Supreme Court Justices Should Not Be This Good At Playing Dumb
Release Date: 12/06/2024
How the Insurrectionist Might Use the Insurrection Act to Go After Non-insurrectionists
Opening Arguments
OA1123 - Insurrection enthusiast Donald Trump sure seems to be looking for an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 in a little-noticed section of one of his flurry of Inauguration Day executive orders. We review the history of how the Constitution and subsequent acts of Congress were written specifically to keep the President from deploying troops on US soil without a very good reason, and how and why the Act has been invoked 30 times in US history. When does civil disorder become an “insurrection” and when, if ever, can the President send in troops that a state hasn’t...
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It's Only Been 18 Days, But That's An Eternity in DOGE Years
Opening Arguments
OA1122 - We’re not even three weeks into the second Trump administration and already well into our first Constitutional crisis. How was the world’s richest man given access to the nation’s checkbook and the total authority to shut down a $40 billion federal agency with 10,000 employees--and can he be stopped? After a quick review of some recent good news, we try to understand how Donald Trump and Elon Musk are illegally reshaping the federal government before closing out the news sandwich with a big L for the Proud Boys. (2/4/25) (1/20/25) Zach Beauchamp Vox...
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The Pro-vaccine Republican Doctor Who Just Just Gave His Vote to RFK, Jr.
Opening Arguments
OA1121 and T3BE57 - Senator Bill Cassidy is one of the few remaining Republicans in national politics that resembles a normal human being. He is a doctor, and is very pro-vaccine. And he had a critical hand in RFK Jr.'s confirmation process. There seemed to be a decent chance he might not vote for the brain worms that run RFK Jr.'s flesh suit, but in the end, he did. How did he get there? How did he justify it? It's an interesting story and it says a lot about where we are right now. If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, , find the post that has...
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Rudy Giuliani and the Possibly the Worst Legal Document Ever Filed
Opening Arguments
OA1120- This episode was first published on our sister show, , and has been made available at no charge for our wonderful Opening Arguments patrons! Folks, we and you deserve a little treat. And let me tell you, this is a treat. Mwuah! Chef's kiss. Here's a triple episode for ya! Rudy Giuliani is such a piece of shit that the last real lawyers he could find quit. And so, enter... some guy from Staten Island. He gave us, and the world, truly one of the stupidest, worst written legal documents in recorded history. And in such a serious case, as well! We spend the entirety of this recording...
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People Are Fighting Back Against Trump’s Fascist Agenda in the Courts, and They’re Already Winning
Opening Arguments
Brought to you by Trade Coffee! Get up to 3 bags free with any new Trade subscription at OA1119 - Trump's executive orders are bad for humanity--and just plain badly written. We survey some of the 20 major legal challenges which have been filed against this nonsense--including two early wins, and a few others which might be wins soon. Matt then explains a recent proposed Trump enforcement tactic with concerning new potential for integration of local and federal authorities with immigration enforcement which the media seems to have missed. In related news, Trump has announced that a...
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Key Figure Behind Project 2025 Lies His Way Through Confirmation
Opening Arguments
OA1118 and T3BE56 - Russell Vought lied in his confirmation hearing, but who is Vought and why should we care? Lydia gets us up to speed on this capital-d Doozy, with his background, some highlights from his confirmation hearing, and the great reporting that lets us confidently state that he lied in his hearing with the Senate Budget Committee. Then Heather Varanini joins for the answer to T3BE question 55 and brand new question 56! , New York Times Opinion , ProPublica , Centre for Climate Reporting If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, , find...
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The Vacancies Act - How Trump Has Used and Abused It, and Might Again
Opening Arguments
Brought to you by Trade Coffee! Get up to 3 bags free with any new Trade subscription at OA1117 - As Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees continue to work their way through the confirmation process, we welcome Stanford Law professor Anne Joseph O’Connell to learn more about one of the most important legal protections we have against a fully imperial presidency. Professor O’Connell is one of the leading academic experts on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the legislation which Trump may or may not have intentionally circumvented in his last term to install acting heads of...
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Triaging All the Horrible
Opening Arguments
OA1116 - We take stock a few days into the second Trump administration to consider the current state of ICE enforcement, Trump’s blatantly unlawful overrule of the recent Supreme Court decision forcing the divestiture of TikTok, and the President’s new venture in cryptocurrency. Finally, today’s footnote honors the efforts of one person who is doing her part to write history as it happens. (1/23/25) (1/17/2025) (1/20/2025) (original ICE “sensitive locations” memo)(10/24/2011) (sent to the President 1/24/25) in U.S. v. Gregory...
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Trump's Executive Orders Are All Absurd and Horrible. But Which of them Actually Matter?
Opening Arguments
OA1115 - Matt joins for a special Wednesday to provide an initial review of some of the most notable of the 26 executive orders which Donald Trump signed after his inauguration on Monday. We go beyond the headlines to take a closer look at what is actually in these things, and try to sort the routine bluster from the very real threats. Center for Climate Reporting (8/15/2024) (1/20/2025) (1/20/2025) (1/20/25) (1/20/25) (1/20/25) (1/20/25) (1/20/25) Check out the OA for all the places to go and things to do! If...
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We (Disrespectfully) Dissent.
Opening Arguments
OA1114 - “We are now faced, my friends, with the fact that tomorrow is today.” --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 4, 1967) We begin the second Trump administration exactly where we intend to remain for the next four years: in dissent. Today’s Inauguration Day counter-programming features two of the most powerful dissenters in modern American history: Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We begin with commentary on Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s defiantly inspiring July 1, 2024 dissent as read from the bench in the Supreme Court’s immunity...
info_outlineOA1096 - The President of the United States has just pardoned a blood relative and it’s--fine, actually. We review the full pardon of Hunter Biden in the greater context of presidential pardons before moving on to our main story: this week’s oral arguments in the trans rights case U.S. v. Skrmetti. The most important and very likely the most consequential case of this Supreme Court term featured the first openly trans lawyer ever to appear before the high court patiently trying to explain to some of our finest legal minds why a Tennessee law denying life-saving healthcare to certain people based on which letter is printed on their birth certificates is in fact unconstitutional discrimination. Finally, Matt drops a quick footnote to acknowledge one of the shortest periods of martial law in democratic history and to see what we might be able to learn from it.
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Statement from President Joe Biden re: pardon of Hunter Biden(12/1/24)
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Office of the Pardon Attorney | Pardons Granted by President Donald J. Trump (2017-2021)
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U.S. v. Skrmetti oral arguments (12/4/24)
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President Yoon’s Speech Declaring Martial Law in South Korea - The New York Times (12/3/24)
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