I don't understand NYT's apparent argument that her firing is stifling an important viewpoint. She can still be a contributor AS A GUEST! Why does she need a seat at the big kids' table?
I’m much more interested in hearing more from Mike Gallagher or Ken Buck. Conservative but leaving early as a protest. We would agree very little on policy but a conversation with a conservative who understands the need to govern would be refreshing.
NYT is just trying to justify its massive and egregious failings as a media outlet that now seeks the MAGA crowd’s clickbait addiction. Bull!
And why does she need to be on NBC or MSNBC? There are plenty of media outlets where she can pretend to rationalize her victim hood as head of the RNC. If the NYT is suggesting we need a “pro-Trump” voice, why not get a real loser on board and invite Jim Jordan to be a contributor??? Some decisions are a bridge too far. Maybe we’ll see Ronna as a guest columnist for the NYT soon.
Great comment! It put a smile on my face! Yeah, Jim Jordan or JD Vance!
Sheesh! How far they fall. My father--gone since 2002--was an expert on the Soviet economy, and used to write op-eds for the NYT on Soviet military spending, and how the CIA had inflated its estimates thereof, and he read the NYT religiously. He'd be appalled.
Because the brains trust / bean-counters at NBC believed that she would attract more of the MAGA crowd, and also give them great access to MAGA politicians, including especially Trump himself.
The reality is that just about every cable channel has to make a choice, and wind up with just the centre-left crowd (MSNBC) or the mad-right crowd (Fox News and the fruit-loops), but not both. CNN has a sort of weird position in there somewhere too.
But the broadcast channels have to appeal to as wide an audience as they can (they survive solely on advertising), hence the stroke of genius to get a loopy-right election denier. Wasn't very smart. CNN employed Chris Wallace and the world didn't go up in flames.
Chris Wallace was a reasonable and intelligent journalist. Neither of those fit Ronna McDaniel. I am very aware of television’s reliance on advertising at all levels. But they must also know their audience. And, just as elections should be based on the quality of the candidates, these programs must rely on the credibility of their contributors. There are former Republicans who appear regularly on MSNBC, and I respect what they have to say. But many of the Trumpers who enabled him to stage a coup have zero credibility. Perhaps NBC should be talking to Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger, for example. They’re not going to appeal to Trumpers unless they start accepting conspiracy theories and lies. NBC will not survive if they run off their normal viewers. We’re in a very different world. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all watched the same perspectives and at least the same FACTS????
I terminated my subscription to NYT weeks ago for their irresponsible political reporting and attached a letter with examples. NYT needs to hear from us just like NBC. Numbers make a difference.
I'm not a subscriber for the exact reasons you have stated. Yet I continue to send in through the online mechanisms "corrections" that need to be made to their stories LOL. Just to be an annoying part of the "numbers make a difference" crowd. Maybe they will wake up!
I unsubscribed years ago. Started feeling an uncomfortable vibe that settled on my lie detector nerve.
Not that it’s NYT’s job to pamper or only use a low key positions in their reporting.
But, there’s definitely a right wing propaganda leaning reporting undercurrent that is coming to the surface in many of their skewed attempts to use the “both sides” argument.
They have no encouragement to return to right-side-up reporting from corporate media. So I can only assume they’ve sold out to Putin.
I was sitting in an airport with my daughter sitting next to me as we were embarking on our mother-daughter vacation when I read Robert's article, and immediately wrote to NBC with her looking over my shoulder. We were both excited when we heard the news that Ronna Romney McDaniel had been fired. Yay! That goes hand in hand with the Republicans imploding as Marilyn Lands (D-AL) wins the special election, and Lisa Mukowski (R-AK) talks about leaving the Republican party, on the heels of several who have quit in the House.
YES!! And it feels really, really good that I got off my perennial goose and contributed to that campaign! Gives me reason to keep on writing! Thanks Robert—you spurred me again!!
Perhaps by buying a Trump Bible (one feature is that the pages are upside down in the binding) for only $59.95, plus shipping, and then burning it in public. By the way, I have it on good authority that lawyers for King James have sent Trump a cease-and-desist order.
As much as I value this community of thinkers and writers and Robert's leadership, I don't often get a real laugh in reading. Today I did, thanks to your comment, Sharon B in ATL. You remind us that derision and scorn can be real weapons.
I love a t-shirt someone created: "Totally impartial potential juror." **
*Sadly, our judicial system appears ready to continue granting privileges to 45.
Bryan Stevenson says our judicial system treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. (Add "white" to that qualification.)
