thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--How America Covered Up Its Germ Warfare Program

Violet Reed for HuffPost Nicholson Baker is the author of `` Baseless : My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act . ''
It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson , and he did not want to sign it , but it had to be signed .
It had some ups and downs ; there was a moment where it was very powerful , where suddenly it dislodged a lot of things that had happened in the ’ 50s .
Suddenly people thought , “ Oh my God , you did that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rules radically , and said that the CIA ’ s “ operational files ” — this was specifically about the CIA — were going to be off limits .
That meant basically all the stuff that is actually interesting that the CIA does , you weren ’ t going to be able to learn anything about it .
Operations just means secret , sneaky , clandestine things that people do in other countries , that kind of thing .
There are two things that interested me .
One was I wanted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the past , so there ’ s that , but then I also wanted to know how people actually truthfully think about history .
That ’ s why I wrote it as a diary .
When you get up in the morning and you ’ re trying to write the history of anything , maybe it ’ s of the Bronx in 1910 or something , you also have to eat a bowl of cereal and talk to your wife or husband , or students if you ’ re a teacher , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life .
I just thought I want to know more about this .
I read this book , and I liked these guys on paper .
They had managed to declassify huge amounts of stuff , because it was in a sort of golden age of declassification in the ’ 80s , and I just thought , “ They have done a real service to American history to open it all up.
” I started reading reviews of their books , and the reviews were savage .
It was amazing , they said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people have besmirched the historical profession , and their claim was that there was a gigantic germ warfare development program that was paid for by the Army and the Air Force , and that possibly the Americans had done what the Chinese and North Koreans said , and actually had dropped disease weapons on them .
When he did that , the CIA just folded .
And suddenly , I don ’ t know if it ’ s millions of pages , it ’ s an enormous horde of stuff , became publicly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This happened in 2017 .
So just as I was sort of embroiled in one version of this book , a version that failed , suddenly I ’ m typing .
I ’ m looking up keywords on the CIA ’ s own website , thinking I should check it , and the words like “ BW , ” which stands for biological warfare , or specific diseases , brucellosis and stuff .
And suddenly , instead of there being no hits , it suddenly would be lots of hits for crop diseases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stuff .
The thing that was mind-blowing was one of the set of hits was Korean War records , the agency that was the precursor to the National Security Agency .

This article is part of a series called “How to Human,” interviews with memoirists that explore how we tackle life’s alarms, marvels and bombshells.
A few years ago, Nicholson Baker was doing research for his book about the destruction of newspapers by libraries — in a library — when he came upon a book about America’s use of biological weapons. The authors of the book spent years trying to prove that the United States had conducted biological warfare during the Korean War, including the dropping of insects tainted by disease. It was all horrifying stuff not taught in history class, and Baker was shocked.
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How could it be that the United States was doing such terrible things? It’s the question that drove him to research and write “Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act,” which comes out Tuesday.
Researching the book sent him into a warren of government tunnels in search of documents that proved America was guilty of developing and using biological weapons. He used the Freedom of Information Act to acquire such documents, but the government wasn’t always compliant in getting them back to him. Indeed he received many pieces of paper with redacted words, sentences and paragraphs, sometimes in black rectangles, other times in white, depending on the government agency’s preference. This led him to file more FOIA requests in which he’d ask for the redacted words to be revealed.
He still has FOIAs out there waiting to be returned to him, and he could be waiting decades more. Since life moves a lot faster than the government, Baker found a way to tell the story now. He decided to keep a diary in which he could spend several weeks writing what he learned. Isn’t that what historians do? They sit down to write what they know based off of the evidence they have on hand.
In the end, he is now on a quixotic mission, hoping the government will declassify everything older than 50 years old. He believes, “If we could learn from our mistakes and our successes, then I think we can maybe move forward about things that are happening right now.”
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HuiffPost spoke with Baker via a Google Hangout and FaceTime earlier in July. This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.
Would you describe what FOIA is and how it came to be?
FOIA [pronounced “FOY-a”] stands for the Freedom of Information Act, and it’s a glorious law that took a long time to come into being. It was something dreamed up by congressman John Moss. He had this idea in the middle of the 1950s that there was too much that was happening in the federal government that was not knowable. You can’t have consent of the governed unless the governed know what’s actually happening.
He started this long process, and he had hearings, and he had resistance. The Justice Department didn’t like the idea and the newspapers did like the idea. It took him 10 years, and finally in 1965 this act came in. It said that anybody can ask to see anything; they have to put it in writing, and then in 20 days, that particular agency has to give some kind of response.
“If we could learn from our mistakes and our successes, then I think we can maybe move forward about things that are happening right now.”
It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and he did not want to sign it, but it had to be signed. It had some ups and downs; there was a moment where it was very powerful, where suddenly it dislodged a lot of things that had happened in the ’50s. Suddenly people thought, “Oh my God, you did that?” Then the Reagan administration changed the rules radically, and said that the CIA’s “operational files” — this was specifically about the CIA — were going to be off limits. That meant basically all the stuff that is actually interesting that the CIA does, you weren’t going to be able to learn anything about it. Operations just means secret, sneaky, clandestine things that people do in other countries, that kind of thing.
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There’s been ups and downs over the years, and gradually it’s gotten harder and harder to get things from federal agencies. Basically what’s happened is that government agencies want to shield themselves from scrutiny.
I fully understand that, they want some privacy to do whatever they want to do. What is driving this book is that they want to keep private, keep secret stuff that happened 60 or 70 years ago, so long ago that it’s of historical interest and importance, but cannot possibly affect national security.
Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act, by Nicholson Baker
What was your goal for this book?
It took a lot of work to write this book; I put my heart and soul and liver and onions into it, and I’m just hoping that it could lead to a kind of decision, a blanket decision to declassify everything that’s over 50 years — everything, just everything.
Just let people see what the government was doing, at least that. That’s the beginning, because if we could learn from our mistakes and our successes, then I think we can maybe move forward about things that are happening right now.
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Toward the end of your book you describe a deep frustration in one of your diary entries, and you say you want to sue the American government, that if you could be armed with $20 million, you’d be able to open everything up.
Yeah, I have these fantasies. I successfully, oddly enough, sued the San Francisco Public Library, because they didn’t want to release the list of the books that they’d gotten rid of. They got rid of about a quarter of a million books when they moved to a new library, and the librarians came to me and said that this was a really strange, secret thing that happened. I put in a Freedom of Information request, and they said no, so I then found a lawyer, a Freedom of Information lawyer who did it pro bono, and they released the list.
I just think that it would be so great to sue the federal government and then use $20 million to scan everything that was released to the National Archives. Everything older than 50 years, just start scanning it and do it. It actually would be a nice employment project because you’d have people coming in. It would be a WPA kind of effort to say, “We’re going to be able to look at our own country’s history.”
Could you describe the main theme of the book, and what you were trying to uncover?
There are two things that interested me. One was I wanted to know what happened in a fraught time in the past, so there’s that, but then I also wanted to know how people actually truthfully think about history. That’s why I wrote it as a diary. When you get up in the morning and you’re trying to write the history of anything, maybe it’s of the Bronx in 1910 or something, you also have to eat a bowl of cereal and talk to your wife or husband, or students if you’re a teacher, I mean, you have a whole life.
What was the spark that made you want to go looking for biological warfare?
It came out of the book I wrote about libraries. I was at the University of New Hampshire library; I was in the middle of writing this book about the fact that there had been a complete clean-out of beautiful newspapers and a replacement of them with microfilm, and there was this book on the shelf that was by these two guys, Stephen Endicott and Edward Hagerman, and it had a pink fly on the cover — it was really kind of a lurid cover: it said, “The United States and Biological Warfare: Secrets from the Early Cold War and Korea.”
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Now, I don’t know anything about that at this point. I’m standing there, I pull the thing down, thinking, “Well, I’ve been reading about all this weird Cold War stuff in connection with this library, so let me just get a little bit up to speed on the Cold War.” I started looking at it, and there were lists of the diseases that the United States government thought were important to study and to intensify and to find ways to put into bombs and figure out how to make them more virulent.
I was really troubled, but also then I saw on this list, it was this list of diseases, and one of them was coccidioidomycosis, which is a very long word that I still don’t really know how to spell. My grandfather was a pathologist and he studied coccidioidomycosis because it’s a fungal disease, and he was a fungal disease pathologist and thought, “By God, I know that disease.” I cannot believe that the American military wants to make people sick with this horrible disease that gets in people’s lungs and gives them lesions, it’s a very slow-acting disease.
I just thought I want to know more about this. I read this book, and I liked these guys on paper. They had managed to declassify huge amounts of stuff, because it was in a sort of golden age of declassification in the ’80s, and I just thought, “They have done a real service to American history to open it all up.” I started reading reviews of their books, and the reviews were savage. It was amazing, they said it was shoddy scholarship, that these people have besmirched the historical profession, and their claim was that there was a gigantic germ warfare development program that was paid for by the Army and the Air Force, and that possibly the Americans had done what the Chinese and North Koreans said, and actually had dropped disease weapons on them.
That was the controversial thing. Most of the book is about the machinery of weapons research, and they do a beautiful job of that, and it’s fascinating. What people didn’t like was the idea that these two men from Canada were charging that the United States had actually done this.
Anyway, I wrote a bunch of different books, and somewhere along the way I thought, “I really want to just really get to the bottom of this story,” because the two of them seemed a little bit like wounded men. They had worked on a book for close to 10 years, and it came out and every single person trashed it. I thought, “That’s not fair. This book is a piece of institutional history of something.” I just thought I would try to find out what actually happened, and I did.
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“All of these people I admire tremendously because they just kept asking and kept asking and kept insisting until they got something. What they got was enormously valuable.”
When you write about some of your FOIA heroes in the book, it’s almost like you’re a sports fan the way you revere them. Could you talk about who are your heroes in that department and what kind of impact they’ve had on society?
The FOIA victory — a tremendous, huge, ticker-tape parade kind of victory — that nobody really knows about was one that just happened fairly recently. It has a long set of people involved, but it basically comes down to MuckRock, a very small, hardy band of really nice people for one thing, but who have set up this mechanism for asking for government documents using their website.
They made a request through a lawyer named Kel McClanahan, who is a very articulate, almost professorial kind of lawyer. But they requested from the CIA to have every bit of this digital database called the CREST database that just stands for CIA Records Search Tool.
The CREST database used to reside only in the National Archives in this one room; they had these four chairs, and it was a completely air gap, super secure cluster of terminals. And there was surveillance and your every keystroke was recorded. This CREST database, mind you, was completely what they call “sanitized,” meaning that the documents had all already been redacted. But in order to use the database, you had to physically go to College Park, Maryland, and sit in this room.
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It was really a way of keeping historians from learning about the past. So [MuckRock] said, “Give us the whole thing in electronic form. We don’t want paper. Just give us the whole thing. It’s all been declassified. So we’re not asking for you to declassify anything further, just give it to us.”
And [the CIA] said, “No, that would be burdensome” and refused because it’s classified material. So this giant collection of declassified materials suddenly becomes classified material. That didn’t make any sense, so the lawyer brought suit and there was this tremendous back and forth where the CIA said it was going to take — I think they first said it was going to take 28 years to go through this collection — and then they thought about it and said, “No, no, it’ll only take six years,” or something like that.
Finally this ex-CIA employee, whom I interviewed, got into it. He’d had a rough time with the CIA, because he’d asked while he was [still] employed by the CIA for something controlled by the CIA — not a good idea. So he testified that the whole thing could be put on an external $60 Staples drive and the whole process would take a day.
When he did that, the CIA just folded. And suddenly, I don’t know if it’s millions of pages, it’s an enormous horde of stuff, became publicly available to anyone in the world. This happened in 2017. So just as I was sort of embroiled in one version of this book, a version that failed, suddenly I’m typing. I’m looking up keywords on the CIA’s own website, thinking I should check it, and the words like “BW,” which stands for biological warfare, or specific diseases, brucellosis and stuff. And suddenly, instead of there being no hits, it suddenly would be lots of hits for crop diseases in the Soviet Union and all kinds of stuff. The thing that was mind-blowing was one of the set of hits was Korean War records, the agency that was the precursor to the National Security Agency.
So all of these people I admire tremendously because they just kept asking and kept asking and kept insisting until they got something. What they got was enormously valuable.
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I wonder with everything being shut down, what’s going to happen with the backlog of FOIA requests and what the government could be doing to make more documents available digitally.
I think one of the things that really should happen is that the National Archives’ budget should go up and there should be a more concerted effort to scan a lot of documents. Not throwing away the original documents, of course, but the dream would be that all of World War II records would be scanned and digitally searchable immediately in all kinds of ways we can’t even predict.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Latest Claim About Trump Has People Scratching Their Heads

Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed on Monday night that President Donald Trump is , at his core , a compassionate man who truly cares about the American people .
Sanders , who left the White House in June 2019 , spoke with Fox News ’ Sean Hannity during a discussion about Trump ’ s widely criticized push to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic .
“ Under President Trump , I think every parent can go to sleep at night knowing that the president of the United States is doing literally everything he can to keep them safe , ” Sanders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one duty , number one obligation.
” “ He should be reminding people of that , but do it in a way that is compassionate , talk about how he cares about the people and remind them of that being the core of who he is and one of the things he ran on in 2016 and helped him get elected , ” she added , referring to Trump ’ s 2016 election victory over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton .
Sarah Sanders says the President should remind people in a compassionate way that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep them safe .
She also says the President should talk about how he cares about the people because that ’ s the core of who he is .
pic.twitter.com/e5zJBeqiOo — Acyn Torabi ( @ Acyn ) July 21 , 2020 Twitter users weren ’ t buying the former White House press secretary ’ s assessment of the president .
They highlighted the Trump administration ’ s failed response to the pandemic , which has now claimed the lives of more than 140,000 people nationwide .
They also noted how Trump has shown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead choosing to focus on boosting the economy ahead of the 2020 election : 1 .
Trump doesn ’ t do “ compassion.
” 2 .
Trump doesn ’ t do “ keeping people safe.
” 3 .
Trump doesn ’ t care about people .
4 .
The only item at Trump ’ s core is a framed picture of Trump .
https : //t.co/72IkTCsacq — Joe Walsh ( @ WalshFreedom ) July 21 , 2020 the terrifying thing here is that Sarah Sanders really believe this bullshit .
she does n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the core of who he is '' .
— Tzippy Shmilovitz 🤦♀ ( @ Tzipshmil ) July 21 , 2020 Hey Sarah Sanders , Donald Trump has NO empathy .
None .
Zero .
Devoid .
He 's a sociopath-psychopath .
You 're either lying or you 're a cult member — which is it ?
Sincerely , Reality — Dr. Jack Brown ( @ DrGJackBrown ) July 21 , 2020 Sarah Huckabee Sanders ' advice for the guy who allowed 140,000 people to die because he thought denialism would help him politically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cares about the people '' and `` that being the core of who he is . ''
https : //t.co/OnAhFNs16M — Brian Tyler Cohen ( @ briantylercohen ) July 21 , 2020 You 'd think , Sarah , that if that were the core of who Trump is ( LOL ! )
he 'd be doing it already ... .
?
I mean , we are a good 5 months & nearly 150k deaths into this sucker .
Maybe- and bear w me here- caring about the people is not the core of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : //t.co/K0SbxrSocn — Dennis STILL WEARIN ’ IT Herring ( @ dcherring ) July 21 , 2020 Reminder : When he met with the family members of school shooting victims , Trump needed a hand written note to remind himself to listen to the people he was talking to .
https : //t.co/fGM4wO7Wqo pic.twitter.com/jIjVivjoiS — Please Wear Masks ( @ DanSlott ) July 21 , 2020 I see @ SHSanders45 @ SarahHuckabee is still lying for Trump .
She knows he does n't have a compassionate bone in his body and he does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The idiot refused to wear a mask for the longest .
# FireTrumpInNovember https : //t.co/rXtjpBrllO — rolandsmartin ( @ rolandsmartin ) July 21 , 2020

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed on Monday night that President Donald Trump is, at his core, a compassionate man who truly cares about the American people.
Sanders, who left the White House in June 2019, spoke with Fox News’ Sean Hannity during a discussion about Trump’s widely criticized push to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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“Under President Trump, I think every parent can go to sleep at night knowing that the president of the United States is doing literally everything he can to keep them safe,” Sanders said. “That is his number one duty, number one obligation.”
“He should be reminding people of that, but do it in a way that is compassionate, talk about how he cares about the people and remind them of that being the core of who he is and one of the things he ran on in 2016 and helped him get elected,” she added, referring to Trump’s 2016 election victory over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Check out the clip here:
Sarah Sanders says the President should remind people in a compassionate way that he is doing everything he can to keep them safe. She also says the President should talk about how he cares about the people because that’s the core of who he is. pic.twitter.com/e5zJBeqiOo — Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) July 21, 2020
Twitter users weren’t buying the former White House press secretary’s assessment of the president. They highlighted the Trump administration’s failed response to the pandemic, which has now claimed the lives of more than 140,000 people nationwide.
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They also noted how Trump has shown little empathy for victims of COVID-19, instead choosing to focus on boosting the economy ahead of the 2020 election:
1. Trump doesn’t do “compassion.”
2. Trump doesn’t do “keeping people safe.”
3. Trump doesn’t care about people.
4. The only item at Trump’s core is a framed picture of Trump. https://t.co/72IkTCsacq — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 21, 2020
the terrifying thing here is that Sarah Sanders really believe this bullshit. she doesn't pretend, she think "that's the core of who he is". — Tzippy Shmilovitz 🤦♀ (@Tzipshmil) July 21, 2020
Hey Sarah Sanders,
Donald Trump has NO empathy. None. Zero. Devoid. He's a sociopath-psychopath. You're either lying or you're a cult member — which is it?
Sincerely,
Reality — Dr. Jack Brown (@DrGJackBrown) July 21, 2020
“Trump” & “compassion” are mutually exclusive phenomena!!
And “Trump press secretaries” & “honesty” are mutually exclusive phenomena as well! — MURRAY 🗽 (@murray_nyc) July 21, 2020
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She's obviously never met the man... https://t.co/GAO65I9Rrg — Morgan Fairchild (@morgfair) July 21, 2020
In 1946, a lot of this was happening in Germany. https://t.co/Unli1ZWaDc — stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 21, 2020
Sarah Huckabee Sanders' advice for the guy who allowed 140,000 people to die because he thought denialism would help him politically is to "talk about how Trump cares about the people" and "that being the core of who he is." https://t.co/OnAhFNs16M — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) July 21, 2020
You'd think, Sarah, that if that were the core of who Trump is (LOL!) he'd be doing it already....? I mean, we are a good 5 months & nearly 150k deaths into this sucker.
Maybe- and bear w me here- caring about the people is not the core of who Trump is, Ma'am. https://t.co/K0SbxrSocn — Dennis STILL WEARIN’ IT Herring (@dcherring) July 21, 2020
Reminder:
When he met with the family members of school shooting victims, Trump needed a hand written note to remind himself to listen to the people he was talking to. https://t.co/fGM4wO7Wqo pic.twitter.com/jIjVivjoiS — Please Wear Masks (@DanSlott) July 21, 2020
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Except that he isn't. https://t.co/KPh4gGFQLq — Terri Hansen 🌏 Indigenous (@TerriHansen) July 21, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Conservative Columnist Lists All The 'Nonsense' Trump Must Quit To Save Lives

Max Boot , a conservative columnist for The Washington Post , listed in his latest editorial all the “ nonsense ” that President Donald Trump and the GOP governors who support him need to quit doing if they are to turn around the United States ’ disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic and save lives .
In Boot ’ s column published Monday , the commentator first told them to “ stop smearing scientists ” such as Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert , “ for telling the truth ” about the gravity of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now killed more than 140,000 people nationwide .
They should also “ stop listening to people who don ’ t know what they are talking about , ” Boot wrote , adding that they need to lay off “ the happy talk ” and stop nixing testing resources , blocking face mask mandates and manipulating pandemic-related statistics .
Trump and the Republican governors should additionally “ stop pretending schools can reopen in hot zones ” and “ stop trying to divert us from the failing war ” on COVID-19 with attacks on protesters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not survive much more nonsense like this , ” Boot said .
“ Time is running out to get the first wave of the coronavirus under control before a second wave is likely to arrive — along with a flu epidemic.
” “ Winter is coming , yet Trump and his acolytes continue with their nonsensical words and acts , ” Boot concluded .
“ The president is fiddling with the truth while the virus burns out of control .
”

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Max Boot, a conservative columnist for The Washington Post, listed in his latest editorial all the “nonsense” that President Donald Trump and the GOP governors who support him need to quit doing if they are to turn around the United States’ disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic and save lives.
In Boot’s column published Monday, the commentator first told them to “stop smearing scientists” such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, “for telling the truth” about the gravity of the public health crisis, which has now killed more than 140,000 people nationwide.
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They should also “stop listening to people who don’t know what they are talking about,” Boot wrote, adding that they need to lay off “the happy talk” and stop nixing testing resources, blocking face mask mandates and manipulating pandemic-related statistics.
Trump and the Republican governors should additionally “stop pretending schools can reopen in hot zones” and “stop trying to divert us from the failing war” on COVID-19 with attacks on protesters, he added.
“We cannot survive much more nonsense like this,” Boot said. “Time is running out to get the first wave of the coronavirus under control before a second wave is likely to arrive — along with a flu epidemic.”
“Winter is coming, yet Trump and his acolytes continue with their nonsensical words and acts,” Boot concluded. “The president is fiddling with the truth while the virus burns out of control.”
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-20--Fox News Host Brian Kilmeade Ripped For Literal Fake News About Ocasio-Cortez

1 ) Her name is Representative Ocasio-Cortez .
Safe to assume the disrespectful reference reflects your mix of misogyny & @ @ @ @ @ apologize for slandering someone you normally need to include them , in this case @ @ @ @ @ @ your tweet is in quotes ?
That makes no sense

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Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Monday shared a phony quote attributed to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then suggested it backs what President Donald Trump has been saying about Democrats.
Kilmeade ― a co-host of “Fox & Friends,” reputedly one of Trump’s favorite shows ― tweeted:
Brian Kilmeade tweet Twitter screen shot
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The tweet was debunked last month by Snopes, rated “pants on fire” by PolitiFact, shot down by FactCheck and disproved by The Associated Press, among others.
The New York Democrat fired back: “As a Fox News host are you going to take responsibility for spreading fabricated information about a sitting member of Congress or...?”
Kilmeade deleted the tweet about an hour later, then after another hour issued an apology in quotes:
“I have deleted my earlier tweet regarding Rep. Cortez, I apologize for the error.” — Brian Kilmeade (@kilmeade) July 21, 2020
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Ocasio-Cortez replied:
Wish I could say I appreciate the effort, but you didn’t even get my name right. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 21, 2020
Kilmeade’s critics on Twitter called him out over it:
That’s not real, Brian. It was debunked a long time ago. Good Lord.https://t.co/T4A4Iccsn5 https://t.co/JB5vG6Cdm1 — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 21, 2020
It’s a fake tweet, genius. — Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) July 21, 2020
This is photoshopped. What are you doing? — Molly Knight (@molly_knight) July 21, 2020
Why is Brian Kilmeade spreading a hoax tweet falsely attributed to AOC? Oh wait. Fox News. — Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 21, 2020
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Putting it in quotes implies that somebody else said it. This is an odd tweet. — Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) July 21, 2020
1) Her name is Representative Ocasio-Cortez. Safe to assume the disrespectful reference reflects your mix of misogyny & racism
2) When you apologize for slandering someone you normally need to include them, in this case @AOC
3) Why is your tweet is in quotes? That makes no sense — David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) July 21, 2020
Posting fake tweets now. You’re a class act, dumbass. — The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) July 21, 2020
Forgot to delete the quotation marks in your copy and paste, dude. — Tiffany Thiele (@thielefor55th) July 21, 2020
The fact that Brian Kilmeade passes himself off as anything other than a partisan hack is hilarious to me.https://t.co/euUja6arT1 — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) July 21, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-20--Navy Vet 'Man Of Steel' Faces Down Vicious Trump Squad In Shocking Portland Video

