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      Biden targets Trump and says ‘anyone who fails to condemn violence is a threat to democracy’ – as it happened

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      Joe Biden delivered a brief and impromptu speech seemingly targeting Donald Trump as “a threat to Democracy”. Responding to a question from a reporter on whether “all Trump supporters are a threat to this country”, Biden said he does not consider any Trump supporter to be a threat. “I do think that anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge when an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which you count votes, that is a threat to democracy and everything we stand for,” Biden said. “Everything we stand for rests on the platform of democracy.” Biden continued by saying that those who voted for Trump in 2020 “weren’t voting to attack the Capitol, they weren’t voting for overruling the election. They were voting for a philosophy he put forward.”The comments came after Biden shifted his tone in a primetime address last night, directly calling out Trump and his allies, saying “democracy is under assault”. Here’s a quick summary of what happened today:
      Joe Biden implicitly criticized Donald Trump for threatening democracy, saying that anyone who fails to condemn violence is a threat. Both Biden and Trump will be in Pennsylvania this weekend rallying for candidates in their respective parties.
      Gina McCarthy, Biden’s top climate adviser, is stepping down in less than two weeks. The White House announced that John Podesta, former top adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, will be senior clean energy adviser to Biden.
      The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data today that showed 315,000 jobs were added to the US economy in August. Biden celebrated the numbers, saying “American has some really good news going into Labor Day weekend”.
      As Trump heads back onto the campaign trail for Republican candidates, there are rumblings about a potential 2024 bid from the former president. Son-in-law Jared Kushner said in an interview that Trump has been thinking about it, while a former Trump White House official predicted that Trump will bow out after raising cash for his campaign.
      That’s it for the live blog today. Thanks for reading.Bill Barr, former attorney general, think that Florida governor Ron DeSantis could be elected president if he runs in 2024.“I don’t know Ron DeSantis that well, but I’ve been impressed with his record down in Florida,” Barr told Bari Weiss on her podcast, “Honestly”.Though Barr was once a part of Trump’s band of loyalists, he has taken to lightly criticizing his former boss, who in turn referred to him as “slow and very boring”.Whether Barr is right ultimately depends on how much of a sway Trump still has over voters.DeSantis has posited himself as a potential successor to the Maga throne, bringing the flare of Trumpism without the baggage of investigations and the Capitol insurrection. Though he has not confirmed any presidential ambitions, Republican voters picked him as a second choice, behind Trump, in a theoretical 2024 election.Two of Donald Trump’s former lawyers appeared in federal court today to testify in front of a grand jury investigating the January 6 insurrection.Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone arrived at the courthouse first and was with the grand jury for over two hours, according to Reuters. Former White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin arrived at the courthouse shortly after and was also with the grand jury for over two hours. Cipollone and Philbin are the most high-profile witnesses the grand jury has seen. The grand jury is investigating the “fake electors” plot to send fake slates of electors to Congress to fraudulently inflate the number of electors in Trump’s favor, despite him losing the election.The Department of Veteran Affairs announced Friday that it will provide access to abortions to pregnant veterans and veteran beneficiaries. Abortions will be available for those whose life or health is endangered through their pregnancy or if it is a result of rape or incest. The rule will allow VA employees, “when working within the scope of their federal employment” to “provide authorized services regardless of state restrictions”. “This is a patient safety decision,” VA secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “Pregnant veterans and VA beneficiaries deserve to have access to world-class reproductive care when they need it most. That’s what our nation owes them.” New: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs “is taking steps to guarantee Veterans and other VA beneficiaries abortion-related care anywhere in the country. VA employees…may provide authorized services regardless of state restrictions.” https://t.co/ysv96U4FZT— Gabriella Borter (@gabriellaborter) September 2, 2022
      Donald Trump will continue to flirt with a third White House run in 2024 in order to raise money but will ultimately choose not to mount a campaign, a Trump White House official predicts.In communications reviewed by the Guardian on Friday, the official said Trump would look to “Bring in the $$$ then bow out gracefully before announcing”.The 45th president, in office from 2017 to 2021, dominates polling of possible Republican nominees in 2024. He has amassed a significant campaign war chest and is generally held to have maintained his grip on his party despite being impeached twice, the second time for inciting the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol.On Thursday, senior Republicans sprang to Trump’s defense – and eagerly expressed their own sense of offense – when Joe Biden used a primetime address to outline the threat to American democracy posed by Trump and his supporters.Trump himself floated pardons – and official apologies – for January 6 rioters should he return to the White House. Lest anyone forget, nine deaths have been connected to the Capitol attack, including suicides among law enforcement officers.Regarding the former White House official’s prediction that Trump will not run, the Guardian recently reported the contrary view of a senior source close to Trump, who said Trump “has to” announce a 2024 campaign soon, to head off being indicted under the Espionage Act after the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago in August.That source indicated Trump needed to announce because politically it would be harder for the Department of Justice to indict a candidate for office than a former president out of the electoral running.Developments since then have in most eyes increased the likelihood of an indictment over Trump’s handling of classified records. But most observers believe an indictment is not likely until after the midterm elections on 8 November, given DoJ policy regarding avoiding politically insensitive moves close to polling day.Hugo Lowell has more:FBI materials seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home included 90 empty foldersRead moreThe White House has announced that John Podesta will become senior advisor to US president Joe Biden for clean energy innovation and implementation, among other developments following the news earlier today that top climate advisor Gina McCarthy plans to step down.Podesta was White House chief of staff to Bill Clinton when he was president, a climate adviser to Barack Obama and – infamously as it became, chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.Current deputy White House national climate advisor, Ali Zaidi will be promoted to assistant to the president and national climate advisor.The White House statement noted that: “In his new role, Podesta will oversee implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act’s expansive clean energy and climate provisions and will chair the president’s national climate task force in support of this effort.”Meanwhile, Zaidi will also be vice-chair of the national climate task force. Gina McCarthy will leave her current role on September 16.Biden expressed gratitude to McCarthy and said of his new appointees: “Under Gina McCarthy and Ali Zaidi’s leadership, my administration has taken the most aggressive action ever, from historic legislation to bold executive actions, to confront the climate crisis head-on. The Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest step forward on clean energy and climate in history, and it paves the way for additional steps we will take to meet our clean energy and climate goals. “We are fortunate that John Podesta will lead our continued innovation and implementation. His deep roots in climate and clean energy policy and his experience at senior levels of government mean we can truly hit the ground running to take advantage of the massive clean energy opportunity in front of us.”Podesta, 73, is a veteran Washington establishment insider and Democratic party stalwart. But he achieved infamy in the 2016 presidential election campaign when, as a result of a chain of mishaps, his email was breached.As the Guardian reported in late 2016, the blunder gave Kremlin hackers access to about 60,000 emails in Podesta’s private Gmail account. According to US intelligence officials, Moscow then gave the email cache to WikiLeaks. The website released them in October, and the email scandal dominated the news cycle and was exploited by Donald Trump, who went on to a shock victory over Hillary Clinton in the November election.The revelation gave further credence to a CIA finding that the Moscow deliberately intervened to help Trump.Here’s a summary of everything that’s happened so far today:
      Off the heels of his eviscerating speech last night, Joe Biden is continuing to attack Donald Trump, saying today that anyone who fails to condemn violence “is a threat to democracy and everything we stand for”.
      Biden touted the jobs figures that were released today that showed the US added 315,000 jobs in August, saying that “American workers are back to work”.
      Gina McCarthy, Biden’s top climate adviser, is planning to step down in less than two weeks, according to the New York Times. McCarthy had privately expressed frustration with the pace of climate policy.
      Stay tuned for more live updates.At the White House press briefing just now, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke on Joe Biden’s speech last night where he warned that Donald Trump and “MAGA Republicans” are a threat to democracy. “The president was trying to give the American people a choice: how do we move forward in this inflection point?” Jean-Pierre said. “When it comes to the soul of the nation, that is something the president has talked about for years… He has been concerned about where our democracy is going.” Responding to criticism that Biden’s speech was politically charged despite it being an official White House event, Jean-Pierre said that “standing up for democracy is not political”. “Denouncing political violence is not political. Standing up for freedom and rights is not political,” she said. “We don’t call any of that political. We see that as leadership and as presidential.” Jean-Pierre on Biden speech: “Standing up for democracy is not political. Denouncing political violence is not political. Standing up for freedom and rights is not political… We see that as leadership and as presidential.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) September 2, 2022
      Joe Biden delivered a brief and impromptu speech seemingly targeting Donald Trump as “a threat to Democracy”. Responding to a question from a reporter on whether “all Trump supporters are a threat to this country”, Biden said he does not consider any Trump supporter to be a threat. “I do think that anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge when an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which you count votes, that is a threat to democracy and everything we stand for,” Biden said. “Everything we stand for rests on the platform of democracy.” Biden continued by saying that those who voted for Trump in 2020 “weren’t voting to attack the Capitol, they weren’t voting for overruling the election. They were voting for a philosophy he put forward.”The comments came after Biden shifted his tone in a primetime address last night, directly calling out Trump and his allies, saying “democracy is under assault”. Gina McCarthy, Joe Biden’s top climate adviser, is stepping down on 16 September, the New York Times is reporting, citing people familiar with her plans.Rumors have swirled around her departure for months as McCarthy privately expressed frustrated with the “slow pace of climate progress” in the administration.McCarthy was an Environmental Protection Agency administrator during the Obama administration.In a press conference on the American Rescue Plan – the $1.9tn coronavirus stimulus package passed in March 2021 – Joe Biden celebrated today’s jobs report that said the US added 315,000 jobs in August. “We received more good news. American workers are back to work, earning more, manufacturing more, building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” Biden said. “We have created nearly 10m jobs since I took office. The fastest growth in all of American history.” Biden noted that the labor participation rate, or the number of people working or looking to work, is up and that more working-age women have come back to work. He also noted that gas prices have been going down over the last few weeks. “America has some really good news going into Labor Day weekend,” he said. Biden has been trying to emphasize the positive benefits to his stimulus package, particularly in light of claims from conservatives that it contributed to inflation. In his press conference, Biden emphasized that the stimulus created jobs, especially in manufacturing.A new Pew Research poll shows that opinions of the supreme court are more polarized than ever. Just 28% of Democrats and liberal independents have a favorable view of the court, versus 73% of Republicans and conservative independents.The gap is the largest since Pew started polling Americans on their opinion of the court. The court is also facing their lowest approval rating, with 48% of American having an unfavorable view of the court versus 49% with a favorable view.Today, 49% of Americans have a favorable view of the Supreme Court. Among partisans, just 28% of Democrats say they have a favorable view, while 73% of Republicans say the same. https://t.co/iLKP70pW4n pic.twitter.com/hqnVm0degr— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) September 1, 2022
      More Americans also believe the court is Republican/Conservative-leaning, with 49% of Americans saying they view they court as conservative versus 30% in August 2020.This Labor Day weekend kicks off the midterm election season which will put both the lasting sway of Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s presidency to the test with American voters.The primary election showed that the myth that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump is potent with voters: Many candidates who publicly questioned the election results won their primaries over the last few months.Now that these Trump-backed Republican candidates are in place heading into the general election, the test now shifts to how strong “Maga Republicans” – as Joe Biden put it Thursday night – are among the broader electorate.Pennsylvania is being seen as a key state to watch this midterm season. Trump is traveling to northeastern Pennsylvania this weekend to rally for two Republican candidates, Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano, who are running for US Senate and governor, respectively.Both