17) How much legal jeopardy is #DonaldTrump in?
The classified documents case will make use of a recording which indicates that #Trump had a highly sensitive document which he knew was NOT declassified.
The chain of evidence looks strong and while there is much news media spinning, a court of law is more rigorous environment where focus on fact is primary
#Election2024 #USPolitics #Politics
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/us/politics/trump-documents-tape-audio.html
18) Much of #JoeBiden’s reelection efforts for #Election2024 will hinge on his ability to pass legislation which stimulates the economy in the rust belt.
Will investments such as the new Micron plant in Syracuse, New York courtesy of the CHIPS act improve his electoral chances?
19) How does the public feel about #DonaldTrump’s indictment on classified documents mishandling?
Navigator Research has the numbers and they’re not good if you’re a #Trump supporter
Notably Trump’s numbers are poor with Independent voters, the group which will decide #Election2024
https://navigatorresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Navigator-Update-06.27.2023.pdf
20) As the #DeSantis campaign continues to flail and gain traction against #DonaldTrump, the Florida governor leans into a deeper hostility directed at the #LGBT community
There are no solutions being offered here, merely rage directed at a minority group. Just the #facist playbook being dusted off again
#Politics #USPolitics #Election2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/us/politics/desantis-video-lgbtq-trump.html
21) While the #GOP is busy stoking conspiracy theories and rage, the #Biden administration is delivering meaningful change.
Invest in broadband access will better enable all Americans to start their own businesses and remote work opportunities regardless of location
The White House on Monday divvied up $42 billion among the nation's 50 states and U.S. territories to make access to high-speed broadband universal by 2030, as it launched a new publicity campaign for President Joe Biden's economic policies.
22) How should journalists cover a candidate like #RFkJR?
Have you heard of the Gish Gallop?
On the Media has some interesting thoughts on the matter and what to do when a candidate spouts a flood of conspiracy theories
#USPolitics #Politics #Election2024
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/how-cover-candidate-rfk-jr-on-the-media
23) #PeteButtigieg shows the way for #Election2024. Americans have to decide whether they want government that gets things done or #CultureWars and the attendant hatred directed at the #LGBTQ or other minority communities.
24) From the guy that thought #ElonMusk would be a good leader for #Twitter, an endorsement for a candidate who has descended into the swirling conspiracism
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared to endorse anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Democratic presidential nomination over the weekend. Dorsey retweeted a video of Kennedy saying he could beat former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who announced his bid for the White House on Twitter last month. Dorsey captioned…
25) Good piece from David French at the #NYT on not just the rage, but also the joy of being a #MAGA fan.
The joy of belonging to a group of like minded people who are facing down an imagined set of awful lefties determined to destroy America
It is a cultish mindset. Can it be cracked? Should an effort be made to deprogram Trumpists? Should the movement be left to fade into irrelevancy assuming #Election2024 is lost?
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/maga-america-trump.html
26) The #GOP in Congress are doing their bit to move #ReproductiveRights and #LGBTQ issues up the national agenda for #Election2024.
The #HardRight look to start #CultureWars on major legislation wherever possible. Clearly an indication that they want a national #abortion ban and to ostracize the #queer community
A more than questionable winning strategy
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/us/politics/defense-bill-house-ndaa.html
Republicans loaded the measure with a raft of social policy provisions — including limits on abortions, gender transition procedures and diversity training — that have little chance of surviving in the Senate.
27) Good piece from #NPR on young #RuralVoters which will be an important constituency for #JoeBiden in #Election2024 particular in #Georgia and #NorthCarolina and other purple states.
There are of course rural voters in every state and so the #Biden campaign has to hone its message to bleed away some of these votes which have trended #GOP
28) #DonaldTrump is attempting to delay legal proceedings against him, a practice consistent with his past, when he sought to exhaust the financial and emotional resources of those that instituted proceedings against him
American voters now have a candidate for #Election2024 who looks to his election for relief from his legal woes
29) #DonaldTrump’s minions have crafted a disturbing plan to centralize more authority under the presidency.
Should such a plan be implemented, independent federal agencies will be purged for those deemed insufficient loyal to the president.
The ability to resist Caligula-like commands will be rescinded. Unchecked partisan power will become the norm
#USPolitics #Politics #Election2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/us/politics/trump-plans-2025.html
This article was pretty sensational, fearmongering for clicks. It was a good example of why so many have lost respect for outfits like the NY Times.
Your mention of independent federal agencies is one great example: the article plays fast and loose with the legalities around independent agencies, overlooking the legal barriers that distinguish them from other agencies, ones that would prevent exactly the thing the article is trying to hype up.
It’s just foolish for this reporter to act as if a president can revoke checks on presidential power, as if those are voluntary.
They’re not.
The article is consistent with the #Trumpist fever dream obsession with the purported Deep State. It sets up the governing agencies to be purged of dissenting views.
