Open for weekend comments!
September 16, 2023
The purpose of this brief newsletter is to open the Comments section over the weekend for paying subscribers. As always, please be respectful and “like” worthy comments to flag them to the attention of other readers.
Two quick notes:
Possible government shutdown: It appears that little (no?) progress is being made in the House toward the passage of eleven spending bills necessary to enact a budget by October 1.
Government requests order restraining Trump’s social media statements: The government has filed a motion requesting Judge Tanya Chutkan to “enter a narrowly tailored order [that] restricts certain prejudicial extrajudicial statements.” The brief is here: Government's Motion to Ensure that Extrajudicial Statements Do Not Prejudice These Proceedings.
The proposed order appears to be filed under seal, but the government states that it is seeking “tailored” relief to protect witnesses from intimidation.
If you have time, I recommend perusing the brief. No need to read the legal citations or argument. But the statement of facts describes Trump's social media posts that have resulted in intimidation, threats, and doxing of witnesses expected to be called in the case.
The government’s brief states that Trump's counsel also violated court rules that prohibit out-of-court statements by counsel that discuss witnesses to be called and defenses to be raised. As the government notes, after Judge Chutkan warned counsel during a hearing about making such statements, the inappropriate conduct by Trump's counsel ceased—but Trump ignored the court’s admonitions.
Judge Chutkan set a two-week briefing schedule. We should expect an order in early October restricting Trump's posts on social media. Trump will violate that order within twenty-four hours. And then we will see what happens next.
Opportunities for reader engagement:
From Force Multiplier:
Force Multiplier is holding another interesting event with Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin on Wednesday, September 20 at 7 pm ET on Zoom. Please Register and Donate here and tell your friends Tammy Baldwin, the first openly lesbian candidate to be elected to the Senate, has been one of the Senate’s most progressive and effective members since 2012. She will talk about her 2024 election bid and what is at stake in the Senate. Without her victory, the narrow Democratic majority is at risk. For context, ultra-conservative Ron Johnson held on to his seat in a tight race. Wisconsin is a key state at every level!
From PostCardsToVoters
PostcardsToVoters has launched postcards for Ohio! We need lots of help! Can you write 5 or 10 or more postcards? If you have never written before, you can email join@tonythedemocrat.org to join. If you have already joined, please note that Abby the text bot is not working. Instead, email “Hello” to Request@abbyaddresses.org. (If you have an auto signature with your name, etc., you have to erase that because the email bot can’t read it.) PostCardsToVoters will be launching campaigns for Virginia and New York soon too, so we really need help!!! Please ask your friends to help!
Concluding Thoughts.
It is easy to believe that no one ever changes their mind in this polarized environment. Not true. A reader posted the following comment last week (edited for brevity):
I am an unusual subscriber to your newsletter. Until 2016, I was a hardline Republican who had never voted for a Democrat in her life (75 years). I was a Never Trumper voter from the moment Trump declared his candidacy. I voted third party in 2016 and for Biden in 2020. In 2022, I voted straight Democratic for the first time in my life. I am not only a former Republican, I am also an Evangelical Christian who refuses to vote for Trump.
Although I now consider myself an independent voter (I am more conservative than liberal), I will continue to vote for Democrats until Trump and his crime buddies are gone. To show you how far I have come, I used to watch Fox News exclusively. (Now I watch MSNBC). I used to listen to conservative talk radio (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, etc.) every day. I have not listened to any of them since 2016.
The reader who posted the comment escaped a news environment filled with disinformation and lies. She credits the newsletter (in part) for helping to provide truthful information and objective analysis. I mention that fact not to pat myself on the back but to make the point that you can help reach voters like the Never Trumper reader by posting, commenting, and sharing truthful information in places where persuadable friends and neighbors can see it.
We won’t change everyone’s mind; we don’t need to. In a narrowly divided electorate, convincing voters at the margin is all it will take to ensure victory for Democrats up and down the ballot in 2024. Be part of the solution!
Talk to you on Monday!
Robert Reich has an excellent substack column that I highly recommend ... "Resurrecting the Common Good: A New (and Very Old) Conception of Leadership." https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-common-good-chapter-7-leadership
It's powerful. Intellectually rigorous and very motivational. I had tears as I read the (well known) stories about the leadership John McCain demonstrated in 2008 when confronted with lies about Obama, and the leadership Al Gore and George W. Bush showed when Gore conceded in 2000. It's a cogent reminder of why we do what we do, the love we bring to this wonderful idea that forms the bedrock of our nation - that we are all created equal.
Like you Robert, Reich makes very clear that the 2024 election is about this one thing - saving democracy and preserving this powerful ideal that we are all created equal..
Reich writes:
"Leadership of the sort we need to resurrect the common good is not about winning. It’s not about being tough, ruthless, or ferocious. It’s about attending to the needs of the people who are being led — valuing and elevating the common good that binds them together. Earning and building their trust."
Reich concludes with the following:
"We can help resurrect the common good by demanding that our leaders — both in government and in business — dedicate themselves to rebuilding public trust in the institutions they have responsibility for. Their goal must be the common good rather than their own selfish, parched ambitions.
They will not do this on their own. The rest of us must make them. We must support candidates who embody this conception of leadership and eschew those who do not. We must support corporations whose leaders embody it and avoid corporations whose leaders do not."
Reading you every day, Robert. Reading Heather. Reading Reich. And seeing Michael Moore on CNN tonight, it's clear the winds are at our back in 2024.
As you so often say "We have every reason to be hopeful, but no reason to be complacent."
I got busy today and never managed to reply to this issue that you brought up.
“ Robert, you seem to be publicly chastising some minion for leaving YOUR newsletter in some “in process” stage. Don’t paint yourself to be an ass**** in public. It’s yours, so accept ownership. Apologize and get on with it. If you have a gripe about something or someone your own shop, take it up there.”
JUST WOW! Talk about ass ****. This person not only is one for speaking before thinking, but reveals much about his/her own personality and behavior.
It never occurred to me that in your apology for not sending your daily message at the usual time you were blaming someone else (your minions? Seriously? Where did that person pull this idea out from?)
I’m still flabbergasted that someone could make such a stupid, insensitive, ignorant remark. It pains me to think that this person even has access to your excellent newsletter.