candidates have vied themselves for Trump’s endorsement, but they are also trailing in the polls behind their Democratic opponents. Oz is eight points behind Democratic candidate John Fetterman, while Mastriano is seven points behind that state’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro.Oz, a one-time heart surgeon and celebrity television doctor, has had a particularly hard time convincing conservative voters that he is no longer attached to his liberal Hollywood persona. Oz “looks forward to President Trump talking to Pennsylvanians about the importance of fighting the radical, liberal agenda,” a spokesperson told Politico.New York City mayor Eric Adams released a joint statement with family and friends of 9/11 victims criticizing a Saudi-funded women’s golf tournament that is to be hosted at a Trump golf course in the city. “It is outrageous that the Trump Organization agreed to host a tournament with this organization while knowing how much pain it would cause New Yorkers,” Adams said. Last September, the FBI declassified documents related to 9/11 that revealed that the Saudi government provided logistical report to the attackers and helped fund the attacks.The tournament is scheduled to be held at Trump Golf Links, a Trump golf course in the Bronx, in October. Mayor Eric Adams quietly releases a statement online after meeting with the families of 9/11 victims about their opposition to a Saudi-backed golf tournament at the city-owned Trump Ferry Point course, h/t @maggieNYT: https://t.co/tOXL0OT1ep pic.twitter.com/ZghLXpd9Iv— Emma G. Fitzsimmons (@emmagf) September 2, 2022
      Donald Trump is “obviously thinking about” running for president in 2024, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner told Sky News in an interview Friday. “He hates seeing what’s happening in the country,” Kushner said. Though Trump has not officially announced a run in 2024, he and his allies have dropped plenty of hints that he is wanting to. On Thursday, Trump said that he would pardon the January 6 rioters if he were elected president again. Trump is, of course, facing multiple investigations into his business dealings as well as unauthorized retention of sensitive government documents.The US added another 315,000 jobs in August as the jobs market remained strong amid signs of a worsening economy.The US jobs market lost 22m jobs in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic but roared back after the Covid lockdowns ended. It has remained strong despite four-decade high rates of inflation and slowing economic growth. In July, the US unexpectedly added 528,000 new jobs, restoring employment to pre-pandemic levels.The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% in August from 3.5% in July but is still close to a 50-year low.The remarkable strength of the jobs market has spurred the Federal Reserve to sharply increase interest rates in the hopes of cooling the economy and bringing down prices.Last week the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, made clear the Fed intends to keep raising rates sharply as the central bank struggles to tamp down inflation. His speech triggered a meltdown on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones index losing 1,000 points. The latest jobs report is the last to be released before the Fed meets again in September.US added 315,000 jobs in August as strong market defies signs of worsening economyRead moreGood morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s US politics live blog. It’s 10 weeks before the midterms, and it’s starting to feel like it’s 2020 again. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are in Pennsylvania this weekend to rally for candidates in their respective parties.Donald Trump will go to Wilkes-Barre in northern Pennsylvania on Saturday support two Pennsylvania Republican candidates: Mehmet Oz (known as “Dr Oz”), who is running for US Senate, and Doug Mastriano, who is running for governor. Trump, despite intensifying investigation into alleged unauthorized retention of sensitive government documents, has also geared up his talk about the 2024 election, saying on Thursday that he would seriously consider full pardons for participants of the January 6 US Capital insurrection.Joe Biden, on the other hand, in turn delivered a speech last night from Philadelphia attacking Trump and “Maga Republicans”.“There’s no question that the Republican party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans, and that is a threat to this country,” Biden said. “Maga Republicans are destroying American democracy.”Biden will travel further into Pennsylvania this weekend with a planned stop in Pittsburgh to continue pushing for Democratic candidates running in the state.Here’s what else we’re watching today:
      The US added 315,000 jobs in August, a sign of continuing growth in the labor market despite high rates of inflation and slowing economic growth.
      Biden is scheduled to discuss the American Rescue Plan on the heels of today’s jobs report release.
      Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former deputy Patrick Philbin are appearing before a grand jury that is investigating the January 6 insurrection.
      Stay tuned for more live updates. More

