thenation--2020-09-08--The Whitelash Next Time

The Whitelash Next Time

Two months .
That ’ s how long it took for white Americans ’ support of Black Lives Matter—which climbed to an unprecedented peak in June after the brutal police murder of George Floyd—to tumble back toward preprotest levels .
Over the same period , surveys show , declining numbers of white respondents cited anti-Black racism as a “ big problem ” in American society .
An NPR/Ipsos poll from late August found white people are the racial group least likely to report taking even the most minor “ actions to better understand racial issues in America ” since protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of white Americans concede “ racism is built into the American economy , government , and educational systems.
” And 49 percent believe America has already done enough “ to give Black Americans equal rights with white Americans.
” It ’ s always true that most white folks are unbothered and unmoved by anti-Black discrimination and violence ; the steadfast endurance of American institutional racism proves that .
It is also clear from history that white anti-racism has always had a dangerously short shelf life .
Ignore the barrels of digital ink spilled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ willingness to reckon with structural racism .
When the pendulum swings toward Black equality and full citizenship , white supremacy mounts a counteroffensive .
Cornell University historian Lawrence Glickman notes the word “ backlash ” gained circulation during the civil rights movement in 1963 as a shorthand for the “ topsy-turvy rebellion in which white people with relative societal power perceived themselves as victimized by what they described as overly aggressive African Americans demanding equal rights.
” The term summed up the most reliable white reaction to Black rights dating at least to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black emancipation and voter enfranchisement were construed as provocations for justifiable white racist terrorism .
Between 1865—when six former Confederate soldiers founded the Ku Klux Klan—and 1950 , nearly 6,500 Black men , women , and children were lynched for affronts that included bumping into a white woman and not using “ Mister ” when talking to a white man .
“ The more I studied the situation , ” wrote Ida B .
Wells , “ the more I was convinced that the [ white ] Southerner had never gotten over his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his plaything , his servant , and his source of income.
” Refugees of the Great Migration , the mass movement of African Americans to the North and West to flee that terror , were subjected to yet more white violence .
Enraged by Black folks seeking equal employment and housing , as well as returning Black World War I veterans ’ demands for the rights at home they had fought for abroad , white mobs in at least 25 riots around the country—including in Chicago ; Syracuse , N.Y. ; and Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Red Summer of 1919 .
Those murders foreshadowed anti-Black pogroms in the thriving Black enclaves of Tulsa , Okla. , in 1921 and Rosewood , Fla. , in 1923 .
The white backlash is typified by what Glickman identifies as “ its smoldering resentment , its belief that the movement [ for Black rights is ] proceeding ‘ too fast , ’ its demands for emotional and psychological sympathy , and its displacement of African Americans ’ struggles with its own claims of grievance.
” Case in point : Just months after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , The New York Times reported pervasive white anger over “ inverse discrimination.
” Then as now , backlashers maligned Black protests and uprisings , insisting property destruction canceled out Black deservedness of human rights .
In one 1963 survey , 73 percent of white Southerners and 65 percent of white Northerners said civil rights demonstrations “ hurt the Negro ’ s cause for racial equality , ” and multiple white New York City dwellers told the Times in 1964 that “ nonviolent civil rights demonstrations had hurt Negroes ’ chances ” ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempted to erase the fact that 75 percent of white folks disapproved of Martin Luther King Jr. in early 1968 .
In the 1960s , when he was leading protests , a survey found that just 36 percent of white Americans thought he was helping “ the Negro cause of civil rights.
” Trump Supports Housing Segregation—and So Do a Lot of White Liberals Black Trans Lives Must Be Front and Center The Violence Didn ’ t Start With the Protests “ The trigger for white rage , inevitably , is black advancement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 book White Rage .
That rage helped ardent segregationist and presidential candidate George Wallace win five Southern states in 1968 and five primaries in 1972 , including Michigan and Maryland .
Promises to send “ welfare bums back to work ” and to defend white home sellers ’ right to “ discriminate against Negroes ” propelled Ronald Reagan to California ’ s governorship in 1966 and later to the Oval Office .
It is right to call the 2016 election of Donald Trump a white backlash against the first Black president—one so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ college-degree-holding , and young white folks alike—but it is also critical to recognize it as just one white backlash among many .
Trump ’ s presidency is no anomaly but a confirmation of America ’ s pattern of Black political progress and white retaliation .
So here we are again .
White vigilantes have attacked Black Lives Matter protesters nearly 500 times this year .
In recent incidents , MAGA racists poured into Portland , Ore. , and fired pepper spray and paintballs at protesters from moving vehicles .
In Kenosha , Wis. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of murdering two protesters was treated like a brother-in-arms by cops .
Trump labeled the violence a “ big backlash , ” without realizing what he was admitting about the tradition of white American terrorism .
And despite the violence of white actors , protesters are being demonized for stating unequivocally that Black folks have a right to exist .
The dwindling white support for that declaration is a reaffirmation that white liberals and moderates , to quote King , are “ more devoted to ‘ order ’ than to justice ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.
” White supremacy is again making its resilience known .
And the backlash , sadly , is only getting started .

This article appears in the September 21/28, 2020 issue.
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Two months. That’s how long it took for white Americans’ support of Black Lives Matter—which climbed to an unprecedented peak in June after the brutal police murder of George Floyd—to tumble back toward preprotest levels. Over the same period, surveys show, declining numbers of white respondents cited anti-Black racism as a “big problem” in American society. An NPR/Ipsos poll from late August found white people are the racial group least likely to report taking even the most minor “actions to better understand racial issues in America” since protests began sweeping the country. Just half of white Americans concede “racism is built into the American economy, government, and educational systems.” And 49 percent believe America has already done enough “to give Black Americans equal rights with white Americans.”
It’s always true that most white folks are unbothered and unmoved by anti-Black discrimination and violence; the steadfast endurance of American institutional racism proves that. It is also clear from history that white anti-racism has always had a dangerously short shelf life. Ignore the barrels of digital ink spilled lately about white people’s new willingness to reckon with structural racism. When the pendulum swings toward Black equality and full citizenship, white supremacy mounts a counteroffensive.
Cornell University historian Lawrence Glickman notes the word “backlash” gained circulation during the civil rights movement in 1963 as a shorthand for the “topsy-turvy rebellion in which white people with relative societal power perceived themselves as victimized by what they described as overly aggressive African Americans demanding equal rights.” The term summed up the most reliable white reaction to Black rights dating at least to Reconstruction, when the mere facts of Black emancipation and voter enfranchisement were construed as provocations for justifiable white racist terrorism. Between 1865—when six former Confederate soldiers founded the Ku Klux Klan—and 1950, nearly 6,500 Black men, women, and children were lynched for affronts that included bumping into a white woman and not using “Mister” when talking to a white man. “The more I studied the situation,” wrote Ida B. Wells, “the more I was convinced that the [white] Southerner had never gotten over his resentment that the Negro was no longer his plaything, his servant, and his source of income.”
Refugees of the Great Migration, the mass movement of African Americans to the North and West to flee that terror, were subjected to yet more white violence. Enraged by Black folks seeking equal employment and housing, as well as returning Black World War I veterans’ demands for the rights at home they had fought for abroad, white mobs in at least 25 riots around the country—including in Chicago; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Washington, D.C.—killed over 250 African Americans during the Red Summer of 1919. Those murders foreshadowed anti-Black pogroms in the thriving Black enclaves of Tulsa, Okla., in 1921 and Rosewood, Fla., in 1923. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
The white backlash is typified by what Glickman identifies as “its smoldering resentment, its belief that the movement [for Black rights is] proceeding ‘too fast,’ its demands for emotional and psychological sympathy, and its displacement of African Americans’ struggles with its own claims of grievance.” Case in point: Just months after passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, The New York Times reported pervasive white anger over “inverse discrimination.” Then as now, backlashers maligned Black protests and uprisings, insisting property destruction canceled out Black deservedness of human rights. In one 1963 survey, 73 percent of white Southerners and 65 percent of white Northerners said civil rights demonstrations “hurt the Negro’s cause for racial equality,” and multiple white New York City dwellers told the Times in 1964 that “nonviolent civil rights demonstrations had hurt Negroes’ chances” (my emphasis). Historical revisionism has attempted to erase the fact that 75 percent of white folks disapproved of Martin Luther King Jr. in early 1968. In the 1960s, when he was leading protests, a survey found that just 36 percent of white Americans thought he was helping “the Negro cause of civil rights.” More From Kali Holloway Inside the Cynical Campaign to Claim That Affirmative Action Hurts Asian Americans August 9, 2023 It’s Not Just Corporate Pride Boycotts—Right-Wingers Are Escalating Their Anti-LGBTQ Campaign June 23, 2023 Affirmative Action Is in the Supreme Court’s Crosshairs June 22, 2023
“The trigger for white rage, inevitably, is black advancement,” Carol Anderson wrote in her 2016 book White Rage. That rage helped ardent segregationist and presidential candidate George Wallace win five Southern states in 1968 and five primaries in 1972, including Michigan and Maryland. Promises to send “welfare bums back to work” and to defend white home sellers’ right to “discriminate against Negroes” propelled Ronald Reagan to California’s governorship in 1966 and later to the Oval Office. It is right to call the 2016 election of Donald Trump a white backlash against the first Black president—one so fervent, it won poorly educated, college-degree-holding, and young white folks alike—but it is also critical to recognize it as just one white backlash among many. Trump’s presidency is no anomaly but a confirmation of America’s pattern of Black political progress and white retaliation.
So here we are again. White vigilantes have attacked Black Lives Matter protesters nearly 500 times this year. In recent incidents, MAGA racists poured into Portland, Ore., and fired pepper spray and paintballs at protesters from moving vehicles. In Kenosha, Wis., a white 17-year-old who is accused of murdering two protesters was treated like a brother-in-arms by cops. Trump labeled the violence a “big backlash,” without realizing what he was admitting about the tradition of white American terrorism. And despite the violence of white actors, protesters are being demonized for stating unequivocally that Black folks have a right to exist. The dwindling white support for that declaration is a reaffirmation that white liberals and moderates, to quote King, are “more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice” and will always opt for “a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.” White supremacy is again making its resilience known. And the backlash, sadly, is only getting started.


