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The National Guard arrived in Houston over the weekend to rescue residents, many of whom hadn't been able to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Harvey's landfall. (Photo: National Guard/Flickr/cc)
As millions of Houston residents faced life-threatening flooding on Monday with the saturated remnants of Hurricane Harvey expected to bring even more heavy rains in the days ahead, journalist Naomi Klein warned against the notion, already being pushed by some on the right, that the disaster shouldn't be "politicized."
"The window for providing meaningful context and drawing important conclusions is short. We can't afford to blow it."
--Naomi Klein"Now is exactly the time to talk about climate change, and all the other systemic injustices -- from racial profiling to economic austerity -- that turn disasters like Harvey into human catastrophes," Klein wrote at The Intercept on Monday.
In her piece, Klein warns that the absence of journalists, lawmakers, or experts on the cable news shows and in major papers connecting the dots between human-caused global warming and the severe destruction now underway in Texas is itself a "highly political decision." And the wrong one.
"The window for providing meaningful context and drawing important conclusions is short. We can't afford to blow it," she writes. "Talking honestly about what is fueling this era of serial disasters -- even while they're playing out in real time--isn't disrespectful to the people on the front lines. In fact, it is the only way to truly honor their losses, and our last hope for preventing a future littered with countless more victims."
On Sunday, Trump ally Sheriff David Clarke accused progressives of politicizing the storm by discussing President Donald Trump's response to the massive floods and damage to the nation's fourth-largest city.
\u201cThe deranged lib left is soiling their underwear in excitement over politicizing Tropical Storm Harvey to use against @realDonaldTrump. MAGA\u201d— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@David A. Clarke, Jr.) 1503842501
In a Washington Post column, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt chimed in: "Some advice for my colleagues in the media: Be very slow to politicize this storm. It looks to be quite awful in its impacts. The pull of domestic politics generally and the president specifically on every story is so strong these days that it takes great intentionality to not make this an occasion for another round of Trump trashing or boosterism."
In pair of tweets earlier on Monday, Klein cautioned against dismissing concerns about climate change and its impact on natural disasters like Harvey, as well as questions about economic inequality and how low-income neighborhoods and communities have been historically left behind by the federal government both in terms of how cities prepare for disasters and how they respond to them.
YES. And the right will waste no time exploiting this disaster to further the social + economic agenda that creates these catastrophes https://t.co/CqYNOGoLqj
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 28, 2017
We can't respond to crises correctly unless we diagnose causes correctly. Now is *exactly* the time 2 talk #climatechange, racism, austerity
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 28, 2017
Several news reports have shown the impact of Harvey on Southeast Texas's low-income residents. In Rockport, a coastal city 225 miles southwest of Houston, the BBC reported many residents were unable to evacuate ahead of the storm. One woman stayed "because she had no means to leave and no place to go," telling the news outlet:
I had some problems getting out of town, a little broke and stuff, so I had to come home and, you know, tough it out. We're all the working class people. We're the ones who go to the restaurants and wait on you and pick up your trash and do all that work. We don't have a lot of money.
Also commenting on the unequal impacts of the storm was Andy Horowitz, professor of history at Tulane University.
Klein has also written extensively about the impact of "disaster capitalism" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and other catastrophic events--the exploitation of crises for corporate gain, often under the guise of relief or reconstruction efforts. Last month, she wrote in the Guardian about a list of "Pro-Free-Market Ideas for Responding to Hurricane Katrina and High Gas Prices," compiled by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) in September 2005--weeks after Katrina and the failure of the city's levees had turned New Orleans into a disaster zone.
The group, then headed by Vice President Mike Pence, saw the severe flooding as an opportunity to "make the entire affected area a flat tax free-enterprise zone," "give school-choice vouchers for displaced children," and "make the entire region an economic competitiveness zone (comprehensive tax incentives and waiving of regulations)."
On Twitter, Klein made clear that Houston should be wary of similar responses by for-profit industries as the area recovers from Harvey.
Update: This post has been updated from its original version to include excerpts from Klein's new column.
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As millions of Houston residents faced life-threatening flooding on Monday with the saturated remnants of Hurricane Harvey expected to bring even more heavy rains in the days ahead, journalist Naomi Klein warned against the notion, already being pushed by some on the right, that the disaster shouldn't be "politicized."
