thenation--2020-09-25--America Can’t Afford to Descend Into Violence

When it rains , pieces of glass , pottery , and metal rise through the mud in the hills surrounding my Maryland home .
The other day , I walked outside barefoot to fetch one of my kid ’ s shoes and a pottery shard stabbed me in the heel .
Nursing a minor infection , I wondered how long that fragment dated back .
A neighbor of mine found what he said looked like a cartridge case from an old percussion-cap rifle in his pumpkin patch .
He told us that the battle of Monocacy had been fought on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1,300 Union and 900 Confederate troops killed or wounded here .
The stuff that surfaces in my fields when it storms may or may not be battle artifacts , but it does remind me that the past lingers and that modern America was formed in a civil war .
Increasingly , I can ’ t help thinking about possible new civil wars in this country and the violence we could inflict on each another .
Recently , a family member reposted a YouTube video on her Facebook page that supposedly showed an antifa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the 1980s hit “ Footloose ” playing mockingly in the background ) .
“ I ’ m just going to leave this here , ” read her caption .
Shortly thereafter she claimed that the “ YouTube speech police ” had taken it down .
I thought of saying something to her about how , in countries where I ’ ve worked , ones without a democracy , people celebrate the misery of their opponents .
Was that really , I wanted to ask , the kind of country she ’ d @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
But I decided not to , rather than further divide our family , which has grown ever more apart since Donald Trump took office .
In addition , I knew that confronting her would do neither of us any good .
Inspired by a president who offers a sterling example of how never to self-police what you do , she would simply have dismissed my comments as the frivolous words of the “ politically correct.
” These days , when I watch the news and see clashes among the police , Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” and antifa supporters , I ’ m often reminded that just because no one ’ s declared a civil war begun , doesn ’ t mean we aren ’ t staring at the makings of an armed conflict .
Our military service members and their families have toiled for endless years now in Afghanistan , Iraq , and so many other countries across the Greater Middle East and Africa under the mantle of establishing democracy and conducting a “ war on terror.
” They ’ ve done so to the tune @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives , a million of their own injuries and illnesses , hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths in those distant lands , and significantly more than $ 6 trillion in funding provided by the American taxpayer .
Not surprisingly under such circumstances , they now live in a country that ’ s under-resourced and fractured in ways that are just beginning to resemble , in a modest fashion at least , the very war zones in which they ’ ve been fighting .
This is both a personal and professional matter to me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer who served three tours of duty on nuclear and ballistic missile submarines and one on an aircraft carrier , and the mother of two young children , I bear witness in small but significant ways to the physical , emotional , and financial toll that endless war has had on those who fight .
I ’ m thinking of those long separations from my husband , his ( and my ) unlimited hours of work , the chronic health issues that go remarkably unaddressed in the Navy , the hazing by war-traumatized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rising frequency of violence and suicides among military families , a recent lack of regard for obvious safety precautions during the Covid-19 pandemic , and the service ’ s under-resourced healthcare and childcare systems—and that ’ s just to begin a far longer list .
As a co-founder of Brown University ’ s Costs of War Project and a therapist who has worked with active-duty troops , veterans , and most recently children and adults who have arrived here as refugees and asylum seekers from the very lands in which the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ witness in my own way to the human costs of war , American-style .
As I look up into the forest of oaks and elms in the hills around my home where , once upon a time , Americans undoubtedly sought shelter from bullets fired by their countrymen , it seems ever less far-fetched to me that my family could be asked to take part in an armed conflict on American soil .
Sometimes , I wake up in the middle of the night with a line from former President Barack Obama ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in my head : “ Do not let them take your democracy.
” In my lifetime , I ’ d never heard a former president refer to a government that ’ s still supposed to be of , by , and for the people as “ them ” —especially a president as prone to understatement as he is .
As a military spouse , I wonder where my family will fall in that ever-deepening chasm between “ us ” and “ them.
” Obviously , intimidation and even armed attacks are already realities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example , the president ’ s decision to send federal troops using tear gas to clear away peaceful protesters near the White House so he could pursue a botched photo op .
And that only happened after he had declared “ war ” on a virus whose effects are made worse by the inhalation of that very gas .
He and Attorney General William Barr have similarly turned a blind eye to physical violence against , and the intimidation of , protesters by far-right groups whose racism , anti-Semitism , and support for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obvious .
Our commander in chief , while threatening but , so far at least , shying away from starting new foreign wars ( thank goodness ) , has used military helicopters to intimidate protesters and allowed Department of Homeland Security agents to kidnap demonstrators from the streets of an American city .
To be sure , the antifa activist featured in that video my relative posted ( if it even was real ) could have been part of the same problem , as were those who looted storefronts , vehicles , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or not ) during the protests of these last months .
And yet what choices did many of them have ?
Isn ’ t our major problem that those with power in a country growing more economically unequal by the month increasingly see themselves not as of the people but only as threatened by the people—by , that is , us ?
More to the point , as Professor Robin Kelley wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times , what kind of society values property over Black lives ?
Even journalism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democracy , has become the target of endless presidential insults and intimidation , including memes like the one in which the president is shown punching an opponent with CNN emblazoned on his head .
What ’ s more , some of the Republican Party ’ s most vocal leaders all but directly condone racism .
Typical of this Trumpian moment , for example , that rising star in the Republican Party Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has called slavery a “ necessary evil.
” In June , he even urged that the Army ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the streets to deal with Black Lives Matter protesters .
Under these circumstances , violence may be the only thing that actually captures the attention of parts of a nation seemingly indifferent to the dehumanization and disenfranchisement of large swathes of this country ’ s people .
Like Iraq and Afghanistan , which have borne witness to increasing sectarianism and violence , the United States seems to be devolving into its own kind of sectarian conflict .
After all , the police , now regularly armed by the Pentagon with weaponry and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s distant war zones , increasingly wage a kind of proto-counterinsurgency warfare on our streets .
At the heart of today ’ s crisis lies a grim but simple fact : In this century , America ’ s power brokers decided to invest staggering sums of taxpayer dollars , manpower , and time in distant and disastrous “ forever wars.
” As Catherine Lutz and Neta Crawford , codirectors of the Costs of War Project , wrote in a recent op-ed , had some of the money this country spent on its post-9/11 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would have had the tools to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic so much more effectively .
The same might be said of our crumbling infrastructure and cash-starved public schools .
Speaking of public education , as economist Heidi Garrett-Peltier has pointed out , $ 1 million in federal spending creates nearly twice the number of jobs in public education as it does when “ invested ” in the Pentagon .
If money had been diverted elsewhere from the military-industrial complex , perhaps we would have been able to return to school reasonably safely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protective equipment to ensure small-group instruction , sanitation , and social distancing .
Our inability to deal with the pandemic effectively has , in turn , fed into our children losing the chance for in-person education—for , that is , reasonably safe interaction with peers and teachers from all walks of life .
Recently , after my kindergartener overheard a conversation about the police killing of Breonna Taylor in her apartment in Louisville , Kentucky , he asked me whether “ they ” might be coming to kill us in our home , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weren ’ t , but I did mention our ( white ) privilege in relation to some of his black friends in the preschool that he loved and can ’ t attend in person this fall .
I then tried to explain how , in this country , the right to life is not evenly shared .
He responded simply enough , “ Yes , but I don ’ t see them anymore.
” And I couldn ’ t help but think that precisely this kind of social distancing , where you don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whose lives and perspectives are different from yours , could be one grim sectarian legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic in a country that looks like it might be starting to come apart at the seams .
In these months , the Black Lives Matter activists so often filling our television screens and streets with their righteous rage are among the few who remind my children to care about racial inequality .
In the Footsteps of 9/11 ?
How did this country reach a point where a significant portion of us—our president ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Blacks and liberals or progressives of every sort ?
Think of it as the road from 9/11 , from that moment when , in response to a set of terror attacks by 19 mostly Saudi hijackers , the Bush administration launched what it quickly termed “ the Global War on Terror , ” invaded Afghanistan , then Iraq , and then… well , you know the rest of the forever-war nightmare that ’ s never ended .
In the process , they turned the Pentagon ( and the war industries that go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our tax dollars and our dreams of the future .
In no small part , we ’ ve reached this point of unease , sectarianism , and strife due to our reverence for the military as the way to solve what are actually problems of staggering and growing global and American inequality , economic and otherwise .
My spouse and I stay up late talking about the upcoming elections .
Even if ( and that ’ s a big “ if ” ) the November 3 vote turns out to be free and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has further disenfranchised communities of color and given Trump ’ s shenanigans encouraging double-voting , bad-mouthing mail-in ballots , and seeking to obscure or rewrite national intelligence information about Russian election interference—who wouldn ’ t worry about November 4 ?
Or 5 , or 10 , or whenever all those mail-in votes are finally counted ?
