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MAGA Is the Mullet of Politics [David A. Graham, The Atlantic]

By William McClain
In [The Atlantic]
February 27, 2023
107 views
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  • National Attention is Turning to East Palestine Train Derailment – The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio has become a proxy battle for existing political divides and a lens to reveal the failings of both the Democratic and Trump-era Republican parties.
  • Trump, Regan, and Buttigieg Visit East Palestine – In the past 10 days, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, former President Donald Trump, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg have all visited the town.
  • East Palestine as a Symbol of White Working-Class Abandonment – Trump-era Republicans, like Ohio’s newly elected senator, J. D. Vance, have embraced East Palestine as an example of how the Democratic Party has abandoned white working-class areas of the industrial Midwest.
  • Late Response from Media and Democratic Establishment – Some factions of conservative media have accused the mainstream press and Democratic establishment of ignoring the story, though in fact Fox News was just as late as its competitors.
  • No Initial Fatalities, Uncertain Environmental Effects – Unlike some other recent rail catastrophes, no one died in the initial derailment and fire. The longer-term environmental effects are still uncertain.
  • MAGA Republicans Offer Wrong Solutions – The MAGA Republicans have offered little hope to the crisis with wrong solutions and policy ideas.
  • Biden’s Stimulus Won’t Make a Dent – Biden’s enormous stimulus plans may reshape the American economy but are unlikely to make much of a dent in small, depressed towns like East Palestine.
  • Promise of Recovery, But Thriving is Remote – Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has promised to help East Palestine recover and thrive, but this may be a promise he can’t keep.

Published February 24, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read David A. Graham’s original post MAGA Is the Mullet of Politics

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I Never Truly Understood Fox News Until Now [Brian Stelter, The Atlantic]

By William McClain
In [The Atlantic]
February 18, 2023
136 views
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  • Fox News’ news operation accurately reported the vote count. This infuriated President Trump and the MAGA base, causing some viewers to switch to further-right outlets such as Newsmax.
  • Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News revealed eye-popping messages from Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Fox’s senior management, which showed Fox’s sense of crisis was more intense than appeared from outside.
  • Fox News stars signaled to viewers that Trump might still win the election not because they thought he would but because they were worried about their ratings.
  • Fox News only called the election for Biden after other major networks did. This caused Newsmax to surge by catering to MAGA viewers, and Fox’s top talent to freak out.
  • Fox News’ senior executives sought to rebuild their audience’s trust. Fox’s policy of intramural warfare was unevenly enforced, so accurate reporting by their journalists was a perceived threat.
  • Fox’s postelection strategy was to stop “rubbing Biden in their viewers’ faces.” However, in their effort to show their viewers “respect,” they ultimately disrespected both their audience and the American experiment.

Published February 17, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Brian Stelter’s original post I Never Truly Understood Fox News Until Now

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How to Beat Trump in a Debate [Mehdi Hasan, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 16, 2023
138 views
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• Donald Trump is an avid practitioner of the Gish Gallop, a debating method designed to defeat opponents by burying them in a torrent of incorrect, irrelevant, or idiotic arguments.
• The Gish Gallop was first used by Duane Tolbert Gish, a biochemist at the Institute for Creation Research, to win debates against evolutionists.
• The Gish Gallop is based on delivery over depth and exploits the fact that it takes more energy to refute bullshit than to produce it.
• Communication experts advise to pick your battle, call out the Gish Galloper, and don’t budge when they start spewing nonsense.
• Jonathan Swan’s interview with Trump in August 2020 revealed the president’s Gish Gallop for what it is: a deliberate strategy to deflect and distract.

Published February 16, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Mehdi Hasan’s original post How to Beat Trump in a Debate

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February 11, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By Spencer Chen
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
February 12, 2023
137 views
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• President Biden’s statement during the State of the Union address that some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years was true.
• This statement was based on Florida senator Rick Scott’s 11-point plan, which promised that all federal legislation would sunset in 5 years.
• Republicans have a long history of calling for cuts to Social Security, including Trump, Mike Pence, Ron Johnson, and the Republican Study Committee.
• Biden’s statement comes from the “reality-based community,” which was famously dubbed in 2002 by a senior advisor to George W. Bush.
• Trump’s campaign hired a consulting firm to try to prove that the election had been stolen, but the firm could not find anything that would have changed the outcome.
• Representative George Santos and Anna Paulina Luna have both been accused of fabricating their biographies.
• Political decisions that are not based on reality rob us of our right to make informed decisions about our government and what it will do.
• Social Security and Medicare can be stabilized by cutting benefits, raising taxes, rearranging government funding, or by some combination of the three.
• Voters need fact-based information to elect people who will enact the policies a majority of us want.

Published February 12, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 11, 2023

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Trumpism Without Trump [David A. Graham, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 7, 2023
93 views
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• Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Mike Pompeo are all reportedly on the verge of announcing a run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, much to the fury of Donald Trump.
• Trump has accused DeSantis of being “very disloyal” and has alleged that he tearfully “begged” Trump for his endorsement in his first run for governor in 2018.
• Trump has remade the GOP in his own image, yet his personal appeal to its voters appears to be waning.
• Candidates who have tried to run as Trumpists in competitive elections have largely struggled.
• Despite this, the would-be nominees are constructing a Trumpism without Trump, based on exploiting cultural resentment.
• Trump’s grip on the GOP is still strong, and many leaders of his party have never left his side.
• Trump is now threatening to make a third-party bid if he doesn’t win the Republican nomination and doesn’t approve of the Republican nominee.

