"So what?"
October 3, 2024
The most consequential exchange during the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday was this:
Tim Walz (to JD Vance): Did Trump lose the 2020 election?
JD Vance: I am focused on the future.
Tim Walz: That is a damning non-answer.
The exchange lasted seconds, but viewers cited it as the most important factor in concluding that Tim Walz “won” the debate.
The fact that viewers found Vance’s refusal to acknowledge Trump's loss to be outcome-determinative reminds us that running against Trump's incipient fascism and demonstrated criminality is a winning strategy. Indeed, the debate exchange and viewers' reactions are a timely reminder that Kamala Harris’s most effective pitch is this: “I support democracy and the rule of law. Donald Trump seeks to destroy them.”
One day after the Walz-Vance exchange about Trump's loss, federal district Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed a brief by special counsel Jack Smith that shows Trump acted in his private capacity when he attempted to overturn the 2020 election. See NYTimes, Judge Unseals New Evidence in Federal Election Case Against Trump. (Accessible to all.)
Jack Smith’s brief can be viewed here: Government’s Motion for Immunity Determinations.
Much of the information in Jack Smith’s brief has been disclosed previously, especially in the hearings and report of the January 6 Committee. Smith’s brief filed today contains shocking new details but reminds Americans that Trump came very close to preventing the peaceful transfer of power on January 6.
Let’s pause on that point: Trump came very close to preventing the peaceful transfer of power on January 6.
He is manifestly unfit to hold public office, and his effort to overthrow the constitutional order should disqualify him in the eyes of every American who values the peace and liberty that flow from constitutional order.
That simple but overwhelming point is somehow lost in policy debates about inflation, reproductive rights, taxes, guns, and immigration. As momentous as those issues are, they have meaning only in the context of nation governed by the will of the people exercised within the framework of a founding charter. If that order is overthrown, policies are replaced by the whims and grievances of the tyrant who manages to hold onto power.
We do not need Jack Smith’s newest filing to remind us of who Trump is. But it is worthwhile to review the new evidence because (astoundingly) some Americans have forgotten what happened on January 6. We cannot forget. To do so endangers our nation’s future and security.
Jack Smith’s brief begins with a simple explanation of the claims in the indictment before Judge Chutkan:
The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct. Not so. Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one. Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted—a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role. [¶¶]
His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election by using the defendant’s fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6, 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.
The throughline of these efforts was deceit: the defendant’s and co-conspirators’ knowingly false claims of election fraud.
The NYTimes’ story on the filing begins with this trio of incidents:
When told by an aide that Vice President Mike Pence was in peril as the rioting on Capitol Hill escalated on Jan. 6, 2021, President Donald J. Trump replied, “So what?”
When one of his lawyers told him that his false claims that the election had been marred by widespread fraud would not hold up in court, Mr. Trump responded, “The details don’t matter.”
On a flight with Mr. Trump and his family after the election, an Oval Office assistant heard Mr. Trump say: “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.”
In a separate article, the Times adds color to the “So what?” response by Trump:
After Mr. Trump’s Twitter post focused the enraged mob’s attention on harming Mr. Pence and the Secret Service took the vice president to a secure location, an aide rushed into the dining room off the Oval Office where Mr. Trump was watching television. The aide alerted him to the developing situation, in the hope that Mr. Trump would then take action to ensure Mr. Pence’s safety.
Instead, Mr. Trump looked at the aide and said only, “So what?” according to grand jury testimony newly disclosed in the brief.
Politico adopted the same approach, laying out the following incident as its opening to a story titled, Jack Smith lays out his case against Trump in vivid detail.
Politico writes,
As his bid to hold on to power in 2020 grew increasingly desperate, Donald Trump pressed Republican Party Chair Ronna McDaniel to help promote a false claim that voting machines in Michigan had been manipulated.
McDaniel balked. She had spoken to the state’s House speaker, Lee Chatfield, a Republican, who told her the claim was “f*cking nuts.”
In a new revelation, we learn that Mike Pence tried to convince Trump to “give up” on his election fraud claims and seek re-election in 2024. Again, per the Times,
Mr. Pence also sought to convince Mr. Trump he had lost the election. During a private lunch in mid-November 2020, for example, Mr. Pence suggested to Mr. Trump that he accept defeat and run again in the next presidential race, but Mr. Trump did not want to hear about it.
“I don’t know,” the brief quotes him as saying, “2024 is so far-off.”
The reference to 2024 is chilling. Pence suggests—and Trump implicitly acknowledges—that running for re-election in 2024 was an alternative path to achieve his corrupt effort to hold onto power. And so here we are: Trump is using his current run for the presidency as a mechanism for insulating himself from the crimes he has already committed.
It has become popular in some quarters to belittle the argument that “democracy is on the ballot in 2024.” The reaction to JD Vance’s refusal to acknowledge Trump's loss strongly suggests that the argument still has the power to influence voters. And the new details in Jack Smith’s brief remind us how truly and utterly depraved Trump was (and is) in the pursuit of power.
As a reader wrote today, Kamala Harris’s strongest argument should be that “She is not Trump.” Yes, she has a positive agenda to improve the lives of all Americans. But Jack Smith’s filing reminds us today that Trump is a uniquely dangerous threat to American democracy. Kamala Harris is the alternative. Without more, that is an overwhelming case for electing Kamala Harris.
President Biden and Kamala Harris visit sites of devastation left by Hurricane Helene
President Biden visited North Carolina, and Vice President Harris visited Georgia to see first-hand the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. See NPR. Harris and Biden surveyed hurricane damage in 2 swing states.
Per NPR,
Biden announced that the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months for North Carolina, as requested by its Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
He also directed up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to be deployed to help the North Carolina National Guard deliver food, water and medicine.
Meanwhile, Vice President Harris visited Georgia:
In Georgia, Harris said the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of debris removal and emergency protective measures for three months for the state, as requested by its Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp was not with her for the tour.
In short, Biden and Harris have agreed to provide the federal assistance requested by the governors of Georgia and North Carolina. Don’t let anyone tell you that Biden and Harris are selectively withholding emergency relief from rural areas hurt by Hurricane Helene.
Opportunities for Reader engagement
As we move closer to Election Day, I am receiving an increase in requests to promote opportunities for reader engagement. I hope you will take a few moments to review the opportunities—some of which are time sensitive and mission critical. Thanks!
Join Democracy Docket, Professor Laurence Tribe and Maya Wiley!
Join Democracy Docket for an insightful live virtual event on October 8 at 7 p.m. ET, hosted by Marc Elias and featuring legal experts Laurence Tribe, Joyce Vance and Maya Wiley as they unpack the critical legal battles shaping the upcoming election.
Webinar Registration - Democracy Docket Litigation Debrief
I plan to attend this event! I urge you to do so, as well!
A special plea from The Civics Center
I received this note from Laura Brill of The Civics Center (Empowering the Youth Vote in America through High School Voter Registration).
Robert,
You know I'm not an alarmist. We’ve been looking at voter files nonstop over the past few weeks, and what we are seeing is alarming. In AZ, OH, and GA, the voter registration deadline is Oct. 7, and fewer than 50% of 18-year-olds are registered. In PA, they have until Oct. 21 to register, but there, too, the registration rate for 18-year-olds remains under 50%.
In each state, that’s tens of thousands who are set to be disenfranchised by our country’s underinvestment in high school voter registration, combined with VR deadlines, lack of preregistration opportunities beginning at age 16, and other voter suppression laws.
Your readers can help by making sure teens in their lives are registered, encouraging high schools with which they have direct ties to get all teens registered, and donating to support our organizing and outreach work. For example, we are providing $150 gift cards for students who go through our organizing program and get their schools ready to vote. We’ve also got outreach going on social media. I’ve detailed other helpful ways people can get involved, including post-carding opportunities, here.
With great appreciation for all you do!
Laura Brill
Join Sister District for a Fireside Chat with David Daley on October 15
Please join Sister District on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. Pacific / 7:00 p.m. Eastern for a virtual Fireside Chat with David Daley. We will hear from investigative reporter David Daley about his new book Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections. The book is a riveting yet disturbing history of the fifty-year Republican plot to hijack voting rights in America, its profound implications for the 2024 election, and the crucial role that Chief Justice John Roberts has played in determining how we vote.
The conversation will be moderated by Gaby Goldstein, Co-Founder of Sister District. There will be ample time for audience Q&A.
Sister District is a grassroots organization that aims to build enduring progressive power in state legislatures across the country, to improve people’s lives and support Democrats by filling critical gaps at every point in the political life cycle. Sign up to phonebank and volunteer with Sister District.
Join the “Grand Conversation”
Please watch this superb 14-minute film: The Conversation, made to help us talk to young people about the importance of voting this fall. The film was directed by an award-winning filmmaker, and scored by a Grammy Award winning composer.
