[H-PAD] H-PAD Notes 7/27/20: Recent articles of interest; Roll call votes on military budget

[Jim O'Brien]

*Links to Recent Articles of Interest*

*"A Brief History of Dangerous Others"*
<https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/07/27/a-brief-history-of-dangerous-others>
By* Richard Kreitner and Rick Perlstein, **NYR [New York Review of Books'
Daily, *posted July 27
*On the long history of "outside agitators" in the US, from slavery days to
today's Black Lives Matter protests. Richard Kreitner writes for *The
Nation *and has a forthcoming history of secessionist movements in the US.
Rick Perlstein has written several books on American conservatism including*
The Invisible Bridge: the Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan *(Simon &
Schuster, 2014).*

*"How to Ruin an Empire"*
<https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/23/how-to-ruin-a-superpower>
*By Stephen M. Walt, **Foreign Policy, *posted July 23
*A cogent analysis of self-inflicted wounds for the US since the mid-1990s,
"a train wreck of recurring blunders that has accelerated and worsened
under Donald Trump," most spectacularly during the pandemic.The author
teaches international affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of
Government.*.

*"Trump's Push to Skew the Census Builds on a Long History of Politicizing
the Count"*
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/23/trumps-push-skew-census-builds-long-history-politicizing-count>
By* Paul Schor, **Washington Post, *posted July 23
*The author teaches US history at the Universite de Paris and is the author
of *Counting Americans: How the U.S. Census Classified the Nation *(Oxford
U. Press, 2017).*

*"Trump Has Brought America's Dirty Wars Home"*
<https://newrepublic.com/article/158580/trump-portland-dirty-wars>
By* Stuart Schrader, **The New Republic, *posted July 21
*"The authoritarian tactics we've exported around the world in the name of
national security are now being deployed in Portland." The author teaches
sociology at Johns Hopkins University and is the author of *Badges Without
Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing *(U. of
Caiifornia Press, 2019).*

*"Don't Tear Down the Wrong Monuments; Don't Attack Every Holiday"*
<https://historynewsnetwork.org/blog/154378>
<https://historynewsnetwork.org/blog/154378>
By *Jim Loewen, *History News Network, posted July 21
*A short, very readable essay on the nearly simultaneous Union victories at
Gettysburg and Vicksburg on the eve of Independence Day, 1863, and how they
are remembered. The author has written several best-selling books on
history and American race relations.*


*"Shocked by Russia Supporting the Taliban? You Shouldn't Be"*
<https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/shocked-by-russia-supporting-the-taliban-you-shouldnt-be>

By *Andrew J. Bacevich, **The American Conservative, *posted July 15

*"It requires a considerable amount of hypocrisy to profess shock at Putin
taking advantage of difficulties we created for ourselves." The author is a
professor emeritus of history and international relations at Boston
University. *


*"Mask Resistance During a Pandemic Isn't New - In 1918 Many Americans Were
'Slackers'"*
<https://theconversation.com/mask-resistance-during-a-pandemic-isnt-new-in-1918-many-americans-were-slackers-141687>

By *J. Alexander Navarro*, *The Conversation, *posted July 13

*The author is assistant director of the Center for the History of
Medicine, University of Michigan.*


*"Facing America's History of Racism Requires Facing the Origins of 'Race'
as a Concept"* <https://time.com/5865530/history-race-concept>

By *Andrew Murray, **Time, *posted July 10

*The author is a professor of humanities at Wesleyan University and author
of *The Anatomy of Blackness: Science and Slavery in the Age of
Enlightenment *(Johns Hopkins U. Press, 2011).*


*"Americans Are the Dangerous, Disease-Carrying Foreigners Now"*
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/08/covid-travel-bans-americans>
*By Erika Lee, Washington Post, *posted July 8
*Historical background on US immigration policies based on fear of
immigrants bringing contagious diseases. The author is director of the
Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota and
author of *America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United
States *(Basic Books, 2019).*

*"In 'Russian Bounty' Story, Evidence-Free Claims from Nameless Spies
Became Fact Overnight"*
<https://fair.org/home/in-russian-bounty-story-evidence-free-claims-from-nameless-spies-became-fact-overnight>
By* Alan MacLean, **FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), *posted July
3
*Critiques the mainstream press reporting of unverified claims about
Russian bounties paid to the Taliban. The author is the author of *Propaganda
in the Information Age *(Routledge, 2019).*

*Thanks to Rusti Eisenberg and an anonymous reader for flagging some of the
above articles. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48 at gmail.com
<jimobrien48 at gmail.com>.*


*Congressional Update: Roll Calls on the Military Budget*
Here are links to the roll call votes on key bills in Congress dealing with
the country's huge military budget *(from Carolyn "Rusti" Eisenberg and
Prasannan Parthasarathi, H-PAD Legislative Coordinators).*


*House of Representatives:*

1. On the *Lee-Pocan Amendment* to cut 10% of military authorization and
redirect it to low-income communities (defeated 324-93
<http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2020&rollnumber=148>):

2. On the entire FY 2021 $740 billion *National Defense Authorization Bill*
(approved 295-125
<http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2020&rollnumber=152>)


*Senate:*

1. On the *Sanders Amendment* to cut 10% aof military authorization and
redirect it to low-income communities (defeated 23-77
<https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=2&vote=00135>):


2. On the entire *National Defense Authorization Bill *(approved 86-14
<https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=2&vote=00140>):



*Taking Action:* There will be more upcoming votes on the Defense budget at
a time when funds are urgently needed for domestic purposes. *CALL your
Senators and elected officials and give feedback on recent votes. *Keep in
mind that their staff keep a count of calls. *Capital Switchboard
202-224-3121*
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