Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

More details emerged about forced hysterectomies at a prison for immigrants in Georgia. At least seventeen women may have been subjected to the procedures by one doctor, though the full scope is yet to be revealed.

Meanwhile, low-income students are giving up on college as a result of the pandemic. Experts fear a new lost generation in higher education.

And lastly, there were some big wins for progressive candidates in Delaware this week. A social worker won an upset victory over a forty-year incumbent in the state senate.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Democrats demand hysterectomies investigation

New information emerged yesterday regarding the unsettling account of forced hysterectomies at a for-profit immigration detention center in Ocilla, Georgia. Washington State Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal released a statement after meeting attorneys for the women who were subjected to the sterilization procedure.

Jayapal said QUOTE It has become clear that the initial reports are likely part of a horrific pattern of conduct. There may be, at minimum, seventeen women who were subjected to unnecessary procedures from just one doctor, often without appropriate consent or knowledge, and with the clear intention of sterilization ENDQUOTE. Jayapal added that it's possible there are similar cases for individuals who were already deported.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also demanded an investigation yesterday, calling upon the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General to inquire into what she called QUOTE a staggering abuse of human rights ENDQUOTE. More than one hundred and sixty Democrats signed a letter demanding that the I.G. investigation begin immediately.

In the meantime, other details about what has been happening at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility emerged from Jayapal’s preliminary Congressional investigation, which she pledged to continue. As Jayapal said:

One woman, who was nearly deported, consulted the doctor simply about her menstrual cycle. She was put under for what she was told would be a simple procedure, only to wake up and find that the doctor had removed part of her reproductive organs without her knowledge or consent.

Another woman, already deported, apparently went in to see the doctor for a simple condition related to diabetes and ended up having gynecological surgery. Two additional women apparently were shackled to the bed, reported to have had surgical procedures including a hysterectomy.

The new details add substance to the whistleblower account we told you about yesterday. All information has so far come through attorneys for the women who have been victimized, but the public hasn’t yet heard from those women directly. Nor have we seen any documents or other evidence about the nature and scope of the procedures. It will take time to get all the answers, but we haven’t heard the last on this story, that’s for sure.

Poorer students dropping college

Across the country, low-income students are dropping out of college. Others are making the decision not to enroll at all. According to the Washington Post, some one hundred thousand fewer high school seniors completed financial aid applications this year.

What’s more, an August survey by the US Census found that students from families annual with incomes under seventy five thousand dollars are nearly twice as likely to cancel all their plans to take classes this fall, compared to students from families with incomes over one hundred thousand dollars. And tuition deposits are down down eight point four percent among families making less than sixty thousand dollars a year. Enrollment trends so far show especially steep drops among Black students and rural white students. While some students are adapting to the situation by applying to lower-cost colleges, enrollment at community colleges seems to be hard hit.

The drop in enrollment is unique to the pandemic, the Post says. During the 2008 Great Recession, college enrollment grew, as is typical during economic downturns. Bill DeBaun, data director for the National College Attainment Network, said the ultimate fear is this could be a lost generation of low-income students. A number of students told the Post they couldn’t justify the expense of full tuition in order to take online classes, without the benefits of college attendance such as access to a library and other facilities.

Progressive upset in Delaware

Political primary season is over. And there were some stunning results this week in Delaware’s state primary, which concluded on Tuesday.

In the thirteenth district, social worker Marie Pinkney, a political newcomer running on a progressive platform, defeated the powerful and long-serving Senate President Pro Tem David McBride. According to the Associated Press, McBridge joined the Delaware state senate in 1980 and hadn’t faced a primary challenger since 1986. Pinkney advances to face Republican Alexander Homich in the general election. Pinkney was one of four Delaware candidates endorsed by the Working Families Party to win seats this week. The others were Larry Lambert in House District Seven, Eric Morrison in House District Twenty-Seven, Madinah Wilson-Anton in House District Twenty-Six, and Shané (SHAW-NEIGH) Darby for Wilmington City Council district two. All minus Morrison are people of color.

There was another result worth mentioning: Lauren Witzke, another Q-Anon kook, won the US Senate Republican primary, and will challenge incumbent Democrat Chris Coons in November. According to the Daily Beast, Witzke has also endorsed the idea of Trump becoming a lifelong king of the United States, and said she believes that the earth is flat. Fortunately, Coons is favored.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Hurricane Sally, a storm that meterologists said seemed to come out of nowhere, slammed Florida and Alabama yesterday. It was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall, but it still brought massive and destructive flooding. Georgia and South Carolina are in line to be hit by the center of the storm today. Batten your hatches, folks.

Attorney General Bill Barr last week suggested to federal prosecutors that they might charge some protesters with sedition – that is, the crime of conspiring to overthrow the US

government. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news yesterday, as well as the fact that some federal prosecutors were taken aback by Barr’s suggestion. As well they should be!

Michael Caputo, the Health and Human Services spokesman who posted an unhinged Facebook Live rant about left-wing insurrectioninsts in his department and called upon Trump supporters to stock up on ammunition, will be taking a leave of absence. According to the New York Times, Centers for Disease Control director Robert Redfield told a Senate panel yesterday that he was deeply saddened by Caputo’s comments and said his remarks about government scientists committing sedition were false and offensive. To say the least.

Decolonization news: the country of Barbados announced it would remove England’s Queen Elizabeth the Second as its head of state. The move toward full sovereignty will take effect next November, when Barbados celebrates fifty-five years of independence. Per CBS News, both Buckingham Palace and the British Foreign Office said the matter is up to Barbados, which, historically speaking, is a big step forward for the Brits.

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

Sept 1, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn