Think it’s bad now? You haven’t seen anything yet

Reflecting on the loss of civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis a few days ago will hopefully give us all pause at this moment of great challenge in our nation. Lewis was that rare political figure who commanded equal respect from allies and opponents alike—not because he was boastful and indignant, but because he was humble and courageous. If we are to not merely survive our current situation but to come out stronger on the other side, it would do us all well to adopt Lewis’ distinctly American attitude of perseverance and cooperation. Rest in peace, Rep. John Lewis.

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** 1. 'We are gravely concerned'
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Senior members of Congress have raised alarms that an unnamed foreign government is targeting Congress in an influence campaign intended to "launder and amplify disinformation" ahead of the 2020 presidential election. In a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the top Democrats on the House and Senate Intelligence committees are demanding an FBI counterintelligence briefing on the matter for the full House, citing the "seriousness and specificity of these threats." —Defense One ([link removed])
* — It's a top issue. In a survey of 50 former American ambassadors conducted by Global Situation Room, the diplomats were asked to rank the top global risks companies will need to take a public stand on in the next year. Disinformation came in ahead of major issues like human rights, poverty, and climate change. Only democracy and racism ranked higher. —Business Insider ([link removed])
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* — The Biden Plan. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has released a statement warning against foreign election interference and threatening to hold the Kremlin and other foreign governments accountable for any meddling if he is elected president. —Politico ([link removed])
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* — Another Russia report. The UK’s long-awaited intelligence report on Russian interference in UK elections concludes that the government "badly underestimated" the Russian threat and needs to take "immediate action." The report also claims the government made no effort to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum. —BBC News ([link removed])

MORE: How your local election clerk is fighting global disinformation —The Pew Charitable Trusts ([link removed])


** 2. DeTrani: Putin's revenge
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"Russia's aggressive exploitation of U.S. social media platforms, as we saw in 2016, continues to be used by Moscow to foment discord within the U.S. and, when necessary, to exacerbate international relations, as we're witnessing with disinformation alleging that COVID-19 originated in the U.S., while also claiming that it was a bio-weapon." —The Cipher Brief ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Amb. Joseph DeTrani is the former director of the National Counterproliferation Center. He also served as a special adviser to the Director of National Intelligence and as the CIA director of East Asia Operations.

MORE: US imposes sanctions on Chechen leader over human rights violations —Reuters ([link removed])


** 3. Coming soon to a city near you
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After threatening yesterday to send federal law enforcement officials into other American cities to crack down on protesters, as in Portland, Ore., President Trump has made good on the promise today by ordering 150 Homeland Security Investigations agents to Chicago. The federal agents in Portland have been widely accused of abuses of power. ([link removed])
* — So who's next? "New York and Chicago and Philadelphia, Detroit, and Baltimore and all of these—Oakland is a mess—we are not going to let this happen in the country, all run by liberal Democrats," the president told reporters in the Oval Office. —Associated Press ([link removed])
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* — Portland conflict escalates. Early this morning, a crowd of about 2,000 protesters—including a parents group known as the Wall of Moms—"tore open the doors of a federal courthouse and then beat back the agents inside," while agents shot back with non-lethal projectiles. —The Daily Beast ([link removed])
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* — "Well outside the bounds." Two former Department of Homeland Security officials say they are concerned that the events in Portland could hurt the DHS's ability to coordinate with local police forces for years to come. And that, in turn, could affect everything from disaster response to preventing terrorism. —Defense One ([link removed])

MORE: What you need to know about the battle of Portland —Bellingcat ([link removed])


** 4. Goldberg: Strategy of low expectations
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"Given that his lead in the polls continues to widen, there's no rush for [former Vice President Joe] Biden to call off his front-porch-style campaign. But after months of Trump's flailing, erratic, and increasingly desperate attacks on Biden as a near vegetable, all Biden will have to do is come across as a reassuringly normal, albeit gaffe-prone, competent leader. Biden, despite his flaws, seems up to that. If the Wallace interview is any indication, it's Trump who struggles to meet that remarkably low bar." —Los Angeles Times ([link removed])

MORE: Riding high in polls, Biden begins courting Republican voters —Al Jazeera ([link removed])


** 5. Return of the masked man
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Good news...President Trump is finally getting the message about face masks. After months of mocking them and downplaying their importance, he promoted the wearing of masks to fight the spread of COVID-19 on Twitter for the first time yesterday, even calling it a “patriotic” act. Hopefully more Americans will soon get with the program as well. He also announced plans to resume daily White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings, starting today, after abandoning them in April. Stay tuned ([link removed]) —USA Today ([link removed])
* — If you really want schools to reopen... Wear a dang mask. That’s the message from the surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, who even went on "Fox & Friends" to plead his case. "I'm pleading with your viewers, I’m begging you: Please understand that we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say wear a face covering," he said. —The New York Times ([link removed])
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* — Not falling in line? As the Senate works on the next coronavirus aid package, hot-button issues—including whether to have a payroll tax cut, ramp up funding for coronavirus testing, and tie additional money for schools to reopening—have opened up a divide between Senate Republicans and the White House. —CNN ([link removed])
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* — Let's be more careful this time. The Congressional Oversight Commission charged with monitoring the last relief package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is looking deeper into how and why the Treasury Department lent $700 million to shipping firm YRC Worldwide from a rescue fund meant for companies essential to national defense. —The Hill ([link removed])

MORE: Missouri governor's comments on kids and COVID-19 stoke firestorm of criticism on social media —St. Louis Post-Dispatch ([link removed])
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** 6. WaPo Ed Board: Congress must step up
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"Congress must send states enough money to prepare for the fall vote. Though it is late, states could still hire more polling workers, rent more space in which to count votes safely, prepare sufficient polling places for socially distanced in-person voting, find vendors to print more absentee ballots, pay postage for people's mail-in votes, and step up voter outreach to prevent mass confusion—all while securing their voting systems against foreign interference." —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: National security leaders, advocacy groups urge Congress to send election funds to states —The Hill ([link removed])


** 7. Teachers are primary target in Hong Kong
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Teachers who backed pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong—by taking to the streets themselves or supporting demonstrators on social media—are being reprimanded and, in some cases, fired, as China’s Communist Party increasingly moves to stamp out dissent in the city. ([link removed])
* — Observers fear that the tradition of liberal education and critical thinking in what has been a major world financial center will be supplanted by Chinese-style pro-government lessons and suppression of political discourse. ([link removed])
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* — Beijing’s draconian new national security law calls for heightened supervision and regulation of schools, following months of warnings to teachers that they not discuss their political views with students or participate in protest activities. —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])

MORE: Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist files candidacy for legislature —Voice of America ([link removed])


** 8. Conspiracy theorist at the Pentagon?
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The White House is pushing the Department of Defense to hire Rich Higgins, who was fired from the National Security Council in 2017, reportedly for authoring a memo claiming that a "deep state" band of officials and movements was actively opposing President Trump. Higgins defined the opposition as the media, Islamists, Black Lives Matter, the ACLU, the United Nations, and cultural Marxists leading a coordinated effort to delegitimize and subvert Trump. ([link removed])
* — Higgins, who has continued to push fringe conspiracy theories on Twitter and in media appearances ever since, would serve as chief of staff to retired Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, the White House nominee for under secretary of defense for policy at the Pentagon. ([link removed])

* — The White House nominated Tata to become the third highest official at the Pentagon in June. His nomination remains under scrutiny due to his own conspiratorial comments and anti-Muslim statements. —CNN ([link removed])

MORE: Senate confirms Russ Vought to be White House budget chief —Politico ([link removed])


** 9. Cammack: Survival through civility
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"For the sake of peace, civil discourse must be actively upheld during polarizing crises. Solidarity and unity are useful only for identifying and eliminating the enemy... Tolerance through civility, on the other hand, is what allows a pluralistic society to function, and it’s what will get us to the other side of this crisis without killing each other in the process." —Deseret News ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Shaun Cammack is a graduate student at the University of Chicago and a contributor with Young Voices.

MORE: Patten: Democracy and decency —Project Syndicate ([link removed])


** 10. An American Story: Help for moms
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Eleven-year-old Cartier Carey of Hampton, Va., is rallying his community by selling lemonade and other tasty treats to help provide diapers and wipes for single mothers in need. ([link removed])
* — His lemonade stand has yielded close to $3,000 in three days. "He doesn't want to spend any of the money on himself," Cartier's mother, Britany Stewart, says. "He just wants to continue to keep buying diapers and giving each day." ([link removed])
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— However, it's only his latest effort to offer aid during the pandemic. Earlier this year, Cartier created care packages called "Carti packs," filled with deodorant, soap, and tissues to give to the homeless population. ([link removed])

* — He founded his own nonprofit called Kids 4 Change 757 about a year ago. Cartier says he was motivated to create the movement so he "could help the community and make the community better." —CNN ([link removed])

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!
This week's news of street violence in Portland is perhaps the most disturbing yet. Paramilitary agents with covered faces, cryptic ID patches, and no badges, attacking peaceful protesters with clubs and tear gas? Grabbing people off the street and throwing them into unmarked vans? Is this Colombia? El Salvador? Pinochet's Argentina? Video shows a Navy veteran trying to ask them questions and being brutally attacked, though he was clearly not attempting any violence. How do we know these thugs are even federal law enforcement officers? From the videos circulating, they certainly behave more like mercenaries than like sworn officers of the law.

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf says they are there to protect federal courthouses from "violent anarchists," but he cites largely non-violent acts (graffiti) as justification, while spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on travel and overtime, to bring these paramilitary forces to the city over hundreds of dollars of vandalism. Video evidence shows clearly that these thugs are not there simply to protect federal property but to use violence and intimidation to break up peaceful protests. Meanwhile, Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli tells Washington Post reporters that DHS will "step up" elsewhere "if violence continues in other parts of the country." —Mike A., Maryland
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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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