theguardian--2020-07-27--John Lewis: voice of civil rights leader rings out one final time at lying-in-state

John Lewis was a gentle man but a stentorian speechmaker .
On Monday , for the last time , his courageous voice echoed in the halls of the Capitol and brought all who heard it to a standstill .
As the recording of Lewis ended , Nancy Pelosi , the House speaker , took her seat and the Rotunda erupted in applause .
Then Pelosi rose to her feet again and everyone followed her lead .
In a perfect circle , the guests stood and clapped the casket draped in the Stars and Stripes on a black catafalque at their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ farewell to “ the conscience of the Congress ” who served in the House of Representatives for 33 years .
Lewis died on 17 July from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80 .
On Sunday his remains made one last journey across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma , Alabama , where he bled for civil rights in 1965 .
On Monday the casket arrived in Washington and made four poignant stops : the Martin Luther King memorial , the Lincoln Memorial ( where he was the youngest speaker at the March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ( a project that is one of his great legacies ) and the new Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House , recognising a movement that gave his career exquisite symmetry .
Police could be seen saluting the hearse as it went by .
Then the casket was solemnly carried up the US Capitol steps .
Lewis , who grew up on a farm in rural Alabama in the Jim Crow south , became the first Black member of Congress to lie in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resting on a catafalque previously used for Abraham Lincoln , John F Kennedy , Ronald Reagan and the supreme court justice Thurgood Marshall .
The paradoxes of the American experiment were manifest as statues of the slave-owning presidents George Washington and Andrew Jackson , and a bust of the civil rights leader King , looked on in the magnificent building constructed with enslaved labour .
Mitch McConnell , the Republican Senate majority leader , offered a eulogy .
“ America ’ s original sin of slavery was allowed to fester for far too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It left a long wake of pain , violence , and brokenness that has taken great efforts from great heroes to address .
“ John ’ s friend Dr Martin Luther King Jr famously said ‘ the arc of the moral universe is long , but it bends toward justice ’ .
But that is never automatic .
History only bent toward what ’ s right because people like John paid the price to help bend it.
” McConnell is currently blocking a vote on extending the newly renamed John Lewis Voting Rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chief enabler of Donald Trump ’ s conservative agenda .
Asked at the White House if he intends to pay his respects to Lewis , the president said tersely : “ No , I won ’ t be going .
No.
” Trump and Lewis had fierce disagreements .
But his election rival , Joe Biden , did come to the Rotunda with his wife , Jill .
Those guests present on Monday sat physically distanced from one another and wearing face masks , some of which bore Lewis ’ s celebrated phrase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from his exhortation : “ Never , ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble , necessary trouble.
” Pelosi , wearing black , with a US flag mask lowered around her neck , paid tribute to his lifelong fight against segregation and for racial justice .
“ Here in Congress , John was revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle , on both sides of the Capitol , ” she said .
“ We knew that he always worked on the side of the angels – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is with them.
” And as if she were standing in the chamber , she said : “ It is my personal privilege , right now , for me to yield , to our beloved colleague , the distinguished gentleman from Georgia , Congressman John Lewis.
” The Rotunda was hushed as that familiar , fiery voice resounded once more .
On the recording , Lewis said : “ As young people , you must understand that there are forces that want to take us back to another period .
But you must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back , we ’ ve made too much progress “ There may be some setbacks , some delays , some disappointment , but you must never , ever give up or give in .
You must keep the faith and keep your eyes on the prize .
That is your calling , that is your mission , that is your moral obligation , that is your mandate.
” After the applause , there was a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace from Wintley Phipps , a singer and education activist .
Wreaths were laid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Capitol steps , which Vice-President Mike Pence is set to attend .
John-Miles Lewis stood before his father ’ s casket .
Pelosi , a Catholic , made the sign of the cross and blew a kiss to this lion of the “ greatest generation ” of the civil rights struggle – a generation now slipping away .

John Lewis was a gentle man but a stentorian speechmaker. On Monday, for the last time, his courageous voice echoed in the halls of the Capitol and brought all who heard it to a standstill.
As the recording of Lewis ended, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, took her seat and the Rotunda erupted in applause. Then Pelosi rose to her feet again and everyone followed her lead. In a perfect circle, the guests stood and clapped the casket draped in the Stars and Stripes on a black catafalque at their centre.
They had come to bid farewell to “the conscience of the Congress” who served in the House of Representatives for 33 years. Lewis died on 17 July from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. On Sunday his remains made one last journey across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where he bled for civil rights in 1965.
On Monday the casket arrived in Washington and made four poignant stops: the Martin Luther King memorial, the Lincoln Memorial (where he was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington in 1963), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (a project that is one of his great legacies) and the new Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, recognising a movement that gave his career exquisite symmetry. Police could be seen saluting the hearse as it went by.
The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and the South Carolina senator Tim Scott place a wreath at the casket of the late congressman John Lewis. Photograph: Getty Images
Then the casket was solemnly carried up the US Capitol steps. Lewis, who grew up on a farm in rural Alabama in the Jim Crow south, became the first Black member of Congress to lie in state in the US Capitol rotunda, resting on a catafalque previously used for Abraham Lincoln, John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and the supreme court justice Thurgood Marshall.
The paradoxes of the American experiment were manifest as statues of the slave-owning presidents George Washington and Andrew Jackson, and a bust of the civil rights leader King, looked on in the magnificent building constructed with enslaved labour.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader, offered a eulogy. “America’s original sin of slavery was allowed to fester for far too long,” he said. “It left a long wake of pain, violence, and brokenness that has taken great efforts from great heroes to address.
“John’s friend Dr Martin Luther King Jr famously said ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’. But that is never automatic. History only bent toward what’s right because people like John paid the price to help bend it.”
McConnell is currently blocking a vote on extending the newly renamed John Lewis Voting Rights Act, as well as acting as chief enabler of Donald Trump’s conservative agenda. Asked at the White House if he intends to pay his respects to Lewis, the president said tersely: “No, I won’t be going. No.” Trump and Lewis had fierce disagreements. But his election rival, Joe Biden, did come to the Rotunda with his wife, Jill.
The Texas congresswoman Sheila Jackson wears a ‘Good Trouble’ face mask in the Rotunda of the US Capitol. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock
Those guests present on Monday sat physically distanced from one another and wearing face masks, some of which bore Lewis’s celebrated phrase, “Good trouble”, taken from his exhortation: “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Pelosi, wearing black, with a US flag mask lowered around her neck, paid tribute to his lifelong fight against segregation and for racial justice. “Here in Congress, John was revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol,” she said. “We knew that he always worked on the side of the angels – and now, we know that he is with them.”
And as if she were standing in the chamber, she said: “It is my personal privilege, right now, for me to yield, to our beloved colleague, the distinguished gentleman from Georgia, Congressman John Lewis.”
The Rotunda was hushed as that familiar, fiery voice resounded once more. On the recording, Lewis said: “As young people, you must understand that there are forces that want to take us back to another period. But you must say that we’re not going back, we’ve made too much progress
Dr Wintley Phipps sings during the memorial service for the late congressman John Lewis. Photograph: Matt Mcclain/AFP/Getty Images
“There may be some setbacks, some delays, some disappointment, but you must never, ever give up or give in. You must keep the faith and keep your eyes on the prize. That is your calling, that is your mission, that is your moral obligation, that is your mandate.”
After the applause, there was a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace from Wintley Phipps, a singer and education activist. Wreaths were laid ahead of a public viewing on the Capitol steps, which Vice-President Mike Pence is set to attend.
John-Miles Lewis stood before his father’s casket. Pelosi, a Catholic, made the sign of the cross and blew a kiss to this lion of the “greatest generation” of the civil rights struggle – a generation now slipping away.


theguardian--2020-07-27--Trump's national security adviser tests positive for coronavirus

The national security adviser , Robert O ’ Brien , has tested positive for the coronavirus , but the White House insisted there was “ no risk ” of Donald Trump being exposed .
However , O ’ Brien recently returned from a trip to Europe where he was photographed , without wearing a mask or social distancing , with several foreign officials , including his UK counterpart , Mark Sedwill ; the UK ambassador to France , Edward Llewellyn ; and the French national security adviser , Emmanuel Bonne .
Several White House staffers have fallen sick from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but O ’ Brien is highest-level administration official so far to have tested positive .
“ He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site .
There is no risk of exposure to the president or the vice-president .
The work of the national security council continues uninterrupted , ” the White House said in a statement .
CNN cited officials as saying O ’ Brien abruptly left the White House last Thursday and has been working from home since then .
According to the report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ telling national security council staff he had tested positive , and some found out only from news reports on Monday .
It is unclear when O ’ Brien last had a meeting with the president .
Their most recent public appearance together was during a visit to US Southern Command in Miami on 10 July .
O ’ Brien has hired as national security adviser in September , despite having relatively light foreign policy experience , and has taken a low-profile approach to the job , certainly compared to his immediate predecessor , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tense atmosphere in Washington , as Republicans prepared to unveil their latest stimulus and relief proposals and Donald Trump digested new polling showing disapproval of his handling of the pandemic and leads in key states for his challenger , Joe Biden .
O ’ Brien is Donald Trump ’ s fourth national security adviser , a role naturally requiring close contact with the president .
According to CNN , O ’ Brien was on White House grounds last Thursday , raising questions about potential exposure .
It was also reported that White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s test via press reports .
Citing anonymous sources , Bloomberg News reported that O ’ Brien came down with the virus after a family event and was “ isolating at home while still running the NSC [ national security council ] , doing most of his work by phone ” .
But CNN reported that O ’ Brien recently went to Europe with staffers and reporters and said “ multiple pictures released from the trip showed O ’ Brien neither practicing social distancing nor wearing a mask ” .
The news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refusal to consistently wear a face mask in public , despite mounting evidence that masks help mitigate the spread of coronavirus .
The president strongly urged Americans to wear masks for the first time last week , but he has since been seen in public not wearing a mask .
Pressure was also mounting on Republicans in Congress on Monday , to finalise a new aid package and spare millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in the pandemic from enduring dire hardship when $ 600-a-week additional unemployment benefits expire on Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” just four days away , Republican leaders have indicated that they will unveil a $ 1tn aid package agreed with the White House .
But bitter partisan negotiations lie ahead , with a measure likely to pass only at the 11th hour .
House Democrats , who passed a $ 3tn package in May , have accused Republicans of dithering and object to replacing the $ 600 weekly benefits , which they want to extend , with a more complicated formula based on 70 % of wages .
That calculation could in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 200 a week .
Democrats are also unhappy about liability protections likely to be included in the Republican package that insulate employers from being sued by workers who contract coronavirus .
The negotiations come at a febrile time .
Last week 1.4 million Americans filed new unemployment claims , joining a pool of more than 30 million out of work .
As the political crisis on Capitol Hill comes to a head , there is no sign of the public health crisis abating .
According to the Covid Tracking project , 4.2m confirmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US with the death toll close to 140,000 .
Johns Hopkins University puts the death toll closer to 150,000 .
The death rate across the states has exceeded 1,000 people a day over the past week , although on Sunday a figure of 558 was recorded .
The infection rate is continuing to surge alarmingly , particularly in the south .
Louisiana , Mississippi and Alabama are all showing steep upward trajectories and many states have been forced to rein back on reopening their economies after the virus caused havoc in health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 400,000 confirmed cases and has surpassed the tally in New York , a previous center of the contagion .
California , struggling with a resurgence of its own , has recorded the most cases .
Despite the prevalence of disease in Florida the vice-president , Mike Pence , was scheduled to visit Miami on Monday , to highlight phase three trials for a vaccine .
The political fallout of the pandemic remains intense , both at state level and for the White House , where Donald Trump is dealing with the consequences of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impacts of the pandemic in the world .
With fewer than 100 days to go before the presidential election , Joe Biden now holds a commanding lead in the polls .
A new NBC News/Marist poll released on Monday underlined the danger of the current moment for Trump .
It gave Biden a seven-point lead in the vital swing state of North Carolina , increasingly seen as a bellwether in presidential elections .
Among registered voters in the state , Biden was supported by 51 % to Trump ’ s 44 % .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ far-reaching implications for millions .
Democrats have warned that any reduction in financial help to the unemployed could herald a wave of evictions as households struggle to meet rent .
On Sunday , the Trump adviser Larry Kudlow pledged on CNN ’ s State of the Union that a moratorium on housing evictions , which has expired , will be extended .

Joan E Greve and Julian Borger in Washington and Ed Pilkington in New York

The national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for the coronavirus, but the White House insisted there was “no risk” of Donald Trump being exposed.
However, O’Brien recently returned from a trip to Europe where he was photographed, without wearing a mask or social distancing, with several foreign officials, including his UK counterpart, Mark Sedwill; the UK ambassador to France, Edward Llewellyn; and the French national security adviser, Emmanuel Bonne.
Several White House staffers have fallen sick from the disease over the past few months, but O’Brien is highest-level administration official so far to have tested positive.
“He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site. There is no risk of exposure to the president or the vice-president. The work of the national security council continues uninterrupted,” the White House said in a statement.
CNN cited officials as saying O’Brien abruptly left the White House last Thursday and has been working from home since then. According to the report, there was no email sent out telling national security council staff he had tested positive, and some found out only from news reports on Monday.
It is unclear when O’Brien last had a meeting with the president. Their most recent public appearance together was during a visit to US Southern Command in Miami on 10 July.
O’Brien was hired as national security adviser in September, despite having relatively light foreign policy experience, and has taken a low-profile approach to the job, certainly compared to his immediate predecessor, John Bolton.
The news stirred a tense atmosphere in Washington, as Republicans prepared to unveil their latest stimulus and relief proposals and Donald Trump digested new polling showing disapproval of his handling of the pandemic and leads in key states for his challenger, Joe Biden.
O’Brien is Donald Trump’s fourth national security adviser, a role naturally requiring close contact with the president. According to CNN, O’Brien was on White House grounds last Thursday, raising questions about potential exposure. It was also reported that White House staffers only learned of O’Brien’s test via press reports.
Citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg News reported that O’Brien came down with the virus after a family event and was “isolating at home while still running the NSC [national security council], doing most of his work by phone”.
But CNN reported that O’Brien recently went to Europe with staffers and reporters and said “multiple pictures released from the trip showed O’Brien neither practicing social distancing nor wearing a mask”.
The news will intensify scrutiny over Trump’s refusal to consistently wear a face mask in public, despite mounting evidence that masks help mitigate the spread of coronavirus. The president strongly urged Americans to wear masks for the first time last week, but he has since been seen in public not wearing a mask.
Pressure was also mounting on Republicans in Congress on Monday, to finalise a new aid package and spare millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in the pandemic from enduring dire hardship when $600-a-week additional unemployment benefits expire on Friday.
With the so-called “income cliff” just four days away, Republican leaders have indicated that they will unveil a $1tn aid package agreed with the White House. But bitter partisan negotiations lie ahead, with a measure likely to pass only at the 11th hour.
House Democrats, who passed a $3tn package in May, have accused Republicans of dithering and object to replacing the $600 weekly benefits, which they want to extend, with a more complicated formula based on 70% of wages. That calculation could in effect see support reduced to about $200 a week.
Democrats are also unhappy about liability protections likely to be included in the Republican package that insulate employers from being sued by workers who contract coronavirus.
The negotiations come at a febrile time. Last week 1.4 million Americans filed new unemployment claims, joining a pool of more than 30 million out of work.
As the political crisis on Capitol Hill comes to a head, there is no sign of the public health crisis abating. According to the Covid Tracking project, 4.2m confirmed cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the US with the death toll close to 140,000. Johns Hopkins University puts the death toll closer to 150,000.
The death rate across the states has exceeded 1,000 people a day over the past week, although on Sunday a figure of 558 was recorded.
The infection rate is continuing to surge alarmingly, particularly in the south. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are all showing steep upward trajectories and many states have been forced to rein back on reopening their economies after the virus caused havoc in health systems.
Florida now has more than 400,000 confirmed cases and has surpassed the tally in New York, a previous center of the contagion. California, struggling with a resurgence of its own, has recorded the most cases.
Despite the prevalence of disease in Florida the vice-president, Mike Pence, was scheduled to visit Miami on Monday, to highlight phase three trials for a vaccine.
The political fallout of the pandemic remains intense, both at state level and for the White House, where Donald Trump is dealing with the consequences of having presided over one of the worst impacts of the pandemic in the world. With fewer than 100 days to go before the presidential election, Joe Biden now holds a commanding lead in the polls.
A new NBC News/Marist poll released on Monday underlined the danger of the current moment for Trump. It gave Biden a seven-point lead in the vital swing state of North Carolina, increasingly seen as a bellwether in presidential elections. Among registered voters in the state, Biden was supported by 51% to Trump’s 44%.
Congressional horse trading over aid could have far-reaching implications for millions. Democrats have warned that any reduction in financial help to the unemployed could herald a wave of evictions as households struggle to meet rent.
On Sunday, the Trump adviser Larry Kudlow pledged on CNN’s State of the Union that a moratorium on housing evictions, which has expired, will be extended.


theguardian--2020-07-27--US attorney general may be using Assange case for political ends, court told

The US attorney general , William Barr , may be using Julian Assange ’ s extradition case in the UK for political ends , the WikiLeaks founder ’ s defence team alleged during a court hearing at which he appeared by video link from prison for the first time in months .
It was a fact that Donald Trump had described the defence case as “ a plot by the Democrats ” , Edward Fitzgerald QC told the hearing at Westminster magistrates court .
Fitzgerald said a new superseding US indictment , produced months after the start of attempts in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been “ sprung ” on his defence team .
The indictment , which had not yet been formally laid before the court , supersedes previous indictments brought in February and which related to 2010 and 2011 .
A US grand jury had previously indicted Assange on 18 charges – 17 of which fall under the Espionage Act – around conspiracy to receive , obtaining and disclosing classified diplomatic and military documents .
The details in the new indictment – publicised last month by the US Department of Justice – focus on conferences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at which US prosecutors say Assange tried to recruit hackers who could find classified information , including in relation to a “ most wanted leaks ” list posted on the WikiLeaks website .
The hearing on Monday was the latest in a series of administrative hearings .
Chaotic arrangements meant journalists , legal observers and some lawyers had difficulty accessing it remotely to listen in .
The full hearing of the extradition case has been postponed until September due to the Covid-19 pandemic .
Wearing a beige sweater and a pink shirt , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an earlier attempt was aborted .
Fitzgerald told the hearing it would be improper if the new indictment led to the postponement of the hearing until after the November presidential election in the US .
Judge Vanessa Baraitser told the hearing that the deadline had arrived for any further evidence before the extradition hearing , aside from psychiatric reports .
She said she expected all parties to attend the hearing in September in person .
Outside the court , the WikiLeaks editor-in-chief , Kristinn Hrafnsson , said : “ The ‘ new ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ All the alleged events have been known to the prosecution for years .
“ It contains no new charges .
What ’ s really happening here is that despite its decade-long head-start , the prosecution are still unable to build a coherent and credible case .
So they ’ ve scrapped their previous two indictments and gone for a third try.
” US Department of Justice authorities have said : “ The new indictment does not add additional counts to the prior 18-count superseding indictment returned against Assange in May 2019 .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged .
”

