https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CzqjRhAxEk&ab_channel=SurvivingNarcissism
Monday, November 30, 2020
Fox News Is Planning To Pay Trump Off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uscQxv4JtOE&ab_channel=TheRationalNational
Dr. Fauci warns of 'surge upon surge' of COVID-19 in U.S. in coming weeks
youtube.com/watch?v=RYn42tNnsc4&ab_channel=ArirangNews
Biden Picks CIA War Criminal as Director of National Intelligence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGP2GHRSgbw&ab_channel=RichardMedhurst
Colbert's Fawning Obama Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MdKPJS3x8&ab_channel=TheJimmyDoreShow
CIA Just Announced They’ve Taken Control of Big Tech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex6nrYQfvMg&ab_channel=RedactedTonight
Looming Evictions Will Push Economic Collapse Early 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jftEGzNVxgw&ab_channel=GrahamElwood
Biden Taps Neera Tanden In Slap To Bernie-Wing & Working Class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_wt3x0s2QE&ab_channel=TheRationalNational
Why Is It Like This? (Lee Camp & Eleanor Goldfield Live-Stream!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb7GWQI7S5w&t=3s&ab_channel=MomentOfClaritywithLeeCamp
Neera Tanden, sociopath
https://www.salon.com/2016/06/20/trump_proposed_taking_libyas_oil_in_return_for_bombing_it_just_like_clinton_ally_neera_tanden/
[...]
"In truth, the Libyan intervention was about regime change from the very start," Zenko wrote in an exposé in Foreign Policy in March.
Trump was not the only figure to propose taking Libya's oil in return for bombing it, however. Neera Tanden, the president of the pro-Clinton think tank the Center for American Progress, proposed this same policy a few months after Trump.
"We have a giant deficit. They have a lot of oil," Tanden wrote in an October 2011 email titled "Should Libya pay us back?"
"Most Americans would choose not to engage in the world because of that deficit. If we want to continue to engage in the world, gestures like having oil rich countries partially pay us back doesn't seem crazy to me," she added in the message, which was obtained by The Intercept.
[...]
Microsoft’s new “Productivity Score” helps employers spy on workers
Mike Ingram
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/11/30/micr-n30.html?pk_campaign=newsletter&pk_kwd=wsws
Microsoft has expanded the analytics provided with its Office 365 suite of productivity applications into a “full-fledged workplace surveillance tool” according to privacy advocates.
The tool, called Productivity Score, allows employers to know the number of days a person was active on Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype and Teams over the previous four weeks and on what type of device.
The software gives managers access to 73 pieces of granular data about employee behaviors, all of which is associated with employees by name. Microsoft denies the software is workplace surveillance, but privacy advocates say it most certainly is.
Vienna-based researcher Wolfie Christl tweeted a screenshot of the Productivity Score dashboard, writing that “Esoteric metrics based on analyzing extensive data about employee activities has been mostly the domain of fringe software vendors. Now it’s built into MS 365.”
“A new feature to calculate ‘productivity scores’ turns Microsoft 365 into a full-fledged workplace surveillance tool,” Christl added.
Microsoft claims that the software is not designed as a tool to monitor employee work output activities. A September blog post by Anthony Smith, introducing the product, claimed, “we safeguard against this type of use by not providing specific information on individualized actions, and instead only analyze user-level data aggregated over a 28-day period, so you can’t see what a specific employee is working on at a given time. Productivity Score was built to help you understand how people are using the productivity tools and how well the underlying technology supports them in this.”
In an email to The Register Christl refuted the software giant’s claim, saying the system “does clearly monitor employee activities.” He referenced Microsoft’s own promotional video which shows a list of clearly identifiable users. Posting the video on Twitter, Christl wrote: “Employers/managers can analyze employee activities at the individual level (!), for example, the number of days an employee has been sending emails, using the chat, using ‘mentions’ in emails etc.”
Screenshot of the Productivity Score dashboard
While Productivity Score is not enabled by default, when companies enable it, the software automatically shows data on individual employees. Employers can anonymize user data or opt out of using user-level data at all, but managers have to manually change the settings. Employees have no control over this whatsoever.
The software dashboard provides a so-called peer benchmark, which measures the company against other companies for each metric collected, meaning companies using the product are sending analytics data back to Microsoft.
The documentation for Productivity Score shows the extent of workplace surveillance the software allows. “Person metrics” include data such as the number of hours a person spent in meetings and on email outside of working hours and the number of emails sent. The system also monitors “low-quality meeting hours” which is defined as, the “Number of meeting hours in which an attendee multitasked, attended a conflicting meeting, or attended a meeting that exhibits Redundancy (organizational).”
Employees are assigned an “influence” score “that indicates how well connected a person is within the company. A higher score means that the person is better connected and has greater potential to drive change.” The product documentation states. The software also has a “Diverse tie score” indicating how varied and broad a person’s connections are and a “Strong tie score” recording how many “strong and tight engagements a person has had.”
J.S. Nelson is an associate professor of law at Villanova University who studies workplace surveillance. She told Forbes the software is “horrendous.” “Why are they monitoring people this way and what is that telling people about the relationship they should have with their employers in the workplace? What message are you sending?” she asked.
More invasive employee monitoring tools such as Teramind can capture any user activity, including screen recordings, live views of employee computers, and track emails, keystrokes and even video sessions. These are specialized products and regarded as overly intrusive by many workers.
A Computerworld article from October this year examined how COVID-19 and the move to remote working has spurred faster adoption of employee monitoring software by companies seeking to boost productivity and spy on workers outside of the office.
The article quotes Brian Kropp, group vice president of Gartner’s HR practice. “When COVID-19 hit, we found that within the first month, 16 percent of companies put new tracking software on the laptops of remote employees,” Kropp said. By July that number had risen to 26 percent of companies.
Kropp said that even before the pandemic, companies were moving in the direction of “passively monitoring our employees, listening to them and watching them, and asking them less and less.”
“What the pandemic has done is just accelerate the speed at which that is happening. ... They were going to get there eventually; the pandemic has just accelerated the future into the present,” Kropp said.
The development of Productivity Score now gives companies similar tools without the need to roll out new software. The near-ubiquitous presence of Office 365 in the workplace gives employers ready-made surveillance of their employees.
While the office suite market is dominated by Google with 59.41 percent, Microsoft Office 365 is used by over a million companies worldwide with close to 600,000 companies in the US alone. Under conditions of a global pandemic that has forced the closure of offices around the world and enforced remote working from home, Microsoft is giving corporations the tools to drive up productivity and monitor workers’ activity 24 hours a day.
The metrics provided by Productivity Score will be used by corporations to identify low scoring employees and facilitate more layoffs with increased exploitation of those remaining, under an ever-present pressure to improve their scores.
