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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

A conspiracy theory popular with fans of Donald Trump has found millions of followers through Facebook. Why is Mark Zuckerberg letting Q-Anon run amok on his platforms?

Meanwhile, five states held elections yesterday, and Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is among those facing a primary challenger. Politics keeps happening outside the Democratic Party veepstakes, but don’t worry, we’ve got the news there, too.

And lastly, Russia claims to have developed a coronavirus vaccine. But critics are warning that it hasn’t gone through full clinical trials.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

A new investigation by the Guardian points to the crucial role of Facebook in spreading insane Q-Anon propaganda around the world. The investigation documented more than one hundred and seventy Q-Anon groups, pages and accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Altogether, they have more than four and a half million followers in at least fifteen countries. That’s a whole lot of crazy.

The Q-Anon cult promotes the idea that Donald Trump is a holy force guided by an intricate plan to root out a deep-state cabal of child-abusing politicians and celebrities. It almost goes without saying that there’s no evidence for any of this – but apparently, it does need saying. If anyone should be answering questions about his ties to shadowy sex traffickers, it’s Donald Trump. You may remember, Trump recently sent well-wishes to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now in custody awaiting trial.

While Twitter recently cracked down on Q-Anon promoters on its platform, Facebook is reportedly allowing these conspiracy theorists to flourish. The largest groups have more than two hundred thousand members. Facebook says it bans groups that violate its rules, but the company seems to be habitually behind the ball. A Harvard researcher quoted by the Guardian said Facebook needs to proceed carefully. Banning Q-Anon pages without an explanation may only reinforce the paranoid beliefs of adherents. What might help, the expert

concluded, would be QUOTE factual interventions ENDQUOTE from conservative media outlets. Good luck putting that together. Let us know how it goes.

Ilhan Omar faces off against primary challenger

Elections wrapped up yesterday in Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In Georgia’s Fourteenth Congressional District, there was Republican primary runoff. One of the candidates, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is a Q-Anon conspiracy theorist. Her more conventional Republican opponent, John Cowan, trailed far behind Greene in the June primary. Per CNN, Greene won some forty percent of the vote in that prior contest, while Cowan received only twenty-one percent. If that pattern holds, the up-and-coming Congressional Q-Anon Caucus will be adding another member.

The highest-profile Democratic primary contest yesterday pit incumbent Squad member Ilhan Omar of Minnesota against Antone Melton-Meaux, a lawyer and professional mediator. Despite her popularity across the state and the country, Melton-Meaux has tried to portray Omar as out of touch with the people in her district, and thus turn her celebrity into a disadvantage. The challenger has put together a sizable war chest with the help of donors who don’t like Omar’s critical position on Israel. Omar had raised some four point three million dollars at last report, while Melton-Meaux raised four point one million. Addressing her opponent’s criticisms, Omar told ABC News that QUOTE even in the face of death threats, I have made it my top priority to be in the community with Minnesotans and listen to them ENDQUOTE. Watch for results in the days ahead – or possibly weeks, in the event of a close race.

Russia rushes coronavirus vaccine

There is some well-justified international skepticism about this news, but it’s still worth reporting: Russia yesterday announced that it was the first country to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. Scientists at Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute developed and tested the vaccine without large-scale clinical trials, leading global health experts to emphasize caution. But president Vladimir Putin vouched for it and said that one of his two daughters had been given a dose.

The vaccine is named Sputnik Five, in a reference to Russia’s Cold War satellite that kicked off the space race. The United States, China, and other countries are engaged in a race of sorts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, and Russia was clearly keen to declare victory. Last month the US, Britain, and Canada accused Russian hackers of stealing vaccine research.

However thorough the testing was or wasn’t, millions of Russians, beginning with front-line workers such as teachers, will receive the vaccine this fall. Doctors could begin receiving the vaccine as early as this month. If the vaccine is faulty it could cause a number of problems, experts said. Among other things, it could render those inoculated more vulnerable to severe forms of COVID-19, the New York Times reported. Putin said the vaccine will be voluntary. However, coercion is possible if employers in Russia and beyond demand their workers take a drug that hasn’t been fully tested. Whether it works or not, vaccine politics is about to get even more weird and hostile.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Joe Biden picked California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate yesterday, in a much-anticipated decision. In a tweet, Biden called Harris QUOTE a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants ENDQUOTE. Harris will become the first Black woman and first Asian-American to be nominated for the vice presidency by a major party. (Harris’s parents are from India and Jamaica.) Expect to hear more about this all week. It’s not like Biden has much else to talk about.

More than eight hundred students and forty teachers in Cherokee County, Georgia, were told to quarantine after possible coronavirus exposure. The school district there has been open for less than a week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Most students have opted to attend in person rather than take online classes, as the quarantined students will now be doing. I’m no expert but this all seems preventable.

A fifteen-year-old student in Michigan who was placed in juvenile detention for failing to do her homework has been removed from probation. The victory for the student, known as Grace, and her family came after the investigative news website ProPublica took up her case. Grace, who is Black and has ADHD, had reportedly struggled with the abrupt shift to online coursework.

Hours after the Seattle City Council voted to cut the local police budget by three million dollars, the city’s police chief, Carmen Best, announced her retirement. In addition to shrinking the force by up to one hundred officers, the cuts would have reduced the chief’s pay. Socialist City Council member Kshama Sawant voted against the defunding measure, saying it didn’t go nearly far enough, according to the Washington Post. Former Chief Best said QUOTE when it’s time, it’s time ENDQUOTE. Time to retire on that sweet public pension.

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

Aug 12, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn