When I started my Tuesday tip-sheet in October, I promised that “each Tuesday morning I will send members a weekly tip sheet that will point you in the direction of what to expect in the week ahead.” My hope was to provide insight and analysis that was not obvious and predictable.
Yet, since the election we have seen just how much damage has been predictable.
It was predictable that Donald Trump would distort the size of his electoral victory.
It was predictable that Donald Trump would nominate dangerously unqualified sycophants to his administration.
It was predictable that the legacy media would fail to stand up to Trump and his barrage of lies.
It was predictable that the corporate leaders would jettison any principle to suck up to Trump.
Yet, even within the list, we have seen some remarkable — indeed unpredictable — actions. Kash Patel was predictable, but not Tulsi Gabbard or Pete Hegseth. Bezos sacrificing the Washington Post for rocket contracts was predictable, but did anyone think ABC News would pay a $15 million tribute? Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have always been predictably detestable, but I certainly did not think Tim Cook would become a Trump supplicant.
There has been much ink spilled over whether Merrick Garland’s norm-following tenure is good or bad. I would argue that, most importantly, it was predictable. When Garland was first nominated for the bench, he was a corporate lawyer turned federal prosecutor. He was nominated to the D.C. Circuit by Bill Clinton and confirmed on a bipartisan basis. When Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court, it was intended as an olive branch to the Republican-controlled Senate. It didn’t work.
Joe Biden knew all of this when he selected Garland as attorney general. He chose Garland to be a nonpartisan institutionalist who would worry about appearances and prize norms. For his supporters, this was a feature not a flaw. For the rest of us who thought it would be exploited by the hyper-partisan GOP, the consequences of that decision were predictable.
I am often asked if I blame Garland for the lack of vigor in taking on Trump or creativity in ensuring voting rights. This is simply the wrong question. He has turned out to be exactly what we knew he would be. I don’t believe he is what the moment needed, but I was not surprised so I cannot be disappointed. It was totally predictable.
The result of his selection means that…
