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      in World Politics

      Justice Ginsburg Secures Progressives for Biden

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      Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died and the political seas have changed. She was a beacon of American conscience in a nation that has no conscience to spare. For those of us in America who see a nation in steep decline, this loss further deepens the gap between hope and reality. Most importantly, Justice Ginsburg’s death puts the last of the nation’s three core constitutional institutions at deep peril. The Congress is already a dysfunctional failed deliberative body, and the executive has been overwhelmed by corruption and incompetence.

      This doesn’t leave much to fall back on. Progressives will allow for a moment of silence to celebrate Ginsburg’s life. And then, it will be time for her death to propel our determination that Trump be deposed and his acolytes dethroned. We will need to get even angrier than we have been and more committed to the singular objective of winning the presidency.

      What the Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Means for America’s Political Future

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      Many progressives surely wish that these were different times. Then, we could focus on social and racial justice, on a national plan to confront the coronavirus pandemic, on universal access to meaningful health care, on economic equity, on affordable housing, on quality public education and on reimagining good governance. But we cannot do that now.  Now, we have to do everything that we can to get Joe Biden elected president.

      On the plus side, there continues to be a somewhat encouraging sense in America that maybe, just maybe, all the lies, all the ignorance and incompetence, all the corruption and all the chaos are finally catching up with the demonstrably worst American president in modern times. And that is saying a lot given that George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon would be the competition. So with that said, and only Biden to choose from, staying focused on the singular goal will be easier.

      The Inspirational Candidate?

      To reach that goal, it would be nice to be able to say that Biden is an inspirational candidate who can will the nation to a better place, can open the eyes of the willfully blind, and define an agenda of transformational change. But he is not that candidate. Rather he is a candidate who can win the presidency, surround himself with honest and committed advisers, and begin the long and difficult trek toward undoing the Trump damage.

      For me and many others, being the only serious candidate not named Trump is enough to ensure my vote and to ensure that I will do what I can to get him elected. For others, however, it may be important that Biden be for something, not just against Trump.

      As Biden tries to define his agenda and demonstrate his policy priorities, he will have to do so carefully. The effort may win over some wavering or undecided voters, particularly if he focuses on health care issues and articulating an understanding of the intractable racial morass that is today’s America. Appealing to a tired nation with calm and a resolve to simply make things better could help as well.

      Embed from Getty Images

      However, there is peril for Biden in detailing much of anything beyond broad general policy themes. This peril lies primarily on his left. For the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, too much “visionary” detail of a future beyond November 3 can provide more insight than may be healthy for Biden’s campaign. For now, since it remains critical that “all the roads of our discontent must merge at this time to meet the singular threat” of a Trump reelection, progressives can and likely will stay focused on this prize alone.

      Yet, as Biden begins to define the policy goals of his future administration, the details as they are emerging crushingly disappoint. The goals are so connected to yesterday that it is hard to envision a better tomorrow. It will be easier, for sure, to live without the daily lies and the pernicious undermining of the nation’s institutions, but it will be no easier for those in need to live with a return to “normal.”

      To provide early solace, Biden and his administration will surely strive to return some measure of good governance to federal institutions, a key metric if there is ever to be the transformational change that America’s outdated and tired “democracy” so critically needs. However, it will all seem so incremental, especially to those in need now who have waited so long and to those who have spent a lifetime advocating for those in need.

      Final Tribute for RBG

      This is where Justice Ginsburg as that beacon of conscience can enter the fray anew. She never gave up on her extraordinary drive to simply right things that were wrong. She is gone, but her zeal has to live on in enough of us to get this election right and then move on to the hard challenges that lie ahead. As I have moved from sadness to resolve, I have looked at a lot of what Ginsburg had to tell us. There is something about the following quotation that seems worthy of the moment: “Yet what greater defeat could we suffer than to come to resemble the forces we oppose in their disrespect for human dignity?”

      Maybe it is respect for human dignity that so separates Biden from Trump, Democrats from Republicans, and progressives from conservatives. Look at the quotation again, and then reflect on the sickened and dying in our communities in the midst of a crippling pandemic. And then take as a clarion call that Trump, the Republicans and the conservatives in those same communities are fighting to deny access to healthcare to millions yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That is depraved. That is inhumane.

      If Joe Biden does not win the presidency, those with a palpable disrespect for human dignity will surely further stain America. If Biden is victorious, there will be a renewed urgency for progressives to step to the fore to stress that any new administration must commit to a respect for human dignity as the core principle required to elevate America to be so much better than it is. If Justice Ginsburg knew this, maybe the rest of us can learn it, some for the first time.

      We must make that commitment for ourselves, for our nation and as a final tribute to the extraordinary Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

      *[This article was co-published on the author’s blog, Hard Left Turn.]

      The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy. More

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      in Elections

      Trump expected to join thousands of mourners visiting Ruth Bader Ginsburg's casket – live

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      Ginsburg will lie in repose for two days at the court
      Cindy McCain endorsing Biden because ‘he’s the better man’
      Biden team prepared for all possibilities
      US essential workers burned out amid pandemic
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      Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at US Supreme Court – watch live

      Key events

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      10.35am EDT10:35
      Fauci and Redfield testify before Senate committee

      9.57am EDT09:57
      John Roberts speaks about Ginsburg’s legacy

      9.45am EDT09:45
      Ginsburg’s casket arrives at supreme court

      9.27am EDT09:27
      Trump to visit Ginsburg’s casket at supreme court tomorrow

      8.44am EDT08:44
      Police in Iowa charge four people over death of man whose body was found burning in ditch – conclude it was not racially motivated

      8.20am EDT08:20
      Trump urges FDA to move quickly on Covid vaccines while praising new Johnson & Johnson clinical trials

      7.20am EDT07:20
      Statistical model at the Economist gives Democrats a 67% chance of flipping the Senate in November

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      11.14am EDT11:14

      In case you missed it: Trump will hold a press conference at 6 pm ET today, on the “economy, job gains and vaccine development,” the president announced in a tweet this morning.

      Donald J. Trump
      (@realDonaldTrump)
      White House News Conference today at 6:00 P.M. Economy, Job gains and Vaccine development are all doing GREAT!

      September 23, 2020

      The presser comes one day after reports emerged that the Food and Drug Administration is planning to release strict guidelines on an emergency use authorization of a coronavirus vaccine, which would make it very unlikely a vaccine would be approved before election day.
      Trump has previously said a vaccine will be available in “weeks,” but the CDC director, Robert Redfield, told the Senate last week that a vaccine would not be widely available to the American public until mid to late 2021.

      10.59am EDT10:59

      Lauren Aratani

      Four top health officials are testifying in front of a Senate committee on the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
      Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are among the experts that are testifying today.
      Perhaps alluding to comments Redfield made last week where he said a mask may be more effective than a vaccine, Fauci said: “We feel strongly that if we have a combination of adherence to public health measures, together with the vaccine that will be distributed, we may be able to turn the pandemic around.” He said that a prediction of a vaccine is “of course no guarantee”.
      In his opening statement, Redfield highlighted the shifting nature of infection in the country, saying that 26% of infections are in young adults ages 18 to 25. “It’s important that these young adults understand they are major contributors to the spread of covid-19 in our country at this time,” he said, emphasizing the importance of following public health guidelines.
      Director of the Food and Drug Administration Stephen Hahn and assistant health secretary Brett Giroir are also testifying today.

      10.48am EDT10:48

      Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, reiterated that he is “cautiously optimistic” that the country will be able to get a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.

      ABC News
      (@ABC)
      Dr. Anthony Fauci “cautiously optimistic” about vaccine progress.”As these trials go on, we predict that sometime by the end of this year—let’s say November or December—we will know whether or not these are safe and effective.” https://t.co/CgurRa0bnn pic.twitter.com/0SlaaJfZsn

      September 23, 2020

      “As these trials go on, we predict that sometime by the end of this year—let’s say November or December—we will know whether or not these are safe and effective,” Fauci said of the current vaccine candidates.
      The Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon release strict guidelines on the emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine that would make it very unlikely for a vaccine to be approved before election day, on November 3.

      10.35am EDT10:35

      Fauci and Redfield testify before Senate committee

      Members of the White House coronavirus task force are now testifying before the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee.
      Among those testifying are Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

      Play Video

      Anthony Fauci and Robert Redfield testify to Senate on coronavirus response – watch live
      Fauci opened his remarks by noting his concerns about so-called “long haulers,” those who have experienced long-term effects after contracting coronavirus, such as fatigue and muscle aches.

      Updated
      at 10.39am EDT

      10.28am EDT10:28

      Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket is now in place at the top of the supreme court steps, where it will be on public viewing for the next two days.

      Mitchell Miller
      (@mmillerwtop)
      Justice Ginsburg’s flag-draped casket is now in place under the Supreme Court portico. pic.twitter.com/JoO70ScOwA

      September 23, 2020

      Hundreds of people came out to greet Ginsburg’s casket as it arrived at the supreme court this morning, and thousands will likely visit today and tomorrow to pay their respects to the late justice.
      Trump will be among the mourners. According to a White House statement released this morning, the president plans to pay his respects tomorrow.

      10.09am EDT10:09

      One longtime supreme court reporter, Pete Williams of NBC News, became choked up on air as he watched Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s coffin arrive at the supreme court this morning.

      TODAY
      (@TODAYshow)
      Longtime Supreme Court correspondent @PeteWilliamsNBC gets choked up as the casket of Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives. pic.twitter.com/zodG6znHjX

      September 23, 2020

      Williams noted Ginsburg sat on the bench for 27 years, but her career with the supreme court truly started 49 years ago, when she argued her first case before the court. In the case, Ginsburg argued gender discrimination was unconstitutional.

      9.57am EDT09:57

      John Roberts speaks about Ginsburg’s legacy

      Supreme court Chief Justice John Roberts is now speaking at the memorial service for his late colleague, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
      Roberts expressed his condolences to Ginsburg’s family and said the late justice’s life represented “one of the many versions of the American dream.”

      ABC News
      (@ABC)
      Chief Justice John Roberts: “I offer our heartfelt condolences on the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That loss is widely shared but we know that it falls most heavily on the family. Justice Ginsburg’s life was one of the many versions of the American dream.” https://t.co/NnighCEWGt pic.twitter.com/icSF2zJ7wh

      September 23, 2020

      Roberts noted that Ginsburg grew up in Brooklyn with her mother, who was a bookkeeper. Roberts said Ginsburg often told this joke: “What’s the difference between a bookkeeper in Brooklyn and a supreme court justice? One generation.”
      Roberts added, “It has been said that Ruth wanted to be an opera virtuoso, but became a rock star instead.”
      Roberts said Ginsburg brought the country “closer to equal justice under law” and became “a star on the bench.”

      Updated
      at 10.02am EDT

      9.45am EDT09:45

      Ginsburg’s casket arrives at supreme court

      The casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has arrived at the supreme court, where she will lie in repose today and tomorrow. More

    • 175 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      'Despacito' isn't good enough, Joe Biden. Latino voters are slipping away | Jaime Regalado

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      This election, Latinos are poised to be the largest group of non-white eligible voters in the United States, surpassing African Americans for the first time.The number of Latinos registered and likely to vote has increased in large states such as California and Texas and crucial battleground states such as Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio. Latino voters could well make the difference in deciding who becomes president.The Republican party knows this. Donald Trump is actively courting Latino voters in Florida, Nevada, and even Minnesota – long a bastion of progressive politics but now in play. In contrast, Democrats are dangerously out to lunch. Joe Biden badly needs the support of Latinos in battleground contests, but he’s falling short. For Democrats, this could be disastrous.From the start of his campaign, Biden has mostly ignored Latino voters. Already enjoying overwhelming African American support, he chose to focus his campaign efforts in battleground states on winning back white working-class voters who had supported Obama but voted for Trump in 2016. Latino communities seemed to be barely an afterthought.The result is what pundits have taken to calling Biden’s “Latino problem.” This kind of enthusiasm gap can be extremely dangerous to a candidate. Hillary Clinton learned this the hard way in 2016, when significant numbers of disaffected or unmotivated voters simply didn’t vote. Alarm bells should be ringing at Democratic headquarters.Democratic strategists have said they hope to keep the pro-Trump Latino vote under 30 percent. The Trump campaign, however, is aiming to obtain more than 40 percent of the Latino vote. So far, the Trump campaign seems to have done far more door-to-door politicking to influence Latino voters in key states.Republicans are, of course, highly focused on conservative Cuban-American voters, particularly in Florida. It’s worth noting, however, that in recent years the long-dominant sway of conservative Cuban-Americans has been balanced in Florida by an influx of Puerto Ricans (primarily Democrats), Dominicans (also primarily Democrats), and naturalized South Americans (a mixture of Republicans and Democrats). The result is a more politically balanced Latino voting community in the Sunshine State. And in the US as a whole, Democrats have a 2-1 advantage over Republicans with registered Latino voters.If anything, all of this just makes the Biden campaign’s behavior more perplexing, and inexcusable. With the exception of a recent appearance before a large Puerto Rican gathering in Florida – where Biden, in a slightly cringe-inducing attempt at relatability, played the Reggaeton song “Despacito” from his phone speaker – he’s been markedly absent in Latino communities.During the primaries, Bernie Sanders enjoyed strong enthusiasm from Latino communities across the country. That’s because he sincerely paid attention to their concerns, and, from early on, directed much of his policy positions to addressing those concerns and needs in concrete ways. Most importantly, he showed up.There’s an unfortunate and long history of politicians taking Latinos for granted. This time the stakes couldn’t be higher. Latinos have suffered from the coronavirus, from job and home loss, and from more than four years of being attacked as a group by Trump. And, as people disproportionately employed in industries on the front lines of Covid – hospitals and the healthcare industry, hospitality and service, agriculture – they have paid a particularly harsh price.In other words, many Latinos might be enthusiastic at the prospect of a change from Trump. The Biden camp should do everything in its power to reach them.Jaime Regalado, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at California State University, Los Angeles More

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      in US Politics

      'This is a transition like no other': Biden team prepared for all possibilities

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      Joe Biden’s transition team is operating under multiple threats, apart from the obvious one that their candidate might be defeated.In this year’s presidential election, there’s the looming possibility that an outcome won’t be clear for weeks after election day. There’s also the chance that if Biden wins by a close margin Donald Trump will refuse to leave office. And, of course, there’s the coronavirus pandemic.As a result, the team charged with setting up a beachhead for the former vice-president, and preparing a Biden administration – should he win the White House – is operating very differently from past transition teams.“We are preparing for this transition amid the backdrop of a global health crisis and struggling economy,” former Delaware senator Ted Kaufman, the co-chair of the Biden transition team, said in a statement to the Guardian. “This is a transition like no other, and the team being assembled will help Joe Biden meet the urgent challenges facing our country on day one.”The transition team has set a goal of raising between $7m and $10m, according to Politico. That’s a budget eclipsing past transition teams. The Biden transition organization is also reportedly planning to build a staff of as many as 350 people by the time of any inauguration.The leadership of the transition team suggests the Biden campaign is eager to include differing viewpoints as it builds the runway for a new government to land in the White House. At the same time, the inclusion of champions of often opposing wings of the Democratic party will open up the transition team to criticism from various activists and interest groups.Looming over the whole process is the uncertainty of the outcome of the election and, in the case of Trump losing, if he will bow out immediately or allow for a fraught period where he refuses to hand over power. There have been past transitions where tensions from the campaign spilled over, including through petty forms of expression like the W missing from the keyboards when George W Bush entered the White House after Bill Clinton.There are multiple experts and working groups gaming out various election scenarios as a sort of guidepost in case the election result is not clear on election night, or if some other major irregularity happens. Still, veterans aren’t quite sure if Trump, who has said the only way he could lose this election is through cheating, will allow a peaceful transference of power.“I think everyone is hopeful that the spirits of the previous transitions will be maintained,” Leavitt said.Much of the Biden transition team’s work has been behind the scenes, and likewise for the Trump transition operation for moving from a first term to a second term. Chris Liddell, a White House deputy chief of staff, is taking point for that effort, according to an operative close to that transition team.For the Biden campaign, though, if all goes well with the campaign their candidate will be inheriting a country undergoing major unrest over race relations, as well as suffering from a virus with no cure and a sputtering economy.“If we win the White House in November, a new administration will have considerable work to do to rebuild the federal government,” a fundraising pitch for the transition team sent out by Swati Mylavarapu, a Democratic fundraiser. The email was obtained by the Guardian.Like other workforces across America, the Biden transition team has also had to work remotely. The General Services Administration office space the team would normally be using as part of routine transition preparations has not been in heavy use.Beyond all that, the Biden transition team also has to consider intra-party tensions between various wings of the Democratic party.The transition team is prioritizing “diversity of ideology” and has stacked its leadership and with progressives and more establishment academics and former bureaucrats. That includes advisers of progressive lawmakers such as Gautam Raghavan, Washington congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s former chief of staff; Felicia Wong, the chief executive and president of the liberal Roosevelt Institute; and Julie Siegel, a former staffer for Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren.The transition team’s advisory board even includes a Republican in former veterans affairs secretary Bob McDonald. There are also more centrist figures spanning the transition team, such as Jeffrey Zeints, a former Obama administration adviser and economist with longtime ties to the business and finance community. Avril Haines, a former Obama administration deputy national security adviser who has done work for the data mining company Palantir, is also among the senior staff leadership for the Biden transition team.Palantir and its founder, Peter Thiel, have been met with criticism by liberals for ties to the Trump administration and work with law enforcement agencies.Beyond the declared staff, other veterans of presidential committees and past transitions have been involved. Eric Holder, the former attorney general who served on Barack Obama’s vice-presidential selection committee, has offered advice, according to multiple people with ties to the transition team. Mike Leavitt, the former governor of Utah, has also relayed some help through an organization that follows presidential transitions. More

    • 175 Shares179 Views

      in US Politics

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