A Portland , Oregon , Navy veteran was pummeled with a baton by a member of the federal squads dispatched to the city by the Trump administration — then was blasted directly in the face with pepper spray for doing ... nothing .
Chris David , 53 , has become a folk hero and hailed as a “ man of steel ” after a video of the brutal Saturday night confrontation was viewed online by more than 3 million people .
( See the video above . )
“ I felt these gentlemen were violating their oath of office ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I wanted to talk to them , ” David told the Portland Tribune , which was the first to publish the video .
The armed squads , dressed in military-style uniforms but without identifying information , have reportedly been grabbing people off the streets during protests and detaining and questioning them in what some consider extralegal kidnappings .
David , who was wearing his Naval Academy sweatshirt and a Navy wrestling hat , said he “ stood there with my hands down by my side , and they just started whaling on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When that didn ’ t faze him , one of the squad members , wearing fatigues and a gas mask , sprayed two thick blasts of tear gas into his face from inches away , which David said felt like “ a gallon of burning gasoline.
” That ’ s when he wheeled away from the men and flipped them off as he stumbled toward a park and lost his vision , David recounted .
He was aided by a “ street-medic angel ” who helped him get to a hospital .
David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 % against ” the federal squads in the city .
“ It ’ s a unilateral move that ’ s being made in order to generate chaos and great divisiveness ” that ’ s only causing the protests to grow .
“ I ’ m a 53-year-old overweight man on blood thinners , and I ’ ve got a lot of physical damage from my years in the military , ” he told KOIN .
“ I ’ m no man of steel .
They could have killed me ... as my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 45 times.
” “ It ’ s just us normal people out there , ” he told The Washington Post .
“ You hear people like Trump say it ’ s just a bunch of wacko fringe people in liberal cities who are out there , but no way .
We ’ re all just normal people who think what ’ s happening is wrong.
” The uninvited federal squads were dispatched to Portland last week by the Trump administration to prevent vandalism at federal monuments and buildings .
Instead , they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unmarked rental vans and snatching residents .
As justification for the assault on Portland , federal authorities have cited a June 26 executive order by President Donald Trump directing them to protect federal monuments and buildings .
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf has listed “ graffiti ” concerns by “ violent anarchists ” in Portland on the DHS website .
Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told CNN he was reserving judgment on the David video .
He appeared to attempt to smear the Navy vet , saying that his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” about “ threats to federal facilities.
” David responded that Cuccinelli can ’ t see “ what ’ s obvious to millions of other people ... that I was standing there peacefully and then they beat me ” for “ no reason.
” David received a massive outpouring of offers of help after the video surfaced .
He declined the offers but urged people instead to help the Black Lives Matter movement and the medic group that helped him .
After an insane two days , I would like some help from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ First off , I do n't want any money , gifts or remuneration for anything that I have done .
I never did it for that reason .
I have a good job and a roof over my head ... 1/ — Tazerface ( @ Tazerface16 ) July 20 , 2020 ... which is way more than many folks right now .
I would like help setting up GoFundMes for both street medics and BLM .
Can anyone help me do that ?
Also , maybe one for a local food bank .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20 , 2020 I would really , really , really like to thank Tav .
She 's my street medic angel who pulled me out of the park and took me to safety when I could n't see anything anymore .
She stayed with me the whole time and then her and her friends drove me around to find an ambulance .
— Tazerface ( @ Tazerface16 ) July 19 , 2020

A Portland, Oregon, Navy veteran was pummeled with a baton by a member of the federal squads dispatched to the city by the Trump administration — then was blasted directly in the face with pepper spray for doing ... nothing.
Chris David, 53, has become a folk hero and hailed as a “man of steel” after a video of the brutal Saturday night confrontation was viewed online by more than 3 million people. (See the video above.)
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“I felt these gentlemen were violating their oath of office” — to uphold the Constitution — “and I wanted to talk to them,” David told the Portland Tribune, which was the first to publish the video. The armed squads, dressed in military-style uniforms but without identifying information, have reportedly been grabbing people off the streets during protests and detaining and questioning them in what some consider extralegal kidnappings.
David, who was wearing his Naval Academy sweatshirt and a Navy wrestling hat, said he “stood there with my hands down by my side, and they just started whaling on me,” he told KOIN-TV.
When that didn’t faze him, one of the squad members, wearing fatigues and a gas mask, sprayed two thick blasts of tear gas into his face from inches away, which David said felt like “a gallon of burning gasoline.”
That’s when he wheeled away from the men and flipped them off as he stumbled toward a park and lost his vision, David recounted. He was aided by a “street-medic angel” who helped him get to a hospital.
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David’s hand was broken in two places. He said he’ll likely need “pins and plates” to fix it.
My hand is pretty damaged. The hand surgeon splinted it for now, but it looks like plates, screws and/or pins await me on Friday. — Tazerface (@Tazerface16) July 19, 2020
David told CNN that he’s “100% against” the federal squads in the city. “It’s a unilateral move that’s being made in order to generate chaos and great divisiveness” that’s only causing the protests to grow.
David — a U.S. Naval Academy grad who served as a commissioned officer in the Seabees and as a Navy engineer — said he’s not superman.
“I’m a 53-year-old overweight man on blood thinners, and I’ve got a lot of physical damage from my years in the military,” he told KOIN. “I’m no man of steel. They could have killed me ... as my ex-wife and my daughter have reminded me 45 times.”
Still, he added, “I plan to go back. This won’t stop me.”
“It’s just us normal people out there,” he told The Washington Post. “You hear people like Trump say it’s just a bunch of wacko fringe people in liberal cities who are out there, but no way. We’re all just normal people who think what’s happening is wrong.”
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The uninvited federal squads were dispatched to Portland last week by the Trump administration to prevent vandalism at federal monuments and buildings. Instead, they’ve been roving around downtown Portland in unmarked rental vans and snatching residents.
The administration is preparing to send more of the controversial squads to other Democratic cities, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday.
As justification for the assault on Portland, federal authorities have cited a June 26 executive order by President Donald Trump directing them to protect federal monuments and buildings. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf has listed “graffiti” concerns by “violent anarchists” in Portland on the DHS website.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) has called the attacks on citizens “political theater” orchestrated to provoke violence in a desperate bid to drum up reelection support for Trump.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has filed a lawsuit demanding an injunction to stop the squads’ blatantly illegal and unconstitutional “kidnap and false arrest” of citizens.
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Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told CNN he was reserving judgment on the David video. He appeared to attempt to smear the Navy vet, saying that his officers operate based on shadowy “intelligence” about “threats to federal facilities.”
David responded that Cuccinelli can’t see “what’s obvious to millions of other people ... that I was standing there peacefully and then they beat me” for “no reason.”
David received a massive outpouring of offers of help after the video surfaced. He declined the offers but urged people instead to help the Black Lives Matter movement and the medic group that helped him.
After an insane two days, I would like some help from the wonderful folks who follow me.
First off, I don't want any money, gifts or remuneration for anything that I have done.
I never did it for that reason. I have a good job and a roof over my head... 1/ — Tazerface (@Tazerface16) July 20, 2020
...which is way more than many folks right now.
I would like help setting up GoFundMes for both street medics and BLM. Can anyone help me do that?
Also, maybe one for a local food bank. — Tazerface (@Tazerface16) July 20, 2020
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I would really, really, really like to thank Tav. She's my street medic angel who pulled me out of the park and took me to safety when I couldn't see anything anymore. She stayed with me the whole time and then her and her friends drove me around to find an ambulance. — Tazerface (@Tazerface16) July 19, 2020
She and her fellow medics are the real heroes here.
I just wanted to thank her from the bottom of my heart. — Tazerface (@Tazerface16) July 19, 2020
He also put in a plug for the U.S. Navy wrestling team and added: “Go Navy!”
BTW, GO NAVY! — Tazerface (@Tazerface16) July 19, 2020
The outraged Twitterverse fell in love.
This guy in Portland tonight must be made of steel. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/5rg7CEvaKU — Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) July 19, 2020
There is alot of armed Feds in this footage.
But there is only one American soldier. Soldier for us all, defending our freedom.
This guy has more courage in his left leg, the one being clubbed, than all those wannabes in camo. — E. (@E_of_Justice) July 19, 2020
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That man is one of us, people. Regardless your personal ideology, or party, he is an American citizen exercising his constitutionally guaranteed right to peacefully protest, and is being beaten and gassed for it. This is not China, this is the USA. — Peter Yianilos (@artysan) July 19, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Trump Seen At Event Without Mask Hours After Saying It’s ‘Patriotic’ To Wear One

