I SENSE A PATTERN HERE

Another Inspector General's head on a plate! Trump has fired four oversight officials of major government departments in the past six weeks. (Here, Danny Kaye comes up against government corruption in The Inspector General, 1949)

I Sense a Pattern Here...
On April 3, President Donald Trump fired Michael Atkinson, the intelligence committee watchdog who handled the whistleblower complaint about Trump's pressure campaign against the Ukraine that triggered his impeachment. A few days later, on April 6, the president removed Glenn A. Fine as acting inspector general for the Defense Department, and also as head of the new Pandemic Response Oversight Committee.
Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi A. Grimm, of the Department of Health and Human Services, released a report outlining hospital equipment shortages. She was fired on May 1. Finally, State Department Inspector General Steve Linick was ousted Friday evening, seemingly in retaliation for his investigation of Sec. of State Mike Pompeo.
Nearly a year ago the House passed legislation (HR 1847) intended to strengthen the roles of Inspectors General and protect them in their work. Demand that your Senators and Representatives denounce Trump’s dangerous pattern of retaliation against the public officials charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people. Write this week!
—Kathy Sherretts
Postage Paid:
ProPublica: Ignoring Trump and Right-Wing Think Tanks, Red States Expand Vote by Mail by Jessica Huseman and Mike Spies
Many Republican secretaries of state reject mail fraud concerns and see no alternative to absentee voting if the pandemic persists.
NPR: How Will the Pandemic Affect Voting? (Podcast, 44 min, + transcript)
The U.S. prides itself on its democracy in theory, but this year, not necessarily in practice.

Run for Your Life:
The Atlantic: Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? by Ibram X. Kendi
Self-defense, like the Second Amendment, like stand-your-ground laws, has been colonized by white men.

Swamp Thing:
Slate: This Is Still Happening: David Bernhardt by Jeremy Stahl
As Secretary of the Interior (replacing Ryan Zinke), Bernhardt’s abuses of office are typical of Trump administration corruption, in which regulators are appointed specifically for their willingness to destroy the things they’re officially supposed to protect.

Rationalization Nation:
With Friends Like These: Why (Most) People Don’t Convert (Podcast, 34 min)
When we make bad choices we must, unconsciously, create fictions that absolve us of responsibility, restoring our belief that we are smart, moral, and right—a belief that can keep us on a course that is dumb, immoral, and wrong.

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Voting in a Pandemic Year
Help make the 2020 election free, fair, accessible, and secure, from the Brennan Center for Justice

Learn More About Candidates and Issues! 

• Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) 
• Americans of Conscience Checklist
• ClimateRecovery.org

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