What Do We Do Now? We’re live with @JacksonYale national security law scholar @AshaRangappa_ and NYT national security reporter @julianbarnes to discuss: pscp.tv/ThePublicSquar…
@julianbarnes covers our nation’s intelligence agencies for the @nytimes. He called into the virtual green room to chat about why the whoopie pie belongs to Maine, his COVID guilty pleasure, and life (and death) as an amateur chicken farmer: zps.la/32CZEGT
Back in 2014, Barnes wrote an essay for us describing the time a fox got into his chicken coup—and how the Pentagon officers he covered at the time watched the security video and commented on his coup’s “force protection measures.” zps.la/3pqSQFM
@AshaRangappa_ is a faculty member at @JacksonYale and a former FBI counterintelligence agent—not to mention a CNN commentator and Zócalo contributing editor. Before a Zócalo event in 2017, she chatted in our green room about tapas, teaching, and Bógota: zps.la/2JUoknw
Rangappa recently penned an essay for us with @jenmercieca describing the ancient Greeks’ methods for truth-seeking—and how exactly “fake news” is destructive to democracy. zps.la/2zdIggb
We’re live! Join Zócalo to discuss “What Do We Do Now?” with national security law scholar @AshaRangappa_ and national security reporter @julianbarnes. Ask your questions for the speakers in the live chat here: zps.la/35r38xQ
"We have a tradition where we don't prosecute the previous administration," Barnes points out. But, given the number of arguments making the case that we should consider doing so this time, he asks Rangappa for her take.
“There’s too much going on that really does need to be looked at—on so many fronts.” Rangappa cites family separation (which she compares to the authorization of torture) and personal corruption, and notes that she thinks the Biden administration should appoint a special council.
When it comes to the balance between national security and civil liberties, @AshaRangappa_ says, “I think you always want to put the responsibility on the government to be as close to error-free as possible. Especially when you have a procedure that’s being done in secret.”
“If you were going to try to take some norms and make them rules,” Barnes prompts, “what would you do?”

“One might be to strengthen protections for inspector generals,” Rangappa replies—they are one vehicle by which Congress should learn about misconduct in the executive branch.
"I think Congress could also start to take some of its power back," @AshaRangappa_ continues. "One of the things that we've seen over the last four decades is an accretion of power by the executive branch—because Congress has given it away."
For those just tuning in, we're live with @julianbarnes and @AshaRangappa_ discussing what's next after one of the most traumatic elections in history. Join in and ask questions via live chat here: zps.la/35r38xQ
Turning to the topic of transitioning between administrations, Rangappa says that her main concern is the national security "vacuum" that is formed by having a president who "does not read the presidential daily brief" and an incoming president who's not allowed to access it.
“Ignoring the tantrum that the 5-year-old is having"—Trump's fraud claims—and continuing is a good strategy for President-elect Biden, @AshaRangappa_ says. "But I’m starting to see signs that reality is setting in. Floating the idea of running in 2024 is an implicit concession.”
It's audience Q&A time! Ask yours in the live chat here: zps.la/35r38xQ
In response to the first audience question—could President Trump pardon himself?—Rangappa says most legal scholars agree that a self-pardon would be invalid. Trump could step down and let Pence take the presidency and pardon Trump "and his children."
When it comes to institutions like Homeland Security, @AshaRangappa_ thinks we should ask, "What is the institutional culture here? Has it become so toxic and dysfunctional and unable to pursue its mission in accordance with the constitution that it does have to be reimagined?"
That's a wrap, folks! Thanks to @AshaRangappa_, @julianbarnes, and everyone who joined. Look out for The Takeaway with a summary of the conversation tomorrow, and join us again next week for "Why Is It so Easy to Get Away With Murder?" with @jvgarrison: zps.la/3jEZpAR

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More from @ThePublicSquare

4 Nov
This election season, we’ve been focusing on stories that bring perspective to the state of American democracy. From takes on India to El Salvador, Machiavelli to “American Horror Story,” these pieces offer a fresh lens on tonight.

1/8
Last Tuesday, @joemmathews processed how “peculiar and personal” the stakes of this election are for him—in that the results may determine which of his two old friends ends up on the U.S. Supreme Court:

2/ zps.la/3jGYEHv
On Thursday, historian W. Scott Poole (@monstersamerica) wrote about how the horror genre is experiencing a “global renaissance” thanks to the “politics of wounded rage” propelling the real world.

Art by @IllustratedBe

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4 Nov
Americans may be used to knowing the results of a presidential race by bedtime on Election Day, but that’s not the norm in many nations.

Author @sandipr explains how India’s election “schedule” works—and what America can learn from it on this day:

1/7 zps.la/3jU4NQG
In India, there is no such thing as Election Day. “Democracy, unlike candy, does not come out of a vending machine delivering instant gratification,” Roy contends.

It took 11 million election officials over a month to conduct the 7 phases of India’s 2019 general election.

2/
The stages allow security and electoral officials to follow the election around the country as different regions vote. Even when it takes a week for the winner to be announced after the last polling day, Roy writes, Indian voters don’t lose faith in the value of their vote.

3/
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3 Nov
When author and editor Elaine Elinson heard Trump Jr. urge supporters to “join the Army for Trump’s election security operation” and “help us watch them,” her mind went back to 1994, when she was an election observer in El Salvador.

1/6 zps.la/3kQ2G1m
That March, after a 12-year civil war left more than 75,000 dead or disappeared, Salvadorans headed to the polls for the first democratic election in a generation. Elinson, then a @ACLU_NorCal staffer, was one of hundreds of international observers sent by the United Nations.

2/
Their role at the polling booths was to “create a visible presence so that the voters would feel safe,” writes Elinson. The idea was that by showing up, anyone who “tried to menace voters would be deterred.” Elinson was issued a blue shirt labeled “Misión Observadora.”

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11 Jun
Today we published two stories about the experience of “distance learning.”

One is from Alizé Basulto Ibarra, a senior about to graduate from Coalinga High School. One is from Brian Crosby, a retiring English/journalism teacher at Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale.

1/16
At the start of spring semester, everything was going according to plan for class president Alizé. She’d been accepted to her dream school, UCLA.

But then the pandemic hit, and “school just ended in the middle of the sentence.”

2/
At first, Alizé “responded like a teenager, treating this as a vacation from schoolwork and an excuse to stay up late.”

As the virus spread, she realized that she needed to keep studying—and so did her four younger siblings, ages 15, 10, 9, and 8.

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20 May
TONIGHT at 5 PM PDT, Pulitzer Prize winner David W. Blight will interview fellow historian @william_sturkey, winner of Zócalo’s 10th annual Book Prize for “Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White.”

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Here’s a look back at the last time Blight visited Zócalo.

In an event titled “What Does the Life of Frederick Douglass Tell Us About America?”, Blight discussed his biography of #FrederickDouglass with author/comedian Baratunde Thurston.

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zps.la/3bugD0z
@Baratunde pointed out that the tension between patriotism and not-patriotism is a theme repeated through leadership across generations. “Love America or damn America … How do you understand [Douglass’s] holding of that space?” he asked @davidwblight.

3/
Read 8 tweets

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