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      India’s Ladakh Is a Unique Case of Religious Coexistence

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      The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media. More

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      in US Politics

      Leon Panetta on the Afghanistan withdrawal, a year on: Politics Weekly America podcast

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      A year ago, American troops withdrew from Afghanistan after a 20-year war. The Taliban quickly returned to power and the country has since experienced famine, economic collapse and a widespread erosion of women’s rights.
      This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the former US defense secretary Leon Panetta, who was at the heart of the Obama administration’s Afghanistan policy, about what he thinks of the Afghan withdrawal and what the future holds for Joe Biden and the Democrats

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      Archives: MSNBC, CNN, the Guardian Send your questions and feedback to podcasts@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/supportpodcasts More

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      in US Politics

      Wind in Democrats’ sails as Sarah Palin humbled in Alaska special election

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      Wind in Democrats’ sails as Sarah Palin humbled in Alaska special electionMary Peltola’s victory delivers blow to Palin’s hopes of political comeback and prompts concern for Republicans in midterms A special election for Alaska’s only seat in the US House was won by the Democrat Mary Peltola, delivering a blow to the former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s hopes of a political comeback and putting wind in the sails of the Democratic party as it heads for November’s midterm elections.‘What’s this about?’: bodycam footage shows confusion as Florida man arrested for voter fraudRead morePeltola’s victory, by 51.5% to 48.5%, marks a stunning turnaround in a state known for its solid conservative leanings. The single House seat was held for almost 50 years by the Republican Don Young, until his death in March.Donald Trump, who endorsed Palin and campaigned for her at a rally in Anchorage, won Alaska by 10 points in the 2020 presidential election. That marks a swing of 13 points to Peltola’s three-point lead.Analysts pored over the results of the vote, which was held two weeks ago under a new ranked-choice system but finalized on Wednesday. It was being seen as a significant outcome on several levels – as a potential response to the recent US supreme court overturning of the constitutional right to abortion, to Trump’s enduring grip on the Republican party, and to Palin herself.The Washington Post pointed out that Democrats have shown gains over their 2020 margins in all five special elections held since abortion right enshrined in Roe v Wade in 1973 was slung out by the Trump-supercharged supreme court in June. Of the five contests, the Alaska result showed the biggest surge in Democratic support.Democratic strategists will seek to capitalize on this tendency going into the midterms. Prominent Republicans had hoped ending abortion rights would work in their favour but the exact opposite appears to be happening – a progressive wave, given overwhelming national support for the right to terminate a pregnancy in at least some circumstances.Palin, who left the Alaska governor’s mansion in 2009, had been hoping to use the special election as a stepping stone towards a return to the national political stage. The flamboyant conservative, who styled herself as a “mama grizzly” and who has been seen as a precursor of Trump’s populism, was thrown into the limelight as John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate against Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008.She leant on her celebrity status during the special election, but there were signs of Alaskan voters becoming weary of the cacophony that often surrounds her. Palin is running again for the House seat, which comes up for a regular election in November. It remains to see whether her special election defeat will lead to political support bleeding away.“Alaskans know I’m the last one who’ll ever retreat,” Palin said in a statement on Wednesday. “I’m going to reload.”Some Alaskans may, however, remember Palin’s resignation as governor in 2009, when as the Guardian reported, she gave “an at times rambling speech in which she … said only dead fish go with the flow”, prompting critics to “accuse her of a ‘flaky’ decision and walking away from her post”.After her victory was announced on Wednesday, Peltola, 49, who is Yup’ik and will be the first Alaska Native and woman to represent the state in the House, positioned the result as a reflection of voters’ desire to get back to normalcy after the rancour of the Trump years.“I think it reveals that Alaskans are very tired of the bickering and the personal attacks,” she told the Post.Parsing the results is difficult given the state’s adoption of ranked-choice voting. In the first round, Peltola won 40% of the votes while Palin took 31% and her Republican rival, Nick Begich, gained 29%.Oz campaign again mocks Fetterman’s health in Pennsylvania Senate raceRead moreThe first round indicated clear majority support for Republican candidates – 60% combined – in line with Alaska’s conservative bent. But under the new system, Begich was eliminated and his voters’ second choices were redistributed to Peltola and Palin.The preferences of Begich’s supporters was striking. Only about half opted as their second choice to back Palin. Almost a third voted for the Democrat and almost as many gave no second choice.That indicator is likely to increase jitters among Republican leaders concerned about the influence Trump is having on the upcoming midterm elections, which will determine which party controls Congress for the next two years.There is already intense pressure on several Trump-backed candidates running for the Senate – especially Blake Masters in Arizona, JD Vance in Ohio and the TV doctor Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.TopicsDemocratsRepublicansUS politicsAlaskanewsReuse this content More

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      Biden’s speech will deliver a hard truth: American democracy is under grave threat | Robert Reich

