thenation--2020-09-22--Democrats Can’t Take Any Option Off the Table

I don ’ t say this often : Right now former vice president Joe Biden ’ s political messaging is pitch-perfect .
By refusing to entertain questions about expanding the Supreme Court or eliminating the filibuster , if he has the blessing to work with a Democratic Senate come November , he may be disappointing some of his supporters .
But his answers are correct .
Asked by a Green Bay , Wis. , television outlet whether he would add more Supreme Court justices if Donald Trump and the Senate GOP replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a conservative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a legitimate question , but let me tell you why I ’ m not going answer that question .
Because it will shift the focus .
That ’ s what [ Trump ] wants .
He never wants to talk about the issue at hand and he always tries to change the subject .
Let ’ s say I answer that question , then the whole debate ’ s going to be about what Biden said or didn ’ t say , Biden said he would or wouldn ’ t. ” I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should keep talking about Trump ’ s homicidal handling of the Covid pandemic , about his ongoing crusade to kill the Affordable Care Act , about his failure to get genuine economic relief to people struggling in this economy .
These stands are contributing to a solid national and swing-state lead .
I also think it ’ s the job of the left to raise more systemic solutions—but I ’ m fine with Biden ’ s position here .
I ’ m not at all fine with California Senator Dianne Feinstein ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a first step , perhaps , in adding more justices .
The senior senator from the most liberal state in the union told reporters yesterday , “ I don ’ t believe in doing that .
I think the filibuster serves a purpose… .
I think it ’ s part of the Senate that differentiates itself.
” Even Senator Joe Manchin , of much more conservative West Virginia , has left the door open to filibuster reform .
It ’ s not that centrist or conservative Democrats should be promising to pack the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s just incredibly irresponsible to take it off the table .
And that tendency to play nice , to pretend the old norms still prevail , is part of what ’ s gotten the Democratic Party , and the nation , to this awful crisis .
Do Florida Democrats Want to Win the State Senate This Year ?
A Democratic Convention for Acknowledging Pain , and for Healing If Democrats don ’ t reform the filibuster , even with a three-to-four-seat majority in the Senate ( which would be miraculous ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blocked .
Nothing the Biden-Harris ticket is promising—whether shoring up the ACA , pushing the Medicare-eligibility age down to 55 or 60 , a new voting rights act , massive pandemic relief , criminal justice reform , a modified Green New Deal—will be accomplished in their first two years in office .
Republicans will block every move , like they blocked Barack Obama ’ s efforts at a larger post–financial crash stimulus and a broader ACA , again disillusioning a Democratic base that voted for big change .
And if that happens , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Senate in 2022 in a wave election sweeping in folks who will make the GOP class of 2011 look like a Democratic Socialists of America convention .
The disillusionment of young people and the left that we saw in November 2010 , which led to a depressing drop in Democratic voter turnout , will be magnified by a factor of Covid x accelerating climate change x ongoing police violence—equaling despair , nihilism , and maybe angry rebellion .
But that ’ s a debate to have if and when Democrats take back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would like nothing more than to change the subject from Trump ’ s gruesome performance in office to allegations of antidemocratic moves by Democrats , or however they would characterize such completely reasonable reforms .
( Read the always brilliant Adam Jentleson on the party ’ s options come January . )
Feinstein beat back a primary challenge in 2018 , meaning she ’ ll hold her seat , if she wants to , at least until 2025 , when she ’ s 93 .
Just in time for the inauguration of President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) !
If the senior senator from our most progressive state is truly opposed to more fundamental change , she should be honest with herself that she ’ s obstructing her party ’ s base , and its priorities .
Maybe it ’ s time to think about retiring , so California Governor Gavin Newsom can appoint someone more in line with their state ’ s voters .
Or maybe it ’ s time to get in line herself .

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I don’t say this often: Right now former vice president Joe Biden’s political messaging is pitch-perfect. By refusing to entertain questions about expanding the Supreme Court or eliminating the filibuster, if he has the blessing to work with a Democratic Senate come November, he may be disappointing some of his supporters. But his answers are correct.
Asked by a Green Bay, Wis., television outlet whether he would add more Supreme Court justices if Donald Trump and the Senate GOP replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a conservative, Biden replied: “It’s a legitimate question, but let me tell you why I’m not going answer that question. Because it will shift the focus. That’s what [Trump] wants. He never wants to talk about the issue at hand and he always tries to change the subject. Let’s say I answer that question, then the whole debate’s going to be about what Biden said or didn’t say, Biden said he would or wouldn’t.”
I think that’s right. Biden should keep talking about Trump’s homicidal handling of the Covid pandemic, about his ongoing crusade to kill the Affordable Care Act, about his failure to get genuine economic relief to people struggling in this economy. These stands are contributing to a solid national and swing-state lead. I also think it’s the job of the left to raise more systemic solutions—but I’m fine with Biden’s position here.
I’m not at all fine with California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s answer on eliminating the filibuster, as a first step, perhaps, in adding more justices. The senior senator from the most liberal state in the union told reporters yesterday, “I don’t believe in doing that. I think the filibuster serves a purpose…. I think it’s part of the Senate that differentiates itself.” Even Senator Joe Manchin, of much more conservative West Virginia, has left the door open to filibuster reform. It’s not that centrist or conservative Democrats should be promising to pack the court or eliminate the filibuster. It’s just incredibly irresponsible to take it off the table. And that tendency to play nice, to pretend the old norms still prevail, is part of what’s gotten the Democratic Party, and the nation, to this awful crisis. More From Joan Walsh The Promise of Justice in Fani Willis’s Indictment August 15, 2023 Please, Please Stop Blaming “Progressives” for Donald Trump’s Fascism August 11, 2023 The Ron-mentum Continues… Circling the Drain August 9, 2023
If Democrats don’t reform the filibuster, even with a three-to-four-seat majority in the Senate (which would be miraculous), they will find their legislative agenda utterly blocked. Nothing the Biden-Harris ticket is promising—whether shoring up the ACA, pushing the Medicare-eligibility age down to 55 or 60, a new voting rights act, massive pandemic relief, criminal justice reform, a modified Green New Deal—will be accomplished in their first two years in office. Republicans will block every move, like they blocked Barack Obama’s efforts at a larger post–financial crash stimulus and a broader ACA, again disillusioning a Democratic base that voted for big change.
And if that happens, Democrats will lose control of the House and Senate in 2022 in a wave election sweeping in folks who will make the GOP class of 2011 look like a Democratic Socialists of America convention. The disillusionment of young people and the left that we saw in November 2010, which led to a depressing drop in Democratic voter turnout, will be magnified by a factor of Covid x accelerating climate change x ongoing police violence—equaling despair, nihilism, and maybe angry rebellion.
But that’s a debate to have if and when Democrats take back the White House and Senate. Republicans would like nothing more than to change the subject from Trump’s gruesome performance in office to allegations of antidemocratic moves by Democrats, or however they would characterize such completely reasonable reforms. (Read the always brilliant Adam Jentleson on the party’s options come January.)
Feinstein beat back a primary challenge in 2018, meaning she’ll hold her seat, if she wants to, at least until 2025, when she’s 93. Just in time for the inauguration of President Tom Cotton (or maybe Ivanka Trump)! If the senior senator from our most progressive state is truly opposed to more fundamental change, she should be honest with herself that she’s obstructing her party’s base, and its priorities. Maybe it’s time to think about retiring, so California Governor Gavin Newsom can appoint someone more in line with their state’s voters. Or maybe it’s time to get in line herself.


thenation--2020-09-22--Putting the Existential Threat of Climate Change Front and Center

When President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden meet on the debate stage next week , many West Coast wildfires @ @ @ @ @ raging .
Moderator Chris Wallace should ask the candidates about climate change , an issue @ @ @ @ @ divided .
Biden believes that climate change is an “ existential threat ” that demands @ @ @ @ @ the world over have been saying for decades .
Given Trump ’ s recent remarks @ @ @ @ @ shouldn ’ t expect much science from his administration—more of Trump ’ s Earth-is-flat promises @ @ @ @ @ start getting cooler , you just watch.
” In good news , the eerie orange @ @ @ @ @ returning to blue , and firefighters are making progress against several of the most significant @ @ @ @ @ , that doesn ’ t mean the larger issue is going away .
Read the @ @ @ @ @ s column here .

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.
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When President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden meet on the debate stage next week, many West Coast wildfires will almost certainly still be raging. Moderator Chris Wallace should ask the candidates about climate change, an issue on which they are starkly divided.
Biden believes that climate change is an “existential threat” that demands immediate, far-reaching action—what scientists the world over have been saying for decades. Given Trump’s recent remarks to California officials, we shouldn’t expect much science from his administration—more of Trump’s Earth-is-flat promises that temperatures will magically “start getting cooler, you just watch.”
In good news, the eerie orange sky over San Francisco is returning to blue, and firefighters are making progress against several of the most significant wildfires. But, critically, that doesn’t mean the larger issue is going away.
Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.


thenation--2020-09-23--Metaphors From Housing Court

Metaphors From Housing Court

The metaphors described in this essay were selected by Daniel Bernal from interviews conducted by for his dissertation at the @ @ @ @ @ out all installments in the OppArt series .

The metaphors described in this essay were selected by Daniel Bernal from interviews conducted by for his dissertation at the University of Arizona.
Check out all installments in the OppArt series.


thenation--2020-09-23--‘Nobody Gets Left Behind’

‘Nobody Gets Left Behind’

We have stepped into the gap of the state , because the state would kill us .
There is no benevolent daddy !
Although Benevolent Daddy would be an excellent drag name .
ew rleans—In March , just after Mayor Latoya Cantrell issued a stay-at-home order , Aesha Rasheed convened the first Zoom call among members of eight households who have formed a mutual-aid pod .
In part , this is modeled on hurricane evacuation resource share groups that have existed here for years .
The group does not meet in physical space .
We live in multigenerational , blended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , have deep friendships outside this configuration , own small businesses , are immunocompromised , etc .
What follows are extracts drawn from Zoom check-in calls on the new and full moon , interviews , and a WhatsApp group thread .
The place we begin is constantly shifting land , shifting waterlines , change , cyclical upheavals .
We come from people who have moved and/or been moved .
The lies of permanence that colonialism tried to feed us we choke on , spit out .
The pod was born in songs , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bars , DIY Mardi Gras krewes , and dark moon rituals .
We are many streams converging .
We are queers migrating to be in community .
We are a community formed in relationship to shifting ecologies .
There is no model ; we are able to meet our own needs .
‘ We Are Civilization ’ s Anchor .
We Are the Compass for Humanity and Conscience.
’ More in this series Aesha Rasheed : One of the threads of the origin of this pod is an awareness that change will come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan that acknowledges that historic forces of change would wash over our lives—into what is unknown .
This is an avenue for putting into practice the ethos that nobody will be left behind .
Naima : Family potluck dinners on Wednesdays , introspective pod calls once a month , backyard hangs with our breasts out , telling stories of our queer youths , of our families , of our dreams… .
With all of the uncertainty around time and space , and forward progress , our abundance house , our pod , held @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my head , when I missed friends in Brooklyn or family in California .
They were there to share their soaps , salads , breads , laughter , and stories , and it made everything feel a little less lonely .
Akua : Reciprocity as daily ritual has held me together .
Practicing exchange rather than transaction , trade rather than extraction , all with the ease of breathing .
Oxygen in , carbon out : a need , an offering .
Steeby : We are an affiliated network of care .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is organic , drawing from a default trust that comes from the particular configuration of our affiliations and a deep queer kinship .
Aesha : New Orleans is a broke city ; everybody has a job and two hustles .
People are figuring out how to get around the reality of capitalism because it ’ s not working for them .
What lineage do we call in ?
The legacy of making it up , doing it for ourselves .
We are building upon muscle memory of collective leadership and interdependence .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have a structure for food resources and navigating this scary time .
And I would like it to be more explicitly a political resource .
I would be interested in how this will translate politically .
RC : This is a practice and possibility .
Yes , sure , we can talk about the fall of capitalism and new emergences in broad terms .
But then there is the human reality of what we do in the moment .
This is the fluid , psychic , and literal connection with y ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other side of the screen .
Shana : On a personal level the pod has offset natural tendencies of self-isolation both logistically and emotionally .
Our Zoom calls have been a mix of : collective prayer/ritual , fun silly games , check-ins , and logistics .
In this way we speak of what we want to use our force for together… Ron : The pod experience is a window into envisioning what we need without police , without the system .
At the root : dreaming ; make ‘ the system ’ obsolete @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I have felt supported in the midst of collapse .
I haven ’ t had to go to the grocery store .
Our conversations have been thoughtful and explicit .
I ’ m not usually a “ hope person ” —I can see what is possible !
Kris : The structure of the pod radiates out .
It has been a grounding space and a spiritual resource .
Kara : Alongside the pod , these texts have sustained me : Development Drowned and Reborn : The Blues and Bourbon Restorations in Post-Katrina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Yellow House , by Sarah Broom ; Marking Time Making Place : An Essential Chronology of Blacks in New Orleans since 1718 , by James B .
Borders IV , ed .
; Roadside Geology of Louisiana , by Darwin Spearing ; Lagoon , by Nnedi Okorafor .
Selma : A spell for this moment—or my invitation for dreaming together—draws from an Islamic prayer .
Any time I ’ m washing my hands my intention is to cleanse all irritations and invite them to go down the drain .
I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20 seconds—y ’ know , to get off the physical germs ; and understanding that the virus of corona is fear , I would like to cleanse those vibrations off as well .
So I speak into a drain—may this water be a healing water .
Speak what you want into the water .
You have to build trust with the water .
Sarah : I have gratitude for being woven into something that already existed before my participation .
Friendships and relationships have been fragmented and disjointed through Covid .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Aesha : What is survival ?
Something about the surrender .
The Hopi prayer says : Let go of the shore , flow to center , and then look to see who is around you .
You can ’ t rely on the same things .
Release attachment to outcome , and center joy .

We have stepped into the gap of the state, because the state would kill us. There is no benevolent daddy! Although Benevolent Daddy would be an excellent drag name.
—Aesha Rasheed, New Orleans / Bulbancha
N ew O rleans—In March, just after Mayor Latoya Cantrell issued a stay-at-home order, Aesha Rasheed convened the first Zoom call among members of eight households who have formed a mutual-aid pod. In part, this is modeled on hurricane evacuation resource share groups that have existed here for years. The group does not meet in physical space. We live in multigenerational, blended family households, work in essential services, have deep friendships outside this configuration, own small businesses, are immunocompromised, etc. What follows are extracts drawn from Zoom check-in calls on the new and full moon, interviews, and a WhatsApp group thread.
The place we begin is constantly shifting land, shifting waterlines, change, cyclical upheavals. We come from people who have moved and/or been moved. The lies of permanence that colonialism tried to feed us we choke on, spit out. The pod was born in songs, storms, newsrooms, prayers, dyke bars, DIY Mardi Gras krewes, and dark moon rituals. We are many streams converging. We are queers migrating to be in community. We are a community formed in relationship to shifting ecologies. There is no model; we are able to meet our own needs. Scenes From a Pandemic Untethered, or The Year of Living Virtually Patricia J. Williams The Art of the Meal Mary Lewis Maybe We Shouldn’t Go Back to Normal Bri M.
Aesha Rasheed: One of the threads of the origin of this pod is an awareness that change will come. We draw upon a hurricane disaster plan that acknowledges that historic forces of change would wash over our lives—into what is unknown. This is an avenue for putting into practice the ethos that nobody will be left behind.
Naima: Family potluck dinners on Wednesdays, introspective pod calls once a month, backyard hangs with our breasts out, telling stories of our queer youths, of our families, of our dreams…. With all of the uncertainty around time and space, and forward progress, our abundance house, our pod, held me together when I was stuck in my head, when I missed friends in Brooklyn or family in California. They were there to share their soaps, salads, breads, laughter, and stories, and it made everything feel a little less lonely.
Does anyone have a tall ladder and a way to transport it?
Our AC is acting up and I’m going to try to change the filter
and see if that helps. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
(posted by Cherry)
Kris has a ladder
(posted by Steeby)
Akua: Reciprocity as daily ritual has held me together. Practicing exchange rather than transaction, trade rather than extraction, all with the ease of breathing. Oxygen in, carbon out: a need, an offering.
Steeby: We are an affiliated network of care. A channel that we can always tune into… It is organic, drawing from a default trust that comes from the particular configuration of our affiliations and a deep queer kinship.
Aesha: New Orleans is a broke city; everybody has a job and two hustles. People are figuring out how to get around the reality of capitalism because it’s not working for them. What lineage do we call in? The legacy of making it up, doing it for ourselves. We are building upon muscle memory of collective leadership and interdependence.
Costco call in. Holler by 9pm tonight if you want
anything from tomorrow’s Costco run. Also I am up for
splitting some fruits and veggies and other stuff,
hit me up!
(posted by Shana)
AH: It’s been helpful to have a structure for food resources and navigating this scary time. And I would like it to be more explicitly a political resource. I would be interested in how this will translate politically.
RC: This is a practice and possibility. Yes, sure, we can talk about the fall of capitalism and new emergences in broad terms. But then there is the human reality of what we do in the moment. This is the fluid, psychic, and literal connection with y’all. Praxis meets flesh on the other side of the screen.
Shana: On a personal level the pod has offset natural tendencies of self-isolation both logistically and emotionally. Our Zoom calls have been a mix of: collective prayer/ritual, fun silly games, check-ins, and logistics. In this way we speak of what we want to use our force for together…
Hi friends! I’m excited about our virtual gathering
this week for full moon in Scorpio!
Shall we gather Wednesday evening at our usual 9pm time?
As a reminder, we are gonna discuss the question Akua
posed on the new moon: What are a few values you hope
we will practice together this summer?
N
**Read “this summer” as a summer of Global Pandemic plus
Hurricane Evacuation 1.0
aka Visions for Collective Navigation of “the Waters”
(reposted by Ron)
Ron: The pod experience is a window into envisioning what we need without police, without the system. At the root: dreaming; make ‘the system’ obsolete; a network of care and support. I have felt supported in the midst of collapse. I haven’t had to go to the grocery store. Our conversations have been thoughtful and explicit. I’m not usually a “hope person”—I can see what is possible!
Hurricane Prep June 4 ACTIONS:
Gas up cars, go bags, cash stacked, people checked on!
By Friday night: Drop addresses and info
for gathering places—evac and safety spots. phone numbers.
emergency contacts.
Print this out on Saturday!
Altar work tomorrow night with
full moon and a lunar eclipse.
Harness energy for visions we want.
(posted by Aesha, as Tropical Storm Cristobal was heading to New Orleans) Current Issue View our current issue
Kris: The structure of the pod radiates out. It has been a grounding space and a spiritual resource.
Kara: Alongside the pod, these texts have sustained me: Development Drowned and Reborn: The Blues and Bourbon Restorations in Post-Katrina New Orleans, by Clyde Woods; The Yellow House, by Sarah Broom; Marking Time Making Place: An Essential Chronology of Blacks in New Orleans since 1718, by James B. Borders IV, ed.; Roadside Geology of Louisiana, by Darwin Spearing; Lagoon, by Nnedi Okorafor.
Selma: A spell for this moment—or my invitation for dreaming together—draws from an Islamic prayer. Any time I’m washing my hands my intention is to cleanse all irritations and invite them to go down the drain. I’ve done that while washing my hands for 20 seconds—y’know, to get off the physical germs; and understanding that the virus of corona is fear, I would like to cleanse those vibrations off as well. So I speak into a drain—may this water be a healing water. Speak what you want into the water. You have to build trust with the water.
Sarah: I have gratitude for being woven into something that already existed before my participation. Friendships and relationships have been fragmented and disjointed through Covid. It’s a community of abundance and visioning.
Aesha: What is survival? Something about the surrender. The Hopi prayer says: Let go of the shore, flow to center, and then look to see who is around you. You can’t rely on the same things. Release attachment to outcome, and center joy.
Hey
C’mon
Come out
Wherever you are
We need to have this here meeting
At this tree
Ain’ even been
Planted
Yet
—June Jordan
(posted by Steeby)
N


thenation--2020-09-23--The Media’s Climate Coverage Is Improving, but Time Is Very Short

This story is part of Covering Climate Now , a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story .
In this autumn of horrific fires and deadly floods , it ’ s easy to overlook one bit of promising news on the climate front : Some major US media coverage of the crisis is finally getting better .
We ’ re seeing the evidence this week as Covering Climate Now—a collaboration of 400-plus news outlets , with a combined audience of 2 billion people—publishes and broadcasts a profusion of stories about climate change and the 2020 US elections .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ general-election coverage to date , with one exception : September 14 , when Donald Trump said of California ’ s record wildfires , inaccurately , that “ science doesn ’ t know ” whether the earth will keep getting hotter and his Democratic opponent , Joe Biden , warned that reelecting a “ climate arsonist ” to the White House would ensure worse blazes in the future .
Covering Climate Now ’ s week of coverage , which runs September 21 through 28 , aims to give climate change the attention it deserves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by CJR and The Nation in association with The Guardian , aims to help news organizations increase and improve coverage of the crisis as well as its solutions .
Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic , the looming Supreme Court battle , and the other huge news stories of 2020 , “ the climate emergency remains the central question facing the world , ” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said in a September 8 interview with Covering Climate Now .
As Justin Worland wrote in a landmark special issue of Time magazine on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shape whether we “ keep driving off the climate cliff or take the last exit.
” Vote as if the Climate and the Future of Humanity Depend on It—Because They Do Can the Climate Youth Tip the 2020 Election Against Trump ?
States Are Doing What Big Government Won ’ t to Stop Climate Change More in this series NBC News , which joined Covering Climate Now in April , kicked off this current week of joint coverage by launching a new series , Planet 2020 .
Al Roker , the network ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forecaster , has been talking about climate change on the Today show for months , describing its links to wildfires and hurricanes without wiggle words or alarmism .
Now , Roker and cohost Savannah Sellers , the host of NBC ’ s daily digital news show Stay Tuned , are connecting the dots between extreme weather , climate change , and the 2020 elections where , as Sellers reported , “ millenials and Gen-Z will make up 37 percent of eligible voters and concern over climate change is…shaping up to be more important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Also this week , Agence France Presse delivered a story to its hundreds of newsroom clients around the world that puts the Paris Agreement goals in a new light , reporting , “ The richest one percent of people are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the poorest half of the world ’ s population.
” Good climate coverage by Covering Climate Now partners is begetting good climate coverage among the media as a whole .
More of America ’ s leading newspapers are speaking more loudly and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York Times , The Washington Post , The Philadelphia Inquirer , the Arizona Republic , and the Los Angeles Times .
The latter headlined a September 14 story about the state ’ s wildfires “ A Climate Apocalypse Now.
” Among magazines , Bloomberg has launched a new digital outlet and accompanying print edition , Bloomberg Green , that is a must-read for the far-reaching economic aspects of the climate story .
On television , Covering Climate Now partner PBS NewsHour continues to set the pace for sustained , informed climate coverage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rebroadcast climate correspondent Bill Weir ’ s “ The Road to Change , a documentary that we praised in April as perhaps the best piece of climate journalism ever done by a mainstream US news outlet .
The problem is , these and other examples of first-rate climate coverage remain the exception .
Despite recent orange skies over the West Coast and fearsome storm surges in the Gulf of Mexico , not to mention the 32 years since NASA scientist James Hansen ’ s US Senate testimony that man-made global warming had begun @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afterthought in most US news coverage .
No better examples exist than the truly scandalous absence of climate change from most coverage of the wildfires , Hurricane Laura , the Iowa derecho , and countless other extreme weather events of 2020 .
Only one of the 93 news segments that ABC , NBC , CBS , CNN , Fox , and MSNBC aired during the week after Laura slammed the Louisiana coast connected the storm to climate change , according to a study by the watchdog group Media Matters .
Of 46 segments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the California wildfires , only seven mentioned climate change .
The Sitting President Has No Climate Plan .
Why Isn ’ t That Headline News ?
This is media malpractice .
It is also , from a business point of view , foolish : The public actually wants more , not less , climate coverage .
According to a poll released today by our partners at The Guardian and Vice Media , 74 percent of likely voters want the moderators to ask climate questions at the upcoming presidential debates .
We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has made in helping the media rise to the existential challenge of the climate crisis .
Yet even as we celebrate that progress this week , we recognize how far there is to go , and how little time we have to get there .
The first presidential debate takes place in less than a week , on September 29 , and five weeks later is Election Day .
Between now and then , newsrooms should follow the advice of Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan : “ This subject must be kept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on and the stakes made abundantly clear at every turn .
”

This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
In this autumn of horrific fires and deadly floods, it’s easy to overlook one bit of promising news on the climate front: Some major US media coverage of the crisis is finally getting better.
We’re seeing the evidence this week as Covering Climate Now—a collaboration of 400-plus news outlets, with a combined audience of 2 billion people—publishes and broadcasts a profusion of stories about climate change and the 2020 US elections. Climate change has been largely overlooked in general-election coverage to date, with one exception: September 14, when Donald Trump said of California’s record wildfires, inaccurately, that “science doesn’t know” whether the earth will keep getting hotter and his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, warned that reelecting a “climate arsonist” to the White House would ensure worse blazes in the future.
Covering Climate Now’s week of coverage, which runs September 21 through 28, aims to give climate change the attention it deserves. The collaborative, cofounded last year by CJR and The Nation in association with The Guardian, aims to help news organizations increase and improve coverage of the crisis as well as its solutions. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the looming Supreme Court battle, and the other huge news stories of 2020, “the climate emergency remains the central question facing the world,” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said in a September 8 interview with Covering Climate Now. As Justin Worland wrote in a landmark special issue of Time magazine on July 7, the US elections will shape whether we “keep driving off the climate cliff or take the last exit.” Covering Climate Now How to Stop the Spread of Climate Disinformation Erika Seiber and Michael Khoo A Soundtrack for the Climate Emergency Mark Hertsgaard Can Gen Z Save the Midterms for Democrats? Mark Hertsgaard
NBC News, which joined Covering Climate Now in April, kicked off this current week of joint coverage by launching a new series, Planet 2020. Al Roker, the network’s chief climate correspondent and longtime weather forecaster, has been talking about climate change on the Today show for months, describing its links to wildfires and hurricanes without wiggle words or alarmism. Now, Roker and cohost Savannah Sellers, the host of NBC’s daily digital news show Stay Tuned, are connecting the dots between extreme weather, climate change, and the 2020 elections where, as Sellers reported, “millenials and Gen-Z will make up 37 percent of eligible voters and concern over climate change is…shaping up to be more important to all voting blocs than ever before.” Also this week, Agence France Presse delivered a story to its hundreds of newsroom clients around the world that puts the Paris Agreement goals in a new light, reporting, “The richest one percent of people are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the poorest half of the world’s population.” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Good climate coverage by Covering Climate Now partners is begetting good climate coverage among the media as a whole. More of America’s leading newspapers are speaking more loudly and plainly about climate change, notably The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Arizona Republic, and the Los Angeles Times. The latter headlined a September 14 story about the state’s wildfires “A Climate Apocalypse Now.” Among magazines, Bloomberg has launched a new digital outlet and accompanying print edition, Bloomberg Green, that is a must-read for the far-reaching economic aspects of the climate story. Current Issue View our current issue
On television, Covering Climate Now partner PBS NewsHour continues to set the pace for sustained, informed climate coverage. And on August 8, CNN rebroadcast climate correspondent Bill Weir’s “The Road to Change, a documentary that we praised in April as perhaps the best piece of climate journalism ever done by a mainstream US news outlet.
The problem is, these and other examples of first-rate climate coverage remain the exception.
Despite recent orange skies over the West Coast and fearsome storm surges in the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the 32 years since NASA scientist James Hansen’s US Senate testimony that man-made global warming had begun, the climate crisis remains a marginal afterthought in most US news coverage. Chris Wallace of Fox News has announced the topics he’ll cover when moderating the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden next week—and climate change is not on the list.
No better examples exist than the truly scandalous absence of climate change from most coverage of the wildfires, Hurricane Laura, the Iowa derecho, and countless other extreme weather events of 2020. Only one of the 93 news segments that ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC aired during the week after Laura slammed the Louisiana coast connected the storm to climate change, according to a study by the watchdog group Media Matters. Of 46 segments ABC, NBC, and CBS aired on the California wildfires, only seven mentioned climate change. Making Headlines The Sitting President Has No Climate Plan. Why Isn’t That Headline News? Andrew McCormick
This is media malpractice. It is also, from a business point of view, foolish: The public actually wants more, not less, climate coverage. According to a poll released today by our partners at The Guardian and Vice Media, 74 percent of likely voters want the moderators to ask climate questions at the upcoming presidential debates.
We are heartened by the progress Covering Climate Now has made in helping the media rise to the existential challenge of the climate crisis. Yet even as we celebrate that progress this week, we recognize how far there is to go, and how little time we have to get there. The first presidential debate takes place in less than a week, on September 29, and five weeks later is Election Day. Between now and then, newsrooms should follow the advice of Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan: “This subject must be kept front and center, with the pressure on and the stakes made abundantly clear at every turn.”


thenation--2020-09-23--The Perils of Creativity and Capitalism in ‘Tesla’

At the 1995 Sundance Film Festival , 100 years after the Lumière brothers presented the first celluloid motion picture , director Michael Almereyda interviewed a crop of independent filmmakers about their thoughts on the future of movies .
Were they optimistic or pessimistic ?
It ’ s a question broad enough to elicit many different answers , from pointed to digressive .
Almereyda and his collaborator Amy Hobby recorded the responses on a plastic Fisher-Price PixelVision camcorder , eliciting an unspoken formal tension between cinema ’ s past and its technologically democratized future .
The resulting documentary , At Sundance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curio , but two aspects of the film still stand out .
First , the number of directors interviewed who remain active and familiar 25 years later : Richard Linklater , James Gray , Todd Haynes , Danny Boyle , and James Mangold , to name just a few .
Second , how many of their expressed anxieties continue to have purchase .
Whit Stillman worried that contemporary filmmakers were too myopic , drawing inspiration from a “ thin film culture ” instead of from life .
Robert Redford argued that new distribution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cinema relevant .
Larry Gross and Haskell Wexler contended that cinema ’ s future would be determined by the world ’ s socioeconomic conditions , about which they were appropriately dark .
It ’ s a group portrait of artists , many in the first act of their career , struggling to fulfill their creative ambitions within a capitalist culture , against the backdrop of a film festival , where art and commerce intersect .
It ’ s productive to view Almereyda ’ s latest film , Tesla , through a similar lens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the famous inventor Nikola Tesla ( unassumingly rendered by Ethan Hawke ) , the film frequently probes the juncture at which ambition meets indifferent financial realities .
Almereyda draws many connections between Tesla ’ s quest to realize his inventions and the perils of contemporary independent filmmaking .
Early in the film , Tesla writes his assistant of his experience working under Thomas Edison ( Kyle MacLachlan ) at Edison Machine Works , saying , “ There ’ s always too much to do , not enough time , never enough money or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ and ] emergencies , ” which in another context is a faithful description of moviemaking or any other joint creative endeavor .
Throughout his career , Tesla finds himself beholden to multiple benefactors , all of whom are broadly impressed by his talent right until it stops being profitable for them .
Some , like George Westinghouse ( Jim Gaffigan ) , manipulate him into undercutting his own economic standing for the survival of the project .
At one point , Anne Morgan ( Eve Hewson ) —Tesla ’ s paramour , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the film ’ s narrator—wonders what could have been if only Tesla had “ someone sharp and smart at his side , an enlightened hustler to steer him through the crass , commercial world.
” Is there a more appropriate analogy for a talented director without a canny producing partner ?
Almereyda ’ s interest in Tesla goes back four decades .
He wrote a first draft of the screenplay in 1981 , which he describes as an “ epic science fiction story set in the 19th century , ” informed by Terrence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nicolas Roeg ’ s The Man Who Fell to Earth , two ’ 70s films whose personal nature and expansive visual scope inspired Almereyda to become a filmmaker .
He held on to the idea but channeled his passion for Tesla ’ s futurist worldview into the thematic margins of his filmography .
( Almereyda explicitly incorporates Tesla into his 2002 film Happy Here and Now , which features a soft-core pornography director whose latest project involves Tesla and a Tesla coil that eventually catches fire and halts his production . )
When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ project off the ground , Almereyda made drastic changes to the script , partly to reflect his now 60-year-old perspective , as well as to accommodate the feature ’ s numerous budgetary restrictions , like a 20-day shoot , limited location options , and scaled-back period production design .
Even with those constraints , Tesla marks the zenith of Almereyda ’ s filmmaking to date .
It ’ s his third film starring Hawke and the second featuring him and MacLachlan as rivals .
( They previously played Hamlet and Claudius , respectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Shakespeare play . )
It ’ s his second nontraditional biopic , after Experimenter , which chronicles the life and career of the psychologist Stanley Milgram .
Almereyda ’ s passion for biographical portraits shows in his nonfiction work ( This So-Called Disaster , William Eggleston in the Real World , and Escapes ) , too .
Tesla foregrounds his interest in old and emerging technologies—in this case , alternating-current electricity—and how people move through new , mediated environments .
He has interrogated these ideas from the beginning of his career , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 90s through the tech-saturated Hamlet , the early Internet noir Happy Here and Now , and recently , the tender sci-fi story Marjorie Prime .
Almereyda ’ s avant-garde sensibilities manifest most overtly in his use of non-natural effects , like rear-screen projection , and narrative deconstruction , like fourth-wall-breaking narration , blurred chronology , and ahistorical music cues .
In Experimenter the uncanny backdrops and Milgram ’ s direct address reflect the controlled nature of his experiments on obedience and authority in the light of Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann ’ s just-following-orders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In Tesla , however , he employs these elements to fictionalize the gaps in Tesla ’ s biography , which is woefully incomplete , and call attention to the artificiality of historical narratives—how they ’ re rife with self-mythologizing and ideologically motivated revisionism .
Case in point : Anne Morgan plays a role in the main narrative , but she also addresses the audience from an omniscient perspective , commenting on the film ’ s deliberate falsehoods and using Google search results for her statistics .
Befitting a film about money , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a wealthy philanthropist , effectively controls the narrative .
As always , history is told by the victors .
Tesla ’ s anti-realism , in sharp contrast to its grounded , almost minimalist performances , benefits the film tremendously , given its self-referential drive .
While explaining the uses of his induction motor , Tesla claims that it will “ do the work of the world ” and “ set men free.
” He constantly describes his inventions in these terms , and it ’ s easy to perceive the implicit connection to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recenters the pecuniary problem .
In the second half of his career , Tesla ’ s rhetoric outpaces his output , and when he fails to persuade his patron J.P. Morgan ( Donnie Keshawarz ) to provide him with another influx of cash to create a global wireless system , the scene plays like a producer pulling funding from an eager director whose ambitious film has gone off the rails .
This reflexivity also extends to the film ’ s formal strategy .
Suiting Tesla ’ s focus on electricity , Almereyda and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lighting source in the film .
They frequently bathe the frame in darkness before foregrounding a key light that guides the eye .
Other times , light asserts its presence over the characters , as when Tesla sees traveling actress Sarah Bernhardt ( Rebecca Dayan ) drenched in white stage light .
Almereyda teaches viewers to be conscious of where and how light originates in any scene until their awareness seamlessly integrates into Tesla ’ s .
If film , at its most elemental , is constituted by images of projected and reflected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ veritable paean to electricity ’ s ability to illuminate and clarify action .
Ironically , it ’ s a shame that most people in America won ’ t see Tesla on a big screen in a theater anytime soon .
It ’ s in that setting that both Almereyda ’ s and Tesla ’ s ideas would properly crystallize in real time .

This article appears in the November 2/9, 2020 issue.
At the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, 100 years after the Lumière brothers presented the first celluloid motion picture, director Michael Almereyda interviewed a crop of independent filmmakers about their thoughts on the future of movies. Were they optimistic or pessimistic? It’s a question broad enough to elicit many different answers, from pointed to digressive. Almereyda and his collaborator Amy Hobby recorded the responses on a plastic Fisher-Price PixelVision camcorder, eliciting an unspoken formal tension between cinema’s past and its technologically democratized future.
The resulting documentary, At Sundance, is an interesting, albeit slight curio, but two aspects of the film still stand out. First, the number of directors interviewed who remain active and familiar 25 years later: Richard Linklater, James Gray, Todd Haynes, Danny Boyle, and James Mangold, to name just a few. Second, how many of their expressed anxieties continue to have purchase. Whit Stillman worried that contemporary filmmakers were too myopic, drawing inspiration from a “thin film culture” instead of from life. Robert Redford argued that new distribution channels and a globalized culture will keep cinema relevant. Larry Gross and Haskell Wexler contended that cinema’s future would be determined by the world’s socioeconomic conditions, about which they were appropriately dark. It’s a group portrait of artists, many in the first act of their career, struggling to fulfill their creative ambitions within a capitalist culture, against the backdrop of a film festival, where art and commerce intersect.
It’s productive to view Almereyda’s latest film, Tesla, through a similar lens. A gauzy biopic of sorts about the famous inventor Nikola Tesla (unassumingly rendered by Ethan Hawke), the film frequently probes the juncture at which ambition meets indifferent financial realities. Almereyda draws many connections between Tesla’s quest to realize his inventions and the perils of contemporary independent filmmaking. Early in the film, Tesla writes his assistant of his experience working under Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan) at Edison Machine Works, saying, “There’s always too much to do, not enough time, never enough money or men, constant fixes, upgrades, [and] emergencies,” which in another context is a faithful description of moviemaking or any other joint creative endeavor.
Throughout his career, Tesla finds himself beholden to multiple benefactors, all of whom are broadly impressed by his talent right until it stops being profitable for them. Some, like George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan), manipulate him into undercutting his own economic standing for the survival of the project. At one point, Anne Morgan (Eve Hewson)—Tesla’s paramour, a daughter of J.P. Morgan, and the film’s narrator—wonders what could have been if only Tesla had “someone sharp and smart at his side, an enlightened hustler to steer him through the crass, commercial world.” Is there a more appropriate analogy for a talented director without a canny producing partner? Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Almereyda’s interest in Tesla goes back four decades. He wrote a first draft of the screenplay in 1981, which he describes as an “epic science fiction story set in the 19th century,” informed by Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven and Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, two ’70s films whose personal nature and expansive visual scope inspired Almereyda to become a filmmaker. He held on to the idea but channeled his passion for Tesla’s futurist worldview into the thematic margins of his filmography. (Almereyda explicitly incorporates Tesla into his 2002 film Happy Here and Now, which features a soft-core pornography director whose latest project involves Tesla and a Tesla coil that eventually catches fire and halts his production.) When it was time to get his passion project off the ground, Almereyda made drastic changes to the script, partly to reflect his now 60-year-old perspective, as well as to accommodate the feature’s numerous budgetary restrictions, like a 20-day shoot, limited location options, and scaled-back period production design.
Even with those constraints, Tesla marks the zenith of Almereyda’s filmmaking to date. It’s his third film starring Hawke and the second featuring him and MacLachlan as rivals. (They previously played Hamlet and Claudius, respectively, in Almereyda’s adaptation of the Shakespeare play.) It’s his second nontraditional biopic, after Experimenter, which chronicles the life and career of the psychologist Stanley Milgram. Almereyda’s passion for biographical portraits shows in his nonfiction work (This So-Called Disaster, William Eggleston in the Real World, and Escapes), too. Tesla foregrounds his interest in old and emerging technologies—in this case, alternating-current electricity—and how people move through new, mediated environments. He has interrogated these ideas from the beginning of his career, with his Pixel-Vision experiments in the ’90s through the tech-saturated Hamlet, the early Internet noir Happy Here and Now, and recently, the tender sci-fi story Marjorie Prime.
Almereyda’s avant-garde sensibilities manifest most overtly in his use of non-natural effects, like rear-screen projection, and narrative deconstruction, like fourth-wall-breaking narration, blurred chronology, and ahistorical music cues. In Experimenter the uncanny backdrops and Milgram’s direct address reflect the controlled nature of his experiments on obedience and authority in the light of Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann’s just-following-orders defense at his 1961 war crimes trial. In Tesla, however, he employs these elements to fictionalize the gaps in Tesla’s biography, which is woefully incomplete, and call attention to the artificiality of historical narratives—how they’re rife with self-mythologizing and ideologically motivated revisionism. Case in point: Anne Morgan plays a role in the main narrative, but she also addresses the audience from an omniscient perspective, commenting on the film’s deliberate falsehoods and using Google search results for her statistics. Befitting a film about money, it’s telling that Morgan, a wealthy philanthropist, effectively controls the narrative. As always, history is told by the victors.
Tesla’s anti-realism, in sharp contrast to its grounded, almost minimalist performances, benefits the film tremendously, given its self-referential drive. While explaining the uses of his induction motor, Tesla claims that it will “do the work of the world” and “set men free.” He constantly describes his inventions in these terms, and it’s easy to perceive the implicit connection to cameras and filmmaking, but Almereyda always recenters the pecuniary problem. In the second half of his career, Tesla’s rhetoric outpaces his output, and when he fails to persuade his patron J.P. Morgan (Donnie Keshawarz) to provide him with another influx of cash to create a global wireless system, the scene plays like a producer pulling funding from an eager director whose ambitious film has gone off the rails. This reflexivity also extends to the film’s formal strategy. Suiting Tesla’s focus on electricity, Almereyda and photographer Sean Price Williams always underscore any lighting source in the film. They frequently bathe the frame in darkness before foregrounding a key light that guides the eye. Other times, light asserts its presence over the characters, as when Tesla sees traveling actress Sarah Bernhardt (Rebecca Dayan) drenched in white stage light. Almereyda teaches viewers to be conscious of where and how light originates in any scene until their awareness seamlessly integrates into Tesla’s. If film, at its most elemental, is constituted by images of projected and reflected light, then Tesla stands as a veritable paean to electricity’s ability to illuminate and clarify action. Ironically, it’s a shame that most people in America won’t see Tesla on a big screen in a theater anytime soon. It’s in that setting that both Almereyda’s and Tesla’s ideas would properly crystallize in real time.


thenation--2020-09-23--Fascism Is the Core of Trump’s Message

Fascism Is the Core of Trump’s Message

There is at times an extraordinary , almost deafening quality to silence ; the absence of noise can be dignified and powerful .
The jazz great Thelonious Monk once went so far as to claim that “ the loudest noise in the world is silence.
” In that silence , that Signal , one often hears the rhythms of introspection ; the timbre of careful thought and logic , the teasing out of ideas .
Inside that silence , if one is thinking about a person recently deceased , one can ponder the philosophical , moral , spiritual , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what the Ruth Bader Ginsburg vigils were like around the country : silent , calm , sorrowful affairs over which the jurist ’ s legacy hung , so omnipresent that it needed no amplification .
I attended the one in Sacramento on Saturday night ; hundreds of people , holding candles , walked quietly and mournfully around the perimeter of the capitol .
There were similar events all over the country .
Imagine , by contrast , what a vigil for Donald Trump will look and sound like when he dies .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be calm or quiet , that it will be a time to ponder the caliber of his ideas or his humanity .
Any silence at that moment would be a vacuum-like quiet , an absence of introspection , a void , rather than a seedbed of moral contemplation .
Far more likely that his wake would be a rowdy , yahoo-esque affair , an excuse for bile and bigotry to flare up with wretched , final abandon .
For there is no dignity in Trump , and no matter how much he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there will be no dignity when pondering his absence .
Talking of dignity and its lack , consider for a moment the toxic stream of consciousness that passed for a Trump campaign speech in Minnesota this weekend .
Now , I have no desire to amplify the man ’ s Noise needlessly , but given that he is hard at work pressuring the GOP-controlled Senate to barrel ahead in confirming a Supreme Court justice , and given that Ted Cruz made the reasoning for such haste shockingly and shamelessly clear on Fox News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ battles surrounding the election results up to the Supreme Court , and Cruz doesn ’ t want to risk a 4-4 split verdict ) , it ’ s worth pondering for a second the programmatic fascism at the core of Trump ’ s Minnesota message : The police shooting by rubber bullet of a journalist reporting on protests against police violence is “ the most beautiful thing ” and helps enforce “ law and order.
” Refugees are bad , and his overwhelming white audience there has “ good genes ” ( and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Confederate military commander Robert E. Lee merits a whole heap of praise and respect ) .
And political opponents ought to be arrested and prosecuted—not for particular crimes , since he listed none that the ones he named ( Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Ilhan Omar , and Rashida Tlaib ) might be guilty of , but simply because he doesn ’ t like them .
Presumably that same rationale—that all is fair in elections and war , and that you ’ re either with Trump or you ’ re the enemy—was used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , over the weekend , when they came out to harass early voters .
They did this so aggressively and so overtly that county election officials had to escort voters inside to cast their ballots , much as escorts have , for decades now , had to shepherd women through lines of screaming , sometimes violent anti-abortion protesters outside Planned Parenthood and other offices that provide abortion access .
This from supporters of the self-proclaimed “ law-and-order president , ” who has spent weeks proclaiming his worries about electoral malpractice by his opponents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposed “ 1776 commission ” to determine “ patriotic ” —read propagandistic right-wing—schooling for kids , and his statement about channeling $ 5 billion from the forced TikTok sale toward this agenda .
And then factor in the extraordinary Health and Human Services memo from last week , which removed huge regulatory powers over medicines , vaccines , food safety , and so on from career scientists at the FDA and placed them with the Health and Human Services secretary .
Add it all up , and you have a fairly good schema @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look like : intimidating ; violent ; conspiracist in temperament and act ; reliant on a combination of street-fighting and hyper-conservative judicial rulings infringing upon one right after another ; and utterly unfettered by the advice of scientists , willing to bend any and all scientific norms to get Trump ’ s way on issues surrounding pandemic response , climate change , and other crises on which the public needs informed expert advice .
Oh , and don ’ t forget the accelerating personal corruption : Vanity Fair this week reported on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ renting space , via shell companies , in Trump properties—not because they need the space , but because those investments are expected to lubricate access to Trump officials and thus help set administration policy and economic and military priorities .
This must surely be the most extreme pay-to-play scam in US political history .
It makes the Teapot Dome scandal look benign , and Tammany Hall like a model of good governance .
In 2016 , at least , the GOP had a policy platform of sorts .
This time around , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support whatever Trump decides to promote , the party ’ ss election package has dispensed with all trappings of democracy .
From trying to ram through the confirmation of another Supreme Court justice days before the November ballot to unleashing harassment teams against voters in areas that skew Democrat , it ’ s all about power and personal aggrandizement .
Day by day , the assault on democracy is growing more brazen , with the assumption of an almost God-given right to rule articulated ever more explicitly .

There is at times an extraordinary, almost deafening quality to silence; the absence of noise can be dignified and powerful. The jazz great Thelonious Monk once went so far as to claim that “the loudest noise in the world is silence.”
In that silence, that Signal, one often hears the rhythms of introspection; the timbre of careful thought and logic, the teasing out of ideas. Inside that silence, if one is thinking about a person recently deceased, one can ponder the philosophical, moral, spiritual, and intellectual values they embodied.
This is what the Ruth Bader Ginsburg vigils were like around the country: silent, calm, sorrowful affairs over which the jurist’s legacy hung, so omnipresent that it needed no amplification. I attended the one in Sacramento on Saturday night; hundreds of people, holding candles, walked quietly and mournfully around the perimeter of the capitol. There were similar events all over the country.
Imagine, by contrast, what a vigil for Donald Trump will look and sound like when he dies. It’s difficult to imagine that it will be calm or quiet, that it will be a time to ponder the caliber of his ideas or his humanity. Any silence at that moment would be a vacuum-like quiet, an absence of introspection, a void, rather than a seedbed of moral contemplation. Far more likely that his wake would be a rowdy, yahoo-esque affair, an excuse for bile and bigotry to flare up with wretched, final abandon. For there is no dignity in Trump, and no matter how much he craves the love of the crowd, there will be no dignity when pondering his absence. More Signal:Noise In Trump’s America, It’s Cruelty as Policy Sasha Abramsky Trump’s Nevada Rally Is a Mockery to Millions Sasha Abramsky
Talking of dignity and its lack, consider for a moment the toxic stream of consciousness that passed for a Trump campaign speech in Minnesota this weekend.
Now, I have no desire to amplify the man’s Noise needlessly, but given that he is hard at work pressuring the GOP-controlled Senate to barrel ahead in confirming a Supreme Court justice, and given that Ted Cruz made the reasoning for such haste shockingly and shamelessly clear on Fox News (that they expect to take legal battles surrounding the election results up to the Supreme Court, and Cruz doesn’t want to risk a 4-4 split verdict), it’s worth pondering for a second the programmatic fascism at the core of Trump’s Minnesota message: The police shooting by rubber bullet of a journalist reporting on protests against police violence is “the most beautiful thing” and helps enforce “law and order.” Refugees are bad, and his overwhelming white audience there has “good genes” (and, while we’re at it, Confederate military commander Robert E. Lee merits a whole heap of praise and respect). And political opponents ought to be arrested and prosecuted—not for particular crimes, since he listed none that the ones he named (Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib) might be guilty of, but simply because he doesn’t like them. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
Presumably that same rationale—that all is fair in elections and war, and that you’re either with Trump or you’re the enemy—was used by Trump supporters in Fairfax, Va., over the weekend, when they came out to harass early voters. They did this so aggressively and so overtly that county election officials had to escort voters inside to cast their ballots, much as escorts have, for decades now, had to shepherd women through lines of screaming, sometimes violent anti-abortion protesters outside Planned Parenthood and other offices that provide abortion access. This from supporters of the self-proclaimed “law-and-order president,” who has spent weeks proclaiming his worries about electoral malpractice by his opponents. Current Issue View our current issue
Add to that Trump’s proposed “1776 commission” to determine “patriotic”—read propagandistic right-wing—schooling for kids, and his statement about channeling $5 billion from the forced TikTok sale toward this agenda. And then factor in the extraordinary Health and Human Services memo from last week, which removed huge regulatory powers over medicines, vaccines, food safety, and so on from career scientists at the FDA and placed them with the Health and Human Services secretary.
Add it all up, and you have a fairly good schema for what a Trump second term would look like: intimidating; violent; conspiracist in temperament and act; reliant on a combination of street-fighting and hyper-conservative judicial rulings infringing upon one right after another; and utterly unfettered by the advice of scientists, willing to bend any and all scientific norms to get Trump’s way on issues surrounding pandemic response, climate change, and other crises on which the public needs informed expert advice.
Oh, and don’t forget the accelerating personal corruption: Vanity Fair this week reported on the numerous overseas governments and lobby groups now renting space, via shell companies, in Trump properties—not because they need the space, but because those investments are expected to lubricate access to Trump officials and thus help set administration policy and economic and military priorities. This must surely be the most extreme pay-to-play scam in US political history. It makes the Teapot Dome scandal look benign, and Tammany Hall like a model of good governance.
In 2016, at least, the GOP had a policy platform of sorts. This time around, with participants in their convention having sworn to support whatever Trump decides to promote, the party’s election package has dispensed with all trappings of democracy. From trying to ram through the confirmation of another Supreme Court justice days before the November ballot to unleashing harassment teams against voters in areas that skew Democrat, it’s all about power and personal aggrandizement.
Day by day, the assault on democracy is growing more brazen, with the assumption of an almost God-given right to rule articulated ever more explicitly.


thenation--2020-09-23--Why Are Students Paying for Their Schools’ Losses?

In mid-March , after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the University of North Carolina system to shutter its campuses , the network of 16 public universities across the state moved to make up for the students ’ sudden loss , providing them a prorated refund for their housing and dining plans , which had become effectively useless after the campus closure .
Then , in June , the university sent out an update : It would not be providing students a similar refund if campuses closed again during the fall semester .
When Laura Comino , a 19-year-old senior , received @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In response , she drafted a petition demanding that all 16 schools in the UNC system issue refunds if students had to leave their campus housing again .
It has since received over 40,000 signatures .
“ What I ’ m really fighting for right now is the idea that every single student should be guaranteed a place to live , ” Comino said .
“ Even if it means that those of us with other means don ’ t remain on campus.
” As the number of universities moving their educational operations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grow , hundreds of aggrieved students across the country are similarly speaking out .
With these changes , they argue , comes a glaring discrepancy in the services they had agreed to pay for versus what they have , out of necessity , to forgo .
From Rutgers to Texas A & M and the University of New Mexico , students across the country are demanding lowered tuitions and fees , arguing they shouldn ’ t have to pay for services that they don ’ t have access to while attending classes online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should reflect that of traditional online classes , as this is what their schooling has in effect become .
This story was produced for Student Nation , a section devoted to highlighting campus activism and student movements from students in their own words .
For more Student Nation , check out our archive .
Are you a student with a campus activism story ?
Send questions and pitches to Samantha Schuyler at samantha @ thenation.com .
The Student Nation program is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation .
A petition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Council of Students successfully convinced the university to reduce fees for students learning remotely by more than $ 600 and eliminated a $ 920 nonresident fee for students not living in Providence .
A small group of schools , including Georgetown and Princeton , which both reduced tuition by 10 percent , have offered reductions .
Southern New Hampshire University offered full tuition awards to incoming students .
But these schools have been in the minority .
In an era when most of the nation ’ s roughly 5,000 colleges and universities have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ annually , in part because of drastic state budget cuts , most universities are unwilling to reduce tuition .
For them , the pandemic has prompted a sudden drop in enrollment ; they face losses in the millions .
The American Council on Education predicts that “ institutions have a total of $ 46.6 billion in increased student need and lost revenues , and will spend at least $ 73.8 billion on new expenditures specific to the COVID-19 pandemic.
” The University of Michigan , for example , predicts that it will lose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billion because of the pandemic , and universities are predicted to lose $ 4 billion in revenue from football season alone .
And though the federal stimulus package provided $ 14 billion in relief aid to higher education , US colleges and universities collectively produce around $ 700 billion annually , with the aid doing little to offset financial losses caused by the pandemic .
Will Doyle , a professor of higher education and public policy at Vanderbilt University , said the only way he foresees universities ’ rebounding financially is a second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Congress , he said , colleges could actually lose the on-campus services students are currently protesting having to pay for while attending class online , which would be a drastic loss when campuses reopen .
“ If [ colleges ] go through with cuts—particularly to residential services and food services—they ’ re going to lose those employees , ” Doyle said .
“ They ’ re faced not with moving some things around but essentially losing that service altogether .
So if we want to have residence halls and we want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ when colleges ] reopen next fall , they need to keep them running.
” Doyle also said that contrary to popular belief , online classes usually cost the same if not more than in-person classes because of technical and faculty expenses .
This has been an unexpected financial hurdle for colleges and universities as they transitioned their operations partially or completely online .
But he adds that “ there ’ s no serious argument that online classes are of higher quality than standard face-to-face classes .
There ’ s some evidence that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the same .
And the bulk of the evidence that we have is that student outcomes are worse in online courses.
” Students argue that the burden shouldn ’ t fall on them to make up financial losses .
Reilly Shingler , a junior at Ithaca College , where classes are now all online , said she doesn ’ t think she should pay in-person tuition if she ’ s not getting the in-person experience .
She ’ s also concerned about the students who have trouble learning over Zoom , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ normally utilize if campus were open , like mental health services , wellness centers , and computer labs .
“ I think that it ’ s kind of unfair that college is actually viewed as a business in the United States , and that it ’ s all about the revenue , ” Shingler said .
“ It ’ s terrible , the money issues and everything .
But I think that ultimately , it ’ s a place of learning .
[ College ] should be about the students and their well-being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ created for students , then the administration should really do what ’ s in the best interest of those students.
” Olivia Alicea , a sophomore at the University of California , Los Angeles , created a petition asking UCLA to reduce its tuition and fees .
Alicea pays out-of-state tuition to study film but has begun to question the effectiveness of the upcoming quarter , since she won ’ t be able to use any of the equipment her tuition and fees pay for .
The loss of her educational environment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of her education to suffer .
“ I was angry that I would be having to pay that money—and then it made me even angrier to think about all the people who already are struggling , and might be jobless , might be losing family members , all these other extra problems that would prohibit them from being able to pay , ” Alicea said .
“ I realized that there ’ s really no reason for the tuition to stay the same .
We ’ re losing so much.
” But what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she says , advertises its diverse student body as a selling point but seems to be ignoring students ’ calls for help when they need it most .
“ It boasts a lot about its diverse student population , its low-income population .
And so I would assume that they would put in the extra effort to accommodate these students when they use them for numbers , ” she said .
“ But it doesn ’ t seem to be so.
” Doyle said that forcing students to switch to remote learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the inequalities between wealthy students and economically disadvantaged students .
“ There ’ s every indication that the conditions that are going to pertain over the next few months will increase gaps between students by income , possibly by race , ” he said , adding that those who can ’ t afford to pay full tuition this year and choose to take a gap year , especially minority and economically disadvantaged students , will be less likely to return to campus once in-person classes resume .
Elizabeth Owolabi , a sophomore at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get Baylor to reduce tuition and fees to prevent these kinds of disadvantages .
She said the inequalities students are facing by being relegated to online learning—especially , as Baylor is located in Waco , Tex.
, in the wake of August ’ s Hurricane Laura—should justify lowered tuition , and she feels it ’ s inappropriate of the university to expect students to continue paying full tuition for online classes .
“ Most people have jobs ; most people ’ s families are struggling ; most people ’ s families are dealing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and now money has to go to that , ” Owolabi said .
“ I just really wish they would understand where we ’ re all coming from .
”

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In mid-March, after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the University of North Carolina system to shutter its campuses, the network of 16 public universities across the state moved to make up for the students’ sudden loss, providing them a prorated refund for their housing and dining plans, which had become effectively useless after the campus closure.
Then, in June, the university sent out an update: It would not be providing students a similar refund if campuses closed again during the fall semester. When Laura Comino, a 19-year-old senior, received the e-mail, she was irate.
In response, she drafted a petition demanding that all 16 schools in the UNC system issue refunds if students had to leave their campus housing again. It has since received over 40,000 signatures. “What I’m really fighting for right now is the idea that every single student should be guaranteed a place to live,” Comino said. “Even if it means that those of us with other means don’t remain on campus.”
As the number of universities moving their educational operations online for the fall semester continues to grow, hundreds of aggrieved students across the country are similarly speaking out. With these changes, they argue, comes a glaring discrepancy in the services they had agreed to pay for versus what they have, out of necessity, to forgo. From Rutgers to Texas A&M and the University of New Mexico, students across the country are demanding lowered tuitions and fees, arguing they shouldn’t have to pay for services that they don’t have access to while attending classes online. Fall tuition, they argue, should reflect that of traditional online classes, as this is what their schooling has in effect become. This story was produced for Student Nation, a section devoted to highlighting campus activism and student movements from students in their own words. For more Student Nation, check out our archive. Are you a student with a campus activism story? Send questions and pitches to Samantha Schuyler at [email protected]. The Student Nation program is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation.
A petition started by Brown University’s Undergraduate Council of Students successfully convinced the university to reduce fees for students learning remotely by more than $600 and eliminated a $920 nonresident fee for students not living in Providence. A small group of schools, including Georgetown and Princeton, which both reduced tuition by 10 percent, have offered reductions. Southern New Hampshire University offered full tuition awards to incoming students. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
But these schools have been in the minority. In an era when most of the nation’s roughly 5,000 colleges and universities have had to raise tuition about 3 percent annually, in part because of drastic state budget cuts, most universities are unwilling to reduce tuition. For them, the pandemic has prompted a sudden drop in enrollment; they face losses in the millions. The American Council on Education predicts that “institutions have a total of $46.6 billion in increased student need and lost revenues, and will spend at least $73.8 billion on new expenditures specific to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The University of Michigan, for example, predicts that it will lose between $400 million and $1 billion because of the pandemic, and universities are predicted to lose $4 billion in revenue from football season alone. And though the federal stimulus package provided $14 billion in relief aid to higher education, US colleges and universities collectively produce around $700 billion annually, with the aid doing little to offset financial losses caused by the pandemic.
Will Doyle, a professor of higher education and public policy at Vanderbilt University, said the only way he foresees universities’ rebounding financially is a second wave of federal aid. Without action from Congress, he said, colleges could actually lose the on-campus services students are currently protesting having to pay for while attending class online, which would be a drastic loss when campuses reopen. “If [colleges] go through with cuts—particularly to residential services and food services—they’re going to lose those employees,” Doyle said. “They’re faced not with moving some things around but essentially losing that service altogether. So if we want to have residence halls and we want to have dining halls and all the rest [when colleges] reopen next fall, they need to keep them running.” Current Issue View our current issue
Doyle also said that contrary to popular belief, online classes usually cost the same if not more than in-person classes because of technical and faculty expenses. This has been an unexpected financial hurdle for colleges and universities as they transitioned their operations partially or completely online. But he adds that “there’s no serious argument that online classes are of higher quality than standard face-to-face classes. There’s some evidence that under some circumstances, they could be about the same. And the bulk of the evidence that we have is that student outcomes are worse in online courses.”
Students argue that the burden shouldn’t fall on them to make up financial losses. Reilly Shingler, a junior at Ithaca College, where classes are now all online, said she doesn’t think she should pay in-person tuition if she’s not getting the in-person experience. She’s also concerned about the students who have trouble learning over Zoom, or who are missing necessary services they would normally utilize if campus were open, like mental health services, wellness centers, and computer labs. “I think that it’s kind of unfair that college is actually viewed as a business in the United States, and that it’s all about the revenue,” Shingler said. “It’s terrible, the money issues and everything. But I think that ultimately, it’s a place of learning. [College] should be about the students and their well-being, and if this whole institution was created for students, then the administration should really do what’s in the best interest of those students.”
Olivia Alicea, a sophomore at the University of California, Los Angeles, created a petition asking UCLA to reduce its tuition and fees. Alicea pays out-of-state tuition to study film but has begun to question the effectiveness of the upcoming quarter, since she won’t be able to use any of the equipment her tuition and fees pay for. The loss of her educational environment, Alicea feels, is causing the quality of her education to suffer. “I was angry that I would be having to pay that money—and then it made me even angrier to think about all the people who already are struggling, and might be jobless, might be losing family members, all these other extra problems that would prohibit them from being able to pay,” Alicea said. “I realized that there’s really no reason for the tuition to stay the same. We’re losing so much.”
But what annoys her the most is that UCLA, she says, advertises its diverse student body as a selling point but seems to be ignoring students’ calls for help when they need it most. “It boasts a lot about its diverse student population, its low-income population. And so I would assume that they would put in the extra effort to accommodate these students when they use them for numbers,” she said. “But it doesn’t seem to be so.”
Doyle said that forcing students to switch to remote learning but requiring full tuition will further exacerbate the inequalities between wealthy students and economically disadvantaged students. “There’s every indication that the conditions that are going to pertain over the next few months will increase gaps between students by income, possibly by race,” he said, adding that those who can’t afford to pay full tuition this year and choose to take a gap year, especially minority and economically disadvantaged students, will be less likely to return to campus once in-person classes resume.
Elizabeth Owolabi, a sophomore at Baylor University, started a petition to get Baylor to reduce tuition and fees to prevent these kinds of disadvantages. She said the inequalities students are facing by being relegated to online learning—especially, as Baylor is located in Waco, Tex., in the wake of August’s Hurricane Laura—should justify lowered tuition, and she feels it’s inappropriate of the university to expect students to continue paying full tuition for online classes.
“Most people have jobs; most people’s families are struggling; most people’s families are dealing with hurricanes, dealing with death, and now money has to go to that,” Owolabi said. “I just really wish they would understand where we’re all coming from.”