Tag: politics
Pope Francis

Francis And Trump: A Tale Of Two Leaders

The blue suit and blue tie amid a sea of mostly black-garbed mourners did stand out, not that President Donald Trump ever blends into the background or wants to. But the man being laid to rest in the simple wooden coffin was the leader whose legacy loomed largest. The hundreds of thousands who made their way to the Vatican to pay respects to Pope Francis proved that.

A world with a short attention span and more than a few folks who loved the movie Conclave is already guessing who will next occupy the chair of St. Peter. Before the betting starts, however, it might be useful to reflect on how leaders can exert influence over those who look to them for guidance — for good and for ill.

Character counts.

It’s not as though the doctrine of the Catholic Church changed under Pope Francis. Its rules against abortion remain. The church will not perform marriages for same-sex couples, and if you notice the lack of women among the College of Cardinals, that is no coincidence.

Yet few would deny that this Pope changed perceptions of Catholicism, even to those who, unlike me, were not raised in the faith.

It’s just as true that how people view America has shifted under this president. And, what’s sadder, how we view ourselves and our fellow Americans has changed. It’s a place where you can turn in neighbors you suspect are undocumented or teachers you believe are too “woke,” a term few can accurately define but many don’t hesitate to weaponize.

Social media more than ever is a toxic stew of insults rationalized by the senders because, well, the president does it. Just review his Michigan speech this week, marking his first 100 days in office. Trump mocked the appearance of his predecessor, Joe Biden, rather than show concern for the challenges Americans are facing.

It wasn’t exactly following the advice of Pope Francis, who urged priests to be “shepherds with the ‘smell of the sheep,’” close to their flock.

Pope Francis elevated those society often shuns: the poor, migrants, prisoners, people with disabilities — especially, it seemed, children. He spoke about issues such as climate change and immigration, ones that most affect the dispossessed. He welcomed LBGTQ Catholics and clarified Catholic teachings on the death penalty, making opposition to it an absolute. Those moves reflected the consistency I have admired in a church I also criticize for its failings.

In contrast, the billionaires with a front-row seat to Trump’s inauguration reveal his priorities. Trump himself, in a recent interview in The Atlantic reveled in how he has brought the high-powered to heel. “It’s just a higher level of respect. I don’t know,” Trump said.

President Trump has embraced power and the powerful — and many Americans have followed his lead. It makes perfect sense that Elon Musk, the president’s right-hand man and heedless slayer of government programs, believes, as he said, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.”

A quote in that same Atlantic interview shows how intoxicating that power is to the man who bragged about retribution in preelection campaign speeches: “I run the country and the world.”

We, meaning, apparently, every person on earth, are subject to his will and whims.

What a long list of those left to suffer, from students punished for speech to young U.S. citizens sent out of the country, including one, according to reports, being treated for cancer.

While Pope Francis saw the world as his parish, Trump shrinks America’s global leadership, dooming the sick and hungry with his decapitation of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

A program to counter AIDS, one started by another Republican president, George W. Bush, has saved millions of lives. But it was orphaned by the Trump administration with nary a peep from congressional Republicans whose mission is pleasing this president.

The world’s richest country is being seen as poor in goodwill and generosity — the qualities that made America great in the eyes of longtime allies who are deserting it and many weaker countries now looking to trade their essential goods and minerals with more reliable partners, ones who at least pretend to care.

This “America First” administration has turned on its own, with cuts to AmeriCorps being fought by attorneys general across the country. Snatching back already approved funds from the agency for volunteer service has halted projects in states and cities, including Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in western North Carolina.

The surprise in recent polls that grade Trump’s first 100 days isn’t that his numbers are so low but that the majority of Republicans still cosign such a careless and cruel agenda.

As evidence that the president truly cares about the least of these, his administration and some of his staunchest supporters, white evangelicals, might point to his order “establishing a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias.”

