Trump supporters haven’t been fans of the first amendment for a long time.
To be clear, while Marbury v. Madison is taught in elementary school as being what created Judicial Review, it actually established something more important.
It was the case that established that the US Constitution is actually part, indeed the foundation, of our legal system.
Without that case, the US Constitution was just some political statements. It wasn’t part of law until the SCOTUS ruled on that case, and established that all other laws and actions created by the government are subordinate to the US Constitution.
Without Marbury vs. Madison, none of the the amendments mean anything, because there’s nothing that says laws can’t go against what is said in the constitution.
Someone saying they want to get rid of Marbury v. Madison is saying that they don’t want to enforce the constitution at all.
Oh, Trump has now said, “I don’t know Matt Whitaker”, so he’s probably going under the bus.
(pops in briefly from being distracted IRL)
A few things to remember:
- So far as any one can tell, every single leak about what Mueller is doing or not doing so far has been from the Trump camp. Every. Single. One.
- We’ve already had Team Trump trot out “Mueller is about to wrap things up!” many, many times in the past. For example, we heard “Mueller is going to wrap things up just after Thanksgiving” from them … this time last year. (Which then turned into “… just after Christmas…” which turned into …)
- Obviously at some point, the story will be true and Mueller really will wrap things up. Sessions being fired does makes it more likely that Mueller is being forced to consider an endgame.
- But, nonetheless, based on past history by far the most probable explanation of the above story is that it’s more propaganda from Team Trump. Why do they keep doing it? A little bit of wishful thinking, and a whole lot of wanting to convince the public that there’s some sort of artificial time limit, and that Mueller is somehow misbehaving by taking the time to do his job properly.
(We now return you to your regularly scheduled constitutional crisis.)
Where? He tweeted about him, so he obviously knows him (even if a staffer wrote the tweet)
I drove past a good number of protesters in downtown Beaverton last night.
Beaverton
For non-Oregonians, that’s a Portland suburb and just about the last place I’d expect to see a protest (OK, the last place I’d expect one is Lake Oswego)
Raleigh march was fair sized, though I didn’t get many good pictures of the crowd. The chants were pretty lame and there was no serious call to action. Limited press coverage, though we did march by one of the local stations HQ while they were recording the evening news…
Lots of old white guys in that crowd. Odd to see the enemy protesting their own kind.
That’s racist (and ageist).
Hey, you may have seen me briefly.
Ok, probably not as I got there late due to work. There was like two people left. Oh well.
Which is fascinating, because (according to CNN), no one else at the WH apparently knew very much about him:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/08/politics/white-house-matt-whitaker-criticism/index.html
It was not widely known among White House staff that he’d commented repeatedly on the special counsel’s investigation in interviews and on television – which is ironic given that this is what drew President Donald Trump to him and raises continued questions over the depth of the administration’s vetting process.
Even supposing this isn’t a Trump leak, I could also see it being a partial report, in that all of the obstruction of justice investigation could be part of a separate report.
Seriously? People still think there’s a vetting process?
There are literally thousands of questions that have been raised about the administration and its insanity. I’m hoping the inevitable glut of made for TV or Netflix movies answers some of them one of these years.
Democrats have much to celebrate about the midterms, but their elation should be tempered by the realization that the election also may have spelled the end for Mueller’s Russia investigation, which was too long in getting to the punchline.
Leave aside for now the question of whether Lacovara’s critique is fair to Mueller. To assess, after all, whether Mueller should have moved faster, one would have to know more about the state of his investigation than I, at least, know. Lacovara is certainly correct about one big thing: The prospects for interference with the Mueller investigation went up dramatically with Whitaker’s appointment.
Yet that said, I stand by my conclusion. I am still, if only tentatively, of the belief that the prospects for interference are dimmer than fear and panic and another Trump-busted norm has us imagining. Here are 10 reasons to think that Whitaker may have less capacity to foil Mueller than the current moment—and his formal powers—may suggest.
Ya, the vetting process is that Trump sees assholes on TV, and thinks they would be good in his cabinet.
Folks really need to understand… Trump is not a smart man. He’s a con man… and he’s pretty dumb at this point, largely because he’s old and his brain isn’t quick.
Would it be too much to ask to try to post from reputable sources? I am inclined to believe that this is bullshit propaganda intended to dissuade people from thinking there is anything to worry about.
Is the Observer not reputable? Red Reed’s been writing for them forever!
Are there reputable sources on Mueller? His team isn’t leaking anything, and nothing from Trumpland is trustworthy.
I think we’ll have to wait and see.