truthout--2020-11-02--The Pro-Choice Religious Movement Is Mobilizing to Counter Barrett’s Agenda

In the weeks leading up to Monday ’ s Supreme Court confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett , there was a slate of reporting about abortion and religious communities .
Much of the reporting was ahistorical , inaccurate , and failed to convey that Coney Barrett was not confirmed despite her inexperience and extreme views , but because of her inexperience and extreme views .
Coney Barrett has one job : to push the court further right — and this includes ending the ability to legally access abortion care in the United States .
Reporting has largely positioned people of faith @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the United States , either because they vehemently oppose it or fear repercussions for supporting it .
In one striking example of this narrative , an Associated Press article published by The Washington Post featured insights from nine religious thought leaders and members of clergy , eight of whom were men .
The men vacillated between hellfire condemnation of abortion and tempered support for “ a woman ’ s right to make decisions over her own body.
” “ This framing is shorthanded , sloppy , harmful , and ahistorical , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the director of spiritual care and activism at the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice ( RCRC ) .
For more than 40 years , RCRC has brought interfaith and multiracial voices to reproductive health , rights , and justice issues , running directly counter to what Jackson describes as the “ tired and disempowering narrative ” developed by much of the press .
“ What the media does not talk about and what we all need to learn and understand is the history and the role that clergy has played in getting people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many people of faith who are fighting for reproductive health , rights , and justice.
” While Evangelical and Catholic leadership have consistently created barriers to abortion access , the United States has a vast pro-choice religious community , a fact regularly missing from mainstream reporting about Coney Barrett , religion , and abortion .
In fact , Coney Barrett ’ s draconian views do not gel with most Americans ’ stance on abortion , and the abortion beliefs of oft-quoted religious leaders do not reflect the opinions of everyday people of faith @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interviews Prism conducted with leaders who work at the intersections of religion and reproductive health , rights , and justice , communities of faith have historically played a part in fighting for abortion access , and they have a key role to play moving forward .
It is an indisputable fact that a majority of Americans are pro-choice .
Sixty-one percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases , and data from the Pew Research Center also shows that a majority of the largest religious communities in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % of Catholics , 60 % of “ white mainline Protestants , ” and 64 % of “ Black Protestants.
” In addition , even largely anti-abortion religious groups , including Mormons and white evangelicals , have significant pro-choice minorities .
Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe , vice president of Catholics for Choice , told Prism that it has been “ fundamentally frustrating ” to see extreme figures like Coney Barrett positioned as representative of Catholics .
“ Her personal beliefs represent an extraordinarily narrow view on a number of issues , especially abortion and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s very important to us to make sure the truth is known that she does not represent us or a majority of Catholics , ” said Hutchinson Ratcliffe , whose organization released a statement saying Coney Barrett ’ s confirmation jeopardizes Americans ’ moral and constitutional freedoms .
“ As someone who believes there is no real economic freedom or social justice without the ability to control our own reproduction , it ’ s anathema to me that a person would use their faith to interpret our laws in such a way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morality onto all of us .
This is completely against what I know to be true as a Catholic .
People who weaponize their faith against others , using their faith to deny others basic rights , are wrong .
Doing that certainly is not ‘ religious freedom.
’ It ’ s totalitarianism , ” Hutchinson Ratcliffe said .
This was echoed by Rabbi Marla J. Feldman , the executive director of Women of Reform Judaism , an organization with a robust reproductive health and rights campaign .
Feldman told Prism that anti-choice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having the moral high ground , using religious arguments and short-hand language like “ pro-life ” to “ corrupt and mischaracterize ” the abortion debate to suggest that their view is tied to faith , religion , and religious freedom while support of abortion rights is not .
“ The government should not impose one religious belief over another , ” Feldman said .
“ The anti-abortion movement has gained so much ground by using the language of religion to convey their anti-abortion messages and make it seem like if you are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this view .
This is a moment when [ pro-choice religious communities ] have to be present and vocal and say : We are religious .
We are thoughtful , prayerful , faithful people .
We take religion seriously , and we believe [ people ] should have access to abortion.
” For decades , the Christian Right and its many allies in state and federal government have taken an incremental approach to making abortion wholly inaccessible , essentially rendering Roe v. Wade useless for large swaths of the country .
This has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strategy for decades .
President Donald Trump has proven to be the icing on the anti-abortion cake , as his administration has done the bidding of the Christian Right in order to maintain power , a phenomenon that investigative journalist and senior research analyst Fred Clarkson explained in a piece about white evangelical support for Trump .
Clarkson works at the social justice think tank Political Research Associates ( PRA ) , where he recently published an essay that makes a bold , well-supported argument : The pro-choice religious community in the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cultural , and political clout to reverse current antiabortion policy trends in the United States.
” The problem , however , is two-fold : These communities are not well identified or sought out by abortion advocates , the media , and elected officials , and this “ wide and diverse constituency is insufficiently organized by the prochoice religious community itself .
But it could be , ” argues Clarkson .
Clarkson , who has written about politics and religion for more than 30 years , has long argued the pro-choice religious community is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is a precedent for members of clergy playing a direct role in ensuring people have access to abortion .
As poor people died from unsafe abortions — including a disproportionate number of women of color — the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion ( CCS ) emerged in the 1960s , a history that journalist Amy Littlefield dug into this month in a piece for Truthout .
Before Roe v. Wade , the underground network of mostly Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis was “ the largest abortion referral service in the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for PRA , “ eventually involving about 2,000 religious leaders who , in addition to helping people obtain safe abortions in the United States and abroad , lobbied for the repeal of abortion laws.
” RCRC evolved from this network , which Jackson said helped at least 140,000 people get access to safe and affordable abortion care .
The work was dangerous , she said , sometimes involving “ recognizance missions ” in which women volunteers pretended to be pregnant in order to go to a doctor and see if they would provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This wasn ’ t a perfect movement .
It was very white and very male and there were struggles connecting with communities of color , but it was a powerful movement , ” Jackson said .
“ The history is clear : Religious people and religious communities played a direct role in providing access to abortion when it was illegal .
This is a critical part of our nation ’ s history that has been intentionally overlooked .
This history can serve as a blueprint , that ’ s exactly why it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unfolded at the same time the Republican Party first rolled out its Southern Strategy — a successful effort “ to court Southern white voters by capitalizing on their racial fears ” and turn “ the solidly Democratic South into a bastion of Republicanism , ” The Washington Post reported .
As part of this movement , Christian schools began sprouting up nationwide , created to preserve racial segregation .
Jackson said there is no untangling this deep-seated racism from the ongoing history of Evangelicals mobilizing in the United States — and this includes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Historically , there have always been racial motivations for opposing abortion , as Kira Schlesinger outlined in her book Pro-Choice and Christian : Reconciling Faith , Politics , and Justice .
In the 1850s , white physicians like Dr. Horatio R. Storer led medical campaigns against abortion , based on the assessment that “ as more middle and upper class white women successfully limited the size of their families , the proportion of white population in America would decline , and they were afraid that free [ Black people ] and immigrants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ desirable American-born white population , ” Schlesinger wrote .
There is a through line between these early anti-abortion efforts and anti-choice movements today .
As Jewish Currents editor Ari M. Brostoff wrote last year , “ Conservative lawmakers and right-wing vigilantes alike have adopted a seemingly new language for describing their antiabortion stance : the white nationalist discourse of the ‘ great replacement , ’ a conspiracy theory that holds that nonwhite immigrants are demographically ‘ replacing ’ whites throughout the West.
” It is “ critical ” for the American public to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jackson told Prism .
