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Election Lies: Trump becomes more untethered from reality in his latest attack on democracy

Ballot counting in the 2020 presidential election continues, although it sure looks like Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris are going to win. What has stood out on November 5 was the degree to which Trump and his team have governed by creating their own reality. Now that that image is being challenged, they are flailing. Knowing he would lose the popular vote, Trump intended to win by arguing that Democrats had “stolen” his victory. Before the election, he talked about the dangers of mail-in ballots, setting up the idea that they would somehow be...

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The gruesome truth of who we are: Half of America willingly voted to keep a monster in power

“I am just grief stricken by how many Americans are OK with racist dog whistling and white supremacy and cutesy nods to white nationalism. Even if 45 is gone, that all stays. This is who we are.” A friend, the White mother of a Black child, posted this on Facebook on election night. That last line floored me: This is who we are. I wanted to write back and disagree with her, to argue that this is not who we are, that I chose this country as my second home not just for the opportunities I saw were possible...

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A Sleepless Night: Milwaukee sees massive voter participation in 2020 election

After shattering early voting records, Wisconsin voters from the rural north to the urban southeast came out in force on an unusually warm Election Day, even as coronavirus cases reached new heights and political tensions ran high in the battleground state. Given the high number of absentee ballots, which take longer to process, vote counting extended into Wednesday, November 4. Just over 3 million votes were cast in 2016, and Wisconsin was on pace to exceed that turnout, with more than 1.9 million cast early. “If unofficial results aren’t available until morning, it does not mean something went wrong,”...

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How the Far-Right will continue to threaten the well-being of Americans long after the election

President Trump has made clear his threat to reject the results of an election he loses. Such an eventuality will pose the need for the American people to rally in their millions to remove this malignant authoritarian from office. A broad united front mobilized in street demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins and other non-violent actions may be necessary to defend the most basic democratic integrity of the election. Actually, the need to mobilize a popular rebellion against Trump has been there from day one of his administration. Tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, separating immigrant children from their parents at...

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Someone has to lose: Can a nation of hate swallow the notion of hope?

By Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, IUPUI The American public may not find out who wins the presidential election on November 3, 4, or even 5. But, at some point, we will learn whether Republican Donald Trump is elected to a second term or if Democrat Joe Biden will be the next president. For the winner of the election, the moment of victory brings unbridled joy and acclamation, applause, laughter, hugs and champagne to celebrate the biggest prize in politics. Not so for the loser, who must ultimately accept the responsibility for the defeat. In my book, The Art...

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A History of Mob Rule: How the presidential election could be decided in the streets

The white mobs did not care whom they killed as long as the victims were Black. They murdered people in public with guns and rocks. They set fire to houses and slaughtered families trying to escape the flames. In East St. Louis in July 1917, white vigilantes lynched Blacks with impunity. It was the prelude to what civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson would ultimately call Red Summer. The “red” referred to the blood that ran in the streets. The “summer” actually referred to the months from April to October 1919, when violence against African Americans peaked in this...

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