thenation--2020-08-12--The Grim World Our Grandchildren Will Inherit

Let me be blunt .
This wasn ’ t the world I imagined for my denouement .
Not faintly .
Of course , I can ’ t claim I ever really imagined such a place .
Who , in their youth , considers their death and the world that might accompany it , the one you might leave behind for younger generations ?
I ’ m 76 now .
True , if I were lucky ( or perhaps unlucky ) , I could live another 20 years and see yet a newer world born .
But for the moment at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consider this pandemic nightmare of a place as the country of my old age , the one that I and my generation ( including a guy named Donald J. Trump ) will pass on to our children and grandchildren .
Back in 2001 , after the 9/11 attacks , I knew it was going to be bad .
I felt it deep in my gut almost immediately and , because of that , stumbled into creating TomDispatch.com , the website I still run .
But did I ever think it would be this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focused back then on what already looked to me like a nightmarish American imperial adventure to come , the response to the 9/11 attacks that the administration of President George W. Bush quickly launched under the rubric of “ the Global War on Terror.
” And that name ( though the word “ global ” would soon be dropped for the more anodyne “ war on terror ” ) would prove anything but inaccurate .
After all , in those first post-9/11 moments , the top officials of that administration were thinking as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war .
At the damaged Pentagon , Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld almost immediately turned to an aide and told him , “ Go massive—sweep it all up , things related and not.
” From then on , the emphasis would always be on the more the merrier .
Bush ’ s top officials were eager to take out not just Osama bin Laden ’ s Al Qaeda , whose 19 mostly Saudi hijackers had indeed attacked this country in the most provocative manner possible ( at a cost of only $ 400,000– @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , too , which then controlled much of Afghanistan .
And an invasion of that country was seen as but the initial step in a larger , deeply desired project reportedly meant to target more than 60 countries !
Above all , George W. Bush and his top officials dreamed of taking down Iraqi autocrat Saddam Hussein , occupying his oil-rich land , and making the United States , already the unipolar power of the 21st century , the overseer of the Greater Middle East and , in the end , perhaps even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the oil-fueled imperial dreamscape of George W. Bush , Dick Cheney , Donald Rumsfeld , and crew ( including that charmer and now best-selling anti-Trump author John Bolton ) .
In the years that followed , I would post endless TomDispatch pieces , often by former military men , focused on the ongoing nightmare of our country ’ s soon-to-become-forever wars ( without a “ pax ” in sight ) and the dangers such spreading conflicts posed to our world and even to us .
Still , did I imagine those wars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Police forces in American cities and towns thoroughly militarized right down to bayonets , MRAPs , night-vision goggles , and helicopters , thanks to a Pentagon program delivering equipment to police departments nationwide more or less directly off the battlefields of Washington ’ s never-ending wars ?
Not for a moment .
Who doesn ’ t remember those 2014 photos of what looked like an occupying army on the streets of Ferguson , Mo.
, after the police killing of a Black teenager and the protests that followed ?
And keep in mind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican Senate and the Trump administration have shown not the slightest desire to rein in that Pentagon program to militarize police departments nationwide .
Such equipment ( and the mentality that goes with it ) showed up strikingly on the streets of American cities and towns during the recent Black Lives Matter protests .
Even in 2014 , however , I couldn ’ t have imagined federal agents by the hundreds , dressed as if for a forever-war battlefield , flooding onto those same streets ( at least in cities run by Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as if they were indeed Al Qaeda ( “ VIOLENT ANTIFA ANARCHISTS ” ) , or that it would all be part of an election ploy by a needy president .
Not a chance .
Or put another way , a president with his own “ goon squad ” or “ storm troopers ” outfitted to look as if they were shipping out for Afghanistan or Iraq but heading for Portland , Albuquerque , Chicago , Seattle , and other American cities ?
Give me a break !
How un-American could you get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least one of those cities as if this were someone else ’ s war zone ?
Give me a break again .
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I ’ d live to witness anything quite like it or a president—and we ’ ve had a few doozies—even faintly like the man a minority of deeply disgruntled Americans but a majority of electors put in the White House in 2016 to preside over a failing empire .
How about an American president in the year 2020 as a straightforward , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a newspaper could compare to former segregationist Alabama governor and presidential candidate George Wallace without even blinking ?
Admittedly , in itself , presidential racism has hardly been unique to this moment in America , despite Joe Biden ’ s initial claim to the contrary .
That couldn ’ t be the case in the country in which Woodrow Wilson made D.W. Griffith ’ s Birth of a Nation , the infamous silent movie in which the Ku Klux Klan rides to the rescue , the first film ever to be shown in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which Richard Nixon used his “ Southern strategy ” —Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater had earlier labeled it even more redolently “ Operation Dixie ” —to appeal to the racist fears of Southern whites and so begin to turn that region from a Democratic stronghold into a Republican bastion ; nor in the land where Ronald Reagan launched his election campaign of 1980 with a “ states ’ rights ” speech ( then still a code phrase for segregation ) near Philadelphia , Miss.
, just miles from the earthen dam where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found buried in 1964 .
Still , an openly racist president ( don ’ t take that knee ! )
as an autocrat in the making ( or at least in the dreaming ) , one who first descended that Trump Tower escalator in 2015 denouncing Mexican “ rapists , ” ran for president rabidly on a Muslim ban , and for whom Black lives , including John Lewis ’ s , have always been immaterial , a president now defending every Confederate monument and military base named after a slave-owning general in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nixon-style “ law and ( dis ) order ” campaign ?
I mean , who woulda thunk it ?
And add to that the once unimaginable : a man without an ounce of empathy in the White House , a figure focused only on himself and his electoral and pecuniary fate ( and perhaps those of his billionaire confederates ) ; a man filling his hated “ deep state ” with congressionally unapproved lackies , flacks , and ass-kissers , many of them previously flacks ( aka lobbyists ) for major corporations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that while The Donald has a distinctly autocratic urge , I don ’ t describe him as an incipient fascist because , as far as I can see , his sole desire—as in those now-disappeared rallies of his—is to have fans , not lead an actual social movement of any sort .
Think of him as Mussolini right down to the look and style with a “ base ” of cheering MAGA chumps but no urge for an actual fascist movement to lead . )
And who ever imagined that an American president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delaying an election he fears losing , while denouncing mail-in ballots ( “ the scandal of our time ” ) as electoral fraud and doing his damnedest to undermine the Post Office which would deliver them amid an economic downturn that rivals the Great Depression ?
Who , before this moment , ever imagined that a president might consider refusing to leave the White House even if he did lose his reelection bid ?
Tell me this doesn ’ t qualify as something new under the American sun .
True , it wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country ’ s elections into 1 percent affairs or made contributions by the staggeringly wealthy and corporations a matter of free speech ( thank you , Supreme Court ! )
, but it is Donald Trump who is threatening , in his own unique way , to make elections themselves a thing of the past .
And that , believe me , I didn ’ t count on .
Nor did I conceive of an all-American world of inequality almost beyond imagining .
A country in which only the truly wealthy ( think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ( think budgets eternally in the stratosphere ) are assured of generous funding in the worst of times .
The World to Come ?
Oh , and I haven ’ t even mentioned the pandemic yet , have I ?
The one that should bring to mind the Black Death of the 14th century and the devastating Spanish Flu of a century ago , the one that ’ s killing Americans in remarkable numbers daily and going wild in this country , aided and abetted in every imaginable way ( and some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government and the president .
Who could have dreamed of such a disease running riot , month after month , in the wealthiest , most powerful country on the planet without a national plan for dealing with it ?
Who could have dreamed of the planet ’ s most exceptional , indispensable country ( as its leaders once loved to call it ) being unable to take even the most modest steps to rein in Covid-19 , thanks to a president , Republican governors , and Republican congressional representatives who consider science the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who ever imagined such an American world ?
Think of it not as The Decameron , that 14th century tale of 10 people in flight from a pandemic , but the Trumpcameron or perhaps simply Trumpmageddon .
And keep in mind , when assessing this world I ’ m going to leave behind to those I hold near and dear , that Covid-19 is hardly the worst of it .
Behind that pandemic , possibly even linked to it in complex ways , is something so much worse .
Yes , the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it may seem like the worst of all news as American deaths crest 160,000 with no end in sight , but it isn ’ t .
Not faintly on a planet that ’ s being heated to the boiling point and whose most powerful country is now run by a crew of pyromaniacs .
It ’ s hard even to fully conceptualize climate change since it operates on a time scale that ’ s anything but human .