"The window for providing meaningful context and drawing important conclusions is short. We can't afford to blow it."
--Naomi Klein"Now is exactly the time to talk about climate change, and all the other systemic injustices -- from racial profiling to economic austerity -- that turn disasters like Harvey into human catastrophes," Klein wrote at The Intercept on Monday.
In her piece, Klein warns that the absence of journalists, lawmakers, or experts on the cable news shows and in major papers connecting the dots between human-caused global warming and the severe destruction now underway in Texas is itself a "highly political decision." And the wrong one.
"The window for providing meaningful context and drawing important conclusions is short. We can't afford to blow it," she writes. "Talking honestly about what is fueling this era of serial disasters -- even while they're playing out in real time--isn't disrespectful to the people on the front lines. In fact, it is the only way to truly honor their losses, and our last hope for preventing a future littered with countless more victims."
On Sunday, Trump ally Sheriff David Clarke accused progressives of politicizing the storm by discussing President Donald Trump's response to the massive floods and damage to the nation's fourth-largest city.
\u201cThe deranged lib left is soiling their underwear in excitement over politicizing Tropical Storm Harvey to use against @realDonaldTrump. MAGA\u201d— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@David A. Clarke, Jr.) 1503842501
In a Washington Post column, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt chimed in: "Some advice for my colleagues in the media: Be very slow to politicize this storm. It looks to be quite awful in its impacts. The pull of domestic politics generally and the president specifically on every story is so strong these days that it takes great intentionality to not make this an occasion for another round of Trump trashing or boosterism."
In pair of tweets earlier on Monday, Klein cautioned against dismissing concerns about climate change and its impact on natural disasters like Harvey, as well as questions about economic inequality and how low-income neighborhoods and communities have been historically left behind by the federal government both in terms of how cities prepare for disasters and how they respond to them.
YES. And the right will waste no time exploiting this disaster to further the social + economic agenda that creates these catastrophes https://t.co/CqYNOGoLqj
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 28, 2017
We can't respond to crises correctly unless we diagnose causes correctly. Now is *exactly* the time 2 talk #climatechange, racism, austerity
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 28, 2017
Several news reports have shown the impact of Harvey on Southeast Texas's low-income residents. In Rockport, a coastal city 225 miles southwest of Houston, the BBC reported many residents were unable to evacuate ahead of the storm. One woman stayed "because she had no means to leave and no place to go," telling the news outlet:
I had some problems getting out of town, a little broke and stuff, so I had to come home and, you know, tough it out. We're all the working class people. We're the ones who go to the restaurants and wait on you and pick up your trash and do all that work. We don't have a lot of money.
Also commenting on the unequal impacts of the storm was Andy Horowitz, professor of history at Tulane University.
Klein has also written extensively about the impact of "disaster capitalism" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and other catastrophic events--the exploitation of crises for corporate gain, often under the guise of relief or reconstruction efforts. Last month, she wrote in the Guardian about a list of "Pro-Free-Market Ideas for Responding to Hurricane Katrina and High Gas Prices," compiled by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) in September 2005--weeks after Katrina and the failure of the city's levees had turned New Orleans into a disaster zone.
The group, then headed by Vice President Mike Pence, saw the severe flooding as an opportunity to "make the entire affected area a flat tax free-enterprise zone," "give school-choice vouchers for displaced children," and "make the entire region an economic competitiveness zone (comprehensive tax incentives and waiving of regulations)."
On Twitter, Klein made clear that Houston should be wary of similar responses by for-profit industries as the area recovers from Harvey.
Update: This post has been updated from its original version to include excerpts from Klein's new column.
As millions of Houston residents faced life-threatening flooding on Monday with the saturated remnants of Hurricane Harvey expected to bring even more heavy rains in the days ahead, journalist Naomi Klein warned against the notion, already being pushed by some on the right, that the disaster shouldn't be "politicized."
"The window for providing meaningful context and drawing important conclusions is short. We can't afford to blow it."
--Naomi Klein"Now is exactly the time to talk about climate change, and all the other systemic injustices -- from racial profiling to economic austerity -- that turn disasters like Harvey into human catastrophes," Klein wrote at The Intercept on Monday.
In her piece, Klein warns that the absence of journalists, lawmakers, or experts on the cable news shows and in major papers connecting the dots between human-caused global warming and the severe destruction now underway in Texas is itself a "highly political decision." And the wrong one.
"The window for providing meaningful context and drawing important conclusions is short. We can't afford to blow it," she writes. "Talking honestly about what is fueling this era of serial disasters -- even while they're playing out in real time--isn't disrespectful to the people on the front lines. In fact, it is the only way to truly honor their losses, and our last hope for preventing a future littered with countless more victims."
On Sunday, Trump ally Sheriff David Clarke accused progressives of politicizing the storm by discussing President Donald Trump's response to the massive floods and damage to the nation's fourth-largest city.
\u201cThe deranged lib left is soiling their underwear in excitement over politicizing Tropical Storm Harvey to use against @realDonaldTrump. MAGA\u201d— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@David A. Clarke, Jr.) 1503842501
In a Washington Post column, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt chimed in: "Some advice for my colleagues in the media: Be very slow to politicize this storm. It looks to be quite awful in its impacts. The pull of domestic politics generally and the president specifically on every story is so strong these days that it takes great intentionality to not make this an occasion for another round of Trump trashing or boosterism."
In pair of tweets earlier on Monday, Klein cautioned against dismissing concerns about climate change and its impact on natural disasters like Harvey, as well as questions about economic inequality and how low-income neighborhoods and communities have been historically left behind by the federal government both in terms of how cities prepare for disasters and how they respond to them.
YES. And the right will waste no time exploiting this disaster to further the social + economic agenda that creates these catastrophes https://t.co/CqYNOGoLqj
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 28, 2017
We can't respond to crises correctly unless we diagnose causes correctly. Now is *exactly* the time 2 talk #climatechange, racism, austerity
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 28, 2017
Several news reports have shown the impact of Harvey on Southeast Texas's low-income residents. In Rockport, a coastal city 225 miles southwest of Houston, the BBC reported many residents were unable to evacuate ahead of the storm. One woman stayed "because she had no means to leave and no place to go," telling the news outlet:
I had some problems getting out of town, a little broke and stuff, so I had to come home and, you know, tough it out. We're all the working class people. We're the ones who go to the restaurants and wait on you and pick up your trash and do all that work. We don't have a lot of money.
Also commenting on the unequal impacts of the storm was Andy Horowitz, professor of history at Tulane University.
Klein has also written extensively about the impact of "disaster capitalism" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and other catastrophic events--the exploitation of crises for corporate gain, often under the guise of relief or reconstruction efforts. Last month, she wrote in the Guardian about a list of "Pro-Free-Market Ideas for Responding to Hurricane Katrina and High Gas Prices," compiled by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) in September 2005--weeks after Katrina and the failure of the city's levees had turned New Orleans into a disaster zone.
The group, then headed by Vice President Mike Pence, saw the severe flooding as an opportunity to "make the entire affected area a flat tax free-enterprise zone," "give school-choice vouchers for displaced children," and "make the entire region an economic competitiveness zone (comprehensive tax incentives and waiving of regulations)."
On Twitter, Klein made clear that Houston should be wary of similar responses by for-profit industries as the area recovers from Harvey.
Update: This post has been updated from its original version to include excerpts from Klein's new column.
"This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves," said one Amnesty campaigner.
After leaked drafts exposed the Trump administration's plans to downplay human rights abuses in some allied countries, including Israel, the U.S. Department of State released the final edition of an annual report on Tuesday, sparking fresh condemnation.
"Breaking with precedent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not provide a written introduction to the report nor did he make remarks about it," CNN reported. Still, Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA's national director of government relations and advocacy, called him out by name in a Tuesday statement.
"With the release of the U.S. State Department's human rights report, it is clear that the Trump administration has engaged in a very selective documentation of human rights abuses in certain countries," Klasing said. "In addition to eliminating entire sections for certain countries—for example discrimination against LGBTQ+ people—there are also arbitrary omissions within existing sections of the report based on the country."
Klasing explained that "we have criticized past reports when warranted, but have never seen reports quite like this. Never before have the reports gone this far in prioritizing an administration's political agenda over a consistent and truthful accounting of human rights violations around the world—softening criticism in some countries while ignoring violations in others. The State Department has said in relation to the reports less is more. However, for the victims and human rights defenders who rely on these reports to shine light on abuses and violations, less is just less."
"Secretary Rubio knows full well from his time in the Senate how vital these reports are in informing policy decisions and shaping diplomatic conversations, yet he has made the dangerous and short-sighted decision to put out a truncated version that doesn't tell the whole story of human rights violations," she continued. "This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves."
"Failing to adequately report on human rights violations further damages the credibility of the U.S. on human rights issues," she added. "It's shameful that the Trump administration and Secretary Rubio are putting politics above human lives."
The overarching report—which includes over 100 individual country reports—covers 2024, the last full calendar year of the Biden administration. The appendix says that in March, the report was "streamlined for better utility and accessibility in the field and by partners, and to be more responsive to the underlying legislative mandate and aligned to the administration's executive orders."
As CNN detailed:
The latest report was stripped of many of the specific sections included in past reports, including reporting on alleged abuses based on sexual orientation, violence toward women, corruption in government, systemic racial or ethnic violence, or denial of a fair public trial. Some country reports, including for Afghanistan, do address human rights abuses against women.
"We were asked to edit down the human rights reports to the bare minimum of what was statutorily required," said Michael Honigstein, the former director of African Affairs at the State Department's Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor. He and his office helped compile the initial reports.
Over the past week, since the draft country reports leaked to the press, the Trump administration has come under fire for its portrayals of El Salvador, Israel, and Russia.
The report on Israel—and the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—is just nine pages. The brevity even drew the attention of Israeli media. The Times of Israel highlighted that it "is much shorter than last year's edition compiled under the Biden administration and contained no mention of the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli forces have slaughtered over 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local officials—though experts warn the true toll is likely far higher. As Israel has restricted humanitarian aid in recent months, over 200 people have starved to death, including 103 children.
The U.S. report on Israel does not mention the genocide case that Israel faces at the International Court of Justice over the assault on Gaza, or the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The section on war crimes and genocide only says that "terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah continue to engage in the
indiscriminate targeting of Israeli civilians in violation of the law of armed conflict."
As the world mourns the killing of six more Palestinian media professionals in Gaza this week—which prompted calls for the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting—the report's section on press freedom is also short and makes no mention of the hundreds of journalists killed in Israel's annihilation of the strip:
The law generally provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, and the government generally respected this right for most Israelis. NGOs and journalists reported authorities restricted press coverage and limited certain forms of expression, especially in the context of criticism against the war or sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza.
Noting that "the human rights reports have been among the U.S. government's most-read documents," DAWN senior adviser and 32-year State Department official Charles Blaha said the "significant omissions" in this year's report on Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank render it "functionally useless for Congress and the public as nothing more than a pro-Israel document."
Like Klasing at Amnesty, Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's executive director, specifically called out the U.S. secretary of state.
"Secretary Rubio has revamped the State Department reports for one principal purpose: to whitewash Israeli crimes, including its horrific genocide and starvation in Gaza. The report shockingly includes not a word about the overwhelming evidence of genocide, mass starvation, and the deliberate bombardment of civilians in Gaza," she said. "Rubio has defied the letter and intent of U.S. laws requiring the State Department to report truthfully and comprehensively about every country's human rights abuses, instead offering up anodyne cover for his murderous friends in Tel Aviv."
The Tuesday release came after a coalition of LGBTQ+ and human rights organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department over its refusal to release the congressionally mandated report.
This article has been updated with comment from DAWN.
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," said the head of Common Cause.
As Republicans try to rig congressional maps in several states and Democrats threaten retaliatory measures, a pro-democracy watchdog on Tuesday unveiled new fairness standards underscoring that "independent redistricting commissions remain the gold standard for ending partisan gerrymandering."
Common Cause will hold an online media briefing Wednesday at noon Eastern time "to walk reporters though the six pieces of criteria the organization will use to evaluate any proposed maps."
The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group said that "it will closely evaluate, but not automatically condemn, countermeasures" to Republican gerrymandering efforts—especially mid-decade redistricting not based on decennial censuses.
Amid the gerrymandering wars, we just launched 6 fairness criteria to hold all actors to the same principled standard: people first—not parties. Read our criteria here: www.commoncause.org/resources/po...
[image or embed]
— Common Cause (@commoncause.org) August 12, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Common Cause's six fairness criteria for mid-decade redistricting are:
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said in a statement. "But neither will we call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarian tactics that undermine fair representation."
"We have established a fairness criteria that we will use to evaluate all countermeasures so we can respond to the most urgent threats to fair representation while holding all actors to the same principled standard: people—not parties—first," she added.
Common Cause's fairness criteria come amid the ongoing standoff between Republicans trying to gerrymander Texas' congressional map and Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in a bid to stymie a vote on the measure. Texas state senators on Tuesday approved the proposed map despite a walkout by most of their Democratic colleagues.
Leaders of several Democrat-controlled states, most notably California, have threatened retaliatory redistricting.
"This moment is about more than responding to a single threat—it's about building the movement for lasting reform," Kase Solomón asserted. "This is not an isolated political tactic; it is part of a broader march toward authoritarianism, dismantling people-powered democracy, and stripping away the people's ability to have a political voice and say in how they are governed."
"Texas law is clear: A pregnant person cannot be arrested and prosecuted for getting an abortion. No one is above the law, including officials entrusted with enforcing it," said an ACLU attorney.
When officials in Starr County, Texas arrested Lizelle Gonzalez in 2022 and charged her with murder for having a medication abortion—despite state law clearly prohibiting the prosecution of women for abortion care—she spent three days in jail, away from her children, and the highly publicized arrest was "deeply traumatizing."
Now, said her lawyers at the ACLU in court filings on Tuesday, officials in the county sheriff's and district attorney's offices must be held accountable for knowingly subjecting Gonzalez to wrongful prosecution.
Starr County District Attorney Gocha Ramirez ultimately dismissed the charge against Gonzalez, said the ACLU, but the Texas bar's investigation into Ramirez—which found multiple instances of misconduct related to Gonzalez's homicide charge—resulted in only minor punishment. Ramirez had to pay a small fine of $1,250 and was given one year of probated suspension.
"Without real accountability, Starr County's district attorney—and any other law enforcement actor—will not be deterred from abusing their power to unlawfully target people because of their personal beliefs, rather than the law," said the ACLU.
The state bar found that Ramirez allowed Gonzalez's indictment to go forward despite the fact that her homicide charge was "known not to be supported by probable cause."
Ramirez had denied that he was briefed on the facts of the case before it was prosecuted by his office, but the state bar "determined he was consulted by a prosecutor in his office beforehand and permitted it to go forward."
"Without real accountability, Starr County's district attorney—and any other law enforcement actor—will not be deterred from abusing their power to unlawfully target people because of their personal beliefs, rather than the law."
Sarah Corning, an attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said the prosecutors and law enforcement officers "ignored Texas law when they wrongfully arrested Lizelle Gonzalez for ending her pregnancy."
"They shattered her life in South Texas, violated her rights, and abused the power they swore to uphold," said Corning. "Texas law is clear: A pregnant person cannot be arrested and prosecuted for getting an abortion. No one is above the law, including officials entrusted with enforcing it."
The district attorney's office sought to have the ACLU's case dismissed in July 2024, raising claims of legal immunity.
A court denied Ramirez's motion, and the ACLU's discovery process that followed revealed "a coordinated effort between the Starr County sheriff's office and district attorney's office to violate Ms. Gonzalez's rights."
The officials' "wanton disregard for the rule of law and erroneous belief of their own invincibility is a frightening deviation from the offices' purposes: to seek justice," said Cecilia Garza, a partner at the law firm Garza Martinez, who is joining the ACLU in representing Gonzalez. "I am proud to represent Ms. Gonzalez in her fight for justice and redemption, and our team will not allow these abuses to continue in Starr County or any other county in the state of Texas."
Gonzalez's fight for justice comes as a wrongful death case in Texas—filed by an "anti-abortion legal terrorist" on behalf of a man whose girlfriend use medication from another state to end her pregnancy—moves forward, potentially jeopardizing access to abortion pills across the country.