Published February 7, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read David A. Graham’s original post Trumpism Without Trump

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The Institutional Arsonist Turns on His Own Party [Peter Wehner, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
February 5, 2023
143 views
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• Donald Trump may lose the GOP presidential primary and, out of spite, wreck Republican prospects in 2024.
• A *Bulwark* poll found that a large majority of Republicans are ready to move on from Trump, but more than a quarter of likely Republican voters are ready to follow Trump to a third-party bid.
• Trump has flirted with third-party runs before, including in 2000, and he refused to rule out a third-party run in 2015.
• Trump has no attachment to the Republican Party or, as best as one can tell, to anything or anyone else.
• Trump could ensure that Republican presidential and congressional candidates lose simply by criticizing them during the campaign, accusing the Republican Party of disloyalty, and signaling to his supporters that they should sit out the election.
• House Republicans have elevated and showcased Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has embraced QAnon conspiracy theories, insisted that 9/11 was an inside job, and voiced support for executing prominent Democrats.
• Republicans will abandon Trump only when he’s deemed to be a surefire political loser.
• Donald Trump delights in watching the world burn.

Published February 5, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Peter Wehner’s original post The Institutional Arsonist Turns on His Own Party

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Republicans’ 2024 Magical Thinking [McKay Coppins, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen
In [The Atlantic]
January 30, 2023
132 views
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• Donald Trump has become a problem for the Republican party, and many GOP officials and strategists are hoping for something to happen that will make him go away.
• Some Republicans are hoping for Trump’s “mortal demise,” while others are hoping for a donor revolt or legal troubles to sideline him.
• However, Trump’s legal troubles could actually boost him with the party’s base, and a coordinated donor revolt has not materialized.
• In 2016, Trump’s rivals failed to beat him because they were convinced his self-inflicted demise was imminent.
• The current field of GOP presidential prospects could end up splitting the anti-Trump electorate, and few of the top figures in the party have demonstrated an ability to take on Trump directly.
• Even if another Republican captures the nomination, there’s no guarantee that Trump will go away, as he has suggested he might run an independent spoiler campaign if his party refuses to back him.

Published January 30, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read McKay Coppins’s original post Republicans’ 2024 Magical Thinking

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January 20, 2023 (Friday) [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By Spencer Chen
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
January 20, 2023
90 views
J

• Trump dropped a lawsuit against New York attorney general Letitia James after a similar lawsuit yesterday cost him and his lawyer close to a million dollars.
• Trump also backed off on his previous threats to use the debt ceiling to extract concessions from Democrats.
• House Republicans are facing mounting troubles, including Representative Greg Steube’s hospitalization and Representative George Santos’ embarrassing revelations.
• Representative Bill Foster trolled Santos by pointing out the difference between the two parties.
• Representative Jim Jordan has requested information from the Department of Justice, but the DOJ has reminded him that they cannot share information about ongoing investigations.
• The White House has stated that raising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation and that Biden looks forward to discussing strengthening retirement plans and making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in Africa to urge greater connection between African countries and the U.S. and to build stronger ties than those developed with China or Russia.

Published January 21, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post January 20, 2023 (Friday)

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Which Political Victories Cause Backlash? [Scott Alexander, Astral Codex Ten]

By Spencer Chen
In Scott Alexander [Astral Codex Ten]
January 19, 2023
81 views
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• Trump’s beliefs became less popular when he became president, and a similar phenomenon occurred after a major conservative victory (the Supreme Court overturning Roe).
• Americans’ opinions shifted heavily in a pro-choice direction after a long period of stalemate, regardless of political affiliation.
• The author speculates that the effect may be due to a thermostatic effect, where voters want some medium amount of abortion, and if they hear that pro-abortion forces are winning, they say they’re against abortion.
• However, the author found no clear turn against gay marriage in 2015 after the Supreme Court ruling, and no effect on people’s opinion of government-run health care after Obamacare was passed in 2010.
• The author suggests that the public may only backlash against conservative victories, due to liberals controlling more of the media, or because liberalism is “on the right side of history”.
• The author also suggests that it may have to do with how quickly people can find a case of the new law going wrong, or it may be random.

Published January 19, 2023
Visit Astral Codex Ten to read Scott Alexander’s original post Which Political Victories Cause Backlash?

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Can I Wear a MAGA Hat To My Government Job? [Ken White, Popehat]

By Spencer Chen
In Ken White [The Popehat Report]
January 12, 2023
174 views
C

• The Ninth Circuit recently ruled in Dodge v. Evergreen School District that Eric Dodge, a sixth-grade teacher from Vancouver, Washington, was entitled to a trial on his claim that school district officials violated his First Amendment rights by threatening to discipline him for wearing a MAGA hat to teacher training.
• The First Amendment protects public employees differently depending on whether the government is wearing its sovereign hat or its employer hat.
• To show a violation of the First Amendment, a public employee must show that the state actor engaged in an “adverse employment action” against the plaintiff as a result of their speech.
• The government must establish that it had a legitimate administrative interest in preventing or punishing the speech that outweighed the employee’s interest in exercising their First Amendment rights.
• The more the employee’s speech resembles core First Amendment expression (like political speech), the harder it is for the government to make this showing.
• Even when First Amendment rights are violated, there may not be a remedy due to the judicially created doctrine of “qualified immunity.”

Published January 12, 2023. Visit Popehat to read Ken White’s original post.

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