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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Corporate landlords have gone on an eviction spree, exposing the loopholes in the CDC moratorium on turning people out of their homes in the middle of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia erupts in protests after police shot a black man, Walter Wallace Jr, who they say approached them with a knife on Monday evening.

And lastly, a Michigan judge sides with second amendment hard liners to allow people to open-carry firearms at polling places on election day.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Despite a Trump-ordered CDC moratorium on evictions, corporate landlords have found a workaround and are back in the daily business of putting people out on the street.

A watchdog report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project shows that corporate management companies have evicted or tried to evict nearly 10,000 tenants since early September. The cases studied in the report are spread across 23 counties in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas, most of which have struggled with rampant coronavirus cases in the same time period. And it’s more than likely that landlords are using similar tactics elsewhere.

The landlords, according to NBC News, are often getting around the CDC’s eviction moratorium by simply not telling their tenants that it exists. The CDC moratorium only applies to people who can affirm they’ve been economically impacted by the coronavirus -- which is pretty much everyone -- but still puts the burden of proof onto the tenant.

The Trump administration has also lobbied to make it even easier for these massive companies to turn people out, adding a stipulation to the moratorium that allows landlords to challenge tenants declarations that they’re suffering from the pandemic. The watchdog report shows that since that change went through on October 9, new eviction filings have jumped, with one week in mid October seeing over 2,000 in the area surveyed alone.

This kind of casual barbarism is potentially a good indication of what a true lame-duck period will look like for the Trump administration if he does lose the election next week.

Philly Protests Police Shooting

Protests have erupted across Philadelphia and spread to some cities nationwide after police in the city shot and killed a black man on Monday night.

Philadelphia police shot Walter Wallace Jr., a black man who appears to have been suffering a mental health crisis, after responding to reports of man with a knife. The cops claim Wallace was armed, but video posted on social media of the shooting shows him several feet away from officers, who fire a torrent of shots into him.

The video immediately sparked protests across the city, which almost immediately led to violent clashes with police. Protesters torched police vehicles and pelted officers with rocks and bricks, while cops continued the brutal suppression tactics they’ve honed over a summer of protests.

The city has promised an investigation, but it’s unlikely to be sufficient in a system that doesn’t prioritize de-escalation or non-lethal means. In a joint statement, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offered a few empty platitudes about police violence, but also condemned protesters for looting and other violent actions. Biden and Harris wrote quote:

“We cannot accept that in this country a mental health crisis ends in death.” endquote, but then quickly followed with quote: “No amount of anger at the very real injustices in our society excuses violence, Looting is not a protest, it is a crime. It draws attention away from the real tragedy of a life cut short.” endquote.

That’s about what we’ve come to expect from them, but it’s still a disheartening sign that nothing will really change for America’s over-policed populations under their administration.

Michigan Allows Guns at Polls

Going to the polls in Michigan? Might as well strap up. On Tuesday, a Michigan judge sided with second amendment hard liners to allow open-carry of firearms at polling places.

The right, of course, is going to use this to further enable the militia presence that already tried to kidnap the state’s governor. We’re definitely going to get images of armed, racist three-percenters intimidating voters on election day because of this.

Michigan is an open carry state, but secretary of state Jocelyn Benson recently issued a directive to stop the practice at polling stations. Unfortunately, she was overruled by the courts, and now polling places are gun-friendly zones.

There is one silver lining: places that already have open-carry restrictions, like churches and schools, will still have them. As many of those buildings often serve as polling places, idiots with rifles probably won’t be a presence everywhere in the state.

Benson, the secretary of state, says she’ll appeal the ruling, but she’s running out of time. It’s October 28. The election is in six days. And you can bet Trump will be using every one of them to ramp up tensions across the state and against Governor Gretchen Whitmer personally, as he has been for months.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Jon Stewart is coming back to TV, this time for a multiple season, one-hour single issue news issues show on Apple Plus. We’ll see if there’s any of that old Daily Show magic left in him, and how he’ll react to the next president.

A new report in the Financial Times alleges that Goldman Sachs covered up allegations of sexual misconduct against its top litigator, Darrell Cafasso, going so far as to fire a woman who spoke out against him. The fat cats at the top always protect their own.

The Lincoln Project, the political action committee and PR shop formed by former Republican con-artists that has fleeced millions of dollars from liberals desperate to end Trump’s reign, is setting up shop as a media empire. Axios reports that the organization plans to develop its media wing after the election, expanding into podcasts and live events like the former Obama staffers behind Crooked Media. Just what we need -- more conservative grifters with a platform.

In other extremely predictable podcast news, Joe Rogan had Infowars’ Alex Jones on his massively watched and listened-to show. Again. The two morons spent most of their time yukking it up over anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and played banned Infowars videos.

That’s it for the Majority Report’s AM Quickie today! Sam’s on for the full show later today.

OCT 28, 2020 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn