POLITICO NIGHTLY: How Biden sees an end to 'uncivil war'

BY CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO

With help from Renuka Rayasam and Myah Ward UP AND RUNNING — The Biden administration has its first Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, as Avril Haines was confirmed as director of national intelligence in an 84-10 vote tonight. BIDEN’S CASE FOR OPTIMISM — The America that newly inaugurated President Joseph R. Biden Jr. inherited today is pessimistic and profoundly divided. Democracy itself appeared to teeter this month. The Senate is plunging into an impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. Large majorities of Americans — exhausted after four years of spectacle, a pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 people, a sputtering and unequal economy, racial inequality and police violence and a warming planet — believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Scott Goldsmith for POLITICO

But Biden has legitimate reason to be encouraged on his first day at his new job. Biden’s favorability rating has grown in several polls in recent weeks, up to around 60 percent. In today’s political environment, that’s a high number. He doesn’t have the kind of mandate Barack Obama entered office with in 2009. He isn’t as popular as his former boss was. He takes office with an ultra-slim Senate majority — with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tiebreaker. Obama had the luxury of a 60-seat supermajority. With such a narrow margin, Biden, 78, may be up against an even shorter shot clock to get things done. Call it the fierce urgency of getting up there in years. But in a country so split, it’s no small thing that majorities approve of Biden and his Cabinet picks. In an optimistic reading by Biden aides and allies, the early poll numbers point to a collective — and in their view still underappreciated — hunger among the public to move on from the Trump era. Biden aides see it as early evidence that Americans are at least willing to give him a chance. Part of their optimism stems from two emerging factors: Americans’ views of Biden are nowhere near as hardened as they were about Trump on his first day in office. They think the same could hold true for some members of Congress. Nobody is expecting Republican lawmakers in sizable numbers to have an “epiphany,” as Biden once forecast, but he and his aides still believe he can convince enough of them to come aboard on specific legislation to avoid unanimous GOP opposition to his agenda in the coming weeks.

Scott Goldsmith for POLITICO

Part of the idea is that Trump made political intransigence more toxic than it was during the Obama years — certainly among independents who want to hear a new tone from the White House. Democrats feel like they could rock Republicans back on their heels a bit by lining up behind populist proposals that segments of their own base want, like pandemic relief and a higher minimum wage. In the short term, getting some “transactional” accomplishments done could improve Biden’s standing. In the best-case scenario, with his ambitious plans to deliver the vaccine and hefty relief package, Biden might emerge from the many crises as the author of a great American comeback story. Yet the policy accomplishments may not help many Democrats win future elections. Voters’ brains aren’t wired to reward politicians for what their party has already done, and the party of the president typically loses seats in the midterms. Which doesn’t mean Democrats can’t hold the House in 2022, if they play their cards right. But notching a few quick wins could help Biden with another goal, should he choose to pursue it in 2024: Reelection. For more POLITICO photos from around Washington during the inauguration, check out our gallery.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Catch Renu tomorrow morning when she will interview Houston mayor Sylvester Turner. Reach out at ccadelago@politico.com and rrayasam@politico.com or on Twitter at @ccadelago and @renurayasam.

JOIN THURSDAY TO HEAR FROM SELECT MAYORS ACROSS THE U.S.: On Thursday, Jan. 21, The Fifty: America's Mayors will virtually convene select mayors from across the U.S. for back-to-back interviews during inauguration week to discuss bold ideas and policy proposals for their cities to move forward post-COVID-19. The mayors will also discuss their cities' needs from state and federal government to recover from the economic and public health crises and how they'd like to work with President Biden as he begins in the White House. This virtual program will feature an executive conversation between POLITICO CEO Patrick Steel and Microsoft's President of U.S. Regulated Industries Toni Townes-Whitley. REGISTER HERE.

FIRST IN NIGHTLY

KEY HEALTH SLOT UNFILLED — Public health experts and Biden’s own advisers have called for a strong chief at the FDA to help insulate the agency from public pressure and aid the new president in his goal of vaccinating 100 million people during his first days in office. But the debate on who should get the FDA’s top job has dragged on for months, with Biden’s team unable to settle on a nominee, health care reporters Sarah Owermohle and Adam Cancryn write. The president’s overriding focus on meeting his ambitious inoculation target, along with shoring up a pandemic-battered economy, has led him to focus on filling a series of high-profile health jobs — many at the White House — according to sources in the transition. The FDA job is among a second wave of positions that could take months to move through Senate confirmation. Adding to the complexity, Xavier Becerra, Biden’s pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department that oversees FDA, wants a say in the commissioner choice, said two people familiar with the discussion.

