tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17978759728319995982024-03-18T09:22:34.081-05:00glen brownA writer must “know and have an ever-present consciousness that this world is a world of fools and rogues… tormented with envy, consumed with vanity; selfish, false, cruel, cursed with illusions… He should free himself of all doctrines, theories, etiquettes, politics…” —Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?). “The nobility of the writer's occupation lies in resisting oppression, thus in accepting isolation” —Albert Camus (1913-1960). “What are you gonna do” —Bertha Brown (1895-1987).gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comBlogger3046125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-61343652150976601642024-03-18T08:58:00.002-05:002024-03-18T09:22:02.545-05:00Putin's "Chaos Agent"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4KNubdYuHqdebyh_HxqYEoDSXnp0lN6Nmj83SYkaBHw6FGQRL-RLpHHX0XXdjOVqi0s-00gWI-PMwM2tRECS2pbNHl5QzVSgawIE4LeYsuohrOlxz687EgsYsBtGBKVaQ5oAeI8rOskQhYyhYCNpbaE8CDOcDhc6VKA_rW9-enilRaTKmnsJkZSAFLyf/s753/trump%20putin%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="753" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4KNubdYuHqdebyh_HxqYEoDSXnp0lN6Nmj83SYkaBHw6FGQRL-RLpHHX0XXdjOVqi0s-00gWI-PMwM2tRECS2pbNHl5QzVSgawIE4LeYsuohrOlxz687EgsYsBtGBKVaQ5oAeI8rOskQhYyhYCNpbaE8CDOcDhc6VKA_rW9-enilRaTKmnsJkZSAFLyf/s320/trump%20putin%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Donald Trump’s </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT380_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: #4472c4; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://ablink.editorial.theguardian.com/ss/c/u001.Yw_JkLMEmFuifc_XG18IRyTNtZQ7fIEMgszcCSneHEBKICfmW4wdBTF3gv8C11EbShkT24UoE4ucPM6AuAJKJBk1YHnJW36fN1fUinM6vH-LPabwgw-Rby4jOstXCjkaPSheo_gDc1AOwwAet2uxpl7tbKygArpps3vE4Nkj2HmMbr4xPCoX4cKUzXy8gykpJz5k5MUPAWULApMYQAlXGed4U59h5qgW-58N3a03RjOMUZtTei0oiqbVzMsinALmPMcDj9OIm73OQxM9pHu7Igyu-foB78I-wW8tXl91Wts/44r/FwB2wwZiRp2dteSMyaWBHw/h20/h001.29CtQoqRFccD1UtQL024z5ZNt0a5yWNQguVzBEnFPzE" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #4472c4; mso-themecolor: accent1;">continued praise of Vladimir Putin</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> is deepening concerns
among experts who predict a second term for the former US president would
damage American democracy and its global interests.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Trump views Putin as a
strongman,” said Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution
thinktank who was a national security official in the first two years of
Trump’s administration. “In a way they’re working in parallel because they’re
both trying to weaken the US, but for very different reasons.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hill voiced concerns
that Trump would “get rid of vital security expertise” and that Putin backed
him as a “chaos agent.” Douglas London, a retired senior CIA agent turned
author, said he feared Trump would use the security service “to spy on, silence
and perhaps even bring harm to his enemies.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile, Trump recently </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT381_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://ablink.editorial.theguardian.com/ss/c/u001.Yw_JkLMEmFuifc_XG18IRyTNtZQ7fIEMgszcCSneHECgAjO5YNqFHhdLXFbdss9kwk4K0ORNxsoWyx_cmR4a5XQ1kWnT5Jvg75bd_yJbGwAwIXdLtzAKgSsLQNYBK1SoeOzDI1wGdQbLPduXDUAOsKKaBvzjckIzP4zBLL6_4bbytdnYMGhjOuNJFIxzlWX85CkiDAR498sifp9wrwPFJ3oekRvNev1QKKw1mbzktsW78iP_FNiHlseYIP9wHLklFzHhdo7HAed7kKE0gURFvyR6PLgDtwnmv19M4Y5Cupg/44r/FwB2wwZiRp2dteSMyaWBHw/h21/h001.jQhlnlf4oDFKAIAfVzBEHruDUuPJCIlDNFPl_Cry6So" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #4472c4; mso-themecolor: accent1;">said there would be a “bloodbath</span><span style="color: #005689;">”</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> if he was rejected again
by voters in November’s presidential election.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">What has Trump said about Putin?</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> He called him a “genius”
after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and recently said Russia should “do
whatever the hell they” wanted to NATO members that did not contribute enough
to the alliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-Clea Skopeliti, The
Guardian</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><h1 style="line-height: 115%; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">“Something
Wrong Here”: Nancy Pelosi Gives Voters Frightening Trump Reality Check</span> </i></span></span></h1><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rep. <a data-vars-item-name="Nancy Pelosi" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="0" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="/news/topic/nancy-pelosi" data-vars-target-content-type="feed" data-vars-type="web_internal_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/nancy-pelosi" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">Nancy Pelosi</span></a> (D-Calif.)
warned voters of the stark choice ahead now that <a data-vars-item-name="Donald Trump" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="1" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="/news/topic/donald-trump" data-vars-target-content-type="feed" data-vars-type="web_internal_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">Donald Trump</span></a> is the
presumptive Republican nominee for president, setting up a rematch against
President <a data-vars-item-name="Joe Biden" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="2" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="/news/topic/joe-biden" data-vars-target-content-type="feed" data-vars-type="web_internal_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/joe-biden" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">Joe Biden</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We
just have to win this election, because he’s even predicting a ‘bloodbath,’”
the former House speaker said on <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/cnn" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">CNN</span></a> on Sunday. “What
does that mean? He’s going to exact a bloodbath?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trump
on Saturday warned of a “<a data-vars-item-name="bloodbath" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="3" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="65f630d0e4b08b384f1b72ca" data-vars-target-content-type="buzz" data-vars-type="web_internal_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/election-2024-trump-ohio-bloodbath_n_65f630d0e4b08b384f1b72ca" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">bloodbath</span></a>” if he loses the
election in November, an especially ominous prediction given the violence
carried out by his supporters after he lost the 2020 election.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There’s
something wrong here,” Pelosi said. “How respectful I am of the American people
and their goodness, but how much more do they have to see from him to
understand that this isn’t what our country is about? Praising Hitler, praising
the Russians.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was reported last week that <a data-vars-item-name="John Kelly" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="4" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="/news/topic/john-kelly" data-vars-target-content-type="feed" data-vars-type="web_internal_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/john-kelly" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">John Kelly</span></a>, who served as
White House chief of staff under Trump, recalled Trump insisting that Adolf
Hitler “<a data-vars-item-name="did some good things" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="5" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4523915-ex-chief-of-staff-criticizes-trump-for-hitler-talk/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4523915-ex-chief-of-staff-criticizes-trump-for-hitler-talk/" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">did some good things</span></a>,” and
Trump has publicly <a data-vars-item-name="expressed admiration" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="6" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urW-LzeTpS8" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urW-LzeTpS8" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">expressed admiration</span></a> for
Russian leader <a data-vars-item-name="Vladimir Putin" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="7" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="/news/topic/vladimir-putin" data-vars-target-content-type="feed" data-vars-type="web_internal_link" data-vars-unit-name="65f7f601e4b030e8357a987a" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/vladimir-putin" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; transition: background-color 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #005aff; text-decoration-line: none;">Vladimir Putin</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pelosi
urged voters to weigh these and other outrageous comments, promises and actions
from Trump as they consider their votes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“You
wouldn’t even allow him in your house, much less in the White House,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">
</span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-HuffPost</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-54748372166807868252024-03-16T12:02:00.000-05:002024-03-16T12:02:04.039-05:00Everyday Fascism: Brecht’s Warning about The Serpent’s Egg by Henry Giroux <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx4kVOZhjFwNcFbuidk0-ShQex4JeHTevE98lJ7l58hSpqPPmKrayAKIV8ZdNpHsRfgAILQpOVwiMO_4py6b1dtzqf4-pxg6Wt7nyfMXLvbZBA_f21GeQGwTb7w8TDRgOZSeP5iYUqNg8IieHiEiA5UQ0C0Lwkuawp6zb3wNWM_5jkGY-fCdrBZ6kQrw-l/s272/Fascism%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="272" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx4kVOZhjFwNcFbuidk0-ShQex4JeHTevE98lJ7l58hSpqPPmKrayAKIV8ZdNpHsRfgAILQpOVwiMO_4py6b1dtzqf4-pxg6Wt7nyfMXLvbZBA_f21GeQGwTb7w8TDRgOZSeP5iYUqNg8IieHiEiA5UQ0C0Lwkuawp6zb3wNWM_5jkGY-fCdrBZ6kQrw-l/w400-h272/Fascism%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><i><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;" />
Which hatch’d, would as his kind grow mischievous;<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;" />
And kill him in the shell.” – Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The brilliant scholar, Paul Gilroy, once stated that
we live at a time when the “horrors of the past are much closer to us than we
like to imagine.” <a name="_ednref1" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn1"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref1;"><span style="color: #333333;">[1]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref1;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref1;"></span> Gilroy’s
words are more resonant today than they were when first written. At every level
of domestic and foreign policy, the ghosts of fascism are evident, offering a
glimpse of what horrors await us as the twenty-first century unfolds. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the level of foreign policy, blood gushes from the bombs,
artillery, and tanks of rogue states in Gaza and Ukraine. Biden tells us that
bringing diplomatic solutions to the dreadful warfare in Ukraine and the Middle
East are less important than the profits and jobs created by death machines
that constitute the defense industries feeding both wars. War culture and the
language of hate fill the airwaves legitimating violence as a form of political
opportunism. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The cruel language and practices of human degradation and
destructiveness now feed a growing fascist politics in the U.S. Fascist
demagogues now boast about their racial fantasies, unchecked adoration of
violence, and their aggressive lawlessness. What Ingmar Bergman once
called “The Serpent’s Egg,” a metaphor for the birth of fascism is about to
hatch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a world shaped increasingly by emerging
authoritarianism, it has become increasingly difficult to remember what a
purposeful and substantive democracy looks like, or for that matter, what the
idea of democracy might suggest. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Democracy as an ideal, promise, and working practice is under
assault, just as a number of far-right educational, market, military, and
religious fundamentalisms are gaining ascendancy in American society.
Increasingly, it becomes more challenging to inhabit those public spheres where
politics thrives—where thinking, speaking, and acting subjects engage and
critically address the major forces and problems bearing down on their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this new moment in history, which too often resembles the
nightmares of a fascist past with its banning of books, erasing of history,
attack on trans people, and support of white nationalism and supremacy, the
question of how society should imagine itself or what its future might hold has
become more demanding given the eradication of social formations that place an
emphasis on truth, social justice, freedom, equality, and compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Historical and social amnesia have become the
organizing principles of U.S. society. Lies morph into the celebration of
violence and language become part of the machinery of social death, relegated
to the sphere of consumer culture, and devoid of an ethical grammar that is
banished to zones of political and social abandonment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Subjectivity, identity formation, and the longing
for community have become powerful elements of a politics of aggression. An
ocular—image-based culture celebrates human misery, turns monsters into
political celebrities who preach a language that accelerates the death of the
unwanted, powerless, and what Judith Butler calls the ungrievable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The mainstream media normalizes alleged leaders in the fields of
politics, entertainment, and education who thrive on the energies of the dead,
weak, and disposable. Yet, what is often missed is the spread of fascist
ideology, fear, rhetoric, symbols, and demonstrations that circulate in lesser
political circles and at the level of everyday life in the United States. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All of which speaks to how deeply embedded authoritarianism,
violence, and the mobilizing passions of fascism are in American society and
culture. Three recent examples speak to the dark current of fascist politics in
the United States.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Esb9Q_YlqRtRFPSw7fYKsle_bPNHdzSwWZg6yPvl18FjkUHkNl99tyMkDM2UaB9PCEqe5X5pzKBVehK91OeSQohBgNzJJZJXqwMw3XbQVZdUDO4_Rllts9TEAaBlKef9kMIyLhKM9fPqa0WRWyX30ds1OXEnFfvZ3Cv1uoQf9OJq3nReVAiGiIlDxFJT/s675/Jack%20Posobiec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="675" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Esb9Q_YlqRtRFPSw7fYKsle_bPNHdzSwWZg6yPvl18FjkUHkNl99tyMkDM2UaB9PCEqe5X5pzKBVehK91OeSQohBgNzJJZJXqwMw3XbQVZdUDO4_Rllts9TEAaBlKef9kMIyLhKM9fPqa0WRWyX30ds1OXEnFfvZ3Cv1uoQf9OJq3nReVAiGiIlDxFJT/w320-h320/Jack%20Posobiec.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First, I want to highlight the words of right-wing
activist Jack Posobiec who in “his welcome speech at this year’s conference of
the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC,) stated: “Welcome to the
end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the
way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it
with this right here.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He then held up a cross necklace and continued: “After we burn
that swamp to the ground, we will establish the new American republic on its
ashes, and our first order of business will be righteous retribution for those
who betrayed America.”<a name="_ednref2" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn2"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref2;"><span style="color: #333333;">[2]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref2;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref2;"></span> This
is fascism on steroids and yet it got little media coverage and when it did it
was dismissed as a kind of rogue extremism. In actuality, it simply echoes a
central ideology of MAGA Republicans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAhfpjW3RbnRqMOc4x-_xm-mdZ0qRQp3kfc37rUnlFlzBdbmt1sJmOJhlqFhjkNspNTS1dygmr7VFYhG5EWHBUZjXqZ2D4lyhxEmAz9eAzRj3su27SKRMUAD_LhhY7XXrR-Z43xBw1Dhmak_wNsiN1A-u9FoTK_kicX9W9dE3qkkBgBtOaYtEKn_PjHZJ/s4222/Mark%20Robinson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2815" data-original-width="4222" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAhfpjW3RbnRqMOc4x-_xm-mdZ0qRQp3kfc37rUnlFlzBdbmt1sJmOJhlqFhjkNspNTS1dygmr7VFYhG5EWHBUZjXqZ2D4lyhxEmAz9eAzRj3su27SKRMUAD_LhhY7XXrR-Z43xBw1Dhmak_wNsiN1A-u9FoTK_kicX9W9dE3qkkBgBtOaYtEKn_PjHZJ/s320/Mark%20Robinson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another example of how the embers of fascist
politics have turned into a firestorm of authoritarian rhetoric and is
downplayed or ignored in the mainstream media is visible in the ongoing
rhetoric of the ignorant buffoon Mark Robinson who is running for the
governorship of North Carolina. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the mainstream media, despite his extremist rhetoric, he is
treated as a normal candidate even though he has referred to transgender and
homosexual people as maggots and filth, stating that they “are equivalent to
what the cows leave behind”<a name="_ednref3" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn3"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref3;"><span style="color: #333333;">[3]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref3;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref3;"></span> After
a mass shooter in 2016 murdered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando,
Florida, Robinson posted on Facebook “I would pray for the souls of all those
killed…However, homosexuality is STILL an abominable sin and I WILL NOT join in
celebrating gay pride.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He has stated that he wished for the days when women could not
vote and called mass shootings “karma” for abortion. He has said that
Christians must take control of public schools because children are being
abused by teachers who are telling children “about transgenderism,
homosexuality, and any of that filth.”<a name="_ednref4" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn4"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref4;"><span style="color: #333333;">[4]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref4;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref4;"></span> Robinson’s
remarks make clear that willful ignorance is a precondition for fascist
politics, and that a culture of cruelty and hate has become a normalized tool
of political opportunism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcXJ1FMVanl6ip9nBK9QxarxlxurTmSb1Nt4zvhzuC0Mn4IHREW9bo6bFntL0jOttq__4YiVquI8wZH-7g8mMKugp72aH70qlF4noVrB8DKuSwqDmEwWkGjmfuysU7rmJCiu-_8NDw8076KT6jLQ7UKZGNmxPVhsOjf9kAaRtJwKUdLDUrTvjC70GRH_D/s750/Bruce%20Gilley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcXJ1FMVanl6ip9nBK9QxarxlxurTmSb1Nt4zvhzuC0Mn4IHREW9bo6bFntL0jOttq__4YiVquI8wZH-7g8mMKugp72aH70qlF4noVrB8DKuSwqDmEwWkGjmfuysU7rmJCiu-_8NDw8076KT6jLQ7UKZGNmxPVhsOjf9kAaRtJwKUdLDUrTvjC70GRH_D/s320/Bruce%20Gilley.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The third example draws upon the current
authoritarian assault on higher education which is far worse than anything that
could have been imagined with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. In light
of this assault, how could the media largely ignore New College in Florida
hiring Bruce Gilley, who has authored a book called <em style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The Case for Colonialism</em>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beyond the racist affirmation in book form supporting the
genocidal legacy of colonialism, he has also stated publicly that “the
transgender flag [is] a symbol of narcissistic sexual reductionism and the
mutilation of children,” and that “virtually every indigenous leader in Canada
is an identity fraud.” <a name="_ednref5" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn5"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref5;"><span style="color: #333333;">[5]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref5;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref5;"></span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Without any critical understanding of history, he has endorsed a
video by the Blackwater mercenary company founder Erik Prince calling for
putting “the imperial hat back on” to govern “pretty much all of Africa.”<a name="_ednref6" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn6"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref6;"><span style="color: #333333;">[6]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref6;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref6;"></span> There
is more at work here than the hiring of a far-right colonialist parading as a
professor, there is a clarion call alerting to how higher education is being
transformed into indoctrination centers and rabid disimagination machines.
James Baldwin was certainly right in issuing the stern warning in No Name
in the Street that “Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy
justice can have.”<a name="_ednref7" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn7"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref7;"><span style="color: #333333;">[7]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref7;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref7;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These events closely resemble Bergman’s notion of “The Serpent’s
Egg,” an instructive metaphor for illuminating the conditions that gave rise to
fascism. As Bergman noted in a previous era, the abyss of fascism “looms
menacingly.” Bergman’s words resonate with a fascist politics that now draws on
the culture of everyday life and in doing so spreads its ideologies, values,
social relations, and culture of cruelty in institutions, practices, policies,
and experiences of domination that take on the hue of being commonplace,
wrapped in the discourse of freedom, victimhood, gated mentalities and gated
borders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht, “the
serpent’s egg” suggests that beneath seemingly democratic societies lie dark,
dangerous and volatile forces waiting to be unleashed by the dynamics of
capitalism. For Brecht, no one can tell the truth about fascism without
speaking out against the horrors of capitalism. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The horrors of fascism lurk in the shadows of everyday life, and
as Brecht observes “If anyone wishes to describe Fascism and war, great
disasters which are not natural catastrophes, he must do so in terms of a
practical truth. He must… write the truth about evil conditions, one must
write it so that its avertible causes can be identified. If the preventable
causes can be identified, the evil conditions can be fought.”<a name="_ednref8" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_edn8"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref8;"><span style="color: #333333;">[8]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref8;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ednref8;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing about the truth must begin by recognizing
how the snake of fascism lays its eggs—the serpent’s eggs, which are often
hatched in the limelight of the spectacularized image of ocular politics where
their impending danger is overlooked. The challenge is to acknowledge how
the seeds of fascism emerge in the shadows of everyday speech, practices, and
social relations. The microaggressions of fascism are too often treated as if
they reside solely in the theatricality of the overly dramatic, the exaggerated
spectacle, or in the realm of self-serving attention-gripping mass hysteria. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is overlooked is the power of everyday practices in their
overly stylized and calculating shock value, which slowly become normalized and
accelerated, legitimized and expanded making the efficacy of the
unspeakable a core element of everyday life. What is often
dismissed as a minor, public, spectacle morphs into the horror of absolute evil
in a world led by barbarians. In the current historical period, the eggs of the
serpent are about to hatch keeping alive both its threat to end democracy,
renew the legacy of colonialism, and once again let loose the politics of
disposability, elimination, and death. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Susan Sontag was right in her insistence on the need “to detect
fascist longings in our midst.” Fascism now mobilizes people’s feelings
in order to win them over either to the arena of hate and bigotry or to
depoliticize them. Once we lose sight of how the dynamics of power hide in the
language of the everyday. Fascism will arrive not with a thunderous bang but
with the waving of the flag and the stench of death. The serpent’s egg will
have hatched, and the lights will go out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn1" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref1"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn1;"><span style="color: #333333;">[1]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn1;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn1;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> Paul Gilroy, “The 2019 Holberg Lecture, by
Laureate Paul Gilroy: Never Again: refusing race and salvaging the human,”
Holbergprisen, [November 11, 2019]. Online: <a href="https://holbergprisen.no/en/news/holberg-prize/2019-holberg-lecture-laureate-paul-gilroy" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #333333;">https://holbergprisen.no/en/news/holberg-prize/2019-holberg-lecture-laureate-paul-gilroy</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn2" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref2"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn2;"><span style="color: #333333;">[2]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn2;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn2;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> Ben Goggin, “Calls to ‘fight’ and echoes of
Jan. 6 embraced by CPAC attendees,” <em style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;">NBC News</em> (February 23, 2024). Online: <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/jack-posobiec-jan-6-2024-cpac-rcna140225" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #333333;">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/jack-posobiec-jan-6-2024-cpac-rcna140225</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn3" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref3"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn3;"><span style="color: #333333;">[3]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn3;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn3;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> Kira Lerner, “Hitler-quoting candidate wins
North Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary,” <em style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The Guardian</em> (March 6, 2024). Online:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/05/mark-robinson-north-carolina<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn4" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref4"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn4;"><span style="color: #333333;">[4]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn4;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn4;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> See: Pic.twitter.com/aXjCPFKTs0<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn5" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref5"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn5;"><span style="color: #333333;">[5]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn5;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn5;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> Ryan Quinn, “New College of Florida Hires
Professor Who Champions Colonialism,” <em style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Inside Higher Education</em> (March 8, 2024). <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2024/03/08/new-college-florida-hires-scholar-who-defends" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #333333;">https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2024/03/08/new-college-florida-hires-scholar-who-defends</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn6" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref6"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn6;"><span style="color: #333333;">[6]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn6;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn6;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> Ibid. Ryan Quinn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn7" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref7"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn7;"><span style="color: #333333;">[7]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn7;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn7;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> Toni Morrison, ed. James Baldwin, Collected
Essays: <em style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;">No Name in the Street</em> (New York: Library of
America, 1998), p. 437.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name="_edn8" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a><a href="applewebdata://71C74837-509C-4FFD-B30B-15AEC5ABD498#_ednref8"><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn8;"><span style="color: #333333;">[8]</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn8;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _edn8;"></span><span style="color: #111111;"> Bertol Brecht, “Writing the Truth-Five
difficulties,” <em style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Revolutionary Socialism.com</em> (March 2015, 1935).
Online: <a href="https://revolutionary-socialism.com/en/writing-the-truth-five-difficulties/" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #333333;">https://revolutionary-socialism.com/en/writing-the-truth-five-difficulties/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="authordescription" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0in; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><i><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></i></strong></p>
<p class="authordescription" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><i><span style="color: #111111;">Henry
A. Giroux</span></i></strong><em><span style="color: #111111;"> currently holds the McMaster University Chair
for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies
Department and is the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy.
His most recent books are <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158367344X/counterpunchmaga" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #dd0000;">America’s
Education Deficit and the War on Youth</span></a> (Monthly Review Press,
2013), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1608463346/counterpunchmaga" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #dd0000;">Neoliberalism’s
War on Higher Education</span></a> (Haymarket Press, 2014), <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/113871903X/counterpunchmaga" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;">The
Public in Peril: Trump and the Menace of American</span><span style="color: #111111;"> </span><span style="color: #111111;">Authoritarianism</span><span style="color: #dd0000;"> </span></a>(Routledge, 2018), and the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0872867536/counterpunchmaga" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #111111;">American
Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism</span></a> (City Lights, 2018),
On Critical Pedagogy, 2nd edition (Bloomsbury), and Race, Politics, and
Pandemic Pedagogy: Education in a Time of Crisis (Bloomsbury 2021). His website
is www. <a href="http://henryagiroux.com/" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #dd0000;">henryagiroux.com</span></a>.</span></em><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-55170716501000541392024-03-14T10:15:00.003-05:002024-03-14T10:34:56.138-05:00Biden and Trump Rematch<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PgCiRH_SJKjzRFCzhgMsKISIPpw_G6Loxt9VPHCmLbla_rLQTkWGxPdeowwwom32VZeIiIJ2DPvh01-Pf2W1dy1hwBom-YAnFj_PMxilNcPiTEEbcf4cOa6BmDqZMAZLIVjV8vFO4Tb-lNdmYxcJ3wli-3V0G02p0XVPb8RUpyKQY9zyMqExikcCHqm-/s1280/Biden%20v.%20Trump.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PgCiRH_SJKjzRFCzhgMsKISIPpw_G6Loxt9VPHCmLbla_rLQTkWGxPdeowwwom32VZeIiIJ2DPvh01-Pf2W1dy1hwBom-YAnFj_PMxilNcPiTEEbcf4cOa6BmDqZMAZLIVjV8vFO4Tb-lNdmYxcJ3wli-3V0G02p0XVPb8RUpyKQY9zyMqExikcCHqm-/w400-h225/Biden%20v.%20Trump.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">primary contests, we appear headed toward a
Biden-Trump rematch in 2024. But this year’s election is an entirely different
kettle of fish than that of 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
2020 there were plenty of red flags around Trump’s plans for a second term, but
it was not until after it was clear he had lost the election that he gave up
all pretense of normal presidential behavior. Beginning the night of the
election, he tried to overturn that election and to install himself as
president, ignoring the will of the voters, who had chosen Joe Biden. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">His
attack on the fundamental principle of democracy ended the tradition of the
peaceful transfer of power established in 1797 when our first president, George
Washington, deliberately walked behind his successor, John Adams, after Adams
was sworn into office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Trump
then refused to step aside for his successor as all of his predecessors had
done, and has continued to push the Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election
was stolen. His loyalists in the states have embraced that lie, undermining
faith in our electoral system, although they have never produced any evidence
for their claims of voter fraud. (Remember the Cyber Ninjas who handled the
election “audit” in Arizona? The company went out of business in
2022.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Then,
a year after he left office, news broke that Trump had compromised the
country’s national security by retaining highly classified documents and
storing them in unsecured boxes at Mar-a-Lago. When the federal government
tried to recover them, he hid them from officials. In </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT345_com_zimbra_date" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">June 2023</span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> a grand jury in Miami indicted Trump on 37
felony counts related to that theft. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Trump
is not the same as he was in 2020, and in the past three years he has
transformed the Republican Party into a vehicle for Christian
nationalism. </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
2016 the Republican Party was still dominated by leaders who promoted
supply-side economics. They were determined to use the government to cut taxes
and regulations to concentrate money and power among a few individuals, who
would, theoretically, use that money and power to invest in the economy far
more efficiently than they could if the government intervened. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Before 2016 that
Reaganesque party had stayed in office thanks to the votes of a base interested
in advancing patriarchal, racist, and religious values. </span><span style="color: #363737;">But
Trump flipped the power structure in the party, giving control to the
reactionary base. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #363737;"><b>In the years since 2020, the Republican Party has become
openly opposed to democracy, embracing the Christian nationalism of leaders
like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who maintains that the tenets of democracy weaken
a nation by giving immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and women
the same rights as heterosexual, native-born white men. </b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rather
than calling for a small federal government that stays out of the way of market
forces, as Republicans have advocated since 1980, the new Trump Party calls for
a strong government that enforces religious rules and bans abortion; books;
diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; and so on.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 2022, thanks to the
three extremists Trump put on the Supreme Court, the government ceased to
recognize a constitutional right that Americans had enjoyed since the
1973 <em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Roe
v. Wade</span></em> decision: the right to abortion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Last
week, Trump formally took over the apparatus of the Republican Party,
installing loyalists—including his daughter-in-law—at the head of the
Republican National Committee (RNC) and purging the organization of all but his
own people. Indicating its priorities, the RNC has hired Trump lawyer Christina
Bobb, former correspondent at the right-wing media outlet One American News
Network and promoter of the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, as senior
counsel for election integrity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
Congress, far-right Trump supporters are paralyzing the House of
Representatives. The Republicans took power after the midterm elections of 2022
and have run one of the least effective congresses in history. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Far-right
members have refused to agree to anything that didn’t meet their extremist
positions, while first Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and then Speaker Mike
Johnson (R-LA) refused to reach out to Democrats to pass legislation except for
must-pass laws like appropriations, when Democrats provide the majority of the
votes that keep the government functioning. </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
result has been a Congress that can get virtually nothing done and instead has
focused on investigations of administration officials—including the
president—which have failed spectacularly. Republican members who actually want
to pass laws are either leaving or declining to run for reelection. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
conference has become so toxic that fewer than 100 members agreed to attend
their annual retreat that began </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT346_com_zimbra_date" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">today</span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.
"I'd rather sit down with Hannibal Lecter and eat my own liver," a
Republican member of Congress told Juliegrace Brufke of <em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Axios</span></em>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Meanwhile,
Trump has promised that if he returns to office, he will purge the nonpartisan
civil service we have had since 1883, replacing career employees with his own
loyalists. He has called for weaponizing the Department of Justice and the
Department of Defense, and his advisors say he will round up and put into camps
10 million people currently living in the U.S., not just undocumented
immigrants and asylum seekers but also those with birthright citizenship,
tossing away a right that has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1868.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Internationally,
he has aligned with dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor
Orbán and has threatened to abandon the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), a security pact that has protected the U.S. and like-minded nations
since 1949. </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If
Trump has descended into authoritarianism since 2020, Biden has also changed.
For all his many decades of public service, it was unclear in 2020 what he
could actually accomplish as president, especially since Senate majority leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had weaponized the filibuster to stop Congress from
passing anything on the Democrats’ wish list. But on </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT347_com_zimbra_date" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">January 5</span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, 2021, in a special election, Georgia voters
elected Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and the Democrats took
control of the Senate as well as of the House. </span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>In
Biden’s first two years</b>—<b>with the help of then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA), who managed a squeaky-small House majority—Biden, Vice President Kamala
Harris, the Democratic majority, and on occasion, a few Republicans set out to
demonstrate that the government could work for ordinary Americans. </b></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>They passed
a series of laws that rivaled President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society
of the 1960s: </b></span><span style="color: #363737;">The
$1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan rebuilt the economy after the worst of the
coronavirus pandemic; the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
(also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act) is rebuilding the nation’s
roads and bridges; the $280 billion Chips and Science Act invests in
semiconductor manufacture and scientific research; the $739 billion Inflation
Reduction Act enables the government to negotiate drug prices with
pharmaceutical companies and invests in programs to combat climate change.
Projects funded by these measures are so popular that Republicans who voted
against them are trying to claim credit. </span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Biden,
Harris, and the Democrats have diversified the government service, defended
abortion rights, reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, relieved debt by
enforcing the terms of student loans, passed a gun safety law, and reinforced
NATO.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They
set out to overturn supply-side economics, restoring the system on which the
nation had been based between 1933 and 1981, in which the government regulated
business, maintained a basic social safety net, promoted infrastructure, and
protected civil rights. The result was the strongest economic recovery from the
pandemic of any country in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Now,
the general election truly begins, and the contrast could not be clearer,”
Harris wrote after Biden secured the nomination. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Donald Trump is a threat to
our democracy and our fundamental freedoms. He is proud of his role in
overturning <em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Roe</span></em>,
and has talked openly about plans for a nationwide abortion ban. </span><span style="color: #363737;">He
routinely praises authoritarian leaders and has himself vowed to be a dictator
on Day One. Just this week, he said that cuts to Social Security and Medicare
would be on the table if he receives a second term. Each of these stances ought
to be considered disqualifying by itself; taken together, they reveal the
former President to be an existential danger to our country.</span></b></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“With
his State of the Union speech last week, President Biden passionately presented
our alternative vision. We will reduce costs for families, make housing more
affordable, and raise the minimum wage. We will restore <em><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Roe</span></em>,
protect voting rights, and finally address our gun violence epidemic. The
American people overwhelmingly support this agenda over Donald Trump’s extreme
ideas, and that will propel our campaign in the months ahead.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It
appears that Biden and Trump will square off again in 2024 as they did in 2020,
but the election is not a replay of four years ago. Both candidates are now
known quantities, and they have clearly laid out very different plans for
America’s future. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">—Heather
Cox Richardson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>Notes:</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT348_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/dc7b6389-81f0-4dcc-9884-5e3fc0e09ad6?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/cyber-ninjas-company-led-arizona-gop-election-audit-shutting-down-n1287145</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT349_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/7e4eb231-612b-47c2-ab4d-99625879dc96?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/12/politics/rnc-trump-takeover-lawyers-election/index.html</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT350_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/092d0a63-9fc9-4255-b154-f6d112d19519?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">https://apnews.com/article/trump-documents-investigation-timeline-087f0c9a8368bb983a16b67dd31dcd4c</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT351_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/acdcf649-3730-4256-bfc5-9a005d8705bd?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-classified-documents-indictment-c15a5f36e4e83417805718d81a035441</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT352_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/b111afc9-b9f8-4aae-ba53-6d808b8c2d41?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">https://www.axios.com/2024/03/12/house-republican-retreat-infighting</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Twitter
(X):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT354_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/d50f8e10-240b-4f2f-857c-52a1fc1a3cec?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">Acyn/status/1768084013799932213</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT355_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/23812ee6-1c90-4230-ad2a-9966d7defb09?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">david_darmofal/status/1767735412158570604/photo/2</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT356_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: darkblue; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/2851b2f0-deae-42fc-8b65-4bcdbc0bd76f?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #363737;">Victorshi2020/status/1767965023115333973</span></a></span></span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #363737; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-51606940908125093762024-03-13T07:44:00.000-05:002024-03-13T07:44:11.541-05:00Alley Cats<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz5vIv-fjuzizeghSCiimOGMlD5mFxiDO7guQFXkn01JFQCkKEwGN5bwmGpvQ679LoogmUoa0jq0EVYbiY-4yHM7AKmjmB6cVuXseBGhUBSlTXgvMnrX6tsCgn4e-gaOohvhZPaD3JYyxEiH4hZ7fyDytJWSTAhDe6u2L-kB3dRwJM35VBLyWMzs0p8Rb/s650/alley%20cats.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="650" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz5vIv-fjuzizeghSCiimOGMlD5mFxiDO7guQFXkn01JFQCkKEwGN5bwmGpvQ679LoogmUoa0jq0EVYbiY-4yHM7AKmjmB6cVuXseBGhUBSlTXgvMnrX6tsCgn4e-gaOohvhZPaD3JYyxEiH4hZ7fyDytJWSTAhDe6u2L-kB3dRwJM35VBLyWMzs0p8Rb/w400-h246/alley%20cats.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alley Cat
Allies is compelled to address the shockingly biased and dangerously
misinformed portrayal of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), community cats, and the
people who protect them in the article ‘How the ‘No Kill” Movement Betrays Its
Name’ published in The New Yorker.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
“article,” which should be labeled an opinion piece, uses debunked and
antiquated studies to advocate for lethal control of cats outdoors, all while
desperately downplaying the only humane and effective
approach—Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)—and condescending to or downright insulting
the people who do the real legwork to benefit cats and communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writer
Jonathan Franzen purports various cynical, imagined reasons why our movement
calls unowned cats who live outdoors “community cats.” We’re here to clear the
air: Community cats, who live and thrive in their natural outdoor homes among
us, are called such to acknowledge their thousands of years of history as
members of our communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Community
cats are bonded to their outdoor homes and to their feline families, and they
are not generally candidates for adoption. TNR acknowledges their nature, their
biology, and their inherent value as beings deserving of respect and protection
by allowing these cats to continue their lives in familiar surroundings while
ensuring their population stabilizes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TNR is the
ONLY evidence-based, humane, and effective approach to cats outdoors. Spaying
or neutering means fewer kittens born outdoors and the reduction of behaviors
associated with mating—including yowling, spraying, fighting and roaming. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Additionally, vaccinations provided during TNR improve the cats’ health and
address community health concerns—though it’s critical to note that cats are
extremely unlikely to spread rabies, toxoplasmosis, or any other diseases. The success of community TNR programs is studied and documented.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TNR is also
the primary way community cats with other medical issues receive the care they
need— despite Franzen hammering in the idea that all cats are suffering
outdoors (there’s a sinister motive for this, as we’ll describe later),
community cats are generally healthy and in good condition and live as long and
fulfilling of lives as indoor cats.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Developing
objective, science-first best practices aimed at humane care for animals,
building peaceful communities, and protecting all species should be the top
priority in our modern world. That is why Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) has become
mainstream practice. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beyond saving cats’ lives, TNR is sound public policy that
reduces calls to animal control, reduces the number of cats entering shelters,
and reduces taxpayer expense, all while meeting the demands of the public for
effective, meaningful, AND lifesaving action for cats in their communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Franzen
writes about TNR as under-resourced in far too many communities. The logical
solution would be for local governments to devote more resources to TNR to
improve its reach and efficacy rather than continue to waste money on
ineffective lethal schemes. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Franzen’s conclusion, though, is that lack of
resources means TNR will never work. He believes cats should be killed—and his
portrayal of cats as constantly suffering outdoors is meant to justify lethal
schemes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TNR
opponents’ proposed “alternatives” to TNR come down to rounding up and killing
cats over and over and over again. However, trapping cats and “euthanizing”
them in shelters is not some untested idea; it was the status quo for decades
and failed miserably due to the <span class="object"><a href="https://www.alleycat.org/resources/the-truth-about-the-vacuum-effect/" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT678_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><b><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Vacuum Effect</span></b></span></a></span>—a
phenomenon in which other cats move in to take advantage of the resources that
sustained the colony that was removed. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alley Cat Allies launched TNR into the
mainstream against a backdrop of endless, futile, and cruel catch and kill
cycles in the United States, and we were successful because communities
recognized the need for change. They saw that compassionate and humane
approaches worked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Franzen, like
many in the anti-TNR crowd, cites the same <span class="object"><a href="https://www.alleycat.org/resources/junk-science-gets-cats-killed/" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT679_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><b><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">debunked junk “science”</span></b></span></a></span> that
keeps coming back to haunt us within so-called “factual” articles. That
“science” is an exercise in Olympic gymnast-level contortion to fit the
findings of older studies into a pre-determined conclusion that cats are a
major threat to birds and other wildlife species.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cats have an
important place in ecosystems, and whenever they are removed in large numbers,
the consequences are dire—not just for the cats but for local wildlife. The
reality is cats are not a major threat to wildlife species, endangered or
otherwise, and the “science” that claims such is heavily flawed and funded by
fringe interests and biased parties. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As we have seen time and time again, catch
and kill leads to nothing but an endless cycle of expensive and morally
bankrupt slaughter that does not benefit cats, community, or wildlife.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But, on a
positive note, the reality is also that we can protect both cats and wildlife.
The interests are not mutually exclusive. By advocating for stronger TNR
programs backed by local governments AND policies that curb human-led
activities that are the true threats to wildlife—like habitat destruction and
pollution—we improve the lives of cats, wildlife, and us all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like all
worthwhile goals, communitywide effort is the key to humane and effective
programs and policies. Rather than condescending and stereotyping cat
caregivers, as Franzen does repeatedly in his article, Alley Cat Allies
supports them with humane education on best practices for TNR and community cat
care. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rather than give community leaders an excuse to give up on humane
programs and utilize taxpayer dollars on an endless cycle of killing cats, we
push them to work WITH members of their communities and allot funds to what
their people believe in—which overwhelmingly is non-lethal approaches.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s time for
communities, local governments, and media outlets like The New Yorker to stop
wasting words, space, money, and time on calls to backtrack to the dark ages of
killing cats and kittens endlessly. TNR is the only way forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Alley Cat Allies: </span><a href="https://www.alleycat.org/"><span style="color: #0b5394;">https://www.alleycat.org/</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The <span class="object"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6367225/#:~:text=In%20conclusion%2C%20a%20trap%2Dneuter,population%20and%20decreased%20retrovirus%20prevalence." style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT673_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><b><span style="text-decoration-line: none;">success</span></b></span></a> </span>of <span class="object"><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/5/77" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT674_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><b><span style="text-decoration-line: none;">community</span></b></span></a></span> <span class="object"><a href="https://peerj.com/articles/646/" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT675_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><b><span style="text-decoration-line: none;">TNR programs</span></b></span></a></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">is </span><span class="object" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/4/55" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT676_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><b><span style="text-decoration-line: none;">studied</span></b></span></a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><span class="object" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/11/2089" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT677_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><b><span style="text-decoration-line: none;">documented</span></b></span></a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-54401640946452916902024-03-11T07:59:00.004-05:002024-03-11T13:51:44.798-05:0013 Years of Blogging<p><span style="text-align: center;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe1suPvmle-TZDnI8igT4KBWy5_u3P6ivQJAnTO5BWkCg25gt_Je6yBpx4Qx3sUk3GzH0YNqTaMkI3iZMTghw_zx_QiL0NP677t9CUkIKqSabHYmok5zDROmK6iDNxU2PYw2vsRPP0iaoPJ9ZuZxXcBALndogyaVdfoZaTAxapJsG1bKdX1c8Dv7ZDcyog/s1646/Thank%20you%204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1646" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe1suPvmle-TZDnI8igT4KBWy5_u3P6ivQJAnTO5BWkCg25gt_Je6yBpx4Qx3sUk3GzH0YNqTaMkI3iZMTghw_zx_QiL0NP677t9CUkIKqSabHYmok5zDROmK6iDNxU2PYw2vsRPP0iaoPJ9ZuZxXcBALndogyaVdfoZaTAxapJsG1bKdX1c8Dv7ZDcyog/w400-h280/Thank%20you%204.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">2,199,000 Views</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>(from the U.S., France, U.K., Singapore, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Germany, Sweden...)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">3,140 Posts</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">4,750 Days <i>(an average of 463 views each day)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>677 Weeks </span><i>(an average of 3,248 views each week)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>156 Months </span><i>(an average of 14,096 views each month)</i></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-69948783578665423352024-03-09T08:57:00.000-06:002024-03-09T08:57:39.322-06:00One Big Thing Biden’s SOTU Got Right <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGKK0bX97KRwFn8d8Bi6OIunP3ORdbLrsKegKn8eTm4qhkECmF9tW8KS23D04bMUoB_cUR32TNCJ8awAaw3tEaJIp8A0rdIIiyuTsci41j8hE2ymsmR_Qk0MTLdrME2yK7F8ynOFJ7QRtaMOpo3L9CmZT9SjtaNc6ljxgBw7HkX3-AEpw4IuvCmJwuAms/s150/Biden%2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="150" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGKK0bX97KRwFn8d8Bi6OIunP3ORdbLrsKegKn8eTm4qhkECmF9tW8KS23D04bMUoB_cUR32TNCJ8awAaw3tEaJIp8A0rdIIiyuTsci41j8hE2ymsmR_Qk0MTLdrME2yK7F8ynOFJ7QRtaMOpo3L9CmZT9SjtaNc6ljxgBw7HkX3-AEpw4IuvCmJwuAms/w320-h320/Biden%2012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During last Thursday
night’s State of the Union address, <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden"><span style="color: black;">President Joe Biden</span></a> issued an unmistakable
warning about the threat <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump"><span style="color: black;">Donald Trump</span></a> poses to American democracy.
The speech also implicitly made a more subtle point about democracy: that
defending it can require uncomfortably blunt talk.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of democracy’s
core premises is that elections are not like armed conflict, where either you
win or you die. Since all parties accept the basic rules of the game, like
competitive elections and free speech, the stakes of elections are not
existential. Political opponents are less enemies than rivals; disagreement
isn’t disaster.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Authoritarian
populists like Donald Trump win by attacking this foundational democratic norm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They demonize their
opponents, arguing repeatedly that their opponents are not rivals but rather
monsters bent on the country’s destruction. They claim that the system is in
the enemy’s corrupt hands and not to be trusted, that their faction and our
leader deserve absolute power (“<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/trump-rnc-speech-alone-fix-it/492557/"><span style="color: black;">I alone can fix it</span></a>,” as Trump said in 2016). The
nefarious plans of the domestic enemy must be resisted by any means necessary,
even ones that might seem extreme.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We fight like
hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country
anymore,” Trump said, infamously, in his <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966396848/read-trumps-jan-6-speech-a-key-part-of-impeachment-trial"><span style="color: black;">speech on the morning of the January 6 attack</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those committed
to democracy, this kind of radical attack might seem to pose a dilemma. If you
ignore or downplay your opponents’ rhetoric, you fail to alert the public to
the danger. But if you correctly point out that it threatens democracy, you risk
coming across as a hypocrite: demonizing your opponents in the same way they’re
demonizing you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But this supposed
dilemma is no dilemma at all.<strong> </strong>The
reason is deceptively simple: There is no hypocrisy in defending truth against
lies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Trump says
the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election"><span style="color: black;">2020 election</span></a> was stolen, he is lying to
create a pretext to overthrow a legitimate election. When Biden calls Trump’s
behavior a threat to democracy, warning that the former president seeks “to
bury the truth of January 6,” he is telling the truth about Trump’s lies and
the dangers they pose to American democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fail to appreciate
this distinction and you risk falling into what I call the “norms trap:”
prioritizing the appearance of respecting democracy’s principles over acting in
those principles’ defense.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the State of the
Union, Biden recognized this trap and avoided it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When he warned of
the ongoing threat to American democracy, saying, “My predecessor and some of
you here seek to bury the truth of January 6th,” he did indeed sound an
unusually partisan note for the typically staid affair. This might seem like a
violation of democratic norms, and some <a href="https://twitter.com/marcthiessen/status/1765931302140723376"><span style="color: black;">conservatives</span></a> attempted to <a href="https://twitter.com/bdomenech/status/1765934660909928710"><span style="color: black;">cast</span></a> it as such. This was the theme
of <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-sotu-blasted-nakedly-partisan-campaign-speech-utter-disgrace?intcmp=tw_fnc"><span style="color: black;">one of Fox News’ top stories after the speech</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is hard to
take seriously as a good faith objection, especially given <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/2/5/21123597/rush-limbaugh-medal-of-freedom-trump-racist-sexist"><span style="color: black;">Trump’s State of the Union track record</span></a>. As a
rhetorical tactic, though, it’s a powerful distraction: an attempt to shift
focus away from the substance of Biden’s warning about the rising threat to
democracy, onto a disingenuous debate over whether Biden himself is behaving
undemocratically.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, it’s rare for
a president to in essence campaign during the State of the Union. But it’s also
unusual for the president’s opponent to be someone who has a stated desire to
be a “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX0iAmz9iLM"><span style="color: black;">dictator on day one</span></a>,” with<a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/92714/american-autocracy-threat-tracker/"><span style="color: black;"> a host of policies</span></a> that could bring
that vision frighteningly close to fruition. The State of the Union is supposed
to highlight grave national concerns; this is clearly one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is not to say
that Biden can do or say whatever he wants to fight Trump. He should not break
the law or take actions that meaningfully weaken American democracy (which
Democrats are <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/14/18140773/new-jersey-democrats-gerrymandering-2018"><span style="color: black;">entirely capable of doing</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But in a world
where American democracy is facing an unprecedented threat from one of two
major political parties, it’s reasonable to risk a too-partisan speech in order
to safeguard it. It’s good that Biden recognized this and devoted a good chunk
of the State of the Union to telling the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: black;">Zack Beauchamp
is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he covers challenges to democracy in
the United States and abroad, right-wing populism, and the world of ideas. He
has received funding awards from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to
report on democratic decline in Israel and Hungary in the field, and was the
longtime host of Worldly, Vox’s weekly podcast on foreign policy and
international affairs. He has appeared on a wide range of television and radio
networks, including MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, BBC, CBC, ABC (Australia), and Al
Jazeera.</span></em><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: black;">Before coming
to Vox, he edited TP Ideas, a section of ThinkProgress devoted to the ideas
shaping our political world. He has a master’s degree in international
relations from the London School of Economics and grew up in Washington, DC,
where he currently lives with his wife, two children, and (rescue) dogs.</span></em><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=zack@vox.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">MAILTO:ZACK@VOX.COM</span></a> <a href="http://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp"><span style="color: black;">TWITTER</span></a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/zack-beauchamp/rss"><span style="color: black;">RSS</span></a></span></em><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-85657855036721876972024-03-08T07:23:00.003-06:002024-03-08T08:35:16.156-06:00President Biden, March 7, 2024<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAEfRbEqyCtjCa4o7CeB_IiLg_GZ5qP2JywJsS3WYWWhvfXoKgpEPJOim-UArI-SZXiuA_SoFf-wkpiwTGDKRhqkY25gNTpUGqBhrrlw5C_JFG0PDVSC1pI2_owNPsQiKLH_geUzUAuBqyOOZCqkme5MRH8B6SfDQkQSWr0DMr7m4Ua0_iTFpsw1UQfyi/s1110/Biden%2011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1110" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAEfRbEqyCtjCa4o7CeB_IiLg_GZ5qP2JywJsS3WYWWhvfXoKgpEPJOim-UArI-SZXiuA_SoFf-wkpiwTGDKRhqkY25gNTpUGqBhrrlw5C_JFG0PDVSC1pI2_owNPsQiKLH_geUzUAuBqyOOZCqkme5MRH8B6SfDQkQSWr0DMr7m4Ua0_iTFpsw1UQfyi/w400-h266/Biden%2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/?itid=lk_inline_manual_1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">President Biden</span></a> delivered
an aggressive State of the Union speech Thursday night in which he drew sharp
contrasts with former president <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/?itid=lk_inline_manual_1" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: 0.0625em rgb(42, 42, 42); text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Donald Trump</span></a> and Republicans in Congress.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Biden
made reference to “my predecessor” more than a dozen times and challenged GOP
lawmakers over their resistance to his first-term agenda. As the speech went
on, he increasingly engaged with angry outbursts from the audience.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span><i>It was a speech befitting the political moment, as Biden
faces an expected rematch against Trump and tries to push his agenda through a
polarized Congress. </i></span></span><i>While Republicans found multiple occasions to jeer,
Democrats broke out in chants of “Four more years!” more than once.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here were six highlights:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in; mso-outline-level: 3;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘My predecessor’<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Within
the first few minutes of the speech, Biden swiped at Trump — and did not let up.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Biden knocked Trump over topics including his coziness
with Russia, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/january-6-capitol-riot/?itid=lk_inline_manual_11" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: 0.0625em rgb(42, 42, 42); text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Jan. 6</span></a>, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and
his leadership during the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_11" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: 0.0625em rgb(42, 42, 42); text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">coronavirus</span></a> pandemic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After
describing the economic and societal anguish brought by the pandemic, Biden
said his predecessor “failed the most basic” presidential duty: “the duty to
care.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That
drew an angry outburst from the audience as someone yelled out, “Liar!” House
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) shook his head.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Abortion rights<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Biden wasted little time addressing a top issue for
Democrats in the November election: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/abortion/?itid=lk_inline_manual_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: 0.0625em rgb(42, 42, 42); text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">abortion</span></a> rights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Biden
criticized Trump for bragging about appointing the Supreme Court justices who
in 2022 helped overturn <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Roe v.
