Gaetz left: It turns out that scandals– which may have involved sexual relations with a second A 17-year-old escort was too much for the Trump team, which once (and future) withdrew Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general.

“I have decided to withdraw my application so that I can spend more time with teenage girls and, time permitting, with my family.”

– Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) November 21, 2024

I had excellent meetings with senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful comments – and the incredible support from so many people. Although the momentum was strong, it was clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction from the critical work of Trump/Vance…

–Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 21, 2024

Gaetz had, in preparation for confirmation hearings and eventually as head of the Department of Justice (lmao), resigned his seat in the 118th Congress. But don’t get too excited: he’s back for more next January, since he was re-elected by his voters.

Today, President-elect Donald Trump selected former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department, pending Senate confirmation. Bondi is a Trump loyalist who “oversaw the filing of voting-related lawsuits in battleground states.” by The New York Times. Trump will also “appoint three members of his criminal defense team to senior positions within the Department of Justice,” specifying that he will, in essence, direct his own personal legal advisers and advocates to senior positions within the government. Of course, it’s just a kind of how administrations work– you choose people you like and trust, who are loyal to you – but Trump has, in particular, promised to purge deep enemies of the state within the DOJ, repeatedly saying he had intending to put an end to the legal war of which he is a victim.

Pot possibilities: It’s unclear how the new Trump administration will handle cannabis at the federal level; although it remains illegal at the federal level, it is now legal for recreational use in 24 states. Matt Gaetz, as DOJ chief, could have been a useful pot champion, but Trump’s choice to replace attorney general, Bondi, is decidedly not a fan of weed. Yet advocates envision a possible shift in the coming months, before Donald Trump takes office.

The Bank Security Act, which would allow much of the sector to access banking services, is unlikely to be passed in the coming weeks, and “a potential bright spot for the sector is a Biden-led plan to reclassify cannabis,” reports The Wall Street Journaltheorizing about lame duck pot possibilities:

“Marijuana is labeled as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin and LSD. Because it falls into this category, cannabis companies are not allowed to offset regular business expenses such as rent or travel, which can leave their effective tax rate above 70%. This would increase the profitability of many struggling cannabis producers who don’t have enough cash flow to pay what they owe to the taxman. A first hearing on the proposal will take place on December 2 Until Republicans scuttle the process, estimates of how long cannabis rescheduling could take range from six months to two years.

Scenes from New York: Earlier this week, a 51-year-old homeless man named Ramon Rivera I launched into a series of stabbings through Manhattan, killing three people. He was released last month after being jailed for burglary and assault. His criminal record is long – he has been arrested eight times by police in New York, at least five times in Florida and twice in Ohio – but it is unclear how many of the arrests resulted in convictions and convictions. prison sentences.

Many will continue to say that crime is decreasing year over year, which may be true, but two things are worth considering: people are not these perfectly rational creatures who compare the level of crime at this level of last year; rather, it is about a broader meaning. of the way things used to be, compared to how they are now; and public disorder, which is very difficult to measure and is not taken into account in crime statistics, appears to be enough bad. Whether it’s people shooting in plain sight, unpredictable behavior on the street, or pharmacies closing their products due to shoplifting, many New Yorkers share the feeling that our Politicians simply don’t care about ensuring that public spaces are safe, pleasant and usable. .

QUICK SHOTS

• Yuval Levine came I’m just asking questions to talk about what Trump’s mandate to govern is, if it exists, as well as to define the American political divide between right and left as that of Edmund Burke versus Thomas Paine.

• Speaking of I’m just asking questions, we have something special planned for fans of the series once we reach 5,000 subscribers on YouTube. You know what to do!
• “My analysis of precinct-level voting data in four large urban areas shows that exit polls may actually underestimate the degree to which Asian Americans have moved to the right,” writing Neetu Arnold for RealClearPolitics. “Asian-majority precincts in New York City, for example, saw a rightward shift of 31 percentage points. Precincts in Dallas and Fort Bend counties in Texas both experienced a rightward shift between 17 and 20 points and the Chicago districts saw a shift of 23 points to the right.
• That’s a good point about ongoing battle between Rep. Nancy Mace (R–SC) and new Rep. Sarah McBride (D–Del.), who is transgender. (Related.)

This defies reason. Bathroom bills (by either party) only benefit one population: trans people who *don’t* pass.

If they succeed, no one will notice and that’s no problem. This only happens because activists want bathroom access for people who *don’t* pass.

—Sarah Haider ???? (@SarahTheHaider) November 19, 2024

GK Chesterton writes why we should read fairy tales to children. Just superb pic.twitter.com/YrjtdbH5vm

– Istra de Glome (@tillwehvfaces) November 21, 2024