Dear Progressive Reader,
The numbers are in. Wisconsin State Capitol Police estimate that approximately 1500 individuals protested yesterday at the Capitol in Madison (a far cry from the 100,000+ who gathered in 2011 to protest Republican attacks on the bargaining rights of public sector unions). These protests, however, were about the right to ignore public health advice! As Bill Lueders writes, “The Republicans who control the state Legislature are asking the state Supreme Court, which they also control, to strip [Governor Tony] Evers of his power to take what he feels are appropriate actions to protect the public against the spread of the virus.” The Wisconsin rally was one of the largest so far in the nation, and, as Michael Makowski reports, “Despite their grassroots appearance, these groups are part of a larger coordinated effort to oppose stay-at-home orders across the nation.” In fact, I observed a number of expensive, pre-printed signs distributed throughout the crowd along with a large, trucked-in decorative “pro-Trump” parade float. As cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates, “Even if these protests were an attempt to get the economy ‘restarted,’ they run the risk of doing even more harm to the economy by prolonging the pandemic.”
Donald Trump has supported and encouraged these protesters, and White House aide Stephen Moore reportedly called them “the modern-day Rosa Parks.” They call themselves “Freedom Fighters,” which reminded me of Ronald Reagan’s 1983 statement of support for the brutal Nicaraguan Contras, whose U.S.-supported war resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 people. This rhetoric from the White House is occurring at the same time as Trump is advocating quack health cures which his own agencies and corporate PR statements are quick to back-pedal. As Ruth Conniff points out, “This guy is lucky there’s a whole Dark Web full of wingnuts. He’s losing the reality-based community fast.”
Meanwhile, on Friday, Trump told reporters, “The U.S. Postal Service is a joke.” Trump was talking about his refusal to financially support this vital national service. One of the first acts of the Second Continental Congress in May 1775 was to create a post office for reasons of national security. Yet, as I write this week, Republicans have long sought to privatize the agency, and now Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin is “seeking to impose significant controls on the operation of the USPS as a condition of approving the $10 billion loan to the agency that was already passed by Congress.”
Other news on our website this week includes a review by Ed Rampell of the new film from executive producer Michael Moore called Planet of the Humans. We also feature Paul Buhle’s look at two books on the lessons and legacy of Bernie Sanders’s two presidential campaigns. Alice Herman provides an update on the struggle by local residents against the basing of a squadron of F-35 bombers in Madison, Wisconsin. And our intern, Nuha Dolby, tells her story of working as a direct care worker during the pandemic.
We have been gathering all of our coverage of COVID-19 under one tab on our website for quick access. Keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.
Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher
P.S. – In an unprecedented move, spurred by the urgency of the moment, we released the entire new issue of The Progressive early in digital form. You can read it or download it at progressive.org/AprilMay2020pdf or read it on a mobile device here. We hope you will share the link with others who would like to read this month’s articles as well. We exist because we want people to read our content, but we survive because they do.
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