Still , one way to think of it is as a slow-burn planetary version of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And by the way , if you ’ ll excuse a brief digression , in these years , our president and his men have been intent on ripping up every Cold War nuclear pact in sight , while the tensions between two nuclear-armed powers , the United States and China , only intensify and Washington invests staggering sums in “ modernizing ” its nuclear arsenal .
( I mean , how exactly do you “ modernize ” the already-achieved ability to put an almost instant end to the world as we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return to climate change , remember that 2020 is already threatening to be the warmest year in recorded history , while the five hottest years so far occurred from 2015 to 2019 .
That should tell you something , no ?
The never-ending release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere has been transforming this planet in ways that have now become obvious .
My own hometown , New York City , for instance , has officially become part of the humid subtropical climate zone , and that ’ s only a beginning .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 degrees this June in , of all places , Siberia .
( The Arctic is warming at twice the rate of much of the rest of the planet . )
Sea ice is melting fast , while floods and mega-droughts intensify and forests burn in a previously unknown fashion .
And as a recent heat wave across the Middle East—Baghdad hit a record 125 degrees —showed , it ’ s only going to get hotter .
Much hotter and , given how humanity has handled the latest pandemic , how will it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sea levels drowning coastlines but also affecting inland populations , ever fiercer storms , and flooding ( in recent weeks , the summer monsoon has , for instance , put one third of Bangladesh underwater ) , not to speak of the migration of refugees from the hardest-hit areas ?
The answer is likely to be : not well .
And I could go on , but you get the point .
This is not the world I either imagined or would ever have dreamed of leaving to those far younger than me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are largely men ) who are essentially promoting the pandemicizing and overheating of this planet will be the greatest criminals in history matters little .
Let ’ s just hope that , when it comes to creating a better world out of such a god-awful mess , the generations that follow us prove better at it than mine did .
If I were a religious man , those would be my prayers .
And here ’ s my odd hope .
As should be obvious from this piece , the recent past , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unimaginable .
There ’ s no reason to believe that the future—the coming decades—will prove any easier to imagine .
No matter the bad news of this moment , who knows what our world might really look like 20 years from now ?
I only hope , for the sake of my children and grandchildren , that it surprises us all .

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.
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Let me be blunt. This wasn’t the world I imagined for my denouement. Not faintly. Of course, I can’t claim I ever really imagined such a place. Who, in their youth, considers their death and the world that might accompany it, the one you might leave behind for younger generations? I’m 76 now. True, if I were lucky (or perhaps unlucky), I could live another 20 years and see yet a newer world born. But for the moment at least, it seems logical enough to consider this pandemic nightmare of a place as the country of my old age, the one that I and my generation (including a guy named Donald J. Trump) will pass on to our children and grandchildren.
Back in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, I knew it was going to be bad. I felt it deep in my gut almost immediately and, because of that, stumbled into creating TomDispatch.com, the website I still run. But did I ever think it would be this bad? Not a chance.
I focused back then on what already looked to me like a nightmarish American imperial adventure to come, the response to the 9/11 attacks that the administration of President George W. Bush quickly launched under the rubric of “the Global War on Terror.” And that name (though the word “global” would soon be dropped for the more anodyne “war on terror”) would prove anything but inaccurate. After all, in those first post-9/11 moments, the top officials of that administration were thinking as globally as possible when it came to war. At the damaged Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld almost immediately turned to an aide and told him, “Go massive—sweep it all up, things related and not.” From then on, the emphasis would always be on the more the merrier.
Bush’s top officials were eager to take out not just Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda, whose 19 mostly Saudi hijackers had indeed attacked this country in the most provocative manner possible (at a cost of only $400,000–$500,000), but the Taliban, too, which then controlled much of Afghanistan. And an invasion of that country was seen as but the initial step in a larger, deeply desired project reportedly meant to target more than 60 countries! Above all, George W. Bush and his top officials dreamed of taking down Iraqi autocrat Saddam Hussein, occupying his oil-rich land, and making the United States, already the unipolar power of the 21st century, the overseer of the Greater Middle East and, in the end, perhaps even of a global Pax Americana. Such was the oil-fueled imperial dreamscape of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and crew (including that charmer and now best-selling anti-Trump author John Bolton). Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Who Woulda Guessed?
In the years that followed, I would post endless TomDispatch pieces, often by former military men, focused on the ongoing nightmare of our country’s soon-to-become-forever wars (without a “pax” in sight) and the dangers such spreading conflicts posed to our world and even to us. Still, did I imagine those wars coming home in quite this way? Police forces in American cities and towns thoroughly militarized right down to bayonets, MRAPs, night-vision goggles, and helicopters, thanks to a Pentagon program delivering equipment to police departments nationwide more or less directly off the battlefields of Washington’s never-ending wars? Not for a moment.
Who doesn’t remember those 2014 photos of what looked like an occupying army on the streets of Ferguson, Mo., after the police killing of a Black teenager and the protests that followed? And keep in mind that, to this day, the Republican Senate and the Trump administration have shown not the slightest desire to rein in that Pentagon program to militarize police departments nationwide. Such equipment (and the mentality that goes with it) showed up strikingly on the streets of American cities and towns during the recent Black Lives Matter protests.
Even in 2014, however, I couldn’t have imagined federal agents by the hundreds, dressed as if for a forever-war battlefield, flooding onto those same streets (at least in cities run by Democratic mayors), ready to treat protesters as if they were indeed Al Qaeda (“VIOLENT ANTIFA ANARCHISTS”), or that it would all be part of an election ploy by a needy president. Not a chance. Current Issue View our current issue
Or put another way, a president with his own “goon squad” or “storm troopers” outfitted to look as if they were shipping out for Afghanistan or Iraq but heading for Portland, Albuquerque, Chicago, Seattle, and other American cities? Give me a break! How un-American could you get? A military surveillance drone overhead in at least one of those cities as if this were someone else’s war zone? Give me a break again. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d live to witness anything quite like it or a president—and we’ve had a few doozies—even faintly like the man a minority of deeply disgruntled Americans but a majority of electors put in the White House in 2016 to preside over a failing empire.
How about an American president in the year 2020 as a straightforward, no-punches-pulled racist, the sort of guy a newspaper could compare to former segregationist Alabama governor and presidential candidate George Wallace without even blinking? Admittedly, in itself, presidential racism has hardly been unique to this moment in America, despite Joe Biden’s initial claim to the contrary. That couldn’t be the case in the country in which Woodrow Wilson made D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, the infamous silent movie in which the Ku Klux Klan rides to the rescue, the first film ever to be shown in the White House; nor the one in which Richard Nixon used his “Southern strategy”—Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater had earlier labeled it even more redolently “Operation Dixie”—to appeal to the racist fears of Southern whites and so begin to turn that region from a Democratic stronghold into a Republican bastion; nor in the land where Ronald Reagan launched his election campaign of 1980 with a “states’ rights” speech (then still a code phrase for segregation) near Philadelphia, Miss., just miles from the earthen dam where three murdered civil rights workers had been found buried in 1964.
Still, an openly racist president (don’t take that knee!) as an autocrat in the making (or at least in the dreaming), one who first descended that Trump Tower escalator in 2015 denouncing Mexican “rapists,” ran for president rabidly on a Muslim ban, and for whom Black lives, including John Lewis’s, have always been immaterial, a president now defending every Confederate monument and military base named after a slave-owning general in sight, while trying to launch a Nixon-style “law and (dis)order” campaign? I mean, who woulda thunk it?
And add to that the once unimaginable: a man without an ounce of empathy in the White House, a figure focused only on himself and his electoral and pecuniary fate (and perhaps those of his billionaire confederates); a man filling his hated “deep state” with congressionally unapproved lackies, flacks, and ass-kissers, many of them previously flacks (aka lobbyists) for major corporations. (Note, by the way, that while The Donald has a distinctly autocratic urge, I don’t describe him as an incipient fascist because, as far as I can see, his sole desire—as in those now-disappeared rallies of his—is to have fans, not lead an actual social movement of any sort. Think of him as Mussolini right down to the look and style with a “base” of cheering MAGA chumps but no urge for an actual fascist movement to lead.)
And who ever imagined that an American president might actually bring up the possibility of delaying an election he fears losing, while denouncing mail-in ballots (“the scandal of our time”) as electoral fraud and doing his damnedest to undermine the Post Office which would deliver them amid an economic downturn that rivals the Great Depression? Who, before this moment, ever imagined that a president might consider refusing to leave the White House even if he did lose his reelection bid? Tell me this doesn’t qualify as something new under the American sun. True, it wasn’t Donald Trump who turned this country’s elections into 1 percent affairs or made contributions by the staggeringly wealthy and corporations a matter of free speech (thank you, Supreme Court!), but it is Donald Trump who is threatening, in his own unique way, to make elections themselves a thing of the past. And that, believe me, I didn’t count on.
Nor did I conceive of an all-American world of inequality almost beyond imagining. A country in which only the truly wealthy (think tax cuts) and the national security state (think budgets eternally in the stratosphere) are assured of generous funding in the worst of times.
The World to Come?
Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the pandemic yet, have I? The one that should bring to mind the Black Death of the 14th century and the devastating Spanish Flu of a century ago, the one that’s killing Americans in remarkable numbers daily and going wild in this country, aided and abetted in every imaginable way (and some previously unimaginable ones) by the federal government and the president. Who could have dreamed of such a disease running riot, month after month, in the wealthiest, most powerful country on the planet without a national plan for dealing with it? Who could have dreamed of the planet’s most exceptional, indispensable country (as its leaders once loved to call it) being unable to take even the most modest steps to rein in Covid-19, thanks to a president, Republican governors, and Republican congressional representatives who consider science the equivalent of alien DNA? Honestly, who ever imagined such an American world? Think of it not as The Decameron, that 14th century tale of 10 people in flight from a pandemic, but the Trumpcameron or perhaps simply Trumpmageddon.
And keep in mind, when assessing this world I’m going to leave behind to those I hold near and dear, that Covid-19 is hardly the worst of it. Behind that pandemic, possibly even linked to it in complex ways, is something so much worse. Yes, the coronavirus and the president’s response to it may seem like the worst of all news as American deaths crest 160,000 with no end in sight, but it isn’t. Not faintly on a planet that’s being heated to the boiling point and whose most powerful country is now run by a crew of pyromaniacs.
It’s hard even to fully conceptualize climate change since it operates on a time scale that’s anything but human. Still, one way to think of it is as a slow-burn planetary version of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And by the way, if you’ll excuse a brief digression, in these years, our president and his men have been intent on ripping up every Cold War nuclear pact in sight, while the tensions between two nuclear-armed powers, the United States and China, only intensify and Washington invests staggering sums in “modernizing” its nuclear arsenal. (I mean, how exactly do you “modernize” the already-achieved ability to put an almost instant end to the world as we’ve known it?)
But to return to climate change, remember that 2020 is already threatening to be the warmest year in recorded history, while the five hottest years so far occurred from 2015 to 2019. That should tell you something, no?
The never-ending release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere has been transforming this planet in ways that have now become obvious. My own hometown, New York City, for instance, has officially become part of the humid subtropical climate zone, and that’s only a beginning. Everywhere temperatures are rising. They hit 100 degrees this June in, of all places, Siberia. (The Arctic is warming at twice the rate of much of the rest of the planet.) Sea ice is melting fast, while floods and mega-droughts intensify and forests burn in a previously unknown fashion.
And as a recent heat wave across the Middle East—Baghdad hit a record 125 degrees —showed, it’s only going to get hotter. Much hotter and, given how humanity has handled the latest pandemic, how will it handle the chaos that goes with rising sea levels drowning coastlines but also affecting inland populations, ever fiercer storms, and flooding (in recent weeks, the summer monsoon has, for instance, put one third of Bangladesh underwater), not to speak of the migration of refugees from the hardest-hit areas? The answer is likely to be: not well.
And I could go on, but you get the point. This is not the world I either imagined or would ever have dreamed of leaving to those far younger than me. That the men (and they are largely men) who are essentially promoting the pandemicizing and overheating of this planet will be the greatest criminals in history matters little.
Let’s just hope that, when it comes to creating a better world out of such a god-awful mess, the generations that follow us prove better at it than mine did. If I were a religious man, those would be my prayers.
And here’s my odd hope. As should be obvious from this piece, the recent past, when still the future, was surprisingly unimaginable. There’s no reason to believe that the future—the coming decades—will prove any easier to imagine. No matter the bad news of this moment, who knows what our world might really look like 20 years from now? I only hope, for the sake of my children and grandchildren, that it surprises us all.


thenation--2020-08-12--Republicans Suddenly Have a Passion for College Football

One of the first things you teach a child is the difference between “ wants ” and “ needs.
” You “ want ” candy .
You “ need ” food .
College football is a “ want.
” But the Republican Party has decided to call it a “ need.
” From a host of Republicans on Twitter to Donald Trump appearing on the most reactionary edge of the sports radio airwaves , GOPers have been demanding that the college football season go on as scheduled in spite of the coronavirus pandemic .
They seem far more concerned with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
Trump , in his inexcusable ignorance about Covid-19 and its long-term effects on the body , said that the games should go on because the disease “ just attacks old people , especially old people with bad hearts , diabetes , or some kind of physical problem.… These football players are very young strong people.… you ’ re not going to see people dying.
” Forget for a moment the coaches , tutors , trainers , and everyone surrounding a college football team who could be at greater risk .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is utterly inexcusable that the president doesn ’ t acknowledge this—that we still don ’ t have a clear picture about the long-term effects Covid can have on those who survive it .
Heart , lung , and kidney ailments , even attacks on the brain are all possibilities for college athletes that contract the disease .
These student-athletes are unpaid , disproportionately Black , with none of the union power of their NFL counterparts .
But it ’ s not only a disregard for Black lives that drives the Republican push .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the absence of the sport , especially in battleground states like Georgia , Florida , Ohio , and Michigan , will be a glaring reminder to the public of just how badly the GOP has bungled the US pandemic response .
If college football doesn ’ t happen , it will be because our federal leadership failed to prepare us for it .
Countries that listened to the scientists and masked up have their sports .
Led by Trump ’ s promises that it would all just disappear , we have not taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bear the fruit .
Braying about the “ need ” for college football holds another advantage for Trump and his minions : It allows them to position themselves as scolds of a nanny-state mentality that is overly concerned with issues like “ health ” and “ death , ” while they are the people that just want to play some football .
It ’ s devious : the political equivalent of a bully smacking you in the face with your own hand and asking , “ Why are you hitting yourself ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any form of college football is played , it will act as distraction from the rising death count that the pandemic brings to our attention every day .
As former NFL player Donte Stallworth tweeted , “ The White House and its minions in Congress ONLY want college football as a means to distract the public , via entertainment , from their incompetence , corruption , & massive failures to showcase a sense of normality before the election in November .
WH version of ‘ Bread and Circus.
’ ” One of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that “ the players want to play.
” They cite the “ We Want To Play ” campaign , led by two of college football ’ s highest-profile quarterbacks , Clemson ’ s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State ’ s Justin Fields .
But one of the demands of the “ We Want to Play ” campaign is the formation of a players ’ association—otherwise known as a union—so they can have a say about the working conditions and , inevitably , money that shape college sports .
In the hyper-conservative world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ union ” is about as welcome as a player taking a knee during the anthem .
This was why Clemson ’ s Dabo Swinney broke the unintentional comedy scale when he said that he would “ absolutely ” be supportive of a players association , explaining , “ I think it would be great.… That ’ s different from a union .
I will say that.
” Trump and his congressional lickspittles are playing politics with the lives of college students .
For the football coaches , it ’ s about what college @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some schools are being quite open about the fact that these unpaid employees are a critical source of campus revenue .
Scott Frost , head coach at Nebraska , said that his school estimates a $ 80–120 million hit if there ’ s no season .
“ The biggest factor is if we don ’ t play football , we ’ re not going to be able to pay for anything here until we start making money again.
” What Scott Frost left out of that equation is his own $ 5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying the quiet part out loud .
Then there is the media pushing for play for its own reasons .
ESPN ’ s Booger McFarland put this out in the most bald-faced possible manner , tweeting , “ If the players really wan na play , which I have no doubt they do , them and their families should sign a waiver releasing all liability related to Covid-19 and at that point ALL these conversations about NOT playing would cease and we would have a CFB season.
” He is not alone with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea .
Acting like he just discovered a solution to a particularly complicated scientific puzzle , quarterback turned radio host Danny Kanell said , all wide-eyed , “ I keep seeing liability as the big issue in college football .
What if the players who want to play sign a waiver and free the schools from those liabilities ?
” What a plan .
Right-wingers are saying “ listen to the players ” ( ironic , since they were saying “ shut up and play ” when the players wanted to talk about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s take them at their word and actually listen to the players on this issue .
Many want to play .
They also want to be unionized , so they can actually negotiate the terms of their own exploitation .