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      Biden’s speech will deliver a hard truth: American democracy is under grave threatRobert ReichThe essential political choice is no longer Democrat or Republican, left or right, liberal or conservative. It is democracy or authoritarian fascism On Thursday, Joe Biden will deliver a primetime speech outside the old Independence Hall, where the framers of the constitution met 235 years ago to establish the basic rules of our democratic form of government.His speech will focus on what the White House describes as the “battle for the soul of the nation” – the fight to protect that democracy.Trump team returns to court over request for special master – liveRead moreThe battle is already under way. A week after a team of FBI agents descended on his residence in Florida, Trump warned “people are so angry at what is taking place” that if the “temperature” isn’t brought down “terrible things are going to happen”.Yet Trump and his Republican allies are doing all they can to increase the temperature. Last Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham warned of “riots in the streets” if Trump is prosecuted.Trump spent much of Tuesday morning reposting messages from known proponents of the QAnon conspiracy theory and from 4chan, an anonymous message platform where threats of violence often bloom.Several of Trump’s reposts were direct provocations, such as a photograph of President Biden, Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi with their faces obscured by the words: “Your enemy is not in Russia.”Online threats are escalating against public servants. Bruce Reinhart, the federal magistrate judge who approved the warrant to search Mar-a-Lago, has been targeted with messages threatening him and his family.How to respond to this lawlessness? With bold and unwavering law enforcement.If Trump has broken the law – by attempting a coup, by instigating an assault on the US Capitol, by making off with troves of top-secret documents – he must be prosecuted. If found guilty, he must be penalized, including by prison.Yes, such prosecutions might increase tensions and divisions in the short term. They might provoke additional violence.But a failure to uphold the laws of the United States would be far more damaging in the longer term. It would undermine our system of government and the credibility of that system – more directly and irreparably than Trump has already done.Not holding a former president accountable for gross acts of criminality will invite ever more criminality from future presidents and lawmakers.It is also important for all those in public life who believe in democracy to call out what the Republican party is doing and what it has become: not just its embrace of Trump’s big lie but its moves toward voter suppression, takeovers of the machinery of elections, ending of reproductive rights, book bans, restrictions on what can be taught in classrooms, racism and assaults on LGBTQ people.While today’s Republican party does not have its own paramilitary, such as the Nazi’s Brownshirts, Republicans are effectively outsourcing these activities to violent fringe groups such as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others who descended on the Capitol on January 6 2021 and who continue to threaten violence.With the notable and noble exceptions of Liz Cheney and a few other courageous Republicans – most of whom are being purged – the Republican party is rapidly morphing into an anti-democracy movement.The essential political choice in America, therefore, is no longer Democrat or Republican, left or right, liberal or conservative.It is democracy or authoritarian fascism.There can be no compromise between these two – no halfway point, no “moderate middle”, no “balance”. To come down squarely on the side of democracy is not to be “partisan”. It is to be patriotic.Yet Democrats cannot and must not take on this battle alone. They must seek common ground with independents and whatever reasonable Republicans remain.We must continue to appeal to truth, facts, logic, and common sense. We must be unwavering in our commitment to the constitution and the rule of law.We must be clear and courageous in exposing the authoritarian fascist direction the Republican party has now chosen, and the dangers this poses to America and the world.It is also important for Democrats to recognize – and to take bold action against – the threat to democracy posed by big money from large corporations and the super-wealthy: record amounts of campaign funding inundating and distorting our politics, serving the moneyed interests rather than the common good.The two threats – one, from an increasingly authoritarian-fascist Republican party; the second, from ever-larger amounts of corporate and billionaire money in our campaigns and elections – are two sides of the same coin.Americans who know the system is rigged against them and in favor of moneyed interests are more likely to give up on democracy and embrace an authoritarian fascist demagogue who pretends to be on “their side”.The battle to preserve and protect democracy is the most important battle of our lifetimes. If we win, there is nothing we cannot achieve. If we lose, there is nothing we can achieve.
      Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
      TopicsJoe BidenOpinionUS politicsDemocratsRepublicanscommentReuse this content More

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      New York enacts new gun restrictions in response to supreme court decision

