Where we went wrong in our coronavirus response

On Friday, Joe Biden said that he is receiving intelligence briefings, and without going into detail, he warned that Russia, China, and other malign actors are again engaged in interfering in our presidential election. This is not unexpected, but it requires our vigilance. Social media outlets in particular have become bastions of disinformation, and next to voting, fighting disinfo with the truth has become one of our most important jobs as citizens.

That's why we encourage you to share THE TOPLINE with your social media contacts using the tools at www.thetopline.nl ([link removed]) . Since we launched our ambassador program three weeks ago, we've been pleased to welcome to our community new readers who share our commitment to liberty, equality, and truth. In particular, we'd like to recognize and thank Beki K. of California, Andrew A. of Maryland, and Carol M. of Pennsylvania for each bringing at least five new readers on board. We humbly ask you to help us grow too. Thank you for reading and for your support! —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor
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** 1. Birx, the Trump whisperer
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What was behind President Trump's hard shift, as early as April, toward reopening the economy as quickly as possible following the coronavirus shutdown? A New York Times report says Dr. Deborah Birx, the chief medical officer on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, was delivering very optimistic models to the president at the time, believing the U.S. would follow the same trajectory as Italy, with a sharp increase in cases followed by a gradual decline. Birx apparently underestimated the extent to which her sunny assessment would influence Trump, who urged a return to normal too early, before infection rates were at recommended levels. —The New York Times ([link removed])
* — "Schools, jobs, and healthcare." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that's the theme of the next round of coronavirus aid. Congress faces a rapidly approaching deadline for getting something passed, as boosted unemployment payments are set to expire at the end of the week. Trump has indicated that he would like to add a payroll tax holiday to the bill. —NBC News ([link removed])
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* — Trump vs. the CDC. The president's fight with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues, as the administration is reportedly trying to block billions of dollars to the CDC for testing and contact tracing in the relief bill. The White House has also blocked CDC Director Robert Redfield from testifying before a House panel on reopening schools. —The Washington Post ([link removed])
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* — Teachers sue the gov. Teachers unions have sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his emergency order pushing schools to fully reopen next month, even as coronavirus cases in the state are surging. The first of its kind, the suit sets up a potential confrontation between unions and politicians nationwide. —The New York Times ([link removed])

MORE: US coronavirus deaths top 140,000 as world sets daily record in new cases —NPR ([link removed])


** 2. Bloomberg: Bypassing the CDC puts lives at risk
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"Don't mistake this new policy for a bureaucratic adjustment of no great significance, or just one more effort by the Trump Administration to annoy its critics. It's much worse than that. This change is so reckless—make no mistake: people will die as a result—it borders on criminality." —Bloomberg ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Michael Bloomberg served as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013.


** 3. Is Portland just the start?
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An internal Department of Homeland Security memo dated last Thursday revealed something startling about federal agents deployed to Portland, Ore., to tamp down weeks of unrest—they were not specifically trained in riot control or mass demonstrations. The memo also anticipates future encounters with protesters in other cities, warning, "Moving forward, if this type of response is going to be the norm, specialized training and standardized equipment should be deployed to responding agencies." —The New York Times ([link removed])
* — The mayor of Portland slammed the Trump Administration yesterday for its response to the protests, saying federal agents are denying protesters due process during arrests. "As far as I can see, this is completely unconstitutional," Mayor Ted Wheeler said. —CNN ([link removed])
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* — The Oregon Department of Justice is suing several federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Protective Service for civil rights abuses in the state. Prosecutors may also pursue criminal charges against a federal officer who seriously injured a protester. —NPR ([link removed])
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* — "The Attorney General of the United States does not have unfettered authority to direct thousands of federal law enforcement personnel to arrest and detain American citizens exercising their 1st Amendment rights," members of the House Judiciary Committee wrote in a joint letter. —CNBC ([link removed])


** 4. Gans: The importance of the 14th Amendment
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"[T]he 14th Amendment embedded directly in the Constitution the idea that violence against Black people must stop. This reflected the obvious and most basic truth that bodily integrity and security are fundamental to freedom. ... Open-ended police power, the framers of the amendment recognized, was a tool of racial oppression and violence. Equal citizenship and true freedom could not be enjoyed without limiting police abuses." —The Atlantic ([link removed])

Ed. Note: David Gans is the director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship program at the Constitutional Accountability Center.


** 5. ICYMI: Quick takes from the weekend
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If you were too busy with summer activities this weekend to check on the news, good for you. Here's a roundup of stories you may have missed...
* — Federal judge targeted. The son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas was shot and killed last night, and her husband was critically wounded, at the family's home in North Brunswick, N.J. The gunman, who posed as a FedEx driver, has died of what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Salas is presiding over a lawsuit in which Deutsche Bank is accused of making false and misleading statements about its anti-money laundering policies. —CBS News ([link removed])
*
* — "Russians are still engaged." Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday night that he has begun receiving intelligence briefings and warned that Russia, China, and other adversaries are trying to "delegitimize our electoral process" through "activities designed for us to lose confidence in the outcome" of the 2020 election. —Associated Press ([link removed])
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* — "Questionable activities." A whistleblower complaint about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's conduct became public over the weekend, revealing that eyewitnesses made numerous attempts to inform executive leadership and legal advisers about Pompeo's behavior but were repeatedly blocked. —McClatchy ([link removed])
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* — Did he or didn't he? Roger Stone denies it, but Morris O'Kelly, host of "The Mo'Kelly Show," says Stone muttered words that sounded like "arguing with this Negro" during a Saturday interview, in which O'Kelly questioned the role Stone's friendship with the president played in the recent commutation of his prison sentence. —The New York Times ([link removed])
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* — "I'll be right eventually." If you missed Chris Wallace's interview of President Trump on "Fox News Sunday," well, you missed...a lot. Too much to sum up here. Suffice to say, the president confidently stated about the coronavirus: "I said it's going to disappear, I will say it again...and I’ll be right." —The Daily Beast ([link removed])

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** 6. Voter suppression as an election strategy
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With both his job approval and general election polling looking dismal, President Trump has made clear a central theme of his re-election strategy—voter suppression. Fear-mongering about vote-by-mail has been a key tool in his arsenal. "The president views vote-by-mail as a threat to his election," a lawyer for the Trump campaign recently told "60 Minutes." In typical fashion, Attorney General Bill Barr agreed, saying that vote-by-mail "absolutely opens the floodgates to fraud." But that's not all. The campaign also plans to escalate its Election Day poll-watching and so-called ballot-security operations, and is blocking funding to prepare the country for a pandemic-era election. —Rolling Stone ([link removed])
* — Florida. Priorities USA and other voting rights groups have agreed to drop a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party on the eve of a federal trial. The lawsuit sought to throw out state ballot-return deadlines and laws limiting who is allowed to collect vote-by-mail ballots. The negotiated agreement calls for Florida’s chief election official to educate local election supervisors on pre-paid postage and encourage them to use drop boxes. —Politico ([link removed])
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* — Ohio. The vote-by-mail debate has become vehement in Ohio, where the Republican state elections chief has asked for the authority to pre-pay postage on absentee ballot applications and the ballots themselves. The GOP-led legislature has resisted, arguing that it could lead to more ballots being requested than used. —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ([link removed])


** 7. Deng: China's challenge
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"China is not only ready to challenge the U.S.'s role as global superpower, but even more, it is seeking to break the U.S. monopoly on power globally and create a new world order according to its own vision. ... A new, so far non-violent conflict looms on the horizon. But one thing is already clear: Neither party is shying away from confrontation, and both are itching for a fight—they are just waiting for the right time to start it." —Deutsche Welle ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Deng Yuwen is a pro-democracy political scientist at the China Strategic Analysis think tank and is a co-editor at the China Strategic Analysis Magazine.


** 8. Global corruption roundup
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An Israeli court ruled yesterday that it will begin hearing testimony from witnesses in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial in January 2021. Netanyahu was indicted last year for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in cases connected to three corruption probes. The trial began in May, but Netanyahu's defense team asked for a six-month delay in the proceedings due to the coronavirus pandemic. —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])
* — Albania. European Union officials and political opponents are criticizing plans by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to change the country's constitution in a way they say will benefit Rama's Socialist Party in the next election ([link removed]) — ([link removed]) and put already agreed-upon electoral reforms at risk. —Balkan Insight ([link removed])

* — Bulgaria. In 2013, sustained protests in Bulgaria brought down its corrupt center-left government. In 2020, demonstrators are back on the streets, trying to oust the country's right-wing government for corruption, judicial interference, and servility to wealthy businessmen. —The New York Times ([link removed])
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* — Suriname. What a murder conviction couldn't do, the coronavirus has done. President Desi Bouterse, a convicted killer and the long-entrenched strongman leader of the tiny South American nation, has been deposed by the National Assembly over his mismanagement of the pandemic. —World Politics Review ([link removed])


** 9. Waldman: Remembering a hero
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"[Rep. John Lewis'] last public appearance...was to accompany the mayor of Washington, D.C., to view Black Lives Matter Plaza outside Lafayette Square. He understood the symbolism of the moment, and so did everyone watching. He embraced and encouraged today's movement for racial justice. He told audiences to get into trouble, 'good trouble.' Let’s honor John Lewis by redoubling our own efforts for equality, for racial justice, and for American democracy." —Brennan Center for Justice ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Michael Waldman is president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.

MORE: Rep John Lewis, a civil rights icon who began pushing for racial justice in the Jim Crow south, has died —USA Today ([link removed])


** 10. An American Story: Volunteers help Latino community
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The Latino community in San Francisco's Mission District has been met with an abundance of challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, with surging cases and lines at food pantries growing longer every day. Lydia Chávez and Sindya Bhanoo are leading a Pulitzer Center-supported project called "How Do We Survive?," a series by Mission Local examining the lived experiences of Mission District residents and the support they have received from the San Francisco Latino Task Force. ([link removed])
* — Bhanoo, a reporter for The Washington Post, said it became clear to her how privilege and access to resources make such a difference at a time like this, so she contacted Chávez about starting a project focusing on the Mission District community. "Reporting on the lives of people from marginalized communities has been really important, and I think there should be a record of their stories," she said. ([link removed])

* — Chávez said that they reached the monolingual Spanish-speaking community by translating all of their stories into Spanish and began a texting service in order to reach more people, including those who don't have broadband internet or a computer at home. ([link removed])
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* — "The goal of the project is to document what is happening to people, share important information, and to connect with people and tell their stories in different ways as we cover the economic impact of the coronavirus," said Chávez. —Pulitzer Center ([link removed])
Suggested by THE TOPLINE reader Zan A., California. Thanks, Zan!

Ed. Note: 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!
How anyone could watch Chris Wallace's excellent interview with President Trump yesterday and still think he is fit to serve as the leader of the free world and our great country befuddles me. The trappings of patriotism, such as the Stars and Stripes, our National Anthem, and other symbols hijacked by Trump and his supporters, mean very little in the absence of the underlying values they are meant to represent. Waving a flag while electing a hollow shell of a man as the leader of one's country shows no patriotism at all, only a grievous lack of respect for the nation and its people. —Carole L., New York
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** 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.
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