The US attorney general, William Barr, may be using Julian Assange’s extradition case in the UK for political ends, the WikiLeaks founder’s defence team alleged during a court hearing at which he appeared by video link from prison for the first time in months.
It was a fact that Donald Trump had described the defence case as “a plot by the Democrats”, Edward Fitzgerald QC told the hearing at Westminster magistrates court.
Fitzgerald said a new superseding US indictment, produced months after the start of attempts in the UK to secure his extradition, had been “sprung” on his defence team.
The indictment, which had not yet been formally laid before the court, supersedes previous indictments brought in February and which related to 2010 and 2011.
A US grand jury had previously indicted Assange on 18 charges – 17 of which fall under the Espionage Act – around conspiracy to receive, obtaining and disclosing classified diplomatic and military documents.
The details in the new indictment – publicised last month by the US Department of Justice – focus on conferences in 2009 in the Netherlands and Malaysia at which US prosecutors say Assange tried to recruit hackers who could find classified information, including in relation to a “most wanted leaks” list posted on the WikiLeaks website.
The hearing on Monday was the latest in a series of administrative hearings. Chaotic arrangements meant journalists, legal observers and some lawyers had difficulty accessing it remotely to listen in. The full hearing of the extradition case has been postponed until September due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wearing a beige sweater and a pink shirt, Assange eventually appeared from Belmarsh prison after an earlier attempt was aborted.
Fitzgerald told the hearing it would be improper if the new indictment led to the postponement of the hearing until after the November presidential election in the US.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser told the hearing that the deadline had arrived for any further evidence before the extradition hearing, aside from psychiatric reports. She said she expected all parties to attend the hearing in September in person.
Outside the court, the WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, said: “The ‘new’ superseding indictment actually contains nothing new. All the alleged events have been known to the prosecution for years.
“It contains no new charges. What’s really happening here is that despite its decade-long head-start, the prosecution are still unable to build a coherent and credible case. So they’ve scrapped their previous two indictments and gone for a third try.”
US Department of Justice authorities have said: “The new indictment does not add additional counts to the prior 18-count superseding indictment returned against Assange in May 2019. It does, however, broaden the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged.”


theguardian--2020-07-27--Anti-fascists linked to zero murders in the US in 25 years

Donald Trump has made warnings about the threat of antifa and “ far-left fascism ” a central part of his re-election campaign .
But in reality leftwing attacks have left far fewer people dead than violence by rightwing extremists , new research indicates , and antifa activists have not been linked to a single murder in decades .
A new database of nearly 900 politically motivated attacks and plots in the United States since 1994 includes just one attack staged by an anti-fascist that led to fatalities .
In that case , the single person killed was the perpetrator .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ white supremacists and other rightwing extremists have carried out attacks that left at least 329 victims dead , according to the database .
More broadly , the database lists 21 victims killed in leftwing attacks since 2010 , and 117 victims of rightwing attacks in that same period – nearly six times as much .
Attacks inspired by the Islamic State and similar jihadist groups , in contrast , killed 95 people since 2010 , slightly fewer than rightwing extremists , according to the data set .
More than half of these victims @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a gay nightclub in Orlando , Florida , in 2016 .
‘ Leftwing violence has not been a major terrorism threat ’ The database was assembled by researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies ( CSIS ) , a centrist thinktank , and reviewed by the Guardian .
Its launch comes as Trump administration officials have echoed the president ’ s warnings of a violent “ leftwing ” revolution .
“ Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate , violent and extremist agenda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barr , said amid nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd .
A new justice department taskforce on violent anti-government extremists listed “ antifa ” as a major threat , while making no mention of white supremacy .
Defining which violent incidents constitute politically motivated acts of terrorism , and trying to sort political violence into leftwing and rightwing categories , is inherently messy and debatable work .
This is particularly true in the US , where highly publicized mass shootings are common , and some have no clear political motivation at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacks often overlap with other potential factors , including life crises , anger issues , a history of violent behavior and , in some cases , serious mental health conditions .
While researchers sometimes disagree on how to categorize the ideology of specific attacks , multiple databases that track extremist violence , including data maintained by the Anti-Defamation League , and from journalists at the Center for Investigative Reporting , have found the same trend : It ’ s violent rightwing attacks , not “ far-left ” violence , that presents the greater @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Leftwing violence has not been a major terrorism threat , ” said Seth Jones , a counter-terrorism expert who led the creation of CSIS ’ s dataset .
.
Most of the deadly extremist attacks the CSIS researchers categorized as “ leftwing ” were killings of police officers by black men , many of them US military veterans , who described acting out of anger or retribution for police killings of black Americans .
These shooting attacks include the murder of two police officers in New York City in 2014 , after Michael @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; and the murders of five officers in Dallas , Texas , and three officers in Baton Rouge , Louisiana , in 2016 .
Some of the gunmen who killed police had connections to black nationalist groups , which extremism researchers at CSIS and elsewhere said they typically categorize as leftwing , largely because in the 1960s , influential black nationalist groups like the Black Panther party were anti-capitalist and considered part of the New Left .
Making that categorization is less straightforward today , some researchers acknowledge , since some prominent black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antisemitic views , values that set them in opposition to the current American left .
Mark Pitcavage , a senior fellow at the ADL ’ s Center on Extremism , noted that Gavin Eugene Long , who staged an attack on police in Baton Rouge , had ties to black nationalism and was also part of an offshoot of the sovereign citizens movement , an anti-government ideology that is typically categorized as rightwing .
In several of the high-profile leftwing attacks included in the CSIS list the only fatality was the perpetrator .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of congressional Republicans during a baseball practice outside of Washington DC , in 2017 left the Republican congressman Steve Scalise seriously injured , and three other people shot .
The gunman , James Hodgkinson , 66 , was the only one killed in the attack .
Hodgkinson had deliberately targeted Republicans and had expressed disgust with Trump .
Many of the other leftwing attacks or plots in the CSIS database , including by anarchists , environmental groups and others , resulted in no deaths at all .
Often , leftwing plots , particularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ businesses or buildings , “ and their primary weapons have been incendiaries designed to create fires or destroy infrastructure – not kill people , ” said Jones , the researcher who led the creation of the data set .
The one deadly anti-fascist attack listed in the database occurred in July 2019 , when Willem von Spronsen , a 69-year-old white man , was shot dead by police outside an Ice detention center in Tacoma , Washington .
Authorities said von Spronsen had been throwing molotov cocktails , setting flares , that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he had a rifle .
Local activists told media outlets they believed he had been trying to destroy buses parked outside the facility that were used to transport people who were being deported .
Von Spronsen , who had previously been arrested at a protest outside the detention center , was involved in a contentious divorce , and both a friend and his ex-wife had described him as suicidal .
In a letter he wrote to friends before his death , Von Spronsen called detention centers “ concentration camps ” and said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ BuzzFeed News reported .
“ I am antifa , ” he reportedly wrote .
No one was harmed in the attack except Von Spronsen , according to media reports .
Researchers who monitor extremist groups at the Anti-Defamation League and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism said they , too , were not aware of a single murder linked to an American anti-fascist in the last 20 to 25 years .
Heidi Beirich , a co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism , said some leftwing groups were known for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1960s , adding : “ It ’ s just not the case today.
” Mark Pitcavage said he knew of only one killing , 27 years ago , that might potentially be classified as connected to anti-fascist activism : the shooting of a racist skinhead , Eric Banks , by an anti-racist skinhead , John Bair , in Portland , Oregon , in 1993 .
Given the discrepancies between the deadly toll of leftwing and rightwing violence , American law enforcement agencies have long faced criticism for failing to take the threat of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same time overstating the risks posed by leftwing protesters .
After a violent rally in California in 2016 , law enforcement officers worked with neo-Nazis to build criminal cases against anti-fascist protesters , while not recommending charges against neo-Nazis for stabbing the anti-fascists .
Antifa activists have been the targets of domestic terror attacks by white supremacists , including in a terror plot early this year , in which law enforcement officials alleged that members of the neo-Nazi group the Base had planned to murder a married couple in Georgia they believed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not going around murdering people like rightwing extremists are .
It ’ s a false equivalence , ” said Beirich .
“ I ’ ve at times been critical of antifa for getting into fights with Nazis at rallies and that kind of violence , but I can ’ t think of one case in which an antifa person was accused of murder , ” she added .
The new CSIS database only includes attacks through early May 2020 , and does not yet list incidents connected with the massive national protests against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Floyd , including the killings of two California law enforcement officers by a man authorities say was linked to the rightwing “ boogaloo ” movement .
Today , Jones said , “ the most significant domestic terrorism threat comes from white supremacists , anti-government militias and a handful of individuals associated with the ‘ boogaloo ’ movement that are attempting to create a civil war in the United States.
” Daily interpersonal violence and state violence pose a much greater threat to Americans than any kind of extremist terror attack .
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homicides in the United States in the past decade , according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
US police officers shoot nearly 1,000 Americans to death each year .
Black Americans are more than twice as likely to be shot by the police as white Americans , according to analysis by the Washington Post and the Guardian .
But the president ’ s rhetoric about “ antifa ” violence has dangerous consequences , not just for anti-fascists , but for any Americans who decide to protest , some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California-based organizer and anti-fascist activist , said she saw Trump ’ s claims about antifa violence , particularly during the George Floyd protests , as a message to his “ hardcore ” supporters that it was appropriate to attack people who came out to protest .
“ It ’ s his way of saying to his supporters : ‘ Yeah , go after them .
Beat them or kill them to the point where they go back home and stay home afraid , ’ ” Felarca said .

Editor’s note: Since this piece was published in July 2020, the data has changed: domestic terrorism experts now link one homicide in the US to a self-described anti-fascist, the first such killing in 25 years.
Donald Trump has made warnings about the threat of antifa and “far-left fascism” a central part of his re-election campaign. But in reality leftwing attacks have left far fewer people dead than violence by rightwing extremists, new research indicates, and antifa activists have not been linked to a single murder in decades.
A new database of nearly 900 politically motivated attacks and plots in the United States since 1994 includes just one attack staged by an anti-fascist that led to fatalities. In that case, the single person killed was the perpetrator.
Over the same time period, American white supremacists and other rightwing extremists have carried out attacks that left at least 329 victims dead, according to the database.
More broadly, the database lists 21 victims killed in leftwing attacks since 2010 , and 117 victims of rightwing attacks in that same period – nearly six times as much. Attacks inspired by the Islamic State and similar jihadist groups, in contrast, killed 95 people since 2010, slightly fewer than rightwing extremists, according to the data set. More than half of these victims died in a a single attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.
‘Leftwing violence has not been a major terrorism threat’
The database was assembled by researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a centrist thinktank, and reviewed by the Guardian.
Its launch comes as Trump administration officials have echoed the president’s warnings of a violent “leftwing” revolution. “Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate, violent and extremist agenda,” the attorney general, William Barr, said amid nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd. A new justice department taskforce on violent anti-government extremists listed “antifa” as a major threat, while making no mention of white supremacy.
Defining which violent incidents constitute politically motivated acts of terrorism, and trying to sort political violence into leftwing and rightwing categories, is inherently messy and debatable work. This is particularly true in the US, where highly publicized mass shootings are common, and some have no clear political motivation at all.
Stated political motives for violent attacks often overlap with other potential factors, including life crises, anger issues, a history of violent behavior and, in some cases, serious mental health conditions.
While researchers sometimes disagree on how to categorize the ideology of specific attacks, multiple databases that track extremist violence, including data maintained by the Anti-Defamation League, and from journalists at the Center for Investigative Reporting, have found the same trend: It’s violent rightwing attacks, not “far-left” violence, that presents the greater deadly threat to Americans today.
“Leftwing violence has not been a major terrorism threat,” said Seth Jones, a counter-terrorism expert who led the creation of CSIS’s dataset. .
Categorizing ‘leftwing’ extremist attacks
Most of the deadly extremist attacks the CSIS researchers categorized as “leftwing” were killings of police officers by black men, many of them US military veterans, who described acting out of anger or retribution for police killings of black Americans.
These shooting attacks include the murder of two police officers in New York City in 2014, after Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s killings; and the murders of five officers in Dallas, Texas, and three officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2016.
Some of the gunmen who killed police had connections to black nationalist groups, which extremism researchers at CSIS and elsewhere said they typically categorize as leftwing, largely because in the 1960s, influential black nationalist groups like the Black Panther party were anti-capitalist and considered part of the New Left.
Making that categorization is less straightforward today, some researchers acknowledge, since some prominent black nationalist organizations express homophobic, misogynistic and antisemitic views, values that set them in opposition to the current American left.
Mark Pitcavage, a senior fellow at the ADL’s Center on Extremism, noted that Gavin Eugene Long, who staged an attack on police in Baton Rouge, had ties to black nationalism and was also part of an offshoot of the sovereign citizens movement, an anti-government ideology that is typically categorized as rightwing.
In several of the high-profile leftwing attacks included in the CSIS list the only fatality was the perpetrator. A mass shooting attack on a group of congressional Republicans during a baseball practice outside of Washington DC, in 2017 left the Republican congressman Steve Scalise seriously injured, and three other people shot.
The gunman, James Hodgkinson, 66, was the only one killed in the attack. Hodgkinson had deliberately targeted Republicans and had expressed disgust with Trump.
Many of the other leftwing attacks or plots in the CSIS database, including by anarchists, environmental groups and others, resulted in no deaths at all. Often, leftwing plots, particularly by animal rights activists, have targeted businesses or buildings, “and their primary weapons have been incendiaries designed to create fires or destroy infrastructure – not kill people,” said Jones, the researcher who led the creation of the data set.
The one deadly anti-fascist attack listed in the database occurred in July 2019, when Willem von Spronsen, a 69-year-old white man, was shot dead by police outside an Ice detention center in Tacoma, Washington. Authorities said von Spronsen had been throwing molotov cocktails, setting flares, that he set a car on fire and that he had a rifle. Local activists told media outlets they believed he had been trying to destroy buses parked outside the facility that were used to transport people who were being deported.
Von Spronsen, who had previously been arrested at a protest outside the detention center, was involved in a contentious divorce, and both a friend and his ex-wife had described him as suicidal. In a letter he wrote to friends before his death, Von Spronsen called detention centers “concentration camps” and said he wanted to take action against evil, BuzzFeed News reported. “I am antifa,” he reportedly wrote.
No one was harmed in the attack except Von Spronsen, according to media reports.
Researchers who monitor extremist groups at the Anti-Defamation League and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism said they, too, were not aware of a single murder linked to an American anti-fascist in the last 20 to 25 years.
Heidi Beirich, a co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said some leftwing groups were known for more radical and violent tactics in the 1960s, adding: “It’s just not the case today.”
Mark Pitcavage said he knew of only one killing, 27 years ago, that might potentially be classified as connected to anti-fascist activism: the shooting of a racist skinhead, Eric Banks, by an anti-racist skinhead, John Bair, in Portland, Oregon, in 1993.
‘A false equivalence’
Given the discrepancies between the deadly toll of leftwing and rightwing violence, American law enforcement agencies have long faced criticism for failing to take the threat of white supremacist violence seriously, while at the same time overstating the risks posed by leftwing protesters. After a violent rally in California in 2016, law enforcement officers worked with neo-Nazis to build criminal cases against anti-fascist protesters, while not recommending charges against neo-Nazis for stabbing the anti-fascists.
Antifa activists have been the targets of domestic terror attacks by white supremacists, including in a terror plot early this year, in which law enforcement officials alleged that members of the neo-Nazi group the Base had planned to murder a married couple in Georgia they believed were anti-fascist organizers.
“Antifa is not going around murdering people like rightwing extremists are. It’s a false equivalence,” said Beirich.
“I’ve at times been critical of antifa for getting into fights with Nazis at rallies and that kind of violence, but I can’t think of one case in which an antifa person was accused of murder,” she added.
The new CSIS database only includes attacks through early May 2020, and does not yet list incidents connected with the massive national protests against police violence after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, including the killings of two California law enforcement officers by a man authorities say was linked to the rightwing “boogaloo” movement.
A member of the far-right militia Boogaloo Bois in Charlotte, North Carolina, on 29 May. Photograph: Logan Cyrus/AFP/Getty Images
Today, Jones said, “the most significant domestic terrorism threat comes from white supremacists, anti-government militias and a handful of individuals associated with the ‘boogaloo’ movement that are attempting to create a civil war in the United States.”
Daily interpersonal violence and state violence pose a much greater threat to Americans than any kind of extremist terror attack. More than 100,000 people have been killed in gun homicides in the United States in the past decade, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US police officers shoot nearly 1,000 Americans to death each year. Black Americans are more than twice as likely to be shot by the police as white Americans, according to analysis by the Washington Post and the Guardian.
But the president’s rhetoric about “antifa” violence has dangerous consequences, not just for anti-fascists, but for any Americans who decide to protest, some activists said.
Yvette Felarca, a California-based organizer and anti-fascist activist, said she saw Trump’s claims about antifa violence, particularly during the George Floyd protests, as a message to his “hardcore” supporters that it was appropriate to attack people who came out to protest.
“It’s his way of saying to his supporters: ‘Yeah, go after them. Beat them or kill them to the point where they go back home and stay home afraid,’” Felarca said.


theguardian--2020-07-27--The Uighurs' suffering deserves targeted solutions, not anti-Chinese posturing | James Millward

