When Nations Become Mentally Ill

False narratives and fake news detours abound on the information superhighway known as the Internet. What harm can a few "fibs" cause? Most people can tell a fabricated story from the real thing, but what if they can't? How can false narratives shape their thought processes? And what happens when these unhealthy thought processes become more common throughout a country? Our guest blogger dives into this topic, one that is more important than ever before as some try to portray the coronavirus pandemic as a hoax, putting millions at risk.

 

Possibly the most destructive false narrative ever perpetuated.

When Nations Become Mentally Ill        

by Vegematic (Deluxe)

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 1 in 5 people in the U.S. experiences mental illness in a given year. Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%. Among the 20.2 million adults in the U.S. who experienced a substance use disorder, 50.5% or 10.2 million adults had a co-occurring mental illness. Those numbers are staggering.

Mental illness may be triggered by any number of factors. Fear of climate catastrophe, the decline in living standards, or the perpetual state of terror that comes from barely existing on the margins of a dysfunctional society. It may be triggered by mass surveillance or perpetual war. It may show itself as post traumatic stress disorder, clinical depression, schizophrenia, or a myriad of other disorders all neatly categorized and classified.

Images like this convince conspiracy theorists.

Those with even a passing knowledge of the history of advertising will be aware of how Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, used Freud's theories of the unconscious to begin the modern advertising age. Although highly effective at the time, Bernays' efforts seem extremely primitive in comparison to the constant barrage of electronic propaganda and disinformation being spoon fed to us hundreds or thousands of times a day.

I have come to believe that today's increase in mental disabilities has been in large part created by the near constant exposure to electronic propaganda that becomes embedded in our subconscious from infancy. We are programmed to blindly accept the dominant false cultural narratives of the military industrial complex. We are told that above all, happiness may only be found in mindless materialism and slavish devotion to the corporate state. That honor and glory are to be found in military adventurism, that the police are always your friend, and that the poor deserve their lot in life.

Scare tactics to keep the public fearful and easily controlled?

These memes are sowing the seeds of future psychological disorders. The cognitive dissonance created when fiction is blindly accepted as truth does profound damage to the the human psyche. In order to cope with the mental discomfort, many build up worlds of fantasy and denial in a vain attempt to cope. It's easier to pretend to be a heroic freedom fighter than to accept the bloody facts about a war of aggression being fought for oil. This is why the suicide rates for returning veterans are off the charts. The veteran returns to the relative normality of civilian life, and despite the years of jingoism and programmed patriotism, he/she recognizes the horrible truth. Divorced from the military culture of the battlefield, he/she is forced to confront the inherently human belief that murder is always wrong.

Of course, such cognitive dissonance extends well beyond the military. There are countless examples of how dangerous, and psychologically damaging, belief in the dominant cultural narrative can be. Take the case of twenty-two year old Elliot Roger who, from all reports, lived a life of wealth and privilege. Roger was responsible for a series of killings in Isla Vista, California. The 2014 Isla Vista killings were by gunshot, stabbing and vehicle ramming. When it was over, he had killed six people and injured fourteen before killing himself. He had cultivated the belief that due to his wealth (and because he considered himself an "alpha male") he was entitled to have sex with women who had no interest in him. 

See how easy it is to create a false narrative?

Could it be that Roger had absorbed that twisted thinking by lifelong exposure to cultural and advertising memes? After all, advertisers for years have used our sexuality to sell us products. Buy this car and beautiful women will throw themselves at you. Be wealthy and you won't need to develop social skills. Of course it's simplistic to suggest that his hateful act was inspired entirely by cultural memes, but how much of a role did this narrative play?

We live in an age of increasing economic and social uncertainty. How do people react as they find out that contrary to the cultural narrative, hard work and playing by the rules does not equal success? That the culture they are living in is corrupt and sees their lives as completely expendable? I believe I know the sad answer to that question. Mental illness will continue to grow to epidemic levels.    

BIO: Vegematic Deluxe is back in the saddle again, creating lively and thought-provoking progressive weekly video podcasts on his You Tube channel. Check his videos out and tell him the TRC blog sent you:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2vzbyWki1kWC6SAzeqw_Iw

Other articles for your consideration:

How to Manage Your Mental Health When Feeling Stressed During COVID-19
https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/2020/04/how-to-manage-your-mental-health-when-feeling-stressed-during-covid-19/

Cognitive Biases Tricking Your Brain
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-cognitive-biases-tricking-your-brain

UPDATE:  Why It's Important to Push Back on Plandemic and How to Do So
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2020/05/08/why-its-important-to-push-back-on-plandemic-and-how-to-do-it/#fa873bf5fa35
The following meme outlines the viral video Plandemic, pointing out its origins and its false narrative. If you have friends who argue that COVID-19 is a "hoax created in a Chinese lab," share this and the following Google doc link. You might save a life (or lives) if you can convince them to follow the CDC's guidelines.

Debunking Plandemic (Google doc)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QwU4jcRw-qb77BLCLs99af05S1mL2E2vUz2x2M1396U/preview?pru=AAABciB83LI*tnjoZMM7PQYmqDJYD3Fqzw 

Top Ten Conspiracy Theories

https://www.livescience.com/11375-top-ten-conspiracy-theories.html

MAGA vs. COVID
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/62821-focus-maga-vs-covid

***

More examples of national insanity...
From Color of Change:

Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was jogging near his neighborhood in Brunswick, GA when he was chased down, shot, and killed in cold blood.¹ 
 
His executioners were a father & son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, two white men, who told police they believed Ahmaud fit the profile of a suspect in a series of break-ins in the area.² The entire thing was filmed by a third person, Bryan Williams. But the truth is: Ahmaud’s murder was an act of hatred and white supremacy.

Worst of all, the two DAs who've recused themselves, District Attorney Jackie Johnson and District Attorney George Barnhill, played a key role in a blatant cover-up and delays in justice for Ahmaud and his family. DA Barnhill even defended Ahmaud’s murderers by making the outrageous claim that Travis McMichael acted in self-defense and his actions fell within Georgia’s citizen arrest laws.³

Instead of seeking justice, DA Johnson refused to bring charges against Ahmaud's killers and DA Barnhill abused his authority to exonerate the McMichaels in the media.⁴ Police are quick to arrest and throw our people in cages, but when we are killed, it's crickets for months from the legal system. For their complicity, both District Attorney Gregory Barnhill and District Attorney Jackie Johnson must immediately resign. 

Sign the petition. Demand DA George Barnhill & DA Jackie Johnson resign immediately.

Glynn County law enforcement is doing everything it can to ensure the McMichaels get away with Ahmaud's murder. Gregory McMichael is a retired police officer who worked with DA Barnhill's son in District Attorney Jackie Johnson's office.⁵ In the moments leading up to Ahmaud's death, the McMichaels stated they saw him stop by a house that was under construction and look through the window.⁶ But you actually have to be observing a crime or be in the immediate knowledge of a crime for self-defense or citizen laws to be applicable.⁷ Ahmaud was not committing a crime, he was jogging. Any effort to use citizen’s arrest or self-defense as an excuse for Ahmaud’s murder is a weak attempt to cover-up this injustice.

What’s clear is Gregory McMichael’s former affiliation with the local DAs office is allowing him to escape accountability. The McMichaels grabbed their shotgun and a pistol, chased Ahmaud in their truck, and when Ahmaud attempted to defend himself he was shot twice and killed. Nevertheless, Ahmaud's case has been tossed from one DA's office to the next. Every step along the way the police have been quick to shift the blame away from the McMichaels. Police even told Ahmaud’s mother that her son was involved in a burglary and there was a confrontation between Ahmaud and the homeowner and a struggle over a gun.⁸ THESE ARE LIES. Glynn County law enforcement has been quick to do nothing but ensure the McMichael’s are not held for this atrocity.

White supremacy and corruption are running rampant in Glynn County-- and both DA Barnhill and DA Johnson are perpetuating it. In his letter to the Glynn County police, Barnhill stated, "it appears {Travis and Gregory McMichael's} intent was to stop and hold this criminal suspect until law enforcement arrived. Under Georgia law, it is perfectly legal."⁹ Barnhill also went on to falsely claim that Ahmaud was prone to violence and that there was no need for arrest.¹⁰ It is because of Barnhill's suggestions to police that two months have gone by without an arrest or any form of accountability. Now, Tom Durden of Liberty County has finally decided to bring the case to a grand jury -- which doesn't convene until after June 2.¹¹ And even he is doing his part to delay justice. Durden could issue an arrest warrant right now on a complementary charge if he wanted to, he doesn't need an indictment.¹² Instead, he continues to protect the vigilantes' rights to utilize their weapons and their power to end Black lives. 