What uproar will this president stoke among his supporters , including a heavily armed and rogue Department of Homeland Security , if he seems to be losing ?
And what about inauguration day ?
Trump has already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t please him .
My husband feels sure that , if necessary , our military will escort him from the Oval Office and provide a hypothetical President Biden with the nuclear football .
This I question , thanks to such acts as Trump ’ s recent appointment of retired Brig.-Gen. Anthony Tata , a staunch supporter of his , known for his extreme Islamophobia and racist remarks , to the Department of Defense ’ s number-two policy post over the bipartisan objections of Congress .
That we even have to imagine a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of power is both absurd and 2020 ’ s version of reality .
That ’ s why what its enemies call “ political correctness ” —respect for standards of decorum , kindness , and the peaceful mechanisms of democracy—is vital .
If you don ’ t like what the other side ’ s nominees say or do , then vote them down at the ballot box .
Organize other voters .
Write letters and attend town hall meetings .
Support evidence-based journalism .
But don ’ t debase the mechanisms that have , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our union .
War is an indescribable nightmare .
I ’ ve gotten the barest taste of its horror from my work at the Costs of War Project ; from photos of bloodied , pain-ravaged children in our war zones ; from testimonies I ’ ve heard from refugees and survivors grieving over the killing , maiming , or rape of loved ones ; and from the stories of veterans haunted by having to shoot other people , even armed children , in cold blood .
We can ’ t let such violence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want to be left wondering whether someday my family and others like us could find ourselves hiding in the woods to escape a government that might ask us to do the unthinkable and kill or torture fellow Americans .
Military families—most so much more than mine—have already suffered for far too long without watching our own country become a new war zone .

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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When it rains, pieces of glass, pottery, and metal rise through the mud in the hills surrounding my Maryland home. The other day, I walked outside barefoot to fetch one of my kid’s shoes and a pottery shard stabbed me in the heel. Nursing a minor infection, I wondered how long that fragment dated back.
A neighbor of mine found what he said looked like a cartridge case from an old percussion-cap rifle in his pumpkin patch. He told us that the battle of Monocacy had been fought on these grounds in July 1864, with 1,300 Union and 900 Confederate troops killed or wounded here. The stuff that surfaces in my fields when it storms may or may not be battle artifacts, but it does remind me that the past lingers and that modern America was formed in a civil war.
Increasingly, I can’t help thinking about possible new civil wars in this country and the violence we could inflict on each another. Recently, a family member reposted a YouTube video on her Facebook page that supposedly showed an antifa activist accidentally setting himself on fire (with the 1980s hit “Footloose” playing mockingly in the background). “I’m just going to leave this here,” read her caption. Shortly thereafter she claimed that the “YouTube speech police” had taken it down.
I thought of saying something to her about how, in countries where I’ve worked, ones without a democracy, people celebrate the misery of their opponents. Was that really, I wanted to ask, the kind of country she’d like our children to see us creating? But I decided not to, rather than further divide our family, which has grown ever more apart since Donald Trump took office. In addition, I knew that confronting her would do neither of us any good. Inspired by a president who offers a sterling example of how never to self-police what you do, she would simply have dismissed my comments as the frivolous words of the “politically correct.”
War and Peace
These days, when I watch the news and see clashes among the police, Black Lives Matter protesters, far-right “militias,” and antifa supporters, I’m often reminded that just because no one’s declared a civil war begun, doesn’t mean we aren’t staring at the makings of an armed conflict.
Our military service members and their families have toiled for endless years now in Afghanistan, Iraq, and so many other countries across the Greater Middle East and Africa under the mantle of establishing democracy and conducting a “war on terror.” They’ve done so to the tune of more than 7,000 of their own lives, a million of their own injuries and illnesses, hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths in those distant lands, and significantly more than $6 trillion in funding provided by the American taxpayer. Not surprisingly under such circumstances, they now live in a country that’s under-resourced and fractured in ways that are just beginning to resemble, in a modest fashion at least, the very war zones in which they’ve been fighting. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
This is both a personal and professional matter to me. As the spouse of a Navy officer who served three tours of duty on nuclear and ballistic missile submarines and one on an aircraft carrier, and the mother of two young children, I bear witness in small but significant ways to the physical, emotional, and financial toll that endless war has had on those who fight. I’m thinking of those long separations from my husband, his (and my) unlimited hours of work, the chronic health issues that go remarkably unaddressed in the Navy, the hazing by war-traumatized commanders, one near-fatal boat crash, the rising frequency of violence and suicides among military families, a recent lack of regard for obvious safety precautions during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the service’s under-resourced healthcare and childcare systems—and that’s just to begin a far longer list. Current Issue View our current issue
As a co-founder of Brown University’s Costs of War Project and a therapist who has worked with active-duty troops, veterans, and most recently children and adults who have arrived here as refugees and asylum seekers from the very lands in which the U.S. still fights, I continue to bear witness in my own way to the human costs of war, American-style. As I look up into the forest of oaks and elms in the hills around my home where, once upon a time, Americans undoubtedly sought shelter from bullets fired by their countrymen, it seems ever less far-fetched to me that my family could be asked to take part in an armed conflict on American soil.
Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night with a line from former President Barack Obama’s recent Democratic National Convention speech still in my head: “Do not let them take your democracy.” In my lifetime, I’d never heard a former president refer to a government that’s still supposed to be of, by, and for the people as “them”—especially a president as prone to understatement as he is. As a military spouse, I wonder where my family will fall in that ever-deepening chasm between “us” and “them.”
Homefront, Warfront
Obviously, intimidation and even armed attacks are already realities in American cities. Take, for example, the president’s decision to send federal troops using tear gas to clear away peaceful protesters near the White House so he could pursue a botched photo op. And that only happened after he had declared “war” on a virus whose effects are made worse by the inhalation of that very gas. He and Attorney General William Barr have similarly turned a blind eye to physical violence against, and the intimidation of, protesters by far-right groups whose racism, anti-Semitism, and support for this country’s slave history is obvious. Our commander in chief, while threatening but, so far at least, shying away from starting new foreign wars (thank goodness), has used military helicopters to intimidate protesters and allowed Department of Homeland Security agents to kidnap demonstrators from the streets of an American city.
To be sure, the antifa activist featured in that video my relative posted (if it even was real) could have been part of the same problem, as were those who looted storefronts, vehicles, and public property to make a point (or not) during the protests of these last months. And yet what choices did many of them have? Isn’t our major problem that those with power in a country growing more economically unequal by the month increasingly see themselves not as of the people but only as threatened by the people—by, that is, us?
More to the point, as Professor Robin Kelley wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times, what kind of society values property over Black lives?
Even journalism, once considered a hallmark of our democracy, has become the target of endless presidential insults and intimidation, including memes like the one in which the president is shown punching an opponent with CNN emblazoned on his head. What’s more, some of the Republican Party’s most vocal leaders all but directly condone racism. Typical of this Trumpian moment, for example, that rising star in the Republican Party Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has called slavery a “necessary evil.” In June, he even urged that the Army’s 101st Airborne Division be sent into the streets to deal with Black Lives Matter protesters.
Under these circumstances, violence may be the only thing that actually captures the attention of parts of a nation seemingly indifferent to the dehumanization and disenfranchisement of large swathes of this country’s people.
Like Iraq and Afghanistan, which have borne witness to increasing sectarianism and violence, the United States seems to be devolving into its own kind of sectarian conflict. After all, the police, now regularly armed by the Pentagon with weaponry and other equipment sometimes taken from this country’s distant war zones, increasingly wage a kind of proto-counterinsurgency warfare on our streets.
At the heart of today’s crisis lies a grim but simple fact: In this century, America’s power brokers decided to invest staggering sums of taxpayer dollars, manpower, and time in distant and disastrous “forever wars.” As Catherine Lutz and Neta Crawford, codirectors of the Costs of War Project, wrote in a recent op-ed, had some of the money this country spent on its post-9/11 wars been invested in healthcare, we would have had the tools to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic so much more effectively. The same might be said of our crumbling infrastructure and cash-starved public schools.
Speaking of public education, as economist Heidi Garrett-Peltier has pointed out, $1 million in federal spending creates nearly twice the number of jobs in public education as it does when “invested” in the Pentagon. If money had been diverted elsewhere from the military-industrial complex, perhaps we would have been able to return to school reasonably safely with enough teachers, staff, and protective equipment to ensure small-group instruction, sanitation, and social distancing. Our inability to deal with the pandemic effectively has, in turn, fed into our children losing the chance for in-person education—for, that is, reasonably safe interaction with peers and teachers from all walks of life.
Recently, after my kindergartener overheard a conversation about the police killing of Breonna Taylor in her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, he asked me whether “they” might be coming to kill us in our home, too. I assured him that they weren’t, but I did mention our (white) privilege in relation to some of his black friends in the preschool that he loved and can’t attend in person this fall.
