kelusman.bsky.social
Political Science faculty at Miami University (OH) who researches the unitary executive theory of presidential power.
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3. Sean Spicer. Yes, that Sean Spicer. Billed only as former Press Secretary to Trump (for 182 days) and currently the host of "The Sean Spicer Show".
If you believe any of this is meant to be impartial and serious, I have a bridge I want to sell you.
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2. Theo Wold--Hillsdale College, the Claremont Institute, Trump DOJ, Mike Lee Deputy Counsel, The Federalist Society, and billed as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
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The group of experts the SJC has empaneled to offer medical and psychological diagnoses of Joe Biden?
1. John C Harrison, who clerked for Robert Bork and served under Bill Barr in Bush's DOJ, and a member of the Federalist Society.
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www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
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Reminds me of the Dan Burton committee investigations into Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich in 2001, after Clinton left office. At least in that instance the Bush administration refused to hand over DOJ information under executive privilege grounds. www.nytimes.com/2001/12/14/u...
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It is a shame that our students--many of whom aspire to a life in politics--learn an early lesson that for many pols, all politics is transactional.
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Diminishing the role of the ABA is not new. As I acknowledged, assuming Trump really has broken with the Federalist Society (a big assumption) does leave us in uncharted territory.
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To me, the more important point underscored in your article was the WH decision to create its own list without input from any existing organization, which brings to mind how everything else seems to get done here--whoever gets in front of Trump seems to sway his decisions.
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Nice to hear from you Charlie. The ABA role has been superfluous. Post vetting is not pre-vetting. It seemed to me the natural progression was to turn the list to affiliated partisan orgs, which made sense.
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Or is it within the realm of possibility that Trump seeks to monetize these selections the same way he has sold pardons or memecoins? This of course remains a very real possibility with dire consequences for Republic.
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Does he begin taking selections offered to him from conservative windbags such as Sean Hannity or Mark Levin? Or god forbid, Laura Loomer?
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What remains to be seen is becomes influential in getting in front of Trump a list of potential judicial nominees to fill vacancies. Does he back channel to the two conservative gargoyles on the Supreme Court, Justice Alito and Thomas?
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Joe Biden also tossed aside the ABA, preferring to allow progressive legal organizations to vet appointees to ensure that the judges picked were solid on the core values of the Biden administration and progressive causes:
www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/u...
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In the Bush 43 administration, they started turning to the Federalist Society to vet the judges for the judiciary. In Trump's first term, he exclusively used The Federalist Society to put together his list of appointees, which is how Kavanaugh came to be picked for SCOTUS:
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If he is a Star Trek fan, then I hope the episode "Mirror, Mirror" speaks to him.
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If Comer is a reflective guy, I hole he contemplates his idiotic view of anything embedded in the government is non-partisan and independent in an era of crippling political polarization.
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There is a touch of karma in Comer getting investigated by a bureau led by a guy who freely targets his bosses political enemies. Who, along with the AG want to destroy the integrity of the Justice Dept.
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Loved that series
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Even better it may push him into rash behavior, like kicking the entire front row reporters out of the White House. That kind of provocation is necessary. I hope others will follow Moran's lead.
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Trump, and the sycophants in the Right Wing media/new media sphere, offer only praise and confirmation in every interview with Trump they get. This means Trump will be rattled when he gets critical attention.
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What Moran's interview should do is to signal to the rest of the WHCA (at least those who believe in professional journalism) that the time for push back is now.
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The crazy thing is Trump may very well not know this was a doctored photo. He seemed to be perplexed that Moran could deny such an obvious reality. That is alarming.
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When Moran told Trump it was photshopped, Trump went on the attack. Moran finally relented, asking to "agree to disagree." It should have been expected that Trump would do this. And yet for all the prep, it didn't matter. The Oval Office still commands respect to pro journalists.