theintercept--2020-09-11--Rhode Island’s Progressive Wave Was Four Years in the Making

of 2016 , two years before Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ousted Joe Crowley in New York and kicked off a national insurgency in the Democratic Party , progressives in Rhode Island were organizing one of their own .
With the help of the Working Families Party , which began in New York City but had been slowly expanding to other states , four progressives ousted incumbent Democrats , including state House Majority Leader John DeSimone , a right-wing Democrat typical of the Rhode Island party establishment .
A Jamaican-born teacher , Marcia Ranglin-Vassell , beat him by just 21 votes .
Rhode @ @ @ @ @ @ @ famous for its corruption , but also for its grit .
DeSimone mounted a write-in campaign in the general election .
He fell short there too .
The party establishment has spent the last four years trying to win those seats back , mounting challenges to the 2016 upstarts .
This cycle , they found out they had bigger problems , forced to fend off nearly two dozen insurgents challenging establishment politicians .
A new organization called the Rhode Island Political Cooperative , founded by veteran Ocean State lefties and built to recruit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of candidates , fielded 14 candidates for state House and Senate races and teamed up with local Sunrise Movement chapters to run field programs for them .
Reclaim Rhode Island , another new group made up of former Bernie Sanders organizers , endorsed an additional four candidates , and one of those campaigns was run by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America .
The Working Families Party also continued its push , endorsing 11 people for office , eight of whom were also backed by Reclaim , the cooperative , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a startling 15 won their September 8 primaries in either the House or Senate , including wins against the Senate president pro tempore and the Senate Finance Committee chair .
The most unusual intervention in the primary , from the Rhode Island Political Cooperative , endorsed candidates all the way down to the town council level .
Typically , organizations vet candidates for endorsements , and then support their candidacies as much as makes sense and is doable .
But the political cooperative not only recruited the candidates but effectively ran their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data , which is crucial for a campaign , as well as strategic and staff guidance , also critical for first-time , mostly working-class candidates .
The cooperative relied heavily on help from local chapters of Sunrise , the youth-led climate movement that is a growing electoral force .
Two Sunrise hubs in Providence and South County played a critical role , with more than 10 full-time organizers dedicated to the operation , which generated thousands of volunteer voter contacts .
Progressives owed much of their success to the organizing groups that had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , much of it flowing from Sanders ’ s 2016 presidential campaign .
Yet despite the work Rhode Island volunteers did for Sanders ’ s victorious New Hampshire campaign this year , the Vermont senator rebuffed efforts to win an endorsement for Rhode Island candidates running in his mold , sources involved in the attempt said .
A Sanders spokesperson declined to comment .
Daniel Denvir , host of the podcast “ The Dig ” and a writer for Jacobin magazine , co-founded Reclaim Rhode Island after writing an essay in the magazine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capacity he built fester .
“ We did such hard work here in Rhode Island [ for Sanders , ] sending bus after bus to New Hampshire to canvass there , car caravans every weekend , then the same in southeast Massachusetts .
We had two huge rallies that we organized on our own with very little help from the national campaign , ” Denvir said during an interview for the Intercept podcast Deconstructed .
“ We had built this incredible organizing infrastructure , incredible leadership , with an incredible volunteer base .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to go to waste .
And what I was hoping that the Bernie campaign would do nationally … is try to help facilitate the infrastructure that all of us had put so much sweat and so much time into building , to not let it go to waste and to build successor organizations .
And that didn ’ t happen.
” the progressive infrastructure that powered their wins , the insurgents had another advantage : The numbers needed to win these local races , often low-turnout affairs , are surprisingly small .
Cynthia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care worker and single mom was outspent several times over by Senate Finance Chair William Conley Jr. , yet blew him out 62 percent to 38 — but her total haul of votes was just 1,727 .
Brianna Henries , a theater teacher in East Providence , similarly bested her incumbent opponent 62-39 for a House seat with just 727 votes .
One of the biggest upsets was pulled off by Leonela Felix , who won a House seat in the heavily white working class city of Pawtucket , showing that with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progressive woman who grew up in the Dominican Republic can win the votes of people who don ’ t look like her .
Felix had long been active with the Working Families Party , which coaxed her to run this year .
Her race was the top priority of Reclaim Rhode Island , which launched its largest canvassing operation for her .
She knocked on plenty of doors herself ; by the end of the campaign , her watch tallied more than 370 miles of walking the district ’ s blocks .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they enter office next year — as they ’ re virtually assured to do — but are working immediately to address the most pressing political problem confronting Rhode Island lawmakers : their state ’ s budget shortfall and its implications for taxing and spending policies .
The progressive slate has argued for raising taxes on millionaires , while the Democratic governor and much of the party leadership has pushed instead for social spending cuts .
The wins this week give a boost to , and also complicate , the effort to push back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A measure to add a new tax bracket to the code that would kick in at $ 1 million per year is being led in the House by Rep. Karen Alzate , also of Pawtucket , who was backed by the WFP in a 2018 bid that flipped her district progressive .
But in the Senate , the bill was being carried by Conley , who was defeated in the primary by the co-op ’ s Mendes .
Conley was far from a leftist champion but was arguably progressives ’ closest ally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low bar — and WFP and Reclaim Rhode Island refrained from backing Mendes .
“ His proposing of the taxing of the top 1 percent came on after I announced my candidacy .
And so it was convenient , the timing , ” Mendes said in an interview for Deconstructed .
To pass a budget in Rhode Island , you need a two-thirds vote in both chambers , which means that just a handful of lawmakers can block any given proposal .
An effort to organize such a bloc is underway , led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is already starting to flex its new muscles , threatening to block a budget that includes cuts to funding for schools , health care , cities , or other key services .
A press conference with old and new lawmakers is being planned for later this month , said David Segal , a Reclaim member and the co-founder of RI WFP .
“ This budget fight is one of the most critical legislative efforts since I first moved to Rhode Island a couple decades ago , ” he said .
“ And we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Assembly , old and new , to come together to wield their procedural power to block a budget that hurts ordinary Rhode Islanders in the middle of this pandemic and economic catastrophe.
” Mendes said she looked forward to being part of that bloc .
“ The beautiful thing about running with a slate of candidates [ is ] we all have eyes on that budget in new and unique ways .
And another way is that we are not bought by the political establishment .
We are not bought by corporate PACs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at that budget with the people that we ’ ve talked to for months in mind , ” she said .
“ The budget will go under some deep scrutiny , and there will be a major shift going forward .
”

In the summer of 2016, two years before Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ousted Joe Crowley in New York and kicked off a national insurgency in the Democratic Party, progressives in Rhode Island were organizing one of their own.
With the help of the Working Families Party, which began in New York City but had been slowly expanding to other states, four progressives ousted incumbent Democrats, including state House Majority Leader John DeSimone, a right-wing Democrat typical of the Rhode Island party establishment. A Jamaican-born teacher, Marcia Ranglin-Vassell, beat him by just 21 votes.
