Although frequently posed as one question — “should we eliminate the Electoral College?” — there really are two separate questions: should we (i) abolish the Electoral College, but keep the formulation where each state’s weight is based on the combined total of its US Senators and Representatives, or (ii) move entirely to a national popular vote? I believe we should enact Option…
Category: Resistance
Should Democrats impeach Trump after he loses re-election to prevent him from pardoning himself?
If Trump loses his re-election bid, we can reasonably count on the period from Election Day until Inaugaration Day (Nov. 3, 2020 to Jan. 20, 2021) to be one of the most perilous, corrupt and weird periods in U.S. history. One thing that seems certain is that Trump will attempt to pardon himself. It is an open legal question (maybe)…
Fox News Poll Has Joe Biden Beating Trump In Pennsylvania 50-42
Latest news out Pennsylvania courtesy of Fox News’ latest poll: With most Pennsylvania voters concerned about catching coronavirus and nearly six-in-ten believing the Trump administration was too slow to act, Joe Biden leads Donald Trump in that battleground state. Biden is preferred over Trump by 8 percentage points (50-42 percent), according to a Fox News…
We have to expand mail-in voting. But . . . let's be frank about a real problem.
Expanding our voting-by-mail procedures is an absolute imperative and a moral no-brainer in the midst of a national pandemic. I also am completely unsurprised that President Trump and federal and state Republican leaders are increasingly not just opposing such a common-sense measure, but demonizing it and falsely associating it with their untrue claims of wide-spread voter…
Why hasn't anyone asked Trump to reject the “executive privilege” claim made by Rudy's henchmen?
Over a week ago, there was a pretty remarkable piece of reporting — one (or both) of Rudy Giuliani’s comically guilty looking Ukrainian associates claimed to share “executive privilege” with President Donald Trump with respect to the federal criminal charges brought against them: One of the two indicted associates of President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W….
Terry McAuliffe (D. VA) & People For The American Way Team Up To Flip The VA Legislature Blue
I received this e-mail today from former Governor Terry McAuliffe (D. VA) on behalf of the People For The American Way: I’m writing today to ask for your help in next month’s critical elections in Virginia (now just two weeks away). I am proud of what we accomplished in Virginia during my time as governor….
Would it be smart and appropriate for Democrats to stop explaining how to fund new policy proposals?
My answer is Yes. Every time Democrats roll out a proposal to reform health insurance, or reduce education debt, or expand access to pre-school, or invest in infrastructure, or fund education, etc., there is an expectation that the Democrats will explain — in the weeds and with rough mathematical credibility — “how they will pay for it?” …
FFS – Obama had no ability to decrease the number of deportations
The dumbest argument that I heard in the last Democratic Debate was the notion (and attack on Joe Biden) that fmr. President Obama should have reduced the number of deportations. As the NYT summarized: Other Democrats, siding with Mr. Castro, joined in piling on Mr. Biden, the front-runner. Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York…
Republicans and the new defense: “We were just giving orders.”
Following the fall of the Nazi regime, and at the Nuremberg trials, certain German defendants — including concentration camp guards and bureaucrats — raised a famous defense: “I was just following orders.” I noticed recently that Trump and Republican have invented a new variant of the defense: “I was just giving orders.” This is most obvious in…
Democrats Need To Begin Identifying Weapons For The Inevitable War After They Win The Presidency
If there is any rational basis left, any meaning to the ideals of this country, then the eventual nominee of the Democratic party will defeat Donald Trump in the next general election. I have to believe that, sincerely. But what then? We all tend to have a mistaken, glorified view of the presidency — perhaps best exemplified…
Trumps'climate policies guarantee monster “humid heat waves” — with a lethal heat index of 131 F.
Chances are that when you wake up today you will likely experience a blast furnace if you dare step outside, not only in your neck of the woods but, across massive swaths of the Earth will suffer as well. You will probably hope that the power grid holds up. I know I do. According to…
I'm sick of Republicans pretending to just now realize that their party is sick and dysfunctional
As a weak shadow to the ineffectual “Never Trump” crowd, we now see a trickle (at best) of Republicans disavowing the Republican party and pretending to be “shocked, shocked” by the racist, radical and retrograde state of their political party. (See Republican Tom Nichols here.) The first class example of such nonsense is now provided by Washington…
Don Jr. Writes The Most Idiotic, And Revealing, Guest Op-Ed
Maybe this was published in other newspapers, but I see that The Denver Post was pretty desperate for a guest op-ed, publishing “Democrats are now the party of lawlessness and anarchy” by Donald Jump Jr. It is a pretty pitch perfect case of projection to read this from the son of a President who is…
Notable – Recalcitrant Kavanaugh Witness, Mark Judge, Is Represented By Trump's Personal WH Lawyer
It was very notable, and damaging to J. Kavanaugh, when I heard that the only third-party, the only witness (even participant), in the “Kavanaugh Incident” was refusing to testify before the Senate. Wow . . . no denial under oath? But, of course, his non-appearance would not play out that way, and keeping him from testifying…
Trump's latest intelligence misconduct is far worse than reported
As reported by NBC, [“i]n an unprecedented move that stunned current and former intelligence officials, President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the public release of highly classified documents and text messages related to the FBI investigation into whether his campaign conspired with Russia.” Davis Kris, the former head of the Justice Department’s national security division,…
A short, unfortunately instructive Labor Day story
Sometimes, even the best meaning economists completely muddle the picture. Everything seems so, well, complicated. Well . . . when I was in college in 1988 (!) a friend offered me the chance for a part-time job, working the night shift at a UPS site on Long Island, NY. It paid $12/hr and was capped…
There is no precedent for reversing Roe v. Wade
Sen. Lindsey Graham said the other day that a Justice Kavanaugh could reverse Roe v. Wade, like any other precedent: “Here’s what I hope [Kavanuagh] will do: If there’s a case before him that challenges Roe v. Wade that he would listen to both sides of the story, apply a test to overturn precedent,” Graham…
The Short and Crucial Response to Rudy Giuliani's Bad Faith Argument
By now, we all likely have heard about Rudy Giuliani’s absurd “truth isn’t truth” argument on this Sunday’s Meet the Press: RUDY GIULIANI: . . . . And when you tell me that, you know, [Trump] should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version…
NYT has another interesting column on the White Working Class voter debate
Sarah Smarsh has a well written opinion piece up in the NYT titled “Liberal Blind Spots Are Hiding the Truth About “Trump Country.“ To give a flavor of her piece: WICHITA, Kan. — Is the white working class an angry, backward monolith — some 90 million white Americans without college degrees, all standing around in…
Two provocative questions that Democrats should put to nominee Kavanaugh
Many people are rightly worried that the appointment of “Conservative” Brett M. Kavanaugh will lead to the reversal of Roe v. Wade and other constitutional protections. With that in mind, I think that the Democratic Senators have to do a better job of framing this debate in the nomination hearings. And my points below are not…
