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The Daily Beans
Fringe Theories And Bad Vibes (feat. Leah Litman)
00:47:59
Monday, May 19th, 2025 Today, the supreme court extends it’s temporary block on the removal of detainees in the Northern District of Texas under the Alien Enemies Act proclamation; the Republican bill for billionaires is killed in committee; Trump’s FEMA admits it has no plan for hurricane season; DHS asks for 20K National Guard troops to assist ICE; HHS reinstates hundreds of health care workers; an appeals court has lifted the block on Trump’s executive order targeting federal worker unions; the DoJ is going to permit the sale of a device that turns guns into automatic weapons; a car bomb explodes at a Palm Springs fertility clinic; Georgia is forcing a brain dead woman to carry her pregnancy to term; Kegseth tricks transgender troops into health checks that will get them kicked out of the military; the government is planning on moving a million Gazans to Libya; Moody’s downgrades the US credit rating for the first time; a freshman at Yarmouth High School pens a letter in suppo...
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- [00:00]
Alison Gill
MSW Media hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Monday, May 19, 2025. Today, the Supreme Court has extended its temporary block on the removal of detainees in the Northern District of Texas under the Alien Enemies act proclamation. The Republican bill for billionaires is killed in committee. Trump's FEMA admits it has no plan for hurricane season. DHS asks for 20,000 National Guard troops to assist ICE. HHS reinstates hundreds of health care workers. An appeals court has lifted the block on Trump's executive order targeting federal worker unions. The Department of Justice is going to permit the sale of a device that turns guns into automatic weapons. A car bomb has exploded at a Palm Springs fertility clinic. The state of Georgia is forcing a brain dead woman to carry her pregnancy to term. Pete Kegseth tricks transgender troops into health checks that will get them kicked out of the military. The government is planning on moving a million Gazans to Libya. Moody's has downgraded the US Credit rating for the first time. And a freshman at Yarmouth High School pens a letter in support of trans athletes. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey everybody, Happy Monday. Dana is out today, so thanks for hanging with me solo. A quick note. The entire MSW Media family is sending love and support to the Biden family today as the former president has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer which has metastasized to the bone. So please spare a thought for our most progressive and effective president and his family as they review treatment options with the president's physicians. And as you know, I'm agnostic, but I want to quote the president's favorite hymn here. May he raise you up on eagle's wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hands. Many, many thoughts and love and light being sent to their family today. All right, we have a lot going on in the news, a lot going on in the Alien Enemies act cases, whether it's Abrego, Garc, Andre Hernandez Romero, or the entire group of people trapped in a salvadoran dungeon. Andy McCabe and I are going over all of it in detail on the latest episode of the Unjustified podcast that's out wherever you get your podcasts. And this morning, Monday morning, Andy and I go over the 7 to 2 Supreme Court ruling extending the injunction that blocks Trump from removing people in the Northern District of Texas to El Salvador. Now, even though the Supreme Court block is only for the putative class, the detainees in the Northern District of Texas, and it's only only temporary. It basically says that if Trump tries this in another jurisdiction, the answer will be the same. He'll be blocked there, too. So it's kind of a nationwide injunction without actually being one. They did not yet decide at the Supreme Court whether Trump's use of the Alien Enemies act is even legal. But they've instructed the lower court to make that determination so the Supreme Court can review it and make a decision. And they've asked the lower court to do that expeditiously along with creating a plan of what exactly due process would look like. Now, Justice Kavanaugh didn't want to ask the lower court to do that. In his concurrence, he said he would have ordered oral arguments before the Supreme Court and briefing on it now instead of sending it back to the Fifth Circuit. Now, I'm worried the Supreme Court will allow Trump to use the Alien Enemies act as long as he provides, quote, meaningful notice to those he intends to disappear to El Salvador. All of that is covered in Sunday's episode of Unjustified and in Monday morning's bonus episode of Unjustified. So please go check that out. And I'm also going to be discussing that in this show later today with my guest Leah Littman. She's the host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, former Supreme Court clerk Umich, law professor and the author of the new book Lawless, which is an absolute must read. Also, Judge Sinis held a hearing in the Abrego Garcia case over whether the government can invoke the state secrets privilege to avoid having to hand over discovery that could lead to contempt proceedings against them. And Andy McCabe and I cover that as well on the latest episode of Unjustified. So check out those two shows, the Unjustified podcast and the Unjustified Bonus that came out on Sunday and this morning. And also check out Leah Littman's podcast Strict Scrutiny and stick around for that interview later in the show. All right, we have tons of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from abc, a vote on the mega bill aimed at advancing President Trump's agenda failed in the House Budget Committee Friday afternoon amid objections from hardliners halting the bill's progress at committee level. Republican Representatives Andrew Clyde, Josh Brasheen I think is how you say it. Lloyd Smucker, Ralph Norman and Chip Roy all voted against clearing the bill out of committee, defying Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson. The group complained in part that the bulk of the savings in the legislation don't take effect until after Trump leaves office. The committee vote failed, with just 16 lawmakers in favor and 21 against. And in a related story, the Post says Moody's ratings downgraded the United States credit rating Friday as the country's debt soars and a Republican budget bill is projected to add trillions of dollars to the balance. Moody's blamed the downgrade on more than a decade of increase in government debt and interest payment ratios and the failure of U.S. administrations and Congress to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs. Now, of course, Republicans are using this as a reason to throw more people off earned benefits to pay for their billionaire tax cuts. Senator Chris Murphy was correct when he told NBC, quote, what we're standing in the way of is the most massive transfer of wealth from the poor and the middle class to the rich in the history of the country. So keep calling your reps, tell them, hands off our earned benefits. We paid for them. We did not agree, however, to pay for Trump's birthday parade or mass deportations or ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing, you ask? Yes, According to Courtney Kubie at NBC, the Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to a million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, according to five people with knowledge of the effort. The plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya's leadership in exchange for resettling the Palestinians. That's an interesting way to put it. The administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the US Froze more than a decade ago. So Trump is paying Libya to bulldoze Gaza and arresting people who protest against it. And from NBC, the Trump administration has decided to permit the sale of devices that enable standard firearms to fire like machine guns, a move that one person familiar with the matter said was by far the most dangerous thing the administration has done on gun policy. The Justice Department Friday announced a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the national association for Gun Rights. The lawsuit challenged an ATF rule banning forced reset triggers, devices that allow semiautomatic weapons to fire rapid bursts of bullets. Vanessa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Giffords Gabby Giffords, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, condemned the move, saying the Trump administration has just effectively legalized machine guns. Lives will be lost because of his actions. This is an incredibly dangerous move that will enable shooters to inflict horrific damage. The only people who benefit from these being on the market are the people who will make money from selling them. Everyone else will suffer the consequences. And from Josh Gerstein at Politico. A federal appeals court has lifted a lower court order that prevented the federal government from implementing Trump's plan to end collective bargaining by workers at more than a dozen federal agencies. In a 2 to 1 ruling on Friday, the D.C. circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. district Court Judge Paul Friedman appeared to have erred last month when he froze Trump's executive order on this subject. The appeals court majority said there was insufficient evidence that the National Treasury Employees Union faced irreparable harm that would justify a preliminary injunction. That's wrong. Judges Karen Henderson, George H.W. bush appointee, and Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, said the national security exception the president invoked in federal labor relations law is an added reason for courts to tread lightly, quote, preserving the president's autonomy under a statute that expressly recognizes his national security expertise is within the public interest. That's what Henderson and Walker wrote. Now, the judge that dissented, Judge Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, noted that the administration had agreed not to implement the key parts of the executive order as the litigation played out and that undercut the notion that the government needed emergency relief from the appeals court. So we'll keep you posted on the appeal. Also from the Wall Street Journal, the newly appointed head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, female, acknowledged in private meetings that with two weeks to go until hurricane season, the agency doesn't have a fully formed disaster response plan. David Richardson, who previously served as a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security and doesn't have any background in emergency management, told staff he would share a hurricane plan with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after he completes it late next week. He said Thursday he's 80 to 85% done with the plan. The agency is already months behind schedule in its preparations for the hurricane season, which starts June 1 and is expected to have above normal activity. Richardson said in a recent meeting with FEMA staff that, quote, clarifying the intent of the president, who has called for terminating the agency, was a challenge in preparing a strategy for hurricane season. And that's according to a video recording of the meeting. Now, all this comes on the heels of massive storms in the Midwest. Residents in Kentucky and Missouri began sifting through damage in tornado stricken neighborhoods and clearing debris on Sunday after severe storms swept through parts of the Midwest and South, killing more than two dozen people. Kentucky was hardest hit as a devastating tornado damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles and left many homeless. At least 18 people were killed, most of them in southeastern Laurel County. Ten more people were critically injured, with state leaders saying the death toll could still rise in the next few days. And don't forget, by the way, that the Trump regime is no longer going to be reporting on the costs of these severe weather events. And this is a horrific story from TNR Content Warning here Georgia's Life act is killing at least one family as it keeps a brain dead woman on life support against the wishes of her family because she was nine weeks pregnant at the time of her death. Atlanta mother Adrianna Smith has been transformed into a human incubator due to Georgia's heartbeat loss, which bans abortions once heartbeat is detected in a fetus. That can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy, making it one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation. One in three people discover they're pregnant at the sixth week of pregnancy or later, and that's according to the University of California San Francisco's Bixby center for Global Reproductive Health. Smith, a 30 year old registered nurse for Emory University Hospital, was declared brain dead more than 90 days ago. In early February, she began experiencing intense headaches and sought treatment at Northside Hospital where she was given medication and then released. Quote, they gave her some medication but they didn't do any tests, no CT scan. That's what Smith's mother April Newkirk told 11Alive News. Quote, if they had done that or kept her overnight, they would have caught it. It could have been prevented. Smith woke up the following morning gasping for air. Two hospital trips later, CT scans at Emory University Hospital revealed multiple blood clots in her brain. Smith had been declared brain dead, but the state is the one not letting her go and her family is having to foot the mounting hospital bills. Smith's medical team is legally required to keep her alive until they believe the fetus can survive outside of the Womb. At approximately 32 weeks, doctors advised Smith's family that they're not legally allowed to consider alternatives. Newkirk said smith is currently 21 weeks pregnant. This is just unconscionable. All right, let's shift gears and head over to the military. NPR reports that the Department of Homeland Security is asking the Pentagon to provide 20,000 National Guard troops to assist in the removal of migrants in the United States without legal status. A US Official with knowledge of the plan who was not authorized to talk to NPR said that military lawyers are reviewing the request from dhs. The request was first reported by the New York Times. Under the proposal, state governors would be asked for volunteers among their Guard forces to take part in the removals. My understanding is that they can't it's illegal. They can provide assistance, but they can't actually arrest anybody or remove anybody. Next up from the Associated Press. Military commanders will be told to identify troops in their units who are transgender or have gender dysphoria and then send them to get medical checks in order to force them out of service. A senior defense official laid out what could be a complicated and lengthy new process aimed at fulfilling Trump's directive to remove transgender service members from the military. The new order to commanders relies on routine annual health checks that service members are required to undergo. Another defense official said the Defense Department has scrapped for now plans to go through troops health records to identify those with gender dysphoria. Instead, transgender troops who do not voluntarily come forward could be outed by commanders or others aware of their medical status. Gender dysphoria occurs when a person's biological sex does not match their gender identity. So Kegseth, who has argued in court that the reason we have to get rid of transgender troops is because they are inherently dishonest, is going to lie to people and trick them to get them out of the military. He's the dishonest one. Next up from abc, the primary suspect in a fatal car bombing that occurred outside a fertility clinic in Palm Springs was identified by authorities on Sunday, who said the explosion targeted the in vitro fertilization clinic. The suspect was identified as 25 year old Guy Edwards Bartkus of 29 Palms, about 50 miles from Palm Springs. And that's according to Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field office, during a Sunday afternoon press conference. Bartkus is believed to be the person found dead next to the detonated vehicle. Davis said at least four other people were injured in the Saturday morning blast. Davis said investigators have a search warrant on his home and were continuing to search through the residency on Sunday. Investigators were also combing through his writings, including what Davis described as a manifesto and his social media posts. What's not clear is who wrote this manifesto and I don't know, you know, two law enforcement officials saying that this guy was some sort of nihilistic anti birth guy. I don't know. We'll just keep our eyes on this story. All right. We really need some good news. This story comes from NBC. The Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday reinstated 328 federal employees who faced terminations, including those involved in screening for black lung disease in coal miners in West Virginia and for health issues in 911 first responders pushback works. The reinstated employees are part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the CDC that is focused on preventing and responding to work related illnesses. So those people are going to be reinstated. So good job everyone and our friend Charlotte Clymer posted a letter written by Yarmouth High School freshman Anneliese Feldman in Yarmouth, Maine and her letter says Rep. Laurel Libby, Republican from Auburn, recently used my second place finish in the 1600 meter run in and that of my teammate in the 800 meter run to malign Soren Stark Chessa, the trans identified athlete who finished first. One of the reasons I chose to run cross country and track is the community teammates cheering each other on, athletes from different schools coming together, and the fact that personal involvement is valued as much as, if not more than the place we finish. Last Friday I ran the fastest 1600 meter race I've ever run in middle school or a high school track and earned varsity status by my school's standards. I'm extremely proud of the effort I put into the race and the time that I achieved. The fact that someone else finished in front of me didn't diminish the happiness I felt after finishing that race. I don't feel like the first place prize was taken from me. Instead, I feel like a happy day was turned ugly by a bully who is using children to make political points. We're all just kids trying to make our way through high school. Participating in sports is the highlight of high school for some kids. No one was harmed by Soren's participation in the girls track meet, but we are all harmed by the hateful rhetoric of bullies like Rep. Libby who want to take sports away from some kids just because of who they are. As Charlotte Clymer said on Blue sky, well done Ms. Feldman. Well done. All right everybody, it's time for some good trouble.
