motherjones--2020-11-10--Biden’s COVID Response Should Center on People, Not Just “Bugs and Drugs”

Throughout the course of the pandemic , epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves , who is on faculty at both Yale School of Public Health and Yale Law School , has distinguished himself as a voice of reason on the political and social dimensions of the crisis , advocating for equity in testing and treatment .
An expert on infectious disease modeling , Gonsalves began his career in the 1990s during the HIV/AIDS epidemic working extensively with activist organizations including ACT UP and the Gay Men ’ s Health Crisis to advocate for treatment .
His history of HIV/AIDS work has given him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective science communication—and he ’ s emerged as a sharp critic of the Trump administration ’ s coronavirus response .
“ @ realDonaldTrump would have had every scientist by his side if he had ever been serious about # COVID19 ” he tweeted recently .
“ He turned to quacks , charlatans .
Even a few hours after his defeat you can see what a real response might start look like without him.
” I caught up with him to discuss the challenges that the Biden administration faces—not just in addressing the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the legacy of anti-science messaging from the Trump administration .
On Biden ’ s coronavirus plan : The three co-chairs of Biden ’ s coronavirus task force [ Yale physician Marcella Nunez-Smith , former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy , and former FDA commissioner David Kessler ] are superb .
The Biden plan is good .
It stresses all the right public health components , the need to have paid sick leave and economic support for businesses .
But we ’ re going to need something much more substantial in terms of economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t rebounded for women or for communities of color .
Their plan mentions support for gig workers , but somehow it misunderstands the level of stress that people are experiencing .
A lot of people are subsidizing the wealthy getting to stay home .
Grocery store workers who I see are often elderly women .
They come across hundreds of people in a day .
Our lives are being subsidized by people who are economically disadvantaged .
We must figure out a way to help people survive based not on their gross annual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stay home and isolate .
If the choice is stay home or eat , it ’ s not much of a choice .
All the behavioral economists say that you have to make the correct choices easy for people .
So far we ’ re not doing that .
Our biggest explosive outbreaks are in prisons and jails .
What are we going to do about that ?
Biden ’ s plan doesn ’ t say anything about that or about dealing with warehouses or meat processing plants .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as hard as they can , because it ’ s not about Republicans or Democrats , it ’ s about survival .
Mitch McConnell doesn ’ t have a generous bone in his body , but this isn ’ t about politics , it ’ s about survival .
On how to heal the CDC : There are some amazing career people at the Centers for Disease Control , but how many people have left over the past four years because they just couldn ’ t take it anymore ?
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beaten down .
Robert Redfield was such an utter disaster in the role [ of CDC head ] .
As for a new head , [ former New York City health commissioner ] Mary Bassett would be up there for me .
Mary understands that public health isn ’ t just about bugs and drugs , it ’ s about who we are as a nation .
It ’ s really important to have someone who understands that this is a social and economic crisis as well as an infectious disease crisis .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s fine to have a physician in the post , but it needs to be someone who understands that it ’ s not just a biomedical problem .
On the irreversible damage from Trump : Trump poisoned the well on the pandemic response with his malfeasance and undermining of science .
If there were no Trump , and we started from the baseline before 2016 , we would have been in better shape .
But now COVID-19 is raging across the country .
We ’ ve had eight months of relentless anti-science rhetoric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the price of that .
Most people don ’ t know someone who is sick .
All they know is , I lost my job and my kid is home from school .
So talking about the economy and getting people back to work relentlessly is actually very clever .
Biden can ’ t just issue a plan or present this as a public health crisis .
People need to feel like their most immediate problems are being taken care of , too .
We have more COVID than ever before , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
People are starved for social interaction , and the holidays are coming up .
These holidays are central to American life .
Biden gets inaugurated in the middle of January , we ’ re losing two months .
The Department of Health and Human Services is basically a ghost town , so many people have left .
Biden is going to have to fill all these career positions .
Tony [ Fauci ] and to a lesser extent Deborah Birx have been marginalized .
Tony is a civil servant so it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main problem is that [ White House COVID-19 adviser ] Scott Atlas is going to be here for the next few months .
The man is basically saying “ Do nothing.
” On the vaccine trust deficit : Before COVID-19 , we had vaccine hesitancy in the United States that was bipartisan .
Now this dynamic is on steroids .
Even on the left , you have , “ Is this a Trump vaccine ?
Does it really work ?
” We could see an Emergency Use Authorization during the lame duck , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden .
There will have to be a full-scale communications effort to convince people to take it .
Most people will understand that the vaccine will help them not have to be distant from their families anymore .
But people on the far right and far left will likely remain there .
On what Biden can do simply by changing the tone in the White House : Even without any legislation , we won ’ t have someone spouting misinformation from the White House anymore .
He ’ s not going to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He won ’ t be pushing hydroxychloroquine .
You ’ ll get some truth-telling that it ’ s not going away tomorrow , that this is going to be a long haul , and that we ’ re going to have to come together .
I don ’ t think this is about him being a Democrat .
Both Presidents Bush would have been similarly inclined .
This will go a long way , because right now , it ’ s really about how we behave with each other .
It takes encouragement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supposed to do .

As the world grapples with the devastation of the coronavirus, one thing is clear: The United States simply wasn’t prepared. Despite repeated warnings from infectious disease experts over the years, we lacked essential beds, equipment, and medication; public health advice was confusing; and our leadership offered no clear direction while sidelining credible health professionals and institutions. Infectious disease experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before the next pandemic hits, and that one could be even more deadly. So how do we fix what COVID-19 has shown was broken? In this Mother Jones series, we’re asking experts from a wide range of disciplines one question: What are the most important steps we can take to make sure we’re better prepared next time around?
Throughout the course of the pandemic, epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves, who is on faculty at both Yale School of Public Health and Yale Law School, has distinguished himself as a voice of reason on the political and social dimensions of the crisis, advocating for equity in testing and treatment. An expert on infectious disease modeling, Gonsalves began his career in the 1990s during the HIV/AIDS epidemic working extensively with activist organizations including ACT UP and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis to advocate for treatment. His history of HIV/AIDS work has given him a unique perspective on the art of effective science communication—and he’s emerged as a sharp critic of the Trump administration’s coronavirus response. “@realDonaldTrump would have had every scientist by his side if he had ever been serious about #COVID19,” he tweeted recently. “He turned to quacks, charlatans. Even a few hours after his defeat you can see what a real response might start look like without him.” I caught up with him to discuss the challenges that the Biden administration faces—not just in addressing the public health implications of the pandemic but also the legacy of anti-science messaging from the Trump administration.
On Biden’s coronavirus plan: The three co-chairs of Biden’s coronavirus task force [Yale physician Marcella Nunez-Smith, former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and former FDA commissioner David Kessler] are superb. The Biden plan is good. It stresses all the right public health components, the need to have paid sick leave and economic support for businesses. But we’re going to need something much more substantial in terms of economic relief. The job numbers haven’t rebounded for women or for communities of color. Their plan mentions support for gig workers, but somehow it misunderstands the level of stress that people are experiencing.
A lot of people are subsidizing the wealthy getting to stay home. Grocery store workers who I see are often elderly women. They come across hundreds of people in a day. Our lives are being subsidized by people who are economically disadvantaged. We must figure out a way to help people survive based not on their gross annual income. We might consider paying people to stay home and isolate. If the choice is stay home or eat, it’s not much of a choice. All the behavioral economists say that you have to make the correct choices easy for people. So far we’re not doing that.
“Mitch McConnell doesn’t have a generous bone in his body, but this isn’t about politics, it’s about survival.”
Our biggest explosive outbreaks are in prisons and jails. What are we going to do about that? Biden’s plan doesn’t say anything about that or about dealing with warehouses or meat processing plants.
It’s incumbent upon public health people to push as hard as they can, because it’s not about Republicans or Democrats, it’s about survival. Mitch McConnell doesn’t have a generous bone in his body, but this isn’t about politics, it’s about survival.
On how to heal the CDC: There are some amazing career people at the Centers for Disease Control, but how many people have left over the past four years because they just couldn’t take it anymore? It’s about rebuilding. They’ve been beaten down. Robert Redfield was such an utter disaster in the role [of CDC head]. As for a new head, [former New York City health commissioner] Mary Bassett would be up there for me. Mary understands that public health isn’t just about bugs and drugs, it’s about who we are as a nation. It’s really important to have someone who understands that this is a social and economic crisis as well as an infectious disease crisis. CDC people know this. It’s fine to have a physician in the post, but it needs to be someone who understands that it’s not just a biomedical problem.
On the irreversible damage from Trump: Trump poisoned the well on the pandemic response with his malfeasance and undermining of science. If there were no Trump, and we started from the baseline before 2016, we would have been in better shape. But now COVID-19 is raging across the country. We’ve had eight months of relentless anti-science rhetoric. We’re going to pay the price of that. Most people don’t know someone who is sick. All they know is, I lost my job and my kid is home from school. So talking about the economy and getting people back to work relentlessly is actually very clever. Biden can’t just issue a plan or present this as a public health crisis. People need to feel like their most immediate problems are being taken care of, too.
We have more COVID than ever before, and we’re going into the winter. People are starved for social interaction, and the holidays are coming up. These holidays are central to American life. Biden gets inaugurated in the middle of January, we’re losing two months. The Department of Health and Human Services is basically a ghost town, so many people have left. Biden is going to have to fill all these career positions.
Tony [Fauci] and to a lesser extent Deborah Birx have been marginalized. Tony is a civil servant so it’s hard to fire him. The main problem is that [White House COVID-19 adviser] Scott Atlas is going to be here for the next few months. The man is basically saying “Do nothing.”
On the vaccine trust deficit: Before COVID-19, we had vaccine hesitancy in the United States that was bipartisan. Now this dynamic is on steroids. Even on the left, you have, “Is this a Trump vaccine? Does it really work?” We could see an Emergency Use Authorization during the lame duck, but the distribution will all be under Biden. There will have to be a full-scale communications effort to convince people to take it. Most people will understand that the vaccine will help them not have to be distant from their families anymore. But people on the far right and far left will likely remain there.
On what Biden can do simply by changing the tone in the White House: Even without any legislation, we won’t have someone spouting misinformation from the White House anymore. He’s not going to be the charlatan-in-chief that Trump has become. He won’t be pushing hydroxychloroquine. You’ll get some truth-telling that it’s not going away tomorrow, that this is going to be a long haul, and that we’re going to have to come together. I don’t think this is about him being a Democrat. Both Presidents Bush would have been similarly inclined. This will go a long way, because right now, it’s really about how we behave with each other. It takes encouragement, which is what the president is supposed to do.


