thenation--2020-09-15--The Incantatory Power of Ayad Akhtar and Shahzia Sikander

In an age of visual profusion , when the vividness and abundance of images consumed for distraction and commerce is breathtaking , it might seem naive for an artist to try top create images of incantatory , even magical power .
To seek a holy relationship to the image today is often seen as foolhardy .
In the Western tradition , before the Renaissance and Reformation , images were the vehicle of presence ; they could summon a saint into being .
Observers stood in veneration , seeking intercession , dialogue , wisdom ; an image was the basis of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far deeper than aesthetic appreciation .
The extraordinary and unique work of Shahzia Sikander proceeds from a faith in this primal power of the image , and in the belief of an artist as a seer .
It is a timeless faith , at odds with our accelerated times , which only makes Sikander ’ s commitment to plumbing the mysterious power of images all the more remarkable .
Over the course of her career , Sikander ’ s image production has grown at once more subtle and more encompassing .
Her reclaiming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the historical Indo-Persian painting canon , replete with representations of the otherworldly and its angelic hosts , is more than just a nod to a historical mythos .
It is an ensign signaling her profoundest ambition : to reclaim the mythic and sublime not as modes of commentary , or even of expression , but as gateways to experience itself .
In 2015 , Sikander reached out to me with an idea to collaborate on a project she was working on .
A conversation started , and slowly , we began to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ penned portraits based on characters in my new book , Homeland Elegies .
Sikander and I wrote our own questions to guide our conversation about art , Islam , and politics .
How did you meet ?
yad khtar : Shahzia , I have been an admirer of your work for years .
When you reached out to me , unbidden , four years ago I was gobsmacked .
hahzia ikander : I ’ m not sure what drove me to reach out to you , other than a deep intuition that what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to my own ongoing research .
I could sense there was much for us to discuss .
I sensed an artist who was plumbing the depths of a heritage we both share—and doing so caught between worlds , between artistic vocabularies , between cultures , practices , histories .
I suppose I also felt a kind of kinship with you .
We could ’ ve easily met in Pakistan , in a mutual family friend ’ s aunt ’ s home in Rawalpindi or Abbottabad .
Oddly , in your new novel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are in the latter city in 2009 , when I was also there , filming Bending the Barrels at the military academy .
How did your collaboration begin ?
SS : I thought you might be interested in matters of representation and identity— AA : And I was resolutely not interested in that !
SS : Which I figured out soon enough .
But it got us on the subject of Islamic philosophy , spirituality , and the Prophet .
AA : Which is a subject I am often on .
One of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how little people are interested in approaching the Prophet as a literary construction .
Which is so different from how the Old Testament is now read : where we can approach it as a literary text , with its major figures operating as characters in a story , where we can extract literary and sociological meaning from the narrative and linguistic construction .
It ’ s so clear that the construction of the Prophet ’ s identity is rich with exactly these kinds of valences , and they are mostly lost because there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quran that way .
SS : The conversation led to the topic of the miraj , in particular its role in Muslim traditions and the complexities inherent in his imagination and depiction , both in Islamic lands and in the West .
AA : Just to clarify , miraj is the tradition of the Prophet ’ s alleged miraculous journey into the celestial realms , all of which took place over the course of a single night .
Interestingly enough , some have seen the tradition of miraj as part of Dante ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SS : The resulting collaboration , a series of four etchings titled Portrait of the Artist and Breath of Miraj , provides a lyrical interpretation of the Prophet ’ s celestial ascent .
For me , this work was rather uncanny in its timing : I won the Princeton commission around that moment and also started researching several historical miraj paintings with the art historian John Seyller such as the Ilkhanid paintings held in the Topkapı Palace Library in Istanbul , the Timurid miraj paintings in the David Collection in Copenhagen , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Khamsa of Nizami , Tabriz Iran , in the British Library .
The more I studied the various historical miraj paintings , the more I connected I felt to the visual , stylistic , and emotional intelligence of the works .
It was a deeply moving experience .
Then I had the epiphany to incorporate the ascension motif in the Princeton mosaic , with the hope to inject a visceral and powerful experience for the viewer .
AA : And to stick an effigy of me into the middle of it !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ me !
[ Laughing ] To clarify , it ’ s in a separate section of the tripartite related to life and death .
Ayad , can you tell us more about the series of portraits Shahzia created in response to your characters ?
AA : In the spring of 2018 , I started writing a kind of epic lyric to America , which would eventually become Homeland Elegies .
I shared an early chapter of it with you , as a way of getting some perspective on what I ’ d done @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partly set in Pakistan and that dealt with the interweaving of the myth and identity in the generation of American immigrants from Pakistan that my parents represented .
SS : That early chapter was striking as it was very visual .
I felt connected to the scenes , driving in the car with you , your father and the driver , privy to everybody ’ s body language and the conversation , while hearing the street kids singing in the slums .
The tension between the father and son , the different realities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so palpable .
AA : The episode you ’ re referring to is at the end of the chapter , when my father agrees to visit the sick son of his driver in the shantytown where the boy is languishing from a high fever .
SS : The timing , as usual , was uncanny .
I was reading Mathew Arnold ’ s poem Sohrab and Rustum while researching the Shahnameh folios at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto and the MET museum parsing the Persian epic poem about the father and son @ @ @ @ @ @ @ son .
The cyclical nature of violence inherent in that tragedy was playing in the background when your book landed in my inbox .
The relationship of father and son that unfolds through your fiction gave me another lens into the generational dynamic .
Immigrant parents and their first-generation children straddling diasporic tensions and cultural expectations in America is also a topic of interest to me .
As you know , a few of the new paintings touch on all these points .
My favorite is the theme of the child emerging out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intense with rage or determination , it ’ s not clear .
AA : And then a series of graphite portraits came about .
I don ’ t remember exactly what the genesis was , but I think you had done a portrait of one of your family members , and I recall making a comment about the way you were working in the tradition of both the Mughal miniature and [ Jean-Auguste-Dominique ] Ingres [ a French neoclassical painter ] .
That led to a conversation about the various portrayals in Homeland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American Pakistani diaspora , but a series of portraits that covered the range from Robert Bork [ a conservative federal judge and jurist ] to my mother .
SS : What was particularly pregnant was the idea of portraits that were thoroughly American , as the narrative is , but which are informed by a Muslim iconographic tradition , in this case , miniature .
AA : The visual language you seemed to find intuitively seemed to reflect exactly what I was after : a Muslim-American representation unique in its specificity , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ root , though , I would say it is Islam that really binds us , that unifies us , our experience of it , our response to it , the ways it has inspired us , and foreclosed certain things as well .
SS : True , but I don ’ t think it ’ s just Islam that interests me about what you ’ re doing .
You are also expressing underlying currents in the political divisions of American society .
And the interplay between both sides of that hyphenate reality , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is at the core of my own work .
You ’ re giving rich shape to the different lifestyles , different class stratifications , the movement across and from one culture to another , the range of cultural differences , the aspirations of immigrants , the various sites of conflict , the capitalist economy and how it has an in-built social inequality system , the drive for profit— AA : In some ways , it ’ s the thing that a lot of native-born Americans don ’ t fundamentally understand about this country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That so much of the appeal of coming to America is about the desire to make money .
That was clear to someone like [ Alexis ] de Tocqueville more than 200 years ago .
A lot of the other stuff—that much vaunted notion of freedom—is really the freedom from the shame of making money that so many other cultures have .
Shahzia , what current socio-political issues do your new works explore ?
SS : My new works emerge from a deep engagement with the climate crisis .
Particularly , these works @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the imagination and art as sources of abundance .
Art and imagination replenish , breathe life , sow seeds of growth .
AA : I ’ m particularly struck by your Christmas Tree series .
And I find that notion of abundance and extraction beautifully embodied in it .
SS : That Christmas tree motif is based on a photograph of oil pumping platforms .
I found the photo in a 1962 issue of BP magazine .
When I saw it , I was not aware oil rigs were called Christmas trees .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in BP magazine as ingenious English wit , a comment on the gift-bearing sentiment of the oil rigs .
I was inspired to create Christmas trees out of their valves , spools , and knobs , using chains as garlands .
AA : The paintings bring to mind the contradictions of capitalism as an almost mythic presence : promising abundance , while being an engine of extraction , exploitation , and planetary violence .
Like a terrible ineluctable seductive god .
Shahzia , how does your new body of work grapple with economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ link between these ideas and the East India Trading Company ?
SS : South Asia has more than 200 hundred years of colonization .
Missionary and colonial histories and imperial policies are entrenched in many parts of the colonized world .
My interest is to invent visual forms that challenge patriarchal narratives .