President Donald Trump on Monday called face masks “ patriotic ” and said on Twitter “ there is nobody more @ @ @ @ @ later , he was seen without his patriotism .
Footage from a fundraiser at the @ @ @ @ @ , above , shows multiple people , including the president , mingling without a mask @ @ @ @ @ calling on people to wear face coverings when in public to help stop the spread @ @ @ @ @ has only rarely been seen in one , and has resisted calls for a national @ @ @ @ @ 5 million at the event , according to CBS .
DC Mayor @ MurielBowser ’ @ @ @ @ @ that all hotel employees and guests wear masks .
This video is from the Trump @ @ @ @ @ where Trump attended a fundraiser Monday night .
https : //t.co/vYCPpTk5DT — Philip Rucker ( @ @ @ @ @ , 2020 Important conversations are happening now .
Add your voice !
Join HuffPost Today @

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President Donald Trump on Monday called face masks “patriotic” and said on Twitter “there is nobody more Patriotic than me.”
Hours later, he was seen without his patriotism.
Footage from a fundraiser at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, above, shows multiple people, including the president, mingling without a mask.
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Health experts have been calling on people to wear face coverings when in public to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Trump has only rarely been seen in one, and has resisted calls for a national mandate.
Trump raised $5 million at the event, according to CBS.
DC Mayor @MurielBowser’s Phase Two guidelines state that all hotel employees and guests wear masks.
This video is from the Trump International Hotel in DC, where Trump attended a fundraiser Monday night. https://t.co/vYCPpTk5DT — Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) July 21, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Conservative Icon George Will Says He’ll Vote For Joe Biden In 2020 Election

George Will plans to break the habit of a lifetime for the 2020 election .
The longtime conservative commentator said Monday he ’ ll cast his vote for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in order to help defeat President Donald Trump at the ballot box .
It will likely be the first time that he has ever voted for a Democrat , Will told USA Today ’ s Susan Page during a conversation for The Aspen Institute .
“ I ’ m a big believer in parties , in party strength and party tickets .
Not this year , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in June 2016 in protest of Trump ’ s then-imminent nomination as the Republican presidential candidate .
In our @ AspenInstitute conversation this afternoon , @ GeorgeWill ( never a fan of President Trump ) told me he 'll vote for @ JoeBiden in November -- the first time he 's voted for a Democrat for any office .
( His first presidential vote : Barry Goldwater . )
https : //t.co/rQ3xZVobrv — Susan Page ( @ SusanPage ) July 20 , 2020 Will , a vocal and frequent critic of Trump and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decisive victory ” for Biden .
He anticipated that proceedings would be wrapped up by 11 p.m. EST on election night , with Biden winning several swing states .
“ I think that ’ s important because the president has already announced he might not accept the outcome .
...
Therefore , it ’ s wise to have a tsunami of popular votes , ” said Will , calling his forecast “ risky but fun .
”

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George Will plans to break the habit of a lifetime for the 2020 election.
The longtime conservative commentator said Monday he’ll cast his vote for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in order to help defeat President Donald Trump at the ballot box.
It will likely be the first time that he has ever voted for a Democrat, Will told USA Today’s Susan Page during a conversation for The Aspen Institute.
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“I’m a big believer in parties, in party strength and party tickets. Not this year,” said Will, who quit the GOP in June 2016 in protest of Trump’s then-imminent nomination as the Republican presidential candidate.
In our @AspenInstitute conversation this afternoon, @GeorgeWill (never a fan of President Trump) told me he'll vote for @JoeBiden in November--the first time he's voted for a Democrat for any office. (His first presidential vote: Barry Goldwater.) https://t.co/rQ3xZVobrv — Susan Page (@SusanPage) July 20, 2020
Will, a vocal and frequent critic of Trump and his administration, also predicted a “decisive victory” for Biden. He anticipated that proceedings would be wrapped up by 11 p.m. EST on election night, with Biden winning several swing states.
“I think that’s important because the president has already announced he might not accept the outcome. ... Therefore, it’s wise to have a tsunami of popular votes,” said Will, calling his forecast “risky but fun.”
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Jacksonville Sheriff Says He's At A Loss On How To Provide Security For GOP Convention

Jacksonville ’ s county sheriff dealt a new blow to the Republican National Convention on Monday with an announcement that his department likely won ’ t be able to provide security for the event next month in Florida .
“ With less than 40 days until the expected Republican National Convention is slated to arrive in Jacksonville , I am compelled to express my significant concerns about the viability of this event , ” Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams said at a news conference .
“ I can not say with confidence the event or the community will not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have enough funds or manpower for the event — and the Republican National Committee has failed to provide a “ solid plan ” for the convention , Williams explained .
“ This is not going to work , ” he added .
The Republican sheriff left open the very slim possibility that something might still be worked out .
But he emphasized at least twice that the department had “ passed the point of no return ” because of tight time constraints .
A convention would typically be planned over an 18-month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this one started last month .
“ I can ’ t predict the future , [ but ] as it stands today , we can ’ t support the plan moving forward as is , ” Williams said .
“ I don ’ t have what I need to keep this event and our community safe.
” “ It ’ s easy to build a giant fence and put somebody in the middle of it and keep them safe , ” he added , referring to the convention .
“ We ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fence and dealing with the repercussions of that for who knows how long , ” he said , apparently referring to an expected spike of COVID-19 in the wake of the mass gathering .
“ We need to be supported in that or we can ’ t move forward.
” Plans for the convention , scheduled from Aug. 24 to 27 , have been in flux as GOP officials grapple with the challenge of soaring cases of COVID-19 in Florida .
Several Republican leaders have already announced they don ’ t plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The convention has already been scaled back , and portions were scheduled to be held outside to make it safer .
The situation is exacerbated by the Trump campaign ’ s reputation for not paying its bills to municipalities for law enforcement and other costs for rallies .
The campaign ’ s total unpaid tab to 14 cities hit a total of $ 1.8 million in April , Newsweek reported .
Williams referred to “ concerns over reimbursement ” as a factor in his announcement .
President Donald Trump and the Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most of the national convention events from North Carolina , where it was originally planned , because of state guidelines regarding masks and social distancing to help stem the spread of COVID-19 .
Trump wanted assurances he could make his nomination acceptance speech inside a packed Charlotte arena , with masks optional .
“ When we made these changes [ to Florida ] , we had hoped to be able to plan a traditional convention celebration to which we are all accustomed , ” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in a letter Thursday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Washington Post reported .
“ However , adjustments must be made to comply with state and local health guidelines , ” she added .

