DL Open Thread: Saturday, Jan. 6, 2023

Supreme Court Fast-Tracks Trump Ballot Eligibility Case, Slow-Walks Trump Immunity-From-Prosecution Case.  Gee, wonder why.  All that remains is to see how the Justices will weasel Trump back onto the ballot despite the Constitution:

The Supreme Court said Friday that it will decide whether former president Donald Trump’s name can appear on primary election ballots, scheduling arguments just five weeks from now in a case that will have a major impact on this year’s presidential election.

Friday’s announcement puts the justices in a pivotal, and potentially uncomfortable, position with echoes of the court’s involvement in the 2000 election — when its decision assured victory for George W. Bush, polarized the nation and damaged the court’s reputation as an independent institution.

All of this ignores an oft-overlooked cause for this Election Year mayhem:  The Dithering Of Merrick Garland:

Finally. Disgraced former President Donald Trump has been indicted for the worst of his many alleged crimes: attempting to overturn the 2020 election, abolish constitutional government, and install himself as unelected dictator. Per an indictment handed down by a grand jury on Tuesday evening, Trump faces four felony counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct the vote certification of the 2020 election, obstruction of that vote certification, and conspiracy to violate Americans’ civil rights. It was all part of an alleged scheme to replace the official slates of Electoral College voters in key swing states with his own slates of fake electors. Then, during the electoral certification process, Vice President Pence was to declare the official result invalid, count the fake electors, and declare Trump president.

And it’s all no thanks to Attorney General Merrick Garland. For nearly two years, he refused to indict Trump on these severe alleged crimes that were carried out in plain sight. It was only after the House’s January 6th Committee investigating the attempted putsch uncovered damning new evidence that Garland was shamed into action, and he appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel.

As my colleague David Dayen observes, little of the information in the indictment is new. Indeed, during the period in which Trump was trying to overturn the results between the 2020 election and Joe Biden’s inauguration, there was already more than enough information publicly reported for a prosecution. There was Trump’s constant repetition of inflammatory lies about the election that his own campaign and governmental officials from the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, including the attorney general, told him were false. There was the time Trump personally called a Michigan election official to pressure her to reverse the state results.

Probably most damning was the time Trump called up Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and tried to bully him into changing the vote total, saying, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.” CNN published a recording and transcript of that conversation on January 3, 2021—or 942 days ago.

This Creampuff Casper Milquetoast ignored the obvious for 28 months.  Until the House Select Committee shamed him into action.  And here we are.

Ohio’s Governor Giveth, Ohio’s Governor Taketh Away.  After vetoing trans-hate legislation, Michael DeWine has done the following:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order Friday that will ban all gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The Republican also announced new administrative rules for transgender youth and adults seeking care in the state.

DeWine’s order comes a week after he vetoed House Bill 68, which would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Those treatments are the most common forms of care for transgender youth. The governor initially said that if he were to sign the bill, which also would bar trans students from participating in sports, the state would be interfering with parents’ medical decisions for their children.