In drawing unexpected connections and juxtapositions , I can move stories and people forward .
AA : History is substantially the account of the movement of objects and bodies .
Trade , slavery , migration , colonial occupation—these are underlying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also the record of dressing up these fundamental interests with ideological dross .
SS : The East India Company ’ s role in transforming trade and the world interests me , and digging into that history is digging into a contested history of colonialism .
It was an arm of the empire and its colonial mentality and culture of plundering for shareholders profit .
AA : Queen herself was a shareholder , wasn ’ t she ?
AA : And the company had its own military , army ; it captured and traded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bankers , usurped land , took over land , and collected taxes .
What is the particular connection you are teasing out in relation to today ’ s politics ?
SS : There isn ’ t just one .
I am interested in the status of the migrant and cultural power , in frameworks that restrict definitions to pure national and cultural histories and identities .
Histories are not one-dimensional .
Power in the time of the East India Company isn ’ t really all different than today .
Power is exercised across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and supranational institutions .
Empire is now expressed by a transnational ideology of global privatization .
All resources are gathered in the rubric of monetization : language , labor , human intelligence— SS : Exploitative extraction of every conceivable resource , exploitation for financial gain .
Our ecological condition is a mirror of social conditions : erosion of climate , of borders , rising waters , rising heat , displacement of bodies .
AA : And of course , war .
SS : There is a lot of war that the US has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it has been about protecting its control of the world oil market .
The militaristic US is what the world gets to see .
US foreign policy is not something an average American grasps in the same way as those living outside of the US .
Ayad , your novel Homeland Elegies draws on your life as the son of Muslim immigrants in a post-9/11 America .
What are your thoughts on the American Muslim experience today as it relates to economics , immigration , and identity ?
AA : I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of America first and foremost .
That it is written by a Muslim American is secondary .
The political impasse this country has found itself in has little to do with Muslims or with Islam , but being Muslim American in the age of Trump turns out , perhaps , to be a particularly good vantage point to look at what has become of our American nation .
What unifies us in the age of finance is much more important than what differentiates us .
We are all subject to the power of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beings into a commodity .
Being Muslim is of less importance than being subject to the system of commercial surveillance , say , that has begun to reshape our attitudes and behaviors from the ground up across the planet .

In an age of visual profusion, when the vividness and abundance of images consumed for distraction and commerce is breathtaking, it might seem naive for an artist to try to create images of incantatory, even magical power. To seek a holy relationship to the image today is often seen as foolhardy.
In the Western tradition, before the Renaissance and Reformation, images were the vehicle of presence; they could summon a saint into being. Observers stood in veneration, seeking intercession, dialogue, wisdom; an image was the basis of a relationship with an order of experience far deeper than aesthetic appreciation.
The extraordinary and unique work of Shahzia Sikander proceeds from a faith in this primal power of the image, and in the belief of an artist as a seer. It is a timeless faith, at odds with our accelerated times, which only makes Sikander’s commitment to plumbing the mysterious power of images all the more remarkable.
Over the course of her career, Sikander’s image production has grown at once more subtle and more encompassing. Her reclaiming of the iconography of the Prophet from the historical Indo-Persian painting canon, replete with representations of the otherworldly and its angelic hosts, is more than just a nod to a historical mythos. It is an ensign signaling her profoundest ambition: to reclaim the mythic and sublime not as modes of commentary, or even of expression, but as gateways to experience itself.
In 2015, Sikander reached out to me with an idea to collaborate on a project she was working on. A conversation started, and slowly, we began to work together. Most recently, Sikander has penned portraits based on characters in my new book, Homeland Elegies.
Sikander and I wrote our own questions to guide our conversation about art, Islam, and politics.
—Ayad Akhtar
How did you meet? 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
A yad A khtar: Shahzia, I have been an admirer of your work for years. When you reached out to me, unbidden, four years ago I was gobsmacked.
S hahzia S ikander: I’m not sure what drove me to reach out to you, other than a deep intuition that what drives your work was more than relevant to my own ongoing research. I could sense there was much for us to discuss. I sensed an artist who was plumbing the depths of a heritage we both share—and doing so caught between worlds, between artistic vocabularies, between cultures, practices, histories. I suppose I also felt a kind of kinship with you. We could’ve easily met in Pakistan, in a mutual family friend’s aunt’s home in Rawalpindi or Abbottabad. Oddly, in your new novel, you depict a scene in which you are in the latter city in 2009, when I was also there, filming Bending the Barrels at the military academy.
How did your collaboration begin?
SS: I thought you might be interested in matters of representation and identity—
AA: And I was resolutely not interested in that!
SS: Which I figured out soon enough. But it got us on the subject of Islamic philosophy, spirituality, and the Prophet.
AA: Which is a subject I am often on. One of the things that I find fascinating is how little people are interested in approaching the Prophet as a literary construction. Which is so different from how the Old Testament is now read: where we can approach it as a literary text, with its major figures operating as characters in a story, where we can extract literary and sociological meaning from the narrative and linguistic construction. It’s so clear that the construction of the Prophet’s identity is rich with exactly these kinds of valences, and they are mostly lost because there is so little interest in reading the Quran that way.
SS: The conversation led to the topic of the miraj, in particular its role in Muslim traditions and the complexities inherent in his imagination and depiction, both in Islamic lands and in the West.
AA: Just to clarify, miraj is the tradition of the Prophet’s alleged miraculous journey into the celestial realms, all of which took place over the course of a single night. Interestingly enough, some have seen the tradition of miraj as part of Dante’s inspiration for his Divine Comedy.
SS: The resulting collaboration, a series of four etchings titled Portrait of the Artist and Breath of Miraj, provides a lyrical interpretation of the Prophet’s celestial ascent. For me, this work was rather uncanny in its timing: I won the Princeton commission around that moment and also started researching several historical miraj paintings with the art historian John Seyller such as the Ilkhanid paintings held in the Topkapı Palace Library in Istanbul, the Timurid miraj paintings in the David Collection in Copenhagen, and the ascension painting attributed to Sultan Muhammad from Khamsa of Nizami, Tabriz Iran, in the British Library. The more I studied the various historical miraj paintings, the more I connected I felt to the visual, stylistic, and emotional intelligence of the works. It was a deeply moving experience. Then I had the epiphany to incorporate the ascension motif in the Princeton mosaic, with the hope to inject a visceral and powerful experience for the viewer.
AA: And to stick an effigy of me into the middle of it!
SS: You didn’t stop me! [Laughing] To clarify, it’s in a separate section of the tripartite related to life and death.
Ayad, can you tell us more about the series of portraits Shahzia created in response to your characters?
AA: In the spring of 2018, I started writing a kind of epic lyric to America, which would eventually become Homeland Elegies. I shared an early chapter of it with you, as a way of getting some perspective on what I’d done. It was a chapter that was partly set in Pakistan and that dealt with the interweaving of the myth and identity in the generation of American immigrants from Pakistan that my parents represented.
SS: That early chapter was striking as it was very visual. I felt connected to the scenes, driving in the car with you, your father and the driver, privy to everybody’s body language and the conversation, while hearing the street kids singing in the slums. The tension between the father and son, the different realities of class in Pakistan—all of this was so palpable.
AA: The episode you’re referring to is at the end of the chapter, when my father agrees to visit the sick son of his driver in the shantytown where the boy is languishing from a high fever.
SS: The timing, as usual, was uncanny. I was reading Mathew Arnold’s poem Sohrab and Rustum while researching the Shahnameh folios at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto and the MET museum parsing the Persian epic poem about the father and son trope where the father accidentally kills his son. The cyclical nature of violence inherent in that tragedy was playing in the background when your book landed in my inbox.
The relationship of father and son that unfolds through your fiction gave me another lens into the generational dynamic. Immigrant parents and their first-generation children straddling diasporic tensions and cultural expectations in America is also a topic of interest to me. As you know, a few of the new paintings touch on all these points. My favorite is the theme of the child emerging out of the man’s forehead, intense with rage or determination, it’s not clear.
AA: And then a series of graphite portraits came about. I don’t remember exactly what the genesis was, but I think you had done a portrait of one of your family members, and I recall making a comment about the way you were working in the tradition of both the Mughal miniature and [Jean-Auguste-Dominique] Ingres [a French neoclassical painter].
That led to a conversation about the various portrayals in Homeland Elegies of American life, not just the American Pakistani diaspora, but a series of portraits that covered the range from Robert Bork [a conservative federal judge and jurist] to my mother.
SS: What was particularly pregnant was the idea of portraits that were thoroughly American, as the narrative is, but which are informed by a Muslim iconographic tradition, in this case, miniature.
AA: The visual language you seemed to find intuitively seemed to reflect exactly what I was after: a Muslim-American representation unique in its specificity, tied to a larger history.
At root, though, I would say it is Islam that really binds us, that unifies us, our experience of it, our response to it, the ways it has inspired us, and foreclosed certain things as well.
SS: True, but I don’t think it’s just Islam that interests me about what you’re doing. You are also expressing underlying currents in the political divisions of American society. And the interplay between both sides of that hyphenate reality, Pakistani American, or Muslim American—something that is at the core of my own work. You’re giving rich shape to the different lifestyles, different class stratifications, the movement across and from one culture to another, the range of cultural differences, the aspirations of immigrants, the various sites of conflict, the capitalist economy and how it has an in-built social inequality system, the drive for profit—
AA: In some ways, it’s the thing that a lot of native-born Americans don’t fundamentally understand about this country, unless they are dyed-in-the-wool Republicans: That so much of the appeal of coming to America is about the desire to make money. That was clear to someone like [Alexis] de Tocqueville more than 200 years ago. A lot of the other stuff—that much vaunted notion of freedom—is really the freedom from the shame of making money that so many other cultures have.
Shahzia, what current socio-political issues do your new works explore?
SS: My new works emerge from a deep engagement with the climate crisis. Particularly, these works engage with symbols of extraction and to the imagination and art as sources of abundance. Art and imagination replenish, breathe life, sow seeds of growth.
AA: I’m particularly struck by your Christmas Tree series. And I find that notion of abundance and extraction beautifully embodied in it.
SS: That Christmas tree motif is based on a photograph of oil pumping platforms. I found the photo in a 1962 issue of BP magazine. When I saw it, I was not aware oil rigs were called Christmas trees.
I equated the title and its context in BP magazine as ingenious English wit, a comment on the gift-bearing sentiment of the oil rigs. I was inspired to create Christmas trees out of their valves, spools, and knobs, using chains as garlands.
AA: The paintings bring to mind the contradictions of capitalism as an almost mythic presence: promising abundance, while being an engine of extraction, exploitation, and planetary violence. Like a terrible ineluctable seductive god.
Shahzia, how does your new body of work grapple with economic interconnectivity and immigration? What is the link between these ideas and the East India Trading Company?
SS: South Asia has more than 200 hundred years of colonization. Missionary and colonial histories and imperial policies are entrenched in many parts of the colonized world. My interest is to invent visual forms that challenge patriarchal narratives. In drawing unexpected connections and juxtapositions, I can move stories and people forward.
AA: History is substantially the account of the movement of objects and bodies. Trade, slavery, migration, colonial occupation—these are underlying currents of modernity. But history is also the record of dressing up these fundamental interests with ideological dross.
SS: The East India Company’s role in transforming trade and the world interests me, and digging into that history is digging into a contested history of colonialism. It was an arm of the empire and its colonial mentality and culture of plundering for shareholders profit.
AA: Queen herself was a shareholder, wasn’t she?
SS: Yes!
AA: And the company had its own military, army; it captured and traded cities, took massive loans from Indian bankers, usurped land, took over land, and collected taxes.
What is the particular connection you are teasing out in relation to today’s politics?
SS: There isn’t just one. I am interested in the status of the migrant and cultural power, in frameworks that restrict definitions to pure national and cultural histories and identities. Histories are not one-dimensional. Power in the time of the East India Company isn’t really all different than today. Power is exercised across nations and boundaries through network of corporations and supranational institutions. Empire is now expressed by a transnational ideology of global privatization. All resources are gathered in the rubric of monetization: language, labor, human intelligence—
AA:—human attention.
SS: Exploitative extraction of every conceivable resource, exploitation for financial gain. Our ecological condition is a mirror of social conditions: erosion of climate, of borders, rising waters, rising heat, displacement of bodies.
AA: And of course, war.
SS: There is a lot of war that the US has been involved in, and much of it has been about protecting its control of the world oil market. The militaristic US is what the world gets to see. US foreign policy is not something an average American grasps in the same way as those living outside of the US.
Ayad, your novel Homeland Elegies draws on your life as the son of Muslim immigrants in a post-9/11 America. What are your thoughts on the American Muslim experience today as it relates to economics, immigration, and identity?
AA: I’ve written a book that is a portrait of America first and foremost. That it is written by a Muslim American is secondary. The political impasse this country has found itself in has little to do with Muslims or with Islam, but being Muslim American in the age of Trump turns out, perhaps, to be a particularly good vantage point to look at what has become of our American nation.
What unifies us in the age of finance is much more important than what differentiates us. We are all subject to the power of the monetizing model that has transformed human beings into a commodity. Being Muslim is of less importance than being subject to the system of commercial surveillance, say, that has begun to reshape our attitudes and behaviors from the ground up across the planet.


thenation--2020-09-15--Trump Supporters Need a Reality Check

Trump Supporters Need a Reality Check

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thenation--2020-09-17--Is Bill Barr Trump’s Most Dangerous Sidekick?

Speaking before an audience at Hillsdale College last night , Attorney General Bill Barr declared that the stay-at-home orders issued to protect people from Covid-19 were the grossest attacks on freedom seen in this country since slavery .
“ You know , ” he said , “ putting a national lockdown , stay-at-home orders , is like house arrest .
Other than slavery , which was a different kind of restraint , this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history.
” Yes , the lawless Christian fundamentalist was in fully unmasked form last night .
He accused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of police brutality as “ props ” to help push a “ much broader political agenda.
” He didn ’ t mention what that agenda might be , nor did he explain why there are so many dead people lying around backstage apparently waiting to be included in next week ’ s performance .
But I suppose part of white privilege is never having to explain why you think Black people do things you have no evidence of their doing .
Barr also said , “ All this nonsense about how something is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sounds like what every inquisitor in history has said when confronted with facts they ’ re unwilling to understand .
But Barr directed most of his unhinged vitriol at his own colleagues .
Barr ’ s incendiary comments about Black protesters are headline-making , but his disrespect for the entire department he now heads was the real news .
Barr accused career attorneys working for the Department of Justice of “ headhunting ” high-profile political targets .
He rejected the idea of letting those career prosecutors make charging decisions .
Amazingly , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criminalization of politics , ” saying , “ Now you have to call your adversary a criminal , and instead of beating them politically , you try to put them in jail.
” Yet , somehow , he never mentioned that his boss and his party spent most of 2016 chanting “ Lock her up !
” at Hillary Clinton .
His legal point , to the extent he had one , was to argue , once again , for his fringe unitary executive theory of constitutional governance .
Barr believes , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal employee is a mindless functionary who directly serves the president .
He doesn ’ t think federal officials work for “ the country ” or “ the people.
” He doesn ’ t believe that they are allowed to take any actions other than those directly authorized by the president or his deputies—which , in the case of the Department of Justice , means Barr .
When Barr sounds lawless , it is because he literally is : His theory of government is incompatible with our system of constitutional officers constrained by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ above the law ” because he believes that the president , and the president alone , gets to decide which federal laws should be enforced .
Barr believes that he himself is above the law because he acts according to the will of that president , and thus he is not constrained by any laws that don ’ t also constrain the president .
That ’ s why Barr makes facially incorrect and offensive statements about his own authority .
Last night he said , “ Under the law , all prosecutorial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” This is false .
First of all , as any first-year law student could tell Barr , the Constitution explicitly reserves “ police power ” to the states .
State and local prosecutors hold the vast majority of prosecutorial power in this country .
But Barr ’ s statement was arguably directed at other federal prosecutors : the 93 US Attorneys out there and their many deputies .
Barr believes that he , and he alone , has discretion on which cases those 93 people bring , and which ones they do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in our government who are mere extensions of the president ’ s authority and serve at his pleasure are people like his staff and his generals .
Most high-ranking federal officials , including US Attorneys , do not serve the president but the American people , and I can prove that because they are confirmed by the Senate , can be impeached and removed by Congress , and , if they leave their offices , are subject to statutory succession plans until another Senate-confirmed nominee can take charge ( succession plans Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , not because those laws don ’ t exist ) .
If Barr were right , none of these aspects of constitutional democracy would be necessary .
Trump could appoint whomever he wanted from his family , friends , or his long list of highest bidders .
Those appointees would never have to appear before Congress to explain what they are doing .
And their decisions wouldn ’ t be subjected to congressional oversight or judicial review .
Fortunately , the United States is not yet the totalitarian state Barr wants it to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a wrong , lawless , cheap impersonation of a 16th century monarch—or monarch ’ s enabler—never seems to matter .
Barr is trying to undo nearly 250 years of constitutional government .
