No Twitter for Old Men

Monday, August 2, 2021
BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA


** -Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) ([link removed]) , having a normal response to Delta variant stress
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Between Kyrsten Sinema’s vacation plans ([link removed]) , an expired eviction moratorium, and the GOP gerrymandering timeline, congressional Democrats have very little time to get a lot of stuff done. Welcome to Infrastructure And Housing Security And Also Hopefully Voting Rights Week.

* Senate negotiators worked through the weekend to finalize the text of the bipartisan infrastructure bill ([link removed]) , which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hopes to pass by the end of the week. In addition to $110 billion for roads and bridges, the bill includes $66 billion for passenger railways (the largest investment since the birth of Amtrak), $55 billion to improve the country’s drinking water (including a program to replace all lead pipes), and $65 billion to expand broadband access. It would be paid for with repurposed coronavirus relief funds and strengthened tax enforcement on cryptocurrencies, among other mechanisms.

* Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dropped a 50-ton hint that in spite of announcing his support for the deal last week, he plans to continue obstructing it ([link removed]) at least past the start of the scheduled August recess, saying on Monday that Republicans’ plan to introduce a bunch of bullshit amendments “must not be choked off by any artificial timetable.” The Delta variant could also throw a wrench in the works: A fully-vaccinated Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a key if tentative supporter of the deal, announced that he has tested positive ([link removed]) for coronavirus and is quarantined with mild symptoms—reportedly after partying with other senators ([link removed]) on Captain Manchin’s houseboat.

* The House has already left for a seven-week recess, but members are poised to rush back on a day’s notice if there’s movement on both infrastructure tracks in the Senate. Progressives have been pressuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ([link removed]) to call the House back into session immediately to extend the CDC eviction moratorium that expired on Saturday night, with Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) sleeping on the Capitol steps ([link removed]) in protest over the weekend. Pelosi has urged the Biden administration to issue an extension, the Biden administration has pointed back to the SCOTUS ruling saying it can’t, and around we go. In lieu of a new federal moratorium, the White House has called on states and cities to enact their own extensions ([link removed]) and speed
up the distribution of rental assistance.

At least the future of American democracy doesn’t potentially hinge on whether Senate Democrats can also seal the deal on voting-rights legislation, or anything!

* More than 100 state legislators from across the country have descended on Washington, DC, ([link removed]) to help Texas Democrats lobby senators to pass voting protections and redistricting reforms before it’s too late to implement them in the 2022 midterms. The Poor People’s Campaign also organized a protest in DC on Monday ([link removed]) to demand an end to the filibuster and the passage of the For The People Act, after a four-day march through Texas ([link removed]) that reached the state capitol in Austin on Saturday.

* But while President Biden and Democratic leaders reiterated their commitment ([link removed]) to passing democracy-protection legislation on Friday, a Smanchema-shaped obstacle remains blocking the road. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said on Saturday ([link removed]) that he “can’t imagine” supporting a filibuster carveout for voting rights, because, let’s see here, the Founding Fathers designed the Senate with other mechanisms to encourage bipartisanship that have nothing to do with the filibuster, which was created later, by accident ([link removed]) . A perfect argument, no notes!



By the end of the week, we should have a clearer idea about the fate of Biden’s economic agenda, the state of the fight for voting rights, and the federal response to a potential eviction crisis. Republican obstruction, GOP-controlled legislatures, and a far-right Supreme Court have dumped that pile of emergencies into Democrats’ laps, but Democrats won’t have earned a vacation until they resolve to take decisive action on all three, with or without GOP cooperation.
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On the latest episode of Lovett or Leave It, Rainn Wilson and Reza Aslan join to break down all the week’s news, from Simon Biles’s decision to Adam Driver’s transformation. Plus, Jason Concepcion takes us through a bracket of former celebrity couples to see which reunion would reign supreme. Then, Jon Lovett interviews Bruce Friedrich of the Good Food Institute to talk about meat without the downsides. New episodes of Lovett or Leave It drop every Saturday. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts ([link removed]) .
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There are two primaries for open Ohio House seats to watch carefully on Tuesday ([link removed]) , each of which might tell an interesting story about national party dynamics. (Or at the very least, an interesting story about Ohio.) In a Democratic primary in Cleveland, the race between frontrunners Nina Turner, a progressive former state senator, and Shontel Brown, a more moderate official in the local Democratic Party, has become an increasingly nasty proxy war for the wings of the larger party. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have joined Turner on the campaign trail, while Hillary Clinton, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), and other establishment-minded party leaders have thrown their weight behind Brown. Meanwhile, a GOP primary near Columbus will be the latest test of Donald Trump’s influence, after a candidate he endorsed lost last week’s special
election in Texas. Trump has endorsed Mike Carey in the Ohio primary, but a field of more than 10 candidates could set him up for another very cool humiliation.
* Florida broke its pre-vaccine record for coronavirus hospitalizations on Sunday ([link removed]) , two days after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed an order withholding state funding ([link removed]) from school systems that issue mask mandates.

* Taking a somewhat different approach, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) has called on private businesses to issue vaccine requirements ([link removed]) , and announced a vaccine mandate for New York transit workers. Carving out a confusing middle lane, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has urged vaccinated residents to mask up in public indoor spaces ([link removed]) , without reinstating an actual mask mandate.

* A third police officer who defended the Capitol on January 6 has died by suicide ([link removed]) . Metropolitan Police officer Gunther Hashida was 44.

* In unrelated news that probably reveals nothing about a whole party’s casual embrace of political violence, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joked about hitting Nancy Pelosi with a gavel if he becomes speaker ([link removed]) . A number of Democrats have called for his resignation ([link removed]) .

* The Russian hackers behind the SolarWinds attack also breached the email accounts of federal prosecutors’ offices last year ([link removed]) , according to the Justice Department.

* Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) lamented the Twitter suspension of vaccine-skeptic Alex Berenson ([link removed]) , whom he called “a courageous voice of reason.” The Grand Republican Vaccination Reversal continues to go off without a hitch.

* Poland has granted a visa to Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya ([link removed]) after her team’s officials tried to force her onto a plane home. Tsimanouskaya had criticized how coaches were managing the team.

* The pro-Trump GETTR app has been flooded with ISIS propaganda ([link removed]) , having accidentally created a nurturing habitat for graphic jihadi extremist content with its “free speech” policy.

* Twitter accidentally verified a fake Cormac McCarthy account ([link removed]) , for a second time. Mr. McCarthy, if you have ever wanted to hop on Twitter and say something truly awful, there will never be a safer moment.

The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer laid out how conservative groups and dark-money organizations have been funding the spread of the Big Lie ([link removed]) and the connected legislative efforts to make it harder to vote, in a piece that’s worth taking the time to read in full. Since 2012, the private, tax-exempt Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation has spent $18 million on funding a network of conservative nonprofits that have been sowing doubts about election integrity, in some cases for years. Those groups have, in turn, funded the Maricopa County “audit,” the foundation for future copycat audits and further legislation to disenfranchise Democratic voters. A few reactionary billionaires have seized on Trump’s election denial to advance a larger project of manipulating the vote to remain in power, and it’s not petering out: Groups like the Heritage Foundation have already planned out how to continue pouring their money into that
very project over the next few years.
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It’s been over a year since the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And still, police have killed more than 500 people in 2021 already – from Daunte Wright to 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, and far too many others. Meanwhile, the resounding calls to divest and defund the police continue to grow. Calls that Black organizers and advocates led long before now. 

So what does it all really mean for our country? And how does this moment differ from so many past efforts in America to stop racist police practices that have terrorized Black people for centuries? 

The ACLU will dive into these questions and more in our inaugural email course, “Racism in Policing” –and we want you to be a part of it. Sign up for the email course today ([link removed]) .

In this four-email course, you’ll receive one lesson every week delivered to your inbox from us, Paige Fernandez and Carl Takei, your  course guides and ACLU experts.  

We’ll help you develop a deeper foundational knowledge of U.S. policing institutions, its inseparable ties to white supremacy and systemic racism, and the larger meaning behind police divestment as a solution for the safety of all communities.

By the end of our course, you’ll come away with historical context, learning resources, and the insight needed to take meaningful actions on this critical issue. 

We truly couldn’t think of a more significant topic to delve into and we’re looking forward to having you with us. So don’t wait – sign up and let’s get started ([link removed]) . 

Your course guides, 

Paige Fernandez  
She, her, hers 
Policing Policy Advisor, National Political Advocacy Department, ACLU 

Carl Takei 
He, him, his 
Senior Staff Attorney, Trone Center for Justice and Equality, ACLU 


Seventy percent of U.S. adults ([link removed]) have now received at least one vaccine dose, with the seven-day average of new vaccinations at its highest level since July 4.

The National Labor Relations Board ([link removed]) has determined that Amazon violated labor law to defeat the Bessemer union drive, and will issue a final decision that could overturn the results.

A federal appeals court ([link removed]) has upheld Indiana University’s vaccine requirement.

Kindness ([link removed]) ! Incredible comebacks ([link removed]) ! The 2020 Olympics: Not just weird rules and coronavirus outbreaks anymore!
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