AROUND THE NATION

I’LL SEE YOU IN COURT — In Washington, the Biden administration has the advantage of narrow Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. But across the country, Republican governors and attorneys general are building their own plans to undercut the newly elected president’s sweeping agenda, writes Renuka Rayasam. Biden’s first flurry of executive orders will soon face their first resistance from Republican-led states poised to sue the administration. Even if they are ultimately unsuccessful, the lawsuits will stall Biden’s efforts to implement change in a hurry. Texas sued the Obama administration at least 48 times, with several challenges still winding their way through courts. California filed nine lawsuits against the Trump administration on Tuesday alone, Donald Trump’s final full day in office. “All of that case law still exists in the same courts that will be bound by previous decisions,” said Robert Henneke, general counsel at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank that is leading a lawsuit to overturn Obamacare. He said that TPPF hasn’t made any concrete decisions about which of Biden’s orders they will challenge but added, “Everyone is getting ready.” Here’s a look at some potential areas of litigation: — The mask mandate : Biden narrowly tailored today’s mandate to include federal property, which Henneke concedes is constitutional. But he said that TPPF would oppose a mask mandate that applies to airlines, trains or other transit systems, something Biden has floated. Henneke argued that the federal government can’t restrict interstate travel in any way. — The return of DACA : Nine states have already sued over the program that grants legal protection to people who were brought to the country as young children. The Supreme Court ruled against the way that the Trump administration tried to end DACA. But a federal judge in Houston is hearing a separate case about the overall legality of the program. If he rules against it, Biden would have to pick up the appeal or try to push immigration reforms through Congress instead. — Climate change policies, including re-entry to the Paris agreement: West Virginia is set to play a key role in any effort by Biden to limit greenhouse gases. Henneke said one of the big areas they expect to challenge is how the Biden administration makes new climate rules. Courts forced the Trump administration to follow certain rule-making procedures to roll back environmental regulations. Republican-led states are going to challenge any effort by the Biden administration to reimplement Obama-era regulations without going through the same procedures. — Eviction moratorium extension: Multiple federal lawsuits, including one from TPPF, have been filed against the CDC’s eviction moratorium, which was set to expire Jan. 31 until Biden extended it through March 31 today. This is just from Biden’s Day 1 executive orders. Coming orders on health care, including abortion, are also expected to become major areas of litigation. HASTA LA VISTA, COVID — Making the rounds today, outside of inauguration events? Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Twitter video of his Covid shot at Dodger Stadium, complete with the Terminator line, “Come with me if you want to live.”

KEEP UP WITH CONGRESS IN 2021: Tensions remain high on Capitol Hill as we inaugurate a new president this week. How are lawmakers planning to move forward after a tumultuous few weeks? How will a new Senate majority impact the legislative agenda? With so much at stake, our new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings you the most important news and critical insight from Capitol Hill with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the essential guide to understanding Congress.

INAUGURATION

BACK IN THE BOOTH — Charlie Brotman got an email from the Biden Inaugural Committee last Thursday. They wanted the 93-year-old to announce the inaugural parade. So Brotman recorded it from his assisted-living home, where today he listened to his voice play on TV. “I’m really a local guy,” he said during an interview with Nightly’s Myah Ward. “I was born and raised in Washington, and to have someone like President Biden, say, ‘Yeah, let’s have him again. I like him.’ That’s fun for me. It’s like, ‘Hey, man, you’re my pal.’” Biden’s parade was Brotman’s 17th as announcer, for a 12th president. The committee said Brotman could announce the parade in person and socially distanced, but he didn’t want to risk catching Covid. So instead, nurses set up equipment in his room, and Brotman recorded 23 pages of script on Sunday. Brotman’s first inaugural parade was for President Harry Truman in 1949, when he and other students from the National Academy of Broadcasting announced the parade. But his first solo gig came after he made an impression on President Dwight Eisenhower. Brotman was an announcer for the Washington Senators, and he welcomed Eisenhower when Ike threw the season-opening pitch at Griffith Stadium. “Next thing I know, I get a call from the White House,” Brotman said. They asked him to be the president’s announcer on Jan. 20, 1957. His first thought? “Gulp,” Brotman said, chuckling. Brotman has photos with presidents and a signed baseball from Richard Nixon. It says, “Best wishes to Charlie. Dick Nixon.” He was asked to be the announcer by every president since Eisenhower — until the Trump Inaugural Committee replaced him. “There was no doubt I was going to be the announcer,” he said, recounting the call with Trump’s committee. “They’re saying, ‘Charlie, we’ve heard all about you. And I know you’re a legend in this, and you’ve done this 1,000 times. And I’m saying, ‘Yes, yes. Ask me. C’mon!’ And they said, ‘We have somebody who’s going to be the announcer. We’d like for you to sit with President Trump.’” Brotman didn’t take the seat. Instead, he attended the Women’s March on Washington, where he announced the lineup of speakers. DISTRICT DESERTED — Streets were deserted. Stores boarded up. Troops lined the perimeter of the Capitol. This was the backdrop of Biden’s inauguration — and as Playbook’s Tara Palmeri reports in the latest POLITICO Dispatch, it could be the backdrop of a new Washington for weeks to come.