**Just like Tuberville (Senator, R-Alabama) held up military promotions AS ONLY ONE PERSON,
I despair that one (MAGA) juror could cause a mistrial and allow 45 to avoid JUSTICE for his mounting crimes.
I hereby certify you, Beverly Falls, as an Official Trump Hater. Your new powers shall give you the ability to cause Trump to wither and sputter and spout nonsense whenever you think about him.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official
I hereby certify you, Barb Faith, as an Official Trump Hater and Bollixer. This certification enables you to bollix Trump from a distance of up to 3,200 miles, causing him to bungle whatever he is doing at the time, likely causing him great frustration, that will cause him to mouth nonsense, and if speechifying, at a campaign rally or suchlike, to fall to the ground.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official
I hereby certify you, Jocelyn B, as an Official Trump Hater. Your new powers shall give you the ability to cause Trump to feel great fear, and become tongue tied, whenever you think about him.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official, Massachusetts
It's always possible; however, we've seen jurors hold Trump responsible for behavior that is so egregious that all jurors in cases (like E. Jean Carroll's) have to come to the right conclusion. We can hope!
I hereby certify you, Sharon B in ATL, as an Official Trump Hater. Your new powers shall give you the ability to cause Trump to wither and sputter and spout nonsense whenever you think about him.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official, Massachusetts
Yes it does. I have a "Pride in Tobacco" baseball hat, which I purchased at the Duke Estate, in 2008, and somehow, that gave me jurisdiction in NC. Also, my father was a UNC graduate.
Love it Sharon B! I'm pretty sure the Trump Haters (certified or not) outnumber his deluded "fans".
In case people haven't seen this yet, Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) has been collecting testimonials from Republicans and former Republicans on why they will never vote for Trump - including some who admit to having voted for him before.
I am thrilled that I am one of the thousands who wrote about the disgusting hiring of Ronna McDaniel but even more thrilled that the integrity of a real journalists alsofound it abominable!
I agree that the reduction of bond that was granted to Trump was a bad and embarrassing move. I have known poor offenders who have gotten no such treatment and had not a penny to their name. Poor, mentally ill, emotionally disturbed offenders can’t appeal every two minutes. It’s a complete sham of a system.
If Trump ignores his gag order he should be punished accordingly. I have reached the blessed point where I’m no longer second guessing about the political impact of him being treated like the horrific thug he is. I’m horrified by our legal system which in the name of fairness and innocent til proven guilty is potentially delivering a despot back into our top government leadership. My good news is that a Republican friend just disclosed to me that they won’t vote for Trump because his behavior is undesirable. Not full-throated but it’s a shift.
The bond was not a condition to his appeal. He can appeal with or without the bond. The only question is whether he--like every other defendant--must secure the entire amount of the judgment to prevent execution pending appeal. Otherwise, appeals are reduced to a delaying mechanism. If he wins on appeal, every penny of the judgment seized or backed by a bond is returned.
Despite bragging on social media that he has 500M in hand, but just doesn't want to spend it on a bond. He "wants" to spend it on his campaign. Awwww, poor baby trumpy, did it fall down and go boom?
Agree! Trump is whining that it's "not fair" and he "shouldn't have to pay" and he's "not going to give my money to the court." Well, as my mother would have said, "You should have thought of that before you did it!"
Hi Amy, I went t a Zoom last night that featured a presentation from Jackie Payne, the founder of Galvanize Action (https://www.galvanizeaction.org/). Their target audience is moderate white women voters, since if you look at voters by gender and race white women is the biggest slice of the pie.
They stick with moderates who are not idealogues and test messaging over time with their survey subjects that are representative of certain traits that they have clustered into groups. The successful messages from their survey/focus group work are micro-targetted to other women who fit the same profile as ads over streaming media. This is based on heavy duty statistical analysis and the principles of neuroscience. They then compare the group that got the messages vs. the control population that did not. The results are nothing less than astonishing.
Their "playbook" of ads is right there on the website available for free. Each one tells a story rather than just spouting facts and figures. The GOP uses this techniqe all the time by making their voters either fearful or resentful. Galvanize action is appealing to more positive emotions like empathy and compassion. I'm pretty sure many of the most successful ads about reproductive rights since Dobs were created using this model.
“The current Court is not up to the task of preserving and implementing the Constitution” is one of my favorite summations ever!
I would add one point to Bouie’s conclusion. Institutions only work if the people in them work. So, yes, we need to defeat Trump, but we also need to elect people who will built and strengthen our currently broken institutions.
You and your wife are doing a wonderful job keeping us informed of daily ongoing keep up the good work and stay healthy Paul d Capacci,dds I am 81 and still doing dentistry in the New York dept of corrections
Kudos for Judge Merchan for having the fortitude to implement a gag order on tffg, and I only wish that tffg was wearing a real life electronic gag, so that every time he opens his mouth or even thinks about posting to SM any sort of a lie or defamatory statement, he gets a *mild* (to be charitable) electric shock but it escalates in intensity the more attempts he makes.
Trump's lifeline is his ability to keep his name in the news. He could care less about what is said and is focused only on the fact that " something is said!"
Here is what could happen if we took away his "oxygen."
DonaldTrump died today from a disease that has risen lately to near epic proportions...FOMO ( FEAR OF MISSING OUT). Despite numerous attempts to save him by the New York Times, Washington Post and social media, he was unable to survive the malaise of no longer being newsworthy and passed quietly in his sleep. ( satire)
Here is a question about the decision to reduce Trump's bond requirement. Every story starts with "A New York Appeals Court." Don't we want to know which Appeals Court? which judges? Does anybody know who made that decision? Do they have an explanation for their decision? I know the New York Times does not do a lot of local news, but this is also national news. Where is the New York Times? Will it report on the local appeals court?
Stunning to see Allen Weisselberg named among those on the list of defendants in the opinion.
About whom, according to New York (AP) on March 4, 2024:
“Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of Donald Trump’s company, pleaded guilty Monday to lying under oath during his testimony in the ex-president’s New York civil fraud case. His plea deal will send him back to jail but does not require that he testify at Trump’s hush-money criminal trial.”
And I never saw any indication of whether Trump's lawyers had asked for a reduction. No reporting on that either. So was this just a one sided decision out of the blue to drop the amount of the bond? And as others have suggested, it seems that this will go on forever with appeal after appeal and then he can shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and get away with that too.
Our favorite newsletter writers seem to all be saying that there was no rationale behind the decision - at least, one that was published. Just "here's our decision. Live with it."
Yes, Robert thanks, and please keep the email addresses coming. The CEO is always best. They should have standing orders to their staff to give originals or an objective analysis of complaints coming in, if they are worth their salt.
One additional thought, in line with your writing today. Who the heck cares any more about what the courts "think" of Trump. They either do their jobs, or more likely don't. And, the minds of 90%, I would posit, are already made up about the election, and unfortunately, those remaining 5% seem to be critical. But the SC doesn't care about them either...because they are probably mostly women, and according to the SC, women have no rights to their bodies, or minds.
I'm not entirely sure that the appeal of James is going to disappear into a black hole. The court requires that the appeal be perfected by the September term, and that means the opening briefs will have to be filed and opposing briefs scheduled--and I'm pretty sure James will have hers all ready to go. So just before the election there is going to be a lot of stuff going on that will keep things in the public eye, so long as the media pays attention to it. Trump may not have it decided whether and how much he owes before the election (and he has little ability to tell the NY courts what to do even IF elected), but what he DID will be part of the pre-election discussion.
Susan, you raise an interesting point. It appears that the appellate division not only reduced Trump's bond, it gave him an unnecessarily long period of time to perfect his appeal. The division could have required that the appeal be perfected in the May or June terms. Instead, the division set the perfection date for the September term (there are no terms in July or August).
So, having granted extraordinary relief--nearly $300 million reduction in bond--the appellate division did not demand even a modicum of speed. It said, "Take your time getting your appeal on file."
I understand that it takes time to prepare the record for appeal, but Trump filed his notice of appeal in February. Allowing seven months for the record to be prepared and the appeal to be briefed rewards Trump's delaying tactics--and is another indication that the appellate division did not consider the interests of the People of the State of New York in granting the relief, but only considered Trump's interests.
Also, I heard from a reader /NY lawyer who says the "word in the courthouse" (I cannot verify this) is that the division is really proud of itself for ensuring that the appeal would be heard on the merits by removing a fight over the bond. Huh? The appeal would be heard on the merits with or without a bond. I hope the report is false. Otherwise, the appellate division's decision is worse than believed.
One judicial reform desperately needed is that no ruling can be made without a detailed description of the reasoning behind the ruling. The courts are all too often acting like they have Papal infallibility and don’t need to explain themselves. They should not be allowed to act in such an opaque and imperial manner. It will only encourage them to become more arbitrary and capricious - and fascistic.
the fact "they" PROUDLY have released Project 2025 is gut-wrenching to me.
Life on earth is taking a downward turn I never thought to witness in my lifetime.
We were "so close" to reaching a point where people could simply be themselves.
Love who you love.
Marry who you love.
Have children with who you love.
Government and law enforcement and patriarchy not busting into your bedroom in the middle of the night and telling you you are breaking the law, as happened with Richard and Mildred Loving.
The Handmaid's Tale is not even the worst of the dystopias looming ahead.
Dobbs was simply an opening, just as January 6, 2021 was the first salvo.
Check out these links to two PoliticsGirl episodes with the same guest, Ahmed Baba. The first talks about the Heritage Foundation's blueprint, Project 2025, and is a couple of months old. The second is from her show last week about Trump's personal fever dream (aka "Agenda 47"):
Though I fear that over the past 2 decades, Mitch McConnell, more than anyone, managed to dumb down our Supreme Court, covering for not only overt money influence (see Thomas) but also Christian hard-line myopia, he out-did himself with Trump appointed Judge Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas. To read more about his background, read it and weep:
From the article: "Before Kacsmaryk was appointed to the federal bench by President Donald Trump in 2019, he was deputy counsel for the First Liberty Institute, a deeply conservative religious liberty law firm based in Plano."
Well, it seems that getting Kacsmaryk on the case was pretty intentional – especially in view of his background. We’re talking about people who have utterly different values from you.
Robert, is it possible for us to come up with another name than Christian right? Those people at anything but Christian! I refer to them as the reactionary right.
PS your newsletter prompted me to write to NBC. Strong work on all our parts, Ronna McDaniel is looking for a new job.
I am open to suggestion, but they identify themselves as Christian nationalists. I understand the sensitivity of including "Christian" as an adjective to describe the un-Christian actions of Christian nationalists. But it is not people like me who use that term who are a problem. The problem is the people who have hijacked Christ's name. They are the ones who need to be lobbied to change their identification. Perhaps "the un-Christian right" or the "un-Christian nationalists?"
Referring to them as the reactionary right ignores that they view themselves as implementing a Christian paradigm for government.
Again, I am open to suggestion, but "reactionary right" ignores an important part of their motivation.
Thank You Robert for urging us to raise a ruckus about Ronnan McDaniel. Our and others’ complaints got her fired. Good riddance to bad rubbish!
I don't understand NYT's apparent argument that her firing is stifling an important viewpoint. She can still be a contributor AS A GUEST! Why does she need a seat at the big kids' table?
I’m much more interested in hearing more from Mike Gallagher or Ken Buck. Conservative but leaving early as a protest. We would agree very little on policy but a conversation with a conservative who understands the need to govern would be refreshing.
NYT is just trying to justify its massive and egregious failings as a media outlet that now seeks the MAGA crowd’s clickbait addiction. Bull!
NYT is a garbage news outlet. I refuse to subscribe because they continue their one-sided pro-Trump nonsense. Not real news coverage there.
I became fed up with the NYT two weeks ago, canceling my subscription, and I'm now a happier individual, more carefully choosing news sources .
I cancelled a while ago - before they gleefully went to town on the Robert Hur smear job of Biden. I do not regret it one bit.
I agree. I canceled my subscription to them because I can no longer bear to support their treacherous and poorly conceived reporting on this election.
Agree💙
And why does she need to be on NBC or MSNBC? There are plenty of media outlets where she can pretend to rationalize her victim hood as head of the RNC. If the NYT is suggesting we need a “pro-Trump” voice, why not get a real loser on board and invite Jim Jordan to be a contributor??? Some decisions are a bridge too far. Maybe we’ll see Ronna as a guest columnist for the NYT soon.
Great comment! It put a smile on my face! Yeah, Jim Jordan or JD Vance!
Sheesh! How far they fall. My father--gone since 2002--was an expert on the Soviet economy, and used to write op-eds for the NYT on Soviet military spending, and how the CIA had inflated its estimates thereof, and he read the NYT religiously. He'd be appalled.
"And why does she need to be on NBC or MSNBC?"
Because the brains trust / bean-counters at NBC believed that she would attract more of the MAGA crowd, and also give them great access to MAGA politicians, including especially Trump himself.
The reality is that just about every cable channel has to make a choice, and wind up with just the centre-left crowd (MSNBC) or the mad-right crowd (Fox News and the fruit-loops), but not both. CNN has a sort of weird position in there somewhere too.
But the broadcast channels have to appeal to as wide an audience as they can (they survive solely on advertising), hence the stroke of genius to get a loopy-right election denier. Wasn't very smart. CNN employed Chris Wallace and the world didn't go up in flames.
