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Dispatches From the Culture Wars - July 21, 2020

More fresh hell from Team Trump, mutual aid and wins for the electoral left in New York State, the generation gap at home, and more

Black Lives Matter protesters gather outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse on Sunday, July 19, 2020, in Portland, Ore. Officers used teargas and projectiles to move the crowd after some protesters tore down a fence fronting the courthouse,(AP Photo/Noah Berger) Image: AP

Siege of Portland

The Crackdown and the Election By Heather Cox Richardson, July 19, 2020, Moyers on Democracy

On the Scene By Robert Evans, July 20, 2020, Bellingcat

Oregon and ACLU Sue By Emily Gillespie and Rachel Siegel, July 19, 2020, Washington Post

Wall of Moms By Amelia Edelman, July 20, 2020, SheKnows

Winning in New York

Interview with Luke Hayes
July 17, 2020
Jacobin

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Progressives and socialists remaking the state’s politics and establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. 

QAnon in Congress?

By Arit John 
July 15, 2020
Los Angeles Times

Satanism and sex rings: How the QAnon conspiracy theory has taken political root.

Living Statues in DC

By Alicia Cohn
July 17, 2020
The Hill

A group of artists known as the Trump Statue Initiative installed statues around Washington, D.C. on Friday depicting President Trump as a "destroyer of civil rights and liberties."

SCOTUS and Theocracy

By Lisa Needham
July 16, 2020
Rewire.News

Three decisions suggest that the Christian conservative crusade to blur the lines between democracy and theocracy is bearing fruit.

The Generation Gap At Home

By Fortesa Latifi
July 16, 2020
Teen Vogue

Families are reckoning with differing perspectives on policing and systemic racism.

White House Targets Trans Homeless

By Alex Bollinger 
July 20, 2020
LGBTQ Nation

The memo says homeless shelters can use "factors such as height, the presence (but not the absence) of facial hair, the presence of an Adam’s apple" to find suspected trans women.

A Breakthrough in Iran

By Rohollah Faghihi 
July 5, 2020
Middle East Eye

A number of recent cases, aided by the growing influence of social networks, are helping to challenge a ban on females singing in Iran.

Outer Borough Mutual Aid

By Kay Dervishi
July 15, 2020
City and State New York

Dozens of informal volunteer groups that have been set up to help neighbors in need since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.