truthout--2020-05-11--The Empire Has No Clothes in the Classroom That Zoom Built

Do you hear that silence ?
That ’ s the absence of footsteps echoing through our nation ’ s public school hallways .
It ’ s the silence of teaching in a virtual space populated with students on mute who lack a physical presence .
It ’ s the crushing silence of those who are now missing , who can ’ t attend the classroom that Zoom and Google built .
Maybe you heard the shouted pleas of teachers across the country last year as we walked out of our classrooms and into the streets , begging for affordable housing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equitable funding and resources for our students ?
Or maybe you heard the impassioned screams of frightened kids as they stormed into the streets and onto the news , demanding safety and an end to the threat of gun violence in our nation ’ s school buildings ?
Now , there ’ s nothing left to hear .
Today , all we ’ re left with is a silence that muffles the sound of so much suffering .
The unfolding public health , mental health , and economic crisis of Covid-19 has laid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The institutions charged with caring for and guiding our most valuable assets — our children — were already gutted by half a century of chronic underfunding , misguided curricular policies that prioritized testing over real learning , and social policies that favored austerity over taking care of the most vulnerable members of our society .
Now that so many teachers are sequestered and alone or locked away with family , our bonds of proximity broken , we ’ re forced to stare into that void , scrambling to find and care for our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The system is broken .
The empire has no clothes .
Not so many weeks ago , I used to be a teacher in a sprawling public high school outside Portland , Oregon .
Before the virus arrived , I taught painting , drawing , ceramics , and filmmaking in three different studio classrooms .
There , groups of students ranging across the economic , ethnic , religious , racial , and linguistic spectrum sat shoulder to shoulder , chatting and creating , day after day , year after year .
Music played @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the classes were cacophonous and chaotic ; on others , calm and productive .
In those spaces , we did our best to connect , to forge thriving communities .
What I now realize , though , is that the physical space we shared was the only thing truly tying us all together .
Those classrooms were the duct tape securing the smashed bumper on the wreck of a car that was our public education system .
Now , it couldn ’ t be more obvious : no one ’ s going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and near future with the usual solutions .
When desperation leaves us without imagination , clinging to old answers , scrambling to prop up systems that perpetuated and solidified inequity , it means missing the real opportunity of this otherwise grim moment .
The “ great pause ” that is the Covid-19 shutdown has allowed us all to stare into the void , to see far more clearly just how schools have long shouldered the burdens of a society that functions largely for the privileged , leaving the rest of our nation ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crumbs of whatever remains .
In the first weeks after schools closed across the country , as parents struggled to “ homeschool ” their children , memes , rants , tweets , and strongly worded emails to school administrators popped up across the Internet .
They expressed the frustrations of the moment .
Those shared tales of the laughably insane trials and tribulations of parents trying to provide a reasonable facsimile of an education to kids sequestered at home , while still trying to work full time under the specter of a pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ producer and writer Shonda Rimes tweeted , “ Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes .
Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year .
Or a week.
” Rimes ’ s tweet seemed to encapsulate the absurd reality of life at home with kids in the time of the coronavirus .
As I read her tweet , I laughed out loud and in utter solidarity with her .
A teacher no less , I , too , was trying and failing spectacularly to oversee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frustrated and resistant third grader from home .
For those of us siloed in our privilege — healthy , with plenty of food stocked away in cupboards , quiet rooms with doors that shut , ample Internet access , and enough Wi-Fi-enabled devices to share among the members of our households — our quarantined home life is challenging , but not impossible .
Our daily frustration continues to be a function of that privilege .
For those without it , those who were already living in poverty or at its brink when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crushing hurdle in life .
How can you provide an education for your children when simply securing food , work , and shelter is your all-consuming reality ?
Meanwhile , as exhausted parents screamed at school districts , teachers , and administrators on the Internet about providing virtual learning resources and online curricula to engage students during the school day , public school officials ( at least in my world ) were scrambling to deal with a far more immediate threat : kids going hungry .
What this pandemic promptly revealed was that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide to many children is simply feeding them .
The gravest and most immediate threat to our most vulnerable students was , and continues to be , hunger .
If schools are closed , so is the critical infrastructure that helps keep our nation ’ s children fed .
Aside from SNAP ( the food stamp program ) , the National School Lunch Program is the largest anti-hunger initiative in the country .
It feeds 29.7 million children on school days , with an additional 14.7 million children fed thanks to the School @ @ @ @ @ @ @ via the Child and Adult Care Food Program .
And those numbers don ’ t even include the informal system of food distribution that teachers often provide students in their classrooms .
On average , teachers spend upwards of 300 of their own dollars yearly providing food to students .
So , no wonder that , as soon as Covid-19 closed the doors of our schools , administrators , teachers , custodians , cafeteria workers , bus drivers , and volunteers across the country mobilized on a large — and downright heroic — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fed .
In the Beaverton school district where I teach , a “ Grab and Go ” curbside meal distribution program was quickly set up , making daily meals accessible to every student in the district .
As economic conditions head for Great Depression-level misery , think of these as 2020 versions of the infamous breadlines of that era , only in this case they ’ re for children ( and sometimes their families ) .
The responsibility for feeding students was not the only immediate concern .
The adults in our school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those students .
We monitor their moods and listen to their stories .
We notice when kids are struggling emotionally and , as mandatory reporters , step in when we suspect a child is living in a perilous or unsafe situation .
In the first weeks after we left our classrooms , calls to Oregon ’ s child abuse hotline dropped by more than half .
Other states across the nation reported similar declines .
The drop in calls has frightening implications .
Coupled with increasing economic insecurity and social isolation , rising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When teachers , counselors , and school social workers are no longer able to observe and communicate openly with students , signs of neglect or abuse are much more likely to go undetected and unreported .
The closure of our buildings also poses a huge barrier to the normal support of students struggling with mental-health issues .
Our children are already suffering from alarming rates of depression and anxiety .
Isolating them from their friends , peers , mentors , caregivers , and teachers will only compound their mental-health challenges .
Trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surreal nature of an invisible foe to a lack of clear directives from both the federal and state government and you have a formula for problems .
When we were finally instructed to leave our school , it was without advanced warning .
In my classrooms , half-finished clay projects littered the countertops , while palettes loaded with acrylic paint and incomplete canvases were left to desiccate and gather dust on the shelves .
Students departed without cleaning out their lockers or often even gathering their schoolwork and books , not to speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to complete that work at home .
And even though our students do have access to technology — three years ago , our district adopted a policy of providing a Chromebook to each student — it soon became apparent that there were huge obstacles to overcome in transforming our brick-and-mortar classrooms into virtual spaces .
Many students had , for instance , broken or lost their Chromebooks .
Some had missing chargers .
And even many of those who had their Chromebooks with them at home had limited or no access to Wi-Fi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students across that digital divide became the central focus of my waking hours .
I made calls ; I texted ; I emailed ; I posted announcements in my digital classroom stating that we ’ d be reconvening online .
Still , none of these efforts mattered for the students stuck at home without Wi-Fi or lacking the necessary devices .
Before our nation ’ s schools closed , the Federal Communications Commission estimated that around 21 million people in America did not have broadband Internet access .
According to data collected by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can ’ t access the Internet at broadband speeds is actually closer to 163 million .
While districts across the country scrambled to provide mobile hotspots and working devices to students , teachers like me began the demoralizing and herculean task of scrapping years of thoughtfully crafted curriculums in order to provide an entirely new online learning experience .
We stepped into our virtual classrooms with the knowledge that , no matter how many shiny new digital resources we have at our disposal , there ’ s nothing we can do to provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even if we were to solve such problems , we couldn ’ t offer the space or the support students need to learn .
Kids living in cramped situations will struggle just to find a quiet place to attend our online classes .
Those whose working parents suddenly need childcare for younger siblings have sometimes found themselves taking on the roll of primary caregivers .
Some students whose families were in ever more perilous economic situations increased their work hours and scrapped the idea of attending school altogether .
And many of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as the 14 % of students nationally who require additional “ learning supports , ” are now in trouble .
They ’ ve been left to navigate a complex web of digital platforms and new learning approaches without the individualized attention or frequent checks for understanding that they rely on from their teachers .
