truthout--2020-10-11--Barrett Nomination Spurs Greater Election Spending by Abortion Rights Groups

Since President Donald Trump ’ s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court , the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade looms larger .
Barrett is not shy about her anti-abortion stance and signed an ad in 2006 that called the 1973 landmark decision “ barbaric ” and a “ raw exercise of judicial power.
” In fear or excitement , both the pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion groups have funneled money into this year ’ s elections .
While more donations are yet to come , totals haven ’ t reached 2018 levels , when the confirmations of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Supreme Court were front of mind .
Through September , pro-abortion rights groups gave $ 4.5 million to candidates , party committees and outside groups , six times more than their anti-abortion counterparts .
While the 2020 election cycle isn ’ t over , donation numbers from the 2018 midterm election were higher .
Two years ago , pro-abortion rights groups advocates gave a record $ 8 million to candidates and groups .
Those who support Roe v. Wade are using their money to help elect Democrats .
Pro-abortion rights groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 564,000 to Joe Biden , $ 77,000 to Maine ’ s Sara Gideon and $ 73,000 to Arizona ’ s Mark Kelly .
Biden has taken a strong pro-abortion rights stance in recent years , though he has swung back and forth on his the issue since 1973 , when he entered the Senate and Roe was decided .
In a town hall Monday , Biden said if Barrett was confirmed and Roe was overturned , “ the only responsible response to that would be to pass legislation making Roe the law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sen. Kamala Harris ( D-Calif. ) echoed that sentiment in Wednesday ’ s vice presidential debate , saying , “ I will always fight for a woman ’ s right to make a decision about her own body .
It should be her decision and not that of Donald Trump and the vice president , Michael Pence.
” The pair are supported by pro-abortion rights committees such as EMILY ’ s List , which is dedicated to supporting pro-abortion rights women in office .
The conduit PAC has spent $ 58 million so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Women Vote !
has spent $ 24.2 million .
Of that , $ 2.8 million went to supporting Biden , whereas almost $ 7 million was used against Sen. Susan Collins ( R-Maine ) and Sen. Joni Ernst ( R-Iowa ) .
Just last week , the super PAC joined other women-led groups to pledge $ 10 million in digital ads supporting Harris leading up to Wednesday ’ s debate .
National women ’ s health organization Planned Parenthood has also backed pro-abortion rights candidates .
Along with its affiliate super PACs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spent $ 6.1 million this cycle .
In the presidential election , the group has spent $ 1.3 million against Trump and almost $ 1 million supporting Biden .
It ’ s also released several six-figure digital ad campaigns this summer attacking vulnerable GOP senators .
The group ’ s largest target this election are two women senators from opposite sides of the country .
Planned Parenthood has spent $ 633,000 against Collins and $ 582,000 against Sen. Martha McSally ( R-Ariz. ) .
Collins faces a tight race this year in part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Though the incumbent has said she supports abortion rights , Mainers protested her vote to confirm Justice Kavanaugh two years ago .
McSally , on the other hand , is staunchly anti-abortion and has repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood .
The oldest abortion rights advocacy group in the U.S. , NARAL Pro-Choice America , has spent $ 1.7 million thus far , mostly against Republicans .
In April , the group launched a six-figure ad campaign titled Pro-Life Hypocrisy with videos saying pro-life Republican congressional members “ want to put Americans at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has particularly attacked McSally , Sen. David Perdue ( R-Ga. ) and Ernst .
All three candidates are anti-abortion and support Barrett ’ s nomination .
In January , Ernst signed an amicus brief petitioning the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade .
Just last week , at a debate she said she is “ proudly pro-life , ” but added that even if Barrett is confirmed , she doesn ’ t think Roe v. Wade will be overturned .
“ I don ’ t see that happening , ” she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Research Center found that 70 percent of U.S. adults oppose completely overturning Roe v. Wade , while 28 percent support overturning it .
A CBS News poll this summer returned similar results .
Those findings haven ’ t stopped anti-abortion groups , which donated $ 742,000 to candidates and groups this election .
That is actually far less than previous cycles .
Political contributions from anti-abortion groups have declined almost every cycle since 2012 .
Most of this year ’ s money came from the Susan B. Anthony List , which gave $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PAC backed Trump and several incumbents in toss up elections , including Sen. Ernst , Steve Daines ( R-Mont . )
and Lindsey Graham ( R-S.C. ) .
Susan B. Anthony List and its partner super PAC , Women Speak Out PAC , are spending $ 500,000 in Iowa to re-elect Ernst .
This week they put out phone , digital and text ads to inform voters of Barrett ’ s pro-life views and preserve the pro-life Senate majority .
Last week , they released a video supporting Barrett , who would “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deserves.
” Although Women Speak Out said it has a $ 52 million budget this election cycle , the super PAC has spent only $ 4.7 million through October 2020 .
The super PAC heavily targeted candidates in Texas , North Carolina and Michigan .
It spent almost $ 765,000 attacking five house Democrats in Texas : Candace Venezuela , Sri Kulkarni , Lizzie Fletcher , Colin Allred and Wendy Davis .
The group has also used $ 1 million to support Trump and almost the same amount to attack Biden .
Right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it released a video calling Biden and Harris “ pro-abortion fanatics.
” Much like his opponent , Trump has also wavered on the issue of abortion rights .
In 1999 , he said “ I am pro-choice in every respect , ” a line used against him in attack ads just four years ago .
In office , the president has reversed course and is eager to overturn Roe v. Wade .
This January , Trump was the first sitting president to attend the March for Life , an annual rally protesting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At Wednesday ’ s vice presidential debate , Pence said , “ I couldn ’ t be more proud to serve as vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life .
I ’ m pro-life , I don ’ t apologize for it.
” Another anti-abortion group , Right to Life , has spent $ 377,000 this election helping Republicans .
The group spent $ 177,000 backing Trump , $ 41,000 for Thom Tillis ( R-N.C. ) and $ 35,000 for Michelle Fischbach , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ District .
Over the summer , the group posted several ads on Facebook attacking Democrats in Congress for their pro-abortion rights views .
Currently , they ’ re running an ad primarily targeting voters in Florida , Pennsylvania , North Carolina and Michigan .
Whether or not Roe is overturned , state legislatures could pass laws designed to protect abortion rights much like those passed in 2019 in Illinois and New York .
Just last Friday , New Jersey Gov .
Phil Murphy announced a similar law , the Reproductive Freedom Act , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State .
States could also pass laws in hopes of banning abortion during the first trimester .
Alabama and Georgia legislatures have attempted to pass such laws , but the laws are still working their way through the court system and have been blocked from taking effect .

The possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade looms larger over this election than it has in previous years.
Since President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade looms larger. Barrett is not shy about her anti-abortion stance and signed an ad in 2006 that called the 1973 landmark decision “barbaric” and a “raw exercise of judicial power.”
In fear or excitement, both the pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion groups have funneled money into this year’s elections. While more donations are yet to come, totals haven’t reached 2018 levels, when the confirmations of conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court were front of mind.
Through September, pro-abortion rights groups gave $4.5 million to candidates, party committees and outside groups, six times more than their anti-abortion counterparts. While the 2020 election cycle isn’t over, donation numbers from the 2018 midterm election were higher. Two years ago, pro-abortion rights groups advocates gave a record $8 million to candidates and groups.
Those who support Roe v. Wade are using their money to help elect Democrats. Pro-abortion rights groups gave primarily to three Democratic nominees: $564,000 to Joe Biden, $77,000 to Maine’s Sara Gideon and $73,000 to Arizona’s Mark Kelly.
Biden has taken a strong pro-abortion rights stance in recent years, though he has swung back and forth on his the issue since 1973, when he entered the Senate and Roe was decided. In a town hall Monday, Biden said if Barrett was confirmed and Roe was overturned, “the only responsible response to that would be to pass legislation making Roe the law of the land.” His running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) echoed that sentiment in Wednesday’s vice presidential debate, saying, “I will always fight for a woman’s right to make a decision about her own body. It should be her decision and not that of Donald Trump and the vice president, Michael Pence.”
The pair are supported by pro-abortion rights committees such as EMILY’s List, which is dedicated to supporting pro-abortion rights women in office. The conduit PAC has spent $58 million so far this cycle and its affiliate group, Women Vote! has spent $24.2 million. Of that, $2.8 million went to supporting Biden, whereas almost $7 million was used against Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Just last week, the super PAC joined other women-led groups to pledge $10 million in digital ads supporting Harris leading up to Wednesday’s debate.