I then tried to explain how, in this country, the right to life is not evenly shared. He responded simply enough, “Yes, but I don’t see them anymore.” And I couldn’t help but think that precisely this kind of social distancing, where you don’t get to interact with people whose lives and perspectives are different from yours, could be one grim sectarian legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic in a country that looks like it might be starting to come apart at the seams. In these months, the Black Lives Matter activists so often filling our television screens and streets with their righteous rage are among the few who remind my children to care about racial inequality.
In the Footsteps of 9/11?
How did this country reach a point where a significant portion of us—our president’s most vocal supporters—are comfortable debasing the humanity of Blacks and liberals or progressives of every sort? Think of it as the road from 9/11, from that moment when, in response to a set of terror attacks by 19 mostly Saudi hijackers, the Bush administration launched what it quickly termed “the Global War on Terror,” invaded Afghanistan, then Iraq, and then… well, you know the rest of the forever-war nightmare that’s never ended. In the process, they turned the Pentagon (and the war industries that go with it) into a sinkhole for our tax dollars and our dreams of the future.
In no small part, we’ve reached this point of unease, sectarianism, and strife due to our reverence for the military as the way to solve what are actually problems of staggering and growing global and American inequality, economic and otherwise. My spouse and I stay up late talking about the upcoming elections. Even if (and that’s a big “if”) the November 3 vote turns out to be free and fair—hard to imagine with a pandemic that has further disenfranchised communities of color and given Trump’s shenanigans encouraging double-voting, bad-mouthing mail-in ballots, and seeking to obscure or rewrite national intelligence information about Russian election interference—who wouldn’t worry about November 4? Or 5, or 10, or whenever all those mail-in votes are finally counted? What uproar will this president stoke among his supporters, including a heavily armed and rogue Department of Homeland Security, if he seems to be losing?
And what about inauguration day? Trump has already threatened not to accept results that don’t please him. My husband feels sure that, if necessary, our military will escort him from the Oval Office and provide a hypothetical President Biden with the nuclear football. This I question, thanks to such acts as Trump’s recent appointment of retired Brig.-Gen. Anthony Tata, a staunch supporter of his, known for his extreme Islamophobia and racist remarks, to the Department of Defense’s number-two policy post over the bipartisan objections of Congress.
That we even have to imagine a military solution to the usual peaceful transition of power is both absurd and 2020’s version of reality. That’s why what its enemies call “political correctness”—respect for standards of decorum, kindness, and the peaceful mechanisms of democracy—is vital. If you don’t like what the other side’s nominees say or do, then vote them down at the ballot box. Organize other voters. Write letters and attend town hall meetings. Support evidence-based journalism. But don’t debase the mechanisms that have, for centuries, allowed us to better our union.
War is an indescribable nightmare. I’ve gotten the barest taste of its horror from my work at the Costs of War Project; from photos of bloodied, pain-ravaged children in our war zones; from testimonies I’ve heard from refugees and survivors grieving over the killing, maiming, or rape of loved ones; and from the stories of veterans haunted by having to shoot other people, even armed children, in cold blood.
We can’t let such violence consume us. I don’t want to be left wondering whether someday my family and others like us could find ourselves hiding in the woods to escape a government that might ask us to do the unthinkable and kill or torture fellow Americans. Military families—most so much more than mine—have already suffered for far too long without watching our own country become a new war zone.


thenation--2020-09-25--It’s Not Just the Supreme Court That’s at Stake

As Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Lamar Alexander—once more profiles in cowering—fall into line , Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has the votes to confirm Trump ’ s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg on the Supreme Court .
Less than two months before a presidential election , Donald Trump , elected without a popular majority , and the Republican Senate majority , representing a minority of Americans , will nominate and confirm for a lifetime appointment a right-wing , pro-corporate social conservative , carefully vetted by partisan , ideological groups .
Faced with projected defeat in the coming election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only organizing to create chaos around the election ; they are hell-bent on packing the Supreme Court with another activist right-wing judge wedded to views that are at odds with majority opinion .
There is no shame .
The blatant hypocrisy of confirming a judge so close to the election after Republicans blocked Obama ’ s nominee months before the last election doesn ’ t matter .
Their self-righteous lectures on how the American people should have a voice were just pap .
Appeals to good faith or institutional restraint are scorned .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is who they are .
A minority party , grounded in small , predominately white states and the South , championing a failed ideology , and committed to doing what it takes to retain power , or at least to thwart the will of the majority .
McConnell demonstrated that in his scorched-earth obstruction of everything Obama during the Obama years .
Trump demonstrates it in his brazen efforts to rouse racial fears , his reliance on dividing the country as a core political strategy .
Democrats and activists have reacted to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate Democrats to use every mechanism to try to halt the confirmation , and , if they win in November , to counter the stolen Supreme Court seats by either expanding the court , as Elie Mystal argued for here , or imposing term limits .
The question is much broader than that .
Democrats—and particularly Joe Biden—must discard any illusions that once Trump is ousted , Republicans will have , in Biden ’ s words , an “ epiphany ” and cooperate in bipartisan efforts to address the crises we face .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats win the White House and the Senate majority , McConnell and Republican enablers will once more unite in a relentless campaign of obstruction .
With the country wracked by growing crises—the pandemic , catastrophic climate change , extreme inequality , racial injustice , endless wars—large-scale , bold , and dramatic action is vital .
The country can not afford to allow McConnell license to once more obstruct progress .
It isn ’ t enough to focus on the court .
The first order of business after the election is the passage of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ majority , they will have the power to end the filibuster and nullify McConnell ’ s ability to obstruct .
That decision will be made quickly in the Democratic caucus , even before the Senate formally convenes .
Despite Republican zealotry , however , Joe Biden has remained wedded to a naive longing for the return to the days of bipartisan comity .
In response to the effort to force through the Supreme Court nominee , Biden quaintly appealed to Republicans to “ follow your conscience.… Uphold your constitutional duty , your conscience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moderate Republicans Mitt Romney and Lamar Alexander burst that fantasy .
“ It was an old-fashioned appeal to decency , ” said Jim Manley , who spent 21 years working in the Senate , including six with onetime majority leader Harry Reid .
“ He acknowledged the hyper-partisanship out there , but he wanted to cool things down a little bit before it gets really ugly.
” No , Joe , it has already gotten really ugly .
Conservative Democrats like Joe Manchin , Krysten Sinema , and Diane Feinstein and independent Angus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the filibuster .
It will take forceful leadership from Biden and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to force the issue .
Addressing the filibuster in July , Biden told a group of journalists that it would “ depend on how obstreperous ” Republicans are .
Senator Chris Coons , a close Biden ally , echoed that he ’ d be open to doing away with the filibuster if Republicans don ’ t cooperate .
That suggests that Biden would be happy to keep the filibuster in place during his first months or year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faith ” of Republicans .
But that good faith has already been tested again and again and has failed every time .
How many times will Democrats have to get mugged before they realize the gloves are off and the knives are out ?
Happily , progressive activists have joined in creating Fix Our Senate , a war room to pressure recalcitrant Democrats to end the filibuster .
Groups like Indivisible , the Communications Workers of America , the Working Family Party , Common Cause , and Our Revolution have begun to organize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the wavering senators ’ states .
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has led the effort inside the Democratic caucus , with strong allies like Elizabeth Warren .
Barack Obama belatedly weighed in , calling the filibuster a “ Jim Crow relic , ” used to impede progress on civil rights .
Not surprisingly , Mitch McConnell warns Democrats not to eliminate the filibuster , for they will no doubt be in the minority sometime in the future .
But this is not the time for business—or gridlock—as usual .
The crises are too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats can not allow McConnell and his Republican cohorts to obstruct progress again .
The time for nostalgia and illusion is past .
Now is the time for action .

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As Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Lamar Alexander—once more profiles in cowering—fall into line, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has the votes to confirm Trump’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg on the Supreme Court.
Less than two months before a presidential election, Donald Trump, elected without a popular majority, and the Republican Senate majority, representing a minority of Americans, will nominate and confirm for a lifetime appointment a right-wing, pro-corporate social conservative, carefully vetted by partisan, ideological groups. Faced with projected defeat in the coming election, Trump and Republican operatives are not only organizing to create chaos around the election; they are hell-bent on packing the Supreme Court with another activist right-wing judge wedded to views that are at odds with majority opinion.
There is no shame. The blatant hypocrisy of confirming a judge so close to the election after Republicans blocked Obama’s nominee months before the last election doesn’t matter. Their self-righteous lectures on how the American people should have a voice were just pap. Appeals to good faith or institutional restraint are scorned.
There can be no illusions. This is who they are. A minority party, grounded in small, predominately white states and the South, championing a failed ideology, and committed to doing what it takes to retain power, or at least to thwart the will of the majority. McConnell demonstrated that in his scorched-earth obstruction of everything Obama during the Obama years. Trump demonstrates it in his brazen efforts to rouse racial fears, his reliance on dividing the country as a core political strategy. the opposition Biden Republicans Are a Political Illusion Jeet Heer
Democrats and activists have reacted to the packing of the court by calling on Senate Democrats to use every mechanism to try to halt the confirmation, and, if they win in November, to counter the stolen Supreme Court seats by either expanding the court, as Elie Mystal argued for here, or imposing term limits.
The question is much broader than that. Democrats—and particularly Joe Biden—must discard any illusions that once Trump is ousted, Republicans will have, in Biden’s words, an “epiphany” and cooperate in bipartisan efforts to address the crises we face.
Don’t believe it. If Democrats win the White House and the Senate majority, McConnell and Republican enablers will once more unite in a relentless campaign of obstruction. With the country wracked by growing crises—the pandemic, catastrophic climate change, extreme inequality, racial injustice, endless wars—large-scale, bold, and dramatic action is vital. The country cannot afford to allow McConnell license to once more obstruct progress. 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
It isn’t enough to focus on the court. The first order of business after the election is the passage of Senate rules. If Democrats win the majority, they will have the power to end the filibuster and nullify McConnell’s ability to obstruct. That decision will be made quickly in the Democratic caucus, even before the Senate formally convenes.
Despite Republican zealotry, however, Joe Biden has remained wedded to a naive longing for the return to the days of bipartisan comity. In response to the effort to force through the Supreme Court nominee, Biden quaintly appealed to Republicans to “follow your conscience.… Uphold your constitutional duty, your conscience, let the people speak.” So-called moderate Republicans Mitt Romney and Lamar Alexander burst that fantasy.
“It was an old-fashioned appeal to decency,” said Jim Manley, who spent 21 years working in the Senate, including six with onetime majority leader Harry Reid. “He acknowledged the hyper-partisanship out there, but he wanted to cool things down a little bit before it gets really ugly.”
No, Joe, it has already gotten really ugly. Conservative Democrats like Joe Manchin, Krysten Sinema, and Diane Feinstein and independent Angus King have said they want to preserve the filibuster. It will take forceful leadership from Biden and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to force the issue.
Addressing the filibuster in July, Biden told a group of journalists that it would “depend on how obstreperous” Republicans are. Senator Chris Coons, a close Biden ally, echoed that he’d be open to doing away with the filibuster if Republicans don’t cooperate.
That suggests that Biden would be happy to keep the filibuster in place during his first months or year in office to test the “good faith” of Republicans. But that good faith has already been tested again and again and has failed every time. How many times will Democrats have to get mugged before they realize the gloves are off and the knives are out?
Happily, progressive activists have joined in creating Fix Our Senate, a war room to pressure recalcitrant Democrats to end the filibuster. Groups like Indivisible, the Communications Workers of America, the Working Family Party, Common Cause, and Our Revolution have begun to organize. Activists have started to mobilize opinion in the wavering senators’ states. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has led the effort inside the Democratic caucus, with strong allies like Elizabeth Warren. Barack Obama belatedly weighed in, calling the filibuster a “Jim Crow relic,” used to impede progress on civil rights.
Not surprisingly, Mitch McConnell warns Democrats not to eliminate the filibuster, for they will no doubt be in the minority sometime in the future. But this is not the time for business—or gridlock—as usual. The crises are too deep, the challenges too great. Democrats cannot allow McConnell and his Republican cohorts to obstruct progress again. The time for nostalgia and illusion is past. Now is the time for action.


thenation--2020-09-25--Can Kentucky Slip the Industry Ties That Prevent Change?

This story is part of Covering Climate Now , a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story .
This article originally appeared in The Guardian .
April 15 .
That ’ s the traditional frost-free date in Schochoh , the small community in south-central Kentucky where Sam Halcomb and his family own and operate Walnut Grove Farms .
Before then , the soft red winter wheat that Halcomb grows , which finds its way into McDonald ’ s biscuits and grocery store pancake mixes , is flowering and especially vulnerable to cold .
The frost-free date is an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If you make it past that date , you ’ re likely to have a healthy harvest .
This year , a freeze came on exactly April 15 , with early morning temperatures dropping into the mid-20s Fahrenheit .
“ We were all smacking our heads , saying , ‘ Ah , we almost made it ’ , ” Halcomb said .
Then , on May 9 , another freeze hit .
Two late freezes in one season was “ completely unheard of , ” said Halcomb , a sixth-generation farmer .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t remember ever having a freeze that late.
” A typical wheat yield at Walnut Grove is 85 bushels per acre ; this year , it was closer to 60 .
Halcomb ’ s losses totaled about $ 200,000 .
Kentucky ’ s climate is changing quickly .
The Bluegrass State is the ninth most threatened by long-term climate change impacts , according to a recent study by SafeHome.org , based on data from Climate Central .
That puts it ahead of even California , where wildfires recently have wreaked havoc @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drought , wildfires , and flooding all threaten Kentucky .
There ’ s a growing environmental movement in the state , and more leaders than ever are speaking the language of sustainability .
Coal industry ties run deep , however , and for many , talk of change is anathema .
The state legislature has mostly avoided the climate issue .
And US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell , by far the state ’ s best-known politician , has been a dedicated opponent of climate action in Washington .
These Races Will Shape @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Progress The Media ’ s Climate Coverage Is Improving , but Time Is Very Short Vote as if the Climate and the Future of Humanity Depend on It—Because They Do More in this series Kentucky is a microcosm of the nation ’ s climate dilemma : The effects of the climate crisis are clear here , but legacy interests and the forces of change are in a deadlock .
“ There ’ s a lag between where we need to be and where we ’ re at right now , ” said Lane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Committee , a nonprofit environmental policy group .
“ And there really isn ’ t a lot of time.
” McConnell has accepted more than $ 3 million from the coal , oil , and gas industries over the course of his career .
Critics say he ’ s returned the favor with handouts—tax breaks and regulatory cuts—to keep the dying industry afloat .
In 2017 , McConnell joined the Trump administration in urging America ’ s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord .
In 2019 , he engineered what he admitted was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kill the Green New Deal .
As a campaigner , McConnell has framed efforts to rein in the coal industry as the meddling of a distant federal government out of touch with Kentuckians ’ way of life .
That ’ s not to say coal has been good to Kentuckians , of late .
The coal industry employed some 38,000 Kentuckians when McConnell took office in 1985 ; that number is below 4,000 today .
Workers in the mountainous eastern part of the state have found themselves laid off and uncompensated for their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has led to one of the worst black lung epidemics on record .
Eastern Kentucky counties are among the poorest in the nation , with poverty rates around 40 percent .
The water in some of those counties is either undrinkable or unaffordable .
Meanwhile , McConnell sits on the Senate agriculture committee but has seemed indifferent to how climate change threatens Kentucky ’ s sizable agricultural sector .
Three of the five wettest years on record in the state have been in the past decade , and this summer saw the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 1895 .
Plentiful rain can boost crops , but rain now comes to many parts of Kentucky in unhelpful torrents .
In both the eastern mountains and urban areas , excessive rain has contributed to severe and frequent flooding .
In Louisville this year , rain has turned neighborhoods into swamps and devastated businesses .
The climate crisis is not the explicit nor the sole cause of all this rain .
But the precipitation uptick is “ very much consistent ” with scientific projections for how climate change will play out in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s state climatologist , said .
Many in the state remain unconvinced .
According to a study this month by Yale and George Mason universities , Kentucky is one of only four states in the country where a majority of adults do not believe global warming is caused by humans .
Similar apathy reigns in the state legislature , where Republicans hold a lock on both houses .
The chair of the House Natural Resources and Energy committee , Jim Gooch , for example , told Louisville ’ s WFPL radio station @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remains unsettled .
Other legislators seem still beholden to the coal industry , reform advocates say , and to utility companies .
Boldman , of the Kentucky Conservation Committee , warned that Kentucky could soon become less attractive to outside companies—who increasingly are making their own climate commitments to consumers—that might otherwise eye the state for investment .
“ It can turn companies off if they see a state still hanging on to legacy energy , ” Boldman said .
“ Companies now are looking for renewables , and we ’ re playing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost the state ’ s Democratic primary for the US Senate to Amy McGrath , championed environmental justice and the Green New Deal .
Booker , who is Black and hails from impoverished West Louisville , rejected stereotypical divisions between urban and rural voters .
Kentuckians everywhere , he said , had suffered badly from environmental neglect , and he promised a just economic transition for parts of the state historically reliant on coal .
“ From the hood to the holler , ” went one Booker slogan .
