Adam Bonin (@adambonin.bsky.social) Profile picture
Philadelphia-based "high-powered lawyer" (Phila Inquirer, 4-21-2022) specializing in political law; mostly-retired pop culture blogger. Opinions are mine alone.
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May 7, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Even if you don't care for pro wrestling (and I get it), if you have Peacock now turn it on. Music superstar Bad Bunny's about to have a no holds barred wrestling match, and I can't imagine it not being entertaining AF given how much effort he's put into past engagements. Oh: and they're in San Juan, and he's fighting Damian Priest -- who is *also* from Puerto Rico.
Apr 9, 2023 16 tweets 4 min read
There's a particular way in which I think Philadelphia's surprisingly-actually-good campaign contribution laws may have disproportionately impacted Maria's candidacy. In short, it's because nearly 20 years later, our pay-to-play laws seem overinclusive. I'll explain. 🧵 The laws were passed in 2005 in the wake of scandals of how the City's non-competitively bid professional services ("no-bid") contracts were being awarded—on the basis of political contributions and personal gifts to City officials, not the merits. 2/ archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/…
Nov 23, 2022 18 tweets 9 min read
November 22, 2013, 12:17 pm. This is the greatest election law picture I'm ever going to take, and one of my favorite stories I get to tell about this ridiculously fortunate career I've had. It's a story about how Every Vote Matters, but better. And there's some great cameos. 1/ Image That's Jimmy DiPlacido. In 2013 he was working for the American Red Cross, but on nights and weekends he was one of the @AbingtonDems trying to flip a swing township from red to blue. He worked his ass off. And on Election Night, it was a 517-517 tie. 2/ Image
Jun 24, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Justice Thomas, of course, would like to go even further. Justice Kavanaugh, yet again, writes a "I swear I really respect the people on the other side of this issue, but I'm still ruling against them" concurrence, only this time it's explicitly pointed at his former boss and mentor, Justice Kennedy.
Jun 23, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
He's 🏃‍♂️. And it sounds like @CouncilmanDerek is ... oh, just saying farewell to @FrankIannuzzi, who is moving on to ... something. (We like Frank). Not announcing anything else.
Mar 5, 2020 8 tweets 3 min read
The stories I'm about to tell are not dispositive as to how I'm going to endorse, or what any other currently-adrift Dems should do.

But both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have only attended @Netroots_Nation one time. Both were protested. They handled them quite differently. (1/) Biden, 2014, Detroit. He was told in advance there would be protestors on immigration issues from United We Dream. And when they interrupted him, he applauded them. theguardian.com/world/2014/jul… (2/)
Dec 14, 2019 6 tweets 2 min read
fundraising email from Jeff Van Drew, two weeks ago today. (1/) fundraisng email from Jeff Van Drew, 11-27-19: (2/)
Sep 4, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
It really bothers me to see REVENGE OF THE NERDS listed at all, let alone as high as 8th, on a list like this. Anyone viewing the film with contemporary eyes should be horrified by it. vulture.com/article/25-bes… The capsule summary says it's "a satisfying series of fulfilled wishes, the nerds get their, you know, revenge."

It's actually watching the Nerds behaving worse than the jocks: spying on, then selling nude pictures of sorority members. And more. (2/)
Aug 26, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
What a patriot sounds like: McCain, 2008 RNC: "And, finally, a word to Senator Obama ... you have my respect and my admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, and that's an association that means more to me than any other." "I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith in the wisdom, justice, and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea."
Aug 23, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
I never put this together before, but: as @ZephyrTeachout helpfully noted in 2009, part of the argument for why the Senate, not SCOTUS tries impeachments is that, in Gouverneur Morris's words, "The supreme Court were too few in number and might be warped or corrupted." (1/) Delegate Roger Sherman specifically objected to SCOTUS trying impeachments as being improper "because the Judges would be appointed by him."

That's right, Originalists: the Framers didn't want SCT justices ruling on corrupt acts by the President who nominated them. (2/)
Aug 21, 2018 5 tweets 3 min read
5-2 decision holds that defendant's gangsta rap video, threatening named police officers who were to testify against him in criminal case, is not protected under First Amendment. Convictions for terroristic threats/witness intimidation stand. Oh, gosh, Justice Wecht's concurring opinion -- on the intent test for such a conviction -- is a fun dive through music. Must've been fun for his clerks. cc: @alyankovic pacourts.us/assets/opinion…
Aug 21, 2018 6 tweets 3 min read
This is how you end the #VMAs. From 25 years ago: Ok, this is going to send me down a #VMA nostalgia cascade. Nirvana, "Rape Me/Lithium/Krist Please Don't Do That! (at 4:10)", 1992 VMAs.
Aug 11, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
Among its many triumphs, BLACKKKLANSMAN gives us Spike Lee's most effective closing montage since BAMBOOZLED. Is it melodramatic? Sure. But it is earned and necessary. Do read @aoscott's review. nytimes.com/2018/08/09/mov… Also: if you didn't know John David Washington was Denzel's son, you'd know it pretty quickly anyway. There's a distinctive cadence, especially in some of the small talk, for which he is a clear and proud inheritor.
Aug 10, 2018 6 tweets 3 min read
Hey, Progressive Lawyers of Twitter: pick a folder, whether it looks boring or interesting. Dive in. Report back. #StopKavanaugh Brett Kavanaugh, in an August 31, 1998 edit memo to his co-authors of the Starr Report, less than two weeks before its release. archives.gov/files/research…
Aug 9, 2018 7 tweets 3 min read
The 3d Cir opinion on Chaka Fattah et al's corruption convictions is now online. Bottom line: while it overturns certain charges and reinstates others, the number of 10-year concurrent sentences he's still facing means no change in his jail time. www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/16439… (1/) All the convictions relating to the illegal excess campaign loan from Al Lord and the various schemes to repay him and Tom Lindenfeld stand, including RICO. Convictions relating to the phony Porsche sale, for which the trial court judge directed acquittal, are reinstated. (2/)
Aug 2, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
Jul 31, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read
Jul 25, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
It's a nice, albeit sideways effort to address the Kennedy Center Honors' massive deficit of Hispanic or Latinx honorees. And as @IsaacSpaceman has long-ago noted, they're not terribly good for Asian honorees, either.
Jul 13, 2018 7 tweets 3 min read
If it's July 13 and I'm still a Philadelphian, there's some videos I'm obligated to promote, again. 33 years ago today, Live Aid. First, Ashford & Simpson welcome Philly's own Teddy Pendergrass back to the stage for the first time since his accident. From Wembley, U2's starmaking Live Aid performance -- a/k/a "the one in which Bono gets lost and the band is forced to vamp for a long time and has no idea where he is,"
Jul 3, 2018 8 tweets 2 min read
On this day in 1776, true American hero Caesar Rodney - his body withered by cancer of the jaw and asthma - completed an epic 80-mi horse ride from Dover to Phila, through a thunderstorm, to break the tie in Delaware's delegation and cast the decisive vote for Independence. (1/) His vote was decisive because the delegates wanted a unanimous vote; Delaware was deadlocked and New York abstaining (courteously). And in so doing, he apparently forfeited the ability to ever travel to London where a physician was available to treat his particular cancer. (2/)