#she was going to have a republican in her cabinet

[tobiasdrake]

To everyone who's absolutely livid about this election and even more livid about the various pundits and even Democratic politicians claiming that Kamala "palling around with Liz Cheney and wanting Republicans in her cabinet" Harris was "too far left":

Be mad. Stay mad. I need all-a-y'all to show up ready to rock when 2026 Congressional primary seasons begin. Maybe even run yourself.

If establishment Democrats take away from this that they lost because they weren't far enough to the Right, they are only going to alienate Democratic voters further. As Republicans turn into Trumpists, we cannot allow our side to shift so far right that the Dems outright become Republicans.

Democratic voters will not vote for Honorary Republicans.

Democrats who learn the wrong lessons from this and move right? They need to be destroyed. The primary election is where you have the power to do that. If they keep coming out and saying things like "I'm against trans people too!" and "We need to fix our border crisis!" and "Kamala lost because she was woke!" then their ability to court the votes of the Left will necessarily wane.

But they can be replaced.

If you weren't there for the rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, you need to understand that she was running for the district of Joseph Crowley. Crowley was the guy. He was so important to the party that he was being groomed to replace Nancy Pelosi as leader of the House. This man was so untouchable, he didn't even bother to show up to the debates.

AOC destroyed him in the primary and then swept the general. He was so powerful that he was supposed to lead a key faction of the party and instead he was dragged kicking and screaming out of office by a progressive liberal, because voters liked her better. He's gone. He sells weed now.

And if they learn the right lessons and move left? Great. Still show up to the primaries ready to rock with even more leftist ideas anyway. If you win, great, and if you lose, you still make them scared and force them to come even more to the left.

The primary is where we get to fight for the identity of our own party. So stay mad. Scream at the top of your lungs. Don't be afraid to criticize Dems. And in the meantime, build coalitions, build support for leftist causes, and show up ready to rock when primary season comes.

[whatsthelimitoncharacters]

I’m wondering how many former Harris supporters are going to start spewing racist or misogynistic rhetoric about her after they accept that trump won. I’ve already seen misinformation start to spread and I’m certain that it’s only going to get worse.

[gwyoi]

They pandered so hard to republicans to get them to vote for her and didn’t get any of them

[area51-escapee]

My whole thing is that I don’t. Care if someone feels like voting for Kamala is the best thing they can do for themself. That’s kinda what you gotta do is just vote for who’s best for yourself. I understand that this is a decision people are gonna make and I know I can’t ask people to just Not Do It, that’s really not my business. My problem is how people keep saying things that just. Aren’t true. Vote for Kamala if that’s what you plan to do but you don’t have to lie for her, you ain’t on her payroll.

[politijohn]

Distractors when discussing Kamala’s loss

I'm frustrated by liberals and Democratic strategists blaming voters, racism, and misogyny for the election loss instead of the candidate and party. Dems will lose forever if their analysis remains this shallow. It shows they still don't understand how this game works.

Perhaps this is a hot take to some…

Kamala’s key reason for losing wasn’t because she is a woman or because she’s black or because of Jill Stein or non committed voters. These excuses are distractions to a deeper underlying issue.

Kamala lost because the Democratic Party abandoned their base, swung right, and catered to their donors rather than the American people. Look at this embarrassment:

Kamala lost because she ran on a radically pro-Israel stance despite a majority of voters disagreeing with that approach. Say goodbye to the Muslim vote (MI). Look at the staggering difference in Dearborn, MI, a significant Muslim district when you campaign for your constituents:

Kamala lost because she backtracked on fracking and the environment. A majority of Americans want to see more done on the environment and this status quo agenda was uninspiring.

Kamala did terribly with young people (who are significantly more left leaning) because they saw a mediocre centrist platform, students saw classmates tear-gassed during pro-Palestine movements on their campuses, and no real messaging that spoke to their needs.

Americans want to hear how the candidates will improve their livelihood. Trump makes a lot of empty promises. We knew that since 2015. But Kamala barely even tried. When asked how she would have governed differently than Biden the last four years, she said nothing except put a Republican in her Cabinet. Voters aren’t to blame for this pathetic response when we know Biden's popularity and the economy are incredibly bad! Differentiation, where? Solutions, who?

The good news? We can fix these things! Focusing on misogyny, racism, third-parties, etc is NOT a winning strategy - they exist and can’t be fixed in four years. I know, groundbreaking. You need to bring people in, not turn them away like the Democratic Party has for years. I mean, on a surface level did you think the condescending comments about uneducated Americans, men, non-voters, third-party voters, and Latinos was going to win them over, bring them into the fold, encourage them to vote for Kamala?

Where is the camera?

There is so much to be learned from Bernie’s stump speeches that captivate all kinds of voters.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Many of Harris’s mistakes were similar to those Hillary Clinton made in 2016. Like Clinton, Harris cozied up to billionaire donors. Mark Cuban, for instance, said he was delighted that Harris was abandoning Democrats’ commitments to progressive principles and letting the business community propose the policies it wanted. Like Clinton, Harris and Tim Walz made hubristic campaign stops in solidly red states like Texas and Kentucky rather than spending the final days laser-focused on crucial battlegrounds. Like Clinton, Harris emphasized celebrity endorsements while failing to successfully court unions. (Most notably, the Teamsters declined to endorse her after she refused to pledge that she wouldn’t break a national railway strike.) Like Clinton, Harris focused too much on the danger of Donald Trump (which is very real) and not enough on the reasons why she would be good at being president herself. Most importantly, like Clinton, Harris ultimately decided upon a strategy of trying to woo moderate Republican voters away from Trump, reasoning that it didn’t matter if doing so alienated progressive voters and the Democratic base. Chuck Schumer, speaking of Hillary’s 2016 strategy, infamously promised: "For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia. And you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin." In fact, they just lost the blue-collar Democrats and didn’t pick up the Republicans! In 2024, Harris, too, aggressively touted endorsements from Republicans, promised to put a Republican in her cabinet (she even cited that as the answer to what she would have done differently from Biden!), and went so far as to praise and embrace Dick and Liz Cheney! The strategy was an abject failure. Because she wanted to appease both Republicans and progressive voters, Harris had to further indulge her weakness for speaking in meaningless word salads, since taking stances that were meaningful could have alienated one of these constituencies. Trump, who is canny about portraying himself as more anti-war than Democrats, correctly pointed out that an endorsement from the hawkish Cheneys should be a badge of shame, not honor. (Specifically he said Cheney is “"the King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars, wasting Lives and Trillions of Dollars, just like Comrade Kamala Harris. I am the Peace President, and only I will stop World War III!")

[...]

The lesson to Democratic leaders in 2016 should have been that Bernie Sanders had been right, that the party had betrayed working-class voters and would be doomed if it could not effectively counter Trump’s pseudo-populist appeal with a visionary alternative. (See the excellent analysis in Thomas Frank’s Listen, Liberal.) Unfortunately, the lessons weren’t learned then, and it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be learned now, either! MSNBC anchor Joy Reid is already insisting that Kamala Harris’s campaign was “flawless” (because she got “every prominent celebrity voice”), and pundits like Jill Filipovic are saying things like, “this election was not an indictment of Kamala Harris. It was an indictment of America.” (Good luck ever winning with the slogan “You’re the problem, America!”) USAToday’s Michael Stern says that instead of talking about “where the Harris campaign went wrong” we should talk about “where the American people went wrong.” The Harris campaign itself is blaming unspecified ��obstacles that were largely out of our control.” 

6 November 2024

[saltyskeletonkidpasta]

In all seriousness I'm so sorry to anyone who will be negatively affected by a tr*mp administration. I truly cant believe that hate won there is no way that many people saw and heard what that man was saying and thought "yeah the country needs that"...like ur actually fucking stupid. I've been watching from the uk and it blows my mind how he was allowed to even run in the first place or atleast not disqualified for the things he's said over the last couple of months like isulting his opponent, or the threats to Liz Cheney or threatening leftists with the national guard??

America you have let your women down. As if they hadn't lost enough (also if you're one of those "wOmEn fOr tRuMp" literally fuck you ur an insult to the women who fought so hard for you to be able to vote in the first place and now you used it to vote against ur own best interest) and to all the minorities I'm so sorry aswell. You deserve better.

As for the rest of the world we will be impacted aswell. He's already threatened to pull out of NATO which will affect us all and I think it's safe to assume Palestine will truly suffer even more horrifically than they already are. I'd think that goes for ukraine aswell. As for his views on climate change.. well that will affect us all aswell. America are already one of the biggest producers of polution now that idiot who thinks it's a host will most likely cause catastrophic and irreparable damage. The animals and nature have been let down too. I'm truly suprised he won I knew it would be close but I genuinly didnt expect it and not only did he win but Republicans took the house AND the Senate??? Now he has even more power than he did before bc a bunch of his "yes men" are in now...I'm just baffled there is no way that many ppl watched his disastrous campaign and thought "yh I want that" I mean that rally at maddison square garden reminded me of the nazi's...not to mention him undermining democracy, being a felon and convicted of SA oh and also the fact that most of his former cabinet refused to endorse him and said he was incompetent and dangerous...

Thoughts and prayers to all those who worked so hard for change and to not go back but will now be subjected to all the hatred he spreads. Kamala Harris you truly deserved so much better I really hope to see her run again but if not she can come to the UK to be our prime minister anytime I would happily vote for her!💙

I've learned so much about american politics over the last couple of months and have educated myself best I could and even tried to convince some ppl on social media to vote blue I feel defeated and like I could've tried to do more. Its upsetting for women everywhere that ppl really thought it's okay for that creep to be in office. I stand with you and I support you💙

[mariacallous]

If you were waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to my campaign for Senate, not only is today the perfect day but there's also a very good reason as well.

Betsy DeVos.

If you're already familiar with her significant support for my opponent and are ready to chip in, please use this link to give:

Otherwise, let me go a little deeper ... including a very recent revelation about her designs on a role in a second Trump administration.

As Michiganders know, for decades the DeVos family’s #1 issue has been weakening Michigan's, and the country's, public education system. Betsy DeVos used Michigan as her petri dish before becoming Trump’s Secretary of Education, and one of his longest serving cabinet secretaries.

Much like our Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, she condemned Donald Trump after January 6, 2021. In Betsy DeVos’ case, she “resigned in protest” as Education Secretary, blaming his rhetoric on the insurrection — just 13 days before the end of Trump’s term.

And like my current opponent who turned around and worked hard for Trump's endorsement, Betsy DeVos is now back — and willing to serve in a second Trump administration.

So what does that mean?

As if there weren't already a million reasons to defeat Donald Trump, there's now one more: keeping Betsy DeVos out of any role of prominence in Washington, D.C.

And there is no doing that without winning in Michigan.

The DeVos family has been some of the top supporters to opponents of mine in the past, and they've doubled down on this Senate race.

Mike Rogers' first FEC report in this race was filled with donations from a bunch of members of the DeVos family — contributions totaling $46,200 all made on one single day. And just last week, Betsy DeVos herself was campaigning with Mike Rogers at a roundtable just a day before the primary election.

They are certainly not done with their support of my opponent.

On a positive note, the response to emails about the DeVos donations has raised far more than the DeVos family has contributed. But we have to keep going, because their family's unlimited wealth can impact this race in many more ways.

So in light of this news about Betsy DeVos' potential return to Washington, D.C. and her role in campaigning for my opponent, I am asking:

Can you contribute $3 directly to my campaign for U.S. Senate in Michigan? I will put your donation made today in Betsy’s name right to work persuading the voters we need to win in Michigan this fall.

[junispring]

I just posted this on my mastodon, but liberals need to not blame the voters for an objectively terrible campaign; Kamala is Hillary 2.0 and she made her bed and now must lie in it

- No palestinian speaker at DNC

- No trans speaker at DNC

- Snubbed the uncomitted movement

- Tied herself closely to biden

- Leashed Walz and his "weird" rhetoric

- Said she was going to put a republican in her cabinet

- Ran to the right on pretty much all policies and only provided basic incrementalism on those policies

- Didnt have a policy page on her website for a month

- Said she was going to "Build the Wall" and have the "Most Lethal Military"

- She was already signalling that she was planning on kicking trans people to the curb: https://x.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1846679636115087431; https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBd5SHOxIU_

- Refused to break with biden on gaza

- Her few policy proposals that werent borrowed from biden or the right were shit:  https://time.com/7171868/kamala-harriss-opportunity-agenda-history/

- She did not spice up her speeches and repeated the same one over and over

- Focused her efforts on winning over republicans and convincing them to vote for her; which worked great - trump won the popular vote too

- She was planning on throwing bones to the billionare class: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/24/kamala-harris-lina-khan-00185345

Like trump winning is awful, but this is the democrats and the kamala campaign fault - they made so many mistakes and were just trying to be polite republicans this entire time as opposed to what was wanted, which was radical change.

[atwoodsfemalefantasy]

hey people! just a reminder that Vance quite literally said that he would willingly lie to Americans and make up a false story to feed them!

just a reminder that Trump has been convicted of actual real like rape!

just a reminder that Trump is a convicted felon!

Just a reminder that Trump dodged the draft and called vets "losers"!

Just a reminder that most of Trumps cabinet (aka the people HE CHOSE) aren't voting for him!

Just a reminder that project 2025 involves the government tracking women's pregnancies!

Just a reminder that Harris is pro ceasefire between Israel and Gaza (she can't call it a genoxide because Israel is our ally, and she can't risk upsetting them right now, but she CAN and IS calling for peace!)