DA Jackie Johnson is known for letting corrupt officers off the hook. During her first six years in office, she had at least 16 cases where she's recused herself because of conflict of interest.¹³ In 2010 she protected an officer who later went on to murder his ex-wife and then himself.¹⁴ And earlier this year three former top officers and the police chief were indicted for ignoring evidence that an officer was working with drug dealers --  one was having sex with two confidential informants.¹⁵ The lack of police accountability in Glynn County has reached a fever pitch. Voters are even considering getting rid of the police department for good.¹⁶ And this year Johnson is vulnerable because she is up for re-election.¹⁷ Elected leaders must take the necessary steps to ensure our people are protected and free to live without fear of violence and destruction. That's why now more than ever, both DA Barnhill and Johnson must feel the pressure from us to resign. They need to know we are on to them -- we won't allow this corruption to continue in Glynn County. 

DA Barnhill and DA Johnson have got to go. Sign the petition. 

Every second Ahmaud’s executioners evade accountability shows just how little Glynn County law enforcement cares about Black lives. Under no circumstance should it be acceptable for these men to roam the streets and relax in their homes while Ahmaud’s family and community continue to mourn the premature loss of their son and loved one. Black communities deserve protection -- not to be preyed upon and hunted down in the street.

The most painful part of this injustice has been the fact that Ahmaud's murder took place almost eight years to the day after Trayvon Martin was slain by a racist vigilante. Time and time again, our communities face the highest rates of state-sanctioned violence -- whether it’s mass incarceration, police killings, ‘stop and frisk,’ or the all too familiar rhetoric of broken windows policing. Ahmaud's death is just another disturbing example of a violent society that marks Blackness as inherently dangerous -- where Black people are more likely to be seen as instigators rather than people in need of help in times of danger.

Demanding DA Barnhill and Johnson to resign is crucial to getting the justice Ahmaud deserves. Our leaders must stop treating Black lives as if we are disposable. We must stand up to this racist terror and that starts with holding local prosecutors accountable. Enough is enough. We are demanding justice for Ahmaud -- we refuse to lose any more of our loved ones to these reckless acts of violence.

Ahmaud deserves justice. Demand DA Barnhill & DA Johnson resign NOW. 

Until justice is real, 

--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Clarise, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard, Cheryl, and the rest of the Color of Change team

---

References:
 1. "A Georgia man was chased and killed while jogging, his mother says." CNN. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245948?t=7&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
2. Ibid.
3. George E. Barnhill Letter to Glynn County Police Department. NYT. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245949?t=9&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
4. #iRunwithMaud. Our Prism. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245950?t=11&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
5. George E. Barnhill Letter to Glynn County Police Department. NYT. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245949?t=13&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
6. "A Georgia man was chased and killed while jogging, his mother says." CNN. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245948?t=15&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. George E. Barnhill Letter to Glynn County Police Department. NYT. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245949?t=17&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
10. Ibid.
11. "Status of Liberty County Jury Trials." Liberty County Office of the Clerk of Courts. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245954?t=19&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
12.#iRunwithMaud. Our Prism. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245950?t=21&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. "Glynn County police chief, 3 ex-officers booked into jail." News 4 Jax. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245952?t=23&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj16. "Legislation first step to abolishing county police department." The Brunswick News. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245953?t=25&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj
17. #iRunwithMaud. Our Prism. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/245950?t=27&akid=42331%2E3399430%2EH3zyHj

*** 

          

From the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe:

As a further update, the hearing that was originally scheduled for May 7, 2020 for the preliminary injunction against the Department of the Interior (DOI) to halt its efforts to disestablish the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's reservation, has been pushed to Wednesday, May 20, 2020.

The hearing will be held via video conference with public access available through the Court's public teleconference. Notably, for now, the DOI has agreed to extend the Tribe's Land in Trust status until June 5. 

Until that time, your efforts directed to Senator Hoeven, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, asking him to support the Tribe's pending legislation (HR312, the Mashpee Wampanoag Reservation Reaffirmation Act) will be especially helpful.  Here again is a script you can use:

My name is __________ and I reside at ____________ in [City], [State].  I am a proud supporter of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and am calling to voice my strong opposition to Secretary Bernhardt’s recent directive to disestablish the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation and to ask Congress to act quickly to enact HR 312 -- the Mashpee Wampanoag Reservation Reaffirmation Act.  

They are the first peoples of this land and extended their hands to the European settlers in peace and friendship. I am calling to urge Senator Hoeven to lead the effort to protect their Reservation from being disestablished on his watch.      