thenation--2020-09-08--With Executive Powers, Trump Can Legally Unleash Global Chaos

If you need some low-cost entertainment , ask a person raised in the era of Google Maps to figure out how to get to somewhere without technology .
It illustrates what we all know : Even those of us old enough to remember the world of paper atlases and “ calling for directions ” have become hopelessly dependent on those colored lines and disembodied voices to tell us where to go .
The Global Positioning System is also deeply integrated into the modern economy .
A GPS shutdown would cause widespread chaos .
Now consider the fact that since GPS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use , the president could order it turned off .
Right before the election .
For whatever nonsense reason occurred to him ( antifa is using it , or something ) .
Could such a thing happen ?
Despite government reassurances that neither the military nor civilian GPS systems have ever been shut down , past performance doesn ’ t guarantee future results .
Just last year , the brief January 2019 government “ shutdown ” degraded civilian GPS service by withholding funds for certain types of data collection .
The ongoing crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Postal Service is just the tip of the iceberg .
An executive branch truly committed to misusing its power to disrupt society has an uncomfortably large number of tools at its disposal .
In theory , could a president shut down air traffic ?
Sure ; it happened after 9/11 .
Manipulate the granting of passports ?
It ’ s already happening .
Turn off the power grid ?
The Department of Energy ’ s grid regulator , the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission , consists of four Trump appointees .
Use immigration enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
We ’ ve seen this already .
Impose onerous restrictions on travel within the United States based on dubious claims about civil disorder ?
Homeland Security could certainly accommodate that request .
Simply arrest people arbitrarily , holding and releasing them without charges , to create fear and unrest ?
We just saw the dry run for that in Portland and other cities .
Impose arbitrary restrictions on broadcasting or the availability of wireless services or the Internet ?
The FCC has a three-Republican majority , and authoritarians around the world love @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Free as You Are Wealthy If any of this sounds outlandish , you need to pay closer attention to the news .
With all pretense that Trump is not an authoritarianism gone , it might not be alarmist enough .
The implicit understanding in American politics that there are certain things a president could do but never would has—if it ever was true—been thoroughly undone .
The institutions designed to constrain the executive branch have proven useless repeatedly over the past four years , and they ’ re not going to save @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hold on to power .
There is no way to solve these problems before the upcoming election , but in many cases we are dealing with the long-term consequences of ignoring or degrading public services , and with the assent of Congress .
The USPS , most notably , was financially crippled by a law , the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act , that faced so little opposition in Congress that it passed the Senate by unanimous consent and the House via voice vote before being signed by President George W. Bush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eager to privatize the Postal Service joined the Democratic cosponsors ( Representatives Henry Waxman and Danny Davis ) showing off their “ anti–big government ” chops to put the post office in a state of permanent financial crisis .
Did the bill explicitly tell the president to manipulate mail service during an election ?
No .
But it laid the groundwork for Trump ’ s actions .
Members of Congress told in 2016 about what is happening in 2020 surely would have claimed that no president would ever do such a thing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ its failure to allocate the money needed to maintain physical infrastructure or its inability to see how fundamental services are vulnerable to political manipulation , Congress has not taken steps to protect the American public ’ s access to basic services and infrastructure from a malicious executive branch .
It is past time to drop the assumption that future presidents will steward the nation ’ s resources in good faith .
As uncomfortable as it is to admit , presidents and appointees may again use their powers in the crassest , most partisan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The merging of the interests of the state and the personal political interests of the president can not be undone by electing one pleasantly bland president who promises to be a good sport .
The specter of Trump will keep haunting us .
Congress can not unilaterally revoke all the powers of the executive branch , obviously .
But moving forward it needs to legislate for the worst-case scenario , not the assumption that presidents will be fundamentally decent folks .
Legislation designed to insulate essential services from political manipulation to the greatest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Good government ” reforms were easily passed in the 1970s in the wake of Watergate and the Vietnam War , and the post-Trump era ( whenever that is ) will be a good time to undo some of the mistakes of the past as well .
It ’ s not the sexiest agenda a Biden presidency could push , but this problem runs deeper than a single man .
Switching out Trump for amiable old Joe is not a solution , just a temporary reprieve .

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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.
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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?
If you need some low-cost entertainment, ask a person raised in the era of Google Maps to figure out how to get to somewhere without technology. It illustrates what we all know: Even those of us old enough to remember the world of paper atlases and “calling for directions” have become hopelessly dependent on those colored lines and disembodied voices to tell us where to go.
The Global Positioning System is also deeply integrated into the modern economy. A GPS shutdown would cause widespread chaos.
Now consider the fact that since GPS is military hardware with a secondary civilian use, the president could order it turned off. Right before the election. For whatever nonsense reason occurred to him (antifa is using it, or something).
Could such a thing happen? Despite government reassurances that neither the military nor civilian GPS systems have ever been shut down, past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. Just last year, the brief January 2019 government “shutdown” degraded civilian GPS service by withholding funds for certain types of data collection.
The ongoing crisis Trump is creating by hamstringing the US Postal Service is just the tip of the iceberg. An executive branch truly committed to misusing its power to disrupt society has an uncomfortably large number of tools at its disposal. In theory, could a president shut down air traffic? Sure; it happened after 9/11. Manipulate the granting of passports? It’s already happening. Turn off the power grid? The Department of Energy’s grid regulator, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, consists of four Trump appointees. Use immigration enforcement maliciously, targeting cities around the election? We’ve seen this already. Impose onerous restrictions on travel within the United States based on dubious claims about civil disorder? Homeland Security could certainly accommodate that request. Simply arrest people arbitrarily, holding and releasing them without charges, to create fear and unrest? We just saw the dry run for that in Portland and other cities. Impose arbitrary restrictions on broadcasting or the availability of wireless services or the Internet? The FCC has a three-Republican majority, and authoritarians around the world love this trick. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Related Article You’re Only As Free as You Are Wealthy Ed Burmila
If any of this sounds outlandish, you need to pay closer attention to the news. With all pretense that Trump is not an authoritarianism gone, it might not be alarmist enough. The implicit understanding in American politics that there are certain things a president could do but never would has—if it ever was true—been thoroughly undone. The institutions designed to constrain the executive branch have proven useless repeatedly over the past four years, and they’re not going to save us now that Trump is desperate to hold on to power.
There is no way to solve these problems before the upcoming election, but in many cases we are dealing with the long-term consequences of ignoring or degrading public services, and with the assent of Congress. The USPS, most notably, was financially crippled by a law, the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, that faced so little opposition in Congress that it passed the Senate by unanimous consent and the House via voice vote before being signed by President George W. Bush during a December lame-duck session. Current Issue View our current issue
Republicans eager to privatize the Postal Service joined the Democratic cosponsors (Representatives Henry Waxman and Danny Davis) showing off their “anti–big government” chops to put the post office in a state of permanent financial crisis. Did the bill explicitly tell the president to manipulate mail service during an election? No. But it laid the groundwork for Trump’s actions. Members of Congress told in 2016 about what is happening in 2020 surely would have claimed that no president would ever do such a thing. Yet here we are.
Whether through its failure to allocate the money needed to maintain physical infrastructure or its inability to see how fundamental services are vulnerable to political manipulation, Congress has not taken steps to protect the American public’s access to basic services and infrastructure from a malicious executive branch. It is past time to drop the assumption that future presidents will steward the nation’s resources in good faith. As uncomfortable as it is to admit, presidents and appointees may again use their powers in the crassest, most partisan, and most damaging way possible. The merging of the interests of the state and the personal political interests of the president cannot be undone by electing one pleasantly bland president who promises to be a good sport. The specter of Trump will keep haunting us.
Congress cannot unilaterally revoke all the powers of the executive branch, obviously. But moving forward it needs to legislate for the worst-case scenario, not the assumption that presidents will be fundamentally decent folks. Legislation designed to insulate essential services from political manipulation to the greatest possible extent would likely be politically popular. “Good government” reforms were easily passed in the 1970s in the wake of Watergate and the Vietnam War, and the post-Trump era (whenever that is) will be a good time to undo some of the mistakes of the past as well. It’s not the sexiest agenda a Biden presidency could push, but this problem runs deeper than a single man. Switching out Trump for amiable old Joe is not a solution, just a temporary reprieve.


