truthout--2020-08-16--Condemnations of Chicago “Looting” Prioritize Property Over Black Lives

The city of Chicago , like many large urban centers that serve as home to significant numbers of Black people , is often misunderstood and pummeled with the markers of being “ violent ” and “ dangerous.
” Despite the city ’ s desire to publicize its tourism and other neoliberal amenities to attract global financial capital , people visiting the city are generally warned against going to its South or West sides , where the vast majority of Black people live .
These narratives about Chicago ’ s “ dangerousness ” tend to erase long-standing structural violence .
Mainstream @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to interpersonal interactions or damage to property .
People are steered toward visceral images of “ looting , ” a gang brawl , or a shooting , and many accept these glimpses as the general narrative on how violence operates , and accept the perceived need to suppress and arrest the perpetrators .
While this imagery serves as fodder for the “ law and order ” rhetoric of politicians , it wrongly reduces the problem to the actions of a few people behaving in ways that the mainstream deem to be unruly or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an understanding of violence at the structural or institutional level .
Because structural considerations are viewed as “ too complex ” or “ too big ” to address , we are still offered the same tired solutions that do not consider violence as a series of processes that are often state-sanctioned and structural , and that deepen violence at the interpersonal level .
During this time of multiple major global and local crises , we must develop a wholly different understanding of violence .
We must acknowledge that it is nuanced , structural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the necessity of dissent and self-determination .
These concerns are of particular importance to me when I consider the events of August 9 and 10 in Chicago .
In the predominantly Black neighborhood of Englewood , a 20-year-old Black man named Latrell Allen was shot by police .
The “ official ” police account was that there was a call reporting a shooting near a playground where young people were present .
When police arrived on the scene , Latrell reportedly fled and a pursuit ensued , reportedly coupled with the exchange of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shot Latrell in the shoulder , resulting in his immediate hospitalization .
He is currently being held on $ 1 million dollar bond and is charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful use of a weapon .
It is important to note that eyewitness accounts provide a conflicting narrative , in addition to Latrell ’ s mother alerting media that her son stated that he did not have a gun .
Meanwhile , the officers involved had their body cameras turned off .
Plus , federal guidelines issued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Chicago recommend that police do not give chase if someone is running .
As word spread of the shooting through a social media post , misinformation circulated leading residents first to believe that a 15-year-old had been shot fifteen times by the police .
As concerned residents arrived on the scene , the police did nothing to deescalate tensions between themselves and community members .
Later that night , a series of unauthorized appropriations of property ( commonly referenced as looting ) took place in two areas , one being an epicenter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a shopping area known as the Magnificent Mile .
As stores were damaged , the vast majority of property damage was done to multi-national retail outlets whose buildings and products are insured .
The ongoing outrage of Englewood residents over police violence is reasonable given the history of Chicago police killing Black youth , as in the 2014 case of Laquan McDonald , who was shot sixteen times by officer Jason Van Dyke .
Residents of Chicago didn ’ t know about the killing until almost a year after the actual event , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police dashboard camera to support the mayor ’ s election campaign .
To this day , then mayor Rahm Emanuel has never been charged with obstruction of justice .
It is important to note that the community of Englewood , like many Black neighborhoods in Chicago and across the country , has a strained and contested relationship with law enforcement .
As the community experiences disinvestment in the form of food deserts , lack of living-wage employment , school closings , longitudinal health disparities and violent policing , law enforcement presents no viable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s concerns .
Instead , many residents of Englewood understand the police to operate as an occupying force .
An example of this is when an opened “ bait truck ” filled with sneakers was placed in the middle of their neighborhood in 2018 with the intent to entrap people who went in to take shoes .
Long before the current COVID moment , Englewood residents were very familiar with the pre-existing pandemics of white supremacy , late-stage capitalism and the carceral state .
Activist-scholar Dr. kihana miraya ross reminds us that anti-Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ specific thing a black person did ” but should be understood as what it means to live under a gratuitous and unrelenting violence at the hands of the state .
Her work pushes us to understand that mainstream , white society only considers certain types of violence when commenting on the predicament of Black people .
Rarely are food deserts , closed schools , health disparities , staggering unemployment and housing insecurity considered to be acts of state-sanctioned violence , collectively more damaging than the destruction of property where no human was injured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will always value property over Black life .
And because private property is often the stolen or hoarded possessions of the white and wealthy , any perceived violation of what is theirs is construed as deserving of harsh punishment .
Young people who live under these conditions are well aware of the precarity of their lives .
The nuance of their response stands out because they refused to vandalize their own communities and took their anger into the mouth of power to take from the people who really won ’ t miss the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some may read my comments as condoning violence and the destruction of property .
To their interpretation I offer the following : The larger world refuses to see what it means to be Black , poor , hungry and fed up .
Dissent — as the process of differing in sentiment , opinion and action from the majority — does not always come out in clear , concise and organized ways .
Instead , it can be uneven , messy , disjointed and in the worst-case scenario , harmful to those that engage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I see last week ’ s events in Chicago as Black youth alerting the city that something has been tragically wrong for a long time .
They are telling us that they do not agree with what ’ s happening to them and they are not concerned about whether or not the mainstream is sympathetic to their methods of response .
I understand these dissenters ’ actions as a message of self-determination that can not be ignored .
As bankruptcies , foreclosures , evictions , unemployment , and remote learning loom large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment will worsen before it gets better .
Instead of worrying , it is in these moments that I am convinced that what we need — revolution — is closer than we think .
When those who are suffering have made the determination to end their suffering , a new day is near .

The city of Chicago, like many large urban centers that serve as home to significant numbers of Black people, is often misunderstood and pummeled with the markers of being “violent” and “dangerous.” Despite the city’s desire to publicize its tourism and other neoliberal amenities to attract global financial capital, people visiting the city are generally warned against going to its South or West sides, where the vast majority of Black people live.
These narratives about Chicago’s “dangerousness” tend to erase long-standing structural violence. Mainstream media outlets often limit discussions of violence to interpersonal interactions or damage to property. People are steered toward visceral images of “looting,” a gang brawl, or a shooting, and many accept these glimpses as the general narrative on how violence operates, and accept the perceived need to suppress and arrest the perpetrators.
While this imagery serves as fodder for the “law and order” rhetoric of politicians, it wrongly reduces the problem to the actions of a few people behaving in ways that the mainstream deem to be unruly or inappropriate. Missing from these conversations is an understanding of violence at the structural or institutional level. Because structural considerations are viewed as “too complex” or “too big” to address, we are still offered the same tired solutions that do not consider violence as a series of processes that are often state-sanctioned and structural, and that deepen violence at the interpersonal level.
During this time of multiple major global and local crises, we must develop a wholly different understanding of violence. We must acknowledge that it is nuanced, structural and institutional – and we must recognize the necessity of dissent and self-determination.
These concerns are of particular importance to me when I consider the events of August 9 and 10 in Chicago. In the predominantly Black neighborhood of Englewood, a 20-year-old Black man named Latrell Allen was shot by police. The “official” police account was that there was a call reporting a shooting near a playground where young people were present. When police arrived on the scene, Latrell reportedly fled and a pursuit ensued, reportedly coupled with the exchange of gunfire from both parties. The police shot Latrell in the shoulder, resulting in his immediate hospitalization. He is currently being held on $1 million dollar bond and is charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.
It is important to note that eyewitness accounts provide a conflicting narrative, in addition to Latrell’s mother alerting media that her son stated that he did not have a gun. Meanwhile, the officers involved had their body cameras turned off. Plus, federal guidelines issued in a Department of Justice consent decree for Chicago recommend that police do not give chase if someone is running.
Anti-Blackness alerts us that the state will always value property over Black life.
As word spread of the shooting through a social media post, misinformation circulated leading residents first to believe that a 15-year-old had been shot fifteen times by the police. As concerned residents arrived on the scene, the police did nothing to deescalate tensions between themselves and community members. Later that night, a series of unauthorized appropriations of property (commonly referenced as looting) took place in two areas, one being an epicenter of the city’s wealth, a shopping area known as the Magnificent Mile. As stores were damaged, the vast majority of property damage was done to multi-national retail outlets whose buildings and products are insured.
The ongoing outrage of Englewood residents over police violence is reasonable given the history of Chicago police killing Black youth, as in the 2014 case of Laquan McDonald, who was shot sixteen times by officer Jason Van Dyke. Residents of Chicago didn’t know about the killing until almost a year after the actual event, as the city suppressed video from a police dashboard camera to support the mayor’s election campaign. To this day, then mayor Rahm Emanuel has never been charged with obstruction of justice.
It is important to note that the community of Englewood, like many Black neighborhoods in Chicago and across the country, has a strained and contested relationship with law enforcement. As the community experiences disinvestment in the form of food deserts, lack of living-wage employment, school closings, longitudinal health disparities and violent policing, law enforcement presents no viable solutions to the myriad of Englewood’s concerns.