Socialist Champion Kshama Sawant Target of Corporate-Backed Recall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqL9gm61DVc&ab_channel=StatusCoup
Explosive CIA Leaked Documents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOk4-t-AzHE&ab_channel=TheJimmyDoreShow
Economist Richard Wolff Warns of Potential COVID Depression
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIEu8MIlseE&ab_channel=StatusCoup
Biden's Horrifying Pentagon Choice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpRtdGpRYb4&ab_channel=TheJimmyDoreShow
8 times David Perdue lied about his stock trades
Judd Legum
Nov 30
In 2020, Senator David Perdue (R-GA) has repeatedly faced scrutiny for suspiciously well-timed stock trades. Each time, Perdue deflected criticism by claiming that his portfolio was managed by an outside advisor who made decisions about specific trades without Perdue's involvement. But an FBI investigation into Perdue's stock transactions revealed that Perdue is lying. This year, Perdue directed his investment manager to sell more than $1 million of an individual stock.
In March, as the pandemic took hold in the United States, Perdue sold stock in Caesars Entertainment, which operates casinos, and purchased shares of Pfizer, which is developing a vaccine. He faced criticism for attempting to profit from the pandemic.
In response, a Perdue spokesperson told CNN that he "had an outside advisor managing his investments" and was "not involved in any day-to-day investment decisions." On a March 20 appearance on Fox News, Perdue had a similar message. "Over the last five years, I have had an outside professional manage my personal finances and I’m not involved in the day-to-day decisions," Perdue said. Perdue repeated that claim in a March interview with Nexstar Media Group.
In April, more details of Perdue's stock trades became available. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that "Perdue’s financial portfolio saw heavy trading during the month of March, a period during which Congress passed three different spending bills to address the spread of COVID-19 and the markets took a turn for the worse." Specifically, a report filed by Perdue on April 5 revealed "112 transactions, including 76 stock purchases costing as much as $1.8 million and 34 sales worth up to $825,000." That was a three-fold increase in trading volume compared to Perdue's monthly average over the previous two years. Perdue again claimed he had no involvement in the day-to-day management of his portfolio. "Senator Perdue has always had an outside adviser managing his personal finances, and he is not involved in day-to-day decisions," a spokesperson said.
In May, Perdue and his wife liquidated their individual stocks with three exceptions. A Perdue spokesperson said the move was intended to "avoid any confusion about their retirement savings." In a statement, Perdue claimed with new specificity that he was not involved in individual stock trades. "Goldman Sachs or... independent fund managers bought and sold individual stocks without consulting with us," Perdue said.
In September, The Daily Beast reported that, between 2017 and 2019, Perdue bought and sold shares of "Atlanta-based financial company First Data" as he "helped to dilute a rule that governed the prepaid debit card industry." The cards are a key component of First Data's business. In response, a Perdue spokesperson released a detailed statement claiming that Perdue had "no influence" on the independent investment managers directing his trades:
As we have told numerous publications in response to repeated false accusations, Senator Perdue and Mrs. Perdue have outside, independent advisers who made these specific trades. The Perdues cannot direct or influence these independent fund managers. These outrageous attacks are based on information that has been publicly available for years. Any accusation of improper conduct is categorically false and nothing more than lies by liberal groups hoping to win an election.
In November, The Daily Beast reported that earlier in 2020, Perdue bought shares in "a company that made submarine parts" shortly before "he began work on a bill that ultimately directed additional Navy funding for one of the firm’s specialized products." He later sold the shares for a significant profit. Perdue's spokesperson responded with another angry statement flatly denying any involvement by Perdue in individual trades.
This has been asked and answered—Senator Perdue doesn’t manage his trades, they are handled by outside financial advisors without his prior input or approval. No amount of lies from liberal media outlets or Democratic political groups will change that fact.
The Perdue campaign later sent a similar statement to the New York Times. It was the eighth time Perdue stated or implied that he had no involvement with individual stock trades. Each of these statements was a lie.
Last week, the New York Times reported that Perdue was the subject of an FBI investigation involving the sale of his stock in Cardlytics, a financial company. The FBI found that Perdue, shortly after receiving an email from Cardlytics CEO, personally called his "wealth manager" and directed him to sell more than $1 million in Cardlytics stock.
Mr. Perdue then contacted his wealth manager at Goldman Sachs, Robert Hutchinson, and instructed him to sell a little more than $1 million worth of Cardlytics shares, or about 20 percent of his position, three of the people said. One person familiar with the inquiry into Mr. Perdue’s trades said that the conversation was memorialized in an internal Goldman Sachs record later obtained by the F.B.I.
The investigation did not ultimately result in charges against Perdue. But the investigation did reveal that Perdue repeatedly and intentionally misled the public about his involvement in individual stock trades. It is unclear how many other stock transactions were personally directed by Perdue.
Perdue's tortured explanation
The Perdue campaign did not dispute the accuracy of the New York Times' reporting. But a Perdue spokesperson attempted to claim the conduct described was consistent with the campaign's previous comments.
The spokesperson told the New York Times that "Perdue doesn’t handle the day-to-day decisions of his portfolio," and that fact is "confirmed by the New York Times reporting." But the New York Times reported that Perdue personally directed a major trade of Cardlytics stock.
The Perdue campaign told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Perdue's direction to sell Cardytics stock in January 2020 was "based on advice he received from his money manager in October 2019." That may be true. But it still reveals that Perdue had significant control over his portfolio. Perdue decided whether, when, and how to follow his investment adviser's advice. In other words, Perdue was in charge.
Perdue ducks the press — and his opponent
What does Perdue himself have to say about revelations that he lied about his control over his stock portfolio? Nothing. Perdue is refusing to answer questions, even from the local media. He limits most of his interviews to friendly hosts on Fox News.
Rick Folbaum @RickFolbaum.@sendavidperdue, how about talking to local media too? My friend @seanhannity can vouch for my fairness. Let's do it! @cbs46 #GASenate #gapol David Perdue @PerduesenateI’m coming up next on @seanhannity. Tune In! #GAsen #gapol @foxnews
November 19th 20209 Retweets15 Likes
Perdue has "declined an invitation to debate Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff ahead of the January runoff election for his seat." He also dropped out of a scheduled debate before the November 3 General Election, instead opting to appear at a rally with Trump.
In his last debate in October, Ossoff confronted Perdue on his stock trades.
Well, perhaps Senator Perdue would have been able to respond properly to the COVID-19 pandemic if you hadn’t been fending off multiple federal investigations for insider trading... It’s not just that you’re a crook, senator, it’s that you’re attacking the health of the people you represent.
The clip was viewed millions of times on Twitter.
Biden Picks Budget Director Who Pushed Social Security Cuts
Likely OMB nominee Neera Tanden called for cuts to Social Security, saying “we need to put both entitlements on the table as well as taxes.”
Walker Bragman
President-elect Joe Biden will reportedly nominate a White House budget director who has been one of the country’s most prominent critics of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and who has previously backed Social Security cuts.
Biden — who has repeatedly pushed for Social Security cuts throughout his career — announced his selection of Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden as his choice to run the powerful White House Office of Management and Budget. A longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, Tanden touted her think tank’s 2010 proposal to reduce Social Security benefits in 2012, as Biden was pushing for such cuts in the Obama administration.
Tanden’s Social Security push followed the 2010 midterms, during the deficit reduction negotiations between the Obama administration and the new GOP Congress. Republicans drew a hard line but Obama sought a middle ground. Central to the administration’s efforts, which were led by Biden, was a plan called the “chained CPI” that would have slowed the rate at which Social Security benefits increase over time.
Sanders led the fight in the Senate against chained CPI, while outside groups were divided over whether to line up behind the president. Some, like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, vocally opposed the cuts.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank, found that the chained CPI “would cut Social Security retirement benefits by about 2 percent, on average.” The organization, nevertheless, said it would support the concept under certain conditions.
Tanden’s CAP, at the time considered to be the largest liberal think tank in Washington, also supported the idea and was a significant voice in favor of the administration’s plan.
Tanden explained her views in a February 2012 C-SPAN interview. Asked by a caller about entitlement reform, she named Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as targets for possible cuts, noting that “the president has $300 million in his budget in cuts in Medicare.”
“That comes on top of cuts in Medicare for the Affordable Care Act. So he has put specific cuts in the budget in Medicare,” she said. “And they had savings in Medicaid in the past. I think the question really is: If we’re going to have a deal to address long-term deficit reduction, we need to put both entitlements on the table as well as taxes.”
Tanden became more explicit in her support for cuts to Social Security as she went on:
“We should have savings on entitlements, and the Center for American Progress has put forward ideas on proposals to reform the beneficiary structure of Social Security — some of our progressive allies aren’t as excited about that as we are,” she explained. “But we’ve put those ideas on the table. We think that those are legitimate ideas that need to be part of a proposal where everyone’s at the table. We don’t just ask middle-class Americans to sacrifice. We ask all Americans.”
Indeed, in a report on Social Security solvency CAP released two years earlier, the organization cautioned that “Social Security... is showing its age,” and warned that progressive ideas like lifting the payroll tax “without addressing other problems in Social Security’s benefit design would be a mistake.” One of the solutions it proposed was the chained CPI.
“We recommend that benefits instead be tied to the chained Consumer Price Index, which is sometimes referred to as the ‘superlative’ Consumer Price Index,” the report said. “This index is a more accurate measure of inflation than the current measure. The Social Security Administration’s actuaries estimate the difference will amount to an inflation measure that will show inflation that is 0.3 percentage points lower than the currently used inflation measure.”
In 2016, Tanden wrote on Twitter that chained CPI would “help Social Security’s solvency,” but she said she disagreed with the policy.
Neera Tanden @neeratanden@donaltc Chain CPI, again a policy I disagree with, helped Social Security's solvency, not hurt it. So again, fix your tweet.February 12th 2016
During the Democratic primary, Biden faced scrutiny and criticism over his four-decade record of pushing cuts to Social Security. The Sanders camp seized on resurfaced videos of Biden promoting cuts and spending freezes over the years. Biden responded to these attacks by supporting an expansion of Social Security and by falsely claiming that he’d never sought to cut the program.
“I've been fighting to protect — and expand — Social Security for my whole career,” the president-elect tweeted in January. “Any suggestion otherwise is just flat-out wrong.”
At the time, Tanden tweeted that she did not see Social Security cuts as part of any Democratic administration’s plans, writing: “This whole debate is a farce.” However, in August, Biden faced criticism from progressives after one of his advisors suggested that in a Biden presidency, spending would be limited by budgetary constraints.
If Democrats manage to win the two Georgia Senate runoff races and retake control over the chamber, Sanders is widely expected to chair the Senate Budget Committee, having served as the ranking member since 2015. The Budget Committee is tasked with approving the OMB director.
Republicans are already warning that Tanden won’t win approval from GOP Senators. A spokesperson for Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, tweeted that she “stands zero chance of being confirmed.”
Sunday, November 29, 2020
Turkey sentences over 300 people to life for their alleged involvement in 2016 failed coup attempt
More than 470 people were tried for their alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 to overthrow Erdogan out of which the court found 337 guilty
November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/turkey-sentences-over-300-people-to-life-for-their-alleged-involvement-in-2016-failed-coup-attempt/
A Turkish court on Thursday, November 26 sentenced hundreds of people to life for their alleged involvement in the 2016 coup plot against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The convicted include army officers, pilots and civilians.
More than 470 people were tried for their alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 to overthrow Erdogan out of which the court found 337 guilty. They were accused of seizing public institutions and crucial army installations such as Akini Airbase from where bombings were carried out at government buildings and an attempt was made on Erdogan’s life during which at least 250 people were killed and thousands were injured.
The then defense minister Hulusi Akar and other commanders were held captive for several hours. Turkey had declared an emergency post the coup attempt and carried out severe repressive acts against supposed plotters targeting some of the opposition figures.
According to Anadolu Agency, more than 292,000 people were arrested and more than 150,000 of government employees were sacked or suspended for their alleged links with anti-Erdogan groups and alleged terror groups. More than 20,000 were expelled from the army allegedly to root out the Gülen network from all state institutions.
Erdogan blamed the supporters of a US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen for the attempted coup. However, he denied any involvement. Several army officers who allegedly led the coup have already been sentenced to rigorous life sentences.
On Thursday, the court granted 15 army officials and four civilian imams 79 aggravated life sentences, the severest sentence in Turkey. This means they will never get parole. So far, around 2,500 people have been given life sentences in the case by different courts in Turkey.
Human right groups and opposition have claimed that the government in Turkey used the coup attempt to carry out massive repression against opposition forces and activists including the Kurdish minorities.
Court in Tunisia sentences blogger to two years in prison over social media posts
Blogger Wajdi Mahouechi was reportedly arrested after he criticized the public prosecutor in Tunisia. On November 12, the Tunis First Instance Court convicted him of all charges and sentenced him to two years in prison along with a fine of 1,000 Tunisian Dinars (USD 300)
November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/court-in-tunisia-sentences-blogger-to-two-years-in-prison-over-social-media-posts/
Tunisian blogger Wajdi Mahouechi was sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing the country’s judiciary, North Africa Journal reported on November 24, Tuesday. The judgement was widely condemned by human rights groups and others as an assault on the freedom of speech and expression in Tunisia. Mahouechi was reportedly arrested after he criticized the public prosecutor in Tunisia for not arresting and prosecuting an Imam who had posted social media material which justified last month’s killing of a public school teacher in France. The French teacher was killed for exhibiting images of the Prophet in his classroom as part of a class on freedom of expression.
Mahouechi had responded to the video posted by the Imam on Facebok with another video in which he criticizes the public prosecutor for not taking action against the Muslim cleric. In the video, he also claims that the public prosecution has failed to take action against a complaint made by him against two police officers in 2019 for physically assaulting him. Mahouechi was arrested the next day by officers from the Hay El Khadra Unit for Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime and later interrogated for around four hours. His lawyer, Mohamed Ali Bouchiba, was allowed to be present during the investigation.
