theguardian--2020-07-20--Once a Republican bastion, Arizona is now a battleground that could decide the election

Ten years ago , Arizona enacted one of the strictest and most contentious immigration measures in the nation – the so-called “ show me your papers ” law – and a generation of young Latinos revolted .
Hundreds of Latino activists and high school students marched through the streets of downtown Phoenix , to protest against a piece of legislation they believed authorized police to discriminate against anybody who looked like them .
That was SB 1070 .
“ We were optimistic that we could stop [ then governor ] Jan Brewer from signing that bill , ” said Raquel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state capitol that day .
“ Obviously we didn ’ t , but it showed that we had the capacity to mobilize our communities.
” Today Terán works in the copper-domed capitol building where she used to protest .
She was elected as a Democrat in 2018 to represent a majority-Hispanic district in the Arizona house of representatives .
The decade-long backlash to the immigration law , accelerated by the election of Donald Trump , demographic change and population growth , is reshaping the state ’ s political landscape , turning one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into a battleground that could determine control of the White House and the Senate .
With less than four months until the election , polls show Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ahead of the president in Arizona , a state Trump won in 2016 by fewer than four percentage points , a far narrower margin than past Republican nominees .
Then , in 2018 , in November ’ s midterm elections , young Latino voters cast votes in record numbers , joining white moderates in the suburbs , to elect Kyrsten Sinema – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ senate seat in Arizona in decades .
In this year ’ s Arizona Senate race , several surveys have found Democrat Mark Kelly , a former astronaut and husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords , polling ahead of the Republican incumbent Martha McSally , who was appointed to the seat after the death of John McCain in 2018 .
While Trump ’ s embrace of hardline , anti-immigrant rhetoric seemed to rally his base in the midwest , operatives in both parties believe it has hurt him in Arizona , a border state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beyond the divisive politics that had tarnished their brand with Latino voters .
When lawmakers in 2010 introduced SB 1070 , which included a provision requiring law enforcement to determine the immigration status of anyone officers had “ reasonable suspicion ” to believe was in the country illegally , the political , economic and cultural backlash was swift .
Businesses , sports teams , musicians , even the city of Los Angeles , boycotted the state , and Jon Stewart mocked it as the “ meth lab of democracy ” .
The law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court rulings curtailed its most controversial elements .
“ There was political overreach from the right , and SB 1070 was the straw that broke the camel ’ s back , ” said Marisa Franco , the co-founder of the social justice advocacy group Mijente .
“ It awakened an electorate that ’ s , I think , more justice-minded.
” After the death of George Floyd in May , Black Lives Matter protests spread from diverse cities like Phoenix and Tucson to largely white , conservative corners of the state such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think it ’ s very possible for Arizona to turn not just blue , but even a shade further , ” Franco said .
“ There ’ s potential for Arizona to support not just the most moderate Democratic agenda , but go beyond that.
” Arizona , home to Barry Goldwater , the senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee considered the godfather of modern conservatism in America , has long eluded Democrats .
No Democratic presidential candidate has won the state since 1996 , and between 2008 and 2018 , no Democrat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now , the Grand Canyon state is a top target for the Biden campaign .
In recent years , an influx of new residents from more liberal states like California , and a growing electoral clout of Latinos , have slowly shifted Arizona ’ s political landscape , as its population becomes more diverse and less rural .
Yet a key factor driving its competitiveness this cycle are the residents living in the Valley ’ s famous suburban sprawl , who are abandoning the Republican party .
“ SB 1070 turned on this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started pushing out moderates and replacing them with very rabid , Anglo anti-immigrant Republicans , ” said Arizona congressman Ruben Gallego , who was among the Latino activists swept to elected office in the years after the law went into effect .
“ Now you have a generation of young Latinos who are starting to vote aligning with a new coalition of moderate suburban women.
” The trick for Democrats , Gallego added , is how to mobilize the young Latinos demanding systemic change without alienating white moderates craving stability and leadership .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ state is the boiling frustration over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic by Trump and Arizona ’ s Republican governor Doug Ducey .
Arizona is facing one of the worst outbreaks in the nation , after the state raced to reopen bars , restaurants and businesses .
More than 143,600 people have contracted Covid-19 in Arizona , overwhelming hospitals .
Maricopa county , which encompasses Phoenix , has ordered multiple refrigerated trucks as morgues reach capacity .
Ducey initially prevented local governments from setting their own coronavirus-related policies but reversed course in mid-June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In July , he asked the Trump administration to send hundreds of healthcare workers to the state to help .
As elsewhere , the pandemic has exacted a disproportionate toll on Arizona ’ s Black , Latino , and Native American residents .
In a widely-shared obituary published by the Arizona Republic , a daughter blamed her father ’ s death from Covid-19 on “ the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership ” .
What remains unclear is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters to cast ballots .
In 2016 and 2018 , Latinos voted at higher rates than in previous elections but organizers have warned that Democrats must invest more deeply in turning out this critical constituency .
Strategists believe the playbook for Democrats to be successful in the state is moderation and an appeal to bipartisanship .
In a post-mortem memo drafted after McSally ’ s 2018 loss , her campaign noted that Sinema had “ hugged McCain tightly , and never once had the word ‘ Democrat ’ in a TV advertisement ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and former Arizona state senator , said : “ The only way to win statewide as a Democrat in Arizona is to act like you ’ re not a Democrat.
” Barnes is skeptical that Republicans are headed for a political reckoning in November .
He said Democrats have moved too far left for a state that remains largely in Republican control .
Particularly on issues like policing , Barnes said Democrats are at risk of alienating white moderate voters who have historically sided with the “ law-and-order side of the equation ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a message of “ law and order , ” despite dramatic shifts away from his views on issues of race and policing in America .
In a naked appeal to white suburban voters this week , the president said that a Biden presidency would “ obliterate ” their way of life , declaring : “ Suburbia will be no longer as we know it.
” But in a sign Trump sees a fight in the desert , he has visited the state twice in two months , once in May to tour a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a rally in June , as coronavirus cases rose sharply in the state .
Because Latino voters in Arizona tend to overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates , whether or not the state will turn blue , “ really hinges on turnout , ” said Lisa Sanchez , a political scientist at the University of Arizona .
“ You ’ d think during the election of Donald Trump , we would have seen even more mobilization , ” Sanchez said .
“ You ’ d think all the anti-immigrant anti-Latino rhetoric would have fired people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groundwork for years , led by groups like One Arizona , a coalition of organizations focused on Latino civic engagement that was formed in the wake of SB 1070 .
Tried and tested methods like voter registration and canvassing helped power Democratic gains in 2018 - and , they hope , will dramatically reshape the electorate in 2020 .
“ Our folks were those people that would potentially not vote – not because they didn ’ t want to , but because they just simply didn ’ t know how to or there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zamudio , One Arizona ’ s deputy field director said .
Immigration is a priority for many Latino voters in the state but so too are healthcare and education , Zamudio said , especially as the coronavirus devastates their communities and a debate rages over when to return children to schools .
Yet organizers and strategists have expressed concern that Democrats are not doing enough to mobilize young Latino voters , particularly in swing states like Arizona , where they could determine the outcome .
Josh Ulibarri , a Phoenix-based Democratic pollster , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks surveying voters in Arizona , conducting thousands of interviews from across the state .
“ I ’ ve yet to pull a survey out of a field where I felt comfortable with where we are with Latino voters , ” he said , adding : “ I am really worried about enthusiasm .
And I ’ m really worried about motivation.
” In recent weeks , Biden has scaled up his Latino outreach efforts while building out his operation in the state .
Priorities USA , the main pro-Biden Super Pac , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mobilization and vote-by-mail effort targeting Black and Latino voters in battleground states , including Arizona .
For liberal activists in Arizona , a surge in Latino turnout would be the ultimate repudiation of the nativist politics that defined their youths .
The success of candidates like Terán in 2018 , they say , is a testament to the years they spent building a grassroots movement .
Born in Douglas , Arizona , Terán was raised on the Mexican side of the border and crossed into the US every day for school .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ hostility to immigrants in her state , Terán ’ s first political act was to register Latino voters .
Years later , she asked for their vote .
Days after winning her seat , Terán was served a lawsuit challenging her citizenship in court .
She saw it as a strain of the birther movement , promoted by Trump , that questioned the citizenship of Barack Obama , the nation ’ s first black president .
The case was dismissed but for Terán and her supporters , it was a reminder of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Ten years ago I was standing outside the capitol with a megaphone , ” she said .
“ Now I have a microphone and a seat at the table .
”

Ten years ago, Arizona enacted one of the strictest and most contentious immigration measures in the nation – the so-called “show me your papers” law – and a generation of young Latinos revolted.
Hundreds of Latino activists and high school students marched through the streets of downtown Phoenix, to protest against a piece of legislation they believed authorized police to discriminate against anybody who looked like them. That was SB 1070.
“We were optimistic that we could stop [then governor] Jan Brewer from signing that bill,” said Raquel Terán, who joined protesters at the state capitol that day. “Obviously we didn’t, but it showed that we had the capacity to mobilize our communities.”
Today Terán works in the copper-domed capitol building where she used to protest. She was elected as a Democrat in 2018 to represent a majority-Hispanic district in the Arizona house of representatives.
The decade-long backlash to the immigration law, accelerated by the election of Donald Trump, demographic change and population growth, is reshaping the state’s political landscape, turning one of the last conservative bastions of the south-west into a key place that could determine control of the White House and the Senate.
With less than four months until the election, polls show Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ahead of the president in Arizona, a state Trump won in 2016 by fewer than four percentage points, a far narrower margin than past Republican nominees. Then, in 2018, in November’s midterm elections, young Latino voters cast votes in record numbers, joining white moderates in the suburbs, to elect Kyrsten Sinema – the first Democrat to win a US senate seat in Arizona in decades.
In this year’s Arizona Senate race, several surveys have found Democrat Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, polling ahead of the Republican incumbent Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after the death of John McCain in 2018.
Operatives in both parties believe Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric has hurt him in Arizona
While Trump’s embrace of hardline, anti-immigrant rhetoric seemed to rally his base in the midwest, operatives in both parties believe it has hurt him in Arizona, a border state where many Republicans were trying to move beyond the divisive politics that had tarnished their brand with Latino voters.
When lawmakers in 2010 introduced SB 1070, which included a provision requiring law enforcement to determine the immigration status of anyone officers had “reasonable suspicion” to believe was in the country illegally, the political, economic and cultural backlash was swift. Businesses, sports teams, musicians, even the city of Los Angeles, boycotted the state, and Jon Stewart mocked it as the “meth lab of democracy”. The law remains in effect, though lawsuits and court rulings curtailed its most controversial elements.
“There was political overreach from the right, and SB 1070 was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Marisa Franco, the co-founder of the social justice advocacy group Mijente. “It awakened an electorate that’s, I think, more justice-minded.”
After the death of George Floyd in May, Black Lives Matter protests spread from diverse cities like Phoenix and Tucson to largely white, conservative corners of the state such as Fountain Hills and Kingman.
“I think it’s very possible for Arizona to turn not just blue, but even a shade further,” Franco said. “There’s potential for Arizona to support not just the most moderate Democratic agenda, but go beyond that.”
Arizona, home to Barry Goldwater, the senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee considered the godfather of modern conservatism in America, has long eluded Democrats.
No Democratic presidential candidate has won the state since 1996, and between 2008 and 2018, no Democrat was elected statewide at any level. Now, the Grand Canyon state is a top target for the Biden campaign.
In recent years, an influx of new residents from more liberal states like California, and a growing electoral clout of Latinos, have slowly shifted Arizona’s political landscape, as its population becomes more diverse and less rural. Yet a key factor driving its competitiveness this cycle are the residents living in the Valley’s famous suburban sprawl, who are abandoning the Republican party.
“SB 1070 turned on this radical element in the Republican party that started pushing out moderates and replacing them with very rabid, Anglo anti-immigrant Republicans,” said Arizona congressman Ruben Gallego, who was among the Latino activists swept to elected office in the years after the law went into effect.
“Now you have a generation of young Latinos who are starting to vote aligning with a new coalition of moderate suburban women.”
The trick for Democrats, Gallego added, is how to mobilize the young Latinos demanding systemic change without alienating white moderates craving stability and leadership.
Another reason for Democratic optimism in the state is the boiling frustration over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic by Trump and Arizona’s Republican governor Doug Ducey.
Trump with Doug Ducey as the president tours a section of the border wall in June. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Arizona is facing one of the worst outbreaks in the nation, after the state raced to reopen bars, restaurants and businesses. More than 143,600 people have contracted Covid-19 in Arizona, overwhelming hospitals. Maricopa county, which encompasses Phoenix, has ordered multiple refrigerated trucks as morgues reach capacity.
Ducey initially prevented local governments from setting their own coronavirus-related policies but reversed course in mid-June, as cases and hospitalizations rose sharply. In July, he asked the Trump administration to send hundreds of healthcare workers to the state to help.
As elsewhere, the pandemic has exacted a disproportionate toll on Arizona’s Black, Latino, and Native American residents. In a widely-shared obituary published by the Arizona Republic, a daughter blamed her father’s death from Covid-19 on “the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership”.
What remains unclear is the extent to which anger will propel Latino voters to cast ballots. In 2016 and 2018, Latinos voted at higher rates than in previous elections but organizers have warned that Democrats must invest more deeply in turning out this critical constituency.
Strategists believe the playbook for Democrats to be successful in the state is moderation and an appeal to bipartisanship. In a post-mortem memo drafted after McSally’s 2018 loss, her campaign noted that Sinema had “hugged McCain tightly, and never once had the word ‘Democrat’ in a TV advertisement”.
Stan Barnes, a conservative consultant and former Arizona state senator, said: “The only way to win statewide as a Democrat in Arizona is to act like you’re not a Democrat.”
Barnes is skeptical that Republicans are headed for a political reckoning in November. He said Democrats have moved too far left for a state that remains largely in Republican control. Particularly on issues like policing, Barnes said Democrats are at risk of alienating white moderate voters who have historically sided with the “law-and-order side of the equation”.
Trump has staked his candidacy on a message of “law and order,” despite dramatic shifts away from his views on issues of race and policing in America. In a naked appeal to white suburban voters this week, the president said that a Biden presidency would “obliterate” their way of life, declaring: “Suburbia will be no longer as we know it.”
I think it’s very possible for Arizona to turn not just blue, but even a shade further Marisa Franco
But in a sign Trump sees a fight in the desert, he has visited the state twice in two months, once in May to tour a plant producing respiratory masks and again for a rally in June, as coronavirus cases rose sharply in the state.
Because Latino voters in Arizona tend to overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates, whether or not the state will turn blue, “really hinges on turnout,” said Lisa Sanchez, a political scientist at the University of Arizona.
“You’d think during the election of Donald Trump, we would have seen even more mobilization,” Sanchez said. “You’d think all the anti-immigrant anti-Latino rhetoric would have fired people up.”
Activists have been laying the groundwork for years, led by groups like One Arizona, a coalition of organizations focused on Latino civic engagement that was formed in the wake of SB 1070. Tried and tested methods like voter registration and canvassing helped power Democratic gains in 2018 - and, they hope, will dramatically reshape the electorate in 2020.
“Our folks were those people that would potentially not vote – not because they didn’t want to, but because they just simply didn’t know how to or there was a language barrier,” Liz Zamudio, One Arizona’s deputy field director said.
Immigration is a priority for many Latino voters in the state but so too are healthcare and education, Zamudio said, especially as the coronavirus devastates their communities and a debate rages over when to return children to schools.
Yet organizers and strategists have expressed concern that Democrats are not doing enough to mobilize young Latino voters, particularly in swing states like Arizona, where they could determine the outcome.
Josh Ulibarri, a Phoenix-based Democratic pollster, said he has spent the past six weeks surveying voters in Arizona, conducting thousands of interviews from across the state. “I’ve yet to pull a survey out of a field where I felt comfortable with where we are with Latino voters,” he said, adding: “I am really worried about enthusiasm. And I’m really worried about motivation.”
In recent weeks, Biden has scaled up his Latino outreach efforts while building out his operation in the state. Priorities USA, the main pro-Biden Super Pac, announced it is investing $24m in a mobilization and vote-by-mail effort targeting Black and Latino voters in key states, including Arizona.
For liberal activists in Arizona, a surge in Latino turnout would be the ultimate repudiation of the nativist politics that defined their youths. The success of candidates like Terán in 2018, they say, is a testament to the years they spent building a grassroots movement.
Born in Douglas, Arizona, Terán was raised on the Mexican side of the border and crossed into the US every day for school. Alarmed by what she saw as rising hostility to immigrants in her state, Terán’s first political act was to register Latino voters. Years later, she asked for their vote.
Days after winning her seat, Terán was served a lawsuit challenging her citizenship in court.
She saw it as a strain of the birther movement, promoted by Trump, that questioned the citizenship of Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president. The case was dismissed but for Terán and her supporters, it was a reminder of the formidable opposition that still exists in Arizona.
“Ten years ago I was standing outside the capitol with a megaphone,” she said. “Now I have a microphone and a seat at the table.”


