Is America Redeemable?

You know that feeling when you trip on the street and instantly sense that you ’ re about to crash hard and there ’ s no way to prevent it ?
As gravity has its way with you , all you can do is watch yourself going down .
Yeah , that feeling .
I had it the other day on my way to a Black Lives Matter demonstration when I caught my toe on a curb and pitched forward .
As time slowed down , I saw not my past , but my future , pass before my eyes—a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of rehabbing a broken hip and at best a few weeks hobbling around on crutches .
I was lucky .
Nothing was broken and I ’ ll probably be off the crutches by the time you read this .
But that feeling of falling and knowing it ’ s too late to stop it has stayed with me .
I suspect it reflects a sensation many people in the United States might be having right now , a sense that time is moving slowly while we watch a flailing country in a slow-motion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of government dereliction to get us to this point and a few years of Trumpian sabotage to show us just where we really are .
To have any hope of pulling back from the brink , however , will take the determination of organizations like the Movement for Black Lives .
That national descent , when it came , proved remarkably swift .
In less than six months , we ’ ve seen more than 2.5 million confirmed Covid-19 infections and more than 125,000 deaths .
And it ’ s not slowing down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw the biggest single-day total in new US infections ( more than 38,000 ) since April , and that number may well have been superseded by the time this piece comes out .
During this pandemic , we ’ ve gone from an economy of almost full employment—even if at starvation levels for those earning a minimum wage—to one with the worst unemployment since the Great Depression ( even as billionaires have once again made a rather literal killing ) .
The government ’ s response to these twin catastrophes has been feckless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ While this country may not yet be a failed state , it ’ s certainly in a free fall all its own .
People use this expression to indicate a political entity whose government has ceased to perform most or all of its basic functions .
Such a condition can result from civil war , untrammeled corruption , natural disaster , or some combination of those and more .
The Fund for Peace , which has been working on such issues for more than 70 years , lists four criteria to identify such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of its territory , or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force therein • Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community I ’ ve always thought of such fallen lands ( sometimes given a fatal shove by my own government ) as far-away places .
Countries like Libya .
The Fund for Peace identifies that beleaguered and now fractured nation , where rival armed forces compete for primacy , as the one in which government fragility has increased most over the last decade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States and its NATO allies stepped in militarily , precipitating the overthrow of autocrat Moammar El-Gadhafi , with no particular plan for the day after .
Then there ’ s Yemen , where Washington ’ s support for the intervention of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates only exacerbated an ongoing civil war , whose civilian victims have been left to confront famine , cholera , and most recently , with a shattered health care system , the coronavirus .
And before Libya and Yemen , don ’ t forget the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Iraq , which damaged that country ’ s physical and political infrastructure in ways it is now , 17 years later , starting to dig out of .
So , yes , I ’ d known about failed states , but it wasn ’ t until I read “ We Are Living in a Failed State ” by George Packer in the June 2020 Atlantic that I began to seriously entertain the idea that my country was bouncing down the same flight of stairs .
As that article ’ s subtitle put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t break America .
It revealed what was already broken.
” The Monopoly of the Legitimate Use of Force In his 1919 lecture “ Politics as a Vocation , ” German sociologist Max Weber observed that “ a state is a human community that ( successfully ) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.
” In other words , a state is a given territory whose inhabitants recognize that only one institution , the government , has the capacity—and therefore the right—to authorize the use of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Weber described three main ways that the use of violence acquires legitimacy : through long tradition , through the charisma of individual leaders , or in the case of many modern states , through the rule of law .
In a way , Donald Trump ’ s administration can be viewed as one long attempt to roll back the legitimacy derived from the rule of law and replace it with the power of one man ’ s personal charisma .
The president ’ s often-bumbling attempts to rule by fiat have reminded many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Generation of a hapless imitation of Captain Jean-Luc Picard repeatedly calling out from the bridge of the Enterprise , “ Make it so !
” Recently , however , Trump has used his presidential authority to directly threaten his own citizens with military force .
On June 1 , he said at a Rose Garden press conference , “ If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents , then I will deploy the United States military and quickly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , he showed just how it could be done , when protesters in Washington , D.C. ’ s Lafayette Square were attacked by a combined force of National Guard , federal Park Police , and Secret Service agents .
That last group Trump chose to congratulate for the job they did in a celebratory tweet , addressing them as the “ S.S. , ” an evocation—one hopes unintentional—of the Schutzstaffel ( a Nazi paramilitary force of the previous century . )
The world saw , as The Washington Post reported , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ firing pepper balls , chemical grenades , and smoke bombs at retreating crowds ” —all so the president could have a photo-op with his buddy , the Bible , in front of a church down the street from the White House .
Max Weber was hardly suggesting that in a functional state , only the government uses force to achieve its ends .
Residents would still , for instance , experience criminal violence .
When a state begins to fail , however , it either can ’ t or won ’ t prevent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growing trend in Donald Trump ’ s America .
He has even , for instance , encouraged attendees at his rallies to “ knock the crap out of ” hecklers and offered to pay their legal fees afterward .
We ’ ve watched him congratulate a Republican congressman for physically attacking a reporter and noted his approval of some “ very fine people ” at the 2017 Unite the Right march in Charlottesville , Va. , where a white nationalist murdered a woman by driving his car into a crowd of counterdemonstrators .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for extralegal violence has taken a far more sinister turn .
Now , he ’ s given his imprimatur not just to his individual supporters but also to armed militias opposing their states ’ efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
He ’ s urged them to “ LIBERATE !
” places like Michigan and Virginia , approved of armed vigilantes physically menacing legislators deliberating about Michigan ’ s stay-at-home policies , and had no objection to their parading in front of the office of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer with signs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rope !
” His encouragement of armed resistance to state authority so alarmed Washington Governor Jay Inslee that he accused the president of “ fomenting domestic rebellion.
” What do you call a nation in which armed militias can threaten officials without fear of penalty ?
Whether it ’ s Libya or the United States , I ’ d call it a state on the way to failing .
The United States is a republic .
Those who can vote elect representatives who make the laws that govern us .
That ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charters , and town bylaws have set out the major process for collective decision-making in this country .
( Of course , sometimes we also participate more directly , as when we speak or write about public affairs , demonstrate our concerns in marches with banners and chants , or organize ourselves as communities , workers , or other groups of people sharing common interests . )
Recognizing that this country is still officially a republic doesn ’ t mean that everyone legally entitled to vote is actually able to vote .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parts of this country , however , the Republicans have been working assiduously to make voting by some of us either illegal or impossible .
In my lifetime , African Americans ( and some white allies ) died to secure the vote , an effort that culminated in the 1965 Voting Rights Act .
In 2013 , however , under George W. Bush–appointed Chief Justice John Roberts , the Supreme Court essentially gutted the act .
