The only thing more frustrating than the Supreme Court shamelessly shielding Trump from accountability is the pundits and politicians who insist that we sit by and watch, that our only duty as citizens is to "respect courts."

My latest in @newrepublic: newrepublic.com/article/179541… @newrepublic It's so rich for the Supreme Court to rule that disqualifying Trump would be too "chaotic" when the same justices have spent their whole careers wreaking absolute havoc on our political and judicial systems.

What more proof do we need that conservative jurisprudence is a fraud?

The Supreme Court unanimously holds that Sec. 3 of the 14th Amendment only allows states to disqualify candidates for *state* office, a requirement that appears nowhere in the text.

Apparently “sensible” readings are fine when it gets the results conservatives want! Sec. 3 states Congress can *remove* a disqualification by a 2/3 vote. But if they have to affirmatively disqualify (by a majority) in the first instance, they can also effectively remove it with a majority. The 2/3 requirement is rendered meaningless.

https://x.com/CJSprigman/status/1764674321203577159?s=20

Live thread of SCOTUS arguments in Trump v. Anderson, the appeal of Colorado's decision to disqualify Trump from the presidential ballot under Sec. 3 of the 14th Amendment. In response to a question from John Roberts, Trump's lawyer says that a state cannot disqualify a candidate under the 14th Amendment *even if someone admits to being an insurrectionist.*

Good moment to point out that liberals actually use originalism all the time. The problem with originalism isn’t that it’s always bad, but that conservatives employ it in nonsensical ways.

Suggesting liberals are being disingenuous by looking to history is just totally wrong. 1/

https://twitter.com/douthatnyt/status/1740569620648693966

A good example is Breyer’s and Steven’s dissents in DC v. Heller, the 2nd Am. case. They rely heavily on history to conclude that the 2nd Am. does not protect an individual’s right to own a firearm. You see this all the time—history is often a very important guide. 2/

Hard not to conclude that Biden’s negotiating strategy for the debt ceiling was a monumental blunder. Saying “we won’t negotiate the debt limit” only works if you have a mechanism—such as the 14th Am.—to back it up. But Biden is at the same time throwing cold water on it. At the end of the day, your priorities are your priorities. Biden wants to raise the debt limit. Republicans don’t care. So regardless of what you say, the only way for it to end is for the debt limit to become a bargaining chip. Dems will get nothing else out of it.

If you frame the McCarthy debacle as the fault of a small far-right faction, you are not telling the whole story.

The GOP spent the past decade abandoning policy, embracing radicalism and attacking government - and McCarthy was at the center of it. This is on the *entire* party. McCarthy voted to overturn the 2020 election. He is not some reasonable moderate. That he (or any Republican) finds himself as part of some ~mainstream~ faction has nothing to do with ideology. It's just a result of convenience, arrogance and ambition.

If the Squad blocked Pelosi from being elected speaker on five consecutive ballots, the New York Times would have a front page "news analysis" piece asking whether the Democratic Party can continue to exist in the Untied States. Needless to say, we are about 24 hours away from a David Brooks piece arguing Democrats are overplaying their hand and the responsible thing to do would be to have some of their members leave so McCarthy can slip by with less votes. Just wait.

With Biden rejecting progressive proposals to confront the Supreme Court, we're hearing the same tired line: "Vote for Democrats."

Building political power matters. But only if our leaders are willing to use it. That can, and should, start now. My latest:
medium.com/@jesskcoleman/… The "Vote Blue" mentality bears a striking resemblance to the "make me do it" meme of the Obama years.

Here's a secret: the story behind that phrase was a farce. And it's not surprising why. Dem leaders have been far more likely to resist activist pressure than to embrace it.

It's time for Dems to unanimously call for Clarence Thomas' resignation. Not recusals. Resignation.

Having a SCOTUS justice whose wife was privately urging lawmakers to orchestrate a coup is simply an untenable position for a democracy. Dems shouldn't be afraid to say it. I don't want to hear that it's Thomas' wife, not him, etc. etc. The guy was using his position of power to promote and implement the same anti-democratic theories while also helping to stall an investigation into Jan. 6. It's beyond a fileable offense.

https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1527686018933174276?s=20&t=dAWO-2kSjLlwsclcRgSt3Q

No, the tide is not turning. We’ve done this a thousand times. Any Republican currently crossing Trump will either be purged from the party or locking arms with him at Mar-a-Lago within a year. It’s inevitable.

Stop waiting for the GOP to reform itself.

https://twitter.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1491103952796262403

“The tide was turning” when several Republicans were going to vote to convict Trump and *even Mitch McConnell* was going to whip the anti-Trump vote.

How’d that turn out? Within days the GOP voted almost unanimously to dismiss the impeachment charges. nytimes.com/2021/01/12/us/…

They’re celebrating, and it’s not hard to see why. The core goal of the GOP—to institutionalize violence and terrorism against their political adversaries—has just been given a massive rubber stamp.

Absolutely, utterly horrifying. The celebration of a white supremacist who mowed down people exercising their First Amendment rights continues.

Hopefully the House moderates come away from this recognizing that it feels good to *actually do things* with your power, and that it's also a good thing to highlight for the American people how Republicans could care less about improving people's lives. And hopefully progressives come away from this recognizing that every strategic decision they made was worth it, and that despite the media's and the establishment's dire warnings, pressuring moderates to do good things is a successful and worthwhile endeavor.

Matt is absolutely right here but what he doesn’t realize is this is a great example of why his “popularist” view of politics is wrong.

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1461353288914243595

Legislation is almost always complicated—in part b/c people like @mattyglesias insist on empowering moderates. Issue polls almost never directly match legislation, and don’t incorporate right-wing attacks and messaging.

In other words, you actually have to *do* politics to win!

1. It is totally fair to criticize Biden's execution of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He should be held accountable.

But the media's impulse to frame our neocon-driven, 20 year failure in Afghanistan as just a political disaster for Biden is flat-out embarrassing. 2. Afghanistan is obviously a *long* story: Bush's lack of an end-game, the distraction caused by Iraq, Obama's fruitless surge, Trump's chaotic withdrawal announcement, Biden's refusal to speed-up evacuations.

It's a generational failure - any other conclusion is disingenuous.