- [18:05]
Leah Littman
What are you guys doing?
- [18:06]
Alison Gill
Getting into trouble. Spy. Get me into trouble. All right. This is for From a listener Hi Beans, tired park ranger with the USFWS here. I'm reaching out to boost awareness of what's happening with the Endangered Species Act. They're planning to change the definition of harm to exclude habitat loss so that regulations can be rescinded and companies have more access to lands that keep our at risk and endangered species alive. The USFWS and the NMFS are accepting public comments on these ESA changes. If people are able, please leave a response. The comments are public, so be aware. Names may be displayed with each comment. Thanks for keeping me as sane as reasonable through all of this. I feel like you're keeping my nose above the Waves. I'll keep it up if y' all keep it up. Deal? Yes, deal. And we will have a link in the show notes to leave a comment on the Endangered Species Act. All right, we'll be right back with the amazing Leah Littman after this quick break. Stick around after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody, it's ag. DeleteMe makes it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. Today's episode is brought to you by Delete Me Online. Privacy has never been more fragile. With just a few clicks, anyone can dig up your address, your phone number, even information about your relatives and family members. That is data you never agreed to share. Being sold and traded like a product. And unfortunately, there is no mere inconvenience here. It can become a threat. I've watched friends get harassed and doxxed, and I've even experienced that creeping anxiety that comes with being too visible. That's what pushed me to find a better way to protect myself and my data. Deleteme works by actively removing your personal information from hundreds of data broker websites. It's not just one single sweep. They keep monitoring it throughout the year so your information stays off the grid as much as possible. Every quarter, I get a detailed report showing what they fil found and what they removed and how much time they have saved me by having to not do it myself. It's a relief to see the results spelled out like that and to know that I don't have to track down these listings myself. So if you're someone who shares content online, works in a sensitive field, or just wants more control over your digital footprint, Delete Me is worth checking out. It will not make you invisible, but it does reduce your exposure and that makes a real difference. So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete me now at a special discount for listeners. And get 20% off your delete me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeans and use promo code DailyBeans at checkout. That is the only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.comDailyBeans and enter code DailyBeans at checkout. Again, JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeANS code DailyBeans hey everybody, welcome back. I am super excited. I'm joined by a friend of mine going back to like the old Mueller investigation. Friend of mine, she's a professor of law at the University of Michigan, former Supreme Court clerk. She co hosts the Strict Scrutiny podcast on Crooked Media. She writes a lot about the Supreme Court for the Washington Post, Slate, the Atlantic, and she appears as a commentator on npr, msnbc. I'm sure you know her. Her new book is called how the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. Please welcome Leah Littman. Hi, Leah.
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Leah Littman
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
- [21:30]
Alison Gill
Thank you. I feel like we rarely get to talk. And then when I saw this book come out, you know, Cause as soon as lady justice came out, I was like, ooh, this is gonna be good. And now we've got this book, Lawless, which is like, that meets the irreverence of Elie Mestall and all the brilliance of somebody who's clerked for the court and knows the court inside out and does a whole podcast about it. And so I'm really, really excited for everybody to read this book and I'm excited to talk to you about it. What prompted you to write it? Because the whole idea that the Supreme Court is running on vibes is like, so real and frightening.
- [22:10]
Leah Littman
Yeah. So this book has been long simmering in my mind basically ever since the time I was clerking on the Supreme Court. I was at the court when they heard the initial constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care act, where they almost blew up the entire Affordable Care act, missed it by one vote based on this insane anxiety that the government might one day force us to buy our broccoli. And everyone's liberty was being infringed because so many people want to go out and about and not have health insurance. And so seeing the court come so close to the cliff was very eye opening for me. And then everything that has happened since has just made me more concerned. I felt like I was terrified about the court before other people started being nervous about the court. And I still think people are not even scared enough of these guys. So that's really where it came from.
- [23:06]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And something I've noticed is that a lot of the, you know, dissents in the cases that go the way we want them to go, particularly with Alito or Thomas. When you talk about vibes, I mean, he. He bases his law, his understanding of the law on commentators. And not just commentators, but cherry picked things that commentators say. Like in this recent ruling on. Not the Alien Enemies act, they didn't touch the Alien Enemies act yet, but in this recent ruling, 7 to 2 about the northern District of Texas detainees, where Alito was like, yeah, this one commentator said that, you know, we can't do civil class actions in habeas stuff. But the very next sentence in that law article says, but yes, you can. But he left that decidedly out. So, I mean, we see this all the time from a certain group of folks on the Supreme Court where they're just kind of going on, well, my best friend's brother one time said that this should be this way. And so, you know, I kind of agree with that. But it's all kind of pointing at a unitary executive. And it boggles my mind that the chief justice, John Roberts, would go out and say the rule of law is in danger when he himself is part.
- [24:21]
Leah Littman
Of the reason why there's so much going on there. But yes, this is a court that in my view is really captured by far right conspiracy theories. If you think about some of the cases they were hearing just in April about whether school districts can include LGBTQ instructional material in the classroom or whether a state has to charter religious public charter schools, the questions from Justice Alito and the other justices were reflecting Fox News talking points like your weird fringe theorist uncle. He was going on about how well state you would allow schools to teach the 1619 Project and CRT and you would allow schools to tell students they have to be trans, but you won't allow a religious public school. And schools aren't doing that, of course. But that atmosphere, that ecosystem has a real audience at the Supreme Court. And you're right, this completely cannibalizes the law, including in the immunity decision or in the decision from last term where they said states couldn't disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot because of his participation in January 6 or stop the Steal. You know, during that oral argument, Justice Clarence Thomas projected this view of the entire project of reconstruction, according to which it was driven by, according to him, a strong desire to retaliate against the south rather than enforce civil rights. And again, it's that worldview that is driving and swallowing so much of the law and facts and reality.
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Alison Gill
Yeah. And it kind of smacks of the old, well, if you let gay people get married, what's next? People are going to marry animals and then people will marry gardening tools and et cetera, et cetera. All sort of this bad vibe conspiracy theory right wing talking points who oftentimes these justices actually quote in their dissents or their majority opinions. It's wild. It's like when, when Donald Trump was arguing that he should have immunity and quoting Marbury v. Madison to do so it's. It's like. It's like that. And they're buying it. Like, some of them are buying it.
- [26:38]
Leah Littman
Oh, yeah. I mean, they completely twist the law as well as the facts. I mean, if you think about the immunity decision, for example, it's not just Donald Trump perverting Marbury versus Madison. The Chief justice really, in my view, twisted the foundational canonical case on presidential power, Youngstown. In that case, the court said, you know, Harry Truman, the president cannot order the seizure of steel mills without Congress authorizing them. And what the controlling opinion. What became the controlling opinion in that case, Justice Jackson said, is, look, when the President is asserting the power to do something in violation of federal law, we courts have to carefully, closely scrutinize those assertions of power because they are so conclusive and preclusive. What did the Chief justice do with that line? He just started describing broad swaths of the President's powers as conclusive and preclusive without carefully scrutinizing whether they were in fact so. And they are very good at taking errant phrases out of context from earlier opinions or wherever else in order to make the law what they would like it to be.
- [27:55]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And can you briefly just talk about. Because I know you go over this in the book, kind of the overview of scrutiny, strict scrutiny, et cetera, as it applies to justices trying to, you know, take apart Reconstruction Amendments or gut civil rights, Voting Rights act, et cetera. Because there are levels of scrutiny. Right. That the. I think at one point the Supreme Court just sort of made up to determine what they can look at. Right?
- [28:19]
Leah Littman
Yeah. So all of the chapters goes into different areas of law and kind of traces their evolution, where they came from, where they might go next. In the chapter on voting rights, you know, there's a part of constitutional law that's known as the tiers of scrutiny in there. The justices basically decide, well, we're gonna review certain kinds of laws very carefully. Right. That's called strict scrutiny. We're going to view another category of laws less carefully, but still fairly rigorously. That's intermediate scrutiny. And then there's the default standard of review, rational basis review, which is basically just courts, judges slobbering all over the legislature, letting them do whatever it is they would like. And yes, the tiers of scrutiny aren't anywhere in the Constitution, of course, they're a court's way of implementing different constitutional provisions, basically placing a thumb on the scale, saying, well, these kinds of laws, they're kind of raising alarm bells. And so we're going to look at them more closely. Whereas these other kinds of laws, not so concerning. So we are going to review it super quickly and give the legislature the primary hand here. And the laws that the court is now looking at most closely are of course laws that burden religious and social conservatives and laws that they think unfairly discriminate against white people. So those are the kinds of laws. The court has said those ones, those are problematic.
