Legal Phil

An acquired taste, like iocane powder. Wholly unwilling to spellcheck my tweets.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

If you describe what is occurring in the US as a “coup” or “fascism,” or refer to the elected government as a “regime” (left or right), I have deep contempt for you.

Your cosplaying as oppressed makes light of the suffering of those who have lived under actual authoritarianism.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

Remarkable that otherwise decent people have decided that they must defend this guy.

[Matt Whitlock @MattWhitlock]

WOW this exchange.

@BretBaier tried to give Abdul El-Sayed a chance to finally explain the 2012 letter in support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Abdul awkwardly tries to speak over him.

This flailing defensiveness is why we’re on week 3 on this issue.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

Now, as for serving up the United States…..

[Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze]

He is 100% not interested in serving the United States.

[Jonah Goldberg @JonahDispatch]

Suboptimal when the central government takes just shy of 60% of GDP and tells middle class businesses to hire private gendarmes because the state can’t protect them

But, hey, I’m bougie moralist.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@Brian_Pontys Please stop your rationalizing nonsense.

Anyone with connections to Egypt knew exactly what the MB is and was. I doubt you knew about them more than a month ago, so stop.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

The amount of rationalizing that I’m seeing for supporting El Sayed is appalling.

Yes, it is proper to ask about his ties to an extremist organization he publicly backed.

No, he didn’t change.

If you want to back him, despite his awfulness, own it.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@Hiiiiiiiiyiyi @MallardDuck13 https://t.co/Ist5RHIjLY

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@PincherMartin8 People get mad at me all the time for noting that both parties are fundamentally indecent and have been for a while, but I simply won’t pretend otherwise, even though I generally have more in common with one side.

I don’t understand the urge to cover up that reality.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@GrantGHurst Here is the steel man:

“Yes, he excuses terrorism & signs letters urging Islamist crackdowns, but Rogers is empowering bad actors here.”

The problem is that saying that requires admitting that you are voting to empower a very bad actor here. And most don’t want to admit that.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@Brian_Pontys I mean, what else you you call a letter of support?

A think piece?

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@MattLikesLBoxd @deaninwaukesha Yeah, so why do you guys keep pretending like he had no option but to support the MB?

Hint: your hood is showing.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

“The only way to protect Jews is by voting for the guy who kind of thinks the attack on a synagogue in Michigan was justified” is certainly a pitch.

Not a convincing or even coherent one, but definitely a pitch.

[Mandy Patinkin @PatinkinMandy]

Help get @abdulelsayed elected to the senate! Jewish safety depends on a real multiracial democracy—and Abdul is the one fighting to protect it.

Get involved and help at https://t.co/R9TktAzHWJ
https://t.co/6JFjNJzwkG

We know how much it matters to live in a country where our rights are protected, where the law applies equally to everyone, and where the majority can’t just decide that some people don’t deserve the same freedoms. The safety and freedom we’ve found in America didn’t happen by accident. They exist because of democracy. And protecting democracy means protecting Jewish safety, too.

We know what happens when those protections start to break down. When courts are weakened, elections are undermined, and people lose equal protection under the law, minorities are often the first to pay the price. Jews have seen this throughout our history. It’s one of the reasons so many of our families sought refuge in democratic countries.

That’s why I find it so alarming to see what’s happening right now. When masked government agents are taking people off the streets and citizens are being shot in public, we should all be worried about where things are headed. As Jews, we know that when a government starts targeting certain groups of people, no one should assume they’re safe from what comes next.

Mike Rogers has chosen to align himself with a movement that is willing to attack our democracy. He stood with Trump and refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. And now we’re seeing what happens when a political movement treats the rights and dignity of certain people as disposable. For Jews, these things should set off alarm bells.

Jewish safety is tied to the health of our democracy. We can’t protect one without protecting the other. And in this Senate race, Abdul is the candidate who understands that and is willing to fight for it.

#abdulelsayed #democracy #jewish #midterms

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

He isn’t a good guy. If you want to back him because you think he is the lesser evil, just say that.

But the fact that you have to keep lying about what El Sayed thinks is a pretty good sign that you know he isn’t the lesser evil—hence the dissembling to quiet your conscience.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@awstar11 @varadmehta Well, it is all meant as messaging, so they only need to get it through the House.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

It will be derailed by someone insisting that Democrats first pass bills condemning Israel and funding transgender surgery for minors.

[Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 @PollTracker2024]

NYT: Democrats Plan “Shock-and-Awe” Legislative Burst

Should they win in November, top House Democrats are planning a shock-and-awe legislative sprint to demonstrate within hours of taking power that they are passing bills to deliver on their promises, including restoring health care subsidies and Medicaid resources and moving to end Mr. Trump’s tariffs and the war with Iran

https://t.co/M0InE7AeUq

[Noah Rothman @NoahCRothman]

Not sure Tucker’s endorsement does much to dispel the nagging suspicion that AES is confused about who America’s allies and enemies are.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@CorieWhalen @Expat_Matt I think the “4D” chess amounted to “we are in trouble, break glass for emergency.”

As for Trump throwing Ramaswamy under the bus, that’ll happen if VR loses (esp if Husted loses). For now, I can see Trump liking “that he fights.”

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

It really was one of the bigger instances of political malpractice I’ve seen in a while.

[Eric Michael Garcia @EricMGarcia]

I went to Pittsburgh the last weekend of 2022 to cover a rally with Barack Obama and John Fetterman. So many people sympathized with Fetterman after his stroke perhaps in spite of Republican mockery. It feels like the same might happen here with Amy Acton.

[David L. Bahnsen @DavidBahnsen]

Just think about the fact that in 2026 this has to be written. The left couldn’t decide what a boy and girl were in 2021 and the right doesn’t know if a war criminal authoritarian is humanitarian or not in 2026.
Next year, let’s debate gravity

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@anotherryan00 Yup. Last week or so, I said that I don’t understand the “family member trashes candidate” ad.

It’s unseemly, and I don’t care what some random person thinks just because he or she is related to the candidate.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@sundoulos_j I think that sums up many peoples’ view.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

Some of you think this sort of trolling helps.

If so, you are in a bubble.

[TheBlaze @theblaze]

Trump: "I don't know who is going to be your next president, but I think the law says I'm not allowed to run again. They cheated us on the second one, so I think I have the right run AGAIN."

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

@CorieWhalen I think once it happened, his best political option was to embrace it. But that was still a terrible option, and obviously immoral.

(I’m also skeptical that his campaign wasn’t aware it was coming out.)

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

I guess we should conclude that Trump didn’t look positively on Jan 6 because he speaks positively of border agents, who are also federal officers.

[Legal Phil @Legal_Fil]

Nice trick.

“To determine El Sayed’s views on the matter, don’t pay attention to what he’s actually said or who he’s actually supported. Look at some other issue, and draw conclusions from that.”

[Josh Barro @jbarro]

I think the reaction I have to this is the normal-person reaction: It's preposterous to suggest the candidate who thinks sex changes for prisoners are a civil right is also a secret Islamist