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Sobering data from the last few weeks show Americans report feeling record low happiness levels and pride in America. It’s no wonder, amid a disorienting pandemic and brutal incidents of racially motivated violence that have deepened distrust in authority figures. While electing and promoting better leaders is an important part of the solution, our collective discontent permeates throughout society, and it will take solutions that transcend the limited role of politics. We need a societal reset grounded in core principles: connection, family, community, health, meaningful work. We can’t control all that threatens us, but we do have the power to renew our focus on service to others and affect change that reflects our values. —Mindy Finn
Top Ten

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1. Tulsa wants a plan As Tulsa prepares for President Trump's first campaign rally since the coronavirus pandemic closed down much of the country, reaction is decidedly mixed in the city. Excited Trump supporters have been camping out in front of the BOK Center for days, while health experts and local officials fear the event will accelerate the spread of COVID-19 in a city that is already experiencing a rash of new cases. To help prevent an overload of infections, the BOK Center has asked the campaign to submit a social distancing plan that ensures Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and social distancing measures are followed in the 19,000-capacity arena. —Newsweek ([link removed])
* — To wear a mask or not to wear a mask. For Californians, it's no longer an open question. Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order yesterday that requires all citizens to wear face coverings in "high-risk settings," as the state continues to reopen. The order follows new guidance from the California Department of Public Health that asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people can still spread the disease. —NPR ([link removed])
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* — A COVID voting conflict. Alabama is planning to challenge a federal judge's ruling on curbside voting for the state's runoff election next month. Earlier this week, the judge lifted a statewide ban on curbside voting, allowing counties to offer it if they choose, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill says it's not authorized by law. —NBC News ([link removed])
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* — Back to where it began. China is again contending with an outbreak of COVID-19, this time in the Chinese capital of Beijing. Authorities there have raised the official emergency response back to Level II, as they race to stem what one called an "extremely severe" situation. The adjustment to the response level comes just 10 days after it was downgraded to the less-restrictive Level III. —CBS News ([link removed])

More: Navy upholds firing of carrier captain in virus outbreak (Associated Press) ([link removed])

2. Stanton: The Golden Age of Conspiracy Theories "In the misinformation pandemic, conspiracy theories occupy an increasingly commonplace part of mainstream political discourse, political leaders weaponize them for their partisan benefit, and neutral, trusted sources of information lose sway. Like a virus, once a conspiracy theory starts spreading, it is difficult to contain. 'What's a trusted source for somebody who is literally defined by thinking that everyone and everything is a lie and against them and a conspiracy?' [University of Louisville Professor Adam] Enders asks. Where once political leaders provided fact-based messaging grounded in a sense of responsibility and aimed at informing the public, the incentive to act responsibly has withered. And with no end to the coronavirus pandemic in sight—and a world-changing election coming in November—you can expect the misinformation pandemic to continue." —Politico
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More: Fauci calls 'anti-science bias' in the US problematic (Business Insider) ([link removed])

3. Ahead of Tulsa, a threat from POTUS ([link removed])

Echoing the hard-line rhetoric he has employed in response to mass demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice, President Trump today threatened action against "any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters, or lowlifes" who may show up at his Tulsa rally tomorrow. Without elaborating further, he said they "will not be treated like [they] have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis." Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum issued an executive order yesterday declaring a civil emergency and imposing curfews for parts of the city to be in effect before and after the rally. —Politico ([link removed])
* — In an indictment of Trump's stewardship at a time of national unrest, Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, submitted her resignation yesterday, saying that the president's recent actions "cut sharply against my core values and convictions." Taylor was one of the administration's highest-ranking black Americans and has served in the administration since its first day. —The Boston Globe ([link removed])
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— An example of one of those actions came last night. Trump tweeted a clip of a black toddler and a white toddler edited to include a CNN chyron reading "terrified todler[sic] runs from racist baby." Twitter has flagged the tweet for containing "manipulated media." —The Hill ([link removed])
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* — Sen. John Cornyn plans to introduce legislation to make Juneteenth—first celebrated in his home state of Texas to commemorate the day slaves there learned of Emancipation—a federal holiday. Marked annually on June 19, the day is "an opportunity to reflect on our history, the mistakes we have made, but yet how far we've come in the fight for equality, and a reminder of just how far we still have to go," the Republican said on the Senate floor yesterday. —Bloomberg ([link removed])

More: Officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting fired by Louisville police (The Hill) ([link removed])

4. TBS Ed Board: The spirit of Juneteenth ([link removed])

"Juneteenth [is] the right holiday for the times. Not just because it's about achieving freedom and equality for those who had previously been enslaved, but because of its peculiar circumstances. Juneteenth is not set on the day that Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. That was more than two months earlier, on April 9. It is not celebrated on the day that Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. That was more than two years prior, on Jan. 1, 1863. ([link removed])

No, Juneteenth recognizes the day the last outpost of slavery was given the word that the chains were coming off. It's the day in 1865 when Gordon 'The Rock of Chickamauga' Granger, a Union general, came to Galveston, Tx., to read aloud orders that all enslaved people in Texas had been set free—and had with him enough troops to make sure that directive was enforced. The lesson here is that freedom isn't achieved with the stroke of a pen. It isn't always granted equally or willingly or peacefully." —The Baltimore Sun ([link removed])

5. Russia and China up to no good German prosecutors charged a Russian national yesterday who they say was acting on the Kremlin's orders in the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen rebel leader, in Berlin last August. "State agencies of the central government of the Russian Federation commissioned the defendant to liquidate the Georgian citizen of Chechen origin," Germany's federal prosecutor said. The U.S. concluded last year that the killing was commissioned by Russia and not the work of criminal organizations, as German investigators initially suspected. —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])
* — A "sophisticated state-based actor" has spent months trying to hack all levels of the government, political bodies, essential service providers, and operators of critical infrastructure in Australia, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Not surprisingly, "there is a high degree of confidence that China is behind the attacks," an Australian government source said. —Reuters ([link removed])
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— A Chinese court has secretly convicted and sentenced Yu Wensheng, one of China's most outspoken human rights lawyers, to four years in prison on the charge of "inciting subversion of state power." One of the staunchest government critics in the country, Yu had repeatedly weighed in on politically sensitive issues, despite efforts to stifle dissent under Chinese President Xi Jinping. He has been in state custody since January 2018. —The Guardian ([link removed])
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* — A group of 86 human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, have urged Chinese legislators to abandon a national security law for Hong Kong, calling the proposed legislation "a devastating assault on human rights." The legislators are discussing the law at their current meeting, paving the way for it to come into force as early as this month. —Al Jazeera ([link removed])

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6. SCOTUS ruling yields new election battlecry Rattled by yesterday's Supreme Court ruling regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, President Trump turned the setback into a 2020 election pitch. In a pair of tweets, he said he will release a new list of potential Supreme Court nominees by Sept. 1. "If given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a conservative Supreme Court justice," he said. "Based on decisions being rendered now, this list is more important than ever before (Second Amendment, Right to Life, Religious Liberty, etc.) – VOTE 2020!" —CBS News ([link removed])
* — 'My biggest risk.' Trump says mail-in voting will endanger his re-election, and believes his campaign's multimillion-dollar legal effort to block expanded ballot access could determine whether he wins a second term. States across the country are rushing to institute or expand vote-by-mail procedures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. —Politico ([link removed])
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* — Rudy's in. In a major reversal, Trump's re-election campaign has tapped former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to press for more presidential debates this fall and to have a say in choosing the moderators. Last year, Trump threatened to boycott the debates altogether, but his advisers think more one-on-one encounters will give Trump an opportunity to sow doubts about former Vice President Joe Biden's stamina for the job. —Politico ([link removed])
* — Amy's out. Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced last night that she is withdrawing from consideration to be the running mate to Biden on the Democratic ticket. She says she called him on Wednesday night to urge him to choose a woman of color to be his running mate. —The New York Times ([link removed])

More: Fox News poll sees Trump's popularity drop to new low as Biden increases lead (The Independent) ([link removed])

7. Alaimo: Are we headed for a social media divide? "Americans may permanently splinter onto partisan social networks. As millions of young people have left Facebook over the past few years, the conventional wisdom has been that they were escaping a stodgy platform used by their parents. But now it seems that the exodus may have been sparked by politics; the most shared posts each day on Facebook tend to be conservative, while the top content on Twitter is often liberal." —CNN ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Kara Alaimo, an associate professor of public relations at Hofstra University, is the author of "Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street: How to Practice Global Public Relations and Strategic Communication."

8. 'Wednesday night massacre' at USAGM In what a former official described as a "Wednesday night massacre," the heads of Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Open Technology Fund—four organizations overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media—were all dismissed on Wednesday night. The ousters are likely to heighten concerns that new Trump-appointee Michael Pack intends to turn the agency into a political arm of the administration. ([link removed])
* — At least two of the removals—MBN's Alberto Fernandez and RFE/RL's Jamie Fly—were unexpected. The head of the OTF, Libby Liu, had resigned effective July but was still fired Wednesday evening. ([link removed])
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* — The organizations' boards were also dissolved, and a number of political appointees have been installed in management positions. ([link removed])
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* — USAGM says its mission is "is to inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy." It also oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, among other entities. —CNN ([link removed])

9. Pierce: And the youth shall lead "[Y]oung people—often finishing school and just transitioning to work and family life—as newer members of society, are not prepared to accept what may have become normalized for some of us. They are preparing to take their place in society, possibly to lead it, and they want it to be a society that reflects their understanding of what justice looks like or should look like. And they have the time and the energy of youth to devote to that struggle." —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Raymond Pierce is president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation, which advances educational opportunities for African-American and low-income students in the Southern states.

10. An American Story: Peanut to the rescue The pandemic has hit the elderly especially hard, in more ways than one. Eleven-year-old Jorja Boller of Beatrice, Neb., decided she wanted to do her part by cheering up nursing home residents with her pet pony, Peanut, while they are in isolation. ([link removed])
* — The residents saw Peanut from outside their windows and really enjoyed seeing the pony, following him from window to window. — After the pandemic, Jorja is planning to develop a program for the residents to be able to spend more time with Peanut. ([link removed])
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* — Jorja is already well known at local nursing homes, volunteering at the facilities since she was seven. She also started her own annual fundraiser called "Gifts for Grands," which raises money for Christmas gifts for the residents. Great job, Jorja and Peanut! —CNN ([link removed])

Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis and recent unrest, and promoting American values. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Thank you!
What's Your Take?

Will the Fox News crowd put their bloodstreams where their mouths are and attend the Tulsa rally for Trump?

Will Steve Doucy and his sideshow kick off the morning from Tulsa?

Will "The Five" do a remote from Tulsa?

Will Sean Hannity bounce onto the stage to introduce him?

And will Jerry Falwell, Jr., deliver an invocation?
—Jim V., New York

Click here to tell us what you think about today's stories. ([link removed])
The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.

Got feedback about THE TOPLINE? Send it to Melissa Amour, Managing Editor, at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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