The right has its own twisted version of identity politics that are “ intersectionally-driven , ” she said .
While their intersectional politics center and target white women , white rural people , white Christians , etc.
, it is clear that anti-choice movements are also thinking about gender , race , and class .
It goes without saying that there are many people of faith in the United States who truly believe that life begins at conception and abortion is murder .
Those religious beliefs should not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But there is something fundamentally different at play with racist lawmakers like Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King .
While low-income women of color are disproportionately affected by anti-abortion laws , forcing these women to carry unwanted pregnancies is a byproduct of enforcing laws that do not allow white women to terminate unwanted pregnancies .
Jackson told Prism that white , vehemently anti-abortion Evangelicals are “ never going to publicly say ” that they value their whiteness more than their Christianity .
“ But they will say , ‘ We value life.
’ What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or else how can you explain their support of a president who separated immigrant families at the border ?
How do you explain their silence when Black people are murdered ?
” Jackson said .
Feldman also said she is clear in how anti-choice movements characterize “ life.
” “ Those who say they are ‘ pro-life ’ are pro-fetal life .
They do not care about women ’ s lives , ” Feldman told Prism .
Jackson acknowledges that this is “ scary and overwhelming ” time in the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are alarming realities .
But this moment also presents an opportunity .
Cherisse Scott is the founder of Memphis , Tennessee ’ s SisterReach , a reproductive justice organization that works closely with African American Christians in the South .
In fact , various members of the organization and its board are faith leaders in their communities .
When Scott spoke to Prism , she was celebrating the ninth anniversary of SisterReach and reflecting on the organization ’ s long , hard journey of building inroads with faith leaders , who are made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health , rights , and justice .
Some risk being expelled from their churches for supporting abortion access , but it is a risk they have been willing to take .
The public narrative persists that communities of faith oppose abortion care and that those who fight for sexual and reproductive health , rights , and justice are part of secular movements .
But Scott said it is often the same people in the pews with her who are fighting for reproductive justice , a framework created by Black women that focuses on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , have children or not have children , and for parents to raise the children they do have in safe and sustainable communities .
While the court , the election , and the fate of the country during a pandemic all seem on the verge of collapse , Scott is choosing to focus on what she can change .
Part of this is reimagining churches , and this moment is offering a prime opportunity to do that .
As FiveThirtyEight reported , religious involvement is associated with a wide array of positive social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millennials are leaving organized religion , largely fueled by the strong association between religion and the Republican Party .
In addition , the COVID-19 crisis has fundamentally changed what it looks like to be part of a faith community .
In this way , the pandemic has created a serious challenge for the Christian Right and a tremendous opportunity for pro-choice religious communities .
SisterReach ’ s deputy director just launched her own ministry , where she will be a Black lesbian masculine-of-center pastor , Scott said .
Spaces like these are proliferating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perceptions of what church is and who it is for .
“ The anti-abortion movement , the Christian Right , whatever you want to call it , they don ’ t get to control what church is or what faith is .
I think there is a movement growing to reassess what religious spaces look like .
People are thinking about the world they want to come into after COVID , ” Scott said .
“ I want a world where I can to go my church and get resources about abortion .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of faith who feels at home at church .
I pray we come into this different kind of world , and I am fighting for this world .
After the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett , I hope pro-choice religious communities become empowered to fight for this world with me.
” What Scott is describing is very much aligned with a series of recommendations featured in Clarkson ’ s essay for PRA , namely that pro-choice religious communities need to create organizations outside of traditional religious institutions .
Clarkson , who also created @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community , acknowledges that these communities are “ marginalized within religious and political organizations and broadly in public life ” and therefore “ easily divided and kept from becoming politically powerful.
” But these groups constitute an overwhelming majority of the population , and “ potentially the voting population , ” Clarkson wrote .
The research analyst recommends replicating a strategy that has proven successful for the Christian Right , which is the creation of “ parachurch organizations , ” religious organizations that operate across denominations and outside of church leadership .
Parachurches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or private voluntary associations comprised of people working together toward a common goal .
As an example , the ultra conservative Christian group People of Praise — where Coney Barrett served as a “ handmaiden ” — is a parachurch organization including Roman Catholics , Lutherans , Episcopalians , Methodists , Pentecostals , Presbyterians , and “ other denominational and nondenominational Christians , ” according to the organization ’ s website .
Coney Barrett and other members of the group “ swear a lifelong oath of loyalty , called a covenant , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are accountable to a personal adviser , called a ‘ head ’ for men and a ‘ handmaid ’ for women .
The group teaches that husbands are the heads of their wives and should take authority over the family , ” The New York Times reported .
Parachurches created by pro-choice religious communities would clearly have a fundamentally different focus , but it appears this is a strategy being seriously considered .
Jackson could not share specific details , but she told Prism that RCRC is currently working with 15 organizations to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faith-based , some are secular , but the organizations are located nationwide and interested in mobilizing around reproductive health , rights , and justice .
“ We all have to fight for what we want and it has to be more than Black women , it has to be more than reproductive justice folks , more than social justice folks who say that religion does not have to be a place of harm , ” Scott said .
“ Religion does not mean aligning yourself with white supremacy or with controlling wombs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ us all .
”

In the weeks leading up to Monday’s Supreme Court confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, there was a slate of reporting about abortion and religious communities. Much of the reporting was ahistorical, inaccurate, and failed to convey that Coney Barrett was not confirmed despite her inexperience and extreme views, but because of her inexperience and extreme views. Coney Barrett has one job: to push the court further right — and this includes ending the ability to legally access abortion care in the United States.
Reporting has largely positioned people of faith as a fundamental barrier to abortion access in the United States, either because they vehemently oppose it or fear repercussions for supporting it. In one striking example of this narrative, an Associated Press article published by The Washington Post featured insights from nine religious thought leaders and members of clergy, eight of whom were men. The men vacillated between hellfire condemnation of abortion and tempered support for “a woman’s right to make decisions over her own body.”
“This framing is shorthanded, sloppy, harmful, and ahistorical,” said Rev. Dr. Cari Jackson, the director of spiritual care and activism at the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). For more than 40 years, RCRC has brought interfaith and multiracial voices to reproductive health, rights, and justice issues, running directly counter to what Jackson describes as the “tired and disempowering narrative” developed by much of the press.
“What the media does not talk about and what we all need to learn and understand is the history and the role that clergy has played in getting people access to abortion. Today there are many people of faith who are fighting for reproductive health, rights, and justice.”
While Evangelical and Catholic leadership have consistently created barriers to abortion access, the United States has a vast pro-choice religious community, a fact regularly missing from mainstream reporting about Coney Barrett, religion, and abortion. In fact, Coney Barrett’s draconian views do not gel with most Americans’ stance on abortion, and the abortion beliefs of oft-quoted religious leaders do not reflect the opinions of everyday people of faith.
According to a new report and interviews Prism conducted with leaders who work at the intersections of religion and reproductive health, rights, and justice, communities of faith have historically played a part in fighting for abortion access, and they have a key role to play moving forward.
Weaponizing Faith
It is an indisputable fact that a majority of Americans are pro-choice. Sixty-one percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and data from the Pew Research Center also shows that a majority of the largest religious communities in the Unites States are pro-choice, including 56% of Catholics, 60% of “white mainline Protestants,” and 64% of “Black Protestants.” In addition, even largely anti-abortion religious groups, including Mormons and white evangelicals, have significant pro-choice minorities.
Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe, vice president of Catholics for Choice, told Prism that it has been “fundamentally frustrating” to see extreme figures like Coney Barrett positioned as representative of Catholics.
“Her personal beliefs represent an extraordinarily narrow view on a number of issues, especially abortion and contraception. As an organization, it’s very important to us to make sure the truth is known that she does not represent us or a majority of Catholics,” said Hutchinson Ratcliffe, whose organization released a statement saying Coney Barrett’s confirmation jeopardizes Americans’ moral and constitutional freedoms.
“As someone who believes there is no real economic freedom or social justice without the ability to control our own reproduction, it’s anathema to me that a person would use their faith to interpret our laws in such a way as to impose their narrow view of morality onto all of us. This is completely against what I know to be true as a Catholic. People who weaponize their faith against others, using their faith to deny others basic rights, are wrong. Doing that certainly is not ‘religious freedom.’ It’s totalitarianism,” Hutchinson Ratcliffe said.
This was echoed by Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, the executive director of Women of Reform Judaism, an organization with a robust reproductive health and rights campaign. Feldman told Prism that anti-choice movements have very strategically positioned themselves as having the moral high ground, using religious arguments and short-hand language like “pro-life” to “corrupt and mischaracterize” the abortion debate to suggest that their view is tied to faith, religion, and religious freedom while support of abortion rights is not.
“The government should not impose one religious belief over another,” Feldman said. “The anti-abortion movement has gained so much ground by using the language of religion to convey their anti-abortion messages and make it seem like if you are a religious person, you have to share this view. This is a moment when [pro-choice religious communities] have to be present and vocal and say: We are religious. We are thoughtful, prayerful, faithful people. We take religion seriously, and we believe [people] should have access to abortion.”
For decades, the Christian Right and its many allies in state and federal government have taken an incremental approach to making abortion wholly inaccessible, essentially rendering Roe v. Wade useless for large swaths of the country. This has been the crux of their successful anti-abortion strategy for decades. President Donald Trump has proven to be the icing on the anti-abortion cake, as his administration has done the bidding of the Christian Right in order to maintain power, a phenomenon that investigative journalist and senior research analyst Fred Clarkson explained in a piece about white evangelical support for Trump.
Clarkson works at the social justice think tank Political Research Associates (PRA), where he recently published an essay that makes a bold, well-supported argument: The pro-choice religious community in the United States “could provide the moral, cultural, and political clout to reverse current antiabortion policy trends in the United States.” The problem, however, is two-fold: These communities are not well identified or sought out by abortion advocates, the media, and elected officials, and this “wide and diverse constituency is insufficiently organized by the prochoice religious community itself. But it could be,” argues Clarkson.
Race, Faith and Abortion
Clarkson, who has written about politics and religion for more than 30 years, has long argued the pro-choice religious community is a “sleeping giant,” and there is a precedent for members of clergy playing a direct role in ensuring people have access to abortion.
As poor people died from unsafe abortions — including a disproportionate number of women of color — the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion (CCS) emerged in the 1960s, a history that journalist Amy Littlefield dug into this month in a piece for Truthout.
Before Roe v. Wade, the underground network of mostly Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis was “the largest abortion referral service in the United States,” Clarkson wrote in his essay for PRA, “eventually involving about 2,000 religious leaders who, in addition to helping people obtain safe abortions in the United States and abroad, lobbied for the repeal of abortion laws.”
RCRC evolved from this network, which Jackson said helped at least 140,000 people get access to safe and affordable abortion care. The work was dangerous, she said, sometimes involving “recognizance missions” in which women volunteers pretended to be pregnant in order to go to a doctor and see if they would provide safe, affordable abortion care.
“This wasn’t a perfect movement. It was very white and very male and there were struggles connecting with communities of color, but it was a powerful movement,” Jackson said. “The history is clear: Religious people and religious communities played a direct role in providing access to abortion when it was illegal. This is a critical part of our nation’s history that has been intentionally overlooked. This history can serve as a blueprint, that’s exactly why it’s been buried.”
CCS’ work unfolded at the same time the Republican Party first rolled out its Southern Strategy — a successful effort “to court Southern white voters by capitalizing on their racial fears” and turn “the solidly Democratic South into a bastion of Republicanism,” The Washington Post reported. As part of this movement, Christian schools began sprouting up nationwide, created to preserve racial segregation. Jackson said there is no untangling this deep-seated racism from the ongoing history of Evangelicals mobilizing in the United States — and this includes their overwhelming efforts to end legal abortion.
Historically, there have always been racial motivations for opposing abortion, as Kira Schlesinger outlined in her book Pro-Choice and Christian: Reconciling Faith, Politics, and Justice. In the 1850s, white physicians like Dr. Horatio R. Storer led medical campaigns against abortion, based on the assessment that “as more middle and upper class white women successfully limited the size of their families, the proportion of white population in America would decline, and they were afraid that free [Black people] and immigrants entering the country would outpace the more desirable American-born white population,” Schlesinger wrote.
There is a through line between these early anti-abortion efforts and anti-choice movements today. As Jewish Currents editor Ari M. Brostoff wrote last year, “Conservative lawmakers and right-wing vigilantes alike have adopted a seemingly new language for describing their antiabortion stance: the white nationalist discourse of the ‘great replacement,’ a conspiracy theory that holds that nonwhite immigrants are demographically ‘replacing’ whites throughout the West.”
It is “critical” for the American public to understand that abortion opponents operate intersectionally, Jackson told Prism. The right has its own twisted version of identity politics that are “intersectionally-driven,” she said. While their intersectional politics center and target white women, white rural people, white Christians, etc., it is clear that anti-choice movements are also thinking about gender, race, and class.
It goes without saying that there are many people of faith in the United States who truly believe that life begins at conception and abortion is murder. Those religious beliefs should not be imposed on others, of course. But there is something fundamentally different at play with racist lawmakers like Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King. While low-income women of color are disproportionately affected by anti-abortion laws, forcing these women to carry unwanted pregnancies is a byproduct of enforcing laws that do not allow white women to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
Jackson told Prism that white, vehemently anti-abortion Evangelicals are “never going to publicly say” that they value their whiteness more than their Christianity.
“But they will say, ‘We value life.’ What they mean is they value white lives, or else how can you explain their support of a president who separated immigrant families at the border? How do you explain their silence when Black people are murdered?” Jackson said.
Feldman also said she is clear in how anti-choice movements characterize “life.”
“Those who say they are ‘pro-life’ are pro-fetal life. They do not care about women’s lives,” Feldman told Prism.
Jackson acknowledges that this is “scary and overwhelming” time in the United States, one in which fascism and theocracy are alarming realities. But this moment also presents an opportunity.
There’s a New Day Coming
Cherisse Scott is the founder of Memphis, Tennessee’s SisterReach, a reproductive justice organization that works closely with African American Christians in the South. In fact, various members of the organization and its board are faith leaders in their communities.
When Scott spoke to Prism, she was celebrating the ninth anniversary of SisterReach and reflecting on the organization’s long, hard journey of building inroads with faith leaders, who are made vulnerable when they are vocal about reproductive health, rights, and justice. Some risk being expelled from their churches for supporting abortion access, but it is a risk they have been willing to take.
The public narrative persists that communities of faith oppose abortion care and that those who fight for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice are part of secular movements. But Scott said it is often the same people in the pews with her who are fighting for reproductive justice, a framework created by Black women that focuses on the right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children or not have children, and for parents to raise the children they do have in safe and sustainable communities.
While the court, the election, and the fate of the country during a pandemic all seem on the verge of collapse, Scott is choosing to focus on what she can change. Part of this is reimagining churches, and this moment is offering a prime opportunity to do that.
As FiveThirtyEight reported, religious involvement is associated with a wide array of positive social outcomes, including civic engagement. But millennials are leaving organized religion, largely fueled by the strong association between religion and the Republican Party. In addition, the COVID-19 crisis has fundamentally changed what it looks like to be part of a faith community.
In this way, the pandemic has created a serious challenge for the Christian Right and a tremendous opportunity for pro-choice religious communities. SisterReach’s deputy director just launched her own ministry, where she will be a Black lesbian masculine-of-center pastor, Scott said. Spaces like these are proliferating, and they are shaking up traditional perceptions of what church is and who it is for.
“The anti-abortion movement, the Christian Right, whatever you want to call it, they don’t get to control what church is or what faith is. I think there is a movement growing to reassess what religious spaces look like. People are thinking about the world they want to come into after COVID,” Scott said. “I want a world where I can to go my church and get resources about abortion. I want to be a queer person of faith who feels at home at church. I pray we come into this different kind of world, and I am fighting for this world. After the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, I hope pro-choice religious communities become empowered to fight for this world with me.”
What Scott is describing is very much aligned with a series of recommendations featured in Clarkson’s essay for PRA, namely that pro-choice religious communities need to create organizations outside of traditional religious institutions. Clarkson, who also created an annotated directory of the pro-choice religious community, acknowledges that these communities are “marginalized within religious and political organizations and broadly in public life” and therefore “easily divided and kept from becoming politically powerful.” But these groups constitute an overwhelming majority of the population, and “potentially the voting population,” Clarkson wrote.
The research analyst recommends replicating a strategy that has proven successful for the Christian Right, which is the creation of “parachurch organizations,” religious organizations that operate across denominations and outside of church leadership. Parachurches can be businesses, non-profit organizations, or private voluntary associations comprised of people working together toward a common goal. As an example, the ultra conservative Christian group People of Praise — where Coney Barrett served as a “handmaiden” — is a parachurch organization including Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, and “other denominational and nondenominational Christians,” according to the organization’s website. Coney Barrett and other members of the group “swear a lifelong oath of loyalty, called a covenant, to one another, and are assigned and are accountable to a personal adviser, called a ‘head’ for men and a ‘handmaid’ for women. The group teaches that husbands are the heads of their wives and should take authority over the family,” The New York Times reported.
Parachurches created by pro-choice religious communities would clearly have a fundamentally different focus, but it appears this is a strategy being seriously considered. Jackson could not share specific details, but she told Prism that RCRC is currently working with 15 organizations to explore the parachurch model. Some are faith-based, some are secular, but the organizations are located nationwide and interested in mobilizing around reproductive health, rights, and justice.
“We all have to fight for what we want and it has to be more than Black women, it has to be more than reproductive justice folks, more than social justice folks who say that religion does not have to be a place of harm,” Scott said. “Religion does not mean aligning yourself with white supremacy or with controlling wombs. Religion can be a safe place for us all.”
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truthout--2020-11-02--Instead of Chasing “Swing Voters,” Ohio Organizers Push to Expand Electorate

The storied “ swing voter ” has long been portrayed as key to electoral victory in the battleground state of Ohio .
Much as Moby Dick ’ s Captain Ahab obsessed over the white whale , traditional democratic operatives have obsessed over reclaiming the lost white ( usually working-class and male ) voter .
However , grassroots organizations like the Ohio Organizing Collaborative reject a singular focus on chasing on-the-fence voters .
“ All of our work is focused on electorate expansion , ” said Molly Shack , co-executive director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative .
The organization sees the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who go back and forth between voting and not voting , and not the “ Obama-Trump voters ” who switched between the two major parties in 2012 and 2016 .
A central question for the organization is how to talk to people left out by traditional political engagement , focusing on advocacy around “ issues that impact our lives day to day , ” according to Shack .
Founded in 2007 , the Ohio Organizing Collaborative is a statewide organization focused on community organizing , large-scale civic engagement and strategic communications work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prentiss Haney , stressed the importance of re-engaging people to participate in democracy beyond voting .
“ Being a part of democracy has changed a lot , ” said Haney .
“ Looking at democratic practices and civic organizations in the ‘ 50s , ‘ 60s and ‘ 70s , people were part of rotary clubs , the NAACP , and a part of social movements that showed them how to practice democracy all the time.
” The Ohio Organizing Collaborative prioritizes helping communities develop the practice of democracy , as it demystifies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the dominant political organizing strategy of the last few decades — building relationships with people solely to turn them into voting blocs — created a harmful , market-based approach to democracy .
While people have a choice on whether to engage in electoral processes , Haney says choosing not to be a part of democracy , more broadly , is dangerous for people of color .
“ We are here to help people practice democracy together , ” Haney said .
“ Campaigning in elections is not about trying to net the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s about ] how [ to ] get folks engaged [ and ] understanding that their engagement changes the world.
” Trusted Relationships Help Cultivate New and Engaged Voters To accomplish this goal of re-engaging an overlooked electorate , the Ohio Organizing Collaborative made the strategic decision to invest heavily in a “ relational organizing ” program , which is simply people reaching out to those already in their existing networks .
While terms like “ relational organizing ” may be new to mainstream politics and media , Haney says they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Simply put , relational organizing is about relationships and trust .
“ We believe [ in ] the power of our relationships , ” said Haney .
“ [ There are ] no shortcuts to building relationships with people and community.
” Ohio Organizing Collaborative ’ s relational organizing program is part get-out-the-vote , and part long-term civic capacity building .
This election cycle is an opportunity to engage Black voters , young voters and other voters of color around the issues that matter .
Shack says relationship-based conversations are more impactful than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out , ” said Shack .
“ They tune out from strangers , campaigns and random [ broadcast messages ] .
” During election season many people may receive text messages from campaign volunteers without any pre-existing relationship .
Sometimes these messages come from automated broadcast messages that can feel impersonal .
Shack notes that texting people information is important because it helps get the word out .
But the personal touch of someone reaching out to a person they know , and explaining their reason for being involved , goes a long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m a fan of all types of contacts , ” said Shack .
“ The more we engage people , the better generally .
But 20,000 relational conversations , which is our goal , is the equivalent of sending out like 7 million cold text messages and reaching 250,000 to 400,000 people.
” Shack says the group ’ s approach reaches new voters and nonvoters , expanding the universe of potential contacts for political activation .
Pointing to results from a 2018 study in partnership with the Analyst Institute , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the voters contacted through the relational organizing program did not match an existing voter file before the program .
Relational organizing resulted in a 3.8 percent increase in turnout among infrequent voters and nonvoters as compared to other progressive tactics that yielded only a 0.1 percent increase in turnout in 2016 .
Traditional campaigns and political parties rely heavily on the voter file for outreach and engagement ahead of an election , thus missing out on a potential group of voters .
Localizing Issues and Building Accountability Into the Process Help Long-Term @ @ @ @ @ @ @ underway in Ohio leads to more voters being added to the rolls .
But Shack and Haney note that while relational organizing is critical to engaging voters , it can be challenging to scale up such a program .
Therefore , it ’ s essential to build in other types of tactics .
For example , Shack and Haney emphasize the importance of localizing elections and showing people how the process connects to their lives .
For example , on the issue of the criminal legal system , there are several judicial , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that impact the lives of families and communities in immediate ways .
“ We ’ re doing candidate forums , voter education forums [ and ] phone banks that are all about those local elections to help connect people … to these races , and then the day after the election , hold them accountable , ” Shack said .
“ When people know that a judge that they ’ ve sat before is on the ballot , it does create a different kind of energy that , I can go out and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t stop on November 3 , Shack and Haney say .
Post-election follow-through includes holding elected officials accountable .
