"[the SCOTUS] has signaled its willingness to abandon voting altogether and simply allow Republican legislatures to choose the next president (presumably, Trump)."
That we have yet to see. I agree about the fears expressed, losing faith and the overarching outrage, hard to subdue.
This is a battle and it has to be engaged. We heard lawyers on N.Wallace MSNBC last night- a nice selection including Katyal. The woman lawyer ( forget her name) laid out the dilemma. This is maybe a game of chess ( though not a "game" at all).. the pros and cons of the DOJ challenging this ruling and the delay involved versus alternative paths. So many legal minds agree with this take, including the puzzling but useful (of late) Barr. The law must be used. If we cannot deal with this threat by democratic means, the tools of democracy, then maybe it is time for revolt and boiling over. We are the majority..not to forget. The enemy is also complacency. Keep on.
As I travel around Minnesota and see people proudly wearing their Jensen for governor shirts at the state fair or posting Jensen signs in their yards (Iron Range) and desperately trying to convince their fellow Minnesotans “Walz failed” by imposing mask mandates, vaccine mandates over two years ago, it occurs to me that these people are living in an alternate universe that has no connection to current, actual reality, that they’re addicted to their anger and resentment, that their anger and resentment is the only thing that gets them out of bed in the morning, that they need their fix of Trump induced anger and resentment and belief that their lives could have turned out so differently if only Trump had been president forever. Of course there are elements of Christian-nationalism and fascism in this group but my contention is that the majority of MAGAs understand that something has gone terribly wrong in America over the last 50 years. They’re not wrong. Think about all the aspects of American life that are broken and weren’t fixed but simply tinkered with, starting with out health care system; student loans; banking system; housing; federal minimum wage; abortion laws superseding medical professional training; court system; justice system; prison systems; electoral college; voting restrictions. This is not an exhaustive list but it’s a start and shows that America has been resting on its laurels for the last 40 years while we were convinced by mostly Republicans that either we could not afford to fix things or that fixing things would hurt the right kind of person and help the wrong type of person. That’s been the foundational philosophy of politics and government for the last 40 years. I wouldn’t call it fascism, I’d call it simply neglect. MAGAs feel neglected and ignored. Trump exploits them by creating an alternate reality for them to exist in. When MAGAs’ actual reality becomes more satisfying that Trump’s alternate reality, will they be able to give up their addiction?
Thanks Ellen for your insight. My parents are from the Iron Range so I know the area and its politics well. You make some very good points. There are indeed legitimate grievances at the core of Trumpism, they are just expressed in corrosive, self-centered ways that further divide people. I appreciate your comment.
I don't think 50 years is correct; let's try 240. This country was built for white Christian men, especially those who are wealthy. America has been in a state of hypocrisy from the beginning, and when it comes to changing things, it's mostly chased its own tail. Such a deeply flawed republic of ours has been held together by the spit and glue of good people, but it was never enough. I think the worst blow in modern times, up until now, was Reagan's presidency, followed by Dubya Bush's - two very wealthy, privileged white men who were never held accountable for their crimes.
Jared Yates Sexton wrote this morning, "In this, like all things, Trump has served as a Rosetta Stone that reveals the biases that are written into our laws and codes and systems intentionally to privilege an economic elite. Wealthy men like Trump are allowed to oversee the restless redistribution of wealth from the bottom up, poison our air and water and food, wreck our environment, navigate the legal and tax codes like a gnat gliding through a net, and trade billions in ill-gotten profits for a few hundred thousand dollars in fines, but a regular person passing a counterfeit $20 bill is wrestled to the ground and killed in cold blood."
How does this connect with Republicans heretofore being "bootsstrappers" -against government, government handouts, government interference,"it's your money you should have it" ( Reagan on taxes) , HWBush screed that we need "thousand points of light" ? what was the "Compassionate Conservatism" of G. Bush. about? And of course the evolution to total obstructionism of the GOP today. Maybe mis and dis information ( propaganda)? Fox? Democrats not messaging well or enough?
This does a better, more concise job of laying out the underpinnings of MAGAism than anything I've read yet. The Führerprinzip ties it all together: the rule of law is on one side of the divide, the Führerprinzip on the other, and the two cannot be reconciled. Liberals in particular seem to be having a very hard time grasping that Trump and the MAGA Republicans do not care about the Constitution, the law, democratic norms, or anything else that liberals by definition value. The fact that President Biden has come around as far as he has is encouraging. In recent years I've quoted Louis XIV a lot in reference to Trump: "L'état, c'est moi." What I've been missing is that it's not just l'état, it's also la loi. And it's not just Trump and the MAGAts, it's the whole so-called conservative movement. "Reactionary" doesn't do it justice either. "Christrofascist" might be the only word that really fits.
I read that Trump called Biden "an enemy of the state." Trump, like cannon, has dispensed with any pretense of even basic partisan BS and is now spewing Fascist rhetoric. What we saw in 2016 was mild in comparison.
This "master" ruling comes in the midst of a blatant assertion by the judge herself saying that it's a terrible thing to do to Trump, to humiliate him the way the FBI is doing. Objectivity is gone in favor of propping up the Dear Leader. I've seen this happen in Egypt when the fake 2014 election of Abdel Fattah al Sisi installed him as everyone's favorite president.
Trump will likely be dead in a few years, but the wingnut fringe MAGA cult will not. I'm deeply frustrated by the Democrats' lazy and feckless failure to recognize and act on the deterioration of America. It's not class differences or economic disparity that pushes people toward extremism. It's those factors and a demagogue who pushes people to form a mob calling itself patriotic, and everyone else is an "enemy of the state." Voting isn't going to stop this. We voted Trump out but he refused to go away. He will run again, not win, but it won't matter because history proves that this kind of shit starts wars.
I’m not a lawyer, but it seems neither is Judge Cannon.
I will say this, if possession is 9/10ths of the law, then 11,000 stolen documents (regardless of classification) says Trump is in trouble. If 3/11,000 documents are his passports, he is still in possession of 10,997 stolen documents.
Trump wins again. Anyone else caught with nuclear secrets of a foreign country and other documents, not his, that are top secret and the property of the National Archives would be hauled off to jail posthaste, and questioned intensely as to why he had them and what his intentions were, not that it should matter. He's as slick as snot - got a friendly judge to give him a "special master" and this means holding up the investigation until possibly years have passed. Honest people cannot keep up with this grifter. Judge Cannon should be censured, but that won't happen, of course. BTW, I also read today that she was previously deemed unqualified to hear this case because she's not a judge in Trump's district.
This is the most depressing thing I’ve read in years. In fact, it threw me into a funk for several days. That does not mean I disagree. It’s a clear-eyed analysis of the situation at hand. And extremely scary.
Written by Noah, so strong. I agree with it.
"[the SCOTUS] has signaled its willingness to abandon voting altogether and simply allow Republican legislatures to choose the next president (presumably, Trump)."
That we have yet to see. I agree about the fears expressed, losing faith and the overarching outrage, hard to subdue.
This is a battle and it has to be engaged. We heard lawyers on N.Wallace MSNBC last night- a nice selection including Katyal. The woman lawyer ( forget her name) laid out the dilemma. This is maybe a game of chess ( though not a "game" at all).. the pros and cons of the DOJ challenging this ruling and the delay involved versus alternative paths. So many legal minds agree with this take, including the puzzling but useful (of late) Barr. The law must be used. If we cannot deal with this threat by democratic means, the tools of democracy, then maybe it is time for revolt and boiling over. We are the majority..not to forget. The enemy is also complacency. Keep on.
Thank you.
you're welcome!
As I travel around Minnesota and see people proudly wearing their Jensen for governor shirts at the state fair or posting Jensen signs in their yards (Iron Range) and desperately trying to convince their fellow Minnesotans “Walz failed” by imposing mask mandates, vaccine mandates over two years ago, it occurs to me that these people are living in an alternate universe that has no connection to current, actual reality, that they’re addicted to their anger and resentment, that their anger and resentment is the only thing that gets them out of bed in the morning, that they need their fix of Trump induced anger and resentment and belief that their lives could have turned out so differently if only Trump had been president forever. Of course there are elements of Christian-nationalism and fascism in this group but my contention is that the majority of MAGAs understand that something has gone terribly wrong in America over the last 50 years. They’re not wrong. Think about all the aspects of American life that are broken and weren’t fixed but simply tinkered with, starting with out health care system; student loans; banking system; housing; federal minimum wage; abortion laws superseding medical professional training; court system; justice system; prison systems; electoral college; voting restrictions. This is not an exhaustive list but it’s a start and shows that America has been resting on its laurels for the last 40 years while we were convinced by mostly Republicans that either we could not afford to fix things or that fixing things would hurt the right kind of person and help the wrong type of person. That’s been the foundational philosophy of politics and government for the last 40 years. I wouldn’t call it fascism, I’d call it simply neglect. MAGAs feel neglected and ignored. Trump exploits them by creating an alternate reality for them to exist in. When MAGAs’ actual reality becomes more satisfying that Trump’s alternate reality, will they be able to give up their addiction?
Thanks Ellen for your insight. My parents are from the Iron Range so I know the area and its politics well. You make some very good points. There are indeed legitimate grievances at the core of Trumpism, they are just expressed in corrosive, self-centered ways that further divide people. I appreciate your comment.
I don't think 50 years is correct; let's try 240. This country was built for white Christian men, especially those who are wealthy. America has been in a state of hypocrisy from the beginning, and when it comes to changing things, it's mostly chased its own tail. Such a deeply flawed republic of ours has been held together by the spit and glue of good people, but it was never enough. I think the worst blow in modern times, up until now, was Reagan's presidency, followed by Dubya Bush's - two very wealthy, privileged white men who were never held accountable for their crimes.
Jared Yates Sexton wrote this morning, "In this, like all things, Trump has served as a Rosetta Stone that reveals the biases that are written into our laws and codes and systems intentionally to privilege an economic elite. Wealthy men like Trump are allowed to oversee the restless redistribution of wealth from the bottom up, poison our air and water and food, wreck our environment, navigate the legal and tax codes like a gnat gliding through a net, and trade billions in ill-gotten profits for a few hundred thousand dollars in fines, but a regular person passing a counterfeit $20 bill is wrestled to the ground and killed in cold blood."
How does this connect with Republicans heretofore being "bootsstrappers" -against government, government handouts, government interference,"it's your money you should have it" ( Reagan on taxes) , HWBush screed that we need "thousand points of light" ? what was the "Compassionate Conservatism" of G. Bush. about? And of course the evolution to total obstructionism of the GOP today. Maybe mis and dis information ( propaganda)? Fox? Democrats not messaging well or enough?
This does a better, more concise job of laying out the underpinnings of MAGAism than anything I've read yet. The Führerprinzip ties it all together: the rule of law is on one side of the divide, the Führerprinzip on the other, and the two cannot be reconciled. Liberals in particular seem to be having a very hard time grasping that Trump and the MAGA Republicans do not care about the Constitution, the law, democratic norms, or anything else that liberals by definition value. The fact that President Biden has come around as far as he has is encouraging. In recent years I've quoted Louis XIV a lot in reference to Trump: "L'état, c'est moi." What I've been missing is that it's not just l'état, it's also la loi. And it's not just Trump and the MAGAts, it's the whole so-called conservative movement. "Reactionary" doesn't do it justice either. "Christrofascist" might be the only word that really fits.
That is very high praise for Noah, Susanna -- we appreciate it a lot! Thanks
I read that Trump called Biden "an enemy of the state." Trump, like cannon, has dispensed with any pretense of even basic partisan BS and is now spewing Fascist rhetoric. What we saw in 2016 was mild in comparison.
This "master" ruling comes in the midst of a blatant assertion by the judge herself saying that it's a terrible thing to do to Trump, to humiliate him the way the FBI is doing. Objectivity is gone in favor of propping up the Dear Leader. I've seen this happen in Egypt when the fake 2014 election of Abdel Fattah al Sisi installed him as everyone's favorite president.
Trump will likely be dead in a few years, but the wingnut fringe MAGA cult will not. I'm deeply frustrated by the Democrats' lazy and feckless failure to recognize and act on the deterioration of America. It's not class differences or economic disparity that pushes people toward extremism. It's those factors and a demagogue who pushes people to form a mob calling itself patriotic, and everyone else is an "enemy of the state." Voting isn't going to stop this. We voted Trump out but he refused to go away. He will run again, not win, but it won't matter because history proves that this kind of shit starts wars.
I’m not a lawyer, but it seems neither is Judge Cannon.
I will say this, if possession is 9/10ths of the law, then 11,000 stolen documents (regardless of classification) says Trump is in trouble. If 3/11,000 documents are his passports, he is still in possession of 10,997 stolen documents.
Trump wins again. Anyone else caught with nuclear secrets of a foreign country and other documents, not his, that are top secret and the property of the National Archives would be hauled off to jail posthaste, and questioned intensely as to why he had them and what his intentions were, not that it should matter. He's as slick as snot - got a friendly judge to give him a "special master" and this means holding up the investigation until possibly years have passed. Honest people cannot keep up with this grifter. Judge Cannon should be censured, but that won't happen, of course. BTW, I also read today that she was previously deemed unqualified to hear this case because she's not a judge in Trump's district.
This is the most depressing thing I’ve read in years. In fact, it threw me into a funk for several days. That does not mean I disagree. It’s a clear-eyed analysis of the situation at hand. And extremely scary.