democracynow--2020-07-30--Chomsky on Israel’s Hindering of Palestinian Pandemic Response & Threat to Annex Occupied West Bank

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : I wanted to ask you about Israel .
Thousands of people have been protesting the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dealt with the coronavirus pandemic .
Also protesting his corruption .
This comes as the United Nations warns Israel ’ s threat to annex parts of the West Bank has hindered Palestinian efforts to control the pandemic .
The UN Special Envoy made the remarks a day after Israeli authorities demolished a coronavirus testing center in the West Bank city of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is happening there , both the issue of the coronavirus pandemic and Netanyahu ’ s express attempt , any day now , to annex the West Bank ?
NOAM CHOMSKY : Well , what ’ s happening with the virus is pretty horrible .
You look at the records of the main Israeli human rights group , B ’ Tselem , they actually report cases in which settlers , what ’ s called the Hilltop Youth—extremist right-wing , ultra-religious settlers in settlements that even the government of Israel regards as illegal , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them did have coronavirus .
These young , crazed militants broke into Palestinian villages to try to spread the virus .
And that ’ s at the extreme end .
Destroying those centers as you described , is the legal part of it .
This is both major political groupings .
The Labor Party has pretty much disappeared , but it used to be the major party .
Under the Labor Party , Golda Meir , Moshe Dayan , and others , under Shimon Peres , under the Labor Party as under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been carried out , trying to create a greater Israel , which takes over everything in the West Bank that is valuable and integrates it into Israel with huge infrastructure projects , and ban Palestinians of course .
You can drive from Ma ’ ale Adumim—built mostly during the Clinton years , a town east of Jerusalem , kind of virtually bisects the West Bank—you can drive from there to Tel Aviv without even seeing a Palestinian on a superhighway .
So you take what ’ s important , but avoid the population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bring Palestinian populations into the greater Israel they are constructing .
That is what is called the demographic problem—too many non-Jews in a Jewish state ; can ’ t have that .
So we want to avoid the population centers , don ’ t take over Nablus and other population centers .
Take over the areas that are of value to us .
There is a Palestinian population and try to get rid of them as much as possible by making life unlivable , or else isolate them in unviable cantons , probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Israel is taking over , where people are cut off from their fields , from their olive groves .
They have to pass through checkpoints to cross the road .
Just make life as impossible as possible , and try to limit the population and take over what is valuable .
The Jordan Valley , about a third of the West Bank , take that over .
Palestinian populations have mostly been removed by one or another technique .
Set up military firing zones , where nobody is allowed in it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ then you put in a Jewish settlement and tie it to the electrical and water grid .
Pretty soon , it ’ s settled by Jews .
Do the same with the Gurion Park , and so on .
And that ’ s the policy for the last 50 years .
Do it slowly , sort of under the radar , so outsiders can pretend they don ’ t see it .
But that is what has been happening .
Annexation will essentially formalize it .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : I wanted to ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here in the U.S. in the months leading up to this election , which you have said is the most important in human history .
What should happen here in the country , in the U.S. ?
What should people be doing to organize ?
NOAM CHOMSKY : They should be doing anything they can think of—demonstrations , protests , political organization , pressure on every pressure point you can think of , to try to block the very transparent effort of Trump , backed by his party , to set up major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ excuse for trying to either eliminate the election or to affect its results so that he does not have to leave the White House .
Also stressing the fact that we are in a major crisis .
The pandemic is the immediate crisis ; meanwhile , the environmental crisis is growing seriously , has to be addressed now .
We can not wait .
We must put into practice means to mitigate the crisis and overcome it .
To get off of fossil fuels .
To get to zero net emissions within a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be done now .
We have to strongly act constantly to try to prevent the crazed lunatics in the White House from carrying out nuclear weapons tests .
That ’ s the next thing on the agenda , breaking down the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty .
Trying to pressure them , it ’ s possible , to renegotiate the new START treaty .
If the Democrats win the election , they ’ ll do it , even thought it may be too late to get anywhere .
All of these things have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ let-up .
We are in a very dangerous period for the next few months .
What happens may determine the fate of the country , the fate of the species .
AMY GOODMAN : Noam Chomsky , world-renowned political dissident , linguist and author joining us from Tucson , Arizona , where he is sheltering at home in the midst of the pandemic with his wife .
Noam Chomsky is 91 years old .
He is Professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where he taught for more than 50 years .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Linguistics at the University of Arizona , Tucson .
Author of more than 100 books .
To see part one of our interview we broadcast last week , go to Democracynow.org .
And this news just in , the U.S. economy contracted by a record 33 % in the second quarter and another 1.43 million people filed for state unemployment last week .
More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment since the start of the pandemic .
And that does it for our show .
I am Amy Goodman with Nermeen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you about Israel. Thousands of people have been protesting the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, also protesting his corruption. This comes as the United Nations warns Israel’s threat to annex parts of the West Bank has hindered Palestinian efforts to control the pandemic. The U.N. special envoy made the remarks a day after Israeli authorities demolished a coronavirus testing center in the West Bank city of Hebron. Can you talk about what’s happening there, both the issue of the coronavirus pandemic and Netanyahu’s express attempt, any day now, to annex the West Bank?
NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, what’s happening with the virus is pretty horrible. If you look at the records of the main Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, they actually report cases in which settlers, what’s called the Hilltop Youth — extremist, right-wing, ultra-religious settlers in settlements that even the government of Israel regards as illegal, but leaves them alone and supports them — some of them did have coronavirus. These young, crazed militants broke into Palestinian villages to try to spread the virus. I mean, that’s at the extreme end. Destroying the centers, as you described, is the legal part of it.
In fact, Israel is treating the Palestinians — it has for a long time, all of modern history — pretty much the way the United States is treating immigrants in the virtual concentration camps south of where I live. The annexation, which they’re holding off for the moment, basically formalizes policies that have been implemented over the last 50 years.
This is both major political groupings. The Labor Party has pretty much disappeared, but it used to be the major party. So, under the Labor Party, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, others, under the — Shimon Peres — under the Labor Party, as under the Likud-based coalition, the same policies have been carried out, trying to create a Greater Israel, which takes over everything in the West Bank that is valuable, and integrates it into Israel, with huge infrastructure projects, and ban Palestinians, of course. You can drive from Ma’ale Adumim, built mostly during the Clinton years, a town east of Jerusalem, kind of virtually bisects the West Bank — you can drive from there to Tel Aviv without even seeing a Palestinian on a superhighway.
So, you take what’s important, but avoid the population centers. Israel does not want to bring Palestinian populations into the Greater Israel they’re constructing. That’s what’s called the demographic problem: too many non-Jews in a Jewish state. Can’t have that. So, we want to avoid the population centers, don’t take over Nablus, other population centers. Take over the areas that are of value to us. There is a Palestinian population; try to get rid of them as much as possible by making life unlivable, or else isolate them in unviable cantons, probably almost 200 of them in the areas that Israel is taking over, where people are cut off from their fields, from their olive groves. They have to pass through checkpoints to cross the road. Just make life as impossible as possible, and try to limit the population and take over what’s valuable.
The Jordan Valley, about a third of the West Bank, take that over. Palestinian populations have mostly been removed by one or another technique. Set up military firing zones, where nobody’s allowed in it. So you kick out the Palestinians, then you put in a Jewish settlement and tie it to the electrical and water grid. Pretty soon, it’s settled by Jews. Do the same with the Gurion Park, and so on. That’s the policy for the last 50 years. Do it slowly, sort of under the radar, so outsiders can pretend they don’t see it. But that’s what’s been happening. Annexation will essentially formalize it.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: I wanted to ask what you would like to see happen here in the U.S. in the months leading up to this election, which you’ve said is the most important in human history. What should happen here in the country, in the U.S.? What should people be doing to organize?
NOAM CHOMSKY: They should be doing anything they can think of — demonstrations, protests, political organization, pressure on every pressure point you can think of, to try to block the very transparent effort of Trump, backed by his party, to set up major military confrontations, which will be an excuse for trying to either eliminate the election or to affect its results so that he doesn’t have to leave the White House.
Also, stressing the fact that we are in a major crisis. The pandemic is the immediate crisis. Meanwhile, the environmental crisis is growing seriously, has to be addressed now. We cannot wait. We must put into practice means to mitigate the crisis and overcome it, to get off of fossil fuels, to get to zero net emissions within a short time. All of this has to be done now.
We have to strongly act constantly to try to prevent the crazed lunatics in the White House from carrying out nuclear weapons tests. That’s the next thing on the agenda, breaking down the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Try to pressure them — it’s possible — to renegotiate the New START treaty. If the Democrats win the election, they’ll do it, even though it may be too late to get anywhere. All of these things have to be done right away. No let-up. We’re in a very dangerous period for the next few months. What happens may determine the fate of the country, the fate of the species.
AMY GOODMAN: Noam Chomsky, world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, joining us from Tucson, Arizona, where he’s sheltering at home in the midst of the pandemic with his wife. Noam Chomsky is 91 years old. He’s professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught for more than 50 years, now laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Arizona, Tucson, author of more than 100 books. To see Part 1 of our interview we broadcast last week, go to democracynow.org.
And this news just in: The U.S. economy contracted by a record 33% in the second quarter, and another 1.43 million people filed for state unemployment last week. More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment since the start of the pandemic.
And that does it for our show. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Thanks so much for joining us.


democracynow--2020-07-30--Chomsky on Cuba’s "Internationalist" Response to Pandemic & Need to Make Vaccine Globally Accessible

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
It ’ s the Quarantine Report .
We return now to the interview I did with Nermeen Shaikh with Professor Noam Chomsky .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Professor Chomsky , I ’ d like to ask about one of the immediate crises we are facing , which you ’ ve just spoken about earlier , which is of course this pandemic .
If you could say a little—now , many scientists believe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this virus .
Could you talk a little about what you hope will happen in terms of access to this vaccine ?
NOAM CHOMSKY : Well , first of all , whether a vaccine will be available is an open question .
There are some pretty favorable reports , but the development of safe vaccines is a pretty slow process .
Rushing vaccines through has dangers associated with it that may be unknown , side effects , lots of problems that can be dealt with by slow development .
But racing through does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spread of the virus , it ’ s imperative to do whatever can be done .
Then comes your question , how is it distributed ?
Well , in the kind of society in which we live , it will be distributed pretty much the way the stimulus money is being distributed , or the way the bailout in 2008 was distributed .
That was the Obama administration , not the administration of a psychopath .
So how was it done under Obama ?
Well , Congress passed the legislation with two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the crisis , the big banks , the ones who had played games with derivatives and so on .
“ Let ’ s bail them out.
” And the other part was to provide support for the victims , the people who lost their homes under foreclosure .
“ Let ’ s do something for them.
” Half the program was enacted , the first part .
The inspector general for the Treasury Department , Neil Barofsky , was so outraged , he was writing articles .
He even wrote a book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good guys , the Obama administration .
Now we are talking about the bad guys , the Trump Administration , off the spectrum .
That is what has been happening with the stimulus funds .
One of the major funds , about 80 % of it went to people who earned over a million dollars a year .
You just gave the figures before about the cornucopia that is flowing to the superrich [ inaudible ] others .
Well , that will be the way the vaccine is distributed too , if we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t have to do that .
Maybe Trump was sent by God to Earth , but the system that we live in , it ’ s humanly designed and can be changed .
Can readily be changed .
The coming election could lead to a change if there is real dedication to getting rid of the malignancy in the White House that is destroying us , and changing the former political party , still called a political party , that backs the radical insurgency .
That can be tamed and returned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can get a stable government run by people who care somewhat about the population .
And if popular activism continues , which has made a big impact , it ’ s worth—the Sanders campaign was a remarkable success , and Sanders joined the planning of the Biden campaign .
It ’ s had a big impact on the program .
It is the most progressive program of any candidate in recent history , maybe as far back as Roosevelt .
The climate change program is not what I would like , not what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than anything that has been proposed by anyone .
It was partially written by the activists of Sunrise Movement .
The leadership of the movement strongly endorses it .
If popular activism continues , it can ensure or at least make it highly probable that these programs will be enacted and improved .
That ’ s the key .
That ’ s real politics .
Keep the pressure on daily , not just push a lever every four years .
That ’ s what has effect .
If that can continue , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are ways to deal with the environmental crisis .
There are ways to deal with a pandemic .
Of course nuclear war , yes , there are ways to deal with it .
They are not insoluble .
But you have to grasp the opportunity .
Now as far as distributing the vaccine is concerned , we are going to be facing real problems .
One is the radical inequality in the society , which is just going to push the more wealthy and privileged to the front .
That has to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who need it , who are mostly the poor and vulnerable .
They are the ones who are suffering most and they should be up front .
People in impossible—like the concentration camps not far from where I live , on the southern border with Mexico , the pandemic is raging there in the prisons .
Raging .
All of these have to be dealt with .
We ’ re going to face another problem .
The anti-science thrust of this administration has accelerated a tendency in the country to be opposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strong .
There ’ s a strong anti-vaccination movement , which says , “ We can ’ t take vaccines .
They are too dangerous.
” You ’ ve probably seen a story circulating that the pandemic was created by Bill Gates and George Soros to try to control the world population .
Very widespread .
A recent investigation by Pew Research Center found that among Republicans , of those who are familiar with the story , which is a great many , that almost 60 % believe it .
These are people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tells his 30 million people in the audience—this is Trump ’ s favorite news man , just got the Medal of Freedom—he tells his audience there are four corners of deceit—government , media , academia , and science .
They thrive on deceit .
OK ?
Tens of millions of people hear that kind of thing .
They see what you described in the White House with the scientists pushed to the side .
“ We don ’ t want science.
” OK .
They believe it .
Not surprising .
That is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming back to the distribution of the virus , they may refuse to take the vaccine .
A person who refuses to take the vaccine is not just harming him or herself .
It ’ s like a person who says “ I ’ ve got an assault rifle .
I want to run around the streets shooting it at random.
” That ’ s what it means not to wear a mask or not to take the vaccine .
NOAM CHOMSKY : If vaccines are rushed through , there is always a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the possibilities simply haven ’ t been tested .
That ’ s what happens when you rush things through .
Maybe the balance of costs and benefits says you should do it anyway .
But what are we going to do ?
We are talking about the United states , how to distribute a vaccine .
What about Africa ?
What about Yemen ?
What about poor areas of Latin America ?
And what about the huge mass of deeply impoverished people in India ?
What is going to happen to them ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the world .
Well , they get some relief from the World Health Organization .
It hasn ’ t been discussed as far as I know , but something pretty shocking just took place .
When Trump , as I said before , flailing around to try to find some scapegoat to cover up the fact that he is responsible for killing tens of thousands of Americans , one of his targets is the World Health Organization .
First , defunding .
Second , trying to destroy it .
What does this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millions of poor people in Africa ?
The World Health Organization is what provides them with medical support and treatment for the many diseases that they face all the time .
Now it ’ s getting worse under the virus .
What does it mean for Yemen , the worst humanitarian crisis in the world ?
Thanks to our providing Saudi Arabia with arms and intelligence so that they can destroy the country , a large part of it .
The population , they have a terrible pandemic raging .
The World Health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of providing medical support for them .
So let ’ s withdraw it .
There ’ s at least one country in the world that is showing genuine internationalism , providing medical aid and support for people who need it .
When there was a pandemic in northern Italy , a serious epidemic in northern Italy , there were some rich countries to the north—Germany , Austria—which had it pretty much in control .
They didn ’ t send doctors .
Doctors were sent from Cuba , a poor country that the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60 years .
They were able to send doctors to northern Italy , as they ’ ve done before and elsewhere .
Not the rich countries in what ’ s called the European Union .
Well , that is the kind of world we live in .
This is sometimes covered and discussed in the U.S. media , but the way it is done is to accuse the Cuban government of using slave labor to enrich themselves .
That is what it means for Cuba to send doctors to work in dangerous places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ ve done many times before .
It ’ s true that the Cuban government takes part of the funding for this to use for their medical system , their remarkable medical system .
So you turn that through the U.S. propaganda system and it becomes using slave labor to enrich themselves .
This is the country that we are crushing , starting with a terrorist war and vicious economic strangulation .
The whole world is opposed to it .
When it comes up in the United Nations every year , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One exception , Israel , which has to go along with the U.S. Everyone else opposed .
Who cares ?
We ’ re the global pariah state .
We don ’ t care about anybody else .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman. It’s The Quarantine Report. We return now to the interview I did with Nermeen Shaikh with professor Noam Chomsky.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Professor Chomsky, I’d like to ask about one of the immediate crises we’re facing, which you’ve just spoken about earlier, which is, of course, this pandemic. If you could say a little — I mean, now many scientists believe that a vaccine will be possible for this virus. Could you talk a little about what you hope will happen in terms of access to this vaccine?
NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, first of all, whether a vaccine will be available is an open question. There are some pretty favorable reports, but the development of safe vaccines is a pretty slow process. And rushing vaccines through has dangers associated with it. There may be unknown side effects, lots of problems that can be dealt with by slow development. But racing it through does raise these problems. Nevertheless, given the spread of the virus, it’s imperative to do whatever can be done.
Then comes your question: How is it distributed? Well, in the kind of society in which we live, it will be distributed pretty much the way the stimulus money is being distributed, or the way the bailout in 2008 was distributed. That was the Obama administration, not the administration of a psychopath. So, how was it done under Obama? Well, Congress passed legislation with two parts, to bail out the perpetrators of the crisis, the big banks, the ones who had played games with derivatives and so on — “Let’s bail them out” — and the other part was to provide support for the victims, the people who lost their homes under foreclosure — “Well, let’s do something for them.” Half the program was enacted: the first part. The inspector general for the Treasury Department, Neil Barofsky, was so outraged, he was writing articles. He even wrote a book about the scandal. That was the good guys, the Obama administration.
Now we’re talking about the bad guys, the Trump administration, off the spectrum. That’s what’s been happening with the stimulus funds. One of the major funds, about 80% of it went to people who earn over a million dollars a year. You just gave the figures before about the cornucopia that’s flowing to the super rich — Bezos, others. Well, that will be the way the vaccine is distributed, too, if we retain our current social order.
We don’t have to do that. Maybe Trump was sent by God to Earth, but the system that we live in wasn’t. It’s humanly designed and can be changed, can readily be changed. The coming election could lead to a change, if there’s real dedication to getting rid of the malignancy in the White House that’s destroying us, and changing the former political party, still called a political party, that backs it, the radical insurgency. If that can be tamed and returned to something like it was, we can get a stable government, run by people who care somewhat about the population.
And if popular activism continues, which has made a big impact, it’s worth — the Sanders campaign was a remarkable success. Sanders joined the planning of the Biden campaign. It’s had a big impact on the program. It’s the most progressive program of any candidate in recent history, maybe as far back as Roosevelt. The climate change program is not what I would like, not what you would like, but it’s better than anything that’s been proposed by anyone. It was partially written by the activists of Sunrise Movement. The leadership of the movement strongly endorses it.
If popular activism continues, it can ensure, or at least make it highly probable, that these programs will be enacted and improved. That’s the key. That’s real politics: keep the pressure on daily, not just push a lever every four years. That’s what has effect. If that can continue, we can escape from this crisis. There are ways to deal with the environmental crisis. There are ways to deal with a pandemic. Of course, nuclear war, yes, there are ways to deal with it. They’re not insoluble. But you have to grasp the opportunity.
Now, as far as distributing the vaccine is concerned, we’re going to be facing real problems. One is the radical inequality in the society, which is going to push the more wealthy and privileged to the front. That has to be stopped. The vaccine should go to those who need it, who are mostly the poor and vulnerable. They’re the ones who are suffering most. They should be up front. People in impossible — like the concentration camps not far from where I live, on the southern border with Mexico, the pandemic is raging there — prisons, raging. All of these have to be dealt with.
We’re going to face another problem. The anti-science thrust of this administration has accelerated a tendency in the country to be opposed to science. It’s very strong. There’s a strong anti-vaccination movement, which says, “We can’t take vaccines. They’re too dangerous.” You’ve probably seen a story circulating that the pandemic was created by Bill Gates and George Soros to try to control the world population. It’s very widespread. A recent investigation by Pew Research Center found that among Republicans, of those who are familiar with the story, which is a great many, that almost 60% believe it. I mean, these are people who listen to Rush Limbaugh, who tells his 30 million people in the audience — this is Trump’s favorite news man, just got the Medal of Freedom — he tells his audience there are four corners of deceit: government, media, academia and science. They thrive on deceit. OK?
Tens of millions of people hear that kind of thing. They see what you described in the White House with the scientists pushed to the side. “We don’t want science.” OK, they believe it. Not surprising. That’s what people are inundated with. And coming back to the distribution of the virus, they may refuse to take the vaccine. A person who refuses to take the vaccine is not just harming him or herself. It’s like a person who says, “I’ve got an assault rifle. I want to run around the streets shooting it at random.” That’s what it means not to wear a mask or not to take the vaccine.
AMY GOODMAN: Do people have reason to be afraid, Professor Chomsky, about a vaccine that’s been developed at — well, in Trump’s words, the name of the program — Warp Speed, that in his zeal at deregulation and to get a vaccine, which so many people want around the world, that there would be a danger in the original vaccines?
NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, if vaccines are rushed through, there’s always a danger. It means that many of the possibilities simply haven’t been tested. That’s what happens when you rush things through. Well, maybe the balance of costs and benefits says you should do it anyway.
But the real — what are we going to do? We’re talking about the United states, how to distribute a vaccine. What about Africa? What about Yemen? What about poor areas of Latin America? And what about the huge mass of deeply impoverished people in India? What’s going to happen to them? That’s most of the population of the world.
Well, you know, they get some relief from the World Health Organization. It hasn’t been discussed, as far as I know, but something pretty shocking just took place. When Trump, as I said before, flailing around to try to find some scapegoat to cover up the fact that he’s responsible for killing tens of thousands of Americans, one of his targets is the World Health Organization — first, defunding; second, trying to destroy it.
What does this mean to tens of thousands, if not millions, of poor people in Africa? The World Health Organization is what provides them with medical support and treatment for the many diseases that they face all the time. Now it’s getting worse under the virus. What does it mean for Yemen, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, thanks to our providing Saudi Arabia with arms and intelligence so that they can destroy the country, a large part of it? The population, they have a terrible pandemic raging. The World Health Organization is one of the few means of providing medical support for them. So let’s withdraw it.
Getting rid of the — pulling out of the World Health Organization and defunding it is threatening the lives of huge, uncountable numbers of people. Why isn’t that a headline? Or even a small story somewhere? I mean, it’s shocking, what we’re overlooking. So, going back to your question of distribution of vaccines, they ought to be right in front. We should be doing something for them.
Well, there’s at least one country in the world that is showing genuine internationalism, providing medical aid and support for people who need it. When there was a pandemic in northern Italy — serious, serious epidemic in northern Italy — there were some rich countries to the north — Germany, Austria — which had it pretty much in control. They didn’t send doctors. Doctors were sent from Cuba, the country that the — a poor country that the United States has been trying to crush for 60 years. They were able to send doctors to northern Italy, as they’ve done before and elsewhere — not the rich countries in what’s called the European Union.


democracynow--2020-07-30--Noam Chomsky: Decades of "the Neoliberal Plague" Left U.S. Unprepared for COVID-19 Outbreak

As the U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 150,000 , we spend the hour with world-renowned political dissident , linguist and author Noam Chomsky , who says decades of neoliberal policies that shredded the social safety net and public institutions left the country ill-prepared for a major health crisis .
“ We should understand the roots of this pandemic , ” he says .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, Democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
The U.S. coronavirus death toll has topped 150,000 on Wednesday , the highest of any nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ per capita are Florida , Louisiana , Arizona , Mississippi , Alabama , Nevada , South Carolina , Texas , Idaho , Tennessee and Georgia , a list that includes all seven of the original Confederate states .
Today we talk about COVID and so much more as we spend the hour with Noam Chomsky , the world-renowned political dissident , linguist and author , Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where he taught for more than 50 years , now laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 100 books .
Professor Chomsky spoke with Democracy Now !
’ s Nermeen Shaikh and I on Thursday , from his home in Tucson , Arizona about the coronavirus crisis .
NOAM CHOMSKY We should understand the roots of this pandemic .
If we do not understand the roots and extirpate them , there is going to be another and worse one coming .
So far we have been kind of lucky .
The coronavirus , pandemics , epidemics are very serious , and there are many possibilities .
So far , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last ten or 15 years , either the virus has been very deadly but not very contagious , like Ebola , or very contagious but not very deadly , like COVID-19 .
What happens when the next one comes along that is both very contagious and very deadly ?
We are in deep trouble .
Deep .
Much worse than this .
Much worse than the so-called “ Spanish flu , ” which ought to be called the Kansas flu by Trump ’ s logic .
It originated in Kansas the century @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much worse than that .
There are ways of dealing with it .
After the SARS epidemic in 2003 , scientists knew that another one is very likely .
They warned against it .
They presented policies that could be carried out .
They weren ’ t implemented , in part because of deep institutional pathologies .
The drug companies who are the obvious candidates for dealing with it can ’ t , by straight capitalist logic .
You don ’ t spend money to try to prevent a catastrophe ten years from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make money tomorrow .
That is the logic of the system .
So the pharmaceutical companies were ruled out by capitalist logic .
The government could step in .
The government , in any event , does most of the basic research for vaccines and drugs , almost all of them .
So they could have stepped in , create laboratories , and plenty of unlimited resources .
But they are blocked by the neoliberal plague .
Remember Ronald Reagan—that government is the problem , not the solution , which means we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the hands of government , which has a flaw ; it ’ s somewhat responsive to the population .
We have to shift it to unaccountable , private tyrannies , which are totally unaccountable to the population .
That is the meaning of Reagan ’ s slogan .
That is the fundamental principle of neoliberalism .
We ’ ve been suffering—the world has been suffering from it for 40 years , except for the tiny percentage who have become super rich and extremely powerful .
Well , that blocks the government .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asia , Oceania , Australia , New Zealand , they were reacting .
Some of it , South Korea , which was one of the first places hit , never had to go to a lockdown because they dealt with it rationally .
They identified the places that were hot spots , controlled them , tested , traced people for contacts .