National women’s health organization Planned Parenthood has also backed pro-abortion rights candidates. Along with its affiliate super PACs in many states, Planned Parenthood has spent $6.1 million this cycle. In the presidential election, the group has spent $1.3 million against Trump and almost $1 million supporting Biden.
It’s also released several six-figure digital ad campaigns this summer attacking vulnerable GOP senators. The group’s largest target this election are two women senators from opposite sides of the country. Planned Parenthood has spent $633,000 against Collins and $582,000 against Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.). Collins faces a tight race this year in part because of her views on abortion. Though the incumbent has said she supports abortion rights, Mainers protested her vote to confirm Justice Kavanaugh two years ago. McSally, on the other hand, is staunchly anti-abortion and has repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood.
The oldest abortion rights advocacy group in the U.S., NARAL Pro-Choice America, has spent $1.7 million thus far, mostly against Republicans. In April, the group launched a six-figure ad campaign titled Pro-Life Hypocrisy with videos saying pro-life Republican congressional members “want to put Americans at risk by ending social distancing.” It has particularly attacked McSally, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Ernst.
All three candidates are anti-abortion and support Barrett’s nomination. In January, Ernst signed an amicus brief petitioning the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade. Just last week, at a debate she said she is “proudly pro-life,” but added that even if Barrett is confirmed, she doesn’t think Roe v. Wade will be overturned. “I don’t see that happening,” she said.
Anti-Abortion Groups Push for Barrett Confirmation
A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center found that 70 percent of U.S. adults oppose completely overturning Roe v. Wade, while 28 percent support overturning it. A CBS News poll this summer returned similar results.
Those findings haven’t stopped anti-abortion groups, which donated $742,000 to candidates and groups this election. That is actually far less than previous cycles. Political contributions from anti-abortion groups have declined almost every cycle since 2012.
Most of this year’s money came from the Susan B. Anthony List, which gave $83,000 to Republican candidates. The conservative PAC backed Trump and several incumbents in toss up elections, including Sen. Ernst, Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Susan B. Anthony List and its partner super PAC, Women Speak Out PAC, are spending $500,000 in Iowa to re-elect Ernst. This week they put out phone, digital and text ads to inform voters of Barrett’s pro-life views and preserve the pro-life Senate majority. Last week, they released a video supporting Barrett, who would “give our pro-life country the court it deserves.”
Although Women Speak Out said it has a $52 million budget this election cycle, the super PAC has spent only $4.7 million through October 2020. The super PAC heavily targeted candidates in Texas, North Carolina and Michigan. It spent almost $765,000 attacking five house Democrats in Texas: Candace Venezuela, Sri Kulkarni, Lizzie Fletcher, Colin Allred and Wendy Davis.
The group has also used $1 million to support Trump and almost the same amount to attack Biden. Right before the Democratic National Convention in August, it released a video calling Biden and Harris “pro-abortion fanatics.”
Much like his opponent, Trump has also wavered on the issue of abortion rights. In 1999, he said “I am pro-choice in every respect,” a line used against him in attack ads just four years ago. In office, the president has reversed course and is eager to overturn Roe v. Wade. This January, Trump was the first sitting president to attend the March for Life, an annual rally protesting abortions and the Roe v. Wade decision.
At Wednesday’s vice presidential debate, Pence said, “I couldn’t be more proud to serve as vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. I’m pro-life, I don’t apologize for it.”
Another anti-abortion group, Right to Life, has spent $377,000 this election helping Republicans. The group spent $177,000 backing Trump, $41,000 for Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and $35,000 for Michelle Fischbach, the Republican nominee in Minnesota’s 7th District. Over the summer, the group posted several ads on Facebook attacking Democrats in Congress for their pro-abortion rights views. Currently, they’re running an ad primarily targeting voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan.
Whether or not Roe is overturned, state legislatures could pass laws designed to protect abortion rights much like those passed in 2019 in Illinois and New York. Just last Friday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced a similar law, the Reproductive Freedom Act, which protects abortion rights in the Garden State. States could also pass laws in hopes of banning abortion during the first trimester. Alabama and Georgia legislatures have attempted to pass such laws, but the laws are still working their way through the court system and have been blocked from taking effect.
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--2020-10-11--Several GOP State Legislators Up for Reelection Have Nice Words for the KKK

QAnon — the far-right conspiracy theory that falsely claims President Trump is battling “ deep state ” Satan-worshiping pedophiles who are running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against him — made headlines recently when adherent Marjorie Taylor Greene won an August runoff to become the GOP nominee in Georgia ’ s heavily Republican 14th Congressional District .
“ There ’ s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out , ” Greene , a construction executive , said in a video , “ and I think we have the president to do it.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Greene in November , Kevin Van Ausdal , recently withdrew after being served with divorce papers from his wife that required he leave their marital home .
Van Ausdal decided to abandon the race and move in with family in Indiana , sealing Greene ’ s win unless something extraordinary happens .
Greene ’ s ideas , which at times have veered into racist , xenophobic , and anti-Semitic territory , have been widely condemned .
A group of Republican congressmen from mostly Southern states endorsed and campaigned for her primary runoff opponent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was “ All of the conservative , none of the embarrassment.
” Greene eventually tried to distance herself from QAnon , telling Fox News that the videos she made promoting the conspiracy theory were in her past .
While her campaign is primarily self-funded , she has also received contributions from interests including Gun Owners of America , Koch Industries , and the House Freedom Fund — the PAC of the Freedom Caucus , the furthest-right bloc within the House Republican Conference .
Of course , Greene ’ s candidacy does not mark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lies , bizarre claims , and gross distortions of fact have entered Southern politics .
In fact , for generations , Southern politics were fundamentally shaped by a negationist version of history that came to be known as “ the Lost Cause of the Confederacy , ” or simply , “ the Lost Cause.
” Created after the Civil War by groups including the United Daughters of the Confederacy ( UDC ) and the Sons of Confederate Veterans ( SCV ) , who continue to promote it today , the Lost Cause ideology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on fiction and twisted propaganda intended to justify slavery , secession , and the Confederacy itself .
The Lost Cause ideology holds that slavery didn ’ t cause the war , that slaves were happy and well treated by benevolent masters , that President Lincoln was a tyrant akin to Adolf Hitler , and that the Ku Klux Klan was a heroic protector of victimized white Southerners .
Spread through textbooks in Southern schools for generations , it was the driving force behind the push to erect monuments to the Confederacy across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when Black Americans had their voting rights and other freedoms taken away under Jim Crow laws and segregation began .
Still today , in the midst of a national uprising over racial injustice , and with the toppling of numerous Confederate monuments that embody it — 96 in the South alone since the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis , according to the Southern Vision Alliance — Lost Cause ideology lingers in the region ’ s politics and its statehouses .
In fact , there are three state legislators , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the region who have continued to promote Lost Cause lies through legislation and other official efforts .
They are Rep. Tommy Benton of Georgia , Rep. Larry Pittman of North Carolina , and Sen. Joey Hensley of Tennessee .
Straightening Up With the Klan In Georgia , state Rep. Thomas “ Tommy ” Benton of Blue Ridge , a former history teacher in Jackson County Public Schools , is facing off against Democratic challenger Pete Fuller , a systems administrator with a master ’ s degree in instructional technology from the University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ member , was first elected in 2005 to represent District 31 in Jackson County , where the population is 88 % white and 7.4 % Black .
Benton ’ s Lost Cause version of history has been raising eyebrows in Georgia since at least 2016 , when in an interview with the Atlanta Journal and Constitution he denied slavery was the cause of the Civil War .
Instead , he claimed , it was a war of independence from a “ tyrannical government.
” He went on to praise the Ku Klux Klan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a racist thing but a vigilante thing to keep law and order .
… It made a lot of people straighten up.
” In 2017 , the state GOP stripped Benton of leadership positions and a committee chair after he mailed to House members an article that denied slavery was the cause of the Civil War .
The article was from that year ’ s March/April edition of Confederate Veteran , the SCV ’ s membership magazine .
Benton was again stripped of a committee chair this year over remarks he made on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Rep. John Lewis , the long-serving Georgia Democrat and prominent civil rights leader .
Referring to Bloody Sunday , the 1965 incident in which Alabama state troopers attacked peaceful voting rights marchers on a Selma bridge and fractured Lewis ’ s skull , Benton said Lewis ’ s “ only claim to fame was that he got conked on the head at the [ Edmund ] Pettus Bridge … and he has milked that for 50 years.
