The Supreme Court is even more brazen than you thought

There's some promising election news, at least

Welcome to a Sunday morning edition of Progress Report.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, stepmoms, surrogate moms, grandmothers, and all other mom-like figure out there today. You deserve to be celebrated every weekend, not attacked by troglodytes in this country every other day.

The most immediate tribute I can give to the often-thankless emotional and physical work that moms perform daily is to admit that an earlier version of this newsletter was supposed to go out on Saturday, but with my wife having to be out of town last night, I passed out hard not long after putting our toddler to bed, exhausted from doing half the stuff that many moms (many who also have higher-pressure careers than me!) do in a single day. I didn’t even turn the lights out — I just crashed.

And it’s not just about physical labor. It’s the attention, emotional capacity, and forethought that moms give every single day that really blows me away. (I’m not always great with sincerity but I really mean it here!)

This updated version of the newsletter is stocked with big and often overlooked stories from a big week. We lead off with the Supreme Court and then jump into elections, all kinds of policy (great stuff and utterly unhinged and truly scary stuff), and then talk about workers. The full version of these countdown newsletters will be sent every week to paid subscribers — thank you for the support!

Please consider a subscribing and/or donating to help keep this newsletter afloat. We need independent media now more than ever, and it’s up to us to keep it alive.

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1️⃣ The real victim here: It turns out that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas simply had to secretly accept that souped up luxury RV from an ultra-wealthy conservative donor friend, because people in DC just won’t stop talking about his corruption.

“We’re in a world and we — certainly my wife and I the last two or three years it’s been — just the nastiness and the lies, it’s just incredible,” Thomas told an audience at the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals judicial conference.

Thomas didn’t offer any specifics on the lies that have evidently been levied at him and his wife, far-right conservative activist and insurrectionist Ginni Thomas, but that’s par for the course for a disclosure-averse justice who has been under fire for not reporting decades of luxury gifts from billionaire donors.

The court’s longest-serving justice has long considered himself a victim of politics, going back to his confirmation hearing. “You don’t get to prevent people from doing horrible things or saying horrible things,” he added at one point, possibly forgetting that he is the one with unlimited power to do horrible things to people.

2️⃣ You'll get nothing and like it: One of Thomas’s fellow self-pitying reactionaries on the court, Brett Kavanaugh, spent Friday at a judicial conference in Austin, where he yukked it up with admirers, hinted at a series of upcoming rulings, and confirmed that his idea of consent hasn’t changed much since high school.

The comments came in between anecdotes about taking his daughters to see Taylor Swift concerts and watch Caitlin Clark play in the NCAA tournament (this guy always seems to find a way to score expensive tickets), and offered in response to broader questions that avoided mention of recent court cases. But there was no mistaking what Kavanaugh meant during the Q&A session — he’s not subtle.

Here’s the gist of his remarks at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals judicial conference:

On the legitimacy of the court:

• The Quote: “Individual decisions don’t have to be popular. … The losing party has to respect the decision.”

• The Context: Kavanaugh was ostensibly referencing decisions such as Brown v. Board, tacitly comparing them to overturning Roe, eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, running interference for a criminal president.

• The Translation: “I don’t care that 60% of Americans disapprove of the decisions we’re making. Deal with it.”

On winning back respect:

• The Quote: “Consistency builds respect. It’s showing up every day in the courtroom and trying to be respectful, to write your opinion in a way that’s clear and understandable, to get out when you’re speaking and try to explain, to the bar, the judicial process, to try to be transparent and to be impartial as a judge.”

• The Context: He was asked how a court reviled by so many could gain back some measure of public trust.

• The Translation: “As long as we act with courtesy, we can sucker people into obeying the institution.”

On the security detail that follows him and his family:

• The Quote: “[His daughters] have grown up understanding what it means and ride in the car, and at the basketball games pick out the security guy in the stands. Hopefully, you know, you pray that it’s not a long-term impact on them.”

• The Context: A man carrying a gun was arrested outside of his home in Maryland after the Roe decision leaked. His home was also targeted by peaceful protestors.

• The Translation: “I always vote to overturn gun regulations, even as school shootings proliferate and guns have become the number one killer of children. I hope my children don’t feel the fear that all other kids feel.”

On executive power:

• The Quote: “It gives me a good B.S. detector. When the executive branch says, ‘We can’t possibly do this.’ … I think to myself … I saw it done… The judiciary is there to help police those boundaries.”

• The Context: Kavanaugh was talking about working as a lawyer in the Bush White House and the executive overreach that he witnessed (but did not object to). The court is set to decide landmark cases on federal regulatory power this term.

• The Translation: “We are going to neuter the administrative state to please our billionaire patrons. Also the president can do whatever he or she wants if their name is Donald Trump.”

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3️⃣ Schooled in Texas: After several years watching Gov. Greg Abbott go all-in on culture wars and vouchers, not to mention groups like Moms for Liberty get drunk on book bans, it’s nice to see some seemingly rational people winning school board elections in the Lone Star State.

Going into last week’s election, the North East Independent School District in San Antonio was deadlocked between two liberals, two conservatives, and an open seat that had yet to be filled. Despite being outspent, a coalition backed by Democrats, public school supporters, and the local teacher’s union pulled off a clean sweep and will control the board 5-0. The district, which has about 60,000 students, includes some very red territory, but voters across the spectrum were sick of the fights over sex and “parental rights.”

4️⃣ Any of the above: Back in August, Politico ran a story about how progressives here in NYC couldn’t seem to find a single viable candidate interested in running a primary challenge to Mayor Eric Adams. Now, he’s got two legitimate challengers, with more possibly on the way.

The newest challenger, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, is a 37-year-old Brooklynite who is more progressive and coherent than Adams. He helped usher out the IDC in 2018, so he gets points for that, though he also is said to have a close relationship with real estate interests, which isn’t exactly what this city needs. Then again, New York City definitely doesn’t need a mayor who vacations in Italy to learn about how to handle migrants.

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Blue states are far from perfect — rent is through the roof everywhere, lobbyists hold lots of power, and here in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul this week had to apologize for saying Black kids in the Bronx “don’t even know what the word computer is” while at Michael Milken-run conference of private equity pirates — but it is nonetheless looking increasingly as if we live in two separate countries with two radically different kinds of leadership.

This week really laid bare the contrast: we’ve got free college, drastic climate action, and other progressive solutions to real crises in blue states, and laws and rhetoric that are both incredibly dangerous and miles beyond self-parody in red states. Plus, major union campaigns in both!