They want to have ownership over their health and a piece of the billions in revenue that they generate .
In other words , they want to be treated like the campus employees that they are .
If that is not the starting point , then this is a charade : bread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of mass death .

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One of the first things you teach a child is the difference between “wants” and “needs.” You “want” candy. You “need” food. College football is a “want.” But the Republican Party has decided to call it a “need.”
From a host of Republicans on Twitter to Donald Trump appearing on the most reactionary edge of the sports radio airwaves, GOPers have been demanding that the college football season go on as scheduled in spite of the coronavirus pandemic. They seem far more concerned with that than a national response to said pandemic.
Trump, in his inexcusable ignorance about Covid-19 and its long-term effects on the body, said that the games should go on because the disease “just attacks old people, especially old people with bad hearts, diabetes, or some kind of physical problem.… These football players are very young strong people.… you’re not going to see people dying.”
Forget for a moment the coaches, tutors, trainers, and everyone surrounding a college football team who could be at greater risk. There is also the obvious fact—and again it is utterly inexcusable that the president doesn’t acknowledge this—that we still don’t have a clear picture about the long-term effects Covid can have on those who survive it. Heart, lung, and kidney ailments, even attacks on the brain are all possibilities for college athletes that contract the disease.
These student-athletes are unpaid, disproportionately Black, with none of the union power of their NFL counterparts. But it’s not only a disregard for Black lives that drives the Republican push. It’s also a fear that the absence of the sport, especially in battleground states like Georgia, Florida, Ohio, and Michigan, will be a glaring reminder to the public of just how badly the GOP has bungled the US pandemic response.
If college football doesn’t happen, it will be because our federal leadership failed to prepare us for it. Countries that listened to the scientists and masked up have their sports. Led by Trump’s promises that it would all just disappear, we have not taken the precautions, and now we must bear the fruit.
Braying about the “need” for college football holds another advantage for Trump and his minions: It allows them to position themselves as scolds of a nanny-state mentality that is overly concerned with issues like “health” and “death,” while they are the people that just want to play some football. It’s devious: the political equivalent of a bully smacking you in the face with your own hand and asking, “Why are you hitting yourself?” Current Issue View our current issue
And lastly, of course, if any form of college football is played, it will act as distraction from the rising death count that the pandemic brings to our attention every day. As former NFL player Donte Stallworth tweeted, “The White House and its minions in Congress ONLY want college football as a means to distract the public, via entertainment, from their incompetence, corruption, & massive failures to showcase a sense of normality before the election in November. WH version of ‘Bread and Circus.’” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
One of the fig leaves the Trumpites are hiding behind is that “the players want to play.” They cite the “We Want To Play” campaign, led by two of college football’s highest-profile quarterbacks, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields. But one of the demands of the “We Want to Play” campaign is the formation of a players’ association—otherwise known as a union—so they can have a say about the working conditions and, inevitably, money that shape college sports. In the hyper-conservative world of college football, the word “union” is about as welcome as a player taking a knee during the anthem. This was why Clemson’s Dabo Swinney broke the unintentional comedy scale when he said that he would “absolutely” be supportive of a players association, explaining, “I think it would be great.… That’s different from a union. I will say that.”
Trump and his congressional lickspittles are playing politics with the lives of college students. For the football coaches, it’s about what college football has always been about: revenue. Some schools are being quite open about the fact that these unpaid employees are a critical source of campus revenue. Scott Frost, head coach at Nebraska, said that his school estimates a $80–120 million hit if there’s no season. “The biggest factor is if we don’t play football, we’re not going to be able to pay for anything here until we start making money again.” What Scott Frost left out of that equation is his own $5 million-a-year salary, but that would be saying the quiet part out loud.
Then there is the media pushing for play for its own reasons. ESPN’s Booger McFarland put this out in the most bald-faced possible manner, tweeting, “If the players really wanna play, which I have no doubt they do, them and their families should sign a waiver releasing all liability related to Covid-19 and at that point ALL these conversations about NOT playing would cease and we would have a CFB season.”
He is not alone with this not only immoral but legally untenable idea. Acting like he just discovered a solution to a particularly complicated scientific puzzle, quarterback turned radio host Danny Kanell said, all wide-eyed, “I keep seeing liability as the big issue in college football. What if the players who want to play sign a waiver and free the schools from those liabilities?” What a plan.
Right-wingers are saying “listen to the players” (ironic, since they were saying “shut up and play” when the players wanted to talk about racist police violence). But let’s take them at their word and actually listen to the players on this issue. Many want to play. They also want to be unionized, so they can actually negotiate the terms of their own exploitation. They want to have ownership over their health and a piece of the billions in revenue that they generate. In other words, they want to be treated like the campus employees that they are. If that is not the starting point, then this is a charade: bread and circuses to distract from the specter of mass death.


thenation--2020-08-12--After Charlottesville, Protesters Are Still in Danger

Three years later , the wounds from Charlottesville still feel raw .
After long , hot days of marching in the streets , my right leg will hurt more than usual .
The flashbacks are still intense , particularly this time of year .
After the murders of George Floyd , Breonna Taylor , and Ahmaud Arbery , uprisings against racism and police violence have once again forced America to confront its demons .
Yet it still feels unclear what has changed in America since August 12 , 2017 .
Though Confederate statues are finally coming down in Virginia and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lee statue in Emancipation Park—the site and pretext of the deadly rally in which I was nearly killed—still stands , with no plans for removal .
I grew up and spent most of my life in Virginia , and Charlottesville was the setting of my most cherished childhood and teenage memories .
Now , to non-Virginians , the name “ Charlottesville ” refers specifically to the events of one day , the way the names of foreign countries are used as shorthand for American wars .
That year , I was a college @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ku Klux Klan rallies passed through town in the months prior , I knew that the Unite the Right rally was something I needed to demonstrate against .
The night of August 11 , I remember distinctly the sounds of chants coming over the rotunda as the fascists marched through the UVA campus , followed by the mob of tiki torches .
I had locked arms with other counterprotesters to form a human shield around the Thomas Jefferson statue , before we were swarmed by the fascists from all sides .
One of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temporary blindness , but I distinctly remember from before I lost my vision the sight of police and state troopers across the street , idly standing by as Nazis beat students and used their torches as weapons .
They only declared an unlawful assembly long after the violence had begun .
On the day of the Unite the Right rally , while elderly spiritual leaders and Charlottesville residents were assaulted by fascists , I witnessed law enforcement fail in every capacity to prevent or intervene in violence .
It felt abundantly clear that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the counterprotesters , than of the armed alt-right brownshirts who had come from all over the United States and Canada to unleash racist terror .
How the Police Failed in Charlottesville This is where my memory gets hazy .
I remember tear gas being deployed against counterprotesters , when police declared an unlawful assembly .
As the fascists left the park , we marched through the downtown mall .
I remember a triumphant feeling in the crowd .
Despite the violence , we had endured throughout the day , successfully pushing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police barricades trapped the crowd in the mall area , leaving us circling between closures .
My last coherent memory is a “ Black Lives Matter ” chant .
It was around 1:45 pm that Ohio native James Alex Fields Jr. , after idly waiting across the street , backed up his Dodge Challenger more than a block before accelerating into the crowd .
The attack killed Heather Heyer and wounded dozens of others .
I was one of them .
Because of a severe concussion and shock , I can remember only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : bleeding out on the ground , being cared for by street medics and antifascist protesters , being questioned inside an ambulance .
It wasn ’ t until I was lying in a hospital bed watching the video of the car attack repeat endlessly on CNN , seeing my body flying in the air over the hood of Fields ’ s car , that I understood what had happened .
This experience unearthed a wellspring of memories from my formative years in Virginia as a Muslim-American growing up after 9/11 .
For years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white men who fantasized about fighting terrorists .
But when real terror came to our hometown , suddenly all those men were absent .
All the institutions I had been told to believe in—the police ; the military ; the city , state , and federal governments—stood by in silence as the fascists marched through Charlottesville .
That ’ s why , in the wake of the attack , activists and community members focused on the police ’ s failure to protect us .
But the reality is worse than negligence .
Through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen clearly that police are not neutral arbiters of peace ; they selectively choose whom to see as threats .
Police target , harass , assault , and arrest Black Lives Matter protesters and members of the press indiscriminately , but have showed immense restraint when armed anti-lockdown protesters took over federal buildings in Michigan and threatened state officials .
Unarmed black people are brutalized and murdered by police over minor transgressions or under false pretenses , while far-right murderers—including Charlottesville perpetrator James Alex Fields Jr.—have been taken alive with no force .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ comparison : Had Fields been a Middle Eastern person , like me , I would have been considered a victim of terrorism .
But because I was a protester against white supremacy , I was treated with suspicion .
Right-wing trolls have accused me of being a “ crisis actor ” or a “ troublemaker.
” These tactics are not new ; in fact , they are analogues of the anti-Black rhetoric used to rationalize police brutality .
Today , unfounded claims about George Floyd ’ s cause of death and defamation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a disgraceful attempt to exonerate the Minneapolis police ’ s behavior and minimize outrage at his murder .
The most traumatizing aspect of the past few months for me has been the car attacks .
According to terrorism researcher Ari Weil , there have been at least 72 vehicular assaults throughout the George Floyd uprisings .
Once described as “ ISIS-style , ” car attacks have become a frighteningly common occurrence in America , perpetrated both by civilians and by law enforcement .
A Los Angeles police car smashed into protesters at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sped through protesters after driving into them .
An NYPD police car accelerated into a crowd , pushing down dozens of protesters .
In Bloomington , Ind.
, a woman drove into protesters , injuring two .
In Seattle , Wash. , protester Summer Taylor was killed by a man driving in the wrong direction down an interstate ramp and bypassing barricades .
While the driver ’ s motive remains unclear , Taylor ’ s death was gleefully mocked in online right-wing circles , including by Washington Governor Jay Inslee ’ s cousin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 40 years , Brown was suspended after sharing an “ All Lives Splatter ” meme on Facebook celebrating car attacks .
The normalization of car attacks through memes has gone from extremist chat rooms to the mainstream .
Dehumanizing rhetoric calling protesters “ thugs ” and “ animals ” fuels these violent fantasies and has fatal consequences .
Fields himself reportedly shared two such memes prior to his lethal attack against us in Charlottesville .
I relive the trauma of the attack every time I see a Fox News or Daily Caller story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call for more violence in the comments section .
From my hospital bed , I remember watching Trump make his infamous “ both sides ” comments in real time , drawing an equivalence between violent hatred and those opposing it .
I practically laughed , out of shock , disgust , and pain medication .
What I didn ’ t realize then is that statement would form the conservative PR playbook , downplaying white supremacist violence by constantly deflecting onto the so-called “ radical left.
” Since Charlottesville , conservative institutions have invoked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to legitimize violent force , expand surveillance powers , and exercise extralegal authority against protesters .
When dozens of militant far-right groups plotted to enact violence in Charlottesville , Trump made no attempt to label them terrorist organizations , as he has “ antifa.
” Groups like Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys softened the image of far-right politics by eschewing neo-Nazi symbolism for anti-Communist rhetoric and using euphemisms like “ Western chauvinism ” rather than expressing overt support for white nationalism .
But at the same time , extremists drifted further from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ committing , and valorizing lone-wolf attacks .
Far-right terrorism has only become more frequent across America , like the mass shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue or in El Paso , and around the globe , like the Mosque attacks in Christchurch , New Zealand , and shootings in Hanau , Germany .
The average American doesn ’ t even know the names of the far-right groups responsible , while “ antifa ” has become a household term .
As police beat , blind , and maim peaceful protesters on a near-daily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ graffiti and dismantled Confederate monuments .
Conservative institutions conflate property damage with physical violence , while treating violent suppression of our right to protest as a matter of safety .
Like the car attack memes , this neo-McCarthyite rhetoric dehumanizes protesters by painting them as enemies of the state , actively encouraging violence against them .
Those of us still out on the streets now have three serious threats to our safety , all of whom have been given the green light from the Trump administration to use force without consequence : local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and violent civilian agitators .
After the 2017 attack , there was nationwide outrage and disbelief at the persistence of an open white supremacist movement .
But the conditions that led to Charlottesville had been festering for years , and those conditions have not changed .
It took me months to regain the ability to walk .
To this day , my leg aches , even after light exertion .
But even when I was consigned to a wheelchair , and while the nation mourned Heather Heyer , the injustice that brought me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never knew Heyer when she was alive , but I must have been standing near her during the attack .
Now , three years later , I ’ m still marching .
During the first days of the uprisings here in Los Angeles , I stood on the front lines and felt the tear gas and the pepper spray burn my eyes all over again .

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Three years later, the wounds from Charlottesville still feel raw. After long, hot days of marching in the streets, my right leg will hurt more than usual. The flashbacks are still intense, particularly this time of year. After the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, uprisings against racism and police violence have once again forced America to confront its demons. Yet it still feels unclear what has changed in America since August 12, 2017. Though Confederate statues are finally coming down in Virginia and around the country, the Robert E. Lee statue in Emancipation Park—the site and pretext of the deadly rally in which I was nearly killed—still stands, with no plans for removal.
I grew up and spent most of my life in Virginia, and Charlottesville was the setting of my most cherished childhood and teenage memories. Now, to non-Virginians, the name “Charlottesville” refers specifically to the events of one day, the way the names of foreign countries are used as shorthand for American wars. That year, I was a college student home for the summer. After Ku Klux Klan rallies passed through town in the months prior, I knew that the Unite the Right rally was something I needed to demonstrate against.
The night of August 11, I remember distinctly the sounds of chants coming over the rotunda as the fascists marched through the UVA campus, followed by the mob of tiki torches. I had locked arms with other counterprotesters to form a human shield around the Thomas Jefferson statue, before we were swarmed by the fascists from all sides. One of them pepper-sprayed me to the point of temporary blindness, but I distinctly remember from before I lost my vision the sight of police and state troopers across the street, idly standing by as Nazis beat students and used their torches as weapons. They only declared an unlawful assembly long after the violence had begun.
On the day of the Unite the Right rally, while elderly spiritual leaders and Charlottesville residents were assaulted by fascists, I witnessed law enforcement fail in every capacity to prevent or intervene in violence. It felt abundantly clear that the police were more wary of us, the counterprotesters, than of the armed alt-right brownshirts who had come from all over the United States and Canada to unleash racist terror. to serve and protect? How the Police Failed in Charlottesville Alex S. Vitale
This is where my memory gets hazy. I remember tear gas being deployed against counterprotesters, when police declared an unlawful assembly. As the fascists left the park, we marched through the downtown mall. I remember a triumphant feeling in the crowd. Despite the violence, we had endured throughout the day, successfully pushing the Nazis and Klansmen out. But uncoordinated police barricades trapped the crowd in the mall area, leaving us circling between closures. My last coherent memory is a “Black Lives Matter” chant.
It was around 1:45 pm that Ohio native James Alex Fields Jr., after idly waiting across the street, backed up his Dodge Challenger more than a block before accelerating into the crowd. The attack killed Heather Heyer and wounded dozens of others. I was one of them.
Because of a severe concussion and shock, I can remember only brief flashes of confusion after the attack: bleeding out on the ground, being cared for by street medics and antifascist protesters, being questioned inside an ambulance. It wasn’t until I was lying in a hospital bed watching the video of the car attack repeat endlessly on CNN, seeing my body flying in the air over the hood of Fields’s car, that I understood what had happened. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Current Issue View our current issue
This experience unearthed a wellspring of memories from my formative years in Virginia as a Muslim-American growing up after 9/11. For years, I had been surrounded by conservative white men who fantasized about fighting terrorists. But when real terror came to our hometown, suddenly all those men were absent. All the institutions I had been told to believe in—the police; the military; the city, state, and federal governments—stood by in silence as the fascists marched through Charlottesville.
That’s why, in the wake of the attack, activists and community members focused on the police’s failure to protect us. But the reality is worse than negligence. Through my experience protesting, I’ve seen clearly that police are not neutral arbiters of peace; they selectively choose whom to see as threats. Police target, harass, assault, and arrest Black Lives Matter protesters and members of the press indiscriminately, but have showed immense restraint when armed anti-lockdown protesters took over federal buildings in Michigan and threatened state officials. Unarmed black people are brutalized and murdered by police over minor transgressions or under false pretenses, while far-right murderers—including Charlottesville perpetrator James Alex Fields Jr.—have been taken alive with no force.
It’s hard to avoid a comparison: Had Fields been a Middle Eastern person, like me, I would have been considered a victim of terrorism. But because I was a protester against white supremacy, I was treated with suspicion. Right-wing trolls have accused me of being a “crisis actor” or a “troublemaker.” These tactics are not new; in fact, they are analogues of the anti-Black rhetoric used to rationalize police brutality. Today, unfounded claims about George Floyd’s cause of death and defamation of his character continue to spread online, in a disgraceful attempt to exonerate the Minneapolis police’s behavior and minimize outrage at his murder.