Chris Wallace was a reasonable and intelligent journalist. Neither of those fit Ronna McDaniel. I am very aware of television’s reliance on advertising at all levels. But they must also know their audience. And, just as elections should be based on the quality of the candidates, these programs must rely on the credibility of their contributors. There are former Republicans who appear regularly on MSNBC, and I respect what they have to say. But many of the Trumpers who enabled him to stage a coup have zero credibility. Perhaps NBC should be talking to Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger, for example. They’re not going to appeal to Trumpers unless they start accepting conspiracy theories and lies. NBC will not survive if they run off their normal viewers. We’re in a very different world. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all watched the same perspectives and at least the same FACTS????
I terminated my subscription to NYT weeks ago for their irresponsible political reporting and attached a letter with examples. NYT needs to hear from us just like NBC. Numbers make a difference.
I'm not a subscriber for the exact reasons you have stated. Yet I continue to send in through the online mechanisms "corrections" that need to be made to their stories LOL. Just to be an annoying part of the "numbers make a difference" crowd. Maybe they will wake up!
I unsubscribed years ago. Started feeling an uncomfortable vibe that settled on my lie detector nerve.
Not that it’s NYT’s job to pamper or only use a low key positions in their reporting.
But, there’s definitely a right wing propaganda leaning reporting undercurrent that is coming to the surface in many of their skewed attempts to use the “both sides” argument.
They have no encouragement to return to right-side-up reporting from corporate media. So I can only assume they’ve sold out to Putin.
Many of us have written to them. It doesn't seem to matter.
Robert, can you say the name of the journalist at the New York Times who wrote that outrageous commentary so that that person can get feedback?
Michael M. Grynbaum and John Koblin
Or money
I don't even want to see/hear her as a guest.
I was sitting in an airport with my daughter sitting next to me as we were embarking on our mother-daughter vacation when I read Robert's article, and immediately wrote to NBC with her looking over my shoulder. We were both excited when we heard the news that Ronna Romney McDaniel had been fired. Yay! That goes hand in hand with the Republicans imploding as Marilyn Lands (D-AL) wins the special election, and Lisa Mukowski (R-AK) talks about leaving the Republican party, on the heels of several who have quit in the House.
YES!! And it feels really, really good that I got off my perennial goose and contributed to that campaign! Gives me reason to keep on writing! Thanks Robert—you spurred me again!!
“ a true and certified Trump Hater “. And here I’ve been operating at amateur status all these years! How do I get certified??
Perhaps by buying a Trump Bible (one feature is that the pages are upside down in the binding) for only $59.95, plus shipping, and then burning it in public. By the way, I have it on good authority that lawyers for King James have sent Trump a cease-and-desist order.
TWO THINGS 45 has NEVER READ -
THE BIBLE &
THE CONSTITUTION.
KJV is the same "Old English" as Shakespeare.
Have you ever listened to one of his plays in the original "Old English"?
It's like translating a foreign language.
It can give me a headache in the theatre.
But I just love it - it's fascinating to hear! (But, heck, I also really enjoying writings from the 1500s, so perhaps I'm just weird?)
Maybe, but we like you anyway!!
Why thanks! :-)
Excellent - thanks for the grins!
As much as I value this community of thinkers and writers and Robert's leadership, I don't often get a real laugh in reading. Today I did, thanks to your comment, Sharon B in ATL. You remind us that derision and scorn can be real weapons.
I want to be certified!
I love a t-shirt someone created: "Totally impartial potential juror." **
*Sadly, our judicial system appears ready to continue granting privileges to 45.
Bryan Stevenson says our judicial system treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. (Add "white" to that qualification.)
**Just like Tuberville (Senator, R-Alabama) held up military promotions AS ONLY ONE PERSON,
I despair that one (MAGA) juror could cause a mistrial and allow 45 to avoid JUSTICE for his mounting crimes.
I hereby certify you, Beverly Falls, as an Official Trump Hater. Your new powers shall give you the ability to cause Trump to wither and sputter and spout nonsense whenever you think about him.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official
Oh, me too, me too!!
I hereby certify you, Barb Faith, as an Official Trump Hater and Bollixer. This certification enables you to bollix Trump from a distance of up to 3,200 miles, causing him to bungle whatever he is doing at the time, likely causing him great frustration, that will cause him to mouth nonsense, and if speechifying, at a campaign rally or suchlike, to fall to the ground.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official
Hi David,
Thanks for my certification, but I live on the West Coast and need a distance of up to 3000 miles. Don't want to miss the target LOL
You're welcome Barb!
We've got you covered now, for up to 3,200 miles, which will reach anywhere on the East Coast.
Certify me too, please!
I hereby certify you, Jocelyn B, as an Official Trump Hater. Your new powers shall give you the ability to cause Trump to feel great fear, and become tongue tied, whenever you think about him.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official, Massachusetts
FANtastic! I am very appreciative! ;-)
I'm very happy to perform this service for such honorable readers of Robert Hubbell!
