The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Cob Save America

On April 6, 2019 By admin

• Breaking News

What We’re Following Today

It’s Friday, April 5.

‣ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it will no longer classify people in same-sex marriages as “apostates,” and will allow children from same-sex marriages to be blessed and baptized as infants.

‣ The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs in March, a rebound from the February jobs report, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.8 percent.

‣ Senator Elizabeth Warren called to abolish the legislative filibuster, the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to pass laws.

Here’s what else we’re watching:

More From Michael Cohen: Attorneys for Donald Trump’s former lawyer submitted documents to lawmakers alleging that Trump “encouraged Cohen to lie” to Congress about the Trump Tower project in Moscow. The memo goes further than Cohen’s public testimony before the House Oversight Committee in February, when Cohen said Trump told him to lie “in his way.”

(Kathryn Gamble / The Atlantic)

Socialism, but in Iowa: One popular perception of socialism in America is that it’s a sort of pastime for affluent and cerebral hipsters. But the Democratic Socialists Elaine Godfrey met in Iowa don’t come from wealthy families, and don’t have Ivy League educations. Instead, they’re using socialism as a vehicle to change their immediate circumstances—and build a movement that goes beyond 2020.

Is Faith an Asset for 2020?: The religious left is wild for South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg because of how outspoken he’s been about his faith. But while “speaking the language of faith” will get him media attention, religious rhetoric isn’t enough to win votes, writes Emma Green.

A $100 Billion Heist: As the federal tax deadline looms, consider that the IRS itself is in a pretty dismal state. The agency is understaffed and operating with archaic equipment, which means it doesn’t have the resources to conduct necessary audits. And corporations and the wealthy are benefiting from the lack of oversight, according to an Atlantic–ProPublica investigation.

+ Speaking of tax returns: Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee formally requested six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns, but a lawyer for the president is warning the IRS not to comply.

–Elaine Godfrey

Snapshot

People line the road as President Donald Trump heads to the border with Mexico in Calexico, California. Friday April 5, 2019. At the border, Trump made a renewed push for border security as a central 2020 campaign issue. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)

Ideas From The Atlantic

A Warning From Wisconsin (Charles J. Sykes)
“A funny thing happened Tuesday to the Democrats’ momentum in Wisconsin: It sputtered out. Despite being heavily favored to win a crucial seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, the candidate backed by liberal groups was apparently upset by a conservative.” → Read on.

It Hurts to See Nipsey Hussle’s Life Not Mattering (Jemele Hill)
“If Hussle hadn’t been a well-known rapper, the story of his death would be sadly ordinary because of the grim statistics on the proliferation of violence in the black community.” → Read on.

Yemen Cannot Afford to Wait (Robert Malley and Stephen Pomper)
“The United States is left with painful questions: What would have happened if it had rejected the Saudis’ original pleas, or set tighter limits on its support, or exerted earlier and more meaningful pressure on its partners?” → Read on.

The Scams Are Winning (Megan Garber)
“The logic of the scam has permeated American life so completely that it has found its way to the Justice Department itself. The particular brand of absurdity at play in the report, the one that translated a multi-hundred-page work of investigation into an announcement of “Total EXONERATION,” is a rule much more than it is an exception.” → Read on.

What Else We’re Reading

‣ Democratic Candidates Visited 115 Cities Across 20 States in One Month (Shane Goldmacher, Weiyi Cai, and Jugal K. Patel, The New York Times)
‣ How Trump Conspired With the Freedom Caucus to Shut Down the Government (Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer, Politico Magazine)
‣ The Violence Against Women Act Is Turning 25. Here’s How It Has Ignited Debate. (Emily S. Rueb and Niraj Chokshi, The New York Times)
‣ If Biden Runs, They’ll Tear Him Up (Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal) (? Paywall)

We’re always looking for ways to improve The Politics & Policy Daily. Comments, questions, typos, grievances and groans related to our puns? Let us know anytime here.

Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up for our daily politics email here. We have many other free email newsletters on a variety of other topics. Find the full list here.

The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Cob Save America

On April 6, 2019 By admin

• Breaking News

What We’re Following Today

It’s Friday, April 5.