” Benton was arguing against replacing one of Georgia ’ s two official statutes at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Alexander Stephens , former Georgia governor and vice president of the Confederacy — with one of Lewis .
Benton has sponsored legislation to force Georgia to recognize Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee ’ s birthday .
When he had to withdraw his legislation due to public backlash , he tried introducing a resolution to have the state House recognize April as Confederate History month and to observe Confederate Memorial Day .
Earlier this year , Benton voted against a bipartisan bill introduced after the white vigilante killing of an unarmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Brunswick , Georgia , to create a hate crimes statute in Georgia ; the measure passed without his support and was signed into law by Gov .
Brian Kemp ( R ) .
Benton has also called for the caning of people who smoke marijuana , and the execution of those who sell it .
Benton currently sits on six committees , including the Education Committee .
The top contributors to his campaign over the years have been the Georgia Association of Realtors , the Georgia Education Association , and the state ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Concord , North Carolina , has represented what ’ s now District 83 in the state House since being appointed in 2011 and then elected to the seat the following year .
The Evangelical Presbyterian minister and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate has said this year ’ s race will be his last .
He ’ s running against Democrat Gail Young , a leadership development consultant .
The district spans Cabarrus and Rowan counties , where Black residents make up 19.6 % and 16.9 % of the population , respectively .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the SCV , but that has not stopped him from promoting the group ’ s Confederate worldview .
In 2017 , for instance , he cosponsored a bill to amend North Carolina ’ s constitution by eliminating a provision that prohibits secession from the United States .
The provision had been inserted into North Carolina ’ s constitution as condition of its re-admission into the Union after the Civil War .
Controversial in its day , secession as a “ state ’ s right ” was deemed wholly unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Pittman was 150 years late to the party .
When the secession bill went nowhere , Pittman became the primary sponsor of legislation based on nullification , a pre-Civil War Southern argument that states needn ’ t abide by federal legislation or court rulings they don ’ t like — again , a concept that has been ruled unconstitutional on numerous occasions by the U.S. Supreme Court as early as 1803 .
What he sought to nullify was the U.S. Supreme Court ’ s historic ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to simply ignore it .
House Speaker Tim Moore , a conservative Republican , promptly shelved the bill , citing obvious constitutional concerns .
In the midst of the resulting media drama , Pittman laid all his Lost Cause cards on the table in a Facebook argument .
Responding to a poster who told him the Civil War was past and he needed to get over it , Pittman responded : Pittman has also taken to Facebook to celebrate Confederate General Robert E. Lee , repeatedly attack Abraham Lincoln , and deny that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ War .
He has also endorsed the works of Michael Grissom , an author labeled a white supremacist by the Southern Poverty Law Center .
Grissom ’ s books praise the Ku Klux Klan and other violent white supremacist groups , where he lauds the Klan ’ s “ valiant efforts ” to maintain white control of the post-war South .
He derisively refers to Black people as “ negroes , ” claims slaves were happy and well treated , and rails against Blacks being allowed to vote .
And Pittman doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and fringe theories to the Civil War .
A YouTube video , which has since been taken down , showed him promoting the work of creationist Kent Hovind , who argues that Earth is only about 6,000 years old .
Hovind , popular in the anti-government , anti-tax movement , received a 10-year federal prison sentence for tax evasion and tax fraud in 2006 .
Among the outlandish conspiracies he trades in , Hovind has claimed that Satan , the United Nations , the British royal family , members of the U.S. government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turner , and Jane Fonda have conspired to keep creationism out of U.S. schools , and that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing .
Pittman has also promoted the so-called “ birther ” conspiracy theory that falsely claims , despite official evidence to the contrary , that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States .
This past summer , Pittman took to Facebook to attack the Black Lives Matter movement , calling people protesting policy brutality and other racial injustice “ ignorant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ domestic terrorists ” and “ vermin.
” If they resist and attack police , Pittman said , officers should “ shoot them.
” Pittman currently chairs the House Committee on Homelessness , Foster Care , and Dependency , and is a member of six other standing committees , including those for education in universities and community colleges .
Besides the North Carolina Republican Party , the top institutional contributors to Pittman ’ s campaign include Carolinas Healthcare System , the North Carolina Optometric Society , and the North Carolina Hospital Association .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawmakers who accepted contributions from an SCV-connected PAC that ’ s been accused of breaking campaign finance laws .
Tennessee has its own Lost Cause warrior in state Sen. Joey Hensley , a Hohenwald physician and SCV member who has represented District 28 since 2013 ; he previously served in the state House .
This year he faces no Democratic opposition but is running against James Gray , an independent with a history degree from the University of North Alabama .
The rural district in Middle Tennessee along the Alabama border includes all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maury , Perry , and Wayne counties , where the Black population ranges from a high of 10.3 % in Giles to a low of 1.8 % in Lawrence .
Hensley touts himself as a “ family values ” conservative , though he has been married and divorced four times and accused of extramarital affairs — including one with his second cousin , who was also his employee .
In 2019 , the Tennessee Department of Health filed an administrative action against Hensley for allegedly illegally prescribing opioids to family members , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unresolved .
He has introduced bills to change Tennessee law so that children conceived through in vitro fertilization are deemed illegitimate even if the parents are married , supported bills to ban schools from discussing LGBTQ issues , and engaged in a multi-year campaign to get fluoride out of drinking water .
Earlier this year , he objected to including hygiene products such as tampons in a state sales-tax holiday because people would purchase too many .
In October 2016 , Hensley was one of the speakers at the groundbreaking of the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which was being built by the SCV .
The 17,000 square-foot facility would serve as the group ’ s new headquarters and would , according to Hensley , be the chance to : Hensley has taken up the SCV ’ s causes at the state capitol .
In 2018 , for example , he co-sponsored legislation that would have made it a felony for members of local governments to vote to move Confederate monuments in their own cities or counties .
And he twice attempted to halt the removal of a bust of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Forrest from the Tennessee Capitol .
Just this past July , he spoke in opposition to the Forrest bust being moved by the State Capitol Commission .
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic , the unmasked Dr. Hensley testified that several of his direct ancestors had fought in the war even though they did not own slaves , that they fought to defend against an invasion by Lincoln , and most of accepted history is nothing but fake news .
That trope often used by Hensley — that Confederates may have fought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slaves themselves — is also commonly used by the SCV and UDC .
His testimony acknowledged Forrest had been in the Ku Klux Klan , but he continued : The commission voted 9 to 2 to remove the bust .
Several weeks later , a local chapter of the Tennessee state SCV , of which Hensley is a member , sued the State Capitol Commission in an attempt to keep Forrest bust in place .
The suit is still pending .
Hensley serves as second vice chair of the powerful Senate Finance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is also a member of the committees on Education , Health and Welfare , and Joint Pensions and Insurance .
Hensley is the top funder of his own campaign , but other major institutional donors include the Tennessee Medical Association , the Tennessee Society of Anesthesiologists , and the Tennessee Dental Association .

QAnon — the far-right conspiracy theory that falsely claims President Trump is battling “deep state” Satan-worshiping pedophiles who are running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against him — made headlines recently when adherent Marjorie Taylor Greene won an August runoff to become the GOP nominee in Georgia’s heavily Republican 14th Congressional District.
“There’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out,” Greene, a construction executive, said in a video, “and I think we have the president to do it.”
The Democrat who was supposed to face Greene in November, Kevin Van Ausdal, recently withdrew after being served with divorce papers from his wife that required he leave their marital home. Van Ausdal decided to abandon the race and move in with family in Indiana, sealing Greene’s win unless something extraordinary happens.
Greene’s ideas, which at times have veered into racist, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic territory, have been widely condemned. A group of Republican congressmen from mostly Southern states endorsed and campaigned for her primary runoff opponent, neurosurgeon John Cowan, whose slogan was “All of the conservative, none of the embarrassment.”
Greene eventually tried to distance herself from QAnon, telling Fox News that the videos she made promoting the conspiracy theory were in her past. While her campaign is primarily self-funded, she has also received contributions from interests including Gun Owners of America, Koch Industries, and the House Freedom Fund — the PAC of the Freedom Caucus, the furthest-right bloc within the House Republican Conference.
Of course, Greene’s candidacy does not mark the first time ideologies based on outright lies, bizarre claims, and gross distortions of fact have entered Southern politics. In fact, for generations, Southern politics were fundamentally shaped by a negationist version of history that came to be known as “the Lost Cause of the Confederacy,” or simply, “the Lost Cause.”
