James Downie

@jamescdownie.bsky.social

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Columnist and editor at MSNBC Daily. Formerly Washington Post.

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James Downie

The discourse around biden needing more sleep is fully insane. Does no one remember "Executive Time," the thing Trump spent the majority(!) of his schedule on where he would just watch TV and tweet? Dude was categorically unable to fulfill any of the demands of the office and the press barely cared

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James Downie

it’s so funny how in America you call it an elevator but in the UK it’s a lift and also when a candidate loses they concede

Everyone will -- understandably -- focus on the Tory collapse. But for Labour's long-term strength, the Scottish National Party's self-immolation is crucial as well. www.reuters.com/world/uk/sco...

Holy shit that’s an ass-whipping

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Wow, real banana republic stuff. I'm glad our presidents can launder money and associate criminally without worrying about this kind of thing.

Reports: Brazil police have indicted Jair Bolsonaro for money laundering and criminal association

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"Like the Jim Crow-era decisions, the immunity ruling ignores both the plain text of the Constitution and the historical evidence...to embolden those who believe that might makes right." My latest, on Trump v. U.S and the Reconstruction amendments, for MSNBC: www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | The Supreme Court’s immunity ruling has a chilling parallel to the Jim Crow erawww.msnbc.com The spirit and reasoning of the majority in Trump v. U.S. evokes the worst of post-Civil War jurisprudence.

"The flames kindled on the 4th of July 1776 have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism.” -- Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1821. That held true for the slavery that Jefferson clung to, and it will hold true for MAGA's bunch of jackbooted thugs.

This 4th of July, take a little time to think about how the Left can try to reclaim patriotism from conservatives. Seems like the story of a country that cast off a king and fought a civil war to free the slaves is fertile ground given our present moment.

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I came to my 14 year old with a concern about social media. He literally took his glasses off, rubbed his temples, and asked: “what have the moms on the internet said now?” 😯🫤😆

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Mississippi is the poorest state in the US. Even though the state gets federal welfare funds, it is difficult to get welfare. The money was all getting stolen, and they got away with it. Now the journalists who exposed the story are facing a lawsuit and jail. www.nbcnews.com/investigatio...

She exposed how the nation's poorest state spent federal welfare money. Now she might go to jail.www.nbcnews.com "The rabbit's got the gun now," said a lawyer for former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, who is trying to force reporter Anna Wolfe to reveal her sources.

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boy Nigel Farage drinks *a lot* www.ft.com/content/864c...

Lunch with the FT: Nigel Faragewww.ft.com ‘I am what I am,’ says the Ukip leader over six pints, a bottle of wine and two glasses of port

"Essentially, the Court in Trump v. United States is declaring the Constitution itself unconstitutional." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Something Has Gone Deeply Wrong at the Supreme Courtwww.theatlantic.com Jurists who preach fidelity to the Constitution are making decisions that flatly contradict our founding document’s text and ideals.

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No, States Would Not Be Forced to Keep Biden on the Ballot If He’s Not the Democratic Party’s Nominee from the DNC electionlawblog.org?p=144245

No, States Would Not Be Forced to Keep Biden on the Ballot If He's Not the Democratic Party's Nominee from the DNC #ELBelectionlawblog.org I have been seeing stories like this and this citing to a Heritage memo saying that in some states it would be hard for Democrats to list someone other than Biden on the ballot if Democrats nominate s...

If only a Founder made this exact point, in the Federalist Papers, to explain separation of powers. Oh wait that's exactly what Madison wrote. "It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government." constitutioncenter.org/the-constitu...

idk it just seems to me that laws, like tech, should be created with the question "what would the worst person i know be able to do with this power" in mind and it's truly incredible how much this opinion fails at that basic task

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Quick thread about the labor market after continuing jobless claims rose much more than expected this morning. What are continuing jobless claims? These are the number of people who are currently receiving jobless benefits. This is hard, actual counts of people, not a sampled survey data set. 1/n

Let's check in on how throwing trans people under the bus is going for Keir Starmer:

Thirty years ago, guys like this were jackbooting around their living rooms, telling each other that "actually the judge can't enforce my restraining order because he didn't use the right stamp."

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be" www.mediamatters.org/project-2025...

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

John Roberts: The left is just "fear mongering on the basis of extreme hypotheticals" Heritage Foundation: Bring on the violence.

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

Evergreen post.

If Kamala Harris got rid of Brett McGurk she'd instantaneously be better than this guy for me lol

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You can have concerns about Biden's age, but still be absolutely appalled about editorial choices that convey the issue as more important than the Supreme Court offering a pre-emptive thumbs up to a criminal presidency

I have been saying since February that major media are 100% devoted to But Her Emails 2, but I didnt imagine it would get this bad. The day after SCOTUS stops the law applying to Trump, we have to scroll thru 4 fucking top stories on “Biden old” & an ad before getting to anything on SCOTUS decision

Jared Golden wants to assure Orange Man that he's one of the good ones, please don't drone him. www.bangordailynews.com/2024/07/02/o...

Donald Trump is going to win the election and democracy will be just finewww.bangordailynews.com “Democrats’ post-debate hand-wringing is based on the idea that a Trump victory is not just a political loss, but a unique threat to our democracy. I reject the premise.”

New poll leaked to Puck: - National race unchanged (similar to other polls) - *But* Biden "has fallen by around 2 points in every single core battleground." - Trump close in Va., NM, Colo. - Harris (and Whitmer/Newsom/Buttgieg) ahead of Biden in every battleground puck.news/biden-plunge...

Biden Plunges in Swing States in Leaked Post-Debate Pollpuck.news The president is losing critical support in key battlegrounds, according to leaked data, and putting previously noncompetitive states in play.

The *only* reason Hunter Biden should be in the same room as the president and his aides is if they want to know what not to do.

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden has joined meetings with President Joe Biden and his top aides since his father returned to the White House from Camp David on Monday evening, according to four people familiar with the matter. www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...

Hunter Biden has joined White House meetings as he stays close to the president post-debatewww.nbcnews.com While he is regularly at the White House residence and events, it is unusual for the president's son to be in and around meetings that his father is having with his team.

Pelosi "trust[s Biden's] judgment" but says "it's a legitimate question to say, 'is this an episode or is this a condition?'" www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS0b...

Speaker Emerita Pelosi on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reportswww.youtube.com

Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett becomes first Dem rep. to call on Biden to withdraw (via Igor Bobic). x.com/igorbobic/st...

Evergreen reminder that when Fox News asked Trump to unseal the feds' Epstein files, Mr Deep State got super squirrely all of a sudden. news.yahoo.com/news/fox-new...

Trump later appointed this federal prosecutor as his first U.S. Secretary of Labor. www.kare11.com/article/news...

Florida prosecutors knew Epstein raped teenage girls 2 years before cutting deal, transcript showswww.kare11.com Florida prosecutors heard graphic testimony about how Epstein sexually assaulted teenage girls two years before they cut a plea deal, according to transcripts.

Whatever you think Biden and his campaign should do next, I think we can all agree that "gaslighting your own donors" is not it.

Otoh, "patently absurd" is basically the Roberts Court's walk-out music.

This is patently absurd. He falsified records BEFORE becoming president.

Trump Moves to Overturn Manhattan Conviction, Citing Immunity Decisionwww.nytimes.com Former President Donald J. Trump took the action hours after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling granted him immunity for official acts committed in office.

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James Downie

“Plans are already in motion to use this new, historic court decision as a legal shield to help a potential second Trump administration implement his extreme policy agenda with less concern for rules and laws, sources with knowledge of the matter say.”

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

‘It’s Like Christmas’: Team Trump Stunned by Massive Supreme Court Immunity Winwww.rollingstone.com Conservatives are planning to use the Supreme Court’s immunity decision to help them implement Trump’s extreme policy agenda, sources say.

Gee if only someone were in a position to investigate such brazen corruption and hold those justices accountable. Ah well nevertheless...

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There are two elements to the immunity decision that are particularly extreme in a way that many will miss: (1) motive is irrelevant and (2) immune acts are not just excluded from prosecution, they’re excluded from evidence. /1