A clear Tuesday calendar (with the exception of a note from Scott Anderson that he's out-of-pocket today) left us with a stark choice: dive into just a few key stories, in-depth, or; a flurry of lightning round treatments of a dozen or more stories, all figuring into a more complete understanding of the national political climate? Answer: the few key stories. First up, that damn golf course story. Again! But yes, it's actually critical, "at a level never seen before," to borrow a phrase from an a*****e who already owns enough. Yes, at bottom, it's about a golf course, and it shouldn't matter all that much. But two pieces of coverage of the latest courtroom proceedings both emphasize that far broader principles are at stake here. First, Chris Geidner's coverage of "The Department of Justice's" attempt to force the judge to recuse herself from the case, which I remind you is about a golf course! And second, Steve Vladeck's discussion of everything that led up to that attempt, which amply demonstrates how far the "DOJ" is willing to go to support its ridiculous arguments, even in a case which, I remind you again, is about a golf course! There was, however, at least one more story that demanded long-form attention, and that was a follow-up to another insane "DOJ" ploy in California, regarding allegations of "voter fraud." You remember: the ones purportedly demonstrated by the list of supposedly ineligible-yet-registered voters that was allegedly the content of that mystery USB thumb drive. This on the heels of that 48-hour turnaround demand, federal "authorities" have begun arresting people they claim were on that list, despite their decidedly $#*tty record with the validity of previous such lists in other states. Meanwhile, Trump has been trying to leverage his "unitary executive" powers to force the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to... "secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it." That is, to do what Tina Peters was (until... recently) actually in prison for doing. And speaking of Tina Peters, it seems she's been released from prison in Colorado only to take her act national, and step up to even larger crimes, encouraging Trump to declare martial law to hold on to power before, during and after the upcoming elections. How expansive could those powers be? You don't wanna know, but will find out, anyway.