theguardian--2020-07-20--US scientists rebuke Trump over coronavirus response and other affronts

More than 1,200 members of the US National Academy of Sciences have rebuked Donald Trump ’ s “ denigration of scientific expertise ” , an unusual move for a community which has historically avoided the political sphere .
The co-organizers of an open letter seeking to “ restore science-based policy in government ” say they have rapidly gained signatures during the coronavirus pandemic .
Scientists have watched the Trump administration downplay the crisis and ignore expert advice , including the need to wear masks and the dangers of using unproven drugs .
In the latest affront to the scientific world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to block funding for testing and tracing , which scientists widely agree is critical to slowing the spread of the coronavirus .
On Sunday , Trump called the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert , Anthony Fauci , a “ little bit of an alarmist ” .
The open letter began as a response to Trump ’ s refusal to accept and act on warnings from climate scientists .
In September 2016 , 378 academy members wrote that withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement would “ have negative consequences for the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leadership and credibility ” .
In April 2018 , more than 1,000 scientists signed a version of the letter which warned that Trump ’ s “ dismissal of scientific evidence in policy formulation has affected wide areas of the social , biological , environmental and physical sciences ” .
The three organizers have since invited members who joined NAS in 2019 and 2020 to sign on to the letter .
More than 62 % did , bringing the total to 1,220 out of a membership of about 2,900 .
Some of the signatories @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but felt compelled to add their names despite professional risks .
Benjamin Santer , a climate researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a co-organizer , said the administration has changedwhat it means to be a scientist in America .
“ We no longer have the luxury , in my opinion , of retreating to our offices and closing the door and hoping bad stuff will go away , ” he said .
“ That ’ s a singularly poor survival strategy when you ’ re facing a global pandemic or global climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to go away.
” The academy – which was formed during the civil war – exists to provide independent , objective advice to the nation .
Members are elected by their peers for outstanding research contributions .
About 500 current and deceased members have won Nobel Prizes .
Charles Manski , the second co-organizer , an economist at Northwestern University , acknowledged that some might view the letter as political but said the scientists do not .
They just want policy to be informed by the best possible information .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ establishment not to respond very well to a crisis that happens around the world , ” Manski said .
“ It ’ s quite another thing to be actively denigrating the science and making things up routinely.
” Trump has recently attacked guidelines for school reopening from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , calling them expensive and impractical .
In response , four former directors of the CDC wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post , warning that “ public health experts face two opponents : Covid-19 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to undermine ” their work .
“ These repeated efforts to subvert sound public health guidelines introduce chaos and uncertainty while unnecessarily putting lives at risk , ” they said .
The Trump administration has ignored or silenced science so many times that the Union of Concerned Scientists maintains an archive of incidents .
They range from contradicting hurricane forecasting to dismantling health protections at pork processing plants .
Ray Weymann , the third co-organizer of the open letter and a retired astronomer and astrophysicist , said frustration with the coronavirus response is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Every single week practically you hear about scientists being dismissed or relocated and key positions not being filled , ” he said .
“ Over the last two years this feeling just built up more and more and it was really highlighted by the pandemic .
”

More than 1,200 members of the US National Academy of Sciences have rebuked Donald Trump’s “denigration of scientific expertise”, an unusual move for a community which has historically avoided the political sphere.
The co-organizers of an open letter seeking to “restore science-based policy in government” say they have rapidly gained signatures during the coronavirus pandemic.
Scientists have watched the Trump administration downplay the crisis and ignore expert advice, including the need to wear masks and the dangers of using unproven drugs.
In the latest affront to the scientific world, the White House is reportedly seeking to block funding for testing and tracing, which scientists widely agree is critical to slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
On Sunday, Trump called the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, a “little bit of an alarmist”.
The open letter began as a response to Trump’s refusal to accept and act on warnings from climate scientists. In September 2016, 378 academy members wrote that withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement would “have negative consequences for the world’s climate system and for US leadership and credibility”.
In April 2018, more than 1,000 scientists signed a version of the letter which warned that Trump’s “dismissal of scientific evidence in policy formulation has affected wide areas of the social, biological, environmental and physical sciences”.
The three organizers have since invited members who joined NAS in 2019 and 2020 to sign on to the letter. More than 62% did, bringing the total to 1,220 out of a membership of about 2,900. Some of the signatories work in government or have federal grants but felt compelled to add their names despite professional risks.
Benjamin Santer, a climate researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a co-organizer, said the administration has changedwhat it means to be a scientist in America.
“We no longer have the luxury, in my opinion, of retreating to our offices and closing the door and hoping bad stuff will go away,” he said. “That’s a singularly poor survival strategy when you’re facing a global pandemic or global climate change. Bad stuff isn’t going to go away.”
The academy – which was formed during the civil war – exists to provide independent, objective advice to the nation. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding research contributions. About 500 current and deceased members have won Nobel Prizes.
Charles Manski, the second co-organizer, an economist at Northwestern University, acknowledged that some might view the letter as political but said the scientists do not. They just want policy to be informed by the best possible information.
“It’s one thing for the political establishment not to respond very well to a crisis that happens around the world,” Manski said. “It’s quite another thing to be actively denigrating the science and making things up routinely.”
Trump has recently attacked guidelines for school reopening from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), calling them expensive and impractical.
In response, four former directors of the CDC wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post, warning that “public health experts face two opponents: Covid-19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine” their work.
“These repeated efforts to subvert sound public health guidelines introduce chaos and uncertainty while unnecessarily putting lives at risk,” they said.
The Trump administration has ignored or silenced science so many times that the Union of Concerned Scientists maintains an archive of incidents. They range from contradicting hurricane forecasting to dismantling health protections at pork processing plants.
Ray Weymann, the third co-organizer of the open letter and a retired astronomer and astrophysicist, said frustration with the coronavirus response is just the latest reason scientists are signing.
“Every single week practically you hear about scientists being dismissed or relocated and key positions not being filled,” he said. “Over the last two years this feeling just built up more and more and it was really highlighted by the pandemic.”


