Abbreviated expert roundup A long-running series published every morning, collecting essential political debate and analysis surrounding the Internet.
Today we begin with The Atlantic's Adam Serwer not being at all surprised that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is a rebel.
The most charitable interpretation of Alito's non-denial of the inverted flag and its meaning is that the court wanted to avoid expressing an opinion in advance as it faces several cases related to Trump's actions. Justices generally avoid publicly opining on issues before them and try to avoid the appearance of partisanship even when they do not. always succeed. Perhaps this is what Alito was really thinking when he said that. times. The flaw in this defense is that, like a street preacher predicting the end of the world, Alito is also shy about sharing his political views.
Alito in 2020 He warned that liberals were a threat. For freedom of speech. In 2021 he attacked the media It accurately reports that the Supreme Court has invalidated Texas' abortion rights by upholding the state's abortion incentive law and is prepared to overturn those rights in the rest of the state. He will be in 2022 He ridiculed those who criticized him. His an unhistorical ruling In ~ that much Dobbs example, which resulted in a series of laws that subject women to a gender-specific state enforcement and surveillance regime. in In 2023, he wall street journal He defended himself on the editorial page after reporters exposed his close relationship with a right-wing billionaire. a few days ago, he warned “Support for free speech is dangerously declining, especially in the places where it needs to be most deeply embraced.” I was just doing it. Participate in a thorough censorship campaign. And despite all these public statements attacking the left, especially on free speech issues, Alito has raised a lot of money. legal records His Interpretation of the First Amendment bestow right to monologue About people who share his beliefs.
Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times note that although Todd Blanche conducted a somewhat effective cross-examination of the shoe salesman last Thursday, the prosecution still has a distinct advantage: People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump We enter the final step.
But as the trial enters its final stages and the focus shifts from the lawyers at the podium to the 12 silent New Yorkers who will decide Mr. Trump's fate, the case remains a loss for the prosecution. Between the mountain of circumstantial evidence and the very favorable laws supporting the charges, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg has maintained a unique advantage. […]
Mr. Cohen's testimony that President Trump 'approved' the plan could provide necessary information to prosecutors. It may not matter that he did not accuse President Trump of personally falsifying records or explicitly directing anyone to do so. Under new york law If President Trump were charged with a violation, prosecutors would only have to prove that he 'caused' his company to submit false records.
Prosecutors have another legal card at hand: The law holds defendants accountable. Even if he doesn't commit the crime himself, as long as he “intentionally assists” it. The issue was highlighted during jury selection, when prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked prospective jurors whether they could find the husband guilty of murdering his wife for hiring a hitman to kill her. Many people agreed that it could be done.
The New Yorker's Susan B. Glasser wonders what could move the seemingly deadlocked American electorate.
What is much more difficult to predict is whether a conviction in this case will finally sway the otherwise largely unmovable American electorate. Polls suggest the answer may be yes, at least among a small number of Republicans outside the party's most ardently pro-Trump wing. MarkBase. in Reuters/Ipsos poll For example, just before the New York trial, 24% of Republicans, including 13% of Trump supporters, said they would not support him in November if he is convicted of a felony. But with the trial wrapping up its fifth week and rapidly moving toward a verdict, experience strongly suggests that a degree of skepticism is warranted. The story of the last eight years is full of examples of Republicans embracing Trump's previously unthinkable behavior. Why should this time be any different? […]
As a sitting president, at a time when Americans could not be more rigid about the country's present and future, Biden wants to turn the race from a referendum on himself to a race that reminds us of all the chaos and madness that would accompany another Trump presidency. . He's not wrong in thinking that Trump has always been the Biden campaign's most effective surrogate. At the same time, Trump seems to believe, as he has long argued and in fact is, that his opponent is akin to an annoying idiot, not to mention “the worst debater I have ever faced.” Of course, he will use Biden's debate mistakes as evidence.
Does it matter? One of the many strange things about this election is that both candidates currently look too weak to win, have many disadvantages, and very unclear paths to victory, but one of them must win. So I wouldn't rule anything out. Maybe Trump will be found guilty and Republicans will turn on him en masse. Maybe Biden will stumble on stage in a way he can't recover from. But don't count on it. The political reality of 2024 is the grim math of an evenly divided nation, and the prospect of an electoral game-changer may be the most alluring campaign mirage.
