Today marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s devastating landfall in Puerto Rico—a tragedy that resulted in the loss of nearly 3,000 lives.
Thanks to the Trump administration’s horrific mismanagement of the crisis, thousands of lives were lost, and Puerto Rico remains in dire need of aid and resources for rebuilding. President Trump must instruct his administration to provide the support necessary for a sustainable, community-driven rebuild, rather than continue to grossly deny the tragic loss of American life.
See the Center for American Progress’ statement on the anniversary here.
THIS VIOLENCE IS NOT INEVITABLE.
This morning’s shooting in Maryland marks the third U.S. workplace shooting in only two days.
Today’s shooting at a Rite Aid facility ended in multiple fatalities and injuries. Yesterday, three people were injured in a shooting at a Wisconsin software company, and multiple people were shot at a Pennsylvania courthouse.
Gun violence is not inevitable.
This is the American normal, but it’s not normal. It doesn’t happen in other countries. “The gun murder rate in the United States is 25 times higher than it is in peer nations,” yet Congressional leadership continues to behave as if ignoring the reality and raking in money from the NRA will make the problem magically disappear.
The Gun Violence Prevention Team at the Center for American Progress suggests six common-sense steps to reduce gun violence in America here.
KAVANAUGH’S CREDIBILITY PROBLEM.
Senate Republicans’ defense of their rush to confirm Brett Kavanaugh—especially in light of the serious allegations of sexual assault leveled against him—hinges largely on Kavanaugh’s supposedly unimpeachable character. In reality, Kavanaugh has repeatedly attempted to deceive elected officials and the American public.
Kavanaugh began his Supreme Court nomination process with a lie. He has never appeared before the Senate without lying. Why should anyone believe his denials now?
Here are just a few of the topics about which Kavanaugh made false statements:
- He misled Senators in 2004 and 2006 about his key role in partisan issues like judicial nominations, “as well as his knowledge of and reliance on confidential information about the strategy of Democratic Senators,” which was stolen by a Republican Senate staffer.
- Kavanaugh lied under oath about his involvement with the Bush detainee policy (AKA torture).
- He repeatedly said he views Roe v. Wade as settled law. His own email from 2003 contradicts that: “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since the Court can always overrule its precedent.”
The list goes on and on.
Now, after Dr. Blasey Ford’s accusations were made public, the Senate majority is giving Kavanaugh the benefit of the doubt (and, in fact, relentlessly attacking the credibility of Professor Blasey Ford) once more.
As the editorial board of Senator Collins’ home-state paper, the Portland Press Herald, wrote yesterday:
“After watching Judge Brett Kavanaugh deftly maneuver around the truth for three days during his last appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, it will be hard to believe anything he says if he winds up back there next week, fighting for his professional life.”
THINKING CAP: FRIENDS OF THE POD
Dan Pfeiffer knows when to speak. As a former senior adviser and communications director for former President Barack Obama, Pfeiffer was once charged with shaping 44’s public voice and vision. Now, as a Pod Save America co-host and author of a new book, Yes We (Still) Can, Pfeiffer—like the rest of us—is still reckoning with how we went from the first black president to one that traffics in racism and fascism, and has white supremacists on his staff. Listen to the interview here.