Haney recently watched the documentary All In : The Fight for Democracy , and was reminded why accountability is such an important part of the process .
“ One of the things that [ Stacey Abrams ] said that reminded me why we do this , was that when elected officials start to lose power , they do either one of two things : start to get in alignment with their constituents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or they find ways to eliminate accountability for those constituents so they can stay , ” said Haney .
Part of accountability is also consistency and the ability to show up with a coalition of support to put pressure on elected officials when necessary .
While some may see movement-based organizations and electoral grassroots efforts as being at odds , the Ohio Organizing Collaborative views them as complementary efforts .
“ What is possible is shifted because of movements , ” said Shack .
“ And then delivering those wins and communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the ground to turn it into something that can impact people ’ s lives , neighborhoods and communities .
”

Investing in programs like the one underway in Ohio leads to more voters being added to the rolls.
Part of the Series Voting Wrongs
The storied “swing voter” has long been portrayed as key to electoral victory in the battleground state of Ohio. Much as Moby Dick’s Captain Ahab obsessed over the white whale, traditional democratic operatives have obsessed over reclaiming the lost white (usually working-class and male) voter. However, grassroots organizations like the Ohio Organizing Collaborative reject a singular focus on chasing on-the-fence voters.
“All of our work is focused on electorate expansion,” said Molly Shack, co-executive director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. The organization sees the real “swing voters” as the people who go back and forth between voting and not voting, and not the “Obama-Trump voters” who switched between the two major parties in 2012 and 2016. A central question for the organization is how to talk to people left out by traditional political engagement, focusing on advocacy around “issues that impact our lives day to day,” according to Shack.
Founded in 2007, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative is a statewide organization focused on community organizing, large-scale civic engagement and strategic communications work. Shack’s co-executive director, Prentiss Haney, stressed the importance of re-engaging people to participate in democracy beyond voting. “Being a part of democracy has changed a lot,” said Haney. “Looking at democratic practices and civic organizations in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, people were part of rotary clubs, the NAACP, and a part of social movements that showed them how to practice democracy all the time.”
The Ohio Organizing Collaborative prioritizes helping communities develop the practice of democracy, as it demystifies the political process. For Haney, the dominant political organizing strategy of the last few decades — building relationships with people solely to turn them into voting blocs — created a harmful, market-based approach to democracy. While people have a choice on whether to engage in electoral processes, Haney says choosing not to be a part of democracy, more broadly, is dangerous for people of color.
“We are here to help people practice democracy together,” Haney said. “Campaigning in elections is not about trying to net the most people, [but rather it’s about] how [to] get folks engaged [and] understanding that their engagement changes the world.”
Trusted Relationships Help Cultivate New and Engaged Voters
To accomplish this goal of re-engaging an overlooked electorate, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative made the strategic decision to invest heavily in a “relational organizing” program, which is simply people reaching out to those already in their existing networks. While terms like “relational organizing” may be new to mainstream politics and media, Haney says they’re not really new to the world. Simply put, relational organizing is about relationships and trust.
“We believe [in] the power of our relationships,” said Haney. “[There are] no shortcuts to building relationships with people and community.” Ohio Organizing Collaborative’s relational organizing program is part get-out-the-vote, and part long-term civic capacity building. This election cycle is an opportunity to engage Black voters, young voters and other voters of color around the issues that matter.
The organization sees the real “swing voters” as the people who go back and forth between voting and not voting.
Shack says relationship-based conversations are more impactful than regular outreach campaigns. “People tune out,” said Shack. “They tune out from strangers, campaigns and random [broadcast messages].” During election season many people may receive text messages from campaign volunteers without any pre-existing relationship. Sometimes these messages come from automated broadcast messages that can feel impersonal. Shack notes that texting people information is important because it helps get the word out. But the personal touch of someone reaching out to a person they know, and explaining their reason for being involved, goes a long way to getting others engaged.
“I’m a fan of all types of contacts,” said Shack. “The more we engage people, the better generally. But 20,000 relational conversations, which is our goal, is the equivalent of sending out like 7 million cold text messages and reaching 250,000 to 400,000 people.”
Shack says the group’s approach reaches new voters and nonvoters, expanding the universe of potential contacts for political activation. Pointing to results from a 2018 study in partnership with the Analyst Institute, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative found that 70 percent of the voters contacted through the relational organizing program did not match an existing voter file before the program. Relational organizing resulted in a 3.8 percent increase in turnout among infrequent voters and nonvoters as compared to other progressive tactics that yielded only a 0.1 percent increase in turnout in 2016. Traditional campaigns and political parties rely heavily on the voter file for outreach and engagement ahead of an election, thus missing out on a potential group of voters.
Localizing Issues and Building Accountability Into the Process Help Long-Term Engagement
Investing in programs like the one underway in Ohio leads to more voters being added to the rolls. But Shack and Haney note that while relational organizing is critical to engaging voters, it can be challenging to scale up such a program. Therefore, it’s essential to build in other types of tactics. For example, Shack and Haney emphasize the importance of localizing elections and showing people how the process connects to their lives. For example, on the issue of the criminal legal system, there are several judicial, sheriff and district attorney races across Ohio that impact the lives of families and communities in immediate ways.
“We’re doing candidate forums, voter education forums [and] phone banks that are all about those local elections to help connect people … to these races, and then the day after the election, hold them accountable,” Shack said. “When people know that a judge that they’ve sat before is on the ballot, it does create a different kind of energy that, I can go out and make a difference.”
But the work doesn’t stop on November 3, Shack and Haney say. Post-election follow-through includes holding elected officials accountable. Haney recently watched the documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy, and was reminded why accountability is such an important part of the process.
The personal touch of someone reaching out to a person they know, and explaining their reason for being involved, goes a long way to getting others engaged.
“One of the things that [Stacey Abrams] said that reminded me why we do this, was that when elected officials start to lose power, they do either one of two things: start to get in alignment with their constituents so that they can stay in power, or they find ways to eliminate accountability for those constituents so they can stay,” said Haney.
Part of accountability is also consistency and the ability to show up with a coalition of support to put pressure on elected officials when necessary. While some may see movement-based organizations and electoral grassroots efforts as being at odds, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative views them as complementary efforts.
“What is possible is shifted because of movements,” said Shack. “And then delivering those wins and communities requires a level of discipline and focus on the ground to turn it into something that can impact people’s lives, neighborhoods and communities.”
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--2020-11-02--Trump’s Threats Are Proclamations of Fear — But That Doesn’t Mean He’s Harmless

Donald J. Trump is a desperate , terrified , cornered man .
That does not mean he isn ’ t an active menace , but it sure doesn ’ t make him “ strong.
” Is Trump capable of unleashing — or at least inspiring — a jolt of electoral violence across the land with the tweeted wave of a tiny hand ?
Yes .
Is it almost a certainty that his desperate histrionics will get people killed before the election issue is settled ?
Yes .
Is he willing to spill blood in the streets if it means saving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact , he already has .
Know what that makes him ?
A desperate , terrified , cornered man .
Strong people do not do this , even in the face of defeat .
Especially in the face of defeat .
The bell has not yet tolled for “ President Trump , ” and after a lifetime of narrow escapes set in a void of personal responsibility , he may yet pull this one out , too .
It is technically possible that virtually every single poll taken by way of every available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but wrong to a degree unseen in history ; if the platypus can exist in this vast and perplexing universe , so can that chance .
Trump has grasped onto this hope like Ishmael , last survivor of the Pequod , clinging to a coffin in the wrath of a battering sea .
A lot of very smart people think that bell will be tolling for Trump , if not tomorrow night then soon enough .
