It's hard to keep up, I know. So just in case you've missed any of this, and for my own file cabinet purposes...
How the CNP, a Republican Powerhouse, Helped Spawn Trumpism, Disrupted the Transfer of Power, and Stoked the Assault on the Capitol (from February 2021 — I just saw it this week). This is about the long-term strategy that led to now. It doesn't mention the Powell Memo or Opus Dei, but it has just about every other character from the Right Wing in the last 40 years. They've all been in on it. (Geez, I hate feeling like a paranoid person.)
Which ties into this story from the Washington Post today: Koch-backed group fuels opposition to school mask mandates, leaked documents reveal. "A template letter circulated by Independent Women's Forum [sic] offers a rare glimpse into a conservative campaign against public health measures."
There were a number of stories — though not enough that appeared on front-pages or leading broadcasts — about the revelation of how close Mike Pence came to overturning the presidential election on January 6. Gee, gosh, he really wanted to go along with it! He didn't like making President Trump unhappy!
Have you read or heard any of them? They're based on reporting in the Woodward and Costa book Peril, and refer to a "legal" memo outlining how Pence should proceed on January 6, written by the despicable law professor John Eastman (who should be disbarred, along with Giuliani, Powell, and others). It was none other than former Vice President Dan Quayle who talked Pence out of it. For real.
I'm amazed to this day that this story didn't dominate the news for at least a week, but it barely made a peep. The complacency in the journalistic class is enraging, because it's obvious the Right is a learning machine, and they will do better next time, as indicated by the many laws they're passing to control elections in key states and to gerrymander even more than in the past.
Today's On Point radio show from WBUR had multiple legal scholars discussing the Eastman memo and events of January 6 with the future in mind.
We have been warned.
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A late addition to this post, two September tweets about the Federalist Society that fit better here than in my Twitter round-up.
Something like The Federalist Society has power in part because media liberal legal types, universities and moderate Republicans treat it as legitimate institution, participate in its events, elevate its voice, etc. What if they just didn't?
Jeet Heer @HeerJeet
People should treat the Federalist Society like a shadow far right government in waiting. It’s not a source some deep legal introspection; it’s an organization devoted to running government how they see fit and using their network to leapfrog procedural safeguards.
Alex J @afjfromfla
4 comments:
“Have you read or heard any of them?”
I caught on to the Eastman plan early — Heather Cox Richardson had it in Letters from an American. But I’ve seen very little about it on “the news.”
I think I saw it in there also (maybe because you shared it?)... and have seen it or heard about it in several places since. It's not that it has been completely missed, but it seems like an A1 story instead of something only wonks would know about.
I saw the news story about the Pence/Quayle thing. I can't believe we owe a debt of gratitude to Dan Quayle for being the one to stand in the way of disaster.
I know, right? I texted Daughter Number Three-Point-One as soon as I heard that. I'm sure we're all tired of hearing this by now, but if that was in a Hollywood script draft, the writer would be told to delete it because it's too unrealistic.
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