theguardian--2020-07-20--God, abortion and better acoustics: Kanye West launches campaign with chaotic rally

Kanye West has launched his campaign tour for the US presidential election in chaotic fashion at an event in Charleston , South Carolina , delivering a rambling address that touched on theology , homelessness , corporate power , and involved a long debate with an audience member about abortion .
West also suggested that women should be given $ 1m when they have a baby .
The rapper took to the stage at the event wearing a bulletproof vest , and “ 2020 ” shaved into his head .
Without a mic , he proceeded to address a rowdy audience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for complete silence before asserting that future events “ will be in rooms where the acoustics will be incredible because I will be involved with the design ” .
West repeatedly referenced the terms of his deal with Adidas , his faith in God and racism in the US , including an assertion that “ [ abolitionist ] Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves , she just had the slaves go work for other white people ” .
Tubman is one of the most respected figures of 19th century America .
An @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helped enslaved Black men and women travel north to freedom and fought for the Union during the Civil War .
She later became a supporter of women ’ s suffrage .
But the event hit peak emotional intensity when West began to tell a story about what he believed was divine intervention into his life in a way that caused his wife , Kim Kardashian West , to refuse to terminate a pregnancy .
“ I was having the rapper ’ s lifestyle , ” he said .
“ I was sitting up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leather pants on … and I had my laptop up and I got all of my creative ideas … And the screen went black and white and God said , ‘ if you fuck with my vision I ’ m going to fuck with yours ’ .
“ And I called my wife and she said , we ’ re gon na have this baby .
I said we ’ re gon na have this child … So even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech , she brought North @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t want to .
She stood up and she protected that child.
” West then started crying when speaking about his father , who he said had wanted his mother to have an abortion when she was pregnant with him .
“ My mom saved my life .
My dad wanted to abort me .
My mom saved my life .
There would have been no Kanye West because my dad was too busy , ” he said , sobbing into his hand , before shouting : “ I almost killed my daughter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Referencing the media coverage of the event , he then said : “ They ’ re going to run this , they ’ re going to tell you that I ’ m crazy .
[ Well ] the world ’ s crazy !
” He then called up to the stage a pro-choice activist who had been yelling questions to him in response to his story .
He claimed he understood “ why someone would make the choice of getting an abortion ” and eventually clarified that his position wasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rather that maximum financial assistance should be made available to women who do have children .
“ My stance is not to make abortion illegal at all .
It should always be legal .
But there should be an option of maximum increase available … Maximum increase would be , everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars , ” he said .
He did not say where this money would come from .
“ It takes a village to raise a child , ” he said .
“ Society has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a village , to not have a child.
” West ’ s remarks , which were mostly yelled in order to be heard by the crowd , repeatedly circled back to his Christianity .
“ We are all equal in God ’ s eyes , ” he said .
“ Sometimes people are controlled by demons , sometimes people are controlled by the environment that we are in but we are all God ’ s people , there [ are ] no bad people .
There are lost people , but we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Struggling to be heard , West repeatedly told audience members to be quiet at the same time as assuring them that he was “ not trying to quiet their voices ” .
The event ended after West was substantially drowned out by the shouting crowd .
West announced his intention to run for president on 5 July but he missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states , and it was unclear if he was willing or able to collect enough signatures required to qualify in others .
Last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s presidential ballot , the first state where he met the requirements before the filing deadline .
West needed to collect 10,000 signatures by noon Monday to appear on the South Carolina ballot , according to state law .
The entertainer tweeted out a list of locations around the Charleston area where petitions could be signed .

Kanye West has launched his campaign tour for the US presidential election in chaotic fashion at an event in Charleston, South Carolina, delivering a rambling address that touched on theology, homelessness, corporate power, and involved a long debate with an audience member about abortion. West also suggested that women should be given $1m when they have a baby.
The rapper took to the stage at the event wearing a bulletproof vest, and “2020” shaved into his head. Without a mic, he proceeded to address a rowdy audience of a few hundred people, asking for complete silence before asserting that future events “will be in rooms where the acoustics will be incredible because I will be involved with the design”.
West repeatedly referenced the terms of his deal with Adidas, his faith in God and racism in the US, including an assertion that “[abolitionist] Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people”.
Tubman is one of the most respected figures of 19th century America. An African American who escaped slavery, she helped enslaved Black men and women travel north to freedom and fought for the Union during the Civil War. She later became a supporter of women’s suffrage.
But the event hit peak emotional intensity when West began to tell a story about what he believed was divine intervention into his life in a way that caused his wife, Kim Kardashian West, to refuse to terminate a pregnancy.
“I was having the rapper’s lifestyle,” he said. “I was sitting up in Paris, and I had my leather pants on … and I had my laptop up and I got all of my creative ideas … And the screen went black and white and God said, ‘if you fuck with my vision I’m going to fuck with yours’.
“And I called my wife and she said, we’re gonna have this baby. I said we’re gonna have this child … So even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into the world when I didn’t want to. She stood up and she protected that child.”
West then started crying when speaking about his father, who he said had wanted his mother to have an abortion when she was pregnant with him.
“My mom saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me. My mom saved my life. There would have been no Kanye West because my dad was too busy,” he said, sobbing into his hand, before shouting: “I almost killed my daughter! I almost killed my daughter!”
Referencing the media coverage of the event, he then said: “They’re going to run this, they’re going to tell you that I’m crazy. [Well] the world’s crazy!”
He then called up to the stage a pro-choice activist who had been yelling questions to him in response to his story. He claimed he understood “why someone would make the choice of getting an abortion” and eventually clarified that his position wasn’t that abortion should be banned, but rather that maximum financial assistance should be made available to women who do have children.
“My stance is not to make abortion illegal at all. It should always be legal. But there should be an option of maximum increase available … Maximum increase would be, everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars,” he said. He did not say where this money would come from.
“It takes a village to raise a child,” he said. “Society has been set up for single moms to not have a village, to not have a child.”
West’s remarks, which were mostly yelled in order to be heard by the crowd, repeatedly circled back to his Christianity.
“We are all equal in God’s eyes,” he said. “Sometimes people are controlled by demons, sometimes people are controlled by the environment that we are in but we are all God’s people, there [are] no bad people. There are lost people, but we are all God’s people.”
Struggling to be heard, West repeatedly told audience members to be quiet at the same time as assuring them that he was “not trying to quiet their voices”. The event ended after West was substantially drowned out by the shouting crowd.
West announced his intention to run for president on 5 July but he missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states, and it was unclear if he was willing or able to collect enough signatures required to qualify in others.
Last week, he qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the first state where he met the requirements before the filing deadline.
West needed to collect 10,000 signatures by noon Monday to appear on the South Carolina ballot, according to state law. The entertainer tweeted out a list of locations around the Charleston area where petitions could be signed.


theguardian--2020-07-20--Trump's sweaty Fox News interview shows his 2020 chances melting away