Listen to the latest POLITICO Dispatch podcast

ASK THE AUDIENCE

Nightly asks you: In an executive order issued Monday, Trump listed 244 people he’d like to see honored with statues in a National Garden of American Heroes, including Muhammad Ali and Amelia Earhart. It is unlikely to get built. But if the garden were to come to fruition, which non-political figure would you like to see in it, and why? Send us your answer via our form, and we’ll include select responses in Friday’s edition.

THE GLOBAL FIGHT

EUROPE’S VISION OF BIDEN — As the U.S. celebrated Inauguration Day, heads of state worldwide sent messages to Biden throughout the day. POLITICO Europe followed the response from across the continent. Some highlights: — Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel offered her “warmest” congratulations to Biden and Harris through her official spokesman on Twitter. Merkel said she looked “forward to a new chapter of German-American friendship and cooperation.” — U.K.: Prime Minister Boris Johnson declined an opportunity to brand Biden as “woke.” He was asked after Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy described Biden as a “woke guy” in an interview with the Guardian. “There’s nothing wrong with being ‘woke,’” Johnson said in answer to the question, but added, “I would put myself in the category of people who believe that it’s important to stick up for your history, your traditions and your values and things you believe in.” — France: President Emmanuel Macron sent to Biden and Harris his “best wishes on this most significant day for the American people! We are together. We will be stronger to face the challenges of our time. Stronger to build our future. Stronger to protect our planet. Welcome back to the Paris Agreement!” — Ireland: Biden’s closest relatives in Ireland, members of the Blewitt clan , were invited to attend the inauguration but couldn’t go because of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on travel. Instead, the County Mayo town of Ballina on Ireland’s Atlantic coast was bedecked today with red, white and blue bunting. Households displayed signs on their living room windows congratulating Biden for his victory and watched live coverage of the ceremonies on Irish TV. Others are gathering beneath Ballina’s art deco mural of Biden and waving American flags. “We’re very proud of Joe Biden,” said Joe Blewitt, a Ballina plumber and one of several Biden cousins who live in the area. Biden visited the town in 2016 as vice president and 2017 to trace his five-eighths Irish roots. TRUMP’S TRADE LEGACY — Biden came into office today with trade deficits at rates not seen in more than a decade. The U.S. trade deficit with all countries globally has increased nearly $30 billion since Trump took office, with China accounting for a large portion of the total.

NIGHTLY NUMBER

3.9 million The number of Twitter users following the @POTUS account, as of 7 p.m. ET today. The account started at zero followers when it switched over to Biden right before noon during the inaugural ceremonies.

