Listen now | Trump will still be sentenced in New York in September; Judge Tanya Chutkan is figuring out how the hell to handle the Supreme Court immunity ruling; the QAnon Shaman is getting his headdress back.
No mention at all of Musks advertiser suit? This is the single most important first amendment case of the last 600 years! Plus they did the RICO too! Clearly Josh and Ken are in the pocket of big ad.
Reading the jeff clark ruling, and ho boy this stood out:
"He reported that he interviewed over the phone the largest bail bondsmen
in Georgia, who had been doing some investigation of his own and had some video
surveillance of shred trucks at an election facility"
I feel like it does not serve your credibility well if you disregard the entire US federal government in favor of a bail bondsman. Oh and I was curious who this fellow was, he actually pleaded guilty in the georgia RICO case!
My God, that segment on Jeffrey Clark and the catastrophic, Republic-shattering stuff he was up to, then at the end "they recommended a 2 year suspension"
So, here's a self-indulgent bit a of navel-gazing question: Couldn't this all be a lot worse? And if so, what are the specific ways?
Trump has obviously been a stress test on our system of government, specifically the extent to which it relies on everyone pretty much acting in good faith.
As awful as the results of his presidency have been, there's no evidence that Trump actually understands the constitution well enough to intentionally harm it. He is totally self-interested and also deeply incompetent. That's a bad combination. But it doesn't really make sense to think of him as overthrowing the government any more than it makes sense to think of a bank robber overthrowing currency.
Trump is only concerned with making money, getting some petty revenge on people who made fun of him years ago, and staying out of jail. The constitution just sort of happened to get in the way a few times--and as it turns out--maybe not even all that much.
But imagine a president with a deep understanding of the constitution and an intent to destroy the government. Someone who views the weaknesses Trump has exposed not as an incidental obstacle on the way to a different goal, but has the goal of exploiting those weaknesses specifically.
In spite of the fact that he wears a dead rat on his face, Ted Cruz is quite smart. Imagine if he had the charisma needed to win the presidency. And also imagine the this life goal were to be a dictator rather than just a dick.
It strikes me that the worst part of the Trump administration wasn't anything that he did. It's that if some mendacious fuck wanted to wield the full force of the American Economy and War Apparatus for evil, it would not be difficult to do it. The pathway is now fairly straightforward.
It's perhaps a little the way that people think of Y2K as not being that big a deal. Yeah it wasn't because a lot of people worked very hard behind the scenes to make it not a big deal. And while doing so they set us up for a bigger problem in the future (2038).
And also perhaps similar to 2038, the obvious remedies are not feasible. We, the people, are not going to unfuck things with constitutional amendments. The only thing Congress wants to fuck harder than itself is the Judiciary. And then also blame the Judiciary for not being Congress.
Broadly speaking, how much worse does this get? How much more serious trouble are we in for? It's hard to imagine a way for anything to get better, and our only consolation is that somehow every other country in the world is worse.
Related to the thread on todays state elector discussion, Guys whats your take on potential state election board MAGA stacking, is their a legal remedy to assure neutral actions or pre-election immunization?
Also, I wish the government had argued the shaman’s headdress and spear belong in the Smithsonian. They are historically significant.
No mention at all of Musks advertiser suit? This is the single most important first amendment case of the last 600 years! Plus they did the RICO too! Clearly Josh and Ken are in the pocket of big ad.
Reading the jeff clark ruling, and ho boy this stood out:
"He reported that he interviewed over the phone the largest bail bondsmen
in Georgia, who had been doing some investigation of his own and had some video
surveillance of shred trucks at an election facility"
I feel like it does not serve your credibility well if you disregard the entire US federal government in favor of a bail bondsman. Oh and I was curious who this fellow was, he actually pleaded guilty in the georgia RICO case!
My God, that segment on Jeffrey Clark and the catastrophic, Republic-shattering stuff he was up to, then at the end "they recommended a 2 year suspension"
The cultural appropriation crap is strong in that one. (And he still got it wrong).
so the urge to attempt appropriation is strong, but the actual appropriation is weak
Very good episode. Not sure if this fits within the purview of the show, but Liz Bruenig has a piece regarding anti-SLAPP and defamation in #MeToo retaliation suits. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/me-too-lawsuits-retaliation-slapp/679381/
i think it fits every show/blog that Ken has dominated / solo'd, but only S.T. to the extent that public figures are involced?
IANAL but "involced" might be fancy Latin!
So, here's a self-indulgent bit a of navel-gazing question: Couldn't this all be a lot worse? And if so, what are the specific ways?
Trump has obviously been a stress test on our system of government, specifically the extent to which it relies on everyone pretty much acting in good faith.
As awful as the results of his presidency have been, there's no evidence that Trump actually understands the constitution well enough to intentionally harm it. He is totally self-interested and also deeply incompetent. That's a bad combination. But it doesn't really make sense to think of him as overthrowing the government any more than it makes sense to think of a bank robber overthrowing currency.
Trump is only concerned with making money, getting some petty revenge on people who made fun of him years ago, and staying out of jail. The constitution just sort of happened to get in the way a few times--and as it turns out--maybe not even all that much.
But imagine a president with a deep understanding of the constitution and an intent to destroy the government. Someone who views the weaknesses Trump has exposed not as an incidental obstacle on the way to a different goal, but has the goal of exploiting those weaknesses specifically.
In spite of the fact that he wears a dead rat on his face, Ted Cruz is quite smart. Imagine if he had the charisma needed to win the presidency. And also imagine the this life goal were to be a dictator rather than just a dick.
It strikes me that the worst part of the Trump administration wasn't anything that he did. It's that if some mendacious fuck wanted to wield the full force of the American Economy and War Apparatus for evil, it would not be difficult to do it. The pathway is now fairly straightforward.
It's perhaps a little the way that people think of Y2K as not being that big a deal. Yeah it wasn't because a lot of people worked very hard behind the scenes to make it not a big deal. And while doing so they set us up for a bigger problem in the future (2038).
And also perhaps similar to 2038, the obvious remedies are not feasible. We, the people, are not going to unfuck things with constitutional amendments. The only thing Congress wants to fuck harder than itself is the Judiciary. And then also blame the Judiciary for not being Congress.
Broadly speaking, how much worse does this get? How much more serious trouble are we in for? It's hard to imagine a way for anything to get better, and our only consolation is that somehow every other country in the world is worse.
Related to the thread on todays state elector discussion, Guys whats your take on potential state election board MAGA stacking, is their a legal remedy to assure neutral actions or pre-election immunization?