T. Christmas, said Wednesday. “It’s difficult to watch, and difficult to listen to the audio because of the way he’s screaming and hollering.”
Smith’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said what happened was an accident.
Fagan said the man was treated at the hospital for an ankle injury, but Christmas said his injuries were far worse. He said the man’s leg was “shattered” and required multiple surgeries.
“He was traumatized,” Christmas said.
Fagan said police are seeking municipal charges against all three men for possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest. No weapons were found on the men or in their car.
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In addition to Lohmar’s investigation of the officer, U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen said his office, the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice and the FBI also are reviewing the case to determine if a federal response is warranted.
Lohmar, speaking last week, called the video “shocking” but said it showed only part of the encounter.
“What I saw is not standard police work, it is not acceptable police work,” he said.
The arrest led to several peaceful protests outside of police headquarters in Florissant, including a “die-in” in which participants lay face down with their hands behind their backs. A few dozen protesters also gathered Monday outside Lohmar’s office urging prosecution of Smith.
Two other officers who were with the detective but are not seen on the video participating in the arrest are on leave pending the investigation, Fagan said.
Man on the chair in Handcuffs. Rear view and Closeup ,Men criminal in handcuffs arrested for crimes. With hands in back,boy prison shackle in the jail violence concept. choochart choochaikupt via Getty Images


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--White House Won't Say If Medical Professionals OK'd Trump Rally

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly refused to say whether any health experts told President Donald Trump it was safe to hold a massive rally this weekend , falsely insisting to reporters Wednesday that his campaign was taking every possible safety precaution .
Trump ’ s planned rally in Tulsa , Oklahoma , on Saturday will host up to 19,000 people indoors .
The campaign event , the first such one Trump has held since coronavirus put the country on lockdown in March , is the exact type of mass gathering that public health experts warn is a hotbed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as to who told Trump it was safe to hold the rally , McEnany refused to say .
Instead , she dismissed the public health risk with a misleading argument about personal choices .
“ When you come to the rally , as with any event , you assume a personal risk , ” she said .
“ That is just what you do .
When you go to a baseball game , you assume a risk .
That ’ s part of life .
It ’ s the personal decision of Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether not go to the rally.
” But it ’ s not really just a personal risk .
It ’ s all but guaranteed that those infected with COVID-19 at Trump ’ s rally will either go on to infect those who didn ’ t attend , take up the limited hospital space , or both .
And Oklahoma , which has been following a Trump-endorsed aggressive reopening plan , is already feeling the heat .
The state recorded another single-day high in new cases with 259 recorded Wednesday .
It marked the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the state has broken its single-day high .
McEnany also told reporters that the campaign is “ taking every single safety precaution that we can ” at the rally and noted they will be providing masks , one of the best safeguards against spreading the disease .
However , his campaign is not requiring people attending to actually wear them , and if his supporters follow Trump ’ s example , they won ’ t .
While McEnany wouldn ’ t say whether a medical expert told the Trump campaign his rally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out in recent days to say the opposite .
One is Dr. Bruce Dart , the director of the Tulsa Health Department .
“ COVID is here in Tulsa , it is transmitting very efficiently , ” Dart told Tulsa World .
“ I wish we could postpone this to a time when the virus isn ’ t as large a concern as it is today.
” He continued , “ I ’ m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large , indoor event , and I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president stays safe as well.
” Dr. Sanjay Gupta , CNN ’ s Chief Medical Correspondent , had an even bleaker take .
“ If you had to describe a worst-case scenario , ” he said of the planned rally , “ that would be it.
” Dr. Anthony Fauci , the country ’ s top infectious disease official , said he would “ of course not ” attend Trump ’ s rally , noting that he ’ s in a high-risk age group .
Fauci , the face of the once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he hasn ’ t even spoken to Trump in the last two weeks .
Trump ’ s campaign has also essentially admitted the rally isn ’ t safe , albeit unwittingly .
On the registration page for the event , his supporters must agree to a legal disclaimer promising they won ’ t sue his campaign if they get COVID-19 as a result of attending .

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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly refused to say whether any health experts told President Donald Trump it was safe to hold a massive rally this weekend, falsely insisting to reporters Wednesday that his campaign was taking every possible safety precaution.
Trump’s planned rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday will host up to 19,000 people indoors. The campaign event, the first such one Trump has held since coronavirus put the country on lockdown in March, is the exact type of mass gathering that public health experts warn is a hotbed for disease.
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Pressed with several questions as to who told Trump it was safe to hold the rally, McEnany refused to say. Instead, she dismissed the public health risk with a misleading argument about personal choices.
“When you come to the rally, as with any event, you assume a personal risk,” she said. “That is just what you do. When you go to a baseball game, you assume a risk. That’s part of life. It’s the personal decision of Americans whether to go to the rally or whether not go to the rally.”
But it’s not really just a personal risk. It’s all but guaranteed that those infected with COVID-19 at Trump’s rally will either go on to infect those who didn’t attend, take up the limited hospital space, or both.
And Oklahoma, which has been following a Trump-endorsed aggressive reopening plan, is already feeling the heat. The state recorded another single-day high in new cases with 259 recorded Wednesday. It marked the fourth time in the last six days that the state has broken its single-day high.
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McEnany also told reporters that the campaign is “taking every single safety precaution that we can” at the rally and noted they will be providing masks, one of the best safeguards against spreading the disease. However, his campaign is not requiring people attending to actually wear them, and if his supporters follow Trump’s example, they won’t.
While McEnany wouldn’t say whether a medical expert told the Trump campaign his rally plans were safe, several have spoken out in recent days to say the opposite. One is Dr. Bruce Dart, the director of the Tulsa Health Department.
“COVID is here in Tulsa, it is transmitting very efficiently,” Dart told Tulsa World. “I wish we could postpone this to a time when the virus isn’t as large a concern as it is today.”
He continued, “I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well.”
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, had an even bleaker take. “If you had to describe a worst-case scenario,” he said of the planned rally, “that would be it.”
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease official, said he would “of course not” attend Trump’s rally, noting that he’s in a high-risk age group. Fauci, the face of the once regularly appearing coronavirus task force, said he hasn’t even spoken to Trump in the last two weeks.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Mike Pence Hammered Over Coronavirus Op-Ed: 'As Pathetic As It Is Reckless'