Created after the Civil War by groups including the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), who continue to promote it today, the Lost Cause ideology was based not on historical fact but on fiction and twisted propaganda intended to justify slavery, secession, and the Confederacy itself. The Lost Cause ideology holds that slavery didn’t cause the war, that slaves were happy and well treated by benevolent masters, that President Lincoln was a tyrant akin to Adolf Hitler, and that the Ku Klux Klan was a heroic protector of victimized white Southerners. Spread through textbooks in Southern schools for generations, it was the driving force behind the push to erect monuments to the Confederacy across the South in the period after Reconstruction, when Black Americans had their voting rights and other freedoms taken away under Jim Crow laws and segregation began.
Still today, in the midst of a national uprising over racial injustice, and with the toppling of numerous Confederate monuments that embody it — 96 in the South alone since the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, according to the Southern Vision Alliance — Lost Cause ideology lingers in the region’s politics and its statehouses. In fact, there are three state legislators, all Republicans, now up for reelection across the region who have continued to promote Lost Cause lies through legislation and other official efforts. They are Rep. Tommy Benton of Georgia, Rep. Larry Pittman of North Carolina, and Sen. Joey Hensley of Tennessee.
Straightening Up With the Klan
In Georgia, state Rep. Thomas “Tommy” Benton of Jefferson, a former history teacher in Jackson County Public Schools, is facing off against Democratic challenger Pete Fuller, a systems administrator with a master’s degree in instructional technology from the University of Georgia. Benton, an SCV member, was first elected in 2005 to represent District 31 in Jackson County, where the population is 88% white and 7.4% Black.
Benton’s Lost Cause version of history has been raising eyebrows in Georgia since at least 2016, when in an interview with the Atlanta Journal and Constitution he denied slavery was the cause of the Civil War. Instead, he claimed, it was a war of independence from a “tyrannical government.” He went on to praise the Ku Klux Klan, calling it “not so much a racist thing but a vigilante thing to keep law and order. … It made a lot of people straighten up.”
In 2017, the state GOP stripped Benton of leadership positions and a committee chair after he mailed to House members an article that denied slavery was the cause of the Civil War. The article was from that year’s March/April edition of Confederate Veteran, the SCV’s membership magazine.
Benton was again stripped of a committee chair this year over remarks he made on a radio show following the death of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the long-serving Georgia Democrat and prominent civil rights leader. Referring to Bloody Sunday, the 1965 incident in which Alabama state troopers attacked peaceful voting rights marchers on a Selma bridge and fractured Lewis’s skull, Benton said Lewis’s “only claim to fame was that he got conked on the head at the [Edmund] Pettus Bridge … and he has milked that for 50 years.” Benton was arguing against replacing one of Georgia’s two official statutes at the U.S. Capitol — a marble likeness of Alexander Stephens, former Georgia governor and vice president of the Confederacy — with one of Lewis.
Benton has sponsored legislation to force Georgia to recognize Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee’s birthday. When he had to withdraw his legislation due to public backlash, he tried introducing a resolution to have the state House recognize April as Confederate History month and to observe Confederate Memorial Day.
Earlier this year, Benton voted against a bipartisan bill introduced after the white vigilante killing of an unarmed 25-year-old Black jogger named Ahmaud Arbery near Brunswick, Georgia, to create a hate crimes statute in Georgia; the measure passed without his support and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp (R). Benton has also called for the caning of people who smoke marijuana, and the execution of those who sell it.
Benton currently sits on six committees, including the Education Committee. The top contributors to his campaign over the years have been the Georgia Association of Realtors, the Georgia Education Association, and the state’s nursing home lobby.
Bringing Back Secession
Larry Pittman of Concord, North Carolina, has represented what’s now District 83 in the state House since being appointed in 2011 and then elected to the seat the following year. The Evangelical Presbyterian minister and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate has said this year’s race will be his last. He’s running against Democrat Gail Young, a leadership development consultant. The district spans Cabarrus and Rowan counties, where Black residents make up 19.6% and 16.9% of the population, respectively.
Pittman is reportedly not a member of the SCV, but that has not stopped him from promoting the group’s Confederate worldview. In 2017, for instance, he cosponsored a bill to amend North Carolina’s constitution by eliminating a provision that prohibits secession from the United States. The provision had been inserted into North Carolina’s constitution as condition of its re-admission into the Union after the Civil War. Controversial in its day, secession as a “state’s right” was deemed wholly unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1867. In other words, Pittman was 150 years late to the party.
When the secession bill went nowhere, Pittman became the primary sponsor of legislation based on nullification, a pre-Civil War Southern argument that states needn’t abide by federal legislation or court rulings they don’t like — again, a concept that has been ruled unconstitutional on numerous occasions by the U.S. Supreme Court as early as 1803.
What he sought to nullify was the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage. He wanted North Carolina to simply ignore it. House Speaker Tim Moore, a conservative Republican, promptly shelved the bill, citing obvious constitutional concerns.
In the midst of the resulting media drama, Pittman laid all his Lost Cause cards on the table in a Facebook argument. Responding to a poster who told him the Civil War was past and he needed to get over it, Pittman responded:
And if Hitler had won, should the world just get over it? Lincoln was the same sort if (sic) tyrant, and personally responsible for the deaths of over 800,000 Americans in a war that was unnecessary and unconstitutional.
Pittman has also taken to Facebook to celebrate Confederate General Robert E. Lee, repeatedly attack Abraham Lincoln, and deny that slavery was the cause of the Civil War. He has also endorsed the works of Michael Grissom, an author labeled a white supremacist by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Grissom’s books praise the Ku Klux Klan and other violent white supremacist groups, where he lauds the Klan’s “valiant efforts” to maintain white control of the post-war South. He derisively refers to Black people as “negroes,” claims slaves were happy and well treated, and rails against Blacks being allowed to vote.
And Pittman doesn’t limit his embrace of extreme conspiracy and fringe theories to the Civil War. A YouTube video, which has since been taken down, showed him promoting the work of creationist Kent Hovind, who argues that Earth is only about 6,000 years old. Hovind, popular in the anti-government, anti-tax movement, received a 10-year federal prison sentence for tax evasion and tax fraud in 2006. Among the outlandish conspiracies he trades in, Hovind has claimed that Satan, the United Nations, the British royal family, members of the U.S. government, the state of Israel, Ted Turner, and Jane Fonda have conspired to keep creationism out of U.S. schools, and that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing.
Pittman has also promoted the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory that falsely claims, despite official evidence to the contrary, that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
This past summer, Pittman took to Facebook to attack the Black Lives Matter movement, calling people protesting policy brutality and other racial injustice “ignorant thugs,” “criminals,” “domestic terrorists” and “vermin.” If they resist and attack police, Pittman said, officers should “shoot them.”
Pittman currently chairs the House Committee on Homelessness, Foster Care, and Dependency, and is a member of six other standing committees, including those for education in universities and community colleges.
Besides the North Carolina Republican Party, the top institutional contributors to Pittman’s campaign include Carolinas Healthcare System, the North Carolina Optometric Society, and the North Carolina Hospital Association. Pittman was also among the North Carolina lawmakers who accepted contributions from an SCV-connected PAC that’s been accused of breaking campaign finance laws.
Defending a Klan Statue
Tennessee has its own Lost Cause warrior in state Sen. Joey Hensley, a Hohenwald physician and SCV member who has represented District 28 since 2013; he previously served in the state House. This year he faces no Democratic opposition but is running against James Gray, an independent with a history degree from the University of North Alabama. The rural district in Middle Tennessee along the Alabama border includes all of Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury, Perry, and Wayne counties, where the Black population ranges from a high of 10.3% in Giles to a low of 1.8% in Lawrence.
Hensley touts himself as a “family values” conservative, though he has been married and divorced four times and accused of extramarital affairs — including one with his second cousin, who was also his employee. In 2019, the Tennessee Department of Health filed an administrative action against Hensley for allegedly illegally prescribing opioids to family members, including the cousin paramour. That matter remains unresolved.
He has introduced bills to change Tennessee law so that children conceived through in vitro fertilization are deemed illegitimate even if the parents are married, supported bills to ban schools from discussing LGBTQ issues, and engaged in a multi-year campaign to get fluoride out of drinking water. Earlier this year, he objected to including hygiene products such as tampons in a state sales-tax holiday because people would purchase too many.
In October 2016, Hensley was one of the speakers at the groundbreaking of the National Confederate Museum in Columbia, Tennessee, which was being built by the SCV. The 17,000 square-foot facility would serve as the group’s new headquarters and would, according to Hensley, be the chance to:
… remember the heritage of our ancestors that fought so bravely and valiantly for their homelands, for what they believed in. History has been skewed and many times in society today many people try to make those soldiers out to be something they are not. Most of the Confederate soldiers never owned slaves and didn’t fight the battle because of slavery. They fought the battle defending their homelands against an invading army.
Hensley has taken up the SCV’s causes at the state capitol. In 2018, for example, he co-sponsored legislation that would have made it a felony for members of local governments to vote to move Confederate monuments in their own cities or counties. And he twice attempted to halt the removal of a bust of Confederate General and Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee Capitol.
Just this past July, he spoke in opposition to the Forrest bust being moved by the State Capitol Commission. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the unmasked Dr. Hensley testified that several of his direct ancestors had fought in the war even though they did not own slaves, that they fought to defend against an invasion by Lincoln, and most of accepted history is nothing but fake news. That trope often used by Hensley — that Confederates may have fought for slavery but didn’t own slaves themselves — is also commonly used by the SCV and UDC. His testimony acknowledged Forrest had been in the Ku Klux Klan, but he continued:
I think Tennessee is doing pretty well. We have a lot of Black legislators and it’s obvious Tennessee is doing the right thing, but I implore you on the commission to keep the bust there. … The times were different 150 years ago, 200 years ago and we can’t hold these historical figures to what we believe today.
The commission voted 9 to 2 to remove the bust.
Several weeks later, a local chapter of the Tennessee state SCV, of which Hensley is a member, sued the State Capitol Commission in an attempt to keep Forrest bust in place. The suit is still pending.
Hensley serves as second vice chair of the powerful Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, and he is also a member of the committees on Education, Health and Welfare, and Joint Pensions and Insurance. Hensley is the top funder of his own campaign, but other major institutional donors include the Tennessee Medical Association, the Tennessee Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Tennessee Dental Association.


truthout--2020-10-11--Assange Faces Extradition for Exposing US War Crimes

Three weeks of testimony in Julian Assange ’ s extradition hearing in London underscored WikiLeaks ’ s extraordinary revelation of U.S. war crimes in Iraq , Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay .
But the Trump administration is seeking to extradite Assange to the United States to stand trial for charges under the Espionage Act that could cause him to spend 175 years in prison .
Assange founded WikiLeaks during the Bush administration ’ s “ war on terror , ” which was used as a pretext to start two illegal wars and carry out a widespread program of torture and abuse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black sites .
On October 8 , 2011 , Assange told a Stop the War Coalition rally in London ’ s Trafalgar Square , “ If wars can be started by lies , peace can be started by truth.
” In 2010 and 2011 , WikiLeaks published classified material that Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning had provided to the organization .
Manning was prosecuted , convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking the documents .
As he left office , Barack Obama commuted her sentence to the seven years she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ tremendous anger ” in the Trump administration and drew Trump ’ s attention to Assange , Eric Lewis testified .
Lewis , chairman of the board of Reprieve U.S. and lawyer for Guantánamo and Afghan detainees , called this “ a politically motivated prosecution.
” The files that WikiLeaks published contained 90,000 reports about the war in Afghanistan , including the Afghan War Logs , which documented a greater number of civilian casualties by coalition forces than the U.S. military had reported .
In addition , WikiLeaks published nearly 400,000 field reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15,000 unreported deaths of Iraqi civilians , and the systematic murder , torture and rape by the Iraqi army and authorities that were ignored by U.S. forces .
WikiLeaks also published the Guantánamo Files , 779 secret reports constituting evidence of the U.S. government ’ s abuse of approximately 800 men and boys , ages 14 to 89 .
That abuse violated the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel , Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment .
Perhaps the most notorious release by WikiLeaks was the 2007 “ Collateral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Army Apache helicopter target and fire on unarmed civilians in Baghdad .
At least 18 civilians were killed , including two Reuters reporters and a man who came to rescue the wounded .
Two children were injured .
A U.S. Army tank drove over one of the bodies , cutting it in half .
The video contained evidence of three separate war crimes prohibited by the Geneva Conventions and the U.S. Army Field Manual .
As they are firing on the civilians , U.S. gunmen can be heard saying , “ Look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ written testimony , investigative journalist Nicky Hager drew a parallel between the Collateral Murder video and the television image of George Floyd screaming “ I can ’ t breathe.
” Assange Can not Be Extradited for a Political Offense The 2003 U.S.-U.K .
Extradition Treaty forbids extradition for a political offense .
Although the treaty doesn ’ t define “ political offense , ” it generally includes espionage , treason , sedition and crimes against state power .
Trump is asking the U.K. to extradite Assange for exposing war crimes .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charged under the Espionage Act and espionage constitutes a political offense as well .
Like the heroic whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg , who helped end the Vietnam War by leaking the Pentagon Papers in 1971 , Assange is the target of the U.S. government ’ s wrath for revealing evidence of war crimes by the United States .
“ I observe the closest of similarities to the position I faced , where the exposure of illegality and criminal acts institutionally and by individuals was intended to be crushed by the administration carrying out those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also prosecuted under the Espionage Act , noted in his written testimony Ellsberg also wrote in his testimony that he considers the WikiLeaks publications “ to be amongst the most important truthful revelations of hidden criminal state behavior that have been made public in U.S. history.
” He views them “ to be of comparable importance ” to his own revelations , in performing “ such a radical change of understanding.
” Ellsberg says “ [ t ] he American public needed urgently to know what was being done routinely in their name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for them to learn it than by unauthorized disclosure.
” While the Obama administration declined to file criminal charges against Assange for fear of setting a dangerous precedent , Team Trump demonstrated no such forbearance .
By charging Assange under the Espionage Act , Trump is making him a poster boy for its full court press against the media , which he calls “ the enemy of the people.
” Assange ’ s prosecution would send an ominous message to all journalists : report the unvarnished truth at your peril .
No media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under the Espionage Act for publishing truthful information , which is protected First Amendment activity .
Journalists are permitted to publish material that was illegally obtained by a third person and is a matter of public concern .
The U.S. government has never prosecuted a journalist or newspaper for publishing classified information , an essential tool of journalism .
Information-gathering , reporting and disclosure fit the classic definition of activity protected by the First Amendment ’ s guarantee of freedom of the press .
There is no distinction between what WikiLeaks did and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spiegel , Le Monde , El País and The Guardian did as well .
They all published articles based on documents WikiLeaks released .
This is the reason Obama administration — which prosecuted an enormous number of whistleblowers — considered , but refrained from , indicting Assange .
They feared establishing “ a precedent that could chill investigative reporting about national security matters by treating it as a crime , ” according to Charlie Savage of The New York Times .
Team Obama could not distinguish between what WikiLeaks did and what news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in soliciting and publishing information they obtain that the government wants to keep secret , ” Savage wrote .
This was called the “ New York Times problem.
” Although the U.S. government claims that Assange endangered informants named in the published documents , John Goetz , an investigative reporter who worked for Germany ’ s Der Spiegel , testified that Assange took pains to ensure that the names of U.S. informants in Iraq and Afghanistan were redacted to protect their identities .
WikiLeaks , Goetz testified , went through a “ very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeatedly reminded his media partners to use encryption .
In fact , Goetz said , Assange tried to stop Der Freitag from publishing material that could result in the release of unredacted information .
Moreover , WikiLeaks ’ s revelations actually saved lives .
After WikiLeaks published evidence of Iraqi torture centers the U.S. had established , the Iraqi government refused Obama ’ s request to extend immunity to U.S. soldiers who commit criminal and civil offenses there .
As a result , Obama had to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq .
WikiLeaks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries besides the United States .
The organization uncovered Russian surveillance , published exposés of Bashar al-Assad in Syria , and some say WikiLeaks ’ s exposure of corruption in Tunisia and torture in Egypt helped catalyze the Arab Spring .
“ 10 years on , the War Logs remain the only source of information regarding many thousands of violent civilian deaths in Iraq between 2004 and 2009 , ” John Sloboda , co-founder of Iraq Body Count ( IBC ) , noted in his written testimony .
IBC is an independent NGO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ credibly reported casualties in Iraq since Bush ’ s 2003 invasion .
“ WikiLeaks cables have contributed to court findings that US drone strikes are criminal offences and that criminal proceedings should be initiated against senior US officials involved in such strikes , ” Clive Stafford Smith , co-founder of Reprieve and attorney for seven current Guantánamo prisoners , wrote in his submitted testimony .
Ostensibly to get around allegations that it is prosecuting Assange for conducting journalism , the Trump administration is trying to paint him as a hacker by accusing him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a government computer to steal government documents , in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act .
But , as Patrick Eller , a digital forensic expert , testified , the attempted cracking of the password hash was not technologically possible in 2010 , when the conversation between Assange and Manning occurred .
Even if it were feasible , the purpose would not have been to conceal Manning ’ s identity and it would not have given Manning any increased access to government databases .
The prosecution of Assange would set a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that publish information critical of the government .
Team Trump singled out Assange to deter journalists from publishing material that criticizes U.S. policy .
If Assange is extradited to the United States and convicted of the charges against him , it would chill journalists from reporting the facts for fear they could be indicted under the Espionage Act .
Journalism historian and University of Maryland professor Mark Feldstein testified that the actions of WikiLeaks — “ encouraging sources to focus on valued information of political , diplomatic or ethical significance in order to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only consistent with standard journalistic practice , they are its lifeblood , especially for investigative or national security reporters.
” “ Julian Assange ’ s actions , which have been categorized as criminal , are actions that expose power to sunlight , ” Noam Chomsky said in his written testimony , “ actions that may cause power to evaporate if the population grasps the opportunity to become independent citizens of a free society rather than subjects of a master who operates in secret.
” Chomsky added , “ That is a choice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the public can cause power to evaporate.
” When she set the November 16 date for the defense to submit closing arguments , Judge Vanessa Baraitser asked the defense how the U.S. presidential election would affect its case and declared that her decision on extradition would come after that election , stating , “ That ’ s one of the factors going into my decision.
” Kristinn Hrafnsson , editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks , said that the judge “ acknowledged what has been clear since even before the first indictment against Julian Assange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politically motivated prosecution.
” Baraitser , who has granted extradition in 96 percent of the cases that have come before her , plans to issue her ruling on January 4 .
If she grants extradition , there will be several levels of appeals , including to the European Court of Human Rights .
The stakes could not be higher .

Part of the Series Human Rights and Global Wrongs
Three weeks of testimony in Julian Assange’s extradition hearing in London underscored WikiLeaks’s extraordinary revelation of U.S. war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay. But the Trump administration is seeking to extradite Assange to the United States to stand trial for charges under the Espionage Act that could cause him to spend 175 years in prison.
Assange founded WikiLeaks during the Bush administration’s “war on terror,” which was used as a pretext to start two illegal wars and carry out a widespread program of torture and abuse of prisoners at Guantánamo and the CIA black sites. On October 8, 2011, Assange told a Stop the War Coalition rally in London’s Trafalgar Square, “If wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth.”
In 2010 and 2011, WikiLeaks published classified material that Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning had provided to the organization. Manning was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking the documents. As he left office, Barack Obama commuted her sentence to the seven years she had already served. That commutation provoked “tremendous anger” in the Trump administration and drew Trump’s attention to Assange, Eric Lewis testified. Lewis, chairman of the board of Reprieve U.S. and lawyer for Guantánamo and Afghan detainees, called this “a politically motivated prosecution.”
The files that WikiLeaks published contained 90,000 reports about the war in Afghanistan, including the Afghan War Logs, which documented a greater number of civilian casualties by coalition forces than the U.S. military had reported.
In addition, WikiLeaks published nearly 400,000 field reports about the Iraq War, more than 15,000 unreported deaths of Iraqi civilians, and the systematic murder, torture and rape by the Iraqi army and authorities that were ignored by U.S. forces.
WikiLeaks also published the Guantánamo Files, 779 secret reports constituting evidence of the U.S. government’s abuse of approximately 800 men and boys, ages 14 to 89. That abuse violated the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Perhaps the most notorious release by WikiLeaks was the 2007 “Collateral Murder” video, which depicts a U.S. Army Apache helicopter target and fire on unarmed civilians in Baghdad. At least 18 civilians were killed, including two Reuters reporters and a man who came to rescue the wounded. Two children were injured. A U.S. Army tank drove over one of the bodies, cutting it in half. The video contained evidence of three separate war crimes prohibited by the Geneva Conventions and the U.S. Army Field Manual.
As they are firing on the civilians, U.S. gunmen can be heard saying, “Look at those dead bastards.” In his written testimony, investigative journalist Nicky Hager drew a parallel between the Collateral Murder video and the television image of George Floyd screaming “I can’t breathe.”
Assange Cannot Be Extradited for a Political Offense
The 2003 U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty forbids extradition for a political offense. Although the treaty doesn’t define “political offense,” it generally includes espionage, treason, sedition and crimes against state power. Trump is asking the U.K. to extradite Assange for exposing war crimes. This is a classic political offense. Assange is charged under the Espionage Act and espionage constitutes a political offense as well.
Like the heroic whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who helped end the Vietnam War by leaking the Pentagon Papers in 1971, Assange is the target of the U.S. government’s wrath for revealing evidence of war crimes by the United States. “I observe the closest of similarities to the position I faced, where the exposure of illegality and criminal acts institutionally and by individuals was intended to be crushed by the administration carrying out those illegalities,” Ellsberg, who was also prosecuted under the Espionage Act, noted in his written testimony
Ellsberg also wrote in his testimony that he considers the WikiLeaks publications “to be amongst the most important truthful revelations of hidden criminal state behavior that have been made public in U.S. history.” He views them “to be of comparable importance” to his own revelations, in performing “such a radical change of understanding.” Ellsberg says “[t]he American public needed urgently to know what was being done routinely in their name, and there was no other way for them to learn it than by unauthorized disclosure.”
Assange’s Prosecution Violates Freedom of Press
While the Obama administration declined to file criminal charges against Assange for fear of setting a dangerous precedent, Team Trump demonstrated no such forbearance. By charging Assange under the Espionage Act, Trump is making him a poster boy for its full court press against the media, which he calls “the enemy of the people.” Assange’s prosecution would send an ominous message to all journalists: report the unvarnished truth at your peril.
No media outlet or journalist has ever been prosecuted under the Espionage Act for publishing truthful information, which is protected First Amendment activity. Journalists are permitted to publish material that was illegally obtained by a third person and is a matter of public concern. The U.S. government has never prosecuted a journalist or newspaper for publishing classified information, an essential tool of journalism.
Information-gathering, reporting and disclosure fit the classic definition of activity protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press. There is no distinction between what WikiLeaks did and what The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El País and The Guardian did as well. They all published articles based on documents WikiLeaks released. This is the reason Obama administration — which prosecuted an enormous number of whistleblowers — considered, but refrained from, indicting Assange. They feared establishing “a precedent that could chill investigative reporting about national security matters by treating it as a crime,” according to Charlie Savage of The New York Times. Team Obama could not distinguish between what WikiLeaks did and what news media organizations like the Times “do in soliciting and publishing information they obtain that the government wants to keep secret,” Savage wrote. This was called the “New York Times problem.”
WikiLeaks Didn’t Endanger Informants and Saved Lives
Although the U.S. government claims that Assange endangered informants named in the published documents, John Goetz, an investigative reporter who worked for Germany’s Der Spiegel, testified that Assange took pains to ensure that the names of U.S. informants in Iraq and Afghanistan were redacted to protect their identities. WikiLeaks, Goetz testified, went through a “very rigorous redaction process,” and Assange repeatedly reminded his media partners to use encryption. In fact, Goetz said, Assange tried to stop Der Freitag from publishing material that could result in the release of unredacted information.
Moreover, WikiLeaks’s revelations actually saved lives. After WikiLeaks published evidence of Iraqi torture centers the U.S. had established, the Iraqi government refused Obama’s request to extend immunity to U.S. soldiers who commit criminal and civil offenses there. As a result, Obama had to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.
WikiLeaks also revealed evidence of wrongdoing by other countries besides the United States. The organization uncovered Russian surveillance, published exposés of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and some say WikiLeaks’s exposure of corruption in Tunisia and torture in Egypt helped catalyze the Arab Spring.
“10 years on, the War Logs remain the only source of information regarding many thousands of violent civilian deaths in Iraq between 2004 and 2009,” John Sloboda, co-founder of Iraq Body Count (IBC), noted in his written testimony. IBC is an independent NGO that does the only comprehensive monitoring of credibly reported casualties in Iraq since Bush’s 2003 invasion.
“WikiLeaks cables have contributed to court findings that US drone strikes are criminal offences and that criminal proceedings should be initiated against senior US officials involved in such strikes,” Clive Stafford Smith, co-founder of Reprieve and attorney for seven current Guantánamo prisoners, wrote in his submitted testimony.
Assange’s Prosecution Will Chill Journalism
Ostensibly to get around allegations that it is prosecuting Assange for conducting journalism, the Trump administration is trying to paint him as a hacker by accusing him of conspiring with Manning to break into a government computer to steal government documents, in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. But, as Patrick Eller, a digital forensic expert, testified, the attempted cracking of the password hash was not technologically possible in 2010, when the conversation between Assange and Manning occurred. Even if it were feasible, the purpose would not have been to conceal Manning’s identity and it would not have given Manning any increased access to government databases.
The prosecution of Assange would set a disturbing example for journalists and media outlets that publish information critical of the government. Team Trump singled out Assange to deter journalists from publishing material that criticizes U.S. policy. If Assange is extradited to the United States and convicted of the charges against him, it would chill journalists from reporting the facts for fear they could be indicted under the Espionage Act.
Journalism historian and University of Maryland professor Mark Feldstein testified that the actions of WikiLeaks — “encouraging sources to focus on valued information of political, diplomatic or ethical significance in order to disclose it to the public — are not only consistent with standard journalistic practice, they are its lifeblood, especially for investigative or national security reporters.”
“Julian Assange’s actions, which have been categorized as criminal, are actions that expose power to sunlight,” Noam Chomsky said in his written testimony, “actions that may cause power to evaporate if the population grasps the opportunity to become independent citizens of a free society rather than subjects of a master who operates in secret.” Chomsky added, “That is a choice and it’s long been understood that the public can cause power to evaporate.”
When she set the November 16 date for the defense to submit closing arguments, Judge Vanessa Baraitser asked the defense how the U.S. presidential election would affect its case and declared that her decision on extradition would come after that election, stating, “That’s one of the factors going into my decision.” Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said that the judge “acknowledged what has been clear since even before the first indictment against Julian Assange was unsealed — that this is a politically motivated prosecution.”
Baraitser, who has granted extradition in 96 percent of the cases that have come before her, plans to issue her ruling on January 4. If she grants extradition, there will be several levels of appeals, including to the European Court of Human Rights.
The stakes could not be higher.
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--2020-10-12--Indigenous Children Could Be in Danger With an Amy Coney Barrett Nomination

President Donald Trump ’ s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court , Judge Amy Coney Barrett , is raising red flags for supporters of a federal law designed to preserve Native American families and culture .
The Indian Child Welfare Act is not currently before the nation ’ s top court , but there is a very real possibility it could end up there .
The constitutionality of the 1978 law — which aims to keep Native American children from being adopted or placed in foster care outside their families , tribes or Indian Country — is being considered by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals last fall made the unusual decision to vacate one of its rulings that upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act .
The court announced it would review the case , Brakeen v. Bernhardt , “ en banc , ” a proceeding in which the full court rehears a case that was decided by a three-judge panel .
An en banc review is a rare legal procedure reserved for maintaining uniformity of the court ’ s decisions or to show the proceeding involves a question of exceptional importance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strikes down the Indian Child Welfare Act , the case will undoubtedly head to the Supreme Court .
Supporters of the law say they have good reason to scrutinize those , including Barrett , who will potentially decide its fate .
“ If we were to walk back the act , we would be walking back into a world where we had tremendous numbers of children separated from their families unnecessarily and placed in homes that don ’ t reflect them or their culture , ” said David Simmons , government affairs and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Welfare Association .
Barrett has limited experience with Indian law , “ which is not unusual for a Supreme Court nominee , ” according to the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund .
“ For years , NCAI and NARF have stressed the importance of appointing judges who understand federal Indian law and tribal sovereignty and will continue to do so , ” the fund said .
Barrett serves on the 7th U.S .
Circuit Appeals Court in Chicago and is a proven conservative , a perfect candidate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to gain a conservative majority in U.S. courts .
She also belongs to a religious group that has been accused by ex-members of subjugating women , and has adopted two children from Haiti , which has led to some fiery debates online .
Her Senate confirmation hearings are set to begin this week .
Barrett , a former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia , also has been a member of the ultra-conservative and influential Federalist Society for several years , and would be among kindred spirits on the nation ’ s top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Neil Gorsuch are Federalist Society members , as are John Roberts , Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas .
Federalist Society ideals include reducing federal power and protecting individual liberty .
Its membership famously supports originalism and textualism , views forwarded by conservatives as a means to impede more liberal jurisprudence that interprets constitutional rights more broadly .
In practice , this means opposing most government regulation of business , fiercely defending private property owners ’ rights and forwarding the idea that laws such as the Indian Child Welfare Act put tribal sovereignty before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children .
Politico describes Barrett as a superstar among the religious right .
She is a member of People of Praise , part of the global Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement that elevates the role of men as divinely ordained as head of the family and faith , according to a report by The Associated Press .
People of Praise , founded in South Bend , Indiana , is part of the Catholic Pentecostal movement and meets and organizes outside the purview of a church .
Married couples and their children often share multifamily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ city building ” by the group ’ s leaders , where they can easily socialize and walk to each other ’ s houses .
Among the group ’ s first members in South Bend were Adrian Reimers and his wife , Marie .
The couple was active for more than a dozen years before he said he became disillusioned and was “ dismissed ” from the group in the mid-1980s .
Reimers , who teaches philosophy at Notre Dame , went on to write detailed academic examinations of the group ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 1997 book about People of Praise and other covenant communities , Reimers wrote that the group ’ s fundamental principle was St. Paul ’ s stipulation from the Bible that the husband is the “ head ” of his wife and that the wife is to “ submit in all things.
” Barrett did not disclose her People of Praise membership on a Judiciary Committee questionnaire for Supreme Court nominees that is designed to reveal any conflicts of interest that might influence legal objectivity .
She did note , however , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group ’ s Trinity school , which has a sister school in Haiti .
Barrett has not shared any legal details of her adoptions .
Some Indian Child Welfare Act supporters say that information should be a matter for public scrutiny as the Senate Judiciary Committee examines Barrett ’ s ability to serve on the Supreme Court .
“ It should be an open question , ” said Matthew Fletcher , of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians , who is a professor of law at Michigan State University College @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Law and Policy Center .
“ Part of our due diligence in Indian Country is to understand each justice ’ s life experiences , legal perspectives and record in the courts , ” he said .
Indian Country Today contacted the 7th Circuit Appeals Court requesting an interview with Barrett .
She did not respond .
Readers responded strongly to a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal accusing the left of politicizing Barrett ’ s adoptions .
June Rogers of Tucson , Arizona , accused critics of Barrett ’ s adoption @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t they ask ( Barrett ’ s children ) if they prefer being malnourished in Haiti to being members of the Barrett family ?
” Julia Lutch of Davis , California , wrote about her White family ’ s adoption of an African girl , “ What we did through adoption was to put flesh on our faith that compels us to love others sacrificially.
” Lutch , like other critics , equated questions about Barrett ’ s adoption to “ denigration.
” According to the AP report , Barrett ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about her involvement in People of Praise as anti-Catholic bigotry ahead of her upcoming Senate nomination hearings .
Asked about People of Praise in a televised interview last week , Vice President Mike Pence responded , “ The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith , I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans.
” Practicing Christians are more than twice as likely to adopt than the general population , according to a 2013 study by the Barna Group .
The study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while the children they adopt are overwhelmingly non-White .
These demographics can stir troubling memories of historical interactions between White Christians and Native people — whether the Catholic Church ’ s 15th century documents granting European Christian explorers permission to use any means necessary to subdue and convert Indigenous peoples , or more recent abuses of the boarding school era .
When the Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted , 25 to 35 percent of Native children were removed from their homes by state welfare and private adoption agencies .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Welfare Association , Native children placed with non-Native families are at greater risk for mental health issues such as substance abuse , depression and other maladaptive behaviors .
Rates of out-of-home placements for Native children are about 2.6 times greater than that of White children , according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice .
Were it not for the Indian Child Welfare Act , however , the numbers would be far higher , Simmons said .
“ The problem is still there , but it ’ s tremendously improved , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police reform , social justice and entrenched racism , child welfare professionals are asking questions about child welfare as an institution , Simmons noted .
“ We know that cultural and racial bias has systematically been part of the child welfare system for many years , ” he said .
“ I see the Indian Child Welfare Act as one of the best examples of Congress saying they recognize that there has been a bias , and that it ’ s had a terrible , detrimental impact upon a particular group of people @ @

President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, is raising red flags for supporters of a federal law designed to preserve Native American families and culture.