motherjones--2020-11-10--Republicans Are Laying the Groundwork to Make It Harder to Vote

Top Republicans doubled down Monday on false claims of an illegitimate election , with Mitch McConnell refusing to recognize Joe Biden as the president-elect , Attorney General William Barr authorizing US attorneys to probe “ substantial allegations ” of voter fraud , and Georgia ’ s two Republican senators calling on the GOP secretary of state to resign .
These efforts are extremely unlikely to succeed in overturning Biden ’ s sizable election win .
But they could help Republicans in the long run—by giving them an excuse to make it harder to vote .
There ’ s no reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s attempts to change the outcome of the election will work .
The campaign has failed to stop the counting of votes in the five states—Arizona , Nevada , Georgia , Michigan , and Pennsylvania—where it has filed post-election litigation .
Biden leads by 255,000 votes in these states .
His 12,500-vote lead in the closest state , Georgia , is 23 times greater than George W. Bush ’ s margin of victory in Florida in 2000 .
A recount almost certainly won ’ t shift thousands of votes , nor are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ votes in multiple states where Biden leads .
But the frenzied attempt by Republicans to undermine the legitimacy of Biden ’ s victory could still have a big impact by laying the groundwork for the GOP to pass new voter suppression measures at the state level , targeting the voting methods that propelled Biden to victory .
Indeed , Republicans in states like Wisconsin , Michigan , and Pennsylvania have already announced their own investigations into the 2020 election , citing similarly specious claims of fraud .
Michigan Republicans have subpoenaed election officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation into “ how the election was administered , ” and Pennsylvania Republicans have called for a legislative-led audit of the election and for no votes to be certified until it ’ s complete , even though county boards of elections and the secretary of state are in charge of certifying election results .
These state Republican officials are getting backup from top national Republicans , including Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham , who said he wants to his committee to investigate mail voting .
“ If we don ’ t do something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re going to lose the ability to elect a Republican in this country , ” he said on Fox News Monday night .
It ’ s very easy to imagine state-level Republicans introducing legislation in early 2021 to cut back on mail voting or early voting , which helped lead to record turnout in 2020 .
Republican attorneys general have intervened in litigation to back the Trump campaign ’ s efforts to block mail ballots that legally arrived after Election Day from being counted in Pennsylvania , claiming that the authority of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters more time to send their ballots back , should supersede the judgements of state courts that did allot this extra time—an argument that could give GOP-controlled state legislatures even more sway over voting laws in 2021 .
The same thing happened after Barack Obama ’ s election in 2008 .
Republicans seized on minor errors by the community group ACORN as evidence of massive fraud .
John McCain stated in a presidential debate that ACORN was “ on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but when Republicans took control of many state legislative chambers after the 2010 election , half the states in the country passed new laws making it harder to vote .
Republicans are unlikely to win this war .
But they ’ re already plotting how to win the next one .

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Top Republicans doubled down Monday on false claims of an illegitimate election, with Mitch McConnell refusing to recognize Joe Biden as the president-elect, Attorney General William Barr authorizing US attorneys to probe “substantial allegations” of voter fraud, and Georgia’s two Republican senators calling on the GOP secretary of state to resign. These efforts are extremely unlikely to succeed in overturning Biden’s sizable election win. But they could help Republicans in the long run—by giving them an excuse to make it harder to vote.
There’s no reason to think any of the Trump campaign’s attempts to change the outcome of the election will work. The campaign has failed to stop the counting of votes in the five states—Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—where it has filed post-election litigation. Biden leads by 255,000 votes in these states. His 12,500-vote lead in the closest state, Georgia, is 23 times greater than George W. Bush’s margin of victory in Florida in 2000. A recount almost certainly won’t shift thousands of votes, nor are courts likely to throw out thousands of votes in multiple states where Biden leads.
But the frenzied attempt by Republicans to undermine the legitimacy of Biden’s victory could still have a big impact by laying the groundwork for the GOP to pass new voter suppression measures at the state level, targeting the voting methods that propelled Biden to victory.
Indeed, Republicans in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have already announced their own investigations into the 2020 election, citing similarly specious claims of fraud. Michigan Republicans have subpoenaed election officials, Wisconsin Republicans have called for an investigation into “how the election was administered,” and Pennsylvania Republicans have called for a legislative-led audit of the election and for no votes to be certified until it’s complete, even though county boards of elections and the secretary of state are in charge of certifying election results.
These state Republican officials are getting backup from top national Republicans, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, who said he wants to his committee to investigate mail voting. “If we don’t do something about voting by mail, we’re going to lose the ability to elect a Republican in this country,” he said on Fox News Monday night.
It’s very easy to imagine state-level Republicans introducing legislation in early 2021 to cut back on mail voting or early voting, which helped lead to record turnout in 2020. Republican attorneys general have intervened in litigation to back the Trump campaign’s efforts to block mail ballots that legally arrived after Election Day from being counted in Pennsylvania, claiming that the authority of the state legislature, which refused to give voters more time to send their ballots back, should supersede the judgements of state courts that did allot this extra time—an argument that could give GOP-controlled state legislatures even more sway over voting laws in 2021.
The same thing happened after Barack Obama’s election in 2008. Republicans seized on minor errors by the community group ACORN as evidence of massive fraud. John McCain stated in a presidential debate that ACORN was “on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history.” There was no evidence of this, but when Republicans took control of many state legislative chambers after the 2010 election, half the states in the country passed new laws making it harder to vote.
Republicans are unlikely to win this war. But they’re already plotting how to win the next one.


motherjones--2020-11-10--Even the Conservative Justices Are Sick of Obamacare Cases

But at least five justices , including two members of the court ’ s conservative majority , indicated that they were not inclined to strike down the balance of the law .
In legal terms , they said the mandate was severable from the rest of the law .
“ It does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest of the law in place , ” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh .
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made a similar point .
“ Congress left the rest of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ penalty to zero , ” he said .
That ’ s right : The lawsuit is so weak that it appears , at least on their questioning during oral arguments , that even the court ’ s most conservative justices think it ’ s a legally dubious .
Other conservatives on the court also asked questions about the standing of the Republican state attorneys general who brought the case as plaintiffs , leaving open the possibility that a larger majority of the court could reject the case on issues of standing without ruling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three liberal justices all indicated skepticism of the case ) .
Of course questions during oral arguments are not always indicative of how a Supreme Court justice will vote on a final ruling , so the fate of the entire ACA remains in limbo until the court offers its final decision .
But the general tone of Tuesday ’ s arguments bodes well for the millions of Americans who rely on the ACA or expanded Medicaid for their coverage , or who benefit from provisions like those that protect people with pre-existing conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their parents ’ plans until age 26 .
A ruling on the case isn ’ t expected until sometime in 2021 .

But at least five justices, including two members of the court’s conservative majority, indicated that they were not inclined to strike down the balance of the law. In legal terms, they said the mandate was severable from the rest of the law. “It does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest of the law in place,” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made a similar point. “Congress left the rest of the law intact when it lowered the penalty to zero,” he said.
That’s right: The lawsuit is so weak that it appears, at least on their questioning during oral arguments, that even the court’s most conservative justices think it’s a legally dubious. Other conservatives on the court also asked questions about the standing of the Republican state attorneys general who brought the case as plaintiffs, leaving open the possibility that a larger majority of the court could reject the case on issues of standing without ruling on the merits (questions from the three liberal justices all indicated skepticism of the case). Of course questions during oral arguments are not always indicative of how a Supreme Court justice will vote on a final ruling, so the fate of the entire ACA remains in limbo until the court offers its final decision.
But the general tone of Tuesday’s arguments bodes well for the millions of Americans who rely on the ACA or expanded Medicaid for their coverage, or who benefit from provisions like those that protect people with pre-existing conditions or allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26.
A ruling on the case isn’t expected until sometime in 2021.


motherjones--2020-11-11--Trump Became President Because of Racism. The Next Trump Could Too.

On Saturday , when the major media outlets called the presidential election for Joe Biden , millions of people around the country took to the streets to celebrate .
But as people popped champagne bottles , danced alongside their neighbors , and cried tears of joy , the question of what comes next loomed ominously .
Even though , ( barring the unlikely event that Republican efforts to baselessly claim widespread fraud succeed ) Donald Trump will be a one-term president , one thing is certain : The election may have been a referendum on Trump , but with over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was clearly not a referendum on the deep injustices that define large portions of the United States .
But first , now that he has been defeated , let ’ s take one last look ( promise ! )
at Trump ’ s history of racism .
In the 1970s , the Department of Justice—that he would corrupt fifty years later—sued Trump for refusing to rent to Black people .
After a woman was raped in New York ’ s Central Park , he called for the five Black and Brown teenagers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And then came his obsession with Barack Obama ’ s birth certificate .
Trump has spent his entire life treating people of color as less than .
Those who consider themselves their allies haven ’ t fared much better .
His presidential run began with his description of Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals , a foreshadowing of his presidency during which anyone he perceived as different or disagreeing with him would be on the receiving end of insults and taunts , at best , and cruel policies at worst .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country , separated children from their parents at the border , and blocked refugees from settling here .
It ’ s clear that many Americans have rejected Trump and his personal attacks .
What about the system that gave us Trump in the first place , one that more than 70 million Americans believe is working ?
History will likely say that the coronavirus and the nationwide protests contributed to Trump being a one-term president .
Though the protests were explicitly racial the impact of the coronavirus , like everything else in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drawn around racial lines .
Black and Brown people are disproportionately getting sick and dying from the disease , and in some ways , Trump can not entirely be blamed .
He did not invent the health care system that is currently exacerbating deaths among Black people—though he has done his best to undermine what little health care protections already exist .
The fact that our social safety net has been so whittled away that a disproportionate number of people of color were forced to continue to work during a pandemic just to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump era .
As the pandemic surged , hospitals filled , schools and businesses shut down , and Trump bragged about the federal response , a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeled on George Floyd ’ s neck for nine minutes , killing him , and sparking a nationwide multiracial protest movement not seen in generations .
The president sent federal troops to American cities and gave his full support for police officers and some white nationalists , even when video emerged of law enforcement attacking peaceful protesters .
For Trump , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of force and to suggest otherwise was antithetical to the America that was being jeopardized by all the mayhem .
In a perverse way , he was right .
The danger in treating Trump like some kind of an aberration , like a stranger in the night who caught democracy off guard , is that we end up falsely believing just one simple act can restore decency to a nation .
But this summer ’ s beginning of a racial reckoning proved that millions of people , even those who were well-intentioned , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was .
Consider the many people who cast renewed birtherism claims about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris .
As I wrote in August : Trump would not have been so successful in his campaign of racism and hate if this country wasn ’ t filled with ripe opportunities and vulnerabilities to exploit .
If you need evidence of how dangerous this moment is , consider what Trump and his Republican enablers are doing in response to his defeat .
Rather than acknowledging the loss and engaging in a peaceful transition , the president and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawsuits alleging that votes in Philadelphia and Detroit were “ illegal.
” Coincidentally , these are just the locations where Black voters helped President-elect Joe Biden .
The message is stunningly clear : The Black people who voted for Biden are illegitimate .
It ’ s a message not remotely based in reality , and it ’ s unlikely to succeed in overturning the election results , but it does have the nefarious effect of normalizing what should be out of bounds , and giving future Republicans a playbook for the same Hail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats win elections , is it out of the question for a Republican to protest that their votes were illegal .
One last grift with horrific consequences for marginalized people .
It ’ s a fitting end for the chaotic and racist Trump presidency .
It ’ s always tempting to refer to history ’ s turning points .
The Emancipation Proclamation , the Civil Rights Act , the election of the first Black president .
And those turning points , reliably , are met with backlash—or whitelash .
Jim Crow laws , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us the modern day GOP , and of course , Donald Trump .
If we are to prevent another backlash , we must somehow resolve the vulnerabilities , the immorality in our system that Trump expertly exploited .
Because even though Trump targeted marginalized groups , racism hurts us all .
Take the coronavirus , for example .
Racial disparities in who was getting COVID and wealth disparities in general meant that poor people and people of color who couldn ’ t afford to get sick continued going to work and spread the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and motorcycle rallies did not help .
In contrast , wearing masks did .
There are signs that perhaps a Biden presidency can be the beginning .
His administration will set up a task force to study COVID-19 racial disparities , a recognition that people of color are sicker , not as an aberration but as a feature of our society .
But before we can heal , there must be some consensus about what we ’ re healing from .
Even well-intentioned people have found it difficult to accept that there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump .
After all , 70 million people cast a ballot supporting him .
It will be good to have a president who listens to science , won ’ t defend armed white people who kill protesters , and will not see the presidency as an opportunity to enrich himself and his family members .
But , at least for this Black woman , after 400 years of devaluing our lives , it is not enough .
Biden must be committed to fighting racial injustice , and a first step would be to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all his policies .
While the GOP has offered nothing but grievance politics and managed to convince their base that they would rather be miserable so long as their neighbor is more miserable , Biden ’ s presidency can show that what ’ s good for Black people—health care , housing , ending the pandemic , fighting climate change—is good for us all .