He has unmasked contempt for the rule of law and does everything he can to weaponize the Department of Justice against Trump ’ s political enemies .
And yet , nobody ever does anything .
Nobody tries to remove him or arrest him or even cuts his mic .
Barr is out there dismantling the rule of law , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Oh no , Barr is dismantling the rule of law.
” Right now , the people in the best position to stop Barr are those 93 US Attorneys he maligned last night .
They are the ones who know best how Barr ’ s theories are antithetical to the notion of impartial justice and equality under the law .
They are the ones who took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the law and are supposed to be agents for justice .
They are the ones who need to join together @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And if Barr will not ( and he will not ) they are the ones who need to strike , en masse , from the department that Barr has corrupted .
Notice , I said “ strike ” not “ quit.
” I think they should simply stop showing up for work .
As the Geoffrey Berman fiasco taught us , it ’ s not so easy for Barr to fire a US Attorney without ending up with one of those “ career prosecutors ” Barr so despises in their place .
Seeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out from an election , it would be very hard for Barr to replace striking US attorneys with handpicked lackeys , and get them confirmed by the Senate , in time to do evil before the election .
Now , I know how US Attorneys think .
I know they consider themselves super-important .
I know they think that they are somehow preventing Barr from causing additional harm by dutifully staying at their posts .
But I would argue that the time for such ass-covering actions has long since passed .
By continuing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they lend legitimacy to an institution that no longer deserves any .
If Barr truly thinks he alone is allowed to exercise prosecutorial discretion in this system , then , fine , let him do all the work .
Let Barr , who has never tried a case in his life , try all the cases .
Let him develop all the fact-patterns , since he thinks legal arguments are all political anyway .
It ’ s not enough to grumble and complain , anonymously to reporters , about Barr .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and stop aiding and abetting his behavior .

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Speaking before an audience at Hillsdale College last night, Attorney General Bill Barr declared that the stay-at-home orders issued to protect people from Covid-19 were the grossest attacks on freedom seen in this country since slavery.
“You know,” he said, “putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest. Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history.”
Yes, the lawless Christian fundamentalist was in fully unmasked form last night. He accused Black Lives Matter of using the victims of police brutality as “props” to help push a “much broader political agenda.” He didn’t mention what that agenda might be, nor did he explain why there are so many dead people lying around backstage apparently waiting to be included in next week’s performance. But I suppose part of white privilege is never having to explain why you think Black people do things you have no evidence of their doing.
Barr also said, “All this nonsense about how something is dictated by science is nonsense”—which sounds like what every inquisitor in history has said when confronted with facts they’re unwilling to understand.
But Barr directed most of his unhinged vitriol at his own colleagues. Barr’s incendiary comments about Black protesters are headline-making, but his disrespect for the entire department he now heads was the real news. Barr accused career attorneys working for the Department of Justice of “headhunting” high-profile political targets. He rejected the idea of letting those career prosecutors make charging decisions. Amazingly, he did a whole bit on the “criminalization of politics,” saying, “Now you have to call your adversary a criminal, and instead of beating them politically, you try to put them in jail.” Yet, somehow, he never mentioned that his boss and his party spent most of 2016 chanting “Lock her up!” at Hillary Clinton.
His legal point, to the extent he had one, was to argue, once again, for his fringe unitary executive theory of constitutional governance. Barr believes, and has suggested repeatedly, that every single federal employee is a mindless functionary who directly serves the president. He doesn’t think federal officials work for “the country” or “the people.” He doesn’t believe that they are allowed to take any actions other than those directly authorized by the president or his deputies—which, in the case of the Department of Justice, means Barr.
When Barr sounds lawless, it is because he literally is: His theory of government is incompatible with our system of constitutional officers constrained by law. Barr believes the president is “above the law” because he believes that the president, and the president alone, gets to decide which federal laws should be enforced. Barr believes that he himself is above the law because he acts according to the will of that president, and thus he is not constrained by any laws that don’t also constrain the president. 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 Current Issue View our current issue
That’s why Barr makes facially incorrect and offensive statements about his own authority. Last night he said, “Under the law, all prosecutorial power is invested in the attorney general.” This is false. First of all, as any first-year law student could tell Barr, the Constitution explicitly reserves “police power” to the states. State and local prosecutors hold the vast majority of prosecutorial power in this country. But Barr’s statement was arguably directed at other federal prosecutors: the 93 US Attorneys out there and their many deputies. Barr believes that he, and he alone, has discretion on which cases those 93 people bring, and which ones they do not.
In fact, the only people in our government who are mere extensions of the president’s authority and serve at his pleasure are people like his staff and his generals. Most high-ranking federal officials, including US Attorneys, do not serve the president but the American people, and I can prove that because they are confirmed by the Senate, can be impeached and removed by Congress, and, if they leave their offices, are subject to statutory succession plans until another Senate-confirmed nominee can take charge (succession plans Donald Trump often ignores because he is lawless, not because those laws don’t exist).
If Barr were right, none of these aspects of constitutional democracy would be necessary. Trump could appoint whomever he wanted from his family, friends, or his long list of highest bidders. Those appointees would never have to appear before Congress to explain what they are doing. And their decisions wouldn’t be subjected to congressional oversight or judicial review.
Fortunately, the United States is not yet the totalitarian state Barr wants it to be. But the fact that he is a wrong, lawless, cheap impersonation of a 16th century monarch—or monarch’s enabler—never seems to matter. Barr is trying to undo nearly 250 years of constitutional government. He has unmasked contempt for the rule of law and does everything he can to weaponize the Department of Justice against Trump’s political enemies.
And yet, nobody ever does anything. Nobody tries to remove him or arrest him or even cuts his mic. Barr is out there dismantling the rule of law, and all anybody ever does is say, “Oh no, Barr is dismantling the rule of law.”
Right now, the people in the best position to stop Barr are those 93 US Attorneys he maligned last night. They are the ones who know best how Barr’s theories are antithetical to the notion of impartial justice and equality under the law. They are the ones who took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the law and are supposed to be agents for justice.
They are the ones who need to join together and call on Barr to resign. And if Barr will not (and he will not) they are the ones who need to strike, en masse, from the department that Barr has corrupted.
Notice, I said “strike” not “quit.” I think they should simply stop showing up for work. As the Geoffrey Berman fiasco taught us, it’s not so easy for Barr to fire a US Attorney without ending up with one of those “career prosecutors” Barr so despises in their place. Seeing as we are just a few months out from an election, it would be very hard for Barr to replace striking US attorneys with handpicked lackeys, and get them confirmed by the Senate, in time to do evil before the election.
Now, I know how US Attorneys think. I know they consider themselves super-important. I know they think that they are somehow preventing Barr from causing additional harm by dutifully staying at their posts. But I would argue that the time for such ass-covering actions has long since passed. By continuing to stay at the Department of Justice, they lend legitimacy to an institution that no longer deserves any.
If Barr truly thinks he alone is allowed to exercise prosecutorial discretion in this system, then, fine, let him do all the work. Let Barr, who has never tried a case in his life, try all the cases. Let him develop all the fact-patterns, since he thinks legal arguments are all political anyway.
It’s not enough to grumble and complain, anonymously to reporters, about Barr. The 93 US Attorneys should demand better, and stop aiding and abetting his behavior.


thenation--2020-09-17--For the First Time Ever, the House Has Passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Kimberlie Michelle Durham had big goals for her career before she got pregnant .
In 2015 , she was a basic emergency medical technician in Alabama with plans to go back to school and become a paramedic .
She loved being “ out there in the field and helping people , ” she said .
“ It was something I felt really passionate about.
” Getting pregnant was “ an unexpected surprise , ” she said , but she was still happy and saw no reason why it should change any of her plans .
She wanted to keep working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I never expected to lose my job over getting pregnant , ” she said .
But “ it quickly turned my entire world upside down , ” she said .
Unlike 30 other states , Alabama doesn ’ t guarantee pregnant workers the right to small changes on the job so they can keep working safely .
Unable to get her employers to modify her duties , Durham was pushed onto unpaid leave and ultimately lost her job .
That could soon become a thing of the past .
On Thursday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pregnant Workers Fairness Act , with bipartisan support .
The bill would require employers to give pregnant employees accommodations , such as switching to light duty or having access to a stool to sit on or more frequent water breaks , so they can keep working while protecting their health , unless doing so would cause the employer an undue burden .
It was the first time the legislation had ever gotten a vote , despite having been introduced in every Congress since 2012 .
Since then , it had never made it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a hearing , despite a huge need .
Long before the issue entered the halls of Congress , A Better Balance , an advocacy group for working parents , started getting calls to its free legal clinic from pregnant people , mostly in low-wage positions , who were being forced off the job when they needed small changes to keep working .
“ This is an issue we heard over and over , ” said Sarah Brafman , senior policy counsel at A Better Balance .
While advocates pursued a federal solution , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states , where they made more gains : 25 of the current state protections for pregnant workers were passed since 2012 , all of them with bipartisan—either unanimous or near-unanimous—support .
“ Year after year it became more clear that states were understanding the problem , ” Brafman said .
And it wasn ’ t just blue states , but the likes of Tennessee and Texas .
Then the issue got a powerful , and unusual , ally : the business community .
Local chambers of commerce have supported state-level legislation .
Then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Commerce , one of the country ’ s most powerful business lobbies , announced its support for the bill .
Its support was “ a huge leap forward , ” Gillian Thomas , senior staff attorney of the Women ’ s Rights Project at the ACLU , said .
It sent a letter to Congress on September 14 saying it would consider how members vote on it in its annual scorecard .
“ Employers currently face great uncertainty about whether , and how , they are required to accommodate pregnant workers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would clarify an employer ’ s obligation to accommodate a pregnant employee.
” A federal law makes employers ’ obligations under the law crystal-clear , potentially avoiding costly litigation .
Without a standard , federal rule , employers are left to navigate the patchwork of existing laws like the Pregnancy Discrimination Act , the Americans with Disabilities Act , and state PWFAs , many of which differ from one another .
Advocates also argue that it helps businesses retain pregnant employees and avoid the cost of turnover .
That outspoken support from businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans on board .
The House bill had 18 Republican cosponsors .
The issue also draws lawmakers who are concerned about infant and maternal health , as forcing women to work in unsafe conditions can lead to miscarriage and preterm birth .
“ The power of this issue is such that when you ’ re called upon to say yes or no , it ’ s really hard to say no to it , ” noted Emily Martin , vice president of workplace justice at the National Women ’ s Law Center .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ outcome and an unusual trajectory for pro-worker legislation .
“ We ’ ve gone in 10 or 15 years from virtual invisibility of this issue to…potentially remedying the problem altogether through congressional action , ” Thomas noted .
For Durham , that remedy will come too late .
A stretcher with a body on it weighs over 100 pounds , and her doctor told her early in her pregnancy that she should avoid lifting anything over 50 pounds .
She knew it would mean she ’ d have to be taken off of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pregnancy , but other coworkers who needed accommodations had been transferred to light-duty positions , such as dispatch , or had even had positions created for them when they couldn ’ t do heavy lifting .
But when she asked for something similar , she was told light-duty positions were only for those who were hurt on the job , that the training for dispatch would take too long , and they couldn ’ t create a different position for her .
Instead , human relations sent her paperwork to go on unpaid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which she was barred from seeking another job or unemployment benefits .
But her job was her only source of income , and the 90 days would only get her seven months in to her pregnancy .
“ It was a shock , ” she said .
Durham contacted a lawyer , who wrote a letter to her employer .
All she wanted was “ to get my job back , ” she said .
That was five years ago .
“ It ’ s been an uphill battle ever since , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not been resolved .
“ My son ’ s 4 , ” she said , laughing .
“ It ’ s been a little bit of a crazy set of years.
” In the meantime , Durham suffered the financial cost of losing her income , then her job , then her career .
She had to move back home when she was pushed onto unpaid leave .
She was unemployed for seven months , and while she was able to stay insured through her parents because she was 26 , she lost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means she ’ s still paying off medical bills from his birth .
And she hasn ’ t worked as an EMT since .
Instead , she first got a job in a factory and then in retail .
She still has a degree , but her certification as an EMT lapsed and she would have to go back through her courses to get relicensed and recertified .
“ I really wish I had been able to just keep working , ” she said .
Durham ’ s story illustrates why more legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laws on the books and a recent Supreme Court decision addressing pregnant workers ’ rights .
Under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act , a pregnant worker is entitled to an accommodation only if other , “ similar ” employees are also given the same allowance .
That law has proven to be lacking , though , because for years , courts across the country have determined that people who are offered accommodations after an on-the-job injury weren ’ t sufficiently similar to pregnant workers , as pregnancy is a “ personal ” condition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , an employee with a disability has the right to an accommodation no matter what is available to other employees unless it would cause the employer undue hardship—but only pregnant women with health issues , such as diabetes or hypertension , would qualify .
Healthy pregnancies are left out .
“ Neither of them provide an explicit right to accommodation , ” Brafman said .
“ That left a real gap in the law and one that left pregnant workers really unequal and at a severe disadvantage.
” Amid that landscape , Peggy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ denied an accommodation to switch to light duty while pregnant , sued her employer , and her case reached the Supreme Court .
In 2015 , the court ruled in Young ’ s favor .
The decision in Young v. United Parcel Service , Inc. “ was absolutely a victory for pregnant workers , ” Martin said .
It got rid of the idea that an employer could skirt a pregnant employee ’ s request for the same accommodation as another by claiming she wasn ’ t similar to those who were injured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wake , some courts have created a strict standard for proving that someone ’ s employer has given accommodations to others , often requiring the employee to find a specific coworker who got the exact same accommodation that she is seeking .
That requires knowledge of all of her coworkers and their medical conditions that many may not have access to .
The Young decision came out a few months before Durham was told she couldn ’ t have a light-duty position that was offered to others with on-the-job injuries , which would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Supreme Court ’ s ruling .
She ’ s not alone .
A Better Balance found that in the wake of the decision , in over two-thirds of pregnant workers ’ cases , courts allowed their employers to deny accommodations .
The pandemic has made the issue even more urgent .
Charlotte , who withheld her last name for fear of retaliation , was pregnant and working as a nurse in a hospital when the pandemic hit .
So when her doctor advised that she avoid taking care of anyone suspected or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she brought a letter to her employer asking for a change to her job duties .
Charlotte said pregnant nurses at her hospital typically wouldn ’ t be asked to work directly with patients with other infectious diseases , such as influenza or tuberculosis .
But because at first the Centers for Disease Control said that pregnant people were not at higher risk of complications from Covid , she was told she couldn ’ t have her requested accommodation until she was 36 weeks pregnant .
( Recent studies indicate pregnant people have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now says they might be at increased risk . )
That was despite her employer ’ s providing that same allowance to elderly and other high-risk employees .
A manager told her she ’ d be fine—that she herself had worked during the outbreaks of Ebola and West Nile Virus , and that Charlotte was more likely to get Covid at a grocery store than at work .
“ How do you know ?
” Charlotte asked .
It felt “ like they didn ’ t care about me.
” Meanwhile , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time , Charlotte and her coworkers had to reuse their personal protective equipment , including wiping down and sharing PAPR respiratory protection gear that is meant to be used once per patient and per nurse .
She ended up being assigned patients who were thought to possibly have Covid , although thankfully they all tested negative .
When her employer put her on a shift working on the Covid unit , she refused to go in .
Her employer docked her pay .
“ We ’ ve heard from hundreds of pregnant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic , ” Brafman said .
Workers have been denied personal protective equipment , work modifications to avoid coming in contact with the public , or transfers to less risky work .
“ A lot of pregnant employees are nervous , ” Martin agreed .
“ It makes the debate about pregnancy accommodation and what we can do to ensure healthy pregnancies all the more urgent.
” The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act now heads to the Senate .
It ’ s been introduced in the Senate with bipartisan support in years past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the current Congress .
Majority leader Mitch McConnell might be persuaded to bring a bill to the floor , however , by the support from Greater Louisville Inc. , the Kentucky city ’ s chamber of commerce .
“ We very much call on the Senate to also prioritize passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in 2020 , ” Brafman said .
“ Pregnant women ’ s health and economic security really can not wait , especially during an unprecedented global pandemic.
” Whether or not the Senate takes the bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it will become law in “ the next year or two.
” But she also noted that even as it took eight years just to get a congressional vote , the PWFA is “ one of the easy ones ” and only a first step .
“ We have a lot more to do , ” she noted .
“ Let ’ s get this done and then move on to the broader landscape of reform that we really need to ensure that pregnancy and caregiving , that being a woman , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support themselves .
”

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Kimberlie Michelle Durham had big goals for her career before she got pregnant. In 2015, she was a basic emergency medical technician in Alabama with plans to go back to school and become a paramedic. She loved being “out there in the field and helping people,” she said. “It was something I felt really passionate about.”
Getting pregnant was “an unexpected surprise,” she said, but she was still happy and saw no reason why it should change any of her plans. She wanted to keep working all the way through her pregnancy. “I never expected to lose my job over getting pregnant,” she said.
But “it quickly turned my entire world upside down,” she said. Unlike 30 other states, Alabama doesn’t guarantee pregnant workers the right to small changes on the job so they can keep working safely. Unable to get her employers to modify her duties, Durham was pushed onto unpaid leave and ultimately lost her job.
That could soon become a thing of the past. On Thursday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, with bipartisan support. The bill would require employers to give pregnant employees accommodations, such as switching to light duty or having access to a stool to sit on or more frequent water breaks, so they can keep working while protecting their health, unless doing so would cause the employer an undue burden. Related Article The American Workplace Still Won’t Accommodate Pregnant Workers Bryce Covert
It was the first time the legislation had ever gotten a vote, despite having been introduced in every Congress since 2012. Since then, it had never made it out of committee and rarely even got a hearing, despite a huge need. Long before the issue entered the halls of Congress, A Better Balance, an advocacy group for working parents, started getting calls to its free legal clinic from pregnant people, mostly in low-wage positions, who were being forced off the job when they needed small changes to keep working. “This is an issue we heard over and over,” said Sarah Brafman, senior policy counsel at A Better Balance.
While advocates pursued a federal solution, they also pushed for change in the states, where they made more gains: 25 of the current state protections for pregnant workers were passed since 2012, all of them with bipartisan—either unanimous or near-unanimous—support. “Year after year it became more clear that states were understanding the problem,” Brafman said. And it wasn’t just blue states, but the likes of Tennessee and Texas.
Then the issue got a powerful, and unusual, ally: the business community. Local chambers of commerce have supported state-level legislation. Then, in January, the US Chamber of Commerce, one of the country’s most powerful business lobbies, announced its support for the bill. Its support was “a huge leap forward,” Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney of the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU, said. It sent a letter to Congress on September 14 saying it would consider how members vote on it in its annual scorecard. “Employers currently face great uncertainty about whether, and how, they are required to accommodate pregnant workers,” it wrote. The PWFA “would clarify an employer’s obligation to accommodate a pregnant employee.” 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 Current Issue View our current issue
A federal law makes employers’ obligations under the law crystal-clear, potentially avoiding costly litigation. Without a standard, federal rule, employers are left to navigate the patchwork of existing laws like the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and state PWFAs, many of which differ from one another. Advocates also argue that it helps businesses retain pregnant employees and avoid the cost of turnover.
That outspoken support from businesses has played a role in getting congressional Republicans on board. The House bill had 18 Republican cosponsors. The issue also draws lawmakers who are concerned about infant and maternal health, as forcing women to work in unsafe conditions can lead to miscarriage and preterm birth. “The power of this issue is such that when you’re called upon to say yes or no, it’s really hard to say no to it,” noted Emily Martin, vice president of workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center.
Still, it’s an unusual outcome and an unusual trajectory for pro-worker legislation. “We’ve gone in 10 or 15 years from virtual invisibility of this issue to…potentially remedying the problem altogether through congressional action,” Thomas noted.
For Durham, that remedy will come too late. A stretcher with a body on it weighs over 100 pounds, and her doctor told her early in her pregnancy that she should avoid lifting anything over 50 pounds. She knew it would mean she’d have to be taken off of ambulance duty for the duration of her pregnancy, but other coworkers who needed accommodations had been transferred to light-duty positions, such as dispatch, or had even had positions created for them when they couldn’t do heavy lifting. But when she asked for something similar, she was told light-duty positions were only for those who were hurt on the job, that the training for dispatch would take too long, and they couldn’t create a different position for her.
Instead, human relations sent her paperwork to go on unpaid medical leave for 90 days, during which she was barred from seeking another job or unemployment benefits. But her job was her only source of income, and the 90 days would only get her seven months in to her pregnancy. “It was a shock,” she said.
Durham contacted a lawyer, who wrote a letter to her employer. All she wanted was “to get my job back,” she said. That was five years ago. “It’s been an uphill battle ever since,” she said. Her case has still not been resolved. “My son’s 4,” she said, laughing. “It’s been a little bit of a crazy set of years.”
In the meantime, Durham suffered the financial cost of losing her income, then her job, then her career. She had to move back home when she was pushed onto unpaid leave. She was unemployed for seven months, and while she was able to stay insured through her parents because she was 26, she lost health insurance for her son, which means she’s still paying off medical bills from his birth. And she hasn’t worked as an EMT since. Instead, she first got a job in a factory and then in retail. She still has a degree, but her certification as an EMT lapsed and she would have to go back through her courses to get relicensed and recertified.
“I really wish I had been able to just keep working,” she said.
Durham’s story illustrates why more legal protections are still necessary, despite existing laws on the books and a recent Supreme Court decision addressing pregnant workers’ rights. Under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, a pregnant worker is entitled to an accommodation only if other, “similar” employees are also given the same allowance. That law has proven to be lacking, though, because for years, courts across the country have determined that people who are offered accommodations after an on-the-job injury weren’t sufficiently similar to pregnant workers, as pregnancy is a “personal” condition. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employee with a disability has the right to an accommodation no matter what is available to other employees unless it would cause the employer undue hardship—but only pregnant women with health issues, such as diabetes or hypertension, would qualify. Healthy pregnancies are left out.
“Neither of them provide an explicit right to accommodation,” Brafman said. “That left a real gap in the law and one that left pregnant workers really unequal and at a severe disadvantage.”
Amid that landscape, Peggy Young, a UPS employee who was denied an accommodation to switch to light duty while pregnant, sued her employer, and her case reached the Supreme Court. In 2015, the court ruled in Young’s favor.
The decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. “was absolutely a victory for pregnant workers,” Martin said. It got rid of the idea that an employer could skirt a pregnant employee’s request for the same accommodation as another by claiming she wasn’t similar to those who were injured on the job. But in its wake, some courts have created a strict standard for proving that someone’s employer has given accommodations to others, often requiring the employee to find a specific coworker who got the exact same accommodation that she is seeking. That requires knowledge of all of her coworkers and their medical conditions that many may not have access to.
The Young decision came out a few months before Durham was told she couldn’t have a light-duty position that was offered to others with on-the-job injuries, which would seem to fly in the face of the Supreme Court’s ruling. She’s not alone. A Better Balance found that in the wake of the decision, in over two-thirds of pregnant workers’ cases, courts allowed their employers to deny accommodations.
The pandemic has made the issue even more urgent. Charlotte, who withheld her last name for fear of retaliation, was pregnant and working as a nurse in a hospital when the pandemic hit. So when her doctor advised that she avoid taking care of anyone suspected or confirmed to be infected with Covid, she brought a letter to her employer asking for a change to her job duties.
Charlotte said pregnant nurses at her hospital typically wouldn’t be asked to work directly with patients with other infectious diseases, such as influenza or tuberculosis. But because at first the Centers for Disease Control said that pregnant people were not at higher risk of complications from Covid, she was told she couldn’t have her requested accommodation until she was 36 weeks pregnant. (Recent studies indicate pregnant people have more severe complications, and the CDC now says they might be at increased risk.) That was despite her employer’s providing that same allowance to elderly and other high-risk employees. A manager told her she’d be fine—that she herself had worked during the outbreaks of Ebola and West Nile Virus, and that Charlotte was more likely to get Covid at a grocery store than at work. “How do you know?” Charlotte asked. It felt “like they didn’t care about me.”
Meanwhile, as was the case in many hospitals at the time, Charlotte and her coworkers had to reuse their personal protective equipment, including wiping down and sharing PAPR respiratory protection gear that is meant to be used once per patient and per nurse. She ended up being assigned patients who were thought to possibly have Covid, although thankfully they all tested negative. When her employer put her on a shift working on the Covid unit, she refused to go in. Her employer docked her pay.
“We’ve heard from hundreds of pregnant workers who are particularly struggling due to the pandemic,” Brafman said. Workers have been denied personal protective equipment, work modifications to avoid coming in contact with the public, or transfers to less risky work. “A lot of pregnant employees are nervous,” Martin agreed. “It makes the debate about pregnancy accommodation and what we can do to ensure healthy pregnancies all the more urgent.”
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act now heads to the Senate. It’s been introduced in the Senate with bipartisan support in years past, but hasn’t been introduced in the current Congress. Majority leader Mitch McConnell might be persuaded to bring a bill to the floor, however, by the support from Greater Louisville Inc., the Kentucky city’s chamber of commerce.
“We very much call on the Senate to also prioritize passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in 2020,” Brafman said. “Pregnant women’s health and economic security really cannot wait, especially during an unprecedented global pandemic.”
Whether or not the Senate takes the bill up this year, Martin is optimistic that it will become law in “the next year or two.” But she also noted that even as it took eight years just to get a congressional vote, the PWFA is “one of the easy ones” and only a first step. “We have a lot more to do,” she noted. “Let’s get this done and then move on to the broader landscape of reform that we really need to ensure that pregnancy and caregiving, that being a woman, doesn’t leave workers unable to support themselves.”


thenation--2020-09-17--Do Florida Democrats Want to Win the State Senate This Year?

Florida Democrats are locked out of state-level power by a GOP trifecta that runs the governor ’ s office , the House , and the Senate .
But they only need to pick up three Senate seats to achieve at least a tie in that chamber , and thus reach a power-sharing arrangement with the GOP , which is especially important as the state takes up redistricting next year .
Party leaders and local observers seem to agree that two Democratic candidates have a decent chance to flip GOP-held open seats , in the Miami-Dade and Orlando areas .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little in terms of legislative clout , particularly when it comes to redistricting .
That ’ s why observers and activists are increasingly perplexed that Florida Democratic leaders and donors haven ’ t coalesced around at least one or two more Democrats whom concentrated support might push across the finish line , especially if November turns into a blue wave election .
Which it could .
The once-popular Governor Ron De Santis now has the second-worst Covid-approval rating of the nation ’ s governors , right behind Iowa Republican Kim Reynolds .
Meanwhile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Donald Trump in a state Hillary Clinton lost by only one point , largely on his strength with seniors .
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg just announced plans to pump $ 100 million into Florida to elect Democrats .
Most of the confusion about why the state Democratic Senate leadership isn ’ t championing more challengers converges on Kathy Lewis , a writer and disability-rights activist who ran in a red district in 2018 and came closer to winning than anyone expected , taking 46.5 percent of the vote in this traditionally Republican , rural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even though she was outspent more than 10-1 by a longtime GOP incumbent .
Now he ’ s stepping down , prompting a special election for an open seat in this Tampa–St .
Petersburg area district anchored by Hillsborough County .
With more money and experience behind her , Lewis and her supporters believe she has a solid chance of victory this time , but party leaders don ’ t seem to see it that way .
And pointing out her lack of party support is , confoundingly , making it harder for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me .
At least two major donors told the Senate District 20 candidate directly that party leaders warned them away from her campaign , because she has talked to local and national news outlets , including The Nation , about her struggles to get state Democrats to take her campaign seriously .
More than one Florida Democrat has suggested she stop talking to the press about her travails , if she wants to gain support .
Democrats Are Winning Their Fight for the States “ Nobody ’ s gon na tell me what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I can ’ t be bought.
” Lewis is not the only Florida Democratic candidate to feel abandoned by party leaders .
After the State Democratic Environmental Caucus and the voter-access group 90 for 90 collaborated on recruiting 36 challengers for state House and Senate races—one for all but one seat—Senate Democratic minority leader Gary Farmer , who drives official caucus spending on 2020 races , belittled their efforts .
“ I ’ m guided by science & reality , ” Farmer tweeted .
“ Contesting every race is great if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We simply don ’ t & won ’ t until we achieve majority .
When you spend on races that are long shots you take $ from races that can be won.
” Beth Matuga , a consultant for Senate Victory , a group representing Florida Senate Democrats , also replied defensively on Twitter , arguing that “ the caucus has grown in 10yrs from 12 to 17 , with very real opportunity to get to 19 this cycle…I ’ m tired of people pretending like contesting downballot seats is a new idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for 10yrs.
” It ’ s true that the caucus has clawed back seats , but if it only gets to 19 this cycle , critics note , it cedes redistricting entirely to the GOP , which will then draw new maps unlikely to give the Democrats a chance to win the Senate anytime soon .
( I got pushback on that notion from one Florida source , who says that with a slim two-vote majority , Republicans won ’ t be able to sacrifice any incumbents to change district lines , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOP landslide of 2010 , because they had a larger edge . )
Down With Tyranny blogger Howie Klein , long a pull-no-punches advocate for the party ’ s progressive insurgency , retorted in a post , “ If There Was No Florida Democratic Party , It Would Be Easier For Democrats To Win.
” Klein specifically cited Lewis ’ s lack of support , among others , as an example .
There is clearly major friction , in Florida and elsewhere , between a new wave of outside groups plus longtime activists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more , if not every , state legislative seat , and party leadership , which tends to fight to protect incumbents .
“ This is a real tension , ” a leader of an outside group working in Florida told me .
“ Running in every district , if it doesn ’ t come with the necessary support , isn ’ t strategic.
” On the other hand , party leaders tend to be over-concerned with protecting incumbents , along with their own leadership positions , and thus often define “ winnable ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , adding , “ Kathy Lewis is exactly the kind of candidate we should support.
” I watched this play out in Virginia in 2017 , where by most accounts Democratic House Caucus leaders , and even some progressive activists , thought they could pick up roughly eight GOP seats in the House of Delegates , though they were down by 16 .
Yet many more Virginia challengers argued , loudly , that they deserved support .
Ultimately , Democrats won 15 seats , almost taking over leadership , thanks to brave insurgents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the emerging blue wave that in 2019 gave Virginia a Democratic trifecta , with control of the State House , Senate , and governor ’ s office .
Florida Democrats indeed look to be outmatched in terms of fundraising this year .
The Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee ( FDLCC ) , the arm that supports Senate candidates , had raised just under $ 2 million by the end of August , compared to $ 7.1 million hauled in by the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee , according to the Tampa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats were outspent $ 46 million to $ 18 million .
So the party is investing in flipping two Senate seats , also , like Lewis ’ s , left open by the departure of GOP incumbents .
Leaders backed Representative Javier Fernández to pursue an open seat in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties , and put money behind him .
In the Orlando area , officials recruited and invested heavily in labor attorney Patricia Sigman .
In that Orlando race , the two parties have already spent more than $ 1 million , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incumbent Jose Javier Rodríguez of northeastern Miami-Dade , who won narrowly in 2016 and faces a well-funded GOP challenger , as well as an open seat in greater Tallahassee , recruiting Representative Loranne Ausley .
In Lewis ’ s District 20 , party leaders tried to recruit Alex Sink , the state ’ s former chief financial officer and 2014 candidate for governor .
Sink declined , and has endorsed Lewis .
Lewis is beginning to rack up other meaningful endorsements , including four Senate incumbents—but Florida ’ s Senate has a 17-seat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only seven weeks before the election , 13 of them are still AWOL .
And she has received nothing from the official Senate Victory funding arm , the FDLCC .
Meanwhile , Lewis ’ s GOP opponent , former state representative Danny Burgess , has raised more than $ 270,000 so far to Lewis ’ s $ 44,000 , and just went on television with his first ad .
Weirdly , even some of Lewis ’ s supporters are reluctant to talk about her struggle for funding .
Several Lewis backers ignored my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Senate minority leader Gary Farmer , instead of returning my call .
Farmer , who controls Democratic Senate spending and has not endorsed Lewis , did not return two messages .
A representative from Senate Victory stressed that decisions about individual races are based on data , adding , “ While Kathy Lewis is a great candidate , the numbers show better opportunities for pickups in other areas of the state.
” Most disturbing , Lewis , who is African American , says she ’ s been criticized for making race an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as far as I know or can determine via Google searches , done no such thing .
The issue of race did move front and center in July , when a local white Democratic leader said on a Zoom call with Black Democrats that Lewis ’ s race was “ not high on our list because of where the polling was .
What we do is , we prioritize based on our overall goals .
White , Black , brown—it doesn ’ t matter who that candidate is , it ’ s where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” A local Black Democratic activist protested : “ I just think any Black woman in the race right now stands a chance and should be given a little more money than you might think they need .
I just feel that you should give them more money !
” It must be said : After this conversation drew national attention , Lewis ’ s endorsements by local Democratic leaders began to surge .
Money , not so much .
Lewis supporter Dr , Fergie Reid Jr. , of the group 90 for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the role of race in the lack of support for Lewis .
During his many phone calls advocating for recruited candidates , he intermittently heard the phrase “ minority-access district , ’ ’ which he took to mean majority-black ( which Lewis ’ s district is not , though the number of nonwhite voters is continually climbing ) .
And he said so , explaining that he understood that to be a Jim Crow euphemism for a “ Black District ” —or , alternatively , an “ acceptable district for a Black person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he says , “ only embarrassing affirmation.
” Whatever the role of race , many smart Democrats are increasingly questioning the Senate caucus ’ s neglect of Lewis ’ s campaign .
One Democratic operative who has worked in Florida said , “ If you don ’ t compete , you can ’ t win .
Senate District 20 should be a top target .
