'Of the people, by the people, and for the people'
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows inadvertently, but perfectly, captured the difference between the Republican National Convention and the Convention on Founding Principles this morning when he said, "Nobody outside of the Beltway really cares." He was talking about the Hatch Act, and his cynical implication is that ordinary Americans don't care about laws intended to thwart partisanship and corruption in government. He's wrong. We care, and you should too. Brave Americans fought for their freedom over such issues. If you agree, please join us for CFP's third night at 8:30pm ET this evening.
Follow @principlescon, use the hashtag #cfp2020, and watch here:
— On our website
— On our YouTube channel
— On Facebook Live via the CFP page
Please join us! —Mindy Finn
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1. 'Welcome to the sane convention'
The second night of the Convention on Founding Principles showcased the 13 principles drafted by convention delegates, a few of whom spoke with host Shermichael Singleton to explain their development. Returning for thoughtful analysis of the issues were Evan McMullin, Mindy Finn, Heath Mayo, Brad Traywick, and Reed Howard. The program also featured speeches by former FBI Director James Comey, former assistant Surgeon General Penny Slade Sawyer, "Fix the System" Managing Director Nilmini Rubin, and former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, as well as a video tribute to the late Sen. John McCain. —Convention on Founding Principles
— When people feel they aren't being heard, there is chaos. Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman spoke at length about the reforms needed to restore Americans' trust in government, with a focus on voting rights and transparency. Many of our problems have solutions, she said. We just need to put facts and patriotism over politics to get there.
— Electoral reform, democracy reform, voting reform. Expanding on that theme, both former Rep. David Jolly and The Institute for Political Innovation founder Katherine Gehl spoke about how our electoral system can be creatively overhauled to reward solutions, not partisan fights.
— "Trump is a symptom of a sick system." Chess champion and human rights activist Garry Kasparov warned that democracies don't always end in violent coups or dramatic assassinations. Instead, they slowly erode over time, when those in power are able to use the levers of government for personal gain. —The Washington Post
MORE: DN Ed Board: In polarized America, the country still believes in its founding ideals —Deseret News
2. Lockwood: Kenosha didn't happen in a vacuum
"This issue is a symptom of a more significant, more systemic problem involving employment, wages, lack of mental health services, drug use, and lack of education. These issues disproportionately affect Black people." —CNN
Ed. Note: Denise Lockwood has covered southeastern Wisconsin for CNI Newspapers, Patch, the Kenosha News, and the Milwaukee Business Journal. She currently owns and operates the Racine County Eye, an independent local news website.
MORE: Seventeen-year-old in custody, accused of shooting 3 people, killing 2 during Kenosha protest —ABC News
3. Day 2 of RNC draws House scrutiny
Speakers at last night's Republican National Convention included Sen. Rand Paul, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and several members of President Trump's family—wife Melania, son Eric, and daughter Tiffany. But it's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's speech that raised eyebrows as a potential violation of the Hatch Act. Rep. Joaquin Castro, chair of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations, has raised concerns over Pompeo's taking time during official diplomatic travel in the Middle East to record political remarks. —The Wall Street Journal
— Pardon me? Presidents don't typically act in their official capacity during a political convention, but then again, Trump isn't exactly typical. Last night, he granted a full pardon to Jon Ponder, a bank robber convicted on federal charges in 2004, who later founded a nonprofit dedicated to helping inmates better integrate into society. "Jon's life is a testament to the power of redemption," Trump said. —The Daily Beast
— "It's not so easy. You've been through a lot." In a second highly unusual convention event, Trump presided over a naturalization ceremony for five new U.S. citizens at the White House. "Today, America rejoices as we welcome five absolutely incredible new members into our great American family," he said. "You follow the rules, you obey the laws, you learned our history, embraced our values, and proved yourselves to be men and women of the highest integrity," he added. —The Hill
— Speaker cut. Mary Ann Mendoza, an "angel mom" who was scheduled to speak about her son's 2014 death at the hands of a drunk driver in the country illegally, was pulled from the program at the last minute. Mendoza, a member of the Trump campaign's advisory board, tweeted to her more than 40,000 Twitter followers yesterday, "Do yourself a favor and read this thread," which laid out a fevered, anti-Semitic view of the world. —The Daily Beast
MORE: Miller: What Pompeo and Kushner are up to —CNN
4. The battle over QAnon
Reps. Denver Riggleman and Tom Malinowski introduced a bipartisan resolution yesterday condemning QAnon, the sprawling conspiracy theory that posits that President Trump and his allies are working with the military to expose a shadowy cabal of elites who control U.S. politics and run child trafficking rings. "It's time for us to come together across party lines to say that QAnon has no place in our nation’s political discourse," Malinowski, a Democrat, said. Riggleman, one of the most vocal opponents of the theory within the GOP, called QAnon "a danger and a threat that has no place in our country's politics." —The Hill
— The president requests your presence. Guess who received a White House invite to attend Donald Trump's acceptance speech for the Republican nomination? None other than "future Republican star" Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene, who is running for Congress in Georgia, embraces QAnon and has spread conspiracy theories related to 9/11, "Pizzagate," and the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. She also has questioned the right of Muslims to serve in Congress and said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be executed for "treason." —MSNBC
— Not QAnon, but still fringey. Remember Ammon Bundy? He and his father, rancher Cliven Bundy, are two key figures in an anti-government militia movement that had a standoff with federal authorities in 2014. Ammon Bundy was arrested at the Idaho State House yesterday for disrupting a meeting of the legislature. He has been actively protesting pandemic-related restrictions for months. —Associated Press
MORE: QAnon, the conspiracy theory creeping into US politics —Bloomberg
5. Sargent: Lies and corruption in plain sight
"This is not a moment we should allow to slide by. Taken along with the blatant lawbreaking at the GOP convention on Tuesday, it all demonstrates a level of seething contempt for our political system and institutions—and even for the very idea that there should be baseline standards in political competition—that the media still struggles to convey faithfully." —The Washington Post
6. 'This change in policy will kill'
Infectious disease experts are not only confused but also troubled by a sudden change in testing guidelines made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, which says people without COVID-19 symptoms may not need a test—even if they’ve been exposed to the coronavirus. A federal health official says the change came as a result of pressure from the Trump Administration. "It's coming from the top down," the unidentified official said. —USA Today
— Politicization at the FDA too? The Food and Drug Administration's chief, Dr. Stephen Hahn, has apologized for using a misleading and widely criticized statistic on Sunday to claim that a COVID-19 treatment the agency had just authorized would save 35 lives out of every 100 people who get the treatment. "What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction," Hahn said. —NPR
— COVID concerns decrease, Trump approval increases. According to a CNBC/Change Research poll, 66% of likely voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin say they have serious concerns about COVID-19, compared to 69% two weeks ago, while 48% say they approve of the job Trump is doing, compared to 46% two weeks ago. However, the improvement has not helped the president overcome an overall polling deficit against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. —CNBC
— Furlough canceled. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has called off an expected furlough of more than 13,400 employees that would have brought much of the agency's work to a halt. Joe Edlow, the agency's deputy director, said USCIS made the decision due to a higher-than-expected demand in immigration applications. —The Wall Street Journal
MORE: Maine wedding COVID-19 outbreak linked to clusters at nursing home and jail —The Boston Globe
7. Hamilton: How New Zealand is beating COVID-19
"Within 48 hours, New Zealand's system had identified 86% of the 'close contacts' of a positive case in Auckland. Five days after the initial case had been discovered, contact tracing had identified 49 people who tested positive for COVID-19, and 1,322 close contacts of those cases. They all consented to the government’s request to begin immediate 14-day self-isolation and submit to testing. Those in Auckland were asked to return to a near-lockdown overnight. Moreover, they did it. The government knows it can maintain such policies only with the support of a willing public—which it's maintaining with the help of new wage subsidies, leave benefits, and mortgage payment deferrals." —The Washington Post
Ed. Note: Rebecca Hamilton is an associate professor of law at American University’s Washington College of Law.
MORE: Desai & Rothwell: Most Americans are misinformed on COVID-19. That makes them too cautious or too careless —USA Today
8. Vote-by-mail counter-messaging
Two super PACs are launching a $7.5 million advertising campaign to counter the negative messages about vote-by-mail coming out of the White House. The new campaign by Priorities USA Action and the Senate Majority PAC encourages voters to request mail-in ballots in several key swing states—Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The ads will specifically target people who have a history of only voting in person, new voters, and voters of color. —CNN
— Nursing home residents face unique challenges. How to vote during a pandemic poses a dilemma for Americans with health risks who are concerned whether the Postal Service will be able to deliver mail-in ballots on time. Such concerns are multiplied for the roughly 2.2 million Americans living in nursing homes or assisted-living communities, who are part of the most politically engaged demographic in the country. —ProPublica
— It's all good. President Trump's campaign manager broke with the president on vote-by-mail yesterday, saying he is comfortable with the practice—with one caveat. "I think in the states in which mail-in voting has already occurred, it's fine by me," Bill Stepien said. "They've shown in most instances that it works—it's been proven over years." —Politico
— Prepare for a messy Election Day. If primary elections are any guide, this year's presidential election won't be the neat affair we're used to in the U.S. At least 550,000 mail-in primary votes were rejected across 30 states that have made the data available—in most cases, because of problems with signatures or the ballots arrived late. The expected increase in mail-in voting will likely slow down vote-counting in November. —The Fulcrum
MORE: 2020 elections: Be wary of these five disinformation tactics —Forbes
9. Ray: An attack on the USPS is an attack on democracy
"[B]ased on the Constitution, all of the fiscal responsibility talk about USPS is a moot point. Simply put, USPS should not be viewed as a casualty of financial inefficiencies as much as it should be viewed as a constitutional public good—a public service—that is necessary for democracy and deserves adequate funding to fully operate for the American people." —Brookings
Ed. Note: Rashawn Ray is a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institute.
10. An American Story: Teachers make social distancing fun for students
— Patricia Dovi and Kim Martin of St. Barnabas Episcopal School spent a week redesigning the desks, which feature construction paper tires, headlights, and license plates. The desks have three-sided plastic dividers that serve as windshields and side windows as well as sneeze guards. The desks, which are spaced far apart, are the only place where students are permitted to remove their face masks.
— "We had a little meet-the-teacher session and we gave them keys to their car and told them just like in a motor vehicle, you have to stay in your car at all times and wear a mask when you get out in case you come across hazardous conditions. So we're playing on this vehicle concept to turn social distancing fun and more kid-friendly," Martin said.
— The school paid for the desk shields, but will reimburse the teachers for the $200 spent on other materials to transform the desks into vehicles. —CNN (via Karunavirus)
Ed. Note: Would you like to suggest "An American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to editor@thetopline.com. Thank you!
We must honor our founding fathers for the vision they had that created our country. We must also remember that in order to do so they bargained with the lives of half a million enslaved people, their children and their grandchildren. Thomas Jefferson makes it clear in his book "Wolf by the Ears" that they did this with full understanding of the moral implications. As we continue to honor our founders, let's begin to give grace, understanding, and honor to the descendants of those whose blood, sweat, tears, and lives were the chief bargaining chip for the creation of our union. The southern states would not have joined without their sacrifice. We still grapple with the moral issue that was avoided: unity, security, and economic prosperity for some, or freedom and equal opportunity for all? Let's move forward to that more perfect union and help the dream of our founders be fulfilled. —Karel M., Washington
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