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On Saturday, when the major media outlets called the presidential election for Joe Biden, millions of people around the country took to the streets to celebrate. But as people popped champagne bottles, danced alongside their neighbors, and cried tears of joy, the question of what comes next loomed ominously. Even though (barring the unlikely event that Republican efforts to baselessly claim widespread fraud succeed) Donald Trump will be a one-term president, one thing is certain: The election may have been a referendum on Trump, but with more than 70 million votes in his favor, it was clearly not a referendum on the deep injustices that define large portions of the United States.
But first, now that he has been defeated, let’s take one last look (promise!) at Trump’s history of racism. In the 1970s, the Department of Justice—that he would corrupt 50 years later—sued Trump for refusing to rent to Black people. After a woman was raped in New York’s Central Park, he called for the five Black and Brown teenagers who were wrongfully accused to be executed. And then came his obsession with Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
Trump has spent his entire life treating people of color as less than. Those who consider themselves their allies haven’t fared much better. His presidential run began with his description of Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals, a foreshadowing of his presidency during which anyone he perceived as different or disagreeing with him would be on the receiving end of insults and taunts, at best, and cruel policies at worst. Trump and his sycophants banned Muslims from entering the country, separated children from their parents at the border, and blocked refugees from settling here. It’s clear that many Americans have rejected Trump and his personal attacks. What about the system that gave us Trump in the first place, one that more than 70 million Americans believe is working?
What about the system that gave us Trump in the first place, one that more than 70 million Americans believe is working?
History will likely say that the coronavirus and the nationwide protests contributed to Trump being a one-term president. Though the protests were explicitly racial, the impact of the coronavirus, like everything else in the United States, can also be drawn around racial lines. Black and Brown people are disproportionately getting sick and dying from the disease, and in some ways, Trump cannot entirely be blamed. He did not invent the health care system that is currently exacerbating deaths among Black people—though he has done his best to undermine what little health care protections already exist. The fact that our social safety net has been so whittled away that a disproportionate number of people of color were forced to continue to work during a pandemic just to pay bills was a problem predating the Trump era.
As the pandemic surged, hospitals filled, schools and businesses shut down, and Trump bragged about the federal response, a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, killing him, and sparking a nationwide multiracial protest movement not seen in generations. The president sent federal troops to American cities and gave his full support for police officers and some white nationalists, even when video emerged of law enforcement attacking peaceful protesters. For Trump, the business of policing often requires excessive use of force and to suggest otherwise was antithetical to the America that was being jeopardized by all the mayhem. In a perverse way, he was right.
The danger in treating Trump like some kind of an aberration, like a stranger in the night who caught democracy off guard, is that we end up falsely believing just one simple act can restore decency to a nation. But this summer’s beginning of a racial reckoning proved that millions of people, even those who were well-intentioned, had no idea how fragile the foundation was. Consider the many people who cast renewed birtherism claims about Vice President–elect Kamala Harris. As I wrote in August:
So now, when birtherism reappears to attack Harris, you’d think we’d be prepared to stop the vile lie in its tracks. It’s not as if the birther-in-chief has delivered us to the Promised Land. Just look at where we are right now, as a country. More than 170,000 coronavirus deaths. Federal troops invading American cities. An unparalleled economic crisis. If birtherism’s first iteration gave us Donald Trump, what horrors could Part Two unleash?
Trump would not have been so successful in his campaign of racism and hate if this country wasn’t filled with ripe opportunities and vulnerabilities to exploit.
The danger in treating Trump like some kind of an aberration, like a stranger in the night who caught democracy off guard, is that we end up falsely believing just one simple act can restore decency to a nation.
If you need evidence of how dangerous this moment is, consider what Trump and his Republican enablers are doing in response to his defeat. Rather than acknowledging the loss and engaging in a peaceful transition, the president and his cronies—including the Attorney General—are filing frivolous lawsuits alleging that votes in Philadelphia and Detroit were “illegal.” Coincidentally, these are just the locations where Black voters helped President-elect Joe Biden. The message is stunningly clear: The Black people who voted for Biden are illegitimate. It’s a message not remotely based in reality, and it’s unlikely to succeed in overturning the election results, but it does have the nefarious effect of normalizing what should be out of bounds, and giving future Republicans a playbook for the same Hail Mary pass. Whenever Black voters help Democrats win elections, is it out of the question for a Republican to protest that their votes were illegal. One last grift with horrific consequences for marginalized people. It’s a fitting end for the chaotic and racist Trump presidency.
It’s always tempting to refer to history’s turning points. The Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil Rights Act, the election of the first Black president. And those turning points, reliably, are met with backlash—or whitelash. Jim Crow laws, lynchings, the Southern strategy which gave us the modern day GOP, and of course, Donald Trump. If we are to prevent another backlash, we must somehow resolve the vulnerabilities, the immorality in our system that Trump expertly exploited. Because even though Trump targeted marginalized groups, racism hurts us all. Take the coronavirus, for example. Racial disparities in who was getting COVID and wealth disparities in general meant that poor people and people of color who couldn’t afford to get sick continued going to work and spread the virus. Yes, the big parties and motorcycle rallies did not help. In contrast, wearing masks did.
There are signs that perhaps a Biden presidency can be the beginning. His administration will set up a task force to study COVID-19 racial disparities, a recognition that people of color are sicker, not as an aberration but as a feature of our society. But before we can heal, there must be some consensus about what we’re healing from. Even well-intentioned people have found it difficult to accept that there is a sickness that goes much deeper than Trump. After all, 70 million people cast a ballot supporting him.
It will be good to have a president who listens to science, won’t defend armed white people who kill protesters, and will not see the presidency as an opportunity to enrich himself and his family members. But, at least for this Black woman, after 400 years of devaluing our lives, it is not enough. Biden must be committed to fighting racial injustice, and a first step would be to have the racial impact be factored into all his policies. While the GOP has offered nothing but grievance politics and managed to convince its base that the party would rather be miserable so long as its neighbor is more miserable, Biden’s presidency can show that what’s good for Black people—health care, housing, ending the pandemic, fighting climate change—is good for us all.


motherjones--2020-11-11--With COVID-19, Biden Is Inheriting a Homeland Security Problem of “Incredible Magnitude”

Vaccinologist and pediatrician Peter Hotez is the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University .
In addition to his decades-long career studying and developing immunizations , Hotez has also written extensively about vaccine misinformation—he ’ s the author of the 2018 book Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel ’ s Autism : My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist , Pediatrician , and Autism Dad .
Since the start of the pandemic , Hotez has made frequent appearances on cable news , explaining the science of the virus in an accessible way while fighting for the cause of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election as a triumph of science over anti-science , ” he tweeted in the wake of the election .
“ Our nation is built on the backs of our great research universities that allowed us to achieve victory in WWII , go to the moon , defeat USSR in Cold War , treat HIV/AIDS .
When POTUS tried to slaughter science , he was done.
” Even so , Hotez warns that we ’ re headed into one of the most difficult times our nation has ever faced .
We spoke about his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ takes on this unprecedented challenge .
On Biden ’ s COVID-19 homeland-security problem : The country that Biden is going to inherit on January 20 could be in very bad shape .
Some 400,000 Americans may have died by the week after the inauguration .
Potentially , Biden could inherit a country that is overwhelmed .
This will go beyond a public health problem—he will inherit a homeland security problem of incredible magnitude .
We are in a very weakened state , and that is very dangerous when it comes to our adversaries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a very vulnerable point .
The Murdoch media has created so much damage .
I listen to myself and I sound like a crazy person , going on about Fox News and the Russian government .
But all of this is real .
We are in the middle of the most aggressive anti-science disinformation situation .
Now you have people like Robert F. Kennedy , Jr. going to Berlin and sponsoring anti-mask rallies .
On Biden ’ s competing priorities : We are entering one of the darkest periods in our nation ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accelerate , and ICUs are filling up .
What does the president do on day one as he inherits this collapse ?
He needs to make an assessment on where we are with the epidemic .
Are we still seeing surges in ICUs ?
Can he work with governors on stronger measures , like mask mandates ?
Can he up our level of production of PPE and ventilators ?
Are we going to need new vaccines with more traditional technology ?
Operation Warp Speed went right to the cutting-edge technologies , and while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s also added an extra element of risk .
We have been pushing Operation Warp Speed to embrace more traditional methods , as well .
On how to restore American trust in vaccines : The low acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines is the product of several forces in the Trump administration .
Operation Warp Speed never had a communications plan .
They left all communications to the pharma CEOs , who fumbled the message with inside trading and clinical pauses .
Then , the anti-science movement really flourished .
The “ health freedom ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the whole anti-vaccine movement right .
Then , in 2020 , it expanded into protests against masks and contact tracing .
Then you had the misinformation campaign from [ White House coronavirus adviser ] Scott Atlas , not to mention Russian anti-science messaging .
This is a mess .
Fine-tuning the message won ’ t be enough .
We need to begin dismantling the anti-science and anti-vaccine empire .
We ’ re going to need a task force to do that—people from Homeland Security , Justice , and Commerce .
How can we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
On what ’ s wrong with the CDC : We need to better understand what went so terribly wrong at the Centers for Disease Control—why they missed the entry of the virus , why the agency was invisible in creating a response , and how much of that was internal failings as opposed to meddling by the White House .
I was very disappointed by the House Select Subcommittee ’ s handling of the CDC .
They asked silly and irrelevant questions , so I don ’ t know if Congress can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the leaders , including Redfield , will be gone pretty soon .
You need someone who knows how to communicate to the American people and how to do change management .
On the importance of ditching the “ herd immunity ” idea : The White House coronavirus task force approach was that there was no national response .
So now , in the lame-duck session , we still won ’ t have a national response .
Trump can still encourage people to defy masks and social distancing , and he can still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The current administration has made so many damaged goods .
So many governors are now deeply defiant .
It ’ s not so much the ICU beds—what do we do about exhausted hospital staff ?
How do we bring in fresh replacements ?
I think it ’ s going to be an awful , awful winter .
If you just use the Scott Atlas approach , we know the numbers .
We ’ d be looking at 2 million deaths , not to mention all the long-term injuries .
We can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We have to try .
Biden is going to have to use the power of persuasion of the White House .

As the world grapples with the devastation of the coronavirus, one thing is clear: The United States simply wasn’t prepared. Despite repeated warnings from infectious disease experts over the years, we lacked essential beds, equipment, and medication; public health advice was confusing; and our leadership offered no clear direction while sidelining credible health professionals and institutions. Infectious disease experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before the next pandemic hits, and that one could be even more deadly. So how do we fix what COVID-19 has shown was broken? In this Mother Jones series, we’re asking experts from a wide range of disciplines one question: What are the most important steps we can take to make sure we’re better prepared next time around?
Vaccinologist and pediatrician Peter Hotez is the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. In addition to his decades-long career studying and developing immunizations, Hotez has also written extensively about vaccine misinformation—he’s the author of the 2018 book Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad. Since the start of the pandemic, Hotez has made frequent appearances on cable news, explaining the science of the virus in an accessible way while fighting for the cause of science itself. “I see the election as a triumph of science over anti-science,” he tweeted in the wake of the election. “Our nation is built on the backs of our great research universities that allowed us to achieve victory in WWII, go to the moon, defeat USSR in Cold War, treat HIV/AIDS. When POTUS tried to slaughter science, he was done.” Even so, Hotez warns that we’re headed into one of the most difficult times our nation has ever faced. We spoke about his hopes and fears as the Biden administration takes on this unprecedented challenge.
On Biden’s COVID-19 homeland-security problem: The country that Biden is going to inherit on January 20 could be in very bad shape. Some 400,000 Americans may have died by the week after the inauguration. Potentially, Biden could inherit a country that is overwhelmed. This will go beyond a public health problem—he will inherit a homeland security problem of incredible magnitude. We are in a very weakened state, and that is very dangerous when it comes to our adversaries. Our enemies could attack us at a very vulnerable point. The Murdoch media has created so much damage. I listen to myself and I sound like a crazy person, going on about Fox News and the Russian government. But all of this is real. We are in the middle of the most aggressive anti-science disinformation situation. Now you have people like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. going to Berlin and speaking at anti-mask rallies.
On Biden’s competing priorities: We are entering one of the darkest periods in our nation’s history. Cases are going to accelerate, and ICUs are filling up. What does the president do on day one as he inherits this collapse? He needs to make an assessment on where we are with the epidemic. Are we still seeing surges in ICUs? Can he work with governors on stronger measures, like mask mandates? Can he up our level of production of PPE and ventilators? Are we going to need new vaccines with more traditional technology? Operation Warp Speed went right to the cutting-edge technologies, and while the innovation is exciting, it’s also added an extra element of risk. We have been pushing Operation Warp Speed to embrace more traditional methods, as well.
On how to restore American trust in vaccines: The low acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines is the product of several forces in the Trump administration. Operation Warp Speed never had a communications plan. They left all communications to the pharma CEOs, who fumbled the message with inside trading and clinical pauses. Then, the anti-science movement really flourished. The “health freedom” and “medical freedom” movements shifted the whole anti-vaccine movement right. Then, in 2020, it expanded into protests against masks and contact tracing. Then you had the misinformation campaign from [White House coronavirus adviser] Scott Atlas, not to mention Russian anti-science messaging. This is a mess. Fine-tuning the message won’t be enough. We need to begin dismantling the anti-science and anti-vaccine empire. We’re going to need a task force to do that—people from Homeland Security, Justice, and Commerce. How can we pull on levers to make that happen?
On what’s wrong with the CDC: We need to better understand what went so terribly wrong at the Centers for Disease Control—why they missed the entry of the virus, why the agency was invisible in creating a response, and how much of that was internal failings as opposed to meddling by the White House. I was very disappointed by the House Select Subcommittee’s handling of the CDC. They asked silly and irrelevant questions, so I don’t know if Congress can uncover what went wrong. I think all the leaders, including Redfield, will be gone pretty soon. You need someone who knows how to communicate to the American people and how to do change management.
On the importance of ditching the “herd immunity” idea: The White House coronavirus task force approach was that there was no national response. So now, in the lame-duck session, we still won’t have a national response. Trump can still encourage people to defy masks and social distancing, and he can still put forward this stupid herd immunity idea. The current administration has made so many damaged goods. So many governors are now deeply defiant.
It’s not so much the ICU beds—what do we do about exhausted hospital staff? How do we bring in fresh replacements? I think it’s going to be an awful, awful winter. If you just use the Scott Atlas approach, we know the numbers. We’d be looking at 2 million deaths, not to mention all the long-term injuries. We can’t just give up and do nothing. We have to try. Biden is going to have to use the power of persuasion of the White House.
Image credit: Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.


motherjones--2020-11-11--Donald Trump Is Purging the Defense Department to Elevate His Most Fervent Supporters