Just a reminder that Trump mocked the disabled

Just a reminder that Harris came from a working class family and worked for what she has while Trump was always rich and had it handed to him!

Just a reminder that Trump sold his own modified Bibles, which is incredibly NOT GOOD CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR PEOPLE

Just a reminder that Walz and Harris are both gun owners, so they are pro-gun, but they also understand the danger of guns, so they are pro-gun regulation! Walz feels this way because he fears for his kids' lives!

Just a reminder that Trump is a rapist. just thought i'd say it again.

Just a reminder that Harris is young! Trump is old as balls!

Just a reminder that Trump said he'd sleep with his own daughter if she wasn't his kid!

Just a reminder that Trump/Vance want to take away no fault divorce! mo fault divorce basically just protects women from their abusers! (but also allows for couples to divorce without financially harming the other, and to even get remarried if they wanted!)

Just a reminder that Trump made up a blatant racist lie! and Vance admitted it was a lie, yet kept on saying it!

Just a reminder that Trump made his hotel unusable for disabled people on purpose!

Just a reminder that if you're a woman, you might be republican, but if you value your life, you better be voting blue! even if you vote red again next election. (come on yall, take a page out of my conservative grandmas book. she's a republican, but she has the common sense to know Trump will steal her human rights!)

Just a reminder that Trump will make the rich richer, while Harris has been middle class and wants to help the middle class!

Just a reminder that Trump staged an insurrection. that's about as anti-American as you can get!

Just a reminder that abortion bans are unconstitutional, as the constitution demands a separation of church and state!

Just a reminder to all you transphobic queer people- once they come for trans people, they're coming for you! so stick by your own community damn it! stonewall was started by a trans black woman

Just a reminder to transphobic women that once they restrict trans women's rights, they're coming for ALL women's rights. this is only the beginning

Just a reminder that "Tampon Tim" should be a compliment, not an insult! what is so bad about helping women not bleed everywhere people??

Just a reminder that project 2025 brings back the draft (and guess who racist Trump and Vance will draft first! go on, guess!)

Just a reminder that you might not like Kamala Harris, but Trump is much worse, so settle.

Just a reminder that i saw a real Trump commercial that said (and i quote) "Crazy Kamala is for THEY/THEM. Trump is for you". i just think it's funny

Just a reminder that if you're mad Trump got shot, there's a very simple solution! it's called gun control, and it makes sure only people who are mentally stable and will use guns safely get guns! except yall have been calling it "taking away the second amendment"

Just a reminder that there is a goddamn genocide happening in Gaza. one candidate is a racist motherfucker who hates Muslims. one is a woman who wants a cease fire. go on, make that choice (look, again, Harris is not perfect on the Israel/Gaza thing but TRUMP IS A RACIST MF. HE WILL BE W O R S E!)

Just a reminder to women that we are STILL being ridiculed and not taken seriously because we don't have children. FUCK THAT THANK YOU

Just a reminder that Trump is a little bitch baby (or to quote my man Jack Antonoff a little bitch baby bitch muffin) who used AI to make Taylor Swift support him, and then when she released (a very polite actually) statement supporting Harris he was a little whiny bitch baby who tweeted "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!". you know, the way a competent grown up man does. not a kindergartner who had his little ball taken away.

Just a reminder to fucking vote. vote vote vote vote votevotevotevotevotevotevote! especially if you live in a battleground state! if you can't vote, get an absentee ballot. this is very important, and every vote counts.

Just a reminder that one candidate is an elderly, decrepit, extremely unhealthy, rich, military-hating, racist, rapist, pedophile, pervert etc etc etc etc.... and one is a woman liberals have a few problems with.

[mythica-ithaca]

I need vote blue no matter who liberals to really get it through your heads that when you vote for someone to be president of the united states that you are not just voting AGAINST something, you are voting FOR something too.

You aren't just voting AGAINST Trump, you are SUPPORTING Harris. You are supporting HER literal genocide. HER unconditional support for Israel. HER extreme border policies. HER desire to have Republicans in her cabinet.

You can argue all day long that about what you're voting against but very few of you will ever argue what you're voting FOR. Most of you don't even know what you're supporting, because she literally won't tell you what her policy positions are. And you miss the fucking point everytime when trying to argue with people refusing to vote for Harris, that you cannot convince people to SUPPORT genocide by giving the party responsible for every single atrocity committed so far, by just giving us a list of shit to vote against.

This point in particular is why the Democrats keep fucking losing. Their entire campaigns are reactive and defensive instead of proactive and offensive. Their entire campaigns are just based around not being "as bad" as the other guys. They give us nothing to vote FOR, only things to vote against and then don't even do the bare minimum against them.

There is no motivation. No drive to create anything better than what we have, only to maybe not make things worse. No wonder everyone is checked out this election. Not being Trump is literally all they have going for them and when half or more of your policies are right wing anyways, it's really not that fucking impressive.

[trifoliate-undergrowth]

The thing about politics and administration changes are that they affect so many different branches of government. Personally I am at the moment sad about losing Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

Deb Haaland is the first Native American Cabinet secretary, a 35th-generation New Mexican and an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna. She's especially passionate about environmental issues, climate change, healthcare for all and missing and murdered indigenous peoples. She created the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, an investigation of old boarding schools which came after the discovery of the mass grave at Kamloops. This would be "an effort to document known schools and burial grounds, including those with unmarked graves" and to, where possible, return remains to their families/nations. (x) She also created a new Missing and Murdered Unit to "pursue justice for missing or murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives" which has investigated 728 MMIP cases and solved 263 missing persons cases and 8 murders.

I'm currently a seasonal NPS employee so I've been getting weekly update emails from her office, and she includes her pronouns in her signature, which is encouraging to see. She also un-banned NPS uniforms at pride after there was a kerfuffle with that.

She's visited various corps and volunteer organizations (none that I was in. I'm not jealous!...), including Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps, shown here in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado:

She's rejoiced at fish progress:

(x)

(X)

And this is just an incredible picture:

(X)

She was present at Biden's historic apology for government-funded boarding schools, an apology which was suggested as part of the road to healing in the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report. This was also the first time a sitting president has visited Tribal lands in 10 years.

Secretary of the Interior is a president-appointed position and she will almost certainly be replaced in January. We got an email from her about a 'peaceful transition' which sounds like she knows she's on her way out. In the (paraphrased) words of my self-proclaimed moderate republican christian coworker, 'It's too bad, I liked her. Trump isn't going to want a Native American. He's going to appoint a middle-aged white businessman to maximize the profits of the National Park System so we can pay for ourselves and so he doesn't have to give us as much of a budget.' Everyone I've talked to has been sad about likely losing her as Secretary of the Interior.

Though many Department of the Interior employees will miss her and in my opinion the department will suffer without her, she'll still be around and now that I know she exists I'm going to make sure to follow her next projects, whatever those may be.

(X)

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

British here. On the afternoon of the Queen's death I was, like many people, avidly watching the TV news while being glued to Twitter. In the middle of the afternoon a strange Tweet appeared on my timeline, retweeted by several people I follow, originally Tweeted by an account with no Twitter history. It confirmed the death of the Queen and had got A LOT of traction. I myself retweeted it and rushed to tell my husband and the decorator who was working in our house at the time. When I got back to my laptop various people were saying that the Tweet was not confirmed. It was deleted soon after. I felt bad for Retweeting fake news, told my husband and the decorator it had been a hoax and thought nothing more of it. Until the time of the queen's death was confirmed. Because that Tweet would have started circulating around 15-20 mins after the Queen died. I wonder to this day if it was actually put out by someone in the know, perhaps a courtier, and then deleted because they were not ready to announce. I then wonder who would have done that, given how small and trusted the circle of people in the know was at the time. And then I wonder if it was Meghan, perhaps in retaliation for being banned from Balmoral. I am making a TON assumptions. I've gone back to my timeline to see if there is any trace of that Tweet, but timeline don't go back that far. I only really remember it because I told my husband and the decorator and then had to walk it back. But if it was Meghan it would explain A LOT of the obvious anger towards her at the funeral and the fact that neither have been trusted with any info ever since.

Reading this, I lean towards it being Meghan too. We know she was Scobie's source for Endgame and there have been very credible rumors from other solid sources that Meghan was leaking to other people in American media. But I'm not fully sold it was her who did the tweet, though I do agree -- she did something unconscionable and the BRF knew or became aware of it, and it was a major turning point for both of the Sussexes.

I'm skeptical it was a courtier. Much of what I've read about them is that they take pride in their work and they're fully aware of the sensitivities (and complexities) of the BRF being a family, a firm, and the Head of State. I don't think one of them would intentionally jump the gun to preempt the official spokesperson, knowing it would anger whichever royal they worked for. In my experience working for the US goverment, people in the know like, their first reaction isn't "I need to tweet about this," it's "who else knows." They aren't going to be the one to put it on Twitter because it will get back to them and they'll be fired by the day's end. (And of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.)

