Ukraine liberates Kherson

benfell

Ukraine


Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

Jared Malsin and Ann M. Simmons, “Ukrainian Forces Enter Kherson as Russia Completes Retreat,” Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukrainian-forces-gain-on-kherson-as-russia-retreats-11668158517

Ishaan Tharoor, “After midterms, U.S. and European support for Ukraine endures,” Washington Post, November 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/11/ukraine-aid-midterms-bipartisan-support/

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 2. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[2] fair use.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Man shot and killed in Scott office building,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/11/09/scott-township-allegheny-county-shooting-police/stories/202211090096

Joe Napsha, “Man stabbed to death, woman suffers facial injuries in Knoxville home invasion,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 10, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/man-stabbed-to-death-woman-suffers-facial-injuries-in-knoxville-home-invasion/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 3. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

This time might—only might—be different:

It’s hardly the first time Republican elites have gnashed their teeth over [Donald] Trump or declared him a fading force. To this point, they’ve always been proven wrong, and often hopped back on board with the former president. . . .

Still, some Republicans warned about writing off a former president who remains the most popular figure within the party. They argued the blame should fall on [Doug] Mastriano, who lost the governor’s race by nearly 15 percentage points, and the state party for failing to rally the GOP around an alternative.

“Whether you like him or not, he shouldn’t be the scapegoat for every problem that happens to the Republican Party,” said Jim Worthington, a vocal Trump supporter from Bucks County who served on the former president’s health and fitness council.

He said party insiders were the ones who failed to turn out the Republican vote and answer Democratic attacks on abortion.

“Some of the elites in the party absolutely will despise that he will announce” a presidential run, Worthington added. “The rank and file, the blue-collar voter, is going to love it because he’s their champion.”[3]

As I was traversing the territory I almost never cover between Avella, near the West Virginia border, and Washington, Pennsylvania, the other day, I saw a lot of signs supporting Doug Mastriano and Mehmet Oz. I saw almost none supporting Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman, and I still saw very, very few supporting Donald Trump.

It’s been apparent to me for a while that there has been a gap between many Republican politicians and many Republican voters on Trump, pretty much since the search at Mar-a-Lago.[4] From what I can see, the politicians still running scared of Trump are out of touch with the voters. But probably better this than that they should all now swear fealty to Ron DeSantis[5]—some divisions in the Republican Party can’t hurt.

Natalie Andrews, Siobhan Hughes, and Lindsay Wise, “Frustrated Republicans Try to Explain Lack of Midterm ‘Red Wave,’” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/frustrated-republicans-try-to-explain-lack-of-midterm-red-wave-11668036382

Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey, “One likely 2024 GOP contender triumphed on election night. It wasn’t Donald Trump,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/09/desantis-trump-2024-presidential-election/

Dan Balz, “The vaunted red wave never hit the shore in midterm elections,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/08/midterms-dissatisfied-voters-render-judgments-biden-republicans/

Jonathan Freedland, “The winner of the midterms is not yet clear – but the loser is Donald Trump,” Guardian, November 9, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/09/the-winner-of-the-midterms-is-not-yet-clear-but-the-loser-is-donald-trump

David Lauter, “The midterm’s big loser: Trump suffers multiple defeats,” Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2022-11-09/the-midterms-big-loser-trump-suffers-multiple-defeats-essential-politics

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Group explains polling place security teams that led to response by Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/09/election-day-allegheny-county-polling-place-commission-security/stories/202211090101

Brian Slodysko, “Election takeaways: No sweep for the Republicans after all,” Associated Press, November 9, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-takeaways-9381d3aaff26d19da95506e045fcd6e1

Jonathan Tamari and William Bender, “‘It’s time for him to retire’: Some Pa. Republicans want to push Trump aside after their election losses,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-republicans-blame-trump-2022-losses-20221110.html

Adam Taylor, “Is the world ready for President DeSantis and a Floridian foreign policy?” Washington Post, November 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/11/10/desanntis-foreign-policy-florida/

Chris Walker, “Trump Is Blaming Everyone But Himself for Midterm Losses — Including His Wife,” Truthout, November 10, 2022, https://truthout.org/articles/trump-is-blaming-everyone-but-himself-for-midterm-losses-including-his-wife/

Pennsylvania

2022 election


Fig. 1. John Fetterman as mayor of Braddock, photograph uncredited and undated, via Next Pittsburgh,[6] fair use.

In Bucks County’s 142nd District, just two votes separated Democrat Mark Moffa and Republican Joseph Hogan as of Thursday [November 10] afternoon.[7]

Republicans need to win in both outstanding districts to maintain control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[8] The Republicans are probably right when they say that the Democrats declare victory too soon, but it’s also true that mail-in ballots, slowest to be counted, tend to favor Democrats.[9]

Brian C. Rittmeyer, “Summer Lee wins 12th District race, poised to become Pa.’s first Black woman in Congress,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 8, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/regional/lee-races-out-to-early-lead-over-doyle-in-12th-congressional-district/

Samantha Melamed, “Voters cited abortion as a key issue in Pennsylvania’s first election since ‘Roe’ was overturned,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 8, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/news/election-day-pennsylvania-abortion-reproductive-rights-voters-20221108.html

Kris Maher, “Democrat Josh Shapiro Wins Pennsylvania Governor Race Over Doug Mastriano,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-midterms-2022/card/democrat-josh-shapiro-wins-pennsylvania-governor-race-over-doug-mastriano-rdDSLqwHlckU7Q5yZYF2

Anna Orso, “Pennsylvania Democrats believe they have flipped the state House,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 9, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-state-house-democrats-republicans-election-results-20221109.html

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Group explains polling place security teams that led to response by Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies,” November 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/09/election-day-allegheny-county-polling-place-commission-security/stories/202211090101

Aaron Zitner, “John Fetterman Wins Key Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Defeating Mehmet Oz,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-midterms-2022/card/oW3cFfkuo97s4Fa2Q9Sl

Anna Orso and Ximena Conde, “The race for control of the Pa. state House comes down to these two districts,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-state-house-control-three-districts-20221110.html

Jonathan Tamari and William Bender, “‘It’s time for him to retire’: Some Pa. Republicans want to push Trump aside after their election losses,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-republicans-blame-trump-2022-losses-20221110.html

Student loans


Fig. 1. Unattributed and undated image via James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal,[10] fair use.

I think “ButHowDoUKnowit’s” reply[11] to Laurence Tribe comes closest to capturing my question about Tribe’s logic,[12] which seems to me to pit standing against the merits in a binary. If it’s really supposed to work that way, I’m surprised.

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, “Federal judge in Texas strikes down Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan,” Washington Post, November 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/11/10/student-loan-forgiveness-texas-lawsuit/

ButHowDoUKnowit [pseud.], “It seems reasonable to me that their position is an opposition to the EO, on constitutionality . . .” Twitter, November 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/ButHowDoUKnowit/status/1591092370925584385

Laurence Tribe, “This judge absurdly let the plaintiffs complain . . .” Twitter, November 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1591090186158759937

  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  2. [2]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389↩
  3. [3]Jonathan Tamari and William Bender, “‘It’s time for him to retire’: Some Pa. Republicans want to push Trump aside after their election losses,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-republicans-blame-trump-2022-losses-20221110.html↩
  4. [4]David Benfell, “More questions than answers as Donald Trump flags come down,” Not Housebroken, November 10, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/28/more-questions-than-answers-as-donald-trump-flags-come-down/↩
  5. [5]Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey, “One likely 2024 GOP contender triumphed on election night. It wasn’t Donald Trump,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/09/desantis-trump-2024-presidential-election/; Jonathan Freedland, “The winner of the midterms is not yet clear – but the loser is Donald Trump,” Guardian, November 9, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/09/the-winner-of-the-midterms-is-not-yet-clear-but-the-loser-is-donald-trump; David Lauter, “The midterm’s big loser: Trump suffers multiple defeats,” Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2022-11-09/the-midterms-big-loser-trump-suffers-multiple-defeats-essential-politics↩
  6. [6]Kim Lyons, “Braddock Mayor John Fetterman keeps on truckin’ in his quest for the Senate,” Next Pittsburgh, March 11, 2016, https://nextpittsburgh.com/features/the-challengers-braddock-mayor-john-fetterman-keeps-on-truckin/↩
  7. [7]Anna Orso and Ximena Conde, “The race for control of the Pa. state House comes down to these two districts,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-state-house-control-three-districts-20221110.html↩
  8. [8]Anna Orso and Ximena Conde, “The race for control of the Pa. state House comes down to these two districts,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-state-house-control-three-districts-20221110.html↩
  9. [9]Anna Orso, “Pennsylvania Democrats believe they have flipped the state House,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 9, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-state-house-democrats-republicans-election-results-20221109.html; Anna Orso and Ximena Conde, “The race for control of the Pa. state House comes down to these two districts,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-state-house-control-three-districts-20221110.html↩
  10. [10]Richard K. Vedder, “Eliminate or Radically Restructure Federal Student Loans,” James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, September 16, 2020, https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2020/09/eliminate-or-radically-restructure-federal-student-loans/↩
  11. [11]ButHowDoUKnowit [pseud.], “It seems reasonable to me that their position is an opposition to the EO, on constitutionality . . .” Twitter, November 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/ButHowDoUKnowit/status/1591092370925584385↩
  12. [12]Laurence Tribe, “This judge absurdly let the plaintiffs complain . . .” Twitter, November 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1591090186158759937↩

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