Six days ago , chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman took to Twitter to shoot down an NBC story claiming that Defense Secretary Mark Esper had prepared a letter of resignation .
“ He continues to serve the nation as the Secretary of Defense at the pleasure of the President , ” Hoffman tweeted .
By the next week , it was clear how fleeting it is for any national security official in the Trump era to serve “ at the pleasure of the President.
” President Trump tweeted on Monday that “ Esper has been terminated ” and announced that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Counterterrorism Center , would replace him .
While Miller still commands respect from his former colleagues in the military and government—one of whom told veteran intelligence reporter Jeff Stein that he would be no “ yes man ” —the rest of the Pentagon ’ s senior leadership now looks much friendlier to Trump .
Policy chief James Anderson , intelligence head Joseph Kernan , and Esper ’ s chief of staff Jen Stewart are all gone , replaced by true believers with a history of echoing Trump ’ s most conspiratorial views @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State .
The sudden nature of the departures was reflected in a terse Pentagon statement , which said Kernan ’ s exit had been “ planned for several months , ” but said nothing of Anderson or Stewart ’ s reasons for resigning .
In a typical administration , new Pentagon policy chief Anthony Tata would not have sniffed a senior Defense role .
A former Army brigadier general who retired following an investigation into his extramarital affairs , he ’ s become a perennial Fox News guest with a fiery Twitter feed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former CIA director John Brennan to be arrested , urging Trump to oust the “ Deep State Cabal , ” and referring to Islam as the “ most oppressive violent religion I know of.
” Trump initially nominated him for the same policy job over the summer , but after his most inflammatory statements were dug up by CNN , his nomination was withdrawn .
“ Anthony Tata is patently unqualified to helm the Pentagon ’ s policy shop .
He ’ s a segregationist who is hostile to women , people of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public advocacy director Scott Simpson said in a statement after Tata ’ s new role had been reported .
“ That ’ s why his own party refused to confirm him .
Every day that he serves as undersecretary of Defense is a day where all Americans are in danger .
President-elect Biden must remove him as soon as possible.
” His untimely rise to one of the Pentagon ’ s top roles is yet another reminder of how hollowed out the department ’ s civilian leadership has become under Trump .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Tata was installed as the No .
2 policy official .
Once Anderson resigned , Tata assumed the duties of the top role , giving him wide latitude “ to demand more resignations across the department , ” Foreign Policy reported .
Joining him in the senior ranks are new chief of staff Kash Patel , a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes ( R-Calif. ) , and intelligence head Ezra Cohen-Watnick , a National Security Council official whose role funneling top-secret documents about government surveillance to Nunes sparked an ethics investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Committee , Nunes became the main congressional cheerleader against the so-called Deep State and a key cog in Trump ’ s effort to delegitimize the intelligence community ’ s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on his behalf .
At the National Security Agency , which is part of the Defense Department , another former Nunes aide , Michael Ellis , was named general counsel .
“ This is the Night of the Long Knives , but it ’ s not about policy .
It ’ s about loyalty , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House official who has written extensively about the interplay between the Pentagon , White House , and Congress , told me .
“ This is the community that has been disloyal—the national security one.
” Since his election in 2016 , Trump has compared intelligence officers to Nazis and mockingly instructed them to “ go back to school ” when they delivered testimony to Congress that contradicted his worldview .
He ’ s also taken direct steps to have loyalists placed atop the vast intelligence community , installing Richard Grenell and Rep. John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supporters—as director of national intelligence and firing FBI Director James Comey , who initially approved the investigation into the Trump campaign ’ s ties to Russia .
When Trump ’ s presidency has seemed most vulnerable , either during the run-up to Robert Mueller ’ s appointment as special counsel , or his impeachment last year , it ’ s been national security officials who have often provided the most damning testimony .
“ He wants a national security community that ’ s willing to kiss his ass and do what he tells @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Less clear right now is what exactly Trump wants these officials to do , if anything at all .
Alex Ward at Vox reported Wednesday that the personnel changes could precede a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan .
The White House has long leaned on the Pentagon to remove troops more quickly from Afghanistan , but Esper and Gen. Mark Milley , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , have been reluctant to meet Trump ’ s timeline .
If Trump is still intent on getting all US troops out of Afghanistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he might just have the people in place to pull it off .
Will Ruger , Trump ’ s nominee as ambassador to Afghanistan , has publicly supported a rapid withdrawal and , on Wednesday , retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor joined the Pentagon as an adviser to Miller , adding another prominent pro-withdrawal voice to the mix .
Even if no substantial policies come to pass from this brief interregnum , Trump ’ s new appointees have achieved much by their mere presence .
Other Pentagon employees now know the price of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close to a future Joe Biden administration .

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
Six days ago, chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman took to Twitter to shoot down an NBC story claiming that Defense Secretary Mark Esper had prepared a letter of resignation. “He continues to serve the nation as the Secretary of Defense at the pleasure of the President,” Hoffman tweeted. By the next week, it was clear how fleeting it is for any national security official in the Trump era to serve “at the pleasure of the President.”
President Trump tweeted on Monday that “Esper has been terminated” and announced that Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, would replace him. While Miller still commands respect from his former colleagues in the military and government—one of whom told veteran intelligence reporter Jeff Stein that he would be no “yes man”—the rest of the Pentagon’s senior leadership now looks much friendlier to Trump.
Policy chief James Anderson, intelligence head Joseph Kernan, and Esper’s chief of staff Jen Stewart are all gone, replaced by true believers with a history of echoing Trump’s most conspiratorial views on Russian election interference and the Deep State. The sudden nature of the departures was reflected in a terse Pentagon statement, which said Kernan’s exit had been “planned for several months,” but said nothing of Anderson or Stewart’s reasons for resigning.
In a typical administration, new Pentagon policy chief Anthony Tata would not have sniffed a senior Defense role. A former Army brigadier general who retired following an investigation into his extramarital affairs, he’s become a perennial Fox News guest with a fiery Twitter feed, whose best hits include calling for former CIA director John Brennan to be arrested, urging Trump to oust the “Deep State Cabal,” and referring to Islam as the “most oppressive violent religion I know of.” Trump initially nominated him for the same policy job over the summer, but after his most inflammatory statements were dug up by CNN, his nomination was withdrawn.
“Anthony Tata is patently unqualified to helm the Pentagon’s policy shop. He’s a segregationist who is hostile to women, people of color and Muslims,” Muslim Advocates public advocacy director Scott Simpson said in a statement after Tata’s new role had been reported. “That’s why his own party refused to confirm him. Every day that he serves as undersecretary of Defense is a day where all Americans are in danger. President-elect Biden must remove him as soon as possible.”
His untimely rise to one of the Pentagon’s top roles is yet another reminder of how hollowed out the department’s civilian leadership has become under Trump. After he was denied the top policy job, Tata was installed as the No. 2 policy official. Once Anderson resigned, Tata assumed the duties of the top role, giving him wide latitude “to demand more resignations across the department,” Foreign Policy reported.
Joining him in the senior ranks are new chief of staff Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), and intelligence head Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a National Security Council official whose role funneling top-secret documents about government surveillance to Nunes sparked an ethics investigation. As chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Nunes became the main congressional cheerleader against the so-called Deep State and a key cog in Trump’s effort to delegitimize the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on his behalf. At the National Security Agency, which is part of the Defense Department, another former Nunes aide, Michael Ellis, was named general counsel.
“This is the Night of the Long Knives, but it’s not about policy. It’s about loyalty,” Gordon Adams, a former Clinton White House official who has written extensively about the interplay between the Pentagon, White House, and Congress, told me. “This is the community that has been disloyal—the national security one.”
Since his election in 2016, Trump has compared intelligence officers to Nazis and mockingly instructed them to “go back to school” when they delivered testimony to Congress that contradicted his worldview. He’s also taken direct steps to have loyalists placed atop the vast intelligence community, installing Richard Grenell and Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas)—both outward Trump supporters—as director of national intelligence and firing FBI Director James Comey, who initially approved the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. When Trump’s presidency has seemed most vulnerable, either during the run-up to Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel, or his impeachment last year, it’s been national security officials who have often provided the most damning testimony.
“He wants a national security community that’s willing to kiss his ass and do what he tells them to do,” Adams said.
Less clear right now is what exactly Trump wants these officials to do, if anything at all. Alex Ward at Vox reported Wednesday that the personnel changes could precede a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The White House has long leaned on the Pentagon to remove troops more quickly from Afghanistan, but Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been reluctant to meet Trump’s timeline. If Trump is still intent on getting all US troops out of Afghanistan before the end of the year, he might just have the people in place to pull it off. Will Ruger, Trump’s nominee as ambassador to Afghanistan, has publicly supported a rapid withdrawal and, on Wednesday, retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor joined the Pentagon as an adviser to Miller, adding another prominent pro-withdrawal voice to the mix.
Even if no substantial policies come to pass from this brief interregnum, Trump’s new appointees have achieved much by their mere presence. Other Pentagon employees now know the price of stepping out of line, even this close to a future Joe Biden administration.


motherjones--2020-11-11--Trump Wants to Throw Out Legal Votes from Detroit

As part of President Donald Trump ’ s continued battle to overturn his election loss , his campaign announced late Tuesday it would file a new federal lawsuit in Michigan alleging widespread election malfeasance—particularly in Wayne County , home to Detroit , a predominately black city where unofficial results show President-elect Joe Biden winning by nearly 40 percent .
The claims underlying the suit , which lack any substantial evidence and echo ones already made in a state lawsuit by a local conservative legal group , were amplified at a Monday press conference in Washington by White House Spokesperson Kayleigh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a Michigan native .
The suit , which demands that some of the city ’ s reported votes not be included in the state ’ s final tally , is just part of the campaign ’ s nationwide legal and political strategy focused on states where Trump has received fewer votes than Biden .
The president hopes to hold on to the White House through lawsuits that seek to disqualify hundreds of thousands of voters and that create delays that prevent his loss being formalized .
Election officials in every state from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this week that they have seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election .
Trump allies , and even the president himself , privately concede the suits have very little chance of swinging the election .
Publicly , however , Trump ’ s campaign is making no such admission .
Tim Murtaugh , the Trump campaign ’ s communications director , told reporters Tuesday night that the various legal actions will gather more information , but ultimately are focused on one thing : flipping the results .
“ Every filing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are getting us closer to the goal of seeing the president reelected , ” Murtaugh said .
“ We do believe that ultimately President Trump will be declared the winner.
” In Michigan , the latest counts show that Biden earned nearly 150,000 more votes than Trump .
Rudy Giuliani , the president ’ s personal lawyer , has claimed their federal suit will invalidate “ hundreds of thousands ” of the state ’ s votes .
The suit claims that Wayne County election officials and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challengers proper opportunity to observe ballot tabulation , allowed county election workers to intimidate the ballot challengers , and let “ illegal and ineligible ballots ” to be counted .
The federal lawsuit also claims that isolated software glitches causing incorrect reporting of results—an issue already caught and corrected , according to local and state election officials—have not been properly addressed and need further review .
Trump ’ s campaign has asked a judge in Michigan ’ s western federal district court to delay certification of the state ’ s results until all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and to discard ballots that the campaign says may be among them that were unlawfully cast , including some purportedly received after Election Day .
The suit also seeks to toss out legal votes counted using the software in question unless individual tabulation devices are checked for accuracy , alongside those counted at times the campaign alleges Republican poll viewers were denied proper access .
The filing includes statements from Republican ballot changers who claim they were threatened by elections staff and saw issues with the count they couldn ’ t explain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once or supposed back-dating of ballots .
Other observations are less substantial : one statement noted that a tranche of military ballots contained votes for Biden .
References to race are scattered throughout the statements , such as a woman who wrote she “ did not feel safe ( I am a small ( 5 ’ 3″ 130lb ) pregnant white woman ) .
” Another claimed “ intimidation by poll workers wearing [ Black Lives Matter ] face masks and another man of intimidating size with a BLM shirt on.
” Jake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state Benson , said the new lawsuit is “ the same kind of irresponsible false rhetoric and misinformation that we saw throughout the election [ and ] is a press release masquerading as a legal claim designed to promote false claims aimed at eroding the public ’ s confidence in Michigan elections.
” Elections in Michigan “ were conducted fairly , securely , transparently , and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people , ” Rollow said .
The city of Detroit and its election commission , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ level suit filed by a conservative legal group , called the allegations “ one more in a series of ill-conceived cases filed in an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election ” that relies on “ hearsay , speculation and unfounded conspiracy theories ” to overturn results simply because Trump didn ’ t win .
Most of the objections raised , the filing read , “ are grounded in an extraordinary failure to understand how elections function.
” The city ’ s lawyers said basic procedures around the election are much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when Trump won in Michigan by less than 11,000 votes .
Trump actually improved his showing in Detroit by nearly 6,000 votes over 2016 , the filing notes , while Biden ’ s final unofficial tally was less than Hillary Clinton ’ s showing in 2016 : “ Nothing about those numbers supports the theory of fraud being advanced [ or ] the completely unsubstantiated claims of tens of thousands of improperly processed ballots.
” Ray Wert , a county-level Democratic Party official , was a credentialed Democratic ballot challenger on election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Detroit ’ s TCF Center , where the bulk of the Trump campaign ’ s witnesses were on hand .
Wert , who has served as a ballot challenger in three previous elections , says he ’ d grown to recognize the Republicans who typically work alongside him .
This election , he says there were many first timers , who were “ poorly trained , ignorant of the process , ignorant of the law , and ignorant of the rules around challenging ballots .
And that ’ s on the GOP.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Republicans in Michigan ’ s legislature announced they would subpoena state election officials as part of an investigation into election irregularities in order to “ provide needed clarity to concerned residents.
” Also this week , Attorney General Bill Barr advised federal prosecutors around the country that they could pursue “ apparently-credible ” or “ substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities ” that “ could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual State.
” The memo caused deep concern within the Department of Justice , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top election crimes official to resign and move elsewhere in the department .
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Barr ’ s move wasn ’ t to benefit voters , but was designed to “ signal to the President that his irresponsible and unsupported insistence that he won his race for reelection is taken seriously.
” On Wednesday , Nessel assailed Trump for carrying out a racist strategy , targeting Black voters and officials in Detroit over other places in the state that are majority white and where Biden did better than Clinton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kent counties .
“ Really , the themes that we see , that persist , are this : Black people are corrupt , Black people are incompetent and Black people can ’ t be trusted , ” she said , according to the Detroit Free Press .
Sam Bagenstos , a law professor at the University of Michigan and a former official in Obama ’ s Department of Justice , said Tuesday that Barr ’ s memo seems to be carefully worded to limit federal involvement to instances where the claims have merit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election outcome , which is unlikely in Michigan , given counts so far show Biden won nearly 150,000 more votes .
“ To that extent , maybe it ’ s just a CYA kind of memo for his boss.
” Bagenstos said the legal maneuvering and false claims flying in Michigan and other closely decided states like Pennsylvania may fuel fears of Republicans state legislatures stepping in to supplant the will of voters by appointing Trump-supporting electors .
He doesn ’ t think that outcome is likely , given the low caliber of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the fact that Biden clearly won more support .
“ Never underestimate anything these days , but that ’ s a step way beyond anywhere anyone has been willing to go so far , ” he said .
“ If they were to do this with the gap so large in so many states , that would be—no joke , no hyperbole—the most profoundly anti-democratic act of modern American history .
That would be saying they ’ re just abandoning a pretense that we are a democracy where the people choose our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re going to do that ?
”

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As part of President Donald Trump’s continued battle to overturn his election loss, his campaign announced late Tuesday it would file a new federal lawsuit in Michigan alleging widespread election malfeasance—particularly in Wayne County, home to Detroit, a predominately black city where unofficial results show President-elect Joe Biden winning by nearly 40 percent.
The claims underlying the suit, which lack any substantial evidence and echo ones already made in a state lawsuit by a local conservative legal group, were amplified at a Monday press conference in Washington by White House Spokesperson Kayleigh McEnnany and Republican National Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a Michigan native.
Trump’s team says the lawsuits are ultimately are focused on one thing: flipping the results.
The suit, which demands that some of the city’s reported votes not be included in the state’s final tally, is just part of the campaign’s nationwide legal and political strategy focused on states where Trump has received fewer votes than Biden. The president hopes to hold on to the White House through lawsuits that seek to disqualify hundreds of thousands of voters and that create delays that prevent his loss being formalized. Election officials in every state from both parties told the New York Times this week that they have seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Trump allies, and even the president himself, privately concede the suits have very little chance of swinging the election. Publicly, however, Trump’s campaign is making no such admission. Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director, told reporters Tuesday night that the various legal actions will gather more information, but ultimately are focused on one thing: flipping the results.
“Every filing and every action that we are taking are getting us closer to the goal of seeing the president reelected,” Murtaugh said. “We do believe that ultimately President Trump will be declared the winner.”
In Michigan, the latest counts show that Biden earned nearly 150,000 more votes than Trump. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, has claimed their federal suit will invalidate “hundreds of thousands” of the state’s votes.
The suit claims that Wayne County election officials and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, failed to give Republican poll challengers proper opportunity to observe ballot tabulation, allowed county election workers to intimidate the ballot challengers, and let “illegal and ineligible ballots” to be counted. The federal lawsuit also claims that isolated software glitches causing incorrect reporting of results—an issue already caught and corrected, according to local and state election officials—have not been properly addressed and need further review.
Trump’s campaign has asked a judge in Michigan’s western federal district court to delay certification of the state’s results until all ballots have been confirmed to be eligible, and to discard ballots that the campaign says may be among them that were unlawfully cast, including some purportedly received after Election Day. The suit also seeks to toss out legal votes counted using the software in question unless individual tabulation devices are checked for accuracy, alongside those counted at times the campaign alleges Republican poll viewers were denied proper access.
The filing includes statements from Republican ballot changers who claim they were threatened by elections staff and saw issues with the count they couldn’t explain, like ballots being scanned more than once or supposed back-dating of ballots. Other observations are less substantial: one statement noted that a tranche of military ballots contained votes for Biden.
The campaign asked a judge to toss out legal votes and delay certification of Michigan’s results.
References to race are scattered throughout the statements, such as a woman who wrote she “did not feel safe (I am a small (5’3″ 130lb) pregnant white woman).” Another claimed “intimidation by poll workers wearing [Black Lives Matter] face masks and another man of intimidating size with a BLM shirt on.”
Jake Rollow, a spokesperson for secretary of state Benson, said the new lawsuit is “the same kind of irresponsible false rhetoric and misinformation that we saw throughout the election [and] is a press release masquerading as a legal claim designed to promote false claims aimed at eroding the public’s confidence in Michigan elections.” Elections in Michigan “were conducted fairly, securely, transparently, and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people,” Rollow said.
The city of Detroit and its election commission, in a response filed Wednesday in the state level suit filed by a conservative legal group, called the allegations “one more in a series of ill-conceived cases filed in an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election” that relies on “hearsay, speculation and unfounded conspiracy theories” to overturn results simply because Trump didn’t win.
Most of the objections raised, the filing read, “are grounded in an extraordinary failure to understand how elections function.” The city’s lawyers said basic procedures around the election are much the same as they were in 2016, when Trump won in Michigan by less than 11,000 votes. Trump actually improved his showing in Detroit by nearly 6,000 votes over 2016, the filing notes, while Biden’s final unofficial tally was less than Hillary Clinton’s showing in 2016: “Nothing about those numbers supports the theory of fraud being advanced [or] the completely unsubstantiated claims of tens of thousands of improperly processed ballots.”
Ray Wert, a county-level Democratic Party official, was a credentialed Democratic ballot challenger on election night and into the next day at Detroit’s TCF Center, where the bulk of the Trump campaign’s witnesses were on hand.
Wert, who has served as a ballot challenger in three previous elections, says he’d grown to recognize the Republicans who typically work alongside him. This election, he says there were many first timers, who were “poorly trained, ignorant of the process, ignorant of the law, and ignorant of the rules around challenging ballots. And that’s on the GOP.”
Trump’s legal filing comes days after Republicans in Michigan’s legislature announced they would subpoena state election officials as part of an investigation into election irregularities in order to “provide needed clarity to concerned residents.” Also this week, Attorney General Bill Barr advised federal prosecutors around the country that they could pursue “apparently-credible” or “substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities” that “could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual State.” The memo caused deep concern within the Department of Justice, the Washington Post reported Tuesday, leading its top election crimes official to resign and move elsewhere in the department.
“That would be—no joke, no hyperbole—the most profoundly anti-democratic act of modern American history.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Barr’s move wasn’t to benefit voters, but was designed to “signal to the President that his irresponsible and unsupported insistence that he won his race for reelection is taken seriously.” On Wednesday, Nessel assailed Trump for carrying out a racist strategy, targeting Black voters and officials in Detroit over other places in the state that are majority white and where Biden did better than Clinton did in 2016, like Oakland and Kent counties. “Really, the themes that we see, that persist, are this: Black people are corrupt, Black people are incompetent and Black people can’t be trusted,” she said, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Sam Bagenstos, a law professor at the University of Michigan and a former official in Obama’s Department of Justice, said Tuesday that Barr’s memo seems to be carefully worded to limit federal involvement to instances where the claims have merit and have a chance of effecting the election outcome, which is unlikely in Michigan, given counts so far show Biden won nearly 150,000 more votes. “To that extent, maybe it’s just a CYA kind of memo for his boss.”
Bagenstos said the legal maneuvering and false claims flying in Michigan and other closely decided states like Pennsylvania may fuel fears of Republicans state legislatures stepping in to supplant the will of voters by appointing Trump-supporting electors. He doesn’t think that outcome is likely, given the low caliber of Trump’s legal challenges thus far and the fact that Biden clearly won more support.
“Never underestimate anything these days, but that’s a step way beyond anywhere anyone has been willing to go so far,” he said. “If they were to do this with the gap so large in so many states, that would be—no joke, no hyperbole—the most profoundly anti-democratic act of modern American history. That would be saying they’re just abandoning a pretense that we are a democracy where the people choose our president. Do you really think they’re going to do that?”


motherjones--2020-11-11--Biden Won the Presidency and Inherited a Global Emergency. There’s No Time to Waste.

Joe Biden clinched the presidency .
Now he must save the planet .
That ’ s not hyperbole .
Biden ’ s supporters , along with America ’ s global allies , are hoping beyond hope for a quick reversal of President Trump ’ s most harmful policies come January 20 , 2021 .
Even as those policies have included draconian immigration actions , catastrophic public health negligence , and extreme isolationism , perhaps no part of Trump ’ s agenda has posed a bigger existential threat than his denial of climate change .
From a blithe disregard for basic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and rolling back environmental regulations , to pulling out of the landmark Paris Agreement , Trump did everything he could to roll back the progress of President Obama ’ s ambitious second-term climate agenda and wiping out America ’ s role as a global leader .
This year , carbon dioxide levels reached the highest recorded levels in human history , bedeviling the planet with an extraordinary array of climate emergencies .
The world can barely wait another moment for meaningful change—whatever that might entail .
On this week ’ s episode of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King is joined by MoJo climate and environment reporter Rebecca Leber to discuss what we can expect from Biden , who has now claimed climate action as central to his governing mandate .
How much of Trump ’ s damage can Biden reverse ?
What could a Republican-controlled Senate mean for the Green New Deal ?
How will Kamala Harris ’ barrier-breaking role in the White House influence Biden ’ s commitment to environmental justice ?
Biden made big promises for climate action on the campaign trail , and his first 100 days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flurry of executive orders attempting to address climate change .
If the number of times Biden said “ science ” in his victory speech is any indication , this administration will reverse Trump ’ s denialism .
But what can reasonably be expected when the stakes are so high : a stop to runaway global warming ?
Listen to the latest episode of the Mother Jones Podcast : Subscribe using Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Stitcher , or your favorite podcast app .

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Joe Biden clinched the presidency. Now he must save the planet.
That’s not hyperbole. Biden’s supporters, along with America’s global allies, are hoping beyond hope for a quick reversal of President Trump’s most harmful policies come January 20, 2021. Even as those policies have included draconian immigration actions, catastrophic public health negligence, and extreme isolationism, perhaps no part of Trump’s agenda has posed a bigger existential threat than his denial of climate change. From a blithe disregard for basic science and scientists, crippling the EPA and rolling back environmental regulations, to pulling out of the landmark Paris Agreement, Trump did everything he could to roll back the progress of President Obama’s ambitious second-term climate agenda and wiping out America’s role as a global leader. This year, carbon dioxide levels reached the highest recorded levels in human history, bedeviling the planet with an extraordinary array of climate emergencies. The world can barely wait another moment for meaningful change—whatever that might entail.
On this week’s episode of the Mother Jones Postcast, host Jamilah King is joined by MoJo climate and environment reporter Rebecca Leber to discuss what we can expect from Biden, who has now claimed climate action as central to his governing mandate. How much of Trump’s damage can Biden reverse? What could a Republican-controlled Senate mean for the Green New Deal? How will Kamala Harris’ barrier-breaking role in the White House influence Biden’s commitment to environmental justice?
Biden made big promises for climate action on the campaign trail, and his first 100 days as president are expected to unleash a flurry of executive orders attempting to address climate change. If the number of times Biden said “science” in his victory speech is any indication, this administration will reverse Trump’s denialism. But what can reasonably be expected when the stakes are so high: a stop to runaway global warming?
Listen below: