The Resistance Now: joy at Republican health defeat – but there’s still work to do

In this week’s resistance news: protesters jubilant as effort to repeal Obamacare officially declared dead, while activists in Flint, Michigan target Nestlé

It took thousands of phone calls, nearly 200 arrests, and a belated show of courage from a small number of Republican senators, but the GOP’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act finally failed – for the time being – on Tuesday.

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It’s easy to take the simplest things for granted | Jessica Valenti

I was reminded of this as communities in Puerto Rico, Mexico and beyond struggle with devastation

Today is the seven year anniversary of the day my daughter first breathed without medical assistance. It was six weeks after she was first born, and to be able to see her face - without tubes, without fear that she would stop breathing and turn blue - was one of the best moments of my life as a mother.

I’ve been thinking about this day a lot these last few weeks, as the latest Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare failed, and as communities in Puerto Rico, Mexico and beyond pulled together to try to help each other in the aftermath of devastation.

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What Trump did this week: health bill fails (again) and NFL row flares up

The president kicked off the week with a spat over black NFL players’ protests, while Republicans bungled their final (for now) attempt to repeal Obamacare

  • Each week Trump seems to make more news than most presidents do in a lifetime. The Guardian is keeping track of it all in this series every Saturday

Having whipped up a national row over black NFL players’ protests in a Friday-night speech in Alabama, Trump, clearly convinced he was on to a winner, continued to poke at the wound all weekend. Players hit back in unprecedented numbers by kneeling, locking arms or staying in the tunnel during the national anthem. Whether the president chose to spark the controversy as a distraction from difficulties with North Korea or the Republicans’ flailing healthcare bill, or to shore up his rightwing base following doubts among the faithful about his attempts to cut an immigration deal with Democrats “Chuck and Nancy”, the effect was to drown out the original reason for the protests – racism and police brutality – and reframe the issue as one about patriotism. Trump planted himself cynically and effectively on the side of the flag, the military and The Star-Spangled Banner.

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