Hello! Welcome to the inaugural weekly recap. As I mentioned in my previous post I’m putting together recaps of interesting news/stories I gathered over the course of the week. Let me know in the comments below if you liked it or have any suggestions! ~ Mark
Of course, the big news is the death of Queen Elizabeth and the ascension of Charles III as King. But a lot of other things happened. Here are some of the things I found particularly interesting this past week:
A graphic following Alaska’s special election in which Democrats picked up a House seat
This graphic from the Washington Post is interesting for a few reasons. Not only does Alaska have its first native House Representative in Democrat Mary Peltola, but this special election could signal more about what’s coming for Republicans this November.
Peltola’s victory over Sarah Palin was helped out by Republicans and independents. At a time when our political polarization makes it seem as if there are few moderates left and that independents must have surely picked a side by now, perhaps Alaska’s special election shows not everyone is so attached to those sides.
If we look at the first round of voting in the state’s ranked-choice election, Peltola had the most votes, Trump-backed Sarah Palin was in second, and Republican Nick Begich was in third. When Begich was eliminated, many of those who voted for him then had their second-choice vote counted. But as we can see from the graphic above, not all of those original Republican voters chose to stay with the GOP. A not-insignificant chunk flipped sides and went for Peltola, and that helped propel her to victory.
Of roughly 42,000 votes up for grabs, about 36 percent of them broke for Peltola. These were people who preferred having a GOP candidate originally but were willing to take a Democrat over Palin. Perhaps, that’s a reflection of how moderate of a Democrat Peltola is (she’s a firm supporter of the state’s key oil and energy sector). Perhaps, it’s a reflection of Sarah Palin’s shortcomings as an individual candidate. Or, perhaps it’s an indication of the MAGA movement and how Trump-backed politicians will fare this November. It’s hard to know which for sure, but the special election does seem to show growing Republican fracturing as the party grapples with the MAGA takeover. Interestingly, Begich and Palin are already back at each other's throats because with the special election now over, the two are trying to steal back Peltola’s seat just two months from now in the general election.
A public official has been disqualified from holding office under the 14th Amendment for participation in 1/6 insurrection
Couy Griffin has been disqualified from his post as New Mexico’s Otero County Commissioner after a judge ruled that his participation in the January 6th insurrection disqualified him from holding office. The judge based the ruling on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says that “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State” if they have previously taken an oath “as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.”
It’s the first time that Section 3 has been used to disqualify an elected official since 1869.
The judge’s order was striking for a number of reasons as it laid out why the Court found Griffin’s conduct qualifying under Section 3, and how it considered the 1/6 riot an insurrection. But, there was a particularly snarky comment by the judge in response to Griffin’s argument that the Court should recognize the will of the people who elected him:
“The irony of Mr. Griffin’s argument that this Court should refrain from applying the law and consider the will of the people in District Two of Otero County who retained him as a county commissioner against a recall effort as he attempts to defend his participation in an insurrection by a mob whose goal, by his own admissions, was to set aside the results of a free, fair and lawful election by a majority of the people of the entire country (the will of the people) has not escaped this Court.”
Perhaps Griffin will be able to appeal the ruling, otherwise, the Amendment does say his right to hold office can be reinstated by a two-thirds vote of Congress.
Meanwhile, it seems as if things are heating up for some other people who took part in 1/6. Griffin’s banishment from public office came the same week a former NYPD officer was given the longest sentence yet for participating in the riot. Thomas Webster was sentenced to 10 years in prison for assaulting a police officer with a metal flagpole.
Amid the war in Ukraine, an extraordinary video of a chimp who escaped from a zoo in Kharkiv.
It’s a remarkable video for a few reasons. First, it’s odd seeing a chimp running around the streets of a major city. It made me imagine a distant Star Wars-esque future where cities are not solely playgrounds for people, but where other non-human species function within society as well. Like, imagine if dogs were capable of standing in line at the grocery store to buy their own food? Or, what if Chimpanzees were capable of going to the corner store and buying fruit? How bizarre would that be? Anyway, while the video provoked an amusing daydream, the main reason I chose to include it is that the ending was great and gave me a good laugh. I hope it will for you too.
Quotes that provoke
“Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.” ~ Desmond Tutu
"I never doubted that I would be successful. The possibility of failure just didn’t occur to me.” ~ Johnnie Cochran
I recently rewatched the FX series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story that came out a few years ago. That inspired me to read one of Cochran’s books, A Lawyer’s Life. As I embark on law school applications and eventually law school itself, this quote has felt particularly salient to me.
Life update
I took the Law School Admissions Test for the final time on Friday. It’s remarkable to me that I began studying for this test more than a year ago. Quite literally — and Catherine can attest — not a day has passed since then that I don’t think about it. I try to study every single day, and it's a weird feeling being done with it. What am I going to do with all this free time? I'm open to suggestions.
On the subject of law school, applications have opened. Man, it comes up quick. Wish me luck!
Catherine and I are watching Better Call Saul currently. What are great series. I’ve seen most of it but stopped watching the last season so Catherine could catch up. DO NOT SEND ME ANY SPOILERS!
See you next week! ✌️
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