PARTING WORDS

LET’S IGNORE WHAT KAMALA HARRIS WEARS — It’s already started, Renu writes. Just hours after Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first Black, Indian American and female vice president, her fashion choices are being widely dissected. There are galleries of her signature style that I am secretly guilty of clicking through. We are already parsing her fashion diplomacy, and publishing takes about her impact on America’s designers. So here’s a plea that will be widely ignored: Let’s leave the fashion choices of Vice President Harris out of the headlines. Unlike first ladies who are relegated to a hazy role as accessory, Harris is now (arguably) the most powerful woman in Washington. She will no doubt face intense scrutiny just for the mere fact of being a woman of color. Hasn’t she earned the right for the focus to remain on her actions and words rather than what she wears? Just today, she escorted former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife as they departed the Capitol, stepping into a tradition normally carried out by presidents. Later she swore in Georgia’s newest Democratic senators and her replacement in her new role as president of the Senate. But neither story is likely to be as widely shared as the flap over her Vogue cover. It doesn’t help that Harris is young, beautiful and impeccably dressed. There are already blogs devoted to her style, including one that mimics royal fashion blogs. But vice presidents are not princesses or duchesses. It would set an important precedent now to ignore the fashion choices of Harris. We will see more women in positions of power in the future, and not all of them will be so fashion savvy. I’m not totally innocent. I once profiled Merkel’s fashion designer. But by then Merkel had been chancellor of Germany for seven years. There was no fear of her clothing choices overshadowing her actions. She wasn’t expected to be fashion savvy as well as competent. But the U.S. has long struggled to elect women to positions of power, and has held them to a far different standard than male politicians are held to. Men can be powerful and be mocked for misguided sartorial choices — see Bernie’s mittens or Al Gore’s earth tones or Barack Obama’s tan suit. But those were largely one-offs. There are no fashion blogs or multiple columns devoted to the clothing of Bernie Sanders, at least not yet. It’s the expectation that men politicians dress in largely uninteresting suits. Women don’t usually have that luxury. Coverage of Geraldine Ferraro ’s clothing choices, by contrast, was far more intense and earned her comparisons to first ladies, which she was not. Sure, President Obama was glamorous, but he didn’t have to be. Let’s allow women politicians the same freedom. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Myah Ward @myahward

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The Chickens Come Home to the Coup - The Provincetown Independent

 

TomDispatch

 

Former New York Times foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer has what's simply a must-read piece in the Provincetown (MASS) Independent on what it means for the country that has intervened abroad more often than any other on earth in the second half of the last century and this one to intervene at home, so to speak. Tom

"By fomenting a violent uprising against democratic rule last week, President Trump did something unique in American history. He unleashed terror in his own country. Previous presidents have only done that abroad.

"Over the last century, no nation has intervened as often as the United States in so many countries so far away from its own borders. Overthrowing governments is one of our specialties. Last week gave us a glimpse, on a greatly reduced scale, of the havoc we have wreaked elsewhere.

"The idea of “exceptionalism” is deeply ingrained in our national DNA. Americans grow up presuming that, as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright famously asserted, “We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries.”

"Our leaders believe they know what is good for the world better than the world itself knows. This has led the U.S. to incite rebellion and subversive violence in dozens of countries. To replace the governments we overthrow, we often promote corrupt demagogues. Now we face the same combination at home: insurrection and demagoguery.

"According to a joke that is told in many countries, there can never be a coup in the U.S. because there is no American embassy there. The latest zinger is no less ironic: “Due to travel restrictions, this year the U.S. government decided to stage its coup at home.” The bitterness beneath those lines is a natural reaction to last week’s violence from people outside the United States. The form of democracy that Americans brag about and seek to impose on others, it turns out, is hardly perfect — or even enviable.

"American leaders not only work to spread political chaos in other countries, they openly encourage it. When the halls of Congress were invaded last week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was rightly outraged. Yet when a mob stormed the Legislative Council Building in Hong Kong two years ago, she called it “a beautiful sight to behold.” Not surprisingly, Chinese commentators sprinkled their reports on last week’s Washington attack with words like “retribution,” “karma,” and “deserving.”

"If our democracy collapses or is decisively weakened in the coming decades, it will not be because the wrong political party came to power in Syria or Venezuela. Nor are China, Russia, and the other usual suspects truly responsible for our domestic decay. Our deepest social and political crises are self-created. While we spend trillions to fight wildly exaggerated threats in distant parts of the world, our democratic institutions atrophy. Cynical politicians take advantage, even to the point of inciting violence for their own gain. It happens elsewhere, so why not here? When measured by the strength of our democracy, the U.S. may not be so exceptional after all.

"American intervention has set off plagues of violence in countries from Guatemala and Chile to Iraq and Libya. Generations of Americans assumed that plague would never reach our shores. As we have learned over the last year, though, plagues spread. Domestic terrorists follow the example we set abroad. We cannot expect peace at home if we relentlessly promote upheaval in other countries.

"Last week’s mob attack in Washington was a historic event. The forces it represents are potent. They will not fade away. Taming them would require a deep reordering of our national priorities. Our efforts at nation-building abroad have been notorious failures. The scenes flashing across our TV screens these last few days suggest that we should try it at home."

https://provincetownindependent.org/.../the-chickens.../

PROVINCETOWNINDEPENDENT.ORG

The Chickens Come Home to the Coup - The Provincetown Independent

TRURO — By fomenting a violent uprising against democratic rule last week, President Trump did something unique in American history. He unleashed terror in his own country. Previous presidents have […]

RSN: FOCUS: Bernie Sanders | Joe Biden Must Put an End to Business as Usual. Here's Where to Start

 

  

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NOW IS THE TIME THAT WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT: Today — This is it, right now. We are pulling out all the stops to finish the January fundraiser now. As in right now. Yes we can do that. Today, right now is critical. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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FOCUS: Bernie Sanders | Joe Biden Must Put an End to Business as Usual. Here's Where to Start

Bernie Sanders, Guardian UK
Sanders writes: "In this time of unprecedented crises, Congress and the Biden administration must respond through unprecedented action."

 record-breaking 4,000 Americans are now dying each day from Covid-19, while the federal government fumbles vaccine production and distribution, testing and tracing. In the midst of the worst pandemic in 100 years, more than 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and can’t afford to go to a doctor when they get sick. The isolation and anxiety caused by the pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in mental illness.

Over half of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck, including millions of essential workers who put their lives on the line every day. More than 24 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work, while hunger in this country is at the highest level in decades.

Because of lack of income, up to 40 million Americans face the threat of eviction, and many owe thousands in back rent. This is on top of the 500,000 who are already homeless.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest people in this country are becoming much richer, and income and wealth inequality are soaring. Incredibly, during the pandemic, 650 billionaires in America have increased their wealth by more than $1tn.

As a result of the pandemic education in this country, from childcare to graduate school, is in chaos. The majority of young people in this country have seen their education disrupted and it is likely that hundreds of colleges will soon cease to exist.

Climate change is ravaging the planet with an unprecedented number of forest fires and extreme weather disturbances. Scientists tell us that we have only a very few years before irreparable damage takes place to our country and the world.

And, in the midst of all this, the foundations of American democracy are under an unprecedented attack. We have a president who is working feverishly to undermine American democracy and incite violence against the very government and constitution he swore to defend. Against all of the evidence, tens of millions of Americans actually believe Trump’s Big Lie that he won this election by a landslide and that victory was stolen from him and his supporters. Armed rightwing militias in support of Trump are being mobilized throughout the country.

In this moment of unprecedented crises, Congress and the Biden administration must respond through unprecedented action. No more business as usual. No more same old, same old.

Democrats, who will now control the White House, the Senate and the House, must summon the courage to demonstrate to the American people that government can effectively and rapidly respond to their pain and anxiety. As the incoming chairman of the Senate budget committee that is exactly what I intend to do.

What does all of this mean for the average American?

It means that we aggressively crush the pandemic and enable the American people to return to their jobs and schools. This will require a federally led emergency program to produce the quantity of vaccines that we need and get them into people’s arms as quickly as possible.

It means that during the severe economic downturn we’re experiencing, we must make sure that all Americans have the financial resources they need to live with dignity. We must increase the $600 in direct payments for every working-class adult and child that was recently passed to $2,000, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expand unemployment benefits and prevent eviction, homelessness and hunger.

It means that, during this raging pandemic, we must guarantee healthcare to all. We must also end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on Earth not to provide paid family and medical leave to workers.

It means making pre-kindergarten and childcare universal and available to every family in America.

Despite what you may have heard, there is no reason why we cannot do all of these things. Through budget reconciliation, a process that only requires a majority vote in the Senate, we can act quickly and pass this emergency legislation.

But that is not enough. This year we must also pass a second reconciliation bill that deals with the major structural changes that our country desperately needs. Ultimately, we must confront the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality and create a country that works for all and not just the few. Americans should no longer be denied basic economic rights that are guaranteed to people in virtually every other major country.

This means using a second reconciliation bill to create millions of good-paying jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and constructing affordable housing, modernizing our schools, combatting climate change and making massive investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

It means making public colleges, universities, trade schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities tuition-free and forcefully addressing the outrageous level of student debt for working families.

And it means making the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations pay their fair share of taxes. We cannot continue to allow profitable corporations like Amazon to make billions of dollars in taxes and pay nothing in net federal income taxes. And billionaires cannot be allowed to pay a lower tax rate than working-class Americans. We need real tax reform.

There is no reason Joe Biden could not sign into law two major bills that will accomplish most of the goals I listed above within the first 100 days of the new Congress. We cannot allow Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership to sabotage legislation that would improve the lives of millions of working Americans and is wildly popular.

Let us never forget. When Republicans controlled the Senate, they used the reconciliation process to pass trillions of dollars in tax breaks primarily to the top 1% and multinational corporations. Further, they were able to confirm three rightwing US supreme court judges over a very short period of time by a simple majority vote.

If the Republicans could use the reconciliation process to protect the wealthy and the powerful, we can use it to protect working families, the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the poor.

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FAIR: Media Elevate Eugenicists, Sideline Disabled Voices in Discussions of Covid Rationing

 

View article on FAIR's website Media Elevate Eugenicists, Sideline Disabled Voices in Discussions of Covid Rationing JUSTINE BARRON   In the sticky conversations around rationing life-saving treatments and vaccines during the Covid pandemic, corporate media have elevated some experts without disclosing their troubling views on disability, aging and the value of human life. Meanwhile, media outlets have largely sidelined the voices of disabled activists and others who could speak on behalf of those most affected by the pandemic. 'Quality of life' "The stark message to chronically sick, disabled people and elders is that we are 'acceptable losses,'" Elliot Kukla wrote in the New York Times (3/19/20). In the first weeks of the Covid outbreak, national media outlets did shine a spotlight on issues for disabled people, including the potential for discriminatory triage guidelines. Disabled voices appeared in the op-ed pages of the New York Times (3/19/20, 3/23/20), Washington Post (4/6/20, 4/9/20) and Vox (4/4/20), advocating for their rights. Disability became a viral social media topic in July 2020, after a Texas woman shared a&feature=emb_logo">recording of a doctor refusing life-saving treatment for her Covid-infected husband, Michael Hickson, a Black father of five who was already a quadriplegic with brain damage. On tape, his doctor defended his choice based on Hickson’s lack of “quality of life,” by which he clarified to mean Hickson being “paralyzed with a brain injury,” not the infection. He also referred to Covid medication as being appropriate for patients who are “walking and talking.” A few national outlets picked up the story, reflecting varying degrees of understanding of the disability issues at stake. Newsweek (7/2/20) leaned on statements by the hospital and care agency only, which defended the doctor’s medical choice but glided over his statements. Nor did Newsweek's article itself include all of the doctor’s incriminating words—or any input from disability advocates. The Washington Post (7/5/20) described the contrast between Hickson’s wife, who wanted life-saving measures used, and his sister, who sought legal guardianship to let him die, as between a “voice of hope” and “a pragmatist,” respectively. The sister’s pragmatism was illustrated by her acceptance that Hickson was no longer “a genius,” or “the person he was before 2017,” when he was injured—with the Post not questioning the assumption that that prior brain damage was relevant to whether he should be saved. None of the national stories pointed out how the doctor’s statements by themselves violated federal anti-discrimination rules for Covid triage, as a physician pointed out in an op-ed in The Hill (7/15/20). Still, the Hickson case brought brief attention to disability issues, with follow-up stories from outlets like USA Today (7/14/20) and Politico (8/10/20) covering state and local battles for disability rights. 'Happiness' Peter Singer (New York Times Magazine, 4/10/20) rejects comparisons of the Covid death toll to Vietnam War casualties, because "this is killing mostly older people. I think that’s really relevant." While national corporate media have sometimes, especially early on, centered disabled and affected voices during this pandemic, representatives of affected groups have not been included in conversations about rationing and other policy issues.  