What virtual learning can never stand in for is the moment when a student leans over and asks me or a peer for help .
That simple act of vulnerability that builds a bridge to another human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in any classroom and now it ’ s gone .
In Covid-19 America , when school kids need help most , they can ’ t simply lean over and ask for it .
Today , I teach from my kitchen , my dining room , or the floor of my bedroom .
I stare across the digital abyss into the pixelated faces of just a handful of students .
It ’ s impossible to read their emotions or body language .
Even when I unmute them , most choose not to speak .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to class .
Sometimes , students turn off their videos , and I speak only to a sea of black rectangles , the white text of the student ’ s name the sole indicator of his or her presence in my new classroom .
Not surprisingly , our sessions together are stilted and awkward .
I try to make jokes and connect , but it ’ s impossible to replicate online the intimacy of a face-to-face interaction .
The magic of what was , of 25 to 40 students working cohesively in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the darkest hours of the early morning , when I wake with a start , crushing anxiety pushing on my chest , I think about all the third graders unable to participate in my daughter ’ s distance-learning classroom .
I wonder about the students I ’ ve still been unable to reach — the ones who haven ’ t responded to my emails or completed any assignments , and whose faces I never see online .
Where are they ?
How are they ?
I have no way of knowing .
Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This pause , which has caused , and will continue to cause , so much suffering may also be a gift , offering a shift in perspective and a chance to pivot .
Perhaps it ’ s a rare opportunity to acknowledge that our nation ’ s public schools should not be left so alone to provide food , mental health care , and digital connectivity for our nation ’ s children .
That should be , in a fashion almost unimaginable in America today , the role of the larger society .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ silent but to raise our voices , using any privilege we may have , be it in time , money , or simply access , to demand major changes both in how all of us think about our American world and in the systems that perpetuate such inhumane and unconscionable disparities for so many .
There is no way to continue putting yet more duct tape on that smashed bumper of a public education system that was already such a wreck before the coronavirus arrived on these shores .
Nor is this the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hoarding privilege along with toilet paper and hand sanitizer , too cowardly to demand more for all the children in this country .
It ’ s time instead to reach out across the six feet of social-distancing space that now divides us all and demand more for those who aren ’ t able to demand it for themselves .

Do you hear that silence?
That’s the absence of footsteps echoing through our nation’s public school hallways. It’s the silence of teaching in a virtual space populated with students on mute who lack a physical presence. It’s the crushing silence of those who are now missing, who can’t attend the classroom that Zoom and Google built.
Maybe you heard the shouted pleas of teachers across the country last year as we walked out of our classrooms and into the streets, begging for affordable housing, health care, and access to equitable funding and resources for our students? Or maybe you heard the impassioned screams of frightened kids as they stormed into the streets and onto the news, demanding safety and an end to the threat of gun violence in our nation’s school buildings? Now, there’s nothing left to hear.
Today, all we’re left with is a silence that muffles the sound of so much suffering. The unfolding public health, mental health, and economic crisis of Covid-19 has laid bare the fragility of what was. The institutions charged with caring for and guiding our most valuable assets — our children — were already gutted by half a century of chronic underfunding, misguided curricular policies that prioritized testing over real learning, and social policies that favored austerity over taking care of the most vulnerable members of our society. Now that so many teachers are sequestered and alone or locked away with family, our bonds of proximity broken, we’re forced to stare into that void, scrambling to find and care for our students across an abyss of silence. The system is broken. The empire has no clothes.
Not so many weeks ago, I used to be a teacher in a sprawling public high school outside Portland, Oregon. Before the virus arrived, I taught painting, drawing, ceramics, and filmmaking in three different studio classrooms. There, groups of students ranging across the economic, ethnic, religious, racial, and linguistic spectrum sat shoulder to shoulder, chatting and creating, day after day, year after year. Music played and we talked.
On some days, the classes were cacophonous and chaotic; on others, calm and productive. In those spaces, we did our best to connect, to forge thriving communities. What I now realize, though, is that the physical space we shared was the only thing truly tying us all together. Those classrooms were the duct tape securing the smashed bumper on the wreck of a car that was our public education system.
Now, it couldn’t be more obvious: no one’s going to solve the problems of our present and near future with the usual solutions. When desperation leaves us without imagination, clinging to old answers, scrambling to prop up systems that perpetuated and solidified inequity, it means missing the real opportunity of this otherwise grim moment. The “great pause” that is the Covid-19 shutdown has allowed us all to stare into the void, to see far more clearly just how schools have long shouldered the burdens of a society that functions largely for the privileged, leaving the rest of our nation’s children and families to gather the crumbs of whatever remains.
The Privilege of Homeschooling
In the first weeks after schools closed across the country, as parents struggled to “homeschool” their children, memes, rants, tweets, and strongly worded emails to school administrators popped up across the Internet. They expressed the frustrations of the moment. Those shared tales of the laughably insane trials and tribulations of parents trying to provide a reasonable facsimile of an education to kids sequestered at home, while still trying to work full time under the specter of a pandemic, amazed and depressed me.
Television producer and writer Shonda Rimes tweeted, “Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week.” Rimes’s tweet seemed to encapsulate the absurd reality of life at home with kids in the time of the coronavirus. As I read her tweet, I laughed out loud and in utter solidarity with her. A teacher no less, I, too, was trying and failing spectacularly to oversee the “education” of an increasingly frustrated and resistant third grader from home.
For those of us siloed in our privilege — healthy, with plenty of food stocked away in cupboards, quiet rooms with doors that shut, ample Internet access, and enough Wi-Fi-enabled devices to share among the members of our households — our quarantined home life is challenging, but not impossible. Our daily frustration continues to be a function of that privilege. For those without it, those who were already living in poverty or at its brink when the pandemic struck, homeschooling poses yet another crushing hurdle in life. How can you provide an education for your children when simply securing food, work, and shelter is your all-consuming reality?
Meanwhile, as exhausted parents screamed at school districts, teachers, and administrators on the Internet about providing virtual learning resources and online curricula to engage students during the school day, public school officials (at least in my world) were scrambling to deal with a far more immediate threat: kids going hungry. What this pandemic promptly revealed was that the most fundamental and urgent service schools provide to many children is simply feeding them.
The gravest and most immediate threat to our most vulnerable students was, and continues to be, hunger. If schools are closed, so is the critical infrastructure that helps keep our nation’s children fed. Aside from SNAP (the food stamp program), the National School Lunch Program is the largest anti-hunger initiative in the country. It feeds 29.7 million children on school days, with an additional 14.7 million children fed thanks to the School Breakfast Program and more than 6.1 million via the Child and Adult Care Food Program. And those numbers don’t even include the informal system of food distribution that teachers often provide students in their classrooms. On average, teachers spend upwards of 300 of their own dollars yearly providing food to students.
So, no wonder that, as soon as Covid-19 closed the doors of our schools, administrators, teachers, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and volunteers across the country mobilized on a large — and downright heroic — scale to attempt to keep those students fed. In the Beaverton school district where I teach, a “Grab and Go” curbside meal distribution program was quickly set up, making daily meals accessible to every student in the district. As economic conditions head for Great Depression-level misery, think of these as 2020 versions of the infamous breadlines of that era, only in this case they’re for children (and sometimes their families).
The responsibility for feeding students was not the only immediate concern. The adults in our school typically also serve as first responders for those students. We monitor their moods and listen to their stories. We notice when kids are struggling emotionally and, as mandatory reporters, step in when we suspect a child is living in a perilous or unsafe situation.
In the first weeks after we left our classrooms, calls to Oregon’s child abuse hotline dropped by more than half. Other states across the nation reported similar declines. The drop in calls has frightening implications. Coupled with increasing economic insecurity and social isolation, rising rates of child abuse are undoubtedly imminent. When teachers, counselors, and school social workers are no longer able to observe and communicate openly with students, signs of neglect or abuse are much more likely to go undetected and unreported.
The closure of our buildings also poses a huge barrier to the normal support of students struggling with mental-health issues. Our children are already suffering from alarming rates of depression and anxiety. Isolating them from their friends, peers, mentors, caregivers, and teachers will only compound their mental-health challenges.
Trying to Bridge the Digital Divide
Add the surreal nature of an invisible foe to a lack of clear directives from both the federal and state government and you have a formula for problems. When we were finally instructed to leave our school, it was without advanced warning. In my classrooms, half-finished clay projects littered the countertops, while palettes loaded with acrylic paint and incomplete canvases were left to desiccate and gather dust on the shelves.
Students departed without cleaning out their lockers or often even gathering their schoolwork and books, not to speak of the supplies they’ll need to complete that work at home. And even though our students do have access to technology — three years ago, our district adopted a policy of providing a Chromebook to each student — it soon became apparent that there were huge obstacles to overcome in transforming our brick-and-mortar classrooms into virtual spaces. Many students had, for instance, broken or lost their Chromebooks. Some had missing chargers. And even many of those who had their Chromebooks with them at home had limited or no access to Wi-Fi connectivity.
Trying to reach all my students across that digital divide became the central focus of my waking hours. I made calls; I texted; I emailed; I posted announcements in my digital classroom stating that we’d be reconvening online. Still, none of these efforts mattered for the students stuck at home without Wi-Fi or lacking the necessary devices.
Before our nation’s schools closed, the Federal Communications Commission estimated that around 21 million people in America did not have broadband Internet access. According to data collected by Microsoft, however, the number who can’t access the Internet at broadband speeds is actually closer to 163 million. While districts across the country scrambled to provide mobile hotspots and working devices to students, teachers like me began the demoralizing and herculean task of scrapping years of thoughtfully crafted curriculums in order to provide an entirely new online learning experience. We stepped into our virtual classrooms with the knowledge that, no matter how many shiny new digital resources we have at our disposal, there’s nothing we can do to provide equitable access to education remotely.
And even if we were to solve such problems, we couldn’t offer the space or the support students need to learn. Kids living in cramped situations will struggle just to find a quiet place to attend our online classes. Those whose working parents suddenly need childcare for younger siblings have sometimes found themselves taking on the roll of primary caregivers.
Some students whose families were in ever more perilous economic situations increased their work hours and scrapped the idea of attending school altogether. And many of our English-as-a-second-language, or ESL, students, as well as the 14% of students nationally who require additional “learning supports,” are now in trouble. They’ve been left to navigate a complex web of digital platforms and new learning approaches without the individualized attention or frequent checks for understanding that they rely on from their teachers.
What virtual learning can never stand in for is the moment when a student leans over and asks me or a peer for help. That simple act of vulnerability that builds a bridge to another human being may be the most important moment in any classroom and now it’s gone. In Covid-19 America, when school kids need help most, they can’t simply lean over and ask for it.
The Time to Pivot
Today, I teach from my kitchen, my dining room, or the floor of my bedroom. I stare across the digital abyss into the pixelated faces of just a handful of students. It’s impossible to read their emotions or body language. Even when I unmute them, most choose not to speak.
Each day, fewer of them show up to class. Sometimes, students turn off their videos, and I speak only to a sea of black rectangles, the white text of the student’s name the sole indicator of his or her presence in my new classroom. Not surprisingly, our sessions together are stilted and awkward. I try to make jokes and connect, but it’s impossible to replicate online the intimacy of a face-to-face interaction. The magic of what was, of 25 to 40 students working cohesively in community, is lost.
And in the darkest hours of the early morning, when I wake with a start, crushing anxiety pushing on my chest, I think about all the third graders unable to participate in my daughter’s distance-learning classroom. I wonder about the students I’ve still been unable to reach — the ones who haven’t responded to my emails or completed any assignments, and whose faces I never see online. Where are they? How are they? I have no way of knowing.
Our world no longer looks the same. This pause, which has caused, and will continue to cause, so much suffering may also be a gift, offering a shift in perspective and a chance to pivot. Perhaps it’s a rare opportunity to acknowledge that our nation’s public schools should not be left so alone to provide food, mental health care, and digital connectivity for our nation’s children. That should be, in a fashion almost unimaginable in America today, the role of the larger society.
Now is not the time to be silent but to raise our voices, using any privilege we may have, be it in time, money, or simply access, to demand major changes both in how all of us think about our American world and in the systems that perpetuate such inhumane and unconscionable disparities for so many.
There is no way to continue putting yet more duct tape on that smashed bumper of a public education system that was already such a wreck before the coronavirus arrived on these shores. Nor is this the time to retreat into our silos, hoarding privilege along with toilet paper and hand sanitizer, too cowardly to demand more for all the children in this country. It’s time instead to reach out across the six feet of social-distancing space that now divides us all and demand more for those who aren’t able to demand it for themselves.
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truthout--2020-05-11--Trump Judge Argues the Government Can Execute People Any Way It Wants

As we noted in April , President Donald Trump has appointed a staggering number of judges to the federal bench , including more circuit court judges than any president by this point in their tenure .
The success of these judicial nominees , it turns out , is in part attributable to cold , hard cash — or donations to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee , which holds confirmation hearings for each nominee .
A Roll Call investigation published in March found that just three Republican senators on the 22-member Judiciary Committee got more contributions than the rest of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of that money came from judicial nominees the three senators — Sens .
Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina , the committee ’ s chair — eventually supported .
The donors include one of the judges we are looking at this month , former deputy White House counsel Gregory Katsas , who is making his mark on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C .
Circuit .
Katsas gave several thousand dollars to Senate Judiciary Committee members .
We also take another look at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit .
We included him in our column last month with his decision to allow Texas to impose an abortion ban during the COVID-19 pandemic .
We also profile Amul Thapar , a Sixth Circuit judge who is also on Trump ’ s shortlist for the U.S. Supreme Court , should another vacancy occur , and Justin Walker , who recently took the bench in Kentucky .
Gregory Katsas was deputy White House counsel for Trump before being tapped to join the D.C .
Circuit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court Justice Clarence Thomas .
Unlike some other Trump picks , Katsas had a wealth of experience prior to joining the bench , having argued cases in every federal court of appeals and at the U.S. Supreme Court .
However , he ’ s no less hardline than his less-experienced counterparts .
In early April , Katsas joined with fellow Trump-appointee Neomi Rao to lift a preliminary injunction against federal executions .
Under Attorney General William Barr , the U.S. Department of Justice reinstated federal executions after they had not been used for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the lethal injection the government plans to use led to a federal district court issuing a preliminary injunction .
The judge in the case noted that at least one of the four people on federal death row would likely succeed in a lawsuit against the federal government .
Injunctive relief is generally granted when the party seeking relief would suffer “ irreparable harm.
” In this instance , the judge wrote , the plaintiff inmates would “ suffer the irreparable harm of being executed under a potentially unlawful procedure.
” The administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Circuit , where it found a friendly audience in Katsas and Rao .
Katsas ’ opinion spends a good deal of time on the history of executions , detailing various manners of death .
But at root , Katsas ’ opinion was about his belief that it ’ s “ practically impossible ” and “ pointless ” to have to adhere to the “ minutiae ” of state execution protocols .
Put another way , Katsas doesn ’ t feel the federal government should have to follow rules about how it executes people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reversed the preliminary injunction .
In his view , the “ important governmental and public interested in the timely implementation of capital punishment ” is a more substantial harm than the possibility an execution method is impermissible or cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment .
It ’ s well in keeping with the Trump administration ’ s desires to speed these executions along , regardless of consequence .
In the fight over allowing abortions to continue during the pandemic , Texas has fought tooth and nail in the courts to ensure abortion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court rulings and reversals by the state led to abortion being allowed because abortion providers don ’ t use hospital beds or request personal protective equipment , and Texas had carved out an exemption for procedures that met those exceptions .
Sitting on the Fifth Circuit , Trump-appointee Kyle Duncan has been at the forefront of that court ’ s desire to restrict or ban abortion .
In March , he helped ensure Texas ’ abortion ban could go into effect immediately , even as a lower court order had enjoined Texas from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote an opinion granting Texas an extraordinary form of relief — a writ of mandamus — that allowed the state to keep its ban in place .
Mandamus relief is when an appellate court reviews an issue before the lower court case has concluded and is very rare .
The appellate court must determine the district court “ clearly and indisputably erred ” and that the error is so problematic the appellate court must step in immediately .
