The Joke's on Us ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️🌻

Nikki Out:  Super Tuesday is now in the rearview mirror.  Both Biden and Trump picked up a slew of delegate with Biden’s total now at 1564 and Trump’s at 1057.  Though both candidates are still short of the delegate count, 1215 for Trump and 1969 for Biden, they’ll need to officially lock in their respective party’s candidacy, for all practical purposes, like it or not, they are both the 2024 candidates.  Trump who won every Super Tuesday Republican presidential primary with the exception of Vermont’s which went to Nikki Haley celebrated by calling the USA a third world dying country and an international joke. Last night Nikki Haley’s campaign reported that she was “jubilant” about the day’s results, but who are they kidding, sure she won Vermont, but edging out Trump in the land of Ben and Jerry is hardly anything to brag about in the party of MAGA. That jubilance didn’t last the night because at 6 AM this morning, the WSJ reported that she’ll be suspending her campaign today probably during the speech she now has scheduled for 10 AM EST. Haley won’t immediately endorse Trump. It’s unlikely that she’ll entertain a No Labels bid but if we’ve learned anything by now, we shouldn’t count that out.  On the Democratic side, Biden outperformed Trump though he did give up 5 out of Minnesota’s 65 delegates to “undecided,” a protest for his support of Israel and he also lost the not so consequential American Samoa caucus by 11 out of the 100 votes cast to a local entrepreneur. Neither Dean Phillips nor on again off again candidate Marianne Williamson picked up any delegates though the Samoan entrepreneur walked away with 3. And because, of course, Trump reportedly met with Elon Musk.  He’s trying to get Musk to contribute bigly to his campaign which needs money in part because so much has been spent on other things like legal bills.  Musk and Trump are simpatico on so many things these days including their mutual disdain for immigrants because Musk who was born in South Africa doesn’t like them.  Also, Musk harbors a grudge against Biden who failed to invite him to a meeting on electric vehicles, over their disagreement on unions.  Biden likes them, Musk not so much.     

Down Ballot:  In California Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff and former Dodger/Padre/Republican Steve Garvey came in first and second place respectively in the state’s “jungle” primary for the seat vacated by late Senator Dianne Feinstein.  They will face off in November. Democratic Congresswomen Katie Porter and Barbara Lee were pretty much left in the dust by a combination of Schiff’s relative popularity, mainstream Democratic support including an endorsement form Nancy Pelosi, and his strategic campaigning as well as Garvey’s name recognition and his ability to consolidate California’s Republican vote.  Absent a real shocker Schiff is expected to win in November because Democratic voters out number Republican ones in California.  By running in the primary, both Porter and Lee lost their right under California law to run for reelection for their House seats so both will be out of the House at the end of the term. On the Senate side, Texas Democratic Congressman/former professional football player Colin Allred won his primary and will now have the privilege of facing off against Republican Senator Ted Cruz.  Even in Texas few like Cruz who spends most of his time podcasting rather than in the Senate but it’s Texas, so Allred has his work cut out for him.  That said, Democrats, view Texas as a possible Senate seat pick-up so don’t count Allred out.  Arizona is not a super Tuesday state but still managed to make news yesterday because Senator Kyrsten Sinema, the somewhat eccentric former Democrat who became an independent announced that she won’t be running for reelection. Sinema for all her faults and oddities was at the center of almost every important legislative negotiation so though she was a progressive lightening rod, she may actually be missed, not that any progressive will admit that. Her departure from the race means that absent an earthquake Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego will face off against Republican Kari Lake in November.  Lake is the MAGA election denier/Trump fan who still hasn’t conceded her 2020 loss to Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs. Despite, or maybe because of her insanity, the Lake – Gallego race is expected to be a close one. In other Senate news, New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez was indicted again yesterday, this time for obstruction of justice. Not only has Menendez not resigned but he still hasn’t announced his reelection plans but its fair to assume that he won’t be New Jersey’s Democratic Senator candidate come November.  That privilege will likely fall to either Congressman Andy Kim or Tammy Murphy, wife of Democratic Governor Phil Murphy because it’s New Jersey and in new Jersey, where Republican Governors get away with shutting bridges down, Democratic ones get to support their one-time Republican wives for the Senate.  Taking a page from their 2020 Pennsylvania playbook, North Carolina Republicans have decided that a candidate who hates Jews, Muslims and LGTBQ people and says so and who has also made really horrendous comments about women while blaming child shooting victims for getting shot represents their best chance for winning the state’s gubernatorial race so their candidate to replace outgoing Democratic Governor Roy Cooper will be current Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson who Trump calls a Martin Luther King on steroids, because if you’re Black and support him that’s how Trump sees you.  Robinson will face off against current state Attorney General Mark Stein, who like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Schapiro who beat back his anti-Semitic, racist MAGA opponent Doug Mastriano, is Jewish. Let’s hope that this déjà vu moment goes the distance.  

Legal Morass:  As predicted the Supreme Court ruled that an individual state may not disqualify a presidential candidate from the ballot even though Section 3 of the 14^th Amendment bars insurrectionists from regaining public office. Not a surprise but not as unanimous as the 9 – 0 vote indicated as four of the Justices, the three liberals and Amy Coney Barrett, thought that the ruling went too far by saying that only Congress could enforce Section 3. Coney Barett wrote her own not entirely concurring opinion, with Justices Kagan, Brown Jackson and Sotomayor joining in another even less concurring one.  Curiously, based on an analysis of metadate, whatever that is, Slate reports that Sotomayor’s opinion was initially a dissent but that she appears to have flipped before the final opinion was announced.  Because irony is dead, Coney Barrett’s concurrence said that it was important for the Court to rule in a manner that brought down the temperature of the country, kind of like the way the Dobbs ruling did?  in other legal news, Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg has plead guilty to perjury and as a result is probably headed back to Rikers.  He’s not turning on Trump, he’s just serving as Trump’s pain sponge.

Fog:  The UN has finally admitted that yes, Hamas engaged in systematic rape and torture of Israelis on October 7.  It certainly took them long enough not that their conclusion will matter to those who are convinced that those Hamas guys are just misunderstood.  Lots of pressure but still no ceasefire because Israel wants hostages released, Hamas not so much and besides, they’re winning the PR war so what if more people, including lots and lots of Gazans are dying.  And complicating local politics, Israeli Minister Benny Gantz has been making the international rounds having meetings with leaders in the US and in Europe.  That’s unprecedented and not a good look for Netanyahu but an indication that all isn’t well at home.

#BringThemAllHomeNow