Derek Thompson: “Twitter’s lawsuit is an extraordinary and odd document. It paints Musk as a dishonest and unserious hypocrite, the sort of person you would never want running your company. But because this same dishonest and unserious hypocrite has signed a document offering to pay a huge premium to shareholders, Twitter’s board is bound by its fiduciary duty to enforce a merger neither Musk nor Twitter’s employees seem to want. It’s an awfully strange twist to the marriage-plot genre: I hate your guts, now marry me! This is shareholder capitalism as romantic comedy.”
Doug Mastriano Is Deleting Videos from Facebook
Philadelphia Inquirer: “The removed videos include freewheeling discussions in which Mastriano predicts that this November’s election will be marred by Democratic voter fraud; accuses Republicans who don’t support him of looking down on veterans; and calls the fight against abortion ‘the most important issue of our lifetime.'”
“This has become somewhat of a pattern for Mastriano, 58, a retired Army colonel who bills himself as a plainspoken populist. He communicates directly with voters online, yet sometimes covers his tracks.”
“Before this latest batch of deletions, Mastriano removed potentially problematic or controversial posts, including tweets promoting the Qanon conspiracy theory, as well as videos in which he called local faith leaders ‘cowards’; acknowledged his Covid diagnosis while visiting the White House; and feuded with GOP lawmakers in Harrisburg.”
European Heat Wave Turns Deadly
“An unprecedented heat wave is underway in France and the U.K. that is likely to topple all-time national high temperature records and potentially kill several thousand people,” Axios reports.
“The scorching heat is moving north into a more vulnerable region after tormenting Spain and Portugal.”
Texas Power Plants Are Running Nonstop
Bloomberg: “As searing Texas heat drives power demand to record highs, the state’s grid operator is ordering plants to run at a historic pace, often forcing them to put off maintenance to keep cranking out electricity. That’s helped keep the lights on, for now, but the short-term focus is putting even more stress on a system that’s already stretched near the limit.”
“Twice in the past week, officials have called on Texans to limit electricity use during scorching afternoons as demand inched perilously close to overwhelming supply. Now, there are growing concerns over how long power plants can maintain the grueling pace as they run nonstop.”
Where Inflation Goes from Here
Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers:
“One of these months it will turn out to have peaked, but core inflation is now running more than three times as rapidly as its target level, and that entirely excludes energy and food commodities. Inflation will come down at some point, but it is unlikely to be a soft landing without economic pain.”
“I don’t think there’s any reason to expect a recession of the magnitude that we had after Covid struck or with the financial crisis of 2008. I think the recessions of 1990–1991 and 2001 are better models. But if inflation is to be contained, unemployment is likely to rise to somewhere in the vicinity of 6 percent or more. That would be my uncertain best guess.”
Axios: “A recession would be worse than the inflation the U.S. is seeing now, which is actually showing signs of easing up, some progressive economists are now arguing,”
How Steve Bannon’s Podcast Is Disrupting Democracy
CNN: “The show is a hefty contributor to a grassroots surge that is sending political neophytes to city councils, school boards, and state legislatures, as well as to the polls to oversee voting.”
“But unlike other firebrand personalities, Bannon isn’t just tapping fear and resentment for ratings or money; he uses his show as a strategic vehicle.”
Related from the Associated Press: Trial expected to begin for ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
Quote of the Day
“If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105. I think we’re going to be living with this.”
— Dr, Anthony Fauci, in an interview with Politico.
Criminal Probe of Trump Could Complicate Jan. 6 Cases
“Attorney General Merrick Garland is under pressure to investigate Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, but a move against the former president could complicate many of the hundreds of other criminal cases related to the storming of the Capitol,” Politico reports.
“Even if investigations into Trump and his inner circle are expanded — a slew of grand jury subpoenas and search warrants in recent weeks suggest prosecutors are circling his allies — the momentous decision about whether to charge Trump with a crime is months away, if not longer.”
Pence Endorses Robson for Arizona Governor
“Former Vice President Mike Pence is endorsing Republican Karrin Taylor Robson in the Arizona governor’s race, pitting himself against Donald Trump in a primary that is emerging as a proxy fight between the former president and Republicans who resisted his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results,” Politico reports.
“It represents the latest breach in the relationship between Trump and Pence, and it’s the second time the two have collided in a primary. And Pence is slated to campaign for Robson on Friday — creating a dramatic split-screen moment opposite Trump, who is set to hold a rally for his endorsed candidate, former local TV news anchor Kari Lake, the same day.”
Zelensky Suspends Security Chief and Top Prosecutor
President Volodymyr Zelensky has suspended the head of Ukraine’s spy agency and the prosecutor general, citing many cases of treason in the two powerful organizations, the BBC reports.
The God Gap Helps Explain a ‘Seismic Shift’ in U.S. Politics
David French: “Hispanic Americans also tend to possess strong religious values… That’s exactly why a politics focused on mobilizing by race/ethnicity will not reach them, especially when identity politics is paired with hard-left cultural positions and hostility for traditional religion. Hispanic voters will find a religious connection with many, many white Republicans, and that religious connection can prove far more culturally and politically consequential than any effort to create a politics based on ethnic or racial identity.”
“The disproportionate secularization of white Democrats represents a danger for the Democratic Party, for the country, and for American religion. The danger for the Democrats is clear. America may be more secular than it’s been in generations, but it is still a quite religious country. It’s far more religious than any European nation. It’s far more religious than Canada or the rest of the anglosphere nations. And it’s going to remain extraordinarily religious for the foreseeable future.”
“A party that’s culturally disconnected from (or perhaps even scornful of) traditional religious faith is going to alienate itself from tens of millions of voters it could otherwise reach.”
Abortion Ban Stories Are Worse Than Anyone Imagined
Laura Bassett: “Reproductive rights advocates have long warned that women would die if abortion were banned again—that children would be forced to give birth to their rapists’ babies. I’ve been covering abortion rights for over a decade, and I expected these horrifying, dystopian stories to trickle out over the next six months to maybe a year, forcing people to acknowledge a reality that had long been just hypothetical.”
“Instead, the stories have sprayed out like a firehose: A 10-year-old rape survivor had to travel to another state to get safe abortion care, and politicians immediately went after the doctor who helped her; a Texas hospital let a woman with an ectopic pregnancy bleed until she almost died to avoid getting sued; Idaho Republicans overwhelmingly voted to let women die before giving them care. The dystopia is upon us, and it arrived faster than anyone expected.”
Trump Wants to Run to Save Himself from Probes
In recent months, Donald Trump “has made clear to associates that the legal protections of occupying the Oval Office are front-of-mind for him,” Rolling Stone reports.
One source says Trump has “spoken about how when you are the president of the United States, it is tough for politically motivated prosecutors to ‘get to you.’ He says when [not if] he is president again, a new Republican administration will put a stop to the investigation that he views as the Biden administration working to hit him with criminal charges — or even put him and his people in prison.”
As Trump “talks about running, the four sources say, he’s leaving confidants with the impression that, as his criminal exposure has increased, so has his focus on the legal protections of the executive branch.”
Betsy DeVos Wants to Abolish Department She Ran
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, appointed by former president Donald Trump, told conservative activists in Tampa that the federal Education Department should be abolished, leaving education decisions to state and local boards, Florida Phoenix reports.
Swing Voters Say Trump Should Be Prosecuted
An Axios Engagious/Schlesinger focus group found that 10 of 14 Wisconsin swing voters last week said Trump should be prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the attack on the Capitol.
Last month, 10 of 13 Arizona swing voters in panels said the same.
Hearing to Show Trump’s ‘Dereliction of Duty’
“A House committee’s prime-time hearing Thursday will offer the most compelling evidence yet of then-President Donald Trump’s ‘dereliction of duty’ on the day of the Jan. 6 insurrection, with new witnesses detailing his failure to stem an angry mob storming the Capitol,“ the AP reports.
Said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL): “This is going to open people’s eyes in a big way. The president didn’t do anything.”
He added: “The president didn’t do very much but gleefully watch television.”
Wall Street Journal: “Lawmakers say the next public hearing will present a minute-by-minute look at Trump’s activities.”
Secret Service Expected to Meet Subpoena Deadline
“Members of the House’s Jan. 6 committee said Sunday that they expect the Secret Service to meet the Tuesday deadline for providing to the panel the reportedly deleted text messages that agents sent around the Capitol riot,” USA Today reports.
Kinzinger Says Trump Would Lie Under Oath
“Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) on Sunday said he saw little value in attempting to have Donald Trump testify before the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol because he did not trust the former president would tell the truth, even under oath,” The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn’t mind not telling the truth. Let’s just put that mildly. He lies all the time. I wouldn’t put it past him to even lie under oath, so I’m not sure what the value is there.”