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      New York enacts new gun restrictions in response to supreme court decisionAfter court overturned 1911 New York law, state lawmakers produced act to create ‘gun-free zones’ and strengthen gun control measures After a federal judge said New York could implement gun restrictions passed after the US supreme court struck down a century-old law, the state attorney general saluted “a victory in our efforts to protect New Yorkers”.Texas judge overturns state ban on young adults carrying gunsRead more“Responsible gun control measures save lives and any attempts by the gun lobby to tear down New York’s sensible gun control laws will be met with fierce defense of the law,” Letitia James said on Wednesday night.In June, in the aftermath of mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, the conservative-dominated US supreme court overturned a New York law passed in 1911.The law said anyone wanting to carry a handgun in public had to prove “proper cause”.Justice Clarence Thomas said the 111-year-old law was a violation of the second amendment right to bear arms and also the 14th amendment, which made second-amendment rights applicable to the states.“Apart from a few late-19th-century outlier jurisdictions,” Thomas wrote, “American governments simply have not broadly prohibited the public carry of commonly used firearms for personal defense.”In dissent, Stephen Breyer, a liberal, wrote: “In 2020, 45,222 Americans were killed by firearms. Since the start of this year there have been 277 reported mass shootings – an average of more than one per day.”The same source, the Gun Violence Archive, now puts that total at 450.Breyer wrote: “Gun violence has now surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. Many states have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence … the court today severely burdens states’ efforts to do so.”Joe Biden said: “I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line.”Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, said: “The supreme court is setting us backwards … This decision is not just reckless, it’s reprehensible.”Hochul called the legislature back into session. It produced the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, or CCIA.As defined by James, the CCIA “strengthens requirements for concealed carry permits, prohibits guns in sensitive locations, allows private businesses to ban guns on their premises, enhances safe storage requirements, requires social media review ahead of certain gun purchases, and requires background checks on all ammunition purchases to protect New Yorkers”.The law was challenged by the Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation. On Wednesday, the GOA said the CCIA “would essentially make all of NY a gun-free zone and infringes upon the rights of its citizens”.Judge Glenn Suddaby, of the US district court in the northern district of New York, said the two gun groups lacked standing to bring the case.But Suddaby also indicated support, describing “a strong sense of the safety that a licensed concealed handgun regularly provides, or would provide, to the many law-abiding responsible citizens in the state too powerless to physically defend themselves in public without a handgun”.An appeal is likely. The CCIA went into effect on Thursday.On Wednesday the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, said: “The US supreme court’s … decision was the shot heard round the world that took dead aim at the safety of all New Yorkers.“New York City will defend itself against this decision, and, beginning tomorrow, new eligibility requirements for concealed carry permit applicants and restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons in ‘sensitive locations’, like Times Square, take effect.”The new law has prompted a change in what New York City authorities officially consider to be Times Square. As the New York Times reported, the new boundaries extend far beyond the traffic-choked and neon-blitzed Midtown hub known to tourists worldwide but largely avoided by locals.Under CCIA, the Times Square “gun free zone” will run “from Ninth to Sixth Avenues and from 53rd to 40th Streets and consists of about three dozen blocks”, the paper said.One New Yorker interviewed by the Times dismissed the idea that the Port Authority Bus Terminal, on Eighth Avenue, could be considered part of Times Square, even in order to make it a gun-free zone.“Nah,” Robert Govan, 62, told the city’s paper of record. “No way. Not going to happen.”TopicsNew YorkUS gun controlUS politicsUS supreme courtUS constitution and civil libertiesLaw (US)newsReuse this content More

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      Trump boasted he had ‘intelligence’ on Macron’s sex life

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      Trump boasted he had ‘intelligence’ on Macron’s sex lifeInventory of what was seized at Mar-a-Lago caused ‘transatlantic freakout’ between Paris and Washington Donald Trump boasted to close associates that he knew secrets about Emmanuel Macron’s sex life from US intelligence sources, it has been reported.The report in Rolling Stone magazine comes in the wake of the release of court documents on the classified and national defence documents found in a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on 8 August, which mention a file referred to as “info re: President of France”.It is unclear whether the file on Macron was classified or what it contained. But Rolling Stone claimed that its mention in the official inventory of what was seized at Mar-a-Lago caused a “transatlantic freakout” between Paris and Washington.A French embassy spokesperson said: “We do not comment on legal proceedings in the US and … the embassy has not asked the administration for any information concerning the documents retrieved at former President Trump’s residence.”Neither the state department nor Trump’s office have so far responded to a request for comment.The Rolling Stone report said that during and after his presidency, Trump claimed to some of his closest associates that he knew details of Macron’s private life, which he had gleaned from “intelligence” he had seen or been briefed on.Macron initially courted Trump, inviting him to the Bastille Day military parade in 2017 just two months after he was elected, inspiring the US president to badger his own generals to stage a similar show of military pageantry in Washington.Relations soon soured between the two leaders, particularly after Macron’s failure to persuade Trump to stay in the nuclear deal with Iran. Trump took the US out of the deal in 2018, and it has unravelled since then. They also fell out over Trump’s abrupt order to pull troops out of northern Syria and his distrust of Nato. In December 2019, Trump called Macron “a pain in the ass” while addressing a group of ambassadors to the UN.TopicsDonald TrumpTrump administrationEmmanuel MacronUS politicsFranceEuropenewsReuse this content More

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      New legal filings paint Trump as a flailing liar surrounded by lackeys | Lloyd Green

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      New legal filings paint Trump as a flailing liar surrounded by lackeysLloyd Green‘I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information,’ Trump once vowed. As promises go, that one aged badly As a first-time presidential candidate, Donald Trump repeatedly demanded that Hillary Clinton be sent to jail. “Lock her up” emerged as a battle cry for the 45th president and his fans. He also pledged that his presidency would properly handle the nation’s secrets.Justice department details conclusions from FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago – liveRead more“In my administration, I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information,” he intoned at a 2016 rally in North Carolina. “No one will be above the law.” As promises go, this one aged badly – much like his commitment to release his tax returns.On Tuesday night, the government filed its 36-page opposition to the ex-reality-show host’s demand that a special master be appointed. (A special master is an independent mediator appointed to go through documents and determine which may be protected by privilege.)Trump’s gambit backfired, however. Once again, he looks like a liar. Beyond that, his lawyers became his lackeys. Christina Bobb meet William Barr.In early June, Trump and Bobb, Trump’s attorney and a former marine, delivered to the government a packet of documents in a sealed folder. A certificate signed by Bobb attested to the fact that “any and all responsive documents accompany this certification”.Apparently not. Instead, the government subsequently “developed evidence” that “efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation”. Who was involved in the conspiracy is an unanswered question.Regardless, it is now official: Trump will be on the midterm ballot even if his name does not appear. The upcoming congressional elections won’t be a normal referendum on Joe Biden’s presidency. Instead, 2022 will sound a lot like a rerun of 2020. A once anticipated red tsunami is now looking more like a “puddle”.On that score, ask media mogul Rupert Murdoch; he can tell you. Just hours before the government filed its latest round of paperwork, Murdoch’s New York Post published an editorial that decried the reemergence of Trump in the national spotlight and its likely impact on Republicans’ chances.“He lost in 2020 because too many Americans – especially moderates – had gotten sick of his self-indulgent behavior,” the Post wrote. “Since then, his egomania has only grown.”In case anyone forgot, in Fire and Fury, the first installment of Michael Wolff’s trilogy of Trump tell-alls, Murdoch referred to Trump as “a fucking idiot” after the two men had ended a phone call. And Fox’s Sean Hannity is caught saying, of Trump: “What the fuck is wrong with him?”These days, Fox News and its corporate parent are defendants in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems in connection with the network’s alleged role in spreading the “big lie”. According to reports, Murdoch, his son Lachlan, Hannity, and Tucker Carlson are all expected to testify at deposition.Meanwhile, Trump and his minions are threatening violence if things don’t go their way. “There literally will be riots in the street,” Senator Lindsey Graham told interviewers. Trump shared a clip of Graham’s interview on his beleaguered social media vehicle, Truth Social.Said differently, the Republican party is in the process of losing its reputation for law, order and national security. On the right, the drumbeat for defunding the FBI grows louder. Beyond that, Republicans’ relationship to democracy grows more strained.Larry Hogan, Maryland’s outgoing Republican governor, said as much the other day. In an interview with CBS, he acknowledged that authoritarianism had found a nesting place in what was once the party of Abraham Lincoln. “There’s no question we see some signs,” Hogan said.It has been years in the making. Republican politicians have embraced Trump as strongman-lite. In a 2016 radio broadcast, Paul LePage, then governor of Maine, made Trump’s authoritarian streak a selling point. “Our constitution is not only broken,” LePage declared, “but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country.” The Republican party knew who it was getting.Whether the Democrats can find a message that resonates with swing-voters remains to be seen. Upstairs-downstairs coalitions are inherently unstable.Yet outrage at the US supreme court’s anti-abortion rights decision in Dobbs has spurred voter registration among women and younger Americans. In a recent special election in rural upstate New York, a Democrat pulled off an upset. Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh are not as wise as they fancy themselves.Sadly, the conditions that led to Trump’s electoral college win in 2016 remain – even if he eventually winds up behind bars. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the sharpest drop in US life expectancy in a century, and that drug overdoses reached a record high.America ails; Trump is but one more symptom. On Thursday, the court will hear arguments on his motion. Don’t expect any indictments – if any – until after the fall’s elections. Thanksgiving and Christmas stand to be interesting.
      Lloyd Green served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
      TopicsDonald TrumpOpinionRepublicansUS politicsMar-a-LagocommentReuse this content More