Framing the Race: Scranton v. Park Ave
Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020: Day T-Minus-47
Election-related news:
A Federal Judge admonished Trump & Louis DeJoy were “involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service.” Later in the day he issued an injunction United States Postal Service (Washington Post). The suit, filed by Washington and 13 other states, sought a broad injunction prohibiting the Postal Service from implementing operational changes, distribution center closures and removal of mail-sorting machines, among other changes, absent an opinion by the Postal Regulatory Commission.
- “At the heart of DeJoy’s & the Postal Service’s actions is voter disenfranchisement,” federal judge writes in ruling reversing USPS changes. “An intentional effort to disrupt & challenge the legitimacy of upcoming local, state, and federal elections.” (Ari Berman).
- The judge ordered the USPS to treat all election mail according to first-class delivery standards and replace or restore the equipment required to do that. Any request to “reconnect or replace any decommissioned or removed sorting machine(s)” must be directed through the court for approval, unless the USPS has already approved it.
FBI Director, Christopher Wray in a testimony to Senate:
- “..people ascribing to some sort of white supremacist-type ideology” are the “biggest chunk” of racially motivated violent extremism, which is the largest segment of the domestic terrorism category. (via ABC News on Twitter)
- “The intelligence community consensus is that Russia continues to try to influence our elections.. In many ways, what concerns me most is the steady drumbeat and misinformation” that could lead to “a lack of confidence of American voters and citizens in the validity of their vote,” Wray said. (Washington Post)
- Wray said that racially motivated extremism makes up the largest share of the FBI’s domestic terrorism cases, and that white supremacist ideology appears to drive the bulk of those racially motivated extremism cases.
- Asked about President Trump’s repeated denunciations of antifa, Wray said the anti-fascist collective is “a real thing. It’s not a group or an organization — it’s a movement or an ideology,” adding that the FBI is investigating individuals who support the antifa movement and may be planning to engage in violence. He said he was concerned about small local “nodes” of such individuals who may be building toward violence.
| Biden-Harris:
Olivia Troye, a former key member of Pence’s Coronavirus task force endorsed Biden for President. In a brutal ad she shredded Trump on his response to Coronavirus. Apparently he even said in a meeting that may be the the virus is a good thing because he doesn’t have to shake hands with those disgusting people (in reference to his own supporters.)
Here are some memorable moments from the drive-in Town Hall, hosted by Anderson Cooper on CNN.
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Trump-Pence:
Trump announced that he will sign an executive order establishing a “national commission to promote patriotic education” called the “1776 Commission.” Numerous people on Twitter drew parallels between this and Hitler’s Youth.
Later in the day Trump riled against FBI director Chris Wray for his testimony. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1306749921173762049 |