Two generations ago , Richard Nixon sweated his way to losing the first ever presidential debate on television to a young , fit and cool John F Kennedy .
It was the kind of rookie mistake you could put down to the newness of TV .
So how do you explain – 60 years later – the drenching sweat that trickled down the face of the reality TV star who is now living inside the White House ?
Of the very few things Donald Trump is supposed to know in any modicum of detail , TV sits right at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenging his presidency than there are cable news channels , but that doesn ’ t stop him tweeting about all the TV he ’ s watching all day .
For a man who still measures his manhood by his own TV ratings , it was a curious choice to sit outside in the humid steamer of a Washington summer , caked in his glowing orange make-up , to field the pesky questions of the best interviewer on Fox News .
“ Hot enough for you here , Mr President ?
” asked Chris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Trump .
“ It ’ s about , well , sort of almost record-breaking stuff.
” “ You know , we wanted to do it inside , ” replied Wallace .
“ This is your choice.
” Trump has made so many more consequential blunders than failing to prepare for his double-sided grilling by the weather and Wallace .
But this chargrilled interview laid bare how the Wicked Wizard of the West Wing is melting before our eyes .
For four years we have been told that populist leaders – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : experts not in government but in hijacking the public attention .
His pithy nicknames and catchphrases supposedly destroyed his rivals in 2016 .
They came up with 12-point plans while he was going to make America great again .
He threatened North Korea with his big nuclear button , then fell in love with the North Korean leader in a summit staged just for the cameras .
But now his repeated attempts to smear Joe Biden have flopped and the great showman is reportedly asking aides if he should try to find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showing him losing the election , both nationally and in all the battleground states , Trump ’ s despair dribbled through all his pores on Sunday ’ s interview .
When asked if Biden was senile , Trump answered with the kind of half-baked half-thoughts of a mind cooking slowly in the heat of the presidency .
“ I ’ d say he ’ s not competent to be president , ” he warmed up .
“ To be president , you have to be sharp and tough and so many other things.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ things , pray tell ?
“ He doesn ’ t even come out of his basement .
They think , ‘ Oh this is a great campaign.
’ So he goes in.
” It wasn ’ t clear who they were or what he was going into .
But it seemed totally clear to our sharp and tough president , who is also so many other things .
“ I ’ ll then make a speech .
It ’ ll be a great speech .
And some young guy starts writing , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , this.
’ He didn ’ t say it .
Joe doesn ’ t know he ’ s alive , OK ?
He doesn ’ t know he ’ s alive.
” It may be tempting to blame all of this on the young guy whose writing clearly leaves a lot to be desired .
But it ’ s the old guy in the Oval we should be worried about .
He doesn ’ t know he ’ s dying out there .
There have been some clues , of course .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ op with a pretty bible and a ton of tear gas .
There was the Tulsa rally for a million people who failed to show up .
There was that weird Mount Rushmore speech about the fascists who say mean things about racists .
Then again , as Chris Wallace pointed out , there are the polls that show this desperate act isn ’ t working .
And there ’ s all the endless video of our sharp and tough president predicting the pandemic would just disappear , like a miracle , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perhaps some bright light .
“ I ’ ll be right eventually , ” Trump insisted when confronted with his own cringe-inducing comments about the coronavirus .
“ I will be right eventually .
You know I said , ‘ It ’ s going to disappear.
’ I ’ ll say it again.
” They say a stopped clock is right twice a day .
But this broken timepiece will only be happy when all the clocks have stopped .
At this point in Trump ’ s Twilight Zone , the audience has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that lie ahead in the next four months .
It consists of as much concocted chaos as humanly possible .
There will be terrorist protesters in every major city , whisked off the streets by Trump ’ s paramilitaries in rented minivans .
Thank goodness we have machine-gun-toting goons to protect us from all that graffiti .
There will be caravans of coronavirus-filled immigrants scaling the freshly-painted border wall , which has done such a fantastic job of protecting us all from the pandemic .
After Nixon sweated his way to defeat against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidency eight years later with a law and order campaign that promised to shut down civil rights protests and stop enforcing civil rights laws .
Our Trumpified version of Tricky Dick is a little less subtle than the original .
He claimed that people flying the confederate flag were “ not talking about racism ” .
But when asked about removing the names of confederate generals from US military bases , Trump could only think about race .
And some weird stuff about a couple of world wars .
“ We ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Al Sharpton ?
What are you going to name it , Chris ?
Tell me what you ’ re going to name it , ” Trump sputtered .
“ So there ’ s a whole thing here .
We won two world wars , two world wars , beautiful world wars that were vicious and horrible .
And we won them out of Fort Bragg .
We won out of all of these forts that now they want to throw those names away.
” Ah yes , those beautiful world wars .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same time .
Like the man says , there is indeed a whole thing here .
“ Let Biden sit through an interview like this , ” Trump declared at another point .
“ He ’ ll be on the ground crying for mommy .
He ’ ll say , ‘ Mommy , mommy , please take me home.
’ ” In his own man-childish way , Trump thought he was proving his point about senility and sharpness and toughness .
And so many other things .
But with every new interview , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asking his mommy to please take him home .

