A SOTU Tonight

By Todd Lassa (THU 3/7/24)

Policy and the political horse-race are inseparable in President Biden’s State of the Union address, where he must try to convince a sufficient number of voters the economy is good and his Republican rival does not want the “border crisis” solved, while proving he is not a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” Pundits point to Biden’s ad-lib pushback on Republicans’ position on Social Security and Medicare cuts in last year’s address as an antidote to Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s report on Biden’s document case in which he called the president “a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”

But Biden is failing, so far, at his most important task, according to columnist Perry Bacon, Jr., in Thursday’s Washington Post; eliminating, or at least reducing the possibility there will be a second Trump term to threaten American democracy. With 38% approval rating, Biden is losing to an authoritarian ex-president who now has even the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

The lone important holdout is former Trump challenger Nikki Haley, who as of this writing has not endorsed the former president. On NPR’s Morning Edition Firehouse Strategies founding partner Alex Conant, who served as communications director for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) 2016 presidential campaign told co-host A Martinez that this November’s election will likely come down to whether Haley supporters vote for president or sit out the election or vote down-ballot only.

“Thirty to 40% of the party is still limited-government conservatives,” Conant said. Is there anything Biden can say Thursday night to those Republican voters?

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Garvey vs. Schiff in Runoff, Porter is Out

WEDNESDAY 3/6/24

Republican candidate for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) seat Steve Garvey handily took second place in California's Senate primary Tuesday. He will face Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff in the November 5 election. With 48% of the votes in, Schiff took 33.17% to Garvey's 32.45%, according to The New York Times. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), who was running a very close third to Garvey in the polls garnered just 13.81%, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) had just 7.36% of the vote.

The Democratic Party would have had to spend a lot of campaign money in a Schiff-Porter runoff. But Schiff instead spent a lot of money on "anti-Garvey" ads calling him "pro-Trump", during the primary race in conservative media outlets to help make sure Garvey placed second. Now Schiff can simply run those same ads in the big coastal cities plus Sacramento. Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodger and San Diego Padre, won San Diego and Orange Counties as well as the less-populous Inland Empire Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota: President Biden won the primary there, with "uncommitted," bolstered by protest over Israel's war on Gaza, edging out Rep. Dean Phillips, who "didn't carry his home state," for second, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Bad news for Biden is that "uncommitted" took nearly 46,000 votes when the protest vote's goal was just 5,000 votes.

Meanwhile, in Texas: Sen. Ted Cruz handily won the Republican nomination for his re-election, but he will face Democrat Colin Allred, who beat state Sen. Roland Gutierrez 59% to 17%. This is "bad news" for Cruz, Newsweek reports, as Allred already is running even with him in some Texas polls. The Texas Tribune called Super Tuesday a "bad night for GOP incumbents," with Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, of San Antonio headed for a primary runoff with "gun rights advocate and social media influencer" Brandon Herrera and Republican state House Speaker Dade Phelan forced into a runoff against "hardline conservative" Republican challenger David Covey.

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Welcome to Super Tuesday

TUESDAY 3/5/24

January 6 Redux? – Yes, the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday to keep Donald J. Trump on Colorado’s ballot was unanimous. But conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberals Elana Kagen, Sonya Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson in criticizing the five other conservatives for going beyond the basic decision by determining the only way to enforce Section 3 of the 14^thAmendment is by a statute passed by Congress (per The Hill).

That majority ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavenaugh “prompts worries of another January 6^th crisis,” screams a headline in Politico (insofar as Politico headlines can scream).

Enter Raskin: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD, above) responded to the SCOTUS ruling by announcing he would revive a 2022 bill he wrote with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) that would set up such a process. The legislation would establish a process by which the U.S. attorney general or a private citizen could petition the U.S. circuit court for the District of Columbia to remove a candidate like Donald J. Trump from the presidential ballot for participation in an insurrection, Raskin told NPR’s Steve Inskeep Tuesday on Morning Edition.

“Well, the supremacy clause of the Constitution says that the Constitution is binding on every other head of government, including the states,” Raskin told Inskeep. “To my mind, Colorado did the obvious thing. … The whole point of this provision in the Constitution was to keep people away from the oval office and other federal offices if they’ve proven themselves untrustworthy and willing to overthrow the governmental arrangements that gave them the office in the first place.”

Chances?: Not good. Raskin notes that 10 House Republicans voted for Trump’s second impeachment following January 6^th and seven GOP senators voted to convict. But that was three years ago. Best Raskin and House Democrats can hope for is to provide a distraction to a wafer-thin, disorganized Republican House majority and Trump splitting time between campaigning and court appearances.

--TL

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Weekend's Over

MONDAY 3/4/24

UPDATE: You Can, Colorado -- The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 Monday to restore Donald J. Trump to the Colorado ballot, NPR reports.

Can You Vote for Trump? – Not “will you,” but can you? The Supreme Court is expected to rule on at least one case seeking to keep former President Trump off the ballot as early as 10 a.m. Monday, the Associated Press reports. SCOTUS is expected to rule on at least one case, Colorado’s, which cites the insurrection clause of the 14^th Amendment for disallowing Trump because of an ongoing federal case charging him for taking part in the January 6^th attack on the United States Capitol.

SCOTUS’ decision will affect similar challenges in other states, as well. Last week a Cook County judge also cited Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment in ordering Trump off the Illinois ballot.

•••

On ‘Bloody Sunday’ – Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Israel’s war on Gaza, in remarks from the Edmund Pettis Bridge on the 49^th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama (per NPR’s Morning Edition). Harris was scheduled to meet with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Ganz in Washington Monday, which is sure to irritate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose hard line on a ceasefire with Hamas has endangered President Biden’s re-election bid.

Harris said: “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

Too little, too late?: Whether Harris’ meeting with Ganz after those remarks in Selma can do anything for Arab American support for Biden remains to be seen.

•••

(Nearly) Halfway to September 30 – House and Senate leaders released a $467.5 billion package for the “easy” appropriations bills Sunday afternoon with a “slim spending boost” and elimination of most Republican-backed riders, CQ Roll Call reports. The package raises spending by 0.3%, or $1.5 billion over fiscal year 2023, with small increases for Energy-Water and Transportation-HUD, while Agriculture is flat.

The House is expected to take up a vote Wednesday afternoon, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will need Democratic support to supplement Republican House members who are not MAGA.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Haley Wins Vermont, Ends Campaign

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wasn't going to do anything for Nikki Haley's campaign, anyway. Haley won Vermont on Super Tuesday, beating Donald J. Trump 50% to 46%, but lost in the Big Day's 14 other GOP primary states and will end, or "suspend" her campaign for the presidential nomination NPR has confirmed Wednesday morning. She will not endorse ex-President Trump ... yet.

The former South Carolina governor was scheduled to make "brief remarks" about 10 a.m. in Charleston, The Wall Street Journal reports, and will encourage Trump to "earn the support" of Republicans and independents who backed her. As of Wednesday Trump has 995 of 1,215 GOP delegates needed to win the nomination, 722 from Tuesday, according to The New York Times, to Haley's 89, of which 46 were earned Tuesday.

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Haley's Waterloo?

MON-TUE 3/4-5/24

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) endorsed former North Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for the GOP presidential nomination late last week, The Hill reports, as frontrunner Donald J. Trump tries to push on to the general election.

Collins told the Bangor Daily News she voted for Haley in Maine’s primary. “She has the energy, intellect, and temperament that we need to lead our country in these very tumultuous times,” the senator said.

On this week’s Super Tuesday 874 of 2,429 GOP delegates, or 36% will be up for grabs, according to The New York Times, and ex-President Trump could pretty much put his one-time UN ambassador away. The March 5 Super Tuesday primaries are in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia, as well as the territory of American Samoa.

Comment on Super Tuesday, President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday, March 7, or other recent political news and issues in the appropriate section this column or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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What’s Left

Some relief for Democrats came recently when retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced he will not run for president as a third-party candidate. Manchin had flirted with the upstart No Labels party, which claims it will not run any spoilers. If Manchin had chosen to run as the No Labels party candidate, he almost certainly would have helped hand the November election to former President Trump.

Scroll down with the trackbar on the far right to read more.

Scroll down further to read in the left column the potential tactic by Arab Americans in Dearborn to vote “uncommitted” rather than for President Biden in Tuesday’s Michigan Democratic primary.

Further down the left column, contributing pundit Ken Zino weighs in on Nikki Haley's tilt at the windmill in the New Hampshire primary.

Comments on these and other recent news and political issues are welcome. Email us at editors@thehustings.news and please let us know whether your political leanings land you in the left or right column.

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…meanwhile…

McConnell to Step Down – "Three Johns" are lining up to replace Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who this week announced he will step down as Senate leader of the GOP (per NPR’s All Things Considered). Donald J. Trump prefers Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), so of course, Daines it is. While Democrats will forever be angry with McConnell for blocking President Obama’s SCOTUS pick in 2016, he also remains part of the shrinking anti-MAGA Republican bulwark on Capitol Hill. McConnell says he will finish the remainder of his Senate term, at least, to 2027.

FRIDAY 3/1/24

Right Column -- Headline in Friday's New York Times reads "Trump May Find Success With Strategy of Trial Delays." A pull-quote reads "The former president may face only one or two trials this year." Don't miss Stephen Macaulay's right-column commentary, "Book 'em."

•••

Next Week -- Super Tuesday is, well, Tuesday. President Biden's State of the Union address is Thursday.

•••

Navalny's Funeral -- Despite heavy state police presence thousands attended the funeral of Putin opposition leader Alexei Navalny Friday, two weeks after his unexplained death at a Russian prison in the Arctic Circle, the Associated Press reports. Funeral crowds chanted "You weren't afraid, neither are we," reports WAMU's The 1A.

Meanwhile, in the Kremlin ... Vladimir Putin, who obviously did not attend Navalny's funeral, warned of nuclear attacks on the West if it intervenes more directly in Russia's war on Ukraine, Thursday (per The New York Times). Speaking at his annual state-of-the-nation address, Putin said NATO countries helping Ukraine strike Russian territories or potentially planning to deploy their own troops "must, in the end, understand (that) all this truly threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization."

•••

Meanwhile, on Our Own Southern Border -- Thursday was, of course, the Big Day of dueling presidential candidates on the southern border with Mexico. In one corner, incumbent President Biden said from Brownsville, Texas, the U.S. needs a "new, efficient and fair process for the government to consider asylum claims."

In the other corner, incumbent President Biden-denier Donald J. Trump -- who infamously scuttled the bipartisan border agreement recently via House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) -- said from Eagle Pass a "vicious violation of our country" is already underway. (Reporting by The Washington Post.)

•••

War Casualties -- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week conceded that 31,000 of his fellow Ukrainians have been killed by Russian troops since its invasion two years ago, a lower number than U.S. military estimates, according to The 1A. Since Hamas' bloody attack on Israel last October 7, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry there (multiple news sources).

Latest was that "scores" were killed when the IDF opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians near a convoy of food aid trucks Thursday (per NYT). The Gaza health ministry issued a statement that more than 100 were killed and more than 700 injured as they waited for food from the convoy. Israel says its forces were firing in defense, and that most casualties were the result of a stampede for supplies. Meanwhile, chances are growing dim for a ceasefire negotiated between Hamas and Israel and the Biden State Department before Ramadan.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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LEAP DAY 2024

Border Lines – President Biden visits the Tex-Mex border in Brownsville Thursday where he will try to turn the tables on the narrative he is responsible for a “crisis” there and point out that Donald J. Trump conspired with MAGA Congress members to block a bill that would have tackled said crisis while funding Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan defense and the whole damn federal government (per NPR’s Morning Edition).

Trump, meanwhile … goes to Eagle Pass where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is in a sort of “states’ rights” fight, having kicked out U.S. Border Patrol and replacing them with the Texas National Guard.

Expect plenty of quotables Thursday.

•••

Wasting Away Again in SCOTUSville – The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to rule on Donald J. Trump’s immunity claim from prosecution over criminal charges he conspired to overturn the 2020 presidential election, SCOTUSblog reports. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan had initially set March 4 as the trial date but tossed that idea when it became clear the SCOTUS ruling would push timing back toward the November 5 election, when Trump will have the chance to win back the White House and throw out the charges along with Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Meanwhile, in the Windy City: Citing the 14^th Amendment’s “insurrection ban” Cook County Judge Tracie Porter ordered Donald J. Trump removed from the Illinois ballot, but put her decision on-hold to Friday, as she is expecting an appeal by the former president’s attorneys, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Meanwhile, on CNN: Asked by Kaitlan Collins whether he would vote for Donald J. Trump over President Biden, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who leaves the Senate when his term ends next year said on The Source “No, no, no … absolutely not.” A Trump re-election would end the United States’ status as the Arsenal of Democracy and Reaganesque “shining city on a hill” Romney said, and while he prefers Trump’s domestic policy, especially at the southern border, the lame-duck senator believes Trump lacks the character necessary for the job.

•••

Two-Tiered Can Kicked – With at least 36 hours to go before partial government shutdown, congressional leaders reached an agreement Thursday to get the funding can down the road on the way to full federal funding. The deal extends Agriculture, Energy-Water, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Transportation-HUD one week to March 8, according to CQ Roll Call, when it would join Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science in a continuing resolution to March 22, at which point Congress will theoretically have time to finish a bill to fund the government for the current fiscal year. Which means it comes up again at the end of September for FY2025.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 2/28/24

Michigan Primary Results -- President Biden garnered 81.3% of the Democratic primary vote in Michigan, to the Palestinian protest vote of 12.8% for "uncommitted," per CNN. But the raw number for that uncommitted vote was 75,768, far above the 10,000-vote margin Donald J. Trump scored there against Hilary Clinton in 2016, the goal for the Arab American protest. And in Dearborn, where nearly half the population is ethnically Arab, Biden's margin of victory was only 56% to 41%, according to MSNBC's Steve Kornacki.

Meanwhile, Donald J. Trump trounced Nikki Haley in Michigan, 68% to 26.7% (CNN).

•••

TUESDAY 2/27/24

Ramadan Ceasefire? – Israel could reach a temporary ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan next week if a hostage release deal is reached, President Biden announced Monday, according to The Washington Post. Biden said on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers his advisors were still working out the details and could have an announcement by Monday.

However, Israel says it will continue fighting in Gaza after such a pause.

Meanwhile, the U.S. senior airman who self-immolated Monday at the Israeli embassy in Washington shouting “free Palestine,” has been identified as Aaron Bushnell, 25. According to the WaPo, Bushnell grew up on a religious compound and had an anarchist past.

•••

Michigan’s Primary is Tuesday – President Biden faces challenger “uncommitted” as the state’s large Arab American population is expected to express anger at the White House’s support for Israel’s occupation of Gaza. If at least 10,000 voters chose “uncommitted” it will equal the margin by which Donald J. Trump beat Hilary Clinton in Michigan in 2016 (per NPR’s Morning Edition).

Meanwhile, Trump faces not so much Nikki Haley, but rather a Michigan GOP structure split in two.

•••

It’s Back – Senators returned to Washington Monday to quickly begin working a spending bill in order to avoid a government shutdown that could begin in some federal departments Saturday and extend through eight others a week later. President Biden was scheduled to hold a White House meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Appropriators appear ready to pass Agriculture, Energy-Water, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development before the Friday midnight deadline, CQ Roll Call reports, and Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) says these four are “close to being completed,” though lawmakers are working on a stopgap funding resolution just in case.

The remaining spending bills due March 8 are said to be a “heavier lift” according to Roll Call’s report, and a continuing resolution kicking this can to March 22 is being considered. It would be Congress’ fourth CR for this year’s budget.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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The Day After Super Tuesday

By Todd Lassa (MON 2/26/24)

The New York Times might have come up with a less-predictable headline than “Haley Is Dealt Stinging Loss in Home State,” at the top of its front page Sunday. The “stinging loss” had been predicted for weeks following her second-place finish to None of These Candidates February 6^th in Nevada, and her 43% to Donald J. Trump’s 55% in New Hampshire two weeks earlier.

To be fair to Haley, who knew as well as anyone she would lose the primary in her home state, the 59.8% of the South Carolina vote Trump took (for 47 delegates), to the former governor and UN ambassador’s 39.5% (four delegates) is a better result for her than the 64% to 33% result an average of state polls had predicted, as counted by 538 last Friday.

Then there’s Haley’s political history in the state. As several outlets including the NYT recalled, Nikki Haley won her first South Carolina gubernatorial election in 2010 as an alt-Republican Tea Party candidate in 2010.

The Tea Party gave Haley her political life. Now it has taken it away.

Haley would seem to have a better chance in a purple state – perhaps Michigan, which holds its primary Tuesday. In Michigan, pundits’ eyes will be diverted – somewhat – to the Democratic ticket where President Biden faces the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, many of them angry over his support of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Nikki Haley says she will stick it out at least until Super Tuesday, which comes a week after Michigan, on March 5.

Now along comes another NYT news report late Sunday saying that the Koch brothers’ political action group, Americans for Prosperity Action has suspended its support of Haley, after spending millions on her with hopes of driving a stake through the heart of MAGA politics. If you need to be truly startled by a specific stinging loss suffered by Haley, this would be the one.

Elsewhere Sunday, Politico Playbook ran its own Reader's Digest take on The Atlantic’s entire January/February issue warning of the ramifications of a Trump victory in November.

“A wide range of our Politico colleagues have a thorough examination of how Donald Trump’s return to the White House would blow the policy agenda from his first go-around out of the water,” including abortion bans in blue as well as red states, climate science denial, expanded trade fights against allies as well as rivals, expanded classroom culture wars, attempts to kill the electric vehicle movement (MAGA-friendly Elon Musk notwithstanding), neutering the federal election watchdog, deploying U.S. troops on Americans, loosening controls on crypto … oh, and abandoning NATO and maybe even bombing Mexico.

The last GOP candidate standing between a repeat of the Biden v. Trump showdown, Nikki Haley, is now abandoned by the Koch brothers PAC so they can try to beat the MAGA faction on Capitol Hill. How much good will that do when MAGA congressmembers, already a minority, are running the House?

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Book ‘em

By Stephen Macaulay

The Supreme Court consists of one chief justice and eight associate justices. According to the Supreme Court Historical Society, “For all judicial matters, the Clerk. … and his staff of 31 are the link between the Justices and the legal world.”

So that brings us to 41 people.

Then there are, according to that society, more than 500 people who “work regularly in the Supreme Court building.”

Even if there are custodial personnel counted, the number is still a non-trivial one.

Of late, the Supreme Court hears about 60 cases per term. And while the number submitted is in the thousands, according to the Court itself, “The vast majority of cases filed in the Supreme Court are disposed of summarily by unsigned orders.”

SCOTUS says that it receives 7,000 to 8,000 petitions annually.

Presumably, the Justices are not burning the midnight oil going through piles of paper each and every day, though their clerks undoubtedly are.

While not a perfect comparison by any means but simply a way of putting these piles into context:

“Penguin Random House is the international home to more than 300 … independent publishing imprints. Together, our imprints publish over 70,000 digital and 15,000 print titles annually.”

Know that odds of getting a manuscript published by any publisher is no better than 2%.

So if Penguin Random House publishes 85,000 manuscripts and if the take rate is 2%, then this means it is receiving 4,250,000 manuscripts per year.

Penguin Random House has 12,330 employees.

If each of them reads manuscripts (of course, they don’t), then that’s about 345 titles per year.

If each of the 500 people at the Supreme Court reads her or his share of the 8,000 petitions, then that’s 16.

To be fair to the Supreme Court, deciding whether to publish a cowboy-vampire-bodice-ripper is not as critical as deciding on a case that will have profound consequences on someone’s future.

Still, there seems to be a bit of a productivity problem here.

This is underscored by its decision about taking up the case of whether Donald Trump can be prosecuted in relation to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol or whether he has immunity.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had done the homework on the case, and on February 6 rejected Trump’s claim.

Trump’s people came to the Supreme Court with their appeal on February 12 (the day of the deadline set by the D.C. Circuit).

Special Counsel Jack Smith was given until February 20 by the Supreme Court to respond. The response came on February 14 — two days after the Trump’s brief.

On February 28 the Supreme Court announced that it is taking up Trump’s appeal.

That’s two weeks from when Smith’s team got their work done.

The Supreme Court wrote in an unsigned order, “The case will be set for oral argument during the week of April 22, 2024.”

That is more than nine weeks from February 14, when they had the paperwork for both sides.

They couldn’t have adjusted the calendar a bit?

Odds are, if you suddenly have a toothache your dentist will get you in ASAP and if your water heater bursts the plumber isn’t going to tell you that (s)he’ll come week-after-next.

There are some people who think that there need to be more justices on the Supreme Court.

I’d argue that there needs to be more productivity from all of the people involved on the Supreme Court.

Consider: the Supreme Court hears arguments during two periods of the year: October through December and January through April.

And for the first session the oral arguments are heard during the first two weeks of the month and it is the last two weeks for the second session. In both cases it is on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

While they are unquestionably working on the remaining two days of the week, there is still a whole lot more downtime than that available to the employees of, to stick with the comparison, Penguin Random House, who are probably working 48 weeks per year.

Again, a fuzzy comparison, but still, there is clearly evidence that there is not a whole lot of efficiency in the performance of the Supreme Court.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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More Macaulay ...

What does the Truman-era Supreme Court decision in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer have to do with the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in United States of America v. Donald J. Trump that ruled the former president does not have executive immunity in his indictment for allegedly inciting the January 6^th attack on the U.S. Capitol? Read pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay’s “History Lesso n” in this column. Scroll down using the trackbar on the far right to read his commentary.

Then scroll further down the page to read Macaulay’s right-column take on Trump’s decisive win in the New Hampshire primary.

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No No Labels for Manchin

President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign certainly breathed a sigh of relief last Friday when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he will not make a third-party run for president this November. Manchin, who is retiring this year, was considered a potential candidate for the controversial No Labels party, which claims to offer a moderate balance between the Republican and Democratic parties, but most certainly will draw more votes from Biden than Donald J. Trump, if a name candidate can be found.

