MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2025
Attention, C-Span callers: Why do (many) people distrust us Blues?
Consider a phone call, made yesterday, to C-Span's Washington Journal. At the C-Span web site, the segment in question appears beneath this title:
Washington Journal
Kim Wehle on President Trump's Use of Executive Power
Kim Wehle, a law professor, author, and ABC News legal contributor, talked about the Trump administration's use of executive power.
Kim Wehle is a good, decent person. In this instance, we'd say she also provided one answer—out of many—to the question we've posed.
Inevitably, the phone call concerned the claim that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was, and possibly still is, affiliated with MS-13.
Tariffs are OUT; this topic is IN. The phone call went like this
MODERATOR (4/20/25): Eddie is in New York on our line for Republicans. Good morning, Eddie.
EDDIE FROM NEW YORK: Hi, yes. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions if possible. [Abrego Garcia] did have a deportation order. Two judges said that he was a member of MS-13. Correct?
Eddie kept it short and sweet. At the risk of being repetitious—see our report from last Thursday—he was referring, in part, to this written opinion by Judge Elizabeth Kessler in April 2019:
BOND MEMORANDUM
[...]
The [Department of Homeland Security] opposed the Respondent's request for bond. The DHS asserted that the Respondent is a verified gang member. The Respondent was arrested in the company of other ranking gang members and was confirmed to be a ranking member of the MS-13 gang by a proven and reliable source.
[...]
After considering the information provided by both parties, the Court concluded that no bond was appropriate in this matter. The Court first reasoned that the Respondent failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13...The Respondent contends that the Form 1-213 in his case erroneously states that he was detained in connection to a murder investigation. He also claims that the 1-213 is internally contradicts itself as to whether the Respondent fears returning to El Salvador. The reason for the Respondent's arrest given on his Form 1-213 does appear at odds with the Gang Field Interview Sheet, which states that the Respondent was approached because he and others were loitering outside of a Home Depot. Regardless, the determination that the Respondent is a gang member appears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record, namely, information contained in the Gang Field Interview Sheet. Although the Court is reluctant to give evidentiary weight to the Respondent's clothing as an indication of gang affiliation, the fact that a "past, proven, and reliable source of information" verified the Respondent's gang membership, rank, and gang name is sufficient to support that the Respondent is a gang member, and the Respondent has failed to present evidence to rebut that assertion.
[...]
Elizabeth A. Kessler
Immigration Judge
Here's what Judge Kessler said:
The Respondent was confirmed to be a ranking member of the MS-13 gang by a proven and reliable source...[T]he evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13...[T]he determination that the Respondent is a gang member appears to be trustworthy.
Later that year, a second judge more or less affirmed that initial assessment.
As we've said before, the fact that Judge Kessler stated that judgment doesn't necessarily mean that her judgment was accurate. That said, Judge Kessler did state that judgment, rightly or wrongly, in her written opinion—and Eddie from New York had apparently heard about this.
What do (many) people distrust us Blues? For one possible answer (out of many), we'll suggest that you listen to the way Wehle responded to this C-Span caller's question.
(To do so, just click here. Then, move ahead to the 36-minute mark.)
Again, Judge Kessler's assessment may have been wrong (or possibly not), but she did state that assessment. When Eddie called C-Span and asked about this obvious fact, Wehle's response shows us why so many people are disinclined to believe the things they hear from us Blues.
That's why people don't trust us Blues. Why are we Blues disinclined to trust spokesperson for those Reds? As one answer (out of many), we'll recommend this new report from Mediaite:
Karoline Leavitt Insists White House ‘Did Not Make a Mistake’ By Deporting Abrego Garcia—Despite Court Filing
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to admit a Maryland migrant was deported to El Salvador last month due to an administrative error, despite both the Justice Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledging the mistake.
“We did not make a mistake,” Leavitt said as the issue was brought up by Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade Monday morning. “We have always maintained this was an individual who needed to be deported from our country."
She added: “The president swore to the American public he was going to deport illegal criminals, and especially those who have been involved in violent gangs like MS-13 that have terrorized American communities.”
Leavitt is truly amazing. One last word of warning:
Among us Blues, the wiring of our human brain will suggest that Wehle's response to Eddie from New York simply has to be right.
Her response to Eddie wasn't right. It was an example of the way we humans are inclined to behave at highly fraught times such as these.
I saw Leavitt make this statement at a presser. I was disappointed that she did not explain the details, as Bob has done. Instead, she simply repeated the Administration's position that he's a MS 13 member.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more, the assessment of an "administrative error" isn't something that was simply invented. That was the admission of the government's lawyer made in front of a judge. Leavitt is contradicting the government's attorney.