Two generations ago, Richard Nixon sweated his way to losing the first ever presidential debate on television to a young, fit and cool John F Kennedy.
It was the kind of rookie mistake you could put down to the newness of TV.
So how do you explain – 60 years later – the drenching sweat that trickled down the face of the reality TV star who is now living inside the White House?
Of the very few things Donald Trump is supposed to know in any modicum of detail, TV sits right at the tippity-top. There are more historic crises challenging his presidency than there are cable news channels, but that doesn’t stop him tweeting about all the TV he’s watching all day.
For a man who still measures his manhood by his own TV ratings, it was a curious choice to sit outside in the humid steamer of a Washington summer, caked in his glowing orange make-up, to field the pesky questions of the best interviewer on Fox News.
This video has been removed. This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. Five strange moments from Trump's Fox News interview – video
“Hot enough for you here, Mr President?” asked Chris Wallace.
“It’s hot,” said Trump. “It’s about, well, sort of almost record-breaking stuff.”
“You know, we wanted to do it inside,” replied Wallace. “This is your choice.”
Trump has made so many more consequential blunders than failing to prepare for his double-sided grilling by the weather and Wallace. But this chargrilled interview laid bare how the Wicked Wizard of the West Wing is melting before our eyes.
This chargrilled interview laid bare how the Wicked Wizard of the West Wing is melting before our eyes
For four years we have been told that populist leaders – especially this one – are peerless showmen: experts not in government but in hijacking the public attention.
His pithy nicknames and catchphrases supposedly destroyed his rivals in 2016. They came up with 12-point plans while he was going to make America great again. He threatened North Korea with his big nuclear button, then fell in love with the North Korean leader in a summit staged just for the cameras.
But now his repeated attempts to smear Joe Biden have flopped and the great showman is reportedly asking aides if he should try to find another nickname.
With every new poll showing him losing the election, both nationally and in all the battleground states, Trump’s despair dribbled through all his pores on Sunday’s interview.
When asked if Biden was senile, Trump answered with the kind of half-baked half-thoughts of a mind cooking slowly in the heat of the presidency. “I’d say he’s not competent to be president,” he warmed up. “To be president, you have to be sharp and tough and so many other things.”
What are these so many other things, pray tell?
“He doesn’t even come out of his basement. They think, ‘Oh this is a great campaign.’ So he goes in.”
It wasn’t clear who they were or what he was going into. But it seemed totally clear to our sharp and tough president, who is also so many other things.
“I’ll then make a speech. It’ll be a great speech. And some young guy starts writing, ‘Vice President Biden said this, this, this.’ He didn’t say it. Joe doesn’t know he’s alive, OK? He doesn’t know he’s alive.”
It may be tempting to blame all of this on the young guy whose writing clearly leaves a lot to be desired.
But it’s the old guy in the Oval we should be worried about. He doesn’t know he’s dying out there.
There have been some clues, of course. There was the disastrous riot of a photo op with a pretty bible and a ton of tear gas. There was the Tulsa rally for a million people who failed to show up. There was that weird Mount Rushmore speech about the fascists who say mean things about racists.
Then again, as Chris Wallace pointed out, there are the polls that show this desperate act isn’t working. And there’s all the endless video of our sharp and tough president predicting the pandemic would just disappear, like a miracle, with a little disinfectant injected inside. Or perhaps some bright light.
“I’ll be right eventually,” Trump insisted when confronted with his own cringe-inducing comments about the coronavirus. “I will be right eventually. You know I said, ‘It’s going to disappear.’ I’ll say it again.”
They say a stopped clock is right twice a day. But this broken timepiece will only be happy when all the clocks have stopped.
At this point in Trump’s Twilight Zone, the audience has a good sense of the plot twists that lie ahead in the next four months. It consists of as much concocted chaos as humanly possible.
There will be terrorist protesters in every major city, whisked off the streets by Trump’s paramilitaries in rented minivans. Thank goodness we have machine-gun-toting goons to protect us from all that graffiti.
There will be caravans of coronavirus-filled immigrants scaling the freshly-painted border wall, which has done such a fantastic job of protecting us all from the pandemic.
After Nixon sweated his way to defeat against Kennedy, he returned to win the presidency eight years later with a law and order campaign that promised to shut down civil rights protests and stop enforcing civil rights laws.
Our Trumpified version of Tricky Dick is a little less subtle than the original.
He claimed that people flying the confederate flag were “not talking about racism”. But when asked about removing the names of confederate generals from US military bases, Trump could only think about race. And some weird stuff about a couple of world wars.
“We’re going to name it after the Rev Al Sharpton? What are you going to name it, Chris? Tell me what you’re going to name it,” Trump sputtered.
“So there’s a whole thing here. We won two world wars, two world wars, beautiful world wars that were vicious and horrible. And we won them out of Fort Bragg. We won out of all of these forts that now they want to throw those names away.”
Ah yes, those beautiful world wars. So vicious and horrible. All at the same time. Like the man says, there is indeed a whole thing here.
“Let Biden sit through an interview like this,” Trump declared at another point. “He’ll be on the ground crying for mommy. He’ll say, ‘Mommy, mommy, please take me home.’”
In his own man-childish way, Trump thought he was proving his point about senility and sharpness and toughness. And so many other things.
But with every new interview, it sounds like he’s just asking his mommy to please take him home.


theguardian--2020-07-20--Watching Trump's paramilitary squads descend onto Portland, it's hard not to feel doomed | Francine

Watching Trump's paramilitary squads descend onto Portland, it's hard not to feel doomed | Francine Prose

A new word , doomscrolling , describes the way we compulsively tickle our phones into providing a nonstop stream of dire health and disease statistics , grim economic predictions , images of food lines and exploding emergency rooms .
With so much doom to scroll through , it ’ s hard to know when to stop and pay attention , but one story that jumped out at me—and , I hope , at many others—is the account of how demonstrators in Portland , Oregon , protesting racism and police brutality earlier in July , were tear-gassed , beaten , seized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal agents in camouflage and fatigues , hustled into unmarked vans and detained for hours .
The agents were reported to work with the US Marshals Special Operations Group and Bortac , the Border Patrol Tactical Unit .
Government-funded thugs , assaulting citizens , still conjure up repellent images of Hitler ’ s Brown Shirts stomping their fellow Germans , and the street kidnapping of civilians has been the hallmark of authoritarian dictatorships .
That was how you wound up in one of Stalin ’ s labor gulags , in the helicopter from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the sea , or in a CIA black site .
In a headline , an Esquire article on the Portland attacks used Pinochet ( the tyrant who orchestrated the disappearance of thousands of Chileans during his 17-year regime ) as a verb : “ A Major American City is Being Softly Pinochet ’ d in Broad Daylight.
” One can track the violence to Trump ordering the governors to “ dominate ” their cities , of which , he claimed , they ’ d lost control .
But the governor of Oregon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local officials insisted that they don ’ t want federal agents gassing their citizens .
So who does ?
A US Customs and Border Protection internal memo , obtained by The Nation and dated July 1 , offers some answers .
In response to a Presidential order “ Protecting American Monuments , Memorials , Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Activity , “ the Acting Director of Homeland Security has created the “ DHS Protecting American Communities Task Force ( PACT ) to provide an ongoing assessment of potential civil unrest and property destruction.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the memo describes the formation of a paramilitary organization , reporting to the federal government and free from the laws , rules and conventions followed ( even nominally ) by police and the army .
In addition , the DHS has begun “ coordination with the Department of Justice ( DOJ ) and the Department of the Interior ( DOI ) to establish information/intelligence sharing and resource coordination as outlined in the order .
“ CBP will be supporting this effort by deploying personnel to provide support over the July 4th holiday weekend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activity at specific locations across the country that could threaten our personnel and the Federal facilities and property they protect.
” Like potential , support is a questionable word , since Portland never asked for the troops ’ support or presence .
As for potential disruptive activity , two of the men whisked into unmarked vans were quietly leaving the demonstration , which was winding down .
The mention of the DOJ naturally brings to mind Attorney General William Barr okaying the use of tear gas and National Guard troops against the demonstrators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make way for Donald Trump ’ s St John ’ s Church photo op .
The incident was a public-relations disaster , so why not do better in Portland , cut the awkward , upside-down Bible and Ivanka ’ s Max Mara purse and go stealthy ?
Cue the unidentified agents and the trolling unmarked vans .
The Esquire article refers to the Portland arrests as a rehearsal ; it ’ s one in a series of rehearsals .
First DC , then Portland .
Coming soon to a city near you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect statues ?
Who knew White House was so invested in art , culture—or American history ?
These attacks are about exerting power , bullying dissenters , intimidating Americans into giving up their First Amendment protections , their Constitutional rights .
Robert Evans , a Portland-based freelance journalist and conflict reporter , told the New York Times , “ Portland is being used as a bellwether to see what this administration can get away with .
And also what works to quell protest.
” How much clearer must it be ?
There are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ establishment of an authoritarian state that despise minorities and immigrants , hates women and the poor , and in mid-pandemic , values money and profit over human life .
This prospect intensifies the anxiety of many Americans who fear a stolen election , widespread voter suppression , further affronts to the rule of law .
Fortunately , there ’ s been pushback .
The demonstrations in Portland have gotten larger and more impassioned .
Portland mayor Ted Wheeler called the violence “ an attack on our democracy.
” The ACLU and the Portland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Portland City Commissioner asked the troops to leave .
Oregon senators , Ron Wyden and Chuck Merkley , and Senator Chuck Schumer are demanding a federal investigation .
Oregon Governor Kate Brown accused Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf of trying to “ provoke confrontation for political purposes.
” Americans who care about our country and still hope we can fix our flawed democracy should pay attention .
There are those , Trump and Barr among them , who would like to see our freedoms replaced by unflagging obedience to the needs of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Portland is an important story hiding in the shadow of Covid-19 ’ s devastations .
If we let the increasingly empowered paramilitary arms of the government deny our right to assemble and speak freely , to circumvent our legal system and eliminate the writ of habeas corpus , we won ’ t need to scroll down our phones to know that we are doomed .