Earlier, former Republican Maryland governor and prominent never-Trumper Larry Hogan, also considered a potential No Labels presidential candidate, announced he will run instead for retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) seat this fall.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

Too Big to Fill – Donald J. Trump (whose limited-edition gilded hi-tops, above, are sold out at $399) leads Nikki Haley 64% to 33% in South Carolina’s GOP presidential primary Saturday according to 538’s polling average for the state.

FRIDAY 2/23/24

Da, CPAC – Fearing he could be a flight risk, federal law enforcement re-arrested Alexander Smirnov in Nevada Thursday, two days after a federal judge released him from custody over charges he told the FBI lies about President Biden and his son, Hunter (per HuffPost) regarding bribes from Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Smirnov says he was handed those lies by Russian intelligence agents.

We are not paying enough attention to Smirnov and the collapse of the House Republican investigation into the Biden case, led by Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY), Jonathan V. Last argues in the never-Trumper conservative publication, The Bulwark. By which he means; American voters and mainstream media are not sufficiently concerned.

“Russia is trying to interfere in a presidential race (again) on behalf of Donald Trump (again),” Last writes. But hey, to be fair, there is a lot going on, and it seems unlikely core MAGA Republicans are getting much coverage of this from their preferred media outlets.

At CPAC in suburban Washington Thursday, before what is described by several outlets as having a sparse crowd so far, candidate for running mate Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) backed Donald J. Trump’s longstanding Russia policy.

“We’re the one that forced this war, because we kept forcing NATO on Ukraine and showing Russia, hey, we’re going to build military bases on your borders,” Tuberville told the crowd (per The Recount). “And Putin said, no, no, you’re not going to do that. I haven’t voted for any money to go to Ukraine because I know they can’t win.” Tuberville later added; “Donald Trump will stop [the war] when he first gets in … he knows there’s no winning for Ukraine. He can work a deal with Putin.”

History check: Ukraine wanted to join NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the 1990s.

--TL

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Haley’s Comet – Facing likely embarrassment in Saturday’s South Carolina, her home state, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is sticking it out, going so far as to break away from the Republican comfort of Fox News to appear on mainstream outlets like CNN and NPR.

“Just wait, just wait. March, April, May, June,” Haley told CNN Wednesday. The question has not been so much “why?” but “how can she stick it out?”, so let’s not forget that the former South Carolina governor and Trump administration UN ambassador has the hefty financial backing of the Koch brothers, who have become never-Trumpers.

On CNN’s King Charles Wednesday, basketball legend and co-host Charles Barkley told her, “I’m dying to vote for you,” but is put off by Haley’s statements about racism in America.

In a phone call from her campaign bus Thursday morning, she resisted telling NPR’s Steve Inskeep whether she would vote for Trump if he becomes the GOP nominee. (Which seems inevitable unless his myriad trials sink him before the Republican convention in Milwaukee.)

“I have a lot of concerns about Trump regaining the presidency,” Haley said on Morning Edition. “I have even more concerns about Biden being president. I mean, you look at both of these men and all they have done is given us chaos, all they have given us is division.”

Being a “traditional” Republican, Haley criticizes Biden for the most “socialist” policy of any president in U.S. history (uh, FDR?) but unlike Trump, she is in favor of continued support for Ukraine in its resistance against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Meanwhile: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) also appeared on Thursday’s Morning Edition, telling Michelle Martin why he’s not running for president as a third-party candidate: “I just didn’t want to be a spoiler.” Manchin said he will continue to speak out for the middle, however. “It’s difficult being in the middle.”

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 2/21/24

In From the Cold – Alexander Smirnov was charged last week by special counsel David Weiss with felony false statement and obstruction charges for providing allegedly false information about Joe and Hunter Biden in the Burisma case. On Tuesday, Smirnov admitted that the “intel” pumped up by Fox News since the latter part of the Trump administration was passed to him by “officials associated with Russian intelligence” (per Axios).

As yet another connection between ex-President Trump and Vladimir Putin’s Russia comes to light, Trump has finally expressed his feelings about the death of dissident Aleksei Navalny at an Arctic Circle prison.

When Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Trump at a town hall Tuesday how he would raise the $364 million (plus interest) in penalties in last Friday’s verdict in the New York fraud case against the Trump Organization, the ex-prez said; “It is a Navalny. It is a form of communism or fascism” (per Rolling Stone).

•••

Saving Speaker Johnson – Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is leading a group of moderate Democrats as sponsor of a resolution that would require any Democrat or Republican party leadership to sanction any vote to vacate the speaker’s chair, Axios scoops. The resolution would free Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to move bipartisan bills to the floor without fear of Donald J. Trump’s reprisals. That might include desperately needed relief to Ukraine in its defense against Russia … except … Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) has said she would introduce a motion to vacate Johnson if he advances the Ukraine aid bill to the floor.

--TL

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TUESDAY 2/20/24

Trump’s Navalny Problem – The death of Aleksei Navalny, likely at the indirect hand of Vladimir Putin, has nothing on the indignities thrust upon the former president … according to the former president. Yes, Donald J. Trump weighed in on Navalny’s death on his own Truth Social media site Monday, though he did not mention his friend and mentor, Vladimir Putin. To quote (per The New York Times)…

“The sudden death of Alexie Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our country. … CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down on path to destruction.”

Meanwhile: Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton, told MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki over the weekend, that Putin was playing his former boss when he named Biden the “more stable” candidate that Russia could work with after November. “If Trump is elected, there will be celebrations in the Kremlin, no doubt about it,” Bolton said.

•••

Can Thomas Refuse This Offer?: Tired of the U.S. Supreme Court’s lack of ethics and Justice Clarence Thomas’ eagerness to take advantage of that lack in the name of ultra-conservative politics, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver has offered Thomas $1 million per year for the rest of his life if he steps down, now. Or, at least, in the next 30 days, which Oliver has given him to respond, according to The Washington Post. Oliver also is throwing in as a bonus a $2.4 million motor coach outfitted with a king-size bed, four televisions and a fireplace.

He can: Of course, there’s nothing above – not prohibited by ethics restrictions -- that Leonard Leo and the money behind the Federalist Society couldn’t put up to make sure Clarence Thomas remains on the SCOTUS bench and maintain the conservative super-majority.

•••

Expelled former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has sued the eponymous host of late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live for hiring Santos on Cameo to send several short messages, including a video congratulating a blind woman for passing a drivers’ test (The Washington Post). Kimmel’s segment, called ‘Will Santos Say This?’ appears to have violated Cameo’s guidelines stating users must not use false names … though Kimmel’s schtick certainly has made the site more popular than ever.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Civil Discourse for the Right and Left

Is this your first visit to The Hustings? The primary goal of this news/news aggregate outlet is to engage readers in civil dialogue with political animals who have varied and different points of view. No echo chambers or news silos, no shouting or name-calling.

Our Debate Pages over the years offer some good examples, including "Debating the 1/6 Committee" posted May 18, 2022, with Ken Zino's comments in the left (liberal) column and comments by RJ Caster and Stephen Macaulay in the right (conservative) column. Caster and Macaulay both are conservatives, but they have differing opinions on whether the hearings should have been held.

That’s the kind of political discussion we seek to foster here. Help us keep this going by submitting your own comments on the news items on this page, or any recent political news item. Use the Comments section in the left or right columns, or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line so that we may post your comments in the correct column.

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Four Years

That’s the age gap between President Biden and his likely challenger this November, ex-President Trump. A story on the front page of The New York Times Sunday notes different voter reaction when Biden makes a gaffe, such as confusing world leaders, versus Trump making similar gaffes.