Rhode Island’s Democratic Party leadership is famous for its corruption, but also for its grit. DeSimone mounted a write-in campaign in the general election. He fell short there too.
The party establishment has spent the last four years trying to win those seats back, mounting challenges to the 2016 upstarts. This cycle, they found out they had bigger problems, forced to fend off nearly two dozen insurgents challenging establishment politicians. A new organization called the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, founded by veteran Ocean State lefties and built to recruit and provide infrastructure to an entire slate of candidates, fielded 15 candidates for state House and Senate races and teamed up with local Sunrise Movement chapters to run field programs for them. Reclaim Rhode Island, another new group made up of former Bernie Sanders organizers, endorsed an additional four candidates, and one of those campaigns was run by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. The Working Families Party also continued its push, endorsing 11 people for office, eight of whom were also backed by Reclaim, the cooperative, or DSA. Of those 22 candidates, a startling 15 won their September 8 primaries in either the House or Senate, including wins against the Senate president pro tempore and the Senate Finance Committee chair.
The most unusual intervention in the primary, from the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, endorsed candidates all the way down to the town council level. Typically, organizations vet candidates for endorsements, and then support their candidacies as much as makes sense and is doable. But the political cooperative not only recruited the candidates but effectively ran their campaigns, providing them with access to data, which is crucial for a campaign, as well as strategic and staff guidance, also critical for first-time, mostly working-class candidates. The cooperative relied heavily on help from local chapters of Sunrise, the youth-led climate movement that is a growing electoral force. Two Sunrise hubs in Providence and South County played a critical role, with more than 10 full-time organizers dedicated to the operation, which generated thousands of volunteer voter contacts.
“We had built this incredible organizing infrastructure, incredible leadership, with an incredible volunteer base. And we didn’t want it to go to waste.”
Progressives owed much of their success to the organizing groups that had sprung up over the last few years, much of it flowing from Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign. Yet despite the work Rhode Island volunteers did for Sanders’s victorious New Hampshire campaign this year, the Vermont senator rebuffed efforts to win an endorsement for Rhode Island candidates running in his mold, sources involved in the attempt said. A Sanders spokesperson declined to comment.
Daniel Denvir, host of the podcast “The Dig” and a writer for Jacobin magazine, co-founded Reclaim Rhode Island after writing an essay in the magazine encouraging Sanders not to let the organizing capacity he built fester. “We did such hard work here in Rhode Island [for Sanders,] sending bus after bus to New Hampshire to canvass there, car caravans every weekend, then the same in southeast Massachusetts. We had two huge rallies that we organized on our own with very little help from the national campaign,” Denvir said during an interview for the Intercept podcast Deconstructed. “We had built this incredible organizing infrastructure, incredible leadership, with an incredible volunteer base. And we didn’t want it to go to waste. And what I was hoping that the Bernie campaign would do nationally … is try to help facilitate the infrastructure that all of us had put so much sweat and so much time into building, to not let it go to waste and to build successor organizations. And that didn’t happen.”
In addition to the progressive infrastructure that powered their wins, the insurgents had another advantage: The numbers needed to win these local races, often low-turnout affairs, are surprisingly small. Cynthia Mendes, for instance, a health care worker and single mom was outspent several times over by Senate Finance Chair William Conley Jr., yet blew him out 62 percent to 38 — but her total haul of votes was just 1,727. Brianna Henries, a theater teacher in East Providence, similarly bested her incumbent opponent 62-39 for a House seat with just 727 votes.
One of the biggest upsets was pulled off by Leonela Felix, who won a House seat in the heavily white working class city of Pawtucket, showing that with the right message and enough work, a progressive woman who grew up in the Dominican Republic can win the votes of people who don’t look like her. Felix had long been active with the Working Families Party, which coaxed her to run this year. Her race was the top priority of Reclaim Rhode Island, which launched its largest canvassing operation for her. She knocked on plenty of doors herself; by the end of the campaign, her watch tallied more than 370 miles of walking the district’s blocks.
“The budget will go under some deep scrutiny, and there will be a major shift going forward.”
The new progressives aren’t waiting until they enter office next year — as they’re virtually assured to do — but are working immediately to address the most pressing political problem confronting Rhode Island lawmakers: their state’s budget shortfall and its implications for taxing and spending policies. The progressive slate has argued for raising taxes on millionaires, while the Democratic governor and much of the party leadership has pushed instead for social spending cuts.
The wins this week give a boost to, and also complicate, the effort to push back against the governor’s austerity drive. A measure to add a new tax bracket to the code that would kick in at $1 million per year is being led in the House by Rep. Karen Alzate, also of Pawtucket, who was backed by the WFP in a 2018 bid that flipped her district progressive. But in the Senate, the bill was being carried by Conley, who was defeated in the primary by the co-op’s Mendes. Conley was far from a leftist champion but was arguably progressives’ closest ally in the party leadership — an admittedly low bar — and WFP and Reclaim Rhode Island refrained from backing Mendes.
“His proposing of the taxing of the top 1 percent came on after I announced my candidacy. And so it was convenient, the timing,” Mendes said in an interview for Deconstructed.
To pass a budget in Rhode Island, you need a two-thirds vote in both chambers, which means that just a handful of lawmakers can block any given proposal. An effort to organize such a bloc is underway, led by Reclaim and other progressive groups, is already starting to flex its new muscles, threatening to block a budget that includes cuts to funding for schools, health care, cities, or other key services. A press conference with old and new lawmakers is being planned for later this month, said David Segal, a Reclaim member and the co-founder of RI WFP.
“This budget fight is one of the most critical legislative efforts since I first moved to Rhode Island a couple decades ago,” he said. “And we need progressives and other populists in the Assembly, old and new, to come together to wield their procedural power to block a budget that hurts ordinary Rhode Islanders in the middle of this pandemic and economic catastrophe.”
Mendes said she looked forward to being part of that bloc. “The beautiful thing about running with a slate of candidates [is] we all have eyes on that budget in new and unique ways. And another way is that we are not bought by the political establishment. We are not bought by corporate PACs. We’re able to look at that budget with the people that we’ve talked to for months in mind,” she said. “The budget will go under some deep scrutiny, and there will be a major shift going forward.”
Correction: Sept. 12, 2020
This article originally reported that the Rhode Island Political Cooperative fielded 14 state House and Senate candidates. In fact, they fielded 15.


theintercept--2020-09-11--Surveillance in an Era of Pandemic and Protest

of pandemic and racial justice protests draws to a close , Naomi Klein will host a landmark conversation between Shoshana Zuboff , author of “ The Age of Surveillance Capitalism , ” and Simone Browne , author of “ Dark Matters : On the Surveillance of Blackness.
” The three authors will discuss how both governments and tech giants are using our moment of overlapping crises to push through discredited surveillance technologies that threaten privacy , democracy , and any hope of equality .
Early in the pandemic , Klein wrote that these forces have aligned to “ advance a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every move , our every word , our every relationship is trackable , traceable , and data-mineable.
” For the privileged , “ almost everything is home delivered , either virtually via streaming and cloud technology , or physically via driverless vehicle or drone.
” But , Zuboff warns , “ We ’ re not necessarily locked into this deterministic narrative that too many pundits are hawking and the tech companies are salivating over — that post-Covid-19 , we ’ re going to have comprehensive biosurveillance of all of society .
… People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Racial justice movements are also winning major victories against surveillance technologies like facial recognition .
And as Browne reminds us , “ surveillance is nothing new to Black folks.
” In “ Dark Matters , ” Browne traces modern surveillance practices back to the policing of Black lives under slavery , comparing the branding of slaves to present-day methods of tracking , surveilling , and commodifying people .
In this live conversation , Klein , Zuboff , and Browne will unpack the dangers of surveillance capitalism — and how we can rise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and equitable future .

As the summer of pandemic and racial justice protests drew to a close, Naomi Klein hosted a landmark conversation between Shoshana Zuboff, author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” and Simone Browne, author of “Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness.” The three authors discussed how both governments and tech giants are using our moment of overlapping crises to push through discredited surveillance technologies that threaten privacy, democracy, and any hope of equality.
Early in the pandemic, Klein wrote that these forces have aligned to “advance a vision of a future in which our every move, our every word, our every relationship is trackable, traceable, and data-mineable.” For the privileged, “almost everything is home delivered, either virtually via streaming and cloud technology, or physically via driverless vehicle or drone.”
But, Zuboff warns, “We’re not necessarily locked into this deterministic narrative that too many pundits are hawking and the tech companies are salivating over — that post-Covid-19, we’re going to have comprehensive biosurveillance of all of society. … People are worried. People are asking questions.”
Racial justice movements are also winning major victories against surveillance technologies like facial recognition. And as Browne reminds us, “surveillance is nothing new to Black folks.” In “Dark Matters,” Browne traces modern surveillance practices back to the policing of Black lives under slavery, comparing the branding of slaves to present-day methods of tracking, surveilling, and commodifying people.
In this live conversation, Klein, Zuboff, and Browne unpacked the dangers of surveillance capitalism — and how we can rise to this crisis and create a fair and equitable future.
In partnership with Rutgers University–New Brunswick.


theintercept--2020-09-11--3,000 Dead on 9/11 Meant Everything. 200,000 Dead of Covid-19 Means Nothing. Here's Why.

have ridiculed President Donald Trump for telling journalist Bob Woodward that he “ wanted to always play [ Covid-19 ] down … because I don ’ t want to create a panic.
” That ’ s hilarious , because Trump obviously loves creating panics — about Mexican immigrants , antifa , single-family zoning , and , scariest of all , low-flow toilets .
But Trump was , as he often does , telling us by accident something profound about American politics .
Nineteen years ago today , a group of men from Saudi Arabia , Egypt , Lebanon , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jets .
They successfully flew three of them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon .
All in all , they murdered 2,977 people in one day .
By March 19 , the day Trump explained his reasoning to Woodward , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already predicted that the coronavirus would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans and possibly as many as 1.7 million .
In the first situation , George W. Bush , then the president of the United States , actively fomented panic .
Americans could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we invaded Afghanistan .
The FBI should be able to obtain the bank records or internet activity of citizens anytime it wanted without a warrant .
Saddam Hussein was hiding anthrax in his mustache .
In the second situation , one that was objectively much more frightening , the president of the United States openly acknowledged that he played the danger down .
This goes not just for the danger of Covid-19 itself : His administration has also played down the continuing economic danger to tens of millions of Americans .
What accounts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ History shows the answer is as obvious as it is bizarre : Reality often has nothing to do with gigantic government actions .
Instead , politics is mostly about illusions that leaders strive to create inside our heads .
In the case of 9/11 , the Bush administration did not attempt to respond rationally to the actual events .
Instead , they used it as a justification to do what they had always wanted to do but couldn ’ t get away with .
An influential think tank , the Project for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year before that “ the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security , ” a goal that “ transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
” Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told an aide just hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon that he wanted to “ go massive — sweep it all up , things related and not , ” including Iraq if possible .
Both Bush and his national security adviser , Condoleezza Rice , soon explained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunity.
” By contrast , Covid-19 really did demand a large-scale government response , but there was little that Trump wanted to do .
So Trump has delivered hours of a TV show in which he starred , but not enough PPE for doctors and nurses , or contact tracing , or desperately needed funding for states and cities , and people thrown out of work .
Bush wanted a pretext to do a lot of things that were unnecessary , such as invading Iraq , while Trump wanted an excuse to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot really needed to be done .
Any look at history shows that this is how the world works .
Governments decide what they want to do , and then search for some public rationale .
On December 16 , 1989 , Panamanian troops shot a U.S. soldier and threatened to rape the wife of a Navy officer .
But in the world of political illusion , President George H.W .
Bush explained that this meant that we had to invade Panama , which we did , killing hundreds or thousands of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
An anonymous member of Congress accurately said at the time that “ the December 16 incidents were the excuse , and not the reason , for the invasion.
” There was no actual connection between the attack on Panama and what had happened to the American troops , which would have been totally ignored if Bush hadn ’ t wanted a war to oust the country ’ s military leader , Manuel Noriega , who had once been a CIA asset but had turned into an antagonist to U.S. interests .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maddox exchanged fire with North Vietnamese ships in the Gulf of Tonkin .
No U.S. sailors were killed ; the Maddox suffered a single bullet hole .
Then on August 4 , nothing at all happened , although the U.S. dreamed up an imaginary second attack on the Maddox .
In the world of political illusion , the U.S. used these events as justification to escalate a war that ended up killing millions of people in Indochina .
This isn ’ t just an American thing .
In April 1980 , members of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposed to Saddam and backed by Iran , threw a grenade at Tariq Aziz , the deputy prime minster of Iraq .
According to Saddam , this meant that Iraq had to go to war with Iran , which it did , leading to the deaths of a million people on both sides .
In June 1982 , Palestinian terrorists attempted to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to the U.K. in London .
According to Israel , this meant that it had to invade Lebanon , leading to the deaths of thousands and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1938 , Herschel Grynszpan , who was Jewish , shot a German diplomat in Paris .
According to the Nazi Party ’ s SA paramilitaries , this required them to carry out Kristallnacht .
Today more than any other , we should understand how much Trump ’ s berserk honesty tells us about life on earth .
Our lives have value insofar as the powerful can use them to create whatever “ panic ” they desire .
If not , we Americans will die quietly in a void , as a thousand of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covid-19 .

Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Lots of people have ridiculed President Donald Trump for telling journalist Bob Woodward that he “wanted to always play [Covid-19] down … because I don’t want to create a panic.” That’s hilarious, because Trump obviously loves creating panics — about Mexican immigrants, antifa, single-family zoning, and, scariest of all, low-flow toilets.
But Trump was, as he often does, telling us by accident something profound about American politics.
Nineteen years ago today, a group of men from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates hijacked four passenger jets. They successfully flew three of them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. All in all, they murdered 2,977 people in one day.
By March 19, the day Trump explained his reasoning to Woodward, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already predicted that the coronavirus would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans and possibly as many as 1.7 million.
In the first situation, George W. Bush, then the president of the United States, actively fomented panic. Americans could not sleep safely in their beds unless we invaded Afghanistan. The FBI should be able to obtain the bank records or internet activity of citizens anytime it wanted without a warrant. Saddam Hussein was hiding anthrax in his mustache.
In the second situation, one that was objectively much more frightening, the president of the United States openly acknowledged that he played the danger down. This goes not just for the danger of Covid-19 itself: His administration has also played down the continuing economic danger to tens of millions of Americans.
What accounts for the glaring disparity in reactions?
History shows the answer is as obvious as it is bizarre: Reality often has nothing to do with gigantic government actions. Instead, politics is mostly about illusions that leaders strive to create inside our heads.
Bush wanted a pretext to do a lot of things that were unnecessary, while Trump wanted an excuse to do nothing when, in fact, a lot really needed to be done.
In the case of 9/11, the Bush administration did not attempt to respond rationally to the actual events. Instead, they used it as a justification to do what they had always wanted to do but couldn’t get away with. An influential think tank, the Project for a New American Century, had explained the year before that “the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security,” a goal that “transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.” Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told an aide just hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon that he wanted to “go massive — sweep it all up, things related and not,” including Iraq if possible. Both Bush and his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, soon explained that they saw 9/11 as an “opportunity.”
By contrast, Covid-19 really did demand a large-scale government response, but there was little that Trump wanted to do. So Trump has delivered hours of a TV show in which he starred, but not enough PPE for doctors and nurses, or contact tracing, or desperately needed funding for states and cities, and people thrown out of work. Bush wanted a pretext to do a lot of things that were unnecessary, such as invading Iraq, while Trump wanted an excuse to do nothing when, in fact, a lot really needed to be done.
Any look at history shows that this is how the world works. Governments decide what they want to do, and then search for some public rationale.
On December 16, 1989, Panamanian troops shot a U.S. soldier and threatened to rape the wife of a Navy officer. But in the world of political illusion, President George H.W. Bush explained that this meant that we had to invade Panama, which we did, killing hundreds or thousands of people (the precise toll is disputed). An anonymous member of Congress accurately said at the time that “the December 16 incidents were the excuse, and not the reason, for the invasion.” There was no actual connection between the attack on Panama and what had happened to the American troops, which would have been totally ignored if Bush hadn’t wanted a war to oust the country’s military leader, Manuel Noriega, who had once been a CIA asset but had turned into an antagonist to U.S. interests.
On August 2, 1964 the U.S.S. Maddox exchanged fire with North Vietnamese ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. No U.S. sailors were killed; the Maddox suffered a single bullet hole. Then on August 4, nothing at all happened, although the U.S. dreamed up an imaginary second attack on the Maddox. In the world of political illusion, the U.S. used these events as justification to escalate a war that ended up killing millions of people in Indochina.
Read Our Complete Coverage The Coronavirus Crisis
This isn’t just an American thing.
In April 1980, members of Islamic Dawa, an Iraqi Shia organization opposed to Saddam and backed by Iran, threw a grenade at Tariq Aziz, the deputy prime minster of Iraq. According to Saddam, this meant that Iraq had to go to war with Iran, which it did, leading to the deaths of a million people on both sides.
In June 1982, Palestinian terrorists attempted to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to the U.K. in London. According to Israel, this meant that it had to invade Lebanon, leading to the deaths of thousands and the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
In September 1938, Herschel Grynszpan, who was Jewish, shot a German diplomat in Paris. According to the Nazi Party’s SA paramilitaries, this required them to carry out Kristallnacht.
Today more than any other, we should understand how much Trump’s berserk honesty tells us about life on earth. Our lives have value insofar as the powerful can use them to create whatever “panic” they desire. If not, we Americans will die quietly in a void, as a thousand of us are currently doing every day from Covid-19.


theintercept--2020-09-12--BlueLeaks Documents Bolster Whistleblower Account of Intelligence Tampering at Homeland Security

the man currently running the largest law enforcement agency in the country , had any idea of what was coming , he didn ’ t show it .
On Wednesday , the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security stood before his colleagues and delivered the 2020 “ State of the Homeland Address , ” detailing the many ways in which his department was living up to its post-9/11 mission and supporting President Donald Trump ’ s agenda .
Everyone on the DHS livestream was socially distanced and wearing masks — everyone , that is , but Ken Cuccinelli @ @ @ @ @ @ @ official performing the duties of the deputy secretary.
” Last month , the Government Accountability Office issued a report concluding that both Wolf and Cuccinelli are illegally occupying their positions atop DHS .
But what the two men lack in legal authorization to work , they make up for in fealty to the president .
Teeing up the crowd for Wolf ’ s remarks this week , Cuccinelli spoke of threats to “ our cherished homeland ” and said that “ after decades of putting global interests ahead of the safety and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has boldly put America first.
” Wolf , a former Transportation Security Administration lobbyist , struck a similar tone in his prepared remarks , drawing applause when he mentioned Homeland Security ’ s role in policing protests in Portland , Oregon , and his department ’ s ongoing efforts to build a wall between the United States and Mexico .
The event had just barely concluded when the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence published a 24-page whistleblower complaint accusing Wolf , Cuccinelli , and other current and former DHS leaders , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also present at Wednesday ’ s address , of illegally manipulating and politicizing intelligence to bolster the president ’ s talking points and policy objectives in numerous ways across multiple years .
The man behind the complaint was Brian Murphy , a war on terror veteran who ran Homeland Security intelligence operations and served as a principle adviser to the secretary of DHS and the director of national security .
Though complicated by the fact that Murphy himself had previously been accused of overseeing disturbing surveillance practices earlier this year , the whistleblower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long line of stories suggesting that DHS has become the armed extension of a Trumpian political project .
Murphy ’ s allegations ranged from inflating the number of known or suspected terrorists crossing the border , to the suppression of intelligence on right-wing terrorists , to the stifling of reports on Russian interference in the coming election .
Murphy claimed that his efforts to push back on the senior DHS officials were met with retaliation and a demotion .
Rep. Adam Schiff , D-Calif. , the chair of the intelligence committee , described @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” adding in a statement , “ We will get to the bottom of this , expose any and all misconduct or corruption to the American people , and put a stop to the politicization of intelligence.
” John Sandweg , a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement , said the politicization of Homeland Security operations under the Trump administration has been “ tremendous , ” and that it first began in the border and immigration realms and steadily expanded to include militarized Border Patrol BORTAC units deployed to arrest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wishes of local officials .
“ It ’ s at the point now where it ’ s really undermining the operational capability of DHS to work with the state and local governments , ” Sandweg told The Intercept .
“ There ’ s going to be repercussions.
” In his complaint , Murphy claimed that in a series of meetings , Wolf and Cuccinelli personally intervened in an effort to doctor information related to the recent protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd , instructing him to “ modify intelligence assessments to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comments by President Trump on the subject of ANTIFA and ‘ anarchist ’ groups.
” Murphy also claimed that the men improperly inserted themselves in the creation of a “ Homeland Treat Assessment ” report earlier this year , blocking circulation of the document out of concerns over how it “ would reflect upon President Trump.
” “ Two sections were specifically labeled as concerns : White Supremacy and Russian influence in the United States , ” Murphy ’ s complaint said .
The complaint went on to describe a series of meetings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against police brutality spread to every state in the country , in which “ Mr .
Cuccinelli stated that Mr. Murphy needed to specifically modify the section on White Supremacy in a manner that made the threat appear less severe , as well as include information on the prominence of violent ‘ left-wing ’ groups.
” Murphy ’ s allegations come two months after an investigation by The Intercept that analyzed a trove of hacked law enforcement documents that were posted online under the title “ BlueLeaks.
” The materials included documents produced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal level , including Homeland Security ’ s Office of Intelligence and Analysis , otherwise known as I & A , where Murphy worked .
The Intercept ’ s analysis focused on hundreds of documents produced during the recent protests that referenced “ antifa , ” a loose movement of antifascist political activists , and revealed glaring disparities between law enforcement ’ s depiction of groups on the right and the left .
In the case of antifa , the documents revealed that law enforcement intelligence was often vague , mixed up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of suspected criminal activity .
On the far right , on the other hand , the documents showed law enforcement agencies across the country sharing detailed and specific information on the mobilization of armed groups looking to use the unrest as cover to attack law enforcement and protesters and set off a civil war .
In July , the sergeant of an elite Air Force security unit with ties to the so-called boogaloo movement was arrested on suspicion of assassinating a federal court security officer and killing a California sheriff ’ s deputy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circulating at the time went beyond mere posturing .
During the protests , I & A shared intelligence that was both dubious and disturbing .
On June 2 , for example , the office circulated a tweet to law enforcement agencies across the country reporting that antifa was stashing bricks to “ fuel protests.
” As Mainer magazine later reported , the original source of the information was a pro-Trump biker who called himself “ the wolfman ” and previously spread conspiracy theories online .
At the same time , I & A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inside an encrypted white supremacist Telegram channel , in which thousands of followers were encouraged to use guns , Molotov cocktails , and chainsaws to attack police and “ spread racial hatred.
” The following day , I & A published an intelligence note again describing conversations in another white supremacist Telegram channel , in which followers were encouraged to “ engage in violence and start the ‘ boogaloo ’ — a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , along with Wolf , Cuccinelli , and U.S. Attorney General William Barr were agitating for a crackdown on antifa , with Trump calling the movement a terrorist organization and Barr announcing that Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country would be called to root out leftist “ agitators.
” The Justice Department has launched hundreds of domestic terrorism investigations in the weeks since , while a Trump Super Pac has used the antifa crackdown to raise money for the president ’ s reelection efforts .
On June 1 , Trump boosted a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ Fox and Friends ” co-host said he saw no evidence of white supremacists mobilizing in response to the protests .
“ TRUE !
” Trump tweeted .
Later in the day , Trump delivered an address in the Rose Garden threatening to use the military in response to the “ professional anarchists ” and antifa elements in the streets .
He made no mention of groups on the far right .
The next morning , DHS circulated a report acknowledging “ media reports ” indicating “ that neo-Nazi , and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terror attacks during the ongoing unrest throughout the United States.
” According to a distribution list at the bottom of the report , the document was shared with the White House Situation Room , DHS headquarters , federal interagency operations centers , and state and local partners .
Despite the intelligence circulating in his own office regarding threats from the far right , Cuccinelli continued to keep the focus on the left , tweeting , “ Their silence is deafening .
Cities across America burn at the hands of antifa and anarchists while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it what it is : domestic terrorism.
” Murphy and his office drew national attention in late July , when news broke that I & A had disseminated three Open Source Intelligence Reports summarizing the tweets of a New York Times reporter and the editor of a prominent Washington , D.C. national security blog ; both had published unclassified DHS documents related to the Portland protests .
At the time , Wolf said he had ordered a stop to the intelligence gathering and launched an investigation into the matter .
Murphy was singled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collection , with sources telling the Washington Post that the former FBI agent had “ earned a reputation at DHS for aggressively trying to expand the operations of the intelligence office.
” In his complaint , Murphy said the media reports concerning the collection of information on journalists were “ significantly flawed and , in many instances , contained completely erroneous assertions , ” and that “ I & A never knowingly or deliberately collected information on journalists , at least as far as Mr. Murphy is aware or ever authorized.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where I & A directs much of its work product have been the subject of years of criticism for exhibiting a “ persistent pattern of violating Americans ’ privacy and civil liberties , producing unreliable and ineffective information , and resisting financial and other types of standard public accountability.
” As The Intercept reported in late July , I & A under Trump has repeatedly directed its intelligence-gathering efforts at immigration advocates on the border .
DHS officials in San Diego oversaw a sweeping , binational intelligence-gathering operation targeting lawyers , journalists , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caravans that became a key political talking point for the Trump administration during the 2018 midterm elections .
It is unclear what role , if any , Murphy played in those events , though his complaint notes that during his March 2018 to July 2020 tenure , he was “ responsible for all intelligence activities in DHS.
” He has been called to testify before Congress later this month , where those questions may come up .
Throughout the past three and half years , the leadership of DHS has been steadily hollowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run by allies of Trump ’ s anti-immigration adviser , Stephen Miller .
To many Homeland Security veterans , the ascent of Wolf and Cuccinelli is the disturbing encapsulation of that trend — one former DHS official , speaking to The Intercept on background , described Wolf as a “ back bencher ” and “ literally a joke.
” On Thursday , one day after Murphy ’ s complaint made news across the country , the White House sent a letter to the Senate formally nominating Wolf to head DHS .
Twenty-four hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D-MS ) , Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security , subpoenaed Wolf to testify before his committee , noting in a statement that the acting secretary had been dodging the lawmakers ’ questions since protests picked up in June .
“ This administration has so completely fueled the negative stereotype of the agency , that is going to have real world implications for the agency for years to come , not just in dealing with Congress , ” Sandweg said .
“ I think they ’ ve done incalculable damage .
