This article first appeared at ProPublica and the Texas Tribune.
Days after being elected Texas governor in 2014, Greg Abbott called a staff meeting to discuss his vision for leading the state.
Continue reading “Greg Abbott’s Executive Power Play”A Follow Up on Negotiation
I was reading more commentary on this Progressive Caucus letter calling for negotiations to end the Russo-Ukraine war. Some of the criticisms I’ve seen amount to, Putin is terrible. It’s a criminal regime. You can’t negotiate with a regime like that. I completely disagree with that.
Yes, criminal, terrible, all those things. But you have to be willing to negotiate with even the worst regimes. All the more so since this war very much does hold the risk of cataclysmic escalation. If the Russian government were to reach out today to Ukraine or the U.S. and say, we’re ready to withdraw to our own borders, what do we get in return? — that’s the basis of conversation. More realistically, perhaps they would say they want to talk on the basis of a return to the February 24th 2022 front lines. I am not sure that’s an acceptable resolution any more. But it’s at least the basis of discussions.
Continue reading “A Follow Up on Negotiation”Debate Audience Bursts Into Laughter As DeSantis Tries To Dodge Questions About 2024
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) didn’t try very hard to mask his likely plans for a 2024 presidential bid during his only debate with Democratic challenger Charlie Crist on Monday night — and the audience apparently could tell why the governor was being so cagey.
Continue reading “Debate Audience Bursts Into Laughter As DeSantis Tries To Dodge Questions About 2024”WTF Was That About?
Yesterday 30 members of the House Progressive Caucus signed a letter urging President Biden to pursue direct negotiations with Russia and a diplomatic settlement to the Russo-Ukraine war. Given the fairly united support for Ukraine in the U.S. political class and fairly broad support among the public in general, the letter was bound to spur some controversy. But the letter itself was an incoherent mass of contradictions. It pressed for immediate negotiations and a ceasefire while also insisting on defending Ukraine and not taking any steps without Ukraine’s support. For the moment at least these are irreconcilable positions. Ukraine’s war aim is to drive Russia from most and likely all of its territory. Russia’s position is to annex large parts of Ukraine and force it into a permanently subordinate position to Russia. One side or another has to substantially shift its demands or there’s little to talk about. The letter could have said, “The threat of escalation and the danger to the global economy is so great that the U.S. needs to make Ukraine shift its goals.” But it didn’t. It stated two irreconcilable positions at once.
Then things got weird.
Continue reading “WTF Was That About?”Kennedy’s Diary: Alito Privately Insisted He Respected Roe
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Kabuki Theater
Days after President George W. Bush tapped him for the Supreme Court in 2005, Samuel Alito told Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) that he respected the legal precedent of Roe v. Wade, according to Kennedy’s private diary (part of which will be published in an upcoming book by New York Times reporter John Farrell).
- This is what Alito claimed, according to Kennedy’s notes: “I believe that there is a right to privacy. I think it’s settled as part of the liberty clause of the 14th Amendment and the Fifth Amendment. So I recognize there is a right to privacy. I’m a believer in precedents. I think on the Roe case that’s about as far as I can go.”
- This is what Alito wrote as he was dismantling Roe 17 years later: “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.”
- Alito’s in good company with fellow conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who lied (or at best, misled) Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) about whether they’d take down Roe.
- Kennedy was not fooled: He ultimately voted against confirming Alito the Supreme Court.
DeSantis Dodges On Committing To Full Term
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) ambitions for a 2024 presidential bid have never been as obvious as they were last night when he faced off against Democratic challenger Charlie Crist in the Sunshine State’s first and only debate in the gubernatorial race.
- DeSantis refused to answer directly when Crist repeatedly demanded to know if he’d commit to serving a full four-year term. The Florida governor eventually said that “the only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”
- Listen to the audience’s reaction when DeSantis awkwardly tries to deflect from Crist pointing out the GOP governor’s non-answers on the issue:
absolutely brutal pic.twitter.com/mToUAadU2Y
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2022
Maine Debate Underscores Proto-MAGA LePage’s Comeback Struggle
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) and ex-Gov. Paul LePage (R) went head-to-head in a debate on Monday night:
- Bangor Daily News: “Paul LePage goes on attack in debate with Janet Mills as he trails in polls”
- WGME: “Gov. Mills, former Gov. LePage square off on economy, education, lobster in CBS13 debate”
- Portland Press Herald: “Mills, LePage trade blame for high energy costs”
Clarence Thomas To The Rescue
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has notched a victory in his bid to dodge the Fulton County district attorney’s push for his testimony in her Trump election interference probe: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocked the district attorney’s subpoena on Monday pending further orders from the conservative justice.
Rishi Sunak Takes Over As 37209432th UK Prime Minister This Year
After winning the Tories’ leadership contest on Monday, ex-British finance minister Rishi Sunak met King Charles at Buckingham Palace before giving his first speech as the new prime minister outside Number 10 today.
- The British people have had the same Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office longer than they’ve had the same prime minister since David Cameron resigned in 2016: Larry’s outlasted Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Must Read
“What happens when you put ideologues in charge of a university” – Popular Information
“Florida Puts Raging MAGA Moms on Book-Banning Council” – The Daily Beast
Bolsonaro Wants To Criminalize Polls For Being Wrong
With an eye on his country’s looming Oct. 30 presidential runoffs, far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his legislative allies are pushing a bill that would make it a crime to publish polls that end up falling outside the margin of error after an election. The bizarre legislation came after Brazil’s election between Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva showed that the polls had seriously underestimated the incumbent leader’s support.
Key Analysis
“How Brazil’s Leader Built the Myth of Rigged Elections” – The New York Times
Cruz Claims His Wife Had A Giggle Over Trump Calling Her Ugly
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) insisted during an interview on “The View” yesterday that not only is it fine by him that Trump called his wife, Heidi Cruz, ugly in public–it’s also fine by Heidi, who “laughed” when it happened.
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Where Things Stand: Trump’s 2022 Election Challenges Will Begin In Philly
Donald Trump has been holding meetings with allies, lawyers and MAGA Republicans in recent months to prepare for how exactly to contest the results of the 2022 election, Rolling Stone reported this weekend. In case it was ever a question — he plans to.
The team has reportedly been discussing legal and rhetorical avenues Trump and his allies might take to challenge the results in certain races that don’t go their way. The team is also discussing how aggressive to be in races where the winner is not known on the night of the election.
That brings us to Pennsylvania.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Trump’s 2022 Election Challenges Will Begin In Philly”Nevada GOP SOS Candidate Spreads New Big Lie That Top Dems’ Reelections Were Illegitimate
Jim Marchant, the Republican candidate for Nevada’s secretary of state, has spent his campaign doing the opposite of an election chief’s duties: spreading lies about the legitimacy of several elections.
Continue reading “Nevada GOP SOS Candidate Spreads New Big Lie That Top Dems’ Reelections Were Illegitimate”Heads Up
I’ve got a lot of stories I’m following at the moment. But I want to make sure you’re paying attention to the voter harassment situation in Arizona. I’m sure this is playing out in other states too. It simply may be more aggressive in Arizona or just as likely there’s better local press coverage. The reporting I’m following is from Nicole Grigg and Garrett Archer of ABC15 in Phoenix. Here’s Grigg’s report from Friday.
The gist of what’s happening is this.
Continue reading “Heads Up”Dominion CEO Drags Fox For Boosting Election Fraud Lies: ‘They Knew The Truth’
Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos is accusing Fox News of knowingly fueling fake MAGA conspiracy theories that claimed his voting tech firm hacked the 2020 election and stole it from ex-President Donald Trump.
Continue reading “Dominion CEO Drags Fox For Boosting Election Fraud Lies: ‘They Knew The Truth’”Voter Intimidation Has Already Begun In Arizona
We’re about two weeks away from Election Day, but some voter intimidation efforts are already underway in Arizona, painting an ominous picture of just how far some Big Lie activists may go to push their debunked voter fraud narrative during the midterms.
Continue reading “Voter Intimidation Has Already Begun In Arizona”