Booker ’ s campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that an unabashed climate advocate came as close as he did to facing off against McConnell this November could signal that Kentucky is ready to get serious on climate .
McGrath trails McConnell in the polls—but not by so much , state politicos say , that she should be counted out .
A retired Marine fighter pilot , McGrath calls climate change “ intricately tied to our national security , ” a position that syncs with the US Defense Department .
Another early line of attack by McGrath focused on the health crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left our coal miners behind years ago , ” she charged in one ad .
Booker , for his part , has thrown his support behind McGrath .
Local races also suggest that environmental politics may be shifting in Kentucky .
Sarah Lynn Cunningham , chair of the Kentucky chapter of the Sierra Club ’ s climate change task force , was intrigued this spring to see a Republican candidate for state Senate in a competitive district near Louisville seek the group ’ s endorsement .
The candidate was knowledgeable , she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his fellow Republicans lagged on the environment .
“ I ’ ve never had a Republican say they would like to compete for our endorsement , ” Cunningham said .
“ That was a first.
” ( In the end , the Sierra Club endorsed the Democrat , who won , flipping a seat held by Republicans since 1995 . )
Stephen Voss , an expert in elections and voter behavior at the University of Kentucky , doubts climate will prove central in this fall ’ s outcome .
Based on his assessment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , however , he suggested that McGrath could profit by framing climate as a matter of community health , economic durability , and jobs .
“ We ’ ve had nibbles at this approach , ” he said .
“ But no one has successfully done it yet.
” In a statement to The Guardian , McGrath did raise jobs and public health as areas where McConnell ’ s climate record has damaged Kentucky .
McConnell , she said , is “ failing us on climate , because he is beholden to special @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jobs , we could get ahead of the curve and be an innovation leader.
” “ Our government ’ s first job is to keep Americans safe , ” McGrath added .
“ And to do that , we need to prepare for climate change.
” The McConnell campaign did not respond to requests for comment .
Perhaps the biggest harbinger of change in Kentucky is the youth vote , with even young conservatives in the state worried about the climate crisis .
The question , Voss said , is whether young people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Fernanda Scharfenberger , an 18-year-old climate activist at Centre College in Danville , is optimistic on that front .
Two years ago , when Scharfenberger was a junior in high school in Louisville , a boy from a nearby school died after he was swept into a storm pipe during a heavy rain .
The death hit her social group like a shock wave .
Scharfenberger went home that day and Googled “ climate.
” “ As you can imagine , ” she said , “ it got pretty overwhelming pretty quickly.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ That December , Scharfenberger traveled with young people from across the country to Washington to lobby for a Green New Deal .
All 50 states were represented , but Kentucky ’ s delegation , with 75 young activists present , was the largest .
Back home , Scharfenberger cofounded a Louisville hub for the Sunrise Movement , which has made headlines by taking McConnell to task for his ties to the fossil fuel industry and mocking approach to the Green New Deal .
Sunrise hubs later formed in Lexington , Bowling Green , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disappointed when McGrath bested Booker in the primary ; they preferred Booker ’ s emphasis on local climate effects and his full-throated endorsement of a Green New Deal .
Still , they relish the chance to unseat McConnell .
In June , Sunrise members from across the state led a dawn protest outside McConnell ’ s home in Louisville demanding justice for Breonna Taylor , who was killed there by police in March .
The ongoing Black Lives Matter protests , Scharfenberg said , have kept young activists engaged in community organizing and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environmental and social justice issues in the state .
This November will mark the first time Scharfenberger and many of her fellow activists are entitled to vote .
“ I feel a large commitment and responsibility , ” she said .
“ The people we put in office can so drastically impact people ’ s chances at survival .
And we ’ ve had enough of the bare minimum .
”

This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This article originally appeared in The Guardian.
April 15. That’s the traditional frost-free date in Schochoh, the small community in south-central Kentucky where Sam Halcomb and his family own and operate Walnut Grove Farms. Before then, the soft red winter wheat that Halcomb grows, which finds its way into McDonald’s biscuits and grocery store pancake mixes, is flowering and especially vulnerable to cold. The frost-free date is an estimate, based on years of experience. If you make it past that date, you’re likely to have a healthy harvest.
This year, a freeze came on exactly April 15, with early morning temperatures dropping into the mid-20s Fahrenheit. “We were all smacking our heads, saying, ‘Ah, we almost made it’,” Halcomb said. Then, on May 9, another freeze hit.
Two late freezes in one season was “completely unheard of,” said Halcomb, a sixth-generation farmer. “In my whole life, I don’t remember ever having a freeze that late.” A typical wheat yield at Walnut Grove is 85 bushels per acre; this year, it was closer to 60. Halcomb’s losses totaled about $200,000.
Kentucky’s climate is changing quickly. The Bluegrass State is the ninth most threatened by long-term climate change impacts, according to a recent study by SafeHome.org, based on data from Climate Central. That puts it ahead of even California, where wildfires recently have wreaked havoc. Erratic weather, exceptional heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding all threaten Kentucky.
There’s a growing environmental movement in the state, and more leaders than ever are speaking the language of sustainability. Coal industry ties run deep, however, and for many, talk of change is anathema. The state legislature has mostly avoided the climate issue. And US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, by far the state’s best-known politician, has been a dedicated opponent of climate action in Washington. Covering Climate Now How to Stop the Spread of Climate Disinformation Erika Seiber and Michael Khoo A Soundtrack for the Climate Emergency Mark Hertsgaard Can Gen Z Save the Midterms for Democrats? Mark Hertsgaard
Kentucky is a microcosm of the nation’s climate dilemma: The effects of the climate crisis are clear here, but legacy interests and the forces of change are in a deadlock. “There’s a lag between where we need to be and where we’re at right now,” said Lane Boldman, who directs the Kentucky Conservation Committee, a nonprofit environmental policy group. “And there really isn’t a lot of time.”
McConnell has accepted more than $3 million from the coal, oil, and gas industries over the course of his career. Critics say he’s returned the favor with handouts—tax breaks and regulatory cuts—to keep the dying industry afloat. In 2017, McConnell joined the Trump administration in urging America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. In 2019, he engineered what he admitted was “a show vote” intended to kill the Green New Deal. As a campaigner, McConnell has framed efforts to rein in the coal industry as the meddling of a distant federal government out of touch with Kentuckians’ way of life. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
That’s not to say coal has been good to Kentuckians, of late. The coal industry employed some 38,000 Kentuckians when McConnell took office in 1985; that number is below 4,000 today. Workers in the mountainous eastern part of the state have found themselves laid off and uncompensated for their work by coal bosses. And deregulation has led to one of the worst black lung epidemics on record. Eastern Kentucky counties are among the poorest in the nation, with poverty rates around 40 percent. The water in some of those counties is either undrinkable or unaffordable.
Meanwhile, McConnell sits on the Senate agriculture committee but has seemed indifferent to how climate change threatens Kentucky’s sizable agricultural sector.
Three of the five wettest years on record in the state have been in the past decade, and this summer saw the most rain of any two-month period going back to 1895. Plentiful rain can boost crops, but rain now comes to many parts of Kentucky in unhelpful torrents. In both the eastern mountains and urban areas, excessive rain has contributed to severe and frequent flooding. In Louisville this year, rain has turned neighborhoods into swamps and devastated businesses.
The climate crisis is not the explicit nor the sole cause of all this rain. But the precipitation uptick is “very much consistent” with scientific projections for how climate change will play out in the state, Stuart Foster, Kentucky’s state climatologist, said.
Many in the state remain unconvinced. According to a study this month by Yale and George Mason universities, Kentucky is one of only four states in the country where a majority of adults do not believe global warming is caused by humans.
Similar apathy reigns in the state legislature, where Republicans hold a lock on both houses. The chair of the House Natural Resources and Energy committee, Jim Gooch, for example, told Louisville’s WFPL radio station recently that the science on climate change remains unsettled. Other legislators seem still beholden to the coal industry, reform advocates say, and to utility companies.
Boldman, of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, warned that Kentucky could soon become less attractive to outside companies—who increasingly are making their own climate commitments to consumers—that might otherwise eye the state for investment. “It can turn companies off if they see a state still hanging on to legacy energy,” Boldman said. “Companies now are looking for renewables, and we’re playing catch-up.”
Charles Booker, who narrowly lost the state’s Democratic primary for the US Senate to Amy McGrath, championed environmental justice and the Green New Deal. Booker, who is Black and hails from impoverished West Louisville, rejected stereotypical divisions between urban and rural voters. Kentuckians everywhere, he said, had suffered badly from environmental neglect, and he promised a just economic transition for parts of the state historically reliant on coal. “From the hood to the holler,” went one Booker slogan. Current Issue View our current issue
Booker’s campaign captured national attention; and the fact that an unabashed climate advocate came as close as he did to facing off against McConnell this November could signal that Kentucky is ready to get serious on climate.
McGrath trails McConnell in the polls—but not by so much, state politicos say, that she should be counted out. A retired Marine fighter pilot, McGrath calls climate change “intricately tied to our national security,” a position that syncs with the US Defense Department. Another early line of attack by McGrath focused on the health crisis in eastern Kentucky; “Mitch McConnell left our coal miners behind years ago,” she charged in one ad. Booker, for his part, has thrown his support behind McGrath.
Local races also suggest that environmental politics may be shifting in Kentucky. Sarah Lynn Cunningham, chair of the Kentucky chapter of the Sierra Club’s climate change task force, was intrigued this spring to see a Republican candidate for state Senate in a competitive district near Louisville seek the group’s endorsement. The candidate was knowledgeable, she said, and expressed concern that many of his fellow Republicans lagged on the environment. “I’ve never had a Republican say they would like to compete for our endorsement,” Cunningham said. “That was a first.” (In the end, the Sierra Club endorsed the Democrat, who won, flipping a seat held by Republicans since 1995.)
Stephen Voss, an expert in elections and voter behavior at the University of Kentucky, doubts climate will prove central in this fall’s outcome. Based on his assessment of how environmental issues resonate in Kentucky, however, he suggested that McGrath could profit by framing climate as a matter of community health, economic durability, and jobs. “We’ve had nibbles at this approach,” he said. “But no one has successfully done it yet.”
In a statement to The Guardian, McGrath did raise jobs and public health as areas where McConnell’s climate record has damaged Kentucky. McConnell, she said, is “failing us on climate, because he is beholden to special interests. If you want to bring jobs, we could get ahead of the curve and be an innovation leader.”
“Our government’s first job is to keep Americans safe,” McGrath added. “And to do that, we need to prepare for climate change.”
The McConnell campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Perhaps the biggest harbinger of change in Kentucky is the youth vote, with even young conservatives in the state worried about the climate crisis. The question, Voss said, is whether young people will show up to vote this fall.
Fernanda Scharfenberger, an 18-year-old climate activist at Centre College in Danville, is optimistic on that front. Two years ago, when Scharfenberger was a junior in high school in Louisville, a boy from a nearby school died after he was swept into a storm pipe during a heavy rain. The death hit her social group like a shock wave. Scharfenberger went home that day and Googled “climate.” “As you can imagine,” she said, “it got pretty overwhelming pretty quickly.” She felt called to action.
Fernanda Scharfenberger, 18, at Centre College in Kentucky. (Andrew McCormick)
That December, Scharfenberger traveled with young people from across the country to Washington to lobby for a Green New Deal. All 50 states were represented, but Kentucky’s delegation, with 75 young activists present, was the largest.
Back home, Scharfenberger cofounded a Louisville hub for the Sunrise Movement, which has made headlines by taking McConnell to task for his ties to the fossil fuel industry and mocking approach to the Green New Deal. Sunrise hubs later formed in Lexington, Bowling Green, and far-western Murray.
Young activists were disappointed when McGrath bested Booker in the primary; they preferred Booker’s emphasis on local climate effects and his full-throated endorsement of a Green New Deal. Still, they relish the chance to unseat McConnell.
In June, Sunrise members from across the state led a dawn protest outside McConnell’s home in Louisville demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, who was killed there by police in March. The ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, Scharfenberg said, have kept young activists engaged in community organizing and electoral work, highlighting the intersection of environmental and social justice issues in the state.
This November will mark the first time Scharfenberger and many of her fellow activists are entitled to vote. “I feel a large commitment and responsibility,” she said. “The people we put in office can so drastically impact people’s chances at survival. And we’ve had enough of the bare minimum.”


thenation--2020-09-26--One Black Lives Matter Protest in Rural New York Opens the Door to Change

reene ounty , —Ever since the Black Lives Matter march in Catskill in June , I ’ ve been regularly checking out a Facebook page started by the organizers .
My main interest has been to find out whether the event has produced any concrete changes .
Recently , I had my answer : Mercedes Brantley , one of the six young Black women who organized the march—which was peaceful , racially mixed , and attracted about 1,000 people—announced on the page that she was considering running for office .
“ I never thought about it until the march , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I don ’ t think many people of color have ever thought about it .
But I realize now that I have a voice and I ’ m not afraid to use it.
” Brantley , a Catskill native who works as the business manager for an assisted living facility , says that she still has to meet with the local Democratic Party to make sure she would have their endorsement , but that the likelihood is that she ’ ll vie for a seat on Catskill ’ s currently all-white village board @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s total population of roughly 12,000 is about four-fifths white . )
“ I do think there is a difference ” since the march , she says .
“ A lot more people are speaking out , even if just in their regular daily lives.
” Brantley ’ s decision to run for office represents a changed attitude toward the ballot box from the one frequently expressed by young activists a generation ago : that voting is a waste of time .
( I ’ ve never forgotten interviewing three young activists in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticisms of the Clinton administration , then learning that none of them had voted in the election that brought him to power . )
Today ’ s young people seem to feel that voting is essential to the struggle .
As Democrats Leave Cities , Rural Areas See an Uptick in Voter Registration Where I Live , Hostility Toward Black Lives Matter Is Often Indirect Rural New York Is in the Streets , Marching for Black Lives More in this series I think that another sign of the impact of the Black Lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County officials have been relatively quick in setting up a police reform committee .
These committees were mandated in June by the governor to examine police practices and adopt reform plans .
Their responsibility extends to local police and sheriffs ’ departments , but regrettably not the State Police .
Our committee is hardly ideal in its makeup : heavy on clergy and public officials and lacking in young people .
But there was one name that jumped out at me when I first read it a couple weeks ago in a story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I ’ d heard of Gary Slutzky , who lives in Hunter , a town not far from mine , as a member of the family who started the Hunter Mountain ski resort , but I also knew he was a white , progressive Democrat .
So I wondered what he was doing there .
The usual answer : friends .
Slutzky told me he ’ s known Republican Sheriff Pete Kusminsky , who tapped him for the commission , for over 30 years .
They got to know each other when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around here , including by Democrats , as a good guy , was in the State Police and Slutzky was a member of the Hunter volunteer fire department .
“ I ’ m a real outsider , ” he says , referring to the other members of the commission .
But friends with the sheriff or not , Slutzky made it clear in our conversation that he ’ s serious about his new role .
Maybe because of his mother ’ s influence , he says , or maybe because he grew up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ occasionally experiencing anti-Semitism , he thinks its work is important .
When I asked him whether unthinking racism is a problem in Greene County , he said , “ Oh yeah , absolutely.
” Kusminsky himself , who took office only a few months ago , shies away from any talk of systemic racism , saying , “ My guys have all undergone implicit bias training.
” And when I asked him about the comments of two county officials who have said publicly that there is little need for the commission , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agree ” with them .
But he said he ’ s willing to listen to community concerns , noting that he ’ s working on a plan to recruit more people of color to the sheriff ’ s department , which currently has only one Black officer out of 32 .
Good intentions are all very well , but I wish Kusminsky would speak to some people like Thomas Kearney , and better yet , get people like him appointed to the commission .
Kearney , 39 , who is Black , told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a teenager in Catskill when a policeman pointed a gun at him after he refused to leave a park .
“ He was red-faced and upset , ” Kearney recalls .
“ How can you not be aware that shoving a gun in a 16-year-old ’ s face is wrong ?
And if you aren ’ t aware , you don ’ t deserve your badge.
” Kearney , who served time in prison as a result of what he says was a fight that got out of hand while he was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recovery program .
Talking with people like Kusminsky and Kearney is a reminder that in rural America , perhaps even more than in urban America , white people and Black people experience the world very differently .
That ’ s why it seems to me that Mercedes Brantley ’ s running for office is so important : It ’ s a start toward inserting previously unheard voices into local political discussions , not just about policing but also other issues .
So , despite continuing examples of racism ( just a few days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ road signs near where I live ) and a growing backlash against BLM ( often in the form of demonstrations in support of the police ) , I feel reasonably positive .
I think Mercedes Brantley is right that the BLM movement is stirring things up , and I think she herself is an example of where that can lead .

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G reene C ounty, N.Y. —Ever since the Black Lives Matter march in Catskill in June, I’ve been regularly checking out a Facebook page started by the organizers. My main interest has been to find out whether the event has produced any concrete changes.
Recently, I had my answer: Mercedes Brantley, one of the six young Black women who organized the march—which was peaceful, racially mixed, and attracted about 1,000 people—announced on the page that she was considering running for office. “I never thought about it until the march,” she later told me. “I don’t think many people of color have ever thought about it. But I realize now that I have a voice and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Brantley, a Catskill native who works as the business manager for an assisted living facility, says that she still has to meet with the local Democratic Party to make sure she would have their endorsement, but that the likelihood is that she’ll vie for a seat on Catskill’s currently all-white village board next year. (The town’s total population of roughly 12,000 is about four-fifths white.) “I do think there is a difference” since the march, she says. “A lot more people are speaking out, even if just in their regular daily lives.”
