Covers: Jesus Is Coming Soon

I thought of posting this while watching a show about Eric Clapton today. Blind Willie Johnson made terrific gospel records in the late 1920s.

Voice of America (VOA) update 9/2/20 – updated 5/21/23

Formal federal investigation finds Trump CEO’s over Voice of America repeatedly abused power – my story for NPR https://t.co/MfhRWRNDf4
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) May 21, 2023

A federal watchdog says Michael Pack, former President Donald Trump's pick to oversee the parent agency of the Voice of America, expenditure of $1.6M to investigate his internal critics was a gross waste of taxpayer funds

https://t.co/4snZtd6zNI
— NPR (@NPR) August 20, 2022

Trump has politicized the VOA like he has done to much of the government. It’s disgusting.

Details on the @StateOIG report regarding the previous politically-appointed @USAGMgov CEO who was accused of attempting to politicize @VOANews and other US-funded broadcasters. https://t.co/iyQFKYf32u https://t.co/iK33BwE2x8
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 8, 2021

Eight current or former staffers say the agency has broken down in many ways under Michael Pack — as staffers were swept away and standard budgets weren't approved.

Officials even say they were unable to fulfill orders for toilet paper for a facility.https://t.co/jhMVrrWXFJ
— NPR (@NPR) September 2, 2020

We send this letter with the utmost respect, out of love for @VOANews and our profession. https://t.co/TkcwC1bQNb
— Patsy Widakuswara (@pwidakuswara) August 31, 2020

It isn't the biggest thing in the news but Trump's purges at Voice of America keep getting worse: https://t.co/fCnBM03tOd
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) August 15, 2020

"driving out honest, skilled, talented long serving professional public servants on trumped up charges and replacing them with people of no qualifications whose only attribute is loyalty.

McCarthy couldn’t have done it better.”

3/3https://t.co/oQJy4mfHda
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) August 13, 2020

Taxpayer-funded news outlet Voice of America promotes Mike Pence propaganda in response to Joe Biden’s announcement that Kamala Harris is his running mate. https://t.co/K3J5Zv0Wy3
— Alexandra Chalupa (@AlexandraChalup) August 11, 2020

The new CEO of Voice of America, the federal government’s broadcasting agency, will not extend the visas of the dozens of foreign journalists who work there, NPR reports https://t.co/HSFzVgtQzT
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 10, 2020

The gutting continues. There is no rationale, other than xenophobia, for this move. https://t.co/RHjYe9xelt
— Laura Rosenberger (@rosenbergerlm) July 9, 2020

Federal media agency announces new interim heads after firings by Trump appointeehttps://t.co/tDXlZyDYSe
— Axios (@axios) June 30, 2020

I’ve been trying to learn who is running Voice of America for past 10 days. No luck.

Today, a source tells me, at routine morning call, staff asking Qs about firewall were told there *is* an acting VOA director but his/her identity is "unannounced."

Can you do that in gov’t?
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) June 25, 2020

The heads of four organizations overseen by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) were all dismissed Wednesday night — a move likely to heighten concerns that new Trump-appointed CEO Michael Pack means to turn the agency into a political arm of the administration.
— Michael Holmes (@holmescnn) June 18, 2020

DOJ will charge Broidy

This is big news. Broidy was partnered with DeJoy & Michael Cohen as the 3 Deputy Finance Chairmen for the RNC (for gosh sakes, is every last person affiliated w/the RNC corrupt!). Let’s hope Broidy flips and tells prosecutors any and all dirt he knows on DeJoy. #JusticeMatters https://t.co/63E9FAESu4
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) September 2, 2020

“Elliott Broidy is fantastic,” Trump said a few years ago at his first presidential fundraiser. “Everybody loves Elliott.”

This was *after* Brody pled guilty to bribing NY pension officials. https://t.co/NDW2Cmi4pe
— Eric Umansky (@ericuman) September 1, 2020

Right-wing extremists and evangelicals raising money for Kenosha killer

It’s unbelievable that people would support a kid who apparently murdered two people. Trump won’t disown him either. He went to a Trump rally.

“Christian” fundraising site @GiveSendGo has earned over $250,000 for #Kenosha killer Kyle Rittenhouse.

So #evangelicals have gone from turning a blind eye to #racism to raising money for a murderer? And if you’re pro-life, why raise money for a killer? https://t.co/ije0yRKY3o
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) August 31, 2020

The same Christians who lynched Black people after church Sunday morning. https://t.co/QGXf8txf0M
— Benjamin Dixon (@BenjaminPDixon) August 30, 2020

Trump liked a tweet describing Kyle Rittenhouse, a supporter of his who is charged with murdering two protesters in Kenosha, as “a good example of why I decided to vote for Trump” pic.twitter.com/aqIACrwIb8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 30, 2020

While Tucker Carlson is praising the Kenosha killer – here is his boy Kyle Rittenhouse sucker punching a GIRL a few months back…pic.twitter.com/wgOeUQdVDC
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) August 29, 2020

Trump had a chance to condemn murderer Kyle Rittenhouse. He didn't.

There it is.

Like the McCloskeys, charged with unlawful use of weapon after they aimed guns at protestors, he is now a Republican icon.

This is the present & future of the party. White vigilante violence.
— Wajahat "Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic" Ali (@WajahatAli) August 29, 2020

Maryland official fired over social media posts defending teen shooting suspect in Wisconsin https://t.co/wgTtRFvkbe
— WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore (@wbaltv11) August 29, 2020

ASU student group College Republicans United is raising funds for Kenosha protest shooter Kyle Rittenhouse. The group told an @azcentral reporter “they do not speak to journalists with pronouns on their Twitter page" and to "get a real job.” https://t.co/U87WUCvqC3
— Rachel Leingang 🌵 (@rachelleingang) August 29, 2020

College Republicans, a GOP candidate, and conservative media are all proudly supporting a teenager who shot and killed Black Lives Matter protesters.

The fact that elements of one political party openly support extrajudicial killings is terrifying, and will only lead to more. pic.twitter.com/H8XHUPfnsy
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 29, 2020

Further evidence @realDonaldTrump is fanning the flames of violence. https://t.co/sZSPSyjxKd
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) August 31, 2020

Trump’s payroll tax fiasco

Employees will get more money now but less money next year when the tax is recouped. It’s confusing and hard to implement. Making people think they are getting more money is another Trump scam. It also doesn’t help the millions of people who are unemployed. It will severely damage Social Security if the tax cut is permanent.

https://twitter.com/SethHanlon/status/1300512213871087619?s=20

Trump’s proposal to permanently terminate the payroll tax could defund Social Security and eliminate benefits for senior citizens and people with disabilities in <4 years. That’s not Bernie Sanders talking. That’s what the Social Security Administration recently reported to us.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 31, 2020

How that payroll tax break will work: IRS says companies have the responsibility to stop collecting some payroll taxes that would normally be due Sept. 1–Dec. 31. Then co’s must collect twice as much from workers’ paychecks early next year. @laurapdavison https://t.co/ZmiIuRRR2a
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 28, 2020

https://twitter.com/SethHanlon/status/1299456489665581057?s=20

Trump’s push to defer payroll taxes could lead to smaller paychecks for workers in early 2021, Treasury signals https://t.co/p0rbzkC1AU
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 29, 2020

https://twitter.com/SethHanlon/status/1300511548943851520?s=20

https://twitter.com/NorskLadyWolf/status/1299897659537461249?s=20

https://twitter.com/SethHanlon/status/1300510132376403968?s=20

Icymi last week Social Security’s Chief Actuary said trump’s plan to eliminate payroll taxes will deplete the S.S. Trust Fund by 2023, “with no ability to pay benefits thereafter.”

Translation: trump is openly planning to eliminate Social Security. pic.twitter.com/LNKmQ4n4Fu
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) August 31, 2020

The payroll tax deferral takes effect Sept. 1. What it really means for your paycheck https://t.co/ZIe68QggYQ
— CNBC (@CNBC) August 31, 2020

Scalise retweets altered video

Another altered video tweeted by Republicans

We’re all talking about the Scalise video of @AdyBarkan being on Twitter but it was also posted on Facebook. And Facebook did nothing.

Seems to be a clear violation of Facebook’s rules. pic.twitter.com/jJPW65nACY
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) August 31, 2020

Twitter slaps 'manipulated media' tag on video Tweeted by @SteveScalise, which inserted the words “for police” into @AdyBarkan’s question about funding for public safety and mental health services, using the same computer-generated voice. https://t.co/vZOo3rXScW
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) August 30, 2020

.@SteveScalise,

These are not my words.

I have lost my ability to speak, but not my agency or my thoughts.

You and your team have doctored my words for your own political gain.

Please remove this video immediately. You owe the entire disability community an apology. https://t.co/N6G5RgMXlO
— Ady Barkan (@AdyBarkan) August 30, 2020

.@SpeakerPelosi calls on @SteveScalise to take down video that deceptively edited @AdyBarkan comments & @JoeBiden response https://t.co/3IPGXTZPKu
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) August 30, 2020

GOP’s Steve Scalise may be in ethics trouble for violating rules of not posting ‘deep fake’ videos https://t.co/lFPH8y3U5o
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) August 31, 2020

Scalise allies and Trumpians are trying to justify the ad by circulating a truncated transcript of the interview. They only include the segments here in bold, leaving out where Biden explains this is not the same defunding the police. Shameful behavior. pic.twitter.com/wvtHHST1ph
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) August 30, 2020

Scalise on altered Biden video: 'It shouldn't have been edited' https://t.co/xQz4xdhNIJ
— Remove#45 (@greggo34) August 31, 2020

Harry Belafonte on the manipulated video featuring him tweeted by Scavino, a dep WH chief of staff: “They keep stooping lower and lower. A technical glitch in an interview I did 9 years ago now becomes another one of their lies, more of their fake news…” 1/
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 31, 2020

Trump retweets tweet that lies about attack

It wasn’t a Black Lives Matter or Antifa attack. It was from 2019. Trump is a liar and he retweets liars. We’re going to have to deal with his avalanche of dishonesty during the campaign.

Trump retweeted footage of a Black man violently pushing a white woman on a subway platform under the caption, “Black Lives Matter/Antifa” — but the man was not affiliated with either group, and the video was shot last October. ⁦@AshleyRParker⁩ https://t.co/WKCZSny16P
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) September 7, 2020

24 hours on Twitter:
– Trump shares tweet that falsely blames Black Lives Matter for random 2019 crime
– White House assistant Dan Scavino shares fake video of nonexistent Biden interview
– Trump campaign snips new Biden quote wildly dishonestly
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 31, 2020

Specifically, the video was posted as part of a white nationalist's long thread of videos of black people assaulting white people. When I contacted him, he said he's an advocate of whites forming their own "nations" for "protection" from minorities. https://t.co/JkNk8SrBvQ
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 31, 2020

This retweet by the man we are ashamed to call the president of the United States is the most blatant act of racial incitement in the history of that office. Not even Andrew Johnson went this far. pic.twitter.com/5vxB1rbaoH
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 31, 2020

That’s because this is a full on white supremacist presidency, and he’s now selling the “race war” message of nazis. https://t.co/Cl88jImZto
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) August 31, 2020

Retweeted by Pres. @realDonaldTrump, this video is from the NYC @MTA in Oct 2019 and has NOTHING to do with Black Lives Matter or Antifa.

Ref: https://t.co/hLrKOj4vOT https://t.co/CVUhyuQBOX pic.twitter.com/FbgbtTK8nM
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) August 30, 2020

Economic inequality

The path toward economic recovery in the U.S. has become sharply divided, with wealthier Americans earning and saving at record levels while the poorest struggle to pay their bills and put food on the table https://t.co/njtmcvZIzB
— POLITICO (@politico) September 7, 2020

My favorite fun fact that few people know, if the minimum wage had kept pace with productivity growth since 1968, as it did from 1938 to 1968, it would be $24 an hour today https://t.co/0zkt61Vrh3
— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) September 6, 2020

A simple way to depict the incredible accumulation of wealth at the top:

In 1980, on average the top 1% richest Americans owned 70 times the average US income in wealth

Today the top 1% richest Americans own 200 times the average US income in wealth pic.twitter.com/ZmR7Ua78w5
— Gabriel Zucman (@gabriel_zucman) August 30, 2020

It’s pretty hard to stun me. This stunned me. pic.twitter.com/rvuZI5lQXn
— Moshik Temkin (@moshik_temkin) August 17, 2020

"White households saw a 43% increase in their net worth between 1995 and 2016 while Black households’ net worth remained flat." pic.twitter.com/rR9sMZRxHf
— Pedro Nicolaci da Costa (@pdacosta) July 19, 2020

America, we have a problem https://t.co/E0oY203FDp by @serwer and @MaxZahn_ pic.twitter.com/OCBxBDzc6n
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) July 11, 2020

Remember, the richest 1% of Americans is responsible for 70% of all unpaid taxes.

It's the wealthy and corporations who are gaming the system, not the poor, sick, and elderly.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) July 10, 2020

Taking into account not just workers, the wage gap between Black and white American men is the same as it was in the 1950s, ⁦@DLeonhardt⁩ calculates. https://t.co/nijh5AH4k5
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 5, 2020

These 4 figures show the stark racial economic inequality across the U.S. https://t.co/5LRXG4Hm4p
— CNBC (@CNBC) June 30, 2020

Black families in the U.S. have 90% less wealth than white families—the gap has worsened over time (via @CNBCMakeIt) https://t.co/NPQQjaSOxL
— CNBC (@CNBC) June 27, 2020

In 2016, Black Americans earned 65% as much as white Americans at the median, up slightly from 59% in 1970 https://t.co/6fse2MAPfk See more on inequality at https://t.co/PrxB28cXSb pic.twitter.com/hx1QBPYQ7w
— Rakesh Kochhar (@RakeshKochhar) June 26, 2020

Thread: Published this piece yesterday aiming to dispel a couple of pesky myths about race/inequality in the US. One of which being that the Civil Rights Movement ended racial economic inequities. It did not. https://t.co/fJv7OG2w94
— Aaron Ross Coleman (@arcwrites) June 20, 2020

Rosenstein limited Mueller

He prevented a full investigation of Trump’s connections to Russia. This is disgraceful.

New reporting: Rosenstein prevented Mueller from pursuing a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's Russia ties & limited him to the criminal investigation at hand, telling him "this is a criminal investigation. Do your job, and then shut it down.” https://t.co/EHhZ99V4Kj
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) August 30, 2020

The fix was always in with Rosenstein. He only appointed a special counsel after he got caught issuing a fraudulent memo to take credit for firing Comey. He panicked. But, as long as the boss was willing to not fire him “by tweet,” he was willing to “land this plane.” Nose first. https://t.co/EREaPfCdpw
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) August 30, 2020

EXCLUSIVE: From my new book .. DOJ in '17 secretly curtailed FBI counterintel investigation of Trump financial/personal ties to Russia. DOJ concealed this from FBI at time, leaving FBI w/ impression Mueller would do it. But Mueller ultimately didn't. https://t.co/mEBFCdqIP1
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) August 30, 2020

Good time to point out Rod Rosenstein is now in private practice representing an Israeli tech firm that the Senate Intelligence Committee identified as a foreign interference actor for the Trump Campaign.
— Robert J. DeNault (@robertjdenault) August 30, 2020

This was obvious long ago. Having it confirmed nails the lid on a since-closed coffin. Bob Mueller’s decision to accept so fatally compromised a role without complaint was inexcusable. https://t.co/tzJzNBniYs
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) August 30, 2020

Sad!