There are four stories on my political and legal radar this week. Amazingly, only one of them is directly about Donald Trump, so let’s take care of that one, and then look at three others: Gov. DeSantis and his new anti-vax crusade; the GOP-led House in turmoil as budget deadlines loom; and a UAW strike that may be drawing support from curiously divergent politics.
I think, if Trump did show up, he would get more than booed. He might get clobbered with camshafts and tire irons.
As for Florida - how would they feel if the neighboring states closed borders, citing medical emergency, and turned Florida into one giant quarantine state? I mean if DeSantis wants more Republican voters to die of COVID - fine. Everyone else should vaccinate and do whatever they can to get the hell out of there ASAP.
DeSantis is a very dangerous, deranged individual. He is putting his beliefs before that of his citizens. The whole GOP and their America First Agenda is so, so dangerous.
The irony of TFG suggesting that a gag order would prevent him from defending himself against the charges when he keeps trying to delay the court cases which are the processes specifically designed for him to ... (checks notes) defend himself against the charges.
It says a lot about the cult that they don't see this very obvious contradiction.
Jay, I'm a huge fan of your work but have to disagree with your portrayal of Kevin McCarthy's "understable frustration" at being in "such a tough spot". This framing shifts the focus of attention toward one individual, when it's really our representative form of government that is in a tough spot and needs to be defended.
What the MAGA faction seeks is chaos and disruption, targeted at the very heart of our democratic republic. This is not Speaker McCarthy's problem. Mr. McCarthy's impotent leadership IS the problem, as it empowers those who proudly support convicted January 6 conspirators and openly welcome civil war.
Everyone has to stop talking about MAGA extremists in the House as though they're ordinary politicians, just another minority voting bloc like Libertarians or the Tea Party. They are not. They are a threat to the institution itself. And so long as Kevin McCarthy remains Speaker of the House, that threat will persist and grow.
(As you know, there's a network of ordinary citizens advocating for a bipartisan coalition in the House to remove Mr. McCarthy and elect a centrist Republican Speaker like Don Bacon (R-NE) who owes nothing to the exremists. All who value our House of Representatives are encouraged to pitch in to help end the chaos, hand MAGA forces a stinging defeat, and restore normal order to the chamber. Learn more here: www.FeathersOfHope.net or jerryweiss.substack.com )
Why threaten a gag order for Trump if your NOT going to enforce it....seems HE is running this show. Put his ass in jail and he won't be able to get his lying messages out and I bet he will also want a "speedy" trial. Enough is enough with him. So ridiculous.
LactualOL at the notion of Trump joining a picket line. The only reason to report that he said that is to ask him later why he didn’t do it, which no one in our six- and seven-figure political media will actually do because they’ve just sort of decided that Trump saying things he never does is cool and OK and you’re the nerd if you think it matters. (Which, of course, it doesn’t actually, thanks precisely to our media courtiers’ inattention. Well played, I guess.)
Jay - I would like to hear your thoughts on two stories from last week that, taken together, should give us concern about the Trump trials. The first was the bio piece on Mitt Romney and the quotes that sub rosa numerous senators and representatives admitted to being afraid to vote for impeachment or even oppose Trump for fear of retaliation or harassment to their families. The other was the story on Jack Smith's motion to restrict the names of persons harassed or threatened as a result of Trump's persistent social media harangues. What is the chance (or the likelihood) that jurors selected for those trials will follow the lead of those senators and representatives and decline to vote to convict, not on the evidence but on the fear that they or their families may be targeted after the trial is over? Isn't that the very thing that happened with Ruby Freeman and Shayhe Moss?
Jay, why do you thin Biden has come out about the auto strike and not the AcTors/Writers strike. Exponentially more workers affected, and he’s been silent?
Thank you again for your efforts to get to the nub of the issues.
Donald Trump's instincts are sound. He has a very dicey case in law, so he has taken his case to the court of of public opinion. His jurors will be selected from that very public whose opinion he is simultaneously trying to either intimidate or cajole (depending on their view of him), and as you have so precisely pointed out those jurors will need to feel secure in order to vote their honest conclusions. If I were selected for the jury, I would absolutely be looking over my shoulder at the possibility of Trump's re-election in the certain knowledge that he would then demand the names of his jurors and punish those who voted to convict.
As I'm lying here with a (mild?) case of Covid, Duhsantis' "openly criticizing the new vaccine and increasing vaccine hesitancy in the state and around the country" is a far cry from sanity and humanity. The reason my case and my husband's simultaneously, after 3 1/2 years and every vaccine available, is mild and not life-threatening is because of the vaccines he so glibly disparages!!! And his state "health" director 🤬 From what planet? Over 1.1 million deaths in the country since the onslaught. Such a cavalier attitude is truly sinful.
The Week Ahead
I think, if Trump did show up, he would get more than booed. He might get clobbered with camshafts and tire irons.
As for Florida - how would they feel if the neighboring states closed borders, citing medical emergency, and turned Florida into one giant quarantine state? I mean if DeSantis wants more Republican voters to die of COVID - fine. Everyone else should vaccinate and do whatever they can to get the hell out of there ASAP.
DeSantis is a very dangerous, deranged individual. He is putting his beliefs before that of his citizens. The whole GOP and their America First Agenda is so, so dangerous.
The irony of TFG suggesting that a gag order would prevent him from defending himself against the charges when he keeps trying to delay the court cases which are the processes specifically designed for him to ... (checks notes) defend himself against the charges.
It says a lot about the cult that they don't see this very obvious contradiction.
Jay, I'm a huge fan of your work but have to disagree with your portrayal of Kevin McCarthy's "understable frustration" at being in "such a tough spot". This framing shifts the focus of attention toward one individual, when it's really our representative form of government that is in a tough spot and needs to be defended.
What the MAGA faction seeks is chaos and disruption, targeted at the very heart of our democratic republic. This is not Speaker McCarthy's problem. Mr. McCarthy's impotent leadership IS the problem, as it empowers those who proudly support convicted January 6 conspirators and openly welcome civil war.
Everyone has to stop talking about MAGA extremists in the House as though they're ordinary politicians, just another minority voting bloc like Libertarians or the Tea Party. They are not. They are a threat to the institution itself. And so long as Kevin McCarthy remains Speaker of the House, that threat will persist and grow.
(As you know, there's a network of ordinary citizens advocating for a bipartisan coalition in the House to remove Mr. McCarthy and elect a centrist Republican Speaker like Don Bacon (R-NE) who owes nothing to the exremists. All who value our House of Representatives are encouraged to pitch in to help end the chaos, hand MAGA forces a stinging defeat, and restore normal order to the chamber. Learn more here: www.FeathersOfHope.net or jerryweiss.substack.com )
.
Jay - do Moderna and Pfizer have a defamation case against DeSantis or the FL surgeon general?
Why threaten a gag order for Trump if your NOT going to enforce it....seems HE is running this show. Put his ass in jail and he won't be able to get his lying messages out and I bet he will also want a "speedy" trial. Enough is enough with him. So ridiculous.
The best example of the need for a gag order is what Trump is being charged for!😂
LactualOL at the notion of Trump joining a picket line. The only reason to report that he said that is to ask him later why he didn’t do it, which no one in our six- and seven-figure political media will actually do because they’ve just sort of decided that Trump saying things he never does is cool and OK and you’re the nerd if you think it matters. (Which, of course, it doesn’t actually, thanks precisely to our media courtiers’ inattention. Well played, I guess.)
Wow, sounds like a week of “damned if you do, and damned if you don’t”
Do you think Judge Chutkin will move up the date like she said she would vs agreeing to the narrow gag order?
Jay - I would like to hear your thoughts on two stories from last week that, taken together, should give us concern about the Trump trials. The first was the bio piece on Mitt Romney and the quotes that sub rosa numerous senators and representatives admitted to being afraid to vote for impeachment or even oppose Trump for fear of retaliation or harassment to their families. The other was the story on Jack Smith's motion to restrict the names of persons harassed or threatened as a result of Trump's persistent social media harangues. What is the chance (or the likelihood) that jurors selected for those trials will follow the lead of those senators and representatives and decline to vote to convict, not on the evidence but on the fear that they or their families may be targeted after the trial is over? Isn't that the very thing that happened with Ruby Freeman and Shayhe Moss?
This opinion article explains so much about how Trump has caused disorder and disrespect, not only in the U.S. but on the international stage: https://bandyxlee.substack.com/p/psychic-contagion?r=4dxvl&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post&fbclid=IwAR3VrPYekTtJLYNTnDuhFNeRbFDY0NsT9LbLufIbOV8ukal9Ut9-8UkT-ko_aem_AQQ82EmRldcgIhtDf6-0L5CkCp6_Wbuiudc-AaovXt2HyJXDt-ApnCkj-j8HfSKjl1Q
Jay, why do you thin Biden has come out about the auto strike and not the AcTors/Writers strike. Exponentially more workers affected, and he’s been silent?
The times for replying seem overly long. Trump can do a lot of damage in that time.
Thank you again for your efforts to get to the nub of the issues.
Donald Trump's instincts are sound. He has a very dicey case in law, so he has taken his case to the court of of public opinion. His jurors will be selected from that very public whose opinion he is simultaneously trying to either intimidate or cajole (depending on their view of him), and as you have so precisely pointed out those jurors will need to feel secure in order to vote their honest conclusions. If I were selected for the jury, I would absolutely be looking over my shoulder at the possibility of Trump's re-election in the certain knowledge that he would then demand the names of his jurors and punish those who voted to convict.
As I'm lying here with a (mild?) case of Covid, Duhsantis' "openly criticizing the new vaccine and increasing vaccine hesitancy in the state and around the country" is a far cry from sanity and humanity. The reason my case and my husband's simultaneously, after 3 1/2 years and every vaccine available, is mild and not life-threatening is because of the vaccines he so glibly disparages!!! And his state "health" director 🤬 From what planet? Over 1.1 million deaths in the country since the onslaught. Such a cavalier attitude is truly sinful.