Declaring the “time of death” for the GOP. On Feb 4th, the party of Lincoln breathed its last. On Friday, the governing body of the GOP declared that the violent assault on the Capitol and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election constituted “legitimate political discourse.”
@AWeissmann_
Okay. We get it. Biden could have handled the situation better. Saying it once was obvious. Harping on it creates a false equivalency. Expect more from a seasoned prosecutor. Why are you doing this?
@mjs_DC
The statement is awkwardly phrased to the point of evasion. Moreover, the Marshal’s deference to the tender sensibilities of the justices is why you don’t hire an employee to investigate their employer.
@Victorshi2020
Porter is great but bad timing, wrong decision. She was just re-elected in a vulnerable seat. Dems probably just lost that seat. What is she thinking?
It is time to call the question on voting rights--are we for democracy, or against it? See my most recent newsletter, Where do we stand?, by
@rbhubbell
@mjs_DC
And did the Marshal follow up the credible lead that Alito and his wife leaked the result in Hobby Lobby? Didn’t that lead implicate a justice and their spouse?
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a war crime. Donald Trump reduced it to a business transaction, saying, “Putin is smart. He’s taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.”
No one should mourn its passing. Future historians may point to earlier events as marking the demise of the Republican Party: The unanimous refusal to impeach a president for withholding $400 million in military aid from an ally in exchange for “dirt” on a political opponent.
There are no words to describe the ignorance of man who cannot comprehend the damage to global security caused by Putin’s unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation in the heart of Europe.
Listen to my latest newsletter:
Justice Gorsuch misrepresented the facts in his opinion in Kennedy v. Bremerton. Justice Sotomayor demonstrated Gorsuch's falsehoods by including a single picture in her opinion.
Ron DeSantis has taken aim at everyone in Florida who does not fit the MAGA mold. It is time for Democrats to stand up and push back against his one-person culture war. Read my latest newsletter:
@PalmerReport
Why are you so angry about this? People of good faith can rightly be frustrated by the long delay in holding Trump to account. That frustration does not mean we are in need of therapy. It is natural to want justice. We are on the same side. Chill.
@douglasritz
@JustinWolfers
Uh, what about allowing the billionaire tax cuts to expire on schedule? And allowing the corporate tax rate to re-set to its preTrump rate? And getting rid of the carried interest exemption? All ideas she already put on the table.
@PalmerReport
Let’s not fool ourselves. No one can take over a massive investigation without needing time to get up to speed. So, please, let’s not be disingenuous about there being “no delay.” There will be. And those who criticize that delay are not “hysterical.” Please desist.
We must simultaneously prevent those who brought down the GOP from doing the same to our democracy. That is an awesome responsibility and a daunting task. But there is no one else to do it. It is up to us. Let’s get to work.
Arguments can be made that the GOP ceased to exist prior to February 4th.But describing the insurrection as “legitimate political discourse” is incontestable, clinical evidence of death. Mark the time of death and move on. We have work to do, and the GOP is no more.
Whoever they are and whatever they call themselves, we should not make the mistake of believing they are the Republican Party. They are not. Democrats must find a way to govern in the absence of a responsible opposition party.
Or the refusal to convict a president for inciting a violent insurrection that desecrated the Capitol and killed four people. Or the collective shrug after Robert Mueller detailed ten occasions when the president obstructed justice.
For all his troubles, Biden beat Trump in a recent Times / Sienna poll. It's too early for any polling to be meaningful, but it is a good reminder that focusing only on challenges faced by one party or candidate is never analytically sound.
The motivations of those who attacked the Capitol on January 6th and those who defend democracy differ greatly. Read my latest newsletter, Today's Edition: What you fight for matters., by
@rbhubbell
As a result, millions of voters in Alabama will be forced to vote in congressional districts that were found to be gerrymandered for the purpose of diluting the voting power of Black citizens. Words fail in the face of such callous disregard for the most fundamental right of all.
The Framers went to the trouble of inserting a rule of construction in the Constitution for interpreting the absence of mention of rights reserved to the people. Alito did not give the Framers the courtesy of mentioning that rule of construction in Dobbs.
The GOP’s embrace of Putin is dangerous. Putin is relying on political division in the U.S. to provide cover for a war against Ukraine that will kill thousands of innocent civilians. Republicans are providing aid and comfort to the enemy—a scandal of historic proportions.
A Trump-appointed judge issued a bad-faith, result-oriented, incoherent decision ending the CDC mask mandate for interstate travel. The judge's order may not make much difference in the remaining two weeks of the mask mandate but may make a big difference in the next pandemic.
On Monday, the reactionary majority on the Supreme Court issued its most stunning decision to date in Merrill v. Milligan. The Supreme Court stayed a lower court order invalidating a congressional redistricting map drawn by the Alabama legislature.
Justice Kavanaugh’s opinion in Merrill v. Milligan denies Black citizens the rights guaranteed to them by the 14th and 15th Amendments and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The reactionary majority now feels empowered to adopt Kellyann Conway's "alternative facts" approach to Supreme Court jurisprudence. The Court is illegitimate and must be enlarged to save it.
During the second presentation by the January 6th Committee, Bill Barr testified (via video recording) that Trump became “detached from reality” in the two months following his loss in 2020. Barr is wrong. Trump rejected reality but knew what he was doing every step of the way.
Republicans are discussing a nationwide abortion ban if they gain control of the House in 2022. They are creating an opening for Democrats--who should exploit that opening for all it is worth!
When Bannon was indicted for contempt of Congress, he vowed to turn his case into the "misdemeanor from hell." A week before trial, he has caved and wants to testify. Read my latest newsletter.
The most unhinged meeting in Trump's tenure raged for 6 hours through three rooms and two wings of the White House complex. Trump failed in his quest to impose martial law, so summoned the mob. The rest is history.
Whatever happens, Biden’s leadership in this crisis has been everything we should expect from a president with substantial experience in foreign affairs.
@RepNancyMace
You believe Biden is suffering from dementia and also believe that is grounds for mocking him. While I disagree with your assessment, given your belief you should delete your tweet and apologize to all dementia sufferers and their families across America. Have you no decency?
Time is running out on the ability to prosecute Trump for his crimes. Taking time to put together a case is reasonable and understandable. Allowing the statute of limitations to expire is malfeasance. At this point, Garland’s inaction is Joe Biden’s responsibility.
Biden's remarks on Friday have finally cast the struggle over reproductive freedom as a conflict between "the mainstream and the extreme" of America. Good. He needs to spread that message far and wide.
The true lesson of January 6th is that the Constitution is ours only so long as we are prepared to defend it in word and deed. Check out opportunities to commemorate that lesson on January 6, 2022. See "The true lesson of January 6th", by
@rbhubbell
We have made it through the worst of the Court's campaign to turn back the clock in America by a century. Now, we begin our campaign to reclaim democracy, starting with the midterms.
On Thursday, the scandal regarding Trump’s failure to comply with the Presidential Records Act rocketed from presumed recklessness in handling documents to deliberate destruction to conceal Trump’s crimes.
The reactionary majority did not—indeed could not—overrule the lower court’s factual findings that the Alabama legislature likely acted with racial motivation in drawing its map. Instead, the conservative majority (again) announced new rules to upend established precedent.
It is our peculiar burden that we must govern America with only one of two major parties supporting the rule of law and the pursuit of global peace. The opposition party is heckling from the sidelines, rooting for dictators and tyrants, carrying water for America’s enemies.
In Today's Edition newsletter, I reflect on the most significant event of 2021: Joe Biden's inauguration. In his inaugural speech, he reminded us that "Enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward.”
@rbhubbell
The headline writers are having a field day with Biden's latest favorability ratings. But those ratings will not be on ballot in 2022--instead, voters will choose between candidates offering starkly different choices about America's future.
Australia's ban on assault rifles was a natural experiment that proved mass killings were caused by ready availability of assault rifles rather than mental illness (as Republicans claim). Read my latest:
The animus of the reactionary majority is manifest. The majority granted extraordinary emergency relief to preserve a redistricting map that three federal judges found was likely drawn for the purpose of denying equal representation to Black voters.
The Supreme Court has turned the world upside down. In two recent cases, the Court has allowed blatant violations of the Constitution to remain in place, saying that it will consider the merits of those cases in the fullness of time.
Professor Tribe has proposed that Biden "repurpose" $100 billion in Russian government funds currently frozen in U.S. banks. Those funds could change the course of the war and preserve Ukraine's sovereignty. See my newsletter discussion.
