(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Humiliation but no remorse [1]

[]

Date: 2023-09-02

Ruth Ben-Ghiat/Resolute Square:

consultant Dr. Alexander Stein, an expert on why people are led to engage in fraud and other criminal activities. "It's always the enablers and collaborators and all the other people who become enthralled by horrific behavior."

"It's never just the one individual, the bad actor,"

Meadows’ mug shot, which displays a mix of anger and exhaustion, is an artifact from a particular tradition: political elites who enabled authoritarians and then found themselves on the wrong side of history. He glares at the camera, likely not quite believing that this is actually happening to him. Although there is a shade of humiliation, there is no visible remorse. Like so many others in the GOP, Meadows would likely do it all again if he knew it would succeed.

Meadows’ mug shot, which displays a mix of anger and exhaustion, is an artifact from a particular tradition: political elites who enabled authoritarians and then found themselves on the wrong side of history. He glares at the camera, likely not quite believing that this is actually happening to him. Although there is a shade of humiliation, there is no visible remorse. Like so many others in the GOP, Meadows would likely do it all again if he knew it would succeed.

The former GOP Congressman entered Trump's inner circle already mildly corrupt, refused his leader nothing, and exited as an accomplice to the greatest political crimes of modern American history.

Astonishing. Nearly tearful J6 Proud Boy tells judge he's given up politics, and then after judge leaves, this: https://t.co/1bhbc3HXsh

Here follows a theme of feuding state GOP party factions, some of which will hurt them in the next election cycle (but not all of which will).

Greg Bluestein/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Georgia Republicans locked in battle over party’s future AJC poll reveals how two blocs of GOP voters will shape 2024 primary and general election Trump dominated the poll of likely primary voters with 57% of the vote — more than 40 percentage points ahead of his closest challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose flagging campaign has endured multiple overhauls in the past month . But there are still deep misgivings about Trump among many of the other 43% of Republican voters who signaled they’re not in his camp. And if recent Georgia history is a guide, a small number of middle-of-the-road independent voters can decide an election in this swing state. [...] Republicans also need no reminder of what happened in last year’s midterm. That’s when Kemp and other mainstream GOP candidates defeated Democratic challengers by appealing to moderate and independent voters. Walker, meanwhile, aligned himself closely with Trump and his brand of politics — and wound up the only statewide Republican to lose.

x The GAGOP apparatus has embraced election deniers in key positions, attacked Gov. Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and others for not pushing false claims of election fraud and has often focused more on re-litigating 2020 than preparing for 2024https://t.co/omRtIe1J14 — stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) September 1, 2023

Dan Merica/The Messenger:

Michigan House Republicans Urge Members to Call Paid Family Leave Plan ‘Summer Break for Adults’ (Exclusive)’ The comment compares caring for a new child or ailing family member to a summer vacation, while Republicans say it is about fraud in the proposed program Operatives for Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives are urging their members to call a paid family leave proposal by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “summer break for adults,” according to a talking-points memo obtained by The Messenger. Whitmer called for the state to pass a paid family leave plan during what was dubbed her “What’s Next” speech on Wednesday that outlined Democratic priorities for the end of 2023. Paid leave “helps workers be there for their families,” she said, giving them “breathing room to get better when you're sick, to bond with your baby or care for a family member.” For the first time in decades, Democrats in the state won narrow majorities in the state House and Senate last November. That has given them broad leeway to pass a slew of policy proposals with the Democrat as governor.

The Michigan GOP may not be aware, but paid family leave is popular. OTOH, the Michigan GOP is in bad shape.

Michael Barajas/Bolts magazine:

The “Chief Lawbreaking Officer” of Texas Finally Faces Trial Ken Paxton evaded scandal—criminal indictments, a staff revolt, a whistleblower lawsuit—for years. But his impeachment trial starts in the Texas Senate on Tuesday. Paxton’s impeachment—the second ever of a statewide official in Texas—resulted in his suspension without pay and set up a trial in the Texas Senate, which is tasked with deciding whether to convict and permanently remove the attorney general. The trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 5, in a chamber also controlled by the GOP, and at least some Republican senators would have to vote to convict him. The impeachment has deepened a rift among Republicans who dominate Texas politics and often fight over how far to the right they should push the state, turning his trial into the latest battlefield for the factions jostling to control the party.

