Dear John,

It’s been a packed week.

Coronavirus has beaten the U.S. at every turn. (Check out the first entry below.) Very basic conundrums – like the fact that the U.S. ties health insurance to employment at a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs because of a global pandemic – have been ignored by too many of our federal leaders.

We need our elected officials to respond to injustice with decisive action and to use their political capital to respond to boldly to the compounding crises facing their constituents.

One person who is meeting this moment is Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She’s the only member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation who’s been a voice for solutions big as the problems we face. She’s leading the fight for Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and a Homes Guarantee – and she’s been putting in the work for her constituents.

Calling for anything less than bold transformational change right now is unacceptable. That’s why TakeAction is proud to back Ilhan for reelection.

On to the digest. As always, we love to hear from you.

Here’s what we’re reading, watching, and listening to this week.

1. Coronavirus Failure

ICYMI: the incredibly grim Atlantic article everyone’s talking about. We both rounded this one up so definitely read it here.

2. Reelect Ilhan

Beautiful endorsements for Congresswoman Omar from City Councilor Andrea Jenkins and Rose Roach from the Minnesota Nurses Association. Read in the Star Tribune and on Medium.

3. Cori Bush

Cori Bush organized against police brutality in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. Six years later, she’s headed to Congress after unseating a Congressman whose family has represented St. Louis for over five decades. Read more in The Intercept.

4. Lebanon

Our thoughts are with the people of Lebanon after two massive explosions tore through Beirut this week. See pictures of the aftermath in the New York Times. (Heads up: some of them are graphic.)

5. Oromo

The Twin Cities is home to the largest Oromo population outside of Ethiopia. This summer, Oromo youth have been taking to the streets demanding justice both in the U.S. and in Ethiopia. Read more in The Minnesota Reformer.

6. Women in Politics

“The manipulations that white men make in order to advance themselves and their interests are normalized, unremarkable, just politics; of course they can use dynamic women to make themselves appear more exciting, but woe betide those very same women should they get too excited about their own advancement.”

Damn.

Read more on the veepstakes and women in politics in The Cut.

7. COVID Relief

Congress failed to reach a deal on the next economic relief package before August recess, which starts this afternoon. $600 weekly benefits are on the chopping block for the Senate.

Make no mistake: the GOP does not care about the deficit. Their $1 trillion ceiling is an arbitrary number completely detached from what’s needed or possible. Get caught up on the latest with Politico.

8. Reopening Schools

You might have seen this viral photo of a school reopening in Paulding County, Georgia, with hallways crammed full of students and almost no one wearing masks. It turns out the actual story is so much work. Read more in Buzzfeed.

9. USPS

During a pandemic when thousands of us will be voting by mail, the postal service has only grown more important. But the Trump administration wants to privatize USPS and destroy one of our strongest public institutions. Hear from postal workers themselves in The New Republic.

10. TikTok

Trump is trying to ban the largest and the world’s fastest growing social media platform in the U.S. I (Kenza) am calling his bluff. Only 88 days until November 3. Read more about the executive order.

That’s a wrap.

-- Kenza Hadj-Moussa & Patrick Burke