A preview of Elie Mystal’s new weekly e-newsletter.
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Consultant Al Inexperienced (D-TX) speaks throughout President Donald Trump’s handle to a joint session of Congress on the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.
(Win McNamee / Pool Picture by way of AP)
This can be a preview of Nation Justice Correspondent Elie Mystal’s new weekly e-newsletter. Click on right here to obtain this article in your inbox every Friday.
Hiya, and welcome to my inaugural e-newsletter “Elie v. U.S.” You possibly can subscribe to the e-newsletter and obtain it weekly right here. With the Donald Trump/Elon Musk administration shredding the material of American-style democracy sooner than I can kind “As soon as upon a time, Rome was a Republic,” it appears helpful to do a weekly roundup of some tales, occasions, and developments I’d in any other case be unable to jot down about. Most can have a authorized bent, however some would possibly shock you. Take into account this my determined try and create a report for my kids after they ask me why breathable air now prices 25 dogecoins per five-hour bottle.
The Unhealthy and The Ugly
• Consultant Al Inexperienced (D-TX) was censured by Congress for disrupting Donald Trump’s handle to a joint session of sycophants and co-conspirators in Congress. Many Democrats protested the censure (as my colleague Joan Walsh famous), however 10 Democrats joined the Republican vote for censure. I’m going to record them right here as a result of these are 10 Democrats who ought to by no means have the ability to increase a greenback from different Democrats, ever once more: Ami Bera (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Jim Himes (D-CT), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
• Hampton Dellinger, head of the Workplace of Inspector Generals, dropped his lawsuit to cease Trump from illegally firing him after he misplaced his case in entrance of the Court docket of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The courts are in the end going to let Trump and Musk hearth whomever they need, for any cause they wish to—though the go well with filed by fired Nationwide Labor Relations Board commissioner Gwynne Wilcox survives for now.
• Some individuals clearly don’t care about fired federal staff, however they need to know that US employers minimize extra jobs in February than in any month for the reason that Nice Recession. Be happy to remind individuals of that after they let you know that the oligarchs in cost are solely thinking about firing Black individuals.
• In the meantime, Elon Musk seems to be utilizing his newfound federal powers to bully advertisers into rejoining Xitter and thus make him even richer. Senator Elizabeth Warren has referred to as for the Division of Justice to research this rank battle of curiosity, however she is aware of in addition to I do this the DOJ now not works for the American individuals; it’s Musk’s authorized goon squad now.
Present Subject
• The Supreme Court docket overruled the Environmental Safety Company and determined to permit cities to dump extra human poop into the oceans and waterways than specialists assume is protected. The literal enshittification of America continues apace.
Impressed Takes
• No one must be stunned that Elon Musk’s assaults on federal judges are racist. But it surely’s doable that folks haven’t seen simply how harmful they’ve change into. This piece by Jay Willis gives a incredible clarification of how deranged Musk’s assaults have change into.
• Everyone is aware of Republicans are saying “DEI” with the “laborious R.” Right here’s a useful recordcompiled by Michael Harriot, of every part MAGA considers “DEI.” The piece reminds individuals concerning the literal historic details that Republicans now not need individuals to study.
• Trump is explicitly coming for Social Safety now. This piece by The Nation’s John Nichols explains why that’s so unsuitable.
• This can be a couple of weeks outdated, however seeing as that is my first e-newsletter, in case you haven’t but learn Adam Serwer’s “The Nice Resegregation.” please do.
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Worst Argument of the Week
• Elissa Slotkin gave the tepid Republican Democratic response to Trump’s multi-hour Netflix collection handle to Congress, throughout which she managed to reward notable Democratic hero Ronald Reagan. She adopted it up by sitting for an interview with The Atlantic’s Tim Albertathe place she outlined her priorities. Her solutions have been the standard skinny gruel that passes for Democratic Get together speaking factors, however one line actually stood out to me. She stated, “It doesn’t win elections to talk to simply the bottom of the social gathering.… if it did, Kamala Harris can be president.” Initially, I’m actually gonna want Becky with the 80 p.c white congressional district to maintain Kamala Harris’s identify out her mouth. It’s simple to slag off the Democratic “base,” which has been Black individuals for Slotkin’s complete life, when no person is inviting you or your potato salad to the cookout anyway. It’s a bit of tougher when you’re operating to symbolize all of America, not simply the white of us who assume they need to personal the place.
However extra vital: What sort of universe does Slotkin assume she’s dwelling in the place Harris spoke solely to the Democratic base? Why is she giving an interview the place she’s simply straight up mendacity concerning the focus of Harris’s marketing campaign? If something, Harris went too far out of her approach to courtroom Republican voters with nonstop appeals to Liz Cheney and the now-familiar assortment of “By no means Trump” Republicans. She desperately centered white girls voters, solely to have a majority of them reject Harris and vote for an adjudicated sexual assaulter. The one means she might have appealed extra to girls like Slotkin is that if she’d requested to see Donald Trump’s supervisor.
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I’m sick to demise of white Democrats appearing like essentially the most dependable voters of their coalition are those who must be ignored.
What I Wrote
• I requested Democrats to boycott Trump’s speech to Congress. They didn’t. As a substitute, they introduced little placards emblazoned with political messages, as in the event that they have been at a silent public sale for fascism. We reside in hell.
• The Supreme Court docket dominated that Trump has to renew funding USAID. He gained’t. I defined why.
In Information Utterly Unrelated to the Ongoing Chaos
• Luigi Mangione, at present in jail awaiting trial for the homicide of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly (OK, very allegedly) saved a stash of “cinema high quality” intercourse tapes. The doable existence of those tapes despatched the Web right into a frenzy.
Associates, this complete Luigi state of affairs is beginning to remind me of the Publius Clodius Pulcher trial from historical Rome. In 62 BCE, Julius Caesar’s second spouse, Pompeia, threw a celebration to which no males have been invited, however Pulcher snuck in for the aim of seducing Pompeia. The social gathering was a non secular competition, and Pulcher was charged for his indiscretion, however Pulcher was one thing of a playboy with a whole lot of followers amongst younger Roman males. On the trial, Caesar (who was additionally considered as “cool” by younger Romans) refused to provide any proof in opposition to Pulcher, and Pulcher was finally acquitted. Caesar then divorced Pompeia like a hypocritical, misogynistic prick (resulting in the well-known proverb: “Caesar’s spouse should be above suspicion”—not Caesar, after all, simply his poor spouse, who most likely didn’t even sleep with the person who confirmed up at her home uninvited). However his refusal to implicate Pulcher helped cement Caesar’s standing as a person of the individuals.
My level is: If any Democratic candidate defended Luigi Mangione, that individual would most likely win the 2028 major in a stroll. My different level is that the American Republic, just like the Rome of Julius Caesar, is in its demise spiral, and it’s going to get way more wicked and violent earlier than the tip.
Donald Trump’s merciless and chaotic second time period is simply getting began. In his first month again in workplace, Trump and his lackey Elon Musk (or is it the opposite means round?) have confirmed that nothing is protected from sacrifice on the altar of unchecked energy and riches.
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Onward,
Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Writer, The Nation
Elie Mystal
Elie Mystal is The Nation’s justice correspondent and a columnist. He’s additionally an Alfred Knobler Fellow on the Kind Media Heart. His first e book is the New York Occasions bestseller Enable Me to Retort: A Black Man’s Information to the Structure, printed by The New Press. You possibly can subscribe to his Nation e-newsletter “Elie v. US” right here.