Leaders in China and the US seem nostalgic for the worst aspects of the 20th century .
Following recent revelations about forced labour , family separation and the repression of Uighur births , there should be no doubt that the policies inflicted by the Chinese Communist party ( CCP ) on the indigenous central Asians it rules meet the UN definition of genocide .
While the Trump administration has belatedly begun imposing sanctions over these atrocities , its overall China policy is driven by self-serving , not humanitarian , motivations .
It is clear that after first appeasing Xi Jinping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war will cover up his own bungled response to Covid-19 .
How , then , should other countries respond to the Xinjiang crisis amid dangerous Trumpian provocations ?
It helps to understand what ’ s been happening in Xinjiang on its own , outside the context of superpower sabre-rattling .
What the People ’ s Republic of China ( PRC ) has been doing in Xinjiang has little to do with counter-terrorism .
It is the culmination of a decade-long campaign to develop the north-western territory of Xinjiang by making its landscape and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The PRC has reversed what were once relatively pluralistic diversity policies in favour of assimilationism , aimed at engineering a homogeneous “ Zhonghua ” people : a nationalistic , unitary Chinese identity envisioned in general secretary Xi Jinping ’ s “ China Dream ” .
After a peaceful Uighur protest in Urumchi in 2009 was repressed by police with lethal force and turned violent , the party increased investment in the region by requiring rich provinces and cities in eastern China to build industrial parks and commercial zones in Xinjiang .
As labour @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the state relocated cotton-growing and low value-added manufacturing from coastal China to Xinjiang .
The goal was to provide manufacturing jobs for poor Uighur farmers and cheap labour for Chinese manufacturers .
Alongside this process of turning Uighurs into “ Chinese ” factory workers , the party attacked symbols of their identity .
It razed the old cities of Kashgar and Hotan ; it penalised , then outlawed , veils and head-coverings for women and beards on young men ; it opposed public prayer , fasting at Ramadan , and abstention from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ culture , to the point where Uighur students in the one remaining Uighur language class in Xinjiang schools study Chinese classics in Uighur translation , rather than Uighur classics ( the earliest Uighur texts are older than Beowulf ) .
The party sent police and inspection teams to search and even live in Uighur homes to hunt for signs of “ religious extremism ” , such as simply owning Qur ’ ans .
In response , unrest only increased .
After four relatively small terrorist events in 2013-14 , a new party secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hi-tech surveillance and “ grid policing ” , an intense deployment of checkpoints and police stations around areas that are deemed suspect .
A new artificial intelligence system drew on a vast database of behavioural and bio-data to assess , sort and submit some 2 million people deemed likely to have “ extremist thoughts ” to imprisonment or arbitrary internment .
Children of detainees were sent to orphanages and boarding schools to be brought up Chinese .
Simultaneously , the CCP began suppressing Uighur births , while encouraging Han ( China ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Through coerced insertion of IUDs ( 80 % of all IUD placements in China in 2018 were performed in Xinjiang , which has only 1.8 % of the population ) , sterilisations and mass detentions , the CCP lowered population growth rates by as much as 84 % in Uighur population areas between 2015 and 2018 .
The forceful transfer of children and measures intended to prevent births are two of the five elements of the UN definition of genocide .
Since 2019 , the party has moved hundreds of thousands of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ camps and villages into factories in those industrial parks built by east China provinces , cities and companies as part of the development project .
It has also transferred tens of thousands of Uighurs to factories in eastern parts of China , housing them in barracks under military-style discipline .
In doing so , the PRC has made Chinese provinces , cities and hundreds of companies that invested in Xinjiang and built and supplied the internment camps , partners in the Xinjiang gulag system .
Recent investigations have implicated at least 83 global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced labour regime .
The US is right to investigate and block the import of products from these supply chains , and any company sourcing from anywhere in China , not just Xinjiang , should redouble their due diligence .
Likewise , employing the recently passed Uighur human rights policy act ( UHRPA ) and the global Magnitsky act , the US recently sanctioned Chen and other Xinjiang officials .
It has put Chinese security agencies and companies on the Entity List that restricts their access to US technology .
These are positive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delayed for a year and half , apparently in the hope that Xi would gift him a trade deal to help his re-election , is a precise , calibrated tool to target PRC human rights atrocities .
Its application and that of global Magnitsky sanctions could not be more different from the White House ’ s other , pointlessly antagonistic actions against China and Chinese people : broad tariffs on billions of dollars ’ worth of Chinese goods ; using a racist term to refer to Covid-19 rather than collaborating to defeat a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fulbright exchanges ; calling Chinese students and scholars “ spies ” ; threatening to block CCP members and their families ( a group estimated at more than 200 million , the vast majority with no role in policy-making ) ; or shutting down the PRC consulate in Houston , Texas , at short notice .
Although there are certainly structural issues underlying US-Chinese rivalry , we should not discount the extent to which power-grasping and sheer lunacy from the top has needlessly exacerbated tensions .
Both the US and China are better than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multilateral organisations , NGOs and people outside the US and Chinese governments must thus think and act with agility to help stop the genocide but also head off a cold war .
Investigations of supply chains , shaming and sanctioning of corporations and officials linked to the Xinjiang gulag and similarly targeted measures will be important .
Providing support and legal refuge to Uighur , Kazakh and other Xinjiang exiles is critical .
A number of democratic nations have already denounced the Xinjiang atrocities in the UN Human Rights Council – a body @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , clearing the way for cynical PRC perversion of the council ’ s purpose .
Although these 22 nations ( including Britain , much of Europe , Canada , Japan , Australia and New Zealand ) were outnumbered by a cadre of states lined up behind Beijing , the joint statement condemning Xinjiang mass detentions matters , as will future such moves .
At the same time , whatever can be done to slow the runaway , off-the-rails train of Trumpian China policy more generally , and resolutely oppose racism and indiscriminate China-bashing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UK , EU and other democratic allies are caught in the middle of a US-China cold war , the Huawei tiff will be just the beginning .
Maintaining cultural and academic relations with the PRC is now more important than ever , as White House xenophobes seek to exclude Chinese people from American soil .
And though the president himself is not known for heeding wise advice , cautionary words from friends of the pre-Trumpian US can still influence the broader conversation and prevent Sinophobic frenzy from surging along with coronavirus .
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgetown University and the author of Eurasian Crossroads : A History of Xinjiang

Leaders in China and the US seem nostalgic for the worst aspects of the 20th century. Following recent revelations about forced labour, family separation and the repression of Uighur births, there should be no doubt that the policies inflicted by the Chinese Communist party (CCP) on the indigenous central Asians it rules meet the UN definition of genocide. While the Trump administration has belatedly begun imposing sanctions over these atrocities, its overall China policy is driven by self-serving, not humanitarian, motivations. It is clear that after first appeasing Xi Jinping, Trump now hopes a new cold war will cover up his own bungled response to Covid-19. How, then, should other countries respond to the Xinjiang crisis amid dangerous Trumpian provocations? It helps to understand what’s been happening in Xinjiang on its own, outside the context of superpower sabre-rattling.
What the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been doing in Xinjiang has little to do with counter-terrorism. It is the culmination of a decade-long campaign to develop the north-western territory of Xinjiang by making its landscape and peoples seem more “Chinese”. The PRC has reversed what were once relatively pluralistic diversity policies in favour of assimilationism, aimed at engineering a homogeneous “Zhonghua” people: a nationalistic, unitary Chinese identity envisioned in general secretary Xi Jinping’s “China Dream”.
After a peaceful Uighur protest in Urumchi in 2009 was repressed by police with lethal force and turned violent, the party increased investment in the region by requiring rich provinces and cities in eastern China to build industrial parks and commercial zones in Xinjiang. As labour costs rose in the rest of China, the state relocated cotton-growing and low value-added manufacturing from coastal China to Xinjiang. The goal was to provide manufacturing jobs for poor Uighur farmers and cheap labour for Chinese manufacturers.
Alongside this process of turning Uighurs into “Chinese” factory workers, the party attacked symbols of their identity. It razed the old cities of Kashgar and Hotan; it penalised, then outlawed, veils and head-coverings for women and beards on young men; it opposed public prayer, fasting at Ramadan, and abstention from alcohol; it discouraged Uighur language and culture, to the point where Uighur students in the one remaining Uighur language class in Xinjiang schools study Chinese classics in Uighur translation, rather than Uighur classics (the earliest Uighur texts are older than Beowulf). The party sent police and inspection teams to search and even live in Uighur homes to hunt for signs of “religious extremism”, such as simply owning Qur’ans. In response, unrest only increased.
After four relatively small terrorist events in 2013-14, a new party secretary in Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, implemented hi-tech surveillance and “grid policing”, an intense deployment of checkpoints and police stations around areas that are deemed suspect. A new artificial intelligence system drew on a vast database of behavioural and bio-data to assess, sort and submit some 2 million people deemed likely to have “extremist thoughts” to imprisonment or arbitrary internment. Children of detainees were sent to orphanages and boarding schools to be brought up Chinese. Simultaneously, the CCP began suppressing Uighur births, while encouraging Han (China’s ethnic majority) to have more babies. Through coerced insertion of IUDs (80% of all IUD placements in China in 2018 were performed in Xinjiang, which has only 1.8% of the population), sterilisations and mass detentions, the CCP lowered population growth rates by as much as 84% in Uighur population areas between 2015 and 2018. The forceful transfer of children and measures intended to prevent births are two of the five elements of the UN definition of genocide.
Since 2019, the party has moved hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other Xinjiang peoples from internment camps and villages into factories in those industrial parks built by east China provinces, cities and companies as part of the development project. It has also transferred tens of thousands of Uighurs to factories in eastern parts of China, housing them in barracks under military-style discipline. In doing so, the PRC has made Chinese provinces, cities and hundreds of companies that invested in Xinjiang and built and supplied the internment camps, partners in the Xinjiang gulag system. Recent investigations have implicated at least 83 global brands in supply chains connected to this forced labour regime.
The US is right to investigate and block the import of products from these supply chains, and any company sourcing from anywhere in China, not just Xinjiang, should redouble their due diligence. Likewise, employing the recently passed Uighur human rights policy act (UHRPA) and the global Magnitsky act, the US recently sanctioned Chen and other Xinjiang officials. It has put Chinese security agencies and companies on the Entity List that restricts their access to US technology. These are positive developments. The UHRPA, which Trump delayed for a year and half, apparently in the hope that Xi would gift him a trade deal to help his re-election, is a precise, calibrated tool to target PRC human rights atrocities.
Its application and that of global Magnitsky sanctions could not be more different from the White House’s other, pointlessly antagonistic actions against China and Chinese people: broad tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods; using a racist term to refer to Covid-19 rather than collaborating to defeat a global pandemic; cancelling Peace Corps and Fulbright exchanges; calling Chinese students and scholars “spies”; threatening to block CCP members and their families (a group estimated at more than 200 million, the vast majority with no role in policy-making); or shutting down the PRC consulate in Houston, Texas, at short notice.
Although there are certainly structural issues underlying US-Chinese rivalry, we should not discount the extent to which power-grasping and sheer lunacy from the top has needlessly exacerbated tensions. Both the US and China are better than their current leaders. Other countries, multilateral organisations, NGOs and people outside the US and Chinese governments must thus think and act with agility to help stop the genocide but also head off a cold war. Investigations of supply chains, shaming and sanctioning of corporations and officials linked to the Xinjiang gulag and similarly targeted measures will be important. Providing support and legal refuge to Uighur, Kazakh and other Xinjiang exiles is critical.
A number of democratic nations have already denounced the Xinjiang atrocities in the UN Human Rights Council – a body from which Trump rashly withdrew the US, clearing the way for cynical PRC perversion of the council’s purpose. Although these 22 nations (including Britain, much of Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) were outnumbered by a cadre of states lined up behind Beijing, the joint statement condemning Xinjiang mass detentions matters, as will future such moves.
At the same time, whatever can be done to slow the runaway, off-the-rails train of Trumpian China policy more generally, and resolutely oppose racism and indiscriminate China-bashing, is equally necessary. If the UK, EU and other democratic allies are caught in the middle of a US-China cold war, the Huawei tiff will be just the beginning. Maintaining cultural and academic relations with the PRC is now more important than ever, as White House xenophobes seek to exclude Chinese people from American soil. And though the president himself is not known for heeding wise advice, cautionary words from friends of the pre-Trumpian US can still influence the broader conversation and prevent Sinophobic frenzy from surging along with coronavirus.