DeleteAnd, for the sake of completeness, that government lawyer was subsequently fired by AG Bondi.
DeleteCan’t allowed truth telling in this administration. Wouldn’t want to set that precedent.
DeleteThe Supreme Court as well as a lower court ordered that the Administration take action to return Abrego Garcia. Maybe that was right and maybe it was wrong, but it was a court order taking precedence over any previous decisions and the Trump administration is defying it. Does the Trump administration's judgement take precedence over that of the Supreme Court? That is the issue at this point. Also at issue is whether anyone, not just immigrants, is entitled to due process.
ReplyDeleteOK, I went and watched the clip. I look forward to Our Host explanation of what was wrong with Wehle's answer.
ReplyDeleteTo my ear, she mangled her terminology in reference to a "withholding of removal" order. Otherwise, I didn't find anything wrong with it that should prompt anyone to "mistrust us Blues."
I think Bob's going to say she refused to answer the question. When asked if two judges found that Garcia was in MS-13, she kept saying he could not be legally deported because he was under the protective order. Which apparently is true, but unresponsive.
DeleteI agree though, that it's not the most compelling clip to explain why Reds don't trust Blues.
You could be right.
DeleteIf we're going to engage in that level of quibbling, I'd point out the Wehle, much like Our Host, refused to make conclusions of fact. She admitted that Garcia could very well gain nothing from a full hearing of his case,
I'd also argue that Garcia wasn't "found to be an MS-13 member" by two judges. One judge cited evidence presented as sufficient to deny him bond, I think you could fairly say that judge found him to be a gang member. The second judge was an appeals court judge. Appeals courts rarely make findings of fact. They assess whether trial courts applied the law correctly based on the facts presented. This second judge found the immigration court didn't make reversible errors. I don't think it's fair to say the appeals judge made a factual finding.
I think you may be right. I think I remember hearing or readnig that that judge was bound by what the lower court had found.
DeleteSomerby’s point is that the failure to plainly acknowledge facts that don't help “our side” makes us look evasive or dishonest.
DeleteOur Frequent Guest has missed Somerby’s central point. It's not about legal accuracy. It’s about how things sound to regular people and whether it comes across as honest and real.
DeleteAnd let's be honest, one thing we do not give two shits about about is regular people. We completely ignore them when we are not despising them. And Somerby is right as usual. That's a huge political problem.
DeleteBut no one expects our Frequent Guests to understand this. Institutionally, basically, it's forbidden.
Us regular people, or Right-wingers?
DeleteSomerby stopped asking us to listen to Right-wingers, as soon as we reported back that all they care about is bigotry.
Makes you look dishonest?
DeleteCracka, please.
"Somerby’s point is that the failure to plainly acknowledge facts that don't help “our side” makes us look evasive or dishonest."
DeleteThat's odd, because Somerby regularly disappears when I post that anyone who isn't a bigot, or isn't perfectly fine with bigotry, left the Republican Party over a quarter of a century ago, instead of plainly acknowledging that fact.
Is Somerby's point really that failure to plainly acknowledge facts that don't help "our side", makes us look evasive or dishonest?
DeleteI suppose that could be true, since Somerby says, "anything is possible".
8:12,
DeleteThat's completely different. Acknowledging the bigotry of the Republican Party doesn't help Bob's side, not ours.
So the Pope died within hours of meeting with JD Vance. I guess that experience could kill any man.
ReplyDeleteCertainly would sap one's will to live.
Delete“Bringing the hostages home is important, but it’s not the most important goal,” Smotrich said Monday in an interview with a right-wing radio station. “The alternative to surrender is seizing the territory in the Gaza Strip and destroying Hamas.”
DeleteI agree with Smotrich. Getting the few living hostages back would be wonderful. But if Hamas stays in power, given their fanatical hatred of Israel and of Jews, Hamas will eventually kill a lot more Israelis than the number of hostages.
DeleteThat's the normal calculus in any war. The Allies didn't leave Hitler in power to get POWs returned more quickly. They completely defeated the NAZIs resulting in a better world.
He's in Paradise now. None of you Zionists and none of you Democrats will be there.
Delete"They completely defeated the NAZIs resulting in a better world."
DeleteUntil the Reagan Presidency, when Naziism made a comeback.
David in Cal,
DeleteNice takedown of Naziism.
Now, do ChatGPT.
The only good idea the Republican Party has, is that randos should be able to over rule the decisions made in corporate boardrooms. Other than that, its just warmed-over Confederate States of America bullshit.
ReplyDelete“Us blues”
ReplyDelete“Wehle began her career practicing law as a clerk to a federal judge, Hon. Charles R. Richey, of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., then at the Federal Trade Commission; the Whitewater Investigation, where she worked with Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh; the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C.; “