Meanwhile back at the election our favorite Orange man had a pretty good day…..
First the caucus in Nevada….
As expected, Donald Trump won Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses Thursday after he was the only major candidate to compete, the AP reports. Nikki Haley skipped the caucuses, the only contest in Nevada that counts toward the GOP nomination. Haley cited what she considered an unfair process favoring Trump and instead ran in Nevada’s symbolic state-run presidential primary on Tuesday, where she finished behind the “none of these candidates” option. Trump’s win in Nevada gives him all 26 of the state’s delegates. He needs to accrue 1,215 delegates to formally clinch the party’s nomination and could reach that number in March.
Also Thursday, Trump and Haley did compete in the Republican caucuses in the US Virgin Islands. Trump won the contest by a large margin, picking up the territory’s four delegates.
Go figure!
Then there was the case before the Supreme Court on Trump’s eligibility to be on ballots….it appears he, Trump, got another win for the day….
The Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments on a Donald Trump case with historic implications: Whether he should be disqualified from running for reelection because of his actions related to the 2021 attack on the Capitol. And the gist of coverage is that it seems highly unlikely the court will keep Trump off the 2024 ballot:
- This sentiment is typical: The court “appeared reluctant to take the extraordinary step of disqualifying former President Trump from appearing on the ballot during a historic oral argument in which the justices grilled lawyers about whether states have the authority to ban a candidate from running for office,” per the Hill. (The reference is to Colorado: The justices heard Trump’s appeal of a bombshell ruling there that blocked him from the state’s ballot as an insurrectionist.)
- Ditto: Some version of the above sentiment is all over. “In more than two hours of arguments, both conservative and liberal justices raised questions of whether Trump can be disqualified from being president again because of his efforts to undo his loss in the 2020 election,” per the AP. The justices spent almost no time debating whether Trump actually engaged in insurrection and focused mostly on the authority of states.
- Liberals, too: “It’s been somewhat surprising to hear that two liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, have expressed some skepticism about the argument that Trump should be disqualified,” writes Alan Feuer at the New York Times. Kagan, for example, wanted to know “why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States.” In the AP’s view, only Sonia Sotomayor appeared sympathetic to the case against Trump.
- Roberts skeptical: Chief Justice John Roberts “made plain that he does not buy the conclusion that the 14th Amendment was meant to permit states to determine whether a candidate was an ineligible insurrectionist,” per Politico, suggesting that he tipped his hand, and that of the court’s. “The whole point of the 14th Amendment was to restrict state power, right?” he asked.
- Trump argument: The Colorado decision “is wrong and should be reversed for numerous independent reasons,” argued Trump attorney Jonathan Mitchell, per the Wall Street Journal. Affirming the ruling would “take away the votes of potentially tens of millions of Americans,” he said, adding that what happened at the Capitol was a “riot,” not an “insurrection.” Afterward, Trump said from Mar-a-Lago that he thinks his team’s argument was “very well received.”
- Now what? The court typically takes three months to issue a ruling, but a much faster resolution is expected given the circumstances—the Times suggests the court may issue its ruling before Super Tuesday on March 5.
See you thought this election would be boring…..
Well the candidates are f*cking boring but all the antics and theatrics around them is just too priceless to be true.
Ain’t this a crazy old world?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
As expected the Supreme Court ‘Justices’ ducked and dived and found ways to solve their problem without referring to the basic issue of Insurrection banning Trump’s inclusion in the elections. Making it an issue of what the individual States have the right to do rather than what the Constitution specifies gives them the wiggle room to come out with the verdict they want. They will please the MAGA crowd but further depress the idea of the Supreme Court being in the business of Justice nowadays. Their donors will need deep pockets now.
Let’s not forget the report made public declaring no charges will be levied against Biden on his classified documents investigation but everyone is locked on on the report saying Biden is an old forgetful man. The whole thing is being said it’s a “Jim Comey” moment… referencing the crap timing Comey said about Hillary that allegedly cost her the election. So Trump did well yesterday.
He did do well….but none of it was a surprise. chuq
My comment didn’t post.
Which comment? chuq
This is, for a me, a tough one: of course he engaged in an act of insurrection – he attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power between Presidents. That said, you are right to point out that the court will no doubt focus solely on the rights of states to act upon it. The fact is he has yet to be convicted of the crime. We will ultimately get the leaders we vote for, and our recent record in all areas has been abysmal…we have liars, cheats and grifters at all levels, who seem to be elected because they scream loudest and pander to our fears and hatred of others…a sad sad state
I think Sunday I will tackle the 14th amendment…..just a little FYI Have a good weekend. chuq
Looking forward to your perspective…see you then!
Thanx John always a pleasure for your visits. chuq
Trump is on a roll, certain to get the nomination. Biden is talking nonsense on camera, looking like he has escaped from an old folks’ home. You are definitely between a rock and a hard place for your forthcoming election, chuq.
Best wishes, Pete.
Most Americans are but I will vote for whoever I think represents my beliefs and principles ….chuq
I doubt I will vote this year, there is nobody who represents my own values.
I hear that a lot from people I talk with….just no one that pops their girdle. chuq
Trump’s “Wins” were all written into a script some years ago …it is all part of an ingenious shadow government plan to insert him as dear leader again.
The GOP has been planning this for decades just Trump gave them an excuse to be blunt. chuq