You are invited to these two Zooms, each one inspired and organized by a grandparent with an idea and a hope to reach young people who might otherwise skip voting:
Saturday, 10/5, 4pm-4:30pm PT (7pm-7:30pm ET) please join two remarkable activists, Heather Booth and 21-year-old Sam Schwartz (Tour to Save Democracy).
And then on Saturday, 10/5, 4:30 PT/ 7:30pm ET, after the conversation, you can view “Changing the World,” an hour-long film about Heather Booth’s activism, on your own, here, and then come back onto the Zoom at 5:30pm PT/ 8:30pm ETto discuss the film with Sam and Heather.
Read more about Heather Booth and Sam Schwartz, and REGISTER HERE to immediately receive the Zoom link.
Concluding Thoughts.
Jack Smith’s brief tells us that when Trump heard that Vice President Mike Pence was in peril, Trump replied, “So what?” At that moment, constitutional order depended on the safety and security of Mike Pence. Trump's callous response was not merely directed at Mike Pence’s personal safety, but at the continuance of the rule of law. He was saying, effectively, “So what? I don’t care about the rule of law or the peaceful transfer of power. What do you want me to do about it?
Today, Trump's response stands as a challenge to us. Trump has told us he will be a “dictator for a day” on his first day in office. So what? What are we going to do about it?
Trump has told us he will prosecute his political enemies, pardon January 6 defendants, charge Google with the (bogus) crime of criticizing Trump, deny aid to schools that require vaccines, deport ten million immigrants, allow police to have a lawless day once a year to physically abuse suspects, start a trade war with every country that provides goods to American consumers, withdraw from NATO, allow Ukraine to collapse, terminate the Constitution, and continue the war against women and LGBTQ people.
So what? What are we going to do about it?
The answer, of course, is that we must vote as if our democracy depends on defeating Trump. Because it does.
“So what, Donald Trump?” We will tell you what: We will work our tails off to beat you and your MAGA followers up and down the ballot. That’s what!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Daily Dose of Inspiration
The Flaming Star Nebula, below, is located 1,500 light years from Earth and has a radius of 2.5 light years. The image below was my first attempt at capturing the Flaming Star Nebula. Because the nebula rises late in the evening, I set my telescope on “automatic” mode to capture the image after I had gone to bed. The resulting image was off-center and under-exposed. The nebula will rise earlier in the evening over the next several weeks, and I will make a second attempt at a longer exposure that is centered. (The image below is cropped to make it appear that the nebula is in the center of the frame.)
My 19-year-old daughter and I voted from abroad and have received, filled out and mailed off our ballots. We are team Harris-Walz all the way.
We also watched some of the debate post fact, and my worry would be that a lot of swing voters would not recognize that Vance was lying all the way through. I heard his wife prepped him, and I am sure she is the one teaching him to inject humanity into his appeal. I wonder why he was not asked whether his anti-immigrant rhetoric endangered his own children and his wife and her parents. I believe it does, and therefore he cannot wear the caring father role. Instead he comes across as a sociopath to those of us who could see his lies. I am wondering how that plays itself out with swing voters. I watched a The Bulwark discussion of it, and while I have different values from these former Republican political campaign managers, I think they speak from a point of view that helps me to see how things could be seen by millennial, swing voters. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/so-much-rage?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=87281&post_id=149718409&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack%2Cwatch-video&r=f0qfn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
It is frightening to me that the US is so filled with damaged people, who want White male chaos, over anything else, that this election is so, so close. It should not be. It should be Harris out front, with a fringe group voting for Trump. The fact that the fringe have become so common is just scary.
"To have total power is to have power over truth and fact and history and to reach for it over dreams and thoughts and emotions." - Rebecca Solnit, Orwell's Roses, p. 226, where she continues by quoting Orwell:
"From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. A totalitarian state is an effect a theocracy and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened. ... Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth."
Solnit then points out that "[this] is significantly a language problem at a storytelling problem that can be fought to some extent with language -- with the language of history that is not manipulable by the regime, independent journalism uncovering the current situation, logic and scientific method demanding a basis for statements, and the language of ideas that invite people to find their own concepts and principles and to look at the world critically, with the commitment to honor the contracts that words make. With the language of love and fellowship that builds back relationships and drives away loneliness. With the poetry that captures nuance of experience and unexpected alignments. All these things require either the freedom to do them safely or the courage to do them when they are dangerous."
Thank you, Robert, for being part of the solution to MAGA totalitarianism. (I provided these quotes in HCR's comments too, since she is a fellow star in helping keep us tethered to reality.)