During investigation, Mahouechi defended himself by claiming to the authorities that he was not targeting anyone individually or specifically, but only acting as a whistleblower against the Imam who according to him was propagating extremism and terrorism.
Mahouechi was accused under multiple serious charges, including “accusing officials of crimes without providing proof,” “offending others via telecommunications networks,” “public calumny,” and “insulting an officer on duty.” Meanwhile, no legal action was taken against the Imam. On November 12, the Tunis First Instance Court convicted him of all charges and sentenced him to two years in prison along with a fine of 1,000 Tunisian Dinars (USD 300).
31-year-old Mahouechi is a regular blogger and commentator on various social and political issues in Tunisia. Following his conviction and imprisonment, his lawyer stated, “we are seeing an increase of prosecutions that remind us of the arrests and trials of bloggers and social media critics in 2017. The prosecutions never stopped really. They just slowed down and now they’re back.”
Human rights organizations tracking human rights violations and judicial excesses in Tunisia have criticized the judgment against Mahouechi. Amnesty International stated that since 2018, at least 40 Tunisians have been criminally prosecuted by the Tunisian authorities for “publishing online posts critical of local authorities, the police or other state officials.” Human Rights Watch (HRW) also expressed concern about a growing number of social media users, bloggers and human rights activists being targeted with criminal charges on the basis of social media posts critical of the government. In two different reports last year, HRW documented at least 15 Tunisians facing criminal charges such as “spreading false information,” “harm of others through telecommunications networks,” “accusing public officials of crimes related to their jobs without furnishing proof of their guilt,” “calumny,” and “insulting the head of state.”
According to HRW, many of these criminal charges date back to the time of former Tunisian dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was overthrown in a popular revolution in 2011. Since 2017, at least six Tunisians have received prison sentences for exercising their freedom of speech and expression on social media and sharing their views on various issues. So far, Mahouechi’s prison sentence is the harshest and longest to be awarded by a Tunisian court in a similar case, raising concern among activists and human rights groups.
Police brutality against protesting migrants in Paris draws widespread outrage
On November 23, Monday, French police brutally attacked migrants protesting at the Place de la Republique in Paris against last week’s forceful evacuation of the Saint-Denis migrant camp
November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/police-brutality-against-protesting-migrants-in-paris-draws-widespread-outrage/
Migrants and activist groups staged protests in Paris earlier this week against the deteriorating living conditions of migrants in France and the police attack on protesting migrants on November 23, Monday. The migrants were protesting at the Place de la Republique in Paris against last week’s forceful evacuation of the Saint-Denis migrant camp.
On Monday, migrants and activists occupied the Place de la Republique with makeshift tents, demanding immediate accommodation for those forcefully evacuated. The police in the evening responded with violence to forcefully disperse the occupying migrants. The footage of the brutal police action went viral, drawing widespread criticism across the country.
InfoMigrant.net reported that “in footage filmed during the evening, police raise a tent and turn it over to knock down the person inside. In others, they throw the migrants’ belongings into trucks.” The police also reportedly used tear gas and LBD fire to disperse the migrants.
Parisians from all walks of life extended their support and solidarity to the migrants’ protest. Protesters have demanded a stop to police violence against migrants and called for the resignation of police prefect Didier Lallement and interior minister Gérald Darmanin, who are being held responsible for the police brutality.
Pro-migrant activist group Utopia 56 stated, “the violent evacuation of the camp for exiled people in Saint Denis on Tuesday, November 17, left between 700 and 1,000 people homeless without accommodation solutions.” The group has demanded the Paris authorities and the government to immediately provide 1,000 shelters to unconditionally accommodate these migrants as well as a cessation of police violence against the migrant population. They also demanded the French government establish a proper first reception system for exiled people, which allows immediate access to accommodation solutions.
On November 17, a police operation dislodged 2,500 refugees from a camp located in the north of Paris. According to reports, around 800 refugees remain shelterless as of now.
Monday’s police action against migrants coincided with protests that are taking place in the country against the proposed ‘global security’ bill proposed by the Emmanul Macron-led government. Among the main aspects of the controversial bill, currently being debated in the French parliament, is that it illegalizes the dissemination of images where police officers can be identified. As the footage of police brutality at Place de la Republique went viral, progressive sections in the country reiterated their opposition to the global security bill, which is likely to eliminate another check against the abuse of power by the police and other state authorities.
Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras free at last
Maher al-Akhras who was sent into administrative detention in July was released on November 26. He had gone on a 104-day hunger strike demanding his freedom
November 27, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/27/palestinian-administrative-detainee-maher-al-akhras-free-at-last/
Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras was finally released from Israeli custody on November 26, Thursday. Al-Akhras had earlier been on a 104-day hunger strike to protest his illegal administrative detention by Israel and to demand his release. He agreed to end his hunger strike after successfully securing an agreement for his release at the end of his current term of administration detention, which would have otherwise most likely been renewed for another term.
Since reaching the agreement, al-Akhras has been treated at the Israeli Kaplan hospital. He was transferred there from prison due to a drastic decline in his health and serious medical issues as a result of the hunger strike.
According to a statement by Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority of the Palestine Liberation Organization, al-Akhras has now been transferred to the Al-Najah university hospital in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. He will continue to receive medical treatment and undergo health checkups until he makes a full recovery. The medical director of Al-Najah hospital, Abdul-Karim Al-Barqawi, has said that a decision on allowing him to return home will be made in the coming days following a medical assessment of his health and recovery.
Upon his release, 49-year-old al-Akhras told reporters “I secured my freedom by embarking on a long, drawn out hunger strike. The strike proved that the Palestinian people need to fight for their rights and liberty, and we can’t wait for anyone else to end our oppression. My freedom is the freedom of my people, and we have won over the occupation with our will and determination.”
Arrested on July 26 by Israeli domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, al-Akhras was accused of being a prominent member of the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. He was then placed under administrative detention for four months without charge or trial. The Israeli authorities also withheld from his lawyers the supposed evidence they had against him based on which he was accused of terrorist activities. Al-Akhras launched his hunger strike immediately after the administrative detention order against him was passed.
Close to three months into the hunger strike, his health condition turned critical, forcing the prison authorities to transfer him to hospital. Doctors attempted to force-feed him against his will to break his hunger strike at the insistence of the prison authorities but ultimately failed. Meanwhile, his lawyers filed appeals in the Israeli high court, requesting for a nullification of his detention order and his release. The court finally ordered his release at the end of his current administrative detention order but did not approve his immediate release.
Al-Akhras lost more than 40 kg in body weight and continues to experience acute headaches and pain in his ears and joints, as well as loss of consciousness. His lawyers and human rights activists had expressed alarm that he was on the ‘verge of death’ and ‘irreversible damage’ was being inflicted on his body.
When asked about his health after his release, Al-Akhras stated that he still suffers from pain but hopes to recover soon to return to his home in the town of Silat al-Dahr, north of Jenin city, to be reunited with his wife and six children.