Going by my own experience with the way gossip works in the US government, I think a courtier was the source of the news behind the tweet, but he or she wasn't the person actually tweeting. How gossip works in DC is that the principals (e.g., the Representatives, Senators, Cabinet secretaries, the Directors, SCOTUS justices, etc.) are leaky to each other and their chiefs of staff/trusted aides, especially within their own party. When they talk, they talk in trusted places where the walls don't have ears (like at closed-door party conferences or in their own private offices).

The chiefs of staff and trusted aides are leaky to their peers in their own party (e.g., the staff for a Republican congressperson is leaky with the staffs of other Republicans in Congress) and their own assistants/staff. They like to talk in their own private offices.

The assistants and the staff...well, they're not usually as careful as the others higher up the chain of command. They're actually pretty careless with the information they have, and it's because either "I'm nobody and no one cares what I have to say" or "I'm nobody and I want to be somebody so I'm giving you this information so you're impressed by me." (I can't begin to tell you the things I have overheard at happy hours, at Starbucks, and on the train...)

Without knowing who the tweet is from that you saw, that's probably what happened. The courtiers knew right away, they probably began making arrangements to clear schedules and arrange travel right away, they weren't too careful in how/where/what they were saying, and someone overheard it, put it out on the web.

What is interesting though is that the tweet was deleted. That does point more arrows at it being someone who was "in" the know - a courtier, maybe one of their family members, maybe even Meghan herself. It being deleted so quickly reminds me of when KP tweeted "They used a surrogate our sincerest apologies for the reception" in February 2019 and then almost immediately it was deleted.

But going back to your point, yes. The royal family were definitely aware of something the Sussexes did because it was all over for Harry and Meghan from that point forward.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lisa Needham at Public Notice:

It finally happened. Judge Aileen Cannon, who has been telegraphing for months that she was committed to finding a way to get Trump off the hook in his classified documents case, came through for her guy. In a sprawling 93-page opinion, Cannon threw out the charges against the former president, agreeing with Trump that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.  Since Trump stuffed the federal judiciary full of Federalist Society true believers, those courts are nothing but Calvinball. There are no longer any fixed rules and precedent doesn’t matter. What does matter to judges like Cannon is ensuring that a hard-right evangelical worldview becomes the rule of law in America and that Donald Trump is preserved at all costs. 

Cannon’s opinion is a joke

There’s little to no legal support for Cannon’s decision. In short, her ruling turns on the assertion that a special counsel is a “principal,” not an “inferior” officer. The former are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate — basically the same as cabinet appointments. Inferior officers generally have the same confirmation requirements unless Congress has authorized a head of a cabinet department to make the appointment. In that instance, Senate confirmation isn’t necessary.  The notion that the head of the Department of Justice can appoint special counsels as needed has been settled since the Watergate era. Indeed, if Senate confirmation were always required, special counsel appointments would become nearly impossible, as the Senate is basically non-functional thanks to the filibuster. Additionally, under Cannon’s view, if the Senate is held by the party in opposition to the current occupant of the White House, they essentially get a veto over every special counsel nomination.

The argument that special counsel appointments are unconstitutional if it makes Republicans sad has been pushed by conservative litigants who wanted to block Robert Mueller from investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. As Quinta Jurecic noted at Lawfare, when the DC Circuit issued its appellate opinion in 2019, four other federal courts had already considered the matter, agreeing that the special counsel’s appointment was proper.  The architect of this anti-special counsel argument is Stephen Calebresi, one of the founders of the Federalist Society. Calebresi has shopped it around quite a bit, with major law review articles in 2018 and 2019 arguing Mueller’s appointment was improper and an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Trump’s presidential immunity case.  Recall that Cannon’s decision to entertain the Trump appointments clause argument led to an extremely odd hearing where Cannon allowed amici — outside third parties like Calebresi — to present arguments in favor of Trump’s position. That’s a highly unusual step and telegraphed either that Cannon didn’t know what she was doing, was deliberately to bolster her inevitable decision in favor of Trump, or both. 

[...] Not content to deal with the case at hand, Cannon also decided she should go back to the 1980s and retroactively declare that the appointment of Lawrence Walsh, who investigated the Reagan Administration’s role in the Iran-Contra affair, was invalid. So, too, with Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 election. The constitutionality of Mueller’s appointment had already been addressed by a federal appellate court five years ago when the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Mueller’s appointment. However, yesterday’s opinion is very clearly Cannon’s job interview with Trump, and she’s writing this for an audience of precisely on person, so why not throw Trump some red meat about Mueller as well? Having disposed of decades of special counsel law, Cannon wasn’t left with much in the way of precedent. Perhaps that’s why she had to lean hard on Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurrence in the presidential immunity case to reach her preferred conclusion. 

[...] Special counsel Jack Smith has already indicated that the DOJ will be appealing the dismissal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Recall that the Eleventh Circuit overturned Cannon's previous ruling in this matter. Cannon granted Trump’s request that a special master review all the classified material Trump absconded with, which dragged the case to a halt. The Eleventh Circuit was not happy with this, saying, “We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.” And this is the core of the problem: People like Aileen Cannon are perfectly happy with a rule that only applies to Donald Trump. Indeed, Cannon’s order already states that “the effect of this Order is confined to this proceeding.” Those of us who lived through the 2000 Bush-Gore recount case will recall that the Supreme Court tried to create a similar firewall between their bad and self-serving ruling and the possibility it might ever be used against Republicans instead of just Democrats. In Bush v. Gore, when handing the presidency to George W. Bush, the Court wrote that “our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities.” See? Calvinball. The giveaway of the presidency to George W. Bush only applies to George W. Bush. The destruction of the special counsel process only applies to Donald Trump. If Republicans need either of these issues to go the other way in a court of law, they just have to point to Cannon’s language limiting it to this instance only.  Cannon’s timing, whether a product of her overall incompetence or a deliberate choice, is exceedingly favorable for Trump. Even if Smith prevails in the Eleventh Circuit, Trump could petition his pet Supreme Court justices to review the case. No matter what, the case is DOA before the election. The process of an appeal, the result of which would ultimately only be to send the case back down for trial, will drag long past the election.

Trump-appointed judicial activist Aileen Cannon plays Calvinball to justify Donald Trump’s document theft in her United States v. Trump ruling.

[wutheringheightsfilm]

i just can't imagine the level of cognitive dissonance you must have in order to maintain being a vote blue no matter who democrat party stan. like i seriously can't imagine the amount of mental hoops you must have to force yourself to jump through every single day. "we can push her left!" [kamala tells pro palestinian protesters to shut up] "we can push her left!" [kamala invites border cops and republicans to the DNC] "we can push her left!" [kamala is going to put a republican on her cabinet if she's elected] like ....

[thecursivej]

SOTU - 2024

Well, I'm forcing myself to watch the State of the Union while I grade speeches, so I figured I'd record my reactions and thoughts here.

Do I hope for the words "Immediate Ceasefire"? Absolutely. Will we get them? Looking at the track record, probably not. But I remain optimistic because otherwise I'd be six feet under by now; ANYWHO here is a list of my reactions/thoughts/general feelings of the evening's watch.

I do want to give a point of clarity: I technically am identified as a democrat; truly, I'm a socialist, but seeing as how the U.S. is stuck in this godforsaken two-party-system, that is where I am. Though both sides have me feeling very french-revolutionary-esque.

Of course the first thing I see if MTG rifling through her purse on screen. I quite literally despise her.

AP is discussing Ukraine's need for weapons and funding; I would truly rather us align with Ukraine than Isr@el. I will stand unapologetically firm for Palestine and Ukraine.

Who is actually in the cabinet? I know Blinken, Garland, and Buttiegeg. Damn, wish he was running again. Would rather have him than Biden.

How insane is it that the Sec. of Defense didn't even let the White House know that he had to go in for surgery because of cancer. Like, that's just bonkers to me.

Republicans truly look like fucking robots right now. No warm greetings, no hellos, simple nods.

Republicans out here wasting fucking time with that impeachment of Mayorkas. Like how about we house the homeless populations with the money they wasted on this circus.

Oh funky fresh look at the Ultra-Mormon(TM) Mitt Romney.

MTG with that stupid fucking MAGA hat on is just... disgusting. Like this bitch is crazy.

Okay Joe, speed it up down the fucking aisle please. I got papers to grade.

Lowkey Joe looks like he might have had a five-hour energy drink with that big-ole look in his eyes.

I do appreciate that Joe still smiles and is kind to MTG. She truly doesn't deserve it.

Okay this is getting just a wee bit too monarchy for me.

MTG holds up a button saying "Laken Riley..." (couldn't read the rest). Riley was a 14 year old girl murdered by a man who was an illegal immigrant of venezuela, and instead of handling this situation with grace, empathy, and love; MTG and others seem to be capitalizing on her death to push their anti-immigration rhetoric.

Okay, cool selfie skills Joe, but let's get on with it.

ALSO HOW IS JOE BIDEN GONNA BE SO IN DEPTH WITH TECH AND "Savvy" WITH IT WHEN MOTHERFUCKER WANTS TO BAN TIKTOK!? Hello?!

BERNIE AND RAPHAEL! I feel like I haven't seen these guys in 10 million years.

Oh thank god we're starting.

Aww the little hand shake thingy he does with Kamala makes my heart happy.

Did Joe just yell "tony"?!

Wow, even got some republicans clapping for him (probs not a good thing but here we are)

Okay, good bit of humor at the top; and a throwback to the 40s. Funky fresh.

Yeah we ain't living in ordinary times for damn sure.

Interesting point of democracy being attacked here in the U.S. AND Internationally. (Mentions Ukraine and Putin; no word on Gaza yet).

Someone busted out a Ukrainian flag and shook it; rock on.

OH SHIT HE GOT MIKE JOHNSON TO CLAP!

Appreciate the insistance that the U.S. won't send troops to UKR.

Good use of Reagan to connect with the Repubs; and compare to the predecessor (aka Tr*mp).

Mike Johnson nodding instead of clapping about the predecessor comment, trying to save his ass in Orange Man's eyes.

Welcome to NATO, Sweden!

If there is one thing that should connect Democrats and Republicans; it's hatred for Putin. Yet there's a mix of Repubs standing in agreement and sitting to back up the predecessor's comment on Putin doing "whatever the hell he wants"

Talking about Jan 6. What breaks my heart? My parents still believe it wasn't an insurrection. Yikes on Bikes for me.

The line "You can't love your country only when you win" hits hard and even got Mike Johnson to applaud in agreement.

Foreign AND Domestic. Need a hefty focus on that with the right-wing republican group (@ MTG, Gaetz, Cruz, etc.)

Discussing IVF in Alabama; good connection to the overturning of Rowe v. Wade. It sucks that Republicans HAVE THE POWER to protect IVF nationally but shot the damn bill down not even a week ago.

ABORTION IS A HUMAN RIGHT. BODILY AUTONOMY IS A HUMAN. FUCKING. RIGHT. (@ The Missouri Senators who support taking away bodily autonomy).

WOMEN AREN'T WITHOUT ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL POWER; WE ABOUT TO TURN UP IN FORCE MOTHERFUCKERS!!! Bring back the strats from the 1900s; time to use our power and go bonkers.

Someone get Joe a glass of water please. Motherfucker looks a bit parched and keeps coughing. I get that when my throat goes dryyy

Can Biden not restore RvW? Can he not by an executive order make RvW the law of the land already?

Revisiting COVID's start from 2020 (Next week is the four year anniversary since the global pandemic).

PFFT idk who just yelled "LIES" but that was comical AF.

Well, the pandemic still controls a big part of our lives... so...don't agree with that shit.

Man, everyone sitting-and-standing must be getting a HELLA calf work out.

Sure, unemployment is down and new jobs are built; but corporate greed is quite literally killing us. Can Congress or Biden do something, damn it?!

Are we beginning to feel it, though? Are we feeling good economics? I doubt we are.

Good job pointing out how both parties have failed to buy american products, but how this admin has established that.

There's a good two rows of Republicans who stand in applause; but the rest just... sit there. Like robots. It's freaky as fuck.

Joe is actually doing pretty great with the flow of this speech. Only a couple of stumbles, but overall pretty gucci. (He'd get a 9/10 on delivery in my public speaking class).

God these fuckers are really gonna make me run for office at this damn point.

Removing poisonous lead pipes... but there's still a water crisis in Flint, Biden. Like, what the fuckeroni do you mean?

Yes, let's invest in family farms; lets stop selling our farmland (especially in Missouri) to foreign countries (@ China buying up TONS of Missouri Farmland).

I love that the UAW president is here, because he straight up is my kind of people. Dude wears eat-the-rich shirts and calls out the unethical-ness of billionaires.

UAW President pointing to Biden saying "It's you!"; nah dawg, it's you Sean.

MIDDLE CLASS DID BUILD THE COUNTRY AND UNIONS BUILT THE MIDDLE CLASS MOTHER FUCKERS!!!

Yes we get back up but right now...we might be getting more french revolutionary-esque if y'all don't stop PLAYING WITH OUR LIVES.

Oh jesus not the 4-more-years chants.

Oh now we talking about the future

YES PLEASE END TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMIES.

Says he's not anti-corp; but points out how trickle down economics has only helped the wealthy.

Yeah, how the fuck does it hurt the wealthy to pay just a weeee bit more in taxes? Like dawg, what are you gonna do with another million? What's the point?

Ooooh is Biden about to rope the repubs into some bipartisan shit? Please do.

What is Republicans huge issue with capping insulin? Truly? Who does it harm? Billionaires still get billions.