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Jacksonville’s county sheriff dealt a new blow to the Republican National Convention on Monday with an announcement that his department likely won’t be able to provide security for the event next month in Florida.
“With less than 40 days until the expected Republican National Convention is slated to arrive in Jacksonville, I am compelled to express my significant concerns about the viability of this event,” Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams said at a news conference. “I cannot say with confidence the event or the community will not be at risk.”
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His department doesn’t have enough funds or manpower for the event — and the Republican National Committee has failed to provide a “solid plan” for the convention, Williams explained. “This is not going to work,” he added.
The Republican sheriff left open the very slim possibility that something might still be worked out. But he emphasized at least twice that the department had “passed the point of no return” because of tight time constraints. A convention would typically be planned over an 18-month period, he said. Planning for this one started last month.
“I can’t predict the future, [but] as it stands today, we can’t support the plan moving forward as is,” Williams said. “I don’t have what I need to keep this event and our community safe.”
The sheriff emphasized that his primary goal is to protect the community.
“It’s easy to build a giant fence and put somebody in the middle of it and keep them safe,” he added, referring to the convention.
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“We’re concerned about what’s happening outside the fence and dealing with the repercussions of that for who knows how long,” he said, apparently referring to an expected spike of COVID-19 in the wake of the mass gathering. “We need to be supported in that or we can’t move forward.”
Williams said it won’t be his decision whether or not to cancel the event.
The RNC is “confident” local officials can “ensure a safe” convention, a GOP spokesperson told First Coast News TV, and city officials are continuing talks about the event, including with Williams.
“This is not going to work.” - Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams
Plans for the convention, scheduled from Aug. 24 to 27, have been in flux as GOP officials grapple with the challenge of soaring cases of COVID-19 in Florida. Several Republican leaders have already announced they don’t plan to attend because of the health risk. The convention has already been scaled back, and portions were scheduled to be held outside to make it safer.
The event would be further complicated by expected larger-than-usual protests as Black Lives Matter demonstrations continue across the country.
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The situation is exacerbated by the Trump campaign’s reputation for not paying its bills to municipalities for law enforcement and other costs for rallies. The campaign’s total unpaid tab to 14 cities hit a total of $1.8 million in April, Newsweek reported. Williams referred to “concerns over reimbursement” as a factor in his announcement.
President Donald Trump and the Republican Party announced last month they were yanking most of the national convention events from North Carolina, where it was originally planned, because of state guidelines regarding masks and social distancing to help stem the spread of COVID-19. Trump wanted assurances he could make his nomination acceptance speech inside a packed Charlotte arena, with masks optional.
Jacksonville now requires masks in public spaces and indoors where people can’t stay 6 feet apart.
“When we made these changes [to Florida], we had hoped to be able to plan a traditional convention celebration to which we are all accustomed,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in a letter Thursday to delegates announcing the latest alterations, The Washington Post reported. “However, adjustments must be made to comply with state and local health guidelines,” she added.
Florida has become a record-busting epicenter of the disease, racking up about 10,000 to 13,000 new cases a day, with a total death toll Monday of more than 5,000 people.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Atlanta Mayor Says Governor 'Completely Unreasonable,' Vows To Fight Mask Lawsuit

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Monday that Georgia Gov .
Brian Kemp was attempting to silence her amid surging rates of the coronavirus in the state , vowing to fight his attempts to overturn a mask mandate in her city “ with everything we have.
” “ In a time when we are in the midst of a pandemic , we need as many voices as we can have as possible sounding the alarm , encouraging people to wear masks , and to take all precautions , and to follow the science and the data , ” she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course that this governor has put us on , ” Mayor Bottoms says of Gov .
Kemp following his decision to sue over her mask mandate .
“ ICU capacity in Atlanta , I think we have roughly about 13 % left … and yet he wants to silence me.
” pic.twitter.com/cDuMUO8vTN — MSNBC ( @ MSNBC ) July 21 , 2020 The comments come amid an ongoing feud in the state between Bottoms , a Democrat , and the Republican governor .
Kemp sued the mayor and other city council members last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks in public places , saying the rules were stricter than those he set out statewide and could not be enforced .
Bottoms has argued the mask orders she ’ s trying to implement are in line with public health recommendations released by the White House .
“ Georgia reopened in a reckless manner and the people of our city and state are suffering the consequences , ” she said earlier this month as she announced the rollback to stricter guidelines meant to stop the spread of the COVID-19 .
In Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the nation to reopen following an initial shutdown order , cases of the virus have surged .
More than 132,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 , and the state set a new record for single-day cases on Saturday .
While Kemp has voided mask orders in many localities , the governor has singled out Bottoms with the lawsuit while vowing “ to stop these reckless actions and put people over pandemic politics.
” “ We have people , local mayors , that are playing politics , ” Kemp said on Fox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to go back to shelter-in-place .
They want to stop in-person dining with no notice , just pulling the rug out from under people , and I ’ m just not going to allow that to happen.
” The governor has stressed that he is , in fact , encouraging residents to wear masks , but said he was “ confident that Georgians don ’ t need a mandate to do the right thing.
” In addition to being sued over a mask mandate and voluntary advisory guidelines on COVID-19 , @ GovKemp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ restrain ” me from issuing press statements and speaking to the press .
Far more have sacrificed too much more for me to be silent .
pic.twitter.com/gWlnZlCtoR — Keisha Lance Bottoms ( @ KeishaBottoms ) July 19 , 2020 Bottoms initially took to social media to blast the lawsuit , saying too many had “ sacrificed … for me to be silent.
” She doubled down on those frustrations in her interview with Reid on Monday .
“ The insanity of this with Brian Kemp is that the recommendations regarding our businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” she said .
“ This governor is suing me personally for making voluntary recommendations to people on face guidelines , and these guidelines are based on where we are with COVID .
”

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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Monday that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was attempting to silence her amid surging rates of the coronavirus in the state, vowing to fight his attempts to overturn a mask mandate in her city “with everything we have.”
“He obviously wants to silence my voice,” Bottoms told MSNBC’s Joy Reid during the debut of her new program, “The ReidOut.”
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“In a time when we are in the midst of a pandemic, we need as many voices as we can have as possible sounding the alarm, encouraging people to wear masks, and to take all precautions, and to follow the science and the data,” she said.
“It is completely unreasonable the course that this governor has put us on,” she added.
“It is completely unreasonable the course that this governor has put us on,” Mayor Bottoms says of Gov. Kemp following his decision to sue over her mask mandate. “ICU capacity in Atlanta, I think we have roughly about 13% left … and yet he wants to silence me.” pic.twitter.com/cDuMUO8vTN — MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 21, 2020
The comments come amid an ongoing feud in the state between Bottoms, a Democrat, and the Republican governor. Kemp sued the mayor and other city council members last week over their efforts to require face masks in public places, saying the rules were stricter than those he set out statewide and could not be enforced. Bottoms has argued the mask orders she’s trying to implement are in line with public health recommendations released by the White House.
“Georgia reopened in a reckless manner and the people of our city and state are suffering the consequences,” she said earlier this month as she announced the rollback to stricter guidelines meant to stop the spread of the COVID-19.
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A judge is set to hear arguments on the lawsuit Tuesday.
In Georgia, which was one of the first states in the nation to reopen following an initial shutdown order, cases of the virus have surged. More than 132,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and the state set a new record for single-day cases on Saturday.
While Kemp has voided mask orders in many localities, the governor has singled out Bottoms with the lawsuit while vowing “to stop these reckless actions and put people over pandemic politics.”
“We have people, local mayors, that are playing politics,” Kemp said on Fox News last Friday. “They want to go back to shelter-in-place. They want to stop in-person dining with no notice, just pulling the rug out from under people, and I’m just not going to allow that to happen.”
The governor has stressed that he is, in fact, encouraging residents to wear masks, but said he was “confident that Georgians don’t need a mandate to do the right thing.”
In addition to being sued over a mask mandate and voluntary advisory guidelines on COVID-19, @GovKemp has asked for an emergency injunction to “restrain” me from issuing press statements and speaking to the press. Far more have sacrificed too much more for me to be silent. pic.twitter.com/gWlnZlCtoR — Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) July 19, 2020
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Bottoms initially took to social media to blast the lawsuit, saying too many had “sacrificed … for me to be silent.” She doubled down on those frustrations in her interview with Reid on Monday.
“The insanity of this with Brian Kemp is that the recommendations regarding our businesses, our advisory, voluntary recommendations,” she said. “This governor is suing me personally for making voluntary recommendations to people on face guidelines, and these guidelines are based on where we are with COVID.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Joe Biden Makes Caregiving A Central Part Of His New Economic Plan

OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks last week in Wilmington , Delaware , about his `` Build Back Better '' plan .
The third plank of the new economic blueprint focuses on caregiving .
The first plank focused on manufacturing jobs , the second on climate change .
This time the former vice president ’ s focus is on caregiving , a sign of a growing recognition ― fueled by the coronavirus pandemic ― that caring for children , the sick , people with disabilities and the elderly is a core part of the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s issue .
In a call with reporters Monday night , senior campaign staffers said that the Biden plan marks the first time a presidential candidate actually centered caregiving in an economic plan .
Typically , presidential candidates like to focus on more “ hardcore ” economic issues like manufacturing or trade .
But the pandemic has sparked a growing recognition that caregiving provides the framework for the U.S. economy to function .
Without child care for children or someone to tend to the sick , people simply can not go to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of raising children , of educating children is often the invisible backdrop to what people think of as our regular economic activity in America , ” Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner , CEO and co-founder of the advocacy group MomsRising , told HuffPost recently .
“ Now that we ’ re in a pandemic , we see that this work is at the core of our economy , our communities and our country.
” Biden ’ s plan would cost $ 775 billion over 10 years and would be funded , the campaign said , by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investors and increasing tax compliance on high-income earners .
Biden ’ s agenda looks at all kinds of caregiving , from cradle to grave .
It beefs up funding for child care , expanding tax credits for parents , raising pay for child care workers and calling for universal pre-kindergarten .
The plan would also increase funding for in-home care to keep the elderly and the disabled out of institutional care facilities .
Later on Tuesday , Biden is expected to talk more about the plan called The Biden Plan for Mobilizing American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Century Caregiving and Education Workforce .
In the call with reporters Monday night , Biden campaign staffers bristled when asked by one reporter if his caregiving plan would be mainly the responsibility of Biden ’ s vice presidential pick .
Biden has promised to select a woman as a running mate .
“ This plan speaks to issues that families and people across the country are dealing with .
Not just women , ” the staffer said , emphasizing Biden ’ s experience as a single father after the death of his first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1972 .
Though child care and caregiving in general are not women ’ s issues , it ’ s hard not to feel the influence of the women who were in the running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 .
Child care was a central policy proposal in Sen. Elizabeth Warren ’ s campaign ; and issues like family leave were key to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ’ s campaign .
Hillary Clinton also put child care and family leave on her agenda as the 2016 Democratic nominee , although not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ underfunded and undervalued , child care has gotten increased attention in the pandemic as so many working parents are struggling to care for ( and homeschool ) their children while struggling to remain employed .
So far , however , that high profile has not translated into action at the policy level .
Though there was some funding for child care in the March economic stimulus bill , a push for further funding has not gone anywhere .
In a recent survey , 40 % of child care providers said they would soon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not receive more assistance .

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks last week in Wilmington, Delaware, about his "Build Back Better" plan. The third plank of the new economic blueprint focuses on caregiving. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden rolled out the third part of his economic plan, “Build Back Better,” on Tuesday.
The first plank focused on manufacturing jobs, the second on climate change. This time the former vice president’s focus is on caregiving, a sign of a growing recognition ― fueled by the coronavirus pandemic ― that caring for children, the sick, people with disabilities and the elderly is a core part of the U.S. economy and not a sideline women’s issue.
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“The pandemic hits and squeezes and tightens on everyone,” Biden said Tuesday afternoon in a speech in Delaware. He acknowledged that the U.S. has long struggled with a lack of affordable, high-quality child care and elder care but emphasized that the current crisis has made things much worse.
“We’re trapped within a caregiving crisis within an economic crisis within a health care crisis,” Biden said.
In a call with reporters Monday night, senior campaign staffers said that the Biden plan marks the first time a presidential candidate actually centered caregiving in an economic plan. Typically, presidential candidates like to focus on more “hardcore” economic issues like manufacturing or trade.
But the pandemic has sparked a growing recognition that caregiving provides the framework for the U.S. economy to function. Without child care for children or someone to tend to the sick, people simply cannot go to work.
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“The paid and unpaid work of raising children, of educating children is often the invisible backdrop to what people think of as our regular economic activity in America,” Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and co-founder of the advocacy group MomsRising, told HuffPost recently. “Now that we’re in a pandemic, we see that this work is at the core of our economy, our communities and our country.”
Called the Biden Plan for Mobilizing American Talent and Heart to Create a 21st Century Caregiving and Education Workforce, the plan would cost $775 billion over 10 years and would be funded, the campaign said, by rolling back tax breaks for real estate investors and increasing tax compliance on high-income earners.
Biden’s agenda looks at all kinds of caregiving, from cradle to grave. It beefs up funding for child care, expanding tax credits for parents, raising pay for child care workers and calling for universal pre-kindergarten.
The plan would also increase funding for in-home care to keep elderly and disabled people out of institutional care facilities. Notably, Biden’s agenda focuses on child care workers and promises to boost their pay, benefits and career prospects.
“This is about dignity and respect for working people,” Biden said Tuesday.
Advocates hailed the proposal for the way it centers caregiving as critical to the economy.
“It’s always been a struggle to have policymakers and leaders understand that the care economy is a core part of the economy,” said Ai-jen Poo, senior adviser to Care in Action, an advocacy group for women of color. “Just to have that recognition that this isn’t a side issue, an add-on or a nice-to-have; that this is core to our economic future and that it is a public good ... is a big breakthrough.”
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The plan’s focus on care workers, who have long been underpaid and undervalued, is particularly important, she said. These workers, typically women of color, have been excluded for generations from the protections and supports of government policy dating back to the New Deal.
Now, caregiving jobs are poised to be in increasing demand; one of the fastest growing segments of the population are people over age 85, she pointed out. Meanwhile, a growing number of millennials will need child care for their young ones.
“Our reality today is that the people we’re counting on to care for us and our families, who matter most to us, can’t take care of their own families,” said Poo.
Child care proponents also praised the plan.
“It’s a huge recognition of the importance of child care both for families and the economy,” said Katherine Gallagher Robbins, the director of child care and early education at the Center for Law and Social Policy. “It’s also really important that the plan addresses the needs of child care workers, which is critical to increasing equity.”
Robbins’ organization has long supported increasing funding to the Child Care and Development Black Grant, a federal program, something this new plan includes. This is critical for low-income families who are particularly impacted by the high costs of care, she said.
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In the call with reporters Monday night, Biden campaign staffers bristled when asked by one reporter if his caregiving plan would be mainly the responsibility of Biden’s vice presidential pick. Biden has promised to select a woman as a running mate.
“This plan speaks to issues that families and people across the country are dealing with. Not just women,” the staffer said, emphasizing Biden’s experience as a single father after the death of his first wife and daughter in a car crash in 1972.
Biden recalled the five years he spent as a single dad in his speech on Tuesday, saying, “It was hard. If I didn’t have my mom, my sister and my brother, I don’t know how I [would have] been able to afford it.”
He acknowledged that most people don’t have that kind of support. “There’s just that feeling, that sense where you just don’t know if everything’s going to turn OK,” Biden said in his speech. “Well, I’m here to tell you that it can be and it will be.”
Though child care and caregiving in general are not women’s issues, it’s hard not to feel the influence of the women who were in the running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
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Child care was a central policy proposal in Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign; and issues like family leave were also key to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s campaign. Hillary Clinton put child care and family leave on her agenda when she was the 2016 Democratic nominee, although they weren’t a core economic priority.
Long underfunded and undervalued, child care has gotten increased attention during the pandemic as so many working parents are struggling to care for (and homeschool) their children while trying to remain employed.
So far, however, that high profile has not translated into action at the policy level. Though there was some funding for child care in the March economic stimulus bill, a push for further funding has not gone anywhere.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-20--Democratic Mayors Urge Congress To Stop Federal Agents' Use Of Force During Protests

