Roundup Top Ten for September 11, 2020
Our Long, Forgotten History of Election-Related Violenceby Jelani Cobb"A weather forecast is not a prediction of the inevitable. We are not doomed to witness a catastrophic tempest this fall, but anyone who is paying attention knows that the winds have begun to pick up." |
Think The Trump Tapes Are Worse Than The Nixon Tapes? Think Again.by Leonard SteinhornRecordings of the President reveal not only racial bigotry but a cynical indifference to the rule of law and a belief that any means were justified to prevail over political adversaries. |
This Republican Party Is Not Worth Savingby Tom Nichols"The hardening of the GOP into a toxic conglomeration of hucksters, quislings, racists, theocrats, and cultists is already happening. The party gladly accepted support from white supremacists and the Russian secret services, and now welcomes QAnon kooks into its caucus. Conservatives must learn that the only way out of “the wilderness” is first to vanquish those who led them there." |
Neoliberal Hong Kong Is Our Future, Tooby Macabe KeliherWhile orthodox economists like to point to Hong Kong as an ideal free market, the social consequences have been disastrous. Inequality is rising, wages are declining and working hours increasing, overall economic opportunity is dwindling, and housing is so unaffordable that office workers sleep in McDonalds. Is it any wonder that the streets are now burning? |
The Supreme Court’s Starring Role In Democracy’s Demiseby Carol AndersonThe Supreme Court today repeats the shameful actions of the courts in the 1890s, which gave judicial cover to state laws explicitly designed to disenfranchise Black voters, by accepting bad faith arguments that the laws in question were race-neutral. |
Reform the Police? Guess Who Funds My State’s Officialsby Miriam PawelTranslating protest into reform depends on breaking the influence law enforcement unions exert on state legislators, including through campaign contributions. |
Trump’s Law-and-Order Campaign Relies on a Historic American Tradition of Racist and Anti-Immigrant Politicsby Austin Sarat"Throughout this nation’s history, appeals to law and order have been as much about defending privilege as dealing with crime. They have been used in political campaigns to stigmatize racial, ethnic and religious groups and resist calls for social justice made by, and on behalf of, those groups." |
In 2020, Voting Rights are on the Ballotby Peniel JosephBlack citizenship remains the best yardstick to measure the nation’s democratic health, and even before the coronavirus pandemic, the Black vote in large parts of the country remained imperiled. |
Trump’s 2020 Playbook Is Coming Straight From Southern Enslaversby Elizabeth R. VaronIn arguing that radical protesters endanger U.S. law and order, Trump is echoing the attacks leveled by Southern enslavers against abolitionists. |
Covid-19 Has Exposed The Consequences Of Decades Of Bad Public Housing Policyby Gillet Gardner RosenblithPoor and economically precarious Americans are at risk of eviction in the COVID-19 crisis because American policymakers have spent decades rejecting a public role in providing decent housing outside of the market system. |