Countries pretty much functioned .
Vietnam has reported zero deaths , and apparently that is taken quite seriously by leading U.S. specialists .
The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ zero deaths from Vietnam , which has a 1,400-mile border with China .
South Korea , Taiwan , New Zealand , Australia are doing quite well .
And Europe , they delayed in quite a way , but they did finally act .
As you mentioned , the curve has sharply reduced since March for most of Europe .
Some of them , like Norway , Germany , doing quite well in this respect .
People are traveling through southern Italy almost like normal .
And one of the really world-shaking crimes that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Amazon .
That affects the whole world , not just Brazil .
It ’ s basically genocide to the indigenous populations .
Scientific predictions are that on our current course , the Amazon will shift in about 15 years from being a net sink of carbon dioxide to a net emitter of carbon dioxide , sometimes called the lungs of the Earth .
The forest absorbs huge amounts of carbon dioxide .
It will start emitting them instead .
A little further down the road , the Amazon , under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ savanna , no forest anymore .
Devastating for Brazil and the other Amazonian countries .
Devastating for the world .
It ’ s one of the main oxygen producers of the world .
The Republican Party , we know how they shifted .
You go back just a decade or so , John McCain , 2008 , was running for president .
His program had some pretty weak , but some policies directed to global warming .
The Republican Congress was beginning to contemplate global warming , policies to restrict global warming .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ corporation , got wind of this .
They had been working for years to prevent it .
David Koch , one of the Koch brothers who died recently , launched an incredible campaign to make sure that the Republican Party would turn to denialism .
They bribed senators , intimidated others with the threat of running counter-campaigns against them .
Huge lobbying campaign .
Astroturf campaigns .
A massive juggernaut .
The party shifted , dropped all of its efforts to deal with climate change .
It ’ s now a party led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you talk about this denialism and the science denialism , first dealing with the climate crisis and then extending to the pandemic , both threatening life on Earth , with President Trump now holding a daily coronavirus press briefing without the scientists , you have Anthony Fauci throwing out the first ball at the Washington Nationals game , the chief infectious disease scientist , who won ’ t play ball exactly with the White House , so he is not in the coronavirus briefing .
You have Dr. Birx .
President Trump says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she is not a part of this news conference .
Do you think reporters who are sitting in the White House briefing room should refuse to be there unless scientists are there and unless President Trump wears a mask ?
Every year that Trump has been in office , the minute hand has moved closer to midnight .
Two years ago , it reached the closest it had ever been .
This last January , the analysts gave up minutes ; they moved to seconds .
A hundred seconds to midnight .
Since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the issues that they have brought up worse .
There were three major issues .
One is of course the threat of nuclear war , second the threat of environmental catastrophe , the third the deterioration of democracy .
Which does belong , because it is only with a vibrant democracy of informed , engaged public that we can have any hope of escaping from the two existential crises .
The Inspectors General who were imposed by Congress , by the Republican Congress to monitor malfeasance of the executive branches , purged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his way to humiliate the senior Republican senator , Charles Grassley , who had spent much of his career imposing these monitors .
The attorney for the Southern District of New York looked into the Trump swamp ; fired .
Congress , turned by McConnell , used to be called the greatest deliberative body in the world .
Now it is a joke .
Doesn ’ t do any deliberation .
It does essentially nothing except try to race through as many appointments of young , ultra-right judges as possible so they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The only other thing it does is figure out ways to pour money into the—dollars into the pockets of the rich , like the tax scam .
That ’ s the Senate , the greatest deliberative body .
Proposals come from the House for legislation ; McConnell just cans them .
Don ’ t look at them .
That is not the role of the Senate .
Going back , that ’ s why they should be putting the Doomsday Clock on the front of every newspaper .
Show us what the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To itself and the world .
That should be in front of everyone ’ s attention .
And there are many other things that should be done .
There should be major protests now , everywhere , against the use of military force to occupy American cities and to crush peaceful dissidents .
This is intolerable in a functioning democracy .
We can ’ t sit by and let it happen , just let it proceed step by step until we reach real catastrophe .
AMY GOODMAN : Professor Noam Chomsky .
When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talks about Israel ’ s threat to annex the West Bank , the upcoming U.S. election and more .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The U.S. coronavirus death toll has topped 150,000 Wednesday — the highest of any nation by far. The hardest-hit states per capita are Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Idaho, Tennessee and Georgia — a list that includes all seven of the original Confederate states.
Today we talk about COVID and so much more as we spend the hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught for more than 50 years, now laureate professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Arizona, author of more than a hundred books. Professor Chomsky spoke with Democracy Now!’s Nermeen Shaikh and I on Thursday from his home in Tucson, Arizona, about the coronavirus crisis.
NOAM CHOMSKY We should understand the roots of this pandemic. If we don’t understand the roots and extirpate them, there’s going to be another and worse one coming. So far, we’ve been kind of lucky. There are coronaviruses, pandemics of — epidemics are very serious, and there are many possibilities. So far, all the ones that have happened in the last 10 or 15 years, either the virus has been very deadly but not very contagious, like Ebola, or very contagious but not very deadly, like COVID-19. What happens when the next one comes along that’s both very contagious and very deadly? We are in deep trouble. Deep. Much worse than this. Much worse than the so-called Spanish flu, which ought to be called the Kansas flu by Trump’s logic. It originated in Kansas a century ago. We may be facing something much worse than that.
There are ways of dealing with it. After the SARS epidemic in 2003, scientists knew that another one is very likely. They warned against it. They presented policies that could be carried out. They weren’t implemented, in part because of deep institutional pathologies. The drug companies, who are the obvious candidates for dealing with it, can’t, by straight capitalist logic. You don’t spend money to try to prevent a catastrophe 10 years from now. What you do is try to make money tomorrow. That’s the logic of the system. So the pharmaceutical companies are ruled out by capitalist logic.
The government could step in. The government, in any event, does most of the basic research for vaccines and drugs, almost all of them. So it could have stepped in, create laboratories. Plenty of — unlimited resources. But they’re blocked by the neoliberal plague. Remember Ronald Reagan, that government is the problem, not the solution, which means we have to take decision-making and action out of the hands of government, which has a flaw: It’s somewhat responsive to the population. We have to shift it to unaccountable, private tyrannies, which are totally unaccountable to the population. That’s the meaning of Reagan’s slogan. That’s the fundamental principle of neoliberalism. We’ve been suffering — the world has been suffering from it for 40 years, except for the tiny percentage who have become super rich and extremely powerful. Well, that blocks the government.
Nevertheless, there were things that the government could do. When the Obama administration took office, in the first few days, Obama called the presidential scientific advisory board, which had been established by George H.W. Bush, the first Bush, who had some respect for science. Obama called it. He requested that they put together a pandemic reaction program, a way to deal with a pandemic if it comes. They came up with a report a couple weeks later. It was implemented. It was in place until January 2017.
Trump came into office, first few days, dismantled the whole system. Nothing. That’s part of the general wrecking ball. “We have to destroy everything that Obama did. We have to wreck everything,” because it’s the only way to look like you’re doing something. Happening all over. So that went.
There were programs of U.S. scientists working in China with Chinese colleagues to try to detect and identify coronaviruses. Most of them are deep in caves. It’s very dangerous work. Some have been killed, Chinese scientists. But they were finding them and identifying them and testing them. The Wuhan Institute of Virology is the main center for investigating this. Trump canceled the programs.
There were simulations run of a pandemic as late as October 2019 warning of what would happen. No attention. Trump administration isn’t interested. So, when the epidemic finally hit, the United States was singularly unprepared. After that comes a series of grotesque inactions and actions. For a couple of months, Trump refused to admit that it was happening.
Other countries were doing things. In Asia, Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, they were reacting. Some of it — South Korea, which was one of the first places hit, never had to go to a lockdown, because they dealt with it rationally. They identified the places that were hot spots, controlled them, tested, traced people, looked for contacts. Countries pretty much functioned. Vietnam has reported zero deaths, and apparently that’s taken quite seriously by leading U.S. specialists. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, which monitors the international situation, records zero deaths from Vietnam, which has a 1,400-mile border with China. South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia are doing quite well. And Europe, they delayed. They didn’t act quick, right away, but they did finally act. And as you mentioned, the curve has sharply reduced since March for most of Europe — some of them, like Norway and Germany, doing quite well in this respect. People are traveling through southern Italy almost like normal.
It’s gotten so extreme that, as you know, Europe has banned American visitors. The United States is such a pariah state that Americans aren’t permitted to go to other countries. Other countries won’t allow them in.
This is kind of mimicked in a horrible way in Brazil. Bolsonaro just denies that it’s happening. “It’s just a mild flu. Don’t worry about it. Brazilians are strong. We don’t care.” So, big meetings of right-wing Bolsonaro supporters dancing in the streets and spreading the virus, and Bolsonaro says fine.
And one of the really world-shaking crimes that’s being carried out is the destruction of the Amazon. That affects the whole world, not just Brazil. I mean, it means basically genocide for the Indigenous populations. The scientific predictions are that, on our current course, the Amazon will shift in about 15 years from being a net sink of carbon dioxide to a net emitter of carbon dioxide, sometimes called the lungs of the Earth. Forest absorbs huge amounts of carbon dioxide. It will start emitting them instead. A little farther down the road, the Amazon, under the current course, will just turn into savanna, no forest anymore. Devastating for Brazil and the other Amazonian countries. Devastating for the world. It’s one of the main oxygen producers in the world.
I mean, at every level, we are racing madly towards total catastrophe under the leadership of sociopathic fanatics. It’s as if some evil demon decided to take over the human species and drive them to self-destruction. Much of the world is trying to counter it, almost all the world, but the United States and Brazil are the extreme cases of racing with dedication towards disaster.
Going back to this election, that’s the reason why it’s the most dangerous, the most significant election in history, why Trump is in fact — this may sound outrageous, but it’s true — Trump is the most dangerous figure in human history. The Republican Party today is the most dangerous organization in human history. You can compare Trump to, say, Hitler. The Wannsee Declaration in 1942 called for killing all the Jews, tens of millions of Slavs, not destroying organized human society. There has been nothing like this. Nothing.
The Republican Party, we know how they shifted. You go back just a decade or so. John McCain, 2008, was running for president. His program had some pretty weak, but some policies directed to global warming. The Republican Congress was beginning to contemplate global warming, policies to restrict global warming. The Koch brothers, the super rich energy corporation, got wind of this. They had been working for years to prevent it. David Koch, one of the Koch brothers — died recently — launched an incredible campaign to make sure that the Republican Party would turn to denialism. They bribed senators, intimidated others with the threat of running countercampaigns against them — huge lobbying campaign, astroturf campaigns, a massive juggernaut. The party shifted, dropped all of its efforts to deal with climate change. It’s now a party led by denialists.
AMY GOODMAN: As you talk about this denialism and the science denialism, first dealing with the climate crisis and then extending to the pandemic, both threatening life on Earth, with President Trump now holding a daily coronavirus press briefing without the scientists, you have Anthony Fauci throwing out the first ball at the Washington Nationals game, the chief infectious disease scientist, who won’t play ball exactly with the White House, so he’s not in this coronavirus briefing. You have Dr. Birx. President Trump says she’s right outside, but she’s not a part of this news conference. Do you think reporters who are sitting in the White House briefing room should refuse to be there unless scientists are there and unless President Trump wears a mask?
NOAM CHOMSKY: Yes, I think so, and I think they should do much more. They should say — they should be pointing out constantly what I just said — we’re dealing with the most dangerous figure in human history, backed by the most dangerous organization in human history — and give the facts, not only the pandemic, but the much more serious threat of environmental disaster and the growing, very severe threat of nuclear war.
In my opinion, every newspaper should have on the front page an image of the Doomsday Clock. You know all about this, but every January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists gathers — the main scientific journal dealing with these issues — gathers scientists, political analysts to try to give an estimate of the security — the state of world security. Started shortly after the atom bomb, it’s been going on for 75 years. The minute hand is moved closer or farther — it oscillates, closer or farther to midnight, depending how dangerous the world situation is. Midnight means we’re finished.
Every year that Trump has been in office, the minute hand has moved closer to midnight. Two years ago, it reached the closest it had ever been. This last January, the analysts gave up minutes; they moved to seconds. A hundred seconds to midnight. Since January, Trump has made every one of the issues that they brought up worse. There were three major issues. One is, of course, the threat of nuclear war; second, the threat of environmental catastrophe; the third, the deterioration of democracy — which does belong, because it’s only with a vibrant democracy of informed, engaged public that we can have any hope of escaping from the two existential crises.
Since January, Trump has succeeded in making all three crises worse. I mentioned the nuclear weapons issue — considerably worse, thanks to Trump’s actions. The environmental crisis, of course, getting worse as he continues to press for maximization of the use of the most dangerous fossil fuels, cuts back — through his EPA representatives and others, cuts back on the efforts to mitigate the crisis through regulatory means. And democracy, it’s pretty obvious: The executive branch has been essentially cleansed of independent voices. Nothing but sycophants of the Pompeo variety, sent by God to save Israel.
The inspectors general, who were imposed by Congress, by the Republican Congress, to monitor malfeasance of the executive branches, purged. Trump, in fact, went out of his way to humiliate the senior Republican senator, Charles Grassley, who had spent much of his career imposing these monitors. The attorney for the state, Southern District of New York, looked into the Trump swamp — fired. Congress, turned by McConnell, used to be called the greatest deliberative body in the world. Now it’s a joke, doesn’t do any deliberation. It does essentially nothing, except try to race through as many appointments of young, ultra-right judges as possible, so they can pack the judiciary for a generation. The only other thing it does is figure out ways to pour money into the — dollars into the pockets of the rich, like the tax scam. That’s the Senate, the greatest deliberative body. Proposals come from the House for legislation; McConnell just cans them. Don’t look at them. That’s not the role of the Senate.
So, going back to the — that’s why there should be the Doomsday Clock on the front of every newspaper. Show us what the United States is doing to the world, to itself and the world. That should be in front of everyone’s attention. And there are many other things that should be done. There should be major protests now, everywhere, against the use of military force to occupy American cities and to crush peaceful dissidents. This is intolerable in a functioning democracy. We can’t sit by and let it happen, just let it proceed step by step until we reach real catastrophe.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Noam Chomsky. When we come back from break, he talks about Israel’s threat to annex the West Bank, the upcoming U.S. election and more.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “Swept Away” by The Roots. One of their founding members, Malik B., has passed away at the age of 47.


democracynow--2020-07-30--Headlines for July 30, 2020

Headlines for July 30, 2020

Texas Republican Congressmember Louie Gohmert tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday , after he consistently refused to wear a mask in the U.S. Capitol — including in a committee hearing Tuesday where Attorney General William Barr gave testimony .
Gohmert ’ s diagnosis came after he was tested by the White House ahead of a planned trip to West Texas with President Trump aboard Air Force One .
After testing positive , Gohmert returned to his office on Capitol Hill , where he told a Texas TV station he had sometimes worn a mask in recent days .
Rep. Louie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but wonder if my keeping a mask on and keeping it in place , that if I might have put some germs or some of the virus onto the mask and breathed it in.
” Asked by a Politico reporter for comment , an aide to Congressmember Gohmert wrote , “ Thank you for letting our office know Louie tested positive for the Coronavirus.
” The aide added : “ When you write your story , can you include the fact that Louie requires full staff to be in the office , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could be an example to America on how to open up safely.
’ When probing the office , you might want to ask how often were people berated for wearing masks.
” Texas Congressmember Kay Granger has gone into self-quarantine , after she sat next to Gohmert on a weekend flight .
Congressmember Gohmert said he ’ ll be taking hydroxychloroquine , an anti-malaria drug that ’ s been shown not to work against COVID-19 .
The drug , which can have fatal side effects , was popularized by President Trump .
Meanwhile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also tested positive for COVID-19 just hours before he was scheduled to greet President Trump in Midland .

Texas Republican Congressmember Louie Gohmert tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday, after he consistently refused to wear a mask in the U.S. Capitol — including in a committee hearing Tuesday where Attorney General William Barr gave testimony. Gohmert’s diagnosis came after he was tested by the White House ahead of a planned trip to West Texas with President Trump aboard Air Force One. After testing positive, Gohmert returned to his office on Capitol Hill, where he told a Texas TV station he had sometimes worn a mask in recent days.
Rep. Louie Gohmert: “I can’t help but wonder if by keeping a mask on and keeping it in place, that if I might have put some germs, some of the virus onto the mask and breathed it in.”
Asked by a Politico reporter for comment, an aide to Congressmember Gohmert wrote, “Thank you for letting our office know Louie tested positive for the Coronavirus.” The aide added, “When you write your story, can you include the fact that Louie requires full staff to be in the office, including three interns, so that 'we could be an example to America on how to open up safely.' When probing the office, you might want to ask how often were people berated for wearing masks.”
Texas Congressmember Kay Granger has gone into self-quarantine, after she sat next to Gohmert on a weekend flight.
Congressmember Gohmert said he’ll be taking hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that’s been shown not to work against COVID-19. The drug, which can have fatal side effects, was popularized by President Trump.
Meanwhile, Texas Republican congressional candidate Wesley Hunt also tested positive for COVID-19, just hours before he was scheduled to greet President Trump in Midland.


democracynow--2020-07-31--Barack Obama: Honor John Lewis by Renewing Voting Rights Act & Ballot Access in the U.S.

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, the Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Family members and lawmakers and three former U.S. presidents—Bill Clinton , George W. Bush and Barack Obama—gathered in Atlanta , Georgia , Thursday at the Ebenezer Baptist Church , the spiritual home of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. to honor the life of civil rights legend , Congressmember John Lewis .