It's always possible; however, we've seen jurors hold Trump responsible for behavior that is so egregious that all jurors in cases (like E. Jean Carroll's) have to come to the right conclusion. We can hope!
Sadly, I agree with most of your comments above.
I hereby certify you, Sharon B in ATL, as an Official Trump Hater. Your new powers shall give you the ability to cause Trump to wither and sputter and spout nonsense whenever you think about him.
--David C. Holzman, Certified Certification Official, Massachusetts
I hope your authority extends to North Carolina!
Yes it does. I have a "Pride in Tobacco" baseball hat, which I purchased at the Duke Estate, in 2008, and somehow, that gave me jurisdiction in NC. Also, my father was a UNC graduate.
Thank you , David! I look forward to receiving my Certified Certification certificate, which I will frame and display proudly!!
Sharon, I’ll bet he’d sell you an autographed certificate so stating, if you asked nicely and paid a fee
Love it Sharon B! I'm pretty sure the Trump Haters (certified or not) outnumber his deluded "fans".
In case people haven't seen this yet, Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) has been collecting testimonials from Republicans and former Republicans on why they will never vote for Trump - including some who admit to having voted for him before.
https://www.youtube.com/@RepublicanVotersAgainstTrump
Cheryl- yes! I just recently became aware of the. RVAT web site. Makes me hopeful.
Love it! Please share when you get an answer, as I too operate as amateur level LOL
I am thrilled that I am one of the thousands who wrote about the disgusting hiring of Ronna McDaniel but even more thrilled that the integrity of a real journalists alsofound it abominable!
Right there with you!!
Hi Everyone!
I agree that the reduction of bond that was granted to Trump was a bad and embarrassing move. I have known poor offenders who have gotten no such treatment and had not a penny to their name. Poor, mentally ill, emotionally disturbed offenders can’t appeal every two minutes. It’s a complete sham of a system.
If Trump ignores his gag order he should be punished accordingly. I have reached the blessed point where I’m no longer second guessing about the political impact of him being treated like the horrific thug he is. I’m horrified by our legal system which in the name of fairness and innocent til proven guilty is potentially delivering a despot back into our top government leadership. My good news is that a Republican friend just disclosed to me that they won’t vote for Trump because his behavior is undesirable. Not full-throated but it’s a shift.
One at a time, Amy. Admirable courage to have the conversation and openness with your Republican friend.
I did not like the decision but he is entitled to an appeal. He still has not come up with the money.
The bond was not a condition to his appeal. He can appeal with or without the bond. The only question is whether he--like every other defendant--must secure the entire amount of the judgment to prevent execution pending appeal. Otherwise, appeals are reduced to a delaying mechanism. If he wins on appeal, every penny of the judgment seized or backed by a bond is returned.
Despite bragging on social media that he has 500M in hand, but just doesn't want to spend it on a bond. He "wants" to spend it on his campaign. Awwww, poor baby trumpy, did it fall down and go boom?
Careful. You might hurt Trump's fragile ego if you point out that he is a big baby.
(;<{).
(hee hee)
LOL! I'd rather spend money on travel than the house payment, but we also need to have a place to come home to after the trip...........
Agree! Trump is whining that it's "not fair" and he "shouldn't have to pay" and he's "not going to give my money to the court." Well, as my mother would have said, "You should have thought of that before you did it!"
Hi Amy, I went t a Zoom last night that featured a presentation from Jackie Payne, the founder of Galvanize Action (https://www.galvanizeaction.org/). Their target audience is moderate white women voters, since if you look at voters by gender and race white women is the biggest slice of the pie.
They stick with moderates who are not idealogues and test messaging over time with their survey subjects that are representative of certain traits that they have clustered into groups. The successful messages from their survey/focus group work are micro-targetted to other women who fit the same profile as ads over streaming media. This is based on heavy duty statistical analysis and the principles of neuroscience. They then compare the group that got the messages vs. the control population that did not. The results are nothing less than astonishing.
Their "playbook" of ads is right there on the website available for free. Each one tells a story rather than just spouting facts and figures. The GOP uses this techniqe all the time by making their voters either fearful or resentful. Galvanize action is appealing to more positive emotions like empathy and compassion. I'm pretty sure many of the most successful ads about reproductive rights since Dobs were created using this model.
You can check out the playbook here: https://www.galvanizeaction.org/our-work/tools/ - it might offer you some other ideas on how to bring your Republican friends around.
For anyone who can afford it, please consider a donation to this group. It would be great to strip away some additional white women voters from Trump.
Would that he would vote for Biden, but perhaps I ask too much of Republicans!
“The current Court is not up to the task of preserving and implementing the Constitution” is one of my favorite summations ever!
I would add one point to Bouie’s conclusion. Institutions only work if the people in them work. So, yes, we need to defeat Trump, but we also need to elect people who will built and strengthen our currently broken institutions.
You and your wife are doing a wonderful job keeping us informed of daily ongoing keep up the good work and stay healthy Paul d Capacci,dds I am 81 and still doing dentistry in the New York dept of corrections
Paul, thannks for your note, and keep the good work!!
Thank you for your service, Dr. Capacci. A lesson that us youngsters of 75 need to take heart in the work ahead.
Kudos for Judge Merchan for having the fortitude to implement a gag order on tffg, and I only wish that tffg was wearing a real life electronic gag, so that every time he opens his mouth or even thinks about posting to SM any sort of a lie or defamatory statement, he gets a *mild* (to be charitable) electric shock but it escalates in intensity the more attempts he makes.
Trump's lifeline is his ability to keep his name in the news. He could care less about what is said and is focused only on the fact that " something is said!"
Here is what could happen if we took away his "oxygen."
DonaldTrump died today from a disease that has risen lately to near epic proportions...FOMO ( FEAR OF MISSING OUT). Despite numerous attempts to save him by the New York Times, Washington Post and social media, he was unable to survive the malaise of no longer being newsworthy and passed quietly in his sleep. ( satire)
As I suspected you have brilliantly stated. FOMO would definitely take his breath away (literally).
Here’s a gift link to the NYT opinion piece
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/opinion/trump-trials-bond-invincibility.html?unlocked_article_code=1.f00.23DK.0k4EeVNzZ8Cw&smid=url-share
Thanks, Pat!!
Thanks. You beat me to do this just now.
Here is a question about the decision to reduce Trump's bond requirement. Every story starts with "A New York Appeals Court." Don't we want to know which Appeals Court? which judges? Does anybody know who made that decision? Do they have an explanation for their decision? I know the New York Times does not do a lot of local news, but this is also national news. Where is the New York Times? Will it report on the local appeals court?
Here are the five judges who reduced the bond:
Dianne T. Renwick
Anil C. Singh
Lizbeth González
Bahaati E. Pitt-Burke
Kelly O’Neill Levy,
The opinion is here:
https://eddsa.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/public/2024_01134_PEOPLE_OF_THE_STATE_OF_v_PEOPLE_OF_THE_STATE_OF_ORDER_21.pdf
Stunning to see Allen Weisselberg named among those on the list of defendants in the opinion.
About whom, according to New York (AP) on March 4, 2024:
“Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of Donald Trump’s company, pleaded guilty Monday to lying under oath during his testimony in the ex-president’s New York civil fraud case. His plea deal will send him back to jail but does not require that he testify at Trump’s hush-money criminal trial.”
https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-weisselberg-perjury-0101a9972cefd1e1fb4ba6d36e69fecb
And I never saw any indication of whether Trump's lawyers had asked for a reduction. No reporting on that either. So was this just a one sided decision out of the blue to drop the amount of the bond? And as others have suggested, it seems that this will go on forever with appeal after appeal and then he can shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and get away with that too.
Trump asked the court to reduce the bond to $170 million--which is exactly what the Court did.
So *that*’s where the $170 million figure came from!
Wow!
Thanks, Robert.
WOW! In my dreams I have that power, but sadly not in my reality!
Our favorite newsletter writers seem to all be saying that there was no rationale behind the decision - at least, one that was published. Just "here's our decision. Live with it."
That means there is a rationale. The Appeals Court just does not want to tell us.
Yes, Robert thanks, and please keep the email addresses coming. The CEO is always best. They should have standing orders to their staff to give originals or an objective analysis of complaints coming in, if they are worth their salt.
One additional thought, in line with your writing today. Who the heck cares any more about what the courts "think" of Trump. They either do their jobs, or more likely don't. And, the minds of 90%, I would posit, are already made up about the election, and unfortunately, those remaining 5% seem to be critical. But the SC doesn't care about them either...because they are probably mostly women, and according to the SC, women have no rights to their bodies, or minds.
Sad, but true
That's why it is the election issue, I think
I'm not entirely sure that the appeal of James is going to disappear into a black hole. The court requires that the appeal be perfected by the September term, and that means the opening briefs will have to be filed and opposing briefs scheduled--and I'm pretty sure James will have hers all ready to go. So just before the election there is going to be a lot of stuff going on that will keep things in the public eye, so long as the media pays attention to it. Trump may not have it decided whether and how much he owes before the election (and he has little ability to tell the NY courts what to do even IF elected), but what he DID will be part of the pre-election discussion.
