I thought the Lincoln Project kinda lost its mojo after the 2020 election, and the major staff changes. But this under-2-minute montage of all the highlights from the weekend is vintage stuff.
Now if only they’d post their latest videos on their website instead of ex-Twitter.
It’s an old truism that not only do people resemble their pets but Dogs and Their Owners Share Similar Personality Traits.
Reading the news that President Biden’s dog, Commander, bit Secret Service agents at least 24 times before being exiled from the White House made me wonder in what way the President might be likely to demonstrate aggressive behavior.
And here it is: Biden instructed aides to dial up attacks on Trump’s wild comments and Biden embraces bully pulpit as he escalates fight against Trump and GOP over Russia. Expect more.
Although in past years handicapping the Veepstakes has been one of my favorite pastimes, I find that this year I don’t much care who Trump’s running mate might turn out to be. I suppose it’s because they vary from quite bad to horrible, or because I think that, barring one of the candidates having a medical crisis, the election will be decided either in court or via Trump’s self-destruction as he says increasingly bizarre things and people start to focus on them.
But that doesn’t stop other people, and Trump added fuel to the flames today by naming six people he thought might be potential running mates. The list included Sen. Tim Scott, who seems like the obvious choice to me, as it offers the tantalizing prospect of peeling off just enough Black votes to move a few swing states.
More bizarrely the list also included Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. That’s bizarre not only because Trump spent so much time belittling him, but because they’re both residents of the State of Florida, and the US Constitution prohibits electors from a state from choosing both a president and a vice president from that same state. (Art II, Cl. 3: “The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves”.) Weirdly, nobody writing about Trump’s statement seems to be mentioning this. But then I think the entire press has pretty much given up on fact checking him anyway.
DeSantis, who attended Harvard Law School and presumably knows much more about the Constitution than Trump does — although probably that’s true of almost everyone — was quick to say he would never be Trump’s Vice President. He made it sound as if this was something of a principled choice, but I think he just knows it could never be, as the risk of a squeaker in which Vice President Harris is reelected when you don’t count Florida’s electoral votes is just too great.
Inspired by the silly kerfuffle about President Biden’s supposed memory issues in his five-hour interview with a partisan special prosecutor, conducted while Biden also was involved in issues about the Middle East, and perhaps also inspired by the death of Toby Keith, I asked GPT-4 to take on the persona of an experienced writer of hit songs and write me a country music song on the theme “I’m voting for Grandpa (because the alternative is so much worse)”. The results were not half bad:
“I’m Voting for Grandpa”
(Verse 1)
Out here where the wheat fields meet the sky,
I’ve been watching the days and years go by.
I’ve seen leaders come and go, it’s true,
But this time around, I know what I gotta do.I hear the talk in the diners and the bars,
About how we’ve got dreams bigger than the stars.
But dreams need hands to guide them right,
To turn our darkest hours into daylight.(Chorus)
I’m voting for Grandpa, ’cause the alternative’s so much worse,
In a world of chaos, he might just be our cure.
With a steady hand and a heart that’s tried and true,
I’m voting for Grandpa, to lead us through.(Verse 2)
I’ve listened to the promises, the plans, and the pleas,
Sifted through the noise to find what I believe.
It’s not about the left or right, but finding middle ground,
Where the lost can be found, and the silent have a sound.In the fields where my father worked, under the same sun,
I learned that before the harvest comes, there’s work to be done.
Grandpa’s got a vision, not just for the few,
But for every hardworking soul, through and through.(Chorus)
I’m voting for Grandpa, ’cause the alternative’s so much worse,
In a world of division, he speaks to our better verse.
With wisdom gleaned from years and a spirit tough and true,
I’m voting for Grandpa, to see us through.(Bridge)
It’s more than politics, it’s about who we want to be,
A nation of the free, living in harmony.
So I’ll cast my vote with hope, for a brighter day,
For Grandpa’s guiding light to lead the way.(Chorus)
I’m voting for Grandpa, ’cause the alternative’s just too grim,
In the fight for our future, I’m putting my faith in him.
With a lifetime of service and a belief in the common good,
I’m voting for Grandpa, like I believe we all should.(Outro)
So when the day comes, and it’s our time to choose,
I hope you’ll join me, we’ve got so much to lose.
In the heart of this country, let’s make our stand,
I’m voting for Grandpa, to heal this land.
Unfortunately, I don’t know how to write music, much less country music, and the online tools for doing it with AI assistance look like they have a steep learning curve.
If anyone knows of an easy tool, or feels like pitching in, get in touch.
(My efforts to elicit an urban country version and a crossover version were not as good…)
The Amar brothers have filed a very fine amicus brief in the Supreme Court’s review of the Trump disqualification case, styled Trump v. Anderson. The argument is aimed squarely at ‘originalists’ by recovering critical history that shaped Art. 3 of the XIVth Amendment.
Here’s a portion of the summary:
Underlying Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, there resides […] an episode known to virtually all Americans in the 1860s and, alas, forgotten by most Americans today, even the learned. The episode has gone almost unmentioned in all previous scholarship on Section Three and in all previous briefing in this case. We believe that this episode is a key that can unlock many of the issues presented by today’s case.
In Part One of what follows, we briefly tell the story of the First Insurrection of the 1860s—the insurrection before the Second Insurrection of the 1860s, typically known today as the Civil War. In that First Insurrection, high-level executive officials in Washington, DC, violated their solemn constitutional oaths as part of a concerted plan not just to hand over southern forts to rebels, but also to prevent the lawful inauguration of the duly elected Abraham Lincoln. The parallels between this insurrection in late December 1860 and January 1861 and the more recent Trump-fueled insurrection of late December 2020 and January 2021 are deeply and decisively relevant to today’s case.
[…]
Today’s facts are remarkably similar to those of the First Insurrection of the 1860s.
(Italics in original.)
NEW AD: Trump told them to fight. He’s responsible for January 6. And he can never be president again.
Running nationally on Fox News during the Haley, DeSantis, and Trump town halls on Jan. 8-10. pic.twitter.com/qoyCKB04BT
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) January 8, 2024
New ad from the Republican Accountability PAC.
Jotwell Blenderlaw