‣ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it will no longer classify people in same-sex marriages as “apostates,” and will allow children from same-sex marriages to be blessed and baptized as infants.

‣ The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs in March, a rebound from the February jobs report, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.8 percent.

‣ Senator Elizabeth Warren called to abolish the legislative filibuster, the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to pass laws.

Here’s what else we’re watching:

More From Michael Cohen: Attorneys for Donald Trump’s former lawyer submitted documents to lawmakers alleging that Trump “encouraged Cohen to lie” to Congress about the Trump Tower project in Moscow. The memo goes further than Cohen’s public testimony before the House Oversight Committee in February, when Cohen said Trump told him to lie “in his way.”

(Kathryn Gamble / The Atlantic)

Socialism, but in Iowa: One popular perception of socialism in America is that it’s a sort of pastime for affluent and cerebral hipsters. But the Democratic Socialists Elaine Godfrey met in Iowa don’t come from wealthy families, and don’t have Ivy League educations. Instead, they’re using socialism as a vehicle to change their immediate circumstances—and build a movement that goes beyond 2020.

Is Faith an Asset for 2020?: The religious left is wild for South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg because of how outspoken he’s been about his faith. But while “speaking the language of faith” will get him media attention, religious rhetoric isn’t enough to win votes, writes Emma Green.

A $100 Billion Heist: As the federal tax deadline looms, consider that the IRS itself is in a pretty dismal state. The agency is understaffed and operating with archaic equipment, which means it doesn’t have the resources to conduct necessary audits. And corporations and the wealthy are benefiting from the lack of oversight, according to an Atlantic–ProPublica investigation.

+ Speaking of tax returns: Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee formally requested six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns, but a lawyer for the president is warning the IRS not to comply.

–Elaine Godfrey

Snapshot

People line the road as President Donald Trump heads to the border with Mexico in Calexico, California. Friday April 5, 2019. At the border, Trump made a renewed push for border security as a central 2020 campaign issue. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)

Ideas From The Atlantic

A Warning From Wisconsin (Charles J. Sykes)
“A funny thing happened Tuesday to the Democrats’ momentum in Wisconsin: It sputtered out. Despite being heavily favored to win a crucial seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, the candidate backed by liberal groups was apparently upset by a conservative.” → Read on.

It Hurts to See Nipsey Hussle’s Life Not Mattering (Jemele Hill)
“If Hussle hadn’t been a well-known rapper, the story of his death would be sadly ordinary because of the grim statistics on the proliferation of violence in the black community.” → Read on.

Yemen Cannot Afford to Wait (Robert Malley and Stephen Pomper)
“The United States is left with painful questions: What would have happened if it had rejected the Saudis’ original pleas, or set tighter limits on its support, or exerted earlier and more meaningful pressure on its partners?” → Read on.

The Scams Are Winning (Megan Garber)
“The logic of the scam has permeated American life so completely that it has found its way to the Justice Department itself. The particular brand of absurdity at play in the report, the one that translated a multi-hundred-page work of investigation into an announcement of “Total EXONERATION,” is a rule much more than it is an exception.” → Read on.

What Else We’re Reading

‣ Democratic Candidates Visited 115 Cities Across 20 States in One Month (Shane Goldmacher, Weiyi Cai, and Jugal K. Patel, The New York Times)
‣ How Trump Conspired With the Freedom Caucus to Shut Down the Government (Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer, Politico Magazine)
‣ The Violence Against Women Act Is Turning 25. Here’s How It Has Ignited Debate. (Emily S. Rueb and Niraj Chokshi, The New York Times)
‣ If Biden Runs, They’ll Tear Him Up (Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal) (? Paywall)

We’re always looking for ways to improve The Politics & Policy Daily. Comments, questions, typos, grievances and groans related to our puns? Let us know anytime here.

Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up for our daily politics email here. We have many other free email newsletters on a variety of other topics. Find the full list here.

Police arrest a man who praised the New Zealand attacks online: “There is a war brewing”

On April 6, 2019 By admin

• Breaking News

Police arrested a man in upstate New York who shared video of the New Zealand mosque massacre on Facebook and appeared to be conspiring to emulate him in the United States, telling a friend online, “there is a war is brewing.”