The damning reviews are in for Vice President Mike Pence ’ s op-ed praising the way the United States has handled the coronavirus pandemic .
Pence , who leads the White House coronavirus task force , attempted an upbeat assessment of the federal response to the public health crisis in the opinion piece ― headlined “ There Isn ’ t a Coronavirus ‘ Second Wave ’ ” ― that The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday .
“ We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy , ” Pence declared , dismissing fears of a second wave of the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ numbers of new infections following the easing of lockdown orders .
Pence also praised President Donald Trump ’ s leadership ( which has been widely condemned ) and accused the media of attempting to “ scare the American people every step of the way ” with coverage of the outbreak that ’ s now killed more than 119,000 people nationwide .
Critics of the column accused Pence of trying to gaslight the public .
Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass . )
described it “ as pathetic as it is reckless.
” So that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
You ’ re just going to close your eyes , plug your ears , & pat yourself on the back for the public health catastrophe under your watch ?
This is as pathetic as it is reckless .
https : //t.co/qDhLpg7sbG — Elizabeth Warren ( @ SenWarren ) June 17 , 2020 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-N.Y. ) mockingly tweeted that “ Dr .
Pence would not be somebody I ’ d go to for a medical checkup or for medical advice.
” Dr. Pence would not be somebody I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ checkup or for medical advice .
https : //t.co/V0wsdm2eea — Chuck Schumer ( @ SenSchumer ) June 16 , 2020 CNN ’ s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta warned via a lengthy Twitter thread that “ we are still in the thick of the first wave ” and “ the fight is far from over.
” The truth is - we are still in the thick of the first wave , technically , so we can not even begin talking about what a second wave might look like .
Take a look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sanjay Gupta ( @ drsanjaygupta ) June 17 , 2020 While we have flattened the curve in some places , the fight is far from over .
And the way to win is not by declaring a premature victory .
Yes , scientists all over the world are working to find a vaccine , but we still have to buy them time to do their job .
( 23/24 ) — Dr. Sanjay Gupta ( @ drsanjaygupta ) June 17 , 2020 Others echoed the sentiment about still being in the first wave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is right about one thing : there is no `` second wave '' of # SARSCoV2 # COVID19 # coronavirus .
We 're still in the first wave , and that wave has n't crested yet.https : //t.co/XFP5wLDj50 — Dr. Angela Rasmussen ( @ angie_rasmussen ) June 16 , 2020 Partially true , because a second wave would have to imply that the first wave is over https : //t.co/Xs116SDZlG — Adam Taylor ( @ mradamtaylor ) June 16 , 2020 Pretty bold effort by Pence that might end up becoming a `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few things to note about this op-ed -- > https : //t.co/efOVJmQxKZ pic.twitter.com/GuwR6ERP7X — Glenn Kessler ( @ GlennKesslerWP ) June 16 , 2020 '' our whole-of-America approach has been a success .
We ’ ve slowed the spread , we ’ ve cared for the most vulnerable , we ’ ve saved lives ... That ’ s a cause for celebration . ''
120,000 Americans are dead .
1,000 more will die tomorrow .
Fuck your celebration , Mike.https : //t.co/GVtvoMnkWx — Ben Hunt ( @ EpsilonTheory ) June 17 , 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failing to acknowledge the death toll : The erasure of over 100,000 American deaths by our federal government is sickening .
This is some 1984 stuff .
“ The truth is , whatever the media says , our whole-of-America approach has been a success.
” —Mike Pence https : //t.co/Q6Avb8LMcN — Colleen Farrell , MD ( @ colleenmfarrell ) June 16 , 2020 Many suggested Pence ’ s column will not age well : “ Just wait a few weeks and it tells you whether you ’ ve been truthful about it or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The answer comes back in case counts , hospitalization rates and its devastating impact on human lives .
”

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The damning reviews are in for Vice President Mike Pence’s op-ed praising the way the United States has handled the coronavirus pandemic.
Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, attempted an upbeat assessment of the federal response to the public health crisis in the opinion piece ― headlined “There Isn’t a Coronavirus ‘Second Wave’” ― that The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday.
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“We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy,” Pence declared, dismissing fears of a second wave of the pandemic, even as multiple states registered record numbers of new infections following the easing of lockdown orders.
Pence also praised President Donald Trump’s leadership (which has been widely condemned) and accused the media of attempting to “scare the American people every step of the way” with coverage of the outbreak that’s now killed more than 119,000 people nationwide.
Critics of the column accused Pence of trying to gaslight the public.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) described it “as pathetic as it is reckless.”
So that’s it, @VP Pence? You’re just going to close your eyes, plug your ears, & pat yourself on the back for the public health catastrophe under your watch? This is as pathetic as it is reckless. https://t.co/qDhLpg7sbG — Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 17, 2020
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) mockingly tweeted that “Dr. Pence would not be somebody I’d go to for a medical checkup or for medical advice.”
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Dr. Pence would not be somebody I’d go to for a medical checkup or for medical advice. https://t.co/V0wsdm2eea — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 16, 2020
CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta warned via a lengthy Twitter thread that “we are still in the thick of the first wave” and “the fight is far from over.”
The truth is - we are still in the thick of the first wave, technically, so we cannot even begin talking about what a second wave might look like. Take a look. (14/24) pic.twitter.com/6uLHU1y2mI — Dr. Sanjay Gupta (@drsanjaygupta) June 17, 2020
While we have flattened the curve in some places, the fight is far from over. And the way to win is not by declaring a premature victory. Yes, scientists all over the world are working to find a vaccine, but we still have to buy them time to do their job. (23/24) — Dr. Sanjay Gupta (@drsanjaygupta) June 17, 2020
Others echoed the sentiment about still being in the first wave:
Oh FFS. Vice President Pence is right about one thing: there is no "second wave" of #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #coronavirus.
We're still in the first wave, and that wave hasn't crested yet.https://t.co/XFP5wLDj50 — Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) June 16, 2020
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Partially true, because a second wave would have to imply that the first wave is over https://t.co/Xs116SDZlG — Adam Taylor (@mradamtaylor) June 16, 2020
Some people accused Pence of taking a premature ― and undeserved ― victory lap:
Pretty bold effort by Pence that might end up becoming a "Mission Accomplished" moment. But a few things to note about this op-ed --> https://t.co/efOVJmQxKZ pic.twitter.com/GuwR6ERP7X — Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) June 16, 2020
"our whole-of-America approach has been a success. We’ve slowed the spread, we’ve cared for the most vulnerable, we’ve saved lives ... That’s a cause for celebration."
120,000 Americans are dead. 1,000 more will die tomorrow.
Fuck your celebration, Mike.https://t.co/GVtvoMnkWx — Ben Hunt (@EpsilonTheory) June 17, 2020
And called the vice president out for failing to acknowledge the death toll:
The erasure of over 100,000 American deaths by our federal government is sickening. This is some 1984 stuff.
“The truth is, whatever the media says, our whole-of-America approach has been a success.” —Mike Pence https://t.co/Q6Avb8LMcN — Colleen Farrell, MD (@colleenmfarrell) June 16, 2020
Many suggested Pence’s column will not age well:
Just gonna bookmark this op-ed by Mike Pence and check back in a month or two. https://t.co/unbQdqoy69 — John Russell (@JohnRussell99) June 16, 2020
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This is going to age deliciously well https://t.co/qHEiDpJckx — Ryan Gorman (@GormoExJourno) June 16, 2020
This one is going to age like mackerel in an Arizona parking lot https://t.co/IqSepu4nHW — Max Nisen (@MaxNisen) June 16, 2020
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, meanwhile, noted “there’s no better BS detector out there than COVID-19.”
“Just wait a few weeks and it tells you whether you’ve been truthful about it or not,” Cooper said Tuesday. “The answer comes back in case counts, hospitalization rates and its devastating impact on human lives.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Don Winslow Exposes The Art Of Donald Trump’s Fake Victory Lap

