I wonder if that actually penetrates the minds of the average Fox viewers. And then there’s this: Apparently, she is demanding that Mike Johnson commit to her personally that he won’t ever fund Ukraine again, that he defunds the DOJ and never again passes a bill without majority GOP support. I’m sure he agreed since none of that’s relevant until after the election at which point they’ll vote for leadership again anyway. But sure, let’s put them in charge of the House again.
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Yes, we know to take polling with a grain of salt right now. But the media went nuts over that outlier CNN poll showing Trump ahead six points. Crickets for these two legit polls in the past week. ABC/Ipsos today: Old vs young, rural vs urban, college vs non-college, Democrat vs Republican the usual (although the inverted old vs young is a little weird but I’d guess it’s Gaza.) However, there are some interesting observations. RFK pulls more from Trump which is the second poll that shows that. Self-identified moderates are for Biden, which is good, and the battleground is definitely still in the suburbs. About those swing states? It’s a tie: And it’s a 46-45% race in the seven expected swing states, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Some other issues: Support for abortion rights remains widespread: Americans by 66-32% oppose the U.S. Supreme Court decision that did away with the constitutional right to abortion and by essentially the same margin say their own state should allow access to abortion in all or most cases.
Legal beagle Ryan Goodman points out that the actual trial transcript shows Hope Hicks’ final testimony is actually worse than was reported. He wrote on twitter: Trump not only communicates “it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election.” Trump also links it to Cohen hush money: “had Michael not made that payment.” I think you can see why she burst into tears a minute later. This revelation is damaging to Trump’s defense and she knew it. Hicks admits that Trump was worried about the election and backs up Cohen’s contention that Trump knew what the money was for before he reimbursed him. What’s the significance of that? Trump’s defense lawyer’s opening statement featured this: Apparently he didn’t know about this civil case (Daniels was trying to get released from her non-disclosure agreement) in which Trump and Cohen both admitted that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the hush money. I guess they might try to blame the lawyer in that case but he’s not the kind of guy you want to mess with.* Andrew Weissman writes on twitter: Why Hicks is such a devastating witness against Trump: 1.
(Note the time he posted that. ) Trump did say it, of course: Do you think states should monitor women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban? Trump: I think they might do that. Again, you’ll have to speak to the individual states. Look, Roe v. Wade was all about bringing it back to the states. And that was a legal, as well as possibly in the hearts of some, in the minds of some, a moral decision. But it was largely a legal decision. Every legal scholar, Democrat, Republican, and other wanted that issue back at the states. You know, Roe v. Wade was always considered very bad law. Very bad. It was a very bad issue from a legal standpoint. People were amazed it lasted as long as it did. And what I was able to do is through the choice of some very good people who frankly were very courageous, the justices it turned out to be you know, the Republican— States will decide if they’re comfortable or not— Trump: Yeah the states— Prosecuting women for getting abortions after the ban. But are you comfortable with it? Trump: The states are going to say.
Kevin Drum tells everyone to buck up. Life in these United States really isn’t more miserable than it’s ever been. He posted a video of Congressman Jamal Bowman saying: Young people are TIRED. They’re tired of growing up with forever wars, with no healthcare, with crumbling infrastructure. Young people have every right to demand better from their leaders. It’s their job to. Kevin responds: Just stop it. Joe Biden ended the Afghanistan war and cut American drone strikes nearly to zero. The US is not currently fighting any major wars and in 2022, for the first time in decades, reported no civilian deaths due to US combat. Health insurance coverage has steadily increased among the young for the past decade: And infrastructure is not “crumbling” by any stretch of rhetoric.
Good luck with that My post on Sunday referenced Ross Douthat’s flop-sweaty warning that President Biden should stop campaigning as if he is ahead. But credit the Washington Post Editorial Board’s warning, at least to Democrats in Congress, that while hoping for the best they should plan for the worst. “Though the emergency powers that the Insurrection Act confers are inherently susceptible to abuse, presidents’ respect for democratic values and constitutional norms has by and large prevented that,” the Board begins. There’s still time to make some tweaks to the Act before January 2025. Golly jeepers, who might they be referencing between the lines? Just so we’re clear: Having gone unused since 1992, the Insurrection Act is perhaps obscure to the public today. It deserves more attention, given that there could be a second term for former president Donald Trump, who not only lacks respect for democratic norms but also actively encouraged a mob to descend on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“a direct attack on the rule of law” At the Donald Trump trial in Manhattan, Judge Juan Merchan addresses Trump’s continued violations of the gag order, Harry Litman reports. Find you in contempt again for the 10th time. It appears that 2k fine not serving as a deterrent . therefore, going forward will need to consider a jail sanction “last thing I want to do is put you in jail. you are the former Pres and possibly the next Pres as well. to put you in jail would disrupt these proceedings. also secret service and others. the magnitude of the decision not lost on me.” “but at the end of the day I have a job to do. . . your continued violations threaten to disrupt processing and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law. so as much as I don’t want to impose a jail sentence, I want you to understand that I will if necessary and appropriate” So there it is — next time –> jail. The final warning. It’s in Trump’s hands now. And we’re off. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● For The Win, 5th Edition is ready for download.
Donald Trump whines constantly about not being able to campaign around the country because he’s stuck in a New York courtroom facing trial on felony charges. Court is only convened four days a week and he has his own plane so he could certainly be out every weekend if he chose to. He did hold a couple of rallies last week in Wisconsin and Michigan since court was only in session for three days but on his days off he’s usually playing golf at and angrily tweeting rather than glad-handing the MAGA crowd out on the stump. And he’s holding a lot of fundraisers at his Mar-a-Lago beach club. This past weekend, rather than heading out to Arizona or even next door to Pennsylvania, Trump was back in Florida regaling 400 wealthy donors at a $40,000 a ticket with an extended whine about his legal problems and the stolen election of 2020, among other MAGA greatest hits. He also said that the Biden administration is “the Gestapo” and called Special Prosecutor Jack Smith a fucking asshole. He was obviously enjoying himself.
This newsletter by Robert Reich spoke to me. I hope he doesn’t mind if I share it with you: Friends, My students are graduating at a tremulous time. The largest campus protest movement of the 21st century. The first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. The most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. Two horrific wars. All of this coming after a pandemic that claimed the lives of a million Americans. And after the first attack on the U.S. Capitol in history, provoked by the first president who refused to accept electoral defeat. Perhaps most troubling, the nation is bitterly split. Americans are demonizing those on the other side whom they disagree with. (For two weeks in April, “Civil War,” a dystopian film about a bloody alternative reality where America is at war with itself, topped box office charts, grossing more than $50 million.) My graduating students are exhausted and anxious. They are repulsed by the slaughter in Gaza, and angry by the responses of university administrators around the country to the student protesters. They’re cynical about politics.
When Trump took over the RNC and purged all the suspected disloyal employees they hire two new lawyers to oversee “election integrity.” That hasn’t worked out so well. Benen writes: One of the attorneys hired at the RNC was Christina Bobb, who was tapped to serve as the party’s senior counsel for election integrity. It wasn’t long, however, before an unfortunate problem emerged: Bobb was recently indicted for alleged election-related crimes. The other attorney was longtime Republican lawyer Charlie Spies, who was hired to serve as the RNC’s chief counsel. At least, that was the idea two months ago. NBC News reported over the weekend: After the news was made official, Trump turned to his social media platform to celebrate the developments. “Great news for the Republican Party. RINO lawyer Charlie Spies is out as Chief Counsel of the RNC,” the former president wrote, denouncing the experienced Republican lawyer who’d been hired by his own RNC team. What did this highly experienced GOP lawyer do to deserve such a scathing put down?