newrepublic--2020-07-27--Even Milton Friedman Would Oppose Trump’s Latest Federal Reserve Appointment

Although the gold standard was explicitly rejected by President Reagan ’ s Council of Economic Advisers in its February 1982 Economic Report , Republicans nevertheless became very animated about returning to a gold standard in 2012 , despite the fact that no nation on earth has one .
The Republican platform expressed sympathy for it and called for another government commission to investigate the idea—an earlier gold commission in 1981 rejected it .
Candidates for the GOP presidential nomination Ron Paul , Newt Gingrich , and Herman Cain explicitly endorsed the gold standard .
( Disclosure : I once worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) Indeed , in the midst of that campaign , Ron Paul took time out to chair a subcommittee hearing on gold .
He was concerned about reports that the gold in Fort Knox had been secretly shipped out and sold .
Such conspiracy theories have been kicking around for decades in goldbug circles and continue to resonate .
I once had a conversation with the late GOP Congressman Phil Crane of Illinois , who was very much a goldbug .
He told me that back during the Ford administration , he happened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and , having some time to spare , thought he would go look at the gold .
The guard at the gate told Crane that this was impossible unless he had permission from the secretary of the Treasury .
Crane asked to borrow the guard ’ s phone and called then-Secretary William Simon in Washington .
Simon told the guard to let Crane see the gold .
But Crane remained suspicious because he could only see inside one vault—apparently there are many vaults with different time-locks for security .
He told me he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he saw was the only one with actual gold in it .
In 2012 , goldbugs raised questions about whether Germany ’ s gold stock had been secretly sold off .
The Bundesbank dismissed such concerns as complete nonsense .
Right-wingers in France and other countries have made similar accusations about their country ’ s gold .
There was a referendum in Switzerland in late 2014 , which failed , that would have forced the Swiss National Bank to hold 20 percent of its reserves in gold forever .
Citigroup economist William Buiter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not allowed to sell its gold , ever , then its effective value was zero .
The vast bulk of economists and financial advisers agree that the gold standard is nuts and an extremely poor inflation hedge .
Legendary investor Warren Buffett explained a key problem with gold as an investment in a 2012 letter to his company ’ s shareholders : Gold … has two significant shortcomings , being neither of much use nor procreative .
True , gold has some industrial and decorative utility , but the demand for these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soaking up new production .
Meanwhile , if you own one ounce of gold for an eternity , you will still own one ounce of gold at its end .
What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow .
During the past decade that belief has proved correct .
Beyond that , the rising price has on its own generated additional buying enthusiasm , attracting purchasers who see the rise as validating an investment thesis .
As “ bandwagon ” investors join the party , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Over the past 15 years , both Internet stocks and houses have demonstrated the extraordinary excesses that can be created by combining an initially sensible thesis with well-publicized rising prices .
In these bubbles , an army of originally skeptical investors succumbed to the “ proof ” delivered by the markets , and the pool of buyers—for a time—expanded sufficiently to keep the bandwagon rolling .
But bubbles blown large enough inevitably pop .
And then the old proverb is confirmed once again : “ What the wise man does at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end.
” The essential fact is that if one owns gold bullion , it earns no income , no interest or dividends .
Thus gold buyers pay an opportunity cost in the form of interest or dividends that aren ’ t realized as a result of forgoing the decision to buy stocks or bonds .
Of course , gold enthusiasts can invest in gold stocks , which often earn a good return as long as the cost of producing gold remains below the market price—but most goldbugs don ’ t trust such investments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money ” untethered to the value of precious metals .
They not only want gold bullion or coins , they also want it physically close to them .
As Ron Paul explained , “ If you think gold is a hedge , or a protection , you always want it as close to the individual … as possible.
” To convince themselves of their investment savvy despite the evidence that gold is a terrible long-term investment , goldbugs make ridiculous arguments supposedly demonstrating gold ’ s superiority to all other investments .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a historic run-up in stocks while gold crashed , the conservative journalist Seth Lipsky wrote an editorial explaining that if stocks were valued in gold instead of dollars , then stocks didn ’ t look so good .
This is just rank nonsense .
One could just as easily argue for valuing stocks in widgets to prove whatever point one wished to argue .
When confronted with a falling price for gold , goldbugs always slough it off as a temporary downturn and an excellent buying opportunity .
Not surprisingly , many of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given Fed policy as an inevitable spur to hyperinflation are gold dealers like Peter Schiff , who make a lot of money selling gold trinkets to unsophisticated investors .
In October 2012 , he predicted that gold would hit $ 5,000 within two years ; in October 2014 , it was trading at less than one-fourth that amount and is still nowhere near $ 5,000 .
As gold was crashing in 2013 , Ron Paul told CNBC that he was still sanguine : “ Eventually , if we ’ re not careful , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the dollar will collapse totally.
” In 2014 , after gold had taken another steep dive , he repeated his belief that gold could go to “ infinity ” when the dollar tanked .

Although the gold standard was explicitly rejected by President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers in its February 1982 Economic Report, Republicans nevertheless became very animated about returning to a gold standard in 2012, despite the fact that no nation on earth has one. The Republican platform expressed sympathy for it and called for another government commission to investigate the idea—an earlier gold commission in 1981 rejected it. Candidates for the GOP presidential nomination Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain explicitly endorsed the gold standard. (Disclosure: I once worked on Paul’s congressional staff.)
Indeed, in the midst of that campaign, Ron Paul took time out to chair a subcommittee hearing on gold. He was concerned about reports that the gold in Fort Knox had been secretly shipped out and sold. Such conspiracy theories have been kicking around for decades in goldbug circles and continue to resonate. I once had a conversation with the late GOP Congressman Phil Crane of Illinois, who was very much a goldbug. He told me that back during the Ford administration, he happened to be near Fort Knox on business and, having some time to spare, thought he would go look at the gold. The guard at the gate told Crane that this was impossible unless he had permission from the secretary of the Treasury. Crane asked to borrow the guard’s phone and called then-Secretary William Simon in Washington. Simon told the guard to let Crane see the gold. But Crane remained suspicious because he could only see inside one vault—apparently there are many vaults with different time-locks for security. He told me he thought it was possible that the vault he saw was the only one with actual gold in it.
In 2012, goldbugs raised questions about whether Germany’s gold stock had been secretly sold off. The Bundesbank dismissed such concerns as complete nonsense. Right-wingers in France and other countries have made similar accusations about their country’s gold. There was a referendum in Switzerland in late 2014, which failed, that would have forced the Swiss National Bank to hold 20 percent of its reserves in gold forever. Citigroup economist William Buiter pointed out that if the central bank was not allowed to sell its gold, ever, then its effective value was zero.


newrepublic--2020-07-27--For a Glimpse of the Republican Party After Trump, Look to California

Throughout the Golden State ’ s Republican ascendency , Democrats nearly always held majorities in the state legislature and among California ’ s congressional delegation .
But in the 2000s , those majorities ballooned .
According to Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton , Democratic officeholders haven ’ t wielded this much power in California since 1882 .
The only political conversation in the state that matters today occurs among Democrats .
The turning point , it ’ s generally agreed , was Republican Governor Pete Wilson ’ s anti-immigration crusade .
In 1994 , the Wilson-backed Proposition 187 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , won 59–41 percent .
The measure was thrown out in court , but the lopsided victory energized the state ’ s Hispanic population , which was growing rapidly even as the Cold War ’ s end sent conservative aerospace workers streaming out of the state .
Between 1980 and 2010 , Hispanics ’ proportion of California ’ s population rose from 19 to 37 percent , while the white proportion fell from 66 to 40 percent .
The 2020 census will likely show a Hispanic plurality .
The parallel with Trump is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were a strong electoral asset , Trump played them up before the 2018 midterms—and saw 40 seats flip from Republicans to Democrats .
Seventy percent of Americans , it turns out , think current levels of immigration should be maintained or increased .
Since Wilson , California has had only one Republican governor , Arnold Schwarzenegger , and after he left office in 2011 the state party discarded his moderate politics .
In the seven California congressional races where Republicans lost in 2018 , “ Trump at the top of the ticket is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rob Stutzman told the Sacramento Bee last year .
But Schwarzenegger ’ s pleas that the California GOP distance itself from Trump have fallen on deaf ears .
It would rather lose than sacrifice its orthodoxies .
The national GOP ’ s response to losing California has been to blame California .
“ It has become a fundamental tenet of the modern Republican Party to hate California , ” former Republican strategist Stuart Stevens writes in his new book , It Was All a Lie .
“ Something is deeply disturbed about a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ populous state part of the long list of ‘ otherness ’ that Republicans see as separating the true America from something dangerous and anti-American.
” The rest of the country is a few years behind California in acceding to diminishing clout for white non-Hispanics .
But already the national GOP is losing its interest in majoritarian politics , investing its hopes instead in conservative judges and the Electoral College .
Members of Congress refuse to distance themselves from Trump even as Covid-19 is killing more people per capita than in any other nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump was counting on his economic record to win reelection , but unemployment is now over 11 percent , its highest level in eight decades ( except , that is , for the prior two months , when it was even higher ) .
Joblessness will likely rise further between now and Election Day—with what looks to a be , thanks to the GOP Senate majority , a drastically diminished program of unemployment relief .
In recent days we ’ ve seen headlines saying Republican members of Congress are starting to rebel .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is expressing itself in small-bore political symbolism , such as lawmakers electing to be photographed wearing protective masks or declining to support Trump ’ s payroll tax cut .
( Such a cut does nothing for the millions of Americans thrown out of work by the pandemic , which , as it approaches the six-month mark , ought to be retreating but instead is still growing . )
For all his talk about reviving Nixon ’ s “ silent majority , ” Trump has never cracked 50 percent in his approval ratings .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ plurality of votes in 2016 .
It doesn ’ t matter , from the standpoint of the Republican Party ’ s political leadership , because Trump consistently commands approval among Republican voters above 80 or 90 percent .

Since Wilson, California has had only one Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and after he left office in 2011 the state party discarded his moderate politics. In the seven California congressional races where Republicans lost in 2018, “Trump at the top of the ticket is the number-one handicap,” GOP strategist Rob Stutzman told the Sacramento Bee last year. But Schwarzenegger’s pleas that the California GOP distance itself from Trump have fallen on deaf ears. It would rather lose than sacrifice its orthodoxies.
The national GOP’s response to losing California has been to blame California. “It has become a fundamental tenet of the modern Republican Party to hate California,” former Republican strategist Stuart Stevens writes in his new book, It Was All a Lie. “Something is deeply disturbed about a political party if it considers the most populous state part of the long list of ‘otherness’ that Republicans see as separating the true America from something dangerous and anti-American.”
The rest of the country is a few years behind California in acceding to diminishing clout for white non-Hispanics. But already the national GOP is losing its interest in majoritarian politics, investing its hopes instead in conservative judges and the Electoral College. Members of Congress refuse to distance themselves from Trump even as Covid-19 is killing more people per capita than in any other nation except Chile and the United Kingdom. Trump was counting on his economic record to win reelection, but unemployment is now over 11 percent, its highest level in eight decades (except, that is, for the prior two months, when it was even higher). Joblessness will likely rise further between now and Election Day—with what looks to a be, thanks to the GOP Senate majority, a drastically diminished program of unemployment relief.


newrepublic--2020-07-27--Fossil Fuels’ United Front Is Crumbling

Fossil Fuels’ United Front Is Crumbling

As the HB 6 battle played out in Ohio last summer , the Northern Indiana Public Service Company , or NIPSCO , announced it would move to get off coal entirely by 2028 , replacing it with wind and solar with battery storage at a cumulative savings of $ 4 billion .
That goal was reflected in its Integrated Resource Plan filing with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission , or IURC , which sets rates of return and profit for power providers and has tended to handle most policy matters related to the state ’ s electricity industry .
Not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ’ s other major utilities—Vectren Energy—also filed an IRP stating its intention to transition from coal : It now plans to use just 12 percent coal in its energy mix by 2025 .
“ It ’ s not like the regulators there are environmental heroes .
They just couldn ’ t justify keeping that plant online , ” Pomerantz said of recent developments in Indiana .
The story is similar , he said , for the utility companies .
“ They ’ re all going to profit .
They get to rate-base @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better for them on renewables than for gas because it ’ s all capital expenditure , ” whereas gas infrastructure requires them to purchase a continual supply of fuel .
Bell , in the meeting , complained about IOUs ’ hypocrisy on renewables : “ Those same investor-owned utilities who talk about being carbon neutral suggest that it ’ s important to build a natural gas plant in Indiana to bridge the gap , with the hope of retiring that plant early and deploying a new green technology at some point in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that construction occurs , ” he said .
He ’ s got a point—natural gas is unsustainable and greenhouse gas–intensive , and building out new gas-fired power plants and associated infrastructure now will lock in emissions for decades to come .
But that ’ s not the whole story of what ’ s happening in Indiana or what ’ s irking his clients .
As Bell mentioned at the start of his talk , energy prices have indeed skyrocketed over the last several years , but not because utilities have begun moving away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We spent $ 13 billion propping up these old coal plants .
That ’ s why bills in Indiana have increased , ” said Kerwin Olson , executive director of Indiana ’ s Citizen Action Coalition , which has worked on energy and utility issues in the state since the 1970s .
The costs of keeping those coal plants online have been passed down to consumers and prompted several of the state ’ s utilities to move to new sources of energy .
“ The great irony here is that it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plants based on sheer economics .
It isn ’ t because of the CAC or the Sierra Club , ” said Olson .
Recently , the CAC has worked with an odd-bedfellows coalition , including environmentalists , the Chamber of Commerce , and IOUs to fight off a proposal by the coal industry to put a new temporary moratorium on the construction of electric generation capacity over 250 megawatts , leaving utilities to stick with their existing coal fleets .
Coal companies weren ’ t too happy about the defeat .
“ When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ground , ” Olson said .
“ We ’ ve seen a lot of coal come offline in Indiana .
We ’ re seeing a lot of proposed coal retirements because of cost to customers.
” Since then , coal money has flowed into Bloomington to push through a series of coal-friendly measures , including an HB 6-style bailout called HB 1414 ; former Trump EPA head Scott Pruitt , who resigned amid a torrent of ethics and management scandals , is now registered as a lobbyist there .
And while CAC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they didn ’ t manage to prevent the creation of a 21st Century Energy Policy Development Task Force , which Bell praised on the call .
Composed of a bipartisan group of state lawmakers and experts appointed by Governor Eric Holcomb , who has close ties to the state ’ s coal industry , the task force has met five times so far and is due to deliver its recommendations to the governor and the legislature by December 1 .
Olson suspects the task force will seek to create an alternative to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amenable to coal than either utilities or state regulators in the IURC .
“ The bottom line is that the coal interests want to get rid of that IRP process .
Why ?
Because now the IRP process is a public and transparent process that allows people like my organization to participate , hire experts , and criticize its inputs and outputs , ” he said .
Predictably , then , Bell criticized state regulators in his remarks .
“ They were made to be a rate-setting body , ” Bell told ALEC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were not made to be a policymaking body .
Yet more and more when utilities present integrated resource plans and accelerated depreciation , they are in effect setting policy .
The legislature has ceded that power to the regulatory commission , and in doing so left the ratepayer without an incredibly important advocate .
I want to encourage you as policymakers to reclaim that responsibility that is yours , ” he concluded .
The 21st Century Energy Policy Development Task Force is presumably one such model for wresting power from regulators .
Maneuvering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far cry from the salad days of King Coal .
But the industry remains a potent political force , and as the last few years in Ohio and Indiana show , coal won ’ t go down without a fight .
“ It ’ s the last dying gasps of the coal industry , ” Pomerantz told me .
“ They like this storytelling better when they get to say they ’ re fighting the crazy radical hippies , but at this point , they ’ re fighting the utilities .
There ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ utilities for coal.
” This all puts the Edison Electric Institute—the trade association for investor-owned electric utilities—in an awkward spot , both on calls like the one July 16 and in coalitions like ALEC , which have historically been a united front on fossil fuel boosterism .
Helping to host the ALEC webinar was Jennifer Jura , private sector chair of ALEC ’ s Energy , Environment and Agriculture Task Force and director of external affairs for EEI .
Some of her members are still fighting renewables , but a growing number are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ industry by switching over to other fuel sources , for reasons having nothing to do with idealism .

As Bell mentioned at the start of his talk, energy prices have indeed skyrocketed over the last several years, but not because utilities have begun moving away from coal, as he suggests. “We spent $13 billion propping up these old coal plants. That’s why bills in Indiana have increased,” said Kerwin Olson, executive director of Indiana’s Citizen Action Coalition, which has worked on energy and utility issues in the state since the 1970s. The costs of keeping those coal plants online have been passed down to consumers and prompted several of the state’s utilities to move to new sources of energy. “The great irony here is that it is the utility companies shutting down these coal plants based on sheer economics. It isn’t because of the CAC or the Sierra Club,” said Olson. Recently, the CAC has worked with an odd-bedfellows coalition, including environmentalists, the Chamber of Commerce, and IOUs to fight off a proposal by the coal industry to put a new temporary moratorium on the construction of electric generation capacity over 250 megawatts, leaving utilities to stick with their existing coal fleets.
Coal companies weren’t too happy about the defeat. “When NIPSCO filed that IRP, that shook the ground,” Olson said. “We’ve seen a lot of coal come offline in Indiana. We’re seeing a lot of proposed coal retirements because of cost to customers.” Since then, coal money has flowed into Indianapolis to push through a series of coal-friendly measures, including an HB 6-style bailout called HB 1414; former Trump EPA head Scott Pruitt, who resigned amid a torrent of ethics and management scandals, is now registered as a lobbyist there. And while CAC and its allies fought off the moratorium, they didn’t manage to prevent the creation of a 21st Century Energy Policy Development Task Force, which Bell praised on the call. Composed of a bipartisan group of state lawmakers and experts appointed by Governor Eric Holcomb, who has close ties to the state’s coal industry, the task force has met five times so far and is due to deliver its recommendations to the governor and the legislature by December 1. Olson suspects the task force will seek to create an alternative to the IRP process that will be more amenable to coal than either utilities or state regulators in the IURC. “The bottom line is that the coal interests want to get rid of that IRP process. Why? Because now the IRP process is a public and transparent process that allows people like my organization to participate, hire experts, and criticize its inputs and outputs,” he said.
Predictably, then, Bell criticized state regulators in his remarks. “They were made to be a rate-setting body,” Bell told ALEC members of the IURC. “They were not made to be a policymaking body. Yet more and more when utilities present integrated resource plans and accelerated depreciation, they are in effect setting policy. The legislature has ceded that power to the regulatory commission, and in doing so left the ratepayer without an incredibly important advocate. I want to encourage you as policymakers to reclaim that responsibility that is yours,” he concluded. The 21st Century Energy Policy Development Task Force is presumably one such model for wresting power from regulators.


newrepublic--2020-07-28--It’s Shaping Up to Be a Horrific Election Season for Republican Women

Democrats have attained these heights not just by identifying women of uncommon political abilities but also by carefully easing their path to high office with institutional support in the form of money and endorsements .
Take Duckworth , who has emerged over the last month as a major foil for the right : She was originally tapped to run for a suburban Chicago seat in 2006 by soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel .
While Duckworth narrowly lost that race , she was nevertheless rewarded with a plum role in the Obama administration that she subsequently used as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House and Senate .
Along the way , her ascent was promoted by luminaries like Emanuel , Obama , and John Kerry .
Republicans haven ’ t invested anything close to that level of time , energy , and resources to assist promising female politicians .
Their attempts to counter the organizing juggernaut of Emily ’ s List have produced only a string of inferior copies—WISH List , Maggie ’ s List , the Susan B. Anthony List—that their own donors mostly haven ’ t heard of .
This is likely because Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country would be better off with more women in office , as public polling indicates .
One 2018 survey found that Republican women were actually more likely than Republican men to prefer a male candidate .
As a consequence , Republicans elect many fewer women to both state and federal office .
The 2018 elections saw 120 women file to run as Republican congressional candidates .
All but 13 lost , reducing the GOP ’ s female House membership by half , even as the Democrats increased their contingent from 64 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wailed that the situation “ can ’ t get worse , ” but it did almost immediately with the retirement announcement of Representative Susan Brooks , an Indiana Republican who had taken the lead in recruiting and mentoring new women candidates .
The numbers show just how long this has been a problem .
In the elections since 1992 ’ s Year of the Woman , Democratic women ( both incumbents and challengers ) filed to run for Congress about 2,350 times ; that compares with about 1,350 for Republican women , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center for American Women in Politics .
The Democratic candidates have been more likely than the Republicans to win their primaries , and Democratic nominees have been more likely to win their general elections .
That ’ s how you get a situation in which the House boasts more female representatives than ever , while at the same time featuring fewer Republican women than at any time since 1994 .
Seeking to bounce back from their present nadir , Republicans have broken their own records this year for both female candidates and primary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are facing tough odds in a cycle when Democrats are seen as likely to build on their majority .
There is significant likelihood , in other words , that 2020 will be the second catastrophic election in a row for Republican women .
Overseeing this long decline is President Trump , who has spent the last five years repelling millions of female voters from the Republican brand .
He can ’ t be held responsible for a gender gap that has polarized men and women since at least the 1980s , but he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its historic growth during his administration .
Recent surveys show that Trump ’ s deficit with female voters , which stood at 13 points in the 2016 exit poll , has grown as large as 21 points today .
As more women leave the GOP—including politically savvy activists who otherwise might have helped candidate recruitment efforts or even run for office themselves—it will only become harder for it to transition away from the male-dominated status quo .
The example of Barbara Bollier is instructive in this regard : A Republican state lawmaker in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over her disgust with Trump ’ s leadership and is now a legitimate threat to deliver Democrats their first Senate win in the state since 1932 .
But the president isn ’ t just driving out voters and allies .
He is actively hindering female Republican legislators at the individual level .

Democrats have attained these heights not just by identifying women of uncommon political abilities but also by carefully easing their path to high office with institutional support in the form of money and endorsements. Take Duckworth, who has emerged over the last month as a major foil for the right: She was originally tapped to run for a suburban Chicago seat in 2006 by soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. While Duckworth narrowly lost that race, she was nevertheless rewarded with a plum role in the Obama administration that she subsequently used as a springboard into successful bids for the House and Senate. Along the way, her ascent was promoted by luminaries like Emanuel, Obama, and John Kerry.
Republicans haven’t invested anything close to that level of time, energy, and resources to assist promising female politicians. Their attempts to counter the organizing juggernaut of Emily’s List have produced only a string of inferior copies—WISH List, Maggie’s List, the Susan B. Anthony List—that their own donors mostly haven’t heard of. This is likely because Republicans are much less inclined to think that the country would be better off with more women in office, as public polling indicates. One 2018 survey found that Republican women were actually more likely than Republican men to prefer a male candidate.
As a consequence, Republicans elect many fewer women to both state and federal office. The 2018 elections saw 120 women file to run as Republican congressional candidates. All but 13 lost, reducing the GOP’s female House membership by half, even as the Democrats increased their contingent from 64 to a record 89. National Republicans loudly wailed that the situation “can’t get worse,” but it did almost immediately with the retirement announcement of Representative Susan Brooks, an Indiana Republican who had taken the lead in recruiting and mentoring new women candidates.


newrepublic--2020-07-28--Zadie Smith Takes on the Pandemic

Zadie Smith Takes on the Pandemic

It ’ s satisfying to hear her diagnose the British ruling class ’ s initial obsession with reaching herd immunity , which she translates this way : “ Immunity .
From the herd.
” For Smith , there ’ s the virus , then there all these other sicknesses .
The author turns her attention Stateside , to George Floyd , writing of the man who killed him in public seemingly without concern for any consequence , “ You ’ d have to be pretty certain of immunity from the herd—not an unsafe bet for a white police officer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s an undeniable , unsettling relationship between the conditions of quarantine and the nationwide protests around Floyd ’ s death .
The metaphor is inescapable ; the protests feel like the symptom of a disease we ’ ve ignored too long .
“ Patient zero of this particular virus stood on a slave ship four hundred years ago , ” Smith writes , “ looked down at the sweating , bleeding , moaning mass below deck and reverse engineered an emotion—contempt—from a situation that he , the patient himself , had created.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a writer with style : staccato sentences and occasional outbursts , with wry exclamation marks .
There ’ s passion in the lines , but she ’ s a circumspect thinker .
This is a good combination , something all writers should aim for , but I wanted more : a surprise , a revelation , a gasp .
I truly believe that many people are unaware that they carry the virus at all until the very moment you find yourself phoning the cops to explain the race of the man you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighborhood , or who spoke back to you in Central Park , or whatever the fuck it is .
This isn ’ t new , but maybe it bears repeating .
In “ Something to Do , ” the author grapples with a question we love to put to our artists : Why do you toss paint onto a canvas or tell stories about made-up people ?
Her answer is in the work ’ s title , and it allows Smith to deliver both a standard-issue why I write essay and weigh in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we currently experience it : “ Why did you bake that banana bread ?
It was something to do .
Why did you make a fort in your living room ?
Well , it ’ s something to do .
Why dress the dog as a cat ?
It ’ s something to do , isn ’ t it ?
Fills the time.
” Smith probably isn ’ t being coy—at any rate this doesn ’ t read as false modesty .
I only wish Smith had filled the time we all suddenly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certainly does best .
Novels express the artist ’ s mind just as essays do , and Smith is adept at conjuring character to carry her ideas .
Even in this work of nonfiction , she can not resist the temptation , transforming presumably real people—the manager of a spa where she enjoys the occasional massage , a neighbor with her dog , an IT guy at her university—into portraits .
The couple of pages she spends on this last figure , Cy , are lovely : “ his inimitable energy , slightly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coiled , unpredictable Afro , so like my own.
” Smith has written not only a a paean to Cy the IT guy but to the idea of the black nerd more generally : I felt glad he was at least tethered to an institution , like a red balloon caught in a tree , instead of floating out into the unforgiving city and finding himself deflated in the IT department of a bank or ad agency or some such I used to see Cy ( without him seeing me ) from my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to aid someone with an IT issue… Smith ’ s ability to write like this about people she ’ s ( partly ) made up is like Spiderman ’ s gifts : a power she ought to discharge responsibly .
We ’ re all at home , fretting over , well , you name it .
Intimations articulates what we already know ; how I ’ d love to see Smith pull this off in a novel once again .
Never mind ; the book ’ s proceeds benefit charity , and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could do worse for company than Zadie Smith .
“ I do feel comforted , ” Smith writes , “ to discover I ’ m not the only person on this earth who has no idea what life is for , nor what is to be done with all this time aside from filling it.
” I suppose you could read a book ; I suppose you could read this one .

What have you done with your quarantine? Those of us who aren’t nurses find ourselves rich in time, and being dutiful citizens, we work: nurturing scallions in cups of water or Duolingo-ing our way to conversational Arabic. Zadie Smith continues her long track record of putting the rest of us to shame by having spent her quarantine producing a book, Intimations.
Covid-19 has crippled many industries, but it’s been a boon for the personal essay. The New York Review of Books has published several dispatches from its contributors, who have ruminated on the renaissance of the old-fashioned telephone call or reflected on the effect of the crisis on the U.S. census. The New Yorker has published essays by Gary Shteyngart, Maggie Nelson, and Lorrie Moore trying to get at the weirdness of this time; these essays include the first piece in Smith’s new collection, “The American Exception.”


newrepublic--2020-07-28--The Bloody, Manufactured Crisis in Portland

The chaos on the streets of Portland , Oregon , where President Donald Trump ’ s deployment of federal agents has resulted in violent unrest , was made for TV—or , perhaps more accurately , for Twitter .
“ Trump ’ s campaign officials say that the president wants to amplify his law-and-order message to show he is a last bastion of safety for a reeling American public , and that U.S. cities ravaged by crime and unrest—which also happen to be heavily Democratic—are the right venue , ” reported The Washington Post over the weekend .
One administration official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions in cities , whether in response to protests or immigration , were focused on “ getting viral online content.
” Trailing Joe Biden by as many as a dozen points in the polls as coronavirus cases surge and the economy frays , the president is stretching out a canvas on which he can paint his “ law and order ” message : Elect me or watch your city burn .
Even for Trump , who has repeatedly amplified minor crises for political ends—the deployment of several thousand troops to the Mexican border @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-profile example—it is a shameless and craven move , one that has rightfully been decried as “ fascistic.
” ( Given the fact that Trump is fearmongering about a future Biden presidency by highlighting unrest happening on his own watch , it ’ s also deeply ironic . )
It only underscores the emptiness of Trumpism : He sees a fresh boogeyman around every corner and is wholly impotent at dealing with them .
And yet , with less than one hundred days to go until the 2020 election , Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the media , which has fallen for this act again and again .
There ’ s no telling if doing so once more won ’ t have dire consequences .
Trump has largely governed as the political equivalent of an arsonist in firefighter ’ s clothing .
As president , he has repeatedly set conflagrations , turning minor events into all-consuming spectacles : Two years ago , it was a caravan of migrants approaching the southern border , this year ’ s scare is the toppling of statues by Black Lives Matter protesters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Trump candidacy was itself based on creating a sense of crisis , ” The Atlantic ’ s David Graham wrote before the 2018 midterm elections .
In 2016 , the economy was growing , and crime was declining .
Trump , nevertheless , described the United States as if it were a Hieronymous Bosch painting : devastation , desolation , violence everywhere .
The solution ?
Trump himself embodied it : “ I alone can fix it , ” he said at the 2016 Republican National Convention .
But even as Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to argue that he alone stands between the country and total chaos—the reality is that he has consistently shrunk from the many real plights the country has faced during his tenure .
Trump has consistently refused to lead when it comes to major issues , whether they be national disasters , mass shootings , social unrest , economic collapse , or a global pandemic .
The president ’ s only real talent is for concentrating attention , particularly media attention ; he has persistently used this talent to shirk responsibility and direct attention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for him politically , namely immigration and crime .

The federal agents who were deployed to Portland and Seattle were not sent there to protect monuments or to make those cities safer. They were sent there to inflame tensions and turn peaceful protests into violent spectacles. Indeed, officials in Portland were not notified in advance. “We had heard about it first when they were already here,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said. “What we had been seeing on our streets was a de-escalation of the criminal activity, the violence, the vandalism that was being engaged in by a handful of people—we were seeing that tail off significantly.” With the protests that had followed George Floyd’s killing dying down, Trump was desperate for violence in liberal enclaves. By sending agents to Portland, he lit the match anew; he now claims that he is the only person who can stop the fire from spreading.
These scare tactics are, to a large extent, the only civic product that Trumpism and, for that matter, the modern Republican Party produces. He and his cohort have little to offer on the interlocking crises that have defined the last five months; they seem bent on eroding their one good idea: bolstering unemployment insurance during the pandemic’s ravages. The Trump White House made a complete hash of containing the coronavirus’s spread; most of the rest of the developed world has contained it. Protests against police violence, meanwhile, are being turned into a theater of political violence so that the president can attempt to scare suburban voters into backing him.
Trump’s gambits have not always worked. His attempt to turn the 2018 midterms into a referendum on immigration by casting a peaceful caravan of migrants as a plague of death and destruction hurtling toward the border failed to dissuade voters from allowing Democrats to retake the House by historic margins. But whether out of fear of criticism from Trump and other administration officials or because he was serving up reliable helpings of partisan conflict—the oxygen that sustains mainstream media —Trump was nevertheless able to center a great deal of media attention on the caravan.


newrepublic--2020-07-28--When the Bad Guys Are Everywhere

When the Bad Guys Are Everywhere

Law enforcement gets the most lines , however .
Hobkinson introduces the ragtag gang of enforcers who sliced the heads off the city ’ s Mafia hydra .
From the cops on the street ( e.g.
, Roy Lindley DeVecchio or Joe Cantamessa ) to the lawyers ( e.g.
, John Savarese ) who would help drag the Mafia into court , they ’ re almost all Italian-American themselves .
The most famous of these is , of course , Rudolph Giuliani .
The future mayor of New York City was born in East Flatbush , Brooklyn , where his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a gambling and loan-sharking enterprise at a nearby restaurant .
We hear his memories of growing up tough , of the Mafia shaking down mom and pop store owners , forcing them to pay exorbitantly for their trash collection , and so on .
Little Rudolph Giuliani grew up to be the United States associate attorney general from 1981 to 1983 , then U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York from 1983 to 1989 .
As a U.S. attorney , he led the so-called “ Mafia Commission Trial , ” which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Act , or RICO , to gather together 11 major gangsters ( including bosses from all Five Families ) in a single case .
RICO is an unusual law , in that it allows for the prosecution of an enterprise rather than a single person .
As its author , professor G. Robert Blakey , explains in Fear City , it was a lecture on the law he gave to the FBI in the late ’ 70s that revolutionized its approach to crime .
Instead of trying to go after individual soldiers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it would now simply have to prove that there was an executive board at the top of the Mafia , called The Commission , and that it was the underlying authority behind the city ’ s violence and corruption .
Giuliani succeeded in sending three heads of the Five Families to jail , but he also caused several of them to be murdered by their own colleagues—including Paul Castellano himself .
The tapes—fruits of the bugs Cantamessa installed—are so lurid that they ’ re difficult to distinguish from Hollywood fiction .
Right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for example , we hear a man named Chuck get a serious warning “ Chuck , I ’ m gon na tell you something .
You have that fucking 200 in my hands tomorrow .
If you ain ’ t got the 200 in my hands tomorrow , I ’ ll break every fucking bone in your body , I swear to my kids , you understand ?
” The voice is nasal , its mannered tone so recognizable from The Godfather ( or Goodfellas , Casino , Once Upon a Time in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remember that this is a documentary .
Decades of sensitive , sophisticated filmmaking about the Mafia means that the average viewer sees a mobster as a human being , not a cartoon murderer .

RICO is an unusual law, in that it allows for the prosecution of an enterprise rather than a single person. As its author, professor G. Robert Blakey, explains in Fear City, it was a lecture on the law he gave to the FBI in the late ’70s that revolutionized its approach to crime. Instead of trying to go after individual soldiers, laboriously grinding up the chain of command, it would now simply have to prove that there was an executive board at the top of the Mafia, called The Commission, and that it was the underlying authority behind the city’s violence and corruption.
Giuliani succeeded in sending three heads of the Five Families to jail, but he also caused several of them to be murdered by their own colleagues—including Paul Castellano himself.
The tapes—fruits of the bugs Cantamessa installed—are so lurid that they’re difficult to distinguish from Hollywood fiction. Right at the show’s start, for example, we hear a man named Chuck get a serious warning “Chuck, I’m gonna tell you something. You have that fucking 200 in my hands tomorrow. If you ain’t got the 200 in my hands tomorrow, I’ll break every fucking bone in your body, I swear to my kids, you understand?”


newrepublic--2020-07-28--Zadie Smith Takes On the Pandemic

Zadie Smith Takes On the Pandemic

It ’ s satisfying to hear her diagnose the British ruling class ’ s initial obsession with reaching herd immunity , which she translates this way : “ Immunity .
From the herd.
” For Smith , there ’ s the virus , then there are all these other sicknesses .
The author turns her attention stateside , to George Floyd , writing of the man who killed him in public seemingly without concern for any consequence , “ You ’ d have to be pretty certain of immunity from the herd—not an unsafe bet for a white police officer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s an undeniable , unsettling relationship between the conditions of quarantine and the nationwide protests around Floyd ’ s death .
The metaphor is inescapable ; the protests feel like the symptom of a disease we ’ ve ignored too long .
“ Patient zero of this particular virus stood on a slave ship four hundred years ago , ” Smith writes , “ looked down at the sweating , bleeding , moaning mass below deck and reverse engineered an emotion—contempt—from a situation that he , the patient himself , had created.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Smith is a writer with style : staccato sentences and occasional outbursts , with wry exclamation marks .
There ’ s passion in the lines , but she ’ s a circumspect thinker .
This is a good combination , something all writers should aim for , but I wanted more : a surprise , a revelation , a gasp .
I truly believe that many people are unaware that they carry the virus at all until the very moment you find yourself phoning the cops to explain the race of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own neighborhood , or who spoke back to you in Central Park , or whatever the fuck it is .
This isn ’ t new , but maybe it bears repeating .
In “ Something to Do , ” the author grapples with a question we love to put to our artists : Why do you toss paint onto a canvas or tell stories about made-up people ?
Her answer is in the work ’ s title , and it allows Smith to deliver both a standard-issue why I write essay and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time as we currently experience it : “ Why did you bake that banana bread ?
It was something to do .
Why did you make a fort in your living room ?
Well , it ’ s something to do .
Why dress the dog as a cat ?
It ’ s something to do , isn ’ t it ?
Fills the time.
” Smith probably isn ’ t being coy—at any rate , this doesn ’ t read as false modesty .
I only wish Smith had filled the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the thing she certainly does best .
Novels express the artist ’ s mind just as essays do , and Smith is adept at conjuring character to carry her ideas .
Even in this work of nonfiction , she can not resist the temptation , transforming presumably real people—the manager of a spa where she enjoys the occasional massage , a neighbor with her dog , an I.T .
guy at her university—into portraits .
The couple of pages she spends on this last figure , Cy , are lovely : “ his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eyes , and irregularly coiled , unpredictable Afro , so like my own.
” Smith has written not only a paean to Cy the I.T .
guy but to the idea of the black nerd more generally : I felt glad he was at least tethered to an institution , like a red balloon caught in a tree , instead of floating out into the unforgiving city and finding himself deflated in the IT department of a bank or ad agency or some such .
I used to see Cy ( without him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the library , presumably off to aid someone with an IT issue.… Smith ’ s ability to write like this about people she ’ s ( partly ) made up is like Spiderman ’ s gifts : a power she ought to discharge responsibly .
We ’ re all at home , fretting over , well , you name it .
Intimations articulates what we already know ; how I ’ d love to see Smith pull this off in a novel once again .
Never mind : The book ’ s proceeds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all so lonely and could do worse for company than Zadie Smith .
“ I do feel comforted , ” Smith writes , “ to discover I ’ m not the only person on this earth who has no idea what life is for , nor what is to be done with all this time aside from filling it.
” I suppose you could read a book ; I suppose you could read this one .


newrepublic--2020-07-29--Stop Fretting About Biden’s VP Choice

Stop Fretting About Biden’s VP Choice

In fact , in their new book , Do Running Mates Matter ?
political scientists Christopher Devine and Kyle Kopko concluded “ that vice presidential candidates , in general , do not deliver an electoral advantage in their home state , division , or region.
” Devine and Kopko even debunk the myth that Johnson delivered Texas for Kennedy in 1960 , stressing that there is no polling data to support the all-the-way-with-LBJ thesis .
( Of course , Johnson ’ s skill with vote counting may have had something to do with Kennedy ’ s narrow victory in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the political significance of a VP choice are rooted in an outmoded concept of the job .
As Elaine Kamarck , a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution , argues in a new ebook , Picking the Vice President , “ Every vice president since Al Gore has been chosen more for their ability to help the president do his job than for their ability to balance the ticket.
” What changed , according to Kamarck , who was a top Gore aide in Bill Clinton ’ s White House , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are now picked in the primaries , candidates no longer need to dangle the VP nomination as a bargaining chip at contested conventions .
Political science data can only take us so far .
Part of the trouble is that voters are often contradictory about why they chose a presidential ticket .
Many call the VP pick “ extremely important.
” But Devine and Topco noted , “ Vice presidential selection is quite unimportant when measured in relation to other electoral influences ; approximately 90 percent of survey respondents can not recall ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the vice presidential candidate.
” The other factor , particularly pertinent for 2020 , is a shortage of relevant examples when it comes to the electoral impact of a female running mate .
It is hard to imagine two more diametrically opposed political figures than Geraldine Ferraro , a liberal Democratic congresswoman from Queens , and Sarah Palin , the ill-informed hockey mom turned Alaska governor .
Both VP choices were the product of desperation , as both Walter Mondale ( facing Ronald Reagan in 1984 ) and John McCain ( trailing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needed to do something unorthodox to shake up the race .
But when Mondale ended up carrying just one state and McCain lost by the biggest margin of this century , it was hard to blame the flaws of their running mates ( though Palin probably did cost the GOP ticket votes ) .
Of course , no presidential nominee has ever tapped a person of color as his running mate , and academic studies dating back to 2006 have shown that Black candidates , in particular , do boost turnout .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Jon Rogowski calculated that African American Democratic congressional candidates increased Black voting participation by as much as 5 percent .
But there is no way of knowing whether these findings can be extrapolated to 2020 presidential politics when voting interest is already high because of Biden ’ s popularity with Black voters and the deep antipathy to Donald Trump .
Biden ’ s hefty lead in the polls also provides an argument against choosing a vice president primarily for political reasons .
When seemingly safe Republican states such as Ohio and Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to determine precisely what Biden needs—even if the VP candidate had the clout with the voters to provide it .
There is an axiom dating back to Richard Nixon in 1968 : “ The vice president can ’ t help you .
He can only hurt you .
”

Political science data can only take us so far. Part of the trouble is that voters are often contradictory about why they chose a presidential ticket. Many call the VP pick “extremely important.” But Devine and Topco noted, “Vice presidential selection is quite unimportant when measured in relation to other electoral influences; approximately 90 percent of survey respondents cannot recall ever changing their presidential vote based on account of the vice presidential candidate.”
The other factor, particularly pertinent for 2020, is a shortage of relevant examples when it comes to the electoral impact of a female running mate. It is hard to imagine two more diametrically opposed political figures than Geraldine Ferraro, a liberal Democratic congresswoman from Queens, and Sarah Palin, the ill-informed hockey mom turned Alaska governor. Both VP choices were the product of desperation, as both Walter Mondale (facing Ronald Reagan in 1984) and John McCain (trailing Barack Obama in 2008) believed they needed to do something unorthodox to shake up the race. But when Mondale ended up carrying just one state and McCain lost by the biggest margin of this century, it was hard to blame the flaws of their running mates (though Palin probably did cost the GOP ticket votes).
Of course, no presidential nominee has ever tapped a person of color as his running mate, and academic studies dating back to 2006 have shown that Black candidates, in particular, do boost turnout. In 2015, political scientists Amir Shawn Fairdosi and Jon Rogowski calculated that African American Democratic congressional candidates increased Black voting participation by as much as 5 percent. But there is no way of knowing whether these findings can be extrapolated to 2020 presidential politics when voting interest is already high because of Biden’s popularity with Black voters and the deep antipathy to Donald Trump.


newrepublic--2020-07-29--The Worst Answer to Climate Anxiety: Wellness

This peculiar kind of rose-quartz neoliberalism has been quietly crystallizing for decades .
Wellness in the 1650s simply meant the opposite of illness .
Now , it encompasses both legitimate and sham medical treatments , workplace interventions , and luxury goods .
It ’ s pervasive in real estate marketing ( Deepak Chopra bought a condo in the “ health-centric ” Delos building in Manhattan ) and tourism ( New Mexico is no longer a hippie paradise—it ’ s a state-sized spa ) .
Since 2010 , interest in the word “ wellness ” has roughly doubled , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ linguistic metastasis : In an unstable economy with little social safety net , maintaining a healthy body is a capitalistic necessity .
The visible erosion of social norms under the Trump administration has pushed people to develop private routines , however arbitrary , to satisfy their cravings for control .
And otherwise essential conversations about mental health , disability , and chronic conditions , when paired with frustratingly little scientific insight , have given rise to a questionable culture of cure-seekers .
But wellness culture has also grown in recent years alongside more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American obsession with inner stasis offers a perfect foil to the country ’ s increasingly wild CO2 emissions .
In 2019 , David Wallace-Wells became one of the more prominent climate writers to note the problematic trend .
Wellness , he wrote in his book The Uninhabitable Earth , arises from “ perception of worldly sickness uncomplemented by political commitment.
” Wellness “ gives a clear name and shape to a growing perception even , or especially , among those wealthy enough to be insulated from the early assaults of climate change : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that to endure or thrive within it requires extraordinary measures of self-regulation and self-purification.
” To some 2019 readers this may have seemed a stretch .
But the past few months of Etsy mask orders and a nationwide home-buying frenzy have only exacerbated these tendencies : Stripped of political solutions to the degradation of the environment and the existential peril of climate change , Americans have joined a cult of personal empowerment through consumption .
Implicit in many of our most desirable commercial goods , and in extreme cases explicit , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Earth , its most optimized inhabitants can continue to thrive .
Gwyneth Paltrow did not invent the pursuit of purification .
Rather , Goop is the most recent incarnation of a tradition that extends at least back to Galen .
For millennia , most people subscribed to the miasmic theory of disease , which understood that illness was caused by “ foul vapors ” wafting up from fetid marshes , decaying organic matter , and general rot—best fought with distance .
Just as the richest Romans spent malaria season in their mountain villas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ today retreated from Covid-ravaged cities to the seaside pastures of the Hamptons .
Disaster—or the threat of it—has always exacerbated the human desire for cleansing , although what “ clean ” means has changed with time .
In medieval Europe , a sect of Catholic radicals began publicly whipping themselves as a form of penance , the blood on their back washing their sins away .
The flagellants ’ practice peaked during the Black Death , as growing numbers tried to drive the plague away .
By the late twentieth century , cleanliness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elements—namely , chemicals : The advent of atomic weapons , the well-publicized use of chemical weapons in the Vietnam War , and the rising awareness of damaging insecticides like DDT contributed to widespread chemophobia , driving a preference for “ natural ” alternatives .
Today , many people also live with the persistent dread of a changing climate and an equally devastating sense of inaction .
But by combining two separate civic religions—purification and consumerism—wellness has allowed people to purchase spiritual indulgences without modifying their behavior .
Philosophy , the bath and body @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Purity.
” A boxed set costs just $ 40 .
As the locus of our fear shifted from divine wrath to industrial engineering , so have our solutions .
Both earlier cleansing rituals and our contemporary obsession with the natural “ allow their subscribers to maintain a sense of control over their own health by pursuing personal purity , ” according to Eula Biss in her 2014 bestselling book On Immunity .
Nineteenth-century Londoners might have resorted to “ heavy curtains and shutters ” to “ seal out the smell of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this shuttering is now achieved through the purchase of purified water , air purifiers , and food produced with the promise of purity.
” For an example of how this plays out today , look to Flint , Michigan .
Following news reports of lead in the majority-Black community ’ s water supply , a majority of Americans reported they were concerned about the contamination of their tap water .
But as ever , it was the wealthy , who are least likely to affected by these problems , that were the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like in-home filtration .
The rest of the country—unable to filter out generations of racist , classist policies with a 10-cup-capacity Brita—has continued to suffer .

Wellness companies refer frequently to this fractured relationship between humans and the land, water, and air that sustain us. “For the most part, people are finding more and more that everyone they know is kind of sick,” Elise Loehnen, chief content officer at Goop, said in a 2017 interview with The Cut. “There are concerns about our food supply, about the rampant use of glycosate. Food used to grow in many feet of loamy soil! I think we’re just depleted. I think there’s a vitamin D deficiency because we don’t go outside, and when we do, we’re always wearing sunscreen. We’re out of touch with the Earth in general, and I just don’t think this is the way we were intended to live.” But Loehnen and her competitors will sell you a sleek, 400-thread-count escape chute: You can practice “earthing” (walking around barefoot) to realign yourself with the planet’s electrical energy, buy “grounding crystals” like tourmaline to balance your “root chakra,” or “sound bathe” on a desert retreat to deepen your relaxation.
Skincare, perhaps the most accessible form of wellness today, excels at such dubious eco-promises. Even the most casual Sephora shopper knows that gels and balms are considered essential protection against the ravages of the outside world. But products formally marketed as “anti-pollution” are now on the rise, according to industry trend data. Despite no scientific research assessing their claims, dermatologists gladly offer their advice on how to protect your skin from smog. In a 2019 piece in Glamour, doctors recommended readers apply antioxidant creams before they leave the house, “limit exposure” by walking down less trafficked roads, and use acids and exfoliants at the end of the day to strip any accumulated grime. If this sounds like too much work, a $145 bottle of Sturm Anti-Pollution Drops promises to protect “against daily pollution and blue light generated by computers and phones to help fight environmental aggressors that cause aging” all on its own. While air pollution has been a concern of the beauty industry for at least 150 years, the careful corporate-speak of “environmental aggressors” seems to gesture beyond the tiny particles that clog our pores and into a new, diffuse realm of dangers, where some of the biggest threats we face are, like carbon, totally invisible.
Wellness culture isn’t limited to the body. Its logic also presents in physical environments, from storefronts to private homes. As our illusion of control over the natural world has withered, we’ve invested in naturalistic design, a clean, minimalist, artificially atmospheric style exemplified by South Korean beauty brand Innisfree’s storefronts with ivy walls and LED-equipped artificial clouds. These brands promise better, healthier materials in their products—and better, healthier lives for their customers.


newrepublic--2020-07-29--The Problem of the Not-Quite-One Percent

“ We aren ’ t wealthy people with a very big Hamptons home , but it ’ s beautiful to us , ” the owner of a rather large house in Southampton recently told The New York Times in an article on Manhattan residents decamping to second homes .
That quote , roundly savaged on social media , has since vanished from the online version of the article but was an instructive lens through which to view the not-quite-one percent as they navigate the pandemic .
The upper-middle class , or the top 20 percent of earners in the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likes of Jeff Bezos—whose net worth increased by $ 13 billion in one day last week—or Elon Musk , who recently claimed that a new stimulus bill was “ not in the best interests of the people.
” Yet at the same time , the affluent often still seem to operate in a parallel universe to the rest of the country .
While the coronavirus has upended the lives of most people , including those well-off professionals , the division between those who can afford to weather the pandemic in relative comfort ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) and those who can ’ t continues to sharpen .
And that gap will almost certainly shape the country ’ s recovery from the pandemic .
We ’ ve already seen the makings of a new pandemic-era variation on residential segregation : White-collar professionals working remotely who own second homes—even modest ones !
—have long since fled coronavirus hot spots for those safer environs .
And as The Washington Post noted on Monday , homeowners and those with the means to buy are now benefiting from low interest rates and the cheapest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who own homes are in the best financial shape in the country .
They are not the people we should worry about , ” housing analyst Logan Mohtashami told the Post .
Rents , on the other hand , largely haven ’ t decreased across the nation , although unemployment remains high and eviction protections across the country near expiration .
“ Renters are the ones who need help and forbearance , ” said Mohtashami .
The well-off also appear to be figuring out childcare , despite some early stumbles .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are now in short supply as the families that can afford them rush to snap them up .
While the minimum cost of sponsoring an au pair is around $ 20,000 , the shortage has spurred offers from affluent households of large sign-on bonuses and doubled pay , new cars , and other perks .
Then there are the budding “ microschools ” and schooling pods , launched by understandably anxious parents as state and municipal governments waver on whether to reopen schools in the fall ( and the Trump administration attempts to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Under the pod model , a small group of parents pay tutors or private teachers to provide in-person education as a replacement for or a supplement to online learning .
If that ’ s one solution to the impending schooling crisis , it ’ s also one that ’ s only available to those who can afford it and has the potential to exacerbate the already significant educational disparities between affluent and poor students .
“ The truth of the matter is , we ’ re staring down the barrel at something that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gaps between kids , ” educational sociologist and NYU professor L ’ Heureux Lewis-McCoy told The New York Times .
In other words , the pandemic coping tactics of the affluent contain an element of what the Brookings Institution ’ s Richard Reeves calls “ opportunity hoarding.
” As Reeves argues , even though the lion ’ s share of economic gains have gone to the ultrarich , the top 20 percent of income earners have also done pretty well .
Most crucially , this group actively works to pass on and entrench @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homes in upscale neighborhoods , sending its kids to good schools , and supporting policies like exclusionary zoning laws and various tax breaks for its particular bracket .
“ Opportunity hoarding does not result from the workings of a large machine but from the cumulative effect of individual choices and preferences , ” Reeves wrote .

The well-off also appear to be figuring out childcare, despite some early stumbles. According to The New York Times, au pairs are now in short supply as the families that can afford them rush to snap them up. While the minimum cost of sponsoring an au pair is around $20,000, the shortage has spurred offers from affluent households of large sign-on bonuses and doubled pay, new cars, and other perks. Then there are the budding “microschools” and schooling pods, launched by understandably anxious parents as state and municipal governments waver on whether to reopen schools in the fall (and the Trump administration attempts to bully them into doing so). Under the pod model, a small group of parents pay tutors or private teachers to provide in-person education as a replacement for or a supplement to online learning. If that’s one solution to the impending schooling crisis, it’s also one that’s only available to those who can afford it and has the potential to exacerbate the already significant educational disparities between affluent and poor students. “The truth of the matter is, we’re staring down the barrel at something that is going to divide and widen the gaps between kids,” educational sociologist and NYU professor L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy told The New York Times.
In other words, the pandemic coping tactics of the affluent contain an element of what the Brookings Institution’s Richard Reeves calls “opportunity hoarding.” As Reeves argues, even though the lion’s share of economic gains have gone to the ultrarich, the top 20 percent of income earners have also done pretty well. Most crucially, this group actively works to pass on and entrench its advantages for its children by buying homes in upscale neighborhoods, sending its kids to good schools, and supporting policies like exclusionary zoning laws and various tax breaks for its particular bracket. “Opportunity hoarding does not result from the workings of a large machine but from the cumulative effect of individual choices and preferences,” Reeves wrote.


newrepublic--2020-07-29--Congress Has the “Dumbest Idea Ever” for the Unemployed

At the risk of belaboring my point : The coronavirus health crisis is about three times worse than it was in March .
We ’ re seeing three times as many new cases daily , and unemployment is nearly three times higher .
Covid-19 cases are increasing in 43 states .
All this suggests that the $ 600 weekly add-on is an even more necessary lifeline today than it was four months ago .
Back in the March debate over the CARES Act , Senate Democrats , led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , initially pushed to guarantee that unemployed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wages .
( Before the pandemic , state unemployment benefits replaced about 40 percent of wages on average , with substantial variation among states . )
That was a nonstarter , Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia explained .
The states won ’ t be able to handle the calculations for individual recipients .
Computer systems for state unemployment offices are too old and cranky !
So that ’ s where the consensus figure of $ 600 to boost weekly jobless benefits came in .
Democrats and Republicans in Congress settled on $ 600 as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ average worker ’ s wage and the average state unemployment benefit .
Now GOP senators are proposing to replace the recently expired $ 600 weekly add-on with an outlay covering 70 percent of wages ( up to a ceiling of $ 500 ) .
It ’ s as if Scalia had never spoken .
Calculating 70 percent of wages is no easier for old and cranky state computer systems than calculating 100 percent would have been .
When I asked the Labor Department whether these state computer systems had over four months gotten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basically said yes .
“ Back in March , ” a DOL spokesperson explained , “ state UI computer systems were not in a position to quickly make the necessary changes to provide benefits to match wages … .
[ But since then ] states have spent more than $ 150 million improving and upgrading their IT systems in response to the CARES Act .
Based on recent conversations with states , we believe the enhancements … will provide most states sufficient time to transition to a wage replacement model.
” I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

In practice, then, Senate Republicans propose to address a health crisis that’s gotten three times worse by cutting a vitally important unemployment benefit by two-thirds. Adding a Dickensian touch, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Fox News that the package will also double from 50 percent to 100 percent the “three-martini lunch” tax deduction for business meals. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this video clip in a Biden campaign ad.
Cutting benefits to one-third to fix a problem that’s gotten three times worse sounds like an arithmetic error, but it isn’t. The GOP is alarmed by studies showing that most workers eligible for unemployment assistance can get more money collecting benefits than from working. That’s true for fully two-thirds of these beneficiaries, according to one University of Chicago study. The reason is that although $600 would bring unemployment benefits even with wages for the average worker, the workers losing their job in the Covid-19 pandemic aren’t average: They earn less than the average wage, in many cases because the federal hourly minimum wage is a paltry $7.25. Consequently, when they lose their jobs, they get a raise.
In ordinary times, being able to earn more on the dole than from working would probably at some point become a problem. An excellent solution would be to raise the federal hourly wage minimum to $15. As Scalia has noted, the $600 weekly benefit is equivalent to what you’d get working 40 hours at $15 per hour. Trump hinted earlier this month that he would soon propose a minimum-wage increase, but he never followed up. (Perhaps Kudlow, who doesn’t think there should be any minimum wage at all, got to him.) Even if Trump were to propose the hike, it’s hard to see Senate Republicans allowing it.


newrepublic--2020-07-29--The Coronavirus Is Blowing Up Our Best Response to the Opioid Crisis

“ Any gains we made in funding for health departments , syringe exchanges , naloxone distribution , safe consumption spaces , and community outreach—it ’ s all at risk from Covid , ” said Sue , who is also medical director at the Harm Reduction Coalition , a nonprofit advocacy group .
“ The cuts are gon na happen , it ’ s all on the line.
” In addition to looming and long-standing cuts to vital health services , the practice of social distancing runs against one of the central tenets of safety when using drugs : Never use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harm reductionists and people using drugs is access to one another , finding safety in a nonjudgmental and compassionate community .
What does overdose prevention and harm reduction look like when people are more isolated than ever ?
Or when the public and private infrastructures that made the work possible are collapsing under austerity regimes ?
Even the most effective harm reduction strategies can only accomplish so much in a society that slashes investments in health , housing , and other basic needs .
Before he stopped using in 2017 , Mike Brown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years .
For a while after that , he worked as a “ recovery advocate , ” trying to connect people struggling with addiction to treatment centers that could offer help , but grew disillusioned with what he saw as a predatory system .
“ After about a year of doing that , I started seeing how shady the industry is , ” he said .
“ They don ’ t give a shit about the patient , all they ’ re worried about is the insurance money.
” This was around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ term “ harm reduction.
” “ When I first heard about syringe exchanges , I just couldn ’ t wrap my head around it , ” he said , referring to programs that provide sterile syringes and collect used ones from people who inject drugs .
“ I thought , ‘ Oh , that ’ s just enabling people to use , ’ but then when you start looking at the evidence , it ’ s clear that it works.
” Harm reduction is both a movement and a philosophy aimed at helping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them tools to prevent blood-borne infections and prevent and reverse overdoses .
Two years ago , Brown set up a small harm reduction outpost in Midland , Michigan , a mostly white , middle-class town of 41,700 people .
As part of this work , Brown started Never Use Alone , a harm reduction service that connects people who have no choice but to use alone to a volunteer operator who waits on the line while the caller uses and calls for help if something goes wrong .
Things started off slow , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a week .
“ Then this pandemic hit , and we ’ re getting 15 to 20 calls a day now , ” Brown said , though he thinks skepticism about the service is keeping it from growing more at a time when people are limiting social interactions and using in isolation .
Even though the service explicitly asks for the number to local emergency services instead of 911 , which often dispatches police to the scene , calling for help still risks criminalization .
“ I don ’ t know if I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this when I was using , ” Brown said , though he ’ s hopeful the service will continue to grow as more people who use it vouch for it .
The overdose prevention line started by Brown seeks to offer some of the safety measures provided by supervised consumption sites , where people use drugs in sterile environments that are monitored by health professionals trained to reverse overdoses .
There are about 100 supervised consumption sites in operation across Australia , Europe , and Canada , but the U.S. federal government publicly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as to sue a nonprofit in Philadelphia for trying to open one .
The local politics around their potential opening aren ’ t much more welcoming .
In 2019 , a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled that such a site would not violate an obscure statute in the Controlled Substances Act , but in June the same judge cited the pandemic and protests against police brutality as reasons to pause the opening .
“ Given that sheltering in place during Covid-19 is increasing overdose mortality , safe consumption sites are more timely than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ epidemiologist at the nonprofit RTI International , told me .
In The New England Journal of Medicine , Kral and his colleagues recently published a five-year evaluation of an unsanctioned consumption site operating at an undisclosed location in the United States .
“ In total , there were 10,514 injections and 33 opioid-involved overdoses over five years , all of which were reversed by naloxone administered by trained staff .
No person who overdosed was transferred to an outside medical institution , and there were no deaths , ” according to the study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much more risky than a brick-and-mortar consumption site , and he acknowledges the inherent risks .
“ It ’ s a scary situation sometimes , ” Brown says about being on the other end of the calls .
“ I took a call about an hour ago , and the guy said he was using a huge shot with heroin and fentanyl .
I said , ‘ Man , you got ta be careful , we can ’ t guarantee your safety here.
’ He did the shot and started going out on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was about to pick up the other phone to call for help , he came back and got himself together.… My heart was pounding .
”

The overdose prevention line started by Brown seeks to offer some of the safety measures provided by supervised consumption sites, where people use drugs in sterile environments that are monitored by health professionals trained to reverse overdoses. There are about 100 supervised consumption sites in operation across Australia, Europe, and Canada, but the U.S. federal government publicly opposes consumption sites, going so far as to sue a nonprofit in Philadelphia for trying to open one. The local politics around their potential opening aren’t much more welcoming. In 2019, a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled that such a site would not violate an obscure statute in the Controlled Substances Act, but in June the same judge cited the pandemic and protests against police brutality as reasons to pause the opening.
“Given that sheltering in place during Covid-19 is increasing overdose mortality, safe consumption sites are more timely than ever,” Alex Kral, an epidemiologist at the nonprofit RTI International, told me. In The New England Journal of Medicine, Kral and his colleagues recently published a five-year evaluation of an unsanctioned consumption site operating at an undisclosed location in the United States. “In total, there were 10,514 injections and 33 opioid-involved overdoses over five years, all of which were reversed by naloxone administered by trained staff. No person who overdosed was transferred to an outside medical institution, and there were no deaths,” according to the study.
Brown’s overdose hotline is much more risky than a brick-and-mortar consumption site, and he acknowledges the inherent risks. “It’s a scary situation sometimes,” Brown says about being on the other end of the calls. “I took a call about an hour ago, and the guy said he was using a huge shot with heroin and fentanyl. I said, ‘Man, you gotta be careful, we can’t guarantee your safety here.’ He did the shot and started going out on me. Finally, just as I was about to pick up the other phone to call for help, he came back and got himself together.… My heart was pounding.”
“We’ve always had a lot of meth here in Denver,” said Kat Humphries, who works at the Harm Reduction Action Center, a syringe exchange and drop-in site in Denver. She keeps a close eye on self-reported overdose reversal data among her participants and saw a 46 percent spike between data tracked from January through March to data tracked from April through June.


newrepublic--2020-07-29--Between Thomas Chatterton Williams and Me

I bring up my experience of fatherhood because it is so similar to an experience that forms the premise of Thomas Chatterton Williams ’ s memoir , Self-Portrait in Black and White : Unlearning Race .
The book opens with Williams and his white wife celebrating the birth of their daughter Marlow , which shakes the very foundations of his self-conception as a Black man : “ The sight of this blonde-haired , blue-eyed , impossibly fair-skinned child shocked me—along with the knowledge that she was indubitably mine.
” Though he is biracial ( his mother white , his father @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old American adage that even a single “ drop of black blood ” made one Black , since it meant one could not be accepted by society as white .
Marlow changes all that .
Her existence suggests the possibility of an existence beyond blood , beyond race , catalyzing a metamorphosis in which Williams leaves behind his Blackness—in which he emerges , in his words , as an “ ex-black man.
” The response to this provocative thesis—that race is a fiction that can be transcended—has been mixed .
On the approving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and all its persistent demands for recognition ; in Williams , these critics have found a man inside the color line who has also rejected the primacy of race .
Mark Lilla , the Columbia professor who has argued that “ the age of identity liberalism must be brought to an end , ” praised Williams ’ s book as a “ stirring call to genuine liberation.
” On the dismissive side are those scornful of the notion that Black Americans can have any say over whether they are Black or not , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country has violently thrust upon them .
The critic Tobi Haslett , writing in Bookforum , accused Williams of trying to “ leap through his little trapdoor in history ” by downplaying both his personal advantages and all the ways that race and class and state power intersect to keep Black people at a disadvantage .
In the 10 months since the book came out , these debates have gained a new context , while Williams ’ s profile has expanded significantly .
He has placed himself at the forefront of a campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a widely discussed open letter published in Harper ’ s condemning the rise of “ illiberalism ” and “ censoriousness ” on the left .
He has been a ubiquitous presence on Twitter , a tireless engine at the heart of the culture wars that have raged across social media this pandemic summer .
He now talks less about the distinctive personal experiences that form the backbone of Self-Portrait in Black and White and spends more time making the kinds of sweeping gestures and grand pronouncements that are perhaps more suitable to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and what the consequences of speech should be .
His professed belief in a neutral realm of ideas and debate , largely unconstrained by the claims of identity politics , has led him to see “ ideological conformity , ” “ coercion , ” and “ dogma ” in a season dominated by protests for equality .
The function of his memoir , however , is to turn “ away from the abstract , general , and hypothetical and back into the jagged grain of the here and now , into the humanizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , my mother , brother , wife , and children.
” Memoir is Williams ’ s most powerful device , the lived reality that provides crucial ballast to all his ideas , but it does not magically resolve the contradiction of a figure who uses his identity with one hand and abnegates it with the other .
I ’ m not in a position to determine whether it is possible , as Williams suggests , for Black people to slough off their racial identity without America undergoing a wholesale reckoning with its racist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Haslett ’ s reading of the book convincing ) .
But I do know what it is like to be , like Williams , on the cusp between one racial identity and another .
I know the temptations of being a postracial person , staring down a lineage in which my descendants may never have to concern themselves with the confounding complications of being a minority .
And it makes me uneasy , in a way that only strengthens my belief in identity politics .
The Williams of this book is far more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of social media .
Having a child who can pass as white makes him uneasy , too .
“ How can I deny that there is a part of me—a real one—that feels relieved , ” he asks , “ and how could this relief in turn not look a lot like treason ?
” The feeling of betraying one ’ s race—which amounts to betraying a whole culture , a heritage—will be familiar to anyone who has tried to assimilate to the American way of life , which tends to be synonymous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I myself know this feeling all too well , having long ago chosen to be an American , much to the chagrin of the Japanese side of my family .
Williams and I have several more things in common .
We are the same age .
Our daughters are nearly the same age , too .
We have both had the experience of being loved and nurtured by a white parent .
We were both raised in a “ small but gloriously book-crammed house , ” as he describes his own home in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor , mine a foreign correspondent ) , which afforded cultural privileges that helped make up for whatever material privileges we might have lacked .
We have both spent significant portions of our lives as expatriates , though in reverse order : It was in adulthood that he chose to leave America behind and settle in France ; I spent my childhood in Hong Kong , the Philippines , and India before emigrating to America at 18 , where I have lived ever since .
There are also vital differences between us .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of anti-Black racism , as Williams has .
But compiled together , our respective biographical facts roughly point to a shared profile : a nonwhite man who can move easily through many different kinds of spaces—including white spaces—and who can , on a personal day-to-day level at least , forget that his skin color is different from most of the people around him .
When I am gazing at a bank of white faces in a Zoom room , I understand what Williams means when he says , “ Some inner mechanism tends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am aware again that the room is white .
And I realize , too , that I have grown comfortable in these rooms.
” I can only nod along when he writes , “ Of all the things I feel , I do not feel myself to be a victim—not in any collectively accessible way.
” When a white person garbles my name , I do not feel it as an aggression , micro or otherwise .
These kinds of incidents , as Williams writes , “ can either be seized on and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and I , like him , instinctively tilt toward the latter , brushing it away like so much dirt on my shoulder .
As a result of being amenable to the prevailing order , we both enjoy what he describes as a “ kind of freedom—a sovereign liberty to improvise and create the self without external constraints .
”

The function of his memoir, however, is to turn “away from the abstract, general, and hypothetical and back into the jagged grain of the here and now, into the humanizing specificity of my love for my father, my mother, brother, wife, and children.” Memoir is Williams’s most powerful device, the lived reality that provides crucial ballast to all his ideas, but it does not magically resolve the contradiction of a figure who uses his identity with one hand and abnegates it with the other. I’m not in a position to determine whether it is possible, as Williams suggests, for Black people to slough off their racial identity without America undergoing a wholesale reckoning with its racist past and present (though I find Haslett’s reading of the book convincing). But I do know what it is like to be, like Williams, on the cusp between one racial identity and another. I know the temptations of being a postracial person, staring down a lineage in which my descendants may never have to concern themselves with the confounding complications of being a minority. And it makes me uneasy, in a way that only strengthens my belief in identity politics.
The Williams of this book is far more measured and ambivalent than the swaggering Williams of social media. Having a child who can pass as white makes him uneasy, too. “How can I deny that there is a part of me—a real one—that feels relieved,” he asks, “and how could this relief in turn not look a lot like treason?” The feeling of betraying one’s race—which amounts to betraying a whole culture, a heritage—will be familiar to anyone who has tried to assimilate to the American way of life, which tends to be synonymous with a white way of life. I myself know this feeling all too well, having long ago chosen to be an American, much to the chagrin of the Japanese side of my family.
Williams and I have several more things in common. We are the same age. Our daughters are nearly the same age, too. We have both had the experience of being loved and nurtured by a white parent. We were both raised in a “small but gloriously book-crammed house,” as he describes his own home in New Jersey (his father was a professor, mine a foreign correspondent), which afforded cultural privileges that helped make up for whatever material privileges we might have lacked. We have both spent significant portions of our lives as expatriates, though in reverse order: It was in adulthood that he chose to leave America behind and settle in France; I spent my childhood in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and India before emigrating to America at 18, where I have lived ever since.


newrepublic--2020-07-29--Bill Barr Battles Democrats to a Draw

Bill Barr Battles Democrats to a Draw

Barr , for his part , left no illusions about his central role in the Trump administration .
He described the Russia investigation as “ bogus ” in his opening statement , insisted that there was no systemic racism in American law enforcement , and claimed his interventions in the Roger Stone and Michael Flynn cases were in defense of the rule of law instead of an attack on it .
At one point , when questioned about the administration ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic , he blamed early testing failures by the CDC on the Obama administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for three years when the first cases emerged in China last December .
It would be unfair to single out House Democrats for their subpar performance on Tuesday .
Many Senate Democrats also struggle with questioning high-profile witnesses .
In this hearing and others , Republican lawmakers have also long used hearings as an opportunity to grandstand and perform soliloquies in recent years , often in the president ’ s defense .
Jim Jordan , the House Judiciary Committee ’ s ranking GOP member , used part of his opening statement to show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purportedly from recent U.S. protests , to make sweeping claims about violence in major American cities .
Some lawmakers asked important questions that fit uneasily into the oversight hearing .
Two lawmakers , Maryland ’ s Jaime Raskin and Washington ’ s Pramila Jayapal , pressed Barr about the administration ’ s disparate response to armed anti-lockdown demonstrators , including those who bore Confederate flags and stormed Michigan ’ s legislature in May .
It ’ s fair to question ( and fairly easy to answer ) why Trump and his allies expressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at anti-racism protesters after the killing of George Floyd a few weeks later .
But while federal agents have the legal authority to protect Portland ’ s federal courthouse , that jurisdiction wouldn ’ t extend to state property where state and local police would be responsible .
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell fared better than most of his colleagues while questioning Barr about his role in the Roger Stone prosecution .
At one point , he asked whether Barr had intervened in any other federal criminal case as he had for Stone .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barr replied , effectively confirming that he had singled out the president ’ s ally for special treatment .
“ Does that seem like something you would recall ?
” Swalwell asked in response .
He also grilled Barr extensively about Trump ’ s commutation of Stone ’ s sentence , noting that Barr had told the Senate last year that it would be a crime for a president to offer pardons in exchange for a witness who refused to incriminate him .
Louisiana ’ s Cedric Richmond chastised Barr for invoking John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal agents who attack protesters in the streets .
“ I would just suggest that actions speak louder than words and that you really should keep the name of the Honorable John Lewis out of the Justice Department ’ s mouth , ” he told the attorney general .
While that moment played well on social media , Richmond also managed to get Barr to admit that he had no proof to support his claims that foreign governments could use fake mail-in ballots to undermine the election .
( Election experts in multiple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be virtually impossible to carry out . )
Congress ’ s shortcomings in this area are nothing new , unfortunately .
When lawmakers prepared to question Special Counsel Robert Mueller about his findings last year , I worried that the standard format for hearings would prove disastrous at make-or-break moments .
Five-minute question segments all too often devolve into shouting matches about limited time as lawmakers blaze through a set of predetermined questions without deviation or clarification .
Television cameras and social-media feeds meant that many lawmakers would prioritize viral moments over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impeachment hearings , where questioning was largely done by majority and minority staff counsel , was a rare glimpse at a more useful alternative .
I didn ’ t expect House lawmakers to stumble across Bill Barr ’ s Achilles heel at Tuesday ’ s hearing .
Nor did I hope that they would get him to reveal , a la Alexander Butterfield , something on the magnitude of the Nixon White House tapes .
But it ’ s not too much for anyone to hope that their lawmakers can do more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunity to question a key executive-branch official under oath about abuses and scandals under his watch .
As long as they only control half of Congress , hearings are their best opportunity to hold Trump administration officials like Barr accountable .
Performative oversight is no oversight at all .

Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell fared better than most of his colleagues while questioning Barr about his role in the Roger Stone prosecution. At one point, he asked whether Barr had intervened in any other federal criminal case as he had for Stone. “Not that I recall,” Barr replied, effectively confirming that he had singled out the president’s ally for special treatment. “Does that seem like something you would recall?” Swalwell asked in response. He also grilled Barr extensively about Trump’s commutation of Stone’s sentence, noting that Barr had told the Senate last year that it would be a crime for a president to offer pardons in exchange for a witness who refused to incriminate him.
Louisiana’s Cedric Richmond chastised Barr for invoking John Lewis in his opening statement while defending federal agents who attack protesters in the streets. “I would just suggest that actions speak louder than words and that you really should keep the name of the Honorable John Lewis out of the Justice Department’s mouth,” he told the attorney general. While that moment played well on social media, Richmond also managed to get Barr to admit that he had no proof to support his claims that foreign governments could use fake mail-in ballots to undermine the election. (Election experts in multiple states have also said such a plot would be virtually impossible to carry out.)
Congress’s shortcomings in this area are nothing new, unfortunately. When lawmakers prepared to question Special Counsel Robert Mueller about his findings last year, I worried that the standard format for hearings would prove disastrous at make-or-break moments. Five-minute question segments all too often devolve into shouting matches about limited time as lawmakers blaze through a set of predetermined questions without deviation or clarification. Television cameras and social media feeds mean that many lawmakers would prioritize viral moments over substantive inquiries. Last year’s impeachment hearings, where questioning was largely done by majority and minority staff counsel, was a rare glimpse at a more useful alternative.