Haaretz's Anshel Pfeffer asks whether Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu can continue to block early elections and chart a war strategy for Gaza.
His [Gantz’s] The ultimatum is that if a plan is not developed to address Israel's six strategic objectives in this war or change the direction of the government, he will resign from the cabinet within three weeks and leave the government with his party. there is no way This far-right coalition I will accept his request. But speeches are important in at least one way.
The conclusion is not an ultimatum. Because I can't believe Gantz won't find an excuse to stay in the cabinet until June 8th. The point is that two of the three members of the War Cabinet (the others who sit in the War Cabinet are “observers”) have now publicly accused the third member, Netanyahu, of not having a strategy for the ongoing war. 7 and a half months. And despite all this, Gantz gave Netanyahu three more weeks and Gallant didn't even threaten to resign.
Gantz and Gallant now tell the Israeli public that the Israeli prime minister is prepared to drag the country deeper and deeper into Gaza without a viable plan to end the war. Both strongly implied that he was doing so for political reasons, under pressure from the far right. Netanyahu's war cabinet has now voted no confidence in him. In a typical political forum, this would be the end. The Prime Minister will either have to fire his wayward ministers or resign immediately. And elections will be held at the earliest opportunity.
Cristian Segura of El País reports in English that Russian progress in the Kharkiv region has stalled.
The fact that Russia has halted its advance may confirm the theory of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Service that the enemy's goal of opening a new combat front north of Kharkiv is to force Ukraine to reduce its forces in Donetsk. According to leading Western military analysis centers, Moscow's main goals are to conquer the Chasiv Yar municipality and advance on Pokrovsk, both cities of Donetsk. The intensity of the Russian advance has also decreased in these two areas. This may have been aimed at encouraging Ukraine to move more troops to Kharkiv, according to an officer with Ukraine's 23rd Mechanized Brigade, which was fighting in Donetsk until last week. The soldier, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said: Fighting in places like Chasiv Yar It is still much bloodier than this part of the northeast.
This newspaper was able to confirm that the Russian army retreated to the northern periphery of Vovchansk, a major border municipality north of Kharkiv, thanks to Ukrainian artillery power. Ukrainian forces are suffering from severe ammunition shortages and awaiting the arrival of more U.S. missiles, but these problems are not to be found in Vovchansk. On the Russian side, howitzer fire is destroying the city. The scale of damage is reminiscent of the Battle of Bakhmut, which ended in 2023 with the city devastated by Russian conquest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the city of Kharkiv on Thursday to analyze the progress of the fighting with military commanders. The president said the situation was “very difficult” but “under control.” The Russian advance into Vovchansk and the nearby Lyptsy region has been curbed, but Ukrainian authorities are preparing new attacks by Kremlin forces in other parts of the Kharkiv region, particularly the border town of Kozachar Lopan. Residents of the village began evacuating on Wednesday.
Finally, Mark Lasswell of The Washington Post wrote this today: one What I heard at the shoe salesman trial Can not Inaudibly: Testimony that Donald John Trump likes the Oxford comma.
Madeleine Westerhout, his former personal assistant and former director of Oval Office Operations, testified last week that she detailed how the former president's social media announcements were fine-tuned before they were released to the public.
This includes a preference for the Oxford comma, a controversial punctuation mark also known as the serial comma, used before “and” in lists of three or more items. I never dreamed I would be writing something like this. But Donald, I'm with you.
Now Trump's post may seem like the careless remark of an egomaniac who is impatient for not eating a burger in so long after playing 18 holes of golf. But it turns out Trump does things the Flaubertian way. The author of Madame Bovary wrote this to her lover in 1846: “Man can achieve style only through brutal labor, fanatical and devoted stubbornness.”
That said, my friend, it takes a lot of effort to make it look that easy. And now Westerhout is pulling back the curtain and finding out that her old boss not only knew about this. existence I used the Oxford comma, but he insisted on using it. There is every bit of heretofore unquestionable craftsmanship that goes into forming the seemingly nonchalant online Trump presence that so dazzles his followers.
I agree with Trump on that solitary issue.
Have a great day everyone!