August 18, 2023

Friday, August 18, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

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Joe is always busy.

Biden to host South Korean and Japanese leaders at Camp David.President Biden, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol greet each other ahead of a trilateral meeting during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21.

TOKYO — President Biden will host his Japanese and South Korean counterparts at Camp David in Maryland on Friday, the first time the three nations’ leaders will hold a stand-alone meeting to discuss trilateral issues.

The summit reflects the way rising threats in the region — notably from China and North Korea — are drawing the United States and its two most important Asian allies steadily closer together.

The three leaders are expected to affirm publicly for the first time that their nations’ security is linked, and commit to consulting each other in the event of a regional security crisis.

Though the meeting will not result in a NATO-style collective defense pact, it nonetheless will send a powerful political message to Beijing and Pyongyang, analysts said.

“The message is, the three can’t be divided and conquered,” said Danny Russel, a former assistant secretary of state for Asia, now vice president for international studies at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “And that as powerful as the United States military is, that power is increasingly magnified by the strength of what Japan and [South] Korea contribute.” (The Washington Post).

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Kamala is always busy.

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Trump’s Fifth Indictment.

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One new critical poll number for Trump.

Fifty percent of Americans say Trump should suspend his presidential campaign.

A majority of Americans think former President Trump's charges in Georgia election interference case are serious and 50 percent of Americans say Trump should suspend his campaign, according to new ABC News/IPSOS polling. (MSNBC).

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When will defendant Trump go on trial in Georgia?

Fani Willis proposes March 4 start for Georgia election trial.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Wednesday proposed a start date of March 4, 2024, for former President Trump's election interference trial in Georgia.

Why it matters: The proposed trial start date would fall one day before Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states will hold Republican primary contests.

• It would also be one week before Georgia's presidential primary, which is scheduled for March 12.

Driving the news: Willis in the Wednesday court filing also said that arraignment for Trump and his 18 co-defendants should take place the week of Sept. 5.

The big picture: An Atlanta grand jury indicted Trump and more than a dozen allies earlier this week in the probe into his alleged efforts to flip Georgia's 2020 election results.

• Trump faces an already packed courtroom calendar that is on a collision coursewith his 2024 presidential campaign.

• Trump was charged with 13 counts in the Georgia indictment, including violation of Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, ACT(RICO).

Special counsel Jack Smith last week proposed a Jan. 2 start date in the federal trial on Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

• The former president's mounting legal fights already are burning through his campaign war chest. (Axios)

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Let the Gerrymandering Stop.

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They are fighting back in Arkansas and Florida.

Little Rock Will Offer A.P. African American Studies Despite State Objections.

The Little Rock School District in Arkansas said it would ensure that test fees would not burden students.

The Latest.

The Little Rock School District in Arkansas said on Wednesday that it would continue to offer Advanced Placement African American studies, over the objections of the administration of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican who has limited instruction on race.

The decision comes after the State Department of Education announced on Monday that the course’s content might violate a new law banning “indoctrination” in schools.

What Led to the Resistance

The decision by the district illustrates some of the widespread discomfort that frontline educators have with a new crop of curriculum laws that seek to tamp down on discussions about racism, gender nonconformity and sexuality.

In Arkansas, a new law aims to ban “teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies” such as critical race theory. The same legislation weakened teachers’ tenure protections, which has raised the stakes in the confrontation with the state over African American studies.

The Arkansas education department said the A.P. class might not carry state credit toward high school graduation and that students would not receive state assistance with test fees.

But the Little Rock School District said in a statement that it would ensure that students would not be burdened by those fees, which are generally $98 per A.P. exam.

Colleges typically require a score of at least 3 out of 5 on those exams to grant credit. Little Rock Central High School, which is offering the class, serves about 2,500 students, half of whom are Black.

“A.P. African American Studies will allow students to explore the complexities, contributions and narratives that have shaped the African American experience throughout history, including Central High School’s integral connection,” the district said.

Educators offering the class “are very scared, ” said April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association, the teachers’ union. “They can be let go at any moment for any reason.”

She lauded what she called the “bold” choice to move forward with the course and said her union would continue to argue to the state that A.P. African American studies is a rigorous, fact-based class protected under the law, and not an example of ideology or opinion.

The State Department of Education said it would take no further action to prevent schools from offering the course “until it’s determined whether it violates state law and teaches or trains teachers in CRT and indoctrination.”

A School District With History

In 1957, a group of nine Black teenagers, escorted by the U.S. National Guard, integrated Little Rock Central High School as white protesters spit and jeered. Governor Huckabee Sanders is a graduate of the school, and has spoken proudly of its legacy.

Ivory Toldson, education director of the NAACP, said he participated in a conference call Wednesday with five members of the Little Rock Nine, who expressed dismay with the state’s opposition to A.P. African American studies and were planning a joint response.

“They are living history and have experienced the things that people are trying to whitewash out of the curriculum,” said Dr. Toldson, who is also a professor at Howard University.

What’s Next

The A.P. African American studies curriculum has not been finalized, and it’s unclear whether the course will be offered broadly in the many conservative states that have passed laws restricting how race is taught.

The class has drawn debate since it officially rolled out in February. It emerged then that the College Board, the nonprofit that runs the A.P. program, had revised the course in response to objections from the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, the Republican presidential candidate who has helped lead the charge to restrict teaching on race, gender and sexuality.

After an outcry from scholars of Black studies who saw the changes as censoring their discipline, the College Board said the course would undergo another round of revisions before a final version would be released publicly later this year.

According to the College Board, 700 schools will pilot the class this academic year, and 200 colleges have agreed to accept credit for the course. (The New York Times).
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Oh, in case you were waiting eagerly…

And Liz Cheney has one more thing to say too.

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