Pride — Tonight At Ten June 30, 2020June 29, 2020 Today is the last day of Pride. Not everyone’s on board — (Trump misses Pride Month for third time. He did not, however, skip proclaiming June “National Homeownership Month” and “Great Outdoors Month.”) — but so many are. Including most of corporate America, from GM and Google to Microsoft and Dow. Companies large — “through this effort, Apple and Nike are proud to support LGBTQ organizations” — and relatively small, like Audible, whose CEO, Don Katz, issued this statement: . . . Because the stories of trans and non-binary voices deserve to be heard more widely, we will amplify the titles that can be found at Audible in collections like “The Best Trans and Non-binary Listens by Queer Authors” and “Trans Stories” and spotlight our interviews with creators like Jazz Jennings, Annalee Newitz and Nico Tortorella. Our commitment to trans representation extends internationally, with trans-positive content such as Azaad Awaaz, a series created for our free Audible Suno service in India featuring stories like that of India’s first transman pilot and an activist empowering transmen in rural India . . . . . . Now is a time to draw together to celebrate the glories of the human spectrum and to protect inherent civil rights for all. Onward to a better world. Indeed. I marvel at the progress we’ve made. That there would even be a Pride Month was inconceivable when I was growing up. But, as I say, not everyone’s on board. Tonight at ten (7pm PT), HBO premieres Welcome To Chechnya — the story of real human beings tortured and sometimes killed with Vladimir Putin’s approval. (Because of the risk to the real human beings in the film, a new technology was developed to replace their Chechen faces with American “donor” faces. See if you can tell.) Even if you can’t find the time to watch, this review in Forbes will bring you up to speed. BONUS: The German shepherd and the ferret. Three minutes. If they can get along, why can’t we? “Love is love.”
Trump’s Funny Denial June 29, 2020June 28, 2020 Paul Abrams offers “the two big stories of the day”: 🔵 ON THE LEFT: Trump learned the Russians were putting a bounty on U.S. soldiers’ heads . . . did nothing for two months . . . then rewarded Putin by trying to include him in a new G8. 🔴 ON THE RIGHT: Biden said “millions” when he meant “thousands”— and then immediately corrected himself. Of course, Trump denies the Russia story. Watch. Four ways William Barr is already subverting the 2020 elections — “Safeguarding the vote would be the top priority of a normal attorney general. It’s the opposite now.” This brief, inspiring history of the Southern District makes Barr’s toadyism all the more shameful. But — says the happy gene — this too shall pass. In 127 days, Americans in record numbers will vote for honesty, decency, and competence.
Is Education Essential? June 25, 2020June 25, 2020 But first . . . Sixty-five faculty members from Barr’s law school — Republicans and Democrats alike — say he has “failed to fulfill his oath of office” — “undermined the rule of law, breached constitutional norms, and damaged the integrity and traditional independence of his office and of the Department of Justice.” Like the honey badger, Trump fans don’t care. And so democracy gives way to autocracy. If you doubt it, or that it could happen here, read Masha Gessen’s newly published Surviving Autocracy. I don’t want to survive autocracy. I want progressive, inclusive, hopeful democracy. So, as always, if you can: click here. And now (in a roundabout way, but I’ll get there) . . . STLB: “A question to pose for your readers: Why is it that the Americans who were allowed to return from China were not forced into quarantine when they returned? Could it be an incompetent administration?” A competent administration could have done this so much better — maintaining the pandemic preparations the Obama Administration had put in place — not, e.g., cutting the CDC presence in China by two-thirds. Coordinating the response, not leaving states to compete with each other bidding up the price of PPE. Educating and unifying, not dividing and misinforming. But we all know this. The question is, what now? One piece if this I’ve paid special attention to is the great news that the virus spares the young. Can you imagine how much more devastating it would be if the virus became more deadly the younger you were, hitting those in the first 25 years of life the hardest? But no: it is a fact, confirmed worldwide, that — with exceptions so rare they make the nightly news and scare people into not always thinking rationally — COVID spares the young. I keep that in mind when I read stories like this, from the Washington Post: Civil rights history tells us who loses when schools are closed. School is essential to any hope of equality of opportunity and to our democracy itself. Or this, from Wired: It’s Ridiculous to Treat Schools Like Covid Hot Zones Yes, says that piece (well worth reading in full) . . . Under any reopening plan, those who are most vulnerable to the disease should be allowed to opt out of working onsite until there is a vaccine or effective treatment. And adults who are present, when around each other, should wear masks and maintain proper social distancing. But some of the other measures being proposed? This isn’t biosafety—it’s pandemic theater. Anyone who is unsure whether we should open the schools — out of commendable concern for kids and teachers and everyone else — should read this for reassurance. (And this in Mother Jones? “Yet Another Study Says School Closures Have No Impact on COVID-19.” Or this in The Guardian? “Schools Reopening Has Not Triggered Rise in Covid-19 Cases, EU ministers Told. France’s Education Minister Says It Is More of a Risk Keeping Children at Home.” Or this in The Hill? “Science Says: Open The Schools.”) We for sure need to excuse elderly and/or health-compromised teachers and staff from going back to work. But for young healthy teachers? Even during the worst of the virus in New York, and now as it worsens elsewhere, we allow — indeed, depend upon — essential workers to keep working. Is education not essential? BONUS: Take A Knee / Take A Stand. A brand new effort launched just hours ago. Take A Look.
And Now . . . June 24, 2020 . . . on top of everything else (temperatures above 100 degrees in Siberia???) . . . the days are getting shorter. But enough with the hand wringing. Let’s do something positive. Like — even as we debate raising tax rates on the best off — could we at least collect the taxes they already owe? Turns out, the IRS lacks the money even to try. And like — could we listen to Republicans? Dozens of Republican former U.S. national security officials are coming out for Biden. Oh! And how about this? Could we send kids back to school this fall? Not all of them, but those — and those teachers and staff — not at unacceptable risk themselves or to others? Italy Survey Finds Irritability, Anxiety in Locked-Down Kids — “some of the youngest wept inconsolably and regressed developmentally.” School Children Don’t Spread Coronavirus, French Study Shows — “it was the parents who had infected their offspring rather than the other way around.” Schools Should Open in Full This Fall — “they serve too vital a function to stay closed, and remote learning is a disaster.” The cost of keeping schools closed will be dreadful. Reopening schools in Denmark did not worsen outbreak. Experts sound the alarm about child abuse during coronavirus pandemic. Recommendations For School Reopening — “it is critical that we balance the risks of COVID-19 in children, which appear to be minimal, with the harms of school closure which is impacting their physical and mental health.”
Jesse’s Mom, Elinor’s Dad June 23, 2020June 22, 2020 But first! It’s Like Watergate, But With Morons — in sizes from Small to 6XL and in multiple colors. Though if you have money to throw around on T-shirts, consider joining tonight’s rally instead to fund the massive win we need 133 days from now to save the world. Biden and Obama. All hands on deck. And speaking of Obama: And now! I never met Jesse’s mom, Pearl, who died at 103 last Thursday, but so enjoyed reading his farewell, I thought you might, too. And while I’m offering random stories, here’s a seven-minute clip about Harry Truman and his “bald-headed sonofabitch” friend Eddie, Elinor’s dad. (Thanks, Mel!) “It is important to speak truth to power.” she concludes. “And to maintain your friendships.” See you tonight at the rally.
15 Minutes and $15 June 22, 2020June 20, 2020 I have a confession. When I linked you to “the article everybody’s talking about” earlier this month, I had read only excerpts. It’s long, everybody was talking about it, I’m a slow reader, I had rich people’s arms to twist for the DNC, I had the next day’s post about keeping your bananas fresh to write, and — of course — the dog ate my homework. (Bad dog.) Having now just finished reading every word, though — and recognizing that you, too, may not have found time for it — I offer the article again. It explains Lindsey Graham. t explains Mike Pence. It explains Mike Pompeo. It explains this moment in history . . . how things have gone so wrong and how much wronger they could go. Find 15 minutes, if you can: History Will Judge The Complicit by Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic. And then, to help keep things from going more wrong, sign up for Tuesday’s virtual rally with Joe Biden and Barack Obama — $15.
Three One-Minute Ads June 20, 2020 The $500 Billion Black Box. So did the Boies, Schiller law firm get $20 million in forgivable loans from the PPP program? We may never know. Read it, be outraged — and join us Tuesday. Joe Biden in a minute, pass it on. Donald Trump, in a minute, as seen by Republican donors. Oh! And this minute, too. Pass them on. And then join Joe and President Obama for Tuesday’s virtual rally — $15. Some of that $15 will go to help fight voter suppression, state by state, county by county. How long would YOU wait in line to vote, asks Marc Elias, noting (among much else): In 2004, college students in Knox County, Ohio waited in line for ten hours to vote. Students at Ohio State University faced only slightly shorter lines. That year, Ohio was the deciding state in the presidential election. After the 2004 election, the Washington Post found that places in the state with the fewest voting machines per registered voter supported John Kerry, whereas those places with the highest number of machines per voter supported George Bush. Have a great weekend. Sign up to join Joe Biden and President Obama for Tuesday’s virtual rally.
Saving The World, $15 At A Time June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 People Who Voted For Trump In 2016 Are Revealing Their “Breaking Point” Moment When They Stopped Supporting Him And Walter Shapiro here argues that the Trump campaign is a Potemkin village, designed to make him think he’s going to win. Which is encouraging to read . . . though needless to say, with the whole world at stake, no one should exhale until a Democratic Senate has been sworn in and the Bidens take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania 17 days later. So here’s a way you can chip in anywhere from $15 on up to attend the Big Biden Bash (BYOB) next Tuesday, June 23, at 5:15PM EDT. Obama and Biden, teamed up again to save the world. A friend was not aware of the book of speeches Trump kept by his bedside for many years (according to his ex-wife, whose divorce attorney kept it in his safe) — a fact Trump only sort of weakly denied, when, confronted by Vanity Fair, he said no, it was not a book of speeches, it was Mein Kampf. (But it was a book of speeches.) So — not least because she was giving $50,000 to help wrest power from Trump and McConnell — I forwarded her the column I had written laying all this out in January 2016, when no one, including Trump, expected him to win. And re-read it. And am now a little embarrassed to have taken such a bright view. (“Dreadful, perhaps; unfit to be president, for sure; but not evil.”) Even now, “evil” may be too strong. Evil implies a psychopath’s intent to harm. The harm Trump has done is merely the product of a reckless old staggeringly narcissistic incompetent ignorant sociopath. Who could walk down Fifth Avenue shooting people, and Lindsey Graham would find a way to excuse. Re-reading the post, I realized I had forgotten about the World War I injury — to a single, lowly soldier — that ultimately led to tens of millions of deaths.
Give It Up For A Great Republican June 15, 2020June 14, 2020 Remember when, even if you disagreed on a bunch of stuff, you could respect Republicans? https://andrewtobias.com/wp-content/uploads/Arnold-Schwarzenneger.mp4
143 Days June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 Blame the Georgia voting debacle on John Roberts and Mitch McConnell. The first gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the second refuses even to debate House-passed legislation that would, in effect, restore it. As noted yesterday, Barr is the worst attorney general in our nation’s history. His handling of the Mike Flynn case is yet more proof. Have you got Republican friends who need a little support to sever ties to their leader? Send them this! But if they’re black, it may do no good — Trump is beloved by African Americans (he says). One hundred forty-three days, and counting. And then ten weird, potentially disastrous weeks. And then we get to see whether Trump hands off power with the same grace and dignity as Obama. Have a great weekend.