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Category: Politics

The Supreme Court is still sitting on Trump’s tax returns, and justices aren’t saying why

The Supreme Court is still sitting on Trump’s tax returns, and justices aren’t saying why

CNN reports: Lawsuits involving Donald Trump tore apart the Supreme Court while he was president, and the justices apparently remain riven by him. For nearly four months, the court has refused to act on emergency filings related to a Manhattan grand jury’s subpoena of Trump tax returns, effectively thwarting part of the investigation. The Supreme Court’s inaction marks an extraordinary departure from its usual practice of timely responses when the justices are asked to block a lower court decision on…

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The Christian prophets who say Trump is coming again

The Christian prophets who say Trump is coming again

Julia Duin writes: Perched on a cream-colored armchair, Johnny Enlow, a 61-year-old, California-based Pentecostal pastor with short-cropped gray hair, a trim beard and Tom Selleck-style mustache, looked into the camera and prophesied that Donald Trump would become president again. Not in 2024. In 2021. “The January 20 inauguration date doesn’t really mean anything,” Enlow said in the January 29 video, which has gotten north of 100,000 views on YouTube. According to Enlow, more than 100 other “credible” Christian prophets around…

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Trump can still be the Republican Party’s future. Just look to Arizona

Trump can still be the Republican Party’s future. Just look to Arizona

BuzzFeed News reports: State Republican parties throughout the country reshaped themselves during Trump’s presidency — which might prove one of his most significant legacies. In the past several weeks, a number of state parties have stepped in to punish Trump’s critics in his stead. The Wyoming Republican Party censured Rep. Liz Cheney, the third highest-ranking House Republican, for her January vote to impeach Trump, and the Louisiana and North Carolina state parties censured their Republican senators who voted to convict…

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Blaming the wind for the mess in Texas is ridiculous

Blaming the wind for the mess in Texas is ridiculous

Wind turbines in Antarctica. Spoiler: they work in the cold. pic.twitter.com/Ws2nItJLhF — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) February 17, 2021 Bill McKibben writes: Sometimes, all you need is a map. In the wake of this week’s power failures in Texas, which have left millions without heat in subfreezing conditions, right-wing politicians and news networks decided that the emergency was down to “frozen wind turbines,” a phrase that has now been repeated ad infinitum on all the various ganglia that make up the…

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Texas mayor tells residents to fend for themselves during power outage: ‘Only the strong will survive’

Texas mayor tells residents to fend for themselves during power outage: ‘Only the strong will survive’

The Washington Post reports: By Tuesday morning, the residents of Colorado City, Tex., were getting anxious. More than 24 hours had passed since a deadly Arctic blast knocked out power across the state, leaving them without heat or electricity in below-freezing temperatures. To make matters worse, many also lacked running water, forcing them to haul in heavy buckets of snow each time they needed to flush their toilets. Residents turned to a community Facebook group to ask whether the small…

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The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty

The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty

Karen Hao writes: Miriam was only 21 when she met Nick. She was a photographer, fresh out of college, waiting tables. He was 16 years her senior and a local business owner who had worked in finance. He was charming and charismatic; he took her out on fancy dates and paid for everything. She quickly fell into his orbit. It began with one credit card. At the time, it was the only one she had. Nick would max it out…

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46,218 news transcripts show ideologically extreme politicians get more airtime

46,218 news transcripts show ideologically extreme politicians get more airtime

Joshua Darr, Jeremy Padgett, and Johanna Dunaway, write: Committee assignments are normally a blessing for new House members. But some of today’s newer members, like freshmen Republican representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Madison Cawthorn, seem to be more interested in punditry than policy. When Greene was stripped of her committee assignments on Feb. 4 for a series of past statements that included threats directed against her Democratic colleagues, she replied by tweeting that she woke up “literally laughing” that “a…

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Rush Limbaugh taught Republicans to love an angry, racist bully

Rush Limbaugh taught Republicans to love an angry, racist bully

Jonathan Chait writes: Donald Trump’s connection to the conservative movement to this day remains a subject of acrimonious dispute among the right-wing intelligentsia — some have embraced the 45th president as the movement’s authentic leader, while others regard him warily as an interloper, a New York Democrat who captured the party from the outside. Nobody on the right ever disowned Rush Limbaugh. Throughout his career, they agreed he was a pure representative of conservative thought. George Bush courted him with…

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Trump and Giuliani sued for alleged violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act

Trump and Giuliani sued for alleged violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act

The New York Times reports: The N.A.A.C.P. on Tuesday morning filed a federal lawsuit against former President Donald J. Trump and his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, claiming that they violated a 19th century statute when they tried to prevent the certification of the election on Jan. 6. The civil rights organization brought the suit on behalf of Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi. Other Democrats in Congress — including Representatives Hank Johnson of Georgia and Bonnie Watson Coleman of…

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Trump attacks McConnell in fiery statement

Trump attacks McConnell in fiery statement

Politico reports: Former President Donald Trump issued a caustic and highly personal statement against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, effectively declaring war on the Kentucky Republican for failing to back his attempts to undermine the 2020 election. “Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again,” Trump said in the statement released by his PAC. McConnell publicly soured on the former president after…

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How the largest energy-producing state in the U.S. failed in freezing temperatures

How the largest energy-producing state in the U.S. failed in freezing temperatures

WFAA reports: Many Texans are rightfully asking why the largest energy producing state in the country cannot produce enough energy to get through a week of below-freezing temperatures. So, what happened? Equipment failure turned out to be a big part of the problem. “Beginning around 11:00 p.m. [Sunday night], multiple generating units began tripping off-line in rapid progression due to the severe cold weather,” said Dan Woodfin, senior director of system operations at ERCOT, the organization that manages the state’s…

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America’s other forever war

America’s other forever war

Peter Beinart writes: “It is past time,” Joe Biden pledged last year, “to end the forever wars.” He’s right. But his definition of war is too narrow. For decades, the United States has supplemented its missile strikes and Special Operations raids with a less visible instrument of coercion and death. America blockades weaker adversaries, choking off their trade with the outside world. It’s the modern equivalent of surrounding a city and trying to starve it into submission. Wonks call this…

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Biden team downgrades Saudi crown prince to ‘recalibrate’ ties

Biden team downgrades Saudi crown prince to ‘recalibrate’ ties

Bloomberg reports: President Joe Biden intends to “recalibrate” the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia while emphasizing outreach to King Salman, in a move that signals a downgrade in ties with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler. “We’re going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday. “Part of that is going back to engagement counterpart-to-counterpart. The president’s counterpart is King Salman.” Instead of engaging primarily with Biden, the crown…

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America must become a democracy

America must become a democracy

David Frum writes: If there was one idea shared by just about every author of the Constitution, it was the one articulated by James Madison at the convention on June 26, 1787. The mass of the people would be susceptible to “fickleness and passion,” he warned. They would suffer from “want of information as to their true interest.” Those who must “labour under all the hardships of life” would “secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings.” Over…

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Acquittal vindicated the Constitution, not Trump

Acquittal vindicated the Constitution, not Trump

Mitch McConnell writes: Jan. 6 was a shameful day. A mob bloodied law enforcement and besieged the first branch of government. American citizens tried to use terrorism to stop a democratic proceeding they disliked. There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone. His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot…

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Adam Kinzinger’s lonely mission

Adam Kinzinger’s lonely mission

The New York Times reports: As the Republican Party censures, condemns and seeks to purge leaders who aren’t in lock step with Donald J. Trump, Adam Kinzinger, the six-term Illinois congressman, stands as enemy No. 1 — unwelcome not just in his party but also in his own family, some of whom recently disowned him. Two days after Mr. Kinzinger called for removing Mr. Trump from office following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, 11 members of his family…

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