A Bad Pardon, No Mandate,Terrible Nominees
...and no time to disengage or "surrender in advance"
A Misguided Pardon
After making adherence to the law and the priciple that “no one is above the law” — and especially after promising on multiple occasions not to intervene in his son’s criminal trials or issue him a pardon — Biden ended the Thanksgiving weekend with an announcement that he would pardon Hunter. A disgrace on his record.
Of note, however, many elected Democrats and members of the “liberal media” skewered him for this. Contrast that with the scene outside the NYC courthouse where a coterie of Republican officials attacked the justice system on The Felon they nominated, and Americans elected (MAGA-Mafiosi Heed the Boss’s Instructions).
The Landslide That Wasn’t…Nor is the “Mandate,” but Trouble Looms for Dems
Trump and his team began crowing about their “historic victory” and “mandate” for the agenda he ran on before bedtime on election day — an obvious move intended to quell any dissent or opposition.
This was of a piece with his demand that whoever won the race for Majority Leader in the Senate (the lucky guy was John Thune) must allow for recess appointments of Trump’s cabinet appointees.1 This is an unprecedented demand, breaking the Constitution’s definition of the Senate’s role of “advice and consent.” And the nominees we’ve seen so far, Gaetz, Hegseth, RFK,Jr., Gabbard, Patel, etc. show just how terrible giving Trump a free hand would be.
Well, while the win appeared decisive, especially at first glance, it turns out to have been…
…the second-closest since 1968, and it’s still tightening. With 96% of the vote in, Trump has 49.97% and Vice President Harris has 48.36%, according to the Associated Press. These results show that Trump doesn't exactly have the "unprecedented and powerful mandate" he claimed on election night. The margin shows how closely divided the country is politically and that any shift to the right is marginal. Here’s what these results mean, plus a graphic that breaks down the popular vote throughout the years. — NPR
The Electoral College with its winner-take-all (except for Maine and Nebraska) rules magnified and amplified the miniscule popular vote difference, as did slow counting in several states, especially the massive state of CA.
So, push back on the talk of a “mandate from the voters” when it inevitably will be used to try to steamroll legislative or popular opinion to implement Project 2025, which proved so toxic when revealed that Trump feigned ignorance of it.
Having said that, there indeed was an overwhelming shift to the right in county-level outcomes that Democrats will need to reckon with.
…About Those Truly Terrible Nominees…
…It’s good that Matt Gaetz had to withdraw. It’s good that Hegseth may have to as well. But one should also note that what will have brought them down is primarily their atrocious personal behavior. There’s been less focus on how unbelievably unqualified they are for the jobs for which they were nominated. And there’s been much less attention to the danger of the policies they’ve embraced and that they would actually pursue in those powerful positions. At some point, we do need to get to the real discussion about the damage these nominees would cause and the danger they’d pose. And the person for whom that discussion is most necessary is Kash Patel, nominated to be FBI director. He’s on record as wanting to use the FBI to go after political opponents. As he proved, especially after November 3, 2020, that he respects neither our Constitution nor our rule of law. (Emphasis mine.)
Don’t disengage…Don’t roll over. WHAT CAN YOU DO? FIND YOUR SENATOR’S PHONE NUMBER IN THIS DIRECTORY…
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
PUT IT ON YOUR CONTACTS…CALL EACH DAY …Especially if your senator is a Republican. Say you’ll be watching his/her vote.
…and while you’re at it, register the complaint with your Rep in the House as well, even if they don’t have a direct advice and consent role. https://www.house.gov/representatives#name-j
“Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.” ― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner. Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again. We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!”- Trump, on Twitter (I refuse to call it “X”)