All of those smart people acknowledge the strange , sorry year 2016 as being potentially repeatable , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thrown to either the Trump-stacked courts or the House of Representatives could result in the literal demolition of participatory democracy .
Trump knows this , too , and as with his knowledge of the potential for violence , he is equally satisfied to try and pull the building down on all our heads rather than lose his power .
Yet , would a confident man turn the White House into a fortress ringed with federal troops , again ?
Would a confident man cheer as his supporters attack a Biden campaign bus in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victory well before the votes are counted , like the little kid playing checkers who slaps the pieces off the board before he loses ?
This last one , the early declaration , has had me giggling like a titmouse in a tree since he first coughed it up .
Really , dude ?
You ’ re gon na declare victory and that will be that , eh ?
Your supporters will go wild and spray coronavirus on each other as they howl in an ecstasy of lib-ownership… and then what , champ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God-King of Everlasting Nerfland , but if the 270 Electoral College votes are not in his tally , he ’ s just another asshole yelling on television and hoping they don ’ t cut his mic .
Know this truth : As his accusations are all confessions , so are his threats all proclamations of fear .
Of course , this doesn ’ t mean we should disregard them .
History tells us that fear-driven proclamations can drive violence , and we must stay vigilant .
As ever , preparation is all .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the watchword of the day .
Those who want Trump gone fear what he and his followers may do tomorrow .
Those who serve in government fear the damage that could be done to the institutions that carry out the will of the voters , if those institutions should fall back into the hands of a feckless wrecker .
Those who support him fear their last chance to save white supremacy from an onrushing multiracial future may be slipping through their fingers .
Those congressional Republicans who allowed all this to transpire fear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and fear what will happen if he wins .
Donald Trump is a desperate , terrified , cornered man .
He does not want to be incarcerated , yet he beds down at night with visions of New York State Attorney General Letitia James looking at him the way one looks at the best bite of a sandwich before chomping down .
His crimes are serial , myriad and documented , and there is no presidential pardon — self-generated or otherwise — for state-level crimes .
Trump may win the election .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country to avoid losing it .
The odds of coming out of this in a happy place do not stand with him , but stranger things have happened .
Hell , one of those strange happenings is why we ’ re all here in the first place .
Do not forget that he is the most frightened one of us all .
That makes him dangerous , but it does not make him strong .
“ Strong ” is what he will see from the people if he tries to smash what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meantime , some Shakespeare to ponder from Macbeth , Act V , Scene V :

Donald J. Trump is a desperate, terrified, cornered man. That does not mean he isn’t an active menace, but it sure doesn’t make him “strong.”
Is Trump capable of unleashing — or at least inspiring — a jolt of electoral violence across the land with the tweeted wave of a tiny hand? Yes. Is it almost a certainty that his desperate histrionics will get people killed before the election issue is settled? Yes. Is he willing to spill blood in the streets if it means saving himself? Absolutely, yes. In fact, he already has.
Know what that makes him? A desperate, terrified, cornered man. Strong people do not do this, even in the face of defeat. Especially in the face of defeat.
The bell has not yet tolled for “President Trump,” and after a lifetime of narrow escapes set in a void of personal responsibility, he may yet pull this one out, too. It is technically possible that virtually every single poll taken by way of every available methodology could be not just wrong, but wrong to a degree unseen in history; if the platypus can exist in this vast and perplexing universe, so can that chance. Trump has grasped onto this hope like Ishmael, last survivor of the Pequod, clinging to a coffin in the wrath of a battering sea.
A lot of very smart people think that bell will be tolling for Trump, if not on election night then soon enough. All of those smart people acknowledge the strange, sorry year 2016 as being potentially repeatable, and likewise note that a close election thrown to either the Trump-stacked courts or the House of Representatives could result in the literal demolition of participatory democracy.
Trump knows this, too, and as with his knowledge of the potential for violence, he is equally satisfied to try and pull the building down on all our heads rather than lose his power.
Yet, would a confident man turn the White House into a fortress ringed with federal troops, again?
Would a confident man cheer as his supporters attack a Biden campaign bus in Texas?
Would a confident man declare victory well before the votes are counted, like the little kid playing checkers who slaps the pieces off the board before he loses?
This last one, the early declaration, has had me giggling like a titmouse in a tree since he first coughed it up. Really, dude? You’re gonna declare victory and that will be that, eh? Your supporters will go wild and spray coronavirus on each other as they howl in an ecstasy of lib-ownership… and then what, champ?
Trump can declare himself The Orange God-King of Everlasting Nerfland, but if the 270 Electoral College votes are not in his tally, he’s just another asshole yelling on television and hoping they don’t cut his mic.
Know this truth: As his accusations are all confessions, so are his threats all proclamations of fear.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we should disregard them. History tells us that fear-driven proclamations can drive violence, and we must stay vigilant. As ever, preparation is all.
As his accusations are all confessions, so are his threats all proclamations of fear.
Fear, friends and neighbors, is the watchword of the day. Those who want Trump gone fear what he and his followers may do. Those who serve in government fear the damage that could be done to the institutions that carry out the will of the voters, if those institutions should fall back into the hands of a feckless wrecker. Those who support him fear their last chance to save white supremacy from an onrushing multiracial future may be slipping through their fingers. Those congressional Republicans who allowed all this to transpire fear what will happen if he loses, and fear what will happen if he wins.
Donald Trump is a desperate, terrified, cornered man. He does not want to be incarcerated, yet he beds down at night with visions of New York State Attorney General Letitia James looking at him the way one looks at the best bite of a sandwich before chomping down. His crimes are serial, myriad and documented, and there is no presidential pardon — self-generated or otherwise — for state-level crimes.
Trump may win the election. He may steal it. He may destroy the country to avoid losing it. The odds of coming out of this in a happy place do not stand with him, but stranger things have happened. Hell, one of those strange happenings is why we’re all here in the first place.
Do not forget that he is the most frightened one of us all. That makes him dangerous, but it does not make him strong. “Strong” is what he will see from the people if he tries to smash what he cannot keep.
In the meantime, some Shakespeare to ponder from Macbeth, Act V, Scene V:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
One more day.
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--2020-11-02--Sanders Condemns Trump Plan to Falsely Declare Victory on Election Night

In the wake of fresh reporting indicating that President Donald Trump is planning to prematurely claim victory if he has a lead Tuesday night and reject as illegitimate ballots counted after November 3 , Sen. Bernie Sanders late Sunday characterized the news as “ no surprise ” given the president ’ s repeated nods toward such a ploy and urged the public to be prepared for the false declaration .
“ That has been his strategy for months , and nobody should fall for it , ” said the Vermont senator , who has been sounding the alarm about this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , speeches , and on the campaign trail .
“ It ’ s why he is demonizing mail-in ballots and sabotaging the Postal Service.
” Axios reported Sunday that in the weeks leading up to Tuesday ’ s election , Trump “ has privately talked through this scenario in some detail… describing plans to walk up to a podium on Election Night and declare he has won.
” “ Trump ’ s team is preparing to falsely claim that mail-in ballots counted after November 3 — a legitimate count expected to favor Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” according to Axios .
“ Many prognosticators say that on election night , Trump will likely appear ahead in Pennsylvania — though the state ’ s final outcome could change substantially as mail-in ballots are counted over the following days.
” While strategizing with his advisers behind the scenes , Trump has also been publicly laying the groundwork for the Election Night plan for months with his lie-filled attacks on the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and other state efforts to expand voting access amid the coronavirus pandemic , which has killed more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s watch .
