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Bovay, a friend and associate of Greeley, had moved to Ripon a few years before he called the 1854 meeting. A veteran organizer who had led militant movements for land reform with the slogan, Vote Yourself a Farm Bovay had long advocated for the formation of an independent political movement with the purpose of gaining control of legislatures and the Congress in order to enact radical reforms.

At Bovays urging, Greeley popularized the new party, which drew in partisans from many political camps who were united in their opposition to the spread of slavery. Among the first Republicans were many allies and associates of socialist causes, including Joseph Weydemeyer, a former Prussian Army officer who would continue to correspond with Marx as he rose through the ranks as a military officer during the Civil War.

Decades after the founding of the new party, the great trade unionist and Socialist Party leader Eugene Victor Debs would reflect on the history in his speeches. Though he dismissed both major parties of the early 20th century as wings of the same bird of prey, Debs allowed as how, the Republican Party was once red.

There may have been a measure of hyperbole in that remark. But the fact is that the Republican Party that was founded in Ripon included plenty of people whose familiarity with radical ideas would alarm Mike Pence.

John Nichols is the associate editor of The Capital Times and the author of "The S Word: A Short History of an American Tradition Socialism" (Verso); as well as the new book, "The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace's Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics" (Verso).

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John Nichols: Someone forgot to tell Mike Pence that the first Republicans were radicals - Madison.com

If the rise in cases was solely attributable to more testing, the rate of positive test results would decrease or at least hold steady. But while the number of daily tests performed has steadily increased from under 100,000 in March to 460,000 to 640,000 this week, the positive rate had fallen from 10 to 20 percent in early March to about 4 percent in early June before climbing back up to 5 to 7 percent this week.

Increased testing in other countries has not produced the uptick in the positivity rate seen in the United States. Russia, for example, has ramped up its testing to about 300,000 a day in recent weeks from about 200,000 in May. But its positive rate has continued to hover at around 3 to 5 percent.

In states with the most severe outbreaks, that trend is starker still. Positive rates in Texas and Florida have increased to 10 to 20 percent this week from rates that were generally below 10 percent in May a reality the Republican governors of both states have acknowledged.

Clearly youre seeing this, this is real, Gov. Rick DeSantis of Florida said during a news conference on Tuesday. Now they are testing more than they were for sure, but theyre also testing positive at a higher rate than they were before. And so that would tell you theres probably been an escalation and transmission over the last seven to 10 days.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas acknowledged the same point.

If you look at the growth or even the decline in the number of people who were testing positive as well as the positivity rate all the way through the early part of May, Texas was moving in a very productive position, he said on Monday. Then around the time of Memorial Day, there was an increase, and that increase has maintained for several weeks now, necessitating that next steps be taken.

What Was Said

Fatalities are declining all across the country.

This is misleading. While official death counts are most likely underreported, Mr. Pence is right that nationwide, deaths are continuing to decrease, though fatalities are rising or holding steady in several states such as Arizona, California, Florida, North Carolina and Texas.

Moreover, public health experts have urged caution that this will continue to be the case. Asked whether still declining fatalities were because of younger, healthier people contracting the disease, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, told Congress this week that it was too early to make that kind of link.

Deaths always lag considerably behind cases, he said. You might remember that at the time that New York was in their worst situation where the deaths were going up and yet the cases were starting to go down, the deaths only came down multiple weeks later.

Curious about the accuracy of a claim? Email factcheck@nytimes.com.

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Fact Checking Mike Pence on the Coronavirus Pandemic - The New York Times

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(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blogs Favourite Living Canadian)

The White House Task Force on the coronavirus pandemic re-emerged from its hyperbaric chamber and met the press again on Friday morning. If you watched the whole thing, you might have noticed that none of them were adhering to CDC guidelines, including wearing masks, and that HHS Secretary Alex Azar tried a little of the old okey-doke involving the Ebola outbreak in the Congo, and that Dr. Anthony Fauci now sounds like a man who has been hauling a barge through the Erie Canal. But all you really needed to see was the last question and the last answer.

Paula Reid of CBS asked this question of the Poser-in-Chief regarding the superspreader events in which his re-election campaign is now engaged.

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You could see Pence visibly reach the absolute frontier limits of his intellect in trying to craft an answer that was not admitting that Reid was absolutely right, and that also would keep Pence from offending the angry toddler for whom he works. What emerged from that frontier was a rhetorical critter unfamiliar to most political taxonomists. Neither fish nor fowl, nor really English, either.

Note how quickly Pence, dancing as fast as he can, runs through his stock of conservative Republican cliches. He apparently is unaware that one can speak, laugh, cheer, chant Lock her up! and Build the wall! and USA!, and otherwise exercise ones First Amendment rights through a mask. You can talk through a mask. (Ask Batman.) Also, you can peaceably assemble while standing six feet apart. You can model behavior for your fellow citizens. You at least can say the word, mask. Pence asked us repeatedly to pray, but refused to ask us to wear masks when we do. God will not understand this at all.

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The House passage of a bill making the District of Columbia a state is a fine statement and thats all it is. The Senate wont even take it up and it would lose there if they did. It rocks the comfort zone of far too many people. Allowing it would put into stark relief the institutional failure of the Senate as a vehicle for self-government. Particularly piquant are the Republican complaints that this is merely a vehicle for two cold-lock Democratic seats. Leave aside the fact that a Republican desire for more Senate seats is the reason we have two Dakotas. By making this argument, the Republicans admit that they have no intention of doing anything for African-American citizens now or in the future. Its just...too...hard. All of this, of course, makes DC statehood a very good idea.

Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: Im Goin In The Valley (Silas Hogan): Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.

Weekly Visit To The Pathe Archives: Here are some young British women playing baseball in 1930. Looks like theyre pretty good, despite the weird headgear and the severe lack of basepaths. History is so cool.

Holy hell. This is amazing. From The New York Times:

Pretty clearly, somebody in the intelligence community wants the administration* to get off the dime here and is using the NYT to raise the heat.

The dime remains under the presidential* keister.

Is it a good day for dinosaur news, New York Times? Its always a good day for dinosaur news!

The phrase rocket-size marine reptiles was enough for me. Ill read any story about rocket-size marine reptileseven if the story is about the stock market, because rocket-sized marine reptiles lived then to make us happy now.

Ill be back on Monday, socially distant though I am. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line, and wear the damn mask.

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You Can See Mike Pence Reach the Absolute Frontier Limits of His Intellect in This Exchange - Esquire

The Minneapolis City Council will vote today on a proposal to change the city charter to allow elimination of the citys police department. It is a move supported by a majority of the council after George Floyds death but far from assured, reports Amy Forliti for the Associated Press

The vote is just one step in a process that faces significant bureaucratic obstacles to make the November ballot, where the citys voters would have the final say

The Minneapolis force has come under heavy pressure since Floyd was killed on 25 May, sparking a global wave of Black Lives Matter anti-racism protests. Local activists had long accused the department of being unable to change a racist and brutal culture, and earlier this month, a majority of the council proclaimed support for dismantling the department.

Doing so would first require amending the city charter. Draft language of the amendment posted online would replace the department with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention, which will have responsibility for public safety services prioritising a holistic, public health-oriented approach.

It is time to make structural change, Council Member Steve Fletcher told AP. It is time to start from scratch and reinvent what public safety looks like.

Fletcher said under the new agency when someone calls 911, there will always be a response thats appropriate, including the option for a response by employees authorised to use force. But he said the vast majority of calls that police officers currently take will be answered by employees with different expertise.

The proposed amendment is expected to be approved Friday, but thats just a first step. It goes then to a policy committee and to the citys Charter Commission for formal review. The commissions recommendation doesnt bind the council, but it takes time.

Barry Clegg, chairman of the Charter Commission, said the process feels rushed.

As I understand it, they are saying, We are going to have this new department. We dont know what its going to look like yet. We wont implement this for a year, well figure it out, Clegg said. For myself anyway, I would prefer that we figured it out first, and then voted on it.

For his part, Mayor Jacob Frey doesnt support abolishing the department, a stance that got him booed off the street by activists who demonstrated outside his house following Floyds death and demanded to know where he stood.

Frey expressed concerns about the proposed amendment as currently drafted, including whether the change would eliminate police altogether or allow for a police presence going forward.

There is a significant lack of clarity. And if Im seeing a lack of clarity, so are our constituents, said Frey, who has said he supports deep structural change in the existing department.

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US politics: Mike Pence to lead first public coronavirus task force briefing for months live updates - The Guardian

Vice President Mike Pence participates in an event at the Ingleside Hotel Tuesday, June 23, 2020, in Pewaukee, Wis.(Photo: Associated Press)

Vice President Mike Pence is returning to Arizona next week, a visit he surely hopes will bolster President Donald Trumps standing in the battleground state battered by record levels of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations that show no signs of abating.

The visit comes fresh off Trumps visit to Arizona this week and as national polls show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden in a state critical to Trumps reelection bid.

Pence will travel to Tucson on Tuesday, where he will give remarks as part of his faith-centered tour called Faith in America. There, he will seek to court voters of faith for the president in the solidly-Democratic Pima County.

Pence will then meet with Gov. Doug Ducey in Yuma, where the pair will discuss the efforts the state is taking to combat COVID-19 in the city, which has emerged as one of the worst coronavirus hot spots in the state.

Yuma County reported a total of 310 coronavirus cases on May 15, when Duceys stay-at-home order expired, according to state data.

Cases have increased in Yuma Countyby nearly 1,500% since then, to 4,915, as of Wednesday. Statewide, cases increased by 355%during that time period.

Pence and Ducey, who both served as Republican governors together, speak frequently to discuss the latest on COVID-19 in Arizona.

A spokesman for the governor did not immediately respond to The Arizona Republics request for information about the governors planned remarks to Pence next week.

Republic reporterAlison Steinbach contributed to this report.

Have news to share about Arizona's U.S. senators or national politics?Reach the reporter on Twitter and Facebook. Contact her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com and 602-444-4712.

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Vice President Mike Pence is returning to battleground Arizona with stops in Tucson, Yuma - AZCentral