”

If Chad Wolf, the man currently running the largest law enforcement agency in the country, had any idea of what was coming, he didn’t show it. On Wednesday, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security stood before his colleagues and delivered the 2020 “State of the Homeland Address,” detailing the many ways in which his department was living up to its post-9/11 mission and supporting President Donald Trump’s agenda. Everyone on the DHS livestream was socially distanced and wearing masks — everyone, that is, but Ken Cuccinelli, the department’s “senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary.”
Last month, the Government Accountability Office issued a report concluding that both Wolf and Cuccinelli are illegally occupying their positions atop DHS. But what the two men lack in legal authorization to work, they make up for in fealty to the president. Teeing up the crowd for Wolf’s remarks this week, Cuccinelli spoke of threats to “our cherished homeland” and said that “after decades of putting global interests ahead of the safety and the prosperity of our citizens, this administration has boldly put America first.”
Wolf, a former Transportation Security Administration lobbyist, struck a similar tone in his prepared remarks, drawing applause when he mentioned Homeland Security’s role in policing protests in Portland, Oregon, and his department’s ongoing efforts to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. The event had just barely concluded when the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence published a 24-page whistleblower complaint accusing Wolf, Cuccinelli, and other current and former DHS leaders, including former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who was also present at Wednesday’s address, of illegally manipulating and politicizing intelligence to bolster the president’s talking points and policy objectives in numerous ways across multiple years.
Photo: Susan Walsh/AP
The man behind the complaint was Brian Murphy, a war on terror veteran who ran Homeland Security intelligence operations and served as a principle adviser to the secretary of DHS and the director of national security. Though complicated by the fact that Murphy himself had previously been accused of overseeing disturbing surveillance practices earlier this year, the whistleblower complaint marked the latest revelation in a long line of stories suggesting that DHS has become the armed extension of a Trumpian political project.
Murphy’s allegations ranged from inflating the number of known or suspected terrorists crossing the border, to the suppression of intelligence on right-wing terrorists, to the stifling of reports on Russian interference in the coming election. Murphy claimed that his efforts to push back on the senior DHS officials were met with retaliation and a demotion. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chair of the intelligence committee, described his complaint as “grave and disturbing,” adding in a statement, “We will get to the bottom of this, expose any and all misconduct or corruption to the American people, and put a stop to the politicization of intelligence.”
John Sandweg, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the politicization of Homeland Security operations under the Trump administration has been “tremendous,” and that it first began in the border and immigration realms and steadily expanded to include militarized Border Patrol BORTAC units deployed to arrest protesters in a major American city against the wishes of local officials.
“It’s at the point now where it’s really undermining the operational capability of DHS to work with the state and local governments,” Sandweg told The Intercept. “There’s going to be repercussions.”
In his complaint, Murphy claimed that in a series of meetings, Wolf and Cuccinelli personally intervened in an effort to doctor information related to the recent protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd, instructing him to “modify intelligence assessments to ensure they matched up with the public comments by President Trump on the subject of ANTIFA and ‘anarchist’ groups.” Murphy also claimed that the men improperly inserted themselves in the creation of a “Homeland Threat Assessment” report earlier this year, blocking circulation of the document out of concerns over how it “would reflect upon President Trump.”
Photo: Toni L. Sandys/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
“Two sections were specifically labeled as concerns: White Supremacy and Russian influence in the United States,” Murphy’s complaint said. The complaint went on to describe a series of meetings in May and June, as protests against police brutality spread to every state in the country, in which “Mr. Cuccinelli stated that Mr. Murphy needed to specifically modify the section on White Supremacy in a manner that made the threat appear less severe, as well as include information on the prominence of violent ‘left-wing’ groups.”
Murphy’s allegations come two months after an investigation by The Intercept that analyzed a trove of hacked law enforcement documents that were posted online under the title “BlueLeaks.” The materials included documents produced at the local, state, and federal level, including Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, otherwise known as I&A, where Murphy worked. The Intercept’s analysis focused on hundreds of documents produced during the recent protests that referenced “antifa,” a loose movement of antifascist political activists, and revealed glaring disparities between law enforcement’s depiction of groups on the right and the left.
In the case of antifa, the documents revealed that law enforcement intelligence was often vague, mixed up in online conspiracy theories or untethered to evidence of suspected criminal activity. On the far right, on the other hand, the documents showed law enforcement agencies across the country sharing detailed and specific information on the mobilization of armed groups looking to use the unrest as cover to attack law enforcement and protesters and set off a civil war. In July, the sergeant of an elite Air Force security unit with ties to the so-called boogaloo movement was arrested on suspicion of assassinating a federal court security officer and killing a California sheriff’s deputy, strongly suggesting that the online threats circulating at the time went beyond mere posturing.
During the protests, I&A shared intelligence that was both dubious and disturbing. On June 2, for example, the office circulated a tweet to law enforcement agencies across the country reporting that antifa was stashing bricks to “fuel protests.” As Mainer magazine later reported, the original source of the information was a pro-Trump biker who called himself “the wolfman” and previously spread conspiracy theories online.
At the same time, I&A circulated intelligence in late May detailing conversations inside an encrypted white supremacist Telegram channel, in which thousands of followers were encouraged to use guns, Molotov cocktails, and chainsaws to attack police and “spread racial hatred.” The following day, I&A published an intelligence note again describing conversations in another white supremacist Telegram channel, in which followers were encouraged to “engage in violence and start the ‘boogaloo’ — a term used by some violent extremists to refer to the start of a second Civil War — by shooting in a crowd.”
At the time, Trump, along with Wolf, Cuccinelli, and U.S. Attorney General William Barr were agitating for a crackdown on antifa, with Trump calling the movement a terrorist organization and Barr announcing that Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country would be called to root out leftist “agitators.”
The Justice Department has launched hundreds of domestic terrorism investigations in the weeks since, while a Trump Super Pac has used the antifa crackdown to raise money for the president’s reelection efforts.
On June 1, Trump boosted a tweet from Brian Kilmeade, in which the “Fox and Friends” co-host said he saw no evidence of white supremacists mobilizing in response to the protests. “TRUE!” Trump tweeted. Later in the day, Trump delivered an address in the Rose Garden threatening to use the military in response to the “professional anarchists” and antifa elements in the streets. He made no mention of groups on the far right. The next morning, DHS circulated a report acknowledging “media reports” indicating “that neo-Nazi, and other paramilitary far-right groups, are calling for terror attacks during the ongoing unrest throughout the United States.” According to a distribution list at the bottom of the report, the document was shared with the White House Situation Room, DHS headquarters, federal interagency operations centers, and state and local partners.
Despite the intelligence circulating in his own office regarding threats from the far right, Cuccinelli continued to keep the focus on the left.
Despite the intelligence circulating in his own office regarding threats from the far right, Cuccinelli continued to keep the focus on the left, tweeting, “Their silence is deafening. Cities across America burn at the hands of antifa and anarchists while many political leaders are refusing to call it what it is: domestic terrorism.”
Murphy and his office drew national attention in late July, when news broke that I&A had disseminated three Open Source Intelligence Reports summarizing the tweets of a New York Times reporter and the editor of a prominent Washington, D.C. national security blog; both had published unclassified DHS documents related to the Portland protests. At the time, Wolf said he had ordered a stop to the intelligence gathering and launched an investigation into the matter. Murphy was singled out as the official driving the intelligence collection, with sources telling the Washington Post that the former FBI agent had “earned a reputation at DHS for aggressively trying to expand the operations of the intelligence office.”
In his complaint, Murphy said the media reports concerning the collection of information on journalists were “significantly flawed and, in many instances, contained completely erroneous assertions,” and that “I&A never knowingly or deliberately collected information on journalists, at least as far as Mr. Murphy is aware or ever authorized.”
The expansive network of law enforcement fusion centers where I&A directs much of its work product have been the subject of years of criticism for exhibiting a “persistent pattern of violating Americans’ privacy and civil liberties, producing unreliable and ineffective information, and resisting financial and other types of standard public accountability.” As The Intercept reported in late July, I&A under Trump has repeatedly directed its intelligence-gathering efforts at immigration advocates on the border. DHS officials in San Diego oversaw a sweeping, binational intelligence-gathering operation targeting lawyers, journalists, and asylum advocates associated with the migrant caravans that became a key political talking point for the Trump administration during the 2018 midterm elections.
It is unclear what role, if any, Murphy played in those events, though his complaint notes that during his March 2018 to July 2020 tenure, he was “responsible for all intelligence activities in DHS.” He has been called to testify before Congress later this month, where those questions may come up.
Throughout the past three and half years, the leadership of DHS has been steadily hollowed out, resulting in a department increasingly run by allies of Trump’s anti-immigration adviser, Stephen Miller. To many Homeland Security veterans, the ascent of Wolf and Cuccinelli is the disturbing encapsulation of that trend — one former DHS official, speaking to The Intercept on background, described Wolf as a “back bencher” and “literally a joke.”
On Thursday, one day after Murphy’s complaint made news across the country, the White House sent a letter to the Senate formally nominating Wolf to head DHS. Twenty-four hours later, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, subpoenaed Wolf to testify before his committee, noting in a statement that the acting secretary had been dodging the lawmakers’ questions since protests picked up in June.
“This administration has so completely fueled the negative stereotype of the agency, that is going to have real world implications for the agency for years to come, not just in dealing with Congress,” Sandweg said. “I think they’ve done incalculable damage.”


theintercept--2020-09-12--Georgia Democrat Drops Out, Paving the Way for QAnon Candidate to Enter Congress

the Republican nominee for Congress in northern Georgia who has expressed support for QAnon , may end up winning her seat on a balk because her Democratic opponent Kevin Van Ausdal has abruptly quit the race .
Naturally , people are reaching for conspiracies to explain the sudden departure .
But the reasons appear to be personal : a marital dispute that metastasized in the radiation of a suddenly high-profile political campaign , culminating in a divorce earlier this month .
Van Ausdal was always a placeholder candidate in a red district that Democrats had never run a candidate in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world to be watching him .
But then Greene switched from running for Congress in a South Georgia seat to this North Georgia seat , because the voters there were more likely to support her .
And , against all sense , she won .
Suddenly , Van Ausdal was the wall between crazy and Congress , and he wasn ’ t ready for it .
The question now is whether Georgia ’ s secretary of state , Brian Raffensperger , will use what discretion he has to allow Democrats to replace Van @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s election law doesn ’ t allow a candidate to withdraw with less than 60 days before Election Day .
However , Van Ausdal has left the state entirely with the intent of permanently changing his address , said Michael McGraw , a Democratic Party activist who is on Van Ausdal ’ s campaign staff .
By rendering himself legally ineligible to serve , Van Ausdal is not withdrawing but disqualifying himself — a legal technicality that may provide an opening for the state to act .
Greene ’ s candidacy has driven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Republicans alike — to consternation , to the open glee of the online conspiracists she has courted through the race .
She has supported QAnon , the far-right conspiracy theory about Democrats , a so-called deep state , and sex trafficking , though she told Fox News after winning her primary that she has since begun to question certain QAnon claims .
Still , Greene has long friendships with Georgia militia leaders , such as Chris “ General Blood Agent ” Hill , who leads the Georgia III % Security Force .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizations such as Georgia Three Percent Security Force Intel Militia , Gun Owners of America and anti-LGBTQ hate groups Mass Resistance and Alliance Defending Freedom , ” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center ’ s HateWatch project .
Last week , Greene posted a photo of herself with a rifle , telling conservatives to go “ on the offense ” against left-wing members of Congress , with members of “ the Squad ” pictured .
“ She doesn ’ t know shit about anybody there , ” said Cathy Griffith , chair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She doesn ’ t know anybody there .
She ’ s got a lot of money .
I think it ’ s an ego trip .
She ’ s a rich woman from wherever the hell she ’ s from , and she wants to come in , and she thinks because it ’ s a red area that she can just take over.
” Georgia ’ s 14th District is exceptionally conservative : The Cook Partisan Voter Index pegs it as an R+27 seat , the 10th-most Republican district in America , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 50-point margin .
It ’ s in the northwestern corner of Georgia , stretching from the Appalachian foothills of suburban Chattanooga , south through textile mill country to Rome at the western edge of metro Atlanta .
Until 2010 , it had been divided among other districts , but Georgia ’ s rapid population growth won a new district in 2010 .
In a state that is on the edge of electing Democrats due to the population growth of voters of color and the influence of Atlanta , the legislature carved out a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white .
It ’ s about 40 percent rural with a median income of about $ 50,000 a year that had been hard hit by manufacturing losses and hospital closures even before Covid-19 began working its way through the South .
Van Ausdal , a first-time candidate and computer tech support administrator , had volunteered himself as a candidate to allow for representation in every district , McGraw said .
No one expected Greene — who had originally been campaigning for a suburban Atlanta district — to switch districts .
A few days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she changed targets .
Georgia does not require a congressional candidate to live in the district they ’ re running for .
“ Ten percent of voters chose her in the primary , ” McGraw said , noting that their internal polling surprisingly showed Van Ausdal at over 40 percent .
“ All the voters should be the ones to decide if she wins or loses.
” Van Ausdal is , for lack of a better word , a generic Democrat .
He came to the race with deep passion about health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , no war chest , and modest local connections .
One has to take a claim about internal poll numbers from a campaign with a grain of salt , but I don ’ t think 40 percent is surprising , given Greene ’ s toxicity , the rejection of support from congressional Republicans , and a hard-fought primary .
People in Rome are openly wondering if they can write in her primary challenger , neurosurgeon John Cowan , who is a stalwart conservative no less pro-Trump than she , but without an army @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The two went at each other with little reserve ; their supporters with less .
I can imagine some of them crossing party lines to vote for Van Ausdal simply to register their objections , even while voting for Trump at the top of the ticket .
While some House Republican leaders have denounced Greene , Trump tweeted his support for the candidate after she won the Republican primary runoff last month .
One wonders to what degree Greene is to QAnon as Michele Bachmann was to the tea party movement — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Florida , internet provocateur and “ proud Islamophobe ” Laura Loomer — banned from wide swaths of social media for incendiary and bigoted remarks — won a Republican congressional primary last month , though in a dark-blue Palm Beach district ( where Trump is registered to vote ) that she is almost certain to lose .
QAnon supporter Lauren Boebert deposed Republican Rep. Scott Tipton in Colorado in a primary upset that is also a likely general election win .
Jo Rae Perkins in Colorado , Theresa Raborn in Illinois , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are all Republican primary winners who have adopted QAnon hashtags in their campaigns .
Van Ausdal ’ s campaign raised more than $ 100,000 once it became clear that he would be facing Greene , said Vincent Olsziewski , his campaign manager .
“ I still think there is a chance — a small window — for a viable Democrat to win that seat , ” he said .
“ If we can get the secretary of state to disqualify Kevin , which he should , we can find a viable candidate to @ @ @

Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican nominee for Congress in northern Georgia who has expressed support for QAnon, may end up winning her seat on a balk because her Democratic opponent Kevin Van Ausdal has abruptly quit the race.
Naturally, people are reaching for conspiracies to explain the sudden departure. But the reasons appear to be personal: a marital dispute that metastasized in the radiation of a suddenly high-profile political campaign, culminating in a divorce earlier this month. Van Ausdal was always a placeholder candidate in a red district that Democrats had never run a candidate in. He wasn’t expecting the world to be watching him. But then Greene switched from running for Congress in a South Georgia seat to this North Georgia seat, because the voters there were more likely to support her. And, against all sense, she won. Suddenly, Van Ausdal was the wall between crazy and Congress, and he wasn’t ready for it.
The question now is whether Georgia’s secretary of state, Brian Raffensperger, will use what discretion he has to allow Democrats to replace Van Ausdal on the ballot. Georgia’s election law doesn’t allow a candidate to withdraw with less than 60 days before Election Day. However, Van Ausdal has left the state entirely with the intent of permanently changing his address, said Michael McGraw, a Democratic Party activist who is on Van Ausdal’s campaign staff. By rendering himself legally ineligible to serve, Van Ausdal is not withdrawing but disqualifying himself — a legal technicality that may provide an opening for the state to act.
Greene’s candidacy has driven Georgia’s political community — Democrats and Republicans alike — to consternation, to the open glee of the online conspiracists she has courted through the race. She has supported QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory about Democrats, a so-called deep state, and sex trafficking, though she told Fox News after winning her primary that she has since begun to question certain QAnon claims. Still, Greene has long friendships with Georgia militia leaders, such as Chris “General Blood Agent” Hill, who leads the Georgia III% Security Force. Greene has “incorporated messaging from extremist organizations such as Georgia Three Percent Security Force Intel Militia, Gun Owners of America and anti-LGBTQ hate groups Mass Resistance and Alliance Defending Freedom,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s HateWatch project. Last week, Greene posted a photo of herself with a rifle, telling conservatives to go “on the offense” against left-wing members of Congress, with members of “the Squad” pictured.
https://twitter.com/daveyalba/status/1301914505656578049?s=20
“She doesn’t know shit about anybody there,” said Cathy Griffith, chair of the Catoosa County Democrats. “She doesn’t know anybody there. She’s got a lot of money. I think it’s an ego trip. She’s a rich woman from wherever the hell she’s from, and she wants to come in, and she thinks because it’s a red area that she can just take over.”
Georgia’s 14th District is exceptionally conservative: The Cook Partisan Voter Index pegs it as an R+27 seat, the 10th-most Republican district in America, carried by President Donald Trump by a 50-point margin. It’s in the northwestern corner of Georgia, stretching from the Appalachian foothills of suburban Chattanooga, south through textile mill country to Rome at the western edge of metro Atlanta. Until 2010, it had been divided among other districts, but Georgia’s rapid population growth won a new district in 2010. In a state that is on the edge of electing Democrats due to the population growth of voters of color and the influence of Atlanta, the legislature carved out a district that’s about 86 percent white. It’s about 40 percent rural with a median income of about $50,000 a year that had been hard hit by manufacturing losses and hospital closures even before Covid-19 began working its way through the South.
Van Ausdal, a first-time candidate and computer tech support administrator, had volunteered himself as a candidate to allow for representation in every district, McGraw said.
No one expected Greene — who had originally been campaigning for a suburban Atlanta district — to switch districts. A few days after Rep. Tom Graves announced his retirement, she changed targets. Georgia does not require a congressional candidate to live in the district they’re running for.
“Ten percent of voters chose her in the primary,” McGraw said, noting that their internal polling surprisingly showed Van Ausdal at over 40 percent. “All the voters should be the ones to decide if she wins or loses.”
Van Ausdal is, for lack of a better word, a generic Democrat. He came to the race with deep passion about health care issues but no real political experience, no war chest, and modest local connections. One has to take a claim about internal poll numbers from a campaign with a grain of salt, but I don’t think 40 percent is surprising, given Greene’s toxicity, the rejection of support from congressional Republicans, and a hard-fought primary. People in Rome are openly wondering if they can write in her primary challenger, neurosurgeon John Cowan, who is a stalwart conservative no less pro-Trump than she, but without an army of 4chan basement dwellers in his wake. The two went at each other with little reserve; their supporters with less. I can imagine some of them crossing party lines to vote for Van Ausdal simply to register their objections, even while voting for Trump at the top of the ticket.
While some House Republican leaders have denounced Greene, Trump tweeted his support for the candidate after she won the Republican primary runoff last month. One wonders to what degree Greene is to QAnon as Michele Bachmann was to the tea party movement — a bellwether of things to come. In Florida, internet provocateur and “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer — banned from wide swaths of social media for incendiary and bigoted remarks — won a Republican congressional primary last month, though in a dark-blue Palm Beach district (where Trump is registered to vote) that she is almost certain to lose. QAnon supporter Lauren Boebert deposed Republican Rep. Scott Tipton in Colorado in a primary upset that is also a likely general election win. Jo Rae Perkins in Colorado, Theresa Raborn in Illinois, and Mike Cargill and Erin Cruz in California are all Republican primary winners who have adopted QAnon hashtags in their campaigns.
Van Ausdal’s campaign raised more than $100,000 once it became clear that he would be facing Greene, said Vincent Olsziewski, his campaign manager. “I still think there is a chance — a small window — for a viable Democrat to win that seat,” he said. “If we can get the secretary of state to disqualify Kevin, which he should, we can find a viable candidate to run.”