The big story this week was that ICE is back murdering people again. They seem to think that, as long as they’re not murdering white people, no one will notice. And I suppose we should be pleased that they have been proven wrong. Even More News covered the first murder last week, but they clipped just that part of the discussion this week, and then covered the second murder as part of a larger discussion on Monday. What a Day talked to David Bier, the Director of Immigration Studies at the Cato Institute, while Strict Scrutiny spoke to Andrea R. Flores, founder of Securing America’s Promise. And Adam Conover, doing his yet-untitled Friday roundup of the news, spoke to American Prospect editor David Dayen and Semafor columnist David Weigel about this, as well as other topics (such as the surprisingly-lack-of-fallout from the Graham Platner situation I mentioned last week).
I don’t have too much to add to all that, except to say this: Coming into the United States illegally is a Class B federal misdemeanor. That’s equivalent to shooting a deer on federal land out of season (or without a license), or driving recklessly (or drunk) on a military base. Imagine that you did one of those things, and then, late
Of course, the other major news is that Lindsey Graham died. I personally have had a lot of difficulty dealing with this news. On the one hand, Lindsey was a human being, and I hate for anyone to just die like that, and I also am getting to the age where people dying at the age of 71 seems like they’re gone too soon. Certainly he was 13 years younger than Mitch McConnell, who everyone swears is still alive, and 9 years younger than Trump, who at the very least is still walking and talking, if not particularly lively. On the other hand ... Look, if you want to hear from someone who actually liked Lindsey but still isn’t afraid to call him on his bullshit, Adam Kinzinger has you covered, and if you want to hear from someone who really didn’t like him and is perhaps a bit too joyful to call out his monstrous side, Owen Jones is happy to oblige (and, if you need something a bit more down the middle, What a Day’s Jane Coaston spoke to staff report for The Atlantic Matt Viser). For me, I just have a very clear memory of Lindsey saying this:
This will stand the test of the time. This is the last year of a lame duck president, and if Ted Cruz or Donald Trump get to be president, they’ve all asked us not to confirm or take up a selection by President Obama, so if a vacancy occurs in their last year of their first term, guess what? you will use their words against them. I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said “let’s let the next president, who whoever it might be, make that nomination” and you could use my words against me and you’d be absolutely right.
But it didn’t stand the test of time. It didn’t stand the test of four years. The exact scenario that Graham described actually happened, and when people pointed out that Lindsey Graham said “let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination”, he replied “the rules have changed as far as I’m concerned.” So I’m going to honor Lindsey’s wishes and hold his words against him. I’m sorry to say that I cannot say I’m sorry to hear of his passing. (Well, insofar as he may have been a deeply closeted gay man who was also an anti-LGBTQ+ politician, I suppose I’m not even that sorry. But still a little bit sorry.)
It’s also been an interesting week in that we’ve had a bunch of stories about the economy this week. I mean, the economy is always a topic for discussion, but it’s rare to see this many stories hit, and all be this good. If I have a favorite economist, it is surely Gary Stevenson, who I’ve discussed many times throughout this series, most recently in week 72 where I actually used his catchphrase (“tax wealth, not work”) as my post title. In this week’s episode of Garys Economics, Gary breaks down how the media is helping billionaires steal all our money, and how we need to talk about wealth inequality to actually start doing something about it. If I had to pick a second favorite economist, I would certainly choose Kyla Scanlon, who I’ve mentioned twice in this series: in week 26, when she spoke to Jon Stewart, and in week 57, when she spoke to Hank Green. This week finds her on Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know, talking to Hasan about why you can’t afford a house (and also, a bit, about how to pronounce the word “housing”). And, if I had to pick a third favorite economist ... well, I’d probably look at you like you were craz
Other things you need to know this week:
- On Monday’s Daily Show, Jon Stewart dissects the gerontocracy, with Graham and McConnell as prime examples.
- Seth Meyers is back from a 3-week hiatus and has fun catching up on all the insanity. It’s a pretty good encapsulation of our current situation.
- Another fun story this week (for certain definitions of “fun”) is the explosive diarrhea outbreak. For more info, Michael Kosta of The Daily Show breaks it down for you.
- On yet another “Closer Look” segment, Seth Meyers explores Trump’s proposed Strait of Hormuz toll.
- What Adam Kinzinger has now decided to dub the Kinzinger Report had a pretty solid episode on Friday. He covers Trump’s released “proof” of election fraud after his unhinged speech this week, the betting scandal with Trump’s teleprompter operator, more reflecting pool bullshit, the Todd Blanche confirmation hearing mega-fail, and maybe even one or two other bits and bobs.
- Jamelle Bouie had the best breakdown of Pete Hegseth’s war on low T on his Takes™ series.
- On another “In My Opinion” segment on The Daily Show, John Leguizamo talks about birthright citizenship, and the current ongoing attacks on it.
- This week’s Strict Scrutiny once again features Kim Lane Scheppele explains how our Supreme Court has become captured, meaning similar to the captured courts of Hungary or Russia. Chilling, and helps explain why the media’s occasional “celebration” of the Supreme Court doing something sane (for a change) is not warranted.
- On LegalEagle, Devin Stone covers Elon Musk’s child genocide denial. It’s interesting to tackle this from a legal perspective, though of course there’s nothing wrong with simply looking at it from the Elon-is-just-a-whiny-ass-bitch perspective.
- In another great More Perfect Union video this week, they explain how Amazon is screwing you ... even when you’re not buying from Amazon.
- I hardly ever give you really long videos to watch, but What Now?, which is Trevor Noah’s interview show, had Cory Doctorow on (he of the “enshittification” coinage). And I love Trevor, and was sad to see him leave The Daily Show, and I also love Cory, and think he’s one of the smartest people talking about technology today, particularly on the topic of AI. Most AI commentators are either way too pro-AI, or way anti-AI. Cory, on the other hand, is, as Goldilocks would say, just right. And, on top of all that, he is very good at explaining how late-stage capitalism is causing the vast majority of our problems. This interview is hilarious and also terrifying; yes, it’s quite long, but just about every moment is a real banger.
Is there hope this week? Well, up in New York, Zohran Mamdani has been actually achieving successes for his constituents on a near-daily basis. The best criticism the rightwing nutjobs have come up for this thus far is to scream “Socialism!” and hope no one responds “yeah ... and?” Because, when what you’re offering is more of the same old shit that’s made everyone’s lives miserable for decades, and what the other guy is offering is real solutions to the real problems of everyday people, what you call one side vs the other starts to lose all relevance. BTC interviewed Mamdani about housing this week, but this is just the tip of the iceberg of what New York’s Democratic Socialist mayor has accomplished: he’s lowered crime rates, delivered a rent freeze, announced a new childcare initiative ... hell, he even got 100,000 potholes filled in 100 days, including at least one, apparently, which he filled himself. I think that people are soon going to start saying, “if this is what socialism means, sign me up.”
And that’s probably a good thing.