And another dark day in an excruciatingly dark chapter of American history comes to a close. (I hope my kids, who are barely teenagers today, get to see the next chapter. I hope there is a next chapter.)
“Trump does not care if he gets caught. He cares if he is punished." — Sarah Kendzior
“Trump is now running for a second term as President on permanently cutting the funding for Social Security and Medicare.” — Andy Slavitt
Deaths
US: 165,617 (+547)
World: 733,995 (+4409)
Cases
US: 5,199,444 (+49,721)
World: 20,023,500 (219,092)
Countdown: 86 days.
The good news is that President Donald Trump is aiming to help Americans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, signing executive actions to extend expanded unemployment benefits and assist renters and homeowners. The bad news is that he's seizing new powers for the presidency to do it. -- We better fight back before it’s too late. He’s changing everything before our very eyes.
Breaking down the executive actions Trump signed on coronavirus relief. But a close read of the actual text of executive actions he signed Saturday suggests that even if they are deemed constitutional, they will not quickly deliver the aid Trump promised. They may not deliver much at all. -- But he’s played the psychological game with Americans and made it look like he’s helping them. It doesn’t matter if it’s not true--if it’s not reality. It just has to give off the impression that it is.
Fact check: Trump makes multiple false claims about Covid-19 relief as he signs executive actions.
Trump aides exploring executive actions to curb voting by mail. “I have the right to do it,” Trump told reporters Monday. “We haven’t gotten there yet. We’ll see what happens.” -- He thinks being the President gives him the right to do anything. He must be stopped.
Time to Sound the Alarm. Trump is trying to steal the election by messing with the mail. “In a world where Trump controls the courts, McConnell is an anti-democratic nihilist, and the idea of checks and balances has crumbled, Democrats admittedly have little leverage and few options. But that doesn’t mean we can’t fight back. Here are some ideas:...Trump has survived three years of impeachable, Presidency-ending acts through division and distraction. If Democrats do not unite and focus, Trump may just steal an election from under our noses.”
Government watchdogs say Trump has strayed far from the ethics norms of past administrations. They say he sets a dangerous precedent that could erode public trust.
With confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. hitting 5 million Sunday, by far the highest of any country, the failure of the most powerful nation in the world to contain the scourge has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe.
COVID-19 May Never Go Away — With Or Without A Vaccine.
The Paulding County high school that became infamous for hallways crowded with unmasked students reported a half-dozen students and three staffers in the school with COVID-19, the school district told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Saturday. -- Later in the day the school decided to briefly move classes online.
Ireland has a new coronavirus fear: Americans on vacation. With little to no quarantine enforcement on visitors, some Irish business owners say they have had to take matters into their own hands.
White House reached out to South Dakota governor about adding Trump to Mount Rushmore. -- This is the world we’re living in. Trump is a dangerous despot who wants monuments of him to address his ego and belittle democracy. Just like all tyrants do. We should not shrug this off as Trump being Trump. He has normalized what has previously been considered impossible to normalize, and taken the country in directions most never thought it would go. Yes, Mount Rushmore is a federal, and not state, monument. No, South Dakota can’t just add Trump to it. But the fact that he seriously wants his face on the monument--that he believes his face should be on it--should disturb all of us.
The Unraveling of America. Odious as he may be, Trump is less the cause of America’s decline than a product of its descent. As they stare into the mirror and perceive only the myth of their exceptionalism, Americans remain almost bizarrely incapable of seeing what has actually become of their country...The American cult of the individual denies not just community but the very idea of society. No one owes anything to anyone. All must be prepared to fight for everything: education, shelter, food, medical care. What every prosperous and successful democracy deems to be fundamental rights — universal health care, equal access to quality public education, a social safety net for the weak, elderly, and infirmed — America dismisses as socialist indulgences, as if so many signs of weakness. How can the rest of the world expect America to lead on global threats — climate change, the extinction crisis, pandemics — when the country no longer has a sense of benign purpose, or collective well-being, even within its own national community? Flag-wrapped patriotism is no substitute for compassion; anger and hostility no match for love...The measure of wealth in a civilized nation is not the currency accumulated by the lucky few, but rather the strength and resonance of social relations and the bonds of reciprocity that connect all people in common purpose...Evidence of such terminal decadence is the choice that so many Americans made in 2016 to prioritize their personal indignations, placing their own resentments above any concerns for the fate of the country and the world, as they rushed to elect a man whose only credential for the job was his willingness to give voice to their hatreds, validate their anger, and target their enemies, real or imagined. One shudders to think of what it will mean to the world if Americans in November, knowing all that they do, elect to keep such a man in political power. But even should Trump be resoundingly defeated, it’s not at all clear that such a profoundly polarized nation will be able to find a way forward. For better or for worse, America has had its time.
New Zealand reports 100 straight days without new local coronavirus cases.
Belarus election: Clashes after poll predicts Lukashenko re-election. Protesters and riot police have clashed in Belarus' capital Minsk and other cities, after a state TV exit poll said long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected in Sunday's election. — Democracy is easy to lose, but it’s very difficult to obtain.
Beirut explosion: protests outside parliament call for fall of government.
While Seattle city leaders are battling over the police budget, local newsrooms, including KING 5, are fighting a request by the Seattle Police Department. SPD subpoenaed local television and print outlets for their unaired and unpublished video and photos from protests and riots in downtown Seattle on May 30.
5.1 magnitude earthquake hits North Carolina, most powerful in the state since 1916.
Jill Biden, a community college professor, plans to continue to teach if she becomes first lady.
Hollywood has been upended by the coronavirus. But some in the film industry are finding workarounds, and television and film production is slowly restarting.
Abandoned mall department stores may become Amazon's next fulfillment centers.
Chat bots are becoming uncannily human. Can they be our friends? For many, meaningful companionship is hard to find. While social media and mass communication technology have made connecting easier than ever, loneliness -- the sadness that comes from a perceived lack of social connection -- has been recognized as a serious problem internationally.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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