The larger world refuses to see what it means to be Black, poor, hungry and fed up.
Instead, many residents of Englewood understand the police to operate as an occupying force. An example of this is when an opened “bait truck” filled with sneakers was placed in the middle of their neighborhood in 2018 with the intent to entrap people who went in to take shoes. Long before the current COVID moment, Englewood residents were very familiar with the pre-existing pandemics of white supremacy, late-stage capitalism and the carceral state.
Activist-scholar Dr. kihana miraya ross reminds us that anti-Black violence “is not based on any specific thing a black person did” but should be understood as what it means to live under a gratuitous and unrelenting violence at the hands of the state. Her work pushes us to understand that mainstream, white society only considers certain types of violence when commenting on the predicament of Black people.
Rarely are food deserts, closed schools, health disparities, staggering unemployment and housing insecurity considered to be acts of state-sanctioned violence, collectively more damaging than the destruction of property where no human was injured. Anti-Blackness alerts us that the state will always value property over Black life. And because private property is often the stolen or hoarded possessions of the white and wealthy, any perceived violation of what is theirs is construed as deserving of harsh punishment.
Young people who live under these conditions are well aware of the precarity of their lives. The nuance of their response stands out because they refused to vandalize their own communities and took their anger into the mouth of power to take from the people who really won’t miss the material items in the first place.
Some may read my comments as condoning violence and the destruction of property. To their interpretation I offer the following: The larger world refuses to see what it means to be Black, poor, hungry and fed up. Dissent — as the process of differing in sentiment, opinion and action from the majority — does not always come out in clear, concise and organized ways. Instead, it can be uneven, messy, disjointed and in the worst-case scenario, harmful to those that engage in the dissent.
In the end, I see last week’s events in Chicago as Black youth alerting the city that something has been tragically wrong for a long time. They are telling us that they do not agree with what’s happening to them and they are not concerned about whether or not the mainstream is sympathetic to their methods of response.
I understand these dissenters’ actions as a message of self-determination that cannot be ignored. As bankruptcies, foreclosures, evictions, unemployment, and remote learning loom large, many are concerned that the current moment will worsen before it gets better. Instead of worrying, it is in these moments that I am convinced that what we need — revolution — is closer than we think. When those who are suffering have made the determination to end their suffering, a new day is near.
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truthout--2020-08-16--COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians

As the globe enters the sixth month since the World Health Organization ( WHO ) classified COVID-19 as a pandemic , cases and death rates in countries led by far right authoritarians continue to surge .
The vast majority of nations have sought out the advice of experts and coordinated internationally to implement safeguards , yet the right-wing nationalist leaders of the U.S. , Brazil , India and Russia have intensified the pandemic — creating more death and uncertainty .
Each leader ’ s response has been marked by the rush to protect economic activity and promote the normalization of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health of working people .
Ultimately , these ultra-reactionaries share an ideology that is incapable of shielding common people — including some of their supporters — from mayhem and death .
With the Trump administration and its ideological allies plunging the world further into chaos , it must be recognized that the emerging neofascist worldview — which whittles down to cynical contempt for the lives of the “ ordinary ” — is the catalyst behind an explosion of cases and deaths .
Far Right Authoritarians Are Exacerbating the Pandemic As of August 13 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Control and Prevention ( CDC ) has tallied 5,119,711 COVID cases and 163,651 lives claimed in the U.S. , making it a leader in the world on that score .
With an eviction moratorium and unemployment benefits now expiring , 23 million Americans face homelessness and 30 million remain jobless while some received a one-time check for a meager $ 1,200 — meant to tide them over for the duration of the crisis .
While other countries move toward bailing out the average taxpayer , the majority of Americans are struggling with rent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration has opted to shelter corporations and the financial elite to weather the economic shockwaves .
The administration has also aimed to appropriate funds to pandemic-related benefits by circumventing the legislative process .
While likely not to be implemented due to its unconstitutional nature , the ploy serves to conjure up popularity and positive optics for Trump as the 2020 election quickly approaches .
With families facing burgeoning uncertainty , Trump and his congressional allies — along with some Democrats — have worked to pass nonessential legislation and a stimulus package that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shifting a mammoth redistribution of wealth upwards , Trump has also vowed to withhold funding from schools .
Ignoring the pandemic and economic meltdown , the Trump administration has descended further into experimentation with fascistic policies in recent months — deploying unaccountable , secret federal police to carry out abductions of nonviolent demonstrators — and are currently working to delegitimize and possibly delay the 2020 election .
Trump ’ s fascist-minded policies previously came into play after the administration began placing migrant children in concentration camps and enacting an immigration ban on Muslim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempted to skew reality , promoting QAnon while likely covering up COVID case data through a politically motivated ploy .
The words of the renowned linguist and political dissident Noam Chomsky sum up the converging crises : The U.S. is “ becoming a pariah state.
” Not far behind the U.S. ’ s weak response and crumbling society is Jair Bolsonaro ’ s Brazil .
A Trump-modeled authoritarian , Bolsonaro contracted COVID on two occasions — now claiming he has mold in his lungs .
Brazil ’ s leadership has responded to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration — leaving crisis management to resource-starved local governments , while focusing on public-private schemes .
Bolsonaro ’ s rhetoric also mirrors Trump ’ s — repeatedly minimizing the gravity of the situation , calling the virus a “ little flu , ” while promoting the debunked use of hydroxychloroquine as treatment .
The authoritarian has rejected WHO recommendations , criticized social distancing and used a homophobic slur in referencing those wearing masks .
As the pandemic rages , Brazil now comes in second for COVID cases and deaths .
Bolsonaro ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn away from Chicago-school austerity economics — as the government struggles to contain transmissions and manage an economic implosion .
The country experienced 55 days without a minister of health this spring after Bolsonaro fired his original pandemic official and the successor resigned after both butted heads with the far right authoritarian for implementing evidence-based recommendations .
Bolsonaro ’ s free-market authoritarianism previously came into focus after calling for the executions of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ people , supporting the imprisonment of political opponents and openly praising the former military dictatorship — infamous for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands who defied the U.S.-sponsored junta .
Bolsonaro ’ s regime has also incentivized massive deforestation in the Amazon , selling off land and resources to private interests while wealth inequality rate ranks as one of the world ’ s worst .
Behind Brazil is far right ethnonationalist Narendra Modi ’ s India , which has rushed to third place as a top epicenter .
Modi ’ s rise to power was fueled by sectarian zeal , resulting in the Hindutva reactionary cozying up to ideological allies like Trump and Bolsonaro .
While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and encouraged violence against Muslim Indians .
Modi ’ s Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) has worked to crush working-class power — attempting to privatize publicly owned firms , including Air India and Bharat Petroleum Corporation , while suspending labor laws in BJP-held regions .
As a world leader in pandemic cases and extreme inequality , the subcontinent ’ s people have seen little help from Modi ’ s far right regime .
Under Vladimir Putin ’ s brand of far right nationalism , Russia ranks just behind India as the fourth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s policies in response to the pandemic , like Trump ’ s in the U.S. , have largely relied on delegating power to local authorities and scheming with oligarchs and private industry .
Although Putin maintains widespread popular support , many working-class Russians received little relief .
Furthermore , it ’ s no secret to Western audiences that the regime has consolidated power by silencing media and opposition voices , ginning up the right ’ s divisive causes of misogyny and homophobia , while enriching the Russian aristocracy .
According to data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this grouping of reactionary-led countries makes up the vast majority of the world ’ s COVID-19 cases .
The connection between the utter disdain for liberties , equality and humanity manifests from the goals of consolidating power and protecting capital ’ s interests which derive from the ideological constructs and tactics of a fascist worldview .
Since the international turn toward neoliberalism in the 1980s , an undemocratic economic system has promoted the advancement of wealth concentration in the hands of a few while living conditions and occupational mobility for a skeptical working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response , a new brand of right-wing nationalism has emerged .
This ideology attempts to diagnose and treat the failures of skewed economic hierarchy , advances the cures of imagined cultural pathologies and seeks to dissect the collapsing state of liberal institutions with a dulled scalpel .
Amid the intersection of monumental health , financial and political crises , this ideologically aligned group has adopted policies and rhetoric that are now resembling a modernized form of fascism , which similarly arose out of the conditions created by global depression and austerity in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since the days of Mussolini , the Third Reich , and the numerous U.S.-backed Cold War dictators .
The political programs of old have been transformed to be sleeker and more adaptable to the mainstream of today , while delivering the conspiracy-minded dogmatism and state-promoted violence of traditional fascism .
Blackshirts aren ’ t rounding up trade unionists and you ’ re less likely to hear overt anti-Semitic conspiracies from leaders , but the program has evolved — its language has grown more coded , while political violence has regressed into disorganized vigilante @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of emanating authoritarians — while distant from the totalitarianism of Mussolini and Hitler — still share many of their characteristics ; most notably unquestioning loyalty from their adherents , rallying around imprisonment of adversaries , intertwining religion with the corporate state and invalidating critical media as conspiratorial propaganda .
These authoritarians dubiously promote redistribution yet rely on an economic program plagued by appeasement to corporate profits while scapegoating through racist identitarian pitches — sowing diversion from the true mechanisms of alienation and exploitation .
The commonality shared between these leaders also clings to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delegitimizing failing liberal institutions by creating a false mythos that promises revolutionary change to restore a fabled past ( “ Make America Great Again ” ) .
They sidetrack from their corruption and rejection of human rights while hiding behind religious extremism and the flag .
They bring the violence , exploitation and austerity of imperialism back home .
Historically speaking , these characteristics are consistent with elements of fascism .
The emerging neofascist doctrine does not seek to protect a diverse working class over the consolidation of capital and political power , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disdain for humanity that reactionaries have enabled and practiced .
Dissidents must recognize that the shared ideology of these leaders is ultimately a ploy to divide on arbitrary differences and purge and segregate society of those deemed undesirable or burdensome .
These leaders and their supporters wish to expel and silence the opposition ’ s coalition ; labor power ; critical media ; those perceived as ethnically , genetically or religiously impure ; and those they consider an economic strain on society .
The neofascist worldview , drawing from its traditional roots , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintain the economic hierarchy , as capitalism becomes more volatile , failing to deliver security for the masses .
With no end in sight to three compounding calamities , those opposed to fascism must put aside differences , and by any conceivable means , ensure that the fascist threat doesn ’ t grow to claim the lives and liberties of more people .
A Democratic and Egalitarian Coalition Will Defeat Fascism With Solidarity As modern life becomes progressively pseudo-apocalyptic , fascism is now coaxed back into the mainstream .
Like a genie summoned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can not be shoved away or ignored .
Neofascists — due to their penchant for violence and conspiratorial dogmatism — also can not be debated or reasoned with and should not be dismissed as a fringe element or non-threat .
Fascism does not respond to online petitions or peaceful demonstrations , and its further poisoning of the right ’ s consciousness can not simply be voted out of office or remedied through the crumbling institutions that led to it .
Fascism is to be fought in self-defense and struggled against to protect those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defeated when common individuals unitedly build a coalition of solidarity , engage in diversification of tactics and recognize the shared values across the left-liberal spectrum of creating a more democratic and egalitarian society .
Anti-fascist coalitions that cast wide ideological nets and promote left-liberal solidarity have posed better odds in rejecting fascism .
In 1936 , Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists were largely quashed after the Battle of Cable Street .
The 3,000 Blackshirts — escorted by 6,000 police officers — sought to march through and intimidate a predominantly Jewish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sympathizers sparked blistering outrage and inspired a broad coalition of 20,000 members of the working class — including communists , socialists , anarchists , Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews , Irish dockworkers , trade unionists , liberals and social democrats — to collectively confront the fascist menace and their police protectors in the streets .
The Blackshirts , now giving bigoted action a second thought , ironically found themselves as the ones subjected to intimidation .
Portland , Oregon , now stands as a contemporary example of an eclectic anti-fascist coalition and solidarity in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secret federal police to crack down on “ violent graffiti , ” Portlanders — from a variety of political backgrounds — demonstrated in droves to resist the latest goose step toward autocracy .
The anti-fascist , anti-racist uprising resulted in a fury across corporate and independent media , along with most of the public , as Trump ’ s fascistic moves were widely condemned .
The solidarity and media scrutiny were followed by the administration ’ s backtracking and removal of the unidentifiable federal officers .
Conversely , the rise of Hitler and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Nazis were partly fueled by ineffective liberal and social democrat appeasement and rudderless opposition , while trade unionists , socialists , communists and anarchists joined forces — setting aside differences — to oppose barbarism .
The fragmented opposition was crushed , leading to the systematic genocide and torture of millions .
Much of the opposition — both those that outright opposed or worked to appease the Third Reich — ended up in concentration camps or were executed .
History shows that common , working-class liberals and social democrats need communists , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defeat fascism , and vice versa .
A divided opposition to fascism only serves to unleash power grabs , further wealth concentration and bolster state-sanctioned sadism .
Although societal critiques and economic visions differ in the left-liberal spectrum , preconceptions espousing democracy , anti-racism and equality are held in common — albeit under different extents , methods and structures .
While economic and political differences are meaningful and worth exploring , fascism is an imminent threat to those shared values .
Anti-fascists across the spectrum hold the belief that a better , egalitarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rejecting far right authoritarianism and identitarianism .
It is under these ideals that a politically and culturally diverse , and effective coalition is organized .
The establishment of a coalition based on democratic , egalitarian and humanist values can defeat fascism and reactionary leaders by practicing a wide array of tactics .
Fascism will be more defeatable by stoic acts of solidarity and when decent people outnumber the violent neofascists and enforcement arms of the state in the streets .
Economically speaking , anti-fascists can withhold labor power and practice boycotts of fascist-sympathizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ liberals and social democrats , it is incumbent for the left to correct the material conditions that led to fascism ’ s genesis by creating alternative power structures .
The left can better exhibit fascism ’ s emergence to anti-fascist liberals who mistakenly conceptualize its origins .
Establishing alternative institutions for the democratic distribution of commodities and services — outside of the failing mechanisms that created the conditions for fascism ’ s rise — would put in practice and demonstrate an alternative to the current system .
The left can further oppositional power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accountable , promoting independent media and journalists , establishing a big-tent workers ’ party to democratically set an organized national agenda , and leveraging localized mutual aid networks .
With neofascism developing rapidly across the globe , the political challenges of today and tomorrow seem horrifying and surreal .
Yet out of that trepidation , a movement that looks to anti-fascist history , wishes to mutually struggle for stronger democratic institutions and form a more egalitarian society while opposing fascism is currently being made .
Unlike the fascists in government , their capitalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the left-liberal coalition fortunately has the masses and morality on its side .
At this historical precipice , fascism will only be further relegated to the history books after individuals collectively stand in solidarity for equality and democracy while fighting back by any means necessary .

As the globe enters the sixth month since the World Health Organization (WHO) classified COVID-19 as a pandemic, cases and death rates in countries led by far right authoritarians continue to surge. The vast majority of nations have sought out the advice of experts and coordinated internationally to implement safeguards, yet the right-wing nationalist leaders of the U.S., Brazil, India and Russia have intensified the pandemic — creating more death and uncertainty.
Each leader’s response has been marked by the rush to protect economic activity and promote the normalization of a deadly plague over the livelihoods and health of working people. Ultimately, these ultra-reactionaries share an ideology that is incapable of shielding common people — including some of their supporters — from mayhem and death. With the Trump administration and its ideological allies plunging the world further into chaos, it must be recognized that the emerging neofascist worldview — which whittles down to cynical contempt for the lives of the “ordinary” — is the catalyst behind an explosion of cases and deaths.
Far Right Authoritarians Are Exacerbating the Pandemic
As of August 13, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tallied 5,119,711 COVID cases and 163,651 lives claimed in the U.S., making it a leader in the world on that score. With an eviction moratorium and unemployment benefits now expiring, 23 million Americans face homelessness and 30 million remain jobless while some received a one-time check for a meager $1,200 — meant to tide them over for the duration of the crisis. While other countries move toward bailing out the average taxpayer, the majority of Americans are struggling with rent, mortgage and debt obligations. The Trump administration has opted to shelter corporations and the financial elite to weather the economic shockwaves. The administration has also aimed to appropriate funds to pandemic-related benefits by circumventing the legislative process. While likely not to be implemented due to its unconstitutional nature, the ploy serves to conjure up popularity and positive optics for Trump as the 2020 election quickly approaches.
With families facing burgeoning uncertainty, Trump and his congressional allies — along with some Democrats — have worked to pass nonessential legislation and a stimulus package that has been rife with fraud. While shifting a mammoth redistribution of wealth upwards, Trump has also vowed to withhold funding from schools.
Ignoring the pandemic and economic meltdown, the Trump administration has descended further into experimentation with fascistic policies in recent months — deploying unaccountable, secret federal police to carry out abductions of nonviolent demonstrators — and are currently working to delegitimize and possibly delay the 2020 election. Trump’s fascist-minded policies previously came into play after the administration began placing migrant children in concentration camps and enacting an immigration ban on Muslim refugees.
The Trump administration has also attempted to skew reality, promoting QAnon conspiracy theories while likely covering up COVID case data through a politically motivated ploy. The words of the renowned linguist and political dissident Noam Chomsky sum up the converging crises: The U.S. is “becoming a pariah state.”
The emerging neofascist worldview is the catalyst behind an explosion of cases and deaths.