But not only does that order ignore other faiths and the Constitution, which promises freedom of and from religion, it also leaves out Christians who don’t worship him. Why else would law enforcement surround and arrest a pastor in the Capitol Rotunda as he and others prayed to protest drastic cuts to social safety net programs in a proposed GOP-led budget bill? This White House has not been shy about highlighting the celebrations of his own Christian followers in buildings that belong to all Americans.

Pardoned criminals, even violent ones, got better treatment than the Rev. William Barber on Monday.

Yet, in a statement by Barber and Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove after both were released, they did not express anger or promise retribution. In fact, they said they appreciated the Capitol Police and had prayed “with them and for them” as they dealt with the trauma of January 6, 2021.

“We thank them for their service and have reassured them that our objection is not to them doing their job.”

But the statement left no doubt about why they were there or that they would return.

“As Christian preachers, we are also public theologians. When someone dies from poverty and a lack of healthcare, we cannot lie and say, ‘God called them home.’ We have to tell the truth. They died because we live in a society that has chosen not to care for them.”

Both a lesson and rebuke Pope Francis would recognize.

Mary C. Curtis has worked at The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Charlotte Observer, as national correspondent for Politics Daily, and is a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. She is host of the CQ Roll Call "Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis" podcast. Follow her on X @mcurtisnc3.

Reprinted with permission from Roll Call.

Shameless Grandstanding: Bondi And Patel Overreach In Feeble Case Against Judge

Shameless Grandstanding: Bondi And Patel Overreach In Feeble Case Against Judge

When word broke on Friday about the arrest of a sitting Wisconsin state court judge, Hannah Dugan, on charges of obstructing the arrest of an illegal immigrant, my immediate reaction on Bluesky was “Whoa. Feels like massive overreaching.”

Having now reviewed the charging documents and some accounts of colleagues, my off-the-cuff assessment stands. The arrest of Judge Dugan was a long stretch that is hard to square with the principles of federal prosecution which govern the decision whether to charge every federal case.

A perusal of the facts, as laid out in the affidavit of an FBI agent accompanying the criminal complaint, easily isolates the weak spot in the case.

The six-agent team that had gathered in Milwaukee County Circuit Court to arrest Eduardo Flores Ruiz, who was appearing in Judge Dugan's courtroom on domestic violence charges, had not worked out a protocol for Ruiz's arrest. Dugan was angry when she learned of their presence and demanded that they speak with the chief judge. She then returned to her courtroom, adjourned Ruiz’s case, and directed him to leave through the jury door.

Although the key detail is obfuscated in the FBI affidavit, the jury door led directly back to the same public hallway, where one agent was waiting as Ruiz and his counsel emerged. (The others were conferring with the Chief Judge.) The agent followed Ruiz and his lawyer and went down the elevator with them. Other agents joined them and sought to arrest Ruiz in front of the courthouse. Ruiz ran and was arrested after a foot chase lasting the length of the courthouse.

For those wanting more facts, this long Twitter thread by Ann Jacobs of the Wisconsin Election Commission dissects the allegations and highlights the many weak aspects of the case.

Based principally on these details, the FBI has charged Dugan with two federal crimes: harboring or concealing Ruiz so as to prevent his discovery and arrest (18 U.S.C. §1071) and “corruptly obstructing or impeding the due and proper administration of law,” i.e., Ruiz’s deportation.

The challenge for the feds will be proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Dugan intended to prevent Ruiz's arrest. It seems at least equally plausible that Dugan wanted to avoid any scene in or in front of her courtroom. The idea that Judge Dugan was seeking to prevent Ruiz’s arrest doesn’t add up. She directed Ruiz to leave through another door but, as she well knew, into the public hallway where the agents were waiting. That's hardly consistent with a desire to prevent his arrest. And of course, he was arrested in short order.

It's very unlikely that a Wisconsin jury is going to view this case sympathetically in the first instance. But if Dugan testifies and proffers another explanation, it's hard to see how a jury convicts her beyond a reasonable doubt. Indeed, if the case goes to trial, the feds will be at genuine risk of losing, ignominiously, on a Rule 29 motion based on a finding from the judge that no reasonable jury could find that the government proved intent beyond a reasonable doubt.

In any event, here's my prediction that Judge Dugan will not be convicted on these charges.

It's also worth noting the likely impact of the case. Ruiz was in court to answer serious charges of domestic abuse, which seem to be his only brush with the law since he entered the country without authorization. Given the widespread publicity, we have to expect that other people here illegally will be far less likely to risk arrest on federal immigration charges by showing up for court. That's a far greater cost to public safety than the short chase that Attorney General Bondi emphasized.

(I also want to note this was not the only immigration-based story unfolding over the weekend. We saw two particularly cruel instances of administration officials apprehending two different women who were making their scheduled reporting visits to the ICE office, wreaking havoc on their families.)

So the case is fairly weak, and the FBI overreached. It's not the first time that's happened, and it's not unique to the Trump administration. Of far greater concern is the unprofessional and corrupt political exploitation of the charges by FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Patel’s social media post trumpeting the arrest, which he quickly deleted, was the least of it. His gross abuse of discretion began with the decision to physically arrest and handcuff Judge Dugan at the courthouse as she was arriving for work Friday. A defendant like Judge Dugan should have been permitted, and 999 times out of 1000 would have been permitted, to surrender voluntarily after receiving a summons. FBI and DOJ rules give guidance for when to physically arrest a charged defendant – e.g., that the defendant is a flight risk, or a danger to the community, or is likely to destroy evidence, or has an extensive criminal history. Every one of the factors points to self-surrender rather than arrest, much less in sensational fashion at the courthouse as she arrived for work.

Treating Judge Dugan like a violent, dangerous criminal was obviously designed to score broader political points about the Administration’s wholesale deportations initiative. Patel decided to humiliate Judge Dugan for a sensational headline and to strike fear into the hearts of other judges. That not only contravened DOJ guidelines; it was bush and cowboyish.

Which brings us to Attorney General Bondi and her deeply embarrassing and unlawful exploitation of the arrest. Within hours of the episode, Bondi took to the airwaves of Fox News, where she cheerfully trashed Judge Dugan. She presented the allegations in the complaint as fact and added her own editorial denigrations. She said of the judge, “shame on her,” and of the charges, “you can’t make this up.” She continued, “we could not believe that a judge really did that,” and “what has happened to the judiciary is beyond me,” finally asserting that Judge Dugan is “deranged.”

Since she came to office, Bondi has had a consistent tin ear and an abhorrent proclivity to pepper her every public statement with blandishments of Trump and a suggestion that DOJ attorneys work for him personally, rather than the public.

It is a fundamental constitutional requirement in this country that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty, and that the government must prove all elements of a criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt. It is probably the single most important rule that a prosecutor must live by.

Accordingly, the U.S. Attorney’s Manual, the operating bible for federal prosecutors, requires strict adherence to that command. That includes forbidding prosecutors from offering opinions on a defendant’s guilt, supplying their own character assessments, or making any statement that could influence the outcome of a trial at the charging stage.

It is drummed into the head of every federal prosecutor that in announcing the filing of charges, you stick to the four corners of the charging document. Moreover, you emphasize that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty, a statement that appears routinely in every press release announcing an indictment.

Bondi’s diatribe transgressed all of these guidelines and more. For any prosecutor, state or federal, Bondi’s trashing of a just-charged defendant was breathtaking. In this and multiple other instances in her short tenure – her speech introducing the President at the DOJ particularly jumps to my mind – she has appalled DOJ veterans of all stripes and eras. She is a disgrace to her office.

Harry Litman is a former United States Attorney and the executive producer and host of theTalking Feds podcast. He has taught law at UCLA, Berkeley, and Georgetown and served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton Administration. Please consider subscribing toTalking Feds on Substack.

Reprinted with permission from Substack.

Billionaire Trump Backer Bemoans Dollar 'Erosion' Amid Economic Chaos

Billionaire Trump Backer Bemoans Dollar 'Erosion' Amid Economic Chaos

One of the Republican Party's biggest billionaire benefactors is now lamenting the "damage" that President Donald Trump has already done just less than 100 days into his second term.

Semafor reported Wednesday that Ken Griffin, who is the founder and CEO of the investment firm Citadel, is now loudly condemning Trump's handling of the economy, and tarnishing the United States' "brand." He blasted the administration for "eroding" the power of the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury securities.

"We put that brand at risk,” Griffin said. “It can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.”

Griffin was particularly worried that institutional investors around the world were no longer viewing U.S. Treasury securities as a valuable investment, despite them typically being regarded as one of the safest ways to park money given that they're backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. He observed that, in comparison to the Euro, the United States "has become 20% poorer in four weeks." And he lamented that the United States' allies were now looking at it in a lesser light.

“There’s no great opportunity when the pie is rapidly shrinking,” he said. “All you’re trying to do is tread water and not drown.”

“How does Canada feel about our country today versus two months ago? How does Europe feel about the United States today versus two months ago?” He continued. “And some people scream, well, it just doesn’t matter. But you know what? It matters for a very profound reason. The entire Western world is engulfed in a debt crisis.”

Griffin's remarks are particularly noteworthy given that he was one of the top five donors to Republican causes in 2024. According to campaign finance data compiled by Open Secrets, Griffin gave more than $100 million to outside groups backing Republicans last year, and was only surpassed by banking heir Timothy Mellon, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson (the widow of GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson) and shipping industry titans Dick and Elizabeth Uihlein.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Tesla Musk cybertruck

Tesla Admits Musk's Politics Behind 71% Revenue Crash

On automaker Tesla's first quarterly earnings call of 2025, the electric vehicle manufacturer made a stunning admission that public animus toward CEO Elon Musk has directly contributed to its abysmal profits.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Tesla's first-quarter revenue was just $409 million, which is a 71 percent decrease from the $1.4 billion the company made in the first three months of 2024. And the company told investors on the call that the significant decrease in sales is partially due to "changing political sentiment" that "could have a meaningful impact on demand for our products in the near term" — an apparent reference to Musk.

Musk's public role in President Donald Trump's administration has resulted in widespread protests at Tesla dealerships across the country as part of the "Tesla Takedown" movement. That movement — launched by actor Alex Winter of the Bill & Ted franchise — has also caught on around the world, with protesters in Europe and Australia also demonstrating outside of Tesla dealerships in response to Musk's role in the Trump White House.

The electric vehicle company is also taking a beating as a result of Chinese competitors like BYD, which saw its sales jump by roughly 60 percent in the first three months of 2025. Additionally, established automakers like General Motors, Ford and BMW, along with newer companies like Rivian and Polestar have made a dent in Tesla's sales by rolling out competing vehicles that could be seen as more appealing to liberal and centrist buyers.

Musk has signaled that he intends to leave the Trump administration soon, after his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — with Trump's blessing – has made deep cuts to multiple federal agencies and fired thousands of public workers. He indicated multiple times that he sought to cut Social Security to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, alleging without evidence that the agency was illegally giving money to undocumented immigrants and helping them register to vote (undocumented immigrants do not qualify for Social Security and voting while undocumented is already a felony crime).

But even if Musk walks away from his role in the Trump White House, Tesla investors may still be eager to oust him as the company's CEO. Last month, a longtime Tesla investor called for Musk to resign as CEO or be dismissed by the company's board.

"The company's reputation has just been destroyed by Elon Musk," investor Ross Gerber told Sky News in March. "Sales are plummeting so, yeah, it's a crisis. You literally can't sell the best product in the marketplace because the CEO is so divisive."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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