I can’t count the number of summing-up segments on cable news shows that have had titles like “Trump’s Worst Week”. A week ago, I was on pins and needles wondering if some MAGA-hat-wearing juror was going to hang the Paul Manafort jury, and what that might mean for the legal process going forward.
In fact, there was a Trumpist juror who hung the jury on about half the charges, but now Manafort stands convicted of multiple felonies. Simultaneously, Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a variety of charges, and said that Trump instructed him to break campaign finance laws. (Suddenly, the phrase “unindicted co-conspirator”, which I hadn’t heard since Watergate, is back in circulation.) Then Trump ally Duncan Hunter joined Chris Collins by getting his own indictment; it now looks like the first and second congressmen to endorse Trump are both crooks. Then Trump allies David Pecker and Allen Weisselberg made immunity deals with prosecutors.
So there’s a certain giddiness among anti-Trump folks, including me. But I’m trying to stay cautious. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have been quiet, and I have to believe some counter-ploy is in the works. I think it’s looking bad for Trump, but I doubt it will be a smooth road from here to the Trump administration’s Nixonian demise.
There’s also John McCain’s death to cover. As you’ll see in the summary, I have a bundle of mixed feelings about McCain. I liked the guy, even though I knew all the reasons why I shouldn’t.
But the featured article is going to take a look at what Elizabeth Warren is up to. She’s made two idealistic and far-reaching proposals in the last two weeks, and they both fall outside the typical free-market vs. wealth-redistribution debate that politicians have been stuck in for decades. From a pure political viewpoint, I read them as indications that she’s running for president (which I didn’t used to believe). But they’re also worth looking at on their merits, because they point to a different and more productive debate we could be having. I’ve got work to do on that article, so it may not be out until after 10 EDT.
The weekly summary has Trump and McCain to cover, as well as all the race-baiting stories Fox News wants to cover instead of Trump’s legal problems. The North Korea negotiations have hit the impasse we all knew was coming. Climate-change-denying senators want federal money to protect their state’s oil interests against climate change. And a few other things have been happening. I’ll hope to get that out by noon.
The Weekly Sift 