theguardian--2020-07-26--Trump has helped the US to see its dark side. It will still be there when he goes | Nesrine Malik

If Donald Trump loses in November – and it ’ s a very big if , of course – then under Joe Biden , it will be hard for the United States not to be seduced into collective amnesia .
The Trump presidency has represented such a thorough subversion of political norms that , with a Biden victory , the temptation to move on from it as swiftly as possible will be strong .
Already the signs are beginning to appear .
The polls look encouraging for the Democrats , coronavirus is ravaging the country and Trump is unravelling a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and fails , to prove that he is “ cognitively there ” in TV interviews .
The temptation is to indulge in a sort of fast-forwarding to the future , where Trump is a blip , the first and last of his kind .
In a town hall meeting last week , Biden said : “ We ’ ve had racists , and they ’ ve existed , they ’ ve tried to get elected president .
He ’ s the first one that has.
” But 12 presidents , among them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Madison and Andrew Jackson , owned slaves .
Others presided over segregation .
Biden ’ s disavowal of racism in the most powerful office of the land is a piece of ahistoricism brought on by the need to believe that Trump is a singular monstrosity .
The idea is that his toxicity can be cleansed with his ejection from the White House .
This reassurance is , after all , what Biden is there for .
His weakness as a Democratic candidate has turned into a strength in a period of heightened uncertainty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ figure , who will not subject a traumatised country to any more sudden shocks .
The purpose of his presidency would be restorative , the idea to return the US back to “ normal ” .
Trump was just a long , vivid nightmare .
Chroniclers of the US ’ s journey are already preparing to write this account of a country that can be managed back to health .
The Johns Hopkins University professor Yascha Mounk tweeted that if the current polls holds and “ Biden crushes Trump ” , then “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to change their narrative about America quite a lot ” .
He concluded that they probably wouldn ’ t , all the same .
Nor should they .
The conditions that brought Trump to power and kept his poll ratings pretty much level throughout allegations of sexual assault , impeachment and indulgence of white supremacy will not have disappeared overnight .
And even though Trump ’ s departure , whenever it happens , will be enormously welcome , he did at least force a moment of national self-confrontation .
He revealed that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wings , ready to be emboldened .
He revealed the extent to which many Americans don ’ t care about morality in foreign policy .
He took Russia ’ s word about its interference over that of his own intelligence agencies – and in getting away with it , showed that his supporters ’ xenophobia was more powerful than their patriotism .
As long as he was dogwhistling against black people , Mexicans and Muslims , his betrayals would be forgiven .
These are painful things to acknowledge .
They run so contrary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to its comforting rhetoric and its political sacraments , that the business of trivialising them must begin at once if the country is to heal after Trump goes .
Getting back to normal after periods of abject moral failure is one of the US ’ s strengths .
When the Senate select committee on intelligence released its damning report on the CIA ’ s “ enhanced interrogation ” programme , concluding that the CIA avoided oversight and lied about the efficacy of torture , there was no punishment for anyone involved .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of hypothermia and another lost an eye , was “ troubling ” according to Barack Obama .
The report was even presented as evidence that the US ’ s ideals were intact .
“ No nation is perfect , ” Obama said , “ but one of the strengths that makes America exceptional is our willingness to openly confront our past , face our imperfections , make changes and do better.
” The same will happen if Trump loses later this year .
An image-laundering exercise , where the US will appoint itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sentence will be meted out .
It will investigate his time in office , soberly declare that failures happen , then pat itself on the back for rejecting him .
In 2016 , it was a challenge to accept that Trump won for any reason other than the economic disaffection of rust-belt voters .
Just as this “ calamity thesis ” dominated the aftermath of Trump ’ s victory , the idea that he is simply an anomaly will carry the day if he loses .
But Trump is a culmination , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US doesn ’ t move on too quickly isn ’ t to self-flagellate .
If there is no reckoning with what this presidency says about the country , another version of him , and all the dark forces he unleashed , will be back in short order .

If Donald Trump loses in November – and it’s a very big if, of course – then under Joe Biden, it will be hard for the United States not to be seduced into collective amnesia. The Trump presidency has represented such a thorough subversion of political norms that, with a Biden victory, the temptation to move on from it as swiftly as possible will be strong.
Already the signs are beginning to appear. The polls look encouraging for the Democrats, coronavirus is ravaging the country and Trump is unravelling a little more every day as he tries, and fails, to prove that he is “cognitively there” in TV interviews. The temptation is to indulge in a sort of fast-forwarding to the future, where Trump is a blip, the first and last of his kind. In a town hall meeting last week, Biden said: “We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, they’ve tried to get elected president. He’s the first one that has.”
But 12 presidents, among them George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Andrew Jackson, owned slaves. Others presided over segregation. Biden’s disavowal of racism in the most powerful office of the land is a piece of ahistoricism brought on by the need to believe that Trump is a singular monstrosity. The idea is that his toxicity can be cleansed with his ejection from the White House.
This reassurance is, after all, what Biden is there for. His weakness as a Democratic candidate has turned into a strength in a period of heightened uncertainty. Here is a pastoral, non-controversial figure, who will not subject a traumatised country to any more sudden shocks. The purpose of his presidency would be restorative, the idea to return the US back to “normal”. Trump was just a long, vivid nightmare. Chroniclers of the US’s journey are already preparing to write this account of a country that can be managed back to health. The Johns Hopkins University professor Yascha Mounk tweeted that if the current polls holds and “Biden crushes Trump”, then “a lot of people are gonna have to change their narrative about America quite a lot”. He concluded that they probably wouldn’t, all the same.
Nor should they. The conditions that brought Trump to power and kept his poll ratings pretty much level throughout allegations of sexual assault, impeachment and indulgence of white supremacy will not have disappeared overnight. And even though Trump’s departure, whenever it happens, will be enormously welcome, he did at least force a moment of national self-confrontation. He revealed that white supremacy is always waiting in the wings, ready to be emboldened. He revealed the extent to which many Americans don’t care about morality in foreign policy. He took Russia’s word about its interference over that of his own intelligence agencies – and in getting away with it, showed that his supporters’ xenophobia was more powerful than their patriotism.
As long as he was dogwhistling against black people, Mexicans and Muslims, his betrayals would be forgiven. These are painful things to acknowledge. They run so contrary to the foundational myth of America, to its comforting rhetoric and its political sacraments, that the business of trivialising them must begin at once if the country is to heal after Trump goes.
Getting back to normal after periods of abject moral failure is one of the US’s strengths. When the Senate select committee on intelligence released its damning report on the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” programme, concluding that the CIA avoided oversight and lied about the efficacy of torture, there was no punishment for anyone involved. The programme, during which one detainee died of hypothermia and another lost an eye, was “troubling” according to Barack Obama. The report was even presented as evidence that the US’s ideals were intact. “No nation is perfect,” Obama said, “but one of the strengths that makes America exceptional is our willingness to openly confront our past, face our imperfections, make changes and do better.”
The same will happen if Trump loses later this year. An image-laundering exercise, where the US will appoint itself as judge and jury, but no sentence will be meted out. It will investigate his time in office, soberly declare that failures happen, then pat itself on the back for rejecting him.
In 2016, it was a challenge to accept that Trump won for any reason other than the economic disaffection of rust-belt voters. Just as this “calamity thesis” dominated the aftermath of Trump’s victory, the idea that he is simply an anomaly will carry the day if he loses. But Trump is a culmination, not an aberration. The point in hoping the US doesn’t move on too quickly isn’t to self-flagellate. If there is no reckoning with what this presidency says about the country, another version of him, and all the dark forces he unleashed, will be back in short order.