On Thursday, federal authorities announced the arrest of Thomas Alonzo Bolin from Greece, New York, which is about eight miles southeast of Rochester. According to federal documents, Bolin managed a white supremacist Facebook group and regularly expressed white supremacist views online under the alias “Peter Vincent.”

Bolin’s arrest comes only months after Greece police arrested three men and a teenager for allegedly plotting to attack a Muslim community about a three hour drive away. Police uncovered an arsenal of 23 firearms plus three homemade bombs in that case. Greece police said that the suspects had plotted their attack for about a month and had communicated via Discord, a video game chat service that’s become popular with far-right groups.

When investigators searched Bolin’ apartment they found two boxes of ammunition on his bed, a red devil mask, and a 12-gauge shotgun inside a black backpack, as well as a plastic bag containing additional ammunition. He is currently facing a single charge of providing false statements to the U.S. government.

In the complaint, the FBI includes snippets of conversations between Bolin and his cousin Austin Witkowski, including their discussion of the New Zealand attacks that left 50 dead. One exchange between the cousins on March 16, one day after the New Zealand attacks, hinted at possible violent plans.

US Attorney’s Office

According to documents, Bolin told his cousin that he got into a car accident and broke his arm. “There goes all that shit,” his cousin said.

“Only takes one arm to fire a glock,” Bolin replied.

“I guess I’ll do this shit myself,” his cousin said. “I’m not waiting months and months or a week. It was supposed to be done by Halloween.”

That same day, his cousin also wrote, “Words aren’t going to help. Violence is the key.”

Court documents also allege that Bolin posted a still from the New Zealand attacks (which the shooter broadcast via Facebook Live) showing a gun pointing towards a mosque with the caption “how white people see Muslims.”

On March 12, three days before the New Zealand attack, Bolin allegedly posted three photographs showing a total of four handguns on his Facebook page. After the New Zealand attacks, investigators interviewed Bolin and his girlfriend.

During their conversation, Bolin said he never suggested hurting anyone. When asked whether he owned guns, Bolin allegedly admitted to owning guns when he lived in Kansas City, Missouri — where they were legal — but denied possessing firearms since he moved to New York State in May 2018.

In the affidavit in support of the complaint, Special Agent Adam Paradowski who is assigned to the Buffalo Division of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism task Force, says that he did not “include each and every fact that I know concerning this investigation.”

Cover image: Headquarters of the FBI on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Washington, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

The Green New Deal Fan on Fox News Wasn’t a Random Diner. He’s a Climate Activist.

On April 5, 2019 By admin

• Breaking News

It is well known that President Donald Trump likes to watch Fox & Friends every morning. So it is likely that the commander-in-chief was watching Thursday when a young man at a diner in Riverside, Missouri, schooled Fox News reporter Todd Piro on the particulars of the Green New Deal.

But even if Trump didn’t see it, everyone else did. As of Friday, a video clip of Fox’ interview with Jack, a customer at The Corner Cafe, had been viewed about 2 million times—boosted in part by a retweet from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who cosponsored the ambitious plan to decarbonize the economy.

In the interview, Jack appears like a random dude sitting in a random diner at 6 a.m., who just happened to know a ton about climate policy and just happened to disagree with everything that Fox News stands for. That is likely why almost every article written about the segment thus far (and there are a lot) does not explain who Jack is or why he was at The Corner Cafe that day. The mystery is part of the virality.

But Jack, whose last name is Vandeleuv, doesn’t want his identity to be a mystery. The 23-year-old from Overland Park, Kansas, told me he’s a volunteer climate change activist with the Sunrise Movement—the same group that’s led the charge for a Green New Deal.* And his presence at the diner on Thursday morning was no accident.

Here’s a condensed and lightly edited transcript of our conversation:

Earlier this morning I was on a radio program, and the host and I were talking about your Fox & Friends segment. The host said, “I just want to know how this guy got in the diner in the first place.” So let’s start there. How did this happen?

At about 8 or 9 p.m. the night before, one of the members of Sunrise KC [the Kansas City chapter of Sunrise — Editor] got a Facebook message from a friend who had just run into a Fox producer at a restaurant, and the Fox producer said that Fox and Friends were going to be at this diner in the morning. They wouldn’t say what it was about; just that something’s happening.

So a call went out on Facebook, and me and one other person from Sunrise KC showed up there at about 6 a.m. And we were lucky enough he happened to put us on air.

What was the best-case scenario in your mind? What were you hoping would happen?

We thought maybe they would put us on air—but really we thought it would be about Howard Schultz’s town hall that was happening later that evening somewhere in Kansas City. We thought maybe they would take questions from the diners about what they wanted to ask Howard Schultz about, and we’d get to ask what he’s going to do about climate change.

So this probably went way better than you thought.

A little bit, yeah.

Was there a pre-interview? And was it with Todd Piro? Because he seemed kind of bewildered by your answers, like he wasn’t prepared for them.

Yeah, there was. Todd came up to us and said, “Are you here for us, or to eat?” And we said both. He said, “What’s your issue?” We said climate change. He said, “Do you support the Green New Deal?” We said yes. Then he asked some other questions about it, but he seemed really fixated on the cost of the Green New Deal. So I was prepared for him to ask about that in case he gave us a live interview.

I think what he was surprised by was that he was expecting to be able to trip us up.
You know, he was expecting to be able to hammer in on this question and get a moment out of it. And I think I held up in the moment, and it seemed surprising.

I was definitely surprised. Like when Piro asked “How are we going to pay for it?” and you immediately said “How did we pay for World War II?” I was like, “Oh, snap.” Why did you choose that comparison?

Two reasons. One is that I have a degree in history. Two, more importantly, is that I think that’s the most helpful analogy for the Green New Deal, right? That’s why they call it the Green New Deal. Because once upon a time in America, we were facing a huge problem, and the government made a massive investment to employ tons of people. So I think that analogy is inherently baked into the Green New Deal, and I think people intuitively understand it.

It was also just a sink or swim moment, and that was what came out of my mouth. And I’m happy with it. But I don’t have any training for this kind of stuff and I don’t have any particular expertise, but I was really inspired by David Wallace-Wells’s book on climate change that came out earlier this year.

Is that why you joined the Sunrise Movement? Like, is climate change just something you’ve read about and decided to be concerned about? Or is there anything personal in your life that has made you more concerned about climate change than perhaps the average person?

There’s something I’ve connected with in the last year that I hadn’t connected with before. When I was 14 months old, my house flooded in Illinois. My mom was pregnant with my little brother, and she had to take me and climb up on the roof to get away from the water and sewage. After that, we were in a hotel for a little while, and eventually we moved away to Phoenix, Arizona. It’s a story that’s always been in my family and it’s one of my earliest memories.

I’ve done some research about it online as an adult, and it was supposedly a once in a 100 year flood. The New York Times at the time called it a biblical event. My understanding through my parents is that because of some technicality, our insurance covered the flood. But I know from the news that I’ve gone back and read that only 1 percent of residents in that area had flood insurance because no one was expecting a flood.

And now stuff like this is happening all the time. I’m not in an area affected by the flooding in Iowa and Nebraska, but it’s super close to me. And so it’s just really starting to hit me recently that this is something that really does affect me in a very concrete way.

You’ve gained a lot of internet popularity since your segment aired, mostly for being this random dude who schooled Fox News on climate change out of nowhere. Are you worried that people might be disappointed now to know that you weren’t just a random guy—that you’re affiliated with this climate group and that you had an agenda all along?

I don’t know how people are going to react to anything that’s going on. But I see myself as a random person. I only joined Sunrise in February. Everything I do is 100 percent volunteer. I work part time at my local library to make money. To go from that to AOC tweeting me out is not something I would have expected.

Honestly, I have not finished processing this and don’t really know what it means for me. But I will say it’s been really crazy. To show up at a random diner and speak my understanding of climate change, and then get this crazy outpouring of support. I think it shows the value of showing up, and voting with your feet.

* A previous version of this article misstated where Jack Vandeleuv lives.