Some very positive events are occurring. I’m posting below the intro and conclusion from Robert Hubbell’s Today’s Edition newsletter, published September 22–an issue he titled: “A Good Day.”
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A half-dozen major stories broke on Wednesday. Together, they reinforce the rule of law and confirm the renewed strength and righteousness of American foreign policy under Joe Biden’s leadership. It was a good day for those who have kept faith in the belief that despots and fraudsters ultimately face a reckoning. Today, that reckoning grew perceptibly closer. All Americans should take hope from the rapid-fire developments.
Each story is worthy of extended analysis on its own, something beyond the scope of today’s newsletter. But let’s get started with a list of stories that will remain with us for the long term.
1. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stinging repudiation of Judge Cannon’s nonsense order prohibiting the DOJ from using classified documents that belong to the United States to investigate Trump’s espionage.
2. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a devastating civil lawsuit against the Trump family and Organization that threatens to end the ability of the Trump family to conduct business in New York.
3. The House passed legislation reforming the outdated Electoral Count Act; if passed, the reform will make it more difficult for MAGA extremists to manipulate the constitutional process for selecting and counting presidential electors.
4. The January 6th Committee announced another public hearing on September 28, 2022; Bennie Thompson said the Committee will present “a lot of information that we have collected over the last year that we’ve not shown the public.” The Committee will interview Ginni Thomas (spouse of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas).
5. President Joe Biden addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations and delivered a speech condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine, a speech that the Secretary General of the UN could have—and should have—given.
6. Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the airwaves to announce a “partial mobilization” (read: conscription) that signaled his increasing sense of desperation and dwindling options.
Hubbell goes into some detail about all the above, and then closes on this note:
Concluding Thoughts.
I have covered a lot of ground (and did not mention two important stories), but in the interest of relative brevity, I will defer some discussion to later newsletters. The legal developments are coming at us at a dizzying pace. But a careful observer will note that on average, Trump is losing ground and becoming increasingly desperate. In an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday he claimed he could declassify documents in his mind just by “thinking about it.” He also said the FBI might have been looking for “Hillary’s emails” at Mar-a-Lago!
Trump’s lurch to the ugliest extremes of his base is a sign of desperation, not strength. Juliette Kayyem makes this point in her essay in The Atlantic, Trump Endorsed QAnon Because He’s Stuck. Kayyem writes of Trump’s outreach to QAnon,
He’s grasping at straws, not solidifying his political base. . . . By throwing in his lot with a bizarre cult, he is also inadvertently showing the limits of his appeal.
It feels like we have been saying forever that “This is the thing that will bring down Trump.” But it is undeniable that he is weakened, on the defensive, and flailing in a way that is embarrassing for him and damaging to the GOP. That may be enough. We may not need to see Trump behind bars in order to relegate him to political obscurity.
We should find these developments encouraging and motivating. They are encouraging because they increase the “Trump fatigue” among some of his supporters—which may be enough to make a difference in close races. They should be motivating because they remind us of the breadth and depth of Trump’s criminality. The good news is that we now have competent prosecutors and honest judges rising to defend the rule of law. We cannot ask for more.
These developments are also encouraging because campaigning in this environment is hard. Doing so when Trump is evading justice would be demoralizing. Doing so as Trump is finally being held accountable allows us to look forward with hope and optimism. Trump’s legal problems guarantee us nothing in the 2022 midterms, but they certainly make it easier for us to give our all for the next forty-three days!
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I hope the above provides a bit of a balm for the spirit.
Annie
annieasksyou... 
While there is some good news, the situation at home and abroad is still fraught with danger. One party remains deep in denial, the war in Ukraine continues and our midterm elections could go either way.
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All true, whungerford. But I firmly believe that accentuating the positive—fueled by righteous indignation— is more likely to generate the enthusiasm we need to succeed in the midterms. It is also evident to me that this attitude has been serving the heroic Ukrainians well.
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As a glass half-full guy too much hope is always a danger. The higher the height the deeper the low point. Since the discovery of a “new” superpower of the presidency, did Obama just forget that he had declassified the Hillary e-mails?
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I’m not sure how one defines “too much hope.”
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Any at all seems like a lot at the moment, but I remember Obama. That was a ton that got dumped.
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I just saw this Dan Rather essay about hope and think it’s a good addition to this discussion.
https://steady.substack.com/p/a-brief-thought-for-a-friday-night?r=du1sl&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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I had a woman once, so beautiful that I went blind. I woke in that pit. It is darkest night with dangerous drugs and death all around. Many never emerge and many if not all who do emerge are damaged. Best (4me) to skim the surface. I loved the dance but barely bore the pain.
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I’m sorry to hear that, Richard. I guess “too much hope” is a very personal matter.
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Please, never sympathy. I grew! Lepidoptera is my favorite word, followed closely by Ephemeroptera. A day and a lifetime can be the same thing.
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OK, Richard. And thank you for expanding my personal lexicon with Ephemeroptera!
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Trump’s the worst. And Putin is much worse than Trump. With any luck, somebody will assassinate Putin.
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There have been rumors for a while that Putin’s quite ill. But there are also some angry big Russians who don’t think he’s fighting hard enough. Like trump and trumpism, we’ll have to continue dealing with all this bad stuff.
That’s the not-so-good-news.
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Putin’s “increasing sense of desperation” is just the latest sign of what he and Trump (and all cornered despots) have in common. As I see it, the difference (if any) between them is that with Trump, it’s all about Trump…and with Putin, it’s about Putin and his vision of Russia in the grand scheme of things.
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I agree, mm. Trump has no ideology beyond “I-me-mine.”
It’s so unfathomable how this bloviating con man who’s squeezing his supporters for their life savings is now considered “the son of the son of god” for whom people are willing to kill and die.
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A good summary Annie. It was a very good week for karma and a bad week for rats in a corner.
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I like that analysis, Joni. Thx!
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It was a good week… and yet I hear that is base is unmoved by any and all allegation. That is pretty scary – do they ignore the news, not believe the news or is Fox really that bad? (When I watch it to see what the other side is saying I’m not as outraged as I used to be – but sometimes wonder if Fox in California is moderated!)
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Hi, Cinda—I think the answer to your question is “all of the above.”
As for Fox, I think the time you are watching has a great deal to do with what you see and hear. Prime time on the East Coast is apparently the worst.
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Balm, indeed. Nice to see some good news collected here. Bound to amount to something? Thank you.
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You’re very welcome, Denise!
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Always good to accent the positive. But it’s beyond distressing that, despite the evidence that Trump is a lying, spiteful narcissist, there are millions of Americans who continue to see him as their guy. And if Trump is swept out of the way, we might end up with De Santis. Let’s continue to stress the “get out the vote” mantra, and hope that enough people who don’t buy claptrap make it to the ballot box and have their votes counted.
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Absolutely, Gail. Please see my new post.
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I did. Great, extremely relevant post, as always.
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Thank you! So grateful for your continuing involvement here. I always appreciate your responses.
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