Not far behind the U.S.’s weak response and crumbling society is Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil. A Trump-modeled authoritarian, Bolsonaro contracted COVID on two occasions — now claiming he has mold in his lungs. Brazil’s leadership has responded to the pandemic by parroting policies of the Trump administration — leaving crisis management to resource-starved local governments, while focusing on public-private schemes. Bolsonaro’s rhetoric also mirrors Trump’s — repeatedly minimizing the gravity of the situation, calling the virus a “little flu,” while promoting the debunked use of hydroxychloroquine as treatment. The authoritarian has rejected WHO recommendations, criticized social distancing and used a homophobic slur in referencing those wearing masks.
As the pandemic rages, Brazil now comes in second for COVID cases and deaths. Bolsonaro’s pandemic response has been marked by a turn away from Chicago-school austerity economics — as the government struggles to contain transmissions and manage an economic implosion. The country experienced 55 days without a minister of health this spring after Bolsonaro fired his original pandemic official and the successor resigned after both butted heads with the far right authoritarian for implementing evidence-based recommendations.
Bolsonaro’s free-market authoritarianism previously came into focus after calling for the executions of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ people, supporting the imprisonment of political opponents and openly praising the former military dictatorship — infamous for the torture and “disappearing” of thousands who defied the U.S.-sponsored junta. Bolsonaro’s regime has also incentivized massive deforestation in the Amazon, selling off land and resources to private interests while wealth inequality rate ranks as one of the world’s worst.
Behind Brazil is far right ethnonationalist Narendra Modi’s India, which has rushed to third place as a top epicenter. Modi’s rise to power was fueled by sectarian zeal, resulting in the Hindutva reactionary cozying up to ideological allies like Trump and Bolsonaro. While stifling media watchdogs, Modi has scapegoated and encouraged violence against Muslim Indians. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has worked to crush working-class power — attempting to privatize publicly owned firms, including Air India and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, while suspending labor laws in BJP-held regions. As a world leader in pandemic cases and extreme inequality, the subcontinent’s people have seen little help from Modi’s far right regime.
Under Vladimir Putin’s brand of far right nationalism, Russia ranks just behind India as the fourth leading hotspot of COVID cases. Putin’s policies in response to the pandemic, like Trump’s in the U.S., have largely relied on delegating power to local authorities and scheming with oligarchs and private industry. Although Putin maintains widespread popular support, many working-class Russians received little relief. Furthermore, it’s no secret to Western audiences that the regime has consolidated power by silencing media and opposition voices, ginning up the right’s divisive causes of misogyny and homophobia, while enriching the Russian aristocracy.
According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers, this grouping of reactionary-led countries makes up the vast majority of the world’s COVID-19 cases. The connection between the utter disdain for liberties, equality and humanity manifests from the goals of consolidating power and protecting capital’s interests which derive from the ideological constructs and tactics of a fascist worldview.
Emerging Neofascism Will Continue Killing People Post-Pandemic
Since the international turn toward neoliberalism in the 1980s, an undemocratic economic system has promoted the advancement of wealth concentration in the hands of a few while living conditions and occupational mobility for a skeptical working class have become increasingly precarious. In response, a new brand of right-wing nationalism has emerged. This ideology attempts to diagnose and treat the failures of skewed economic hierarchy, advances the cures of imagined cultural pathologies and seeks to dissect the collapsing state of liberal institutions with a dulled scalpel. Amid the intersection of monumental health, financial and political crises, this ideologically aligned group has adopted policies and rhetoric that are now resembling a modernized form of fascism, which similarly arose out of the conditions created by global depression and austerity in the 1920s and 1930s.
The shared ideology of these leaders is ultimately a ploy to divide on arbitrary differences and purge and segregate society of those deemed undesirable or burdensome.
Fascism has morphed since the days of Mussolini, the Third Reich, and the numerous U.S.-backed Cold War dictators. The political programs of old have been transformed to be sleeker and more adaptable to the mainstream of today, while delivering the conspiracy-minded dogmatism and state-promoted violence of traditional fascism. Blackshirts aren’t rounding up trade unionists and you’re less likely to hear overt anti-Semitic conspiracies from leaders, but the program has evolved — its language has grown more coded, while political violence has regressed into disorganized vigilante “patriot” groups.
This group of emanating authoritarians — while distant from the totalitarianism of Mussolini and Hitler — still share many of their characteristics; most notably unquestioning loyalty from their adherents, rallying around imprisonment of adversaries, intertwining religion with the corporate state and invalidating critical media as conspiratorial propaganda. These authoritarians dubiously promote redistribution , yet rely on an economic program plagued by appeasement to corporate profits while scapegoating through racist identitarian pitches — sowing diversion from the true mechanisms of alienation and exploitation. The commonality shared between these leaders also clings to the goals of consolidating power and further delegitimizing failing liberal institutions by creating a false mythos that promises revolutionary change to restore a fabled past (“Make America Great Again”). They sidetrack from their corruption and rejection of human rights while hiding behind religious extremism and the flag. They bring the violence, exploitation and austerity of imperialism back home. Historically speaking, these characteristics are consistent with elements of fascism.
The emerging neofascist doctrine does not seek to protect a diverse working class over the consolidation of capital and political power, hence the explosion in COVID cases and disdain for humanity that reactionaries have enabled and practiced. Dissidents must recognize that the shared ideology of these leaders is ultimately a ploy to divide on arbitrary differences and purge and segregate society of those deemed undesirable or burdensome. These leaders and their supporters wish to expel and silence the opposition’s coalition; labor power; critical media; those perceived as ethnically, genetically or religiously impure; and those they consider an economic strain on society. The neofascist worldview, drawing from its traditional roots, is a ruse to concentrate power and maintain the economic hierarchy, as capitalism becomes more volatile, failing to deliver security for the masses. With no end in sight to three compounding calamities, those opposed to fascism must put aside differences, and by any conceivable means, ensure that the fascist threat doesn’t grow to claim the lives and liberties of more people.
A Democratic and Egalitarian Coalition Will Defeat Fascism With Solidarity
As modern life becomes progressively pseudo-apocalyptic, fascism is now coaxed back into the mainstream. Like a genie summoned out of a lamp, the doctrine cannot be shoved away or ignored. Neofascists — due to their penchant for violence and conspiratorial dogmatism — also cannot be debated or reasoned with and should not be dismissed as a fringe element or non-threat. Fascism does not respond to online petitions or peaceful demonstrations, and its further poisoning of the right’s consciousness cannot simply be voted out of office or remedied through the crumbling institutions that led to it.
The neofascist worldview, drawing from its traditional roots, is a ruse to concentrate power and maintain the economic hierarchy, as capitalism becomes more volatile, failing to deliver security for the masses.
Fascism is to be fought in self-defense and struggled against to protect those deemed undesirable. Its heinous tenets are defeated when common individuals unitedly build a coalition of solidarity, engage in diversification of tactics and recognize the shared values across the left-liberal spectrum of creating a more democratic and egalitarian society.
Anti-fascist coalitions that cast wide ideological nets and promote left-liberal solidarity have posed better odds in rejecting fascism. In 1936, Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists were largely quashed after the Battle of Cable Street. The 3,000 Blackshirts — escorted by 6,000 police officers — sought to march through and intimidate a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in east London. The Nazi sympathizers sparked blistering outrage and inspired a broad coalition of 20,000 members of the working class — including communists, socialists, anarchists, Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews, Irish dockworkers, trade unionists, liberals and social democrats — to collectively confront the fascist menace and their police protectors in the streets. The Blackshirts, now giving bigoted action a second thought, ironically found themselves as the ones subjected to intimidation.
Portland, Oregon, now stands as a contemporary example of an eclectic anti-fascist coalition and solidarity in action. After the Trump administration unleashed secret federal police to crack down on “violent graffiti,” Portlanders — from a variety of political backgrounds — demonstrated in droves to resist the latest goose step toward autocracy. The anti-fascist, anti-racist uprising resulted in a fury across corporate and independent media, along with most of the public, as Trump’s fascistic moves were widely condemned. The solidarity and media scrutiny were followed by the administration’s backtracking and removal of the unidentifiable federal officers.
Conversely, the rise of Hitler and Nazism was enabled by a splintered opposition. The Nazis were partly fueled by ineffective liberal and social democrat appeasement and rudderless opposition, while trade unionists, socialists, communists and anarchists joined forces — setting aside differences — to oppose barbarism. The fragmented opposition was crushed, leading to the systematic genocide and torture of millions. Much of the opposition — both those that outright opposed or worked to appease the Third Reich — ended up in concentration camps or were executed.
History shows that common, working-class liberals and social democrats need communists, socialists, trade unionists and anarchists to defeat fascism, and vice versa. A divided opposition to fascism only serves to unleash power grabs, further wealth concentration and bolster state-sanctioned sadism.
History shows that common, working-class liberals and social democrats need communists, socialists, trade unionists and anarchists to defeat fascism, and vice versa.
Although societal critiques and economic visions differ in the left-liberal spectrum, preconceptions espousing democracy, anti-racism and equality are held in common — albeit under different extents, methods and structures. While economic and political differences are meaningful and worth exploring, fascism is an imminent threat to those shared values. Anti-fascists across the spectrum hold the belief that a better, egalitarian world should be strived for, while rejecting far right authoritarianism and identitarianism. It is under these ideals that a politically and culturally diverse, and effective coalition is organized.
The establishment of a coalition based on democratic, egalitarian and humanist values can defeat fascism and reactionary leaders by practicing a wide array of tactics. Fascism will be more defeatable by stoic acts of solidarity and when decent people outnumber the violent neofascists and enforcement arms of the state in the streets. Economically speaking, anti-fascists can withhold labor power and practice boycotts of fascist-sympathizing capitalists.
While solidarity is needed with liberals and social democrats, it is incumbent for the left to correct the material conditions that led to fascism’s genesis by creating alternative power structures. The left can better exhibit fascism’s emergence to anti-fascist liberals who mistakenly conceptualize its origins. Establishing alternative institutions for the democratic distribution of commodities and services — outside of the failing mechanisms that created the conditions for fascism’s rise — would put in practice and demonstrate an alternative to the current system. The left can further oppositional power by joining unions to hold labor leadership accountable, promoting independent media and journalists, establishing a big-tent workers’ party to democratically set an organized national agenda, and leveraging localized mutual aid networks.
With neofascism developing rapidly across the globe, the political challenges of today and tomorrow seem horrifying and surreal. Yet out of that trepidation, a movement that looks to anti-fascist history, wishes to mutually struggle for stronger democratic institutions and form a more egalitarian society while opposing fascism is currently being made. Unlike the fascists in government, their capitalist backers and their base of supporters, the left-liberal coalition fortunately has the masses and morality on its side. At this historical precipice, fascism will only be further relegated to the history books after individuals collectively stand in solidarity for equality and democracy while fighting back by any means necessary.
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.
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truthout--2020-08-17--Arizona Republicans Urge Voters to “Join President Trump” and Vote by Mail

As President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim that voting by mail is rife with fraud and doing so in this year ’ s presidential race will be an untrustworthy endeavor , the Arizona Republican Party is sending mailers to state residents urging them to request absentee ballots — and they are doing it with a mailer featuring a picture of Trump .
The mailer encourages recipients to “ Join President Trump & vote by absentee ballot ” and highlights a quote from Trump last month where he said he would be voting by mail in his home state of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be an absentee voter , ” the quote from Trump reads .
“ We have a lot of absentee voters .
It works , so we are in favor of absentee.
” Trump has not expressed the same sort of confidence about voting by mail in other comments he ’ s made in recent months .
Since mid-spring , after mail-in voting became popularized as a means to take part in elections without spreading or contracting coronavirus , Trump has tried to suggest that doing so would invite fraud to the process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by a number of fact-checking organizations who point out voting by mail is a safe and secure way to vote .
“ Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country , because they ’ re cheaters .
They ’ re fraudulent in many cases , ” Trump baselessly claimed in April , despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary .
Trump was later questioned over his own voting habits — he has , after all , voted by mail in the past himself .
The president implied to reporters at the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voting and mail-in voting , a distinction the Arizona Republican Party ’ s mailer appears to make as well ( “ absentee ” voting is the only term that appears , without mentioning “ mail-in ” voting even though absentee voting is largely done by mail ) .
Yet , according to Trump ’ s own lawyers who filed court documents on the matter earlier this summer , the two terms are barely distinguishable at all , and in some states are synonymous with one another .
Trump has recently amended his attitudes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , suggesting it was a safe practice to use in Florida , where he intended to vote by mail .
The Sunshine State ’ s mail-in voting system “ is Safe and Secure , Tried and True , ” he said in a tweet , encouraging voters in that state to utilize it .
Trump ’ s inconsistent tone on voting by mail is also apparent in other states that are up for grabs in this year ’ s presidential race , such as Wisconsin , which is considered a “ toss-up ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considered a possible “ toss-up ” by many elections experts .
In spite of evidence that suggests neither of the two political parties benefits from mail-in voting over the other , Trump has suggested in statements and social media postings that voting by mail would help Democrats , saying in a tweet earlier this year that , “ for whatever reason , [ it ] doesn ’ t work out well for Republicans.
” There doesn ’ t appear to be any evidence that backs Trump ’ s claims .
However , recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Democratic voters in this year ’ s elections specifically are more likely to attempt to vote by mail this year than are Republican voters .
While the nation is split overall on how it plans to vote , 72 percent of Democrats say they ’ re “ very ” or “ somewhat ” likely to vote using mail-in ballots .
Only 22 percent of Republicans responded in the poll saying they planned to vote by mail .
Some observers also believe that Trump may be laying the groundwork now to make it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election in November , which will largely depend on mail-in ballots , is dubious , in case he loses to Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden .
“ The president is making the case that mailed ballots are illegitimate and highly vulnerable to fraud , ” FiveThirtyEight elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley said in late July .
“ This is not true , of course , but by casting aspersions , he ’ s setting up the potential for delegitimizing the results as they come in , on and after Election Day.
” Whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or not , the Trump administration , through Postmaster General Louis DeJoy ’ s actions in recent months , is likely making voting by mail a more challenging process for American voters to take part in .
DeJoy has ordered a number of changes for the United States Postal Service , which have resulted in slowdown of mail delivery as well as raising doubts about the ability of voters in 46 states to send their ballots confidently through the mail .
Many have alleged the changes are a purposeful attempt to disrupt the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the House Nancy Pelosi ( D-California ) called on House lawmakers to return from their August recess to Washington , D.C. in order to vote on legislation to stop the changes DeJoy is implementing ahead of the election .
“ Lives , livelihoods and the life of our American democracy are under threat from the president , ” Pelosi said in a letter to House colleagues this week .

Trump has voiced strong opposition to mail-in voting, but Republicans in swing states like Arizona are pushing for it.
As President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim that voting by mail is rife with fraud and doing so in this year’s presidential race will be an untrustworthy endeavor, the Arizona Republican Party is sending mailers to state residents urging them to request absentee ballots — and they are doing it with a mailer featuring a picture of Trump.
The mailer encourages recipients to “Join President Trump & vote by absentee ballot” and highlights a quote from Trump last month where he said he would be voting by mail in his home state of Florida’s elections.
“I will be an absentee voter,” the quote from Trump reads. “We have a lot of absentee voters. It works, so we are in favor of absentee.”
Trump has not expressed the same sort of confidence about voting by mail in other comments he’s made in recent months.
Since mid-spring, after mail-in voting became popularized as a means to take part in elections without spreading or contracting coronavirus, Trump has tried to suggest that doing so would invite fraud to the process, a claim that has been contradicted by a number of fact-checking organizations who point out voting by mail is a safe and secure way to vote.
“Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country, because they’re cheaters. They’re fraudulent in many cases,” Trump baselessly claimed in April, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Trump was later questioned over his own voting habits — he has, after all, voted by mail in the past himself.
The president implied to reporters at the time that there was a difference between absentee voting and mail-in voting, a distinction the Arizona Republican Party’s mailer appears to make as well (“absentee” voting is the only term that appears, without mentioning “mail-in” voting even though absentee voting is largely done by mail). Yet, according to Trump’s own lawyers who filed court documents on the matter earlier this summer, the two terms are barely distinguishable at all, and in some states are synonymous with one another.
Trump has recently amended his attitudes on mail-in voting, at least partially, suggesting it was a safe practice to use in Florida, where he intended to vote by mail. The Sunshine State’s mail-in voting system “is Safe and Secure, Tried and True,” he said in a tweet, encouraging voters in that state to utilize it.
Trump’s inconsistent tone on voting by mail is also apparent in other states that are up for grabs in this year’s presidential race, such as Wisconsin, which is considered a “toss-up” state. Arizona, too, is considered a possible “toss-up” by many elections experts.
In spite of evidence that suggests neither of the two political parties benefits from mail-in voting over the other, Trump has suggested in statements and social media postings that voting by mail would help Democrats, saying in a tweet earlier this year that, “for whatever reason, [it] doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”
There doesn’t appear to be any evidence that backs Trump’s claims. However, recent polling from Monmouth University seems to indicate that Democratic voters in this year’s elections specifically are more likely to attempt to vote by mail this year than are Republican voters.
While the nation is split overall on how it plans to vote, 72 percent of Democrats say they’re “very” or “somewhat” likely to vote using mail-in ballots. Only 22 percent of Republicans responded in the poll saying they planned to vote by mail.
Some observers also believe that Trump may be laying the groundwork now to make it appear as though the outcome of the election in November, which will largely depend on mail-in ballots, is dubious, in case he loses to Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden. “The president is making the case that mailed ballots are illegitimate and highly vulnerable to fraud,” FiveThirtyEight elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley said in late July. “This is not true, of course, but by casting aspersions, he’s setting up the potential for delegitimizing the results as they come in, on and after Election Day.”