Six Democratic mayors from across the country urged Congress to stop federal agents from interfering with protests in cities and called on the lawmakers to investigate the Trump administration ’ s deployment of them .
In a letter Monday to congressional Democratic and Republican leaders , the mayors of Seattle , Atlanta , Chicago , Kansas City , Washington and Portland , Oregon , called the recent deployment of armed federal agents at protests “ unprecedented ” and in violation of constitutional rights .
The letter called for the immediate reversal of President Donald Trump ’ s use of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and asked that Congress investigate Trump ’ s unilateral decision to use federal force .
It was sent in response to a days-long clash in Portland , where the military-style squads have used violent and controversial tactics to disperse an ongoing demonstration in protest of the police killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people in the U.S .
Videos surfaced over the week showing federal agents dressed in camouflage fatigues in unmarked cars snatching protesters from the streets , sparking outrage and calls for justice nationwide .
Portland police also said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the protesters .
“ These forces are conducting crowd control on city streets and detaining individuals , ” the mayors said .
“ Their threats and actions have ... escalated events , and increased the risk of violence against both civilians and local law enforcement officers.
” The mayors continued : “ The unilateral deployment of these forces into American cities is unprecedented and violates fundamental constitutional protects and tenets of federalism.
” In his own statement , Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler described the use of federal force as an attack on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ divide and conquer ’ tactic.
” “ We must not fall prey to this , ” Wheeler tweeted Monday .
“ Nationwide , we must stand together for peace and for reform against those who would oppose it.
” The President is attacking progressive cities with a classic ‘ divide and conquer ’ tactic .
We must not fall prey to this .
Nationwide , we must stand together for peace and for reform against those who would oppose it .
— Mayor Ted Wheeler ( @ tedwheeler ) July 20 , 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not serve “ any legitimate federal law enforcement purpose .
The attorney general also argued that the federal agents violated “ the rights of all people detained without a warrant or basis for arrest , and violate the state ’ s sovereign interests in enforcing laws and protecting people within its border from kidnap and false arrest.
” Trump defended the federal interference in Portland on Sunday , saying in a tweet that the administration was “ trying to help Portland , not hurt it.
” “ Their leadership has , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and agitators , ” Trump said .
“ They are missing in action .
We must protect Federal property , AND OUR PEOPLE .
These were not merely protesters , these are the real deal !
” The letter sent Monday said that the Trump administration has used federal force despite state and local officials ’ objections to having federal agents intervene .
“ None of these agents are trained in modern urban community policing , such as de-escalation , ” the letter said .
“ They are operating without coordination with local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ escalated events , leading to more violence and unrest .
”

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Six Democratic mayors from across the country urged Congress to stop federal agents from interfering with protests in cities and called on the lawmakers to investigate the Trump administration’s deployment of them.
In a letter Monday to congressional Democratic and Republican leaders, the mayors of Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Washington and Portland, Oregon, called the recent deployment of armed federal agents at protests “unprecedented” and in violation of constitutional rights.
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The letter called for the immediate reversal of President Donald Trump’s use of a “Rapid Deployment Unit” in Portland and asked that Congress investigate Trump’s unilateral decision to use federal force.
It was sent in response to a days-long clash in Portland, where the military-style squads have used violent and controversial tactics to disperse an ongoing demonstration in protest of the police killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people in the U.S.
Videos surfaced over the week showing federal agents dressed in camouflage fatigues in unmarked cars snatching protesters from the streets, sparking outrage and calls for justice nationwide. Portland police also said that federal forces were using tear gas against the protesters.
“These forces are conducting crowd control on city streets and detaining individuals,” the mayors said. “Their threats and actions have ... escalated events, and increased the risk of violence against both civilians and local law enforcement officers.”
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The mayors continued: “The unilateral deployment of these forces into American cities is unprecedented and violates fundamental constitutional protects and tenets of federalism.”
In his own statement, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler described the use of federal force as an attack on “progressive cities with a classic ‘divide and conquer’ tactic.”
“We must not fall prey to this,” Wheeler tweeted Monday. “Nationwide, we must stand together for peace and for reform against those who would oppose it.”
The President is attacking progressive cities with a classic ‘divide and conquer’ tactic. We must not fall prey to this. Nationwide, we must stand together for peace and for reform against those who would oppose it. — Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) July 20, 2020
Here in Portland, our values are clear. We support peaceful protest. We support system change. We denounce violence. — Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) July 20, 2020
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Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a lawsuit Saturday that claimed that the action taken by federal officers violated several constitutional rights of Portland residents.
Rosenblum said the federal agents’ tactics did not serve “any legitimate federal law enforcement purpose. The attorney general also argued that the federal agents violated “the rights of all people detained without a warrant or basis for arrest, and violate the state’s sovereign interests in enforcing laws and protecting people within its border from kidnap and false arrest.”
Trump defended the federal interference in Portland on Sunday, saying in a tweet that the administration was “trying to help Portland, not hurt it.”
“Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators,” Trump said. “They are missing in action. We must protect Federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE. These were not merely protesters, these are the real deal!”
The letter sent Monday said that the Trump administration has used federal force despite state and local officials’ objections to having federal agents intervene.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-21--Sheldon And Miriam Adelson Gave Mitch McConnell’s Super PAC $25 Million

MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images Sheldon Adelson typically gives tens of millions of dollars to Republican groups , but this cycle ’ s donation came earlier than usual .
Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife , Miriam , donated a combined $ 25 million to a super PAC dedicated to keeping Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate , according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission .
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson each cut $ 12.5 million checks to the Senate Leadership Fund , which is controlled by allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the group raise more than $ 30 million in June , giving it more than $ 97 million in cash on hand .
Senate Democratic candidates are outraising their Republican counterparts and raking in huge sums nearly across the board , but Adelson ’ s donation highlights how the two major outside groups charged with keeping the Senate in Republican hands have kept pace with their Democratic counterparts in the money chase , which could prove crucial as Republicans struggle to defend their 53-47 majority in Congress ’ s upper chamber .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reservation in our organization ’ s history as we fight to defend our majority , and this month ’ s fundraising haul is an important down payment on that activity , ” said Steven Law , the group ’ s president .
The Senate Majority PAC , a Democratic group controlled by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ’ s political operation , raised a similar $ 30 million in June and has just shy of $ 87 million on hand .
Its largest donation came from a nonprofit group that does not have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate Majority PAC and the Senate Leadership Fund are super PACs , meaning they can collect and spend unlimited sums as long as they do not directly coordinate with political candidates .
The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee , which are subject to the standard $ 2,800 federal donation limit but can directly work with candidates , are also in similar financial positions .
The DSCC raised just over $ 13.5 million in June and has $ 37 million on hand .
Adelson , who is often the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , typically gives tens of millions of dollars to Senate Republicans each cycle .
The megadonor and founder of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. is known for his hawkish stance on Israel ― he was heavily involved in pushing the Trump administration to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem ― and for fiercely protecting his gambling interests .
In 2018 , a trio of Senate Republicans introduced legislation to essentially ban online gambling ― a major goal of Adelson ’ s ― not long after a massive donation he made to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Senate Majority PAC came in the form of an $ 8 million check from Majority Forward , a nonprofit also controlled by Schumer allies .
Majority Forward does not have to disclose its donors .

Sheldon Adelson typically gives tens of millions of dollars to Republican groups, but this cycle’s donation came earlier than usual. MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images
Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, donated a combined $25 million to a super PAC dedicated to keeping Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson each cut $12.5 million checks to the Senate Leadership Fund, which is controlled by allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, on June 15. The donations helped the group raise more than $30 million in June, giving it more than $97 million in cash on hand.
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Senate Democratic candidates are outraising their Republican counterparts and raking in huge sums nearly across the board, but Adelson’s donation highlights how the two major outside groups charged with keeping the Senate in Republican hands have kept pace with their Democratic counterparts in the money chase, which could prove crucial as Republicans struggle to defend their 53-47 majority in Congress’s upper chamber.
“SLF has already placed the largest fall reservation in our organization’s history as we fight to defend our majority, and this month’s fundraising haul is an important down payment on that activity,” said Steven Law, the group’s president.
The Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic group controlled by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s political operation, raised a similar $30 million in June and has just shy of $87 million on hand. Its largest donation came from a nonprofit group that does not have to disclose its donors.
Both the Senate Majority PAC and the Senate Leadership Fund are super PACs, meaning they can collect and spend unlimited sums as long as they do not directly coordinate with political candidates.
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The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which are subject to the standard $2,800 federal donation limit but can directly work with candidates, are also in similar financial positions. The DSCC raised just over $13.5 million in June and has $37 million on hand.
The NRSC, which has already started spending extensively in key races, raised $14 million and has $30 million on hand.
Adelson, who is often the single-biggest donor to GOP campaigns and committees, typically gives tens of millions of dollars to Senate Republicans each cycle. The megadonor and founder of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. is known for his hawkish stance on Israel ― he was heavily involved in pushing the Trump administration to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem ― and for fiercely protecting his gambling interests.
In 2018, a trio of Senate Republicans introduced legislation to essentially ban online gambling ― a major goal of Adelson’s ― not long after a massive donation he made to SLF become public.
Other donors to the Senate Leadership Fund in June included five members of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s family, who combined to give $450,000.
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The biggest donation to the Senate Majority PAC came in the form of an $8 million check from Majority Forward, a nonprofit also controlled by Schumer allies. Majority Forward does not have to disclose its donors.