Illiberalism
Gilead
Donald Trump
Fig. 1. Donald Trump, depicted in an orange jumpsuit, reportedly by the Drudge, date unknown, via Mediaite,[1] fair use. Apparently, no mugshot was taken when he was actually arrested over hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.[2]
I haven’t done this in a while—I actually have a book in the works (don’t hold your breath)—but there is a new blog post entitled, “Anti-semitism, visible compliance, and righteousness.”
Michael Kranish, “Shadowing Trump’s attacks on mental fitness — his own father’s dementia,” Washington Post, March 20, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/20/donald-trump-dementia-father-fred-alzheimers-biden/
Peter Smith and Tiffany Stanley, “US Jews upset with Trump’s latest rhetoric say he doesn’t get to tell them how to be Jewish,” Associated Press, March 21, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-jewish-voters-democrats-antisemitism-a43bf6f6266d9c6a4b761b82281aa512
Finances
Fig. 2. Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas, undated image credited to https://www.flickr.com/photos/glynlowe/ [bad link], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
[Letitia] James’s filing did not give a reason for the registration, nor did it specify which of [Donald] Trump’s Westchester assets she intends to seize, but the registration will make it easier for James to secure liens. Westchester is home to two of Trump’s most valuable properties, the Trump National Golf Club Westchester and Seven Springs, a mostly undeveloped 212-acre estate.[3]
James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey, “Trump Says He Can’t Secure Bond for $454 Million Civil-Fraud Judgment,” Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-cant-secure-bond-for-454-million-civil-fraud-judgment-6c6fb7f1
Tori Otten, “Broke Donald Trump Admits He Can’t Post That Massive $464 Million Bond,” New Republic, March 18, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/179901/trump-cant-secure-fraud-bond
Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian, “Trump has been unable to get bond for $464 million judgment, his lawyers say,” NBC News, March 18, 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-unable-get-bond-464-million-judgment-lawyers-say-rcna143860
Matt Stieb, “Trump Says He Can’t Pay His $464 Million Bond. Now What?” New York, March 18, 2024, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-says-he-cant-find-a-usd464-million-bond-now-what.html
John Cassidy, “A Financial Reckoning for Donald Trump,” New Yorker, March 19, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/a-financial-reckoning-for-donald-trump
Joshua Chaffin, “NY attorney-general rejects Donald Trump’s pleas for leniency over $464mn bond,” Financial Times, March 20, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/1237571f-56d4-4248-bafd-c0ed44e21ff8
Jonathan O’Connell and Josh Dawsey, “Bankruptcy is one way out of Trump’s financial jam. He doesn’t want to take it,” Washington Post, March 20, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/20/trump-bond-bankruptcy/
Bess Levin, “Donald Trump Should Probably File for Bankruptcy, but Likely Won’t Because He’s Worried It Would Make Him Look Like a Loser: Report,” Vanity Fair, March 21, 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/donald-trump-bankruptcy-finances
Tori Otten, “Letitia James Is Prepared to Seize One of Trump’s Favorite Assets,” New Republic, March 21, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/180032/new-york-letitia-james-seize-trump-assets-westchester
Kara Scannell, “New York Attorney General takes initial step to prepare to seize Trump assets,” CNN, March 21, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/21/politics/trump-calls-ny-attorney-generals-bond-suggestions-impractical-and-unjust/index.html
Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu, and Shelby Rose to Meanwhile in America list, “Brother, Can You Spare Half a Billion Bucks?” CNN, March 22, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/newsletters
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023-2024
Fig. 3. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who had accused [Mike] Johnson of supporting a “trillion dollar Democrat wish list,” filed a motion Friday that could remove the speaker from his post.
But it wasn’t clear how quickly the House might act on it. Greene told reporters that it’s “basically a warning,” and she doesn’t want to “inflict pain” on the GOP and “throw the House in chaos.”[4]
I don’t know and I sure as hell wouldn’t bank on it, but this feels like the hard right in the House of Representatives has exhausted its ammunition.
Victor Reklaitis, “Speaker Johnson faces ouster motion as bill to avert shutdown passes House,” Market Watch, March 22, 2024, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-passes-package-that-prevents-government-shutdown-ce0b032b
Pennsylvania and surrounding areas
Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas
Pollution
Fig. 4. Photographer unknown, circa 1940-1950, from Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, ca. 1940-1950, AIS.1978.22, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh, via Bloomberg,[5] fair use.
While lower pollution levels in communities across the nation have largely been attributed to the successful enforcement of the Clean Air Act, passed in 1970, researchers have found that some of the most persistently harmful air in America is present in communities that are predominantly made up of people of color or those with low incomes.
In Clairton, which is about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River, 40 percent of the population is African American and 23 percent live below the poverty line. The Coke Works, PennEnvironment found, was “in violation of the Clean Air Act in every quarter of the three years ending in March 2023” and has been fined more than $10 million since 2018. While Allegheny County’s overall air quality has improved since the days of killer smog and afternoon skies blackened with soot, in places like Clairton, progress still feels a long way off.[6]
Kiley Bense and Victoria St. Martin, “For residents of Clairton, progress on air quality feels a long way off,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, March 21, 2024, https://penncapital-star.com/energy-environment/for-residents-of-clairton-progress-on-air-quality-feels-a-long-way-off/
- [1]Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/↩
- [2]Sarah D. Wire and Alexandra E. Petri, “Trump charged with 34 felony counts in alleged hush money cover-up case,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-04-04/donald-trump-alleged-hush-money-investigation-indictment-arraignment↩
- [3]Tori Otten, “Letitia James Is Prepared to Seize One of Trump’s Favorite Assets,” New Republic, March 21, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/180032/new-york-letitia-james-seize-trump-assets-westchester↩
- [4]Victor Reklaitis, “Speaker Johnson faces ouster motion as bill to avert shutdown passes House,” Market Watch, March 22, 2024, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-passes-package-that-prevents-government-shutdown-ce0b032b↩
- [5]Mark Byrnes, “What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a Pollution Problem,” Bloomberg, June 5, 2012, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem↩
- [6]Kiley Bense and Victoria St. Martin, “For residents of Clairton, progress on air quality feels a long way off,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, March 21, 2024, https://penncapital-star.com/energy-environment/for-residents-of-clairton-progress-on-air-quality-feels-a-long-way-off/↩