A Department of Justice Donald Trump indictment? Maybe soon. Maybe.

benfell

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I will believe there are charges against Donald Trump when I actually see charges.

Oliver Darcy and Marshall Cohen, “Tucker Carlson out at Fox News,” CNN, April 24, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/24/media/tucker-carlson-fox-news/index.html

Philip Bump, “How unpopular can be Biden be while still winning reelection?” Washington Post, April 25, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/25/biden-trump-2024-election-popularity/

Rachel Weiner, “Trump can’t stop Pence from testifying to Jan. 6 grand jury, court rules,” Washington Post, April 26, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/26/pence-jan6-grand-jury-trump/

David Badash, “Legal experts ‘expect decisions soon’ from special counsel on indicting Donald Trump,” Alternet, April 27, 2023, https://www.alternet.org/legal-experts-expect-decisions-soon/

Katelyn Polantz and Devan Cole, “Former Vice President Pence testifies to federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump and January 6,” CNN, April 27, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/27/politics/mike-pence-grand-jury-testimony/index.html

Right-wing militias

Police White supremacist gangs


Fig. 1. Photograph by Lorie Shaull, April 1, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Justin Vellucci, “Family of man who died after being shocked by Taser reaches $8M settlement with Pittsburgh,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 27, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/family-of-man-who-died-after-being-shocked-by-taser-reaches-8m-settlement-with-pittsburgh/

Abortion


Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

We’re not really seeing a lot of buyer’s remorse among white Christian nationalists on abortion.[1] But we’re seeing some, perhaps even on the Supreme Court,[2] and in two states yesterday, it made the difference.[3]

But South Carolina might still pass a separate six-week ban on abortion,[4] so the victory there might not last for long.

Brittany Shammas et al., “Conservative dissenters block abortion limits in Nebraska, South Carolina,” Washington Post, April 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/27/south-carolina-nebraska-abortion-bill/

Stephanie Kirchgaessner, “Revealed: Senate investigation into Brett Kavanaugh assault claims contained serious omissions,” Guardian, April 28, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/28/brett-kavanaugh-investigation-omissions-senate-sexual-assault-claims

Banking

Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse, 2023


Fig. 1. “The monument sign in front of the parking lot of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters at 3003 West Tasman Drive, Santa Clara, California.” Photograph by Minh Nguyen, March 13, 2023, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

I think the thing to notice here is the emphasis on Silicon Valley Bank mismanagement.[5] This, despite the fact that many other banks face similar risks.[6]

While the report also calls for stricter regulation,[7] it would seem that the message we’re supposed to take is that Silicon Valley Bank was a bad apple. They’ll say the same, of course, of Signature Bank and First Republic Bank. And they’ll ignore that lots of banks are similarly stuck with loads of long-term debt that can only sold to meet liquidity requirements at a steep loss.[8]

Aaron Back, “First Republic’s Catch-22,” Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/first-republics-catch-22-9e45abbc

Janet H. Cho, “House Investigating SF Fed’s Role in SVB Collapse as Regulators Prepare Reports,” Barron’s, April 27, 2023, https://www.barrons.com/articles/house-investigating-sf-feds-role-svb-collapse-e40862fa

Rachel Siegel, “Fed says it must strengthen banking rules after SVB’s collapse,” Washington Post, April 28, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/28/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-investigation/

  1. [1]Aaron Blake, “Buyer’s remorse could be creeping in for GOP on abortion,” Washington Post, August 25, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/25/republicans-abortion-politics/↩
  2. [2]Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, “The Supreme Court temporarily restores full access to key abortion medication,” Washington Post, April 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/14/supreme-court-abortion-mifepristone/; David G. Savage, “Supreme Court sides with FDA on abortion pills, blocks Texas rulings for now,” Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-04-21/supreme-court-fda-on-abortion-pills↩
  3. [3]Brittany Shammas et al., “Conservative dissenters block abortion limits in Nebraska, South Carolina,” Washington Post, April 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/27/south-carolina-nebraska-abortion-bill/↩
  4. [4]Brittany Shammas et al., “Conservative dissenters block abortion limits in Nebraska, South Carolina,” Washington Post, April 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/27/south-carolina-nebraska-abortion-bill/↩
  5. [5]Rachel Siegel, “Fed says it must strengthen banking rules after SVB’s collapse,” Washington Post, April 28, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/28/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-investigation/↩
  6. [6]Izabella Kaminska, “Bad bonds risk bringing down banks, warns ‘Dr Doom,’” Politico, March 16, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/bad-bonds-risk-bringing-down-banks-warns-dr-doom-nouriel-roubini-svb/; Nouriel Roubini, “‘Most U.S. banks are technically near insolvency, and hundreds are already fully insolvent,’ Roubini says,” MarketWatch, April 1, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-u-s-banks-are-technically-near-insolvency-and-hundreds-are-already-fully-insolvent-roubini-says-18b89f92; Alexander Saeedy and Laura Cooper, “SVB Collapse Complicates Banks’ Efforts to Unload More Than $25 Billion of Junk Debt,” Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/svb-collapse-complicates-banks-efforts-to-unload-more-than-25-billion-of-junk-debt-a19ae78d↩
  7. [7]Rachel Siegel, “Fed says it must strengthen banking rules after SVB’s collapse,” Washington Post, April 28, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/28/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-investigation/↩
  8. [8]Izabella Kaminska, “Bad bonds risk bringing down banks, warns ‘Dr Doom,’” Politico, March 16, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/bad-bonds-risk-bringing-down-banks-warns-dr-doom-nouriel-roubini-svb/; Nouriel Roubini, “‘Most U.S. banks are technically near insolvency, and hundreds are already fully insolvent,’ Roubini says,” MarketWatch, April 1, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-u-s-banks-are-technically-near-insolvency-and-hundreds-are-already-fully-insolvent-roubini-says-18b89f92; Alexander Saeedy and Laura Cooper, “SVB Collapse Complicates Banks’ Efforts to Unload More Than $25 Billion of Junk Debt,” Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/svb-collapse-complicates-banks-efforts-to-unload-more-than-25-billion-of-junk-debt-a19ae78d↩

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.