I urge Chairman Hoeven to take the steps needed to pass the bi-partisan legislation, HR 312, that already has been passed by the House and now awaits Senate action. 

I want to ensure that my message reaches the ears of Senator Hoeven and is shared with the rest of the Senate Committee for Indian Affairs. Thank you. 

To call: (202-224-2551)
To email:  send to both

1.  Mike_Andrews@indian.senate.gov 

2.  https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/contact/email-the-senator

With gratitude and hope for a positive outcome.

***

From Beyond the Bomb

In the midst of a global pandemic, we need stable leadership more than ever. President Trump’s handling of the crisis has been unsettling, to say the least. Now is not the time for him to be beefing with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Take Action: Don’t Fire Fauci!

Trump’s coronavirus task force certainly isn’t the most inspiring, but Dr. Fauci is an experienced health expert who knows what he’s talking about more than anyone else in the administration. His expertise in this time of national and global crisis cannot be taken for granted.

That’s why it’s especially concerning that Trump recently retweeted a post with the hashtag #FireFauci in it. As a result, we’ve joined a number of other organizations to endorse a Daily Kos petition urging Trump not to fire Dr. Fauci.

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the inequalities already present in our country. Communities that have been exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production and testing , like Navajo Nation, are already more susceptible to contracting coronavirus. Thus, unstable leadership on the coronavirus task force directly impacts the health of these communities. We’re ensuring that communities have the care they need during this time, and that’s why we’re calling on Trump to not fire Dr. Fauci. 

Please join us to demand that Trump not cut ties with Dr. Fauci, arguably the most competent member of the administration’s coronavirus task force. 
 
In solidarity,
Tristan and the Beyond the Bomb team

Dishonest Government

A Brief History of Dishonest Government
by Coast Watcher

America has an honesty problem featured in its relationship between elected politicians and the ordinary people they purport to represent. The people generally do not trust elected officials. In many cases they don’t even believe they’re intelligent. “Selfish” is the adjective most often used to describe politicians' attitude, and the percentage of those who believe politicians are honest is in the single digits.

The modern distrust of government stems from the 1960s when Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and later Richard Nixon embroiled the United States in the Vietnam War. Most of the population opposed the country’s involvement. Protests against the war erupted, one of the most violent of which was during the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968. Such was the level of opposition the government resorted to the draft to feed the military's killing machine. The measure led to people tearing up their draft cards or fleeing abroad, some never to return. The courts even upheld these actions as they were held to be an expression of free speech. 

Following brutal attacks by police and the National Guard on protesters exercising their right to free speech at Kent State and Jackson State, Americans further distrusted their government's motives. All the drama and outrage over the war obscured Johnson’s efforts to continue with implementing FDR’s New Deal to benefit ordinary citizens.

Time and again the US government has let down its citizens. The Watergate Scandal shocked the American people to the core. No ordinary robbery, the intruders were connected to President Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents. Nixon took aggressive steps to cover up the crimes, but when Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed his role in the conspiracy, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. 

Watergate changed American politics forever. Americans were left feeling betrayed, especially by the Republican Party. The scandal led many Americans to question their leaders and think more critically about the presidency in general. Nixon’s Vice President, Gerald Ford, took his place in the White House and promptly pardoned Nixon, adding fuel to the fire. It appeared highly-placed politicians could carry out any illegal act they pleased and get away with it.

(Remember Trump’s boast during the 2016 campaign that he could walk down to Fifth Avenue in New York City, shoot anyone he pleased, and not be convicted? The more things change...)

During 1977 to 1981, America battled stagflation. Stagflation is a concatenation of rising prices and inflation combined with the decline of job availability—something the modern world may well see happen again thanks to the COVID-19 crisis. The price of a cup of coffee nearly tripled and the price of a burger doubled in those four years. Gas prices steadily rose making it impossible for some to afford fueling their vehicles while others lined up in long queues at the gas station. President Jimmy Carter tried and failed to grapple with this situation, the result of previous administrations’ ineptitude or sheer corruption, and as a result he served only one term.  

History looks upon Carter much more kindly now. Reagan—less so.

Reagan in his inaugural address famously said of America’s then-troubled economy, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” His words found a favorable reception in the American public, since the perception of government being inherently corrupt had taken hold. Alas, Reagan’s administration turned out to be spectacularly corrupt from the get-go, and following his inauguration Reagan announced that Iran had agreed to release the remaining American hostages captured in the Tehran Embassy several months before. The timing of Iran’s decision led to suspicions that the Reagan campaign had made a secret deal to prevent the Carter administration from unveiling a so-called “October surprise”—the release of the hostages before election day.

Reagan's policy known as “Reaganomics” led to tax cuts for the rich and Big Business. He also increased military spending to $1.5 trillion over a five-year period in an effort to outpace the Soviet Union,  “the evil empire.” The military-industrial complex maintains this advantage to this day. In another echo of modern times, in 1983 Reagan set up the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a plan to develop space-based weapons to protect America from attacks by Soviet nuclear missiles. Trump’s much-trumpeted “Space Force” is nothing new. Reagan's “Star Wars” missile defense boondoggle came first.

To fund these policies there were reductions in social programs and measures passed to deregulate business. Reagan’s policies led to budget deficits that could never be reconciled, yet Reagan dubbed single mothers “welfare queens,” implying they were to blame for the drain on public funds. Reagan used this slur  to cover his cuts in so-called discretionary spending on social welfare programs such as education, Food Stamps, low income housing, school lunches for poor children, Medicaid, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).

George Bush’s subsequent presidency failed to set the world alight. He continued most of Reagan’s policies, as did his successor Bill Clinton. Clinton’s implementation of just about every public-damaging policy the Republican Party offered made him appear Republican. Bush’s son George W. continued the theme of dishonesty. More suspicions fell upon government following the notorious attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. Conspiracy theories concerning the true nature of the attacks and the level of  George W.’s complicity in them continue to this day.

Obama’s presidency promised hope, but ultimately delivered so little. His Affordable Care Act helped a number of poor Americans who would not otherwise be able to afford healthcare, yet it didn’t go far enough and outlaw private health insurers and institute a single payer system. Obama allowed the Republicans to insert harmful clauses into the bill, such as fines for those who wouldn’t buy health insurance, rendering the act toxic. 

And let’s not forget that his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, used her time in office to feather her nest. She oversaw the downfall of Muamar Quaddafi, the Haitian government’s cave-in over its proposed increase to their minimum wage so that American corporations could continue paying slave wages, and the deportation of thousands of vulnerable Central American immigrants to their home countries where many faced abuse and death.

So we come, at last, to Trump. This is the man who makes the corrupt administrations of the past look like choir boys by comparison. This is the man who makes money out of shares in a pharmaceutical company by promoting a drug as a cure for COVID-19 that is useless for the purpose at best, harmful at worst. This is the man who sells copies of the Presidential Seal in his various properties, which is illegal. This is a man who breaks the law time and again, yet he gets away with it. His followers yell  “That was cool! Do another!” He praises them, calling them “fine people” even when they launch armed invasions of the Michigan State House in an effort to force a reopening of businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.

All the while the so-called Democratic Party makes every effort to muzzle and contain the efforts of Senator Bernie Sanders and his followers, instead of choosing Sanders as the nominee. They know full well that he’d gut their party and cleanse it of the corrupting Clinton influence. Their anointed nominee is Joe Biden, a man who never met a war he didn’t like; who drew-up the Patriot Act, a dangerous law that abrades civil liberties; and whose record of sexual assault is still relevant to this day.

Dishonesty in government is nothing new. It’s as old as the concept of government itself. It remains to be seen if the American public will respond to the age old goads to revolution which we see in this COVID-19 world—dramatically increased unemployment, increasing crime born of desperation, restricted supplies of necessities, and a feeling that the government, the so-called representatives of the people, really don’t give a sh*t about the ordinary person.

Perhaps it really is time to build those guillotines and sharpen those pitchforks... Why should dishonesty be rewarded? Dishonest governments should be afraid of their people, not the other way around.

Related articles:

https://www.thoughtco.com/stagflation-in-a-historical-context-1148155

http://mostcorrupt.com/Most-Corrupt-Administrations.html

 

BIO: Coast Watcher has been observing various world governments for years, wondering when we'll see a glimpse of honesty in any of them. This current pandemic is not the time to give up hope--it's the time to expose all dishonest leadership for what it is and sweep it into the dustbin of history. Pitchforks will work much better than brooms, too.

If we truly had "Honest Government" what kind of advertisements would they produce? The Juice Media approximates the level of honesty we should demand from our leaders in their series of "Honest Government Ads." Watch and learn from their latest.

https://youtu.be/aWl7kQZHZE0

*** 

You wanna keep things honest? Then support independent media!

It's hard to know whom you can trust nowadays. Mainstream media has one goal and one goal only: to make money off its viewers/readers/listeners. Independent media exists because indies simply want to share truth without the manipulation of corporate bias.

Support an indie publication today--give whatever you can spare to The Revolution Continues.  Every little bit helps. Thank you!

Paypal us at http://paypal.me/camatthews

***

From Faithful America:

Friday morning -- the same day Jim Bakker attacked us on-air again -- Pat Robertson's 700 Club aired a misleading hit piece against Faithful America.

According to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), "Faithful America does not have anywhere near the grassroots support it claims." The piece says we're "just another half-fake, left-wing nest of operatives" "using faith as a cover to silence conservatives."

CBN's goal was obviously to dismiss social-justice Christians like us as just "a few thousand grumpy left-wingers." To listen to the narrator ominously describe our campaign victories, you'd think we couldn't possibly be Christian (we are) or could never actually have 160,000 grassroots members like you (we do).

Please join us in wearing these attacks as a badge of "grumpy" honor! Our campaigns are clearly getting to Robertson and Bakker -- and they're afraid. The religious right needs its supporters to believe you don't exist, or their entire Christian-nationalist narrative would come crashing down. If ever there was a time to keep things up, this is it.

Sign our open letter: #SorryPat! We exist, and we're not going anywhere!
After you sign, please be sure to share so that we can get the hashtag #SorryPat trending, and spread the message to reporters and voters everywhere that being Christian doesn't have to mean supporting Donald Trump or the religious right.

Thank you for everything you do to love your neighbor and reclaim the Gospel from the religious right.

In peace,
Rev. Nathan and the Faithful America team

*** 

From JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace) Action:

If you’re like me you can’t think of a single reason why children should be in prison. PERIOD. To stop the spread of COVID-19 and prevent unnecessary tragedy, governments worldwide need to release prisoners—but Israel’s armed forces are arresting and detaining even more Palestinian children. 194 Palestinian children were detained in Israeli prisons at the end of March, an increase of 6% from January. Over 60 percent of these children are being held pre-trial, not even serving sentences.

Israel is the ONLY country that systematically detains children in a military court system, and these children – some as young as 12 – are frequently abused and tortured. It is heartbreaking that Palestinian parents must face this reality. 

So during a global pandemic, where social distancing is impossible in jails, you would think that Israeli prison officials would AT THE VERY LEAST free those being held without charge and the most vulnerable: the elderly, the ill, the CHILDREN. Instead, they’re making the crisis worse. 
Take action here.

Can you pitch in to help us keep campaigning for Palestinian rights?
Each day under COVID-19, we see acts of humanity – and the opposite. Israeli officials land on the side of the extremely inhumane with their choice to continue arresting children and putting them at risk of contracting and spreading the virus through their jails.

Among the first cases of documented coronavirus was 19 year-old Nour Eddin Sarsour, who was held for two weeks in Ofer Prison and exposed to COVID-19 by a guard. 

We’re teaming up with Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP) as part of the No Way to Treat a Child campaign to raise the alarm about child prisoners and call for their release. Israel won’t take action unless we can bring real pressure to make them.

Will you take 20 seconds and sign our petition? Together we can bring about the change we need to happen. So many things need our attention right now, but I know that, like me, you are not forgetting Palestine and the need to keep working for justice, dignity and equality for all in the region.

Thank you for all you do.

Granate Kim
Communications Director

***

From Public Citizen:

I want to talk about one especially heartbreaking way the coronavirus can ambush families.

The crisis is obviously causing unprecedented financial hardship for millions of Americans — indeed, for our entire economy. This can affect us even if nobody we know gets sick.

Then there are the tens of thousands of families who lose a loved one to the disease.

Many families simply don’t have the money to cover the basic cost of burying someone they’ve lost to the pandemic.

This is tragedy on top of tragedy.

And the federal government could be helping.

There is already a program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help struggling families with burial costs when disaster strikes.

But Donald Trump has so far refused to authorize FEMA to release that funding for victims of this national emergency.

By simply signing a piece of paper, Donald Trump could help families whose livelihoods and loved ones have been lost to the coronavirus.

Tell Donald Trump:

Immediately authorize FEMA to help American families with burial expenses for loved ones lost to the coronavirus.

Add your name now.

Thanks for taking action.

Stay safe.

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen