Tuesday Catch-up: A warning to racial injustice protesters

By Robert A. Vella

Recurring back ailments are limiting my blogging activities, but here’s a news catch-up post for this Tuesday.

I also feel inclined to issue a warning to racial injustice protesters.  Don’t undermine your powerful message by resorting to violence.  If you retaliate against President Trump’s deliberate moves to provoke you, America will see first the violence and your message will get lost amidst the confusion.  Even worse, you’ll be doing exactly what Trump wants you to do.  Don’t take the bait.  Take the high road, stand bravely, and follow the leads of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis who called for “good trouble.”

From:  Coronavirus ravaged Florida, as Ron DeSantis sidelined scientists and followed Trump

PETERSBURG, Fla. —As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his top public health official, Scott Rivkees, according to the governor’s schedule. His health department has sidelined scientists, halting briefings last month with disease specialists and telling the experts there was not sufficient personnel from the state to continue participating.

[…]

As the virus spread out of control in Florida, decision-making became increasingly shaped by politics and divorced from scientific evidence, according to interviews with 64 current and former state and administration officials, health administrators, epidemiologists, political operatives and hospital executives. The crisis in Florida, these observers say, has revealed the shortcomings of a response built on shifting metrics, influenced by a small group of advisers and tethered at every stage to the Trump administration, which has no unified plan for addressing the national health emergency but has pushed for states to reopen.

Related stories:

Robert O’Brien, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, tests positive for COVID-19: reports

Georgia governor backs out of hearing on Atlanta mask order

Fact check: South Dakota’s COVID-19 infection, jobless stats aren’t as good as claimed

12 people infected with the coronavirus were falsely told they’d tested negative — and at least one was hospitalized [in Delaware]

Exclusive: Poll shows pressure on vulnerable GOP senators to back state and local coronavirus aid

Coronavirus vaccine: First Phase 3 clinical trial in the United States begins

From:  ‘Disturbing’ memo reveals Trump’s USPS chief has slowed delivery amid calls to expand voting by mail

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a top Trump donor who has given more than $2 million to the GOP, warned employees that the agency needed to make “difficult” decisions to stay afloat, according to a new report in The Washington Post.

“If the plants run late, they will keep the mail for the next day,” one guideline says, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post and verified by the American Postal Workers Union.

Carriers do not typically leave mail behind, often making multiple trips under heavy loads to get letters and packages to marked recipients as soon as possible.

Experts who reviewed the internal document, titled “New PMG’s [Postmaster General’s] expectations and plan,” said it presented “a stark reimagining of the USPS,” which could alienate customers. If the agency increases package delivery rates, which has the support of the administration, competing private companies could smell blood and throw new weight behind smothering the agency.

From:  GOP Sen. Tom Cotton called slavery a ‘necessary evil’ in an attack on a New York Times project exploring America’s history of racism

• Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, citing the Founding Fathers, described slavery as a “necessary evil” in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

• Cotton was defending a bill he proposed that would cut off funding for schools adopting The New York Times’ “1619 Project” as part of their curricula.

• “The 1619 Project,” which launched last year, seeks to explore America’s history of racism and the legacy of slavery.

• The project won a Pulitzer Prize, but some conservatives have attacked it as ideologically driven.

Related stories:

GOP senator [David Perdue] deletes ad that showed Jewish opponent with larger nose

Right-wing terrorism is the biggest threat to U.S. and Europe. Why has it gone unnoticed?

Fewer Americans self-identify as conservative: Gallup

From:  ProPublica posts NYPD records, bypassing judge’s blockade

NEW YORK (AP) — Days after a federal judge paused the public release of New York City police disciplinary records, a news website has published a database containing complaint information for thousands of officers.

ProPublica posted the database Sunday, explaining in a note to readers that it isn’t obligated to comply with Judge Katherine Polk Failla’s temporary restraining order because it is not a party to a union lawsuit challenging the release of such records.

Deputy Managing Editor Eric Umansky said ProPublica requested the information from the city’s police watchdog agency, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, soon after last month’s repeal of state law that for decades had prevented the disclosure of disciplinary records.

Racial injustice protests:

John Lewis: Lawmakers and the public to honor the late congressman as his body lies in state at US Capitol

Protests across the country lead to clashes with police, arrests

‘Wall of Vets’ joins protests in Portland

Demonstrators protest Portland tactics outside home of DHS chief [Chad Wolf]

National Guard officer to say he saw ‘excessive’ force used on protesters near the White House

Trump is calling protesters ‘terrorists.’ That puts him in the company of the world’s autocrats

As protests against federal agents grow in Portland, Black activists worry their message is getting lost

Poll: 2 in 3 support racial justice protests

Other headlines:

Attorney General Barr testifies before House panel in long-awaited showdown with Democrats

RNC, Trump campaign told to stop using President Reagan [name and image] to raise money [by the former president’s foundation]

Trump targets Reagan Foundation after issues over ex-president’s likeness

Ex-FBI agent Strzok due out with book about Trump, Russia

[non-profit Christian] Hunger organization pushes out [Ted] Yoho [R-FL] after Capitol incident [in which he called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as “fucking bitch”]

Judge denies Trump administration request to delay deadline to release migrants from ICE detention centers

DHS halts expulsion of 17 migrant children after lawsuit