The most traumatizing aspect of the past few months for me has been the car attacks. According to terrorism researcher Ari Weil, there have been at least 72 vehicular assaults throughout the George Floyd uprisings. Once described as “ISIS-style,” car attacks have become a frighteningly common occurrence in America, perpetrated both by civilians and by law enforcement.
A Los Angeles police car smashed into protesters at Pershing Square. A Detroit police SUV sped through protesters after driving into them. An NYPD police car accelerated into a crowd, pushing down dozens of protesters. In Bloomington, Ind., a woman drove into protesters, injuring two. In Seattle, Wash., protester Summer Taylor was killed by a man driving in the wrong direction down an interstate ramp and bypassing barricades. While the driver’s motive remains unclear, Taylor’s death was gleefully mocked in online right-wing circles, including by Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s cousin Mike Brown. A police officer of 40 years, Brown was suspended after sharing an “All Lives Splatter” meme on Facebook celebrating car attacks.
The normalization of car attacks through memes has gone from extremist chat rooms to the mainstream. Dehumanizing rhetoric calling protesters “thugs” and “animals” fuels these violent fantasies and has fatal consequences. Fields himself reportedly shared two such memes prior to his lethal attack against us in Charlottesville. I relive the trauma of the attack every time I see a Fox News or Daily Caller story about the protests, where right-wing accounts call for more violence in the comments section.
From my hospital bed, I remember watching Trump make his infamous “both sides” comments in real time, drawing an equivalence between violent hatred and those opposing it. I practically laughed, out of shock, disgust, and pain medication. What I didn’t realize then is that statement would form the conservative PR playbook, downplaying white supremacist violence by constantly deflecting onto the so-called “radical left.”
Since Charlottesville, conservative institutions have invoked “antifa” as a fear tactic to legitimize violent force, expand surveillance powers, and exercise extralegal authority against protesters. When dozens of militant far-right groups plotted to enact violence in Charlottesville, Trump made no attempt to label them terrorist organizations, as he has “antifa.” Groups like Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys softened the image of far-right politics by eschewing neo-Nazi symbolism for anti-Communist rhetoric and using euphemisms like “Western chauvinism” rather than expressing overt support for white nationalism. But at the same time, extremists drifted further from political institutions and turned to planning, committing, and valorizing lone-wolf attacks. Far-right terrorism has only become more frequent across America, like the mass shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue or in El Paso, and around the globe, like the Mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, and shootings in Hanau, Germany.
The average American doesn’t even know the names of the far-right groups responsible, while “antifa” has become a household term. As police beat, blind, and maim peaceful protesters on a near-daily basis, the Trump administration fixates on graffiti and dismantled Confederate monuments. Conservative institutions conflate property damage with physical violence, while treating violent suppression of our right to protest as a matter of safety. Like the car attack memes, this neo-McCarthyite rhetoric dehumanizes protesters by painting them as enemies of the state, actively encouraging violence against them. Those of us still out on the streets now have three serious threats to our safety, all of whom have been given the green light from the Trump administration to use force without consequence: local law enforcement, unmarked federal agents, and violent civilian agitators.
After the 2017 attack, there was nationwide outrage and disbelief at the persistence of an open white supremacist movement. But the conditions that led to Charlottesville had been festering for years, and those conditions have not changed.
It took me months to regain the ability to walk. To this day, my leg aches, even after light exertion. But even when I was consigned to a wheelchair, and while the nation mourned Heather Heyer, the injustice that brought me to the streets continued unabated. I never knew Heyer when she was alive, but I must have been standing near her during the attack. Now, three years later, I’m still marching. During the first days of the uprisings here in Los Angeles, I stood on the front lines and felt the tear gas and the pepper spray burn my eyes all over again.


thenation--2020-08-12--The Ambition of Kamala Harris Will Serve America Well

Joe Biden ’ s choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate is one of the most fateful decisions of his political career .
With Biden currently enjoying a healthy lead in the polls , there ’ s good reason to expect that Harris will make history in November by becoming the first female vice president , the first African American vice president , and the first Asian American vice president .
Nor is there any reason to think Harris ’ s career will end with the vice presidency .
Given Biden ’ s age and his suggestion that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic presidential nomination will likely be open in 2024 , with Harris having a huge advantage over any potential rival .
Since 1952 , there have been five Democratic vice presidents : Lyndon Johnson , Hubert Humphrey , Walter Mondale , Al Gore , and Joe Biden .
All five went on to become the presidential nominees of their party .
Lyndon Johnson ’ s route to the nomination was through the assassination of John F. Kennedy .
The rest leveraged their vice presidential status for a nomination .
( To be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vice president can deteriorate .
After losing the general election in 1968 , Humphrey lost his 1972 bid for the nomination . )
But the lesson is clear : The path to the presidential nomination is through the vice presidency .
In picking Harris , Biden has likely set the course of his party for at least another decade .
The choice of Harris makes sense given that she is much closer to Biden ’ s centrist politics than one of the other plausible candidates , Elizabeth Warren .
The Last Temptation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Confront Trump ’ s Corruption There Will Be No Return to Normality In fact , Harris is so logical a pick that it is worth asking why Biden seemed to be hesitant to make it .
Over the last few months , there has been an unusual amount of closed-door drama in the Biden campaign , with many unlikely names ( Susan Rice , Karen Bass ) floated as alternatives .
This suggests that Biden wasn ’ t wholly sure about whether to go with Harris .
Plausible reasons for Biden ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s criticism of Biden during the primaries .
Also , the rise of protests against the criminal justice system might have made Biden reluctant to pick someone with a record of being a tough prosecutor .
One other factor was repeatedly mentioned in press accounts .
Some in Biden ’ s circle worried that Harris had too much “ ambition.
” This objection to Harris was rooted in pure sexism , the belief that assertive women are disruptive of the proper ordering of the world .
In fact , Harris ’ s ambitiousness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s something to be welcomed even by those who are wary of her centrist inclination .
An ambitious politician is one who is likely to push a bolder agenda , with the hope of achieving a legacy .
Writing in The American Prospect , Harold Meyerson observed that Harris , “ like Biden , ” is “ a political animal who understands that the nation , and the Democratic Party in particular , has moved left , and that the policies of a Biden administration , therefore , have to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama .
How much more progressive , particularly as concerns the balance between capital and labor , we don ’ t really know.
” Meyerson added that “ she ’ s smart and malleable when pushed .
And…progressives prevail only when they push malleable pols.
” This quality of malleability has been noted by observers across the political spectrum .
John V. Last of the neoconservative website The Bulwark describes Harris similarly as “ shrewd and politically malleable.
” The radical magazine Jacobin writes , “ Harris has shown the capacity to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is no small thing.
” A joint statement made by two progressive groups , RootsAction.org and Progressive Democrats of America , makes the interesting case that Harris ’ s political flexibility could be both a problem and an opportunity for the left : As we saw during her own presidential campaign , Kamala Harris is a political weather vane .
First , she was for Medicare for All , then she wasn ’ t .
She failed for years to hold police accountable for gross misconduct in California , then touted her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of George Floyd ’ s murder .
While her penchant for taking positions broadly palatable to the corporate donor class raises concerns about her dedication to progressive principles , her habit of aligning her stance with the prevailing political winds gives us some hope .
We will fight every day to hold Vice President Harris to the higher ideals she often espouses , and make sure those winds blow decisively in the direction of a Green New Deal , Medicare for All , and a level playing field for working families everywhere .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Vice Presidential Debate Neither Joe Biden nor Kamala Harris has many strong ideological convictions .
They have both amply demonstrated that they will bend in the direction of the wind .
If the Biden/Harris team wins in November , then the most important political fact of the coming years will be which direction the wind is blowing .
The unprecedented protest movement over police violence combined with the economic and health care crises are likely to inspire continued popular agitation .
Perhaps the best hope that America has is that the ambition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensure that they will yield to the popular pressures they will almost certainly face .

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Joe Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate is one of the most fateful decisions of his political career. With Biden currently enjoying a healthy lead in the polls, there’s good reason to expect that Harris will make history in November by becoming the first female vice president, the first African American vice president, and the first Asian American vice president.
