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Dear Progressive Reader,

Donald Trump has tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement sent shockwaves through the stock market and the nation. And yet, in many ways it is surprising it did not happen sooner given the way the President and his close associates have all scorned mask-wearing (Trump even criticized Joe Biden’s use of a mask at a time when Trump himself was probably already infected). As we await more news, one thing that certainly becomes clear is that next Tuesday’s debate between the two vice presidential candidates, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, will take on new meaning. Journalist John Nichols says it may be the last of this year’s debates if Trump is unable to attend the October 15 and 22 scheduled match-ups. The possibility that one or both vice presidential contenders might at some point be called upon to take over some or all of their boss’s duties will also loom large over the evening.

Last Tuesday’s debate ([link removed][UNIQID]) between Trump and Biden has been most charitably described as a “food fight” and certainly changed the expectations ([link removed][UNIQID]) for presidential debates in a way that nothing has since the September 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate, the first ever ([link removed][UNIQID]) to be televised.

Meanwhile, uncertainty continues about the voting process in November. Numerous challenges to methods of COVID-safe ballot collection are being made in various ([link removed][UNIQID]) states ([link removed][UNIQID]) . And in Wisconsin, a potentially policy-setting case was heard on Wednesday by the state’s supreme court regarding the purging of voters from the roles, just weeks before election day. Greg Palast and the Palast Investigative Fund, together with the national group Black Voters Matter issued a report ([link removed][UNIQID]) on Monday showing how a large number of voters on the “purge list” had never moved and still had every right to vote. Additionally, they found that the majority of voters on the purge list resided in low-income or predominantly African American sections of
Milwaukee. The racial bias of the purge methodology was further documented in a study ([link removed][UNIQID]) by researchers from Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania. “Maps of the Milwaukee area reveal a near-perfect match between the percentage of Black voters in a Census tract with the number of voters wrongly tagged as having moved,” writes ([link removed][UNIQID]) Palast. “Given Trump’s 2016 Wisconsin victory margin of less than 23,000 votes,” he continues, “this racially poisonous purge of voters could decide the state, and so the nation.” What advice do Palast and others offer for people who want to make sure their vote will count in this year’s crucial presidential contest? “Check your registration status now!” And they have created the website SaveMyVote2020.org ([link removed][UNIQID]) to help voters do so.

Finally, as more than five million acres have been burned by the wildfires on the west coast, and hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, three writers on our website this week describe efforts to bring the reality of the fires to readers outside the affected areas. Taylor Griggs looks at ([link removed][UNIQID]) the impacts of the fires, and the smoke they create, on the health of people who breathe it. Mercedes Williams profiles ([link removed][UNIQID]) Native photographer Paul Wilson who is documenting the fires through an Indigenous lens. And Anna Colivicchi reports ([link removed][UNIQID]) on a new study of ways to communicate the impacts of climate change through personal stories that reach through the barriers of denial and skepticism.

Keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher

P.S – our new 2021 Hidden History of the United States calendar is now available for purchase through our website ([link removed][UNIQID]) . They make great gifts and hang well on walls and refrigerators.

P.P.S. – If you don’t already subscribe to The Progressive in print or digital form, please consider doing so today ([link removed][UNIQID]) . Also, if you have a friend or relative that you feel should hear from the many voices for progressive change with our pages, please consider giving a gift subscription ([link removed][UNIQID]) . Also, if you know someone who you think would enjoy receiving this free weekly email newsletter, please share this link ([link removed][UNIQID]) with them to subscribe — [link removed][UNIQID] — it is free, and I enjoy writing it every Saturday morning.

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