theguardian--2020-07-26--Forget Putin, it's meddling by America's evangelical enforcer that should scare us | Simon Tisdall

US sheriff Mike Pompeo rode into town last week , telling whoppers as is his wont .
The secretary of state – Donald Trump ’ s top enforcer – accused Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , the World Health Organization chief , of cutting a secret pre-pandemic deal with China .
Because of this , “ you ’ ve got dead Britons , ” he claimed .
Pompeo offered no proof .
It was an outrageous smear .
But Tedros is a wanted man in Washington .
He verbally gunned him down .
Pompeo justified January ’ s real-life assassination of Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he posed an “ imminent ” threat to US interests .
Declaring the killing unlawful , the UN investigator , Agnès Callamard , ruled this month there was not a shred of evidence to support this .
Iran hawk Pompeo had reportedly urged the hit for months .
It was he who finally convinced Trump to order the killing .
Pompeo was caught out again last year before Trump ’ s impeachment .
He initially denied detailed knowledge of the phone call in which Trump tried to persuade Ukraine ’ s president to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rival , Joe Biden , saying he had not read the transcript .
It later emerged Pompeo had listened in on the call .
Democrats accused him of obstructing justice .
Speaking at Texas A & M University last year , Pompeo cheerfully confessed to telling lies when it suited him during a political career that began with election to Congress as a far-right Tea Party member in 2010 and took him to the CIA and state department .
“ I was the CIA director .
We lied , we cheated , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entire training courses , ” he said , as if reprising Marlon Brando ’ s role in The Ugly American .
In a week when parliament ’ s report into Russian interference in British life provoked deep soul-searching , the behaviour of Britain ’ s best friend bears closer examination , too .
In terms of overt and covert influence-peddling , arm-twisting and behind-the-scenes meddling , the US leaves Russia in the shade .
And by hook or by crook , Washington , unlike Moscow , usually gets its way .
The US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One is benign , open , and high-minded .
The other is darkly dominated by selfish calculation , ultimately reliant on brute force .
Pompeo , Trump ’ s most influential adviser and possible successor , is the undisguised , snarling face of this latter form of manipulative , intrusive and mendacious American power .
In less turbulent , less polarised times , the “ special relationship ” brought advantages for Britain .
In many respects , the opposite is now true .
The latest example of US pressure tactics , detrimental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s hysterical appeal last week for a united front of “ free nations ” to battle China ’ s “ new tyranny ” .
Manufacturing a cold war with Beijing may suit Trump and the Republicans as they cling to office .
It does not suit Britain .
Similarly ill-judged and unwelcome is the Trump administration ’ s attempt to destroy the International Criminal Court , a part-British creation of which the late Labour foreign secretary , Robin Cook , was rightly proud .
Pompeo has imposed sanctions and launched a bogus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offence ?
It dared to investigate alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan .
Pompeo and fellow hawks have done all in their power to prevent Britain and its European allies keeping lines open to Iran after Trump reneged on the 2015 nuclear deal .
They now appear embarked , with Israel , on a covert war of sabotage against Tehran .
If it comes to a fight , they will expect UK support .
The US has dismissed British views on the climate emergency and the Paris treaty , undermined the UN and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the joint fight against Isis , and sought to drag the UK into half-baked regime-change plots in Venezuela and Cuba .
None of this double-dealing will surprise those who recall Ronald Reagan ’ s secret deployment of nuclear-armed cruise missiles in Britain in the 1980s .
Clement Attlee ’ s government quickly discovered the high cost of American friendship after 1945 .
The Suez humiliation confirmed it .
Today , Britain is still paying for the damaging impact of the US “ war on terror ” and its Iraq adventurism on national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Pompeo ’ s evangelical faith and apocalyptic “ End Times ” views help explain US efforts to thwart another long-held British aim : a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine .
The support for Israel of Pompeo and fellow Christian Zionists is unconditional and uncompromising .
He once told Israelis Trump was sent by God to save the Jews from the Persians .
“ I am confident the Lord is at work here.
” A recent Pompeo speech elevating religious and property freedoms over other human rights , such as on abortion , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of an ultra-conservative platform in preparation for a 2024 presidential bid .
Pompeo is an energetic networker .
He has been investigated for using taxpayer-funded state department “ Madison dinners ” to cultivate wealthy political donors .
In London last winter , he attended an “ off-the-books ” meeting of the Hamilton Society , a private US-UK group of well-connected business leaders .
Days before last week ’ s UK visit , when he condescendingly praised Boris Johnson for dumping China ’ s Huawei and again ignored calls for justice for British @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in backwoods Iowa , a key state for any future presidency .
Lauding what he called his “ 100 % pro-life foreign policy ” , he declared : “ This administration appreciates and knows that our rights come from God , not government .
Can I get an amen to that ?
” Some Americans may put their hands together .
But ungodly Britons who value hard-won , not divinely conferred , democratic rights should beware .
Here was an unscrupulous , ambitious and dangerous man – far smarter than Trump – feeding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an alien , alienated society .
With friends like these , who needs Russia ?

US sheriff Mike Pompeo rode into town last week, telling whoppers as is his wont. The secretary of state – Donald Trump’s top enforcer – accused Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization chief, of cutting a secret pre-pandemic deal with China. Because of this, “you’ve got dead Britons,” he claimed. Pompeo offered no proof. It was an outrageous smear. But Tedros is a wanted man in Washington. He verbally gunned him down.
Pompeo justified January’s real-life assassination of Iran’s Gen Qassem Suleimani by saying he posed an “imminent” threat to US interests.
Declaring the killing unlawful, the UN investigator, Agnès Callamard, ruled this month there was not a shred of evidence to support this. Iran hawk Pompeo had reportedly urged the hit for months. It was he who finally convinced Trump to order the killing.
Pompeo was caught out again last year before Trump’s impeachment. He initially denied detailed knowledge of the phone call in which Trump tried to persuade Ukraine’s president to investigate the son of his White House rival, Joe Biden, saying he had not read the transcript. It later emerged Pompeo had listened in on the call. Democrats accused him of obstructing justice.
Speaking at Texas A&M University last year, Pompeo cheerfully confessed to telling lies when it suited him during a political career that began with election to Congress as a far-right Tea Party member in 2010 and took him to the CIA and state department. “I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. It was like we had entire training courses,” he said, as if reprising Marlon Brando’s role in The Ugly American.
In a week when parliament’s report into Russian interference in British life provoked deep soul-searching, the behaviour of Britain’s best friend bears closer examination, too.
In terms of overt and covert influence-peddling, arm-twisting and behind-the-scenes meddling, the US leaves Russia in the shade. And by hook or by crook, Washington, unlike Moscow, usually gets its way.
The US government shows two faces to the world. One is benign, open, and high-minded. The other is darkly dominated by selfish calculation, ultimately reliant on brute force. Pompeo, Trump’s most influential adviser and possible successor, is the undisguised, snarling face of this latter form of manipulative, intrusive and mendacious American power.
He once told Israelis Trump was sent by God to save the Jews from the Persians
In less turbulent, less polarised times, the “special relationship” brought advantages for Britain. In many respects, the opposite is now true. The latest example of US pressure tactics, detrimental to the national interest, was Pompeo’s hysterical appeal last week for a united front of “free nations” to battle China’s “new tyranny”. Manufacturing a cold war with Beijing may suit Trump and the Republicans as they cling to office. It does not suit Britain.
Similarly ill-judged and unwelcome is the Trump administration’s attempt to destroy the International Criminal Court, a part-British creation of which the late Labour foreign secretary, Robin Cook, was rightly proud. Pompeo has imposed sanctions and launched a bogus corruption probe. The ICC’s offence? It dared to investigate alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan.
Pompeo and fellow hawks have done all in their power to prevent Britain and its European allies keeping lines open to Iran after Trump reneged on the 2015 nuclear deal.
They now appear embarked, with Israel, on a covert war of sabotage against Tehran. If it comes to a fight, they will expect UK support. The US has dismissed British views on the climate emergency and the Paris treaty, undermined the UN and Nato, ducked its obligations in Syria and the joint fight against Isis, and sought to drag the UK into half-baked regime-change plots in Venezuela and Cuba.
None of this double-dealing will surprise those who recall Ronald Reagan’s secret deployment of nuclear-armed cruise missiles in Britain in the 1980s.
Clement Attlee’s government quickly discovered the high cost of American friendship after 1945. The Suez humiliation confirmed it. Today, Britain is still paying for the damaging impact of the US “war on terror” and its Iraq adventurism on national security, human rights and international law.
Pompeo’s evangelical faith and apocalyptic “End Times” views help explain US efforts to thwart another long-held British aim: a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine. The support for Israel of Pompeo and fellow Christian Zionists is unconditional and uncompromising. He once told Israelis Trump was sent by God to save the Jews from the Persians. “I am confident the Lord is at work here.”
A recent Pompeo speech elevating religious and property freedoms over other human rights, such as on abortion, was seen in Washington as a further fleshing out of an ultra-conservative platform in preparation for a 2024 presidential bid. Pompeo is an energetic networker. He has been investigated for using taxpayer-funded state department “Madison dinners” to cultivate wealthy political donors. In London last winter, he attended an “off-the-books” meeting of the Hamilton Society, a private US-UK group of well-connected business leaders.
Days before last week’s UK visit, when he condescendingly praised Boris Johnson for dumping China’s Huawei and again ignored calls for justice for British hit-and-run victim Harry Dunn, Pompeo was in backwoods Iowa, a key state for any future presidency. Lauding what he called his “100% pro-life foreign policy”, he declared: “This administration appreciates and knows that our rights come from God, not government. Can I get an amen to that?”
Some Americans may put their hands together. But ungodly Britons who value hard-won, not divinely conferred, democratic rights should beware. Here was an unscrupulous, ambitious and dangerous man – far smarter than Trump – feeding the prejudices, fears and schisms of an alien, alienated society. With friends like these, who needs Russia?


theguardian--2020-07-26--Trump can't shift public attention from coronavirus to the streets of America | Robert Reich

Donald Trump has said he has “ no responsibility ” for the coronavirus pandemic , fobbing it off on governors and mayors whose repeated requests for federal help he ’ s denied .
Yet he ’ s now sending federal troops into cities he says are controlled by the “ radical left ” , whose mayors and governors don ’ t want them there .
The president wants to shift public attention from the virus , which he can ’ t “ dominate ” , to the streets of America , which he and his secret police can .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because coronavirus deaths are rising again .
More Americans are on track to be hospitalized with the virus than at any other point .
Rates of new infections repeatedly shatter single-day records .
As a result , the US economy is backsliding .
Trump has never offered a national strategy for testing , contact tracing and isolating those who have the disease .
He has provided no standards for reopening the economy , no plan for national purchasing of critical materials , no definitive policy for helping the unemployed , no clear message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He rushed to reopen without adequate safeguards .
The hapless White House “ coronavirus taskforce ” is in perpetual disarray .
Trump has downgraded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) .
His Department of Labor hasn ’ t even put out standards for workplace safety .
Trump won ’ t use the Defense Production Act to secure supplies to perform tests – swabs , chemicals , pipette tips , machines , containers – so public health officials can ’ t quickly identify and isolate people who are infected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s been an abominable , chaotic mess – which is why the virus is back .
Yet when it comes to assaulting Americans , Trump has been asserting strong leadership .
He ’ s deploying unidentified federal agents against protesters in Portland , Oregon : attacking them , pulling them into unmarked vans , detaining them without charges .
Trump is also sending troops to Kansas City , Albuquerque and Chicago .
He says he ’ ll send them to New York , Philadelphia , Detroit , Baltimore and Oakland as well – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mayors , large black populations and no violent unrest .
Trump can ’ t find federal personnel to do contact tracing for the coronavirus but has found thousands of agents for his secret police , drawn from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security .
Trump doesn ’ t want to know about the coronavirus but he ’ s keeping careful track of the battles in the streets , demanding up-to-the-minute briefings from the front .
Public health authorities don ’ t have adequate medical equipment to quickly analyze coronavirus tests but Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to injure protesters , including armored vans , teargas , and tactical assault weapons – “ the best equipment ” , Trump boasted last week .
There is no legal authority for this .
The founders denied police power to the national government .
The local officials in charge of keeping public order reject Trump ’ s troops .
The mayor of Portland was teargassed this week .
The mayor of Kansas City calls them “ disgraceful ” .
Albuquerque ’ s mayor announced : “ There ’ s no place for Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Chicago ’ s mayor does “ not welcome dictatorship ” .
The one encouraging note – analogous to Sherlock Holmes ’ dog that didn ’ t bark – is the absence of the US military .
Unlike Trump ’ s lapdog attorney general , William Barr , the generals don ’ t want any part of it .
The Trump campaign is running fictitious ads portraying cities as overrun by violent leftwing mobs , and Trump ’ s shameless Fox News lackeys are depicting protesters as “ rioters ” and the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the same time , Trump is trying to suppress the truth about the coronavirus .
The White House is instructing hospitals to report cases to the Department of Health and Human Services rather than to the CDC .
Trump has muzzled the federal government ’ s most prominent and trusted virologist , Dr Anthony Fauci , while the White House tries to discredit him .
In the upcoming coronavirus relief bill , Trump doesn ’ t even want to fund more testing and tracing , or the CDC .
After railing against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools as “ very tough [ and ] expensive ” , Trump this week pressured the CDC to issue more lax guidelines , some of which were written by White House officials instead of CDC experts .
Yet Trump won ’ t be able to shift public attention from the virus to the streets of America .
The violence he ’ s trying to fuel and exaggerate is far less frightening to average voters than the virus , which is worsening by the day , especially in Texas , Florida , and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His blatant failure to contain it is causing people to die .
• None Robert Reich , a former US secretary of labor , is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism : For the Many , Not the Few and The Common Good .
His new book , The System : Who Rigged It , How We Fix It , is out now .
He is a columnist for Guardian US

Donald Trump has said he has “no responsibility” for the coronavirus pandemic, fobbing it off on governors and mayors whose repeated requests for federal help he’s denied. Yet he’s now sending federal troops into cities he says are controlled by the “radical left”, whose mayors and governors don’t want them there.
The president wants to shift public attention from the virus, which he can’t “dominate”, to the streets of America, which he and his secret police can.
It’s an especially cynical re-election strategy because coronavirus deaths are rising again. More Americans are on track to be hospitalized with the virus than at any other point. Rates of new infections repeatedly shatter single-day records. As a result, the US economy is backsliding.
Trump has never offered a national strategy for testing, contact tracing and isolating those who have the disease. He has provided no standards for reopening the economy, no plan for national purchasing of critical materials, no definitive policy for helping the unemployed, no clear message about what people and businesses should do. He rushed to reopen without adequate safeguards.
When it comes to assaulting Americans, Trump has been asserting strong leadership
The hapless White House “coronavirus taskforce” is in perpetual disarray. Trump has downgraded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). His Department of Labor hasn’t even put out standards for workplace safety.
Trump won’t use the Defense Production Act to secure supplies to perform tests – swabs, chemicals, pipette tips, machines, containers – so public health officials can’t quickly identify and isolate people who are infected and trace their contacts.
It’s been an abominable, chaotic mess – which is why the virus is back.
Yet when it comes to assaulting Americans, Trump has been asserting strong leadership. He’s deploying unidentified federal agents against protesters in Portland, Oregon: attacking them, pulling them into unmarked vans, detaining them without charges.
Trump is also sending troops to Kansas City, Albuquerque and Chicago. He says he’ll send them to New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland as well – not incidentally, all cities with Democratic mayors, large black populations and no violent unrest.
Trump can’t find federal personnel to do contact tracing for the coronavirus but has found thousands of agents for his secret police, drawn from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
Trump doesn’t want to know about the coronavirus but he’s keeping careful track of the battles in the streets, demanding up-to-the-minute briefings from the front.
Public health authorities don’t have adequate medical equipment to quickly analyze coronavirus tests but Trump’s police have everything they need to injure protesters, including armored vans, teargas, and tactical assault weapons – “the best equipment”, Trump boasted last week.
There is no legal authority for this. The founders denied police power to the national government. The local officials in charge of keeping public order reject Trump’s troops. The mayor of Portland was teargassed this week. The mayor of Kansas City calls them “disgraceful”. Albuquerque’s mayor announced: “There’s no place for Trump’s secret police in our city.” Chicago’s mayor does “not welcome dictatorship”.
The one encouraging note – analogous to Sherlock Holmes’ dog that didn’t bark – is the absence of the US military. Unlike Trump’s lapdog attorney general, William Barr, the generals don’t want any part of it.
The Trump campaign is running fictitious ads portraying cities as overrun by violent leftwing mobs, and Trump’s shameless Fox News lackeys are depicting protesters as “rioters” and the “armed wing of Democratic party”.
At the same time, Trump is trying to suppress the truth about the coronavirus. The White House is instructing hospitals to report cases to the Department of Health and Human Services rather than to the CDC. Trump has muzzled the federal government’s most prominent and trusted virologist, Dr Anthony Fauci, while the White House tries to discredit him. In the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, Trump doesn’t even want to fund more testing and tracing, or the CDC.
After railing against the CDC’s guidelines for reopening schools as “very tough [and] expensive”, Trump this week pressured the CDC to issue more lax guidelines, some of which were written by White House officials instead of CDC experts.
Yet Trump won’t be able to shift public attention from the virus to the streets of America. The violence he’s trying to fuel and exaggerate is far less frightening to average voters than the virus, which is worsening by the day, especially in Texas, Florida, and other states that went for Trump in 2016. His blatant failure to contain it is causing people to die.