This isn ’ t the first time the Fifth Circuit has seemed amenable to this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abortion case last year .
In this instance , Duncan agreed with Texas that the ban on abortions was a mere “ temporary postponement ” without any real consequence .
In doing so , Duncan ignored sound medical evidence from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology that abortion is an essential and time-bound medical procedure .
About two weeks later , Duncan again upheld Texas ’ ban , this time writing the opinion in conjunction with George W. Bush-appointee Jennifer Walker Elrod .
Though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ban abortion during the COVID-19 crisis has ended , you can expect Duncan , a die-hard anti-choicer , to continue to carry the water for the Trump administration in this arena .
In 2017 , Trump elevated Judge Amul Thapar from the federal district court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit .
He ’ s also on Trump ’ s shortlist for the U.S. Supreme Court .
So it ’ s especially noteworthy that Thapar recently used a dissent in a Tennessee case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In early April , Tennessee Gov .
Bill Lee ( R ) issued an executive order banning “ elective and non-urgent ” procedures .
The order allowed medication abortion to continue but barred procedural ones .
After several pro-choice organizations sued , the federal district court issued an injunction allowing procedural abortions to continue .
On April 24 , a divided Sixth Circuit panel upheld the injunction .
Two of the three judges on the panel ruled to uphold the injunction .
The court held that the state would save only a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipment ] ” by denying women abortions and that “ [ a ] s of today , a woman ’ s right to a pre-viability abortion is part of ‘ the fundamental law.
’ ” The court ’ s decision was narrowly tailored , however , carving out only three classes of people who could obtain procedural abortions : ( 1 ) people who would lose their ability to obtain an abortion if their procedure was delayed until after April 30 ; ( 2 ) patients who would be forced to undergo a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ procedure was delayed until after April 30 ; ( 3 ) people who would be forced to undergo a two-day procedure , only available in Nashville and Memphis , if their procedure was delayed until April 30 .
In other words , the majority ’ s decision worked to balance the concerns of the state with the constitutional right to abortion .
Thapar dissented , calling the injunction “ overly broad ” and said the majority had “ brazenly substituted its own policy views for those of the elected officials who are actually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dissent in large part to express his unhappiness that the lower court had not made extensive factual findings and took only four days to issue its initial injunction .
In doing so , Thapar willfully overlooked that time is of the essence in obtaining an abortion , scoffing at the idea that a three-week delay in obtaining an abortion would be a burden .
That ignores the evidence that , as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology have stated , abortion is a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several weeks , or in some case days , may increase the risks or potentially make it completely inaccessible.
” This isn ’ t the first time Thapar has ruled to restrict the constitutional right to an abortion .
In 2019 , he was part of the Sixth Circuit panel that upheld an Ohio law stripping Planned Parenthood of funding for reproductive health services , simply because it also provides abortions .
If Trump gets to fill another Supreme Court seat , there is a real chance it would be filled by Thapar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anti-choice views and dismissiveness of the need for reproductive health services .
Justin Walker , U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky At just 38 years old , Justin Walker has sat on the federal district court in Western Kentucky for only six months , but Trump has already nominated him to replace Thomas B. Griffith , who is retiring later this year from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C .
Circuit .
That ’ s in spite of the fact that the American Bar Association deemed Walker “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judgeship because , in part , he had never tried a case .
However , during the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh , Walker made the rounds of talk shows — over 100 of them between June and October 2018 — ceaselessly defending Kavanaugh , who Walker had once clerked for , and attacking Democratic senators .
In what will likely be one of his final opinions as a district court judge , given that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-KY ) appears to be fast-tracking Walker ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Walker wrote what can only be described as a partisan screed in a religious liberty case .
Walker presided over On Fire Christian Center v. Fischer , where an evangelical church in Louisville , Kentucky , preemptively sued the city and Mayor Greg Fischer over the city ’ s alleged decision to bar the center from holding drive-in services on Easter Sunday .
Unsurprisingly , Walker found in favor of the church , holding that religious freedom would trump any coronavirus-related safety concerns — but it was no ordinary opinion .
Walker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fischer had “ criminalized the communal celebration of Easter ” and talking about the pilgrims and the Bible and deceased Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd ( D-WV ) being a one-time member of the Ku Klux Klan .
Walker eventually got to the facts of the case , saying Fischer was issuing “ threats ” when he said , “ In order to save lives , we must not gather in churches , drive-through services , family gatherings , social gatherings this weekend.
” Walker also took issue with the idea that On Fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ the Free Exercise Clause protects their right to worship as their conscience commands them ” — even , apparently , if that created a safety risk during a pandemic .
Worst of all , perhaps , it appears Walker took the most dramatic and high-profile move he could in ruling on the case — he issued a temporary restraining order , complete with a 20-page opinion .
However , it appears Walker didn ’ t ever actually talk to Fischer nor hold a routine status conference , a brief procedural phone call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truly going to stop On Fire from its drive-in Easter celebration .
Barring anything extraordinary happening , Walker will soon bring this combative style to the D.C .
Circuit Court , considered the second-highest court in the country thanks to the number of high-profile cases it hears .
He would join Neomi Rao , another Trump judge who has already made a name for herself as a jurist eager to defend Trump ’ s every action .

As we noted in April, President Donald Trump has appointed a staggering number of judges to the federal bench, including more circuit court judges than any president by this point in their tenure.
The success of these judicial nominees, it turns out, is in part attributable to cold, hard cash — or donations to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which holds confirmation hearings for each nominee. A Roll Call investigation published in March found that just three Republican senators on the 22-member Judiciary Committee got more contributions than the rest of the committee combined. And nearly all of that money came from judicial nominees the three senators — Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the committee’s chair — eventually supported.
The donors include one of the judges we are looking at this month, former deputy White House counsel Gregory Katsas, who is making his mark on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Katsas gave several thousand dollars to Senate Judiciary Committee members.
We also take another look at Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. We included him in our column last month with his decision to allow Texas to impose an abortion ban during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also profile Amul Thapar, a Sixth Circuit judge who is also on Trump’s shortlist for the U.S. Supreme Court, should another vacancy occur, and Justin Walker, who recently took the bench in Kentucky.
Gregory Katsas, D.C. Circuit
Gregory Katsas was deputy White House counsel for Trump before being tapped to join the D.C. Circuit. He also clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Unlike some other Trump picks, Katsas had a wealth of experience prior to joining the bench, having argued cases in every federal court of appeals and at the U.S. Supreme Court. However, he’s no less hardline than his less-experienced counterparts.
In early April, Katsas joined with fellow Trump-appointee Neomi Rao to lift a preliminary injunction against federal executions. Under Attorney General William Barr, the U.S. Department of Justice reinstated federal executions after they had not been used for nearly 20 years. However, concerns about the lethal injection the government plans to use led to a federal district court issuing a preliminary injunction. The judge in the case noted that at least one of the four people on federal death row would likely succeed in a lawsuit against the federal government.
Injunctive relief is generally granted when the party seeking relief would suffer “irreparable harm.” In this instance, the judge wrote, the plaintiff inmates would “suffer the irreparable harm of being executed under a potentially unlawful procedure.”
The administration disagreed and appealed to the D.C. Circuit, where it found a friendly audience in Katsas and Rao. Katsas’ opinion spends a good deal of time on the history of executions, detailing various manners of death. But at root, Katsas’ opinion was about his belief that it’s “practically impossible” and “pointless” to have to adhere to the “minutiae” of state execution protocols. Put another way, Katsas doesn’t feel the federal government should have to follow rules about how it executes people.
Katsas also stated he would have reversed the preliminary injunction. In his view, the “important governmental and public interested in the timely implementation of capital punishment” is a more substantial harm than the possibility an execution method is impermissible or cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment. It’s well in keeping with the Trump administration’s desires to speed these executions along, regardless of consequence.
Kyle Duncan, Fifth Circuit
In the fight over allowing abortions to continue during the pandemic, Texas has fought tooth and nail in the courts to ensure abortion is banned. A dizzying series of court rulings and reversals by the state led to abortion being allowed because abortion providers don’t use hospital beds or request personal protective equipment, and Texas had carved out an exemption for procedures that met those exceptions.
