Aaron Zitner and Simon J. Levian/Wall Street Journal:
The 2024 Election Is a Fight Over America’s Way of Life
GOP voters see a country corrupted by liberal ideals
The animating force in the Republican presidential primary, many voters and policy leaders say, is a feeling that American society—the government, the media, Hollywood, academia and big business—has been corrupted by liberal ideas about race, gender and other social matters. Democrats, in turn, feel that conservatives have used their political power in red states and in building a Supreme Court majority to undermine abortion rights and threaten decades of work to broaden equal rights for minority groups.
That has turned the next race for the White House into an existential election, with voters on both sides fearing not just a loss of political influence but also the destruction of their way of life.
Joyce Vance/”Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance” on Substack:
Closing Out A Bad Week For Trump
Mr. Trump is having a bad week in court. My favorite one is Georgia, so I’ve saved it for last, but you’ll want to make sure you read that far—or skip down to it if your end of the week attention span is short. […]
In March, Trump first asked a judge in Fulton County to “quash” the investigative grand jury’s report of their investigation into criminal conduct in Georgia following the 2020 election. In May, Willis asked the judge to dismiss Trump’s motion, arguing it was "procedurally flawed and advanced arguments that lack merit." The judge has not yet ruled on the motion. Now Trump wants to force a ruling that would forestall his indictment by making it impossible to use evidence against him.
Mandamus is infrequently used and even more rarely granted. In my career before government service, as a lawyer in private practice, I once convinced the 11th Circuit to order a federal agency to rule on an important administrative matter it had dragged its feet on for several years. Even in that egregious situation, my partners were stunned we convinced the court to mandamus the agency. That’s how unusual success in a proceeding like this, even when the claims are meritorious.
But Trump hit a stumbling block before the court could even consider the merits of his request. He filed his writ of mandamus in the wrong court. Under clear Georgia case law that Trump’s lawyers cited in their brief to the Supreme Court, but apparently did not read, a petition for mandamus must be filed in Georgia superior court, the trial level court. The case, Brown v. Johnson, could not be more clear: “Such petition may be filed in the appropriate superior court…the final decision may be appealed to the Supreme Court for review.” The Georgia Supreme Court reasoned that when the trial judge is named as a defendant in the mandamus petition and there are allegations their error is the subject of the petition, that judge can recuse and let another judge on the court handle the matter.
The Hill:
Carlson interview with Tate highlights far-right’s effort to redefine traditionalism
Tucker Carlson’s interview with controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist who faces charges of human trafficking and rape in Romania, is highlighting an effort on the far-right to redefine traditional values.
Tate sat with Carlson for a two-and-a-half-hour interview published Tuesday on Twitter, where the pair opined on a wide range of topics, including society’s purported push to put “the woman in charge, and the man below with no backbone.”
It’s a play for Black and Latino males. Every vote counts, so take it seriously.
NBC News:
Ron DeSantis’ campaign finances have some flashing warning signs
Most of DeSantis' money came from donors who “maxed out” and can’t give again, as small donations have been a struggle for Trump's GOP challengers.
The numbers suggest, for the first time, that solvency could be a threat to DeSantis’ campaign, which has touted its fundraising ability as a key measure of viability. They reflect the broader reality that DeSantis stalled after his launch: polling ahead of the Republican primary pack but far behind former President Donald Trump.
In another sign of the financial strain on the campaign, DeSantis has fired a dozen staffers in what a source familiar with the move described as a cost-cutting measure, NBC News reported Saturday evening.
Part 2 of a Doug Sosnik interview.
Hugh Bailey/CT Post:
Preparing for a social media downfall
To date, all the many potential replacement sites are short on what made Twitter as useful as it was (and often still is). It’s not just breaking news (though it was great for that) or connection with celebrities (which was always overhyped), but the coming together of varied interests that makes it compelling. Because so many people are on it, you could curate almost anything.
I am, by virtue of my job, interested in the news, in Connecticut and beyond. So are thousands of other people on the site. I’m a fan of UConn basketball and the New York Mets. I follow many accounts that post about each. I want to know what’s happening in the world of city planning. There’s always someone posting about the latest in, say, traffic-calming measures. And on and on.
Politico:
Appeals court temporarily blocks order that restricted feds’ contact with social media firms
A three-judge panel put a hold on an unusual injunction that limited the Biden administration’s interactions with tech platforms.
A federal appeals court has put a temporary hold on a district court judge’s unusual order restricting a wide swath of federal officials and agencies from communicating with social media companies about content on their platforms.
A three-judge panel considering emergency matters for the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted the Biden administration’s request to put the far-reaching preliminary injunction on hold for now while the case is referred to another appeals panel that will consider a longer-term stay of U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty’s Independence Day order.