President Donald Trump ’ s tactic of “ taking a victory lap without ever actually accomplishing anything ” is spelled out in author Don Winslow ’ s latest explainer video .
“ Trump is like a team that loses a Super Bowl but holds a Super Bowl victory party anyway , ” the bestselling writer of “ The Cartel ” notes in the clip he shared on Twitter Wednesday .
Winslow contrasts Trump ’ s dealings with North Korea and his praise of its murderous dictator Kim Jong-un with the president ’ s failure to secure denuclearization of the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fake victory lap.
” Check out the video here : My *NEW* Trump video is here !
!
For years I 've watched Donald Trump repeatedly congratulate himself for FAILING .
I call this bizarre process : '' THE ART OF THE FAKE VICTORY LAP '' And I 've made a video to show exactly how Trump does it .
pic.twitter.com/Oe18dJrjMp — Don Winslow ( @ donwinslow ) June 17 , 2020 Winslow did not immediately respond to HuffPost ’ s request for further information on the video , the latest in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Last week , the writer shared this explainer detailing how Trump and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany spread disinformation : I made a short video to show the world **HOW** @ realDonaldTrump and @ PressSec Kayleigh McEnany CREATE A FALSE STORY and then how a team of sycophants and enablers work to SPREAD it around the world .
Take a watch .
pic.twitter.com/JqwDmDT6gh — Don Winslow ( @ donwinslow ) June 11 , 2020 And in February , he posted this montage exposing the hypocrisy of Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-S.C. @ @

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President Donald Trump’s tactic of “taking a victory lap without ever actually accomplishing anything” is spelled out in author Don Winslow’s latest explainer video.
“Trump is like a team that loses a Super Bowl but holds a Super Bowl victory party anyway,” the bestselling writer of “The Cartel” notes in the clip he shared on Twitter Wednesday.
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Winslow contrasts Trump’s dealings with North Korea and his praise of its murderous dictator Kim Jong-un with the president’s failure to secure denuclearization of the country to highlight “the art of the fake victory lap.”
Check out the video here:
My *NEW* Trump video is here!!
For years I've watched Donald Trump repeatedly congratulate himself for FAILING. I call this bizarre process:
"THE ART OF THE FAKE VICTORY LAP"
And I've made a video to show exactly how Trump does it. pic.twitter.com/Oe18dJrjMp — Don Winslow (@donwinslow) June 17, 2020
Winslow did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for further information on the video, the latest in a series that criticize Trump and his allies.
Last week, the writer shared this explainer detailing how Trump and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany spread disinformation:
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I made a short video to show the world **HOW** @realDonaldTrump and @PressSec Kayleigh McEnany CREATE A FALSE STORY and then how a team of sycophants and enablers work to SPREAD it around the world.
Take a watch. pic.twitter.com/JqwDmDT6gh — Don Winslow (@donwinslow) June 11, 2020
And in February, he posted this montage exposing the hypocrisy of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.):


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Anthony Fauci Hasn’t Talked With Donald Trump About Coronavirus In 2 Weeks

Top epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci , a member of the White House ’ s coronavirus task force , revealed in a radio interview Tuesday that he has not spoken to President Donald Trump in two weeks ― despite rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in multiple states .
Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , was during the earlier months of the ongoing crisis a regular figure alongside Trump in the White House ’ s daily televised coronavirus briefings .
But he told NPR ’ s “ 1A ” program that the last time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two weeks ago ” about “ our vaccine development effort.
” Before that , Fauci said in early June that he had also gone two weeks without talking to the president .
Commentators on Twitter said it was another example of the White House ’ s attempts to wind down the group and focus on rebooting the country ’ s economy , which Vice President Mike Pence said last month was the plan .
The task force held its last televised press briefing more than a month ago , just days after Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that injecting disinfectant could be a possible treatment for the virus that ’ s now killed more than 119,000 people nationwide .
In earlier briefings , Trump had used his time at the lectern to attack journalists and spread unfounded conspiracy theories , often sidelining and distracting from the messaging of public health experts , including Fauci .
Earlier this month , Fauci revealed that the number of meetings he was holding with Trump had “ dramatically decreased.
” The group ’ s once-daily sessions had also been scaled back to just once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We used to have task force meetings every single day , including Saturday and Sunday , and about 75 % of the time after the task force meeting we ’ d meet with the president , ” Fauci told the news website Stat .
Public health experts on the task force have also seen a drastic reduction in the number of media interviews the White House has allowed them to give over the last few weeks , per CNN .
Elsewhere in the NPR interview , Fauci suggested that some states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spread of the virus “ certainly before they got to the benchmarks they needed to get.
” The recent uptick in confirmed cases was likely due to people “ not really adhering to the structured type of guidelines that belong to the phase that they ’ re in , ” he added .

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Top epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, revealed in a radio interview Tuesday that he has not spoken to President Donald Trump in two weeks ― despite rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in multiple states.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was during the earlier months of the ongoing crisis a regular figure alongside Trump in the White House’s daily televised coronavirus briefings.
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But he told NPR’s “1A” program that the last time he had talked with Trump was “two weeks ago” about “our vaccine development effort.”
Before that, Fauci said in early June that he had also gone two weeks without talking to the president.
Check out Fauci’s interview with NPR here:
Commentators on Twitter said it was another example of the White House’s attempts to wind down the group and focus on rebooting the country’s economy, which Vice President Mike Pence said last month was the plan.
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The task force held its last televised press briefing more than a month ago, just days after Trump drew widespread backlash and ridicule for suggesting that injecting disinfectant could be a possible treatment for the virus that’s now killed more than 119,000 people nationwide.
In earlier briefings, Trump had used his time at the lectern to attack journalists and spread unfounded conspiracy theories, often sidelining and distracting from the messaging of public health experts, including Fauci.
Earlier this month, Fauci revealed that the number of meetings he was holding with Trump had “dramatically decreased.” The group’s once-daily sessions had also been scaled back to just once or twice a week, CNN reported.
“We used to have task force meetings every single day, including Saturday and Sunday, and about 75% of the time after the task force meeting we’d meet with the president,” Fauci told the news website Stat.
Public health experts on the task force have also seen a drastic reduction in the number of media interviews the White House has allowed them to give over the last few weeks, per CNN.
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Elsewhere in the NPR interview, Fauci suggested that some states had eased lockdown restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus “certainly before they got to the benchmarks they needed to get.”
The recent uptick in confirmed cases was likely due to people “not really adhering to the structured type of guidelines that belong to the phase that they’re in,” he added.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Welcome To The Mask Wars

