29 July 20
Lagging far behind for July. We need a good day of fundraising here and now. This is a “must-win.”
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Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
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29 July 20
Jon Schwarz, The Intercept
Schwarz writes: "In an interview published on Sunday, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton declared that 'We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can't understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.'"
By calling slavery necessary, Cotton was following in the banal footsteps of apologists for all of history’s worst acts.
n an interview published on Sunday, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton declared that “We have to study the history of slavery and its role and impact on the development of our country because otherwise we can’t understand our country. As the Founding Fathers said, it was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.”
What Cotton did not say is that the defenders of hideous acts almost always engage in this rhetorical tic, using that exact word: “necessary.”
Here are several notable examples:
• From 1986 to 1989, Saddam Hussein’s government conducted what it called the “Anfal” campaign against Kurdish Iraqi citizens in northern Iraq. In addition to firing squads and mass conventional bombings, the Iraqi military used mustard and nerve gas against civilians. Perhaps 150,000 people were murdered.
The Anfal campaign has been recognized by the British, Norwegian, and Swedish governments as genocide, and it was one of the crimes for which Saddam Hussein stood trial in 2006.
Before Hussein’s execution, he was interrogated by FBI agent George Piro, who showed him documentary evidence of his crimes, including famous photographs of victims of the Anfal campaign. This is what Piro later said on “60 Minutes” about Hussein’s perspective on Anfal:
SCOTT PELLEY: Did you show him pictures from the Anfal campaign, those terrible, terrible pictures?
GEORGE PIRO: Yes, I did.
PELLEY: And his reaction?
PIRO: Necessary.
• Beginning in 1915, the Ottoman Empire killed about 1.5 million ethnic Armenians. At that time, the Ottoman Empire was governed by the so-called Young Turks and their associated party, the Committee of Union and Progress. Just before the killing began, a key figure in the impending genocide named Nazim Bey delivered a speech at a CUP meeting. “It is absolutely necessary to eliminate the Armenian people in its entirety,” he explained. “It is necessary that not even one single Armenian survive this annihilation.”
• Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s minister of propaganda, delivered his most famous speech in February 1943, as the Holocaust was well underway. “Enemy nations may raise hypocritical protests against our measures against Jewry and cry crocodile tears, but that will not stop us from doing that which is necessary,” Goebbels said to wild applause. “Germany, in any event, has no intention of bowing before this threat, but rather intends to take the most radical measures, if necessary.”
Indeed, this rhetorical move is so common that British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger said in 1783 — that is, just as the United States was being born — that “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants.”
Pitt was probably referencing “Paradise Lost” by John Milton, published 100 years before. In it, Satan himself explains that in order to conquer a new world, it was necessary to do things he hated:
“Should I at your harmless innocence
Melt, as I do, yet public reason just—
Honour and empire with revenge enlarged
By conquering this new World—compels me now
To do what else, though damned, I should abhor.”
So spake the Fiend, and with necessity,
The tyrant’s plea, excused his devilish deeds.
For Cotton’s part, he’s now caught in a logical trap of his own making. In his recent interview, he was obviously endorsing the view that slavery was a “necessary evil.” However, that didn’t play well. He now is anxious to distance himself from that concept, ascribing it to America’s founders but not himself:
The problem is that if Cotton doesn’t himself believe that slavery was a necessary evil, that means he must believe it — and therefore a core pillar of the founding of America — was simply evil.
Federal agents on Saturday outside a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. (photo: Mason Trinca/NYT)
From the Start, Federal Agents Demanded a Role in Suppressing Anti-Racism Protests
Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Sergio Olmos, Mike Baker and Adam Goldman, The New York Times
Excerpt: "From the earliest days of the recent protests against police brutality and racism, some top federal law enforcement officials viewed the demonstrators with alarm and called for an aggressive federal response that two months later continues to escalate."
Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Sergio Olmos, Mike Baker and Adam Goldman, The New York Times
Excerpt: "From the earliest days of the recent protests against police brutality and racism, some top federal law enforcement officials viewed the demonstrators with alarm and called for an aggressive federal response that two months later continues to escalate."
Twin government memos show how a gung-ho federal law enforcement response to anti-racism protests may have been driven by a shaky understanding of the demonstrations’ roots.
A memo from the deputy director of the F.B.I., dated June 2, demanded an immediate mobilization as protests gathered after George Floyd’s death while he was in police custody a week earlier. David L. Bowdich, the F.B.I.’s No. 2, declared the situation “a national crisis,” and wrote that in addition to investigating “violent protesters, instigators” and “inciters,” bureau leaders should collect information with “robust social media exploitation teams” and examine what appeared to be “highly organized behavior.”
Mr. Bowdich suggested that the bureau could make use of the Hobbs Act, put into place in the 1940s to punish racketeering in labor groups, to charge the protesters.
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An NYPD officer wears a full mask during a July 15 protest in Manhattan. (photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP)
'It Was Like a Kidnapping': Viral Video Shows NYPD Officers Forcing Protester Into Unmarked Van
Allyson Chiu, The Washington Post
Chiu writes: "When an unmarked Kia minivan screeched to a stop near protesters marching in Manhattan on Tuesday evening, the demonstrators' surprise swiftly gave way to alarm."
Allyson Chiu, The Washington Post
Chiu writes: "When an unmarked Kia minivan screeched to a stop near protesters marching in Manhattan on Tuesday evening, the demonstrators' surprise swiftly gave way to alarm."
Several New York Police Department officers wearing T-shirts and shorts spilled out of the van and grabbed one of the protesters, dragging her toward the vehicle, according to videos filmed by bystanders.
The videos of the chaotic scene, which bore a marked similarity to the controversial tactics used by federal officers to detain demonstrators in Portland, Ore., quickly went viral. Protesters who witnessed the incident described it as a “kidnapping,” while a number of New York’s elected officials, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), decried the officers’ actions and demanded further explanations from the NYPD.
“Our civil liberties are on brink. This is not a drill,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “There is no excuse for snatching women off the street and throwing them into unmarked vans.”
(This video contains explicit language.)
The police department confirmed in a statement on Twitter that its officers had used an unmarked van in the arrest, adding that the woman who was taken into custody was “wanted for damaging police cameras during 5 separate criminal incidents in & around City Hall Park.”
In an email to The Washington Post, authorities identified the protester as 18-year-old Nikki Stone, who has also been referred to online as Nicki. Police said Stone is facing charges of criminal mischief related to the five incidents.
“When officers from the Warrant Squad took the woman into custody in a gray NYPD minivan this evening, they were assaulted with rocks and bottles,” Tuesday’s statement said. “The Warrant Squad uses unmarked vehicles to effectively locate wanted suspects.”
But the protesters who were present on Tuesday evening disputed the NYPD’s version of events, insisting that they did not physically engage with the officers, even at the time of the arrest.
“None of that happened whatsoever,” Clara Kraebber, a 20-year-old Oxford student, told Gothamist. “We literally turned the corner and were met with a line of police who attacked us without warning.”
Kraebber said officers pepper sprayed the group “seemingly at random” during the arrest, adding, “They were trying to make it painful to be there.”
Another witness told Gothamist that the protesters had been “skateboarding and eating pizza” before the van’s unexpected arrival.
“We didn’t see where they came from,” the witness said. “All of a sudden they grabbed Nicki. It was like a kidnapping.”
Stone’s arrest was captured in multiple videos that circulated widely on social media Tuesday night.
In one clip, a group of protesters, some of whom are riding bikes and skateboards, are making their way down the street before the camera pans to one of the officers roughly grabbing Stone several feet away from the van.
As a handful of protesters approach, an officer repeatedly shouts, “Get back!” and charges on foot at those getting too close.
Within seconds, more police flood the area, using their bicycles to create a barrier between the van, where the officers are still struggling with Stone, and the crowd.
“What the f--- is wrong with you pigs?” a person screams in a video showing a different angle of the incident.
Additional videos of the aftermath showed protesters in a tense standoff against the remaining NYPD officers. One officer was filmed yelling at the demonstrators to step back while brandishing what appeared to be a large spray bottle and a baton.
Though the NYPD suggested that Tuesday’s arrest followed standard procedure and said no federal authorities had been involved, many noted that the scene closely resembled accounts from Portland this month, where protesters were grabbed off the street by agents dressed in military attire and loaded into unmarked minivans.
The actions of the federal agents in Portland, who were deployed as part of a show of federal power championed by President Trump, have heightened anxieties in cities such as New York and Chicago, which are still experiencing frequent protests and spates of violence. In recent weeks, Trump defended the Portland operation against critics who have decried the aggressive tactics used by the agents and has continued to threaten to send federal forces to other cities led by Democratic mayors.