A new word, doomscrolling, describes the way we compulsively tickle our phones into providing a non-stop stream of dire health and disease statistics, grim economic predictions, images of food lines and exploding emergency rooms.
With so much doom to scroll through, it’s hard to know when to stop and pay attention, but one story that jumped out at me – and, I hope, at many others – is the account of how demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, protesting racism and police brutality earlier in July, were tear-gassed, beaten, seized off the street by unidentified, masked federal agents in camouflage and fatigues, hustled into unmarked vans and detained for hours. The agents were reported to work with the US Marshals Special Operations Group and Bortac, the Border Patrol Tactical Unit.
Government-funded thugs, assaulting citizens, still conjure up repellent images of Hitler’s Brownshirts stomping their fellow Germans, and the street kidnapping of civilians has been the hallmark of authoritarian dictatorships. That was how you wound up in one of Stalin’s labor gulags, in the helicopter from which the Argentinian junta dropped its critics into the sea, or in a CIA black site. In a headline, an Esquire article on the Portland attacks used Pinochet (the tyrant who orchestrated the disappearance of thousands of Chileans during his 17-year regime) as a verb: “A Major American City is Being Softly Pinochet’d in Broad Daylight.”
One can track the violence to Trump ordering the governors to “dominate” their cities, of which, he claimed, they’d lost control. But the governor of Oregon, the mayor of Portland and other local officials insisted that they don’t want federal agents gassing their citizens. So who does?
A US Customs and Border Protection internal memo, obtained by the Nation and dated 1 July, offers some answers. In response to a presidential order “Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Activity, “ the acting director of homeland security has created the “DHS Protecting American Communities Task Force (Pact) to provide an ongoing assessment of potential civil unrest and property destruction”.
The italics are mine, but the memo describes the formation of a paramilitary organization, reporting to the federal government and free from the laws, rules and conventions followed (even nominally) by police and the army.
In addition, the DHS has begun “coordination with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of the Interior (DoI) to establish information/intelligence sharing and resource coordination as outlined in the order.
“CBP will be supporting this effort by deploying personnel to provide support over the Fourth of July holiday weekend which has the potential for increased disruptive activity at specific locations across the country that could threaten our personnel and the federal facilities and property they protect.”
Like potential, support is a questionable word, since Portland never asked for the troops’ support or presence. As for potential disruptive activity, two of the men whisked into unmarked vans were quietly leaving the demonstration, which was winding down.
The mention of the DoJ naturally brings to mind William Barr, the attorney general, okaying the use of teargas and national guard troops against the demonstrators in Washington on 20 June to make way for Donald Trump’s St John’s church photo op. The incident was a public-relations disaster, so why not do better in Portland, cut the awkward, upside-down Bible and Ivanka’s Max Mara purse and go stealthy? Cue the unidentified agents and the trolling unmarked vans. The Esquire article refers to the Portland arrests as a rehearsal; it’s one in a series of rehearsals. First DC, then Portland. Coming soon to a city near you.
Is all that manpower necessary to protect statues? Who knew White House was so invested in art, culture – or American history? These attacks are about exerting power, bullying dissenters, intimidating Americans into giving up their first amendment protections, their constitutional rights. Robert Evans, a Portland-based freelance journalist and conflict reporter, told the New York Times: “Portland is being used as a bellwether to see what this administration can get away with. And also what works to quell protest.”
How much clearer must it be? There are those who would like to see the establishment of an authoritarian state that despises minorities and immigrants, hates women and the poor, and in mid-pandemic, values money and profit over human life. This prospect intensifies the anxiety of many Americans who fear a stolen election, widespread voter suppression, further affronts to the rule of law.
Fortunately, there’s been pushback. The demonstrations in Portland have gotten larger and more impassioned. Portland mayor Ted Wheeler called the violence “an attack on our democracy”. The ACLU and the Portland Mercury are suing federal agents. Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and New York senator Chuck Schumer, are demanding a federal investigation. Oregon governor Kate Brown accused acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf of trying to “provoke confrontation for political purposes.”
Americans who care about our country and still hope we can fix our flawed democracy should pay attention. There are those, Trump and Barr among them, who would like to see our freedoms replaced by unflagging obedience to the needs of corporations and billionaires. What happened in Portland is an important story hiding in the shadow of Covid-19’s devastations. If we let the increasingly empowered paramilitary arms of the government deny our right to assemble and speak freely, to circumvent our legal system and eliminate the writ of habeas corpus, we won’t need to scroll down our phones to know that we are doomed.


theguardian--2020-07-20--Kanye West makes chaotic presidential rally debut in South Carolina – video

In the first rally of his last-minute presidential campaign , Kanye West delivered rambling remarks at a South Carolina convention @ @ @ @ @ peak emotional intensity when the rapper told a story about what he believed was the @ @ @ @ @ that caused his wife , Kim Kardashian West , to refuse to terminate a pregnancy @ @ @ @ @ the American abolitionist Harriet Tubman ‘ never actually freed the slaves .
She just had @ @ @ @ @ white people.
’ Members of the audience can be heard saying : ‘ Y ’ @ @ @ @ @ leaving now ’ • God , abortion and better acoustics : Kanye West launches campaign @ @ @

In the first rally of his last-minute presidential campaign, Kanye West delivered rambling remarks at a South Carolina convention centre. The event hit peak emotional intensity when the rapper told a story about what he believed was the divine intervention in his life that caused his wife, Kim Kardashian West, to refuse to terminate a pregnancy. West also asserted that the American abolitionist Harriet Tubman ‘never actually freed the slaves. She just had the slaves work for other white people.’ Members of the audience can be heard saying: ‘Y’all, we’re leaving now’


theguardian--2020-07-21--Coronavirus live news: Trump backs face masks as 'patriotic', EU set to agree stimulus

Brazil will begin advanced clinical testing of a Chinese-made vaccine against the new coronavirus Tuesday , issuing the first doses @ @ @ @ @ Agence France-Presse reports .
The coronavirus vaccine , developed by private Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac @ @ @ @ @ the world to enter Phase 3 trials , or large-scale testing on humans – the @ @ @ @ @ .
It will be administered to doctors and other health workers who volunteer for the @ @ @ @ @ Brazil , one of the countries hit hardest by the pandemic .
“ Trials of @ @ @ @ @ vaccines that has advanced furthest in testing in the world , will begin at the @ @ @ @ @ , ” the state ’ s governor , Joao Doria , told a news conference @ @ @ @ @ were expected within 90 days .