thenation--2020-09-08--Is Trump Planning a Coup d’État?

Is Trump Planning a Coup d’État?

This summer , shortly after scores of camo-wearing , heavily armed federal agents descended on Portland , Ore. , to attack protesters , Charles Fried , Ronald Reagan ’ s solicitor general , pondered the implications of what he was seeing on the streets .
What he saw scared him ; he remembered the use of paramilitaries by fascist leaders in 1930s Europe , where he was born , and he feared he was now witnessing a slide into paramilitarism in the United States .
( His family fled the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia . )
Fried felt that President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Security and other government agencies in a way that was “ very menacing .
You might as well put brown shirts on them .
It ’ s a very bad thing.
” 1 A Harvard Law School professor who still counts himself as a Republican and a board member of groups such as the Campaign Legal Center , Checks and Balances , and Republicans for the Rule of Law , Fried has grown increasingly worried in recent months about Trump ’ s willingness to stir chaos and violence as an electoral strategy in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and about the willingness of his attorney general , William Barr , to burn the country ’ s democratic institutions to the ground to preserve this administration ’ s hold on power .
Like earlier authoritarians , Trump could , Fried fears , utilize “ agents provocateurs , getting right-wing people to infiltrate left-oriented and by-and-large peaceful demonstrations to turn them violent to thereby justify intervention.
” 2 Fried , a student of history who chooses his words carefully , has concluded that Trump and his team are “ certainly racist , contemptuous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and they believe their cause , their interests , are really the interests of the nation and therefore anything that keeps them in power is in the national interest .
Does that make you a fascist ?
It kind of looks that way , doesn ’ t it ?
” 3 Michael Steele , a former chair of the Republican National Committee , has come to share Fried ’ s conviction that Trump is a threat to the Republic , although Steele believes the Trump cult is more about naked political opportunism than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s takeover of the GOP .
He feels that Trump and his acolytes are trying to drive genuine Republicans out of their political home .
As Steele piquantly puts it , “ I come into your house and shit on the carpet .
I tear down your drapes , write on your walls , offend the people who live in the house .
Do you leave or kick my ass out ?
I don ’ t know anyone who leaves their house without a fight .
What kind of America , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
What kind of leader do you want ?
” 5 Like Fried , Steele in recent months concluded that Trump , aided and abetted by the GOP ’ s congressional leaders , is willing to “ open up a Pandora ’ s box of mischief ” to remain ensconced in the White House , Steele says .
“ He ’ s laying down the predicate—taking shots at vote by mail and saying he already knows there ’ s fraud— and therefore it ’ s likely he won ’ t accept the results @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump is “ the P.T .
Barnum of the 21st century , on steroids , ” a man with a mastery of the art of manipulation .
“ He doesn ’ t give a shit about the people of Portland .
He doesn ’ t give a crap about Chicago , ” Steele avers .
“ This is not complicated .
I don ’ t know why people keep overthinking this man .
His goal is to protect himself .
He uses the system against itself.
” 6 This summer , Fried , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservatism began coordinating with fellow anti-Trump conservatives around the country , as well as with progressive organizations , to strategize responses should Trump attempt to maintain power despite rejection at the polls .
Some participants formed the Transition Integrity Project , which includes campaign experts such as Michigan Democratic ex-governor Jennifer Granholm and Democratic Party consultant Donna Brazile , along with Steele and other old-guard GOP stalwarts .
They fear that if mail-in votes are still being tabulated weeks after the election and—as seems increasingly likely—barrages of lawsuits are filed by the candidates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Trump to create maximum mayhem.7 In their sobering 22-page report , they write of the potential for “ escalating violence ” if Trump loses and refuses to bow out gracefully .
Given the administration ’ s record of embracing “ numerous corrupt and authoritarian practices , ” huge numbers of Americans must be ready to take to the streets should Trump and his henchmen try to illegally curtail the counting of mail-in ballots .
The administration could deploy federalized National Guard troops to stop vote counts .
Indeed , on the day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump suggested on Fox News that he could order federal agents , even local sheriffs , into polling stations ostensibly to monitor fraud .
Trump and his allies could also challenge the results in numerous states simultaneously , send federal forces into Democratic-controlled cities , and through social media accounts and speeches , activate right-wing paramilitary groups.8 The report warns that a desperate Trump could push the American republic to the breaking point .
The authors even envision scenarios in which Trump wins the Electoral College but loses the popular vote and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states into attempting to secede from the Union.9 Increasingly , election observers point to the possibility of Trump using the courts to contest so many states ’ ballot tallies that the Supreme Court ends up as the ultimate arbiter , as happened in the 2000 election .
In some scenarios he loses , but his campaign refuses to accept state results , aiming to tie up the process so that states can ’ t certify their results in time for the January inauguration .
In others he dispenses with the legal niceties and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on enough backing from quasi-military agencies supportive of his agenda , such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection as well as law enforcement agencies at the local level and militia groups , that it would take a military intervention to bounce him from the White House .
Something like this scenario was outlined in an open letter to Gen. Mark Milley , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , by two Iraq War veterans , John Nagl and Paul Yingling , in mid-August .
“ If Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expiration of his constitutional term , the United States military must remove him by force , and you must give that order , ” they wrote.10 But relying on a conservative-dominated Supreme Court or a military that has been conditioned—for good reason—never to intervene in domestic political disputes is hardly a surefire path to protecting the country from Trump ’ s dictatorial ambitions .
Which brings us back to people power.11 Two of the main organizations that have begun planning mass mobilization are the Indivisible Project and Stand Up America .
Between them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizations and movements—from Public Citizen , MoveOn , and the End Citizens United Action Fund on the left to Republicans for the Rule of Law and Stand Up Republic on the right—inspired by nonpartisan groups such as the National Task Force on Election Crises .
The goal is to build a grassroots legal and political infrastructure capable of pushing back against efforts to undermine the electoral process .
As Trump ’ s attacks on it have intensified , additional groups have joined this nascent pro-democracy movement , including the Service Employees International Union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re putting a lot of energy into this , ” says Ezra Levin , a cofounder of the Indivisible Project and one of the organizers of Protect the Results ( a joint project of Indivisible and Stand Up America ) .
“ Indivisible brings to the table people power .
We started in December 2016 in response to Trump .
Three and a half years later , we have thousands of locally led Indivisible groups around the country .
We ’ re teaming up with other groups , including Stand Up America.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they are planning isn ’ t a run-of-the-mill protest ; rather , they will have to coordinate a national campaign capable of bringing millions of people into the streets—and not just for a day but for weeks and potentially months .
They are going to have to develop a durable movement that could operate like the democracy movement in Hong Kong or the movements that peacefully brought down Communist rule in Eastern Europe a generation ago.14 Levin argues that Trump “ can try to cling to power and use extraconstitutional means , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people at the local level .
That ’ s how a democracy works .
The one tool in our toolbox is participation .
We need mass participation in that moment.
” 15 Indivisible points to its demonstrated ability to mobilize huge numbers of people to protest family separation early in the Trump presidency and to activate the networks that marched in the streets calling for impeachment in 2019 .
Those actions—along with the Women ’ s Marches , mobilizations around the climate crisis , and of course , recent outpourings of support for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shape events even in the Trump era .
“ There is no referee in the sky who ’ s going to evaluate the evidence and give [ the presidency ] to the pro-democracy forces , ” says Levin .
“ That ’ s not how this works .
It is not a question in my mind whether we ’ ll be able to get people to show up .
The question is ‘ Where do you take people ?
’ ” Sean Eldridge of Stand Up America agrees .
“ We ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he argues .
“ There ’ s a lot of scenario planning and coalition building still to do.
” 16 Some of this groundwork involves getting millions of people in all 50 states to sign up for SMS alerts .
Some of it involves getting lawyers to volunteer to help with election-related issues in the weeks surrounding the vote .
Some involves grassroots education campaigns—for example , publicizing efforts by the administration to undermine the Postal Service .
Some is about talking with labor organizations about the prospect of going on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempts to steal the election .
“ There ’ s going to be litigation , mass mobilization , policy options by governors , state attorneys general , members of Congress , ” says Vanita Gupta , the president of the D.C.-based Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.17 Protecting the elections , says Rahna Epting , the executive director of MoveOn , “ will take multiple different tactics .
People are starting to connect the dots—and all the work that movements have done across the generations .
People are starting to come out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to protect their country .
Will we be successful ?
We ’ re going to fight like hell to make sure we are.
” 18 “ I wrote an op-ed during the campaign of ’ 16 pointing out all the similarities between Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump , ” recalls Tom Coleman , a former Republican representative for the Sixth Congressional District of Missouri and now a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises .
( The op-ed was never published . )
But to his frustration , even as Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ validate Coleman ’ s warning , his erstwhile colleagues in the GOP didn ’ t distance themselves from the tycoon-cum-politician .
Even today , Trump ’ s attacks on the electoral system and his promotion of civil conflict are met largely with silence from the GOP ’ s grandees.19 “ A concern is what we are seeing right now : federal law enforcement in major cities engaged in actions with protesters that generates civil unrest and battles in the streets , ” says Trevor Potter , ex-chairman of the Federal Election Commission and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center .
“ To me , it was a far-fetched , hypothetical idea till we saw it in Portland .
It could lead to sufficient civil unrest [ such ] that it is , in fact , difficult to conduct an election in those cities.
” Potter worries that Trump could declare a form of martial law in Democratic- controlled cities or pressure GOP governors to issue stay-at-home orders in their bigger , more liberal cities .
Some observers have mused about the possibility of Republican governors deploying the National Guard in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election side , is there a remedy when parts of the state can not vote on Election Day for reasons beyond their control ?
” Potter asks.20 Trump has talked vaguely about the extraordinary powers he could seize during a putative national emergency .
He has demanded—and largely won—increasingly politicized enforcement actions from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and other key agencies .
And in recent weeks he ’ s leaned on legal advice from people such as John Yoo , an author of the infamous torture memos used by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advocates the use of executive orders to exert virtually unfettered presidential power.21 Coleman worries that , under the pretext of protecting federal courthouses and other property , Trump is using federal agents “ to chill turnout in the election .
People are going to be scared .
And where ?
In the major cities .
And it ’ s to prepare his base to use these forces , so if he contests the election [ result ] , these forces could be seen as an asset to be utilized.
” 22 Stuart Gerson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under President George H.W .
Bush , says this moment increasingly reminds him of Isaac Asimov ’ s Foundation trilogy , which was about a “ society based on predictive behavior , and then along comes a character called the Mule , who upsets the democratic applecart .
Trump is the Mule .
He throws norms into a cocked hat .
He is an egomaniac .
The sun travels around him .
He thinks he ’ s Louis XIV.
” 23 Democracies survive when all major players respect the ground rules .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those rules—and get away with it .
Gerson has concluded that Trump is only too willing to circumvent Supreme Court decisions , is perfectly capable of issuing illegal orders to the military to attack domestic political opponents , and would likely show no compunction in ignoring an election result that doesn ’ t go his way .
Each time he ’ s gotten away with crashing through a democratic constraint , his ambitions have escalated .
During the impeachment hearings , Trump ’ s lawyers argued that as president , he was above @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he has sought to implement this theory of governance.24 Organizers fear that Trump is prepping the ground for a de facto coup .
But they also hope that he can be headed off by a massive wave of aroused and empowered opposition .
There is , after all , a growing public awareness of the existential threat to the country ’ s democracy , with a drumbeat of warnings from Biden , Barack Obama , Colin Powell , and other senior political figures .
Levin , Fried , and the others involved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will generate an unstoppable electoral wave , resulting in such a thorough , incontestable rejection of all that Trump stands for that his ability to challenge the results will be chopped off at the knees.25 “ The more Trump turns up the temperature , [ the more ] he is angering the public .
They ’ re tired of the chaos , tired of his mismanagement , ” argues Epting .
“ We have to do everything we can to make sure it is a landslide victory , to make it less likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will , Gerson believes , “ ultimately lose .
Either because he spins the wheel and can find a face-saving way to move out into history or [ because ] the wheel is spun for him .
This is in our hands , and there are democratic means to accomplish this peacefully .
And it is the public ’ s responsibility to act.
” 27

This article appears in the September 21/28, 2020 issue.
Illustration by Victor Juhasz.
This summer, shortly after scores of camo-wearing, heavily armed federal agents descended on Portland, Ore., to attack protesters, Charles Fried, Ronald Reagan’s solicitor general, pondered the implications of what he was seeing on the streets. What he saw scared him; he remembered the use of paramilitaries by fascist leaders in 1930s Europe, where he was born, and he feared he was now witnessing a slide into paramilitarism in the United States. (His family fled the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.) Fried felt that President Trump was using the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies in a way that was “very menacing. You might as well put brown shirts on them. It’s a very bad thing.”1
A Harvard Law School professor who still counts himself as a Republican and a board member of groups such as the Campaign Legal Center, Checks and Balances, and Republicans for the Rule of Law, Fried has grown increasingly worried in recent months about Trump’s willingness to stir chaos and violence as an electoral strategy in the run-up to November’s vote and about the willingness of his attorney general, William Barr, to burn the country’s democratic institutions to the ground to preserve this administration’s hold on power. Like earlier authoritarians, Trump could, Fried fears, utilize “agents provocateurs, getting right-wing people to infiltrate left-oriented and by-and-large peaceful demonstrations to turn them violent to thereby justify intervention.”2
Fried, a student of history who chooses his words carefully, has concluded that Trump and his team are “certainly racist, contemptuous of ordinary democratic and constitutional norms, and they believe their cause, their interests, are really the interests of the nation and therefore anything that keeps them in power is in the national interest. Does that make you a fascist? It kind of looks that way, doesn’t it?”3
Michael Steele, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, has come to share Fried’s conviction that Trump is a threat to the Republic, although Steele believes the Trump cult is more about naked political opportunism than any grand fascist ideology.4 Related Article Trump Embraces the Samson Option Jeet Heer
Steele bitterly resents Trump’s takeover of the GOP. He feels that Trump and his acolytes are trying to drive genuine Republicans out of their political home. As Steele piquantly puts it, “I come into your house and shit on the carpet. I tear down your drapes, write on your walls, offend the people who live in the house. Do you leave or kick my ass out? I don’t know anyone who leaves their house without a fight. What kind of America, what kind of country do you want? What kind of leader do you want?”5
Like Fried, Steele in recent months concluded that Trump, aided and abetted by the GOP’s congressional leaders, is willing to “open up a Pandora’s box of mischief” to remain ensconced in the White House, Steele says. “He’s laying down the predicate—taking shots at vote by mail and saying he already knows there’s fraud— and therefore it’s likely he won’t accept the results of the election.” For Steele, Trump is “the P.T. Barnum of the 21st century, on steroids,” a man with a mastery of the art of manipulation. “He doesn’t give a shit about the people of Portland. He doesn’t give a crap about Chicago,” Steele avers. “This is not complicated. I don’t know why people keep overthinking this man. His goal is to protect himself. He uses the system against itself.”6 Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
This summer, Fried, Steele, and other devotees of traditional conservatism began coordinating with fellow anti-Trump conservatives around the country, as well as with progressive organizations, to strategize responses should Trump attempt to maintain power despite rejection at the polls. Some participants formed the Transition Integrity Project, which includes campaign experts such as Michigan Democratic ex-governor Jennifer Granholm and Democratic Party consultant Donna Brazile, along with Steele and other old-guard GOP stalwarts. They fear that if mail-in votes are still being tabulated weeks after the election and—as seems increasingly likely—barrages of lawsuits are filed by the candidates’ campaigns, conditions could be ripe for Trump to create maximum mayhem.7 Current Issue View our current issue
In their sobering 22-page report, they write of the potential for “escalating violence” if Trump loses and refuses to bow out gracefully. Given the administration’s record of embracing “numerous corrupt and authoritarian practices,” huge numbers of Americans must be ready to take to the streets should Trump and his henchmen try to illegally curtail the counting of mail-in ballots. The administration could deploy federalized National Guard troops to stop vote counts. Indeed, on the day Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, Trump suggested on Fox News that he could order federal agents, even local sheriffs, into polling stations ostensibly to monitor fraud. Trump and his allies could also challenge the results in numerous states simultaneously, send federal forces into Democratic-controlled cities, and through social media accounts and speeches, activate right-wing paramilitary groups.8
The report warns that a desperate Trump could push the American republic to the breaking point. The authors even envision scenarios in which Trump wins the Electoral College but loses the popular vote and exploits the ensuing unrest, goading Western states into attempting to secede from the Union.9
Increasingly, election observers point to the possibility of Trump using the courts to contest so many states’ ballot tallies that the Supreme Court ends up as the ultimate arbiter, as happened in the 2000 election. In some scenarios he loses, but his campaign refuses to accept state results, aiming to tie up the process so that states can’t certify their results in time for the January inauguration. In others he dispenses with the legal niceties and simply refuses to cede power, banking on enough backing from quasi-military agencies supportive of his agenda, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection as well as law enforcement agencies at the local level and militia groups, that it would take a military intervention to bounce him from the White House. Something like this scenario was outlined in an open letter to Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by two Iraq War veterans, John Nagl and Paul Yingling, in mid-August. “If Donald Trump refuses to leave office at the expiration of his constitutional term, the United States military must remove him by force, and you must give that order,” they wrote.10
But relying on a conservative-dominated Supreme Court or a military that has been conditioned—for good reason—never to intervene in domestic political disputes is hardly a surefire path to protecting the country from Trump’s dictatorial ambitions. Which brings us back to people power.11
Two of the main organizations that have begun planning mass mobilization are the Indivisible Project and Stand Up America. Between them, they have brought together dozens of organizations and movements—from Public Citizen, MoveOn, and the End Citizens United Action Fund on the left to Republicans for the Rule of Law and Stand Up Republic on the right—inspired by nonpartisan groups such as the National Task Force on Election Crises. The goal is to build a grassroots legal and political infrastructure capable of pushing back against efforts to undermine the electoral process. As Trump’s attacks on it have intensified, additional groups have joined this nascent pro-democracy movement, including the Service Employees International Union and the Sunrise Movement.12
“We’re putting a lot of energy into this,” says Ezra Levin, a cofounder of the Indivisible Project and one of the organizers of Protect the Results (a joint project of Indivisible and Stand Up America). “Indivisible brings to the table people power. We started in December 2016 in response to Trump. Three and a half years later, we have thousands of locally led Indivisible groups around the country. We’re teaming up with other groups, including Stand Up America.”13
Levin is well aware that what they are planning isn’t a run-of-the-mill protest; rather, they will have to coordinate a national campaign capable of bringing millions of people into the streets—and not just for a day but for weeks and potentially months. They are going to have to develop a durable movement that could operate like the democracy movement in Hong Kong or the movements that peacefully brought down Communist rule in Eastern Europe a generation ago.14
Levin argues that Trump “can try to cling to power and use extraconstitutional means,” but “the tool we have is people at the local level. That’s how a democracy works. The one tool in our toolbox is participation. We need mass participation in that moment.”15
Indivisible points to its demonstrated ability to mobilize huge numbers of people to protest family separation early in the Trump presidency and to activate the networks that marched in the streets calling for impeachment in 2019. Those actions—along with the Women’s Marches, mobilizations around the climate crisis, and of course, recent outpourings of support for racial justice—have shown that people power can shape events even in the Trump era. “There is no referee in the sky who’s going to evaluate the evidence and give [the presidency] to the pro-democracy forces,” says Levin. “That’s not how this works. It is not a question in my mind whether we’ll be able to get people to show up. The question is ‘Where do you take people?’” Sean Eldridge of Stand Up America agrees. “We’re going to need all hands on deck,” he argues. “There’s a lot of scenario planning and coalition building still to do.”16
Some of this groundwork involves getting millions of people in all 50 states to sign up for SMS alerts. Some of it involves getting lawyers to volunteer to help with election-related issues in the weeks surrounding the vote. Some involves grassroots education campaigns—for example, publicizing efforts by the administration to undermine the Postal Service. Some is about talking with labor organizations about the prospect of going on strike and gridlocking the economy if Trump attempts to steal the election. “There’s going to be litigation, mass mobilization, policy options by governors, state attorneys general, members of Congress,” says Vanita Gupta, the president of the D.C.-based Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.17
Protecting the elections, says Rahna Epting, the executive director of MoveOn, “will take multiple different tactics. People are starting to connect the dots—and all the work that movements have done across the generations. People are starting to come out. People will be inspired and motivated to protect their country. Will we be successful? We’re going to fight like hell to make sure we are.”18
“I wrote an op-ed during the campaign of ’16 pointing out all the similarities between Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump,” recalls Tom Coleman, a former Republican representative for the Sixth Congressional District of Missouri and now a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises. (The op-ed was never published.) But to his frustration, even as Trump’s actions as president seemed to validate Coleman’s warning, his erstwhile colleagues in the GOP didn’t distance themselves from the tycoon-cum-politician. Even today, Trump’s attacks on the electoral system and his promotion of civil conflict are met largely with silence from the GOP’s grandees.19
“A concern is what we are seeing right now: federal law enforcement in major cities engaged in actions with protesters that generates civil unrest and battles in the streets,” says Trevor Potter, ex-chairman of the Federal Election Commission and currently president of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. “To me, it was a far-fetched, hypothetical idea till we saw it in Portland. It could lead to sufficient civil unrest [such] that it is, in fact, difficult to conduct an election in those cities.” Potter worries that Trump could declare a form of martial law in Democratic- controlled cities or pressure GOP governors to issue stay-at-home orders in their bigger, more liberal cities. Some observers have mused about the possibility of Republican governors deploying the National Guard in the weeks surrounding the election. “On the election side, is there a remedy when parts of the state cannot vote on Election Day for reasons beyond their control?” Potter asks.20
Trump has talked vaguely about the extraordinary powers he could seize during a putative national emergency. He has demanded—and largely won—increasingly politicized enforcement actions from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and other key agencies. And in recent weeks he’s leaned on legal advice from people such as John Yoo, an author of the infamous torture memos used by the George W. Bush administration, who advocates the use of executive orders to exert virtually unfettered presidential power.21
Coleman worries that, under the pretext of protecting federal courthouses and other property, Trump is using federal agents “to chill turnout in the election. People are going to be scared. And where? In the major cities. And it’s to prepare his base to use these forces, so if he contests the election [result], these forces could be seen as an asset to be utilized.”22
Stuart Gerson, who served as acting attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, says this moment increasingly reminds him of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, which was about a “society based on predictive behavior, and then along comes a character called the Mule, who upsets the democratic applecart. Trump is the Mule. He throws norms into a cocked hat. He is an egomaniac. The sun travels around him. He thinks he’s Louis XIV.”23
Democracies survive when all major players respect the ground rules. They crumble when significant players start to flout those rules—and get away with it. Gerson has concluded that Trump is only too willing to circumvent Supreme Court decisions, is perfectly capable of issuing illegal orders to the military to attack domestic political opponents, and would likely show no compunction in ignoring an election result that doesn’t go his way. Each time he’s gotten away with crashing through a democratic constraint, his ambitions have escalated. During the impeachment hearings, Trump’s lawyers argued that as president, he was above and outside the law. Postimpeachment, he has sought to implement this theory of governance.24 Related Article Good Riddance to Trump: A Political Obituary I Have Waited 5 Years to Write Sasha Abramsky
Organizers fear that Trump is prepping the ground for a de facto coup. But they also hope that he can be headed off by a massive wave of aroused and empowered opposition. There is, after all, a growing public awareness of the existential threat to the country’s democracy, with a drumbeat of warnings from Biden, Barack Obama, Colin Powell, and other senior political figures. Levin, Fried, and the others involved in Protect the Results are hoping that this will generate an unstoppable electoral wave, resulting in such a thorough, incontestable rejection of all that Trump stands for that his ability to challenge the results will be chopped off at the knees.25
“The more Trump turns up the temperature, [the more] he is angering the public. They’re tired of the chaos, tired of his mismanagement,” argues Epting. “We have to do everything we can to make sure it is a landslide victory, to make it less likely he can fight it.”26
Trump will, Gerson believes, “ultimately lose. Either because he spins the wheel and can find a face-saving way to move out into history or [because] the wheel is spun for him. This is in our hands, and there are democratic means to accomplish this peacefully. And it is the public’s responsibility to act.”27


thenation--2020-09-08--A New Study Exposes Just How Racist College Sports Have Become

There are certain facts that critics of the college sports model have been pointing out for eons .
One is that two sports—football and men ’ s basketball—generate most of the revenue that underwrites athletic departments and pays for coaches ’ multimillion-dollar salaries .
These two sports in particular are dependent on Black players and the physical punishment of Black bodies .
And while these athletes produce billions of dollars in wealth , they not only do not receive any income but also have no collective bargaining rights , long-term medical care , a guaranteed scholarship , or even a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues .
It ’ s both hyper-exploitative and immoral .
And a new study puts an even finer point on the issue , making the case that these sports not only create the revenue that supports the entire athletic department but also subsidize athletic endeavors dominated by white , economically privileged athletes , like sailing , crew , and tennis .
The study , from the National Bureau of Economic Research , is a damning indictment of the current caste system .
Through a forensic investigation it found that revenue from athletic departments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to $ 8.5 billion over the last 14 years .
Sixty percent of that growth is due entirely to football and men ’ s basketball .
Football staffs have seen their salaries double , as have non-coaching administration jobs in these athletic departments .
And these sports subsidize the amateur sports for the country club set .
As we ’ ve seen from the recent Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin admissions scandals , these upper-crust sports are often used to justify admissions of the children of underqualified rich donors , an athletic loophole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , off-the-books “ affirmative action.
” What makes this report particularly timely—and particularly dangerous for the powers that be—is that college athletes in these revenue-producing sports have never been more confidently outspoken , particularly on issues of racial justice and health and safety , than in the age of Black Lives Matter and Covid-19 .
While these athletes have been making an array of demands , they ’ re united in their desire to take charge of their own destiny and have a voice that is commensurate with their importance to the university @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is white with long hair and a faraway look to his eyes ( in other words , not your typical quarterback ) , even issued a five-point plan for racial justice this week .
In addition to calls to register college athletes to vote and for the right to wear political decals on their helmets , Lawrence tweeted , The NCAA is attempting to respond to these rumblings for racial justice through actions that are more performative than concrete .
Players from the University of Mississippi and the University of Alabama marched with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Oxford and Tuscaloosa , respectively .
While it was most certainly stirring to see Alabama head coach Nick Saban at the front of a march for racial justice , these kinds of processions can only release so much steam .
Voter registration and helmet decals , with all respect to Trevor Lawrence , also don ’ t challenge the fundamental injustice laid out in the study : that is the injustice of fake amateurism .
Black athletes—who disproportionately come from poor backgrounds—can no longer be the cash cows for squash and golf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m not saying I have the answers , but I think the solution resides somewhere in the doubling of salaries for coaches since 2006 .
If there is money for coaches—and currently the head football or basketball coach at the state college is the highest-paid public employee in 40 of the 50 states—then there should be compensation and a seat at the table for the athletes as well .
Otherwise , the NCAA will just continue to be what it has been for decades : a machine to facilitate the organized @ @ @ @ @

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There are certain facts that critics of the college sports model have been pointing out for eons. One is that two sports—football and men’s basketball—generate most of the revenue that underwrites athletic departments and pays for coaches’ multimillion-dollar salaries. These two sports in particular are dependent on Black players and the physical punishment of Black bodies. And while these athletes produce billions of dollars in wealth, they not only do not receive any income but also have no collective bargaining rights, long-term medical care, a guaranteed scholarship, or even a seat at the table to discuss these issues.
It’s both hyper-exploitative and immoral. And a new study puts an even finer point on the issue, making the case that these sports not only create the revenue that supports the entire athletic department but also subsidize athletic endeavors dominated by white, economically privileged athletes, like sailing, crew, and tennis.
The study, from the National Bureau of Economic Research, is a damning indictment of the current caste system. Through a forensic investigation it found that revenue from athletic departments has nearly doubled from $4.4 billion to $8.5 billion over the last 14 years. Sixty percent of that growth is due entirely to football and men’s basketball. Football staffs have seen their salaries double, as have non-coaching administration jobs in these athletic departments. And these sports subsidize the amateur sports for the country club set. As we’ve seen from the recent Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin admissions scandals, these upper-crust sports are often used to justify admissions of the children of underqualified rich donors, an athletic loophole for a different kind of highly corrupted, off-the-books “affirmative action.”
What makes this report particularly timely—and particularly dangerous for the powers that be—is that college athletes in these revenue-producing sports have never been more confidently outspoken, particularly on issues of racial justice and health and safety, than in the age of Black Lives Matter and Covid-19. While these athletes have been making an array of demands, they’re united in their desire to take charge of their own destiny and have a voice that is commensurate with their importance to the university.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is white with long hair and a faraway look to his eyes (in other words, not your typical quarterback), even issued a five-point plan for racial justice this week. In addition to calls to register college athletes to vote and for the right to wear political decals on their helmets, Lawrence tweeted,
Over the course of the past year, our country has witnessed some of the most atrocious racial injustices against countless Black and African-American people. Too many have fallen victim to racial injustice and system inequities. Enough is enough. Real change must come.
The NCAA is attempting to respond to these rumblings for racial justice through actions that are more performative than concrete. Players from the University of Mississippi and the University of Alabama marched with their coaches in Black Lives Matter processions in Oxford and Tuscaloosa, respectively. While it was most certainly stirring to see Alabama head coach Nick Saban at the front of a march for racial justice, these kinds of processions can only release so much steam. Voter registration and helmet decals, with all respect to Trevor Lawrence, also don’t challenge the fundamental injustice laid out in the study: that is the injustice of fake amateurism.
Black athletes—who disproportionately come from poor backgrounds—can no longer be the cash cows for squash and golf and the playgrounds of the privileged. I’m not saying I have the answers, but I think the solution resides somewhere in the doubling of salaries for coaches since 2006. If there is money for coaches—and currently the head football or basketball coach at the state college is the highest-paid public employee in 40 of the 50 states—then there should be compensation and a seat at the table for the athletes as well. Otherwise, the NCAA will just continue to be what it has been for decades: a machine to facilitate the organized theft of Black wealth.


thenation--2020-09-08--Someone Give Us the Gift of Time Travel

Someone Give Us the Gift of Time Travel

Support independent cartooning : join Sparky ’ s List—and don ’ t forget to visit TT ’ s Emporium of @ @ @ @ @ book and plush Sparky !

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thenation--2020-09-08--Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor Talks About the Kenosha Protests and What Happens Next

