thenation--2020-04-17--We’ve Reached Peak Trumpian Dystopia

We’ve Reached Peak Trumpian Dystopia

In retrospect , it ’ s no surprise that , after the election of Donald Trump in 2016 , dystopian fiction enjoyed a spike in popularity .
However , novels like George Orwell ’ s 1984 and Margaret Atwood ’ s The Handmaid ’ s Tale , which soared on Amazon , would prove more horror stories than roadmaps .
Like so many ominous sounds from a dark basement , they provided good scares but didn ’ t foreshadow the actual Trumpian future .
Of course , it didn ’ t take an Orwell or an Atwood to extrapolate from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policies of President Trump—and such projections bore little resemblance to the worlds of Big Brother or an all-powerful patriarchy .
Many Americans quickly began bracing themselves for something quite different : less totalitarian than total chaos .
There would likely be unmitigated corruption , new wars , and massive tax cuts for the wealthy , along with an unprecedented reduction in government services and the further concentration of power in the executive branch .
And it was a given that there would be boastfully incoherent presidential addresses , as well as mockery from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been our closest allies .
A Trumpian dystopia would be a Frankenstein monster constructed of the worst parts of previous administrations with plenty of ugly invective and narcissistic preening thrown in for bad measure .
And yet , there was still a lingering hope that those unsettling noises from the basement were just the equivalent of a broken furnace—annoying and expensive to fix , yes , but nothing like a living , breathing monster .
Trump , after all , was going to be a singularly incompetent leader , or so his multiple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he wouldn ’ t be able to do that much damage tweeting from the White House or phoning in from the links .
And even if his minions in Congress did manage to push through some disturbing legislation , the guardrails of democracy would continue to contain his administration , and dystopias would , for the most part , remain the stuff of scary novels , not everyday life .
For many Americans , a Trump presidency did indeed usher in harder times .
The earnings of farmers , dependent on exporting their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with China .
Nearly 700,000 people were poised to lose access to food stamps .
Hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees from Haiti , El Salvador , and other countries faced the loss of their temporary protected status .
Still , many of those farmers received government subsidies to offset their losses and the courts blocked the administration from following through on some of its cruelest immigration policies , at least postponing the worst nightmares .
Meanwhile , the 2018 midterm elections signaled a possible post-Trumpian future , as the Democrats , led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , won control of the House of Representatives .
Admittedly , the ultimate failure of the impeachment effort was a setback , but it was still just a matter of holding on for less than a year until election 2020 and then quite possibly waving the Trump era farewell .
That has now all changed .
Thanks to the coronavirus , dystopia is here , right now—but with a twist .
As science fiction writer William Gibson once so aptly put it , “ The future has arrived , it ’ s just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 , the same applies to our new world .
Dystopia arrived not with a bang , but a cough .
The culprit wasn ’ t a looming monster or a totalitarian state , but a microscopic speck that ’ s technically not even alive .
And that basement , by the way , turned out to be far-off Wuhan , the Chinese city where the novel coronavirus first appeared .
With Hubei province overwhelmed by sickness and death , China responded by using the powers of a centralized state to shut down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to dissent—in a draconian fashion .
The Trump administration chose to ignore those warnings .
Meanwhile , given the level of international travel in a globalized economy , other countries soon became hot spots .
South Korea used technology—widespread testing , contact tracing , and apps to monitor quarantining—to contain the problem .
Iran ’ s initial poor response , even as members of its leadership took sick and in some cases died , was compounded by punitive Trump administration sanctions .
The hospitals in northern Italy were overwhelmed by Covid-19 and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a belated attempt to stave off disaster .
Still , Washington dawdled .
Trump and his crew squandered 70 full days during which they could have implemented valuable lessons being painfully learned elsewhere in the world .
Now , Covid-19 has decisively put the lie to American exceptionalism .
Not only can it happen here , but it ’ s happening here , far worse than anywhere else .
The United States is adding upward of 30,000 new infections daily , twice the rate of China on February 12th , that country ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times what Italy faced at its peak on March 20th .
Meanwhile , adding depression to disease , the US economy has crashed .
Claims for unemployment benefits have risen by an astounding 17 million in just three weeks , pushing the jobless rate close to 10 % ( and still rising fast ) .
Yes , the whole global economy is taking a hit , but other countries have moved in more sensible directions .
China ’ s blunt-force quarantine has now enabled it to restart its economy , South Korea ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a full-scale economic lockdown , and Denmark has paid its companies directly to maintain their payrolls and retain workers during the downturn of self-isolation .
In other words , in true dystopian fashion , Washington has managed to fumble both its response to the pandemic and its potential economic recovery plan .
Presidential incompetence , incomprehension , and intransigence have been key to these glaring failures .
The myriad defects that Donald Trump displayed from his first day in the White House , then largely grist for the monologues of late-night talk-show hosts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They include his stunning disregard for science , his undeniable compulsion to spread misinformation , his complete refusal to take responsibility for anything negative , his thoroughgoing contempt for government , and his abrupt vacillations in policy .
Most of all , the president exhibited extraordinary hubris .
Out of a belief in his own infallibility , he thinks he knows better than the experts , any experts , no matter the topic .
As it happens , he doesn ’ t .
In ordinary times , such an epic fail might bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out into the streets to protest .
Not in this pandemic moment , however .
Most Americans , if they can , are now sheltering in place , watching a dystopian scenario unfold in real time on their screens and expressing gratitude to front-line workers who are suiting up to fight the microscopic monster every day .
When the world outside becomes too much to bear , we escape into stories .
Right now , however , dystopian fiction about other times and places just doesn ’ t do the trick .
Instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this fate has befallen us , we ’ ve been watching films about infectious disease .
In early March , 2011 ’ s Contagion became the number one streaming movie of the moment , while Outbreak recently cracked Netflix ’ s top 10 even though it came out 25 years ago .
And when we ’ re not streaming , we ’ re reading novels about epidemics that , from Camus to Crichton , are back on bestseller lists .
Don ’ t be surprised if you ’ re feeling a nagging sense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about plagues during a plague ?
Doesn ’ t that ring a bell ?
Could it have been something you were assigned to read or see on stage back in school ?
In 430 BC , the second year of its war with Sparta , the legendary democracy of Athens in ancient Greece was struck by an unknown infectious disease .
The Athenians first suspected that the Spartans had poisoned their reservoirs .
As it turned out , though , their undemocratic adversary wasn ’ t to blame .
According to the historian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ethiopia and entered the city by ship .
Since Athens had built its empire with naval power , it was perhaps grimly fitting that its greatest strength would prove in that moment to be its signal weakness .
The plague spread quickly .
“ At the beginning , the doctors were quite incapable of treating the disease because of their ignorance of the right methods , ” wrote Thucydides .
“ In fact mortality among the doctors was the highest of all , since they came more frequently in contact with the sick.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease soon overwhelmed the city ’ s rudimentary health-care system and dead bodies lay about the streets , rotting and unburied .
And yet , despite the plague , the Peloponnesian War continued .
That forever war of the ancient world ( sound familiar again ? )
, already in its second round , wouldn ’ t end until 405 BC , a quarter century later .
Over five years and three successive outbreaks , the plague would , however , ultimately claim more Athenian lives than the war .
Nearly a quarter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an estimated 100,000 people , would die from the disease .
Even its esteemed leader , Pericles , would lose two sons .
Another victim : the vaunted Athenian political system .
According to classical scholar Katherine Kelaidis , “ The Great Plague of Athens wrote the first chapter in the end of Athenian democracy.
” During those plague years , Athens didn ’ t , however , completely lock down the city .
It continued , for instance , to hold its annual drama festival at the Theater of Dionysus where , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Sophocles had its debut .
In itself , that was anything but unusual as he wrote more than 100 plays during his long lifetime .
But this drama also proved painfully topical .
Sophocles took the legendary story of Oedipus the king and added a wholly original element : He set its plot in motion with a plague .
Oedipus Rex takes place in Thebes while “ a fiery demon ” grips the city .
Its king , Oedipus , desperate to understand why the gods have called such a plague down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the famed Delphic Oracle to find out .
Its answer is unexpected : To rid Thebes of the plague , he must bring to justice the murderer of the previous king .
As it happens , Oedipus himself killed that previous king .
What ’ s worse , that king was also his father .
In doing so , Oedipus had , however inadvertently , fulfilled the first part of a previous Delphic prophecy : that he would kill his father and marry his mother .
In other words , he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has brought plague down on Thebes .
All of this qualified Oedipus as the classic example of the tragic hero , a son of nobility who lacks self-knowledge , in this case an understanding of his true origins .
Moreover , he demonstrates an extraordinary arrogance , believing that only he can rule wisely or save Thebes .
Even when the oracle predicts a tragic outcome for him , he scoffs , believing that the will of the gods is no impediment to his actions .
The Greek word for this kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drama , it ’ s associated with the pride that precedes the fall of a powerful man .
The inevitable result of hubris is a visit from Nemesis , the goddess of retribution , often depicted with a sword and scales .
Focused as it was on the inevitable downfall of a tragic hero in a plague-stricken city , Oedipus Rex must have been deeply disturbing , if not terrifying , to watch in the Athens of that moment .
Given the pandemic at hand , it ’ s remarkable that Athenians were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Oedipus , its citizens undoubtedly wanted to better understand the cause of their affliction .
This early example of horror fiction—with its plot twists involving murder , incest , and pandemic—surely helped some of them come to terms with their predicament and decide who or what to blame for it , just as , almost 2,500 years later , we watch films or read novels about plagues , among other things , to try to grasp ours .
In that first season of the plague , the citizens of Athens would indeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pericles , and drive him from office .
Later , after a brief return to power , he , too , would die of the disease .
Every Society Gets the Tragic Hero It Deserves Now , another democracy is being overwhelmed by contagion .
It , too , is involved in endless wars and led by a man whom millions of its citizens once believed to be the last-chance savior of the country .
Donald Trump didn ’ t kill his father or marry his mother , nor is he the cause @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other respects , he hews to a distinctly modern , reality-TV version of the tragic hero .
He , of course , became as rich as Croesus , even as he bathed in the adulation of his television viewers .
Thanks to the Delphic Oracle of the Electoral College , he then rose to the most powerful political position in the world .
Yet , through it all , he has exhibited virtually no self-knowledge .
To this day , his understanding of his own faults remains near zero , while his amplification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Richter scale .
Admittedly , Donald Trump lacks the gravitas of Oedipus and would never have been able to answer the riddle of the Sphinx , but this is 21st-century America , not ancient Greece , and every society gets the tragic hero it deserves .
As with Oedipus , the president ’ s extraordinary arrogance has put the country in peril .
His denial of the scientific evidence for climate change prompted him to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord , a monumental blunder that will plague later generations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state , ” the unravelling of government institutions patiently constructed by his predecessors , significantly crippled his administration ’ s response to the coronavirus .
His gargantuan pre-pandemic addition to the national debt through simultaneous tax cuts and military budget increases put the country at great economic risk .
All of these policies were pushed through over the advice of wiser counsels , even within his administration .
Now , on a daily basis , the president appears before the American people and pretends to know much more than he does : about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because “ it ’ s a beautiful day ” ) , which experimental drugs to use ( “ I ’ m not a doctor , but I have common sense ” ) , and how to meet the needs of states desperate for ventilators ( “ try getting it yourselves ” ) .
Serial failure has not tempered his hubris , not faintly .
In adversity , he ’ s simply fallen back on a tactic he ’ s deployed his whole life in the face of adversity : double down .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ über-hubris is the cure .
Through it all , Donald Trump has somehow eluded the grasp of Nemesis .
Poised with her scales of justice , the goddess watched over last year ’ s impeachment hearings .
Yet courtesy of a phalanx of Republican senators , Trump was not brought to justice , despite his unconstitutional behavior .
Now , it seems , Nemesis has returned , this time brandishing her sword .
Trump ’ s incompetence in the face of Covid-19 has helped cause a soaring American death toll .
The United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a reality for which he accepts no responsibility .
Unlike Oedipus Rex , Trump Rex has not the slightest interest in confronting the truth of his sins or the horror of his actions .
Don ’ t expect the president to put out his own eyes , as Oedipus does at the end of the play .
No need , in fact .
Trump has always been blind and , not surprisingly , his blind ambition combined with his blind greed has culminated in an administration in which the blind are indeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it falls to the American people , if all goes well , to deliver the ultimate judgment of Nemesis .
The End of the World ?
Dystopian fiction is about how the world ends—not the extinction of the planet but the end of our familiar world .
How we got from here to dystopia isn ’ t normally central to such novels .
In fact , the end of that familiar world has usually taken place before you open the book and you may , at best , see it through brief flashbacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directly into a future from hell like , for example , the post-apocalyptic landscape of Cormac McCarthy ’ s The Road .
Nightmares don ’ t work with long explanatory introductions .
In a similar fashion , we ’ re not experiencing the end of the world itself right now .
We ’ re not ( yet ) in the midst of nuclear annihilation or , say , the extinction of the human species via some extreme version of climate change .
The current coronavirus pandemic is an apocalypse , to be sure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Polish novelist Tadeusz Konwicki wrote long ago about the everyday horrors of communism in A Minor Apocalypse , “ Many generations have thought the world was dying , but it was only their world which was dying.
” Herein lies the sobering reassurance of such stories .
They remind us that worlds , like people , die all the time , only to be replaced by new worlds .
Cities fall and rise again , as do civilizations .
Even dystopian places like Idi Amin ’ s Uganda or the Khmer Rouge ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The handmaid lives to tell her tale and Gilead , too , crumbles in the end .
Athens survived the plague , though its democracy was compromised by war and disease .
America , too , will live on .
But it will have lost some further measure of its greatness thanks in no small part to the man who , however cynically , wanted to make it great again .

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy. 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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In retrospect, it’s no surprise that, after the election of Donald Trump in 2016, dystopian fiction enjoyed a spike in popularity. However, novels like George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which soared on Amazon, would prove more horror stories than roadmaps. Like so many ominous sounds from a dark basement, they provided good scares but didn’t foreshadow the actual Trumpian future.
Of course, it didn’t take an Orwell or an Atwood to extrapolate from the statements of candidate Trump to the policies of President Trump—and such projections bore little resemblance to the worlds of Big Brother or an all-powerful patriarchy. Many Americans quickly began bracing themselves for something quite different: less totalitarian than total chaos. There would likely be unmitigated corruption, new wars, and massive tax cuts for the wealthy, along with an unprecedented reduction in government services and the further concentration of power in the executive branch. And it was a given that there would be boastfully incoherent presidential addresses, as well as mockery from officials in countries that had only recently been our closest allies. A Trumpian dystopia would be a Frankenstein monster constructed of the worst parts of previous administrations with plenty of ugly invective and narcissistic preening thrown in for bad measure.
And yet, there was still a lingering hope that those unsettling noises from the basement were just the equivalent of a broken furnace—annoying and expensive to fix, yes, but nothing like a living, breathing monster. Trump, after all, was going to be a singularly incompetent leader, or so his multiple bankruptcies and failed ventures suggested. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to do that much damage tweeting from the White House or phoning in from the links. And even if his minions in Congress did manage to push through some disturbing legislation, the guardrails of democracy would continue to contain his administration, and dystopias would, for the most part, remain the stuff of scary novels, not everyday life.
For many Americans, a Trump presidency did indeed usher in harder times. The earnings of farmers, dependent on exporting their crops, plummeted during the trade war with China. Nearly 700,000 people were poised to lose access to food stamps. Hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees from Haiti, El Salvador, and other countries faced the loss of their temporary protected status. 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
Still, many of those farmers received government subsidies to offset their losses and the courts blocked the administration from following through on some of its cruelest immigration policies, at least postponing the worst nightmares. Meanwhile, the 2018 midterm elections signaled a possible post-Trumpian future, as the Democrats, led by a crew of new women candidates, won control of the House of Representatives. Admittedly, the ultimate failure of the impeachment effort was a setback, but it was still just a matter of holding on for less than a year until election 2020 and then quite possibly waving the Trump era farewell.
That has now all changed.
Thanks to the coronavirus, dystopia is here, right now—but with a twist. As science fiction writer William Gibson once so aptly put it, “The future has arrived, it’s just not evenly distributed yet.” In April 2020, the same applies to our new world. Current Issue View our current issue
Pandemic
Dystopia arrived not with a bang, but a cough. The culprit wasn’t a looming monster or a totalitarian state, but a microscopic speck that’s technically not even alive. And that basement, by the way, turned out to be far-off Wuhan, the Chinese city where the novel coronavirus first appeared. With Hubei province overwhelmed by sickness and death, China responded by using the powers of a centralized state to shut down everything—from travel to restaurants, public gatherings to dissent—in a draconian fashion.
The Trump administration chose to ignore those warnings.
Meanwhile, given the level of international travel in a globalized economy, other countries soon became hot spots. South Korea used technology—widespread testing, contact tracing, and apps to monitor quarantining—to contain the problem. Iran’s initial poor response, even as members of its leadership took sick and in some cases died, was compounded by punitive Trump administration sanctions. The hospitals in northern Italy were overwhelmed by Covid-19 and the government suddenly shut down the country in a belated attempt to stave off disaster.
Still, Washington dawdled. Trump and his crew squandered 70 full days during which they could have implemented valuable lessons being painfully learned elsewhere in the world.
Now, Covid-19 has decisively put the lie to American exceptionalism. Not only can it happen here, but it’s happening here, far worse than anywhere else. The United States is adding upward of 30,000 new infections daily, twice the rate of China on February 12th, that country’s worst day, and nearly five times what Italy faced at its peak on March 20th.
Meanwhile, adding depression to disease, the US economy has crashed. Claims for unemployment benefits have risen by an astounding 17 million in just three weeks, pushing the jobless rate close to 10% (and still rising fast). Yes, the whole global economy is taking a hit, but other countries have moved in more sensible directions. China’s blunt-force quarantine has now enabled it to restart its economy, South Korea’s pinpoint approach has so far avoided a full-scale economic lockdown, and Denmark has paid its companies directly to maintain their payrolls and retain workers during the downturn of self-isolation.
In other words, in true dystopian fashion, Washington has managed to fumble both its response to the pandemic and its potential economic recovery plan. Presidential incompetence, incomprehension, and intransigence have been key to these glaring failures. The myriad defects that Donald Trump displayed from his first day in the White House, then largely grist for the monologues of late-night talk-show hosts, have now turned truly tragic. They include his stunning disregard for science, his undeniable compulsion to spread misinformation, his complete refusal to take responsibility for anything negative, his thoroughgoing contempt for government, and his abrupt vacillations in policy.
Most of all, the president exhibited extraordinary hubris. Out of a belief in his own infallibility, he thinks he knows better than the experts, any experts, no matter the topic.
As it happens, he doesn’t.
In ordinary times, such an epic fail might bring thousands, even hundreds of thousands, out into the streets to protest. Not in this pandemic moment, however. Most Americans, if they can, are now sheltering in place, watching a dystopian scenario unfold in real time on their screens and expressing gratitude to front-line workers who are suiting up to fight the microscopic monster every day.
When the world outside becomes too much to bear, we escape into stories. Right now, however, dystopian fiction about other times and places just doesn’t do the trick. Instead, desperate to understand how and why this fate has befallen us, we’ve been watching films about infectious disease. In early March, 2011’s Contagion became the number one streaming movie of the moment, while Outbreak recently cracked Netflix’s top 10 even though it came out 25 years ago. And when we’re not streaming, we’re reading novels about epidemics that, from Camus to Crichton, are back on bestseller lists.
Don’t be surprised if you’re feeling a nagging sense of déjà vu. Bingeing on stories about plagues during a plague? Doesn’t that ring a bell? Could it have been something you were assigned to read or see on stage back in school?
Know Thyself—Or Not
In 430 BC, the second year of its war with Sparta, the legendary democracy of Athens in ancient Greece was struck by an unknown infectious disease. The Athenians first suspected that the Spartans had poisoned their reservoirs. As it turned out, though, their undemocratic adversary wasn’t to blame. According to the historian Thucydides, the plague came from faraway Ethiopia and entered the city by ship. Since Athens had built its empire with naval power, it was perhaps grimly fitting that its greatest strength would prove in that moment to be its signal weakness.
The plague spread quickly. “At the beginning, the doctors were quite incapable of treating the disease because of their ignorance of the right methods,” wrote Thucydides. “In fact mortality among the doctors was the highest of all, since they came more frequently in contact with the sick.” (Sound familiar?) The disease soon overwhelmed the city’s rudimentary health-care system and dead bodies lay about the streets, rotting and unburied. And yet, despite the plague, the Peloponnesian War continued. That forever war of the ancient world (sound familiar again?), already in its second round, wouldn’t end until 405 BC, a quarter century later.
Over five years and three successive outbreaks, the plague would, however, ultimately claim more Athenian lives than the war. Nearly a quarter of that city-state’s population, an estimated 100,000 people, would die from the disease. Even its esteemed leader, Pericles, would lose two sons. Another victim: the vaunted Athenian political system. According to classical scholar Katherine Kelaidis, “The Great Plague of Athens wrote the first chapter in the end of Athenian democracy.”
During those plague years, Athens didn’t, however, completely lock down the city. It continued, for instance, to hold its annual drama festival at the Theater of Dionysus where, at some point, a new play by Sophocles had its debut. In itself, that was anything but unusual as he wrote more than 100 plays during his long lifetime. But this drama also proved painfully topical. Sophocles took the legendary story of Oedipus the king and added a wholly original element: He set its plot in motion with a plague.
Oedipus Rex takes place in Thebes while “a fiery demon” grips the city. Its king, Oedipus, desperate to understand why the gods have called such a plague down upon his realm, sends an emissary to the famed Delphic Oracle to find out. Its answer is unexpected: To rid Thebes of the plague, he must bring to justice the murderer of the previous king. As it happens, Oedipus himself killed that previous king. What’s worse, that king was also his father. In doing so, Oedipus had, however inadvertently, fulfilled the first part of a previous Delphic prophecy: that he would kill his father and marry his mother. In other words, he is the cause of the religious pollution that has brought plague down on Thebes.
All of this qualified Oedipus as the classic example of the tragic hero, a son of nobility who lacks self-knowledge, in this case an understanding of his true origins. Moreover, he demonstrates an extraordinary arrogance, believing that only he can rule wisely or save Thebes. Even when the oracle predicts a tragic outcome for him, he scoffs, believing that the will of the gods is no impediment to his actions.
The Greek word for this kind of arrogance is hubris and, in Greek drama, it’s associated with the pride that precedes the fall of a powerful man. The inevitable result of hubris is a visit from Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, often depicted with a sword and scales.
Focused as it was on the inevitable downfall of a tragic hero in a plague-stricken city, Oedipus Rex must have been deeply disturbing, if not terrifying, to watch in the Athens of that moment. Given the pandemic at hand, it’s remarkable that Athenians were still staging plays at all. But like Oedipus, its citizens undoubtedly wanted to better understand the cause of their affliction. This early example of horror fiction—with its plot twists involving murder, incest, and pandemic—surely helped some of them come to terms with their predicament and decide who or what to blame for it, just as, almost 2,500 years later, we watch films or read novels about plagues, among other things, to try to grasp ours.
In that first season of the plague, the citizens of Athens would indeed turn their fury against their leader, Pericles, and drive him from office. Later, after a brief return to power, he, too, would die of the disease.
Every Society Gets the Tragic Hero It Deserves
Now, another democracy is being overwhelmed by contagion. It, too, is involved in endless wars and led by a man whom millions of its citizens once believed to be the last-chance savior of the country.
Donald Trump didn’t kill his father or marry his mother, nor is he the cause of the coronavirus.
Still, in other respects, he hews to a distinctly modern, reality-TV version of the tragic hero. He, of course, became as rich as Croesus, even as he bathed in the adulation of his television viewers. Thanks to the Delphic Oracle of the Electoral College, he then rose to the most powerful political position in the world. Yet, through it all, he has exhibited virtually no self-knowledge. To this day, his understanding of his own faults remains near zero, while his amplification of his imagined strengths is off the Richter scale. Admittedly, Donald Trump lacks the gravitas of Oedipus and would never have been able to answer the riddle of the Sphinx, but this is 21st-century America, not ancient Greece, and every society gets the tragic hero it deserves.
As with Oedipus, the president’s extraordinary arrogance has put the country in peril. His denial of the scientific evidence for climate change prompted him to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a monumental blunder that will plague later generations. His “deconstruction of the administrative state,” the unravelling of government institutions patiently constructed by his predecessors, significantly crippled his administration’s response to the coronavirus. His gargantuan pre-pandemic addition to the national debt through simultaneous tax cuts and military budget increases put the country at great economic risk. All of these policies were pushed through over the advice of wiser counsels, even within his administration.
Now, on a daily basis, the president appears before the American people and pretends to know much more than he does: about when to lift shelter-in-place restrictions (Easter because “it’s a beautiful day”), which experimental drugs to use (“I’m not a doctor, but I have common sense”), and how to meet the needs of states desperate for ventilators (“try getting it yourselves”). Serial failure has not tempered his hubris, not faintly. In adversity, he’s simply fallen back on a tactic he’s deployed his whole life in the face of adversity: double down. If hubris didn’t work, then über-hubris is the cure.
Through it all, Donald Trump has somehow eluded the grasp of Nemesis. Poised with her scales of justice, the goddess watched over last year’s impeachment hearings. Yet courtesy of a phalanx of Republican senators, Trump was not brought to justice, despite his unconstitutional behavior.
Now, it seems, Nemesis has returned, this time brandishing her sword.
Trump’s incompetence in the face of Covid-19 has helped cause a soaring American death toll. The United States is being serially laid to waste, a reality for which he accepts no responsibility. Unlike Oedipus Rex, Trump Rex has not the slightest interest in confronting the truth of his sins or the horror of his actions. Don’t expect the president to put out his own eyes, as Oedipus does at the end of the play. No need, in fact. Trump has always been blind and, not surprisingly, his blind ambition combined with his blind greed has culminated in an administration in which the blind are indeed leading the blind.
Come November, it falls to the American people, if all goes well, to deliver the ultimate judgment of Nemesis.
The End of the World?
Dystopian fiction is about how the world ends—not the extinction of the planet but the end of our familiar world. How we got from here to dystopia isn’t normally central to such novels. In fact, the end of that familiar world has usually taken place before you open the book and you may, at best, see it through brief flashbacks. The point is to plunge you directly into a future from hell like, for example, the post-apocalyptic landscape of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Nightmares don’t work with long explanatory introductions.
In a similar fashion, we’re not experiencing the end of the world itself right now. We’re not (yet) in the midst of nuclear annihilation or, say, the extinction of the human species via some extreme version of climate change. The current coronavirus pandemic is an apocalypse, to be sure, but a passing one. As Polish novelist Tadeusz Konwicki wrote long ago about the everyday horrors of communism in A Minor Apocalypse, “Many generations have thought the world was dying, but it was only their world which was dying.”
Herein lies the sobering reassurance of such stories. They remind us that worlds, like people, die all the time, only to be replaced by new worlds. Cities fall and rise again, as do civilizations. Even dystopian places like Idi Amin’s Uganda or the Khmer Rouge’s Cambodian killing fields eventually burn out. The handmaid lives to tell her tale and Gilead, too, crumbles in the end.
Athens survived the plague, though its democracy was compromised by war and disease. America, too, will live on. But it will have lost some further measure of its greatness thanks in no small part to the man who, however cynically, wanted to make it great again.


thenation--2020-04-17--‘The Nation’ Names Wilfred Chan as Contributing Writer

New York , NY—April 17 , 2020—The Nation , America ’ s leading source of progressive politics and culture , today named Wilfred Chan ( @ wilfredchan / New York , NY ) as a contributing writer , covering capitalism and its contradictions across East Asia ; questions of nationhood and identity ; and the intersections between labor and technology , social movements , and visual culture .
His most recent article for The Nation was “ The WHO Ignores Taiwan .
The World Pays the Price.
” “ Wilfred is the rare writer who can jump from international commentary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Nation senior editor Madeline Leung Coleman .
“ We ’ re thrilled to have his critical perspective in The Nation , especially as recent events make it clearer than ever that what happens on the other side of the world is deeply connected to everyday life here in the United States.
” “ I ’ m honored to join The Nation at this critical moment , and look forward to contributing an internationalist left perspective , ” added Chan .
“ Wilfred is a writer who brings not just great reporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s voice to his work , ” said Nation editor D.D .
Guttenplan .
“ His incredible range as a reporter—from police brutality in Hong Kong to life on the streets of New York City—and his trenchant political analysis make him a great addition to our masthead.
” Chan is a writer and editor now based in New York , who covered the Umbrella Movement and its aftermath as a journalist in Hong Kong .
He is a founding member of Lausan , a leftist collective of writers , researchers , activists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its diasporas , engaging with the city ’ s political struggle .
Chan joins The Nation ’ s growing ranks along with a host of recent appointments to the masthead .
These include newly-named Books & Arts contributing writers Stephen Kearse , Julyssa Lopez , Marcus J. Moore , Ismail Muhammad , Erin Schwartz , and Jennifer Wilson , and newly minted editorial board members Emily Bell , Waleed Shahid , and Gary Younge .
The Nation ’ s robust political coverage during the Trump administration has exposed injustice and inspired congressional inquiries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the dual threats of the coronavirus pandemic and economic collapse during a landmark presidential election year in the United States , The Nation remains committed to providing a deeper understanding of the world as it is—and as it could be—by bringing history to bear and offering context , nuance , and deep reporting to advance the causes of social , political , and economic progress .
For interview requests or further information , please see contact information above .
ABOUT : Founded by abolitionists in 1865 , The Nation has chronicled the breadth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter , serving as a critical , independent , and progressive voice in American journalism .

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Contact: Caitlin Graf, The Nation, press [at] thenation.com, 212-209-5400
New York, NY—April 17, 2020—The Nation, America’s leading source of progressive politics and culture, today named Wilfred Chan (@wilfredchan / New York, NY) as a contributing writer, covering politics, labor, technology, and social movements in and between Asia and the West. His most recent article for The Nation was “The WHO Ignores Taiwan. The World Pays the Price.”
“Wilfred is the rare writer who can jump from international commentary to ground-level local reporting with ease,” said Nation senior editor Madeline Leung Coleman. “We’re thrilled to have his critical perspective in The Nation, especially as recent events make it clearer than ever that what happens on the other side of the world is deeply connected to everyday life here in the United States.”
“I’m honored to join The Nation at this critical moment, and look forward to contributing an internationalist left perspective,” added Chan.
“Wilfred is a writer who brings not just great reporting chops, but a really distinctive writer’s voice to his work,” said Nation editor D.D. Guttenplan. “His incredible range as a reporter—from police brutality in Hong Kong to life on the streets of New York City—and his trenchant political analysis make him a great addition to our masthead.”
Chan is a writer and editor now based in New York, who covered the Umbrella Movement and its aftermath as a journalist in Hong Kong. He is a founding member of Lausan, a leftist collective of writers, researchers, activists, and artists from Hong Kong and its diasporas, engaging with the city’s political struggle.
Chan joins The Nation’s growing ranks along with a host of recent appointments to the masthead. These include newly-named Books & Arts contributing writers Stephen Kearse, Julyssa Lopez, Marcus J. Moore, Ismail Muhammad, Erin Schwartz, and Jennifer Wilson, and newly minted editorial board members Emily Bell, Waleed Shahid, and Gary Younge. Current Issue View our current issue
The Nation’s robust political coverage during the Trump administration has exposed injustice and inspired congressional inquiries. In these unprecedented times, facing the dual threats of the coronavirus pandemic and economic collapse during a landmark presidential election year in the United States, The Nation remains committed to providing a deeper understanding of the world as it is—and as it could be—by bringing history to bear and offering context, nuance, and deep reporting to advance the causes of social, political, and economic progress.
For interview requests or further information, please see contact information above.
ABOUT: Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.
###


thenation--2020-04-17--Trump’s Sports Advisers Represent the Worst of the Sports World

President Trump ’ s advisory board for reopening the economy includes representatives of the sports world who will presumably “ advise ” a time to reopen the gates and play ball .
For the administration , this is a source of great concern .
As Trump himself said , “ We have to get our sports back .
I ’ m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old.
” Many other politicians have echoed this sentiment .
Sports are a priority , even if games have to be played in front of empty stadiums .
Yet empty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that players , coaches , and medical personnel would run for contracting the coronavirus—you can ’ t exactly play sports with social distancing .
So surely this committee would be a group of people known for keeping the safety of all athletic personnel foremost in their minds .
Not exactly .
The crew that Trump has assembled is like the Bizarro World Super Friends : Baseball commish Rob Manfred , NFL commish Roger Goodell , NHL commish Gary Bettman , NBA Commish Adam Silver , NFL team owners Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overlord Dana White , and World Wrestling Entertainment founder Vince McMahon .
Let ’ s not mince words .
With the exception of Adam Silver and Mark Cuban , this is a collection of the worst actors in the sports world : a group of brigands defined by their lack of care in normal times for the safety and well-being of their employees .
It ’ s almost as if Trump were trolling every athlete , saying , “ You are no more than products , and we will decide when to sell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indeed , several immediate observations that one can make about this den of thieves , before making a deeper assessment of the group itself .
The first and most obvious is that there is nobody from the major sports unions on this advisory board : no Michele Roberts of the NBPA , no DeMaurice Smith from the NFLPA , no Tony Clark from the MLBPA , no Don Fehr from the NHLPA .
In other words , the very people charged with helping to maintain the health and safety of the athletes are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pandemic .
That is unconscionable , and it reflects the anti-union zealotry that ’ s always been a part of Trump ’ s outlook on the world .
The second observation is that it ’ s all white .
Do you realize how hard one would have to try to assemble sports leaders and come up with a rotary club of all white guys ?
Having Roberts , Smith , or Clark on the panel would have helped with this .
Alas , again this is a reflection of the Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It will disproportionately be black athletes taking the risks by returning to the field , and yet Trump is telling all of them—the very players he branded as “ sons of bitches ” when they protested racism—that white people in power will be the ones making that call .
If they do send players back to work , expect the owners and their children to remain in their hermetically sealed mansions until the coast is clear .
They will assume none of the risk , but are being given an all-powerful megaphone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives for others ’ profits .
Lastly , but certainly not least , one might think that women ’ s sports do not exist , based on this suburban buffet of sports leaders .
It ’ s beyond offensive , and again entirely fitting with this administration , this president , and the gutter misogyny that ’ s defined his professional and personal life .
But most telling are the people themselves .
Vince McMahon is an anti-union grifter who is currently putting his entire roster of wrestlers—or at least the ones he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Covid-19 by resuming live programming in Florida , thanks to an $ 18.5 million donation to Trump ’ s Florida reelection campaign , which inspired Governor Ron DeSantis to list pro wrestling as an “ essential business.
” He has risked his workers ’ lives already , and now he gets to decide if other athletes will meet the fate of his employees .
Then there are the people from the NFL : Roger Goodell and the two football owners who pull his puppet strings , who just happen to also be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bob Kraft .
Their treatment and coverup of NFL players who have experienced concussions exposes them as people who care for their bottom line , not the health and safety of their players .
As for Dana White , another Trump friend/donor , he has been trying to establish a “ fight island ” in international waters where he can continue to stage bouts , no matter the health and safety implications for fighters .
He ’ s almost a caricature , but tragically all too real .
If past is prologue , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sports world with little care for their employees .
There is only one force that can stop them : the sports unions .
The need for sports unions to step up and insist that no one be at risk before any games are played has become critical .
This will not be a consensus scenario between management and labor .
It will be a fight .
If it ’ s not , people will get sick , people will die , and most of the masters of the universe on this committee won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