NBC News:

Nevada’s primary debacle has some GOP campaigns threatening to write off the state A pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC has already ended door-knocking there. Now, another campaign says it may write off the state, accusing Trump of trying to "rig" the primary. Republican Party leaders in Nevada say they’re certain of one thing next year: They will hold a caucus on Feb. 8 to determine the state’s presidential primary winner. The problem? Nevada officials have already scheduled a primary at the ballot box — two days earlier — to determine the state presidential primary winner. The party plans to ban presidential candidates from taking part in its caucus if they appear on the state ballot, and will award delegates only to caucus participants. But the possibility of a party-run caucus superseding the state primary is prompting clashes between the 2024 campaigns and party leaders.

Never Back Down (the Ron DeSantis PAC) trails Never Pays Bills (the Trump entity) by a lot.

x Who was the Fla journalist who first said, to effect, "DeSantis campaign for president will go fine so long as he doesn't have to interact with the public, respond to unscripted questions, face criticism, or encounter any person or event he finds unpleasant"? — David Frum (@davidfrum) September 1, 2023

Quinta Jurecic/Lawfare:

The Legal Profession Reckons With Jan. 6 Among the co-conspirators identified by Jack Smith and Fani Willis are a great number of lawyers—many of whom are also facing potential professional sanctions. At one point during the Watergate scandal, White House Counsel John Dean put together a list of people whom he thought might face criminal prosecution as a result of the unfolding investigations. Looking over the document, he noticed that a number of the names shared something in common: Many of them were attorneys. Later, testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee, Dean recalled his astonishment at the realization: “How in God’s name could so many lawyers get involved in something like this?” The same question might be asked of the indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith charging Donald Trump over his role in working to overturn the 2020 election—and, following on its heels, the indictment in Fulton County, Georgia. Of the six unnamed co-conspirators described in the special counsel’s indictment, all five who have been definitively identified are lawyers—and the sixth may be as well. What’s more, of the whopping 19 defendants charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, eight are attorneys—and at least two of the unindicted co-conspirators listed in the Fulton County indictment may be lawyers as well. (There’s significant overlap between the co-conspirators identified by Smith and the defendants charged by Willis.) As with Dean’s Watergate-era list, this does not make for a particularly flattering portrait of the legal profession.

x DeSantis is running for President and knows that a photo of him shaking Biden's hand would hurt him. https://t.co/ANLZDfFXtF — Drew Savicki (@DrewSav) September 2, 2023

The Washington Post:

Employers added 187,000 jobs in August, showing resilience but slower growth The unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent, because of workers joining the labor market and some job losses The report also showed that wages were up 4.3 percent, a sharper annual increase than higher-than-desired inflation, which stood at 3.3 percent as of July, according to the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index released Thursday. The August report caps 32 months of consecutive job gains, scoring a political victory for President Biden, who has endeavored to cement a pro-worker record as he gears up for his reelection campaign after getting pummeled for surging inflation last year.

x Overall a just great report for the monetary doves and soft landing crowd.



Payroll growth is moderate, unemployment rate rising but because of positive supply-side shift (expanded labor force), wage growth comes in soft. — Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) September 1, 2023

HuffPost:

Biden Appointees Just Made It Easier For Workers To Form Unions A new landmark case from the National Labor Relations Board creates real consequences for illegal union-busting. When workers want a union, they typically gather signed cards and file for a secret-ballot election. But under the Cemex standard, when workers demonstrate they have majority support for a union, the onus is on the company to either recognize the union or promptly ask the NLRB to conduct an election to determine if a majority want union representation. Then, if the company breaks the law in such a way that it warrants throwing the election results out, the board can order the company to recognize the union and start bargaining. There would be no “rerun” election, as there has been until now.

x 42% of Americans say they believe Republicans are anti-union compared to just 14% who believe they are pro-union, while 49% think Democrats are pro-union and just 10% believe they are anti-union. pic.twitter.com/UorjWnNQeg — Navigator Research (@NavigatorSurvey) September 1, 2023

Matt Robison and Paul Hodes with Philip Bump (Washington Post columnist):

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/2/2190985/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-Humiliation-but-no-remorse

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/