Union workers booed Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder during a celebration for the 2012 Ford Focus at the Michigan Assembly Plant.
"Snyder has taken heat from organized labor in recent weeks over plans to tax pensions and his support for a new law allowing state-appointed emergency financial managers to void public union contracts deemed unaffordable for struggling municipalities or school districts," Mlive.com noted.
This video is from WXYZ, broadcast March 17, 2011.
At times during the last five or so years, some of us have been living in the future. Sometimes just a day or two, but at other times it has felt like a week or perhaps even a month. During rare moments of immense clarity, it's like being in a time warp, a year or two ahead of the rest of the world.
I'm talking about those of us, both with and without prominent public platforms, who have consistently sounded the alarm about Trumpism, American neofascism and the escalating crises to come. We were mostly ignored, and sometimes mocked and derided. The truth, one suspects, was too painful to accept for those Americans who for reasons of self-interest, cowardice, willful ignorance or indifference found it convenient to ignore our warnings.
It's clear that far too many Americans held tightly to the illusion of "normalcy" and a naive faith in the "institutions" of democracy. That was a bit like trying to hold onto a life preserver in a hurricane.
For those who have understood the rising tides of American neofascism and the associated evils of Trump and his movement, the entire experience has often felt futile and frustrating. So why do we persist?
I can speak only for myself. Black Americans have many checks paid to us by American society — figuratively stuffed into our pockets and wallets, or hidden in shoeboxes or mattresses — marked with the words "insufficient funds." America's democracy is a work in progress; Black people are arguably its main architects and caretakers. Black folks have saved America from its own worse impulses many times over. That relationship is emotionally, physically and financially abusive. But we soldier on loving this country, because it is our own and we have built it with our stolen labor, creativity, genius, suffering, loss and pain.
As James Baldwin explained, "I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." I take that wisdom as my motivation when I feel my energy beginning to wane.
We of the Cassandra coalition warned that Donald Trump and his movement would bring destruction to the United States. We were correct.
We warned that Trump and his movement would cause pain and ruin that few could imagine possible in the "greatest country on Earth." We were correct.
We warned that Trump had shown himself to be a mentally unstable white supremacist enamored of violence, and that his evil pathologies would infect an entire country. We were correct again.
We warned that Trump was clearly a fascist and an authoritarian, as well as a malignant narcissist and perhaps even a sociopath or psychopath who feels no loyalty to anyone but himself. We were repeatedly proven to be correct.
We told you that Trump, the Republican Party and their followers posed an existential threat to America democracy. I hardly need to belabor the point
In too many ways, Trump and the larger white right's antisocial and destructive behavior has become so normalized that the continuous "revelations" about the criminal aberrations of the Trump regime are losing their power to move the public and the political class. This is a classic example of the rule of diminishing returns, but it does not make what has been unleashed by the Age of Trump any less dangerous.
As reported by CNN and other media outlets, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book about the presidential transition period, "Peril," reveals that Donald Trump was so out of control, dangerous and apparently unhinged after his defeat last November that Gen. Mark Milley and other senior military and civilian leaders made a sort of private pact to protect America and the world from him.
"Peril" details that after Trump's coup attempt and his followers' attack on the Capitol, Milley "felt no absolute certainty that the military could control or trust Trump and believed it was his job as the senior military officer to think the unthinkable and take any and all necessary precautions." Milley described those days after Jan. 6 as the "absolute darkest moment of theoretical possibility."
Woodward and Costa also report that Milley spoke to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who agreed that Trump was "crazy" and had been so "for a long time." It's hardly a secret that Trump is widely viewed as mentally unstable by Washington insiders and the political class, including members of his own party.
Milley and other national security officials were concerned that Trump would use the country's military, up to and including nuclear weapons, to start a war with China or Iran. The results would have been immensely damaging to world peace in security, at the very least, and could have led to a cataclysm. To prevent such an outcome, Milley reached out to the senior commander of the Chinese military to reassure him that the situation was under control and Trump would not be allowed to do something reckless.
Around the same time, then-CIA Director Gina Haspel reportedly told Milley, "We are on the way to a right-wing coup. The whole thing is insanity. He is acting out like a six-year-old with a tantrum."
In so many ways, these "revelations" about Trump and his regime's misdeeds are like the picture on the front of a jigsaw puzzle box. We know what the final image will look like, but still need to put together the pieces. So the end result is something of an anticlimax.
Most important, perhaps, that picture is a damning portrait of America's political class. As a group, its members understood that Donald Trump and his regime were an existential threat to American democracy. For various reasons, they did little or nothing about it.
Of course, most leading Republicans were complicit, if not active conspirators, with Donald Trump and his malevolent plots. But senior Democrats also knew of Trump's dangers to American democracy and society. Like President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland today, they did not act with any urgency to investigate and prosecute Trump and his Republican confederates, or to hold them accountable for their crimes against democracy and the American people.
Many journalists and others in the news media likewise understood that Trump and his regime were immensely dangerous to democracy, the rule of law, the Constitution and American society. Again, too many of them chose to stay silent or to speak of such things only indirectly or through euphemism.
Much the same can be said of America's national security officials. There were certainly honorable whistleblowers, but there were not enough of them, nor did they sound the call clearly enough. Courage was in short supply when the country most needed it.
The coroner's report on American democracy will list many causes of death. Near the top of that list will be a failure of political and moral leadership.
As the Trumpist movement escalates its assault on American democracy and society, the country's political and leadership class cannot reasonably claim the defense of ignorance, or protest that this was all so "unprecedented" and came as a total surprise.
America in the Age of Trump and beyond is like a darker version of the famous folk tale about the Boy Who Cried Wolf. But in this 21st century dystopian version of that classic story, the boy is an adult, and he was telling the truth about the wolf — or rather the pack of wolves, which has begun attacking and eating the villagers. Instead of fighting back or defending themselves, the townspeople and their leaders just look away and go about their daily business, having convinced themselves that ignoring the wolves will somehow keep them safe. Once the wolves' bellies are full, they reason, they won't eat anyone else and will wander away, and gradually life will get back to "normal." But there is no normal to get back to, and the wolves cannot be so easily satisfied. That story does not end well for the village and its people.
With millions of people across the United States facing lapsed eviction moratoria, joblessness, and expired unemployment benefits as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush and Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday unveiled a bill to help keep renters in their homes.
The pair led dozens of lawmakers in introducing the Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 (pdf), which would clarify that the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the statutory authority to implement an eviction moratorium in the interest of public health, and call on him to do so in response to the current emergency.
"Housing is a human right, not a bargaining chip to let fall between bureaucratic cracks."
—Rep. Cori Bush
The bill, if passed, would direct HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to implement a national moratorium that automatically "applies to all residential eviction filings, hearings, judgments, and execution of judgments," and would remain in effect for at least 60 days after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Housing is a human right, not a bargaining chip to let fall between bureaucratic cracks," declared Bush (D-Mo.), who was previously homeless and has led multiple legislative proposals to address housing insecurity, including the Unhoused Bill of Rights.
Noting that the virus has killed over 670,000 people nationwide and infected millions more Americans, leaving an unknown number "permanently disabled from its aftereffects," Bush argued that "as the Delta variant continues to force individuals to quarantine, close schools, and stifle businesses, we must do all we can to save lives."
"That starts with keeping every person safely housed," she added. "The Keeping Renters Safe of 2021 will save lives and give us more time: time for renters to receive financial assistance, time for the economy to fully recover, and time for the pandemic to finally come to an end."
As Warren (D-Mass.) put it: "This pandemic isn't over, and we have to do everything we can to protect renters from the harm and trauma of needless eviction, which upends the lives of those struggling to get back on their feet."
"Pushing hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes will only exacerbate this public health crisis, and cause economic harm to families, their communities, and our overall recovery," the former bankruptcy law professor warned. "Congress must pass the Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 to put the eviction moratorium back in place and clarify that HHS has the authority to protect renters throughout this public health crisis. Safe housing saves lives."
Their proposal comes after months of uncertainty over whether renters would be evicted during the public health crisis due to a series of actions by all three branches of the U.S. government.
In late July, just three days before the expiration of a national eviction moratorium that was in effect, President Joe Biden's White House called on lawmakers to extend it, claiming that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling prevented the administration from doing so directly.
After the Democrat-controlled Congress failed to act to prevent evictions—in spite of pressure from Bush and other progressives who slept on the steps of the U.S. Capitol—the Biden administration took a new approach to a moratorium, which was also blocked by the court.
Meanwhile, Congress and its state and local partners have struggled to rapidly distribute billions of dollars in pandemic-related federal rental assistance—an issue for which Bush has also proposed legislative fixes.
"With millions of vulnerable renters at risk of being unhoused as Covid-19 deaths spike nationwide, Congress must act with urgency to prevent the impending eviction crisis and the trauma that would accompany it," said Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), a co-sponsor of the new bill. "Without collective action, Covid-19 will continue to spread, lives and homes will continue to be lost, and the hurt our communities are experiencing will only get worse."
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.)—another co-sponsor who joined Bush and Pressley on the Capitol steps last month—called out the Supreme Court's far-right majority for its "dangerous, partisan decision" striking down the administration's last-ditch effort to avert a national eviction crisis and emphasized Congress' responsibility to act now.
"In the world's richest nation, no one should have to experience housing insecurity—especially not during a deadly pandemic with the Delta variant ravaging our communities," Jones said Tuesday. "We have a moral obligation to ensure every person remains safe and housed for the duration of this pandemic and long after. That's exactly what our bill, the Keeping Renters Safe Act, would do."
In addition to five other progressive senators and dozens more House Democrats, the bill is supported by 82 organizations, including the National Coalition for the Homeless, National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), People's Action, Sunrise Movement, and Working Families Party.
Warning that the Supreme Court's latest decision "will have devastating and long-lasting consequences," NLIHC president and CEO Diane Yentel called on Congress to urgently pass Bush and Warren's bill.
"Without the moratorium in place," she said, "families will be pushed deeper into poverty, communities will struggle with increased spread of Covid-19, and our country will have a harder time containing the virus."
Los Angeles is finally getting a museum for movies -- and it's about time, said Tom Hanks, as he welcomed journalists to a special pre-opening event Tuesday.
The world capital of filmmaking and home of Hollywood boasts museums for everything from natural history to selfies, but until now has never had one dedicated to the silver screen.
After decades of delays, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opens to the public next week.
"It matters for Los Angeles to have this film museum," said double-Oscar winner Hanks, who serves as a trustee.
"We all know that films are made everywhere in the world, and they are wonderful films. And there are other cities with film museums.
"But with all due respect, a place like Los Angeles, created by the Motion Picture Academy... this museum has really got to be the Parthenon of such places."
Upon opening, the museum -- run by the Oscar-awarding Academy -- will be the largest film-dedicated museum in North America.
Drawing on some $390 million funding from Hollywood institutions old and new -- including Disney, Warner and Netflix -- and beyond, the building was designed by famed architect Renzo Piano.
Piano reworked a historic 1930s department store to house the museum's main galleries.
He added the gleaming, orb-shaped David Geffen Theater, which appears to hover above the museum's courtyard, inviting some obvious comparisons to the "Star Wars" films.
"Don't call this the Death Star!" joked Piano, at Tuesday's press conference.
"Call it the Zeppelin. A Zeppelin to take you [to] a different world."
The museum presents a broad overview of more than a century of motion pictures from around the world.
Modern Tinseltown treasures include costumes from "Bram Stoker's Dracula," an orc from "The Lord of the Rings," the amphibian man from "The Shape of Water," and "Star Wars" droids C-3PO and R2-D2.
Older heirlooms include a "Rosebud" sled from "Citizen Kane," regularly named the best film ever made.
Only three wooden sleds were ever made -- on set, director Orson Welles wasn't happy with the first take, but wrapped filming after the second was thrown onto a furnace for the film's climactic scene, meaning the third survived.
"Do we need a movie museum? Yeah. Because we need to celebrate everything that this town has brought to the world," said Hanks.
The museum's temporary space opens with an exhibition of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's work, leading visitors through a "tree tunnel" inspired by classic "My Neighbor Totoro" to see sketches of flying castles and early character designs.
"We want to bring through all of the international and diverse stories of moviemaking through our galleries," museum director Bill Kramer told AFP.
After a star-studded opening gala Saturday, the museum opens to the public on September 30.
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