Trump ’ s efforts to sow doubt about the election results , as well as his refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power , have sparked warnings that the president is emboldening the most dangerous elements of his base , increasing the likelihood of mass chaos on November 3 and the days that follow .
“ As I have warned many times , Trump is very likely to declare himself the winner at a moment when a large portion Republican-leaning , in-person votes have been counted , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballots are counted , ” Sanders said Sunday .
“ Then he will continue his lies about voter fraud in an attempt to suppress enough votes to win .
We will not allow that to happen .
Every vote must and will be counted.
” Speaking to reporters Sunday evening , Trump dismissed Axios ’ s reporting as “ false ” before launching into an attack on states that plan to continue counting legally submitted ballots after Election Day — a practice that , contrary to the president ’ s repeated claims to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As the New York Times noted Sunday , “ Americans are accustomed to knowing who won on election night because news organizations project winners based on partial counts , not because the counting is actually completed that quickly.
” With Trump reportedly planning to claim victory if he pulls ahead of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in early vote counts , news outlets and social media platforms are facing pressure to combat potential Election Night disinformation by the incumbent , who has repeatedly lied that the only way he can lose is if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .
“ The press has a crucial role if/when this happens : it ’ s not partisan to condemn this behavior , ” tweeted Washington Post contributor Brian Klaas .
“ Nobody should equivocate about it .
It ’ s imperative that Americans unite against this authoritarian strategy.
” As Common Dreams reported last week , a coalition of progressive advocacy groups is planning nearly 400 rallies across the nation to protest any effort by Trump to falsely claim victory or refuse to accept the election results .
“ We think the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coalition said .

Trump’s efforts to sow doubt have sparked warnings that he is emboldening the most dangerous elements of his base.
In the wake of fresh reporting indicating that President Donald Trump is planning to prematurely claim victory if he has a lead Tuesday night and reject as illegitimate ballots counted after November 3, Sen. Bernie Sanders late Sunday characterized the news as “no surprise” given the president’s repeated nods toward such a ploy and urged the public to be prepared for the false declaration.
“That has been his strategy for months, and nobody should fall for it,” said the Vermont senator, who has been sounding the alarm about this potential “nightmare scenario” in interviews, speeches, and on the campaign trail. “It’s why he is demonizing mail-in ballots and sabotaging the Postal Service.”
Axios reported Sunday that in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s election, Trump “has privately talked through this scenario in some detail… describing plans to walk up to a podium on Election Night and declare he has won.”
“Trump’s team is preparing to falsely claim that mail-in ballots counted after November 3 — a legitimate count expected to favor Democrats — are evidence of election fraud,” according to Axios. “Many prognosticators say that on election night, Trump will likely appear ahead in Pennsylvania — though the state’s final outcome could change substantially as mail-in ballots are counted over the following days.”
While strategizing with his advisers behind the scenes, Trump has also been publicly laying the groundwork for the Election Night plan for months with his lie-filled attacks on the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and other state efforts to expand voting access amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 230,000 Americans on the president’s watch.
Trump’s efforts to sow doubt about the election results, as well as his refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power, have sparked warnings that the president is emboldening the most dangerous elements of his base, increasing the likelihood of mass chaos on November 3 and the days that follow.
“As I have warned many times, Trump is very likely to declare himself the winner at a moment when a large portion Republican-leaning, in-person votes have been counted, but before a vast number of Democratic mail-in ballots are counted,” Sanders said Sunday. “Then he will continue his lies about voter fraud in an attempt to suppress enough votes to win. We will not allow that to happen. Every vote must and will be counted.”
Speaking to reporters Sunday evening, Trump dismissed Axios’s reporting as “false” before launching into an attack on states that plan to continue counting legally submitted ballots after Election Day — a practice that, contrary to the president’s repeated claims to the contrary, is completely normal.
President Trump: “I think it’s terrible that we can’t know the results of an election the night of the election.” pic.twitter.com/YTAlDRjNzE — The Hill (@thehill) November 1, 2020
As the New York Times noted Sunday, “Americans are accustomed to knowing who won on election night because news organizations project winners based on partial counts, not because the counting is actually completed that quickly.”
With Trump reportedly planning to claim victory if he pulls ahead of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in early vote counts, news outlets and social media platforms are facing pressure to combat potential Election Night disinformation by the incumbent, who has repeatedly lied that the only way he can lose is if the race is “rigged” against him.
“The press has a crucial role if/when this happens: it’s not partisan to condemn this behavior,” tweeted Washington Post contributor Brian Klaas. “Nobody should equivocate about it. It’s imperative that Americans unite against this authoritarian strategy.”
As Common Dreams reported last week, a coalition of progressive advocacy groups is planning nearly 400 rallies across the nation to protest any effort by Trump to falsely claim victory or refuse to accept the election results.
“We think the likelihood of activation is high,” the coalition said.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-11-02--Amnesty Condemns Trump for Praising Mob That Harassed Biden Campaign Bus

Amnesty International on Sunday condemned President Donald Trump for “ condoning violence and intimidation ” after the president applauded the caravan of his truck-driving supporters that surrounded a Biden campaign bus on a Texas highway Friday , prompting allegations of reckless endangerment and an FBI probe of the incident .
“ In my opinion , these patriots did nothing wrong , ” Trump tweeted hours after absurdly claiming that his supporters were “ protecting ” the Biden campaign ’ s bus .
“ Instead , the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists , anarchists , and agitators of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our Democrat run cities and hurting our people !
” Following the swarming of the Biden campaign bus by dozens of Trump supporters attempting to bring the bus to a halt , Texas Democrats canceled three scheduled events for the former vice president due to safety concerns .
In a series of tweets late Friday , Dr. Eric Cervini , a historian and Biden campaign volunteer , said the pickup trucks with Trump flags were “ sitting along I-35 , waiting to ambush the Biden/Harris campaign bus as it traveled from San Antonio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D-Texas ) , who represents constituents in San Antonio and Austin , told The Guardian that “ this aggressive , abusive conduct by his supporters results from Trump continuing to incite acts of intimidation and violence.
” “ We have to stand up to these bullies , ” Doggett added , “ just as we seek to protect the right of every last Texan to vote out the Bully-in-Chief.
” The president ’ s supporters also wreaked havoc in New Jersey and New York on Sunday , bringing traffic to a halt on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preview of Trump-endorsed mass chaos to come on Election Day and the days that follow .
“ I took the Throggs Neck .
Heard there was a pileup of chumps on the Whitestone [ Bridge ] , ” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-N.Y. ) quipped in response to a Trump supporter ’ s video of the blockade in New York .
New York state Sen. David Carlucci , a Democrat , called the Trump backers ’ behavior “ aggressive , dangerous , and reckless ” and accused them of “ causing danger to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York State Police should be working to identify these individuals and charging them , ” said Carlucci .
“ We all have the right to show support for a presidential candidate , but we do not have the right to endanger others and break the law .
”

The president’s supporters also wreaked havoc in New Jersey and New York on Sunday.
Amnesty International on Sunday condemned President Donald Trump for “condoning violence and intimidation” after the president applauded the caravan of his truck-driving supporters that surrounded a Biden campaign bus on a Texas highway Friday, prompting allegations of reckless endangerment and an FBI probe of the incident.
“In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong,” Trump tweeted hours after absurdly claiming that his supporters were “protecting” the Biden campaign’s bus. “Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!”
Following the swarming of the Biden campaign bus by dozens of Trump supporters attempting to bring the bus to a halt, Texas Democrats canceled three scheduled events for the former vice president due to safety concerns.
