Republicans have created a pipeline of conservative lawyers to help carry out a sweeping reconfiguration of the federal judiciary.
Tag: Republican Party
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🎧 ‘The Daily’: Why Peter Strzok Wanted to Testify | New York Times
We look at what happened when the embattled F.B.I. agent appeared before lawmakers to explain his controversial text messages.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: Trump’s Supreme Court Finalists | New York Times
With the president expected to announce his choice to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, we look at the top candidates.
👓 Peaceful Transfer of Power Update | Kevin Drum
This morning I mentioned how excited Republican legislatures have become about stripping state officials of power just before those state officials happen to become Democrats. But I missed one. It turns out that many years ago Florida handed authority over concealed-carry permits to the state’s agriculture commissioner. Why? Because sometimes law enforcement playfully tries to actually enforce the law, and the NRA would prefer that not happen. Instead, they want concealed-carry permits rubber stamped by an elected official. But then this happened:
The agriculture commissioner’s office attracted unwanted attention in early 2018 after it was found that for 13 months, the department’s Division of Licensing stopped using results from an FBI crime database that ensures those who apply do not have a disqualifying history in other states.
This was fine with the NRA, of course, but even in Florida it turns out that voters were unamused. As a result, they elected a Democrat as agriculture commissioner. A Democrat! This is the NRA’s worst nightmare, no now they’ve proposed that concealed-carry permits be transferred to…
…the state’s CFO.
The what?
Yeah, Florida has a CFO. It’s an odd office that was created just a few years ago, and the CFO doesn’t really seem to do all that much. But he is a Republican, so he’ll do. Democrats have counterproposed that concealed-carry permits be handled by law enforcement, which actually makes sense, but so far Republicans are having none of it. They’re dedicated to stripping the ag commissioner of authority and giving it once again to a Republican.
There’s no telling how hard they’ll kowtow to the NRA on this, but for now it looks like we have four GOP states that are desperately trying to strip elected officials of power in lame duck sessions before Democrats take over. Naturally, I have an updated map:
👓 George H.W. Bush, 41st president of the United States, dies at 94 | The Washington Post
Karen Tumulty (The Washington Post)George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president and his one term as commander in chief from 1989 to 1993.
Highlights, Quotes, Annotations, & Marginalia
He negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, a measure that was ratified by the Senate in President Bill Clinton’s first term. ❧
Interesting that he dies on the same day that Trump declares victory over the death of NAFTA.
November 30, 2018 at 11:42PM
He lost to New York billionaire Donald Trump, ❧
Is he really a “billionaire”?! I thought the Times’ own reporting had refuted this pretty soundly?
December 01, 2018 at 12:14AM
👓 Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith Wins Miss. Senate Runoff After Racially Charged Campaign | NPR
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith won the Senate runoff in Mississippi by a margin of 54-to-46 percent, according to the Associated Press, overcoming a series of missteps that brought the state's dark history of racism and violence to the forefront. Hyde-Smith, who was appointed to the Senate earlier this year after Republican Thad Cochran stepped down because of health reasons, defeated former congressman and agriculture secretary Mike Espy. Neither candidate had won the requisite 50 percent in the first round of the special election on Election Day. She is the first woman elected to the Senate from Mississippi.
Even if she weren’t a virulent racist, she’s a horrible pick because she simply doesn’t seem to be able to think or operate for herself without being propped up by a staff behind her.
Too often I’m just saddened at what America is producing.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Plan to Discredit the Florida Recount | New York Times
The partisan battle over several close races risks damaging public confidence in the state’s election systems.
👓 Brian Kemp’s Lead in Georgia Needs an Asterisk | The Atlantic
If the governor’s race had taken place in another country, the State Department would have questioned its legitimacy.
🎧 The Daily: Nancy Pelosi’s Dilemma | New York Times
Under fire from both parties, the longtime House Democratic leader faces an uncertain political future.
🎧 The Daily: The Trump Voters We Don’t Talk About | New York Times
New data offers a more nuanced look at this group beyond “white men without a college degree.”
🎧 The Daily: Paul Ryan’s Exit Interview | New York Times
As speaker of the House, the Republican lawmaker should be at the peak of his powers. Instead, he’s walking away.
🎧 The Daily: A Scorched-Earth Strategy in Ohio | New York Times
Republicans have deployed a polarizing message and millions of advertising dollars in an attempt to rescue what used to be a reliably conservative congressional seat.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: Susan Collins on Roe v. Wade and the Next Justice | New York Times
The Republican from Maine is among few senators willing to break from their parties on major issues — and who may decide the makeup of the Supreme Court.\
She’s usually pretty sound and logical, but I don’t suspect she’s actually going to stand up given the current political climate.
🎧 ‘The Daily’: Today’s Hearing: Trial or Job Interview? | New York Times
Republicans and Democrats are expected to take very different approaches to the questioning of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
👓 The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s his Republican enablers. | Vox
Trump’s flaws lie in plain sight. It’s the GOP that pretends blindness.