I find it credible and consistent with past rhetoric and is one of many reasons why #DonaldTrump and his minions should never get within an asses roar of the #WhiteHouse again
Again, it’s just one example of how the article misleads, but it misses that presidents don’t have the authority to do that.
He wants to purge the government? That’s nice. And it’s exactly why the system was designed without that possibility.
So no, it’s not credible.
AND it plays into Trump’s hands to act like it would be something he could do. We should be countering the guy by pointing out to his supporters that he’s making empty promises and lying to them.
I suggest that it is a stated ambition and as such is one of many things that would disqualify #Trump as a plausible candidate for office.
I imagine that any agency can be dismantled. The precise mechanics maybe at question, but institutions are vulnerable.
So what would you suggest when news is received to this effect, let it stand unanswered, unacknowledged?
You imagine incorrectly :)
No, agencies tend to exist by law passed by congresses and are bound to uncountable legal agreements made year after year. Presidents have no authority to do what’s being claimed here, whether they want to or not.
Again, if Trump is telling his supporters he has authorities that he doesn’t, promising things that he won’t be able to fulfill, why in the world would we buy into his nonsense?
The better response isn’t to buy into Trump’s garbage. The better response is to point out that he’s an idiot who can’t live up to the promises he’s making, just as he didn’t live up to them before.
This false idea that a President Trump would have these powers is exactly what he’s running on. Let’s debunk that, not promote his campaign rhetoric.
Ok I as I understand it, there are broadly two types of agencies, those directly under the purview of the executive and those that are quasi independent
The article is primarily focused on the independent agencies. The EPA, I believe falls into this category. As I understand that agency was created at the behest of the Nixon administration through enabling legislation of the congress.
What is established by law can also be destroyed by law with a willing congress
Right, and so not by a president unilaterally, no matter what idiotic promises he might make to his base, which is why we need to call him out for making false promises to his base, AND call him out for failing to keep previous false promises.
We need to point out how weak Trump is, and how he is bound by law, not play into his claims to his base that he’s going to do all this stuff he has no authority to do.
How assured are you that the #GOP will not win both the Senate and the House in addition to the Presidency? It is not improbable that they have a clean sweep. All that is left then is the filibuster which is simply a rule that can be rescinded by the Senate to achieve a historic reworking of the government. So no, I don’t think we should shrug our shoulders and say that can’t happen
Firstly, I’m pretty sure the GOP won’t take both House and Senate much less do so with a set of members who will cooperate.
Secondly, even if somehow that happened, Congress still couldn’t drop Constitutional restrictions on presidential action.
So most importantly for this context, a president can’t claim unchecked power if he’s relying on the democratic process to cooperate AND still has to abide by constitutional restrictions.
The idea that Trump can just seize that power gets weaker with every qualification to the story.
I think the danger of a clean sweep of the executive and legislature is now far more than a a fever dream possibility
Political analysts already agree that the #Democrats are facing a difficult challenge retaining control of multiple seats in purple and red states
The #GOP already controls the house and have redrawn many state maps controlled by GOP legislatures to boost re-election chances
So the threat outlined is feasible and not ignored
Again, EVEN IF Republicans had a clean sweep, that would not be sufficient to lead to what’s being described here.
AND, pointing that out is one great way to avoid that clean sweep.
Because if filibuster protection?
Because constitutional restrictions still apply without the amendment process, which requires much more than a slight congressional majority, just to name one reason Trump’s promises to his supporters are empty.
Agreed the constitution is the supreme law of the land. I don’t have a huge amount of faith in the current court to act in an impartial manner in interpreting the constitution. So that reminder does not give me a warm fuzzy.
Yeah I get there are a lot of hurdles to jump. Given the chaotic nature of the last #Trump administration, I’m not convinced version II would be any more competent, but I certainly wouldn’t want to roll the dice with that possibility
But again remember, don’t oversimplify, legal issues in the country aren’t just resolved by the Supreme Court. There are hundreds of courts around the country all ruling on disputes, sometimes even ignoring the Supreme Court when they don’t agree with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
So again it’s the same thing: oversimplifying processes in the US government allows reporters to make these fear-mongering stories that are just completely unrealistic because the checks and balances often exist in the details that get overlooked in those clickbait stories.
Trump failed in so many of his promises because he did not understand how the government worked, and he shows no sign of having learned in the years since.
We need to be smarter than him, which is not hard, and we need to point out to everybody just how ignorant he was and remains, how incapable he is of fulfilling his promises because he has no idea how the US government works.
But we need to know how the US government works to point that out.
In terms of strategy, I agree. It’s important to communicate that the presidency is not a dictatorship. We have a republic and making law is not done by dictat. It’s done by working cooperatively, that shat it means to have a democracy
Martin Nutty
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