"What's happening with the president as he conducts his war is now completely out of bounds. . . . It's crazy on steroids, and well past the point where even his own party should be giving him a pass. . . .
"War crimes, plain and simple."
-- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social
Superbly played, indeed!
With the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) last week demanding 2024 election records from Wayne County, Michigan, the Trump administration is now aggressively targeting the voting process in perhaps the country’s three most pivotal voting jurisdictions. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Ditto
Former White House newsman @ronfournier.bsky.social is saddened that “dozens of [current reporters] and your corporate bosses are planning to honor Trump with his presence Saturday at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner celebrating freedom of the press."
He adds: "I don’t get it."
A past U.S. attorney shares this lawyer's view of the FBI head's $250-million defamation suit against @theatlantic.com.
"I’m looking forward to discovery," @joycewhitevance.bsky.social posts. "Patel would face questioning . . . about his drinking and other misconduct while in office."
"Even if Vance is an incumbent by 2028, is there a path for him to win? I'm betting no. . . .
"He's handcuffed to Trump and MAGA as they run full-out toward a political cliff."
-- @jilldlawrence.bsky.social, author and opinion journalist, at @contrariannews.org
Caption challenge:
📷 What were Barack Obama and Zohran Mamdani saying at a child-New York City care center this weekend?
I'll start: “And then, after many voters showed they distrust the madman and his party, a wondrous brightness replaced stormy clouds darkening our land." ➡️ Your turn ⬅️
"Trump thinks that he should be, as George Bush would say, the decider on monetary policy.
"This would be a bad thing even if Trump was somebody who generally had good judgment."
-- @pkrugman.bsky.social
"Bombing civilian targets seems to be top of mind for the president and one of his key spokespeople . . . which should concern all of us."
— @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | substack.com/home/post/p-...
Associated Press White House beat alumnus @ronfournier.bsky.social, who joins media voices “urging journalists to boycott the White House Correspondents Dinner and its honored guest, the president,” today shares Osmani Simanca’s cartoon.
"The possibility that should truly terrify us is that Trumpian levels of corruption and its accompanying authoritarianism will become normalized in America."
-- @pkrugman.bsky.social | paulkrugman.substack.com/p/autocracy-...
"The Justice Dept has moved to drop the last Jan. 6 insurrection criminal matters: the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys seditious conspiracy cases. ...
"This is what Donald Trump does for the people willing to plot a violent insurrection in hopes he could hold onto power."
- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social
"I dont get it," posts a veteran Washington journalist in an open message to the White House Correspondents Association, which he belonged to proudly for years.
"The people of Hungary . . . powerfully demonstrated what is possible when ordinary people take ownership of their country and their democracy.
"If we want to oust our own autocrat, Americans must muster the same doggedness, commitment, patriotism, sound judgment & courage"
-- @jenrubin.bsky.social
"Trump promised to drain the swamp, but under his rule the swamp drains you.
“And everyone can see it.”
-- @pkrugman.bsky.social
"We kind of hope Patel stays. For one, he gives us lots of material.
"For two, we’d rather have his bumbling, stumbling, drunken ass doing a poor job than some competent hard-right MAGA guy who can do the job of pursuing retribution against Trump's enemies with ruthless efficiency."
2/
Rubin ends with this takeaway from Hungary's election last weekend:
"Democracy defenders must do the hard work to win. There is no substitute for active participation, organization, and voting en masse. People must dedicate time, money, and energy if they want to oust an autocrat."
@jenrubin.bsky.social savors last weekend’s "landslide victory by Péter Magyar . . . after 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s despotic rule." At @contrariannews.org, she lists seven "lessons that can carry over to the U.S. context."
A key one is in this thread's next post.
2/
Rubin ends with this:
"Democracy defenders must do the hard work to win. There is no substitute for active participation, organization, and voting en masse. People must dedicate time, money, and energy if they want to oust an autocrat."
A critical question from @pkrugman.bsky.social:
We don’t know how @nytimes.com got justices’ memos about their “shadow docket,” but maybe this Feb. 2 ask paid off:
"How partisan are the justices, and how do they interact? If anyone with knowledge wants to help, you can reach me securely through www.nytimes.com/tips "
— Jodi Kantor | Gift link ⤵️
Behind the @nytimes.com shadow docket scoop today is an apparent leak from a past or present Supreme Court law clerk, maybe with a liberal justice's nod.
An insider evidently feels that “Roberts' aggression,” as this past White House bureau chief calls it below, is an improper, dangerous abuse.
@joycewhitevance.bsky.social is justly angry on behalf of everyone:
Amen to this clear-eyed observation by @jenrubin.bsky.social:
"Autocracy and corruption aren't separate issues. . . .
"They're a natural pairing, like crypto and crime, because authoritarian rule removes accountability and opens the door for Grand Theft Autocracy."
-- @pkrugman.bsky.social | paulkrugman.substack.com/p/autocracy-...
"Even with other stories on the front burner, we can't afford to forget [ICE's] . . . brazen disregard for people's rights, including American citizens.
"Because it's still happening."
-- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social
@sulliview.bsky.social keeps an eye on what really matters:
"What the fight over the Fed is telling us is that Trump has learned nothing.
"You would think that the debacle in Iran would lead to some loss of self-confidence, some dent in the arrogant ignorance."
-- @pkrugman.bsky.social
"The pattern is familiar: Operating from his 'gut,' Trump never learns, never solicits help and never refrains from international debacles (trade wars, threatening Greenland, war with Iran).
"When bullying fails, he is flummoxed and furious."
-- @jenrubin.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org