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Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Michigan is where Republicans can barely avoid jail, let alone win [1]

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Date: 2023-07-10

Detroit News:

Scuffle breaks out at Michigan GOP state committee meeting Tensions within the Michigan Republican Party evolved into a physical altercation that drew police Saturday to the GOP's state committee meeting at a hotel in Clare. As Michigan Republicans have been openly feuding over the party's direction and the leadership approach of new Chairwoman Kristina Karamo, some were frustrated that the beginning of Saturday's special meeting at the Doherty Hotel was limited to only members of the state committee… In an interview, James Chapman, a Republican from Wayne County, said he traveled to Clare for the meeting but was forced to listen to it through a locked door. Chapman said he and others said the Pledge of Allegiance together in the lobby outside the meeting and acknowledged he wiggled the knob of one door leading to the meeting room. Eventually, Mark DeYoung, chairman of the Clare County Republican Party, heard the [doorknob] wiggling and walked over to the door, where he saw someone flip him off through a small window. DeYoung opened the door. "He kicked me in my balls as soon as I opened the door,” DeYoung said.

Not a metaphor.

The fellow doing the groin kicking is a guy named James Chapman. This James Chapman, as it happens (MLive, from March 2023):

He has a criminal history and wants to be a Michigan lawmaker. Thursday, he carried a doll in a noose to the state Capitol. Multiple sources confirmed to MLive the man is James Chapman, who on April 21 filed to run for the 21st state House district as a Republican with a $100 filing fee. He is one of seven candidates - five Republicans and two Democrats - running for the seat, which is currently held by term-limited Rep. Kristy Pagan, D-Canto

x we are watching a live test of what happens when a state party says “fuck it” and gives up for no good reason. https://t.co/poMt8MuWfA — Lakshya Jain (@lxeagle17) July 9, 2023

And speaking of FAFO, here are two from Politico.

First FAFO:

Religious right gets blindsided by angry parents in a Southern California school district Novice school board members get a hard lesson in politics in a region that could determine control of the House

Second FAFO:

GOP states quit the program that fights voter fraud. Now they’re scrambling. The program, known as the Electronic Registration Information Center, was arguably the best nationwide tool states had to catch people trying to vote twice.

x biden 500 electoral votes https://t.co/NkNnrhvwx1 — G Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) July 10, 2023

CNN:

Oklahoma judge dismisses Tulsa race massacre reparations case filed by last known survivors An Oklahoma judge dismissed the reparations lawsuit filed by the last three known survivors of the Tulsa race massacre on Friday, court records show. The three had been locked in a yearslong court battle against the City of Tulsa and other groups and officials over the opportunities taken from them when the city’s Greenwood neighborhood was burned to the ground in 1921. Contemporary reports of deaths began at 36, but historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died, according to the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum. Thousands were left homeless.

Hakeem Jefferson/San Francisco Chronicle:

Is America’s rigid racial hierarchy compatible with democracy? Invited by a group of white anti-slavery activists to deliver the keynote address at their Independence Day celebration, [Frederick] Douglass wondered incredulously, “Why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” Speaking to what must have been a stunned crowd of onlookers, Douglass continued, “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine.”

x When some are disappointed with monthly job growth of 209,000 and a 3.6% unemployment rate, it's evidence of people growing accustomed to amazing economic news. https://t.co/5KE9SjUPOh — Steve Benen (@stevebenen) July 7, 2023

Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post:

What Biden got right about the wrongheaded Supreme Court decisions You can say this for the Biden administration: Learning from the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the White House was not caught flat-footed this year when the Supreme Court handed down its distressing end-of-term decisions. Whereas critics expected (perhaps unfairly) a more robust reaction to the loss of women’s right to self-autonomy a year ago, few had complaints this time around when President Biden came out with full-blown responses to the high court’s invalidation of affirmative action at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, its countenance of anti-gay discrimination in accommodations and its invalidation of his relief for student debt. In each case, he made three critical arguments.

Matt Robison and Paul Hodes interview Doug Sosnik about the next election and the four important voter categories:

Religion Dispatches:

AT MOMS FOR LIBERTY SUMMIT ‘MAMA BEARS’ DECLARE SPIRITUAL WAR ON THE ‘RADICAL LEFT’ Given that Moms for Liberty is a very young group on the conservative circuit it’s remarkable that both Trump and DeSantis, in addition to other presidential hopefuls, made the pilgrimage to Philadelphia to laud Moms for Liberty’s message—and, in Nikki Haley’s case, to portray herself as one of them. None of the candidates appears to have been at all concerned by the fact that Moms for Liberty was just designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. According to the report by the SPLC, the group’s main goals are to “fuel rightwing hysteria and to make the world a less comfortable or safe place for certain students—primarily those who are Black, LGBTQ or who come from LGBTQ families.” In fact, this designation sparked numerous jokes and gripes about being “the face of domestic terrorism” during the summit—eerily similar to CPAC’s announcement and display of a “we are all domestic terrorists” banner at its 2022 meeting in Dallas. There was a great deal of talk of revolution, sacrifice, and of war in general for a supposedly “apolitical” event in Philadelphia. During the event I repeatedly heard the refrain that “not every mom for liberty is conservative”—despite the backdrop, which included a Turning Point USA booth with stickers of a milk carton with “liberal tears” and “pro-life” pins, and a merchandise corner with T-shirts like “Joe and the Hoe gotta go” and the Palin-esque “Mamma Bear—don’t mess with my cubs!” The summit took place under heavy police presence—something the organizers made sure to exploit. “Thank the police officers for protecting us, ok? Every single one,” a staffer advised eagerly as we were escorted by a throng of police officers out of the Museum of the American Revolution, where Wallbuilders president Tim Barton had just butchered American history in a speech punctuated by his plea that “we have to make America great again!” In between speeches, speakers would hold prayers to bless the “hotel staff, those who serve our food, who make our beds,” and praise to God for not letting “hotel staff” be swayed by the protesters outside. The vibe was strange, eerie, and excited—a cross between a White supremacist sorority meeting; a capitalist love-fest with deep bonding over hatred for “the Left,” the LGBTQ+ community, and anti-racism efforts (all dressed up as expressions of love for their children); and a pentecostal revival with some distinct NAR overtones. “Our children belong to the Lord, not the government,” declared Patriot Mobile spokeswoman Leigh Wambsganss. “This is not a political war, it is a spiritual war!

Yet another “they take joy in it” piece (David French had one as well). It’s not to extol it, it’s to explain why they do it. Same as a Trump rally, they have fun. It’s sick fun at others’ expense, but that’s what they are fighting for. To have fun as they define it.

Just so you know:

x On a platform tailor-made for his brand of bullshit, too. Oh, how embarrassing. https://t.co/OmuM8Gp9lj — Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) July 9, 2023

Ursula Perano/Daily Beast:

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