News Day

Our tax dollars—$250 million of them—are going to pay for a pre-election public relations campaign to “defeat despair and inspire hope” on COVID-19. The Department of Health and Human Services has asked for bids from communications firms for that amount. They will be paid for “harnessing the power of traditional, digital and social media, the sports and entertainment industries, public health associations, and other creative partners.”

In other words, for producing propaganda about public health. Continue reading →

The Office of the Chief Actuary of the Social Security system looked at Trump’s promise to end the dedicated payroll taxes that pay for Social Security on January 1. The conclusion: this would bankrupt the Social Security system by 2023. The fund for disability payments would be empty by mid-2021. The fund for Social Security benefits would be gone by mid-2023. To make it personal: my social security check would be gone as of June 2023. My 94-year-old mother’s social security check would be gone. If you are over 65, your social security check would be gone. Continue reading →

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For all the Trump-eting about post office failure, fraudulent ballots, and “twelve more years,” voting can still work—unless we give in to his hype and give up on the election.  That may be the real goal of the shock tactics employed against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) over the past two months. I’m not going to give in to this nonsense. I’m going to vote, I’m going to mail in my ballot, and I’m going to make sure that it is counted. Continue reading →

Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times by a Kenosha police officer. In front of his children. All captured on video. He is alive, but will probably never walk again. I could say a lot, but I will not say anything today. Instead, I urge you, my friends and family: Listen to the voices of Jacob Blake’s family and of Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers. Continue reading →

Coronavirus from Wikimedia Commons

Black Minnesotans are more than five times more likely than White Minnesotans to be infected with COVID-19, more than three times more likely to be hospitalized, and three or four times more likely to die. Similar disparities affect other communities of color. COVID-19 hits Latino, Asian, and Native American Minnesotans harder than White Minnesotans.

These numbers should surprise no one. They are just the latest in a long parade of disparities. Continue reading →

Trump flat-out lies so often that it is hard to keep up with rebuttals. He lies even when you can see and hear the truth. Today’s egregious example is his tweet claiming that Democrats “took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention.” That’s a lie. 100 percent false.

Here are links to video from the Pledge at the Democratic National Convention each night. Click and you can see for yourself. Continue reading →

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A month ago, I wrote about the Trump administration’s moves against the U.S. Postal Service. Now it is much worse. Here are the latest developments:

Yesterday (August 13), Trump said he is not going to fund the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) because he does not want them to have enough money to handle absentee/mail-in ballots for the November election. Yes—he actually said that out loud. Just as, back in March, he said that allowing more people to vote would mean that Republicans could not win the election.

While Trump continues to bloviate about fraud in mail-in voting, that is a pack of lies. He has cited zero evidence. Five states have had all-mail-in voting for years, with no problems. Continue reading →

Marking her landslide victory, Congressmember Ilhan Omar tweeted Tuesday night: “In Minnesota, we know that organized people will always beat organized money.

“Tonight, our movement didn’t just win. We earned a mandate for change. Despite outside efforts to defeat us, we once again broke turnout records. Despite the attacks, our support has only grown.” Continue reading →

Trump’s antipathy toward the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is longstanding. Not as longstanding as the Post Office itself, which was established by Congress in 1792, under power specifically granted by the Constitution. No matter: Trump and many other Republicans want to privatize the post office and they will stop at nothing in their effort to get rid of it. Their efforts have accelerated in the past few months, as an attack on the post office is now also an attack on the election. Continue reading →

Today’s Trumpian tweet terrified many people: What if he follows through on his tweet and actually postpones the election? What if he cancels the election altogether? What if he loses the election and won’t leave anyway?

We clearly need to prepare. In the service of sanity, I suggest some survival strategies:

Build that wall—around the White House. Not hard to do, since the recently-fortified wall around the White House is probably more gesund than most miles on the Mexican border. All we would need to add is a virtual wall blocking access to Twitter, and we could all try to forget the last four years. Continue reading →