Tag: Msnow

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Is CJ Roberts The New Roger Taney?

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An interesting discussion unfolded on MSNOW’s All In with Chris Hayes in a segment that was initially intended to examine whether the courts have held up against the threat of authoritarianism posed by Trump 2.0. What emerged instead was a sobering assessment of the judiciary’s uneven performance—and a striking indictment of the Supreme Court’s role in enabling, rather than constraining, presidential power.

There was broad agreement among the panelists that the lower federal courts have largely done their job. District courts and federal appellate courts have repeatedly pushed back against Trump-era policies that stretch or outright exceed constitutional authority, issuing rulings that reflect a continued commitment to legal norms and institutional guardrails. In that sense, the judiciary below the Supreme Court was seen as functioning as a genuine check on executive overreach. That consensus, however, collapsed the moment the conversation turned to the nation’s highest court.

On the Supreme Court, the panel was unified in its criticism. Rather than reinforcing the limits imposed by the Constitution, the Court was described as an active enabler of the Trump administration, routinely undermining or reversing lower-court efforts to restrain him. The justices, in this telling, have not merely failed to defend democracy but have helped hollow it out, often by cloaking deeply political outcomes in the language of neutral legal principle.

The segment took a dramatic turn when NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray made a blunt and explosive claim: that Chief Justice John Roberts has now surpassed Roger Taney as the most damaging chief justice in American history. Taney, long regarded as the Court’s nadir, presided over the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which declared that Black Americans could not be citizens and helped propel the nation toward civil war. To suggest that Roberts belongs in the same conversation—let alone that he is worse—was a jarring assertion, and Murray did not soften it.

Professor Murray argued that Roberts has authored at least four opinions that she described as “the absolute most corrosive for democracy.” She pointed first to Rucho v. Common Cause, a decision that effectively blessed extreme partisan gerrymandering by declaring it a nonjusticiable political question. In doing so, the Court closed the federal courthouse doors to challenges against a practice that allows politicians to choose their voters, entrenching minority rule in state after state. She then cited Shelby County v. Holder, the 2013 ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act by striking down its preclearance formula, a move that unleashed a wave of voter suppression laws across the country almost immediately. Murray also pointed to Trump v. United States, the presidential immunity case, which dramatically expanded the scope of executive immunity and signaled that a president may be functionally above the law when acting under the guise of official duties.

Although she did not explicitly name a fourth decision, the implication was hard to miss. Citizens United looms over any discussion of democratic corrosion, having opened the floodgates to unlimited, often opaque political spending and accelerating the transformation of American democracy into something approaching oligarchy. Taken together, these rulings form a throughline in which democratic participation is narrowed, accountability is weakened, and power is consolidated in the hands of the few—all under the stewardship of a chief justice who has repeatedly claimed to care deeply about the Court’s legitimacy.

Whether the argument that “Roberts is worse than Taney” gains wider traction remains to be seen, but it is crucial to note that Professor Murray is far from alone in making it. Legal scholars and commentators have increasingly drawn parallels between Taney’s Court, which entrenched slavery and inequality, and a modern Court that has systematically undermined voting rights, empowered unchecked executive authority, and normalized vast concentrations of political power. What made the moment on All In so striking was not just the severity of the claim, but the growing sense that it no longer sounds fringe. Instead, it reflects a mounting recognition that the greatest threats to American democracy may now be coming not from lawless actors outside the system, but from those entrusted to interpret and preserve it.

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Who’s To Blame For The Measles Outbreak?

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An interesting segment on MSNOW’s All In with Chris Hayes took up the recent measles outbreaks appearing in several parts of the United States, and the thrust of the discussion left little room for ambiguity. Hayes framed the issue as one of clear responsibility, arguing that the resurgence of measles could be laid at the feet of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His guest, Dr. Peter Hotez, fully endorsed that view, tying the outbreaks directly to Kennedy’s long-standing skepticism toward vaccines and suggesting that his influence and policies had helped create the conditions for a public-health setback many believed had been settled decades ago.

After posting the segment on my X account, I was struck by the volume and intensity of the reaction. What stood out most was how sharply many viewers disagreed with Dr. Hotez’s conclusion that Kennedy alone was to blame. A significant share of the pushback came from Kennedy supporters and MAHA advocates, who argued that the segment ignored other plausible explanations for the spike in cases and instead defaulted to a neat but overly simplistic villain.

To their credit, the defenses offered were not frivolous. The most common argument centered on immigration, with critics pointing to the Biden administration’s border policies and asserting that millions of unvaccinated migrants entered the country over the past several years. In that telling, the rise in measles cases is less a consequence of Kennedy’s tenure at HHS and more the predictable outcome of population flows that public-health systems were unprepared to fully screen or vaccinate at scale. Whether one accepts the numbers often cited or not, the broader point they raised was that outbreaks do not occur in a vacuum and cannot be explained solely by the views of one cabinet secretary.

Others highlighted comparative data, noting that Canada—despite having a far smaller population—has reported higher measles case counts than the United States. That comparison, which does check out, was presented as evidence that blaming Kennedy exclusively does not withstand scrutiny. If a country with different leadership, a different health minister, and broadly pro-vaccine public policy is experiencing an even larger outbreak, then the causes are likely more complex than a single official’s ideology.

A third line of argument leaned heavily on lived experience. Many commenters recalled that measles was common when they were children, rarely fatal, and often treated as an inconvenient but unremarkable rite of passage that kept kids home from school for a week. From that perspective, they questioned whether measles should be treated as a dire public-health emergency at all, arguing that it is generally mild, rarely deadly, and even beneficial in building natural immunity. That view, while controversial and disputed by much of the medical community, remains deeply ingrained among a sizable portion of the public and cannot simply be dismissed as ignorance or bad faith.

Taken together, these reactions underscore a larger reality that the segment only partially captured. There is little dispute that a rise in measles cases is a legitimate concern and that public-health officials should take outbreaks seriously. It is also fair to scrutinize Secretary Kennedy’s anti-vaccine record and question how his rhetoric may shape public attitudes. But it is far less convincing to argue that the problem can be laid entirely at his feet. Immigration patterns, international trends, historical experience, and long-standing skepticism about vaccines all intersect here, complicating any attempt to assign singular blame. Reasonable people can agree the outbreak deserves attention while also recognizing that responsibility is more diffuse than the television debate suggested.

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Corruption Becoming A Central Theme In Trump Admin 2.0

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On the 12/22/25 edition of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, Maddow zeroed in on what is rapidly emerging as a defining feature of Trump administration 2.0: corruption. There is a bitter irony here. Trump first rode to power on the promise to “drain the swamp,” arguing that his personal wealth insulated him from influence peddling and that his outsider status would free Washington from its culture of self-dealing. Instead, one year into his second term, corruption is no longer a peripheral criticism of Trump’s presidency — it is becoming the central storyline.

Maddow opened the segment not in Washington, but in Bulgaria. There, a government recently collapsed under sustained public pressure over endemic corruption. Maddow’s choice was deliberate. By beginning abroad, she framed corruption not as an abstract moral failing, but as a destabilizing force capable of toppling governments when it becomes too blatant to ignore. The lesson was implicit but unmistakable: corruption has political consequences, and no democracy is immune. Only after establishing that broader context did she pivot back to the United States — and to Trump administration 2.0.

What followed was a catalogue of ethically dubious dealings that, taken together, have led many observers to already label this administration as the most corrupt in modern American history. Maddow focused first on Donald Trump Jr., whose proximity to power appears to be translating directly into extraordinary financial opportunities. One case involves a little-known drone company that placed Trump Jr. on its board and awarded him company shares, only to subsequently land a $15 million Pentagon contract. The timing alone raises obvious questions, and Maddow bluntly asked the one many Americans are already asking: was the contract awarded on merit, or because the president’s son now sat inside the company’s boardroom?

That deal, troubling as it is, appears to be only part of a much larger pattern. Maddow reported that another company tied to Trump Jr. received a staggering $620 million loan or contract from the Pentagon — the largest loan ever issued by the Department of Defense. The scale of that award, coupled with Trump Jr.’s personal financial stake, moves the story beyond appearances and into territory that looks like textbook influence trading. Even by Washington’s historically lax standards, this is extraordinary.

The corruption narrative does not stop with the president’s family. Maddow also revisited the case of Tom Homan, now serving as Trump’s Border Czar. Before assuming his current role, Homan reportedly accepted $50,000 in cash — money allegedly intended to influence how DHS contracts would be steered once he reentered government. What makes the episode particularly striking is the level of foresight involved. Both Homan and those paying him appeared confident not only that Trump would return to power, but that Homan would land in a specific, strategically valuable position within the administration. It suggests corruption that is not opportunistic, but premeditated — a system anticipating power and positioning itself to exploit it.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also found herself at the center of corruption allegations. Maddow detailed how DHS steered lucrative advertising contracts to a little-known firm with longstanding political ties to Noem, dating back well before her appointment as secretary. The pattern again feels familiar: public money flowing toward private entities connected to powerful figures, with little transparency and even less accountability. These are not isolated incidents; they form a mosaic of governance that treats the federal government as an extension of a political and personal network.

Hovering over all of this is the unresolved legacy of Jared Kushner. His dealings during the first Trump administration — particularly his post-White House financial windfall tied to foreign governments — were never fully reckoned with. Now, Maddow noted, Kushner is once again positioned to profit, this time through involvement in discussions surrounding the rebuilding of Gaza. The reemergence of Kushner in a role adjacent to foreign policy and massive reconstruction funding reinforces the sense that Trumpworld never truly left its transactional mindset behind. It simply paused, regrouped, and returned more emboldened.

All of this is unfolding as the country barrels toward the 2026 midterm elections. Historically, corruption has been one of the few issues capable of cutting through partisan loyalty, particularly when it becomes this overt and this personal. Democrats are clearly betting that the accumulation of these scandals — not one, but many — will erode public trust and mobilize voters who may be exhausted by chaos but still responsive to clear abuses of power. For Republicans, the question is whether they can continue to normalize or deflect these stories without paying an electoral price.

The Bulgarian example Maddow opened with now feels less like a foreign curiosity and more like a cautionary tale. Corruption, when left unchecked, does not merely stain reputations — it destabilizes governments and reshapes political futures. Whether Trump administration 2.0 faces similar consequences will be decided not just in courtrooms or congressional hearings, but at the ballot box in November 2026.

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HHS Secretary Guts Funding For mRNA Vaccine Research

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A troubling segment on MSNOW’s Velshi reported that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has moved to gut federal funding for mRNA vaccine research, a decision he reportedly made without offering a credible scientific justification. Researchers have long argued that mRNA technology extends far beyond COVID-era vaccines and holds enormous promise, including the potential to treat—or even cure—certain forms of cancer. For decades, finding a cancer cure has been a central goal of governments and medical institutions worldwide, which makes this abrupt reversal especially alarming to scientists who see mRNA as one of the most promising breakthroughs of the modern era.

According to the report, Secretary Kennedy’s rationale is that mRNA vaccines proved ineffective against upper respiratory illnesses such as COVID and the flu. Yet, as highlighted on the program, he has not publicly produced data or peer-reviewed evidence to substantiate that claim. Critics argue that even if one accepts his premise, it ignores the broader scientific consensus that mRNA’s value lies not only in infectious disease prevention but also in its adaptability for cancer therapies, personalized medicine, and treatments for previously intractable conditions. To many in the medical community, the decision appears less like a science-based reassessment and more like an ideological intervention with far-reaching consequences.

At the same time, it would be disingenuous to ignore the deep controversy surrounding vaccines in general and mRNA technology in particular. A sizable segment of the public believes the government has not always been fully transparent about vaccine risks, choosing instead to emphasize benefits while downplaying potential harms. mRNA technology, because it involves genetic instructions, has become a lightning rod for broader fears about government overreach. Claims—often unsupported—have circulated about mRNA being used for surveillance, social control, or even population reduction, folded into darker narratives about a looming “New World Order.” While these ideas remain firmly outside mainstream science, they have nevertheless shaped public opinion and political behavior.

Viewed through that lens, Kennedy’s move is likely to be celebrated by vaccine skeptics and anti-vaccine activists, many of whom already regard him as a champion of their cause. For them, gutting mRNA funding is not a loss but a victory—proof that resistance to vaccines has finally reached the highest levels of government. Yet the absence of a clear scientific explanation raises an unavoidable question: was this decision driven by evidence, or was it a calculated appeal to a constituency deeply distrustful of vaccines and public health institutions?

What happens next remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the debate over mRNA funding is far from over. As researchers warn of lost momentum in the fight against cancer and other diseases, and critics cheer what they see as a blow against an overreaching biomedical establishment, the controversy is only likely to intensify. In the end, the fate of mRNA research may say less about science itself and more about how politics, fear, and ideology increasingly shape public health policy.