In a series of tweets late Friday, Dr. Eric Cervini, a historian and Biden campaign volunteer, said the pickup trucks with Trump flags were “sitting along I-35, waiting to ambush the Biden/Harris campaign bus as it traveled from San Antonio to Austin.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who represents constituents in San Antonio and Austin, told The Guardian that “this aggressive, abusive conduct by his supporters results from Trump continuing to incite acts of intimidation and violence.”
“We have to stand up to these bullies,” Doggett added, “just as we seek to protect the right of every last Texan to vote out the Bully-in-Chief.”
The FBI is investigating the harassment of a Biden-Harris campaign bus by Trump supporters, a law enforcement source tells me. Trump claimed today his supporters were merely “protecting” the bus — an absurd claim that simply does not square with the eyewitness video evidence. pic.twitter.com/tTLlCMk0Fa — Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) November 1, 2020
The president’s supporters also wreaked havoc in New Jersey and New York on Sunday, bringing traffic to a halt on two major highways and potentially offering a preview of Trump-endorsed mass chaos to come on Election Day and the days that follow.
“I took the Throggs Neck. Heard there was a pileup of chumps on the Whitestone [Bridge],” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) quipped in response to a Trump supporter’s video of the blockade in New York.
I took the Throggs Neck. Heard there was a pileup of chumps on the Whitestone https://t.co/Vbaug6OLjy — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 1, 2020
New York state Sen. David Carlucci, a Democrat, called the Trump backers’ behavior “aggressive, dangerous, and reckless” and accused them of “causing danger to themselves and others.”
“The New York State Police should be working to identify these individuals and charging them,” said Carlucci. “We all have the right to show support for a presidential candidate, but we do not have the right to endanger others and break the law.”
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.
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truthout--2020-11-02--Trump Suggests He May Fire Fauci After the Election

President Donald Trump suggested during a campaign rally on Sunday he may fire infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci from his position on the White House coronavirus task force , and possibly from his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases .
During the event in Opa-Locka , Florida , a number of Trump supporters in attendance began to chant “ Fire Fauci.
” The president ’ s response elicited cheers from the crowd .
“ Don ’ t tell anybody , but let me wait until a little bit after the election , ” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Trump added that he viewed Fauci as a “ nice guy ” but claimed the infectious disease expert had “ been wrong a lot ” during the pandemic .
Trump has made similar statements a number of times in the past , though he has usually lied or exaggerated about the extent of Fauci ’ s errors .
Trump ’ s insinuation is perhaps surprising , given that opinion polls on Fauci consistently show the public holds the infectious diseases expert in high regard and views him as a trustworthy source on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comments came after The Washington Post published an interview with Fauci over the weekend , in which the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , who has previously tried to stay out of the political foray with Trump , was pointed in his criticism of the administration ’ s failed approach to the pandemic .
Fauci explained that the U.S. will be dealing with “ a whole lot of hurt ” in the coming weeks due to surging coronavirus infection rates .
He also said that the nation “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” to deal with COVID-19 in the colder fall and winter months ahead , advising that “ abrupt change ” in public health procedures are needed to stem the spread of the virus .
Daily coronavirus cases exceeded 99,000 on Saturday , according to Johns Hopkins University ’ s COVID-19 Dashboard , a record-high for a single day , with the previous record occurring just the day before , when over 88,000 daily cases were announced .
An increase in death rates typically follows after reports of high daily rates .
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus since the start of the crisis , with more than 230,000 having died from the virus so far .
The infectious diseases expert opined on the presidential election in his interview , giving praise to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for “ taking [ coronavirus ] seriously from a public health perspective.
” Trump , on the other hand , is “ looking at it from a different perspective , ” Fauci said .
Fauci also harshly criticized one of Trump ’ s most-favored members of the task force , Scott Atlas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the unethical approach of “ herd immunity ” to the president — a strategy that would essentially allow the virus to spread uncontrolled in order to create enough antibodies among the general populace , theoretically curbing its spread sometime in the future .
Such an approach would mean that hundreds of thousands , perhaps even millions , of Americans would die in the process , experts have warned .
Nevertheless , Trump appears to have taken Atlas ’ s ideas to heart , in spite of destruction it would undoubtedly bring .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He ’ s a smart guy who ’ s talking about things that I believe he doesn ’ t have any real insight or knowledge or experience in , ” Fauci told the Post , referring to Atlas .
“ He keeps talking about things that when you dissect it out and parse it out , it doesn ’ t make any sense.
” Trump and Fauci have clashed before .
In April , Trump retweeted a post that included the hashtag # FireFauci .
The White House also attempted to discredit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him as a trustworthy source of information .
That action failed , however , as Fauci himself noted .
“ I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do , because it ’ s only reflecting negatively on them , ” he said in response to the failed smear campaign .

The president and the nation’s top infectious diseases expert have clashed at numerous points during the pandemic.
President Donald Trump suggested during a campaign rally on Sunday he may fire infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci from his position on the White House coronavirus task force, and possibly from his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
During the event in Opa-Locka, Florida, a number of Trump supporters in attendance began to chant “Fire Fauci.” The president’s response elicited cheers from the crowd.
“Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” Trump said. “I appreciate the advice.”
Trump added that he viewed Fauci as a “nice guy” but claimed the infectious disease expert had “been wrong a lot” during the pandemic. Trump has made similar statements a number of times in the past, though he has usually lied or exaggerated about the extent of Fauci’s errors.
Trump’s insinuation is perhaps surprising, given that opinion polls on Fauci consistently show the public holds the infectious diseases expert in high regard and views him as a trustworthy source on the coronavirus.
The president’s comments came after The Washington Post published an interview with Fauci over the weekend, in which the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has previously tried to stay out of the political foray with Trump, was pointed in his criticism of the administration’s failed approach to the pandemic.
Fauci explained that the U.S. will be dealing with “a whole lot of hurt” in the coming weeks due to surging coronavirus infection rates. He also said that the nation “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” to deal with COVID-19 in the colder fall and winter months ahead, advising that “abrupt change” in public health procedures are needed to stem the spread of the virus.
Daily coronavirus cases exceeded 99,000 on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 Dashboard, a record-high for a single day, with the previous record occurring just the day before, when over 88,000 daily cases were announced.
An increase in death rates typically follows after reports of high daily rates. More than 9.2 million Americans have been diagnosed with coronavirus since the start of the crisis, with more than 230,000 having died from the virus so far.
The infectious diseases expert opined on the presidential election in his interview, giving praise to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for “taking [coronavirus] seriously from a public health perspective.” Trump, on the other hand, is “looking at it from a different perspective,” Fauci said.
Fauci also harshly criticized one of Trump’s most-favored members of the task force, Scott Atlas, a controversial figure who has promoted the unethical approach of “herd immunity” to the president — a strategy that would essentially allow the virus to spread uncontrolled in order to create enough antibodies among the general populace, theoretically curbing its spread sometime in the future. Such an approach would mean that hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of Americans would die in the process, experts have warned. Nevertheless, Trump appears to have taken Atlas’s ideas to heart, in spite of destruction it would undoubtedly bring.
“I have real problems with that guy. He’s a smart guy who’s talking about things that I believe he doesn’t have any real insight or knowledge or experience in,” Fauci told the Post, referring to Atlas. “He keeps talking about things that when you dissect it out and parse it out, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Trump and Fauci have clashed before. In April, Trump retweeted a post that included the hashtag #FireFauci. The White House also attempted to discredit Fauci in July, attempting to discredit him as a trustworthy source of information. That action failed, however, as Fauci himself noted.
“I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it’s only reflecting negatively on them,” he said in response to the failed smear campaign.
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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