21 Jul 2020 23.49 BST The Nobel Foundation, which manages the Nobel Prizes, on Tuesday cancelled its traditional December banquet because of the coronavirus pandemic and said the award ceremonies would be held in “new forms”, AFP reports. This is the first time since 1956 that the lavish banquet has been cancelled, according to the foundation. The event traditionally marks the end of the so-called Nobel Week, when the year’s prize-winners are invited to Swedish capital Stockholm for talks and the award ceremony. “The Nobel Week will not be as it usually is due to the current pandemic. This is a very special year when everyone needs to make sacrifices and adapt to completely new circumstances,” Lars Heikensten, director of the Nobel Foundation, said in a statement.
21 Jul 2020 23.29 BST Joe Biden, in a scathing speech in his campaign to become the next US president, said Donald Trump had ‘quit’ on US citizens and did not care about America.
In a speech on his plan for the economy, in which he promised to expand access to preschool for working families, directly linking the need for affordable childcare to America’s economic recovery, Biden said Trump was not taking the public health crisis seriously: 01:27 'He's quit on you': Joe Biden says Trump does not care about America – video
21 Jul 2020 23.10 BST Brazil has confirmed 41,008 more cases in the past 24 hours, as well as 1,367 related deaths, the country’s health ministry has said. Brazil has registered nearly 2.2m cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 81,487, according to ministry data.
21 Jul 2020 23.01 BST Maanvi Singh The US president Donald Trump has asked Americans to wear masks “whether you like the mask or not”, despite repeatedly downplaying the importance of wearing masks and refusing to wear one on many occasions. The president was first seen wearing a mask publicly earlier this month. At a White House press briefing, he has noted a “concerning rise” in cases in parts of the South, in a complete shift from his previous strategy - refusing to acknowledge that there is a problem. He stayed uncharacteristically on-message, saying the government is “asking Americans to use masks, socially distance and employ vigorous hygiene – wash your hands every chance you get”. He also asked younger people to “avoid packed bars and other crowded indoor gatherings.”
21 Jul 2020 22.27 BST The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has launched an extraordinary attack on the World Health Organization during a private meeting in the UK, accusing it of being in the pocket of China and responsible for “dead Britons” who passed away during the pandemic, Dan Sabbagh and Heather Stewart write. Pompeo told those present he believed the WHO was “political, not a science-based organisation” and accused its current director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of being too close to Beijing. Those present at the meeting on Tuesday said that Pompeo told his audience of 20 MPs and peers that he was saying “on a firm intelligence foundation, a deal was made” with China to allow Tedros to win election in 2017. The secretary of state went on to to claim “when push came to shove, you’ve got dead Britons because of the deal that was made” – without providing any further details. His remarks at the meeting organised by the Henry Jackson Society thinktank came in response to a question from Chris Bryant, one of two Labour MPs present in a meeting otherwise dominated by Conservatives, who had challenged him over the Trump administration’s repeated decisions to quit multilateral organisations. Mike Pompeo attacks WHO in private meeting during UK visit Read more
21 Jul 2020 21.09 BST Sam Levin California’s governor has granted an emergency release to Patricia Wright, a 69-year-old woman battling terminal cancer inside a prison that has suffered a major outbreak. Wright, who doctors say has months to live, left prison on Tuesday morning for the first time in 23 years, greeted by her five children, three sisters and a dozen other relatives waiting on the other side of the gates at the California Institution for Women (CIW), east of Los Angeles. The family’s long fight for her release became increasingly urgent due to Covid-19, which has infected more than 160 people at CIW and nearly 7,000 people across the state’s prison system. “I’ve been waiting for this day for 23 years, it is really indescribable,” said Wright, standing on the street outside CIW as her grandchildren and other loved ones swarmed her with hugs and handed her flowers and gifts, including her first iPhone. She danced and held her hands in the air. “Oh my God! I’m walking on cloud nine … I just want to sit down at the table with my family and embrace my children.” Wright, who has battled breast and ovarian cancer and is legally blind, is undergoing chemotherapy. She spoke of her fears of dying alone behind bars in recent interviews with the Guardian, and is one of tens of thousands of older and at-risk prisoners who have been pleading for some form of clemency in response to Covid-19. Since March, 40 prisoners have died and those numbers are expected to increase in the coming weeks. “For the past 23 years, I’ve had this burden in my heart every day. I could not live fully thinking about my sister in prison,” said Chantel Bonet, who years earlier moved to the city of Corona, where the prison is located, so she could be closer to her sister. “Now that burden is lifted.” Wright, a survivor of domestic violence, was accused of hiring someone to kill her abusive husband but has maintained her innocence. She is one of many women convicted of murder under US laws that have faced widespread scrutiny for targeting victims of abuse. She was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, meaning this kind of direct action from the governor was her only option.
California releases cancer patient Patricia Wright from prison amid Covid-19 outbreak Read more
Updated at 21.09 BST
21 Jul 2020 21.01 BST Summary Here’s a summary of the latest developments: The United States is failing to report vital information on Covid-19. The data would help authorities track the spread of the disease and prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, according to the first comprehensive review of the nation’s coronavirus data.
would help authorities track the spread of the disease and prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, according to the first comprehensive review of the nation’s coronavirus data. Covid-19 is showing no signs of “slowing down” in the Americas . Carissa Etienne, the Pan American Health Organization director, said there were surges in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. Etienne also said some central American nations were seeing their highest weekly increase of cases since the pandemic began.
. Carissa Etienne, the Pan American Health Organization director, said there were surges in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. Etienne also said some central American nations were seeing their highest weekly increase of cases since the pandemic began. UK records 110 new coronavirus-related deaths. A further 110 people have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19 across all settings – including hospitals and the wider community. The total number of recorded coronavirus deaths in the country now stands at 45,422, according to government figures.
A further 110 people have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19 across all settings – including hospitals and the wider community. The total number of recorded coronavirus deaths in the country now stands at 45,422, according to government figures. Spain will send €1.7 billion in aid to developing countries to help them deal with coronavirus outbreak. Spain will send €1.7bn in aid to developing countries to help them deal with coronavirus pandemic, foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Tuesday. Spain hopes to save lives and strengthen public health systems.
Spain will send €1.7bn in aid to developing countries to help them deal with coronavirus pandemic, foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Tuesday. Spain hopes to save lives and strengthen public health systems. Iran announces record daily deaths. The health ministry said 229 people have died of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, a new high as the country struggles to contain the virus.
The health ministry said 229 people have died of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, a new high as the country struggles to contain the virus. Italy to receive €210bn from new EU fund. Some EU member states have been setting out how much financial support they are likely to receive following the €750bn deal struck at the end of a marathon negotiating session on Tuesday morning.
21 Jul 2020 20.40 BST In the US state of Texas, more than 500 women at a federal medical prison have tested positive, the Bureau of Prisons has said. According to the Associated Press, it is one of the largest confirmed outbreaks at a federal prison. The number of confirmed cases at the Federal Medical Center-Carswell in Fort Worth jumped to 509 on Monday, just one day after the Bureau of Prisons reported that 200 women there had tested positive. Only the federal prison in Seagoville, also located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, had more infected inmates, with 1,132 cases as of Monday.


theguardian--2020-07-21--Is Kanye West seriously running for president? – podcast

The rapper has entered the race for the White House invoking his religious beliefs .
Prof Josef Sorett looks at @ @ @ @ @ bid is anything more than a stunt Kanye West launched his bid for the White @ @ @ @ @ chaotic event in North Carolina .
He delivered a rambling address that touched on theology @ @ @ @ @ before engaging one member of the audience in a long discussion about abortion .
Prof @ @ @ @ @ tells Rachel Humphreys that while West ’ s entry to the presidential race could be @ @ @ @ @ is underpinned by his strong religious values that run through his music .
And it @ @ @ @ @ nature of the relationship between religion and politics in the US and where black voters @ @ @ @ @

Presented by Rachel Humphreys with Josef Sorret; produced by Hannah Moore and Axel Kacoutié; executive producers Nicole Jackson and Phil Maynard

The rapper has entered the race for the White House invoking his religious beliefs. Prof Josef Sorett looks at whether West’s presidential bid is anything more than a stunt
Kanye West launched his bid for the White House on Sunday with a chaotic event in North Carolina. He delivered a rambling address that touched on theology, homelessness and corporate power before engaging one member of the audience in a long discussion about abortion.
Prof Josef Sorett of Columbia University tells Rachel Humphreys that while West’s entry to the presidential race could be a promotional stunt, it is underpinned by his strong religious values that run through his music. And it raises interesting questions about the nature of the relationship between religion and politics in the US and where black voters fit into that discussion.