@tribelaw
It again used its “shadow docket,” to achieve a surprise result. As a result, the reactionary majority dispatched a 50-year-old statute without so much as a proper burial.
Our political system is broken, in large part because money distorts the process and overwhelms the role of the individual. American Promise seeks to pass a 28th Amendment to correct this situation. Check out my latest podcast.
@usapromise
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Joe Biden again knocked Russia back on its heels by releasing intercepted intelligence showing Russia begging China for weapons and food for Russian troops mired in Ukraine. Read my latest newsletter:
As Fox News fawns over Putin, Russia has occupied Belarus and prepared of list of Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps after invasion. Putin is not your friend. Read my latest newsletter:
The Jan 6th Committee told a federal judge that Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S. It is time for Merrick Garland to act or get out of the way. Read my latest newsletter:
Republicans in Congress have the blood of innocent children on their hands. Until we fix our broken system that allows a radical minority to prevent common sense regulation favored by the majority of Americans, we should think of nothing else.
There are no words to describe the ignorance of man who cannot comprehend the damage to global security caused by Putin’s unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation in the heart of Europe.
Read my latest newsletter:
@jpodhoretz
Joe Biden chaired the meeting. He sat where all presidents sit at cabinet meetings. In the middle of the table. Surprised you don't know that. Jill sat at the endog the table and spoke only about education.
Should the DOJ prosecute Trump? The Jan 6th Committee hearings leave no doubt: Trump has committed multiple felonies and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Listen to my latest:
@SIfill_
Of course the 14th amendment applies to Trump. So does due process. We have to better than Republicans if we expect to reestablish the rule of law.
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is a war crime. Donald Trump reduced it to a business transaction, saying, “Putin is smart. He’s taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.”
There are no words.
Alito claims in his draft opinion in Dobbs that the rationale relating to abortion will not reach other privacy-based rights. Don't believe him. Here is what Alito wrote in his dissent in Obergefell in 2015:
President Biden decided to run in 2020 after watching white supremacists march in Charlottesville in 2017. Today, he rose once again to condemn white supremacy. Read my latest newsletter.
As Supreme Court justices fret about armed protestors outside of their homes, they are seeing the real-world consequences of their absolutist rulings on guns and speech. Read my latest newsletter:
So be it. We have no choice but to do the right thing for America and our allies. If Democrats must do it alone, we have no time for self-pity or anger. Joe Biden is showing the way, and we should follow his lead.
Read my latest, here:
The $2 billion "thank you gift" from Mohammed bin Salman to Jared Kushner is the latest example of the Trump family monetizing the presidency. It's time for Democrats to go on the offensive. Read my latest:
Biden's statement that Putin "cannot remain in power" was not a gaffe, but a statement of fact. No leader engaged in genocide can remain in power no matter how hard he tries. Read my latest newsletter:
The most recent polling by Pew Research Center shows that every demographic stratum of Americans opposes Dobbs, save one: white Christian evangelicals. Dobbs will endure with that narrow support. Read my latest newsletter:
The January 6th Committee told a federal judge it believed that Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States. It is time for Merrick Garland to act--or get out of the way.
Senator Cornyn defends Texas lawmen forced to make "split second" decisions at Uvalde. In fact, for 77 minutes, 19 of them made 87,780 split second decisions to do nothing rather than save the children. Read my latest newsletter:
Today's newsletter includes a proposal to limit the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to those cases in which the justices do not have a conflict of interest.
Democrats nominated outstanding candidates last Tuesday, a fact that is being overshadowed by the media's focus on the nominations of GOP election deniers. Read my latest newsletter.
Trump's former advisers are revising history to portray themselves as guardrails protecting us from Trump's worst impulses. Maybe. But not one of them sounded the alarm when it mattered. Read my latest newsletter:
Vladimir Putin made a monumental miscalculation by invading Ukraine. His ill-conceived assault accomplished a nearly impossible feat: Putin united the world against Russia.
Demands for a no-fly zone or transfer of MiG29s to Ukraine turn on subjective judgments about Putin's intentions. Attempting to read Putin's mind is folly.
The apparent overruling of Roe and Casey by the Supreme Court's reactionary majority is just the beginning of an assault on personal liberties grounded in the right to privacy. Read my latest: