Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

The Texts are Coming from Inside the House

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Michael Froomkin

This vile fundraising text-message did not come from some fringe group. It came from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Let’s count just a few of the ways in which this is disgusting:

  1. It misuses the term “traitor” to suggest that not supporting a politician can ever be treason.
  2. It implicitly identifies fealty with The Leader with loyalty to the United States.
  3. It suggests that it is unpatriotic to fail to support a man who
    1. encouraged a seditionist mob to storm the Capitol of the United States in order to prevent the certification of an election he had lost and
    2. tried to subvert the Justice Department to undermine the election result
    3.  when in fact the reverse is true: supporting the seditionist is what is unpatriotic.
  4. It says those who don’t send the NRCC money right now will be “branded a deserter”. And creates a totally bogus 17 minute deadline to fork over.
  5. Appeals like this work.

I knew House Republicans had gone pretty far over to the Dark Side, but this…

Posted in 2022 Election, Trump | Comments Off on The Texts are Coming from Inside the House

The First Thing We Do is Praise (Certain) Lawyers

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Michael Froomkin

Dick the Butcher in Henry VI, part II, act IV, Scene II, Line 73 explains the necessary first step to seizing power illegally.

Trump really did attempt a coup.

Mr. Rosen, Mr. Donoghue and Mr. Pak — all Republicans — testified that Mr. Trump was not seeking their legal advice, but strong-arming them to violate their oaths of office, undermine the results of the election and subvert the Constitution.

What stopped him?  Two things: 1) Lawyers with a basic core of ethics that required fidelity to bedrock democratic values;  and 2) the general incompetence of the plotters (cf. events of Jan 6, 2020).

I believe this has important implications for how we teach law students.  More discussion of (or paeans to?) the values of the rule of law in a democratic society may be in order.  At least until the Supreme Court makes ashes of it in our mouths, at which point…what?…Edward Luttwak?

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Posted in Law School, The Scandals | 1 Comment

The First Terrific Ad of the 2022 Election Cycle

Posted on October 6, 2021 by Michael Froomkin

I’ve seen a bunch of frankly unimpressive attack ads this cycle. (Yes, looking at you, Remove Ron.) Here’s a reminder of how positive ads can be so much much better. This ad for Charles Graham in North Carolina could bring a tear to the eye if you are the weepy sort:

Great ad, but alas not a perfect candidate. If that doesn’t put you off, you can donate here.

Posted in 2022 Election | Comments Off on The First Terrific Ad of the 2022 Election Cycle

Spot the Outlier

Posted on October 6, 2021 by Michael Froomkin

Source: Johns Hopkins via Kevin Drum

Posted in COVID-19 | Comments Off on Spot the Outlier

Death Panels Spotted (2)

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Michael Froomkin

NYT, In Alaska’s Covid Crisis, Doctors Must Decide Who Lives and Who Dies: Amid the nation’s worst Covid-19 outbreak, patients are trapped in remote communities and doctors are prioritizing treatment based on who is most likely to survive.

Mike Baker writes,

There was one bed coming available in the intensive care unit in Alaska’s largest hospital.

It was the middle of the night, and the hospital, Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, had been hit with a deluge of coronavirus patients. Doctors now had a choice to make: Several more patients at the hospital, most of them with Covid-19, were in line to take that last I.C.U. spot. But there was also someone from one of the state’s isolated rural communities who needed to be flown in for emergency surgery.

Who should get the final bed?

Dr. ​​Steven Floerchinger gathered with his colleagues for an agonizing discussion. They had a better chance of saving one of the patients in the emergency room, they determined. The other person would have to wait.

That patient died.

“This is gut-wrenching, and I never thought I’d see it,” said Dr. ​​Floerchinger, who has been in practice for 30 years. “We are taxed to a point of making decisions of who will and who will not live.”

Of course, it’s a red state and vaccination rates are low, and cases are spiking.

Previously: Death Panels Spotted in Idaho.

Posted in COVID-19 | Comments Off on Death Panels Spotted (2)

Real or Onion?

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Michael Froomkin

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., questioned Tuesday if the United States should rethink its diplomatic relationship with Australia given its strict, military-enforced COVID-19 lockdowns…

“You know, you guys, look what’s going on in Australia right now. You know, they’re enforcing, after a year and a half, they’re still enforcing lockdowns by the military.”

“That’s not a free country. It’s not a free country at all. In fact, I mean, I wonder why we would still have the same diplomatic relations when they’re doing that. Is Australia freer than China, communist China, right now? I don’t know. The fact that that’s even a question tells you something has gone dramatically off the rails with some of this stuff.”

So, real or Onion? You decide, then click through for the answer.

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Posted in COVID-19, Florida, Onion/Not-Onion, Politics: International | Comments Off on Real or Onion?