26 September 20
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25 September 20
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Garrison Keillor | A Former Outlaw Appreciating the Republican Life
Garrison Keillor, Garrison Keillor's Website
Keillor writes: "Back in my youth, I wanted to be an artist and imagined this required a reckless life, big mood swings, unfiltered smokes, straight gin, black clothing, and now I feel that inspiration can arise out of quiet and order and a peaceful disposition."
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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. (photo: Jim Watson/Getty)
Nearly 500 National Security Experts Endorse Biden for President
Tom Bowman, NPR
Bowman writes: "Nearly 500 national security experts - both civilians and former senior uniformed officers - have endorsed Joe Biden for president, saying the 'current president' is not up to 'the enormous responsibilities of his office.'"
Addressed to "Our Fellow Citizens," the 489 national security experts include 22 four-star officers. The letter never mentions President Trump by name.
Among those signing the letter is retired Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, who stepped down last year as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Pentagon's No. 2 officer. Selva could not be immediately reached for comment.
Another is former Vice Adm. Michael Franken, who retired in 2017 and ran unsuccessfully this year for the Democratic Senate nomination in Iowa.
There's also Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who served as the Army's No. 2 officer before retiring in 2012.
Chiarelli, in an interview with NPR, said he was never involved in politics until now.
"I believe the current administration is a real threat to the republic," he said, citing the president's "attacks on institutions" and his "failure to lead," especially on a coronavirus response. Chiarelli said it "makes me ill" that the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of the virus has been politicized by the president.
"I believed I had to stand up and be counted," he added.
Others who signed on to the letter include former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage, who served under George W. Bush, as well as Democratic stalwarts like former national security adviser Susan Rice, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and former senior Pentagon official, Michele Flournoy.
The pro-Biden letter comes on the heels of an endorsement of Trump last week by 235 senior military leaders, saying the president has rebuilt the military and is a "strong advocate" for military personnel and veterans.
"Joe Biden's record on the military and veterans is one of failure: debilitating budget cuts, failed foreign policy decisions, and an inability to provide our nation's heroes with the quality health care they deserve," the letter read.
Among those signing: Adm. Thomas B. Hayward, who served as the Navy's top officer until 1982, and retired Adm. Leighton Smith, who commanded U.S. Naval forces in Europe in the 1990s.
Peter Feaver, a civilian military expert at Duke University, says the pro-Biden letter was likely to come once the Trump campaign released its own letter.
What is striking about the letter endorsing Biden, he adds, is that "some of the people on the lists served in high positions under President Trump and so presumably are reacting to what they witnessed firsthand and not merely what they observed at a distance."
And Feaver says this all could lead to a continued politicization of a military that by tradition is nonpartisan.
"When a senior military leader comes out against his or her former commander-in-chief in this way — as Admiral [William] Crowe did back in 1992 against President George H.W. Bush — it has an inevitable politicizing effect on the senior military appointment process."
Besides former senior civilian officials, generals and admirals, the pro-Biden letter is also signed by a number of retired senior enlisted personnel including, Army Sgt. Maj. Sean Baker and Marine Sgt. Maj. John Estrada.
It begins by saying the COVID-19 pandemic "has proven America needs principled, wise and responsible leadership. America needs a president who understands, as President Harry S Truman said, that 'the buck stops here.' "
Echoing Trump's comments on the coronavirus, the letter says, "It is unthinkable that (Biden) would ever utter the phrase 'I don't take responsibility at all.' "
The letter says Biden is "the leader our nation needs" and "a good man with a strong sense of right and wrong."
Besides the coronavirus response by the Trump White House, the letter says that as a result of the president's "disdainful attitude and failures," climate change continues "unabated," as does North Korea's nuclear program.
And it says the president has "ceded influence to a Russian adversary who puts bounties on the heads of American military personnel." That's a reference to intelligence reports that Russian paid the Taliban to target American service members in Afghanistan although Pentagon officials say they are still reviewing those reports.
The letter also takes on the White House for its lack of support to NATO, for Kurdish allies in the fight against ISIS, and for Japan and South Korea.
The president pulled hundreds of U.S. troops out of Syria, allowing Turkey to move in and target Kurds, angering American forces on the ground who were working with the Kurds to beat back ISIS.
"Joe Biden would never sell out our allies to placate despots of because he dislikes an allied leader," the letter states.
Joe Biden addressing election-night supporters in Los Angeles. (photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)
Fox News Poll: Biden Leads in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Ohio
Matthew Choi, POLITICO
Choi writes: "Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is leading President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Fox News polls released Thursday."
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Sen. Bernie Sanders. (photo: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)
Bernie Sanders on How to Block Trump From Stealing Election and Preserve American Democracy
Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "In an address to the country, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has issued a stark warning about the threat posed by President Trump's refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the November election."
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! As we end this segment, let’s hear from President Trump speaking to delegates at the Republican National Convention last month.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election. We’re going to win this election. We’re going to win this election. … What they’re doing is using COVID to steal an election. They’re using COVID to defraud the American people, all of our people, of a fair and free election. And we can’t do that.
AMY GOODMAN: On Thursday afternoon, independent Senator Bernie Sanders spoke out, responding to Trump’s remarks.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I think it is terribly important that we actually listen to and take seriously what Donald Trump is saying. Several weeks ago, speaking at the Republican National Convention, Trump said — and I quote — “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election,” end of quote. What is remarkable about that statement is that he made it at a time when almost every national poll had him behind and when he was trailing in polls in most battleground states.
Think about what that statement means. Think hard about what that statement means. What he is saying is that if he wins the election, that’s great, but if he loses, it’s rigged, because the only way — the only way he can lose is if it’s rigged. And if it’s rigged, then he is not leaving office. Heads, I win; tails, you lose. In other words, in Trump’s mind, there is no conceivable way that he should leave office.
AMY GOODMAN: And this is how independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont ended his address.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: In this unprecedented moment what can we as a people do in the struggle to preserve American democracy?
First, it is absolutely imperative that we have, by far, the largest voter turnout in American history and that people vote as early as possible. As someone who is strongly supporting Joe Biden, let’s be clear: A landslide victory for Biden will make it virtually impossible for Trump to deny the results, and is our best means for defending democracy.
Second, with the pandemic and a massive increase in mail-in voting, state legislatures must take immediate action now — now — to allow mail-in votes to be counted before Election Day, as they come in. In fact, 32 states allow for the counting or processing of absentee ballots — verifying signatures, for example — before Election Day. All states should do the same. The faster all ballots are counted, the less window there is for chaos and conspiracy theories.
Third, the news media needs to prepare the American people to understand there is no longer a single Election Day and that it is very possible that we may not know the results on November 3rd.
Fourth, social media companies must finally get their act together and stop people from using their tools to spread disinformation and to threaten and harass election officials.
Fifth, in the Congress and in state legislatures, hearings must be held as soon as possible to explain to the public how the Election Day process and the days that follow will be handled. As we count every vote and prevent voter intimidation, everything possible must be done to prevent chaos, disinformation and, yes, even violence.
Lastly, and most importantly, the American people, no matter what their political view, must make it clear that American democracy will not be destroyed.
AMY GOODMAN: Senator Bernie Sanders, speaking in Washington, D.C., Thursday in his first major public speech since bowing out of the presidential race.
Coming up, we’ll speak to one of the most powerful religious leaders in the country, Bishop Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the first African American to lead the denomination. Stay with us.
'You didn't just rob me and my family, you robbed the world of a queen,' Breonna Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, said in a statement read aloud Friday by Palmer's sister, Bianca Austin. In this photo, Ju'Niyah Palmer is seen wiping away tears from her mother's face. (photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty)
Charge at Breonna Taylor Protest
'I Have No Faith in the Legal System,' Breonna Taylor's Mother Says
Bill Chappell, NPR
Chappell writes: "The justice system failed Breonna Taylor, says Tamika Palmer, the mother of the emergency room technician whom police shot and killed in her own apartment in March. She says Kentucky's attorney general was not up to the job of achieving justice for Taylor."
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A man holds a sign that reads, 'Juliana did not die, she was killed,' during a protest in Cali, Colombia, Sept. 24, 2020. (photo: Twitter)
Colombia: Transgender Woman's Murder Sparks Protests
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Dozens of citizens took to the streets of Cali, in the Cauca Department, in rejection of transgender woman Juliana Giraldo's murder at the hands of Colombia's National Army."
One of the bullets fired indiscriminately by the Army killed Juliana Giraldo while she was driving.
The protesters stood outside Cali's Military Battalion with signs reading, "Juliana did not die, Juliana was killed," alluding to the shooting against the young unarmed woman in Cauca.
"We reject the Army's crime. We urge the immediate resignation of Defense Minister Carlos Trujillo and demand explanations about her murder," Del Rosario University professor Sebastian Vargas said.
On Thursday, the Army shot at Juliana's vehicle while she drove through Miranda municipality. Eyewitnesses say the military fired indiscriminately.
"Stop with the 'rotten apples' discourse to justify systematic violence! We urge reform of those institutions supposed to take care of the citizens," activist Gina Cortez tweeted.
During the protests, a police officer pulled out his detonation gun and fired without harming anyone. Despite this incident, the protest ended peacefully.
"We are outraged with the Army, which has become a force that produces distrust. It has not shaken off its violent heritage. Colombia needs a change," social leader Alfredo Mondragon tweeted.
A bay in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska. (photo: Eleanor Scriven/Getty)
Trump Administration Advances Plan to Cut Protections for Largest National Forest
Gabrielle Canon, Guardian UK
Canon writes: "The Trump administration has announced it will move forward with a plan to roll back regulations protecting millions of acres in America's largest national forest from logging, sparking an outcry from environmental advocacy organizations, Alaskan tribal nations, and fishermen."
Plan to open Alaska’s Tongass national forest to logging faces backlash from environmental advocates, tribal nations and fishermen
he Trump administration has announced it will move forward with a plan to roll back regulations protecting millions of acres in America’s largest national forest from logging, sparking an outcry from environmental advocacy organizations, Alaskan tribal nations, and fishermen.
More than half of the Tongass national forest – a 16.7m-acre old-growth temperate rainforest in south-east Alaska – has been protected for the last two decades by the so-called “roadless area conservation rule”, which prohibits development in designated wild areas. The US Forest Service is expected to release a final environmental impact statement on Friday which would allow for the Tongass to be exempt from the rule, moving one step closer to ending the protections entirely.
Supporters of the exemption see it as increasing access to federal lands for such things as timber harvests and development of minerals and energy projects. Republican leaders in Alaska have lobbied the federal government to reverse the rule over the last two years. In a Washington Post op-ed published last year, the Republican senator Lisa Murkowski wrote that the regulations were “an unnecessary layer of paralyzing regulation that should never have been applied to Alaska”. Under the former governor Bill Walker, the state asked the federal government to consider the exemption in 2018, and members of Alaska’s congressional delegation last fall supported a draft proposal that listed an exemption as a preferred alternative.
Development could also have a devastating impact on the native people who call the area home. Critics say the move could also adversely affect wildlife, fuel the climate crisis and hurt tourism and recreation opportunities. The sprawling wilderness is also an important source of salmon for the billion-dollar commercial fishing industry.
“This administration has opted to take the road well traveled by continuing to spend tens of millions of dollars every year to expand logging roads for a dying old-growth timber industry,” said Andy Moderow, a director for the Alaska Wilderness League, in a statement. “This is bad for people, bad for a sustainable economy and bad for wildlife.”
Once the review is released, at least 30 days must pass before a final decision is made. The Tongass, which covers more than 25,000 sq miles (64,750 sq kim), is one of the largest relatively intact temperate rainforests in the world, and a majority of the forest is in a natural condition, “unlike most other national forests”, the Forest Service has said.
The Tongass plays an important role in the battle against climate change, as its trees absorb roughly 8% of the carbon dioxide pollution coming from the US.
“The Forest Service’s environmental impact statement is junk science on assessing the impacts of releasing the carbon,” Dominick DellaSala, president of the non-profit Geos Institute, which studies the climate crisis, told the New York Times. “They are saying that the carbon that would be released by logging the timber is insignificant … There’s no science that supports their analysis.”
Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the federal proposal could pour “gasoline on the inferno of climate change”.
“These towering ancient trees take enormous amounts of carbon out of the air and we need them now more than ever,” Spivak added. “We’ll do everything possible to keep these magnificent giants standing for centuries to come.”
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