thenation--2020-09-03--A Lawless Attorney General Hits New Lows

It ’ s tough to choose the worst thing Attorney General William Barr said in a shocking Wednesday interview with CNN ’ s Wolf Blitzer .
He claimed that Jacob Blake , shot seven times in the back by Kenosha police last month , was armed ; he was not .
He appeared to back up Donald Trump ’ s demented claim that thugs in black boarded planes headed to Washington bent on mayhem , and then dissolved in “ I don ’ t know what the president was specifically referring to.
” When Blitzer asked if Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twice—ostensibly to check whether voting by mail made it possible—was illegal , Barr repeatedly averred , insisting , “ I don ’ t know what the law in the particular state says.
” I do , and I don ’ t have a law degree .
In none of our 50 states , nor the District of Columbia , is it legal to vote or attempt to vote twice .
( That ’ s actually federal law . )
You ’ re welcome .
To his credit , Blitzer debunked all of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insisted that voting by mail and other reforms make voter fraud rampant , Blitzer asked how many instances of voter fraud he had prosecuted in his 10 years as attorney general ; Barr had to admit , “ I don ’ t know.
” He wouldn ’ t rule out sending federal agents to polling places in November “ if there was a specific investigative danger.
” But even acting Homeland Security director Chad Wolf , no paragon of independence or integrity , said last month he has no authority to deploy federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sinister arrogance , the smirking sense that he ’ s above the law , pervaded Barr ’ s replies .
As well as brazen racism .
Like Trump , he refused to admit the country , or law enforcement particularly , suffers from “ systemic racism.
” Cops don ’ t treat black men differently from white men because of “ discrimination , ” he insisted .
“ If anything ’ s been baked in , it ’ s a bias toward nondiscrimination.
” Citing a comment the Rev .
Jesse Jackson made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sometimes feared young black men , Barr seemed to make the case that the disparity in their treatment by police stems from their own criminality , not police bias .
Never mind that research shows that whether they ’ re obeying the law or breaking it , black men are much more likely than white men to suffer violence and abuse at the hands of police .
None of this should be shocking : Barr has been Trump ’ s toady , and not America ’ s lawyer , since his first hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the conclusions of Robert Mueller ’ s investigation to personally supervising the crackdown on peaceful protest in June , just so Trump could get a photo op with an upside-down Bible , Barr has been Trump ’ s Roy Cohn .
Just last week , his Department of Justice took initial steps to investigate whether the Democratic governors of just four states—New York , New Jersey , Pennsylvania , and Michigan—violated the civil rights of nursing home residents with their handling of Covid .
Of course , nursing home residents , tragically , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in most states ( along with prisoners , whose rights Barr seems strangely uninterested in representing ) .
Two prominent disability rights lawyers pronounced the investigation “ transparently political and plainly not undertaken in good faith ” in Slate .
Democrats Are Winning Their Fight for the States Though it ’ s hard to identify Barr ’ s worst moment in the Blitzer interview , his apparent willingness to back up Trump ’ s lies about voter fraud , and to use federal agents to investigate false claims on Election Day and after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can prevail in November despite Trump and Barr ’ s attempts to thwart them , and to thwart democracy , I ’ d really like to see President Biden put Vice President Harris in charge of assembling some kind of Trump-Barr Crimes Commission ( backed by Attorney General Sally Yates or Preet Bharara ) .
There must be accountability for all the lawbreaking in this administration , including by the nation ’ s top law enforcement official .
Until then , we can ’ t get numb to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , break , or deny the law on behalf of his boss .
This election is going to require us to vote in record-breaking numbers .
Use your outrage— “ good outrage , ” to paraphrase the late John Lewis—to get in “ good trouble ” : organizing energetically to put an end to the lawless Trump-Barr era .

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It’s tough to choose the worst thing Attorney General William Barr said in a shocking Wednesday interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. He claimed that Jacob Blake, shot seven times in the back by Kenosha police last month, was armed; he was not. He appeared to back up Donald Trump’s demented claim that thugs in black boarded planes headed to Washington bent on mayhem, and then dissolved in “I don’t know what the president was specifically referring to.” When Blitzer asked if Trump’s outrageous suggestion that North Carolina supporters vote twice—ostensibly to check whether voting by mail made it possible—was illegal, Barr repeatedly averred, insisting, “I don’t know what the law in the particular state says.”
I do, and I don’t have a law degree. In none of our 50 states, nor the District of Columbia, is it legal to vote or attempt to vote twice. (That’s actually federal law.) You’re welcome.
To his credit, Blitzer debunked all of those false claims and more. When Barr insisted that voting by mail and other reforms make voter fraud rampant, Blitzer asked how many instances of voter fraud he had prosecuted in his 10 years as attorney general; Barr had to admit, “I don’t know.” He wouldn’t rule out sending federal agents to polling places in November “if there was a specific investigative danger.” But even acting Homeland Security director Chad Wolf, no paragon of independence or integrity, said last month he has no authority to deploy federal law enforcement officers that way.
A sinister arrogance, the smirking sense that he’s above the law, pervaded Barr’s replies. As well as brazen racism. Like Trump, he refused to admit the country, or law enforcement particularly, suffers from “systemic racism.” Cops don’t treat black men differently from white men because of “discrimination,” he insisted. “If anything’s been baked in, it’s a bias toward nondiscrimination.” Citing a comment the Rev. Jesse Jackson made 30 years ago about how even he sometimes feared young black men, Barr seemed to make the case that the disparity in their treatment by police stems from their own criminality, not police bias. Never mind that research shows that whether they’re obeying the law or breaking it, black men are much more likely than white men to suffer violence and abuse at the hands of police.
None of this should be shocking: Barr has been Trump’s toady, and not America’s lawyer, since his first hours on the job. From lying about the conclusions of Robert Mueller’s investigation to personally supervising the crackdown on peaceful protest in June, just so Trump could get a photo op with an upside-down Bible, Barr has been Trump’s Roy Cohn. Just last week, his Department of Justice took initial steps to investigate whether the Democratic governors of just four states—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan—violated the civil rights of nursing home residents with their handling of Covid. Of course, nursing home residents, tragically, have borne the brunt of the disease in most states (along with prisoners, whose rights Barr seems strangely uninterested in representing). Two prominent disability rights lawyers pronounced the investigation “transparently political and plainly not undertaken in good faith” in Slate. More From Joan Walsh The Promise of Justice in Fani Willis’s Indictment August 15, 2023 Please, Please Stop Blaming “Progressives” for Donald Trump’s Fascism August 11, 2023 The Ron-mentum Continues… Circling the Drain August 9, 2023
Though it’s hard to identify Barr’s worst moment in the Blitzer interview, his apparent willingness to back up Trump’s lies about voter fraud, and to use federal agents to investigate false claims on Election Day and after, was the most alarming. If Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can prevail in November despite Trump and Barr’s attempts to thwart them, and to thwart democracy, I’d really like to see President Biden put Vice President Harris in charge of assembling some kind of Trump-Barr Crimes Commission (backed by Attorney General Sally Yates or Preet Bharara). There must be accountability for all the lawbreaking in this administration, including by the nation’s top law enforcement official.
Until then, we can’t get numb to Barr’s repeated willingness to bend, break, or deny the law on behalf of his boss. This election is going to require us to vote in record-breaking numbers. Use your outrage—“good outrage,” to paraphrase the late John Lewis—to get in “good trouble”: organizing energetically to put an end to the lawless Trump-Barr era.


