I have only been aware of Will since I started with The Bulwark. Everytime I hear and read anything he is a part of I come to appreciate his insight. Will is a "good get" so to speak.
I read this about McCarthy and I guess that I am not surprised. He got what he wanted, the Speakership. It was never clear to me as to why he wanted it other than to have it. It's not clear to me if he had any thought beyond getting the gavel and "being" Speaker. He's role-playing at best, doing what he thinks or has seen what a Speaker does, without knowing the whys of those actions.
Will Saletan’s next e-book should be about Kevin McCarthy’s descent into the sewer in the sheer pursuit of power for its own sake. Think Portrait of Doran Grey #Corruption of Lindsey Graham
What disturbs me about this is that Our Kevin is fine meeting with the far right counterpart in Italy but declines to meet with Ukraine’s president. The most charitable reading is that he’s a big old chicken (insert Foghorn Leghorn voice here) or my suspicion that he just doesn’t GAF. I’m not inclined to be very charitable when it comes to political cowardice so...
It’s a sad thing that I simply want to live long enough to see a Kevin McCarthy “where is he now” story.
"Former Rep. Devin Nunes and some of Trump’s children are slated to share a stage with Hitler-praising internet personalities this coming weekend at Trump National Doral resort in Miami. It’s hard to take care to avoid associating with the hateful conspiratorial fringe if you just don’t care that much about it in the first place."
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It's *not* that they don't care that much about their association with Team Wack, it's the fact that they are continuing to actively embrace those on the far Right fringe, and are still welcoming them into TFG's tent. They say that politics makes for some strange bedfellows but the "people" on this tour of hate and the Trumpettes endorsing them are more like two birds of a feather.
Fontana's beliefs and policies are far closer to what now passes for the GOP than many would like to admit. He and MTG are about the same level of strange.
I'm a lot more concerned about McCarthy inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress at the same time that the Administration is trying to pressure the Israeli government to cease and desist from its efforts to cripple the few effective checks and balances that exist in the Israeli system by hobbling the Supreme Court. The Speaker of the House does and probably should meet with his/her counterparts when visiting foreign capitals, but partisanship should end at the water's edge, however polarized our own politics are.
I agree with you completely that investing time in Saletan's book is totally worth it. For those who think they don't have the time, go straight to the epilogue: https://specialto.thebulwark.com/p/epilogue-lessons
Kudos to the team for getting it on Kindle so quickly, too!
Regardless of the rape charge, TFG HAS been found guilty of lying in public about a woman whom he assaulted. Not that anyone ever should have doubted that TFG is a scoff-law liar, but here we have a jury, selected by both sides, including his (late) current mouth-piece, pronouncing it for all and sundry to hear and know. This is NOT just the lying press or the damned Democrats. These are impartial, fair, unbiased citizens making a legal judgement, convinced, not beyond a reasonable doubt, enough for a conviction and financial penalty to the defamed.
Sexual battery and defamation were the torts that were in front of the jury, and they found him liable on both. There were no questions put to them where they didn’t think he did it.
My understanding was that she accused him of rape, as well, which the jury did not find him liable for. Axios' reporting appears to bear that out (https://www.axios.com/2023/05/09/trump-verdict-e-jean-carroll-lawsuit-damages): "The jury found that Trump did sexually abuse Carroll but did not determine that he raped her."
That is a very poorly written bullet point in a larger summary. There is no such thing as “rape” in a civil tort. He was being sued for sexual battery/abuse and defamation, and the jury found for the plaintiff on both counts. Saying a civil jury didn’t find that he raped her is roughly as disingenuous as saying OJ Simpson’s civil jury didn’t find that he murdered Nicole and Ron. This jury finding that Trump sexually battered her is the same equivalent as that one finding that OJ wrongfully caused their deaths.
I'm not trying to be argumentative; I simply want to be accurate. On Twitter, Adam Klasfeld (of LawandCrime.com) has a photo of the jury's verdict form. It reads, in part: "Did Ms. Carroll prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that 1. Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll?" and the line beside "No" is checked.
Addendum: ok, now I get what happened. The judge gave the jury the option to find him liable for any of three levels of sexual assault -- rape, sexual battery, or forcible touching from most to least severe. So that they decided he wasn’t liable for rape wasn’t a declaration of innocence, they just went for the middle severity of the three. That’s why the “forcible touching” mark is blank, they were going down the list in severity until they got to “yes,” and rape required them to believe it was more likely than not he forcibly penetrated her with (cringe... ahem) le champignon orange, and they just weren’t willing to go that far.
NPR is reporting the same thing, actually. I stand corrected. He was found liable for sexual battery but not rape. I will back down to a statement that I’m not sure how, based on her testimony, they concluded one and not the other, but that is indeed what they found, and that’s kinda bad reporting on the rest of the media’s part for glossing that over.
Maybe I’m just too cynical for my own good at this late date, but anyone who says Lega isn’t like the modern GQP has been asleep for the last seven years. Very fine people, indeed.
I have only been aware of Will since I started with The Bulwark. Everytime I hear and read anything he is a part of I come to appreciate his insight. Will is a "good get" so to speak.
Will Saletan's Epilog, all by itself, should be sent to every
Dem Congress person and Senator. Remind them what's
at stake and to quit their biting each other; get their act together. Time's awasting!
Kevin McCarthy.......notice all
the blank space. That's Our
Kevin.🙄 Isn't that guy he's standing next to in the photo,
the gr. grandson of Mussolini? /s This photo op
opwill come back to haunt him.
Just bought it on Kindle. I know I could have a copy free, but it sure doesn’t hurt to buy one, right?
Will Saletan is an American treasure.
I read this about McCarthy and I guess that I am not surprised. He got what he wanted, the Speakership. It was never clear to me as to why he wanted it other than to have it. It's not clear to me if he had any thought beyond getting the gavel and "being" Speaker. He's role-playing at best, doing what he thinks or has seen what a Speaker does, without knowing the whys of those actions.
Will Saletan’s next e-book should be about Kevin McCarthy’s descent into the sewer in the sheer pursuit of power for its own sake. Think Portrait of Doran Grey #Corruption of Lindsey Graham
What disturbs me about this is that Our Kevin is fine meeting with the far right counterpart in Italy but declines to meet with Ukraine’s president. The most charitable reading is that he’s a big old chicken (insert Foghorn Leghorn voice here) or my suspicion that he just doesn’t GAF. I’m not inclined to be very charitable when it comes to political cowardice so...
It’s a sad thing that I simply want to live long enough to see a Kevin McCarthy “where is he now” story.
You likely will see that story. Remember when Paul Ryan was going to be the Next Big Thing?
"Former Rep. Devin Nunes and some of Trump’s children are slated to share a stage with Hitler-praising internet personalities this coming weekend at Trump National Doral resort in Miami. It’s hard to take care to avoid associating with the hateful conspiratorial fringe if you just don’t care that much about it in the first place."
-----
It's *not* that they don't care that much about their association with Team Wack, it's the fact that they are continuing to actively embrace those on the far Right fringe, and are still welcoming them into TFG's tent. They say that politics makes for some strange bedfellows but the "people" on this tour of hate and the Trumpettes endorsing them are more like two birds of a feather.
fnord
Fontana's beliefs and policies are far closer to what now passes for the GOP than many would like to admit. He and MTG are about the same level of strange.
I'm a lot more concerned about McCarthy inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress at the same time that the Administration is trying to pressure the Israeli government to cease and desist from its efforts to cripple the few effective checks and balances that exist in the Israeli system by hobbling the Supreme Court. The Speaker of the House does and probably should meet with his/her counterparts when visiting foreign capitals, but partisanship should end at the water's edge, however polarized our own politics are.
Fontana is the Minister for Families.
No, not the nuclear families like yours and mine.
You know, like the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families.
(Not that there's anything wrong with that, just sayin')
I agree with you completely that investing time in Saletan's book is totally worth it. For those who think they don't have the time, go straight to the epilogue: https://specialto.thebulwark.com/p/epilogue-lessons
Kudos to the team for getting it on Kindle so quickly, too!
OT: In E. Jean Carroll's civil case against TFG, he's been found liable for all charges EXCEPT rape. She's been awarded ~$5 million.
Regardless of the rape charge, TFG HAS been found guilty of lying in public about a woman whom he assaulted. Not that anyone ever should have doubted that TFG is a scoff-law liar, but here we have a jury, selected by both sides, including his (late) current mouth-piece, pronouncing it for all and sundry to hear and know. This is NOT just the lying press or the damned Democrats. These are impartial, fair, unbiased citizens making a legal judgement, convinced, not beyond a reasonable doubt, enough for a conviction and financial penalty to the defamed.
Sexual battery and defamation were the torts that were in front of the jury, and they found him liable on both. There were no questions put to them where they didn’t think he did it.
My understanding was that she accused him of rape, as well, which the jury did not find him liable for. Axios' reporting appears to bear that out (https://www.axios.com/2023/05/09/trump-verdict-e-jean-carroll-lawsuit-damages): "The jury found that Trump did sexually abuse Carroll but did not determine that he raped her."
That is a very poorly written bullet point in a larger summary. There is no such thing as “rape” in a civil tort. He was being sued for sexual battery/abuse and defamation, and the jury found for the plaintiff on both counts. Saying a civil jury didn’t find that he raped her is roughly as disingenuous as saying OJ Simpson’s civil jury didn’t find that he murdered Nicole and Ron. This jury finding that Trump sexually battered her is the same equivalent as that one finding that OJ wrongfully caused their deaths.
I'm not trying to be argumentative; I simply want to be accurate. On Twitter, Adam Klasfeld (of LawandCrime.com) has a photo of the jury's verdict form. It reads, in part: "Did Ms. Carroll prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that 1. Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll?" and the line beside "No" is checked.
I know some here don't like Twitter as a source, but it's the only one I could find, and Mr. Klasfeld is a reputable journalist. The document can be viewed at: https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1656037991066812440/photo/1
Addendum: ok, now I get what happened. The judge gave the jury the option to find him liable for any of three levels of sexual assault -- rape, sexual battery, or forcible touching from most to least severe. So that they decided he wasn’t liable for rape wasn’t a declaration of innocence, they just went for the middle severity of the three. That’s why the “forcible touching” mark is blank, they were going down the list in severity until they got to “yes,” and rape required them to believe it was more likely than not he forcibly penetrated her with (cringe... ahem) le champignon orange, and they just weren’t willing to go that far.
Yeah, that's what I read. Glad you got to the bottom of it; I wasn't comfortable getting into it in that detail.
The explanation I received was that as she didn’t actually view his penile insertion the rape charge was denied and sexual abuse accepted.
NPR is reporting the same thing, actually. I stand corrected. He was found liable for sexual battery but not rape. I will back down to a statement that I’m not sure how, based on her testimony, they concluded one and not the other, but that is indeed what they found, and that’s kinda bad reporting on the rest of the media’s part for glossing that over.
Maybe I’m just too cynical for my own good at this late date, but anyone who says Lega isn’t like the modern GQP has been asleep for the last seven years. Very fine people, indeed.