Nor is there any reason to think Harris’s career will end with the vice presidency. Given Biden’s age and his suggestion that he intends to serve only one term, the Democratic presidential nomination will likely be open in 2024, with Harris having a huge advantage over any potential rival. Since 1952, there have been five Democratic vice presidents: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Al Gore, and Joe Biden. All five went on to become the presidential nominees of their party. Lyndon Johnson’s route to the nomination was through the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The rest leveraged their vice presidential status for a nomination. (To be sure, the value of having been vice president can deteriorate. After losing the general election in 1968, Humphrey lost his 1972 bid for the nomination.) But the lesson is clear: The path to the presidential nomination is through the vice presidency.
In picking Harris, Biden has likely set the course of his party for at least another decade. The choice of Harris makes sense given that she is much closer to Biden’s centrist politics than one of the other plausible candidates, Elizabeth Warren. More From Jeet Heer The Indigenous Roots of Robbie Robertson’s Rock and Roll Revolution August 14, 2023 Why Does This Racist Keep Getting Silicon Valley Money? August 11, 2023 When Phallocrats Go Limp August 4, 2023
In fact, Harris is so logical a pick that it is worth asking why Biden seemed to be hesitant to make it. Over the last few months, there has been an unusual amount of closed-door drama in the Biden campaign, with many unlikely names (Susan Rice, Karen Bass) floated as alternatives. This suggests that Biden wasn’t wholly sure about whether to go with Harris.
Plausible reasons for Biden’s being gun-shy include resentment over Harris’s criticism of Biden during the primaries. Also, the rise of protests against the criminal justice system might have made Biden reluctant to pick someone with a record of being a tough prosecutor.
One other factor was repeatedly mentioned in press accounts. Some in Biden’s circle worried that Harris had too much “ambition.” This objection to Harris was rooted in pure sexism, the belief that assertive women are disruptive of the proper ordering of the world. Current Issue View our current issue
In fact, Harris’s ambitiousness is one of her virtues, and it’s something to be welcomed even by those who are wary of her centrist inclination. An ambitious politician is one who is likely to push a bolder agenda, with the hope of achieving a legacy. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Writing in The American Prospect, Harold Meyerson observed that Harris, “like Biden,” is “a political animal who understands that the nation, and the Democratic Party in particular, has moved left, and that the policies of a Biden administration, therefore, have to be more progressive than those of Clinton and Obama. How much more progressive, particularly as concerns the balance between capital and labor, we don’t really know.” Meyerson added that “she’s smart and malleable when pushed. And…progressives prevail only when they push malleable pols.”
This quality of malleability has been noted by observers across the political spectrum. John V. Last of the neoconservative website The Bulwark describes Harris similarly as “shrewd and politically malleable.” The radical magazine Jacobin writes, “Harris has shown the capacity to be moved leftwards when pressured by activism. This is no small thing.”
A joint statement made by two progressive groups, RootsAction.org and Progressive Democrats of America, makes the interesting case that Harris’s political flexibility could be both a problem and an opportunity for the left:
As we saw during her own presidential campaign, Kamala Harris is a political weather vane. First, she was for Medicare for All, then she wasn’t. She failed for years to hold police accountable for gross misconduct in California, then touted her commitment to police accountability in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. While her penchant for taking positions broadly palatable to the corporate donor class raises concerns about her dedication to progressive principles, her habit of aligning her stance with the prevailing political winds gives us some hope. We will fight every day to hold Vice President Harris to the higher ideals she often espouses, and make sure those winds blow decisively in the direction of a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and a level playing field for working families everywhere. Debate Stage Kamala Harris Will Shred Mike Pence in the Vice Presidential Debate John Nichols
Neither Joe Biden nor Kamala Harris has many strong ideological convictions. They have both amply demonstrated that they will bend in the direction of the wind. If the Biden/Harris team wins in November, then the most important political fact of the coming years will be which direction the wind is blowing. The unprecedented protest movement over police violence combined with the economic and health care crises are likely to inspire continued popular agitation. Perhaps the best hope that America has is that the ambition and flexibility of the Biden/Harris team will ensure that they will yield to the popular pressures they will almost certainly face.


thenation--2020-08-12--Kamala Harris Makes History, Many Times Over

Kamala Devi Harris , the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father , on Tuesday night became the first woman of color and child of two immigrants ever nominated for vice president of the United States .
She grew up in the flatlands of Berkeley , Calif. , raised by her beloved single mother , and was ( now famously ) bused to school .
“ We did not have an orderly television family life , ” her late mother , breast-cancer researcher Dr. Shyamalan Gopalan Harris , told me 17 years ago .
“ I was always working.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black Howard University in Washington , D.C .
While in law school , this child of progressives decided she could have the most progressive personal impact as a prosecutor .
Her devoted husband , attorney Doug Emhoff , is Jewish .
His children call her “ Momala.
” None of these sentences remotely describes anyone who ’ s ever been on a presidential ticket , except Kamala Devi Harris .
When Harris ’ s selection was announced Tuesday afternoon , my phone exploded with joy—even from people who ’ d been pulling for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( and so did one man : A male friend just told me he teared up buying The New York Times this morning ) .
On MSNBC with Rachel Maddow , the Leadership Conference ’ s brilliant Vanita Gupta said she was still pulling herself together .
“ I ’ m crying , ” Amelia Ashley-Ward , the publisher of San Francisco ’ s Sun-Reporter , a Black community paper , flat-out told The New York Times .
If anyone had questions about whether Harris would add excitement to the ticket , well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life , and my friends and family aren ’ t a professionally vetted focus group .
But I ’ m seeing huge excitement , into Wednesday morning , especially among the feminist resisters , Black , brown , Asian , Native and white , who ’ ve powered the gargantuan opposition to Trump these long four years .
Joe Biden raised an astonishing $ 10 million in the four hours after he made the announcement .
And Donald Trump extended Harris his highest honor , calling her “ nasty.
” Some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do with the way the selection process curdled at the end , with people around Biden taking potshots , especially at Harris , but at other women as well .
They surely made the process harder than it had to be .
Leah Daughtry , chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention in 2008 and 2016 , vented on Facebook Live last week about the way Black women , in particular , were being treated .
“ I don ’ t have the strength to carry two White people across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declared publicly .
Now , Daughtry won ’ t have to .
I admit , I had no idea what was coming .
I admired all the Black women who were on the short list , as well as ( of course ) Elizabeth Warren .
I came to fear that not choosing a Black woman would be a dangerous signal that the establishment decided the “ Black lives matter ” moment was over .
Had Biden made his choice at the height of protest over George Floyd ’ s captured-on-camera murder , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Black woman .
But the pressure to choose a Black woman seemed to peak then , and subside lately .
But not among Black women .
An extraordinary array of Black female activists , some nationally known and some just getting started , brought incredible pressure to bear on Biden .
This is a story about the power of passionate activism .
I wrote about it in early May—the hundreds of Black women who signed a letter printed in The Washington Post floating a range of qualified Black women and making the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them .
“ To have multiple Black women in a vetting process—women who could be not only VP but president—shows you the amazing pipeline of Black women leaders , ” signatory Glynda Carr of Higher Heights for Women told me .
Many women I interviewed said the exact same thing : “ If not now , when ?
” There were many more letters , many more lists .
Just last week , a letter decrying the stereotyped treatment of the short-listed women , from “ Concerned Black Women Leaders , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group “ 100 Black Men , ” ranging from the Rev .
William Barber to actor Omar Epps , added their voices on behalf of a Black woman VP just a few days ago .
“ We refused to sit down and be silent and play the role of the help , ” said Karen Finney , the Democratic strategist who helped organize the first letter advocating for a Black female VP .
In the days before Biden ’ s choice , Finney says , “ I hoped , but I didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now !
” she told me , her voice ringing with joy .
Aimee Allison of She The People , an organization advancing women of color who nonetheless consistently praised Warren ’ s outreach to Black women and her grasp of the most essential issues , was thrilled : “ Generations of Black , Latinx , Indigenous , Muslim , Asian American , and Pacific Islander women have fought to get us to this moment , ” she told me .
Harris ’ s selection “ is the direct result of the tireless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and visionaries .
The establishment couldn ’ t imagine that this was possible , so we had to make it a reality.
” Allison believes winning back the House in 2018 and winning so many state legislative seats throughout the Trump era “ showed that our organizing could generate high women of color voter turnout… .
We can lead the charge in the states against voter suppression .
It ’ s a reimagining of American politics.
” I have to confess : The choice makes me feel better about Biden , too , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tried to steer him away from Harris as too “ ambitious.
” The pair had a serious tiff at an early debate , when she challenged him on his support of anti-busing measures in the 1970s and told the story of a girl bused to a better school in Berkeley around the same time , landing with the indelible line , “ That little girl was me.
” People around Biden , including family members , held it against her throughout the process ; Biden did not .
Was Harris the most progressive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list ?
That was probably Warren , who immediately praised his choice of Harris .
( Harris , it should be noted , refused to endorse Biden before the California primary , despite intense pressure , because Warren was still in the race . )
I love Warren , but like a lot of people , I felt the notion of two white leaders in their 70s at the top was a bad look for a party that has to appeal to young people and voters of color who didn ’ t turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also remember that our own John Nichols put Harris on The Nation ’ s “ honor roll ” of progressives elected in 2016 .
But sadly , and somewhat unfairly , Harris got tarred early in her presidential run as a “ cop , ” by folks on the right and the left , and it doomed her presidential campaign .
We still don ’ t know how that critique will affect her vice presidential run .
But here ’ s a New York Times piece that is fairer than anything that ran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and points the way to a more honest appraisal of her history .
It centers an early professional trauma , which I covered at the time : Harris got rocked by refusing to seek the death penalty for a man who killed a police officer , and I think she over-corrected for the backlash , from police and the entire political establishment , that hit her .
On MSNBC on Wednesday morning , New York Attorney General Leticia James made the case that Harris was indeed a progressive prosecutor—starting way back in 2003 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way .
“ She has been in the forefront of discussions on issues related to criminal justice , ” James said .
“ She implemented bias training and body cameras as attorney general.
” She made mistakes—as have we all over the last 20 years .
Just about a year ago I unearthed a profile I wrote of Harris , when she was running for DA , 17 years ago .
I had to confess to the vaguely sexist and racially questionable imagery I used .
I don ’ t need to flog @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What I want people to remember was her final quote , circa 2003 .
My condolences to Mike Pence , who faces her in debate October 17 .
“ I ’ ve worked my ass off for everything I have .
I know this race is gon na get dirty , gritty , sexist , maybe even racist .
And I have no fear .
I ’ m working my ass off again , because I don ’ t intend to lose this election.
” She didn ’ t .
And I don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this one , either .

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Kamala Devi Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, on Tuesday night became the first woman of color and child of two immigrants ever nominated for vice president of the United States. She grew up in the flatlands of Berkeley, Calif., raised by her beloved single mother, and was (now famously) bused to school. “We did not have an orderly television family life,” her late mother, breast-cancer researcher Dr. Shyamalan Gopalan Harris, told me 17 years ago. “I was always working.” Harris later chose to attend historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. While in law school, this child of progressives decided she could have the most progressive personal impact as a prosecutor. Her devoted husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, is Jewish. His children call her “Momala.”
None of these sentences remotely describes anyone who’s ever been on a presidential ticket, except Kamala Devi Harris.
When Harris’s selection was announced Tuesday afternoon, my phone exploded with joy—even from people who’d been pulling for someone else. Women confessed to crying (and so did one man: A male friend just told me he teared up buying The New York Times this morning). On MSNBC with Rachel Maddow, the Leadership Conference’s brilliant Vanita Gupta said she was still pulling herself together. “I’m crying,” Amelia Ashley-Ward, the publisher of San Francisco’s Sun-Reporter, a Black community paper, flat-out told The New York Times. If anyone had questions about whether Harris would add excitement to the ticket, well, I know Twitter is not real life, and my friends and family aren’t a professionally vetted focus group. But I’m seeing huge excitement, into Wednesday morning, especially among the feminist resisters, Black, brown, Asian, Native and white, who’ve powered the gargantuan opposition to Trump these long four years.
Joe Biden raised an astonishing $10 million in the four hours after he made the announcement. And Donald Trump extended Harris his highest honor, calling her “nasty.”
Some of the joy, to be honest, had to do with the way the selection process curdled at the end, with people around Biden taking potshots, especially at Harris, but at other women as well. They surely made the process harder than it had to be. Leah Daughtry, chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention in 2008 and 2016, vented on Facebook Live last week about the way Black women, in particular, were being treated. “I don’t have the strength to carry two White people across the finish line in November,” she declared publicly.
Now, Daughtry won’t have to.
I admit, I had no idea what was coming. I admired all the Black women who were on the short list, as well as (of course) Elizabeth Warren. I came to fear that not choosing a Black woman would be a dangerous signal that the establishment decided the “Black lives matter” moment was over. Had Biden made his choice at the height of protest over George Floyd’s captured-on-camera murder, I was sure, she would be a Black woman. But the pressure to choose a Black woman seemed to peak then, and subside lately. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Current Issue View our current issue
But not among Black women. An extraordinary array of Black female activists, some nationally known and some just getting started, brought incredible pressure to bear on Biden. This is a story about the power of passionate activism. I wrote about it in early May—the hundreds of Black women who signed a letter printed in The Washington Post floating a range of qualified Black women and making the case for why Biden should choose one of them.
“To have multiple Black women in a vetting process—women who could be not only VP but president—shows you the amazing pipeline of Black women leaders,” signatory Glynda Carr of Higher Heights for Women told me. Many women I interviewed said the exact same thing: “If not now, when?”
There were many more letters, many more lists. Just last week, a letter decrying the stereotyped treatment of the short-listed women, from “Concerned Black Women Leaders,” grew to over 1,700 names.
The group “100 Black Men,” ranging from the Rev. William Barber to actor Omar Epps, added their voices on behalf of a Black woman VP just a few days ago.
“We refused to sit down and be silent and play the role of the help,” said Karen Finney, the Democratic strategist who helped organize the first letter advocating for a Black female VP. In the days before Biden’s choice, Finney says, “I hoped, but I didn’t know. People are so excited now!” she told me, her voice ringing with joy.
Aimee Allison of She The People, an organization advancing women of color who nonetheless consistently praised Warren’s outreach to Black women and her grasp of the most essential issues, was thrilled: “Generations of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Muslim, Asian American, and Pacific Islander women have fought to get us to this moment,” she told me. Harris’s selection “is the direct result of the tireless work of women-of-color activists, strategists, and visionaries. The establishment couldn’t imagine that this was possible, so we had to make it a reality.” Allison believes winning back the House in 2018 and winning so many state legislative seats throughout the Trump era “showed that our organizing could generate high women of color voter turnout…. We can lead the charge in the states against voter suppression. It’s a reimagining of American politics.”
I have to confess: The choice makes me feel better about Biden, too, not only because some of his allies tried to steer him away from Harris as too “ambitious.” The pair had a serious tiff at an early debate, when she challenged him on his support of anti-busing measures in the 1970s and told the story of a girl bused to a better school in Berkeley around the same time, landing with the indelible line, “That little girl was me.” People around Biden, including family members, held it against her throughout the process; Biden did not.
Was Harris the most progressive woman on Biden’s so-called short list? That was probably Warren, who immediately praised his choice of Harris. (Harris, it should be noted, refused to endorse Biden before the California primary, despite intense pressure, because Warren was still in the race.) I love Warren, but like a lot of people, I felt the notion of two white leaders in their 70s at the top was a bad look for a party that has to appeal to young people and voters of color who didn’t turn out in 2016. Let’s also remember that our own John Nichols put Harris on The Nation’s “honor roll” of progressives elected in 2016.
But sadly, and somewhat unfairly, Harris got tarred early in her presidential run as a “cop,” by folks on the right and the left, and it doomed her presidential campaign. We still don’t know how that critique will affect her vice presidential run. But here’s a New York Times piece that is fairer than anything that ran while she was a presidential contender, and points the way to a more honest appraisal of her history. It centers an early professional trauma, which I covered at the time: Harris got rocked by refusing to seek the death penalty for a man who killed a police officer, and I think she over-corrected for the backlash, from police and the entire political establishment, that hit her.
On MSNBC on Wednesday morning, New York Attorney General Leticia James made the case that Harris was indeed a progressive prosecutor—starting way back in 2003, though she made mistakes along the way. “She has been in the forefront of discussions on issues related to criminal justice,” James said. “She implemented bias training and body cameras as attorney general.”
She made mistakes—as have we all over the last 20 years. Just about a year ago I unearthed a profile I wrote of Harris, when she was running for DA, 17 years ago. I had to confess to the vaguely sexist and racially questionable imagery I used. I don’t need to flog myself; I already did that. What I want people to remember was her final quote, circa 2003. My condolences to Mike Pence, who faces her in debate October 17.
“I’ve worked my ass off for everything I have. I know this race is gonna get dirty, gritty, sexist, maybe even racist. And I have no fear. I’m working my ass off again, because I don’t intend to lose this election.”
She didn’t. And I don’t think she’ll lose this one, either.