Some people never learn. Despite being found liable for sexual assault and defamation last year, in a civil action brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who sued him for slanderous statements attempting to rebut her claims of rape, Donald Trump continued to defame Carroll, post-verdict. And Carroll continued to sue him. And Trump continues to defame her. Will she sue again?
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ decision to suspend his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on 21 January 2024 came as a shock to … no one, actually. Following a dismal finish in the Iowa Caucus six days prior, with Donald Trump thirty points ahead of him and fellow contender Nikki Haley nipping at his heels, just two points behind, it seemed only a matter of time before he pulled the plug. And with DeSantis polling in the single digits in the New Hampshire Primary two days hence, now was the time.
I’m not sure why anyone pays attention to the Iowa caucuses anymore, considering its Republican voters have only picked their Party’s eventual presidential nominee twice since the 1960s, and only one of those went on to win the general election. But Iowa is the time-honored kickoff to the quadrennial American presidential passion play regardless, and one must observe the conventions and traditions that make the country what it is.
Not hardly, right? By no stretch of the imagination is the disgraced, twice impeached, four times criminally indicted ex-President an appealing figure, at least not to most folks. No, the title here applies to Trump’s latest legal gambit, appealing a lower court’s ruling that denied his claims of immunity for his 2020 election interference shenanigans, in the case brought against him by the Justice Department. The trial date is set for March 4, but will likely be postponed due to delaying tactics such as these.
On December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court handed the Trump Campaign perhaps its most significant defeat to date. In a 4-3 decision, the Court ruled that the former president was ineligible for inclusion on the state’s 2024 Primary ballot, due to a clause in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which provides that persons who previously took an oath to the Constitution, then supported insurrection or rebellion against the US government, are barred from holding political office again in future.
Two conservative icons recently passed within days of each other, as November rolled over to December 2023. On November 29th, Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State, propelled from academia into international prominence by Richard Nixon, instrumental in ending the Vietnam War and reestablishing diplomatic relations with Communist China, died at the age of 100. Two days later, on December 1st, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a Reagan appointee and the first woman to sit on the US Supreme Court, passed at age 93. While neither would recognize today’s Republican Party, so focused on grievance and retribution instead of policy, and both have serious blots on their legacies, each reminds us that there were once two viable political philosophies vying for control of the country, in a comparatively congenial and collegial atmosphere.