A New York Times/Siena College poll of six battleground states found that 70% said Biden, 81, is “too old to be president,” while “Fewer than half of voters have expressed similar misgivings about Mr. Trump.” The former president is 77.

What are your thoughts on special counsel Robert K. Hur’s report on Biden’s classified documents case that described the president as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory”? (Hur concluded that no charges should be filed in the case.)

We also are especially interested in your comments on Trump’s isolationist position on the Ukraine-Russian war and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ rejection of Trump’s immunity claim in the federal case accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election (see “History Lesson” by pundit-at-large Stephan Macaulay, in the right column).

The Hustings seeks to foster civil discussion between the left and right on these and other recent issues. Please email your comment to editors@thehustings.news and let us know in the subject line whether you lean left or right.

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Navalny is Dead

FRIDAY 2/16/24

From the Munich Security Conference -- Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's wife, told the conference, to standing applause: "I don't know whether I should believe this horrible news or not...We can't really believe Putin and his government. I am asking everyone who is here to unite and help punish the Russian regime."

Poland's foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski: "He was a victim of Russian fascism. He will probably be remembered as the best Russian president Russia never had." There are more dissidents in Russian prisons under Vladimir Putin than there were under Leonid Brezhnev's USSR, he said.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron called Navalny "an incredibly brave fighter against corruption," adding there is "no doubt about the dreadful nature of Putin's regime in Russia after what has just happened."

On Thursday Poland's Sikorski told the conference, "This is our joint appeal (with the UK's Cameron) to the U.S. House of Representatives and personally to Speaker Mike Johnson to submit the Ukraine aid package to a vote."

(Per BBC, NPR and AP.)

A reminder of what Donald J. Trump told a campaign rally in South Carolina last Saturday: “'If we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?' No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”

UPDATE: CONFIRMED by various news outlets ... Navalny Reported Dead -- Anti-corruption dissident and thorn in dictator Vladimir Putin's side, Alexei Navalny, has died after taking a fall in a prison yard, according to an unconfirmed report from Russia's federal prison system (per NPR's Morning Edition). Navalny has been held in one of Russia's deadliest prisons since December.

On X-Twitter: The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum: "Navalny threatened Putin because he revealed the extent of his theft and corruption. Putin killed Navalny because he couldn't let that truth be known."

Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia, 2012-14: "Putin killed Navalny. Report it straight."

According to the BBC, reports say Navalny fell ill while taking a walk in the prison yard. Several posts on X show a healthy looking Navalny behind bars in a video reportedly taken the day before his death.

Meanwhile: Congress is off for President's Day week, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) having refused to bring the Senate's $95.1 billion bill containing aid to Ukraine to the House floor. The Senate returns February 28. The House returns March 5.

Last week, presidential candidate Donald J. Trump told an adoring crowd at a rally he would encourage Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to a NATO country that does not pay up (NATO does not collect dues) and ex-Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson interviewed Putin at the Kremlin.

•••

THURSDAY 2/15/24

UPDATE -- Jury selection will begin March 25 in Manhattan's hush-money case against former President Trump, The Washington Post reports, to begin the first-ever criminal trial against a former U.S. president.

It’s Two Trump-Trial Thursday – Donald J. Trump was expected at the defendants’ table in a Manhattan courtroom early Thursday where Justice Juan Merchan is expected to rule on whether to maintain a March 25 trial date for the former president’s alleged efforts during the 2016 presidential election to cover up an affair with a porn star (per Politico). If you’re trying to keep count, that’s the case in which he allegedly reimbursed his then-attorney Michael Cohen for hush money to Stormy Daniels.

Meanwhile: Another team of Trump attorneys will be in Atlanta where Judge Scott McAfee gathers evidence about the relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade, Politico reports. Trump’s attorneys want Willis and Wade tossed from the trial over the former president’s alleged scheme to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. Willis and Wade deny allegations they benefitted financially from delays in the case.

Lordy, there are tapes: Legal analysts say the Trump legal team’s efforts to remove Willis and Wade will not likely put an end to the trial, considered the strongest of four against him – after all, there’s that recording of Trump begging for 11,780 more votes. It will further delay the case with less than nine months left before the next presidential election.

•••

Nukes in Space – National security advisor Jake Sullivan speaks to the House Intelligence Committee Thursday, and though he won’t say why, he is expected to brief committee members on a nuclear-powered “capability” Russia is developing to target satellites, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. On Wednesday, Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) warned of a “national security threat” and called on President Biden to declassify intelligence on the Russian technology, according to USA Today.

The Starlink satellites provided to Ukraine for communications in its defense against Russia come to mind as a likely target of the nuclear-powered “capability.” NPR notes that the Pentagon is working on a similar technology (with Lockheed Martin), the Joint Emergent Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear (JETSON) High-Power program.

•••

Punkin’ Putin – In a Russian state television interview dictator Vladimir Putin said President Biden would be a better choice for his country this November than Donald J. Trump (per The Wall Street Journal). Putin also said he “didn’t get complete satisfaction” from his interview with right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson “because I honestly thought he would be aggressive and ask so-called sharp questions. And I wasn’t just ready for that, I wanted it, because it would have given me the opportunity to respond sharply in kind … But he chose a different tactic.” (Politico)

•••

The Fed is Cool – When the Consumer Price Index for January came in hotter than expected, at 3.4% Tuesday, the stock market took a dive over fears the Federal Reserve would hold off on interest rate cuts expected in a few months. The market bounced back Wednesday as Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsby told the Council of Foreign Relations in New York to, effectively, cool it, Marketwatch reports.

“Even if inflation comes in a bit higher for a few months, as many forecasts suggest, it would still be consistent with our path back to the target” of 2%. “There is nothing wrong” with some ups and downs, Goolsby said.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 2/14/24

First This Happened – The House of Representatives voted 214-213 to impeach Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the southern border. The Democrat-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to provide the 2/3 majority necessary to convict, particularly as the impeachment comes without evidence or even charges of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Two Republicans and two Democrats missed the vote, but Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) made it for the GOP’s win, this time.

Just as Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of Colorado’s bid to remove Donald J. Trump from its primary ballot last week in Trump v. Anderson in part because it could open the floodgates for states to banish candidates in future elections, it seems the Mayorkas impeachment, coming nearly 150 years after the last impeachment of a cabinet member, could start a trend of cabinet official impeachments whether there is a Democrat or Republican in the White House.

President Biden’s statement: “History will not look kindly on House Republicans for the blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games. Instead of staging political stunts like this, Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to deliver more border resources and stronger border security.”

Then This Happened – Democrat Tom Suozzi defeated – no, annihilated – Republican Mazi Pilip, 53.9% to 46.1% to replace former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) in a special election for New York’s 3^rd District House seat (Associated Press). Polls leading up to Tuesday’s special election showed a close race as Pilip tried to tie Suozzi with President Biden on the border issue, and Democrats believed that with either result, the outcome would hint at which party might have House control after the November election.

--TL

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TUESDAY 2/13/24

The annual Consumer Price Index fell slightly to 3.1% in January, the Labor Department reports, buoying the possibility that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates when it next meets, in five weeks (the CPI was 3.4% a month earlier). The month-over-month increase was 0.3%, up from 0.2% in January, with shelter up 0.6% to account for more than two-thirds of the monthly increase. Food was up 0.4% but energy prices fell by 0.9%, largely the result of falling gas prices. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Senate Passes Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan Aid – The Senate passed an $95.1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan early Tuesday with a healthy 70-29 vote after filibusters by “a handful” of Republican senators into the pre-dawn hours, according to CQ Roll Call. Still, the will of GOP leader Donald J. Trump hovers over the national security package, as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) suggested the bill won’t reach the full House floor in its current form because it lacks the “real border security provision” … like the $20 billion in additional border security that accompanied a national security package rejected by the former president so he could use it as a campaign cudgel against President Biden.