Susan, you raise an interesting point. It appears that the appellate division not only reduced Trump's bond, it gave him an unnecessarily long period of time to perfect his appeal. The division could have required that the appeal be perfected in the May or June terms. Instead, the division set the perfection date for the September term (there are no terms in July or August).
So, having granted extraordinary relief--nearly $300 million reduction in bond--the appellate division did not demand even a modicum of speed. It said, "Take your time getting your appeal on file."
I understand that it takes time to prepare the record for appeal, but Trump filed his notice of appeal in February. Allowing seven months for the record to be prepared and the appeal to be briefed rewards Trump's delaying tactics--and is another indication that the appellate division did not consider the interests of the People of the State of New York in granting the relief, but only considered Trump's interests.
Also, I heard from a reader /NY lawyer who says the "word in the courthouse" (I cannot verify this) is that the division is really proud of itself for ensuring that the appeal would be heard on the merits by removing a fight over the bond. Huh? The appeal would be heard on the merits with or without a bond. I hope the report is false. Otherwise, the appellate division's decision is worse than believed.
I like to see you comment on our comments...Thanks!
wow. You'd think an appellate court would know the rules about appeals and the effect of failure to post a bond.
But it still does put much of the Hoohah right before the election.
One judicial reform desperately needed is that no ruling can be made without a detailed description of the reasoning behind the ruling. The courts are all too often acting like they have Papal infallibility and don’t need to explain themselves. They should not be allowed to act in such an opaque and imperial manner. It will only encourage them to become more arbitrary and capricious - and fascistic.
the fact "they" PROUDLY have released Project 2025 is gut-wrenching to me.
Life on earth is taking a downward turn I never thought to witness in my lifetime.
We were "so close" to reaching a point where people could simply be themselves.
Love who you love.
Marry who you love.
Have children with who you love.
Government and law enforcement and patriarchy not busting into your bedroom in the middle of the night and telling you you are breaking the law, as happened with Richard and Mildred Loving.
The Handmaid's Tale is not even the worst of the dystopias looming ahead.
Dobbs was simply an opening, just as January 6, 2021 was the first salvo.
"They" are not going to stop.
Check out these links to two PoliticsGirl episodes with the same guest, Ahmed Baba. The first talks about the Heritage Foundation's blueprint, Project 2025, and is a couple of months old. The second is from her show last week about Trump's personal fever dream (aka "Agenda 47"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPgeg_Jij8c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW-NjxL5oUw
thanks for the links!
I punched "Like", but I don't! I'm with you Beverly...
Ahh, Ronna, we hardly knew ye. And yet, we knew ye too well.
Though I fear that over the past 2 decades, Mitch McConnell, more than anyone, managed to dumb down our Supreme Court, covering for not only overt money influence (see Thomas) but also Christian hard-line myopia, he out-did himself with Trump appointed Judge Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas. To read more about his background, read it and weep:
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/15/federal-judge-amarillo-abortion-fda/
thanks for the link!
From the article: "Before Kacsmaryk was appointed to the federal bench by President Donald Trump in 2019, he was deputy counsel for the First Liberty Institute, a deeply conservative religious liberty law firm based in Plano."
In a sane world, his prior employment would be an immediate disqualifier
Well, it seems that getting Kacsmaryk on the case was pretty intentional – especially in view of his background. We’re talking about people who have utterly different values from you.
Yes, it was intentional. Elevating him to the Copurt was intentional. All products of the long con
Robert, is it possible for us to come up with another name than Christian right? Those people at anything but Christian! I refer to them as the reactionary right.
PS your newsletter prompted me to write to NBC. Strong work on all our parts, Ronna McDaniel is looking for a new job.
I am open to suggestion, but they identify themselves as Christian nationalists. I understand the sensitivity of including "Christian" as an adjective to describe the un-Christian actions of Christian nationalists. But it is not people like me who use that term who are a problem. The problem is the people who have hijacked Christ's name. They are the ones who need to be lobbied to change their identification. Perhaps "the un-Christian right" or the "un-Christian nationalists?"
Referring to them as the reactionary right ignores that they view themselves as implementing a Christian paradigm for government.
Again, I am open to suggestion, but "reactionary right" ignores an important part of their motivation.
Good point, but "Christian" should stay, just put it in quotation marks – always.
CINO's...Christian in Name Only? Or just plain FASCISTS.