Category Archives: Politics

National Association of Manufacturers Suggests Pence Consider 25th Amendment

Forget the mandate of heaven, Trump has now lost the mandate of capitalism:

“Armed violent protestors who support the baseless claim by outgoing president Trump that he somehow won an election that he overwhelmingly lost have stormed the U.S. Capitol today, attacking police officers and first responders, because Trump refused to accept defeat in a free and fair election. Throughout this whole disgusting episode, Trump has been cheered on by members of his own party, adding fuel to the distrust that has enflamed violent anger. This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such. The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy. Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit. Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.

“This is not the vision of America that manufacturers believe in and work so hard to defend. Across America today, millions of manufacturing workers are helping our nation fight the deadly pandemic that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives. We are trying to rebuild an economy and save and rebuild lives. But none of that will matter if our leaders refuse to fend off this attack on America and our democracy—because our very system of government, which underpins our very way of life, will crumble.”

–Press Release, Manufacturers Call on Armed Thugs to Cease Violence at Capitol

Posted in The Scandals | 15 Comments

Just “Most”???

Lock Him Out!From today’s paper.

WHITE HOUSE memo
A President Unhappy, Unleashed and Unpredictable

By Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt

[…]

This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen current and former Trump administration officials, Republicans and allies of the president.

Most of his advisers believe Mr. Trump will depart the White House for a final time by Jan. 20.

Just “most”??? Does not fill me with confidence.

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Et Tu, Pence?

I missed this video when it came out — been busy grading — but it seems it got Trump agitated about being (metaphorically) stabbed in the back….

Posted in 2020 Election, Trump | Comments Off on Et Tu, Pence?

Full Text of Decision by Judge Brann in PA Voting Case

Looking for the full text of Donald J. Trump For President v. Boockvar, the case in which U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Brann very thoroughly rejects claims that the Pennsylvania Presidential vote result should be set aside? Well, look no further.

It shouldn’t be relevant, but in case you care Judge Brann is a former Pennsylvania GOP party official and Federalist Society member, albeit one nominated to the bench by President Obama.

Posted in 2020 Election, Law: Elections, Trump | 2 Comments

Nothingburgers

So the prognosticators say Biden will win PA, and then it’s over.  Nevada would be icing; Georgia would be a second helping.  Arizona likely his too, although the math is a bit odd there.

At that point, the issue is whether the Trump forces have a colorable legal argument, and if not whether they have the stomach for insurrection.  I can’t speak to their stomachs, but I can maybe speak to the legal issue, even though I am not by any stretch of the imagination an elections lawyer.

And so far, I’m not seeing anything.  Indeed, the best summary I’ve seen of the Trump litigating position is this:

“A lawsuit without provable facts showing a statutory or constitutional violation is just a tweet with a filing fee,” said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

I understand the wisdom of the old saying, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained” but in this case, I think it’s more a case for Prof. Billy Preston:

So far, these lawsuits look like desperation ploys, nothingburgers, perhaps filed with some hope that the Supreme Court is so partisan it will bail out the losers. But it’s not in the Court’s interest to do that: it can go eviscerate the New Deal, and the Great Society, plus any later add-ons, and can do it all quite happily without Donald Trump, especially if Mitch McConnell will block any legislation much less more fundamental reform that might get in their way.

Posted in 2020 Election, Law: Elections | Comments Off on Nothingburgers

Vote (Lincoln Project edition)

If you haven’t already, now is the time to


Video version:

Posted in 2020 Election | Comments Off on Vote (Lincoln Project edition)