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Read Josh Marshall's first post as it appeared in its original form on November 13, 2000.


by Joshua Micah Marshall (bio)

(November 13th, 2000 -- 3:37 PM EST)

As if things couldn't get any weirder, did you notice the name of the lawyer who made the Republicans' unsuccessful arguments before that federal judge today? That would be Ted Olson, a man Washingtonians often refer to as a 'Washington super-lawyer.' Who is Ted Olson? Well, that would be the same one knee-deep in the Arkansas Project, which in league with the American Spectator spent a ton of money digging dirt on Bill Clinton in Arkansas. And, yes, he's also the husband of Barbara Olson, author of Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton (which, in case you're wondering, is not a flattering portrayal) and former investigator for Dan Burton and a bunch of other House committees.

Of course, Olson (Ted, that is) is also the Olson from Morrison v. Olson, the supreme court case which upheld the constitutinality of the Independent Counsel statute. Olson was against it. Come to think of it, we Dems now think he and Scalia were right. So maybe chalk one up in his favor.

But anyway, back to my story.

Republicans and most A-list pundits are running around saying Al Gore's got to get Jesse Jackson out of Florida before anything can get settled. Jesse Jackson? What about Ted Olson? Olson is about as brass-tacks, down-in-the-dirt a partisan as you can find. I could say worse things; but I'll leave it at that. I think we can assume the Republicans have set aside the high-road strategy they were pursuing at the end of last week.

-- Josh Marshall
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EDITORS' BLOG
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Of course he didn’t literally concede anything. Trump was petulant, lashing out at perceived enemies. But he was low energy and notably did not take questions. There was one moment even when he had to catch himself because he almost inadvertently admitted that he lost and that his presidency is ending.

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So here we are: 20 years. I remember our 10 year anniversary. That feels not long ago at all. The beginning in many ways feels like a lifetime ago, a very different time in my life, a very different time in our politics and in the media and publishing world certainly.

Today I don’t want to say too much more than thank you. Thank you to all of our readers and especially our almost 35,000 subscribers who literally make it possible for us to do all of this and have made it possible for me to experiment and drive this forward since 2000. My ask for today is this. Share your TPM memories with us. Maybe it’s a special moment in your relationship with the site. Maybe it’s how you found TPM. Anything and everything. Our real history and existence is your experience of our collective work over these many years. So pop open your email and let us know what yours is. Use the subject line TPM20.

If you’d also like to share some part or version of it publicly on social media please use the hashtag #TPM20. Our existence as an organization has always been about leveraging and sharing your individual and collective insights. So send those in. It will mean the world to me and the whole team. We will of course be sharing many of them as part of our celebration of the team’s milestone.

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Miscellany
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1) According to this article by Ron Kampeas from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were asked to withdraw their children from the Jewish day school they attend in Washington, DC because parents became concerned the couple was flouting basic COVID mitigation protocols the school requires of parents. The Kusher/Trumps deny it but the reporting speaks for itself. It sounds like the school raised their behavior with the couple. They refused to change it. And then they were asked to leave.

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  • The White House also reportedly directed officials not to cooperate with the Biden team.
  • Nevertheless, Biden is moving ahead in building his staff. On Wednesday night, Biden announced that Ron Klain would serve as his chief of staff. Klain previously served as Biden’s chief of staff when he was vice president, and also coordinated the Obama administration’s response to Ebola.
  • The transition team also released a list of agency review teams as it look ahead to building an administration. See if you recognize any of the names on the list here.
  • The Biden team, for its part, isn’t too worried about the roadblocks so far.

 

Womp: Legal Challenges Land With A Thud

  • The Trump campaign’s efforts to challenge Biden’s decisive electoral win have not been going well.
  • The campaign on Monday sued Pennsylvania officials in an effort to toss out Biden’s win in the key swing state. The suit recycled a bunch of old, debunked claims about the process.
  • Late in the week, the law firm representing Trump’s efforts in Pennsylvania withdrew.
  • Two legal efforts to whip up a so-called “SharpieGate” conspiracy in Arizona have also fallen flat.

 

COVID Rages

  • President Trump said that after the Nov. 3 election, no one would be talking about the coronavirus anymore. If only.
  • Cases are spiking across the country at a level that we have not yet seen since the pandemic first hit the U.S. earlier this year.
  • Meanwhile, there appears to be a growing COVID-19 outbreak among aides in Trump’s orbit: HUD Secretary Ben Carson, campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski and a number of Republican National Committee staffers have tested positive in recent days.
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LOSER
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