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Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
President Trump’s advisory board for reopening the economy includes representatives of the sports world who will presumably “advise” a time to reopen the gates and play ball. For the administration, this is a source of great concern. As Trump himself said, “We have to get our sports back. I’m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old.”
Many other politicians have echoed this sentiment. Sports are a priority, even if games have to be played in front of empty stadiums. Yet empty arenas don’t eliminate the risk that players, coaches, and medical personnel would run for contracting the coronavirus—you can’t exactly play sports with social distancing. So surely this committee would be a group of people known for keeping the safety of all athletic personnel foremost in their minds. Not exactly.
The crew that Trump has assembled is like the Bizarro World Super Friends: Baseball commish Rob Manfred, NFL commish Roger Goodell, NHL commish Gary Bettman, NBA Commish Adam Silver, NFL team owners Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones, NBA owner Mark Cuban, UFC overlord Dana White, and World Wrestling Entertainment founder Vince McMahon.
Let’s not mince words. With the exception of Adam Silver and Mark Cuban, this is a collection of the worst actors in the sports world: a group of brigands defined by their lack of care in normal times for the safety and well-being of their employees. It’s almost as if Trump were trolling every athlete, saying, “You are no more than products, and we will decide when to sell you once again.”
There are, indeed, several immediate observations that one can make about this den of thieves, before making a deeper assessment of the group itself. The first and most obvious is that there is nobody from the major sports unions on this advisory board: no Michele Roberts of the NBPA, no DeMaurice Smith from the NFLPA, no Tony Clark from the MLBPA, no Don Fehr from the NHLPA. In other words, the very people charged with helping to maintain the health and safety of the athletes are shut out of this all-important decision during a pandemic. That is unconscionable, and it reflects the anti-union zealotry that’s always been a part of Trump’s outlook on the world.
The second observation is that it’s all white. Do you realize how hard one would have to try to assemble sports leaders and come up with a rotary club of all white guys? Having Roberts, Smith, or Clark on the panel would have helped with this. Alas, again this is a reflection of the Trump administration’s dogged adherence to white supremacy. It will disproportionately be black athletes taking the risks by returning to the field, and yet Trump is telling all of them—the very players he branded as “sons of bitches” when they protested racism—that white people in power will be the ones making that call. If they do send players back to work, expect the owners and their children to remain in their hermetically sealed mansions until the coast is clear. They will assume none of the risk, but are being given an all-powerful megaphone to exhort the players to risk their lives for others’ profits.
Lastly, but certainly not least, one might think that women’s sports do not exist, based on this suburban buffet of sports leaders. It’s beyond offensive, and again entirely fitting with this administration, this president, and the gutter misogyny that’s defined his professional and personal life. Current Issue View our current issue
But most telling are the people themselves. Vince McMahon is an anti-union grifter who is currently putting his entire roster of wrestlers—or at least the ones he hasn’t laid off yet—at risk for Covid-19 by resuming live programming in Florida, thanks to an $18.5 million donation to Trump’s Florida reelection campaign, which inspired Governor Ron DeSantis to list pro wrestling as an “essential business.” He has risked his workers’ lives already, and now he gets to decide if other athletes will meet the fate of his employees.
Then there are the people from the NFL: Roger Goodell and the two football owners who pull his puppet strings, who just happen to also be million-dollar Trump donors, Jerry Jones and Bob Kraft. Their treatment and coverup of NFL players who have experienced concussions exposes them as people who care for their bottom line, not the health and safety of their players.
As for Dana White, another Trump friend/donor, he has been trying to establish a “fight island” in international waters where he can continue to stage bouts, no matter the health and safety implications for fighters. He’s almost a caricature, but tragically all too real.
If past is prologue, these people will push to reopen the sports world with little care for their employees. There is only one force that can stop them: the sports unions. The need for sports unions to step up and insist that no one be at risk before any games are played has become critical. This will not be a consensus scenario between management and labor. It will be a fight. If it’s not, people will get sick, people will die, and most of the masters of the universe on this committee won’t lose a wink of sleep.


thenation--2020-04-17--‘The President Is Not a King’: NY Attorney General Tish James

The Noise ?
The blatherer in chief trying to deflect blame for his administration ’ s abysmal , criminal failing to stem the coronavirus outbreak in the United States by going after China , the World Health Organization , and Democratic governors , whom Trump continues to feud with , and over whom he erroneously claimed he had “ total authority ” when it came to the timing for reopening the country ’ s economy .
And Congress , which Trump is now threatening to adjourn , so that , like Hungary ’ s Viktor Orbán , he can effectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wants to positions of power with no congressional oversight and no Senate confirmation hearings .
The Signal ?
Trump ’ s bluster is , increasingly , that of a paper tiger .
He ’ s replacing good governance with tantrums and preening , self-congratulatory propaganda spectacles .
In this crisis , it is the governors , the mayors , and the state attorneys general who are setting the agenda and the pace of response to the pandemic .
“ The president is not a king , ” New York Attorney General Letitia James @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s clearly up to the governors to lift their executive orders .
The president can only issue guidelines .
He could put out all kinds of edicts , but they have no legal import.
” The governors are forming regional pacts to coordinate long-term responses .
California is at the center of a Pacific West alliance , New York a Northeastern one , and Illinois and Michigan are developing a Midwestern alliance .
These pacts will help coordinate when and how to restart economies and when and how to relax stay-in-place regulations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mayors in states like California who are stepping in to protect vulnerable populations whom the feds have abandoned—or , worse , deliberately targeted , with ICE continuing its raids in undocumented communities even as the pandemic worsened .
This week , California moved to create a $ 75 million fund to help the undocumented immigrants whose families were left out of Washington ’ s $ 2 trillion CARES rescue package , and philanthropists in the state pledged to raise an additional $ 50 million .
The moneys , a first-in-the-nation state-level cash disbursement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , will be distributed through a network of regional nonprofits that work with undocumented communities .
Trump , Our Grifter in Chief , Is a Global Menace Also this week , Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the creation of an Angeleno Card , an electronic-benefit transfer program that will distribute funds donated by local private philanthropists to help low-income residents whose earnings have been hit by the Covid-19 outbreak , many of whom may not receive stimulus checks because they do not file income taxes .
Families will be eligible for up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the much-delayed Trump-signed stimulus checks—will be delivered to recipients within days .
And it is the state attorneys general who are pushing for more humane—and more sensible—policies vis-à-vis immigrants , so as to bring as many US residents as possible under health insurance and nutritional assistance umbrellas during this crisis .
This week Attorney General James , with the support of the Connecticut and Vermont attorneys general , petitioned the Supreme Court to revisit on an emergency basis its stay on a lower court decision putting on hold the new “ public charge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immigrants from all public benefits .
The Supreme Court ’ s stay had allowed the new regulations to go into effect while the courts heard ongoing legal arguments .
James wants the justices to temporarily halt its implementation so that immigrants can access health care and medical testing during the pandemic .
“ There ’ s no question the Supreme Court has the authority to alter its own stay , ” James explained .
“ The facts on the ground have changed .
We ’ ve got an extraordinary circumstance.
” New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ is a plea to our humanity.
” In this crisis , it is the states that are showing what humane and effective governance can look like .
Meanwhile , the feds continue to show their most ugly , cruel face to the world : Witness the recent flight to Guatemala deporting a planeload of asylum-seekers who had been detained in ICE facilities .
Guatemala reported that 75 percent of these men and women tested positive for Covid-19 when they landed .
In other words , not only is America keeping immigrants in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raging among them ; it is then deporting them , while contagious , to an impoverished country that has only a few hundred ventilators to service the needs of a population of 17 million , and that would suffer calamitously should the epidemic take root .
Trump ’ s malignancy is on an exponential growth curve , seemingly doubling in its vindictiveness and squalidness every couple of days .
When this crisis is over , it will fall to progressive politicians to push policies capable of rebuilding both the economy and the moral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , James stated , will judge Trump to have been “ hostile to immigration , a nationalist ; he was regressive and imposed a number of challenges to marginal and vulnerable populations.
” But , she continued , she hopes the history books will also one day tell how progressive attorneys general “ stood up , fought back , and won—believing we are a pluralistic society and welcome all.
” That ’ s the Signal .
Stay safe and healthy—and keep fighting for a more decent tomorrow .

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy.
The Noise? The blatherer in chief trying to deflect blame for his administration’s abysmal, criminal failing to stem the coronavirus outbreak in the United States by going after China, the World Health Organization, and Democratic governors, whom Trump continues to feud with, and over whom he erroneously claimed he had “total authority” when it came to the timing for reopening the country’s economy. And Congress, which Trump is now threatening to adjourn, so that, like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, he can effectively rule by decree, appointing anyone he wants to positions of power with no congressional oversight and no Senate confirmation hearings.
The Signal? Trump’s bluster is, increasingly, that of a paper tiger. He’s replacing good governance with tantrums and preening, self-congratulatory propaganda spectacles. In this crisis, it is the governors, the mayors, and the state attorneys general who are setting the agenda and the pace of response to the pandemic. “The president is not a king,” New York Attorney General Letitia James told me this week. “It’s clearly up to the governors to lift their executive orders. The president can only issue guidelines. He could put out all kinds of edicts, but they have no legal import.”
The governors are forming regional pacts to coordinate long-term responses. California is at the center of a Pacific West alliance, New York a Northeastern one, and Illinois and Michigan are developing a Midwestern alliance. These pacts will help coordinate when and how to restart economies and when and how to relax stay-in-place regulations.
And it is the governors and mayors in states like California who are stepping in to protect vulnerable populations whom the feds have abandoned—or, worse, deliberately targeted, with ICE continuing its raids in undocumented communities even as the pandemic worsened. This week, California moved to create a $75 million fund to help the undocumented immigrants whose families were left out of Washington’s $2 trillion CARES rescue package, and philanthropists in the state pledged to raise an additional $50 million. The moneys, a first-in-the-nation state-level cash disbursement to the economic victims of the pandemic, will be distributed through a network of regional nonprofits that work with undocumented communities. More Signal:Noise Amazing Grace and Courage Amid the Plague Sasha Abramsky Trump, Our Grifter in Chief, Is a Global Menace Sasha Abramsky
Also this week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the creation of an Angeleno Card, an electronic-benefit transfer program that will distribute funds donated by local private philanthropists to help low-income residents whose earnings have been hit by the Covid-19 outbreak, many of whom may not receive stimulus checks because they do not file income taxes. Families will be eligible for up to $1,500, and the payments—unlike the much-delayed Trump-signed stimulus checks—will be delivered to recipients within days. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
And it is the state attorneys general who are pushing for more humane—and more sensible—policies vis-à-vis immigrants, so as to bring as many US residents as possible under health insurance and nutritional assistance umbrellas during this crisis.
This week Attorney General James, with the support of the Connecticut and Vermont attorneys general, petitioned the Supreme Court to revisit on an emergency basis its stay on a lower court decision putting on hold the new “public charge” regulations, which effectively bar noncitizen immigrants from all public benefits. The Supreme Court’s stay had allowed the new regulations to go into effect while the courts heard ongoing legal arguments. James wants the justices to temporarily halt its implementation so that immigrants can access health care and medical testing during the pandemic. “There’s no question the Supreme Court has the authority to alter its own stay,” James explained. “The facts on the ground have changed. We’ve got an extraordinary circumstance.” New York’s request, she said, “is a plea to our humanity.” Current Issue View our current issue
In this crisis, it is the states that are showing what humane and effective governance can look like. Meanwhile, the feds continue to show their most ugly, cruel face to the world: Witness the recent flight to Guatemala deporting a planeload of asylum-seekers who had been detained in ICE facilities. Guatemala reported that 75 percent of these men and women tested positive for Covid-19 when they landed. In other words, not only is America keeping immigrants in close-quarters detention, where the pandemic is raging among them; it is then deporting them, while contagious, to an impoverished country that has only a few hundred ventilators to service the needs of a population of 17 million, and that would suffer calamitously should the epidemic take root.
Trump’s malignancy is on an exponential growth curve, seemingly doubling in its vindictiveness and squalidness every couple of days. When this crisis is over, it will fall to progressive politicians to push policies capable of rebuilding both the economy and the moral fabric of this shattered country. History, James stated, will judge Trump to have been “hostile to immigration, a nationalist; he was regressive and imposed a number of challenges to marginal and vulnerable populations.” But, she continued, she hopes the history books will also one day tell how progressive attorneys general “stood up, fought back, and won—believing we are a pluralistic society and welcome all.”
That’s the Signal. Stay safe and healthy—and keep fighting for a more decent tomorrow.


thenation--2020-04-17--Thanks to Covid-19, Neoliberal Globalization Is Unraveling

Even if the Covid-19 pandemic hurts Donald Trump ’ s political fortunes , it will almost certainly energize Trumpism as an ideological project .
Any electoral drubbing Trump receives in November for his grossly incompetent handling of the crisis could be outweighed in the long run by Trump ’ s version of authoritarian anti-globalism ’ s becoming more plausible in future contests .
Trump won in 2016 on a nationalist platform consisting of protectionism , opposition to immigration , and foreign policy unilateralism .
The underlying thread of these policies was xenophobia , in keeping with Trump ’ s racism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from trade agreements with foreign nations , competition from foreign workers , and the machinations of foreign institutions ( like NATO and the UN ) .
With the Covid-19 crisis , this America First agenda has a perfect event to stoke nationalist paranoia .
As conservative columnist Ross Douthat noted in The New York Times on March 31 , this is a “ world crisis tailor-made for an anti-globalization , anti-deep-state worldview—a crisis in which China lit the fuse , the World Health Organization ran interference for Beijing , the American public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pious anti-racism inhibited an early public-health response , and outsourcing and offshoring left our economy exposed.
” Given how perfectly the crisis lined up with the anti-globalist worldview , Douthat was surprised that his fellow right-wingers , including Trump , were pretending that Covid-19 was no big deal .
Trump initially stumbled in his political response to Covid-19 .
Until March , he downplayed the dangers of the pandemic , seemingly in the hope that he would luck out and it wouldn ’ t spread to the United States or would quickly taper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic has intensified—with each day now bringing thousands of deaths—he ’ s taken the exact anti-globalist stance Douthat outlined by blaming both China and the World Health Organization , seizing medical equipment that had been sold to countries like Germany and India , and accusing the Democrats of being too politically correct in their denunciation of anti-Chinese racism .
Nor is Trump the only politician who is intensifying nationalism during the crisis .
All over the world , governments are erecting stronger borders and looking for ways to produce medical equipment at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fragile global supply chain .
Robin Niblett , director of the British foreign policy think tank Chatham House , noted in Foreign Policy : As Niblett ’ s comments indicate , opposing economic globalization isn ’ t exclusively a position of the nationalist right .
Economic globalization has been pushed by corporate interests who have used trade agreements to entrench the power of capital , often at the expense of both labor unions and environmentalists .
For that reason , many on the left , including Bernie Sanders , are proud anti-globalists .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
What ’ s novel in the current situation is that business elites are starting to echo their criticism of globalization .
The case for decoupling from China is gaining traction not just in military circles but also among business elites .
Bloomberg reports , “ Businesses are reassessing China ’ s role in global supply chains , and by the time this virus burns out , many of them will have started planning to relocate at least some of their production elsewhere .
Deglobalization is accelerating.
” Globalization shouldn ’ t be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Bernie Sanders articulated an anti-globalist position that would redress the flaws of trade agreements , while also seeking to work more closely with other nations and international organizations like the United Nations to deal with issues of planetary import like climate change .
Sanders ’ s combination of anti-globalism with robust internationalism has only become more attractive in the wake of the pandemic .
After all , even if global supply chains are disrupted , the need for nations to cooperate is all the more important during the crisis .
Medical knowledge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scientists all over the world gain new insights into how the virus spreads and what treatments work .
Covid-19 travels so quickly that no nation can be safe unless it is fought everywhere .
Once scientists figure out which treatments work , or even develop a vaccine , there will have to be a massive program of international aid to share these discoveries as widely as possible .
Joe Biden , the presumptive Democratic nominee , lacks Sanders ’ s nimbleness in emphasizing both anti-globalism and internationalism .
As on so many issues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a 1990s liberal for whom globalism and internationalism are allied .
Biden has long supported the trade agreements that underwrite globalization .
Financial Times columnist Janan Ganesh accurately describes Biden as “ the last , best hope of globalists.
” Biden ’ s unwavering commitment to globalization can be seen in his response to Trump ’ s demagogic attacks on the China question .
John McLaughlin , a Trump campaign pollster , told Axios , “ China is among many weaknesses for Joe Biden , but when people learn about Biden ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China travel ban , his other weak positions on China , and his conflict with Hunter Biden ’ s business deal with China , voters are horrified.
” Biden ’ s campaign plans to respond to these accusations by arguing that Trump himself has been weak on China .
In a memo made public by Axios , the Biden campaign contends : As a political argument , these claims have the fatal weakness of being far too complicated .
They attempt to thread the needle by defending Joe Biden ’ s pro-globalization position @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to China .
They rely on a narrative that acknowledges that Trump tried to remake trade relations with China but failed , and as a consequence became reluctant to challenge China about the coronavirus .
This narrative might be true—but it ’ s hard to put on a bumper sticker .
Trump ’ s campaign , by contrast , has a handy slogan : “ Beijing Biden.
” The Biden campaign would be better advised to stick to arguments that are quick and true : Trump bungled the response to Covid-19 , leading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s fawning over Xi and alienation of democratic allies shows his love of personal diplomacy—an approach that is dangerous when the world needs strong international institutions .
If international organizations like the WHO are too subservient to China , that ’ s a byproduct of Trump ’ s unilateralism , which only isolates America .
There are plenty of ways of attacking Trump ’ s reckless nationalism without being tied down by the baggage of a discredited globalism .
Alas , Biden seems to want to carry those hefty bags into @ @ @ @

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Even if the Covid-19 pandemic hurts Donald Trump’s political fortunes, it will almost certainly energize Trumpism as an ideological project. Any electoral drubbing Trump receives in November for his grossly incompetent handling of the crisis could be outweighed in the long run by Trump’s version of authoritarian anti-globalism’s becoming more plausible in future contests. Trump won in 2016 on a nationalist platform consisting of protectionism, opposition to immigration, and foreign policy unilateralism. The underlying thread of these policies was xenophobia, in keeping with Trump’s racism. Trump promised to protect white America from trade agreements with foreign nations, competition from foreign workers, and the machinations of foreign institutions (like NATO and the UN).
With the Covid-19 crisis, this America First agenda has a perfect event to stoke nationalist paranoia. As conservative columnist Ross Douthat noted in The New York Times on March 31, this is a “world crisis tailor-made for an anti-globalization, anti-deep-state worldview—a crisis in which China lit the fuse, the World Health Organization ran interference for Beijing, the American public health bureaucracy botched its one essential job, pious anti-racism inhibited an early public-health response, and outsourcing and offshoring left our economy exposed.” Given how perfectly the crisis lined up with the anti-globalist worldview, Douthat was surprised that his fellow right-wingers, including Trump, were pretending that Covid-19 was no big deal.
Trump initially stumbled in his political response to Covid-19. Until March, he downplayed the dangers of the pandemic, seemingly in the hope that he would luck out and it wouldn’t spread to the United States or would quickly taper off on its own. But as the pandemic has intensified—with each day now bringing thousands of deaths—he’s taken the exact anti-globalist stance Douthat outlined by blaming both China and the World Health Organization, seizing medical equipment that had been sold to countries like Germany and India, and accusing the Democrats of being too politically correct in their denunciation of anti-Chinese racism.
Nor is Trump the only politician who is intensifying nationalism during the crisis. All over the world, governments are erecting stronger borders and looking for ways to produce medical equipment at home rather than rely on an increasingly fragile global supply chain.
Robin Niblett, director of the British foreign policy think tank Chatham House, noted in Foreign Policy:
As Niblett’s comments indicate, opposing economic globalization isn’t exclusively a position of the nationalist right. Economic globalization has been pushed by corporate interests who have used trade agreements to entrench the power of capital, often at the expense of both labor unions and environmentalists. For that reason, many on the left, including Bernie Sanders, are proud anti-globalists. 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
What’s novel in the current situation is that business elites are starting to echo their criticism of globalization. The case for decoupling from China is gaining traction not just in military circles but also among business elites. Bloomberg reports, “Businesses are reassessing China’s role in global supply chains, and by the time this virus burns out, many of them will have started planning to relocate at least some of their production elsewhere. Deglobalization is accelerating.”
Globalization shouldn’t be confused with internationalism. In his campaign, Bernie Sanders articulated an anti-globalist position that would redress the flaws of trade agreements, while also seeking to work more closely with other nations and international organizations like the United Nations to deal with issues of planetary import like climate change.
Sanders’s combination of anti-globalism with robust internationalism has only become more attractive in the wake of the pandemic. After all, even if global supply chains are disrupted, the need for nations to cooperate is all the more important during the crisis. Medical knowledge needs to be shared quickly, as scientists all over the world gain new insights into how the virus spreads and what treatments work. Covid-19 travels so quickly that no nation can be safe unless it is fought everywhere. Once scientists figure out which treatments work, or even develop a vaccine, there will have to be a massive program of international aid to share these discoveries as widely as possible.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, lacks Sanders’s nimbleness in emphasizing both anti-globalism and internationalism. As on so many issues, Biden remains yesterday’s man, a 1990s liberal for whom globalism and internationalism are allied. Biden has long supported the trade agreements that underwrite globalization. Financial Times columnist Janan Ganesh accurately describes Biden as “the last, best hope of globalists.”
Biden’s unwavering commitment to globalization can be seen in his response to Trump’s demagogic attacks on the China question. John McLaughlin, a Trump campaign pollster, told Axios, “China is among many weaknesses for Joe Biden, but when people learn about Biden’s attack on the president’s China travel ban, his other weak positions on China, and his conflict with Hunter Biden’s business deal with China, voters are horrified.”
Biden’s campaign plans to respond to these accusations by arguing that Trump himself has been weak on China. In a memo made public by Axios, the Biden campaign contends:
We’d say Trump is weak on China, but that’s an understatement. Trump rolled over in a way that has been catastrophic for our country. He did nothing for months because he put himself and his political fortunes first. He refused to push China on its coronavirus response and delayed taking action to mitigate the crisis in an effort to not upset Beijing and secure a limited trade deal that has largely gone unfulfilled. Trump’s response to the virus was delayed by a desire to avoid upsetting China as he sought a deal to begin undoing the damage caused by his trade policies.
As a political argument, these claims have the fatal weakness of being far too complicated. They attempt to thread the needle by defending Joe Biden’s pro-globalization position while also arguing that Trump is submissive to China. They rely on a narrative that acknowledges that Trump tried to remake trade relations with China but failed, and as a consequence became reluctant to challenge China about the coronavirus. This narrative might be true—but it’s hard to put on a bumper sticker. Trump’s campaign, by contrast, has a handy slogan: “Beijing Biden.”
The Biden campaign would be better advised to stick to arguments that are quick and true: Trump bungled the response to Covid-19, leading to many thousands of unnecessary deaths. Trump’s fawning over Xi and alienation of democratic allies shows his love of personal diplomacy—an approach that is dangerous when the world needs strong international institutions. If international organizations like the WHO are too subservient to China, that’s a byproduct of Trump’s unilateralism, which only isolates America.
There are plenty of ways of attacking Trump’s reckless nationalism without being tied down by the baggage of a discredited globalism. Alas, Biden seems to want to carry those hefty bags into the presidential election.


thenation--2020-04-17--Congress Must Seize the Spotlight Back From Trump

Amid mounting frustration with the extent to which the president has been able to frame the discourse about Covid-19 and its consequences , some of the savviest thinkers about politics and governing have been asking , as Fordham Law School professor Zephyr Teachout did recently , “ Where is Congress during a deadly pandemic ?
” Her answer : “ They should be in session every day .
Remotely.
” Meeting remotely is necessary now , as most members aren ’ t in Washington .
Yet the House , which is controlled by the Democrats and thus is the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advanced by the Republican president , has not yet developed a plan for holding virtual sessions in the way that state legislatures and city councils across the country have begun to do .
So the Congressional Progressive Caucus ( CPC ) is stepping up to show how it can—and should—be done .
Next Thursday , April 23 , the CPC will convene the first in a series of remote congressional hearings to highlight bold and necessary proposals for responding to the pandemic and to the economic crisis that has developed as a result @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mass unemployment , with a focus on “ Preventing Layoffs : Keeping People Employed Through Worksharing and a National Paycheck Guarantee.
” A ‘ Jubilee ’ Cancellation of Debt Is Vital to Fighting the Coronavirus “ We think it ’ s really important to look at ways to address the employment issues where President Trump has been such a dismal failure , ” says CPC cochair Mark Pocan .
“ This is a way to show the American people that we have ideas for what needs to be done , and that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top of this.
” Representative Ro Khanna , the tech-savvy Democrat who represents the Silicon Valley , said late last month that it is “ time to bring Congress into the 21st century ” with a plan for remote deliberations and voting so that “ no member should risk their health and public safety to come to DC.
” While dozens of members have now signed on to a letter urging the House Rules Committee to “ enact a temporary change to House Rules to allow remote voting by Members of the House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one involving Covid-19 , ” the chamber has remained on the sidelines in recent weeks .
The CPC is setting an example of how Congress can hold session remotely with so much needing to get done .
Pocan and CPC cochair Pramila Jayapal have since March been advocating for proposals that would have the federal government intervene in a major way to help businesses keep workers on the payroll at a point when unemployment claims are surging to record levels .
Last week , Jayapal introduced the Paycheck Guarantee Act , a plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 percent of worker salaries of up to $ 100,000 to ensure employers keep workers on the payroll and continue to provide employer-sponsored benefits .
“ A federal paycheck guarantee is a real solution that matches the scale of the crisis .
Mass unemployment is a policy choice .
We can and should choose differently , ” says Jayapal .
“ A federal paycheck guarantee would stanch more layoffs and unemployment , and quickly and reliably deliver relief to workers .
Workers would not be forced to apply for unemployment insurance , overwhelm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again find a job .
Businesses of all sizes would be able to keep workers on payroll and benefits—and be able to quickly re-open—partially or fully—without having to rehire and retrain their workforce.
” This is the kind of big , bold response that needs a hearing .
And Pocan , a cosponsor of the Paycheck Guarantee Act and a leading advocate for providing protections for small businesses and their employees with an expansion of existing state workshare programs , says the CPC will provide it .
Organized along the lines of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Layoffs ” hearing will be chaired by Pocan and Jayapal and feature expert testimony from Sharon Block , the executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School , and Amanda Ballantyne , the director of the Main Street Alliance , a group that advocates for small businesses .
“ The president in one of his more recent rambles said that he was thinking about adjourning Congress , ” explained Pocan .
“ That doesn ’ t make any sense .
Article 1 of the Constitution is about Congress .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We have to be in the debate .
It is incumbent upon us to be putting forward ideas , framing them , discussing them and providing forums where they can be examined and discussed.
” On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times In a call this week with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other key players in the House Democratic Caucus , Pocan said , the CPC leaders discussed their plan for the hearing .
The response was encouraging , with talk about standing committees looking at ways @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that has kept so many House members far from Washington .
“ I think that us doing this will show the way for others , ” says Pocan .
“ It ’ s exciting to think that Congress can start speaking to the American people about real alternatives to Trump ’ s haphazard approach .
We ’ re ready to show that we have serious plans for giving people stability and bringing our economy back.
” The CPC ’ s “ Preventing Layoffs : Keeping People Employed Through Worksharing and a National Paycheck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , April 23 at 12 pm Eastern .
It can be viewed are live on the Progressive Caucus ’ s Facebook Page .

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Amid mounting frustration with the extent to which the president has been able to frame the discourse about Covid-19 and its consequences, some of the savviest thinkers about politics and governing have been asking, as Fordham Law School professor Zephyr Teachout did recently, “Where is Congress during a deadly pandemic?” Her answer: “They should be in session every day. Remotely.”
Meeting remotely is necessary now, as most members aren’t in Washington. Yet the House, which is controlled by the Democrats and thus is the most likely source of alternative approaches to those advanced by the Republican president, has not yet developed a plan for holding virtual sessions in the way that state legislatures and city councils across the country have begun to do.
So the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is stepping up to show how it can—and should—be done.
Next Thursday, April 23, the CPC will convene the first in a series of remote congressional hearings to highlight bold and necessary proposals for responding to the pandemic and to the economic crisis that has developed as a result. Thursday’s hearing will consider mass unemployment, with a focus on “Preventing Layoffs: Keeping People Employed Through Worksharing and a National Paycheck Guarantee.” More From John Nichols A GOP Debate Without Trump Is the Definition of Pointlessness August 11, 2023 A Win for Abortion Rights, a Win for Democracy: Ohio Voters Reject Issue 1 August 9, 2023 The Biggest Threat to Donald Trump Could Be the Constitution Itself August 4, 2023
“We think it’s really important to look at ways to address the employment issues where President Trump has been such a dismal failure,” says CPC cochair Mark Pocan. “This is a way to show the American people that we have ideas for what needs to be done, and that there are people in Congress who are on top of this.”
Representative Ro Khanna, the tech-savvy Democrat who represents the Silicon Valley, said late last month that it is “time to bring Congress into the 21st century” with a plan for remote deliberations and voting so that “no member should risk their health and public safety to come to DC.” While dozens of members have now signed on to a letter urging the House Rules Committee to “enact a temporary change to House Rules to allow remote voting by Members of the House during national emergencies, especially the current one involving Covid-19,” the chamber has remained on the sidelines in recent weeks. The CPC is setting an example of how Congress can hold session remotely with so much needing to get done.
Pocan and CPC cochair Pramila Jayapal have since March been advocating for proposals that would have the federal government intervene in a major way to help businesses keep workers on the payroll at a point when unemployment claims are surging to record levels. 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
Last week, Jayapal introduced the Paycheck Guarantee Act, a plan to provide a three-month federal guarantee for 100 percent of worker salaries of up to $100,000 to ensure employers keep workers on the payroll and continue to provide employer-sponsored benefits. “A federal paycheck guarantee is a real solution that matches the scale of the crisis. Mass unemployment is a policy choice. We can and should choose differently,” says Jayapal. “A federal paycheck guarantee would stanch more layoffs and unemployment, and quickly and reliably deliver relief to workers. Workers would not be forced to apply for unemployment insurance, overwhelm that system and then have to once again find a job. Businesses of all sizes would be able to keep workers on payroll and benefits—and be able to quickly re-open—partially or fully—without having to rehire and retrain their workforce.”
This is the kind of big, bold response that needs a hearing. And Pocan, a cosponsor of the Paycheck Guarantee Act and a leading advocate for providing protections for small businesses and their employees with an expansion of existing state workshare programs, says the CPC will provide it. Organized along the lines of a traditional House hearing, the “Preventing Layoffs” hearing will be chaired by Pocan and Jayapal and feature expert testimony from Sharon Block, the executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, and Amanda Ballantyne, the director of the Main Street Alliance, a group that advocates for small businesses.
“The president in one of his more recent rambles said that he was thinking about adjourning Congress,” explained Pocan. “That doesn’t make any sense. Article 1 of the Constitution is about Congress. We are a co-equal branch of government. We have to be in the debate. It is incumbent upon us to be putting forward ideas, framing them, discussing them and providing forums where they can be examined and discussed.” Virtual Congress On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times John Nichols
In a call this week with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other key players in the House Democratic Caucus, Pocan said, the CPC leaders discussed their plan for the hearing. The response was encouraging, with talk about standing committees looking at ways to conduct business remotely during the shutdown that has kept so many House members far from Washington. “I think that us doing this will show the way for others,” says Pocan. “It’s exciting to think that Congress can start speaking to the American people about real alternatives to Trump’s haphazard approach. We’re ready to show that we have serious plans for giving people stability and bringing our economy back.”
The CPC’s “Preventing Layoffs: Keeping People Employed Through Worksharing and a National Paycheck Guarantee” hearing will take place Thursday, April 23 at 12 pm Eastern. It can be viewed are live on the Progressive Caucus’s Facebook Page.