We’re Back! After a brief hiatus, the Afternoon Links are back. You’re welcome.
Pardon Me? Today on the podcast, I join Andrew Egger and our venerable host Charlie Sykes to discuss a few things: the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, Bill Clinton’s cringeworthy morning interview, and President Trump’s tweets about whether he could, theoretically, pardon himself.
So, about self-pardons … There is a difference of legal opinion as to whether or not a president could pardon himself or herself. The president’s lawyers argue he can, but he won’t, because (they contend) he did nothing wrong and wouldn’t have to, or that if he were put in a position where he were forced to do so, he wouldn’t, because doing so would lead to his impeachment. Others contend the president cannot pardon himself. The third group is unsure, and argues that this would create a constitutional crisis that would be fought in the courts.
None of the options are good. But it does raise a question for the party that was once the “law and order” party. Is the president above the law? I recall a good number of people on the right trotting out that phrase with regards to the last president regarding DACA or his executive orders.
If President Trump thinks he can pardon himself, then it’s clear he sees himself as above the law. And let’s not kid ourselves, the president views virtually any query into his or his campaign’s behavior as a “WITCH HUNT!” Someone in Congress should press him on this belief, say maybe Trey Gowdy, who by doubting the Trump narrative has been cast out of the echelons of respect as a leper. Find out the answer: Does the President think he is above the law? If the answer is yes, then, well, that’s impeachable behavior in my book.
Who cares about the Triple Crown? Not Jim Gaffigan, one of America’s top comedians (and my personal favorite):
As you can tell, I’m not a horse person. I don’t even like horseback riding. A friend told me she enjoys horseback ride because she loves horses, which to me seems like a strange way of expressing your love for something – making it carry you around on its back.
I mean, I love my children, but I’m not going to make them … oh, maybe horseback riding makes sense.
Kids? Carry Daddy around!
Do telemarketers always win? Regular readers may recall Tony Mecia’s wonderful cover story last year about telemarketers and efforts to stifle them. Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of illegal robocalls that make no sense. The Wall Street Journal explains why “Caller ID is feeding one of the very problems it was developed to stop: junk calls.” Read more.
Is the Tea Party dead? Well, yeah, if you look at how Republicans in Congress have been acting. But what has happened to them, other than the conversion to being the party of Trump? Per an article by the Associated Press, roughly half of the organization-formerly-known-as-the-Tea-Party-Caucus is gone. It’s understandable that deficit hawks who are now blowing up the deficit would want to shed the label, but one has to ask: Have a lot of Republican voters, too?
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