Repeated appeals were made to the Israeli prison authorities for al-Akhras’ release by various international human rights organizations, activists, and diplomatic representatives of several countries. Over 470 Palestinians remain in Israeli custody as administrative detainees, including two minors. Human rights groups have regularly reported that Palestinians in Israeli custody face extremely cruel treatment and are subjected to various forms of psychological and physical torture in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
Trade unions and progressive movements across the world unite to #MakeAmazonPay
During the pandemic, Amazon emerged as the first trillion-dollar corporation ever while its CEO Jeff Bezos became the first person to amass over USD 200 billion. Meanwhile, its workers across the world have complained of denial of rights
November 28, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/28/trade-unions-and-progressive-movements-across-the-world-unite-to-makeamazonpay/
A global coalition of progressive movements and trade unions staged a massive scale boycott campaign of Amazon on the annual Black Friday sales day, that fell on Friday, November 27. The coalition held an organized global campaign in as many as 15 countries that constitute the bulk of Amazon’s customer base, under the banner of #MakeAmazonPay. Dozens of international and national trade union movements, trade justice groups, environmentalist organizations, and progressive political movements participated in the campaign.
A number of trade unions and trade unions confederations took part, including the GMB Union in the United Kingdom, Ver.di in Germany, IndustriAll, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), UNI Global Union, Amazon Workers International, and Public Services International (PSI) among others. Several of these groups and their national and regional affiliates also organized walk-out strikes on Friday.
Groups such as the Progressive International, the pan-European Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, All India IT and ITeS Employees’ Union from India, Momentum from the United Kingdom, the Athena Coalition from the United States, along with advocacy groups like the Workings Peoples’ Charter, Focus on the Global South, IT for Change and the Transnational Institute were also part of organizing it.
In their campaign statement, the organizers pointed out how despite reaping huge profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company continues to evade taxes. “But instead of giving back to the societies that helped it grow, the corporation starves them of tax revenue. In 2019, Amazon paid just 1.2% tax in the United States, where the corporation holds its headquarters.”
“As Amazon’s corporate empire expands, so too has its carbon footprint, which is larger than two thirds of all countries in the world. But instead of giving back to the societies that helped it grow, the corporation starves them of tax revenue,” the statement reads.
During the pandemic, Amazon emerged as the first trillion-dollar corporation in human history, while its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos became the first person to amass over USD 200 billion worth of wealth.
In the meanwhile, the corporation has been accused by workers across the world of vehemently denying its over 876,000 employees fair compensation. “Amazon warehouse workers risked their lives as essential workers, and faced threats and intimidation if they spoke out for their rights to a fair wage,” added the campaign.
In an article in the Guardian, Casper Gelderblom, coordinator of the #MakeAmazonPay campaign at the Progressve International, wrote, “While Bezos’s [Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos] wealth has risen by more than $70bn (£52bn) since the onset of the pandemic, Amazon workers have put their health at risk daily with only marginal increases in pay. The corporation is said to monitor its warehouse workers, sanctions them whenever their productivity drops and has spied on their efforts to organize. The result: claims that workers have been forced to urinate in bottles for lack of adequate break-time (Amazon has disputed such claims), thousands of Covid infections and claims of inadequate worker protections. Bezos could pay each of his 876,000 employees a $105,000 (£79,000) bonus – and still be as obscenely rich as he was before the pandemic broke out.”
The campaign was also backed by prominent political leaders and activists across the globe.
Legal proceedings against former de-facto government officials begin in Bolivia
The newly elected MAS government has opened investigations against several former officials of the de-facto government for their role in crimes committed during their one year tenure after the coup détat ágainst former president Evo Morales
November 28, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/28/legal-proceedings-against-former-de-facto-government-officials-begin-in-bolivia/
With the restoration of democracy in Bolivia, the process to seek justice for the numerous crimes committed by former ministers and officials of the coup-installed government has begun in the country. The newly elected government of president Luis Arce and vice-president David Choquehuanca of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party has opened investigations against several former officials for their role in various corruption cases, massacres, incidents of violence and human right violations committed during their one year in office.
Some former officials have been arrested, while some have fled the country. The president of the de-facto government, Jeanine Áñez, who has not yet been questioned by the authorities, also tried to escape Bolivia on November 23. However, she was prevented from boarding a plane by a group of representatives of various social organizations at the Jorge Henrich Arauz airport in the Trinidad city in the Beni department.
Áñez faces a liability trial related to the massacres in Sacaba and Senkata as well as other incidents of violent police and military repression carried out on her orders against protesters mobilizing in rejection of the coup d’état against former president Evo Morales. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), 36 people lost their lives in different regions of the country during various violent repression operations by security forces after the coup.
On November 23, a group of independent experts from the IACHR arrived in Bolivia to investigate all the incidents of violence committed under Áñez’s rule. The next day, on November 24, the commander of the Cochabamba Military Garrison, General Alfredo Cuellar, was arrested in connection with the massacre in Sacaba city. He has been charged with the crime of murder.
Additionally, the same day as Áñez tried to run away, the Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants against former oil minister Victor Zamora and former immigration director Marcel Rivas for various crimes.
Former oil minister Zamora is under investigation for the crimes of abuse of power, breach of duties, corruption and unconstitutional resolutions. He allegedly committed these crimes during the lockdown period due to COVID-19 pandemic, when he was in charge of the state-owned oil company, the Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB).
According to the national police, Zamora’s whereabouts are unknown. He has not been located at his declared legal address nor at his parents’ home. The Prosecutor’s Office has requested information from the immigration department about his possible flight.
Former immigration director Rivas has been arrested and is being investigated for the crimes of inappropriate use of influence, concealment, breach of duties and political persecution. He has been accused of facilitating the escape of former government and defense ministers as well as of using the institution for “political purposes” and illegally issuing over 495 immigration alerts against the officials, politicians, journalists, diplomats and businessmen considered close allies of the ousted president Morales and opponents of the Áñez’s regime.
Last week, on November 16, arrest warrants were issued against former government minister Arturo Murillo and former defense minister Fernando López in the “tear gas” case, related to the purchase of the non-lethal chemical weapons from a Brazilian company, Condor, at an inflated price for the national police. They are accused of misuse of power and of having purchased 50,000 units of long-range and triple-action projectiles for 2 million USD.
On November 17, the general commander of the police, Jhonny Aguilera, reported that both the officials had fled the country. He stated that Murillo and López escaped to Brazil on November 5, three days before the rule of the de-facto government ended. From Brazil, Murillo fled to Panama on November 9. Three officials of the immigration department, in addition to Rivas, have been arrested for allowing the escape of fugitives, on whom an immigration alert was already weighing.
According to the recent police investigations, Murillo and former vice-minister of interior Javier Issa are now in the United States, and López remains in Brazil.
Issa is accused of having participated in the theft and supposed burning of the military service book of former president Morales. In this case, the former director of the Special Force for the Fight Against Crime (FELCC), Iván Rojas, has also been detained.
Colombian social leader Julián Gil released after 900 days in prison
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/26/colombian-social-leader-julian-gil-released-after-900-days-unjustly-held-in-prison/
Colombian social leader Julián Gil released after 900 days unjustly held in prison
The technical secretary of the People’s Congress Julián Gil was released from La Picota Prison on Wednesday night
November 26, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
“This is a victory of people’s movements,” declared Julián Gil as he left the prison and was greeted by dozens of family members, friends as well as militants and leaders of his organization Congreso de los Pueblos (the People’s Congress). Gil, who worked as the technical secretary of the organization was arrested 902 days ago outside the organization’s office and falsely accused of having participated in and planned acts of terrorism.
On Tuesday November 24, the Specialized Judge of Cundinamarca absolved Gil of all charges and declared that he should be released immediately. Gil had been accused of rebellion and pertaining to the insurgent group National Liberation Army (ELN) as well as of trafficking and transportation of explosives and arms. The charges were levelled based on one testimony which, Gil’s defense pointed out, was contradictory in explaining how Gil was allegedly involved in the crimes. The prosecution team was unable to find any evidence to support the unreliable testimony, but kept him in prison while they attempted to build a case.
Since day one, Julián and Congreso affirmed his innocence as well as the deeply political nature of his arrest and incarceration. They classified it as another attempt of the Colombian state to silence those who dare to think differently and fight for a country with peace and dignity, against the interests of the ruling class.
Following the announcement on Tuesday, members of Congreso de los Pueblos gathered outside La Picota Prison where Julian has been held for the past 900 days in order to pressure the prison authorities to release him. However, they informed that the process was delayed and he would not be released until Wednesday. Finally on Wednesday November 25, at around 19:00h, Julián was free.
Throughout the 900 days, Julian never lost hope or determination. The prison became his new trench of struggle from where he and other prisoners in his cell block organized libraries, donation drives and political education classes.
Following his release Julian declared that the struggle is far from over and that it must intensify so all prisoners are free. Gil declared: “This is why we are convinced that we must fight and transform all of this. Together we can achieve this comrades. The hope and joy of all of you always has been contagious and we will continue in the fight for a long time.”
Assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh condemned across the globe
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was attacked by unknown assailants near Tehran on Friday. Both Iranian authorities and observers around the world accused Israel of being behind the murder
November 28, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/28/assassination-of-iranian-nuclear-scientist-mohsen-fakhrizadeh-condemned-across-the-globe/
The assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, has drawn harsh condemnation from all over the world. Dr. Mohsen (62) was shot and killed by unknown assailants on Friday, November 27 in Absard city, around 70 km away from capital, Tehran.
Assailants attacked his vehicle with bombs and guns. Dr. Mohsen was gravely injured in the attack and he later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. The encounter between the assailants and Dr. Mohsen’s bodyguards resulted in a few more deaths. While the Iranian media said the assailants were killed in the shoot-out, Times of Israel said those killed were Dr. Mohsen’s bodyguards, and that the assailants had escaped. Dr. Mohsen, who was a professor of physics at Imam Hossein University at Tehran, was also heading defense ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that the assassination was carried out by “mercenary usurper Zionist regime.”
Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif tweeted that “there are “serious indications of Israeli role” in the terrorist attack. He also urged the international community to condemn this “state act of terror”.
Israel, which has serious objections to Iran’s nuclear program, has been accused of the assassination of several other Iranian scientists. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had mentioned Dr. Mohsen’s name in a presentation in April 2018, accusing him of heading Iran’s “clandestine nuclear program”.
Israel was also accused of the killing of Iran’s nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari in 2010.
Reacting to the assassination, Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Corps (IRGC) commander Major General Hossein Salami warned of harsh revenge against those responsible for the act. The Iranian interior ministry launched an investigation to identify the culprits.
International Reactions
Meanwhile, several international groups, institutions and activists have issued statements offering condolences and some of them even called the assassination of Dr. Mohsen an act of terror. The groups included Yemen’s Ansar Allah and Palestine’s The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which called Dr. Mohsen a “martyr”.
Senior Swedish politician Carl Bildt called the assassination a plot to derail the possibilities of betterment of Iran-US relations after the election of Joe Biden as president. Biden has promised to re-join the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from which Donald Trump had withdrawn in 2018. The deal has been opposed by Israel and Saudi Arabia who have also expressed their reservations regarding Biden’s promise to re-join it.
United Nation’s expert on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, called the assassination of Dr. Mohsen an act of terror and a violation of the UN charter which prohibits use of force extraterritorially.
Several human rights and peace activists have condemned the act. CODEPINK, a US-based peace group, issued a statement on its Twitter handle calling the act an Israeli attempt to incite a war with Iran before Trump leaves office.
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the CODEPINK, asked president elect Joe Biden to “walk the talk” and condemn the assassination of Dr. Mohsen in a tweet on Saturday.
UN secretary general António Guterres issued a statement asking for restraint and avoiding any action which can lead to the escalation of tensions in the region.
Civilian casualties to mount as the battle for Mekelle begins in Ethiopia’s northern region
The military conflict between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray regional government, which began on November 4, has already claimed thousands of lives. International agencies have raised concerns over shortages of food and medicine.
November 28, 2020 by Pavan Kulkarni
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/11/28/civilian-casualties-to-mount-as-the-battle-for-mekelle-begins-in-ethiopias-northern-region/
On Saturday, November 28, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) began heavy shelling on Mekelle, the capital city of Tigray region in the country’s north, populated by half a million people.
Now in its fourth week, the military conflict in this region, between the troops of the federal government and of the rebelling regional state government ruled by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), is already estimated to have killed thousands.
The TPLF has called on “the international community to condemn the artillery and warplane attacks and massacres being committed”.
Prior to the shelling on Mekelle, the ENDF on Friday claimed to have taken control of several strategically important towns around this city, including Hawzen, al-Najashi, Adikeyeh, Maimesanon, Hewane and Wukro.
They were seized as a part of the “final phase” of the military offensive in the region, aimed at taking Mekelle. It was in this city that the Northern Command, ENDF’s largest regional military command, was attacked and seized by the forces of TPLF on November 4, triggering the armed conflict.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the final push aimed at Mekelle on Thursday, a day after the 72-hours deadline he had given the TPLF to surrender expired.
The Tigrayan forces are “ready to die in defense of our right to administer our region”, Debretsion Gebremichael, TPLF’s head and the president of the regional state government maintains.
Guerilla warfare
According to unnamed diplomatic sources quoted by Reuters, the TPLF has “mobilized lots of people in Mekelle. They are digging trenches and everyone has an AK-47.”
Civilian support for the TPLF appears to be significant. In the election that was held in Tigray in September, in defiance of the federal government’s decision to postpone elections in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the TPLF was re-elected with a large majority.
Analysts have pointed out that even if Mekelle is taken by the federal forces, the TPLF is in a position to engage in prolonged guerilla warfare, which suits the mountainous terrain.
TPLF had been the most dominant force in the country’s ruling coalition since the 1990s, until it was marginalized into a regional power following the ascent of Abiy Ahmed as a reformist Prime Minister in the backdrop of 2018 anti-government protests.
However, having been on the frontlines of the 1998-2000 war with Eritrea and having played a lead role in the campaign which brought down Mengistu’s military dictatorship in 1991, the TPLF remains militarily powerful.
Including the state government’s security personnel and the ethnically organized Tigrayan militias, its forces are estimated to number up to 250,000.
This is higher than estimated 140,000 personnels in the ENDF, but the federal troops have the support of the militias controlled by the state government of the Amhara region, which flanks Tigray on the South.
The federal forces also have a monopoly over air-power. Military jets have been repeatedly used in the conflict to strike TPLF targets. A large number of tanks have also been deployed.
“From now on, the fighting will be a tank battle,” ENDF spokesperson, Col. Dejene Tsegaye, had said on the night of November 21, before the PM gave the TPLF three days to surrender.
War Crimes
“Our people in Mekelle should be notified that they should protect themselves from heavy artillery,” he added, warning that “no mercy” will be shown to the residents who do not “steer away” from the TPLF leadership to “save themselves” before the attack on Mekelle.
The Horn of Africa director of Human Rights Watch, Laetitia Bader, has warned that “treating a whole city as a military target would not only be unlawful, it could also be considered a form of collective punishment,” which could amount to war crimes as per Geneva Conventions.
The region is already suffering from shortages of food and other essentials. “Hospitals and primary health-care facilities in northern Ethiopia, in and around areas that have seen intense fighting, are in urgent need of medical supplies,” Red Cross has warned. The UN has demanded access to a humanitarian corridor. However, the region remains cut off.
On Thursday, when the “final phase” was announced, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide told France 24, “We have made the people of Mekelle to be aware of the operation by deploying military helicopters and dropping pamphlets in Tigrinya and also in Amharic so that they protect themselves against this.”
However, HRW maintains that “warnings alone do not absolve the government of its obligation to take constant care to protect civilians, particularly when using airpower and heavy weaponry in urban areas where thousands of people reside who may not be able to flee to more secure areas.”
Human toll of the conflict
In the three weeks since the conflict began, UNHCR estimates that 43,000 people have fled across the western border into Sudan. The highest refugee flow was recorded on November 10, when 6,800 people crossed over, following the massacre of hundreds in the border town of Maikadra on November 9.
Victims who spoke to Amnesty International pointed fingers at the TPLF. According to a report of the preliminary findings by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) released on November 24, the victims were people of non-Tigrayan ethnicity.
Federal government-controlled Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported that according to EHRC, the massacre was carried out by a Tigrayan youth group called “Samri”, with the backing of militias and police forces loyal to the TPLF, before retreating from the advancing ENDF forces.
The average number of refugees crossing into Sudan was estimated to be 3,000 a day, but has since reduced to 700 after the deployment of federal troops along the crossing points on the border to stop the refugees. This has raised concerns over the plight of those who are unable to flee to safety as fighting intensifies.
Conflict spilling over the borders
Sealing this western border is a critical military objective for the federal troops to prevent the TPLF from retreating and regrouping in the remote region of eastern Sudan. Eritrea lies on Tigray’s northern border. The country had negotiated a peace deal in 2018 with the federal government under Abiy Ahmed, against the will of the TPLF which continues to regard Eritrea as an enemy.
Eritrean territory has been repeatedly used by federal troops to retreat and regroup. Reports also indicate that wounded federal troops are being treated in Eritrean hospitals. The TPLF launched rockets targeting Eritrean capital Asmara on November 15, accusing Eritrea of also sending its soldiers to support the Ethiopian federal troops’ military operations in Tigray. Eritrea denies this allegation.
On Friday night, according to unnamed diplomatic sources quoted by AP, at least “one rocket coming from Tigray.. seems to have landed south of Asmara.” According to an unverified claim by another diplomat, another rocket landed inside Asmara, although no casualties have been reported.
U.S. breaks record for daily COVID-19 cases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA7ZufzklIY&ab_channel=ArirangNews
Economic decline is a social trauma - Richard Wolff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22U9E9iKQa8&ab_channel=DemocracyAtWork
US Capitalism has peaked and is now in decline - Richard Wolff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4PsJpWhGJ4&ab_channel=DemocracyAtWork
Jamaal Bowman's CNN Feed Cuts Off As He Criticizes Rahm Emanuel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hih6c_i0Xd0&ab_channel=SecularTalk
Nurse Caring for COVID-19 Patients RIPS Anti-Maskers: They’re “Entitled A**holes”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJBM1WFOYL4&ab_channel=TheHumanistReport
Biggest HYPOCRITE Award: Andrew CUOMO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdakRwlFagU&ab_channel=TheJimmyDoreShow
Breaking barricades, braving repression, farmers reach Indian capital Delhi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvwkCkJ_u2c&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=PeoplesDispatch
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal on the Possibility of Progressive Legislation in 2021
Why are we putting so much money into law enforcement when we need money that helps people have opportunity? We can increase our spending on critical areas, we can ensure people have health care, education, good living wage jobs.
November 28, 2020 Rich Smith THE STRANGER
https://portside.org/2020-11-28/congresswoman-pramila-jayapal-possibility-progressive-legislation-2021
We'll have to wait for all the votes to be counted, but on Friday afternoon Seattle Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal felt confident that she won more votes than any other member of Congress for the second time in a row. "I checked some of the likely ones, and I haven't found a member who has more votes yet," she said over the phone.
This didn't come up on the call, but so far House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pulled in a little over 280,100 votes this year. Jayapal has earned over 386,300 votes. Just sayin'.
In any event, there's a lot of hot talk about the 2020 election results. Who should we blame credit for the Biden/Harris victory? Which issues may or may not have contributed to Democratic losses down-ballot? And what legislation could possibly emerge from a Biden administration with a split Senate and a bloodied House? As the potential next solo chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, I asked Jayapal for her take on the intra-party battle and her plan for what's next.
Before we talk about how progressive Democrats can govern next session, we need to reckon with the results of the election and what they mean in terms of a “mandate.” Conor Lamb told the New York Times, “The American people just showed us in massive numbers, generally, which side of these issues that they are on. They sent us a Republican Senate and a Democratic president; we’re going to have to do things that we can compromise over.” To what extent do you buy that assessment?
My read is we still are a very divided country. You can’t deny that we are. But at the same time, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris really do have a mandate to deliver for working people and the most vulnerable. Remember when we passed the $15 minimum wage, and everyone called us radical and far left for doing that? Well, Florida just passed a $15 minimum wage with a supermajority of votes, and Florida just voted for Donald Trump. Many things called ‘far left’ or ‘radical policies’ are just about honoring the people, and making it so people have the opportunity to work 40 hours a week and still take care of their families, and have health care, and have good union jobs.
Lamb also said “defunding the police” and “banning fracking” are unpopular and unrealistic, and progressives in the Democratic Party shouldn’t support these measures because they’re killing the Democratic majority. The polling evidence seems to support his view: people don’t like the phrase “defund the police” for instance, but they do like police reforms. Where do you fall on adopting the language of movements for progressive policy?
I think that the Black Lives Matter movement and all the movements that took to the streets in the wake of George Floyd’s death were responding to a legacy of discrimination and anti-Blackness in law enforcement, and there is understandable fury in that. And anyone who thinks you should or can control a movement in the streets, which usually erupts as a result of extreme injustice, doesn’t understand movements.
Few members of Congress ran on “defund the police” as a slogan—if any, I’m still looking for any evidence of someone who did. But we know the Republicans will take all kinds of slogans and use them against us. We know socialism was used against Teddy Roosevelt and every president after him. The question is what is our response. What are our values? What are we fighting for?
I’ll tell you the most compelling thing I heard from two people who lost their races. One was Cameron Webb in West Virginia. He said, “Yeah, they spent millions attacking me, claiming I wanted to defund the police.” But what he did was he leaned into the message, and he took it on hard. He’s a Black man, and they got a picture of him kneeling, but he said that was something he felt was very important to do for the history of racism. He got some sheriffs to endorse him, but he also talked openly about racism in this country and the murder of George Floyd. The other was Max Rose in New York. His district is Staten Island. A lot of cops live there. As of this morning, Trump was winning the district by 14 points. The turnout from Trump voters was extremely high, which was not the case in 2018. And he said, “Yeah, I marched with Black Lives Matter protesters, but I also voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump. I don’t regret either of those things. They’re not why I lost this race.” Just like [moderate Democrats] don’t want to be told not to say something or do something, they can’t tell other people who run their districts not to say or do something.
What would you suggest those moderate members do when Republicans target them with these attacks?
Everyone’s giving advice for other peoples’ districts, and I think that’s not something we should do. But I do think in general that leaning into the message is really important. But then the other part is, what is the message that you’re giving to people? He said at the end of the day ‘defund’ was third or fourth on the list of things that people voted for. So he was running on Covid, he was running on economic relief, and he put a lot of time into organizing on the ground.
We need to continue to realize that Trump was in districts one-and-a-half years ago, organizing on the ground. The Trump campaign was sending out flyers in multiple languages long before many Democrats or the Democratic party was. The DCCC did a lot of good new work this time, thanks to many of us who advocated for things like sending out flyers and advertising in different media and in different languages, but we were late to the game. For decades we said we’ve needed to speak to Black voters, to Latina voters, to API voters, but, again, we were late to the game.
We need to invest in year-round organizing. That’s one of the things I’m really proud of. I don’t know how many Members of Congress run a year-round organizing campaign from the day after the election. Most members keep a fundraiser on staff, but they don’t keep an organizer on staff. They don’t continue to organize their volunteers like we do. At the end of the cycle, we trained up 600 of our volunteers, and they made 140,000 phone calls into Pennsylvania on behalf of Biden and Harris. I think there are different ways to build leadership year-round, and we should take advantage of them. We have a platform to organize, and we should use it.
Decisions about police funding mostly happen on the municipal and county level, so what role can Congress play in this conversation about funding the police?
There’s so much more work we can do around decriminalizing people, which is very much tied into law enforcement because they’re the ones arresting people and putting them in jail. So if you’re talking about the criminal justice system, we’re talking about eliminating cash bail and legalizing marijuana across the country. And the way the system works now, people who are ex-felons are barred from everything for life. We have to reduce the number of people going into jails, and when they come out of prisons we have to actually help people get back on their feet.
We also have to shut off the school-to-prison pipeline. I was just talking to the new president of the National Education Association, Becky Pringle, the first Black woman to lead a major union in the country. She was talking about how we’re putting kids into a system that we know is going to discriminate against them from the very beginning. We’re saying, 'Go into the systemically racist system,' and then we’re saying, 'Oh, how did you end up in jail?' And so we’ve got to fundamentally shift that system and how public education is delivered and who delivers it.
I was also talking to Bishop Barber about poverty this morning. We were talking about how poverty and the lack of opportunity is a driving force—and that’s what the whole defund movement is trying to get at. Why are we putting so much money into law enforcement when we need so much money in these fundamental systems that help people have opportunity? We can increase our spending on critical areas, we can ensure people have health care, education, good living wage jobs. Those are the upstream pieces that will actually allow us to make sure people have opportunity.
Could you give a few realistic examples of legislation that will pass in a 50-50 + Harris senate, and a few that can pass in a 52-48 senate with Republicans in control?
I think $15 minimum wage can pass, given what I said about Florida. I think we could pass a big infrastructure package—a really bold one, even with a split Senate, because it’s very popular across the country. That infrastructure bill could have a lot of green energy and renewable energy pieces to it, but it would also have schools infrastructure and water systems infrastructure.
I believe we can pass some real education pieces. We have to reverse everything that Betsey DeVos has done, and we have several bills that expand funding for public schools.
Administratively, Joe Biden can cancel pieces of college debt, and that would be beneficial for everyone across the country—white, Black, and brown. Just imagine what would happen there in terms of economic stimulus. But I also think we could make two- and four-year college free up to a certain amount. That probably requires a solid majority in the Senate, but maybe we can get some of it with a split Senate.
Do you have much faith in those executive orders happening, given the conservative skew of some of these courts?
I think there are lots of lawyers who look at that stuff, but the thing is—if Mitch McConnell is going to obstruct everything, then Biden should use his administrative powers, because people are hurting across the country. There’s a million new unemployment claims. People don’t have jobs. They don’t have housing—and by the way, we could invest in housing and take on homelessness in a split Senate, too—and so I absolutely think he should do it.
Did you talk to AOC after she said she could just as soon start a homestead than run again? If so, what did you tell her and what did you say? She’s expressing a kind of pessimism about the possibility for necessary progressive change.
I’ve talked to her in the past of course, but I didn’t talk to her about that. Look, I’ve been an organizer for 30 years, and I really believe that the change that we’re seeking is transformative, but because it’s transformative it’s extremely difficult. It takes a while, and I don’t get discouraged easily. And when I do, I think about all the people who fought so long they gave their lives and their families’ lives and just kept going, kept organizing.
A lot of enraged Seattleites are jealous about the power the Freedom caucus wields with Republicans in the House, and they’d like to see the Congressional Progressive Caucus wield power the same way. If you become the sole chair, are you going to wield power in Congress like that?
We hate the Freedom caucus. I totally reject any comparison to the Freedom caucus. We are about the government stepping in to provide opportunity, and the Freedom caucus is about ripping apart government and staring through every lens of cruelty you can imagine. [The Congressional Progressive Caucus] just passed a set of reforms I’m excited about that took a lot of work, and that will help us be a more unified bloc of votes, and make us more member-driven, and give leadership to different parts of the caucus. But recognize—if we don’t have the Senate, then it becomes very difficult to pass things, and then we have to use an inside/outside strategy like the one I was part of when we got Obama to agree to DACA. We may have to be the wind behind the sails that helps Joe Biden and Kamala Harris deliver change through executive action if we can’t do it legislatively.
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