No advocates of disability or aging were invited to participate in either of two debates on Covid-19 ethical issues published in the New York Times Magazine and hosted by staff writer Emily Bazelon: “Restarting America Means People Will Die. So When Do We Do It?” (4/10/20), and “People Are Dying. Whom Do We Save First With the Vaccine?” (12/24/20). Both conversations brought together five “thinkers,” as Bazelon described them. Each included author Peter Singer, described as “bioethics professor at Princeton [University].” Singer’s beliefs are guided by a “utilitarian” philosophy, which, he says, “does the most to increase the net surplus of happiness over misery” (NPR, 6/1/20). Singer has received significant positive attention in the last few years from national media outlets. An otherwise glowing article on Singer in Vox (12/11/20) did point to one notable mark on his record: He has also been at times a controversial figure in modern ethics, alienating many in the disability community with what they’ve called his simplistic and horrifying takes on intellectual disabilities. Indeed, Singer has argued, repeatedly and emphatically, that parents should be able to euthanize their disabled babies — not just abort fetuses, but kill actual infants. He describes nondisabled lives as “hav[ing] a greater chance at happiness” than disabled lives (New York Times, 2/16/03). Singer also believes that people with significant cognitive disabilities, such as Alzheimer's disease, cease being “persons,'' because they lack self-awareness, and so can ethically be euthanized by caregivers (New Yorker, 9/6/99). Otherwise, Singer claims to value human and animal life highly (Vox, 10/27/20). He wrote a book called Animal Liberation and opposes eating, testing on or harming animals. (He has not offered an opinion on disabled animals.) Disabled activists, religious scholars and others have spoken out ardently against Singer’s views for years, describing them as “eugenics” (e.g., Independent,, 10/10/11; National Review, 9/2/13;), which is defined as a coordinated effort to improve the genetic make-up of a population. The most famous eugenicists, the Nazis, sterilized and killed disabled people. The beliefs that undergird Singer’s positions on disability correspond to some of his opinions on Covid. In the April debate in the New York Times Magazine, and in other writings around that time, Singer argues that the consequences of "lockdowns" are "horrific," because "more younger people are going to die," and that most of the people who died have been very old, with “underlying medical conditions.” In the December New York Times Magazine debate, Singer argues that we should reconsider the plan to vaccinate older people in nursing homes first. “I think we should ask questions about the quality of their lives,” he says. “The objective that we should aim for is to reduce years of life lost.” He has said that he would give up lifesaving measures to someone “much younger” than himself, if that person didn’t have “underlying health conditions that mean that their life expectancy is no greater than mine” (NPR, 6/1/20). Criticism of Singer was more prominent in mainstream media ten or more years ago, when British media outlets referred to him as “the man who would kill disabled babies” (Independent, 5/13/98) and “the most dangerous man in the world” (Guardian, 11/5/99).  Yet Singer's reputation would not have been a mystery to Bazelon or the Times when they selected him for the two Covid-19 debates. He has published similar views in the Times recently. In 2017, Singer argued in a Times op-ed (4/3/17) that rape charges were unfair against a woman who had sex with a noncommunicative man with cerebral palsy. Singer’s argument shifted: the man “may lack the concept of consent altogether,” he offered at one point; elsewhere he suggested, even if the woman “wronged or harmed him, it must have been in a way that he is incapable of understanding and that affected his experience only pleasurably.”  The Times earlier (1/26/07) gave Singer space to question a disabled body’s autonomy, dismissing qualms about doctors deliberately stunting the growth of a disabled child as "lofty talk about human dignity." Singer’s collection of beliefs is peculiar to him and nonscientific, yet he was invited to the Covid debate table among experts on public health. His ideas of “happiness” and “quality of life” are not measurable, and there is no evidence that happiness correlates with physical or cognitive ability. Scientists also cannot predict the life expectancy of anyone with “underlying medical conditions.” What is more, Singer has no experience working in medicine or public health; bioethics is a humanities discipline, created in the late 1960s. He acknowledges as much in a Washington Post op-ed (4/27/20) on Covid-19, in which he and his co-author suggest people could voluntarily get sick to provoke immunity. “We are ethicists, not medical or biological scientists,” they write. “When it comes to factual beliefs about the pandemic, we defer to expert scientific opinion, as everyone should.” 'Diminishing capacities' Singer was not the only controversial bioethicist to participate in Bazelon’s New York Times Magazine debates on Covid rationing. Her first conversation also included Ezekiel Emanuel. Unlike Singer, Emanuel does have a medical background, although not in epidemiology; he is an oncologist. Even more than Singer, Emanuel has become one of the national media’s go-to experts on Covid, making frequent appearances on CNN (10/13/20), MSNBC (10/2/20), CNBC (10/13/20) and other news networks throughout the crisis, as well as writing numerous op-eds and being sought for comment. His media profile was further elevated after President-elect Joe Biden appointed him to his Covid-19 task force. Previously, Emanuel worked on the creation of the Affordable Care Act under President Barack Obama. A member of Joe Biden's Covid advisory panel argued that "society and families—and you—will be better off if nature takes its course swiftly and promptly," and kills him at age 75 (Atlantic, 10/14). Like Singer, Emanuel has shared disturbing views on disability and aging in the past. Most famously, he published a piece in the Atlantic (10/14) titled “Why I Hope to Die at 75.”  