After a police officer in Kenosha , Wis. , grabbed 29-year-old Jacob Blake ’ s T-shirt and fired seven shots into his back on August 23 , Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes tweeted , “ Last night , Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times in front of his children .
This wasn ’ t an accident .
The officer ’ s deadly actions attempted to take a person ’ s life in broad daylight .
Like many of you , the video is burned into my mind like all the past videos just like it.
” 1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was on the streets in Kenosha and on TV screens nationwide–calling for a reckoning with issues that have for too long gone unaddressed .
This was not new activism for Barnes .
Long before he was elected , at age 32 in 2018 , as Wisconsin ’ s first African American lieutenant governor , he joined Black Lives Matter demonstrations and advocated for criminal justice reform as a young legislator from Milwaukee .
I spoke with Barnes about his frustration with roadblocks to change in Wisconsin ( where Republican legislators have blocked changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and about how Democrats must press these issues in 2020 and beyond.2 ohn ichols : When Jacob Blake was shot in Kenosha , you said , “ To everyone that is as tired as I am , know that I stand with you in the fight for a better world , a world where Black lives actually matter , a world with decency , with true justice , equity , and opportunity for all Black people.
” Tell me about that sense of being tired.4 andela arnes : A lot of it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seeing the same things over and over again—one , with no recourse ; two , with no substantive change.5 People have been marching for months and for anybody to witness that sort of action and engagement by people in all parts of the state , all parts of the country , and then see an officer shoot somebody seven times in the back , it weighs on you .
That is heavy stuff.6 So I ’ m talking about being tired in a literal and figurative sense.7 JN : The video from Kenosha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be a reaction.8 MB : I knew that there was no way that people would calmly react to any of that .
I mean , one , it is anger-inducing for some .
It is depressing for others .
It is downright frightening for more people .
And to think that , like I said before , for people to have marched all these months , you ’ d think that police departments , sheriff ’ s departments , would have rushed to implement reform in any way possible.9 People expected things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out their statement about how [ they recognized that Black lives matter ] , after people had awakened in corners of the state that had not seen any sort of protest or civil rights activity , maybe ever .
These people assumed that things were on the mend with society.10 JN : Jacob Blake survived the shooting , but he is paralyzed from the waste down.11 MB : And it didn ’ t have to be that way .
Nobody thinks that that ’ s a responsible way to carry out justice , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] times.12 That ’ s not just bad police work .
That ’ s beyond bad police work .
There were three or four officers… So a number of police officers tried to prevent him from getting to the car .
They felt that he was that much of a threat .
There was more than enough opportunity for at least two of those officers , not just one of them , to try to [ subdue ] him.13 JN : On the third night of protests in Kenosha , a 17-year-old white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups and the police , shot and killed two protesters .
What ’ s your sense of what went wrong ?
14 MB : Well , the sense of what went wrong there has to do with the things that are accepted , right ?
Like it ’ s accepted , it ’ s OK , even in the video , that these armed dudes were walking around .
They were walking around police officers .
They weren ’ t trying to hide from law enforcement .
They were out in plain sight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there to help .
That ’ s a problem.15 It ’ s a problem that that was even accepted by law enforcement as something that was even reasonable .
No reasonable person thinks that that is OK , especially in a situation that is as tense as what was going on in Kenosha that night .
That is literal fuel to the flames .
Their presence absolutely made a particularly volatile situation potentially more destructive—and it happened to end up becoming more destructive because lives were lost.16 JN : What needs to happen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MB : Law enforcement leaders need to step up .
[ At a press conference , ] the police chief alluded to the fact that people being out after curfew is what caused lives to be lost—not actually calling out the problem , which was the person who actually shot and killed someone .
The last press conference I saw from the sheriff , he was asked about the video .
He said he never even saw the video !
18 So what needs to happen first is these officers need to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are there to protect and serve .
They need to have open and honest dialogue .
They need to be held accountable.19 MB : There ’ s got to be action at every level .
There needs to be federal action on qualified immunity .
There needs to be state-level action .
There needs to be local action , whether it ’ s city councils or whether it ’ s police departments themselves and sheriff ’ s departments.21 There has to be a system-wide approach to addressing this , and there are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Wisconsin will take up in the understanding that they will not solve every problem or prevent every incident , but they will go a long way as a signal showing people across the entire state—whether you ’ re a private citizen , whether you ’ re in law enforcement—what will be tolerated and what won ’ t be tolerated.22 There ’ s no reason why [ Wisconsin ] Republicans in the legislature have failed to act .
Look at the state of Iowa .
They passed their package unanimously .
Unanimously .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican governor .
They came in and they got it done.23 JN : Why hasn ’ t that happened in Wisconsin ?
24 MB : I couldn ’ t tell you .
The same reason they haven ’ t acted on extension of BadgerCare [ a health care program for low-income Wisconsinites ] .
Same reason they haven ’ t acted on cannabis reform .
Same reason they haven ’ t raised the minimum wage .
Same reason they refuse to take up any serious piece of legislation.25 JN : Pundits are talking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would challenge those same people to look a little bit deeper and ask , “ Why are people protesting ?
” Ask , “ Why are people so upset ?
Why are people frustrated ?
” 27 I hope that they ’ ll understand that people don ’ t just get upset like this out of the blue .
People don ’ t just protest because it ’ s [ a meme ] or something fun to do .
People are putting themselves on the line , literally , in hope for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t protesting because they want things to go up in flames .
People are protesting because they want the world to be better .
Ultimately , they want that to lead to a better life for everybody.29 I read one protest sign that said , “ We ’ re not trying to start a race war , we ’ re trying to stop one from happening.
” That really stuck out to me , and that ’ s a message that I would like for the individuals who are growing weary of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats in Wisconsin and nationally be talking about all of this this fall ?
What should their message be ?
31 MB : That ’ s a good question , because clearly the RNC was all about this .
They have chosen their angle and their response to people calling for justice .
They are responding with aggression and animosity….32 What I want to say to Democrats running for the fall is to understand the real urgent things that people are dealing with : that systems of inequality and inequity are universal.33 It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matter what issue you ’ re talking about , whether it ’ s racial injustice , whether it ’ s income inequality , whether it ’ s lack of access to health care , whether it ’ s environmental protection.34 All of these things fall into a long line of injustice and inequity that has to be addressed at every level .
It would not be wise to separate what ’ s going on right now in the fight for racial justice from any other set of issues that Democrats have traditionally taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1968 focused on many of the things that you ’ re talking about .
So we ’ ve known for a long time what needs to be done , and yet somehow it hasn ’ t happened .
Is it your sense that now it could happen ?
36 MB : It depends on at what level .
I think that the people who are in charge in the White House right now , they aren ’ t willing to do anything .
[ They don ’ t have a sense of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans in the legislature here in Wisconsin have also shown that same disregard.37 So theoretically , of course things can change .
Things should change .
And elections do matter.38 But it ’ s also important to note that it doesn ’ t matter if you elect a Democrat… .
It doesn ’ t mean that they automatically are going to do the right thing .
We still have to get organized.39 Like I said on Twitter , November 3rd isn ’ t the finish line .
It ’ s a mile marker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marker , but we have to keep organizing.40 JN : Tell me what you mean when you say “ an important mile marker ” ?
41 MB : We obviously have the best chance at reform with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because at least they are acknowledging the pain that communities are feeling .
Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris spent an hour on the phone with Jacob Blake ’ s family , and there ’ s that level of compassion , and then there ’ s also the stated desire to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as much.42 If people want them to go further , then organize to push them further once they ’ re elected… .
But I think that there is zero chance with who we have in the White House right now.43

This article appears in the September 21/28, 2020 issue.
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After a police officer in Kenosha, Wis., grabbed 29-year-old Jacob Blake’s T-shirt and fired seven shots into his back on August 23, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes tweeted, “Last night, Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times in front of his children. This wasn’t an accident. The officer’s deadly actions attempted to take a person’s life in broad daylight. Like many of you, the video is burned into my mind like all the past videos just like it.”1
In the days that followed, Barnes was on the streets in Kenosha and on TV screens nationwide–calling for a reckoning with issues that have for too long gone unaddressed. This was not new activism for Barnes. Long before he was elected, at age 32 in 2018, as Wisconsin’s first African American lieutenant governor, he joined Black Lives Matter demonstrations and advocated for criminal justice reform as a young legislator from Milwaukee. I spoke with Barnes about his frustration with roadblocks to change in Wisconsin (where Republican legislators have blocked changes proposed by Democratic Governor Tony Evers), and about how Democrats must press these issues in 2020 and beyond.2
—John Nichols3
J ohn N ichols: When Jacob Blake was shot in Kenosha, you said, “To everyone that is as tired as I am, know that I stand with you in the fight for a better world, a world where Black lives actually matter, a world with decency, with true justice, equity, and opportunity for all Black people.” Tell me about that sense of being tired.4
M andela B arnes: A lot of it has to do with being tired of seeing the same things over and over again—one, with no recourse; two, with no substantive change.5
People have been marching for months and for anybody to witness that sort of action and engagement by people in all parts of the state, all parts of the country, and then see an officer shoot somebody seven times in the back, it weighs on you. That is heavy stuff.6
So I’m talking about being tired in a literal and figurative sense.7
JN: The video from Kenosha was so jarring. You knew there would be a reaction.8
MB: I knew that there was no way that people would calmly react to any of that. I mean, one, it is anger-inducing for some. It is depressing for others. It is downright frightening for more people. And to think that, like I said before, for people to have marched all these months, you’d think that police departments, sheriff’s departments, would have rushed to implement reform in any way possible.9 Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Current Issue View our current issue
People expected things to change after every business had put out their statement about how [they recognized that Black lives matter], after people had awakened in corners of the state that had not seen any sort of protest or civil rights activity, maybe ever. These people assumed that things were on the mend with society.10
JN: Jacob Blake survived the shooting, but he is paralyzed from the waist down.11
MB: And it didn’t have to be that way. Nobody thinks that that’s a responsible way to carry out justice, shooting someone in the back [multiple] times.12
That’s not just bad police work. That’s beyond bad police work. There were three or four officers… So a number of police officers tried to prevent him from getting to the car. They felt that he was that much of a threat. There was more than enough opportunity for at least two of those officers, not just one of them, to try to [subdue] him.13
JN: On the third night of protests in Kenosha, a 17-year-old white gunman, who was interacting with militia groups and the police, shot and killed two protesters. What’s your sense of what went wrong?14
MB: Well, the sense of what went wrong there has to do with the things that are accepted, right? Like it’s accepted, it’s OK, even in the video, that these armed dudes were walking around. They were walking around police officers. They weren’t trying to hide from law enforcement. They were out in plain sight, making a claim that they were there to help. That’s a problem.15
It’s a problem that that was even accepted by law enforcement as something that was even reasonable. No reasonable person thinks that that is OK, especially in a situation that is as tense as what was going on in Kenosha that night. That is literal fuel to the flames. Their presence absolutely made a particularly volatile situation potentially more destructive—and it happened to end up becoming more destructive because lives were lost.16
JN: What needs to happen on the ground in Kenosha?17
MB: Law enforcement leaders need to step up. [At a press conference,] the police chief alluded to the fact that people being out after curfew is what caused lives to be lost—not actually calling out the problem, which was the person who actually shot and killed someone. The last press conference I saw from the sheriff, he was asked about the video. He said he never even saw the video!18
So what needs to happen first is these officers need to have a reckoning with the communities that they are there to protect and serve. They need to have open and honest dialogue. They need to be held accountable.19
JN: And beyond Kenosha?20
MB: There’s got to be action at every level. There needs to be federal action on qualified immunity. There needs to be state-level action. There needs to be local action, whether it’s city councils or whether it’s police departments themselves and sheriff’s departments.21
There has to be a system-wide approach to addressing this, and there are a number of simple measures that the state of Wisconsin will take up in the understanding that they will not solve every problem or prevent every incident, but they will go a long way as a signal showing people across the entire state—whether you’re a private citizen, whether you’re in law enforcement—what will be tolerated and what won’t be tolerated.22
There’s no reason why [Wisconsin] Republicans in the legislature have failed to act. Look at the state of Iowa. They passed their package unanimously. Unanimously. They have a Republican legislature and a Republican governor. They came in and they got it done.23
JN: Why hasn’t that happened in Wisconsin?24
MB: I couldn’t tell you. The same reason they haven’t acted on extension of BadgerCare [a health care program for low-income Wisconsinites]. Same reason they haven’t acted on cannabis reform. Same reason they haven’t raised the minimum wage. Same reason they refuse to take up any serious piece of legislation.25
JN: Pundits are talking about backlash against protests.26
MB: I would challenge those same people to look a little bit deeper and ask, “Why are people protesting?” Ask, “Why are people so upset? Why are people frustrated?”27
I hope that they’ll understand that people don’t just get upset like this out of the blue. People don’t just protest because it’s [a meme] or something fun to do. People are putting themselves on the line, literally, in hope for a better world!28
These people aren’t protesting because they want things to go up in flames. People are protesting because they want the world to be better. Ultimately, they want that to lead to a better life for everybody.29
I read one protest sign that said, “We’re not trying to start a race war, we’re trying to stop one from happening.” That really stuck out to me, and that’s a message that I would like for the individuals who are growing weary of protest to see.30
JN: How should Democrats in Wisconsin and nationally be talking about all of this this fall? What should their message be?31
MB: That’s a good question, because clearly the RNC was all about this. They have chosen their angle and their response to people calling for justice. They are responding with aggression and animosity….32
What I want to say to Democrats running for the fall is to understand the real urgent things that people are dealing with: that systems of inequality and inequity are universal.33
It’s the same system, no matter what issue you’re talking about, whether it’s racial injustice, whether it’s income inequality, whether it’s lack of access to health care, whether it’s environmental protection.34
All of these things fall into a long line of injustice and inequity that has to be addressed at every level. It would not be wise to separate what’s going on right now in the fight for racial justice from any other set of issues that Democrats have traditionally taken on.35
JN: The Kerner Commission Report in 1968 focused on many of the things that you’re talking about. So we’ve known for a long time what needs to be done, and yet somehow it hasn’t happened. Is it your sense that now it could happen?36
MB: It depends on at what level. I think that the people who are in charge in the White House right now, they aren’t willing to do anything. [They don’t have a sense of] people’s concerns. And Republicans in the legislature here in Wisconsin have also shown that same disregard.37
So theoretically, of course things can change. Things should change. And elections do matter.38
But it’s also important to note that it doesn’t [guarantee fundamental change] if you elect a Democrat…. It doesn’t mean that they automatically are going to do the right thing. We still have to get organized.39
Like I said on Twitter, November 3rd isn’t the finish line. It’s a mile marker. It’s an important mile marker, but we have to keep organizing.40
JN: Tell me what you mean when you say “an important mile marker”?41
MB: We obviously have the best chance at reform with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because at least they are acknowledging the pain that communities are feeling. Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris spent an hour on the phone with Jacob Blake’s family, and there’s that level of compassion, and then there’s also the stated desire to act, and they’ve said as much.42
If people want them to go further, then organize to push them further once they’re elected…. But I think that there is zero chance with who we have in the White House right now.43


thenation--2020-09-08--Letters From the September 21/28, 2020, Issue

Re “ Man and Beast ” by Valentine Faure [ August 24/31 ] : Predators are a big influence on animal behavior .
Prey herds will move constantly and never overgraze an area if there are active predators .
Without them , herds overgraze and kill their forage .
I applaud this effort to rewild the Oostvaardersplassen , but we must be humble enough to realize that we don ’ t understand the complexity of natural ecosystems that we may try to re-create .
Don ’ t give up .
It is a worthy experiment , but it will require @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found .
Great story on nursing homes [ “ It ’ s Time to Abolish Nursing Homes ” by Sara Luterman , August 24/31 ] .
But two important points were not mentioned .
First , nearly 80 percent of nursing home residents come directly from hospitals , which send patients there after the hospitals can no longer receive additional insurance , Medicare , or Medicaid reimbursement .
The federal government could require hospitals to notify patients of in-home care options before dumping them in nursing homes .
Second , Congress could amend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entitlement , the same as with nursing homes .
tephen old philadelphia My mother is in an assisted-living facility because this is what she can afford , even with two long-term-care insurance policies .
Medicaid is available only after all your assets are exhausted .
( Would there even be a home to remain in at that point ? )
At current rates ( about $ 25 per hour ) , it would cost approximately $ 18,000 per month for round-the-clock in-home care .
That buys you an attendant—no doctor , no nursing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ available in assisted-living and skilled-nursing facilities .
By contrast , an assisted-living facility costs about $ 7,000 per month .
So how do we pay home health workers more and also make the care affordable for patients ?
In-home care is too costly to be practical for all but the most privileged .
At some point , we can ’ t live on our own .
We ’ ll need help , and an aging spouse or hardworking children can ’ t always be the answer .
Facilities that are designed with people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are properly staffed provide a reasonable and cost-effective alternative .
The goal should be to make such places more workable for those who live there , including greater flexibility with schedules and more control over daily choices such as meals .
The loss of independence is real , but so is the cost of private care .

This article appears in the September 21/28, 2020 issue.
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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.
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Prey Without Predators
Re “Man and Beast” by Valentine Faure [August 24/31]: Predators are a big influence on animal behavior. Prey herds will move constantly and never overgraze an area if there are active predators. Without them, herds overgraze and kill their forage. I applaud this effort to rewild the Oostvaardersplassen, but we must be humble enough to realize that we don’t understand the complexity of natural ecosystems that we may try to re-create. Don’t give up. It is a worthy experiment, but it will require human intervention until the sweet spot is found.
T erry S ullivan
The Costs of Long-Term Care
Great story on nursing homes [“It’s Time to Abolish Nursing Homes” by Sara Luterman, August 24/31]. But two important points were not mentioned. First, nearly 80 percent of nursing home residents come directly from hospitals, which send patients there after the hospitals can no longer receive additional insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid reimbursement. The federal government could require hospitals to notify patients of in-home care options before dumping them in nursing homes. Second, Congress could amend Medicaid to make in-home long-term care an entitlement, the same as with nursing homes.
S tephen G old
philadelphia
My mother is in an assisted-living facility because this is what she can afford, even with two long-term-care insurance policies. Medicaid is available only after all your assets are exhausted. (Would there even be a home to remain in at that point?) Current Issue View our current issue
At current rates (about $25 per hour), it would cost approximately $18,000 per month for round-the-clock in-home care. That buys you an attendant—no doctor, no nursing care, both of which are readily available in assisted-living and skilled-nursing facilities. By contrast, an assisted-living facility costs about $7,000 per month.
So how do we pay home health workers more and also make the care affordable for patients? In-home care is too costly to be practical for all but the most privileged. At some point, we can’t live on our own. We’ll need help, and an aging spouse or hardworking children can’t always be the answer. Facilities that are designed with people’s physical needs in mind and are properly staffed provide a reasonable and cost-effective alternative.
The goal should be to make such places more workable for those who live there, including greater flexibility with schedules and more control over daily choices such as meals. The loss of independence is real, but so is the cost of private care.