Wade </i>and end the constitutional right to an abortion. And with some of
the justices in the audience, Biden warned that the decision has unleashed a
political storm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“With all due respect, justices, women are not without
electoral or political power,” Biden said. “You’re about to realize just how
much.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Biden
also seized on the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are
children, which has disrupted fertility care in the state. Democrats have
called it the latest consequence of Republicans’ long campaign against abortion
rights and reproductive care. Biden challenged the GOP to “guarantee” IVF
protections “nationwide.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Looking
to November, Biden also accused Trump of wanting a national abortion ban, a
topic the former president has ducked as he prepares for </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">the
general election. “My god, what other freedoms would you take away?” Biden said.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Mixing it up with congressional Republicans<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">While Biden repeatedly criticized Trump, he also did
not hesitate to mix it up with the Republican lawmakers in the room.</span><span style="color: black;"> Discussing
Jan. 6 early in the speech, Biden said Trump “and some of you here seek to bury
the truth” about what happened that day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As
the speech went on, though, Republicans in the audience became more willing to
respond — and Biden obliged them. One of those moments arrived when Biden
charged Republicans with wanting to cut Social Security and cut taxes for the
wealthy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh,
no? You guys don’t want another $2 trillion tax cut?” Biden said. “I kind of
thought that’s what your plan was. Well, that’s good to hear.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Biden also appeared happy to highlight the unanimous
Republican opposition some of his signature proposals have faced in Congress.
Referencing the Inflation Reduction Act — a sweeping measure to combat climate
change, lower health-care costs and reduce the federal deficit — that Biden
signed in 2022, he said Thursday that it sought to lower prescription drug
prices and noted that “not one of you Republican buddies voted for it.”</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in; mso-outline-level: 3;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Border battle<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in; mso-outline-level: 3;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Addressing one of the biggest vulnerabilities in his
reelection campaign — the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border — Biden again
called on </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Republicans to drop their resistance to the Senate bipartisan
security deal that the GOP recently scuttled at the behest of Trump.</span> <span style="color: black;">“We
can fight about fixing the border,” Biden said, “or we can fix it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
border deal would overhaul the asylum system and give the president new power
to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/04/senate-border-bill-israel-ukraine/?itid=lk_inline_manual_39" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: 0.0625em rgb(42, 42, 42); text-underline-offset: 0.125em;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">effectively shut down the border</span></a> if
illegal crossings reach a certain threshold. But Trump lobbied Republican
lawmakers to oppose the deal, calling it a political gift for Biden.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Biden touted the proposal’s toughness in his speech,
which led to objections from Republicans in the audience. Biden also used the
moment to engage with GOP lawmakers, credulously asking why they did not like a
bill “that conservatives got together and said was a good bill.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Going
into the speech, Republicans had challenged Biden to “say her name” and mention
Laken Riley, the slain Georgia nursing student whose alleged killer,
immigration authorities say, illegally entered the country.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They got their way — sort of — while Biden discussed
the bipartisan border security deal. Responding to an outburst from Rep.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Biden paused and addressed the matter, though
he appeared to initially mispronounce Riley’s first name as “Lincoln.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“An
innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal, that’s right,” Biden said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<h3 data-qa="list-headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Tough on Russia<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first moments of Biden’s speech were striking not
just for the direct criticism of Trump but also for the context in which it
came. Calling for increased Ukraine aid, Biden deployed the kind of
tough-on-Russia rhetoric that has become less common in the GOP under Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“My
message to President Putin … is simple,” Biden said. “We will not walk away. We
will not bow down. I will not bow down.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ukraine
aid has become tied up in Congress, in part because some Trump-aligned
Republicans believe the United States should focus more on domestic issues than
the overseas conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Biden also did not spare Trump on Russia, hammering him
over his recent comments that he would encourage Russia to do whatever they
want to a NATO country if that country was not paying enough for defense. </span></span>“Bowing down to a Russian leader,” Biden said. “I think
it’s outrageous, it’s dangerous and it’s unacceptable.”</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in; mso-outline-level: 3;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The age matter<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With polls showing many voters concerned about his age,
Biden, 81, did not shy away from the topic.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a
while,” Biden said jokingly. “And when you get to my age certain things become
clearer than ever before.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He
then referenced his age to contrast his optimism for America with Trump’s view,
nodding at the fact that Trump is just four years younger than he is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160); margin: 0in; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150);"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Now
other people my age see it differently — an American story of resentment,
revenge and retribution,” Biden said. “That’s not me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="wpds-c-cydrxm" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-The Washington Post<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-59239811344355810292024-03-07T07:51:00.002-06:002024-03-07T08:47:26.270-06:00Rebecca Solnit on the Perennial Divisions of the American Left<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH-yhtOTAghZotZUy9XlOINDHKAc2aCnURVL213uPiMVzNAvJjQNIibpB6PW_w8NVByevlKwy5pp263-7v-9TekfjshLq1ohb61vahER31S0_3XwfHV8uP_nYF6_dKXAQgKjp7vILt6rt9otpBTsjik-Hk4qlLYnlPY_fL6lOOlBzZms1EjmCM21mkeBg/s900/Rebecca-Solnit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="900" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH-yhtOTAghZotZUy9XlOINDHKAc2aCnURVL213uPiMVzNAvJjQNIibpB6PW_w8NVByevlKwy5pp263-7v-9TekfjshLq1ohb61vahER31S0_3XwfHV8uP_nYF6_dKXAQgKjp7vILt6rt9otpBTsjik-Hk4qlLYnlPY_fL6lOOlBzZms1EjmCM21mkeBg/w400-h195/Rebecca-Solnit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In late 1936 George Orwell, like so many young idealists from Europe and
the USA, went off to fight fascism in Spain. By the spring of 1937 he realized
he was in a war with not two but three sides. The USSR was holding back a full
Spanish revolution while attacking the socialists and anarchists outside its
control.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Facing prison and possible execution himself, not from the fascists, but
the Soviet-allied forces, Orwell fled Spain. His immediate commander, Georges
Kopp, was imprisoned, and the leader of his militia unit, Andres Nin, was
tortured and assassinated by an agent of Stalin’s secret police. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Orwell would spend the rest of his life trying to clarify that in his
time the left meant both idealists committed to human rights, equality, and
justice and supporters of a Stalinism that was the antithesis of all those
things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He wrote after he got back to England:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>When I left Barcelona in June the jails were bulging… But the point to
notice is that the people who are in prison now are not Fascists but
revolutionaries; they are there not because their opinions are too much to the
Right, but because they are too much to the Left. And the people responsible
for putting them there are… the communists.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some of the pro-Stalin left believed the sunny propaganda about the USSR
and some of them knew better but went with the Stalinist notion that you have
to break a few eggs to make an omelet, that the gulags and lies and mass
executions were the price of the ticket to some form of utopia that would soon
arrive after everything else had been quashed. There are similar rifts in the
left of our time, which is both obvious and seldom addressed outright.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is the left? I wish I knew. When the Russian Federation invaded
Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the fact that some sector of what is supposed to
be the left excused, justified, or even rooted for the Putin regime was, among
other things, a reminder that “left” has long meant a grab bag full of
contradictions. Later came the “peace marches” that argued the US should
withdraw support and Ukraine should surrender.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Recent stories about these sectors of the left stumping for the Chinese
government and downplaying its human rights abuses are reminders that this is
an ongoing problem that takes many forms. I’ve seen genocide denial among this
left: <a href="https://progressive.org/latest/whats-going-on-china-uighurs-erlich-210219/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">excusing</span></a> the Chinese
in the case of the Uyghur people, justifying the invasion and subjugation of
Tibet, denying the Holodomor—the Soviet genocide through induced famine in
1930s Ukraine—even<a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2012/09/18/pol-pot-revisited/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"> whitewashing</span></a> the
Pol Pot era in Cambodia, and siding with Assad as he wages a brutal war against
the Syrian people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It should be a
modest request to ask that “left” not mean supporters of authoritarian regimes
soaked in their own people’s blood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It should be a modest request to ask that “left” not mean supporters of
authoritarian regimes soaked in their own people’s blood. But the people and
groups and agendas grouped together as the left contain not just contradictions
but sworn enemies. Some of the loudest pro-Putin people are now clearly part of
the right; some continue to claim the mantle of the left, begging the question
of what the left is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You could call this just a problem of nomenclature. Put that way, it
might seem like a small problem, but being unable to distinguish and describe
differences can be a large one. A few years ago I said to a man working for
Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign, at a point when he and the campaign
were dealing with a lot of attacks from people who considered themselves the
true left, “It’s as if we called fire and water by the same name.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps the left/right terminology that originated with the French
Revolution has, more than two centuries later, outlived its appositeness. (In
the French National Assembly of 1789, the royalists members sat to the right,
the radicals to the left, and thus the terms were born.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The left I love is passionately committed to universal human rights and
absolute equality and often is grounded in rights movements, including the
Black civil rights movement. I sometimes think of the current US version as a
latter-day version of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This rainbow left pitches a big tent and as such is often more welcoming
to, say, things like religion—after all, the Black church played a huge role in
that movement, Cesar Chavez and Dorothy Day were among the devout Catholic
radicals in American history, and Indigenous spirituality is central to many
land rights and climate campaigns—while many traditional leftists often scorn
organized religion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d argue that because of its intersectional understanding of both
problems and solutions, this left is more radical—radically inclusive,
radically egalitarian—than those who treat race and gender as irrelevancies or
distractions (including the men, from Ralph Nader in 2000 on, who’ve been
dismissive of reproductive rights as an essential economic justice as well as
rights issue). Perhaps it’s seen as less radical because bellicosity is often
viewed as the measure of one’s radicalness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps the
left/right terminology that originated with the French Revolution has, more
than two centuries later, outlived its appositeness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Likewise, this rainbow left often has radical aims but is pragmatic about
how to realize them. This might be because it includes a lot of people for whom
social services and basic rights are crucial to survival, people who are used
to compromise, as in not getting what they want or getting it in increments
over time. All or nothing purity often means choosing the nothing that is hell
for the vulnerable and I-told-you-so for the comfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s the Rainbow Coalition-ish left; the other left has some overlap in
its opposition to corporate capitalism and US militarism, but very different
operating principles. It often feels retrograde in its goals and its views,
including what I think of as economic fundamentalism, the idea that class
trumps all else (and often the nostalgic vision of the working class as manly
industrial labor rather than immigrants everywhere from nail salons to
app-driven delivery jobs to agricultural fields).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This other left is often so focused on the considerable sins of the
United States it overlooks or denies those of other nations, particularly those
in conflict with the USA, decrying imperialism at home but excusing it abroad
(and apparently seeing US aid to Ukraine through the lens of American invasions
of Iraq and Vietnam rather than the more relevant US role in the European
alliance against Germany and Italy in the Second World War). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It often embraces whatever regime or leader opposes the US, even when
that means siding with serious human rights abuses and inequalities, as if the
sins of the one erased or undid the sins of the other. It tends to rage against
Democrats more than Republicans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This becomes the slippery slope down which some of the loud white men of
the last several years have slid to become explicit rather than implicit
defenders of the right. They often do so by attacking opponents of the right in
the name of some abstract principle that just happens to serve the right; thus
they can pretend they do not serve the Republican Party but find fault, again
and again, with everyone who opposes it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Putin regime’s invasion of Ukraine brought to the surface some of the
old conflicts in what the left is and should be. Not a few people claiming the
mantle of the left have been cheerleaders of Putin and Russia for some time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Putin is, of course, an authoritarian, a petroleum-fueled oligarch who
might be the<a href="https://www.theweek.co.uk/vladimir-putin/956928/what-is-vladimir-putins-net-worth" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"> world’s richest man</span></a>,
an obstacle to climate action, the leader of an<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/03/world/americas/alt-right-vladimir-putin.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"> international white Christian
nationalist</span></a> revival, a vicious human rights abuser whose
domestic enemies have a habit of dying suddenly, a homophobe, misogynist and antisemite, and he’s
involved in an imperialist war to annex the sovereign nation of Ukraine. You
can’t get much further to the right.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This other left is
often so focused on the considerable sins of the United States it overlooks or
denies those of other nations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But many in this version of the left insist that somehow the US forced
Russia’s hand, or it was all NATO’s fault and NATO was just a US puppet, and
Russia was somehow a victim acting in self-defense.<a href="https://newrepublic.com/authors/jan-smolenski" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"> Jan Smoleński</span></a> and<a href="https://newrepublic.com/authors/jan-dutkiewicz" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"> Jan Dutkiewicz</span></a> were among the many
Eastern European critics who called this “westsplaining,” writing that though
these arguments are supposed to be anti-imperialist…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">…[T]hey in fact perpetuate imperial wrongs when they continue to deny
non-Western countries and their citizens agency in geopolitics. Paradoxically,
the problem with American exceptionalism is that even those who challenge its
foundational tenets and heap scorn on American militarism often end up
recreating American exceptionalism by centering the United States in their
analyses of international relations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course all this muddle about Russia is not new. Western leftists fell
in love with Russia during the revolution from which the Soviet Union arose.
Some—the anarchist Emma Goldman among them—became disillusioned early on, but
for others, nothing could shake the devotion. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All through the history of the
USSR, it had its defenders in the west, when that meant denying the gulags, the
show trials and executions, the attempt to control everything everyone did and
said, the ethnic cleansing and cultural and sometimes literal genocide of many
non-Russian populations from Crimean Tatars to Siberian reindeer herders to
Muslim Kazakhs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When it was an ally during the Second World War, the mainstream West
supported Stalin and the USSR (which of course then included Ukraine). This is
cited to their credit, often while overlooking the fact that Stalin had earlier
signed a non-aggression pact with the Nazi government, dividing up Eastern
Europe between the two.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While some of his peers who became disillusioned with communism and the
Stalinists shifted right, Orwell was loyal to the left and pushed back at
conservatives who tried to claim him and his books <i>Animal Farm</i> and <i>Nineteen
Eighty-Four. </i>But he was disturbed all his life by the conflicts and
contradictions of what left means.<i> </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wonder now if the vicious persecution of leftists, communists,
socialists, and progressives by the postwar American right, made people avoid
analysis and statements that could weaken or divide their own side. That is,
had there been no McCarthyism, might the left itself have cleaned house and
clarified its positions? Might it have taken on the widespread mistake of
supporting Stalin and other authoritarians?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s no answer to that, because there was McCarthyism and it was
brutal. It left us with direct legacies, including what McCarthy’s righthand
man, Roy Cohn, taught his protégé Donald Trump about ruthlessness,
manipulation, lying, and winning at all costs. (One of the ironies of what I
call the left-wing men of the right was their constant claim that talk about
Russian intervention on behalf of Trump was McCarthyism, as if somehow
anticommunism had anything to do with the facts in the case or assessments of
the current government of Russia.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But this lack of clarity about what the left is and what principles are
essential to it continue to create confusion and spread credit and blame
between two different camps. It’s an old conundrum but maybe the solution is as
simple as truth in labeling and clarity in categories.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Literary Hub<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 6;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://lithub.com/author/rebecca-solnit/"><span style="color: black;">Rebecca
Solnit</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of
twenty-five books on feminism, environmental and urban history, popular power,
social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and catastrophe.
She co-edited the 2023 anthology <i>Not Too Late: Changing the Climate
Story from Despair to Possibility</i>. Her other books include <i>Orwell’s
Roses; Recollections of My Nonexistence; Hope in the Dark; Men Explain Things
to Me; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in
Disaster;</i> and <i>A Field Guide to Getting Lost</i>. A product of
the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school,
she writes regularly for the <i>Guardian</i>, serves on the board of the
climate group Oil Change International, and in 2022 launched the climate
project Not Too Late (nottoolateclimate.com).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <a href="http://rebeccasolnit.net/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">http://rebeccasolnit.net</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="2" style="color: black;" width="100%" />
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black;">Source URL:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: black;"> </span><i><span style="color: black;">https://portside.org/2024-03-01/what-left</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-42759337366825607852024-03-06T07:46:00.001-06:002024-03-06T07:48:42.080-06:00The Fed Is Behind the Credit Card Merger <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6apAZEUaSMrKenv1m8cnN4HAcChWTmns22YgvtwGsBZ1A71j6YifEwIltHJRvWea2F4rSPnhKuBN8VVYSy2G4hOtwggFUOWhXN64obUL8ljpRmSIiuCvLx8DEus_k-Q7tKM6vFFkZ8V1A5cOPuONZxvazXx_TLzsfX1CkkegN3TEiwiBK4H8e6-XvIgEv/s615/Discover-Capitol-One.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="615" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6apAZEUaSMrKenv1m8cnN4HAcChWTmns22YgvtwGsBZ1A71j6YifEwIltHJRvWea2F4rSPnhKuBN8VVYSy2G4hOtwggFUOWhXN64obUL8ljpRmSIiuCvLx8DEus_k-Q7tKM6vFFkZ8V1A5cOPuONZxvazXx_TLzsfX1CkkegN3TEiwiBK4H8e6-XvIgEv/w400-h225/Discover-Capitol-One.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">t’s an obvious point, but credit cards in America
generate a lot of cash for banks. In 2022, I <a href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-cantillon-effect-and-credit-cards" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">wrote up</span></a> how the
business works, with the observation that the industry generates close to a
quarter trillion dollars a year in revenue. This revenue comes from fees for
connecting merchants and banks, as well as fees charged to consumers for access
to credit.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every credit card network is also a data sieve, connected to
advertising data brokers, anti-fraud features, and analytics firms. In
addition, being able to reject someone from the payments system is a core
sovereign power, and the stated reason the right is so afraid of a central bank
digital currency.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many barriers to entry in the credit card business, and
significant pricing power among incumbents. As the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau found, margins for credit cards are persistent, increasing,
high, and tilted <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/credit-card-interest-rate-margins-at-all-time-high/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">towards the larger firms in the
industry</span></a>. (And this is true even when you take higher interest rates
into account.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Capital One’s recently announced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/business/capital-one-discover-what-to-know.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">attempt to buy</span></a> the
credit card company Discover hits at all of these elements of the business.
While the merger looks like a credit card bank buying another credit card bank
— and it’s certainly that — it is more like a Big Tech merger, where a bank is
trying to turn itself into a platform with an app store-like power over a class
of customers, in this case merchants. The key quote from Capital One co-founder
and CEO Richard Fairbank on the call announcing the deal was this: “The holy
grail is to be an issuer with our own network.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s what Fairbank meant. An issuer, aka a bank, is regulated
like a bank, while a credit card network is regulated like a network, which
includes price caps on debit cards. But thanks to the Fed, a bank that owns a
network isn’t regulated at all on its own network. And because of that, Capital
One, if allowed to buy Discover, can set prices in ways its rivals can’t.
Fairbank also made clear that’s a key rationale for the deal, as I’ll discuss
after I’ve explained the industry and the regulatory framework.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s start with the basics of credit/debit cards. Banks make
money in two ways. They issue cards to consumers, and charge those consumers
credit card interest charges and various fees when they buy things with
merchants and don’t pay the money back immediately. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But banks also make money from the merchants themselves. In
between the bank and merchants sits a network utility, usually Visa or
Mastercard. The network operator takes a swipe fee, known as an ‘interchange
fee,’ from the merchant, roughly 1.5 to 3.5 percent of every transaction, and
then splits that fee with the banks. Banks send some of that money back to the
consumer in the form of rewards to keep consumers locked into using that
card. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJX_mwq8Mnsd54i9G_IBolclnNAGb-HkY-C1m8rhZRPyNWWvdlvP580MKv5XxDdFAOFlodqB_w8lfZmoq0nugQvIahf9vg3e2XLlOQQnadYiEE4CTr41F9SWQBFH_tCgtHae2Q40VtnaVqDyDPfdnfJkXhEl_FCYcfr7gzTmfH-0e6nw6fVksnCLrSMI-/s629/Credit%20Cards%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="629" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJX_mwq8Mnsd54i9G_IBolclnNAGb-HkY-C1m8rhZRPyNWWvdlvP580MKv5XxDdFAOFlodqB_w8lfZmoq0nugQvIahf9vg3e2XLlOQQnadYiEE4CTr41F9SWQBFH_tCgtHae2Q40VtnaVqDyDPfdnfJkXhEl_FCYcfr7gzTmfH-0e6nw6fVksnCLrSMI-/s320/Credit%20Cards%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">There’s a difference between American Express and
Visa or Mastercard. The latter two don’t issue their own cards, banks issue
them. Conversely, banks don’t issue American Express cards, only American
Express does that. So American Express isn’t a standard credit card network. It
is technically a ‘three-party system,’ between consumers, merchants, and
American Express itself. This distinction matters for legal reasons. (Though
American Express’ status as a three-party network isn’t strictly accurate, U.S.
Bank does </span><a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131120005381/en/U.S.-Bank-and-American-Express-Announce-Card-Issuing-Agreement" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: black;">issue</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> credit cards that operate on AMEX.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2OEn15FKb8sLRPha0-58Tl2veIj_ILKXh5QcgdZWLkGMC2fOxQJdK0ts_NW8h1083TsrdAUZhDTk3BKbh6STjft8rb0y7-vRG_2pCE_5eZB76abv91AJrB7nBsCvYXn5wzHJR3F_LmhHFD9v7JUtswpG-wwd-CW6I-kSrkDKITNlxgbyLKIODvl-RM4oC/s571/Credit%20Cards%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="571" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2OEn15FKb8sLRPha0-58Tl2veIj_ILKXh5QcgdZWLkGMC2fOxQJdK0ts_NW8h1083TsrdAUZhDTk3BKbh6STjft8rb0y7-vRG_2pCE_5eZB76abv91AJrB7nBsCvYXn5wzHJR3F_LmhHFD9v7JUtswpG-wwd-CW6I-kSrkDKITNlxgbyLKIODvl-RM4oC/s320/Credit%20Cards%204.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So what is Discover? Well, it’s both a
normal network and a three-party system. Like Visa and Mastercard, Discover
allows banks to issue Discover cards. But like American Express, it also issues
its own credit cards.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So why does any of this matter? Well,
America’s credit card system is a massive extraction machine for middlemen, and
this merger is part of a knife-fight over who can get the biggest piece. <a href="https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/articles/na-vs-eu-interchangefees/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Nowhere else in the world</span></a> is
there a payments system in which 1.5 to 3.5 percent of trillions of dollars of
transactions goes to a set of middlemen, but that’s how credit cards work in
America, much to the chagrin of merchants, both small ones and the giants like
Walmart. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Network fees are excessive because
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover have market power over
merchants, who must accept the cards their customers would like to use, even if
the fee those merchants have to pay is excessive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2010, Congress actually noticed
this was a problem, Senator Dick Durbin attached an amendment to the Dodd-Frank
Act which regulated these networks. Specifically, the Durbin Amendment did two
things. It had the Fed impose a price cap on swipe fees for debit cards, and it
allowed merchants to choose among debit networks for processing debit
payments. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While the Fed tilted the rules as far
as it could towards banks, the Durbin amendment has <a href="https://www.nationalgrocers.org/news/national-grocers-association-statement-on-federal-reserve-boards-proposal-to-lower-swipe-fees/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">delivered</span></a> somewhat
for merchants. (The Durbin Amendment only addressed debit cards, not credit
cards, and so it left out large chunks of the market. There’s now Senate
legislation, called the Credit Card Competition Act, which would <a href="https://www.durbin.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/The%20Credit%20Card%20Competition%20Act%20of%202023%20-%20one-pager.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">allow</span></a> merchants to
choose among multiple payment networks for credit cards.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But the Fed also punched a hole in the
Durbin Amendment. When writing the rule, the Fed <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R41913" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">went along</span></a> with lobbying from <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/SECRS/2011/March/20110303/R-1404/R-1404_022211_67230_584162046602_1.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">American Express</span></a>, and in
its 2010 rules <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/12/28/2010-32061/debit-card-interchange-fees-and-routing" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">exempted</span></a> three-party
networks from regulation, only applying it to Visa and Mastercard. And this
brings me back to Capital One, whose CEO made this point explicitly on the
investor call announcing its attempt to buy Discover. Here’s Fairbank:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Durbin debit rules, intentionally
and by design only applied in networks like Visa and MasterCard who negotiate
with merchants on behalf of thousands of banks, including negotiating terms and
pricing. Discover like American Express deals directly with merchants without
an intermediary. They are both the issuer and the network, so there is nobody
in between. The Durbin debit rules were written to explicitly exclude networks
like Discover and American Express.</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fairbank also noted that their
intention is to move Capital One’s debit portfolio immediately into Discover,
though it will only move part of its credit business. As <i>Digital
Transactions Magazine</i> <a href="https://www.digitaltransactions.net/for-cap-one-the-pulse-network-is-the-rare-asset-in-its-35-3-billion-deal-for-discover/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">put it</span></a>, “Fairbank called
out a pricing advantage of the planned move into debit.” After this merger,
Capital One will have millions of merchants at its mercy, merchants who will
have the choice to either lose customers who want to use Discover, or accept
higher fees and more intrusive rules from Capital One.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, there are other reasons for
the deal. Capital One will gain a funding advantage as a bank and become Too
Big to Fail if it acquires Discover. Additionally, Discover is a large issuer
of credit cards, and the bigger the credit card issuer, the <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-report-finds-large-banks-charge-higher-credit-card-interest-rates-than-small-banks-and-credit-unions/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">higher the prices</span></a> banks
tend to charge. If Capital One buys Discover, it’ll jump to the number-one
largest credit card issuer. But the pricing power it will acquire as the owner
of Discover is a core stated reason for the merger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And to underscore the point about
barriers to entry, Fairbank also made that clear when he told investors about
his lust for Discover’s network, saying that “we all kind of revel in the fact
that a network is a very, very rare asset. There are very few of them. And it’s
just, you know, I don’t think people are going to be building any of these
anytime soon.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s not stating outright that the
goal is monopolization, but it’s pretty close.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So will the merger go through? The
deal has already drawn high-profile opposition from both sides of the aisle, as
the <i>American Prospect</i> <a href="https://prospect.org/economy/2024-02-22-capital-one-discover-merger-tests-bank-regulators/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">reports</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Several advocacy groups have come out
against the merger proposal, including the </span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://ncrc.org/ncrc-opposes-capital-one-discover-merger/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: black;">National Community Reinvestment
Coalition</span></i></a><i>, which has fought Capital One in particular for
several years. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) </i><a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1760327925688103140" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: black;">said on Wednesday</span></i></a><i> that the deal
should be blocked, joining Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who </i><a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1760004986086228208" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: black;">opposed the merger</span></i></a><i> a day earlier.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Under the current administration, it’s
hard to see a clear path for approval. The Federal Reserve and Office of
Comptroller of the Currency would have to allow the deal, and then the
Antitrust Division would have to give a green light. The Fed and the OCC are
weak, but they are also embarrassed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And given the CEO stated on the
acquisition call that the ability to raise prices and reduce competition
through a regulatory loophole is one of the key reasons for the deal, the
Antitrust Division strikes me as an unlikely ally of the deal. As Steptoe lawyer
Stephen Aschettino put it, “I think antitrust is probably first and foremost on
the list of hurdles that Capital One is going to have to get past, and that
could take a while.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That said, in many ways this deal is
contingent upon the election. If there’s a change in administration, then there
will be a different set of bank regulators and antitrust enforcers. It’s not
clear what happens then. In his first term, Donald Trump was lax about banking
consolidation, though his Antitrust Division did <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-block-visas-proposed-acquisition-plaid" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">sue</span></a> to stop the Visa
merger with Plaid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So one could see this deal as a bet on
Biden losing. But I think that’s overthinking it a bit, since there’s no reason
Capital One couldn’t just wait until after the election to announce the deal.
Capital One CEO Fairbank is known as a super aggressive operator; he has
already<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/09/ftc-fines-capital-one-ceo-richard-fairbank-repeatedly-violating-antitrust-laws" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"> been fined</span></a> for
violating antitrust laws multiple times.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If I had to guess, I’d say this one’s
about ego, as many of these mergers are. Fairbank is a billionaire, and so he
won’t be dislodged from his position as CEO regardless of whether he has to
walk away from the deal. He’s probably thinking, swing for the fences, the
worst that happens is you strike out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But what this deal really shows is
that the U.S. payments system is ripe for genuine reform, whether that’s
through the Fed making its public payments system, called FedNow, workable, or
Congress enacting more rules mandating competition in payments. Regardless, you
shouldn’t become a billionaire by grifting on payment fees that no other
country in the world tolerates. And a merger to enable further bloat and
consolidation isn’t the way out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Matt Stoller </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Editor’s note: This story was originally printed on</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://substack.com/@mattstoller" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"> <i>Matt Stoller’s newsletter</i> BIG<i>,</i></span></a><i> where
he explores the politics of monopoly power. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Lever</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is a nonpartisan, reader-supported investigative news outlet that
holds accountable the people and corporations manipulating the levers of power.
The organization was founded in 2020 by David Sirota, an award-winning
journalist and Oscar-nominated writer who served as the presidential campaign
speechwriter for Bernie Sanders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="2" style="color: black;" width="100%" />
</span></span></div>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black;">Source URL:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: black;"> </span><i><span style="color: black;">https://portside.org/2024-03-02/fed-behind-credit-card-merger</span></i><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-38538368208685831252024-03-05T07:50:00.000-06:002024-03-05T07:50:23.632-06:00Mitch McConnell<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-o0Qh5ju7uu6SaWoizSmDOIEWfwLQcLpVvbdIrYb4JBZlowS7PLW3WZKYWdooN55mImLfr2e4SqVX3AxVaCJjVvauCsQNTE8S_GKmBi0E8MWv7aecdDVI_f2KQz8McS_itWkVyIWRkX_A9WDU9vCWTzE-Zom-9ITZHNi6MW-mj8VUjNSID7OxWuW1PuX8/s270/McConnell%2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="270" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-o0Qh5ju7uu6SaWoizSmDOIEWfwLQcLpVvbdIrYb4JBZlowS7PLW3WZKYWdooN55mImLfr2e4SqVX3AxVaCJjVvauCsQNTE8S_GKmBi0E8MWv7aecdDVI_f2KQz8McS_itWkVyIWRkX_A9WDU9vCWTzE-Zom-9ITZHNi6MW-mj8VUjNSID7OxWuW1PuX8/w320-h222/McConnell%2012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Dahlia Lithwick: Can we talk about Mitch McConnell for a minute? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Mark Joseph Stern: What was your first reaction when you heard the
news?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">My first reaction was that I hate this timeline <i>so </i>much.
It’s the timeline where we have to miss Rep. Kevin McCarthy because the person
who followed him was, as sure as night follows day, vastly crazier. That’s how
I feel about McConnell. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">This is the person who singlehandedly did more to
destroy Senate norms of comity and respect, to help Donald Trump evade
accountability, and to steal and pack the Supreme Court with people who should
not be sitting on the court. And still, in this moment, we’re going to have to
thank him for respecting the vestigial norms that he did and not being an utter
sociopath each and every day. Because the person who follows him will be worse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I’ll add that, in my view, no one has done more to destroy the federal
judiciary than Mitch McConnell. This is the guy who, under Obama, decided to
block as many judicial nominations as possible, for no reason other than to
leave the seats open so Trump could come in and fill them. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">This is the guy who
violated every known norm to hold open Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat,
ostensibly because it came open in an election year, only to fill Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg’s seat <i>when people were already voting</i> in the
2020 election. I think he made a lot of Americans wake up and realize that this
was all Calvinball, that he had no principles to begin with.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">But even more than that, Mitch McConnell was the guy who realized you
don’t need to win elections to enact Republican policy. You don’t need to
change hearts and minds. You don’t need to push ballot initiatives or win over
the views of the people. All you have to do is stack the courts. You only need
51 votes in the Senate to stack the courts with far-right partisan activists
like <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/aileen-cannon-trump-classified-disqualification.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Aileen Cannon</span></a> and <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/04/matthew-kacsmaryk-mifepristone-medication-abortion-supreme-court.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Matthew
Kacsmaryk</span></a>. And they will enact Republican policies under the guise
of judicial review, policies that could never pass through the democratic
process. And those policies will be bulletproof, because they will be called
“law,” and Democrats will need at least a century to win back the courts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Anyone who believes in an independent judiciary with any integrity should
loathe McConnell to their bones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I want to add that McConnell, for so many reasons, stands out as somebody
who knew exactly<i> </i>who Donald Trump was, exactly what happened on
Jan. 6, exactly what his responsibility was in that moment. And he didn’t do
it. He normalized the idea that you can mumble stuff and do nothing. Then we
all live with the consequences. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He made it easier for whoever follows him to do
even less. And now he’s being praised as some elder statesman? Really? He’s
totally morally bankrupt. The only silver lining, Mark, is that whoever follows
him will not be as good as him at this crap.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: .2in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Slate<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-9796614490218552482024-03-04T12:04:00.003-06:002024-03-04T12:08:17.869-06:00"If Biden continues to ignore the wishes of the vast majority of Americans"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFfomDKFEAVK1km64H3SMOO1tfZkp-788R-0Pe5tMq3T-qjNfmIa2ZLHvv05CkY80r7O0AZChuJwGIw6mgHh5RQnLfXBuLaHN8iHL1oce45grDT2czcOvW7ndBZo9rTjYvUlyUsp2bh9BmDTdlkYemD_ikC7qw7ZfunsQQHmd7KjUghFTV46IT-3WBREC/s225/Trump%2019.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFfomDKFEAVK1km64H3SMOO1tfZkp-788R-0Pe5tMq3T-qjNfmIa2ZLHvv05CkY80r7O0AZChuJwGIw6mgHh5RQnLfXBuLaHN8iHL1oce45grDT2czcOvW7ndBZo9rTjYvUlyUsp2bh9BmDTdlkYemD_ikC7qw7ZfunsQQHmd7KjUghFTV46IT-3WBREC/w320-h320/Trump%2019.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background: rgb(253, 253, 253);">"Over 100,000 Michigan voters in the Democratic
Presidential Primary last week sent a message to Biden. Their message was
strong and clear: End this war. Stop funding Israel's slaughter. Young voters
in this 21st century will not support a president who funds a massacre, and if
Biden continues to ignore the wishes of the vast majority of Americans, he will
lose thousands of people in November who simply won't vote, and Trump will win
by default."</span>
<span style="background: rgb(253, 253, 253);">-Michael
Moore</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-2531281274470315352024-03-04T07:20:00.000-06:002024-03-04T07:20:57.775-06:00This Weed Killer Is Linked to Parkinson’s. Why Isn’t It Banned Yet?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8xsQHcy2bVOOFdwlX8skWhfSpePdlLiprbn5LF5zi9SSnNQD0o4NpnkM-YSg5arK0PTKv0am7OmyGZFtaEc96cyTQd0TBLJwvjMSfeSH2GVu4fH8X1aFTuVGRuociZuTx4KLQ2TJHqZP_OCepXjocFTZnpt8x6xd0Exxrbm_Ie4ChbzJpMDxk7C1pq5_/s300/Paraquat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8xsQHcy2bVOOFdwlX8skWhfSpePdlLiprbn5LF5zi9SSnNQD0o4NpnkM-YSg5arK0PTKv0am7OmyGZFtaEc96cyTQd0TBLJwvjMSfeSH2GVu4fH8X1aFTuVGRuociZuTx4KLQ2TJHqZP_OCepXjocFTZnpt8x6xd0Exxrbm_Ie4ChbzJpMDxk7C1pq5_/w400-h300/Paraquat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paraquat is a deadly herbicide that has been
linked to Parkinson’s disease in farmworkers and agricultural communities. It’s
already been banned in more than 50 countries. But in the U.S., paraquat is
still widely sprayed on farms despite staggering evidence that it harms
people’s neurological functioning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On behalf of farmworker, public
health and environmental organizations, Earthjustice sued the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2021 for allowing paraquat to remain
on the market despite strong scientific evidence of the harm it causes. In response,
the EPA agreed to take another look at that decision.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The data is quite clear. Paraquat
damages farmworkers’ respiratory system, their kidneys, and their eyes, which
the EPA concedes. A National Institutes of Health <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-finds-two-pesticides-associated-parkinsons-disease" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #0080a3;">study</span></a> found
that workers who have used it are 2.5 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s,
and a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/53/1/dyae004/7597790?login=false" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #0080a3;">study</span></a> published
earlier this year found that people who live near the fields where paraquat is
sprayed also experience increased Parkinson’s disease risks. Yet the EPA
reauthorized the widespread use of paraquat without addressing its neurological
risks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thousands of people have stories of
contracting Parkinson’s after being exposed to paraquat. Take Lori Phillips,
for example, a 67-year-old woman who grew up on a small family farm in New
York. “I can still remember the smell of the crops being sprayed by my bedroom
window,” she says. “This was in the early 1960s, about the time that paraquat
was invented and put on the market.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fast forward 50 years and Phillips’ mother,
brother, and uncle were all diagnosed with Parkinson’s. She and her brother
were tested for the genes linked to Parkinson’s, and neither had any of them,
suggesting environmental factors were at play.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite not always having control
of her arms, which hang rigidly at her side, or her feet, which shuffle when
she walks, Phillips stays active as best she can. But the old Phillips — who
could run marathons and type 120 words a minute at work, was an avid sewer, and
planned to travel throughout retirement – is gone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">People tend to know about the
slurred speech and trouble with movement that characterize Parkinson’s. But
less well-known is the link between Parkinson’s and depression as the disease
drains the brain of dopamine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Sometimes the medicine works and
sometimes it doesn’t,” she explains. “It affects cognitive thinking. It affects
your speech. You get constipated. You get dementia very easily. You get
depressed.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then there’s the financial stress.
There’s no generic version of Ongentys, the medicine Phillips takes; a 90-day
supply costs $1,900. And that’s just one pill, before you get to the others and
all the supplements that health insurance won’t cover. To get by, Phillips,
like many others, gets grants from non-profit organizations that help them pay
for medicine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But there’s no guarantee how long
that will go on. And because of her Parkinson’s, Phillips does not qualify for
long-term care insurance, which makes her future precarious at best.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 12pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Earthjustice is fighting to press
the EPA to do what it should have done years ago – to ban paraquat. But we’re
up against chemical companies with deep pockets who will go to great lengths to
bury the evidence of paraquat’s harm. And the EPA’s latest analysis of paraquat
continues to overlook the overwhelming evidence linking the herbicide to
Parkinson’s disease. The EPA needs to hear from people like you that it
should ban this deadly chemical. This month marks the start of 60-day comment
period where people can make their feelings known to the EPA.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is
paraquat? What are paraquat’s health harms?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s an herbicide used on
farms to stop weeds from growing. It’s quite good at killing weeds – but it’s
lethal for people too. And it disrupts normal neurological functioning. It’s
been linked to a host of serious diseases in humans, including Parkinson’s and
kidney disease.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The risks skyrocket the
longer you’re exposed to it, which puts farmworkers at great risk. It can also
cause migraines, and dizziness on a day-to-day basis for people who handle it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Who faces the greatest risks
from paraquat?<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Scientific
research has not found that there is a health risk to people who eat food
treated with paraquat at the levels approved by the EPA. But the EPA has found
that the approved use of paraquat presents serious health risks to farmworkers,
and studies have shown harm to the communities surrounding the farms where
paraquat is sprayed. Thousands of people across the world have also died from
paraquat ingestion, since one small sip is enough to kill and there is no known
antidote.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite
the dangers of paraquat and the existence of safer alternatives on the market,
paraquat’s use doubled between 2012 and 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 24pt 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Why is paraquat still on the market?<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paraquat
has already been banned in more than 50 countries, including all the countries
in the European Union. The two places where it’s actually made — the UK and
China – ban its use. But here in the U.S., chemical manufacturers still have a
good deal of leverage in the political process. So they put pressure on
regulators and put up their own experts to sew doubt over the scientific
evidence linking paraquat to Parkinson’s disease. Syngenta, the company that
manufactures paraquat, continues to sell the deadly chemical in the U.S.,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Indonesia<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Syngenta
denies the evidence linking paraquat to Parkinson’s and other health harms. An <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/20/syngenta-weedkiller-pesticide-parkinsons-disease-paraquat-documents" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #0080a3;">investigation</span></a> by
The Guardian and the New Lede in 2022 showed that Syngenta suppressed evidence
of paraquat’s presence in the brain, withheld key data related to paraquat’s
harms from the EPA, and fought to keep scientists who had documented the
connection between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease off an influential EPA peer
review panel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 24pt 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">What have you heard from people exposed to paraquat?<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We’d go
out spraying and get it on our skin. Our boots were soaked in the chemical. I
am very athletic, played football in college. Then I noticed at the age of 37,
my gait was foreshortened on the right side, badly so I could barely get across
a parking lot.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">– <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">John Kelly</strong>, who worked for a lawn
company spraying paraquat from ages 13 to 16<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“My life
is dramatically changed. I have slowness of movement. I don’t qualify for
long-term care insurance if I have to go into a long-term care facility. How do
you even survive when you’ve got $3000 a month in medicine?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">– <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Lori Phillips</strong>, person with Parkinson’s<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“He cannot
walk unassisted without falling – the problem now is the constant falling. He
has cut his head open and had 10 metal stitches in his head. He ended up having
a blood clot in his arm from a fall. Those kinds of things happen. He’s on many
medications. His pillbox contains 25 pills just to function. One of the
medications is for hallucinations he has had in the past – if we had to pay the
out-of-pocket, even with insurance, it would be over $2000 a month. “<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">– <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Irene Miller</strong>, a support group leader
who cares for her husband who has Parkinson’s<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 24pt 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">What is Earthjustice’s role in fighting to get paraquat banned?<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
sued the EPA when the agency renewed the registration for the chemical,
reauthorizing its widespread use for another 15 years. Our clients include
Farmworker Association of Florida, Farmworker Justice, Alianza Nacional de
Campesinas, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, The Michael J. Fox
Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Pesticide Action Network North America,
Center for Biological Diversity, and Toxic Free North Carolina. Our
lawsuit claims that the EPA violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) by failing to adequately consider the risks of
Parkinson’s disease, ignoring key exposure pathways, and leaving farmworkers
and agricultural communities exposed to unreasonable risks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
response to our suit, the EPA has agreed to take a new look at the science and
let the public weigh in. This is a crucial period to show the EPA that the
paraquat presents unacceptable health risks and must be banned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 24pt 0in 7.5pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">What could happen next?<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
early 2025, the EPA will finalize its reassessment on paraquat’s risk, making
its decision based partly on public input. We are pressing the EPA to issue an
outright ban of paraquat, as dozens of other countries have already done. It
remains to be seen whether the United States will join them. Earthjustice
members have an important role to play because we know the EPA is hearing from
the chemical lobby. They need to hear from us too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 12pt 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://earthjustice.org/action/tell-epa-to-ban-the-toxic-herbicide-paraquat-now?ms=web_article" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #0080a3;">Tell the EPA to ban paraquat now.</span></strong></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="bylineitem" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: .75pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://earthjustice.org/author/jessie-torrisi" style="box-sizing: border-box;" title="Jessie Torrisi"><span style="color: black;">JESSIE TORRISI</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="psize--small" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 3.75pt 0in 18.75pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jessie Torrisi is a storyteller based in Los Angeles. She's
worked with a dozen social justice NGOs as a writer, editor, and communications
strategist. She loves writing about the human side of policy and legal issues —
and what is possible when we come together to transform the systems that harm
us and our planet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="bylineitem" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: .75pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://earthjustice.org/office/toxic-exposure-health" style="box-sizing: border-box;" title="Toxic Exposure & Health Program"><span style="color: black;">TOXIC EXPOSURE & HEALTH PROGRAM</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="psize--small" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 3.75pt 0in 18.75pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Earthjustice’s Toxic Exposure & Health Program uses the
power of the law to ensure that all people have safe workplaces, neighborhoods,
and schools; have access to safe drinking water and food; and live in homes
that are free of hazardous chemicals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-9574540708550699622024-03-03T07:50:00.000-06:002024-03-03T07:50:24.084-06:00Low-level blasts from heavy weapons can cause traumatic brain injury − 2 engineers explain the physics of invisible cell death<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwj-7dDDMF-_AiqoHESqvz_AX_nOIYUfsw-15qfSJLOdux9PtsebwWp7cQ9xhXdnZgu0sN2Cejjs1OyRmCqq8s-z6pMCYv_Pa6xo40FAjG1iDHWySg-X0cEZO2bzmfvu6olc0dbhTxF0Rylx6YeNdVO0lal-A7K-fKYSKs6BeSwpAJ8swSOUBzwCIEw9T4/s640/Low%20Level%20Blasts.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwj-7dDDMF-_AiqoHESqvz_AX_nOIYUfsw-15qfSJLOdux9PtsebwWp7cQ9xhXdnZgu0sN2Cejjs1OyRmCqq8s-z6pMCYv_Pa6xo40FAjG1iDHWySg-X0cEZO2bzmfvu6olc0dbhTxF0Rylx6YeNdVO0lal-A7K-fKYSKs6BeSwpAJ8swSOUBzwCIEw9T4/w400-h266/Low%20Level%20Blasts.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the force of a blast
shoots a round out of a large-caliber rifle, howitzer or M1 Abrams tank gun,
the teams of people operating these weapons are exposed to <a href="https://health.mil/Reference-Center/Fact-Sheets/2023/07/18/Low-Level-Blast-Service-Members-Fact-Sheet"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">low-level blasts</span></a> that can cause <a href="https://www.brainline.org/qa/what-do-blast-injuries-do-your-brain"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">traumatic brain injuries</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Low-level blasts do not
cause visible trauma, such as bleeding from ruptured eardrums, and they don’t
cause injury through violent head motion, such as a concussion. Yet, these
blasts can cause <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27291520/"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">physical changes in the brain</span></a> that lead
to a host of neuropsychiatric symptoms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The link between the force
of a blast and the resulting changes in the brain is not completely understood.
So our team of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VlzdxcEAAAAJ&hl=en"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">engineers and</span></a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aIl1GHoAAAAJ&hl=en"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">scientists in</span></a> the <a href="https://www.panther.engr.wisc.edu/"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">PANTHER
program</span></a>, funded by the Department of Defense, is using physics to
elucidate how blasts cause traumatic brain injury.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 9pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is a blast?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When a weapon like a
rifle <a href="https://www.hunter-ed.com/national/studyGuide/Video-How-a-Cartridge-Is-Fired/201099_92813/"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">is fired</span></a>, the round is initially in its
barrel. Pulling the trigger engages a primer that produces a flame, igniting
the propellant. This chemical reaction releases stored energy and creates
high-pressure, rapidly expanding gas. This is the blast.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 115%;">The rate and magnitude of gas expansion are often
so extreme that they </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.americanscientist.org/article/high-speed-imaging-of-shock-waves-explosions-and-gunshots" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background: white; color: #4b4b4e;">create a shock wave</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, where high-pressure air molecules travel outward faster
than the speed of sound. This invisible pulse of high pressure carries a
tremendous amount of energy. It’s the same force that can propel a 24-pound
warhead out of the muzzle of a howitzer to hit a target 19 miles (30.6
kilometers) away.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After the blast leaves the
gun’s muzzle, it dissipates quickly because it is free to expand in the open
air. This is when the high pressure washes over the bodies of nearby people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The blast from the muzzle
of a large gun like the <a href="https://youtu.be/1anCHKq6ESg?feature=shared"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">M777
howitzer</span></a> does not pulverize rocks or knock someone off their
feet. But some of the blast pressure enters the body, passing through the skin
and rigid skull bone and into the soft tissue of the brain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 9pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Linking blast to brain injury<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As blast pressure enters
the brain, it is initially compressive, meaning it squeezes the tissue equally
from all sides. Because brain tissue is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11831-019-09352-w"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">largely
composed of water molecules</span></a>, which are difficult to compress, this
type of pressure <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10439-019-02437-4"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">tends to cause little known harm</span></a> to
cells.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An initially compressive
wave, or positive pressure wave, that squeezes brain tissue changes when it
bounces off the inside of the skull. It is reflected as a tensile wave, or
negative pressure wave, which tends to pull brain tissue apart. With low enough
pressures, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2217/cnc-2017-0011"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">micron-sized bubbles can form</span></a> in a
process called cavitation. These bubbles can grow 10 to 50 times their initial
size over the course of less than a tenth of a millisecond, rapidly stretching
the adjacent brain tissue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Experiments from our lab
have shown that the deformation caused by cavitation bubbles happens so rapidly
– like the speed of a bullet – that cells tend to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666522021000149"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">get torn apart</span></a>. The extreme speed of
stretching and squeezing causes nearby brain cells to die immediately.
Afterward, we see only fragments where healthy cells used to be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577687/original/file-20240223-20-xi71p2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><span style="color: #4b4b4e; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><br />
</span></a><span style="color: black;">Cell death is the physical root cause of
brain injury. In the lab, when the cells that make up brain tissue are deformed
at a magnitude and rate beyond what they can withstand, they die – either
immediately, as in the case of blast-induced cavitation, or slowly over six to
24 hours, as in most brain injuries from blunt impacts such as concussions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 13.5pt; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In low-level blast exposure, the cavitation bubbles are very
small, and the trauma is contained to the small area around them. However,
repeated exposure to blasts can lead to an accumulation of these microtraumas,
eventually reaching a volume large enough to cause significant and irreversible
neurological symptoms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 13.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although evidence is mounting, it has yet to be fully
proven that cavitation directly causes blast-induced traumatic brain injury.
The hypothesis fits with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27291520/" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #4b4b4e;">post-mortem analyses</span></a> of
the brains of service members with a history of blast exposure. It also fits
with the physics that link blast exposure to injury from tissue deformation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 13.5pt; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Understanding the connection between blasts and cellular damage in
the brain will help researchers develop better ways to protect against
repetitive blast-induced traumatic brain injury. </span></span></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 13.5pt; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-The Conversation</span></span></p><p></p><ol style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="vcard" id="author-550710" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background: transparent; border: 0px; clear: left; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alice-lux-fawzi-1495453" itemprop="url" rel="author" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: #085d91; font-weight: 700; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alice Lux Fawzi</span></a><p class="role" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #4b4b4e; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 18px 60px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">PANTHER Engineering Project Manager and Associate Director of the Center for Traumatic Brain Injury, University of Wisconsin-Madison</span></p></li><li class="vcard" id="author-551667" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background: transparent; border: 0px; clear: left; margin: 24px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/christian-franck-1500653" itemprop="url" rel="author" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: #085d91; font-weight: 700; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="fn author-name" itemprop="name" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christian Franck</span></span></a><p class="role" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(51,168,204,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #4b4b4e; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 18px 60px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bjorn Borgen Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center for Traumatic Brain Injury, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison</span></p></li></ol><div><span face="Helvetica Neue, sans-serif" style="color: #4b4b4e;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Helvetica Neue, sans-serif" style="color: #4b4b4e;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span></div>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-7897914266066404592024-03-01T21:06:00.001-06:002024-03-01T21:09:00.142-06:00Why attending synagogue has been difficult for me by Leslie Kelen<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKZ1k4AmcbxfxD8Q_A9L8Fg-w3IPuBNCfXH0dl7D05HUAnfgZ5iz2IwMvjT3cB0LNAR8jyrXGifcOsgtnchRQn6W41TNgU7UFOA_3xsya_7uDBj7PjZqbJ5W14xQA1awdC_3JQVAUwb-VeVSpXbV4piQSQEkshQvQZzHqsZxYkmubB4hTJ6K5DsBqrq-z/s500/Kelen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKZ1k4AmcbxfxD8Q_A9L8Fg-w3IPuBNCfXH0dl7D05HUAnfgZ5iz2IwMvjT3cB0LNAR8jyrXGifcOsgtnchRQn6W41TNgU7UFOA_3xsya_7uDBj7PjZqbJ5W14xQA1awdC_3JQVAUwb-VeVSpXbV4piQSQEkshQvQZzHqsZxYkmubB4hTJ6K5DsBqrq-z/w266-h400/Kelen.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>
</p><p class="body-raw" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.5pt; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For years, I have attended a thriving local synagogue with a
charismatic rabbi, who was born in Europe and whose parents suffered the
horrors of the Holocaust. The rabbi is a warm, effusive person with successful
adult children. He greets the male attendees of his services with vigorous
handshakes and big, open-hearted smiles. It is a joy to be welcomed by him and
a pleasure, by and large, to attend the services.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 13.5pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By and large, I say, because differences do arise — and since
the synagogue is orthodox, women sit separately from men, and the women’s faces
are obscured by a <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">mechitzah</i>, which
is a screen that physically separates men from women and also blocks women from
the sight of the men, and vice versa. This practice is not appealing to
everyone. But what distresses me more is a psalm that’s recited after each
Saturday service, or whenever a need arises.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 13.5pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This psalm invokes God’s protection, and the rabbi regularly
requests that men stay longer to recite it for Israeli soldiers. Always, upon
this request, a small voice comes forth in me to ask: “Why don’t we invoke
protection for all soldiers?” In fact, why don’t we pray for nonmilitary
solutions to conflicts? I’ve never asked this question in the synagogue; I’ve
only suffered my silence in silence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 13.5pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And why? Why do I hesitate to ask the question? It is because I
don’t want to appear to publicly question our support for Israel. I don’t want
to appear equivocal about Zionism, or less than committed to our people who
underwent such great suffering in the not too distant past. Also, despite
traditional Jewish encouragement for vigorous theological debate, in the
community only a small space is allowed for public criticism of matters Jewish,
especially when it comes to Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 13.5pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Considering this space, in February 2024, I know it is
especially small because Israeli troops are in Gaza, seeking to eradicate
Hamas, a Palestinian force that recently murdered <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-holocaust-war-7a05336b15666e6306845cffa617b699" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.5s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #326891; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">more than 1,300
Israelis</span></a> in a manner reminiscent of the Holocaust. It is
especially small because Israel is responding to the trauma of physical
annihilation that the nation was created to prevent. It is especially small
because Jewish pain over violated vulnerability is so deep as to seem endless.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 13.5pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For a state to emerge out of the ashes of its murdered millions,
out of genocidal devastation, is no small matter. For Jews, Israel means our
return to life, our redemption, our capacity to embrace what was so long denied
— renewal of our sacred language; exploration of roots and ancestry; expansion
of our history, culture, traditions, and aspirations; and the right to
determine our destiny on our terms, and not as subjects of other societies,
cultures and nationalities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 13.5pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Israel’s existence is not a small victory; Israel is everything
for a Jew, because in its existence and thriving we observe our vital life and
flowering<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.5pt; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet while executing a necessary campaign to defang Hamas,
Israeli Defense Forces are — to our dismay — regularly killing Palestinian
civilians — men, women and children — in a manner reminiscent of Hamas’ Oct. 7
depredations. In our small space for reckoning, however, we don’t acknowledge
this exchange of atrocities because, for “loyal” Jews, Israel is the defender
of the nation, while its Palestinian adversary (and neighbor) is what it has
always been: an enemy bent on its destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 13.5pt 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have only sporadically attended the synagogue since Oct. 7. I
would like to return and pray for the well-being of Israeli and Palestinian
soldiers. In fact, I would like to pray that we recognize and admit the
Palestinian people’s need for a homeland that will have the same blessings of
safety, prosperity, and national development that we passionately pursue for
ourselves. I would like to recite Psalm 121 for all of us. Can I really do
anything less?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;">the Lord is your shade at your right hand;</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;">the sun will not harm you by day,</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;">nor the moon by night.</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;">The Lord will keep you from all harm —</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;">he will watch over your life;</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;">the Lord will watch over your coming and going</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;">both now and forevermore.</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="body-raw" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 13.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #333333;">Leslie
Kelen</span></b><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #333333;"> is a child of Hungarian
Holocaust survivors and the author or editor of five books, including the
recently republished “This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil
Rights Movement.” </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-The Salt Lake
Tribune</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-70053875089094357862024-03-01T11:46:00.000-06:002024-03-01T11:46:13.310-06:00Research suggests COVID-19 affects brain age and IQ score<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qJUhuhahOY3pI4TCPKnfx0YwGJ0E17c_Py2ldmdCtfkUe1Sn-n7RHhHURBQA2UeL-iAc68bcGQcHw4Y6Odv85X4ZplsIwPm5OjEKoUtgjPZTWjbhQW4o-kTprB2pW58UyJDEf4L3Qhgi6cWcSJYOUgHTJ65y5z2R3Q6n4hYRr-g_r8OlYTlLfLlK9I4_/s265/Brain%20Fog%20from%20COVID.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="265" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qJUhuhahOY3pI4TCPKnfx0YwGJ0E17c_Py2ldmdCtfkUe1Sn-n7RHhHURBQA2UeL-iAc68bcGQcHw4Y6Odv85X4ZplsIwPm5OjEKoUtgjPZTWjbhQW4o-kTprB2pW58UyJDEf4L3Qhgi6cWcSJYOUgHTJ65y5z2R3Q6n4hYRr-g_r8OlYTlLfLlK9I4_/w320-h230/Brain%20Fog%20from%20COVID.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the very early days of the pandemic, brain fog emerged
as a significant health condition that many experience after <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/feature/coronavirus/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab4i"><span style="color: #101010;">COVID-19</span></a>. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-covid-lost-wages-cost-economy-covid-19/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab4i"><span style="color: #101010;">Brain fog</span></a> is a colloquial term that
describes a state of mental sluggishness or lack of clarity and haziness that
makes it difficult to concentrate, remember things and think clearly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fast-forward four years and there is now abundant evidence
that being infected with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02001-z"><span style="color: #101010;">can
affect brain health in many ways</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In addition to brain fog, COVID-19 can lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02521-2"><span style="color: #101010;">an
array of problems</span></a>, including headaches, seizure disorders, strokes,
sleep problems, and tingling and paralysis of the nerves, as well as <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-068993"><span style="color: #101010;">several
mental health disorders</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A large and growing body of evidence amassed throughout the
pandemic details the many ways that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0867"><span style="color: #101010;">COVID-19
leaves an indelible mark</span></a> on the brain. But the specific
pathways by which the virus does so are still being elucidated, and curative
treatments are nonexistent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, two new studies published in the New England Journal
of Medicine shed further light on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMe2400189"><span style="color: #101010;">profound
toll of COVID-19 on cognitive health</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DtuRVcUAAAAJ"><span style="color: #101010;">physician scientist</span></a>, and I have been devoted
to studying <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-covid-symptoms-nih-study/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab4i"><span style="color: #101010;">long COVID</span></a> since early patient reports
about this condition – even before the term "long COVID" was coined.
I have testified before the U.S. Senate as <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/addressing-long-covid-advancing-research-and-improving-patient-care"><span style="color: #101010;">an expert witness on long COVID</span></a> and
have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=search_authors&hl=en&mauthors=label:long_covid"><span style="color: #101010;">published extensively</span></a> on this topic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How COVID-19 leaves its
mark on the brain<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some of the most important studies to date
documenting how COVID-19 affects brain health:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Large
epidemiological analyses showed that people who had COVID-19 were at
an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02001-z"><span style="color: #101010;">increased risk of cognitive deficits</span></a>,
such as memory problems.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Imaging studies
done in people before and after their COVID-19 infections show <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04569-5"><span style="color: #101010;">shrinkage
of brain volume</span></a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/even-mild-cases-of-covid-19-can-leave-a-mark-on-the-brain-such-as-reductions-in-gray-matter-a-neuroscientist-explains-emerging-research-178499"><span style="color: #101010;">altered brain structure after infection</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A study of
people with mild to moderate COVID-19 showed significant prolonged
inflammation of the brain and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2217232120"><span style="color: #101010;">changes
that are commensurate with seven years of brain aging</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Severe COVID-19
that requires hospitalization or intensive care may result in cognitive
deficits and other brain damage that are <a href="https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3818580/v1"><span style="color: #101010;">equivalent to 20 years of aging</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Laboratory
experiments in human and mouse brain <a href="https://hsci.harvard.edu/organoids"><span style="color: #101010;">organoids</span></a> designed
to emulate changes in the human brain showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection
triggers the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg2248"><span style="color: #101010;">fusion of brain cells</span></a>. This effectively
short-circuits brain electrical activity and compromises function.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Autopsy studies
of people who had severe COVID-19 but died months later from other causes
showed that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05542-y"><span style="color: #101010;">the virus was still present in brain tissue</span></a>.
This provides evidence that contrary to its name, SARS-CoV-2 is not only a
respiratory virus, but it can also enter the brain in some individuals.
But whether the persistence of the virus in brain tissue is driving some
of the brain problems seen in people who have had COVID-19 is not yet
clear.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Studies show
that even when the virus is mild and exclusively confined to the lungs, it
can still provoke inflammation in the brain and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.06.008"><span style="color: #101010;">impair
brain cells' ability to regenerate</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">COVID-19 can
also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01576-9"><span style="color: #101010;">disrupt the blood brain barrier</span></a>, the
shield that protects the nervous system – which is the control and command
center of our bodies – making it "leaky." Studies using imaging
to assess the brains of people hospitalized with COVID-19 showed disrupted
or leaky blood brain barriers in those who experienced brain fog.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A large
preliminary analysis pooling together data from 11 studies encompassing
almost 1 million people with COVID-19 and more than 6 million uninfected
individuals showed that COVID-19 <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4716751"><span style="color: #101010;">increased the risk of development of new-onset
dementia</span></a> in people older than 60 years of age.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Autopsies have revealed devastating damage in the brains of
people who died with COVID-19.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drops in IQ<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most recently, a new study published in the New England
Journal of Medicine <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2311330"><span style="color: #101010;">assessed cognitive abilities</span></a> such as
memory, planning and spatial reasoning in nearly 113,000 people who had
previously had COVID-19. The researchers found that those who had been infected
had significant deficits in memory and executive task performance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This decline was evident among those infected in the early
phase of the pandemic and those infected when the Delta and Omicron <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-symptoms-jn1-variant-winter-wave/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab4i"><span style="color: #101010;">variants</span></a> were dominant. These findings
show that the risk of cognitive decline did not abate as the pandemic virus
evolved from the ancestral strain to omicron.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the same study, those who had mild and resolved COVID-19
showed cognitive decline equivalent to a three-point loss of IQ. In comparison,
those with unresolved persistent symptoms, such as people with persistent
shortness of breath or fatigue, had a six-point loss in IQ. Those who had been
admitted to the intensive care unit for COVID-19 had a nine-point loss in IQ.
Reinfection with the virus contributed an additional two-point loss in IQ, as
compared with no reinfection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Generally the average IQ is about 100. An IQ above 130
indicates a highly gifted individual, while an IQ below 70 generally indicates
a level of intellectual disability that may require significant societal
support.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To put the finding of the New England Journal of Medicine
study into perspective, I estimate that a three-point downward shift in IQ
would increase the number of U.S. adults with an IQ less than 70 from 4.7
million to 7.5 million – an increase of 2.8 million adults with a level of
cognitive impairment that requires significant societal support.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another study in the same issue of the New England Journal
of Medicine involved more than 100,000 Norwegians between March 2020 and April
2023. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2311200"><span style="color: #101010;">documented worse memory function</span></a> at
several time points up to 36 months following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Parsing the implications<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taken together, these studies show that COVID-19 poses a
serious risk to brain health, even in mild cases, and the effects are now being
revealed at the population level.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A recent analysis of the U.S. Current Population Survey
showed that after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 1 million
working-age Americans reported having "serious difficulty"
remembering, concentrating or making decisions than at any time in the
preceding 15 years. Most disconcertingly, this was mostly driven by younger
adults between the ages of 18 to 44.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Data from the European Union shows a similar trend – in
2022, 15% of people in the EU <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20240129-1"><span style="color: #101010;">reported memory and concentration issues</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking ahead, it will be critical to identify who is most
at risk. A better understanding is also needed of how these trends might affect
the educational attainment of children and young adults and the economic
productivity of working-age adults. And the extent to which these shifts will
influence the epidemiology of dementia and Alzheimer's disease is also not
clear.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The growing body of research now confirms that COVID-19
should be considered a virus with a significant impact on the brain. The
implications are far-reaching, from individuals experiencing cognitive
struggles to the potential impact on populations and the economy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lifting the fog on the true causes behind these cognitive
impairments, including brain fog, will require years if not decades of
concerted efforts by researchers across the globe. And unfortunately, nearly
everyone is a test case in this unprecedented global undertaking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ziyad-al-aly-513663" style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: #101010;">Ziyad Al-Aly</span></i></a><i style="font-family: inherit;"> is chief of research
and development at VA St. Louis Health Care System and a clinical
epidemiologist at </i><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/washington-university-in-st-louis-732" style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: #101010;">Washington University in St. Louis</span></i></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><img alt="*" height="20" src="file:///C:/Users/iamex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif" width="20" /></span></span><i><span style="color: black;">This
article is republished from </span></i><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/"><i><span style="color: #101010;">The
Conversation</span></i></a><i> under a Creative Commons license. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><img alt="*" height="20" src="file:///C:/Users/iamex/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif" width="20" /><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-62016530400015453342024-02-29T10:45:00.000-06:002024-02-29T10:45:08.261-06:00I am going to miss our friendship of 57 years<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijEJO3jXs6M9AoLSbvay2Ph_nisRCCgAaMbNScLoqfVpATfUXQ5Yy12U2gxO9hbYxcmgLMrfvSGm6K99U0JPIgY6AIi4qyAZ4C6LBZvc-RucgN4_8NUoMRSzsy9zgIYTd6FNmCcn3RqyEjRvMriBIVHgVBB3GcPi3cbemwsh96-337zFpWqYfV2aLAcqmz/s960/Joe%20Oliva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijEJO3jXs6M9AoLSbvay2Ph_nisRCCgAaMbNScLoqfVpATfUXQ5Yy12U2gxO9hbYxcmgLMrfvSGm6K99U0JPIgY6AIi4qyAZ4C6LBZvc-RucgN4_8NUoMRSzsy9zgIYTd6FNmCcn3RqyEjRvMriBIVHgVBB3GcPi3cbemwsh96-337zFpWqYfV2aLAcqmz/w300-h400/Joe%20Oliva.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-33192647855317978392024-02-29T07:10:00.004-06:002024-02-29T07:13:25.359-06:00"The Supreme Court Gut-Punched Us"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHyAM0vBH2iCW5YlwpMlEZNbkX9_dOWc5kFQGI9-B4CpNbGEHwgTuGycAMVw9H4Yq_sXMi5ee_a0b96RKuwtgMRjYtqYUupTdgle4o-ZqOp3wUlFi492IHsLph3G892_65-7775cH-F_U3o6b5uoGVwW3DRSm6xRgsqlPOZ5lJ4rBEEZbzvleHV5CMhY2n/s828/Scotus%207.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="828" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHyAM0vBH2iCW5YlwpMlEZNbkX9_dOWc5kFQGI9-B4CpNbGEHwgTuGycAMVw9H4Yq_sXMi5ee_a0b96RKuwtgMRjYtqYUupTdgle4o-ZqOp3wUlFi492IHsLph3G892_65-7775cH-F_U3o6b5uoGVwW3DRSm6xRgsqlPOZ5lJ4rBEEZbzvleHV5CMhY2n/w400-h272/Scotus%207.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">[Yesterday] afternoon, the Supreme Court told us that it will hear
Trump's presidential immunity appeal. After sitting on it for two and a half
weeks, they've issued a brief grant of certiorari, scheduling argument for the
week of April 22. It’s a major disappointment for people who believe justice
can be done and presidents are not above the law. And understand, this is not
about politics. This is not about using a criminal prosecution in an unfair way
against a candidate for office. This is about seeking justice and
accountability, the core functions of our criminal justice system. “Justice
delayed is justice denied” is the earworm that’s burning through my brain </span><span style="color: darkblue;">tonight</span><span style="color: #404040;">...</span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are two important things to take note of:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 60.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 60pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #404040;">The timeline: Instead of
the quick briefing schedule that we saw on the 14th Amendment case or the fast
action in <i>Bush v. Gore</i>, the Court won’t hear argument in this case
until </span><span style="color: darkblue;">April 22</span><span style="color: #404040;">. Trump’s brief is due on </span><span style="color: darkblue;">March 19</span><span style="color: #404040;">. The government’s
response is due </span><span style="color: darkblue;">April 8</span><span style="color: #404040;">. Trump’s reply is set for </span><span style="color: darkblue;">April 15</span><span style="color: #404040;">. The issues have
already been fully briefed before both the district court and the court of
appeals, which means that the parties are essentially prepared to file their
briefs in the Supreme Court. The case could have been handled much more
quickly, especially because the issue before the Court isn’t difficult: either
presidents can commit crimes to stay in office or they can’t. The timeline here
was a choice, made by the Justices. They chose to give Donald Trump at least
two more months of delay. We don’t know how a specific Justice votes on a cert
grant. But we do know that at least five Justices voted to hear this case
because while it only takes four votes to grant cert, it take five to grant a
stay, and the Court’s order, above, continues the stay in the trial court while
the appeal is underway.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 60.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 60pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 60.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 60pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #404040;">The Court, as it does,
specified the precise issue it will consider. The question is “whether and if
so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from
criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure
in office.” Rather than considering whether the indictment charges acts that
were outside the scope of Trump’s official duties, the Court is looking at
whether he can be prosecuted for “official acts,” which lines up with the way
the Court of Appeals decided the case. The distinction between Trump’s official
conduct as president and other conduct, for instance, work done by <i>candidate</i> Trump
in the course of running for office, is one the government has raised in
several other contexts, arguing that Trump’s election interference was not
official conduct, so it cannot be cloaked in presidential immunity. That line
of argument seems to be off the Court’s plate based on how they phrased the
issue. But put a marker down on this point—we may see it resurface in briefs or
elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What does the Supreme Court’s decision mean? It’s
increasingly unlikely we’ll have a trial, let alone a verdict in this case,
before the election. SCOTUS may ultimately—and certainly should—rule against
Trump, but they've given him a huge win on the clock, unless they decide the
case as soon as it’s argued.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Could they decide the case immediately following oral
argument? Sure, anything is possible. But it took the Court 16 days just to
grant certiorari here. Writing an opinion, which can involve a majority
opinion, concurrences, and dissents, is infinitely more complicated. The
Supreme Court can move quickly, but it has shown little desire to in this
matter. It could have heard this case directly on appeal from the district
court—the Special Counsel asked them to, and they declined. They could have
expedited the briefing schedule here and put it on a much tighter timeline. But
they didn’t. Nothing here has happened particularly fast.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And in the meantime, everything in the district court is on
hold. That stay means that no progress is being made on discovery, pre-trial
motions, and rulings that need to be made before this case can go to trial.