On Tuesday, as videos of Stone being shoved by NYPD officers into the van racked up millions of views, several city officials expressed unease about the arrest, and at least one demanded an independent review of the incident. As of early Wednesday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) had not commented on the viral footage and the mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
“[W]ith anxiety about what’s happening in Portland, the NYPD deploying unmarked vans with plainclothes cops to make street arrests of protestors [sic] feels more like provocation than public safety,” New York City Council member Brad Lander (D) tweeted.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D) tweeted that the video was “incredibly disturbing” while Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, said he was “deeply concerned.”
“We need answers immediately,” Stringer added.
Meanwhile, Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer urged the police to remember the importance of de-escalation.
“We can’t let what is happening in Portland happen here,” Brewer tweeted. “Part of police accountability is ordinary citizens knowing who is policing them. When you can’t identify a vehicle taking someone, it causes alarm. Police can’t de-escalate situations if they don’t identify themselves.”
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Ivan Melendez, left, the Hidalgo county health commissioner and a practicing doctor, with a patient. 'We're the epicenter of the coronavirus in the United States.' (photo: Ivan Melendez)
ALSO SEE: Texas' Count of Coronavirus Deaths Jumps 12% After Officials
Change the Way They Tally COVID-19 Fatalities
COVID-19 Is Killing a Texan Every Six Minutes
Ashley Shaffer, USA TODAY
Shaffer writes: "The record numbers of new weekly coronavirus cases that Arizona, Florida, Texas and California experienced a month ago are now playing out as record numbers of deaths in those states."
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Ashley Shaffer, USA TODAY
Shaffer writes: "The record numbers of new weekly coronavirus cases that Arizona, Florida, Texas and California experienced a month ago are now playing out as record numbers of deaths in those states."
READ MORE
Protesters hold signs at a rally supporting the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold the DACA program on June 18. The Trump administration on Tuesday moved to continue its rollback of the program, despite court rulings. (photo: Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump Administration Defies Court Order, Refuses to Accept New DACA Applicants
Joel Rose, NPR
Rose writes: "The Trump administration on Tuesday continued its push to roll back DACA - the program that protects young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children - by refusing to accept new applicants."
Joel Rose, NPR
Rose writes: "The Trump administration on Tuesday continued its push to roll back DACA - the program that protects young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children - by refusing to accept new applicants."
A number of courts had given those immigrants hope. Last month, the Supreme Court blocked the administration's effort to end the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Then two weeks ago, a court in Maryland told the administration to start accepting new DACA applicants.
But the administration is refusing to do that, saying it will reject new applicants while launching a "comprehensive review" of DACA and whether to go forward with a new plan to end the program.
"I have concluded that the DACA policy, at a minimum, presents serious policy concerns that may warrant its full rescission," said Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf in a memo explaining the administration's decision.
According to that memo, the administration will continue to renew DACA protections for the roughly 640,000 immigrants who already have them — but only for one year, not for two years, as was previously the policy.
Immigrant advocates assailed the administration's move, saying it hurts DACA recipients and their families. The program protects recipients from deportation and allows them to work here legally.
"It is unconscionable for the Trump administration to circumvent the rulings of a federal court in order to once again thrust into uncertainty the families and communities who rely on DACA to stay together and for protection from unjust deportations," said Vanessa Esparza-Lopez, an attorney at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago.
Immigrant advocates say it's clear that the administration is preparing to rescind the popular program again but postponing that until after the November election.
"Trump's announcement today lays the groundwork to kill the DACA program and confirms what we have long said: DACA is on the ballot in November," said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, which helped bring one of the cases the Supreme Court decided last month.
After that high court ruling, a federal judge in Maryland ordered the Trump administration to restore DACA to its status in September 2017, when the program was in full swing.
Still, the Trump administration continued to reject new applicants, despite growing calls to fully restart DACA from immigrants and their allies in Congress.
Today, the White House defended the decision not to accept new DACA applications on a call with reporters.
When asked how that decision could be reconciled with the Maryland court ruling, a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the memo from Wolf is an "intervening action" that makes that decision moot.
When reporters asked whether the administration expects to face further litigation over the memo, the official said simply: "Yes, of course."
The Trump administration has long argued that DACA was created illegally by President Obama, but no court has ever reached a final conclusion on that question. A group of Republican state attorneys general, led by Ken Paxton of Texas, are making that same argument in a lawsuit still pending in federal court.