thenation--2020-09-03--5 Garífuna Leaders Are Still Missing in Honduras

It ’ s been nearly 50 days since five Garífuna leaders were abducted in their homes in Triunfo de la Cruz , on Honduras ’ s Caribbean coast .
On July 18 at 5:30 am , men wearing police uniforms kidnapped the five leaders after forcefully invading their homes , breaking windows , tampering with locks , and forcing the Garífuna men—Alberth Centeno , Milton Martínez , Suami Mejía , Gerardo Róchez , and Junior Mejía—out of their homes .
They have not been seen since .
The men were kidnapped on a Saturday during which the State of Honduras @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowing only state officials , authorities , and health workers to move freely .
Relatives of the disappeared leaders claim that heavily armed men with bulletproof vests arrived in pick-up trucks and wearing police uniforms , sowing fear in the community .
They first arrived at the home of Alberth Centeno ’ s father and physically harassed him , demanding that he lead them to his son ’ s house , where they pulled Centeno out of his bed .
They then proceeded to go to the houses of the other Garífuna leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assaulting relatives who attempted to stop the kidnappings .
Alberth Centeno , 27 , is the president of the Triunfo de la Cruz community board and also a member of the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization ( OFRENEH ) .
He campaigned for Honduras to fulfill a 2015 ruling by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights ( IACHR ) that ruled that the government had violated collective ownership rights after it sold Garífuna land to developers without consultation .
The judgment demanded that the government compensate the Garífuna community for the territory that had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for tourist projects .
As of present day , the ruling has yet to be met .
“ The Honduran state is creating as many obstacles as possible to avoid complying with the IACHR judgment , ” says Naama López , a Honduran lawyer and human rights activist .
“ The deaths and forced disappearances of these leaders are the most drastic measures used to stop Garífuna organizing so they can eventually hand their territories over to transnational capital.
” Our Garífuna ancestors arrived in Honduras in 1797 and have been present in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the 1800s we created 46 Garífuna communities , mostly locating ourselves in the country ’ s northern coastal area , where we maintain our cultural wealth .
For the past 20 years , the Honduran government has sold our ancestral lands to wealthy investors by threatening the Garífuna people to abandon our lands and then selling them under the pretext that they are not inhabited .
Our land is sold for economic purposes : for the construction of megaprojects , to lure investors through cities known as ZEDES , and to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which damage the environment and threaten our health .
Through capitalism and state-sanctioned violence , the government is erasing the cultural and identity richness that the Garífuna people bring to Honduras .
The racist and corrupt Honduran state has denied the Garífuna people opportunities and as a result of all the crimes that have been committed against us , we have been forced to migrate to seek a better life for ourselves and our children .
Those who have stayed to defend our rights , such as Centeno , have put their lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 17 Garífuna activists were violently murdered .
“ There ’ s been an escalation of violent actions against the leaders who defend these territories since 2015 , ” says Rony Castillo , a Garífuna scholar and activist .
“ There is a deep concern , mainly about the violent deaths and the extermination of the inhabitants of the Garífuna communities without any follow up from the authorities.
” After nearly two months since the kidnapping of our Garífuna brothers there has been no news of their whereabouts , and a tense atmosphere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Several Garífuna communities across Honduras have protested , demanding the return of the same safe and sound under the banners declaring , “ If they were taken alive , we want them back alive.
” In the weeks since there have also been demonstrations in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula , as well as protests abroad in the United States and Italy .
In Honduras , more protests are planned to take place on Friday September 4 and September 15 , the country ’ s independence day .
On July 24 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americas director , penned an open letter to President Juan Orlando Hernández demanding an immediate response to the kidnapping of the five Garífuna leaders .
In addition , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an order in early August demanding a report on the whereabouts of the 5 kidnapped Garífuna leaders and stating that Honduras must adopt necessary security measures for at-risk Garífuna members by August 24 .
The date has passed without appropriate government action .
The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has also issued a statement demanding an exhaustive search @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Honduras , Miriam Miranda , a human rights advocate and the leader of OFRANEH , has articulated eight demands , including calls for the return of the five men kidnapped on July 18 , that the Honduran state comply with the 2015 IACHR ruling , and that the US government stop financing of the corrupt government of Juan Orlando Hernández and its human rights abuses .
“ Today , we feel stronger than ever .
The Garífuna people have permanently mobilized to defend their autonomy and self-determination , ” OFRANEH says in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Garífuna can not exist without our territories and that the day we lose our land we will have lost what keeps our identity alive .
”

Leer en español.
It’s been nearly 50 days since five Garífuna leaders were abducted in their homes in Triunfo de la Cruz, on Honduras’s Caribbean coast. On July 18 at 5:30 am, men wearing police uniforms kidnapped the five leaders after forcefully invading their homes, breaking windows, tampering with locks, and forcing the Garífuna men—Alberth Centeno, Milton Martínez, Suami Mejía, Gerardo Róchez, and Junior Mejía—out of their homes. They have not been seen since.
The men were kidnapped on a Saturday during which the State of Honduras restricted civilian movement due to Covid-19, allowing only state officials, authorities, and health workers to move freely. Relatives of the disappeared leaders claim that heavily armed men with bulletproof vests arrived in pick-up trucks and wearing police uniforms, sowing fear in the community. They first arrived at the home of Alberth Centeno’s father and physically harassed him, demanding that he lead them to his son’s house, where they pulled Centeno out of his bed. They then proceeded to go to the houses of the other Garífuna leaders, smashing doors and windows and physically assaulting relatives who attempted to stop the kidnappings.
Alberth Centeno, 27, is the president of the Triunfo de la Cruz community board and also a member of the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRENEH). He campaigned for Honduras to fulfill a 2015 ruling by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) that ruled that the government had violated collective ownership rights after it sold Garífuna land to developers without consultation. The judgment demanded that the government compensate the Garífuna community for the territory that had been taken over by foreigners and companies for tourist projects. As of present day, the ruling has yet to be met.
“The Honduran state is creating as many obstacles as possible to avoid complying with the IACHR judgment,” says Naama López, a Honduran lawyer and human rights activist. “The deaths and forced disappearances of these leaders are the most drastic measures used to stop Garífuna organizing so they can eventually hand their territories over to transnational capital.”
Our Garífuna ancestors arrived in Honduras in 1797 and have been present in the region for the 223 years since. In the 1800s we created 46 Garífuna communities, mostly locating ourselves in the country’s northern coastal area, where we maintain our cultural wealth. For the past 20 years, the Honduran government has sold our ancestral lands to wealthy investors by threatening the Garífuna people to abandon our lands and then selling them under the pretext that they are not inhabited. Our land is sold for economic purposes: for the construction of megaprojects, to lure investors through cities known as ZEDES, and to clear land for African palm plantations, which damage the environment and threaten our health. Through capitalism and state-sanctioned violence, the government is erasing the cultural and identity richness that the Garífuna people bring to Honduras. 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
The racist and corrupt Honduran state has denied the Garífuna people opportunities and as a result of all the crimes that have been committed against us, we have been forced to migrate to seek a better life for ourselves and our children. Those who have stayed to defend our rights, such as Centeno, have put their lives on the line. In 2019 alone, 17 Garífuna activists were violently murdered.
“There’s been an escalation of violent actions against the leaders who defend these territories since 2015,” says Rony Castillo, a Garífuna scholar and activist. “There is a deep concern, mainly about the violent deaths and the extermination of the inhabitants of the Garífuna communities without any follow up from the authorities.”
After nearly two months since the kidnapping of our Garífuna brothers there has been no news of their whereabouts, and a tense atmosphere has taken over Triunfo de la Cruz. Several Garífuna communities across Honduras have protested, demanding the return of the same safe and sound under the banners declaring, “If they were taken alive, we want them back alive.” In the weeks since there have also been demonstrations in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, as well as protests abroad in the United States and Italy. In Honduras, more protests are planned to take place on Friday September 4 and September 15, the country’s independence day.
On July 24, Erika Guevara, Amnesty International’s Americas director, penned an open letter to President Juan Orlando Hernández demanding an immediate response to the kidnapping of the five Garífuna leaders. In addition, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an order in early August demanding a report on the whereabouts of the 5 kidnapped Garífuna leaders and stating that Honduras must adopt necessary security measures for at-risk Garífuna members by August 24. The date has passed without appropriate government action. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has also issued a statement demanding an exhaustive search for the disappeared Garífuna leaders.
In Honduras, Miriam Miranda, a human rights advocate and the leader of OFRANEH, has articulated eight demands, including calls for the return of the five men kidnapped on July 18, that the Honduran state comply with the 2015 IACHR ruling, and that the US government stop financing of the corrupt government of Juan Orlando Hernández and its human rights abuses.
“Today, we feel stronger than ever. The Garífuna people have permanently mobilized to defend their autonomy and self-determination,” OFRANEH says in a statement. “We are conscious that the Garífuna cannot exist without our territories and that the day we lose our land we will have lost what keeps our identity alive.”
Translation by Miguel Salazar.


thenation--2020-09-04--Biden Needs to Talk About Jobs on Labor Day. And Every Day.

As of August 31 , in the swing state of Pennsylvania , 1.8 million people have filed for unemployment during the pandemic .
The state ’ s jobless rate stands at 13.7 percent .
But instead of traveling to Pennsylvania to talk about job creation , Joe Biden went to express his thoughts about looting and violence .
He barely mentioned jobs .
Tone-deaf is an understatement .
At the time of Biden ’ s speech , voters in Pennsylvania were just two weeks from when mail-in ballots would start to arrive .
Although Biden leads in the polls in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mere 4.8 points .
At the same point in the election cycle four years ago , Hillary Clinton led in the same polls by 7.3 points .
And although there might be fewer undecided voters up for grabs now , the margins are far too close for a speech that was chasing—not challenging—Trump ’ s core message .
It ’ s Trump , not Biden , who utters the word “ jobs ” over and over in major speeches .
Of course , Trump lied in his presidential acceptance speech when he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jobs in the next 10 months.
” He didn ’ t just discuss creating 10 million new jobs ; he used the word “ jobs ” a whopping 23 times in his convention speech , compared with six mentions in Biden ’ s nomination acceptance speech .
Even accounting for Trump ’ s speaking twice as long as Biden did , Trump talked about jobs 17 times in the equivalent length of time .
Worse , he created a seamless narrative about Biden as a job-killer and himself as the protector of all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jobs narrative links his white supremacist and nationalist frame : building his border wall and attacking Biden for shipping jobs to China and “ other distant lands ” to creating US jobs for “ real Americans.
” Yes , he ’ s a pathological liar and an even worse racist , but so far he ’ s doing far better campaigning on one of the key issues that Biden should own ( aside from the coronavirus , which , incidentally , the two of them treated equally in their convention speeches , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is supremely ironic that in a rare in-person Biden speech delivered to actual people and not to a computer screen—in a swing state Democrats lost in 2016—his own staff teased in tweets that he was going to Pennsylvania “ to lay out a core question voters face in this election : Are you safe in Donald Trump ’ s America ?
” Given that Biden ’ s own communications staff led with the opponent ’ s name and favorite topic—fear—it ’ s no surprise the major newspaper had headlines such as the Philadelphia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Pa. and asks : ‘ Does anyone believe there will be less violence if Trump wins ?
’ ” With the working class flat on its back , Biden made looting the topic .
For Labor Day , let ’ s imagine it ’ s time to actually try winning key swing states , where , like the entire country and world , finding a good-paying job is the most urgent issue—unless you are Black , in which case not being shot by the police trumps employment .
A winning strategy would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some reminders about the promises Trump made about creating millions of jobs four years ago and how he failed to deliver anything that wasn ’ t already happening on Obama and Biden ’ s watch , which was a steady rebuild of jobs lost during the Great Recession .
A discussion about the lack of infrastructure jobs—as compared with what was promised by the current occupant of the White House—would be especially apropos .
One way for Biden to create a jobs narrative radically different from his opponent ’ s—one that could effectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support Black people and all people of color moving into the middle class—would be to issue a full-throated and serious defense of the United States Postal Service .
The USPS employs Black people at nearly twice the rate of other employers .
And because the postal service jobs are unionized , Black ( and all ) postal workers have a pension , a real right to retire , and a decent salary .
Watching Democrats merely promise to allay swamp creature Postmaster General Louis Dejoy ’ s destruction merely until January 1 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past the inauguration , is like realizing Trump and Biden mentioned the pandemic the same number of times in their convention speeches .
We Really Need to Tax the Rich Celebrating May Day Starts by Taking Workers Seriously Bernie Sanders : Now More Than Ever Campaigning for good jobs for all , and to reduce racist income and dignity inequality , Biden could also declare that on day one of his administration , he will fill the 49,000 vacancies at the Veterans Administration—rather than ending his convention and Pennsylvania speeches with the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and may God protect our troops.
” The VA has also long been a source of good , unionized jobs with real pensions—and has a record of hiring Blacks at roughly the same rate as the Postal Service ( 25 percent at the VA versus 27 percent at the PO ) .
The troops Biden wants blessed by God would be well served by a fully staffed VA where a full 30 percent of the employees are themselves veterans .
So too at the post office , where more than a fifth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Instead of allowing a deliberate undermining of 21st century essential public services , Biden could stitch together race , gender , jobs , unions , and good government in one powerful speech .
For example , he could explain that at union-busting FedEx , workers earn half what their counterparts do at the post office for service that is no better and often worse for higher charges—and that the difference is who gets the income : workers or shareholders ?
He could also discuss teachers , education being another vital public service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ usually worse when relegated to the private sector , judging from the outcomes of private charter schools .
( Here , again , who pockets the taxpayer subsidies : already rich shareholders or the mostly women—and heavily women of color— workers ? )
Biden could explain that it is perfectly sound economics and public policy for the provision of great public services to be a legitimate jobs program , which also helps specifically address the Black jobs crisis .
He could explain that undoing Trump ’ s 2017 tax giveback to himself and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restore vitality to the federal public sector .
Finally , Biden could campaign aggressively about job creation as a climate change mitigation strategy .
He could do so being filmed in front of raging fires in Northern California or in a flooded area in a Gulf state .
Biden makes a huge error by running away from pointing out the need to tax the Jeff Bezos of the country at a far higher rate to pay for saving the planet and life on it .
Taxing very rich people and corporations is bipartisan-popular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ job creation .
With majority public support for the Black Lives Matter movement and majority public support for unions , Biden should get serious about raising—not lowering—people ’ s expectations for our future by explicitly linking taxing the über-rich to undoing racism and inequality and saving us from climate change .
If he does , he just might win in November .

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As of August 31, in the swing state of Pennsylvania, 1.8 million people have filed for unemployment during the pandemic. The state’s jobless rate stands at 13.7 percent. But instead of traveling to Pennsylvania to talk about job creation, Joe Biden went to express his thoughts about looting and violence. He barely mentioned jobs. Tone-deaf is an understatement.
At the time of Biden’s speech, voters in Pennsylvania were just two weeks from when mail-in ballots would start to arrive. Although Biden leads in the polls in the state, his lead is a mere 4.8 points. At the same point in the election cycle four years ago, Hillary Clinton led in the same polls by 7.3 points. And although there might be fewer undecided voters up for grabs now, the margins are far too close for a speech that was chasing—not challenging—Trump’s core message.
It’s Trump, not Biden, who utters the word “jobs” over and over in major speeches. Of course, Trump lied in his presidential acceptance speech when he said, “We will create 10 million jobs in the next 10 months.” He didn’t just discuss creating 10 million new jobs; he used the word “jobs” a whopping 23 times in his convention speech, compared with six mentions in Biden’s nomination acceptance speech. Even accounting for Trump’s speaking twice as long as Biden did, Trump talked about jobs 17 times in the equivalent length of time. Worse, he created a seamless narrative about Biden as a job-killer and himself as the protector of all good jobs. Trump’s pie-in-the-sky jobs narrative links his white supremacist and nationalist frame: building his border wall and attacking Biden for shipping jobs to China and “other distant lands” to creating US jobs for “real Americans.” Yes, he’s a pathological liar and an even worse racist, but so far he’s doing far better campaigning on one of the key issues that Biden should own (aside from the coronavirus, which, incidentally, the two of them treated equally in their convention speeches, with just three mentions each).
It is supremely ironic that in a rare in-person Biden speech delivered to actual people and not to a computer screen—in a swing state Democrats lost in 2016—his own staff teased in tweets that he was going to Pennsylvania “to lay out a core question voters face in this election: Are you safe in Donald Trump’s America?” Given that Biden’s own communications staff led with the opponent’s name and favorite topic—fear—it’s no surprise the major newspaper had headlines such as the Philadelphia Inquirer’s: “Biden Comes to Pa. and asks: ‘Does anyone believe there will be less violence if Trump wins?’” With the working class flat on its back, Biden made looting the topic. 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
For Labor Day, let’s imagine it’s time to actually try winning key swing states, where, like the entire country and world, finding a good-paying job is the most urgent issue—unless you are Black, in which case not being shot by the police trumps employment. A winning strategy would include doing some political education, giving some reminders about the promises Trump made about creating millions of jobs four years ago and how he failed to deliver anything that wasn’t already happening on Obama and Biden’s watch, which was a steady rebuild of jobs lost during the Great Recession. A discussion about the lack of infrastructure jobs—as compared with what was promised by the current occupant of the White House—would be especially apropos.
One way for Biden to create a jobs narrative radically different from his opponent’s—one that could effectively position Biden as actually promoting policies that support Black people and all people of color moving into the middle class—would be to issue a full-throated and serious defense of the United States Postal Service. The USPS employs Black people at nearly twice the rate of other employers. And because the postal service jobs are unionized, Black (and all) postal workers have a pension, a real right to retire, and a decent salary. Watching Democrats merely promise to allay swamp creature Postmaster General Louis Dejoy’s destruction merely until January 1, 2021, versus forever or at least past the inauguration, is like realizing Trump and Biden mentioned the pandemic the same number of times in their convention speeches. More From Jane McAlevey The Teamsters’ Proposed Agreement With UPS Is a Great Victory by and for the Workers July 28, 2023 Contract Talks by Teamsters and the UAW Have the Potential to Change Our Politics June 27, 2023 How Should Workers Respond to the Supreme Court's Ruling in “Glacier Northwest”? June 1, 2023
Campaigning for good jobs for all, and to reduce racist income and dignity inequality, Biden could also declare that on day one of his administration, he will fill the 49,000 vacancies at the Veterans Administration—rather than ending his convention and Pennsylvania speeches with the same line, “May God bless you, and may God protect our troops.” The VA has also long been a source of good, unionized jobs with real pensions—and has a record of hiring Blacks at roughly the same rate as the Postal Service (25 percent at the VA versus 27 percent at the PO). The troops Biden wants blessed by God would be well served by a fully staffed VA where a full 40 percent of the employees are themselves veterans. So too at the post office, where more than a fifth of all jobs are filled by veterans.
Instead of allowing a deliberate undermining of 21st century essential public services, Biden could stitch together race, gender, jobs, unions, and good government in one powerful speech. For example, he could explain that at union-busting FedEx, workers earn half what their counterparts do at the post office for service that is no better and often worse for higher charges—and that the difference is who gets the income: workers or shareholders? He could also discuss teachers, education being another vital public service that has proven definitely no better and usually worse when relegated to the private sector, judging from the outcomes of private charter schools. (Here, again, who pockets the taxpayer subsidies: already rich shareholders or the mostly women—and heavily women of color— workers?) Biden could explain that it is perfectly sound economics and public policy for the provision of great public services to be a legitimate jobs program, which also helps specifically address the Black jobs crisis. He could explain that undoing Trump’s 2017 tax giveback to himself and many of Trump’s donors would restore vitality to the federal public sector.
Finally, Biden could campaign aggressively about job creation as a climate change mitigation strategy. He could do so being filmed in front of raging fires in Northern California or in a flooded area in a Gulf state. Biden makes a huge error by running away from pointing out the need to tax the Jeff Bezos of the country at a far higher rate to pay for saving the planet and life on it. Taxing very rich people and corporations is bipartisan-popular. So is talking about jobs and job creation. With majority public support for the Black Lives Matter movement and majority public support for unions, Biden should get serious about raising—not lowering—people’s expectations for our future by explicitly linking taxing the über-rich to undoing racism and inequality and saving us from climate change. If he does, he just might win in November.


thenation--2020-09-04--Black Strategists Are Needed Now More Than Ever

Labor Day 2020 comes at a time of unprecedented racial , political , and economic upheaval in the United States .
Earlier this summer , tens of thousands of workers nationwide walked off their jobs and took to the streets to strike in support of the growing Black Lives Matter movement .
In August , hundreds of NBA and WNBA players went on strike in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake ; about 70 percent of each league ’ s players are Black .
These actions and acts of radical defiance by workers have made it clear that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the growing and perverse economic inequalities that have devastated Black workers and Black America for generations , and made them much more vulnerable to the current global pandemic .
To win the corporate accountability required to rectify this inequality , our labor and worker movement must embrace this racial awakening and elevate and adequately resource Black people in roles of leadership and strategy .
Black workers have long strived to be heard , respected , and paid their worth in the United States .
While they are 12 percent of the overall workforce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all frontline-industry workers .
With poor access to health care , this places Black workers and their families at higher risk in this pandemic .
And with Black and brown workers on track to become the majority of the working class in less than 15 years , the time is now to make sure that this moment solidifies into a movement powerful enough to win transformative victories for Black workers and other workers of color .
In the fall of 2019 , a coalition of Black activists and leaders from the labor movement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ academia gathered in New York for a three-day intensive conversation on the state of Black workers , our power and our unmet concerns .
We gathered specifically to envision a new method , a new project that would elevate both Black voices and Black strategists in our progressive movement as well as promote intentionally a Black , Southern-focused school of thought .
The Sports Strikes Against Racism Have Not Been Coopted The Advancing Black Strategists Initiative was born from those discussions , and is now a joint project of the Jobs With Justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the Institute for Policy Studies , and Morehouse College International Comparative Labor Studies .
Our overarching vision is to create at all levels , from students to seasoned veterans , a cohort of Black economic-justice- and labor-focused strategists committed to leading , developing , and advancing policies and campaigns that support the collective power-building of working people , particularly in the South .
Currently , there are far too few campaigns that truly meet these criteria .
And this holds everyone back .
“ Our national labor movement is strengthened and emboldened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggle for fair working conditions , ” says Tanya Wallace-Gobern , executive director of the Raleigh-based National Black Worker Center .
“ Strong Black leader-full activism destroys the systems that keep all workers in chains .
Black workers are more than ready to lead , and everyone benefits when they follow the sound of our call.
” In short , we don ’ t just want to be “ in the room where it happens.
” We want to be architects of the whole damn house .
We know that social and economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunities for Black thought leaders and strategists , have often collectively fallen short .
Bias limits our collective growth .
We have seen these glass ceilings before .
Reminiscent of the NFL ’ s welcoming Black running backs and receivers but shunning Black quarterbacks and coaches , many Black organizers have gotten the message that they are great at mobilizing people and building relationships , but they are not ready to run a campaign or lead a program ( unless it is solely about Black communities ) .
We are officially taking a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done in the early 2000s on union organizing showed us that when women of color make up the majority of the workplace and they are being organized by women of color , the union election win rate is 90 percent—the highest for any group .
Nonetheless , Black women strategists are a rare find in many labor and community organizations .
The Advancing Black Strategists Initiative aims to create an ecosystem and pipeline to develop , nurture , train , and support Black organizers and strategists who will command leadership roles in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strategists who are devising major worker organizing campaigns , who are elevating our school of thought in their academic research and discourse work , and who are crafting the next generation of labor policies .
ABSI will help provide an all-Black space for people to develop their skills as strategists and support each other in gaining access to power .
To meet this moment , we have already begun to elevate Black voices from our movement to shape the public discourse on race and labor issues .
ABSI leader Dr. Sheri Davis of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a video series where Black womxn activists , trade unionists , feminists , leaders , and scholars discuss current demands for economic , racial , gender , and LGBTQ+ justice for Black people and others .
The South is our primary region of focus .
The majority of Black Americans still live in this region , where many of their ancestors were once enslaved workers on plantations .
Today , they are building campaigns in a context where they have lost ( or never had ) access to existing 20th century protections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ project of the National Domestic Workers Alliance , is a perfect example of this .
Domestic work is rooted in the legacy of slavery .
Black women historically have done the vast majority of care work in this country .
The New Deal labor protections left these workers out .
We Dream in Black takes all of this reality into account in their present-day strategy of organizing and empowering Black women in places like Georgia and North Carolina .
Key to their strategy is that their staff reflects their membership , they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work , and their campaigns are resourced adequately to win .
Howard Bryant on the Sports Strikes Against Racism ABSI will help to support the development of a new school of thought anchored in the principle that working people ’ s ability to organize and collectively bargain , alongside voting and other forms of civic participation , is a prerequisite for a healthy society and economy .
Important to this approach is the inclusion of Black Southern perspectives that center race and gender equity .
Long-term investment is also important .
We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a historically Black college of over 150 years , anchored in the South and producing some of the country ’ s top leaders .
The initiative will strengthen Morehouse ’ s International Comparative Labor Studies program to train generations of Black students to become economic justice leaders .
In addition , the project seeks in the long term to demonstrate why combating systemic white supremacy is critical to the success of all these strategies .
A project such as this will take some time to mature , but in this season of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the seeds of a new and more diverse labor movement leadership that strengthens the collective power of all working people .

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Labor Day 2020 comes at a time of unprecedented racial, political, and economic upheaval in the United States. Earlier this summer, tens of thousands of workers nationwide walked off their jobs and took to the streets to strike in support of the growing Black Lives Matter movement. In August, hundreds of NBA and WNBA players went on strike in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake; about 70 percent of each league’s players are Black.
These actions and acts of radical defiance by workers have made it clear that systemic racism cannot be separated from the growing and perverse economic inequalities that have devastated Black workers and Black America for generations, and made them much more vulnerable to the current global pandemic. To win the corporate accountability required to rectify this inequality, our labor and worker movement must embrace this racial awakening and elevate and adequately resource Black people in roles of leadership and strategy.
Black workers have long strived to be heard, respected, and paid their worth in the United States. While they are 12 percent of the overall workforce, Black workers represent 17 percent of all frontline-industry workers. With poor access to health care, this places Black workers and their families at higher risk in this pandemic. And with Black and brown workers on track to become the majority of the working class in less than 15 years, the time is now to make sure that this moment solidifies into a movement powerful enough to win transformative victories for Black workers and other workers of color.
In the fall of 2019, a coalition of Black activists and leaders from the labor movement, the economic justice movement, and academia gathered in New York for a three-day intensive conversation on the state of Black workers, our power and our unmet concerns. We gathered specifically to envision a new method, a new project that would elevate both Black voices and Black strategists in our progressive movement as well as promote intentionally a Black, Southern-focused school of thought. Sports Strikes The Sports Strikes Against Racism Have Not Been Coopted Dave Zirin
The Advancing Black Strategists Initiative was born from those discussions, and is now a joint project of the Jobs With Justice Education Fund, the Black Worker Initiative at the Institute for Policy Studies, and Morehouse College International Comparative Labor Studies. Our overarching vision is to create at all levels, from students to seasoned veterans, a cohort of Black economic-justice- and labor-focused strategists committed to leading, developing, and advancing policies and campaigns that support the collective power-building of working people, particularly in the South.
Currently, there are far too few campaigns that truly meet these criteria. And this holds everyone back. “Our national labor movement is strengthened and emboldened by every Black strategist that enters the struggle for fair working conditions,” says Tanya Wallace-Gobern, executive director of the Raleigh-based National Black Worker Center. “Strong Black leader-full activism destroys the systems that keep all workers in chains. Black workers are more than ready to lead, and everyone benefits when they follow the sound of our call.” 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
In short, we don’t just want to be “in the room where it happens.” We want to be architects of the whole damn house. Current Issue View our current issue
We know that social and economic justice movements, which should be expanding opportunities for Black thought leaders and strategists, have often collectively fallen short. Bias limits our collective growth. We have seen these glass ceilings before. Reminiscent of the NFL’s welcoming Black running backs and receivers but shunning Black quarterbacks and coaches, many Black organizers have gotten the message that they are great at mobilizing people and building relationships, but they are not ready to run a campaign or lead a program (unless it is solely about Black communities). We are officially taking a knee on all of this!
Research done in the early 2000s on union organizing showed us that when women of color make up the majority of the workplace and they are being organized by women of color, the union election win rate is 90 percent—the highest for any group. Nonetheless, Black women strategists are a rare find in many labor and community organizations.
The Advancing Black Strategists Initiative aims to create an ecosystem and pipeline to develop, nurture, train, and support Black organizers and strategists who will command leadership roles in the movement. We will work with Black strategists who are devising major worker organizing campaigns, who are elevating our school of thought in their academic research and discourse work, and who are crafting the next generation of labor policies. ABSI will help provide an all-Black space for people to develop their skills as strategists and support each other in gaining access to power.
To meet this moment, we have already begun to elevate Black voices from our movement to shape the public discourse on race and labor issues. ABSI leader Dr. Sheri Davis of Rutgers University just launched Black Womxn Demands, a video series where Black womxn activists, trade unionists, feminists, leaders, and scholars discuss current demands for economic, racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ justice for Black people and others.
The South is our primary region of focus. The majority of Black Americans still live in this region, where many of their ancestors were once enslaved workers on plantations. Today, they are building campaigns in a context where they have lost (or never had) access to existing 20th century protections. We Dream in Black, a project of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, is a perfect example of this. Domestic work is rooted in the legacy of slavery. Black women historically have done the vast majority of care work in this country. The New Deal labor protections left these workers out. We Dream in Black takes all of this reality into account in their present-day strategy of organizing and empowering Black women in places like Georgia and North Carolina. Key to their strategy is that their staff reflects their membership, they are grounded in an intersectional approach to their work, and their campaigns are resourced adequately to win. Strikes Against Racism Howard Bryant on the Sports Strikes Against Racism Dave Zirin
ABSI will help to support the development of a new school of thought anchored in the principle that working people’s ability to organize and collectively bargain, alongside voting and other forms of civic participation, is a prerequisite for a healthy society and economy. Important to this approach is the inclusion of Black Southern perspectives that center race and gender equity.
Long-term investment is also important. We are investing in a relationship with Morehouse College, a historically Black college of over 150 years, anchored in the South and producing some of the country’s top leaders. The initiative will strengthen Morehouse’s International Comparative Labor Studies program to train generations of Black students to become economic justice leaders.
In addition, the project seeks in the long term to demonstrate why combating systemic white supremacy is critical to the success of all these strategies. A project such as this will take some time to mature, but in this season of great upheaval, we hope to plant the seeds of a new and more diverse labor movement leadership that strengthens the collective power of all working people.


thenation--2020-09-04--A Democratic Convention for Acknowledging Pain, and for Healing

I ’ ll admit it : My expectations for the unconventional Democratic National Convention in mid-August couldn ’ t have been lower if I ’ d stuffed them under the sofa with my spare change , dust bunnies , and the remnants of my dog ’ s chew toys .
While I was disappointed that Milwaukee , where I went to high school , missed its chance in the national spotlight , I was furious about the party ’ s roster of featured speakers—one minute for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but major platforms for former president Bill Clinton , former secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) John Kerry , and ( really ? )
billionaire Michael Bloomberg , a great contributor to gun reform and environmental causes who is being sued by some of the national campaign staffers he lured with promises of long-term jobs , then laid off .
Oh , and all those Republicans ( six ! )
, from former Ohio governor John Kasich to Cindy McCain , the widow of Senator John McCain .
Sure , Senator Bernie Sanders got a featured spot , as did Senator Elizabeth Warren .
The lions of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diversity of the party ’ s new leadership , especially the class of 2018—from Ocasio-Cortez ’ s “ Squad ” to Orange County Representative Katie Porter and , yes , those national security leaders Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey , who won in swing districts—was barely in evidence .
Convention organizers had so many great women to choose from and chose so few .
Georgia ’ s Stacey Abrams got shoehorned into a keynote with 16 other rising stars , though her star rose long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And yet those choices ultimately didn ’ t matter much .
The convention ’ s format—the world ’ s best-choreographed Zoom meeting—flattened distinctions between the big-time speakers and the ordinary Americans we met , creating an unexpected intimacy .
My mind stays with Kristin Urquiza , who paid tribute to her father , a victim of Covid-19 , noting “ his only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump.
” And George Floyd ’ s brothers , Philonise and Rodney Floyd , leading a moment of silence for the victims of violence .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the national grieving ceremony we ’ ve all badly needed , suffering under a president who won ’ t elevate and honor the more than 175,000 Americans lost to Covid or the ever-growing roster of police shooting victims because he lacks the empathy that would require .
The Democratic convention gave us that national mourning , and for that alone , I was grateful .
The 2020 DNC Was a Convention of Small Ideas—and Voters Deserved More But there was more .
Never again should the delegate roll call be held in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans from our wide-open spaces must become a feature of every convention , even when ( or if ) we can band together again safely in throngs of tens of thousands .
I thrilled to see our country that way , in all its beauty : Representative Terri Sewell announcing Alabama ’ s delegate vote from the foot of the delicately illuminated Edmund Pettus Bridge ( which should soon be renamed for the late hero John Lewis ) .
Matthew Shepard ’ s still grieving parents , 22 years later , keeping faith @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s delegate count .
Gold Star father Khizr Khan , the standout speaker at the 2016 convention who was then attacked by Trump , doing the honors for Virginia .
And of course , some of the big speakers shined bright .
I loved Hillary Clinton , her white-blond hair in a long , relaxed flip , the presidential helmet gone , telling us drolly , “ Don ’ t forget : Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose .
Take it from me.
” She went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people have told me , ‘ I didn ’ t realize how dangerous he was.
’ ‘ I wish I could do it all over.
’ Or worst , ‘ I should have voted.
’ Look , this can ’ t be another woulda , coulda , shoulda election… .
Most of all , no matter what , vote.
” Then she went back to bingeing Netflix .
Or at least I hope she did .
Kamala Harris had the tough act of following Barack Obama , who , it was widely said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most slashing speech anyone can remember from a former president about his successor .
It ’ s about time .
Harris did her own roll call , of Black feminist leaders many of us don ’ t remember or never learned about—a tribute to the Black voters , most of them women , who made Joe Biden the Democratic nominee .
I want to do them the honor of introducing them .
She began with Mary Church Terrell—a turn-of-the- ( 20th ) -century suffragist , educator , and anti-lynching activist—and Mary McLeod Bethune @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Council of Negro Women , a longtime leader at the NAACP , and one of the only women at the establishment of the United Nations in 1945 .
Harris moved on to the slightly better-known Fannie Lou Hamer , the Mississippi civil rights activist who went to Atlantic City in 1964 to try to get Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegates installed in place of the state ’ s racist Democratic regulars .
Her convention address , describing her beatings at the hands of police , so unnerved President Lyndon Johnson that he preempted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to distract the national media .
Then came Diane Nash , the brilliant strategist and activist with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) , at the center of nearly every successful civil rights skirmish , from the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins to the Freedom Rides to the Selma marches .
Harris also honored Constance Baker Motley , a New York politician and activist who was the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary , and Shirley Chisholm , who was the first Black woman elected to Congress and ran for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she knows whose shoulders she stands upon , and it was moving .
A couple of other Black women got mentioned from on high .
Moderator Tracee Ellis Ross noted that Harris isn ’ t the first Black vice presidential nominee in US history : The journalist Charlotta Bass ran on the Progressive Party ’ s ticket in 1952 .
And it was left to Biden to summon the spirit of Ella Baker , the mother of the movement back in the day , who protected the young people in SNCC and elsewhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the powerful—even when that meant disagreeing with the Rev .
Martin Luther King Jr. “ Ella Baker , a giant of the civil rights movement , left us with this wisdom : ‘ Give people light , and they will find a way , ’ ” Biden said .
“ ‘ Give people light.
’ Those are words for our time.
” They are—and those words made me more hopeful about his presidency than the thousands of words that came after .
Of course , 13-year-old Brayden Harrington ’ s testimony about how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the most memorable thing we learned about the candidate , and I guarantee it would not have come off nearly as well in a big convention hall .
The entire Biden presentation centered on the many losses he has survived—not just of his wife and baby daughter almost 50 years ago but also of his beloved son Beau Biden in 2015 .
Joe Biden has come to seem the man for this anxious moment .
In the end , that ’ s what I remember about the week : the acknowledgment of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the victims and righting the wrongs that got us here .
If the official roster centered too many old white men , the Zoom family conversation was quite the opposite .
And so was the musical programming .
From the first night alone , the montage of images that went along with Bruce Springsteen ’ s “ The Rising ” featured stirring images of Black Lives Matter protests , as did Billy Porter ’ s duet with Stephen Stills on the iconic protest song “ For What It ’ s Worth.
” This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ district Republicans or even Cindy McCain ; it focused directly on the broken places in our society and also where healing is starting to take place .
So , yes , I wound up happy with the weeklong Democratic Zoom meeting , however tedious at times .
Something subversive happened : The people broke through .
As did the poet Seamus Heaney .
That “ hope and history rhyme ” line that Biden quoted shows up often , and the extended passage from Heaney ’ s play The Cure at Troy is worth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like this : It ’ s hard to believe a 77-year-old mostly centrist Democrat is going to deliver us new life , but this convention made me optimistic that the party ’ s new life , coming from everywhere , can not be thwarted .

This article appears in the September 21/28, 2020 issue.
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I’ll admit it: My expectations for the unconventional Democratic National Convention in mid-August couldn’t have been lower if I’d stuffed them under the sofa with my spare change, dust bunnies, and the remnants of my dog’s chew toys. While I was disappointed that Milwaukee, where I went to high school, missed its chance in the national spotlight, I was furious about the party’s roster of featured speakers—one minute for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but major platforms for former president Bill Clinton, former secretary of state (and losing 2004 nominee) John Kerry, and (really?) billionaire Michael Bloomberg, a great contributor to gun reform and environmental causes who is being sued by some of the national campaign staffers he lured with promises of long-term jobs, then laid off.
Oh, and all those Republicans (six!), from former Ohio governor John Kasich to Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain.
Sure, Senator Bernie Sanders got a featured spot, as did Senator Elizabeth Warren. The lions of the left got their spotlight. But the diversity of the party’s new leadership, especially the class of 2018—from Ocasio-Cortez’s “Squad” to Orange County Representative Katie Porter and, yes, those national security leaders Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, who won in swing districts—was barely in evidence. Convention organizers had so many great women to choose from and chose so few. Georgia’s Stacey Abrams got shoehorned into a keynote with 16 other rising stars, though her star rose long ago. She deserved her own spot.
And yet those choices ultimately didn’t matter much. The convention’s format—the world’s best-choreographed Zoom meeting—flattened distinctions between the big-time speakers and the ordinary Americans we met, creating an unexpected intimacy. My mind stays with Kristin Urquiza, who paid tribute to her father, a victim of Covid-19, noting “his only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump.” And George Floyd’s brothers, Philonise and Rodney Floyd, leading a moment of silence for the victims of violence. The convention’s first night served as the national grieving ceremony we’ve all badly needed, suffering under a president who won’t elevate and honor the more than 175,000 Americans lost to Covid or the ever-growing roster of police shooting victims because he lacks the empathy that would require. The Democratic convention gave us that national mourning, and for that alone, I was grateful. Related Article The 2020 DNC Was a Convention of Small Ideas—and Voters Deserved More John Nichols
But there was more. Never again should the delegate roll call be held in a stuffy arena; the tableau featuring Americans from our wide-open spaces must become a feature of every convention, even when (or if) we can band together again safely in throngs of tens of thousands. I thrilled to see our country that way, in all its beauty: Representative Terri Sewell announcing Alabama’s delegate vote from the foot of the delicately illuminated Edmund Pettus Bridge (which should soon be renamed for the late hero John Lewis). Matthew Shepard’s still grieving parents, 22 years later, keeping faith with their political activism, declaring Wyoming’s delegate count. Gold Star father Khizr Khan, the standout speaker at the 2016 convention who was then attacked by Trump, doing the honors for Virginia. 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
And of course, some of the big speakers shined bright. I loved Hillary Clinton, her white-blond hair in a long, relaxed flip, the presidential helmet gone, telling us drolly, “Don’t forget: Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose. Take it from me.” She went on, “For four years, people have told me, ‘I didn’t realize how dangerous he was.’ ‘I wish I could do it all over.’ Or worst, ‘I should have voted.’ Look, this can’t be another woulda, coulda, shoulda election…. Most of all, no matter what, vote.” Then she went back to bingeing Netflix. Or at least I hope she did.
Kamala Harris had the tough act of following Barack Obama, who, it was widely said, sometimes with opprobrium, gave the most slashing speech anyone can remember from a former president about his successor. It’s about time. Harris did her own roll call, of Black feminist leaders many of us don’t remember or never learned about—a tribute to the Black voters, most of them women, who made Joe Biden the Democratic nominee. I want to do them the honor of introducing them. Current Issue View our current issue
She began with Mary Church Terrell—a turn-of-the-(20th)-century suffragist, educator, and anti-lynching activist—and Mary McLeod Bethune, the founding president of the National Council of Negro Women, a longtime leader at the NAACP, and one of the only women at the establishment of the United Nations in 1945.
Harris moved on to the slightly better-known Fannie Lou Hamer, the Mississippi civil rights activist who went to Atlantic City in 1964 to try to get Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegates installed in place of the state’s racist Democratic regulars. Her convention address, describing her beatings at the hands of police, so unnerved President Lyndon Johnson that he preempted it with a presidential news conference intended to distract the national media. Then came Diane Nash, the brilliant strategist and activist with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), at the center of nearly every successful civil rights skirmish, from the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins to the Freedom Rides to the Selma marches.
Harris also honored Constance Baker Motley, a New York politician and activist who was the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary, and Shirley Chisholm, who was the first Black woman elected to Congress and ran for president in 1972. Harris showed us she knows whose shoulders she stands upon, and it was moving.
A couple of other Black women got mentioned from on high. Moderator Tracee Ellis Ross noted that Harris isn’t the first Black vice presidential nominee in US history: The journalist Charlotta Bass ran on the Progressive Party’s ticket in 1952. And it was left to Biden to summon the spirit of Ella Baker, the mother of the movement back in the day, who protected the young people in SNCC and elsewhere and helped them avoid getting seduced by the powerful—even when that meant disagreeing with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Ella Baker, a giant of the civil rights movement, left us with this wisdom: ‘Give people light, and they will find a way,’” Biden said. “‘Give people light.’ Those are words for our time.” They are—and those words made me more hopeful about his presidency than the thousands of words that came after. Of course, 13-year-old Brayden Harrington’s testimony about how Biden helped him with his stutter might be the most memorable thing we learned about the candidate, and I guarantee it would not have come off nearly as well in a big convention hall. The entire Biden presentation centered on the many losses he has survived—not just of his wife and baby daughter almost 50 years ago but also of his beloved son Beau Biden in 2015. Joe Biden has come to seem the man for this anxious moment.
In the end, that’s what I remember about the week: the acknowledgment of widespread suffering and the commitment to comforting the victims and righting the wrongs that got us here. If the official roster centered too many old white men, the Zoom family conversation was quite the opposite. And so was the musical programming. From the first night alone, the montage of images that went along with Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” featured stirring images of Black Lives Matter protests, as did Billy Porter’s duet with Stephen Stills on the iconic protest song “For What It’s Worth.” This wasn’t programming designed for swing district Republicans or even Cindy McCain; it focused directly on the broken places in our society and also where healing is starting to take place.
So, yes, I wound up happy with the weeklong Democratic Zoom meeting, however tedious at times. Something subversive happened: The people broke through.
As did the poet Seamus Heaney. That “hope and history rhyme” line that Biden quoted shows up often, and the extended passage from Heaney’s play The Cure at Troy is worth referring to, especially at a time like this:
Human beings suffer,
They torture one another,
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured. The innocent in gaols
Beat on their bars together.
A hunger-striker’s father
Stands in the graveyard dumb.
The police widow in veils
Faints at the funeral home. History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme. So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells. Call miracle self-healing:
The utter, self-revealing
Double-take of feeling.
If there’s fire on the mountain
Or lightning and storm
And a god speaks from the sky That means someone is hearing
The outcry and the birth-cry
Of new life at its term.
It’s hard to believe a 77-year-old mostly centrist Democrat is going to deliver us new life, but this convention made me optimistic that the party’s new life, coming from everywhere, cannot be thwarted.


thenation--2020-09-04--The 2020 DNC Was a Convention of Small Ideas—and Voters Deserved More

It was a politically cautious and ideologically inhibited Democratic National Convention that nominated Joe Biden for the presidency in mid-August .
A long and contentious primary campaign that featured the most crowded and diverse field of contenders in the party ’ s history finished not with a bang but with a virtual meeting .
This was a convention of familiar ideas and limited debate .
Instead of a bold vision for necessary change in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt ’ s “ We have nothing to fear but fear itself , ” viewers were presented with nightly jeremiads from our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of how bad things are in a moment of pandemic , mass unemployment , rising xenophobia , unaddressed structural racism , and climate crisis .
Instead of giving America a taste of the new ideas energizing the Democratic Party at its grass roots , viewers were offered servings of political comfort food .
The infomercial imprint was so complete that the biggest controversy involved a bizarre misreading of the whole point of a nominating convention—which is , of course , the gathering of supporters of distinct candidates and causes for the purpose of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a grand coalition of , dare we say it , New Deal proportions .
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , whose mass following and mastery of modern communication platforms would , in a more dynamic party , have secured her a keynote speaking slot , was given 96 seconds to perform the routine task of placing in nomination the party ’ s second-place finisher : Senator Bernie Sanders .
Ocasio-Cortez highlighted the surge in progressive political activism that powered the Sanders campaign and that in 2018 helped her unseat the House ’ s fourth-ranking Democrat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she was speaking “ in fidelity and gratitude to a mass people ’ s movement working to establish 21st century social , economic , and human rights , including guaranteed health care , higher education , living wages , and labor rights for all people in the United States ; a movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice , colonization , misogyny , and homophobia and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many and [ that ] organized a historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy.
” Ed Markey Has a Message for Democrats : ‘ The Age of Incrementalism Is Over ’ Donald Trump Came to Kenosha to Make the Most Vile Campaign Commercial in American Political History Jacob Blake Was Shot in Kenosha , a City Adrift in a Moral Desert At a convention that needed an infusion of policy , especially progressive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for using her minute and a half as she did .
Instead , moments after her remarks , NBC News ’ official account tweeted , “ In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC , Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden.
” A firestorm ensued , with her as the target .
It took more than three hours for NBC to acknowledge its mistake , delete the offending statement , and admit that it “ should have included more detail on the nominating process.
” That was an apt metaphor for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sessions that were long on personality and short on policy and procedure .
This was not a Democratic National Convention so much as a “ Biden for president ” advertorial .
On many levels , it worked .
The candidate gave the best speech of his 50 years in politics .
Reaching back to his roots as an East Coast Irish Catholic politician who came up in the age of the Kennedys—he writes in his autobiography that he “ got the idea ” for a career in public service from John Kennedy ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that spoke to the hearts of Democrats and even quoted a philosopher ( Søren Kierkegaard ) and a poet ( Seamus Heaney ) .
Just as JFK did .
Just as Robert Kennedy did , even more frequently and even more powerfully , after the assassination of his brother .
Like RFK , Biden tapped into a deep well of personal experience and grief , and that gave meaning and authenticity to his high-minded rhetoric .
Yet his was not an agenda-setting speech .
Its core message , like that of the convention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guy and Donald Trump is not .
Biden delivered it well , but Barack Obama , Michelle Obama , and Bernie Sanders did an even better job of speaking to the existential threat of a second Trump term .
It was striking to see a former president standing in front of an image of the Constitution as he asserted , “ This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that ’ s what it takes to win.
” It was chilling to hear Sanders , the son of a Jewish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Under this administration , authoritarianism has taken root in our country .
I and my family and many of yours know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy , decency , and humanity.
” A Democratic Convention for Acknowledging Pain , and for Healing No honest observer would begrudge Democrats the time they devoted to outlining the danger posed by the current president and his partisan allies in the stark terms employed by Arizonan Kristin Urquiza , the daughter of a Covid-19 victim who had put his faith in the president ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a continuing pandemic .
“ My dad was a healthy 65-year-old .
His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump—and for that , he paid with his life , ” she said .
Urquiza ’ s short address was riveting , as was vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris ’ s indictment of not just the Trump administration ’ s failed response to the crisis but also its failed response to historical injustice , noting in her acceptance speech , “ While this virus touches us all , let ’ s be honest , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Black , Latino , and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately .
This is not a coincidence .
It is the effect of structural racism.
” Of all the words that have been said about the pandemic , few ring truer than the California senator ’ s assertion that “ this virus has no eyes , and yet it knows exactly how we see each other—and how we treat each other.
” To the extent that this convention set out to make a case for why Trump must be rejected , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ framing the arguments for moving beyond Trumpism , with sincere reflections by Biden , Harris , and other speakers on the racist and xenophobic politics to which the Republican Party barters off its birthright when it embraces the president ’ s agenda .
What was missing was the sense of what comes after Trump .
The convention planners proved able diagnosticians .
They recognized the horrors of the moment , producing poignant videos commemorating the Covid-19 dead , answering the climate wake-up call , and showing 11-year-old Estela Juarez writing to Trump about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her family apart .
But without the crowds of contentious delegates caucusing and organizing protests , without the cheers and the signs and the sense of urgency that come with an in-person gathering , there was little pressure to go deep when discussing ways out of the “ historic crises…the perfect storm ” that Biden described in his acceptance speech .
Was it really necessary to have former surgeon general Vivek Murthy devote half of his two minutes on the national stage to the telling of another story of Biden ’ s decency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been better spent outlining specifics for how to renew the status and strength of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat Covid-19 and pandemics yet to come ?
Couldn ’ t Congressional Progressive Caucus cochair Pramila Jayapal have been invited to make the case for why a single-payer health care system like Medicare for All is the right response to a crisis in which millions of people have lost their jobs and their health insurance ?
Couldn ’ t Representatives Ro Khanna and Tim Ryan have taken a few minutes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a monthly $ 2,000 stimulus check would save the economy ?
Couldn ’ t Representative Ilhan Omar have spoken from Minneapolis about the killing of George Floyd , ending police violence , and the fight against systemic racism ?
Couldn ’ t the Sunrise Movement ’ s Varshini Prakash have been permitted a few minutes to describe the Green New Deal ?
Couldn ’ t Andrew Yang have ditched the laudatory remarks about Biden and Harris and expounded on a universal basic income ?
Dissenting Delegates Send a Medicare for All Message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Not the Future of the Democratic Party Biden Can not Win ( or Govern ) as a Deficit Hawk It ’ s true that these leaders would have taken bolder positions than those espoused so far by Biden or the party ’ s platform .
It ’ s also true that both parties have devoted themselves over the past several decades to ridding their conventions of unwanted drama .
But this willful avoidance of internal debate has never done the Democrats any good .
And it was doubly embarrassing at this year ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plenty of time for renegade Republicans like former Ohio governor John Kasich but far too little time for the rising generation of progressives who have recognized the call for a bolder politics—one that reaches out to young people and to all of the disenchanted and discouraged potential voters that Democrats need to gain a mandate in November .
Opening up the discourse and welcoming honest and aspirational debate does not weaken a party .
In one of the most inspiring addresses to the 2020 convention , health care activist Ady Barkan moved listeners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are always “ demanding more of our representatives and our democracy.
” Such people do not divide or diminish the party .
Rather , they strengthen its appeal by suggesting that another politics—and another world—really could be possible .

This article appears in the September 21/28, 2020 issue.
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It was a politically cautious and ideologically inhibited Democratic National Convention that nominated Joe Biden for the presidency in mid-August. A long and contentious primary campaign that featured the most crowded and diverse field of contenders in the party’s history finished not with a bang but with a virtual meeting.
This was a convention of familiar ideas and limited debate. Instead of a bold vision for necessary change in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt’s “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” viewers were presented with nightly jeremiads from our times—as if we were not already aware of how bad things are in a moment of pandemic, mass unemployment, rising xenophobia, unaddressed structural racism, and climate crisis. Instead of giving America a taste of the new ideas energizing the Democratic Party at its grass roots, viewers were offered servings of political comfort food. The infomercial imprint was so complete that the biggest controversy involved a bizarre misreading of the whole point of a nominating convention—which is, of course, the gathering of supporters of distinct candidates and causes for the purpose of choosing a ticket capable of pulling together a grand coalition of, dare we say it, New Deal proportions.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose mass following and mastery of modern communication platforms would, in a more dynamic party, have secured her a keynote speaking slot, was given 96 seconds to perform the routine task of placing in nomination the party’s second-place finisher: Senator Bernie Sanders.
Ocasio-Cortez highlighted the surge in progressive political activism that powered the Sanders campaign and that in 2018 helped her unseat the House’s fourth-ranking Democrat in a party primary. She said she was speaking “in fidelity and gratitude to a mass people’s movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States; a movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past; a movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many and [that] organized a historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy.” 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
At a convention that needed an infusion of policy, especially progressive policy, Ocasio-Cortez should have been celebrated for using her minute and a half as she did. Instead, moments after her remarks, NBC News’ official account tweeted, “In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden.” A firestorm ensued, with her as the target. It took more than three hours for NBC to acknowledge its mistake, delete the offending statement, and admit that it “should have included more detail on the nominating process.” 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
That was an apt metaphor for the four-day parade of tightly scripted two-hour sessions that were long on personality and short on policy and procedure. This was not a Democratic National Convention so much as a “Biden for president” advertorial. On many levels, it worked. The candidate gave the best speech of his 50 years in politics. Reaching back to his roots as an East Coast Irish Catholic politician who came up in the age of the Kennedys—he writes in his autobiography that he “got the idea” for a career in public service from John Kennedy’s 1960 campaign—Biden delivered an acceptance speech that spoke to the hearts of Democrats and even quoted a philosopher (Søren Kierkegaard) and a poet (Seamus Heaney). Just as JFK did. Just as Robert Kennedy did, even more frequently and even more powerfully, after the assassination of his brother.
Like RFK, Biden tapped into a deep well of personal experience and grief, and that gave meaning and authenticity to his high-minded rhetoric. Yet his was not an agenda-setting speech. Its core message, like that of the convention, was that Biden is a good guy and Donald Trump is not. Biden delivered it well, but Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Bernie Sanders did an even better job of speaking to the existential threat of a second Trump term. It was striking to see a former president standing in front of an image of the Constitution as he asserted, “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win.” It was chilling to hear Sanders, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Galicia, tell viewers, “Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I and my family and many of yours know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency, and humanity.” 2020 DNC A Democratic Convention for Acknowledging Pain, and for Healing Joan Walsh
No honest observer would begrudge Democrats the time they devoted to outlining the danger posed by the current president and his partisan allies in the stark terms employed by Arizonan Kristin Urquiza, the daughter of a Covid-19 victim who had put his faith in the president’s counsel about reopening in the face of a continuing pandemic. “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump—and for that, he paid with his life,” she said. Urquiza’s short address was riveting, as was vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s indictment of not just the Trump administration’s failed response to the crisis but also its failed response to historical injustice, noting in her acceptance speech, “While this virus touches us all, let’s be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino, and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately. This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism.” Of all the words that have been said about the pandemic, few ring truer than the California senator’s assertion that “this virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other—and how we treat each other.”
To the extent that this convention set out to make a case for why Trump must be rejected, it succeeded. It also succeeded in framing the arguments for moving beyond Trumpism, with sincere reflections by Biden, Harris, and other speakers on the racist and xenophobic politics to which the Republican Party barters off its birthright when it embraces the president’s agenda. Current Issue View our current issue
What was missing was the sense of what comes after Trump. The convention planners proved able diagnosticians. They recognized the horrors of the moment, producing poignant videos commemorating the Covid-19 dead, answering the climate wake-up call, and showing 11-year-old Estela Juarez writing to Trump about how his brutal immigration policies had torn her family apart.
But without the crowds of contentious delegates caucusing and organizing protests, without the cheers and the signs and the sense of urgency that come with an in-person gathering, there was little pressure to go deep when discussing ways out of the “historic crises…the perfect storm” that Biden described in his acceptance speech. Was it really necessary to have former surgeon general Vivek Murthy devote half of his two minutes on the national stage to the telling of another story of Biden’s decency? Wouldn’t his time have been better spent outlining specifics for how to renew the status and strength of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat Covid-19 and pandemics yet to come? Couldn’t Congressional Progressive Caucus cochair Pramila Jayapal have been invited to make the case for why a single-payer health care system like Medicare for All is the right response to a crisis in which millions of people have lost their jobs and their health insurance? Couldn’t Representatives Ro Khanna and Tim Ryan have taken a few minutes to explain how their plan to provide Americans with a monthly $2,000 stimulus check would save the economy? Couldn’t Representative Ilhan Omar have spoken from Minneapolis about the killing of George Floyd, ending police violence, and the fight against systemic racism? Couldn’t the Sunrise Movement’s Varshini Prakash have been permitted a few minutes to describe the Green New Deal? Couldn’t Andrew Yang have ditched the laudatory remarks about Biden and Harris and expounded on a universal basic income? 2020 DNC Dissenting Delegates Send a Medicare for All Message to Joe Biden John Nichols Whatever This Is Is Not the Future of the Democratic Party John Nichols Biden Cannot Win (or Govern) as a Deficit Hawk John Nichols
It’s true that these leaders would have taken bolder positions than those espoused so far by Biden or the party’s platform. It’s also true that both parties have devoted themselves over the past several decades to ridding their conventions of unwanted drama. But this willful avoidance of internal debate has never done the Democrats any good. And it was doubly embarrassing at this year’s convention, where the party found plenty of time for renegade Republicans like former Ohio governor John Kasich but far too little time for the rising generation of progressives who have recognized the call for a bolder politics—one that reaches out to young people and to all of the disenchanted and discouraged potential voters that Democrats need to gain a mandate in November. Opening up the discourse and welcoming honest and aspirational debate does not weaken a party. In one of the most inspiring addresses to the 2020 convention, health care activist Ady Barkan moved listeners to tears when he spoke of those who are always “demanding more of our representatives and our democracy.” Such people do not divide or diminish the party. Rather, they strengthen its appeal by suggesting that another politics—and another world—really could be possible.