He was eulogized by former President Barack Obama who spoke hours after President Trump tweeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delaying the election .
Bull Connor may be gone , but today we witness with our own eyes police officers kneeling on the necks of black Americans .
George Wallace may be gone , but we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators .
We may no longer have to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar in order to cast a ballot , but even as we sit here , there are those in power who are doing their darnedest to discourage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision , even undermining the Postal Service in the run-up to an election , that ’ s going to be dependent on mail-in ballots so people don ’ t get sick !
Now , I know this is a celebration of John ’ s life .
There are some who might say we shouldn ’ t dwell on such things .
But that ’ s why I ’ m talking about them .
John Lewis devoted his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacks on democracy , and what ’ s best in America , that we are seeing circulate right now .
He knew that every single one of us has a God-given power and that the fate of this democracy depends on how we use it .
That democracy isn ’ t automatic .
It has to be nurtured ; it has to be tended to .
We have to work at it .
It ’ s hard .
And so he knew that it depends on whether we summon a measure , just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ courage , to question what ’ s right and what ’ s wrong , and call things as they are .
He said that as long as he had a breath in his body , he would do everything he could to preserve this democracy .
And as long as we have breath in our bodies , we have to continue his cause .
If we want our children to grow up in a democracy , not just with elections but a true democracy , a representative democracy , in a big-hearted , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perpetual self-creation , then we ’ re going to have to be more like John .
We don ’ t have to do all the things he had to do , because he did them for us .
But , we got ta do somethin ’ .
But once the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act , some state legislators unleashed a flood of laws designed specifically to make voting harder , especially by the way , state legislators where there is a lot of minority turnout and population growth .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accident .
It was an attack on what John fought for .
It was an attack on our democratic freedoms .
And we should treat it as such .
If politicians wants to honor John—and I am so grateful for the legacy and work of all the congressional leaders who are here—but there is a better way than a statement calling him a hero .
You want to honor John ?
Let ’ s honor him by revitalizing the law that he was willing to die for .
And , by the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rights Act , that is a fine tribute .
But , John wouldn ’ t want us to stop there , just trying to get back to where we already were .
Once we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act , we should keep marching to make it even better , by making sure every American is automatically registered to vote , including former inmates , who have earned their second chance .
By adding polling places , and expanding early voting , and making Election Day a national holiday so if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a factory , or you are a single mom who has got to go to her job and doesn ’ t get time off , you can still cast your ballot .
By guaranteeing that every American citizen has equal representation in our government , including the American citizens who live in Washington , D.C. and in Puerto Rico .
They ’ re Americans .
By ending some of the partisan gerrymandering , so that all voters have the power to choose their politicians , not the other way around .
And , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ filibuster , another Jim Crow relic , in order to secure the God-given rights of every American , then that ’ s what we should do .
Now , even if we do all this , even if every bogus voter suppression law is struck off the books today , we ’ ve got to be honest with ourselves that too many of us choose not to exercise the franchise .
Too many of our citizens believe their vote won ’ t make a difference , or they buy into the cynicism that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ central strategy of voter suppression , to make you discouraged , to stop believing in your own power .
So , we are also going to have to remember what John said .
If you don ’ t do everything you can do to change things , then they will remain the same .
You only pass this way once ; you have to give it all you have .
I was proud that John Lewis was a friend of mine .
I met him when I was in law school .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I said , “ Mr .
Lewis , you are one of my heroes .
What inspired me more than anything as a young man was to see what you and Reverend Lawson , Bob Moses and Diane Nash and others did.
” And he got that kind of “ Aw shucks .
Thank you very much.
” The next time I saw him , I had been elected to the United States Senate .
And I told him , “ John , I am here because of you.
” And on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was one of the first people I greeted and hugged on that stand .
And I told him , “ This is your day too.
” AMY GOODMAN : President Barack Obama eulogizing Congressman John Lewis at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta , Georgia .
Obama then stepped down from the pulpit and donned his face mask as he made his way out .
John Lewis ’ final public appearance was at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington , D.C. , a day before he entered the hospital .
Lewis died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he asked The New York Times to publish on the morning of his funeral , John Lewis wrote “ Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble , necessary trouble .
Voting and participating in the democratic process are key .
The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society .
You must use it because it is not guaranteed .
You can lose it , ” John Lewis wrote .
To see our interviews with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does it for our show .
John Robert Lewis , rest in power .
I am Amy Goodman .
Stay safe .
Wear a mask .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Family members and lawmakers and three former U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., to honor the life of civil rights legend, Congressmember John Lewis. He was eulogized by former President Barack Obama, who spoke hours after President Trump tweeted he’s floating the idea of delaying the election.
BARACK OBAMA: John always said — he always saw the best in us. And he never gave up and never stopped speaking out, because he saw the best in us. He believed in us, even when we didn’t believe in ourselves. And as a congressman, he didn’t rest. He kept getting himself arrested. As an old man, he didn’t sit out any fight, sat in all night long on the floor of the United States Capitol. I know his staff was stressed.
But the testing of his faith produced perseverance. He knew that the march is not over, that the race is not yet won, that we have not yet reached that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character. He knew from his own life that progress is fragile, that we have to be vigilant against the darker currents of this country’s history, of our own history, where there are whirlpools of violence and hatred and despair that can always rise again.
Bull Connor may be gone, but today we witness with our own eyes police officers kneeling on the necks of Black Americans. George Wallace may be gone, but we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators. We may no longer have to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar in order to cast a ballot, but even as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision, even undermining the Postal Service in the run-up to an election that’s going to be dependent on mail-in ballots so people don’t get sick.
Now, I know this is a celebration of John’s life. There are some who might say we shouldn’t dwell on such things. But that’s why I’m talking about it. John Lewis devoted his time on this Earth fighting the very attacks on democracy, and what’s best in America, that we’re seeing circulate right now. He knew that every single one of us has a God-given power and that the fate of this democracy depends on how we use it, that democracy isn’t automatic. It has to be nurtured, has to be tended to. We have to work at it. It’s hard. And so he knew that it depends on whether we summon a measure, just a measure of John’s moral courage, to question what’s right and what’s wrong, and call things as they are.
He said that as long as he had a breath in his body, he would do everything he could to preserve this democracy. And as long as we have breath in our bodies, we have to continue his cause. If we want our children to grow up in a democracy, not just with elections, but a true democracy, a representative democracy, in a big-hearted, tolerant, vibrant, inclusive America of perpetual self-creation, then we’re going to have to be more like John. We don’t have to do all the things he had to do, because he did them for us. But we’ve got to do something.
As the Lord instructed Paul, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking. Do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” Just everybody’s got to come out and vote. We got all those people in the city, but they can’t do nothin’. Like John, we’ve got to keep getting into that good trouble. He knew that nonviolent protest is patriotic, a way to raise public awareness and put a spotlight on injustice and make the powers that be uncomfortable.
Like John, we don’t have to choose between protest and politics. It’s not an either/or situation. It’s a both/and situation. We have to engage in protest where that’s effective, but we also have to translate our passion and our causes into laws, institutional practices. That’s why John ran for Congress 34 years ago. Like John, we’ve got to fight even harder for the most powerful tool that we have, which is the right to vote.
The Voting Rights Act is one of the crowning achievements of our democracy. It’s why John crossed that bridge. It’s why he spilled his blood. And by the way, it was the result of Democratic and Republican efforts. President Bush, who spoke here earlier, and his father signed its renewal when they were in office. President Clinton didn’t have to, because it was the law when he arrived. So instead, he made a law to make it easier for people to register to vote.
But once the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, some state legislators unleashed a flood of laws designed specifically to make voting harder, especially, by the way, state legislators where there’s a lot of minority turnout and population growth. That’s not necessarily a mystery or an accident. It was an attack on what John fought for. It was an attack on our democratic freedoms. And we should treat it as such. If politicians want to honor John — and I’m so grateful for the legacy and work of all the congressional leaders who are here — but there’s a better way than a statement calling him a hero. You want to honor John? Let’s honor him by revitalizing the law that he was willing to die for.
And by the way, naming it the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, that is a fine tribute. But John wouldn’t want us to stop there, just trying to get back to where we already were. Once we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, we should keep marching to make it even better, by making sure every American is automatically registered to vote, including former inmates, who have earned their second chance; by adding polling places and expanding early voting; and making Election Day a national holiday, so if you are somebody who’s working in a factory, or you’re a single mom who’s got to go to her job and doesn’t get time off, you can still cast your ballot; by guaranteeing that every American citizen has equal representation in our government, including the American citizens who live in Washington, D.C. and in Puerto Rico — they’re Americans; by ending some of the partisan gerrymandering, so that all voters have the power to choose their politicians, not the other way around. And if all this takes eliminating the filibuster, another Jim Crow relic, in order to secure the God-given rights of every American, then that’s what we should do.
Now, even if we do all this, even if every bogus voter suppression law is struck off the books today, we’ve got to be honest with ourselves that too many of us choose not to exercise the franchise. Too many of our citizens believe their vote won’t make a difference, or they buy into the cynicism that, by the way, is the central strategy of voter suppression, to make you discouraged, to stop believing in your own power. So we’re also going to have to remember what John said: If you don’t do everything you can do to change things, then they will remain the same. You only pass this way once. You have to give it all you have.
As long as young people are protesting in the streets, hoping real change takes hold, I’m hopeful, but we can’t casually abandon them at the ballot box, not when few elections have been as urgent on so many levels as this one. We can’t treat voting as an errand to run if we have some time. We have to treat it as the most important action we can take, on behalf of democracy. And like John, we have to give it all we have.
I was proud that John Lewis was a friend of mine. I met him when I was in law school. He came to speak. And I went up, and I said, “Mr. Lewis, you are one of my heroes. What inspired me more than anything as a young man was to see what you and Reverend Lawson, Bob Moses and Diane Nash and others did.” And he got that kind of “Aw, shucks. Thank you very much.” Next time I saw him, I had been elected to the United States Senate. And I told him, “John, I’m here because of you.” And on Inauguration Day in 2008 — 2009, he was one of the first people I greeted and hugged on that stand. And I told him, “This is your day, too.”
He was a good and kind and gentle man, and he believed in us, even when we don’t believe in ourselves. And it’s fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was on Zoom, and I’m pretty sure neither he nor I set up the Zoom call, because we didn’t know how to work it. It was a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who had been helping to lead this summer’s demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
And afterwards, I spoke to John privately, and he could not have been prouder to see this new generation of activists standing up for freedom and equality, a new generation that was intent on voting and protecting the right to vote — in some cases, a new generation running for political office. And I told him, “All those young people, John, of every race and every religion, from every background and gender and sexual orientation, John, those are your children. They learned from your example, even if they didn’t always know it.”
They had understood through him what American citizenship requires, even if they had only heard about his courage through the history books. By the thousands, faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, Black and white, have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep of the Founding Fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Dr. King said that in the 1960s, and it came true again this summer.
And we see it outside our windows in big cities and rural towns, in men and women, young and old, straight Americans and LGBTQ Americans, Blacks who long for equal treatment and whites who can no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of their fellow Americans. We see it in everybody doing the hard work of overcoming complacency, of overcoming our own fears and our own prejudices, our own hatreds. You see it in people trying to be better, truer versions of ourselves.
And that’s what John Lewis teaches us. That’s where real courage comes from, not from turning on each other, but by turning towards one another; not by sowing hatred and division, but by spreading love and truth; not by avoiding our responsibilities to create a better America and a better world, but by embracing those responsibilities with joy and perseverance, and discovering that in our beloved community we do not walk alone.
What a gift John Lewis was. We are all so lucky to have had him walk with us for a while and show us the way. God bless you all. God bless America. God bless this gentle soul who pulled it closer to its promise. Thank you very much.
AMY GOODMAN: President Barack Obama eulogizing Congressman John Lewis at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Obama then stepped down from the pulpit and donned his face mask as he made his way out.
John Lewis’s final public appearance was at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., a day before he entered the hospital. Lewis died at the age of 80 of pancreatic cancer. In a piece he asked The New York Times to publish on the morning of his funeral, John Lewis wrote, “Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it,” John Lewis wrote.
To see our interviews with John Lewis, visit democracynow.org.
That does it for our show. John Robert Lewis, rest in power. I’m Amy Goodman. Stay safe. Wear a mask.


democracynow--2020-07-31--Rev. James Lawson: John Lewis's Life Is Call to Action Against U.S. Violence & Plantation Capitalism

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, the Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , as we bring you highlights from the funeral of Congressmember John Lewis , who died July 17th at the age of 80 .
Three living U.S. presidents , lawmakers and activists from around the country gathered in Atlanta to honor Lewis including the Reverend James Lawson , a civil rights icon himself who helped to train John Lewis in nonviolence when Lewis was a student in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He helped to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , SNCC , that John Lewis would go on to lead as chairman .
In April 1960 , Ella Baker invited Lawson to give the keynote speech at SNCC ’ s founding meeting in Raleigh , North Carolina .
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once described Lawson as the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world .
Reverend Lawson addressed mourners gathered at the Ebenezer Baptist Church to remember John Lewis on Thursday .
REV .
JAMES LAWSON : I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ books of the last 50 or 60 years about the period between 1953 and 1973 .
Most of the books are wrong about John Lewis .
Most of the books are wrong about how John got engaged in the Nashville campaign of 1959-60 .
This is the 60th year of the sit-in campaign which swept into every state of the union , largely manned by students because we recruited students .
But put up on the map that the nonviolent struggle begun in Montgomery , Alabama , was not an accident , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christian love has power that we have never tapped , and if we use it , we can transform not only our own lives , but we will transform the Earth in which we live .
And when Kelly Miller Smith and the National Christian Leadership Council met in the fall of 1958 , and we determined that if there is to be a second major campaign that will demonstrate the efficacy of satyagraha , of soul force , of love truth , that we would have to do it in Nashville .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the strategist and organizer , a four-point Gandhian strategic program to create the campaign .
We decided with great fear and anticipation we would desegregate downtown Nashville .
No group of black people or other people anywhere in the United States in the 20th century , against the rapaciousness of a segregated system , ever thought about desegregating downtown .
Tearing down the signs , renovating the waiting rooms , taking the immoral signs off of drinking fountains .
But it was black women who made that decision for us in Nashville .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ made that decision .
I knew nothing about how we were going to do this .
I had never done it before .
But , we planned the strategy .
John Lewis did not stumble in on that campaign .
Kelly Lewis Smith , his teacher at ABC , invited John to join the workshops in the fall of 1959 as we prepared ourselves to face violence , and to do direct action , and to put on the map the issue that the racism and the segregation of the nation had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60th anniversary of that sit-in campaign , which became the second major campaign of the nonviolent movement of America—those are not my words ; John Lewis called what we did between 1953 and 1973 the nonviolent movement of America , not the CRM .
I think we need to get the story straight , because words are powerful .
History must be written in such a fashion that it lifts up truly the spirit of the John Lewises of the world .
And that ’ s why I have chosen just to say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Miller Smith invited John Lewis .
I met a Fisk student who told me about a student from Chicago who wanted to do something about those vicious signs .
I said , “ Invite Diane Nash to the workshop in September , because we ’ re going to do something about those signs.
” I pushed this hard .
Now , John Lewis had no choice in the matter .
You should understand that .
Because all the stories we have heard this morning of John becoming a preacher , preaching to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ becoming ordained as a Baptist minister—something else was happening to John in those early years .
John saw the malignancy of racism in Troy , Alabama .
There formed in him a sensibility that he had to do something about it .
He did not know what that was , but he was convinced that he was called , indeed , to do whatever he could do , get in good trouble , but stop the horror that so many folk lived through and in , in this country , in that part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not alone .
Martin King had the same experience as a boy .
I had the same experience from age four in the streets of Massillon , Ohio .
Matthew McCullough [ sp ] , a pastor whose name you don ’ t know in South Carolina , had the same experience .
C.T .
Vivian had the same experience .
I maintain that many of us had no choice to do what what we tried to do primarily , because at an early age we recognized the wrong under which we were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to God , that by God ’ s grace , we would do whatever God called us to do in order to put on the table of the nation ’ s agenda this must end .
Black Lives Matter .
And so between 1953 and 1973 , we had major campaigns year after year , thousands of demonstrations across the nation that supported it .
We had folk in the Congress , folk in the White House , folks scattered across the United States who were beginning to formulate what the solutions are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mistake when John is seen only in relationship to the voting rights bill of '65 .
However important that is , you must not remember that in the ’ 60 's , Lyndon Johnson and the Congress of the United States passed the most advanced legislation on behalf of we the people of the United States that was ever passed—Head Start .
Billions of dollars for housing .
We do not need bipartisan politics if we are going to celebrate the life of John Lewis .
We need the Constitution to come alive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ self-evident , we need the Congress and the presidents to work unfalteringly on behalf of every boy and every girl so that every baby born on these shores will have access to the tree of life !
That ’ s the only way to honor John Robert Lewis .
No other way .
Let all of us in this service today , let all the people of the USA determine that we will not be quiet as long as any child dies in the first year of life in the United States .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the largest poverty group in our nation are women and children .
We will not be quiet as long as our nation continues to be the most violent culture in the history of humankind .
We will not be quiet as long as our economy is shaped not by freedom but by plantation capitalism that continues to cause domination and control rather than access and liberty and equality for all !
The forces of spiritual wickedness are strong in our land because of our history .
We have not created them .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ We inherited them .
But it ’ s our task to see those spiritual forces .
I have named them racism , sexism , violence , plantation capitalism .
Those poisons still dominate far too many of us in many different ways .
John ’ s life was a singular journey from birth through the campaigns in the South and through Congress , to get us to see that these forces of wickedness must be resisted .
Do not let our own hearts drink any of that poison .
Instead , drink the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we would honor and celebrate John Lewis ’ s life , let us then recommit our souls , our minds , our hearts , our bodies , our strength to the continuing journey to dismantle the wrong in our midst , and to allow a space for the new Earth and new heaven to emerge .
I close with this poem from Langston Hughes , which is a kind of a sign and symbol of what John Lewis represents , and what we too can represent in our continuing journey .
Langston Hughes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no human , no other human will scorn .
Where love will bless the earth , and peace its paths adorn .
I dream a dream where all will know sweet freedom ’ s way , where greed no longer saps the soul nor avarice blights our day .
A world I dream where black and white and yellow and blue and green and red and brown , whatever your race may be , will share the bounties of the earth .
And every woman and man and boy and girl is free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and joy , like a pearl , attends the need of all humankind .
Of such a world , I dream.
” AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s civil rights icon Reverend James Lawson , 91 years old , speaking at the funeral of his friend and civil rights ally , Congressmember John Lewis .
When we come back , Former President Obama eulogizes John Lewis .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we bring you highlights from the funeral of Congressmember John Lewis, who died July 17th at the age of 80. Three living U.S. presidents, lawmakers and activists from around the country gathered in Atlanta to honor Lewis, including the Reverend James Lawson, a civil rights icon himself, who helped to train John Lewis in nonviolence when Lewis was a student in Nashville.
Lawson is 91 years old. He helped to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, that John Lewis would go on to lead as chairman. In April 1960, Ella Baker invited Lawson to give the keynote speech at SNCC’s founding meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once described Lawson as “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” Reverend Lawson addressed mourners gathered at the Ebenezer Baptist Church to remember John Lewis on Thursday.
REV. JAMES LAWSON JR.: I have read many of the so-called civil rights books of the last 50 or 60 years about the period between 1953 and 1973. Most of the books are wrong about John Lewis. Most of the books are wrong about how John got engaged in the Nashville campaign of 1959, ’60. This is the 60th year of the sit-in campaign, which swept into every state of the union, largely manned by students because we recruited students, but put up on the map that the nonviolent struggle begun in Montgomery, Alabama, was not an accident, but, as Martin King Jr. called it, Christian love has power that we have never tapped, and if we use it, we can transform not only our own lives, but we will transform the Earth in which we live.
I count it providential that as I moved to Nashville, Tennessee, dropping out of graduate school, in Nashville came people like Kelly Miller Smith and Andrew White and Johnetta Hayes and Helen Roberts and Delores Wilkerson — and John Lewis — and Diane Nash, C. T. Vivian, Marion Barry, Jim Bevel, Bernard Lafayette, Pauline Knight, Angela Butler. How all of us gathered in 1958 and ’59 and ’60 and ’61 and ’62, in the same city at the same time, I count as being providential. We did not plan it. We were all led there.
And when Kelly Miller Smith and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council met in the fall of 1958, and we determined that if there’s to be a second major campaign that will demonstrate the efficacy of satyagraha, of soul force, of love truth, that we would have to do it in Nashville. And so I planned, as the strategist and organizer, a four-point Gandhian strategic program to create the campaign.
We decided, with great fear and anticipation, we would desegregate downtown Nashville. No group of Black people or other people anywhere in the United States in the 20th century, against the rapaciousness of a segregated system, ever thought about desegregating downtown, tearing down the signs, renovating the waiting rooms, taking the immoral signs off of drinking fountains. But it was Black women who made that decision for us in Nashville. I was scared to death when we made that decision. I knew nothing about how we were going to do this. I had never done it before. But we planned the strategy.
John Lewis did not stumble in on that campaign. Kelly Miller Smith, his teacher at ABC, invited John to join the workshops in the fall of 1959 as we prepared ourselves to face violence and to do direct action and to put on the map the issue that the racism and the segregation of the nation had to end.
And so, on the 60th anniversary of that sit-in campaign, which became the second major campaign of the nonviolent movement of America — those are not my words; John Lewis called what we did between 1953 and 1973 the nonviolent movement of America, not the CRM. I think we need to get the story straight, because words are powerful. History must be written in such a fashion that it lifts up truly the spirit of the John Lewises of the world. And that’s why I’ve chosen just to say a few words about it.
Kelly Miller Smith invited John Lewis. I met a Fisk student who told me about a student from Chicago who wanted to do something about those vicious signs. I said, “Invite Diane Nash to the workshop in September, because we’re going to do something about those signs.” I pushed this hard.
Now, John Lewis had no choice in the matter. You should understand that, because all the stories we’ve heard this morning of John becoming a preacher, preaching to the chickens, and other sorts of things, becoming ordained as a Baptist minister — something else was happening to John in those early years. John saw the malignancy of racism in Troy, Alabama. There formed in him a sensibility that he had to do something about it. He did not know what that was, but he was convinced that he was called, indeed, to do whatever he could do, get in good trouble, but stop the horror that so many folk lived through and in, in this country, in that part of the 20th century.
John was not alone. Martin King had the same experience as a boy. I had the same experience from age 4 in the streets of Massillon, Ohio. Matthew McCollum, a pastor whose name you don’t know, in South Carolina, had the same experience. C. T. Vivian had the same experience. I maintain that many of us had no choice to do, but we tried to do, primarily because at an early age we recognized the wrong under which we were forced to live, and we swore to God that, by God’s grace, we would do whatever God called us to do in order to put on the table of the nation’s agenda this must end. Black lives matter.
And so, between 1953 and 1973, we had major campaigns year after year, thousands of demonstrations across the nation that supported it. We had folk in the Congress, folk in the White House, folks scattered across the United States, who were beginning to formulate what the solutions are for change. The media makes a mistake when John is seen only in relationship to the voting rights bill of '65. However important that is, you must not remember that in the ’60's, Lyndon Johnson and the Congress of the United States passed the most advanced legislation on behalf of we the people of the United States that was ever passed, Head Start, billions of dollars for housing.
We would not be in the struggle we are today in housing if President Reagan hadn’t cut that billions of dollars for housing, where local churches and local nonprofits could build affordable housing in their own communities, being sustained and financed by loans from the federal government. We passed Medicare. We passed anti-poverty programs, civil rights bill ’64, ’65, voting rights bills — a whole array. John Lewis must be understood as one of the leaders of the greatest advance of Congress and the White House on behalf of we the people of the U.S.A.
We do not need bipartisan politics if we’re going to celebrate the life of John Lewis. We need the Constitution to come alive! We hold these truths to be self-evident. We need the Congress and the president to work unfalteringly on behalf of every boy and every girl, so that every baby born on these shores will have access to the tree of life. That’s the only way to honor John Robert Lewis. No other way.
Let all of us in this service today, let all the people of the U.S.A. determine that we will not be quiet as long as any child dies in the first year of life in the United States. We will not be quiet as long as the largest poverty group in our nation are women and children. We will not be quiet as long as our nation continues to be the most violent culture in the history of humankind. We will not be quiet as long as our economy is shaped not by freedom but by plantation capitalism that continues to cause domination and control rather than access and liberty and equality for all.
The forces of spiritual wickedness are strong in our land because of our history. We have not created them. John Lewis did not create them. We inherited them. But it’s our task to see those spiritual forces. I’ve named them racism, sexism, violence, plantation capitalism. Those poisons still dominate far too many of us, in many different ways. John’s life was a singular journey, from birth through the campaigns in the South and through Congress, to get us to see that these forces of wickedness must be resisted. Do not let our own hearts drink any of that poison. Instead, drink the truth of the life force. If we would honor and celebrate John Lewis’s life, let us then recommit our souls, our minds, our hearts, our bodies, our strength to the continuing journey to dismantle the wrong in our midst and to allow a space for the new Earth and new heaven to emerge.
I close with this poem from Langston Hughes, which is a kind of a sign and symbol of what John Lewis represents, and what we, too, can represent in our continuing journey. Langston Hughes:
“I dream a world where no human
No other human will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a dream where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black and white
And yellow and blue and green and red and brown,
Whatever your race may be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every woman and man and boy and girl is free,
Where wretchedness hangs its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the need of all humankind —
Of such a world, I dream!”
Celebrate life, dream and labor, for an Atlanta and Los Angeles and a United States and a world. That is to celebrate the spirit and the heart and the mind and soul of John Lewis, and to walk with him through the galaxies, seeking equality, liberty, justice and the beloved community for all. Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s civil rights icon Reverend James Lawson, 91 years old, speaking at the funeral of his friend and civil rights ally, Congressmember John Lewis.
When we come back, former President Obama eulogizes John Lewis. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: Kathleen Bertrand singing “If I Can Help Somebody” at John Lewis’s funeral Thursday.