Welcome To The Mask Wars

Localities have moved in starkly different directions in recent days over whether to mandate masks .
Some have instituted new mask rules or moved toward doing so ; others have rejected such regulations or even flip-flopped on them after public resistance .
The contest is between scientific evidence that masks significantly slow the spread of a serious illness and the feeling that mandating them represents government overreach .
With various areas settling that argument in different ways , the result will likely be a national divide that has deadly consequences for millions of people who are denied a layer of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several large states , including record increases reported in Florida , Texas , Arizona , Oklahoma , Oregon and Nevada on Tuesday .
Doctors and residents in Montgomery County , which has the most cases in a state that has recently seen unprecedented growth in reported infections , highlighted the stakes of the policy choice Tuesday at a Montgomery City Council meeting on a proposed mask mandate , the Montgomery Advertiser reported .
Ninety percent of local patients critically ill with COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus , are Black , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the council sided with members who claimed ― inaccurately ― that masks had little effect and a requirement would violate Americans ’ constitutional rights .
The vote was “ mostly along racial lines , ” according to the Advertiser , with all the votes against the mandate cast by white council members .
Medical experts say masks are key to staying safe from coronavirus , in tandem with other measures like hand-washing and social distancing , and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear them in public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others .
Political leaders who oppose mask rules appear to be out of touch with public sentiment .
Nearly 80 % of Americans surveyed by the research firm Navigator from June 11 to June 15 said they worry that other people ’ s failure to use masks and follow social distancing guidelines will bolster the coronavirus .
That included 64 % of the Republicans and 93 % of the Democrats surveyed .
Seventy-seven percent of Americans are already using masks to some extent when leaving home , the survey firm Ipsos reported on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 to June 8 .
That behavior tracks with earlier HuffPost findings that the country ’ s partisan divides have not yet produced a culture war over masks , with 62 % of Americans saying the coverings are about public health more than personal choice .
In some areas , officials are following science and popular opinion .
The city councils in Raleigh , North Carolina , and Memphis , Tennessee , voted Tuesday to mandate masks in public .
The same day , the mayors of nine Texas cities asked Gov .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ had barred them from mandating masks , to give them more flexibility .
“ We should trust local officials to make informed choices about health policy , ” the top officials of Houston , Dallas , Fort Worth , El Paso , San Antonio , Austin and three suburban cities wrote .
The next day , with Abbott ’ s approval , Bexar County , which includes San Antonio , moved ahead with a mask mandate .
The pushback to mask mandates takes two forms .
Abbott offered an example of the genteel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus but condemns the idea of a requirement .
“ All of us have a collective responsibility to educate the public that wearing a mask is the best thing to do , ” the Texas governor said Tuesday .
“ Putting people in jail , however , is the wrong approach for this thing.
” Residents of multiple areas considering or implementing mask requirements see the policy as verging on totalitarian and themselves as freedom fighters .
One woman who recently spoke at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors in Ventura @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rule as representing “ the wholesale slaughter of our constitutional and inalienable rights.
” ( The board voted on Monday to mandate masks in government buildings , businesses and public transit . )
In Orange County , California , the director of the county health care agency , Clayton Chau , revoked a rule requiring masks last week after protests by locals , including dozens who appeared at a county board meeting to claim that officials were repressing citizens ’ immune systems , harming children and promoting discrimination .
His predecessor in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receiving threats for instituting the policy .
The county ’ s daily average of newly reported cases over the last week reached its highest level on Tuesday .
It ’ s already clear on a small scale how nasty the fight over masks can get .
On April 6 , Guthrie , Oklahoma , became one of the first places in the country to require wearing coverings in public .
Residents began protesting the rule in Facebook groups ― including one for supporters of the anti-vaccination movement , which has embraced coronavirus conspiracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the town named Frank Urbanic helped locals sue the Guthrie government .
“ There are people who are going to question these things and take action when necessary , ” Urbanic told The New Yorker .
There ’ s a clear link already between skepticism of the mask policies and risks to not just public safety in the face of the pandemic but also the personal wellbeing of health officials , according to Kaiser Health News and The Associated Press .
At least 27 such leaders have left their posts in 13 states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disheartening to see people who disagree with the order go from attacking the order to attacking the officer to questioning their motivation , expertise and patriotism , ” Kat DeBurgh , the executive director of the Health Officers Association of California , told the news services .
“ That ’ s not something that should ever happen .
”

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As the coronavirus outbreak worsens in 22 states, communities across the U.S. are torn over one of the most basic measures to limit its spread: requiring people to wear masks in businesses and public spaces.
Localities have moved in starkly different directions in recent days over whether to mandate masks. Some have instituted new mask rules or moved toward doing so; others have rejected such regulations or even flip-flopped on them after public resistance. The contest is between scientific evidence that masks significantly slow the spread of a serious illness and the feeling that mandating them represents government overreach.
Advertisement
With various areas settling that argument in different ways, the result will likely be a national divide that has deadly consequences for millions of people who are denied a layer of protection amid an uptick in cases in several large states, including record increases reported in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon and Nevada on Tuesday.
Doctors and residents in Montgomery County, which has the most cases in a state that has recently seen unprecedented growth in reported infections, highlighted the stakes of the policy choice Tuesday at a Montgomery City Council meeting on a proposed mask mandate, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. Ninety percent of local patients critically ill with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are Black, physician William Saliski said.
“The question on the table is whether Black lives matter,” said William Boyd, a supporter of the policy who lost six family members to the disease.
But ultimately, the council sided with members who claimed ― inaccurately ― that masks had little effect and a requirement would violate Americans’ constitutional rights. The vote was “mostly along racial lines,” according to the Advertiser, with all the votes against the mandate cast by white council members.
Advertisement
Medical experts say masks are key to staying safe from coronavirus, in tandem with other measures like hand-washing and social distancing, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear them in public settings where they will be exposed to others.
Political leaders who oppose mask rules appear to be out of touch with public sentiment. Nearly 80% of Americans surveyed by the research firm Navigator from June 11 to June 15 said they worry that other people’s failure to use masks and follow social distancing guidelines will bolster the coronavirus. That included 64% of the Republicans and 93% of the Democrats surveyed. Seventy-seven percent of Americans are already using masks to some extent when leaving home, the survey firm Ipsos reported on the basis of research conducted from June 5 to June 8. That behavior tracks with earlier HuffPost findings that the country’s partisan divides have not yet produced a culture war over masks, with 62% of Americans saying the coverings are about public health more than personal choice.
In some areas, officials are following science and popular opinion. The city councils in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee, voted Tuesday to mandate masks in public. The same day, the mayors of nine Texas cities asked Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who had barred them from mandating masks, to give them more flexibility. “We should trust local officials to make informed choices about health policy,” the top officials of Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, El Paso, San Antonio, Austin and three suburban cities wrote. The next day, with Abbott’s approval, Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, moved ahead with a mask mandate.
In Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) barred lawmakers who defy new rules requiring masks from attending committee meetings starting Wednesday.
But elsewhere, politicians and activists are resisting efforts to make people wear masks, something President Donald Trump has resisted doing himself as some of his supporters portray the pandemic as a hoax to damage his political fortunes. The fracture over the protective equipment is now clear even outside the world of politics: When announcing plans to reopen AMC Theatres on Thursday, the cinema company’s CEO, Adam Aron, told Variety he would not require customers to wear masks because of the “political controversy” around such measures. (On Friday, AMC reportedly reversed course and decided to require masks.)
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The pushback to mask mandates takes two forms. Abbott offered an example of the genteel strain, which acknowledges the risk of the coronavirus but condemns the idea of a requirement. “All of us have a collective responsibility to educate the public that wearing a mask is the best thing to do,” the Texas governor said Tuesday. “Putting people in jail, however, is the wrong approach for this thing.”
Abbott will reopen public schools in Texas in the fall but will not require students to wear masks, state officials told the Texas Tribune on Thursday.
In Nebraska, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) encourages mask-wearing but has told officials statewide that if they mandate masks in local government buildings, he will cut them off from federal coronavirus assistance because they shouldn’t deny taxpayers services over their failure to wear face coverings, the Omaha World-Herald reported on Thursday.
The other brand of criticism is more explosive, particularly if it continues to gain popularity and avoid scrutiny under the cover of more polished messaging.
Residents of multiple areas considering or implementing mask requirements see the policy as verging on totalitarian and themselves as freedom fighters. One woman who recently spoke at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors in Ventura County, California, described a mask rule as representing “the wholesale slaughter of our constitutional and inalienable rights.” (The board voted on Monday to mandate masks in government buildings, businesses and public transit.)
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HOW IS ANYONE KEEPING A STRAIGHT FACE!? Ventura County Board of Supervisors meeting. #shesings pic.twitter.com/Bkw3xcPxVA — Katie (@Katiehugscats) June 16, 2020
In Orange County, California, the director of the county health care agency, Clayton Chau, revoked a rule requiring masks last week after protests by locals, including dozens who appeared at a county board meeting to claim that officials were repressing citizens’ immune systems, harming children and promoting discrimination. His predecessor in the role, Nichole Quick, quit after receiving threats for instituting the policy. The county’s daily average of newly reported cases over the last week reached its highest level on Tuesday.
It’s already clear on a small scale how nasty the fight over masks can get. On April 6, Guthrie, Oklahoma, became one of the first places in the country to require wearing coverings in public. Residents began protesting the rule in Facebook groups ― including one for supporters of the anti-vaccination movement, which has embraced coronavirus conspiracy theories ― and an attorney from outside the town named Frank Urbanic helped locals sue the Guthrie government. “There are people who are going to question these things and take action when necessary,” Urbanic told The New Yorker.
The town dropped the policy. Another Oklahoma city, Stillwater, revoked a mask ordinance in a matter of hours after customers at a Walmart threatened employees trying to enforce it and a person called the police threatening to shoot any officer who attempted to enforce it.
There’s a clear link already between skepticism of the mask policies and risks to not just public safety in the face of the pandemic but also the personal wellbeing of health officials, according to Kaiser Health News and The Associated Press. At least 27 such leaders have left their posts in 13 states since April.
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“It’s disheartening to see people who disagree with the order go from attacking the order to attacking the officer to questioning their motivation, expertise and patriotism,” Kat DeBurgh, the executive director of the Health Officers Association of California, told the news services. “That’s not something that should ever happen.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Donald Trump Gets Hit With Blunt Fact-Check For AIDS Vaccine Falsehood

Well , now that Trump has let us know there is an AIDS vaccine available , since it did not @ @ @ @ @ said it does ...
I 'm sure there is a punchline to this but I @ @ @ @ @ because my mouth still hurts from having hit the floor when he said it .

Well, now that Trump has let us know there is an AIDS vaccine available, since it did not exist until today when he said it does...I'm sure there is a punchline to this but I can't think of it because my mouth still hurts from having hit the floor when he said it.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--5 Years After Charleston Church Shooting, South Carolina Protects Racist Monuments

COLUMBIA , S.C. ( AP ) — Five years ago , after eight Black church members and their pastor were shot and killed in a racist attack , South Carolina came together and took down the Confederate flag from the Capitol lawn .
Today , as more shocking killings of African Americans roil the country , bringing a wave of pulled down statues and the removal of names of historical figures who repressed or oppressed other people , South Carolina leaders , who gave themselves sole authority to decide what happens to historical monuments and names , appear to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ urging colleges and local governments to defy state law and act on their own .
Wednesday marks five years since Dylann Roof sat through nearly an hour of Bible study at the Mother Emanuel AME church and then started shooting as the group prayed .
Nine Black worshipers were killed .
Roof spared one woman ’ s life so she could tell everyone he wanted to start a race war .
He was sentenced to death and remains in federal prison .
Roof didn ’ t hesitate to explain his racist beliefs to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ journal full of his views , such as Black people being inferior to white people .
He also left behind pictures of himself holding the killing gun , posing at historic Civil War and African American sites and displaying the Confederate flag .
That ’ s a tough task in a state where conservative Republicans dominate the House and Senate , made harder after Republican House Speaker Jay Lucas said , days after the Confederate flag came down in 2015 , that he would never consider another change like it while he led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a white mob that killed four Black men in 1876 after they surrendered to them .
He later became South Carolina ’ s governor and a U.S. senator , committed to destroying any rights Black people obtained after the Civil War .
“ We of the South have never recognized the right of the negro to govern white men , and we never will .
We have never believed him to be equal to the white man , and we will not submit to his gratifying his lust on our wives and daughters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a 1900 congressional speech .
The president of the University of South Carolina wants lawmakers to let the school remove the name of J. Marion Sims from a women ’ s dorm .
Sims is honored as the father of modern gynecology , but conducted experimental treatment on slaves without anesthesia .
Calhoun , whose support of slavery never wavered , said in an 1836 speech before the U.S. Senate that slaves in the South were better off than free Black people in the North .
“ The time has come to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past .
The time has come to take down the monuments that honor the evil that was done in the name of Charleston , in the name of South Carolina , ” Rivers said Tuesday at the foot of Calhoun ’ s statue .

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Five years ago, after eight Black church members and their pastor were shot and killed in a racist attack, South Carolina came together and took down the Confederate flag from the Capitol lawn.
Today, as more shocking killings of African Americans roil the country, bringing a wave of pulled down statues and the removal of names of historical figures who repressed or oppressed other people, South Carolina leaders, who gave themselves sole authority to decide what happens to historical monuments and names, appear to be sitting out. Some Black lawmakers are urging colleges and local governments to defy state law and act on their own.
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Wednesday marks five years since Dylann Roof sat through nearly an hour of Bible study at the Mother Emanuel AME church and then started shooting as the group prayed. Nine Black worshipers were killed. Roof spared one woman’s life so she could tell everyone he wanted to start a race war. He was sentenced to death and remains in federal prison.
Roof didn’t hesitate to explain his racist beliefs to FBI agents, and left a handwritten journal full of his views, such as Black people being inferior to white people. He also left behind pictures of himself holding the killing gun, posing at historic Civil War and African American sites and displaying the Confederate flag.
Outraged political leaders came together and overwhelmingly voted to take down a Confederate flag that flew near a monument to Confederate soldiers on the Statehouse lawn.
That was the last time the General Assembly invoked a 2000 law called the Heritage Act. The law protects all historical monuments and names of buildings, requiring a two-thirds vote from the General Assembly to make any changes.
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That’s a tough task in a state where conservative Republicans dominate the House and Senate, made harder after Republican House Speaker Jay Lucas said, days after the Confederate flag came down in 2015, that he would never consider another change like it while he led the House.
Lucas has not only kept his word, he’s failed to respond to repeated interview requests and questions whether his stance has since changed.
The men of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. lead a crowd of people in prayer outside the Emanuel AME Church in June 2015 after a memorial in Charleston, South Carolina. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pressure is mounting, however. Clemson University trustees voted last Friday to ask the General Assembly to let it change the name of Tillman Hall, a main building on campus named for “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman.
Tillman gained prominence supporting a white mob that killed four Black men in 1876 after they surrendered to them. He later became South Carolina’s governor and a U.S. senator, committed to destroying any rights Black people obtained after the Civil War.
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“We of the South have never recognized the right of the negro to govern white men, and we never will. We have never believed him to be equal to the white man, and we will not submit to his gratifying his lust on our wives and daughters without lynching him,” Tillman said in a 1900 congressional speech.
The president of the University of South Carolina wants lawmakers to let the school remove the name of J. Marion Sims from a women’s dorm. Sims is honored as the father of modern gynecology, but conducted experimental treatment on slaves without anesthesia.
Sims and Tillman also have statues on the Statehouse lawn. Some African American lawmakers want plaques added, explaining their racist views. Others, like Rep. Justin Bamberg, want them gone.
“I don’t like seeing ‘Pitchfork’ Ben Tillman every dang day I go to the Statehouse,” the Democrat said. “He boldly and proudly supported lynching my people.”
The statue honoring former South Carolina governor and U.S. senator "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman is seen on the grounds of the Statehouse in July 2015 in Columbia, South Carolina. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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And in Charleston on Tuesday, the current pastor of Mother Emanuel stood with civil rights activists and politicians calling for the removal from a downtown park of a 100-foot-tall statue of former U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun.
Calhoun, whose support of slavery never wavered, said in an 1836 speech before the U.S. Senate that slaves in the South were better off than free Black people in the North.
The Rev. Nelson Rivers said Calhoun “represents Dylann Roof to us.” He urged Charleston leaders to defy the unjust Heritage Act — which does not include penalties for breaking it — and remove the statue.
“The time has come to not just acknowledge your racist evil wicked past. The time has come to take down the monuments that honor the evil that was done in the name of Charleston, in the name of South Carolina,” Rivers said Tuesday at the foot of Calhoun’s statue.
Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said he will announce the city’s decision on Wednesday.
Democratic State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, whose district includes the statue, said his conversations with the mayor leave him cautiously optimistic the city will take it down without waiting for state permission.
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And fellow Democrat Rep. Todd Rutherford of Columbia told colleges Tuesday to go ahead and make their changes, saying that if the state sues them, then state money would also be spent to defend them.
“Have guts. Have courage and do it anyway. And encourage anybody who doesn’t like it to sue them,” said Rutherford, the House Minority Leader, in a video posted on Twitter.
In this June 23, 2015, file photo, Joe Patrizzi III power-washes graffiti from a statue in Charleston, South Carolina, of John C. Calhoun, who was a vice president, U.S. senator and congressman from South Carolina. The statue was defaced with the words "racist" and "slavery." ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Democrats Knock GOP Police Reform Bill, Call For 'Improvement'

Senate Democrats on Wednesday threw cold water on Republican-authored police reform legislation , calling it an inadequate and half-hearted solution to hold police officers accountable in the wake of the death of George Floyd .
But they left the door open to a vote to allow it to proceed on the floor , suggesting they may try to amend it in the coming weeks .
“ What ’ s clear is the Senate Republican bill on policing does not rise to the moment , ” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-N.Y. ) said in a floor speech .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the enemy of the good .
This is about making the ineffective the enemy of the effective , ” Schumer added .
Schumer did not say Wednesday if his caucus would filibuster the bill , saying only that it needs “ dramatic improvement.
” There are several key differences between the GOP bill , which was authored by Sen. Tim Scott ( R-S.C. ) , and the proposal offered by House and Senate Democrats .
Unlike the Democratic bill , the GOP measure does not explicitly ban law enforcement techniques such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was used by police in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis , and police in Kentucky used a no-knock warrant in the incident that led to the death of Breonna Taylor .
Instead , the Republican bill blocks access to grant programs for police departments that don ’ t bar chokeholds , “ except in situations where deadly force is authorized.
” The Democratic proposal includes a more expansive definition of chokeholds as well .
It restricts not only techniques that block oxygen to the brain but also “ carotid holds , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the brain .
The GOP bill would not end qualified immunity for law enforcement as called for by Democratic lawmakers and the activists marching for change in nationwide protests .
The legal doctrine gives police officers a broad liability shield in court , making it all but impossible to successfully sue them over claims of wrongdoing .
Scott , the lone Black Republican in the Senate , called ending qualified immunity a “ poison pill ” in the debate over police reform .
The White House opposes it as well .
Schumer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s silence on the issue of qualified immunity “ its greatest flaw ” because it blocks “ real , meaningful accountability in individual officer misconduct.
” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) has announced that the GOP plans to take up Scott ’ s proposal next week .
That will put pressure on individual Democratic senators either to stick with party leadership or to vote at least to allow a debate on police reform legislation .
“ If they want to make a law and not just try to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll join us in trying to get on a bill and move forward , ” McConnell told reporters on Wednesday .

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Senate Democrats on Wednesday threw cold water on Republican-authored police reform legislation, calling it an inadequate and half-hearted solution to hold police officers accountable in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
But they left the door open to a vote to allow it to proceed on the floor, suggesting they may try to amend it in the coming weeks.
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“What’s clear is the Senate Republican bill on policing does not rise to the moment,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a floor speech.
“This is not about letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is about making the ineffective the enemy of the effective,” Schumer added.
Schumer did not say Wednesday if his caucus would filibuster the bill, saying only that it needs “dramatic improvement.”
There are several key differences between the GOP bill, which was authored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and the proposal offered by House and Senate Democrats.
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Unlike the Democratic bill, the GOP measure does not explicitly ban law enforcement techniques such as chokeholds and no-knock warrants. A chokehold was used by police in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and police in Kentucky used a no-knock warrant in the incident that led to the death of Breonna Taylor.
Instead, the Republican bill blocks access to grant programs for police departments that don’t bar chokeholds, “except in situations where deadly force is authorized.”
The Democratic proposal includes a more expansive definition of chokeholds as well. It restricts not only techniques that block oxygen to the brain but also “carotid holds,” or those techniques that block blood to the brain.
The GOP bill would not end qualified immunity for law enforcement as called for by Democratic lawmakers and the activists marching for change in nationwide protests. The legal doctrine gives police officers a broad liability shield in court, making it all but impossible to successfully sue them over claims of wrongdoing.
Scott, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, called ending qualified immunity a “poison pill” in the debate over police reform. The White House opposes it as well.
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Schumer, meanwhile, called the GOP bill’s silence on the issue of qualified immunity “its greatest flaw” because it blocks “real, meaningful accountability in individual officer misconduct.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has announced that the GOP plans to take up Scott’s proposal next week. That will put pressure on individual Democratic senators either to stick with party leadership or to vote at least to allow a debate on police reform legislation.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Boy Scouts Of America Will Require Eagle Scouts To Earn New Diversity Badge

The Boy Scouts of America says it will require aspiring Eagle Scouts to earn a new “ diversity and inclusion ” merit badge before they can attain the organization ’ s highest rank .
Similar to other existing badges like “ American Cultures ” and “ Citizenship in the Community , ” the new badge will “ require Scouts to learn about and engage with other groups and cultures to increase understanding and spur positive action , ” the Boy Scouts said .
The organization made the announcement in a letter published online Tuesday , where it also endorsed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ join the country ’ s resolve to do better.
” “ We condemn the murders of George Floyd , Ahmaud Arbery , Breonna Taylor and all those who are not named but are equally important , ” the letter , signed by the organization ’ s 12-member national executive committee , read .
“ The Boy Scouts of America stands with Black families and the Black community because we believe that Black Lives Matter .
This is not a political issue ; it is a human rights issue and one we all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ addition to the new merit badge requirement , the organization pledged to conduct a review of its programs , including property names , events and insignia , to ensure they encourage diversity and don ’ t further “ symbols of oppression.
” BSA employees and volunteers will also be expected to complete a diversity and inclusion training in the coming months .
The new requirement represents a relatively timely decision for the Boy Scouts .
Though the first all-Black troop dates back to 1911 , BSA councils throughout the South didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the African American Registry .
While the organization says it banned any use of the Confederate flag nearly 30 years ago , it ’ s been slower to come to terms on other major issues .
Gay scouts and girls weren ’ t allowed to join until 2013 and 2018 , respectively , and decades of sex abuse allegations are only now starting to be reckoned with .

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The Boy Scouts of America says it will require aspiring Eagle Scouts to earn a new “diversity and inclusion” merit badge before they can attain the organization’s highest rank.
Similar to other existing badges like “American Cultures” and “Citizenship in the Community,” the new badge will “require Scouts to learn about and engage with other groups and cultures to increase understanding and spur positive action,” the Boy Scouts said.
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The organization made the announcement in a letter published online Tuesday, where it also endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement and pledged to “join the country’s resolve to do better.”
“We condemn the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and all those who are not named but are equally important,” the letter, signed by the organization’s 12-member national executive committee, read.
“The Boy Scouts of America stands with Black families and the Black community because we believe that Black Lives Matter. This is not a political issue; it is a human rights issue and one we all have a duty to address.”
In addition to the new merit badge requirement, the organization pledged to conduct a review of its programs, including property names, events and insignia, to ensure they encourage diversity and don’t further “symbols of oppression.”
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BSA employees and volunteers will also be expected to complete a diversity and inclusion training in the coming months.
The new requirement represents a relatively timely decision for the Boy Scouts. Though the first all-Black troop dates back to 1911, BSA councils throughout the South didn’t start to integrate until 1974, according to the African American Registry.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-06-17--Israel Hawks Are Scrambling To Save Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel

Perise Practical and Avacy Initiative , two dark-money groups whose legal structure allows them to conceal their agendas and donors , are also spending heavily to reelect Engel .
As The Intercept notes , the only other candidate that the pair of groups have intervened to assist is Teresa Leger Fernandez , a Democrat running to represent New Mexico in the House .
Fernandez defeated Valerie Plame in the state ’ s Democratic primary earlier this month .
Plame , a former CIA operative with Jewish heritage , had faced criticism for anti-Semitic tweets in 2017 .
According to Engel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Israel ’ s occupation of Palestinian lands captured in 1967 , which renders millions of people stateless , is almost entirely the fault of Palestinians and their nonsovereign governing bodies for tolerating violent attacks against Israeli civilians and rejecting previous compromises .
Unlike many mainstream foreign policy experts , and former President Barack Obama , these advocates want the U.S. government to play the role of Israel ’ s protector and benefactor with few strings attached .
“ I am of the opinion , as noted by others , that there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Israel , that has a better human rights record , ” Rabbi Avi Weiss , a prominent rabbi in the district and right-leaning Israel activist , wrote in an open letter to Bowman picked up by Jewish news outlets .
In some versions of the letter , Weiss noted that his daughter and her family live in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank , where Jews enjoy Israeli citizenship and full political rights , but Palestinian residents do not .
New York ’ s 16th Congressional District , a solid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County that Engel has represented since 1989 , is now home to more Black and Latino residents than white residents .
Rather than focus on U.S.-Israel policy , Bowman has cast himself as a more faithful representative of the racially and economically divided district ’ s needs .
Engel , Bowman is fond of noting , sat out the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in his home in a Maryland suburb of Washington .
Multiple people present during the interview described Engel reacting incredulously to the fact that the group ’ s questionnaire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In response to a question about the diversity of voices he would consult when seeking input from the Jewish community , Engel went on something of a tirade about Palestinian obstruction of peace efforts dating back to their rejection of the United Nations partition plan in 1947 .
One attendee , who asked for anonymity for professional reasons , recalled squirming at Engel ’ s descriptions of “ Arab violence ” and subsequent insistence that his support for U.S. intervention in Kosovo was evidence that he was not Islamophobic .
Moss is generally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he came away dissatisfied with Engel ’ s answers to questions about his membership in the business-friendly New Democrat Coalition .
And though Moss is unsure if Bowman has exactly the right prescription for Israel , he is certain that Engel , whom he described as “ basically arm-in-arm with Netanyahu , ” does not .

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Hawkish pro-Israel groups are pouring money into the reelection of Rep. Eliot Engel, a Bronx, New York, Democrat and influential Israel hawk facing a spirited challenge on his left from middle school principal Jamaal Bowman.
An Engel loss in Tuesday’s primary would not only deprive the pro-Israel activist community of a staunch ally atop the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but also threaten the bipartisan support for Israeli policies on Capitol Hill that has long inoculated the Israeli government from tougher criticism and stricter conditions on U.S. aid.
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“The stakes are very big,” said Ben Chouake, a New Jersey physician and president of NORPAC, a big-spending pro-Israel political action committee. “If the Squad members can take out a member like Engel, they’re going to be very emboldened. It’ll send shivers through the Democratic Party.”
NORPAC has bundled $38,625 in individual donations for Engel this cycle.
The volume of money that pro-Israel groups are spending indirectly to reelect Engel ― as opposed to campaign donations ― is even greater. The Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, a super PAC known for spending $1.4 million on TV advertisements blasting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the 2020 presidential primary, has ratcheted up its investments in TV ads, digital ads, campaign literature and paid phone-banking. The group has now spent over $732,000 in support of Engel’s reelection.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) faces a robust primary challenge from Jamaal Bowman. New York primary voters head to the polls on Tuesday, June 23. Bill Clark/Getty Images
But DMFI’s latest TV ad doesn’t mention Israel at all, choosing instead to blast Bowman for failing to pay some of his New York state taxes over the years.
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“Shouldn’t Mr. Bowman pay his own taxes before he tries to spend ours?” the narrator asks.
Asked about the ad, Bowman said in a statement that he had struggled with debt as a young father trying to make ends meet. As of the ad’s airing, Bowman had paid off all of his tax debts, including an outstanding $2,000 bill from 2004, which he learned about in May.
A new @DemMaj4Israel PAC TV spot blasts Jamaal Bowman for unpaid state taxes from early 00s. “Shouldn’t Mr. Bowman pay his own taxes before he tries to spend ours?”
Bowman paid off a $2k debt from '04 today after learning about it from ad. Was result of $ troubles, he said. pic.twitter.com/4srhAT2RKk — Daniel Marans (@danielmarans) June 17, 2020
“This attack by a group funded by Donald Trump’s donors to paint me as some sort of criminal is ugly and desperate,” Bowman said.
Bowman’s statement references the fact that DMFI PAC received $100,000 from the super PAC Americans for Tomorrow’s Future, which the Center for Responsive Politics lists as “Republican/Conservative.” As The Intercept first reported, Americans for Tomorrow’s Future’s treasurer was an aide to former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.), and some of its top donors have also maxed out to Trump.
DMFI PAC President Mark Mellman maintains that Americans for Tomorrow’s Future is a “bipartisan pro-Israel PAC,” claiming two out of three of its board members are registered Democrats and the third is an independent. (Some of Americans for Tomorrow’s Future’s top donors have, by contrast, given heavily to Democrats.)
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Perise Practical and Avacy Initiative, two dark-money groups whose legal structure allows them to conceal their agendas and donors, are also spending heavily to reelect Engel. As The Intercept notes, the only other candidate that the pair of groups have intervened to assist is Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat running to represent New Mexico in the House. Fernandez defeated Valerie Plame in the state’s Democratic primary earlier this month. Plame, a former CIA operative with Jewish heritage, had faced criticism for anti-Semitic tweets in 2017.
The “pro-Israel” groups ― and activists ― backing Engel generally hail from the right wing of Israel’s base of support. J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group that encourages U.S. leaders to pressure the Israeli government to end the occupation of Palestinian territories, has not endorsed in the race.
According to Engel and the hawkish Israel supporters backing him, Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands captured in 1967, which renders millions of people stateless, is almost entirely the fault of Palestinians and their non-sovereign governing bodies for tolerating violent attacks against Israeli civilians and rejecting previous compromises. Unlike many mainstream foreign policy experts, and former President Barack Obama, these advocates want the U.S. government to play the role of Israel’s protector and benefactor with few strings attached.
“I am of the opinion, as noted by others, that there is no country anywhere facing the same threats as Israel, that has a better human rights record,” Rabbi Avi Weiss, a prominent rabbi in the district and right-leaning Israel activist, wrote in an open letter to Bowman picked up by Jewish news outlets. In some versions of the letter, Weiss noted that his daughter and her family live in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. In the West Bank, Jews enjoy Israeli citizenship and full political rights, but Palestinian residents do not.
Still more controversial figures like former New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D) and Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, a right-wing alternative to more mainstream pro-Israel groups, have flocked to defend Engel, even as they conceded to HuffPost that Engel is to their left.
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Hikind, who has come under fire for fundraising for West Bank settlements and dressing in blackface for the Jewish holiday of Purim, called out Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for abandoning Israel with his apparent refusal to endorse Engel. (Schumer ultimately endorsed Engel on Wednesday afternoon, which Jewish Insider first reported.)
Although Klein’s group, ZOA, is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and hosted former Trump adviser Steve Bannon in 2017, Engel spoke at ZOA’s advocacy day in Washington in 2019. A spokesman for Engel did not respond to a request for an explanation of why he chose to address ZOA activists.
“Eliot Engel has been a strong supporter of U.S.-Israel relations,” Klein told HuffPost, while emphasizing that due to ZOA’s nonprofit status, neither he nor his organization have endorsed in the race.
It’s easy to see why Engel appeals to Israel hawks. Whenever more dovish Democrats veer left, he sticks to a hard-line pro-Israel approach. He opposed the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal in 2015 and the Obama administration’s parting rebuke to the right-wing Israeli government over settlement expansion in 2016, and welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Chouake of NORPAC sees defending Engel as particularly important, because given Engel’s relatively liberal domestic record, his stances on Israel and other foreign policy matters appear to be what have elicited such a robust primary challenge.
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“What is the only real difference then between what they’re looking for and Engel?” Chouake said. “It’s in my opinion this anti-Israel, pro-BDS agenda.”
For his part, Bowman, who now enjoys the backing of virtually every prominent progressive in the country, has steered clear of some of the third-rail issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He supports a two-state solution that would preserve Israel’s Jewish character, and does not support the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
“What we see of Jamaal Bowman is typical of where the Democratic Party is likely to go, particularly in more progressive and urban areas.” - Peter Beinart, CUNY
Instead, NORPAC, DMFI PAC and Weiss all cited Bowman’s call to “seriously consider” placing tougher conditions on the United States’ annual $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel, in light of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expansion of West Bank settlements, which entrench the Israeli occupation, and plans to permanently annex some of the Palestinian territories.
“U.S. assistance to Israel reflects not only a moral commitment to an ally with shared interests, it helps Israel defend itself from very real enemies, and assurances of such aid would need to be in place for any viable peace process between Israelis and Palestinians,” DMFI PAC’s Mellman said.
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Mellman also claimed that Bowman’s stance was “out of touch with the vast majority of Democrats.”
In fact, 71% of Democrats ― and 56% of the American public as a whole ― support conditioning aid to Israel on Israeli compliance with U.S. opposition to settlements, according to a poll released in October. The Center for American Progress, which commissioned the poll, is the preferred think tank of the Democratic establishment, not the party’s more progressive wing.
What is true is that it has been almost three decades since the U.S. seriously leveraged aid to Israel to get it to change its behavior. In 1991, then-President George H.W. Bush (R) threatened to deny Israel loan guarantees unless Israel provided ironclad assurances that it would not use the funds on Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
If Bowman were to unseat Engel, it would not fundamentally shift Democratic Party policy toward Israel, let alone that of the country. Former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory over Sanders, who is more critical of Israel, in the 2020 presidential primary, attests to the endurance of a bipartisan pro-Israel consensus.
But what it might mean is that the influence of the Israeli government’s defenders in Washington is no longer so strong that it can decide an election in one of the more liberal and racially diverse House seats in the country.
New York’s 16th Congressional District, a solid Democratic seat in the Bronx and Westchester County that Engel has represented since 1989, is now home to more Black and Latino residents than white residents. Rather than focus on U.S.-Israel policy, Bowman has cast himself as a more faithful representative of the racially and economically divided district’s needs. Engel, Bowman is fond of noting, sat out the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in his home in a Maryland suburb of Washington.
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“What we see of Jamaal Bowman is typical of where the Democratic Party is likely to go, particularly in more progressive and urban areas,” said Peter Beinart, a political science professor at the City University of New York and author of “The Crisis of Zionism.” Beinart advised Bowman on Middle East policy at the start of his campaign.
While not making the Israeli-Palestinian conflict their main focus, progressive Democrats like Bowman are likely, Beinart predicted, to “try to align the principles that inform their foreign policy views with those boldly progressive principles that they apply to American politics.”
Jamaal Bowman greets voters outside a Bronx subway stop on Wednesday, June 17. He has cast himself as a better representative than Engel for the diverse district. Jeenah Moon/Getty Images
The election is also a test of shifting views within the Jewish community. The district is 12% Jewish and contains significant numbers of Modern Orthodox Jews, whose views on Israel tend to be closer to Engel’s than Bowman’s.
But a growing number of more liberal Jews, who are disproportionately younger, have been eager to show that organizations like NORPAC and DMFI PAC do not speak for them. Bowman has picked up the endorsements of IfNotNow, a left-wing Jewish group committed to opposing the Israeli occupation, and the Jewish Vote, the political arm of the left-leaning group Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.
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Leaders of the Jewish Vote, which boasts 150 active, dues-paying members in Engel’s district, were not sure whether they were going to endorse in the race at all until after Engel’s endorsement interview in December.
Multiple people present during the interview described Engel reacting incredulously to the fact that the group’s questionnaire did not ask directly about Israel. In response to a question about the diversity of voices he would consult when seeking input from the Jewish community, Engel went on something of a tirade about Palestinian obstruction of peace efforts dating back to their rejection of the United Nations partition plan in 1947. One attendee, who asked for anonymity for professional reasons, recalled squirming at Engel’s descriptions of “Arab violence” and subsequent insistence that his support for U.S. intervention in Kosovo was evidence that he was not Islamophobic.
Members of the Jewish Vote’s endorsement panel were particularly irked that Engel circled back to his Israel talking points multiple times in response to questions about unrelated topics.
“Engel seemed particularly defensive on this,” said Henry Moss, a retired trade school administrator from the Riverdale section of the Bronx, who participated in the meeting. “This defensiveness also came through when trying to explain
his membership in the pro-business, fiscally conservative New Democrat Coalition in Congress.”
A spokesman for Engel did not respond to a request for comment on details of
the endorsement interview.
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Regardless, the interview appears to have cost Engel some support.
Moss is generally opposed to primary campaigns against incumbent
Democrats, particularly those who, like Engel, support Medicare for All
and other progressive policies, but he came away dissatisfied with Engel’s
defense of his New Democrat Coalition membership and his hardline Israel support.
And though Moss is unsure if Bowman has exactly the right prescription for Israel, he is certain that Engel, whom Moss said is widely seen as “basically arm-in-arm with Netanyahu,” does not.
“It strikes me that Engel has perhaps become trapped in his pro-Israel world,” Moss said.