Bad is Bad, Really  ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️🌻

Higher Education? It turns out that failing to be able to come out and say that calling for the genocide of Jews constitutes bullying or harassment is a bad thing, at least for Liz Magill, the now ex-president of the University of Pennsylvania. The U of Penn Board Chairman Scott Bok, CEO of Greenhill & Co. is gone too.  The investment banker resigned while expressing his support and gratitude for Magill and her service, attributing her failure to speak out against anti-Semitic acts as the result of over-lawyering and exhaustion rather than anything that Magill had done wrong during her troubled tenure at the university.  So far, Claudine Gay and Sally Kornbluth, the presidents of Harvard and MIT respectively who were prepared for the Congressional hearing that tanked Magill by WilmerHale, the same law firm that “coached” Magill into delivering those legalistic, parsed responses instead of explicit condemnations, still have their jobs. It was painful to watch the testimony that led to Magill’s demise, though far less painful than watching the still ongoing acts of hate erupting at what are supposed to be elite schools of higher education. At the same time, it is also discomforting to watch Elise Stefanik profit from the mess. The Republican NY Congresswoman deserves some kudos for her calm evisceration of Magill, Gay, and Kornbluth but watching her take victory laps for that “accomplishment” is also hard given that Harvard graduate Stefanik is far from a model of civility and good behavior. Once touted as a moderate Republican with great potential, she has since become ultra MAGA.  The ambitious Stefanik appears to be trying to ride her takedown of the three university presidents onto Trump’s presidential ticket, so what if the Orange one aspires to be a dictator, she’d have no problem serving as his VP A/K/A partner-in-crime, tiki torches and all. Should she succeed, she could get some more quality time with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy who says that while he’s not into Trump’s retribution thing, he fully backs him and would be pleased as punch to accept a cabinet appointment should he be lucky enough to be offered one. As to the Orange one who at this moment in time is beating President Biden in the polls, he reupped his promise to be a dictator but only for “one day” this weekend at a NY MAGA gala.  He also cancelled plans to testify as a defense witness in his NY Civil trial.  That frees him up to meet with right wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who is due in Washington this week for a Heritage Foundation event.  Orban’s aides and maybe Orban too are set to meet with Congressional Republicans to lend support to their opposition of US funding for Ukraine, a concept near and dear to both Trump and his BFF Putin’s heart.

Legal Morass:  Trump’s legal strategy is to delay, delay and delay some more until he’s president again when he’ll rid himself of all those meddlesome cases so his lawyers are appealing Judge Chutkan’s ruling that found he is not immune from criminal prosecution.  Trump’s lawyers’ position is that his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election were kosher because presidents, or at least those named Trump, get to do things like that.  Trump’s lawyers want all deadlines in the insurrection case to be frozen while the immunity issue makes its way to SCOTUS.  Special Counsel Jack Smith’s position is that former presidents have no immunity and that while Trump is entitled to appeal, the steps that need to be taken to be ready for a March 4 trial date should be allowed to continue pending any SCOTUS decision on his claim of immunity.  As to those meddlesome cases, it’s clear that Trump’s legal bils are huge and growing.  One window into their cost is that the “expert” accountant who testified in the New York Civil case that the financial information that Trump provided his lenders was “perfect” and that the tripling of the size of his Trump Tower apartment was not an “unusual error“ was paid a most generous $900,000 for his testimony.  Though the Trump Org footed some of that bill, Trump’s political PAC, funded by his MAGA base, paid for the rest.  Though it probably won’t do much to quiet Trump, a federal appeals court upheld most of Judge Chutkan’s gag order. And since it’s not just Trump with legal woes, Hunter’s case continues to percolate and the House is expected to vote to formally open an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden this week, no funding for anything important but an impeachment that Senator Mitt Romney says has no merit.

Gilead, Texas:  Leave it to Texas to keep abortion rights front and center just when the Republican party hoped that they could hide it in a Gaza tunnel.  Texas mother of two Kate Cox is currently 20 weeks into her third pregnancy and has recently learned that her fetus has a fatal genetic abnormality that should it even make it to term will lead to a very early death.  Continuing with the pregancy could also cause Cox irreperable harm, limiting her future fertility or worse.  A Texas judged ruled that despite Texas’ extreme anti-abortion law she could obtain the abortion she’s seeking due to her dire circumstances.  Of course the once impeached Texas AG Ken Paxton who has ambitions beyond Texas, perhaps to Trump’s “model” cabinet or even SCOTUS, appealed to the Texas Supreme Court to stop her abortion. He’s also told hospitals and doctors that he’ll punish them bigly if any one of them provid Cox with the abortion care she’s seeking. Over the weekend, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked Cox’s abortion. At this point in her pregnancy any delay puts Cox’s heath and maybe even her life in jeopardy.  She probably should go out of state for care and given the publicity around her case, lots have offered her help.  That would solve her most immediate problem but the politically motivated Paxton who cares nothing about her health has threatened to prosecute her if she does.               

#BringThemHomeNow