In the essay, Emanuel writes that aging “renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived.” The article enumerates a long list of physical and cognitive losses, or “diminishing capacities,” associated with aging. Emanuel lists various conditions that are normally experienced by disabled people of all ages and determines they would make life no longer worth living. A good deal of Emanuel’s article focuses on how people over 75 almost never achieve great things, which, for him, is associated with production and validation in a capitalist society. When asked about seniors over 75 who do lead active lives, he replied (Technology Review, 8/21/19): “When I look at what these people ‘do,’ almost all of it is what I classify as play. It’s not meaningful work. They’re riding motorcycles; they’re hiking.” Emanuel’s 2014 Atlantic essay ends with a promise to avoid any medical tests or interventions after 75, including the flu shot. He refers to pneumonia as “the friend of the aged” by gifting the elderly with death. For this and other reasons, advocates for the disabled and elderly were especially concerned when Emanuel’s name was announced as part of Biden’s Covid-19 advisory team. These advocates and others spoke out on social media and in the independent press. Corporate media mostly ignored the controversy in its coverage of his appointment, with Fox News (11/9/20) and USA Today (11/25/20) as notable exceptions. But USA Today only mentioned the controversy to defend Emanuel, calling his Atlantic essay a “personal preference,” even though the essay used “we” and “us” language, making assumptions about shared views on aging and disability. The essay also included a long critique of the American impulse to fight aging. Emanuel appears on talk shows regularly discussing Covid, but he has rarely if ever been asked about his views on disability and aging since 2014. Bazelon did bring it up during the Times Magazine debate. He told her the premise of his Atlantic article was a “personal preference, not a policy proposal,” the same language used by USA Today. If Emanuel’s outlook on aging and disability is a “personal preference,” he has nonetheless pursued policies that seem to align with it. During Obama’s presidency, he proposed systematizing the rationing of scarce medical resources, like organs, based on a calculus of age and disability instead of first-come, first-serve. He also argued in opposition to the Hippocratic oath putting individual patients over cost and the greater good. These views were controversial, prompting some conservatives to suggest the ACA would instill “death panels’ (Forbes, 9/24/14). Emanuel has been proposing a similar approach to who should receive Covid-19 treatment and vaccination. He proposes prioritizing individuals with greater social value and more estimated years remaining, which is calculated based on age and disability (New York Times, 3/12/20; NEJM, 5/21/20). Several media outlets, especially the New York Times, have provided extraordinary and mostly uncritical space for Emanuel’s ideas on Covid, even though he is not an epidemiologist. He is also not the only member of Biden’s Covid advisory board. The Times has published 12 op-eds related to Covid written or co-written by Emanuel since the pandemic started (e.g.,  4/14/20, 7/29/20)—more than the total number of Times op-eds about how Covid has affected disabled people and seniors. Emanuel has also written several Covid-related opinion pieces for the Washington Post (e.g., 4/22/20, 7/31/20), as well as for USA Today (3/19/20, 10/10/20), Science (9/11/20) and the Atlantic (4/18/20, 5/22/20) (for which he previously wrote reviews of DC-area restaurants). Corporate media’s elevation of Emanuel and Singer as experts on Covid-19, without scrutinizing their troubling views, points to how unprepared news outlets are to report on the nuances of disability in the age of Covid. On November 7, many disabled people on Twitter were pleasantly surprised after CNN’s Jake Tapper mentioned “#cripthevote” on live television, a popular hashtag for disabled political conversation. “This is not a community that gets a lot of attention as a political force,” Tapper said. About 25% of the US population has a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and this percentage is likely to have grown in the last year, with the rise in long-haul Covid illness. © 2020 Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. All rights reserved. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Our mailing address is: FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING 124 W. 30th Street, Suite 201 New York, NY 10001 FAIR's Website FAIR counts on your support to do this work — please donate today.