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Gavin NewsomCalifornia recall: Newsom fights for survival as historic crises fuel extraordinary race The Democratic governor says Covid and western fires illuminate the stark choice voters must make Maanvi Singh in Oakland@ More
CaliforniaCalifornia’s recall election: the frontrunners in a field of 46 candidatesFor only the second time in the state’s history, voters will decide if Gavin Newsom should keep his job Maanvi Singh@ More
US politicsTop security officials to reinstall Capitol fence ahead of far-right rallyJustice for J6 rally organized by pro-Trump supportersFence to protect people but no request for national guard Hugo Lowell in WashingtonSun 12 Sep 2021 05.00 EDTLast modified on Sun 12 Sep 2021 05.39 EDTTop security officials in Congress are expected to reinstall fencing around the Capitol and authorize the use of deadly force ahead of a planned rally by far-right Trump supporters next weekend demanding the release of rioters arrested in connection with the 6 January insurrection.How 9/11 led the US to forever wars, eroded rights – and insurrectionRead moreThe officials, however, had no plans so far to request the national guard, and were not pushing for such a request, principally because the threat assessment did not warrant their deployment, according to sources familiar with the matter.The Justice for J6 rally on 18 September is being organized by the Trump operative Matt Braynard and his organization Look Ahead America. It is being held to demand that the justice department drop charges against nearly 600 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack which the group calls “non-violent protesters”, despite widespread violence and five deaths during the insurrection.The Senate sergeant-at-arms, Lt Gen Karen Gibson, House sergeant-at-arms, Maj Gen William Walker, and US Capitol police chief, Thomas Manger, are expectedto approve fencing to form the backbone of their security response, the sources said.The reinstallation of the 7ft fence as part of a perimeter that could extend to the Capitol reflecting pool will be supplemented by the authorization of US Capitol police officers to use deadly force to protect members of Congress and staff, the sources said.Both measures were characterized to the Guardian as a move to warn against anyone attempting a repeat of the 6 January attack on the Capitol. The final recommendations are slated to be unveiled at a briefing to congressional leaders on Monday.“We intend to have the integrity of the Capitol be intact,” the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said on Wednesday of measures being considered. “What happened on January 6 was such an assault on this beautiful Capitol, under the dome that Lincoln built during the civil war.”The approval for the fence is almost certain to be granted as security officials believe it remains the most efficient method to secure the Capitol – and can serve as a dry-run for a new quick-reaction fencing contract funded in a $2.1bn security bill passed by Congress in July.Members of the US Capitol police board weighed whether to request the national guard but the threat assessment for the 18 September rally reviewed at a series of meetings in recent days did not warrant the backstop, the sources said.That appears to have come after allies of Donald Trump largely distanced themselves from the protest while no lawmakers – including House Republicans under scrutiny for their roles in the Capitol attack – have said they will attend.The Capitol attack ultimately left nearly 140 police officers injured, including 15 who were hospitalized after battling to retake control of Congress from rioters who sought to stop the certification of Joe Biden‘s election victory.One officer lost the tip of his right index finger. Others were smashed in the head with baseball hats, flag poles and pipes, while another officer lost consciousness after rioters pushed her backwards into stairs as they tried to reach the Capitol steps.According to the union representing US Capitol police, one officer had two cracked ribs and two shattered spinal discs, while his colleague was stabbed with a metal fence stake. Four police officers who responded to the Capitol attacks have since died by suicide.The event, for which Braynard filed a permit predicting 700 people to attend, comes as the Capitol has seen a series of troubling one-off incidents, including a man who parked a pickup truck next to the Library of Congress and said he had a bomb and detonator.TopicsUS politicsUS Capitol attacknewsReuse this content More
Some say it inspired BLM and the growth of the US left. Others see it as an abject failure. A decade after the occupation of New York’s Zuccotti Park, the people who were there look backby More
OpinionRepublicansRepublicans once called government the problem – now they want to run your lifeRobert ReichRonald Reagan would not recognise a party that wants to intrude the power of the state everywhere, making a mockery of values it once espoused Sun 12 Sep 2021 01.00 EDTLast modified on Sun 12 Sep 2021 01.31 EDTI’m old enough to remember when the Republican party stood for limited government and Ronald Reagan thundered “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”Today’s Republican party, while still claiming to stand for limited government, is practicing just the opposite: government intrusion everywhere.Republicans threaten our children’s freedom as well as their basic safety | Robert ReichRead moreRepublican lawmakers are banning masks in schools. Iowa, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona and South Carolina are prohibiting public schools from requiring students wear them.Republican states are on the way to outlawing abortions. Texas has just banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they’re pregnant. Other Republican states are on the way to enacting similar measures.Republican lawmakers are forbidding teachers from telling students about America’s racist past. State legislatures from Tennessee to Idaho are barring all references to racism in the classroom.Republican legislators are forcing transgender students to play sports and use bathrooms according to their assigned gender at birth. Thirty-three states have introduced more than 100 bills aimed at curbing the rights of transgender people.Across the country, Republican lawmakers are making it harder for people to vote. So far, they’ve enacted more than 30 laws that reduce access to polling places, number of days for voting, and availability of absentee voting.This is not limited government, folks. To the contrary, these Republican lawmakers have a particular ideology, and they are now imposing those views and values on citizens holding different views and values.This is big government on steroids.Many Republican lawmakers use the word “freedom” to justify what they’re doing. That’s rubbish. What they’re really doing is denying people their freedom – freedom to be safe from Covid, freedom over their own bodies, freedom to learn, freedom to vote and participate in our democracy.Years ago, the Republican party had a coherent idea about limiting the role of government and protecting the rights of the individual. I disagreed with it, as did much of the rest of America. But at least it was honest, reasoned, and consistent. As such, Republicans played an important part in a debate over what we wanted for ourselves and for America.Today, Republican politicians have no coherent view. They want only to be re-elected, even if that means misusing government to advance a narrow and increasingly anachronistic set of values – intruding on the most intimate aspects of life, interfering in what can be taught and learned, risking the public’s health, banning what’s necessary for people to exercise their most basic freedoms.This is not mere hypocrisy. The Republican party now poses a clear and present threat even to the values it once espoused.TopicsRepublicansOpinionUS politicscommentReuse this content More
Politics booksTwenty years on from 9/11, is US democracy working? From 9/11 to the storming of the Capitol, a new book by Biden biographer Evan Osnos covers a tumultuous period of US history. He talks to David Smith about Trump, Afghanistan and the beginning of a new eraDavid Smith in Washington@ More
Joe BidenBiden’s hard line on vaccine mandates draws praise and pushbackSome experts say Biden’s move comes at critical moment in pandemic but lawsuits from Republican leaders are also expected M More