Judge Tanya Chutkan has promised to restore something like 88 days for Trump to
complete his trial preparation after the appeal is decided and the case is
remanded to her, restoring the time he’s lost between when the case was stayed
and when it was supposed to go to trial so he’s not prejudiced. We can all do
that math on what that means for when this case makes it to trial.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">In a typical year, the Supreme Court issues its opinions by
the end of June, often saving the most important cases for the last few days of
the term. On occasion, they go into July. Allowing for some time for the
mandate to issue and a case to be returned to the trial court, and accounting
for the fact that many states have early voting that begins as far as
forty-five days out (Minnesota), forty-three (Pennsylvania) forty-two
(Virginia), thirty-nine (Michigan), twenty-four (Arizona), or nineteen (Georgia),
people will probably be casting their votes before they learn whether Donald
Trump has been convicted on the election interference charges. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">In some of the
most closely contested states, voting begins well in advance of the </span><span style="color: darkblue;">November 5</span><span style="color: #404040;"> general election
date. Jack Smith has suggested his case would take about three months to try,
although that may slim down in practice—prosecutors tend to err on the side of
overestimating to avoid having an angry judge if the trial takes longer than
estimated. Nonetheless, the clock is running out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Americans deserve a trial before the election. The chances
we will get it are slipping away. Nothing about the Supreme Court’s pace so far
suggests they're in a hurry or will be when it comes to issuing an opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">This isn't a hard case. The substantive argument Trump
makes—that presidents are entitled to absolute immunity from criminal
prosecution for anything they do in office and more specifically, for trying to
steal an election—has to be a loser. As we’ve discussed before, if it’s not,
our claim to be a democracy is no longer viable. Presidents would be forever
above the law. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">There’s always a chance the Court could decide the appeal
quickly and the case could be tried in advance of the election, but there are
no guarantees, and I'm not here </span><span style="color: darkblue;">tonight</span><span style="color: #404040;"> to be a Pollyanna. Yes, there’s
a path that gets us there in time, and it is so clearly what justice demands.
But it’s important to be realistic and to look objectively at the tea leaves
the Court has given us to read about the lack of urgency it feels to decide
this appeal quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some folks have suggested that the Special Counsel could
ask Judge Chutkan, once the case is back in front of her, to give Trump less
than the 88 days she previously committed to for trial preparation. That’s a
dangerous strategy. It could set up an argument that Trump could use
successfully on appeal if he’s convicted unless there’s a sound justification
for forcing him to trial with insufficient time to prepare based on the Judge’s
initial assessment of what he needed. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If there’s anything that would be worse
for the country than not having this trial before the election, if would be a
conviction that is reversed on appeal. Trump would burn the country down,
exacting retribution and demanding a do-over for an election that was “stolen”
from him. The right path forward is for the Supreme Court to do its job and
decide this appeal promptly. Unfortunately, they don’t seem inclined to do so.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s where the Supreme Court has left us: People in some
of the key states are likely to be finalizing decisions about who to vote for
while a trial is still ongoing or perhaps even before it begins. A verdict
could happen only after some or all of the country votes. The Supreme Court’s
message to us is, “Hey voters, we’re leaving this up to you.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We can hope for the best—a fast decision on immunity and a
timely trial—but we should take the Court’s message seriously. This election
may well be up to us, the voters, without any input from a jury as to whether
Donald Trump criminally interfered with the 2020 election. But we did get it
done in 2020. We need to get ready to do it again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #404040;">In January, I </span><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/1232e43c-7637-49b8-a77c-22ebc53d8421?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">wrote to you</span></a></span><span style="color: #404040;">: “Donald Trump will end American democracy if he’s
reelected. He will corrupt our country for his own benefit. He has not made a
secret of it. The only question is whether enough of our fellow citizens will
be aware of what the 2024 election means for the future and care enough when we
go to the polls to prevent Trump from returning to power. The small steps that
we take during the next few months will pay big dividends.” </span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: darkblue;">Today</span><span style="color: #404040;">, Liz Cheney said in an
interview on the </span><span style="color: darkblue;">Today</span><span style="color: #404040;"> Show that Trump will never leave office if he's
elected president again and that Republicans need to “do whatever it takes to
make sure that Donald Trump is defeated in 2024," including potentially
voting for Biden.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of you have given up on friends and family who
continue to support the former president. I think now is the time to reengage,
to have respectful conversations about their views in hopes they’ll let you
share some of yours. We can choose carefully. Sometimes, it’s enough to plant
seeds of doubt that can grow further on their own. I’m seeing that happen with
more frequency. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A friend who has always voted Republican, who twice voted for
Trump, now says that not only will he not vote for Trump again, instead of just
staying home he’s going to vote for Biden because he’s realized he cares more
about the country than he does about the Republican party.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">Sometimes, people are quietly paying attention to you all
along. Different issues resonate with different people, but Trump provides us
with a full deck of options for exposing how unsuitable he is to lead the
country. Take your pick: lying, cheating, stealing nuclear secrets. So let’s
get going. Yes, the Supreme Court gut-punched us </span><span style="color: darkblue;">today</span><span style="color: #404040;">. Let’s get right back
up and get to work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Were in this together,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joyce Vance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-61377642649338937522024-02-28T08:29:00.002-06:002024-02-28T08:33:22.608-06:00There Are Foreign Troops in Ukraine<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFIKRa8SI2pt7R3K7MOD3ccpLYXKjxFdLcIVB9Ct5hdoKt7swjvgFTHUm_856wl0LdEAS9SJlI-GhTHRw8l5ifJHoP-mzhJeiWDvGOCmtKUEXbnJg4U42CFKNV6F_9WPO9iNiaThVdhYo_w98P6zEBz8pm3iG-YSl0DpXj-2ml0rT8VS8WwI5z8ak7KeJ/s780/Foreign%20Troops%20in%20Ukraine.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="780" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFIKRa8SI2pt7R3K7MOD3ccpLYXKjxFdLcIVB9Ct5hdoKt7swjvgFTHUm_856wl0LdEAS9SJlI-GhTHRw8l5ifJHoP-mzhJeiWDvGOCmtKUEXbnJg4U42CFKNV6F_9WPO9iNiaThVdhYo_w98P6zEBz8pm3iG-YSl0DpXj-2ml0rT8VS8WwI5z8ak7KeJ/w400-h236/Foreign%20Troops%20in%20Ukraine.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">“Nothing should be ruled out,” French
President Emmanuel Macron said in comments that triggered </span><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f8e/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/9/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">a mini continental uproar</span></a>. Macron was <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f8f/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/10/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">briefing reporters</span></a> on
the sidelines of a Monday meeting with 25 European leaders in Paris on their
continued support for Ukraine as it resists Russia’s invasion. Kyiv has
suffered recent battlefield setbacks as it grapples with shortages in munitions
and workforce. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico,
whose views are more sympathetic to the Kremlin than many of his peers, had
earlier suggested that there were European countries “prepared to send their
own troops to Ukraine” — a revelation that was put to other European officials
in attendance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Officials from the United States,
Germany, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic and a number of other NATO
countries <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f90/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/11/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">all dismissed the suggestion</span></a> that
they were considering sending troops. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">But Macron chose <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f8f/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/12/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">“strategic ambiguity” </span></a>and
stressed the importance of not allowing Russia to win the war. “I remind you
that two years ago, many around this table were saying: ‘We’re going to offer
sleeping bags and helmets,’” he told reporters at the Paris meeting. “Today
they’re saying: ‘We’ve got to go faster and harder to get missiles and tanks.’
They have the humility to realize that we have often been six to 12 months
behind schedule. That was the aim of tonight’s discussion. So anything is
possible if it helps us achieve our goal.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Kremlin authorities seized on Macron’s
remarks, arguing that NATO troops in Ukraine would prefigure a direct armed
confrontation with Russia. “In this case, we would need to talk not about its
likelihood, but about its inevitability,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f91/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/15/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">said</span></a>, referring to the
prospect of a wider war.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Russian President Vladimir Putin still
casts the conflict as a proxy battle with the West that Moscow claims is
propping up Kyiv. But Western governments have been at pains to maintain a
plausible distance from the war, no matter their robust support for Ukraine’s
defense. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f92/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/16/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">Leaked documents</span></a> last
year confirmed that some NATO countries — including the United States, Britain
and France — had deployed small numbers of special forces and military advisers
to Ukraine in unspecified roles probably related to logistical support work and
training. The United States’ CIA has funded and partially equipped <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f93/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/17/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">a sprawling network of spy bases
across Ukraine</span></a> that aid Kyiv’s efforts to track Russian troop
movements and target the Kremlin’s prized military assets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"><b>Whatever these footprints, the deeper
reality of the war in Ukraine is that there already are plenty of foreign
fighters on both sides. </b></span><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine
two years ago, thousands of sympathetic volunteers — largely from the West and
post-Soviet states — enlisted under Kyiv’s banner. </span><span style="color: #333333;">The </span><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f94/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/18/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">international legion</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"> that
emerged has been deployed across the front lines and in some of the war’s most
grinding battles. It comprises a motley cast of ideological die-hards, grizzled
warriors and mercenaries for hire. Some have earned social media fame for their
impassioned dispatches from the war zone. <b>At least 50 American citizens — the
majority former U.S. military veterans — have been killed in Ukraine.</b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><b>Though official numbers are a bit
murky, some <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/18/foreign-fighters-war-ukraine-volunteers/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_todayworld&utm_campaign=wp_todays_worldview&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3ce4f95%2F65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1%2F63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e%2F19%2F84%2F65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">20,000 foreigners</span></a> from
over 50 nationalities make up Ukraine’s international legion, according to
Ukrainian officials. </b>Last week, amid mounting concerns over troop shortages,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f96/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/20/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">issued a decree</span></a> allowing
foreign nationals legally residing in the country to enter the National Guard,
the military branch of the Ukraine’s interior minister. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He also <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f97/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/21/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">proposed legislation last month</span></a> making
it easier for foreign nationals defending Ukraine to receive citizenship. Other
volunteer brigades fighting for Ukraine include detachments of Belarusian
fighters <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f98/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/22/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">opposed</span></a> to the
Putin-backed dictatorship in Minsk, <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f99/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/23/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">anti-Kremlin Russians</span></a> and <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f9a/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/24/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">ethnically Turkic nationals</span></a> from
Russia, and post-Soviet states like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><b>Russia, despite a massive demographic
advantage, has faced its own workforce challenges over the course of the
conflict. Its waves of mobilization pooled in unprepared conscripts from
far-flung regions of the country and hardened convicts from its jails.
</b>Infamously, soldiers from the Wagner organization, a state-backed mercenary
company, participated in what was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/25/putin-wagner-damage-challenge-image/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_todayworld&utm_campaign=wp_todays_worldview&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3cce3db%2F65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1%2F63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e%2F25%2F84%2F65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">a short-lived putsch last June</span></a> amid
internal anger over the management of the war.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">Last month, Putin <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f9b/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/27/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">issued a
decree</span></a> fast-tracking citizenship for foreign nationals who
signed military contracts to fight in the “special military operation” in
Ukraine. Russian authorities have allegedly carried out police raids on Central
Asian migrant homes in various cities, where those detained are sometimes
pressured to enlist, <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f9b/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/28/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">according to
the Associated Press</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"><b>Russia has
reached out much further afield to boost its ranks</b></span><span style="color: #333333;"><b>.</b> Nationals from Syria, Cuba,
Nepal and India have all reportedly been deployed on the Russian side of the
war. Some of these people were duped by human traffickers; others joined the
war out of sheer desperation to help their families make ends meet. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">Their
presence belies the constant state propaganda produced by the Kremlin, <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f9c/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/29/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">detailing
accounts</span></a> of Russian forces capturing or <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f9d/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/30/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">“eliminating”
foreign mercenaries</span></a> fighting for Ukraine in a bid to underscore
the supposed illegitimacy of Kyiv’s government.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">A number of recent
stories chart the tangled, tragic global fault lines of the war. Reuters <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f9e/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/31/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">traced the
journeys</span></a> of Cubans from Havana’s depressed environs who
encountered recruiters on social media, and then left for Russia and later
Ukraine. The Nepali government has asked Russia to send back hundreds of Nepali
nationals recruited to fight for them in the war. </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4f9f/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/32/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">According to officials in Kathmandu</span></a>,
more than 200 Nepalis have gone to Ukraine’s battlefields and at least 14 have
been killed, while a number of others are in Ukrainian custody. Other analysts
say the real number of Nepalis sent to fight for Russia in Ukraine is much
higher, <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa0/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/33/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">perhaps in
the thousands</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">For poor Nepalis,
the prospect of a salary at $2,000 a month and potential access to a passport
with more possibility for mobility than their own is a strong sell. But
returning fighters have detailed horror stories where they and other foreigners
were <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa1/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/34/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">sent into
battle as cannon fodder</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">“I didn’t join the
Russian military for pleasure. I didn’t have any job opportunities in Nepal,”
Ramchandra Khadka, 37, who returned to Nepal after sustaining injuries in
Ukraine, <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa1/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/35/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">told CNN</span></a>.
“But in hindsight, it wasn’t the right decision. We didn’t realize we would be
sent to the frontlines that quickly and how horrible the situation would be.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><b>The Hindu, a
leading Indian newspaper, documented how at least 100 Indians were recruited by
the Russian military as “army security helpers.” </b>Some had <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa3/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/38/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">no idea</span></a> the
contracts they signed would place them in the firing line; a group of Indians
digging trenches for Russian troops in the Donetsk region were it by <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa2/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/39/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">a Ukrainian
missile strike last week</span></a>, killing at least one Indian national.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa3/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/40/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">Speaking to
the BBC</span></a>, a man from Indian Kashmir described injuring himself while
training near the occupied city of Mariupol with 10 people from India, Nepal
and Cuba. “I had never touched a gun,” he <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa3/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/41/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">told the
British outlet</span></a>. “It was extremely cold, and with the gun in my left
hand, I ended up shooting my foot.”</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">Ukraine
has also seen a surge in fighters from the Global South.</span><span style="color: #333333;"> The Associated Press <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa4/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/42/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">delved into
how numerous former soldiers in Colombia</span></a>, which maintains one of the
largest standing armies in Latin America, have entered the international
legion.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">Their deployments
lack the ideological zeal of the foreign legionaries who flocked to Ukraine in
the early months of the war. “They’re like the Latin American migrants who go
to the U.S. in search of a better future,” a Colombian ex-combat medic who has trained
departing mercenaries <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/3ce4fa4/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1/63d729cc4faed6188859ad6e/43/84/65debf1259014369ad1b5ac1" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333;">told the AP</span></a>.
“These are not volunteers who want to defend another country’s flag. They are
simply motivated by economic need.”</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">-Ishaan Tharoor
& Sammy Westfall, Washington Post<br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-45722176925825966312024-02-25T09:31:00.001-06:002024-02-25T09:31:27.194-06:00"Either step it up and make Ukraine win, or let it lose – and prepare to fight on your soil"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWJ3nvCGDxoMO6DkjhbOVbsuFyp6kA2C-iktN3I_KWyVtOr-9GYGJa5sGJ_gleUgSUeUK2sZets7-2E0WAfpBw2t-Zz3zJb3zv_WDVUdNK_LT3AHAhnJDeBfJP8Q_hb6ZY8f5nStdEIFq-CnvbS2c-wB7wJ3GIQMG6q4maX_BHPo5St0GBJJmpVKdcfTn/s1240/Ukraine%2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1240" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWJ3nvCGDxoMO6DkjhbOVbsuFyp6kA2C-iktN3I_KWyVtOr-9GYGJa5sGJ_gleUgSUeUK2sZets7-2E0WAfpBw2t-Zz3zJb3zv_WDVUdNK_LT3AHAhnJDeBfJP8Q_hb6ZY8f5nStdEIFq-CnvbS2c-wB7wJ3GIQMG6q4maX_BHPo5St0GBJJmpVKdcfTn/w400-h266/Ukraine%2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>
</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We all have come a long way since that <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/putin-declares-war-on-ukraine/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">morning</span></b></a> of Feb.
24, 2022. From the initial shock of waking up to the sound of air strikes on
our cities, through the sense of immense pride encouraged by the <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/we-pushed-and-they-collapsed-how-ukraine-liberated-russias-last-holdout-in-kharkiv-oblast/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">victories</span></b></a> of
2022, to the gloomy days of two difficult winters and the failed <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/this-week-in-ukraine-ep-26-is-the-counteroffensive-almost-over/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">counteroffensive</span></b></a> of
2023.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some things have remained unchanged. Ukrainians still want to <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/2-years-of-russia-full-scale-war/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">fight till the end</span></b></a>.
The accumulated exhaustion, loss, and pain haven’t converted into the desire to
surrender.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Russia’s goal of exterminating the Ukrainian nation has also
gone unchanged. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin continues to say that Ukraine’s
existence is a mistake. This leaves Ukrainians with no other choice than to
fight for their survival in a war they never wanted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Let’s get one thing clear.</b> When we write “<a href="https://kyivindependent.com/tag/russia/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Russia</span></b></a>” we don’t just mean the Kremlin
or Putin’s regime. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Russians
who support his war. They fight in it, they pay for it, they make weapons for
it, and in March they will once again vote for Putin to continue to lead them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The view of the Russian people as an oppressed nation forced to
fight is absurdly incorrect. There is plenty of sincere support for Putin’s
policies toward Ukraine. But there are some things that, two years in, aren’t
so certain anymore. The most important of them is this: How serious the West is
in its support of Ukraine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since
February 2022, Ukraine’s Western partners have held back on delivering certain
types of military assistance to Ukraine, apparently out of fear of Russian
escalation. They would then relent and announce they would provide the weapons.
Those delays are measured in the lives of Ukrainians gone forever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reluctance turned into obstinance in 2023 as aid for Ukraine
became politically weaponized in Europe and North America — where critically
needed aid for Kyiv to the tune of $61 billion is still tied up in the U.S.
Congress.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Germany refuses to send Ukraine its long-range Taurus missiles
on grounds that remain elusive to those of us paying attention.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers are <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/on-the-front-line-of-ukraines-shell-hunger-as-effects-of-congress-blockade-bite/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">literally running out of ammunition
on the battlefield</span></b></a>. The recent loss of one of Ukraine’s major
strongholds in Donetsk Oblast, Avdiivka, is highly likely the result of
Ukrainian forces’ inability to achieve parity with Russian troops in
ammunition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>All of this leads to the painful question, but one we must ask:
Could the West let Ukraine fall – if not on purpose, but due to sheer neglect
and breakdown of their resolve – and face the consequences of the whole world
order collapsing?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is no question of the Western allies' capabilities. Their
military and economic resources dwarf Russia’s. If they got behind Ukraine
100%, truly doing all they could, the war could have been over by now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The West needs to snap out of the myth of “Russia can’t be
defeated,” and stop seeing Russia as a giant whose fall would be too dangerous
for everyone. Russia has proven time and time again that it is already a danger
to everyone.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All these arguments may sound familiar, and indeed they aren’t
new – we all have heard them, or said them, many times in the past two years.
What’s changed is that we can’t afford to not hear them anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two years ago, we saw the abyss. Today, we are standing on
its edge. Make no mistake, Ukraine isn’t standing there alone. Yes, it might be
the closest one to the edge, but its fall will indubitably have a chain effect
that will drag everyone else down with it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There is still a way to stop it, but it requires brisk,
decisive actions from Ukraine’s friends around the world. The West has already
helped Ukraine a lot, but instead of dwelling on past achievements, Ukraine’s
allies need to face the reality that they were only half-measures, and now is
the time to rectify it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252324; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The U.S. Congress must finally bring the
$61-billion <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/tag/us-assistance-to-ukraine/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea;">Ukraine aid</span></b></a> for
a vote, even if one presidential candidate opposes it.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252324; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The West needs to provide all the game-changing
weapons that Ukraine needs – particularly more long-range missiles, jets,
and advanced air defense. There isn’t a minute to lose. The West's
inability – or unwillingness – to provide these key systems in time is
what has led us to this point, where cities like Avdiivka begin to fall
because basic shells are running out.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252324; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">NATO allies must provide a clear pathway to
Ukraine's accession to the alliance.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252324; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The West must come to an agreement on allocating
frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. Europe and the U.S. can tap the
immobilized assets to help Ukraine. It is clear that it is a question of
lack of political will.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252324; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The West has imposed a host of sanctions against
Russia, but they have largely failed to make a difference. Russia’s
economy still has plenty of resources to wage an indefinite war against
Ukraine. It needs to expand and strengthen the enforcement of sanctions.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252324; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a recent interview with the Kyiv Independent,
Josep Borrell said that the EU sanctions are not extraterritorial
and <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/borrell-we-cant-impose-sanctions-on-third-countries-that-help-russia/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea;">can't be applied to third
countries</span></b></a> not members of the union. That should be
changed. Existing rules and practices, established in the time of peace,
can’t be used as justification for inaction. A rule that is hindering
peace and enabling Russia must be changed. European companies should be
banned from operating in Russia.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252324; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of
terrorism and isolated. All trade with the country should be ceased. There
must be clear sanctions for the countries who choose to continue trade
with Russia, such as a ban on doing business with the two largest
economies in the world. The U.S. and the EU, alone, account for over 50%
of the world's economy. That kind of economic power can go a long way with
enough political will. </span></li>
</ul><div><span style="color: #252324;"><br /></span></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252324;">The U.S. and the EU have enough weapons to win this
war, and then some. Providing these weapons will save lives, end the war, boost
the West's economic output due to an increase in production, and what is
crucial for many will make sure that NATO member states won't see their people
die on the battlefield next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; orphans: 2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -.25in; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252324;">And
crucially, Western leaders need to lead by example. It often seems that the
West lacks resolve and those in power are scared to do the right thing when it
requires them to exit their decades-built comfort zone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; orphans: 2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -.25in; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252324;">"As
long as it takes" doesn't mean anything when the support provided is only
helping Ukraine hang on by a thread – and if it doesn’t change, even hanging by
a thread isn’t guaranteed. Western leaders need to set the record straight –
Ukraine must win, Russia must lose. It’s possible. This goal needs to have a
clear plan and a timeline; “as long as it takes” is neither.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; orphans: 2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -.25in; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252324;">In
its turn, the Ukrainian leadership must step up its game, both in terms of
governing and communication. Optimism can lift spirits, but not when it sharply
contrasts with reality. Ukrainians can handle the tough truth about the war.
Someone must take responsibility to clearly communicate the country’s plan for
mobilization, ending the mess and uncertainty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; orphans: 2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -.25in; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252324;">More
importantly, Ukrainian leadership needs to steer away from playing politics and
looking for opponents inside the country. Things like <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/case-against-investment-banker-points-to-increasing-pressure-on-business-in-ukraine/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">pressure on business</span></b></a> and <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/recent-campaigns-against-journalists-raise-concerns-about-press-freedom-in-ukraine/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">attacks on journalists</span></b></a> play
into the West’s fears that Ukraine is becoming more authoritarian. The messy <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-dismisses-commander-in-chief-zaluzhnyi/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">firing</span></b></a> of Valery
Zaluzhnyi as commander-in-chief didn’t give the country any points, either.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; orphans: 2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: -.25in; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252324;">All
these steps can turn the course of events in favor of Ukraine and the free
world. The time of statements and piecemeal support is gone. Helping Ukraine
survive isn’t helping anymore. Either step it up and make Ukraine win, or let
it lose – and prepare to fight on your soil.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://kyivindependent.com/author/thekyivindependent/" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The Kyiv
Independent</span></b></a> Editorial<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-24962555920556324632024-02-25T09:15:00.000-06:002024-02-25T09:15:29.174-06:00A bombshell report reveals that taxpayers spent billions developing medicines that drugmakers say shouldn’t face Medicare price negotiations<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga95iY3LO0bTI4bEM_CaeD-PG-CoUxI3vv8SfSzAU0opQkO5rSMoUe3InXNUmQU0CGA5iDNS_zQAJJF2EjUJ5BypA7olsoQ0m6oPWHB0pzDJ8TI6rtZqTjgPX3f8-2yMkwcwrYmVwbh80B6K8lQ6_nzrQWT5oWnulPK8N-HDMLoBFh184YqZ5VVbrSZeXj/s615/Drug-Prices-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="615" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga95iY3LO0bTI4bEM_CaeD-PG-CoUxI3vv8SfSzAU0opQkO5rSMoUe3InXNUmQU0CGA5iDNS_zQAJJF2EjUJ5BypA7olsoQ0m6oPWHB0pzDJ8TI6rtZqTjgPX3f8-2yMkwcwrYmVwbh80B6K8lQ6_nzrQWT5oWnulPK8N-HDMLoBFh184YqZ5VVbrSZeXj/w400-h225/Drug-Prices-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the government begins its
first-ever price negotiations for a handful of medicines under Medicare, the
pharmaceutical industry has launched an all-out <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/29/drugmakers-trade-groups-push-back-against-medicare-drug-price-negotiations-00111936" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">legal</span></a> and <a href="https://www.levernews.com/big-pharmas-american-con/"><span style="color: black;">PR</span></a> <a href="https://www.levernews.com/pharma-giant-threatens-to-delay-drugs-over-new-price-controls/"><span style="color: black;">assault</span></a> on this meager attempt to control
out-of-control drug prices for the country’s most vulnerable. Big Pharma
reasons that the government <a href="https://phrma.org/resource-center/Topics/Access-to-Medicines/PhRMA-Statement-on-CMS-Initial-Price-Setting-Offer-to-Biopharmaceutical-Companies" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">has no place</span></a> setting
prices for the drugs developed by private companies. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But the government, and by extension
taxpayers, heavily subsidizes the development of drugs in this country. Now a
bombshell new report reveals that Americans funded the development of all 10
drugs up for price negotiations, shelling out a total of $11.7 billion on their
research. In 2022 alone, Big Pharma made $70 billion selling those same drugs —
and now they want to keep their prices sky high.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to the new study out of the
Center for Integration of Science and Industry at Bentley University, which has
not yet been published, the <span style="color: #388600;"><a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/08/29/hhs-selects-the-first-drugs-for-medicare-drug-price-negotiation.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #388600;">10 selected prescription drugs</span></a></span> received
anywhere from $227 million to $6.5 billion in funding from the government’s
National Institutes of Health (NIH) for crucial, foundational research. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“When the average taxpayer is paying
for the drug, it’s not just what’s being paid at the pharmacy,” said Fred
Ledley, professor of natural and applied sciences at Bentley and senior author
on the study. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These drugs, which are covered by
Medicare’s prescription drug benefit plan, are taken by 7.7 million enrollees,
most of them elderly, to treat conditions including blood clots, heart failure,
diabetes, autoimmune conditions, and chronic kidney disease. In 2022, Medicare
patients spent <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/4bf549a55308c3aadc74b34abcb7a1d1/ira-drug-negotiation-report.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">$3.4 billion</span></a> out of
pocket on these medications, a number that increased by 116 percent over a
four-year span. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From 2018 to 2022, out-of-pocket costs
for Medicare enrollees climbed for nine of the 10 drugs. The average annual
out-of-pocket cost for Stelara, an injectable drug that treats autoimmune
conditions, rose the most from $709 per enrollee to $2,058. For non-Medicare
U.S. patients, Stelara can be considerably more expensive, especially since
drugmakers charge <a href="https://www.levernews.com/big-pharmas-american-con/"><span style="color: black;">far higher prices</span></a> in this country than they
do elsewhere. A <span style="color: #388600;"><a href="https://www.cusd.com/Downloads/EBC_013020_US_v_Int_RX_Drug_Prices.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #388600;">2019 report</span></a></span> found
that the regular price for Stelara was $16,600 per dose in the United States,
compared to $2,900 per dose in the United Kingdom. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to the new report from
Bentley University, the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary that developed Stelara
received $6.5 billion in taxpayer funding for it — by far the most of any of
the medicines up for price negotiations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Total Medicare spending to pay for
enrollees’ use of these vital drugs more than <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/08/29/hhs-selects-the-first-drugs-for-medicare-drug-price-negotiation.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">doubled from about $20 billion in
2018 to $50.5 billion in 2023</span></a>. Paying for these particular drugs
accounted for roughly 20 percent of all Medicare spending on prescription drugs
between summer 2022 and spring 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the pharmaceutical industry’s main lobbying
group, said it could not comment on the specifics of a study it has not
reviewed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah Ryan, PhRMA’s senior manager of
public affairs, added in an email to <i>The Lever</i> that “while the
NIH plays a crucial role in fostering basic research, private industry
contributions, both financial and technical, are instrumental in turning
discoveries into fully developed therapies for patients. There is a rich body
of research documenting the nature of these complementary roles, which
overwhelmingly demonstrates that the private sector invests significantly more
and takes on far greater risk in drug development than the government.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After finalizing negotiations with the
drug manufacturers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which
oversees all federal health programs, will publish the agreed-upon drug prices
by Sept. 1, 2024, and the new prices will go into effect starting Jan. 1, 2026…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">Source URL:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: black; line-height: 115%;"> </span><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">https://portside.org/2024-02-24/americans-paid-11-billion-drugs-you-cant-afford</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-19148798906648224132024-02-24T08:29:00.001-06:002024-02-24T08:29:20.384-06:00Saturday Marks Two Years Since the Russian Invasion of Ukraine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh123uAx5A6b1cL49hAPC1-W6vuPnAHPaBcW0U72uwXWuQqXuMc50IYllqnWgUKe6X6eTiH609kKKlSjkT4jLppwhG-_gTkK0BAFSA0CGu-vMaw0vt5ZwV0cSa9gDJXxOx0DgPD3J4jUTlJN5IPeTJ4VBgAJ1Jaush178CBVmeNpeS5svzg4b3GUfFnNtOb/s1400/Ukraine%20Invasion.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh123uAx5A6b1cL49hAPC1-W6vuPnAHPaBcW0U72uwXWuQqXuMc50IYllqnWgUKe6X6eTiH609kKKlSjkT4jLppwhG-_gTkK0BAFSA0CGu-vMaw0vt5ZwV0cSa9gDJXxOx0DgPD3J4jUTlJN5IPeTJ4VBgAJ1Jaush178CBVmeNpeS5svzg4b3GUfFnNtOb/w400-h400/Ukraine%20Invasion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #000001; line-height: 115%;">On the evening
of </span><span style="color: darkblue; line-height: 115%;">23 February
2022</span><span style="color: #000001; line-height: 115%;">, I was in Kyiv eating
dinner at the home of the Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov. Andrey cooked
Borscht. He was optimistic; I wasn’t. I thought a terrible storm was coming.
At 11pm we hugged and said farewell. Out on the street, in the ancient centre
of the capital, I took a call from a well-placed Ukrainian contact. He told
me: “the invasion will begin at 4am.”<br />
<br />
At 4:30am, a colleague called to say Russian tanks had crossed the
international border and were heading our way.<br />
<br />
<b>There were explosions in the distance. We went to the hotel’s bomb
shelter. At breakfast, I donned my “PRESS” flak jacket and walked down to
Independence Square. Thousands were already fleeing to the border. It felt
like a moment in history and a dark turn for our century.</b><br />
<br />
What happened in Bucha still haunts me. I visited the city in </span><span style="color: darkblue; line-height: 115%;">April 2022</span><span style="color: #000001; line-height: 115%;">, days after the
Russians pulled out. Russian troops had gone from house to house, detaining,
torturing and executing men. Their bodies were left on the street and in
basements. The soldiers raped women and shot a female mayor.<br />
<br />
It’s hard to see so much destruction. In </span><span style="color: darkblue; line-height: 115%;">January 2022</span><span style="color: #000001; line-height: 115%;"> I travelled to Mariupol, just before the invasion. Some of the
people I met there disappeared. Russia laid waste to the city and has killed
between 20,000 and 100,000 people. Nobody knows the exact figure. We’ve seen
nothing like this since the second world war.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #000001; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We travel in a team in a Land Cruiser: I am with our Ukrainian driver Oleg,
security guard Jake and my photographer colleague Alessio Mamo. Within
shelling distance we wear helmets, flak jackets and ballistic glasses. We
have a special bond.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #000001; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The war, I fear,
won’t finish anytime soon. But I don't think we should be too doomy. Two
years ago most people believed Russia would occupy Kyiv and topple
Zelenskiy’s government. That didn’t happen and Ukraine has fought back. It
has liberated half of its territory and has driven Russia’s fleet from the
Black Sea. Last year’s Ukrainian counter-offensive failed and Russian
troops are moving forward. Last week they captured the city of Adviika. So
far, though, Ukraine has prevented large-scale enemy advances. Much depends
on the provision of weapons to Kyiv by the US, EU and UK.<br />
<br />
<b>Often we meet civilians living close to the frontline who carry on their
lives amid the booms and thumps. But society is pretty united. People want
Ukraine to be a member of the EU and Nato and a decent, ordinary,
progressive, democratic country. They believe in victory, even though this
seems far off. They are paying a huge price for freedom and the right to
live the way they want.</b><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #000001; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Luke Harding</b><br />
<i>Senior international correspondent<br />
The Guardian</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsR1pTsJA6Ly4icLMiOehx4R-obTfXVCLP8joIHx7YyMiOpMX-JBQN2-ht-y0-EA0iRA_OKT3WY26QtAE-WJCHwmdts7y90yrebVed0R53FB3bPcZ1zoNReGO2gXSzbCfspY5vxsKaFAKNMd7bAls9TNVALHCMi9DjFwp1Pog0QoBZGN341rS_pU4UILb/s275/Ukraine%20Bombed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsR1pTsJA6Ly4icLMiOehx4R-obTfXVCLP8joIHx7YyMiOpMX-JBQN2-ht-y0-EA0iRA_OKT3WY26QtAE-WJCHwmdts7y90yrebVed0R53FB3bPcZ1zoNReGO2gXSzbCfspY5vxsKaFAKNMd7bAls9TNVALHCMi9DjFwp1Pog0QoBZGN341rS_pU4UILb/w400-h266/Ukraine%20Bombed.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-57961315909915288042024-02-24T08:29:00.000-06:002024-02-24T08:29:12.397-06:00"In the past two years of war, we have all died a little" - Andriy Lyubka<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VO71To0OPZcXauZMIpmHLno8ldxKVfGJQIwt0FPqjReUQnfczURN9rXZmjpp7TnnYT3mSNlpDMXsi2QTR7W3NJoCCobm2QhNTUrSuuPB610bolEE4Oe_pyqj2-_wYeCUVBaQZX6PkOnZDROEEWabpwnWRSkYCPmp9e0ct1pv1ps106UWs5E-c6cdtaE1/s1024/Ukraine%20Opinion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VO71To0OPZcXauZMIpmHLno8ldxKVfGJQIwt0FPqjReUQnfczURN9rXZmjpp7TnnYT3mSNlpDMXsi2QTR7W3NJoCCobm2QhNTUrSuuPB610bolEE4Oe_pyqj2-_wYeCUVBaQZX6PkOnZDROEEWabpwnWRSkYCPmp9e0ct1pv1ps106UWs5E-c6cdtaE1/w400-h266/Ukraine%20Opinion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where were you that morning when the great war began?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's
my story: The war spoke to me with the distant rumble of explosions outside the
window, but I didn't believe it, thinking I was living a dream. Then, on the
second floor of my friends' house near Kyiv, the door slammed shut, and
slippers clattered down the stairs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The
war has started, the airspace has been closed," said Katia, the owner of
the house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
mentioned the airspace because I was supposed to fly to Vilnius two hours later
to present the translation of my novel. Her voice, after sleep, seemed rough
and masculine, hoarse and smoky. But in reality, it was the sound of primal
fear. A large dog stood in the kitchen in front of the window, looking into the
dark sky, barking nervously, listening to the sounds of rockets and warplanes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every
Ukrainian will forever remember the dark morning of Feb. 24, 2022, when the
full-scale invasion began. Some woke up to explosions, others to frightened
calls from their families – but everyone remembers that second to the last
detail. It's a memory that pierces through our entire lives. The commonality of
this experience makes us not just one people, but a closer, more intimate
community – something akin to a family. Because we experienced that moment
together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Afterward,
there were many different moments, alarms and tears, pain and anger, but those
first seconds remind me of a freeze frame. As if in a 3D program, I can recall
all the details around me: the air temperature, the glasses on the table from
the previous night's gathering, the clock hands above the door, the smell of
the dog in the room, the cool tiles on the floor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
was the most important moment of my life, after which everything went awry and
all plans were disrupted. Perhaps, I’ll remember just as piercingly and deeply
the moment when I hear that the war is over — if I live to see that moment, of
course.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two dreadful years have passed since then. What has changed
within us and around us? The most significant change is that we have become
accustomed to war — it is part of our lives, our daily routine. This is the
scariest change because we have acclimatized to something absolutely abnormal
and horrific. We have learned to live without paying attention to it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now,
when the air raid siren sounds in Kyiv, almost no one rushes to find the
nearest shelter – people continue to go about their usual business without
haste. Death has acquired the features of an ancient Greek tragedy where it is
now governed by fate and destiny. You have almost no influence over it — it may
happen that a missile will hit your house today, fall on the café where you
order your cappuccino, or destroy the station where you meet your friends.
It's practically impossible to protect yourself from this, so we have to
accept it as a daily possibility. “Thy will be done,” as we atheists say.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There
is a lot of death around. In the spring of '22, when the first coffins of
soldiers killed at the front were brought to my city, each death was felt as a
personal tragedy. As the hearse moved through the streets, people on the
sidewalks dropped to their knees, laying flowers on the pavement, and crowds
gathered at the funerals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now,
there's a whole section of military graves in the city cemetery, each adorned
with the Ukrainian flag. Relatives, colleagues from civilian life, and
front-line comrades accompany the coffin — it's usually a small procession.
People on the streets pause in respect, but they no longer cry or kneel. In
general, it's more comfortable for them to look away or rush into the nearest
store to avoid a personal encounter with the death of someone who sacrificed
their life for our right to live in the relatively peaceful rear.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't
rush to judge these people – they're not cynical or callous. It's just that
there's been so much death, pain, and grief in these past two years that tears
have been shed, the emotions have faded, and the shock of each new tragic news
story paralyzes us, only to quickly dissipate. Because you have to gather all
your strength and keep living — it's easy to go mad from the onslaught of
emotions and experiences. Sometimes I feel like we've all collectively gone
mad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm not exaggerating, believe me.
In <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/tag/kharkiv/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea;">Kharkiv</span></b></a>, after a Russian shelling, an
entire family perished – two parents and three children. The Russians attacked
an oil depot, causing a fuel leak that flowed down the street and ignited
dozens of houses in the residential area. It was a literal hell on Earth;
people burned alive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The father and one son were in the
hallway attempting to escape. The mother and her other two children in the
bathroom. The youngest son, Pavlo, was seven months old. His mother held him
close when they died. The baby was so badly burned during the fire that nothing
remained, not even his bones – just ashes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can one not go mad after such a
reality? Can one not go mad after such a reality? And have I truly gone mad if
my first thought was that it would have been better if it were a missile, so
that everyone would perish instantly? Because in the fire, everyone endured
fear and pain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Ukrainian soldier, who only returned
from Russian captivity on Jan. 31 after enduring humiliation and torture for
two years, was fatally struck by a truck at an intersection on Feb. 8. After
returning from captivity, he didn't even get the chance to see his daughter,
Valeriia Halkina, who now lives as a refugee in Lisbon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She wrote on her Instagram:
"Today my dad passed away. He wasn't killed by war, nor by a bullet, nor
by two years in captivity. He was just crossing the road and was hit by a car.
It's surreal. I can't believe this is real. I'm sorry for everything. I waited
for your call, as you promised, but I can't wait anymore…"<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These are not the most striking
stories from the war – just two pieces of news from the morning as I write this
piece. This is what everyday life has looked like for two consecutive years –
730 mornings in a row. Every day, civilians die – defenseless, innocent,
completely ordinary people, killed by Russia in a supermarket, on the street,
in their own homes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not only random civilians are dying –
Russia kills our soldiers every day. The world has accepted the idea that
military deaths are normal, that they are just statistics of war. But aren't
soldiers humans, too? Can they simply be killed by invading our country? Who
decided that killing soldiers is not a crime, and when?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Especially considering that the
Ukrainian army mainly consists of civilians, people who voluntarily went to
defend their country or were mobilized under state conscription. These people
had no military training before the invasion and were managers in offices, city
bus drivers, pizza chefs in trendy restaurants — just like you, reading these
lines now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Consider my friend Maksym Plesha, a
32-year-old artist whose lifestyle embodied that of a hippie — a true free
spirit. He earned his living by painting portraits of people on the streets and
restoring paintings in temples. He went to war as a volunteer, although he had
no military background. He was wounded twice and survived battles in <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/tag/bakhmut/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b3cea;">Bakhmut</span></b></a> last winter. After his
injuries, we joked that he had nine lives, like a cat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These extra lives saved him more than
once, but when the war continues every day for two consecutive years, not even
nine lives are enough to survive. Maksym was killed last year, and his handsome
body was brought to his funeral in a closed coffin because it was badly
mutilated. Is killing such a soldier a crime or not?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And now let's answer together the
question that I am asked very often in different countries: "Are you
currently writing fiction?" The answer is obvious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We live every day amid such a
whirlwind of stories that writing fiction capitulates to reality. No novel can
compete with the stream of everyday plots from the lives of ordinary
Ukrainians. I am not writing anything fictional and, in general, I do not think
about literature today as something imaginary or detached from life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;"><span style="color: #252324; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because the only function of Ukrainian
literature today is to witness, to describe fates, to document crimes. When I
wrote about Maksym, his relatives thanked me for the fact that, this way, the
memory of him will live a little longer and more people will learn about his
life. Literature becomes a kind of psychotherapy, helping to endure the
greatest losses, giving hope that all this is not in vain, that we will be
heard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These are not empty words: During the war, in the midst of a
deep economic crisis, the circulation of Ukrainian books doubled, and the book
market remained one of the few profitable ones in the country. It's a paradox,
but only at first glance — in times of turbulence and uncertainty, people need
books. The demand for books has increased because they're about people, about
human and intimate matters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To
be a writer in these times is both honorable and immensely challenging because
literature today does not entertain, but helps and saves. However, it also
poses a certain danger: If you have a large paper library in your apartment,
then during a missile strike, your dwelling will burn much faster than others —
firefighters may not have time to rescue you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But
this cannot be predicted. Over two years of war, as it has already been said,
we've learned to rely on fate and destiny. We've grown accustomed to the deaths
around us and accepted the possibility of our own sudden demise. We no longer
react as vehemently as we did before to terrible news — our emotional skin has
thickened. Or perhaps it has simply gradually withered away because, with each
day of horror, which our lives have turned into, we all slowly died, too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What
makes us human and normal has withered away within us. Everyone has become a
victim of the war – both those it has killed and those who have (so far) been
lucky enough to survive. Over two years, we've grown accustomed to war and
tragedies, and have started to consider it the new normal, a part of our
everyday lives. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And
that's the scariest part of it all. </span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #252324;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="color: #252324;">-Andriy Lyubka is a Ukrainian poet, essayist, and translator.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 115%; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-90115443248431196372024-02-23T09:49:00.006-06:002024-02-23T10:03:31.744-06:00Republican Christian Insanity<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXuTR1XM2ZRFqZP39ydjLUINSB_AFsBlcCxo_acc2sAacnWLI437HBhJLGVbWN4XeQ0SOXPqhDYwc7zXPzzcERiDZFbUV1H9Zi_JpruxoMRYJJKZbOlk9TtEWTnhn2BznGg_8ahuj3tLINB_Yyr-w4WwtxrK5LPrTYI88N4LcN7BA-yh0IseOTi1zFqNN/s275/Insanity.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXuTR1XM2ZRFqZP39ydjLUINSB_AFsBlcCxo_acc2sAacnWLI437HBhJLGVbWN4XeQ0SOXPqhDYwc7zXPzzcERiDZFbUV1H9Zi_JpruxoMRYJJKZbOlk9TtEWTnhn2BznGg_8ahuj3tLINB_Yyr-w4WwtxrK5LPrTYI88N4LcN7BA-yh0IseOTi1zFqNN/w400-h266/Insanity.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>
</p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;">The Alabama Supreme Court on </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT153_com_zimbra_date" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;">February 16</span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;">, 2024, decided that cells awaiting implantation for in vitro fertilization are children and that the accidental destruction of such an embryo falls under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. In an opinion concurring with the ruling, Chief Justice Tom Parker declared that the people of Alabama have adopted the “theologically based view of the sanctity of life” and said that “human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God.</span><span style="color: #404040;">”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">Payton Armstrong of media
watchdog </span><span style="color: #404040;">Medi</span></span><span style="color: #404040; font-family: inherit;">a Matters for America reported </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT154_com_zimbra_date" role="link" style="cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;">today</span></span></span><span style="color: #404040; font-family: inherit;"> that on the same day the Alabama decision came
down, an interview Parker did on the program of a self-proclaimed “prophet” and
Q-Anon conspiracy theorist appeared. In it, Parker claimed that “God created
government” and called it “heartbreaking” that “we have let it go into the
possession of others.” </span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Parker
referred to the “Seven Mountain Mandate,” a theory that appeared in 1975, which
claims that Christians must take over the “seven mountains” of U.S. life:
religion, family, education, media, entertainment, business…and government. He
told his interviewer that “we’ve abandoned those Seven Mountains and they’ve
been occupied by the other side.” God “is calling and equipping people to step
back into these mountains right now,” he said. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While
Republicans are split on the decision about embryos after a number of hospitals
have ended their popular IVF programs out of fear of prosecution, others, like
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley agreed that “embryos, to me, are
babies.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #404040;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xAEw0aWrIlxn5-wt1vQ5xD-_gyJFoefj9bgEsi7Orc26TnpO9Qpz627ez4G7MjDb2LoQYzyFKKCc7q1nAtlaXH5zdfkA2Clid0xps1nQgvzRSmfthxbVPUxJbb450l8z70kQxl4iS3t9oYNalu9Jdx-4k5NT0V6ajUg6yDaKW8UHwIaM3zJooOC5HqOK/s1930/Mike%20Johnson%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1930" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xAEw0aWrIlxn5-wt1vQ5xD-_gyJFoefj9bgEsi7Orc26TnpO9Qpz627ez4G7MjDb2LoQYzyFKKCc7q1nAtlaXH5zdfkA2Clid0xps1nQgvzRSmfthxbVPUxJbb450l8z70kQxl4iS3t9oYNalu9Jdx-4k5NT0V6ajUg6yDaKW8UHwIaM3zJooOC5HqOK/w299-h400/Mike%20Johnson%202.jpg" width="299" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">House
speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) identifies himself as a Christian, has argued that
the United States is a Christian nation, and has called for “biblically
sanctioned government.” At a retreat of Republican leaders this weekend, as the
country is grappling with both the need to support Ukraine and the need to fund
the government, he tried to rally the attendees with what some called a
“sermon” arguing that the Republican Party needed to save the country from its
lack of morality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As
Charles Blow of the <em>New York Times</em> put it: “If you don’t think this
country is sliding toward theocracy, you’re not paying attention.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
the United States, theocracy and authoritarianism go hand in hand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #404040;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiL-cM-H4gDtr1_GEH8PTjkHhXM8ISQrskQeBj-uISfyCuBmuwUzZP-mZwRh7qwQWVfESMbRPc8YejZ8CbM_9ck7E0RM3EvqG4mSMtiSmBSZgpmlAVx8umwNd4KguOi28o8b67fN6H08OJNsYbQchrdFulEyhscC5NPrKQNG2MnDB1eMXpLGrBlBB7Kr2I/s2560/James%20Madison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2560" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiL-cM-H4gDtr1_GEH8PTjkHhXM8ISQrskQeBj-uISfyCuBmuwUzZP-mZwRh7qwQWVfESMbRPc8YejZ8CbM_9ck7E0RM3EvqG4mSMtiSmBSZgpmlAVx8umwNd4KguOi28o8b67fN6H08OJNsYbQchrdFulEyhscC5NPrKQNG2MnDB1eMXpLGrBlBB7Kr2I/s320/James%20Madison.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
framers of the Constitution quite deliberately excluded religion from the U.S.
Constitution. As a young man, James Madison, the key thinker behind the
Constitution, had seen his home state of Virginia arrest itinerant preachers
for undermining the established church in the state. He came to believe that
men had a right to the free exercise of religion. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
1785, in a “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments,” he
explained that what was at stake was not just religion, but also representative
government itself. The establishment of one religion over others attacked a
fundamental human right—an unalienable right—of conscience. If lawmakers could
destroy the right of freedom of conscience, they could destroy all other
unalienable rights. Those in charge of government could throw representative
government out the window and make themselves tyrants.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
order to make sure men had the right of conscience, the framers added the First
Amendment to the Constitution. It read: “Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">Madison
was right to link religion and representative government. In the early years of
the nation, Americans zealously guarded the wall between the two. They strictly
limited the power of the federal government to reflect religion, refusing even
to permit the government to stop delivery of the U.S. mails on </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT155_com_zimbra_date" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;">Sunday</span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"> out of concern that Jews and Christians did
not share the same Sabbath, and the government could not choose one over the
other. The Constitution, a congressional report noted, gave Congress no
authority “to inquire and determine what part of time, or whether any has been
set apart by the Almighty for religious exercises.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But
the Civil War marked a change. As early as the 1830s, southern white enslavers
relied on religious justification for their hierarchical system that rested on
white supremacy. God, they argued, had made Black Americans for enslavement and
women for marriage, and society must recognize those facts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A
character in an 1836 novel written by a Virginia gentleman explained to a
younger man that God had given everyone a place in society. Women and Black
people were at the bottom, “subordinate” to white men by design. “All women
live by marriage,” he said. “It is their only duty.” Trying to make them equal
was a cruelty. “For my part,” the older man said, “I am well pleased with the
established order of the universe. I see…subordination everywhere. And when I
find the subordinate content…and recognizing his place…as that to which he
properly belongs, I am content to leave him there.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Confederacy rejected the idea of popular government, maintaining instead that a
few Americans should make the rules for the majority. As historian Gaines
Foster explained in his 2002 book <em>Moral Reconstruction</em>, which explores the
nineteenth-century relationship between government and morality, it was the
Confederacy, not the U.S. government, that sought to align the state with God.
A nation was more than the “aggregation of individuals,” one Presbyterian minister
preached, it was “a sort of person before God,” and the government must purge
that nation of sins.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Confederates
not only invoked “the favor and guidance of Almighty God” in their
Constitution, they established as their motto “Deo vindice,” or “God will
vindicate.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
United States, in contrast, was re-centering democracy during the war, and it
rejected the alignment of the federal government with a religious vision. When
reformers in the United States tried to change the preamble of the U.S.
Constitution to read, “We, the people of the United States, humbly
acknowledging Almighty God as the sources of all authority and power in civil
government, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Ruler among nations, and His revealed
will as of supreme authority, in order to constitute a Christian government,
and in order to form a more perfect union,” the House Committee on the
Judiciary concluded that “the Constitution of the United States does not
recognize a Supreme Being.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That
defense of democracy—the will of the majority—continued to hold religious
extremists at bay. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #404040;">Reformers
continued to try to add a Christian amendment to the Constitution, Foster
explains, and in </span><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT156_com_zimbra_date" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;">March
1896</span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"> once again got so far as the House Committee
on the Judiciary. One reformer stressed that turning the Constitution into a
Christian document would provide a source of authority for the government that,
he implied, it lacked when it simply relied on a voting majority. A religious
amendment “asks the Bible to decide moral issues in political life; not all
moral questions, but simply those that have become political questions.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opponents
recognized this attempt as a revolutionary attack that would dissolve the
separation of church and state, and hand power to a religious minority. One
reformer said that Congress had no right to enact laws that were not in
“harmony with the justice of God” and that the voice of the people should
prevail only when it was “right.” Congressmen then asked who would decide what
was right, and what would happen if the majority was wrong. Would the Supreme
Court turn into an interpreter of the Bible?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
committee set the proposal aside. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now,
once again, we are watching a minority trying to impose its will on the
majority, with leaders like House speaker Johnson noting that “I try to do
every day what my constituents want. But sometimes what your constituents want
does not line up with the principles God gave us for government. And you have
to have conviction enough to stand [up] to your own people….”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Heather
Cox Richardson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gaines
Foster, <em>Moral
Reconstruction: Christian Lobbyists and the Federal Legislation of Morality,
1865–1920</em> (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 2002).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT157_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/4108abd3-7d8a-4327-be83-09dc7f6e6ba9?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/opinion/alabama-ivf-trump-biden.html</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT158_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/2ced9e51-edef-4995-9de9-7095ffb70227?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-allies-christian-nationalism-00142086</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT159_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/1297a5a7-8cce-43ef-8328-fa98af1c3245?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/abortion-bans-alabama-ivf-explained.html</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT160_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/f78a3833-8c70-40bf-85d3-422a13e73b99?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://theoutline.com/post/8856/seven-mountain-mandate-trump-paula-white</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT161_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/49395f32-223a-4dda-8411-fdb78823e8f7?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/alabama-supreme-court-chief-justice-spreads-christian-nationalist-rhetoric</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT162_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/f5ff9a27-7058-4df0-ad72-070455c58eef?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/nikki-haley-sides-alabama-supreme-court-ivf-ruling-embryos-are-babies-rcna139819</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT163_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/b66442e3-f439-448d-a5f8-92ef663a464d?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/mike-johnson-seminars-christian-nation-speaker-far-right/</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT164_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/af07a77a-9ab2-45ea-aa0b-8f2fe2a7958f?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/21/congress/johnsons-sermon-to-gop-retreagt-00142436</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT165_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/0a725071-8a83-45f9-9c48-6546b29d262b?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-01-02-0027</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT166_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/27a36c77-47a3-4fb9-819a-134f5eb1d249?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/virginia-declaration-of-rights</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT167_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/0ad487c9-94c0-4146-bbfe-de340fd0adba?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-08-02-0163#JSMN-01-08-02-0163-fn-0014-ptr</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #404040;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[Nathaniel
Beverly Tucker], <em>George Balcombe: A Novel</em> (New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1836).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT168_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/0393c1f1-857e-4a47-b3b1-78c29c4df92b?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_csa.asp</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT169_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/6c27f5d8-a3ce-426c-87a8-bbef48c708b4?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_412912</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 15pt; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT170_com_zimbra_url" role="link" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="object"><span style="color: darkblue;"><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/3a2ed37b-cdc2-4985-9764-45c875d496bb?j=eyJ1IjoiMjFyOWt2In0.pGzPA1Q1elMIzPerezLctE1XcTH2Rcx7IZr4iNAOrtg" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #404040;">https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/02/22/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-alabama-court-decision/</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: #404040;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-3831558611702528562024-02-21T19:23:00.003-06:002024-02-21T19:25:24.586-06:00The dual explosion of cicadas, which hasn't been seen for centuries, will hit much of the State of Illinois and other states, but in one portion, an overlap of the two major broods is possible<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQdXc5STgcvNtwyx41S1A7_e8EKYAbCXmO3WcyMg4YP5bRUMiZ4oHtytdT_wuyr_uJenDN6LPnD2dOE6yDN8hB1sBxkC4d9z5El7wlh4SoJe1_n1jTctvCLt7AV60sb9_aXzfGw91hxMUE9d0TC8wMo8ebQGxY_mQMaiTUyw9T8dbFuqfsJ68ScYnAKfA/s494/Cicadas%202.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="494" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQdXc5STgcvNtwyx41S1A7_e8EKYAbCXmO3WcyMg4YP5bRUMiZ4oHtytdT_wuyr_uJenDN6LPnD2dOE6yDN8hB1sBxkC4d9z5El7wlh4SoJe1_n1jTctvCLt7AV60sb9_aXzfGw91hxMUE9d0TC8wMo8ebQGxY_mQMaiTUyw9T8dbFuqfsJ68ScYnAKfA/w400-h266/Cicadas%202.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A rare and likely massive emergence of two different broods of
cicadas is expected in 2024 and while Illinois is in a unique position to see
it all unfold, where can you expect the most?</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This dual
emergence hasn't been seen for centuries, with Brood XIII and Brood XIX both
set to pop out of the ground simultaneously. The <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/once-in-a-lifetime-cidada-emergence-set-for-2024-and-illinois-is-at-the-center-of-it/3334193/" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">rare occurrence</span></a>, which could bring billions of cicadas to the
surface, last happened 221 years ago.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While most of
Illinois and the Chicago area will see at least one brood's emergence, a narrow
part of the state could see an overlap of both.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Here's
what we know so far:</i></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Where will two periodic cicada broods emerge in the U.S. this year?</b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"This
is like the year for Illinois," cicada expert Catherine Dana, an affiliate
with the Illinois Natural History Survey, told NBC Chicago. "We are going
to have cicadas emerging all over the state."</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Northern Illinois Brood, or Brood XIII, will be most seen in parts of northern
Illinois and Indiana, and possibly even in Wisconsin, Iowa and parts of Ohio.
This brood will be the most prominent in the Chicago area for the upcoming
emergence.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile,
Brood XIX, or the Great Southern Brood cicadas, have a more widespread
population, covering parts of Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina,
Virginia and Maryland.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Brood
XIX is arguably the largest (by geographic extent) of all periodical cicada
broods, with records along the east coast from Maryland to Georgia and in the
Midwest from Iowa to Oklahoma," the <a href="https://cicadas.uconn.edu/brood_19/"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">University
of Connecticut reports</span></a>. "Although 13- year cicadas are
generally considered to have a southern distribution, the northernmost known
record of this brood is in Chebanse, IL, roughly 75 miles
from Chicago’s Loop."</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While
the two broods have different emergence regions, there could be some locations
that see an overlap of both.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Somewhere
around Central Illinois, probably like around Springfield, is what some
researchers are predicting we may see some overlap of these two...different
broods," Dana said. "It's not going to be a large area. But there
will likely actually be some mating happening between these two broods, which
is going to be really exciting."</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Most
of the state of Illinois will experience periodical cicada emergence in
2024," the University of Illinois reported.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfPiBA9OGEejFeN3HIVrk3wjPCBTPSMDhNVA5T5ZG91ad8LAkZxJLe9dUXTBB6cTHb2j5EfGmfUszYh0neJM0BWrRSBQohjTJERwkyzu7OWAATCn930e-0dbHVvljg3SFD5T3yTzH4_laAu6PPGjPF1MhiX5lbMlats3QA3vmMCnWNLwjSs_04ZfmX7Zl/s744/Cicadas%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="744" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfPiBA9OGEejFeN3HIVrk3wjPCBTPSMDhNVA5T5ZG91ad8LAkZxJLe9dUXTBB6cTHb2j5EfGmfUszYh0neJM0BWrRSBQohjTJERwkyzu7OWAATCn930e-0dbHVvljg3SFD5T3yTzH4_laAu6PPGjPF1MhiX5lbMlats3QA3vmMCnWNLwjSs_04ZfmX7Zl/w400-h313/Cicadas%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>When will the cicadas emerge and for how long?</b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
two 2024 broods will emerge earlier than the well-known "dog day"
cicadas, which are often seen in early July, according to Dana.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cicadas
typically emerge as the ground begins to warm in the spring and early summer.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">That
means an emergence between mid-May and early June, though some could start as
early as late April.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For
the Chicago area, Brood XIII will be most seen in parts of northern Illinois
and Indiana, and possibly even in Wisconsin and Ohio, in late May 2024, Dr.
Gene Kritsky, dean of <a href="https://www.msj.edu/faculty-and-staff-directory/faculty-directory/gene-kritsky.html" target="_blank"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Behavioral and Natural Sciences
at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati</span></a> said in a 2023
press release.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According
to an article from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Extension, the
Northern Illinois Brood's emergence typically occurs in May and June, and lasts
approximately four weeks.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Adult
cicadas will be active until mid- to late June, but you will see evidence long
after they are gone, including their wings, molts, and decomposing
bodies," Dana said.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How many cicadas are expected in Illinois?</b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Northern Illinois Brood itself is huge, with a reputation for the "largest
emergence of cicadas anywhere," <a href="https://extension.illinois.edu/insects/cicadas" target="_blank"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">according to the University of Illinois</span></a>.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
1956, entomologists reported as many as 311 "emergence holes" per
square yard in a forested floodplain near Chicago, which experts say </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"When
the cicadas start dying and dropping from the trees later in the spring, there
are large numbers on the ground, and the odor from their rotting bodies is
noticeable," the U of I reports. "In 1990, there were reports from
people in Chicago having to use snow shovels to clear their sidewalks of the
dead cicadas."</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/in-1990-chicagoans-were-shoveling-dead-cicadas-from-sidewalks-that-could-happen-again/3341003/"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">That could happen again.</span></a></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Experts
anticipate "enormous numbers" once again, with anywhere from 50,000
cicadas per acre to 1.5 million cicadas per acre could emerge for the spring of
2024.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"That
is possible because remember that every single individual cicada will produce,
their nymphal skin will be shed, that builds up and then as they start dying
after they're done with their reproduction and laying eggs, that'll start
collecting," Kritsky said. "And people have been known to have to
shovel some of those excess carcasses and shells away from their their trees,
because ... after that happens, after they collect in the trees, they can start
smelling as they decay."</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dana
added that gutters could also become clogged.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"You
might need to shovel them out of the gutters, you know, we don't want to block
up our gutters," she said. "Oftentimes, I see them kind of in piles,
you know, along with the shells, right? I see them in piles at the base of
trees, like right in the nooks in between the roots. They tend to get a lot of
piles there. But just add them to your compost pile, you know, just let them
break down."</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDZuLAeoXUx-Y9L-JBTNFWfZ9Q5FYX5l290ov7FppuJ2aQNcl5FLZ0bDLuoX4w09xVUXgAUf9RLJTAHkbKs7fx5I8Bu3O46UCnpDLZBW-7J2_KFbEtfB2j0_H5dseOkW4qQ2r7QUU-mK08kWO7Tdkebc_EaR5KOdpNRLQepHXkYIeH_l3Hf5I_t3kctEc/s7680/Cicadas%205.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4320" data-original-width="7680" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDZuLAeoXUx-Y9L-JBTNFWfZ9Q5FYX5l290ov7FppuJ2aQNcl5FLZ0bDLuoX4w09xVUXgAUf9RLJTAHkbKs7fx5I8Bu3O46UCnpDLZBW-7J2_KFbEtfB2j0_H5dseOkW4qQ2r7QUU-mK08kWO7Tdkebc_EaR5KOdpNRLQepHXkYIeH_l3Hf5I_t3kctEc/w400-h225/Cicadas%205.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How loud will it be?</b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a
year of full emergence, when the bugs surface, they quickly begin mating, which
is often met with the noise most associate with cicadas.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Once
those cicadas are out of the ground, it’s all about romance,” Mike Raupp,
Professor Emeritus of Entomology at the University of Maryland, previously
said.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Male
cicadas can reach decibels similar to a lawn mower or passing jet, and their
numbers will be large, but their life cycle is short, at just four to six
weeks.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"What
happens is when you have this many cicadas - even if they're quieter in general
than our dog day [cicadas] - all together in one place, then it can be
deafening," <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/deafening-cicadas-will-be-loud-this-year-but-how-loud-what-to-expect/3358555/"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Dana said</span></a>.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kritsky
compared it to going to a rock concert.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"If
you spent any time in a cicada woods where they're just screaming, and you get
back in your car, you'll still hear that that vibration in your head," he
said. "It's like going to a rock concert, you're back in your car and you
still feel that music in your head."</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j9VdeQLGn2xDEqvTYJBeB5T6zYwPkKwY1txAqbvyUrtgr59nw4RpkvBq47-yLYVAcajB7Pd846ZQUn2wy1rbVqRdZOXXYOsPS_bkAhtMrVgFUFKCHODYh1FtHGZsHjq7tBb29CTkX10s8ZXRUxO1SNytHsHkYv2IHnDOTuJqwz4G_cdeV6yJfR3Bi3Ln/s800/Cicadas%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j9VdeQLGn2xDEqvTYJBeB5T6zYwPkKwY1txAqbvyUrtgr59nw4RpkvBq47-yLYVAcajB7Pd846ZQUn2wy1rbVqRdZOXXYOsPS_bkAhtMrVgFUFKCHODYh1FtHGZsHjq7tBb29CTkX10s8ZXRUxO1SNytHsHkYv2IHnDOTuJqwz4G_cdeV6yJfR3Bi3Ln/w400-h225/Cicadas%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What to know about cicadas</b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although
mostly harmless, the noise of the insects can be disruptive, the U of I
said. <a href="https://extension.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/periodical_cicadas_2024_brood_fact_sheet.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Additionally</span></a>, eggs
from adult cicadas on twigs and shoots could cause "substantial
damage" in newly planted orchards.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cicadas
are not harmful to people or pets, or even to household gardens or crops,
according to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/cicadas#:~:text=more%20about%20cicadas-,Benefits%20of%20Cicadas,the%20soil%20as%20they%20decompose" target="_blank"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #144aa8; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Environmental Protection
Agency.</span></a></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cicadas
don’t bite or sting and pesticides will not work on periodical cicadas, experts
say.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Besides
the noise, which may be substantial, this large group of insects is harmless
and can be appreciated and enjoyed by nature lovers of all ages," the U of
I reported.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">Benefits
of cicadas</span></b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As for
the benefits of cicadas, the EPA notes that they:<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->are a valuable food source for birds
and other predators.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->can aerate lawns and improve water
filtration into the ground.<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->add nutrients to the soil as they
decompose.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">Life
cycle</span></b></span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once
cicadas emerge and mate, the adults die but leave behind a new generation.
Those nymphs will live underground until the year 2038.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"During
the final molt of their exoskeleton, immature cicadas (i.e., nymphs) construct
a tunnel through which they emerge from the ground. They will then molt into
adults, leaving the nymphal exoskeleton behind, often attached to a tree,"
the EPA states. </span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The adults climb into trees and shrubs and mate. Females
deposit their eggs onto small twigs (pencil diameter to ½ inch). The nymphs
will hatch from these eggs after 6 weeks and fall to the ground. They will then
burrow into the soil and begin feeding on roots of trees and shrubs to restart
the cicada lifecycle." </span></span></p><p style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-NBC<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-28090904855124045912024-02-19T09:10:00.003-06:002024-02-19T09:10:36.924-06:00A Historic Abdication by Sean Wilentz<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_uxI2zTWZU2w8ZDJ56qODmtSRKUSE1_WacgQKwKJU7_pXbm8Q65Y9tJ95LYiKpXdIq7c90jUwBmwruTB03SEfvTFhKEN_1fh7xvrDY_vugJ5uQgxkR0R7dCv5KjrcpQDY3PXczp-2OAGwZCLvaJN0xFsR_Wvko00dRBSz8HsUxzMIeaAZ8sjayAuPl_F/s150/Trump%20Leaving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="150" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_uxI2zTWZU2w8ZDJ56qODmtSRKUSE1_WacgQKwKJU7_pXbm8Q65Y9tJ95LYiKpXdIq7c90jUwBmwruTB03SEfvTFhKEN_1fh7xvrDY_vugJ5uQgxkR0R7dCv5KjrcpQDY3PXczp-2OAGwZCLvaJN0xFsR_Wvko00dRBSz8HsUxzMIeaAZ8sjayAuPl_F/w320-h320/Trump%20Leaving.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The Supreme Court justices’ responses
last Thursday to the oral arguments over Donald Trump’s disqualification under
Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment were worse than an embarrassment—they
were a disgrace. With the partial exception of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the
members of the Court appeared woefully ignorant of the historical and
constitutional issues before them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">They took up in detail the
ramifications of an eccentric 1869 circuit court ruling by Chief Justice Salmon
P. Chase, <i>In re Griffin</i>, that Section 3 could not be enforced
without congressional approval, overlooking, except briefly and in passing,
that in that case Chase flatly contradicted what he had ruled in another trial
a year earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">They fretted over whether the
section’s disqualifications applied to the presidency and vice-presidency as
offices “under the United States,” ignoring the explicit evidence from the
Senate debates over the amendment in 1866, expressed most directly by Senator
Lot Morrill of Maine, that they plainly did.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Over the course of more than two hours
of presentations and disputations, gradually it became evident that the
justices seem to have no intention of ruling on the meaning of Section 3 and
whether it disqualifies Trump. Instead they appear to be casting about for a
rationale not to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">One possibility, which would appeal to
the justices across the ideological spectrum, would be to argue that
disqualifying Trump would be seen as an act of usurpation, the worst sort of
judicial activism, damaging if not ruining the Court’s standing as an
independent branch of government. The trouble is that, <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/02/22/the-case-for-disqualification-trump-sean-wilentz/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">as I have argued in these pages</span></a>,
both the amendment, interpreted on originalist grounds, and the facts of the
case could not be clearer in demanding Trump’s disqualification. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The justices cannot avoid reaching
that conclusion without appealing to some fictive, extraconstitutional
principle. In an effort to preserve the Court’s legitimacy, they seem ready to
render it illegitimate. Worse still, they may be hastening the constitutional
crisis they think they are heading off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Trump’s able attorney, Jonathan
Mitchell, relied heavily on Chase’s ruling but shrewdly backed off from other
strong claims made by Trump’s defenders and even by Trump’s own briefs. At one
point, for example, he corrected Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson by pointing out
that there was indeed evidence that the framers of the amendment had the
presidency in mind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Even as he stuck to Chase’s reasoning,
he took pains to remind the Court that it did contradict Chase’s ruling from
the previous year. But in these efforts to establish his own integrity,
Mitchell also underscored how unfamiliar nearly all of the justices seem to be
with the basic questions raised by the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Had they mastered the relevant
history, the justices would have understood that these seemingly evenhanded
concessions exposed the groundlessness of Trump’s claims. They would have
recognized, above all, that what turned out to be the basis of Mitchell’s
argument—Chase’s eccentric, one-off judgement—is not only extraconstitutional
but essentially worthless, as the leading experts in the field <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4532751" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">have concluded</span></a>, in part
because of Chase’s earlier opinion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Instead, for the most part they
persisted in treating <i>In re Griffin</i> as a significant
precedent, even though, since Chase made the decision from a circuit court,
they have no obligation to do so. Justice Brett Kavanaugh clung to <i>Griffin</i> especially
closely as “highly probative” of Section 3’s “original public meaning.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Justice
Sotomayor, for her part, pushed back strongly against Mitchell’s reliance on
the <i>Griffin</i> case: “a non-precedential decision that relies on
policy, doesn’t look at the language, doesn’t look at the history, doesn’t
analyze anything than the disruption that such a suit would bring, you want us
to credit as precedential?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">*<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The Court seems likeliest to find an
escape hatch in a point made by several of the justices, including Amy Coney
Barrett and Samuel Alito. Justice Elena Kagan stated it most starkly to Jason
Murray, the attorney representing the Colorado voters: “I think that the
question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets
to be president.” Put that way, the question stands to reason; allowing a
single state to dictate a presidential election sounds absurd. But the question
is both irrelevant and evasive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Under Article II of the Constitution,
the states have the power to decide how electors for the presidency are to be
chosen. Candidates for the presidency must meet any number of state-dictated
requirements before earning a spot on the ballot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">These include whether the candidate is
actually qualified to hold the office under the state and federal
constitutions. Individual states clearly, then, have the authority to bar any
unqualified candidate, including, under the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment,
an insurrectionist who previously swore an oath to support the Constitution. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">To deny the states that authority
would be an extraordinary imposition of federal power. In the words of
one <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-719/297014/20240118112848137_23-719.Amicus.Foley.Ginsberg.Hasen.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">amicus brief</span></a> submitted
by, among others, the Republican Party’s longtime chief legal counsel, Benjamin
Ginsberg, if the Court were to rule “that Colorado was powerless to make a
judicially-reviewable, pre-election decision concerning Mr. Trump’s
disqualification under Section 3,” it “would turn our federalist election
system upside down.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The phrase “judicially reviewable” is
central to the Court’s evasion. Any state supreme court’s decision to
disqualify a presidential candidate can, of course, be reviewed by the US
Supreme Court. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Ever since the John Marshall Court’s
landmark ruling in <i>Martin </i>v.<i> Hunter’s Lessee</i> in
1816, the Court has assumed that its authority under the Constitution extends
to adjudicating state rulings on federal law. Once it agreed to hear Trump’s
appeal on the Colorado ruling, the Court was fully empowered to decide whether
that ruling should stand, above and beyond affirming the state’s authority over
elections—that is, to decide the meaning of Section 3 of the Fourteenth
Amendment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Murray made the point explicitly in
reply to Justice Kagan’s skepticism about whether a single state should decide
the presidency: “No, your honor, because ultimately it’s this Court that’s
going to decide [the] question of federal constitutional eligibility and settle
the issue for the nation.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">It appears, however, that this is
precisely what the justices have decided not to do. The Court may wish not to
be thrust into the middle of a presidential election for the second time in a
quarter-century, after the debacle of <i>Bush </i>v.<i> Gore</i>,
but the prospect is staring the justices in the face. To decline to meet that
responsibility, no matter the fallout, would be a historic abdication.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">It would also be an invitation to
constitutional chaos. To be sure, public discord would certainly ensue if the
Court were to rule before the election that Trump, as an insurrectionist, is
disqualified for a second term. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">But that unrest would in all
likelihood be mild compared to what would follow if Trump were disqualified
after being elected. The amicus brief spells out several possible scenarios.
Were Trump to win the election, it is almost certain that members of Congress
would try to have him declared unfit to serve under the Fourteenth Amendment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Since bipartisan majorities in the
House and Senate voted in 2021 to, respectively, impeach and remove Trump over
the insurrection, it is possible that such an effort might succeed. But even if
it failed, the effort would invite serious political instability and turmoil
between Election Day and Inauguration Day. By failing to rule now, the Court
could lay the groundwork for future catastrophe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="2" style="color: black;" width="100%" />
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Sean Wilentz </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">is the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American
History at Princeton. His books include <i>No Property in Man: Slavery and
Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding</i>. (February 2024)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>gbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com0