Trump’s choice: Meanwhile, the former president has endorsed Michael Whatley, head of the North Carolina GOP and a fellow election-denier, to replace Ronna McDaniel as chair of the Republican National Committee, with son Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Trump as co-chair (per The Hill). McDaniel is expected to step down as RNC chair after the February 24 South Carolina primary.

Trump’s statement: “The RNC MUST be a good partner in the Presidential election. It must do the work we expect from the national Party and do it flawlessly. That means helping to ensure fair and transparent elections across the country, getting out the vote everywhere – even in parts of the country where it won’t be easy – and working with my campaign, as the Republican presumptive nominee for President, to win this election and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” Er, endquote.

--TL

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MONDAY 2/12/24

Trump and Putin – Former President Trump has been campaigning in South Carolina, where he hopes to annihilate its former governor and his former UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, in the state’s GOP primary Saturday, February 24. Haley has taken the traditional Republican position regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying she would continue aid to Ukraine.

Donald J. Trump has said he would “negotiate” an end to the Ukraine-Russia war to end it on his first day in office, which presumably means he would let dictator Vladimir Putin take over at least the eastern part of Ukraine his troops have occupied.

In Conway, South Carolina last Saturday evening Trump told his fawning crowd he had a conversation with an unnamed NATO ally’s leader, who asked him; “If we don’t pay (what it owes NATO) and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?”

“No, I would not protect you,” Trump told the cheering crowd he said to the leader. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.” (Per NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.)

In a statement released Sunday, President Biden called Trump’s comments “unhinged.”

•••

Ukraine, Israel Aid Advances – The Senate Sunday advanced a $95 billion emergency aid bill for Ukraine and Israel to keep it on-track for passage this week, The New York Times reports. The bipartisan vote was 67-27, teeing up $60.1 billion for Ukraine in its defense against Russia and $14.1 billion for Israel’s war against Hamas. It also addresses threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

“It’s no exaggeration to say the eyes of the world are on the United States,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). U.S. allies “don’t have the luxury of pretending that the world’s most dangerous aggressors are someone else’s problems and neither do we.”

•••

Hogan v. Trone – Former two-term Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan last Friday announced he is running for retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) seat (per CQ Roll Call). He would become the state’s first Republican senator in 32 years.

Hogan is a never-Trump Republican whose father, Larry Hogan Sr., was among the Republican U.S. representatives who voted to impeach President Nixon some 50 years ago.

Among the Democrats running in the May 14 primary for Cardin’s seat are Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Rep. David Trone, who serves Maryland’s westernmost district, which transitions from blue to purple to red heading further west into the rural panhandle. Could become a center-right vs. center-left race.

•••

This Week – The House only is scheduled to be in-session Tuesday through Friday, though Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will likely call the full Senate to the floor early in the week to vote on the emergency aid bill for Ukraine and Israel.

Coming Tuesday: A special election in New York’s 3^rd Congressional District to replace Republican Rep. George Santos, who stepped down late last year. Former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) is “locked in a tight race” with Republican Mazi Pilip, who has tried to tie Suozzi with Biden’s policies, especially on immigration, according to The Hill, which reports that Democrats are trying to avert an embarrassing defeat and keep hope alive to retake the House majority in November.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

History Lesson

By Stephen Macaulay

Back in 1952, war was raging in Korea. President Harry Truman faced all manner of economic challenges, including something we are all-too familiar with, inflation.

To help manage the economic situation the Office of Price Stabilization (OPS) and the Wage Stabilization Board (WSB) were established. The former made sure that there were price controls on things deemed important to the war effort. The latter was charged with making sure that there weren’t excessive wage increases in private industry.

War wreaks havoc on economies.

And just as we have recently seen in the auto industry, trade unions, especially those in the steel industry, were exerting their power.

The workers, of course, wanted a wage increase.

The steel companies, of course, wanted to raise the price of steel should they have to increase the wages.

To borrow an alleged quote from Napoleon— “An army marches on its stomach” — “a war is fought with steel.”

Well, as it happens, the OPS and the WSB became involved.

Things seemed to be reaching an impasse that would lead to a strike, which would mean no steel, which would mean a problem vis-à-vis defending the 38^th parallel.

So Harry Truman seized the steel mills by Executive Order.

He wanted to keep the materials for tanks and ammunition and the like produced.

Seems like an extreme, but understandable thing to do.

“Give ‘em Hell Harry” acted for purposes of national defense.

The steel companies sued.

It went to the Supreme Court.

Which decided, in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, that Harry Truman’s Executive Order had exceeded his authority as president.

This historical minute is something that is part of the ruling in United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, the decision made by the justices of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

As the justices write, “President Truman could lawfully act only to execute the Congress’s laws or to carry out his constitutional duties as the Executive; and he lacked authority from either source to seize the steel mills.”

Trump argues, in part, that whatever he did as president is OK.

The issues he is facing related are related, in large part, to election interference and election fraud.

As it is put in the ruling:

“The Indictment alleges that former President Trump understood that he had lost the election and that the election results were legitimate but that he nevertheless was ‘determined to remain in power.’”

Truman was ostensibly acting for the good of the country.

Trump clearly acted on behalf of Trump.

The Appeals Court justices quote 19^th century Supreme Court Justice David J. Brewer: “No man in this country is so high that he is above the law. No officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity. All the officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of the law and are bound to obey it. It is the only supreme power in our system of government, and every man who by accepting office participates in its functions is only the more strongly bound to submit to that supremacy, and to observe the limitations which it imposes upon the exercise of the authority which it gives.”

Or, to simply quote Baretta:

“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”

Regardless of what position you once held.

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‘Uncommitted’ Dems in Michigan Primary

Arab American activists in Michigan have launched a campaign to urge voters to cast "uncommitted" votes in the state's February 27 primary to protest President Biden for not demanding Israel cease military action in Gaza. Listen to Michigan campaign organizers hope to activate voters by reaching out to 128,000 Arab and Muslim voters in the state, as well as Black Americans and Native Americans.

"Voting uncommitted in the Democratic primary is our way of telling Biden we're uncommitted to his financing of genocide in Gaza," said Layla Elated, manager of the Listen to Michigan campaign and sister of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who is not involved in the effort, according to a wire report.

Are you liberal? Tell us why you agree or disagree with the Listen to Michigan campaign's push to get Democratic voters to cast "uncommitted" ballots in the state's primary. Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

•••

Nevada's Democratic Primary This Week

Hot on the heels of his overwhelming victory last week in the South Carolina Democratic primary, President Biden moves on to the Tuesday, February 6 Nevada primary. Nevada delivers 48 delegates to the Democratic convention, 36 of them pledged and 12 of them super delegates, according to Ballotpedia.

On the ballot with Biden are Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, and author Marianne Williamson. The Nevada Democratic primary is closed, which means only registered Democrats may vote for on this ballot.

Biden won 96% of the Democratic vote in South Carolina, according to WAMU’s 1A.

•••

Should Congress pass the Senate’s bipartisan border security and emergency security funding bill, as outlined in the center column, or should Republicans give in to Donald J. Trump’s opposition and keep the issue alive for the presumed Republican presidential nominee?

Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and list in the subject line whether you consider yourself liberal or conservative, so we post your civilly expressed thoughts in the appropriate column.

_____

…meanwhile…

The Oklahoma GOP has censured Lankford for his work on the "compromise" border bill. Scroll down for details.

FRIDAY 2/9/24

Biden’s Age Trumps Docs Case – Special Counsel Robert K. Hur found that Joe Biden’s “willfull” retention and disclosure of classified documents doesn’t establish the president’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt,” but the other side of those findings sure does sting. Hur, a U.S. attorney during the Trump administration, found Biden a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory,” and that part prompted Biden to hold a press conference Thursday to defend himself.

But in the presser, Biden referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the president of Mexico, NPR’s Morning Editionreports, and told a CNN reporter that the press does not agree with age/memory issues raised – apparently he meant “the public” does not agree.

Meanwhile: Hur’s report will trigger another round of hand wringing from supporters, including never-Trump conservatives, who want to see a younger Democratic candidate take on Donald J. Trump. Three years younger than Biden, Trump has exhibited plenty of memory lapses and name mix-ups himself, though his avid supporters expect no explanation.

Trumpdate: The former president easily won GOP caucuses Thursday in Nevada, as expected, and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, AP reports.

•••

Zelenskyy Fires Military Commander – After weeks of speculation he would do so, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who had led the military since before Russia’s full-scale invasion, with Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi (The Kyiv Independent). The new commander previously served as commander of Ukraine’s Grand Forces and the Khortysia Operational and Strategic Group fighting in Ukraine’s east.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate: After aid to Ukraine, Israel and to Indo-Pacifc allies went down with the border bill earlier this week, the Senate cleared an initial procedural hearing to move said aid along, The Hill reports, with several more procedural votes to come.

And in the House: The Senate’s determination to pass above aid, with help from non-MAGA Republicans including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, is placing Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in an especially sticky space. If and when the full Senate passes an aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Johnson will be forced to bring the bill to the House’s floor, where a majority of Democrats plus non-MAGA Republicans will very likely pass it. But Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Green (R-GA) already has said she would pull a Kevin McCarthy on the current speaker.

•••

Pardon the Interruption, Mr. Putin – Ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlton struggled to get a word in during the first half-hour of a two-hour-plus interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to The Washington Post’s account. As expected, Putin defended his invasion of Ukraine and claimed to have no interest in attacking Poland or any other NATO countries unless attacked by them first.

“Carlson spent most of the interview in silence, or looking confounded,” WaPo says in its report.

--TL

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THURSDAY 2/8/24

No Charges in Biden Docs Case – Special Counsel Robert K. Hur found evidence President Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” The Washington Post reports, but the evidence “does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” The long-awaited 345-page Justice Department filing comes after 173 interviews with 145 witnesses, including Biden. To secure a conviction, DOJ officials would need to prove to a jury that Biden retained the information willfully, according to the report.

•••

SCOTUS Hears Colorado Ballot Case -- Hearing legal arguments in Trump v. Anderson the U.S. Supreme Court appeared likely to overturn a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that ordered former President Trump from the state's 2024 presidential primary ballot. Liberal as well as conservative justices were skeptical in their questioning of whether a ruling upholding the Colorado court would prompt other states from removing a Democratic candidate from their ballots.

•••

MAGA Rules – Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), who negotiated the failed bipartisan border bill with Sens. Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) took to the Senate floor Wednesday and said a right-wing media personality weeks ago vowed to do “whatever I can to destroy you” if he tried to “move a bill that solves the border crisis during this presidential year…” (The New York Times). “By the way. They have been faithful to their promise and have done everything they can to destroy me.”

The Daily Beast has identified that media personality as radio host Jesse Kelly, who broadcasts on iHeartRadio’s Premiere Networks.

Sinking aid for Ukraine: The Senate’s failure to pass cloture on the border bill has, among other effects, sunk $60 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine. Donald Tusk, prime minister of neighboring Poland said that Ronald Reagan would be “turning in his grave” over U.S. Congress’ failure to pass the aid package (per BBC) and effectively hand victory to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Single-party Congress?: Has indicted GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump already taken over Congress? Is it essentially a single-(MAGA) party, authoritarian entity that can effectively rule without compromise? Email your comments to editora@thehustings.news.

•••

Colorado or Bust?: The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday will consider whether Donald J. Trump can be removed from Colorado’s primary ballot, under Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment. SCOTUS’ decision will have implications for Trump’s campaign in the rest of the nation (NPR).

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 2/7/24

NOTC Beats Haley in Nevada – None of These Candidates won the Nevada GOP presidential primary Tuesday, handily beating the only other candidate on the ballot, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (Associated Press). That makes Haley the first candidate for either party to lose a race to NOTC since offered as an option in 1975. Haley did not campaign in Nevada, where citizen Donald J. Trump is certain to win Thursday’s GOP caucus.

“Watch, she’ll soon claim Victory!” Trump posted on his Truth Social site.

Haley has been campaigning for the February 24 GOP primary in her home state of South Carolina. Her chances of nabbing the nomination now depend on how, and how soon, the Supreme Court rules on Tuesday’s federal appeals court ruling against Trump’s claim of presidential immunity in his January 6 insurrection case.

Meanwhile: The AP called Nevada’s Democratic primary for President Biden, based on the vote from Washoe County, second most populous in the state. Biden had 89%, NOTC got 6% and Marianne Williamson scored 3%.

•••

McDaniel to Step Down – Ronna McDaniel will step down as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee after the South Carolina GOP primary, sources have told The New York Times. Citizen Trump is likely to back North Carolina GOP head Michael Whatley, a supporter of the former president’s false claims of election fraud, according to the report.

--TL

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No Impeachment for Mayorkas -- Four House Republicans joined all Democrats to defeat a motion to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, 216-214, The New York Times reports.

As the Border Bill Churns ...

TUESDAY 2/6/24

Meanwhile … House Republicans have been proceeding with potential impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for “failing” to control the border, as the pro-Trump faction of the caucus vows to block the Senate’s border bill proposal. Now The Hill reports that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has but one Republican to spare to vote for Mayorkas’ impeachment, as Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO) and Tom McClintock (R-CA) have announced they will vote “nay.” Buck and McClintock argue that a cabinet secretary should not be removed for carrying out administration policy on immigration and border control.

•••

Border Bill Response -- "All indications are this bill won't even move forward to the Senate floor. Why? A simple reason: Donald Trump. Because Donald Trump thinks it's bad for him politically." -- President Biden speaking from the White House Tuesday (per The Hill).

•••

Trump Can Face Trial -- A federal appeals court unanimously ruled Tuesday morning that Donald J. Trump can be put on trial for trying to remain in power after the 2020 election (The Washington Post), rejecting the former president's sweeping claim of immunity. One judge on the appeals court had feared during the hearing that a ruling for Trump could allow for political assassinations. Trump already has plans to appeal first to the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on up to the U.S. Supreme Court, to delay well past the original March 4 trial date, and through the November elections.

•••

There’s Got to be a Morning After—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will bring the $118 border security/Ukraine aid bill to the floor for a procedural vote Wednesday, but Republicans already are declaring it doomed to fail.

Semafor is staging a “deathwatch,” citing a Reuters report that the border bill is in trouble.

A House Democrat told Politico Playbook, on condition of anonymity; “I’m coming to the notion that everything is dead. All of it.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who spent the last four months negotiating the bill with Sens. Jim Lankford (R-OK) and Krysten Sinema (I-AZ), told NPR’s Morning Edition “it would be the most significant bipartisan border reform in 40 years. And it is what American people want. They don’t want this issue to be used as a permanent political cudgel. They want to solve the problem.”

But a “wave” of Republicans in the Senate, even the hawks who want to see continued aid to Ukraine, appear ready to put the brakes on the bill Wednesday by voting against cloture.

Wait, wait … Punchbowl News scoops that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told a closed-door meeting with his caucus that the problem “isn’t the bill itself but that the political mood has shifted” in those past four months. McConnell told fellow Republicans to vote against cloture this week and take more time to consider the bill and offer amendments. The message, according to a senator who spoke to the outlet about McConnell’s meeting on the condition of anonymity is; “we can’t rush this right now.”

Nevertheless, it’s unclear, the report concludes, whether there is a future for the bill if it fails to advance this week, even as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warns of what happens to U.S. security if Vladimir Putin takes Ukraine.

Compromise … Murphy concedes there are a few senators in his party opposed to the bill (including Bob Menendez of New Jersey), but that a bipartisan majority would otherwise be ready to pass it.

“The problem is, right now, it looks as if most Republicans are going to vote against this as well,” he told Morning Edition. “And the only way you can get this passed in the Senate right now is if you have a majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans supporting it. And right now, most Republicans are willing to listen to Donald Trump. He wants chaos to continue at the border because that will help him politically.”

•••

Speaking of Putin – Former Fox News star Tucker Carlson’s visit to Moscow over the weekend has sparked some buzz over whether he might interview Russian leader Vladimir Putin, The Guardian reports. After the Mash Telegram channel published a photo Saturday of Carlson attending the Bolshoi theater in Moscow, Russian state media outlet Isvestia interviewed him about his visit.

Carlson told Isvestia he “wanted to talk to people, look around, and see how it’s doing … and it’s doing very well.” Isvestia then asked whether Carlson was in Moscow to interview Putin.

“We’ll see,” Carlson responded, with a smile.

Watch for Carlson’s interview of dictator Putin, coming up on Elon Musk’s X-Twitter.

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Dearborn Ramps Up Security – Dearborn, Michigan has the highest concentration of Muslims in the United States. Last Friday, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle Eastern Research Institute in which he called Dearborn “America’s jihad capital.” That prompted its mayor, Abdullah Hammoud to tweet that police have increased security at the city’s places of worship and at its major infrastructures.

--TL

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'DOA' Senate Border Bill Released

MONDAY 2/5/24

UPDATE -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is trying to "cobble together" Republican votes to pass the border/national security funding bill, The Hill reports. This alters the meaning of his first statement after the bipartisan bill was unveiled, but it also contradicts the expectation that the bill would have an easy time passing the full Senate.

Arrived – The Senate delivered text over the weekend of a $118.3-billion bipartisan bill containing emergency national security funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as the way the U.S. handles immigrants at the southwest border with Mexico. The Senate is expected to take up the bill this week as a substitute amendment, according to CQ Roll Call’s report.

The bill provides:

•$60 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine.

•$14.1 billion for emergency aid for Israel.

•$10 billion in humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, Ukraine and other conflicts.

•Nearly $5 billion to support U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific region, including funds to replenish American weapons in Taiwan.

“What we have here is something that can pass the Senate and the House,” Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murphy (D-WA) said, according to the Roll Call report. “There is no reason for drama, delay or partisanship.”

But with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) opposition expressed before any language was released, in favor of maintaining the border crisis as Donald J. Trump’s main talking point in his election campaign, even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is keeping his options open.

The Senate “must carefully consider the opportunity,” was all McConnell said in response to the bill.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a lead negotiator, said the bipartisan bill would:

•Empower President Biden to reduce the flow of migrants to the U.S.

•Speed up asylum applications.

•Expand legal pathways to immigrants.

More than $20 billion from the bill would expand operational needs and expand border control capabilities at the border.

Counter-bill: Johnson said he is preparing to bring a standalone, $17.6 billion supplemental funding package for Israel and U.S. troops in the Middle East to the House floor this week.

The takeaway: The two bills likely will die as each moves to the other chamber … though Murphy says overwhelming bipartisan support for the Senate’s bill would force it to the floor of the House, NPR reports.

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Blinken in Saudi Arabia – Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday for his fifth visit to the Middle East since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Blinken hopes to negotiate a peace framework in Gaza (per The New York Times).

Hamas is still considering a proposal to stop fighting, according to the NYT.

Meanwhile … The Pentagon continues military retaliation over the killing of three U.S. soldiers last month by Iran-backed militias, following dozens of military strikes last week by U.S. forces on targets in Iraq and Syria.

Up on the Hill – The House is in session Monday, and the Senate is in session Thursday and Friday. Both chambers are in session Tuesday and Wednesday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Conservative Argues in Favor of Border Bill

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and MAGA Republicans in the House never wanted a border bill, David Frum argues Tuesday in The Atlantic. While the bill was being negotiated, Republican-controlled legislatures in Florida, Arkansas, Ohio and Wisconsin have been easing workplace laws on high school-age children, serving as virtual “help-wanted” advertising for immigrants, he writes.

Frum’s comments are in this right column in part because he is a traditional conservative pundit. In his column, he argues that what Johnson and MAGA House members really want is to say “no” to more aid for Ukraine and to refuse compromise with Democrats.

He also quotes this study from the libertarian Cato Institute – one of its three founders in 1974 was Charles Koch – published in November 2023:

“The Biden Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has removed a higher percentage of arrested border crossers in its first two years than the Trump DHS did over its last two years. Moreover, migrants were more likely to be released after a border arrest under President Trump than under President Biden. In absolute terms, the Biden DHS removed 3.5 times as many people per month as the Trump DHS did.”

“Glowering and yelling does not in fact accomplish much,” Frum writes.

We’re looking for conservative readers to tell us whether Senate and House Republicans should vote for the border bill, and if not, why not? Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

•••

Nevada's GOP Primary and Caucus This Week

Good news for Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley: She has a good chance of winning the Nevada GOP primary.

Bad news for Haley: She is not participating in the state’s GOP caucus, which is the only contest awarding delegates to the GOP convention (per Ballotpedia).

Haley is on Nevada’s Tuesday, February 6 primary ballot, which is open only to registered Republicans, and Donald J. Trump is not.

Trump’s campaign is participating in the Thursday, February 8 Nevada caucus along with Create Church co-founder Ryan Brinkley. Haley is not. The caucus will award 26 delegates to the Republican convention. The primary will not.

•••

Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and list in the subject line whether you consider yourself conservative or liberal, so we post your civilly expressed thoughts in the appropriate column.

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Arab American Groups Cancel Biden Meeting

A majority of 15 Arab American groups set to meet with Biden campaign official Julie Chavez Rodriguez in Dearborn, Michigan, have decided to skip it, Ahmad Chebbani, co-founder of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters last week.

“We’re not interested,” Chebbani said. “Only when a ceasefire has been announced and the people of Gaza are taken care of, then will a discussion be appropriate.”

Biden is expected to meet with the United Auto Workers and tentatively, Arab American groups in the purple state of Michigan this week.

Whether left or right, moderate, progressive or hard-right, you are invited to email your comments on our recent political news/news aggregates and/or recent right-column or left-column commentary to editors@thehustings.news and please be sure to indicate your political leanings in the subject line so we can post your comments in the appropriate column.

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