Sitting on the Fifth Circuit, Trump-appointee Kyle Duncan has been at the forefront of that court’s desire to restrict or ban abortion. In March, he helped ensure Texas’ abortion ban could go into effect immediately, even as a lower court order had enjoined Texas from doing so.
In April, Duncan wrote an opinion granting Texas an extraordinary form of relief — a writ of mandamus — that allowed the state to keep its ban in place. Mandamus relief is when an appellate court reviews an issue before the lower court case has concluded and is very rare. The appellate court must determine the district court “clearly and indisputably erred” and that the error is so problematic the appellate court must step in immediately.
This isn’t the first time the Fifth Circuit has seemed amenable to this approach. Louisiana tried it with an abortion case last year.
In this instance, Duncan agreed with Texas that the ban on abortions was a mere “temporary postponement” without any real consequence. In doing so, Duncan ignored sound medical evidence from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology that abortion is an essential and time-bound medical procedure.
About two weeks later, Duncan again upheld Texas’ ban, this time writing the opinion in conjunction with George W. Bush-appointee Jennifer Walker Elrod. Though the saga of Texas’ attempts to ban abortion during the COVID-19 crisis has ended, you can expect Duncan, a die-hard anti-choicer, to continue to carry the water for the Trump administration in this arena.
Amul Thapar, Sixth Circuit
In 2017, Trump elevated Judge Amul Thapar from the federal district court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He’s also on Trump’s shortlist for the U.S. Supreme Court. So it’s especially noteworthy that Thapar recently used a dissent in a Tennessee case to show off his anti-choice bona fides.
In early April, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) issued an executive order banning “elective and non-urgent” procedures. The order allowed medication abortion to continue but barred procedural ones. After several pro-choice organizations sued, the federal district court issued an injunction allowing procedural abortions to continue. On April 24, a divided Sixth Circuit panel upheld the injunction.
Two of the three judges on the panel ruled to uphold the injunction. The court held that the state would save only a “paltry amount of [personal protective equipment]” by denying women abortions and that “[a]s of today, a woman’s right to a pre-viability abortion is part of ‘the fundamental law.’”
The court’s decision was narrowly tailored, however, carving out only three classes of people who could obtain procedural abortions: (1) people who would lose their ability to obtain an abortion if their procedure was delayed until after April 30; (2) patients who would be forced to undergo a lengthier and more complex procedure if their procedure was delayed until after April 30; (3) people who would be forced to undergo a two-day procedure, only available in Nashville and Memphis, if their procedure was delayed until April 30. In other words, the majority’s decision worked to balance the concerns of the state with the constitutional right to abortion.
Thapar dissented, calling the injunction “overly broad” and said the majority had “brazenly substituted its own policy views for those of the elected officials who are actually fighting the pandemic.”
Thapar used his dissent in large part to express his unhappiness that the lower court had not made extensive factual findings and took only four days to issue its initial injunction. In doing so, Thapar willfully overlooked that time is of the essence in obtaining an abortion, scoffing at the idea that a three-week delay in obtaining an abortion would be a burden. That ignores the evidence that, as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology have stated, abortion is a “time-sensitive service for which a delay of several weeks, or in some case days, may increase the risks or potentially make it completely inaccessible.”
This isn’t the first time Thapar has ruled to restrict the constitutional right to an abortion. In 2019, he was part of the Sixth Circuit panel that upheld an Ohio law stripping Planned Parenthood of funding for reproductive health services, simply because it also provides abortions.
If Trump gets to fill another Supreme Court seat, there is a real chance it would be filled by Thapar, who would bring with him his anti-choice views and dismissiveness of the need for reproductive health services.
Justin Walker, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
At just 38 years old, Justin Walker has sat on the federal district court in Western Kentucky for only six months, but Trump has already nominated him to replace Thomas B. Griffith, who is retiring later this year from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That’s in spite of the fact that the American Bar Association deemed Walker “not qualified” for the district court judgeship because, in part, he had never tried a case.
However, during the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Walker made the rounds of talk shows — over 100 of them between June and October 2018 — ceaselessly defending Kavanaugh, who Walker had once clerked for, and attacking Democratic senators.
In what will likely be one of his final opinions as a district court judge, given that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appears to be fast-tracking Walker’s path to the D.C. Circuit, Walker wrote what can only be described as a partisan screed in a religious liberty case.
Walker presided over On Fire Christian Center v. Fischer, where an evangelical church in Louisville, Kentucky, preemptively sued the city and Mayor Greg Fischer over the city’s alleged decision to bar the center from holding drive-in services on Easter Sunday. Unsurprisingly, Walker found in favor of the church, holding that religious freedom would trump any coronavirus-related safety concerns — but it was no ordinary opinion.
Walker’s opinion began surreally, declaring Fischer had “criminalized the communal celebration of Easter” and talking about the pilgrims and the Bible and deceased Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) being a one-time member of the Ku Klux Klan. Walker eventually got to the facts of the case, saying Fischer was issuing “threats” when he said, “In order to save lives, we must not gather in churches, drive-through services, family gatherings, social gatherings this weekend.” Walker also took issue with the idea that On Fire members could celebrate online, saying that “the Free Exercise Clause protects their right to worship as their conscience commands them” — even, apparently, if that created a safety risk during a pandemic.
Worst of all, perhaps, it appears Walker took the most dramatic and high-profile move he could in ruling on the case — he issued a temporary restraining order, complete with a 20-page opinion. However, it appears Walker didn’t ever actually talk to Fischer nor hold a routine status conference, a brief procedural phone call that could have resolved whether Louisville was truly going to stop On Fire from its drive-in Easter celebration.
Barring anything extraordinary happening, Walker will soon bring this combative style to the D.C. Circuit Court, considered the second-highest court in the country thanks to the number of high-profile cases it hears. He would join Neomi Rao, another Trump judge who has already made a name for herself as a jurist eager to defend Trump’s every action.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-05-12--Justice Thomas Said Forcing Trump to Release His Taxes Weakens the President

The United States Supreme Court heard two different cases on a single matter : who may ( or may not ) have the legal right to access President Donald Trump ’ s financial and tax records .
The two cases involve investigations at the Congressional level as well as within the state Trump once called his home , New York .
The District Attorney from Manhattan , Cyrus Vance Jr. , is seeking to obtain financial statements from Mazars USA , an accounting firm used by Trump in the past , in order to ascertain whether the president acted improperly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women , adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal , in exchange for their silence prior to and during the 2016 presidential campaign .
Meanwhile , in Congress , House committee heads had sought to subpoena records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One , to view tax and financial records in order to help them in oversight matters .
Trump ’ s legal teams in both cases are arguing that neither the Manhattan DA nor Congress has the legal right to demand such documents , even though past presidents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Bill Clinton in a sexual harassment lawsuit against him ) have had to respond to such legal requests .
On the congressional matter , Trump ’ s lawyer Patrick Strawbridge was adamant in describing Democrats ’ subpoena orders as political rather than for practical purposes .
“ These subpoenas are overreaching .
They ’ re an obvious distraction , ” he said .
Conservative stalwarts on the bench , like Justice Clarence Thomas , seemed willing to buy into Trump ’ s lawyers ’ arguments , that multiple subpoenas were detrimental to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ functions of their jobs .
“ At some point , there ’ s a straw that breaks the camel ’ s back .
At some point , it debilitates the president , ” Thomas said .
But other justices appeared to be divided on the matter , with some conservatives on the bench even voicing skepticism over the arguments Trump ’ s lawyers were making .
Chief Justice John Roberts seemed highly concerned over the High Court overstepping its bounds in a legislative matter , and asked whether it was right for justices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of lawmakers in Congress .
“ Should members of House committees be subject to cross-examination on why you were really seeking the documents ?
” he asked aloud .
Justice Brett Kavanaugh , a Trump appointee , seemed to want to find a balance on the topic .
“ How can we both protect the House ’ s interest in obtaining information it needs to legislate , but also protect the presidency ?
” Justice Stephen Breyer , a liberal bloc justice of the Court , also worried about future presidencies dealing with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political reasons .
“ What I hold today will also apply to a future Senator McCarthy asking a future Franklin Roosevelt or Harry Truman exactly the same questions .
That bothers me , ” Breyer said .
Other liberal justice bloc members said it was difficult to see a difference between Trump ’ s arguments and failed arguments of the past .
“ How do you distinguish , say , Whitewater , when President Clinton ’ s personal records were subpoenaed from his accountant , or even Hillary Clinton ’ s law firm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked .
Even with the thinking of the justices somewhat understood , the final outcome of the cases before the Court on Tuesday could not be ascertained or predicted by most legal experts .
Indeed , it ’ s possible that a mixed outcome could result , in spite of precedents set by rulings during the Nixon and Clinton eras , or that a decision from the Supreme Court could send the matter back to lower courts to uncover more facts , before possibly returning to the justices down the @ @

Justices expressed a desire to stay out of legislative matters while also worrying about unfettered access to records.
The United States Supreme Court heard two different cases on a single matter: who may (or may not) have the legal right to access President Donald Trump’s financial and tax records.
The two cases involve investigations at the Congressional level as well as within the state Trump once called his home, New York.
The District Attorney from Manhattan, Cyrus Vance Jr., is seeking to obtain financial statements from Mazars USA, an accounting firm used by Trump in the past, in order to ascertain whether the president acted improperly in allegedly disbursing hush-money payments to two women, adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, in exchange for their silence prior to and during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Meanwhile, in Congress, House committee heads had sought to subpoena records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One, to view tax and financial records in order to help them in oversight matters.
Trump’s legal teams in both cases are arguing that neither the Manhattan DA nor Congress has the legal right to demand such documents, even though past presidents (such as Richard Nixon with Watergate and Bill Clinton in a sexual harassment lawsuit against him) have had to respond to such legal requests.
On the congressional matter, Trump’s lawyer Patrick Strawbridge was adamant in describing Democrats’ subpoena orders as political rather than for practical purposes.
“These subpoenas are overreaching. They’re an obvious distraction,” he said.
Conservative stalwarts on the bench, like Justice Clarence Thomas, seemed willing to buy into Trump’s lawyers’ arguments, that multiple subpoenas were detrimental to presidents being able to carry out the functions of their jobs.
“At some point, there’s a straw that breaks the camel’s back. At some point, it debilitates the president,” Thomas said.
But other justices appeared to be divided on the matter, with some conservatives on the bench even voicing skepticism over the arguments Trump’s lawyers were making.
Chief Justice John Roberts seemed highly concerned over the High Court overstepping its bounds in a legislative matter, and asked whether it was right for justices to probe “the mental processes” of lawmakers in Congress.
“Should members of House committees be subject to cross-examination on why you were really seeking the documents?” he asked aloud.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, seemed to want to find a balance on the topic.
“How can we both protect the House’s interest in obtaining information it needs to legislate, but also protect the presidency?”
Justice Stephen Breyer, a liberal bloc justice of the Court, also worried about future presidencies dealing with congressional committees possibly using subpoena powers for political reasons.
“What I hold today will also apply to a future Senator McCarthy asking a future Franklin Roosevelt or Harry Truman exactly the same questions. That bothers me,” Breyer said.
Other liberal justice bloc members said it was difficult to see a difference between Trump’s arguments and failed arguments of the past.
“How do you distinguish, say, Whitewater, when President Clinton’s personal records were subpoenaed from his accountant, or even Hillary Clinton’s law firm billing records were subpoenaed?” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked.
Even with the thinking of the justices somewhat understood, the final outcome of the cases before the Court on Tuesday could not be ascertained or predicted by most legal experts. Indeed, it’s possible that a mixed outcome could result, in spite of precedents set by rulings during the Nixon and Clinton eras, or that a decision from the Supreme Court could send the matter back to lower courts to uncover more facts, before possibly returning to the justices down the road.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-12--Trump Dismisses Chinese American Reporter’s Question Saying, “Ask China!”

President Donald Trump made a questionable remark on Monday during a press briefing at the White House , telling an Asian American reporter to “ ask China ” in response to a question she asked .
CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang asked Trump to explain why he was obsessed with comparing testing percentages with other countries .
Earlier in the press briefing , Trump had errantly claimed that the United States was among the top nations in the world in terms of coronavirus testing on a per capita basis .
In fact , among countries where daily testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been made available , the U.S. is ranked below 10 other countries .
“ Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives , and we ’ re still seeing more cases every day ?
” Jiang asked Trump to explain .
Trump didn ’ t appear to be happy with the line of questioning .
“ They ’ re losing their lives everywhere in the world , and maybe that ’ s a question you should ask China , ” he said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China that question.
” A confused Jiang tried to follow up on Trump ’ s response , but he moved on to the next reporter , CNN ’ s Kaitlan Collins .
Collins , however , deferred her question back to Jiang , who asked Trump to explain his answer again .
“ Sir , why are you saying that to me , specifically ?
” Jiang said to Trump , regarding why he wanted her to question the Chinese government .
The president did not respond with an actual answer , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anyone who would ask a nasty question , ” and tried to move on to the next reporter .
Collins assumed that she would be the next questioner , but Trump decided to move on to someone else .
When Collins protested , the president abruptly ended the press briefing , exiting the staging area and refusing to answer any more questions .
Trump ’ s reaction to Jiang ’ s line of questioning , including telling her to “ ask China , ” was widely considered to be a racist comment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s not the only time Trump has seemingly considered a reporter ’ s race in framing his answers to questions at the White House , and indeed , Jiang , in a tweet from March , had detailed how a Trump official had called the disease “ Kung-flu ” to her face .
Other examples abound , dating back to the early days of Trump ’ s presidency .
In early 2017 , just one month after taking the oath of office , Trump was asked by American Urban Radio Networks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ promote revitalization efforts in urban centers throughout the country .
Ryan asked Trump if he intended to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus in order to discuss those issues .
Trump told Ryan , who is Black , that she should be the one to set up a meeting between him and the group of lawmakers .
“ I ’ ll tell you what , do you want to set up the meeting ?
Do you want to set up the meeting ?
Are they friends of yours ?
” Trump asked .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a reporter , ” but Trump continued .
“ Set up the meeting .
Let ’ s go , set up a meeting .
I would love to meet with the Black caucus .
I think it ’ s great .
The Congressional Black Caucus.
” Trump has used racist language when describing the coronavirus itself , frequently invoking the name “ Chinese Virus ” to describe COVID-19 , a move that health experts have warned is highly inappropriate .

Many viewed the response from the president as racist.
President Donald Trump made a questionable remark on Monday during a press briefing at the White House, telling an Asian American reporter to “ask China” in response to a question she asked.
CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang asked Trump to explain why he was obsessed with comparing testing percentages with other countries. Earlier in the press briefing, Trump had errantly claimed that the United States was among the top nations in the world in terms of coronavirus testing on a per capita basis.
In fact, among countries where daily testing figures for the past 20 days have been made available, the U.S. is ranked below 10 other countries.
“Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives, and we’re still seeing more cases every day?” Jiang asked Trump to explain.
Trump didn’t appear to be happy with the line of questioning. “They’re losing their lives everywhere in the world, and maybe that’s a question you should ask China,” he said. “Don’t ask me, ask China that question.”
A confused Jiang tried to follow up on Trump’s response, but he moved on to the next reporter, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Collins, however, deferred her question back to Jiang, who asked Trump to explain his answer again.
“Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically?” Jiang said to Trump, regarding why he wanted her to question the Chinese government.
The president did not respond with an actual answer, but claimed he would tell that to “anyone who would ask a nasty question,” and tried to move on to the next reporter.
The final minute of Trump's news conference this evening pic.twitter.com/m6oGh1q9VF — Axios (@axios) May 11, 2020
Collins assumed that she would be the next questioner, but Trump decided to move on to someone else. When Collins protested, the president abruptly ended the press briefing, exiting the staging area and refusing to answer any more questions.
Trump’s reaction to Jiang’s line of questioning, including telling her to “ask China,” was widely considered to be a racist comment, given that Jiang is Asian American. It’s not the only time Trump has seemingly considered a reporter’s race in framing his answers to questions at the White House, and indeed, Jiang, in a tweet from March, had detailed how a Trump official had called the disease “Kung-flu” to her face.
