If Trump Loses, We Might Owe... SCOTUS?
Plus, Juneteenth: ‘The Day of Freedom Came’
Recently in The Bulwark:
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JILL D. LAWRENCE: If Trump Loses, We Might Owe the Supreme Court
THE SUPREME COURT IS CAUSING great pain and upset to tens of millions of people, and it isn’t done yet. But in the end, by which I mean the day after the presidential election, America might owe the Court’s conservative supermajority a gracious thank-you note—“We couldn’t have done it without you!”—or even dinner.
The high court’s six conservative justices,half of them named by Donald Trump, could well be Joe Biden’s ticket to a second term. Like Trump himself, they are a scandal-and-controversy machine, constantly renewing old furors and creating new ones.
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BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, ET. AL: Juneteenth: ‘The Day of Freedom Came’
‘Freedom Was a More Serious Thing Than They Had Expected to Find It.’
FINALLY THE WAR CLOSED, and the day of freedom came. It was a momentous and eventful day to all upon our plantation [in Virginia]. We had been expecting it. Freedom was in the air, and had been for months. Deserting soldiers returning to their homes were to be seen every day. Others who had been discharged, or whose regiments had been paroled, were constantly passing near our place. The “grape-vine telegraph” was kept busy night and day. The news and mutterings of great events were swiftly carried from one plantation to another. In the fear of “Yankee” invasions, the silverware and other valuables were taken from the “big house,” buried in the woods, and guarded by trusted slaves. Woe be to any one who would have attempted to disturb the buried treasure. The slaves would give the Yankee soldiers food, drink, clothing—anything but that which had been specifically intrusted to their care and honour.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Juneteenth! As I was sitting in a showroom this morning, it occurred to me: today is an awkward holiday for car dealers, many of which who suffered a cyber attack earlier today. Why awkward? Banks are closed. The DMV is closed. And you can’t exactly advertise Juneteenth deals, because that would be a little cringeworthy. (My car salesman was unaware of why it was a federal holiday, and I was glad to explain.) But it is sort of the time when young parents might need a new car before Summer road trips.
Overtime trivia: What is the only summer month that lacks a federal holiday? And if it got one, what should it be?1 Come share your suggestion over on Substack Notes.
Welcome aboard, Sam Stein! You’ll get to meet Sam in the coming days, but we’re happy to welcome aboard our new managing editor. We’re growing, and it’s thanks to you, our readers.
A good ad from Tim Kaine… Now that he knows he’s facing Hung Cao, who is legitimately concerned about witchcraft, and has repeatedly said not-so-nice things about Virginia’s more rural areas. Also last night, the Good-McGuire race is very close, and in my district (7), Democrats resoundingly nominated Eugene Vindman, which I consider to be a good sign.
Make America Boring Again… Matt Labash on growing weary of all the intensity 🔐.
Ted Cruz doesn’t want you to meet his donors… After an aide (or the Senator himself) left a briefing binder for fundraisers in a public place in the Senate, Pablo Manriquez reported on its contents.
Then, Elon Musk’s X summarily took down all of his tweets and forcibly removed any post from users (including me) that shared this information. The consensus seems to be it was taken down because it contained the phone number of a Cruz fundraiser, and that of billionaire Ron Lauder, who is obviously going to have to change his phone number. It is trending on Reddit.
Who says Elon Musk’s X isn’t moderating content! I kid! The “Twitter Files” journalists are on this right now, I am sure. 2
A former Republican campaign operative and I were texting about it, and here were his takeaways:
Wasn't a ton interesting in it but the things that stood out to me were:
1) How little you had to pledge to give (and not give) to get a dinner with Ted.
2) They were dumb enough to continuously put in writing that Ted should ask rich people to talk to his team about ways to give above maximums by giving to outside groups.
I also found some of the fundraising asks odd: $119,200? I get it, but why don’t you say “max out.” And as Pablo observed, a lot of these people have yet to fulfill their pledges. After this blunder, will they still give?
Fox News reads J.D. Vance… A list of things he’s said about Donald Trump. #Awkward.
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If I were a middle school civics teacher, this would be a fun end-of-year assignment.
I am also kidding here.