The Indian Child Welfare Act is not currently before the nation’s top court, but there is a very real possibility it could end up there.
The constitutionality of the 1978 law — which aims to keep Native American children from being adopted or placed in foster care outside their families, tribes or Indian Country — is being considered by a federal appeals court in New Orleans.
The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals last fall made the unusual decision to vacate one of its rulings that upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act.
The court announced it would review the case, Brakeen v. Bernhardt, “en banc,” a proceeding in which the full court rehears a case that was decided by a three-judge panel. An en banc review is a rare legal procedure reserved for maintaining uniformity of the court’s decisions or to show the proceeding involves a question of exceptional importance.
If the full 5th Circuit Court strikes down the Indian Child Welfare Act, the case will undoubtedly head to the Supreme Court.
Supporters of the law say they have good reason to scrutinize those, including Barrett, who will potentially decide its fate.
“If we were to walk back the act, we would be walking back into a world where we had tremendous numbers of children separated from their families unnecessarily and placed in homes that don’t reflect them or their culture,” said David Simmons, government affairs and advocacy director for the National Indian Child Welfare Association.
Barrett has limited experience with Indian law, “which is not unusual for a Supreme Court nominee,” according to the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund.
“For years, NCAI and NARF have stressed the importance of appointing judges who understand federal Indian law and tribal sovereignty and will continue to do so,” the fund said.
Barrett serves on the 7th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court in Chicago and is a proven conservative, a perfect candidate to round out Trump’s efforts to gain a conservative majority in U.S. courts.
She also belongs to a religious group that has been accused by ex-members of subjugating women, and has adopted two children from Haiti, which has led to some fiery debates online.
Her Senate confirmation hearings are set to begin this week.
Barrett, a former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, also has been a member of the ultra-conservative and influential Federalist Society for several years, and would be among kindred spirits on the nation’s top court. Trump appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are Federalist Society members, as are John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
Federalist Society ideals include reducing federal power and protecting individual liberty. Its membership famously supports originalism and textualism, views forwarded by conservatives as a means to impede more liberal jurisprudence that interprets constitutional rights more broadly.
In practice, this means opposing most government regulation of business, fiercely defending private property owners’ rights and forwarding the idea that laws such as the Indian Child Welfare Act put tribal sovereignty before the individual, best interests of Native children.
Politico describes Barrett as a superstar among the religious right.
She is a member of People of Praise, part of the global Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement that elevates the role of men as divinely ordained as head of the family and faith, according to a report by The Associated Press.
People of Praise, founded in South Bend, Indiana, is part of the Catholic Pentecostal movement and meets and organizes outside the purview of a church.
Married couples and their children often share multifamily homes or cluster in neighborhoods designated for “city building” by the group’s leaders, where they can easily socialize and walk to each other’s houses.
Among the group’s first members in South Bend were Adrian Reimers and his wife, Marie. The couple was active for more than a dozen years before he said he became disillusioned and was “dismissed” from the group in the mid-1980s.
Reimers, who teaches philosophy at Notre Dame, went on to write detailed academic examinations of the group’s inner workings and theological underpinnings. In a 1997 book about People of Praise and other covenant communities, Reimers wrote that the group’s fundamental principle was St. Paul’s stipulation from the Bible that the husband is the “head” of his wife and that the wife is to “submit in all things.”
Barrett did not disclose her People of Praise membership on a Judiciary Committee questionnaire for Supreme Court nominees that is designed to reveal any conflicts of interest that might influence legal objectivity. She did note, however, that she has served as trustee of the group’s Trinity school, which has a sister school in Haiti.
Barrett has not shared any legal details of her adoptions.
Some Indian Child Welfare Act supporters say that information should be a matter for public scrutiny as the Senate Judiciary Committee examines Barrett’s ability to serve on the Supreme Court.
“It should be an open question,” said Matthew Fletcher, of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, who is a professor of law at Michigan State University College of Law and director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center.
Simmons, of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, agreed.
“Part of our due diligence in Indian Country is to understand each justice’s life experiences, legal perspectives and record in the courts,” he said.
Indian Country Today contacted the 7th Circuit Appeals Court requesting an interview with Barrett. She did not respond.
Readers responded strongly to a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal accusing the left of politicizing Barrett’s adoptions. June Rogers of Tucson, Arizona, accused critics of Barrett’s adoption of not thinking clearly. “Why don’t they ask (Barrett’s children) if they prefer being malnourished in Haiti to being members of the Barrett family?”
Julia Lutch of Davis, California, wrote about her White family’s adoption of an African girl, “What we did through adoption was to put flesh on our faith that compels us to love others sacrificially.” Lutch, like other critics, equated questions about Barrett’s adoption to “denigration.”
According to the AP report, Barrett’s advocates are trying to frame questions about her involvement in People of Praise as anti-Catholic bigotry ahead of her upcoming Senate nomination hearings.
Asked about People of Praise in a televised interview last week, Vice President Mike Pence responded, “The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith, I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans.”
Practicing Christians are more than twice as likely to adopt than the general population, according to a 2013 study by the Barna Group. The study also found most adoptive parents are White, while the children they adopt are overwhelmingly non-White.
These demographics can stir troubling memories of historical interactions between White Christians and Native people — whether the Catholic Church’s 15th century documents granting European Christian explorers permission to use any means necessary to subdue and convert Indigenous peoples, or more recent abuses of the boarding school era.
When the Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted, 25 to 35 percent of Native children were removed from their homes by state welfare and private adoption agencies.
According to studies cited by the National Indian Child Welfare Association, Native children placed with non-Native families are at greater risk for mental health issues such as substance abuse, depression and other maladaptive behaviors.
Authority over the welfare of their own children is a fundamental aspect of tribal sovereignty. Rates of out-of-home placements for Native children are about 2.6 times greater than that of White children, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice. Were it not for the Indian Child Welfare Act, however, the numbers would be far higher, Simmons said. “The problem is still there, but it’s tremendously improved,” he said. As the country focuses on police reform, social justice and entrenched racism, child welfare professionals are asking questions about child welfare as an institution, Simmons noted. “We know that cultural and racial bias has systematically been part of the child welfare system for many years,” he said. “I see the Indian Child Welfare Act as one of the best examples of Congress saying they recognize that there has been a bias, and that it’s had a terrible, detrimental impact upon a particular group of people.”
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--2020-10-12--Protesters Block the Entrance to Senate Building During First Barrett Hearing

Dozens of demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Hart Senate Office Building Monday morning to protest the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee ’ s decision to hold the first confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump ’ s right-wing Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett with less than a month to go before the pivotal November election .
Chanting “ Whose court ?
Our court !
” and “ Let the people decide , ” the protesters gathered minutes before Barrett ’ s first confirmation hearing ( which can be viewed live below ) was set to kick off despite opposition to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , civil rights organizations , and a majority of Americans .
“ If Senate leadership forces a nominee before the next Congress and president are installed , it would deprive the people of their voice and further destabilize a nation already gripped by crisis , ” Ana Maria Archila , co-executive director of advocacy group CPD Action , said in a statement ahead of the demonstration .
“ We ’ re mobilizing all those who believe in freedom , equality , and justice to engage in direct action to put pressure on both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to ensure that this confirmation is delayed , ” said Archila .

Dozens of demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Hart Senate Office Building Monday morning to protest the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee’s decision to hold the first confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s right-wing Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett with less than a month to go before the pivotal November election.
Chanting “Whose court? Our court!” and “Let the people decide,” the protesters gathered minutes before Barrett’s first confirmation hearing (which can be viewed live below) was set to kick off despite opposition to the proceedings from thousands of legal experts, civil rights organizations, and a majority of Americans.
“If Senate leadership forces a nominee before the next Congress and president are installed, it would deprive the people of their voice and further destabilize a nation already gripped by crisis,” Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of advocacy group CPD Action, said in a statement ahead of the demonstration.
“We’re mobilizing all those who believe in freedom, equality, and justice to engage in direct action to put pressure on both key Senate Republicans as well as Democrats to ensure that this confirmation is delayed,” said Archila.
Chanting #LetThePeopleDecide outside the Senate NOW. So proud of our members putting their bodies on the line for Democracy w/ @housingworks @CPDAction @IndivisibleTeam pic.twitter.com/KIjIGijCkw — Indivisible NationBK (@bkindivisible) October 12, 2020
Watch the Barrett hearing:
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.