Good Morning:
Yesterday on #DogShirtTV, the estimable Mike Feinberg and I decided to start a book club. We also discussed Stravinsky with the estimable Richard Wattenbarger, grieved the tragic loss of a fountain pen, and otherwise shot the shit:
I have made, in the 24 hours since, a few decisions about the future of this book club. They are as follows:
Each meeting will feature a non-fiction book paired with a conceptually-related work of fiction.
As Mike and I decided yesterday, the first discussion will be about John LeCarre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Ben Macintyre’s A Spy Among Friends.
As a general matter, however, the format will feature the author of a new non-fiction book, who will pair that book with a conceptually related work of fiction.
Our first two author-guests will be, of course, the estimable Alicia Wanless and the estimable
, both of whom have books coming out imminently. Watch today’s #DogShirtTV to find out their fiction book pairings.The Book Club will be named the Make America Read Again (MARA) club and will convene monthly. I promise not to make MARAlago jokes.
The MARA Club will not meet at the regular #DogShirtTV time but will be in the evenings, Eastern time, so that West Coast folks can join more easily.
I will be scheduling the first three meetings over the next few days.
The MARA book club will be for paid subscribers only.
Yesterday On Lawfare
Compiled by the estimable Mary Ford
A Constitutional Safety Valve for Effective Universal Relief
John Langford examines the three routes to obtaining nationwide injunctions outlined by the Supreme Court in Trump v. CASA, which found that lower courts lack authority to issue such injunctions, and proposed a fourth path to universal relief: state suits filed directly with the Supreme Court. Langford suggests that such suits could halt unlawful federal actions, while acknowledging the limitations of this route compared to individual suits.
The Constitution itself, however, contemplates a fourth path. Article III vests the Supreme Court with both original and appellate jurisdiction. Most of what the Court does is appellate work—it hears appeals from decisions issued by lower federal courts and state supreme courts. But Article III of the Constitution also vests the Supreme Court with original jurisdiction over cases in which states are parties. Under its original jurisdiction, states may file suit directly in the Supreme Court, rather than starting at a lower court. By statute, Congress provides that this jurisdiction includes “[a]ll controversies between the United States and a State.”
What Washington Wants from Minsk
Katsiaryna Shmatsina—amid the release of 14 Belarusian political prisoners last month and the potential for U.S. sanctions relief—argues that U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg’s visit to Minsk last month was not about recalibrating relations with President Lukashenka, but rather a circuitous approach to restarting peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow by way of the Russian proxy.
For the U.S., paying a visit to Belarus or softening sanctions is a low-cost move given that Washington has no strong interest in either engaging or isolating Minsk. The administration’s calculation here appears to hinge on whether the Kremlin’s satellite can offer anything useful for the stalled Russia-Ukraine peace talks. According to Kellogg, he and Lukashenka discussed a complete and unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Podcasts
On Lawfare Daily, Alan Rozenshtein sits down with Noah Feldman to take stock of the Supreme Court’s decision to limit the use of universal injunctions, the legal merits of Justice Barrett’s majority opinion, and the legal avenues of relief that still remain.
On Scaling Laws, Jack Shanahan joins Kevin Frazier to discuss the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in defense, how AI is reshaping military strategies, and the importance of public trust and shared national vision.
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is the osprey, seen here fishing:
Honorable mention goes to frequent Beast of the day the pelican.
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is not the backhoe, which cannot be today’s Beast because it is not an animal, but which is nevertheless a Beast worthy of recognition.
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