- [29:46]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And a lot of your book is. Is focused on how we got here. Right. How we got to the bad vibes. Conspiracy theorists, you know, supported opinions from. From certain members of the Supreme Court. And that's one of the aspects of it. Right. Is the applying strict scrutiny to certain kinds of cases and certain kinds of laws. But how else did we get here?
- [30:09]
Leah Littman
How did we get here? I think it is a story of several different moving parts that put us on this collision course. One is of course a story about the Republican Party and how that party became comfortable catering to an increasingly narrow segment of the country that required them to lean into minority rule. And, and that also meant they really needed to control the Supreme Court. Add to that the story of the conservative legal movement which developed this extremely well funded alternative ecosystem that would encourage the Republican appointees to continue doing Republican things on the Court, also designed a brutally effective screening mechanism where they could identify nominees who would more reliably reflect the Republican Parties views. Add to that kind of the democratic decline of our institutions, which made it easier for a party that doesn't have majority support to win the presidency and to control the Senate and to use partisan gerrymandering to control the House. And all of these things coalesce together into this catastrophic situation where you have a minority rule, Supreme Court undermining our democracy because they're totally fine catering to fringe views.
- [31:28]
Alison Gill
Yeah. So every time I think about it, it kind of seems pretty hopeless because they have lifetime appointments and there might be things that we want to do to fix it that require amendments to the Constitution which are very unlikely in our current state here in the United States, in the body politic. But you know, there is hope. And I mean, how does this court retain its co. Equal branch status? And what can we do besides vote for people who will nominate proper justices to reform the Court?
- [32:00]
Leah Littman
Yeah. I mean, it is a difficult story to absorb because I do think one important take home is look, they spent almost five decades working to gain control of the Court and laid the groundwork to doing so. And that required a bunch of small steps. There were setbacks and, and I think today we want to imagine there are things we can do that will instantaneously fix this. You know, if we go out and vote in one election or if we sign a petition or if we go to a protest, like, things are going to get better. And that's just not how change works, especially at the federal level. So I think it is important to create goals and try to identify progress on a smaller scale. So I do think one important first step is just public information, public education and organizing. I don't think it's an accident that Donald Trump's public approval ratings are plummeting the more people know about, for example, his cruel immigration policies. So educating people, informing people about what is going on at the Supreme Court and what the Republican Party has done to the court, how the court has changed, how it's changing the country, I think that is an important step. I think that then will change the incentives of Democratic politicians to focus more on the courts and to meet their base where they are, so that the next time Democrats are in power, they are willing to use that power to actually democratize our institutions, including the Supreme Court, and we can stop some of the damage at the state and local level as well. So in the book, I talk about state supreme courts that have been able to make a lot of positive change. And also Wisconsin. Exactly. Including Wisconsin, including Michigan, including some races. Yes. Well, no, we still.
- [33:53]
Alison Gill
At least she got sworn in and he conceded six months later.
- [33:56]
Leah Littman
@ least a loser's effort to overrule and overturn the results of an election was rejected. And these days, we need to celebrate even avoiding catastrophic losses. So that is something, I guess. But, yeah, so it's all of the above, a combination. But I do think we need to reconcile ourselves to the fact that this is going to be a fight that happens over the longer term, and that is just reality.
- [34:24]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And that's why information and education is so important. That's why podcasts like Strict Scrutiny and books like Lawless are so important. The. The book Lawless came out May 13th. It's available everywhere. Do what I do. Get the audiobook, listen to the audiobook, and then buy 10 copies and go put them around in little libraries in your neighborhood and help with the very small step and the very, I think, tiny goal of helping educate people in your community and near you and around you. Talk about this with your friends and family so that they'll talk to their friends and family about this. But this book is available everywhere right now. And you should definitely also subscribe to the Strict Scrutiny podcast because the more we know, knowledge is the enemy of anxiety and of the lawlessness.
- [35:12]
Leah Littman
Exactly. And I wrote this book not just for, or even primarily for lawyers, law students, but for smart, interested people who just care to learn more about the relationship between law, politics and society and who can see and understand the mechanisms that the court has used to really push the law off a cliff.
- [35:40]
Alison Gill
Exactly. Well, I've long said the only reason I sound smart is because I read and listen to folks like Leah Lippman and, you know, I mean, any, any number of people, Steve Vladek and Ellie Mistahl. But this is an important. This is a quintessential book. I recommend everybody get it, everybody listen to it, and everybody sign up to listen to strict scrutiny on crooked media. Thank you so much for your time today. Leah Lippman.
- [36:03]
Leah Littman
Thank you so much. Very kind. I really appreciate your time.
- [36:06]
Alison Gill
Everybody stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Hey, everybody. I'm the kind of person who loves reading nutrition blogs. I watch the Food Network, I like food documentaries. But somehow I still end up confused about what I should actually be eating. So every week there's a new trend. Intermittent fasting, low fodmap, who knows? But I finally decided to stop guessing and get actual help. And that's when I found Fay. This podcast is sponsored by Fay. You can go to faynutrition.com dailybeans to qualify to see a registered dietitian for as little as $0. Faye connects you one to one with a registered dietitian who helps you understand your unique nutritional needs. No generic advice. This is real evidence based guidance tailored specifically to you. My dietitian helped me figure out how to manage my energy dips and fill the gaps in my nutrition. She recommended walking every morning, maybe starting juicing, which I'm actually going to start doing to get some of the nutrients that I need. And the best part, all of Faye's dietitians take insurance. I didn't even realize this was covered. But 95% of people pay $0 for their sessions. You can even check your insurance before you sign up. So whether you're working through food sensitivities, managing conditions like pcos, or just trying to build healthier habits, Fay gives you the personalized help you need with board certified nutritionists. So that is what sets them apart from everyone else. It's expert support without the guesswork or the sticker shock. And that's why I'm so proud to partner with them. So if you're ready to stop guessing and start truly fueling your body for better health. Take control with personalized nutrition support from a Registered Dietitian through fay because you deserve to feel energized, healthy and confident in your health choices. Having a personalized nutritionist used to cost big bucks, but not anymore. Not with fay. Listeners of the Daily Beans can qualify to see a Registered Dietitian for as little as $0 by visiting faynutrition.comdailybeans that's Faye F A Y faynutrition.comdailybeans one last time faynutrition.com dailybeans all lowercase and make sure you use our URL so they know I sent you. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news everyone. And if you have any good news confessions, corrections, pronunciation corrections especially and you want to give maybe a shout out to yourself or a loved one or a small business in your area or some sort of great community activism or protests or rallies that you want to share with us. Also shout out to government programs. We love shout outs to government programs whether it's Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care act, the PACT act, right? The VA is getting rid of so many employees that they hired to help with the PACT act, but maybe the PACT act has helped you and we can use that information to send to our representatives to encourage them to not slash our earned benefits. Maybe you have a shout out to a program like WIC or head Start or Section 8 or some great VA healthcare you've received, or student debt relief. Anything. Send it to us DailyBeansPod.com, click on Contact to get your submission read on the air. You just got to pay your POD pet tariff, which means attach a photo of your pet. If you don't have a photo of a pet or you don't have a pet, you can attach an adoptable pet in your area. We'll see if we can find him a forever home. If you don't have that really any animal photo will do. And then of course we always accept bird watching photos, which is an actual photo of a bird or you and your family and friends flipping the bird to Trump and Musk Properties. We love those bird watching photos. A lot of us are birders these days in that respect. And of course if you don't have any of that baby photos always works. Again, send it to us dailybeanspod.com, click on contact. First up sea otter woman pronoun she and her love you Laguma Ladies, imagine my surprise while listening at work to hear you talking about my Hometown. Love cats on a couch. And Amanda will be a huge asset on our school board. And so slight pronunciation correction. Our town name is pronounced with an A. Like how? Falmouth. So not Falmouth. Falmouth. Come for a visit. Best weather in September. October and most of the summer crowds are gone. Here's a pic of my guy Jack after having a fish hook removed from his cheek. He's pretty doped up here. He's fine. Now, anglers, please pick up your tackle and broken lines. $400 vet bill. Yikes. Look at this baby. He's so stoned. Oh, hi, Jack. Good, a sweet puppy. Yes. Please, anglers, pick up your tackle and broken lines. Thank you so much. Great. Thank you for Falmouth. Okay, now I know. And October. Best time to travel there in the fall after the summer crowds have gone. All right, next up from David, pronouns he and him. You guys are a huge part of my morning. I love the news with swearing and empathy. However, please, please, please do not call it the big beautiful bill. The orange one is very good at shaping public narrative through word choice. The raid of Mar a Lago was legally executed. Search warrant. May I suggest referring it as the billionaire bailout bill? Yes, David. As you might have noticed earlier in the show, I called it the billionaire bill. Thanks for being part of my mornings for my pod pet tax. A picture of our three dogs, Boomer, Izzy and Rat. Oh my gosh, they're adorable. The ears on that hound dog are impressive, sir. Thank you, David. Next up, doctor for democracy. She her dear maidens of the magical fruit. I listen to all the pods every day. I learn so much from you. I appreciate your perspective and how seen I feel. And I wait all week for Feegle sang Friday rather than good news. I have an ask. Can we stop calling mifeprestone, the abortion pill Giving anti abortion groups wording because that is what the anti abortion groups call it. This drug is used to treat high blood sugars in people with Cushing's syndrome who don't have other options. It's used for dilation of the cervix and induction of labor in women who are not dilating naturally to help avoid C sections and vacuum extraction during birth. It's used in endometriosis to decrease pain. It is used in women who miscarry but do not pass all the products of conception or to induce expulsion following fetal death. Products of conception can be lethal if retained if used in ovarian cancer, resistant to chemo. Let's call mifepristone. Mifepristone and highlight that it has many safe and effective uses. The best I can do for good news is that the sun rose again today. But I'll make up for my lack of good news with a combo baby and puppy pic. That'll do it. Dr. For Democracy this photo is of me over 60 years ago when our dog's puppies crawled between the bars of my playpen and gnawed on my ears. No dogs or babies were injured when this photo was taken. Thank you, doctor for democracy. Yes, we will call it mifepristone from now on. Next up, Doc Adams pronoun she and her just joined your community. I really enjoy your podcast, the summary of the news with a bit of flavor, guests who are insightful and fun, and the good news stories. Your banter is contagious and so needed. Now here's a bird picture taken in Missouri. It's bluebirds as they rested near their nest. These birds are so shy and often hard to catch. They were one of my mom's favorites. She's gone now, yet when I catch a glimpse of a cardinal or a bluebird, she's telling me all is well. Keep up the good hard work. Your presence for an hour in my day is a joy. Thank you. Doc Adams. What a lovely submission. Look at these beautiful babies. Awesome. Hmm. So cute. Thank you for that. Next up, David F he him, but the cats call me faithful servant. A few years ago I lost two jobs at the same time. It was winter and I couldn't afford the natural gas to make my heater run, so I lived with space heaters. Food was scarce and I was just getting by. My car broke down so I sold it. I did find a job but had to walk to work. I worked with a Muslim man. Soon he was bringing food to me and he had a friend who had a car I could afford. It was a great favor and his help got me through the winter. When I hear about Muslims, my thoughts go to the generosity of that man and his community. He never asked for thanks nor any kind of reward. He helped me simply to show Allah's blessings. Muslims are good people. I hope these next few years do not bring repressions to them. My offering to the radio gods are pictures of Boing Boing the black cat and Finlay the white cat, who we believe is a Turkish van Mutt and Boing Boing is of unknown origin. Oh, they're beautiful babies. Oh, I love the black nose. So cute on the Turkish van. Yeah, it looks like a Turkish van to me. And the Void. Thank you so much for that. What a great story. Next up, Amy Pronoun. She and her hi AG and dg. Here are some awesome protest songs. Stars and Stripes by Julie Lavery, Life in America by Ro Capara. They Made a Pig, the Pilot by Billy Simmons Jr. And the poor by Jesse Wells. Just because corporate radio isn't playing current protest music, that doesn't mean it's not being made. It's out there. My pod pet tax is our 15 year old, tiny whiny baby guppy. Thank you for voicing our shared exasperation, frustration, fury and determination. We fight on. Amy thank you. This cat looks like he's really, really just over the Trump administration. Next up from Anonymous. Pronouns he and him Hi Leguminaries. I have two things. First, a listener recently asked for contemporary protest music. Hozier has a song called Nina Cried Power and in it he honors the great protest singers whose shoulders we stand on. Also, the band Flobots has a lot of political and social justice songs in their library. Second, for a Shit Kids say Submission, a couple years ago at a family event we had a charcuterie board and my niece could not pronounce it correctly, instead calling it a shark coochie board. We still call them shark coochie boards because that is gold. Anonymous yes it is, and I think I will adopt that name for them too. Lastly, for Podpet Tariff, I present Derperous, the one who guards the gates to heck. Seriously though, Rowan the smaller dog was stuck in Bentley's back and I had to untangle them myself. Oh my God. Can you guess what breed they are? Yes, these are corgis. I think I can get that one. How beautiful. Thank you for that. And thanks everybody for your good news. We'll have links to some of those songs in the show notes, plus a link to the Good Trouble thing where you can comment on the Endangered Species Act. And thanks to everyone for sending in your good news. We're going to need a lot of it. Again, all my love to the Biden family. Just so devastating. He was just such a great president and he's just such a good man. So all my thoughts to them. That's my final thought for today. I'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Don't forget to check out the Unjustified podcasts. Both of them. We got a free bonus for the public that came out this morning. I think you'll enjoy it until tomorrow. Please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health. And take care of your family. I've been ag and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned by podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com msw media.