thenation--2020-08-10--Cuomo’s Administration Faces Questioning Over Its Handling of Nursing Home Covid Deaths

New York state ’ s health commissioner struggled to answer a simple question during a legislative hearing last week : Why does New York have such a strange way of counting nursing home deaths from Covid-19 ?
During an August 3 hearing , New York state legislators questioned Dr. Howard Zucker about what went wrong with the approach by Governor Andrew Cuomo ’ s administration to addressing and controlling coronavirus outbreaks among nursing home residents , including why the administration counted nursing home residents who died in hospitals separately from residents who died in their nursing homes .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to do it one way so you can look better , ” said Gustavo Rivera , a Democrat who chairs the state Senate ’ s Health Committee .
New York is the only state to count those deaths separately during the pandemic , according to findings from the Democrat-controlled state Senate .
And the decision to do so has made assessing the devastation Covid-19 wreaked on the state ’ s nursing homes ( as on such facilities across the nation , with New York ’ s being hit especially hard ) incredibly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick from Covid-19 were , naturally , sent to hospitals for medical attention .
Zucker admitted during the August 3 hearing that reconciling the deaths in nursing homes with the deaths of nursing home residents in hospitals might not be possible .
New York state still counts hospital and in-residence deaths of nursing home residences separately .
Despite the state ’ s artificially low count , New York ’ s in-residence nursing home death toll remains the highest in the country—more than 6,400 people , according to state data—though not the highest per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the highest overall number of coronavirus deaths in the United States , more than 25,000 Covid-confirmed fatalities , according to the New York State Department of Health .
During the hearing , state Senator James Skoufis , another Democrat , also pressed Zucker on the total number of deaths of nursing home residents : “ You don ’ t have a ballpark you can give ?
So the total official number is 6,500 , so is the total deaths with hospitals included 8,000 , 10,000 , 15,000 ?
” “ I am not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Zucker responded .
New York had decided not to count nursing home residents who died in hospitals , he said , because state officials feared they could double-count deaths—that is , record that a person died in a hospital and also in a residence .
Difficulty establishing a clear case and fatality count extends beyond nursing homes ; New York is not alone in that .
“ Probable ” and “ confirmed ” are two public health statistics used to track , for example , Covid-19 cases and deaths .
New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths , according to The City , is more than 32,000 , as of August 7 .
The state has reported a confirmed 25,000 deaths ; it has not reported the probable number of deaths .
Cuomo has demanded privately that the Centers for Disease Control not report New York City ’ s probable count and use the state government ’ s confirmed tally instead , according to a state source familiar with the situation .
Currently , the CDC does not list either a statewide “ probable ” or “ confirmed ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and many other states , including Texas , Florida , and California .
Accurate case and death counts matter because they can be used to examine whether state policy played a role in exacerbating the crisis—and Cuomo ’ s directive , issued in a time of extreme distress , warrants examination , given how nursing homes have been ravaged during the pandemic .
Such examination could help New York respond better in a second wave .
On March 25 , the New York State Department of Health ordered homes and facilities to readmit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus , in part to ensure that hospitals had enough capacity for new patients .
Cuomo reversed course in May and rescinded the directive , which some have blamed for contributing to the spread of the virus in nursing homes .
In addition , Cuomo gave nursing homes and hospitals blanket immunity from virtually any kind of medical malpractice lawsuits when the state budget was passed in April .
In late July , the state legislature passed a bill to partially repeal the immunity .
In a victory for executives of both nursing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most influential interest groups in New York politics , the repeal is not retroactive , meaning those who lost family members in health care facilities before August still can ’ t sue .
On July 6 , as criticism of Cuomo ’ s handling of Covid in nursing homes and of the pandemic in general mounted , the State Department of Health released a report , aided by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. , that determined the state wasn ’ t to blame for these deaths .
The July report declared that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do with the spread of the coronavirus and instead blamed staff working in the homes for unwittingly transmitting it to residents .
The report ’ s data showed that nursing home deaths peaked a week before readmissions of patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 peaked .
The height of infections of staff similarly tracked with peak mortality for residents , according to the report , with deaths peaking on April 8 .
Because the time from infection to death ranges between 18 and 25 days , the report argues that residents were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the March 25 directive that forced nursing homes to readmit coronavirus patients .
Outside health care analysts , scientists , and epidemiologists largely assailed the report for its methodology .
The report proclaimed that 80 percent of nursing homes that accepted coronavirus patients already had confirmed cases before the March 25 order—but didn ’ t address the other 20 percent .
The question state lawmakers are seeking to answer is , did readmitted residents spread the coronavirus there ?
The Cuomo administration has repeatedly refused to say .
If infected residents who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ excluded , how could the Department of Health definitively know that peak mortality came on April 8 ?
“ If you ’ re not counting those people , you ’ re not seeing the whole picture , ” said Bill Hammond , the director of health policy at the Empire Center , a right-leaning think tank .
“ It ’ s shocking to me , in context of what ’ s supposed to be a scientific fact-based analysis , that [ the DOH report ] continues to lowball the number of deaths.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Jeffrey Hammond ( unrelated to Bill Hammond ) , said that protecting vulnerable populations has been the state ’ s “ top priority ” from the start .
Referring to the McKinsey report , Hammond insisted that nursing home staff carrying the coronavirus into health care facilities was the sole cause of outbreaks there .
“ The Department of Health released the results of an in-depth analysis of nursing home data that found Covid-19 fatalities in nursing homes were related to infected nursing home staff.
” The hearing was the first of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s approach to Covid-19 in nursing homes .
The second is August 10 .
In May , two months before the McKinsey report was released , the Cuomo administration and the New York state attorney general ’ s office announced that they would be conducting their own nursing home investigation .
The investigation remains ongoing , with no new updates .
Both Democratic and Republican state lawmakers , however , are hoping for an outside , independent investigation , though it ’ s not clear yet what form it would take .

Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter Fridays. The best of the week. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Fridays. The best of the week.
Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.
Repro Nation A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
New York state’s health commissioner struggled to answer a simple question during a legislative hearing last week: Why does New York have such a strange way of counting nursing home deaths from Covid-19?
During an August 3 hearing, New York state legislators questioned Dr. Howard Zucker about what went wrong with the approach by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration to addressing and controlling coronavirus outbreaks among nursing home residents, including why the administration counted nursing home residents who died in hospitals separately from residents who died in their nursing homes.
“It seems, sir, that you are trying to do it one way so you can look better,” said Gustavo Rivera, a Democrat who chairs the state Senate’s Health Committee.
New York is the only state to count those deaths separately during the pandemic, according to findings from the Democrat-controlled state Senate. And the decision to do so has made assessing the devastation Covid-19 wreaked on the state’s nursing homes (as on such facilities across the nation, with New York’s being hit especially hard) incredibly challenging, because many residents who got sick from Covid-19 were, naturally, sent to hospitals for medical attention.
Zucker admitted during the August 3 hearing that reconciling the deaths in nursing homes with the deaths of nursing home residents in hospitals might not be possible. New York state still counts hospital and in-residence deaths of nursing home residences separately. Despite the state’s artificially low count, New York’s in-residence nursing home death toll remains the highest in the country—more than 6,400 people, according to state data—though not the highest per capita. New York state also has the highest overall number of coronavirus deaths in the United States, more than 25,000 Covid-confirmed fatalities, according to the New York State Department of Health.
During the hearing, state Senator James Skoufis, another Democrat, also pressed Zucker on the total number of deaths of nursing home residents: “You don’t have a ballpark you can give? So the total official number is 6,500, so is the total deaths with hospitals included 8,000, 10,000, 15,000?” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
“I am not prepared to give you a specific number,” Zucker responded. New York had decided not to count nursing home residents who died in hospitals, he said, because state officials feared they could double-count deaths—that is, record that a person died in a hospital and also in a residence. Current Issue View our current issue
Difficulty establishing a clear case and fatality count extends beyond nursing homes; New York is not alone in that. “Probable” and “confirmed” are two public health statistics used to track, for example, Covid-19 cases and deaths. New York State’s probable number of deaths, according to The City, is more than 32,000, as of August 7. The state has reported a confirmed 25,000 deaths; it has not reported the probable number of deaths.
Cuomo has demanded privately that the Centers for Disease Control not report New York City’s probable count and use the state government’s confirmed tally instead, according to a state source familiar with the situation. Currently, the CDC does not list either a statewide “probable” or “confirmed” tally on its website for New York and many other states, including Texas, Florida, and California.
Accurate case and death counts matter because they can be used to examine whether state policy played a role in exacerbating the crisis—and Cuomo’s directive, issued in a time of extreme distress, warrants examination, given how nursing homes have been ravaged during the pandemic. Such examination could help New York respond better in a second wave.
On March 25, the New York State Department of Health ordered homes and facilities to readmit residents who had tested positive for the coronavirus, in part to ensure that hospitals had enough capacity for new patients. Cuomo reversed course in May and rescinded the directive, which some have blamed for contributing to the spread of the virus in nursing homes.
In addition, Cuomo gave nursing homes and hospitals blanket immunity from virtually any kind of medical malpractice lawsuits when the state budget was passed in April. In late July, the state legislature passed a bill to partially repeal the immunity. In a victory for executives of both nursing homes and hospitals, two of the most influential interest groups in New York politics, the repeal is not retroactive, meaning those who lost family members in health care facilities before August still can’t sue.
On July 6, as criticism of Cuomo’s handling of Covid in nursing homes and of the pandemic in general mounted, the State Department of Health released a report, aided by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., that determined the state wasn’t to blame for these deaths. The July report declared that the controversial March directive had nothing to do with the spread of the coronavirus and instead blamed staff working in the homes for unwittingly transmitting it to residents.
The report’s data showed that nursing home deaths peaked a week before readmissions of patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 peaked. The height of infections of staff similarly tracked with peak mortality for residents, according to the report, with deaths peaking on April 8. Because the time from infection to death ranges between 18 and 25 days, the report argues that residents were likely infected by staff in mid-March, before the March 25 directive that forced nursing homes to readmit coronavirus patients.
Outside health care analysts, scientists, and epidemiologists largely assailed the report for its methodology. The report proclaimed that 80 percent of nursing homes that accepted coronavirus patients already had confirmed cases before the March 25 order—but didn’t address the other 20 percent. The question state lawmakers are seeking to answer is, did readmitted residents spread the coronavirus there? The Cuomo administration has repeatedly refused to say.
If infected residents who were transferred to hospitals to die were excluded, how could the Department of Health definitively know that peak mortality came on April 8?
“If you’re not counting those people, you’re not seeing the whole picture,” said Bill Hammond, the director of health policy at the Empire Center, a right-leaning think tank. “It’s shocking to me, in context of what’s supposed to be a scientific fact-based analysis, that [the DOH report] continues to lowball the number of deaths.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health, Jeffrey Hammond (unrelated to Bill Hammond), said that protecting vulnerable populations has been the state’s “top priority” from the start. Referring to the McKinsey report, Hammond insisted that nursing home staff carrying the coronavirus into health care facilities was the sole cause of outbreaks there. “The Department of Health released the results of an in-depth analysis of nursing home data that found Covid-19 fatalities in nursing homes were related to infected nursing home staff.”
The hearing was the first of two scheduled to investigate the administration’s approach to Covid-19 in nursing homes. The second is August 10.
In May, two months before the McKinsey report was released, the Cuomo administration and the New York state attorney general’s office announced that they would be conducting their own nursing home investigation. The investigation remains ongoing, with no new updates. Both Democratic and Republican state lawmakers, however, are hoping for an outside, independent investigation, though it’s not clear yet what form it would take.


thenation--2020-08-10--The Last Temptation of Jerry

The Last Temptation of Jerry

Jerry Falwell Jr. , recently deposed as president of Liberty University , is a new type of Christian sinner .
The figure of a pious hypocrite is as old as religion itself , an inevitable by-product of the fact that any moral system will be upheld by flawed people .
But usually godly miscreants try to keep their transgressions secret .
A prime example is Jimmy Swaggart , who was disgraced and defrocked after revelations of hiring sex workers in 1987 .
Furtive , sweaty , twitchy , and given to wailing , “ I have sinned , ” Swaggart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Flannery O ’ Connor : a God-haunted and superstitious primate driven by compulsions he could neither understand nor control .
As creepy as he is , Swaggart has given every evidence of a complex and tormented inner life .
Falwell Jr. , by contrast , is a shallower creature who has not tried to hide his misdeeds .
Rather , he has flaunted them .
The latest scandal involving Falwell Jr. grew out of a photo he posted on Instagram that shows him with his arms around a woman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties with their pants unzipped .
“ Yeah , it was weird , ” Falwell admitted in a radio interview .
“ She ’ s pregnant .
She couldn ’ t get her pants zipped and I was like trying to like… I had on a pair of jeans I haven ’ t worn in a long time and couldn ’ t get zipped either .
So , I just put my belly out like hers .
She ’ s my wife ’ s assistant , she ’ s a sweetheart .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ embarrassed her .
I ’ ve apologized to everybody .
I promised my kids I will try to be a good boy from here on out.
” This explanation wasn ’ t sufficient , coming as it did on top of a long list of previous scandals , including still-unexplained land deals he made with his pool boy and photos in which he appears to be drinking and dancing at a Florida nightclub .
These photos were a problem because Liberty University holds its students and staff to strict moral standards .
Students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a partner of the opposite sex and be expelled for drinking .
Sex outside of marriage is prohibited for students .
A Biden Administration Will Have to Confront Trump ’ s Corruption There Will Be No Return to Normality As Politico reported last year , Falwell Jr. was notorious for flouting these rules , taking an exhibitionist ’ s glee in lewd conversations : “ At Liberty , Falwell is ‘ very , very vocal ’ about his ‘ sex life , ’ in the words of one Liberty official—a characterization multiple current @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this story support.
” Falwell Jr. reportedly circulated to Liberty University staff photos of his wife dressed as a French maid .
Falwell Jr. ’ s behavior was certainly in bad taste and in violation of not just his own evangelical code but also secular rules about workplace sexual harassment .
It ’ s not appropriate for an employer to talk to his staff in explicit detail about his sex life , as Falwell reportedly did .
The latest scandal proved a bridge too far for the board of trustees at Liberty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indefinite leave of absence .
Falwell Jr. ’ s exhibitionism , his compulsive need to publicize his sexual antics even at the cost of his job , helps illuminate his fateful political alliance with Donald Trump .
Falwell Jr. was among the earliest major evangelical leaders to embrace Trump and has remained a steadfast supporter .
During Trump ’ s highly publicized visit to Liberty University in January of 2016 , Falwell Jr. stated , “ In my opinion , Donald Trump lives a life of loving and helping others as Jesus taught @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , Falwell Jr. enthusiastically endorsed Trump for the Republican Party ’ s presidential nomination .
The alliance between Trump and white evangelicals has puzzled many observers .
“ Evangelicals for years have defined themselves as the values voters , people who prized the Bible and sexual morality—and loving your neighbor as yourself—above all , ” notes New York Times reporter Elizabeth Dias .
“ Donald Trump was the opposite .
He bragged about assaulting women .
He got divorced , twice .
He built a career off gambling .
He cozied up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ church .
He refused to ask for forgiveness.
” Yet , as Dias observes , this seeming contradiction disappears when we realize that “ evangelicals did not support Mr. Trump in spite of who he is .
They supported him because of who he is , and because of who they are .
He is their protector , the bully who is on their side , the one who offered safety amid their fears that their country as they know it , and their place in it , is changing , and changing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made in greater detail by reporter Sarah Posner in her compelling new book , Unholy : Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump .
Posner places the story of Trump and white evangelicals within the larger history of the backlash against civil rights , feminism , and LGBTQ rights that gathered force in the 1960s .
This backlash , Posner demonstrates , fueled both the religious right and Trumpism .
The real driving force of the Christian right , Posner contends , “ was not religion but grievances over school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LGBTQ rights , affirmative action , and more .
Trump became their hero despite being a thrice-married philanderer who talked about dating his daughter , paid off a porn star to keep quiet about an affair , and was terrible at God talk .
He became their savior because he spoke the language that tied them and him…together against ‘ political correctness , ’ civil and human rights , and at its core , the entire arduous project of maintaining a pluralistic , secular , liberal democracy.
” One of the best examples @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the backlash to the freedom movements of the 1960s is Jerry Falwell Jr. ’ s illustrious father .
Jerry Falwell Sr. often claimed he was politicized by his opposition to abortion .
But as Posner documents , the earlier impetus to Falwell Sr. ’ s career was his hostility toward the civil rights movement .
In 1964 , Falwell Sr. described the Civil Rights Act as a “ terrible violation of human and private property rights.
” According to Posner , Falwell Jr. “ helped distribute literature disparaging Martin Luther King , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hoover , who oversaw agency surveillance , including wire-taps , on the civil rights icon.
” In 1968 , Falwell Sr. invited leading segregationist George Wallace to address his church .
If we see the Christian right and Trumpism as products of the same backlash , their convergence becomes easy to understand .
Trump is the leader of the secular wing of the backlash and Falwell Jr. is the leader of its religious wing .
But they share the same agenda of preserving the privileges of straight white well-to-do men from social movements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Trump ’ s anti-feminism , he ’ s fashioned a public persona of gleeful chauvinism , offering an unapologetic sexism that refuses even to wear the mask of chivalry found in early forms of patriarchy .
Trump ’ s sleaziness is very much a part of his political identity .
It shows that he ’ s a real man , not one who ’ s cowed by feminist criticism .
Being a louche politician has cost Trump few votes among white evangelicals because many of them secretly admire such behavior .
Lewdness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the final temptation that Jerry Falwell Jr. fell into was to go beyond envying Trump ’ s decadent lifestyle and openly try to imitate it .

Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter Fridays. The best of the week. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Fridays. The best of the week.
Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.
Repro Nation A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
Jerry Falwell Jr., recently deposed as president of Liberty University, is a new type of Christian sinner. The figure of a pious hypocrite is as old as religion itself, an inevitable by-product of the fact that any moral system will be upheld by flawed people. But usually godly miscreants try to keep their transgressions secret.
A prime example is Jimmy Swaggart, who was disgraced and defrocked after revelations of hiring sex workers in 1987. Furtive, sweaty, twitchy, and given to wailing, “I have sinned,” Swaggart acted like an escapee from the fictions of Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Flannery O’Connor: a God-haunted and superstitious primate driven by compulsions he could neither understand nor control. As creepy as he is, Swaggart has given every evidence of a complex and tormented inner life.
Falwell Jr., by contrast, is a shallower creature who has not tried to hide his misdeeds. Rather, he has flaunted them. The latest scandal involving Falwell Jr. grew out of a photo he posted on Instagram that shows him with his arms around a woman who was not his wife, both parties with their pants unzipped. “Yeah, it was weird,” Falwell admitted in a radio interview. “She’s pregnant. She couldn’t get her pants zipped and I was like trying to like… I had on a pair of jeans I haven’t worn in a long time and couldn’t get zipped either. So, I just put my belly out like hers. She’s my wife’s assistant, she’s a sweetheart. I should have never put it up and embarrassed her. I’ve apologized to everybody. I promised my kids I will try to be a good boy from here on out.”
This explanation wasn’t sufficient, coming as it did on top of a long list of previous scandals, including still-unexplained land deals he made with his pool boy and photos in which he appears to be drinking and dancing at a Florida nightclub. These photos were a problem because Liberty University holds its students and staff to strict moral standards. Students can receive demerits if they dance with a partner of the opposite sex and be expelled for drinking. Sex outside of marriage is prohibited for students. More From Jeet Heer The Indigenous Roots of Robbie Robertson’s Rock and Roll Revolution August 14, 2023 Why Does This Racist Keep Getting Silicon Valley Money? August 11, 2023 When Phallocrats Go Limp August 4, 2023
As Politico reported last year, Falwell Jr. was notorious for flouting these rules, taking an exhibitionist’s glee in lewd conversations: “At Liberty, Falwell is ‘very, very vocal’ about his ‘sex life,’ in the words of one Liberty official—a characterization multiple current and former university officials and employees interviewed for this story support.” Falwell Jr. reportedly circulated to Liberty University staff photos of his wife dressed as a French maid. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Falwell Jr.’s behavior was certainly in bad taste and in violation of not just his own evangelical code but also secular rules about workplace sexual harassment. It’s not appropriate for an employer to talk to his staff in explicit detail about his sex life, as Falwell reportedly did. The latest scandal proved a bridge too far for the board of trustees at Liberty University, which placed him on an indefinite leave of absence.
Falwell Jr.’s exhibitionism, his compulsive need to publicize his sexual antics even at the cost of his job, helps illuminate his fateful political alliance with Donald Trump. Falwell Jr. was among the earliest major evangelical leaders to embrace Trump and has remained a steadfast supporter. During Trump’s highly publicized visit to Liberty University in January of 2016, Falwell Jr. stated, “In my opinion, Donald Trump lives a life of loving and helping others as Jesus taught in the great commandment.” Two weeks later, Falwell Jr. enthusiastically endorsed Trump for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. Current Issue View our current issue
The alliance between Trump and white evangelicals has puzzled many observers. “Evangelicals for years have defined themselves as the values voters, people who prized the Bible and sexual morality—and loving your neighbor as yourself—above all,” notes New York Times reporter Elizabeth Dias. “Donald Trump was the opposite. He bragged about assaulting women. He got divorced, twice. He built a career off gambling. He cozied up to bigots. He rarely went to church. He refused to ask for forgiveness.”
Yet, as Dias observes, this seeming contradiction disappears when we realize that “evangelicals did not support Mr. Trump in spite of who he is. They supported him because of who he is, and because of who they are. He is their protector, the bully who is on their side, the one who offered safety amid their fears that their country as they know it, and their place in it, is changing, and changing quickly.”
This argument echoes a case made in greater detail by reporter Sarah Posner in her compelling new book, Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump. Posner places the story of Trump and white evangelicals within the larger history of the backlash against civil rights, feminism, and LGBTQ rights that gathered force in the 1960s. This backlash, Posner demonstrates, fueled both the religious right and Trumpism.
The real driving force of the Christian right, Posner contends, “was not religion but grievances over school desegregation, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, affirmative action, and more. Trump became their hero despite being a thrice-married philanderer who talked about dating his daughter, paid off a porn star to keep quiet about an affair, and was terrible at God talk. He became their savior because he spoke the language that tied them and him…together against ‘political correctness,’ civil and human rights, and at its core, the entire arduous project of maintaining a pluralistic, secular, liberal democracy.”
One of the best examples of how the religious right emerged out of the backlash to the freedom movements of the 1960s is Jerry Falwell Jr.’s illustrious father. Jerry Falwell Sr. often claimed he was politicized by his opposition to abortion. But as Posner documents, the earlier impetus to Falwell Sr.’s career was his hostility toward the civil rights movement. In 1964, Falwell Sr. described the Civil Rights Act as a “terrible violation of human and private property rights.” According to Posner, Falwell Sr. “helped distribute literature disparaging Martin Luther King, Jr., by then–FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who oversaw agency surveillance, including wire-taps, on the civil rights icon.” In 1968, Falwell Sr. invited leading segregationist George Wallace to address his church.
If we see the Christian right and Trumpism as products of the same backlash, their convergence becomes easy to understand. Trump is the leader of the secular wing of the backlash and Falwell Jr. is the leader of its religious wing. But they share the same agenda of preserving the privileges of straight white well-to-do men from social movements pushing for greater equality.
As part of Trump’s anti-feminism, he’s fashioned a public persona of gleeful chauvinism, offering an unapologetic sexism that refuses even to wear the mask of chivalry found in early forms of patriarchy. Trump’s sleaziness is very much a part of his political identity. It shows that he’s a real man, not one who’s cowed by feminist criticism.
Being a louche politician has cost Trump few votes among white evangelicals because many of them secretly admire such behavior. Lewdness is proof of heterosexual virility. Perhaps the final temptation that Jerry Falwell Jr. fell into was to go beyond envying Trump’s decadent lifestyle and openly try to imitate it.


thenation--2020-08-10--How Stephen Miller Turned the Department of Homeland Security Into a Political Weapon

In March of 2016 , Donald J. Trump ’ s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination was in trouble .
His poll numbers were collapsing , and he was repeatedly the subject of jokes on major TV networks and elsewhere for his attacks on women , Muslims , and Mexicans .
Fox News criticized his “ extreme , sick obsession ” with Megyn Kelly .
“ The bottom is dropping out for Donald Trump , ” read one article on NBC News .
Even immigration hard-liners weren ’ t sure about the reality-TV star .
They knew his promised border @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; for decades , border barriers had underwhelmed in their ability to decrease immigration .
Stephen Miller had a plan , though .
Trump ’ s lanky 30-year-old senior policy adviser and speechwriter had connections in the Border Patrol and ICE unions from his time derailing a bipartisan immigration reform bill as communications director for then–Alabama Senator ( soon-to-be Attorney General ) Jeff Sessions .
Miller reached out to the Border Patrol union ’ s president , Brandon Judd .
It was the first in a long chain of decisions that would help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mandate to defend against everything from terrorism to pandemics—into a tool for pushing Trump ’ s political agenda , focused on strangling legal immigration and social justice causes .
When Trump became president , Miller went to work .
It should be no surprise , then , that less than four years later the Department of Homeland Security is openly defying a US Supreme Court decision to maintain Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) , an Obama-era deportation protection program for people brought to this country as children .
The DHS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters at demonstrations in Democratic-run cities that began after George Floyd was murdered .
The department has become a partisan weapon largely detached from its mission of protecting homeland security .
“ During the campaign , I would speak to [ Miller ] once a month maybe , ” Judd told me while I was reporting for my book , Hatemonger : Stephen Miller , Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda .
He and I were in El Paso on July 26 , 2019 , a few days before a white terrorist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whom were Mexican-Americans , at a Walmart nearby .
This terrorist had imagined he was defending the United States from “ a Hispanic invasion.
” Hatemonger : Stephen Miller , Donald Trump , and the White Nationalist Agenda by Jean Guerrero releases August 11 , 2020 .
Earlier in the day , Judd had spoken at a border wall symposium sponsored by NumbersUSA , an anti-immigration group propped up in the 1990s by the eugenicist John Tanton , who believed in race-based pseudoscience and population control for nonwhite people .
The Border Patrol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s think tanks .
Judd complained on stage about Border Patrol agents ’ being called “ Nazis.
” “ You can ’ t even tell a mundane joke without all of the political correctness stepping out and saying you ’ re a bad person , ” he said .
The symposium featured far-right influencers such as Pizzagate conspiracist Mike Cernovich and Trump ’ s former chief strategist Steve Bannon , who had left the White House in August 2017 .
The event was livestreamed in front of a privately funded stretch of steel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alleged invasion .
“ Quiet on the set !
” Bannon cried between speeches .
Tens of thousands of other people watched online .
Kris Kobach , the former Kansas secretary of state , told viewers it was important for them to act against the alleged invaders .
“ The battle of Fort McHenry , which our ‘ Star-Spangled Banner ’ is about—was that won only by George Washington ’ s professional soldiers ?
No .
It was the private citizens , the farmers of Maryland who held the line against the British @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man with deep-set eyes , Judd was in good spirits .
Miller had kept most of the promises he ’ d made to the union in 2016 .
Sure , he hadn ’ t succeeded in putting Kobach at the helm of the DHS like they wanted , but he tried .
Ultimately , Kobach ’ s too-glaring ties to white supremacy were deemed an issue .
Still , Miller and Trump gave Border Patrol agents unprecedented power , inviting Judd to the White House repeatedly .
Judd gushed to me about Miller @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he ’ s not an alpha personality , they ’ re wrong , ” he said .
“ He absolutely has an alpha personality.
” In 2016 , Miller had wanted the union to endorse his boss , giving Trump real border security credentials .
The union had never endorsed a presidential candidate before .
But Judd said morale among agents had been low ever since thousands of Central American youths fleeing violence began arriving at the border in 2014 .
“ Our agents have been pulled from the field to babysit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Judd grumbled then .
“ We ’ re actually making burritos .
That ’ s not our job .
Our job is to protect the border.
” The reality of the Central American crisis—rooted in US foreign policy—had impinged on the agents ’ perceptions of themselves as vanguards and warriors of the border .
Miller understood their unhappiness .
As a young man , Miller had repeatedly referred to the United States as a female endangered by multiculturalism , perhaps imagining himself on a quest to save a damsel in distress .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a beating heart , ” he wrote in 2007 .
The Border Patrol could help him .
Agents wanted to keep asylum seekers locked up .
Families who convinced asylum officers that they had a credible fear of persecution if returned to their home countries were often released on parole because of legal limits on how long children can be detained .
This caused many agents to feel useless .
They called it “ catch and release.
” They complained that high-ranking Obama officials didn ’ t always listen to them about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We decided that we had to have a voice and that we had to have a bigger voice , ” Judd told me .
He liked Miller ’ s message about Trump ’ s plans to reduce immigration .
“ If we can ’ t get it done through Congress , then [ look ] within the laws and [ look ] at what can be done through regulation , through executive order , ” Judd recalled .
On March 23 , Miller appeared on Breitbart radio to make his promises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I am here today to say that we are going to work closely , directly and intimately with the National Border Patrol Council to develop a border policy for this nation.… they ’ re gon na have a direct line into our policy-making on a routine basis.
” He was promising , in other words , to invert the power structure at the DHS .
The union , which represents thousands of agents , endorsed Trump .
On its Breitbart-funded podcast , The Green Line , a dramatic soundtrack set up stories @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revealed far-right leanings , attacking progressives and calling Black Lives Matter protesters “ terrorists.
” Jenn Budd , a senior Border Patrol officer who left in 2001 , says the culture has long been steeped in racism and antiquated notions of masculinity .
“ It ’ s the same characteristics as Donald Trump , ” she said .
“ It ’ s this white male mentality of ‘ I say whatever I want and get whatever I want , ’ ” Last year , a ProPublica investigation revealed a secret Facebook group where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jokes about migrant deaths and throw “ burritos ” at Latin-American members of Congress .
( It is unsurprising when one considers the origins of the Border Patrol , which began with the appointment of Jeff Milton , a son of a Confederate governor , as the first Border Patrol officer , after his stint with the Texas Rangers , which was the KKK of the border , falsely mythologized as a band of rugged heroes . )
The ICE union followed the Border Patrol in endorsing Trump six months later .
Peter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adviser and senior counselor for international policy under Obama , says putting the unions in charge of the agenda at the Department of Homeland Security is risky : “ When attorneys with DHS and the DOJ are no longer serving as the guardrail or a restraint on the natural proclivities of undisciplined law enforcement officers , that is a very dangerous step.
” Draconian steps were taken to deter family immigration over the course of the Trump administration .
Starting in January 2017 , Trump signed an executive order expanding the Border Patrol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , and ending the dreaded “ catch and release.
” Thousands of children were separated from their parents to skirt legal limits on how long children can be locked up .
Slowly , through steps taken to force people to await their asylum court proceedings in Mexico , the asylum system at the US-Mexico border was obliterated .
Most top positions at DHS are vacant or held by people in an acting capacity , making officials the puppets of Trump , Miller , and the union .
In July 2020 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American citizens who oppose white supremacy .
Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf is regurgitating Miller ’ s apocalyptic talking points .
He penned an article in The Federalist in July 2020 characterizing anti-racist protesters as “ lawless mobs ” destroying America .
Wolf didn ’ t used to speak like this .
“ To see [ Wolf ] pull a strongman routine is shocking , ” said a former senior DHS official who worked closely with Wolf and Miller during their time at the White House .
“ He [ was ] so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge part of the reason Stephen wanted him to be secretary .
Stephen ’ s idea is , ‘ Let ’ s put someone in who ’ s not going to stand in my way.
’ ” Another former senior official agreed .
“ I never saw him as an ally of Miller , ” said the former official .
The Border Patrol Was Responsible for an Arrest in Portland Wolf , formerly a high-paid lobbyist , caved during the second half of 2017 , while “ getting the crap beat out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the former official , speaking figuratively .
Wolf worked on pulling together memos for addressing the surge of people coming across the border that December , when he was chief of staff for then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen .
One of the options in the memos was separating children from their parents .
He became acting secretary in fall 2019 .
Now , the DHS is defying court orders to protect young migrants and fomenting chaos on the streets , fueling the illusion that the country is under siege and that Trump is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agents can once more feel like warriors .
Miller can appear on TV in bespoke suits , playing savior .
“ This is about the survival of this country , ” Miller said on July 23 .
It is a dramatic fantasy Trump will lean on ahead of November to distract from the thousands of more deaths that will occur from a virus he failed to contain .
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf wrote memos for separating children from their parents in December 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the memos but did not write any himself .

Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter Fridays. The best of the week. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Fridays. The best of the week.
Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.
Repro Nation A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
In March of 2016, Donald J. Trump’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination was in trouble. His poll numbers were collapsing, and he was repeatedly the subject of jokes on major TV networks and elsewhere for his attacks on women, Muslims, and Mexicans. Fox News criticized his “extreme, sick obsession” with Megyn Kelly. “The bottom is dropping out for Donald Trump,” read one article on NBC News. Even immigration hard-liners weren’t sure about the reality-TV star. They knew his promised border wall was a costly, impractical symbol; for decades, border barriers had underwhelmed in their ability to decrease immigration.
Stephen Miller had a plan, though. Trump’s lanky 30-year-old senior policy adviser and speechwriter had connections in the Border Patrol and ICE unions from his time derailing a bipartisan immigration reform bill as communications director for then–Alabama Senator (soon-to-be Attorney General) Jeff Sessions. Miller reached out to the Border Patrol union’s president, Brandon Judd. It was the first in a long chain of decisions that would help transform the Department of Homeland Security—with its mandate to defend against everything from terrorism to pandemics—into a tool for pushing Trump’s political agenda, focused on strangling legal immigration and social justice causes.
When Trump became president, Miller went to work. It should be no surprise, then, that less than four years later the Department of Homeland Security is openly defying a US Supreme Court decision to maintain Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era deportation protection program for people brought to this country as children. The DHS has also been cracking down on anti-racist protesters at demonstrations in Democratic-run cities that began after George Floyd was murdered. The department has become a partisan weapon largely detached from its mission of protecting homeland security.
“During the campaign, I would speak to [Miller] once a month maybe,” Judd told me while I was reporting for my book, Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda. He and I were in El Paso on July 26, 2019, a few days before a white terrorist killed 23 people, the majority of whom were Mexican-Americans, at a Walmart nearby. This terrorist had imagined he was defending the United States from “a Hispanic invasion.” Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda by Jean Guerrero releases August 11, 2020.
Earlier in the day, Judd had spoken at a border wall symposium sponsored by NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration group propped up in the 1990s by the eugenicist John Tanton, who believed in race-based pseudoscience and population control for nonwhite people. The Border Patrol union had long-standing ties with Tanton’s think tanks. Judd complained on stage about Border Patrol agents’ being called “Nazis.” “You can’t even tell a mundane joke without all of the political correctness stepping out and saying you’re a bad person,” he said.
The symposium featured far-right influencers such as Pizzagate conspiracist Mike Cernovich and Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who had left the White House in August 2017. The event was livestreamed in front of a privately funded stretch of steel border wall as speakers hatemongered about an alleged invasion. “Quiet on the set!” Bannon cried between speeches. Tens of thousands of other people watched online. Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, told viewers it was important for them to act against the alleged invaders. “The battle of Fort McHenry, which our ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ is about—was that won only by George Washington’s professional soldiers? No. It was the private citizens, the farmers of Maryland who held the line against the British,” he said. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
A bald man with deep-set eyes, Judd was in good spirits. Miller had kept most of the promises he’d made to the union in 2016. Sure, he hadn’t succeeded in putting Kobach at the helm of the DHS like they wanted, but he tried. Ultimately, Kobach’s too-glaring ties to white supremacy were deemed an issue. Still, Miller and Trump gave Border Patrol agents unprecedented power, inviting Judd to the White House repeatedly. Judd gushed to me about Miller: “If anybody wants to say that he’s not an alpha personality, they’re wrong,” he said. “He absolutely has an alpha personality.” Current Issue View our current issue
In 2016, Miller had wanted the union to endorse his boss, giving Trump real border security credentials. The union had never endorsed a presidential candidate before. But Judd said morale among agents had been low ever since thousands of Central American youths fleeing violence began arriving at the border in 2014. “Our agents have been pulled from the field to babysit, clean cells, change diapers,” Judd grumbled then. “We’re actually making burritos. That’s not our job. Our job is to protect the border.”
The reality of the Central American crisis—rooted in US foreign policy—had impinged on the agents’ perceptions of themselves as vanguards and warriors of the border. Miller understood their unhappiness. As a young man, Miller had repeatedly referred to the United States as a female endangered by multiculturalism, perhaps imagining himself on a quest to save a damsel in distress. “America is a living thing, with a beating heart,” he wrote in 2007. The Border Patrol could help him. Agents wanted to keep asylum seekers locked up. Families who convinced asylum officers that they had a credible fear of persecution if returned to their home countries were often released on parole because of legal limits on how long children can be detained. This caused many agents to feel useless. They called it “catch and release.” They complained that high-ranking Obama officials didn’t always listen to them about their desires to detain and deport people.
“We decided that we had to have a voice and that we had to have a bigger voice,” Judd told me. He liked Miller’s message about Trump’s plans to reduce immigration. “If we can’t get it done through Congress, then [look] within the laws and [look] at what can be done through regulation, through executive order,” Judd recalled.
On March 23, Miller appeared on Breitbart radio to make his promises to the entire Border Patrol union. “I am here today to say that we are going to work closely, directly and intimately with the National Border Patrol Council to develop a border policy for this nation.… they’re gonna have a direct line into our policy-making on a routine basis.”
He was promising, in other words, to invert the power structure at the DHS.
The union, which represents thousands of agents, endorsed Trump. On its Breitbart-funded podcast, The Green Line, a dramatic soundtrack set up stories about the “invasion.” Union leaders revealed far-right leanings, attacking progressives and calling Black Lives Matter protesters “terrorists.” Jenn Budd, a senior Border Patrol officer who left in 2001, says the culture has long been steeped in racism and antiquated notions of masculinity. “It’s the same characteristics as Donald Trump,” she said. “It’s this white male mentality of ‘I say whatever I want and get whatever I want,’” Last year, a ProPublica investigation revealed a secret Facebook group where thousands of Border Patrol agents make racist jokes about migrant deaths and throw “burritos” at Latin-American members of Congress. (It is unsurprising when one considers the origins of the Border Patrol, which began with the appointment of Jeff Milton, a son of a Confederate governor, as the first Border Patrol officer, after his stint with the Texas Rangers, which was the KKK of the border, falsely mythologized as a band of rugged heroes.) Stephen Miller Checking Off Stephen Miller’s Wish List Sasha Abramsky
The ICE union followed the Border Patrol in endorsing Trump six months later. Peter Vincent, ICE’s principal legal adviser and senior counselor for international policy under Obama, says putting the unions in charge of the agenda at the Department of Homeland Security is risky: “When attorneys with DHS and the DOJ are no longer serving as the guardrail or a restraint on the natural proclivities of undisciplined law enforcement officers, that is a very dangerous step.”
Draconian steps were taken to deter family immigration over the course of the Trump administration. Starting in January 2017, Trump signed an executive order expanding the Border Patrol’s ability to detain and deport people, and ending the dreaded “catch and release.” Thousands of children were separated from their parents to skirt legal limits on how long children can be locked up. Slowly, through steps taken to force people to await their asylum court proceedings in Mexico, the asylum system at the US-Mexico border was obliterated. Most top positions at DHS are vacant or held by people in an acting capacity, making officials the puppets of Trump, Miller, and the union.
In July 2020, the DHS war on migrants expanded to include American citizens who oppose white supremacy. Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf is regurgitating Miller’s apocalyptic talking points. He penned an article in The Federalist in July 2020 characterizing anti-racist protesters as “lawless mobs” destroying America. Wolf didn’t used to speak like this. “To see [Wolf] pull a strongman routine is shocking,” said a former senior DHS official who worked closely with Wolf and Miller during their time at the White House. “He [was] so dry and vanilla, which is a huge part of the reason Stephen wanted him to be secretary. Stephen’s idea is, ‘Let’s put someone in who’s not going to stand in my way.’” Another former senior official agreed. “I never saw him as an ally of Miller,” said the former official. Border Patrol The Border Patrol Was Responsible for an Arrest in Portland Ken Klippenstein
Wolf, formerly a high-paid lobbyist, caved during the second half of 2017, while “getting the crap beat out of him by [Miller],” said the former official, speaking figuratively. Wolf worked on pulling together memos for addressing the surge of people coming across the border that December, when he was chief of staff for then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. One of the options in the memos was separating children from their parents. He became acting secretary in fall 2019.
Now, the DHS is defying court orders to protect young migrants and fomenting chaos on the streets, fueling the illusion that the country is under siege and that Trump is a wartime president. Border Patrol and ICE agents can once more feel like warriors. Miller can appear on TV in bespoke suits, playing savior. “This is about the survival of this country,” Miller said on July 23. It is a dramatic fantasy Trump will lean on ahead of November to distract from the thousands of more deaths that will occur from a virus he failed to contain.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf wrote memos for separating children from their parents in December 2017. He had worked on pulling together the memos but did not write any himself.


thenation--2020-08-10--Could Wonder Woman Save Us From Covid-19?

Nobody is coming to save us from the coronavirus or the deaths the incompetent Trump administration has caused .
Ultraviolet light , bleach , and hydroxychloroquine are not cures .
Even when there is a vaccine , distributing it will take months , if not years .
In the meantime , the Republican misinformation machine has insured that a dedicated minority of Americans will resist all attempts to take basic precautions to protect the health and safety of our society .
We are doomed by our leadership and ignorance to face more cases and more deaths from this disease than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t know about you , but I can only stare into the abyss of our reality for so long until my mind retreats into fantasy .
Nobody is coming to save us , but what if somebody could ?
Who could get us out of this mess that ’ s largely of our own making , and how ?
When I was a kid , I used to hide in comic books and sci-fi novels to avoid realities I couldn ’ t face head-on , like my parents ’ crumbling marriage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m saving season two of The Umbrella Academy for the Republican National Convention week .
The upshot of my form of “ self-care ” is that I ’ ve come up with a list of superheroes who could actually help us fight the coronavirus and set our country back on the right track .
Dr. Anthony Fauci can ’ t stop Trump from lying , but what if Fauci were bitten by a radioactive spider ?
Would that help ?
These are the questions I ask when Trump is allowed to talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve limited my list to six characters from the Marvel and D.C. comics universes , because the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are just silly .
And because I am progressive , Batman and Iron Man do not make my list .
We do not need a militarized overreaction to our problems .
We do not need more punching .
Besides , we already know how Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark would react to our current crisis , because Elon Musk , Mark Zuckerberg , Jeff Bezos , and Bill Gates already exist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t help .
Instead , they use their wealth and technical wizardry to monopolize their industries and squeeze ever higher profit margins out of their workers .
Sorry , wealthy ninjas .
This is my fantasy , and the “ due process is for wimps ” crowd is not invited .
Here are the superheroes I ’ ve been turning to in my hours of dread .
Donald Trump says we ’ re fighting an “ invisible ” virus , but that is wrong .
It ’ s not invisible ; it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ant-Man can make himself very small .
Ant-Man is one of the only superheroes who can engage Covid-19 in hand-to-hand combat .
There Are Literally No Good Options for Educating Our Kids This Fall The Lesson of the Coronavirus ?
There ’ s No One Left to Trust .
Unfortunately , each infected person contains millions of SARS-Cov-2 viruses , and Ant-Man is only one guy .
Even if he had some way of fighting them all at the same time , he could only save one person at a time .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systemic problem : Deploying him is like arresting a bad police officer but doing nothing about the corrupt police force .
Again , punching isn ’ t really the answer here .
But , if we could hire Ant-Man to just protect Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a little while longer , it ’ d be worth it .
Don ’ t you wish you could put a mask on everybody you see walking around without one ?
Well , Spider-Man can do that !
Spider-Man could swing through Central Park slinging a mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his web-shooters .
Not only would his face-webs protect others from the virus ; they would also keep people from spouting QAnon conspiracy theories and infecting the public discourse with their ignorance .
What could be more useful right now than a hero who can block ignorance by shooting personal protective equipment from his wrists ?
Still , even Spider-Man couldn ’ t solve all our problems .
Like Ant-Man , the trouble with Spider-Man is the limited reach of his powers .
Spidey could handle Queens in a night and still be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the morning , but saving all five boroughs might be a stretch .
He couldn ’ t help us with the entire state of Florida .
And trying to mask all of MAGA for any length of time is impossible .
We ’ re dealing with people who would be willing to shoot the web-mask off of their own mouths in the name of “ free speech.
” Jennifer Walters ’ s cousin Bruce Banner is a brilliant ( if irascible ) scientist .
If you stuck Banner in a lab , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he might come up with the vaccine for Covid-19 .
But then what ?
What is Banner going to do to make sure the vaccine is distributed fairly to people regardless of ability to pay ?
How is he going to shepherd his vaccine through the important FDA approval process ( which would be necessary , because nobody should take anything produced by Banner without first testing it for side effects ) ?
This job calls for a lawyer , and Walters was an ace attorney before she needed a blood transfusion from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smashy powers .
When we do finally get a vaccine , we will need superhero lawyers fighting for the rights of people to access the vaccine , because we know that the vaccine makers will have phalanxes of lawyers trying to squeeze every cent of profit out of what will be called “ proprietary ” life-saving therapeutics .
We know Mitch McConnell will try to erect liability shields for drug manufacturers , while a rushed , mass-produced vaccine could carry deleterious effects that don ’ t show up for years .
Unlike her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” she retains her intelligence and emotional control .
That ’ s a nice hedge against a 5-4 Supreme Court decision against one of her clients .
Even if Kodak , the camera company turned pharma giant , wins in court , she can still take out a factory producing substandard vaccine , if needed .
The most patriotic thing you can do right now is wear a mask .
But most of our shared national symbols were co-opted decades ago by Republicans .
Those symbols are now used to inspire fear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that lacks empathy and is resistant to facts .
But Steve Rogers is not afraid .
Steve Rogers , an average kid from Brooklyn who took a super-soldier serum to become Captain America , fights for freedom , not white nationalism .
Rogers battles fascists ; he doesn ’ t bow to them because they happen to be in positions of authority .
The Trump administration is the antithesis of everything Rogers ever fought for .
As a soldier , Rogers ’ s superpowers are useless against the coronavirus .
And frankly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s war-like exceptionalism , the better .
But as a symbol , Captain America is what we need to combat the MAGA hat .
Captain America convinced Americans to buy war bonds and save their bacon grease .
Surely , he could convince at least a few Trump holdouts to wear a mask to Costco .
Tucker Carlson and the rest of the hosts at Hydra News would inevitably call Cap “ ANTIFA ” —but Rogers would simply respond , “ What ’ s wrong with being anti-fascist ?
I thought that was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Security ’ s Chad Wolf would send a goon squad to apprehend Rogers , but it wouldn ’ t go well for the DHS , and somehow we ’ d all end up in a Civil War story line .
But Rogers would never stop trying to save us from ourselves .
He ’ d never cede bald eagles and apple pie to these people .
By this point in the pandemic , Wakanda would surely have the cure for Covid-19 .
Wakandan scientists probably started working on this hours after the World @ @ @ @ @ @ @ informed of a mysterious atypical pneumonia on December 31 , and then locked down a cure by the end of the rainy season .
I doubt there is a lung disease that Heart-Shaped Herb tea and vibranium vitamins can ’ t fix .
But we wouldn ’ t need to beg for Wakanda ’ s cure .
While T ’ Challa , Wakanda ’ s leader , would be in deep contemplation—reading philosophy and consulting the ancestors about whether to share his country ’ s resources and knowledge—Shuri , his polymath genius sister @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and tell us what to do , even without a life-saving vibranium infusion .
Shuri is , after all , a scientist and engineer before she is a superhero .
From the perspective of a scientist , the next steps to save America , while we wait for our own miracle drug , are obvious .
We need testing that can be administered easily and produce quick results .
We need testing to tell us who has been sick .
All of this could be done , right now and without resorting to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lab resources to it .
We need contact tracing—I ’ m sure Shuri could build some kind of app to do that .
We need to identify people with pre-existing conditions and provide them with enhanced care , which again is not a question of knowledge but mere will and resources .
We need a way to bubble essential workers , while making sure that everybody else has the equipment to work or learn from home as seamlessly as possible .
One can imagine Shuri saying in disgust : “ You don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you neglect to feed them as well ?
” Every other wealthy country has figured this out .
Being a superhero leader in this moment doesn ’ t require mutant powers , after all ; it requires the ability to apply the resources your country already has to fix the problem .
You could put Shuri in a forest with a sharp rock and a rope and she ’ d roll out of it on a chariot .
Her superpower is ingenuity .
We could use some .
When I was a kid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s power set was all that impressive .
She was strong , but not as strong as Superman .
Fast , but not as fast as the Flash .
And while Batman had something in his belt for literally every situation on Earth , all Wonder Woman had was a rinky-dink lasso .
I had to grow up and meet more Republicans before I realized the singular , amazing utility of the Lasso of Truth .
Wonder Woman could eliminate the coronavirus and most of this country ’ s other problems in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wait for a Donald Trump press conference , break Trump ’ s precious teleprompter , lasso the president , and let Yamiche Alcindor and April Ryan start asking questions .
The truth is the cure our sick country needs .
Just imagine : One press conference during which Donald Trump is forced to tell the truth about the virus and everything else his administration has done ; one prime-time Fox News show during which the host has to tell the truth to their audience ; one speech from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reopen schools ; one decision from John Roberts explaining the real reason he refuses to extend absentee ballot deadlines .
The thing that is killing us , more than any novel virus , is the lies .
Our leaders lie to us with impunity .
State-run media lies to us for ratings .
Employers lie to us to protect their profits , while judges lie to us to further their ideological agendas .
If everybody had to tell the truth , if we were all operating from the same shared set of facts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and climate change and , probably , global poverty too ) .
There couldn ’ t be a more useful superpower in times of crisis than forcing people to tell the truth .
Yet nothing could be more fantastical .
We ’ ll sooner see a person who can leap tall buildings and shoot laser beams out of his eyes than we ’ ll see a person who can force people to be honest .
The consistent victory of truth over deceit is the most childish thing about comic book stories .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of reality .
There is no single person with superpowers who , alone , can fix the carnage brought on us by the Trump administration .
There is no “ MacGuffin ” to drop into our story and magically resolve the plot .
No league of justice warriors is coming to save us , and nobody will avenge those who have fallen to this virus .
All we mere mortals can do is wear our masks , vote our conscience , and rage against the dying of the light .

Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter Fridays. The best of the week. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Fridays. The best of the week.
Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.
Repro Nation A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
Nobody is coming to save us from the coronavirus or the deaths the incompetent Trump administration has caused. Ultraviolet light, bleach, and hydroxychloroquine are not cures. Even when there is a vaccine, distributing it will take months, if not years. In the meantime, the Republican misinformation machine has insured that a dedicated minority of Americans will resist all attempts to take basic precautions to protect the health and safety of our society. We are doomed by our leadership and ignorance to face more cases and more deaths from this disease than any other country on Earth.
I don’t know about you, but I can only stare into the abyss of our reality for so long until my mind retreats into fantasy. Nobody is coming to save us, but what if somebody could? Who could get us out of this mess that’s largely of our own making, and how? When I was a kid, I used to hide in comic books and sci-fi novels to avoid realities I couldn’t face head-on, like my parents’ crumbling marriage. That’s probably why I’m saving season two of The Umbrella Academy for the Republican National Convention week.
The upshot of my form of “self-care” is that I’ve come up with a list of superheroes who could actually help us fight the coronavirus and set our country back on the right track. Dr. Anthony Fauci can’t stop Trump from lying, but what if Fauci were bitten by a radioactive spider? Would that help? These are the questions I ask when Trump is allowed to talk on television without a fact-checker.
I’ve limited my list to six characters from the Marvel and D.C. comics universes, because the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are just silly. And because I am progressive, Batman and Iron Man do not make my list. We do not need a militarized overreaction to our problems. We do not need more punching. Besides, we already know how Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark would react to our current crisis, because Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates already exist in real life. They don’t help. Instead, they use their wealth and technical wizardry to monopolize their industries and squeeze ever higher profit margins out of their workers. Sorry, wealthy ninjas. This is my fantasy, and the “due process is for wimps” crowd is not invited.
Here are the superheroes I’ve been turning to in my hours of dread.
Superhero #6: Scott Lang/Ant-Man
Donald Trump says we’re fighting an “invisible” virus, but that is wrong. It’s not invisible; it’s just very, very small. Ant-Man can make himself very small. Ant-Man is one of the only superheroes who can engage Covid-19 in hand-to-hand combat. More from Mystal There Are Literally No Good Options for Educating Our Kids This Fall Elie Mystal The Lesson of the Coronavirus? There’s No One Left to Trust. Elie Mystal
Unfortunately, each infected person contains millions of SARS-Cov-2 viruses, and Ant-Man is only one guy. Even if he had some way of fighting them all at the same time, he could only save one person at a time. He’s a case-by-case solution to a systemic problem: Deploying him is like arresting a bad police officer but doing nothing about the corrupt police force. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Again, punching isn’t really the answer here. But, if we could hire Ant-Man to just protect Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a little while longer, it’d be worth it.
Superhero #5: Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Don’t you wish you could put a mask on everybody you see walking around without one? Well, Spider-Man can do that! Spider-Man could swing through Central Park slinging a mask onto every uncovered face he sees with his web-shooters. Not only would his face-webs protect others from the virus; they would also keep people from spouting QAnon conspiracy theories and infecting the public discourse with their ignorance. What could be more useful right now than a hero who can block ignorance by shooting personal protective equipment from his wrists?
Still, even Spider-Man couldn’t solve all our problems. Like Ant-Man, the trouble with Spider-Man is the limited reach of his powers. Spidey could handle Queens in a night and still be back at home for remote learning in the morning, but saving all five boroughs might be a stretch. He couldn’t help us with the entire state of Florida. And trying to mask all of MAGA for any length of time is impossible. We’re dealing with people who would be willing to shoot the web-mask off of their own mouths in the name of “free speech.”
Superhero #4: Jennifer Susan Walters/She-Hulk
Jennifer Walters’s cousin Bruce Banner is a brilliant (if irascible) scientist. If you stuck Banner in a lab, and didn’t make him angry, he might come up with the vaccine for Covid-19. But then what? What is Banner going to do to make sure the vaccine is distributed fairly to people regardless of ability to pay? How is he going to shepherd his vaccine through the important FDA approval process (which would be necessary, because nobody should take anything produced by Banner without first testing it for side effects)?
This job calls for a lawyer, and Walters was an ace attorney before she needed a blood transfusion from her cousin Banner, resulting in her smashy powers. When we do finally get a vaccine, we will need superhero lawyers fighting for the rights of people to access the vaccine, because we know that the vaccine makers will have phalanxes of lawyers trying to squeeze every cent of profit out of what will be called “proprietary” life-saving therapeutics. We know Mitch McConnell will try to erect liability shields for drug manufacturers, while a rushed, mass-produced vaccine could carry deleterious effects that don’t show up for years.
Unlike her cousin, when Walters “hulks up,” she retains her intelligence and emotional control. That’s a nice hedge against a 5-4 Supreme Court decision against one of her clients. Even if Kodak, the camera company turned pharma giant, wins in court, she can still take out a factory producing substandard vaccine, if needed.
Superhero #3: Steven Rogers/Captain America
The most patriotic thing you can do right now is wear a mask. But most of our shared national symbols were co-opted decades ago by Republicans. Those symbols are now used to inspire fear, xenophobia, and a myopic individualism that lacks empathy and is resistant to facts.
But Steve Rogers is not afraid. Steve Rogers, an average kid from Brooklyn who took a super-soldier serum to become Captain America, fights for freedom, not white nationalism. Rogers battles fascists; he doesn’t bow to them because they happen to be in positions of authority. The Trump administration is the antithesis of everything Rogers ever fought for.
As a soldier, Rogers’s superpowers are useless against the coronavirus. And frankly, the fewer jingoistic appeals to America’s war-like exceptionalism, the better. But as a symbol, Captain America is what we need to combat the MAGA hat. Captain America convinced Americans to buy war bonds and save their bacon grease. Surely, he could convince at least a few Trump holdouts to wear a mask to Costco.
Tucker Carlson and the rest of the hosts at Hydra News would inevitably call Cap “ANTIFA”—but Rogers would simply respond, “What’s wrong with being anti-fascist? I thought that was the point.” The Department of Homeland Security’s Chad Wolf would send a goon squad to apprehend Rogers, but it wouldn’t go well for the DHS, and somehow we’d all end up in a Civil War story line. But Rogers would never stop trying to save us from ourselves. He’d never cede bald eagles and apple pie to these people.
Superheroes #2: Shuri/Aja-Adanna
By this point in the pandemic, Wakanda would surely have the cure for Covid-19. Wakandan scientists probably started working on this hours after the World Health Organization’s China outpost was informed of a mysterious atypical pneumonia on December 31, and then locked down a cure by the end of the rainy season. I doubt there is a lung disease that Heart-Shaped Herb tea and vibranium vitamins can’t fix. Current Issue View our current issue
But we wouldn’t need to beg for Wakanda’s cure. While T’Challa, Wakanda’s leader, would be in deep contemplation—reading philosophy and consulting the ancestors about whether to share his country’s resources and knowledge—Shuri, his polymath genius sister, would just pop up on Instagram and tell us what to do, even without a life-saving vibranium infusion.
Shuri is, after all, a scientist and engineer before she is a superhero. From the perspective of a scientist, the next steps to save America, while we wait for our own miracle drug, are obvious. We need testing that can be administered easily and produce quick results. We need testing to tell us who has been sick. All of this could be done, right now and without resorting to magic herbs, if we committed the lab resources to it.
We need contact tracing—I’m sure Shuri could build some kind of app to do that. We need to identify people with pre-existing conditions and provide them with enhanced care, which again is not a question of knowledge but mere will and resources. We need a way to bubble essential workers, while making sure that everybody else has the equipment to work or learn from home as seamlessly as possible. One can imagine Shuri saying in disgust: “You don’t give your children laptops? Do you neglect to feed them as well?”
Every other wealthy country has figured this out. Being a superhero leader in this moment doesn’t require mutant powers, after all; it requires the ability to apply the resources your country already has to fix the problem.
You could put Shuri in a forest with a sharp rock and a rope and she’d roll out of it on a chariot. Her superpower is ingenuity. We could use some.
Superhero #1: Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
When I was a kid, I never thought Wonder Woman’s power set was all that impressive. She was strong, but not as strong as Superman. Fast, but not as fast as the Flash. And while Batman had something in his belt for literally every situation on Earth, all Wonder Woman had was a rinky-dink lasso.
I had to grow up and meet more Republicans before I realized the singular, amazing utility of the Lasso of Truth.
Wonder Woman could eliminate the coronavirus and most of this country’s other problems in a day. She would just have to wait for a Donald Trump press conference, break Trump’s precious teleprompter, lasso the president, and let Yamiche Alcindor and April Ryan start asking questions. The truth is the cure our sick country needs.
Just imagine: One press conference during which Donald Trump is forced to tell the truth about the virus and everything else his administration has done; one prime-time Fox News show during which the host has to tell the truth to their audience; one speech from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp about whether it’s really safe to reopen schools; one decision from John Roberts explaining the real reason he refuses to extend absentee ballot deadlines.
The thing that is killing us, more than any novel virus, is the lies. Our leaders lie to us with impunity. State-run media lies to us for ratings. Employers lie to us to protect their profits, while judges lie to us to further their ideological agendas. If everybody had to tell the truth, if we were all operating from the same shared set of facts, we could lick the coronavirus (and climate change and, probably, global poverty too).
There couldn’t be a more useful superpower in times of crisis than forcing people to tell the truth. Yet nothing could be more fantastical. We’ll sooner see a person who can leap tall buildings and shoot laser beams out of his eyes than we’ll see a person who can force people to be honest. The consistent victory of truth over deceit is the most childish thing about comic book stories.
So it’s back to the abyss of reality. There is no single person with superpowers who, alone, can fix the carnage brought on us by the Trump administration. There is no “MacGuffin” to drop into our story and magically resolve the plot.
No league of justice warriors is coming to save us, and nobody will avenge those who have fallen to this virus. All we mere mortals can do is wear our masks, vote our conscience, and rage against the dying of the light.


thenation--2020-08-11--Letters From the August 24/31, 2020, Issue

Kudos to Sonia Shah [ “ “ How to Define a Plague , ” July 27/August 3 ] for pointing out the need to tell a new story about the coronavirus .
As she notes , germ theory doesn ’ t go far enough .
It doesn ’ t address genetic , epigenetic , nutritional , economic , and geographic factors or the influence of medications and other diseases .
If the problem is seen only as the presence of a pathogen , then the solution is to kill the germ rather than change other circumstances that enabled it to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do well to adopt a broader perspective on illness using the model of integrated pest management , in which the first approach to dealing with insects in a building is not to pull out a poisonous spray but to remove food and water sources and seal cracks that allow bugs to enter .
Similar to controlling weeds , IPM focuses on creating healthy turf that is better able to exclude weeds .
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure .
May we see the bigger picture of this pandemic and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Long Con ” [ Elie Mystal , July 27/August 3 ] : When you say , “ The other four conservatives on the court are ideologically dedicated to ending abortion by any means necessary , ” you ignore that the Supreme Court can not end abortion ; all it can end is safe and legal abortion .
Abortions would continue , at great costs to women .
Re “ Joe Kennedy III Hired a Cop to Advise Him on Race and Justice ” by Maia Hibbett [ TheNation.com , July 10 ] : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ condemn The Nation ’ s disingenuous and offensive characterization of Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins .
Clearly , Hibbett does not know Tompkins .
If she did , she would have mentioned that he has been at the forefront of racial justice longer than she has been alive .
She would have mentioned that he is supported by progressive heroes like Representative Ayanna Pressley and that he traveled the country for Senator Elizabeth Warren to help sell her bold criminal justice reform proposal .
She would have mentioned that he has used his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police violence , and mass detention .
She also would have mentioned that Tompkins is Black .
That she did not is the kind of color-blind reporting that continues to allow non-Black voices and faces to define what progressivism is in America today .
It was a clumsy effort to drive a narrative about Kennedy at the expense of a Black man ’ s lived experience and credibility .
Not for nothing , Kennedy is leading incumbent Senator Ed Markey among voters of color by double digits in every public poll .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and report on why .
Perhaps it is because Kennedy understands how deeply impacted Black lives are by erasers in the hands of white allies .
As he wrote in The Washington Post , “ The reckoning going on in this country today is a reflection of what the Rev .
[ Martin Luther ] King himself warned us of—that it is the silence of friends , not the words of enemies , that ultimately protects American shackles.
” The Nation owes its readers better .
Yes , Tompkins is Black , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kennedy campaign on the back for having the basic common sense not to appoint a white police officer as its race-and-criminal-justice adviser amid mass protests decrying police brutality and abuse of power .
Repeated studies have found that diversifying police forces does not significantly reduce rates of brutality and killing .
An officer ’ s race does not absolve the police of the disproportionate and inherently violent power they have over civilians .
I don ’ t think that there is any cop—brutal or gentle , mean or nice , white or Black—who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ position on the Kennedy campaign .
It is this imbalance of power that makes Tompkins ’ s role in the July 7 debate between Kennedy and Markey such an egregious offense .
Not only does he work for the Kennedy campaign , but he also incarcerates the people who asked the questions .
Do I really have to explain how that ’ s undemocratic ?
I didn ’ t dig into Tompkins ’ s progressive bona fides because the piece wasn ’ t actually about him ; it was about the campaign .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ about everyone .
You didn ’ t mention that Warren has endorsed Markey in this race or that Kennedy endorsed then-incumbent Representative Mike Capuano over Pressley in 2018 .
But I get it ; every argument has a limited scope .
I apologize for any offense I caused .
I didn ’ t state the race of any politician mentioned in the piece—and that ’ s what these people are to me : politicians .
They are not my friends , and I would like for our legislators to be chosen based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope my home state agrees in the September primary .

This article appears in the August 24/31, 2020 issue.
Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter Fridays. The best of the week. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Fridays. The best of the week.
Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.
Repro Nation A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. Email By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.
Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue
Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!
Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
An Ounce of Prevention
Kudos to Sonia Shah [““How to Define a Plague,” July 27/August 3] for pointing out the need to tell a new story about the coronavirus. As she notes, germ theory doesn’t go far enough. It doesn’t address genetic, epigenetic, nutritional, economic, and geographic factors or the influence of medications and other diseases. If the problem is seen only as the presence of a pathogen, then the solution is to kill the germ rather than change other circumstances that enabled it to cause illness.
The medical community would do well to adopt a broader perspective on illness using the model of integrated pest management, in which the first approach to dealing with insects in a building is not to pull out a poisonous spray but to remove food and water sources and seal cracks that allow bugs to enter. Similar to controlling weeds, IPM focuses on creating healthy turf that is better able to exclude weeds.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. May we see the bigger picture of this pandemic and act accordingly.
A nn M c C ampbell, MD
santa fe, n.m.
Abortion and the Court
Re “Playing the Long Con” [Elie Mystal, July 27/August 3]: When you say, “The other four conservatives on the court are ideologically dedicated to ending abortion by any means necessary,” you ignore that the Supreme Court cannot end abortion; all it can end is safe and legal abortion. Abortions would continue, at great costs to women.
A ndy O ram
Color-Blind Reporting
Re “Joe Kennedy III Hired a Cop to Advise Him on Race and Justice” by Maia Hibbett [TheNation.com, July 10]: As Black residents of Massachusetts, we condemn The Nation’s disingenuous and offensive characterization of Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins. Current Issue View our current issue
Clearly, Hibbett does not know Tompkins. If she did, she would have mentioned that he has been at the forefront of racial justice longer than she has been alive. She would have mentioned that he is supported by progressive heroes like Representative Ayanna Pressley and that he traveled the country for Senator Elizabeth Warren to help sell her bold criminal justice reform proposal. She would have mentioned that he has used his platform to fight against mandatory minimums, police violence, and mass detention. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
She also would have mentioned that Tompkins is Black.
That she did not is the kind of color-blind reporting that continues to allow non-Black voices and faces to define what progressivism is in America today. It was a clumsy effort to drive a narrative about Kennedy at the expense of a Black man’s lived experience and credibility.
Not for nothing, Kennedy is leading incumbent Senator Ed Markey among voters of color by double digits in every public poll. We encourage The Nation to come to Massachusetts and report on why. Perhaps it is because Kennedy understands how deeply impacted Black lives are by erasers in the hands of white allies. As he wrote in The Washington Post, “The reckoning going on in this country today is a reflection of what the Rev. [Martin Luther] King himself warned us of—that it is the silence of friends, not the words of enemies, that ultimately protects American shackles.” The Nation owes its readers better.
T ony B rewer, boston
B eth C handler, roslindale
E unice C harles, malden
J acques “ T eddy” C hery, medford
D enella C lark, hyde park
N atacha C lerger, randolph
L amar C ook, springfield
C laudette C rouse, carlisle
M ichel D enis, hyde park
T heresa G ordon, holyoke
T ito J ackson, boston
J ackie J enkins- S cott, belmont
S andra K ing, sudbury
J ean L ouis, east boston
R yan M c C ollum, longmeadow
J ynai M c D onald, springfield
G ianna M itchell, springfield
J. K eith M otley, stoughton
K ris P erez, brighton
C olette P hillips, brookline
C olleen R ichards P owell, newton
S hirley S hillingford, boston
C orey T homas, newton
C laudia T hompson, malden
L inda W hitlock, newton
B ennie W iley, chestnut hill
F letcher W iley, chestnut hill
Hibbett Responds
Yes, Tompkins is Black, and no, I did not pat the Kennedy campaign on the back for having the basic common sense not to appoint a white police officer as its race-and-criminal-justice adviser amid mass protests decrying police brutality and abuse of power. Repeated studies have found that diversifying police forces does not significantly reduce rates of brutality and killing. An officer’s race does not absolve the police of the disproportionate and inherently violent power they have over civilians. I don’t think that there is any cop—brutal or gentle, mean or nice, white or Black—who would be appropriate for Tompkins’s position on the Kennedy campaign.
It is this imbalance of power that makes Tompkins’s role in the July 7 debate between Kennedy and Markey such an egregious offense. Not only does he work for the Kennedy campaign, but he also incarcerates the people who asked the questions. Do I really have to explain how that’s undemocratic?
I didn’t dig into Tompkins’s progressive bona fides because the piece wasn’t actually about him; it was about the campaign. A writer can’t include everything about everyone. You didn’t mention that Warren has endorsed Markey in this race or that Kennedy endorsed then-incumbent Representative Mike Capuano over Pressley in 2018. But I get it; every argument has a limited scope.
I apologize for any offense I caused. I didn’t state the race of any politician mentioned in the piece—and that’s what these people are to me: politicians. They are not my friends, and I would like for our legislators to be chosen based on policy, not personality. I just hope my home state agrees in the September primary.