1/ Let's be clear - Trump had a goal last night to get his right wing, white supremacists to organize an election day intimidation effort. He succeeded. Recruitment by Proud Boys and others is underway. Here's why this is especially worrying this year - and what you can do.
2/ In 2018 a federal judge ended a three decade long court order on the Republican National Committee that placed restrictions on the RNC's "ballot security" measures and Election Day activities at the polls. Why were these restrictions in place?
3/ In 1982, Republicans used illegal harassment and voter intimidation to discourage Black Americans from voting. They sent targeted mailings warning about the consequences of voter fraud & posted armed guards at polls in minority neighborhoods. Thus, the court intervened.
4/ So if AR-15 wielding white supremacists are at the polls this year, there are fewer legal remedies to remove them. Trump knows this, which is why he is pushing so hard.
But you can do something about it. Volunteer here to help protect the election. protectthevote.net
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That was a cataclysm. Electoral map wipeout. Senate D practical ceiling is now 52 seats. R's is 62.
Time to rebuild the left.
We are out of touch with the crisis of meaning/purpose fueling MAGA. We refuse to pick big fights. Our tent is too small.
1/ Some early thoughts:
2/ The left has never fully grappled with the wreckage of fifty years of neoliberalism, which has left legions of Americans adrift as local places are hollowed out, rapacious profit seeking cannibalizes the common good, and unchecked new technology separates and isolates us.
3/ The things that mattered are disappearing. We spend half as much time with friends as a generation ago. Hard work no longer guarantees economic mobility. Institutions (like churches) are delegitimized. Place based identity evaporates as we all become "global citizens."
The story of how VP Harris worked to diffuse a transition of power crisis in Guatemala - while Trump undermined the U.S. by supporting the loser of the election - is both incredible and a sign of how ready she is to lead.
2/ Biden gave Harris the job of reducing migration from Central America and by late 2023 her effort was showing remarkable success. Rates had come down 50%.
But a political crisis in Guatemala risked throwing that key country in chaos, potentially erasing many of her gains.
3/ President Alejandro Giammattei had just lost the election handily, but supported by Trump surrogates, he signaled he would refuse to give up power.
The inauguration of the winner, Bernardo Arévalo de León, was at risk. A Trump-backed Central American coup was at hand.
1/ Later today I am departing on a brief but important trip to Kenya. With China and Russia increasing their investments in East Africa, the U.S.-Kenya relationship is of growing importance to Congress.
I want to explain why and tell you what I’ll be doing on this trip.
2/ In many ways, Kenya is the center of gravity in East Africa. The economy is booming, full of opportunity for U.S. and Connecticut companies. Dubbed "Silicon Savannah", Kenya is also home to Africa's largest wind farm. And it has a dynamic civil society and independent media.
3/ Kenya is also a key diplomatic partner. Kenya’s efforts to end conflict raging in East Africa are critical to address some of the most horrific humanitarian crises on the planet, prevent future atrocities, and eliminate the main driver of human displacement.
Lost amidst Trump’s rambling incoherence about Afghanistan today is the fact that he negotiated the withdrawal of U.S. forces with the Taliban, not Biden.
1/ Here are the facts about how Biden was handed a giant mess from Trump in Afghanistan.
2/ Trump made a deal with the Taliban to completely withdraw U.S. forces by May 1, 2021. When Biden took office, he negotiated a short extension for full withdrawal to August 2021, but he could not alter the fundamental terms of the agreement. nytimes.com/2020/02/29/wor…
3/ Trump had boxed Biden in. If Biden reneged on that agreement, Taliban attacks on American servicemembers would have restarted, forcing us to send thousands more troops back into the conflict. Very few Americans would have supported this endless commitment.
There is little accountability for failed U.S. foreign policy. It's why we make the same mistakes over and over.
1/ So as Venezuela careens into another crisis, this is a moment to understand the stumbling, spectacular mess that Trump made there. reuters.com/world/americas…
2/ The 2018 elections were marred by fraud. Trump recognized the loser of the election as president. At the time @brhodes and I applauded Trump for standing for democracy, but warned that pretending Maduro wasn't actually president was likely to backfire. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
3/ It did. Trump put neocon imperialists in charge of Venezuela policy who tried to get the Venezuela military to push aside Maduro. When that failed, they got involved in a stranger-than-fiction coup plot that ended in an embarrassing, public failure. miamiherald.com/news/nation-wo…