Amidst a sea of chaos

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Today we remember 9/11 and the lives lost to hate and extremism on that terrible day. For those of you old enough to remember that time in our history, recall as well the very real sense of American unity and purpose we all felt, and how it pulled us through together as a nation. Much has changed since then. The coronavirus pandemic is our top global concern. The president seeks to divide rather than unite us in a time of crisis. Rudy Giuliani, the New York mayor who led the city through 9/11, is now working with foreign oligarchs to manufacture dirt on political rivals. And extremist groups on our own soil are growing apace and threatening the very foundations of our democratic republic. It’s overwhelming. But the way out is the same now as it was then—relying on the unity and purpose we felt on September 12, 2001. Looking for inspiration? Please watch (or rewatch) some of the speeches from the Convention on Founding Principles ([link removed]) and take heart. It will take effort
from all of us, but we can and will restore the American principles that unify and strengthen us. —Mindy Finn

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** 1. Not Rudy's best day
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In 2001, then-Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani became "America's Mayor," when he capably stewarded the city through the horrors of 9/11. Fast-forward to 2020, and Giuliani is still in the news, but for an entirely different reason. Since last year, in his capacity as President Trump's attorney, he has met at least three times with Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach, helping to elevate a foreign interference campaign by an active Russian agent aimed at influencing the 2020 election. ([link removed])
* — The Treasury Department placed sanctions on Derkach yesterday for running an "influence campaign" against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, dubbing Derkach "an active Russian agent for over a decade" who has maintained "close connections with Russian intelligence services." ([link removed])
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* — Derkach's attempts to tarnish the former vice president included releasing pilfered and edited phone conversations that Biden had years ago with Ukraine's leadership. The sanctions mark the most aggressive public action the U.S. government has taken to date to stanch foreign interference ahead of the 2020 presidential vote. ([link removed])
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* — "Today's designation of Derkach is focused on exposing Russian malign influence campaigns and protecting our upcoming elections from foreign interference," the department said in a statement. "This action is a clear signal to Moscow and its proxies that this activity will not be tolerated." Bad news for Rudy, but great news for the U.S. —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: Nora Dannehy, top aide to John Durham's Trump-Russia investigation, resigns amid concern about pressure from Barr —Hartford Courant ([link removed])


** 2. Census must count illegal immigrants
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A special three-judge panel has blocked President Trump's plan to exclude immigrants living in the U.S. illegally from the 2020 Census count that will be used to redistribute seats in the House of Representatives. ([link removed])
* — Acting on two lawsuits filed in New York by a group of states, cities, counties, and civil-rights groups, the judges said yesterday that the plan violates several laws that spell out how the results of the decennial Census are to be used for distributing congressional seats. ([link removed])
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* — The president issued a memorandum on July 21, ordering that the 2020 population totals for reapportionment not include people in the U.S. illegally. The Census Bureau is trying to complete its pandemic-delayed count this month so that it can deliver state totals used for reapportionment by the legal deadline of Dec. 31. ([link removed])
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* — The court order also bars work by the Census Bureau that would allow it to produce a separate count excluding people in the U.S. illegally. There isn't a citizenship question on the Census, after the Supreme Court last year blocked the president's plan to add one. To carry out the president's latest order, the bureau had planned to match Census responses with citizenship-verified records from state and federal agencies to estimate how many people in each state weren't legal residents. —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])


** 3. Stanton: If QAnon seems familiar, there's a good reason
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"Many people are perplexed at how any rational person could fall for such an irrational conspiracy theory. But modern social science shows that people in groups don't always think rationally. They respond to fear and terror. They blame their misfortunes on scapegoats. They support narcissistic demagogues they hope will rescue them. ... The world has seen QAnon before. It was called Nazism. In QAnon, Nazism wants a comeback." — ([link removed]) Just Security ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Dr. Gregory Stanton is the founding president of Genocide Watch and the founder of the Cambodian Genocide Project and the Alliance Against Genocide.

MORE: Kelly: Mothers for QAnon —The New York Times ([link removed])


** 4. Feds withhold millions from 9/11 health program
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The federal government has secretly siphoned nearly $4 million away from a program that tracks and treats New York City firefighters and medics suffering from 9/11-related illnesses. Nearly four years ago, the U.S. Treasury mysteriously started withholding parts of payments meant to cover medical services for firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics treated by the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program. ([link removed])
* — The payments were authorized and made by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which oversees the program. But instead of sending the funds to the city, the Treasury started keeping some of the money. ([link removed])
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* — Dr. David Prezant, Chief Medical Officer of the FDNY, said he was docked about half a million dollars each year in 2016 and 2017. Then it crept up to about $630,000 in 2018 and 2019. This year, Treasury has nearly tripled its extractions, diverting $1.447 million through late August, according to Prezant. ([link removed])
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* — "That fund has to be fully compensated, fully reimbursed. I mean, this is absurd," said New York Rep. Pete King, who has written to Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin for answers, but has received no response. He also intends to confront Vice President Mike Pence about it at the Tunnel to Towers event today. "If anyone were true American heroes, it was the cops and firemen on 9/11," King said. —New York Daily News ([link removed])

MORE: How many 9/11 survivors have died of COVID-19? At least 42—and likely many more —The City ([link removed])


** 5. Gerson: Why Trump's support still remains
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"If Trump is really the 'bodyguard of Western civilization,' what is the delegitimization of one presidential election in comparison? This reductio ad Trumpism indicates why Trump's base of support is so durable. Assuming that Trump is the defender of Americanism, the only hope of the pro-life cause, and the best hope of civilized order, there are few crimes or misdemeanors Trump could possibly commit to forfeit his supporters' approval. The idiocy of such assumptions has done little, so far, to diminish their power. And this reveals the source of their deepest damage. In such an absurdly constructed political philosophy, Trump can contest the limits of human decency and democratic legitimacy with no fear of rejection by his own party, and thus (given the current configuration of the U.S. Senate) no fear of removal from office." —The Washington Post
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** 6. Twitter tightens its election rules
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Social media giant Twitter has announced that it will take stronger action against users who tweet misleading information about voting and elections. The platform said that it would label or force users to remove tweets that "may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process." ([link removed])
* — While all Twitter users will need to abide by the new rules, the change appears to be aimed at President Trump. The president has often attacked vote-by-mail, the integrity of the election, and even suggested that the election be delayed. ([link removed])

* — Much to the ire of Trump and his allies, Twitter began taking a stronger stance on the president's tweets in May. The platform began labeling and fact-checking his tweets when they contained misinformation or violated Twitter's rules. ([link removed])
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* — "The public conversation occurring on Twitter is never more important than during elections and other civic events. Any attempts to undermine the integrity of our service is antithetical to our fundamental rights and undermines the core tenets of freedom of expression, the value upon which our company is based," said the platform in a blog post. —NBC News ([link removed])

MORE: Facebook offers a distorted view of American news —The Economist ([link removed])


** 7. Carothers & Brown: Democracy after the pandemic
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"Even in regions where democracy's prospects appear bleak, a variety of current trends could drive deep-reaching political change. These include swelling protest movements demanding fundamental transformation, burgeoning youth populations, greater associational ties forged by new technologies, and growing awareness of the need to diversify economies away from fossil fuels. The devastating economic damage inflicted by the pandemic will intensify societal divides and create enormous pressure for more inclusive politics and more effective governance." — ([link removed]) Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Thomas Carothers is the Harvey V. Fineberg Chair for Democracy Studies and Senior Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Frances Brown is a Senior Fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at Carnegie.

MORE: New coronavirus cases rise in US despite slowdown in testing —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])


** 8. Team Trump prepares for an election battle
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And it's not just about winning support. The Trump campaign is reportedly bombarding swing states with questions about vote-counting, as it gears up for a potential legal fight over mail-in ballots. In an effort that local election officials describe as far more extensive than anything launched in previous elections, the campaign is pushing for details on everything from ballot storage to volunteer vetting. In at least two key states, Wisconsin and Georgia, local officials have received questionnaires from the president's team asking how ballots will be verified, how staffers will be deployed, and even what the envelopes housing ballots will look like. —CNN ([link removed])
* — Pennsylvania. Hearings kicked off this week in a lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania NAACP against the commonwealth over what it argues were inadequate provisions for voting during the state's June primaries. The complaint argues that numerous polling locations were closed or consolidated due to coronavirus concerns and poll worker unavailability, and information about where to vote was not clear. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have intervened in the closely watched lawsuit, which could have national repercussions. —NBC News ([link removed])
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* — Texas. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday rejected the Texas Democratic Party's efforts to expand mail-in voting in the state, siding with the state's Republican leadership. Texas Democrats sought to expand mail-in voting to all registered voters, arguing that the state's age restrictions on vote-by-mail violate the 26th Amendment's protections against voting rules that discriminate based on age. —The Hill ([link removed])
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* — Wisconsin. On Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers announced his appointments to The People's Maps Commission, which was established earlier this year and is charged with listening to voters and experts and then drawing maps for the state legislature to consider in the 2021 redistricting process. The members were selected by a panel of nonpartisan retired judges. The current maps were drawn up secretly by a private law firm and pushed through the legislature in 2011. —Wisconsin Examiner ([link removed])

MORE: How next-gen computer-generated maps detect partisan gerrymandering —ScienceNews ([link removed])


** 9. Stevens: 'I'll never question 1938 in Germany again'
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"Trump ran on the pretense that to be born in America is to be a victim, that you're a sucker, that there are these powerful forces out there that are taking advantage of you. It's a complete reversal of 'to be born in the Reagan era was to win life's lottery—you're the luckiest person in the world. You're an American.' For Trump, you're a chump. And [he's] going to go out and even the score for you, buddy. It's a weaponization of white grievance." —Vanity Fair ([link removed])

Ed. Note: This excerpt is from an in-depth interview by Vanity Fair writer Joe Hagan with Stuart Stevens, former Republican political operative and author of "It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump."

MORE: 'Our democracy will be gone': Critics raise alarm over authoritarianism if Trump is re-elected —Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** 10. An American Story: One more gift to mom
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Isabelle Papadimitriou was one year away from retiring after having worked for nearly 30 years as a respiratory therapist when the coronavirus pandemic started killing people in her home state, Texas. Her son, who lived with her, tried to get his mother to retire early, but she refused. She said, "My co-workers need me. My hospital needs me. I'll be OK." ([link removed])
* — "She said she was stronger than an ox, and we believed her, because we knew she was strong," her daughter, Fiana Tulip, said. But Papadimitriou died alone in a hospital bed on July 4 after having spent a week battling COVID-19. ([link removed])
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* — Since then, Tulip has met an array of people who say her mother helped them through various hardships. Papadimitriou helped a woman go through a separation after meeting her at a car dealership. She printed out her personal workout regimen to share with co-workers who couldn't afford trainers. She sent baby gifts to a new mother she had never met. ([link removed])
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* — "Because COVID has become political, my grief has just really turned into action," Tulip said. So she joined Marked By Covid, the campaign begun by Kristin Urquiza, who lost her father to COVID-19. "As a result of my work with Marked By Covid, I've had a number of people reach out to me," said Tulip, who has helped others work through their own grief. Just like her mom would have done. —NBC News ([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!
On September 11, 2001, Rudy Giuliani, whose tenure as mayor would be ending in less than four months, far less gloriously than it began, pitched his own perfect game on the worst day New York City has ever endured: He was calm and compassionate. Strong, yet soothing. Rudy has long admired Winston Churchill, and surely Churchill, who strode defiantly through the craters of the bomb-blasted East End of London during the Battle of Britain, would have applauded Giuliani's resolve.

Rudy Giuliani has engaged in myriad activities since his days as mayor, and now hosts a weekday afternoon talk show in New York, where he basks in the understandable adulation of listeners who remember his performance on that sun-soaked Tuesday, not so long ago.

But Rudy also traffics in conspiracy theories that are pathetically and increasingly ludicrous and even bizarre, blaming all that is bad in the world on Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and George Soros. The man who built his reputation and risked his life seeking to imprison the leaders of organized crime now seems equally eager to imprison the leaders of the Democratic Party.

On September eleventh, and all future September elevenths for the remainder of his life, New York, America, and indeed the world will salute, celebrate, and revere Rudy Giuliani for what he was.

But, not, unfortunately, for what he is now. —Jim V., New York
This week the president had the audacity to compare himself to Dwight Eisenhower. That's an insult. Anyone who has read even one of Eisenhower's self-authored books can see he was a man of integrity, committed to this nation, and faithful to his word. In contrast, anyone who has read the books that ghostwriters crafted for the tweeter-in-chief can see that he is committed only to himself and to creating crises and confusion. Ike was a war hero who helped stabilize America. Trump is a draft-dodger whose goal is to destabilize America. —Tim P., New Mexico
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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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