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While Donald Trump was sending out an Easter message that showed off the rotting, dark void where his soul should be:
… and JD Vance’s evil vibes/energy were being visited upon the pope in his last moments, likely having the same effect on the pope’s spirit as Vance’s hands had on the Ohio State football championship trophy …
… the Sunday shows contrasted the true spirit of charity and justice with the unmitigated evil that men with no decency can do.
The Maryland Democratic senator went to El Salvador last week and confirmed that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was alive, and he’s been using his authority as a US Senator to fight back against the Trump administration’s extrajudicial fascist power trip.
Van Hollen even managed to get a very complacent news media to stop acting like stenographers, like Dana Bash on CNN’s “State Of The Union.”
BASH: Now, President Trump says that some of Abrego Garcia’s tattoos signify that he’s a member of MS-13. […] His wife and his attorney deny that, of course. Can you say with absolute certainty that he is not, nor has he ever been a member of the MS-13 gang? And did you ask him point blank?
VAN HOLLEN: […] [W]hat Donald Trump is trying to do here is change the subject. The subject at hand is that he and his administration are defying a court order to give Abrego Garcia his due process rights. They are trying to litigate on social media what they should be doing in the courts. They need to put up or shut up in the courts. […] I decided to write this down so I could be absolutely accurate as to what federal district court Judge Xinis said about these allegations by the Trump administration — quote — “No evidence linking Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any terrorist activity has been presented to the court.” That’s where to litigate this. […] So, I’m not going to get into the details because the whole purpose of our court system is for them to adjudicate these things, not for Donald Trump to go off on social media.
Van Hollen is correct. If the Trump administration had overwhelmingly credible evidence for their assertions, they’d have zero issues bringing them before the courts. But when at risk of penalties for perjury, they suddenly leave out their “evidence,” instead fabricating it for social media.
On NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Van Hollen and host Kristen Welker talked about optics vs. doing the right thing.
Van Hollen seized the moment to demonstrate the values the Democratic Party should stand for.
WELKER: Governor Gavin Newsom of California calling Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case, quote, “The distraction of the day.” He argues Democrats are playing right into the hands of President Trump – an issue he wants to be focused on. How do you respond to Governor Newsom?
VAN HOLLEN: I don’t think it’s ever wrong to stand up for the Constitution. And this is not about one man. If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights for everybody. I think Americans are tired of elected officials or politicians who are all “finger to the wind, what’s blowing this way, what’s blowing that way.”
And anybody who can’t stand up for the Constitution and the right of due process doesn’t deserve to lead.
Newsom, whose entire focus is apparently his political aspirations, is missing the moment and being outshone by a humble Maryland senator because the moment requires real political and moral leadership. That must irk his ego. It’s as perfectly illustrative of Newsom’s character as going to a fancy restaurant during the height of the COVID pandemic or his NIMBY attitudes towards unhoused people in his state.
Maybe he can lecture us all some more on his next podcast episode of “Scumbags & Bigots with Gavin Newsom.”
We end with a smattering of quotes from Republican politicians trying to thread the needle to justify backing a constitutional crisis and enjoying lawless cruelty.
On NBC, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana hesitantly admitted the Trump administration was wrong, while still trying to excuse it.
WELKER: Senator, so this is notable. Because you are saying, in your words, this is a screw-up. I mean, are you concerned that more mistakes could happen?
KENNEDY: Well, sure. None of us want mistakes. Mistake – mistake’s bad. […] But, it was a screw-up. And I understand why the administration has bowed up and won’t admit it’s a mistake. Because if they do, they’ll have their throats torn out. But, it was a screw-up.
On ABC, Border Czar Tom Homan tried to be clever about disobeying the courts but got outsmarted by Jonathan Karl.
HOMAN: I understand that ‘facilitate,’ but he’s also in the custody — he’s a citizen and a national of the country of El Salvador. So El Salvador would certainly have to cooperate in that. […]
KARL: But you said that El Salvador would have to cooperate. You have no doubt that if President Trump wanted him returned, that he could ask President Bukele to return him, right? […] I mean, President Trump could make this happen.
HOMAN: I am not involved in discussion. I can’t comment on something I don’t know. I can’t comment —
Nice try, you dumb goon.
On CNN, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer was stuck in a loop while refusing to answer if the Trump administration would do to US citizens what they’ve done to Abrego Garcia. Instead, he tried whataboutism.
BASH Do you think the federal government has any legal authority to do that with American citizens?
EMMER: I think, right now, what he’s doing is absolutely legal, which is removing those that do not have legal status in this country that have proven to be the worst of the worst. This is what he promised Americans he would do.
BASH: But what about US citizens?
EMMER: And you talk about me listening to the senator. The senator literally doesn’t do anything for his constituent who is murdered mercilessly by an illegal alien let in under the Biden administration’s open border policy.
BASH: Congressman, my question was…
EMMER: But, boy, when an illegal alien gets deported to his country of origin, he flies right down to represent him.
BASH: Congressman, my question is about US citizens.
The non-answer should be terrifying to every American.
Have a week.
Follow Michael Mora on Bluesky and Threads. (If you are still on Twitter, I’m also HERE)
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