Gastonia, NC Even-handed is the only rule that is not a jersey, and I will defend that all day. What I am not going to defend is the empirical claim underneath the second half of this question, because it does not survive five minutes with the record. The claim is that assassination imagery aimed at … Continue reading Should federal and platform treatment of assassination rhetoric after Butler have been even-handed across targets, or did the week after July 13 reveal a one-way urgency that had been missing when the target was Trump?
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Was the operation to force Biden off the ticket in July 2024 a necessary correction by party elders, or a demonstration that the 2024 Democratic nomination had never been a voter-controlled process?
Myrtle Beach, SC Everyone is arguing about the removal and the removal is not the exhibit. The replacement is. On the twenty-first he posted a letter and withdrew. He endorsed Kamala Harris the same afternoon. By the evening of the twenty-second — about thirty-six hours later — she had public commitments from more than enough … Continue reading Was the operation to force Biden off the ticket in July 2024 a necessary correction by party elders, or a demonstration that the 2024 Democratic nomination had never been a voter-controlled process?
After the July 13 shooting at Butler, should Secret Service failures of line-of-sight, roof coverage, and local coordination have produced immediate resignations and a public after-action, or was “we will review” an adequate first-week response?
Gastonia, NC The director is testifying this morning, and by the time most people read this the question may have answered itself. Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Raskin sent a joint letter today calling on Kimberly Cheatle to resign. Not a Republican letter with a Democratic dissent — the chairman and the ranking member of … Continue reading After the July 13 shooting at Butler, should Secret Service failures of line-of-sight, roof coverage, and local coordination have produced immediate resignations and a public after-action, or was “we will review” an adequate first-week response?
When Judge Cannon dismissed the classified-documents indictment on appointments-clause grounds, was that a technicality that delays accountability, or a reminder that how a prosecutor is installed still matters in a republic?
Gastonia, NC "Technicality" is usually what people call a rule after they have decided they dislike what the rule is delaying. That is why I would not describe Monday's ruling that way. The appointments question goes to who was authorized to wield federal prosecutorial power in the first place, and that is not decorative procedure. … Continue reading When Judge Cannon dismissed the classified-documents indictment on appointments-clause grounds, was that a technicality that delays accountability, or a reminder that how a prosecutor is installed still matters in a republic?
Should Cabinet officers and congressional Democrats who privately doubted Biden’s capacity in 2023–24 have raised the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in public, or would that have been an undemocratic coup against a nominated incumbent?
Myrtle Beach, SC Before anybody answers this, read Section 4, because the mechanism people are demanding does not work the way they think. Section 4 requires the Vice President. Not a majority of the Cabinet acting alone — the Vice President and a majority of the principal officers. Her signature comes first and without it … Continue reading Should Cabinet officers and congressional Democrats who privately doubted Biden’s capacity in 2023–24 have raised the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in public, or would that have been an undemocratic coup against a nominated incumbent?
Should voters treat staff and senior aides as the real locus of Biden-era decisions after 2022, or is that an unprovable conspiracy that excuses the electorate from judging the name on the ballot?
Gastonia, NC Two different claims are riding in this question and only one of them can be supported, so let me separate them before anybody argues. The first claim: senior staff run the daily operations of the White House. That is true and it has been true of every presidency since at least Eisenhower. A … Continue reading Should voters treat staff and senior aides as the real locus of Biden-era decisions after 2022, or is that an unprovable conspiracy that excuses the electorate from judging the name on the ballot?
After the June 27 debate, did the collapse of the “he’s fine” line reveal a failure of elite information control, or a failure of voters who had access to the same clips for three years and chose not to price them?
Gastonia, NC The second half of this question is not an argument. It is a claim about what the public believed, and the claim is false, and it is false by very large margins that were published every month for two years. Voters priced it. In February an AP survey had roughly three-quarters of American … Continue reading After the June 27 debate, did the collapse of the “he’s fine” line reveal a failure of elite information control, or a failure of voters who had access to the same clips for three years and chose not to price them?
After the Supreme Court’s immunity arguments and decision, should official-act protection be understood as a narrow shield for core executive functions, or as the only remaining brake on a cycle of tit-for-tat prosecutions of former presidents?
Myrtle Beach, SC The phrase "narrow shield" sounds reassuring because it lets everyone say two things at once: we are not creating a king, and we are still preserving protected space around the presidency. After watching 2021 through this summer, I think that formulation is too comfortable — but I also think the question, as … Continue reading After the Supreme Court’s immunity arguments and decision, should official-act protection be understood as a narrow shield for core executive functions, or as the only remaining brake on a cycle of tit-for-tat prosecutions of former presidents?
How should states administer same-day and mail voting in a year when both coalitions already claim the rules are rigged against them?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent — You can't talk either camp out of a theft story in October. You can make the story harder to tell in July. Rules posted before the heat rather than invented after a poll moves. Paper that exists. An identification rule matching the state's own other business. A chain a stranger can … Continue reading How should states administer same-day and mail voting in a year when both coalitions already claim the rules are rigged against them?
Has Boeing’s quality and safety crisis shown that self-certification in commercial aviation needs a statutory overhaul, or that the failure is firm culture rather than the FAA model?
Myrtle Beach, SC Correspondent — This coast puts families on those aircraft and I don't need a romance about either the firm or the agency. A door plug leaving a fuselage and a production system that couldn't say where the bolts went is first a culture file. Self-certification works when the firm fears the aircraft … Continue reading Has Boeing’s quality and safety crisis shown that self-certification in commercial aviation needs a statutory overhaul, or that the failure is firm culture rather than the FAA model?
