REFORM COURTS

“To watch how much he is going to genuflect the Donald Trump, he has an audience of one. And I think people, you know, he has sold out even those completely perverse, and I think, and warped principles that he had. He has gone full mercenary now. And I think that's, I think for people who were one issue voters, like MAHA people, I think that they're done. They see Kennedy, you know, from their perspective, he, you know, the White Knight went into the city of sin, and he's now like become a swamp creature to mix many metaphors.”

“There was a cohort of people who voted for him because they wanted a, an unnamed change to the system. And I think for part of that cohort, it has been immigration has appalled them, the immigration policies have appalled them. They didn't realize they were, they were, they were either going to be a target or just like how vicious it would be or that their friend would be a target or their parents or their, you know. And I think for another cohort, it's like inflation's not down. Wages are not up. Gas is now super expensive. I think they're like, what the hell? You're just like the rest of them.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike. These were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“January 5, The South Carolina Supreme Court strikes down the state's six-week abortion ban, ruling it violates the state's Constitution. The Idaho Supreme Court upholds the state's ban on abortion in a 3-2 ruling.”

“The court, unlike other institutions, they finish up, you know, at the end of the school year, rise and leave, get rid of everything one way or another, and that'll be at the end of June. By the way, everyone will be watching close that day because that's the traditional time to announce retirements, and all eyes will be on Thomas and Alito. ... You couldn't write an opinion upholding this completely countertextual interpretation of the 14th Amendment. So it will continue to be the case, I think, that anyone born here, whoever their parents are, will be an American citizen.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate.”

“The Department of Justice announced Friday that it will resurrect federal firing squads as part of its effort to implement Donald Trump's Day One Executive Order to revamp capital punishment. I hate capital punishment. ... Because it's terrible. It's killing people, and it is so terrible. But it's also very stupid. It's expensive. It is a really circuitous way to punish people. It's just so terrible. And like with everything in Trump world, when they've figured out something terrible, they want to make it even worse. So this would be a way to make capital punishment even worse than lethal injection.”

“Even when you're not the second fiddle for a complete narcissistic sociopath, it's a bad job. Even when you're just the vice president for a normal president, it's not a good job unless you're Dick Cheney. But I think in this case, I think Vance has a number of problems. One is he has this humiliation tour. He's been tasked with bringing peace to the Middle East. ... Trump has really been trying to de-escalate the war in Iran. But the problem is that the Iranians are ideological in a way that I don't think Trump quite understands. So he's not able to back this train up.”

“We're in like George W. Bush at his lowest ABB territory. And frankly, I think there's probably like 30 to 35 percent of Americans who are never going to abandon any Republican president ever. I should say, yeah, 30 to 35 percent of Americans who will not abandon a Republican president. He doesn't seem to care in many respects. I think, you know, that's because, like, I think he has made just so much money. There has been so much corruption and graft. ... He's losing support. I mean, if I was him, is I would be very worried about losing the Senate because it's one thing, it's not like he has an agenda.”

“It is a deeply intellectually dishonest case. So first of all, the wire fraud, the fraud here is supposed to be, and it's got to be all these, a lot of specifics against the donors. The theory of the case is that you went to the donors and said, please give us your money. We're working to fair it out, extremism. We have a great track record, including with the KKK. And a very important way to do it is the way law enforcement always does it. Infiltrate, get a confidential informant, pay them money. ... It's exactly as you say, Molly. If that's true, then the FBI forever has been promoting the mob.”

“I'm kind of in shock. I wanted to feed Mundy and Tara close together. And so I fed Tara over here. She picked up her food and brought it right over to the fence line here so she could be eating with Mundy. So you tell me what that means. I think that is really good.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”