Brantley’s decision to run for office represents a changed attitude toward the ballot box from the one frequently expressed by young activists a generation ago: that voting is a waste of time. (I’ve never forgotten interviewing three young activists in the 1990s and hearing their impressively argued criticisms of the Clinton administration, then learning that none of them had voted in the election that brought him to power.) Today’s young people seem to feel that voting is essential to the struggle. All Politics Is Local My Neighbors Certainly Didn’t Celebrate Biden’s Win, but They Also Didn’t Publicly Mourn Trump’s Loss Karen Rothmyer Trump’s Response to Losing the Vote Calvin Trillin As Democrats Leave Cities, Rural Areas See an Uptick in Voter Registration Karen Rothmyer
I think that another sign of the impact of the Black Lives Matter march in Catskill is that Greene County officials have been relatively quick in setting up a police reform committee. These committees were mandated in June by the governor to examine police practices and adopt reform plans. Their responsibility extends to local police and sheriffs’ departments, but regrettably not the State Police.
Our committee is hardly ideal in its makeup: heavy on clergy and public officials and lacking in young people. But there was one name that jumped out at me when I first read it a couple weeks ago in a story about the committee in the local newspaper. I’d heard of Gary Slutzky, who lives in Hunter, a town not far from mine, as a member of the family who started the Hunter Mountain ski resort, but I also knew he was a white, progressive Democrat. So I wondered what he was doing there. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection How the “Brooks Brothers Riot” Set the Stage for Insurrection Chris Lehmann
The usual answer: friends. Slutzky told me he’s known Republican Sheriff Pete Kusminsky, who tapped him for the commission, for over 30 years. They got to know each other when Kusminsky, who’s generally seen around here, including by Democrats, as a good guy, was in the State Police and Slutzky was a member of the Hunter volunteer fire department. “I’m a real outsider,” he says, referring to the other members of the commission. Current Issue View our current issue
But friends with the sheriff or not, Slutzky made it clear in our conversation that he’s serious about his new role. Maybe because of his mother’s influence, he says, or maybe because he grew up not just hearing racist remarks but also occasionally experiencing anti-Semitism, he thinks its work is important. When I asked him whether unthinking racism is a problem in Greene County, he said, “Oh yeah, absolutely.”
Kusminsky himself, who took office only a few months ago, shies away from any talk of systemic racism, saying, “My guys have all undergone implicit bias training.” And when I asked him about the comments of two county officials who have said publicly that there is little need for the commission, he said he “would have to mostly agree” with them. But he said he’s willing to listen to community concerns, noting that he’s working on a plan to recruit more people of color to the sheriff’s department, which currently has only one Black officer out of 32.
Good intentions are all very well, but I wish Kusminsky would speak to some people like Thomas Kearney, and better yet, get people like him appointed to the commission. Kearney, 39, who is Black, told me about an incident when he was a teenager in Catskill when a policeman pointed a gun at him after he refused to leave a park. “He was red-faced and upset,” Kearney recalls. “How can you not be aware that shoving a gun in a 16-year-old’s face is wrong? And if you aren’t aware, you don’t deserve your badge.” Kearney, who served time in prison as a result of what he says was a fight that got out of hand while he was in college, now works in a drug recovery program.
Talking with people like Kusminsky and Kearney is a reminder that in rural America, perhaps even more than in urban America, white people and Black people experience the world very differently. That’s why it seems to me that Mercedes Brantley’s running for office is so important: It’s a start toward inserting previously unheard voices into local political discussions, not just about policing but also other issues.
So, despite continuing examples of racism (just a few days ago someone wrote racist graffiti on some road signs near where I live) and a growing backlash against BLM (often in the form of demonstrations in support of the police), I feel reasonably positive. I think Mercedes Brantley is right that the BLM movement is stirring things up, and I think she herself is an example of where that can lead.


thenation--2020-09-26--Amy Coney Barrett’s Extremist Religious Beliefs Merit Examination

President Donald Trump ’ s Supreme Court nominee , Amy Coney Barrett , is a devout Catholic .
Obviously , that has no bearing on her fitness to join the court .
The Democratic presidential nominee , Joe Biden , is a devout Catholic .
Justice Sonia Sotomayor is Catholic , as are four conservatives currently on the court : Chief Justice John Roberts , Clarence Thomas , Samuel Alito , and Brett Kavanaugh .
It is hard to make a case that Catholics , who make up roughly 23 percent of Americans , face discrimination when nominated to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elected , would be only the second Catholic president in our history ) .
Raised Catholic ( and still a much-derided “ cafeteria Catholic ” ) , I ’ ve grown up sensitive to anti-Catholic prejudice .
The questions about Barrett ’ s religious beliefs are not that .
They stem from her long membership in the small , charismatic South Bend , Ind.–based Christian sect People of Praise .
Although it is open to all Christian denominations , an estimated 90 percent of its 1,800 members are Catholic , the Jesuit magazine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The group also tends to skew conservative , at least politically , ” In a 2018 interview with the South Bend Tribune , Barrett ’ s home paper , the group ’ s current “ coordinator , ” Craig Lent , confirmed that People of Praise opposes abortion , gay rights , and marriage equality , and believes that “ men are leaders of their families , but that they should be ‘ servant leaders , ’ as Jesus Christ was.
” Still , Lent insisted the group “ stays out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yet many conservatives , and even a few liberals , are making the specious argument that Barrett ’ s religious views should be off-limits .
Writing for the Boston public radio site WBUR , in a piece headlined , “ It ’ s 2020 .
Stop Talking About Amy Coney Barrett ’ s ‘ Devout ’ Catholicism , ” Eileen McNamara argues , “ Let ’ s leave her religion out of it , shall we ?
” McNamara chides Democrats for examining Barrett ’ s religious views in 2017 hearings on her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the Seventh Circuit , attacking Senate Judiciary Democratic leader Dianne Feinstein of California in particular .
Amy Coney Barrett Is an Extremist—Just Not the Kind You Think Feinstein framed her questions clumsily , at best—another reason I wish she had retired rather than run again in 2018 .
“ You have a long history of believing that your religious beliefs should prevail , ” Feinstein told Barrett .
“ The dogma lives loudly within you.
” ( I don ’ t even know what that means ; it brings to mind The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ views themselves would not be of concern , if we didn ’ t have ample evidence that they influence her legal views .
And it ’ s important to note that People of Praise is significantly more restrictive than Catholicism .
The group has gotten some exaggerated and unfair coverage—while it traditionally termed male community leaders “ heads ” and their female counterparts “ handmaids , ” it didn ’ t inspire Margaret Atwood ’ s The Handmaid ’ s Tale ( though , to be safe , it changed “ handmaids ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hit debuted ) .
Cult experts say it ’ s not a cult .
If you check out its Facebook page , most posts are inspiring stories of charity and grace .
Also : Its post-Covid events feature people making , distributing , and wearing masks !
But there is no denying that the group opposes abortion and gay marriage and bars “ out ” LGBT people from membership .
Its South Bend school , Trinity , where Barrett was on the board for several years , teaches male and female students separately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The New York Times reported that while group members confirmed that Barrett and her husband were part of People of Praise—in fact , both their fathers had been leaders—she didn ’ t disclose her membership in Senate confirmation documents .
Meanwhile , links that mentioned her in the group ’ s magazine Vine and Branches—some recent , according to the Times—vanished from its website .
So why have even liberals insisted that Barrett ’ s eccentric religious views are off-limits when considering her SCOTUS appointment ?
“ You can ’ t say that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ramifications for politics , law and the common good and on the other hand expect not to answer questions about it , ” Cathleen Kaveny , a professor of law and theology at Boston College , told America in 2017 .
Catholic scholar Massimo Faggioli wrote in Politico that Barrett ’ s association with People of Praise should be “ front and center ” in the discussion of her qualifications , given the group ’ s “ highly authoritarian internal structure , ” which by many accounts requires a “ covenant ” between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Molly Olmstead warns that conservatives have already set a trap for Democrats who raise questions about Barrett ’ s affiliation with People of Praise .
If they go there , she argues , “ the right already has its response ready to go.
” But what else is new ?
The right relies on a culture of grievance , and SCOTUS battles are no different .
Clarence Thomas complained about “ a high-tech lynching ” when asked about genuine charges of workplace sexual harassment , and Brett Kavanaugh ’ s angry , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long ago ) charges of attempted sexual assault likewise won him confirmation .
Trump is currently charging that Biden ’ s eventual victory , indicated by most polls , will be the result of rampant fraud—an obvious lie—and threatening not to leave the presidency .
This is what they do .
Still , I understand why people think it ’ s risky to engage Barrett ’ s religious views—especially given that Democrats botched it three years ago .
There ’ s already plenty of evidence on the record without examining her relationship with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open letter to Catholic bishops in 2015 supporting traditional gender hierarchy and opposing abortion and marriage equality .
She has declared abortion “ always immoral ” and routinely mischaracterizes the law as Roe v. Wade established it .
As my colleague Elie Mystal wrote this weekend , “ Barrett has put herself on the record against abortion rights generally , and Roe specifically , more than any person I can think of nominated for the Supreme Court after that 1973 decision.
” She is also , as Mystal argues , a hypocrite .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe their church ’ s teachings against the death penalty should recuse themselves from death penalty cases , but she goes out of her way to get involved in cases involving abortion .
If she believes her religious views would prevent her from impartially enforcing secular law on capital punishment , why can ’ t she admit they do the same when it comes to women ’ s established legal right to make their own health decisions ?
( At her confirmation hearings , she seemed to backtrack on her suggestion that she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
Still , as a Catholic I find it offensive to see Barrett ’ s extremist beliefs equated with Catholicism or the views of American Catholics .
We support a woman ’ s right to choose in most circumstances .
An overwhelming majority support contraception , and Catholics are slightly more likely to back marriage equality than other Americans .
Most American Catholics support parity in gender relations , and reject the notion that the man is the “ head ” of the family .
( Not even Pope Francis preaches that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the ordination of women . )
Also as a Catholic , I find it hard to square Barrett ’ s conservative morality with her decision to accept a nomination from a thrice-married adulterer credibly accused of sexual harassment or assault by between one and two dozen women .
I also question the morality and the judicial integrity of anyone who would agree to be nominated by someone who has all but said he expects the Supreme Court to weigh in on his side in the case of election “ fraud.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the issues of abortion or , now , apparently , the death penalty , she should be required to recuse herself if the matter of Trump ’ s presidency comes before her as a justice .
I doubt that she ’ d do that , but Democrats should grill her on that moral question just the same .

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President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, is a devout Catholic. Obviously, that has no bearing on her fitness to join the court. The Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, is a devout Catholic. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is Catholic, as are four conservatives currently on the court: Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh. It is hard to make a case that Catholics, who make up roughly 23 percent of Americans, face discrimination when nominated to the high court (though Biden, if elected, would be only the second Catholic president in our history). Raised Catholic (and still a much-derided “cafeteria Catholic”), I’ve grown up sensitive to anti-Catholic prejudice.
The questions about Barrett’s religious beliefs are not that. They stem from her long membership in the small, charismatic South Bend, Ind.–based Christian sect People of Praise. Although it is open to all Christian denominations, an estimated 90 percent of its 1,800 members are Catholic, the Jesuit magazine America reported this week, adding,“The group also tends to skew conservative, at least politically,” In a 2018 interview with the South Bend Tribune, Barrett’s home paper, the group’s current “coordinator,” Craig Lent, confirmed that People of Praise opposes abortion, gay rights, and marriage equality, and believes that “men are leaders of their families, but that they should be ‘servant leaders,’ as Jesus Christ was.” Still, Lent insisted the group “stays out of politics,” the paper reported.
(Barrett and Trump made no mention of the religious controversy at her nomination ceremony Saturday evening, but the nominee did make a point of talking about her husband, Jesse, as her “partner,” not leader.)
Yet many conservatives, and even a few liberals, are making the specious argument that Barrett’s religious views should be off-limits. Writing for the Boston public radio site WBUR, in a piece headlined, “It’s 2020. Stop Talking About Amy Coney Barrett’s ‘Devout’ Catholicism,” Eileen McNamara argues, “Let’s leave her religion out of it, shall we?” McNamara chides Democrats for examining Barrett’s religious views in 2017 hearings on her nomination to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, attacking Senate Judiciary Democratic leader Dianne Feinstein of California in particular. Related Article Amy Coney Barrett Is an Extremist—Just Not the Kind You Think Elie Mystal
Feinstein framed her questions clumsily, at best—another reason I wish she had retired rather than run again in 2018. “You have a long history of believing that your religious beliefs should prevail,” Feinstein told Barrett. “The dogma lives loudly within you.” (I don’t even know what that means; it brings to mind The Exorcist.) 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
Barrett’s religious views themselves would not be of concern, if we didn’t have ample evidence that they influence her legal views. And it’s important to note that People of Praise is significantly more restrictive than Catholicism. The group has gotten some exaggerated and unfair coverage—while it traditionally termed male community leaders “heads” and their female counterparts “handmaids,” it didn’t inspire Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (though, to be safe, it changed “handmaids” to “leaders” after the Hulu hit debuted). Cult experts say it’s not a cult. If you check out its Facebook page, most posts are inspiring stories of charity and grace. Also: Its post-Covid events feature people making, distributing, and wearing masks!
But there is no denying that the group opposes abortion and gay marriage and bars “out” LGBT people from membership. Its South Bend school, Trinity, where Barrett was on the board for several years, teaches male and female students separately and prohibits dating. In 2017, The New York Times reported that while group members confirmed that Barrett and her husband were part of People of Praise—in fact, both their fathers had been leaders—she didn’t disclose her membership in Senate confirmation documents. Meanwhile, links that mentioned her in the group’s magazine Vine and Branches—some recent, according to the Times—vanished from its website. Current Issue View our current issue
So why have even liberals insisted that Barrett’s eccentric religious views are off-limits when considering her SCOTUS appointment? “You can’t say that our faith on the one hand has ramifications for politics, law and the common good and on the other hand expect not to answer questions about it,” Cathleen Kaveny, a professor of law and theology at Boston College, told America in 2017. Catholic scholar Massimo Faggioli wrote in Politico that Barrett’s association with People of Praise should be “front and center” in the discussion of her qualifications, given the group’s “highly authoritarian internal structure,” which by many accounts requires a “covenant” between members and God. But in Slate, Molly Olmstead warns that conservatives have already set a trap for Democrats who raise questions about Barrett’s affiliation with People of Praise. If they go there, she argues, “the right already has its response ready to go.”
But what else is new? The right relies on a culture of grievance, and SCOTUS battles are no different. Clarence Thomas complained about “a high-tech lynching” when asked about genuine charges of workplace sexual harassment, and Brett Kavanaugh’s angry, almost weepy denial of credible (albeit long ago) charges of attempted sexual assault likewise won him confirmation. Trump is currently charging that Biden’s eventual victory, indicated by most polls, will be the result of rampant fraud—an obvious lie—and threatening not to leave the presidency. This is what they do.
Still, I understand why people think it’s risky to engage Barrett’s religious views—especially given that Democrats botched it three years ago. There’s already plenty of evidence on the record without examining her relationship with People of Praise. She signed an open letter to Catholic bishops in 2015 supporting traditional gender hierarchy and opposing abortion and marriage equality. She has declared abortion “always immoral” and routinely mischaracterizes the law as Roe v. Wade established it. As my colleague Elie Mystal wrote this weekend, “Barrett has put herself on the record against abortion rights generally, and Roe specifically, more than any person I can think of nominated for the Supreme Court after that 1973 decision.”
She is also, as Mystal argues, a hypocrite. She has written that Catholic judges who believe their church’s teachings against the death penalty should recuse themselves from death penalty cases, but she goes out of her way to get involved in cases involving abortion. If she believes her religious views would prevent her from impartially enforcing secular law on capital punishment, why can’t she admit they do the same when it comes to women’s established legal right to make their own health decisions? (At her confirmation hearings, she seemed to backtrack on her suggestion that she would recuse herself from death penalty cases.)
Still, as a Catholic I find it offensive to see Barrett’s extremist beliefs equated with Catholicism or the views of American Catholics. We support a woman’s right to choose in most circumstances. An overwhelming majority support contraception, and Catholics are slightly more likely to back marriage equality than other Americans. Most American Catholics support parity in gender relations, and reject the notion that the man is the “head” of the family. (Not even Pope Francis preaches that, though he opposes abortion, contraception, and the ordination of women.)
Also as a Catholic, I find it hard to square Barrett’s conservative morality with her decision to accept a nomination from a thrice-married adulterer credibly accused of sexual harassment or assault by between one and two dozen women. I also question the morality and the judicial integrity of anyone who would agree to be nominated by someone who has all but said he expects the Supreme Court to weigh in on his side in the case of election “fraud.” If Barrett won’t recuse herself on the issues of abortion or, now, apparently, the death penalty, she should be required to recuse herself if the matter of Trump’s presidency comes before her as a justice. I doubt that she’d do that, but Democrats should grill her on that moral question just the same.