Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 22h

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 1d

The Trump-Miller DOJ strategy: "flood the zone with shit."

Target Trump's enemies & opposition with multiple likely doomed prosecutions.

When one fails, move to the next (perhaps against the same person).

Goal isn't conviction, it's putting enemies through the wringer

www.vox.com/politics/464...

Text of Vox article: Watching all this unfold — the weaponization of the US Justice Department, in efforts that mostly seem groundless or doomed — I’ve recalled a phrase Steve Bannon coined during President Donald Trump’s first term. Describing how the right could push back against the mainstream media, Bannon said they had to “flood the zone with shit.”

Trump and Miller, it seems, are trying to target the opposition by flooding the zone with shit. They are going to bring one bogus investigation and prosecution after another. If one flops, they’ll swiftly move on to the next — often, perhaps, against the same people already indicted. (There is already talk in MAGA-land of what else Comey could be charged with, and a separate US attorney’s office is looking into James on other topics.)

The main point is not really to win convictions. Trump’s team would of course love that, but if they wanted to build cases that would actually hold up in court, they’d be going about things very differently.

Instead, the goal is to put Trump’s enemies, and the Democratic opposition more broadly, through the wringer — again, and again, and again until January 2029. Or perhaps even after that.

2 1

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 4d

Another analysis from @perrybaconjr.bsky.social of Bari Weiss as the convener of a new political faction.

newrepublic.com/article/2014...

MAGA-Lite: What “Bari Weiss Conservatism” Is, and Why It’s Dangerous

The new CBS executive isn’t exactly MAGA. But her polite Trumpism will still help destroy America as we know it.

newrepublic.com

2 21 38

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 4d

Genuine question, does Trump know who Bari Weiss is?

He's obviously not a Substack guy. Is she on Fox enough that he'd recognize her?

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 4d

There's no way to plausibly act like Paramount would be handing CBS News to Bari Weiss if Trump wasn't in power, and they're barely bothering to pretend otherwise.

3

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 4d

In some ways the belief that the culture war stuff is all a fake grift and just a put-on for tax cuts is a comforting one.

But it's false, the reality is they really do loathe progressive elites for culture war reasons and hope to wrest societal institutions from their grasp. Which she's now doing!

3

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 4d

It's actually very relevant and telling information that Bari Weiss says she's allies with the Federalist Society in a battle to save "the West" against (implicitly) the America-hating left.

She's not about lowering taxes and never has been!

Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 4d

There’s a lot in Bari Weiss’ 2023 FedSoc speech that merits scrutiny but I think the Times did a disservice by closing with this quote — given what she says immediately after. fedsoc.org/commentary/f...

1 1 7

Reposted by Andrew Prokop

Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 5d

Excellent, detailed @awprokop.bsky.social piece about new CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss

www.vox.com/politics/463...

Why does Bari Weiss keep winning?

The “anti-woke” commentator quit the New York Times in protest 5 years ago. Now she’ll be CBS News’s top editor. How?

www.vox.com

5 15 24

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 5d

Gift link: t.co/CpHUdGwATR

https://www.vox.com/politics/463751/bari-weiss-free-press-cbs-ellison-paramount?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6IjVTYjZobjUzUmoiLCJwIjoiL3BvbGl0aWNzLzQ2Mzc1MS9iYXJpLXdlaXNzLWZyZWUtcHJlc3MtY2Jz...

t.co

1 3

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 5d

Bari Weiss is now pivoting to "I only care about good journalism," but in her past few years she's been a factional coalition merchant (cc @profhansnoel.bsky.social ) — she convened a new faction of the right, making common cause with Chris Rufo & others against the left

www.vox.com/politics/463...

2 6 9

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 11d

How do you think the shutdown fight will end?

A.) Dems win significant concessions from Trump, deal to reopen
B.) Dems cave after a few days or weeks
C.) Dems cave before the end of this year
D.) GOP nukes filibuster, reopens gov't
E.) Gov't remains closed into next year

2

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 11d

In 2018 I wrote up the cases for and against Senate Dems shutting down the government via filibuster (in this case their demand was a DACA deal).

They ended up doing it but caving after three days without success.

www.vox.com/policy-and-p...

1

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 11d

If Rs continued the Oct 2013 shutdown past Nov 2014 I suspect it would have hurt them in those midterms.

Instead, they saw their polls had already plunged so they course-corrected by backing down.

Is the lesson from that "shutdowns don't matter" or "shutdowns are dangerous, better cave quickly?"

1 1

Andrew Prokop @awprokop.bsky.social · 11d

Well yes, but, all these shutdowns ended because the party shutting things down essentially caved after a few days or weeks, which allowed the news environment to move on to other things.

Jonathan Ladd @jonmladd.bsky.social · 11d

Simply very little evidence that any national congressional or presidential election has come out differently because of a government shutdown. You can't rule out there being no electoral effects whatsoever. Think about it. Are persuadable voters on election days ever thinking about past shutdowns?

Jonathan Ladd @jonmladd.bsky.social · 17d

Need to consider the long term. Likely no effect on long term political prospects at all. After the 1995 Gingrich shutdown, Republicans won 5 consecutive House elections and 2 of the next 3 presidential elections.

1