Questions from the Headline Writers

So many of them today

Good Evening:

She will say: “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He’d chuck hardwood, softwood, redwood, dogwood, cottonwood, pinewood, hickory, beech, rosewood, teakwood, sandalwood and candlewood, walnut, hazelnut, apple and peach!”

Nope.

Yes.

So much!

Most people should not consume more than their own bodyweight in Advil on a regular basis.

Fifty-five years old.

Any further questions?

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Today on #DogShirtTV, Eve Gaumond and I welcomed the estimable Sarah Bond to talk about her upcoming book on the history of organized labor in ancient Rome. She covered a broad range of interesting stuff—from the origin of the word “strike” to Egyptian artisans mad about late emmer shipments. Also, Spartacus. You can preorder her book here. Here’s the show:

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Today on Lawfare

In my The Situation column today, I confront President Joe Biden’s “full and unconditional” pardon of his son, Hunter, who was awaiting sentencing in two criminal cases. I argue that the pardon betrayed Biden’s self-proclaimed values, lay the groundwork for President-elect Donald Trump’s pardoning of his own cronies, seems to accuse the administration’s own Justice Department of selective and unfair prosecution, and more:

The pardon has sparked a furor of predictable criticism, and an equally predictable backlash among people who are outraged by the hypocrisy of the criticism or the density of media coverage of the matter.

But the pardon has also been well-received by a certain set of legal commentators, including commentators for whom I have high regard and would not have predicted would stand up for family self-dealing by presidents.

The “New Look, Same Racism” of Blood Tribe

Luke Baumgartner discusses Blood Tribe, the neo-Nazi group behind recent violent threats against the Haitian migrant population in Springfield, Ohio. Baumgartner traces the group’s origins and explains how its tactics and ideology closely mirror those of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and the White Citizens’ Councils:

While Blood Tribe is a relative newcomer to the American far-right scene, its tactics and ideology draw on the modus operandi of racists of generations past—donning the veil of “community defense” utilized by Citizens’ Councils of the civil rights era while drawing inspiration from the genocidal, apocalyptic fantasies of the country’s most violent domestic terrorist groups of the 1980s. As nativist and anti-immigrant rhetoric becomes more mainstream, extremist groups like Blood Tribe pursue opportunities to spread their message and threaten violence against vulnerable communities and those who defend them.

A Primer on the Civil Service and the Trump Administration

Nick Bednar explores the potential implications of the second Trump administration on civil servants and personnel policy within the executive branch. Bednar considers Schedule F, reclassification of civil service positions, federal labor unions, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the new Department of Government Efficiency:

While most of the attention during a presidential transition is on who the president-elect will appoint to key cabinet positions, the transition also has a notable impact on career staff within the executive branch. Of the 2 million civil servants in the executive branch, most employees serve across multiple presidential administrations. Some will leave during the transition, but most will stay. As of March 2024, the average employee has served the federal government for 11.8 years. The expertise, experience, and institutional knowledge of these employees provides an important source of administrative capacity for federal agencies.

Podcasts

On the Lawfare Daily podcast, Daniel Byman sits down with Charles Lister for an update on the ongoing Syrian Civil War, including the opposition’s seizure of Aleppo, the character of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that took the city, and what might happen going forward:

And on Chatter, David Priess speaks with Sherri Goodman about her work on the staff of the Senate Armed Service Committee starting in the 1980s, the threat climate change poses to military facilities, how climate change and environmental concerns have changed military training, and climate change as multiplier of opportunities as well as a multiplier of threats:

And An Upcoming Webinar

On Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. ET, I will talk to Lawfare Senior Editors Scott Anderson, Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, and Roger Parloff, Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien, and Lawfare Executive Editor Natalie Orpett for the last regular episode of “Lawfare Live: Trump’s Trials and Tribulations”:

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Not the #BeastOfTheDay

“A Robotic Dog-Narcotics Courier Roamed Moscow,” reports the news site 112.ua:

A robotic dog was spotted near the “Pechatniki” metro station in Moscow, carrying packages with unknown contents. The police were called to clarify the circumstances of this incident.

The robot did not attempt to flee, indicating that the operator controlling it was nearby and monitoring the situation.

After inspection, it was found that the packages the robot was carrying contained a powder resembling illegal substances. Following this, the robotic dog shut down. Additionally, a logo of the darknet platform Kraken, which deals with the distribution of prohibited substances, was noticed on the robot's body.

This robot dog is not eligible to be the #BeastOfTheDay. It’s not the apparent criminal record that disqualifies it either; I don’t believe in holding a beast’s past against it. We are all capable of bettering ourselves and leading honorable lives, even if we are currently Russian robot-dog drug mules.

That said, robots are not beasts, and thus are not eligible to be the #BeastOfTheDay.

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Today’s actual #BeastOfTheDay is the Boie’s frog, a native of Brazil, famed for its ability to pretend to be a dead leaf when threatened. It earns its title today for, well, looking like a dead leaf even when not threatened. Video from overdoso: