A big week!

April 17, 2023

          The week beginning Monday, April 17, 2023, will be filled with important stories competing for our attention. Tonight, I will attempt to frame those stories in a way to bring some order out of seeming chaos. Which, by the way, is the point of MAGA extremists who are pushing culture war issues across multiple fronts in a deliberate effort to exhaust us. Don’t let them.

          Their façade is cracking, and MAGA extremists are turning on one another over strategy, tactics, money, and power. It is an inevitable turn of events for the reactionary wing of American politics. When nothing matters except power, it is every person for themselves in MAGA-land. Sadly, innocent Americans are collateral damage in MAGA’s race to the bottom. Signs abound that most Americans are tiring of the MAGA cult of death and spectacle of hate—as should be expected in a rational world where most people want only to raise their families in peace, security, and freedom. Let’s take a look.

Mass shooting in Alabama.

          Like a weekly ritual, we begin the new week with news of another mass shooting. Details are scarce—possibly deliberately so—as local officials appear to treat the most recent mass shooting as a public relations problem. They have been charitably described as “tight-lipped,” refusing to provide key details as of late Sunday afternoon. See Washington Post, Dadeville shooting: 4 dead at Alabama teen’s birthday party. At least four were killed and two dozen injured. There was so much blood at the scene that a fire tanker was enlisted to wash the blood off the sidewalks with firehoses on Sunday morning. Such was the tragic ending to a Sweet 16 birthday party.

          Alabama was the first state to pass “permitless carry” of concealed firearms (in March 2022). Since then, twenty-four more states have passed similar legislation, meaning that in half the states in America, you should assume everyone you are speaking to is carrying a concealed weapon. It would be foolish not to.

          The legislators in those twenty-five states are morally responsible for the deaths of innocent children, workers, and bystanders. They have bidden a world in which gun ownership is easier than applying for a job, obtaining a driver’s license, or using a credit card. There is blood on their hands, and no amount of power washing the blood from sidewalks will remove the stain.

          The most dangerous cities in America overlap almost entirely with the map of permitless carry (although there are outliers: e.g., Oakland, Philadelphia). Alabama lays claim to two of the most dangerous cities in America. The Safest Cities in America | MoneyGeek.com More guns have made citizens of Alabama less safe, not more so.

          Americans are fed up. A recent survey by the Navigator Group finds a dramatic increase in the number of Americans who believe gun violence is a top national priority. For tragic reasons, concern over guns is now the third-ranking priority among Americans—behind only inflation and jobs. Strong majorities of Democrats and Independents believe that gun laws should be strengthened—as do 38% of Republicans.

          The numbers are turning against Republicans on the gun issue. Combined with reproductive liberty, the climate crisis, and attacks on LGBTQ rights, MAGA extremists have picked the wrong side of nearly every major social and political issue challenging America. Although they can control legislation through gerrymandered legislatures, that is a losing game over time. Democrats can win at the statewide and national level—where they can block G.O.P. lawlessness and enact gun reform.

          We have a path forward—through grass-roots politics. It will be long and arduous, but we have a path forward. Let’s take it.

The Supreme Court will issue a ruling on mifepristone withdrawal on Wednesday.

          Barring an unforeseen development, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a ruling by 11:59 PM on Wednesday. The Court’s ruling will signal just how far the Court is willing to extend the constitutional injury inflicted in Dobbs. Any reasonable Court would dismiss the case for lack of standing or, at the very least, stay the order revoking the F.D.A.’s approval of mifepristone until the Fifth Circuit and Supreme Court can hear the appeal from Judge Kacsmaryk’s order on full briefing.

          But . . .if the Court allows any part of Judge Kacsmaryk’s order to remain in place, it will have facilitated a judicial revolution of staggering proportions. Though conservatives routinely rail against “judicial activism,” Judge Kacsmaryk’s order is judicial activism on jet fuel. He presumes to himself the scientific knowledge to second-guess a congressionally mandated arbiter of drug safety and efficacy. The F.D.A. has thousands of scientists with thousands of years of combined experience testing drugs, but Judge Kacsmaryk believes that his religious principles are sufficient to overcome that experience.

          If the Supreme Court fails to block Judge Kacsmaryk’s order in its entirety, we are entering a new era of jurisprudence in which the federal judiciary will become the “super-regulator” of medicines, products, and services currently regulated by agencies created by Congress. That would be an astonishing result, but we cannot underestimate the religious fervor motivating justices Alito, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Thomas, and Gorsuch—all Catholics who have allowed their faith to overrule their loyalty to the Constitution. (Yes, I know that Gorsuch has joined his wife’s Episcopalian congregation where his children attend school.)

          Republicans are not happy about Kacsmaryk’s ruling—because they are not talking about it. See HuffPo, Republicans Are Silent On The Abortion Pill Ruling, Despite Confirming The Judge Behind It. Or rather, those Republicans who are talking about it are telling the anti-choice extremists in their ranks to “knock it off” and “quit while you are ahead.” Even Senators who are usually willing to back extreme positions (Cruz, Hawley) have declined comment.

          Another signal that Republican extremism on reproductive liberty has offended conservative Republicans was the announcement by a prominent DeSantis backer that he was “pausing” his support for DeSantis because the governor signed a six-week abortion ban. When Republican megadonors begin to flee leading Republican candidates for the 2024 nomination, you know that the G.O.P. has lost touch with the American people.

          I cannot leave this topic without noting the corruption that surrounded Judge Kacsmaryk’s confirmation hearing. Like all nominees, he was required to advise the Senate of all publications. When he was nominated, an article he authored had been accepted for publication by The Texas Review of Law and Politics. Rather than disclose the article to the Senate as required, he called the law journal and asked that the journal remove his name—as sole author—and substitute two different people as authors.

There is no other word to describe Kacsmaryk’s action except “fraud.” An article written by Kacsmaryk and accepted for publication was published under another person’s name for the purpose of concealing Kacsmaryk’s authorship. See WaPo, The controversial article Matthew Kacsmaryk did not disclose to the Senate. When Democrats again control the House, they should consider impeaching Kacsmaryk for lying to the Senate.

More on Justice Thomas’s corruption.

          Like clockwork, we have learned of another misrepresentation in Justice Thomas’s financial disclosure forms. It turns out that Thomas has been reporting income from a defunct entity for nearly a decade. See Bloomberg, Justice Thomas Reported Income From Defunct Firm (reporting on a WaPo story). While the error may have been inadvertent, the oversight is reckless. By attributing income to a non-existent entity, Thomas could have concealed the true source of his income. Whether he did deserves to be investigated.

          There is no doubt that Justice Thomas violated the statute that governs his disclosure obligations (5 U.S.C. app. 104), which imposes civil and criminal liability for omitting required information or misstating included information. (Section 104 applies to the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. See 5a U.S. Code § 109.) Thomas has both omitted required information and misstated included information. It is up to Merrick Garland and John Roberts to investigate. See Chris Geidner, Clarence Thomas's problems are also a John Roberts problem (lawdork.com)

Why the fight between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lindsey Graham matters.

          Two points of friction in the G.O.P. erupted in a weekend fight on social media between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lindsey Graham. While entertaining, the spat reveals two fault lines in the Republican Party that Democrats can exploit going into 2024.

          To understand the significance, we need to look at two separate controversies that raced through the G.O.P. over the last four days. First, the “Bud Light” controversy. Anheuser-Busch created a social media ad with Dylan Mulvaney endorsing Bud Light. Dylan is a transgender woman and influencer on social media. MAGA world immediately decided to boycott the “woke” beer, disparaging its taste and manliness.

          The National Republican Congressional Committee got in on the act, offering “beer koozies” that said that Bud Light “Identified as water.” The RNCC was proud of its anti-LGBTQ humor—until the RNCC remembered that Anheuser-Busch contributed nearly $500,000 to Republican congressional candidates in 2020. Whereupon the RNCC withdrew its “beer koozie” post and took down all references to the controversy from its webpage.

          Don Jr. got into the act, going on social media, asking MAGA extremists to stop their boycott of the “conservative” beer. (You can’t make this up!) MAGA extremists then roasted Don Jr. to cinder on social media for pandering to corporate donors who fund the RNCC (which is the RNCC’s business model).

          Whew! Now, switch to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s defense of Pentagon secrets leaker Jack Teixeira as a “white, male, Christian” who was just telling the truth about Russia’s war on Ukraine. Lindsey Graham criticized Greene’s comments as “irresponsible.” Greene then posted a photoshopped image of Lindsey Graham holding a Bud Light with Dylan Mulvaney’s picture on a can of the allegedly “woke” beer.

          Here’s the point: Republicans can’t agree among themselves that a person who releases sensitive intelligence information exposing sources and methods—which puts Americans at risk—is a bad thing. Indeed, Greene and Tucker Carlson are attempting to turn Teixeira into a right-wing, Putin-loving, antiwar hero. And that portrayal of Teixeira is gaining traction among MAGA extremists. Business Insider, MAGA-world is rushing to defend Jack Teixeira, the accused Pentagon leaker who allegedly dumped secret documents online to impress his teenage gamer buddies.

          And, of course, there is a not-so-subtle effort by Greene to associate Graham with a transgender woman—or at least a beer that is associated with a transgender woman. Greene doesn’t care about corporate megadonors, Senator Graham, or M.I.A. Kevin McCarthy. In the olden days, a G.O.P. Speaker would have disciplined a member for attacking a Republican Senator. But that option isn’t even on the “top ten list” of McCarthy’s possible responses to Greene’s attack on Graham.

          These tensions are roiling to the top before the Republican primary season has begun. It’s not going to get any better if and when DeSantis and Trump begin to go after one another. The fight between Greene and Graham suggests that much worse is coming down the pike for the G.O.P.—and there is no “adult in the room” to act as referee. It is going to get wild. Very. And that should give a strategic opening to Democrats, who continue to demonstrate unity behind a president who continues to improve life for the American people. See “Concluding Thoughts.”

Jim Jordan to hold hearings in Manhattan.

          Jim Jordan will hold a “field hearing” of the Judiciary Committee in Manhattan to hear from “victims” of D.A. Alvin Bragg’s alleged “soft on crime policies.” But Bragg has already responded to the hearing by noting that crime is higher in a half dozen Ohio cities (Jordan’s home state) than in Manhattan. See Raw Story, 'Don't be fooled': Alvin Bragg shreds Jim Jordan over planned field hearing in Manhattan.

          Bragg released the following statement last week:

The Manhattan D.A.'s Office welcomes public safety conversations. In fact, we'll start: Just-released NYPD data show shootings and homicides are down in New York City for the first quarter of this year. . . . Virtually every major crime category is lower in Manhattan now than it was last year (as of 4/2/23): murders are down 14%, shootings are down 14%, burglaries are down 21%, and robberies are down 8%.

In D.A. Bragg's first year in office, New York City had one of the lowest murder rates of major cities in the United States (5.2) — nearly three times lower than Columbus, Ohio (15.4). If Chairman Jordan truly cared about public safety, he could take a short drive to Columbus . . .  in his home state, instead of using taxpayer dollars to travel hundreds of miles out of his way.

          Expect Bragg to respond to the hearings in real time on social media. It will make for an interesting split screen. And we should expect that the Democrats on the committee will point out the facts that Bragg has highlighted above. Stay tuned!

Fox settlement?

          The Dominion Voting systems lawsuit against Fox Corp has been delayed by one day, apparently to allow for settlement talks. If it doesn’t settle, the trial will start on Tuesday. The Guardian, Judge delays Dominion and Fox News trial amid reports of settlement talks.

Concluding Thoughts.

          Where’s Joe Biden? In case you missed it, he made a successful trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland last week where he was given a warm welcome everywhere he traveled through the two countries. Biden basks in Ireland's welcome as he highlights personal and political ties | CNN Politics. Oh, and the U.S. economy continues to hum along despite a long-predicted recession. See Jennifer Rubin, WaPo, Stop the gloom and doom. The economic recovery is strong. I urge you to read Rubin’s article (it is available to everyone) for the details. But here is here closing paragraph:

Perhaps it is time to concede that the United States is leading the world with a historically vibrant recovery, thanks to smart federal investment, fiscal prudence (the deficit is down over $1.7 trillion in two years), a tough-minded Federal Reserve and resilient American workers and businesses. It might not get clicks or attract viewers, but that’s an honest assessment of where the nation’s economy stands.

          Where’s Joe Biden? Right where he should be. It is an unfortunate truth that the coming wave of accountability for Trump will consume all available oxygen on many news days while the U.S. continues to hum along “with a historically vibrant recovery” thanks to the steady hand of Joe Biden. While that state of affairs may be frustrating and off-putting, there is probably little Biden can (or should) do about it. Indicting a president for espionage is going to lead the news no matter what. Biden can’t compete with that coverage—and shouldn’t try.

          Where’s Joe Biden? Right where he should be.

Talk to you tomorrow!