Ever since , we ’ ve seen an acceleration of efforts to reduce access to the polls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
These include onerous voter identification procedures and restrictions on early voting or access to vote-by-mail options .
The Brennan Center for Justice reports that , in the past decade , 25 states have imposed new restrictions on voting .
To the extent that Americans recognize elections as a means of collective decision-making , it ’ s because a sufficient number of us have confidence in the basic integrity of the system .
In less functional societies , the results of elections are frequently , sometimes violently , contested by the losing side @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bad enough—for local jurisdictions to make it difficult or impossible for particular groups of people to vote .
It ’ s quite another when a country ’ s leader acts to undermine public confidence in the entire electoral process .
That , of course , is exactly what Donald Trump has been doing from the moment of his 2016 electoral victory when he began blaming his failure to win the popular vote on millions of ballots supposedly cast illegally by undocumented immigrants .
He even set up a presidential commission to investigate such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without finding any evidence to support his contention .
Nonetheless , the president revisited the theme of voter fraud in a 2019 address to young conservatives , this time throwing in a few made-up details for verisimilitude : “ …and then those illegals get out and vote , because they vote anyway .
Don ’ t kid yourself .
Those numbers in California and numerous other states , they ’ re rigged .
They ’ ve got people voting that shouldn ’ t be voting .
They vote many times , not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s like a circle .
They come back , they put a new hat on .
They come back , they put a new shirt on .
And in many cases , they don ’ t even do that .
You know what ’ s going on .
It ’ s a rigged deal.
” In the context of an ongoing pandemic , the most sensible way to hold the November 2020 election is largely by mail .
Oregon has held successful all-mail elections for two decades .
In fact , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efficient and to substantially boost participation .
( Oregon ’ s turnout was a whopping 63 percent in the 2018 midterm election . )
Greater turnout , however , often favors Democratic candidates , which may be why Trump has launched a campaign against mail-in elections , claiming they are fraught with fraud , making his own wild claims in the process .
In May , for instance , he tweeted : Only recently , he was at it again , all-cap tweeting : Undermining public confidence in electoral integrity is a vicious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the teeth like this one , when Trump encourages his supporters to believe that only massive fraud will explain his losing the 2020 election , he ’ s playing a dangerous game indeed .
You know that you ’ re in a new world when opinion writers in the mainstream media find themselves asking if Trump will actually relinquish the White House , should he lose the election .
( And if he is losing and vote-by-mail slows the counting process in some states , he ’ ll use any delay after November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chaos . )
There ’ s no need to rehearse here the hideous details of the Trump administration ’ s abject failure to confront the spread of Covid-19 and to acknowledge the people it ’ s killed .
Suffice it to say that a combination of disinterest and incompetence at the federal level has thrown responsibility on individual states and counties , which have found themselves in competition for life-saving equipment and have even been reduced to begging the federal government for support .
As thousands were dying , corrupt procurement processes led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of miniature ( and unusable ) soda bottles instead of the glass tubes needed for virus testing .
As a result , by June 20 , 2020 , the United States , with 4.25 percent of the world ’ s population , accounted for more than 26 percent of its 8.9 million verified coronavirus cases and about the same proportion of Covid-19 deaths .
However , even if the administration ’ s response had been well-prepared and brilliantly executed , the pandemic would still have revealed this country ’ s long-standing inability to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its citizens , especially in communities of color and among the poor .
As Covid-19 spreads in jails and prisons , a grim new aspect of decades of unnecessary and cruel mass incarceration has been revealed .
As it ravages encampments of unhoused people , the virus continues to reveal to anyone who hadn ’ t already noticed the nation ’ s decades-long inability to house its citizens .
The pandemic has also illuminated the devastation wrought by the most profound level of economic inequality since the Gilded Age—the inevitable result of combining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the systematic dismantling of one public service after another , from public education to infrastructure maintenance to emergency food support .
The country that until recently had the world ’ s greatest economy can ’ t even guarantee clean drinking water for 63 million Americans .
The lead-contaminated water of Flint , Mich. , is only the best-known example of this .
Recently , the Ford Foundation , with other big nonprofit funders , made an extraordinary announcement .
In the face of the government ’ s inability to respond adequately to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least a billion dollars in new grants .
Foundations giving away money is , of course , nothing new .
What ’ s different is how they plan to fund this operation : by issuing “ social bonds ” —investment instruments for sale alongside US Treasury bills and municipal bonds .
What does it say about a country when private foundations find themselves driven to borrow money in the bond market to provide public services that ought to come from the government ?
Inability to Act as a Full Member of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration has pushed the United States toward failure .
Though this country had in the past routinely acted less like a member of the international community than its hegemon , with this president there is no longer even a semblance of international cooperation on global issues .
He ’ s withdrawn us from a previously successful treaty to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons , as well as from successful Cold War treaties to control them .
He ’ s repeatedly threatened to pull the United States out of NATO and placed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Criminal Court investigating possible American war crimes in Afghanistan .
In the midst of this global pandemic , he ’ s even pulling out of the World Health Organization .
Perhaps most disastrous of all , he ’ s reneged on our obligations under the Paris climate accord , thereby undermining humanity ’ s best hope of staving off an ecological catastrophe .
Under Donald Trump , in other words , the United States has demonstrated that even if it is not unable to take its place among the community of nations , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
My thinking about our nation ’ s rapid fall into failure began with my personal tumble on the way to a Black Lives Matter demonstration .
In a way , that couldn ’ t be more fitting , because African Americans , particularly through their presence on the streets and in the media , are leading the present effort to pull this country back from the brink and toward legitimacy , more collective decision-making , the genuine provision of people ’ s needs , and participation in the community of nations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lives represents an excellent place to start when it comes to preventing this country from becoming a failed state .
The document itself is the result of an extended process of collective discussion and decision-making .
Its goals include ending police violence and mass incarceration ; investing in community needs ; supporting the rights of women , LGBTQ communities , and immigrants ; creating economic justice ; and increasing black political power .
The Black Lives Matter movement began in response to this country ’ s long history of state-sanctioned violence against African @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lynching , cultural erasure , forced labor , or predatory lending .
More than a century of violent , indeed murderous , policing of black and other marginalized communities has made this country ’ s use of state violence profoundly illegitimate .
The present wave of resistance has forced the rest of the country , and the world , to look at it squarely .
If the United States is to break its headlong rush into failed statehood , it must begin by addressing the legitimate demands of the people this country has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that process we might also begin to restore our nation ’ s collective decision-making , improve the genuine provision of public services , and make a new and better place for ourselves in the community of nations .
Without it , there is no hope of doing so .
We shouldn ’ t fool ourselves , though .
In Donald Trump ’ s—or even Joe Biden ’ s—United States , it ’ s going to be a long , hard haul .
But better that than a steep fall .

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.
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You know that feeling when you trip on the street and instantly sense that you’re about to crash hard and there’s no way to prevent it? As gravity has its way with you, all you can do is watch yourself going down. Yeah, that feeling.
I had it the other day on my way to a Black Lives Matter demonstration when I caught my toe on a curb and pitched forward. As time slowed down, I saw not my past, but my future, pass before my eyes—a future that would at worst include months of rehabbing a broken hip and at best a few weeks hobbling around on crutches. I was lucky. Nothing was broken and I’ll probably be off the crutches by the time you read this.
But that feeling of falling and knowing it’s too late to stop it has stayed with me. I suspect it reflects a sensation many people in the United States might be having right now, a sense that time is moving slowly while we watch a flailing country in a slow-motion free fall. It has taken decades of government dereliction to get us to this point and a few years of Trumpian sabotage to show us just where we really are. To have any hope of pulling back from the brink, however, will take the determination of organizations like the Movement for Black Lives.
That national descent, when it came, proved remarkably swift. In less than six months, we’ve seen more than 2.5 million confirmed Covid-19 infections and more than 125,000 deaths. And it’s not slowing down. June 24, in fact, saw the biggest single-day total in new US infections (more than 38,000) since April, and that number may well have been superseded by the time this piece comes out. During this pandemic, we’ve gone from an economy of almost full employment—even if at starvation levels for those earning a minimum wage—to one with the worst unemployment since the Great Depression (even as billionaires have once again made a rather literal killing). The government’s response to these twin catastrophes has been feckless at best and criminal at worst. While this country may not yet be a failed state, it’s certainly in a free fall all its own. 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 A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life 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 A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
What Is a Failed State?
People use this expression to indicate a political entity whose government has ceased to perform most or all of its basic functions. Such a condition can result from civil war, untrammeled corruption, natural disaster, or some combination of those and more. The Fund for Peace, which has been working on such issues for more than 70 years, lists four criteria to identify such a country:
Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force therein
Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
Inability to provide public services
Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community
I’ve always thought of such fallen lands (sometimes given a fatal shove by my own government) as far-away places. Countries like Libya. The Fund for Peace identifies that beleaguered and now fractured nation, where rival armed forces compete for primacy, as the one in which government fragility has increased most over the last decade. The present chaos began when the United States and its NATO allies stepped in militarily, precipitating the overthrow of autocrat Moammar El-Gadhafi, with no particular plan for the day after.
Then there’s Yemen, where Washington’s support for the intervention of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates only exacerbated an ongoing civil war, whose civilian victims have been left to confront famine, cholera, and most recently, with a shattered health care system, the coronavirus. And before Libya and Yemen, don’t forget the Bush administration’s disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq, which damaged that country’s physical and political infrastructure in ways it is now, 17 years later, starting to dig out of. Current Issue View our current issue
So, yes, I’d known about failed states, but it wasn’t until I read “We Are Living in a Failed State” by George Packer in the June 2020 Atlantic that I began to seriously entertain the idea that my country was bouncing down the same flight of stairs. As that article’s subtitle put it: “The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken.”
The Monopoly of the Legitimate Use of Force
In his 1919 lecture “Politics as a Vocation,” German sociologist Max Weber observed that “a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” In other words, a state is a given territory whose inhabitants recognize that only one institution, the government, has the capacity—and therefore the right—to authorize the use of violence against members of the community.
Weber described three main ways that the use of violence acquires legitimacy: through long tradition, through the charisma of individual leaders, or in the case of many modern states, through the rule of law. In a way, Donald Trump’s administration can be viewed as one long attempt to roll back the legitimacy derived from the rule of law and replace it with the power of one man’s personal charisma. The president’s often-bumbling attempts to rule by fiat have reminded many fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation of a hapless imitation of Captain Jean-Luc Picard repeatedly calling out from the bridge of the Enterprise, “Make it so!”
Recently, however, Trump has used his presidential authority to directly threaten his own citizens with military force. On June 1, he said at a Rose Garden press conference, “If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.” Minutes later, he showed just how it could be done, when protesters in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square were attacked by a combined force of National Guard, federal Park Police, and Secret Service agents. That last group Trump chose to congratulate for the job they did in a celebratory tweet, addressing them as the “S.S.,” an evocation—one hopes unintentional—of the Schutzstaffel (a Nazi paramilitary force of the previous century.) The world saw, as The Washington Post reported, “federal officers shoving protesters with shields and firing pepper balls, chemical grenades, and smoke bombs at retreating crowds”—all so the president could have a photo-op with his buddy, the Bible, in front of a church down the street from the White House.
Max Weber was hardly suggesting that in a functional state, only the government uses force to achieve its ends. Residents would still, for instance, experience criminal violence. When a state begins to fail, however, it either can’t or won’t prevent other forces from threatening or using violence—a growing trend in Donald Trump’s America. He has even, for instance, encouraged attendees at his rallies to “knock the crap out of” hecklers and offered to pay their legal fees afterward. We’ve watched him congratulate a Republican congressman for physically attacking a reporter and noted his approval of some “very fine people” at the 2017 Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, Va., where a white nationalist murdered a woman by driving his car into a crowd of counterdemonstrators.
Recently, the president’s support for extralegal violence has taken a far more sinister turn. Now, he’s given his imprimatur not just to his individual supporters but also to armed militias opposing their states’ efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He’s urged them to “LIBERATE!” places like Michigan and Virginia, approved of armed vigilantes physically menacing legislators deliberating about Michigan’s stay-at-home policies, and had no objection to their parading in front of the office of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer with signs bearing slogans like “Tyrants get the rope!” His encouragement of armed resistance to state authority so alarmed Washington Governor Jay Inslee that he accused the president of “fomenting domestic rebellion.”
What do you call a nation in which armed militias can threaten officials without fear of penalty? Whether it’s Libya or the United States, I’d call it a state on the way to failing.
Eroding the Legitimacy of Collective Decision Making
The United States is a republic. Those who can vote elect representatives who make the laws that govern us. That’s how federal and state constitutions, city charters, and town bylaws have set out the major process for collective decision-making in this country. (Of course, sometimes we also participate more directly, as when we speak or write about public affairs, demonstrate our concerns in marches with banners and chants, or organize ourselves as communities, workers, or other groups of people sharing common interests.)
Recognizing that this country is still officially a republic doesn’t mean that everyone legally entitled to vote is actually able to vote. I wish that were so. In many parts of this country, however, the Republicans have been working assiduously to make voting by some of us either illegal or impossible.
In my lifetime, African Americans (and some white allies) died to secure the vote, an effort that culminated in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In 2013, however, under George W. Bush–appointed Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court essentially gutted the act. Ever since, we’ve seen an acceleration of efforts to reduce access to the polls for African Americans and other marginalized groups. These include onerous voter identification procedures and restrictions on early voting or access to vote-by-mail options. The Brennan Center for Justice reports that, in the past decade, 25 states have imposed new restrictions on voting.
