"In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump."
— Dick Cheney

As someone who once thought Dick Cheney was the greatest threat, I have to agree with him on this one.

Here’s my take for @thenation on Liz Cheney’s reelection run in Wyoming:

thenation.com/article/politi…

Liz Cheney is a right winger who—despite her feud with Trump—has a record of defending conservative assaults on democracy.

On the #January6th Committee, she’ll determine how to respond to conservative assaults on democracy.

What could possibly go wrong?

thenation.com/article/politi… Already, Cheney has signaled that she wants to narrow the response to evidence that the January 6th committee has gathered. She does not favor the reforms that would prevent the next assault on democracy. If she gets her way, the committee’s months of work will produce a report.

If you’re measuring the GOP’s degeneration, forget about the #Georgia governor’s race, where master voter-suppressionist Brian Kemp is likely to beat Trump-endorsed voter-suppressionist David Perdue. Perdue was always likely to do what he does best: lose.

Look instead to:

1/4 Texas: Where George P. Bush is likely to lose the GOP runoff to scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton. A decade ago, a well-funded, well-connected Bush would have been a sure bet against a crooked AG. But Paxton, a top-tier Big Liar appears to have the upper hand.

2/4

"Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election."
-- Article of Impeachment Against Donald John Trump, 2019

1/5
thenation.com/article/politi… "President Trump also sought to pressure the Government of Ukraine to take these steps by conditioning official United States Government acts of significant value to Ukraine on its public announcement of the investigations."

2/5
thenation.com/article/politi…

I will join @democracynow this morning to discuss the news that President Trump has tested positive for COVID-19, and what this means for an election campaign in which Americans are already voting. One thing to note is that Donald Trump is not the first president to face a serious health issue as he seeks re-election. FDR was clearly ailing in 1944. Dwight Eisenhower suffered a heart attack on the eve of 1956 campaign and considered quitting. Both were popular. Both won.

Senator @BernieSanders has a 5-point plan to defeat Trump’s assault on American democracy:

“First, it is absolutely imperative that we have, by far, the largest voter turnout in American history and that people vote as early as possible...”

1/5
thenation.com/article/politi… “Second, with the pandemic and a massive increase in mail-in voting, state legislatures must take immediate action now to allow mail-in votes to be counted before Election Day—as they come in...”

2/5

Do not allow cynicism or despair to divert you from the duty at hand.

The mission in the next 45 days is to prevent Senate confirmation of a successor to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The mission from 11/3/2020 to 1/3/2021 is to maintain the bulwark.

thenation.com/article/politi… The November 3 election provides the best opportunity to leverage the moment. If Democrats win the presidency and the Senate, the ability to influence a handful of Rs to reject a lame-duck confirmation increases.

Of course Bob Woodward had a duty to immediately publish the details of the president’s admission that he was deliberately distorting the facts about a pandemic that would in short order cost more American lives than World War One.
thenation.com/article/politi… Ultimately, however, the original sin was Trump’s approach to the pandemic. Whether he acknowledged that he was deliberately downplaying the pandemic or not, his actions revealed this was his strategy. That he admitted it to a journalist simply confirms his sense of impunity.

Facts: A Black man was shot by a Kenosha police officer and is now paralyzed from the waist down. And people demanding #JusticeForJacobBlake have been gunned down—two are dead—after white militias were allowed by the Kenosha Police to roam city streets.

apnews.com/97a0700564fb52… Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that armed people had been patrolling the city’s streets in recent nights, but he did not know if the shooter was among them. “They’re a militia,” Beth said. “They’re like a vigilante group.”

“Omar is steadfast in her pro-peace efforts, despite drawing the ire of President Trump and receiving numerous death threats during her time in office.”
— @PeaceAction on the courage of @IlhanMN—who faces a big-money ($4M) challenge in today’s MN primary

thenation.com/article/politi… “She knows that progressive changes to U.S. foreign policy are desperately needed and is willing to put in the effort needed to realize a new approach to our international relations,” declared Peace Action’s Lilly Dragnev.

On May 9, 1862, Maj. Gen. David Hunter issued Gen’l Order #11. It declared martial law and concluded: “Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible; the persons in these 3 States—GA, FL, SC—heretofore held as slaves are therefore declared forever free.” Ten days later, President Lincoln said the General had not been authorized to issue an emancipation proclamation and declared the order “altogether void.”

The pioneering Henry A. Wallace Police Crime Database, at Bowling Green State University, seeks to “improve policing and inform the public about crimes committed by nonfederal sworn law enforcement officers across the United States.” It is named from FDR’s Vice President, Henry Agard Wallace, who championed social and racial justice and who, as Vice President, spoke out on behalf of African Americans who were killed and injured in race riots during World War II.

Freedom from Want
Freedom from Fear
Freedom to Worship
Freedom of Speech
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who died 75 years ago today

(Sculptor Selma Burke met with FDR at the White House in 1944, sketched his image and created the iconic bas relief portrait of the 32nd president.) It is now widely accepted that John Sinnock's design on the Roosevelt dime was adapted from Burke's plaque, though she did not get the credit she deserved at the time.