By Holly Thomas
TOP STORIES Thursday, August 13
TENNESSEE LAWMAKERS MAKE ACTS OF PROTEST FELONIES
The Tennessee legislature passed a sweeping proposal on Wednesday that would increase penalties against some protesters who have camped outside the statehouse in Nashville for months demanding racial justice and an end to police brutality. State lawmakers in the majority-white Tennessee General Assembly passed the measure in a nearly party-line vote in both chambers. The bill, now headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee, would punish those who illegally camp on state property with a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and the loss of voting rights. [HuffPost]
BIDEN AND HARRIS MAKE FIRST REMARKS AS HISTORIC TICKET
Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris appeared together for the first time as a joint Democratic ticket Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, with a clear general election message: President Donald Trump is a purveyor of crisis. “America is crying out for leadership, yet we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him,” Harris said after being introduced by Biden. “A president who is making every challenge we face even more difficult to solve.” She also made an emotional tribute to her friend Beau Biden. [HuffPost]
FLORIDA SHERIFF IN COVID-19 HOT SPOT DECREES NO FACE MASKS FOR DEPUTIES
Florida Sheriff Billy Woods refuses to be part of a cover-up ― so he is forbidding his deputies and staffers from wearing face masks at work. Woods, the sheriff of Marion County in central Florida, insisted he took the risks of spreading COVID-19 into his decision. “I can already hear the whining and just so you know I did not make this decision easily,” Woods said. Woods’ decision contradicts the overwhelming recommendation of epidemiologists and other health experts who insist that face masks and social distancing are essential to stop the spread of COVID-19. [
HuffPost]
TRUMP REWRITES RULES ON SHOWERHEADS AMID WATER CRISIS
The Energy Department proposed rolling back three-decade-old efficiency standards for showerheads following Trump’s repeated gripes about subpar water pressure while washing his hair. The plan would change the federal definition of a showerhead to allow manufacturers to dramatically increase water use. Under rules Congress passed in 1992 in response to severe droughts, water flow from an entire showerhead is limited to 2.5 gallons per minute. The proposed change would allow manufacturers to apply that restriction to each nozzle on a showerhead. [HuffPost]
PENCE’S ‘GASLIGHTING’ BOAST ABOUT RECORD JOB CREATION BACKFIRES Jaws collectively dropped after Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Trump had “seen us through the worst pandemic in 100 years” and “we’ve already created more jobs in the last three months than Joe Biden and Barack Obama created in their eight years in office.” Twitter users accused the vice president of “gaslighting” and noted how an administration does not create the jobs itself. Other critics highlighted how millions of roles have been lost and the U.S. economy has shrunk by record levels amid the Trump administration’s disastrous response to the pandemic. [HuffPost]
WHAT’S BREWING RIGHT-WING MEDIA IS ALREADY HURLING RACIST, MISOGYNIST FIRE AT HARRIS
Within minutes of Biden’s announcement that Kamala Harris would be his running mate, prominent right-wing voices started pushing the narrative that Harris is the one who’s really in charge. It was a deliberate prelude to launch misogynistic and racist gutter attacks that the right has been unable to make against Biden. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: “Might as well switch the hashtag to #HarrisBiden2020.” Tucker Carlson claimed that Harris would deny COVID-19 vaccines to people who aren’t a “certain color.” A Trump adviser’s bid to compare Harris to Marge Simpson went somewhat awry, however. [HuffPost]
CORPORATE AMERICA’S INVESTMENTS IN CLEAN ENERGY FELL 30% SO FAR THIS YEAR Corporate deals to buy clean electricity decreased by nearly 30% in the U.S. this year as the pandemic’s economic shockwave widened, highlighting the need for dramatic government intervention to cut planet-heating emissions from the power grid. Between January and July, U.S. companies signed deals to buy just 4.3 gigawatts of clean electricity, down from 6 gigawatts during the same period in 2019. [HuffPost]
THE DISMANTLING OF ABORTION RIGHTS HAS ALREADY BEGUN
Earlier this summer, reproductive rights groups were relieved when Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Supreme Court’s liberal justices to find that a Louisiana law that would have left the state with a single abortion clinic was unconstitutional. But it wasn’t all good news. Roberts, who wrote a separate concurring opinion, left the door open for states to enact other onerous anti-abortion laws that could harm patients. And it’s already happening: On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled to allow four previously blocked abortion restrictions to go into effect in Arkansas. [HuffPost]
HOW THE SOUTH BOTCHED SPANISH LANGUAGE OUTREACH ON COVID-19 “I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” the man on the phone stammered in Spanish, his voice cracking. “I’m asking you, please. Whatever you can … I’m desperate for me and my family … Please help us.” María Cruz was already stretched thin. On that June morning, the community organizer had two laptops open and a phone ringing every few minutes with new callers seeking COVID-19 information in Spanish. Her employer, the nonprofit Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, set up the hotline to supplement the lack of translated public health materials in a state with a Latino population of nearly 200,000. [HuffPost]
EVERY ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER WON HER PRIMARY
With IIhan Omar’s race over, all four members of the “Squad” of progressive first-term members of the House have won their primaries, and are all but officially headed back to Washington next year. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York handily dispatched a well-funded challenger in June, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan defeated hers earlier this month. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, is unopposed in her Sept. 1 primary ― as well as the general election in November. Trump, meanwhile, applauded racist QAnon crackpot Marjorie Taylor Greene for her Georgia GOP congressional win. [HuffPost]