Other examples abound, dating back to the early days of Trump’s presidency. In early 2017, just one month after taking the oath of office, Trump was asked by American Urban Radio Networks reporter April Ryan about his plans to promote revitalization efforts in urban centers throughout the country. Ryan asked Trump if he intended to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus in order to discuss those issues.
Trump told Ryan, who is Black, that she should be the one to set up a meeting between him and the group of lawmakers.
“I’ll tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting? Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?” Trump asked.
Ryan responded that she was “just a reporter,” but Trump continued.
“Set up the meeting. Let’s go, set up a meeting. I would love to meet with the Black caucus. I think it’s great. The Congressional Black Caucus.”
Trump has used racist language when describing the coronavirus itself, frequently invoking the name “Chinese Virus” to describe COVID-19, a move that health experts have warned is highly inappropriate.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-12--Deforestation and Monoculture Farming Spread COVID-19 and Other Diseases

Over a year before COVID-19 was first detected , biologists at the University of Warsaw published “ Bats , Coronaviruses , and Deforestation , ” a paper that links the rapid destruction of the natural habitats of bats to the spread of coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV .
Published in April 2018 , the article describes how the homes of bats in the rainforests of Southeast Asia have been reduced by 50 percent over the last 70 years , putting the disease-carrying animals in closer contact with humans than ever before .
It then details that 31 percent of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carrying are different forms of coronaviruses .
Finally , it ends with a prophetic warning : “ The risk of newly emerging CoVs-associated diseases in the future should be considered seriously.
” The total amount of infectious disease outbreaks around the world has been steadily increasing over the last four decades , according to a 2014 study by Brown University scientists .
During that time , the world ’ s forest coverage has been reduced to half its size .
The majority ( 60 percent ) of these new outbreaks were animal-borne ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , SARS-CoV , MERS-CoV , H1N1 “ swine flu , ” Nipah virus and many others .
The Brown University scientists therefore attributed this recent global rise in infectious disease primarily to an increase in “ pathogens spilling over to humans from wildlife.
” Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio , the associated vice president for conservation and health at the EcoHealth Alliance , analyzed over 704 different infectious disease outbreaks between the years 1940 and 2008 , and found that measuring the rate of deforestation in a given area was the number one predictor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Scientists have been sending out warnings about this for years now , ” Zambrana-Torrelio told Truthout .
“ We can ’ t keep encroaching upon the natural habitats of wildlife without taking into consideration what deadly diseases might spill over from that wildlife into the neighboring humans.
” Regions of the Amazon with increased rates of deforestation have concurrently experienced increased rates of malaria in humans .
As climate change withers away the canopy of trees that act as the “ ceiling ” of the rainforest , puddles of stagnant water are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mosquitos , particularly the kind that carry malaria , love to breed in this murky standing water .
This increase in mosquito population in deforested areas is going largely unchecked due to their natural predators , mainly frogs and dragonflies , dying off in the destroyed habitat .
“ Normally , trees can absorb stagnant water through their roots , ” Andy MacDonald , a disease ecologist and environmental scientist at the University of California , Santa Barbara , told Truthout .
“ But if there ’ s not enough trees around , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prime breeding ground for mosquitoes.
” The areas of the rainforest where there ’ s the most standing water , MacDonald said , corresponds to the same areas where humans are encroaching upon and destroying the trees .
“ This creates deadly potential for interaction between people and malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
” A similar phenomenon happens in the rainforests of Southeast Asia , where El Niño droughts are becoming increasingly intense due to rising global temperatures .
The 1998 El Niño drought , for example , occurred at the exact same time as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The drought caused mass forest fires that swept the region .
These fires created a huge smog that prevented the plants from growing fruit , ” said Amy Vittor , an assistant professor at the University of Florida ’ s Emerging Pathogens Institute told Truthout .
“ This forced the flying fox bats of the rainforest to migrate to the towns of Malaysia.
” Some of these bats flocked to Malaysian pig farms , where the first cases of Nipah virus were reported .
Bats would bite into fruit that the pigs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the pigs .
Humans caught the virus when they came in contact with the pigs .
The majority of global deforestation today is driven by multinational corporations , including Cargill , JBS and Mafrig , as well as their creditors BlackRock , JPMorgan Chase and HSBC .
These corporations clear acres of land for the mass production of a single cash crop .
The Amazon , for example , is primarily being destroyed for products that people in Western countries buy but do not necessarily need — palm oil , sugar cane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ farming , in which large swathes of land are dedicated for the repeated production of a single crop , is a relatively new phenomenon that depletes soil ( such as in the case of the 1930s Dust Bowl ) , leaves crops vulnerable to pests ( as in the case of the Irish potato famine ) and leaves humans vulnerable to disease by reducing the biodiversity of animals in the surrounding region ( as in the case of global bee populations ) .
“ Farms that produce a variety of crops will attract @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feed on the crops , ” biologist John Swaddle of the College of William & Mary told Truthout .
On the flip side , when a farm is only producing a single type of crop , it will only attract a limited variety of animals .
If one type of animal from that limited variety catches a disease , the entire ecosystem is threatened .
This dynamic creates what is commonly known as the dilution effect : The more types of species there are in a given ecosystem , the more resistant the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of disease .
West Nile virus , for example , infects some species of birds more easily than others .
Ducks and geese are naturally more resistant to contracting and spreading the virus , so they act as a kind of “ buffer ” against the species that are more vulnerable to the virus , like crows and finches .
If a mosquito carrying West Nile virus bites into a duck or goose , it is likely that the virus will simply die off in their system .
To investigate this phenomenon , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. that reported a case of West Nile virus in 2002 ( the first year of the outbreak ) to a neighboring county that did not .
The result ?
On average , the counties that reported cases of West Nile virus had a significantly lower diversity of bird species than the counties that had no cases .
And what factors affect the biodiversity of bird species in a given area ?
Deforestation , climate change and monoculture farming .
Likewise , the rise of monocrop palm plantations in the forests of West @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spread of the Ebola virus .
The first known cases of the 2013 Ebola outbreak occurred in the Guinean villages of Guéckédou and Meliandou , which are both surrounded by areas that had been heavily deforested for monocrop palm plantations .
Much of the Upper Guinean forests have been reduced to 16 percent of the size that they were in 1975 .
This is largely due to the industrial monocrop farming of western-backed corporations like the Guinean Oil Palm and Rubber Company , which is financed by the European Investment Bank .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ their natural habitat , they flock to places like palm oil plantations , where they can find ample food and shelter .
Another one of the largest corporations driving deforestation , and thereby the spread of Ebola in West Africa , is the London-based Farm Lands of Africa , Ltd .
Between 2010 and 2012 , the three years leading up to the 2013 Ebola outbreak , Farm Lands of Africa acquired over 1,608,215 hectares of forest in the Congo Basin .
This massive land grab forcibly displaced thousands of families , turning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vegetable farming by Indigenous people into monoculture plantations for the export of cash crops like palm oil .
It also displaced thousands of Ebola-carrying fruit bats — many of which are attracted to the rich vegetation and shelter of the palm plantations .
The world ’ s rainforests are not being destroyed to feed people .
“ Many options exist to meet the global food supply in 2050 without deforestation , ” wrote University of Klagenfurt ecologist Karl-Heinz Erb in the journal Nature .
Forests are primarily being cleared for the plunder of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heads of multinational corporations .
Such is the case with the PT .
Hardaya Inti Plantations company , owned by billionaire Siti Hartati Murdaya , which has seized over 22,000 hectares of land in Indonesia for monoculture palm oil plantations .
The acquisition displaced over 6,500 families by destroying the subsistence farms and forests that they relied on to live .
Half of those families ended up working on the palm plantations , where they were cruelly exploited for meager wages .
So it is questionable whether this deforestation is benefiting the majority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
On top of that , the resulting environmental destruction is causing a mass displacement of wildlife in the region , leading to the proliferation of malaria and dengue .
As University of Ferrara scientists state in their April 2020 paper , “ The novel zoonotic COVID-19 pandemic : An expected global health concern , ” the current COVID-19 pandemic was highly predictable .
Based on the patterns of deforestation associated with the two most recent outbreaks of other coronaviruses , SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV , as well as countless other animal-borne diseases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is much evidence to suggest that this current pandemic is part of a larger global trend .
“ If we want to do everything we can to prevent the next pandemic from occurring , ” Zambrana-Torrelio said , “ we must stop deforestation .
”

Over a year before COVID-19 was first detected, biologists at the University of Warsaw published “Bats, Coronaviruses, and Deforestation,” a paper that links the rapid destruction of the natural habitats of bats to the spread of coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.
Published in April 2018, the article describes how the homes of bats in the rainforests of Southeast Asia have been reduced by 50 percent over the last 70 years, putting the disease-carrying animals in closer contact with humans than ever before. It then details that 31 percent of the viruses that bats are capable of carrying are different forms of coronaviruses. Finally, it ends with a prophetic warning: “The risk of newly emerging CoVs-associated diseases in the future should be considered seriously.”
The total amount of infectious disease outbreaks around the world has been steadily increasing over the last four decades, according to a 2014 study by Brown University scientists. During that time, the world’s forest coverage has been reduced to half its size. The majority (60 percent) of these new outbreaks were animal-borne (zoonotic) diseases, including the Ebola virus, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, H1N1 “swine flu,” Nipah virus and many others. The Brown University scientists therefore attributed this recent global rise in infectious disease primarily to an increase in “pathogens spilling over to humans from wildlife.”
Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio, the associated vice president for conservation and health at the EcoHealth Alliance, analyzed over 704 different infectious disease outbreaks between the years 1940 and 2008, and found that measuring the rate of deforestation in a given area was the number one predictor of where the next pandemic will occur. “Scientists have been sending out warnings about this for years now,” Zambrana-Torrelio told Truthout. “We can’t keep encroaching upon the natural habitats of wildlife without taking into consideration what deadly diseases might spill over from that wildlife into the neighboring humans.”
Regions of the Amazon with increased rates of deforestation have concurrently experienced increased rates of malaria in humans. As climate change withers away the canopy of trees that act as the “ceiling” of the rainforest, puddles of stagnant water are becoming increasingly common on the ground. Mosquitos, particularly the kind that carry malaria, love to breed in this murky standing water. This increase in mosquito population in deforested areas is going largely unchecked due to their natural predators, mainly frogs and dragonflies, dying off in the destroyed habitat.
“Normally, trees can absorb stagnant water through their roots,” Andy MacDonald, a disease ecologist and environmental scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Truthout. “But if there’s not enough trees around, the stagnant water remains, creating a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes.” The areas of the rainforest where there’s the most standing water, MacDonald said, corresponds to the same areas where humans are encroaching upon and destroying the trees. “This creates deadly potential for interaction between people and malaria-carrying mosquitoes.”
A similar phenomenon happens in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, where El Niño droughts are becoming increasingly intense due to rising global temperatures. The 1998 El Niño drought, for example, occurred at the exact same time as the 1998 Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia. “The drought caused mass forest fires that swept the region. These fires created a huge smog that prevented the plants from growing fruit,” said Amy Vittor, an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute told Truthout. “This forced the flying fox bats of the rainforest to migrate to the towns of Malaysia.”
Measuring the rate of deforestation in a given area was the number one predictor of where the next pandemic will occur.
Some of these bats flocked to Malaysian pig farms, where the first cases of Nipah virus were reported. Bats would bite into fruit that the pigs ate, causing the virus to spread to the pigs. Humans caught the virus when they came in contact with the pigs.
The majority of global deforestation today is driven by multinational corporations, including Cargill, JBS and Mafrig, as well as their creditors BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase and HSBC. These corporations clear acres of land for the mass production of a single cash crop. The Amazon, for example, is primarily being destroyed for products that people in Western countries buy but do not necessarily need — palm oil, sugar cane or various biofuels like ethanol.
Monocrop farming, in which large swathes of land are dedicated for the repeated production of a single crop, is a relatively new phenomenon that depletes soil (such as in the case of the 1930s Dust Bowl), leaves crops vulnerable to pests (as in the case of the Irish potato famine) and leaves humans vulnerable to disease by reducing the biodiversity of animals in the surrounding region (as in the case of global bee populations).
“Farms that produce a variety of crops will attract a variety of wildlife that come to feed on the crops,” biologist John Swaddle of the College of William & Mary told Truthout. On the flip side, when a farm is only producing a single type of crop, it will only attract a limited variety of animals. If one type of animal from that limited variety catches a disease, the entire ecosystem is threatened. This dynamic creates what is commonly known as the dilution effect: The more types of species there are in a given ecosystem, the more resistant the overall ecosystem will be to the spread of disease.
West Nile virus, for example, infects some species of birds more easily than others. Ducks and geese are naturally more resistant to contracting and spreading the virus, so they act as a kind of “buffer” against the species that are more vulnerable to the virus, like crows and finches. If a mosquito carrying West Nile virus bites into a duck or goose, it is likely that the virus will simply die off in their system. To investigate this phenomenon, Swaddle compared every county in the eastern U.S. that reported a case of West Nile virus in 2002 (the first year of the outbreak) to a neighboring county that did not. The result? On average, the counties that reported cases of West Nile virus had a significantly lower diversity of bird species than the counties that had no cases. And what factors affect the biodiversity of bird species in a given area? Deforestation, climate change and monoculture farming.
The Amazon is primarily being destroyed for products that people in Western countries buy but do not necessarily need.
Likewise, the rise of monocrop palm plantations in the forests of West Africa have been a significant driver of the spread of the Ebola virus. The first known cases of the 2013 Ebola outbreak occurred in the Guinean villages of Guéckédou and Meliandou, which are both surrounded by areas that had been heavily deforested for monocrop palm plantations. Much of the Upper Guinean forests have been reduced to 16 percent of the size that they were in 1975. This is largely due to the industrial monocrop farming of western-backed corporations like the Guinean Oil Palm and Rubber Company, which is financed by the European Investment Bank. As Ebola-carrying bats are pushed out of their natural habitat, they flock to places like palm oil plantations, where they can find ample food and shelter.
Another one of the largest corporations driving deforestation, and thereby the spread of Ebola in West Africa, is the London-based Farm Lands of Africa, Ltd. Between 2010 and 2012, the three years leading up to the 2013 Ebola outbreak, Farm Lands of Africa acquired over 1,608,215 hectares of forest in the Congo Basin. This massive land grab forcibly displaced thousands of families, turning land that was previously used primarily for vegetable farming by Indigenous people into monoculture plantations for the export of cash crops like palm oil. It also displaced thousands of Ebola-carrying fruit bats — many of which are attracted to the rich vegetation and shelter of the palm plantations.
The world’s rainforests are not being destroyed to feed people. “Many options exist to meet the global food supply in 2050 without deforestation,” wrote University of Klagenfurt ecologist Karl-Heinz Erb in the journal Nature. Forests are primarily being cleared for the plunder of cash crops that mostly benefit the wealthy heads of multinational corporations.
Such is the case with the PT. Hardaya Inti Plantations company, owned by billionaire Siti Hartati Murdaya, which has seized over 22,000 hectares of land in Indonesia for monoculture palm oil plantations. The acquisition displaced over 6,500 families by destroying the subsistence farms and forests that they relied on to live. Half of those families ended up working on the palm plantations, where they were cruelly exploited for meager wages. So it is questionable whether this deforestation is benefiting the majority of Indonesians, beyond its billionaire kleptocrats. On top of that, the resulting environmental destruction is causing a mass displacement of wildlife in the region, leading to the proliferation of malaria and dengue.
As University of Ferrara scientists state in their April 2020 paper, “The novel zoonotic COVID-19 pandemic: An expected global health concern,” the current COVID-19 pandemic was highly predictable. Based on the patterns of deforestation associated with the two most recent outbreaks of other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, as well as countless other animal-borne diseases, including Ebola, malaria and dengue fever , there is much evidence to suggest that this current pandemic is part of a larger global trend.
“If we want to do everything we can to prevent the next pandemic from occurring,” Zambrana-Torrelio said, “we must stop deforestation.”
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