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Category: Politics

Clyburn says he would support ‘mini-primary’ ahead of DNC if Biden steps aside

Clyburn says he would support ‘mini-primary’ ahead of DNC if Biden steps aside

Politico reports: Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, a top ally of Joe Biden, said Wednesday that if the president steps aside from the election, he would expect to see a “mini-primary” ahead of the Democratic National Convention with Kamala Harris and Democratic governors vying for the top two spots on the party’s ticket. Responding to a question on CNN about whether Harris should be the party’s automatic nominee if the president were to step aside or if there should be a…

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The Insurrection Act: The most dangerous law in America

The Insurrection Act: The most dangerous law in America

Joseph Nunn writes: The Insurrection Act is a nuclear bomb hidden in the United States Code. Enacted in the early years of this country’s existence, it was subsequently modified several times, as Congress greatly expanded the President’s powers under the law during the bloody tumult of the Civil War and Reconstruction. It has largely been ignored ever since. But today, the law has garnered renewed attention and raised concerns in many quarters for a reason that should echo ominously this…

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The Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity beggars belief

The Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity beggars belief

Don Moynihan writes: [Trump’s] impeachment for fomenting an insurrection was derailed by Mitch McConnell and other Republican Senators who insisted that the legal system would hold him accountable: “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.” Almost four years on, the legal system has failed to hold Trump accountable, and will not before he would gain authority to pardon himself. The only…

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Only an anti-fascist front can save Israelis from the abyss

Only an anti-fascist front can save Israelis from the abyss

Orly Noy writes: “What’s happening to you?” That was the question Yoana Gonen posed, in her recent column for Haaretz, to the so-called “leftists” vowing to vote for Israel’s right-wing former prime minister, Naftali Bennett. The fact that such a trend exists is bewildering, but the answer to Gonen’s question is clear. What is happening to these “leftists” is the same thing that’s happening to all of Israeli society: a profound and accelerating slide toward fascism. Nine months into a…

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Doing nothing about Biden is the riskiest plan of all

Doing nothing about Biden is the riskiest plan of all

Nate Silver writes: After last week’s debate disaster, some Democrats are trying to circle the wagons to protect President Biden, noting that Barack Obama lost his first debate as an incumbent president, too. But this one doesn’t pass the smell test. Mr. Obama wasn’t 81 years old at the time of his debate debacle. And he came into the debate as a strong favorite in the election, whereas Mr. Biden was behind (with just a 35 percent chance of winning)….

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How to replace Biden: Longtime DNC member Jim Zogby proposes process to pick new nominee

How to replace Biden: Longtime DNC member Jim Zogby proposes process to pick new nominee

  As Democrats discuss whether President Joe Biden should stand down as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate following his disastrous debate performance, we speak with James Zogby, senior member of the Democratic National Committee, about his call for an open and transparent nomination process to select new candidates leading up to the Democratic National Convention next month, where the final nominee would be voted on. “I want to see a unified, energized party with a lot of excitement because they…

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Big donors quietly turn against Biden

Big donors quietly turn against Biden

The New York Times reports: Wealthy Democratic donors who believe a different nominee would be the party’s best chance to hold the White House are increasingly gritting their teeth in silence about President Biden, fearful that any move against him could backfire. As of late Tuesday, the party’s moneyed class was carefully monitoring post-debate poll results and the positioning of elected Democrats for signs that support for Mr. Biden was cracking. Earlier moves by donors to mount their own campaigns…

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The Supreme Court is making decisions that flatly contradict the Constitution’s text and ideals

The Supreme Court is making decisions that flatly contradict the Constitution’s text and ideals

Akhil Reed Amar writes: In a quid-pro-quo bribery case—money for a pardon—[Chief Justice John] Roberts apparently would allow evidence of the quid (the money transfer) and evidence of the quo (the fact of a later pardon) but not evidence of the pro: evidence that the pardon was given because of the money, that the pardon was motivated by the money. This is absurd. In the oral argument this past April, one of the Court’s best jurists posed the issue well:…

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Heritage Foundation president threatens the left with violence if they resist the ‘second American Revolution’

Heritage Foundation president threatens the left with violence if they resist the ‘second American Revolution’

The Daily Beast reports: The president of the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday declared that a new revolution is already underway in the U.S., appearing to warn Liberals that violence could erupt if they tried to stop it. Kevin Roberts, whose uber-conservative think tank is behind the highly controversial “Project 2025” blueprint for a second Donald Trump presidency, made the comment during an appearance on Real America’s Voice. “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain…

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Israel announces largest West Bank land appropriation since Oslo Accords

Israel announces largest West Bank land appropriation since Oslo Accords

The Times of Israel reports: The Civil Administration, which manages civilian affairs in the West Bank, has declared 2,965 acres of land in the Jordan Valley region to be state land, meaning it is fit for future development. According to the Peace Now organization, which campaigns against the West Bank settlements, this is the largest designation of state land since the Oslo Accords in 1993, and follows other large designations of state land including 1,976 acres also in the Jordan…

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What we can learn from an ancient egalitarian civilization in the Indus Valley

What we can learn from an ancient egalitarian civilization in the Indus Valley

Adam S. Green writes: The most tantalizing feature of the ancient Indus Valley remains is what they appear to lack: any trace of a ruling class or managerial elite. This defies the longtime theoretical assumption that any complex society must have stratified social relations: that collective action, urbanization, and economic specialization only develop in a very unequal culture that takes direction from the top, and that all social trajectories evolve toward a common and universal outcome, the state. Yet, here…

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Turmoil in the White House and growing revolt from Democrats in Congress over Biden

Turmoil in the White House and growing revolt from Democrats in Congress over Biden

Axios reports: Officials on President Biden‘s White House and campaign staffs say they’re feeling rage, sadness, frustration and resolve over his debate performance and his team’s response to it, more than a dozen White House and campaign aides told Axios. Why it matters: Biden’s performance at the debate has left many of his own aides worried about his mental fitness, and angry about what they see as a lack of candor from Biden’s senior aides. “It’s the first topic of every conversation,” one White…

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Is Biden the worst option for Democrats to beat Trump?

Is Biden the worst option for Democrats to beat Trump?

The Intercept reports: President Joe Biden has an electability problem. To counter that reality — evident for months but put on the spotlight by a dismal debate performance last week — his campaign on Monday touted a poll finding that eight other Democrats would lose to former President Donald Trump at similar margins as the incumbent. Team Biden would have you believe that the poll shows that he has the best chance at beating Trump. Yet if the poll is…

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Trump’s imperial presidency in waiting

Trump’s imperial presidency in waiting

Axios reports: Former President Trump, if re-elected, plans to immediately test the boundaries of presidential and governing power, knowing the restraints of Congress and the courts are dramatically looser than during his first term, his advisers tell us. Why it matters: It’s not just the Supreme Court ruling on Monday that presidents enjoy substantial legal immunity for actions in office. Trump would come to office with a Cabinet and staff pre-vetted for loyalty, and a fully compliant Republican coalition in Congress — devoid of critics…

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Trump may face a fact-finding hearing — a mini-trial of sorts — shortly before the election

Trump may face a fact-finding hearing — a mini-trial of sorts — shortly before the election

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday about executive immunity makes it all but certain that former President Donald J. Trump will not stand trial on charges of seeking to overturn the last election before voters decide whether to send him back to the White House in the next one. But the ruling also opened the door for prosecutors to detail much of their evidence against Mr. Trump in front of a federal judge — and…

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How the Supreme Court’s Chevron decision benefits the fossil fuel industry

How the Supreme Court’s Chevron decision benefits the fossil fuel industry

L. Delta Merner writes: Last Friday, the Supreme Court overruled the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, fundamentally changing the landscape of federal regulatory power. This decision, reached with a 6-3 majority led by Chief Justice John Roberts, marks a significant shift in administrative law and has profound implications for environmental regulations and climate accountability. Ironically, the downfall of the Chevron doctrine will give Chevron and other major oil and gas corporations more latitude to slow down and block regulations, allowing them to…

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