Civil Media for the Right and Left

Welcome to The Hustings, a post-social media political news/aggregate/analysis website free of echo chambers. We reject false equivalencies in favor of facts and context in the center column, with civil, respectful and thought-provoking opinions in the left and right columns.

If you’re new to the site, be sure to check out some of our recent debates. Go to Page 3 for discussions over the implications of Donald J. Trump’s November 5 win, with contributing pundits Ken Zino, Jim McCraw and Hugh Hansen in the left column, and Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay in the right column.

Our coverage and commentary on last October’s debate among vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz (remember him?) from Page 6 features commentary by contributing pundit Rich Corbett in the right column, whose pro-MAGA opinions push Pundit-at-Large Macaulay into the left column.

Why not join our civil discourse? Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate whether you lean right or left in the subject line, so we can post your opinions in the appropriate column.

Also be sure to read our free Substack page.

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MONDAY 1/6/25

…meanwhile…

President Biden gives a eulogy for long-time friend and ally Jimmy Carter, and all surviving US presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and President-elect Donald J. Trump will attend his funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks sing Carter’s favorite song, John Lennon’s Imagine. Carter will be buried Thursday afternoon alongside his wife of 77 years, Rosalyn, in Plains, Georgia.

THURSDAY 1/9/25

One Bill, Two Bills – Red bill, redder bill. Senate Republicans and House Republicans are struggling to come up with a legislative process to expedite President-elect Trump’s agenda (per the AP). House Republicans want a single reconciliation bill to prevent the Trump 45 administration tax cuts from expiring, to strengthen border security and fund deportation of immigrants and to boost oil and gas production. Senate Republicans figure two bills would get the tax cuts secured by avoiding a filibuster – reconciliation allows for a straight 51-vote majority.

Visiting Capitol Hill for the first time since his election victory, Trump at first told reporters he was looking for “one big, beautiful bill for everything.” But after a closed-door meeting with congressional Republicans, Trump said; “Whether it’s one bill or two bills, it’s going to get done.” (Per NPR’s Morning Edition.)

•••

Calling Justice Alito – Donald J. Trump spoke with US Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito just before the president-elect’s attorneys asked the court to quickly intervene to delay Trump’s Friday sentencing for his hush money/falsified business records conviction in New York, per The New York Times. Alito says Trump called for a routine job reference for a former law clerk who seeks a job in the incoming administration.

It's not clear why, the NYT asserts, such a routine call would not come from an aide for the president-elect.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan has said he will not sentence Trump to jail or probation, but he does want the president-elect to appear in his court Friday. It would be an easy trip for Trump from President Carter’s funeral in Washington, D.C., Thursday. He could take Amtrak’s Acela.

•••

Welcome readers of Columbia Spy.

--TL

________________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 1/8/25

Trump Appeals to SCOTUS – President-elect Trump wants the US Supreme Court to quickly intervene and delay sentencing scheduled for Friday on his conviction last summer for falsifying business records in his hush money case, The Washington Post reports. New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan already has said he will not sentence Trump to jail time or probation, but the president-elect’s attorneys argue Trump is immune from criminal proceeding and have called for the postponement to “prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operation of the federal government.”

Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made prior to the 2016 election is a New York State case, and therefore impervious to presidential pardon.

•••

This Means Potential Full-Blown Diplomatic Crisis – Donald J. Trump ran for re-election last year on a pro-peace, isolationist platform, in particular promising he will end the war in Ukraine possibly even before his January 20 inauguration. But his refusal as president-elect at a Mar-a-Lago press conference Tuesday to rule out a military invasion of Greenland (as Donald Trump Jr. was visiting its capital, Nuuk) and Panama came off as rather bellicose. (Trump also declared at his presser that the Gulf of Mexico is hereby renamed the Gulf of America.)

That’s how French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot interpreted Trump’s words in comments to Newsweek via email. Barrot replied that Trump’s renewed interest in taking over Greenland, an autonomous territory of European Union and NATO member Denmark could “escalate” into a full-blown diplomatic crisis.

Barrot added that he does not believe Trump will use military force to take over Greenland, but said he believes the current global climate feels like “survival of the fittest.”

--TL

_______________________________________________

TUESDAY 1/7/25

MPCUSA and Buy Greenland – Whither MAGA isolationist nationalism? President-elect Trump wants to Make the Panama Canal the US Again. In yet another “rambling” hour-long news conference at Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Trump “refused to rule out” using military force to take back the Panama Canal – returned to Panama in a treaty signed by President Carter – and suggested he would force Denmark to sell Greenland to the US, The New York Times reports. Trump insists Greenland is critical to US national security, while Greenland, a country of just 56,000 people, insists it is not for sale and only wants to go independent from Denmark.

Elsewhere in Florida … Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, whom you will remember as a Trump appointee, has temporarily banned special counsel Jack Smith from releasing his final report on the January 6 Capitol attack investigation to the public. Smith was to have released the report on Friday.

•••

Social’s ‘Truth’ – Social media oligopoly Meta is ending its practice of fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a video posted by founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In his “free speech” pitch, Zuckerberg, who on figurative bended knee dined with President-elect Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago the day before Thanksgiving, said “we’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the US.”

Meta has since donated the max-allowed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

•••

Canada’s PM Steps Down – Justin Trudeau announced Monday he will step down as Canada’s prime minister as soon as his Liberal Party names a successor. Trudeau has faced several months of pressure from allies and opponents to resign as Canada faces high post-pandemic inflation and rising housing costs, according to NPR’s All Things Considered.

“It has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” Trudeau said, referring to federal elections for the 45^th Canadian Parliament, which are to be held on or before October 20.

He became leader of the Liberal Party in 2013 and was first elected prime minister in 2015, promising a more open immigration policy, greater taxes on the wealthy and more action to protect the environment. But Trudeau’s tenure was marked by a series of scandals early on, while critics say his open immigration policy went too far.

Trudeau, 53, is the son of Canada’s charismatic 15^th prime minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who served from 1968 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.

--TL

_____________________________________________

MONDAY 1/6/25

It's Still Mike – Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has pulled victory from the jaws of defeat to retain his gavel for the beginning of the 119^th Congress. Because of the GOP’s wafer-thin majority, Johnson could afford to lose just one vote and remain speaker. Johnson had already lost that single vote, as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) had committed to voting for third-ranked House Republican Tom Emmer, of Minnesota.

During the first round of voting, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) … but there was no second round. House Republicans suspended the vote, then huddled, and got Norman and Self to flip for Johnson, thus giving the incumbent speaker the 218 votes he needed, according to CQ Roll Call.

Johnson said afterward that he had promised “nothing” to Norman and Self for their flips.

Will the GOP’s thin House majority be a problem for the incoming administration? President-elect Trump mounted a heavy-duty phone call campaign to push for Johnson, and Roll Call figures it should have been easier. But in reality, it doesn’t look to be too tough a ride for Trump’s agenda, as the friction is coming from MAGA GOP’s right-flank.

As Self put it in comments to reporters; “We had a talk about how we admire the Trump agenda. That’s what this was about. I’ll say it a dozen more times, but this is how we support President Trump as a House with a very narrow majority. How’s that gonna happen?”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 1/6/25

‘Everybody’s Cryin’ Justice. . .’

By Stephen Macaulay

In the opening to his “2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary” Chief Justice John Roberts writes:

“In December 1761, a little more than one year into what would be a fifty-nine year reign, King George III decreed that from that date forward, colonial judges were to serve ‘at the pleasure of the Crown.’ This royal edict departed from the long-standing practice in England, enshrined by Parliament in the 1701 Act of Settlement, of allowing judges to retain their offices ‘during good behavior.’ The King’s order was not well received.”

Roberts goes on to point out:

“the ninth of twenty-seven grievances enumerated in the Declaration of Independence charged that George III ‘has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.’”

And here he brings it home:

“Before the American founding, no other country had found a way to ensure that the people and their government respect the law.”

Which is supplemented by this:

“At the end of the day, judges perform a critical function in our democracy. Since the beginning of the Republic, the rulings of judges have shaped the Nation’s development and checked the excesses of the other branches.”

Roberts spends much time wallowing in the past, citing people including his predecessor William Renquist and Alexander Hamilton, whose work was instrumental in the creation of the Federal judiciary.

And when he writes about the contemporary, it is to point out that the independence of judges is threatened by violence, intimidation, disinformation and “threats to defy lawfully entered judgments.”

Perhaps he is being somewhat coy. Doesn’t that reference to serving “at the pleasure of the Crown” sound suspiciously like the rhetoric we are hearing about the role of the Department of Justice in the forthcoming Trump administration?

Were Trump a younger man, would it surprise anyone if he did his damnedest to hold office for 59 years?

Isn’t there something of an analogue of “Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices” with Trump during his first administration repeatedly referring to the Supreme Court justices as “my judges”?

When Roberts emphasizes the word “and” in his line about ensuring “the people and their government respect the law” is he intimating that government officials — past, present and, yes, future — didn’t, aren’t or won’t respect the law?

Gallup research has found Americans’ confidence in the judicial system hit a new low in 2024, at 35%.

In another survey that specifically included Supreme Court Job Approval, 51% of Americans disapprove of the job it is doing and only 44% approve.

That is better than the 58% disapproval of September 2023. But when Gallup started tracking this metric in September 2000, the disapproval was 29% and approval 62%, a long way from where it has gotten to.

While much of this can be ascribed to the current hyper partisanship that exists in the country, isn’t a measure of it the result of the behaviors of some of the justices, whether it is those who have hung on too long or those who think that they are deserving of special benefits because their positions?

Roberts writes in his review of how the Federal judiciary came to be that Hamilton argued that because the judiciary would have “neither the sword nor the purse” — the powers of the Executive and Legislature — lifetime appointment would be the means through which the judges could maintain impartiality.

Clearly that is no longer the case — assuming that it ever was.

Judges put on their robes one arm at a time like the rest of us would. But we would like to think that once they have those robes on they have measures of probity and honesty that transcends what the rest of us generally have.

In the next few years we are going to see how well the members of the Supreme Court perform to the standard of independence from the other branches of government that Hamilton set forth in Federalist No. 78.

What are the odds that the Court’s Gallup numbers will rise any time soon?

Not good, I think.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 1/6/25

New Year for Left and Right

President Biden is expected to speak at the funeral for the 39^th president, Jimmy Carter, and President-elect Trump has said he will attend. Scroll down the center column for details on President Carter’s funeral procession in Plains, Georgia, and Washington, DC.

We are two-and-a-half weeks before "Day One" of the second Trump administration, so there is a lot to discuss. We have big plans for growth in 2025, including a new, more streamlined web design. Become a part of our quest for no-echo chamber, no-false equivalency civil media by voicing your opinion on current political issues. Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate whether you lean left or right with a note in the subject line.

Be sure to read, and subscribe to, our Substack newsletter.

President Biden is expected to speak at the funeral for the 39th president, Jimmy Carter, and President-elect Trump has […]

…meanwhile…

Speaker Vote Friday – Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) needs support of nearly all House Republicans – 218 of 219 -- to retain his speaker’s gavel when he comes up for a vote Friday afternoon. The House must choose a speaker by Monday in order to verify the November 5 presidential election, and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie already has said he will vote against Johnson, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

FRIDAY 1/3/25

Steel Barrier – President Biden has blocked the $14.9 billion sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel, The Washington Post reports, citing two administration officials. Biden has for months opposed sale of the iconic American company to the Japanese corporation despite potential of alienating a close ally. The Biden administration held off to past the presidential election before announcing its decision, which is expected to come officially on Friday.

--TL

_____________________________________________

THURSDAY 1/2/25

Terrorism? – That’s a question regarding the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck apparently filled with fireworks and gasoline cans at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s morning – tying businesses of the president-elect and his new Mar-a-Lago habitué, Elon Musk. Law enforcement officials have not identified the explosion as a terrorist attack, though Musk on his X/Twitter has, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

The explosion, which killed an unidentified individual inside the truck and injured seven bystanders, occurred about six hours after a Ford F-150 Lightning driven by a US Army veteran and displaying an Islamic state flag avoided vehicle barriers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarters, killing 15 and injuring at least 35 more, about 3:15 am local time Wednesday.

There are no connections between the two incidents as of yet, other than the Cybertruck and the Ford Lightning, which also is an electric pickup truck, were both rented via the Turo app.

•••

Carter Funeral – The Joint Task Force for the National Capitol Region, which coordinates state funerals has announced the schedule for President Jimmy Carter’s funeral procession in Washington, DC and Plains, Georgia.

Per U.S. News & World Report, services begin 10:30 am Saturday, January 4, with a motorcade through Plains to Carter’s childhood home with “a brief pause in front of the family’s farm.” There the National Park Service will ring its historic farm bell 39 times in honor of the 39^th president. The motorcade proceeds through to the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta for a 4 pm service. He will lie in repose at the Carter Center from 7 pm Saturday to 6 am Tuesday, January 7, during which the public are invited to pay their respects.

On January 7, the funeral travels to Washington for a procession along Pennsylvania Avenue to the US Capitol, followed by private services at the Rotunda for members of Congress to pay their respects. Carter will lie in state accompanied by a military honor guard to 7 am, Thursday, January 9, followed by a 10 am funeral at Washington National Cathedral.

President Biden is expected to speak at the funeral, and President-elect Trump has said he will attend.

In the White House statement on the December 29 passing of President Carter, at age 100, Biden said that “With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.

“He was a man of great character and courage, hope and optimism.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY 1/2/25

‘We’re [Not] Number 1!’

Ramaswamy reveals something many MAGAites don’t want to acknowledge

By Stephen Macaulay

First, let’s agree that no one wants illegal immigrants in the country. To be sure there may be all kinds of mitigating circumstances as to why they have broken the law to come to the U.S., but if we are a country of laws, not men, then upholding the laws is essential.

But there are illegal immigrants and there are immigrants.

In the last category there are people like, well, Elon Musk, who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, then moved to Canada before moving to the United States.

And let’s not forget that Melania Trump was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.

However, there are those in the Republican Party who paint all immigrants with a brush ladened with tar and are ready to run them on a rail out of town and out of the country.

This has become visible through the contretemps set off by Vivek Ramaswamy, who posted a message on somewhat social media about the need for an increase in the number of H-1B visas in order to have highly intelligent, high-skilled workers in the US.

Ramaswamy — who, incidentally, was born in Cincinnati, which is something that many of his sudden critics probably can’t imagine — went on to point out that too many Americans are not sufficiently interested in doing, well, the hard stuff.

He wrote that a society that “celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers”.

And engineers are important.

He also wrote there needs to be “more tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons. More books, less TV. More creating, less ‘chillin’. More extracurriculars, less hanging out at the mall”.

(Presumably Ramaswamy spends too little time in the real world if he thinks that “hanging out at the mall” is still, as the kids say, “a thing.”)

These observations, caused considerable consternation among the anti-immigrant portion of the Republican Party, a portion that seems Super-Sized.

Elon Musk, who probably doesn’t hire a whole lot of people for SpaceX or even Tesla who were regular attendees at Trump MAGA rallies, waded into the controversy by calling critics of Ramaswamy’s remarks “contemptible fools” and “hateful, unrepentant racists” who “will absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed.”

But really, who can blame these people, as they, too, probably, in Ramaswamy’s words, spent too much time watching “reruns of Friends” rather than a movie about relentless work and achievement like Whiplash?

One reason why there is this divide in perception between Ramaswamy, who has degrees from both Harvard and Yale Law, and those who eked out of high school is because the latter are often chanting, in effect, “We’re number one!” when it comes to anything from education to health care.

For example, according to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), when it comes to “tertiary education,” or simply graduating college, the U.S. isn’t number one, but number nine.

Perhaps Trump is interested in making Canada the 51^st state because it is number one.

The US follows not only Canada in the number of those who have finished tertiary education, but also Japan, Ireland, South Korea, United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, and Luxembourg.

And as health care is going to become another area of consternation, it is worth noting that the US doesn’t rank so high there, either.

According a 2024 study by The Commonwealth Fund, which describes itself as “a nonprofit private foundation supporting independent research on health policy reform and a high-performance health system,” when it comes to health care system performance measured among 10 countries, the US, despite spending considerably more than the others, ranks 10^th, behind Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, France, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland, and Germany.

Far from number one.

Yet populist chants and slogans don’t allow there to be discernment of what’s really going on.

All Americans can be proud of the accomplishments of Silicon Valley, which is certainly a number one.

Tesla, which is a global leading player in electric vehicles (the leading player until China’s BYD ascended), was established in California, as was SpaceX, another remarkable global player.

According to new data from the US Census Bureau, there are more foreign-born people living in California — 26.7% of its total population — than any other state.

Coincidence?

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THURSDAY 1/2/25

Left and Right Columns for You

“The Political World Just Lost Its Bipartisan Meeting Space,” reads the title of columnist Jonathan Martin’s latest piece in Politico Magazine. Martin is referring to David Axelrod, chief strategist for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and a onetime political reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

Martin “came to praise Axe, not bury him in a shroud of bygone-day nostalgia for civil discourse” for The Axe Files. Axelrod has wrapped up his eight-year-old podcast, which contained “candid, deeply personal and extended interviews with the leading figures for both parties.”

The Axe Files, in other words, managed to achieve what we are attempting in earnest – create a space for civil discourse among people all along the left and right halves of the political “horseshoe.” (If you are not familiar with the Horseshoe Theory, check out this description by the Vanderbilt Political Review. Personally, we learned about the theory from ‘60s-era standup comic Mort Sahl.)

While Axe interviewed well-known politicians and political operatives on his podcast, we are here for professional politicians and engaged, interested voters alike – political animals of various levels of interest.

To participate, send us your thoughts and opinions on any political news/news aggregate and analysis from the center column, and/or other comments from the right or left in those columns. Email us at editors@thehustings.news and please let us know how you lean, politically, in the subject line so that we post your civil comments in the appropriate column.

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MONDAY 12/23/24

Jimmy Carter

October 1, 1924 – December 29, 2024, the 39^th president (D) of the United States, 1977 – 1981. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 2002. (Photo: The Carter Center)

HOLIDAY 12/23/24 -- 1/1/25

Our Holiday Break: We are taking off for Festivus (Monday, the 23^rd), Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza and will return after New Years, on Thursday, January 2. Happy Holidays to all.

•••

Why Gaetz Won’t be AG – Eponymous host of The Matt Gaetz Show on One America (ahem) News Network and former nominee to be attorney general by President-elect Trump regularly paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, between the time he joined Congress in 2017, and 2020, according to a 37-page House Ethics Committee report released Monday, The Wall Street Journal reports. The committee report, which the former Republican representative from Florida had asked a federal judge to block from release, also says Gaetz accepted impermissible gifts, including lodging and transportation for a 2018 trip to the Bahamas.

Gaetz is suing the House Ethics Committee for defamation.

•••

Biden Commutes 37 Sentences – President Biden commuted sentences for 37 of 40 men on federal death row, The New York Times reports. All 37 had been convicted on murder charges and will continue to serve life sentences after the commutations. The three federal prisoners who still face execution are Robert D. Bowers, 52, who in 2018 killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh; Dylan Roof, 30, the white supremacist who killed nine Black parishioners in a 2015 shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina church; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 31, who with his brother killed three and maimed more than a dozen in the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon.

•••

Bully Tariffs – President-elect Trump wants to take back the Panama Canal over – irony alert – tariffs of 50 cents to $300,000 the country charges US ships crossing the canal to get between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.

“It was given to Panama and to the people of Panama, but it has provisions, you gotta treat us fairly and they haven’t treated us fairly,” Trump told Turning Point’s “American Fest” Sunday, according to The Hill.

“Take it back,” an audience member shouted.

“That’s a good idea,” Trump replied.

The US handed it over to Panama in 1999, in an agreement forged during the Carter administration.

How much in control … is the incoming Trump administration? We saw last week when a continuing resolution that would have suspended the debt ceiling so that Trump & Co. (World’s Richest Man Elon Musk) could quickly begin cutting corporate taxes at-will that its power is not as absolute as his “mandate” with an under-50% popular vote win might suggest. Hard-line Freedom Caucus House Republicans (who basically are Obama-era Tea Partiers gone full-MAGA) voted down that CR, despite a threat by Musk to use a small chunk of his estimated $400 billion to primary Republicans who don’t fall into line.

After they didn’t fall into line, Musk dropped the threat.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 12/23/24

The Predictable Harris Loss

By Stephen Macaulay

After Mitt Romney’s loss to Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, the Republican Party performed what was described as an “autopsy.”

They wanted to figure out (1) why they lost the election (remember, Romney’s bona-fides were much more substantial than Obama’s were, and if nothing else, Romney looked (and looks) absolutely “presidential”) and (2) what they needed to do so that the next time they would be successful.

So there was the “Growth and Opportunity Project.”

And arguably Donald Trump, who is not known for being a big reader, didn’t bother with it and he went his own way, which proved to be rather successful as he completely upended the conventional thought about presidential politics.

While the conventional Republicans talked about the importance of a “big tent,” Trump manifests images of luxury Palm Beach living for people who would be more likely to vacation in a tent rather than in a beach-side condo.

What Trump was selling was making regular people’s — as opposed to the political class — lives better. He was going to “Make America Great Again,” and as those folks are “America,” that meant them.

(If we go back to one of the causes of Romney’s loss was because he seemed to plugged in to the financial class, something that regular folk have a hard time with as they only deal with banking institutions when trying to get a home equity loan to finish the basement. The whole notion of “capital” is completely foreign to them. While it might be thought that Trump’s wealth would have been a negative, given that he spent money on what the monied class would consider outré, he was someone the regular folk were fine with because they knew if they had a chance. . . . Which goes to explain why some $270 million in lottery tickets are bought each day in the U.S. — nearly one $1 ticket for every American over the age 18.)

After Kamala Harris’s loss the Democrats are undertaking their own version of the “Growth and Opportunity Project,” trying to determine why, given all of the apparent flaws and flubs of Donald Trump, he was able to trounce the Harris-Walz ticket.

Which will undoubtedly become a document that will be better ignored by the next set of Democratic candidates.

What appears to be incomprehensible to many of the people who are hand-wringing and excoriating Trump’s pre-inauguration picks, policies and positions is that with few exceptions, the regular people don’t care.

During the campaign the Democrats talked a lot about “saving democracy” and how “Trump represented an existential threat.” (1) Most people didn’t see Hamilton. (2) And even more people have no idea who Jean-Paul Sarte was/is.

Trump, on the other hand, talked about how he was going to turbocharge the economy and make it better for people. That is something people can not only understand but get behind.

Consider this: Harris, apparently, felt constrained about criticizing Biden’s policies. Bidenomics — vis-à-vis the regular folks, not those who have invested in the markets (yes, yes, people who have 401(k) plans from their employer makes them investors in the market, even though they might not be aware of it) — wasn’t showing up in the form of better prices at Kroger or Walmart. That is what people know and understand.

Would Trump, had he been in the same position as Harris, hesitated to make it clear that it was going to be his way, not his predecessors?

Damn right.

Trump consistently said he will make things better for people. While that may or may not be the case, what is the case is that people felt the odds would be better for them by electing someone who talked about that rather than someone who generally gave that a swerve.

Today Trump says he’s going to straighten out the media. Given the state of newspapers in the US, for most people the “media,” a word they’d be unlikely to use, is what they see on Fox News because if a newspaper still remains in their locale, it is become ridiculously expensive — and when is the last time you saw a kid on a bike flinging papers on porches? They simply don’t care. It is not them. It is not anyone they know. It doesn’t make a difference.

There is consternation about the flaunting of political norms. Given that those norms have been kicked to the curb since 2015, isn’t it fair to say that they are no longer norms?

Maybe instead of hiring high-priced consultants and analysts if the Democrats want to win the next time out, the party pooh-bahs need to spend more time with the regular people in ways that governors and mayors do in their states and cities. What matters are things like roads (and while the Biden administration has done a great job in this regard, what percentage of regular people know that today?), schools teaching math and science, and the ability to take the family out every now and then at a place somewhat fancier than the local McDonalds. Things like that.

When people are wearing ballcaps with a politician’s slogan on them long after the election you’ve got to realize that there is more there than is likely to be sussed out by a think tank.

-30-

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MONDAY 12/23/24

From the Left

Where is Macaualay’s admiration for the right?

Mr. Mccaulay, you're labeled on Substack as pundit-at-large for The Hustings who writes "primarily for the right (conservative) column." If you're truly a man of the Right, how about a few more admiring Ted Cruz opinions? How about a positive Chuck Grassley profile? Maybe a story or two on the some of the recent invaluable contributions of Rudy Giuliani or Marjorie Taylor Greene? Maybe write about the beneficial influences of Rick Scott? Or discuss the countless contributions of Jim Jordan from his wrestling coach days through today? Come on man, step up to the plate and swing that club! Conservative America and right-column readers of The Hustings are counting on you!

--Chris Bidlack

•••

Submit your comments on the latest political news/news aggregate and/or on other commentary in our left or right columns to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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MONDAY 12/16/24

…meanwhile…

WINTER SOLSTICE 2024

We’re Solvent -- …to March 14, the date to which the 118^th Congress has kicked the can. Just after the federal government’s budget expired midnight Saturday morning, the Senate passed the “slimmed down” continuing resolution but without a provision to raise the debt ceiling in order to allow another Trump tax cut, by 85-11 vote. The Senate’s vote closely followed 366-34 passage by the House, Roll Call reports, easily surpassing the two-thirds threshold required under the chamber’s suspension of rules procedure.

The bill is roughly 120 pages versus the first CR, at 1,547 pages, voted down last Wednesday. President Biden was to sign it Saturday.

“Though this bill does not include everything Democrats fought for, there are major victories in this bill for American families,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), said before the final vote; “provide emergency aid for communities battered by natural disasters, no debt ceiling, and it will keep government open with no draconian cuts.”

The bill includes about $100 billion in disaster aid for victims of hurricanes Milton and Helene, and the 2023 Maui fires in Hawaii and a one-year extension of the farm bill. Removing the debt ceiling increase, which DOGE Czar Elon Musk and President-elect Trump wanted to happen during Biden’s lame-duck period was key for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

“Everything else” in the bill “is a win for the American people, and the debt limit is out,” Jeffries said.

The CR gives the incoming 119^th Congress, with Republicans’ 53-47 majority, to March 14 before they reach the federal budget can once again.

--TL

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FRIDAY 12/20/24

Uh oh – Yeah, X-Twitter/Tesla/SpaceX/Nueralink-CEO/DOGE Czar/world’s-richest-man/Bond-villian/shadow-president Elon Musk’s sinking of the first of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continuing resolutions earlier this week has backfired. Thirty-eight House Republicans Thursday rejected Johnson’s second CR, slimmed-down and containing removal of the debt ceiling through the entire upcoming Trump administration. With all House Democrats joining the dissenting Republicans to vote it down, 174-235, we are headed for likely partial shutdown of the federal government after midnight Friday.

After a “marathon” of meetings in Speaker Johnson’s office Thursday, CQ Roll Call reports, the House suspended rules to push the second CR through with a two-thirds vote requirement. While the first failed CR would have suspended the debt ceiling until January 2 (Happy New Year!), yesterday’s failed CR would have suspended it to January 30, 2027, or 10 days after Trump’s successor is inaugurated.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) argued for sticking with the original CR deal.

But President-elect Trump was all over that second, “slimmed-down” CR even if 38 hardline otherwise heavy-MAGA House Republicans were not.

“Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People,” Trump truth socialed on Truth Social. (Though reeking of Trump’s signature superfluous capitalization, perhaps "Deal for the American People" can become the president-elect’s post-Reagan theme, like the “New Deal” or “Morning in America.”)

Democrats opposed the “slimmed down” CR with the four-plus year debt ceiling suspension because they fear the suspension would make it easy for Republicans to run roughshod over Congress with heavy tax cuts. Favoring the rich. Like Elon Musk.

--TL

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THURSDAY 12/19/24

Musk Xes CR – DOGE Czar Elon Musk put the kibosh on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) bipartisan continuing resolution for the federal budget Wednesday, with a barrage of tweets to threaten a partial shutdown of the government at midnight Friday. President-elect Trump and veep-elect JD Vance issued a lengthy tweet – rather than a Truth Social post, interestingly – Wednesday calling Johnson’s CR deal “a betrayal of our country” and demanding Johnson raise the debt ceiling immediately so it’s under President Biden’s watch and yet ready for “Day One” of the new administration, according to Politico.

“Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch,” Trump-Vance posted on X-Twitter.

It’s a sort of yang to the yin of Trump’s kibosh put on the bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year.

Thursday’s Politico Playbook notes that Trump likely wasn’t paying much attention to the CR, which would keep the federal lights on to March 14, until Musk stepped in.

Warren warns … Prior to the CR shutdown, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) emailed the Trump transition team to warn that Musk, the CEO and major stockholder of Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, among companies that have major contracts with the federal government, should sign an ethics pledge, she told NPR’s Morning Edition in a Wednesday interview. Warren told NPR’s Michel Martin that she warned of Musk’s violations of the Trump transition team’s own ethics rule. Trump spokesperson Carolyn Leavitt has responded on several news outlets, referring to Warren as “Pocahontas.”

On the bubble … Is Speaker Johnson still useful to Trump?

--TL

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THURSDAY 12/18/24

The Fed Speaks – And it’s upbeat about today’s economy, which means it likes what the Biden administration has done to try and normalize it since the COVID pandemic, along what it has done to tamper inflation.

To that point, the Fed’s Open Market Committee has “lowered the target range for the federal funds rate by ¼% to 4 ¼- to 4 ½%.” It’s the third cut this year in the Fed’s slow u-turn on steady increases in response to high coronavirus/post-coronavirus inflation. First cut was in September, by half a point, followed by a quarter-point cut in November.

Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that as the Consumer Price Index has hovered closer to 3% than the Fed’s target of 2%, next year’s cuts will be more modest and less frequent than previously hinted at; maybe two in all of 2025. He said Wednesday’s quarter-point cut was far from a slam-dunk.

“Today was a close call, but we decided it was the right call. From here, it’s a new phase, and we’re going to be cautious about further cuts,” Powell said (per The Wall Street Journal).

Indeed, 11 of the 12 FOMC members, including Powell and his vice chair John Williams voted for the cut, while member Beth Hammack preferred to maintain the 4 ½% to 4 ¾% rate range.

Next year’s tepid outlook and conservatism over rate cuts sent the stock market to a major fall Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 1,123 points, or -2.58%, to 42,326,87.

How will Trump respond? … Citing high employment and strong GDP growth, Powell said, “again, the US economy has been just remarkable.” It is all but guaranteed the president-elect will take credit for the current economy. But what about next year’s economy, especially if the FOMC curbs interest rate cuts due to a return to rising inflation?

Powell says he will not step down as Fed chair before his current term is up in 2026, just in time for the midterm elections. Perhaps this year’s rate cuts under Powell could be blamed for any rise in inflation next year?

As crypto creeps up … Then there is the question of crypto currency. Thanks to a push by the nation’s tech oligarchs and to his family’s establishment of its own crypto coin, Trump has flipped on the issue and now apparently wants to fill a virtual Fort Knox with the stuff.

Asked by an Axios reporter at Wednesday’s FOMC press conference whether the Fed will look into buying up some of the coins for itself, Powell responded that it is not allowed.

“We’re not looking for a law change,” he said.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 12/18/24

Hammer Time – Congress hammers out a kick-the-can plan to keep the federal lights on. Choose your continuing resolution cliché. Lawmakers have released a 1,547-page spending bill to fund the government past December 20 – that’s Friday, when Congress is scheduled to go home for the holidays – and on to March 14, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

The CR includes about $100 billion for federal funding to mitigate natural disasters, including the aftermath of hurricanes Milton and Helene, and the 2023 Maui fires in Hawaii. It would extend the five-year farm bill by one more year, rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and allow Washington, D.C., to redevelop the 174-acre RFK Stadium site that has been fallow since 2019.

Prospects … The House Freedom Caucus objects to the CR’s “reckless spending,” but when push comes to shove, to utilize another cliché, the House and Senate will pass it this weekend in order to avoid a government shutdown. Then it will become freshly inaugurated President Trump’s problem, though of course he will have help from Republican majorities in both chambers for the 119^th Congress.

--TL

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TUESDAY 12/17/24

Russian Chemical Weapons Chief Killed – Ukrainian prosecutors have previously charged Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ radiation, chemical and biological defense troops with using banned chemical weapons in its war against Ukraine. On Tuesday, explosives attached to a scooter near a house in Moscow’s Ryazanky Prospect blew up, killing Kirillov and his aide, The Kyiv Independent reports, citing a source with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

The news outlet has not independently verified the report.

Question is … Will this sort of thing give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy better leverage when he is forced to sit down with Donald J. Trump and Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war?

•••

Got $200b? – There are questions of how SoftBank’s Mayoshi Son will raise the $100 billion over four years he has pledged to artificial intelligence and emerging technologies projects that will create 100,000 jobs in the US, in a joint announcement Monday with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Mayoshi will either have to sell off some holdings or raise some two-thirds of that in new venture capital. Mayoshi has about $30 billion cash to invest, according to The Wall Street Journal. That didn’t stop Trump from negotiating upward.

“Would you make it $200 billion?” Trump said to Mayoshi. Art of the Deal-style negotiations, after all.

“I will try to make it happen,” Mayoshi replied, fighting the president-elect for the room’s oxygen.

“Alright, 200,” Trump dealt back.

“He’s a great negotiator,” Mayoshi replied. Mission accomplished; Trump has captured the nation with the promise of job growth by a wily entrepreneur from Japan.

Second chance … Repeating history, not so much. Mayoshi pledged $50 billion to the nation for Trump’s first term, in December 2016 after securing the $100 billion from Middle Eastern countries for the SoftBank vision Fund. Mayoshi invested that in such high-profile flops as WeWork, the construction-focused company Katerra and a robot pizza-delivery company.

The WSJ helpfully notes that such private backing of a new administration often fails to work out, pointing to a high-profile Trump announcement of a $10 billion, 13,000-job investment by FoxConn in a liquid crystal plant in Wisconsin in 2018. Despite heavy tax incentives from the state, it never happened.

--TL

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MONDAY 12/16/24

Trump 47, So Far – President-elect Trump and his team have sucked so much air out of the lame-duck Biden White House that it seems fair to ask; How is Trump 47 doing, so far?

Trump was accompanied by both his choice for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and by his back-up for that cabinet post, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at the Army-Navy game in Landover, Maryland, last Saturday. In the days leading up to the game, which Navy won 31-13, Team Trump clawed back so much support from skeptical Senate Republicans that it would be a wonder that DeSantis bothered to show up.

Except … in showing up, DeSantis seems to be taking a page from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) who kissed Trump’s ring at Mar-a-Lago just one month after his second impeachment, for his (“alleged”) leadership of the mob at the Capitol on January 6,^,2021. Trump has his reason for inviting the governor formerly known as Ron DeSanctimonius to the football game: The next president wants daughter-in-law Laura Trump to be appointed senator from Florida after Marco Rubio inevitably is confirmed to be the next secretary of state, according to The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the matter.

The price of eggs … Then there’s inflation, for which Trump apparently has lost confidence within himself in being able to turn into deflation with a wave of the executive order drill-baby-drill wand, in this case to make the US the world’s biggest oil producer, up from its current position as world’s largest oil producer.

“It’s hard to bring things down once they are up,” Trump told Time magazine in its cover story naming him Person of the Year. “You know, it’s very hard.”

This raises a couple of points:

No matter what you think of Trump’s snagging of Time’s once-vaunted Person of the Year award, it was rather brilliant of the magazine’s editors to get a comprehensive interview with the president-elect out of it.
Biden, as well as the Harris/Walz campaign had tried in vain to convince voters that the inflation rate is coming down – that is, prices still go up, but closer to the ideal rate of 2% per year – and that it rose past 9% a couple of years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Trump 45’s weak response. Not to mention bird flu affecting chickens’ egg production (coffee is next, thanks to the way climate change has affected beans in Brazil and Vietnam).

Meanwhile … Next up as Team Trump continues to push for Senate Republican support for Hegseth as Defense secretary, the president-elect’s pick for Health and Human Service secretary, anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., meets with 20 GOP senators this week to argue for his cause, NPR reports.

•••

Another Win for Trump – How bad, how ominous, is ABC News’ $15 million settlement with Donald J. Trump over the differences in New York state law between the words “rape” and “sexual abuse”?

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos used the word “rape” in referring to E. Jean Carroll’s successful libel suit against the former and future president, in a contentious interview on This Week with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), a former Trump critic-turned-supporter who had earlier revealed she had been raped as a teenager. The judge in the case had said “pointedly” that Trump was found liable for what he did for what Americans would commonly call “rape” but was technically considered sexual abuse under New York State law according to NPR media reporter David Folkenflik, speaking on Morning Edition.

In addition, Folkenflik noted, ABC News and Stephanopoulos should have been given wide latitude in Trump’s defamation suit had they let it go to court, because Trump is a public figure. ABC News will contribute $15 million to Trump’s presidential library and post a “statement of regret.”

In The Bulwark, a never-Trumper center-right publication, William Kristol warns that ABC News’ – or perhaps more pointedly, its owner Disney’s – easy capitulation is a clear sign that the president-elect, and such Trump acolytes as his planned appointment for FBI director, Kash Patel will aggressively go after media outlets whom they feel have aggrieved Trump.

“I really shouldn’t be the one to do it,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago presser Monday. “It should be the Justice Department … or someone else. But I have to do it.”

In the wide-ranging press conference, Trump repeated his vow to sue pollster Ann Selzer for a “bombshell” report in the Des Moines Register showing him behind Vice President Kamala Harris in Iowa, and said he would sue CBS News’ 60 Minutes for its alleged edit of an interview with Harris ahead of the election, and the Pulitzer Prizes for awarding The Washington Post and The New York Times for their coverage of what he calls the 2016 Russian election interference “hoax” (per Mediaite).

In other words, regarding that threatened suit against the Pulitzers, “Russia, Russia, Russia.” … Which, after all, Vladimir Putin assured Trump was not Russia, at their 2018 meeting in Helsinki.

•••

The Next Joe Manchin? – Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) joined Donald J. Trump’s Truth Social last Tuesday, and promptly used the social media platform to call for a pardon for the president-elect over his conviction in a New York State court on charges he falsified business records.

“The Trump hush money and Hunter Biden cases were both ******** and pardons are appropriate,” Fetterman said on Truth Social Tuesday evening, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Since November 5^th, Fetterman has expressed support for some of the president-elect’s cabinet and department-head choices, and says he admires Trump’s new right-hand man, Tesla/SpaceX/X-Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 12/16/24

Post-Election Optimism

By Rich Corbett

A palpable sense of optimism has swept across America since the November elections. The nation, having navigated a period of intense political division, now looks forward with renewed hope and confidence. The election results have sparked a collective sense of relief and of possibility, with many Americans believing that the future holds great promise under the leadership of President-elect Donald J. Trump, his cabinet picks, and a Republican controlled House and Senate.

One big reason for this optimism is the emphasis on an America First agenda and a “second chance” for Trump. A strong America and freedom-loving leadership defeated the fascists and autocrats during World War II and the communists of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, resulting in extraordinary innovations and prosperity for much of the world. A strong and prosperous United States makes for a safer, more peaceful world.

Leaders from both major parties have expressed a commitment to working together to address the country's most pressing issues. All Americans desire to return to values in line with a sense of fairness and common-sense principles.

Some thought this bipartisan approach would happen under President Biden, who in 2020 campaigned on “unity.” Politically centered citizens yearned for this, but instead of unity, the Biden/Harris administration veered radically to the left. If there is a "spirit of cooperation” taking place, it is being demonstrated by Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat. If more Democrats with moderate views, like Fetterman, would commit to cooperating with Republicans, we would get a more harmonious national discourse.

The election also has injected new energy into the American economy with Trump’s promises of innovative policies aimed at stimulating growth, relaxing heavy handed central planning and excessive government regulation, helping businesses create better jobs, supporting small businesses and reducing tax burdens. All have been met with enthusiasm. Economic indicators are already showing signs of improvement, with consumer confidence on the rise. The focus on sustainable development and technological advancement is poised to drive economic progress and enhance the quality of life for millions of Americans.

The election has highlighted the importance of advancements in such fields as artificial intelligence, clean energy, and biotechnology. Investments in research and development will spur technological breakthroughs, drive economic growth and improve quality of life. America's tradition of innovation is poised to continue, paving the way for a future marked by progress and prosperity.

Finally, the 2024 election has reinvigorated civic engagement, especially on social media platforms that invited robust, balanced debate. Several platforms had previously discouraged the discussion of issues censored by left-leaning moderators, often under pressure by politically biased bureaucrats. Mainstream media also had noticeably veered even further from journalistic principles. They are no longer viewed as reporting the news but are often viewed as “opinionists.” Americans also proved their “civic engagement” with historic voter turnout, which reflected our deep-seated belief in the democratic process. This robust engagement underscores a vibrant democracy where every voice matters and collective action can drive meaningful change.

Hope is alive again in America. Patriots who believe in the USA should embrace this "second chance" with optimism. Let’s help our country move forward with a sense of renewed energy and a determination to build a better and more prosperous America for all.

Corbett writes My Desultory Blog.

•••

Submit your comments on the latest political news/news aggregate and/or on other commentary in our right or left columns to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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MONDAY 12/16/24

We Need Your Help

That may sound a bit desperate … begging, even. But no, this is not a plea for a cash contribution. No sustaining monthly draws from your debit card here. Rather, it is a plea for your comments. The Hustings is designed to foster civil commentary from the politically curious, as well as hard-core political animals from the right and the left. From pro-MAGA and anti-Trump. From moderates and progressives, with no echo chambers, no false equivalencies.

Compare this to the sort of news & commentary feeds you’ll find at X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and the struggles to counter X’s extremes at Bluesky.

Email your comments on the political news/news aggregate in the center column, and/or to other comments in the left or right columns, including never-Trumper Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s right-column comments, or even current political news or an issue you think we’ve missed, to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings – left or right – in the subject line. Because like Macaulay, the content of your comments might not easily indicate your political leanings. As much as anything else, it’s that political POV diversity we relish.

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THURSDAY 12/12/24

…meanwhile…

Prices rose 0.3% month-over-month in November after 0.2% increases each month from July to October, the Labor Department reports, for an annual Consumer Price Index of 2.7%, up from a 2.6% rate in October. Shelter was up 0.3% in November, to account for nearly 40% of increases, and food was up 0.4%. [Bureau of Labor Statistics chart]

FRIDAY 12/13/24

Give America Polio Again? – As much fear as there is in many political corners of the potential effect on the nation of mass immigrant deportation, or across-the-board tariffs under the incoming Trump administration, the appointment of two ex-Democrats maybe triggering the most angst.

There’s Tulsi Gabbard, with whom Senate Democrats refused to meet earlier this week to discuss her nomination to be Trump’s director of national intelligence, according to Real Clear Politics. Gabbard quit her House seat as a Democrat from Hawaii in 2022 and called her former party “an elitist cabal of warmongers.” She previously had met twice with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2017, three years before her unsuccessful run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Then there’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s attorney, Aaron Siri, who is helping the Health and Human Services secretary nominee to choose federal officers. The New York Times reports that Siri has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which has been saving lives since 1955, as well as 13 other vaccines. Siri has also challenged, and in some cases killed COVID mandates across the US, sued federal agencies to disclose vaccine approval research and subjected prominent vaccine scientists to “grueling” videotaped depositions.

•••

Dem Antipathy for Sinema, Manchin – Senate Democrats are “livid” over the votes of Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) that sunk President Biden’s renomination of Lauren McFarren to the National Relations Labor Board, The Hill reports. Blocking McFarren’s re-appointment and handing Republicans the five-member NLRB’s majority was described by Democrats as “pathetic” and “disappointing.” Had either senator, who had regularly caucused with the Democrats, voted “yes” to McFarren, her re-appointment would have likely passed 50 to 49.

“I think people are not sorry to see them go,” one anonymous Democratic senator told The Hill, of Sinema and Manchin.

“Millions of working people across the country will pay the price for their actions,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

•••

Sixty-Three More Fed Judges – President Biden is threatening to veto a bill the House passed Wednesday that would create 63 new federal judgeships, the first expansion in decades, between 2025 and 2035, in order to ease a backlog in the federal court system, CQ Roll Call reports. The House passed the bill 236-173, with 29 Democrats joining 209 Republicans this week, after the Senate approved the measure by unanimous consent in August.

Obviously, the incoming Trump administration would get the first serious shot at nominating new federal judges, with at least two-years support from the GOP Senate majority.

•••

Lake for VoA? – President-elect Trump’s naming on Truth Social of twice-failed Arizona MAGA candidate Kari Lake to lead the Voice of America may not go very far. Lake, a former television news anchor herself, has vowed to be reporters’ “worst nightmare,” according to Vanity Fair. But the incoming Trump administration’s apparent plan to turn VoA into its own international propaganda arm runs into a 2020 rule issued to prevent the head of the US Agency for Global Media from hiring or firing a VoA chief without approval by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, according to The New Republic.

--TL

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THURSDAY 12/12/24

Timing is Key – President-elect Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning (per NPR), something he never got to do when he was 45^th president. Seems to be a sign of how the business and finance world has eased into an obvious embrace of Donald J. Trump’s specific brand of anti-regulation, populist Republicanism.

Meanwhile … Trump is Time’s 2024 Person of the Year; “For marshalling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world… ”

•••

Biden Clemencies – Described as the largest-single act of clemency in modern history, President Biden has commuted about 1,500 people while also issuing 39 more presidential pardons. The commutations release US citizens convicted of non-violent crimes, mostly drug charges who have shown “successful rehabilitation,” according to The Independent.

The Biden White House promised to continue reviewing clemency petitions to “advance equal justice” and “provide meaningful second chances” before January 20.

“America was built on the promise of possibility of second chances,” Biden said in a White House statement.

•••

Wray Down and Out – He certainly is no J. Edgar Hoover, who founded the FBI in 1935 and served as its director up to his death in 1972. Christopher Wray will even fall short as director of the FBI, of matching the life of Quinn Martin’s original, The FBI, which brought real cases to television from 1965 to 1974.

Christopher Wray announced he is stepping down as FBI director ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration next month, seven years into his 10-year term, to make way for Kash Patel.

“After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” Wray told colleagues Wednesday at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. (per Politico).

Then-first term President Trump appointed Wray to be FBI director in 2017, but the two quickly got sideways. That culminated in the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago for classified documents Trump kept after he left office. (The search, on August 8, 2022, coincidentally was the 48^th anniversary of President Nixon’s resignation over Watergate.)

“The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social with his signature capitalization, “as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. I just don’t know what happened to him.”

•••

Meta Million for Trump – Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago after the November 5 election almost recalls the visit in February 2021 by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), which began to flip then-ex-President Trump’s post-January 6^th political fortunes. Zuckerberg and Meta’s Facebook had never been connected with the Trump camp – until now. With Elon Musk leading a cadre of Silicon Valley billionaires toward MAGA, Zuckerberg’s Meta confirmed to various news outlets Wednesday it has donated $1 million to President-elect Trump’s inaugural fund, Forbes reports.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY 12/12/24

Who Needs Experience?

Evidently not many nominees for positions in the forthcoming Trump Administration

By Stephen Macaulay

The headline on the Politico emailed newsletter is striking:

“Trump’s nominees under the microscope”

Microscope?

Mr. Magoo could readily see that this is a barrel full of unqualified misfits.

The nominees under that microscope are:

Paul Atkins. He’s nominated to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is charged with ensuring securities exchanges, brokers and dealers follow federal US securities laws. Last year Sam Bankman-Fried, who had headed FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of FTX. According to Politico Atkins said on a podcast last year, “The collapse of FTX was this international debacle that happened because, I think, the US didn’t make our rules accommodating to this new technology.” I should have thought of that excuse when I got a speeding ticket: the speed limit was not accommodating to my need for speed.
Mehmet Oz. Dr. Oz was a thoracic surgeon, so he did more than play one on his television show. He retired from his position at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2018. His TV show, which ran for 13 seasons, ended in 2022. He ran for senator for Pennsylvania in 2022, having conveniently purchased a home in the state in 2021. He lost. But now he is nominated to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Like the man who nominated him, Dr. Oz was a fan of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment. After that, it is probably just as well he retired from his medical practice, unless his patient is. . .
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He’s been nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has had some issues with COVID, too. In his case, he suggested in a speech, “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people.” He went on to suggest that Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese “are most immune.” Now it is well known that Kennedy is an anti-vaxxer, so his heading up of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is troubling, to put it mildly, given the fact that vaccinations are well known to have minimized diseases including polio, diphtheria, and smallpox. Hydroxychloroquine, incidentally, was taken in pill form.
Pete Hegseth. Although the foregoing are ridiculously unqualified for the positions they have been nominated for, Hegseth trumps them all. The man is dubious at best. There is the sexual assault allegation. He has responded that it was consensual. If that’s the case, why did he pay the person in question to remain silent? As Mitt Romney said to CNN during the Trump-Stormy Daniels case, “You don’t pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you.” Truth is more powerful than hydroxychloroquine. Subsequent reports indicate inappropriate behavior toward women was exhibited by Hegseth. He is said to drink too much, which would be fine (well, not totally fine, but he is clearly a “dude”) were he to do it in the security of his own home, not on the job, as reports indicate he has. Overall, it doesn’t seem as though he is a good role model. His greatest level of managerial experience is with the Concerned Veterans for America, which he was with from 2012 to 2016. While his departure seems to have had something to do with some of the aforementioned issues, it is worth knowing the CVA, under Hegseth’s tenure, had 159 employees and had peak donations of $15 million in 2016. The Department of Defense has 2.87 million employees and an $849.8-billion budget. So in terms of employees, the CVA had 0.0055% of what the DoD has. And if $15 million is what the CVA had to work with when Hegseth was there, know that’s 0.0018% of the current DoD budget. It would take more than a few nights at a Holiday Inn Express to have the know-how regarding the vast gulfs between those two metrics.
Kash Patel. While I would argue that anyone who wears a large lapel pin that reads “K$H” is disqualified from doing anything but working the floor of a furniture warehouse outlet, Patel’s various and many comments about coming after members of the media who have been perceived to have been mean to Donald Trump is somehow not in keeping with the role of the chief law-enforcement official in the US. After all, the chief document related to laws in the US, a.k.a., the Constitution, has as its very first amendment: “Congress shall make no law. . .abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Now while the FBI director is in the Executive Branch, not the Congressional, it seems fairly clear that unless journalists are legitimately defaming someone (this requires proof that said information is false), obstructing justice (lawful proceedings) or, well, treason (as in levying war against the US or providing aid and comfort to the enemies of the US), it seems that Patel’s approach may exceed his remit.

Again: It doesn’t take a microscope.

And to the extent that senators fall back on thinking like this, exhibited by Bill Hagerty, (R-TN) on “Meet the Press,” December 1: “President Trump is entitled to name his appointees. That is exactly what he's doing, and I'm going to support this appointment,” ocular devices of any kind aren’t needed.

The appointment in question was that of Patel. When Kristen Welker of NBC News had previously quoted former Trump-appointed attorney general Bill Barr on the prospect of Patel becoming deputy FBI director during Trump’s first term — “Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency” — Hagerty pushed back with, “Listen, I think you should have the Biden administration look at itself. What is the qualification of Tony Blinken to become secretary of state?”

As Welker didn’t have the opportunity to answer, let’s do that. Blinken began his public service career in 1993 in the State Department as special assistant in the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs. Under the Clinton Administration he was on the National Security Council staff. He spent six years as Democratic staff director for the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In the Obama Administration he was principal deputy national security advisor and deputy secretary of state.

Seems like a lot of qualifications. Probably not a good example had Welker had the opportunity to cite Blinken’s resume.

Hagerty summed up his position on the Trump nominees by telling Welker, “I plan to support President Trump's candidates because the American public needs to see dramatic change… .”

Whether they are qualified or not doesn’t seem to matter. Trump wants them. Trump will get them.

Hagerty and presumably a number of his colleagues in the Senate are not going to be

deploying microscopes.

They’ll just pull out a rubber stamp.

-30-

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THURSDAY 12/12/24