Immigration advocates are likely headed back to court as well. The group Make The Road New York, one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case, is building a possible test case with a pair of brothers who filed first-time DACA applications this week. Once they are rejected, the plaintiffs are likely to go back to court to argue that the Trump administration is defying the Supreme Court's ruling.
Antonio Alarcon, a DACA recipient and activist with Make The Road New York, called today's move by the administration "an attack on me and my family."
"Our communities are paying close attention to this administration's attacks. And despite its attempt to distract and blame others we know where the blame lies," he said.
People stand on the bridge during a march organized by the COB, Bolivian Workers' Center, to demand early elections, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in El Alto outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia, July 28, 2020. (photo: Manuel Claure/Reuters)
Bolivian Worker Union Marches Against Election Delay as Tensions Mount
Daniel Ramos, Reuters
Ramos writes: "A major Bolivian union led a protest march in the highland city of El Alto on Tuesday, opposing a delay to the country's presidential election as tensions mount over the vote that will decide the country's political future."
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Daniel Ramos, Reuters
Ramos writes: "A major Bolivian union led a protest march in the highland city of El Alto on Tuesday, opposing a delay to the country's presidential election as tensions mount over the vote that will decide the country's political future."
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Colombia saw the highest number of killings of any country in 2019. (photo: Tom Pierce/Guardian/Global Witness/UN Environment)
Record Number of Environmental Activists Killed in 2019
Jack Guy, CNN
Guy writes: "A record 212 land and environmental defenders were killed last year, equivalent to an average of more than four per week, according to a new report from NGO Global Witness."
Jack Guy, CNN
Guy writes: "A record 212 land and environmental defenders were killed last year, equivalent to an average of more than four per week, according to a new report from NGO Global Witness."
The figure makes 2019 the deadliest year on record for activists defending land and water resources from mining, agribusiness and fossil fuel interests, said Global Witness in a report published Wednesday.
This represents a significant spike from 164 killings in 2018, and the true number is likely far higher, said the NGO, adding that cases often go undocumented.
Defenders are those who take a stand against environmental and human rights abuses driven by the exploitation of natural resources, according to Global Witness.
Colombia was the deadliest country in 2019 with 64 killings -- up from 24 in 2018 -- and was 30% of the global total last year.
Next on the list was the Philippines, with 43 killings. Brazil had 24 and almost 90% of the killings took place in the Amazon region.
Seven of the top ten worst affected nations are in Latin America, where more than two thirds of total killings took place. The region has consistently been the worst affected since Global Witness started gathering data in 2012.
It is also home to Honduras, the country with the largest percentage increase in killings, which jumped from four in 2018 to 14 last year.
Europe remains the least affected region, with two killings in Romania related to illegal logging. Seven killings were recorded in Africa, but verifying cases is a problem in the region, said Global Witness.
Mining was the deadliest sector, with 50 people killed, followed by agribusiness with 34.
Asia was a hotspot for attacks related to agribusiness, representing 85% of the global total. Of this number, nearly 90% took place in the Philippines.
There were also 24 killings related to logging, an 85% increase compared to 2018 and the largest spike of any sector.
Many campaigners are also silenced by arrests, lawsuits, threats and violent attacks, according to the report, and indigenous peoples are disproportionately affected.
In 2019, 40% of defenders killed were indigenous, despite the fact that these communities represent just 5% of the global population.
Female defenders face a specific set of threats, according to Global Witness. Women represent 10% of those killed in 2019, but they also face smear campaigns using sexist or sexual content, as well as sexual violence, said the NGO.
Global Witness underlined the work that defenders do in combating climate breakdown by opposing carbon intensive industries.
"Agribusiness and oil, gas and mining have been consistently the biggest drivers of attacks against land and environmental defenders -- and they are also the industries pushing us further into runaway climate change through deforestation and increasing carbon emissions," Rachel Cox, campaigner at Global Witness, said in a press release.
"If we really want to make plans for a green recovery that puts the safety, health and well-being of people at its heart, we must tackle the root causes of attacks on defenders, and follow their lead in protecting the environment and halting climate breakdown."
The report also highlights several successes enjoyed by defenders around the world, praising them for their resilience.
One example is the Dayak Iban indigenous community in central Borneo, Indonesia, which now has legal ownership of 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of land after a struggle that lasted decades.
Another is the Waorani indigenous tribe in Ecuador, which won a landmark ruling that bans the government from selling their lands for oil and gas exploration.
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