To the extent that Americans recognize elections as a means of collective decision-making, it’s because a sufficient number of us have confidence in the basic integrity of the system. In less functional societies, the results of elections are frequently, sometimes violently, contested by the losing side. So it’s one thing—and bad enough—for local jurisdictions to make it difficult or impossible for particular groups of people to vote. It’s quite another when a country’s leader acts to undermine public confidence in the entire electoral process.
That, of course, is exactly what Donald Trump has been doing from the moment of his 2016 electoral victory when he began blaming his failure to win the popular vote on millions of ballots supposedly cast illegally by undocumented immigrants. He even set up a presidential commission to investigate such a massive fraud, which later disbanded without finding any evidence to support his contention.
Nonetheless, the president revisited the theme of voter fraud in a 2019 address to young conservatives, this time throwing in a few made-up details for verisimilitude: “…and then those illegals get out and vote, because they vote anyway. Don’t kid yourself. Those numbers in California and numerous other states, they’re rigged. They’ve got people voting that shouldn’t be voting. They vote many times, not just twice, not just three times. It’s like a circle. They come back, they put a new hat on. They come back, they put a new shirt on. And in many cases, they don’t even do that. You know what’s going on. It’s a rigged deal.”
In the context of an ongoing pandemic, the most sensible way to hold the November 2020 election is largely by mail. Oregon has held successful all-mail elections for two decades. In fact, mail-in voting turns out both to be efficient and to substantially boost participation. (Oregon’s turnout was a whopping 63 percent in the 2018 midterm election.) Greater turnout, however, often favors Democratic candidates, which may be why Trump has launched a campaign against mail-in elections, claiming they are fraught with fraud, making his own wild claims in the process. In May, for instance, he tweeted:
There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed.
Only recently, he was at it again, all-cap tweeting:
RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES!
Undermining public confidence in electoral integrity is a vicious strategy. In a country armed to the teeth like this one, when Trump encourages his supporters to believe that only massive fraud will explain his losing the 2020 election, he’s playing a dangerous game indeed. You know that you’re in a new world when opinion writers in the mainstream media find themselves asking if Trump will actually relinquish the White House, should he lose the election. (And if he is losing and vote-by-mail slows the counting process in some states, he’ll use any delay after November 3 to create further “rigged-election” chaos.)
Inability to Provide Public Services
There’s no need to rehearse here the hideous details of the Trump administration’s abject failure to confront the spread of Covid-19 and to acknowledge the people it’s killed. Suffice it to say that a combination of disinterest and incompetence at the federal level has thrown responsibility on individual states and counties, which have found themselves in competition for life-saving equipment and have even been reduced to begging the federal government for support. As thousands were dying, corrupt procurement processes led to absurdities like the purchase of millions of miniature (and unusable) soda bottles instead of the glass tubes needed for virus testing.
As a result, by June 20, 2020, the United States, with 4.25 percent of the world’s population, accounted for more than 26 percent of its 8.9 million verified coronavirus cases and about the same proportion of Covid-19 deaths. However, even if the administration’s response had been well-prepared and brilliantly executed, the pandemic would still have revealed this country’s long-standing inability to provide basic healthnmcare to large numbers of its citizens, especially in communities of color and among the poor.
As Covid-19 spreads in jails and prisons, a grim new aspect of decades of unnecessary and cruel mass incarceration has been revealed. As it ravages encampments of unhoused people, the virus continues to reveal to anyone who hadn’t already noticed the nation’s decades-long inability to house its citizens. The pandemic has also illuminated the devastation wrought by the most profound level of economic inequality since the Gilded Age—the inevitable result of combining staggering tax cuts for the rich with the systematic dismantling of one public service after another, from public education to infrastructure maintenance to emergency food support.
The country that until recently had the world’s greatest economy can’t even guarantee clean drinking water for 63 million Americans. The lead-contaminated water of Flint, Mich., is only the best-known example of this.
Recently, the Ford Foundation, with other big nonprofit funders, made an extraordinary announcement. In the face of the government’s inability to respond adequately to the present crisis, they plan to make at least a billion dollars in new grants. Foundations giving away money is, of course, nothing new. What’s different is how they plan to fund this operation: by issuing “social bonds”—investment instruments for sale alongside US Treasury bills and municipal bonds.
What does it say about a country when private foundations find themselves driven to borrow money in the bond market to provide public services that ought to come from the government?
Inability to Act as a Full Member of the International Community
Here, too, the Trump administration has pushed the United States toward failure. Though this country had in the past routinely acted less like a member of the international community than its hegemon, with this president there is no longer even a semblance of international cooperation on global issues. He’s withdrawn us from a previously successful treaty to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, as well as from successful Cold War treaties to control them. He’s repeatedly threatened to pull the United States out of NATO and placed sanctions on individuals working with the International Criminal Court investigating possible American war crimes in Afghanistan. In the midst of this global pandemic, he’s even pulling out of the World Health Organization.
Perhaps most disastrous of all, he’s reneged on our obligations under the Paris climate accord, thereby undermining humanity’s best hope of staving off an ecological catastrophe.
Under Donald Trump, in other words, the United States has demonstrated that even if it is not unable to take its place among the community of nations, it is certainly unwilling to do so.
Can Black Lives Matter Break the Fall?
My thinking about our nation’s rapid fall into failure began with my personal tumble on the way to a Black Lives Matter demonstration. In a way, that couldn’t be more fitting, because African Americans, particularly through their presence on the streets and in the media, are leading the present effort to pull this country back from the brink and toward legitimacy, more collective decision-making, the genuine provision of people’s needs, and participation in the community of nations.
The platform of the Movement for Black Lives represents an excellent place to start when it comes to preventing this country from becoming a failed state. The document itself is the result of an extended process of collective discussion and decision-making. Its goals include ending police violence and mass incarceration; investing in community needs; supporting the rights of women, LGBTQ communities, and immigrants; creating economic justice; and increasing black political power.
The Black Lives Matter movement began in response to this country’s long history of state-sanctioned violence against African Americans, whether in the form of lynching, cultural erasure, forced labor, or predatory lending. More than a century of violent, indeed murderous, policing of black and other marginalized communities has made this country’s use of state violence profoundly illegitimate. The present wave of resistance has forced the rest of the country, and the world, to look at it squarely.
If the United States is to break its headlong rush into failed statehood, it must begin by addressing the legitimate demands of the people this country has failed from its very inception. Through that process we might also begin to restore our nation’s collective decision-making, improve the genuine provision of public services, and make a new and better place for ourselves in the community of nations. Without it, there is no hope of doing so.
We shouldn’t fool ourselves, though. In Donald Trump’s—or even Joe Biden’s—United States, it’s going to be a long, hard haul. But better that than a steep fall.


thenation--2020-07-01--Diaspora Organizations Are Stepping Into the Void on Covid-19

As Covid-19 began to take its toll in New York City back in March , over in Hong Kong , artist Tiffany Sia watched the number of infections and deaths rise in horror .
Having spent her childhood and adolescence in Manhattan before returning to her city of birth , she was deeply troubled by the lack of available basic protection , even as she watched her friends and family members living there contract Covid-19 , and American officials tell people not to wear masks .
Frustrated that Americans weren ’ t embracing what she saw as a simple way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she got in touch with a few friends , including Wilfred Chan , a contributing writer to The Nation , to set up a “ DIY supply network ” —in their words—to fundraise , purchase masks from a reliable distributor contact Sia had found , and get these masks in the hands of people working on the front lines at medical centers , at supermarkets , and inside Rikers .
When the virus began to die down in Hong Kong , Sia was not the only one supporting those on the other side @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , connected through a large diaspora around the world , are sending masks and supplies to their family and friends around the United States , Canada , and the United Kingdom .
“ Every time we go to FedEx , it is completely jam-packed , ” she says , describing how she and other volunteers must arrive at the courier offices in the morning for a number , and wait up to three hours in line for their number to be called because of the number of people posting boxes of masks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has little concept of national borders—or statelessness—national governments are still competing against one another and imposing trade restrictions not just on personal protective equipment ( PPE ) and medical supplies but also on potential treatments for the virus .
And yet , globally , there are now more than 9 million cases of Covid-19 , and the virus has found its way to every continent except Antarctica .
Already , the pandemic and its effects have cut the global flow of people , goods , and money , particularly remittances , the personal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their home countries .
The World Bank has predicted that remittances will experience a historically sharp decline , falling from $ 551 billion in 2019 to $ 445 billion this year , a drop of 20 percent .
“ Even remittance source countries have been impacted , and perhaps even more so than recipient countries , ” said Dilip Ratha , lead economist on migration and remittances for the World Bank .
The Covid-19 Vaccine Should Belong to the People Against this backdrop , grassroots groups connected by diaspora are stepping in as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ range from informal social clubs to institutionalized business associations , because they are defined by having a connection to a common homeland or base culture across borders , they have structural advantages that make them well-poised to turn into transnational networks of mutual aid when they need to , says Jennifer Brinkerhoff , an associate professor of international relations at George Washington University specializing in international development , diaspora , and the voluntary sector .
“ To the extent that these are communities bound by their passion for their place of origin , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential is quite significant to help people cope during Covid-19.
” Already , people connected by diaspora “ have more experience creating communities online .
They know how to connect with people who live at great distances physically , they understand how to connect with people that they don ’ t know personally , ” she says .
“ But they also have the professional networks to get the resources needed [ to and from ] that country.
” When it comes to emergency response , according to the UN ’ s International @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only often the first to respond ; their political , social , cultural and human capital coupled with their in-depth knowledge of the country , and familiarity with local languages , social , cultural , and religious norms , can lead to more targeted and tailored responses.
” “ The advantage of these networks is they can get fellow compatriots to contribute to what they ’ re doing .
Rather than trusting an anonymous bureaucracy , the potential to mobilize resources that would otherwise not be mobilized is quite high , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diaspora organizations helping international students , to doctors and health professionals sharing medical medical advice within their respective diasporas from countries in East Africa and Armenia , members of transnational communities have stepped in where national governments have failed .
Indeed , as humanitarian crises and migration scholars Dennis Dijkzuel and Margit Fauser write in Diaspora Organizations in International Affairs , diaspora organizations may be seen not only “ emancipatory forces serving the grass roots and giving voice to migrants ” but also “ service-delivery substitutes in places where governments , international NGOs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizations are either too bureaucratic and inefficient , or lack access and local acceptance.
” Brinkerhoff points out that informal diaspora networks can mobilize quicker than governments or for-profits since they ’ re not bound to the same formalized structures .
In Honduras , the grassroots nature of such organizations have enabled them to circumvent government bureaucracy and corruption that have left medical staff without adequate PPE .
Those working on the front line in Honduras have had to rely on informal efforts such as @ unidos.por.honduras , an Instagram page set up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Marielle Hawit and Paolina Kafati , who asked friends and family around the world to donate via Go Fund Me and Venmo so they could buy equipment such as thermometers , oximeters , and vital-sign monitors for staff working in hospitals and testing centers .
“ It ’ s a bit unfortunate to say this , but the government received a lot of money , and I don ’ t know what they ’ re doing with it , ” says Kafati .
Meanwhile , in neighboring Nicaragua , it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primarily in Costa Rica and the United States to provide not just material support but also information about the virus .
With Vice President Rosario Murillo dismissing medical professionals ’ complaints over a lack of equipment as an attempt to spread conspiracy theories , and her husband President Daniel Ortega publicly attacking Covid-19 prevention measures , coupled with a restricted press , the task of health communication has fallen to grassroots networks such as Nicaragua Libre Los Angeles , SOS Nicaragua Costa Rica and the Coalition of Nicaraguans Exiled in Panama to disseminate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ properly wash your hands , via their respective Facebook groups .
The founder of Nicaragua Libre Los Angeles , Grettel Campbell , says that she ’ s been hosting interviews with doctors and working with singers to create public health messaging to post on Facebook , while SOS Nicaragua CR has posted informational videos from the Panamerican Health Organization .
The latter organization has also collaborated with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to deliver care packages to the vast Nicaraguan population in Costa Rica , including those who haven ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite no official border closure .
Campbell sends a video that shows her companions in Masaya and Managua delivering beans , rice , sugar , oil , masa harina , masks , hand sanitizer , and gloves—all packed into red reusable tote bags—to families of hospital workers and political prisoners .
Since the outbreak of the virus , Campbell , says she has brought together “ siblings , cousins , grandparents , aunts and uncles ” in both the United States and Nicaragua to raise money .
“ To be honest , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says Campbell , when asked how many donations she ’ s received so far .
She acknowledges the difficulty of the task when many Nicaraguans abroad who would normally be sending support have lost their jobs as well .
Still , she points out , “ we ’ ve organized the community .
We ’ re taking care of ourselves.
” Though it ’ s perhaps too soon to quantify exactly what a difference this help has made , 13 weeks after Sia and Chan started the Hong Kong to NYC mask circuit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to send over 56,000 masks to the United States .
They ’ ve since expanded beyond their original remit , and have sent masks to people of the Navajo Nation , the Havasupai community , and Ojibwe , Kiowa , White Mountain Apache , and Zuni Tribes , as well as to protesters in New York City and Minnesota .
Sia says diasporic community trust was absolutely key in reaching this scale , or even being able to send masks in the first place .
“ For myself , and others involved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not all—we feel deeply how dire the situation is because it ’ s impacting our community , our friends and our family , ” Sia says .
“ This wouldn ’ t be possible , I think , if we didn ’ t have a diaspora network ; between having a foothold in [ both places ] , and just knowing what the needs are .
”

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As Covid-19 began to take its toll in New York City back in March, over in Hong Kong, artist Tiffany Sia watched the number of infections and deaths rise in horror. Having spent her childhood and adolescence in Manhattan before returning to her city of birth, she was deeply troubled by the lack of available basic protection, even as she watched her friends and family members living there contract Covid-19, and American officials tell people not to wear masks. Frustrated that Americans weren’t embracing what she saw as a simple way to confront an increasingly dire situation, she got in touch with a few friends, including Wilfred Chan, a contributing writer to The Nation, to set up a “DIY supply network”—in their words—to fundraise, purchase masks from a reliable distributor contact Sia had found, and get these masks in the hands of people working on the front lines at medical centers, at supermarkets, and inside Rikers.
When the virus began to die down in Hong Kong, Sia was not the only one supporting those on the other side of the world: Many Hong Kongers, connected through a large diaspora around the world, are sending masks and supplies to their family and friends around the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “Every time we go to FedEx, it is completely jam-packed,” she says, describing how she and other volunteers must arrive at the courier offices in the morning for a number, and wait up to three hours in line for their number to be called because of the number of people posting boxes of masks.
Despite being faced with a pandemic that has little concept of national borders—or statelessness—national governments are still competing against one another and imposing trade restrictions not just on personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies but also on potential treatments for the virus.
And yet, globally, there are now more than 9 million cases of Covid-19, and the virus has found its way to every continent except Antarctica. Already, the pandemic and its effects have cut the global flow of people, goods, and money, particularly remittances, the personal savings migrants send to their families in their home countries. The World Bank has predicted that remittances will experience a historically sharp decline, falling from $551 billion in 2019 to $445 billion this year, a drop of 20 percent. “Even remittance source countries have been impacted, and perhaps even more so than recipient countries,” said Dilip Ratha, lead economist on migration and remittances for the World Bank. 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 A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life 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 A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Related Article The Covid-19 Vaccine Should Belong to the People Ady Barkan and Zain Rizvi
Against this backdrop, grassroots groups connected by diaspora are stepping in as a foil. Though diaspora organizations can range from informal social clubs to institutionalized business associations, because they are defined by having a connection to a common homeland or base culture across borders, they have structural advantages that make them well-poised to turn into transnational networks of mutual aid when they need to, says Jennifer Brinkerhoff, an associate professor of international relations at George Washington University specializing in international development, diaspora, and the voluntary sector. “To the extent that these are communities bound by their passion for their place of origin, with a mix of skills, the potential is quite significant to help people cope during Covid-19.”
Already, people connected by diaspora “have more experience creating communities online. They know how to connect with people who live at great distances physically, they understand how to connect with people that they don’t know personally,” she says. “But they also have the professional networks to get the resources needed [to and from] that country.”
When it comes to emergency response, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, “diasporas are not only often the first to respond; their political, social, cultural and human capital coupled with their in-depth knowledge of the country, and familiarity with local languages, social, cultural, and religious norms, can lead to more targeted and tailored responses.” Current Issue View our current issue
“The advantage of these networks is they can get fellow compatriots to contribute to what they’re doing. Rather than trusting an anonymous bureaucracy, the potential to mobilize resources that would otherwise not be mobilized is quite high,” says Brinkerhoff.
From Filipino and Indian diaspora organizations helping international students, to doctors and health professionals sharing medical medical advice within their respective diasporas from countries in East Africa and Armenia, members of transnational communities have stepped in where national governments have failed.
Indeed, as humanitarian crises and migration scholars Dennis Dijkzuel and Margit Fauser write in Diaspora Organizations in International Affairs, diaspora organizations may be seen not only “emancipatory forces serving the grass roots and giving voice to migrants” but also “service-delivery substitutes in places where governments, international NGOs, and United Nations (UN) organizations are either too bureaucratic and inefficient, or lack access and local acceptance.”
Brinkerhoff points out that informal diaspora networks can mobilize quicker than governments or for-profits since they’re not bound to the same formalized structures.
In Honduras, the grassroots nature of such organizations have enabled them to circumvent government bureaucracy and corruption that have left medical staff without adequate PPE. Those working on the front line in Honduras have had to rely on informal efforts such as @unidos.por.honduras, an Instagram page set up by two friends in San Pedro Sula, Marielle Hawit and Paolina Kafati, who asked friends and family around the world to donate via Go Fund Me and Venmo so they could buy equipment such as thermometers, oximeters, and vital-sign monitors for staff working in hospitals and testing centers. “It’s a bit unfortunate to say this, but the government received a lot of money, and I don’t know what they’re doing with it,” says Kafati.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Nicaragua, it’s been up to the large diaspora living primarily in Costa Rica and the United States to provide not just material support but also information about the virus. With Vice President Rosario Murillo dismissing medical professionals’ complaints over a lack of equipment as an attempt to spread conspiracy theories, and her husband President Daniel Ortega publicly attacking Covid-19 prevention measures, coupled with a restricted press, the task of health communication has fallen to grassroots networks such as Nicaragua Libre Los Angeles, SOS Nicaragua Costa Rica and the Coalition of Nicaraguans Exiled in Panama to disseminate even basic information such as how to properly wash your hands, via their respective Facebook groups.
The founder of Nicaragua Libre Los Angeles, Grettel Campbell, says that she’s been hosting interviews with doctors and working with singers to create public health messaging to post on Facebook, while SOS Nicaragua CR has posted informational videos from the Panamerican Health Organization. The latter organization has also collaborated with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to deliver care packages to the vast Nicaraguan population in Costa Rica, including those who haven’t been allowed back into their home country despite no official border closure.
Campbell sends a video that shows her companions in Masaya and Managua delivering beans, rice, sugar, oil, masa harina, masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves—all packed into red reusable tote bags—to families of hospital workers and political prisoners. Since the outbreak of the virus, Campbell, says she has brought together “siblings, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles” in both the United States and Nicaragua to raise money.
“To be honest, it’s not a lot,” says Campbell, when asked how many donations she’s received so far. She acknowledges the difficulty of the task when many Nicaraguans abroad who would normally be sending support have lost their jobs as well. Still, she points out, “we’ve organized the community. We’re taking care of ourselves.”
Though it’s perhaps too soon to quantify exactly what a difference this help has made, 13 weeks after Sia and Chan started the Hong Kong to NYC mask circuit, they have raised over $29,000 to send over 56,000 masks to the United States. They’ve since expanded beyond their original remit, and have sent masks to people of the Navajo Nation, the Havasupai community, and Ojibwe, Kiowa, White Mountain Apache, and Zuni Tribes, as well as to protesters in New York City and Minnesota.
Sia says diasporic community trust was absolutely key in reaching this scale, or even being able to send masks in the first place. “For myself, and others involved in this initiative—many are Hong Kong diaspora but not all—we feel deeply how dire the situation is because it’s impacting our community, our friends and our family,” Sia says. “This wouldn’t be possible, I think, if we didn’t have a diaspora network; between having a foothold in [both places], and just knowing what the needs are.”


thenation--2020-06-30--Why Are Federal Jurists Cheering on Voter Suppression in Wisconsin?

adison , is.—Voter suppression takes many forms , and it is always vile .
But in a Covid-19 moment when President Trump and his amen corner in Congress and the states resist voting by mail , restrictions on early voting are especially vile .
As the American Civil Liberties Union explains , this form of voter suppression is a recipe for “ longer lines and fewer voters.
” With the very real threat of a coronavirus resurgence in the fall , forcing people to wait in long lines could prove to be exceptionally dangerous .
The way to avert that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ample opportunities for people to safety cast ballots before Election Day .
Unfortunately , Republicans legislators and the conservative jurists who do their bidding are now moving to limit early voting .
And this week they secured a court ruling , from a panel made up of Republican appointees to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit , that restricts early voting in the vital battleground state of Wisconsin .
Worse yet , the decision , written by conservative Judge Frank Easterbrook , claims that “ legislators are entitled to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voting.
” That ’ s a radical reinterpretation of the law .
“ The Supreme Court has never held that partisan animus provides a legitimate basis for discriminatory voting rules , ” notes election law expert Rick Hasen , a professor of political science and law at the University of California , Irvine .
Yet as Hasen points out , Easterbrook is suggesting , “ in a very troubling way , that making it harder to vote on the basis of party is perfectly acceptable.
” The Next Politics Is All About Movements—and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activism writ large , and it is exceptionally dangerous , as it effectively invites Republican legislators in Wisconsin and elsewhere to ponder even more aggressive assaults on voting rights .
“ The judges take the Supreme Court ’ s redistricting decision and use it to argue that , essentially , lawmakers can change any election law for purposes of partisan advantage , as long as they ’ re not explicitly talking about racial ( or other barred ) discrimination while they do it , ” explains Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one party has so relentlessly weaponized racism , voting is now highly predicted by race—and so it ’ s possible to suppress the vote of African-Americans under the guise of suppressing Democrats .
This opens the door to making that legal.
” The fight over early voting in Wisconsin has deep roots .
The state , once a leader in the nation when it came to making it easy to vote , has a history of very high turnout and often very close elections .
Former Governor Scott Walker and his legislative allies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state after the 2010 election to undermine voting rights , with extreme gerrymandering , manipulation of election dates , restrictive photo ID laws , and assaults on early voting .
They went so far that their schemes were often upended by the courts .
That ’ s what happened when , after Walker was defeated for reelection in 2018 , he and Republican legislators used a post-election “ lame-duck ” session to enact legislation cutting back early voting to the two weeks before the election .
There wasn ’ t any question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Walker and other statewide Republican candidates had all lost to Democrats in an election that saw significant levels of in-person absentee voting during the month before the election in Milwaukee , a city with large Black and Latino populations , and Madison , a city with a large student population , that gave big margins to the Democrats .
A pair of progressive organizations , Citizen Action of Wisconsin and One Wisconsin Institute , challenged the 2019 legislation in a motion to Judge James D. Peterson of the US District Court of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previously struck down Republican attempts to curtail early voting that takes place during the month before an election .
Judge Peterson had determined in 2016 that the earlier limitation on early voting “ intentionally discriminates on the basis of race ” in a ruling where he wrote , “ The Legislature ’ s objective was political .
Republicans sought to maintain control of state government .
But the methods that the Legislature chose to achieve that involved suppressing the votes of Milwaukee ’ s residents , who are disproportionately African-American and Latino.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blocked the legislature ’ s assault on early voting , writing that legislative Republicans did not even “ attempt to show that there is a material difference ” between the new law and the one he had previously rejected .
Former attorney general Eric Holder called the 2019 decision by Judge Peterson “ a victory for the citizens of Wisconsin and a rebuke to their defeated former governor and his cronies in the state Legislature.
” He added , “ Every voter in the state should be asking one question : Why are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the people they claim they want to represent ?
” Now , they can also ask that question about Walker ’ s Republican cronies on the appeals court bench .
Easterbrook , who cut his teeth working in the United States Solicitor General ’ s office as an assistant to Robert Bork and who was appointed to the Seventh Circuit bench by Ronald Reagan , has upended Judge Peterson ’ s reasoned judgment with a ruling ( made with conservative Judges Michael Kanne and Diane Sykes ) that says , “ Early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ itself ; it is but one aspect of a state ’ s election system.
” The Past and Future of Latinx Politics Charles Booker Is Determined to Fight Voter Suppression in Kentucky More in this series True .
But when other aspects , such as voting by mail , are being constrained by Republicans who are bent on suppressing the vote , early voting is an important aspect—especially in Wisconsin .
Earlier this year , Republican legislators and their allies on the state supreme court blocked a move by Governor Tony Evers to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be forced to stand in long lines to participate in April 7 presidential primaries and nonpartisan elections for state and local posts .
Even as public health authorities warned people to stay home to avoid the spread of the coronavirus , voters in Milwaukee and other communities waited for hours to cast ballots .
To avoid a repeat of what is referred to as “ Wisconsin ’ s pandemic election , ” cities were planning for extensive in-person voting—as part of broader plans to encourage mail-in absentee voting and safe and fair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do their best .
But with the Seventh Circuit ’ s decision , Wikler worries about a repeat of the April 7 election fiasco because—no matter what the judges may claim— “ cutting down early voting means longer lines.
” And in these times , longer lines pose a threat not just to democracy but also to public health .

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M adison, W is.—Voter suppression takes many forms, and it is always vile. But in a Covid-19 moment when President Trump and his amen corner in Congress and the states resist voting by mail, restrictions on early voting are especially vile. As the American Civil Liberties Union explains, this form of voter suppression is a recipe for “longer lines and fewer voters.”
With the very real threat of a coronavirus resurgence in the fall, forcing people to wait in long lines could prove to be exceptionally dangerous. The way to avert that danger is by assuring that there are ample opportunities for people to safely cast ballots before Election Day.
Unfortunately, Republicans legislators and the conservative jurists who do their bidding are now moving to limit early voting. And this week they secured a court ruling, from a panel made up of Republican appointees to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, that restricts early voting in the vital battleground state of Wisconsin. Worse yet, the decision, written by conservative Judge Frank Easterbrook, claims that “legislators are entitled to consider politics when changing the rules about voting.”
That’s a radical reinterpretation of the law. “The Supreme Court has never held that partisan animus provides a legitimate basis for discriminatory voting rules,” notes election law expert Rick Hasen, a professor of political science and law at the University of California, Irvine. Yet as Hasen points out, Easterbrook is suggesting, “in a very troubling way, that making it harder to vote on the basis of party is perfectly acceptable.” More From John Nichols A GOP Debate Without Trump Is the Definition of Pointlessness August 11, 2023 A Win for Abortion Rights, a Win for Democracy: Ohio Voters Reject Issue 1 August 9, 2023 The Biggest Threat to Donald Trump Could Be the Constitution Itself August 4, 2023
This is judicial activism writ large, and it is exceptionally dangerous, as it effectively invites Republican legislators in Wisconsin and elsewhere to ponder even more aggressive assaults on voting rights. “The judges take the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision and use it to argue that, essentially, lawmakers can change any election law for purposes of partisan advantage, as long as they’re not explicitly talking about racial (or other barred) discrimination while they do it,” explains Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler. “The truth is that because one party has so relentlessly weaponized racism, voting is now highly predicted by race—and so it’s possible to suppress the vote of African-Americans under the guise of suppressing Democrats. This opens the door to making that legal.”
The fight over early voting in Wisconsin has deep roots. The state, once a leader in the nation when it came to making it easy to vote, has a history of very high turnout and often very close elections. Former Governor Scott Walker and his legislative allies moved aggressively when they took control of the state after the 2010 election to undermine voting rights, with extreme gerrymandering, manipulation of election dates, restrictive photo ID laws, and assaults on early voting. They went so far that their schemes were often upended by the courts. That’s what happened when, after Walker was defeated for reelection in 2018, he and Republican legislators used a post-election “lame-duck” session to enact legislation cutting back early voting to the two weeks before the election. 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 A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life 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 A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
There wasn’t any question about what they were up to. Walker and other statewide Republican candidates had all lost to Democrats in an election that saw significant levels of in-person absentee voting during the month before the election in Milwaukee, a city with large Black and Latino populations, and Madison, a city with a large student population, that gave big margins to the Democrats. Current Issue View our current issue
A pair of progressive organizations, Citizen Action of Wisconsin and One Wisconsin Institute, challenged the 2019 legislation in a motion to Judge James D. Peterson of the US District Court of the Western District of Wisconsin, who had previously struck down Republican attempts to curtail early voting that takes place during the month before an election. Judge Peterson had determined in 2016 that the earlier limitation on early voting “intentionally discriminates on the basis of race” in a ruling where he wrote, “The Legislature’s objective was political. Republicans sought to maintain control of state government. But the methods that the Legislature chose to achieve that involved suppressing the votes of Milwaukee’s residents, who are disproportionately African-American and Latino.”
In early 2019, Judge Peterson again blocked the legislature’s assault on early voting, writing that legislative Republicans did not even “attempt to show that there is a material difference” between the new law and the one he had previously rejected.
Former attorney general Eric Holder called the 2019 decision by Judge Peterson “a victory for the citizens of Wisconsin and a rebuke to their defeated former governor and his cronies in the state Legislature.” He added, “Every voter in the state should be asking one question: Why are Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature so afraid of the people they claim they want to represent?”
Now, they can also ask that question about Walker’s Republican cronies on the appeals court bench.
Easterbrook, who cut his teeth working in the United States Solicitor General’s office as an assistant to Robert Bork and who was appointed to the Seventh Circuit bench by Ronald Reagan, has upended Judge Peterson’s reasoned judgment with a ruling (made with conservative Judges Michael Kanne and Diane Sykes) that says, “Early voting is not a fundamental right in itself; it is but one aspect of a state’s election system.” Voter Suppression Tennessee Republicans Are Showing Exactly How Deep American Racism Goes Elie Mystal It’s No Coincidence That the Midterms Turned the Blackest Parts of America Red Clarence Lusane A Georgia Republican Brags That Voter Suppression Helped Them in 2022 Joan Walsh
True. But when other aspects, such as voting by mail, are being constrained by Republicans who are bent on suppressing the vote, early voting is an important aspect—especially in Wisconsin. Earlier this year, Republican legislators and their allies on the state supreme court blocked a move by Governor Tony Evers to extend absentee voting so that people would not be forced to stand in long lines to participate in April 7 presidential primaries and nonpartisan elections for state and local posts. Even as public health authorities warned people to stay home to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, voters in Milwaukee and other communities waited for hours to cast ballots.
To avoid a repeat of what is referred to as “Wisconsin’s pandemic election,” cities were planning for extensive in-person voting—as part of broader plans to encourage mail-in absentee voting and safe and fair Election Day voting. They will still do their best.
But with the Seventh Circuit’s decision, Wikler worries about a repeat of the April 7 election fiasco because—no matter what the judges may claim—“cutting down early voting means longer lines.” And in these times, longer lines pose a threat not just to democracy but also to public health.


thenation--2020-06-30--How Progressive Victories Blow Up the Conventional Wisdom

Though the final votes are still being tallied from last week ’ s Democratic primaries , the outcome is already clear : The progressive movement inside and outside the Democratic Party is , contrary to conventional wisdom , alive and kicking .
The millions of people demonstrating in the streets are accompanied by record turnouts in primary elections despite the pandemic .
And establishment candidates deaf to the demand for change are courting defeat .
One telling result was Jamaal Bowman ’ s rout of incumbent Representative Eliot Engel in New York ’ s 16th congressional district .
Bowman , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the past 20 years , was recruited to run by Justice Democrats , the same group that propelled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ’ s upset victory over Joe Crowley in 2018 .
Like Ocasio-Cortez , Bowman embraced the full progressive agenda , from racial justice to Medicare-for-all to the Green New Deal .
Democratic establishment stalwarts rushed to endorse Engel , the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee seeking his 17th term in office .
Nancy Pelosi and Charles E. Schumer backed him ; so , too , did Hillary Clinton , in her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race this cycle .
Bowman was embraced by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren , as well as key progressive groups .
With the choice clear , Democratic voters swept Bowman to victory .
Read the full text of Katrina ’ 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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Though the final votes are still being tallied from last week’s Democratic primaries, the outcome is already clear: The progressive movement inside and outside the Democratic Party is, contrary to conventional wisdom, alive and kicking. The millions of people demonstrating in the streets are accompanied by record turnouts in primary elections despite the pandemic. And establishment candidates deaf to the demand for change are courting defeat.
One telling result was Jamaal Bowman’s rout of incumbent Representative Eliot Engel in New York’s 16th congressional district. Bowman, an African American public school educator for the past 20 years, was recruited to run by Justice Democrats, the same group that propelled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upset victory over Joe Crowley in 2018. Like Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman embraced the full progressive agenda, from racial justice to Medicare-for-all to the Green New Deal. Democratic establishment stalwarts rushed to endorse Engel, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee seeking his 17th term in office. Nancy Pelosi and Charles E. Schumer backed him; so, too, did Hillary Clinton, in her first public endorsement in a Democratic House race this cycle. Bowman was embraced by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as key progressive groups. With the choice clear, Democratic voters swept Bowman to victory.
Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.