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Institutional Cowardice Is Undermining Our Democracy [1]
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Date: 2025-04-02
“This is an extraordinary danger. Maybe it calls for extraordinary courage.” -- Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute
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Does anybody stand for anything anymore?
I’m not talking about Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-plus hour overnight floor speech in the Senate this week.
I’m talking about men and women in positions of authority, faced with corrupt threats from four-time indicted, twice impeached, sexual assaulter, tax fraudster, insurrection inspirer, wannabe fascist dictator, convicted felon, Russian puppet, President Donald Trump standing up and saying no, this is a bridge too far, or this is our red line, or the buck stops here, or whatever cliché they choose to use.
Trump has gone after some of the pillars of our society – our higher education system, our legal and judicial system, our media system – and we’re seeing too many examples of caving.
Of course, some have stood up to this corrupt bully, but too many haven’t. We need more heroes, and we need them fast.
For instance, the Trump administration announced this week that it’s reviewing about $9 billion in federal grants and contracts awarded to Harvard University, alleging that it had allowed antisemitism to run unchecked on its campus.
Previously, it had withheld $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia University, saying it was investigating potential violations of Title VI – which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin – and the Civil Right Act, and $175 million from the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender woman on its swim team in 2022.
Harvard and Columbia were among the 10 universities that a federal task force said in February it was reviewing because of possible antisemitic activity on campuses.
So, how did Harvard President Alan Garber react? He sent out an email to the Harvard community in which he said in part that “we are not perfect,” and that Harvard will work with the federal government “to ensure that they have a full account of the work we have done and actions we will take going forward to combat antisemitism.”
Pretty meek.
What would I have liked to hear Garber – who is Jewish – say? How about this: “We’ve made some mistakes, we’re working to correct them, but we have a great university here with great staff and students, and this administration’s strongarm tactics of trying to degrade and control us on behalf of its own political agenda isn’t going to work.
“Mr. President, we’re Harvard. We have an endowment of more than $50 billion. We’ll make whatever adjustments – as painful as they may be – and we’ll move forward. And we’ll be here long after you’re gone.”
I know, it will never happen,
At Columbia, the school folded like a cheap suit in hopes of not losing all that money and agreed to, among other things, greater oversight of its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies department.
What does that mean? Is the government going to be looking over the school administration’s shoulder in determining what course content will be? Will we have the federal government controlling what’s being taught? The federal government interfering in our colleges and universities like that is not a good thing.
As for Penn, issues about athletic eligibility should remain the province of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, not the government. Then again, the LGBTQ community is a popular target for the GOP and it’s “Christian” base.
Look, no one is supporting antisemitism here, but if we can’t criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for recklessly and uncaringly killing too many Palestinian civilians while rightfully going after Hamas for its horrific attack on his country then I don’t know what freedom of speech looks like anymore.
You can read the Times story here.
***
Trump’s bloodthirsty quest for retribution against anyone who he’s perceived has wronged him has hit the legal profession with mixed results. So far, he’s issued executive orders against multiple law firms.
Trump “seeks to extract major concessions from some of the world’s most significant law firms and in some cases punish them over their association with prosecutors who previously investigated him,” the Associated Press reported
His weapons have included threatening the suspension of their attorney’s security clearances and their access to federal buildings. (Can he really stop an American citizen from entering a federal building like that?)
Another method of government weaponization is requiring that any federal contractors disclose any business they have with these law firms so that agency heads can reassess their contracts, CBS News reported.
This is some mob boss stuff here.
So far, three firms have caved. Here’s a look at what’s happened based on the reporting of AP and CBS News:
The law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services related to causes including veterans’ affairs and countering antisemitism. It also pledged a commitment to merit-based hiring and to use an independent counsel to make sure its employment practices are legal and don’t rely on diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations
The Paul Weiss law firm has reached an agreement with the White house in which it will dedicate $40 million worth of free legal services to support certain Trump administration agenda items, including on countering antisemitism; to conduct an audit of its hiring practices; to not use any DEI policies; and to take on clients regardless of political affiliation.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr agreed to offer at least $100 million in pro bono services.
This would be a good time to note that the administration’s attack on DEI is nothing more than pandering to the white failures looking to blame someone else for their problems and racists that populate the GOP voting base.
Three firms – Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Perkins Coie – challenged Trump in court and were able to get judges to temporarily block key parts of the president’s executive orders.
What are the sins that these firms allegedly committed?
Jenner & Block formerly employed Andrew Weissman, a lawyer who served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team that investigated Trump during his first term. Mueller and two members of his team used to be with WilmerHale. Mueller and one of them have retired, while the other remains a partner in the firm.
Perkins Coie represented Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign and hired a research firm that retained former British spy Christopher Steeler, who produced the infamous “Steele Dossier.”
Former second gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, is a partner with Wilmer Culter Pickering Hale and Dorr. The firm represented former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss in their lawsuit against Trump ally/pathetic shell of a man Rudy Giuliani
Another firm targeted by Trump -- Covington & Burling -- provided pro bono legal representation to Special Council Jack Smith, another Trump investigator.
According to Skadden Arps, the Trump administration targeted it over its pro bono legal work and its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Perkins Coie are also involved in legal challenges to Trump’s second-term policies.
You can see why Trump hates them so much, but hate doesn’t justify what he’s doing.
“These orders do more than just take revenge against particular lawyers who have crossed Donald Trump,” said Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. “They are meant to send the message that it is dangerous to oppose him in court, that you are apt to suffer not just yourself, but also law firms that you’re associated with will suffer sweeping penalties that can threaten their very ability to go on existing.”
So, what’s a reasonable response here. I understand that the default reaction for these firms is to protect their business interests, and that maybe the three that have stood up to Trump will eventually give in if the courts don’t protect them in future rulings.
But we’re at a critical crossroads in this country, and these folks will have other opportunities to make money if need be. I’d like them to stand up and tell Trump to go screw himself and be willing to take the consequences for making stopping this perversion of our legal system a priority over their own self interests.
Good luck with that.
You can read the AP story here.
You can read the CBS News story here.
***
Of course, there are all kinds of other threats from Trump and his GOP allies that are going on.
Lawsuits have been threatened or filed against media companies for alleged bias coverage. People that have opposed Trump have to worry about being investigated and charged by his corrupt Department of Justice.
Judges who rule against him are threatened with impeachment, defunding of their courts, and legislation limiting their power. So far, the courts have been pretty stellar in standing up to Trump but let’s face it, if they collapse it’s probably game over for this country.
That’s why Trump is salivating for all the challenges to his blatant abuses of power to end up before our corrupt Supreme Court, where at least two constitutional traitors – justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – are ready to give him whatever he wants.
Then it remains to be seen if at least three of the remaining seven are willing to go along with what might be the most corrupt action the court will ever take – giving ultimate power to the presidency and destroying the concept of three co-equal branches of government and their checks and balances enshrined in our constitution.
***
Thank you for reading my post. You can see my other writings on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. Please share and subscribe for free via email on its home page.
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