Dem
47
GOP
53
We are going to launch three new (potential) weekly features this week. One of them, which will launch tomorrow, is a done deal. We already announced it, and we've just been waiting to move forward. Another, which will probably also launch tomorrow, is a maybe. We'll see what readers think about it. The third, which is also a maybe, is what you are reading right now.
We encounter a lot of news stories that meet all of the following parameters:
Sometimes with these news stories, we are able to tack them on to some larger item. Often we are not. And so, they go to the back burner, and they often stay there... forever.
This item is meant to be a corrective for that problem. Many readers will know Herb Caen, the legendary San Francisco columnist who pioneered "three dot journalism." For those who are not familiar, he'd write columns full of quick hits, with each individual morsel of news just getting a paragraph or two. In Los Angeles, Allan Malamud did the same thing for many years, though his "Notes on a Scorecard" was sports-centric. Presumably, other cities had similar features in their newspapers, but those other cities are not in California. So, as everyone knows, they aren't as important.
Anyhow, the idea here is to take a quick look at somewhere between half a dozen and a dozen news stories, and to give our quick take on each. Tuesdays are probably the best day to do this, because there's a lot of "small" news coming out of the weekend, and leading into the regular week. And without further ado:
Pardon Me: Is there anyone who thinks that Donald Trump is NOT abusing the pardon power? Some folks might not admit it openly, but c'mon. Democrats have a "solution," namely the Pardon Integrity Act. It would allow 20 House members plus 5 Senators to call for a floor vote to cancel a pardon; thereafter, a two-thirds vote of both chambers would be needed to actually kill the pardon. Yesterday, the bill got its first Republican co-sponsor in the House, the retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE).
Our Take: A constitutional amendment would be needed here, since the unfettered pardon power is conveyed by Article II. There is no chance that an amendment gets adopted while a Republican is in the White House. It might happen with a Democrat in the Oval Office, if good-governance Democrats and rein-in-the-Democratic-president Republicans have a meeting of the minds, but even then it's a long shot. Meanwhile, there needs to be a balance between "we want it to be possible to kill bad pardons" and "we don't want good pardons to be killed for political reasons." The Pardon Integrity Act errs too far in the direction of protecting "good pardons." It's nearly inconceivable, certainly under current conditions, that two-thirds of each chamber could agree to poke a sitting president in the eye. There just wouldn't be the necessary votes from the members of whatever party holds the White House.
Just What the World Needs--Another Blogger: Substack landed a big name this week, as George W. Bush debuted on the platform. He's largely flown under the radar since leaving office, but maybe he's now planning to emerge from his hibernation. His first post, in honor of George Washington's birthday, did not mention any OTHER president by name. That said, everyone interpreted the first posting as being addressed to... one of the living holders of that office. Here's the key excerpt:
Our first leader helped define not only the character of the presidency but the character of the country. Washington modeled what it means to put the good of the nation over self-interest and selfish ambition. He embodied integrity and modeled why it's worth aspiring to. And he carried himself with dignity and self-restraint, honoring the office without allowing it to become invested with near-mythical powers.Hmm... which president has focused almost entirely on self-interest and selfish ambition, and has virtually no integrity, dignity or self-restraint? We'll have to ask the Electoral-Vote.com research team to look into it and get back to us.
Our Take: This news got a lot of attention yesterday, in part because George writing about George fit well with the Presidents Day holiday. That said, it would be hard for us to care less about a former president launching a blog, or a website, or something else along those lines. First, because Bush allowed things to happen on his watch that very definitely laid the ground for Trumpism. Second, because Bush has carried on the "no comment" act for 10+ years of Trump and so, in our view, has effectively ceded whatever bully pulpit he might once have been entitled to. Third, because Bush has no base anymore, as far as we can tell, and so is not going to influence any voters to rethink their ballots.
A Shutout: Last week, we wrote about U.S. Attorney for Washington, DC, Jeanine Pirro's failure to indict the six members of Congress who recorded the video reminding members of the armed forces that they cannot follow illegal orders. Well, now we know that Pirro put up a goose egg, an air ball, a golden sombrero—pick the analogy of your choice. That's right, not only did she not get enough votes to return an indictment, she didn't get ANY votes from the grand jurors. This is virtually unheard of (admittedly, because most indictments have at least SOME merit to them).
Our Take: We have three takeaways: (1) The administration needs to drop this matter, because it is tilting at windmills; (2) grand juries don't trust this administration anymore, which is going to make it harder and harder to secure indictments; and (3) Pirro seemed like she might be slightly more professional/ethical than Alina Habba, Lindsey Halligan, Pam Bondi, etc. After all, Pirro was elected and served as Westchester County, NY, D.A. three times. Clearly, she is now no better than the others.
The Clock Struck Thirteen: We also wrote last week about the administration's efforts to rewrite history, including excising all that pesky stuff about slavery being presented at Independence Hall. Yesterday, District Judge Cynthia Rufe (a George W. Bush appointee) issued an injunction ordering the administration to put the removed displays back in place. It was yet another scorching ruling from a federal judge, this one beginning with a quote from George Orwell's 1984: "All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place." Rufe also compared the Trump administration to Orwell's Ministry of Truth, and all of that was before she got really mad.
Our Take: Good for Judge Rufe.
Two Thumbs Up--That's an Order: Melania is now up to a little more than $15 million in box office, and it's petering out, such that it might reach $16 million, but it won't likely see $17 million. News broke yesterday that at least part of the box office take was driven by soldiers whose commanding officer told them they were required to see the film.
Our Take: How pathetic. How inappropriate. Instead of going after Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) & Co., we have a suggestion for an active-duty officer who should be court martialed and reduced in rank. Or, better yet, kicked out of the service entirely.
The Virginia Plan: The Virginia legislature has released the map that it thinks will produce a 10 D, 1 R delegation. Here it is:
Our Take: A monument to Elbridge Gerry. Everyone knows about Goofy kicking Donald Duck. Well, pick one (or more) of the proposed Virginia districts, and let us know at comments@electoral-vote.com what name/description you think should be used. We'll start: VA-01 should be called "Dachshund balancing soup cans on his rump."
Keeping in mind that this feature idea is still somewhat unrefined, let us know at comments@electoral-vote.com if you like it or not. Also, if we do keep it as a regular feature, we could use suggestions as to what the name should be. We thought of "Three Dot Night" or "Politics Bites," but those are both stupid. We like "Raising Caen" a little better, but we're not sold. (Z)