It ’ s in the heart of the I-4 corridor that has seen strengthening support for Democrats this year , it saw strong Dem performance in 2018 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to winning the Senate , when few competitive seats are up .
”

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Florida Democrats are locked out of state-level power by a GOP trifecta that runs the governor’s office, the House, and the Senate. But they only need to pick up three Senate seats to achieve at least a tie in that chamber, and thus reach a power-sharing arrangement with the GOP, which is especially important as the state takes up redistricting next year. Party leaders and local observers seem to agree that two Democratic candidates have a decent chance to flip GOP-held open seats, in the Miami-Dade and Orlando areas. But a 21-19 balance gets the party very little in terms of legislative clout, particularly when it comes to redistricting.
That’s why observers and activists are increasingly perplexed that Florida Democratic leaders and donors haven’t coalesced around at least one or two more Democrats whom concentrated support might push across the finish line, especially if November turns into a blue wave election. Which it could. The once-popular Governor Ron De Santis now has the second-worst Covid-approval rating of the nation’s governors, right behind Iowa Republican Kim Reynolds. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is running ahead of Donald Trump in a state Hillary Clinton lost by only one point, largely on his strength with seniors. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg just announced plans to pump $100 million into Florida to elect Democrats.
Most of the confusion about why the state Democratic Senate leadership isn’t championing more challengers converges on Kathy Lewis, a writer and disability-rights activist who ran in a red district in 2018 and came closer to winning than anyone expected, taking 46.5 percent of the vote in this traditionally Republican, rural, urban, and suburban district, even though she was outspent more than 10-1 by a longtime GOP incumbent. Now he’s stepping down, prompting a special election for an open seat in this Tampa–St. Petersburg area district anchored by Hillsborough County. With more money and experience behind her, Lewis and her supporters believe she has a solid chance of victory this time, but party leaders don’t seem to see it that way.
And pointing out her lack of party support is, confoundingly, making it harder for her to raise money, Lewis told me. At least two major donors told the Senate District 20 candidate directly that party leaders warned them away from her campaign, because she has talked to local and national news outlets, including The Nation, about her struggles to get state Democrats to take her campaign seriously. More than one Florida Democrat has suggested she stop talking to the press about her travails, if she wants to gain support. Related Article Democrats Are Winning Their Fight for the States Joan Walsh
“Nobody’s gonna tell me what to say,” Lewis told me. “I can’t be bought.” 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
Lewis is not the only Florida Democratic candidate to feel abandoned by party leaders. After the State Democratic Environmental Caucus and the voter-access group 90 for 90 collaborated on recruiting 36 challengers for state House and Senate races—one for all but one seat—Senate Democratic minority leader Gary Farmer, who drives official caucus spending on 2020 races, belittled their efforts.
“I’m guided by science & reality,” Farmer tweeted. “Contesting every race is great if you have $ to do so. We simply don’t & won’t until we achieve majority. When you spend on races that are long shots you take $ from races that can be won.” Beth Matuga, a consultant for Senate Victory, a group representing Florida Senate Democrats, also replied defensively on Twitter, arguing that “the caucus has grown in 10yrs from 12 to 17, with very real opportunity to get to 19 this cycle…I’m tired of people pretending like contesting downballot seats is a new idea when they’ve been ignoring it for 10yrs.” It’s true that the caucus has clawed back seats, but if it only gets to 19 this cycle, critics note, it cedes redistricting entirely to the GOP, which will then draw new maps unlikely to give the Democrats a chance to win the Senate anytime soon. (I got pushback on that notion from one Florida source, who says that with a slim two-vote majority, Republicans won’t be able to sacrifice any incumbents to change district lines, which they did in 2011, after the GOP landslide of 2010, because they had a larger edge.) Current Issue View our current issue
Down With Tyranny blogger Howie Klein, long a pull-no-punches advocate for the party’s progressive insurgency, retorted in a post, “If There Was No Florida Democratic Party, It Would Be Easier For Democrats To Win.” Klein specifically cited Lewis’s lack of support, among others, as an example.
There is clearly major friction, in Florida and elsewhere, between a new wave of outside groups plus longtime activists who believe Democrats should be contesting many more, if not every, state legislative seat, and party leadership, which tends to fight to protect incumbents. “This is a real tension,” a leader of an outside group working in Florida told me. “Running in every district, if it doesn’t come with the necessary support, isn’t strategic.” On the other hand, party leaders tend to be over-concerned with protecting incumbents, along with their own leadership positions, and thus often define “winnable” races too narrowly, this person said, adding, “Kathy Lewis is exactly the kind of candidate we should support.”
I watched this play out in Virginia in 2017, where by most accounts Democratic House Caucus leaders, and even some progressive activists, thought they could pick up roughly eight GOP seats in the House of Delegates, though they were down by 16. Yet many more Virginia challengers argued, loudly, that they deserved support. Ultimately, Democrats won 15 seats, almost taking over leadership, thanks to brave insurgents, the intervention of new outside groups, and the emerging blue wave that in 2019 gave Virginia a Democratic trifecta, with control of the State House, Senate, and governor’s office.
Florida Democrats indeed look to be outmatched in terms of fundraising this year. The Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (FDLCC), the arm that supports Senate candidates, had raised just under $2 million by the end of August, compared to $7.1 million hauled in by the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to the Tampa Bay Times. In 2018, the Democrats were outspent $46 million to $18 million.
So the party is investing in flipping two Senate seats, also, like Lewis’s, left open by the departure of GOP incumbents. Leaders backed Representative Javier Fernández to pursue an open seat in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, and put money behind him. In the Orlando area, officials recruited and invested heavily in labor attorney Patricia Sigman. In that Orlando race, the two parties have already spent more than $1 million, combined. Senate Democrats are also defending incumbent Jose Javier Rodríguez of northeastern Miami-Dade, who won narrowly in 2016 and faces a well-funded GOP challenger, as well as an open seat in greater Tallahassee, recruiting Representative Loranne Ausley.
In Lewis’s District 20, party leaders tried to recruit Alex Sink, the state’s former chief financial officer and 2014 candidate for governor. Sink declined, and has endorsed Lewis. Lewis is beginning to rack up other meaningful endorsements, including four Senate incumbents—but Florida’s Senate has a 17-seat Democratic delegation, which means that with only seven weeks before the election, 13 of them are still AWOL. And she has received nothing from the official Senate Victory funding arm, the FDLCC.
Meanwhile, Lewis’s GOP opponent, former state representative Danny Burgess, has raised more than $270,000 so far to Lewis’s $44,000, and just went on television with his first ad.
Weirdly, even some of Lewis’s supporters are reluctant to talk about her struggle for funding. Several Lewis backers ignored my outreach. One incumbent senator referred me to Senate minority leader Gary Farmer, instead of returning my call. Farmer, who controls Democratic Senate spending and has not endorsed Lewis, did not return two messages. A representative from Senate Victory stressed that decisions about individual races are based on data, adding, “While Kathy Lewis is a great candidate, the numbers show better opportunities for pickups in other areas of the state.”
Most disturbing, Lewis, who is African American, says she’s been criticized for making race an issue, when she herself has, as far as I know or can determine via Google searches, done no such thing. The issue of race did move front and center in July, when a local white Democratic leader said on a Zoom call with Black Democrats that Lewis’s race was “not high on our list because of where the polling was. What we do is, we prioritize based on our overall goals. White, Black, brown—it doesn’t matter who that candidate is, it’s where they fall on our election priority list.” A local Black Democratic activist protested: “I just think any Black woman in the race right now stands a chance and should be given a little more money than you might think they need. I just feel that you should give them more money!”
It must be said: After this conversation drew national attention, Lewis’s endorsements by local Democratic leaders began to surge. Money, not so much.
Lewis supporter Dr, Fergie Reid Jr., of the group 90 for 90, has no qualms about discussing the role of race in the lack of support for Lewis. During his many phone calls advocating for recruited candidates, he intermittently heard the phrase “minority-access district,’’ which he took to mean majority-black (which Lewis’s district is not, though the number of nonwhite voters is continually climbing). And he said so, explaining that he understood that to be a Jim Crow euphemism for a “Black District”—or, alternatively, an “acceptable district for a Black person to pursue.” He received no pushback, he says, “only embarrassing affirmation.”
Whatever the role of race, many smart Democrats are increasingly questioning the Senate caucus’s neglect of Lewis’s campaign.
One Democratic operative who has worked in Florida said, “If you don’t compete, you can’t win. Senate District 20 should be a top target. It’s in the heart of the I-4 corridor that has seen strengthening support for Democrats this year, it saw strong Dem performance in 2018, and it could be the key to winning the Senate, when few competitive seats are up.”