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Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: The Trump indictment and the arraignment do matter [1]

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Date: 2023-04-05  

x FWIW I'm inclined to revise Protasiewicz's margin upwards slightly...perhaps 6-8 pt range. — Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) April 5, 2023

x I've seen enough: Brandon Johnson defeats Paul Vallas in the Chicago mayoral runoff. — Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) April 5, 2023

Brian Rosenwald/Substack:

Are we throwing aside historical norms with the indictment of Trump? The whole "unprecedented" thing. But in 1974, Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon to spare the country from going through the agony of a trial and continued focus on Watergate and Nixon at a time of myriad problems (this decision makes more sense in the context of the tumult of the 1960s and 1970s). When Ford received the John F. Kennedy Foundation’s Profile in Courage Award in 2001, Sen. Ted Kennedy explained, ‘“I was one of those who spoke out against his action then’… ‘But time has a way of clarifying past events, and now we see that President Ford was right. His courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us.’” And then a quarter century later, with hours remaining in his presidency in 2000, Bill Clinton reached a deal with prosecutor Robert Ray in which the president admitted he lied under oath to avoid indictment. (Clinton also accepted a $25,000 fine and the loss of his law license for five years in a deal with Arkansas authorities to avoid having the license permanently stripped). Ray felt like, "The best interests of the country would be achieved by letting the past be the past." This history illustrates that the Founders always saw indictment as appropriate for lawbreaking presidents (and other executive branch officials) and that it was a real possibility for two presidents in the past 50 years. Clinton only avoided it by admitting culpability and taking responsibility for his actions — something Trump has steadfastly refused to do.

x Brandon Johnson winning in Chicago and Helen Gym winning in Philly would be such a powerful and historic repudiation of the decades-long bipartisan corporate ed reform campaign to privatize public schools and destroy teachers unions. — Daniel Denvir (@DanielDenvir) April 5, 2023

Tennessean:

Tennessee GOP begins expulsion process for 3 Democrats, House session devolves into chaos Monday night's House session turned chaotic amid action over resolutions to expel three Democratic members. Yells rang out through the state Capitol as Tennessee House Republicans on Monday introduced resolutions to expel three Democrats for "disorderly behavior" after the trio led protest chants for gun reform on the floor of the chamber last week in the wake of the deadly Covenant School shooting. On Thursday, the three House Democrats approached the podium between bills without being recognized to speak, a breach of chamber rules. With a bullhorn, Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis led protestors in the galleries in several chants calling for gun reform. House leadership later likened the trio's behavior to an "insurrection," a characterization House Democrats decried last week

x ...now on TV complaining about how charges against an obvious criminal are "political" is some goddamn irony indeed.



These people have no more self-awareness than a dog licking its own wrinkled asshole on a public sidewalk.



2/ — Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) April 2, 2023

Amanda Carpenter/Twitter via Thread Reader:

Gonna make my time here w/ the last gasp of my blue check mark count. A rant. I see that the new standard among my Republican friends is that we cannot indict anyone running for president, anyone who is president, or anyone who used to be president. Cool, cool. Why stop there though. Let's make this fair. Let's repeal all campaign finance laws. Let people buy off whoever they want whenever they want on whatever terms. Make this fair. Also, get rid of all business and banking fraud regulations. Fair is fair. If Donald Trump gets to hide illegal payments to deceive voters before the most important election our country conducts, everyone else should be able to do so as well. Oh! And, I totally understand why people are clutching their mf-ing pearls that this is the first indictment. Wah-wah. You want it to be easier. I totally understand. Stormy Daniels makes you feel icky. So, better to let Trump off. You pansy whiners. But that's where this goes.

Dan Cassino/Twitter via Thread Reader:

My argument is that by focusing attention on Trump, especially in conservative media, the indictment generally helps him in the primary. So long as we’re talking about Trump, other contenders aren’t getting any air time. Trump’s superpower is dominating media coverage and drawing all the air out of the room for everyone else. That’s useful in a primary- but doesn’t do much to help in the general. It’s hard to imagine there are many folks who weren’t going to vote Republican in 2024 that are persuaded to do so by an indictment. It also pushes the narrative of the election from a referendum on Biden to a referendum on Trump. Trump’s style is claiming victimhood: but that’s not what his appeal is about. His appeal comes from talking about discontent- over globalization, manufacturing losses, changing social mores- that weren’t being addressed by mainstream candidates. To the extent he’s talking about himself, rather than the issues that appealed to swing voters, he’s losing. To the extent that voters are taking about the GOP candidate, rather than Biden, Biden is winning.

x part of how you have to read this is that Gov Scott Walker of FL sucks as a candidate



h/t @Timodc https://t.co/vBGUmAGFM6 — Greg Dworkin (@DemFromCT) April 4, 2023

Greg Sargent/WaPo:

How Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘pedophile’ slur made it to ‘60 Minutes’ The “pedophile” slur, a companion of the term “groomer,” is regularly applied by Republicans and right-wing media figures to Democrats and others who stand up for transgender rights, including gender-affirming treatment for adolescents. Greene cheerfully flaunted this use of the term on “60 Minutes,” which left [Leslie] Stahl utterly flummoxed: Greene: Democrats support, even Joe Biden, the president himself, supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children. Stahl: Wow. Okay. But my question really is, can’t you fight for what you believe in without all that name-calling and without the personal attacks? Greene: Well, I would ask the same question to the other side … Not only did Greene casually conflate “sexualizing children” with transgender care, but she also is being despicably dishonest by reducing gender-affirming care to “surgeries.” Yet this conflation of support for trans youth with pedophilia slipped by, unrebutted, to a national audience. No wonder Greene told Semafor she was pleased with how the interview went.

x I was interviewed by @washingtonpost about MTG’s vile use of ‘pedophile’ to attack her enemies. The article is below. Today I’m giving the #history of this term as anti-LGBTQ and #antisemitic, and it’s link to #fascism, eugenics, and Nazis. https://t.co/amHSUjXal4 — Dr. Brandy Schillace (@bschillace) April 4, 2023

Roll Call:

Republicans’ fixation on trans issues could backfire, pollsters say Analysts say both parties must walk a fine line on the issue to win voters “It’s clear that they think it’s a great idea,” said Ben Lazarus, a Democratic pollster at TargetSmart. “They feel like it can help them win.” But Lazarus thinks it’ll ultimately bite Republicans in general elections — unless “they somehow miraculously make the debate all about parents and we really don’t push back in a smart way.”

[END]
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