Where's the Rest of the Resistance?

The Chronicles of Capitulation, Chapter 987

“Tonight Senate Republicans cast away their Constitutional obligations to rubber stamp [Emil Bove] an outrageously unfit nominee to the Third Circuit. The Senate, the country, the judiciary will suffer for this. And the conservative legal movement will not recover.” — Gregg Nunziata, Exec Dir, Society for the Rule of Law.

The Worst. Nominee. Ever.

This morning, my moment of Zen will consist of rewatching last’s week’s episode of South Park. Because I need the comic relief; and a reminder that in this Age of Candy- Ass Quislings, there are still some folks with the guts to say fuq off.

Happy Wednesday.

A quick note to readers:

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There is not enough lipstick on earth to put on this pig.

Last night, the US Senate blithely ignored the pleas of the legal community, the evidence of multiple whistleblowers, and whatever tattered remnants of self-respect they had, to confirm Emil Bove to a lifetime position on the Court of Appeals. As I wrote a few days back: It’s not easy these days to single out the worst of the worst appointments, but certainly the elevation of the thuggish Bove to the federal appellate bench has to rank right up there. Other churls and chodes will come and go, but federal judges are forever. ¹

The Senate’s surrender came the same day the Wapo reported: “Whistleblower evidence suggests Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove misled Senate.”

“Another whistleblower has come forward with evidence that raises serious concerns with Emil Bove’s misconduct. This is another damning indictment of a man who should never be a federal judge — and Senate Republicans will bear full responsibility for the consequences if they rubber stamp Mr. Bove’s nomination,” said Josh Sorbe, a spokesman for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The GOP senate — by now inured to slavish capitulation — didn’t even blink before voting 50-49 to confirm Bove.

**

On the same day that the Senate bent the knee, we learned that Brave and Principled Harvard might also cave to Trump’s threats: “Harvard Is Said to Be Open to Spending Up to $500 Million to Resolve Trump Dispute.”

The sum sought by the government, which recently accused Harvard of civil rights violations, is more than twice as much as the $200 million fine that Columbia University said it would pay when it settled antisemitism claims with the White House last week. Neither Harvard nor the government has publicly detailed potential terms for a settlement and what allegations the money would be intended to resolve.

President Trump has privately demanded that Harvard pay far more than Columbia.

In case you are keeping track at home, Trump has successfully turned the US government into the largest extortion racket in history. Axios provides us with this graphic of grift: “President Trump has extracted more than $1.2 billion in settlements from 13 of the most powerful players in academia, law, media and tech, according to an analysis by Axios' Zachary Basu.”

Axios reminds us that just last week, “a federal judge cast serious doubt on Trump's targeting of Harvard — questioning the constitutionality of cutting off research funding over alleged antisemitism and warning of ‘staggering’ due process concerns.”

And…

The few law firms that chose to fight Trump's executive orders have largely prevailed in court so far, suggesting capitulation is not the only viable path forward.

But, here we are. (Thank God for South Park.)

Where is the outrage?

On today’s “To the Contrary” Podcast, I’m joined by historian (and fellow-Substacker) Julian Zelizer to discuss the political storm surrounding Donald Trump and the Epstein files, exploring why this controversy has stuck and what it reveals about the MAGA base.

We also take a dive into Zelizer’s recent piece: “ Where’s The Rest of the Outrage?” -

[What] does it say about the GOP that out of everything that has happened since January 20, 2025, the Trump administration’s failure to release the Epstein files has fueled the biggest backlash against the president? While this gives us insight into the fault lines within the Republican Party, it’s the issues that haven’t prompted any outrage that reveal just what the party faithful are willing to accept from Trump.

So, what hasn’t caused a political fallout among Republicans?

Imperial Presidential Power: President Trump has run roughshod over the constitutional separation of powers. At almost every step, he has demonstrated a willingness to deploy federal authority in ways that fundamentally contradict the Republicans’ supposed skepticism of government power.

Former Republican President Ronald Reagan famously warned in his inaugural address that government is the problem rather than the solution. Trump, however, has depended on unilateral presidential power to shape the economy through tariffs, deport undocumented (and some documented) immigrants without due process, and defy the federal courts. He has also used his position to threaten law firms, universities, and media outlets with the cudgel of federal money. Through DOGE, he has imposed deep cuts into the federal workforce and sharply curtailed the autonomy of many agencies. He eroded the separation between the Oval Office and the Department of Justice. Only weeks ago, Trump authorized a major bombing operation in Iran without seeking congressional approval.

Subscribers can listen to an ad-free version right here… or you can watch on YouTube / Listen (and subscribe) on Apple/ Spotify / iHeart / RSS Feed.

Some highlights of our conversation

Why the Epstein story won’t go away.

BONUS: Trump sees everything through the lens of television; and he knows that Season 2 of the Epstein saga is not going well for him. My discussion with Nicolle Wallace on yesterday’s Deadline White House.

Not a Parody. Unfortunately.

On today’s podcast, I promised that I would not talk about this story. But this piece is just too delicious to ignore.²

FFS.

Ben Dreyfuss: The Most Uncool Thing You Can Do Is Have A Meltdown Over A Commercial For Jeans

This is really stupid

The people mad about this ad have cats in their brains, and those cats have rabies and need to be put down.

This is cuckoo stuff, okay? The backlash is insane and has prompted a natural backlash to the backlash. The second backlash is completely deserved, and I think many people have had fun mocking the rabid, cat-brained lunatics who prompted it.

This paranoid liberal impulse to see fascist dog whistles everywhere ends up functionally doing the far right’s job for them. We disown the most popular, iconic parts of American life—blue jeans! Hollywood sex symbols! Beautiful blonde women! We run from the center of our own culture like it’s radioactive, then act surprised when reactionaries move in to claim it.

Sydney Sweeney is not a Nazi. She’s a Beach Boys song made flesh. She’s the wholesome sex symbol, the wink of sunlit Americana in denim cutoffs. She’s blonde, hot, and smiling—and for some reason, that now triggers an entire class of progressive panic attacks.

BONUS: Joe Walsh posted: “A message I just got from a buddy of mine, a long time Democratic Party campaign consultant: “This Sydney Sweeney thing is the kind of thing that turns men away from our party. It’s why men think our party is weak & insane.” My response: “Fuck yea it is. You’re exactly right.”

Wednesday dog

The Frenchies are back home and Zoke is pretty excited:

1. Without exaggeration, Barbara McQuade calls Bove the “Worst Conceivable Nominee Ever.”

Emil Bove, nominated by President Donald Trump for a judgeship on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, has earned that distinction. In a letter sent Monday to the Senate Judiciary Committee, former assistant U.S. attorneys in Washington wrote that Bove’s selection “has eclipsed the Martin nomination as far worse and far more dangerous.”…

From time to time, Trump has expressed frustration with his appointees to the courts, disappointed when they have failed to back his agenda. In particular, Trump and his allies have targeted Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whom Trump has privately referred to as “weak,” and whom his supporter Mike Davis has called “a rattled law professor with her head up her a--.” Trump has also complained about the advice he received regarding judicial appointments from Federalist Society president Leonard Leo, whom Trump has called a “sleazebag.” Apparently, Trump wants judges not just with conservative credentials, but with his own transactional worldview.

He may have found one in Bove, who appears willing to corrupt his own office to advance Trump’s agenda. If so, he could indeed be the worst conceivable nominee ever.

Indeed, as David French noted last week, Bove’s nomination “Puts the Senate to the Test.”

Our nation does not need vengeful political operatives on the federal bench. Bove is a far worse nominee than [Harriet] Miers. Critics questioned her experience and her qualifications. They did not question her integrity. But with Emil Bove, integrity is precisely what is in doubt…²

In an extraordinary display of alarm, the legal community has been trying to warn senators that this would be a good moment to exercise a modicum of due diligence.

More than 900 former U.S. Department of Justice employees on Wednesday warned the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee against confirming President Donald Trump's nominee Emil Bove to serve as an appellate court judge, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

"We are all alarmed by DOJ leadership's recent deviations from constitutional principles and institutional guardrails," the former department employees wrote, adding that he had "disgraced" the department.

"Emil Bove has been a leader in this assault."

2. In my defense, I resisted using the headline: “The Boobs of Wokeness.”