Whether trying to cast doubts on the elections or not, the Trump administration, through Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s actions in recent months, is likely making voting by mail a more challenging process for American voters to take part in. DeJoy has ordered a number of changes for the United States Postal Service, which have resulted in slowdown of mail delivery as well as raising doubts about the ability of voters in 46 states to send their ballots confidently through the mail.
Many have alleged the changes are a purposeful attempt to disrupt the absentee or mail-in voting process. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) called on House lawmakers to return from their August recess to Washington, D.C. in order to vote on legislation to stop the changes DeJoy is implementing ahead of the election.
“Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American democracy are under threat from the president,” Pelosi said in a letter to House colleagues this week.
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--2020-08-17--Trump Is Facing a Nationwide Wave of Backlash Over His Postal Service Sabotage

Facing increasingly unfavorable poll numbers , Trump has clearly decided the only way he can win reelection is to cheat .
Trump has ramped up attacks on the post office , including the removal of mail sorting machines , in a naked attempt to suppress mail-in voting in the middle of a pandemic .
As calls for investigation and accountability grow among lawmakers , the public has begun to take direct action to save the post office — and the election itself — from Trump ’ s desperate and corrupt power grab .
The post office has long been a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed into law the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act , which required the U.S .
Postal Service ( USPS ) to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years into the future , an absurd requirement which no other agency has been forced to follow .
But Trump has taken USPS sabotage to new heights , including by appointing businessman Louis DeJoy as postmaster general of the USPS .
DeJoy is a major Trump donor , giving nearly $ 450 million dollars to Trump ’ s inauguration , Victory Fund , and the Republican National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s also in frequent contact with top Republican Party officials and met with Trump the first week of August prior to his meeting with Democratic leadership .
DeJoy has enacted and overseen multiple policies that will put both the viability of the Post Office and the integrity of the November election at risk .
On August 7 , DeJoy displaced two top executives at the USPS and reassigned 23 others , in a move critics called a “ Friday night massacre ” that centralizes power around DeJoy .
He has also attempted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail-in ballots .
And most recently , during his tenure , the USPS removed post office boxes in Portland and Eugene , Oregon , and across the state of Montana , prompting Senator Jon Tester ( D-Montana ) to demand answers from DeJoy .
The USPS is still unable to confirm to CNN if the removal of mailboxes will stop .
Aaron Gordon at Vice obtained internal USPS documents that outline plans to remove 15 percent of their mail sorting machines .
Multiple sources told Vice they ’ ve witnessed destruction of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Washington Post reported that at least 671 machines have been removed , including many in districts likely to be key to swing states in the presidential election .
The USPS estimates that the removal of the sorting machines will reduce the number of pieces of mail processed per hour by 394,000 in Pontiac , Michigan ; 327,000 in Columbus , Ohio ; and 324,000 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania .
Overall , the removal of the sorting machines represent a total reduction of 21.4 million pieces of mail processed per hour nationwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ naked attempt to suppress mail-in voting — a goal which Trump openly stated last Thursday .
Trump told Fox Business on August 13 that he opposed the $ 25 billion rescue package for the USPS because , “ they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots .
But if they don ’ t get those two items , that means you can ’ t have universal mail-in voting , because they ’ re not equipped to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kudlow also admitted their opposition to protecting the vote .
When speaking to CNBC about stimulus negotiations , Kudlow said “ so much of the Democratic asks are really liberal left wishlists , we don ’ t want to have voting rights … that ’ s not our game.
” These comments are unsurprising in light of the GOP ’ s open attempts to suppress the vote across the country .
The New York Times reported that the Trump campaign and the RNC are involved in 40 lawsuits in 17 states , all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote .
One of those lawsuits is in Pennsylvania , where the Trump campaign sued over plans to expand the use of mail ballot drop boxes .
Mail delays aren ’ t just threatening wide-scale voter suppression ; they also delay shipment of medicines and paychecks .
Reports show that residents of the majority Black neighborhoods in southeast Washington , D.C. , have waited weeks for their mail .
The New York Times reports that due to mail delays in rural Michigan , diabetes medicine that used to arrive in three days now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Affairs uses USPS to fill about 80 percent of veteran prescriptions , and hundreds of veterans have contacted their senators to report missing prescription deliveries .
The delays led former Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré to tell MSNBC that Trump ’ s attacks on the USPS “ have to stop !
” The USPS and its employees have been sounding the alarm .
The post office warned that in nearly all 50 states , current mail delays mean ballots may not be received by election offices in time to be counted .
Jonathan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Metro Area Postal union , told NY1 the delays are due to the actions of DeJoy .
“ If you were to leave the Postal Service under the exact same conditions Mr. DeJoy found it , using the overtime , using the staff we do have , we would have absolutely no problem delivering on our mission to make sure every ballot is getting back to the election committee on time.
” There have been more calls for investigation from lawmakers , including Sen. Gary Peters ( D-Michigan ) and Senator Elizabeth Warren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation into the mail delays following DeJoy ’ s failure to respond to his repeated inquiries .
Warren called for the Post Office ’ s inspector general to investigate changes the USPS has made to slow mail delivery , and highlighted DeJoy ’ s potential conflicts of interest , including stock in the logistics giant Amazon , which he purchased following his appointment .
The Post Office ’ s inspector general confirmed on Friday that they are reviewing DeJoy ’ s policy changes .
State lawmakers have also called for local law enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of State Katie Hobbs asked their attorney general to investigate whether Trump and DeJoy ’ s actions violate an Arizona state law that prohibits anyone from knowingly delaying the delivery of a ballot .
In New Jersey , Rep. Bill Pascrell , Jr. made a criminal referral to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal , asking him to examine whether or not Trump and DeJoy breached state election laws with their actions .
Pascrell said , “ What trump and his crony are doing is criminal .
Period.
” Democrats have been united @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every Senate Democrat and both independent senators wrote to DeJoy urging him “ not to take any action that makes it harder and more expensive for Americans to vote.
” But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been criticized for letting the House go on recess without holding hearings to investigate the mail delays and attempts to suppress the vote .
Several lawmakers , including Rep. Pramila Jayapal , Rep. Elise Slotkin , Rep. Jim Cooper , and even Rep. Adam Schiff , a member of the House leadership , have all called for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start to hearings on Trump ’ s attacks on the post office Speaker Pelosi will be bringing the House back from recess early in order to investigate the crisis at the USPS , hold a hearing with DeJoy on August 24 , and to take up legislation to roll back the attacks on the post office made since January .
But organizers aren ’ t waiting for lawmakers to act to increase the pressure on DeJoy and Trump .
On August 15 , the climate group Shutdown DC organized a protest outside DeJoy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Washington , D.C. Demonstrators participated in a cacerolazo , a kind of civil disobedience with a long history , recently seen in Canada , Brazil and Colombia , where protestors use pots , pans , and other kitchen tools to make noise .
Protestors also left mock absentee ballots at the entrance to DeJoy ’ s condo .
The following day , a group protested at DeJoy ’ s North Carolina mansion .
The progressive advocacy group MoveOn announced a day of nationwide protests to save the USPS on August 22 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Department of Justice ’ s Civil Rights Division and the CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights outlined 10 things people can do to protect the vote , including signing up to be a poll worker and asking your local officials to make secure drop boxes available .
Advocates are also suing for transparency .
The nonprofit legal group Protect Democracy previously filed a Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA ) request for records pertaining to the USPS ’ s strategy for dealing with the anticipated influx of ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election .
The USPS ignored this FOIA , so on August 13 , the organization sued to compel the release of the documents .
From lawsuits and investigations to protests and plans to mail back ballots as early as possible , the nation is grappling with how to save both the post office and the election from deliberate sabotage .
If activists can continue to pressure both lawmakers and DeJoy himself , they may be able to successfully stop the election results from being distorted by Trump ’ s increasingly desperate attacks .

Facing increasingly unfavorable poll numbers, Trump has clearly decided the only way he can win reelection is to cheat. Trump has ramped up attacks on the post office, including the removal of mail sorting machines, in a naked attempt to suppress mail-in voting in the middle of a pandemic. As calls for investigation and accountability grow among lawmakers, the public has begun to take direct action to save the post office — and the election itself — from Trump’s desperate and corrupt power grab.
The post office has long been a conservative target. President George W. Bush signed into law the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which required the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years into the future, an absurd requirement which no other agency has been forced to follow. But Trump has taken USPS sabotage to new heights, including by appointing businessman Louis DeJoy as postmaster general of the USPS. DeJoy is a major Trump donor, giving nearly $450 million to Trump’s inauguration, Victory Fund, and the Republican National Committee (RNC). He’s also in frequent contact with top Republican Party officials and met with Trump the first week of August prior to his meeting with Democratic leadership.
DeJoy has enacted and overseen multiple policies that will put both the viability of the Post Office and the integrity of the November election at risk. On August 7, DeJoy displaced two top executives at the USPS and reassigned 23 others, in a move critics called a “Friday night massacre” that centralizes power around DeJoy. He has also attempted to increase the rates states pay to send mail-in ballots. And most recently, during his tenure, the USPS removed post office boxes in Portland and Eugene, Oregon, and across the state of Montana, prompting Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) to demand answers from DeJoy. The USPS is still unable to confirm to CNN if the removal of mailboxes will stop.
Aaron Gordon at Vice obtained internal USPS documents that outline plans to remove 15 percent of their mail sorting machines. Multiple sources told Vice they’ve witnessed destruction of these machines, which cost millions of dollars. The Washington Post reported that at least 671 machines have been removed, including many in districts likely to be key to swing states in the presidential election. The USPS estimates that the removal of the sorting machines will reduce the number of pieces of mail processed per hour by 394,000 in Pontiac, Michigan; 327,000 in Columbus, Ohio; and 324,000 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Overall, the removal of the sorting machines represent a total reduction of 21.4 million pieces of mail processed per hour nationwide.
The changes at USPS are a naked attempt to suppress mail-in voting — a goal which Trump openly stated last Thursday. Trump told Fox Business on August 13 that he opposed the $25 billion rescue package for the USPS because, “they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.” White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow also admitted their opposition to protecting the vote. When speaking to CNBC about stimulus negotiations, Kudlow said “so much of the Democratic asks are really liberal left wishlists, we don’t want to have voting rights … that’s not our game.” These comments are unsurprising in light of the GOP’s open attempts to suppress the vote across the country. The New York Times reported that the Trump campaign and the RNC are involved in 40 lawsuits in 17 states, all fighting policies that make it easier to vote. One of those lawsuits is in Pennsylvania, where the Trump campaign sued over plans to expand the use of mail ballot drop boxes.
Mail delays aren’t just threatening wide-scale voter suppression; they also delay shipment of medicines and paychecks. Reports show that residents of the majority Black neighborhoods in southeast Washington, D.C., have waited weeks for their mail. The New York Times reports that due to mail delays in rural Michigan, diabetes medicine that used to arrive in three days now takes two weeks to arrive.
Veterans Affairs uses USPS to fill about 80 percent of veteran prescriptions, and hundreds of veterans have contacted their senators to report missing prescription deliveries. The delays led former Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré to tell MSNBC that Trump’s attacks on the USPS “have to stop!”
The USPS and its employees have been sounding the alarm. The post office warned that in nearly all 50 states, current mail delays mean ballots may not be received by election offices in time to be counted. Jonathan Smith, president of the New York Metro Area Postal union, told NY1 the delays are due to the actions of DeJoy. “If you were to leave the Postal Service under the exact same conditions Mr. DeJoy found it, using the overtime, using the staff we do have, we would have absolutely no problem delivering on our mission to make sure every ballot is getting back to the election committee on time.”
There have been more calls for investigation from lawmakers, including Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts). Peters opened an investigation into the mail delays following DeJoy’s failure to respond to his repeated inquiries. Warren called for the Post Office’s inspector general to investigate changes the USPS has made to slow mail delivery, and highlighted DeJoy’s potential conflicts of interest, including stock in the logistics giant Amazon, which he purchased following his appointment. The Post Office’s inspector general confirmed on Friday that they are reviewing DeJoy’s policy changes.
State lawmakers have also called for local law enforcement to investigate. Arizona’s Secretary of State Katie Hobbs asked their attorney general to investigate whether Trump and DeJoy’s actions violate an Arizona state law that prohibits anyone from knowingly delaying the delivery of a ballot. In New Jersey, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. made a criminal referral to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, asking him to examine whether or not Trump and DeJoy breached state election laws with their actions. Pascrell said, “What trump and his crony are doing is criminal. Period.”
Democrats have been united in opposition: On August 12, every Senate Democrat and both independent senators wrote to DeJoy urging him “not to take any action that makes it harder and more expensive for Americans to vote.” But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been criticized for letting the House go on recess without holding hearings to investigate the mail delays and attempts to suppress the vote. Several lawmakers, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Elise Slotkin, Rep. Jim Cooper, and even Rep. Adam Schiff, a member of the House leadership, have all called for a return from recess and an immediate start to hearings on Trump’s attacks on the post office
Speaker Pelosi will be bringing the House back from recess early in order to investigate the crisis at the USPS, hold a hearing with DeJoy on August 24, and to take up legislation to roll back the attacks on the post office made since January. But organizers aren’t waiting for lawmakers to act to increase the pressure on DeJoy and Trump. On August 15, the climate group Shutdown DC organized a protest outside DeJoy’s condo in the wealthy neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Demonstrators participated in a cacerolazo, a kind of civil disobedience with a long history, recently seen in Canada, Brazil and Colombia, where protestors use pots, pans, and other kitchen tools to make noise. Protestors also left mock absentee ballots at the entrance to DeJoy’s condo. The following day, a group protested at DeJoy’s North Carolina mansion. The progressive advocacy group MoveOn announced a day of nationwide protests to save the USPS on August 22. And Vanita Gupta, former head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights outlined 10 things people can do to protect the vote, including signing up to be a poll worker and asking your local officials to make secure drop boxes available.
Advocates are also suing for transparency. The nonprofit legal group Protect Democracy previously filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records pertaining to the USPS’s strategy for dealing with the anticipated influx of ballots cast by mail in the 2020 presidential election. The USPS ignored this FOIA, so on August 13, the organization sued to compel the release of the documents.
From lawsuits and investigations to protests and plans to mail back ballots as early as possible, the nation is grappling with how to save both the post office and the election from deliberate sabotage. If activists can continue to pressure both lawmakers and DeJoy himself, they may be able to successfully stop the election results from being distorted by Trump’s increasingly desperate attacks.
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truthout--2020-08-17--Rep. Ro Khanna: Democrats Must Support Medicare for All

As the Democratic National Convention kicks off virtually in Milwaukee , we speak with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna , who says he will be voting “ no ” on the Democratic platform because it does not support Medicare for All .
Khanna , who served as national co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders ’ s 2020 presidential campaign , says ensuring universal health care is crucial for the Democratic Party , especially during a pandemic .
“ I am very enthusiastic about supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump , but I can not vote for this platform @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a right , ” says Khanna .
This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : The DNC , Democratic National Convention , officially kicks off tonight with a focus on the coronavirus pandemic , the economic downturn , the national uprising to demand racial justice .
The lineup includes speeches from former first lady Michelle Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders , as well as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo , Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Washington , D.C. , Mayor Muriel Bowser .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ short video about racial justice .
This comes as The Daily Beast reports there are no Muslim speakers in the DNC ’ s primetime lineup this week , and only a handful of Latinx voices .
There are a number of Republicans ; John Kasich will be speaking tonight .
Congressman Khanna , you published a column on Common Dreams titled “ Why I Am Voting No on the Democratic Party Platform.
” You write , “ History teaches us that the Democratic Party has sometimes faced an issue so great that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wisdom of voting for or against the platform .
This is one of those times .
… I believe that moving away from a profit-based healthcare system is the moral issue of our time .
And in the final analysis , because of that belief , I could not vote for a platform that lacks a clear statement supporting Medicare for All.
” Explain .
REP. RO KHANNA : Well , I am very enthusiastic about supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump , but I can not vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ universal healthcare as a right .
I mean , we ’ ve seen millions of people lose their jobs .
They should not lose their healthcare .
This , to me , is about basic dignity .
How can you say that a person ’ s healthcare should be tied to whether they have a job or their employment ?
This was part of our platform until 1980 .
It was stripped during the Reagan revolution .
If we can ’ t come around and say we are for Medicare for All in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t know when we will .
And so , I ’ m very proud that hundreds of delegates are going to vote against this platform , while supporting Joe Biden .
And I think that ’ s a great strength of the Democratic Party , that you can have intellectual dissent and yet have a common goal .
AMY GOODMAN : There is interesting language on Medicare for All .
It says , “ We are proud our party welcomes advocates who want to build on and strengthen the Affordable Care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for All approach ; all are critical to ensuring that health care is a human right.
” Do you think that if Biden were to win , although he has adamantly said he ’ s opposed to Medicare for All , the movements for Medicare for All — I mean , the polls show most people support this — could change him ?
Kamala Harris has gone back and forth on this .
She said — she co-sponsored the Medicare for All bill .
REP. RO KHANNA : I do think it can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who look at Bernie Sanders ’ s plan realize that it ’ s a four-year transition .
I mean , Bernie Sanders isn ’ t saying go to Medicare for All in one year ; he ’ s saying let ’ s extend it to 55 , then 45 , then 35 .
There ’ s a carve-out for unions .
So , I think what is very possible , if we continue to advocate , that we can get the president , Biden , on year one , to say let ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or 50 , and then make progress from there .
And that is why this activism is so important .
AMY GOODMAN : Let me ask you about the DNC platform committee members overwhelmingly voting against proposed language that would oppose illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and support conditioning U.S. aid if Israel moves toward annexation of the West Bank .
Your thoughts on this ?
REP. RO KHANNA : Well , I think we needed to make it very clear that those settlements are illegal , that any annexation is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again , there has been always the American president ’ s ability to say that we aren ’ t going to provide aid to Israel when it contradicts our policy interests or human rights .
We did this — I mean , Reagan did this when Israel bombed Iraq .
There was a restriction on aid .
Other presidents have done it .
George Bush Sr. did it on loan guarantees .
So , this is not something far out from our party ’ s tradition .
And I do think there needs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights .
I think we need to speak out more clearly with the UAE-Israel agreement .
I mean , it ’ s a good thing anytime countries are at peace , but that can not be at the expense of Palestinian rights .
UAE , as you know , has been responsible , in part , for the Yemen bombing .
And there has to be clarity that there ’ s no annexation , and clarity that both countries are going to be recognizing Palestinian rights .
Palestinians can ’ t be the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Middle East .
AMY GOODMAN : Congressman Khanna , you are calling for a bill that would make free masks available to all .
You also have written a letter , along with Congressman Adam Schiff , to the leadership , requesting mask-related provisions in any COVID-19 pandemic relief package .
Explain .
REP. RO KHANNA : The data is so clear that mask usage will help prevent the spread of coronavirus .
And we ’ ve seen in other countries where there have had — where there have been universal masks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they have done very well in dealing with this pandemic .
So , what we are saying is we should be giving every person who wants them masks .
This is our responsibility .
When I go vote in the United States Congress , they give me a mask .
Why can ’ t every worker who ’ s doing that have that option ?
It , A , serves as a reminder to them about the importance , and , B , it makes sure that they have these masks if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ putting them at risk .
AMY GOODMAN : Finally , Senator Harris , the new VP , the presumptive VP nominee , from your state , California , she is also , like you , Indian American , as well as African American , Caribbean American .
Your thoughts ?
REP. RO KHANNA : Well , it ’ s a matter of great pride .
I mean , her story is so inspiring .
Her mother , an immigrant from India .
My parents were immigrants .
And the fact that she could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service , rise up and today be hopefully the next vice president of the United States is inspirational .
And it is a glimpse into our multiracial , multiethnic future — a total difference than Donald Trump .
I will say one thing on the total obliviousness to history that Donald Trump and people there have shown .
I mean , Trump ’ s favorite president is Andrew Jackson , who has a very checkered history and record .
But Jackson was the son of two immigrants .
His brothers were born in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacking Kamala Harris is not just racist , it actually displays an ignorance about American history .
AMY GOODMAN : Ro Khanna , we want to thank you so much for being with us , Democratic congressmember from California , member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform .
Next , we are going to speak with a formerly homeless African American Black Lives Matter activist .
Her name is Cori Bush .
She just won the Democratic primary in Missouri after defeating 10-term Congressmember Lacy Clay in a major primary upset @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

As the Democratic National Convention kicks off virtually in Milwaukee, we speak with Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna, who says he will be voting “no” on the Democratic platform because it does not support Medicare for All. Khanna, who served as national co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, says ensuring universal health care is crucial for the Democratic Party, especially during a pandemic. “I am very enthusiastic about supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump, but I cannot vote for this platform that does not have universal healthcare as a right,” says Khanna.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The DNC, Democratic National Convention, officially kicks off tonight with a focus on the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn, the national uprising to demand racial justice. The lineup includes speeches from former first lady Michelle Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser. Joe Biden will also speak in a short video about racial justice. This comes as The Daily Beast reports there are no Muslim speakers in the DNC’s primetime lineup this week, and only a handful of Latinx voices. There are a number of Republicans; John Kasich will be speaking tonight.
Congressman Khanna, you published a column on Common Dreams titled “Why I Am Voting No on the Democratic Party Platform.” You write, “History teaches us that the Democratic Party has sometimes faced an issue so great that it alone should be the yardstick for measuring the wisdom of voting for or against the platform. This is one of those times. … I believe that moving away from a profit-based healthcare system is the moral issue of our time. And in the final analysis, because of that belief, I could not vote for a platform that lacks a clear statement supporting Medicare for All.” Explain.
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, I am very enthusiastic about supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump, but I cannot vote for this platform that does not have universal healthcare as a right.
I mean, we’ve seen millions of people lose their jobs. They should not lose their healthcare. This, to me, is about basic dignity. How can you say that a person’s healthcare should be tied to whether they have a job or their employment? This was part of our platform until 1980. It was stripped during the Reagan revolution. If we can’t come around and say we are for Medicare for All in a time of a pandemic, I don’t know when we will.
And so, I’m very proud that hundreds of delegates are going to vote against this platform, while supporting Joe Biden. And I think that’s a great strength of the Democratic Party, that you can have intellectual dissent and yet have a common goal.
AMY GOODMAN: There is interesting language on Medicare for All. It says, “We are proud our party welcomes advocates who want to build on and strengthen the Affordable Care Act and those who support a Medicare for All approach; all are critical to ensuring that health care is a human right.” Do you think that if Biden were to win, although he has adamantly said he’s opposed to Medicare for All, the movements for Medicare for All — I mean, the polls show most people support this — could change him? Kamala Harris has gone back and forth on this. She said — she co-sponsored the Medicare for All bill.
REP. RO KHANNA: I do think it can change him, and especially if people who look at Bernie Sanders’s plan realize that it’s a four-year transition. I mean, Bernie Sanders isn’t saying go to Medicare for All in one year; he’s saying let’s extend it to 55, then 45, then 35. There’s a carve-out for unions. So, I think what is very possible, if we continue to advocate, that we can get the president, Biden, on year one, to say let’s extend it at least to 55 or 50, and then make progress from there. And that is why this activism is so important.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you about the DNC platform committee members overwhelmingly voting against proposed language that would oppose illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and support conditioning U.S. aid if Israel moves toward annexation of the West Bank. Your thoughts on this?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, I think we needed to make it very clear that those settlements are illegal, that any annexation is illegal. And in the past, again, there has been always the American president’s ability to say that we aren’t going to provide aid to Israel when it contradicts our policy interests or human rights. We did this — I mean, Reagan did this when Israel bombed Iraq. There was a restriction on aid. Other presidents have done it. George Bush Sr. did it on loan guarantees. So, this is not something far out from our party’s tradition.
And I do think there needs to be a clear statement on Palestinian rights. I think we need to speak out more clearly with the UAE-Israel agreement. I mean, it’s a good thing anytime countries are at peace, but that cannot be at the expense of Palestinian rights. UAE, as you know, has been responsible, in part, for the Yemen bombing. And there has to be clarity that there’s no annexation, and clarity that both countries are going to be recognizing Palestinian rights. Palestinians can’t be the collateral damage of great power politics in the Middle East.
AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Khanna, you are calling for a bill that would make free masks available to all. You also have written a letter, along with Congressman Adam Schiff, to the leadership, requesting mask-related provisions in any COVID-19 pandemic relief package. Explain.
REP. RO KHANNA: The data is so clear that mask usage will help prevent the spread of coronavirus. And we’ve seen in other countries where there have had — where there have been universal masks, in Taiwan, in South Korea, they have done very well in dealing with this pandemic.
So, what we are saying is we should be giving every person who wants them masks. This is our responsibility. When I go vote in the United States Congress, they give me a mask. Why can’t every worker who’s doing that have that option? It, A, serves as a reminder to them about the importance, and, B, it makes sure that they have these masks if they’re doing jobs that are putting them at risk.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Senator Harris, the new VP, the presumptive VP nominee, from your state, California, she is also, like you, Indian American, as well as African American, Caribbean American. Your thoughts?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, it’s a matter of great pride. I mean, her story is so inspiring. Her mother, an immigrant from India. My parents were immigrants. And the fact that she could, through sheer hard work and public service, rise up and today be hopefully the next vice president of the United States is inspirational. And it is a glimpse into our multiracial, multiethnic future — a total difference than Donald Trump.
I will say one thing on the total obliviousness to history that Donald Trump and people there have shown. I mean, Trump’s favorite president is Andrew Jackson, who has a very checkered history and record. But Jackson was the son of two immigrants. His brothers were born in foreign countries. So, to be attacking Kamala Harris is not just racist, it actually displays an ignorance about American history.
AMY GOODMAN: Ro Khanna, we want to thank you so much for being with us, Democratic congressmember from California, member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Next, we are going to speak with a formerly homeless African American Black Lives Matter activist. Her name is Cori Bush. She just won the Democratic primary in Missouri after defeating 10-term Congressmember Lacy Clay in a major primary upset in St. Louis. Stay with us.