Category: 2020 Election

Trump is shouting for schools to reopen. He needs an actual strategy.

Washington Post logoPRESIDENT TRUMP has seized upon a new campaign battle cry to reopen the schools this fall, not with distance learning but in person. Mr. Trump’s call reflects a genuine need, felt by parents, teachers and students, to get back to the classroom. In any calculus of recovery, schools must be a priority. But it is important that reopening be done smartly, avoiding Mr. Trump’s previous bungling and leadership bankruptcy.

All over the country this week, teachers, parents, students and administrators are wrestling with the methods of how to accomplish this, knowing the stakes are high. Students have already lost months of work; many parents need to return to jobs; a host of knock-on effects flow from canceled classes, including mental health troubles.

“SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!” Mr. Trump declared on Twitter. But simply shouting the slogan is not a strategy. Schools must avoid hasty miscalculations such as those evident in Mr. Trump’s thoughtless drive in May to reopen states, which badly backfired and led to the present pandemic surge. The current wildfire of infection must be extinguished as a prerequisite to going back to classrooms. If Americans can’t wear masks and stay out of bars and restaurants, they won’t get the school bells ringing soon. Continue reading.

Facebook’s Decisions Were ‘Setbacks for Civil Rights,’ Audit Finds

New York Times logoAn independent audit faulted the social network for allowing hate speech and disinformation to thrive — potentially posing a threat to the November elections.

SAN FRANCISCO — Auditors handpicked by Facebook to examine its policies said that the company had not done enough to protect people on the platform from discriminatory posts and ads and that its decisions to leave up President Trump’s inflammatory posts were “significant setbacks for civil rights.”

The 89-page audit put Facebook in an awkward position as the presidential campaign heats up. The report gave fuel to the company’s detractors, who said the site had allowed hate speech and misinformation to flourish. The audit also placed the social network in the spotlight for an issue it had worked hard to avoid since the 2016 election: That it may once again be negatively influencing American voters.

Now Facebook has to decide whether its approach to hateful speech and noxious content — which was to leave it alone in the name of free expression — remains tenable. And that decision puts pressure on Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, who has repeatedly said that his company was not an arbiter of truth and that it would not police politicians’ posts. Continue reading.

Trump wants to reopen schools. Hint: It’s not just about education.

Trump has ramped up a push to return children to the classroom as he tries to restore the economy for his reelection campaign.

President Donald Trump’s push to reopen America’s schools is about more than children’s education. It’s about the economy. And it’s about his reelection.

Because for Trump and his team, the issues are interlinked.

With children out of the house, they argue, parents can more easily return to work and juice the economy — something even the president’s allies consider a necessity for Trump to win reelection. And with Trump’s sagging poll numbers against presumptive 2020 rival Joe Biden, aides also hope the campaign for in-person schooling will play well with the female and suburban voters the president needs to remain in office. Continue reading.

Devastating new ad uses Ronald Reagan’s words against Trump to stunning effect

AlterNet logoThe Lincoln Project is not the only right-wing group that has been creating attack ads slamming President Donald Trump. Another is Republican Voters Against Trump, which uses the words of President Ronald Reagan in its latest video to illustrate Trump’s failures as president.

In the ad — which lasts one minute and 40 seconds — RVAT contrast Reagan’s words with images of the U.S. during the Trump era. The message is not subtle: Under Trump, the United States is a long way from Reagan’s vision for the country.

The ad isn’t aimed at liberals and progressives, many of whom would argue that Reagan’s economic policies were bad for the American working class during the 1980s. It asks Republicans: “Has your party left you?” Continue reading.

Facebook closes network of accounts and pages affiliated with Roger Stone for manipulation

Washington Post logoThe longtime Trump friend and former campaign adviser used fake accounts and other deceptive tactics to manipulate public debate, the company said

Facebook took down a network of more than 100 pages and accounts on Wednesday it said was affiliated with felon and former Republican operative Roger Stone for “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” taking the company’s campaign against disinformation closer to the heart of the nation’s political establishment.

The offending activity on Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram dated as far back as 2015 but was particularly active during the 2016 presidential election season, when Stone was advising Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and in 2017, as federal investigators were scrutinizing his activities.

Facebook officials said Stone, a longtime friend of Trump’s, used fake accounts and other deceptive measures to manipulate public debate. In at least a small number of occasions, Stone also drew attention to posts made by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which at the time was publishing damaging Democratic Party emails originally stolen by Russian hackers, the company said. Continue reading.

Stop saying Trump is ‘in denial.’ The truth is much worse.

Washington Post logoTo paraphrase George Orwell, when it comes to President Trump’s bottomless malevolence and depravity, accurately describing what’s right in front of our noses is a constant struggle — and a perfect example of this is the ubiquitous claim that Trump is “in denial” about coronavirus.

With Trump now launching a campaign to get schools reopened, versions of this are everywhere. The new push shows Trump has “learned nothing” about the perils of reopening society too quickly, declares CNN’s main Twitter feed.

Trump is lost in “magical thinking,” proclaims one health expert. Trump is “basically in denial,” insists one Democratic governor. Trump is “incapable of grasping that people are dying,” frets one advocate for educators. Continue reading.

6 things that will never be the same after the 2020 elections

After the pandemic, other traditions may also fade into memory

It’s still too early to declare the final results of the 2020 elections, but there are at least a few things that we know will never be the same again, even before we get to November.

The conventions

While the country wrestles with the coronavirus, both the Republican and Democratic national conventions will look different than in years past. It’s simply unsafe for large groups to gather in close proximity indoors. But conventions will never look the same again, even when the threat of COVID-19 fades away. Before the global pandemic, there was plenty of skepticism about the need for a full, four-day, four-night, in-person event. It felt like the conventions were more creatures of habit rather than necessity. Now that the habit’s broken, arguing for the need to go back will be even more difficult. Continue reading “6 things that will never be the same after the 2020 elections”

Leaders like Trump fail if they cannot speak the truth and earn trust

During a recent Senate committee hearing on the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers he was concerned about “a lack of trust of authority, a lack of trust in government.”

He had reason to be worried. The Pew Center reported that July 7 only 17% of people in the U.S. have confidence in government to do the right thing. Never in the history of their surveys, which began in 1958, has that confidence been so low.

Why is trust so low and why does that matter, especially during a crisis – and especially during this crisis? Continue reading.

Boss Trump Incites The Resentment Of Losers

Pity the poor white man; he just can’t catch a break in this country.

If that strikes you as an unpromising theme for a presidential campaign in the year 2020, you must not be an adept of the Trump cult. Seemingly running as the reincarnation of Jefferson Davis—the Mississippian who served as the one-and-only president of the Confederate States of America—Boss Trump travels from sea to shining sea appealing to the resentment and self-pity of those whose ancestors lost the Civil War.

Even if they had no such ancestors. Not every paleface who gets all tingly and aroused by Trump’s dark intimations of cultural warfare is descended from slave owners or rebel soldiers. Unrepentant racists are actually a dying breed across the South. Indeed, you’d think that the state of Mississippi’s decision to remove Confederate imagery from its state flag would give even Trump pause. Not to mention NASCAR’s banning of the Stars and Bars. Bad for business, you see. After all, who defends slavery anymore? Continue reading.

The Trump administration is considering banning TikTok

TikTok is arguably the most popular app in the world right now, with hundreds of millions of (mostly) young people using the platform for everything from dance moves to political activism. Despite its popularity (or perhaps because of it), the app is facing increased scrutiny because of its alleged ties to the Chinese government. India banned the app last week, and the United States may soon follow suit. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the current administration is considering banning TikTok and other Chinese apps.

“With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too,” he said in an interview with Laura Ingrahm. “I don’t want to get out in front of the President, but it’s something we’re looking at.” Pompeo also warned the American people that they should only download TikTok “if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

TikTok, for its part, says that it is “led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the US” A spokesperson for the company tells Mic, “We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.” Continue reading.